Simple Seekers

Spirit teaches a simple seeker (and we each and all are more or less simple seekers) a gentle, personal, loving, and intelligent way to live in relationship with all other life forms. We have been born into a society that is not necessarily of our own choosing. That reality is a clue to a more general reality. We will experience environmental conditions and relationship situations that we feel are totally, or at least partly, beyond our personal choosing, and yet we must respond in some way to them. How?

If and when situations arise for the first time within our personal memory, we haven’t had the benefit of being able to remember how we responded the last time such a situation presented itself, and on how effective our response was, then. We need to develop new responses to new situations. How?

Spirit teaches a simple seeker that there are no absolutely new personal situations that could possibly develop. No life situation is completely disconnected from any other life situation. They each involve people, and we each are the singular form of people. We each possess a certain unique capacity to respond to any possible situation that might arise, within the limits of our ability to do so.

Sure. But how to know what those limits are? They expand, Spirit tells me, as we face and cope to the best of our ability at the time. Then, as the Law of Evolution has prepared us to meet unforseen situations and conditions, we develop new ways to face them; new ways that are based on old ways. We’ve learned, if we have, what worked in the past, in similar, if only vaguely similar, situations. We learn to trust our ability to respond, sooner or later.

A simple seeker was deeply engrossed in reading Tera Kathryne Collin’s “The Three Sisters of Tao.”

“It’s possible to read with much less intensity.”

“Perhaps, for some, if what they’re reading is for casual entertainment.”

“Even some serious students allow themselves some distance from the text.”

“Yes, it is as a text, with an important difference.”

“And the difference is…?”

“Personal experience.”

“How can you be sure?”

“My own personal experience supports the author’s general conception of bringing othrwise dry ancient wisdom ..”

“Can ancient wisdom be dry?”

“Yes, if it’s presented in an overly intellectual manner.”

“So, ancient wisdom needs an infusion of emotion?”

“I think so.”

“And your own personal experience confirms the author’s truth?”

“What does that term mean?”

“What term?”

“The author’s truth.”

“What does it mean to you?”

“To me it means that the author is expressing her understanding of the subject she has chosen to share with her readers, an understanding she has developed from personal experience, as well as from dedicated study.”

“Is that all?”

“Is it possible for her truth to mean more?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“His truth.”

“The author is female.”

“Yes.”

…..

A simple seeker’s note to herself

Spirit didn’t seem impressed with my concern about ancient wisdom.

“Dry ancient wisdom.”

“I meant no offence.”

“What did you mean.”

“I sincerely meant that ancient wisdom was written and taught away back then, by and for people who lived a much less complicated life than most of us live now. And, most people were much less educated then, than they are now.”

“How would that change wisdom?”

“It wouldn’t necessarily change the essence of wisdom, but it would require that wisdom to be taught in a language, and for a people living today, if we’re meant to understand it. Also, it seemed to be taught only to a small group of men. Women were, or seemed to be, excluded.”

“Would including women change the wisdom?”

“It would certainly seem to require changing the gender specific language.”

“Yes.”

“Does that mean that you agree with me.”

“Yes.”

…..

A simple seeker was admiring, in her mind (but where else could she admire anything?), a beautiful pink rose that someone had generously shared on Twitter. But, as beautiful as the flower was, something else was going on. Envy was slipping into the picture.

“What’s wrong with envy?”

“I want to be able to appreciate the skills of other people without always wishing that I also possessed them.”

“Do you envy everyone’s skills?”

“No. Just those that I wished that I also possessed.”

“Why don’t you possess the skills you admire?”

“Some people have more natural talent than do some others.”

“Some people may be unawae of what so-called natural talents they do possess.”

“It isn’t possible for me to develop all of the talents that I admire in other people.”

“Have you tried?”

“There would never be enough time for that, and …”

“Yes. It would pull you away from what you are now doing well, or might, with a little more effort.”

“How would that protect me from envy?

“Nothing can protect you from envy.”

“Why?”

“Envy, in its most sincere form, is a recognition of, and an inspiration toward excellence. We each, at least to some extent, aspire toward higher levels of personal skills. Envy is seeing in others what we want for ourselves. It can encourage us.”

“Or discourage us?”

“No. An unhealthy mind would feel resentment., not discouragement.”

“How can we know the difference?”

“Experience teaches us. We know because we’ve experienced it, if we have.”

“And if we haven’t?”

“Then we will, sooner or later.”

…..

A simple seeker’s note to herself

Thinking back, if experience is as a teacher, then what did my envy of the beautiful rose teach me?

“Perhaps you learned that we can’t have it both ways. You may have wished that you could provide roses with what they need, plenty of sunshine. And yet, you seem to feel more comfortable in shade.”

