Saturday, November 20, 2010
"If you try to deal with change at the level of the form the outcome will take, then no transformation is possible. The structure of perception, behavior, and choices that is creating the present reality will continue to operate, and what you create will continue to follow the pattern that is causing you to suffer." Spotted Eagle
Monday, August 23, 2010
Just sweep it under the carpet.
As part of a recent home remodel I was tasked with the removal of the old carpeting and the refinishing of the original flooring beneath. As it turns out the original flooring was oak as so many of the older houses are. The owners through the years had responded to the advertising campaigns promising the beautiful look and feel of carpet. So easy to clean, so wonderful to behold!
As I pulled up the carpet and then the pad I was aghast at what was left there on the floor! Years of accumulated fine sand and grit and disintegrating carpet pad lay hidden there, out of the reach of any effort to remove it; hiding the beauty of the authentic wood, grinding away at its surface with each step.
I was struck with the thought of how our spirituality is much like what I saw before me. We respond to the sirens of marketing and cultivate a life foreign to our authentic selves. We cover up our authentic nature with what society tells us is a more desirable image while our issues that we deal with daily, like the dirt we drag onto our carpet, work their way down through that covering and stay trapped beneath. Never really being dealt with, never able to access them to truly put ourselves beyond their control. Instead of choosing to deal with our issues when they need to be dealt with, they stay where they are. Lying hidden under a inauthentic covering that others see as grand and better than the original beauty that we all have within us "beneath the carpet".
Three days later there before me was an oak floor shining and radiant in its natural color and beauty. We had cleared away all the old accumulated dirt and had worked hard to reveal what had been there all the time. Authentic beauty.
As I pulled up the carpet and then the pad I was aghast at what was left there on the floor! Years of accumulated fine sand and grit and disintegrating carpet pad lay hidden there, out of the reach of any effort to remove it; hiding the beauty of the authentic wood, grinding away at its surface with each step.
I was struck with the thought of how our spirituality is much like what I saw before me. We respond to the sirens of marketing and cultivate a life foreign to our authentic selves. We cover up our authentic nature with what society tells us is a more desirable image while our issues that we deal with daily, like the dirt we drag onto our carpet, work their way down through that covering and stay trapped beneath. Never really being dealt with, never able to access them to truly put ourselves beyond their control. Instead of choosing to deal with our issues when they need to be dealt with, they stay where they are. Lying hidden under a inauthentic covering that others see as grand and better than the original beauty that we all have within us "beneath the carpet".
Three days later there before me was an oak floor shining and radiant in its natural color and beauty. We had cleared away all the old accumulated dirt and had worked hard to reveal what had been there all the time. Authentic beauty.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Losing Confidence in the System?
"Money is simply an agreement you have with your culture that scraps of paper, bits of metal, and pieces of plastic can be exchanged for something you want. When people lose confidence in this agreement, money becomes what it really is, something that has no intrinsic value. Because money has no essence, Spirit cannot value money solely for its own sake. You can understand nothing about money until you understand this."
The above quote from the teachings of Spotted Eagle is difficult to wrap your brain around, I know. I get a headache when I think about it. The relief does not exist within the aspirin bottle however but is centered around that word "essence." That is a good starting point of inquiry on a path to curing your headache.
The above quote from the teachings of Spotted Eagle is difficult to wrap your brain around, I know. I get a headache when I think about it. The relief does not exist within the aspirin bottle however but is centered around that word "essence." That is a good starting point of inquiry on a path to curing your headache.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Say good bye to security
"Giving up security usually means giving up your drama about what you have been through in your life. This is because we often envision security as whatever will keep us from going through unpleasant events we have experienced in the past, especially in matters of money and love No journey into consciousness is complete until we leave security behind, and learn to be joyful without it." - Grancfather White Elk
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The Biological Contract
The following perspective comes to you as a small part of a much larger body of spiritual work that has been channeled to us by Spotted Eagle, through Jennie Marlow. It is offered for your consideration and should your couriosity be challenged much more is available from her website, www.jenniemarlow.com.
