Do We Have It Easy?

Paved roads everywhere; diet modification as per the fashion of the day; food whenever we want; cheap everything from China (for a little while longer) cars, phones, and pleasure, pleasure everywhere...

Don't get me wrong... I am grateful for it all. I recognise that my degree of privilege includes being critical of my privilege. However, I'd like to look at the fine balance which keeps many upon that treacherous edge of addiction and over-consumption.

It's easy to imagine a person addicted to say, buying shoes, so I'd like to take the idea of 'purchasing' a little deeper into the realm of thoughts. Imagine that each thought we create is like a kind of financial transaction, and in so doing, ask: what am I purchasing with this thought? What am I agreeing to be responsible for by following through on this 'transaction?' 

"Heathrow Mindfulness..."

If you find that to be labyrinthine - don't worry - as watching ones thoughts is much like a foreign exercise. It is much different that following ones thoughts. If you have a good pot of tea nearby, I think you'll get along much farther, and it would be my hope that you experience that dreaded word - discipline - as something which is instead both gentle and loving.

Just as an example: I'm currently staying with two lovely-hearted pups in the Kootenays. Last night while trying to sleep, and again this morning, these two free spirits were joining in with the wilderness chorus: barking at birds, barking at squirrels, barking at the fog, barking at their own breath... if they were "barking for cancer" we'd have a billion dollars raised by 2pm.

Now, for my money, discipline is a stoic beauty; and airspace, is noise-space, even on the solitude of a mountaintop. To know, and love, solitude, is to hear it... One of the greatest joys I've ever known is a true and complete silence - like listening to trees breathe on a windless day - and I would listen to such a movement non-stop if I didn't have to break for tea, food, bathing, and tending to the fire. Certainly the mind is "lively," and when we match our mind to our potential (Thomas Cleary), there is something Other which moves in tandem with us.

So too with these pups. And so too with our sense of self. Mindfulness is constant abiding, standing in contrast to the over-consumptive norm. And yes, it involves a little (gentle) discipline. Where there is sentience, there lay the seeds of Mindfulness.

Discipline is that thing which guides us whether we want it to or not. Some are very disciplined in being un-disciplined. Truly! However: discipline is the rudder to the ship, the keel to the waves, the sail holding the wind, and the bow pointing toward our visions. It gives our lives form. Regardless of the knowledge that 'we are all one,' and so-forth, our bodies do travel through this time contained to our form, and needing to interact with other things of form. We are interdependent at best - for the time being - yet I would argue that our course is better-made by a little prior preparation (photo source)

One can easily argue formlessness an equal pursuit of Mindfulness. However, without a practise to support this aspect of mind - this way of observing oneself with the world - there are truly many dangers. Becoming a total blockhead, for starters, and then, falling into oblivion.

I have found one beauty which is a close second to the radiant silence of the mountainside, and that is a wonder-filled pup who knows his or her place. A pup always wishes to do the right thing. Always. Those big brown eyes looking up to us always reveal the mind of their inner-puppy, up until we give them our constant and loving guidance. If we ourselves are disciplined with them, they grow into the very things which we do feed them.

To illustrate: I once ate an entire steak at a fireside with a beautiful big black lab beside me. There were all kinds of opportunities for me to loose that steak, as I was sitting in a lawn chair, dinner in my lap. "Happy," as the pup was named, didn't budge. He never once begged: never once whined, never once hunted about for scraps. He kept me good company, and kept watch on the fire and what may have come upon us from outside the fire's circle.


Happy, was Zen.

Odin & MacKenzie

Discipline's finest, is cooperation. It is an appreciation of self, and where we might travel aboard that self. And such was that time by the fireside with Happy, a place to travel. Discipline creates an interdependence not only with each other, but also with our higher selves. Our visions for our lives are a guaranteed beauty, and when we arrive to our place, so much of that scattered liveliness simply falls away from the forefront of our minds. Our wishing and hopes see the way through any turmoil given -when given a chance to be heard - and when we stand tall upon the deck of our own sea-faring vessel, each moment asks of us for greater degrees of navigation. It is impossible to steer the ship with any confidence or safety from the crows-nest...

