01
Transforming our relationship with ourselves requires us to recognize the importance-- or, better, the necessity-- of establishing a collaborative connection between the conscious and unconscious (So-called, not because it is unconscious, but because we are not consciously aware of it, and it is our place to become as conscious of it as we are capable of being) aspects of ourselves. We start by taking it on faith that we all have an unconscious side of ourselves, a side we are not conscious of, but one that exists, nonetheless, and exerts considerable influence on our body and our life without our direct awareness. We might also take it on faith that it is the role of consciousness to open itself to our other side, so that we grow in our ability to commune with that side of our personality for the good of the whole self. If we think of our other side as our Psyche and our conscious side as our Ego, then the task of Ego is to open itself to the influential presence of Psyche in the best interest of both. The nature of this communion is spiritual/emotional/psychological/ instinctive/intuitive, and not rational/logical/intellectual/ mathematical/analytical-- which might be thought of as a Right Brain/Left Brain association, and if it helps to think in this way, what is the harm? The point is to establish a communion that works to serve the best interest of the whole in terms of how we live the life that is our joint life to live, together in the decisions we make and the actions we undertake. The Silence is a meeting place between us. Dreams, and daydreaming, automatic writing/drawing, reverie and walkabouts, vision quests and sudden inspirations... The Silence is not silent at all. It has levels and qualities, depth and breadth, and surprises by the score. Everything comes up in The Silence, and it takes courage and resilience to stay with the process. Joseph Campbell said, "That which you seek lies far back in the darkest corner of the cave you most don't want to enter." We step into The Silence and find our way past all that meets us there to the Source At The Bottom Of The Well, from which flows "the wellspring of living water of life and being"-- The Mystery at the end of the lane. There, we know we have all we need to find what we need to do what needs to be done. And The Adventure begins.
02
Hatred and fear dominate the lives of a lot of people, and make safety and security their primary concern, which translates into addiction and denial, and creates the very world they are striving to escape. Addiction can be to ideologies as well as to substances. The secret at the heart of safety and security is befriending vulnerability and helplessness. If we can say "Yes!" to everything, there is nothing to be afraid of, nothing to hate. We are going to die. What is to be gained by pretending we are not? Live to die! Living to die is to let nothing stop us from living our best life here and now, in each situation as it arises, all our life long, no matter what. This does not mean ignoring the implications of present possibilities and alternatives. There is imprudent and there is prudent. Living our best life in the service of the best we can imagine for the good of all concerned is prudent. Living otherwise is imprudent. We step into each situation as it arises and meet the circumstances we find there as well as we are able in light of what is happening and what needs to be done about it for the good of the whole, and serve that at the expense of all that stands in the way, and let that be that. Moment by moment, situation by situation. How good is the good we call good? Good for whom? Good for what? What guides our boat on its path through the sea? How we know what to say yes to and what to say no to? What is the ground that grounds us? What are the values that guide us? What are we serving with our life? What orients us, shapes our life, forms our responses to the experience of being alive? Who are we? What are we about? What are we afraid off? What do we hate? If we are not willing to sit with these questions, and ask all of the questions that beg to be asked flowing from them, we will (continue to) be blown about by the winds of disruption and chaos, into the clashing rocks and onto the heaving waves of the wine dark sea-- with nothing but more of the same for as long as life shall last.
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03
There are two phrases: "Thy will, not mine, be done." "It is The Way." And there are all of the questions that beg to be asked in response to these two phrases. Who is the "thy"? What is "the way"? Are they different? Are they the same? How do we know? What makes us think so? How do we know what "thy will" is? How do we know what "the way" is? Who is the authority in this matter? Who knows what's what here? What makes us think they can be trusted? What makes us think they know what they are talking about? Whose word can we take? How can we be sure we/they are not just making it all up? What makes us think there is a "thy"? What makes us think there is a "way"? ... All of the questions that beg to be asked, include the questions that beg to be asked by the questions that beg to be asked. In all of this, there is the sphere of insight, instinct, intuition where the only guidance is the pull of resonance, the attraction of what "catches our eye," the sense of "this is for me" and "this is not for me." What is behind, at the bottom, of all of that? Our sense of direction, of what is right for us and what is wrong for us is grounded on what? A feeling? A hunch? A nudge? How do we know what we think we know? What is the grounding conviction that anchors us through the complete loss of everything? What do we turn to when we have nowhere to turn? On what do we stand that nothing can knock us off? What is the nature of that connection? Of that reliance? Of that trust? of that faith? How do we tend that relationship? How do we nurture that bond? What does it mean for us to hold up our end of the association with The Mystery at the Heart of Life and Being? What is "doing our part"? Are we doing it?
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04
Acquiescence and accommodation, Kid. Acquiescence and accommodation. Our ability to acquiesce and accommodate our context and circumstances comes with maturation. But we can, as has often been said, "grow old without growing up." And that is "the kink in the hose." "There is no cure for what ails us." We have to change our relationship with ourselves and with our life for anything good to come from it. And that is "well within our reach, but it exceeds our grasp." And we remain stuck in place until something happens to shock us awake and put on the path of growing up, which is the only thing that can save us. But that would be like death itself. And so it is said, "No one can live without dying." Metaphorically understood, but the agony is real. We are waiting for what will kill us and bring us to life. The Buddha died figuratively under the Bo Tree before he died literally from eating bad pork. Jesus died figuratively in the wilderness before he died literally on Golgotha. We are waiting for a figurative death to bring us alive in a literal way. Because, as it stands now, we are dead to the world without knowing it and need to be brought to our senses while there is still time to come to life. Acquiescence and accommodation, Kid. Acquiescence and accommodation.
