Spiritual trendiness

Joseph Campbell

“When you find an author who really grabs you, read everything he has done. Don’t say, ‘Oh, I want to know what So-and-so did’ — and don’t bother at all with the best-seller list. Just read what this one author has to give you. And then you can go read what he had read. And the world opens up in a way that is consistent with a certain point of view. But when you go from one author to another, you may be able to tell us the date when each wrote such and such a poem — but he hasn’t said anything to you.”
- Joseph Campbell

Shrine of Rumi, Konya, Turkey. The turquoise-tiled minaret shows where Rumi is buried.

Rumi’s grave (May eternal peace be upon him)

I remember while in Turkey, taking a long weekend off of work to journey to Konya to watch the Whirling Dervishes, the mystical Islamic Sufi order established by Jalaluddin Rumi (or Mevlana as he is known by in Turkey), dance the Sema dance and to visit Rumi’s grave. I’m sure you’ve seen in either in ads or commercials or documentaries.

To outsiders who don’t know any better, it just looks like a group of men in long flowing white skirts and jackets, wearing fez hats, twirling around in circles. The Sema, in fact has a deeper symbolism. The circles they dance in represents the Circle of Life. Birth, death and rebirth. Fall, winter, spring and summer. The blood in our bodies being pumped out by the heart to only return back to the heart. The examples are infinite. It induces a trance-like state for the dancer which is supposed to help them meet with That, like ayahuasca might for some or peyote for others.

Mevlana was actually born in present-day Afghanistan, wrote all his poetry in the Persian language and is buried in present-day Turkey.

Back them, Rumi was not the spiritual superstar that New Agers and certain yoga instructors these days love to quote. In fact even 10 years ago, I’m sure if you even mentioned Rumi to those who were knee-deep in Deepak Chopra-speak or Wayne Dyer-speak, they wouldn’t even know who or what you were talking about. It’s interesting to watch because since the Rumi train seems to be slowing down now, I’ve noticed that the Deepak/Dyer crowd have now jumped on another mystical Islamic, Persian poet, namely Hafiz. (I’m betting after they get sick of or run out of the Persian poets, they’ll return to the Russians like Alexander Blok, and Pushkin and then heaven forbid, the old Europeans mystics like William Blake, W.B Yeats, Goethe, Meister Eckhart and Emanuel Swedenborg. It’s always about finding a “new” bottle for old wine.)

When western yoga instructors “discover” Emanuel Swedenborg, will that lead to a revival of interest in Christian mysticism? Your guess is as good as mine…

Truth be told, I find the sudden interest in Islamic mysticism by some Westerners and bubble-headed yoga instructors who are normally Conservative, Republican, right-wing and very anti-Arab or anti-Muslim, strange to put it mildly. True, the poetry of Rumi and Hafiz have inspired wonderment across centuries. If you have even the smallest spiritual inclination in you, you can’t help but be touched by their words. But before Rumi, it was the Khalil Gibran train. Before Gibran, it was Marianne Williamson and Neale Donald Walsch. It’s this constant hopping around because it’s a trend, without any real study or serious reflection on the works of these past masters and then passing it off as “This makes me look serious” which I take issue with.

if you want to be trendy with what you wear and what you eat, fine. But don’t expect anyone to take you seriously if you do it with your spirituality.

And this brings me back to Campbell’s quote above. I have to agree with Campbell 150% on this one. It is best to find someone whose words ring so deeply and so true for you that you will need to read up on all their works to process and internalize their ideas and sentiments properly. That’s when you start to “get” them properly. One spiritual master whose words have consistently resonated deeply with me, as I have posted many times here is Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov.

It was Neem Karoli Baba who gave him the name “Omraam” and it was Nityananda who explained that Aivanhov was an incarnation of Vedic sage from the Solar Age and in fact had come back to bring back the Solar teachings. Apparently he also met the legendary Babaji in the Himalayas as well but he refused to talk about it.

Like all seekers at the beginning of their road, I did my fair share of hopping as well. Not because a certain writer was the flavour of the month but because I was searching. I read George Gurdjieff, Rudolph Steiner, tried Jiddu Krishnamurti and Theosophy in earnest but none of it seemed to “stick” for lack of a better word. But with Aivanhov, it was like remembering a deeply treasured memory which had been forgotten and a flood of light breaking through a door. I’ve been reading Aivanhov since at least 1996 and have never looked back.
In fact here’s a photo of my Aivanhov bookshelf;

Like I posted recently, these days it’s also Alan Watts which is speaking to me (thank God for YouTube!). While I don’t see myself going to Japan to study Zen in all seriousness with a proper Zen master ( and I’m not even sure if the monasteries there even accept women!), Watts, like Aivanhov, was/is able to synthesize the Perennial teachings along with recent scientific findings and present it with their own flair and in such a way the modern reader/listener can connect instantly.

That is a rare talent and not one which New Age hucksters can ever master convincingly.

An experiment in Earth Healing

This enchanting house is located on an island called Elliðaey near Vestmannaeyjar, a small archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. In 2000 the house was given to singer, Bjork from her motherland as a “Thank You” for putting Iceland on the international map.

I have seen signs. The end of the world as we know it has begun. Don’t panic. It might look terrifying on the surface, but inside every human being is a choice to act out of fear or love. Earth is calling. God is calling. Sky is calling. Creation is calling. Wake up. Wake up now. Generate the capacity for love, for compassion in your heart. Now is the time to yield to the call of growth, to the call of action. You, you are the change makers. Sleepers of all ages, wake up. Wake up now.

