Restoration or Anarchy from Within?

Occupy vs Tea Party
What if they are both right?

Spiritual practice, if done right, will restore relationships, not disintegrate them. Self-righteousness will be replaced by a new humility that seeks to understand rather than to demand I be understood. These are only a few of my greatest weaknesses because I hunger for attention and will use all sorts of covert manipulations to get others to notice me so that I can get my way. I suppose that these character traits are assets for a politician or an artist but they can become alienating attributes if overly exploited.

Alienation is the most pressing problem presented by the post-modern pro-techno-culture and the remedy for that is the restoration of unity in my personal affairs as well as the community I live in.

This ideal projects outward to politics and my political awareness best employs offerings of that unity. This means for me that I take an approach that employs an active humility; seeking union rather than finger-pointing and blame. In particular I ask myself when I protest, “What do I wish to replace the present order with?” And when I find myself defending the present order, “What can I do to remedy the situation?” Sure, I can beat my drum and occupy parks, block traffic and provoke mayhem; but wouldn’t it be more productive to seek ways to organize and elect folks who will enact measures that better represent such unity?

            Such unity and humility cannot be achieved if my own soul is at war with itself. In other words; put down my protest signs and smart phones; get off twitter and facebook for a few minutes and make peace with myself to simply breathe.

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geo, 4,639

Pain-Killers

*****

Alcohol is one of the least affective pain-relievers available to me today and prescription drugs hold out a much more seductive lure to most of us. The number of tragedies chalked up to the devastation of opiates in the news bears witness to their grip on some of our celebrities and quietly take down many more of the less notable among us. When push comes to shove, damn the consequences, I will; lie, doctor-shop, or resort to street drugs… use anything I can to get some relief from the continual and debilitating suffering of physical pain. However, if I choose to live, and I do… I know I can’t take that route. What then do I do about physical pain? The answers are not as simple as some of us would propose and are not at all that attractive to those of us who have had available instant gratification of drugs along these lines. Physical therapy and meditation practice (in tandem with an honest relationship with a medical professional) have proven to be my best prospects for coping with pain. There are medical solutions available to me today that were not there a decade ago and, furthermore, I have learned that pain is inevitable but suffering is not.

geo, 4,638

Emotional Balance Doesn't Come to Me Casually

The best advice is served hot

In self-appraisal, what comes to us alone may be garbled by our own rationalization and wishful thinking. The benefit of talking to another person is that we can get his direct comment and counsel on our situation.

TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 60

*****

Conflict is inevitable but allowing it to scramble my attention to emotional balance can be critical. Emotional balance doesn’t come to me casually and, most often; it doesn’t make itself apparent until I have gone through a tornado of bovine-feces. Sometimes I sit down at the end of my day and review what I have walked through; and, honestly, there is no way I can resolve every problem that came up… nor do I need to discuss broken shoelaces with my sponsor. I need to open myself up to another human being. Even if the person I share the concern of the day cosigns my BS, I can usually see through such nonsense and still profit. However, if the problem is great enough and the forest obscures the trees, I need to discuss it with someone who knows where I am coming from. Lacking a mentor, it is sometimes amazing how much wisdom the cab driver or waitress can have if I am led by the Spirit of Recovery to honestly resolve the matter at hand.

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geo, 4,637

He Sat as a Mountain: Unmoved

I loved that old series, Shogun. The film photography alone was superb. One thing I got out of that series was the demeanor of the head-honcho samurai as he held court, Lord Toranaga (played by Toshiro Mifuni). When Lord Toranaga entered the room he walked in, completely poised, and sat on a short stool. He took the posture of one in charge of his subjects. He sat as a mountain: unmoved by whatever chaos was going down in his court. When I meditate my intention is to adopt a similar posture. Of course, my court does not consist of people. My subjects are my thoughts and my thinking takes a position of willing submission when I assume the posture of a lord over them. As lord of my thinking I can call each thought to present itself in an orderly manner as I sort out a problem at hand. This is important because I have found that meditation for me isn’t relaxation on a couch or on a comfortable chair: I squat unmoved; a mountain in posture and mind, back erect and at full attention, as a samurai. It seems ego-centric to an observer but what is going on as I sit becomes the ultimate humility because, just as a samurai (which means one who serves), I am always in service to a Power greater than me.

geo, 4,636

Cloudy Saturday Morning Musings

Haeckles 1876 Chart...

