JUST PLAYIN' - THE PART

January 30, 2013

It is said that Shakespeare announced that “we are all actors and the world is our stage.”  How often to we hear words and they ring true but we just let them go by without investigation.  Do you like the saying?  Or does it scare you?  If you like it, do you believe it or just simply take it as an interesting idea?  If it scares you, is it the thought that you are not the one doing it, that brings up the fear?  For if you are the actor, who wrote the script and where are you going and what will you do?  Ever notice that you can make all the plans you want to, but rarely does it happen the way you think it will?  You go to bed the night before and have all these plans about how the day will play out and then upon waking none of them happen.

You are not in control.

Life is being lived through you.  You have been assigned a part and it is being played out beautifully no matter whether you like it or dislike it, the show goes on.  If you don’t believe this, see if you can stop it.  See if you can stop doing what you do.  All things that point to Truth can be investigated.  You don’t have to take someone’s word for it, all you have to do is see for yourself.

We are all used to Serve Life.  Your only role is actually to watch/Witness how you are used. 

Eventually, as you begin to watch/Witness as opposed to “thinking” you are doing it, you will begin to be surprised by life.  It is actually working for you and everyone. 

Most people don’t like the “thought” that they are being used, however, it happens in spite of one’s likes or dislikes. 

The more comfortable you become with it the more enjoyable life becomes.  Because that old saying “what you resists persists” is not just a saying.  As you begin to become Aware that you are not doing it … it creates a natural relaxation and then resistance goes down and you get to see what is done. 

Most people “think” they know what they will do, they think they know everything that is going to happen and how they will react to it.  But it is not true, you don’t ever know what you will do until the moment arrives for you to do it.  So many times there has been the thought that “I” will do something or will not do something and the something “I” said I wouldn’t do, “I” did and the something “I” said “I” would do … didn’t happen. 

Just begin to watch and wait and see what it is that you do or don’t do, don’t tell a story about it (or even if you do … don’t believe it so firmly).

We are all just playing our parts, we can be kind to one another while we do it, kindness comes from seeing that we are all doing the best that we can, how could we do any better than what we are doing, if we could, we would, we can only think we can do better and “better” is the enemy of good, because it is saying that the moment we are in isn’t good enough.  If there is to be a “better” it will come.

So back to being used, all things Serve.  Sometimes we serve in ways that look helpful and sometimes we serve in ways that don’t look helpful, but just know that everything helps itSelf, no matter what it looks like.  

FEAR OF FEAR ...

February 18, 2013

We have been trained to believe that what we “think” and “see” are real.  Not necessarily what we actually see, but what we see on TV or through the Internet.  But how often have you actually seen, what they say happens on TV … in your reality?  You can spend your whole life afraid of things that will not ever happen to you.  All that you are afraid of is a belief that it could happen to you.  But come on … take a look at your life … honestly … you’re alive right now somewhere reading this … didn’t everything work out?  Honestly, hasn’t your life worked out for you, everything has worked out and you are now in the moment you are in, with a whole day ahead of you to be surprised by what shows up.

The fear that arises from what we “think” and what we see on TV or read or hear on the Internet is not really fear.  

It is fear of fear.

Real fear is when something is actually happening.  Like a car is coming at you, that is real fear and the body will more than likely jump out of the way or freeze like a deer in headlights, but that would be an actual “feeling” of fear, experience of “fear.”

Fear of fear, is when you are afraid that something may or may not happen because of something you “think” or from something one-step removed from your realty (i.e., like TV or Internet news/talk).

One of many huge Gifts that has been received from reading the “Autobiography of Mark Twain”, is that he shows (since it was written over 100 years ago) that things do not really change. People are still scared of the same things that happened or were thought of 100 years ago. The newspaper stories from back then are not much different than now, there was still corruption, unemployment, murders, abuses, scandals, wars … everything that is happening now … was happening then … it just looks different because the faces and names have changed. This was/is a huge gift to see … because when one is willing to see to stop and take an honest look, you begin to see that things just happen.  There isn’t actually cause and effect, but life happens and people (you) comment on it.

This is a simple practice to begin to see that the above is so, just begin to watch and see if you could do something any other way than how it is done.  At first, it will seem like you can, that you can make your hand move or your mouth speak but if you are diligent in your watching/Witnessing of life and “you” in it … you will begin to see that action happens and then it is thought about and you will see the hand raise and see the thought as well “I raised my hand” but you will begin to intuitively know that the hand raised a split second before the thought to raise it or saying it was raised actually occur.  You have to want to know this but if you do, you will soon see that you are not the one moving the hand.  When this is seen then you begin to question, “If I am not moving the hand, who is?”  Which leads to the ultimate question, if I am not who I think I am:

“Who am I?”

You will begin to start worrying about it less and watching/Witnessing it more and more.  You begin to wait and see what happens, instead of saying what will happen. Life will reveal itself to you. It always is and has anyway, you just *thought* it was the other way around.

When you are honest … you see that everything has always worked out, this will continually reveal itself to you, as each problem (seeming) arises you will begin to relax more into watching how it resolves itself and you will watch your role in it rather than believing you are the role.

It doesn’t mean that you will or will not like how it works out, but it will work out and not just for you but for everyone.

Turn off the TV and Internet every once in awhile and go outside and breath the fresh air, look up at the sun, check out the stars and put your feet in the grass, the soil or the ocean.  You can take a break from all the drama of the world. It will still be there when you want it, when you want to be afraid or scare yourself, turn it back on or find that friend that always has all the bad news to give you. :o)

However, if you are starting to see the cracks in the stories of how bad it all is, then go out and look at the day and smile at it. It’s all for you.

