Worst Google Ad – Ever

The image says it all……

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Past? We don’t need no stinkin’ past.

I have this bad habit about the past. Whenever I have something new in my life – call it the potential future – my mind runs it through the past, sees if there is any correlation. It could be anything, a locker number, for example, and my mind will know in a split second if that number was associated with a bad time or good time in my life.

And you know what, if it was a bad time, often, I’ll skip the new thing, avoid it. In this case, grab another locker.

Silly, crazy, always working in the back of my mind.

So, I get to thinking, what if there was no past? A blank. A clean slate. What then? Everything new will be, well, new, with no judgments or attachments. Would that be close to being like a child, seeing a flower for the first time? I don’t know, but I like the thought.

What if I took it further and everything became just “is.” No future hopes or fears projected on to it either. So a number is simply what it is: a number. A name, the color of a girl’s hair, are simply what they are.

No past, no future. Everything just is. I like that.

The secret to peace

It’s a simple one, told to me by a monk in a monastery high in brown hills overlooking the ocean. I’d just finished a silent retreat there, almost a week in a cabin by myself, only coming in to grab food or sit in on services and watch the monks pray.

The day I left, I was given the chance to sit down with one of the monks and talk. Talk? What does one speak of with a monk? I mean, besides the, “do you miss sex?” type stuff. But after a week of silence, the fluff was gone. I had no obvious questions, only a desire to experience truth. And so I said, “I have a simple question. How do you find peace?”

He leaned back in the chair, ran a hand through his beard, laughed softly. “A simple question?” He sat up, nodded. “Ok. Here is how I find peace. I say ‘yes.’ To all that happens, I say ‘yes.’”

And that is the secret to peace. To all that happens, say yes.

The truth, ma’am, and nothin’ but the…..

I read today that James Cagney, the actor, said about acting that you had to mean what you said. You had to look the other actor in the eye and mean your lines.

Which naturally got me thinking about transferring that to my life. I find that the older that people get, the less bullshit they put up with. From others anyway. The ones I consider wise put up with less bullshit from themselves.

But why wait for life experience to drill it into us? Why not practice now what we’ll have learned later anyway?

Reality = illusion

I’ll admit, I’m really drawn to the whole concept of reality as an illusion. The Matrix. Maya in Indian teachings. All of this, even you, reading this blog, it is all an illusion.

But then, I ask, illusion of what? There has to be something behind the illusion which causes the illusion itself. Many theories point to the mind as the source of this illusion. If we run with that, we can look at the physical universe and point out that the mind filters all sensory input into a reality that is only a small representation of the total reality.

That kinda makes sense. Our five senses don’t take in all the various wavelengths of light, for example. And if I remember my physics correctly, all matter is mainly empty space with occasional particles which, when broken down, result in more particles, which broken further down result in no particles. Just energy. Some physicists believe they are vibrating strings of energy, others in multiple dimensions with multiple versions of reality.

And so it goes. We can’t discount the laws of physics. The same data which tells us that reality is just empty space and energy also applies to our lcd screens, satellites, your cell phone. So, we’re energy. Not mass.

All mass is interaction, Richard Feynman said. Interaction of energy.

So, if you and I, this Mac laptop I’m typing on, the sound of the breeze through the window, if all is just energy, how does that affect our everyday lives? Importantly, how can we use such knowledge to improve our lives. Heck, to live our lives better?

Or, is that the wrong question? If our lives themselves are an illusion, then there is no “better.” No up or down. No good or bad. Just energy. Just existence. Like when a child makes a crayon drawing. It is what it is. Then it’s crumpled up and thrown away. Next drawing. It is what it is. No polars, no opposites.

Life just is.

Choose wisely

A friend and mentor told me today that the three things we must choose wisely in our lives are:

1. Your partner
2. How we spend our time. Choose what you enjoy. It really is that simple.
3. Your friendships.

I don’t have a partner of the type of which he speaks about, yet. Friendships, I have many. But often, when I go out, I’m surrounded by many people, each with what I call their “game face,” trying to project a reality of themselves to others. It’s posturing, really. Especially in professional circles. Unfortunately, in the US, a lot of our social crowd also involves a professional crowd, hence posturing.

And when I come home, either after a heavy meal with these people or a few too many drinks, I think that perhaps my time would have been better spent reading a book, taking a dance class, learning a new skill.

Years ago, I met a woman who’d been terminally diagnosed with throat cancer. She outlived all her doctor’s projections, had ten surgeries, lived over ten years. The last time I saw her, she was waving to me from her apartment balcony in Paris. I knew it would be the last time I would see her. She passed away half a year later.

But when we first met, she told me that after she was diagnosed with cancer, she cleaned her life out. Especially with friendships. Instead of spending time with those who would improve her career, she only spent time with friends who brought her joy, laughter. Friends who were, and forgive me for using the word as it’s almost a cliche, real.

So, in choosing my time wisely, I must spend less and less time with game face friends, more time with real friends, and the rest in activities that make me grow, laugh, learn, improve, play

Leave your fear behind

Ever read the “Book of Five Rings?” It’s the classic on warfare written by the most successful samurai in Japanese history. Here’s what sticks out. He would go into each battle believing that he was already dead.

Think about that.

What freedom. If you’re already dead, then fight that fight! Sing your song. Dance your dance.

And guess what…..he won each battle.

I’m already dead. You’re already dead. Now what?

Shiver

You come home. You think of her. Of her. You had a good night: drinks, laughs, friends. Your bed is cold. You remember crawling in, snuggling next to her, her body warm and her skin so smooth, the freckles on her back. Her hair smelled like fresh snow.

You put on music, something mellow, Venus by Air, and you stare at your laptop screen. Icons everywhere. If the scattered symbols signified your life, it’d be a mess.

You watch guys hit on girls, the game plays itself over and over again in bars, clubs, and as you watch, inwardly you find faults with the women and tell yourself that you’re just being picky and so it’s the other guy who talks to them rather than you. But is it because you’ve made her–the one you try not to think about–too perfect in your memories? So who could measure? That girl, her smile doesn’t do it for you, the other? Oh, her butt doesn’t look firm enough. And the other one? Looks too uptight, not crazy fun enough.

But that craziness used to drive you a little crazy, remember that? Ah, but that was part of the attraction. You were crazy too, in a different way, and you enjoyed it.

So where do you go from here? You climb into bed, shiver for a moment, and pull the down comforter–a purchase with an ex–over yourself. Tomorrow, another day.