Gratitude...

By Vichara

If we were to be literally given the same imagined 9 lives that cats are granted I’m afraid we would waste them as well. I know that may seem harsh and pessimistic but I’m sure you have witnessed, as I have, the number of chances, reprieves and literal stays of execution from this life some individuals receive. Face it today; the majority of us are wasteful. We are wasteful with time, energy, thoughts and possessions. Without a defined set of parameters we believe the “well” will never run dry but given this life, underscored with the definite sense of impermanence, there is finality to everything. As they say, “nothing lasts forever”, the key is to enjoy the moment, what has been given to you and temper all of this with a deep sense of gratitude. Embrace all that will given to you today, do not fritter it frivolously.

Keep curious...

By Vichara

Keep curious! For the future of mankind do not be spoon-fed ideas, concepts and dreams. Remember the excitement when you would turn over a rock to see what was underneath? Use this same methodology everyday. The “Media” wants you to listen, buy, use and watch what they are showing you unconditionally. Don’t be a sucker to a travelling medicine show and be curious. Ask questions. Keep those sparks flying in your brain. Engage others, kids, friends and parents to use their brain for more than just a receptacle for someone else’s ideas, thoughts and stories.

Waiting for Godot...

By Vichara

I find in a number of ways we are all like the characters in the Samuel Beckett play “Waiting For Godot”. We at times are anticipating the arrival of “something” but it fails to show. We bicker and pass time in an endless round of self-deception and mindless viewing while a cast of characters mill in and out filling the canvas of life with muted colors and incomprehensible conjectures. What to do, what to do…nothing. Nothing can be done, we must wait for Godot. What is Godot anyway, God, a wish unfulfilled, an answer to a life puzzle? And as we wait, sitting in just one place taunting our existence with self pity and delusions of grandeur we miss out what may be just pass that Tree and around the corner. Get up Vladimir; put your boots on Estragon, Godot is not coming. You must go to it. Get up it’s around the corner for all of us.

The cards we play...

By Vichara

There are days when life seems like playing cards with everyone but the cards are blank and no one is sure of the rules. Sure you know that you are engaged in some kind of exercise and because there are cards there is something tangible but there is a missing part. What is the missing part? Is it understanding? Is it compassion? Is it empathy? Is it belief? Or is it just plain human decency? What is the goal of this game that we engage in for our waking hours? Is there some satisfying conclusion that we are aiming for? To some it may be small while others grand but we all will have some wish for the outcome. I know that this thought brings up more questions than answers but perhaps that is the goal. To put images on the cards that we play and to let us know that we are all playing a fair game.

In the eyes...

By Vichara

Look into the eyes of those you meet. Ask them really how they are doing without judgment and know that they just want the same things that you want. Perhaps you can help; perhaps you have some words of encouragement. Maybe they have words to help you. Extend that “hand” with all that surrounds it. Change the world around you, even if it is just a little bit. The playwright George Bernard Shaw said that he wanted to leave a mark in the world, even if it was just a scratch. I think we can all do better than just a simple scratch.

Expectations...

By Vichara

“The way is not difficult for someone without preferences”. In all of our activities there are expectations. When something confronts us we of course place values, is it good or bad, desired or undesired, irritating or non-irritating. By placing these judgments on every one of these situations we obscure what truly is happening. Another way is to accept all that you like and dislike with equanimity. This is not an acquiescence or passive resignation, this is acceptance of things as they are. If things are unencumbered by expectations and judgments then there are possibilities of solutions being found by this intuitive nature we all have.

Judgement...

By Vichara

“Water is one essence: but drunk by a cow it becomes milk, while drunk by a snake it becomes poison”. When something sp pure and simple is given to two different people the results and proceeds can be completely opposite to each other. Yes simple and self-evident it is interesting to see this example in our daily lives. You may hear how someone has worked hard on something and is reaping the rewards of this and someone may see this hard work as a means to be greedy and manipulative. One simple act consumed by two people and two different results. One observation is milk, the other poison. In our frenetic pace we can be quick to pass judgment on someone and what they do. We can all take a moment before our personal gavel strikes down in judgment to insure that we are not creating more unnecessary poison in the world.

The whole ocean...

By Vichara

”The wave and the sea are One”. While we may feel separate, we are actually art of a very large connected ocean. The deep currents of life propel our personal wave. If we just experience the surface of things we will generally have the feelings of being pitched and crashing on the shoreline. If we experience things deeper we will know that we are the whole ocean. If you feel anxiety envision yourself as a wave with the power of the whole ocean. Fighting the current is a waste of energy, pushing the current will not hurry things along. Ride the waves with equanimity and know that you are the whole ocean.

Beyond the "walls"...