- Poem by Icelandic Parliamentarian and WikiLeaks representative, Birgitta Jónsdóttir, on “Democracy Now!” (at 14:58)

Like I posted in one of my very first blog-posts  Iceland is indeed proving itself to be a high-frequency consciousness country over and over again. This is a country that had the foresight to jail their bankers who created the financial meltdown of 2008, then forgave every one of their debt. The result that they are now one of the most financially robust economies in the world. More recently, Iceland has decided to push legislation against internet pornography because of the damaging effects it has on women in the industry as well as the scarring if little-understood effects it has on children who are exposed to this material before they are ready to handle it.

Then I watched the recent interview with   Birgitta Jónsdóttir on “Democracy Now!” linked above and I thought to myself “*THIS* is the kind of politician we need everywhere folks. Now.”

Birgitta Jónsdóttir – Class Act

Can you ever imagine you local politician ever writing something like her poem and then reading it out loud in front of a political prisoner’s jail? None around my neck of the woods, that’s for sure…One of the things I’ve always admired about the Nordic and Scandinavian countries is this very pragmatic outlook they have on things. They don’t give a rat’s ass about politics or stepping on some billionaire or politician’s toes but rather ask “Does this work?” and if it does, employ it and get rid of whatever doesn’t.

Did you know that Iceland grow their own bananas in their greenhouses because it’s cheaper to do so than to import them from overseas? Also the fact that the island is volcanic and geothermally active ensures they have all the cheap heat they need. (Do you see any agro-business or oil companies having a fit now?)

 A few weeks ago Waking Times posted a very interesting article on “How We Create Reality”. Normally, I have a hard time digesting magical thinking and can’t tolerate stuff like “The Secret” or books like those by Og Mandino.

No. Just no.

However this article was a little different in that it addressed how to actually negate poor self-image and also the fact that what other people think of us does end up affecting us, which is why it’s important to drop those frenemies and surround yourself with people who really do have your best interests at heart, an important point which many of these New Age pot boilers fail to mention.

Gwynnie-poo and Madonna, classic frenemies, any wonder why they don’t hang together anymore?

I then thought about  Birgitta’s  poem and what effect , if any, there could be if indeed many people, instead of focusing on complicated systems and complicated daydream scenarios or visions lasting 20 minutes, instead repeatedly focused on one simple image, like the article suggests.

Would it really change anything?

So Shifters, here’s a simple experiment for you, should you want to join in (if you don’t, that’s cool too).

Here’s an innocent image below, all it is a vision of a Tibetan Mandala. Specifically, the Mandala of Auspicious Beginnings . In Mahayana Buddhism, the ideal is the Bodhisattva, one who has taken the vow to become a Buddha, an enlightened one. The maṇḍala, a symbol of the universe in Buddhist cultures, depicts the three great Bodhisattvas who represent the power, wisdom, and compassion of the Buddhas. This maṇḍala was  to invoke the blessings of the Bodhisattvas.
Don’t think about how-tos, wherefores, whys or what-ifs  or any of the rest. Just commit the image to memory and remember it as vividly as you can and remember it several times a day, even for a second or two.  Share it with as many people as you want.

It’s just an experiment, let’s just see where this goes, shall we ?

The Berkshires Earth Grid, Dowsers and the Hawkins Calibration scale

The Berkshires in Western Massachusetts is a weird and wonderful place. An area intersected by the old Mohawk Trail, gentle undulating, fertile valleys, fresh water springs, old New England towns full of (usually haunted) Victorian mansions and a strange ability to attract big-time celebrities who decide to buy local homes/estates and settle down to non-LA/non-Hollywood lives and run “gentleman farms” (i.e not real farms). It’s easy to see why Gothic horror writers like John Bellairs based their books on the area and architecture.

A typical sort of Victorian mansion you see all over small-town New England.

Once upon a time, men and women would gussy themselves up and put on scarves, gloves and maybe driving goggles and take off with the wind to discover new vistas, and see where the roads would take them.

The Grand Dame of Art Deco herself, Tamara de Lempicka in her “Autoportrait”

Drives were considered to be adventures in themselves, a romantic way of travelling which we seem to have lost these days. The Mohawk Trail, aside from having an interesting history was one of America’s first scenic drive routes. I did it earlier this week while visiting a few psychic and dowser friends in the area.

My friend, Peter Champoux, is a dowser and earth grid reader and earth healer. A few years ago, he wrote a book called “The Gaia Matrix” and using the earth energy grid and the natural rock formations and geography, he’s able to locate energy vortexes in just about any given area. I’m sure some of you have heard of ley lines, dragon lines, energy lines which traverse this planet and where some mighty interesting stuff have a tendency being built up on. The Chinese art of feng shui is practically entirely based on this science.

The art and science of finding ley lines can get complicated very quickly.

I’m naturally a bit skeptical of things unless I can experience them or figure it out on my own but I’ve had my own experiences in Cappadocia (where I thrived), Peru (where I blissed out)  and Washington D.C (where I nearly died) so I know these things are real.

Masonic map of Washington, D.C including the Owl

When we went driving through some of the energy vortexes which he had mapped out in the local area, no joke, I was literally taken out and almost immediately fell asleep as a result. That has never happened to me before. Peter’s grid is a little different from others that he places the center of the American grid squarely in New England and not Washington, DC which other maps do.

Peter’s map

Why? Because the high-frequency side of American culture is centered in New England, the home of the New England Transcendentalists like Thoreau, Emerson, Whitman, and writers like Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne, including dozens of Native American holy sites –> good, enlightening energy as opposed to the gross, dirty energy which an imperialist political capital like Washington D.C or a cultural capital like Los Angeles or economic capital like NYC generates.

Who in their right mind would want an pit like Las Vegas to be their energetic capital?

