Sharing GOD's Secret

It was 2007, and I was on my way to the airport. On a long business trip to Europe or Asia, I always pick up a couple of books to while away some time on the plane. I found "A New Earth" by an author I had never heard of before. The title looked intriguing so I bought it. Later as I passed the security line I saw "The Power of Now" by the same author; it was then when it clicked; yes, I had heard of Eckhart Tolle, the new spiritual author on the block. It turns out the "A New Earth" was a symptom of my own awakening. Today, nine years later, I am one of the millions of initiated light-workers Eckhart Tolle had with his book in mind.

The irony was that when Eckhart Tolle submitted his first book, "The Power of Now", to a publisher it was rejected on the grounds that this idea is as old as spirituality itself. True, how nice that another publisher brought it on the market as it quickly lid a fire in the New Age community. So perhaps we should just remind each other from time to time of the ancient wisdoms that apparently have to be rediscovered by each individual spiritual traveler for herself. GOD's "secret"  has been out there for millennia, ready for everyone to discover it. "The Power of Now" is one catchy phrase, but there are so many others. The Old Testament is full of spiritual insights, as were Jesus' teachings. The Sufis know it, as does Taoism, Buddhists and Hinduism. 

The note below zooms into a little book that is a spiritual master piece, "To Have or to Be", by Erich Fromm. The author was foremost a psychologist, with a passion  for the Talmud, spirituality and socialism as well. Erich Fromm knew GOD's secret, just to fall in love with life; to do something with your life that is both purposeful and passionate; to learn to recognize the distracting whispers of the ego that keep you from the WAY. Erich Fromm also realized that magic tends to happen when we wrestle with life on a path that is of GOD. Lastly I would add that enlightenment is not something that you aspire to get one day; enlightenment is a state that you can enjoy moment by moment, as long as you use some of these insights below as your milestones. Everyone can be a light worker. Hope you join us too!

God's Secret - The Problem Statement

Problem Statement: Separateness 

Adam and Eve, what is the sin they have committed? To face each other as separated, isolated, selfish human beings who cannot overcome their separation in the act of loving union. The sin is rooted in our very human existence. Being deprived of the original harmony with nature. Being endowed with reason and self-awareness, we cannot help experiencing our separateness. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

Problem statement: Me, Myself and I

Our picture of physical reality does not correspond to what is "really real" and, mainly, in the sense that most people are half-awake, half-dreaming, and are unaware hat most of what they hold true and self-evident is illusion produced by the suggestive influence of the social world in which they live. Knowing , then, begins with the shattering of disillusionment. Knowing means to penetrate through the surface, in order to arrive at the roots, and hence the causes; knowing means to "see" reality in its nakedness. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

Mental greed - and all greed is mental, even when it is satisfied via the body - has no satiation point, since it's consummation does not fill the inner emptiness, boredom, loneliness, and depression it is meant to overcome. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

Everything and anything can become an object of craving: things we use in daily life, property, rituals, good deeds, knowledge, and thoughts. While they are not in themselves "bad", they become bad; that is, when we hold onto them, when they become chains that interfere with our freedom, they block our self-realization. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

But if the greedy person thinks only of money and possessions, the ambitious one only of fame, one does not think of them as being insane, but simply annoying; generally one has contempt for them. But factually, greediness, ambition, and so forth are forms of insanity, although usually one does not think of them as illness. To be driven by irrational passions is to be mentally sick. To the degree that we achieve optimal growth, we are not only (relatively) free, strong, rational, and joyous, but also mentally healthy; to the degree that we fail to reach this aim, we are unfree, weak, lacking rationality, and depressed. (Erich Fromm quotes Spinoza in "To Have or to Be")

Problem Statement: Having, not Being

Greed is the natural outcome of the having orientation. It can be the greed of a miser or the greed of a profit hunter or the greed of a womanizer or the man chaser. Whatever constitutes their greed, the greedy can never have enough, can never be "satisfied". (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

What is fully describable is our persona - the mask we each other wear, the ego we present - for this persona is in itself a thing. In contrast, the living human being is not a dead image and cannot be described like a thing. In fact, the living human being cannot be described at all. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

If I am what I have and if what I have is lost, who then am I? Nobody but a defeated, deflated, pathetic testimony to a wrong way of living. Because I can lose what I have, I am necessarily constantly worried that I shall lose what I have. I am afraid of thieves, of economic changes, of revolutions, of sickness, of death; and I am afraid of love, of freedom, of growth, of change, of the unknown. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

The fear, then, is not of dying, but of losing what I have: the fear of losing my body, my ego, my possessions, and my identity; the fear of facing the abyss of non-identity, of "being lost". (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

GOD's Secret - The Solution

The Solution:  At-One-Ment

There is but one way to save ourselves from this hell: to leave the prison of our egocentricity, to reach out and to one ourselves with the world. If egocentric separateness is the cardinal sin, then the sin is atoned in the act of loving: "at-one-ment" is Middle English for union. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

The Solution: Purpose and Passion

The joy of a mitzvah (the fulfillment of a religious duty) is he only way to get the Holy Spirit. (Erich Fromm, quoting the Talmud in "To Have or to Be")

In order to avoid decay, we must strive to approach the "model of human nature", that is, we must be optimally free, rational, active. We must become what we can be. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

Joy is what we experience in the process of growing nearer to the goal of becoming ourselves. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

Activity is "wholesome" only when it is rooted in and expresses the ultimate ethical and spiritual demands.  (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

Only in the process of mutual alive relatedness can the other and I overcome the barrier of separateness, inasmuch as we both participate in the dance of life.  (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

In non-alienated activity, I experience myself as the subject of my activity. Non-alienated activity is a process of giving birth to something, or producing something and remaining related to what I produce. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

The Solution: The Holy Now

The active, alive man is like a "vessel" that grows as it is filled and will never be full. 

(Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

Freedom in the sense of being unfettered, free from craving for holding onto things and one's ego, is the condition for love and productive being. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

The mode of being exists only in the here and now. The mode of having so exists only in time: past, present and future. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

Knowledge is no particular thought but rather it peels off (all coverings) and is disinterested and runs naked to GOD, until it teaches HIM and grasps HIM. (Meister Eckhart in Erich From, To Have or to Be) 

The Solution: Being, not Having

One of the main themes of the Old Testament is: leave what you have; free yourself from all fetters; be! (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

Do not lay for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

There exists only the act of loving. To love is a productive activity. It implies caring for, knowing, responding, affirming, enjoying: the person, the tree, the painting the idea. It means bringing to life, increasing his/her/its aliveness. It is a process, self-renewing and self-increasing. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

They respond spontaneously and productively; they forget about themselves, about the knowledge, the positions they have. Their egos do not stand in their own way, and it is precisely for this reason that they can fully respond to the other person and that person's ideas, because they are not holding onto anything. While the having persons rely on what they have, the being persons rely on the fact that they are, that they are alive and that something new will be born if only they have to courage to let go and respond. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

To the extent that we decrease the mode of having, that is of non-being - i.e., stop finding security and identity by clinging to what we have, by "sitting on it", by holding onto ego and our possessions - can the mode of being emerge. "To be" requires giving up one's egocentricity and selfishness, or in words often used by mystics, by making oneself "empty" and "poor". (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

While having is based on some thing that is diminished by use, being grows by practice. The 'burning bush" that is not consumed is the biblical symbol for this paradox. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

We human beings have an inherent and deeply rooted desire to be: to express our faculties, to be active, to be related to others, to escape the prison cell of selfishness. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

Every new step contains the danger of failure, and that is one of the reasons people are so afraid of freedom. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

Master Eckhart taught that to have nothing and make oneself open and "empty", not to let one's ego stand in one's way, is the condition for achieving spiritual wealth and strength. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

We should not be "filled" with our knowledge, or hang onto it, or crave it. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

Living structures can be only if they become; they can exist only if they change. Change and growth are inherent qualities of the life process. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

The Buddha, the Awakened One, calls on people to wake up and liberate themselves from the illusion that craving for things lead to happiness. (Erich Fromm, To Have or to Be)

GOD's Secret - Conclusions

What may appear to you as a tour de force was just a little book full of ancient wisdom by a wise man, Erich Fromm. Every single line in it - very quote cited here - can lift you to that state, just as the simple title "The Power of Now" tried accomplishing a few decades later. Having this insight is huge, but living it is priceless. And that is where GOD's mission comes in. Find this path, hold HER HAND every step of the WAY and you are enlightened. If this all sounds all a bit overwhelming right now, why don't you start with a mission statement, to be one of us. GOD will do the rest. Of you only one thing is required, do your best every step of the WAY, and share GOD's Secret with others.

Embracing What Is

As I was browsing news stories in the Spiritual Networks the other day, I discovered a link to an interview with Eckhart Tolle. He read the insights of an author I hadn't heard of before and mentioned that he had moved up to number 32 on the world's spiritual bestseller list. Eckart Tolle's conversation partner responded, "well, you are also up there". To that Eckhart Tolle replied, "Yes, I was number 1 last year and am now number 2." The other author laughed and asked, "Well, how does that make you feel?" Eckart Tolle replied, "awful", with a face that backed up his statement. The audience was laughing. Some perhaps thought he was joking, but I felt that he was actually quite honest at that moment.

The ego will always wrap us up, independent of whether we are considered enlightened or not. "Enlightenment" is not a status that we can somehow acquire. "Enlightenment" is an insight, an understanding that we have just stepped outside of our ego blanket at that blessed moment. Merge with what is and find perfection in your conjectured imperfection. Every step along the Way - every triumph, every awkward moment, every feeling of bliss - is a jumping board to reach the holy Now. 

Nothing Matters and Everything Does

Do you want to know what my secret is? I don't care!
(J. Krishnamurti)

I read this quote in one of Eckhart Tolle's book and could relate to it. The longer you travel a spiritual path the more you feel at peace with what is. Either way, you know that things will turn out to be meaningful to you. It is a nice feeling to have. You become completely unbiased and open to the present moment.

Just be mindful though, it is easy to fool yourself thinking that you don't care, though if you really monitor your posture, if you carefully listen to every spoken word and the intonation of your voice you realize that you in fact do care. Don't aim to reach that state, but be proud and happy when you do care. It is a beautiful mission to have as long as you are aiming for the right things.

I actually would state J. Krishnamurti's sentiment a little differently: along the Way nothing matters and everything does!

Ripping Off a Band-Aid

When you realize where you come from,
you naturally become tolerant,
disinterested, amused,
kind-hearted as a grand- mother,
dignified as a king.
Immersed in the wonder of the Tao,
you can deal with whatever life brings you,
and when death comes, you are ready.
(Tao Te Ching)

Su- Zhen and I are about to write a book together so I thought I could put together a little collection of quotes from the Tao. As I put different verses on paper I observed that I consciously left out all the ones that talk about death. I convinced myself that this is just because I have little to say about death given that I obviously haven't experienced it, but I also observed a feeling of fear. Death is something many of us just want to avoid.

I see a problem with spiritual writing. We always tell you the good stuff, the things you will see and experience when you are "there", but we tell you much less about how the transition to that state may feel like it. Some transitions are beautiful. You walk in a winter forest, you see the stars shining through and you suddenly have a vision of a Christmas tree. The sky opens up and it really seems like angels are singing. This is a Satori moment, a revelation of Heaven on earth  pretty much out of the blue. But then there is the other way, a realization of the beyond after an intense period of struggle. Eckhart Tolle described it in The Power of Now when he said that after a deep depression period he suddenly felt as if a veil had been lifted.

The spiritual community will tell you that struggle is always yours, while Heaven on earth is always of God. This is true but may not be so helpful. When you feel intense pain, reposition yourself because you must be overlooking something. God doesn't want you to struggle. There is another way out there; yet, also accept the fact that you are experiencing intense pain at the moment. Please don't sweep it under the carpet - it is there. Perhaps the analogy could be if we say - just as a nurse would tell a little boy - "Now that will hurt a little, but if you bear with me, you will see that everything is just fine", and takes off the band-aid in one go.

Going back to my earlier observation of death, of course we know what it feels like. If you truly open up to life you can experience the "I"dying so often. I will not tell you that it is a pleasant experience, but I can tell you that you have a choice in getting it done with without prolonging the pain. Spirituality is the art of seeing yourself outside of the "I" perspective and from that dimension death has a very different feel to it.

