Reflections

Pretend and Extend

2012-02-07T14:17:00.001-08:00

"Pretend and extend" has become a cynical battle-cry of the economic community, describing the desires of politicians, financial corporations and governments to brush problems under the carpet, hoping that they will solve themselves as the years go by. Very much in contrast, I want to use this expression in a positive light in this note. Sometimes you see friends and colleagues choosing wrongly, and in these cases you can always opt to overlook whatever just happened. "Pretend and extend", reminding yourself of the time when you saw your friend's true character, pretending the unfortunate occasion never happened and extending a helping hand no matter what.

You may think this partial view is at best naive and at worst dishonest, yet, who exactly is the authority that observed your friend's mistake? It is your ego, it it not? The Course in Miracles states "finding your brother's error is not the kind of vigilance the Holy Ghost would like you to maintain." Your vision might be faulty when it comes to seeing other people's mistakes, but it is certainly visionary when you look into your brother's heart

Choices

2012-02-06T14:24:00.001-08:00

The other day a colleague told me that life was unfortunately so much about regrets, about choices one could have made differently, about wasted time and about priorities one could have set differently. I looked at him in disbelief; I honestly didn't understand what he was talking about.

They say that making choices uses up your psychic energy. Studies in food stores have shown that if you give consumers too much choice of a particular item they go away utterly confused and don't buy anything. Similarly, as you go through the day having to make one choice after the other, you are literally using up your available will-power reservoir and by the end of the day all you can do is to zone out with the help of alcohol and the TV or the Internet.

Again, I really cannot relate to these observations. Somehow for a Tao traveler choices are generally effortless along the Way, and there are certainly no regrets. Whenever you have to make an important choice, your personal symbol that sways the result one way or another conveniently shows up. This does not mean that you don't make mistakes, but you even when you make them, you know deep inside that everything happens for the right reason. Regrets don't make much sense because it daunts on you that you live in the best of all worlds as far as your soul development is concerned. For a Tao traveler, every choice along the Way is nothing but a confirmation that you are connected and that no matter what, the sun is always smiling on you.

The Three Paths Towards Liberation

2012-02-05T07:54:00.001-08:00

I am currently writing a book that reflects on my spiritual journey over the last 3 years. Initially it was a confusing soul-searching process, but by now I have figured out what my path is all about: it is about work and acquiring wisdom. By completely merging with the Tao, the 'I' gets lost in the challenging day-to-day activities, which are entirely devoted to the Way. At night I fall into bed, completely spent, only to start the next morning with an infinite new resource of energy.

This polar opposite path is the Buddhist approach of meditation and mindful living. The whole idea is to channel all the energy within and bring it to rest, rather than spending it externally. People keep asking me why don't you meditate and I reply that I tend to reach my meditation state during my peak performances. It is then when I experience the transition into the state of oneness when the 'I' ceases to exist, very much like what the Buddhist enjoys when she brings her system to a standstill.

Lastly there is yoga path, the attempt to channel the prana that rise up your spine until it reaches the last chakra located in your forehead. These yoga disciplines manage to stimulate this energy flow. But it turns out that rising energy is a side effect of all other approaches as well. As the 'I' recedes, the prana expands. In the end all paths merge when your wholeness is complete, but in the beginning of your journey you should experiment which of the different paths is best suited for you.

On Success and Defeat

2012-02-04T11:43:00.001-08:00

Perform work in this world, Arjuna, as a man established within himself, without selfish attachments, and alike in success and defeat. For yoga is perfect evenness of mind.
Lord Krishna, Bhagavad Gita

I remember a stage in my career as a financial strategist during an incredibly volatile period. It suddenly seemed as if I had lost my magic touch. No matter what I recommended, the opposite took place. And just when I tried cutting my losses, my investment case unfolded after all. I did this a couple of times until I just got tired of being yanked around. No matter what happened, and no matter how much the 'market' seemed to disagree with me, I only let my instincts be the judge of my investment calls. It was then that I understood, that these little prior hick-ups were just designed to make me fearless. I never could have become the investor I am today had it not been for this little initiation period. As Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, do not let the so-called successes and failures rattle you. You never know how a particular situation will shape your destiny.

On Knowing

2012-01-31T23:24:00.001-08:00

Whenever someone can listen fairly to both sides of an issue, he will make the right decision. This is because he has the right answer.
(A Course in Miracles)

In a famous experiment, researchers in Iowa tested people with two decks of cards, with one of them having better odds of winning. It turned out that the people eventually figured out which deck of cards they should choose, but this realization only came after they had drawn 50 cards. Yet, subconsciously, they had already figured it out 10 cards into the game. Isn't that result amazing? This is of course the good old intuition at work and people who are in tune with their feelings may have the ability to beat their conscious mind. Yet, perhaps there is even more to knowing, something that our scientific community hasn't yet figured out. Could it be that we can know the preferred stack without pulling any card just because we have access to the all-knowing Mind? I have a hunch that we can, yet, as the Course in Miracles reminds us, if we have a vested interest in getting the information, we are perhaps too biased to tab into the Source.

Creative Tensions

2012-01-30T13:29:00.001-08:00

The tension is unbearable. I hope it lasts.
(Oscar Wilde)

I can tell you something about the creative tension that Oscar Wilde refers to. I work as a strategist in the financial industry and it is part of my job description to make predictions about events whose outcomes are unknown. The tension when you make a forecast is unbearable. Your mind searches intensely during these periods for clues, but fact of the matter is that at the time when you make your predictions you just don't know what will happen. What you do know, however, is that every voice you meet is important. You have learned over and over again that there is no hierarchy, every hint, loud or quiet, matters. So be grateful for the golden opportunity that comes your way when you bump into people today; everyone has a present in hand for you.

The tension has to be there. If you knew everything in advance you would no longer value the input of others as much. You might even look down on the people who have the 'wrong' point of view at that particular juncture. The happiness comes once the tension gets resolved one way or another, so if you want to enjoy the ensuing happiness, you have to bear the tension as well.

So where exactly is the security that many spiritual path travelers report if they are as exposed to uncertainty as everyone else? The security comes from the realization that no matter what happens, the outcome will be spiritual meaningful to you. Sure, there are dark valleys and perhaps even enemies along the way, but as Psalm 23 reminds us, the spiritual path traveler will always be equipped to handle every scary moment just fine. It took me a while to accept the unbearable tension of life, but like Oscar Wilde before me, I now want more of it every day.

This is your Movie

2012-01-29T06:13:00.000-08:00

Islam has an expression that had a lot of meaning to the Western Mind during the medieval times,'Insha'Allah', or translated, 'God willing'. In the extreme this philosophy implies that everything that happens is God's providence. We are just pawns in the Cosmic Play. Few Westerners believe this deterministic outcome today, but then, many spiritual path travelers also don't believe the other extreme, namely that we live in a 'random' universe. To us, the truth lies somewhere in between. We are the creators of our destiny, but we experience this creation within the interplay of others who are, in a weird way, part of us.

So the way I would describe the idea is that we are neither spectators in a cinema, nor are we a little actor in giant movie studio. We are producers, directors, actors and spectators at the same time. The law of oneness you can actually study. You can literally see how this world responds to your changed expectations and perceptions. Thus, it can hardly be a random world. The question whether you are actually able to create your destiny or whether you are just a pawn in a preprogrammed movie set is unfortunately something that you can never settle theoretically. Someone can always come along and claim that whatever you just did wasn't really you, but only you thinking it was you. Well, this would be kind of easy, wouldn't it. My life experience suggest that at the end of the way we are always responsible for our actions. My hunch is this is your movie, so let's hope it will be a blockbuster.

Fighting Your Inner Demons (Continued)

2012-01-28T01:58:00.000-08:00

He was a fairly liberal spiritual aspirant and somehow always minded that he was balding. So he signed up for a hair-transplant. When he told his mother about it he was surprised that she seemed to mind. 'Son', she said, 'you have to accept your genes'. The night before the operation he banged his toe into a door and, and like magic, the swelling of the toe only receded when his scalp had healed. 'Oh, it is a message of the Tao to stop hurting myself', he thought. He promptly canceled the follow up operation.

What do you make of this story? Contrast that to one where a spiritual aspirant finally manages to beat his alcohol addiction. In this case you are fighting for the light, it is very hard work, but the direction is clear to you. If you make it and beat the addiction you will finally have a shot at being whole. In contrast, the case of the plastic surgery is the opposite. The resistance is coming from your super ego, here represented by the voice of the mother 'you are not allowed to tinker with your body' or the voice of God represented by the swollen toe 'you are hurting yourself'. Truth of the matter is that you are fighting your inner demons in both cases. In the plastic surgery case you are tinkering with your perceived dark side, while in the addiction case you try to rid yourself from your demons.

The question really is which authority has caused you to injure your toe? Of course it was a subconscious accident, but then, most spiritual path traveler agree that there are no accidents. It was the perceived holy side in you that minded. But then, if it minds, perhaps it is not so holy after all. I remember once having a 'Conversations with God' type of exchange with myself over one of my darker desires and I heard God's advice on the matter and everything this voice said was right, yet, it sounded harsh. It was then that I realized that I had an exchange with my super ego. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that there is no God, all I am saying is that at the end of the day you are responsible for your choices. The Tao is here to tell you what implications your choices have, but you are the only authority in this universe who has the right and the duty to define who you really are.

Flow

2012-01-27T11:47:00.001-08:00

I remember my first flow experience very well. I was a high school student and we had to run 400 meters for grades. During those days I played soccer day and night and also did some jogging so I was pretty fit, but I had never really invested much of my mental energy into track and field. The person I was up against was a rower, he was full of muscles, but I wasn't intimidated since I very much doubted that upper body strength was correlated with speed. Well, I was in for a surprise, he took off on the 400 meters the way I would have run a 100 meter sprint. But with intense willpower I managed to stay next to him. I felt incredible pain, but miraculously, after 200 meters or so, I didn't feel my body any more. All I could perceive were thoughts. I got a glimpse then of what it means to be in the 'zone', it was a terrific feeling of connectedness. If my body was aching, I couldn't feel it, the race just seemed effortless. It turned out that we both got an A plus for our finishing time, so being in the flow definitely pays off.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi expressed this theme beautifully in his book 'The Flow'. It introduces the theme from a psychological perspective, but it really is a spiritual gem. Eckhart Tolle's 'The Power of Now' describes exactly the same thing. You always have the chance to get lost in the here and now and when you do, a magic world opens up to you. If I had to sum up the way towards getting to this stage it would be 'embrace life wholeheartedly'. Like it happened to me in the first few meters of the race, it might be a little uncomfortable to be synchronized to the new Force, but it will be well worth the effort and after this adjustment, all you really have to do is to follow the lead. Everyone can do this, spiritual or not. Love what you do and if you also love the people you are connected with, the flow will be just around the corner.

What is an Idol?

2012-01-25T14:24:00.001-08:00

It is a little strange that since our 'American Idol' days we associate the word idol with something positive. Well, why not, at least it is honest that we admit to ourselves that we are running after fame, sex, wealth and status. For me the concept of an idol is something that we like to hang our hat on. We feel that we know that with the help of our idol we will be happy and secure. So from this perspective, religion can be as much an idol as the famous enlightenment concept.

It doesn't help you if a guru tells you that you shouldn't have sex, go for that plastic surgery or run after money. Don't get me wrong, of course there is no harm being inspired by others, but at the end of the day every decision has to be based on your idiosyncratic insights, everything else would still be an idol.

My favorite indicator is the passion test. If you are passionate about something, chances are there is an idol lurking in the background. But never mind that. Passions are here for you to burn off. There will be a point in your journey when you will unmask this idol. It is a dream-like flash, a minor vision, that shows you exactly how this object appeals to you, promising you happiness and security, and at this moment the battle is over. Every spiritual path traveler will gladly ignore the hook attached to a signpost along the way. Security and happiness is only something the Tao can provide. Perhaps there will be even a day when the idol is calling out to you and you miss it altogether as you are too absorbed in the here and now.

Why does ego death have to be so theatrical?

2012-01-25T02:41:00.001-08:00

To let go of your ego is a big step into the unknown. I would be lying if I didn't tell you that you will face fear. Of course I am hoping that it is just me and that the majority of spiritual path travelers doesn't have to face this fear when you are shaking in your boots, but my hunch is that we all have to make this step sooner or later. Joseph Campbell identified this theme in the hero with a thousand faces; somehow every hero has to venture out into the wilderness despite herself and after a long time of soul searching has to slay the dragon and only then has earned the right to live happily ever after. It is always the same theme.

Do you remember how Luke Skywalker received his Jedi training? He had to reflect incoming laser light blindfolded. In the same way Jean-Claude Van Damme had to face his opponent in Bloodsport. Do you remember the fear in his face when this apparently invincible opponent had managed to blind him temporarily? But then you will also remember the calmness that overcame him when he remembered his old teacher and suddenly realized that he had always been prepared to handle this moment.

Being a Tao master is a psychological shift. It is letting go of the old world and whole hardly graduating to the next spiritual level. There has to be a sudden 'attack' when life throws you into this scene that only a hero can handle. Unless you take this step you would be stuck between the two worlds for a long time, which is painful as well. I think of this initiation like a band-aide, you rip it off and be done with it. Rejoice, after this staged exercise you will suddenly understand this security that our spiritual path travelers have experienced for millennia:

The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
   for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
   through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
   for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
   they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
   in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
   my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
   all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
   forever.

