Archive for June, 2008

By Steve Mills

Too often in spiritual and  personal development circles, the unique part of you as an individual is overlooked in the pursuit of grander visions. The special part that makes you “you” is not seen as important, and sometimes it is seen as something to be suppressed.

It is however my belief that you don’t have to become anything more than YOU to become enlightened. The Rebel part of you is as important in your pursuit of enlightenment and happiness as the disciplined, restrained and conformed aspects.

The Rebel part is that spark inside everyone that makes them unique. The part that doesn’t play by the rules , that laughs in the face of danger. It is the essential part that continues to fight when things look grim, the eternal part that knows life is there to be lived.

Some might even call it their spirit,  if they are that way inclined.

People who lose this free part of themselves quickly fall into despair, hopelessness, and that too common modern affliction, depression. It is the free rebel inside of us that allows us to break thought the constraints in our lives, and take action instead of passive wishing and thinking.

It allows us to make real and lasting changes in the world, to cut through the traditional ways of doing and seeing, and create a life based on freedom and expression.

So today focus on the Rebel in you, and hear it’s voice. I can guarantee you that it’s message is one well worth listening to.

You Are Already Enlightened!

That’s right, and no – I’m not joking.

Zen Masters have publicly said that we are all enlightened, the trick is knowing it (or getting in touch with it). And if you haven’t any idea what it feels like to connect to this state of being then all I can say is it is very difficult for anybody to express in words. To briefly try (not the main point of this post) let me paraphrase Rachel Pollack’s words about the Hanged Man tarot card (from her book Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom): It’s feeling free to be who you are, even if everybody else thinks you have everything backwards; it’s the feeling of being deeply connected to life.

But here’s the rub: “perfect enlightenment” is probably a myth. A beat up. It’s a bit like saying ‘perfect musicianship’ or ‘perfect scientific methodology’.

These things most likely can’t exist and in fact, certainly in the case of artistic endeavour, absolute perfection ruins things. It stifles the life out of things and therefore makes them inherently imperfect again in some kind of weird feedback loop to nowhere.

The flaws are an integral part of the appeal, of what’s good about things.

And yet “imperfect enlightenment” is so discounted, or just not thought of, as to be almost completely overlooked. This is akin to refusing to acknowledge somebody’s skill (in any given area) just because they are not 100% perfect at what they do: “Sorry mate, you’re great at guitar, but I will only come to hear the most perfectly brilliant player who can prove they are better than Hendrix. Nothing else is good enough.”

And yes, enlightenment is a skill set, one that stems from a knowledge base deep enough to allow for the practising of the skill set. That is why meditation is always referred to as a practise, for when you meditate you are practising enlightened states of being (although meditation is not the only way to do so).

New Age Wankers Ahoy!

Enlightenment has become a bit of a wanker-flag over the last few decades. It brings to mind shonky gold-digging gurus and shiny-toothed charlatans. But bear in mind, these types always claim ‘perfect enlightenment’ and Steve and I here at Rebel Zen are NOT by any means claiming this. We are simply claiming that after a lot of personal work we have improved our already inherent, imperfect enlightenment experience. And so can you. And you can make use of the myriad of information that is available to you – in historically unprecedented amounts – to do it yourself. No gurus needed.

Not that you should discount bona-fide gurus out of hand. If it works for you, go for it. But buyer-beware (and all gurus are selling something, even those who say they aren’t).

And to Prove I’m not a Guru-Basher…

At the risk of sounding like I’m telling you what to do, may I suggest that you don’t meditate or read or pray or chant or practice martial arts or flower arranging to get closer to achieving enlightenment. Rather, do so to improve or deepen the enlightenment experience you are already having.

And for those moments when you truly don’t feel very enlightened at all, when you’ve lost your temper or said something cruel or disappointed yourself, I will leave you with the words of the very inspiring Swami Shankarananda:

“Very often our awareness is limited by our limited understanding of who we are and what the Universe is about.”

Amen.

After all, we are just a bunch of imperfectly enlightened beings, let’s take it easy on ourselves…

By Steve Mills

When I was a younger man I was fascinated with ancient history. I would spend entire days reading about past discoveries, ancient civilizations, the rise and fall of empires. I was thinking about this today and the image of a medieval nautical map came to mind. People of centuries ago had some pretty detailed maps of the areas that they frequently travelled, especially when you take into consideration the tools and mathematics that they used to draw them.

The one feature that really stood out for me on those maps however were the areas that weren’t quite as well mapped, or were completely unexplored. In these areas, they had pictures of huge grotesque creatures, and dire warnings of what would happen to people if they crossed those waters. Large, foreboding font labelled these areas with such titles as “Here there be monsters” or “Death for those who enter”.

