The U.S. Marine Corps is experimenting with mindfulness training for combat troops. Imagine a line of combat soldiers in the lotus position.

The Department of Defense and others are studying the effects of mindfulness on a soldier’s working memory capacity – a cognitive resource that powers complex thoughts. Stress can diminish the level of this resource throughout the day. Soldiers embracing mindfulness training reported better athletic performance, relief from anxiety, stronger memory, better sleep and more facile mental activity.

Mindfulness is most often associated with spiritual pursuits and discipline.

Mindful Marines may bring a new set of images to the concept of the spiritual warrior. Can boot camp for the spiritually inclined be far behind?

Mindfulness & Combat

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Last night I saw Julia Sweeney’s Letting Go of God. What a wonderful film. Julia Sweeney amazed me with her wit, dialogue and personal inquiry into God.

I noticed as the film progressed and Julia got deeper and deeper into exploring her belief in God, religion and personal meaning – she started looking more and more yummy to me. At first, I thought it was about her as a person, but I soon realized that it was the exploration that was arousing my appetite – the more she talked, the more I wanted to tag along with her. The humor was delicious, the dialogue was a veritable cornucopia of spices, and her facial expressions were a feast for the eyes. I was relishing the experience.

Like Julia, one thing that continues to intrigue me is how many people take the Bible as the literal word of God – and rely on others to explain it to them. It is a rare and exceptional person, like Julia, who will sincerely question sacred cows.

One of my favorite spiritual books is Prayers of the Cosmos by Neil Douglas-Klotz (from the publisher – Reinterpreting the Lord’s Prayer and the Beatitudes from the vantage of Middle Eastern mysticism, Douglas–Klotz offers a radical new translation of the words of Jesus Christ that reveals a mystical, feminist, cosmic Christ). This little book can really open one’s eyes to the “word” of God.

What Douglas-Klotz does is to take the Lord’s Prayer and the Beatitudes back into Aramaic and then provide the reader with a broader perspective on the scope of each line. From each line comes much more breadth and depth. What is immediately apparent is how much is lost in translation. When we consider the question of what might get lost in translation (from Aramaic to Greek to Latin to English), it makes sense that a deeper, more personal exploration of “the word of God” is a worthy endeavor.

I thoroughly enjoyed the path and process of Julia’s exploration. Her resolution of more openness and mystery to replace dogma, conditioning and reification seems logical to me, though the question of the non-dual never really gets addressed.

Have you seen Letting Go of God? What did you think of her exploration? The dialogue? The wit?

Does God Exist?

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My first real experience with death was when a dear friend of mine died from ovarian cancer about 10 years ago. As I grieved, I learned a very interesting thing – my grief spoke to depth of the love. It was fascinating to discover that grieving actually helped to maintain ego structure and identity, but attending to the love would absolutely disappear me. That continues to be an enlightening realization.

A couple of years ago, I became very interested in pain – what exactly is pain? Not physical pain, but emotional, or psychological, or existential pain. I can place all kinds of labels and understanding on pain – sadness, angst, terror, raw, sharp, dull, intense, etc. But none of the defining addressed my basic question. As I probed deeper into this over the course of many months, what I finally arrived at was this – pain is separation from being. I continue to explore this thread of interest as it arises, but, so far, I always wind up at – ultimately (fundamentally), pain is separation from being.

When I am in a state of being, I notice that emotional, psychological and existential pain seem to disappear. I say seem, because events are still happening, but my relationship to them and my reaction to them changes profoundly – my experience of my experience transforms. The Sufis say the journey is only one step – you step out and IT steps in.

My exploration into pain also led me to the observation that only the past can hurt me. What I notice is that whenever I am experiencing pain, I am always in the past. I may seem to be in the present, in a situation with someone in current time, but in my psyche, the present situation is reminding me of the past – pulling past pain and trauma into the present. In actuality, I am dancing with the past not the present moment. Engaging the projection of the past onto the present always leads me to a state of deeper being and being in the moment always seems to be pain free.

For the past year or so, my primary thread of interest has shifted to ME, the “I.” It is becoming more and more curious to me that I am always in the center of my experience. This “I” I am speaking of has a consistent sense of familiarity through time. There are constellations of attitudes and beliefs that are part and parcel of this sense of self. I am extremely curious as to why I am so addicted to this sense of self. Why does “my” experience revolve around this me?

I am quite aware that the body can continue on in good health without me in the picture, so what’s up with me always having to be here in this familiar way – historical identity?

Death & Dying – Life & Living… Who lives? Who Dies? What is life? What is Death?

These simple questions are so engrossing!

Soon The Wisdom of Life & Death will be available.

A perspective on living:

Life, Death or Both?

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I had to pee – and once again faced the question I always face when an establishment has but one restroom for both sexes – Do I leave the seat up or not?

Now this may not be a dilemma to many, but to me it continues to be an issue. I was raised in a military family that had a few rules. My mother’s rules often carried more severe consequences than “the colonel’s” – AND one of mom’s rules was – PUT THE TOILET SEAT DOWN!

