Hello!
Wow! I had an amazing weekend. How about you?
My buddy Rory Mullin arrived Saturday to visit and rest with Penny, Vidya and I after a long basketball season.
Rory is a therapist for the Toronto Raptors and has just begun his off-season. He and I both do a LOT of traveling for our work and we both really enjoy not having to go anywhere or do anything when we get the chance.
Rory and I have enjoyed each other’s company for many yeas now and it’s nice to spend time with someone who’s open minded that I can share deep metaphysics with. Today, we are going to get a massage and then do some toning in the steam room. We love testing all sorts of meditative and chi cultivation methods when we are together.
While we were celebrating the end of a beautiful day yesterday, the gofers were busy doing their work to ventilate the soils. They are very friendly once they get to know you and that you are safe.
Here, you can see how close this little beauty is to Rory’s foot. I’ve had five or six come right out of their holes and watch me stack rocks for quite long periods of time throughout the day.
Once, I had two squirrels and a pod of gofers all hanging out and watching me do my rock art. They watch with great interest.
There is so much beauty in nature. If we could just educate the rich about natural beauty they may be less inclined to cut it all down and make gas, refined oil, and cell phones out of it all!
Yesterday, I spent about 5 hours building this spiral stack energy form.
This is my newest water-charging formation. I love experiencing how each different rock formation I build to charge my water influences the taste and texture of the water.
I learn more in a weekend in my yard than I could reading for a week straight! This spiral stack is also a very powerful power-spot for meditations.
Here you can see how my zen garden looks as of the end of the day yesterday.
It changes constantly because the wind sometimes blows stacks down, squirrels climb them and knock them down, and big birds sit on them. When big birds go to take flight, they push off with their legs, just like you would jump. They are big and strong enough to topple a stack if it’s too fragile.
The result is that the garden may be the coolest thing and I may want to look at it forever, yet, who knows, the next day it can look like a storm went through and I just enjoy doing something new.
I’ve learned a massive amount about detachment from the outcome through my zen garden practice. As a matter of fact, I’m opening up my garden for a day of mind-body-soul integration Friday, May 27 for those of you who might be inspired to join me to learn how to connect to nature through rock stacking, and learn some cool healing strategies that I use with clients and myself. To register go to PPS Success.
I’m constantly amazed at how many people stop on the road to take photos of my rock garden. Regularly, people pull over in their cars and ask me all sorts of questions when I’m out working. One local lady told me that her kids always ask her to stop in front of my yard so they can see what I’ve created since they were last here.
The other day, I went out to have a pee in my garden and there was a guy shooting photos from across the street. I waved to him and we had a little chat. He said, “This is so cool!I was driving by and all the sudden I saw rising rocks! It’s so unusual to see rocks that look like they are growing vertically that I had to get some photos of them.” I said I was glad he enjoyed them and to take photos any time.
My zen rock garden has brought me into contact with pretty much everyone in the area in a very positive, uplifting way. It has shown me that whenever we create unbounded beauty or play, people find it infectious. They all inherently want to be free inside too.
I love to share my inner-freedom in such a peaceful way. Nobody has to defend against the idea of making beauty out of rocks.
HAVE YOU MET YOUR FISH?
My zen offering for you today came from my study of Lau Tzu in a very beautiful book titled A Path and a Practice, by William Martin.
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Each day I ask my soul to guide me to something special to be my theme of awareness for the day. I read and meditate on it and then draw something that embodies the teaching.
The text on my image reads: “You think you can control your fishing pole!but have you met your fish?”
Practicing TAO
is not expecting.
The fisherman’s box says “Tackle” on it; meditate on that one as you look at my drawing ☺.
The little lesson from my soul is that no matter how well we think we know “ourselves” (controlling our pole), we never truly know what to expect from another in relationship.
The ego wants to label and judge people. It loves making assumptions from surface appearances based on prior programming.
This means that its ideas are always outdated relative to the NOW, and that it is like an unsuspecting fish that mistakes shiny metal for food, only to get “hooked!”
We are always metaphorically fishing for big fish (big money, promotions, stardom, looking better than others!), yet, so often, what we think we’ve caught or achieved turns out to be what has caught and achieved us!
Practicing TAO
is not expecting.
When we have a dream for our day, yet let go of it as a rigid concept, we are able to relax into our day and be present with all people, places and things.
This way, we don’t have to judge self or other. We just enjoy following our center.
If something pops up that wasn’t planned for, we can be more efficient by simply being with it than we can trying to defend ourselves against it thinking that we have to battle to get back to our battle plan.
When we are present in the NOW, we are truly able to perceive the other in, and as SELF. This way, there is less need for flirting around with small talk.
By being present, we can connect and create more efficiently and we don’t have to participate in limitations based on social programming.
When we see people trapped in social programming, we know that they are novice fishermen with expectations.
The conditioned mind quaintly forgets that for every “is”, there must be an equal and opposite “isn’t”. When we let go of expectation and learn to trust, we don’t have to “catch”, we just participate with what comes to us as an offering.
It took me most of my life to learn to practice living this way. I feel more alive and aware inside than I’ve ever been.
I personally get great joy from teaching young people how to avoid the traps of the conditioned mind in hopes that they don’t have to wait until their youth is gone to figure out how to be joyously youthful!
Enjoy fishing without expectation today.
I will see you in TAO.
Love and chi,
Paul Chek
