I was jogging in the park today and began looking up at the trees to enjoy all the gorgeous, rich leaf colors. I noticed how light my head felt, how smooth it felt to jog. Since I was focused quite a bit above the ground and also a bit further ahead, the scenery moved slower past me, and the bouncing sensation of jogging became less evident. It felt as if I were floating along, rather than pounding the pavement, or asphalt in this case.
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Category Archives: Inspiration
Dirty Enlightenment and Pesto
A few months ago I saw a tiny article in the local paper about dirt. Apparently, studies suggest a little grime might keep you healthy. Sewer rats showed more vigorous immune systems than their clean, lab rat counterparts. I knew there was a good reason I don’t clean my house! (much)
But, seriously… Yes, I always get serious. Must be my Welsh genes. They even have a word for it over there, Hiraeth, an ineffable yearning, a longing for something, a perennial vision of a golden age at once lost and never found. Poetry and music are highly valued and practiced throughout all Welsh culture. Poetry contests are common, and everyone sings in a choir.
Since I plan to submit my blog to 9rules round 5, I thought I’d say a little bit about my goals in life and dirt and pesto. Continue reading
Dissolving the Illusion of Separateness
I recently saw a bumper sticker which said: “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” It’s so simple and clear. But what does it mean?
Right next to that one was another sticker which said something like this: “Spirituality is learning to break free of the illusion of separateness.”
Ultimately, the hardest thing to understand about our existence is that we are never born and we never die. Our energy and life comes from the star stuff of the cosmos. We don’t appear from nowhere. When we die we don’t go to nowhere, either. So our human existence comes and goes without being born or dying. We are like characters in a play who seem to appear from offstage, but were already back there, just waiting to come on. Or, we are like water which can become rain, or a river, or a cloud, or invisible humidity, but the molecules are always there.
Unfortunately, the illusion of separateness is powerful. Our bodies, the temporary vehicles of our human incarnation, are finite. Physically, we can be hurt or killed, starve, drown, burn, break bones, lose sight, or any number of agonies. But the gift we are born with is the ability, the possibility of transcending those limitations. We can be human and cultivate our inner freedom to the point of overcoming our faults, our problems, our suffering.
The process of understanding how we really are is what makes spirituality necessary, to help us realize the truth about our nature as conscious beings. Spirituality is the process of learning to dissolve the illusion of our separateness from nature, other humans, our planet, the stars and the entire cosmos.
This is where spiritual practices come in. The essence of most religions is a spiritual practice. It is that essence which I focus on here in this blog. How can we grow in the understanding of our true spiritual natures? How can we overcome the agony of our separateness, with its loneliness, fear, judgment or hate? How can we begin to understand that in truth, we are always valid, always infinite. And that spiritual Self cannot be burned, cannot be drowned, cannot die.
The truth is that you are the world, that heaven is something accessible to each of you, and that no one can take that away or give it to you. You just need to open yourself to the truth and your journey will begin.
True Love, the Largest Spirit
A simple poem called True Love by Ron over at WonderingSoul, illuminates the idea of Great Spirit, or God, the ultimate freedom to love perfectly, to transcend our natural human limitations. Continue reading
Pyramid of Living, the Value of Play
You know the food pyramid, right? It lists the foods you need the most of at the bottom, the basics like bread, grains, pasta, then veggies and fruits next, then there’s then proteins, nuts and meats, then cheeses and dairy, then oils and fats. The way it’s set up, the top are the rich foods you need the smallest quantities of, with the largest portions suggestions at the bottom.
What about a pyramid of living health, a pyramid for living with quality? However, as I imagine it, the top is the guide of all activities below. While the lower activities are crucial to living physically, as we approach the top the activities become more abstract, yet more important to creating meaning and balance. Richer is better in my pyramid.
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