Why Buddhism Is True

Now that I'm not in school anymore (a blog posting for another time) I have lots of free time to pursue interests and loves I haven't had the time for. One love is reading. I got my love for reading at an early age. My dad was a voracious and fast reader (I'm quite a slow reader.) He could easily read two books or more in a day! My mother was the town librarian for many years, so I was surrounded by readers and reading.  I'm a voracious reader, as well, but I haven't had time for leisure reading in over two years. Now that the holidaze (note the spelling on that. LOL!) I have ample time to dive back in. I will read anything and everything from comic books and biographies to history (Revolutionary War history is one of my favorite history topics!) and science fiction. 

I'm an inherently curious person, and my interest in the self runs deep. Buddhism, mindfulness, nonattachment, meditation, metaphysics mixed with anatomy, chemistry, and even mind-altering/mind-expanding drugs; these are topics that fascinate me to no end. Exploring the depths of the mind-body connection/experience is a source of endless fascination and curiosity. I truly believe there is “more going on” than we can see, or allow ourselves to see. 

That said, my first book to relaunch my “reading career” is Why Buddhism Is True by Robert Wright. My friend of almost 40 years, Dan, sent me the book knowing it would something I would enjoy. Thank you so much, Dan. Now, let the reading begin!

Being Angry At Anger

Incredibly wise words from my good friend Dan.

Shinrin Yoku, Part 2

I just started reading this book my good friend Dan sent me. He knows me so well. It’s a fascinating look at how we not only need nature, but how nature and humans are equals. The Japanese concept of forest bathing is now being regarded as an integral part of our physical and spiritual balance. A fascinating and enlightening read!

They Remain Rooted

Here is a meme I created of a poem by my lifelong friend, Dan Hagen. Enjoy! To view his posting of this, visit here.

The Power of Words

A nice parable about the power of words as relayed by my friend Dan.

“Once a master was called to heal a sick child with a few words of prayer. A skeptic in the crowd observed it all and expressed doubts about such a superficial way of healing. The master turned to him and said, ‘You know nothing of these matters. You are an ignorant fool.’ The skeptic became very upset. He turned red and shook with anger. Before he could gather himself to reply, however, the master spoke again, asking, ‘When one word has the power to make you hot and angry, why should not another word have the power to heal?’”
— Jack Kornfield

The Power of Dreams

I'm a believer in the message and power of dreams. Metaphor is a potent form of non-verbal communication and I think that's what dreams are. It's our unconscious mind's way of communicating with the conscious self.

I share a good many of my dreams with my friend Dan. He too is a believer in the power of dreams as I am. I discussed with him a dream I had last night, and our conversation helped me understand the full meaning of it.

I dreamed last night that I was trying to sew patches of fabric onto a glass window pane. The needle kept breaking and I was unable to get the patches sewn onto the glass. Dan's take was that the window represents light, sight, and clarity. My interpretation was to stop trying to do things that don't work for me. Dan replied that perhaps it meant to stop doing things that aren't working while reaching for the light. Combining the two notions I came to the conclusion that the dream meant to stop doing things (trying to sew fabric onto glass) that were blocking me from the realization of my goals (letting the light in).

If we have the curiosity and patience to investigate the meaning behind the message of our dreams, we can unlock a great many things.

The Russian Nesting Dolls of Worrying What Others Think

Over the past year and a half I've been undergoing major changes and awakenings, embracing my better, truer, and happier self. This is a process that began about ten years ago. A process that I have come to understand as not one with a destination, but one that is an ongoing journey. In the various reading I do on and offline I always come across one point that makes every "How To Be Happier" list. That is: stop worrying about what others think of you. 

Easy to say. Easy to understand. Not so easy to do. I've always been aware of the people pleaser inside me. Someone so concerned with what everyone else wanted and needed. Someone so worried about what everyone else would think that I put my own desires and happinesses aside so they wouldn't be inconvenienced. Guess who was the one that always wound up unhappy and feeling unfulfilled? Through some deep introspection and rigorous honesty from the above mentioned journey, I know and understand where that desire comes from, and why I'm so concerned with what others think of me. That's a story for perhaps another posting, however.

