Let's Get Serious

“it’s time to get serious!”

("U talkin' to me?”)

That's about how I would typically react to that sort of statement, for I am not the type to get serious about anything, though I can get serious. When it's necessary, when it’s crisis level stuff and I gotta kick in and do something, I can get focused pretty damn fast. I've done it before, I know the ability is there. But most of the time, 'not serious' is how I roll.

In fact, the many things in life that I'm 'supposed' to take seriously (that list being probably a few pages long) I've never taken seriously and, despite my cavalier attitude, I have survived. So there! 

But this is not about measuring my belief system against the ones that others hold, this is about something else and that is that Spirit is asking me, has been asking me, to step up. 

Now I know that sounds portentous, grandiose, and perhaps (perhaps?!) even egotistical, like I'm fancying myself some sort of Chosen One or something so I gotta check up. I have to take it slow- but not too slow- 'cuz Spirit is patient but not that patient. If I drag my feet too much they might look at some other candidates, that sort of thing. 

Mh Mehedi- Unsplash.com

Now I can't verify any of this but I can feel it. I've also been having significant ‘downloads’ and experiencing some pretty auspicious dreams. I don't know exactly what I'll be asked to do, if I'm asked to do anything at all, but whatever I'm asked to do if I am asked to do it is gonna be for the good, that's the feeling I'm getting about this. 

I also know that if I do step up when asked I'm gonna have to get serious and represent. Now that sounds ominous, huh?

"No more foolin' around! Get on task you (no judgement here)… ….you......

…slackers!” I might (lovingly) say.

A ‘slacker’ is what I was just last month, last week, and certainly yesterday, but won't be for much longer, it seems. But I could be wrong about this. Maybe my sense of humor will be heightened and doing what I’m called to do I'll be the life of the party but......

.....maybe not! Bummer City would be being like a school marm and looking over my glasses at miscreants and believe you me I would know how to spot them, having been one myself for many, many years. 

So what does one do in this situation? 

"Take it day by day" 

Good answer. Anybody else?

"Be open to it"

I'm already there.

"Explore the possibilities!"

I'm on it.

"Breathe"

You betcha.

"Ask- pray- for guidance"

Damn straight. 

I'm tellin ya, I'm serious about this gettin' serious. It's being asked of me and so far I haven't said no. It’s weird but not totally unexpected, as I have been pushing myself in this direction for a long, long time and damn if the train hasn't finally showed up on the horizon, chuggin' my way. 

(Ulp!)

Ain't dyin' now, if ur thinkin' that, that ain't in the cards. This is about livin' a life larger than the one I've been used to and fitting into some grown up clothes. 

All right I'll say it- some seriously grown up clothes. 

This is all about being a walking and (sometimes) talking embodiment of The Truth of one’s being.

I always thought there was more to life than what passes for life these days.

Tell Me It's Insignificant

My time with a small group of people is wrapping up. We've been working together for years but soon won't be. One has already flown the coop and the rest will be scattering to the four winds in a fortnight. 

Now when it comes to working together it's not like we've been all lovey-dovey with each other. There have been strong emotions and difficult times aplenty but at this point all of that is water under the bridge. Now we're left kind of staring at each other at times with these sort of blank looks, like when you look past or through something, your attention focused on that which you cannot physically see.

Strange, it is, how Life threw us together for a time for a reason that we thought we knew. It was all about the money, right? Just a bunch of random people filling slots that needed to be filled and we were the ones that showed up and said that, for one reason or another, we were willing to do it, something that the logical mind declares reasonable and understandable. 

But- is that the case? Was our gathering together a random event? All of my coworkers think so and even I, attuned to things non-physical and searching for any energetic clues, can't sense anything other than the vaguest possibility that there was any purpose in our gathering and working together. For years! You'd think that The Universe would let the cat out of the bag at this point, at least a little bit, and provide me with some metaphysical satisfaction but no, not yet, and maybe not ever.

  Couch it in whatever terminology fits your belief system, that is what those 'blank stares' are all about. Not really knowing, but sensing the possibility that something else might have been going on.

According to the business world, the business model, employees are simply commodities (the very definition of employ is 'to use') and nothing whatsover has occured other than we filled functions and soon won't. 

In a business sense, this is oh so true. Time and business forever march on, towards the future and the profits to be gained there, and you're either marching along with the company or not and if you disappear "So what?" for there are little emotions displayed towards castaways as a rule. 

But something did transpire and I can see that something- perhaps many somethings- in the eyes of my coworkers, that is, when we catch each other like that, which we are trying not to do at this time, because it's telling and uncomfortable. 

We have a sense of (Jeez can I say it?) camaraderie because we laughed together, and fought each other- a lot. Many, many times we were angry at each other, but just as many times we forgave. Or tried to. We worked together as a team and got the job done, despite the directives of management, who we knew didn't have a clue as to what was actually going on in our department. 

Many times, individually, we played the role of heroes for our customers, we went the extra mile because we felt it was the right thing to do (and maybe those customers thanked us for it). We dealt with lousy equipment and crowds and bad weather and all manner of things upsetting and complained about it but did it anyway. We did this so often we got used to it and called it 'reality' though we knew that there were realities far different that other people were experiencing but we blocked that out. 

Had to.

Through it all we watched each other and learned from each other because we were, like it or not, a team, a band of misfits doing a job that few others would have volunteered to do and those others thought not a lot of us as we were ferrying them around. They took us for granted and we griped about that and talked story and traded stories and I was amazed at what my coworkers went through as much as they were amazed at what had happened to me, before break, during the shift, or on the days that they were off.

Then at the end of every working day we went home to our respective houses and turned on our TVs and watched others living lives far more spectacular than the ones we were saddled with and ooh..... .....that was painful but as long as our bread was buttered we knew we were at least surviving. We had established perches for ourselves in a highly competitive, fast moving world and were loathe to go for better. However, when you make that decision it comes at a price because time keeps on moving and over the passage of years you go through stages of anger about your situation, then deny it's an issue before finally dropping into rueful acceptance, only wondering by then how those few at the top managed to do it because you certainly, at the time, gave it a go.

And now here we few are, near The End of our job, and in the eyes of The World we have failed at life and have to pick up the pieces and start over somewhere and the 'insignificance' of our existence is staring us right in the face- but wait!

The moment of recognition is undeniable.

Anton Shakirov- Unsplash.com

There is something there, it's showing in the eyes of my coworkers, in those of some of the managers, and undoubtedly in the minds of some the people we touched while just doing our job and that something is highly significant. We did make a difference in their lives (but we're probably never going to know what it was). It could have been just one thing that we did, or it could have been many things. The essence of who we individually are is etched into their minds, that essence being how we handled ourselves in combat situations, in bored situations, in charged situations (and in many other situations, those being too numerous to list). That 'something' we did is what is turning the gears in their heads behind that blank look these ones are displaying, it exists in that space where the processing of data is occurring but there are as of yet no words.

    I know what that blank look is, I've seen it before. We've touched each other, made indelible impressions on each other. We may have been accidentally thrown together in this life (which is my feeling, save possibly for a few individuals) but we'll never, ever forget each other. Through time and space we'll have the memory of each other and though faces will disappear and eventually bodies too it just might transpire that we will find ourselves together again, in another place and another when, and if that happens (and we're sensitive enough by then) we’ll remember each other by our peculiar energetic signatures. We might all join together for awhile in a different and probably higher in vibration setting to play out another drama or we may simply individually spend a few hours together but all the while I'll certainly (and hopefully they'll too) be inwardly nodding, like I have done many times in this life, thinking this:

"I KNOW you from somewhere!”

      I know you because we have spent time together before and this has separated you out from the mass of humanity. Other people will continue to be background characters but you will always appear different to me. This might just be in a general sense, as in I might feel a degree of familiarity with you, or it might be a recognition so strong that I will be able to pick you out of a crowd.

         In either case, I will know what kind of person you are- without you having to say a thing.

The Mystery Of Our History

Spent some time lately catching up on history, what's being newly presented about what's old in the metaphysical arena, as well as any current day scientific findings, and it's hard to discount what the evidence is pointing towards. A vastly different story than the one we were previously told. 

Now disinformation abounds, so navigating these waters takes skill and determination, but it can be done by anyone with a reasonable amount of intelligence because theories that point to preposterous conclusions can be discounted quite readily. Plausible theories are then left over to examine carefully, really pour over. 

