A demarcation point...

By Vichara

If there is an acknowledgement within yourself for a desire to change, you are half way there. If your awareness of the world around is heightened, the seed has been planted. If you find yourself talking about social and moral values, the shift has already happened. Sooner or later (and hopefully sooner) awareness arises inside you and creates the catalyst for change and moves our dialogue from internal to external. You break free of those self-involved bonds. From this point you will be drawn to other voices that will encourage your steps. Like kindred souls finally meeting you will set down the demarcation point for change not only for you but the world around you. But please remember to be kind to yourself and move forward with compassion.

A new Day...

By Vichara

The Day just tumbled out of bed in a reluctant haphazard way. The slippers were not there it stubbed its right big toe on the post of the dresser. After the dance of “ouch” the Day groggily shuffled out in the kitchen to retrieve the morning cup of coffee. There to meet Day in the kitchen was all of us. I mean every one of us. The Day has a big kitchen. Some of us were grumpy with dread of the appearance of Day and teetered in our chairs poised either to run back to bed or cry. Others had a sense of compliance and greeted the Day with the resolve to do their best. At some of the tables there were those who wore big smiles excited with the appearance of the Day. Of course there was those who wanted to slap those cheery faces but some how knew better and just took another gulp of coffee. Did I mention that the Day has a big coffee pot? The Day will roll out regardless of whatever you are doing. It is up to you and what level of engagement you bring to the table. However you feel towards the Day it will be up to you if you wish to waste it.

Wait, before you answer the question...

By Vichara

The world is expecting an answer from you today. Wait, you didn’t hear the question? Of course you should have, it was early this morning and has been repeated over and over again. You were asked when your eyes first cracked open. You were asked when that first sip of coffee / tea slid down your throat. You were asked when that cool breeze touched your face. You were asked when you laughed out loud so hard with a friend. You were asked when that sad moment reflected back at you again. You were asked when your furry friend was happy when you walked in the door and you will be asked once again when sleep takes you in it’s arms. The question is direct and to the point – Are you happy to be alive? Before you react, whine, piss and moan, think about this for a moment. If you have the ability to react this way, you have the ability to change. It is up to you. Now answer the question.

All the time in the world...

By Vichara

I was talking to Time earlier today and he said he needed a break. He shook his head and said no offence and I’m not trying to be difficult but he was stressed out. He complained that everybody was rushing him too much and he felt he was always late for something. Time turned to me with this exhausted look on his face, threw his arms up and said “that’s it, I’m tired, people need to make some changes in their lives and stop blaming me for things”. Time said people are always whining and saying, “I just don’t have the time” or “time just got away from me”. He snapped – “there is always time and I didn’t run away from anybody”. He stood up, put on his Panama hat and said that they worked it out a long time ago. They set up 24 hours in one day with of course 60 minutes in an hour. There is plenty of time to get things done but people are thinking way too much about stuff that has already happened or are dreaming about having more time in the future. By doing that they miss out what is going on right then. He pulled the hat down and as he turned he said “figure it out people, I got all the time in the world”.

The "root"...

By Vichara

So much time and energy is focused on the symptoms and the side effects but there is sometimes a failure to look at the “root” of the situations. Is there an inability to understand the importance, an emotional disconnect, a physical challenge, a reluctance that would expose the inefficiencies of particular systems? We all dance around the causes in an effort not to be drawn into turmoil but it is in the middle of the turmoil where the strong impetus will lay to initiate the change, the cure, the answers. If we do not address the “root(s)” of situations it will ultimately create more challenges that will compound on existing ones and like a flock of sheep run away on you. Round up these sheep and shear them of these situational causes and effects to get to the root.

Everything counts...