Psalm 23

What is a Tao Traveler?

2012-01-24T15:02:00.001-08:00

A person who has achieved control over psychic energy and has invested in consciously chosen goals cannot help but grow into a more complex human being.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow

A spiritual path is nothing but a mission statement. Everyone has one. The ambitious business man who wants to climb the ladder of success, the teacher who wants to educate others, the stay home mom who wants to raise a family. Life is all about the choices you make along the way. In the same vein, the mission of a Tao traveler is to feel the space in-between, the holy connection that life and people provide every moment. Most people are too busy too look, so this connection feels like magic to them. We spiritual path travelers perceive glimpses of the 'beyond' and when we zoom into it, we cannot help but to drop our agenda. Don't get me wrong, we are still ambitious and we may still want to educate and or to raise a family, but all this we temporarily forget when we surrender to the space in-between. Over time we find that it is the Tao that takes us to places. We still decide on our goals, but the mode of transportation is no longer up to us. Happy traveling!

Creative Writing

2012-01-24T01:29:00.001-08:00

At work I volunteered to write up our group's insights on a regular basis and God only knows why I volunteered for it. The team was disjoint then and full of tensions. When I was done writing someone wanted me to change an idea and the next person told me exactly the opposite. It was a miserable period but somehow I persevered. After a year or two the comments became less critical and much more constructive. Magic began to happen, and the remarks of the one colleague were very complementary to the ones of the other. It was as if the team thought in unity without knowing it. These days are long gone, today, nobody comments on my work, so whatever magic takes place has to happen in my brain instead. But that's ok too, because that's the perfect spot for magic to happen.

I see very little difference between creative writing and painting. A painter starts at a certain spot on the canvass with a particular idea and a favored color combination and from there on the painting takes over. Exactly the same is true when I write. I never exactly know where an idea takes me. The idea writes itself. But do you know what the most fun in my creative process is? It is you! For a while now I have observed that the blog notes visitors frequent on a particular day are often connected to the thoughts I am having for a new note or an chapter in my book that I am working on. It is the Tao that does the writing. How cool is that!

Finding Zen in a Dog-eat-Dog World

2012-01-23T12:48:00.001-08:00

Some people are driven by their agendas and have little concern for others who stand in their way, so how can you find Zen in this dog-eat-dog world? The question is what meaning do you give these people in your daily interactions? What do they have to teach you about yourself? The others do whatever they have to do, you can't really do anything about this. But perhaps you have the opportunity job to create a Zen like atmosphere despite them. Chances are these screaming and bullying characters can assist you somehow in your spiritual growth and will probably help you with the psychological homework you still have to do. I have been there, I remember the time when I perceived some colleagues as my enemies who were out to steal my place in the sun. In the meantime, however, I can honestly tell you that I no longer perceive it that way. I see every voice out there as an opportunity for me to get better at what I do. Every conflict I view as a creative opportunity to transcend the tension. What point does it make to classify some voices as friendly and others as bothersome. All interactions are an invite of the Tao to dance with and to create.

My transition probably happened despite myself; often it was the others that changed their attitudes towards me rather than the other way around. To give myself a little credit though, at least I managed to accept their invite to heal. Now I consider my former adversaries as my friends and try to replicate this happy transition day by day with others. I am not here to heal the world, the world is here to heal me, and I try to put my best foot forward to accomplish this every day.

Yes, you can live a Zen life at work and be enormously creative and happy in the process. Of course you will have to embrace change because the Tao is change, moment by moment. The one advice that may jump-start your healing process, please do not spend any time analyzing your colleague's motives. Jesus advice comes to mind 'the speck I n your brother's eye ...'. Understand that it is your agenda that analyzes the agenda of the fellow next door and both agendas are mistaken. The healing comes from the space within, the inter-person sanity that connects you. You don't have to be naive about your relationship with the fellow next door either, just follow the clues of the Tao and if your motive of this relationship is healing, healing it will or you both will part ways.

Easy like a Sunday Morning

2012-01-21T22:52:00.001-08:00

"Seems to me girl you know I have done all I can,
You see, I begged, stole and borrowed.
Oh, that's why I am easy, easy like a Sunday morning."
Lionel Richie, Easy

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi writes in 'Flow' that someone who knows his desires and works with purpose to achieve them, is someone whose feelings, thoughts and actions are in unity and thus someone who achieves harmony. While this is true, this description doesn't really have any normative implications. After all, as Lionel Richie reminds us, someone who begs, steals and borrows can feel easy as well. This flow insight is all about the use of psychic energy, if you are 100 % sure about your life's mission then there are no conflict of interest. All your energy flows in the activity that is meaningful to you.

A spiritual path traveler has normative values. Yes, we believe that deep down inside we are all loving and beautiful. Thus, someone who is on a mission to conquer the world may follow his destiny, but at the end of the day something inside himself will rebel and scream, "No, this isn't me". As the bible reminds us, "What use is it to gain the world if you lose your soul". So from our perspective, the Tao traveler happens to be the only one who devotes 100 % of her psychic energy towards her mission in life, to follow the clues of the Tao, while being quite flexible about the actual journey. Like Lionel we perhaps transition from beg, borrow and steal to

"I wanna be high, so high,
I wanna be free to know
the things I do are right
I wanna be free, just me!"

A Clean Conscience

2012-01-21T01:05:00.000-08:00

When you come home each day from a hard day of work or study, why do you think you are mentally so exhausted? Perhaps it is not the hard work per se but the way how you have spent your psychic energy; torn by your conflicting desires, your fears, your ambitions and worries. I have a hunch that a spiritual path traveler has an advantage over the ordinary folks in this direction since the further down the road you travel, the less you have to decide and even to do. Over and over you decide for love, for compassion and against your own personal agenda until at one point your subconscious gets it and with every 'automatic' choice your psychic energy is no longer being drained. You also trust that whatever the Tao throws your way is important and meaningful in its own way, so sooner or later the worries and fears start disappearing. "Be ye as little children" says the bible. Yes, children are tired when they go to bed, but their psychic energies haven't been drained. That is why you only see adults with alcohol in front of the television or the Internet; the zombie state happens when your psychic energy is gone.

There are interesting psychological experiments that state that simply thinking about stabbing a coworker in the back leaves people more inclined to buy soap, disinfectant or detergent. The point is that your system absorbs every mental conflict and anguish. If you want to have access to 100 % of your psychic energy, you need to have a perfectly clean conscience. Spiritual path travelers who manage to become as little children have a shot at that. Gary Lachman presented a weird hypothesis about our ancestors in "A Secret History of Consciousness", what, he asks, if they always heard a voice in their head telling them what to do. There can be no conflict of interest if you always have a straight line to your personal God. While I have little to say about that theory, but it did strike me when I read his book that the Tao traveler intuitively ends up in a similar state. You just follow clues, sooner or later all choices along your path are just obvious. With a clean conscious you can lighten up on cleaning products, alcohol and media. Perhaps you have even the energy to play with your children tonight.

We all need Mental Healing

2012-01-20T01:31:00.001-08:00

I stumbled the other day on "How to be Free", by Joe Blow, a free eBook available on the Internet, written by someone with a history of mental illnesses. Yet, when you read his book you cannot help being impressed by his spiritual insights. The author is certainly sane today, and judging by his messages of his book, perhaps a little saner than the average Joe. My hunch is that we are all in need of mental healing and that by bringing the problem out in the open, you may actually have a spiritual head-start vis-a-vis the fellow next door.

Jonathan Haidt, the author of "The Happiness Hypothesis" said that he sometimes entertains at boring dinner parties the thought of saying or doing something incredibly rude. And once the thought is out in the open, it takes him a lot of will-power to avoid any faux-pas. For me personally, I discovered that sometimes during presentations in front of large audience I sometimes think what would happen if I threw an object at the speaker. Immediately afterwards I put all physical objects out of range just to make sure that my auto-pilot doesn't suddenly take over.

Truth of the matter is we all have an alienated part inside of us that sometimes shows its ugly head. We see it rarely in action because we tend to do the right thing most of the time. Sometimes we are rescued by our social norms, but mostly by our giant heart. So if you see a brother or a sister act insanely, please understand that this could be you. And if you feel insane right now, at least you can appreciate that the part that needs healing is out in the open. Once you are willing to look fearlessly at this screaming spoilt child inside of you, mental healing is at least possible and with a few conscious steps in the right direction will probably be right around the corner.

Selfless Action

2012-01-19T14:27:00.000-08:00

Deluded by identification with the ego,
a person thinks "I am the doer".

Performing all actions for my sake,
completely absorbed in the Self,
and without expectations, fight!
But stay free from the fever of the ego.
Lord Krishna, Bhagavad Gita

I was sitting today in our investment meeting next to an analyst who had exactly the opposite view of mine. "That's odd", I thought. "Most of the times when this happens I sit on the symbolic other side of the room." Then another investor spoke, who happened to sit on the other side, but he portrayed the investment case that I am currently embracing. I did what I always do in those situations, I reminded myself of the initials of the two colleagues and concluded that they both have powerful spiritual names (that is, the ones that I assigned to them based on their initials.) I also consider them both my friends. My conclusion was that I am in exactly the same situation as Arjun was when he had to fight his friends and relatives in the Bhagavad Gita. You do what you have to do, you take sides based on what the Tao tells you to, but victory or loss, alliance or conflict, you are not really emotionally involved with any of the outcomes. It is a nice feeling to have; you feel incredibly free.

Thinking versus Intuition

2012-01-18T00:27:00.001-08:00

Daniel Kahneman presented a little mental puzzle in his book 'Thinking, Fast and Slow':
A bat and a ball cost $ 1.10.
The bat costs one dollar more than the ball.
How much does the ball cost?

The intuitive answer is 10 cents which is a nice demonstration that your intuition is not always your friend. As you can calculate, a ball costing 10 cents would lead to a total expense of $ 1.20, so the right answer happens to be 5 cents. The question that I immediately had was whether we spiritual path travelers risk getting too complacent just because it seems that the Tao hand-delivers everything on a golden platter for us. I thought briefly about it and then decided that I am not really worried. While it is true that we tend to live our life intuitively, it is also true that on accessions we get our signals to dig a little deeper. In fact, whenever I get an annoying request at work, I tend to work twice as hard as I know there must be a deeper reason behind it. So just speaking for myself, like an eagle I tend to have my 10 000 feet perspective most of the time, but when something is stirring on occasion, I happily zoom into the project that requires attention to detail. So don't worry, the Tao will always let you know whether it is best to use your mind or your belly.

On Fear

2012-01-17T14:29:00.001-08:00

Fear is the opposite of love. Someone who always chooses love has little occasion to fear. After all, if you are surrounded by love, what is there to fear? You may say, but what if x or y happens, and I would say, let it first happen and see how you will feel then. What use is it to speculate how you might feel in a situation if the anticipated outcome is likely quite different from the experience you end up having.

My wife once went on a business trip even though she was quite sick. When she was at the Spanish president's office she collapsed, only to find that this camp had an entire medical support staff and they were delighted to take care of her. Afterwards she said how touched she was by the generosity, kindness and attention she received on that day. So had you asked her before the incident happened, she probably would have said that collapsing in a business meeting must be one of the worst possible situations to be in. Yet, when it happened all she could remember was the incredible kindness she received. Fear is a mental product, whereas love is real. Do not fear!

Peace of Mind

2012-01-16T05:07:00.001-08:00

I remember a colleague saying at her retirement speech that she felt our company was special because at no point in time did she feel it was necessary to watch her back; so instead she could channel all her energies into more productive avenues.

A spiritual path is exactly like that. You feel protected by an invisible force that manifests the best outcome for all parties involved as long as you always manage to put your best foot forward. This Force has been observed for thousands of years and has been called as many names. Psalm 23 was surely written by a Tao traveler as well.

  The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
   for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
   through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
   for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
   they comfort me.

  You prepare a table before me
   in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
   my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
   all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
   forever.

On Peace

2012-01-16T03:08:00.000-08:00

Knowledge is not the motivation for learning this course. Peace is.
A Course in Miracles

Why would anyone sign up to travel the Tao? You are going against everything you seemed to have learned and everything the fellow next door thinks is sane: being compassionate, while ignoring your own agenda. The first step is the hardest and that's why I advise you to start with little experiments. But eventually big ones will come your way and you will be scared that your environment will take advantage of you. Unfortunately, no one can help you with this problem. You see the abyss, you take a step and only then will you know whether the invisible bridge really opens up. Fact of the matter is that nothing really changes when you travel a spiritual path. The movie is still rolling, but what changes is your perception and interpretations of what these scenes are for. Before, you externalized all tensions. It is the others who were responsible for the situation you are in, some were the heroes and friends while others were the jerks and the villains. In your new movie everything is about you and the fears that prevent you from becoming the one you aspire to be. But with the fears that you are facing there will also be a magical world that opens up to you. And time is on your side since with every step you are taking along your path, peace will penetrate every fiber of your being. God says in Neale Walsch's 'Conversations with God' that it does get easier. I found this to be true, but I would be lying if I didn't tell you that there were a few scary steps along the way.