Enjoy the Game

Perhaps you can think of your life as a big interactive video game. We have our goals in mind; we try, we err and learn from the feedback mechanism we receive. Along the way we probably bang our head into a wall a few times just because we think the way to advance is forward despite all the obstacles. We also find it hard to retrain what we have been doing all our life even though it may no longer work for us. Yet sooner or later everyone learns that there must be a better way, so we practice our skill to readjust and to jump out of the hole that we dug for ourselves.

In the olden days energy was scarce, and our brain capacity was limited, so evolution crafted us as habitual machines.  Habitual behavior is something you do over and over again until it finally forms an energy cycle. Once the cycle is established you outsource the activities into the subconscious and the robot inside of you takes over, while you can use your precious conscious energy for new tasks. The downside of course is that the robot runs by itself even when you have changed your mind about where you want to go. But once the robot bangs your head into a wall a few times you may want to consciously decide to override that energy cycle. It is initially hard to do but it can be done. Change can be painful but if you truly set your mind on it, the reinforcing positive change can also release enormous energy in you. And very much like you created your old habit before, once your subconscious has been overridden, the new direction will be as natural for you as the old routine once was before.

 Buddha left his kingdom and Eckhart Tolle left his academic career. There are many stories of people who experienced spiritual renaissance sometime in their middle age. We experienced this transformation as well and one may be in store for you.  We change directions when the old path has become meaningless for us. But once you are on a lookout for something new, we claim that you can suddenly perceive a red threat that connects everything:  a right job, the right family, meaningful friends and colleagues and limitless opportunities for creative outlets. You have the right to experience fun, love and meaning all at the same time. Let the Tao assist you in your change of plan.

If you find resistance in what you do currently, honor that constraint. Life has a habit of pushing you in the direction that works for you. Embrace change, don't fight it. Every habit can be overridden; start with a vision of your personal success and happiness and let the Tao implement it for you step by step. Our whole life is nothing but a big game, but the outcome is hardly random. You decide on where you want to go and the Tao will propel you in the right direction. So put on your game face and have fun along the Way.

By Christian and Su Zhen

The Holy Now is Here For Everyone

A colleague commented this morning - seemingly out of the blue - that breakfast cereal is so smooth when you eat it, yet, when you let it sit for a couple of hours, it becomes hard as stone. Yes, I thought to myself, it is exactly as the holy Now. When you are part of the flow, the holy Now becomes so mendable. Yet, if you resist it, or put your own filter over it,  the train has left the station.

All spiritual writers ever do is to talk about the holy Now. The irony is, when Eckhart Tolle tried publishing his book, "The Power of Now", he was turned down by one publisher with the correct remarks that this idea is as old as spirituality itself. Yet, what spiritual bestseller it turned out to be! Everyone has access to the holy Now, spiritual or not. Psychologists, athletes, song writers, poets, sages, everyone has soon the holy Now in action. Some call it flow, one moment in time, Tao, synchronicity or holy spirit.

While I believe that everyone has access to the incredible creativity and power of the holy moment, we spiritual folks are especially receptive to the love that is in the air. As Jesus once said, "wherever two or more are gathered in my name, there I will be"! The holy Now is there for everyone, but only you can make it the present it is meant to be, an encounter with Her now - and thus eternal.

Feel the Dark Energy, Maybe Engage, but Don't Give Power to It

The Tao is a way of living tailored just for you. It is your divine connection while living in the so-called real world. Walking the Tao is different from religion in that there is only your Path you are walking on. You are probably shown that the notion of "right and wrong" is quite flexible, person and situation specific and certainly tailored just to you. Walking the Tao is a religion in the true sense of the word, "to bind". Yes, after you have experienced Grace you will always do your best to hold onto the Way. Because the alternative paths are really not that pleasant after you have gotten a taste of bliss.

Only you can cut yourself off the Way. Walking the Tao is a lesson plan of the workings of your ego. After you have experienced Grace, spotting the ego is not hard. You experience a different energy flow, you  focus on your environment very differently, you attract different characters and situations and you feel restless. The Tao is always there for you; only you can cut yourself off the Way.

You still are who you are, but your destination becomes "holy". It turns out that your "ego" isn't fixed at all. It changes over time just as your body does. So you naturally drift to readjust everything in your life towards the Way. A little spring cleaning has to follow since there are still so many outdated belief sets that have to be thrown by the wayside. There are certainly also dark energies. Stuff you have repressed, aspects of your being that kick and scream as you walk towards the light. You are probably no stranger to "self-improvement", so nothing changes from that perspective.  What changes is what before you knew only on a subconscious level: there is no alternative but walking your Path. It is suddenly a conscious realization; every step you take makes perfect sense, even the so-called mistake.

Before you experienced Grace  you had a much harder time to feel what is wrong or right. Now you immediately experience when you have cut yourself off that magnificent Force. You can now experience when the ego takes over. The dark energies have all kind of outlets, and some you might know well: anger outbursts, frustrations, depression, useless shopping sprees, mindless eating, sexual binges, feelings of stinginess or worthlessness, guilt-attacks, and so much more. You experience them like we all do. The trick is not to beat you up over these ego trips. The trick is to experience the dark energy, maybe express it, but not to give power to it.

You may ask so how exactly doesn't one give power to it? Just let the dark energy pass, get it out of your system and then put your best foot forward to re-connect with the Way. To give one example, suddenly blowing up over a trifle is one thing, but staying with this negative energy or feeling guilty about it for a long time afterwards is quite another. Eckhart Tolle gave the example of fighting ducks; after they are done with it they shake the negative energy off and then calm down as if nothing has happened. Find your unique way of getting the stuff out of your system and never regret your so-called mistakes.
 When you are on guilt trips after your shadow dances, who do you think is doing the beating. It is the ego, isn't it?

The shadow is attached to your journey towards the light. Accept it. With every period when you again cut yourself off your Path the determination to stay your course next time will only go up. Never blame the outburst, it is just a reflection of the yin and yang of the different forces inside that you experience along the Way. Let go off the steam, but don't give any more power to it. The dance of shadow and light will converge over time for that is the way of the Tao. Life is a perfect outlet to get all the frustrations out of you, all you really have to do is to embrace everything that comes your way. Meanwhile, just accept the dance of shadow and light. More than that, have some fun with it.