Theoretical pondering about what has taken place in the past is not something I find terribly exciting to do but others seem to revel in the realms of archeological, geological, and anthropological focus. (Thank God that they are so driven for years of study and meticulous field work are as a rule required!) Many of these people are then compelled to collaborate with other experts and construct theories, try and connect the dots. The end results of their patient investigations, explorations, and research are they know what they are talking about. The foundation that supports their conjectures about what really happened is strong, graced by high degrees of credibility.

These degrees of credibility and subject matter knowledge enable them to easily withstand the attacks of low level critics, those who would offhandedly discount their theories. To the rest, those critics taking a more reasoning approach towards what is being presented, a certain degree of debate serves as healthy exercise for the presenters for it points out the weak spots in their theories and acts to strengthen them. This fortification process bolsters and over time creates ever more formidable theories supported by an increasing amount of evidence about what might have happened, for until all the evidence is in, no one can ever really know for sure.

That being said.......

.....it then follows that the idea that 'civilization' began on earth X number of years ago (roughly 6,000, as is commonly believed) and that any people existing before that were uncivilized bears (no pun intended) us to take another look.  

Silent witnesses. Just one of many ancient sites all over the world.

Jack B.- Unsplash.com

More has happened here than what we were told is my belief, and that comes from following people who have done the work and presented the evidence, evidence that is credible enough for me. I don't need to know every little thing that happened because if I know enough I can extrapolate the rest. Also, if the energy around what is being presented feels 'clean', that tells me that I'm on the right track. 

If it wasn't, I would feel compelled to dig deeper. 

So, kind of being ahead of this unfolding a little bit I can see that earth peeps got a lot of growing up to do and I don't mean that in a facetious way, a smart alecky way, I mean that in a compassionate way. Thank God we get time to process this 'cuz it's big, yeah, and it's gonna rock a lot of worlds. We're much older than we think and because of that we're a lot richer in experience and that prevents the worst part of our natures from coming out (true for most of us) which enables us to create bigger and better versions of what could be. That’s my idea of 'civilization'. We just get better and better at it because we've failed a number of times before and learned from those failings.

We've already learned the hardest lessons that could be concocted, tests we set up for ourselves, it appears, in order to see which way we would choose to go but it doesn't have to be this way forever. I think enough of us have learned what truly works by now and can take earth life up to the next level, the higher frequency, and as we do the full mystery of our history will then reveal itself because we'll be ready to finally know..... 

......’Humanity- The Rest Of The Story’ 

P.S.- I had a sneak peek of the trailer. This movie is going to pull out all the stops, there’s never been anything like it. High drama, absurd comedy, poignant heartbreak, and supreme challenge abounds. It’s going to be very long but, man oh man, it’s a must see.

Skeleton Coast

       Had on one of my favorite garage sales finds, a pirate shirt, the last couple of days. Garage sales are places where you can find the coolest and funkiest clothes. Some people have trouble wearing stuff that other people have found somewhere, purchased, and worn for awhile, their energy being in it and all, but I don't have a problem with that unless the energy is way way off in which case my guidance would have been to not be at that garage sale in the first place. I would have passed it by.

So back to my pirate shirt which looks really cool and fits me perfectly, which is another thing that happens every once in a while, you find a piece of clothing that seems tailor made and wear it over and over until it's threadbare because you don't think you'll ever find any piece of clothing like it again, but you do.

Anyway, this post is about being a pirate and what was that like. I was a pirate at one time, in one life, I feel it in my bones and I will tell you it wasn't a glamorous life. It was a lot of time spent out at sea looking for ships to raid and running like hell if they looked at all threatening because the Royal Navy was on the hunt for people like us and would take us out if they could. If we were ever spotted we would head for the coast and inlets there that we and only we knew about because our vessels had shallower drafts than their ships did plus we had compadres in the local area. The navy wouldn't follow us onto land and we knew it. Our safety was in sticking close to shore and never venturing out too far. 

About all that is left of us.

Markus Spiske- Unsplash.com

The trading ships also stuck close to the shore in case supplies ran low and because venturing too far out used up valuable resources like manpower and time. They were on the clock, same as us, trying to eke out profits before the hazards of their occupation took too big a toll.

Pirating was a desperate life and once you got into it you were no good after that. Marked for death, you were, for being a pirate or associating with pirates in any way was almost automatically answered by trips to the gallows. Governments hated us, citizens too, and so we lived on the very fringes which weren't very popular places to be, let me assure you of that. I don't recall any lusty port where we could sail into the harbor and be welcomed by kegs of grog and women fluttering their handkerchiefs at us from brothel windows like you see in the movies. That would have been a dream come true but our dreams were mainly to plunder a gold bearing ship and get the hell off the water and make our way to the frontier where we couldn't get found or spotted by anyone and live out the rest of our lives but disease took us, storms, fighting (or the wounds we suffered from doing that), malnutrition, and drink. The navies of various governments vying for control of the seas constantly sunk our vessels and even the best and most cunning of our breed were eventually outclassed and outmaneuvered by the ever changing outside world which developed countermeasures against us that made The Life less than worthwhile. Just wasn't any chance for us to score anymore. 

Yeah, we were drunks, plunderers, and looters, scourges upon society, debauched lechers and freaks of nature, but at least we were honest about who and what we were. We didn't pretend to be anything else- and that was our downfall. We should have taken our cues from the Slick Willies of the time who were far better at the game of amassing booty than us.

The trick back then, which is the same one used today, was to hide behind respectability to do thieving. In that way you could be gathering up all the gold in the world and still able to walk down the street unmolested, the population unaware of your crimes, and maybe even cheering you.

Meditation

After a long hiatus, I have been called by my pestering guides to resume daily meditation. Let me tell you about my guides..... 

     A lot of people believe in guides, discarnate beings that are around them. 'Guardian angels' is a term frequently used. There are many different ways of describing them. I don't SEE my guides, never have, but I have seen things out of the corner of my eye a lot, rapid movements, but I can't capture an image because whatever it is is gone too fast. I think that's them. 

Anyway, when they want me to do something- and it's always good- they kind of get on my mind a lot. At first it's like a good idea to do whatever then if I don't do it I get the feeling that I might be better off or assisted by doing it (but it's never I 'should' be doing something). It's like an increasingly strong suggestion. That's usually enough to get me on the right track. 

Yes.

Le Minh Phuong- Unsplash.com

So. Mediation. I'm naturally good at this, I'm kind of in a walking meditation all the time. I spend time in contemplation often so I'm never far from a state of mental quietness but lately I've been asked to take it a step further and go into a deeper state which calls for stillness of body, eyes closed, sitting upright, breathing slowly and evenly, and setting aside any thoughts or thinking. 

Been doing this for a few weeks now and I like it. Didn't think I would so much but I anticipate doing the meditations I'm doing. A few have come to my awareness and the ones I'm practicing are from Dr. Joe Dispenza and if you don't know who he is look him up. He was in 'What The Bleep Do We Know?' years ago and since then has been up to some interesting stuff. 

  The word that comes to me about this is 'coherence', more of that is necessary to keep my being operating at an optimal level. To give a little background I was pretty good without doing formal meditation for years. I practiced Vipassana meditation on and off, did Transcendental Mediation many years ago, and have explored the mind quite a bit through Advaita practice but now's the time to sit in silence again. Why? I don't know. When the guides lean on ya, you just do it 'cuz it's always for a reason. 

So here's to coherence! Gonna go sit now.

Thought Train

 I woke up this morning like any other morning, pondering the remnants of dreams I had, but after awhile I noticed that also filtering through my awareness was a large concept that called for contemplation. 
Contemplation needs mental space so everything, including TOTD, was set aside, for one does not want to derail a Thought Train. It must run its course for at the end there is something to be gained, understood, known, or grokked and in pursuit of that the focus must be pure. 

Contemplation actually occurs in a state of 'loose' focus. That which desires to be brought into comprehension must be allowed to free associate, that is, it must use all tools at its disposal in order for the mind to grasp its meaning, for the mind is not yet comprehending that which is sensed but not understood. 
To this end, whatever means are required to gain comprehension are employed. These could be memories of things past, bits and pieces of conversations, dreams, songs, or phrases. Signs one has seen. Odd puzzling snippets of, literally, anything that has ever been experienced. 

Thought Train coming through! Make way!

Denis Chick- Unsplash.com

Contemplation for me lies in assembling these bits and pieces into some sort of mosaic, I suppose, or pattern, that leads closer to comprehension but usually not yet. This process might take hours.

 
Complex groks are like this, they use everything that has occurred in one's experience to further illustrate, deepen, and eventually bring into knowingness that which the subject has not known before. Call it wisdom. Wisdom occurs at the end of the contemplative process, when the understanding seats itself into the mind, never to be forgotten. Can wisdom ever be un-known? Can you forget how to ride a bicycle?