Eventually you will merge with the Tao and the peace will be complete. Everything that happens to you, good or bad, will have spiritual meaning to you and thus, in its own way, will be perfect. I came across a description of a spiritual path traveler in a collection William James put together in 'The Varieties of Spiritual Experiences' more than 100 years ago, and I immediately felt that he must have been a Tao traveler as well.

"The compensation for the loss of that sense of personal independence which man so unwillingly gives up, is the disappearance of all fear from one's life, the quite indescribable and inexplicable feeling of an inner security, which one can only experience, but which, once it has been experienced, one can never forget."

Yup, that's the peace of mind one experiences once you travel the Tao. I hope you will feel it too.

Are You Watching a Movie or are you Producing One?

2012-01-16T00:55:00.001-08:00

I discovered a big difference between experiencing a stream of thought versus actively pursuing mental images. When you meditate, you must observe how streams of thoughts enter your consciousness and disappear as quickly as they came. You realize at that time that this is film footage that has to get out of the system, but in a sense, you, the observer, are not really responsible for it. It is automatic, you do not invest psychic energy into it. Yet when you find yourself day dreaming, you mentally pursue a train of thought and you are very much the creator of this plot. Deeper and deeper do yo develop the mental plot until at one point something forces you to snap out of it. The act of producing is something you are responsible for and is, deep down inside, a choice. The more time you spend perusing and exploring a subject, the likelier it is that you will manifest it. And after you created something in reality, the more likely it is that you will be thinking about it. This wheel keeps spinning until at one point you just don't have a choice any more: your thoughts are pre-determined.

The athlete who visualizes over and over her winning shot is more likely to score it. The womanizer who practices his pick-up line to perfection is also more likely to score on this weekend when his wife is traveling. Good or bad, you are your thoughts. What you think about you will become, and what you are will determine the thoughts you have. It is a chicken and egg problem. What you can do, if you want to stop certain thoughts in your head, is to change your entire life in a new direction. The womanizer can take business trips with his wife together and thereby eliminating the opportunities to cheat on his wife. If the intention to change is honest, the mental temptations to cheat will also subside over time.

You are who you think you are. It is as simple at that and yes, you can be your own movie director. A spiritual path is nothing but a decision to line up all forces of your being, the subconscious as well as the conscious ones. Of course there will be actors in your plot who do the opposite of what you expect, but that only means that you have to find out why and that at times you have to be willing to change the scenes of your set a little to accommodate everyone. You can't just one day wake up and declare "Today, I become a better me." that would be naive. But as you pursue your spiritual path and clean up your life, you will encounter more and more instances when you observe that you have a mental choice. Yes, there is a point in time when you can declare "I have seen this movie before, I will simply not go down this road anymore". And the train will stop before it leaves the mental station and will prove as transitory as the weird image that floats in front of your mental eye during a meditation session. You are your own Hollywood producer after all, so please use your creative powers wisely.

On Psychological Armor

2012-01-14T08:12:00.001-08:00

I was browsing in 'How to be Free', a free ebook available on the internet, which discussed a concept that Wilhelm Reich once introduced, the notion that we are building psychological armor by trying to protect us from harm. Yet, all it does is to cut into our ability to experience the creativity and unconditional love life has to offer. We are building walls around us and complain that we have lost contact with the sun in the process. The path of the spiritual aspirant is to start demolishing the comfortable mental structures that we erected. It is hard work, it takes time, but it is well worth the effort.

The symbolic contrast that comes to mind is the difference between an adolescent dancing naked in a field of flowers in the summer time, versus that of a middle-aged knight stumbling in the muddy battle field in heavy armor, with a raised sword and shield. The former image is the innocent earth connection we are destined to experience while the latter is the reality that we tend to create for ourselves, often at work, but sometimes, sadly, even with our friends and family.

The question is now how can we drop all these pieces of metal without getting hurt by the ghosts and monsters we have created for ourselves. Well that's what the Tao is for. Life will invite you to see your sister and brother as is, rather than the image that you have created in your head. No doubt, it is not an easy undertaking, and it may be a life's mission to complete, but at least you have the feeling of being on a mission which will give you the energy to cope with the problem at hand. Start small, the necessary trust to continue will come once when you realize that with every piece of armor that you drop the scary environment that you perceived starts changing for the better in response. Before you know it, the sun will be shining and it will be so warm and comfortable that even letting go of your clothes will feel natural and safe. It is time to embrace your birth right of peace, love and laughter.

On Time

2012-01-13T14:11:00.001-08:00

The other day I said to my colleague that she should never do anything under time pressure. Time is here to serve us is my philosophy. If there is no time for a project then that either means that we should approach the project differently or perhaps even not at all. Life has a rhythm to it. You can always tune into it. Sure, sometimes it goes fast as well, but then it will be part of you and you will not feel any pressure. Be one with the Tao, life's invitation to dance with you, and you will always be at peace.

I remember a business trip to Paris a number of years back which in hindsight was my first encounter with the Tao. A day before the trip my wrist-watch broke. When I put on the replacement watch, it broke as well. I didn't have a mobile phone then, so suddenly I had no idea what time it was, which was really a big problem for me, given that I always used to worry about making appointments on time. But there was just nothing I could do about it. On the trip a magical world opened up to me. Wherever I needed to know what time it was, a clock would show up out of the blue. Sometimes I could see the watch of my conversation partner, sometimes there was a clock on the street, a parking meter, a bill with the time on it, and so many other sources would suddenly show up. I would even run little experiments and without fail the Tao would deliver. It was as if the universe opened up to me and said "Hey, we are here to serve, so please don't worry about anything".

The Law of Attraction works. If you are totally at peace, your environment will smile and move with you. Being a Tao traveler is a philosophy, an attitude really. In my experience you can learn walking the Tao and you will always get a gentle push from the 'beyond' in the right direction. So please don't worry about time and deadlines any more. If you slow down, time will stand still with you.

Destiny

2012-01-12T14:37:00.001-08:00

Chris and Janet Attwood wrote 'The Passion Test', which was a bestseller at the time. When I read it, I thought the authors had stumbled on a necessary condition for fulfilled work, but not a sufficient one. If you examine every six months or so whether you are still excited doing what you are doing, you perhaps forget that you shouldn't only be searching for the work that gives you always the highest satisfaction, but instead for the life project that you were born to do. If you don't know what it might be right now, relax, your destiny will find you; the question is only whether you are ready to embrace it when it comes your way.

"May God grant you your heart's deepest desires" is an old curse of the gypsies. Most of your life you are running after gold, only to find that it is copper and that the treasure you were looking for is laying by the wayside, but since you were too busy running after the sparkle, you missed it. Your passion is the lure of the false gold; it is your destiny to find your treasure after taking a few wrong turns. There is nothing wrong with following your passions, after all, what else can you do? Just understand that all the blood pumping through your veins is nothing but a precursor for a much calmer, much more peaceful and happier period. It is state of serenity that only comes when you feel that you have finally living your destiny.

The Power of Positive Thinking (Continued)

2012-01-11T14:03:00.001-08:00

A CEO of a large Fortune 500 company said that his worst mistake was that he once hired an alcoholic for a key position early in his career. When he realized that he made a mistake he immediately did what he could to have him removed from this position. What seemed like a costly mistake then, may in hindsight have been the reason why he got the CEO job. Management was impressed with the way how he handled the situation and how he fessed up and corrected it.

If you think that positive thinking means that everything will happen the way you expect it, you probably will be in for a negative surprise. But if you believe that there is no good or bad outcome, but that every occurrence will just be a stepping stone towards getting your vision implemented, then you will probably be right. Where there is Mojo there are no closed doors, there are only new open doors. Yes, your will can move mountains, but always remember that the Tao is your friend and there will be much less heavy lifting if you accept reality as is.

On Being Certain

2012-01-09T15:08:00.001-08:00

Sri Ramakrishna, the sage of Dakshineswar, used to say that there is one instant when God laughs at the naïveté of us humans and that is when a doctor promises the worried mother of a sick child that everything will be just fine. We just don't know what turn the events in our life will take. Similarly, as a spiritual path traveler, I would never have the audacity to tell anyone that we can predict anything. (The irony being that in my professional life it is my job to forecast events and markets.) The one promise I would have for you though, if you are connected to the Tao, you have the right to know why these things are happening to you. Our spiritual journey is one of giving meaning to the world we experience. Even death has a meaning, especially when you recognize the same soul in the eyes of a little child years later.

A New Spin on the Service Economy

2012-01-08T19:00:00.001-08:00

"At the beginning, mankind and the obligation of selfless service were created together. Through selfless service you will always be fruitful and find the fulfillment of your desires. This is the promise of the Creator."
Lord Krishna, Bhagavad Gita

Your work is here to help you. The people you work with are there to make you to the person you aspire to be. Do you remember Walmart's slogan "May I help you?". Just imagine how productive, happy and purposeful you will be if you internalize this life philosophy with all your being.

I live my life under this premise and haven't been disappointed one bit. Sure, you will always have a few run-ins with people when you ask yourself, so what was that all about, but remember, you still have some psychological baggage to throw over-board, so you never exactly know what the precise meaning of every exchange is. But keep on walking your path of self-less service and you will find that everybody bends backwards to accommodate you. In the new creative, connective and service oriented economy as spiritual path traveler has a lot to look forward to. Wherever you are, it is a win-win combination for everyone.

It is the End of the World as we Know it

2012-01-08T01:28:00.000-08:00

"Whenever righteousness falters and chaos threatens to prevail, I take on a human body and manifest myself on earth".
Lord Krishna, Bhagavad Gita

Our spiritual community has been talking about the coming big awakening for decades. Many of you can feel it in your bones that a spiritual transcendence is ahead for you personally. Yet, there is also the famous Maya prediction that by December 2012 our world as we know it is coming to an end. And they seemed to have envisioned a literal ending. So who is right? Well, both views are different sides of the same coin. Every ending is a beginning and every death implies a new birth. Both, at work and in our spiritual community, I have talked to so many who are experiencing extreme pain and they want it to stop. What is all this suffering for, they ask. This transformative period, 2007 -2013, releases lots of accumulated negative energy and sets the stage for a new spiritual beginning. You may hope for a new Savior to emerge and you will get her, she happens to be you! When Arjun broke down on the battlefield and Lord Krishna lifted him on his feet again, He was the symbol for our True Self, the devine spark in us that always lightens up when righteousness falters. So let's end this note with the song from R.E.M. which you probably know 'It's the end of the world as we know it ...and I feel fine!'

Enlightenment as a Fantasy

2012-01-07T00:30:00.001-08:00

She was a shy and docile woman and appeared peaceful and loving to everyone she met. Yet, she had that fascination with action, western and detective movies all her life. Through the aggressive hero in the movies she could experience what it means to be in control vicariously. When I gave her the advice to become more assertive in little things, she wasn't very interested. That's ok too. After all, that is why we have our entertainment industry, to give us in fantasy what we can't have in reality.

There is one spiritual insight that our discipline has agreed on for ages: live in the now, and let the past and future be to itself. Be here now or be nowhere as they say. Fantasy is exactly the opposite of this concept, instead the motto becomes "be everywhere in your mind but the person and time you are experiencing right now". If you aspire to be enlightened, you want all your anguish to go away, you always want to be even- keeled and you hope that everything is coming your way. It is a nice stage to be in, to be sure, and it may even exist, but for you, here and now, it is unfortunately a fantasy and thus not helpful.

The only way out of the fantasy world is to face life and to try getting what you want! Try to find the way that gets you there. You will be bumping against constraints, you will have to make choices and the journey defines who you aspire to be. As a spiritual path traveler you are probably doing exactly that. You are finding your Tao that allows you to throw your psychological baggage over board. So just keep on doing what you have been doing. Just understand that whenever you are eying this elusive goal of being enlightened you are not 'here now' and thus you are unfortunately nowhere.

Should We Always be Zen?

2012-01-05T21:50:00.001-08:00

There is that notion in our spiritual community that a successful spiritual path traveler should always be even-keeled. Well, perhaps some Tao masters reach this stage, but I would question that we spiritual aspirants should swallow up our emotions. Just accept what you experience and don't wish your emotions away you have no idea what role they play in your spiritual journey and your interactions with others.

I am an economist by training and am reminded of the famous Austrian economist Schumpeter who developed the idea that you need a business cycle to make the economic expansion a lasting one. In the same vein, I would say that you need to experience the emotional lows to open up sufficiently which then allows you to trow your psychological baggage over board.

The one Zen element I believe in is the idea that everything is perfect as is, that is, from your spiritual development's point of view. No matter what happens, it is a perfect stepping stone for your spiritual evolution. And once you make this fact of life a conscious insight rather than a subconscious learning process, life does get easier fast. Suddenly the eternal ups and downs present opportunities for transcendence that allow you to ride these ways like an experienced surfer.

Cut out the Turkeys

2012-01-05T13:28:00.001-08:00

I once listened to the advice of two successful businessmen, one was the owner of a sports team and the other the CEO of a Fortune 500 company and they both agreed on one thing: cut the 'turkeys' out of your life. I instinctively understood what they were saying: you can only be the best you can be if you have 100 percent faith in the team you are playing with. Doubt is like cancer, cut it out and be done with it once and for all.

