The Code.

1. You have the guts.
2. Your going to do the work.
3. Your going to work hard.
4. Your going to make the time.
5. Your self-directed and self-reliant.
6. You ask questions.  Lots of questions.
7. You dig deeper. 
8. You show up.  For yourself and others.
9. You love being generous.
10. You are authentic.

11. And this isn't all about you.

Then Commit.

Seth Godin asked a profound question today:

"Is this something that will respond to guts, effort and investment?"

This is the question that we should be asking ourselves with regard to our work, our practice and our art.  When you have found your 'Yes' then you know you are headed in the right direction. 

Keep digging. 

Gelato.

'Like a gelato shop, we are many flavors in this life.

Problems start to arise when we think we are only one.'

That is the wisdom of the Buddha.

Siddhearta.

Go.

Be Kind.

Be Loving.

Be Generous.

Siddhearta.

Photo courtesy Himalayan Art.

Static.

We are not very familiar anymore with static on the radio, but do you remember those days of dialing into a radio station? You would get close, close enough to hear the lyrics, but just off enough that you kept tweaking the dial. 

Then you would hit it.

The vibrance of the music would shoot through the speakers, its clarity would lift your soul.  Its energy enliven your mind.  Oh, how those hips would start to groove and that music would move you.

You would dance.

Today most of our days are filled with static.  The endless distraction, consumption and activity.  The static of our job, our situation, our chosen social network.  We are all supposed to be somewhere or something but where we are at is not it.  Most days we can barely even discern the lyrics, there definitely ain't no music coming through.

Every once in awhile though, we tune in.  We hear something that we connect with.  It moves us.

If that music stirs your heart, picks you out of your funk, makes you feel a little jive-  Follow it.  Let it move you and create the conditions for it to keep playing in your life.  Go deeper. 

Then you might find your music.  Your rhythm.

Share your music with the world.  Be Generous.  Be Loving.  Be Kind.  Let it lift the weak and enliven the weary.   Let it infuse your work, your life and your day.

It's good to be dancing again.  

Upcoming Workshop

A FREE upcoming meditation workshop is coming up in September.  This is a great opportunity to receive meditation instruction or to reinvigorate your practice.  Please contact me for more details at siddhearta@gmail.com.

Well Trained

As you are practicing on the path, you like to know where you stand.  How is your practice progressing?  Is your practice effective?

The mark of being well trained is that despite being busy, despite stressful situations and surging emotions you can remain at ease.  These things never really go away.  Life never gets easy.  Your practice is simply to allow you to meet life where it is at.  To meet people honestly and openly. 

When you no longer feel trapped by temporary circumstances, you know you are making progress.  When you no longer feel overcome by negative mental states, you know your practice is effective. 

When you can meet adversity with openness, meet anger with patience and meet strangers with kindness, you have a genuine spiritual practice. 

Continue doing what you are doing. You are well trained. 

UFOs

 

Show someone a UFO and they are captivated.  Their curiosity is ignited and they search for an answer to what it is.  What is that thing?

We are uncomfortable in mystery. 

But provide an explanation, resolve the mystery and identify the object as it is and that same very thing becomes uninteresting.  A rationale and logical identification removes all curiosity, why pay further attention to that which we already know?

UFOs are interesting because they are unidentified, yet day in and day out we seek to identify everything.  The question that might be worth pursuing is are our labels correct?  Do we correctly identify things, people and the world around us and then through that identity write them off as uninteresting.  

What if the people we encounter and the world around us broke out of the box we have put them in?  Would our relationships be more interesting if we were actually curious about the person sitting across from us?  Would our day be more fulfilling if we were free from our perception of what the day was going to be before it even started?

If we break out of identity, the world and the people we meet become a mystery.  We are once again borne of curiosity, begging to take a deeper look and keep exploring. 

Time to break out of the box. 


Photo courtesy www.ufosightingsdaily.com

Refuge is Where You Take It

A morning haiku by Karen Johnstone.

Sitting this morning

A quiet space: clear, fresh, vibrant

Amid city's din.

Simplicity.

Simplicity and renunciation- a doctrine of richness.

In simplicity there is appreciation.  Enjoyment.  A natural ease and contentment. 

With renunciation there is no clinging, no chasing after fleeting experiences.  No bite of the hook that leads you off into ceaseless torment. 

Simply abiding as you are, renunciation prevents you from being pulled away.  Renouncing anything else, you awaken to what simply is.  When you recognize what remains, you will experience the richness of being. 

A Progression of Wisdom

Wisdom of Learning
The wisdom of learning and studying is the result of having gained knowledge and a conceptual understanding of a given subject.

Wisdom of Contemplation
The wisdom of contemplation is a deeper understanding of the implications and connections of this knowledge.  This deeper understanding allows you to apply your knowledge outside of one's subject matter and bring its insight into new settings.

Wisdom of Meditation
The wisdom of meditation is the experiential familiarization with this knowledge.  This is a profound level of understanding, not only of the implications and connections but the resolution of all doubts and uncertainty.  As one gains the wisdom of meditation, the obscurations to knowledge are continually removed as one goes deeper into the practice, gaining access to and cultivating a depth of knowledge that is beyond words or imagination.

The culmination of the wisdom of meditation is the knowledge of the true nature of reality and indeed the true nature of your own mind.  This is the wisdom that spiritual teachers share with us.  Having gone beyond mere words, they can share their own experience. 

Legacy

Success.  Achievement.  Fame and fortune.
Viral videos and one-hit wonders.  Your fifteen minutes of fame.

We all leave a legacy behind, but it doesn't have to be a parade of ego.

To leave a legacy of kindness, compassion and generosity, you only need to follow one bit of advice:

Honestly care for others.

Dedicate all your actions to helping others, alleviating their suffering.  Take a moment to build a personal connection, share your time with those who need it.  Give gifts that matter.  Leave your workplace, your community and your world better than you found it.

That is a legacy that lasts.