MINDFULNESS HAIKU

First Light, Jamestown, NC

 MINDFULNESS HAIKU

Awake at first light.

Can I keep this calm moment?

That will be my choice.

COVID BOREDOM

Grounded Delta Jets, PTI Greensboro, NC

There’s an old but not so subtle saying that death is nature’s reminder for us to slow down.  Perhaps a more contemporary version would be to substitute COVID-19 for the word death even though this pandemic has resulted in thousands of deaths in almost every community on the planet.  The subsequent social isolation, both mandated and self-imposed for us seniors, has me at least going full circle to my childhood days.  I still can remember rainy summer days when I must have made my mother crazy to hear me winning about being bored as I stared out at the rain drops on a window pane.  She generally let me sort out my boredom which wasn’t always such a good idea!  Fortunately, I learned to read early on and books took me and Toto to exotic places that weren’t in Kansas anymore.  When it comes to boredom and Covid-19, it would seem we need to learn to accommodate them since it looks like we’re in it for the long haul.  We need to take heart that Isaac Newton invented calculus during the plague.  Now that’s getting into a deep state of boredom!  Of course, social isolating for some folks is more like living the dream!  And boredom isn’t always a bad thing.  

This pandemic has given me the quarantine time to clear out my closet and open space for more stuff reclaimed from the eighty percent of the clothes I will never wear again, restore tranquility in my sock drawer and get all those singles together again, thoroughly clean the house including the eviction of all those mold farms in the refrigerator, really detail my vehicle so that even the inside of the windshield is clear for the first time in ages, upend overgrown bushes and trees in the yard to make space for more plants, toss out the eighty percent of canned goods in the pantry whose expiration dates start with 19, confirm that there are about 7,500 grains of rice in a package, put up thirty quarts of spicy salsa from my Covid victory garden (Actually I made one that up.  I only make reservations.), practice putting inside to keep golf strokes on the green to one or two but forget about correcting the driver slice, finish a book on neuroscience that’s been a work in progress for months, write a new blog post, and increase my time arguing with strangers about politics on social media.  Perhaps I still need to work on that last item!  

Neuroscientists now understand that boredom is the gateway to creative thinking and pondering the direction of our lives.  Just like today, Covid Boredom has prompted me to exercise my flow of mind creativeness.  Calming our unconscious chatter and observing our conscious mind clears the way to some very insightful thinking, especially once we’ve cleared the “to do list” that we’ve been ignoring for way too long!  Use boredom time to creatively insert some joy and fun into those habits and activities that create the boredom.

I appreciate that it can be very difficult for some folks to stop the merry-go-round of life and hit the pause button.  But at least Covid Boredom has resolved that for us!     

BLUE MIND

Price Lake, Blue Ridge Parkway, NC

Referring to his book Blue Mind, Marine biologist Wallace Nichols tells USA Today that “The term ‘blue mind’ describes the mildly meditative state we fall into when near, in, on or under water.  It’s the antidote to what we refer to as ‘red mind,’ which is the anxious, over-connected and over-stimulated state that defines the new normal of modern life.”  He notes that research has shown that being near blue water can enhance our mental health and help us achieve “an elevated and sustained happiness.”

And what’s the genesis of our red mind which conjures up images of bulging neck veins and blood vessels about to burst?  Neil Pasricha posits in the opening of his international bestseller, The Happiness Equation, “because life was mostly short, brutal, and highly competitive over the two hundred thousand years our species has existed on this planet.  And our brains are trained for this short, brutal, and highly competitive world.”

So, what’s his antidote?  Pasricha includes one of my all-time favorite observations in life from Viktor Frankl after surviving the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp; “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”  I’ve often written that there are many experiences in life that are beyond our control—with one exception—how we respond!  Pasricha states that if he knew everything about you “I could only predict about 10% of your happiness.  The remaining amount is not determined by your external world but by the way your brain processes it.”

I’ve learned over the years that one of the best responses to our chaotic culture is drawing on the ancient practice of mindful meditation.  Frankly, it’s a wonderful practice of calming your mind to achieve a peaceful and cleansing goal of reducing the daily stress of life.  Experiencing peace doesn’t mean that our lives are always joyful.  It implies that we have found the path to calming the mind in the midst of a normal hectic life.  Mindful meditation can be practiced almost anywhere if we focus on our favorite “go-to” quiet place in our mind.  Peace and relaxation can be found on vacation and day trips out into the serene beauty of nature.  All of my mindful quiet places occurred in the early morning light near the calm waters of expansive mirrored bodies of water.  