I am a spiritual path traveler and not a CEO so I see things a little differently. The way I would rephrase their insight is as follows: cut out the interaction with people who you judge. Give your relationship time to heal. When your psychological wounds have healed a little, your spiritual brother and sister will step up and offer their hands one more time.

For a Tao Master there are no turkeys. Once you have matured enough you will only meet with people who have a meaningful spiritual relationship with you. The 'villains' will not bother you because you have nothing that interests them. They will simply ignore you.
Like Psalm 23 summarizes the Tao so well "The Lord prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies".

You are secure along the Tao, so the only thing you have to throw overboard is your psychological baggage and the 'turkeys' will disappear from your life for the very reason that there are none. You may ask how, that's easy, just live your life and face the music the Tao will give you plenty of opportunities to let go.

The Power of Positive Thinking

2012-01-04T16:21:00.001-08:00

I have always been a fan of the power of positive thinking, and just intuitively felt that its message is right. To me the positive thinking and the Law of Attraction philosophy overlap with Taoism to some extent.

I always felt that all the criticism and sometimes even ridicule of 'The Secret' is unfair. The Law of Attraction is a philosophy, not a theorem. All the Law of Attraction folks are really saying is that if you are completely in tune with your environment, absolutely at peace and manage to program your subconscious into believing that you already have what you aspire to have, you do. You have to live this philosophy to see whether it works or not. You have to admit that the message of the New Testament is quite similar in some ways, the only footnote being that Jesus added that 'miracles' are here to heal and make you whole. Using them to advance your material goals defeats the purpose: "But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all of this shall be added unto you".

The power of positive thinking I live by is that everything is just perfect as is; let the flow of life happen as it should. There is very little for you to do, just compliment, mentor and love the people who surround you and and everything will be delivered to you on a silver platter. Perhaps I would add the one Christian qualifier: you are on a journey home and everything that happens to you allows healing and brings you one step closer to your Source. I guess you can call me an optimist.

People as Mirrors

2012-01-04T01:09:00.000-08:00

Erich Fromm in his book 'Having versus Being' illustrates that in the extreme, ego desires such as greed, ambition and lust can and should be classified as insanity. You probably also know a few people who have an ugly agenda. It is out in the open and they go after their desires with ruthless drive at the cost of everybody else. And the outcome is insane for all parties involved. The problem is that for these 'villains', their cause of action probably feels right in the same way as all your cause of action seem perfectly fine to you.

The villain is at an extreme very much as the saint is, with most of us somewhere in the middle. We follow our agenda, on occasions ruthlessly, sometimes subconsciously, but most of the times we make the right choices despite ourselves. Well, chances are you are reading this blog because you are a spiritual path traveler like me. Yes, I think you can become saintly. As a matter of fact, it is one choice at the time that gets you there. The egotistic villain also got to his spot with one choice at a time, that is choosing his agenda over love most of the times. The good news is, that no matter what your starting point happens to be, everyone can take the journey home by choosing love over and over again instead of your personal agenda. The problem is just that often this choice is not apparent to us. But that's exactly what your spiritual path is for. The Tao will gently take your velvet glove off and show you that there is an iron fist hidden beneath. Once you reach that stage of spiritual maturity, your homecoming is guaranteed since from now on you cannot help choosing love instead.

People and environments are mirrors because they reflect back to you the tensions you have within. I remember the times when I was battling my personal demons and I used to feel spiritually connected, yet I observed that I was more short-tempted with my kids than otherwise. It turns out that you can't trust your feelings at times, yet you can trust the reaction of the environment you are in. The reason why the villains act increasingly insanely is because they are sending not so subtle messages to themselves that there must be another way.

A spiritual path is one choice at a time, and as a matter of fact, the Tao asks you to repeat it over and over again: choose love or choose your own agenda, it is as simple at that. Yes, no matter how long you have traveled down the road into nowhere, today is a perfect day to turn the car around. Look at your brother and your sister and their reactions will be a perfect rear-view mirror of what your direction has been up to here. When you turn your car around and when you choose love instead, you will feel that your environment will change with you. You will experience this amazing peace inside and you will be gelling perfectly with your environment. Seems like an easy choice to me.

Spiritual Signs

2012-01-02T15:53:00.001-08:00

Most spiritual path travelers possess some metaphysical perks would be my conjecture. It is like a little opening in this play of maya that shows that behind all the apparently hard facts there is something quite different, something magic in the background. One of my idiosyncratic modes of communication with the 'beyond' happens to be license plates: believe it or not, they contain little messages from the Source, mostly spiritual in nature, but from time to time even some 'real' predictions concerning people and events as well. How can that be, I often ask myself? Have the cars and license plate numbers been manufactured for me years ago with this magic moment today in mind?Is the Source Itself directing traffic to get these messages to me. Is there an authority inside me that knows when these signs will be available and directs me subconsciously to get me to these places at the right time? The one answer that may come to your mind I personally rule out, I don't think I read meaning into randomness.

I remember C.G Jung once saying on the famous synchronicity subject that for him these metaphysical occurrences stopped when he didn't look for them anymore. This doesn't surprise me at all. As I said, this metaphysical opening is your little nudge into the 'beyond', if you prefer to see only 'scientific' connections, your Tao is happy to have it your way. Anyhow, I cannot convince you either way, you will have to find out for yourself. Once the Tao has got a hold of you, you can run these tests yourself. I am sure that you will also find out that this rational universe of ours falls apart like a sand castle once you poke it with your metaphysical wand. If you already have some psychic abilities, would you mind sharing them with us?

Belonging

2012-01-01T15:56:00.000-08:00

Lynne McTaggart presented an interesting medical fact in her book 'The Bond', showing the occurrence of heart attacks among Japanese men who emigrated to the US was multiple times that of the Japanese population. You can control in these studies for work conditions, nutrition, smoking, etc.; it just seems to be the very feeling of belonging that makes the difference to your health.

Belonging to what seems to be another question. Obviously, the Japanese men in the study felt more at home in Japan than in America. Still, I have heard of mystics who live in remote forests or mountain areas and who do not do anything but meditating and sending their holy vibrations into space. They know that they belong to us, yet, they keep their distance and feel content in their own way. My hunch is that it is the feeling of cosmic connectedness versus the paranoia of the ego to be left our in the cold that really makes the difference to your health. In the same book, Lynne McTaggart cited a study that showed that the suicide rate in the US critically dependent on the income level of your neighbors: the higher the spread to your income, the higher the likelihood that you would commit suicide. Sad, isn't it? This is exactly the feeling of being left out in the cold if you feel that your neighbors outshine you. We always belong, but once the ego takes over, this connectedness is almost impossible to perceive.

The Spiritual Coach

2011-12-31T19:08:00.001-08:00

I don't like the expression guru very much, it is over-used and it implies hierarchy, which does not exists within the Sonship. Choegyam Trungpa suggested the expression 'spiritual friend' instead in his book 'Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism', which is much better; it implies an equal playing field among us spiritual path travelers. You are lifting up your sister and you learn that in fact she lifts you up in the process. Yet there is the time when you have finally arrived at our Source while someone else might just have been initiated on his path. In this case I would still prefer the phrase 'spiritual coach' over the guru expression. The coach's job is to impart that special knowledge onto you to launch you on your path, but he also experiences the beauty and the power of your journey vicariously. The coach may have travelled his journey despite himself and only managed with pure will-power to run down an imaginary wall. Then comes along a new traveler who finds a way to turn with your help the scary monsters of your past into friendly spiritual guides. How much joy that would that be; perhaps you even manage to write a book on it, helping millions in the process. There is no hierarchy in a player coach relationship, both are equals who need each other to get the job done. So enjoy coaching, the next student will be ready when you are.

Spiritual Being

2011-12-30T15:29:00.001-08:00

Lord Krishna was on the battle field with Arjun who had to fight for his kingdom against his own friends and family and broke down under the weight of this bloody assignment. As he asked Lord Krishna for advice he discovered not only his True Self, but also witnessed how Lord Krishna keeps the entire universe spinning with His Devine Presence. On the battle field, Lord Krishna was a charioteer, a 'lowly' position in the army hierarchy at that time. In the same vein, wherever you perceive power these days, take a good look around, chances are there is someone special in the near neighborhood whose very presence keeps the whole place going.

I wonder if the spiritual contribution of us path travelers is simply 'being', that is, simply being around and contributing good vibrations to our environment. You can study your energy vibrations over time just by seeing how the environment responds to you. You learn over the years when you are 'on' and when you happen to undermine your own energy flow. Over and over again you can see which activities pull you down and your surroundings with it. You have signed up for a tough act to follow my friend, because you need to be 'on' all the time. Only then are all the wheels spinning around you just as should be. But then, being a spiritual path traveler does come with a few metaphysical perks attached and then there is that infinite peace that flows through you, this knowledge that whatever hits you, you have the license to cope with the situation at hand. So while there is responsibility that comes with the 'job' of a spiritual path traveler, I would sign up for this gig any time; hope you do as well!

The Magnificient Experiment

2011-12-29T15:32:00.000-08:00

True compassion is ruthless from ego's point of view, because it does not consider ego's drive to maintain itself. It is "crazy wisdom". It is totally wise, but it is crazy as well, because it does not relate to ego's literal and simple-minded attempts to secure its own comfort.
(Choegyam Trungpa, in 'Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism')

Why would anyone sign up to travel the Tao? You are going against everything you seemed to have learned and everything the fellow next door thinks is sane: being compassionate, while ignoring your own agenda. You can run an experiment and just see what happens; not because you expect to get something, but rather because it just 'feels right'.

You are a Tao traveler perhaps because you are incredibly bold; you march into the opposite direction that everyone else is taking just to see what happens. Perhaps you have the incredible faith that there is 'the staff of the Lord that will comfort you in the presence of your enemies'. Or, you may have discovered the Tao the way I have, you kind of just stumbled on it, and now that you are here you have no choice but to continue. The Tao is a magnificent experiment. If you look for security, you unfortunately have to look somewhere else.There is nothing secure about our experiment. But then, once you took that first step into the abyss and an invisible bridge opens up magically, the path you will travel afterwards is full of peace. Unfortunately you will have to find out for yourself whether our claim is correct. No one else can take this scary first step for you.

Success

2011-12-28T18:48:00.001-08:00

If we think we have achieved something, that we 'have made it', then we have been seduced by Mara's daughters, the seduction of spiritual materialism.
(Choegyam Trungpa)

I had a chat with my sister's mother in law and she was reminiscing how life was perfect when her two boys were the age of our boys. Well, I thought to myself, here I am looking forward to them going to college and I am told that I am supposedly having the time of my life. But this conversation was a nice reminder that there never really is a time when you 'have made it'. It is another mental trap. So you may as well drop the enlightenment fantasy as well. You have a job to do on your spiritual path - always. And every journey starts the next day as it ended the one before, with one step at a time.

People

2011-12-27T18:44:00.001-08:00

Compassion automatically invites you to relate with other people, because you no longer regard people as a drain on your energy. They recharge your energy, because in the process of relating with them you acknowledge your wealth, your richness.
(Choegyam Trungpa)

I was born an introvert, but I am unlikely to die one. I remember years ago when I realized that my introversion was hindering my professional development given that it is really my job assignment to connect with others. I tried affirmations convincing myself that I am a connector, but they didn't really help. In the end, the turn-around came when I realized that everyone I meet really has a message for me sent by the Tao.It was then that people became energy generators rather than a drain. I am still not exactly an extrovert, but today I am in love with people. I discovered that every brother and sister sent my way is a present. You are not too shy opening presents, are you?

Security

2011-12-27T04:45:00.000-08:00

The problem lies in the fact that we are always trying to secure ourselves, reassure ourselves that we are alright. We are constantly looking for something solid to hang on to.
(Choegyam Trungpa)

My profession in the financial industry has taught me that there is nothing to hang on to. You have to accept that you are naked, facing the probability that after you put in your trade you will look like an idiot. You even stop assessing what that probability is because you simply don't know.The ego is deadly afraid of insecurity and frantically searches for ways to hedge, secure and form alliances. Yet, once you accept your vulnerability and boldly put your best foot forward, let reality take care of you. If you search for God in order to find security you are unfortunately not likely to find anything. Saying no to your ego implies that you will have to face your fears. Only afterwards will a magical landscape open up to you.

The Cross

2011-12-25T16:06:00.001-08:00

I went to church on Christmas eve and have to admit that I was offended by the huge cross hanging above the altar; the sad image of Jesus Christ being crucified. Why does this image have to be the chosen symbol of Christianity? Why don't we chose the image of the early Christians, the fish, instead? I understand why the church has a vested interest in choosing the cross, since it captures the idea that the Son of God has taken our sins away by being crucified. The Son of God who reigns in Heaven, much in contrast to us mortal sinners. Well, this message seems in contrast to everything Jesus stood for. There is no hierarchy amongst us children of God. Jesus might be thought of as an older brother, but he is still very much our equal before God. The flip side of this perspective, however, is that you have to accept your Sonship. I hope you are ready for this big step.

