As one of the first lines in A Course in Miracles states: ”Nonexistence, by it’s very essence, cannot exist”.
In order to help wrap one’s head around this concept, please consider a thermometer.
A thermometer measures the presence of heat. It does not measure the presence of ‘cold’, since ‘cold’ is not really a thing. ‘Cold’ is the term that we use to mean the absence of a thing; heat.
Heat vs. Cold
Light vs. Dark
Existence vs. Nonexistence
Love vs. Hate
Truth vs. Falsehood
Consider these each as single variables which indicate the degree of the presence of a thing.
Nonexistence/Falsity is to Reality/Truth as Darkness is to Light.
One cannot aim darkness at light and cover a room in shadow.
The difficulty lies in telling the difference between appearance and essence.
All of these variables appear to have opposites, however, Truth cannot have an opposite. By virtue of a thing’s existence it would also fall under the category of Truth/Reality.
Buddha taught that “suffering exists, but none who suffer”
Suffering exists, but the experience of suffering does not.
'The experience of suffering' is to 'Acceptance of what is' as Cold is to Heat.
Everything is real.
Seeing things as ‘not real’ is just the absence of acknowledging them as being real.
Illusions are real.
In order to transcend illusions we cannot imagine that they are not real.
“You can never know the Truth because you are the Truth….and yet…
…..the fact of the matter is that Truth cannot be described nor explained.
Truth is ‘What-Is’
There is nothing objective about truth, which essentially is pure subjectivity”
-Ramesh Balsekar
One of our core human needs is to be seen as real.
One the greatest feats we can accomplish is to see All as real.
Doubt, over-rationalizing, and denial all inhibit our ability to see reality.
Seeing things as real means that we are better able to quantify and qualify exactly what something is and what it means.
It becomes totally apparent that “This is an illusion” and “This is objective Truth”.
Doubt is a willingness to consider something as being ‘not real’.
Willingness to consider something as ‘not real’ is the absence of discernment.
Subjectivity and objectivity are the same thing.
-Rob
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
What is Thinking?
Awareness is like a field of potentiality.
You might imagine it like a thick fog, and whatever we can see in that fog is within our field of vision.
In the case of a very unevolved state of consciousness/awareness, the potential for certain thoughts to occur within the field is very limited; limited to the point where the odds of something happening are quite predictable. Black or white.
In being so predictable, one may believe that he’s decided that the thoughts were chosen or created by himself.
When an intention manifests, one becomes aligned with the pursuit of that intention, and so does his field of awareness.
We can imagine a bowling lane.
There’s a pursuit; a desire to knock over the pins. This desire pulls our attention/alignment in the direction of that pursuit.
So the thoughts which arise in the field relate to the alignment of the field.
When the potentiality is limited, and the thoughts are related to the intention, people still think that they are ‘thinking’. They believe that what happens to the bowling pins is the direct consequence of their intention.
Narrow awareness, specific intention, and low potentiality contribute to the idea that all which appears is very linear(i.e. I roll the ball, the pins fall over).
As the field of awareness expands, so does potentiality increase exponentially, dealing with ever greater numbers of variables.
Less predictability means that identification with the self as the source of the thoughts is less plausible.
One might still claim authorship of some of them, and attribute the rest to the influence of external factors. He still believes himself to be ‘thinking’, only there’s the notion that his thoughts are affected by things beyond his scope of awareness also.
The thoughts are still governed by his alignment, though the scope of his field of awareness expands further than the scope of his attention/focus(similar to a person’s peripheral vision). There’s a consideration for factors outside the narrow focus of the core intention.
Factors which exist outside the scope of the overall intention may have appeal, which can lead to a realignment of the immediate intention, unlike in the case of a narrow awareness, where one is concerned only with getting that which is in his immediate attention.
The person still believes that he’s doing the thinking, since the thoughts that arise in consciousness are still related to the ever changing alignment. He believes that he’s picking the directions that are most ‘good’(eventhough one cannot change what he thinks is good, against his own good judgement!).
With ever greater expansion of awareness, many possibilities begin to appear favourable, so the overall intention/alignment is forced into expansion as well.
The overall intent becomes ‘service to the greater good’ as there’s a recognition that the individual doesn’t ‘decide’ what is best/what is good, but rather, that there’s an overall goodness which prevails in the field completely of its own.
This letting go of the will to ‘decide’ what is good, is the beginning of disidentification from thought. The individual becomes aware that he is not the sum of his thoughts.
There still appears to be ‘thinking’ though, since the thoughts which arise in awareness at least appear to relate to eachother, even if not to the intention of the individual.
When consciousness keeps expanding even further, to the point where ‘all that exists’ is something comprehensible, ‘thinking’ ceases. The timelessness of thought and awareness is witnessed as having been totally complete, always and forever.
Further yet, it’s realized that thought only ever made up 2% of the entire field of awareness, and that the rest of it was always just silent essence.
In terms of ‘potentiality’, just for the sake of clarification, it refers to the possibilities that may appear within a field of awareness, and the odds of that possibility coming into manifestation right ‘now’(Though it also refers to future possibility, it is not limited exclusively to future happenings. It is very much a quality of the ‘now’ as well).
The odds of a tree sprouting from your forehead in the instant that you’re reading this are pretty low, while the odds that you’ll continue the act of breathing are fairly high.
Awareness can expand across a threshold where even potentiality ceases to exist too, where the scope of one’s awareness is inclusive of Allness as being simultaneously manifest and unmanifest, since, for something to be manifest, there must also exist the potential for it to manifest.
Like data on a computer, just because the files are not being accessed at this moment, does not make the data any less existent. All of the past, present and future are registered in the timeless totality of consciousness.
…and it’s not so much that the future exists right now, as it is that all of the potentiality of the future exists right now.
For example, the death of the physical body might be immanent, but there are different files on the computer(potentialities) which dictate the means of that physical death.
We arrive at those different potentialities according to our alignment.
One of the most effective ways to potentiate the expansion of one’s consciousness beyond the limitations of thought, is to practice devotional surrender…which is essentially nothing more than alignment with divinity at whatever the cost.
In Peace,
-Rob
Addendum:
Since it seems to come up whenever people are ‘thinking’ about thinking, some thoughts on drugs and altered mental states:
Keeping with the fog metaphor, it would appear as though the effect of drugs, is that they temporarily dissolve the clouds so that the sun can shine through; so that the individual can experience some of the qualities of higher consciousness, without acually expanding his awareness.
Physiologically, the conditions of altered perception and presence of the drug are always concurrent…which is to say that the drug use and altered state are connected, yes, but that there’s no hard evidence to say that one causes the other. They’re simultaneous.(sometimes the mental condition can occur with a placebo, sometimes the presence of the drug has no apparent effect on perception…so one could theoretically lean one way more than the other, but it doesn’t appear conclusively governed by either the mind or the chemicals).
I wouldn’t know where to even start investigating this in order to find the bridge between consciousness and the body…and how exactly the drugs temporarily dissolve the fog of awareness…but such an effect seems to be why the altered states occur.
You might imagine it like a thick fog, and whatever we can see in that fog is within our field of vision.
In the case of a very unevolved state of consciousness/awareness, the potential for certain thoughts to occur within the field is very limited; limited to the point where the odds of something happening are quite predictable. Black or white.
In being so predictable, one may believe that he’s decided that the thoughts were chosen or created by himself.
When an intention manifests, one becomes aligned with the pursuit of that intention, and so does his field of awareness.
We can imagine a bowling lane.
There’s a pursuit; a desire to knock over the pins. This desire pulls our attention/alignment in the direction of that pursuit.
So the thoughts which arise in the field relate to the alignment of the field.
When the potentiality is limited, and the thoughts are related to the intention, people still think that they are ‘thinking’. They believe that what happens to the bowling pins is the direct consequence of their intention.
Narrow awareness, specific intention, and low potentiality contribute to the idea that all which appears is very linear(i.e. I roll the ball, the pins fall over).
As the field of awareness expands, so does potentiality increase exponentially, dealing with ever greater numbers of variables.
Less predictability means that identification with the self as the source of the thoughts is less plausible.
One might still claim authorship of some of them, and attribute the rest to the influence of external factors. He still believes himself to be ‘thinking’, only there’s the notion that his thoughts are affected by things beyond his scope of awareness also.
The thoughts are still governed by his alignment, though the scope of his field of awareness expands further than the scope of his attention/focus(similar to a person’s peripheral vision). There’s a consideration for factors outside the narrow focus of the core intention.
