Doing the Hard Thing

YOU MUST DO THE THINGS
YOU THINK YOU CANNOT DO.

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Of Note: Change is all around us. Without constant change and reconfiguration, the universe would cease to BE. Why is it that we humans find change so difficult and often fight it tooth and nail? There are many reasons, of course, but one is the belief that happiness is the end result of action. When we find happiness or its equivalent, we want to stay in that spot. Or unable to find happiness, a malaise sets in where we smolder, neither alive nor dead. What to do? This cycle of happiness vs. unhappiness can be broken by committing to make one change a day if small or one large change over a period of time if large. Pretty soon one is caught up in making change rather than the unrealistic expectation of happiness. For those who have trouble making change, www.stickK.com has one answer based on the use of a pre-commitment device, a "technique that people use to bind themselves to their preferred choices." The pre-commitment device of this site is real money. For example, if a Democrat wanted to lose 50 pounds, she might commit $1000 to a Republican cause if the promise is not kept. Two behavioral economists came up with this scheme based on well-known principles that people don't always do what they say they are going to do and incentives get people to do things. It's the whole carrot and stick routine. As a matter of fact, one of the economists, Ian Ayres, wrote a book called precisely that--Carrots and Sticks. The idea is the promotion of healthier lifestyle by creating commitment contracts that binds a person to achieve a personal goal. So far $7,118,733 have been put on the line by almost 80,000 people bent on making real change. Some of these people are very serious. The Website creators put half their yearly salaries toward the contract--and one had to make good on the deal to the tune of $15,000. That gives new meaning to Eleanor Roosevelt's words, doesn't it?

We are the Convergence

WE ARE THE CONVERGENCE
OF THE WHOLE UNIVERSE.
WE ALL HAVE A GREAT
NEED FOR IMMENSITY.

~ Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan

Of Note: Let's say that humanity is the eyes and ears of the Solar System, an unconscious Entity, which does not know Itself. That could mean that the international space programs and their various space probes provide our Solar System with a view of Itself through our eyes. That thought could give new meaning to the importance of exploration in the outer reaches of space. Take, for example, the twin Voyager probes that are very close to reaching the edge of the solar system. They have been speeding through space for 30 years and are still sending back data that continues to surprise the engineers and scientists at NASA. Dr Tony Philips said: "The adventure began in the late 1970's when the probes took advantage of a rare alignment of the outer planets for an unprecedented Grand Tour. Voyager 1 visited Jupiter and Saturn while Voyager 2 flew past Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Voyager 2 is still the only probe to visit Uranus and Neptune." The twins are powered by the radioactive decay of Plutonium 238 and should keep the systems running until at least 2020. By then, they will have popped through the solar system's heliosphere and into outer space-- a place that has never been explored by humans. Even now, the space on the edge is called "frothy" by scientists and shows a zero solar wind velocity. From that distance, the sun is just a teeny dot in the sky. On board each probe is a Golden Record disc that carries information about Earth, including 118 photos of the planet; 90 minutes of music; an audio essay containing sounds from the planet; and greetings in 55 languages and one whale language. One awestruck researcher said: "Voyager 1 and 2 will become our silent ambassadors to the stars." Could be that the space probes are also the eyes and ears of the Solar System getting to know Itself and its neighbors for the first time.

The Love of Thousands

WALKING, I AM LISTENING
TO A DEEPER WAY.
SUDDENLY, ALL MY
ANCESTORS ARE BEHIND ME.
BE STILL, THEY SAY.
WATCH AND LISTEN.

YOUR ARE THE RESULT OF
THE LOVE OF THOUSANDS.

~ Linda Hogan

Of Note: Sometimes if I really want to feel the wonder of Life, I contemplate the thought that my life is connected to all life back to the beginning of time. The very first moment. Years ago, I had a dream about what it was like before time began. My consciousness experienced a complete void where nothing existed at all. It was petrifying. In short order with a heart beating wildly, I was delivered safe and sound back to my bed. I did not realize until then what NO-THING meant and how connections with matter grounded me and us to the physical plane. Since then, I have yearned for another experience of that void. After years of meditation, I recognize the place and know that it was not a blank space at all, but pregnant with invisible, undifferentiated Life waiting to explode into a myriad of beings for a Purpose that can best be described as Love. More than that we do not know.

Today's Weather Report: It is snowing to beat the band. Highly unusual weather for the end of April. Actually, it has snowed off and on the whole month but nothing like this.

I am Very Large and Contain Multitudes

DO I CONTRADICT MYSELF?
VERY WELL THEN I
CONTRADICT MYSELF.
(I AM VERY LARGE,
I CONTAIN MULTITUDES.)

