Monthly Archives: February 2014

Someday, Somewhere in another World

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Spirit tells me that, perhaps someday, somewhere in another world

Not too different from this one, we’ll replay this lifetime and

Review it together, from off-stage.

 

Then, all the little or not so little incidents that have contributed,

One at a time, to the development of our particular relationship,

Will seem to make sense

 

Then, perhaps I will understand the why and how, but

For now, please try to believe that there is purpose and

Meaning to the lives of each one of us, both separately and

As part of a greater life.

A cosmic reporter assigned to Earth

Posted on by under developing awareness, seeking the middle way, Uncategorized

Spirit, at times, seems to pretend to be an alien reporter, who is

Curious to learn more about the strange ways we humans

Relate to each other.

 

We are, He tells me, or seem to be, otherwise intelligent beings,

So, why, He asks, are we, or some of us, so interested in

Establishing new schools of thought?

 

What seems to be needed, considering such widespread

Environmental destruction, is a new way of being, a new way

Of living with each other, in a more mutually supportive

Manner, and in harmony with nature.

 

To exploit natural resources is to abuse your future, our future,,

And the future of tomorrow’s people.

 

I want very much to defend myself and everyone else, but

I don’t know how.

 

There is no defence. He reads my thoughts. But, we will

Learn from experience, the cost of our neglect.

 

Seekers of the Limit

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Spirit tells me that we are here in physical form

To refine our essence, and our essence is potential.

 

Each mountain we climb, and each and every struggle

Is as climbing a mountain, prepares us to climb ever higher.

 

From the valleys to foothills and then to the highest peaks.

And, as we climb higher and higher, we serve as inspiration

To those who struggle to follow, not us, but the way

We follow our dream.

 

And, as high as we might climb, we seem to know that

Ahead of us there will always be heights beyond heights,

Where other climbers who, like us, are seekers of the limit.

 

Spirituality’s Seductive Nature

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It was not love at first sight, at least not in a physical sense, since I

Have not yet developed the capacity to visualize that area wherein

Form and essence merge in ever-finer elements of matter.

 

But, human and spirit qualities seem to be, in many ways,

More close than similar. And, so would be the potentially

Seductive nature of student and teacher attraction.

 

When I ask Spirit to explain why mutual attraction to

Spiritual values could …

 

Be corrupted? The corruption, or danger of such, is in

My own mind, or it isn’t.

 

He then reminds me of the countless gurus I have followed

Throughout many lifetimes, or so it seems, with each one

Falling from grace, in my mind.

 

They didn’t fall; they seemed to crash. Confucius might calmly

Comment, “No blame”, but I was, each and every time,

Devastated and confused. I was sure, beyond a doubt, again,

Again, and yet again that I had discovered a philosophy

To live by that explained everything, until it didn’t.

 

Will I meet the same fate?

 

How can I know..?

 

Until or unless it happens?

 

Yes, and perhaps that scares me.

 

Why? When it is time to move on to another teacher, we must,

Or stagnate.

 

My earlier teachers belonged to recorded history…

 

So, were less personally a part of your life?

 

Yes.

 

 

 

All stress is a response to experience

Posted on by under developing awareness, seeking the middle way, Uncategorized

Spirit tells me that all stress is a response to experience, but

Experience itself does not necessarily create stress.

 

How we choose to respond to experiences that Life

Provides us with, and we seem to respond differently to

Similar situations at different times, determines how

Stressful each experience will be.

 

I have a problem with that explaination.

 

Yes.

 

Choosing suggests rational thought.

 

Yes.

 

But, how can we choose an emotional response?

 

Why would you choose an emotional response?

 

Surely an emotional response is a more immediate and

Natural expression of how I experience whatever situation.

Doesn’t emotion have to come before thought?

 

Yes.

 

Then?

 

Emotion may be triggered by experience, but thought

Would determine how to respond.

 

Always?

 

Always. even when thought allows emotion to have its way.

 

 

 

 

 

Practice is habit with a purpose

Posted on by under developing awareness, seeking the middle way, simple spiritual insights, Uncategorized

 

Spirit tells me that practice is habit, but an intentional one,

With a goal, and requires intent to improve or maintain

What we have developed in skills or in establishing

A way of life.

 

Practice can result in patterns of behaviour; physical, intellectual,

Emotional and, or spiritual that may appear to some others to be

No more than habits.

 

There is also the danger, He cautions, of practice becoming

No more than a habit, when intention is no longer involved.

 

How can I be sure that I still have intention?

 

Are you satisfied?

 

No.

 

Are you still making progress?

 

Yes, but …

 

Even a little is more than none.

 

 

 

Not all apples are alike

Posted on by under developing awareness, seeking the middle way, simple spiritual insights, Uncategorized

Spirit tells me that I must learn to judge people as I would

Fruit at a market. Not all apples are alike.

 

So it is with people. We do not choose produce according

To how we would like it to be, but by how it seems to be,

Now. Quality is more or less self-evident.

 

We may be more or less than we once were, and we may

Become more or less than what we now are, in whatever

Aspect of our being.

 

But, for now we are as we are, or seem to be. So it is

With everyone.

 

Those who have eyes to see are, at least to some extent,

Responsible for what they see, and, for how they respond

To what they see. It’s as simple as that.

Usually suggests exceptions

Posted on by under developing awareness, seeking the middle way, simple spiritual insights, Uncategorized

Spirit tells me that there are many more ways than one

To climb a mountain, and that straight up is not one of them.

 

Dedicating oneself to a steep climb can prove to be a

Solitary journey. But, there is no ideal way for all people.

 

More flexibility will encourage others to join us, and

There is usually no reason to hurry.

 

Usually suggests exceptions.

 

Yes.

 

Such as?

 

When the path we have chosen is self or other destructive.

 

Then what?

 

Change paths. It’s as simple as that.

 

 

 

A powerful sense of responsibility

Posted on by under developing awareness, seeking the middle way, simple spiritual insights, Uncategorized

Spirit tells me that the purpose of His teaching is to encourage

The study and practice of an increasingly clearer understanding of

Our interconnectedness to all forms of life, human and otherwise,

And of our personal responsibility to care for and protect, not only

Our own unique individual life, but also that of the countless,

Equally unique life forms that we share our world with.

 

How?

 

By becoming intentionally aware of how we live and the negative

Affect that may have on others.

 

That would require a powerful sense of responsibility.

 

Not would; it does.

 

Is it possible?

 

Yes.

 

How?

 

One step at a time.

 

And the first step is intention?

 

Yes.

 

 

 

Uniqueness is a Temporary Condition

Posted on by under developing awareness, seeking the middle way, simple spiritual insights, Uncategorized

Spirit tells me that I am unique but not to worry.

This is only a temporary condition. It was not

Designed to last.

 

We are each unique, but only until we share our

Special uniqueness.

 

Some egos expand in a socially unhealthy way, by

Bloating instead of transcending what they are.

 

How to transcend what I am?

 

What are you.

 

A woman.

 

Become a human.