Factors which exist outside the scope of the overall intention may have appeal, which can lead to a realignment of the immediate intention, unlike in the case of a narrow awareness, where one is concerned only with getting that which is in his immediate attention.
The person still believes that he’s doing the thinking, since the thoughts that arise in consciousness are still related to the ever changing alignment. He believes that he’s picking the directions that are most ‘good’(eventhough one cannot change what he thinks is good, against his own good judgement!).
With ever greater expansion of awareness, many possibilities begin to appear favourable, so the overall intention/alignment is forced into expansion as well.
The overall intent becomes ‘service to the greater good’ as there’s a recognition that the individual doesn’t ‘decide’ what is best/what is good, but rather, that there’s an overall goodness which prevails in the field completely of its own.
This letting go of the will to ‘decide’ what is good, is the beginning of disidentification from thought. The individual becomes aware that he is not the sum of his thoughts.
There still appears to be ‘thinking’ though, since the thoughts which arise in awareness at least appear to relate to eachother, even if not to the intention of the individual.
When consciousness keeps expanding even further, to the point where ‘all that exists’ is something comprehensible, ‘thinking’ ceases. The timelessness of thought and awareness is witnessed as having been totally complete, always and forever.
Further yet, it’s realized that thought only ever made up 2% of the entire field of awareness, and that the rest of it was always just silent essence.
In terms of ‘potentiality’, just for the sake of clarification, it refers to the possibilities that may appear within a field of awareness, and the odds of that possibility coming into manifestation right ‘now’(Though it also refers to future possibility, it is not limited exclusively to future happenings. It is very much a quality of the ‘now’ as well).
The odds of a tree sprouting from your forehead in the instant that you’re reading this are pretty low, while the odds that you’ll continue the act of breathing are fairly high.
Awareness can expand across a threshold where even potentiality ceases to exist too, where the scope of one’s awareness is inclusive of Allness as being simultaneously manifest and unmanifest, since, for something to be manifest, there must also exist the potential for it to manifest.
Like data on a computer, just because the files are not being accessed at this moment, does not make the data any less existent. All of the past, present and future are registered in the timeless totality of consciousness.
…and it’s not so much that the future exists right now, as it is that all of the potentiality of the future exists right now.
For example, the death of the physical body might be immanent, but there are different files on the computer(potentialities) which dictate the means of that physical death.
We arrive at those different potentialities according to our alignment.
One of the most effective ways to potentiate the expansion of one’s consciousness beyond the limitations of thought, is to practice devotional surrender…which is essentially nothing more than alignment with divinity at whatever the cost.
In Peace,
-Rob
Addendum:
Since it seems to come up whenever people are ‘thinking’ about thinking, some thoughts on drugs and altered mental states:
Keeping with the fog metaphor, it would appear as though the effect of drugs, is that they temporarily dissolve the clouds so that the sun can shine through; so that the individual can experience some of the qualities of higher consciousness, without acually expanding his awareness.
Physiologically, the conditions of altered perception and presence of the drug are always concurrent…which is to say that the drug use and altered state are connected, yes, but that there’s no hard evidence to say that one causes the other. They’re simultaneous.(sometimes the mental condition can occur with a placebo, sometimes the presence of the drug has no apparent effect on perception…so one could theoretically lean one way more than the other, but it doesn’t appear conclusively governed by either the mind or the chemicals).
I wouldn’t know where to even start investigating this in order to find the bridge between consciousness and the body…and how exactly the drugs temporarily dissolve the fog of awareness…but such an effect seems to be why the altered states occur.
Not One, Not Two
“All is One”
People often say this. Few attempt to substantiate the claim.
Mostly, it depends on context.
Clearly, there are more than one letter in this sentence…so in this context, all is not One.
Hundreds of billions of separate molecules are the building blocks for a lake…and yet the lake is a single mass of water.
One might observe the individual pieces as emergent alterations in an infinite pattern….so, although they can be percieved as many, they really are just one.
Some go so far as to say that the line between where I end and the computer screen begins gets awful blurry at particular stages in consciousness.
To the linear mind, this doesn’t make any sense at all.
We tend to say that we have a body more readily than we say that we are a body…but just for a moment, we can ask ourselves, “If I am a body, where do I end and my eyeball begin? Where do I end and my fingernail begin? Where does my hair end and my body begin? Am I my hair? or am I my eyeball?
Am I my brain? or am I my nerves?
So, the line between myself and my body can easily be blurred when we go deep enough into the illusion that we are our bodies…so why not the line between the body and the computer screen, right?….
The line where I end and the eyeball begins is the same line where I end and the rest of the universe begins.
It’s a scary notion though….because if beingness begins at the point where I end, then it’s quite possible that I don’t exist at all! ha ha
This would probably be the ‘Void’ that people refer to in high stages of consciousness…where the ‘I’ is really the formless substrate of reality that is the source of all beingness. Something coming from no thing…and so we resolve then, that nothingness must be ultimate reality….since something cannot come from no thing.
…but as consciousness forges onward, even further up the proverbial ladder, the notion of void, is transcended for a state of Allness.
Getting back to the title of the blog…’Not One, Not Two’, I think the gist of that notion points to the un-separateness of existence and essence…the dancer and her dance.
The dancer and the dance are two things, and yet they are one thing…for the dancer is only a dancer whilst she dances. All is One, and yet all is not One.
There’s a duality between duality and nonduality to be observed here…and it can only be resolved by identity with both notions as though they were the same notion.
-Rob
People often say this. Few attempt to substantiate the claim.
Mostly, it depends on context.
Clearly, there are more than one letter in this sentence…so in this context, all is not One.
Hundreds of billions of separate molecules are the building blocks for a lake…and yet the lake is a single mass of water.
One might observe the individual pieces as emergent alterations in an infinite pattern….so, although they can be percieved as many, they really are just one.
Some go so far as to say that the line between where I end and the computer screen begins gets awful blurry at particular stages in consciousness.
To the linear mind, this doesn’t make any sense at all.
We tend to say that we have a body more readily than we say that we are a body…but just for a moment, we can ask ourselves, “If I am a body, where do I end and my eyeball begin? Where do I end and my fingernail begin? Where does my hair end and my body begin? Am I my hair? or am I my eyeball?
Am I my brain? or am I my nerves?
So, the line between myself and my body can easily be blurred when we go deep enough into the illusion that we are our bodies…so why not the line between the body and the computer screen, right?….
The line where I end and the eyeball begins is the same line where I end and the rest of the universe begins.
It’s a scary notion though….because if beingness begins at the point where I end, then it’s quite possible that I don’t exist at all! ha ha
This would probably be the ‘Void’ that people refer to in high stages of consciousness…where the ‘I’ is really the formless substrate of reality that is the source of all beingness. Something coming from no thing…and so we resolve then, that nothingness must be ultimate reality….since something cannot come from no thing.
…but as consciousness forges onward, even further up the proverbial ladder, the notion of void, is transcended for a state of Allness.
Getting back to the title of the blog…’Not One, Not Two’, I think the gist of that notion points to the un-separateness of existence and essence…the dancer and her dance.
The dancer and the dance are two things, and yet they are one thing…for the dancer is only a dancer whilst she dances. All is One, and yet all is not One.
There’s a duality between duality and nonduality to be observed here…and it can only be resolved by identity with both notions as though they were the same notion.
-Rob
Genius: One of the Many Paths
Now, to begin, let us be clear that genius and high IQ are not the same phenomenon. –at least not in this context.
While a high IQ might reflect a vastness of experience and inherent ability to calculate and discern based on observable factors, genius is much simpler.
Genius is doing exactly what is most appropriate in any given situation.
Anyone can be a genius. Not everyone can have a soaring IQ.
It’s not uncommon for a genius to live out on the countryside, living very simply. A genius doesn’t try harder than is necessary, nor does a genius waste energy on laziness.
The beauty of the path, is that it draws one into Prescence.
Being in prescence is what is most approriate in any given situation.
Making calculations based on past memory and future expectation is not prescence. When one’s attention is not on ‘what is’ he is not present in the Now.
Now is the only chance anyone ever has to do anything, and the genius lives this truth.
Genius only works with that which is tangible. The present reality is the only tangible thing at anyone’s disposal. Being in prescence is the only access that one has to any of it!
So one might ask then, ”without consideration for past or future, how can one do the most appropriate thing?”
Consider the nature of the question…
What answer does it seek?
