Utopia January 31, 2020
Posted by nrhatch in Mindfulness, Music & Dance, People, Spirit & Ego.comments closed
I would love to live in a world where everyone gets along.
I would love to live in a world where everyone is color blind.
I would love to live in a world where everyone respects everyone.
I would love to live in a world free of greed & corruption.
I would love to live in a world with a level playing field.
I would love to live in a world where the powerful didn’t prey on the weak.
I would love to live in a world of cooperation, not competition.
I would love to live in a world where people engage in dialogue.
Sans judgment.
I would love to live in the world Alanis describes in Utopia . . .
Aah . . . that’s better!
Objection! Hearsay. August 29, 2019
Posted by nrhatch in Life Balance, Meditation, Mindfulness, Spirit & Ego.comments closed
Through direct personal experience, we can come to know/ sense a higher power . . . something outside us that’s also within us . . . a part of the whole.
But it’s somewhat impossible to PROVE the existence of that inner power to others unless (a) they’re willing to rely on hearsay, or (b) they experience it for themselves.
God dwells with me as me.
God is the breath within the breath.
Look deep. The answers lie within.
Aah . . . that’s better!
We Are Not The Movie August 24, 2019
Posted by nrhatch in Humor, Life Balance, Mindfulness, Spirit & Ego.comments closed
We are not the movie.
We are not the story.
We are not the screen.
We are not the projector.
We are the witness, watching the scenes unfold with conscious awareness.
From that perspective, we can get caught up in the story OR choose to let go of our desire for a certain outcome.
When we go with the flow and let the story unfold in its own way and time, we become a detached observer, overflowing with mirth.
As joy bubbles up from within, we are one with the Laughing Buddha.
Aah . . . that’s better!
Ouija? Oui! Ja! October 1, 2018
Posted by nrhatch in Magick & Mystery, Spirit & Ego.comments closed
As a kid, I loved playing with the Ouija board with the girl next door and her twin sisters. I remember spooking ourselves on dark dreary days and during the wee small hours before dawn during weekend sleep overs.
It’s been years since I’ve seen a Ouija board . . . until I stumbled across this clip:
To read more: What “Ouija” actually means and how the game has changed
Good luck.
Good fun.
Good bye.
Aah . . . that’s better!
Well That Changes Everything! September 27, 2018
Posted by nrhatch in Fiction, Mindfulness, People, Spirit & Ego.comments closed
It’s awesome when gifts reveal that the giver “gets us.”
Especially since, unlike numbers, we don’t always add up.
We are not always easy to figure out.
We are conundrums. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
As it turns out, there’s a good reason for our internal inconsistencies.
On the one hand, we are the product of our experiences.
Every moment is a valuable link in an unbroken chain.
From first breath to last.
But . . .
Our memories are unreliable causing those “valuable links” to shift about like Hogwart’s staircases in an Escher print.
A fabrication.
A self-styled creation.
An imaginary concoction cobbled together from snippets that may or may not be true.
“We constantly create false memories to help us achieve the identity we want.”
In short, we can’t rely on our memories to tell us who we are because the tangled collection of tangential and essential connections and choices that led to THIS door is mired in mystery.
So . . . where does that leave us?
Here. Now.
Aah . . . that’s better!
To read more: The “Real You” is a Myth (NeuroscienceNews.com)
Laughing Buddhas July 23, 2018
Posted by nrhatch in Happiness, Humor, Mindfulness, Spirit & Ego.comments closed
“There is nothing left to you at this moment but to have a good laugh.” ~ Zen Master
Aah . . . that’s better!
Remaning Awake & Aware November 9, 2016
Posted by nrhatch in Magick & Mystery, Mindfulness, Spirit & Ego.comments closed
Val’s recent post Shifting Allegiances caused me to re-visit the events described in Fire & Rain. Doing so, helped me see why what we did . . . and did not do . . . made so much sense to me at the time and hence:
Being curious instead of fearful had something to do with why we didn’t run out of the building into the pouring rain when the fire alarm sounded . . .
Instead of trying to control the situation, we trusted that our collective intuition would encourage us to move in plenty of time if we were really in harm’s way . . .
Instead of being attached to the stories swirling in our head about what the alarm “might” mean, we let go of our prejudgments and stayed in the present moment . . .
And when it proved to be a false alarm, we were grateful that we were warm and safe and dry . . .
Aah . . . That’s Better!
”What are you ~ a god, an angel, a saint?”
“No,” replied The Buddha, “I am A-W-A-K-E.”
Over And Out June 21, 2016
Posted by nrhatch in Health & Wellness, Humor, Magick & Mystery, Spirit & Ego.comments closed
Note to self: Do NOT get in cars with old people.
I dreamt an elderly neighbor was driving me to the store. Instead of stopping and parking, her foot stayed on the gas as the car crawled to the far edge of the parking lot.
Moving at slightly less than a snail’s pace.
Marilyn bumped into the bumper at a sensible 1-2 mph. So slow that instead of bouncing back, the tires rose to the challenge and started climbing up and over the bumper.
Dreams being what they are, the scene transformed from a flat as a pancake parking lot in Florida to a parking lot abutting the top of a steep ravine.
As the car kept climbing, I gauged that the gaping gorge was at least as deep as the Grand Canyon.
“STOP! Marilyn, STOP.”
Too late.
The car went up and over the tire guard and landed on the other side.
Only one problem: There wasn’t any land there to land on.
The car slipped toward the precipice.
Climbing out was no longer an option since the car was suspended in air, teetering on the abyss with nothing to climb out on to.