It’s truly amazing how this practice can transition the glowing Red Mind accumulated from the daily external world around us and slowly use its kaleidoscope power to morph into the calming Blue Mind that enables us to calm troubled waters and try again tomorrow.

SIMPLE PLEASURES

Elaine's Coffee Call, Chicago, IL

           

Once I had posted my essay on The Indulgence of a Rainy Morning, it occurred to me that I had written other posts on the simple pleasures of life.  So, I searched my blog on observations and highlighted others that involved simple pleasures.  Then I just finished converting these posts into both an electronic and bound book on the subject.

Psychology Today defines simple pleasures as “experiences that are brief, positive, emerge in everyday settings, and are accessible to most people at little or no cost. They are highly personal, meaning what is a simple pleasure for you may not be a simple pleasure for others.”  The researchers found that folks who have a better awareness of these moments are able to make steady progress on their daily goals by checkmating daily hassles with these positive, uplifting feelings.

It's not always the big changes in life such as a new house or car that have a positive impact on our lives.  Simple pleasures give us the happiness, energy and perspective we need to carry on and accomplish the difficult but important issues in life.  

It turns out to be a neat exercise for everyone—try it!

Here’s a short list representing some of the simple pleasure posts in my blog:

·          Rainy mornings

·         A child’s view of the world

·         Mountain vistas and nature sounds

·         Walking the beach

·         A full moonrise

·         Sacred quiet places

·         Colorful tree cathedrals

·         People watching

·         Walking a dog

·         Morning coffee

·         Catching fireflies

·         Playing catch

·         Watching the season’s change

·         Sitting on a porch with friends and relatives

·         Viewing and smelling a flower bloom

INTERBEING

Sunflower Heart, Jamestown, NC
Camillia Heart, Jamestown, NC
Magnolia Heart, Greensboro, NC

Beauty is a mystery in its knowing, but we know it when we see it. It exhibits itself in the golden spirals of a sunflower’s seed arrangement, the florets of a daisy, the bracts of a pine cone and the branches of a tree. These Fibonacci numbering sequences are nature’s mathematical order in the universe all around us. Fibonacci numbers have been called the Fingerprint of God that is hidden throughout nature. They certainly belie randomness. It’s been said that if you look into the heart of a flower, you look into the face of God. And when you look into the heart of a sunflower, you look into the beautifully patterned order of all creation that shows the way into the Language of God in the form of spiraling DNA strands.

Buddhist philosophy teaches us that the earth is one giant, living, breathing cell and when we simply consider the heart of a flower, we can see that it is full of life. It is full of soil, rain, sunshine, clouds, oceans, minerals, space, and time. That’s one of the main reasons I find it so fascinating to photograph the heart of a flower and then edit the image even further into its interior. When we walk through a garden and observe patches of flowers, we don’t always bend over and look closely into their hearts.

Thich Nhat Hanh, whose students of mindfulness call Thay (for teacher), writes that “We too are full of so many things and yet empty of a separate self…The whole planet is one giant, living, breathing cell, with all its working parts linked in symbiosis.” Like the flower, we contain all its elements along with consciousness and the continuing DNA strings of our ancestors. Christians would add the critical element of an eternal soul that transcends this mortal life. The whole cosmos has manifested into who we are today. In fact, everything relies on the critical balance of life in this universe we occupy to survive and prosper. We are one with the universe.

Thay teaches that our parents “are in us and we are in them. We are the continuation of all our ancestors. Thanks to impermanence, we have a chance to transform our inheritance in a beautiful direction.” We have a chance to manifest the beauty of this existence as it was originally created, as we see it’s potential in the fleeting beauty of a flower’s heart.

And although there have been many disciples in the history of humankind, only we can be a disciple for our time.

A SACRED QUIET PLACE

Sunrise over Price Lake, Blue Ridge Parkway, NC

My wife Karen and I were introduced to the ancient practice of mindful meditation years ago. Frankly, it’s a wonderful practice of calming your mind to achieve a peaceful and cleansing goal of reducing the daily stress of life. Experiencing peace doesn’t mean that our lives are always joyful. It implies that we have found the path to calming the mind in the midst of a normal hectic life. One of the first teachings we discovered was to focus on the present moment by surrounding our senses with a calming environment such as aroma therapy candles, pleasant music or silence, a gentle breeze on the exposed skin, and the beauty of a magnificent landscape. We learned that mindful meditation can be practiced almost anywhere if we focus on our favorite “go-to” quiet place in our mind. We found peace and relaxation on vacation trips out into the serene beauty of nature.