(Want to find the energy hot spots in your neck of the woods? Get out there and start looking at the natural land formations, the history of those places and then see how you really feel when you get there. There are spots literally everywhere but it takes some detective work finding them.)

His next project will be to use the Hawkins Calibration scale for assessing the frequencies of some of these vortexes which leads me into the work of David R. Hawkins. I did not know of his work until I heard about it through Peter and it is indeed transformational stuff and a powerful tool anyone can use for themselves.

David R. Hawkins

Hawkins was a kinesiologist and psychiatrist who developed his universal scale for assessing in the most basic terms possible, whether something, someone, some place is really good for you (and only you) or not. People have been known to calibrate food at the supermarket before buying it! You can figure this out by seeing that things which are good and closer to Universal Consciousness will automatically rate higher and those which are either worse or just plain bad will rate lower. The idea being that anything which rates 200 or below is not worth your time while things which rate above 600 is getting into high-frequency territory. 1000 is in the territory of Enlightenment. Here’s the scale.

So….how do you do it, right? Several methods exist, you can do the arm test like Hawkins demonstrates in this video or you can use a pendulum, one which you have cleared, attuned to you and keep safely away from other people’s use and psychic influence.

Hand pendulum

The better you get at it, the faster the readings come. I was shown how to use the pendulum method ( you need to use a heavy one). You basically need to ask the pendulum to give you a “yes” and see how it moves (circle? clockwise? counterclockwise? side to side? back and forth?). Once it shows you how it says “yes”, you need to ask for a “no” and see how it moves for that. Then you need to for “Maybe” or “Can’t answer now”.

I’ve been going crazy with my pendulum all week but here’s an example of how to do a calibration:

1) Print up a picture of say a place you’re thinking of going to (eg. Costa Rica)
2) Hold pendulum over this picture and ASK directly, “What is the calibration for Costa Rica?”
3) Watch pendulum move, how is it moving according to your “Yes”, “No” or “Maybe”?
4) Start counting. If it moves for example from the beginning side to side, go with that. Count 100 (still side to side), 200 (same), 300 (suddenly changes direction). Then you know that Costa Rica is somewhere between 200-300 for you at that specific time.
If you want to know the exact number, you can then start counting in increments of 10 from 200, say it starts changing direction at 280, that will probably be your Hawkins calibration for Costa Rica. In other words, not very good so don’t go there.

Granted these things are highly subjective and probably change all the time, but if its using your own energetic field and no one else’s, I think there’s some merit to that. Hawkins’ methods have many sceptics as well but like I have said earlier, experience is usually the best teacher, you’re your own best judge to see what will work for you and what won’t. As far as I’m concerned, it never hurts to add to your own bag of tricks. The ability and talent for discernment is far under-rated nowadays.

The Futility of Permanence

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away

-Ozymandias, Percy Bysshe Shelley

Visit any ancient monumental site, whether it’s in Egypt,

Abu Simbel, Egypt

Turkey,

Nemrut, Dag, Turkey

Sri Lanka,

Reclining Buddha at Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka

or even ancient Greece,

The Kouros of Samos, Greece

and you’ll quickly realize many of these ancient kings, emperors and conquerors were megalomaniacs, building this statue or that temple, like in Shelley’s poem, trying to stake their tiny claim in the face of eternity.

Unfortunately, monuments, cities and buildings eventually fall into disrepair or ruin. Things like climate changes, wars and the march of time have a funny way of doing that. History is full of examples of civilizations or cities disappearing altogether, like in the case of the River Menderes silting up the plains and thus precipitating the ruin of the ancient Roman city of Ephesus, or an earthquake swallowing a city whole in the case of Antioch or even a city being abandoned completely because the Uzboy river dried up  like the ancient Khwarezm civilization  in Turkmenistan.

All that’s left of an ancient Kwarezm city, Turkmenistan

I will on occasion usually watch cheesy awards shows like the Oscars. The fanfare, the pre-awards shows where plastic hosts ooh’s and aah’s over the actresses (usually) gaudy gowns while acting like the actor or actress’ bit of acting work has somehow achieved world peace or cured cancer, and now the post-ceremony parties.

Scarlett Johannson and Isaac Mitzrahi in a major faux-pas on the red carpet

It shows up the worst of vulgar celebrity culture. I don’t care about the winners anymore since in my mind, the Oscars lost their credibility a long time ago (if you’re a serious film fan and want to know the movies worth watching, keep a close eye on the winners at the Cannes, Telluride, Berlin and Venice film festivals as well as the NYC and London Critics Circle Awards). It’s a popularity contest for those playing the Hollywood game and for insiders to come out and prance about like peacocks. Many people who go into film, and especially into acting or directing, I think are also striving for eternal immortality, maybe not in marble statues anymore like the old Greek gods and Roman emperors but definitely on celluloid. What is today’s winner quickly becomes yesterday’s trivia. (Think fast: Which film won “Best Picture” in 1974? Do you know? Do you care? Has it changed anything?)

Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean

Mikhael Aivanhov had a wonderful quote on eternity and permanence (which I’m still looking for) which I read years ago, that even if you strive for permanence on the material plane, that eventually it will fall into ruin, whether it’s a political ideology, an invention or a monument. That often, very quickly after you die, even after all the hard work you put in trying to achieve something permanent or immortal, if you have an airport, hospital, an elementary school or park named after you, given enough time, these too will vanish and be forgotten. That the only thing that lasts are ideas and the spiritual work you accomplish out of that wisdom. That stays alive forever. One only has to look at the likes of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and the benevolent teachings of Buddha, Lao Tzu  and old JC, to see what impact their teachings and ideas have informed and transformed the world, in a good way, that even now, thousands of years later, their work and words  remains alive and vital. (In light of this, when I see an aging train wreck like Madonna doing her best to remain youthful and striving for immortality, it just comes across as sad…and tragic)

From Aivanhov:

“What about things such as illness, misery, ugliness? Are inferior things also limitless and capable of expanding all the way to Infinity? No, there is a limit to evil, proven in physics by the fact that heat rises from 0 degrees Celsius, to infinity, whereas cold cannot go lower than 273 degrees Celsius below. The frozen particles block each other and pile up; when movement stops, the limit has been reached. Heat does the contrary, it dilates and expands the body, stirs the particles into movement and pushes back the limits of space. Space is infinite, it cannot be limited. We believe ourselves limited because we have never tried to go beyond our own experience, we think we are limited in space but we are wrong: above there is no limit.That is what led me to the conclusion that evil is limited in both time and space. Cosmic Intelligence did not intend evil to endure. It did not endow it with lasting power as It did good: the power of good is unlimited. That is the difference between good and evil, the only real difference. People believe them to be equally strong but they are not. The forces of Evil are not equal to the forces of Good. Therefore, in electing to go toward the positive pole, you enter into the realm of unlimited time and space, Infinity and Eternity, Cosmic Intelligence Itself.”

The Fall of Expectations

Patmos is a teeny, tiny Greek island which is closer to the Turkish coast. One of the smaller Dodecanese islands, the island is known to be, an off-the-radar-screen hang-out for the Greek jet-set. Surprisingly, the monks who live in the monastic complex still wield a lot power and control over the island.

The Chora or Hora, which dominates the island’s skyline.

Why?

Mostly because the Orthodox Greek monasteries and libraries which have been on the island for well over 1000 years. This is the island which has the cave which St.John the Beloved received his visions of the Apocalypse. Even since then, there has been a strong spiritual flavor to this tiny island and I have to say, my time there was quite magical.

The view of the island from the Chora.

When you leave the tiny port down below at the base, the Scala, and make your way up towards the monasteries and fortresses, there is an absolute air of gentle and tranquil serenity which I have yet to experience elsewhere in the world. The people are all smiling, tiny Orthodox chapels are scattered across the Hora (the town at the top of the hill) which even if locked, some monk always eventually shows up to open the door for you.

A typical Patmos chapel

The whitewashed walls and narrow cobbled lanes, the unbelievable profusion of bougainvillea cascading down over courtyards, with the strongest and most best-preserved Byzantine homes and mansions in the Aegean, it’s easy to see why so many people want to live here and why so many people come back here over and over again. I’d go live there tomorrow if I could.

A typical lane through the Chora

It’s not just fervent Christian pilgrims, but check out the beaches at Lambi or Meloi, and it’s full of hard bodies and skimpy bikinis. (The beach at Lambi has, bar-none, the best outdoor grill restaurant I’ve even been to in my life. No joke. I could eat there everyday if I could get away with it. The local wines will knock you off of your feet. Literally.)

A typical Greek dish of fried calimari and octopus, feta salad, tszaiki sauce. I nearly died of happiness from the food alone in Greece

Everything about Patmos always leads back to the Apocalypsos (the cave). Before you can even enter the cave, there are glowering Greek monks who are busy assessing if you’re dressed decently enough to enter, and if not, they will hand you a skirt and scarf to cover your head. This is after all , considered to be one of the holiest sites in the world. [Note to Russian, Dutch, German and British tourists: Just because it's an excursion from your cruise, does NOT make it OK to show up in your thong bikini or swim shorts and flip flops. A bit of respect goes a long way, you know.]

These guys will make you feel like a mouse in less than 5 seconds flat with a mere glance.

The cave itself is tiny and poky. The crack in the little alcove, over which St.John used to sleep, runs in 3 directions, which the Orthodox monks say point to the Trinity.

5 people can barely fit in there.

Fellow reader, I was disappointed.

With the magic of the island itself, the serene chapels, the kindness of the monks and nuns I met there, as well as my experiences at the grave of St. John in Ephesus, I thought something great would happen. Some sort of spiritual breakthrough.

Instead, it was a circus, and not unlike Sedona, Mount Shasta or any other New Age haven I’ve been to. On one side you’d see some idiot tourist try touching and rubbing the ancient icons (when you’re not supposed to) or you’d see elderly Greek women  crossing themselves 3 times for every little step they took. I couldn’t wait to leave and go back to Lambi beach and my room, which a grizzled old Greek sailor named Nick rented out to me and my travel companion.

Lambi beach- Have your swimming shoes ready, because the rocks here are very pointy.

How many times have any of you ever had a conversation with someone you were crushing after from afar to only find out that they’re not all that great? How many movies have you gone to which your friends told you were “amazing” or “awesome” but when you walked out, you felt cheated because the hype was too much? Have you ever gone to a restaurant which the media were raving about and when you tried the signature dish, you wished you had stepped out for a burger instead?

It’s hard not to fall into the lure of expectation especially in a culture which is as results-driven as the Western one. We’re bombarded with it from all directions every day. I even see it in the yoga studio and on my mat (“Well I was able to do that pose yesterday, but today I’m struggling. What gives?”).

All was not lost.

Patmos was handing me a lesson on setting up expectations. When you set them, they always inevitably let you down, while when you don’t have any, you go in with an open and fluid mind, then you never know what might show up. Normally, it was at those exact times of no expectations, when I’ve been dumbstruck or floored by the intensity or the beauty of an experience, whether it was a meal I ate, a place I visited, a  show I attended or a person I met.