Some scientists believe that the evolution of man occurred some 200,000 years ago in what was most likely an environmental crisis. On a basic level it was our struggle to survive that established, supported, and grew our fears. When we surprised that saber tooth tiger while we were out digging roots, gathering nuts, and picking berries for lunch we either responded to our fear, turned and ran for our lives or we BECAME lunch. In which case, the less fearful found themselves removed from the gene pool, leaving only those who were fearful.
Our survival as a species shows that we at least have moved past the tiger in the underbrush scenario of the early times but we did so by coming together in groups or tribes, bringing the resources of the tribe to bear on the survival of its members. Shared kills from hunting, shared strength to protect and defend the tribe support when tribe members became ill or they aged. Many scientists believe that this is what makes homo-sapiens different from our close relatives; not our brain size, or what was thought to be our singular ability to use tools. Nor is it the ability to walk upright thus freeing our hands for creative endeavors but instead it is this capacity for long term sharing that defines us as homo-sapiens. Anthropologists refer to this as “reciprocal altruism”. Now, in order to make sharing work, as we banded together as tribes, we had to create a system whereby all tribe members would contribute their efforts in a combined effort to insure the tribe’s survival. What evolved was basically a contract, a “biological contract” which stated that in order to share in the food, protection, and support which was available to you as a member of the tribe you did what the tribe expected of you. Failure to do so would find you once again facing the saber toothed tiger in the bush, alone. So how does that relate to our thinking today?
When you view the mind of man as structured to hunt and gather you begin to see that the mind knows only to gather or hoard as much as it can to insure the individual’s survival within the tribe or to become as competitive as possible when it perceives itself in an atmosphere of fear that the tribe will not share its resources, its protection or its support and acceptance. Our deepest fears of the future and our regrets about the past can all be reduced, at some level, to the echo of that fear generated by our biological contract. As such the biological contract, as in all contracts, needed to be enforced and was done so through the following methods:
Shame
Blame
Guilt
Moral outrage
Pity (including self pity)
Those members of the tribe who threatened the tribal social structure and tried to circumvent the contract were brought back in line through the use of one of the above methods. It takes little effort at observation to see that these enforcement methods are still in use today.
I know I concern myself daily with my access to resources, protection, and to support or acceptance. My most basic fears tell me that my survival depends upon it. Deep in my biology I still feel a need to adhere to the contract or I will be “abandoned by the tribe and die”. The tribe is long dead! Why then do I continue to live under its contractual obligations and respond to its methods of enforcement? Good question! If I am to free myself from this contract I must first acknowledge it and the basic fears associated with it. The fear of rejection, the fear of not being able to compete and the fear that the world is just not safe at any level, need to be dealt with and I must realize that these basic fears will not ever go away. Individually I “own” one of these fears to a much higher level than the others. It seasons the decisions I make and I accept that the best I can hope for is that one day it will be like the “monster in the closet” and I will smile at the silly thing I once was afraid of. To live without the influence of the biological contract and its associated fears is to live a life free to make authentic choices based on what I desire most in life… freedom, fun, joy, beauty, creativity, and ease to name but a few.
The first step in voiding the biological contract is giving up the enforcement methods listed above as I employ them in my daily life. Careful heartfelt examination of my daily interactions will reveal that I do indeed use shame, blame, guilt, moral outrage and pity in many ways to influence others to get what I want, to fuel my actions or feel I must have to fulfill my survival needs. When I catch myself employing these methods of enforcement, I make an effort to stop and take another snapshot of what really is true in that moment! For myself and perhaps for many of us there is no saber tooth still lurking there in the bushes. He is after all extinct.
Some scientists believe that the evolution of man occurred some 200,000 years ago in what was most likely an environmental crisis. On a basic level it was our struggle to survive that established, supported, and grew our fears. When we surprised that saber tooth tiger while we were out digging roots, gathering nuts, and picking berries for lunch we either responded to our fear, turned and ran for our lives or we BECAME lunch. In which case, the less fearful found themselves removed from the gene pool, leaving only those who were fearful.