The cross is an ego symbol and a very dark one at that. It stands for the mortality of our body. Just think of the subconscious fear it holds in store for you if even the Son of God can be killed. Read 'A Course in Miracles', the alleged channeled message of the risen Christ. This Jesus was embarrassed by the message of the crucification. No, humanity is ready for a new chapter, the promise of love and abundance. The fish symbolizes abundance. Wherever Jesus cast his net, schools of fish were lining up to be caught by him. You will find out for yourself, wherever you go, the Tao bends backwards to shower you with affection along the Way. Now is the time that you start walking in his foot steps, or even better, that you start walking your own unique Way.

God Versus Ego: It is Your Choice Really

2011-12-21T22:55:00.001-08:00

Do you know what a multiple equilibrium is? Imagine you have a mathematical problem and there are several solutions to your problem. Once you have picked a solution, it makes little sense questioning the other one. Every solution is the right one, but you certainly have the choice to jump to the outcome of your liking.

The God discussion is a waste of time in my opinion. It seems to me that we live in a world that allows free choice: you can choose to perceive yourself different from everyone and you can choose to perceive that we live in a world that is one. The latter view takes a little practice, but if you are interested in experiencing it, the Tao will get you there. It does require a little reprogramming of your natural way of perceiving things and your thought process. But don't worry, an army of helpers stands ready to guide you and the results will speak for themselves.

The Joys of a Tao Traveler

2011-12-21T14:27:00.001-08:00

I remember my surprise when I was working in my office a couple of years ago. I looked at a clock in my office on a sunny weekend day and I couldn't believe my eyes. The anniversary gift from my company had apparently run out of battery and the arms of the clock stopped at 10:37 and 7 seconds. When I looked at this time formation I saw a clear Y, my symbol of Yahweh. To this day this clock stands in my office and nobody ever questioned why I keep a clock that clearly stopped working. The joys of a Tao traveler are strange indeed for our ordinary folks to understand, but I hope that you at least will understand. Could it be that we are delusional? Not really, as long as we receive these messages from the 'beyond' with an every increasing intensity. When a Tao master experiences every occurrence as the infinite now, her results will speak for herself.

On Willpower

2011-12-20T16:57:00.000-08:00

And if you find resistance strong and dedication weak, you are not ready. Do not fight yourself.
(A Course in Miracles)

Roy Baumeister and John Tierney quote a study in their book 'Willpower' that shows that willpower works like a muscle - if you use it, you will get tired at one point. Everyone has a temptation, and if you think you can travel your spiritual path with willpower alone, you are either a stoic or a super-hero. A spiritual path is a lifelong commitment, if you want to bang your head into a wall over that time you are in for a big headache.

It doesn't have to be that way. Explore your dark side, every misstep will bring you precious insights about yourself and why exactly you have these desires in the first place. Every of these insights will give you the opportunity to reposition yourself and try again. There are no mistakes really, only learning opportunities. This way your temptation should fade into oblivion over time.So rest your willpower muscle, a spiritual journey should be a happy stroll instead.

The Optimistic Tao Traveler

2011-12-19T14:17:00.001-08:00

Are Tao travelers optimists? Well, it depends on what your notion of an optimist is. If you believe that everything will be coming your way exactly as you want it just because you are connected to the Tao, you will probably be in for a negative surprise. No, Tao travelers are optimists in the sense that they have learned that everything that is coming their way is spiritually meaningful, and not random at all. We know that these events make us to the persons we aspire to be and we know that in every challenge there is a blessing in disguise that will materialize sooner or later.

Mira Kirshenbaum presents in her book 'Everything Happens for a Reason' the adverse events that many of many of her clients had to face, as well as showing their way of coping and of finding meaning in their fate. We humans have a big capacity to shoulder adversity as long as we understand why it is that we have to suffer. For a Tao traveler this spiritual meaning will always be there. You feel that all aspects of your daily occurrences are deeply interwoven and that no matter what, your trusted connection will always be present. You will also learn that each and every situation is a perfect healing opportunity and the chance to transcend to a yet higher spiritual level. Along the Way, you cannot help but to be perfectly at peace and in harmony with everything that is going on in your life, though you will certainly be sad on occasions. The Tao offers you peace, knowing that He who sent you has given you the means to cope with any situation. Happy travels!

Status

2011-12-18T04:06:00.000-08:00

Jonathan Haidt provides a thoughtful summary of recent psychological findings verifying humanity's ancient insights about human happiness in his book 'The Happiness Hypothesis'. On the importance of status, he quotes the following survey results: When asked 'would you prefer if you made 90 000 and your colleagues 70 000, or if you made 100 000, but your colleagues earn 150 000 instead', the majority of people prefer having less money, but more status instead. Yet, when the same people are asked about vacation, such as 'you have two weeks of vacation, whereas your colleagues only one, versus you have 4 weeks versus your colleagues have 6 weeks', the majority chooses the cooperative option instead.

Status is a zero sum game, the more the others have, the more your own situation gets diminished. You gain with the very intention to leave your neighbor out in the dust. We have gathered these insights for thousands of years, nothing really has change since. The task of spirituality at hand is to live the cooperative solution, to feel it in your bones that the dog-eat-dog world is nothing but a waste of time. No insight or book can help you with that, you have to feel it as well. Only your unique spiritual path can get you to this advanced stage. However, even we spiritual path travelers have our ego traps. What if your spiritual quest is nothing but another attempt to gain status, wrapped in spiritual cloth. The ego is ingenious, so please watch out for a quest for status in disguise.

The Service Sector Economy

2011-12-17T12:49:00.001-08:00

Whenever you deny a blessing to a brother, you will feel deprived.
(A Course in Miracles)

Have a look at employment shares over the last 100 years. We have made the transition from agriculture to manufacturing to providing services instead. The job of the future is in the knowledge area. It is all about creation, connecting with your brothers and sisters and communicating your ideas. Don't you think that we spiritual path travelers have an edge in this economy? The Tao is all about connectivity; in a purpose-driven life the conscious and subconscious forces line up and the universe bends backwards to propel you along your creative path. There is only one little secret to your success, if you take the service aspect of your job literally, that is, if in whatever you do, you only have the true satisfaction of your customer, suppliers and colleagues in mind, rewards will be coming your way. This is the law of oneness, what you give from the bottom of your heart, you will get back with interests. Keep this in mind next morning when you go to work. We are truly here to serve.

The Adventures of the Idiot

2011-12-17T02:32:00.001-08:00

Have you read Dostoyesvsky's idiot, the story of an olden day Forrest Gump? The difference though, in pre-communism Russia our naive hero is getting executed by life and the greedy environment he operates in, much in contrast to Forrest Gump's Hollywood ending. So which story is the right one? There is only one way to find out, you have to try for yourself. Spirituality encourages you to be open, single-minded and childlike, "Be ye as little children", as Jesus says. If the God hypothesis is right, the skies should open up and protect you. But what if your world crumbles instead? Well, you will just have to find out for yourself. The world is never just black and white, give the God hypothesis a shot and run your small experiments. In my experience, once you are a spiritual traveler you should discover the protection of the Tao. Of course, there will be a few missteps along the Way as well. Observe, adjust and start afresh each morning, in the end you will know if the Hollywood ending applies for you "By their fruits ye shall know them". May your journey be safe and happy.

The Last Temptation

2011-12-15T16:00:00.001-08:00

You can defend your specialness, but never will you hear the Voice of God beside it.
(A Course in Miracles)

We already know that we are God's chosen Son or Daughter, yet, contact with Him is still only sporadic. How come? God only knows what kind of psychological baggage we still have to throw overboard. But once we do, there is still one fork in the road that we have to take. What is our last temptation? Aren't we all deep-down inside looking for something that makes us special?Where is the corner-stone in our self-imposed mental structure? Do you already have a hunch? I hope for you it is in the good-old realm of sex, power and wealth, because recognizing these traps is easy in comparison. It is the status trap that I would be more worried about. Especially in our spiritual community, how easy is it to go on a mission to catch souls when in fact all we do is to polish our specialness by implicitly looking down on others. Beware this trap my friend!

The Moses Challenge

2011-12-14T21:55:00.000-08:00

What a daunting task: you have led your people in freedom. 600 000 souls trust you, have accepted you as a savior and there you are, trapped by the water and the incoming Egyptian army. When Moses raised his magic staff, nothing happened. It seemed as if his magic powers had left him for the first time. Moses put his staff down, took the hand of his sister and they both jumped into the water. Behold, the water parted.

If Moses was able to perform a miracle, why wouldn't you. How much easier is your task, because you can create instead rather than destroy as he had to. I wouldn't have had the faith that God is on the side of the Jews and that He stands ready to destroy the Egyptian army. I have however the faith that I have the creative powers to heal, to become whole, to be mastering any situation the Tao brings my way. I have the faith to be lifted up by my brothers and sisters as I lift them up. Stepping out of slavery is a bloody business, I am happy that this journey has already been completed for so many of us. Now comes the much easier task, the task of accepting our Sonship. The task is to show that we already have, that we are all one. To show this is not really a miracle, it is just showing reality as is, rather than remembering the twisted perceptions we once had. Accept the Moses challenge, you can do it.

Freedom

2011-12-14T14:21:00.001-08:00

Prisoners bound with heavy chains for years, starved and emaciated, weak and exhausted and with eyes so long cast down in darkness they remember not the light, do not leap up in joy the instant they are made free. It takes them a while to understand what freedom is.
(A Course in Miracles)

You are already free my friend, yet you know it not. The first step into freedom is understanding that the monsters you perceive are not real. It is like going into a virtual reality horror show: the monsters, ghosts and zombies are scary enough, yet, when you step up to the monster and say, " Hey you, I challenge you, why don't you try to touch me", you will find that it cannot deliver. At this moment you are free and the monsters you perceive now will never bother you again.

Sexual Energy

2011-12-11T03:10:00.000-08:00

That which at first is like poison, but at last like nectar - It is the happiness, arising from the serenity of one's own mind.
(Bhagavad Gita)

I remember having as a child a lot of sinus issues. I think I was stuffed up most of my childhood. Whether it was the polluted Berlin air, or just a symbolic expression that the real me hadn't shown up yet, I don't know. But I vividly remember the feeling of one day waking up a few years ago and I could finally breath freely from that day on. They say that breathing has a deep spiritual function besides providing the oxygen. They also say that the word Atman, or God in Hindi, has the same root as the German word 'atmen', to breath.

I also observed something else around that time of breaking free, I felt a presence of sexual energy that I had never experienced before. It is as if the whole system just cleared up one day, allowing the free-flow of chi and a lot more sexual energy was pumping through the system. The chacras start in the lower body and the chi energy works itself up until it finally reaches the forehead. This process takes a while and in the interim you feel that sexual abstinence feels like poison. I am not saying sexual abstinence is necessary along a spiritual path but it nevertheless has been my choice since I just couldn't handle the drop of energy after each ejaculation any more.It might be like poison to do nothing about your activated sexual energy, but before you know it your higher chacras will kick in and the free-flowing chi will bring serenity, peace and bliss with it. You will drink the divine nectar before you know it, enjoy!

A Scientific Inquiry into God

2011-12-10T22:14:00.000-08:00

The philosopher Karl Popper came up with the black swan example. You can test the hypothesis that 'all swans are white'. Just keep on looking until you find one which isn't. In fact, as it turns out there are black ones, so so much about the hypothesis.

A God debate is meaningless since the construct of the universe that you perceive mentally has been established as a multiple equilibrium outcome. Believe in the randomness of the universe and your separation from everyone and you will be proven right, believe in Oneness and the idea that the universe is a learning device established just for you to bring you home and you will be right too. The point is that everything that you perceive goes through your mind. You are the creator of the world around you and you have the choice to just decide which world exists in 'reality'.

If you discuss with someone whether -1 or 1 is the solution to the problem 1 = X times X, you will both discover that both solutions quality. The person who zooms in on -1 cannot criticize the one who picks 1 instead. The God hypothesis has to be lived and only you will know whether eventually a black swan shows up which will then induce you to go with the atheism hypothesis instead.

Many spiritual searchers ask how exactly does one get the faith to start looking for God? You know how a scientist tests a hypothesis, she starts with the assumption that the hypothesis is correct, looks at everything through these lenses and then dismisses the hypothesis when the evidence doesn't line up. So how exactly can one make the existence of God and the prevalence of Oneness a working hypothesis and truly believe in it until proven otherwise? A couple of ways. The religious way would be to study the examples of the historic Sons and Daughters who have walked this earth. If you are convinced that their experience has been real, you will trust that you can achieve the same. And then there is the way of the Tao, which has been my journey. The metaphysical world stretches out a hand towards you and the more you reposition yourself to the Source, the deeper and stronger this divine connection becomes.

I have seen the Tao, but my word counts as much as the one of the atheist who claims that God is nothing but a mental delusion. This is your scientific inquiry. Give the God hypothesis a shot, and my claim is that the metaphysical evidence will soon present itself with overwhelming clarity.