It seeks a future where one can do the most appropriate thing! It comes from a past where appropriate action perhaps was not always the case.
A question from the past; about the future.
In prescence, there is no question, and no answer! –only what is appropriate. As soon as one begins to view it as either a question or an answer, he’s no longer the moment! just a perspective of the moment. The unfolding of existence as experienced on the edge of that unfolding is prescence.
At this point, the paths of the heart, of the mind, of surrender and of negation, all merge into one. ‘Process’ dissolves into beingness.
From here, there is only the service of Grace.
-Rob
While a high IQ might reflect a vastness of experience and inherent ability to calculate and discern based on observable factors, genius is much simpler.
Genius is doing exactly what is most appropriate in any given situation.
Anyone can be a genius. Not everyone can have a soaring IQ.
It’s not uncommon for a genius to live out on the countryside, living very simply. A genius doesn’t try harder than is necessary, nor does a genius waste energy on laziness.
The beauty of the path, is that it draws one into Prescence.
Being in prescence is what is most approriate in any given situation.
Making calculations based on past memory and future expectation is not prescence. When one’s attention is not on ‘what is’ he is not present in the Now.
Now is the only chance anyone ever has to do anything, and the genius lives this truth.
Genius only works with that which is tangible. The present reality is the only tangible thing at anyone’s disposal. Being in prescence is the only access that one has to any of it!
So one might ask then, ”without consideration for past or future, how can one do the most appropriate thing?”
Consider the nature of the question…
What answer does it seek?
It seeks a future where one can do the most appropriate thing! It comes from a past where appropriate action perhaps was not always the case.
A question from the past; about the future.
In prescence, there is no question, and no answer! –only what is appropriate. As soon as one begins to view it as either a question or an answer, he’s no longer the moment! just a perspective of the moment. The unfolding of existence as experienced on the edge of that unfolding is prescence.
At this point, the paths of the heart, of the mind, of surrender and of negation, all merge into one. ‘Process’ dissolves into beingness.
From here, there is only the service of Grace.
-Rob
Questions and Answers
4 + 3 = 7
The left hand side of the equation is equal to the right hand side of the equation.
The same principle can be applied to virtually all questions and answers.
By understanding the question(left side), we have the answer(right side).
The question is equal to the answer.
One cannot even formulate a question if he’s not aware of the answer that the question is seeking.
One does not ask if cows are green when he wishes to know about sports cars.
As such, an extremely useful spiritual practice is to observe, document and analyze our questions. Explore the field that they have arisen out of.
Can I move on? = Courage
Can I remain unbiased? = Neutrality
Can I deal with this? = Acceptance
Should I go on? = Willingness
What does it mean? = Reason
Question = The Field
Then there are also fields that bring about questions of less integrity:
Am I better than you? = Pride
Why don’t I get what I want? = Anger
Can I have it? = Desire
Is it safe? = Fear
Can I ever be more than my mistakes? = Guilt
It is extremely useful to examine the field that a question arises from.
The only acceptable answer to any question is going to be one that arises out of the same field.
For those familiar with the Map of Consciousness, it is an especially helpful reference:
Between 500 and 600 there is a massive drop-off when it comes to the arising of questions. Beyond 600 it becomes very apparent that Truth can only be validated by identity with it and not by knowing about it. Complete surrender of one’s beingness to the Allness of existence is the process which carries him further. Contemplation occurs spontaneously, but there is no longer attatchment to questions or answers.
A boddhisatva deals with questions that arise out of the collective field rather than his own individual field(A boddhisatva is an enlightened one who remains in this realm by the will of Divinity, to lend assistance to mankind and the raising of its overall level of consciousness).
One of the main techniques of the boddhisatva is to simply recontextualize a question so that it becomes meaningless. On the map of consciousness, a question that arises out of Pride is quite meaningless once one looks at it from the perspective of Courage, or Neutrality, or any of the higher levels.
This is a technique that we can practice for ourselves once we have examined the field that the question has arisen out of. We can look at it from the perspectives of (in the context of: ) the higher levels of consciousness, and subsequently practice the surrender/release of those questions as they appear unimportant in this new light we have shone upon them.
-Rob
The left hand side of the equation is equal to the right hand side of the equation.
The same principle can be applied to virtually all questions and answers.
By understanding the question(left side), we have the answer(right side).
The question is equal to the answer.
One cannot even formulate a question if he’s not aware of the answer that the question is seeking.
One does not ask if cows are green when he wishes to know about sports cars.
As such, an extremely useful spiritual practice is to observe, document and analyze our questions. Explore the field that they have arisen out of.
Can I move on? = Courage
Can I remain unbiased? = Neutrality
Can I deal with this? = Acceptance
Should I go on? = Willingness
What does it mean? = Reason
Question = The Field
Then there are also fields that bring about questions of less integrity:
Am I better than you? = Pride
Why don’t I get what I want? = Anger
Can I have it? = Desire
Is it safe? = Fear
Can I ever be more than my mistakes? = Guilt
It is extremely useful to examine the field that a question arises from.
The only acceptable answer to any question is going to be one that arises out of the same field.
For those familiar with the Map of Consciousness, it is an especially helpful reference:
Between 500 and 600 there is a massive drop-off when it comes to the arising of questions. Beyond 600 it becomes very apparent that Truth can only be validated by identity with it and not by knowing about it. Complete surrender of one’s beingness to the Allness of existence is the process which carries him further. Contemplation occurs spontaneously, but there is no longer attatchment to questions or answers.
A boddhisatva deals with questions that arise out of the collective field rather than his own individual field(A boddhisatva is an enlightened one who remains in this realm by the will of Divinity, to lend assistance to mankind and the raising of its overall level of consciousness).
One of the main techniques of the boddhisatva is to simply recontextualize a question so that it becomes meaningless. On the map of consciousness, a question that arises out of Pride is quite meaningless once one looks at it from the perspective of Courage, or Neutrality, or any of the higher levels.
This is a technique that we can practice for ourselves once we have examined the field that the question has arisen out of. We can look at it from the perspectives of (in the context of: ) the higher levels of consciousness, and subsequently practice the surrender/release of those questions as they appear unimportant in this new light we have shone upon them.
-Rob
Humility
According to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, humility is best defined as ”a reverent love of the Truth.”
What a beautiful and appropriate definition.
-Rob
addendum:
On the topic of surrender, it seems to come up all the time where people ask “well how exactly does one surrender something?
Humbling oneself in the fashion that St. Bernard describes would seem to be a very effective way of surrendering.
To truly revere the Truth in this way is to surrender All to it.
St. Augustine once explained that, in the pursuit of holiness, three virtues are fundamental: the first being humility, the second being humility, and the third…humility!
What a beautiful and appropriate definition.
-Rob
addendum:
On the topic of surrender, it seems to come up all the time where people ask “well how exactly does one surrender something?
Humbling oneself in the fashion that St. Bernard describes would seem to be a very effective way of surrendering.
To truly revere the Truth in this way is to surrender All to it.
St. Augustine once explained that, in the pursuit of holiness, three virtues are fundamental: the first being humility, the second being humility, and the third…humility!
Creativity
In an interview with Deepak Chopra he once said something to the effect that ”creativity requires uncertainty; after all, with certainty, what room can there be for creativity?.”
The basic idea then, is to get something from nothing. Inspiration from the mundane; life from a pencil and paper; clarity from a mess; certain awesomeness from total unknowingness. Something from nothing. Creativity is a nonlinear process.
So the question comes up: “How can I be more creative?”
A wiser pursuit might be to experience creativity itself more deeply, since creativity itself is a constant. Everything arises spontaneously out of uncertainty in every instant. Therefore, to experience creativity more deeply requires alignment; finding agreement between one’s will and the nature of creativity itself.
As 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 so beautifully outlines the nature of Love, perhaps we might outline the nature of Creativity in the same spirit...
Firstly, creativity is not frustrated.
There’s no need to worry about fighting frustration though, just be concerned with fostering patience. The frustration will dissolve entirely of its own when patience begins to flower.
Creativity is patient, but not so much in the sense of waiting calmly, as in the sense of proceeding calmly.
Creativity is not impatient.
With creativity there’s no sense of urgency, but never any hesitation either.
Creativity is a phenomena that one participates in, not something which one can orchestrate.
Creativity is the music that is played though we, the instruments.
Creativity is not limited or conditional.
Creativity is spontaneous.