It’s ultimately about just letting go and letting things be and allowing them to happen naturally.

Relax. Have a glass of wine here instead.

And the band played on

December 21, 2012 has come and gone and we’re still here, still standing, still going strong like I always suspected.  I mean the whole 2012-thing was a cottage industry in itself. The Mayan Riviera in Mexico was apparently booked solid since last year. New Age hot spots like Sedona and Mount Shasta had 2012 conventions and conferences and spiritual gatherings going on, (none of it cheap, might I add).

I wonder what those people who were convinced that something epic was going to happen are feeling and thinking now. No doubt, the New Age shysters have gone back to the drawing board and are probably working on a new date already.

Like some of the prophecies and videos I’ve previously posted on, while I do think there is no denying the fact that an energetic shift is underway, this whole idea of endpoints and specific days always struck me as bit contrived. Rather it’s really about an ongoing process which operates on 2 congruent and concurrent levels, the microcosm (i.e when we work on ourselves) and the macrocosm (the cosmic truth vibrations, Kali Yuga ending etc.). I think the real transformation is going to happen when the 2 converge.

I’ve been due for a retreat for awhile now so I figured this Mayan Calendar  event was as good a time as any to head out of town, and give myself a few days in a log cabin deep in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but books to read, a crackling fireplace beside me and the sound of a running stream several feet away from me. Some time to regroup, rethink and relax before the real holiday madness took over.

I discovered a place, not far from the Vermont border, in Quebec’s Eastern Townships, the panhandle into the Appalachian mountains, called Mont-Elan. Nestled in a beautiful valley, where gold was once mined (you can still pan for gold in the stream), the presence of gold and evergreen trees right away alerted me that there has to be some high-frequency energy going on there so after checking out the website, booked myself a tiny cabin there. They also have yurts, Wifi tee-pee’s, prospector tents and larger chalets. I couldn’t help but think that in the summer, this would be a fantastic place to hold a yoga retreat.

Mongolian-inspired yurts have become VERY popular camping and holiday rentals in recent years in Quebec.

I was not disappointed. Hiking through the snow-covered forest, with clean country air, mountain spring water streams, being in such a pure environment with nothing but me and my thoughts, and having very little with me, no phone, no laptop, no distractions , no TV, just a futon bed, a table, a microwave, a small butane cooker, a wood-burning stove which heat up the cabin in no time, water and food to last me a few days, it really hit home that you don’t need much to live on.

Aside from throwing another log into the fire, making simple meals, drinking my morning tea by the stream, just reading and ruminating over my books were my biggest worries.

The stream at the foot of my cabin. BTW, where is Mr. Tumnus?

As I had posted earlier, Father Henry, the Catholic exorcist priest who I have been conversing with, lent me two tomes on the discernment of spirits. In essence when to know when some third party influence is trying to screw you up or help you and if that third party is bad guy or a good guy. Now, before I go on, I just want to make it clear I’m not a Catholic and not someone who is into proselytizing. I do however, have no problem picking up teachings to add to my own bag of tricks, even if it’s one line, regardless of what spiritual tradition it comes from, just as long as it works for me and helps me on my way. A “Take what you need and leave the rest” philosophy suits me fine.

The books are based on the teachings of St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order. Jesuits, in case you did not know have a very storied and in some cases, sinister history since they have always been considered to be the Catholic Church’s “Commandos”. They were usually the first ones to go into new territories (and haul everything back to the Vatican Library and archives and God only knows the amazing secrets that are still hiding there). St. Ignatius’s writings are extremely dense and difficult to decipher, unless you’re in theological studies or in seminary. The books I received are much easier and are more accessible interpretations of the original work and I might add, extremely helpful. Whether you want to call them demons, reptilians, archons, djinns, the books pretty much give you a 14-point plan tool-kit to figure out what might be influencing you and your thinking at any given moment.

It’s all about balancing the inner world with the outer one.

This reminds me a lot of the interior work I usually cover in yoga within my own practice, when you ask yourself ‘Where is this coming from?” “What is causing this?” with *this* being a particular feeling, a sudden change of heart, a source of discomfort or even pain. To Ignatius’ credit, he is extremely logical and Spock-like in his laying out of the facts and to those of you who already do a lot of interior work, this is a very helpful guide. For those of you who have never done this sort of work, it’s a great primer.

The 14 points are quite lengthy and the bulk of the book were examples to illustrate those points and there is a lot of Catholic jargon but it all of it boils down to this:

When you do something, when you say something, when you act in any given situation, what are you feeling either behind the motivation or afterwards? Ignatius points out when you ask most people that question, they usually are so disconnected from themselves or in such a reactive state, that the answer is usually either “Nothing” or “I don’t know” and *this* is precisely the biggest danger because if you don’t know what you’re feeling, then it makes it all the more difficult to understand the origin of those feelings and thoughts.

When you do or say something, does it make you feel happy? Free? Warm inside? Open? At peace? Serene? What about when you’ve made a decision on something? Is there churning in the stomach? Do you feel unsettled? Some restriction in you? Tightness? Fear? Anger? Wound up? Your answer will tell you what and where it’s really coming from in origin. Which outcome will bring you to a place of peace? Which outcome leaves a sticky residue of some sort? Ignatius also points out that the burden of responsibility in figuring this stuff out falls on each individual, no counsellor, therapist, priest, pastor or deacon can tell you what you’re feeling. Only you can.

What does all this have to do with the Ascension process? Ignatius’ discernment of spirits has implications to it. He points out that ultimately the spiritual life is the one which will give you true freedom in the long run (I don’t agree with his interpretation of a “spiritual life” since it’s based a medieval, patriarchal form of Catholicism but I get what he’s saying. To each their own.)

