The Smallest Things

Surfing the web this afternoon, I chanced upon an interesting little book titled, The Smallest Things Make the Biggest Difference, by Raymond V. Haring, Ph.D. The book is all of 160 pages, with most chapters being one, or in some cases two, pages. Here's a peek into a chapter dealing with values:

*****
Service or courtesy, like any other value, must be supported with absolute conviction. Yet a value unsupported by actions is much like a table without legs. There is nothing to stand on.

Thinking about a value is actually much different from living it. If you are unsure about your values, all you need to do is look at what you are doing, because it's your actions that reflect your values. "What you value," writes Joel Weldon, "is what you think about. What you think about is what you become." Simple values have far-reaching consequences.
*****

This is such a big issue for me. I often think about the issue of values, and how important they are in determining the course of our lives. But the values I espouse are all too often not the values I live. Therein lies the rub. This, of course, is a matter of integrity, character, virtue, and I, unhappily, fall short, far short, of demonstrating the kind of character I would like to have. But what can I do except to continue to struggle with the issue, and with my own weaknesses, until such time as I finally manage to bring the values I profess into alignment with the values I live? Very difficult and challenging. But whoever said a life of virtue is an easy thing? Today is yet another opportunity to see if I can get it right. God help me.

Anxiety and Trouble

For a few days now I have been reading a most interesting book on Morita Therapy by David K. Reynolds, a book with the unlikely title of "Playing Ball on Running Water." To give the briefest of summaries of Morita therapy, we might say that, in the author's own words, "The purposes of Morita therapy are quite clear. They are to teach students to accept feelings as they are, to know their purposes, and to do what needs to be done." Well, that's straitforward and pedestrian enough. But later in the book Mr. Reynolds has this to say about anxiety:

"It is not a new idea that difficulties in life generate the construction of purpose. Happiness, peace, and a life of ease would destroy us. [What a concept!] Without anxiety and trouble, we could not survive. Without conflict and struggle, life would not choose to continue. It is not that suffering is good; it is necessary for our existence. To say this is not to say that all pain must be passively accepted. We are responsible for doing battle with the ills that plague us and others. Yet, if we were ever to succeed in eliminating all discontent, our human species would be doomed. We struggle, and in that struggle lies life's meaning. We are born fighters; we will find something to oppose. If we cannot find a worthy foe, we create one, even if that foe is ourselves. When our last enemy is vanquished, we shall die -- as individuals, as a species.

"So don't seek anxiety-free living; don't strive for constant bliss. Choose rather to continue your struggle. Resolve to react forcefully to the challenges of reality. Hold to your goals. Fight your fight. And live with purpose."

Now how's that for provocative? And I always thought that anxiety and trouble were my enemies. I am going to have to rethink this whole thing all over again.

The Choice

I went and heard Leonard Jacobson speak a couple weeks ago. I had read one of his books a few years ago and thought it excellent, and so I had high expectations for his talk. Even so, I was not disappointed. This fellow really seems to have awakened. I picked up his latest book the same evening, and find it, like his other book and talk, to be first-rate. Here is a brief excerpt from "Journey into Now":

"Each moment you have a choice. Will you be in the present moment in the truth of life or will you be in the illusory world of your thinking mind? With gentle remembering, you can choose to be present.

"You are not trying to stop thinking. You are not trying to escape from the mind. You are not trying to become enlightened. You are making a choice to be present, simply because the present moment is the truth of life and you are free to make that choice.

"As you choose the present moment, your mind will become silent. Relax into the silence. Deepen into Presence. Enjoy all that God has to offer you in this moment. Enjoy the fullness and abundance of this moment."

The subtitle of his book is "Clear Guidance on the Path of Spiritual Awakening," and this is exactly what Jacobson offers readers in his latest book. Highly recommended.

The Secret of Greatness

Religious leaders may disagree about some things, but they all have one thing in common. They all recommend you do one important thing in your life. You might find this recommendation difficult to follow. For a few, it's nearly impossible to live this way. However, when you use this advice, you earn the most wonderful gifts in the world.Not only does this advice make you happy, it lowers your stress and boosts your intelligence. You face difficult situations with less fear. You are much more successful.

What Is Greatness?

"The hardest task one can have is to continue to love his fellows despite all reasons he should not. For the one who can achieve this, there is abundant hope. For those who cannot, there is only sorrow, hatred and despair. And these are not the things of which greatness, or sanity or happiness are made.

