To be Free in the Realm of Bondage and Confinement

You know that saying, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak?” There is this facility where you can take command of the flesh and actually… that qualifies as one of the great states of liberation…To be able to tell your body when to sit and when to go, is to have a gratefully trained animal that loves you and love keeps it young. I'm really learning something about the idea of aging and I realize in my own experience that all that is is an idea and I don't have that idea. We are timeless and ageless, if we choose to be. Of course, there are dances you do at a certain stage and other dances at later stages. They might all still be there in potential but… the manner in which the energy is used dictates ones state of well being and it is always a good idea to take residence in the next place you are going to 'BEFORE' you get there.

The spirit is willing. Between the spirit and the flesh is the mind and the heart. Like a flashlight, whatever direction you point it in illuminates what is in its light. Physical culture should be routine; a habit that is not broken and the body will really like that. Sometimes the body can get frisky at advanced ages because the inner light is resonating with the greater light. That sort of thing makes you want to dance, on some level.

The flesh is weak, if the mind is strong in that direction. In any direction the ineffable provides the steam. You can go wherever you can imagine and beyond. It really makes you wonder about what's in a lot of people's heads but that is the direction they roll in. The ineffable will take you to places beyond description. You can walk with the ineffable and if you assume and believe that the ineffable is walking with you all the time, there will come a time and times of great recognition when you can literally walk right off with the ineffable, depending on how you have convinced the ineffable and however the ineffable feels about it. That's the final say, which is why, probably the best prayer you can make is, “Lord work your will in and on me to the glory of your presence. I know that you know what I want and what I need before I even think about it. I'll leave it all in your hands ahead of time.”

One cannot stress too intensely, the importance of the divine in one's life. That is the single important possession one can and must attain to. Then everything flows serendipitously, exactly to the degree of one's resonance with it. All the yogas and disciplines of any type are just for the sake of tuning in. The sincere cannot fail. It's a good question to ask on a regular basis; “Why am I doing this?” “Who am I?” is a good one too. 'Who am I' leads with quick intensity. You get definite answers with that sort of thing; answers relevant to the question.

If you want to get somewhere, you have to go somewhere. It might be some long distance into many lands, or it might be inward and cover as much ground and it might be both. One of them is the most important cause it makes any other part of it possible. I am truly stunned at what goes on in the world but I do not wield a temporal scepter. I'm guessing my job is to rule myself. Trying to shape the world into your own design always leads to problems. Worse than that, no one is ever completely successful at it and some of them make big mistakes in technique and motive, not to mention results.

It's really something to be on your own and to be able put all your attention on what should be the primary objective of life. In short order you ask yourself, “What was I doing?” Divinity will reside in us if we tolerate no other presence. Of course, with the indwelling divinity, no other presence can approach. This is what Lao Tzu meant when he said, “The tiger and wild bull keep clear of his inland path. Weapons turn from him on the battle-field, No bull-horn could tell where to gore him, No tiger-claw where to tear him, No weapon where to enter him. And why? Because he has no death to die.” Last time I looked, the divine was eternal and immortal. This is right about that time when words fail and one must move on to something else, which, of course,will also involve the ineffable.

For instance, if the divine is in everything and moves through everything and lives and experiences existence as all of us and… is in control of everything, no matter how out of control any of it might seem to be then, logically, where should one be? Simultaneously, billions of lives are taking place right now and everything you can imagine is taking place somewhere. Who are you and what are you doing? What kind of mental climate have you created? If you don't like it, you simply change your mind. Not so easy to do for many, depending on what has its hooks into them.

If you study the world you see it is a kingdom of bondage and confinement. The single most desirable state is to be free. You don't get it as an accessory to being rich and it doesn't come around just cause you are poor or middle class. It seems to exist independent of these conditions. It definitely doesn't come with privilege or looks. It's elusive to be sure but we have it on good authority that it is around and it is there for those who exercise it in the particular way that makes it want to stay around or… what have you?

Two very important periods are when one goes to bed and that time before they fall sleep and the moments upon awakening. You can tell a lot about yourself by where your thoughts go in these times. It can't be said too often that we are living in important times, as well as times of great opportunity. It doesn't matter what the world is up to. There are portals for everything and everywhere.

