14 Apr Way Of Way 172
When we identify someone as of our kind, we treat them with kindness. When we identify with the universe we treat all with kindness....
10 Apr My Awakening
When I was 16, living in Brooklyn with my parents, one summer night I drove to Brighton Beach and sat on the rocks along the shore. Reflections from the moon danced on the water, the ocean breathed in the surf and breathed out a roar. The night sky was a black blanket with pinholes to unknowable worlds on its other side. Lights and sounds vibrating the air, every-thing teeming with aliveness; unique, unlike anything experienced before.
I wondered why the ocean, expressing itself with motion and sound, was not considered as alive as are plants and animals. What did it mean to be alive? The "alive" classification made little sense. Classifications, descriptions and thoughts generally felt artificial, man-made; helpful for organizing and communicating, but otherwise empty of aliveness.
Who am I in all this?
...09 Apr The Spiritual Master And The Way
A couple of years back, I was introduced with a renowned "spiritual master." We spoke at length and when it was clear that I was comfortably retired, he suggested: "As I know the workings of God and you've got the money and time to do as you wish, let's spend a year together studying spiritual matters." I then asked him what would we do following year, to which he replied: "Then I'll have the money and time to do as I wish and you'll know the workings of God."...
05 Apr Mourning Rituals
Each morning I return from sleep-death and ever so slowly separate from being one with everything in a timeless place to a finite and temporal self. Before forgetting from whence I came, I recite the Mourning Prayer: Oh eternal universe oh ever-changing universe oh timeless universe oh endless universe. Thank God for creating the universe and granting us consciousness to realize our oneness with everything. The people I've been and the roles I've played in days passed, my prior lives, are illusions Now, I am who I am and every-thing is what it is whatever it is. Regardless of circumstances, I am grateful for however my life unfolds today, hopeful to realize divine consciousness, happy helping others likewise and laughing at my efforts to realize that which is always here. Shanti Shanti Shanti Now awakened, I reposition from horizontal pose, where all are of equal height, to vertical. Footsteps away is the throne for the ritual burial of what nourished me last life. Then, shower calls my name for washing and massaging the temporary envelope that holds me together and, without mirror, mind concentrates on shaving the face. Once dried and dressed for appearance on stage, fresh-squeezed blood orange juice seaweed salad hardboiled quail eggs toped with anchovies, followed by a Robusto-size cigar and black coffee. My new life begins, for which I already have much to be grateful. With that in mind, it's a wonderful day....
30 Mar Way Of Way 174
To live a life of compassion and wisdom, best to avoid those who lack compassion and their friends who obviously lack wisdom. ...
29 Mar The Daughter Of A Different Color
"When the time comes our adopted daughter asks how she is different than her brother and sister whom we had naturally, I'll tell her that her brother and sister came from mommy's stomach and she came from mommy's heart." -- S.S.P. S.S.P. is a dear friend who adopted a four year old from an orphanage in India....
27 Mar Way Of Way 180
Apocalypse is the complete and final destruction of the world as described in the Book of Revelation. While most of us will not be around for the world's collective apocalypse, each of us will have our own apocalypse/revelation, the end of our days in unitary bodies. Apocalypse and revelation are used interchangeably, but are different. The etymology of both words is to "uncover, unveil." However, apocalypse is more about the destruction of the world as we know it and revelation is about what's revealed by what remains after the destruction. Apocalypse/revelation is like the lifting of a bride's veil to reveal her face before the groom kisses her to consummate their marriage. After the kiss, the groom's unitary existence is over as he is now one with the bride. Likewise, at the end of our days we realize that we are no longer unitary beings; we are one with all that heretofore seemed other than us. Apocalypse/revelation is when the truth is revealed about consciousness and reality. The veil represents our personal consciousness; the meanings, generalizations and stories we create that mask reality. When the veil is lifted, we see reality as it is: the nothingness that everything is before and after it is what it is whatever it is. That's who we are: The nothing that everything is before and after it is, one with everything. For those who know the veil is illusory, the veil is translucent; allowing them to see reality. Thus, as they know they are one with everything, they treat others as themselves (compassion) and are able to see the world from many perspectives (wisdom). Moreover, when the veil is lifted, apocalypse, it is the time for revelation; to revel with laughter as the illusions are now clearly absurd. However, for those who think the illusions are real, the veil is opaque. They live as unitary beings and when the veil is lifted the revelation is frightening as hell. Not a surprising outcome as taking our personal consciousness seriously is at times hellish, even before the apocalypse. Unfortunately, it is fear of reality than keeps us from seeing through our personal consciousness which is the foundation of our fear....