LESS EGO / MORE SOUL

The Buddhists are known to practice the art of non-confirmation.

This means they refrain from giving and seeking confirmation of one’s words, of one’s actions and of one’s self.

By doing so, they forge their own path toward freedom.

No longer are they caught up with the illusions of the external world, warping their truth and distracting their presence.

No longer are they governed by their ego, vying to gain power-over through the portrayal of a particular image of self.

Instead, they are left – at first, quite uncomfortably – with only the judgment of their own mind and the guidance of their own moral compass.

And this is where the magic happens…
Where one really gets to know themselves,
Where one is cordially invited commune with their soul;
To discover what it is they truly ache for and pursue it with passion and reckless abandon.

Why do we fear ourselves?

Why do we doubt ourselves?

Why do we question our own judgment?

Why do we think, for one second, that another could possibly tell us how to live our own lives any better than by the guidance of our own hearts?

Why are we so afraid to take the reins; to claim our decisions as our own?

Because if we were “wrong” than who’d be to blame?

If we “failed”, than how would we recover from such a loss of face?

But think about it, has life ever thrown you something you couldn’t handle?

You might think so, but you’re still here; you survived.

At worst you might have wound up a little bruised and battered.

Embarrassed perhaps… But you recovered and you evolved.

Don’t give up on things. Even when you think you can’t take another second. We are strong; it is our minds that are weak, tricking us into falling short of our potential. Why? Because it is not the fear of failure that scares our ego most; it is the fear of success - of claiming our own personal power, and with that, the fear of the unknown.

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.

Three things to remember:

1. NO-THING MATTERS.
2. NOW-HERE MATTERS.
3. There is nothing serious going on here.

The the old and wise of the east have a saying: Don’t worry; everything will turn out okay.

And when has it not?

Really.

Some say that everything happens for a reason.

Though, I prefer to think of it more like: life works out through and despite all the choices you make.

Failure is an illusion.
Albeit a powerful tool in getting us to appreciate the joy in our experiences.

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

“Refusing to acknowledge failure is often an attempt to avoid the paralysis of shame. Many of us were raised or educated by people who tried to make us feel guilty when we made a mistake, hoping that fear of being shamed would help us avoid future failure. It didn’t work. We cannot live fully and avoid mistakes. So, to avoid the paralysis and pain of shame, we narrow our lives to those things we already know and deny the mistakes that  happen.”

- The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Walked in on the end of one of my dad’s workshops the other day…even though I’ve heard him talk about simmilar things my life over, his words were not lost on me.

He spoke about the majority’s fear of failure. About, how we can be reluctant to put our wildest dreams into action – because then if we failed – what would we have left to dream of?

It is true, some experiences are best left to our imagination, but in question of what to do with one’s life – why not be wild and chase the dream?

In finding the courage to do so, he suggested we ask ourselves this simple question:

“If I wasn’t afraid I would…?”

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool,
To weep is to risk being called sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk showing your true self.
To place your ideas and your dreams before the crowd is to risk being called naive.
To love is to risk not being loved in return,
To live is to risk dying,
To hope is to risk despair,
To try is to risk failure

But risks must be taken, because the greatest risk in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow or love.
Chained by his certitude, he is a slave; he has forfeited his freedom.
Only the person who risks is truly free

– Janet Rand

The saddest thing in the world, is meeting a talented individual who silenced their passion and failed to share their gift with the world because they were told one too many times that “it’s too competitive out there – you’ll never make it.”

All I want to do with my life is write and travel and I am dedicated to making that dream a reality.

However, I remember when I was just finishing high-school, considering my options for uni, Mum took me along to one of those orientation nights and we had a chat to one of the university people about different courses and career possibillities. She asked me what course preferences I was considering pursuing. I told her something creative – maybe to do with writing.

She replied with: ‘that’s a very competitive industry, do you have a back up?’

Me: ‘yeah I was thinking about advertising’

Her: (now frowning) “Hmm…another competitive industry…do you have a third choice?”

Me: “well I’m interested in Fashion…or maybe Psychology”.

In her world, everything was too competitive, too risky, too scary. “Better find a more stable job.” Well, no thank you. Truth be told, most creative industries (if not all) are competitive. The beautiful thing about this is that everyone who ‘makes it’ generally are there because they truly want to be.

I see many creatives stuck in this gray area, driven with passion and the desire to be who they are – CREATORS – but shepherded in the wrong direction by society. As in the conversation above, it’s sad, but obvious that a big problem with schools and institutions is that unless you ‘prove’ yourself as a stand-out talent from the beginning, no-one is really that prepared to encourage you to pursue your passions for fear of your failure. It’s great that they are not fostering any illusions, but on the flip, we are all afraid and insecure of failure – we don’t need to be reminded of it.

Interestingly, I’ve noticed that the creative minds and successes I truly admire have rarely begun their careers on a masterpiece. They may have built their name, their success on something great, but you have to remember that before that there was a lot of trial and error. Talent can be learned (or at least refined), you just need to be open to learn. Success is the result of learning from past failures.

Below, I’ve posted a TED video featuring Elizabeth Gilbert – author of the amazing journey Eat. Pray. Love. She’s talking about these things, though far more eloquently (ha). I would really recommend viewing this, as she is such an interesting speaker.

So if you can bring yourself to turn away from facebook or twitter for just a moment…Enjoy.