I turned to get Marilyn’s reaction to our precarious situation and noticed she was already gone . . . with the dead weight of her right foot pressing on the accelerator instead of the brake.
The car continued to move forward and I felt the back tires begin their ascent over the bumper guard.
Realizing we were toast, I grabbed my cell phone and dialed.
“911 Operator. What’s your emergency?”
“Our car is careening off the cliff behind the CVS.”
I heard her parroting into the radio: “Dispatch ~ rescue vehicles needed at the top of the cliff behind the CVS. Over.”
In real life, there is no cliff behind the CVS. Just beach. But reality never deters our dreams, does it?
She returned to the line with me: “Ma’am. Rescue vehicles are on the way. Hang on.”
“I would if I could. But there’s nothing to hang on to. Nothing to do at this point but relax and enjoy the ride down. By the time help arrives, we’ll be at the bottom of the cliff, not the top. Tell my husband . . .”
As soon as I realized I could do nothing to change the “what is,” calm acceptance flooded my being.
Instead of being scared, I was curious.
Watching to see what would happen to “me” once my body ceased to be.
* * *
Of course, I didn’t even get a glimpse of what waits for us beyond the veil since I woke up mid-flight.
As the car raced head over heels to the bottom of the ravine, I surfaced from sleep and found myself safe and sound in bed.
Instead of being happy to be alive, I felt cheated.
I wanted a sneak peek!
Aah . . . that’s better!
Cryonics April 5, 2016
Posted by nrhatch in Magick & Mystery, Mindfulness, Nature, Spirit & Ego.comments closed
Tim Urban (Wait But Why) wrote a terrific post about Cryonics ~ Why Cryonics Makes Sense.
After explaining what Cryonics is (and isn’t), Tim counters many of the moral, religious, and scientific objections people have raised to the experimental practice.
If you’re even remotely interested in the topic, his well-researched post is worth reading.
If you want to read it right now, go ahead. Death waits for no man!
OK . . . let’s continue.
By the end of the article, it’s clear that Tim sees no downside to pressing the “pause” button on death . . .
His conclusion doesn’t seem “silly, gullible, or selfish” to me . . . given his current beliefs about life and death.
But I don’t share his beliefs.
And I do see two downsides to Cryonics that he didn’t explore:
(1) Tim starts the post with an Either/Or scenario ~ Either stay on the plane and go down in flames OR grab the experimental parachute and cross your fingers that you land in a better place.
If those are only two options, grabbing the parachute might seem like a no brainer.
And, for an atheist, like Tim, those may be the only two options to consider.
Tim sees death as The End.
As a result, he’s satisfied that “being alive is a lot more interesting than being dead.”
But what if he’s wrong?
What if death is not The End?
What if being dead is a lot more interesting than being alive?
What if Cryonics means you’re pressing the pause button on what might be an amazing “after life” experience?
Cryonics means hanging around in suspended animation in a tub of liquid nitrogen for “eons” waiting for technology to advance far enough so that science can un-pause you so you can rejoin the living.
As amazing as that experience might be (assuming all goes as planned), maybe we don’t have to wait.
Maybe death is an immediate transition to something better.
Do you still want to grab that parachute?
(2) Cryonics is about preserving and resurrecting the brain ~ based on the assumption that “who we are” is encapsulated there.
But what if that’s not where “we” are?
What if the preservation and resurrection of the brain is not synonymous with the continuation of “me”?
I’m convinced that we are not the thoughts that we think, the emotions that we feel, or the memories that we cherish.
I’m satisfied that there is more to “me” than that.
What if that “something more” (spirit) doesn’t cooperate when we press pause? What if our inner essence flies the coop before we land in the Cryonics tank?
What if “me” is M.I.A. once my brain is “brought back to life”?
What if I grab the experimental parachute, jump into the tank, hang around in suspended animation (with Tim) for eons waiting for the future to arrive, only to find that I’ve landed in a strange landscape with no friends, no money, no home, no job, no bank account, and no . . . “me”?
Even though I don’t view Tim as being “silly, gullible, or selfish” in his decision to jump into the Cryonics pool, joining him in the vat just doesn’t appeal to “me.”
Then again, if “me” flees and flies off into the light to enjoy an amazing life after life experience . . . what do “I” have to lose?
Aah . . . that’s better!
You Are NOT “All That” March 9, 2016
Posted by nrhatch in Mindfulness, People, Spirit & Ego.comments closed
My nieces and nephews adored us when they were too little to know any better.
Now, with the utmost discernment, they let us know that we are NOT “all that” any more.
Should we be hurt?
Of course not.
Just because Ego enjoyed the adoration that flowed from their younger selves doesn’t mean that Ego is entitled to it for the duration.
* If Ego wants something, and gets it, Ego may be happy for a time. Until a new desire arises.
* If Ego wants something, and we withhold it, Ego may be unhappy for a time. Until a new distraction arises.
The cause of Ego’s happiness or unhappiness is the thoughts Ego chooses to think.
Ego is a toddler, often in the throes of the terrible twos. Giving in to Ego’s incessant demands each time Ego insists it “needs” something, doesn’t help in the long run.
Once Ego’s current “needs” have been met, Ego will desire something else and something else and something else.
What Ego really needs is to grow up and realize that it makes no sense to put its happiness in someone else’s pocket.
The pain of rejection at the level of Ego is often the catalyst for spiritual growth.
Once Ego realizes that happiness lies within, it begins to see through the illusion that it “needs” anything other than what it already has.
With that shift in perspective, self-created suffering dissipates into the ether.
We realize that we ARE “all that” . . . and MORE!
Aah . . . that’s better!
Spirit Lights The Way 