 
I have gone for days on Thought Trains, wrestling with complex issues. During those times I appeared to be aloof and I was, purposely so, for I nay desired to derail the Thought Train at any point in the process because.....

...once derailed, it's hard to pick up the concept again! States of mind calling for contemplation are precious and thus must be fully acted upon when they arise. They are opportunites brought about by Spirit and desire by the self to further the self's understanding. The larger Self already knows, the earth-based self does not, thus, in order to regain the state of knowingness, the small self must, in lieu of suddenly becoming aware, work to bring awareness back to self. 'Know Thyself' goes the saying. 

What else can human life be but a slog through the misty lands of forgetfulness until the Self is regained? States of contemplation are steps in that process for human life is difficult and poses challenges. It vexes us and has us calling for solutions. Introspection offers us the opportunity to lessen difficulty and improve our lives. In this way, we are directly facing our issues and using our willpower, the inspiration that comes from dreams, our connection to Spirit- our intuition- and our contemplative abilities to elevate our awareness, which enables us to transcend our difficulties. It can be no other way for who can do it for you?

Others may offer a temporary fix, a salve or a balm that addresses an issue, but since all issues arise from energy, which we are made up of, the energetic basis of any issue must be addressed in order for the cure to be permanent. 
(Many call this 'processing') 

Okay. Enough writing. I gotta get back on today's Thought Train. It's a juicy one, I only took a breather from it to document the process.

TOTD Is One Year Old Today

   Happy Birthday, TOTD! You are one year old today. 

A year ago, when I began this project, I didn't know if I'd be able to write about different things every day for a year but I have nearly pulled off that feat. There were days that I missed posting something but I can honestly say that I gave it a go every day, I gave posting something a thought. Life intervened, however. 

Writing each day's piece at times is ridiculously easy and fun, most times it's a process of having a general idea and honing that over and over, sometimes it's extremely difficult for some reason, and there have been times where I wrote something and decided not to post it due to it being not to my liking, unclear, incendiary, or the energy is just not there. 

So where from here? Right now TOTD will continue as usual. I know that for a fact because during the last year I tried a few times to drop it and couldn't do it. Tried to set it aside and then wouldn't ya know it I had a thought that I thought I oughta write about. That's when TOTD is at its best. 

Ideas of things to write about come to me and I might not write about whatever that idea or topic is until days later but I'll think about it from time to time. At the time I actually write the piece I guess it couldn't really be considered TOTD because I've been thinking about it for many days but when it comes time to sit and write it never comes out like I think it will so that is TOTD right there. Fresh. Present. That day is just the right day to write about it, is my feeling. 

Technical-wise, at the beginning I thought I'd insert all kinds of cool videos and provide all these interesting links to this or that page but Facebook is full of that kind of attention grabbing content. That's not really satisfying, most of it, so I go for the real and valid and try not to stand too high on any soapboxes like I’m some carnival barker trying to get people into my tent. 

No. That's not how I roll around here. I hope to present thoughtfully written pieces that entertain and compel and build a following that is more than about flash. My content is substance-based.

There were times during the year when I struggled with putting pieces out. Ideas just didn't flow and I hate to use the word 'filler' or to move in that direction to simply post something- anything- on those days and maybe I did but the intent was that even that would be of interest to someone, frivolous as it was. 

Some pieces I wrote were whimsical and in other ones I figure people definitely sensed that I was possessed by some sort of mood and I probably was. 

Also I must say that I am old school, not of the social media generation, so it was a bit of a stretch to even put myself out there, not naturally being that way, but the tools were there to do so and I used them and now I can't retrieve from the internet all of what I have written, even if I tried. I imagine it will be circulating through a network of servers forever, like a space probe in the far reaches of the solar system that continues to travel, who knows where or why.

I tried during the year to make my prose relatable. Not florid or pretentious or overly casual or hillbilly or ALL CAPS or heavy in the use of italics and a slew of other writing tricks and styles but if I did I did so for a purpose, to illustrate a point. But sometimes doing that stuff is just plain fun.

Format's not going to change, I don't see that happening soon. The text and picture or two I put in each piece seems to work best. I have recently added more space between the paragraphs for easier reading. Place concepts too tightly together, in too dense a fashion, and they can swirl and get lost in a sea of related topics and lose their ability to be comprehended. Too many ideas clumped together, too many associations and things to ponder packed too tightly together does not a happy reader make. 

Yippie! Cupcake!

rawpixel- Unsplash.com

As you can see, I have a lot to write about even when I don't think I do because when I sat down to write this all of these 'items to mention' just flowed. But I think it's enough..... 

I'm pleased myself to have presented the public with this body of work, these vignettes of daily life. I look back and marvel at it sometimes and then I move on, not resting on any laurels. 

Some things I wrote and posted are probably crap, in some minds, while others are too woo-woo but unless you swing the bat you're not in the game, eh? I thought I'd be writing about more metaphysical stuff but that comes when it comes. I fully intend to stretch boundaries there, what we're about, where we're going, so expect more of that. That's the stuff I really enjoy. 
I like the fun stuff too. The humorous postings. Love writing those. They're totally spontaneous, most times I write them. 

Statistics-wise, I tried for 365 but actually posted 297 times. That's a lot of work. Did I get paid for it, monetize it? I didn't make a dime. Did I enjoy it? Thoroughly. Writing is, for me, one of the things I'm passionate about. 

Ideas? Where do I get them from?  Ol' Johnny Carson got plenty of material from just commenting on the news of the day. I do the same but also mix in longer term musings and things that come right outta the blue. Expect mo' of the same, and hopefully they'll be mo' betta. 

Oh, blow out the candle already and get back to ‘work’!

Forces Of Containment

Like it or not, you exist for the benefit of others who you probably do not know. Your life makes their life possible, a grander life, perhaps, because you act as support for their enterprise or enterprises. This is called being part of The Economy. 
The Economy is by no means a static thing, it changes as we breathe and as I write this and because it changes, it has to be monitored. 

Various monitoring systems are ever in place and have been since centuries past, these monitoring systems evolving with the times. The goal of these monitoring systems is to see to it that things do not get out of hand and that control is kept in the hands of the ones interested in seeing to it that their enterprises continue to function and prosper. This is not news to anyone, of course any business would see to those ends being accomplished, but often is it the case that long after any benefit to the operators of the enterprises has been realized, and benefit to the masses has been gained, that the enterprises themselves continue in operation. They do this until a superior technology or process comes along to overpower them, usurp them, which has happened quite regularly over the last few decades with the arrival of computers and digital technology. 

All enterprises have a beginning and an end. Initially, the process or device they introduce acts as a breakthrough and is seen as useful. This process or technology is adopted, that which it can supplant is retired or done away with, the process 'takes' more and more, becoming dominant, and then it meets its demise. This cycle has happened rather slowly throughout history and has been painstakingly documented but what about now? What technologies are being developed that could act as more rapid game changers upon our existing systems?
There are many. Any one could play a significant role in labor reduction, improvements in efficiency, or the outright elimination of existing means of doing things; these process improvements also affecting any resource gathering, stockpiling, needing to protect resources, the abilities to relocate and build, and may act to spur even more change. 

Existing enterprises most likely won't embrace these changes and will seek to thwart them in various ways, try to outlaw them even, but that will only work for a time. How many holes in the dam can you plug before you run out of fingers? 

Not Reality… …just reality… ..not Reality.. ...just reality…

Rye Jessen- Unsplash.com

The times we are in raises the potential of a lot of changes happening at once, which could severely destabilize the existing reality bubble humanity exists in and this is something that is exciting while at the same time frightening, for in the introduction of any element into existing systems there are reactions. Some are benign, hardly noticed, while some can be explosive. 

Enter the Forces Of Containment to temper the introduction of elements of change, to slow them, delay them, to (try and) thwart them entirely. We live in a system of duality and nowhere is that more true than in the balance of power. At the present time power lies in the hands of a few, who use money and information to condition the masses. 'Just enough' is given, is allowed the many, to keep them occupied and content with their lot, which makes them easy to manage. It's all about management. 

But is a human a cow? One of the herd, mindlessly chewing cud amongst other cows in some grassy field called suburbia, content with its lot because, compared to all the other cows in the field, he or she appears to be keeping up? 
Nay, I think the truth is that most humans have no idea who they actually are or why they're here, that they don’t know that each and every one of them was born innately noble, deserves only the best, and that they've been severely conditioned to think otherwise. But, such conditioning has kept perhaps many egos in check, egos that would have battled amongst each other and squabbled like playground kids over trivialities, with utter disregard for other's needs or the needs of the planet. School for us was necessary, is what I'm trying to say. 

