Sunday, March 17, 2013

MANTRAS EXPLAINED

BIRD OF HUMANITY:
had a great dream once where there was this real creature that was incredibly rare and bordered on mythological. it was the bird of humanity. it looked like a peacock, but had about 150 sets of legs, as you moved to the back of the bird, the legs became more decrepit and old, feeble and eventually rotten and dead/useless. also at the end of the bird, the legs moved in opposition to the front of the bird. even trying to resist the movement of the bird, move in the opposite direction, etc. but the bird was magical, incredibly beautiful and had the ability to change into any form. one of these birds long ago, had taken the form of a human, and thus the human race was born. all of the magic, transformative ability, self-opposition, contradiction and beauty and potential of the bird, is inherent into the human. in the dream, i was in a clearing at the edge of humanity. humanity was almost dead. the city in ruins. all animals were laying about, but when the bird of humanity came, they all laid down and became silent, in recognition of the power and grandness and blessing of being visited upon by the bird of humanity. In the dream, i was in the clearing as the bird of humanity presented itself. as a meditation mantra, it's a good metaphor for humanity, and in many ways, easier to think of what it is to be human, to contemplate the bird, vs. contemplating the self.

ONCE INNOCENCE DANCED SILENCE:
the idea that the beginning of existence, was a cosmic event of incredible rareness and specialness, that represented pure potential, mixed with magic, innocence and arising from the same silence form which the wisdom of meditation arises.

YOU MUST SURRENDER:
went to a native american sweat lodge in the santa cruz mountains with family members of leonard peltier. after many rounds of sweat lodge, and many folks left because it was too hot, too much suffering, too difficult to breathe and fears of irreversible burns and damage, there were only a few of us left. in the beginning, everyone talked about whatever barriers, pain, suffering, conflicts, blockages they had in their lives that they wanted to receive knowledge and wisdom about during the course of the sweat lodge. after each round, everytime it got hotter, the suffering more, the burning more intense, it became more and more apparent, that the only blockage, barrier, suffering, conflict that i or anyone else in the lodge had, were self-imposed and the result of our own suffering. our own resistance to change, our bullheadedness, our pride, our inability to be humble, to love, to have compassion, to have empathy, to change... it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, to have such a profound lesson laid so bare before me and to have the power and knowledge to realize that once again, the individual has the key to their own goals, and to resolve any conflict or blockage and that no one else stands in our way besides ourselves.

HOODED GURU:
we are all gurus, or at best, our guru is around us, in front of us, with us always, but at times, appears hidden, appears hooded because of our lack of vision and/or lack of awareness, or our inability to recognize that the truth stands before us.

TUNE IN, TURN ON, AND DROP OUT:
no explanation necessary.

LOVE IS THE REASON:
during one of the most profound experiences of my life, i saw plainly, that the ultimate reason for existence, was not chance, or a technical ability or possibility, or even a grand creator, but rather, love. pure love. love is the reason we're here. love is the reason for existence. love is the power form which all form derives it's power, meaning, purpose and karma.

BEGIN:
when we fret or contemplate or try to contrive or plan how to do something, how to accomplish something. really, it can be condensed to one word, "begin". the rest will follow.

DO NOTHING:
in meditation, often times we are given koans, focus points, (focus on your breath, on your heart, on stillness, on oneness, etc., etc., etc. on the other side of all of this advice, if you're lucky, you'll see with your own eyes, that all you have to do, is "do nothing".

CALM THE UNIVERSE:
there may indeed be an existence. there may indeed be a "you", there may indeed be others, but ultimately, if there was not "you", you would not be able to perceive, know, feel, or understand anything. This is a truth. So it must also be true, that if we calm ourselves, then we also calm the universe (or all that we could ever know/feel/experience/express about it). I believe this isn't just a perspective. it isn't just a focal point. it isn't just a good idea. it's absolutely true. as true as any truth that could be experienced. when we completely calm ourselves and achieve a point of rest. the entire universe is calmed and thus, it's truth, it's power, it's force in total becomes known, apparent/one with us.

