Attachment

Attachment is idolatry.  Letting go is the opposite of idolatry.

Habits and Feeling

Unconscious habits impede feeling. Conscious habits clarify and intensify feeling.

Conscious Habits

Conscious awareness of habits makes you more flexible.

Flexibility and Habits

Flexibility is the capacity to constantly monitor and alter your habits and routines.

Adaptation and Habit

We need habits and routines to get through day-to-day life, yet the ability to adapt and change is the key to long-term well-bing.

Where am I?

Where am I? Here? Or there?

When We Change

When we change, others change. When we heal, others heal. When we love, others love.

The Road Less Traveled II

I did not realize I had take the road less traveled until I was far along it.

The Road Less Traveled I

The road less traveled has no sign posts.

Time

Time is not for filling, but for feeling.

Memory

Everything will be forgotten.  Nothing will be forgotten.

When the Ground Shakes

When the ground shakes beneath us, look inward.  There is our foundation.

When the Ground Shakes

When the ground shakes beneath us, look inward. There is our foundation.

Surrender

The greater the stress, the more you need to let go and surrender.

Surrender

The greater the stress, the more you need to let go and surrender.

Meeting People

Meet people where they are rather than where you would like them to be.

Dianne and I

Dianne and I sitting across from each other at adjoining tables.  What could be better?

Unlikely Animal Friends

Thanks to Deirdre Good for bringing this to my attention: the unlikely friendship of an orangutan and a hound dog.  A great story of sharing and fun.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/unlikely-animal-friends-4317/Overview

Decline of Human Violence

Decline of Human Violence

http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_is_there_peace/

This article by Steven Pinker (from Dianne Bazell) briefly reviews the substantial evidence for the decline of human violence over the millennia (see also the excellent book by Gwynne Dyer, War: The Lethal Custom). When I would get up in a front of a class (including my classes on the holocaust, genocide, and violence) or in front of public groups, I would explain to people that, as horrifying as these events are, we are less murderous toward one another than at other times. The most violent cultures, in fact, have been hunter-gatherer societies. I would explain that groups have committed genocide throughout all of human history, and there has been precious little criticism of it. Religious texts (including scriptures) frequently sanction it. People generally refuse to believe me, but the evidence is very clear about the increasing value of life for human beings. Sometimes I use this as an example to explain the validity of the Enlightenment notion of human progress, but many just close their ears to this. I think what is difficult for people to comprehend is that human beings can be so hideous to one another and that, ever though we often treat one another in repellent ways, we now treat one another slightly less repellently than we have in the past.

From a spiritual point of view, I see this as an part of the unfolding evolution of human and planetary consciousness (Teilhard de Chardin would have a lot to say about this). This is a good thing, but it reminds us of our shadow side, and we don’t like it and cannot accept that we still have it with us. So part of the process involves recognizing our shadow components, accepting them while not indulging them, and moving toward a more harmonious level of awareness.

The best way to do this is not to deny the our nature as aggressive beings, but to harness our competitive impulses to make the world a better place

Body Sensations

One of my practices is to focus my awareness on different parts of my body. Today I settled on my foot : particularly the heel, the ball, and each toe. Feeling my toes against a wall not only connects me to my to toes, but it also has the effect of rebalancing the muscles, tendons, and skeletal structure of my feet. It alters my torso as well and also helps to align my head, neck, and spine.

Freshly Laundered Clothes

I enjoy the sensation of freshly laundered clothes. It gives me a feeling of freshness, comfort, and possibilities.

Breaking Habits

Today I realized that breaking habits sometimes gives me more energy. I went on my daily walk, and it rained in a sun shower. That was new and energizing. Then I visited a friend recovering from a heart attack, and just hanging out with him allowed me to relax and feel a sense of calm that was not present earlier in the day.

The Text of the Hebrew Bible Was Not Permanently Fixed

Recently Oxford University Press published a book, which looks of great interest.  Though I have not yet read it and cannot vouch for it, the author presents a thesis that alerts us all (scholars and lay both) to the proverbial elephant in the room:  B. Barry Levy, Fixing God’s Torah:  The Accuracy of the Hebrew Bible Text in Jewish Law (New York, Oxford:  Oxford University Press, 2001).  For text critics (those who work with the original manuscripts) and those who read them, knowledge of the biblical text’s fluidity comes as no surprise.  From biblical versions found at Qumran (the Dead Sea Scrolls) and from the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible), from the second century BCE to the first century CE, we know that the biblical text varied from source to source.  Yet, most of us still work and study  “as if” the Masoretes got it absolutely right in the Middle Ages:  we have the correct text.  Now Barry Levy apparently shows that the rabbis of antiquity did not even agree on the notion of an immutable text and recognized the need to “correct” the text.  He provides a plethora of evidence.  Wow.  That’s kind of an earthquake.  Even the very traditional rabbinic tradition seemingly acknowledged that the text of the Torah was not permanently fixed.  Should provide for lots of lively discussion.

Name of God (not G-d)

The name of God in Hebrew is yod-heh-waw-heh, with no vowel points, i.e. the Tetragrammaton (“four letters”).  Originally, that word would have had vowel points, but we don’t know what they are for sure.  In order to avoid saying the name of God, the Jews of antiquity changed the vowel points and said “adonai” (“Lord”) instead.  Now we have others who simply say “ha-Shem” (“the name”) which makes sense because yod-heh-waw-heh is in fact the name of God.  But the name of “God” for Jews is “yod-heh-waw-heh,” not “God.”  The word for “God” in Hebrew is “Elohim.”   Thus:  “Elohim” = the concept of God; “yod-heh-waw-heh” = the name of God.  Some have started to spell the word, “God” in the form of “G-d,” equating this with the Hebrew.  This is English, however, and “God” is not a Hebrew word.  There is no need to use the spelling, “G-d,” which in fact communicates the misimpression that “God” is also a Jewish name–it’s not.  The name of God is and has always been “yod-heh-waw-heh.”  The word, “God” is not the equivalent of “yod-heh-waw-heh,” but rather “Elohim.”  In my opinion, “G-d” is a misnomer.

Self-Interest and World Repair

The Source implanted self-interest in humans in order that they might be able to repair the world.

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