Could not have said it better... It is interesting how our most commonly used word is a derogatory term for the act that sparked religion and religious experience. Read in a study not too long ago that out of 237 reasons to have sex the very last one both men and women equally chose was "To get closer to god". Given this is a shitty phrasing and very biased, but it was the only out of 237 reasons that had anything to do with spirituality and sex. Regardless I think it is very sad that this holy act scored lower than reasons like "To give people a disease", "Out of revenge", "To get drugs", etc... Maybe it's time to put God and fuck back together...
Very curiously, the shift toward consumption and "progress" as primary driving values of our society, which results in us throwing away 90% of the products we purchase in a matter of 6 months (in the US at least), and which came about in the 1950s, conincides with a begin of a declining happinness in our society as well. Stuff does not make happy, as much as the 3000 or so advertisements each US citizen is in average targeted with per day try and persuade you. Stuff is just that. Stuff. When you don't have it and are told you should, you are unhappy. When you finally decide to get it (oftentimes not even with disposable income, but with fake money generated by credit card companies), then you immediately fall into post-purchase dissonance (ever wondered why many product manufacturers are so eager to congratulate you on your purchase?), and worse, your mind will immediately jump to the next thing you don't yet have and for which you have a perceived lack. So where is there any room for happinness? It seems that happinness is rather ephemeral. Heard a saying once that said "Happinness is not getting what you want, but wanting what you have". Think there is a difference between happinness and joy. Think happinness might be the result of getting what you want, but joy comes from a deeper place. It comes from a place of gratitude, where you realize how amazing it is to be here, to experience, to have sensory input to play with. It comes from being authentically creative, from loving, from doing what each of us is here to do (see the idea of dharma in one of my prior posts). Stuff won't help much in that regard. And stuff is what is killing us and is making our survival on this planet a rather dubious outlook... If you want to learn more about stuff, check out this most excellent 20 minute video. Think it is one of the best I have seen on the topic... The Story of Stuff One great point the movie makes is that the core issue is in our value system. Accepting consumption as a value is accepting death. Think about it: when you consume something, it is gone. Done. Finito. In the old days, they used to have a diagnostic called "consumption": it was the slow death by withering away... If we do not replace consumption with creativity, we shall soon have consumed ourselves on this planet. It's time to change our value systems back to consciousness and creativity: Toward becoming ever more aware, piercing through the layers of dullness our last fifty years of overstimulation have provided us with, really feel again, fully experience again, focus on the experiences of joy and love, replacing lack and fear, and toward becoming ever more creative, expressing our experience of being here using each of our unique set of talents and gifts. That will bring joy, not more stuff...
Before anything can be realized, it has to be imagined. The first step in any process is the visualization of what the end result might look like. Looking at movies today, representing the myths and stories of our times, I wonder, where all the utopias have gone... We have a whole genre of Sci-Fi. We have tons of movies about robots taking over, evil aliens, space wars and evil empires. But where are movies that paint the picture of a future that is sustainable, where we live in harmony on this planet, without nations or wars, without governments or armies, without wasting money on a huge military-industrial complex, where people are not poisoned with plastic food and laugh tracks every day of their lives while being worked to death in useless and unproductive cubicle jobs that have little to do with their natural gifts and talents, where we overcame the global challenges the UN just published in their State of the Future 2007 report ?
[two of the items above I think could be easily helped by legalizing all drugs and prostitution - it would take a chunk out of international crime and ultimately allow women to step up and demand a different place in society]
The solution lies in imagination. First, we have to imagine, then we can create. As children we are taught to worry and fear, but rarely are we encouraged to dream and imagine a positive future. We need to have film makers who dare to step outside the common themes of fear, lack, guilt and shame - making up the ego - and dare to create works of art that inspire each and every one of us to do something about bringing forth a different future (rapture is not an all too pleasant notion).
And each of us can help as well. By imaginig brighter futures for ourselves and for our environment, by creating personal utopias, we can begin to create more joy, love and creativity. By smiling at strangers we can improve the state of this world...
Learning to direct your mind sustained on one focal point is at the core of many spiritual practices. One of the core themes of the last year for me has been to focus on the present moment, let go of past, let go of future and be here, now. Instead of wondering, questioning, worrying, I have found myself shifting toward listening, seeing without looking for anything, paying attention to the archetypal experience around me, and being calm in my own center. A year ago I decided to take most of 2007 off so I could let go of the noise of everyday life and sink slowly down to the center of who I am and what I am here to do. Since, a whole new array of new archetypal experiences have entered my life, from the quality and kind of people I am attracting into my life to very novel experiences like talking with trees (and hearing them talk back). We will see where this leads ;-) For now, I know I need to focus on my innermost core, my personal dharma in this world and I know that as the times are shifting, there is no more alternative. Whatever is not authentic in our lives will slowly but surely or brutally burn away - not a pleasant path. It seems more reasonable to embrace the path with curiousity, wonder and excitement - and first and foremost with love for self and life.