Healing

2011-12-10T05:00:00.000-08:00

When a child is helped to translate his "ghost" into a curtain, his "monster" into a shadow, and his "dragon" into a dream, he is no longer afraid and laughs happily at his own fear. You my children are afraid of your brothers and your Father and of yourselves. But you are merely deceived in them.
(A Course in Miracles)

You and I have experienced ugliness around us, there is no doubt about that. Yet, there comes a stage in a spiritual aspirant's life when she stamps her foot into the ground and declares "enough, there must be another way". At that point you are half-way home. So will you reach the stage described by the Course in Miracles when you talk to your fuming brother and your very presence and your healing words remind him of his innocence? You will, but in time. Healing your environment is really all about healing yourself. As you start your healing process, the world is healing with you. Shady characters disappear and kinder souls arrive into your life. Keep on chipping away, you will reach the point where you only see shadows where others see monsters. The moment you arrive on the scene, your light shines the monsters away.

Flipping the Coin

2011-12-09T16:32:00.001-08:00

It is my job to come up with investment ideas. My little secret is that I tend to get little nudges from the Source along the way. The intuition that everyone has internally, I happen to see in external signs. It is a lot of fun and once you start perceiving your brothers and sisters as a sign, you start appreciating them so much more. Every visit, every gesture, every smile is a present from the Source to you. They do a lot of what they do in response to you, sometimes subconsciously. What is sometimes meaningless to them, you understand as if it was written in an open book. The Tao speaks through people and occurrences. We are all one, it is a joy to see this divine play in action.

To come back to the title of my note, it is also a fact that whenever I have to make a big investment call, it always is a coin's flip. I have authorities and trusted signs that say 'up' and an equal impressive list of evidence for 'down'. It is as if the Source says to me at that time, "Trust me, you know, and if you don't know, let me surprise you and show you that you can be happy even if your little world goes under". Be fearless my friend, do you really think a coin flipped by your capable hands has a random outcome?

Aimless Wandering

2011-12-09T02:56:00.001-08:00

You do not know the meaning of anything you perceive.
(A Course in Miracles)

I work as a strategist in the financial industry and I had to discover that you never know anything about your fortune at any point in time. You might be riding a wave of success only to find that next day you look older than a dinosaur with your investment approach. Similarly, you might be considered the outcast for your delusional calls only to find that next day you are it and the world missed what you knew along.

On a moment by moment basis you are wandering aimlessly - at least I do. Yet, when I look back on a year, a decade or on my life, the direction I am headed seems so clear. As Arnold Keyserling once put it, if you are drifting and you do not know where exactly you are going you have a pretty good shot of walking the Tao.

I know that I do not know the meaning of anything that happens to me. But I also know that I recognize love and sincere intentions in others. I have only one yard stick to measure my success and that is my ability to generate joy and laughter in others. If you interact with others and you see life itself glowing in their face you have a pretty good chance of doing something right. Enjoy your journey, it is much less aimless than you think.

A first glimpse at Freedom

2011-12-08T02:36:00.001-08:00

I saw a strange painting at work. It showed the ocean and a classic New England town. On it a farmer was transporting some gallons of water from his truck into his house. He must have held 3 gallons of water in his hand when he turned his head around and caught a glimpse of the ocean. It was like God saying to him, " My Son, I offer this vast ocean to you, and you are bothering with a few gallons of water".

Break free, think very big. The guy in the picture was walking away from the ocean but had his eye on it. Once you have the first glimpse, all you really have to do is to turn around into the direction you are looking and you are finally home.

Karma Yoga

2011-12-07T14:32:00.000-08:00

"His Voice still calls you to return, and He will be heard when you put no other gods before Him."
(A Course in Miracles)

What is your idol? Is it power, wealth, status or sex? There must be something because if the Course in Miracles is right and there is nothing left that lures you, you would already be home in which case you would be unlikely to browse my blog. In my experience there are two stages in the homecoming process. First, you must recognize what exactly the force is that drives you away from your center. But once you have understood it, you can't wish it away, you can't meditate and you can't pray it away. You certainly can't hate yourself over it, I mean you can, but I hope you see that this isn't going to help you along your spiritual path either.

I chose the title karma yoga because in my experience that's the second step that gets you finally home. Create something, use the tension inside you to propel you along a healing path. Find the work and the hobby that gives you the spiritual meaning. For many of us our family is a path of healing. Just explore and you will find your creative outlet. You have the right to work, Lord Krishna says in the Gita. This world was made for you to find yourself, so your creative outlet is something that always will show up in your life once you look for it. Yes there will be sweat and tears along the way but only until the blessed day when you discover that you have a choice in this too. How do you know if you are on the right track? Well, it is joy and laughter. Once people around you smile and are joyful you know that you are on the right track. Of course that has to include you. So enjoy!

It will be easy for you to find out whether you are on the right track. Your joy and the joy of others will show you the direction.

Spiritual Surfing

2011-12-04T16:49:00.001-08:00

The spiritual community is after oneness, after love and peace. Yet, if you don't experience it, do you really think it makes sense to pretend you already have it? Wouldn't you be frustrated and disillusioned after some time? Instead, experience the full effect of all the dualities inside of you. If a snake rids herself of an old skin, don't you think she rocks a little to and fro to get the job done? Think of yourself as a surfer on the ocean of the duality. It is the magnitude of the wave that gives you the speed and ability to get somewhere. You simply don't get anywhere if you surf in calm waters. It takes a little skill and practice not to get consumed by the dualities of life, but before you know it you will be a master surfer, never really getting disentangled by the ups and downs of life.

An idle mind is the devil's workshop

2011-12-04T00:02:00.001-08:00

You probably know what your demon is about. Your personal shadow always hides in the ego activities that mean the most to you, such as status, professional success, lust or money. I have observed that boredom always activates the demon in you, hence the expression 'an idle mind is the devil's work-shop'. The shadow pops up when there is restlessness in you. You feel that you are not at peace and you search for external means to get it. When the demon gets a hold of you, the journey is downhill. The harder you search, the more desperate your longings and activities become.

The demon has a message for you. You cannot fight it with will-power alone, in the same way as you cannot jump over your own shadow. What you can do though, observe and accept this restlessness in you. Understand that the demon has a message for you. All these external searches are nothing but a reflection of your need to be grounded in your own center. Find the activities that are your symbol of healing. It could be time spent with family or friends. A meaningful hobby such as coaching kids or finding meaning in your profession. Just understand that work and fun per se are not the answer, it is the process of healing that keeps the demon in the closet. More than that, with every step you take towards the center of wholeness, the power of the demon shrinks proportionally.

The Age of Miracles

2011-12-03T04:05:00.001-08:00

Marianne Williamson makes the case for the middle-aged as the true fountain of spirituality in her book 'The Age of Miracles'. Since I am now middle-aged myself, I kind of understand where she is coming from. As far as my passion for the Tao or God is concerned, nothing has changed. I still remember the many hours I spent, cuddled in a blanket, swallowing one Krishnamurti book after the other in order to finally get it. I was a student then. The only thing that has changed since is that now I spend as much time writing as reading. No, what has changed is that I now feel in my bones that there is no alternative: 'Thy will be done, not mine!' this insight is something only life can truly ingrain into you. The only advantage we have over the young folks is that we have been living this insight a couple of decades longer.

The Course of Miracles states:
Pain thresholds can be high, but they are nor limitless. Eventually everyone begins to realize, however dimly, that there must be a better way.

I hope only a middle-aged has lived this insight. The good news, once you have hit this low point in your life your journey is almost completed. With total commitment to the path of love, and total faith in the perfection of the Tao, the need for pain is simply not there anymore. Enjoy the Age of Miracles!

Celebrating the Journey

2011-12-02T02:41:00.001-08:00

They say that spirituality and life should be thought of as a stream, or a river, always on the move, and even if in the end the water reaches the ocean, the mission of moving remains the same. Stagnant water is the same as plateauing in life, it is the beginning of the end.

Take my blogging activity. When I started out writing a couple of notes a months it was for fun, I had no idea what I wanted to achieve really. Then my sister-in- law installed Feedjit;I was for the first time able to monitor the traffic on my blog. I remember the dark days when my 3 year old son ran to his older brother screaming "No one came to Papa's hobby today". My heart froze during those moments. Yet, when the readers started arriving, I realized that having an abstract number of visitors, say, 5 visitors a day, didn't really make me happy either. Rather, it was the joy of reading where they lived and what particular article they chose. I often find that the blog a reader chooses is connected to my daily occurrences and thoughts. This realization gives meaning to me and instills the desire for my next creative contribution. My conjecture is that you can be a best-selling author and feel absolutely numb about this fact if you feel that your creative powers are plateauing.

Miley Cyrus expressed this theme so well in 'The Climb', it is the journey that makes us feel alive. The sense of connectedness and the experience of love along the way. So once you catch yourself wishing for a destination, just remember that at that moment you will already keep your eyes out for the next mountain in sight. Enjoy the journey!

I Am

2011-12-02T01:20:00.000-08:00

I am not what happened to me, I Am what I choose to become.
(Carl Gustav Jung; my capitalization)

I saw this quote this morning and I was truly touched. If you had to sum up psychology and spirituality in one sentence, this would be it. Life happens, the good stuff as well as the more challenging one, to make you this special person who this moment has the choice of waking up, of creating who you were meant to be. Yes, it is a choice. If you want to use your new found powers to manifest money, special relationships and whatever else your heart desires go ahead. In the end though, even this does not aim high enough. The process of I Am eliminates your historic persona completely and makes You Who Really Are. Choose wisely!

A Clear Conscience

2011-11-30T16:51:00.001-08:00

The Tao traveler knows that the Source provides ongoing nudges that provide you with the feeling of connectedness and love. But now and then you will get little hints reminding you of your mistakes. The question is though, who is the authority that attracts these messages? Is it perhaps the ego itself, that is the institution who got you into the distraction in the first place that afterwards beats you up over it? Actually, I don't know, my hunch is that the True Self only looks at the upside of everything you do and overlooks automatically all the mistakes. But you know what, it doesn't really matter. Every misstep is an interference along the Way, so just quit doing it. With a clear conscience, the question who does the finger pointing will never come up.

Breakdown or Breakthrough?

2011-11-30T02:56:00.001-08:00

Every break-trough is a break-down of old structures. Crumbling walls, a blanket of dust is part of the process. A spiritual path is a dismantling process of what you think you are and given that you more likely than not resist this process, you have to let others do the job for you. Sure, you will have to reposition yourself as the damage unfolds since the message of the break-down just happens to be that the old ways lead into nowhere. The clues will be coming, so don't worry if you feel lost and confused. Up, up and away my friend. It is all good!

Circle, the Symbol of Perfection

2011-11-29T03:47:00.001-08:00

The "evolution" of man is merely a process by which he proceeds from one degree to the next. He corrects his previous missteps by stepping forward. This represents a process which is actually incomprehensible in temporal terms because he returns as he moves forward.

(A Course in Miracles)

The Future has already happened

2011-11-28T14:19:00.001-08:00

The Course in Miracles claims that time can be thought of a carpet. You just start with the end of times and roll it up like a carpet until you get to today or the morrow. In a sense you can relax now, because the future has already happened. I have to admit this concept is a little too deep for me, but I did observe something in my life that is very confirming of this notion. I observed that independent of what I may have done yesterday, whether I messed up completely or did something right, the environment I am now facing is always perfect given the circumstances of the yesterday. So it is almost as if the now (yesterday's morrow in other words) was just made perfectly for the decision I made yesterday. Weird, eh?

Mind Sex: 21 Days to Serenity

2011-11-27T03:32:00.000-08:00

Watch a pornographic movie, masturbate, get drunk, chat with others in adult web communities and see what happens in the following days. Observe how you perceive people you see and meet in the street; do you see them as bodies or as spiritual beings? Watch your thoughts, are they replaying the events of the night before? Wean yourself from all sexual activities for 21 days and see what happens. Do sexual scenes still capture your imagination afterwards? Do you perceive people that you see and interact with any differently. Our scientific folks would perhaps conjecture that your sexual drive is going up after 21 days of days of abstinence. My claim, the opposite is true. Try for yourself' just understand that 21 days of abstinence is a steep climb. But once you have made it you will perhaps see for yourself, passion and serenity is a choice. You can have peace of mind or the spice of life, the choice is up to you.

Time-out

2011-11-26T07:23:00.001-08:00

Pursue your passions, run after life's spices and you give your Self a time-out. When the blood is running through your veins in over-drive, the Self can't be heard. But alas, misery will follow your passion with certainty. Succeed with your project and boredom will hit you after a temporary high. Fail and depression hits. The Self will pierce through in these moments of misery. The Self will lift you up, ever-forgiving, but soon enough you will be running after a new craving.

After tasting a few bitter fruits like that, you can turn the table and give the ego a time-out. Become an artist in whatever you do, get lost in the the beauty of your creation, work and serve without expecting anything. Don't worry, you will not miss anything and enjoy serenity and peace wherever you are and whatever you do.

Flow

2011-11-25T08:15:00.001-08:00

Optimal Experience, it is what a painter feels when the colors on the canvas begin to set up a magnetic tension with each other, and a new thing, a living form, takes shape in front of the astonished creator.
(Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in Flow)

The ego is your homework, your mission statement. It is your perception of reality, your perception of the boundary that separates you from others. To deny your ego is meaningless, you are who you think you are. You have to follow all the desires you have, yet, understanding that none of them can give you any lasting happiness is a big step forward on your spiritual path. All your desires are but substitute for feeling oneness, for being finally home.