Sunday I went to this weekly event called “Ecstatic Dance” It's at this resort down by the shore and its been going on for years. I didn't know what to expect. I even, foolishly, assumed that it might mean dancing. As I waited for this event to come about, I scanned the various bulletin boards with their many ads about seminars being conducted in a safe and nurturing environment and got introduced to a whole lot of new terms for new ways to reveal your true self and really… I can't remember most of it because my mind rejects their residence but what I did notice was that in not one of these presentations was the divine mentioned, except within the context of one's own replacement of it. Either the divine is front row and center or you are and apparently you are.

Meanwhile, back at the ecstatic dance, there were some number of people doing bicycle built for two yoga on the grass (or on grass for all I know), some indeterminate exercises and half a dozen people were meditating while people walked past them or chatted around them. It was silly and horrifically vain. I remember from the bible; “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”

Then the ecstatic dancing began and all it was was a continuation of what was going on prior. Here was a hall full of people moving around in very exaggerated ways, which looked to me like someone with Down's Syndrome performing modern dance in a giant tub of Jell-O. This isn't meant as a criticism of people with Down's Syndrome. It is simply because that is exactly how it looked (to me). The rules are that you cannot speak on the dance floor. A couple of days later, I was discussing this with a Slovenian native who said to me; “It's okay if you just go there and sit in the chairs at the side and laugh at them. Then it is worthwhile.” I'm sorry, it really was weird and I left because I knew that I would start to burst out laughing and I didn't want to leave the wrong impression.

So… I went into the parking lot and then I thought, Why not walk up around the gate that separates the main retreat location from the Shop and Shill location down by the road? There were signs here and there to let you know that the whole property was under 'digital' video surveillance. The digital part was made to appear to be an important feature. Before I was able to take the path around the gate, a fellow came running up to ask me if I was a guest and to tell me that I had to sign in at Shop and Shill and leave some ID at the same time. He had literally run a hundred yards to get to me and was out of breath. The security was tight and it was hard to imagine why. There are always plenty of people running around the place.

It's been awhile since I've been around the trustfunder, new age, reggae haired, tattooed and pierced god beings but I will say that the level of shameless acting out has gone up and the Hollywood air kissing thing has become more prevalent. It might be only me and my being overly judgmental but… I had to get out of there. I felt freakishly disaffiliated from it all, like I was from another planet. Bottom line, they weren't very friendly either. I've noticed this in several locations where most people are either overly apprehensive and prickly, or way too slinky with the bad Galadriel impersonations. I don't know why this is. There's a lot of casual sex going on with this crowd, so maybe, given that they've all been passed around from one to each other, there are particular undercurrents at work.

At one point I was standing by the bathrooms because there happened to be a bulletin board right there and not because I was looking for some action (grin). This young lady comes up and asks is anyone in there? She was pointing to the door on my right. I said I think that one is empty but there was definitely someone behind the door to my left. So she goes past me and tries the door on my left. It happens to be open and another lady is sitting in there and the intruding lady apologizes and shuts the door. I said to her, “I wouldn't lie to you.” and in her simpering best she says, “Oh, I know you wouldn't but I had to check.” What does that mean??? AND… why not go into the door on the right which was empty? Like I said, I had to go, well, I didn't have to go. I had to leave.

Now… I do not want to pass judgment on anyone but at the same time I can't write these things without descriptors and anecdotal screen captures. For all I know these people have advanced well beyond my meager accomplishments and level of awareness. I only brought this up to illustrate that the most glaring omission I notice is the absence of the ineffable from the conversation and the pop psych spirituality of the day and I have been noticing this for awhile, here and elsewhere. The divine has been surgically removed from the mix; be it yoga, or meditation, be it whatever. Perhaps in the case of the privileged youth of the day, the spirit is wilted but the flesh is sleek. I remember it wasn't all that different a few decades ago. Mostly people are self promoting, rather than hosting mechanisms for The Self. It's a pity. You can only get so much from your personal self and all of that is made possible by the ineffable anyway, regardless of how we bend, fold, spindle and mutilate it from the original. On the other hand, you can get anything and everything from the ineffable and that includes the 9,999.99% percent of what we are unaware of.