As Martha Graham wrote about artists in this beautiful quote my friend just sent me:
"There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will never have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable it is, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than others."
Well, it's time for everyone to become an artist and experience each of our lives as the unique wonders they are, and to see the future as a possibility for stories we get to write...
For this year's birthday celebration I got to start my day with two hours of yoga with my teacher, a wonderful champagne lunch, a couple of hours in a deprivation tank by the ocean, a walk down the beach during sunset, lots more champagne and blissful passing out. Thanks to my friend Barry who was a delightful shepherd during these festivities... (he also took the picture above last year on my birthday in Hawaii)
Looking forward to the coming year and even more so delectably grateful to be here, right now ;-)
What an interested few weeks it has been yet again. As if transformation was so inevitable now that radical changes and shifts have become necessary. Maybe we have now fully engaged on the alchemical path. There appear to have been lots of fire references around me lately... calcinatio, the first stage in alchemy: The man burned early at burning man, another friend has appendicitis, my friend's house burned to the ground... Pretty amazing. Even more beautiful and amazing has been the response of people to my friend's situation. Apart from some precious personal items, her and her daughter lost pretty much everything in the fire. I put a call out to people and complete strangers have shown love and support beyond anything I would have imagined. My friend, like myself, has a hard time receiving and asking for help (isn't it funny how many of us suffer from that?? ;-)). Being in a situation like her current one, is not leaving her with much choice in that regard and she has found herself flooded in a tidal wave of love, support, kindness. Time for solutio, the dissolving, the loss of ego in oneness. Allowing is a big part of that. Curious to see what sublimatio will bring ;-)
... to make some changes... There is a lot of talk about 2012 going on, just like a few years ago, there was a lot of talk about 2000. What fascinates me is that people seem to pick these dates, and whatever will happen, are sitting around waiting for it. Why not start changing life now? Why not decide to cut the bullshit, move forward and radically change life until there are no more compromises? Carolin Myss in her book "Sacred Contracts" talks about the prostitute archetype, that little voice in our head that tells us that where we are at is not soooo bad, and that if we wanted to change it, there are all these scary unknowns. Thus it would be sooo much better to stay where we are and not risk anything, right?? Well, no. Fuck suffering. Change everything. Change at least one thing in your life every day. A lovely saying I read once said that the difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that while unsuccessful people spend their time, successful people use it. Gets even better when you translate it into German: "spending" translates to "verbrauchen", "Brauch" meaning habit or custom - doing the same things over and over again. "use" translates to "verwenden", which is related to "Wandel", meaning Change.... So, use your time, it's running out ;-) Check out the world clock my friend Noa just sent me: http://www.poodwaddle.com/worldclock.swf. Definitely provides some sense of urgency, no?
okay... FINALLY got around to a) putting together a PowerPoint deck for my thesis, b) present my thesis and record it, c) combine my recording of the presentation with the PowerPoint slides, and d) post it to YouTube (I had originally recorded straight to YouTube, but screwed up the sound, thus the extra steps). The quality of the pictures is pretty crappy. Live and learn. Didn't have the patience to redo the whole thing, so this is what it is for now. There will be a better version at some point. For now, this will be transcribed and will serve as the basis for my thesis, as well as the book I am planning entitled "Who is creating Your Reality?". Enjoy!
"We cannot escape problems by denying them or running away from the decisions which they require. There is only one permanent remedy for any critical situation: We must outgrow it. The moment we are bigger than the problem, it ceases, and can never return. If, however, we attempt to evade a problem, it will come back time after time to plague us. Would it not, then, be wise to make growth our reason for living? Let us master whatever skill or ability is necessary, so that we can do our work well and without fear or worry. As we grow, we also find that increased knowledge and understanding bestow new dimensions upon commonplace activities. Life is more wonderful as we understand it. We experience real joy in doing things well as we become skilful and self-confident." -- Manly Palmer Hall
A year ago I decided to take most of 2007 off so I could let go of the noise of everyday life and sink slowly down to the center of who I am and what I am here to do. Since, a whole new array of new archetypal experiences have entered my life, from the quality and kind of people I am attracting into my life to very novel experiences like talking with trees (and hearing them talk back). We will see where this leads ;-)
What an interested few weeks it has been yet again. As if transformation was so inevitable now that radical changes and shifts have become necessary. Maybe we have now fully engaged on the alchemical path. There appear to have been lots of fire references around me lately... calcinatio, the first stage in alchemy: The man burned early at burning man, another friend has appendicitis, my friend's house burned to the ground... Pretty amazing. 
... to make some changes... There is a lot of talk about 2012 going on, just like a few years ago, there was a lot of talk about 2000. What fascinates me is that people seem to pick these dates, and whatever will happen, are sitting around waiting for it. Why not start changing life now? Why not decide to cut the bullshit, move forward and radically change life until there are no more compromises? 
