Ram Dass Vid

I've just come across this video featuring Ram Dass and I had to share it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ1rGSZ07_s

Be Still

On Monday whilst doing voluntary work at my local Hospice I went and sat in the quiet room and began to meditate (the quiet room is where people can go and light a candle for their loved ones, or can write a prayer on a small piece of paper in the shape of a leaf and hang it on the prayer tree, or people can simply sit in silence).

It is the latter that I chose to do. During the silence I had an urge to pick up a copy of the New Testament and Psalms and look at the contents. Straight away I saw something to do with death, looked to see what page it was on and began to flick through the pages. When I got to the appropriate page there was a small piece of paper placed there (a bit smaller than a postcard) and on it it said, 'Be still and know that I am God'.

Interesting.

All is well.

Cainer's Thought for the Day

I check my star signs regularly on Jonathan Cainer's site - www.cainer.com. He is by far one of the most accurate astrologers out there.

Every day he has a 'thought for the day'. Below is what he has written for tomorrow's. I thought it was interesting.

An ancient cosmic law states wherever there is a ridiculous imbalance, an opposite inequity must exist. Here's an example. In 2002, ex-Royal Marine Steven Gough became a 'radical nudist' and hiked as nature made him, across Britain. Most local authorities turned a blind eye. But in Perth, Scotland, they gaoled him in 2008. He's been serving time ever since. Whenever they free him, he walks out naked and is locked back up. Last week, he got two more years. Just 60 miles away lies the prison where the authorities were seemingly happy to let the Lockerbie bomber go.

Emotional Change

A lot has happened since I last wrote a post. Change is strange, but sometimes it is needed (and can't be avoided) if one is to move forward and progress.

When the feeling - the inner urge - the pull in your stomach - is too strong that it can't be ignored any longer, one has to surrender and take the appropriate action that corresponds with that surge of energy.

I have no doubt that some people might find this act of surrender quite painless and straight forward, but for me, the times when I've had to make a big decision - a decision that will ultimately change the course of my life - it has been hellish.

But I've always come out wiser and stronger for making the move.

I mention above about a big decision, but is there such a thing? Am I merely saying that a decision backed by a large amount of emotion is bigger than one where there is lack of emotion?

It certainly feels that way, but it may not be true.

After all, doesn't every decision that one makes take one down a path that one wouldn't have gone down without the result of making such a decision? Be it eating a certain sandwich - going to the toilet before meeting a friend - saying certain things to a certain someone - smiling - saying goodbye - running - walking - saying thank you - not saying thank you - - - - your life is just made up of very small decisions you make in the moment. 

That's the way I see it, any road. I might change my mind tomorrow when something happens that I perceive to be out of my control.    

Fiction vs Fact

Since an article appeared in Monday's Huddersfield Examiner covering the story of my book and how it came about, I've had a number of people on my walk stop me and say how touched they were by it.

Today, a lady called Rita Payne, who just so happens to have written her biography and is available on amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tapestry-Tears-R-D-PAYNE/dp/1456784064/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312465630&sr=8-1 said how I must've had a rough time growing up and how she felt sorry for me.

I was a bit taken aback by this and wondered what she meant. Then I realised that she thought that I was Jamie, the protagonist in my book. I had to explain to her that he was fictional.

When my mum first read my book, although she enjoyed it, she couldn't help but be a tad concerned as to what people would think (and say) about my dad.

Again, I had to explain that I wasn't Jamie, and therefore Jamie's dad wasn't my dad.

The only characters in the story who I've tried to base on real people are Dan and his parents - and even then, I've added fictional elements to their personalities.

Yes, the story is based on a real event in my life - my good friend, Daniel Cox, being diagnosed with a brain tumour, and yes he said they were angels at his bedside when he woke up one morning, but what runs throughout the book isn't about my life - it's about my philosophy on life and death. 

I want people to read it and be comforted by its message, to be given hope, and for them to perceive death and dying in a healthier light once they've read it.

So far it seems to be having a positive influence on people.

I would like to thank all the people who've supported me and the book so far. It really makes my day when someone says that my book has helped them.

Thanks again, folks.

Behind Closed Doors

On my walk today I got talking to a bloke; he asked me how I was doing and what I was up to these days. This wasn't out of the ordinary, I had spoken to him many times before and simply saw him as a devoted family man.

I began to tell him about my book (Waiting for Wings - A Story of Hope) and he told me that him and his wife have taken in, and are caring for, an 18 month old boy with a brain disease.