Creativity is not synonymous with wit or cleverness; they are its weak immitators. It never serves nonintegrous intent. Creativity is a phenomenon that is served by one’s willingness to participate in it.
Creativity is not retaliatory.
True creativity is influential.
True creativity serves God above all else.
Saint Hildegard of Bingen described herself as God’s Trumpet; an instrument for His work. Mother Theresa described herself as a pencil in the hand of God, writing the most beautiful love story.
It seems that such an approach is evident even with the most celebrated creators in history. As we have witnessed them creating, it always appears to be effortless. The works of Shakespeare are hardly the work of a methodical intellect, and yet they shine with brilliance. Creativity appears to flow through us, even though we often suggest that it has been executed by us.
The claim to authorship is often a difficult thing to surrender.
Even with our thoughts, it’s only in the instant after the fact that we claim authorship of the thoughts.
In ’The Power of Now’, Eckhart Tolle suggests an excersize which can help to reveal this lack of copyright that we have on just our own thoughts, not to mention the creativity that we claim to be our own.
He suggests that one merely sit quietly and try to predict what his next thought will be.
It’s really impossible.
So, surrendering the sense of authorship can only help to deepen one’s experience of creativity.
What seems to be at the core of creativity is a love and devotion to Divinity(whether that occurs consciously or unconsciously). In Love of God, all of life is experienced as creative unfoldment.
“God, make me an instrument of Your Love.”
In bearing witness to the ways that prayer is answered, every second of every day, we are blessed to see God; the Nature of nature, whose essence is Creation; whose Creation is “I”!
-Rob
The basic idea then, is to get something from nothing. Inspiration from the mundane; life from a pencil and paper; clarity from a mess; certain awesomeness from total unknowingness. Something from nothing. Creativity is a nonlinear process.
So the question comes up: “How can I be more creative?”
A wiser pursuit might be to experience creativity itself more deeply, since creativity itself is a constant. Everything arises spontaneously out of uncertainty in every instant. Therefore, to experience creativity more deeply requires alignment; finding agreement between one’s will and the nature of creativity itself.
As 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 so beautifully outlines the nature of Love, perhaps we might outline the nature of Creativity in the same spirit...
Firstly, creativity is not frustrated.
There’s no need to worry about fighting frustration though, just be concerned with fostering patience. The frustration will dissolve entirely of its own when patience begins to flower.
Creativity is patient, but not so much in the sense of waiting calmly, as in the sense of proceeding calmly.
Creativity is not impatient.
With creativity there’s no sense of urgency, but never any hesitation either.
Creativity is a phenomena that one participates in, not something which one can orchestrate.
Creativity is the music that is played though we, the instruments.
Creativity is not limited or conditional.
Creativity is spontaneous.
Creativity is not synonymous with wit or cleverness; they are its weak immitators. It never serves nonintegrous intent. Creativity is a phenomenon that is served by one’s willingness to participate in it.
Creativity is not retaliatory.
True creativity is influential.
True creativity serves God above all else.
Saint Hildegard of Bingen described herself as God’s Trumpet; an instrument for His work. Mother Theresa described herself as a pencil in the hand of God, writing the most beautiful love story.
It seems that such an approach is evident even with the most celebrated creators in history. As we have witnessed them creating, it always appears to be effortless. The works of Shakespeare are hardly the work of a methodical intellect, and yet they shine with brilliance. Creativity appears to flow through us, even though we often suggest that it has been executed by us.
The claim to authorship is often a difficult thing to surrender.
Even with our thoughts, it’s only in the instant after the fact that we claim authorship of the thoughts.
In ’The Power of Now’, Eckhart Tolle suggests an excersize which can help to reveal this lack of copyright that we have on just our own thoughts, not to mention the creativity that we claim to be our own.
He suggests that one merely sit quietly and try to predict what his next thought will be.
It’s really impossible.
So, surrendering the sense of authorship can only help to deepen one’s experience of creativity.
What seems to be at the core of creativity is a love and devotion to Divinity(whether that occurs consciously or unconsciously). In Love of God, all of life is experienced as creative unfoldment.
“God, make me an instrument of Your Love.”
In bearing witness to the ways that prayer is answered, every second of every day, we are blessed to see God; the Nature of nature, whose essence is Creation; whose Creation is “I”!
-Rob
The Absolute, The Relative and True Knowledge
If reality is infinite context, then the Absolute and the Relative are the same thing.
Assuming that reality is True Knowledge(not to be confused with knowledge about something), then reality must be that which can be known, not simply the sum of the things that we know about.
What can be known though? Everything appears to be subjective and relative.
I am.
Knowledge is Identity.
That I am is the only subjectively verifiable fact.
If reality is the sum of that which can be known,and all that can be known is that I am, then True Knowledge is to identify oneself as the totality of All that exists! including the accountability of all that exists!(an important distinction to make, simply that the ego isn’t the sum of the Self, but the Self is the sum of totality.)
As Christ taught, one must die unto oneself that he may truly live.
How can one live, without knowing life? How can one live, without being life, if this premise is indeed correct?
To die unto oneself then, is to relinquish attatchment to any limited identity.
“Truth is verifiable only by identity with it, not by knowing about it.” -David R. Hawkins
-Rob
Assuming that reality is True Knowledge(not to be confused with knowledge about something), then reality must be that which can be known, not simply the sum of the things that we know about.
What can be known though? Everything appears to be subjective and relative.
I am.
Knowledge is Identity.
That I am is the only subjectively verifiable fact.
If reality is the sum of that which can be known,and all that can be known is that I am, then True Knowledge is to identify oneself as the totality of All that exists! including the accountability of all that exists!(an important distinction to make, simply that the ego isn’t the sum of the Self, but the Self is the sum of totality.)
As Christ taught, one must die unto oneself that he may truly live.
How can one live, without knowing life? How can one live, without being life, if this premise is indeed correct?
To die unto oneself then, is to relinquish attatchment to any limited identity.
“Truth is verifiable only by identity with it, not by knowing about it.” -David R. Hawkins
-Rob
How to Know God
First off, it's impossible to prove God.
Second, knowing about God is not the same as knowing God.
Thirdly, God has a lot of immitators.
So, to start off with, it's important to figure out what it is that we're trying to know.
As God is classically defined, God is omniscient(all knowing), omnipotent(all powerful), and omnipresent(everywhere). Basically, God is a limitless phenomena.
All knowingness…
imagine all of the 'information' in the universe…all the information about how the world is, how the world was, and how the world can/will be.
It's common to say that the past is dead, and that the future doesn't exist…but consider potential for a moment. For anything to exist…for anything to happen…for anything to be conceptualized…the potential for it to exist…for it to happen…for it to be conceptualized, exists.
In order for these letters to appear on this page, the potential for them to appear on this page had to have already existed. Like files on a computer, the information exists even when it isn't being accessed. The potential for every possibe arrangement of everything exists in timelessness.
We can call this perfect organization of information 'omniscience'.
All Powerfulness…
At first glance, one could presume that omniscience might as well be synonymous with all powerfulness. However, if one wished to go a bit deeper, it wouldn't be amiss to outline more of the traits that constitute all powerfulness.
In order to be all powerful, it would seem that a thing would have to not be subject to threats. From 'A Course in Miracles' we're taught that “that which is real cannot be threatened”. Threatening realness cannot influence realness to cease being realness. Attacking realness cannot threaten realness. Truth is that which does not change.
The question of All-Powerfulness also raises an important question: the question of evil.
If God is all powerful, and all good, then why does God permit 'bad' things to happen?
The answer to this question is both simple and complex. Suffice it to say, for our purposes, that an omniscient Divinity would not operate in such a way that was contrary to perfect reason.
Buddha taught that 'suffering exists, but none who suffer'.
This lesson is integral to understanding All-Powerfulness. Surely, if we may percieve suffering, yet not be the actual subjects of that suffering(on a spiritual level), then we must consider the possibility that nothing which happens is actually bad, but rather, that everything which we percieve as 'bad' serves a plethora of divine purposes: to establish karmic opportunities; to achieve karmic equilibrium…essentialy to teach us.
That which is real cannot be threatened. It seems as though existence as we know it is all the evidence necessary in order to witness omnipotence. There is order to the universe after all. A tree sprout will not grow into an inside out hippopotamus after all.
Omnipresence…
It's the puzzle of locality. If everything exists in the universe, then what does the universe exist in? and what does that exist in? and so on.
