The world is enticing. The ups, the downs, the thrills, the spills. The ultimate soap opera to keep us engaged, whether joyous or sad. This is what has us come back over and over, tweaking the details in hopes of the perfect result. But that desire obscures what we are doing here. This planet is a school (and not a PhD program, mind you — it’s more of an elementary school!). The odd thing is that we keep trying to change the school itself rather than to learn the subject matter.
You pass by a flower bed on your property and see a small weed. Bending over, you pull at it. But to your surprise that little weed seems to have a three-foot-long root! Ten minutes later your clothes are less clean, you have broken off the upper part of the weed down to a stub, you are a bit sweaty, and what’s left is smiling at you (laughing?). The easy things are… well… easy. What’s left may not be.
The last letter talked about one contributor to personal success as being less personally and emotionally involved with what is happening around us. An agitated heart interferes with our clarity of sight as well as our cognitive ability. So the question becomes, how do we do that without simply closing our hearts?
You know how small fish tend to congregate in very large numbers? They do this when a bigger predator fish shows up. The little fishies all twist and turn in a large group and the bigger fish gets confused, not knowing which one to focus on. Sound familiar? There we are trying to deal with a complex situation and every aspect of the situation is swimming around in our minds, confusing and distracting us from what we actually need to do next.
There was a businesswoman sitting in the airport waiting for her flight. A gentleman sat down next to her. Her open bag of mini-cookies was between them. She reached in, grabbed one, and started to munch. A moment later he smiled at her and he reached in and grabbed one himself, not saying a word. She was appalled that he would be so forward, but set aside her indignation and reached in for another one…
We had a ceremony at Ananda. I live in an apartment complex that is an intentional spiritual community (we have apartments available from time to time. You can learn more about it here). As part of the ceremony we do a bit of fundraising for needed projects of various sorts. As I walked up to make my offering I looked into the eyes of the bust of Yogananda and said mentally, “All for you…” I felt a strong response, “No it isn’t! It’s all for you!”
A seemingly simple question this week, but one that is, in fact, not so simple. What is true victory? We tend to think of victory as accomplishing some goal. But that is the simplest form of victory. Ultimate victory is accomplishing the ultimate goal: Putting aside our little selves and merging with Spirit in true freedom.
I am sorry to report that Michael Bisbiglia has passed away. He was a reader for many years at East West, and was really a part of our family. He was a real light, and was always with a smile, a kind word, and an attitude of service. Though he was not at East West the past couple of years, I will personally miss him, knowing he is gone from this world.
I work with a lot of people and have done so for many years. It might be as a public speaker, a counselor, an employer, or a friend. I have learned something that I felt to share here, in the hope that it can be of use to others. It is also a major principle I try always to remember: People are more important than things.
I wanted to repost a note I wrote shortly after the Capitol Riot of last year. I was feeling much tension in the people around me, and got many positive comments about this post. It seems as appropriate today as it was a year ago, and given the recent anniversary, I thought it might be good to share again.
Originally posted January of 2021
Well, can we say that 2021 has not started yet? Riots in our nation's capital to start the New Year is not what we were hoping for. That said, while I am not normally a Pollyanna, I'd like to share some positives that have come to me out of this current mess.
A woman was in her living room with her husband. She looked out her window and saw that her neighbor had recently hung out laundry to dry in the sun. The woman said to her husband, “Just look at those clothes! They are filthy. I need to talk to her and tell her how to wash clothes properly. I can't believe at her age she still doesn't know how to do that simple task.”
