LESS EGO / MORE SOUL

Today I planned to make some pesto for my lunch using fresh herbs, oil, lemon, salt, pepper, garlic, sunflower seeds, and steevia extract to sweeten. Turns out I put in far too much steevia in and ruined the pesto. Yet, I tried my best to salvage it – adding more oil, more herbs, more this and more that.

Mid way through this excercise I realised something I’d like to share with you. Something true of pesto and I think also true of life in general.

I realised that rather than adding more to the pesto what it needed was less, though wanting not to waste what had already been gathered I ignored this instinct, adding more.

And I feel that as humans, we are often adding more to our lives, acquiring more and collecting more in the vain hope that all this extra stuff will make our lives richer and more delicious. Only, I’ve found the reality to be that we tend to get lost in the more we consume and distracted from the true essence of our being.

In the last 24 hours this message has been illustrated in more ways then one.

Last night I watched the pixar movie UP and seeing the old man, so attached to his house and all that was within it, that he actually dragged it behind him almost wherever he went. Doing so, it seems he missed a lot of the beautiful things that life was offering him throughout his journey.

I’ve since come to the conclusion that one of the true gifts of being human is our memory, in which we can carry mementos of our all our dear experiences allowing  us to travel lightly in physicality.

Unfortunately though, we feel as westerners that the memory of something is rarely enough. We don’t trust our memories and so we gather ‘tangible proof’ and are sold souvineers to remind us.

I do not mean to sound negative about this; I too croon over many dear possessions, but I do feel if we could just be comfortable, carrying with us the cherished memories of our lifetime, we would find ourselves much freer, with much less to carry, less to watch over and less to physically risk.

In line with this thinking, heres a link to an interesting website: six items or less, which challenges you to select  six items only (not including socks, undies, workout clothes, swimsuits, and the like) to wear for an entire month. Another variation is to choose only 100 items to live with, including your house, car, bed etc. Feedback from everyone involved so far has found it to be a very liberating experience  as they let go of a great deal of material clutter that we tend to mindlessly hoard in our rooms.

This is the triune truth:

1. Nothing in my world is real

2. The meaning of everything is the meaning I give it

3. I am who I say I am and my experience is what I say it is

This evokes the triune process:

A. See the illusions as illusions

B. Decide what it means

C. Re-create yourself anew

– Communion with God, Neale Donald Walsch

THE TEN HUMAN ILLUSIONS:

1. The Illusion of Need
   Everything you think you need you already have. It exists inside of you. “Needs” are only preferences. Observe that you can exist without.
2. The Illusion of Failure
   You never fail to succeed. “Failure” is a great teacher. Embrace failure, do not fear it.
3. The Illusion of Disunity
   You are not apart but a part. Unity and separation are the very rhythms of life.
4. The Illusion of Insufficiency
   Fill the insufficiency.  Be the source. Give what you desire away. There is enough, for the world is abundant.
5. The Illusion of Requirement
   There is nothing you have to be or do. Happiness is a choice. Remember, everything you do, you do for you.
6. The Illusion of Judgment
   Observing is witnessing, judging is concluding. Observe, as that which you would judge has already ceased to be.
7. The Illusion of Condemnation
   There is a difference between consequence and punishment. Everything is temporary.
8. The Illusion of Conditionality
   There are no victims. You choose your life by the way you  interpret and define your own experiences. There are no conditions to love and unconditional love is the greatest gift you can give to the world.
9. The Illusion of Superiority
   Superiority is an illusion based on preferences – not facts. After all, how could one be superior to itself? Remember NAMASTE: I honour the light that resides within you, which also resides within me. We are all one.
10. The Illusion of Ignorance
    You already know all of this. All learning is remembering. Some simply remember more than others.

As I mentioned in a previous post, when you desire to change something about yourself, it is important first to accept what is.

Below is a powerful exercise in learning to accept what is. It explores the relationship we have with the habits we form, exposing the love-hate dynamic that reinforces our behaviors. While this is essential to understand in order to inspire change, it can often be overlooked.