“Yes. Even my little garden areas are too shady for roses to survive in, let alone thrive in.”

“We need to learn to accept what is, and what is not, possible with what we have. But, we can admire and even envy what others have, without wishing to change our life situation with theirs.”

“Yes, I very much enjoy my little shady patio, and even my small and shady garden areas. I’d like more sunlight for them, and yet, the trees are so beautiful. Perhaps I need to learn to appreciate, more than I do, what I have. My plants do their best to adapt to what I can offer them. Let others grow roses, and I’ll try to admire them without feeling too envious.

“A good idea.”

…..

A simple seeker was puzzled by the seemingly contradictory and mutually exclusive (from her albeit limited understanding) terms of evolutionary and Buddhism rolled together, in something she had been reading.

“What seems to be the problem?”

“Buddhism and evolution together.”

“Everything is together.”

“But, spirituality should be forever.”

“It is.”

“But not necessarily as it was, or might yet be?”

“Exactly.”

“Then how can anyone …?”

“Which anyone?”

“This anyone. Me. How can I hope to ever understand something that keeps developing; when it isn’t what it once was, and, in the future, may not be what it is, now. I need stability.”

“There isn’t any.”

‘Then, what is there to hold onto?”

“In what way?”

“In thinking.”

“You might try holding onto the concept of endless change.”

“That would be easy if I was looking out from a high window, at traffic below.”

“We are doing just that.”

…..

A simple seeker’s note to herself

I wonder what Spirit meant by saying that we’re looking down from a high window?

“Whether we’re looking down or back, it’s the same. Distance allows for a wider perspective than does a close-up view. Evolution is change, and everything, including all relationships, and all situations, evolves.

Buddhism is not as it once was, nor as it might yet become. And yet, it has been, is now, and in spite of possible future changes or adaptations, may still be Buddhism, without necessarily losing any of its original value.”

We dress differently than our distant ancestors dressed, and even now, we dress differently for different weather conditions or social events, and yet we still dress, more and/or less.”

“So, the lesson is to try and see beyond form?”

“Yes.”

…..

A simple seeker was meditating on the concept of emptiness.

“What would it look like?”

“II wouldn’t look like anything.”

“What do you think anything means to a simple seeker, such as yourself?”

“Without form.”

“What is without form?”

“Potential.”

“What potential?

“Any and all.”

“Where does this emptiness, which is potential, exist?”

“Perhaps, wherever there is no form.”

“Where is there no form?”

“You’re leading me somewhere.”

“Where might I be leading you?”

“To asking you to please explain what it’s all about.”

“Yes.”

“Please explain.”

“What?”

“What emptiness is, and what it might look like, if I could recognize it.”

“Emptiness and nothingness are never empty nor nothing. They are potential, as is everything and everyone.”

“Then, we each have a never ending potential?”

“To what?”

“To be and do.”

“To be and do what?”

“To become.”

“To become what?”

“More aware.”

“Of what?”

“Of a slippery slope of enquiry.”

“Yes.”

…..

A simple seeker’s note to herself

I’m beginning to become more aware of sometimes being pulled into a discussion with Spirit, and perhaps with some others, that’s over my head.

“Of what?”

“Of everything.”

“How is that possible?”

“How might it be possible?”

“With practice.”

“Yes, and with intent.”

“Intent?

“Yes, with intent to become more aware.”

“Aware of what?”

“Of why things seem to be the way they seem to be.”

“What things.”

“Relationships between people, places, and things.”

“Yes.”

“The problem is that it could require more mental energy than I possess.”

“Mental muscles, as do physical muscles, develop with use.”

…..

“It’s still the same old story – a fight for love and glory. A case of do or die…” Will the next civilization remember us, as time goes by?

“Here today and gone tomorrow.” Or, “What’s it all about, Alfie? Is it just for the moment we live?” There’s also that seemingly nonsense verse that goes “How will the whole thing end, and when?”

“Atlantis – Insights from a lost civilization.” by Shirley Andrews, another book that just seemed to come into my hands. Fascinating.

“Once upon a time…” is how many old myths and legends begin, and yet, for most of us, perhaps, we think of the story of the rise and fall of heroes and civilaztions as almost fiction, and yet we know that almost anything we can imagine, might have been, or might yet be, real.

Atlantis was superior to our own so-called Western civilization in almost every aspect, except perhaps, in military equipment and the means of mass destruction, or mutural destruction.

How did Atlantis meet its Waterloo? Not from any other nation, for it was supreme, above all. Only the forces of Nature could, and did, destroy this highly developed nation and its continent island. Volcanoes, eqrthquakes, and rising seas all seemed to join forces to bring an end to a people who had lost touch with the best that they had to offer – a highly developed culture.

