04 Feb

Posted at 10:15h in Framework

IT IS WHAT IT IS WHATEVER IT IS II-WII-WII Acronym: I Y Y. Mantra: I why why! I why why? Koan: I why (who am I)? The Universe is the uni-verse (one verse): IT IS WHAT IT IS WHATEVER IT IS. "W" is "double U." II-WII-WII = II-UU-II-UU-II. Double Helix of the Universe: II-UU-II-UU-II. I am I, U are U, I and U are one. II-UU. The initial "I" is I as a finite and temporary being, finite in time (birth to death) and space (body); temporary, as I am not now who I was before now. The finite "I" is our self-identity; a duality, "I" and all that is not "I." It is our finite consciousness as created by our senses and defined by descriptions and stories our mind creates. The second "I" is the infinite "I" that has no birth and no death; eternal, before the beginning of time. The "I" that is the Universe and its infinite unique and ever-changing manifestations of itself. I am who I am, both the finite and the infinite "I." The "U" is "U" as in "Universe." The initial "U" is the finite, temporary and that which is not "I."  The second "U" is the Universe and its infinite unique and ever-changing manifestations. The finite "I" and finite "U" are discrete manifestations of the one infinite "I" which is also the infinite "U." The finite and infinite are interdependent as one cannot exist without the other. The Universe is a timeless void and it's manifestations ever-changing in time. Finite consciousness experiences time as a duality, the present and the past. However, what we experience as the present is an illusion; that which is happening now is actually the present-passed. The present-passed is not different from the past. The true-present is the pre-sent, the universe before it is sent out as expressions of itself that we experience as now. The true-present is nothingness, empty and timeless. It is the time before time begins. Presence is the Universe's present to us: divine consciousness, the experience of the true-present. Presence is awakening to the realization that we are both finite and infinite; one with the Universe before the Universe expresses itself as finite manifestations of which we are one. It is a calm and peaceful space, like the empty space between when we exhale and inhale. It cannot be compared to anything or described, for IT IS WHAT IT IS WHATEVER IT IS....

03 Feb

Posted at 10:15h in Framework

Humans are a transitional species. We are born and socialized with animal consciousness and with the potential of realizing divine consciousness. Animal consciousness is viewing ourselves as finite in time (birth to death) and space (bodily form). It is essentially dualistic as we perceive ourselves as apart and separate from all that is not ourselves. Implicitly, it is Darwinian, stressful, as each of us competes within our environment for our survival. Divine consciousness is the realization that everything is one of infinite temporary manifestations of the universe; ever-changing, interdependent (hence, essentially one thing) and with no beginning or end. Divine consciousness is the realization of our harmonious connection to all there is. Animal consciousness perceives life as imperfect with relative flaws in one thing or another. Divine consciousness realizes the universe is perfect and as we are one with the universe we realize our perfection and having nothing about which to complain. This is an essential element of happiness. The Golden Rule applies to both animal and divine consciousness. In animal consciousness, those with the gold rule. In divine consciousness, we do unto others as we would have others do unto us. In animal consciousness we experience our world with descriptions and stories, making "every thing" seem different from every other thing. The experience of divine consciousness is beyond words; it is what it is whatever it is. With animal consciousness we view ourselves as the center of the universe. With divine consciousness light is the center which in effect means the center is everywhere. Divine consciousness is enlightenment. Animal consciousness is about living, divine consciousness is about loving. The difference between living and loving is the difference between “I” and “O.” “I” is the self. The letter's form implies hierarchy. With each of us a point on a vertical line, we perceive others as above or below us (the Great Chain of Being). It implies duality and competition. “O” is continuous, each of us a point connected together to form a circle. This is love, the connecting of independent points creating a whole; a circle with no beginning and no end. Though the circle may appear as a duality with spaces within and without, the duality is an illusion as the spaces are not in conflict; they are mutually dependent, one cannot exist without the other. That is, love is the realization that what seems like a duality is just an illusion. Beyond happiness, realizing our individual divine consciousness is the penultimate, second to last,  purpose of life. Life's ultimate purpose is the collective realization of divine consciousness....

17 Oct

Posted at 16:21h in Framework

There are two paths to happiness, the long and the short way. The long way is gratitude, optimism and freeing ourselves from our karmic prisons. Gratitude is being thankful for the circumstances in which we find ourselves, regardless of how dire, as we know that things could always be worse. However, it is often difficult to be grateful because our mind easily distracts us to selfishly focusing our attention on our plight and not the more overwhelming suffering of others. Optimism, especially during relatively difficult times, is a natural negative feedback loop as all things tend to regress to the mean; better times follow difficult times, sooner or later. Unfortunately, it is often difficult for us to be optimistic as many of us are prone to thinking in positive feedback loops, that difficult times will lead to even greater difficulties which makes us see the light at the end of the tunnel  as a train coming at us. Karma is thoughts we associate with the intentions, actions and the consequences of our actions in our past lifetimes. (Past lifetimes are the past days of our life as each day is a lifetime, not a day in a life.) Karma is seeing through the filter of our mind, not with our eyes. Thus, karma imprisons us from experiencing the present as it is. Fear of experiencing the present as it is, without the delusional comfort of collective and personal meanings karma assigns to things, makes escaping from our individual karmic prisons very difficult. Many years of meditation, a long process, can help us to happiness. The short way to happiness is simple: love all others as we love ourselves, the Golden Rule. When we truly love all others as ourselves, we in turn feel everyone loves us; we feel one with everything; a calm, peaceful, joyful state of mind. We are grateful happy. It might seem difficult to unconditionally love all others as at times some people treat us with loathe, not love. However, we still love them because we accept them, not judge them. Moreover, we are optimistic that if they don't love us now, they'll love us later. We feel badly for them because they simply don’t get it. They're locked in their karmic prison. Or they might suffer from a mental disorder that precludes them from loving others. Or, simply, they are animals locked and have not yet realized their potential of divine consciousness. Hopefully, sooner or later, they will....