Some talk about the brain being our spiritual center, or the mind, of the individual and, completely disregarding our digestive systems, consider the heart to be nothing more than a blood pump. After all, we know that the brain is where the mind is, don’t we? It is all in the head, we say. But, the reality might be, the stomach holds a position in the evolutionary hierarchy higher than the brain, or the heart, as an organ.

Think about our ancient gut instincts; one cell divides into two, wraps itself around food and excretes it through some sort of reverse osmosis, where is the brain in this? The DNA of our chromosomes organizes that action. One cell appears to tire of simply dividing to reproduce and evolves into multiple cell entities. These cells seem to miraculously wrap around each other into feeding and shitting tubes more sophisticated than wrapping themselves around food, and needing a neural system that is nothing more than a connection between cells. No longer able to reproduce themselves by simply dividing, they develop primitive sex organs. So, couldn’t this mean that our gut instincts motivate most of our actions… even before our sex organs? Isn’t it after we get so damned complex our sex organs show up requiring a neural system organized into a central one? Isn’t this why Darwin proposed that the brain is nothing more than a tool of our sexual drive to reproduce ourselves?

Hmmmm…. Could this mean mind is located in the whole of us and wholeness is the spiritual process of coordinating our gut instincts with what is between our ears? Isn’t this lack of coordination where most of our troubles originate? Could our greatest spiritual discipline be to respect our gut instincts and learn to effectively harmonize this respect with our central nervous systems? Just wondering… what do you think?

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geo, 4,635

Another Human Being, Being Human

My most common resentments… the ones that drive me nuts… are the ones that the other party hardly knows, understands or had little or no part in the offence I stew about. Institutions easily fall into this category: The automatic answering services most businesses resort to, for one (Just try calling Verizon with a problem that doesn’t fit their programmed options!). Another can be the person who walks into the office or store on a cell-phone loudly discussing trivia on the par of where and what they are doing now. Grrrrr!

When I am spiritually fit these things have little or no impact on my serenity. I pause…. take a few breaths… and say in my mind, “Another human being, being human.” It isn’t a disease or anything like that. It is simply just the way things are set-up. Technology will find new and even more annoying ways to do business and people are still setting up the rules of behavior for our advances in communication. Adapt or go crazy…the rules of evolution…

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geo, 4,634

To Live in the Joy of Discovery

It would be a product of false pride to claim that A.A. is a cure-all, even for alcoholism.

  A.A. COMES OF AGE, p. 232

*****

I suppose that the most debilitating aspect of false-pride would be that I come to believe in the façade I construct with it. Before I beat myself up for it I can look around and see that I am not alone in creating a façade. Fortunately for me, I have had an existential crises that stripped the mask from my face long enough to see where and whom I truly was at that time. However, just because I drove myself to such an extreme that the doors of perception gave me a glimpse of the light, I do not have the right to inflict others with my vision. Furthermore, I found that I am directly responsible to live humbly within that frame of reference. This means that I work on my own shortcomings and leave others to deal with their own, lest I begin to believe in my own wisdom and became a healer of sorts. No, the best I can do is to live by example and becoming that example is to live in the joy of discovery.

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geo, 4,633

I Sit

In the morning, when I rise, I sit before one of the little altars I have made up around my place. The items there are not to worship as idols. They are there to bring my mind back to the task at hand if my mind strays. These items are things such as family pictures, perhaps a shell I found on the beach, a pinecone in the woods, a picture of someone that inspires me (like Mark Twain or Jack Kerouac) and a statuette or icon of an Enlightened Saint (such as one of the Buddhas or Christs).

It is often here, where I sit, that my day is laid out before me. I then get off my cushion and do the dishes; go to my desk to write, go shopping for my daily provisions and get myself to a meeting where I sit for another hour. But, because I sit, I am ready for whatever comes down the pike to leave all my plans for the serendipity the day lies at my feet.

When I lay my head down on a pillow at night, my day is complete. I thank the Heart of Compassion for another day sober. I don’t say this to boast of my spiritual discipline but to make apparent how alcoholism made my life such a mess that I need to be to go about these things religiously in order to do more than to merely survive. I am grateful for that too. If it weren’t for my alcoholism I might have never explored and found the spiritual foundation of a life consumed by the miracle of recovery.

