A Dynamic Web

Newton’s universe was constructed from a set of basic entities with certain fundamental properties, which had been created by God and thus were

not amendable to further analysis... 

…In the new world view, the universe is seen as a dynamic web of interrelated events. None of the properties of any part of the web is fundamental; they all follow from properties of the other parts, and overall consistency of their mutual interrelations determine the structure of the entire web.

The Tao of Physics

Interpenetration, p. 287

Fritjof Capra

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Before I say anything, I have to admit that ninety percent of this book flies way over my windscreen. However, it is passages like these that draw my attention and I get a glimpse into the wonder of it all. At one time I saw myself as a separate entity… an island to myself with only transient connections to others as separate egos and thus, a drunk was a drunk, a thief was a thief, a murderer was a murderer and so on. I believe that all of these had no power to change… will-power be damned. Everything… every crime… moral accomplishment… good or evil… every failing could be explained in terms of self-centeredness (i.e., even Mother Teresa was getting something out of her good works)...  and that was the best we could do. Ironically, it was the concept of a Creator that sealed these conclusions and that so-called redeeming Creator was supposedly going to damn or bless us. However, once I saw things from the mountaintop my heart sensed that the Creator was as much a participant in the dance of creation as I was. And once I got this picture embedded in my consciousness by a powerful spiritual awakening, I was able to change.

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Burning Out Confusion

According to the Buddhist tradition, the spiritual path is the process of cutting through our confusion, of uncovering the awakened state of mind. When the awakened state of mind is crowded in by ego and its attendant paranoia, it takes on the character of an underlying instinct. So it is not a matter of building up the awakening state of mind, but rather of burning out these confusions which obstruct it. If the process were otherwise, the awakened state of mind would be a product, dependent upon cause and therefore liable to dissolution.

Chogyam Trungpapa:

Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism

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At one time I believed we ought to be masters of our own destiny. I worked hard to be independent and grew accomplished wherever I put my attention. I was naturally proud of what I’d done with what I had been given.  I bluffed my way into the big game with a hand holding a pair of deuces as though they were four aces. I look back on it now with a great measure of gratitude that my bluff was called… gratitude that I never climbed so high that I lost perspective on who I was so much that, when all my efforts failed, I hadn't far to go to hit bottom. On the journey down, however, most of my ego-centered delusions were stripped so that, in a moment of clarity, I looked within to find the Heart of Compassion shining through. From there I hungered for more… the addiction of the heart. Since then my soul’s desire is to swim in the ocean of grace that I once merely sailed over. The process of uncovering, discovering, recovering and seeing clearing the Spirit that saves me, isn't as difficult as I make it. It is amazing how sitting a few minutes each morning and breathing, opens up channels of grace unknown. That is how I start my day and my day goes well as a co-creator, with compassion I am propelled (rather than compelled) by, if I stay within the realm of the spirit of grace.

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Dogmatism & Make-believe Spirituality

Those of us who have spent much time in the world of spiritual make believe have eventually seen the childishness of it. This dream world has been replaced by a great sense of purpose, accompanied by a growing consciousness of the power of God in our lives…

…We have found nothing incompatible between a powerful spiritual experience and a life of sane and happy usefulness.

Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 130

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If I hadn’t seen the practical application of spirituality practiced by the old-timers in the Fellowship I might not have stayed. The young tend to fly off on tangents and embrace all kinds of fanatical notions, but they either change, grow or go elsewhere. It is sad to see the enthusiasm of newcomers warped into dogmatism or fantastic religionism (I just made up that word).  I know this to be true from my own experience because I might have remained sober forty years ago had not a profound awakening been so usurped by religious adherence to a childish make-believe world. These things could have been gotten by with if I weren't an addict or an alcoholic, but this disease demanded a humility that would resist diverting my attention to an unproductive spiritual dream-world. A practical and easily understood inner-revelation that would treat my addictions was all I needed and all I needed was what I got from paring away unnecessary beliefs and behaviors.

