Why is the next moment going to be better than this one?
At least, that is how we behave most of the time. We've talked about red lights. How about the elevator?
If Heaven is not in the moment you press the button, if Heaven is not in the moment the door opens, if Heaven is not in the elevator as you travel to your floor...
Then where is Heaven?
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Goodbyes -- Part 17
Saying goodbyes and making it sacred.
Avoiding the sadness identification, enjoying the connection with what comes and goes, but no attachment.
Amazing how the comparing comes up! This is different from that. As opposed to this. It was a beginning. Now it is over.
Thank you.
Om Namah Shivaya
Avoiding the sadness identification, enjoying the connection with what comes and goes, but no attachment.
Amazing how the comparing comes up! This is different from that. As opposed to this. It was a beginning. Now it is over.
Thank you.
Om Namah Shivaya
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Complaining -- Part 16
We continue our theme!
Complaining is the way we strengthen the ego.
I'm not talking about asking someone to correct a mistake. "Actually, I wanted that one, not this one. Could you switch them?"
This becomes complaining when you can't let it go at that. You chastise the person. You tell and re-tell the story to friends and even strangers.
Customer Service research shows that when you have a positive experience you tell 4 people and if you have a negative one you tell 16. I bet these numbers are different now! With the internet you can post your bad experience and share with millions!
When I worked for eBay we would often get a request for a way to sort the feedback by the negative so they could all be in one place. Egos tend to respond to other egos, and complaining, negaivity, conflich...they are interesting to the ego. Peace and calm are not.
Any complaints?
Complaining is the way we strengthen the ego.
I'm not talking about asking someone to correct a mistake. "Actually, I wanted that one, not this one. Could you switch them?"
This becomes complaining when you can't let it go at that. You chastise the person. You tell and re-tell the story to friends and even strangers.
Customer Service research shows that when you have a positive experience you tell 4 people and if you have a negative one you tell 16. I bet these numbers are different now! With the internet you can post your bad experience and share with millions!
When I worked for eBay we would often get a request for a way to sort the feedback by the negative so they could all be in one place. Egos tend to respond to other egos, and complaining, negaivity, conflich...they are interesting to the ego. Peace and calm are not.
Any complaints?
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Aerobics for the Ego -- Part 15
It really is a kind of theme of these Deadly Sins. They are all ways of making the ego stronger. When we identify with them.
We're going to do it, we're going to compare, for example. I think someone once said "All comparisons are odious." Maybe it was me in an earlier post, but John Lydgate in his Debate between the horse, goose, and sheep, circa 1440 is the first recorded use. Shakespeare even uses it in Much Ado About Nothing.
We're in good company!
When we compare we are of necessity in the past. Otherwise, there is nothing to which to compare the present moment. But really, at the time of the comparison, the NOW in which we find ourselves has nothing to do with either of the things being compared.
You go out to dinner to a favorite restaurant. In most cases something will be different from the way you remembered the last visit. And the comparison starts. Either this visit was better than the last or not as good. Rarely does the mind settle for "sameness" because mind made ego is always looking for more. More better. More worse.
We're going to do it, we're going to compare, for example. I think someone once said "All comparisons are odious." Maybe it was me in an earlier post, but John Lydgate in his Debate between the horse, goose, and sheep, circa 1440 is the first recorded use. Shakespeare even uses it in Much Ado About Nothing.
We're in good company!
When we compare we are of necessity in the past. Otherwise, there is nothing to which to compare the present moment. But really, at the time of the comparison, the NOW in which we find ourselves has nothing to do with either of the things being compared.
You go out to dinner to a favorite restaurant. In most cases something will be different from the way you remembered the last visit. And the comparison starts. Either this visit was better than the last or not as good. Rarely does the mind settle for "sameness" because mind made ego is always looking for more. More better. More worse.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Comparing -- Part 14
This post isn't as good as the last post.
This blog isn't as current as some other blogs I've read. I wish I could update every day like some other bloggers do.
I'm doing better by remaining present than I did when I was more concerned about past and future.
I feel better these days because I've been getting more exercise than in the past.
Is comparing the only way to live?
This blog isn't as current as some other blogs I've read. I wish I could update every day like some other bloggers do.
I'm doing better by remaining present than I did when I was more concerned about past and future.
I feel better these days because I've been getting more exercise than in the past.
Is comparing the only way to live?
Monday, February 16, 2009
Accidents -- Part 13
Have you ever been in a car accident? What's the first thing your Mind starts doing? I mean after it's all over and you're sitting there waiting for the police.
Most of us start assigning blame. Either blaming the other person, the mailbox, that bush that hid the mailbox...sometimes we even blame ourselves. Rare, but we do.
How long until the blaming starts getting downright operatic? That's where the "if only" scenarios come in. If only I had not stopped for that latte, I wouldn't have crashed into this guy.
Like in the movie "Sliding Doors" where the heroine's life splits into two different stories based on whether or not she misses her train.
These mind games are perfect fodder for hours of pointless thinking.
Most of us start assigning blame. Either blaming the other person, the mailbox, that bush that hid the mailbox...sometimes we even blame ourselves. Rare, but we do.
How long until the blaming starts getting downright operatic? That's where the "if only" scenarios come in. If only I had not stopped for that latte, I wouldn't have crashed into this guy.
Like in the movie "Sliding Doors" where the heroine's life splits into two different stories based on whether or not she misses her train.
These mind games are perfect fodder for hours of pointless thinking.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Red Lights -- Part 12
You're late! We're all late from time to time. How do we react? Do we blame it on another driver, a wrong turn, bad directions, unreasonable traffic? How about that red light that never seems to change?
Red lights are a wonderful opportunity to practice presence. Mostly we approach them as a pause or a delay in our trip. They are certainly that as far as Mind is concerned.
So we wait. And when we wait we waste. We waste the precious present moment, the only thing there ever is...because we are waiting to get to the next moment. The one where we can take our foot off the brake and accelerate forward. On to the destination!
What ever happened to "It's The Journey That Matters, Not The Destination.?"
Red lights are a wonderful opportunity to practice presence. Mostly we approach them as a pause or a delay in our trip. They are certainly that as far as Mind is concerned.
So we wait. And when we wait we waste. We waste the precious present moment, the only thing there ever is...because we are waiting to get to the next moment. The one where we can take our foot off the brake and accelerate forward. On to the destination!
What ever happened to "It's The Journey That Matters, Not The Destination.?"
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