At some point, locality has to arise out of nonlocality…just as it does in the mind when we imagine a table. We can imagine its hardness, its texture, its weight, its colour…and yet that table exists nowhere in discernable locality.
The fact that God is not provable, as circular as this may seem, is evidence for the nonlocality of Divinity. And if everything exists in nonlocality, then everything which exists occupies the same space as nonlocality. Omnipresence.
So omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence are all real phenomena…
timelessness…infiniteness…and nonlocality…all real phenomena…
These are essentially the Nature of nature. Divinity. God.
…so having established the basics of what we can know about God, how does one go about actually knowing God?
How does one appeal to the will of Divinity, when Divinity already has a perfect knowledge? It doesn't seem as though it would make sense for Divinity to go and change its will for someone whose will has already been anticipated…
How does one appeal to omnipotence? if everything already operates according to its unstoppable order?
“Truth is verifiable only by identity with it, not by knowing about it.” - David R. Hawkins.
To know God, one must surrender all disagreement with God's will.
To know God, one must surrender all resistance to God's power.
When God's will and one's own will are no longer dualistic…when God's power is no longer separate from one's own accountability, then one is One with God. There is no longer a knowing 'about'. There is only knowing.
…the only thing now, is that we must be weary of God's many immitators.
How to identify immitators of God:
if something has finite locality…as kind and loving as it may appear, it is not God(at best an expression of God's Love…but be sure to remain focused on God, and not simply the manifestation).
if something appeals to you by coersion/bribe/temptation, it is not God. God is all powerful, and has no need to seek your compliance.
if some force comes to you looking for answers, even if they are answers about yourself, it is not God. God knows you. At best, these questions may arise out of some desire to know yourself…at worst, they may come from some entity that would play on those questions to create doubt, and inflate its own importance in such a way as to inspire you to follow it.
if something is not expressing all goodness, it is not God. No suffering is the fault of God…it is the fault of false identification…of ego…of illusionary attatchments.
Basically, omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence and all-goodness are the qualities that we must keep in mind. If we maintain a focus on knowing these when we see them, then it can only follow that we will also know God.
-Rob
Second, knowing about God is not the same as knowing God.
Thirdly, God has a lot of immitators.
So, to start off with, it's important to figure out what it is that we're trying to know.
As God is classically defined, God is omniscient(all knowing), omnipotent(all powerful), and omnipresent(everywhere). Basically, God is a limitless phenomena.
All knowingness…
imagine all of the 'information' in the universe…all the information about how the world is, how the world was, and how the world can/will be.
It's common to say that the past is dead, and that the future doesn't exist…but consider potential for a moment. For anything to exist…for anything to happen…for anything to be conceptualized…the potential for it to exist…for it to happen…for it to be conceptualized, exists.
In order for these letters to appear on this page, the potential for them to appear on this page had to have already existed. Like files on a computer, the information exists even when it isn't being accessed. The potential for every possibe arrangement of everything exists in timelessness.
We can call this perfect organization of information 'omniscience'.
All Powerfulness…
At first glance, one could presume that omniscience might as well be synonymous with all powerfulness. However, if one wished to go a bit deeper, it wouldn't be amiss to outline more of the traits that constitute all powerfulness.
In order to be all powerful, it would seem that a thing would have to not be subject to threats. From 'A Course in Miracles' we're taught that “that which is real cannot be threatened”. Threatening realness cannot influence realness to cease being realness. Attacking realness cannot threaten realness. Truth is that which does not change.
The question of All-Powerfulness also raises an important question: the question of evil.
If God is all powerful, and all good, then why does God permit 'bad' things to happen?
The answer to this question is both simple and complex. Suffice it to say, for our purposes, that an omniscient Divinity would not operate in such a way that was contrary to perfect reason.
Buddha taught that 'suffering exists, but none who suffer'.
This lesson is integral to understanding All-Powerfulness. Surely, if we may percieve suffering, yet not be the actual subjects of that suffering(on a spiritual level), then we must consider the possibility that nothing which happens is actually bad, but rather, that everything which we percieve as 'bad' serves a plethora of divine purposes: to establish karmic opportunities; to achieve karmic equilibrium…essentialy to teach us.
That which is real cannot be threatened. It seems as though existence as we know it is all the evidence necessary in order to witness omnipotence. There is order to the universe after all. A tree sprout will not grow into an inside out hippopotamus after all.
Omnipresence…
It's the puzzle of locality. If everything exists in the universe, then what does the universe exist in? and what does that exist in? and so on.
At some point, locality has to arise out of nonlocality…just as it does in the mind when we imagine a table. We can imagine its hardness, its texture, its weight, its colour…and yet that table exists nowhere in discernable locality.
The fact that God is not provable, as circular as this may seem, is evidence for the nonlocality of Divinity. And if everything exists in nonlocality, then everything which exists occupies the same space as nonlocality. Omnipresence.
So omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence are all real phenomena…
timelessness…infiniteness…and nonlocality…all real phenomena…
These are essentially the Nature of nature. Divinity. God.
…so having established the basics of what we can know about God, how does one go about actually knowing God?
How does one appeal to the will of Divinity, when Divinity already has a perfect knowledge? It doesn't seem as though it would make sense for Divinity to go and change its will for someone whose will has already been anticipated…
How does one appeal to omnipotence? if everything already operates according to its unstoppable order?
“Truth is verifiable only by identity with it, not by knowing about it.” - David R. Hawkins.
To know God, one must surrender all disagreement with God's will.
To know God, one must surrender all resistance to God's power.
When God's will and one's own will are no longer dualistic…when God's power is no longer separate from one's own accountability, then one is One with God. There is no longer a knowing 'about'. There is only knowing.
…the only thing now, is that we must be weary of God's many immitators.
How to identify immitators of God:
if something has finite locality…as kind and loving as it may appear, it is not God(at best an expression of God's Love…but be sure to remain focused on God, and not simply the manifestation).
if something appeals to you by coersion/bribe/temptation, it is not God. God is all powerful, and has no need to seek your compliance.
if some force comes to you looking for answers, even if they are answers about yourself, it is not God. God knows you. At best, these questions may arise out of some desire to know yourself…at worst, they may come from some entity that would play on those questions to create doubt, and inflate its own importance in such a way as to inspire you to follow it.
if something is not expressing all goodness, it is not God. No suffering is the fault of God…it is the fault of false identification…of ego…of illusionary attatchments.
Basically, omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence and all-goodness are the qualities that we must keep in mind. If we maintain a focus on knowing these when we see them, then it can only follow that we will also know God.
-Rob
Monday, October 01, 2007
Poetry Collection
Here are most of the poems that I've written in my life...I'll probably update this entry a few times yet as I'm in a creative writing class where we write a new poem each week. Some of them are much better than others...written while carried by a wave of inspiration; others are forced, and it's probably clear which are which. At any rate, enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
attatchment
Humbly Waiting
Ego Blazing
I Know it will go away.
Patient with me, for one day I'll be ready
to be unready
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
nonconditional
experiencing the soft warmth of a flesh I have never touched
looking into the eyes of one with whom I've never spoke.
knowing the love intimately without having the love.
or do I?
Am I living the love, or is it passing me by?
It's no less real when it's no more shared.
or am I wrong.
I can't say I'm scared.
If it is meant to be there's no point to it anyways.
It's meant to be good, meant for a certain way.
If it's not meant to be, it's still meant to be right.
Freedom is not 'yes I will' it's 'I might'.
A love with no bounds,
A love that may never happen,
has happened.
A love that is perfect
is happy
whatever the outcome.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
acceptance
Smiling at praise.
Nod at criticism.
hold my thoughts still.
Wonder about things.
