Easily Amazed

i’ve been tossing around this line that dave wrote a few days ago.

“It’d be soooo much easier to be the peacemaker, if we could look each other in the eye.”

i’m curious about how we “be the peacemaker” when we can’t look each other in the eye. how do we carry that energy to meet people who are far beyond the gaze of our eyes?

sandyb posted these words at integral naked, in a discussion on How much should we invest into our emotions?

“What I have started to think though is that we do need to let go, certainly, but also in the letting go we have to listen and be aware of our engagement in the human process and let other people not so much be our measuring stick but let them be the mirrors in which we can recognize patterns where we may not be coming from our higher selves.”

and recognize patterns of where we are coming from our higher selves. ooohhh… i just love this!

here are some other thoughts on patterns:

with the whole process of recognizing patterns… i like to think about the game memory. where all of those little cards with pictures on them are face down… you turn two over hoping that they match. it’s a favorite life game of mine. the most thrilling part for me, is an extended moment. it begins just before i turn the cards over. there’s that taste of anticipation, yearning, curiosity, and excitement: will they match? will they connect. and then if upon revealing themselves they don’t connect with one another… there is the joy of turning them back over and refocusing, trying again to find the match. if, however, the pieces fit seamlessly together…

s w o o o s h h. the connection is made and the party is on! with people connecting, it is all about the channel being clear. the energy continuously flows… within and without. i notice that as that connection, complementing union, is made… the fragmented pieces of the individuals slide away, leaving the glowing, radiant whole.

anyone up for a game of dictionary?

sometimes i like to start tossing a word or words around, and see what happens. currently among my list are

need and want.

there appears to be many different ways to define those two words and distinguish them from one another. i am particularly drawn to the skill of discernment between these two words when setting intentions and extending invitations. any insight?

how do you communicate the difference between wanting and needing efficiently? (or not so efficiently!!)

many thanks,

ashley

comments:

I tend to seperate them by needing is essential to my life. Wanting is a added bonus if I get it. But I abuse and misuse these two all the time. I need a job but I want to play, but now playing is also essential to my life so hum???

I have stumped myself

Melissa | Email | 03.25.04 – 5:43 pm | #

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i think needs are wants that we’ve let thicken and harden. justification and calcification of desire. wants are more fluid. and fickle. in the end, i think, nothing is necessary. and anything is possible.

michael herman | Email | Homepage | 03.25.04 – 6:30 pm | #

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I’m with needs being essential to life and wants being bonus stuff. There’s also a gray area in there.

I need to eat to live. At this particular moment, I don’t need to eat, but I want to eat. Same can be said for play. Play is essential for health. It’s important. However, it’s not urgent. It can be put off almost indefinitely. The self will slowly start to suffer, but we may not notice until we’re pretty far gone.

Perhaps it could be said that a non-urgent need becomes a desire when we give it more urgency than it warrants.

But, we can also trip ourselves up in the other direction. We can give urgency to unimportant needs or desires, hedonistic pleasures. Or, we give urgency to the avoidance of discomfort, even if the discomfort is performing an important task. This, I think, is the link between attachment to pleasure and procrastination. Something I’m all too often guilty of.

Dave | 03.25.04 – 10:33 pm | #

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…need to eat only to live as this body. needs seem to thicken and solidify in same way body does. i’m wondering what happens right after death, if mind keeps going and body doesn’t… are we just awash in our desires without the thicker, heavier, solidity of needs to anchor us?

michael herman | Email | Homepage | 03.26.04 – 3:37 am | #

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oooh… this is good! thanks melissa, dave, and michael. do you mind if i play cut-and-paste with your words? okay!

playing is essential to life

Play is essential for health.

