It's a Level Thing

That Level Thing

Lately I see that the type of conversations I've been having on social media are based on me attempting to get across the idea that the facts and solutions being debated — you guessed it ... politics — could be looked at from another perspective. A different level. Forest and trees sort of thing. [You do know that one, yes?]

Here's probably the last word on the subject:

"Once you have the view, although the delusory perceptions of samsara may arise in your mind, you will be like the sky; when a rainbow appears in front of it, it’s not particularly flattered, and when the clouds appear, it’s not particularly disappointed either. There is a deep sense of contentment. You chuckle from inside as you see the facade of samsara and nirvana; the View will keep you constantly amused, with a little inner smile bubbling away all the time."
– Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

The keyword there is "VIEW". Maybe a better word than level, since it doesn't have the linear, hierarchical connotations of "level". It's just there. To take, put on. As you read this please add "view" to your understanding of "level".

In all fairness, the struggle to see that my point is made has only to do with my own compulsion to attempt to make a point. In short, my own unprocessed baggage acting out. Forgive me. And, more, it's a thing to know just what is that point to make in the first place; never mind the business of how to make it. But, finally, why? 

The idea of "Level" seems to offer a way to go. ["VIEW"]

So, now that I've given some hints, let's get into this business of level. When we think of "level" — I'm sure you're all up in the issue. Well, you are. But maybe not from the level to which I'm referring. "Level", it seems to automatically bring in evaluation. Good / Bad. Right / Wrong. The higher level, that's the ticket. We want that. That's the default game. Sorting out black from white. Yin from Yang? No winning side there. You can try. But, what God has put together, let no man put asunder. They co-exist, no one without the other. Duality baby. We got it. And, we can get it from different levels. Even the level where we are free of its constraints. Liberated. Stay with me.

A wise professor once said, "Whatever you say, someone can prove you wrong. So, now that you know I'm wrong, we have nothing to disagree about."

There's another kind of level I'm writing about. The level which informs your perspective. The lens you see things with. Not better, different. But, higher. Again, not better. Maybe more like a birdseye view. Forest versus trees.

Take this for example. There's Baseball and Golf. On one level they are totally different. Absolutely true. If you don't know from the difference between the two ... really! ... look it up. 

From a higher, more structural level, we see they're both played with sticks, balls, paths/markers, grass. 

More generally, they are games.

From this latter level — you're playing a game — you can consider how other things are games too. Your life's comings, and goings, and gettings, and havings. For example. Not only like playing Poker, or water polo. Whathaveyou.

So what's the big whoop there? This: when you see that you are playing a game you have stepped up the level now to having some creative say in the matter. Rather than being totally engrossed in the busyness of life, you can see where you want to go and how to get there. Also, maybe not taking it needlessly seriously.

So the next level is healing. "Hey, little girl, while you're digging around in that pile of horse poo-poo hoping to find a pony in there [and, even if you did, what would you have besides a stinking pony?] there's something else you can do." "What's that, mister?" "Well, it's seeing that what you are really looking for — next to which all else are mere tokens — is right in front of you — well, Nisargadatta reminds us that in Truth is IS YOU — right there, plain as day. But, you have to let go of that game with the you-know-what and that icky poney. If you want. [And, you know that you do.] Don't be so proud to not look at the other choice. I think you'll want to stay, but it takes its time when you're letting go of one rung to grab onto another. It's a muscle. You have one. By birth-right. Now, use it!

Here's another level thing. There's the way you see things. It's one level to be clear on what it is you're seeing and maybe a step up to consider how that view may be colored and conditioned. Then, there's the level where you notice that there's a you seeing all those things. And, further, the level of looking into just what you are who is seeing those things. Clue: nothing transitory. 

Werner Erhard is also talking about level in this about "responsibility".

Then, closer to my professional interest ...  there is another such "Level"; that is, in respect to our health and well-being. 