Bold my stance
Firm my stability
With silence and heavy eyes
gently my heart sings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How to Say Nothing, and Mean It
a point without a premise.
a premise without a point.
the intent has been set forth,
but the path is out of joint.
a premise without a point.
a point without a premise.
a shot without a target,
yields a hit that marks a miss.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Awareness
Silence
The song that needn't be played
Melody
In notes that can't be made
Beauty
As voices haven't sung
Peace
As It and I are One
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Terminus
a river of love
ebbs and flows
float with the current
wherever it goes
twisting and turning
effortlessly
in every direction
timeless beauty
with eloquent rhythm
softly it calls
lowering gently
over the falls
the current slows down
the river wide-opens
back to it's source
One with the Ocean
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One
What fortune found
To have a friend
Whereupon this journey
We could spend
A moment here
Seeing clear
The Silence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Surrender to Grace
gazing, full with wonder
aesthetic fluence in the world around
as a boat on the ocean
with waves the soul bounds
caress of the heavens
fills hearts of space
cognitive efforts
surrender to grace
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Love Poem
This feeling fills
It doth persist
A healing warmth
Vague as mist
Betroths this heart
A radiant field
All wants and needs
The feeler yields
He gives up All
So to embrace
A higher Truth
To bathe in Grace
He loves her not
It's not from him
Veritably
He feels on a whim
No, this Love subsists
Even when disaligned
It encompasses souls
So that they're combined
The caring endures
Glowing forth from his chest
By no will of his own
This union impressed
Her joy is his own
As hers is in he
Entangled by Love
Two drops meet in the sea.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Involvement
So involved in desire
So involved in the pain
So involved in the story of the hero once again
So involved we compete
So involved we show pride
So involved in the view that we have from outside
So we just let it in
So we just let it go
So we know that the mind is the screen for the show
So we bend with the wind
So we go with the flow
So we follow the plot that continues to grow
So the reel nears it's end
So the credits start to roll
So we find all along that we watched from the soul
So we've learned who we are
So we aren't what we see
So we're not so involved
So in truth we are free
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heart Chakra
A fire without sound
let spirit abound
pouring forth from the chest
by love at last found
thru the door of the soul
enter into the whole
as inside, all around
what the heavens extol
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Portrait
A dancer and her dance
Existence as one with her essence
Though it may not be apparent
Figuratively perfect
Since she does well not to realize it
of the moment she is fervent
Her mind is ripe
Humility makes her bold
her honesty the root component
She’s on the edge
Of discovering herself in this perspective
Seeing herself in the moment
Above and beyond
She’s all this and less
Words can’t relay what’s inherent
The paragon of woman
The epitome of God’s grace
Divinity’s crowning adornment
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This Love
As it comes
Loving you by loving the world
Yeah this love is what hearts are made for
Escaping eloquence gripping us tight
When it holds you it holds every child
When you breathe it’s what fills you inside
It’s the spirit that carries
the will that subsides
It’s the depth of your soul
And the light for your eyes
It’s the malleable stone
Soft hands work to the bone
Sculpting links in a chain that can lead us back home
It’s the wind in the forest
The sound of your voice
It’s the driver beside you
Your freedom of choice
And it flows
And it fills
Sometimes pushes
Sometimes gives
As it comes
Loving you by loving the world
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What to Bring to Work
An arbitrary assertion
'this is hard'
lame as can be
defeated at once by the force I call 'me'
is the puzzle inherently tough?
the Truth shall set me free
a prisoner of my impressions
is the honeycomb so complex to the bee?
why should this be such a challenging feat?
as easy as moving my arms
walking on my legs
turning a wrench
hauling kegs
no task is stronger than my mind
all work is as difficult as I find
when I bring it joy
it brings me peace
and when I bring love
the work loves me back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flo and I
"Nothing real can be threatened."
A phrase seared in my mind.
How it was so easy to accept, after the first time I saw her,
That we might never meet again.
Talk about impressions burned in the mind though!
Her love.
Her warmth.
Her kindness.
Radiant like the glow of the sun.
Something about her...
This encounter would change the course of my life.
I knew.
~
Almost a year later we met again.
"Wow. She is just..."
It seemed impossible that I let her go the first time.
Her Joy is now my soul's desire. My Self is hers.
A deep sense of living completeness...
Perhaps due to the way my spirit is reflected so clearly in hers;
Perhaps in the way our reciprocal strengths and hurdles compliment.
A nurturing wholeness.
Her heart has opened parts of me I never knew.
The journey into her soul and the road to mine are a singular path.
When once, the edge of my being was marked by a Mind,
Now it seems difficult to distinguish where I end and where she begins.
~
Freedom in the uncertainty of Life.
Anchored in the Truth of our Love
A phrase comes to mind...
"Nothing real can be threatened."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nondual
The indivisible totality of existence
as viewed through pinholes in the fabric of time.
A timeless, changeless, limitless whole
seems constrained – to the temporal, changing, limited mind.
Like frames on a film strip passing by...
The illusion. The excitement. The interest.
What’s to come? What’s to find?
Cassette in hand; the whole plot fulfilled.
listen,
as pa,
after par,
after part,
is spilled.
O Perception: the Great Constraint.
What of the Truth is there left to paint?
Do we think that we’re painters,
when in fact we’re the brush?
Do we think that we’re brushes,
when in fact we’re the push?
From the Artist’s hand,
to the Artist’s mind.
We step forth through the gate
then look back just to find,
That no gate e’er was there;
that before we were blind.
But who was blind?
With eternity found,
we are set free from time.
Where unending Silence,
is the stage for all sound.
Where from infinite Stillness,
is all movement found.
Where on eternal absence,
doth Light shine its face.
Where the world of form,
dwells in l-i-m-i-t-l-e-s-s Space .
Moving.
Changing.
Growing.
Learning.
Aging.
Appearing.
Artefacts of Totality nearing,
a realization of its true Self.
Nondual.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who Am I?
Perception the Bridge,
Or perception the Wall?
Which stands between me and the world.
Or is it a mirror,
Reflecting at me
My Self come completely unfurled?
Could I be an illusion?
A thoughtless conclusion?
A something which stands clear apart?
Or am I a question?
Pre-answer digestion,
A mystery from bottom to top?
Am I a persona?
Which stands quite alone?
A window to all that's outside?
Or am I a vessel
For something that's more?
Or have I just come for the ride?
Perhaps I'm a fish?
Could I be the water?
Or could I be both as a whole?
I might be a tooth,
Which can't bite itself.
A something that never may know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Squish. Hmm. Ha. Ahh. Good Karma.
Squish.
A life ends at the sole of my shoe.
No thought for its life.
No thought for its soul.
No thought for the life which once made the world whole.
Hmm.
Is there anything I can do?
Can I remedy this?
Can I pay for my crime?
Can I bring back its life? Can I go back in time?
Ha.
I could hold a bug funeral!
Would it ease my mind?
Would it please the bug?
Would it hold off the wrath that I'm due from above?
Ahh.
There's a lesson in this.
Thank-you bug.
Thank-you life.
Thank-you universe, for setting me right!
Wow.
Two lives begin at the soul of my being.
Reborn with awareness.
Reborn to care.
Reborn with a spider I was meant to meet there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Letting Go
Drop what's in my hand,
without a second thought.
But with layers
layers
layers of frustration,
hold on with all I've got.
Take the anger.
Grip it tighter.
Grip it tighter yet.
This feeling of discomfort;
Closed as a fist can get.
I open up my sweaty palm
and roll the object 'round.
Notice that it's not attached;
that I'm not tied or bound.
I am it,
or I have it.
Why struggle to hold on?
If I could only let it go,
my hurting would be... G o n e.
Find my comfort.
Focus Inward.
Live with open hand.
I needn't grip things any longer,
blown away like sand.
At core I'm silent,
I'm at Peace.
Air in a bubble,
finds r e l e a s e.
No more with pain or darkness,
no longer hurt by lies.
No longer blinded by scales,
which once covered my eyes.
This is what the wind feels like.
Unhindered by confine.
Set free all my frustrations;
they're here
but they're not mine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Perfect Tree
A sapling
guided up through soil by the sun
from its source in the ground to its source in the sky
to a spire from a seed, it becomes
In infancy the tree endures
over storm, step and struggle, life is won
recorded in the rings of time
trials help the tree to grow tall and strong
As it ages it seeks space to grow
solidly established it climbs on
ever longing to hug heaven's light
it opens up its arms one branch by one
It reaches up and reaches out
does not deny its shade to anyone
though not the tallest, thickest, or most picturesque
its service to the world is not undone
A perfect vision of itself
through birth and life and death goes Nature's son
an everlasting gesture of Her wealth
for in its wake we find new life begun
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Simple Life
V1
If you remember how love put the beat in your step
and how the rain never got your heart wet
you can go back to a time when we all got along
If you remember that love is the breath of this living song…
you can put all your pain in the past
and we'll carry on
V2
So open on up and let the love shine in
I know we've done it before-we're gonna do it again
Come on and live your peace, go on and shine that light
With just a little faith, we find that things go alright
I know that life is good for the soul
as we all grow on
Chorus
Just look at where we've come
Take your time
and understand
it's a simple life
Bridge
I know that you've got your handful of troubles
and you know that I've got mine
But when you look out for me, I can look out for you
Just got to trust in people, not much else we can do
'cuz when it all falls down, I'm gonna pick you up
you know that we're all brothers and that's more than enough
we'll just lean on each other as life
keeps on moving on
Chorus
Just look at where we've come
Take your time
and understand
it's a simple life
Take your time
and understand
it's a simple life
and things will work out right
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Emergence
Elementary particles
Created; not coloured
All alone they have nothing to show
But arranged as an atom
Bombarded by light
We witness a glorious glow
A single Molecule
Water; not wet
A pair of 'H' with a unit of 'O'
Limited.