"A primary trap is to succumb to invitations to hate. Never use what is done to one as a basis for hatred. Never desire revenge. It requires real strength to love man. And to love him despite all invitations to do otherwise, all provocations and all reasons why one should not.

"Happiness and strength endure only in the absence of hate. To hate alone is the road to disaster. To love is the road to strength. To love in spite of all is the secret of greatness. And may very well be the greatest secret in this universe.

"To love in spite of all is the secret of greatness." -- L. Ron Hubbard

Excerpted from "What is Greatness?" by L. Ron Hubbard. You can read the full article at http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=y4xcgbcab.0.yhvjlrbab.n55yivn6.54054&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.realhubbard.org.
Copyright © 2007 TipsForSuccess.org. All rights reserved.

No Self

I can't anticipate how these words of John Wheeler (http://thenaturalstate.org/) will strike you, but I found them positively enlightening:

"You are not creating thoughts. They happen spontaneously. Then we say, “I am thinking,” “I am deciding,” “I am remembering.” This is totally false. That “I” is not present in those things. It is only assumed afterwards. This assumed “I” is the ego, and it is the cause of our problems. There has never been an ego, except as an assumption."

Angela's Ashes

If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you may have noticed that I am not big on fiction. I guess I am one of those who prefers "just the facts, ma'am." But this lack of appetite for story doesn't keep me from opening up a novel now and then and reading the first page. Which is just what I did the other day with the #1 New York Times bestseller, Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt. On page one we find:

"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived it at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood."

I'm not really sure why this excerpt delights me as much as it does. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I am half Irish and was raised Catholic, and didn't exactly have the happiest of childhoods. But in any case, I find this eloquent passage so deliciously funny and clever that I am inclined to read the whole novel, but doubt if I will. Who's got time for storytelling? Not me, despite the fact that man has been defined as "the story telling animal." But that's another story....

Psychosynthesis

Browsing through the library rather aimlessly awhile back, I chanced upon a short little volume titled, "The Elements of Psychosynthesis," by Will Parfitt. I first heard about Psychosynthesis more than 30 years ago, but have never looked very deeply into it, so I thought maybe it was time I had. Chapter 1 opens with this definition: "Psychosynthesis is a comprehensive approach to self-realization and the development of human potential." Well, that's just fine, I thought: that's exactly what my life is about, or at least aims to be about. Several pages later we find the following notion:

"We can know what we want, and have an idea of where we are going in life, but once we start moving in that direction we find there are all kinds of blocks that stop us. Psychosynthesis says these blocks are our helpers. Through looking at them and dealing with them, we can move more effectively in the direction in which we desire to go. The blocks are the very energy of our being, so the more we deal with the blocks the more we are moving towards our true being, rather than cutting off from ourselves and not allowing our potential to grow and blossom."

So the next time we confront those infernal blocks, perhaps we will remember this and, instead of cursing them, we will celebrate their very existence. Ya think so?

Where is the Person?

John Wheeler, whose website, http://www.thenaturalstate.org/, I have referenced before, asks a few very pointed questions in the following missive:

"Where is the person? Is it real? Did you ever find it? For example, in any given moment there may be a few thoughts, feelings or sensations appearing. Do any of those constitute a person, a separate self ? They are simply momentary objects appearing and disappearing in present awareness. How could they be a substantial self or independent person? If you set those aside and continue to investigate, you will find that there is nothing else present at all to investigate! All there is, is wide open, clear, obvious presence-awareness itself. And that is not a limited person or entity."

I am reminded of Osho's recommendation that we ask not so much "Who am I?" but "Where am I?" Where indeed is the person we take ourselves to be? Nasargadatta says simply, "You are not a person." And of course Buddha 2,500 years ago denied the reality of a self. The Buddhist tradition also teaches us that "There is suffering, but no one who suffers." Again, no self. Hmmm.

Look to This Day

Look to this day:
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course
Lie all the verities and realities of existence.
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendour of achievement
Are but experiences of time.

For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision.
But today, well-lived, makes
Yesterday a dream of happiness
And tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day.

-- Kalidasa

Awareness

TheNaturalState.org currently has this juicy little tidbit on its homepage:

It is not that "you" can be or become aware. That divides something that can not be divided. You are awareness. You are constantly that. That is the necessary ground from which all arises. What can there be without awareness? Everything arises and sets in awareness and has no independent existence apart from it. That is the substance of which everything is made, including you. It is you. That awareness is pure peace and happiness because in it there is no separation, no isolation, no fear, no past, no future, nothing to obtain and nothing to lose.