And now, after the passage of many ages, perhaps it's now time for the Forces Of Containment to fall away to a greater degree. Many of us have matured and are now able to treat each other with kindness and respect, responsibly steward the earth, know when to say yes to an action and when to say no. 
It's nigh time to leave our need for parenting aside, time to do away with stodgy, suffocating governance, restrictions, and rules, and chart our own courses as we learn, over time, who we really are. 

It'll take time to drop the conditioning, there has been a lot of that applied over millennia. Multi-generational, our conditioning goes way back. Finding out who we are will be a joyful process of rediscovery and I don't think we'll be able to rush it for we cannot fathom our nobility, worthiness, and value, or come to terms with the fact that a benevolent system has carefully and patiently guided us through a very long process from afar, for we have a place in The Universe to fill, us gallant human beings of earth. Eventually, we shall take our places among the heralded, and many will honor us in legend and song.

Erudite

     (In a video I see a diminutive man, against a background of gray. Not physically strong is he. But mentally, this man is a giant. After watching for an hour, I turn away and some time later post these words) 

What really drives us? Should we blindly take others' conclusions about what this world is about or should we question those conclusions, and by so doing, come to a further understanding?
Why, you'd think that this had been done already. By the many who have come before. You would think that we would have this (human life) down. 
From the looks of things, we have. We have 'figured life out and are expanding our horizons' but is this so? Perhaps 'expanding our horizons' is only us still searching, searching for something satisfying. 
  Looking around, everybody seems to be busy doing something, which is in a way searching for something, so what other action should a herd follower take but to join the pack and search too- for fulfillment, higher purpose, better sex, more money, endorphin highs, adrenaline rushes, enlightenment, bliss, inner peace, etc. Why not 'bundle it' all and call it 'Satisfaction'? 
But I, like many, can't get no satisfaction no matter what I do so I search and search but this little Indian man patiently and logically brings it home to me and anybody else that cares to listen that searching is unnecessary and is only a product of the mind. Searching comes through thought. We search because we have thought ourselves into searching! We have promomoted thinking over being and have created worlds upon worlds, concepts upon concepts. We have turned simple into complex. We have woven personal webs that must be cut through and torn apart in order to get back to simplicity. 
This man shows us the way but we must carefully follow his words, for he does not err in his reasoning, though we, in a rush, might choose to take a shortcut. We are in this rush, at first, for we think that what he is talking about is some sort of desirable state but we find that what we desire can only be in conflict with what is. 
And there is only what is. 
This gentle yet unwavering man brings us back to the state we were in before we started thinking about everything and anything and that was probably so long ago none of us can remember for we have been seemingly wrapped up forever in thought, in analyzing information, in trying to make sense of things in hopes that we will get to......
.....The Answer but if The Answer comes as a result of thought it cannot be The Answer for The Answer is beyond all thought and can't be expressed for in expressing it you have placed a limit on the limitless! 

The roots of the tree of knowledge run deep.

Jeremy Bishop- Unsplash.com

But still this urbane man tries, even though he is now not of this world. Recordings of him live on though, and his words continue to ring true in numerous books. 
Some would say that this man of wisdom didn't have it all figured out, that there were flaws in his reasoning and so they argue amongst themselves about that, about things that they don't get about what he said, even though he tried to articulate his understanding as clearly as possible. His understanding had to be articulated in a precise and painstaking manner so that it could be transferred and we could comprehend. 
Mental silence was what he was leading us towards, seeing things as they truly are in their pristine state, unsullied by thought.
Some listened, but many turned away, perhaps to return at another time or in another life when the pain got to be too great, when the 'world got to be too crazy' and their minds roiled, like the minds of many are probably roiling now, so great is our political dysfunction. Madness, our present state is, the result of thoughts running wild, logic and reason abandoned for magic, fantasy, and deluded states of being held only in the minds of those so taken by them, these states of being having nothing to do with what actually is. 
Presently, it is being asked of many to share in these states of madness but the man from India said that this has been commonplace throughout history. When minds are in conflict with reality only corruption can result. The power hungry seek to foster, and then capitalize, on widespread states of delusion.  
And thus it is that many are arguing now with what is and wanting to assert their worldviews to such an extent that they are willingly putting filters over their eyes and distorting the sounds coming into their ears to match the 'realities' that they, and only they, hold as being true. 
The cure for this is the cold logic of The Universe which filters not and this is what came into the mind of the refined man, he one out of a multitude, who defied worldwide madness. He asked not to be worshipped or followed but only that he be listened to, for he wanted to alleviate the confusion the masses were undergoing. He truly wanted to help, for there was no personal gain to be had for him, he being far beyond the needs of money or being liked.
Krishnamurti was his name. He's alive and well on You Tube and if you're so inclined, cue up one of his talks and listen. It won't be as exciting as watching any one of the eight "Fast And Furious" movies, but it also won't have you wanting more substance at the end. After watching any of the videos of his talks you'll feel nourished somehow, like your mind has permission for once to just be still. Maybe watching one of the videos of him will point out to you something you've got a hang up with, or through watching you can see how to approach the process of thinking in a different way. You'll see why it's highly important to not go unconscious, why it's important to always monitor your thoughts. You'll see many benefits and those benefits will accrue. 
For sure, you will see that there is an antidote for what passes for 'deep thinking' these days, and be comforted by seeing that before you came into this world, there were actually people that wrestled with and came to some pretty good conclusions about life and why we're here. 

2018

2018 shuffled slowly towards the exit. His shoulders were hunched, his face was etched with the creases of worry, and his skin had the weathered look that comes from too much sun and not enough moisturizing. In his right hand he carried a scythe, which he here and there grasped with his left hand, and through the power remaining in both his spindly arms, he swooshed the scythe across some growth to reap a bit more news. The harvesting was almost done. Yea, it was old Father Time himself. 
I hailed him.
"Father Time! Looks like you've had a rough year! Thanks for doing what you do"
Father Time looked at me, astonished. "I've never been thanked before. Thank you for thanking me. I get a lot of pushback. People mistake me for The Grim Reaper, which I am not. I am, however, as relentless as he"
"That you are. We're just about done with this year. Only a little more, er, 'reaping' left"
"I am tired, citizen. My workload has steadily increased over the last three hundred or so years. I have so many more endings to officiate"
"Any benefit in that? For you, I mean?"
"None whatsoever. Being Father Time, I can wait for no man. I am duty bound to reap the fullness of whatever crop I am called to harvest, be it a life, a company, a leader, a country. I am the Omega"
"And here comes the Alpha" I quipped, spotting Baby 2019 crawling up the lane. "Is he an 'upgraded' version of you? Better, different, New & Improved? I've always wondered"
"He appears to be different, but nay, he is only me in a different guise. He is the appearance of youth and promise, new beginnings, and fresh starts. A blank slate upon which to draw upon. In time, he will mature and by the end of 2019 he will appear as I do now, withered and old, weary and wobbling, yet still able, for The Universe gives him strength, to complete his appointed task"
"Somebody has to do it"
"Somebody has to act as a reminder that time passes for your culture has made the passage of time almost a taboo subject. You are entranced with youth, perpetual youth. 'Forever 21' is your ideal mindset. But I must show you always, every single day, the fleeting nature of your existence. I must show you things like road kill, dying flowers, and the obituaries of famous people"
"Are you the one that brings us all that death stuff we see on TV, you know, zombie and vampire shows, crime shows, horror movies, that kind of stuff?"
"No, that is Satan's department. My task is to simply show you that the world of form is an illusion. There can be no permanence in the world of duality. There is only emergence followed by disappearance, birth and death, arising and dissipation"
Father Time got busy with his scythe, mowing down some outdated concepts, passe words, and terminally ill technology before turning his attention back to me. 
"See what needs to be done? Were it not for me no room would be made for my replacement" He pointed to Baby 2019, who was crawling up some steps that led to a stage. 
"That is where the ball is going to be dropped at the moment 2019 arrives. Baby 2019 has to be there, amongst the cheering throng"
"A destiny thing" I said, observing.

“An absolute” Father Time corrected me.

