What Matters

I have been reflecting on the comment by Pries that "Nothing matters very much and very few things matter at all".  As the quote says, material possessions and the vast majority of what we humans worry about, mean nothing.  Similarly, I usually think to myself “would I worry about this if I were on my deathbed”.  When I do that any concerns about "money, power and prestige" tend to dissolve and go away. Relationships and love do matter and a great deal if one only considers a single lifetime.  However, if one takes a multiple lifetime or eternal view, the relationships and love within any particular life mean less.

Balance

This was just another wonderful day full of connections and interactions with others.  One of the people I connected with is having a very difficult time and the others are in various stages of making positive life changes.  Of course, I also did things like exercising, cooking, napping and going to a recovery meeting, a good balance of activities.  Like Kornfield says “first the ecstasy, then the laundry”.

Growth In Love

It is now clear to me that, as many spiritual leaders have said, we are on this planet to learn and grow, particularly in love.  That growth frequently involves working through some unpleasant issues.  For example, in my case, my disability and the associated physical and emotional pain has been and continues to be extremely unpleasant.  My disability has also been the greatest gift I have been given, in terms of propelling emotional and spiritual growth.  There are numerous eternal benefits to me, my soul and many others.  Recognition of the gift in no way diminishes the pain but that awareness does change my attitude.  I repeatedly encounter “New Age” people and Christians who focus on the growth in love without acknowledging the necessity of working through unpleasant issues.  The growth in love is only half of a beautiful and wondrous story.

The Spirit Realm

Over the last several years I have had numerous experiences which have taught me a great deal about what has been called the “spirit realm”, the portion of reality that a person cannot see-touch-feel.  I have written about many of those experiences in my soon to be published book, Three Simple Questions.  It is becoming increasingly clear from quantum physics that portion is the vast majority of what we know as reality.  It has been and continues to be a very exciting process, and I realize clearly that I have merely scratched the surface.  There is much I do not understand, but I am coming to know the questions, not bad for a person who used to be a “normal white boy”.

Things Change

Yesterday I had fear, today excited anticipation of what might happen.  It is notable that nothing has changed except me.  Like I commented yesterday “emotions are not rational” and this is a fine example.
This afternoon Maria and I went to the Twin Arrows area.  It had rained before we got there and there was light rain when we left.  Everything was damp, the plants were loving conditions, there were butterflies and birds flying around, I smoked the pipe and we did some ceremony.  It was a wonderful, magical time.

Fear

This morning I was talking about the fact that I have a fair amount of fear around the potential disruption of my comfortable life, due to the pending publication of my book (it could also, of course, be a total non-event!).  The fear makes no sense, but then emotions are not rational.  The fear is surprising also since I do not experience fear about most things.  It is best for me to talk about it, feel it and let it pass.  The feeling is just another example of being a silly, wonderful human.