I see too many young people lost at sea today and my heart goes out to them, as I myself have spent many months tossed about by waves, having believed oblivion, enlightenment. Though this is clearly not the exercise of Mindfulness, such a time to wander may be necessary when one leaves a nest. Our spirit's best health needs constant tending lest we allow ourselves to sink into anything less than a pleasurable alertness; and often, the arising youth within us needs a good long walk. Death by pleasure and wonder is just as much the prison as anything, and by such I am an advocate of little daily inner housekeepings - themselves a pleasure.

These beautiful pups know that every chirp and squeak in the forest is not a true danger, but their barks say otherwise, revealing a restless state of mind. The same way coughing in the theatre can be contagious, so too do the dogs in the valley set one another off. No doubt the small pleasures feel hilarious - and certainly 'squirrel-versus-dog' is a grand way to let off steam and have a good laugh - but without being able to return to a steady presence, a mindfulness in action, we miss out on the larger, grander, pleasures to be found within our time.


Steadiness in silence has been key for me. It is so rare to find such in ourselves or in the world, but we are given one chance here, so far as I can tell: One chance in this body and mind to uncover something of true wonder for ourselves. All the forms of pleasure in the universe do not combined reveal it, and yet its invitation does not cease for our seeing it.

Kindly and with love I wish for you regular and resolute periods of great calm.

www.sta-sis-arts.com

Indigo Washing

My colleague Michael and I have been in a several years long discussion on this topic. I believe we are all quite familiar with the term 'green washing,' where an endeavour of some kind tries to paint itself in a favourable and popular light by aligning itself with an environmental ethic. So too, it follows, that those aligned with a spiritual ethic can fall prey to "indigo washing."

Where in green washing, the central issue may well revolve about profitability versus what is of value, I'm going to postulate that in the case of indigo washing, the central issue is one of intimacy.

Rudolf Steiner, suggested that in time we will need "spiritual scientists," people who would be willing to put scientific and empirical rigour upon the subject and experience of spirituality. I mistakenly argue that I Ching is an empirical endeavour, as Michael has pointed out quite rightly that some people would oppose my use of empiricism in this case. So... perhaps "primitive empiricism" might due for the time being.

The complexity of this issue is that spiritual experience is open for all to take of, bask in, or neglect. ACDC, as I often say, is as much of a valid spiritual pursuit as meditation an Metallica. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and at some point, one's world view will be challenged: At some point, one's level of accomplishment, or understanding, or skill, is going to be challenged by new information and new experience, and the skin of the former attainment will be shed. Plumbers, artists, philosophers, and beggars... no one is immune.

Where I think those of us who strive to have a practice must stay alert, is whether or not we are using the practice as a mask, or if our search is genuine. And here's the trick:

At some point the practice will become a mask by necessity.

Just as an artist must have a high esteem of their own opinion - by necessity, in order to just have an opportunity to sell their work - so too must a spiritual scientist step out on a limb. The question must be asked: who is going to care about this, and why? Vulnerability, is a necessary tool, which can be difficult to appreciate regardless of which side you are on in any given moment. The method to proceed deeper and deeper into practice - or not, and to remain as one is - makes itself very pronounced by the presence or absence of discipline and attention to detail. This discipline, permits the vulnerability to find certainty, like a young writer 'finding their voice.'

Generally, after the first peak experience, a person is going to be in a sort of a vulnerable reverie for some time. I do not know enough about the use of drugs to be their advocate or opponent: I do believe, however, completely, in Life, and I believe our innate rejuvenative powers a fine place to orient a sense of faith. However, this reverie makes a lot of people nauseous. To their credit, it is difficult to be around people who are speaking on things one may have difficulty relating to, as people need - very dearly - to feel important. Amid new knowledge, those just off of the peak experience may well be using said knowledge to shield themselves from an otherwise 'mad' world. It is at those points where contention can set in. I believe we need to feel important because we have so many fundamental, potentially unanswerable, questions on our plate from the moment we are born; and from this central need, we tend to avoid reminders of the unknowns in our midst because they challenge our perception of a calm, comfortable, confidence. Conversely, by flaunting these reminders that 'all is not what it seems,' is not necessarily the best option of spreading ones personal gospel.

