Love

Love is the only thing that really matters. The only thing. There are other things that matter. But love is the main thing. Love is the master key of the universe. Love makes everything else possible. So as much as you can, love yourself, love others, and love nature.
But wait a second ~ what is love?

Love, to me, is almost entirely impossible to characterize. So I'll just mention a few things that it does:

It makes me absolutely sick.
It makes me phenomenally happy and energized.
It makes me despair that I'll never find a partner and be in love.
It makes me incredibly hopeful and brave in my actions and my dreams for true love.
It makes me feel so sad and sorry for all the beings who are suffering in the world.
It makes me so joyful and happy for all the healthy, loving, beautiful people and beings in the world.
It makes me want to be a better person.
It makes me want to create a better world.
It rips apart my bullshit and makes irrellavent the things that I wrapped myself in before.
It liberates me from my old phony life.
It makes me a slave of its dictates to act, do, and live as a bold, loving person.
It makes me lose my appetite.
It gives me a new appetite - for intimacy, for connection, for communication., for communion.
It makes me want to build a nest so all the birds can come in and rest.
It makes me want to smash through walls that stop truth from coming through.
It hurts.
It pushes and squeezes me, prods and pokes me, nudges and nips at me.
I hate it.
I love it.

What am I supposed to do when I feel it?
 

Love

Love is the only thing that really matters. The only thing. There are other things that matter. But love is the main thing. Love is the master key of the universe. Love makes everything else possible. So as much as you can, love yourself, love others, and love nature.
But wait a second ~ what is love?

Love, to me, is almost entirely impossible to characterize. So I'll just mention a few things that it does:

It makes me absolutely sick.
It makes me phenomenally happy and energized.
It makes me despair that I'll never find a partner and be in love.
It makes me incredibly hopeful and brave in my actions and my dreams for true love.
It makes me feel so sad and sorry for all the beings who are suffering in the world.
It makes me so joyful and happy for all the healthy, loving, beautiful people and beings in the world.
It makes me want to be a better person.
It makes me want to create a better world.
It rips apart my bullshit and makes irrelevant the things that I wrapped myself in before.
It liberates me from my old phony life.
It makes me a slave of its dictates to act, do, and live as a bold, loving person.
It makes me lose my appetite.
It gives me a new appetite - for intimacy, for connection, for communication., for communion.
It makes me want to build a nest so all the birds can come in and rest.
It makes me want to smash through walls that stop truth from coming through.
It hurts.
It pushes and squeezes me, prods and pokes me, nudges and nips at me.
I hate it.
I love it.

What am I supposed to do when I feel it?
 

Politics Are Bullshit - But Only Because We Make It So

Recently, like many around me, I have been feeling the Bern... Why?

Well, here's this old guy who spent his whole life serving the country and really doing it well. And an old lady who has spent her life serving the country and really making a mess of things. Never mind the Republicans, they're all going to lose this race, in my opinion. So, as I see it, it's between Bernie and Hillary. But far more important is the how than the who.

If Bernie wins, it will be a win for the small donors, the positive campaign, the independent minded people, and for Progressive values. If Hillary wins, it will be a win for big money donors, for business as usual politics, and for...a woman. Not necessarily all women. But certainly a woman. Now, don't mistake me for being sexist here. I'm just saying that Hillary more for corporations than people - men or women. And considering her deep entrenchment in the Democratic political establishment, a victory for her wouldn't really feel like a victory for the truly progressive women's movement. It would feel like a victory for the corporations who have succeeded in leashing the Democratic Party and now the feminists are getting the corporate-approved tiara. 

Never mind burning your bra. Never mind radically rejecting and throwing off the bonds of paternal slavery. Just join the system, suck up to it, and do its bidding - and you shall have the mantle of power. Oooh goodie! And just to make sure people don't figure you out to be the Faux-Liberal that you are, make sure you do a few Progressive things here and there in the margins, as time permits. This is how I see Hillary and Bill Clinton. And this is the opposite of what Bernie Sanders is saying - and doing.

Bernie doesn't want or accept big money. He doesn't have a Super PAC. And he is boldly calling for universal healthcare, banking reform, campaign finance reform, a drawing down of our military action, free public college and university tuition, a huge infrastructure investment, and many many other truly bold and progressive measures. Will we get all those things? Probably not right away. But someday, we can all hope for these and much greater things. But it's brave and bold to stand up for what is right and true, especially this day and age. And that is why I've been inspired by him.

Because it's not just about politics. It's about people. It's about using our collective resources to make the world a better place for everyone. That's the purpose of government. If the government doesn't do that, then what purpose is it serving?

"I am willing to lie, cheat and swindle my way to a position of power to make the world a better place."

Does that sound like a good compromise to you? Sadly, that's probably among the most enlightened viewpoints currently taken by politicians... Until Bernie came along and made everything in this race about one thing: serving the people.

Start to Begin

If you never get started, then you cannot begin.

So, get started.

But how to get started?

That's a good question. Perhaps even just asking that question is getting you on the path to beginning...

But really, the best way is just to take a small action. Don't do something don'table. Do something doable. 

Then, you have begun.

Momentum is created. This is the best chance to take further action. The next step will be helped along by the last one.

However, if you don't take another step, the momentum will wind down. Like a pool ball on the green velvet, there is friction that will slowly bring that ball to a stop.

So keep the ball rolling! And it will be easier and easier to go farther and faster with each nudge.

Do a little something positive. That will lead to another something positive. And then you're not just kicking a pool ball down the road but a snowball!

And then look out - it might just roll down the hill and you might not have to do a thing to have the most wild success you could ever imagine. And you could just say, "All I did was start and it began."

And every day it begins again...

Step One

You are alive.

You are awake.

You are aware.

You ARE.

Okay, that's step one. Let me know when you get to step one. Then we'll get to step two...

To really know this is a lot. It's pretty huge. To really feeeeel into our bodies, our environment, our existence. That's no small task. It's much easier to shrink away.

And so that would be step one for anyone - to become fully present to their life. To become aware of the world that is out beyond the thinking mind and the "me" ego self. To connect with something larger - something infinite. Beyond time, beyond space, beyond context.

Beyond...

Then we can start talking about how to manifest that being in this world. It's no use talking about what to do if you don't know how to be. Nonetheless, the doing of this being is the ultimate goal. You're not really supposed to just sit around on your but meditating all day. Nor are you supposed to be running around all over the place having never grounded yourself in reality and the true nature of your being... There's a balance that must be struck. And in the warp and woof of daily life - real life - our task is to carve out these tiny moments of awareness and create for ourselves a new spaciousness, a new timelessness. Then we can act from there and make things better on the planet. But from my perspective you can start anywhere. You can start acting and then find that you need more beingness. Or you can start being and realize you need to start acting. Either way, you sure do gotta move!

Spirituality and Dentistry

Today I went to the dentist.

What Exactly Are We Seeking?

Today I sat in a satsang with Adyashanti, and he related to the participants that actually, most of our activity out there in the world, including seeking, is basically a way of avoiding ourselves. It is through seeking that we avoid what we are looking for. What we are looking for is the end of seeking. What we desire is the end of attachment to desire. We just want peace. But we feel that the only way to get it is to do something first.