365 Bear 23: Renewal

As I’m writing this, Channukah is upon us. Most non-Jews, myself included, have a vague concept of what the festival is about. There was one night’s worth of oil, and it miraculously lasted for eight nights. There’s more to it than that, other reasons why this miracle is so significant. A temple had been violated by war. They were trying to reconsecrate the temple, but did not have enough consecrated oil. Eight nights was long enough for them to consecrate more oil. Their resources held out long enough for them to get more resources. That allowed them to renew the sanctity of the temple.

Obviously, this has special meaning to me. I left Arizona with limited resources. I had a finite amount of money that I had to make last for an unknown amount of time. I needed to survive, to stretch what I had, until I was able to gain new resources. Until I got a job, and an apartment, I had to sweat what I was going to eat, where I was going to sleep, what I was going to do. I had faith that I was going to get through it, I prayed that my resources would last, I have thanks for every day that I made it through, every little thing that helped me stretch what I had and made it last one more day, one more week, one more month. It was hard. It was frightening. In the end I knew it would lead to material renewal, but along the way it led to my spiritual renewal.

A lot of people are going through hard times right now. People have lost material wealth. They’ve lost income, they’ve lost savings, they’ve lost jobs and homes. It’s not that they don’t know how they’re going to make it, it’s that they don’t know that they’re going to make it at all. It takes a lot of strength, and a lot of faith. And while it’s probably in bad taste to mix a Nietzsche quote with a discussion of a Jewish festival, that which does not kill you really does make you stronger.

Baruch ata Adonai, Elohenu melech ha-olam
Asher kideshanu be-mitzvosav, ve-tzivanu
le-hadlikner shel Chanukkah.

365 Bear 22: Communication

When people ask me what my religion is, I tell them that I’m a mystic. This leads people to think that I’m into some sort of New Age mumbo-jumbo or I practice black magic or something. Mysticism is more of a philosophy as to how religion is approached. By its original definition, a mystic is one who seeks direct experience with the divine. Rather than studying books, doctrine, dogma, the mystic looks are the world around him, trying to be aware and present, and sees the divine in ordinary, everyday life. This isn’t any sort of knock against book learnin’, but the map is not the terrain. Scripture can guide you as to how you should live your life… but you still have to live your life. Parables can serve as allegories for various types of situations and how they can be handled, but you still need to negotiate the variables.

G-d speaks to us every day, in ways both grand and subtle. That’s why I will accept wisdom from any and all sources — the Bible, the Talmud, the Koran, the Tao, self-help books, corporate motivational texts, anything, anywhere. Life is an edition process. You find what works, you cut the rest. You meditate and pray over all of it, to see what feels right. You talk to G-d and wait to see how he answers.

Followers of the Tao know that there’s no universal truth; your mileage may vary, so to speak. Most people seem to get this. A handful are offended, because they believe their path is right and true for everyone. If it works for them, that is wonderful and they are blessed. Dedicating one’s self to a path that’s good, serves others, and enriches one’s spirit is a good thing. That’s not my path.

Communication involves two parties: the one communicating, and the one interpreting the communication. One of the reasons I’m a mystic and seek direct experiences is because I fear the “telephone game”. G-d said something to one person. It was witnessed by another person, who wrote it down. That was translated into a different language by yet another person. It was read by yet another person, in a different land and a different time, who applied his own context and interpreted it differently that originally intended. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, so long as it provides a good lesson or a good guidepost. I prefer to go right to the source.

365 Bear 21: Skills

The parable related in 365 Tao under the heading “skills” tells of a man who owns only five things, and seeks to master them all. A kid asks what he’d do if he lost his five things, and the guy sort of freaks out. Then he realizes that his sword (to pick one of the five items at random) can’t fight on it’s own. He has an epiphany that he’s developed the skills not for their own sake, but to develop himself as a whole person. Or something. It doesn’t entirely make sense to me on it’s own. Like all of these meditations on the Tao, the reader brings their own context and finds their own meaning, so here’s what I’ve taken from me.

In a previous entry of 365 Bear, I discussed my feeling that stuff is just tools that do something for me. Stuff should serve me, and not vice-versa. This meditation has my thinking of the relationship between skill and tool as more symbiotic. You can’t drive a car without a car, obviously. The car can’t drive itself, either. Both sides are needed. This leads me to thinking about the value of the stuff you have, and appreciation for that stuff. Swordsmen take great care of their swords. Craftsmen take great care of their tools. Musicians take great care of their instruments. They respect their stuff, and the purpose it plays in their life. I think in our consumerist, stuff-driven society we’ve lost that respect. We have so much stuff, we sometimes forget what all we own. We look at it as ownership, as status, as wealth, rather than as tools or “inanimate partners”. We have so much, we take it for granted. We lose respect for it.

We also live in a disposable culture, which makes us cavalier about stuff. I know that when I was making decisions about what to bring to New Mexico and what to leave in Arizona, replace-ability was one of my criteria. That’s why I’m lugging around boxes of books and games that would cost time and money to replace, but don’t have something as simple as a pot holder. I can go to the dollar store and buy a pot holder. What am I going to use more? What’s going to have more long-term value to me? What’s going to be a partner in my life, helping me to cook and bake without burning myself, and what’s just stuff?

365 Bear: Happiness

Today’s lesson: Being spiritually happy makes you bulletproof. When you’re centered, content, not afraid of death, there’s nothing to temp you with and nothing to hold over you. It sounds a bit nihilistic, but it’s really just incredibly minimalist and pragmatic. “Oh, be afraid, the terrorists care gonna get us!” Okay, call me when they get here, but I still have to go to work, and I’m still going to enjoy sleeping in my bed, eating my food, and sharing the company of my friends. I’m not saying don’t be prepared. I’m saying live in the present, and enjoy this moment.