11:11

When you are a Tao master you have your way of communication with the Source. Christian tried describing a few glimpses of this communication channel in his book, "The Magnificent Experiment", but these can at best be pointers. This communication is a highly idiosyncratic experience. Many path travelers report seeing 11:11 when they are connected as just one example.   You will have your own channels and when you are connected the message will be blazing as the sun so that you cannot overlook them; yet, very much like the 11:11 symbol,  when you try to communicate it to others it will feel somehow childish.

After this communication channel has been established you will certainly know when you are not connected. When you are in that stage, most of the time you will feel very unstable. The voice in your head will be in overdrive and you literally will be too busy to observe what happens in your environment. From time to time you will bump into things, a subtle reminder of the Tao to stop everything and just observe. You  probably will wolf down food when you are excited or not eat at all when you are depressed. The food will be tasteless anyhow. You will literally not perceive it, just as you block out everything that happens outside of you.

When I am at this state, even I walk in a beautiful park full of different species of plants and flowers, I cannot appreciate a bit.  I cannot see the beautiful scenery, the lake, the mountains, the trees, the flowers; I cannot hear the birds sings and bugs hum; I cannot notice the people walk by and say hello.  Hence I am not able to receive this wonderful present that mother earth has prepared for us.  I am not able to resonate with nature at this moment and be lifted up by its pure energy.  Connection means you are "here", you experience the divine Now that Eckhart Tolle described in his book The Power of Now.

 Have you observed yourself that how often you become disconnected?  This is a state of mind when you just get lost in some external energy that isn't you. If you are very busy with your work, your family, your daily activities. In fact, you are so lost in it that you simply forget being mindful. You don't realize that your mind is run by a force outside of your Self.

The life run by the mind is unstable because that is its nature. Thoughts pop up like bubbles from seemingly nowhere and the only choice you have is to pop a few while letting the others become in a creation of your Self.  If you observe your mind, you will find that it is a little bit like the wind. Thoughts seemingly come from nowhere and disappear into nowhere.  However, when you have no idea how your mind functions you will take your thoughts for real and will try to solve all the problems that your mind comes up with. What a waste of time and energy! Reflect for a moment. How often has it happened to you that life took a very different turn than all the scenarios you stewed over in your head?

 All you really need to do is to recognize that your mind is in action again. Let it run its course, observe it, but stay in the Now. At some point, when you engage with your life, your daily activities, the voice in your head, the endless back and forth  will suddenly stop.  At this moment, you can suddenly sense a void, something so vast that is able to include everything.  You are then able to sense the nature, the songs of birds, the rain, the smell of your environment, the people around you.  It is like you suddenly wake up from a dream.

Your state of mind state is can be quite surreal and unrealistic.  It keeps you from being in touch with the beauty of Now. The people, the lively energy the Tao puts you in touch. Let special symbols like 11:11 remind you of the state you belong to. Embrace the Now and learn to disconnect from the energy that isn't you. Wake up friends, sleeping is easy but will keep you from experiencing something wonderful!  Join the world, join the Tao, join the lively vibration, excitement, you will find life is lots of fun!

By Su Zhen

The Journey Towards Wholeness

A land developer in Brazil goes to a new plot that he acquired from a buddy who works for the local government. A few environmental concerns were overridden, a number of animal conservation policies ignored. When he arrives he doesn't see the beauty of the rainforest. He doesn't appreciate the untouched nature, he cannot perceive the merging of countless  plants into a magnificent landscape, he doesn't hear the cries of the birds, and is not aware of the beautiful sunset. He literally sees only dollar bills! He is already mapping up the location of the farm, the houses, the agricultural plantations and the road to the next city.

Erich Fromm observed in "To Have or To Be?" how the ego, when pushed to the extreme, is in fact mad. Greed, lust, ambition, fear, pride, or whatever else it might be the ego gets excited about, can become so one-dimensional, it is literally as if one wears blinders and while running after the perceived gold on the horizon, you trample everything that is in the way.  Take addiction as an extreme of that disease: at the end of the road the junkie shuts out life itself; only one tormented program runs his system: how can I get the next fix?

You very much have a choice in this. Just as the "I", your personality, your childhood, your cultural background, your fears and aspirations, develop this mental filter, you can let life  help you remove the blinders for you. That is the magic of the Tao. The ability to fall in love with life despite the workings of the "I". Nay, stronger than that, the longings of the "I" make you a perfect recipient of the Tao. Life was created just for you, to bring you Home here and now. All you have to do is to open and listen to Her messengers.

Following the voice of the ego to the end always leads to isolation, depression and unhappiness. The trick is to figure this out early in your journey into nowhere, make a U- turn and drive in the opposite direction. Following a spiritual path will bring you connection, love and joy. You do not sacrifice anything, all your authentic needs will be satisfied that way. But sure, life will encourage you to drop your grandiose plans by the wayside for they will not make you happy even if you get everything you wish for.

Life is one big therapy course. And it comes free of charge. Know yourself, understand your struggles, map out your aspiration and let the Tao work out the road towards wholeness. Sure there is same pain involved next to the love, joy and excitement you feel along the way, but it is merely the pain a child feels when suddenly a friend borrows a favorite toy at a play date. Everything is already forgotten the next day when the child impatiently asks his mother for another play date with his best friend.

Life communicates with you in a deeply spiritual way every moment. When you connect with this Force, the Tao -  the divine Now as Eckhart Tolle calls it - you are already Home.  The Tao works a little different from the religions that you grew up with. Sure, doing "the right thing", that is choosing love always is a golden rule to live by. The Tao will certainly never force you to choose against it. But contrary to all the religious rule books, the Tao will also encourage you  to acknowledge the demands of the "I". The lesson plan of the Tao is to show you that life is perfect as is from the perspective of bringing you Home. Every step that you take along the Tao broadens your perspective just as every step towards your ego goals narrows it. And what you see is beautiful to behold and just perfect as is.

The Power of Now

Eckhart Tolle mentioned in his book, “The Power of Now”, that  he spent several years living in a park doing absolutely nothing, without having a job, without having any relationships, without money, but completely at peace and happy.  He also mentioned that his family couldn’t understand him and were quite upset about his behavior because he almost lived like a homeless. Can you imagine leading a life like that and being totally happy?

