Category: Imagine That

Some people are easily ruffled when anything happens that they don’t like. They’re “very sensitive” beings. They can rattle off a list of things people have done to them, or now do to them, and, at the same time, are completely oblivious of the part they play in the events of their life. They interpret perceived slights as monstrous acts against them, and, along with that, have a fierce determination to not make peace with their past which can result in an unforgiving heart. Most recently we’ve seen this in so-called celebrities.

Refusal to leave behind that kind of heavy baggage, along with the added burden of lugging around a big ego, can bring awful consequences. Have you noticed that big egos, or those who see themselves as frail or powerless, are easily flustered and quick to anger? They tend to blame others instead of themselves for just about everything they don’t like about their life? To them it’s always the other guy who has wronged them because big egos don’t see beyond their own selves. And when they’re angry they lash out 100 times more furiously than whatever perceived action set them off in the first place. And after their burst of anger has subsided they tend to behave as though nothing has happened. It’s all so very interesting, and it’s all so very sad because it could be all so very different when we just let go of the heavy baggage.

Life experiences are a powerful way of learning, and many of us have had lots of them. However, there’s a time when we need to wake up and get to a clearer understanding of the way we’re behaving toward Life. We need to realize that we’ve been sabatoging what could be a life filled with joy, love, success, strength, great adventures, beauty, and harmony. We need to remember that other people don’t make or break us; we make or break our own selves.

Choosing to drop the heavy stuff and taking total responsibility for what happens in our own life is a enormous step in itself. After that comes the desire and belief that there’s a more powerful, stronger and better way to live. There are people who can guide us, and books that can show us, and they’ll come a time when something within us will teach us. But sometimes when we begin this change there’s a tendency to look back, and, more or less, go back, because we think change is not forthcoming, or we don’t want to do what’s necessary to allow change to occur, so we become wishy-washy and nothing happens. How can it? We’ve confused the whole situation and until we decide once and for all that there’s no turning back-ever-until that time comes, we’ll stay in a state of being neither here nor there-still carrying all that baggage.

How do we know when we’ve really let go? There are lots of ways we know; life becomes sweeter, those little things we spent so much time and effort defending, we no longer care about. Instead of causing problems, we want to find a way to solve them. The bigger picture is clearer. We’re open and ready to understand Life on a grand scale. And we gladly welcome the adventure, it’s something we desire so much that the time and effort to arrive at this state is no longer seen as a chore, but something more precious than we could have ever imagined.

Oh, yes, It’s our choice. Imagine that!

It was in a small used bookstore in Manhattan that I saw a book titled, THIS MAN FROM LEBANON, written by Barbara Young. It’s a biography of Kahlil Gibran who wrote THE PROPHET, and the author was his friend.

In the book she wrote that his mother was a wise woman, “beyond the wisdom of many mothers. She knew almost in his infancy that the passion for freedom was in his blood, and he was restrained but little.” Later in his life he often said, the author tells us, “I do not see how they endured me. Only my mother, of all the world, could have understood that strange boy. I was a small volcano, a young earthquake.”

I’m always pleased and grateful at the treasure trove of books found in used bookstores.

Then into my hands came the March/April Spirituality&Health magazine, and the article Soul and Science by Thomas Moore. I appreciated having that article to read. Thomas Moore wrote about life and about the fact that science is “. . . taking away its magic and substituting explanation, classifications, and rules.” Indeed. Facts, and more facts. How utterly tiresome. Especially since, if we were ever to let go, we’d see the wonder of our universe. www.spiritualityhealthy.com www.careofthesoul.net/bioframe.htm

And so, after reading the above book and magazine article, I started to think . . . How did it happen that we trust so-called “experts” more than we trust our own selves? We quote statistics, we rely on “fashion experts” to tell us what to wear, we study subjects that hold no interest at the expense of the things we’re passionate about, we believe everything the “food experts” write in magazines and books, and when they change, we change; we go along with whatever we’re told. We accept the words of politicians. We take the drugs prescribed by doctors without extensive questioning, and when someone says, “Do this because if you don’t . . . ”  – fear sets in.

How often do we think, “This is my life, how do I feel about this?” Do we ever ask ourselves, “What is the voice within me saying? If I stop long enough will I hear it? Have I believed the so-called “authority figures” far too long? So long that I’ve lost the ability to think, to trust, to live  by my wits to the extent that I can in today’s world.

