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Intimacy
October 2009 
Charge of the Light Brigade!
mikeS
Frequently, within the pods, intense and somewhat heated exchanges occur between members. Usually, this is handled with civility, however, often it tends to create bad feelings amongst certain members and, although, this may rise up occasionally, most tend to seek out greater civility and make apologies as necessary.
Guess what? This is life, boys and girls! These discussions are microcosmic representations of life itself, merely abridged and abbreviated within the threads.
So many frightened Gaian's around here. Always sensitive to the negativity of darkness.
Yet, lo and behold, we have the charge of the Light Brigade! Because they refused to engage in the dark depths of discussion, and often are disenaged from most conflicts of life, the lighworkers come to our "emotional rescue." They seek to spread peace and light in the hopes of redirecting hostilities, but merely make the participants feel even more guilty for their conflictual engagement. Who could not feel guilty when the interaction they recently engaged in was anything but "peace and light"?
Thank god for the lightworkers and their clichés of peace and godliness; with their comfortable pithy quotes from the master teachers of light.
Sometimes I want to ask, are you real? But that would be too controversial and so, It would go unanswered.
I sense their presence always, out there in the margins, rarely enaging except to post a quote from the venerable in the hopes of saving the thread from death by negativity. Disagree with their means and you instantly indict yourself as in league with the postivity sucking devil of darkness.
Conflict is anathema to the lighworkers who define life as merely the spreading of positive "vibrations" and all the time we must remain positive. Philosophical negativity is shunned because, as their creed demands, negativity in all its forms can never have any value and can only lead to more negativity. Negative interactions can have no cathartic effect in aiding individuals in seeing more clearly the views they hold. Life is chock full of conflict and most is of our own doing, individually and collectively. Yet, we tend to grow through spasms of pain and suffering. We watch others struggle to make sense of anger and depression and we identify with them, because their struggle is ours.
Most of us that is, but not the lightworkers. They seem unusually immune to the conflicts the rest of us poor folk plod through. But if only we would just seek the light, all our troubles would be gone, "come into the light, Caroleanne, come into the light!"
But we are!
For the lightworkers, dirty laundry stinks and so we must quickly wash away our issues and problems with lots of soap and water. Remember when you mother washed out your fowl mouth with soap? You continued to use the ‘F' word even more ferociously! ( well, maybe that was just me)
No, dear friends, we must always shed our light upon the world as if darkness had no value. Ahh... but without darkness to define your seeking the light, how would you define your "self"?
Forget the deep-seated ancient issues and the wounds crying out to be healed. Just pour pink paint over them and everything will be all better. In fact, many pods insist in their guidelines that any posts indicative of conflict will be summarily deleted. I avoid such pods like the plague, since they deny us our struggle, and merely seek to 'lip-service' the aphorisms of the ancient lightworkers.
They deny LIFE.
These frightened folks tend to rile me more than the complex exchanges between ideological opponents seeking common ground. It's almost as if they have no problems that their positive thinking can't solve.
I meet these individuals in my practice on a daily basis and have come to see this as a feint, a delusion, a foil, because under all their peace and light is a boiling cauldron of emotion just waiting to come to the surface and murder everyone in their path.
They scare me...
"Don't you dare," they seem to say, in their desperate need to hide from their own emotional self.
Here ye, oh, lightworkers of the world.
You are not saving the world by spreading your light. The light comes from intimately understanding one another, not from deflecting that understanding through platitudes that seek to offset negativity. Face your fears through another. Intimacy demands discomfort in vacating all our pretty ideological boxes and packages. Your light merely prolongs the inevitable intimacy that our conflict has the potential to bring.
Throw away your pithy quotes and your scripts from the "masters."
I ask... WHAT SAY YOU!
So here's the preamble for my new pod:
Mature conflict is encouraged in the often painful search for the truth that is discovered by all differently. Even immature conflict is warranted as long as adults can apologize for their mistakes of the mouth. If you are afraid of conflict, you are asked to risk you plastic sense of peace and seek the intimacy that true depth of engagement brings. Real peace is not born of new age platitudes and clichés, but of engagement. Swim in my depths and I will join with yours in our own Intimate Awakening. Spreading of light allowed only through depth of engagement.