 Does one need to work very hard to be happy or can one just be happy without any reason and simply sit there?  Can one be happy just being by oneself, drifting aimlessly? It is hard for us to imagine that we can be happy without achieving some goals.  We are busy rushing from  target to target and cannot sense the beauty, silence, and happiness here and now. We also  cannot sit down and be with ourselves just for one single moment.  With our rushing in and rushing out, the Self inside of us is being neglected. We cannot sense and connect with our true nature.  Whenever this connection is missing, we are carried away by the wave of life and get lost in it.  We cannot sleep well because we are so out of equilibrium that we continue the wars and struggles even in our sleeping hours and all the repressions of the day have to be expressed in our dreams. And without a good night's sleep our next day starts on a bad foot. The vicious cycle continues.

There is deep peace, silence, love, and joy behind our daily existence if only we can sit down and connect with our true nature for one moment.  We can feel we are instantly different if we can manage to connect with the peace inside.  Look up from where you are right now. Aren't the birds  singing?  Aren't the insects dancing in the sun light?  Aren’t the flowers blooming? Aren't the clouds moving in the beautiful blue sky? What else do you need to be happy?

By Su Zhen

A Christian Power of Now

It is extremely difficult to reach Atonement by fighting against sin. Enormous effort is expended in the attempt to make holy what is hated and despised. Nor is a lifetime of contemplation and long periods of meditation aimed at detachment from the body necessary. All such attempts will ultimately succeed because of their purpose.

Your way will be different, not in purpose but in means. A holy relationship is a means of saving time. One instant spent together with your brother restores the universe for both of you. You are prepared. Now you need but to remember you need to do nothing. It would be far more profitable now merely to concentrate on this than to consider what you should do. When peace comes at last to those who wrestle with temptation and fight against giving in to sin; when the light comes at last into the mind given to contemplation; or when the goal is finally achieved by anyone it always comes with just one happy realization; "I need do nothing."
(A Course in Miracles)

The Christian Power of Now is different from the simple mandate to love your neighbor as yourself. It is the realization that by getting lost in the moment you are indeed free, and that this miracle can be achieved with the help of your brother. If you see an "enemy", the holy Now gives you the power to discover your own projection in him. At all other times you simply frolic with your friends in the divine Now. The Christian Power of Now is Eckhart Tolle's Power of Now with a human touch.

Notes of a Tao Traveler

Walking a spiritual path is quite natural. In fact, it might happen to you that you are already on it and only later discover that you are being synchronized with a higher Force. It is also less glamorous than some might perhaps think. For every Eckhart Tolle there are many spiritual folks who glue the world together unrecognized behind the scenes. A spiritual path will probably be a natural evolution of where you are coming from. It is more a refinement of what you have been doing for a while rather than an earth shattering revolution. You might be surprised to hear this, but every child will understand what you are going through. You know that you are on a spiritual path when you experience peace, love and joy no matter what - this happens to be the birthright of every child as well. We are just returning to our roots.

 You also realize that as a Tao traveler you do no longer have a choice. In a weird way you never really had a choice either before your path started in all earnest, just as you don't really have a choice when you are an experienced traveler. Only in-between there are a few confusing years of soul searching when you don't seem to understand any longer what is going on. You literally learn in these apprentice years to perceive the world with a new perspective.

Walking a spiritual path is like an agreement. Someday something stops you in the tracks and you suddenly feel like a program opened up inside of you and you realize that you have a job to finish. Actually, when you put it like that you realize that in a way everyone is spiritual, whether they believe in God or not. All of us gravitate towards a mission. Some feel they have to build a business, others know that their mission is to raise their children, while some use all their willpower to shake off an addiction or to climb out of a hole. We all have a job to do, whether we are aTao master or not. A Tao master would never look down on anyone. We are all children of God and every voice is sacred.

For us personally, we both hit a wall somewhere on our journey. It is a strange process of falling out of love with old things you used to be excited about and falling in love with people and situations that you never gave a second look before. What was the world you were living in suddenly becomes a desert, but at the same time you can see a breathtaking oasis on the horizon. Mind you, you will likely still operate in the same world as before but everything will get redefined and reevaluated. When the Tao is done with that cleansing process all you will ever see are palms, refreshing waters and flowers while the desert is far out in the distance. All the doubts of the transition period soon make way to an overwhelming feeling of being at home, being loved and being taken care, and being connected to a Force beyond our comprehension. The Tao is everywhere, and where She walks there is peace, love and laughter. Yes, you are literally reborn!

 Sure, there are moments of darkness for us as well, but they tend to be the exception and, painful as they are at the time, we always know two things about them: First, that they will pass like the morning fog pushed away by the powerful sun, and second, that we only have ourselves to blame for it and no one else. In the past that was never the case. These periods of pain were always induced by others without having any visible link to our own actions. Today we see a bearer of pain just as a symbol. Quietly she whispers, "Change your way brother, you are so close already." Pain is easy to bear if it is meaningful, and along the Tao every moment is meaningful.

How did it happen? No one knows. We certainly see a lot of similarities in our journey, but in the end we all come from different starting points and face different milestones along the Way. You probably have had some exposure to spiritual books just as we had. Su  Zhen was really influenced by Eckhart Tolle's " A New Earth", while Christian's spiritual journey was meaningfully impacted by "A Course in Miracles". It always starts somewhere, but it is just that, a starting point. You will have your on mark, you will find your way that brings out your unique perspective and you will share it with others.

We both found that thoughts and emotions are just a layer of our being. You can sidestep them, and we often manage to do that. You become aware of the observer behind the screen and you know that sometimes we just have to sit still and let the energy wave pass without getting involved. It is possible and you can actually become quite good at it. It is  like sitting at a pond and watch disturbed water settle down and after some time the pond is crystal clear again. Peace and love is always at your disposal no matter what. You may have to wait a little, but the Force will always connect with you again if you let your own disturbances pass by.

The biggest confusion for the spiritual community is that they want something. They want to be good, want to be enlightened, want to be loving, peaceful or calm. Yet, the way towards that stage is just be accepting who you think you are. Accept your internal turmoil, your struggles, your split mind. Transcend your judgements and realize that the war with yourself doesn't exist. Accept your so-called flaws and see how they disintegrate in front of your astonished eyes. The Tao is here to make you understand that you don't have to do anything; you are already "here", there is no " there". To get to this realization just embrace anything and anyone life throws at you at this blessed moment. The world that surrounds you was created to help you understand who you truly are. Let life"digest" you and see what "I" emerges in the process. If you experience " I Am" moment to moment, you are way too busy to zoom into the " I". Learn to accept every moment as is and realize that you can be at peace always.