The bravery and skill of people of bygone ages to push on and explore the unknown is often underestimated by people in modern times.

The unknown always has an element of fear, and doing something new, or that means a lot to you is an intense experience. We are so used to the everyday monotony of work routine, of being on a schedule and being told what to do that we don’t quite know how to deal with the idea of new experiences. When we start something new, the voices of doubt and dismay are never far away. There is something inside us that says “This is new, scary and different. I am going to come up with 50 reasons why you should stop”. It sometimes can be the voice of reason, but more often the not it is self doubt and needless worry.

SETTING IN A NEW DIRECTION

A past manager of mine had a good statement on the wall of his workstation. It read something like ” As soon as a new way of doing things starts, the pull of the old ways of doing things begin. In the beginning, enthusiasm is enough to override this force, but in the longer term, a more sustainable source of motivation must be found”

We think that all great adventures are fun, are glamorous and exciting and should “feel good” the whole time. But while I agree that adventures should be REWARDING, I also see that the greatest adventures have their scary times, the boring times, the patience trying frustrating times. They have times where you don’t know what you are going to step in next as you progress towards your goal.

The monsters will always be there in uncharted waters, you just need to stop looking for them, and keep the ship sailing on course towards new land.

Once you get there, the realisation often comes that a) There really weren’t any monsters and b) The journey was well worth it.

By Steve Mills

There is nothing like two weeks holiday to break you from the everyday routine, it removes you long enough from your standard habitual patterns so that you can see things from a different angle. I have just returned from two weeks holiday and feel very refreshed. I spent the time just relaxing, meeting folks and exploring the beautiful area of far north Queensland with my family. I also had some very interesting conversations with a few people up there, and have come back ready to tackle the second half of the year. Having a break like that is a great way to gain a fresh perspective of you life, and the way you choose to live the other weeks of the year at home and work.

In the last few days of holidays instead of having the “I have to go back to work soon” feelings of dread, I spent my free time thinking long and hard about how to best retain my holiday mindset. I decided to make it my single point of focus to find as much balance as is possible, and to continue to be mindful of this through the rest of the year.

I have made a conscious effort not get sucked 100% into the “work is the most important thing, put all of your attention here” game, and instead to realise that I am someone with many different facets and interests. I have realised that everything in my life is as important as everything else, not just in an intellectual sense (that I have always known) but I now grasp it with a deeper understanding. Family, music, writing, exploring new concepts, travelling, interacting are all as VALID as working 50 hours a week. It is all about retaining the mindset of dynamic balance. Sure there are going to be people and events who are trying to steer you in one direction or another, but my goal is a natural equilibrium that is centred and focussed on the things that matter most.

I think of it as walking the middle path.

TO look at a single example, look at the area of your life that deals with your job, and how you earn your income. Too little attention in this area and you will lose motivation, accomplish nothing and find it hard to remain employed. Too much and it will consume you totally and leave you a mindless, stressed out drone destined for a life of boredom, being used by a company, or driving yourself crazy, feeling sick when you don’t have your nose to the proverbial grindstone.

If you find the middle path in this area though, you keep the work aspect of your life in perspective. You realise its importance in the current state of modern society (for most people) and how it allows you to keep food on the table, and provide for those you love, but don’t let it define you. By making the entire picture of your life the object of your focus, instead of just one small aspect (and then letting all of the other aspects of your life seem like a distraction, annoyance or barrier), you accomplish far more in total then letting one area of your life dominate your mental landscape. It is really my goal to make my life (those things that I naturally enjoy) my work, and my work my life.

The key for me is going to be dynamic balance, to be able to focus on work 100% while in front of the screen (or perhaps 80%, let’s be realistic), and then be able to shift gears and start to work on my writing, music and other interests. Middle path thinking doesn’t mean that you are always going to go the average, middle of the road way. It just means that you realise the importance of your default mode, being the balance point between two extremes.

By Séamus Anthony Ennis

This afternoon I was munching my way through my lunch when I slipped and flicked a forkful of baked-beans and sauce all over my jumper and trousers. I experienced a flash of irritation, quickly replaced by amusement. I was at home by myself – messing up my clothes mattered even less than it usually would (which would not be much).

As I pondered the several squishy beans and blobs of red-orange goop I had so randomly, yet skillfully arranged on my off-white sweater, I had what I will reluctantly call a Magic Bean Moment. I am reluctant to call it this because it makes me sound like a dork. But that’s ok because I am a dork. And one with baked-bean stains on my jumper to boot.

