Monthly A.I.M.S. – March 2010
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Analogies, Images, Metaphors and Stories – for Wisdom Seekers, Writers and Speakers
Podcast
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Electricity
This invisible power now permeates and brightens our modern world. Many connections can be made to the inner life, including the discovery by Serbian scientist Nikola Tesla that made it all possible. In the late 1880’s Thomas Edison held the patent on DC – Direct Current. Relying on brute force, it was an unreliable and inefficient means of conveying electricity from the dynamo to the end user. To Edison’s great chagrin, Tesla discovered AC – Alternating Current. Tesla first demonstrated AC’s vastly superior power at a bid competition held at Niagara Falls. Now electricity could be conveyed almost effortlessly over great distances. Just as the false self goes on a propaganda campaign when one first taps into spiritual AC, so did Edison launch lie after lie to discredit the new discovery. (See wiki article) Yet the Truth with its poise and charm wins out in the end. We practice inner life AC when we rotate between different pools of energy. The wise student never tries to force anything (as Edison did with Direct Current). He or she employs the light touch to change centers when a given direction of activity or inquiry has served its purpose for now. This also includes a given author or teacher. Upon following this natural inclination, notice when you revisit the author the new connections you make. |
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"Mommy, he bent me all out of shape!"
In the first half of the 20th century, F.M. Alexander pioneered a method for reestablishing postural integrity that flourishes in practice around the world today. One afternoon a woman brought her young daughter for a session with Mr. Alexander. The child had a severe misalignment, causing her to stoop sharply. After her session with Mr. Alexander her posture returned to near normal. She ran to her mother and exclaimed, "Look Mommy, he bent me all out of shape!" The wrong feels familiar and "right." To approach the truly right requires a willingness to feel wrong at first. It feels wrong to familiar habits to be at ease when meeting anyone for the first time. It feels wrong to have a tranquil sea inside. It feels wrong to begin keeping a journal of insights and valuable experiences. It feels wrong to more often than not keep your thoughts to yourself. The old patterns threaten any new direction with an increase of anguish and confusion. An area of our psyche asserts itself with, "I can’t take any more conflict!" So we often appease the inner threat maker and fall for the bluff, giving up the new direction and rationalizing the reason for doing so. A very wise man told me once, "It won’t hurt you to hurt." Related Resource:
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Movie Set
Picture a movie set. From certain viewpoints the fake homes and businesses appear real and substantial; however, view the movie set from a new place and you see what’s really happening. It’s all a front — a carefully crafted illusion. Since evil is a false front, with nothing real backing it up, it must have a reaction in order to "exist." A reaction for it or against it — it doesn’t really matter just as long as there’s a reaction. So to oppose evil is to first believe in it. The crusaders against evil keep evil going. The effective way to break the spell is to simply shift our viewpoint. For example, Television is itself a conglomeration of false fronts. Observe that primarily, television executives and their many employees crave attention, just like children! That confident person who walks so fast wherever he or she goes? How could you see them differently? A bad mood inside? Is it really a bad mood, or just labeled so?
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Birds
Birds remind us to wake up now to our instant power of internal flight. One of my favorite exercises from author Vernon Howard is what he called "The Tweet Tweet Exercise." Let the sighting of birds remind you to snap out of it, turning away from the mechanical wheels of mental movement to the quiet perception of what’s happening now. Related Resource
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Underwater Geyser
Underwater geysers are rare places in nature where great quantities of life abide. Likewise, spiritual ideas of tremendous power and clarity orbit the center of our Being (the "heart" so often mentioned in the Bible), yet we walk in unawareness of this unfolding paradise. With the quest for enlightenment being largely co-opted today by sophisticated commercial interest with a worldwide mass marketing effort, author Henry David Thoreau conveys a most relevant point: "Perhaps the facts most astounding and most real are never communicated by man to man." Fascination and fixation on any outer source of wisdom, or the frantic attempt to find one, block perception of the inner geyser — the only Source from which advanced answers flow. Awaken the inner teacher. Books, discussions and group meetings can help serve this sacred aim. Just never forget your aim, because most people will have forgotten theirs, urging you (often in subtle ways) to place outer sources of assistance on pedestals. The last thing any instructor with something valuable to teach wants to see, is fawning behavior in a student. Related Resource: |
with a simple credit to www.SuperWisdom.com
