Category: Perceptions

The Recycled Self

Egoic Self is a Recycled Self

Yesterday, in his afternoon talk at the Ridhwan School’s summer retreat, A.H. Almaas referred to the recycled self. This is our normal sense of self – a false identity based on self-images and history. This self is engaged in constant ego activity which includes mental, emotional and physical patterns of rehashing the past.

All of this activity is a result in a belief that effort will get us where we want to be – and while that may be true when it comes to walking across the street, it is not true when it comes to satisfying urge or longing for peace, authenticity, happiness, love and other more fundamental human and spiritual quests.

The recycled self stands in shard contrast to what Almaas refers to as “runaway realization” – where True Nature spontaneously moves from moment to moment revealing deeper dimensions and understanding with no effort, hope, longing or past.

The Ridhwan School’s annual summer retreat’s focus this year is – The Fulcrum.

August 17
Obsidian Samadhi

Obsidian Samadhi – Diamond Approach Summer Retreat

I’m at the annual summer retreat for the Ridhwan School (Diamond Approach). About 700 students are gathered at Asilomar near Monterey California.

Hameed Ali, who writes under the pen name A.H. Almaas began the first session with a meditation he calls Obsidian Samadhi = clear awareness, calm alertness.

The subject of the 10-day retreat is Fulcrum (dictionary -a: the support about which a lever turns b : one that supplies capability for action). The inquiry will revolve around – Practice is Realization, Realization is Practice.

On first blush, it seems to me that the fulcrum is the soul or the personal consciousness where practice is initiated and applied and realization arises. We shall see.

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August 14
Project Natal GoodSex France

Twitter Consciousness vs. Spectacular Sunrise

I was wondering what to write. I’ve been giving more and more attention to Twitter these days, so I thought maybe I would write something about twitter. My first thought was, “What are people tweeting this morning?”

So, I went over to TweetCloud to get a visual of this morning’s twitter consciousness. As you can see from the tweet cloud, what’s on tweeter minds is Project Natal (gaming not babies), Good Sex (always a hot topic), the lost Air France flight (tragedy) and Google Wave (techvolution).

Toys, sex, tragedy and technology. As I was pondering this collective consciousness and what to say about it, I noticed a spectacular sunrise happening outside (Walnut Creek California). Glorious pink clouds moving through the sky with the sun just starting to break over the mountains.

By the time I was able to get to the car and grab the cameras, the sunrise was further along than I would have liked, but here it is.

And now, I must take my leave as I have to drive to Pleasanton CA for a 7:45am appointment. But, let me just say – the sunrise will have more influence over my day than the twitter collective.

June 2
Death of Poverty

What to do When Money Starts Pouring In

As beings in the world, money and finances are aspects of our life that need some exploration and clarification. Our relationship to money is anything but simple – psychologically it’s moe loaded than a super duper Las Vegas slot machine.

I’ve purchased a few lotto tickets over the years and spent more than a few hours in mental la la land spinning “what if?” dreams. Over the years, I’ve also involved myself in a few get rich quicker than others schemes. As I think about, I might be rich if I had invested all that time, energy and money into something other than other people’s pockets or a Bernie Madoff ponzi scam.

I have no regrets. In fact, I’ve enjoyed most of it – in retrospect. Like most people on the planet, I’ve had my tough times and challenges, but overall, life has been good. Recently I notice that life is beyond good, it is very, very sweet.

Somewhere along the line, something/s seem to have shifted. As 59 approaches, I find myself more engaged and more enthralled with everyday life – it’s all so wild, wonderful and sublime.

Strange that at this time I find myself on the brink of the death of poverty. It’s interesting to note, that my worries and concerns around money and financial security seemed to have been subsummed into a recognition of the richness, wealth and generosity of life.

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April 2
New Heart Designs for Valentine’s Day

The Pomegranate Heart

My friend Cathleen Bunt has done it again – the Pomegranate Heart for Valentine’s Day. You may recall my past post on Cathleen’s Buddha Pendants.

Here’s what Cathleen has to say about her latest knock-out pendant:

The name pomegranate derives from the Latin words pomum “apple” and granatus “seeded”. With its bulging red seeds, orb like shape and crown like calyx, this fruit has captured attention throughout the ages and become an enduring symbol.

In my design I have merged the pomegranate with the heart to create a symbol of passionate and abundant love. Some Jewish scholars believe the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden was actually a pomegranate rather than an apple. Perhaps you’d like to tempt your sweetheart with this exquisite delight.

Pomegranates are often seen in religious paintings like this one by Sandro Botticelli.

The fruit, in the hands of the infant Jesus, symbolizes Christ’s heart, while the calyx represents a crown and the seeds, the sweetness of the heavenly kingdom.

In the Judaism, the pomegranate is a symbol of righteousness, because it is said to have 613 seeds which correspond to the 613 commandments of the Torah.

In Greece it is a symbol of abundance, fertility and good luck. It is traditional to break a pomegranate on the ground at weddings and on New Years.

My Pomegranate Heart – is richly seeded with red rubies, exposed by a heart shaped opening in the rind.

The locket-like form of this piece, has 3 layers. The top rind in 18k gold, the inside layer – an 18k plate set w/ .70ct of fine red rubies and a back plate (shown below) with a pierced design.

The chain cleverly passes through an opening between the leaf and the stem.

Whatever the pomegranate represents to you, with its many seeds, it is undeniably a symbol of fruitfulness.

Here you see the back of my pomegranate heart with a pierced design I like to call, ‘planting the seeds of love’.

Why not plant a seed in your loved one’s heart this Valentines Day?

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February 10
Spiritual Liberation

Is All the Fuss About Spiritual Liberation Really Necessary?

Spiritual liberation, spiritual freedom, enlightenment, the spiritual journey – I see and hear references to these terms all the time. What is it that is being sought?

Being liberated means there is no clinging to anything; there is no worry, no concern, no heaviness. The mind is not fixated, focused or bound to any particular content; you are aware of whatever arises in the mind, without effort, without even trying to be aware. – A.H. Almaas

Does this mean we all just want to relax and be worry free? In a way yes, but perhaps there is more to the story.

What is it that keeps us stressed, uptight, reactive, fixated and un-liberated? In the greatest of all ironies – it is the very thing seeking spiritual liberation that perpetuates the state of suffering – it is us, our identification with something less than liberation.

The agitation and suffering that results from our lack of spiritual liberation keeps us seeking liberation – which is often imagined as a state of living free from sadness, difficulties, economic downturns, bursting real estate bubbles and the like. Quite preposterous if we really think about it.

Whether you are happy or sad, whether a person is there with you or not, none of these things seem important. For the moment you are completely free from all the concerns in your life. This state can never be achieved by striving for it. It will just happen one day, and if you notice it you won’t think it’s a big deal. You’ll go on eating your dinner or whatever you are doing. The moment it becomes a big deal, it’s gone. – A.H. Almaas

It’s quite the conundrum. If we do nothing, it seems like we will remain where we are, right?

The old adage – If we continue doing what we have always done, we’ll continue getting the same results.

Again it’s not so much what you do as who/what does. Getting to the point of understanding this often takes some doing for most of us – which obviously delays spiritual liberation.

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January 25