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geo, 4,632

Sit Down and Breathe

I once heard, from a friend, that there are no apostates as virulently cynical as those of us who were raised in the Church. This friend was talking specifically about Catholics but I have seen similar attributes from those who were born into other denominations. Nothing about spirituality could have attracted some of us towards faith, or quasi-spirituality, without us trying everything else. When I did dabble in the arena of faith, I did so as a skeptic and my critical thinking could have been a stumbling block. But then, addiction to booze and drugs caused my cynicism to become a sound foundation for a faith that works. However; my weakness here brought me to a place where a leap of faith transcended reason and landed me on the firm ground on the flip side of reason; free from the grip of alcoholism. Blind faith works best at this point of departure. The rest of my spirituality is based on the light of reason and demands that I sit down and breathe.

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geo, 4,631

The Holy Contour of Life

My Laptop...

“Be in love with your life” along with “Believe in the holy contour of life” were tidbits of advice Jack Kerouac had for young writers. I sit with others and this experience steeps me in the “holy contours” of someone else’s life. My demands mellow as I see that most of what I so sorely needed is already met, or they don’t really matter all that much anyway. The conditions for a life I can love are already set for the most part. Most of my demands are those of a beggar at a feast complaining about a side dish. The main-course is compassion and there is enough compassion between us to fill all our needs.

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geo, 4,630

If Not Here & Now... Where or When?

At funerals and memorial services, where the life of the deceased is celebrated, I usually wonder, whether or not, will I die satisfied with the life I’ve led. In other words, will I die with regrets? I wonder about that and the next the next thought is usually; do I hold any judgments, resentments, plans for things I’d like to experience or accomplish, now? It would be wonderful if I had the privilege to be given the time to reflect on these things because, for so many of us, death arrives violently, suddenly, or even silently in the night, without warning or invitation. In moments such as these I can accept, but not resign, to the fact that it is what I am now that counts and my satisfaction lives in the present. Sometimes I walk away from funerals weeping… not for the passing of the deceased… but I morn for myself because to live outside of the NOW is to be already dead. I might as well fall on the funeral pyre than to continue the nonsense of expectations unmet or desires unfulfilled.

Preferring to live rather than to die I claim the life I am in and that includes making the best of what I have with my hands today.

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geo, 4,629

Should I Stay or Should I Go

We meet these conditions every day (association with people who drink or places where alcohol is served sic). An alcoholic who cannot meet them still has an alcoholic mind; there is something the matter with his spiritual status. His only chance for sobriety would be some place like the Greenland icecap, and even there an Eskimo might turn up with a bottle of Scotch and ruin everything!

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS pp. 100-101

 

*****

Next thing I knew ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Ironically, the term “Eskimo” in AA has come to be interpreted as “anyone helping us get to AA”. It has almost completely lost the meaning expressed in the Big Book. I can stretch the second meaning to say that an Eskimo helps us slip and a slip can get us serious about our spiritual development. It doesn’t matter all that much what tag people use. The point to me is that I don’t have to resent, avoid, or otherwise skirt alcohol if my sobriety isn’t dependent on abstinence alone. In the beginning it is wise to change playgrounds and playmates but I found it to be no big deal to be around others who are using, I even let one girl use my bathroom to shoot up. I was giving her safe haven to do what she was going to do anyway and that was my sole purpose. I wasn’t trying to get in her pants so much as this. My sobriety wasn’t threatened in the least because I was led by the spirit of compassion before any sense of moral propriety.

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geo, 4,628

An Apology for a Hissy Fit

When I have a smack-down
with You ...

I threw a hissy fit on facebook yesterday. I’m sure that only a few even read it and that the harm done was minimal at the worst but, in the final analyses, I copped to an attitude that was harmful to my own peace of mind. For this I owe an apology to those I ranted against and some serious self-appraisal of my own motives. I.e., when I thought my feelings were hurt, why did I lash out like that? Was it indicative of an arrogance that harbored a deep-seated resentment? These things are not a big deal to those who love and understand me but aggressive and inconsiderate displays of emotions can be intimidating regardless. For that I apologize and I am entirely at the mercy of forgiveness from my friends on facebook. When I have an outburst of emotion with others it is essentially an argument, or smack-down, I am having with God.

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geo, 4,625

Social Media and Anonymity

It isn't likely that the
paparazzi will
meet me on my driveway
today.

1. “While the so-called public meeting is questioned by many A.A. members, I favor it myself providing only that anonymity is respected in press reports and that we ask nothing for ourselves except understanding.”

