Things run in cycles – what was will cease to be, before coming around again into its time, back into existence. But we must learn to prepare for these times of opportune conditions so that we are prepared to capitalise on them while the going is good, before the season changes and the window of opportunity closes again (until next time). This is magic: working with the elements of nature, the stuff of life, the swirling fields of potential.

The cycle of life is represented by the seasons of nature – we sow the seed in spring, tend the garden in summer, harvest our produce in autumn and this sustains us through the fallow ground of winter. By seeing in advance that winter will come, we know to work hard in spring, summer and autumn.

This applies not only to the macro-version of this that plays out in our lives (working hard in our youth to prepare for our old age) but also in many micro-aspects. For example an artist may experience inspiration and energy in her youth, followed by a time of success where the world opens their arms to her endeavours. This may be then succeeded by a (seemingly) long winter where neither does she feel inspired nor does the world pay her and her art much attention.

But if she continues to work and to hold on for better days, eventually her inspiration and desire to shine returns, and fresh new art follows. This new spring may be followed by another summer of growth and in turn by an autumn of harvest in the form of recognition from the world.

We see this cycle play out time and time again for many artists and public figures. Take Leonard Cohen’s long roller-coaster of a career. Of late he has been more popular than ever after some years in the career wilderness. However, while he is obviously enjoying his renaissance, at his age, he must be well aware that even this latest triumphant career upturn will not last forever.

To develop a sense of where we are at in the various cycles of our lives, the little ones and the big ones, is a useful skill indeed. Sometimes it’s easy – it’s not hard to tell when it’s time to move house: for whatever reasons, usually practical, you just know it’s time to go. However at other times it can be more difficult to know how to read the signs accurately. For example: if you have been feeling sick to death of your boyfriend for a few months, is this a sign it’s time to end the relationship or is it just a natural energetic fluctuation in an otherwise healthy relationship?

Here enters free-will. We have the ability to step in and put to use the “stuff of life” to attempt outcomes. You can work for the outcome of becoming a free-agent again, or for the outcome of seeing the relationship through to a return to fun and fulfilment.

This is the magic of our lives … but the magician gambles because we do not always know if our work will actually deliver the outcomes intended and, if it does, whether those results will bring us the benefits we hoped they would.

What follows is the massively-inspired, half-drunk process of me trying to finally define what “Rebel Zen” means in a slogan …

Rebel Zen: It’s not about being perfect – it’s about being alive.

or

Exploring what it means to be alive…

or maybe

Exploring what it means to be human…

or

… and the Glorious Art of Being Imperfect

Yes! That’s it!

Rebel Zen and the Glorious Art of Being Imperfect!

‘Cos to me that is the point – it is about what it means to be a human – warts and all.

What it feels like to be alive; the search for meaning, for authenticity, what it feels like.

The very thing artists strive to express – musicians, poets, madmen.

Forsaking fantasies of perfection – Zen as in “being here now”, whether that feels good or not.

What it feels like to be a human being, with all the inherent imperfection and beauty and baggage that comes part-and-parcel with it it.

What IT means.

THIS.

What THIS all means.

Meaning – and the absence of meaning.

The glorious, never-ending, futile, wonderful search for meaning and our compulsion to look forward when it, this, the answers are here now.

But they aren’t here now at all. They are elusive, or we would find already and stop searching.

The continual paradox of apparent meaninglessness coupled with our insatiable desire for meaning.

The Yin and Yang play-off of ‘Meaningless Life’ and ‘Awareness’.

What THIS feels like – and the validity of this experience.

This is what Rebel Zen means to me – if it must be defined – that we live, impermanently, meaninglessly, and that – surely – THIS is okay…

…but somehow it’s not,

….but somehow it is,

…and on and on without resolution …

Without resolution but with an aching wonder, a beauty, a Love…

… a dream.

…. a dream framed by razors and barbed wire

… and then framed again with clouds of forgiveness and Love …

… and on and on and on without resolution.

Until … ?

Yes … I bloody LOVE it … Rebel Zen … is

The Glorious Art of Being Imperfect

By Seamus Anthony

The Age of Do-It-Yourself Enlightenment has arrived. Here’s social proof (check out the comments).

But what does this actually mean? Well, in our welcome post Steve and I explained this concept quite well. No real need to go visit that post, here is what we wrote:

“DIY Enlightenment is about finding your own version of truth, peace and happiness. It’s about learning to go with the flow and really experience life free from other people’s rules and dogma. It’s about recognising that ‘enlightenment’ is a concept that you are free to research, define, and achieve on your own – you DON’T need a guru to tell you what to do or to decide when you have achieved enlightenment…

“The Guru (or in the west, the Hermit) used to have the monopoly on the enlightenment niche because information about ‘enlightenment’ was not readily accessible and so it had to be transfered by direct verbal instruction.