Our survival as a species shows that we at least have moved past the tiger in the underbrush scenario of the early times but we did so by coming together in groups or tribes, bringing the resources of the tribe to bear on the survival of its members. Shared kills from hunting, shared strength to protect and defend the tribe support when tribe members became ill or they aged. Many scientists believe that this is what makes homo-sapiens different from our close relatives; not our brain size, or what was thought to be our singular ability to use tools. Nor is it the ability to walk upright thus freeing our hands for creative endeavors but instead it is this capacity for long term sharing that defines us as homo-sapiens. Anthropologists refer to this as “reciprocal altruism”. Now, in order to make sharing work, as we banded together as tribes, we had to create a system whereby all tribe members would contribute their efforts in a combined effort to insure the tribe’s survival. What evolved was basically a contract, a “biological contract” which stated that in order to share in the food, protection, and support which was available to you as a member of the tribe you did what the tribe expected of you. Failure to do so would find you once again facing the saber toothed tiger in the bush, alone. So how does that relate to our thinking today?
When you view the mind of man as structured to hunt and gather you begin to see that the mind knows only to gather or hoard as much as it can to insure the individual’s survival within the tribe or to become as competitive as possible when it perceives itself in an atmosphere of fear that the tribe will not share its resources, its protection or its support and acceptance. Our deepest fears of the future and our regrets about the past can all be reduced, at some level, to the echo of that fear generated by our biological contract. As such the biological contract, as in all contracts, needed to be enforced and was done so through the following methods:
Shame
Blame
Guilt
Moral outrage
Pity (including self pity)
Those members of the tribe who threatened the tribal social structure and tried to circumvent the contract were brought back in line through the use of one of the above methods. It takes little effort at observation to see that these enforcement methods are still in use today.
I know I concern myself daily with my access to resources, protection, and to support or acceptance. My most basic fears tell me that my survival depends upon it. Deep in my biology I still feel a need to adhere to the contract or I will be “abandoned by the tribe and die”. The tribe is long dead! Why then do I continue to live under its contractual obligations and respond to its methods of enforcement? Good question! If I am to free myself from this contract I must first acknowledge it and the basic fears associated with it. The fear of rejection, the fear of not being able to compete and the fear that the world is just not safe at any level, need to be dealt with and I must realize that these basic fears will not ever go away. Individually I “own” one of these fears to a much higher level than the others. It seasons the decisions I make and I accept that the best I can hope for is that one day it will be like the “monster in the closet” and I will smile at the silly thing I once was afraid of. To live without the influence of the biological contract and its associated fears is to live a life free to make authentic choices based on what I desire most in life… freedom, fun, joy, beauty, creativity, and ease to name but a few.
The first step in voiding the biological contract is giving up the enforcement methods listed above as I employ them in my daily life. Careful heartfelt examination of my daily interactions will reveal that I do indeed use shame, blame, guilt, moral outrage and pity in many ways to influence others to get what I want, to fuel my actions or feel I must have to fulfill my survival needs. When I catch myself employing these methods of enforcement, I make an effort to stop and take another snapshot of what really is true in that moment! For myself and perhaps for many of us there is no saber tooth still lurking there in the bushes. He is after all extinct.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
WiiTech
The past few days have been spent removing and then replacing a patio cover for a customer and now friend. A simple task of a 8'x20' roof structure supported by a wall of framed material. I had with me my most trusted friends in the trade. By that I mean a air compressor of Italian manufacture that has been my friend and working companion for over 20 years. At this point it may behoove me to explain that in construction many hand tasks have been replaced with air powered tools. Air powered nailers, staplers, screw drivers etc. They are great time savers and require less effort. Having just purchased for this job, a new air powered palm nailer I was at a certain level of anticipatory excitement around it's inaugural use. Also with me was a new compound miter saw. Now this I know will require a description but from the name you can induce that it allows you to make a cut of compound configuration on a piece of wood. In other words two angles, other than ninety degrees, at the same time. A newer technology that I had been envying for some time. This job was only the second time that I had used it and it had proven it's worth. But now the tale begins.