Without trotting out my full encyclopedia on the subject, let's just say that living in balance also includes the makeup of your body. Besides being designed to be stacked up nicely up and down [vertical], the human body in order to enlist the supportive side of Gravity* needs to have that vertical, but also should be even and level. Even, with both sides balanced with respect to one another; symmetrical. But also, level; the segments each resting on top of one another flat. As a pancake, don't you know. Well, of course, you do. You don't get served those flapjacks balanced on their edges, do you?

*Gravity. It's ecology, baby! Prime real estate. You're in it. [Or, from another point of view ... it's in you.]

Mother! WTF

Last night we had a doozy thunderstorm. Lightning, well yeah. Michele commented, "God is bowling". I had never heard that one before, and was totally charmed by the image. 

I'm remembering now too a time from my formative youth, during a thunderstorm. I was afraid and troubled. My Polish Mother unhesitatingly and flatly said, "Boża is angry with you". No indication she was joshing me. For real, she seemed.

God is angry with me. Well. At 7 or 8 impressionable years of age, that's saying something. Being a good Catholic lad, naturally, I was full of guilt, so I took it as true. 

So many conflicting thoughts. Was is true? If so, what could I do. Oh, there's the Sacrament of Confession. But, that was a big display of anger ... what did I do to deserve that?

Then, of course, there was the usual disconnect between what I know to be so and what the adults in the room demanded me to believe what's so. Framing the world for me.

Mom! Why would you say something like that? It's interesting to note that my Mother ran away from home — for good — at a very young age to escape the physical and mental cruelty of a stepmother. Took her younger sister in tow, and scrammed. Grew up with her natural mother's sister, Dear Ciotka [say it, "Chocha".], in another city far away. Brave, huh?

But, I do love my Mother. And it's my duty as a good son to reconcile myself with her. First, accepting that she wasn't always right. Or, that she raised me to be a good boy, and relating to me as if she had command over me, even as an adult. Mother! My life as a dog. Raised like a Veal. Yet ... to be fair, I remember how as I grew the evening curfew time gradually became later. She was giving me my independence. It took me, myself, some time to take it. You know, those apron strings.

In the final analysis, I think she didn't understand how sensitive and impressionable I was. Or, maybe she did, and was giving me a koan to chew on to toughen me up. In short, she was pulling my leg.

I think that's about right. Her other instruction was about how to catch a bird. You put salt on its tail. I even got the absurdity of that as a mere lad. I do think, though, she played with my naivete just a bit. Teaching me really to think for myself. 

Net, net ... Mother is always right. It's the child who might not at first see that through his limited experience. 

Accepting versus Tolerating

 

“In accepting the sensation of the body—accepting, not tolerating—the various sensations can come fully into our acceptance, our awareness. You feel the agitation of the body. You are all sensation. There is no psychological commentary. There is not a feeler, nothing felt. There is only feeling. The sensation, the weight, the agitation, etc., then become really articulated.

It is very important that this articulation occurs, otherwise, all the sensations are lumped together in one mass and remain unconscious, i.e., residues. Once a sensation has fully blossomed in your awareness, you can let it go, and what remains is only the acceptance, the awareness, the light. This lightness, acceptance, is not localized in the head. It is not localized anywhere.

Once the perception has unfolded in awareness, energy is liberated and dissolves in light. This light, energy, is spontaneously felt on all levels of our phenomenal being. We spontaneously become aware of a new body-feeling, a feeling of energy, light, space, emptiness, expansion. This body is the real body, the organic body. This is the body which carries the qualities of its source and is the true expression of its source: light. This body is eminently lovable […]”
“When you have once felt the organic light body, its feeling will return to you often, because it is older than any conditioned body. It is your original body. The cells have an ancient organic memory of their perfect state. So it is important when you have once felt it, not to return to the old patterns. Sustain it. Remember it in all situations in daily life.

For one who is fully established in Truth, there is no going back. But to be established means that the insight is fully transposed on all levels of existence. Someone who has not fully explored the transposition on the body-mind level, even though the insight is real, may well be taken again by the body-mind. For the fully established one, the body-mind is Truth because it is a perfect expression of truth. Only such a one knows what the “temple of God” means. Take care of your temple!”