I looked directly at Father Time. "And where will you go, at that moment?"
"I will be no more" he replied, without a hint of trepidation or remorse.
"Sounds uber harsh. Just like that, winked out of existence? Hopefully, there won't be any pain"
"There won't. I will simply reappear in the embodiment of Baby 2019, and start over"
"Wait a minute! Baby 2019 is a separate entity! You can't be in two places at once!"
"You have a lot to learn, young man"
"Obviously you haven't seen the gray hairs! Here, I'll turn a bit so they pick up more light"
"I have seen them, but you're still a youngster to me. I have lived forever! As time itself, I cannot be bound to the concept of the passage of time, as you are"
"Ooh. Got me there. I'm very much bound by time. It's all I think about. "How much time do I have left?"
"There will come a day when that won't be an issue for you, and you will simply celebrate existence, like I do every 'day'"
"Mowing things down with the scythe of time is celebratory? That sounds kinda sick!”

Winter is the appropriate backdrop

Seth Macey- Unsplash.com


"It's not. It's necessary. Without me, you would not be able to orient in your world. You would have no reference point and things would appear to be happening in a random fashion. Time is the tool humans use to measure sooo many things. You are fixated by the concepts of progress and history, and compare your 'standards of living' and 'evolvement' to years, decades, centuries, and epochs gone by. The calendar you swear by, the careers you toil within, the vacations you take, the children you raise, the accomplishments and accolades you gather, the contributions you make to this thing called 'society'- all of that is computed in your minds and out comes the result of your efforts- the purpose of your existence! These things matter not outside of this planet you ride upon, whose existence is measured in billions of years. You think you're important but you couldn't stand to see yourselves as I see you- as temporarily animate motes of dust in the void!"
"Gulp!"
"Gulp is right! Be thankful that I am gentle with you, and stay confined mostly to the shadows. Enjoy your 'time' in the sun while you can"
After sobering me with that wintry blast crotchety old Father Time left me, and I must admit I was very glad to see him shuffle off, muttering, looking this way and that for something to lay his scythe into. Meanwhile, Baby 2019 cooed cutely upon the stage. Some people up there were already decorating it and polishing the glittering ball that would be raised, and then dropped, at the moment 'he' (Baby 2019) arrived. 
I turned away. There were still a few days of 2018 left to experience, but I gotta admit, after Christmas, the rest of the year seems like a lame duck. "Is it over yet? everybody wonders, because they're ready for the next year to begin. Ready for all the events that will happen in the next 365 days, those days marking our planet's orbit around a timeless sun.

Chop Wood, Carry Water

700 A.D. 
"Ah, that old nag in the village! What does she know about planting rice? "Wait until three days after the full moon". Nonsense! I plant when the water is high because what if the rains fail? And my neighbor's dog- what a nuisance! Up all night, yapping at this and that. I'd move from this village if I could!".

It was for the purpose of stopping this incessant mind chatter that Zen was practiced, for it was said to lead one to Satori, or enlightenment. After Satori, this same hypothetical villager, named Po, would be seen calmly walking around, his mind as still as the surface of the koi pond. Nothing would rattle him for long before his mind resumed stillness. In the state of supreme illumination, movement was still occurring, the hands and arms were steering the ax as it fell, and the body was occasionally strained by the weight of water buckets suspended over the shoulders by means of a stout staff, but the mind was relaxed and enjoying the present moment. Yet, strangely, the mind was not numb but very, very alert.

  Hark! A bird in the forest! Footsteps approaching upon the village path! The distant rumble of thunder! A voice singing in the rice paddies! A swarm of bees by the jasmine flowers! 

What a blessed life. Simple, uncluttered, primal, right, and perfect. Perhaps after dinner in the evening a song would be sung for Po’s family by a local musician, a lilting song accentuated by adept bending of the notes on an (organic, of course) reed flute. 

Doesn’t this make you feel peaceful?

Faye Cornish- Unsplash.com

2018 A.D.
That same villager, Po, reincarnated to serve the heathen horde in present day Tech Village and had trouble staying out of monkey mind. All around him was noise- cars, car alarms, sirens, airplanes, trains, rap music, classical music, notification chimes, bells, and gongs, rude shouting people, slick games that work to compel and involve (the latest is 'Red Dead Redemption 2', seven years in the making), 24/7/365 media access, binge watching, social media, upgrades, keeping up, and soooo much more, most of it inorganic.
Amazingly, and to the bafflement of naysayers, Po has overcome this. His mind is still still, as unrippled as it was over a millennia ago. How does he do it?
  (Let's ask!)

‘Rick’ interviews Po on the Satori Times You Tube channel:

"Po, can I call you ‘master’?"
"It's already been done, Rick. Just call me Po"
"'K, Po it is. Po, how the frickin' frack do you keep your head on straight in the face of this barrage? Wasn't it easier back in the day?"
"Yes, it was, Rick. Much easier. You know, I've been interviewed a lot lately, once news of my former status leaked out. I tried to keep a low profile but my NowAGram account…. …was hacked"
"So we heard!"
"Yes (chuckles). Welcome to the 21st century! Anyway, it can be done. Remaining untouched and unsullied by The World even deep within this godawful din"
"Um... ..for our listeners and viewers, how exactly is that sort of thing accomplished? Remaining centered?"
  "It's easy, Rick. You don't have to turn anything off at all"
  "I was expecting a totally different answer!"
  "So is everybody else. The trick is, don't give what is happening out there any importance. That's all"
"All you have to do?"
"Right, yup, you got it. Just don't pay it any attention. Attention is key. I understand that you have to give things your attention. That’s proper, that’s right, that’s practical. Just don’t pay them too much attention. That's your only power in these times. Get educated. Figure out how to do that. Discard everything else"
"Sounds too easy!"
"It is easy. Just disregard the junk!"
"But what if you don't know what the junk is?"
"Start questioning. Begin exploring. Hash things out. That's all I can tell you. True intent will steer you down the correct path. Just ask that what you give attention to has integrity. Is important. Adds value. Those are your clues. There are others. That which does not fit those kinds of intentions will disappear from your view, or you won't find interest in them anymore. All you gotta do to get the ball rollin' on this is ask"
"Po, I'd also like to ask you about....."
"No more questions! I just gave you the answer"
"But...."
"No buts. We're done here. Get to work!".

I felt like Po had just struck me over the head with a Zen stick but you know, that approach is so typical of those guys. Straight up, no chaser.

Fulfillment Center

I caught word that there were such things as Fulfillment Centers so I set out to find one. It was not what I anticipated. When I came upon one, it looked like a giant warehouse and was located in an industrial park. The people walking towards and away from it hardly looked fulfilled.
    "Where can I find fulfilllment?" I asked the guard at the Fulfillment Center's security gate, long as I was there.
    He looked at me like I was slightly off and in need of help. "Try about two miles down the street. I think you might find fulfillment there" he offered.
    So down the street I went where I came across a church. I went inside but nobody was there. Exiting, I came upon a man outside. 
"I'm looking for fulfillment. Can you help me?"
"Sure" he said. "I've got Oxy, I've got heroin, I've got meth....."
"Drugs?! Are you crazy?" cried I alarmed, while backing away. 
"You said you were lookin'" he shrugged before waving me off. "Just tryin' to he'p ya, bro!"
  An ad in an employment office's window I passed somewhat later caught my eye. "Fulfilling careers. Now hiring!" it read. 
  "Sounds good!" I thought, and entered therein.
  "I'm looking for fulfillment" I said to a man sitting at a desk. 
"Welcome. Have a seat, I'll be right with you. Got to make a call" He dialed someone and started talking. He was very busy during the call, multitasking with papers on his desk, a computer, a scheduling board behind him, sipping coffee, and even taking a bite out of a doughnut here and there. The call concluded after about ten minutes. He set the phone down, took a long slurp of Joe, then without even asking me my name or interviewing me said "I think I can help you. Are you available weekends, holidays, nights, swing shift, split shift, and basically any other time we might need you?"
"If that will bring me fulfillment, I guess I'll do it....."
"Ok then! See you 7:00 p.m. sharp, Saturday night! Go to this address!" He scribbled an address on a piece of paper and gave it to me, then sort of rushed me out the door, saying he had a ton of other calls to make.
Boy was that ever a scam. I spent Saturday night feeling very unfulfilled. He lied! 