Quietly standing next to the mirrored surface of a Blue Ridge Mountain lake surrounded by the reflections of colorful autumn leaves has become my latest quiet place of nirvana. As I stood at the waters’ edge, I could subconsciously hear the soothing sound of water cascading over the spillway in the distance. My previous quiet place was imprinted in my mind’s eye on an overcast morning in Israel on the Sea of Galilee. As our wooden boat motored out to the center of the water our captain cut off the engines and instructed everyone to remain silent as we simply drifted in this sacred place. A light squall slowly sprinkled rain drops around the boat and the accompanying breezes sent them gently descending on my face. My first quiet place remains vivid in my mind as Karen and I hiked into Maroon Bells National Park outside Aspen, Colorado. We emerged from under the aspen trees and into view of two magnificent Rocky Mountain peaks encompassing a still lake surrounded by the aspens and a few beaver dams. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves as they shimmered in the sunlight. All of these memories occurred in the early morning light near the calm waters of expansive mirrored bodies of water.

Deepak Chopra has noted that “Meditation is a way of entering into the quiet in the mind that is buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day”. The key to quieting the left-brain ego chatter which organizes our outside lives and dominates our thoughts is to calmly go within the right brain as an observer and discover our true soul that transcends this mortal life. We enter that present moment quiet place by simply becoming aware of our breath of life. I recently ran across a play on words related to mindfulness breathing that simply encourages us to “Inhale love, exhale gratitude”. When we focus on loving others and loving God in our lives and returning our gratitude back into the world, we experience the true joy of life. And we become more aware that we are all interconnected to the true power of the universe who reminds us in the Psalms to “Be still and know that I am God”.

INHALE EXHALE

Reading to Children, Jamestown, NC

All life exists from breath to breath. God breathed the breath of life into the first human being. Our soul departs on our last. The simple discipline of focusing or concentrating on our in-and-out breath enables us to develop mindfulness, the faculty of alert and sensitive awareness. This calming effect on the mind allows us to relax and be open to enlightenment. Meditation techniques incorporate mindfulness breathing to harmonize the body, breath and mind.

The apostle Paul who wrote much of the New Testament left us with a very enlightened teaching in Galatians 5:14 when he wrote that “The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’". All scripture is said to be inspired or “God breathed” (but not necessarily dictated). I recently ran across a play on words related to mindfulness breathing that simply encourages us to “Inhale love, exhale gratitude”. When we focus on bringing the Golden Rule of loving others as ourselves into our lives and returning our gratitude back into the world, we experience the true joy of life.

When we become less self-centered and more God-centered, it’s amazing how stress, anxiety and restlessness are replaced by a calmness in both our physical and mental state. When we inhale love and exhale gratitude, we can make a profound difference in not only someone else’s life but ours as well. And sometimes those moments can take our breath away!

To quote an ol’ country philosopher, George Strait:

“Life’s not the breaths you take,
the breathing in and out,
that gets you through the day,
ain’t what it’s all about.

You just might miss the point,
to try and win the race.
Life’s not the breaths you take,
but the moments that take your breath away.”

WAKING THE WATCHER

Daylight Stillness, Kiawah Island, SC
Twilight Stillness, Grand Lake, OK

The founder of modern philosophy, Descartes, rendered a famous answer to the ageless question, “Is there anything I can know with absolute certainty”? He replied that “I think, therefore I am”. He was equating thinking with being, but he had actually defined our ego. The ego is constantly chattering about all the things that we need to be doing to maintain our survival and perceived identity. Three hundred years later Jean-Paul Sartre examined these words and concluded that the consciousness that understands “I am” is not the same as the ego that thinks. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be capable of knowing we are thinking. That discovery of awareness led to an emerging new dimension of consciousness.

Once we begin to exploit that voice in our head that seems to be constantly in the foreground, we can position our consciousness in the background and observe the voice. By waking the watcher, we are now beginning to comprehend our true consciousness apart from the ego that dominates much of our thoughts and thinking life. And we begin to free ourselves from our ego and its need for form and self importance. When we learn to listen to the voice we soon discover our own conscious presence apart from the mind. We are then on the true path of human beings, our essential identities as conscious beings.

