Archive for the ‘Balance’ Category

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

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.