I have been successfully conditioned and have developed the ability to balance on one foot while dancing (because I have to pee so badly) and raising the toilet seat with the edge of my shoe. The same talent (without the dancing) serves me when lowering the seat.

I know, many of you will say why not use some TP to raise and lower the seat? Well, you’ve seen the condition of some of those seats – would you touch them with a ten-foot pole? I rest my case and therein lies my dilemma.

Do I lower a seat like that and obey my conditioning and manners or do I leave it up so the next 10 guys that come into pee that don’t raise the seat don’t leave it a mess for the next poor lass that has to endure the consequences of some near-sighted splash-and-dash nincompoop?

I have been erring on the side of consideration (I think) over conditioning, but I am willing to go with the flow (so to speak). Ladies, if you will – what’s the proper course of action – other than spending the rest of my life steam cleaning restrooms?

Leave a comment to give me guidance

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Word of Mouth Marketing for Social Networks

One session of a 10-day training I once attended was focused on the “gap.” The teacher of this session, Alia, informed us that all change and transformation occur in the gap and not as a result of reading, studying, meditating, chanting or anything else.

The gap is an elusive rascal. When you search for it directly it is difficult to find. The gap is not so much a space between not-knowing and knowing as it is a “not-space.” This not-space is a particular openness in the mind and soul that allows us to be directly informed by consciousness – the medium of knowing underlying all manifestation.

Alia worked with us in subtle ways to help us nurture a sense of the gap, so we might observe our relationship with it. Today, you can find the gap being referred to as disjuncture.

The optimal zone in which adults learn is referred to as disjuncture – when time seems to stop… when our biographical repertoire is no longer sufficient to cope automatically with our situation… where we have a tension with our environment (Adult Learning in the Social Context – Peter Jarvis) Without entering this zone, we are simply stacking up our experience on top of things to which we can relate. This action often leads to an unnecessary compromise, where we settle for what is readily available to us, rather than what is actually the best fit. With disjuncture, we are forced to build a completely new structure of learning. While in the disjuncture zone, though we usually will experience discomfort, we are ultimately able to establish a strong foundation for real learning.

In the gap, or the disjuncture zone, time stops because we are free from the linear mind and residing more in our nature that underlies the normal mind. In this “space,” our association with the past changes radically – our identity is freed from history – our knowing is not by association but through direct perception.

Exploring the gap can be challenging as it requires us to be very comfortable with the unknown, not knowing and a willingness and capacity to let go of who and what we know ourselves to be.

The question here is ultimately – Who or what knows?

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A friend of mine recently commented that her ego hated a recent video someone had taken of her. An hour later, in a book I am reading the author addressed self-abuse – “We would never let people treat others the way we treat ourselves.”

The author went on to say that this chronic internal negative self-talk is probably the number one factor in personal misery. And this internal criticism is what keeps our lives locked in their current form.

No big surprises for me, but I appreciate the synchronicity of the reminders. My friend is pleasant on the eyes and a joy to be around, but things are different for her. Inside her head a totally different reality exists.

As it happens, I was discussing this friend with common friend earlier in the day and we both see her similarly. It’s amazing how we could get the whole country to say – wow, you’re fabulous – and our inner critic’s opinion would out-weigh 250 million people.

Here’s the $64 million dollar question – who’s voice is that in our heads? We weren’t born with it. It wasn’t pre-installed. It came from outside to find a cozy little home inside where it can endlessly rattle around making our lives miserable – robbing us of the simple treasures in life – peace, joy, innocence…

How’s the daily mental chit chat going for you?

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Last week, I picked up a copy of Open Exchange - The Bay Area’s Premier Healthy Living Magazine.

It’s been a while since I looked through this publication and I have never hooked up with a professional or service provider through the ads or articles. Flipping through Open Exchange, I soon found myself amused, delighted and intrigued by the ad/article topics, tag lines and teaser questions:

• Personal growth… and professional success
• Looking to change your life and build a more secure future?
• It’s a soul thing
• Changing lives …one bite at a time
• Come Home to Your Self
• Do you feel lonely in the world?
• Do you want to look and feel better as you age?
• Experience your highest consciousness
• You don’t have to live with pain
• Create your chosen future
• Are you ready to transform your life?
• Are you ready to go to your next level?
• Are you bored, frustrated or insecure at work?
• Allow your dreams to become your reality.
• What goals dance on your horizon but never seem in reach?
• Are you living with authenticity?
• Coaching for tough times
• The universe has an outrageous agenda for you.
• Love, intimacy and sexuality. What is it?
• Have you had a spiritual experience.

Well, the list goes on and on. The publication seems to be 90% ad content where you can have an article published along with your ad. I found my friend, Kamila Harkavy, in this issue. Kamila is a money mastery coach. You can follow her blog – Thrivelocity.

Kamila’s article in this issue of Open Exchange was titled – Why Get Coaching? In the article she points out 3 reasons why she continues to get coaching even after years of personal development work. I especially liked: 2. I am sure to produce a much more substantial return on investment than any stock, bond or other transactional investment.