Oh dear, it seems that we accept everyone’s opinion but our own

I know Osho was a controversial figure. A lot of deep thinkers have been in one way or another. Maybe the adage to pay attention to the teaching, not the teacher applies here. That being said, Osho lived the way he wrote; he was straightforward. He wrote of freedom and what it means to have it. He wrote of it in all the ways he knew how. He didn’t lump every person into a category saying do it this way because if you don’t . . . . www.osho.com

Imagine a world with unlimited ways of doing things, and learning about them everyday as your life unfolds. You’re the last person to have a say about your life, and you’re willing to accept all that that implies. You take full responsibility for creating a powerful life, according to what that means to you. Imagine that.

Kahlil Gibran felt that kind of freedom. it’s been said many times that we all can if we would stop long enough to pull away from the world’s noises, and quiet our mind.

I read that it takes ten years to develop a skill. I wonder, does this mean any skill? Often, in the past, I would come across information of this sort. Information that could come in handy in a discussion. Do I ever manage to file it so that when I need all of the information I’ll have it? No. So be it. Let’s say ten years it is. For some situations it could be ten years, plus experience, unless the experience is included in the ten years. Think about it, ten years is not a long time, and during those years of studying we’re using the skill and getting better at it. And some learn faster than others.

Are we skilled yet? No? What skill do we want to have? Such a big choice, many fields – serious skills, all consuming skills, enjoyable skills, shake-up-the-world skills, shake-up your-world skills. What will it be? Imagine in ten years time a skill we’ve been steadily learning can impact our life in ways we can’t yet imagine.

Imagine that.

What is cancer all about? I’ve been closely following the journey of discovery with a special person who was told she has cancer. Is it a “psychological disease” as a friend recently said after spending weeks researching, studying treatments and speaking to people. And what exactly does “psychological disease” imply?

There’s so much information about cancer. When the research began, we knew nothing about cancer treatments, or about the disease. And discovered that at times oncologists are not in agreement with other oncologists regarding treatment, and people”s experiences with the same type of cancer are different. That can be a good thing because you begin to feel that you don’t need to box yourself in if you have different ideas about treatments. What would happen if my friend would let go and allow herself to be utterly free – nothing – no thing holding her, restricting her in any way, free to choose.

Pupul Jayakar wrote in her book, J. Krishnamurti A Biography, that as the time of Krishnamurti’s birth approached, his mother prepared the room, sang Teluga songs to her husband in her melodious voice, and rested on a mat. . . . ” And that “For eleven days of the prescribed period, the baby rested in an atmosphere that recreated the ambiance of the womb. He lay in semidarkness gently rocked in a cloth cradle next to his mother as in all Orthodox Hindu births. Krishnamurti’s entry into the dazzling light of the sun and the world was gradual.” www.jkrishnamurti.org

Sebastian, my grandson, entered the world on 25 May 2006. The delivery room at the hospital where he was born contained a happy staff. Ah, so important. There was a lot of merriment at the time of his birth, and Sebastian’s parents, Alicia and Michael, were alert, helpful and laughing, and the doctor was compassionate and encouraging throughout the delivery process. I’m sure that the little one felt joy in the room at the moment of his entrance. It seems a very kind way of starting life. Just as Krishnamurti’s mother prepared for his birth, Sebastian’s parents prepared in their own loving way for him.

Imagine that-you’ve finally arrived dear Sebastian! It’s an absolute delight to have you with us. May your life have-among other things-love, joy, compassion, understanding, beauty, harmony, success and abundance (in whatever those two words mean to you).

Welcome, Sebastian, to this fascinating world.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF US!

Imagine, we’re going into a New Year. Do we want it to be an extraordinary New Year? A different New Year? Let’s decide to focus on the things we want, and give up worry, doubt, negativity, and fear. The other way doesn’t work, I’ve tried it; just about all of us have tried it. We’re just passing through, only here for a short time, we can make it an amazing time.
We’ll beckon the intangibles to surround us -love, happiness, compassion, forgiveness, understanding, wisdom, harmony, beauty, abundance, fulfillment. . . . I’m grateful for 2005, and excited about 2006. You, too?

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF US.

“You succeed by harmonizing yourself with forces that are more powerful than you are, rather than by trying to force them to your will.” – Tim O’Reilly, KNOWING WHEN TO LET GO