If we are to become a compassionate culture, I do think such situations beg the question: what does the uncomfortable behavior serve? Rigid behaviour amid contention points back to the notion of intimacy, and being able to generate meaningful discussions. The claimant of a peak experience is a call to action by presence alone, but this does not excuse the person from respecting the social mores into which they are situated. Such awkwardness, after a peak experience, generates an ensuing vulnerability abundantly. All kinds of random behaviour can follow as a means of dealing with this contention, and the potential detail and mutual learning can be swept under the nearest rug: 'being one,' or 'in pursuit of enlightenment,' or 'following abundance' are easy maxims to grab onto to either protect oneself, or dismiss someone in pursuit of these things.

But contention, like anything, cannot last. If the behavior allows a person to grow better into their well being, and garner the ability to articulate the causes of well being, then the person most likely was attending to something in their life which demanded rigor and responsible awareness.

And therein lies the key: responsibility. I think it is easy to sit upon a truth, or an identity, and consequently have its affective territory shrink over time. To take on a practice like yoga or meditation is to willingly enter something bigger than yourself, and to become an ambassador to the tradition whether one wants to or no. These practices are a "place to go," (Thomas Cleary) and by going there, to that 'place,' though one risks being vastly misunderstood, outcast, and ridiculed, if one remains true to their initial curiousity, perspective will continue to bloom - intrinsically and extrinsically.

Which is why cultural growth is difficult: who wants to risk social isolation, the dinner on their plate, the idea of gain, a career, and even the roof over their head to pursue something which may have no real guarantee? Yet any long standing artist can tell you quite quickly that to "turn your back on your bliss" (Joseph Campbell) is to essentially say no to Life.

{photo by Janet McIntyre}

Life is an invitation. Every heart beat. Every first moment of waking on every morning: The little bolt of thunder which reaches down from our skull and sends its gentle instruction to the heart to keep going, is the greatest invitation I've ever paid witness to.

I would like to recommend that the next time you have the opportunity to witness one person condemn another with the platitude 'so-and-so is just crazy,' or, 'people like that are so x-y-z...' to take a moment and reflect on that key question: what, intrinsically, is this behavior serving? Eventually, you can witness reciprocal behaviours in yourself, too. And should you find that the person to be in pain or distress of some sort, do you have the courage to ask them such? What then is the nature of compassion if not at least one part courage; and what is the cause of the behaviour which would otherwise condemn? Are not these two distinct choices linked?

These quick agreements we make - condemnations, complaints, criticisms - may well be some of the most powerful forces known to us. And as I say, I think indigo/spiritual endeavour is very much a matter of intimacy: an invitation of constant calling.

Food for thought:

Try Non-Denominational Meditation.

Green Tara

I am enjoying other Mindfulness blogs here on Blogger, and there is one in particular I would like to point out:

http://upward-spiralling.blogspot.com/2012/03/what-makes-green-tara-services-unique.html#more

Each post I read affirms that Mindfulness is alive and well, and that the root of our human issues is soon to be found and plucked.

Thanks so much Julie!

Pollution

I know it is unsociable to complain, but the degree to which a problem becomes severe, calls for it. People have long complained about environmental contaminants, well before the infamous 60's. Thoreau speaks of it in Walden, naturally; Grey Owl, and even Heraclitus. And I wonder if today we are actually getting to the root of the issue.

Thanks in part to the popular influence of yoga, I believe people are finding the map. Entire social circles have exploded into the cultural mainstream toward the state and health of our Consciousness: the quality of our thinking, whereby our actions follow. Social media at its best, truly asks one to keep their noses clean when all actions are readily publishable. So I think we're getting closer... In recent years I have been feeling much relieved to see the social ideals of environmentalism, long debated and pushed aside, truly grip a cohort and affect a generation. Young people today care. They care to the point of changing our cultural and business landscape. Have you noticed in Alberta that it was only ten years ago or so that a vegetarian option on the menu was totally weird? Now there are superfood elixir bars, like Noorish Cafe, which are leading the way.