It’s been said that stillness is the language God speaks and everything else is a bad translation. When we focus on being still and quieting the ego within, we can then become even more aware of our true conscious self beyond our ego. We cannot become aware of it through thinking, but silently observing. It truly becomes an “ah ha” moment when we are able to consciously observe the mind raising up another thought that competes for our attention. That’s the moment we comprehend the separation between our ego and our conscious self. When we are still, we become aware of the formless, eternal, consciousness we will be when our bodily form dissolves. The Psalmist knew this when he was inspired to write Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God”.

WAVES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Rolling in the Deep, Destin, FL
Waves I & II, Carolina Beach, NC

It’s been said that God is a conscious spiritual being and we humans are conscious mortal beings with a spiritual soul. The creator of this universe also permeates every corner of this sea of consciousness as wave after wave of human beings are created out to sea, transfer energy from point to point as we relentlessly travel to the far shores, and dissipate as we reach the beaches of our final destiny. Interestingly, surface waves travel through space and time towards distant shores while the points on the surface follow circular or orbital paths. This phenomenon can be observed as the wave curls upon the shore, expending its energy. Our lives also follow a variety of circular paths as we answer the call to adventure in this earthly existence. God is impossible to completely comprehend or describe, but one analogy is that he is the sea of being from which all waves emanate. The Kingdom of God has been described as the Ultimate Reality and the ancient practice of mindfulness and prayer can enable us to touch the water within the waves. Achieving this peaceful state can facilitate detaching ourselves from any concern about the coming and going of the waves as we strive to live in the present moment, rolling in the deep.

LIVING IN THE PRESENCE

Be Still, Blue Ridge Parkway, NC

One of the most comforting words that Jesus left us with are recorded in Mathew 28 when he assured us that “I am with you always, even to the end of the age”. But unfortunately, we’re not always with him. Presence is the key to all spiritual disciplines. God informs us in Psalm 46 to ‘be still and know that I am God”. If we are present, we can experience the Presence. This lesson was most evident when he was visiting with his friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus. As Martha scurried around the household multi-tasking for the honored guests, Mary simply chose to sit in Jesus’ presence. When Martha objected, Jesus responded by making certain his point would be understood by repeating Martha’s name twice. When he did that, he is especially trying to get our attention. He says, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is a need for only one thing. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her”. The point is central to the secret of life; to live continuously in His presence in the present. That’s the amazing grace of God at work in our lives. He is always there for us and He is always waiting for the day when we first realize this and invite Him into our life.

PRESENCE IN THE NOW

Miramar Sunset, Destin, FL

“Three men stood by the ocean, looking at the same sunset.

One man saw the immense physical beauty and enjoyed the event in itself. This man was the ‘sensate’ type who, like 80 percent of the world, deals with what he can see, feel, touch, move, and fix. This was enough reality for him, for he had little interest in larger ideas, intuitions, or the grand scheme of things. He saw with his first eye (body awareness), which was good.

A second man saw the sunset. He enjoyed all the beauty that the first man did. Like all lovers of coherent thought, technology, and science, he also enjoyed his power to make sense of the universe and explain what he discovered. He thought about the cyclical rotations of planets and stars. Through imagination, intuition, and reason, he saw with his second eye (mind space), which was even better.

The third man saw the sunset, knowing and enjoying all that the first and the second men did. But in his ability to progress from seeing to explaining to ‘tasting’, he also remained in awe before an underlying mystery, coherence, and spaciousness that connected him with everything else. He used his third eye (heart space), which is the full goal of all seeing and all knowing. This was the best.”

--Richard Rohr, The Naked Now

THANKS LIVING

February Lenten Rose, Jamestown, NC

Just how should we respond to this priceless gift of life we have received anyway? And just exactly how can we live our life to the fullest, day in and day out? Ann Vaskamp was given a dare to list A Thousand Gifts or blessings in her life, right where and as she was living it at the time. So she began a journal with “morning shadows across old floors” followed by “cry of blue jay from high in the spruce”. She hadn’t ever imagined them as God’s gifts until the writing down became like “unwrapping love”. Of course, it’s much easier to have an attitude of gratitude when life is going well. But simply being thankful for God’s presence when one of life’s storms is passing through can be even more comforting if we have established a grateful mindset. The secret can be found in the “lesson learned’ of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the people of ancient Philippi when he writes:

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength”.

