On The Life of the Mind

There are at least two very distinct elements of our personal lives…the physical and the mental. The physical demands are quite recognizable; we must nourish ourselves; we must rest adequately, etc. None of this is rocket science because it is so obvious. We can, of course, override these demands but we learn, sooner or later, that we do so at our peril.

The seat of inspiration...
The life of the mind is another matter, although to not adequately care for its needs is perilous also. As a believer I think that our minds are the seat of inspiration. If Oneness is a spiritual truth, we are always subject to receiving what the Infinite Mind is constantly giving, and sometimes inspiration…that which has not yet made its way into physical form…is the natural outflow of that giving. It has been said of Mozart that his music manuscripts were neat and error free, as if he took them down by dictation. Then his inspiration became available in form to musicians and music lovers, and, as they say, the rest is history.

Their own kind of care...
I think we are subject to inspiration every day, every minute and if we were still enough, calm and open enough, forms that fit our interests would come to us all the time…sometimes in small ways, sometimes in much more outstanding ways. I also think that our minds, to be the wonderful receptacles that they are, need their own kind of care…clear, spiritual practices, the choice to think in life-affirming ways, value of our connection to the great Mind.

Wonderfully crafted and divinely appointed...
Can we even imagine what ultimately lies within us? I think not, otherwise we would give as much time and energy to the invisible parts of ourselves as we do our revered physical bodies. And then, doubtless, we would really be a piece of work…wonderfully crafted and divinely appointed!

On Handling Stress

We can thank Canadian doctor, Hans Selye, for making us so aware of the meaning of stress. He is often called the Father of Stress Research because of his studies into the psycho physiological responses of the body to anything external to itself. These are necessary responses, of course, for without them we would essentially be dead at some level. However Dr. Selye made a distinction between what he termed normal stress and distress, the negative response to stimuli that was often too frequent and too demanding. No news here, but what has become important over time is how we have learned to manage distress.

Pay attention to what is going on within us...

In order to live healthy lives we really have no choice but to pay attention to what is going on within us when it comes to responding to the demands of our lives. Are we, in other words, simply handling daily stress…or are we struggling to wade through constant distress? If you’ve ever seen pictures of adrenal glands made enormous because of the constant pumping of adrenaline into the body systems, you would know that the “fight-or-flight” mechanisms that come forth to protect us are now working overtime. Often it’s fight or flight as a regular, systematic response.

Life cannot help us with this...

Life cannot help us with this. We know it will continue to put up things and situations to which we must pay attention, so it will be up to us to “de-stress” ourselves. People who are aware of the sanctity of their inner lives understand this and will be highly alert to when they are going into “high rev,” which often ends in systems’ overloads. What are the questions to ask here, such as: Is this trip necessary? Am I cramming four things into a space for three? Or three things in a space for two? Must I constantly be occupied with something “gainful” all the time? What about some good “being” time for myself?

Health and wellbeing are way more important...

Yes, what about this? Maybe my health and wellbeing are way more important than the things of my life. We are at the beginning of a new year. Maybe there are things we could do differently.

Thoughts from a genius...

My blog today invites the work of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Colombian author and winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature. He wrote this at a time when he was dealing with lymphatic cancer in 1999, which he quite happily survived. Do enjoy this excerpt of his thoughts!

      If for one instant, God forgot that I was a puppet and He gave me one more piece of life, I would take advantage of that time the best I could. I would probably not say everything I think, but definitely think all I say. I would value things, not for what they are worth, but for what they represent. I would sleep less and dream more. For every minute we close our eyes, we lose sixty seconds of light.

     I would continue where others have stopped, and I would rise when others sleep. If God allowed me one more piece of life I would dress more simply, would wallow in sunlight, leaving uncovered not only my body but also my soul. I would prove to men how wrong they are to think that they stop falling in love as they get older, since they actually start getting older as soon as they stop falling in love.

     I would give wings to the children, but I would leave the child alone so that he could learn to fly on his own. To the old I would show them how death comes, not with the ageing process, but with forgetting….I have learned that everybody wants to live at the top of the mountain, forgetting that how we climb is all that matters. I have learned that when the newborn grabs his father’s thumb, he takes a hold on him forever.

     I have learned that a man has a right to look down on somebody only when he is helping him to get up. Always tell what you feel and do what you think. If I knew that today would be the last time I will see you, I will embrace you strongly to be the guardian of your soul… There is always morning where life gives us another opportunity to make things good.

On Serving and Self Serving

There are many folks who enjoy helping others, and they know that there is an expansion of joy that takes place within them when they do. I think this is a natural, spiritual lift that takes place whenever we do for another…perhaps a form of internal recognition of our spiritual kinship. But there is also another element here that can seem a bit complicated. There is something called service to the self and being self serving…and they are not at all related! They involve a couple of mind sets that are oppositional to each another. When we serve others we are ourselves served as a natural effect of the giving-receiving continuum, whereas the energies of the self serving simply circle around their own interests, touching little outside themselves.

A distinct lack of connection...
In a recent article, Robert Reich, former U.S. secretary of labor and current professor of public policy at UC Berkeley, lamented the fact that we do not seem to have “moral obligations to one another as members of the same society.” He quoted a stunning comment by a young man who said that he would rather pay a penalty then buy health insurance because... “why should I pay for the sick and the old?” It is not that he should but that he could choose to see the larger value for many. Whether or not we agree on the Affordable Health Care Act is not the point here. What is more to the point is that there is a distinct lack of connection among many of us as members of the American society. We do not seem to see that, ultimately, we must all do well or none will do well.

A creeping loss of awareness...
It has been said that the sign of a great people is in how they treat the most vulnerable among them. As Americans we have implicitly agreed to a social contract in which we agree upon certain laws by which we will be governed and to behave toward one another as fellow citizens. When we seem not to remember the agreed-upon collectivity that allows us to function as free individuals, we are in danger of allowing a creeping loss of awareness into our bright thinking.

No opting out...
Now that the tinsel is thrown away and the holiday trappings packed up, we as spiritually adept people can remember again that we are all in this life together…with no opting out.

On My Wish List for 2014

            This is the time of year when we sometimes make resolutions for the new year. Instead I have a wish list, which means that I’m pushing dreams around. It is not an acceptance list (although I wish it were ), which would mean that realistic possibilities                                    might lie ahead.

• · I wish that the very wealthy could be satisfied with a little less, and the low wagers could aim for more. I don’t think of this as redistribution; I see it as a question of fairness. I wish that the Gates Foundation mandate could be embraced by all: Everyone deserves the chance to live a healthy, productive life. 

• · I wish the U.S. Congress would remember why they were elected to office…to do the peoples’ business…and give up the group march to self destruction. 

• · I wish we understood the moral limits of what money can buy and let it become the medium of exchange it was meant to be rather than an entity unto itself. When enough money can buy just about anything or anyone, nothing will be holy any longer. 

• · I wish we could remember that fun is basically free. Little kids know this. Why don’t we? 

• · I wish we understood love more. I wish we understood that it is more than what Joseph Campbell once called, “the attractions of the organs for each other” and more about a spiritual recognition of one another. Whatever we may believe about God, I think it can be found in love. 

• · Finally, I wish we could be kind. I wish we could show respect. I wish we were less combative and not so quick with our mouths when dealing with differing opinions. Otherwise what does peace on earth, good will to all mean? 

 
                             Here’s to a healthy, productive 2014 for all!