YES & KNOW (Immigration)

"YES & Know"
(Illegal Immigration:  What Should We Do?)
December 2, 2013

Q&A from a Sociology Class at College of the Siskiyous, Weed, CA.

“Prejudice and discrimination continue to have dysfunctions.  They interfere with people’s welfare – from diminishment of their sense of self to inadequate nourishment and early death.” (Henslin, 2011, p.240)

Until we begin to discover that we are all the SAME at the core, nothing will actually change.  People are kept out of the country because of their seeming “differences” and people are brought in that way as well.  This has been going on since the beginning of time and it will not change just because people drop their prejudice because another will always come along.  You can see this in India … they have a caste system even though it is all people from India.  The same would happen in America, it used to be that people didn’t want you here because of your religion, now it is because of the Country you are from, next it will be because you have blue eyes and not brown.  However, if somehow, God Knows how, we all begin to see that at the Core of us is the Same thing, it is possible that it may shift something very radically or dramatically, as it did for the one that wrote “Amazing Grace.”  “I was blind but now I see.”  It is said about John Newton …

"Newton often openly mocked the captain by creating obscene poems and songs about him that became so popular the crew began to join in. He entered into disagreements with several colleagues that resulted in his being starved almost to death, imprisoned while at sea and chained like the slaves they carried, then outright enslaved and forced to work on a plantation in Sierra Leone near the Sherbro River. After several months he came to think of Sierra Leone as his home, but his father intervened after Newton sent him a letter describing his circumstances, and a ship found him by coincidence. Newton claimed the only reason he left was because of Polly (his future wife)." (“Amazing Grace”, 2013, para 4).

What was apparently seen was that what he was doing … he was doing to himself … that we are always doing it to ourSelf, that the one held prisoner is one’s Self in different “costume.”  Under the costume of bodies and beliefs about who one is, is who one IS.

Even if (which it is already happening), we become a world where there are no “boundaries” to abide by, there will still be some kind of prejudice to deal with if we do not see that the bodies are just costumes, not good or bad, just simply not who one is.  Just like if you put a costume on for Halloween and play a part it doesn’t make you that part, it just makes a player of that part.  It doesn’t mean that you throw away the costume (though you could if it no longer fit), you just discover that you are not the costume.

At the root of everyone is a seed that is planted to know theirSelf.  You would think this is simple but people spend so much time developing the character that many do not wish to know that they are not what they created.

The great thing about discovering who you Are is that you can appreciate all the costumes once you realize they are not real.  People in spirituality get caught up in the whole “this is all illusion” but what is over-looked is that it is simply the “costume” that is not real.

So back immigration, there is no simple answer, well yes there is … the simplest answer is always “Who?”  “Who” is this happening to? and following that to the Core.

However on the surface these questions of immigration will always be a problem until “who” is at the Core is discovered.  It will always be something that someone wants to keep away or out of whatever they are in.  And what one resists does persist; take a look at the things you resist, don’t they keep showing up for you?

When you discover that there is no “out” to what you are “In” then you begin to allow things to come, you are not resisting because you know the one that comes … is You (not you the personality).

People want to come to America for “The American Dream” you cannot tell what each dream is for each one that comes … they come because they want something to be different than how it currently is, some will make it and some won’t, however, the fact that we have signs on a roads such as this …

(Click HERE or photo for story about the Sign.)

reveals how desperate people have become in their lives that they would risk the lives of their family to make a change.   To be on the other side of this road saying “No!  You cannot come here” is the insanity that we currently live in.  

We do not see that it is ourSelf in another that we deny.  Ultimately, the sign the one is holding says “I am too afraid of what I will lose if I let you in.”  What is forgotten is “I am my Brothers Keeper.”  

My Brother’s Keeper

Am I my brother’s keeper?
Yes I am
I am his voice when he can not speak
I am his strength when he is weak
Am I my brother’s keeper?
Yes I am

I am his provider when he is in need
I am his arms when he can not reach
Am I my brother’s keeper?
Yes I am
I am his justice when he is wronged
I am his friend when he is alone
Am I my brother’s keeper?
Yes I am

I am his courage when he is afraid
I am his comforter when he is dismayed
Am I my brother’s keeper?
Yes I am

I am his hope when he does not believe
I am his truth when he is deceived
Am I my brother’s keeper
Yes I am

I am his guide when he has gone astray
I am his aide if he needs help along the way
Am I my brother’s keeper
The answer is yes
I am him, I am her
I am my brother’s keeper.