Finite.
Alone.
So little to it
This lone unit
Some traits, only union bestows
An endless vacuum
There; not here
A volume without a divide
But fill it with objects
and orbits
and light
Then a context connects all inside
Though the vacuum has not a locale of its own
Its contents are spatially tied
Then what of Love?
Unconditional; under the right conditions
An emerging property too?
Does it only appear, between me and you?
Or is it always here?
Though it's not always clear?
Is emergence its coming to view?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Death and Loss
all the data of the holographic universe
stored in the quantum computer
whether it's accessed or not
though I know not all,
it is yet known,
just not by me
therein lies my bias
since I can't imagine death
to imagine the hollow;
the empty…
takes awareness
I just can't manage to smother the Self
long enough to allow
for the possibility of nothing
an after life?
after what?
can I ever evade the Now?
how?
even Loss,
I can't quite grasp
though fear of loss has made me gasp
if I say goodnight, is your love not mine?
how far apart, in space and time,
must someone be?
can we ever lose what we've set free?
as sure as I am that I can't lose you
you were never mine, this much is true
can I try the same on my Self too?
if I set me free
will I not be lost?
I do not know.
when did life even begin?
Now?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace
Simple kindness has no backlash
never leads to loss or despair
If I'm to be the change
it's kindness
that my world should get to wear
I can't just dream about it
it's something I must be
like the flame of a candle
lights another
to give myself
does not hurt me
To live with Peace does not consume
nor overwhelm
it does illume
it paints the world with Love and Light
does not divide the wrong and right
It ends all conflicts with forgiveness
melts all worry
caters to bliss
complete and perfect; life benign
in every moment – yours and mine
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey, Love!
V1
Hey, Tree! Come on and shine your shade
Give rest and comfort by your design
Let me hang from your branches
Let me roll in your leaves
Let me live life with freedom
Cherish the breeze
Chorus
…these are expressions, of Her embrace
Caress of the heavens, surrender to Grace
Hey, Love!
You're the silence in sound
The cure to my worries
You're all that's around
V2
Hey, Wind! Come on and give your touch
Lift up my spirits with your gentle push
Let me roar in your streams
Let me ride on your waves
Let me go your direction
Feel like I'm safe
V3
Hey, Rain! Come on and drip your scent
Wash me clean with refreshing descent
Let me be free of anger
Let me be free of pain
Set me free from resistance
And I'll be pure again
Bridge
The rain, it doesn't just fall on the bad
And the rose when she smiles…
It doesn't matter who you are
Or what your trial is
Just live Love
'Cuz that's what life is
V4
Hey, Sun! Come on and wrap that warmth
Blanket the world with nurturing arms
Let us comfort each other
Let us heal in your light
Let us change our direction
Live for what's right
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And there you have it! A bunch of Rob-Poetry!
Have a groovy-awesome day!
-Rob
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
attatchment
Humbly Waiting
Ego Blazing
I Know it will go away.
Patient with me, for one day I'll be ready
to be unready
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
nonconditional
experiencing the soft warmth of a flesh I have never touched
looking into the eyes of one with whom I've never spoke.
knowing the love intimately without having the love.
or do I?
Am I living the love, or is it passing me by?
It's no less real when it's no more shared.
or am I wrong.
I can't say I'm scared.
If it is meant to be there's no point to it anyways.
It's meant to be good, meant for a certain way.
If it's not meant to be, it's still meant to be right.
Freedom is not 'yes I will' it's 'I might'.
A love with no bounds,
A love that may never happen,
has happened.
A love that is perfect
is happy
whatever the outcome.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
acceptance
Smiling at praise.
Nod at criticism.
hold my thoughts still.
Wonder about things.
Bold my stance
Firm my stability
With silence and heavy eyes
gently my heart sings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How to Say Nothing, and Mean It
a point without a premise.
a premise without a point.
the intent has been set forth,
but the path is out of joint.
a premise without a point.
a point without a premise.
a shot without a target,
yields a hit that marks a miss.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Awareness
Silence
The song that needn't be played
Melody
In notes that can't be made
Beauty
As voices haven't sung
Peace
As It and I are One
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Terminus
a river of love
ebbs and flows
float with the current
wherever it goes
twisting and turning
effortlessly
in every direction
timeless beauty
with eloquent rhythm
softly it calls
lowering gently
over the falls
the current slows down
the river wide-opens
back to it's source
One with the Ocean
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One
What fortune found
To have a friend
Whereupon this journey
We could spend
A moment here
Seeing clear
The Silence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Surrender to Grace
gazing, full with wonder
aesthetic fluence in the world around
as a boat on the ocean
with waves the soul bounds
caress of the heavens
fills hearts of space
cognitive efforts
surrender to grace
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Love Poem
This feeling fills
It doth persist
A healing warmth
Vague as mist
Betroths this heart
A radiant field
All wants and needs
The feeler yields
He gives up All
So to embrace
A higher Truth
To bathe in Grace
He loves her not
It's not from him
Veritably
He feels on a whim
No, this Love subsists
Even when disaligned
It encompasses souls
So that they're combined
The caring endures
Glowing forth from his chest
By no will of his own
This union impressed
Her joy is his own
As hers is in he
Entangled by Love
Two drops meet in the sea.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Involvement
So involved in desire
So involved in the pain
So involved in the story of the hero once again
So involved we compete
So involved we show pride
So involved in the view that we have from outside
So we just let it in
So we just let it go
So we know that the mind is the screen for the show
So we bend with the wind
So we go with the flow
So we follow the plot that continues to grow
So the reel nears it's end
So the credits start to roll
So we find all along that we watched from the soul
So we've learned who we are
So we aren't what we see
So we're not so involved
So in truth we are free
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heart Chakra
A fire without sound
let spirit abound
pouring forth from the chest
by love at last found
thru the door of the soul
enter into the whole
as inside, all around
what the heavens extol
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Portrait
A dancer and her dance
Existence as one with her essence
Though it may not be apparent
Figuratively perfect
Since she does well not to realize it
of the moment she is fervent
Her mind is ripe
Humility makes her bold
her honesty the root component
She’s on the edge
Of discovering herself in this perspective
Seeing herself in the moment
Above and beyond
She’s all this and less
Words can’t relay what’s inherent
The paragon of woman
The epitome of God’s grace
Divinity’s crowning adornment
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This Love
As it comes
Loving you by loving the world
Yeah this love is what hearts are made for
Escaping eloquence gripping us tight
When it holds you it holds every child
When you breathe it’s what fills you inside
It’s the spirit that carries
the will that subsides
It’s the depth of your soul
And the light for your eyes
It’s the malleable stone
Soft hands work to the bone
Sculpting links in a chain that can lead us back home
It’s the wind in the forest
The sound of your voice
It’s the driver beside you
Your freedom of choice
And it flows
And it fills
Sometimes pushes
Sometimes gives
As it comes
Loving you by loving the world
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What to Bring to Work
An arbitrary assertion
'this is hard'
lame as can be
defeated at once by the force I call 'me'
is the puzzle inherently tough?
the Truth shall set me free
a prisoner of my impressions
is the honeycomb so complex to the bee?
why should this be such a challenging feat?
as easy as moving my arms
walking on my legs
turning a wrench
hauling kegs
no task is stronger than my mind
all work is as difficult as I find
when I bring it joy
it brings me peace
and when I bring love
the work loves me back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flo and I
"Nothing real can be threatened."
A phrase seared in my mind.
How it was so easy to accept, after the first time I saw her,
That we might never meet again.
Talk about impressions burned in the mind though!
Her love.
Her warmth.
Her kindness.
Radiant like the glow of the sun.
Something about her...
This encounter would change the course of my life.
I knew.
~
Almost a year later we met again.
"Wow. She is just..."
It seemed impossible that I let her go the first time.
Her Joy is now my soul's desire. My Self is hers.
A deep sense of living completeness...