Can we learn a lesson from this tragic ending, or is it too late in the game? We’ve all enjoyed watching and getting caught up in a game between equal opponents/teams, and then the bell rings. The game is over.

A simple seeker was meditating on a card she had pulled randomly from her Tarot deck, a lone figure with a lantern.

“Do you know what lived experience The Hermi card expresses?”

“I seem to relate to it.”

“In what way?”

“As a solitary seeker.”

“How can you consider yourself to be solitary while I’m part of your life?”

“It’s possible to be alone in a crowd.”

“We’re not a crowd.”

“What difference does it make?”

“To what?”

“Aloneness in thought.”

“What about aloneness in emotion?”

“What about it?”

“If you can feel alone in thought …”

“You slipped “feel”‘ in.”

“Yes, to prove a point.”

“That thoughts aren’t isolated from emotions?”

“Yes. They each are as one of two sides of the same reality.”

“The reality of …?”

“Our state of mind.”

“I sense Ego coming into the picture.”

“Yes. Ego is the central mover and pusher of our thoughts, emotions, and actions. We can’t do or even feel anything without our individual life force – ego.”

“There may be thousands, and perhaps tens of thousands, of people who don’t seem to be aware of this reality.”

“This” suggests that you’re aware.”

“Yes, but I have no power of persuasion to inspire others to shake off the illusion of ego as being something they can function without, and still be able to live in the physical world as an individual, beyond the control of some guru more aware than they are.”

“Yes. They’d be as slaves.”

“Perhaps they are, now.”

“Yes.”

…..

A simple seeker’s note to herself

A sudden thought re The Hermit. Spirit may have caused my hand to pull that card.

“Why?”

“To help me understand that we each move through life alone, at least in some way.”

“In what way?”

“Nobody can live our life for us.”

“Personal responsibility?”

“Yes. It’s unavoidable, I guess.”

“Yes.”

…..

A simple seeker was meditating on the concept of separation, and how it might differ from differentiation.

“What seems to be the problem?”

“Seems to be, or is?”

“Seems to be, in the minds of some.”

“In the minds of some?”

“Yes.”

“But not in all?”

“Not in all.”

“But, if all minds are individual aspects of the one …?”

“And they are.”

“Then, …”

“Go on.”

“How can they be separate.”

“They can’t.”

“How is this possible?”

“Different meals can be prepared from the same ingredients. Apples are apples, whether they’re served as a pie or a sauce.”

“Or a drink?”

“Yes.”

“But, different minds have varying degrees of potential.”

“Not all apples are the same.”

“So, differentiation could refer to various specific types of apples?”

“Or minds.”

“How can a mind be a type?”

“We each possess potentials that some others may, or may not, possess.”

“So, a mind is a mind, whatever its capacity or syle of learning?”

“Style of learning?”

“Yes.”

“Exactly. We each learn in our own way.”

“But we each learn?”

“Yes.”

“Then, our individual learning style doesn’t necessarily separate us from others, who each learn at their own pace, and in their own way?”

“Yes. We may be, in some respects, different in our habits, but we each develop habits.”

“So, different individual habits, or even group habits, or social customs, don’t necessarily separate those individuals or groups from each other?”

“Yes. We each and all share more similarities than diffrences.”

…..

A simple seeker’s note to herself

Thinking back, I wonder if Spirit was suggesting …

“It was more than a suggestion.”

“Trees are trees, regardless of their type.?”

“Yes. And people are perople, regardless of their age, gender, strength, size, race, beliefs, education, skills, and special talents (or lack of).”

“So, our differences don’t necessarily separate us from each other, unless we choose to let it happen, for whatever reason?”

“Yes, and in some instances there can be very justifiable and/or good reasons for separating people, places, and things into categories. We don’t usually put young children into the same school class with older students. It’s mutually beneficial to teach younger students with others of their own general age and/or mental capacity.”

“How does this discussion of differentiation and separation relate to you and me?”

“In what way?”

“We each seem to so different in levels of awareness, and yet we manage to relate to each other. How can that be?”

“We’ve each intentionally developed a style, a practice of recognizing our differences, and seeking to benefit from them.”

“Would it work for others?”

“It’s the only way that will work.”

…..

A simple seeker was enjoying, or might have been enjoying, a glorious summer afternoon on her precious patio. A late-blooming bluish-purple clematis was stretching as open as it could go, seeming determined to enjoy as much as it could of the gently moving air. It seemed to sense, as did the lavender, which was also blooming longer than usual, that their time was running out, at least for this season.

A second blooming, or was it a third? of pink and yellow – a name. how could she forget the name? But, of course she had not. It had simply slipped away, for now. However, the beautiful snapdragon blossoms had not slipped away, yet. Fuschias and geraniums seemed also to know that these lazy days of summer were coming to an end.