~Anonymous 
(“My Brothers Keeper”, 2010)

Brother has no gender, color, creed, race, ethnicity, country, status, age, body, identity, likes and dislikes.  When you wake up (die) and discover that the one you held back, held down, maimed, killed, raped and tortured is your own Self, remember to laugh (Cosmos has a strange sense of humor.)

What will change in regard to immigration once one discovers who they truly Are, do it and we will See.

Cited

Amazing Grace. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved December 2, 2013, from
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing_Grace

Henslin, James M. (2011).  Social Problems.  Boston, MA:  Ally & Bacon.

My Brothers Keeper.  (n.d.) Retrieved  December 2, 2013, from

http://poeticpointsofview.blogspot.com/2010/06/poem-my-brothers-keeper.html

THINKING ...

My Teacher used to say to me “And that’s a thought.”  When I would come to him with all these thoughts that seemed so important and it would stun me momentarily.  Sometimes I would wonder how he could say that to the important information that was going to impact my life and the lives around me and he could be so calm and although he would listen to my plight, he would eventually again point to me and say “And that’s a thought too.”  And he would smile and I would frown and stomp away wondering “what have I done wrong that I don’t see” (not seeing that that was just a thought too). 

He did this for many years, I would come to him again and again with problem after problem and in his infinite patience, he would listen or he would do whatever the moment called for which sometimes was a scolding or a praise, there was not a time, even to this day that I could predict what he would/will do, but that is another of His Great Teachings.  Many times I would go thinking I would get a praising, only to hear I had done something wrong, and then other times thinking I would get the scolding of my life, only to find him praising me for something I had done.  This over time became the blessed teaching of “not knowing.”  

Which leads to the title of today “Thinking.”  Thinking is knowing, even if you don’t know ... you think you can know by thinking.  But thinking is not real…it is not part of reality.  See these words come on the screen by the fingers not by thinking.  This is not always easy for one to see, for like I shared above, I knocked on my Teachers door with question after question and problem after problem, until one day the draw to Stillness became the Answer.  Even in moments now there is “thinking” and there is thinking that there was/is an answer and there is …but the answer is in Stillness/Silence. 

Now that can be even more infuriating to the mind that wishes to know reasons and answers for all things … to hear that they are all answered in Stillness, is to negate the “mind/thoughts.”  Again it all boils down to a frown or a smile, sometimes even a laugh or a punch in the face…depends on how serious one is in knowing answers. 

Since life is just happening and all you get to do is watch it, then living with unanswered questions is actually the gift.  To let things be as they are and watch as them appear is the gift and the answers do come, not in your time or your way, but naturally they appear.  Recently, a Friend of mine said she stays informed on my life through the writings I send her, and I wrote that I was annoyed because how do I stay informed on her life when I don’t receive any writings from her.  Then lo’ and behold, she appears on the street the very next day sharing with me what is going on in her life.  (((Smiles)))

Be willing to be surprised.  I know sometimes it doesn’t seem easy to do … especially since the thoughts usually say you know what is going to happen and it’s not going to be good.  But see how silly it is to think that you know the answer and that the answer “isn’t going to be good” wouldn’t it just be better to wait and see ... if the alternative is shitty anyway :o)

All you have to do is look at that your life has worked out perfectly this far, you are reading this right now and all is well right :o)  Even if you are thinking it is not LOL!

LIVING WITH UNANSWERED QUESTIONS...

(click image)

In a world where there is instantaneous everything, for most, living with unanswered questions can be a beginning step in the discovery of who you are.  Many may ask the question “who am I?”  And then like with all things of the world, expect an immediate answer and not only immediate, but one that is completely understood and explainable.  However, this is not the domain or way of the Truth of who you Are.  Even this writing will mislead you. 