He told me to follow him to his dining-room window. He knocked on the window and somebody from inside opened it.

He told me to poke my head in and see the boy they were caring for (unfortunately I've forgotten his name). A carer came to the window holding a boy with tubes coming out of his nose.

'Doctors gave him 6 months to live,' he said to me. 'It's been 18 months so far, in fact, it's nineteen now.' He smiled proudly.

I was really touched by this.

'They call him the miracle boy,' he said.

It made me think how we go about judging people, yet we have no idea what really goes on behind closed doors. Next time you find yourself judging someone, stop and just think for a moment that they might be looking after a miracle child back at home.

An open heart is capable of giving an infinite amount.

Waiting for Wings - A Story of Hope

I've been meaning to update this blog for a while now and something always seems to get in the way.

So here goes . . . . . . . . . .

My book, Waiting for Wings - A Story of Hope, is now available as a download on amazon.

The book is based on true events. A good friend of mine died at the age of 22 back in '08 of a brain tumour. Before he died I told him I would write a book about him. So, as a gift, I wrote the book for his family. I realised that the book had the potential to comfort people when they're dealing with the death of a loved one, or if they themselves find that they have a degenerative disease.

My intention for the book is to give hope, inspiration, comfort and to diminish some of the fear that comes with the process we call death. It is my wish that a bit of light be shone on this taboo topic.

I hope you find it inspiring.

Please click on the link below which will take you straight to the book.

Many thanks.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Waiting-Wings-Story-Hope-ebook/dp/B005CKB7VO/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311865343&sr=1-1

Bird Suit

Whilst on my walk today I passed a dead black bird.

Next to it somebody had written on the pavement 'R.I.P BLACK BIRD'.

The thing is, it's no longer a bird. I've come to realise that there isn't such a thing as a dead anything, for as soon as any life form makes the transition we call death, it leaves the form (the form that we mistook it for) and moves on.

So therefore, the dead black bird was no longer a black bird, so we can't call it a dead black bird. Well, we can, but it would be errornous.

So what can we call it?

An empty form.

Which is a form that no longer contains spirit.

When people go and see their dead relatives, how many of them say 'It just wasn't them'?

That's because it wasn't them!

We mistook the cage for the bird!

We mistook the car for the driver!

'You can't have a universe without mind entering into it.' Dr. Fred Alan Wolf - Quantum Physicist.

You are not a man suit.

You are mind.

And for that reason, you will never be a dead human being.

Another 15 Life Lessons

These are the last 15 life lessons by Regina Brett:

1. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
2. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
3. Believe in miracles.
4. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
5. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
6. Growing old beats the alternative of dying young.
7. Your children get only one childhood.
8. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
9. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
10. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
11. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
12. The best is yet to come...
13. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
14. Yield.
15. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Another 10 Life Lessons

Another 10 life lessons from Regina Brett:

1. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
2. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
3. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
4. The most important sex organ is the brain.
5. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
6. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
7. Always choose life.
8. Forgive everyone everything.
9. What other people think of you is none of your business.
10. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.

Start Living

Think of the ramifications it would have on peoples' lives, knowing that death isn't a termination but a transformation.

It's all about the diminishment of fear so people can really start living.

Another 10 Life Lessons

Below are another ten of the life lessons by Regina Brett.

1. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up your present.
2. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
3. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
4. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
5. Everything can change in a blink of an eye. But don't worry, God never blinks.
6. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
7. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
8. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
9. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is uto you and no one else.
10. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

45 Life Lessons

My girlfriend was given a newsletter about our village. I wasn't expecting anything interesting in it, but I turned to page eight and I saw a a piece called Life Lessons which grabbed my attention.

It read the following:

A READER HAS SENT US THIS PIECE WHICH WAS SENT TO HER BY A FRIEND AND WHICH WAS WRITTEN BY REGINA BRETT, AGED 90, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, USA.

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested piece I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the piece once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry at God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay packet.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

I'll post the next set of 10 lessons tomorrow.

One Last Ride

A work colleague was deeply upset today because her horse had to be put down.

I told her that the grieving process gets easier with time. I also told her that one of the reasons we get upset when death strikes so close to home, is that we don't know what death is. But not only that, we don't know who we are.

If we knew who we were, we would come to the conclusion that death doesn't touch us - and we would look at death differently.

She told me she had a dream last night where she was riding her horse and it slowly faded away.

She thought this was horrible. 

I saw it as a beautiful goodbye.

I told her that her horse has gone from 'A' where she could see it, to 'B' where she can't. 