The amazing contrast to having your desires fulfilled is to creatively express your desires which can give you happiness. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined the flow concept and perhaps the notion of the painter being absorbed by her creation explains it best. Creating, being captured by the moment, is your only chance to let go of the ego temporarily. Surely you must have experienced this magic moment yourself when you did something that really absorbed you completely. Perhaps you are blessed with that ability to get lost in whatever you do. At this moment you are beyond your thoughts, you have actually transcended your desires while pursuing them. When you experience the flow you are connected with the Tao and the universe bends in accordance with your needs. The flow is the eternal dance with the Tao.

You cannot negate your desires, you have to follow them. They are your starting point and define you as a creator, as an artist. Yet, once you understand that the moment worth living for is the act of creation, the infinite moment in time when you are connected with the 'beyond', the time when you are flowing. You deserve to work, you deserve to express yourself creatively, so find the creative outlet that defines you as a creator and an artist!

Wholeness is dancing with life without involving the " I"

2011-11-24T09:55:00.000-08:00

Jesus said to the Samaritan woman "whoever will drink from this well will thirst again, but the water that I shall give you gives you everlasting life"

The desires of the mind will give you highs, but you will never be satisfied. Sure, the successes are much nicer to experience than the failures, but both outcomes will leave you dissatisfied in the end. The joy of dancing with the Tao gives you serenity instead; you feel completely satisfied during the experience and afterwards.

The question of course is what to do with this insight; you cannot negate your desires. Yet, if you allow the guidance of the Tao you can always find an outlet of your passions; express your desires creatively and the Tao chooses the environment that allows the transition into serenity.

Shadow Boxing

2011-11-23T22:55:00.001-08:00

How does it help you to read book after book about how it supposedly is when you are holy, when you walk on water, when you are 'there'? You are here my friend, and your shadow is constantly reminding where you are, though you might be able to hide it for a week or two.

We have enough descriptions of samadhi, the fusion with God which you are set to experience soon enough. What we need from you is your unique contribution to transcend your shadow. Embrace him, keep her at an arm's distance or transcend the shadow altogether by creating a creative outlet of your tensions. It is your mission to advance to the next spiritual level and your solution will give your idiosyncratic mark on our conscious evolution.

Think of your demon as your gift, your puzzle to figure out. Once you have completely accepted to you are here and have found your way of creating, you will suddenly be 'there' for the simple reason that there is nothing to do anymore.

Light Workers

2011-11-22T15:08:00.001-08:00

They live in freedom who have gone beyond the dualities of life. Competing with no one, they are alike in success and failure and content with whatever comes to them. They are free, without selfish attachments; their minds are fixed in knowledge. They perform all work in the spirit of service, and their karma is dissolved.
Lord Krishna, Bhagavad Gita

This was written more than 2000 years ago and Lord Krishna's advice never felt more relevant than today. The modern knowledge worker is free. You can prosper and flourish by cooperating with your colleagues. If you aim to serve the Tao you will soon learn that you live in the best of all worlds, always surfing the endless ups and downs without getting involved. Selfless service can be performed everywhere. Lift your brother, lift your sister and you will realize that you are lifting yourself up in the process. Enjoy the light!

Passion Versus Serenity

2011-11-21T12:46:00.000-08:00

Norman Mailer in his 'On God' introduced an idea that really resonated with me. He said he had most energy whenever his angel as well as his demon were equally interested in a project. The ego is passionate, your Higher Self experiences serene joy, and you do best if you allow both parties their share. Passion is the force that jump starts you, the True Self is the one who confronts you with the choices that get you to your desired journey from a holistic perspective.

The image I had in my mind when I reflected on this theme was that of a rocket. The rocket is the one that shoots you out of the orbit, and when the resistance vanishes disposes of its fuel tank. Shooting you into space can be thought of as passion's burning desire, while the effortless journey of the rocket without the resistance of the atmosphere can be thought of as the serene enjoyment of the True Self.It is the straight direction that gets you into the orbit, if your trajectory is crooked, you stay within the earth atmosphere and no matter how powerful your fuel supply, eventually you will run out of power.

Passion can only jump-start you, and it should. Whereas the Holy Spirit will work with your desires and will confront you with the necessary choices that allows you to catch up with your True Self. That way you live in the best of all worlds. You burn a little of your ego fuel, while you are directed into a trajectory that allows you to create in harmony with your True Self for however long you like to travel.

The Power of Positive Action

2011-11-21T01:25:00.001-08:00

There is quite an overlap between the Law of Attraction and the spiritual path. In both instances you conjecture that the current perspective is nothing but a transition towards a place that you know already exists. You have decided who you really are and, as you act like the person who you know you are, you attract like a magnet the situations that get you there. In the case of 'The Secret', you express your longings for wealth, relationships, career or fame. In the case of a spiritual path traveler, it is the ongoing connection with the 'beyond', the Tao or God that you are after.

The big difference is that with mental manifestations you accept your desires, whereas on your spiritual path you go a step further and decide that you are someone who has transcended your desires. In the LoA example you might be single, but you already purchase the tooth-brush for your partner because you know she is already waiting for you. In the case of the spiritual path traveler, you hear voices in your head that tell you to look out for only yourself, yet, all the choice you make are about choosing love and kindness because you know that in reality you are One with everyone.

The Power of Positive Action says as you do, reflects who you are, and who you are attracts the environment that celebrates who you are. Decide on wealth, relationships, your career and fame if this is what your heart desires, or on your fusion with God if this is what your heart desires. God is everywhere, so don't be shy expressing who you think you are.

Solving versus Transcending

2011-11-19T13:07:00.001-08:00

I have recently written about our ability to sidestep an issue. You cannot 'solve' the demands of the 'I', you can only outgrow them. To give a surreal example, you might have heard about the luxury yacht competition, where billionaires compete to have the biggest yacht out there, never mind that hundreds of support staff have to be hired to maintain them. You cannot still your desire since there will always be a rich guy who will outdo you. What you can do is to understand that there is no solution to your problem. Similarly, when the thought pops up in your head on whatever it is that gets your blood boiling, you can suddenly hear an 'oh' in your head and the mental bubble immediately collapses. You have transcended the issue. Somehow the system has gotten the point that further perusal of this mental subject is stale and just cannot compete with the feeling of serenity that follows when you drop the thought.

Sexual Abstinence

2011-11-18T12:40:00.001-08:00

God in Neale Walsch's 'Conversations with God' says that He happens to be in every bedroom at night, so you can forget about the religious notion that sex is sinful. But God also says in the Conversations that by putting selective emphasis on the lower chakra, you may be depleting the higher energy centers. And while this action is not wrong per se, it might just not be useful if your journey is all about reaching your highest energy center.

My personal advice would be not to lose sleep over the sex issue. If your energy system opens up along your spiritual path, you will feel whether sex is a hindrance to your spiritual development or not. If there is one thing that is certain about the Tao, it is that the choices you are facing along the Way are always be made abundantly clear to the earnest truth seeker. In my experience - and that is obviously a male perspective - it is not sex per se that wastes spiritual energy within your body, it is the act of ejaculation. It turns out that you can have the one without the other. If you are interested in that topic you will find ample of reference material in the tantra sex literature.

Wholeness Comes before Peace

2011-11-18T02:59:00.001-08:00

Reflect on all the grudges you might hold against your colleagues, friends or family members. These grudges are there for a reason, or rather, all the experiences you lived through in the past were created just for this moment's realization that healing them is your ticket towards wholeness. You are not here to experience peace, you are here to become whole. Had it been peace you were after, why would you have bothered coming to earth school. You could have sat in Heaven for eternity praising the glories of the Lord.

Only with wholeness peace will follow. Of course you deserve to be at peace but first you have some work and some healing to do. We are all one. If you hold grudges against someone understand that you are judging yourself and you can't be whole if that is the case. Of course some of the psychological damage is too deep and some of the pain inflicted on you can't be forgiven by who you are at the moment. That is ok too, but understand that a similar situation, in hopefully a milder form if you happen to be on a healing path, will come up eventually. It will give you a new opportunity to choose love, to forgive and to heal. Every time your heart wins over your judgmental mind you will transcend to a higher spiritual level.

Spiritual Turmoil

2011-11-16T14:10:00.001-08:00

The other day I was watching the song 'Mary did you Know' on YouTube and the video showed scenes from 'The Passion of the Christ'. I couldn't watch it, it was just too heavy for me to see the Son of God humiliated that way. Unfortunately, the scenes are probably quite realistic. All the historic evidence suggest that the man Jesus died a painful death, while the devine Christ rose on Eastern Sunday and when He rose all the tortures of the past were nothing but a faint memory. Why, I ask, do we humans need to undergo mental turmoil to advance to the next spiritual level? Is it really the karmic debt that we carry around, and did the Christ want to shoulder some of ours? Did Jesus the man just chose wrongly, did he misunderstood the signals of the Tao (His Father)?

I have no answers to any of the questions, but I do observe that there is a lot of emotional turmoil in our spiritual community. Many spiritual path travelers face emotional upheaval, especially these days. Keep the faith my friend, the dark times somehow prepare you for your next spiritual break-through. As it is written in Psalm 23' "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, You are with me." And it is then followed by "Surely your goodness and love will follow me and the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Bumps along the Road

2011-11-15T15:45:00.001-08:00

Some self-help and new-age books claim that it is your destiny to always be at peace. I am not so sure about that. Not because I believe that much in karma, that is, the idea that we have to live through our old sins. It is more that we are on a journey home and along the way the Tao shows us what our personality is all about and who we really want to be. In this creation process you cannot help stumbling a little when the road makes a sudden turn. The promise that I would be able to believe is that you the Tao will offer you always an opportunity to land on your feet and that soon this little disturbance will be nothing but a vague memory. Do not fear a little bump in the road, but trust your flexibility and creativity to lift your self up to an even higher level afterwards.

What you can do though, is 'to step out of it'. The ego is scared if unexpected problems emerge. The lower self is afraid it will be all alone. But there is a serene higher part of you that is always accessible independent of the circumstances. Do you remember the final fight in Jean-Claude Van Damme's Bloodsport. When Frank Dux faced Chong Li, his opponent blinded him. There was incredible panic in him at the moment, but when Frank Dux stepped out of it he remembered that he had been prepared for this moment. His master had taught him how to serve tea blindfolded. Falling back on his sixth sense, he could fight even without being able to see his opponent. He focused, became aware of the situation and and with the help of his incredible kicks managed to beat Chong Li.

Welcome the bumps along the road. They are there to help you grow and realize that no matter what the challenge, the Tao has prepared you to face everything that comes your way.

Rosetta Stone

2011-11-14T13:42:00.001-08:00

You probably know about the stone that was discovered in 1799 in Egypt which enabled an understanding of the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs since the stone had an translation in ancient Greek as well. I was thinking of the Rosetta Stone when I reflected on my spiritual progress. You have two voices in your head, the one that always speaks first and loudly and the quiet one that speaks second. All you really need to do is to connect once to that voice. It will be the same break-through for a spiritual path travelers as the find of the Rosetta Stone was for our linguists. After this break-through everything will finally settle in place. Once you have heard this eloquent and wise voice inside your head, it will get harder and harder for the loud one to fool you.

The Course in Miracles advocates to do the opposite of what the ego wants, that is, the loud voice which speaks first in your head. You are literally running an experiment. The claim is that we live in a state of oneness, but we don't manage to perceive it since our filter, the ego, claims otherwise. Yet, if the outcome is a good one after you do the opposite of what the ego claims, the hypothesis gets strengthened that we indeed are all one. As Jesus says, 'By the fruit ye shall recognize them'. This can be a scary exercise until you see that it works, but what else cam you do as a devoted spiritual path traveler. Fear not, before you know it you will hold the Rosetta Stone in hand and then you have made it. You will hear the voice of reason always, and you will know that where oneness rules, happiness follows.

After me, the Deluge

2011-11-12T00:04:00.000-08:00

'Nach Mir die Sinflut' is one of those German expressions that I have never really found in the English language. 'After me, the deluge' would be the literal translation. It is a very sad commentary on our mental state. I work in the financial industry and it happens to be our job to have views and positions on the state of the world every day. We manage the assets of our clients that way. When you have positions on you cannot help rooting for them. The 'I' is suddenly tied to the state of the world, and sometimes the 'I' roots for bad stuff to happen to real people. How perverse is that?

You may say, get another job, and I would respond that's only one choice. The other is to use this opportunity to detach from the 'I'. The point of the matter is that you can step outside of your biases, you can leave them behind like an old skin in that precious 'I Am' moment. The 'I Am' moment is a state of connectedness. Everything and everyone just is, you are not rooting for anything because you are everyone and everything. 'After me, the deluge' is the ego. The ego can be observed and it can be transcended once you become aware of the institution.