“How about overnights? Can you work those?”

rawpixel- Unsplash.com

The next morning, I sat around my house and with nothing else to do, I turned on the TV. Sports fans seemed to be fulfilled so I went to the nearest stadium. There was a game there this afternoon.
"Rah Rah Rah! Go team!" I shouted with the rest and while it felt fulfilling, it didn't last. I left the stadium rather let down but after having had a taste of the elixir, I was motivated to find more. 
A flyer caught my eye in the local coffee shop, where I'd stopped in to see if they had any almond poppyseed muffins with which to sate my hunger. A guru promised fulfillment at a workshop that night. 
"Yeah! Just what I want!" I crowed. "I'll be there!"
At around seven o'clock I made my way over to the venue where this guru gave weekly talks. I entered a hushed workshop space, and found a cushion to sit on. Many others were present.
    But the guru wasn't there yet. After what seemed like a long wait, he entered and sat down in a chair in front of us, that chair sitting on a little stage so we could all see him. 
  "If anybody is here looking for fulfillment I can't help you" was the very first thing he said. 
"What?!" I thought. "How.....    ...can you say that! I paid good money!"
    "Fulfillment is never found outside of the self. It can only be found within" he said, after which he started to ramble on about this and that and occasionally giggle. None of what he was saying was making any sense.  
  This guy was a charlatan and playing us for fools! I was in no mood for this gobbledy gook psychological trickery. I wanted fulfillment now. I rose from my cushion and tried not to step on anybody as I hurriedly left.
  Outside, a brochure for retirement caught my eye, the wind had blown it down the street from somewhere. Upon the front cover of the brochure a man was lying in a hammock, on a beach, with a drink in his hand, calmly gazing at the setting sun. He looked very fulfilled. 
    I had some time off coming up so after a few more irritating weeks I made my way to a warm sunny beach in Mexico and got myself into a hammock and ordered a drink from the resort's bar and timed it so I would be gazing at the setting sun, just like the guy in the brochure. 
Man did I ever get bored after awhile! This was not fulfilling!
"Arrggh!"
Off I stormed, to wherever, determined to find fulfillment. Months passed by, where I tried this and that, and then finally I gave up. "Fulfillment is impossible!” I yelled, to whoever would listen or care, but since I happened to be out in a shady park somewhat away from people at the time I yelled this, the only ones who could hear me were a elderly couple with some kids at a distant playground and a young couple throwing a frisbee back and forth. The elderly couple nervously gathered their grandkids together and started walking away to give me a lot more space. 
"You rang?" came a voice from above, or somewhere close. I was startled.
"Who are you? Where are you? Why are you talking to me?"
A misty white shape formed in front of me, but stopped short of making itself clearly definable. I could make out the guise of a very old man. "I am the god of fulfillment" the apparition said. "Here to satisfy your desire"
“Finally! Ok, god of fulfillment. Lay it on me!"
"Here goes! You might not like it....."
I blew off his cautionary words and stood there, with eyes closed, waiting for something grand to happen. The eyes closed thing seemed to be the appropriate stance to take in this situation. 
Nothing. I peeked out of one eye. Things still looked the same.
"There. I'm finished. Enjoy!" he said. "Time to get going! I've got to aide a certain Mrs. Appolinia Wharley next, over in East Suffolk Township."
"Hey! Wait a minute! You haven't done 'it' yet" I blurted.
"Yes I have. I've granted you fulfillment"
"I don't feel anything"
"Oh, you won't. That's why I can't charge for my services. Nobody I've helped ever wants to pay"
I sighed. Another joke. 
"No, it's no joke" he said, apprending my dismay. "You got the real deal. Gen-u-ine fulfillment. Even if it lasted for only a nanosecond"
"Get outta here!"
"Allright, I am messing with you. I do so because you seem to me a weary fellow, possibly receptive to knowledge, so if I'm right about that, and I usually am, let's get straight to the point. I can't give you something that you already have. You only need to become aware of that 'something'. Fulfillment can only be found when you are at peace with What Is. Otherwise you are at war with What Is. It's black and white like that. Either/Or. Come to peace with What Is and everything settles. Fight with What Is, and the battle continues"
"Oh-kay" I groaned. 
"You're not getting it" he sadly shook his head. "But you will- eventually! Everybody does. Bye, gotta go, the number of calls I'm getting today! Sheesh! Must be the holidays again....!"
"Poof!" he vanished. 
So I gave what he said a try. I'd up to that point tried everything else, so why not? I looked around the shady park and tried, really tried, to be ok with things as they were for just fifteen seconds. I noticed that when I did so I released a breath of tension, tension that I didn't even realize I'd been holding. It was a start. I felt better. 
"Maybe" I thought, "if I can string together a whole buncha of moments like this, I can stay in a state of peace with What Is. Nobody else can do this for me, I have to do it on my own. I don't know if being okay with What Is qualifies as 'fulfillment', but I'll deal with that sticky concept later, if I feel like it".

"'Cuz right now it feels good just feeling good!".

Droplets

It is not for most people to think that they are anything greater than just a member of their family, an employee at their job, a part of their community, a citizen of their country, along with the the minor influence they bring to that conglomorate, and then reaching further out, the even smaller overall impact they make upon the world. 
      People are conditioned to think that what they do in the scheme of things doesn't matter so much unless they're at the top pulling the biggest strings, steering and directing the course of major events. 
      But are not all rivers made up of droplets? This might be an extreme concept to consider, one that even seems laughable, for what possible influence can a droplet have? Not much, compared to a river. 
       But look to the movement of society and how relatively minor happenings within that movement are what most people experience on a daily basis. The majority of people aren't in the throes of huge undertakings, they are in the midst of everyday occurrences and within those occurrences are the happenings that shape their days and their perceptions. This 'colorizing' happens all the time and is so ubiquitous as to be almost unnoticed. People are continuously being affected, molded, and changed by life itself. 
      One time encounters or events can make a profound difference in people's lives. Searching my memory banks here, I can say that for sure I hold memories of several seminal events. The same must be true for you. 

The river is rife with new additions

Inge Maria- Unsplash.com

Leaders try to affect the course of the river. They think that it is they who are making a difference but it is individual choices that ultimately makes up the path the river follows- are you following this?
       For if you are, you can see that it isn't the 'cult of personality' that rules the day so much, it is the inner state of each person. Each person examines the outer and makes decisons based on what they hold within. Of all the influences people take into consideration, the vast majority are those that might affect them personally. 

Were we to examine the building blocks that make up just one human's perception of the world we would be amazed at the amount of influences that individual has experienced. Who can say which of those have had the most impact? That is up to the individual to decide, and most quietly do. They come to their own conclusions.

So yes, though people are driven by highly individual needs and desires they are also turned this way or that through exposure to exterior influences, the things that politicians and advertisers and romantic partners and managers concern themselves with. Psycholological aspects aside, there is also the subject of spiritual belief and understanding, which definitely plays a role in each individual's decison making. Not money, sex, or survival driven, these decisions rest on individually held concepts of right and wrong. It's easy to see why politicians couple with religious leaders to cover all the bases of belief.

In extreme times, people are called to examine their beliefs and assumptions and the way they do that is by acting on what they personally know, not just what they're being told. So you can see how the interaction with just one person, or being part of one event, which could be a current one or an event that happened years ago, can change the path an individual currently chooses to take, which can alter the flow of the immense river of life!

Knowing this, can it still be said that droplets don’t have any power?

Plentium

  "Welcome to the land of Plentium" my guide said. "Come on in"
I entered the vast hall trepidatiously. There were so many treasures lying around, free for the taking. 
"What an amazing place!" I remarked, awestruck. "I must be dreaming!"
"Rest assured, you are not dreaming" my guide said. "This is the real deal. You've earned it"
  "I have? How?"

I don’t do this every day so don’t get any ideas

Tom Parsons- Unsplash.com

"All those nights you worked late because your co-workers called in 'sick', all those times that the managers claimed that the company was struggling when it was making bank, all the times that you asked if it was the correct price and the salesman in the store or whatever said that it was, and you paid it, and all of other times you played by the rules while others cheated. It all adds up. This is your karma. It is what you, by doing your good works, have silently accrued. Now it is yours to enjoy"
"Uh..... uh.... I don't know how to enjoy. I've always gotten by with less. It's what I'm used to. This seems to be way too much"
"It's not"
"How can you say that? There's more here than I've ever dreamed!"
"Were not your dreams big like this, once?"
"They were. But then....."
"Something happened, right? You're not alone. You were told- conditioned- by various factions and forces that your lot in life was a small one. It never in actuality was. This largesse has always been your birthright"
"I thought so. I knew it!"
"Don't be gettin' uppity now! This isn't about winners and losers. It's about The All. The All wants you to have this. It has always wanted you to have this. But- you live in a free will world and there are those who didn't want you to know that. Your gain is their loss, in their perception. This is why this was kept from you. They wanted all of The All for themselves"
"And they did a pretty damn good job of that!" I snidely (and surprisingly) replied. I was getting a little bit pissed at being delayed from grabbing the goods that were so agonizingly near. 
"Not nice people are a pain throughout the universe. But don't worry. They'll get theirs" the guides calmly said, which was not a good enough answer for a long sufferer like me.