*****

2. The principle of anonymity is one of the most precarious ones of the Twelve Traditions and this is especially true with the explosion of social media. We can wonder, with the availability of the internet, why we should hold back? I have a blog that I post on facebook and my name headlines on it. In that blog I do mention AA from time to time. Indeed, I even quote directly from AA literature. However, my membership in AA is only implied. My primary reason for skirting this principle is honesty with where my inspiration comes from. This being the case, I don’t wish to give the impression that my opinions represent AA in any way. I also feel somewhat protected by the fact that my blogs and posts are read only by a close circle of friends and family who already know of my association with AA. I doubt if the general public knows or cares about my facebook posts or blogs and I don’t expect the paparazzi to be awaiting my departures and arrivals.

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1.  AS BILL SEES IT, 278: LETTER, 1949

2. geo 4,624

Peace of Mind and Emotional Stability

Peace of mind and emotional stability: these were the chimeras I could never capture, always just barely out of reach, before I became able to make the first amends to myself and put aside the bottle long enough to take a good look at where I had been and where I was headed. It wasn’t enough that I could say "I’m sorry" to others if I could not steer away from repeating the same injuries.

This is another area where taking the time to sit with myself became a priority. How can I ever pretend to hear the voice of the sublime if my mind is full of the clutter past offences take up in that space? Before I go about patching up the past it is most important I come equipped with the humility and grace to make it stick. 

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geo, 4,623

Faith and Physics

My faith has no problem with atheism or atheists. For one thing, the science of the day delves so deeply into matter that it is so close to spiritual that it hardly matters at all. I believe that most scientific minded folks can easily transfer most of what is called a “Higher Power” to the mathematical foundations (from what little I know) of quantum physics. I believe that this notion is more potent and convincing; for the honest, open-minded and educated non-believer, than asking “Who made all this?” .

Because the physicist doesn’t ask “Who made it” so much as how it all came about, it isn’t such a huge leap of faith to propose that the “How” is all tied together neatly into a greater ideal…. Like "What" makes it all work to “Who” could be behind "all this". Until I personally experienced a divine shake-up, no argument would have broken through that cerebral labyrinth of doubt between my ears. Truly, I would not have believed at all had I not had a series of unanswerable coincidences that culminated in the having the obsession to drink lifted as soon I looked within, and up, to ask for help. In the meantime “the AA group” is sufficient for some of us. I know of one atheist who has been sober for thirteen years because he adheres to the AA group and the rest of the Twelve Steps; leaving the Second Step, "coming to believe", on the "yet to be revealed" shelf until... well, later.

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[1] geo, 4,622

Self-Reliance and Freedom

The way is paved...

Self-reliance is a good thing but it failed when I tried to break the bondage of a self-imposed exile from humanity. Setting aside the idea of taking to a mountain cave, I had to surrender to the notion that I might need a power greater than myself to steer me out of that ugly cul de sac. However going the way of a hermit appealed to my ego, I found that I had to surrender to something more common and simple.. The Buddhists call it the Three Gems: I seek refuge in the Buddha; I seek refuge in the Dharma; and I seek refuge in the Sangha. This translates neatly into how AA works if we say: I seek shelter in our Higher Power; I seek shelter in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of AA; and I seek shelter in the Fellowship of AA. Born-again Christians can also participate in these three by saying: I seek safe harbor in the Name of Jesus Christ; I seek safe harbor in the Gospels; and I seek safe-harbor in the Church. What they mean to me, personally, would be something like all three because I can easily see where each of these is infinitely more productive that a solitary stab at it on my own.

Who Am I Really?

Jacob's Ladder _ William Blake

A rented apartment changes it's character with each new occupant: there are plants, furniture, perhaps new carpets on the floors and fresh paint on the walls. Even the aura of the space changes. Maybe an old tenant was a bitter old drunk... or a young woman on her way to a successful career typed her resume there... It could have been a couple in a sour relationship with the walls echoing arguments and despair and, at another time, a quiet and happy spinster enjoying a life full of grace. Oh, if the walls could talk. Am I as transient as the furniture or the people passing through the span of time?
When I think about what I think of as "I" and where I was before my birth, I become aware that "I" wasn't here before and most likely won't be here after. But, the apartment stands for a period of time and then, it too passes away.
"Everything changes... everything passes... things appear... and things disappear... but after everything appears and disappears... being and extinction both transcended... still the basic emptiness and silence abides, and that is blissful peace"... says the Buddhist prayer. Is there comfort in that?
People who say they know better claim there is a continuum after we pass away. Do you feel comforted at funerary memorials where a minister, who never knew the deceased, proclaims the departed has passed on to a better place? Really? Who knows for sure.
If death happens to everybody, and I am one of you, then why do I fear death? I get old, if I am lucky and beat the odds, I might live for seventy... eighty... maybe even ninety years. This IS the better place and if I treat it as such the end is not so frightening for me. It just isn't all that important to me then.

