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דoʈalitariaῃ דoŗtillą Thank you, Sir. Sometimes I feel separate and alone when I post something that isn't flippant and that I, in fact, am very passionate about. I have nothing against crickets but they weave a lonely song. It's really a natural state that we seek, this
being on the right spiritual path
. Occasionally, I'll recognize someone as being "in the moment" and then realize that they are completely unaware of its significance. I'm not saying that they take it for Granted, per se, just that they've discovered no other way to approach life and living...yet. I say "yet" because it's often the children who operate in this framework which, imho, is a "child-like" state (not to be confused childishness). It's interesting to note that Jesus (the famous one), mentions this idea a couple times (to paraphrase from heresay, since I don't presume to be able to quote someone who may or may not have lived 2000 years ago):
"Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children."
...if you do not humble yourself like a little child you may never enter the kingdom of heaven...
The first thought was in response to being asked who is the greatest in the the kingdom of heaven. And both thoughts may be interpreted as pointing to the guileless, the transparent in word and deed (therefore the simple), those that take joy in life moment to moment and who are unencumbered with the need to lie cheat or steal and find their heaven here on Earth. If this is paradise then isn't this then not also heaven? Oh, this goes so much deeper than just these ideas. And don't me wrong here. I am not a christian nor do I typically quote Jesus (the famous one) or the Bible (in it's multitude of translations and interpretations). But there is wisdom to be found in such sources and I cite these to assist me in finding my own path and only share my thoughts to give another the opportunity to see what brings me in this direction. I'm no expert on any of this by any means and feel an almost automatic disdain towards anyone who claims to be. The journey is an individual one within a framework of commonality of experience. And it IS a journey and the journey IS the destination. Citing such sources always carries the risk of alienating some while inciting who may wish rather to choose sides rather than see that are no sides, there is only Truth. Okay, it's too easy for me to go off on tangents and then start appearing "preachy" or 'airy" as i get overly wordy. Let me see if I can bring this back to my original line of thought which is rarely a true line, in that it is not linear, but more often best described by any of the conical sections, parabolic or circular come most readily to my mind.
You've eloquently stated the problem,
because I've changed, the ways I've previously dealt with fear or lived my life no longer apply
. It's these things that will take us from our path if we are not mindful or aware enough to realize that we cling to these mechanisms of coping only through deceiving ourselves consciously, subconsciously, or even unconsciously through denial and other forms of lying. Sometimes, even though we are aware that these mechanisms no longer apply, or never really were as effective as we thought, we insist on holding onto them, often to our own bewilderment and dismay. Drug abuse or alcohol abuse are superb examples of this. My buddy, an M.D. whose work has included trying to "treat' such "diseases" has come to the realization that these destructive behaviors are nothing more than errant attempts at finding happiness. To me this means that the high gave a false sense of coming back to synchronicity or alignment with the path to happiness and developed into self-destructive behavior patterns because the false sense (lie) was believable enough to continue pursuing despite the obvious consequences and evidence to the contrary. Western medicine assigns false and failed diagnoses in the form of "isms" and "syndromes" to such maladies and then try to treat without any understanding of the mind/body relationship. They're doomed to fail more often than not and therefore cannot be relied on. Mindful meditation is a simple, yet difficult to comprehend and effectively practice, means of exposing these lies we tell ourselves. It is a means focusing on the breath (a word derived from
spiritus or Spirit) without blocking our thoughts, but rather acknowledging them, accepting them, and setting them aside so that our focus can discover their intent and through these realizations can intuitively be rearranged. I say intuitively because our logical minds are too easily swayed by the subjective mature of irrationality. Our own thoughts become our worst enemies and mindfullness provides a means to get to the kernel of what is real aka Truth. Like the journey of life it is a practice that is not never perfected but is rather in and of itself perfection. And that's the Truth.
This is where i'll usually apologize for rambling and bow out of writing any continuances of my thoughts but this time i'll simply say that if you've bothered to read this with an open mind and found something useful for yourself, or maybe even decided that i'm not so insane as some folks might believe, then I'm grateful. If not, I'm still grateful. If only I could just have the image of my thoughts imprinted on a medium without having to meticulously place them there one by one without digressing and without missing something I wanted to express...well, what would be the fun in that?
I like your gaming analogy BTW. You have a good mind and certain talents that i hope you see and will continue to develop.
peace