TEAM OF ONE (Less Than Actually)...

"You are all alone surrounded by all the help you will ever need."

 ~Wayneji

The other day I put up this article (that I will cut and paste below) and put it on my Facebook page.  I received a comment from a friend of mine that got me thinking about the word/meaning “Team.”  And so I am going to put down what came up around that.

Here is the article:

“Mark used to say to me that sports was his Spirituality and that if I paid attention I would Hear and See it too. It took quite sometime to really start to see what he was pointing to. The other day I was at Family Smiles in Yreka and Kathy was making my mouth piece and I picked up a sports illustrated magazine that had LeBron James on the cover and since I really like LeBron I started reading it and I got to the last two paragraphs of the article in the picture here...and thought what a beautiful way to describe another human being, in this case being LeBron and I Hear the Spirituality that Mark would point to. :o)))))”

One of the clearest ways to see that one is on a “Team” is to first See and acknowledge how utterly and completely alone one Is.  You can spend years attempting not to See this by searching for a “team” to be on.  But if you are willing to go into the Core of Aloneness, then the window/door opens up to see that there is only One Team … one can ever be on and you are on/in It.  Everyone is on it and no one can be kicked off and so that really begins to allow one to see that we are all working together on the same Team…beyond all appearances, beliefs, dogmas, religions, there is only One Team and we are all on it.

Funny enough, over this last weekend I repeatedly attempted to watch a movie called “Cloud Atlas.”  It is a 3 hour movie and things kept coming up and I kept having to restart it.  I still currently have 45 minutes left of it to watch.  However what I have seen of it is a great pointing to what is being shared here.  That we all keep showing up for one another.

The sayings “you are only as strong as your weakest link” or “wherever you go there you are” are Great sayings and stand the tests of Time because they are True Pointings however, these sayings have been misconstrued because not many venture deep enough into the “unknown” of their Self.  They don’t go all the way to the Core of Being to discover that there is only One (actually less than One…less than Zero…but this is the limitation of words and only can one Know…through Self-Discovery). 

If one does not go to the Core of Being and discover that there is only One (less than), then they believe they are separate and although believing one is separate doesn’t get them off the Team (the Team of One)…they do not believe they are on it because it appears that there is more than One.

There is another saying, “You are all alone, surrounded by all the help you need.”  This is the closest pointing to the Truth of the True Team you are on.  Everyone has had their moment of being all alone.  Feeling they have no one to turn to, no where to go, no one that would understand…these moments are great gifts in revealing what cannot be seen or understood by the mind, because if you can look back on any moment that arrived to reveal to you that you are all Aone…you can see that something showed up for you.  Something did Hear you.  Someone did understand.  Otherwise you would not be reading this right now.  And if you went all the way…to the Core of Being…then you Know who always shows up :o)

One is wise not to run from the “fear” of being Alone…because it is your True Natural State and it is the fear/running from that that keeps you from Knowing who you Are.

Once you see that there is only One (less than) then you know that everything that is happening is perfect because there is only One player Playing…looking like many.  This is called in sports “In the Zone.”  Where one becomes Aware that they are not doing it…it is being done through them.

I was (and still am by loyalty) a Chicago Bulls fan…I was a big fan back with Jordan and Pippen and Grant, Rodman and I remember hearing them speak about being in the zone…there is also a pretty good book on it called “Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior. (by Phil Jackson) 

Life has all different ways to show you that you are all alone and surrounded by all the help you need.  Sometimes one is called to being physically alone.  Like there are times for me out here on the Ranch where I am completely alone (seemingly and ultimately).  This morning is a good example.  I got back late last night from bringing a friend up to Ashland and I overslept.  I went out to see the chickens and they were all ruffled and clucking…I was an hour behind schedule.  If I don’t show up for them…they don’t eat.  They begin to experience that they are all alone…though they are surround by one another they are all alone in their ability to get food and so I show up and fed them and there is a “team.”  That is what I was seeing this morning that my showing up is part of their “team” they then go on to lay eggs (which I don’t eat but I bring to those that do) which continues the team…everyone is helping each other, they help me by giving me a reason to get up and seeing the girls brings me joy (pun intended) so again all part of the team.  It is the same with the horses. 

Being on the Ranch  continually Reveals being all alone and yet being surrounded by all the help one needs.  Since I am about 10 miles from the nearest store, it can seem like one is very physically alone out here, yet it is in those moments that the Awareness of the impossibility of being alone and yet simultaneously being completely Alone appears.  It is a paradox of the Greatest of Gifts.

The owners of the Ranch are currently away and so ultimately I am by all appearances alone out here which leads to a deeper awareness of Trust / Faith that everything that is needed will appear.  And certainly from my times being physically alone…that has revealed itSelf.  It doesn’t mean there isn’t fear at times…like when it snows and I don’t know how I will get the car out or if I  can shovel it all to get to the animals or whatever the fear of the moment is…if the water freezes or it floods…there have been many fears that appear, but as those fears have appeared (being here) has shown me that everything does show up and if it doesn’t the worst that will happen is that this body will die, and it will anyway, when it’s time comes and so even that fear gets faced.

At the end of the day and at the beginning, the best one can do is face the fear of being alone, do not run from it, but let it come to you, the fear of not having enough, the fear of losing, the fear of not being good enough, the fear that you are not supported or taken care of.  And truly the only actual fear, which is the fear of death.  When these fears begin to be faced, not run from but just allowed, then you will begin to see what has been Carrying you all along and worry/fear may still show up for you, but you won’t care.