LESS EGO / MORE SOUL

I dive far and deep into the swimming pool and resurface beneath the sun. I’d rather be swimming in the wild somewhere, where the water isn’t treated with chemicals – somewhere that I don’t need to worry about being found naked in my own backyard by another family member or a gardener.

Its not so much the fact that they might see me naked that causes me to be concerned – I am quite comfortable in my earth body alone or with others. No, it’s the fact that other people make it weird. I know this because I’ve been “caught” before – I laughed while they blushed and backed away, afraid to see me exposed as human – just like them. I long for the day when there is sufficient  context in our society so that a naked body does not need to be sexualized.

I look at the artificially clear water and laugh at yet another example of our culture attempting to control our environment. We swim in swimming pools so we can see the bottom; so we can know with certainty who or what we are swimming with. So we know for sure that we won’t be attacked by a shark or stung by a jellyfish because we don’t really know how to share our space with other wild animals. Such an upbringing led me to fear swimming in natural environments for far too long. Exposure was the only remedy.

This brings me to fear.

Fear is incredibly attractive, just not in any way that you’d want it to be. It’s magnetic in the sense that it’s fueled by our thoughts and emotions which are key ingredients for manifesting. But what is the purpose of fear being so damn creative when it ultimately leads to pain and suffering?

It’s as if Life is challenging us, whispering: live through this, as we are bought to face our fears, one by one.

Life’s message is simple: There is nothing to be afraid of. By experiencing our fears first hand, we are given the opportunity to realize that pain is never as debilitating or painful as we tend to expect. As the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali state, if you are not your mind, nor your body, who feels the pain?

With this in mind, both fear and pain become potential keys to seeing through the delusionary nature of the everyday world. Yet, the more our culture seeks to control our environment in an effort to minimize the risk of pain (as if it could ever be separated from life itself) the more our fears become augmented and attractive.

Fear breeds tragedy, yet with fear, we are shown not to fear.

(c) Ruth Morris, 2010

Does the earth hate & feel sorry for itself when it gets pissed on?

Does it hate & begrudge the one who pisses on?

Quite frankly, No.

Love, accept, adapt & move on.

“Of this I am certain: something happens every time I stop fighting with the way things are. Something happens to every one of my students when they stop running their familiar programs about fear and deficiency and emptiness. I don’t know what to call this turn of events or the freshness that follows it, but I know what it feels like: It feels like relief. It feels like infinite good-ness. Like a distillation of every sweet fragrance, every hearstopping beauty, every haunting melody you’ve ever heard. It feels like the essence of tenderness, compassion, joy, peace. Like love itself. And in the moment you feel you recognize that you are it and that you’ve been here all along, waiting for your return.

When you forget, which you always do, you suddenly understand that kindness to anyone – a plant, an animal, a stranger, a partner – brings you closer to this. That taking care of your body is taking care of this. That taking care of the earth is taking car of this. And that you’d turn away from anything or anyone that asked you to leave this because this is what you’ve wanted, this is what you’ve longed for, this is what you’ve loved for eons.

You know without knowing how you know that every step you’ve ever taken, every person you’ve ever loved, every task you’ve ever accomplished has been This meeting This. You returning to yourself. And that hell is nothing more than leaving this. Heaven is already here on earth.”

- From Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth

Going through my notes from the temple, I was struck with a deeper understanding of the fear I was confronted with during my first Ayahuasca ceremony. I remember the profound déjà vu, and how I was disappointed with the realization that I was all there is. I felt alone despite all of the parts of me that I had created on this earth in order to address this sadness.

I felt my loneliness echoing around me, bouncing off the harsh truth of what it means to be absolutely everything; the reality that illusions are, at the end of the day, just illusions. This was the birth of the purest desire to create separation, others, playmates, a distraction from this lonely hell. And while we, The Source enjoy our self as we exert our creativity in the formation of this universe, there is still loneliness at the end of the day.

We, God, are an island, surrounded by no-thing-ness; a blank canvas for creation. An orphan.