Nonduality

Just tonight I happened upon a wonderful book while surfing the web -- One: Essential Writings on Nonduality, by Jerry Katz. The few pages I read of this book (at Amazon.com) indicate that it is a real gem. The essential truth of nonduality is that all is one; there is no separation or duality; our true nature (the Self) is one with all that is. To realize this is liberation, enlightenment, nirvana, the end of suffering. We fail to realize the nondual nature of reality because

"Ignorance supervenes and draws a veil over the pure Self which is bliss. Attempts are directed only to remove this veil of ignorance, which is merely wrong knowledge. The wrong knowledge is the false identification of the Self with the body, mind, etc. This false identification must go, and then the Self alone remains."

One explores the nondual dimensions of Hinduism, Sufism, Jainism, Taoism, Native American Tradition, Christianity, and Buddhism. This is my kind of book: an exploration of the essential truth within the various religious traditions.

The book enjoys a number of strong endorsements, including this one from A. Walker:

"Jerry Katz has ceased to become an editor and has transformed into an inspired guide into the world of nondualism and the search for truth. Any reader interested in finding the enlightenment that links us all together would greatly enjoy this book. It is a fascinating read from beginning to end and every step along the way."

The Silent Question

Toni Packer is yet another of our blessed female, spiritual teachers, who speaks as one who knows. Her latest book, "The Silent Question," is an anthology of talks and dialogues she has had with various seekers on retreat with her. The following excerpt from her book presents a "radical perception," of which I have long been enamored.

"It is a radical perception that there is absolutely nothing to gain, nothing to get, nothing to be, nothing to hold on to. As I say this, do you already notice a subtle resistance to it? Or is there simply thinking, "Yes, it's OK." Nothing to get. Nothing to be. Nothing to understand, for that matter. Being here is totally sufficient. It doesn't need to be understood."

Action!

Being the born contemplative that I am, who loves nothing more than a beautiful idea, but am not particularly inclined to do anything about it, I have slowly come to realize that ideas are fine, but we must act in the end. Nevertheless, I continue to struggle with that action part. Then, as fate would have it, I stumbled upon a book at the library not long ago, titled, Action! Nothing Happens Until Something Moves, by Robert Ringer. Hmmm, I thought, catchy title, maybe there is something in there I would do well to consider. (You can see my predilection for the thinking part.) And indeed there was something in there of significant value for me to ponder: the inestimable value of "Action!" The inside jacket cover sums it up nicely:

"Action! Nothing Happens Until Something Moves acknowledges that ideas can be precious commodities that can change the world, sound preparation is invaluable, and knowledge and wisdom are essential when it comes to giving one an edge in the pursuit of great achievements. But ideas, preparation, knowledge, and wisdom are all but useless without action, because action is the starting point of all progress."

So, with that, I must leave this fascinating world of ideas and go take some "Action!" After all, "nothing happens until something moves." Lights, camera, . . .

Compassionate Self-Discipline

A friend of mine recently told me about a new book by Cheri Huber, Making a Change for Good: A Guide to Compassionate Self-Discipline. Cheri Huber had been for some years a favorite author of mine, so naturally I traipsed off to the bookstore to look at her new book. I was particularly drawn to the title of the book, as self-discipline, or rather the lack of it, has long been a real stumbling block for me. Leafing through the book, it was not long before I realized she had another winner. Early on Cheri describes compassionate self-discipline:

"Compassionate self-discipline is nothing other than being present rather than engaged in distracted, unfocused, addictive behaviors."

What a marvelous concept! Just think: if I could manage to be more present -- something I aspire to anyway -- then maybe I could naturally develop more self-discipline. I am thrilled with the promise this holds out. She continues her description:

"Compassionate self-discipline is simply allowing the innate intelligence and generosity that is your authentic nature to guide you in every moment."

Who wouldn't want to be guided by their innate intelligence? She goes on to describe the fruits of following this guidance:

"With this guidance you will be not only disciplined, you will be spontaneous, clear, awake, aware, efficient, appropriate, respectful, grateful, kind, honest, sincere, expressive, steady, dependable, responsible, peaceful, joyful, and satisfied."

What a fantastic path! By simply following our inner guidance, not only will we be self-disciplined (which would be reward enough), but our lives will be marked by great virtue. And we'll be happy as clams. Sign me up.

Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond

Philosopher that I am, on the back burner of my mind is an ongoing investigation into this marvelous experience we are all sharing called Life. (In fact, that's what this weblog is largely about.) There is a program running in the back of my mind -- always running! -- that is trying to figure it all out. I think that if I keep on thinking about it all long and deep enough, I'll finally breakthrough and Understand the Mystery.

Then a few mornings ago I opened up "Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond," by Ajahn Brahm, a marvelous "meditator's handbook." I turned to page 12 and read the following:

"Sometimes we assume it is through the inner commentary that we know the world. Actually, that inner speech does not know the world at all. It is the inner speech that spins the delusions that cause suffering. Inner speech causes us to be angry with our enemies and to form dangerous attachments to our loved ones. Inner speech causes all of life's problems. It constructs fear and guilt, anxiety and depression. It builds these illusions as deftly as the skillful actor manipulates the audience to create terror or tears."

This hit me like a splash of cold water on my sleepy face. So, this instrument, the mind, with which I have been trying to understand life and the world, "does not know the world at all"! It "spins delusions" and "causes all of life's problems." Hmmm, seems I'm going to have to recalibrate my strategy for discovering Truth. I am confident Brahm has it right, as his assertions align with the teachings of spiritual masters down the ages: it is mindfulness rather than thinking that reveals the Truth. I am reminded of the words of Sri Aurobindo, "There is nothing that mind can do that cannot be better done in the mind's thought-free stillness." So off with the thinking and the endless train of words. Time for silent awareness.

Do It Now

There are many values, virtues, principles, and lessons I need to learn, but the one I seem to be most in need of learning, and the one with which I struggle the most, is Do It Now. Ralph Marston (http://greatday.com) puts it well:

"Things you're always going to do later never do get done. What you put off until someday will always be out of your reach.

"If anything is important enough to do someday, then it is worth starting on right now. If you're going to actually do it, then you must do it in the moment you're in.

"Procrastination may seem like an easy way to avoid taking action. What it really is, though, is an ever-increasing burden of guilt and regret that you place on yourself.

"Think of how awful it feels to know that you could have done, or could be doing, but instead you waited until too late. Fortunately, there is a simple and highly effective way to ease that burden.

"Take action now. Choose something that you have continued putting off, and go ahead and get it done.

"You've made many great plans and promises. Go ahead, act on them, and see how great it is to make them real."

These wise words are now posted on my office wall. Maybe that will help me get it.

Be Suspicious of Yourself

A friend of mine sent me this marvelous poem by the incomparable Rumi. Take a deep drink and enjoy!

Everything you do has a quality
which comes back to you in some way.

Every action takes a form in the invisible world,
which may be different from how you thought

it would appear. A crime is committed,
and a gallows begins to be built. One does not

look like the other, but they correspond.
Accept the results of what you've done in anger,

or for greed, or to elevate your ego. Don't blame
fate! That dog lies in the kennel

and will not respond to anyone's calling.
Be suspicious of yourself! Inquire

about your hidden motives. It takes courage
to repent, and more courage to change.

But realize this: just as dustgrains shine
in sunlight coming through this window,

so there's a light of reality, within which ideas,
hidden hypocrisies, and the qualities

of every action become clear. All you've done
and will do will be seen in the light of that sun.

The Natural State

I chanced upon a website of great wisdom and insight the other day. This guy John Wheeler really smacks of enlightenment. If you have any interest in the big questions of life, especially, Who Am I?, I'm sure you'll like the site. You can find it at http://www.thenaturalstate.org/ Here's a sample of what you'll find under "Pointers":

"The basic point is that through all thoughts, feelings and experiences, your natural being remains, present and aware. Like the sun above the clouds, that remains free and clear always. It is so clear, present and available it need not be attained, realize or practiced — simply noticed as the ever-present natural state."

The Present Moment

It's been twenty years since I first discovered this quotation, and it enchants me today as much as ever it did. This wondrous excerpt from Abandonment to Divine Providence by a Jesuit priest was included in Alan Watts' autobiography, and today I present it as my gift to you:

"If we knew how to greet each moment as the manifestation of the Divine Will, we will find in it all the heart could desire. The present moment is always filled with infinite treasures: it contains more than you care capable of receiving. The Divine Will is an abyss of which the present moment is the entrance; plunge fearlessly therein and you will find it more boundless than your desire."