The way of the Truth of Who you Are, is filled with twists and turns and paradox, inconsistencies and incongruent (ness), hypocrisy and ludicrousness.  It is not a straight road … except it is.  How do you tell someone you are on a road to nowhere (now here)?  You don’t, but your life being lived will reflect it and those that are paying attention will begin to see through you, that it is true. 

So next time you need an answer to anything that comes up, take a pause, don’t be so quick to find the answer.  See if you can hold out and see whether or not the answer shows up in a way you could not have predicted.  This is the fun of beginning to See.  You begin to See that everything you have ever needed shows up.  But you overlook it when you are searching for the answer, you don’t get to see all the many ways it comes … because you are looking for something specific.  When you put your search down for an answer, it allows for all possibilities to that question to arise … it’s like opening a box and then just leaving it open … not looking inside, just leaving it open, you might even begin to allow the possibility that you don’t even know what a box is … this is not becoming an idiot, it is seeing that we have labeled everything to the point that we actually don’t know what anything is, we just assume we do because it has a label…that is actually being an idiot as opposed to allowing for not knowing. 

So just for today, be the box with the open top and allow that you don’t know who or what you are, but you are interested.  And wait and see.

IN MEM..OR..I AM (IN MEMORIAM)

In mem or...i...am, In Memoriam...haven't ever looked at the word that way...but yes "I" am or in memory. 

The "I" thought can only be in the past or future...in the Present it just IS...without a story.

But this is the time of year for stories and ones of people who have touched our lives and seem to no longer be Present. Though maybe we can put some doubt on this. I'm not into ghost stories, but I am not saying there aren't any. I have experienced plenty of things that I cannot explain rationaly. However, death has revealed alot about "no death." And it keeps seeming to go deeper and deeper, so on this day of remembering those that seem not to be in our presence, here are some stories about how one remains.

The first is my Father Lauren Surget...at the time I was about 19. We had gone through some trials both litterally and figuratively and there was great healing through a dream where he was chasing me around the basement of a school and I was running and running and became too tired and sat down on a staircase and he walk up to me and I was so scared...and it took out a rose from behind his back and extended it to me and I took it and this was the beginning of the end of a long story that is now complete. Prior to the rose I had felt him around me and it scared me...after the rose I know longer felt him in a negative way and the following years were ones of truly healing our relationship.

Then there is my Mother, Sheilah Surget Poole. I was with her when her body died and to make a sort of long story short...I watched a review of our relationship together...and what was revealed was that no mater what the words or actions were through our relationship...we were always saying "I love you." Even the times that we were screaming at one another...we were actually screaming "I Love You." Then she/the story of Sheilah, dissolved into Nothing and over the years have found her in me...how does one say this...let me just continue on and see if it comes together more clearly. 

My significant other of 9 years, Mark Pullan, passed on a motorcycle accident...deep deep pain and "unlearning" came through his passing and also a beginning of a sense that he was now looking out of "my" eyes instead of his and that is the only difference between his life and mine...that he is now looking out of my eyes because I willingly (although not knowing that until just recently with another passing of a very close Friend) accept him to see every aspect of my life...that he is not blocked from seeing anything...it is not that I conciously always know he is there and I don't actually think it is like a personality...so I cannot actually explain what I am sharing here...but if you Know what I am saying then I don't have too.

It became most obvious about the unrealtity of death when I was left on the property of my Friend Wing's house...he had past from his body and I was caring for the upkeep...I was completely clueless as to how things were supposed to be done...and the more I was alone out there the more I found I wasn't...I would feel Wing through the birds and the frogs and the fish...it was as if he exuded himself through everything on his property and was able to show me without words the way to do things...it wasn't always clear how to do things but if there was patience and willingness I would begin to see how this body is used to get what is required done. 

This was the start and it continues to deepen every moment...especially now as I am working on a project in my kitchen that I have no idea how to do and when i get past the frustration I find that my hands seem to know and if I relax enough into that then there is no worry or concern for how it will all come together...and this is what the pointing towards "Nothing to Learn." There is nothing to learn...everything is already Known if one is willing to relax into not knowing. Sounds simple and it is if you don't think about it.