Alone we play all the parts, creating the illusions of others, orchestrating the story of humanity like a child creates their own world as they play with their dolls, producing a range of characters and drama. And we are addicted to this insignificant game of life, the amusement it provides and the satisfaction we get from experiencing the spectrum of all life has to offer.

At this realisation, I laughed at myself for wanting or expecting to ‘get somewhere’ or to attain enlightenment through rigorous spiritual practice, because in this omnipresent state it was clear to me that living as a human was much more exciting than the world beyond. [I note that there are some very beautiful places to visit beyond ‘reality’ and that spiritual practice can be very fulfilling when done from a place of enjoyment rather than duty, guilt or obligation, however, it is our human perspective and the contrast of our earthly lives that makes these other worlds so alluring in the first place.]

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* I use the word God here as spiritual shorthand to describe life, love, the source, the universe, existence, the soul or whatever else you believe in.

I overheard on the news the other day of the pope “the person many believe is god’s representative on earth”.

People; do you realise that we are all god’s representatives on earth?

I enjoy life and its many pleasures without guilt.

I surrender to pleasure.

I am present in this moment.
Now. Here. NOWHERE.

I can live with the uncertain, be spontaneous and surrender to the unknown. In this way I invite in the magick of life.

I realise the perfection in enough. I am satisfied with less. I enjoy all things in moderation.

I let go of my obsessions, the stories of my past.

I am present. I am interested in you. I am here to hear your story.

I laugh, I smile, I live, I love, I spread peace, love and light contagiously.

I am generous, whether you appreciate it or not.

I am the master of my mind, the conductor of my body, the friend of my soul.

I accept myself. I forgive myself. I love myself.

I am a passionate lover. I sing and I dance unashamedly as I express my joy.

I see through the maya, letting go of unnecessary thoughts.

I travel lightly, I tread lightly on this earth, honouring the source with each step.

I am open to all teachings of the collective wisdom of the universe.

I recognise failure as an illusion.

I am honest.

I am that.
I am I.
I am also you, he, she and it.
We are all one.

LESS HUMAN / MORE BEING

LESS EGO /  MORE SOUL

NAMASTE

Traveling in a Different Way – taken from Paulo Coelho’s Blog

When I was very young I discovered that, for me, a journey is the best way to learn. I still have this pilgrim’s soul to this day, and have decided to relate some of the lessons I have learned, in the hope that they will be useful to other like-minded pilgrims.

1] Avoid museums. This advice may seem absurd, but let us reflect a little together: if you are in a foreign city, isn’t it far more interesting to seek out the present, than the past? Usually, people feel obliged to go to museums, because ever since they were small they have been told that traveling is a search for this type of culture. Of course museums are important, but they require time and objectivity – you need to know what it is you want to see there, otherwise you will come away with the impression that you saw several things which are fundamental to your life, but cannot remember what they were.

2] Frequent bars. Unlike museums, this is where the life of the city can be found. Bars are not discotheques, but places where the people gather to have a drink, pass the time, and are always willing to chat. Buy a newspaper and observe the bustle of people coming and going. If someone speaks to you, strike up a conversation, however banal: one cannot judge the beauty of a path merely by looking at its entrance.

3] Be open and forward. The best tourist guide is someone who lives there, knows everything, but doesn’t work at a travel agency. Go out into the street, choose someone you wish to speak to, and ask him or her for directions (where is such-and-such a cathedral? Where is the post office?) If this bears no fruit, try someone else – I guarantee that in the end you will find excellent company.

4] Try and travel alone, or – if you are married – with your spouse. It will be harder work, no one will be looking after you, but this is the only way of truly leaving your country. Group travel is just a disguised way of pretending to go abroad, where you speak your own language, obey the leader of the pack, and concern yourself more with the internal gossip of the group than with the place you are visiting.

5] Don’t compare. Don’t compare anything – not prices, nor cleanliness, nor quality of life, nor means of transport, nothing! You are not traveling in order to prove you live better than others – your search, in fact, is to find out how others live, what they have to teach, how they view reality and the extraordinary things in life.