The Magic of the Tao

2011-11-10T16:51:00.001-08:00

Jiddu Krishnamurti spent his entire work-life explaining to people how one might reach the 'creative state' as he called it, by just understanding the internal biases and motivations, and by understanding them, overcoming them. There was nothing meta-physical ever in his lectures. Yet when you read biographies from people who were close to him, you learn that these meta-physical moments certainly existed, he just never deemed it useful to share them. Once he was approached by the mother of a sick child and by just looking at her she was healed. When asked about it he just casually remarked, 'yes, when you are there, stuff happens'.

We live in a make believe universe that has been created with the goal to express ourselves and to enjoy the bliss of returning home. Magic, that is, stuff that the mind has a hard time grasping, happens. You don't want to seek the magic out, as this stuff can be distract you from your true spiritual journey. What for, we already have magicians. But when magic happens don't be surprised either. When you encounter it, you might as well pause a moment and be grateful.

Creative Feelings

2011-11-10T00:21:00.001-08:00

I remember a time when I was a graduate student and I had just come over to the US. Over the Christmas break I was on my way home to Germany, but spent a night with a friend in Boston. I remember vividly a moment when all my tensions left me and I experienced perfect peace. From that time on I understood the true meaning of the Christian greeting, 'May peace be with you'. Yup, it was a feeling worth living for.

This year at work I felt a similar feeling of peace, though slightly different. It was a feeling of accomplishment and serenity; finally I had created the space and the persona at work who I always aspired to be. Quiet in the background most of the time, yet, forceful when my time for communication had come.

You can always choose to express your 'creative feelings'. The Gita warns you against longing for the rewards associated with your actions, you have to leave this up to a higher authority who actually understands the interplay of all the parties that in actuality are One. What you can and should always do though, is to be the 'One Who You Truly Are'. You are the Son and Daughter of God, so please claim your stake!

Tao Masters

2011-11-09T14:29:00.001-08:00

Let's say you are expressing 'Who You Think You Are', as God puts it so well in Neale Walsch's 'Conversations with God'. Can you put your magic staff into the ground and scream 'I want it thus!'. Sure you can, after all, that is the promise of 'The Secret'. You have the power to do it, if you have the faith, or as we put it in more fashionable terms, if you have the power to overwrite your subconscious. But is that truly what you want?

You are God my friend, you can do whatever you want. The only question is, who do you want to be? The spiritual path travelers want liberation, they want this movie to end, or, they want to experience what it means to step out of the movie plot for a while. If this is your final goal, you are a Tao Master who uses her creative powers freely in interaction with the demands of the moment. This way you are bound by nothing. The Tao does what It needs to do in order to free you from the last invisible strings. Every moment is a new opportunity to choose love and to remove a little more of your personality skin in the process. As a Tao Master you are already a free being and soon enough liberation will be yours forever.

An Opportunity to Heal

2011-11-07T06:03:00.001-08:00

We were sitting in a conference room brainstorming about the future of our group. I was suddenly reminded of a very similar scene about a decade ago. Most of the people present were also there then, but the table had turned. Some of the high flyers then were struggling today, some of the beaten up folks do better today. I suddenly saw clearly that time is nothing but an illusion. In the circle of life everything is repeated over and over until you make the choice to transcend it. How easy it would been to use my new-found powers to beat up on those that ill-treated me then. Yet, I would have fallen into the same trap and we would have experienced this scene over and over again. I am you and you are me. Lift your brother and you are lifting yourself. Everything in life is an opportunity to heal. With healing, the loop of past mistakes will finally be transcended in our circle of life.

Life's Trials

2011-11-06T00:24:00.001-07:00

I work in the investment business and I have found that unless you retire and you take your investment record with you into retirement, there is no saying of how you are doing. You may be riding high, may be a star performer only to find that the investment style that has gotten you there suddenly turns out of favor and you begin this humble journey into oblivion and by the time you retire no one remembers your glory of the past. Or you might be struggling instead, only to find that these struggles prepare you for a massive fortune ahead.

Life is a journey into meaning. If you ignore the ups and down and just focus on your creation, on your personal touch in the growth of humanity, things will be coming your way. Do not begrudge so-called failures, they are but stepping stones on your road to meaning. There is only one set-back that should make you concerned and that is if your passion disappears, your drive, your mojo. Perhaps a good time to take some time off to find new meaning in whatever it is you endeavor? There is one guarantee life has in store for you. Meaning is yours to create. Everyone gets what she wants, consciously and sub-consciously.

The Path of Wisdom

2011-11-05T00:38:00.001-07:00

They say many paths lead to Rome. You can come in from the north, the south, the east or the west. It is of course a great motivation to listen to descriptions of the Vatican or the Collosseum, but they can only motivate you to drive on, they don't help you that much finding your route into the center.

My route is the path of wisdom. It is quite different from the path of meditation, the path of devotion and the path of of energy. But these are starting the point, as you get closer to the center, all these paths converge and you can finally see the beauty of your destination.

My friends who are on the path of meditation ask, what are you doing, you cannot think yourself into Heaven. The the stuff that is circulating in your head cannot be Devine, the filter of your ego makes it impure. And I say, this is true, but when life confronts me moment by moment, I feel the Devine, yes or no, God or Maya. My heart and my mind make this decision together. And as my answers shoot out, yes, no, yes, yes, the Tao, the great teacher communicates with me and at that moment there is stillness and there is bliss.

The path of wisdom is one of discrimination, it is clearly not for everyone. But if you feel that this is you, expect that there will be help, a lot of help along the way. When you experience silence along the Way understand that just your 'I' has shut down temporarily. The Tao always looks out for you, it is always working on finding new channels of communication that you understand despite the interference of your personal agenda. The whole point of this journey is to synchronize your personal agenda with the Tao. One day you are there, and every thought you have is the one that the Tao sponsors. You are the creator you has shut out any personal interference. It is then that you are Gods messenger and your thought moves literally mountains.

The One Who Perceives Stepping Outside of Your Pain

2011-11-03T14:52:00.001-07:00

There is something interesting about feeling down, it is possible for you to step out of it. Perhaps you have felt this sensation too. You can suddenly feel how the pain disappears and you can perceive that the one who makes the conscious choice of stepping out of it is different from the one who perceived the pain before. I have actually been unable to experience the same thing when I am on a high, since the one who feels good has little motivation to step out of it. If you are really interested in making the last step on your spiritual journey, that is to step out of your personality blanket all-together, you should not resist pain and instead welcome the ups and downs of life, as they are here to teach you who you really are.

Maximizing subject to

2011-11-02T16:30:00.001-07:00

Some say that when you cut a vegetable the living organ screams with pain. So whether you eat meat or not, the spiritual path traveler will harm the environment in order to get the necessary energy supply to stay alive. Realizing this simple fact, you will have to create your space in all areas of your life. You are the creator of your destiny and you create the living conditions that you want to experience.

I sometimes wonder whether we have the right to use our mystic powers to get what we want. After all, if this is nothing but a mental world, we might as well use it to get what we want. The one requirement I would have for the spiritual path traveler, though, do not make these powers a goal in itself. As long as you manage to define your comfort zone, but keep your eyes on the Tao you should be all-set to finish your spiritual journey. In mathematics you would say that you maximize your spiritual journey subject to operating in a defined comfort zone.

When the Student is Ready the Teacher will Come.

2011-11-01T14:50:00.001-07:00

I once chatted with a girl in the spiritual community of the Personal Development for Smart People, and she told me that at one point she was simply jealous of Neale Walsch. How come that he could communicate with God directly and she couldn't? Fact of the matter is we all have our idiosyncratic ways of communicating with God. I perceive God's messages in dreams, occurrences such as synchronicity, and often by talking to other people. True, I sometimes ask myself, how come that I can't speed up this exchange. Well I can, by ruthlessly cutting out all interferences, that is, the babbling of the 'I' that crowds out God's words. As they say, when the student is ready for the next step, the teacher will come.

A Lucid Dream

2011-10-31T08:04:00.000-07:00

I dreamt I had an exam to take and there was still a lot of material to review, yet I had only two evenings left to practice. As I was suffering, I suddenly realized that I was dreaming. I tried waking myself up, but then it occurred to me that perhaps I should experience my lucid dream a little instead. I used my new found powers to fly. The first jump into the air was a little scary but it worked. While I was flying I experienced colors of flowers that I had never experienced before with so much intensity, at least not in a dream. It was a nice and powerful dream. What was interesting though, while I was flying I was so intrigued with this experience and with the reaction of others, that I lost consciousness of the fact that I was dreaming. Perhaps a wake up call that we shouldn't strive after mystic powers given that the final aim of our journey is to wake up altogether?

Stepping out of it

2011-10-31T04:55:00.001-07:00

Anyone who is struggling with addictions such as alcohol, sex, gambling or drugs knows there comes a time when you have to make a choice and step out of it. It is painful, but unless you make this choice you know how this movie will end. Most reach a level of pain at one point when they say 'enough is enough' and turn their lives around.

When the alcoholic passes by a liquor store, he can feel the temptation rising in him to stop but then decides to keep on driving. After repeating this exercise for a while you feel as if a muscle is building. Yes there is strain as the temptation is triggered in you, but eventually you know that you are strong enough to withstand it. You just flex your mental muscle.

Experiencing fear is not any different. You know you want to take action but there is the feeling of fear creeping up in you. You feel the fear and do it anyway as Susan Jeffers put it so nicely. Fear always arises when you push the boundaries. Traveling a spiritual path is like that as well. You one fine day decide that this is who you really are and then you go out and about to prove it. In a sense you are taking your old personality and discard it like an old skin. Just step out of it, it is as simple as that.

Earth School or Art Studio?

2011-10-30T12:40:00.001-07:00

When I read Neale Walsch's 'Conversations with God', I wasn't really surprised about anything God said. I guess I have in the meantime internalized the New Age thinking. There was one statement though that caught me by surprise. God said that life should't be thought of a school, instead we are here to express Who We Really Are. So think of life as an art studio instead of a school. Still, you probably have felt like me sometimes that life holds lesson for us, and if we don't incorporate them, we do get beaten up in the process. Perhaps God would say that if you want to become an artist, you first have o get your equipment together. And if we procrastinate on what our life's mission is all about, we do get a few pointers that show us the right direction. If you really think about the difference between earth school and the art studio, you find that it all boils down to a difference in perceived maturity. God claims we have graduated already, so please use your powers to express yourself creatively.

Moments of Creativity

2011-10-29T02:33:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I was typing something in my personal notebook and my word processor did what it always does, it changed a word as I was typing and out came, after a little editing, Michelangelo's David sculpture. Wow, it was a little creative jump from what I was writing, but I could see the connection very clearly and this direction was so much more meaningful than the one I had in mind. This is the Tao in action. When it happens you just feel the connection and the creativity of the beyond. You probably will say that this 'synchronicity' is nothing but a coincidence and my imagination and I will respond, well it would be if there weren't countless magical moments like this one in a day. You will have to try for yourself.

Unfortunately it takes a while to get to this stage. The transition period from the 'normal' life to this stage of creativity can unfortunately be a little confusing since you constantly question your sanity in the process. Have some fun with it. If there really is a Tao out there That wants to guide you, you will receive plenty of signals along the way. Enjoy your new-found creativity.

The Spiritual Experiment

2011-10-28T16:02:00.001-07:00

The ego's logic is as impeccable as that of the Holy Spirit because your mind has all the means at it's disposal to side with Heaven or earth, as it elects.

A Course in Miracle

The Course in Miracle came about because their authors decided one fine day that there must be a different way of interacting with each other at work. It was then when Helen Schucman heard a voice who claimed he was Jesus. There are really only two ways to make this step towards the metaphysical side. Either you are so fed up with real life that you think you have nothing to lose anymore. Or you are so curious that you want to explore the metaphysical just based on the hunch that it might exist.

It turns out there are two ways of living your life. The ego version we all know about. But if you live your life in opposition with what your ego demands, you can see for yourself whether this world exist. It is a bit scary at first to run this experiment, but when the dust settles you are only left with sunshine and peace. Try for yourself!

Success and Defeat

2011-10-27T15:16:00.000-07:00

You have the right to work but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction. Perform work in this world, Arjuna, as a man established within himself -without selfish attachments, and alike in success and defeat. For yoga is perfect evenness of mind.

Lord Krishna, Bhagavad Gita

This section of the Bhagavad Gita is really hard to understand for the Western mind and even for us spiritual path travelers. Why shouldn't it be, the spiritual traveler asks, that we deserve peace, success and happiness all the time? If we are the creators, why shouldn't it be our right to have successful creations all the time? Unfortunately the Gita pours cold water over this concept. It claims that even if you are on a righteous path, expect to see defeats along the way.

The way out, of course, is not to expect anything. You choose your field of employment, work on your creation, but let the implementation - and all the rewards attached with it - up to the Tao. I know this is a tough sell, but what choice do you have in the end if you can't control the outcome anyway. The spiritual reason behind this concept is that the Tao happens to be a little smarter than you. Who knows, perhaps your lost battle happens to be a blessing in disguise? Perhaps the defeat allows you to let go of yet one more personality layer in the process?

Always put your best foot forward in whatever you do. The reward you have is merging with the Tao moment by moment. Success or failure, it is always possible for you to stay connected with the 'beyond'. And as far as your material needs are concerned, don't worry, chances are that a few crumbs will always come your way as well