~ Walt Whitman

Of Note: It was obvious to me when helping my daughter with the interpretation of Song of Myself by Master Whitman that he was speaking of the Soul. Her high school honors class teacher had something else in mind but she courageously wrote her essay with this in mind and got a good grade if I remember correctly. The idea of the Soul being large and containing multitudes describes unity at its most fundamental level. That would mean, of course, that everyone is the same in God's eyes no matter what religion they espoused. Even atheists would be covered by this all-inclusive concept. Pastor Bob Bell has taken this viewpoint in his recently published and highly controversial book Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, in which he contends everyone has a chance at heaven and salvation. Everyone. That bold idea has taken the Evangelical community from whence he came by surprise and many have responded swiftly and unequivocally against him. Seems Rev. Bell is taking it all in stride and said: "I have long wondered if there is a massive shift coming in what it means to be a Christian. Something new is in the air." Acceptance of all into heaven would be something new in several religions, many of which believe they have the only key to the pearly gates. Bell contends that he doesn't know anything for sure but is merely raising the question, which is healthy. Jesus the Christ taught a simple lesson to Love thy neighbor as thyself. He didn't put any restrictions on the command. Believing in Him was not a prerequisite. Pastor Bell seems to have heard this message loud and clear and should be commended for writing an invocative book on the subject.

All of Them Together

ALL THE VOICES,
ALL THE GOALS,
ALL THE YEARNINGS,
ALL THE SORROWS,
ALL THE PLEASURES,
ALL THE GOOD AND EVIL,
ALL OF THEM TOGETHER
WAS THE WORLD.

~ Hermann Hesse

Of Note: Vasudeva asked Siddhartha, who was seeking enlightenment, to sit and listen to the river. Not only to listen but to LISTEN. He finally asked, "Do you hear?" When Siddhartha nodded, the wizened man whispered, "Listen better!" The enquirer found that everyone was part of the river: "It was the goal of all of them, yearning, desiring, suffering; and the river's voice was full of longing, full of smarting woe, full of insatiable desire." Even past this discovery was complete absorption, taking in everything yet quite empty until the separate voices were no longer heard. They all belonged to each other. Siddhartha's revelation will be ours someday as well. We will most likely not be sitting by a river with a wise, old man as a guide. But the illumination is guaranteed and is part of our divine destiny as a human being. Buddha and the Christ made sure of that. Happy Easter!

I'm Late! I'm Late!

I'M LATE! I'M LATE.
FOR A VERY IMPORTANT DATE!
NO TIME TO SAY HELLO! GOOD-BYE!
I'M LATE! I'M LATE! I'M LATE!

~The Mad Hatter
from Alice in Wonderland

Of Note: We live such hustle and bustle lives. We stuff our mouths with unhealthy food, work too many hours, have no time for sex, watch too much TV. The list could go on and on. In the process we don't pay attention to the importance of simply BEING. Most people think that the phenomenal world with its constant search for happiness is all there is. That is not the Truth. We know this because happiness is never really found. The circular search is never-ending. The only way out of the morass is meditation. Through meditation we contact our Soul, which is ever willing to help us discover the nature of Reality, with a capital R. It is not what we think and has no malls to keep us enthralled. Eventually, however, through the meditation process we find Joy and then Bliss. That was Buddha's discovery and can be ours as well. Can't meditate? Our divine discontent fueled by disillusionment will inevitably fuel the aspirational fire. Once the fire is lit, the time comes when sitting becomes the most important activity of the day. In the meantime, know that happiness is a seductive illusion, Service is the key and Bliss beckons.

Don't Go Back to Sleep

THE BREEZES AT DAWN
HAVE A SECRET TO TELL US.
DON'T GO BACK TO SLEEP.

~ Jalaluddin Rumi

Of Note: It's always darkest before the dawn is the main theme of this blog. But what happens when the dawn arrives? Will we be so filled with glamour and illusion that we will not recognize what is in front of us? Many believe that when the New Age arrives, all the struggles will cease. My sense is that the struggles might actually increase as our Souls demand, yes demand, that each of us steps up to the spiritual plate of Right Human Relations. Thing is, the more we sense that truth while in the dark, the quicker will be our assimilation into the Light. Service is the key. There is no better time to start than the present. Want to learn Qigong? Go for it. How about astrology? No better time than now. Feel a need to start meditating? Many teachers and methods are available. With the motive of service to humanity, each of these could lead us into the Light. But we need to get going, time is awasting.

Open Wide Our Hearts

THERE IS NO NEED
TO GO SEARCHING FOR
THE REMEDY FOR THE
EVILS OF OUR TIME.

THE REMEDY ALREADY EXISTS--
IT IS THE GIFT OF ONE'S SELF TO
THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN SO LOW
THAT EVEN HOPE FAILS THEM.

OPEN WIDE OUR HEARTS.