The light-filtered green canopy above her would soon dry to glorious reds and golds. The leaves would flutter down or would be torn away, and blown away, by the wind. It was inevitable. Nothing could change what destiny had planned, and what fate seemed too willing to help bring about.

“Aren’t we getting a bit morbid?”

“But, it’s going to happen, and nothing can prevent it.”

“Why would you want to prevent Nature from doing what Nature does every year at this time?”

“The slow dance of light and shadow is as silent music that the eye alone can hear. And, the perfume of the gently moving air feels so good to inhale, that deep breathing is more of a pleasure than a required meditation practice. It seems to connect me to, and within, this precious setting.”

“Then, why are you sad?”

“It isn’t enough to have it now. I want to experience it tomorrow, and next week, and … It’s such a helpless feeling.”

“Do your loved plants share your sorrow?”

“No. They seem to have accepted whatever will be, and are happy to be enjoying what now is, a glorious afternoon.”

“What lesson could they teach you, if you were willing to learn it?”

“To enjoy what we have, while we have it, even while accepting that it isn’t ours, forever.”

“Yes, not only is it not ours, forever, as far as this pleasant weather is concerned; it may be gone, tomorrow.”

“Are you predicting stormy weather?”

“There will always be stormy weather, somewhere.”

…..

A simple seeker’s note to herself

Thinking back, Spirit said there will always be stormy weather, somewhere. What did He mean by that? I wonder if He was speaking of something other than Nature.”

“There isn’t anything other than Nature.”

“Yes, perhaps, but in this particular case, were you referring to physical Nature or stormy states of consciousness.?”

“Are there stormy states of consciousness?”

“Are there?”

“Yes.”

“Do we each have stormy states in our personal consciousness?”

“There is no individual consciousness.”

“Then, we each and all share the same consciousness?”

“Yes, and no.”

“Please explain.”

“We create the illusion of separate states of consciousness, when, in reality, there are an infinite number of depths and qualities of consciousness that we each and all are a part of, and if we are stressed, then the Law of Attraction can supply us with ever-increasing quantities and qualities of that, or those thoughts or emotions that we focus our attention on.”

“I let myself get pulled into negative thoughts re the changing seasons.”

“Yes. Your distress didn’t change the weather, but it prevented you from fully enjoying the beautiful weather, while it lasted.”

“Yes.”

,,,,,

A simple seeker was practicing slow and deep breathing, to calm her over-charged emotions after reading a passionate post of a patriotic soul, concerning her homeland, or at least the land of her birth.

The young journalist (Did it require youth to care so deeply?) was obviously very agitated by what happened, was now happening, and what might yet happen, all of it seemingly beyond her power to control.

“How did her energy affect your own, in such a way?”

“I don’t know how that was possible. Perhaps we’re kindred spirits.”

“Yes. We each resonate at a frequency which magnetically attracts and resonates with others resonating with the same or a similar vibration.”

“Through a computer?”

“No.”

“Then how?”

“Thoughts have power to resonate, whether written, spoken, or reflected upon in one’s own mind.”

“Then, a computer…?”

“Or a book ….”

“I’m not going there.”

“Where?”

“You’ve hinted at a book for the past ten thousand years, or more. I don’t care any more.”

“Why?”

“I allowed myself to get too personally involved in the project.”

“Yes.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s the same with the young journalist, who has become a deeply distressed witness to a human tragedy.”

“Expanded awareness would have allowed her to transfer her agitated emotions to empathy?”

“Yes, and then to compassion.”

“Yes. And you’re right, again.”

“In what way?”

“In that she seems to see her world too close up to allow for expanded awareness.”

“Would she care less for current events if she could distance herself from them?”

“No. She would still know that she was helpless to change what is.”

“What can she change?”

“I’m not sure.”

“We can each change how we choose to respond to whatever situation.”

“Would she have expressed less care if she had not shared her experience; her story?”

“Yes.”

…..

A simple seeker’s note to herself

I did seem to let myself get very emotionally distressed, when reading about a human tragedy so very far away from the safety of my own little home.

“What did you learn, if you learned anything, from our discussion of the young reporter’s experience and her response to it?”

“I learned that we can’t live anyone’s life but our own.”

“Yes, but you must have learned something more.”

“What?”

“What did the young writer do?”

“She shared her experience.”

“Yes, and in the sharing, what she witnessed became the awareness of all who read her report.”

“Her response to her experience?”

“Yes. We may be limited in our capacity to change the world, alone. But, if we share what we know, then we also share the responsibility of responding, with everyone with whom we share our story.”

…..