Her horse hasn't ceased to be. No thing we have created a 'love-link' with, ceases to be.

Death is a transition within this process we call life. It isn't the end of life. It goes hand in hand with it.

You can't die.

You're not who you think you are, you are much, much more - the same goes for your pets.

 

A Blessing Counter

Today, on my walk, I asked an elderly lady how she was doing. 

'Plodding on, love,' she said. 'Counting my blessing, as always.'

I smiled.

'I do that, too,' I said.

'You've got to,' she said. 'I always say my prayers on a night, too.'

'Really?'

'Oh yes. My prayers have been answered many times in the past.'

I believed her.

I believe that prayers work. I don't think you have to be religious in order to pray. I say my personal goals, what I would like for the future, and what I would like for others out loud all the time. Not to mention what I'm grateful for. This, in my eyes, is a form of prayer.

Am I talking to God? Don't know, maybe. 

Am I talking to my higher self? Don't know, maybe.

Am I talking to my subconscious? Don't know, maybe.

I know it works, though.

Cereal Chin

On my round today I knocked on a door and was greeted by an elderly man.

Soon after he had started to talk I noticed he had a milk-soaked Rice Krispy stuck to his chin.

It absorbed all of my attention and I can't remember what the bloody hell he was talking about.

Hope it wasn't anything important.

...A lack of awareness on behalf of both of us.

Spending Time Doing Things Not Worth Doing

I was talking to an elderly lady on my walk today - in fact, I stand at her window most days talking to her for a few minutes (she enjoys the company). 

She commented on how much trouble the town's football match had caused. Then she moved onto the trouble with the protesters in Ireland due to the Queen's visit.

She looked up at the sky and said, 'It's a shame they can't find anything better to do with their time'.



  

Inside the Human Body

They say that the greatest trick the devil ever played on humanity was tricking us into believing he didn't exist.

But I think the greatest trick is making us believe that we are our bodies, and that when this body decays so do we.

Because of this belief a lot of people live a life driven by fear (although they may say they are driven by success, but what they probably mean is they are driven by the fear of failure).

The other day I was watching Inside the Human Body on BBC1 and they showed an old man take his last breath.

There has been quite a mixed back of opinions about this. My mate said he was disgusted at the fact that they had filmed it.

I personally think it's one of the most beautiful things in life.

. . . An amazing transition that we're aware of.

Do we think the caterpillar's aware of its transformation into a butterfly?

If not, I bet it wishes it was.

A Second Step

I did something quite significant today.

I took my dog for a walk through the local fields. I was walking at my normal pace then it occurred to me how fast that pace was (postmen walk quite fast). So with this realisation I started to walk really, really slow.

I absorbed all of my surroundings. My thoughts were at a low volume, and when they did get too much attention I soon turned my awareness to what was.

And what was?

• I could feel the wind against my face. It came in waves, sometimes weak, other times strong.
• There were little insects scuttling away from my feet.
• A plane was going over carrying a couple of hundred people.
• The knee-high crop was swaying in the breeze making a sound like soft whitenoise.
• I could hear cows in the distant fields.
• I watched a kestral hover, looking for its lunch.

I'm sure there were much more going on.

All the time I was aware of my breathing and every move I made.

I got my phone out and selected the stopwatch mode. The pace I was walking at was about one step every second.

It was nice.

As a society we rush too much. This causes stress which in turn causes illness (of course, there are other factors too).

But just try slowing down.

See how you feel.

Stay well.

The Key

Those who have experienced an NDE (near-death experience) have said that their consciousness expands at the point of separation from the physical body.

It's like a butterfly. As soon as it leaves the chrysalis it stretches it's wings and prepares to fly.

Imagine what it must feel like to be set free from a cage that you thought you were . . .

. . . and for you to remain the same as you were when you were in the cage.

Self observation is the key.

5D

I'm currently exploring astral projection, out of body experiences and lucid dreams.

I'm reading A Course in Astral Travel and Dreams by Belzebuub. It's a 9 week course that teaches you to consciously leave the body and travel in the astral plane (the fifth dimension).

It's all about taming the mind. Reducing the amount of attention the internal chit-chatter absorbs. This takes a huge amount of concentration. 

The mind is a tool, after all, but the average person is a slave to their mind. But it should be the other way round in order for us to be more present.

So it comes down to practising mindfulness. Being aware of the here and now, of every movement of every moment. 

This is difficult. 

Just try seeing how many conscious breaths you can take before a thought comes in. My guess is it isn't many.

You'll be the first person to know if I experience astral projection.