By Vichara

While it is prudent to methodically maintain a safe barrier around ourselves, to protect us from those that may want to do harm, it is equally important that it has an element of being porous. This porous element will give an opportunity to encounter those individuals that may need help from you. Being born at this time we have all been given a mission. For some the dossier of events will be few, for some it will be many but we will all be given as much as we can handle. As the heart and spirit grow stronger and more confident we will gain the fortitude to carry more. Again it is good to maintain safety for your own heart but it is imperative to remember, as Siddhartha Gautama found out, life happens out there not behind any physical or metaphysical walls.

Without attachment...

By Vichara

Breathe in the truth and exhale the lies. Pick up the determination; cast aside that which hinders movement forward. See the possibilities; turn your eyes away from the cyclical negativity. The reflection you see is just an illusion, a moment that is temporal and will always be changing. Once you understand that “secret”, your grasp will be open without attachment and life will flow to you, through you and past you with full engagement without possession tempered by love, patience and compassion.

Look out right now...

By Vichara

Move aside “Future”, step to the back “Past”, make room the “Present” is here! For a limited time only…right now…and again…right now, the Present is here. It is jealous and yet indifferent. It wants you to experience its presence but will move forward if you insist in languishing with its siblings, Future and Past. They will indulge your ego by allowing you to think of what has happened and what may happen but the Present will not lure you with false pretenses. It gives you only now with all it’s vivid colors and sounds. So it’s up to you, you can retreat to a time that has already happened or flutter in a future that may not happen or hang out with the cool crowd that’s happening right now…in the Present.

Change the paradigm...

By Vichara

There is so much manipulation that happens even in the smallest of communities. If in the larger corporate world if you find a chink in the armor of those you deal with it is seen as virtuous by some. On a small scale a child see the lack of ability in another and will make fun of that person. Either one is a reflection of their own inabilities to take a perceived deficiency and twist it to their own gain and amusement. Of course this type of activity goes on everyday and has been, without good merit, accepted human behavior. But what if we could change that paradigm, starting just each one of us and like a small stone tossed into a puddle ripple out to others changing manipulation to understanding and compassion.

The same but changed...

By Vichara

There is an old Zen proverb that says “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water”. No matter how far we have gone or great things we have learned we still needs to attend to the same tasks as before. That’s not to say not to be happy and enjoy our accomplishments. We need to keep in perspective that life and time moves forward and we all must attend to those activities that are necessary. One thing however you may find with some deeper understanding (or enlightenment) that sometimes even the basic actvities take on a new light and could tranform themselves from menial to actual enjoyment. Who knows you may even enjoy cutting wood and hauling water, heaving the fish nets, setting the trap lines, tilling the soil and shoveling the cow dung…ok, those are old school. How about just going to work then.

A myopic shift...

By Vichara

It is not the past that comes back to haunt you, it’s the present revealing the reality of the moment through the lens of accumulative events. Your life up to this moment is how you reflect and project how you perceive. It may be a bit selfish but there is an integral element of self preservation locked into our vision. Given the need to build a bridge of cooperation, even more so today, it would be advantageous to bring in a greater element of empathy into our lives. By incorporating this we can shift our myopic view of the world to a broader out reach of compassion and cooperation. While never really an easy task to incorporate another person’s views, it is imperative so we shift our isolationist vision to a more universal understanding.

The three essentials...

By Vichara

We all just want to be love, honored and respected. Love, to feel an emotional connection and actually know that someone cares. Honored, to know that our presence here is not taken frivolously. And respected that our words and deeds have merit, not for self-glory but for the benefit of others. Of course these three cornerstones will not be present unless you are engaged outside yourself with the world and not hidden both emotionally and physically. Wile one of these is possible the other is difficult considering where the majority of us live. Take this fact that you must physically engage as the first step and with each interaction temper all that you do with a deep sense of compassion. The results will be what we all seek love, honor and respect.

Strong like water...

By Vichara

If there were ways to reassure ourselves that things on a daily basis would be ok I am confident most of us would seize the opportunity. However the undercurrent impermanence of everything has domain over every aspect of every moment of every day and creates challenges for us. We can choose an erratic existence and be troubled by everything or we can be strong like water, flowing along, embracing and learning from change.

Not sold in stores...

By Vichara

Introducing a new weight loss program for the extraneous mental afflictions that weigh you down and keep you from moving forward. It’s the new verbal lobotomy called “JSU” – Just Shut Up! Yes folks it may sound like a miracle, it may sound like some otherworldly cure but when it comes to shedding the pounds of unnecessary conversation and excessive, useless banter sometimes it’s time for JSU! Not sold in stores or on-line, JSU comes to you from your own intuitive intellect without the required shipping charges with most commercial products. JSU come to you FREE! yes free folks. And the benefit you and others may gain is greater understanding, deeper emotions, peaceful attitudes and a myriad of other beneficial emotional results. Sometimes words are unnecessary, so try JSU today…batteries not included.

A new plan...