I have stumped myself

…are we just awash in our desires without the thicker, heavier, solidity of needs to anchor us?

anything is possible.

ashley | Email | Homepage | 03.26.04 – 10:53 am | #

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and everything is play.

michael herman | Email | Homepage | 03.26.04 – 11:51 am | #

osho zen tarot

this weekend i went to a retreat sponsored by the omega institute at the crossings in austin. the facility, setting, and vacation were all so nourishing and refreshing. the workshop that i attended was facilitated by lama surya das, and was on the theme: Letting Go of Who You Used to Be. i had an incredible weekend.

here’s a fun sharing. i don’t recall who’s the original author of this but someone the lama deemed quote-worthy (which we all are in my eyes…as if that isn’t obvious by my postings!),defined these as

4 great moments when the clear light (of reality) nakedly dawns:

1. orgasm

2. falling asleep

3. death

4. sneezing

aren’t those fun! these are all moments of uncontrolled releases. of course, their are many others… can you think of some?

comments:

Uncontrolled release…? Shooting down a waterslide at breakneck speeds.

What I’m having fun thinking about is how releases can combine. Sneezing during orgasm. Probably can’t happen, but it sure makes me smile to think about it.

I tried introducing my mom to KW through one of the recordings with Surya Das, since she loves Surya Das. Alas, she came away saying she thought KW was totally disrespectful of SD, and now goes off on a small tirade when KW’s mentioned. C’est la vie…

I’m glad to here it was a great retreat. I’ve had Letting Go of Who You Used to Be in my shopping cart at Amazon for ages, but haven’t picked it up yet. Surya Das will be up this way in a couple months, so I may just go that route.

Dave | 03.22.04 – 6:08 pm | #

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chokyi nyima, a tibetan teacher i met in nepal, wrote this in his book called ‘present fresh wakefulness’…

“you can also let go in a moment of devotion or compassion. in these moments of love, the empty essence dawns nakedly. similarly, the empty essence can be vividly revealed in a moment of acute fear.”

boo!

michael | Email | Homepage | 03.22.04 – 8:15 pm | #

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A man and woman were seated next to each other on a plane. Shortly after take off the woman sneezed violently and excused herself to go to the bathroom. The man next to her stood up to let her out.

She returned and 5 minutes later, sneezed and once more excused herself to go to the bathroom.

She returned again, immediately sneezed and excused herself to go to the bathroom. When he rose, the now quite irritated man inquired, “What’s the problem?”

The woman responded, “I have a rare condition – every time I sneeze I have an orgasm” The man asked, “What are you taking for it?”

The woman responded, “Pepper.”

ashley | Email | Homepage | 03.24.04 – 9:16 am | #

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Dave | 03.24.04 – 2:39 pm | #

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Jean-Paul Satre, the pioneer existentialist philosopher, claimed that one of the most effective ways to connect with anothers non-physical self was through mutual orgasm. Sadly, his journal writings (released after his death) suggest that he died a virgin.

“every time I blink I have a tiny dream” -Ani

(artistic love added to the smoothie by michael herman)

michael wrote: “you are not alone! i hear there are many of us in this mode at this very month.” in regards to the procrastination issue.

it has become a favorite practice of mine to notice trends and patterns in people at various times. like that many are procrastinating right now, or that many have been quite vocal about speaking and following their truth lately. right now, for me… it feels like someone threw a bunch of bananas, frozen strawberries, ice, yogurt, apple juice, spirulina, and blue berries into a blender. at first they all run into each other, they get tripped up by those twirling blades at the bottom that keep everything moving. each of these ingredients that are so delicious and full of potential in and of themselves get hacked into pieces and swirled together with their new neighbors and companions… until there is no more strawberry, no more blue berry, the apple juice is delicately hidden within the smoothie. i feel like right now the blender is still churning, but everything is all mixed together (maybe there’s a bit more ice to break up). my favorite part about this process is that even though 1 creation has been made out of all of those ingredients, there is still evidence of each of their original essences. as a matter of fact, i think that you might have a little strawberry seed caught in between your teeth. no, not there, one tooth over… here, let me help!!!

does this analogy fit any one else’s life?

is it a trend or just the party in my own little blender?

any other trends that people are noticing right now?

happy friday to you. . .