What is important, and curious to me, is how deeply-rooted that worry about what others think of me was/is. It was easy to recognize the glaring, immediate ones. What if they don't like the dinner I prepared? What will people think of the sweater I'm wearing? What if he doesn't like the movie I suggested we see? Behind all of those questions was a fear of being rejected, not being liked, people being angry with me. 

As I progressed in my journey of self-discovery and understanding, I came across deeper, more subtle, and dare I say sneaky places where the fear of what others thought of me resided. Recently I decided to make a career change. I was burnt out and unhappy in my current field and wanted to move to something more fulfilling. Something more worthwhile. When I decided on what it would be I began taking college courses to fulfill my goal. All along, however, I felt a sheepishness, a sense of humiliation, an embarrassment about it. What would people think about me changing careers? He couldn't hack it in his current profession so he's running away. I worried what people would think if I took to long at the gym. Worried what my partner would think if I brought home the wrong kind of coffee creamer. Scared what people would think if I moved the date of a get together. It was constant and deep. I came to realize most everything I did had behind it the guilt and terror of what would people think. It was what I like to call the Russian Nesting Doll Syndrome. Open one and there's another. Open that one and there's another. Open that one and there's another still. And on and on it goes, never ending.

Each day I uncover some new area where I find my thinking has been subtly twisted by this fear of what others may think of me. It perplexes me and intrigues me. Its tentacles have reached almost every aspect of my life. The difference today is that I have stopped allowing myself to be hostage to that way of thinking. Recognition, understanding, and the ability to look into these places with honesty and openness, unafraid of what I will find strips these places of their hold on me. 

Quotes by two people come to mind. My friend Dan who says, "I can honestly say what other people think of me hasn't been a consideration of mine for years. Who cares? Many of them don't even know what to do with their own lives, let alone mine." And Eleanor Roosevelt so wisely advises, "You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do." 

I must agree with those philosophies. With conscious effort, mindfulness, nonattachment, and an honest desire to find out more about myself, my journey will be an adventurous one for sure. 

Gears In The Cosmic Clock

My friend Dan Hagen and I were discussing the cycle of life earlier today. We came to the conclusion that while the cosmos and the cycle of life is enormous, it is so small at the same time. Our place in it is an important and absolutely necessary one. We are like the tiny gears inside a clock that all turn independently, but ultimately make the larger mechanism run. The cycle and its synchronicities are so immense that we can't actually see them, but if we pay attention and look close enough we can see them by seeing their results. It's similar to looking at a faint star in the sky. We know it's there but if we stare directly at it we can't see it. If we look slightly to the side however, its beauty reveals itself. 

The Secrets of Bouncing back from Defeats

Thanks once again to my dear friend Dan Hagen for this article. It contains some very insightful and useful knowledge to help us understand ourselves and learn how to turn defeat into motivation.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast/201612/how-take-beating

Meditation and Yoga

A very nice article at the link below on the healing power of meditation and yoga, courtesy of my friend Dan Hagen. No doubt the pharma industry, who has been a former employer of mine, will do everything it can to poo poo this as it's not something that can be bottled, marketed and sold for billions of dollars in profits.

Benefits of Meditation and Yoga

Synchronicity

The Universe and the subconscious conspiring to echo an affirmation they want the conscious self to hear.

Quelling the Monkey Mind

Thanks to my good friend Dan Hagen for this amazing meme! Words we should all remember and strive to live by. 

Odin's Ravens: Attention Must Be Paid (For)

"Over the course of months, I’ve become increasingly convinced of the underrated existential importance of the simple act of shifting your attention.
For example, this morning I awoke before dawn, started the coffee and read a front page newspaper article about further cuts in higher education to be caused by the state’s terrible finances."

Click here for my friend Dan's early morning insights