- Excerpt from 'The Book of Listening', Jean Klein

The Way it Is ...

 

"All your thoughts belong to the past. Everything you do is a reaction based on past experience. Even when you think of the future, the thoughts of your future projection come from the thoughts, memories and experiences of the past. All mental activity comes from stirring up thoughts of the past. 

"The present moment is free from thought, but when thought arises, you are no longer in the present, you are in the past. The thoughtless present moment is peace. It is only the thoughts of the past that make you miserable."

Papaji

You Are!

 The undisturbed state of being is bliss; the disturbed state is what appears as the world. 

In non-duality there is bliss; in duality, experience.

What comes and goes is experience with its duality of pain and pleasure.

Bliss is not to be known.

One is always bliss, but never blissful.

Bliss is not an attribute.

- Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

 Mother!!!

Remembering how my Mother was always right. We argued many a point. The world was as she saw it. 

In my youth, the electric company had a local office for paying bills, and they would exchange burned-out bulbs for new ones, no charge. 

I asserted to my Mother that the electricity did not flow through a burned-out bulb. The connection was broken, no electricity usage/bill. She insisted otherwise.

So here we are at the Detroit Edison office and I asked the clerk to verify that the electricity was not flowing if the bulb was shot. No, he said, the electricity still flows.

I really burned on that one. Sort of like a lot of my childhood experiences where the so-called adults either lorded it over you or were the undisputed holders of all certain knowledge, defining your reality. Isn't it ever so, though? 

In recollecting that affair, it now occurs to me that we may have been both right. The electricity doesn't go through the bulb, and the electricity is still flowing. I had it like if all you had was burned-out bulbs there'd be no bill for those lamps. The adults may have taken it as the electricity would still be available.

[Just like how my heart ached over the self-sacrifice my Father was making always taking the Chicken neck when my Mother made soup. Only now it dawns on me that he preferred it! Geez ... kids.]

 

Nothing outside yourself can cause any trouble.

Nothing comes from outside your mind. Usually we think of our mind as receiving impressions and experiences from outside, but that is not a true understanding of our mind. The true understanding is that the mind includes everything; when you think something comes from outside it means only that something appears in your mind. Nothing outside yourself can cause any trouble. You yourself make the waves in your mind. If you leave your mind as it is, it will become calm. This mind is called big mind.

– Shunryu Suzuki

from the book "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind"

New Planet Flag ...

You know how especially currently there's a flag for everything? I thought up a new flag.

How come? I recently saw some hue and cry over a certain flag. The one with the thin blue line running horizontal in the center of the American flag, the remainder done in black and white. 

It symbolizes the "Thin Blue Line" which stands for law enforcement, keeping order over lawless chaos. Regardless of where you stand politically, I can understand how that might be a subject worth discussing. In the extreme some see it as a symbol for insurrectionist white supremacy since it was displayed by the rioters in the Capitol on January 6, 2021. [Never mind that The Flag was also displayed. No double standard, please.]

So I got to thinking. In my field we stand for what's normal and healthy for Humans in a most basic, fundamental way. That is, to live with our bodies balanced with Gravity. I don't think that up until Dr. Ida Rolf originated Structural Integration there was much said on that subject. Mostly it's been how you are is, well, how you are. Born that way. Definitely not something I want to change, or even think can be changed. 

There is an option. 

If that brief description resonates with you, by all means, look into Rolf Structural Integration for yourself. There is plenty of information on this website. You may contact me if you have further questions or need assistance.

In any event, here's the flag ...

So that's my flag proposal, not for a new country, but for a new planet. On earth, just as there are continents and countries, provinces/states, cities — I could go on, but you get the point — so too, there are several "planets". Planets distinguished by so many overlapping and interlocking points of view. Technological is a pretty obvious one. The Internet. Economics/commerce. Geographical. Political. Ethnic. Historical. Like that.

So my planetary flag is for Balanced Living. The standard principle on the planet is that Gravity rules. There's a certain way of Gravity. When you consciously engage with it there's also what I call the Way of Gravity. 