Simply put: it is nice to share the torch. This new wave of interest arrived in the nick of time, and there is lots to be done. There is a lot to care about.

That said, I think we are only getting closer. That is, not yet at the root.

Perhaps many have named it, but it is so much more difficult to embody. Mindfulness is helpful, as it is a definite bridge upon which the West can stand with some degree of security, expressing the value of things like stillness, wonder, and conservation rather than excessive consumption.

Embodiment is key.

It's natural to model our behaviour after others we admire, cobbling together the aspects of others into a sense of self. This self, then, is both business card and performance: entry points for meeting. Yet these things do not contain all the answers. Watch Barack Obama, for example. Remember being dazzled when he arrived on the scene? Wasn't it refreshing, at the very least, to listen to actual-power being articulate and literate? Yet now, can we not also sense something else present inside all the sincerity? Are we surprised? It's just one example, but I think it shows clearly The Mask, perhaps the necessity for it, yet also the invitation so constantly in the wings - waiting - waiting to truly step into the light.

I appreciate the president's speaking ability greatly, and I do believe that he is a good man. However, as we close in on peak oil, peak gold, peak silver, peak wild salmon, peak harvesting anything from the ocean, peak species extinction... and so on... I am reminded that "the map is not the territory."  I appreciate all the green groups in the world, protecting habitat, and making some legislative headway, but I wonder how deeply these 'reminders' travel into our day-to-day, moment-to-moment thinking.

I would hazard to guess that the fifteen-year-olds of today will truly shake things up. They were born with internet, while I only just got onto G+ and Twitter. What social savvy - and so then social currency - will they have, by which to discover the quality of a persons speech and mind? I do invite you to hold me to this: in the next five to ten years.... lets see what 'the kids' create.

Humans: we think ourselves clever. I believe, though, that we are upon a crest of awareness, where many are realizing the busyness of our thinking is a lot like pollution. That 'business card' is merely a thing: It is an idea of self, which at best points the way. But the map is not the vehicle, and we cart around our lives as if the map is the answer, holding it up in front of us while we travel about, aware of where we are going, but not necessarily aware of each step along the way.

Imagine how effective ones driving would be if the inside of our 'VWs' were completely postered with flour and water and maps... We would certainly understand how to get from A to Z, but woe to the person, or persons, who take such cars out of 'park.' And yet I see us all to some degree driving around rather blind, shifting and redecorating the interior space of these map-laden vehicles; mistakes and social blunders and rudeness are covered up with yet more maps, and the walls are getting thicker. It's paradoxical at best, and I won't speculate what it could be at its worst.

Over-consumption comes to mind, but that's too simplistic.

We think we want to be right about something, but I think that underneath we want to be content. I believe we want relief more than anything else, as the mutual guess-work of positioning ourselves is exhausting. Certainly there is a great reward for 'hard work' and I'd like to suggest that the hardest is to know oneself. Beyond the mask of any 'business card,' or performance, or anything we have done - successfully or otherwise - is all in the past, and today, we are always new.

So it takes a lot to see this territory and to discover the tool of mindfulness, but I believe it is arising, and many are learning to speak its language. We have to allow the ripest and most sensitive part of the bud some 'air time.' It needs weathering, and it needs to be heard. And as with any flower, it's time is brief before it is again replenished by another in-coming incumbent bud.

I will not argue if it is an insensitive and uncaring world, but rather, I do argue that we live in an over-sensitive world wanting and waiting to care; to crawl out of our skins, to put down our colourful maps, to peel away the interior-dec which has imprisoned us, and let some serious light in.

But how do we do this...? Well... perhaps let us look to those who spent their time observing. The observing scientist tells us what the problem is: the observations point toward the solution, and in this case the solution calls out clearly for a change of pace. Not only that, but also into a depth of self acceptance to simply Not Know what is directly ahead. That to develop a comfort of not knowing may also bring us into a place of ready acceptance, finding a  breadth which reveals the territory; A united vastness, intrinsic and extrinsic simultaneously. When we de-mask ourselves, we prepare ourselves to care - and moreso - we become ready to feel, to know our feelings, and live by them.