Passing on the secret of the Tao is easy. Show up and get lost in the moment. You have the best teacher in the world at your disposal, so please relax and enjoy the divine stroll!

By Christian & Su Zhen

How to Connect with the Tao

We have often shared our observations of walking the Tao. The big question of course for anyone who likes to join in our journey, so how exactly does one connect with the Tao? Actually connecting with the Tao is more about your willingness and openness to connect. The divine connection always exists moment by moment. As they say, when the student is ready, the teacher is there.

Connecting with the Tao is like a curtain falling and where there was a room before there is suddenly open space for as far as the eye can see. Eckhart Tolle wrote in The Power of Now that after falling into a deep depression he was suddenly caught by a force that seemed to suck him into a vortex and when we woke up the next morning he literally saw and perceived the world with new eyes. Sometimes you can have this transformation when you read a spiritual text, you can have it when inspiration hits you during a conversation, a movie, a sad experience, anything really. When those significant moments occur something shifts within you. It doesn't mean that after this "wake-up call" you don't have an ego anymore, but you do see your Self for a brief moment and have a different relationship with your ego afterwards. In Su Zhen's case, she actually had an awakening when she read Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth.

You are the Tao. The holy Now goes by you - you will connect in whatever way it is meaningful to you. For Su Zhen meditation is the way to reconnect to the True Self. She sits quietly, waiting for the rhythmic breathing to go on auto-pilot and then alertness and silence simply descends on her and she is in the Flow again. For Christian it is seeing the signs when "life hits him", seeing magical connections that no one else appears to pick up, discovering symbols in everything we do, say and experience. Connecting with the Tao is like walking a red carpet that is visible to no one but you. The journey is simply beyond imagination. When you walk the Tao you always feel full of harmony, peace, beauty, love and joy!

You may again ask, " Yes, I get that it is cool to be connected, but how exactly do I get there?" Well, given that you are reading these notes you are probably pretty close. That is how the Tao typically works. Just open up to life, appreciate everything that comes your way, whether you initially like it or not. Find your quiet times as well. You can medicate anywhere really. If you are quiet enough, you can always feel that your energy frequency changes according to whatever you are thinking of. Your ego has a very different tune than your Tue Self. Try it. If you truly want to find out hat is going on inside of you, your teacher will show up. He could come as a friend or Her Voice could come from within. This Universe was created just for you to come Home. You cannot really make a mistake. If you are connected you have everything and if you are not, the Tao will always tell you the interference that stand between you and perceiving the holy Now. Just have fun experimenting - enjoy!

The Tao of Miracles

There is no miracle you cannot do when you desire healing.
A Course in Miracles

Can you imagine that all the people around you are here to help you regardless of whether they appear to you as angels or demons? Can you imagine that all the people you interact with are actually your family and that they love you from the bottom of their heart? Can you imagine that you are actually here to experience love, peace, joy and abundance and not worry, fear, poverty and loneliness? Can you imagine this world is in fact safe and that you are well guided and protected?

You probably have some areas in your life where you feel this is very much the case and then some where it is less so. You probably have experienced some situations, perhaps something you are facing presently or some vague memory of a previous conflict, that seem in fact the opposite of the world we are describing. You probably experience - like so many others as well - two worlds in conflict. A spiritual path is about discovering that the all so real world of pain, suffering and ego struggles is in fact illusionary. The spiritual path allows you to unload your pain, fears and doubts. The Tao will show you a path away from your mind, away from your plans, schemes, regrets, worries and thoughts. It takes a while to get to that point but eventually you will be able to experience the holy Now that Eckhart Tolle and so many others are describing. Along that path there is magic in the air.

You probably have experienced enough pain, you had enough suffering and enough direction-less wandering, so perhaps today is a good opportunity to say good-by to this scary world and start a new journey into the light. All the help and guidance you need will show up along the Tao. You will discover signs along your way that are unmistaken and you will develop the trust to follow the signals. Step by step, you are able to walk out of your old world into a new one full of light and love.

Many carry the pain and suffering that they have accumulated from their childhood and all the rough episodes they experienced at one stage in their life. It is hard for them to imagine that there is a different world. For them, there will always be areas where they think that they need to tread carefully. The trick is to learn that in the end it is you who allows the beating, no one else is able to do that to you. But then, the trick is also to just sit there patiently when the beating occurs and realize that the world is still standing afterwards and that the fearful event and its impact passes like a quick summer shower. Along the Tao you have to discover who you really are and a little beating is probably still part of it. Chances are someone who deep down inside really cares about you does the beating, because only then will be able to open up to the pain and transcend it altogether and not be tempted to project back the anger in return.

Let the Tao be your teacher. All the bad stuff that you have experienced up to this point prepares you for the spiritual journey ahead. The Tao is a path of healing; it is the way to teach yourself that the monsters of the past and the demons of today are not real. You are probably afraid that this spiritual talk is nothing but a fantasy. We used to have these doubts too. We also experienced these struggles and pain and sometimes still do. But then, we always remind ourselves to actually touch the demons in front of us and they always disappear like hot air when we do. And in pretty much in all these situations a soul sibling jumps to our rescue when we are willing to confront our fears.

Life can seem like a torture when you are caught between the two worlds. Let life help you unload the pain from the past. Just as they have inflicted your wounds in the past, let your soul siblings heal them for you. Let peace come into your life. Let the misunderstanding dissolve and hatred ease. Let life teach you who your true friends really are and that, in a weird way, everyone is here to help you.

After the healing of relationships you will also need to uninstall your belief systems which have confined your life thus far. You won’t know how you have created your own prisons until you have come across someone who is able to help you knock down your imaginary walls. Let your soul siblings show you the way. When it comes to creating your spiritual mission statement, magic will occur. There is probably a spiritual giant already in your vicinity. She will remove the first brick for you, and you will be encouraged to do the rest.