‘Describe this Magic Bean Moment, Dorky McDorkison’, I hear you ask. ‘What did it look like?’

‘Like squished beans on a jumper,’ I reply, dorkily, ‘only kind of magical.’

Very Mild Superpowers

Even though we all have them, Magic Bean Moments are hard to describe. The closest I can come is to waffle about the rare small moments where the mundane is seen through a prism of the fantastic. A ‘moment of clarity’ where the normal appears Divine; the small appears enormous; the subtle becomes obvious; the truth becomes apparent; the God in all common things becomes easy to see. It is a feeling of peace and transcendence; the exact feeling that some of us spend hours (even days or weeks) trying to recreate through determined spiritual practice -rituals, meditation, prayer – sometimes successfully, sometimes not.

What is this? Why is it that I sometimes meditate on the Tao for hours only to feel nothing but ordinary? And why, suddenly, when I am not looking for it, do I see the Divine, clear as day, in the most ordinary of things? And why is it often so hard to deliberately capture this sensation again? Or to describe it in words?

My only answer is that it is not that we have seen the Divine, but that the Divine has chosen to reveal itself to us at this moment. It reminds me of an (admittedly cheesy) inspirational saying in a frame that hangs on the wall at my parent’s house:

‘Happiness is like a butterfly; if you chase it, it flies away; when you turn your attention to other things, it comes and gently lands on your shoulder.‘

It also reminds me of an Irish comedian, David O’Doherty, who claims to have very mild super powers.

Mushrooms in a Hurry

I remember having one of these moments was a boy.

I was riding in the back seat of my mother’s red Vauxhall Viva (a kind of car for those of you not born a million years ago). Mum was trying to negotiate a right turn across an intersection. Never a fan of driving, she was having a hard time of it while I was blissfully daydreaming in the back seat.

Questions arose like mushrooms in a hurry.

How do we know that all of this is real? All of a sudden it all seemed more like a dream than reality. And yet everyone was always so serious about everything. Obey the rules or else. Be good or God will get upset, and so on. How did we know that God even existed? He didn’t seem to be around much. And if we didn’t know if God really existed or not, and if ‘reality’ as we knew it seemed unreal and like a dream, what proof did we have that things are what we have decided they are?

I probably wasn’t yet aware of the word ‘arbitrary’, but if I had been, it would have been perfect for the moment.

Naturally, being a small dork, I decided to ask Mum for some clarification.

‘Mum, is life real?’

Mum, clenching white-knuckled to the steering wheel, still hadn’t managed to turn right.

‘I don’t know, and I don’t care!‘ came the strangled reply.

Suffice to say, this was not the answer I was hoping for, yet I felt very peaceful, as if asking these questions were in itself enough. (Or maybe it was because, although, sure, the delivery needed some work, Mum’s answer was actually quite Zen really).

This is it!

The second time that I remember having this experience was just after I had begun to experiment with meditation about nine years ago.

I was sitting at the train station in the Melbourne suburb of Windsor, staring at the bricks on the other side of the tracks when suddenly everything normal seemed truly incredible. I was overtaken with a feeling of intense bliss. Coupled with this feeling came a difference of vision – as in the way things actually looked through my eyes. Looking at all the simple, inanimate, everyday objects around me – like the rocks between the tracks, the litter spread here and there, the bricks, the benches, the rubbish bins, the chewing gum trodden into the bitumen – I saw an energy, a connectedness, a oneness, a mystery, a beauty, a love inherent in all these things.

And then I caught my train, and the Magic Bean Moment was gone.

I thought I might have been going a pleasant variety of crazy, but, asking around, I discovered that quite a few people I knew, the spiritual and the cynics alike, had experienced similar, fleeting moments of incredible transcendent clarity.

If you haven’t experienced this, then I have one word for you: Meditation. Give it a go.

These Magic Bean Moments are amazing, but for every one of these moments, we all have thousands that feel far from transcendental. Some feel so ordinary they are almost intolerable. At these times we are asleep, we have disconnected from the Universal Consciousness, forgotten to see the world through the wondrous eyes of a child. Sudden flashes of Divine Consciousness are reminders to wake up. To stop projecting forward or backward in time and just be in the moment. To remember that this is it. The present moment is all we have, and all we will ever have.

Magic Bean Moments are a gift, sent to remind us that we are extremely lucky to be given the opportunity that is life, that this life we have is not going to last forever, and that the Divine is everywhere – even in the baked-bean stains on a dork’s jumper!