~ Rene Bazin

Of Note: Giving of ourselves by opening our heart wide is the essence of simplicity. We fail to do this in our hustle and bustle world where we may not take the time to acknowledge those who are hurting. Fact is, we are ALL suffering as a part of Humanity, which is in the throes of upheaval and chaos during this time of cosmic transition. Thus, opening our hearts wide to everyone we meet would be a good strategic policy to further a peaceful world. We could start tomorrow. Even better, it doesn't cost a dime, and no travel is necessary. Couldn't get much more simple than that.

Writing the History of our Generation

EACH OF US CAN WORK TO
CHANGE A SMALL PORTION
OF EVENTS AND IN THE TOTAL
OF ALL THOSE ACTS WILL
BE WRITTEN THE HISTORY
OF OUR GENERATION.

~ Robert Kennedy

Of Note: The Millennium Development Goals formulated through the United Nations set out a blueprint for humanity to improve its record of Right Human Relations. This is mankind's test to improve the lot of its brothers and sisters because of a growing understanding of the whole. It may come as a surprise that several small Caribbean islands are leading the world in meeting those goals. Barbados leads the way. 40% of its citizens live in cities and "have life expectancies in the mid-70's, all births are attended by skilled practitioners, 100% of the population has safe water and sanitation, and the infant mortality rate is 11 per 1,000 birth." What's more, the number of births per family is 1.68, well below the replacement level of 2.0. This progressive country has received the highest UN rating as "very high human development." Barbados is joined by other Caribbean countries such as Antigua, Dominica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and the Grenadines. Work still needs to be done, of course, but with government safety nets in place, these tiny nations rank with such wealthy powerhouses as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. One scholar noted the reason for success in attaining the Millennium Development Goals: "In the small countries of the Caribbean, the whole nation plays the role of the community. Government is close-up and personal and much more likely to be responsive to citizens needs." Communities at work are the key, which is just another way of saying Love-in-action. Barbados and others are leading the way to Right Human Relations, and their collective actions are an example to the rest of the planet.

The Spirit as Life

WE WILL KNOW WHAT BOTH THE FULLNESS
AND THE FULFILLMENT OF LIFE MEAN
ONLY WHEN THE CONSCIOUSNESS THAT
THE SPIRIT IS OUR OWN VERY SELF
COMES TO LIFE WITHIN US.

~ Paul Brunton

Of Note: The Spirit is Life. Most of us don't know that yet because we are concerned with learning to Love. Eventually, however, the Light of the Soul--the Higher Self--connects us through Love to the Spirit--its Higher Self--and the Unity of Life is no longer a theory but Reality. Thus, the Self is not two but rather three layers deep: the lower self/personality, the Higher Self/Soul and the Monad. The Monad is the true Self, the spark of the Divine, the Father. It is fusion with It to which we ultimately aspire.

Drawing Good Out of Harm

LET US LEARN TO SKILLFULLY
DRAW GOOD OUT OF WHAT
OTHERWISE CAUSES US HARM.

~ St. Mary Euphrasia Pellentier

Of Note: Everyone on the planet should have come to the conclusion by now that aggressive violence does not work. A least two generations or more of children in the Middle East have known nothing else. But the nonstop violence in that sector has spawned a new movement among the young, particularly those educated around the world. They are bringing home information, which may turn the tide, particularly in the areas of entrepreneurship and business skills plus nonviolent means of protest through social networking. These young adults know from their travels in developed countries, like the United States and Europe, what the state of extended nonviolent prosperity looks like--and they want it. One Middle East scholar said of the young Palestinians he's been following: "If they'd been led by Gandhi rather than Yasser Arafat, they would have had a state 20 years ago." This time around, though, transformation may come not only through non-violent protests but through business and enterprise. The returning college graduates understand full well that constructive activity is the antithesis of aggressive violence and want to start business that employ others. We have been waiting with great anticipation for this generation of educated, youthful leaders with their iPhones and Blackberries to step forward in the Middle East, and they are starting to arrive. Social networking brought us the Arab Spring but it will take leadership from seasoned statesmen, expats and the young educated to bring it to full flower.

God is Awake

HAVE COURAGE FOR THE
GREAT SORROWS OF LIFE,
AND PATIENCE FOR THE SMALL ONES.
WHEN YOU HAVE LABORIOUSLY
ACCOMPLISHED YOUR DAILY TASKS,
GO TO SLEEP IN PEACE.
GOD IS AWAKE.

~ Victor Hugo

Of Note: Not only is God awake, so is a part of humanity at all times. Waking and sleeping humans create a wave that goes around the Earth once every 24-hours. Thus, because humanity is Divine, it is God awake on the physical plane at all times. Or it will be. Presently, mankind is evolving into consciousness of its Divinity and has a way to go yet. But eventually its true Self will shine forth in all its radiance. When that happens, we will not only go to sleep in peace, we will be peace ourselves. On another note, a new mineral has been "mined" from a 4.5 billion year old meteorite, which has been named Wassonite. The specimen is only one-hundredth as wide as a human hair and composed of sulfur and titanium. It was shed from a primitive meteorite dating back to the earliest planetary building blocks. A NASA co-discoverer said: "Meteorites and the minerals within them are windows into the formation of our solar system. Through these kinds of studies, we can learn about the conditions that existed and the processes that were occurring then." This begs the question, how many other minerals have yet to be discovered in the solar system and what might they contribute to our knowledge base? This tiny mineral sample reveals that we have much to learn.