Detaching yourself from the mind will be an important step in the process. The mind creates all your fears and lets you live in a scary and illusionary world. Stepping outside of your mind will enable you to join the "real" life. You will literally see this world with new eyes when you step out of your imaginary mental world. Stepping out of your mind is actually not that hard to do once you follow the signals in everything you do. When you encounter love, joy, excitement and creativity in everything you do, the mind is simply too occupied to intervene. This is The Power of Now Eckhart Tolle refers to and you can very much experience it for yourself today

Regular meditation can help you getting in touch with that quiet Voice inside. Find a meditation which is easy for you, observe your breathing, exercise, sit quietly and observe what is going on inside of you. There is mindful living as well. We often write about this theme. You can be more mindful in everything you do, and - very much like you experience spring cleaning - the more mindful you are, the more opportunities to become mindful about you will discover. Once you are able to observe yourself and once you are present and still in all your daily activities, you will notice the presence of the Voice that always speaks second. Few people know that it exists because the voice that speaks first tends to drown it out. Mindful living and the power of Now will connect you with this ancient Voice. Once you have have heard Her at least once, the world we are talking about will be just around the corner.

Miracles can happen and they will happen as quickly as you are ready for them. Each time when fears, doubts, and other mental monsters pop up to the surface bear them patiently and remind yourself that they are standing between you and the "real" world. There is nothing you can do about them per se; if you think about them or if you become mad at the situation at hand or the people who ostensibly inflicted this pain, the more power you will give to them. Let life, the power of Now, the Tao help you dealing with them. For every problem that pops up, the Tao has already provided you with the ability to transcend it. The solution might appear miraculous to you, but every situation that needs healing will be made whole if you step up to the plate. Trust that your soul siblings hold the key to the lock that you need to open already in their hands. Miracles are everywhere once you are ready for them. Please join us in a world full of love, laughter and light!

By Christian and Su Zhen

The Present of Now

There is a force in you that is always eyeing the next opportunity, the next thing to say, the next person to hang out with instead of the one you are actually talking to. You are often not present at that holy moment now. For your anxiety-driven mind, it seems that there is always something more important than the activity or the person you are dealing with right now. With this endless restlessness, you never truly live in the moment because your mind is always somewhere else but here.

In life we get so easily lost, so we try to escape into alternative scenarios and fantasies. It is a vicious cycle, the more we are lost in life, the more restless and anxious we become, the more we are annoyed by the present situation and so more intensely do we aim to escape instead. Also, the more anxious we are, the less we feel inclined to do the activities that are spiritually meaningful to us, like meditation, writing, or going on nature walks. When we feel pressure, the voice in our head that wants to be in every situation but the one we are currently in goes into overdrive. We are literally fighting with a phantom in our head and the more we render control to him, the more exhausted and distracted we are going to be in the end. When our soul is sidelined by the voice in our head, we can not really see what other people need; we also cannot do what the holy situation demands of us. Because we are literally not there, we can also not really connect with the people we are with.

You may have read Eckhart Tolle's book that put him on the map in the spiritual community, The Power of Now. The irony was, when he wanted to publish his book he was first told that his idea was an old one. Well, lucky for us that he reminded us nevertheless of the Power of Now, in the same vein as we remind you today. There is nothing really you can do when you find that you are "there" in your mind instead of "here". All you can do is to realize for yourself, "Oh, I am thinking about my response instead of really listening to what my friend wants to tell me."

Aldous Huxley presented an idea that we could all live on an island surrounded by trained parrots who say " here" and " now" every 30 seconds to continuously remind us not to be sucked in by the voice in our head. Well, I venture to say that our voice in our head would even get used to that distraction. No, there is only one proven method to live in the now and that is to get sucked in by life. When we are way too engaged with what life demands of us, the " voice" in our head is simply to occupied to start a journey on its own. There is only one way to be in the presence always and that is when you learn for yourself that the now has a present for you in hand, no matter what. If you unwrap the Tao's present here and now with the same intensity as a child unwraps her gift on Christmas, then you know that you command the Power of Now. But please don't take it from us, please try this concept out for yourself.


By Christian and Su Zhen

Share Your Present With the World

We have chosen to become the messenger of the Tao in our writings, in our interactions with others and in the way we let Her flow through us. This mission is a process, an ongoing alignment with a Force that we both can see, sense, feel and often understand. Since this inspiration can't be taken for granted, and given that these moments of connectedness mean so much for us, we both do whatever we can to cut out interferences to the best of our abilities. We connect with the Tao when we write and when we are mindful of the moment and when we spend time with others. The beauty of being a Tao traveler is that you can find Her anywhere, at home, at work; wherever your heart is, She is as well. When you are connected to the Source, every activity becomes divine by itself because it is like God is leading Her life through you. How can you not feel joyful, peaceful, loving and creative when God is with you all the time?

Eckhart Tolle is right. Living in the Now means to be enlightened by life. Consciousness shines through you at the time when you share your present with others. In the Now, your ego dissolves and with it your worries, your burdens and suffering. When you are enlightened by life there is only joy, laughter, love, peace and serene energy.

You will find your unique way of connecting with the miracle of life. Anything that is dear to your heart can be an expression of your devotion to Her. Explore your interests and  hobbies and let life help you finding out how you can make a living out of it. Let it be writing, music, acting, cooking, drawing, science, learning, teaching or caring for others.  When you do what you love, Her consciousness is flowing through you. You are literally a magnet and you are attracting the opportunities to share your enthusiasm with the rest of the world, while the activity per se will be literally effortless.

The Bhagavad Gita says, "You have the right to express yourself creatively, but you have no right to the fruit of your action." This doesn't mean that you as a creator will end up penniless, all it says is, do not concern yourself with the rewards. Let life figure all this out for you. Don't get bogged down in trying to calculate how the world will evaluate your present. Your present is literally priceless and life will make sure that you have everything your heart truly desires. Let life show you the way how to transcend from "making a living" to "living to express your True Self".One fact you can be sure of, your loved ones will champion your creative outlet.They signed up for this role of seeing you excel in your spiritual dimension a long time ago.

Focus on your present and how to share it and don't lose sleep over what society may or may not value at the current moment. We are entering the Creative Age and with it a new mind set and openness for your creative self-expression. Share your present with the world. What are you waiting for?