PLANTING SEEDS SILENTLY:
in meditation, if we have goal or insight we need. wait until you've achieved immersion in silence and peace, then you can contemplate what you desire to contemplate, an even if no answers come forth, waht you are doing, is planting seeds silently. "metta" meditation (sending love to others) works the same. our intentions, our awareness and intent, is planting seeds silently.

GOD BREATHES YOU, GOD BREATHES LOVE:
While focusing on my breath in meditation, i was able ot disappear, at that point, what i realized that "i" don't have to even breathe myself. that breath happens on it's own. so who is breathing me? whatever existence is, whatever it is that does everything else, which I am a part of, also breathes me. god breathes me, and what he breathes into me and out of me, is love which sustains my being.

FALL INTO YOURSELF DEEPLY, ENDLESSLY:
this is a good idea when you're beginning a session of meditation. take your seat of awareness from your head, from your eyes and just fall back into yourself. and don't just fall a bit, fall deeply and continue to fall into yourself endlessly, until you disappear... or as close as you can.

DROP ALL OF IT, DROP EVERYTHING:
upset about something? fuck-up? upset with yourself? do something/anything in your past that you are upset about? ashamed about? makes you cringe to think about? got a job? responsibilities? money problems? relationship issues? whatever it is, when you meditate, drop it. drop all of it. drop everything. until it disappears, until it's gone, until it has fallen, adn you've let it go and you are at peace.

YOU HAVE ARRIVED WHEN THE TWO GIFTS BECOME ONE:
I believe that many of us have attained truth, realization, even satori. but our inability to recognize it and accept it robs us of our ability to derive the full benefit of this experience. as a sentient being, we have ultimately been given two gifts (being in a realm of "duality" of course there is always two, the ying and yang of everything), the first gift is existence itself, the second is our awareness of it. when existence and our awareness meld, then we have achieved an ultimately truth, there truly is one. the duality, that is, the contradiction, the truth, the irony of duality is that at a certain point, at a point of truth, there is only one. there is no longer room for two, all is one. we all are one. when existence and the self become one, then all is possible. we are existence, existence is us, all of it's wisdom and truth becomes ours. all of our ability to think, contemplate, unravel, unspool and express it, becomes ours.

EXISTENCE IS PERFECTION AND PLAY:
existence is perfect. life is play. that is all we are doing. love is the answer, the reoson and all we are doing is playing. so, let us play nice. let us play meaningfully, let us play with the whole of our beings, let us play in the deepest, most complete, most compassionate, ultimate play and dance with one another. this is the truth. existence is perfection and play. whatever we do. whether in confusion, wisdom and bliss, let us do it with the whole of our beings, in the deepest realm of play. (this reminds me that i heard huey p. newton said that he takes things to the "deep floor of play" meaning that he will leave nothing alone, no option unexplored, no action sacred... when he played, he played fully, he used everything. he was on the deep floor of play that but a handful of individuals understand or have ever been).

THE HEART AND MIND ARE ONE:
what a beautiful thought. and it's true. in the western world, we have been conned into believing that our minds work one way and our hearts work another. how beautiful, or much more beautiful would we, our existence, our work, our relationships be, if we didn't artificially believe in and act as if this distinction were true. but what if we acted in truth? what if we dissolved this untrue distinction and in every action, we moved in a united heart/mind way? no minds, technically, heartlessly making decisions. I believe the world would be a different place.

WHETHER HUMBLE OR HUMBLED, PRAISE GOD:
ever been humbled? put in your place? humiliated by being humbled? made a fool of by your own hubris being turned upside-down? be thankful. don't wallow in your own self-pity. praise God for exposing your folly. praise God for showing you the path to fortifying your weakness. in humbleness, there is an opportunity to be meek, to be thankful, to praise God and thank him for his deep, meaningful, perhaps even dis-comfortable lesson.

TRAIL OF TEARS:
is life not a trail of tears? is suffering not the truth of our life? i remember a story, where neem karoli baba was listening to someone talk about their lives, and they talked about all of their suffering, all of their pain, disappointment, etc., etc., and he listened deeply, fully, compassionately, and when the person ended their story by saying, "my life has been nothing but suffering." he said, "me too." that was so beautiful to me. no matter how much bliss or pain we feel it is nothing compared to not being in existence, to true bliss.