"The Way of Gravity" is a line anchored to the center of the earth, extending out to the center of the Universe. That line is the action of Gravity. When you relate to it in the makeup of your body, "you have aligned yourself with the forces that hold the Universe together".

This new flag attempts to graphically represent the fact of Gravity, and its potential for Humans. Trust me, the flag might be new, but the fact that Gravity itself can be enlisted for Human health and well-being is still breaking news. 

You could say that it's a new flag on the planet. That is, how to live on the planet. 

Here's a poetic expression on the subject ...

Creative Writing Contest

 Creative Writing Contest

Pick a subject ... 

List all the subsets of topics that relate ... 

Choose one or more ...

Use that as your general outline ...

Go for it! 

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj ... Straight from the Source

Q: What you say sounds convincing, but of what use is it to the private person, who knows itself to be in the world and of the world?

M: Millions eat bread, but few know all about wheat. And only those who know can improve the bread. Similarly, only those who know the self, who have seen beyond the world, can improve the world. Their value to private persons is immense, for they are their only hope of salvation. What is in the world cannot save the world; if you really care to help the world, you must step out of it.

Q: But can one step out of the world?

M: Who was born first, you or the world? As long as you give first place to the world, you are bound by it; once you realize, beyond all trace of doubt that the world is in you and not you in the world, you are out of it. Of course, your body remains in the world and of the world, but you are not deluded by it. All scriptures say that before the world was, the Creator was. Who knows the Creator? He alone who was before the Creator, your own real being, the source of all the worlds with their creators.

Q: Why do the Indian teachers advocate inactivity?

M: Most of people’s activities are valueless, if not outright destructive. Dominated by desire and fear, they can do nothing good. Ceasing to do evil precedes beginning to do good. Hence the need for stopping all activities for a time, to investigate one’s urges and their motives, see all that is false in one’s life, purge the mind of all evil and then only restart work, beginning with one’s obvious duties. Of course, if you have a chance to help somebody, by all means, do it and promptly too, don’t keep him waiting till you are perfect. But do not become a professional do-gooder.

Q: I do not feel there are too many do-gooders among disciples. Most of those I met are too absorbed in their own petty conflicts. They have no heart for others.

M: Such self-centeredness is temporary. Be patient with such people. For so many years they gave attention to everything but themselves. Let them turn to themselves for a change.

Deconstructing the "Dad Joke"

[Note: Not all Dad jokes are told. Here's a photographic version of yours truly.]

You know the Dad Joke ...

Dads tell "Dad Jokes" It's what we do. Just part of the DNA. You know, "Dad Joke"? Corny, stupid, lame, dumbass, pointless, silly ... jokes.

The kind that elicits eye rolls, and "Oh, Daaad!".

Like this one: "Why isn't your nose 12 inches long? If it were, it would be a foot." Well, actually, that's a pretty good one. But, it's in the genre, if at the top. "I like Bananas because they have appeal." "What do you get when you cross a submarine with a Tangerine. A 'navel Orange'."

There's a little secret to Dad Jokes. I don't know that it's an intentional thing, but it's this. When a Dad tells a Dad Joke, he expects a response. Depending on the response, he gets a bead on where the kids are at. Do the kids get it that you have to be cool to be square? Tell a Dad Joke, and take a measure of the response. And your darling offspring.

I'm not gonna go into all the permutations. Just that there's a range. From the pandering solicitous fake laugh of an already formed politician, who's dishing out a veneer of enjoyment, when underneath is a heap of condescending rage. [Give such a lad a whipping.] And, of course, the eye rolls and "Oh, Dad's". That often tells of immaturity and lack of generosity. Or, have those little ungrateful snots just written you off already and just see Dad as an inconvenient embarrassment? They give you the "ghost". Then, when you tell one with a reference from a time way before the kids would know ... do they give you a blank, or do they ask? Important reveal. Let's hope they ask. Bodes well for their future.

If you are a Dad with kids, you know what I'm talking about. It's for you to see what you see in their response.