1. Make a list of things you don’t like about yourself – who you are, how you behave etc.

2. Then go back and beside each point, find and write down something to love about each thing…

For example:

Shadow Side — Acceptance
Overworking — passionate about creating
Overeating — sensitive soul
etc…

“Living in the future, always one step ahead of ourselves has led to a generation of disenchanted as we let life’s beautiful moments slip through our fingers because we are so busy thinking about “what comes next”. A continuous focus on performance has made living and loving mechanical. Alternately, many are dwelling on the past, surrounding themselves with barriers that keep them captive from the sweet surrender of truly living.”

- Uknown

I used to mentally beat myself up in the vain hope that it would inspire the change that I wished to see in myself. But now I understand how this was the wrong way to go about it.

Forgiveness heals and for me to more on and grow I first need to accept what is. Then, from that place of observation (not judgement) I may chose who I would like to be next.

You see real change does not come from fear of punishment through inspired self-hate. Change comes from love and a clear, observing mind, motivated by simply acknowledgeing what works and what does not.

I AM THAT I AM.

“Life in a word is change”.

Thinking about things I want to change in myself or in my life or have sought to change in the past I wonder why it can be so difficult to let go of old habits.

One theory I have is that often, we are simply too afraid of the unknown to let go of our usual routine – even when we consciously know it is not serving us.

Perhaps we fear that in giving up the familiar we are giving up pleasure – after all, to a degree our habits are formed on the premise that they will in some ways bring more pleasure and joy into our lives. We are wired to seek pleasure – consciously or not. Unfortunately this can often result in mindless over-indulgence in the pleasures of the body (e.g. food, sex, alcohol). We do so for instant gratification, ignoring the fact that more often than not, less is more.

The fact is we are a tri-part being – mind, body and soul. And when we focus our attention on only one aspect –  the pleasures of the body, for instance –  we are neglecting the other two parts of our true self. The key here is to understand that there is nothing wrong with indulging in the pleasures of the body, but it is important to find balance in life through inviting the mind and the soul to join in on the experience.

An example: When you eat mindlessly you are body focused. You are tricking yourself by thinking ‘this is pleasure’ – but really it is just an idea you have – an idea that you are satisfying your hunger. It is an empty illusion when consumed without intention.

In contrast, when you cook or buy a meal with the intention to share it with good company, or as a nourishing gift to yourself, you invite the soul and the mind to join in on the experience.

1. Un-worry
2. Simplify
3. Just be
4. Does it really matter?
5. It’s only you.
6. Everything is okay
7. Be the source
8. You are safe; you cannot fail
9. Choose/Create
10. Be a “bro”
11. Divine Duality
12. The possibilities are endless
13. No need to experience the “bad”
14. Sacred / Profane – It’s all the same!
15. It’s all a matter of perception; that which you give meaning to
16. What are you deciding to be in this moment?
17. What does this mean?
18. There is a reason
19. So many layers
20. We are energy
21. Surrender and let go
22. Accept what is
23. Enjoy the spectrum
24. Breathe
25. It’s all for you
26. Everyone is here to help
27. Communicate
28. Life in a word is change.
29. Love is all there is.
30. I AM THAT I AM.

“The inspector says I’m free. I’m free now and I was free in prison too, because freedom continues to be the thing I prize most in the world. Of course, this has led me to drink wines I did not like, to do things I should not have done and which I will not do again: it has left scars on my body and my soul, it has meant hurting certain people, although I have since asked their forgiveness, when I realised that I could do absolutely anything except force another person to follow me in my madness, in my lust for life.

I don’t regret the painful times; I bear my scars as if they were medals. I know that freedom has a high price, as high as that of slavery; the only difference is that you pay with pleasure and smile, even when that smile is dimmed by tears.”

– Paulo Coelho, The Zahir

There is an old saying in Japan where rather than asking ‘how are you?’ – they ask: Have you half-eaten today?

Such a beautiful reflection of the truth…

If you eat too little you are hungry and distracted.

Eat too much and you are lazy and tired!

Just enough and you are ‘very well thankyou’

Never leave me. Walk close beside me.

Your hand, my hand fits so easy.

No tomorrow, let us stop here. We did some great things or didn’t we?

Dry and dusty; I am a capsule of energy.

You speak softly; we are capsules of energy.

The world as i’ve been told; it would turn, I get money.

And I long for every moment

- Karin Dreijer Andersson, Dry and Dusty