‘Spirituality’ Category

My Favorite Quote

Here’s my favorite quote at the moment.

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.

“But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”

Siddhartha Guatama (The Buddha)

Edited: January 20th, 2008

Supermarket Catalogs and Enlightenment

I was shivering in a restaurant bar nearby the beach I had just surfed. As I absent-mindedly paged through a supermarket catalog, my partner told me the story of Milarepa, the great Tibetan monk.

Milarepa started out as a less than ethical sorcerer who spent 12 years in the Himalayas in “contemplative retreat” with just a cotton robe as atonement for his previous acts of “negative evolutionary momentum”. His growth from this long stint in the freezing mountains resulted in his being considered as the “first Tibetan to become a perfect Buddha within a single lifetime”.

As my partner told me this story I was gawking absent-mindedly at a catalog containing a garish mélange of shampoos, new and improved razors, and super powered toothpastes. The bright colors of the catalog clashed with the images of cotton robed monks living in below freezing conditions, wandering the snow covered mountains in open-toed sandals.

Suddenly the new and improved can openers, the super charged toothpastes, the extra cleaning power shampoos and gazillion rpm blenders looked strangely stupid and superfluous. Before the monk entered my consciousness I was looking at the catalog with mild interest for something that might be missing from my life. Semi-consciously I was grazing for that little something that might give my life the subtle lift I was sure it needed.

With the monk in mind the catalog looked like a junk store.

What could any of these synthetic products add to my true happiness? Would a can opener really make a difference to my authentic experience of life?

I didn’t think so. Yes, a can opener might be a prudent option, but as a filler, as something to quiet my deep longing for a genuine experience of personal awareness and growth and my aching, it was sadly lacking.

This is not to say the attractions of our modern lives are bad and evil, or even good and saintly. They just are. If you have a can to open, a can opener would probably help. But to unconsciously or unawarely assign a gadget a place in changing your life, or providing you with any of the experiences in life that really matter, you would most likely end up disappointed.

As with all things in life, balance is required. Keeping perspective on what will contribute to your deeper growth and genuine experience of life, and what will create a buzz for the moment to fill a hole, will allow you to chose the path of greatest growth and avoid the myopic fog of modern shortcuts and quick fixes. Be aware of your choices and the path you are choosing to experience self and life through.

Choose consciously that which you desire to bring into your life, and leave the unnecessary extras alone.

Edited: November 23rd, 2006

What Are You Living For?

I was watching Gladiator – you know the blockbuster where the Roman General Maximus goes through hell when he doesn’t accept the position of Emporer of Rome. His family is murdered, he is sold as a slave and forced to be a gladiator. He becomes an unwilling paid assasin. Watching the sunset with a fellow gladiator, he speaks of his wife and son who have are waiting for him the afterlife. It is clear that his positive reason for living is gone. His only drive, and what keeps him alive, is his desire for revenge on Commodius, the man who betrayed him, ordered his family murdered and stole his position of power.

Watching the sunset scene, realizing that Maximus’ real reason for living was gone, a question popped into my mind. “What are you living for?” A reasonable question to be sure. What am I living for? An uncomfortable question too. What do I contribute to this world? Why should I be granted the gift of life? What am I contributing to make this a better world?

Unbid, a vivid scene began playing in my mind. In front of me, behind a large, raised platform much like a judge’s bench in a modern courtroom sat a committee. The committee listened as a line of people came in one by one and spoke to them. I listened closely. The people who walked through were telling the committee what they did in their lives. They were explaining their value, their contribution to the world. I thought this strange. Why should a person have to tell someone else what they did with their life, what their contribution was? Is it not for each of us to live our lives as we see fit? What right has anyone to evaluate or even consider our contribution to the world?

But that was not the end of it. As I looked on, I realised this was not a simple enquiry. It was a matter of life and death. The committee’s job was to decide who lived and who didn’t. I’m not sure why – perhaps the world was overpopulated – but for human life to continue on earth the population had to be reduced. Those who were judged unfit by the committee would die.

To say that upset me a little would be a major understatement. I have to tell them what I do for a living and they judge whether its good enough or not? Who do they think they are? I’ll do whatever I like, thank you!

These lofty thoughts came crashing to the ground as the reality of the situation penetrated my indignation. There was no escape, no way out. Guards at the door, no windows, no exit, no magic trapdoors. Only the line of fire passed the judge’s bench.

At this point the vision left me and I came back to planet earth. What a relief! I don’t have to justify my existence. I don’t have to prove to anyone that my place on this earth is in any way productive or helpful to the human race or the harmonious survival of our planet. Or do I?

The question kept ringing in my ears, it wouldn’t leave me alone: What are you contributing to the world? If You had to walk past that committee what would you have said? Why should you be here? What are you living for?

These questions put my life and actions in a sharp new perspective. The feverish pursuit of the new car, the million dollars, the flashy gadgets, the power, the fame all took on an uncharacteristic pallor. What value are they if I am not of value? How can money or fame or power or the admiration of anyone else add anything to me that I don’t already have? If I don’t already have a sense of value from the inside, if I am not doing what I know is right for me, if I am not expressing my highest ideals and authentic self, what use is a material trinket as a temporary pedestal. All they will do is amplify the lie I am living.

Sobering thoughts aren’t they? Or as a good friend was fond of saying, “Hard but fair!” Yes, very hard, but very fair.

However, these gruesome thoughts have changed my way of thinking and looking at life. I’ve gone from “What’s in it for me?” to “How will what I do contribute to a better world? How can my life today send a ripple of harmony, upliftment, improvement or growth out into the world around me?” Surprisingly, this attitude adjustment has not caused existential anguish or late night gnashing of cosmetically enhanced teeth. It has brought a calmness, a genuine sense of value and self-confidence to my universe. I am no longer gaining my value from the reflection of the outer world and its lights and symbols. I am now a free man. Free to do what is right for me, knowing it is right with the world.

I can think of nothing worse than lying on my deathbed looking back over my life and seeing that I failed to make the world a better place. Seeing that I let my fickle desires for the beads and babbles seduce me. At the end, we all want to look back and be proud of our lives.

Today is where that journey begins.

Edited: January 16th, 2005