Turn the Dogs of Doubt on Doubt Itself

I approach any organization, institution, or leadership with a huge dose of healthy cynicism. Because spiritual faith has certain tried and true aspects of abandoning reason it leaves us open to manipulation. Master manipulators, in politics and religion, use our emotions to lead us to conclusions whereby the sheep are easily sheered. Healthy cynicism can be about skillfully taking on doubts in a way that is useful. This takes courage and training; (Chogyam Trungpa says it better than me in today’s Glimpse After Glimpse) "to turn the dogs of doubt on doubt itself"… to unmask cynicism… to uncover fear, despair, hopelessness, and tired conditioning until doubt opens the door to an awakening that welcomes doubt as a means to a deeper realization of the truth about myself. 
To conclude that love is the glue that holds us together is the result of thousands of years of spiritual exploration engages a healthy cynicism to the order of the day.

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geo, 4,619

Get Even or Get Over It.

So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn’t think so. Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. We must, or it kills us!

 As Bill Sees It, p. 272

*****

When this paragraph is read today, I simply nod in agreement. However, this was not how I reacted when I first heard it. I would have never admitted I thought of myself as a victim rather than a provocateur and, if I stepped on your toes, you certainly deserved it.  I refused to admit to victim-hood because I didn't know how much of a victim I had become of my own self-centered delusions. My common reaction was to get even to how others responded, “seemingly without provocation”, when I “stepped on their toes”. I thought I would not be a victim if I got even rather than to make an attempt to see my part in the conflict. Gradually… and I do mean gradually, I began to see how my actions affected others.

The way I become free of being a victim is no longer to retaliate for the way I have been treated but to take an action that would have been repulsive to me at one time. Of course, I am no one’s doormat but I have found that, instead, it is most important to scrutinize my own behavior through the eyes of any perceived nemesis. I have found that, if I am a victim at all, I am a victim of my own blindness along these lines.

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geo, 4,618

I Sit and Breathe

Taking responsibility for my sobriety is the basic obligation from which all other duties emanate. Second to physical sobriety arises the importance of emotional sobriety. There is enough damage done around the planet by folks, regardless of their motivations, acting on the behalf of others because it feels good to them. Therefore, I start my day with a good look at myself. I sit and breathe for a few minutes and listen for that inner-voice. Sitting and breathing… call it meditation if you will.

Most people make too big of a deal out of the act of meditation. Whatever work I do depends upon a presence of mind that enables me to know right and wrong with what I employ my heart, my hands and my intentions. I find emotional balance by sitting a few minutes and simply breathe. It seemed absurd to me at first but I tried it. I realize that I breathe while I sleep…. I breathe while I eat… I breathe while I work… why not take a few minutes out of my days to sit and breath. It is no contest. I don’t have to do it for an hour or twenty minutes. A pause at my desk for a second or two is fine. There is nothing I have to achieve… I just breathe, if only for a short time. Being conscious of my breath I become conscious of how delicate is the balance between life and death. I can’t seek out the best interests of my fellows if I can’t appreciate my own life.

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geo, 4,617

Sexual Morality

I have met very few heterosexual adolescent men (I can’t speak for women: who are bio-chemically set-up differently) that felt themselves to be entirely innocent along the lines of sexual conduct at one time or another. This phenomenon seems to hold true whether or not the poor lads have ever gotten laid. Adolescent men, for the most part, are driven by hormones to mate. It matters not a whit whether the mate we choose is a lifelong partner or a one-night-stand. Where we usually go wrong is in pretending we have other intentions beyond that of the base necessity to divulge this natural inclination. Many of us, and statistics bear this true) will tell her anything we think she wants to hear to get between her thighs. We will spill blood (metaphorically or not) on any man that gets in our way. Or, if we can’t make it ourselves, hold in contempt, those more powerful that get there in lieu of us. Once we obtain that goal we get bored and will try to satisfy that urge beyond the bed of fidelity.