Imagine -  - - - being free from the restrictions of the physical body.

Everyone who has ever had the experience (and there have been many throughout history - it usually occurs because of a traumatic experience (hence NDEs - Near Death Experiences) or during an operation and under anesthetic) have said that it's a life changing experience and they no longer believe in the general concept of death being the end of life, rather a continuation of life, but just on another level - the fifth dimension.

I'll see you in the 5th!

Chicken

I was on my walk today getting a packet out of my bag. It was full so it was taking me a while.

Then I heard something.

Something weird.

Something strange.

I was on a quiet street; modern detached houses, no traffic, no dogs - this was a sound I hadn't heard before, at least not round here.

I turned around.

And there it was.

A damn chicken!

Massive!

I looked at it.

It looked at me.

It clucked.

I swore.

The packet I was trying to post wouldn't go through the letterbox. It said 'Do Not Bend' on it, but whoever wrote that didn't take my chicken situation into consideration. 

So I bent it.

It went through.

I backed up. My new clucky friend didn't take its eyes off me. I started to walk slowly to the next house.

I got about 10 meters away from it then it started to peg it after me - I mean PEG IT! I didn't know whether to laugh or lay an egg. (A chicken running is hilarious!)

I froze. It stopped in front of me and clucked and made other weird sounds.

'Piss off, chicken!' I said, then the owner came out and shoo'd it away.

My mate said I should've shouted 'NUGGETS!!' at it.




  

Simple Things

A chap I deliver to had just come back from Scotland with his Mrs, Doreen. They have a huge motor home so they go quite regularly.

Yesterday I asked him if they'd had a good time.

'Brilliant, Gavin, we didn't want to come home,' he said, peering over his gate. 'A black swan took bread out of Doreen's fingers, then sat next to her on the grass. Then, just as we were packing up to come home, a young deer ran out into the open, stopped, looked at us, then shot back where it came from.'

He looked very happy and full of life. Bare in mind he's in his 70s. 

'That's what life's about, isn't it,' I said, 'the simple things.'

He smiled.

'It really is, Gavin, it really is.'

I'm typing this whilst eating some mangetouts and sugar snap peas.

I didn't pick them.

I'm grateful for every bite.

Biding Time

"I wondered whether people would still exert the tremendous effort of work and sacrifice to acquire worldly goods, committing crimes if necessary, if they realised that all they had to do was to bide their time, lead a decent life, spiritualise their consciousness so that it would vibrate on a more exalted level, and simply wait for the gates of death to open for them and see their wildest dreams come true."

Jurgen Ziewe - Multidimentional Man.

I love this. The phrase '...all they had to do was bide their time...' has had a significant impact on me lately.

There are times when I get too ambitious. I get lost in doing and when the doing gets lost I too find it hard too do things, then I start to feel lost.

When really, all I have to do is bide my time.

What's the rush?

Why chase things?

Why do?

Why not be?

My need to do comes from the misperception that the present moment lacks something.

Sometimes I find it really hard to see that everything, right now, is exactly how it's meant to be.

Yer Standin

Today whilst on my walk a woman came out and said, 'Do you have a packet for nextdoor?'

'No,' I said, 'not today.'

'Well,' she said, 'I saw yer standin last week and wondered if the packet came then. They're on holiday, you see.'

'Right,' I said. 'I was on holiday last week too. You say you saw me standing?'

'Yeah, I saw yer standin last week.'

I was confused. Really confused.

'You saw me standing?'

'Yes I saw yer standin.'

At this point she seemed to be getting a bit annoyed with me. She was looking at me in the exact same way I was looking at her.

'I was on holiday last week,' I said. 'Where did you see me standing?'

'What?'

'You said you saw me standing - where was I standing?'

'Nooooo! I saw your stand in!' she yelled. 'You know, the guy who stands in for you!'

'Ah right, sorry - what did he tell you?'

'Not much.'

Dear God.

Determined to Chew

No matter how many sticks get lodged in my dog's throat, she's still determined to chew them over and over again.

That's what the majority of people walk around doing - chewing - people are blinded by chewing . . . crazy. 

All my dog has to do is let go.

Mirror

You never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever . . . look in the mirror and see who you are.

 . . . ever.

Drip Drip Drip

I left the tap dripping for our cat.

She watched it for 15 minutes.

I did too.

Just to see it.

At the football match I went to (mentioned in the previous post) the moon was above us. I wonder how many people were paying any attention to it.

Does it Dark Matter?

Just been to a football match. Not my thing. I went for the experience.