“Get credit cards and buy stuff! Fancy cars! Electronic gadgets! Shiny objects! They’ll make you happy!”. No, not so much. Don’t need it. Don’t really want it. I don’t want to be indentured to banks and corporations so that I can be obligated to the care of inanimate objects. The stuff I own needs to do something for me. It needs to be a useful tool, not a status object. One thing I’ve learned on my journey, where everything I own fit into my car, is that the stuff I missed was the stuff I actually use. I packed the complete works of Kevin Smith on DVD, but didn’t bring the coffee maker. My thinking was that DVDs are expensive and coffee makers are cheap, so one is easier to replace than the other. Now, guess how many times I’ve wanted the coffee maker versus how many times I’ve needed to watch a Kevin Smith film? An occasion arose to show a friend one scene from Clerks 2 relevant to a project he’s working on. Coffee is something I drink just about every day. Measured in happiness, rather than money, I’d be getting more value from the coffee maker.

“Join our group! Get a sense of belonging!”. Well, yes, it’s nice to belong to groups of like-minded individuals. It works better when you’ve established that sense of personal identity and are seeking fellowship. I hang out with gamers, film buffs, and science fiction fans because that’s what I am. You’re a member of Denomination X, so you gravitate towards worship and events centered around Denomination X. But joining a group because you want them to give you a sense of personal identity, well, they’re selling something and it’s rarely going to be happiness. Groups can help you find your spiritual center, but you ultimately have to find it yourself. They can’t hand you enlightenment. If you understand this, you can’t be manipulated by them, because you know that they’re a tool and that you don’t need them in that sort of codependent context. It would be like my copy of theTao asking me for a pony. No.

We spent too much time focused on what we want, and what we don’t have (or think we don’t have) and not enough on what’s right there in front of us. We worry about what’s going to happen, and what might happen, and ignore what’s happening right now. Celebrate the present, foster and appreciation of and gratitude for what you’ve got, and you’ll feel blessed and happy every single day of your life.

This series follows my thoughts on 365 Tao,  book of daily meditations by Deng Ming-Dao based on the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. Buy 365 Tao by Deng Ming-Dao at Amazon.

365 Bear: Interlude

Haven’t been in a very Tao place the past couple of days. Nothing’s wrong, I’m just very busy, and very passionate about a few things.  There’s definitely a need for me to pause, refocus, and catch my balance, and i’m doing that. However, I’m not in a place that’s particularly conducive to writing about Tao. I need to ground and center, because most of what i’m writing comes out ‘GO!” and “ROAR!”. Those aren’t bad things, but again, it’s not a good emotional state to be in when attempting to reflect and comment on the tao.

365 Bear will return after I’ve calmed down a bit.

365 Bear 19: Initiative

I have a tendency to think before I act. I have a nasty habit of starting projects before finishing others. I exist in “do” mode when I should be in “plan” mode, but I also find myself stalled in “plan” mode when I should be in “do” mode. There needs to be a balance there. Do in the right moment. One more aspect of “right action”.

Next: Happiness

Read 365 Tao by Deng Ming-Dao

365 Bear 18: Spectrum

Forest. Trees. You need to be aware that you’re the forest. The trees are just aspects of your life. Be the foresat. Have a whole life.

Next: Initiative

Read 365 Tao by Deng Ming-Dao

365 Bear 17: Cooperation

This one’s complex. I take cues from the people helping me, because I don’t want to be a burden, or appear ungrateful. They have to ake cues from me, as they can only help if I express my need. In order to lead, you need to take cues from your followers, and obviously to follow you need to take cues from your leaders. There’s a level of awareness that’s required for cooperation, in any situation, and on any level. No man is an island, to quote John Donne and Thomas Merton. We all need to cooperate with others to accomplish anything in life.

Next: Spectrum

Read 365 Tao by Deng Ming-Dao

365 Bear 16: Ordinary

Not everyone likes metaphor. Not everyone “gets” metaphor. I tend to use it a lot because it allows me to use the familiar, be it a situation or concept, to explain the unfamiliar.

On my Facebook page I list my religion as “mystic”. A mystic is one who finds the divine in the ordinary, who seeks spirituality through direct contact with the divine rather than through teachings and books alone. The map, as they say, is not the terrain. Reading a book about visiting Italy isn’t the same as going to Italy. Reading an instruction manual on how to drive a car isn’t the same as driving a car. We need to bring the theory into practice, into our ordinary lives. And we want that higher spirituality to be, eventually, ordinary, because it is an integral part of our lives.

Next: Cooperation

Read 365 Tao by Deng Ming-Dao

365 Bear 15: Time

Last week I was at the library, reading RSS feeds on my laptop, when a older gentleman walked up to me with a newspaper folded under his arm. the problem today, he said, was that no one reads newspapers any more, they just stare at computer screens. I really didn’t know how or where to begin to explain that what I was doing was the modern equivalent of reading a newspaper. The news I was reading was fresher, up the the minute.  I don’t think he would have been receptive to an explanation in any case. He was invested in newspapers on many levels.

I don’t want to judge the man or tell him how to live his life, but I can take this story and use it as a parable to help me decide how to live my life. we need to acknowledge and understand the past, absolutely. But we need to live in the present, to be present, with all that entails. Sometimes that means hanging on to the best parts of the past, sometimes that means leaving it behind. What we need to do, building upon my thoughts on 365 Bear 14, is construct our lives in such a way that we’re able to adapt to the future and whatever it may bring.

Next: Ordinary

Read 365 Tao by Deng Ming-Dao