30 Aug

Posted at 00:19h in Framework

Exit-essentialism is a philosophy or attitude to life and death that focuses on exit strategies. The universe has two constants. It is forever-changing and forever. Exit-essentialism in life is a micro/personal approach to the forever-changing. Exit-essentialism in death is a macro/philosophical view of our individual transition from bodily form to forever. The difference between exit-essentialism in life and death is like the difference between micro and macro economics. Our lives are micro. Our death is macro. As in microeconomics, micro exit-essentialism in life is an approach to individual choices and changes that come our way. As in macroeconomics, macro exit-essentialism is a big picture approach, a top-down philosophy, that is the guiding light on our way through life. While seemingly different, the micro and macro are interdependent and complimentary. In life, as Heraclitus informed us 2500 years ago, everything is forever-changing. Most changes we find imperceptible but some changes are significant; beneficial or detrimental. Awareness of the ever-changing nature of life allows us to experience the newness of everything. It is energizing. As we make our way in life, micro exit-essentialism is the awareness that our choices and unexpected detrimental changes that put us in harm's way. Exit-essentialism is imagining detrimental changes to our situations and ways to most safely exit these situations. As detrimental changes generally happen slowly and then seemingly suddenly, by imagining detrimental changes we can see them before they fully realize and make choices that keep us from the full brunt of harm's way. As such, best to avoid situations where we cannot envision detrimental changes and exits to limit our losses. Macro exit-essentialism is knowing our exit out of this bodily life. The exit is to the place from where we, our soul, came before we were born. A place about which no one has ever complained. The place where everything that is and will ever be is, the true-present. It is God, divine consciousness. It cannot be described other than by saying it is what it is whatever it is. When we go there, we are one with everything. Moreover, in knowing where we go when we no longer in bodily form, we know we are a temporary expression of everything as is everything else. We are always (before, during and after life) in this place but are distracted when we assume a seemingly independent bodily form and have animal consciousness. Having the knowledge of macro exit-essentialism provides us a certain perspective on life. We are less distracted by everyday situations and experiences, taking them less seriously. We accept changes as they are a constant in the universe. We experience the newness of everything. We are energized. We find it hilarious that other people don't know exit-essentialism and make fools of themselves when they take themselves too seriously. Our experience in life is less stressful and more wonderful. Macro exit-essentialism makes for a terrific life. When we know and embrace micro and macro exit-essentialism, our lives are wonderful and we are comfortable taking risks that reward us in life....

09 Jul

Posted at 10:15h in Framework

I'm uncomfortable unless I'm uncomfortable. High anxiety can be extremely debilitating. It can cause us to freeze or panic, not a good state of mind when we need make a decision. Low levels of anxiety may be uncomfortable but can be beneficial. Low anxiety spurs our imagination to envision many potentially negative consequences that can result from our choices. As negative consequences generally unfold slowly and then suddenly, imagining these negative consequences allows us to see them and act accordingly before they fully unfold and it's too late to do much about them. With little anxiety, we are comfortable, tend towards laxity and not see dangerous outcomes even when they may be obvious. Thus, I'm uncomfortable (unless feeling uncomfortable with low levels of anxiety) when I'm comfortable....

17 May

Posted at 11:05h in Framework, Observations

Ah, aha, haha, hahahaha. Ah, joy. Aha, the realization that joy is the purpose of life. Haha, laughing at the simplicity of this realization. Hahahaha, laughing at how silly we were not to have realized this earlier....

04 Apr

Posted at 10:15h in Framework, Observations

Perhaps the most important choice we make in life is between selfishness and happiness. Though selfishness is a choice and happiness is an outcome. We cannot choose happiness but happiness is possible when we choose not to be selfish....

26 Mar

Posted at 10:15h in Framework

One of my favorite gadgets is the Insinkerator. It sits beneath the sink and grinds down all but beef bones. I use it several times a day and each time it's an experience. I think about the bacteria beneath the Insinkerator; how they will enjoy the rinds of blood oranges, watermelon remains and eggshells. I'm sure they know that my eating preferences are different than that of the people who lived in my house before me. Likewise, I think about the bacteria below the toilet. They've got lots of shit to eat several times a day. Recently, I had a couple of stale dry cigars that I put down the toilet instead of tossing them in the garbage bin; thinking they'd be a refreshing treat for the bacteria. After flushing away the cigars, I imagined the bacteria greeting them with amazement; amazed at their uniform shape. Thinking the cigars a treat, the bacteria rushed to eat them; but were likely put off by the taste of the cigars and declared: "this tastes like shit." When we are sensitive to the experience of bacteria, feeding them via sink, toilet or other pathway makes for an engaging experience. Those who are not conscious of the bacteria's experience are essentially asleep, mechanically going through the process of disposing food and excrement. Likewise, in other aspects of their lives they're asleep. When asleep, we are on automatic pilot and our mind easily controls us; we are its prisoners. Our mind convinces us that those who are awake are crazy because we can't experience what they can. Our mind makes us fear being awake because that would mean we're crazy. Well, those who are awake may be crazy, however they are the relatively happier and free....

26 Feb

Posted at 10:15h in Framework, Observations

"Complementarity: the concept that one single thing, when considered from different perspectives, can seem to have very different or even contradictory properties." Embracing complementarity is the essence of wisdom....