Perhaps due to the way my spirit is reflected so clearly in hers;
Perhaps in the way our reciprocal strengths and hurdles compliment.
A nurturing wholeness.
Her heart has opened parts of me I never knew.
The journey into her soul and the road to mine are a singular path.
When once, the edge of my being was marked by a Mind,
Now it seems difficult to distinguish where I end and where she begins.
~
Freedom in the uncertainty of Life.
Anchored in the Truth of our Love
A phrase comes to mind...
"Nothing real can be threatened."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nondual
The indivisible totality of existence
as viewed through pinholes in the fabric of time.
A timeless, changeless, limitless whole
seems constrained – to the temporal, changing, limited mind.
Like frames on a film strip passing by...
The illusion. The excitement. The interest.
What’s to come? What’s to find?
Cassette in hand; the whole plot fulfilled.
listen,
as pa,
after par,
after part,
is spilled.
O Perception: the Great Constraint.
What of the Truth is there left to paint?
Do we think that we’re painters,
when in fact we’re the brush?
Do we think that we’re brushes,
when in fact we’re the push?
From the Artist’s hand,
to the Artist’s mind.
We step forth through the gate
then look back just to find,
That no gate e’er was there;
that before we were blind.
But who was blind?
With eternity found,
we are set free from time.
Where unending Silence,
is the stage for all sound.
Where from infinite Stillness,
is all movement found.
Where on eternal absence,
doth Light shine its face.
Where the world of form,
dwells in l-i-m-i-t-l-e-s-s Space .
Moving.
Changing.
Growing.
Learning.
Aging.
Appearing.
Artefacts of Totality nearing,
a realization of its true Self.
Nondual.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who Am I?
Perception the Bridge,
Or perception the Wall?
Which stands between me and the world.
Or is it a mirror,
Reflecting at me
My Self come completely unfurled?
Could I be an illusion?
A thoughtless conclusion?
A something which stands clear apart?
Or am I a question?
Pre-answer digestion,
A mystery from bottom to top?
Am I a persona?
Which stands quite alone?
A window to all that's outside?
Or am I a vessel
For something that's more?
Or have I just come for the ride?
Perhaps I'm a fish?
Could I be the water?
Or could I be both as a whole?
I might be a tooth,
Which can't bite itself.
A something that never may know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Squish. Hmm. Ha. Ahh. Good Karma.
Squish.
A life ends at the sole of my shoe.
No thought for its life.
No thought for its soul.
No thought for the life which once made the world whole.
Hmm.
Is there anything I can do?
Can I remedy this?
Can I pay for my crime?
Can I bring back its life? Can I go back in time?
Ha.
I could hold a bug funeral!
Would it ease my mind?
Would it please the bug?
Would it hold off the wrath that I'm due from above?
Ahh.
There's a lesson in this.
Thank-you bug.
Thank-you life.
Thank-you universe, for setting me right!
Wow.
Two lives begin at the soul of my being.
Reborn with awareness.
Reborn to care.
Reborn with a spider I was meant to meet there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Letting Go
Drop what's in my hand,
without a second thought.
But with layers
layers
layers of frustration,
hold on with all I've got.
Take the anger.
Grip it tighter.
Grip it tighter yet.
This feeling of discomfort;
Closed as a fist can get.
I open up my sweaty palm
and roll the object 'round.
Notice that it's not attached;
that I'm not tied or bound.
I am it,
or I have it.
Why struggle to hold on?
If I could only let it go,
my hurting would be... G o n e.
Find my comfort.
Focus Inward.
Live with open hand.
I needn't grip things any longer,
blown away like sand.
At core I'm silent,
I'm at Peace.
Air in a bubble,
finds r e l e a s e.
No more with pain or darkness,
no longer hurt by lies.
No longer blinded by scales,
which once covered my eyes.
This is what the wind feels like.
Unhindered by confine.
Set free all my frustrations;
they're here
but they're not mine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Perfect Tree
A sapling
guided up through soil by the sun
from its source in the ground to its source in the sky
to a spire from a seed, it becomes
In infancy the tree endures
over storm, step and struggle, life is won
recorded in the rings of time
trials help the tree to grow tall and strong
As it ages it seeks space to grow
solidly established it climbs on
ever longing to hug heaven's light
it opens up its arms one branch by one
It reaches up and reaches out
does not deny its shade to anyone
though not the tallest, thickest, or most picturesque
its service to the world is not undone
A perfect vision of itself
through birth and life and death goes Nature's son
an everlasting gesture of Her wealth
for in its wake we find new life begun
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Simple Life
V1
If you remember how love put the beat in your step
and how the rain never got your heart wet
you can go back to a time when we all got along
If you remember that love is the breath of this living song…
you can put all your pain in the past
and we'll carry on
V2
So open on up and let the love shine in
I know we've done it before-we're gonna do it again
Come on and live your peace, go on and shine that light
With just a little faith, we find that things go alright
I know that life is good for the soul
as we all grow on
Chorus
Just look at where we've come
Take your time
and understand
it's a simple life
Bridge
I know that you've got your handful of troubles
and you know that I've got mine
But when you look out for me, I can look out for you
Just got to trust in people, not much else we can do
'cuz when it all falls down, I'm gonna pick you up
you know that we're all brothers and that's more than enough
we'll just lean on each other as life
keeps on moving on
Chorus
Just look at where we've come
Take your time
and understand
it's a simple life
Take your time
and understand
it's a simple life
and things will work out right
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Emergence
Elementary particles
Created; not coloured
All alone they have nothing to show
But arranged as an atom
Bombarded by light
We witness a glorious glow
A single Molecule
Water; not wet
A pair of 'H' with a unit of 'O'
Limited.
Finite.
Alone.
So little to it
This lone unit
Some traits, only union bestows
An endless vacuum
There; not here
A volume without a divide
But fill it with objects
and orbits
and light
Then a context connects all inside
Though the vacuum has not a locale of its own
Its contents are spatially tied
Then what of Love?
Unconditional; under the right conditions
An emerging property too?
Does it only appear, between me and you?
Or is it always here?
Though it's not always clear?
Is emergence its coming to view?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Death and Loss
all the data of the holographic universe
stored in the quantum computer
whether it's accessed or not
though I know not all,
it is yet known,
just not by me
therein lies my bias
since I can't imagine death
to imagine the hollow;
the empty…
takes awareness
I just can't manage to smother the Self
long enough to allow
for the possibility of nothing
an after life?
after what?
can I ever evade the Now?
how?
even Loss,
I can't quite grasp
though fear of loss has made me gasp
if I say goodnight, is your love not mine?
how far apart, in space and time,
must someone be?
can we ever lose what we've set free?
as sure as I am that I can't lose you
you were never mine, this much is true
can I try the same on my Self too?
if I set me free
will I not be lost?
I do not know.
when did life even begin?
Now?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace
Simple kindness has no backlash
never leads to loss or despair
If I'm to be the change
it's kindness
that my world should get to wear
I can't just dream about it
it's something I must be
like the flame of a candle
lights another
to give myself
does not hurt me
To live with Peace does not consume
nor overwhelm
it does illume
it paints the world with Love and Light
does not divide the wrong and right
It ends all conflicts with forgiveness
melts all worry
caters to bliss
complete and perfect; life benign
in every moment – yours and mine
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey, Love!
V1
Hey, Tree! Come on and shine your shade
Give rest and comfort by your design
Let me hang from your branches
Let me roll in your leaves
Let me live life with freedom
Cherish the breeze
Chorus
…these are expressions, of Her embrace
Caress of the heavens, surrender to Grace
Hey, Love!
You're the silence in sound
The cure to my worries
You're all that's around
V2
Hey, Wind! Come on and give your touch
Lift up my spirits with your gentle push
Let me roar in your streams
Let me ride on your waves
Let me go your direction
Feel like I'm safe
V3
Hey, Rain! Come on and drip your scent
Wash me clean with refreshing descent
Let me be free of anger
Let me be free of pain
Set me free from resistance
And I'll be pure again
Bridge
The rain, it doesn't just fall on the bad
And the rose when she smiles…
It doesn't matter who you are
Or what your trial is
Just live Love
'Cuz that's what life is
V4
Hey, Sun! Come on and wrap that warmth
Blanket the world with nurturing arms
Let us comfort each other
Let us heal in your light
Let us change our direction
Live for what's right
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And there you have it! A bunch of Rob-Poetry!
Have a groovy-awesome day!
-Rob
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