It was good - the experience, that is . . . the football was poor.

A game that's played as if it matters.

. . . Sounds like another game we all play.

No TV

There's going to be no TV in my heaven.

...Does that sound like your hell?...

6 billion

They say there are 6 billion of us.

As M. Scott Peck said, "There are 6 billion religions".

I'd like to add to this - There are 6 billion heavens.

Value of Life

Just reading the April issue of the Fortean Times magazine.

"To teach them the value of life, students at Rende Medical College in Taiwan are obliged to write a will, dress in a shroud, lie in a coffin and be buried under the floorboards for 10 minutes". MX News.

I think that'd do it for me.

Experiencing the Experience

I always used to think that life was full of lessons.

But what if it isn't?

Who's to say it is, anyway?

What if life is an experience - (a fantastic, miraculous one) - and is merely to be experienced?

 . . . and you ( I ) are the nameless experiencer experiencing this amazing experience.

(Crazy to think you're an experience experiencing itself)

Brainwashed?

My other half said to me the other day, 'You know the spirituality stuff you're into?'

'Yeah,' I said.

'Well,' she said, 'I think you're brainwashed.'

I smiled.

'OK,' I said.

Very, very interesting.

Sunshine

I got a text yesterday from a good mate of mine who's also a fellow postman.

I liked the text so I thought I'd put it on here:

'A woman just called me sunshine on my walk. It made me smile. That is all.'

The Monkfish and the Monk - Episode 4

The monk fell asleep and he began to dream.

He awoke at the bottom of the ocean. He was sat in the lotus position on a floating branch with a single leaf on it.

A monkfish was swimming close by.

'Oh, Monkfish,' the monk said. 'I was dreaming I was flying through the trees and the clouds. It was dazzling!'

'Hah!' cried the monkfish. 'Next you'll be thinking you're a monk talking to a monkfish!'

And in an instant the monk woke up.

Walking Man

There's this one guy who I see on my round every other day. He's always walking really slowly. Once he asked me if there were any jobs going at Royal Mail because he was retired and just loved walking.

The other day I asked him where he walks and why.

'Everywhere,' he said. 'I will not stagnate in front of the TV watching Jeremy Kyle and Bargain Hunters.'

A perfect reason to go for a walk, I thought.

'Have you thought about writing poetry?' I asked.

'Not really.'

'I think you would find endless amounts of inspiritation on your walkabouts,' I said. 'You get to see the seasons change, you hear the birds sing and you get to observe how all this makes you feel.'

He smiled and nodded.

'Yeah, I might do that. Thanks.'

Thirsty

Yesterday I got talking to a guy on my post round about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the resulting devastation. 

'What's your favourite book?' he asked, out of the blue.

'Gosh,' I said, 'I don't know.'

I thought for a while longer.

'What about Awareness by Anthony De Mello?' I said. 'Oh, and A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle's nice too.'

He handed me back the mail I'd just given to him and told me to write down the books so he could go and order them.

He said he was from Jamaica and didn't have a very good education. 

'I've got a thirst for knowledge,' he said. 

We got talking about 2012 and he said he thought it was more of a myth.

'What I am worried about is 2013,' he said, looking concerned. 'This solar flare they're expecting.'

He ran upstairs and brought down a book a work colleague had lent him. It was called The God Dellusion. 

'I haven't had time to read it,' he said. 'The guy's an atheist. I'd find it hard to read. Tell me, do you think man created God?'

'No,' I said. 

He looked at me, intrigued.

'The way I see it,' I said, 'man created the concept of God. We work with concepts. Our mind is addicted to them. We think that by giving something a name we know what it is. We don't. All we've done is stuck a label on something which is unknowable so the conceptual mind can think it is knowable. That tree is unknowable yet we think it is knowable because we've stuck a label on it i.e T-r-e-e. If you look at the tree and see a tree, you're not really looking at the tree. What you're looking at is a concept. When you look at the tree and see a mystery and a miracle then you're getting somewhere.'

'Why the hell are you a postie?' he said.

Design Subway

Check out my mates site at:

http://www.designsubway.com

Gratitude from the Offset

This 'spirituality' malarkey is all about getting the best out of life without being deluded or/and fooled.

Every moment is to feel like we're getting our times worth.

I asked a man on my round how he was doing.

"Well, I woke up this morning, so it's all good," was his reply.

Gratitude from the offset.

Nice

Love?

Doesn't marriage seem a bit old fashioned, a bit dated - not to mention self-limiting?

