Wednesday, April 19, 2006

How many times have you clicked on a blog and had to witness the spectacle of some housewife in Oshkosh bragging about her kids, her husband, her dog, her lawn? Didn't it make you want to puke? It sure does me...that's why THIS blog is NOT about ME!!! This blog focuses on things we all share in common.....discovering what life is all about, how to deal with stressful situations, delving into the very essence of life, time, space and meaning. We as humans are born with an innate hunger for knowledge, a natural curiosity which compels us to discover that which is unknown, correct that which is false, and establish some sort of rapport with the Cosmos, or, at least, make a little more sense of it. Turn on the TV and the swill emanating from the screen is so horrible it has become a form of torture...nowhere does there appear any source which smacks of truth, compassion, honesty and forthrightness. Everything in the media has evolved into bytes of banality, disjointed bits of disparate information that form no Whole, only a helter-skelter patchwork of commercialized, special effects-filled blotches of hogwash. Is it any wonder that drugs, booze, medications, etc have taken over millions? What is needed is a new way of looking at things, a fresh glimpse into the phenomenon we call life. What is it that produces happiness? Why are so few people happy?... happiness is simply being content with the way things are and with what you have. It's that simple. If you live in a small house in the country, to be happy is to be content in that small house and not want a huge house...if you drive a 95 Taurus, and it's still in good shape, why would you want to go and put yourself in debt all over again buying a new car? If you have some decent clothes in the closet, why go out and run up the credit cards on expensive clothes? It seems we have been brainwashed by the media into thinking that there is never enough of anything, that bigger is better, newer is essential, that the Jones must never get ahead of us...Well, the Jones are struggling just like us...they would like to be content with what they have, they don't need the aggrevation any more than we do...Once we have reconciled ourselves to the fact that we must put limits on our desires, the rest is easy. We need only to evaluate our lives in terms of what produces the greatest harmony...the least negative energy. There is a final goal to life, something that goes beyond careers, beyond relationships, beyond every ephemeral phenomenon. That is the realization that there is more than this small planet and a 75 year stint in this particular body. The Cosmos created us, and back into the Cosmos we shall merge, ready or not. The individual who has been successful in achieving a higher level of consciousness through meditation, introspection and a cleansing of the self will be able to establish a rapport with the Cosmos, a connection with whatever is up there that calls the shots. This is actually the gist of it....allowing the mind and spirit to be enveloped in an aura of "Cosmic Awareness" a hightened sense of self, a place of bliss and tranquility that is insulated from banality and derives its essence from the timeless universe that surrounds us.....Once we have shed our mundane suits of armour we enter a level of consciousness which affords us a glimpse into the Cosmic Beyond, that unknown place where we began and where we return...it is in that place that we realize that our 75 year stint was just a short sojourn to which we need attach no undue importance...We live on...perhaps we will don other bodies, experience other sojourns, perhaps just merge back into the primordial essence of the Cosmos...makes no difference...When we reach this level, death becomes a non-event, as death is but a portal that leads elswhere..and nobody is too concerned about walking through a door...So, we strive to quiet our mind so as to be able to allow it to evolve and develop..to grow closer to the eternal Whole which envelops time, space and thought...Being happy is living in the present moment...not dreaming about the future nor pining over the past, but actually living moment by moment, in real time, completely in tune with the environment and with a focused mind. ..Unfortunately, our thoughts have a tendency to drift and wander...we lose focus...we spend a large part of our time wondering what life COULD be like instead of actually living the life we have..this makes life a spectator sport...we drool over the lives of celebs, while our lives languish and whither away...But is the life of a celeb really so spectacular? Sure, they have more money than we do, but who's to know if they are any happier? In fact, being in the spotlight creates problems that people like us don't have to concern ourselves with...No Papparazzis are going to chase us into a tunnel and cause us to crash...we can go about the task of squeezing every last ounce of joy and happiness out of our lives in peace..Focusing on the present moment, intently observing all that takes place within our domain, savouring each tidbit, that is the secret of a happy life....