You can see this in young people today. Feeling becomes an intellect: A form of reason.

Please visit my

"The Book of Gardens."

for further guidance

in Mindfulness.

Thank you :)

Money Assassins

Certainly ones own financial success is of special concern these days, and under the guises of Equilibrium, or Sta-sis, I think this is a great topic of discussion. This post is of specific concern for those of us interested by mindfulness, as much too often the trendy expressions of "abundance" tend to dodge 'good accounting,' which is not only a measure of smart financial decision making, but also a practise of personal accountability. But let's pan-out for a moment, first, to look at the big picture.

Personally, I do not think the economic events in Greece and the EU are isolated. Canadians might be able to brag about the intrinsic strength of its banking system, but to overlook the fact it is but a cog in the machine of a global economy would be an unfortunate thing to do. Everyone, today, carries some degree of debt, if not actually a considerable amount. Along such lines, I consider Greece a litmus, and to observe its current cultural transformations is to better prepare oneself for the future. If we avoid anything of the like within our own borders, you can label me by whatever terms you wish, but do know that my concern and empathy for our situation is great - hence this post, and certainly more to follow.

The relevance of the global economic picture, I find affects me daily. I would rather be as best educated to the forces affecting my life than to have found myself hiding underneath some spiritual-like blanket, numb. I do not call such a strategy, mindful.

photo credit

I recently spoke with author and financial advisor Chad Viminitz. I have long been of the "Conserver Lifestyle" myself, and have dared on several occasions to identify as a "True Conservative." ... But before you mis-identify what colour my thoughts and ethics may be (namely, blue), allow me to say at the very least how giddy I was when reading Thoreau's first chapter on 'Economy' in his timeless (and timely!) book Walden - many years ago. Finally the world made sense to me.

I had many blessings in my childhood: noble and humble parents, an orderly home, access to education, and access to parkland. I realised from reading Walden, then, the nature of my social difficulty: I was brought up to always spend less money than I made. Always. That, simply, is the heart of the conserver lifestyle which runs so contrary to a lot of N.American hustle and bustle. Often misunderstood as 'cheap,' or even 'poverty stricken,' or my latest favourite "living from a place of scarcity," the conserver takes a radically different view of what is deemed necessary toward happiness, well being, and what constitutes actual wealth. Actual wealth is not a chick flick. It doesn't pretend. It doesn't manipulate. It is either there, or it isn't. And this particular author does not respond well to falsity.

find a copy on Amazon

Chad's book is incredible. I think it a work of compassion. Indeed, meeting with Chad was to receive compassion from a very unlikely source. RTR in its appearance is exactly what you would expect from an investment and financial advice house: all very posh, with exceedingly comfortable chairs and even a waterfall. The advice, however, is truly radical. Crucial even. Chad paid attention to my individual needs...

That's what a financial advisor is supposed to do, right? Well then... why don't they? Why do they just sell you seemingly random mutual funds with over-arching labels like "ethical," when you know full well "ethical investments" only invest in soft porn, and the gold miners earn fourteen cents per hour instead of ten... Why is Chad so unusual - what makes him different...?

My goals in life are to write, publish, and live unencumbered by debt, and I am in a lucky position today, comparatively speaking. This does not make me unique in the slightest: however, my lifestyle works in accord with those goals, whereas the consumer lifestyle, often works against the grain of our larger social values.

The layering within the conserver lifestyle is a rich avenue of study, and I highly recommend this book. Every word speaks toward finding a thorough and honest equilibrium in your life through a financial lens. As we are bound by the ideology of economy - it is the crucial means by which we organise ourselves - learning to navigate it with effectiveness, "and even brilliance," is the direct route to honest success.

Thank you Chad!

www.moneyassassins.com

Visit my website for other blogs:
 Natural Building, I Ching Philosophy,
photography, and unique artwork

www.sta-sis-arts.com