Regarding Ascension, truth be told I think it’s already happened and like Ignatius’ question on feelings, it also comes down to this question? Do you want to follow a spiritual, more fluid path or a materialistic path with regimented rules and laws to follow? People who have chosen the spiritual path have a head start in some ways, they are going to have an easier time riding that shift. The ones who are on a materialistic path and decide to go deeper on that path are going to have a rougher ride as this shift continues and these newer energies become more pronounced.  This shift is about unveiling the truth and the movement towards spirit. As any teaching will tell you, we’re spirit or consciousness in flesh. We’re just trying to go back to our real state

Introspection is OUT, Outrospection is IN

I watched this RSA animate video the other day highlighting the ideas of philosopher Roman Krznaric.

I had never heard of Krznaric before and found out that “He is a founding faculty member of The School of Life in London, which offers instruction and inspiration on the important questions of everyday life, and advises organisations including Oxfam and the United Nations on using empathy and conversation to create social change.” according to his website.

British philosopher Roman Krznaric

He’s written some interesting titles like “How to Find Fulfilling Work” and the “The Wonderbox”.

I enjoyed the RSA animate not only because of it’s use of ideas inspired from Star Trek (total Trekkie in case you hadn’t noticed) but because it defines and vocalizes something which I have always sort-of suspected and felt but never really put to words myself.

Read any spiritual primer, whether that is anchored in New Age-ism, traditionally based in religion, self-help, psychology and the usual call has always been to “Look within”.

Too much navel-gazing can make anyone sick and lead to …

 

In all honesty, after having to sit in in group therapy sessions while working as a spiritual caregiver in a trauma unit, or hanging out with a bunch of narcissistic yogis, “look within” usually translates into excessive navel-gazing or someone using spirituality to be an out-and-out attention whore. It’s not that I have any discomfort doing so, but somehow, there’s a limit. Go over that limit, and it all suddenly feels heavy, dark, insipid, like you’re wallowing in quick sand, either your’s or someone else’s.

…this

On the other hand, I actually learn far more about myself and the world by getting out there in the world itself. All those little details which makes different cultures and places unique, the kind of stuff you can’t get out of a Lonely Planet travel guide, how you react when you’re confronted with the mysterious “Other”, how you deal with things which are diametrically different from what you’re used to, in my experience has taught me far more about myself than any book from Eckhart Tolle.

I learned more about cooking curry properly *this* way than any stupid Food Channel show could offer.

The RSA animate cites George Orwell as an example, how he came from a privileged background but went out tramping in order to understand British society and the lives of people living in the margins of society and how it ended up enriching his life in so many ways afterwards, most importantly, in increasing his empathy towards others.

 

Orwell at the typewriter. Interesting dude.

I’m not advocating that people go out and become tramps, but it reminds me of that character Larry Darrel in W. Somerset Maugham’s fantastic book, “The Razor’s Edge”, how Larry turned his back on a life of assured privilege in Chicago to go loaf about the world and find meaning in life that way.

Fantastic read!

Outrospection also solidifies another argument for me; far too many spiritual “teachers” have cut short the wanderlust of far too many spiritual seekers, claiming that they are trying to escape from their responsibilities, problems and present life, without truly understanding that it may actually be a part of their personhood that they learn best by going out there and doing and exploring (There are many who do use travel as escapism, but it’s not the case for everyone).

I say figure out what resonates best with you, introspection or outrospection and then run with it.

Hit the road, Jack!

Cheap Color Therapy

Does your daily commute look like this?

The dismal commute in.

Do you notice something?

Montreal has officially entered winter this past weekend with our first slight snowfall.  So our 6 months of hard winter has started and it basically means hardly any daylight or sunlight, going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark. After watching people closely one thing I have noticed in “developed countries” is the complete lack of color in people’s lives here.

How much variety in color do you see here? How much can you expect to revitalize your eyes and vision by seeing these same colors all the time? Is anyone talking to each other?

Everyone is wearing black or navy blue, maybe a bit of red or green or yellow here and there, but by and large when I look at commuters on my daily ride into work on the subway (or metro as we call it) everyone looks like some black mole ready to bury themselves into the ground. I am convinced this monochrome existence also has some sort of effect on people’s psyches.

Even if you go into “fashionable circles”, those persons who work in the fashion industry as insiders, everyone is dressed up in black, gray or monotonous, neutral colors.

Fashion “insiders” – what a lively lot.

This is in contrast to what I grew up with, with periodic family visits back to India and Bangladesh.  The legendary editor of Vogue magazine, noted fashionista, Diana Vreeland once said that the navy blue of India was hot pink and it’s not difficult to see why.

Rickshaw jam in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Festival of Holi, India – the Festival of Color

The various color dyes, everyone throws at each other during Holi

Ladies in the village…

Ladies at home…

Ladies in town…

This didn’t hit me until I was living in Turkey and visited the ancient Greek ruins in Turkey and Greece.  The sunlight in the Southern Mediterranean, in the smaller islands and far from the cities, is completely unfiltered, the sky is an unbelievable shade of blue on most days.

Afrodisias, Turkey

When you walk among the ruins, nothing will prepare you for the pure, blindness you’ll experience as that pure sunlight hits the white marble. It’s not difficult to see what inspired all those ancient Greek philosophers. They took that clear light and vision and then directed that gaze on to themselves and the world around them, allowing them to question everything.

What do you think inspired the likes of Socrates?

I think that’s why I love that part of the world so much, the purity and simplicity of colors, the fuchsia of bougainvillea, the blinding white-washed houses and courtyards, the blue of the sky and water.