INTIMACY IS ONENESS WITH THE NOW:
obviously, when we think of intimacy, we think of intimacy wiht othe rbeings. this sin't to say that this isn't the case, this is to say that the feeling, the state, the feeling and experience of intimacy, is more in relation to how we experience and relate to the moment, than how we relate to the "other". the other certainly helps, but just as the truth tha tyou learn through a profound spiritual experience isn't simply because of the place, the person, the food, the words, but rather, the "truth" of waht was conveyed... the "truth" of intimacy is that it's an experience with the now AND whatever else is going on. (does anything happen outside of the moment? no. time is ever-present. the moment is ever-present).

LOVE YOUR SHAME:
ashamed of something? don't be ashamed. substitute a deep love of self in place of that feeling of shame. just replace it, completely, totally with love for yourself. Go ahed and think of something you've done that you are ashamed of and love yourself instead.. isn't that better? doesn't that feel better? even if you don't think you deserve love, it will heal you, it will make you feel better. it will allow you to move forward more fully, more full, more confident. one truth about this particular form of reality, is that it's a reality where forgiveness is a vital, indispensable component.. why? because we can not go back in time and change time. so, the ONLY way we can address this fault, is through forgiveness. and forgiveness of self is something we can give ourselves without having to ask anyone else. it's a great thing to do, to spend some time meditating about your errors, to forgive and love yourself and to allow yourself to grow an move beyond the actions of the "you" of the past, who has obviously grown so much and recognized the error of their ways.

NEVER DOUBT GOD:
don't doubt god. just don't do it. existence is perfect. love is the reason. there are at all times a trillion beautiful things. god breathes you. it is true. never doubt it. never doubt god.

BE HERE NOW:
be. here. now. any one of these alone is amazingly potent as a point of contemplation. all three are perhaps the most potent, compact three truths that could possibly be contemplated.

ONE MOMEMT OF EMPTINESS:
when meditating, i don't try to achieve silence for 30 minutes, or 45 minutes, rather for a single moment... and hold it. much simpler, much less of a burden.

THE VICTORY DANCE IS EVERLASTING:
goes with perfection and play. life is just a victory dance.

SACRED VESSEL:
after a meditation retreat, this guy who made tons of noise during every meditation session every day for the whole session was talking to me. he pointed at his ear and said something about the harm of words pouring into our sacred vessel (ear). i was glad to have gotten something of value from a guy that almost single-handedly made my retreat exponentially more difficult. our ears, mouth, eyes, etc. they are all sacred vessels.

WHAT YOU RESIST PERSIST:
let it go. deal with it. move on. cause if you resist it, it will only persist.

THE QUICKEST WAY IS UNBURDENED:
why carry around your burdens? especially in meditation. just let it go, just drop it. your journey will be so much easier.

FEAR IS THE FIRST GIFT OF CHANGE. OPEN IT QUICKLY:
often times this is true. especially when doing something you are unfamiliar with. fear is discomfort. settle yourself, accept that you don't have (never had) control, and move on to the lesson.

LOVE IS AWARENESS AT REST:
same as intimacy being oneness with the now. at the bottom of everything, since love is the reason for existence, if we rest our awareness, love will be found.

1,000,000,000,000 BEAUTIFUL THINGS:
how many beautiful things do you see RIGHT NOW? 2? 3? 5? when you are at peace, when you have arrived, when you're at a blissful state of being, or have "arrived" in meditation or at any point of truth, you will look around and see that EVERYTHING is beautiful... there are literally more than 1 trillion beautiful things every moment... i just use a trillion cause it drives the point home, and the wonderful thing about realizing this is true, is if you can ever remember this saying, even if you're not particularly feeling this way, you can still look around and see that all of existence, not just 1 or 2 or 5 things, are stunningly beautiful.

CALM DOWN AND GET YOURSELF TOGETHER:
this is something my grandmother used to say when she thought i was fuckin' up. it's funny. me and marla say it all the time, but sometimes, when i get too crazy, i think it about myself, or hear my grandmother saying this in my mind.

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