By Vichara

You get up, do what you need to do in the world to make a living, bring no harm to others and try to keep a compassionate heart tempered with love and patience. Seems simple enough right? And then you take a step forward and you find that there is a stone in your shoe. You are moving too quickly so you don’t get a chance to take it out so it stays there poking at your sole each step. You turn a corner and the wind gusts so hard that it pushes you backward. You grapple the wall until you make some headway. The wind recedes a bit but the little stone now feels like a rock and it hurts even more. You reach the entry door but it is locked. You try the opposite door – locked. So you go around to the other side and enter but the meeting has been moved 2 hours later and the stone has got bigger! Stop! Rewind and pause. The obvious solution is to take the stone out but the stone should have not been there at the start of the journey. Before you tie your laces up check for the little pebble and deal with it. Observe, review and extricate it from you day before it turns into a boulder and you become Sisyphus.

It will be you...

By Vichara

We all want to believe in something bigger than ourselves. Some entity that would at these vulnerable moments sweep down and resolve whatever issues may be afflicting us. But as far as I know for the most part this does not happen. There is no physical entity that has magical powers and will travel down some rainbow light beam and “poof” fixes all things. Of course I could be completely wrong about this but the one entity that I know can change things is…you. Yes my friends when it all comes down to it, when you walk out on the proverbial battlefield, when you walk out on the street at high noon it will be you. Now I’m not saying you may not have garnered some help along the way but when it all comes down to the end, in the final decision it is you that believe in you. So until that magical entity sweeps down into your life I’m saying look to you first and last as any decision you make will need to be something only you can live with.

The light...

By Vichara

We all took a vote and we have decided that today is your day to be happy. That’s right! It is your day to turn the corner of on regrets, on troubles, on the things that have been like little pebbles in your shoes that don’t seem to go away. But you say what about all those things; they’re all still there right? Sure they are and they will all take their own sweet time to remind you every step of the way. They do exist but they only exist in the light that you give them and I would venture a pretty good guess that most of them exist in the light of the “past”! This light is hard to control or regulate as it is tempered by so many influences that are constantly changing. Then there are other troubles that you place in the light of the “future”. This light is even harder to control because no one, absolutely no one knows where the controls are located. So where does that leave you in the light of this recent vote we took this morning? Right here and right now that’s where and that is where we should plant all of our feet when we get up. Sure it is simplistic and to some considered naïve but that is a light of “judgment” and that is a whole other thing. For now take the results of the votes from this morning and be happy and present. In this light things will be a little easier to sort through, organize and find the answers you are looking for not today.

Try a little harder...

By Vichara

We will need to try harder. I can imagine a great number of you reading this start to fidget and “click” away and say to yourself “ahhh, I don’t need more responsibilities, I need less”. This is not asking you to shoulder the burden of the world all by yourself. That would be unfair and impossible. What is being proposed is that while we may believe we may not be able to do anymore there is always that hidden element that will assist you in doing so. For the most part our lives are not that difficult when it truly comes down to it. Those reading this via electronic means most likely have ample food and comforts. Trying harder is not relinquishing these things in your life but finding at least one way, one thing, one act that will lead you out of the cellar of indifference into the light of awareness. Once you have gained this perspective incorporate that simple act that has presented itself to you into the fabric of your life. With trying a little harder we can make things a little easier for those around us and for ourselves.

The evolutionary sidewalk...

By Vichara

A new year has started, have we moved any farther along the evolutionary sidewalk? Someone gets angry and tries to blow people up in a barbaric way. The other people get angry and attack the people from where that person lives and so on and so forth. I know that reducing it down simplistically in itself has it’s own pitfalls but even if we see both sides the sheer act of deliberately killing keeps all of us on the lower rungs of humanity. So what to do right? What are the answers? I don’t know but I think we all understand the killing is not one of them. This may be naïve but digging to the core is the first logical step. Like a skilled doctor find out the identity of the ailment. Do not just treat the symptoms but find; in the plain light of day without restrictions, what is the root. The arbitration and resolution is the mandate. I understand the frailties of all of this and there are possibilities of agendas but it would be good to try instead of throwing up our hands and walking away.

What is yours...

By Vichara

What is yours is yours for a limited time. Each of what you accrue and accumulate will be gone from the physical grasp you know one day. Some things that will age will deteriorate and fall apart through the normal process of impermanence but even the things held dear and kept will be gone. Things will be dispersed, things will reverently be passed on and some things will just be thrown out. And what of all of this, these things that were considered scared and special hold any meaning? None, as they are just physical items. What truly has weight and merit is the wake of your legacy. Even the smallest wave has presence in the world. The word legacy does conjure up images in the grandest scale but a person’s legacy can be as small as one act of kindness but still have an enormous impact. Never discount your contribution but be cognizant of what you may leave behind. Endeavor to have your waves propelled by acts of compassion and kindness for the New Year because those can never be taken away from you.