"By means of fiery vengeance and horrible shrieking pain?" I sputtered, urgently hoping for an affirmative reply.

"By means of unending overtime and having to carry the load shorthanded?" I prayed this too would be so.

"And by means of heckling and spurious laughter coming from regions removed?" I fervently wished, my brow aching as if in extreme throes of visualizing.

My guides sadly shook their heads in response to my vitriol, but having been once human, or assigned through higher attainment to coach humans, they understood. 
"No, it won't be that way. An eye for an eye is the olde interpretation of the law. It was meant for Moses' time. Today we say 'appropriate'. The appropriate means of salvation, brought about by the implementation of corrective measures, will be lovingly yet sternly applied. You call this 'tough love'. We call it 'infinite mercy'. Your vengeance timetable is a crude and inappropriate application of ‘justice’, one that is also way too short for The Universe. Try thinking much longer term. We don't want trauma patients, we want coherent members of the growing fold of the redeemed. Think about that the next time you get the urge to lash out.
Now go and help yourself to the booty. Your time in the trenches is over. Others have volunteered to be the wayshowers so that you can take a well deserved rest- of the rest your lifetime, if you wish it. A good looong break"
"Yea!"
"Just understand that with fiscal freedom comes responsibility. Use this bequest wisely. Treat others with respect, extend a helping hand if so inspired, tread lightly through the world in all ways. Because if'n you don't......"
A piteous scream was heard in the background, wailing came from another direction, and an overtime zombie staggered by, quite near. 
     "....you will again find yourself in the company of the wicked".
"That''s ok. Got it. I’m cool. Ain't goin' there. You got my word on that"
”Good. See you in fifty years?"
"I'll be dead by then!"
"You'll be reborn by then"
"Oh".

Death

All of my life I have been obsessed with death. Isn't that weird? But it's not a morbid obsession with death, it's a sort of measuring where I stand as the sand from the hourglass slowly runs out. 
You see, I have done this before, this thing called life, so I treasure it, oh do I ever. I know how tenuous it is, how fleeting, how tragic and sad and gruesome the end of it might be. Death is that part of life that we never want to look at and when we do, it usually ain't pretty. 
So we hide death from view as much as we possibly can, in order for life to shine that much brighter. We try and bury death under distractions and busyness and purpose and goals and future and we can be quite successful with that but death always has the final say. 
Were death to be not so, we would have perpetual life and if that were so, what a dysfunctional one that would be, looking around and seeing how we approach life. We’re not exactly aces at that, are we?

Angels are cool

Sandy Millar- Unsplash.com

 
One of the absolutely amazing things about death- Death! Finis! The End! - is that although everybody knows it's coming, they treat it as if it's nothing to be overly concerned about! You’d think- any animal would think- that if I only have X number of years and that's it I'm gonna be one wild crazy bad ass mo'fo and get what I can while I can get it. Anarchy would rule the day because with no future beyond life, and no God to answer to, there would be zero consequence. 
But the very absence of anarchy is telling. It indicates that there is consequence, which is ruled by conscience. No matter what people might say outwardly, they inwardly- even the atheists- believe in God, or something that just might be best left un-pissed off when they transition. 

You can hold up a yardstick to any accomplishment in the earthly realm and death only laughs at it. You can rise to the highest position, lord over minions, store gold and art in Swiss vaults deep under the mountains there, and none of that matters at the end. 
"Ain't never seen no U-Haul behind no hearse!" I heard some African American lady say once and I thought "Ain't that right!"
'Cuz it is. Death is. So spin out on whatever tangent you want, you ain't gonna spin out on death. Death ain't no fake news.
You can though, as so many do, treat death as something to never, ever think about and be quite sucessful in that approach. So successful that in the end you haven't paid it hardly any mind at all. You almost cheated death in that way. Wow. Good for you. For these people it's like death comes sneakin' around the corner and right at the last second goes "Hello" and it's over. 
    Is that wrong? Is that right? I don't have an answer for that. All I know is that for me, death is a curiosity, a thread, that once pulled upon, drawn closer, and fully examined, has shown me more about life and what it means than I ever could have imagined. My obsession with death has brought to me books about the afterlife, research on NDE's (Near Death Experiences), and so much more. I don't know exactly what happens after we die but I feel a lot better about it now so when somebody mentions death, or I see that somebody famous has died in the news, I think that they've chosen to transition so that they can go to some heavenly place and reboot their soul, change things around some, so that when they can come back, in all likelihood, to this earthly realm they can try life out again under a different set of conditions and build upon what they already know. It's a beautiful system. 

I've heard it said in the future that we'll have this life thing figured out well enough and we'll feel like sticking around longer. We won't need to transiton and be reborn so often. We won't need to pack in a lot of intense experiences. 
Sounds good to me. I'm ready for that. Sign me up! 

'Cuz an only four score and ten years or so lifespan hasn't even gotten me out of adolescence. I mean, really. 

The Interview

A local station, Wha's Sup Radio, called and asked if I wanted to be interviewed and I said "No, I can't. My travel schedule is too full".
(Yeah, right)
Of course I agreed. Any exposure right now is a good thing. So I made my way down to the station but came bringing my own Joe with me for the morning interview 'cuz I ain't the trustin' kind when it comes to Joe.
The woman doing the interview was named Tina. I like that name. Haven't heard it for awhile. You know, baby names change with the generations and Tina, an old one, is making a comeback. Anyway, the interview:

Tina: "How did you pick the name for your website- 'NowChangeable.com'?"
Me:  "I just came up with it, and liked the way it sounded right away. It represents a whole slew of things"
Tina:  "Does that 'just coming up with it' approach apply to everything you write?"
Me:  "Pretty much. I pull from everywhere and everywhen. What ends up on the page is an amalgam, a mixture, a soup"

That’s not me. I don’t ever wear camo pants.

neonbrand- Unsplash.com

Tina: "What caused you to want to do a blog?"
Me: "It was time. That's all I can tell you"
Tina: "Mmm. Mysterious. Tell me, what do your readers think of the stuff you write about?"
Me: "It's up to them. My job is to just put the words out with the overall intent that whatever I post is helpful"
Tina: "Is it?"
Me: "That's not for me to decide or know. I'd rather not know"
Tina: "Why?"
Me:  "Because then I might become famous or something. Worse thing that could happen! Recognition is okay, but fame.... ...ooh. Don't want that"
Tina: (looking at my readership stats) "Looks like you could use a little fame"
Me: "They'll find out about me organically. The web might be a big place but type in the right words...."
Tina: "I see your point. You're a low key guy"
Me: "Not at all! I like to think big. Very big. Fame though, in my view, is a burden. There have been many cases of You Tube stars burning out lately. Their audiences demanded new stuff from them regularly and these You Tubers feared that their ratings would drop and their viewership would disappear if they didn't produce. Even though they tried desperately to keep up, they became exhausted physically and mentally from being literally besieged to put out content. They're drained, anxiety ridden, stressed-out shells of their former bright happy selves, who like me, initially only wanted to help people"
Tina: "They needed a break!"
Me: "Hell yes they did. But they were afraid to take one. Not putting out content was like death to them"
Tina: "I notice in your blog that you put out something nearly every day. Are you driven by that same fear? That if you don't produce you'll become irrelevant, a has-been, an afterthought?"
Me: "Oh yeah. Defintitely. But it's an itsy bitsy fear. My greatest fear is that the well of meaningful, inspirational stuff will dry up and I'll end up writing about how I saw Bic pens are made on How It's Made or other such drivel but so far, thank God, that hasn't happened very often"
Tina: "Do you think this 'well of inspiration', as you call it, will ever fail to provide?"
Me: "I don't think I'll ever run out of things to write about. And I'll tell you why... (a pause here, followed by a scratching of the head and staring blankly into space, as if searching for an answer, which seems to produce a glimmer of an idea) ...I don’t know why! Wait- wrong answer. Just kidding. I do know why. The well will never fail to provide because my intention is to help people and I'm interested in fulfilling that intention. My intent will bring subjects to me to write about, because Lord knows, this world needs help"
Tina: "Isn't that a little presumptious? That the world needs help from you, specifically?"
Me: "Of course it's presumptious. But- I'm doing it. I'm getting up in the morning, or late at night or whatever, and putting words on the page. There are those who would like to help, but don't. I actually walk my talk"
Tina: "Yes, you do. But for how long? Do you see yourself doing this say, five years from now?"
Me: "I can't say I've actually made any long term plans like that but I will say this: If I feel into the future, I sense that NowChangeable.com is going to be around for a long, long time"
Tina: "As a blog, or will it morph into something else?"
Me: "I envision a platform of sorts. Maybe with some contributors. Products. Endorsements. Classes. Who knows? Im building a brand here. There's no telling where I can go with this but the key thing is I keep the name. People like stability when it comes to spiritual content and philosophical dissertations. I act as the rock, the foundation, for all that is to come. Everything that forms later can be built upon this solid base"
Tina: "I see. You talk about God a lot. Do you have a direct line or something like that to him?"
Me: "That sounds like I'm acting as his spokesperson or something. No, I wouldn't put it that way. I'd say I have, over a long period of time, got to know how the spiritual realm works but- there's a whole lot of learning left. My concept of God has changed and continues to do so. At this point I wouldn't say that God is in another area like the 'throne room', or that he exists in a different dimension or level, or that he can even be called a separate, singular entity- he's referenced that way for convenience's sake. Let's just say that God and I exist in the same space. We collaborate. Or as the rappers would say, I represent ‘him’ (in a respectful way, of course)"
Tina: "I've never heard it put that way before, but I like it. I feel this interview could go on for a long time, and that we could cover many subjects in depth, but I'm running out of time. Any final words for our listeners?"
Me: "Just that NowChangeable.com is going to be around for awhile. So look it up if you're interested. See if there's anything in there for you, for your friends, or for other people you know that would be interested in such content. In the future I'd like to do some collaboration with other like-minded bloggers or websites, sort of an ongoing cross fertilization thing, while retaining the distinct flavor of my personal site. I think that different viewpoints on the same subject can be refreshing and inspiring. That's all I have to say- for now."
Tina: "Well, thank you for your time. And good luck in the future."
Me: "You're very welcome. Invite me back to do a follow-up in a few years. That should prove interesting".

