Good Tuesday to You!
It’s a beautiful, warm, sunny day here in Vista. I hope it is as beautiful for you wherever you may be.
Yesterday was very busy for me. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I missed doing my tai-chi in both the morning and evening.
I didn’t let that bother me though, as I know I was attending to important business issues and meeting my objectives.
Sometimes, it’s important to remember that what we do consistently determines more about who we are than what happens intermittently.
I did manage to get a nice workout combining lunging, squatting and reverse Swiss ball crunches in. I did four mini-circuits, which gave me a good sweat and stimulated my metabolism nicely.
Penny and I went to a business meeting last night and we brought dinner for the team.
We enjoyed some roasted chicken, lamb and basil sausages, potatoes, kale salad, coleslaw, and a little vanilla bean ice cream made of hemp. It was great to stimulate and feed the body as well as the mind!
Today I’m hoping to get away from work about mid-day so I can continue working on my rock project. If I finish it, I’ll take a photo and show you tomorrow.
SOURCES, SIGNS and STAGES OF GROWTH
My inspiration for this morning’s blog sharing comes from Paul Brunton’s book, Notebooks of Paul Brunton, Vol. 3, Practices for the Quest, Relax and Retreat (p. 42-43).
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Paul Brunton begins this section of his book with this comment:
“Whether one is hardened by overcoming unpleasant setbacks or encouraged by the sunshine of cheering success, this is the strange paradox of the path: out of its multitude of defects and disappointments, mistakes and disillusionments comes forth wisdom, and after wisdom, victory.
It is true that there are sacrifices to be made along the way, culminating one day perhaps in the biggest one—the ego’s compulsive will to insert itself in every situation or activity—but there are also consolations and compensations to counterbalance them. If certain habits have to be given up and certain satisfactions dropped, new intuitions, signs of progress, inner supports, encouragements, and learnings appear.”
I always enjoy studying the teachings of Paul Brunton because they are clearly grounded in his deep wisdom, which is the product of a life devoted to the spiritual path.
I feel as though I’m being guided by a very wise old man–one who’s seen and experienced much of what life offers, for better or for worse.
It is easy for us to see the lives of the so-called famous or “successful” people and wonder why it is that we aren’t having such an amazing experience.
We often forget that in our culture, success doesn’t always equate to happiness.
That said, one who has learned to cultivate happiness within themselves has achieved a level of success that is as grand as anything you ever see or hear about in the media.
The nature of our soul is that of pure Abiding. Abiding means “Being”. It doesn’t mean “doing”.
Because abiding is our authentic state, any departure represents both the creation of energy, and the departure from the stillness of being centered within one’s authentic state.
When in Union with our soul, still in our natural state, there is no ego; no self-reference. There is no-thing to love in Unconditional Love, for if there were, Unconditional Love would be conditional. The result is that in union with the soul (less ego-mind), there is nothing to do, want, have, be, or become either. Therefore, there is no experience. No experience means no movement, which means no life or time. Therefore, there can be no relationship(s).
When we are given a gift, get a big check, or get high by any means we must induce or allow, we go up in emotional tone and energetic expression.
It takes most people about half their lifetime to come to the self-earned realization that all the up-states induce their relative opposite as a means of seeking balance.
It is VERY easy to fall into the habit of enjoying an up-state without realizing how much energy and work is being produced to attempt to maintain that mode of experiencing life.
If our up-states are artificially induced, we become entangled with both the process of induction and the people, places or things involved.
It is common that people start to feel dull or deadened inside when they aren’t riding the cloud they’ve learned to create.
If one isn’t careful, exhaustion can be induced in attempt to maintain that cloud of joyous experience.
The world is rife with stories of famous dancers, artists, musicians, poets, athletes, actors, scientists, and the likes that literally burned themselves out trying to keep generating their joy-clouds.
All of this is natural to human beings. There isn’t anything wrong with any of it when viewed from the perspective that all departures from Unconditional Love (Abiding) are acts of palpable love.
After we’ve tried and tested sex, drugs, sports, dance, exercise, art, food, work, money, fame, and the likes, we become more aware of what is authentic, lasting, and wholesome.
We also tend to become aware of the paradox of Unconditional Love; you can’t see, feel or experience the Unconditional without first creating conditions for experience and comprehension.
When we go from no-thing to no-thing, there is no experience to be had.
When we go from something (ego-mind) to no-thing (Unconditional Love) after a lifetime of experience, we are often ready to embrace that level of perfection (Wei-Wu-Wei or Action-Without-Action).
We become aware of the sources of our most authentic growth, which are as often painful or controversial as they are pleasant or joyous.
We become aware that we shouldn’t sweat the small stuff, and that time and love heals all wounds.
We become aware that there are some very simple things in life that consistently bring us love and joy that can be maintained easily and naturally.
Some of the things that I’ve found reliable sources of natural love and joy are:
– Sharing my life openly and honestly with my wife.
– Sharing my love with others the best ways I can for they and I.
– Cultivating an open relationship with nature.
– Loving and caring for my body and my mind.
– Eating real food and supporting the earth so She keeps growing and sharing with us.
– Spending time with friends that are honest and brave in their quest for living fully.
– Knowing that any problem carries the seed of the solution within it.
– Knowing that there are always people in the world that love to do the things I don’t enjoy so much, and that I can hire them to love doing what they love while I do what I love, which goes a long way toward creating love all around.
– Knowing that God is a Majestic Mystery that can’t be known by an ego mind. I know that the intelligence that created me and the universe is so mind-blowingly vast and beautiful, there is nothing to worry about; I see far more indicators of love and acceptance in the Divine than I see anything else.
Therefore, I’m not afraid of death, but feel as though Great Spirit is teasing me, tempting me to finish my work and play here so I can feel good about exploring other worlds, other dimensions of reality.
If you are willing, you may find it helpful to write down some of the sources of your own authentic love and joy.
That way, you can become more aware of where to invest your love, time and energy.
This way, you know for sure that you will reap more consistent rewards in the way that equates to love and joy for you. That is victory!
If you’d prefer to go through a guided process, I designed PPS Success Mastery Lesson 1. How To Find and Live Your Legacy to help you gain perspective on your life and find a means of expressing your love that is natural and fun for you.
For those challenged by addiction, obesity or disease, I’ve created a clearly outlined self-help program titled, The 1-2-3-4 For Overcoming Addiction, Obesity, and Disease.
Love and chi,
Paul Chek