Paul has found that the elusive grasp of happiness is solely based on the worldly temporal circumstances we pursue such as spending money, collecting stuff, and the adrenaline highs of risky adventures. But nature doesn’t like a vacuum. So when the stock market crashes, the toys rust, break down or become obsolete, and age begins to erode health, despair can set into our lives. But there is lasting joy to be found in the strength and love assured for all in relationship with the source of life.

So I set out to try listing a few of my own every day gifts. My first thought was that I should be traveling to some exotic land far, far away to provide inspiration. But staying close to home would ultimately be more revealing. The fact that I was contending with a winter cold added to the challenge:

• Stimulating strong dark coffee.
• Warmth of throw cover.
• Welcome sunshine slicing through open blinds.
• Gentle whir of furnace fan.
• Sinus draining vapors of hot shower.
• Cool vanilla flavor of cream soda.
• Soothing sounds of smooth jazz.
• Comfort of hot chicken soup.
• Retirement time to read and regroup.
• Assuring presence of Heavenly Father.
• Warm thoughts and memories of loved ones.
• Bright pansy’s smiling on the porch.
• Spring catalog in the mailbox.
• Tender beef brisket and balanced Merlot.
• Colorful winter Lenten rose blooms.
• College hoops on television.
• Undisturbed night’s slumber.

When Jesus broke bread with his disciples during their last supper he asked them to “remember me and give thanks”. Eucharist or thanksgiving is the best response to God’s grace in our lives. We see in life what we look for and intentional Thanks Living helps us to be more present in the presence of the source of life that brings lasting joy into our life.

MINDFUL ACCEPTANCE

Time's Up, Summerfield, NC

Mindful acceptance includes acknowledging all that life has to offer from suffering to joy. Acceptance of life itself includes acceptance of death as well. Accepting death releases us from our inhibitions and fears so that we don’t miss the opportunities before us in our limited time on this planet.

HARMONY

Man in the Maze Buckle, Hopi Reservation, AZ

The Man in the Maze is a common symbol of many Native American tribes. Some see it symbolizing our relationship with the earth and others see it depicting our journey through life. I see it as a symbol that has captured man’s imagination for centuries—a labyrinth. A maze implies that we have many chances to make good or bad decisions on our life’s pathway. But a labyrinth enables you to slowly walk along a righteous path of grace that ever so slowly enables you to spend time in meditation as you leave the trials and cares of the outside world behind. You continue your walk to ultimately be centered with the central core of the universe—God within. It is a way to ponder the direction of your life at any time and strive to become less self-centered and more God-centered. Once you arrive at that place, it is good to pause in stillness and listen to the quiet whisper of our Creator in the wind. Ideally, our life’s journey will lead us to that quiet stillness of centeredness with God that leads to a peaceful harmony with our surroundings.

Life is a sacred journey and a labyrinth is a metaphor for life’s journey. It is about growing our character and soul. It is about taking courageous steps along the path, knowing we do not walk alone as we stay the course. The entrance signifies our birth and once we complete the journey to salvation and enlightenment we exit to a new more enriched life. The literal single-path walk of turnings enables us to lose track of the sometimes stressful outside world and quiet the mind. We are then better prepared to exit back out into the world with a refreshed understanding and resolve.

“Furthermore, we have not even to risk the adventure alone; for the heroes of all time have gone before us, the labyrinth is fully known; we have only to follow the thread of the hero-path. And where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god; where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves; where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence; where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world.”--Joseph Campbell

BE STILL

Low Country Stillness, Wrightsville Beach, NC
Kiawah Dawn, Kiawah Island, SC
Palmetto Reflections, Kiawah Island, SC

Be still, and know that I am God.
--Psalm 46:10

" It has been said:
'Stillness is the language God speaks,
and everything else is a bad translation.'

Stillness is really another word for space. Becoming conscious of stillness whenever we encounter it in our lives will connect us with the formless and timeless dimension within ourselves, that which is beyond thought, beyond ego. It may be the stillness that pervades the world of nature, or the stillness in your room in the early hours of the morning, or the silent gaps in between sounds.

Stillness has no form--that is why through thinking we cannot become aware of it. Thought is form. Being aware of stillness means to be still. To be still is to be conscious without thought. You are never more essentially, more deeply, yourself than when when you are still. When you are still, you are who you were before you temporarily assumed this physical and mental form called a person. You are also who you will be when the form dissolves. When you are still, you are who you are beyond your temporal existence: consciousness--unconditioned, formless, eternal."