By Vichara

All our daily actions are tempered by knowledge and guidance given to us by others who have helped or hindered us and of course what we have read and see. All of our senses ingesting and digesting the best and the worst of humanity on a daily basis. If one were given only violence, one would only know violence. If one were only given compassion, one would only know compassion. Unfortunately and fortunately the world does not work that way. It is a collection of competing contrasts that present themselves to us and ask us to judge and act accordingly. How we act will be how the world sees us. How do we want to be seen and remembered? Our personal legacies may not be as large as people like Rosa Parks, Gandhi, Einstein and others but it is no less important. Each step, word and deed counts and will be counted.

The "root"...

By Vichara

So much time and energy is focused on the symptoms and the side effects but there is sometimes a failure to look at the “root” of the situations. Is there an inability to understand the importance, an emotional disconnect, a physical challenge, a reluctance that would expose the inefficiencies of particular systems? We all dance around the causes in an effort not to be drawn into turmoil but it is in the middle of the turmoil where the strong impetus will lay to initiate the change, the cure, the answers. If we do not address the “root(s)” of situations it will ultimately create more challenges that will compound on existing ones and like a flock of sheep run away on you. Round up these sheep and shear them of these situational causes and effects to get to the root.

Drunk up,life...

By Vichara

Let’s crank up the blender of life and make us a cocktail. There are some people that believe that they only need one item in the ol’ blender, some ice and churn things up to have a good, happy and successful life. Well if that is what you think we need to send you back to the Life Bartender School. This hopefully long cool drink that is given to us needs several ingredients in order to make a tasty blend. In the beginning we may only have a couple of ingredients to start with but with an open heart, mind and spirit we’ll receive other ingredients to toss into the blender. Of course the essentials are needed like love, compassion, laughter, empathy and equanimity. But as years go by you will get things like disappointment, silliness, death, revelations, sadness, absurdity, music, arts, literature, resourcefulness, jealousy, happiness and many more. One by one toss them in and mix them up. By taste you will learn the right amount to balance and make your life full. One ingredient makes for a boring cocktail while many create a fiesta in which life should be. Drink up!

Casting a giant shadow...

By Vichara

We can either cast a giant shadow on a day or we can provide a window to receive and create a clearer vision not only for ourselves but for others as well. The shadow will only create darkness and confusion. It might be felt that the shadow is needed to make a point to create a statement of authority but it only creates more darkness & doubt. But creating a window of communication and a sense of transparency the corner once filled with doubt is now illuminated with knowledge and cohesiveness. It’s your choice - darkness and misunderstanding or light and a clearer vision.

A tear in the veil of deception...

By Vichara

What happens when you see behind the veil of deception and finally see the truth? The opaque gauze where the projections of this life are reflected suddenly gets a tear. The tear revels a reality unbiased and unclouded. A cold hard blast that is uncompromising and unapologetic in its directness. It cannot be ignored and yet it gives you the option. Do you open your eyes in an attempt to understand and gain perspective or retreat back into ignorance? The tear will only appear for a moment and then its gap will close once again until another accumulation of events and experiences tears it open once again for just you. Will you enter the tear and receive the revelations or retreat? What will be revealed may not be pleasant but it will be honest and will shift your vision. It is up to you.

Life sandwich...

By Vichara

If we welcome the day without expectation will there be fulfillment or dissatisfaction? Without the needs and desires placed on what is going to happen will it allow the opportunities to be more abundant or less because there is little interest? I know a lot of questions and things to think about but sometimes this is the stuff that rattles around in the pinball machine in my head. I try to wake up to each day on a fresh page, a clear open field but we all know there is always remnants of the previous chapter, a previous day that lingers around. Sometimes it is like writing on a piece of paper that has been written on and then partially erased. There is always something left hanging there. What do you do with the leftovers? Make a sandwich! Take the morning slice of bread, pile on what was left, and garnish it up with understanding and compassion with a thick slice of equanimity. Warm it up with insight and with each bite try to digest what was left to gain perspective and answers. Oh yes, remember to leave room for desert.

A conditional friend...