Then as the written word came about, well these handwritten texts could only be in one place at a time so they naturally stayed in the guru’s library. And, frankly, it was good for business for the guru to have all info, so this model was maintained for a long time, even after crazy ideas like the printing press and *whoa* the interweb came about.

But dudes! This system is just a clunky, rusted artifact of the past! Never before has so much information been available so easily to so many people!

So, while it may mean bad news for those in guru business, there is no reason why an intelligent person such as yourself can’t access and study all kinds of different viewpoints and realise your own version of enlightenment right there in your own home in your own time and by whichever method suits you.

Because it’s not the method that matters, it’s the result.

Anyone who tells you that their method is the only way, is either a cynical bullshit artist, or is seriously self-deluded, and if you believe them… well, that’s your decision. We hope it works out for you.”

A Simple Three Step DIY Enlightenment Process

Like most truths, it is actually simple to get in touch with the enlightened state of mind and experience a remarkable increase in the amount of time that you enjoy inner peace and happiness. Probably the most difficult thing is getting out of your own way and allowing new ideas to take hold in your mind. Here’s some of my suggestions.

Step One: Read

Realising your inherent enlightenment is a matter of taste-testing a lot of different ideas. It’s about trying different concepts on for size; mixing and matching until you come up with a personal ‘look’ that suits you. And the most tried and true method is by reading.

There is so much stuff out there on the internet that you could probably read enough to get the ideas you need just by surfing the web. Personally I also recommend an old fashioned concept called the ‘book’ also, but maybe that’s just me being old school!

However, apparently a great percentage of people dislike reading (although I suppose they probably wouldn’t have made it this far into the article) so, personal preferences aside, listening and watching audio/video is probably just as good if that’s what suits your learning style.

Another great option these days is to join in conversations via social media – or start them. Ask “what is enlightenment?” and analyze what people say!

The point is to take in as many different viewpoints about life and philosophy so that you have a wide knowledge base from which to make your own decisions about “what is”.

Step Two: Live Life

Get out there an experience the wonder that is life on Earth.

Travel around the world. Have adventures. Take risks. Open a business. Work hard for the thrill of it. Find your passions and embrace them. Climb Mt. Everest. Explore your dreams without caring what others might say (let them stay home and be safe while you really live). Get tattooed from head to foot. Spend six months in a remote place by yourself painting and writing poetry. Train to become an Olympian. Have several wild, passionate love affairs and then experience what real love means (it’s different). Or the other way around!

Learn what it means to be alive. Get into trouble and then get yourself out of it. Take risks. try as many different experiences as you can and really be aware of these experiences as they are happening (see step three).

I am nearly 35 and have packed more flavour into my life so far than a lot of people ever do. I have been a (seriously minor) rock star, run a vibrant cafe in a strange city, studied acting, French, Kung Fu, Chi Gong, and yoga. I’ve flown around the world and spent weeks – even months – living with locals in foreign lands. I’ve worked my balls off in the corporate sector (Blech! But the experience is priceless) and I’ve spent months doing nothing much but contemplate the breeze.

I’ve thrown myself into excessive hedonism and spiritual asceticism – and wriggled my way back out of both. I’ve had the beautiful lovers and had my heart broken on several occasions. I’ve enjoyed a close and truly satisfying relationship for 8 years now. I’ve sat in deep, silent meditation with true masters, and danced and babbled in tongues with Born Again Christians. I’ve started and run a nightclub of the all night variety. I’ve fathered a child. I’ve taken six months off to write a novel. I’ve battled addictions. I’ve tried any experience that in any way appealed to me, more than I can write about here, and there are many more I intend to try.

I’ve even tried stuff that I am ashamed off (and really don’t want to share with the world) but I am GLAD of those things I did (even if I regret the consequences) because it has all given me one thing: a decent measure of wisdom.

And without wisdom you will never have self-confidence, peace of mind or joy of heart.

Step Three: Meditate

It doesn’t matter what kind of meditation you try. Just try it. In fact try several different types and read lots about it because if it doesn’t blow your mind straight away (and it probably won’t) then be assured it will eventually.

Why is meditation so important? It is essential to enlightenment practice because it develops Awareness, with a capital A.

Awareness, the ability to truly be present in this exact moment, is the most important skill you can ever learn because without awareness you are never really living authentically, but rather you are all in your head living in the past and future and living out twisted versions of reality as filtered through your unchecked ego.

Meditation is probably the best way, but it is true that people achieve Awareness in other ways. Why do you think skydivers get addicted to the thrill of jumping out of planes? They sure as hell aint thinking about much else other than the present moment when they are hurtling through the sky!

As this blog grows, we are going to go further into meditation and how it works to help you realise liberation in this lifetime, but this is too big a topic for this one post.

So for now: get reading, get living and start experimenting with meditation – before you know it you will be a card carrying Rebel Zen Master!

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.