Until One Is Committed

It's been more than twenty years since I was first introduced to the following bit of wisdom, which may very well be the best thing ever written about the inestimable value of commitment:

Until one is committed
There is hesitancy, the chance to draw back,
Always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation),
There is one elementary truth,
The ignorance of which kills countless ideas
And splendid plans:
That the moment one definitely commits oneself,
Then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one
That would never otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision
Raising in one's favor all manner
Of unforeseen incidents and meetings
And material assistance,
Which no man could have dreamt
Would have come his way.
I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

I AM THAT

A few days ago I picked up a book I have been reading off and on for a few years. Dubbed "a modern spiritual classic," which indeed it is, I AM THAT is a compilation of talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. Between the covers of this glorious book are countless gems of unfathomable wisdom. For example, in response to the question, "Do you experience the three states of waking, dreaming and sleeping just as we do, or otherwise?", he answers with the following words:

"All the three states are sleep to me. My waking state is beyond them. As I look at you, you all seem asleep, dreaming up words of your own. I am aware, for I imagine nothing. It is not samadhi, which is a kind of sleep. It is just a state unaffected by the mind, free from the past and future. In your case, it is distorted by desire and fear, by memories and hopes; in mine it is as it is -- normal. To be a person is to be asleep."

Truly, Nisargadatta, recently deceased, was a great sage of deep understanding and profound wisdom. Anyone thirsty for the living waters of truth would do well to drink deeply the words of this great Master.

"What you are, you must find out. I can only tell you what you are not. You are not of the world, you are not even in the world. The world is not, you alone are. You create the world in your imagination like a dream. . . . Don't be afraid of a world you yourself have created. Cease from looking for happiness and reality in a dream and you shall wake up."

The Secret

Perhaps you've heard about the recent release of "The Secret," a new film (and book) which promises to reveal the secret of the ages -- the secret of success, health, wealth, and all the good things life has to offer. This new film can be viewed in its entirety (90 minutes) online for $4.95, or you can watch a shorter 24-minute version for the bargain basement price of $0.00. Whether or not it actually reveals the Secret I'll leave for you to decide. But whether it does or not, it certainly is entertaining, well done, and well worth watching. You can find the short version at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1279084763732767570&q=%22the+secret%22
Enjoy!

What is Life?

What, indeed, is life? Surely we have all asked and pondered that question. Kind of a tough question to pin down, isn't it? The following, which was seen in a draper's shop in India, is as good an answer as I have ever found:

Life is a challenge . . . Meet it
Life is a gift . . . Accept it
Life is an adventure . . . Dare it
Life is a sorrow . . . Overcome it
Life is a tragedy . . . Face it
Life is a duty . . . Perform it
Life is a game . . . Play it
Life is a Mystery . . . Unfold it
Life is a song . . . Sing it
Life is an opportunity . . . Take it
Life is a journey . . . Complete it
Life is a promise . . . Fulfil it
Life is a love . . . Embrace it
Life is a beauty . . . Praise it
Life is a spirit . . . Realize it
Life is a struggle . . . Fight it
Life is a puzzle . . . Solve it
Life is a goal . . . Achieve it

This was included in a wonderful anthology of spiritual writings, The Mystic Vision: Daily Encounters with the Divine, compiled by Andrew Harvey and Anne Baring. One "Life is" that I might add is "Life is an extravaganza . . . Celebrate it!"

Zen Sexuality

Sex is not an obstacle on the Zen path, but rather an opportunity to enhance awareness.

The following was reprinted from "At Home in Muddy Water: A Guide to Finding Peace within Everyday Chaos" by Ezra Bayda, with permission of Shambhala Publications.

A young Zen student realized he had some sexual difficulties. He thought about going to his teacher for help but felt a lot of hesitation: “Maybe it’s not appropriate to talk to my teacher about sex. What’s he going to think of me?” He went to the teacher anyway and described the situation. The teacher told him, “We must struggle with desire. Go back to your cushion and learn what it means to struggle with desire.”

The dutiful and persevering student went back to his cushion and struggled with his desire. But for some reason he didn’t get very far. In fact, it seemed like his problem became even worse. So he decided to go to another teacher. This time he went to a teacher who was very famous for his deep Zen wisdom. He told the teacher about his situation. The teacher peered at him in an inscrutable Zen way and said, “No sex. No not-sex. Not one. Not two.” And he rang his bell, dismissing the student.

The student was impressed by this teaching, but when he got back to his cushion, he had no idea what to do with it. Finally he decided to go to another teacher, one famous for his ardent devotion to practice. This teacher said, “Okay, this is what you need to do. Whenever your sexual difficulty arises in your mind, you just stop whatever you’re doing and do one hundred and eight full prostrations, thinking only of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion.” The student really liked this advice, because now he had something he could do.

