Truth and Beauty

I stumbled on a series of articles about the stories currently in vogue about the next 'end of the world'. I made a donation to the NRDC, clicked for no apparent reason on the Stumbleupon icon at the bottom of the page, was drawn to the Google purchases a jet fighter plane article which brought me to the "No Doomsday in 2012" series.

Ahhhh, the weird, wonderful web. I can personally remember a few doomsday predictions that had me either mildly worried or completely freaked out back in the day.

Just a note on those: none of them ever happened.

Just like I believe none of these will ever happen. It would be too easy.

The hard thing is to stay where you are, deal with the messes in front of you, take responsibility for bringing peace, love and abundance to the world in which you currently live. There won't be aliens (which is a disappointment to me, believe me), there won't be global disasters caused by an angry and righteous god in partnership with a gleeful demonic legion - these stories all speak to our desire to have something outside of ourselves take over, be responsible, for just a while. Then we can react - something to bump up against which changes the course of our lives.

Meanwhile, today, this moment, there are actions we can take to create change - tremendous change - in the world around us.

A beautiful poet, Maithri, has introduced me to a profound, soul-enriching path to this change, and I'd like to pass the story on to you. Visit these young heroes and come to know their stories; become a part of their stories if you can.

I've been keenly aware of life's paradoxes this week.  I see my own all too well.  There's a tale that no one seems to know the origin of, or at least that's what I've been told. I call it Truth and Beauty. It speaks to the paradox of perspective and to the importance of finding one's truth and living by it.

What's My Story?

Everyone has a story.

Actually, we seem to have quite a few stories that we tell ourselves and our world that explain who we are. These stories can be based solely on our perspective of the 'what happens' to us. A critical factor in this is "our perspective".

How do we get to new perspectives? Why would we want to?

Once upon a time a woman was walking in the forest. She'd been walking for many days and nights becoming exhausted and frightened. Most of the trees looked like the rest of the trees. She had held onto hope of finding her way on her own for as long as she could, but finally accepted, that from this point of view, success was out of her reach.

If someone had come along, her story would have sounded like this: "I'm always lost, I can't get out of this forest because the trees all look the same and everytime I turn I end up where I started. I'd like to get past this, but I can't. The forest won't let me. It seems like nothing works out for me."

I've been in this forest myself and it's very frustrating.

Fortunately, one day it occurs to her that if she climbs a tree the view will be different - maybe even better. She had to climb quite a few trees, because each new perspective would only get her so far along on her journey. Eventually, she did find her way out of the forest (only to land in the middle of a deep sea, but that's a different story).

Now her story sounded something like this: "I was lost, but figured out that the trees which were keeping me lost were really the key to my success, because as soon as I learned to climb them I was able to find my way out. I succeeded, not because of the trees, but because I learned to see the trees in a new way."

So, how does one learn to see the trees in a new way? They all look pretty much the same, day after day. What can give us the inspiration that transforms the everyday into the transcendent? What is the 'magic pixie dust' that turns lead into gold?

For me, one great source is story. The world is full of story. We are often limited in the story choices our culture offers, but only because we haven't availed ourselves of the vast pool of multicultural folktales. Stories from around the world hold up fresh mirrors within which to see ourselves. These tales have been distilled through the centuries and offer resonant, archetypal images that we can draw on when interpreting the mundane events of our lives.

Our deeper selves don't long for untroubled, problem-free lives - our deeper selves yearn for a sense of meaning and a cultivation of depth of experience. Feed your deeper self some rich stories today. Go for the wild, enormous Russian tales, or the elegant, poignancy of Japanese tales, or the lilting, rich, dynamic Irish tales. Then, see yourself in the story and see the story in yourself.

This just might be the 'real' magic mirror.

Every Good Idea......

Why is the road to hell paved with good intentions?

Why does no good deed go unpunished?

Why do we have sayings like these?

For many years, one of my very favorite, short Buddhist tales is about Mara, the buddhist god of ignorance and evil. It is Mara's purpose to bring about disharmony, misfortune and chaos. If someone's life is going well, it's Mara's pleasure to bring disruption. It's also Mara's role and sole reason for being.

Like other spiritual beings, Mara has his followers. They travel with him as he makes his way through our world causing trouble. One day Mara and posse find themselves in a village where they come upon a man engaged in walking meditation. It's working. The man has attained a moment of clarity and transcendence. Something he discovered on the ground has opened this awareness for him and he is gazing, transfixed upon the object. He is One with Truth at this moment.

Mara and his followers walk by without disturbing the man. The followers, concerned by Mara's lack of interference, ask what it was that the man had found, to which Mara responds, 'a piece of truth.'

'Doesn't this bother you when someone finds a piece of truth? Aren't you going to take it away?'

'No', said Mara, 'right after this they usually make a belief out of it.'

Stay in the awareness.

In the book, A New Earth: Awakening To Your Life's Purpose, author, Eckhart Tolle adds 'Knowing yourself is to be rooted in Being, instead of lost in your mind.'

This story of Mara is rich with wisdom.  Sit, for a long time, with the idea of experiencing awareness and Oneness with Truth -  the doing nothing stage - the action through non-action stage.

Then remember, because we've all had the experience, how it feels when an awareness becomes an idea, which then becomes a belief, which generates rules of behavior, and that is the moment we've lost the connection to Truth.  

The trick is in the sifting.

Blessings and Curses

There is a theme that appears in various folktales from different cultures.  The idea that 'it could always be worse' or 'what appears as a blessing could be a curse and what appears as a curse could be a blessing'.  Basically, the idea that it's all relative and it's all in how you look at it.

A good thought to carry with me throughout my day.

A Chinese tale takes this view - what seems like a curse can just as easily turn out to be a blessing and what seems like a blessing can just as easily turn out to be a curse.

There was once a farmer who lived, with his family, in an area in the mountains near the border.  A son was born to him and his wife.  The boy grew into a fine young man who loved to ride and everyone said to them, 'what a blessing! A son who is a strong and talented horseman!' The farmer merely said, 'sometimes what seems to be a blessing is really a curse, sometimes what seems to be a curse is really a blessing.' The family was given a fine stallion, which caused the neighbors to again say, 'what a blessing!'  The farmer merely said, 'sometimes what seems to be a blessing is really a curse, sometimes what seems to be a curse is really a blessing.' The stallion threw the young man and his leg was broken.  The surgeon said it would never heal properly.  The boy would never walk normally.  At this the neighbors said 'what a curse that your son will never be able to walk well again'.  The farmer merely said, 'sometimes what seems to be a blessing is really a curse, sometimes what seems to be a curse is really a blessing.'  It was at this time that war was declared with the neighboring country and the emperor commanded every able-bodied man to be conscripted into the army to be sent into battle immediately. . . . . .

We just never know.

The Child of Salt

One of my favorite stories is a Traditional tale published in Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart. It tells of a child made all of salt who didn't know his true nature and didn't know from whence he'd come. It was a powerful desire for him to learn of his origins and so he set out on his journey, traveling through many forests, across deserts and over mountains. He didn't know what it was that would tell him the truth of himself; he believed it would be self evident, though, when it happened.
Finally, he came to the shore of a great ocean. The harmonics of the waves, the particles of ocean floating in the air, the colors of the water - all spoke to him in a language both new and familiar. The ocean beckoned him, saying "if you wish to know who you are....do not be afraid....join with me." The salt child walked further and further into the water.
He dissolved a little more with each step, and yet he continued his steps - his heart was alight, as his body was dispersed.
"Ahhhhh, now I know who I am."