Investing time, energy and money into our growth & development is the best investment we can make – I believe that as much as Kamila does. A wise investment is exploring our belief system, attitudes and preferences that keep the same old cyclical dynamics running. What I see in many of the ads is an appeal to ego renovation. That’s where we slap a new coat of paint on the house, but the person living within remains unchanged.

Real change is often upsetting because the old me (identity) is dissolved to some degree. Which challenges that ego refrain – I want to be me, I want to be me…

What are you if not you?

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A friend of mine asked me this question last night. My first response was that need seems to be more associated with survival and identity than want. Want can have a sense of expansion, but I don’t notice that with need.

Of course, we are talking mostly about emotional and psychological issues around want and need. But, anytime we talk about deep psychological and emotional content, we have to bring in the body because there is a deep connection between the body and survival issues – even when they are figments of our imagination.

The dictionary says that want is to need, to feel need, to desire or wish. Etymology of Want:  Middle English, from Old Norse vanta; akin to Old English wan deficient

The same dictionary says need is a lack of something requisite, desirable, or useful -  a physiological or psychological requirement for the well-being of an organism. Etymology of Need: Middle English ned, from Old English n?ed, n?d; akin to Old High German n?t distress, need.

The energetic dynamics in the body/mind seem different to me around want and need. Want seems to have more of a reaching or grasping quality to me than need. Need feels more connected with necessary or required than want.

I can want a new pair of shoes even if I have 5 pairs, but if I only have one pair with holes in the soles – I need a new pair of shoes. If I just bought a new outfit and don’t have shoes to match – I need a new pair of shoes to match the outfit, but I don’t necessarily need them to survive. Of course, if my identity is deeply tied to the image of me in the new outfit and a projected outcome of wearing it, my survival needs might be very high around that pair of shoes that I absolutely need.

I may want love or approval, but if I see the lack of it a temporary, it doesn’t necessarily threaten my identity or existence – if it does, then I may feel a desperate need, a deficient emptiness around it at the core of my being that feels like a survival need.

What say you about want versus need? Am I splitting hairs?

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Years ago, when visiting friends in Boston, I wandered into a toy store and found a set of “pocket parents.” Each pocket parent was about the size of a pack of cigarettes and came with five buttons, but no battery.

With the battery installed, I could push a button on “Mom” and hear “You’ll put your eye out with that!” in a screeching voice reminiscent of George Castanza’s mother. Or I could pull out “Dad” and hear “I’ll give you something to cry about!”

Each parent had four bitches most of us heard thousands of times in childhood. If  I really wanted a blast from the past, I could push the 5th button and get a litany of reprimands.

I purchased those pocket parents to use as teaching aids in some of the work I do with the superego. A little levity can go a long way in making a point while keeping things from becoming too heavy and depressing – an easy rut to fall into when working with the inner critic.

A quick search on Google failed to lead me to replacements for my vanished pocket parents – I think they missed the move to California from Utah a couple of years ago.

If you happen to locate a set of pocket parents, let me know – I’d love another set.

Disengaging from the superego is some of the most beneficial work we can do. How’s your superego work going?

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This past weekend, I attended A.H. Almaas’ winter retreat in Berkeley. The retreat focused on the survival instinct and most agreed it was a timely presentation.

Two years ago we worked on the social instinct and last year we explored the sexual instinct. Almass explores the instinctual drives in relationship to the Enlightenment Drive – the dynamic quality of the soul that impels it toward awareness of its true nature and freedom from limitation and the past.

The way we’re approaching the question of instincts and their drives is not a question of being free from them, it is a question of freeing them to be what they can be, and evolve and develop in a way that can become part of our realization, support for our realization. – A.H. Almaas

Almaas sees nothing wrong with the survival drive or the other instinctual drives. They are natural components of animal existence and evolution. The challenge for human beings, who have the capacity to muck up the natural functioning of the drives, is how to help the drive do its job most effectively.

Our capacity for reflective consciousness brings with it the capacity for projection and distortion of  what is really happening. The past gets projected onto the present situation and, the drive which can’t tell the difference between what is real and what is imagined, kicks into gear with its fight or flight response.

The current economic situation is raising a lot of safety and security concerns in people. Recessions, property, money and wealth are really not the types of dangers our instinctual drives evolved to engage. We’re hardwired to respond to actual immediate physical threat, not the imagined consequences of Bernie Madoff ripping us off or the consequences of job loss or a dwindling 401K.

We have become so identified with our possessions, that we connect them very strongly to our survival. Survival now has a strong connection to money – and it’s partly true, but mostly not. A downgrade in lifestyle or having to eat beans instead of beef is not about survival. It’s about comfort, preference and self-image. The self-image is what becomes threatened – and – since the hard wiring can’t tell the difference between the body and the self-image, fear, anxiety, worry and even terror result.

The direct connection to money is something we all need to explore – what it is, what does it stand for, what it means personally, how to work with it and relate to it.  This holds true for all of our possessions. This type of exploration will help to reveal the distortions that are interfering with the free functioning of the drives and thus the potential of the consciousness aligning them with the drive for enlightenment.

A very interesting three days.

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