Em-Slice

Highly worth the time and very interesting

This “new way of thinking about time and space” is not the traditional position of mainstream science (which says that time is not a full dimension, but rather a quality that is overlaid on the other three dimensions of space to create “spacetime”). Still, many people feel this new idea has resonances with their own ways of understanding reality.

according to the website

No One Was Cracking the Koans
Tukaram

No one was cracking the koans
He had tattooed
everywhere

So God changed His tactics–He developed a sweet tooth
and started chatting
about love

He knew that really would not work and sure enough things
got worse–for a fine rebellious bunch we are.

This time people started stockpiling nukes,
and lawsuits plagued the land, and smog put a full nelson
on our lungs,

and T.V hijacked brains, which caused millions to vote
Republican–
WoW–

and all because we couldn’t
bust a couple
koans

I watched the movie Bobby this weekend. It was a fictional account of what happened the day Robert Kennedy was assassinated. More than anything it provided an insightful glance at what was happening in the 60’s. The revolution of equality (Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated), Vietnam, and the political turmoil of the Kennedy era were all explicitly documented. This was a defining moment in the history of America.

The acting was very well done and had an all-star cast. The movie even managed to weave in the LSD children and the beginnings of the hippie movement. After watching this movie, I was left with a deep sadness. There are many things that parallel the present moment and I can’t help but hope for a better leader for tomorrow. Perhaps a leader with Bobby’s charisma, intelligence, and vision would lead this country out of its fear. I highly recommend watching this movie if for nothing more than to be reminded that senseless violence can darken the voice of humanity. The voice that comes from the depths of our souls that reminds us that we are in this world together and that it is up to us to make it a better place.

The speed and intensity in which we live in this world is out of control. Things are going at hyper speed and the more we get accomplished in a day is regarded with high esteem. Maximizing our human potential would in itself create tremendous results, but when does that step over the line and become just another way to fill the bottomless pit. What is the bottomless pit and what can really fill I up? Also, what are our intentions in rushing around?

The longing is in our hearts and there are moments in which we tune into this deep sadness of not knowing who we are and what this life is all about. When we do things in service of others we can potentially become connected to what it really means to be alive in this world. When we do things for ourselves we can potentially be of more service to others. However, either of these things can just be another thing to do in order to solidify our own sense of self or to make ourselves better. When the heart is not involved, it becomes just another way to be the best personality and win a game that has no winner. We put on faces for each other. We try hard to know the most, feel the most, and accomplish the most. Sometimes for others and sometimes for ourselves. Sometimes breaking through individual barriers and creating from infinity. While at other times riding the waves of samsara and wishing that for just one brief moment, something would fill this void. We fill it with doing, with Internet, with food, with traveling. Sometimes we don’t even realize it exists.

What would we do if there were nothing left to fill it? If what we are wanting is not out there to accomplish or to have?

Regina Spektor
Begin to Hope

Amazing vocals with catchy rhythms and a powerful feminine vibe
Refreshing mix of maturity and creativity
Makes me want to write and paint

The question of the day: Is there a way to know truth? What is truth? How does one know what is truth? Aren’t we as humans a manifestation as truth?

• There is a way to know different levels of truth. Biologists study biology, psychologists study psychology, and mystics study the mind. Can these really be separated into separate truths or is there one that can encompass them all? Perhaps this is what integral theory attempts to do, while at the same time acknowledging that in order to have a complete picture, one must take on and look at their reality. That which is continually shaping and determining their worldview. Of course this assumes that there is a complete picture at any given point in time. However, at some point it might be understood that everything that takes place in the world is part of the overall searching for what and who this is. Perhaps even thinking that there is separation on the relative level and the nonpersonal level is creating a duality and implying that this world is not the only place to discover the potential of the universe.

• Nonetheless, the relative truth is always changing and evolving and it appears that evolution can only take place on the physical world. However, since the nonpersonal truth of the way things are seems to be linked to the way things are it would be easy to assume that this would evolve as well. Perhaps there are two things going on at the same time. The evolution of the human species and the evolution of consciousness as a whole. Neither of which can be separated from the other. However, the part that is changeless is important to understand in order to fully grasp the implications of evolution on the physical level and in order to see how all levels are influencing the whole. This is where there can be value in seeing the importance of our human potential and at what level we bring nonpersonal potentials into the physical plane. There is a tendency to reduce everything to either the spiritual aspect or the physical plane. To realize that they are not separate nor can they create at their potential without acknowledging one another is in itself a part of evolution. Perhaps even the next step.

Since I returned from two months of silent meditation, several things have been screaming for integration. With each day something else falls into place. Integration comes in several different stages and can be frustrating from a personal standpoint. Especially since my worldview changed radically while on retreat. However, it is not something I can force or control. It is more of a process that tends to congeal gradually like Jell-O. At first it was very overwhelming and there were times where I felt completely lost in this vast world. It was like I knew too much to live in a world that still contains massive amounts of ignorance.

When I look around, I admire the ones that take a stand for the truth of whom we are. It is not an easy task and cannot be done from a place of anger. Those of us who are deeply invested in serving the world will be of most service if the anger is seen, felt, heard, and released. Causes no matter how great, when fueled by anger only create more separation and suffering. The more we realize the parts of ourselves that are angry, the less power those parts of us have and the less they can sabotage our work/lives. I realized while on retreat that there are many layers to anger. It is an explosive energy that needs out of the body. Sometimes I would cry from the pain underneath, sometimes I would hike, and sometimes I would dance. The more I acknowledged, felt, and released then freer I became. This can be true for any emotion. The trick is to know we can hold them.

The world is full of sleeping
children
Dreaming dreams of untruth
Caught in a nightmare that
will not end

There is another dream
Where those children are infinity

Trust me when I tell you

Unworthiness, Fear, Greed, Hatred
those aren’t your nature

Rebel little ones. Choose not to trust those
thoughts

Dare to DREAM another dream

Em-Slice