The student followed the third teacher’s advice and became very, very good at bowing. But after some time, he felt as though he were squeezing a balloon right in the middle: as the middle would scrunch up, both ends were close to bursting at the seams.

Even though the student was discouraged, he decided to go to yet another teacher. He saw that maybe he was trying too hard, so he decided to see a teacher who was famous for being laid back. “No problem. Just be one with it. Just let it go,” that teacher said. At this point, the student was becoming cynical. He realized this advice was just words. But still, he had a real aspiration to deal with his situation. Again, he found a new teacher. And finally, in this last teacher’s reply, he understood what all the other teachers were telling him: “We don’t talk about sex here.”

The first thing we need to do, as people, as practitioners, is bring sexuality issues into our awareness. This is how we make them part of our practice world. . . .

With these words, Ezra Bayda goes on to discuss sexuality from a Zen perspective. His discussion can be found at:
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/128/story_12814_1.html

Overcoming Procrastination

I have a major problem with procrastination. I am always putting off the unpleasant tasks that I need to do. This habit goes a long way towards making my life a shambles, and I have simply been unable to turn this habit around. But there is hope! I recently read a fantastic article which explores the root causes of procrastination and gives several practical tools to overcome it. Within minutes of finishing the article, I tackled a project that I had been putting off for months. Surprisingly, it took me all of twenty minutes to finish it!

I found the article at a website which I have been visiting for awhile for its wealth of fine articles, all offered for free! According to the website's author, Steve Pavlina: "This site will help you learn to live more consciously, to summon the courage to face the unfaceable parts of your life, and to solve the deep problems you've not yet been able to solve. You'll learn practical ideas to make important changes in your life, both big and small, so you can get your life on track and start living up to your potential."

So, if procrastination is giving you a hard time, you may want to check out this article. It's a little early to judge, but so far, it seems to be helping me. You can find the article on Overcoming Procrastination, as well as many others, at http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles/overcoming-procrastination.htm

Why Aren't You Richer?

With all this talk (in yesterday's post) about the secrets of happiness, it's probably time to move on to what many believe is the secret of happiness -- money. Years ago I saw some financial adviser on TV proclaim that 90% of winning the financial game was spending less than you make. Well, that sounded reasonable to me. Then I picked up Jean Chatzky's, Make Money, Not Excuses the other day. In her Introduction, she takes this idea a bit further:

"It took me only fifteen years reporting on money and how people should be using it to have the following epiphany: If you want to get rich, if you want to be wealthier than you are today, you really need to do only four things. That's right, just four things:

* You need to make a decent living.
* You need to spend less than you make.
* You need to invest the money you don't spend so that it can work as hard for you as you're working for yourself.
* And you need to protect yourself and this financial world you've built so that a disaster -- big or small -- doesn't take it all away from you.

"Everything else is just window dressing. The fees -- and how to avoid them. The advisers -- and how to hire them. The deals. The scams. The ins. The outs. They are all interesting. Some of them are even quite important. But until you have conquered the heart of the matter, they are all minutia.

"The four cornerstones, by contrast, are the meat and potatoes of your financial life. If you do those things today, you'll start getting rich tomorrow. And once you feel set financially, you'll be able to start focusing on the truly important things in life."
------------------
In my view, those four things might be summarized thusly:
* Earn it
* Save it
* Invest it
* Protect it

So now I suppose we are all pretty well-armed to go out there and make a fortune. Good luck!

The Secrets of Happiness

Picked up an interesting book at the library the other day: The Secrets of Happiness: Three Thousand Years of Searching for the Good Life, by Richard Schoch. Never could resist a book that might shine some light on the happiness question. From the Introduction:

"Unhappy is the story of happiness. More than two thousand years ago, when the ancient Greeks first thought about what constitutes "the good life," happiness was a civic virtue that demanded a lifetime's cultivation. Now, it's everybody's birthright: swallow a pill, get happy; do yoga, find your bliss; hire a life coach, regain your self-esteem. We have lost contact with the old and rich traditions of happiness, and we have lost the ability to understand their essentially moral nature. Deaf to the conversation of the ages, we deny ourselves the chance of finding a happiness that is meaningful. We've settled, nowadays, for a much weaker, much thinner happiness: mere enjoyment of pleasure, mere avoidance of pain and suffering. The so-called new science of happiness perpetuates this impoverished notion of the good life. Somewhere between Plato and Prozac, happiness stopped being a lofty achievement and became an entitlement.

