Noticing Naming -- Part 9

Awareness is a key to unlocking the door into Presence.

When do we name? Notice!

For a lot of us, driving is a wonderful opportunity to notice. Do we Name or Label the drivers we see? Idiot! Jerk! Slowpoke! Speed Demon! Notice!

Do we Name that Red Light "Too Long!" Notice!

When you Notice, congratulations are in order. Not recriminations.

We all do it. But awareness is the key.

Back to Naming -- Part 8

Consider the tree.

Walking with a dear friend, we stop in front of a tree. It's a tree all right! That is its name. It doesn't think, "I am a tree." It just is.

We start to wonder. What kind of tree is this? I watch the tree dissolve into our minds as we discuss the possibilities.

When we analyze the thing, we usually kill it.

Staying Present -- Part 7

Just a side note here: if you can stay present in this distracting world, Peace will prevail inside you. Avoiding these Sins of Naming, Blaming, Comparing, and Complaining will help keep you present.

What a great present, no?

Naming -- Part 6

In his groundbreaking work, A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle writes: "This is most people's reality: As soon as something is perceived, it is named...You do not awaken spiritually until the compulsive and unconscious naming ceases, or at least until you become aware of it..."

There's the good news: since it feels quite impossible to cease the naming we are given a workable alternative. Awareness.

And that's the key to it all: Awareness. Presence. Peace.

What about when Naming feels right?

It usually does, at least to the simple self. That part of us that is totally immersed in the simple forms of this world. The part of us which has a Name.

Is it any wonder that our Name-self loves to Name?

Four Other Deadly Sins -- Part 5

Naming
Blaming
Comparing
Complaining

These four are ones I have chosen because I have noticed a theme in Eckhart Tolle, Byron Katie, Wayne Dyer -- writers who have a similar resonance -- and I have observed that when I "commit" one of these I am less in my true self and more in my Ego.

I am less present.

I am less peaceful.

Let's explore them!

The Finger Pointing at the Moon -- Part 4

“All instruction is but a finger pointing to the moon; and those whose gaze is fixed upon the pointer will never see beyond. Even let him catch sight of the moon, and still he cannot see its beauty.” — Buddha

Please keep the Buddha's "pointer of pointers" in mind while reading these words and all that follow.

I'll post this quote from time to time. Good idea?

Why Sins? -- Part 3

Archery term. Sin. To the left. You missed the mark! You're not a bad person, you're not going to hell.

Church and Community have loaded the word with artificially high levels of negativity. We think of Sin as something which, once committed, is a stain, a low-water mark in our lives.

Better to regard it as Something to Avoid instead of Something to Cultivate. As we delve more deeply into the Other Deadly Sins, keep that in mind.

Something else to keep in mind: Words are only pointers.

Why Deadly? -- Part 2

Luxuria, Superbia, Gula, Ira, Invidia, Avaritia, & Acedia. Sounds like an Italian law firm, but no. These are the traditional Seven Deadly Sins in Latin.

The Catholic Church considered them deadly because they destroyed a life of grace and threatened eternal damnation to those who indulged. At one time, the church could, for a price, help out with some of the lesser sins. You pays your money and you gets your indulgences.

The 4 Deadly Sins -- Part 1

We all commit them. We all know them. We all adore them.

The Four Deadly Sins. Not part of the Seven. Nothing quite that obvious and avoidable. Feeling Lusty? Go to the gym and sweat it off. Feeling Gluttonous? Get thee to a Weight Watchers meeting!

No, these four are particularly deadly because they are so common. In fact, most people might defend them as natural, normal, human. And they are. They are also insidious.

They are also deadly.

They are deadly to our peace. They are deadly to our joy. They kill our serenity.