By Christian and Su Zhen

Letting Go of Your Agenda

We have as much an ego as everybody else, but we have discovered a Force, the Tao that takes the steering wheel away from us. We temporarily disconnect from our agenda when we connect with Her. Once you walk the Tao you no longer can root for anything, and in the same way, you can no longer worry about anything either. You worry if you don't know what to do, right? But why would you worry if everything is connected along Her path just as 1 2 3 4 is? At every stage of the way you say yourself, I am just Her instrument; if a misstep happens I know I must have overlooked something, and She will let me know what it was so that I can do it better next time around. If everything works out beautifully, as it normally happens to be the case, how could we take any credit, it was all Her doing!

The ego is there but you disassociate from it. It is like you finally learn that you never run after the shiny objects any more that have gold written right next to them, because you have figured out that whenever gold is advertised in advance, the shiny material is of no value. Instead we have been asked to look for gold elsewhere: in the screaming brother standing next to us, or the smiling colleague who opens our door for us. The Tao is a new way of perceiving, and when we follow Her path, we are way too busy to think about our own agenda. Yes, we cannot help being selfless along the Tao, and everyone has the opportunity to connect with Her here and now just as we do. You just need to look out in the opposite direction of where the perceived gold lies. Of course it takes a certain spiritual maturity to be willing to run this experiment. Most people wouldn't do it because they are way too busy running after the perceived gold instead.

You know yourself that you are not really you, right? When you are young and attractive, you know that one day, the sexy guys will stop looking at you. You might be plain looking instead and so time may be on your side instead. With every decade that goes by, people might be more able to see your inner beauty, which is a nicer experience to have. You might be the successful businessman, or the well respected doctor, or the influential politician. No matter how hard you work, no matter how lucky you may be, or no matter how ruthlessly you try protecting what you have accumulated, there will be a day when you are perceived to be over the hill. And this day will hurt your ego. It has to happen, because it is your doing. It is you sending yourself a memo, 'Hey, this persona isn't you after all.' All of these images are adopted, and time will destroy what you have, or heal the pain you experienced in the past; change will come to teach you a lesson. This is your movie. So why do you identify with who you think you are? Why can't you just accept that you are an actor who will soon be in another movie? Along the Tao this big wake-up call isn't necessary because you get one every day instead!

The Tao gives you that chance to step outside of your agenda all the time. You don't need to wait for the so-called peak experience 'enlightenment' because you are way too busy forgetting yourself here and now. All you need to be willing is to submerge with life and be willing to be digested by it. 'The Power of Now 'that Eckart Tolle talks about can be experienced, and the Tao stands ready to connect you with it. As a first step, why don't you look into the opposite direction of what you have been doing thus far and you will not be able to miss Her.

Refining the Spiritual Path

Conjecture: Every spiritual insight has to have a scientific explanation, just as every scientific fact has to have a spiritual meaning.

As many of you know, I am a spiritual traveler, yet, my background is that of a scientist. I can't claim that I always have a rational explanation of everything that is happening along my path, but I can tell you that my aim in life is to make sense of what I see. We have entered the New Age and probably many millions are on a similar spiritual journey right now. As you broaden out the base of people who travel the path, you probably also create a multitude of new avenues towards wholeness. This image below might be a good illustration of our mission. No matter how deep we dig, no matter how liberal our approach, there will always be a new aspect that needs to be discovered and de-mystified. Take Eckhart Tolle and his 'The Power of Now' and you probably agree with me that almost everything that he describes sounds pretty rational and sane. Yet, he was a bit vague on his awakening process, saying that he fell into a deep depression and was then sucked into a mysterious vortex and when he woke up he saw the world with new eyes. In my case, I seem to experience this waking up process in slow motion - the psychological 'I' is being dismantled right in front of my eyes and the process seems to take years rather than a good night's sleep. In terms of the cartoon below, I am apparently zooming right into the 'and then a miracle happens' to make this process a little less mysterious to you. But then, something will probably remain mysterious in my process and it might well be your job to enlighten us on this next step. The movie will always be the same. No matter how far we advance, there will always be a dimension of consciousness greater than you ready to get discovered by the great generation that comes after us.

Dancing with the Now

A thought is dead material. Anticipate a situation and you are wasting your mental energy. Life is always so different from all your mental stretching exercises. Some of you may have read Eckart Tolle's 'The Power of Now' and you probably intuitively got what he was describing, yet, I ask you, when exactly do you experience the now? Aren't you experiencing the now when you are together with someone who you love and accept unconditionally? You talk, you laugh, you mimic her facial expressions. You actually dance with her at that priceless moment. Similarly, you can get completely lost experiencing nature, art, music, work, a movie, a video game or whatever else it is that completely catches your attention.  A breathtaking experience does something more than taking your breath away: the now takes your thoughts away. 

A Tao traveler is introduced to the now. Again and again the spiritual travelers learns that the unexpected is your friend, that every fearful anticipation is met with an unexpected turn. The Tao traveler learns that life is so much more than fiction and understands that unconditional openness to life is something one can look forward to. 'Be ye as little children', Jesus said. Well, that's what children do, they dance with the now without any preconceived notions. See for yourself, you are not to old to dance, are you?

The Attention of a Tao Traveler

Legend has it that just days before the Great Crash of 1929 a wealthy investor pulled all his money out of the stock market because a shoe polisher was telling him how much money he had made in equities.

 Whether this story is true or not, the Tao operates exactly like that. Every interaction, every word, every gesture has a meaning for you, but you can only truly appreciate if you approach everyone and every situation without any preconceived notion. Life appears like a giant painting, displayed in many dimensions, while being rolled out over time. When you embrace the Tao completely, you cannot help living in  Eckhart Tolle's now, because otherwise you would be missing an essential ingredient. When you are with people you have the chance to get completely lost. In this word, thoughts come to a standstill and you are just reacting to the music of the magnificent play. Along the Tao there is complete attention and with it you will never miss a beat because along it, everything follows as naturally as if connected with a magic red threat.

When you meet someone who you consider annoying make the effort to understand why. Don't just wish this person to go away, because this character, in one form or another, will come back. You attract this character like a magnet, but once you have found the personal message you either will change your opinion or the annoying character will leave your life altogether. The Persian Poet Hafiz discovered some 700 years ago 'Everybody is God speaking, so why not be polite and listen!' Everything and everyone is the Tao at work, once you realize this, true creativity will flow from you.