Suchness

Suchness

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This beautiful image was posted on Facebook with a quote from Rumi: “This place is as a dream of a sleeper”. It reminded of a quote, a haiku, from the Japanese poet Issa: “This dewdrop world, it may be a dewdrop, and yet ..”. I read that Issa wrote it after the death of his daughter. We recognise the illusion that the world is, the dreamlike, transient quality, we recognise the futility and the pain caused by attachment .. and yet there is still the ‘suchness’ of the moment, the quality of the relationship.

Recognising the suchness of our attachments they transcend themselves.

Humbleness

Humbleness

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“The humbleness of a warrior is not the humbleness of the beggar. The warrior lowers his head to no one, but at the same time, he doesn’t permit anyone to lower his head to him. The beggar, on the other hand, falls to his knees at the drop of a hat and scrapes the floor to anyone he deems to be higher; but at the same time, he demands that someone lower than him scrape the floor for him.” ~ Carlos Castaneda.

To be humble is not to see yourself as less than another or to undervalue your achievements; it is to see the meaninglessness of comparison and to be grateful for the powers within and without that have brought you to this point.

Emancipation Day

Emancipation Day

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“The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 ended slavery in the British Empire on August 1, 1834. Emancipation Day is widely observed in the British West Indies during the first week of August.” See Wikipedia. It’s a day worth commemorating and a day on with we should commit to freeing ourselves and all others from all forms of physical, psychological and economic enslavement.

The picture is of a monument to Cuffy the leader of a slave revolt in Guyana in 1763.

Stuff

Stuff

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I feel overwhelmed with stuff at the moment .. I’m looking for some stuff I want, specifically some software, among all the stuff I have. I remembered this piece by George Carlin:

Stuff is not just physical, it is also the behavioural habits and patterns of thought we have acquired. We hate to get rid of the old stuff even when we see it has become junk or maybe was junk in the first place.

I look at my stuff and think that getting rid of all that is going to be a long job.

Resolution: Stop buying unnecessary stuff!

Angels

Angels

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I’ve never seen a metaphysical angel but the metaphorical ones who see with empathy, compassion and love are rare enough and may be the only angels we need.

I continue the rather terrible habit of quoting things I have written elsewhere. This was a response to a quote on the Heaven and Hell FB page:

‎”Angels can recognize the nature of our unique essence on the basis of nothing more than a brief conversation with us. From hearing the tone of our voice angels sense what we love; and from hearing what we say, angels sense our level of understanding.”
 
-Emanuel Swedenborg, True Christianity, Vol. 2

I can’t judge the reality of Swedenborg’s claim to have seen the Afterlife but I believe that we have the capacity to make heaven or hell right here; that we can be angels or demons. To be either an angel or a demon requires considerable personal power. Angels and demons both carry a flame but one enlightens and the other burns.

Loving Clouds

Loving Clouds

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Someone’s Facebook post. I thought I should add:

To go beyond desiring, instead of saying ‘the clouds are clearing’ say ‘these clouds are awesome’.

Maybe if we slow down and become less involved in our personal stories we can really feel how awesome everything is no matter what happens.

The Practice, the Work and the Love

The Practice, the Work and the Love

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A beautiful image. Time to meditate, slow down, do the work. This is sufficient.

Bad habits are the worst enemies you can have. You are punished by those habits. They make you do things you do not want to do, and leave you to suffer the consequences. You must drop bad habits and leave them behind you as you move forward. Every day should be a transition from old habits to better habits. Make a solemn resolution to keep only those habits that are for your highest good.

I saw this post from Divine Evolution. I was thinking about my bad habits and it seemed to speak to me. Another Divine Evolution post said:

The best way to get rid of your undesirable tendencies is not to think about them; do not acknowledge them. Never concede that a habit has a hold on you….You must develop “won’t” habits. And stay away from those things that stimulate bad habits.

Therefore I should not focus on bad habits, on my negatives. Focus on the practice, the work and the love, and let those things define me to myself and others.

Make the decision that you’ll no longer use excuses to keep you from what you know is in your best interest. Today, act on something you’ve always avoided and explained away with a convenient excuse. Make a phone call you’ve been putting off, write a letter to a friend, put on a pair of walking shoes and go for a stroll, clean out your closet–do something you’ve been justifying not doing with excuses.
Divine Evolution

Often my bad habits are excuses for not doing what is in my best interest.

A link from the Divine Evolution FB page led to an article by Swami Kriyananda that gave this advice on habit:

A strong affirmation of will can change old habits in a day—so my Guru once told me when I said I wanted to overcome a fault in myself. Indeed, strong affirmation can change those patterns with a single breath!

My running has become a key part of my Practice and I believe that it has changed what some would term my energy or vibration. I now need to deepen that Practice with regular and more intense meditation and yoga. If a door has been opened .. and if I believe it is the case then it is so .. then I must take advantage of it to explore spiritual practice.

I Had Hair Then

I Had Hair Then

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The first picture shows me at the right end of the middle row. It is maybe 1970 or 1971. I am in the Sixth Form at Ernest Bevin Comprehensive School in Tooting.

The second picture shows me in late 1988 or 1989 since I’m with Daniel and he looks about a year old.

On Saturday I was looking through my papers and some old photos. Trying to file stuff but constantly being distracted, drawn into memories.

Some people say, very kindly I think, that I still look like I’m in my 30s but I don’t think so. The picture shows that I was much better looking in my 30s and had hair. Things started to go to pot-belly when I hit 40. Now I’m 59 and thinking back, I have not achieved what I wanted to achieve by this age. I did not want specific things; I wanted to be a better and more accomplished person. That sounds like regret but it is not, or if it is then it is very slight.

Last Friday I attended the funeral of a very accomplished Guyanese man, Dr Edward Simon, who seemed to have lived a long and exemplary life with great determination, dedication and discipline. These are qualities that I have lacked. However I am increasingly accepting where I am and I increasingly know who I am. I recognise the futility and fallacy of regret in a deep way.

NYPO Page Infographic

NYPO Page Infographic

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This is an ‘infographic’ for the NYPO Facebook page. The page is managed by Kiran Patel and is making a lot of connections. I’m posting this however because I was thinking I could use the ‘infographic’ idea. I started looking at this after seeing an advert for Piktochart, an app that allows the user to adapt infographic templates. I remember though that mindmaps while being different may do most of what I want to do with infographics.