Recently, my Friend Bradley passed away and with the time we had spent together before his death, it was sort of like I took on a responsibilty for him...I didn't know he was going to die...but I had him close to my Heart and he was in my thoughts quite often and when I found out he had died...it seemed that at times there was an Awareness that he was looking out through my eyes...not just him...but all those that I claim responsiblity for have that.

Do I believe in life after death...not really...course I don't even know if I believe in death...so there is a willingness to be okay with anyone and everyone to see through these eyes...even though at times there are things I would rather no one see...I am willing and it has created a space in me to be kinder to myself when I do things I like or dislike about me...because I know I am seen.

There have been many years suffering from paranoia only to find that I was being watched the whole time...there just wasn't actually anything to be scared of.

So in "Memoriam"...boy if you took out an "m" it would read "me" or "I am" it just gets more and more wonderful....and simple.

The more that it seems like there is something looking out and the more attention placed on what/who is looking and not knowing what that something (which is not a thing) is...the more comfortable "I am."

On this Memorial Day, Rest in Peace.

~J.

FREESTYLE

So the eyes are closed and the fingers are just pressing on the keys and we will see what comes.  Freesytle...this is the word that showed up to write about and then I googled the word "Freestyle" and this picture was one of the first on the screen and since I grew up loving graffiti and taggers it was perfect :o)

I wasn't thinking of graffiti when I started out...I was actually just thinking that I was wondering what would come out of these fingers if I just started typing...and here we are.  It is empty inside of here right now...very quiet.  Breathing is slow and eyes are closed and tired.  I am waiting for a video to upload to youtube and have had a bit of a challenging day as I am packing and waited till the last minute to put together a Mothers' Day card and that didn't work anyway cause my printer will not connect to my laptop for some reason...very frustrating and so I dropped the card idea nad wrote a poem and video recorded it but then the recorder has this beeping sound in it and the file saved too large and I couldn't get the beep out but I did shrink the file and now it is uploading so that took a bit of patience.  And during all of that this calm/emptiness has just been here all through it...sometime there is not attention paid to what does't call attention to it.  But luckily for some reason this life time has not allowed me to sleep for long and it finds ways to constantly remind this "thought" that I think I am...to look  towards what cannot be thought.  Therein lies Peace.

It used to be that I was dependent on the peace of the world...I was always looking for quiet or searching for a space to be alone in and life did grant those things for periods of time and now noise is welcome too...because the Peace that is in me...isn't dependent on the outside world to do anything.  Everything can be as it is and Peace is there...even in the worst of moments Peace is here.

I've been meaning to get over to the suicide newsgroup.  I was on it years ago many many years ago and met some really great people over there.  Maybe I will let them know that death isn't necessary for Peace...well bodily death isn't necessary...however the death of who you think you are...is necessary for you to begin to have cracks in the thoughts...cracks big enough to Know Peace.

You're cracked enough or you wouldn't be here.

What Do I Know For Myself?

Is Everything Just A Reflection of itSelf?

I was told by my Teacher to do introspection on what I know for myself. To look and see if everything that I think I know...hasn't come from somebody else and that I have taken that information as truth and grown my own branches off of it and now say that I know something.

First, the main question is "Who am I?" and all other questions arise from the lack of investigation of that one question.

I know for myself...from investigation, that "I" "me" is a lie. In contemplation and meditation and in asking the question "Who am I?" there has yet to be an "I" that has revealed itself as something tangible. In all the searching all that has been found are thoughts that say that "I" exists. Where Descartes said "I think therefore I am." What has been revealed here is..."I" is a thought, and thought is not "real/tangible" so "I" do not exist...except as thought.

I am not a body, nor am I a woman, nor am I anything that I can tangibly explain to anyone...not even myself...who asks the questions...Who Am I?

Who is it that has inquired about the "I"?

So I do not know who I am...thoughts continue to come and say "I am this...I am that" and that is where I am but not who I am. I have sat here for years now...flipping back and forth thinking that I understand something and then recognizing that there has been another trapped laid and fallen for.

The quiet deepens here and there is an awareness that there is a pull more and more towards meditation...not for a purpose... just finding myself sitting quietly again for more than what once was and it is not to gain anything or to advance anywhere. It is as if the mind craves the rest.

This is a far as this will go this evening.

Sweet Dreams.

~Joysters