By Vichara

Depression can be a conditional friend. It can take you to dark hallways where reflection can and will act as a catalyst to transcend. The problem is that in its corridors you may find safety and comfort but it will not nourish or resolve it is just a temporary salve. The true healing takes place when you take the mementos of the dark journey and reveal them in the light of understanding and compassion. In this depression there are elements of revelations that would never find it’s value in the dark and only will prove useful in the light. They could be ugly or dissident but they will have value in the healing process. We should not run from depression but recognize it for what it is, just another wave in the healing and growing process that we may need to experience.

The jigsaw...

By Vichara

Everyone is a missing piece in a gigantic jigsaw puzzle. Have you put together one of those very large jigsaw puzzles? You know the scenic ones where you sit searching for the piece of he landscape that will pull it all together and advance the completion. And when you do find these pieces and snap them into place everything suddenly starts to appear clearer. Each one of us is a potential missing piece in each other’s jigsaw puzzle of understanding. You may have an idea but there will be times when you reach an impasse. Then you see something for an instant on your way to work, hear something in passing standing in line or a combination of things at the right moment and “ding” something becomes all that more clearer. There are billions of pieces in this humanity jigsaw puzzle. We all must try to fit together and help each other see and understand the much bigger picture.

Small steps with conviction...

By Vichara

There is 525,600 minutes in a year, what are you going to do with them? This is a question to place pressure on you to ensure you do something worthwhile with these minutes, just curious. What should be considered is if you want to contribute or remain neutral? Do you want to add to the recipe of just consume? Do you want to add you voice to the chorus or remain silent in your corner? There will not be a re-set button and you will not be able to rewind. Some of you out there will already have come to this realization but if you are stuck in neutral now is the time to shift gears. For some I recommend moving slowly. In this instant gratification world it can be hard if you do not see results right away and you can get discouraged. Small steps with conviction are better than grand gestures without substance.

Is all of _______?

By Vichara

Is all of this_________worth it? Is the frustration of _________really necessary? Can there be a better way of doing________? How much more of _________can go on? Is there a way to alter__________? Questions with holes. Vacancies where logic has been disgarded because f laziness to develop and implement a prudent alternative. There are only so many hours, minutes, seconds that are delivered to us on a silver plate everyday. If we choose to abandon them to do nothing we have only ourselves to blame when nothing happens. Do you really want to say to yourself you have done nothing today? Tell that to the young kid who has been told he only has maybe 2 years left to live. Tell that to the little girl that has been told that education is not necessary for her. Tell that to yourself as you throw away good food while there is need. It doesn’t take much. Do a little something or just have___________________.

Our frailties...

By Vichara

Perhaps within our frailties lies our strength. By acknowledging the weakness we can identify the hidden elements that will bolster our ability to gain more confidence in our actions and reactions. We will be dismissive in what would be perceived as weakness but perhaps it contains a lot more than we think. In nature we often see the animals that could be considered easy prey to the much more aggressive and larger. We are then amazed at the resourcefulness of these smaller beings in their ability to extradite themselves from their precarious situations. In similar ways when you find yourself in a situation that may seem hopeless you draw in and open a portal of information where suddenly the solutions appear. The thing is that it has always been there; we just need to tune in a little bit more to receive it. Don’t be fooled by weakness. There is great lessons and knowledge to be gained.

What makes the world turn...

By Vichara

It’s funny the things you think of when you were little kids. When there was little or no wind I was happy. I believed that the wind made the earth move faster. If there was no wind the day would be longer and there would be more time to play. The of course you get older as a teenager you believe a lot of things you are told only to find out later the secrets of deception and manipulation. As the years go by the wind gets stronger and before you know it the world has spun so fast that you are much older. From this vantage point the colors seem different, your skin feels more sensitive in different ways and the words you hear sound different in tome and timbre. At times I feel with the quantity of stimuli that fissures are needed to be created to release these new sensations. Some do it with singing, others with painting or other visual arts and then some with the written word. However it gets manifested we should seek a peaceful, compassionate method to release the things we believe. By the way I have found that it’s not wind that makes the world turn, it is love.

Our compunction..

