Just this!

I have noticed lately that I am living more fully, with greater focus on now. I have less concern about past and future. By living in this moment we observe and accept and appreciate what is here now. What I see, hear, taste, smell and touch now, means so much more when I understand that this is all there is. Just this!, what is, now, is all that matters, most often. Why do we get so caught up in thought about concepts that have nothing to do with now. We have become lost in thought . Eckhart Tolle said it well...quote  "The human condition: lost in thought.”. We need thought to plan, organize and schedule. Thought is needed for so much and we can appreciate our intellect and ideas. But, when we become consumed by thought about past and future we miss -Now-.

 Ram Dass wrote the famous book , Be Here Now, in 1971

Be Here Now is one of the first guides for those not born Hindu to becoming a yogi  (spiritual  path to unity with our source)  For its influence on the hippie movement and subsequent spiritual movements^, it has been described as a "countercultural bible" , the "seminal"  with  its influential, formative and groundbreaking spirituality introduced to that era..               -paraphrased from wikipedia.org


I was a very young teen in 1971 but , looking back, now, I do believe there was an eastern influence on my generations spirituality. At that time, I was influenced by the original Kung Fu series . My hero was Kwai Chang Caine . He was the humble Buddhist/Taoist monk, that showed power without force, as his true self. But, when force was needed he sure kicked ass with that Shaolin priest martial arts training. I loved that blend, of gentleness and force which David Carradine  played so well in this character.

Often Caine sat in meditation, or seemed in total bliss with nature. He was the wise one who spent his time helping others. He lived a simple life with little need. When asked what he needed, he said  '...food, rest,work....' . He worked for food and lodging but, did not stay long in any place, he was driven by a force greater then him, a drifter in search of Tao. The Taoist/Buddhist philosophy spoken by him and his teachers was foreign to us at the time. But for my young mind, it was intriguing and appealing to my spirit.

I believe that, this period, in the early 70's, and also the 60's hippie and other spirituality movements,  were a major influence on our generation. This period opened our young minds to a whole world of wisdom and spirituality. The drug culture has gotten a bad rap, but drugs have been influential for thousands of years in opening up the human mind to the Spirit. The 60's and 70's were a turning point in North American spirituality.  Christianity had taught for two millennia, in the west, that it alone held 'the only truth'. All other people groups were lost in sin, and needed to hear 'our' truth. Christianity was believed to be the only way to God. But, it seems now, after the world has looked at this for several decades, that there are many paths leading to unity with the ultimate truth and mystery of life, its power, and its source.

The introduction to eastern spirituality has opened up our vision of what life is. The mystery of life cannot be explained or named . It can only be experienced now with gratitude, for what is, this moment. Its just this ! and  again,  Just this!..  this ... now...  this ...  all there is,  is now.   Happiness, bliss, and joy are found in living fully now, with gratitude and love, in the moment.

Heart based Living

We have all heard  the statement 'the heart is the seat of the soul' I am sure . All my life I have been led by my thinking mind and even in the religious experience of 35 years in Christianity, I was basically living a  form of godliness but lacking the power of living from the heart and spirit. I did learn in Christianity that to be filled with the holy spirit and led by that presence was the ultimate life fulfillment. However, Christianity has been influenced by fear based teaching from the beginning. It has truth but it seem somewhat distorted in many ways. I do admire the Christian mystics, and they do understand this living from the heart. There is a type of meditation among the mystics called the prayer of the heart.

I began searching for 'what is truth?' about 6 years ago. I began to realize that to grow in heart and spirit is different then growing in head knowledge. The intellect part of the human mind seems to lead us away, and in a different direction  from that of the more intuitive intelligence of the heart.  Recently I learned that the heart has a mind of its own, it has its own intelligence and its not just a pump that pumps blood. The heart seems to be the center of love, compassion and empathy . It is influenced by thoughts of gratitude, forgiveness and caring and can generate the biological chemistry and electrical currents that give us the greatest emotions of well being. So, for me the greatest secret of life, lived well,  may be found not just within but more specifically within the heart. When the Jesus character said 'the kingdom of heaven is found within' he may have been referring to the heart. He also mentioned somewhere about going into the inner room and being with God .This may be where the soul resides, in this inner most chamber, the heart (the holy of hollies)  beyond the outer temple (the mind)  and the outer temple courts (the body).

So, for me, life has become more about living from this heart center and not being led by the intellect mind as the dominate guide. The mind seems to be egocentric and works from a separate identity where as the heart is centered in unity consciousness.

However , I am finding that this opening of the heart center exposes us to a training process that seems to take us through deep teachings that are not comfortable. I have been going through a process of releasing, releasing, and releasing. This letting go of all that hinders the flow of heart (love) based living is a process that we may never finish.  The letting go process is hard work and many will not go there and they stay on the wide path of conformity and certainty . Its the narrow path of liberation from suffering that Jesus,Buddha, and Lao Tzu talked about.

This life for me is a work in process and progress. It may seem at times to be one step forward, and one step back. But my destination is onward toward a life that is centered in love based living. I believe the heart is the inner chamber where we meet the epicenter of life and love. As within so above. The whole universe is filled with this loving intelligence and we have access to it now if we can break through the thin veil of egocentricity that seems to trap us with its iron grip.