Shortly after my need of it the compressor died. No air powered palm nailer, no finish nailer, no air driver. Well so now what? Instead of nailing I used screws where I could. Not really a problem. However it is not good to use screws through the finish side of redwood siding. That was where the nailer was to be used. Time to bring out the old reliable hammer. After completing roughly a third of the siding operation I began to realize a certain pleasure in the swing of the hammer and the joy of completing the job despite the lack of time saving, effort saving technology. It was also about that time I realized it was easier and quicker to use a simple straightedge and my trusted skilsaw to cut the 20' long boards to their required lengths where they lay on the ground instead of trying to muscle them onto a support structure, then maneuver them into position to be cut precisely on my new compound miter saw. What was I thinking!
I was so wrapped up in showing up with the latest and greatest tools to help me be more efficient, faster, and yes a little towards supporting my image as a competent contractor, that I forgot the simple pleasures that I enjoy about what I do. I actually enjoyed the rhythmic swinging and solid staccato sound of the hammer as it drove the nail into the wood! It was such a fulfilling experience, so essence rich to stand back and see the completion of a task that was done, as closely as today's standards allow, by hand. Was this thinking at work for me in other aspects of my life? Was there food for thought here?... as my cell phone began loudly ringing from the dash of my truck, taking me away from a peaceful reverie.
Shortly after my need of it the compressor died. No air powered palm nailer, no finish nailer, no air driver. Well so now what? Instead of nailing I used screws where I could. Not really a problem. However it is not good to use screws through the finish side of redwood siding. That was where the nailer was to be used. Time to bring out the old reliable hammer. After completing roughly a third of the siding operation I began to realize a certain pleasure in the swing of the hammer and the joy of completing the job despite the lack of time saving, effort saving technology. It was also about that time I realized it was easier and quicker to use a simple straightedge and my trusted skilsaw to cut the 20' long boards to their required lengths where they lay on the ground instead of trying to muscle them onto a support structure, then maneuver them into position to be cut precisely on my new compound miter saw. What was I thinking!
I was so wrapped up in showing up with the latest and greatest tools to help me be more efficient, faster, and yes a little towards supporting my image as a competent contractor, that I forgot the simple pleasures that I enjoy about what I do. I actually enjoyed the rhythmic swinging and solid staccato sound of the hammer as it drove the nail into the wood! It was such a fulfilling experience, so essence rich to stand back and see the completion of a task that was done, as closely as today's standards allow, by hand. Was this thinking at work for me in other aspects of my life? Was there food for thought here?... as my cell phone began loudly ringing from the dash of my truck, taking me away from a peaceful reverie.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
A Timely Man
In his latest role Denzel Washington portrays a character with great personal strength, resourcefulness and integrity. An individualist of unwavering purpose whose presence is immediately noted by the energy he projects, which some envy and others react to with varied levels of fear. When I went to see the movie, better than 9 out of 10 of my fellow moviegoers were men. I anticipated seeing what the previews had indicated would be a tale of a man who was as described earlier, living his life as he chose in a manner that served him and most importantly, ultimately served humanity. The character traits we saw portrayed on screen by Denzel are not so much missing in men today as they are put aside in deference to what our society has come to expect men to be. That man was portrayed by Denzel’s counterpart, Gary Oldman. A character who was driven to dominate, driven by greed and the desire for power, obtained at any cost, destroying anything or anyone that got in his way all in service of his own personal desires.
We as men are the destroyers but it should not be in the service of our issue driven wants. Instead our destruction is in the service of making way for the creation of that which serves others, i.e. our spiritual evolution. For thousands of years we have been doing the former and can see as we look around us that only the context has changed, the results have not. We still live in a muddle of greed and desire to dominate. Fear keeps us there. http://bit.ly/ifiAQ Getting beyond that fear is the reason for our journey here. All the rich rewards we seek await us as we navigate what is a very narrow path.
We as men are the destroyers but it should not be in the service of our issue driven wants. Instead our destruction is in the service of making way for the creation of that which serves others, i.e. our spiritual evolution. For thousands of years we have been doing the former and can see as we look around us that only the context has changed, the results have not. We still live in a muddle of greed and desire to dominate. Fear keeps us there. http://bit.ly/ifiAQ Getting beyond that fear is the reason for our journey here. All the rich rewards we seek await us as we navigate what is a very narrow path.
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