"We can reject this modern enfeeblement of happiness. We can recover its ancient traditions, the traditions that began in the West with the philosophers of Athens and in the East with the anonymous Hindu sages of the Axial Age. We can, with no exaggeration, call these traditions a secret, so unpracticed, if not obscured, have they become. Yet the secret will not resist our attempt to find it."

I personally found these opening lines rather eye-opening. (No pun intended) It never occurred to me that happiness was a "civic virtue" requiring "a lifetime's cultivation." Nor did I realize it was a "lofty achievement" or that it had a "moral nature."

The book goes on to explore several traditions of happiness to be found in various religions and philosophies. If I were to actually finish reading this book, who know?, I may even discover "The Secrets of Happiness." Wouldn't that be wonderful?!

The Way We Are

Lately I've been reading a most unusual, challenging, insightful, and provocative book, The Way We Are, by Allen Wheelis. It is very short, weighing in at only 141 pages, but is as dense and compact as it is brief. He opens chapter 1, The Nature of Man, with the following propositions:

"Only the first life fed on nonlife. Thereafter, life feeds on life. Big fish eat little fish. Jaws develop fangs. Hawk falls on hare, bird takes worm; wings flutter in the teeth of the fox. Man eats hare, fish, fowl, lamb.

"We are both predator and victim. We kill those who have more to eat than we, or who threaten to take what we have -- or who do not threaten but whom we so imagine.

"We kill to take the female or the territory of a rival. A rival is one who has a female or a territory we desire.

"Property is a function of the willingness to fight. Titles are written in blood. Dusty deeds rest on old murders.

"We are children of slime, our teeth break bone, suck marrow, we live on others; we devour their lives without ever seeing their faces. The magic of money and commerce keeps them far away, their screams unheard."

In Chapter 2, The Group, we find a most telling observation:

"The rules that shape our lives defend the interests of the holders of power."

Later in the book we encounter this assertion about the way we are, with which I will close:

"We tend to assume that we know what we are, that our nature is obvious, given to us by direct observation of others and of ourselves: Just look around the world and look into your own heart and you will know the human condition. It's not so. What it is to be a human being is not clear at all, but deeply shrouded. Because, in the evolution from animal life to human life, along with the gain in knowledge and awareness, we have gained also the ability to deceive ourselves. We arrange not to know our nature, not so see what we are up to. Our self-deceptions are so dense, piled on so thick, like layers of paint on a canvas already painted, layer after layer, laid on from school and pulpit and lectern and TV and Internet, that it is all but impossible to break through, to get a clear view of what we really are.

"Behind our loudly professed values of freedom, justice, and equality lies a propensity to violence far stronger and far deeper than is known to any of us, even the most cynical. It is all but invincible, invades even the bedroom, corrupts what we call love. We indulge in vast hypocrisies, flagrant and subtle, to conceal from ourselves this destructiveness. We are in fact largely the opposite of what we think we are."

If you would care for a no holds barred, brutally honest look at "the way we are," you may want to take a look at this book.

Life Expectancy

Revisting The Story of You (see Feb 20 below) for just a minute, we find the following chart:

LIFE EXPECTANCY
Cro-Magnon Era................ 18
Ancient Egypt................... 25
1400s Europe................... 30
1800s Europe and U.S...... 37
1900s U.S......................... 48
2003 U.S.......................... 78

Isn't that fascinating? As everyone knows, many things on many fronts are getting worse. Threats of disaster abound on every hand, and the entire world, it seems, teeters on the brink of some sort of major cataclysmic catastrophe. But at least we are living longer! So, as the years roll on and age takes its relentless toll, I am strangely comforted by the fact that each day is a bonus, a gift that my forebears of only a hundred years ago did not have. Whether these are the best of times or the worst of times I cannot say, but certainly these are the longest of times! -- at least for us humans (and at least for the time being).

Your Own Desitny

Ralph Marston has a terrific website, "The Daily Motivator," which can be found at http://greatday.com/ Here, Marston delivers short, cogent, and wise "sermonettes" aimed to motivate one to make the very best of the one life we all have. I almost invariably find his words to be insightful and empowering. A website well worth checking out. Here is his posting for today:

"You have the power to control your own destiny. You may not feel at all comfortable with that, or want to own up to the responsibility it implies, yet it is true nonetheless.