--Eckhart Tolle, The New Earth

ONENESS

Billowing Thunderhead, Central Kansas

We are not only IN this universe, but we are OF this universe. In Paul's letter to the Ephesians he writes, "There is one body and one spirit...one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all(4:4-5)."

THE TAPESTRY OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Fluid Spirits, Greensboro, NC & Chicago, IL

Consciousness can be defined as being mindful or aware of oneself as a thinking, feeling being. We realize with awe the miracle of a body that is informed by this extraordinary thing we call life that we take for granted almost every day. The fateful day we realize this eternal truth is the beginning of a lifelong spiritual journey.

God is a conscious spiritual being and we are conscious earthly beings. We were created in his image, so we can expect parallels in our existence. His being occupies the universe like our consciousness occupies our body. By liberating the spaces in our lives and minds that are filled with clutter and chatter, we allow the presence of God to more easily occupy that space!

J. P. Moreland reasons that, “Consciousness cannot be reduced merely to the physical brain. Our consciousness came from a greater consciousness. You see, the Christian worldview begins with thought and feeling and desire and choice. That is, God is conscious. God has thoughts. He has beliefs, he has desires, he has awareness, he’s alive, he acts with a purpose. We start there and because we start with the mind of God, we don’t have a problem explaining the origin of our mind. …he’s invisible because that’s the way conscious beings are….I have no inclination to doubt that this very room is teeming with the very presence of God.”

The particles of atoms consist of a nucleus surrounded by electrons that revolve in extremely vast regions of empty space. Man has now determined that there are no solid objects at the subatomic level. A subatomic particle is a set of relationships that reach out and interconnect, not with objects, but with other interconnections. Light travels in waves and as particles (photons) at the speed of light. The photons collide with the air, in a cosmic dance of continuous creation and destruction, a ceaseless flow of energy going through a multiplicity of patterns. The waves are abstract patterns of probabilities or relationships. At the subatomic level there is a continual exchange of matter and energy between us and everything around us. We're all part of one inseparable web of relationships.

Daniel J. Siegel writes in The Mindful Brain that “we have an additional sense of relationships and connections that enables us to feel a part of the larger whole… Our mind has been defined as a process that regulates the flow of energy and information. The embodied and relational process that regulates the flow of energy and information—the mind—is exactly what mindfulness shapes. This state of being, this particular form of being aware, is all about regulating the flow of energy and information—in our bodies, and in our relationships with others.”

Jill Bolte Taylor writing in My Stroke of Insight perceived life through the restricted lens of only her right brain after a stroke incapacitated her left hemisphere. She observed that her self-concept was no longer a solid with boundaries, but a fluid. Operating without the constant "brain chatter" from her left hemisphere left her feeling one with the universe. Mystics and serious practitioners can also reach that ultimate present moment state of nirvana. Could it be that we are all in fact continuously in that state, but we simply do not generally experience that awareness? Perhaps that is why God has informed us in the Psalms to be still and know that he is God. Then we can experience that sense of relationship with our creator who is omniscient and omnipresent in the interconnected fluid tapestry of all creation.

Taylor writes, “The innate differences we each experience...to stimulation contributes greatly to how we perceive the world…When I lost my left hemisphere and its language centers, I also lost the clock that would break my moments into consecutive brief instances. Instead of having my moments prematurely stunted, they became open-ended, and I felt no rush to do anything. Like walking along the beach, or just hanging out in the beauty of nature, I shifted from the doing-consciousness of my left brain to the being-consciousness of my right brain. I morphed from feeling small and isolated to feeling enormous and expansive. I stopped thinking in language and shifted to taking new pictures of what was going on in the present moment. I was not capable of deliberating about past and future-related ideas because those cells were incapacitated. All I could perceive was right here, right now, and it was beautiful.

My entire self-concept shifted as I no longer perceived myself as a single, a solid, an entity with boundaries that separated me from the entities around me. I understood that at the most elementary level, I am a fluid. Of course I am a fluid! Everything around us, about us, among us, within us, and between us is made up of atoms and molecules vibrating in space. Although the ego center of our language center prefers defining our self as individual and solid, most of us are aware that we are made up of trillions of cells, gallons of water, and ultimately everything about us exists in a constant and dynamic state of activity. My left hemisphere had been trained to perceive myself as a solid, separate from others. Now, released from that restrictive circuitry, my right hemisphere relished in its attachment to the eternal flow. I was no longer isolated and alone. My soul was as big as the universe and frolicked with glee in a boundless sea… Our right brain perceives the big picture and recognizes that everything around us, about us, among us, and within us is made up of energy particles that are woven together into a universal tapestry. Since everything is connected, there is an intimate relationship between the atomic space around and within me, and the atomic space around and within you—regardless of where we are.

