Interdependence is ten times more difficult than independence

 It demands so much more mental and emotional independence to think win/win when another person is into win/lose, to seek to understand first when everything inside you cries out for understanding, and to search for a better third alternative when compromise is so much easier. Continue reading

Integrity is a higher value than loyalty

Or better put, integrity is the highest form of loyalty. Integrity means being integrated or centered on principles not on people, organizations, or even family. You will find that the root of most issues that people are dealing with is “is it popular (acceptable, political), or is it right?” When we prioritize being loyal to a person or group over doing what we feel to be right, we lose integrity. Continue reading

illusion of our separateness

Image result for sense of separateness from the sourceSo long as there is the sense of separation, there will be afflicting thoughts. If the original source is regained and the sense of separation is ended, there is peace.

Consider what happens when a stone is thrown up. It leaves its source, is propelled up, tries to come down and is always in motion until it regains its source where it is at rest.

So also the waters of the ocean evaporate, form clouds which are moved by winds, condense into water, and fall as rain, and the waters roll down the hill tops in streams and rivers until they reach their original source, the ocean, reaching which they are at peace.

Thus you see where there is a sense of separateness from the source, there is agitation and movement until the sense of separateness is lost. So it is with yourself. Continue reading

there is an “unbridgeable gap” between desire and satisfaction, a gap that is responsible for both our civilization and our discontent

Image result for platter of dry chilliesOne of my favorite stories comes from the Sufi tradition of mystical Islam. It is a tale that tells us exactly what we will have to face if we endeavor to walk the path of desire. A man sits in the center of a Middle Eastern marketplace crying his eyes out, a platter of peppers spilled out on the ground before him. Steadily and methodically, he reaches for pepper after pepper, popping them into his mouth and chewing deliberately, at the same time wailing uncontrollably. “What’s wrong, Nasruddin?” his friends wonder, gathering around the extraordinary sight. “What’s the matter with you?” Tears stream down Nasruddin’s face as he sputters an answer. “I’m looking for a sweet one,” he gasps. Continue reading

Soul Mate

La Push 11

“Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around. You tell them things that you’ve never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more. You share hopes for the future, dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved and the many disappointments life has thrown at you. When something wonderful happens, you can’t wait to tell them about it, knowing they will share in your excitement. They are not embarrassed to cry with you when you are hurting or laugh with you when you make a fool of yourself. Continue reading

Dance your way to god, laugh your way to god, sing your way to god!

Image result for Dance your way to godLife as such has to be taken as a cosmic joke — and then suddenly you relax because there is nothing to be tense about. And in that very relaxation something starts changing in you — a radical change, a transformation — and the small things of life start having new meaning, new significance. Continue reading