Those Ripples Build a Current

Each time a man stands up for an ideal,
or acts to improve the lot of others,
or strikes out against injustice,
he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope;
and crossing each other from a million
different centers of energy and daring,
those ripples build a current which
can sweep down the mightiest walls
of oppression and resistance.

~ Robert F. Kennedy, 1966

Of Note: Corruption consumes about $1 trillion dollars a year. That amount of money circulated in legitimate ways could change the world in very short order. Governments are taking note of the amount siphoned off illegally, particularly as their own belts have tightened due to the financial meltdown. The United States through the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been going after the bad guys for years but has recently joined forces with other international agencies to get deadly serious about the matter. Corporate corruption through payment of bribery is a current intensified focus. Huge fines are being levied as well as prosecution of executives. In response, corporations have implemented elaborate compliance programs to assure that workers do not bribe foreign officials. On the horizon is the Dodd-Frank whistleblower provision, which will pay for information leading to arrest and conviction of persons involved in corrupt corporate practices. Although they have been reluctant to do this before, it is believed that this will spur companies to come clean about their unsavory past of paying bribes and kickbacks. Next under the spotlight will be the investigation of Sovereign Trust Funds, where lavish spending has a long history, and the investigation of foreign corrupt officials by their own governments. Thankfully, the train is finally moving down the track. In its rail cars will be the trillions now available for the people rather than stolen by kleptocrats and other criminals, including the bankers, accountants and attorneys, who have been complicit in protecting them.

Miracles

THERE IS ONLY TWO
WAYS TO LIVE YOUR LIFE.
ONE IS AS THOUGH
NOTHING IS A MIRACLE.
THE OTHER IS AS IF
EVERYTHING IS.

~ Albert Einstein

Of Note: March 17, 2011 was an historic day for NASA. For the first time, a spacecraft, appropriately called MESSENGER, orbited the innermost planet, Mercury, at a point 96 million miles from Earth. The journey to Mercury took 6.5 years with a total distance traveled of 4.6 billion miles. After a few weeks of tweaking the system, the mission's primary science phase began today. The principle investigator of the project said: "Despite its proximity to Earth, the planet Mercury has for decades been comparatively unexplored. For the first time in history, a scientific observatory is in orbit around our solar systems innermost planet. Mercury's secrets are about to be revealed." With this successful orbit, NASA and other international space agencies have a variety of spacecraft at each end of solar system, which over time will have gathered data on all the visible planets. However, esoteric astrology contends that a few more planets have yet to be discovered. Think of the wonder and surprise those discoveries will bring to scientists, who might think they have seen it all.

My Life as a Message

MY LIFE IS MY MESSAGE.

~ Mahatma Gandhi

Of Note: The Chinese government is at it again. This past week, police in China arrested a prominent blogger in a deepening crackdown on dissent. What was the crime? Ran Yunfei had the audacity to challenge the ruling Communist Party. Many bloggers had advocated a "Jasmine Revolution" based on what is currently happening in the Middle East. Ran joined the call and was charged with inciting subversion. A former Chinese legal scholar said: "Basically, it's the crime of expressing your opinions. In this case, too, prosecutors will probably use essays that Ran has published on the Internet." More than 100 activists have been detained, been subjected to intimidation or merely disappeared since February 2011. These dissidents and the ones arrested before them could be the forerunners, who history will show lighted the fire of radical change in China. Because the energy of freedom is afoot, we can help by telepathically "sending" our lighted energy to those who languish in jail or prison for speaking out against an oppressive regime. They do not have to carry the burden alone.

Think with the Heart

It is said a great Zen teacher
asked an initiate to sit by a
stream until he heard all the
water had to teach.

After days of bending his
mind around the scene,
a small monkey happened by,
and in one bound of joy,
splashed through the stream.

The initiate wept and
returned to his teacher,
who scolded him lovingly,

"The monkey heard. You just listened."

~ As told by Mark Nepo

Of Note: Many of us use only our brains to analyze a situation. We take it apart bit by bit until the "answer" emerges. What is missing here is the input of the heart. Thing is, the brain distrusts what it considers an emotion-laden heart and often shuts it out. What the brain doesn't know in the beginning is that divine wisdom can only be obtained when we "think with the heart." This is a hard lesson for many initiates but one that must be learned before moving onward and upward on the path of evolution.