Samos, Greece

 I also noticed something else in these colorful parts of the world; people are less depressed, they’re generally more open, less hung up on themselves, everyone’s out walking around, old sassy grandmothers who will chat you up in an instant.

Elderly Greek grandmothers and widowers still yield a lot of influence in villages and local neighborhoods.

Everyone goes on about how great developed nations are, but I somehow don’t always see it. The monochrome color palate in some ways colors a lot of other things here as well.  It affects people’s vision, it affects the way they look at the world, and even, I hazard to say, the way they think. Technicolor may have been developed for the screen in Hollywood but for many, living in Technicolor is still a long way off…

I think I need to go back soon.

Fortitude doesn’t come in a leather purse on Black Friday

Stuart Wilde wrote a fantastic piece a few days ago on his blog on emotional and spiritual fortitude:

 

As you go quietly amid the waste and you are still and you release your fear of death, a huge shift takes place, but one other thing has to happen for you to acquire real fortitude, real silent power. You have to give up on your desire for foppish things, the act of striving and wanting things of little value that cause you to lean forward etherically, all of which destroy the integrity of your power. The man or woman that wants nothing from life is in control of self, they have no yearning or needs that they can’t easily and quietly fulfill for themselves, so their stand in Zen way at one and at peace with themselves and with all things.

Once you have settled your mind into a quiet acceptance, a reconciliation that says you are happy with what you have and your circumstances right now (even if they are not a good as they could be), and once you are not struggling with circumstances, then a celestial calm descends upon you and that calm will intensify as time progresses. But you have to stand straight etherically and not get sucked into situations that are untenable or emotionally fraught.

 - Stuart Wilde

What Stuie is writing about here is about mature acceptance and letting go of things to allow the Universe do it’s own thing, that elusive quality which seems to belong to the realm of wise men and women, a quality which has increasingly become as endangered as the Bengal tiger in our day and age.

Attachment is a real bitch and very often striving to want certain things means that the second you get it, you generally don’t want it anymore or end up ignoring it.

Who hasn’t lusted after someone and years later, in hindsight you realized it would have been a disaster to hook up with them?

I wonder how many ladies from the 1950′s freaked out when Rock Hudson came out and eventually died from AIDS.

What girl hasn’t bugged her mom for a certain doll or dress and the moment she gets it, all it does is gather dust sitting in her closet?

Cabbage Patch Kids – remember these?

How many people struggle their whole lives to buy a house with a backyard and driveway and never end up enjoying their property? How many empty swimming pools gurgle away idly in suburban backyards?

How many holiday homes sit empty during long summer weekends? How many marriages are there which are the products of intense physical infatuation or obsession but end up becoming relationships of convenience where the partners end up taking each other for granted or worse?

The late Playboy bunny Dorothy Stratten and her pimp/husband/manager Paul Snider who murdered her.

 

Remember that TV show from the early 1980′s called “Fantasy Island”? People would go to this strange island to have their fantasies fulfilled to only realize in the end that the fantasy was far more preferable to the reality of the situation. “May all your wishes be granted” was considered to be a curse in ancient China and for good reason. It displays an acute and deep understanding of human nature, of how fickle and changeable it is and how transient it’s interests are.

Even as a kid, I thought this was one creepy show…

Sometimes when I day dream, I think about what I’d do if I suddenly won the mega millions lottery and was freed from work and could pursue a life of leisure. I’d probably buy a wicked cool apartment in Paris, probably in the 16th arrondissment or Montmartre, with a rooftop garden,  

I could get used to this…

a simple summer cottage in either Stromboli, Patmos or Malta surrounded by lemon and blood orange trees and bougainvillea bushes, near a beach where I can go snorkeling or diving everyday,

That works.

 

…probably go back to school and do graduate work at some fabulous ancient European university like the Sorbonne, Heidelberg or Bologna in disciplines which are interesting in themselves  like film studies, religious studies or comparative literature and go on crazy road trips to explore this amazing planet, like getting a sturdy Land Rover with a travel partner and go driving from Amsterdam to India or from Alaska to Argentina or from Istanbul to Vladivostok and take our sweet time doing it.

Who wants to travel overland in this across Central Asia?…

Maybe learn a few more languages, learn to play the piano,  learn to dance the tango, take sailing lessons. A few pugs, yoga and Pilates everyday, maybe a plus-one who could pass for Michael Fassbender’s twin (he can stick around as long as he doesn’t bother me too much).

…with him?

 I’d probably end up giving most of it away or set up a few walk-in clinics built for little girls in places where little girls are having a particularly hard time.

I know, it sounds pretentious but I also know that probably within 3-5 years, I’d be bored stiff and looking around for something else to do. It’s easy to see why the kids of the uber-wealthy and famous usually end up as basket-cases. When you never have to worry about wanting something and things are there for the taking, you’ re naturally going to look for the next big thrill to take away the boredom. Like any serious traveler will tell you, it’s the journey itself which counts, the destination is what keeps you going. The wishing is the best part.

On a more practical level, today is Black Friday. The day where you see the worst in human beings as their inner materialist demon comes out to play. It’s far worse in the States where people go straight from Thanksgiving dinner and head out to Walmart or the mall to huddle in line-ups the whole night long in order to stampede through the store the next  morning and stock up on stuff they don’t really need with money they don’t really have.  It has unfortunately spilled over into Canada.

Dude slept outside a Bestbuy in his tent.

I’ve been on the market looking for a decent, but  stylish winter coat, one that I can wear a few years and one of my favorite stores, m0851 are having their sample sale this weekend. This is a very high-end retailer and a place which I shop at sparingly, but to their credit , all their stuff is made in Canada and not China, the quality is amazing and their leather goods last for years and with their simple but streamlined designs, don’t go out of fashion quickly. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to at least go and have a look. If I found something, great, if I didn’t, so what?