We think that by dedicating ourselves to one 'external' person (i.e. not ourselves) we are expressing our love for them. But is it love? Is it a form of attachment? Clingyness? Possessiveness? Obsessiveness? Are you clinging to the person 'you love' and acting like a parasite? Not giving them space - not letting them live their lives. Many people are unaware they do this and think it is love.

Eckhart Tolle's right when he says, 'True love has not wanting'.

'God is love' it says in the Upanishads.

If anything, when we say we love someone, the majority of the time it means we are physically attracted to them (which may change with time) or feel connected to them or care for them and have compassion for them. Which is all fine and dandy . . . but is that really love?

Ultimately, if you love someone you love everyone. I don't believe you can love just one person. If you think you can, then that's not real love. It may be a form of compassion, and there's nothing wrong with that - just that you've given it a false label.

When you see you true nature and become more present in your daily life, love will arise. 

True love is to love all as one - simply because you will have seen who you are, and that won't be separate from the rapist, the drug dealer or the guy who has just beaten up a OAP for her loose change - we, you are not separate from them.

'You are the primordial energy of the universe coming on as whoever you are. I know I'm that, too. But we learn to define ourselves as separate from it.' Alan Watts.

Be aware and observe.

Exciting Times

Trouble in the East . . .
Solar flares just last week . . .
Earthquakes in New Zealand . . .

. . . related much?

There's something quite sincere about this 2012 stuff.

Exciting times.

The Monkfish and the Monk - Episode 3

The monk fell asleep and he began to dream.

He awoke at the bottom of the ocean. He was sat in the lotus position on a glowing rock.

A monkfish was swimming close by.

'Oh, Monkfish,' the monk said. 'What happens when we die?'

'Look up and see the waves collapsing into the vast ocean,' said the monkfish.

And in an instant the monk woke up.

Watch Your Little Finger

I was doing my 'big Sunday shop' today at my local supermarket and became aware of the fact that everyone around me was the same as me. I saw past their physical expressions (expressions of form) and saw them as the formless life energy. Then I realised that I was that life energy too. I saw how interconnected we all are. 

I looked at faces and straight away saw the formless wonder behind them, operating the form.

It's the same experience I had with the dead cat on my walk (something I mentioned in an earlier post). I could see that the difference between me and the cat was that the life energy which made the cat 'a cat' to us, had left. Whereas the life energy that made up what people know as 'Gavin Whyte' was still contained within form.

We don't die.

Just watch your little finger move.

Bertrand Russell

'Love is wise. Hatred is foolish.'

Words spoken by the philosopher, Bertrand Russell. It was found in the BBC's archive footage and shown on the Culture Show, on BBC 2 last night.

Great stuff.

Life is a Blind Bend

I was walking my dog today and got talking to an old man about the weather (the one topic we have in common with the majority of folk).

'To say they forecast it to rain,' I said, 'it's turned into a lovely day.'

'It has,' he said.

'Will they ever get it right?' I said, mocking the Met Office.

He laughed and said, 'Them getting it wrong is what makes it interesting.'

That got me thinking about life in general. How exciting it is that we don't know what's round the corner? Life is one big blind blend. If we knew what came next, surely life would lose its magic.

Dead Leaves

Today I was clearing the leaves up in the garden and realised that all the leaves had fully expressed themselves before falling.

Was I?

Are you?

"To fully express oneself. Now that, my friend, is a very hard thing to do."

Bruce Lee.

You will be Quiet

"When it's time for you to see, you will see . . . You'll not run out into the streets screaming and waving your arms in the air trying warn and educate the remaining consciousness . . . You will be quiet . . . Smile contently as you simply disappear into the rest of the mind like a rain drop into the ocean, your sensors imploding as you become the shadow of an atom, realising that at every moment of your experience  you never really had a clue and that did not matter in the slightest, as soon as I let slip my mental grip on reality, all the strain of mind vanished . . . mmmmm green tea!"

 

This was sent to me by my good friend, Dan Brown.

 

 

 

 

The Monkfish and the Monk - Episode 2

The monk fell asleep and he began to dream.

He awoke at the bottom of the ocean. He was sat in the lotus position on a crawling crab.

A monkfish was swimming close by.

'Oh, Monkfish,' the monk said. 'I feel lost, so I'm looking for myself. Can you help?'

'Maybe that's where you're going wrong,' said the monkfish, calmly.

And in an instant the monk woke up.

Lucky Candy

On my round today, a Chinese lady came running out of her house and gave me two sweets.

'Our lucky candy!' she said. 'New year candy.'

