Do Unto Yourself

We find great fulfillment in helping others. We do it in a multitude of ways, with our time, with our money, anonymously, unselfishly, sending energies of love, health and joy. We try to live our lives as an example of how to live happier more fulfilling life, and those examples are just the tip of the iceberg. The rewards are priceless. Ironically, as we head down the path or our Spiritual Journey, helping others can become an obsession. If we do not stop and look around once in a while, we might not realize that we have created a different version of the rat race we previously chose to no longer participate in.

Sometimes we need to turn the Golden Rule around and remind ourselves to Do Unto Ourselves As We Do Unto Others. We can not help others and give them the best of ourselves, if we do not have our own house in order. It is often said that we need to love ourselves before we can love others. Likewise, we need to help and take care of ourselves before we can do the same for others. Essentially, we need to be healthy, physically, emotionally, and spirituality.

The first thing to do is to take a little time to step back and think about what you may have been neglecting. Have you been so busy that your positive habits that got you to where you were have been put on hold? Have you been sleeping enough? Have you been eating right? Have you been missing your regular periods previously set aside for meditation, yoga, reading, playing music, spending time with your family, or whatever is important to you on a personal level?

Once you have determined what you have been neglecting, come up with a plan to incorporate into your new life. Do not just say you are going to do it and do not approach it haphazardly, or it will never happen. Remember that as your Journey continues, you are constantly recreating your self. Change is a natural part of the process. And, along with that you may need to update your plan, your routine, and your perspective.

So, remember to take time for yourself. Don’t just say it, do it! Make an appointment on your own calendar like a doctor appointment, but in this case, be your own doctor. Right yourself a prescription for wellness. Remember that you do not have to sacrifice your life to help others. That notion runs completely counter to the underpinnings of spiritual growth. Do not play the noble starving artist. That role is a child of the ego. Now, go take a walk, get a massage, or make a great dinner. Your personal happiness will create an infectious energy that will rub of on everyone you think about or come in contact with.

Oneness - Part II

This is the Part II in my series of posts on Oneness. The symbol to the left is my symbol for Oneness and in Part I, I discussed the "o". To briefly recap, the symbol is "one" - specifically (little "o", the infinity sign, and little "e").

I also explained that in our physical universe, an illusion of God's creation and ours, we can start by thinking of the "o" as "We are all One." However, in our ultimate reality where we are our purest energy, our souls, we can broaden the idea of Oneness to mean that "All is One."

Now let us look at the second character the "n" or the "infinity" character. And yes, I am saying that "We are all infinite." Some religions, tell us that God is omnipresent, but the concept of Oneness implies that we are all omnipresent.

Let us look at the idea that "We are all infinite" from two perspectives. The first way to think of this is from the perspective of our physical illusion, the universe. In this perspective, the physical illusion implies form (grass, rocks, animals, people, molecules, etc...), and this implies distance (yards, miles, kilometers, light years, etc...). Form and distance can be summed up as our physical universe.

Since we are looking at this from the perspective of the physical illusion, I will start with our Oneness definition of "We are all one." If we are part of everyone, then part of us is where everyone else is at any moment. That means that we are everywhere, hence infinite.

This idea is the basis of many Buddhist teachings. You may have seen quotes that refer to somebody saying that they are "nowhere" or "everywhere and nowhere". That is because if you are everywhere then you can be "nowhere" - in particular.

The second way to think of "We are all infinite" is from the perspective of the ultimate reality where God is everything. In the ultimate reality we are our purest energy - our souls. God is us (our souls) and we are all part of God. We are all part of everything, or put another way, our energy extends to everything and vice versa. Hence, we are one and we are infinite.

You may think that I am over simplifying my explanation of this. Yes, it is true that a deeper discussion of this could and has filled many books, but at some point that is just fun thinking and pondering. I've found that as we move our perspective to the utlimate reatlity, everything does become amazingly simple. It is our physical illusion, our universe, and our individuality (driven by our egos), that causes things to become over complicated. It is the ultimate reality where we find God and ourselves/our-selves/our souls all distilled down to the essence of everything - energy. As Albert Einstein said, "When the solution is simple, God is answering."

So now we have combined "All is one" with "infinite". Hopefully, this is helping to deepen your understanding of Oneness. I will conclude this series of posts in Part III with an explanation of the third character "e". Perhaps you already know where I'm going to go with that. In the meantime, it might be helpful to go back to Part I and re-read how the Mayans, Hindus and The Beatles preceived Oneness.

Consider the possibility that what you do to others, society, or the planet are really things that you are also doing to yourself.

Oh, and I AM still the walrus. koo koo ka choo.

The Deep Blue Sea

Schools of bright yellow thoughts
Orange and black stripes down the sides
Joy, compassion, happiness, and love
Move in unison as they dart back and forth, and up and down.

Thoughts that are pale, ruddy, and snub nosed
Appear as to have swam through soot
Loneliness, boredom, and sadness
Plod along through the water.

Bottom feeding thoughts, sunless and ashen
Ferret through the silt of the past
Regret, hurt and loss
Feed on old memories, no longer needed.

Playful dolphin thoughts chasing boats
Jumping, flipping and flopping
Laughter, smiles, carefree and inquisitive
Create their own fun as they go.

Treacherous ego barracuda thoughts
Sleek and ferocious, baring menacing teeth
Doubt, worry, anger and fear
Eat up happy thoughts, disrupting the harmonious sea.

The sudden sunrise thought of the whale’s fluke
Spanning the horizon with graceful ease
Surprise, awe, beauty and epiphany
Silently slip back below, ripples of smiles in its wake.

Thoughts constantly moving
Interacting, evolving and creating
Never going backwards or stopping
In the deep blue sea of my mind.