Big mistake.

 

Doors opened at 9am, I was there at 8:30am and the line-up already went around the block. By the time I got in, it was pandemonium everywhere. There is seriously nothing worse that being jostled and trying to find your way through a store with hundreds of crazed women of all ages, pushing and shoving their way through in order to get a leather bag or wallet. At one point, I just stood at the side and watched people closely. People would take pictures on their iphone and wait for responses from friends to buy or not. I saw one woman with at least 10 giant leather bags hanging from her. People would be checking themselves out in the mirror and buying the most inappropriate styles. No clue. It was a vulgarfest. People looked ugly.

You have to give up on your desire for foppish things, the act of striving and wanting things of little value that cause you to lean forward etherically, all of which destroy the integrity of your power.

Without even rummaging or pushing anyone, I found  a perfect coat, hanging in a lonely corner, paid and left. Sometimes all you need to do is put out into the Universe what you really need and then let it go on automatic pilot. Life is a lot easier and far more pleasant when you do stand straight up, and let things come to you instead of you chasing after it all the time. And that could apply to a coat, a house, a lover or your dreams.

 

BadAss Central

Uruguay, like Albania, Turkish Northern Cyprus and Malta strikes me as a great place to retire to and go my mind my own business and retreat from the world (and in case of a WWIII, that’s exactly where I’ll be headed). Great climate, remote beaches (Punta Del Este is where the South American jet set party in December and January), leftist government, friendly and quiet locals, low cost of living.

A typical Punta beach

From what I understand, you can live like a king  on $1000 a month while $700 a month  with get you by with no discomfort at all.  Uruguay also has the best seaside grill restaurant on Earth (badass foodie, Anthony Bourdain raves about Uruguay).

I recently came across an article which many of the alternative news outlets and conspiracy websites have picked up in the last few days, about “The Poorest President in the World”.

He is Uruguayan president, José “Pepe” Mujica, a former guerrilla fighter, turned-flower-farmer who gives away 90% on his income and claims his aging Volkswagen Beetle as his only asset. He’s been shot at 6 times, spent 14 years in prison, two of which were at the bottom of a well. That makes him a true badass. On top of that he recently legalized marijuana in Uruguay. He’s a vegetarian atheist with no kids.

 

El Presidente, Jose Mujica on his farm, with his 3-legged dog

“I’m called ‘the poorest president’, but I don’t feel poor. Poor people are those who only work to try to keep an expensive lifestyle, and always want more and more,” he says. This is a matter of freedom. If you don’t have many possessions then you don’t need to work all your life like a slave to sustain them, and therefore you have more time for yourself,” he says. I may appear to be an eccentric old man… But this is a free choice.”

Mujica,  reminds me of another non-materialist, Daniel Suelo aka “The Man Who Quit Money”, a desert freegan who lives in the Utah wilderness near Moab and the subject of the best-seller with the same title.

Suelo, at his home.

“You pay a prostitute to “make love” to you. You know the act is not real, you know that neither you nor the prostitute is being real. You’re paying for illusion. It’s artificial love. The “love” is an idea, not a reality. We all know deep down that we can only love and be loved out of purely free will – spontaneous, free, unpaid for. Love cannot exist any other way. If it is not free it is not real. If you stop paying the prostitute, that isn’t going to make her love you, either. You must first love her and she must first love you, so that the idea of you paying her becomes totally revolting. This is why I am not for the abolishment of money. Money is not the evil, it is our not being Real, illusion, that is evil. Money itself is not real, but only a belief, an illusion.  

Now extend this principle of prostitution to every particle in the universe. Do you let things (anything !) come your way naturally, freely, spontaneously, or do you have to pay to make what you want happen?You prowl the dark streets forever chasing desire never fulfilled. You become the cynic, and your beliefs in the universe are self-fulfilling. All occurrences and people become untrustworthy in your self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Guys like this make my head spin, mostly because they are so far removed from the mainstream in their outlook and so pure in their vision that it gives me hope for the human race, that there are still outposts of intelligent, genuine, authentic and original life left on Earth. (Yes, I admit it, I’m a little cynical these days…)

Which leads me to the title of this post…

badass : (US, slang) A person whose extreme attitudes, behavior or appearance are considered admirable.

Being a badass is considered cool these days, and in an attempt to come across as a badass, you now see phonies either trying to buy their badassery or mimic being a badass, like any number of Hollywood starlets trying to revive sagging careers or pop music artists trying to capture their badassery of yesteryear, which has since disappeared.

Lady, please learn to age gracefully!

What guys like Mujica and Suelo show is that being a badass means:

1) Work on a badass mindset.

Think the way you want to think, don’t change your opinions to suit others.

Katherine Hepburn, skate-boarding well into her 60′s.

2) Be Brave.

This means saying and doing things which go against the current, even if no one agrees with you or you can be killed for saying it.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German pastor who told Hitler where he could stick it.

3) Don’t let anything or anyone stand in your way.

That also includes the CIA.

Che Guevara, outfoxed the CIA and American operatives for years.

4) Stay in the right.

Think and say things which are the morally right things to do and say, don’t give two cents what others think.

Noam Chomsky’s biggest motivation is moral outrage.

5) Be real.

The enigmatic Greta Garbo, in her later years, long after she left film.
“See Mom, no plastic surgery!”

6) Have a no-nonsense style.

Don’t read Vogue or GQ. You won’t find badassery there. Make up your own.

Lemmy, from Motorhead, the one and only. A true original.