After saying thanks and wishing her a happy new year I unwrapped one of the 'lucky' sweets and put it in my mouth.

Superstition tastes sweet with a strange aftertaste.

Peter Otoole

My good friend Pete Otoole is an awesome artist.

We first worked together when I was trying to make it as a musician (a good 6 - 7 years ago). He designed the front covers for my demos, and when I eventually got signed he designed covers for the EP releases.

After talking to Pete I'm always left with a huge amount of determination, focus, excitement and creativity.

I always tell people, 'Follow your passion and money will become a byproduct.' Pete is a perfect example of this.

He quit his job and became a full-time artist.

He's always been focused and determined to make a living out of what he loves doing, which is anything to do with art.

Learn from this guy.

Use him as an example for having the guts to go for what you want in life. And when you get knocked down, you get back up again and learn from it. Grow from it.

We're going to start a new project; a book on an adventure to find the self.

Watch this space.

Check out Pete's site:

http://www.peter-otoole.co.uk/

Form - Formless

It's easy to say that death and dying causes suffering. It definetly looks like that on the surface. But what if that's not the case?

Maybe it's our attachment to forms (people, pets, material possessions - our own physical form etc) that causes the suffering.

Forms belong to the world of forms and therefore are in a state of flux.

Clinging to 'things', whether it's to a person or a pet, or a house, or your body, will cause you to suffer at the moment it gets taken away.

Why cling to something that will one day be 'unclingable'?

To not cling is not being cold.

If anything, it's being warm.

'True love is letting go', as the saying goes.

The formless world that exists behind all forms - now there's a wonder.

Little Fly

I was making a cup of tea and I saw a fly land on the wall next to me.

I asked it, 'What happens when we die, little fly?'

And it flew off.

Fail to Live

A guy who I deliver to came to the door with his arm in a sling. He said he had had an operation on his elbow and hadn't been to work since just after Christmas.

'I'm bored stupid, I want to go back to work,' he said.

'Get a hobby!' I said.

'I like diving, but can't go 'coz of this thing,' he said, pointing to his sling.

'Why don't you read a book,' I said, enthusiastically. 'Or write your memoirs!'

He laughed.

'What could I write? Was born - went to school - worked - retired. I could fit the entire thing on a postcard!' he said.

I thought how sad this was. This guy lives to work. He told me he loves his job, which is fine, but then he said that he's not looking forward to retirement.

What a shame how he lives to work.

When his work is gone, will he fail to live?

I grabbed hold of him and shouted in his ear for him to wake up, then I threw his letters at him and ran away like a girl.

Didn't really.

Zen

"All the causes, all the conditions of satori are in the mind; they are merely waiting for the maturing. When the mind is ready for some reasons or others, a bird flies, or a bell rings, and you at once return to your original home; that is, you discover your now real self. From the very beginning nothing has been kept from you, all that you wished to see has been there all the time before you, it was yourself that closed the eye to the fact. Therefore, there is in Zen nothing to explain, nothing to teach, that will add to your knowledge. Unless it grows out of yourself no knowledge is really yours, it is only a borrowed plumage."

D.T. Suzuki

An introduction to Zen Buddhism

(This has just blown my mind. It makes so much sense and rings a bell with what I've experienced.)

Anybody want a lift?

I asked my dog this morning if she wanted to go to the supermarket with me. Her ears pronged up, her head tilted  side to side and her tail began to wag.

'I take that as a yes,' I said.

Now, I started to debate whether to take her out for a wee first.

'I'm not going to be that long,' I said. 'Sod it.'

Something inside me was saying 'Let her have a wee', but foolishly I ignored this.

In the supermarket I bumped into my old Gung Fu instructor, then I bumped into my uncle.

20 minutes later I go back to my car to see my dog going mental in the back seat, then the front seat, then the back seat. 'Your back! Your back!' she seems to be saying.

I sit down behind the wheel, tell her to get on to the back seat and calm down and that's when I see the dark patch. The massive dark patch. I dab it with my finger - yup she's pissed everywhere.

Great.

Always listen to that inner voice!!

It seems to know what it's talking about.

Happiness

I'm always saying how my girlfriend watches too much TV, but sometimes I have to admit it pays off. This morning she saw something on the BBC News about happiness that she thought I would be interested in.

She was right.

Check out the link below.

I think it's proof of the uniqueness of the times we're living in that something like this is being advertised in the mainstream media.

Superb!

http://www.actionforhappiness.org/?success=true

Another Dimension

I've just been talking to a good friend of mine, Dan Bruce.