6] Understand that everyone understands you. Even if you don’t speak the language, don’t be afraid: I have been in many places in which there was no way of communicating with words, and I always found support, guidance, important suggestions, even girlfriends. Some people think that if you travel alone, you will go out into the street and be lost forever. All you need is the hotel card in your pocket, and – should you find yourself in extreme circumstances – take a taxi and show it to the driver.

7] Don’t buy much. Spend your money on things which you won’t have to carry: good theater, restaurants, walks. Nowadays, with the global market and the Internet, you can have everything you want without having to pay for excess baggage.

8] Don’t try and see the world in a month. It is better to stay in one city for four or five days, that visit five cities in a week. A city is like a capricious woman, who needs time to be seduced and reveal herself completely.

9] A journey is an adventure. Henry Miller said that it is far more important to discover a church no one has heard of, than go to Rome and feel obliged to visit the Sistine Chapel, with two hundred thousand tourists shouting all around you. Go to the Sistine Chapel, but also get lost in the streets, wander down alleyways, feel free to look for something, without knowing what it is. I swear you will find it and that it will change your life.

Copyright © 2010 Paulo Coelho

Did you know?

Hemp just so happens to be one of the most useful, stongest, toughest, longest-lasting materials on earth.

“You cannot produce a a better fiber for clothes, a stronger substance for ropes, and easier-to-grow-and-harvest source for pulp.

“We cut down hundreds of thousands of trees per year to give ourselves Sunday papers, so that we can read about the decimation of the world’s forests. Hemp could provide us with millions of Sunday papers without cutting down one tree. Indeed it could substitute for so many resource materials, at one-tenth of the cost! And that is the catch. Somebody loses money if this miraculous plant – which also has extraordinary medicinal properties, incidentally – is allowed to be grown. That is why marijuana is illegal…” (Neal Donald Walsch)

1 acre of corn = 1000 barrels of bio-diesel. Whereas,1 acre of hemp = 30,000 barrels of bio-diesel. FACT.

1 acre of hemp = 5 acres of wooded forest to make paper. FACT.

Some more facts about hemp:

• “Back in the early days Levis made their jeans from hemp, and when you couldn’t patch up your jeans or clothes any more they would recycle it into paper.”
• “If you get hemp paper and you rip it – get it wet and it bonds back together like it was never wet!”
• Benjamin Franklin who created the first newspaper printed it on hemp paper.
• The last 3 presidents elected in America admitted to smoking pot. Obama, Bush and Clinton.
• Canada and14 states in the USA have legalized marijuana.
• For vegetarians in particular, hemp is an amazing source of protein, essential fatty acids and amino acids. Yet, it is not yet made legally available for purchase in Australia. In America, you can buy hemp seeds (to sprinkle on salads for  a protein boost), hemp oil (for cooking) and hemp milk (a very nutritious dairy alternative). It can also be used in baking and to make a special tea and leaves can be eaten fresh in salads. “It’s single healthiest thing we can eat and yet, it’s illegal to grow”.
• All jokes aside, marijuana also has some amazing medicinal properties.
• Hemp oil can also be used to relieve eczema with its anti-inflammatory properties.
• “Thomas Jefferson the fourth US president on the $20 bill risked his life and the life of his service men smuggling hemp seeds from China. He wrote in his diaries that some of his fondest memories were smoking hemp on his veranda starring out to the sunset.”

Though the government tries it’s best to keep these truths under wraps, if you’re interested seek & ye shall find.

And it’s not all about the threat of substance abuse – the difference between Marijuana and Hemp is in the way it’s cultivated. It all depends on THC levels.

Some quick links continuing this discussion:

The Earth Diet – Day148
The Earth Diet – Day 114
The Difference Between Hemp and Marijuana
Wikipedia – Canabis
Wikipedia – Marijuana
Wikipedia – Hashish
Wikipedia – Hemp
Hemp For Victory
IMDB
The Economic Expert