Bernard Haisch has proposed a mind bending theory about consciousness in his book, “The God Theory”. He contends that “ultimately it is consciousness that is the origin of matter, energy, and the laws of nature in this universe and all others that may exist. And the purpose is for God to experience his potential. God’s ideas and abilities become God’s experience in the life of every sentient being…God experiences the richness of his potential through us because we are the incarnations of him in the physical realm.” Frankly, I’m not convinced that God needs us to experience his potential, certainly not nearly as much as we need him for our well being. But Haisch at least seemed to be motivated to present a more scientific-spiritual theory as opposed to the majority view of science today. Many scientists are proponents of the universe of reductionism in which “everything can be reduced to the behavior of particles of matter and energy”, completely apart from any spiritual connection. As a learned astrophysicist Ph.D., he contends that our consciousness is the ultimate connection to God, the spiritual creative force in the universe and the source of all consciousness. While we are in our every day state of consciousness, we remain aware of our surroundings through the filter of the physical world. But mystics who are conditioned to enter the unfiltered state of ultimate consciousness or nirvana experience a state of peace, love and bliss, something Haisch defines as “a concentration point within a single universal consciousness”. Consciousness exists apart from the body and survives death. The temporary physical world was created for the development and evolution of human beings with a spirit. Our natural timeless home lies in the wider supernatural realm of the creator.

Aldous Huxley in his book, The Doors of Perception” theorizes that our brain possibly acts as a mental filter to help us survive on this planet. We’re only capable of perceiving the material world around us versus the infinite sea of consciousness. Autistic savants that can multiply 377 times 795 while carrying on a conversation indicate amazing potential, however. He sees the numbers as shapes that change and evolve into another shape, the answer. Haisch writes that “My inner life of thought and awareness utterly denies that my consciousness is nothing more than an inanimate, chemical creation. I know better, and so do you.”

We are not only IN this universe, but we are OF this universe. In Paul's letter to the Ephesians he writes, "There is one body and one spirit...one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all(4:4-5)."

THE GARDEN IN MY MIND

Versailles Formal Gardens, Versailles, France
Chicago Art Institute Flower Garden--Chicago, IL

Be mindful of your thoughts, for they become your actions.
Be mindful of your actions, for they become your character.
Be mindful of your character, for it becomes your soul.

“I view the garden in my mind as a sacred patch of cosmic real estate that the universe has entrusted me to tend over the years of my lifetime. As an independent agent, I and I alone, in conjunction with the molecular genius of my DNA and the environmental factors I am exposed to, will decorate this space within my cranium. Regardless of the garden I have inherited, once I consciously take over the responsibility of tending my mind, I choose to nurture those circuits that I want to grow, and consciously prune back those circuits I prefer to live without. Although it is easier for me to nip a weed when it is just a sprouting bud, with determination and perseverance, even the gnarliest of vines, when deprived of fuel, will eventually lose its strength and fall to the side.
Your body is the life force power of some fifty trillion molecular geniuses (The cells in our brain are the same, but over time their connections change based upon their/our experience). You and you alone choose moment by moment who and how you want to be in the world. I encourage you to pay attention to what is going on in your brain. Own your power and show up for your life. Beam bright!”
--Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D., My Stroke of Insight, a brain scientist’s personal journey after a stroke

COURAGE

Low Country Sunset--Kiawah Island, SC

"Courage does not always roar. Sometimes it is a quiet voice

at the end of the day that says, 'I will try again tomorrow.'"

--Mary Anne Radmacher

I think this wisdom speaks volumes for those going back to a highly stressful job in the morning or back to chemotherapy willfully because it needs to be done. I've always said that persistence is a great equalizer. Many folks don't do it. And all too many folks don't realize what great personal courage they are experiencing.

The storms of life many times leave us a bit battered and beat up, but that's when a firm foundation of faith enables us to just trust in our creator God and promise ourselves that we'll try again tomorrow and go to sleep.

REALITY

What if a man dreamed he were a butterfly?


And what if a butterfly dreamed he were a man?


Are we living the dream or are we the dream?