'I've got to tell someone, Gav,' he said, over the phone. 'I've been to another dimension!'

What followed was a long conversation about his experience waking up in a place that was familiar, yet unfamiliar to him.

He said that he didn't have a body. The laws of nature were similar to here but slightly different. 'Everything seemed lighter,' he said.

He said all day he's been looking at forms (from everything to his speakers, his body, a tree) somewhat differently than he used to. 'Everything seems so heavy,' he said.

I've got two other friends who have had out of body experiences. One of which said she left her body and went for a sprint in the field near her house. She ran as fast as she could. She said she was 'pulled' back to her body. She woke up with her physical body shaking and sweating.

My friend, Dan, also said he woke up sweating (and scared).

I've read about the 'silver cord'. It acts as a kind of lifeline. So basically, you can leave your body, go anywhere, but if this silver cord is snapped, you die - basically.

Then I got thinking about what happens when you stretch an elastic band - heat is created. 

What if heat is created when the silver cord is stretched? So when consciousness leaves the body and returns again it creates heat. If so, surely this will be able to be tested in the lab...

Would this show signs of us having a soul?

I might be behind the times here - as it already been done?

Interesting stuff, anyways.

 

The Source of the Table

"The table's existence is possible due to the existence of things which we might call 'the non-table world': the forest where the wood grew and was cut, the carpenter, the iron ore which became the nails and screws, the countless other things which have relation to the table, the parents and ancestors of the carpenter, the sun and rain which made it possible for the trees to grow.

"If you grasp the table's reality then you see that in the table itself are present all things which we normally think of as the non-table world. If you took away any of those non-table elements and returned them to their sources - the nails back to the iron ore, the wood to the forest, the carpenter to his parents - the table would no longer exist.

"A person who looks at the table and can see the universe is a person who can see the way."

Thich Nhat Hanh - The Miracle of Mindfulness

Alone with Yourself

Sit
Rest
Work.

Alone with yourself,
Never weary.

On the edge of the forest
Live joyfully,
Without desire.

The Buddha

Holy Fraction

How miraculous is every moment?

I came across this short tale in 'The Song of the Bird' by Anthony De Mello:

Buddha was once asked, "What makes a person holy?" He replied, "Every hour is divided into a certain number of seconds and every second into a certain number of fractions. Anyone who is able to be totally present in each fraction of a second is holy."

Every moment acts as a reminder that life is this magnificent thing, this amazing opportunity we have to love and learn.

I keep on having reality checks that leave me in a state of awe.

I become aware of every movement behind every movement - the stillness behind every moment.

Wow.

Stargazing

I absolutely love looking up at the stars. I could do it all night.

I've just been watching 'Stargazing Live' on BBC 2. A superb show.

As much as I like to know what I'm looking at in the night sky, there's a part of me that doesn't want to know.

I like the overwhelming sense of awe I get when I look up. It gives me a reality check. My problems seem so unbelievably small and insignificant. 

When I look up I'm not labelling the stars and constellations. I'm just looking at them. 

If I were to learn their labels will I lose that sense of awe I currently get?

Unknowing is bliss.

I don't want 'that star' to become 'just that star'.

Heartbeat

I was lying in bed last night.

Just staring at the ceiling.

Then I became aware of my heartbeat.

Then I held my wrist and felt my pulse.

I couldn't help but smile.

An overwhelming sense of awe came over me.

'I'm just about to go to sleep,' I thought, 'so whose going to be looking after my pulse when I'm away?'

Thanks for being there when I'm not.

Resist or Yield

A postman that I work with broke his leg before Christmas. He fell on the ice and broke his lower leg in two places.

Whilst recuperating at his parents' home his house got broken into. They stole pretty much everything he had, including all of the Christmas presents he had bought (and the £60 xmas tips he had received so far from the people on his walk).

This morning I got told that the nice people he delivers to found out about him breaking his leg. They got together a collection of money (the average postie, if they've been on a walk for quite a while, will normally get around £150-£200 in tips) they found out where he lived and posted it through his door. 

Very thoughtful of them.

BUT... he received a phone call from one of the lovely people on his walk asking him if he had received the collection of tips. 

He said no.

It turns out they had delivered it to number 15, when he lives at number 12. 

Oh dear.

The people who received the money refuse to give it to him.

It sounds like a period of his life he won't forget.

I just hope he's learning from it all and not thinking of himself as a victim of life's happenings.

There's always a choice to either resist or yield.

Happy New Year everyone!!!!