Posts Tagged ‘philosophy’

Much ado about NOthing

Friday, April 11th, 2008

I suspect that America’s cultural imperialism and the power of Hollywood may have seduced us thinking that the answer to every problem lies in… Action! I say this whilst recognising that men are far more enthralled by this notion than women, or perhaps we are just victims to our yang energies. Whatever the reason, it leads to way too much busyness.

There are times when, truly, nothing works; when all that is required is to do no thing. I woke this morning very aware of the call of this state. For me it consisted, at that moment, of just lying in bed, literally not moving a muscle, just letting my mind float wherever it wanted. When I am in this ‘space’, even moving a finger is the wrong thing to do. I suppose it must be a personal version of a meditative state, though frankly, I never got anywhere that good when I have meditated!

I have been aware of needing to create some personal space for a while now, and the need to slow down, but have done a pretty poor job of doing so. This morning I awoke at 5’ish to the sound of the dawn chorus, my day’s activities cancelled by others’ choices, and the sun shining. So, today, I shall surrender to the Power of Nothing.

You may not be in such a lucky place, but I commend it to you both for the sake of your health and wellbeing and also as a philosophical response to some of the problems in your life. There are many times when our most positive response to a situation is to do nothing, and this is often the hardest ‘act’. So today, before you act, ask your self if nothing might not work better?

“Nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” Oscar Wilde

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein

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Posted in General, Hints, Tips & Techniques, Values & Philosophy | 9 Comments »

The World is a Mirror

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008

It is amazing how when we look about us, what we see reflects back our inner state, our anxieties and our fears. I guess most of us grew with parents and media warning that all this ‘free sex’ (What free sex?!) and drugs were taking us to hell in a hand cart. I’m now my parents’ age when they made these pronouncements and I can understand their fears, but I’m not sure that the world is so very different today. The state of the world is a bit like the fashion, in as much as the way it looks keeps changing but the elements keep on being recycled.

I think that what we notice going on around us tells us a lot about our inner world. If we see many things that scare us, I think this not only makes us afraid but arises from feeling scared in the first place. If we see struggle and competition everywhere, this is probably because we feel that we are struggling. It is a simplistic statement, but I think that there is evidence in the way the brain works that tells us that we notice things that are of importance to us1. It is at once an old idea, and at the cutting edge of physics to say that the microcosm reflects the macrocosm and that quantum physics must square with Einsteinian scale concepts.

So perhaps rather than trying to fix the World, maybe there is value in reflecting a little, and asking what is going on in our inner world. This may help take us forward a step or two on our journeys.

“If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.” Chinese Proverb.

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Whether it’s the weather…

Sunday, March 23rd, 2008

Maybe it is the weather, I mean snow at Easter! This morning I find myself assailed by awash of different emotions sweeping over me like waves on a weed-covered rock. Nothing has happened, no one has said anything and yet they keep coming, wave after wave, and none of them particularly pleasant. Luckily I am able to be relatively quiet and can just watch the ‘waves’ breaking over me and I don’t have to engage with others yet. It would be so easy to react poorly or negatively from this space. The odd thing is that I (by which I mean the inner me) don’t feel particularly ‘bad’.

So where is this ‘stuff’ coming from? It feels like being out on the moors in bad weather, just storm-tossed. Maybe it is some astrological confluence of planets, maybe it is due ionisation of the upper atmosphere or perhaps it is just hormonal…. Who knows! Sh*t happens! Get over it!! We are made up of such subtle forces all so delicately balanced, it is impossible for any number of experts to know how we work.

The interesting element of this is that I seem to be able to differentiate the ‘inner me’ from the rest of me. It sounds daft, and I guess you either can either resonate with this statement or think I am daft. After all,. Philosophers have been struggling to answer the questions “Who am I?” satisfactorily for thousands of years. For me it feels like the outer part of me is the seaweed, swaying and tossed by the waves, and the inner core is the rock, which remains unmoved.

Perhaps if this feeling is wider spread today, then you will take a little comfort from knowing it is just ‘psychic weather’, and not just you; perhaps realising that we are made up of different and deeper parts will help you make contact with the ‘inner you’ and enable you to take comfort from it’s deep wisdom and sense of knowing and connection. Good Luck and Happy Easter!

“The more a person analyzes his inner self, the more insignificant he seems to himself. This is the first lesson of wisdom. Let us be humble, and we will become wise. Let us know our weakness, and it will give us power.” William Ellery Channing

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The Perfect Life … scene 2

Saturday, March 22nd, 2008

In yesterday’s blog I suggested there was some value in considering our lives as if they were movies that we were starring in. Today I’d like to develop that idea and ask you to consider who your co-stars are and what they bring to your party? The key people in our lives (even, and perhaps especially, the annoying ones!) bring us something special. What are they here to teach us? How is their behaviour challenging us? Making us feel? Mirroring us and our fears? Often those people who drive us most crazy are mirroring an aspect of ourselves we don’t much care for. We get mad at them rather than change ourselves.

Have a look around…. What do you notice?

Have a good Easter!

“Friends are the mirror reflecting the truth of who we are”

“Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it.” Ernest Holmes

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The Perfect Life…

Friday, March 21st, 2008

Imagine, for a moment, that you are an actor, and you have been given the lead role in a very important movie. You have the perfect script, written by the world’s best script writer, and you have had the opportunity to add your own little touches. You have the perfect place to shoot, chosen with just you and this story in mind. The cast has been hand-picked to showcase your story and you know with absolute certainty that this is the project that you want to commit to and which will make you.

You leave the studio and arrive on location, but there has been a small hiccough. On the journey here you had a little mishap and appear to have amnesia. “Never mind“, says your director, “Just be yourself; that is all this role calls for.” “ACTION!”

Scene 1: You are born….

You arrived in this world in almost this way and most of us arrive having forgotten why we chose to take up this particular life. I often hear people say that they are unlucky or are never in the right place. And yet here we all are, in the perfect place for us to learn exactly what it is that we need to learn to move forward in our lives. If you were watching this movie of your life you would probably be able to see the patterns and guess what our hero was meant to do next. It is just that in the hurly burly of our lives we often lose perspective.

On this holiday weekend, let your mind drift to this movie script and ask yourself “What should happen next? What is the sub-plot? What does our hero need to find or do to win through?” and… take 2…”ACTION!”

“Life is good, without it we’d all be dead.” Hannah

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein

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