"You may complain that there are so many powerful and overwhelming outside forces acting upon you that nothing you do will matter. Yet everything you do matters to the highest degree in creating your own destiny.

"It may seem that fate has dealt you a certain hand, and that there is no way for you to change that fate. You can, however, change everything about your own perspective and the way you respond.

"For your destiny is not about what comes to you. It is about who you choose to become.

"Your destiny is not really about what happens to you. It is built and fulfilled by the things that you cause to happen, by what you do with the precious life you have.

"It happens in every moment, with every choice, with every thought and every action. Always, you are creating your own unique destiny."

Not bad, hmmm? I believe he posts a new message six days a week. And he has an extensive archive where you can read scores of older "pep talks." May you find something there that will assist you in taking your next step forward!

Freedom

Everyday Zen is a wonderful book, and it's author, Charlotte Joko Beck is, an extraordianry teacher -- "an American Zen original," as it says in the preface. Here is a simply brilliant excerpt from her book:

"Freedom is closely connected with our relationship to pain and suffering. I'd like to draw a distinction between pain and suffering. Pain comes from experiencing life just as it is, with no trimmings. We can even call this direct experiencing joy. But when we try to run away and escape from our experience of pain, we suffer. Because of the fear of pain we all build up an ego structure to shield us, and so we suffer. Freedom is the willingness to risk being vulnerable to life; it is the experience of whatever arises in each moment, painful or pleasant. This requires total commitment to our lives. When we are able to give ourselves totally, with nothing held back, and no thought of escaping the experience of the present moment, there is no suffering. When we completely experience our pain, it is joy."

Is that not pure gold?! What more do we need to know to live wisely this moment, and to be free from suffering? Beck's Everyday Zen is a collection of short Dharma talks she has given, and it is a gold mine of Buddhist teachings and wisdom. Highly recommended.

Pure Silence

Not long ago I came across a wonderful website that contains a number of beautiful meditations on such spiritual topics as silence (surpise), love, death, truth, embracing this moment, and the like. You might want to stop by sometime for a refreshing dip into deep pools of wisdom. You'll be glad you did. Here is an excerpt from the author's discourse on Love:

"Perhaps there is no other word in the English language that has been written about as much. There is a reason for that.

"Love is Pure Silence.

"Love is the great allowing. Love lets it be! The silence is love. For love creates all that is. Love lets it happen, arise and disappear. There is only this.

"It has been said "God is love." Yes that is true. God, the nothingness, reality, Truth, awareness, Pure silence and love are just words which describe in some small way that which is right now beyond all the images, the noise, the thoughts. This is in you; this is you. You know that; you are that...."

Isn't that beautiful? Here is a link to the site: Pure Silence I hope you enjoy it!

The Magic Key to Greatness

I just finished reading a fascinating book, "The Story of You," by Steve Chandler. He introduces his final chapter with an intriguing quote by Bette Davis ("Attempt the impossible in order to improve your work") and then goes on to say:

"My work is often to find a magic key for people to use to take themselves from good to great, and I think I've found it. The magic key to greatness is doing something counterintuitive and pursuing the 'hard part' of your work.

"Most people don't want to do that. They want to focus on the easy (and soft) part of their work. But it helps more to focus on the hard part. To find what's hard and do more of it. Not less.

"Most of us avoid what's hard. Unless we are truly committed to being great. Then it changes. Then we seek what's hard."

The author goes on to give the example of a basketball player who is a good shooter and passer but not such a hot dribbler. So he goes around dribbling all day, day after day, and before long, he is a great dribbler and his game is vastly improved. "He turned the hard part into the easy part. The best part."

I haven't been able to do this just yet -- who wants to do the "hard part"? -- but I am still aiming to do so. This idea of doing the "hard part" is not unique to Chandler, though he has a unique way of expressing it. Here is Vince Lombardi on the same idea:

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will."

Similarly, Brian Tracy writes of doing that which is "right and important, although difficult":

"Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the high road to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction."

Perhaps this idea is best summed up in the simple maxim, "Do the right thing, not the easy thing."

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Chandler's "The Story of You." He sets forth many provocative ideas in this little book about how we can move ahead and create a better life for ourselves.

He ends his short treatise with this gem:

"As a man's real power grows
and his knowledge widens,
ever the way he can follow grows narrower:
until at last he chooses nothing,
but does only and wholly
what he must do."
Ursula K. Le Guin
A Wizard of Earthsea