Does this phenomenon nullify our morality and/or spiritual strivings? I think not, because, even a greater number of us find serenity and peace by acting against this drive once our hormones settle down or we grow-up earlier than that and take responsibility for our lives.

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[1] geo 4,616

We See Through the Glass Darkly

One of the most beautiful chapters in scripture can be found in Saint Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, chapter thirteen, that ends with these three verses:

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as I am known.

And now abides faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

See, hear, speak and do no evil.

There is a mountain of wisdom and meaning in these verses. Some would say that it pertains only to that time when all good Christians get to Heaven and all wisdom will be revealed to a gaggle of jumpin’ corpses. But, even within that frame, it tells us to simply grow-up and act in the spirit of Love.

I can recall an incident that occurred when I took my second year sobriety chip. Some other George had recently gone back to drinking a few days before. I took my chip but later heard that people were gossiping about me having the cheek to stand in front of my fellow alcoholics and taking a chip for two years when I only had a few days since my last drunk. When I first heard the rumor I was miffed, but, after I calmed down a bit, I became pleased that they were even talking about me. After all, my friends knew better of me. I knew better of me. But, more importantly, the Spirit of Recovery within my heart knew better of me. Why should I not have fun with it? But, more importantly, why should I care what folks with idle minds think of me?

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geo, 4,615

My Friends Have Been My Teachers

As the rising sun paints
La Cumbre peak my back porch
 becomes my best teacher

There was a time that I looked at spiritual paths and was intimidated by the idea that I ought to subject myself to a guru, sensei, or master of one sort or another. However; the truth I have found by simply bowing to any other human being and listening for their innate wisdom has served me well. I can’t count all of the people who have befriended me along this path and have helped me to understand the deeper recesses of my behaviors and motives. Some have been teachers, some have been therapists, family members and so on; but, for the most part, it has been an honest friend whose hand was offered when I needed it most… Yes, exactly when I needed it most. Some are not at all on the path I have chosen and sometimes it was a judge in a courtroom at sentencing time while others simply said something about themselves while sitting  in a bar with me over a cold beer… but they have been there and I love you all.

Thank you.

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geo, 4,614

Coping with Pain

There is a lot of talk around the recovery community about the problems associated with finance and romance but physical pain and anxiety have to be right up there. After all, most MD’s will have a pill for the symptoms and we aren’t very inclined to deny ourselves of the benefit of relief they offer. Temporary pain is one thing and most can endure that; but, persistent pain, even at lower levels, can sap the strength out of the strongest of us. Pain can be one of the ways that the doors to addiction are opened because of the need for long-term use of strong pain relievers.

What can practically be done about the situation? Coping with pain through physical therapy is helpful but sometimes we need something more from the medical professions. The good news is that there are medications available now that are not opiates and are non-addictive. Along with specialists whose practice is in the field of pain and addiction, who have their fingers on the pulse of our condition, there is hope for the future in  this field. If we are committed to go to any lengths to stay sober we must use every asset available to us.

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geo, 4,613

False Humility vs False Pride

I once heard a Talk-Show Radio shrink say that there are two distinct types of people who don’t respond very well to treatment. One type wants to be fixed and will surrender all pride to make you fix them. This type will do nothing for them selves and are usually resentful if the therapist doesn’t rush in all Florence Nightingale with all the right bandages. The other types are the prideful ones who resist all attempts to break through their defenses. The overly prideful refuse all help and already have all the answers. I take this to mean that I am better off being willing to take the necessary action to help myself but remaining open-minded to the help of others. Whatever the case, the healing comes from inside. This balance arises from the active seeking of an inner-resource, above and beyond all human power. False humility, in this case, is as obstructive as false pride and we all have heard where false pride takes us.

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geo, 4,612

Life is that Moment Between Breaths

Here I am… meditating. How about that… eh? Sitting on a cushion and taking on that wild country between my ears. It is wild country there, but not unlike any other wild country, it is a wonderland with an infinity of marvels to explore. But, before I go there, I have this weird relationship with my body that ought to be addressed. I can do that by paying attention to my breath… not counting them… not thinking about them… but paying attention… to the feel… the smell… the texture of the air as it cycles through my lungs… throat… nostrils: In and out… a continual flowing… a stream. I have heard it said that life is the moment between the inhaling and exhaling of God’s breath. It doesn’t matter where I was before or where I’ll be after each breath. It does matter that I am here… now… in each breath.

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geo, 4611