Enthusiasm, Exuberance and Serenity

My father suffers from bi-polar, which is also sometimes referred to as manic depression. It is a horrible affliction and while his conditions have improved somewhat in recent years, it was a huge burden for him over several decades.They say that the bi-polar disease is genetic, and given that I am like my father in many ways, I certainly keep an eye out on potential symptoms in me and have been reading a fair bit on the subject as well. For example, did you know that there is even a milder form, bi-polar II, which may not have the manic episodes attached so it is often misdiagnosed as an outright depression.

A spiritual path traveler understands something about manic phases because along the path you cannot help being 'high on life' more often than not. During that phase you feel so in tune with everything that is happening in your life that you literally feed of the energies of your environment very much as you share your abundant energies with others. You are certainly enthusiastic given that the root of the word implies 'possessed by God'. You may even be exuberant on occasions, but you also know that you have to keep that phase to yourself. No, when you are connected to God or the Tao, you experience a clarity of thinking and a focus that you have never experienced before. Manic depressed in contrast think they are in tune in their exuberant phase, yet they are completely disconnected with their environment. Traveling along the Tao is the polar-opposite of that experience. As Jesus said, 'You shall recognize them by their fruit and they shall know themselves." When you travel along the Tao, everything should make sense all the times - this hardly is the case for a manic depressed.

Spiritual path travelers certainly can be moody just because there are days when this divine connection is less apparent. There are simply negative energy fields around on some days that disturb this free energy exchange with the Source. This is a horrible experience compared to the high phase, but it has to be accepted very much as every period of sunshine has to make way to clouds and rains. Who knows whatever the psychological benefit of these more sobering periods are, but you never fall in a dark hole just because you always know that the Tao is out there waiting to connect with you whenever you have worked through whatever it is that separates you from the Tao at that time.

It is a mistake to think that the chemical imbalances in our brains or our genetic propensity to experience these mental states are disconnected from what we do and what our life is all about. Nassir Ghemi wrote an interesting book in ''A First-Rate Madness' in which he makes the cases that many exceptional leaders in exceptional circumstances led as effectively as they did because of their propensity to experience mental bi-polar or depression states. He cites Churchill and FDR in the political realm as examples. His observation certainly also applies to our artistic community since the enthusiastic and sometimes even manic phases often correlate with extra-ordinary artistic inspiration. I would also think that our spiritual community has that susceptibility for creativity, which likely comes with some moodiness attached.

I sometimes wonder whether - on a soul level - my father carried this incredible burden to allow me to experience the bliss I do. Anyway, I would conclude that you don't need to worry much about manic depression. Along the Tao you cannot fall into the trap of disconnecting with your environment because your many soul siblings as well as everything that happens in our life will ensure that you are always connected. And if once in a blue moon you really have a fit of exuberance or depression, the Tao will also make sure that you will be in your private corner at this time and that no harm comes your way.

Leidenschaft

Leidenschaft is the German word for passion and translates its Greek meaning right into your face: 'creates suffering'. It is just that as a German native you still forget that the word has a negative meaning since you associate a positive mental image with the concept of being passionate about something.

The Indian Gita is full of advice to avoid passion: do what seems right in the now without being emotionally tied to anything. Well, the Gita has been written for Gods; we mortals cannot help but to follow our passions like the bear is after the honey, and actually should continue on this path. If we were to suppress our passions in the name of spirituality, all we can do it to create a monster that will be soon out to get us.

When you are emotionally tied to something, you will get a lesson one way or another. So do the best you can do, express yourself creatively, look out for the impact of your actions on others, but just get it done with. Once you experience the feedback loop of the universe, you hopefully will in time grow out of your passion and are ready to transcend to the next spiritual level. To use myself as an example, I have always been quite indifferent about money and wealth, but I am still actively learning my lessons in the power and sex categories.

So while there is nothing you can do about your passions except to follow them, you can observe when your blood is bubbling up inside. Enjoy that micro second of sanity when you say to yourself 'Oh, I am being passionate again', before you trod down your honey path again.

The spiritual community prefers the word enthusiasm over passion, which means inspired by God in Greek. So my favorite notion of bliss is experiencing your tao moment by moment while drifting like a leaf in the wind without being swayed by your personal urges. The Germans have the word Begeisterung , i.e. the spirit (Geist) is with or inside you.

Well, may the Geist be with you,
Zeitgeist

What Fires Together Wires Together

"What fires together wires together", Patt Lind-Kyle writes in "Heal your mind, rewire your brain" and this expression struck a cord with me. Watch out when the neurons fire passionately because chances are you are forming a track in your brain, a new thought pattern or memory, that will be hard to erase. The tao of life is to glide through life without any attachments. Once you are hooked, your spiritual journey will have to take a brake until you find a way to disentangle yourself again.

Passion versus enthusiasm - many spiritual writers use both words interchangeably, but my way of looking at the two expression is: 'passion,' the stuff that hooks you versus 'enthusiasm', the state of serene joy. These days when my neurons are firing the observer in me wakes up and says "oh, what was that about?" It is the same as a flash of fear, only the I perceives this state as positive instead.You cannot change the mental bubbles that are rising to the surface, but you can change the behaviour leading up to the event. The more mindful your behaviour is, the better your changes to stop the train of thoughts before it leaves the station.

Mind your passions, but may you experience many blissful and enthusiastic moments in your life!