By Vichara

We replay the scene in our heads to confirm the action and reaction but no matter what, it is done. I believe, at least to my knowledge, we are the only species that has the ability and the compunction to even do this. Some of what we recall is to remember and relive happy moments – an act to confirm we have a good life. The majority however seems to be of the moments where something troubling or wrong has occurred and for some reason we believe that replaying them over and over in our head that it will possibly change. The sound of crushing metal, breaking glass and the smell of acrid smoke cannot be reversed. I know sitting here that I do not need to hammer this point too far. This is just a reminder to me and to you of the ever-present ephemeral element of life. This minute, this moment is now a memory. It is intuitively how we approach the moment that will gauge its impact. Perhaps the old carpenter’s adage would be appropriate in how we infuse each moment – measure twice, cut once.

Ephemeral element of life...

By Vichara

We replay the scene in our heads to confirm the action and reaction but no matter what, it is done. I believe, at least to my knowledge, we are the only species that has the ability and the compunction to even do this. Some of what we recall is to remember and relive happy moments – an act to confirm we have a good life. The majority however seems to be of the moments where something troubling or wrong has occurred and for some reason we believe that replaying them over and over in our head that it will possibly change. The sound of crushing metal, breaking glass and the smell of acrid smoke cannot be reversed. I know sitting here that I do not need to hammer this point too far. This is just a reminder to me and to you of the ever-present ephemeral element of life. This minute, this moment is now a memory. It is intuitively how we approach the moment that will gauge its impact. Perhaps the old carpenter’s adage would be appropriate in how we infuse each moment – measure twice, cut once.

Your nocturnal production...

By Vichara

The lights go dim, you close your eyes and the curtain rises on another nocturnal production. Which series of scenes will be illuminated on this stage of reflection? What characters will enter from stage left and steer the scene with cryptic prose. Why was this dark turn of events juxtaposed with the nonsensical? Were the pages for this script dropped and scattered on the floor and then gathered without notice of the numerical sequence? Who is directing this production, Jung, Escher, Capra, Vasily Goncharov or David Lean? Is there truly any hidden messages contained in the slumber scenes or are thy just fragments of unused thoughts that are finally being released in relaxation like the leftover compressed air in a tank. The assemblage of images and messages can sometimes not make much sense but perhaps that is their purpose. Perhaps their intent is to halt us upon rising, make us focus on some fragment that will act as a catalyst to a revelation that we need to be exposed to and help us on our “journey”. I don’t know…it’s just a thought.

Take a drive...

By Vichara

The Future does not rest for one moment. Like an impatient child pacing back and forth, waiting to jump in the car to go – it is there. It does not matter if you are reluctant or receptive it will be relentless. Meanwhile our old friend the Past stands by the door with a quiet face of acceptance in recognizing and acknowledging this fidgety entity. It observes and accepts the fragments left behind by the Future. However next to you with jacket on, keys in hand is the confidant persona of the Present. You may not notice it standing there but it has never left or will ever leave without you. While the impatient Future shifts around with ants in its pants the Present with a complacent smile looks over at the Future with the understanding of a wise parent. It is a difficult choice wanting to run off with the Future but I recommend giving the keys to the car to the Present. Be patient with the Future while it fidgets’ in the car seat next to you but sit back, relax and let the Present drive. The drive will be much easier and much more scenic.

An action that has a reaction that...

By Vichara

An action will have a re-action. That re-action will ignite another action. That action will inspire another re-action. From that re-action…while the action / re-action plays on let’s take a moment. While we ponder, muse and speculate the continuum toils on regardless. We may choose to believe that we can pull away and not be part of the fray but the fray will always find you. You may believe that some of life’s pageantry does not concern you but it will at some point. The action to extricate yourself from life is an action that is having a re-action, which is having another action (you get the picture). Every single molecule is interconnected so why not be a part of an action of change. Change that will improve and not tear down. Change that ignites the positive and not the negative. Of course you could turn away and close your door but of course that will have an action that causes a…