Tina (after the interview). I hope his site does well. I, as they say in spiritual circles, 'liked his energy'. Coming up next week, we'll take a look at another site, Big Changes Afoot, which is an offshoot of Robert Dashford's site, 'Reboot Nation'. Hope to have you listening then and have a stellar day- 'cuz now you know Wha’s Sup!”.

The Illusions Of Loss, Time, And Death

  Let's go back, way back, to yesterday. Wasn't that a great day? One that will never come again. Oh, the melancholy! 
Glory days, yesterdays are. They are that which was, are no more, and never can be replayed again- like reruns are. Constantly.
Imagine a reel of movie film, the film unwinding behind you into infinite space. Each frame on this constantly unwinding reel represents a day that was. Off into the ethers go these frames, which are held briefly in the memories of the living, or if you are famous, held in the minds of people long after your death. Steadily into the distance these frames travel, away from the Here and Now.
The Universe is like that. Relentless. Stubborn. Refusing, absolutely refusing to preserve or maintain that which was. What's done is done and will never be repeated in exactly the same way again. There is no rest, only perpetual movement. 
There is no pining for days gone by on The Universe's part. There is no attempting to resurrect what once might have been the epitome of beauty, fragility, or precociousness, like a sixteen year old girl, a flower, or a five year old child. You get your moment and that's it. "Sorry!" say human thinkers but "Not sorry, never sorry!" says The Universe, which is beyond emotion. It just is. 
  You might rant and rave about this 'injustice' but you have to deal with it because it's bigger than you, like the weather.
Time is clearly not on our side. 

Hola! The former Don Pedro and his sisters.

Cristian Newman- Unsplash.com

As we all march steadily towards our demise and once there leap into the unknown, disappearing from this realm, we seem to those left remaining gone but....
...we never really were here in the first place, so put away your crying towels. There was an embodiment, yes. That is gone. But that which was contained within the embodiment and found expression for awhile in the physical still remains. That essence, that energy which you knew as Joe, Billy, Samatha, or Carol hasn't gone anywhere other than where it has always been, vibrating in a dimension that is its natural home. Where else could it go? Could it dissolve into dust like the body? How? It never was the body, it only inhabited it like a suit of clothes. 
Undeniable is the fact that even before the actual grand exit have come (for most) decades of nightly sleep, where the energy that inhabited the body soared free, only to return in the morning, open the body's eyes, and mumble "I had the strangest dream last night..."
"...I dreamt I was trapped inside a body!"
    You can't deny it, this fact of life about life itself is ever present. The inability to locate the self anywhere inside the physical body is irrefutable. It hasn't been done yet, even though science has been hard at work probing and poking inside the brain searching for the seat of consciousness, which continues to elude them. 
So back to 'loss'. What loss? What is there to lose save the concept of physical permanence? The Universe is a living thing, as are 'we', those who exist seemingly 'outside' of it, and if you think about such things, which few do, ask yourself this question: "If I am not contained by a body now, what will contain me when my body is no more? What boundaries or borders will there be?”. There will be layers of vibration, perhaps, but certainly nothing physical. 
So. Care about the things you reference as 'home' for now. Your body, your family, your friends, your pets, your football team, and even this planet 'cuz you're not gonna be around them forever. However, that's the beauty of it! Krishnamurti said that (the concept of) death brings contrast to life. This contrast is absolutely necessary, for without it you wouldn't see life's fragile, aching beauty. 
But on the other hand, that little bit of poetic flavoring aside, it's not like you have a choice! So fight loss, time, and death if you want, resist them in any way that makes you feel like you’re somehow stopping the inevitable. The Universe won't pay you a bit of mind. Roll with impermanence though, and you'll be in the flow, because life is kind of like a crazy magic carpet ride of experiences for no purpose other than just to have experiences. 
Never being able to hold on to anything, we can only react to what confronts us. So why not choose acceptance? 
If you do, you will be able to see the beauty that exists all around.

Throwing Their Weight Around

Power has been in the news lately. Lotta people out there are doing a lot of big things. 

Farmers in North Dakota are sitting on huge piles of soybeans because their number one buyer, China, won't purchase them due to a tariff on that commodity issued by you know who. Wow. 
Elon Musk is busy boring a tunnel under Los Angeles (you can get permission to do that?) and, oh, building a mega factory in the Nevada desert and um, launching rockets into space. Triple wow. 
A cryptocurrency multi-millionaire wants to build a utopian community in the desert pretty close to Elon's mega factory, the kind of a place where drone delivery will be commonplace and all sorts of other innovative technologies will be incorporated into the city at it's inception, the list of those innovations being very long. A lotta stuff to think about, plan, and do- and a huge budget to do it with. 
China's leader is placing images of himself all over the country, and kind of being in people's faces about it, but you can do that sort of thing when you're the absolute ruler. 
Strongmen here and there are having their way and it ain't too pretty, what they're up to, but who's gonna stop 'em? Anybody around them cowers even thinking that.

Get it? I’m the boss.

Lopez Robin- Unsplash.com

Governorships changed hands in a bunch of states last night, people are going to be moving into 'the governor's mansion' in those states. Imagine that, moving into 'the governor's mansion'.

Or being on the news five nights a week, bringin' it home to millions of viewers just how things ought to be done around here. Or sitting on The Board of Directors, at the head of the conference table, deciding which corporate tasks are going to be delegated down to your lieutenants.

There's more. 

People are deciding who gets who's project funded, how the budgetary pie is going to be sliced, spending time in closed door sessions, trying to open closed lands for mining, passing rulings on contentious issues with nationwide implications, and then eating at some restaurant where the commoners go at the end of an impactful day. 
They're flying in private jets, or in chartered government ones, around the country or the world, to survey the damage from the latest storm, shake hands with foreign leader(s) who may or may not be hostile to their views, or to consult with the managers that are heading overseas operations.

Powerful people are heading delegations to third world countries that might be the recipients of massive infrastructure loans, those loans to be granted in order to receive some of the precious natural resources that those countries possess in return. 
They're at the helm of data giants, where global internet traffic is probably displayed in some sort of Hollywood-sized, gleaming, high-tech, multi-screened command center.
They're strolling onstage at mega churches, to packed houses, to deliver to the faithful the word that God gave them to give this day.
They're dangling the prospect of moving the headquarters or production or fulfillment centers of their companies in front of drooling city council members and county and state representatives. 
They're heading media and gaming companies, making high dollar decisions about funding a multitude of creative endeavors that are going to be seen by millions of consumers.

All this and more has been in the news lately, which I think is pretty amazing, because it's just happening and physically, I didn't lift a finger to assist.

But energetically,

well…..

….I might have had some involvement.