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Good Gut Instincts

“We lose the fear of making decisions, great and small, as we realize that should our choice prove wrong we can, if we will, learn from our experience. Should our decision be the right one, we can thank God for giving us the courage and the grace that caused us so to act.”
As Bill Sees It, p. 253

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Clarity of mind… the ability to see things as they are under duress… and training… muscle reflex: these are essential for good decision making. Do I think I know karate by watching a Bruce Lee movie? It takes training to come close to becoming adept at martial arts and good gut instincts to take that training to the next level. This business about becoming spiritually fit oughtn’t to overlook training and training is useless if it can’t be applied to everyday life. Fear that results in paralyses of analyses, or fear that compels bluff and blunder can be equally disastrous. In looking back on my past these two responses define most of my big mistakes. They caused postponement, denial or giant leaps to conclusions that had no ground in fact. I have stayed in relationships, jobs, old apartments and so on because I’ve been afraid of change. I have broken engagements, left jobs, and, like a bull in a china shop, became embroiled in conflict out of inappropriate reflexes… leaping before looking… because of fear that I would not have my way or that I would lose something I held dearly. Every one of my good decisions, jobs, relationships have come about out of a clarity that recognized good gut instincts. Because of these positive results I have been drawn to spiritual discipline and have committed myself to training.
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Without Grasping

Even the greatest yogi, sorrow and joy still arise just as before. The difference between ordinary person and the yogi is how they view their emotions and react to them.

An ordinary person will instinctively accept or reject them, and so arouse the attachment or aversion that will result in the accumulation of negative karma.

A yogi, however, perceives everything that rises in its natural, pristine state, without grasping to enter his perception.

Glimpse After Glimpse:

May 27, 2013

Sogyal Rinpoche

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In the fellowship I belong to, it is often advised that we practice love without strings. We hear people speak of this as though it is a simple thing to do. However, at least on my part, it hasn't been all that easy. This was especially true for me when my daughter told me that she no longer considered me her father. She might have said something else but that is what I thought I heard. I had to let go; and realize that, whatever my relationship with her was, she is now a temporary gift; no different than a moment of bliss or sorrow that comes and goes. Her relationship with me changed but mine with her did not. It can be one of those heart hardening experiences or it can be a softening source of enlightenment… a letting go. It isn't about being unattached to these emotions arising from loving deeply but that it is about loving even more deeply… as deeply as the Heart of Compassion loves.

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How to Pick-up Girls

Getting rid of one’s ego is the last resort of invincible egoism! ... This is why I am not overly enthusiastic about the various “spiritual exercises” in meditation or yoga which some consider essential for release from the ego. For when practiced in order to “get” some kind of spiritual illumination or awakening, they strengthen the fallacy that the ego can toss itself away by a tug at its own bootstraps. But there is nothing wrong with meditation just to meditate, in the same way that you listen to music just for the music. If you go to concerts to “get culture” or to improve your mind, you will sit there as deaf as a doorpost.
The Book:
So What?
Alan Watts
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When I was a young man with surging hormones (as is true with most young men), my interest in the opposite sex had me thinking about or chasing the chimera of sexual “conquest” most of my waking hours. There were all kinds of books on the subject of “How to Pick-up Girls” and those books had pathetic pick-up lines and all sorts of techniques for getting a girl’s attention in Laundromats, markets and bars. But, I was soon to discover that most of the time these techniques merely accomplished further isolation and frustration because they made a man too eager for anything but the most eager or manipulative women. After all, what woman of any self-worth wants a man constantly on the prowl? Of course, I was no more interested in a woman of self-worth than my own belly-button lint… so that was the result of my hunting expeditions along those lines. This crass example mirrors the attempts to find spiritual enlightenment or to meditate in order to make conscious contact with God. Letting go of the results, and just doing it for the sake of doing it, brings laughter and a lightness of being that was probably there all along.

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Pride in Humility

I will take pride in being humble. I will feel honored when chastised for doing God’s work. I will rejoice for any opportunity to give love for hatred.
Metaphysical Meditations
Yogananda Paramahansa

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Joan Osborne's Ladder (I’m gonna love you anyway), in which the lyrics say it all; “I wanted it to be easy… I wanted to make you tired… sometimes I get slow and lazy… sometimes I get so inspired…you wanted an altercation…” and it runs along to the end of that stanza with; “You show me the method now… I’m willing to take my time” and then the chorus, “I’m gonna love you anyway… each and every day… yay--- yay--- eh…!”
    She says it all in that song a bout human relations. It takes a commitment to love anyone without conditions. The song can be as much about God as it is about lovers, children, family, friends… and even enemies. To look past what I can’t accept to what I can accept is the trick I must learn to take pride in being humble… “each and every day,” like Joan. Besides, she has a great voice.
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