Ha! Good grief! Aren't we all lucky that I have no intention of ever starting a pod. But with all these pods and their restrictive guidelines, I have actually been considering such a risky venture.
But, with so many lightworkers, who would participate in reality?
Access: Public
“…who would participate in reality?”…
I would!
You will fry for this!
Now your not alone.
LOL…
I'm sure I can drop my candle and participate as well. I love this slap of reality on my ass this morning. Needless to say, I'm about to bust from deep laughter. The positive-pithy ones you know will hold hands in a circle around this pod singing Cumba ya! I'll be pointing to this blog as one of my favorites! THANKS Mike. ;-D
Thank you for this post:-)
why not start your own pod, Mike? I think it would be fun! :) Sorry for inflicting so much light on you all the time. Forgive me?
Wondering who is next for the gauntlet, the intellectual elite? LOL
Keep it real, smiles. The world was flat once Really! It is round now - or is it a hologram? Grins The only thing that is certain….. is change.
Hey Guys!
Denim,
Thanks for the comment. However, I've been “frying” since birth, but then…haven't we all?
Satya,
Glad ya like my comedy bits, cause I got a million of 'em. Much thanks for the link.
Janet,
THANKING YOU!
Nicole,
What!? Are you a lightworker? Lightworker's believe that if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say nothing at all (this is a 'grandma's creed' too). I'm not definitely certain, but I think you and I have had some rather intense discussions (1 or 2 rather heated engagements, in fact). And I don't recall you intervening in my heated engagements with others, except to remind me when I was bordering on ass-holy-ness (and I agreed!).
No. Lightworkers seem to say “stop! this can have no positive result,” as if evolution was simply a walk in the park. However, nothing wrong with spreading light and love! My point was that, if that was one's only modus operandi, then other parts of the whole might be missed. Intimacy is not always pretty, but it can be quite intense.
“inflicting light”? Ha! Great line! Wished I'd thought of it first.
Zephyr,
“the gauntlet”? Hmmm…have I touched a nerve?
By the way, did you catch the breaking news? Time is vertical and not horizontal after all. Therefore, “change” is no longer certain and we merely perpetuate a compulsion to repeat and repeat and repeat, on and on, ad infintum. It merely seems like change. We're all the same, just repeating a belief that we are different. grins….
Thanks guys and, as always, stop in anytime!
mike
Mike, what a pleasure to read such wisdom from another Mike, step back from the mike, Mike, & take a well deserved bow, Mike ( wonder how many Mikes I can get in this comment? Oh for the love of Mike! that's enough, Oh Mike Odd!)
Ofcourse, spiritual people are scary; whosoever hides their own deeply scarred souls from everyone including themselves are frightening; who knows what they are capable of; I m not talking about religious wars, the Crusades, or televangelism here; altogether more insidious, and invidious, are the numerous hate-crimes of the lightbearers.
But in the end, they want to learn (not!) and those who want to learn (not!) can have dialogues with Mike and me (not the name of a movie about a dog startting Owen Wilson and Jennfer Aniston<but who is the dog?>)
Thanks for this blog post. I've been having similar thoughts for a long time, but not have written them for fear of not being considered SC (spiritually correct). Negativity and “the dark side” are significant parts of life and to deny them is to refuse to acknowledge reality.
Mike, that's good to know thanks! Bet you're surprised at all the interest this blog has drawn. You might have to start that pod after all :)
Hey Guys!
Wonderful to have you stop in!
Mikey, I don't know about “wisdom” but all this dialoguing sure is alot of fun. Besides, wisdom is downright boring these days. I'll take insane engagement over ho hum wisdom any day! A Hu Li, yes, it does seem particularly easy for some of the spiritualized to hide behind the sutras, just as other have hid behind the scriptures. Peace Seeker, Ha! “Spiritually correct”! Great term. I've never heard it before. No doubt much of the spiritual world is as 'surface' as conventional reality
Nicole, yes, it is surprising. Note that when I write generalized theoretical posts I rarely get any hits (and some of my theories are good. No really!). However, when I specifically write about my observations within this Gaian forum and its “pods,” many stop in and actually participate. Hmmm….Why is that?
Did I touch off guilt? Did the above post demand introspection? Can't quite get a handle on this unusual phenomenon. I mean, I'm certainly not saying anything new. Maybe folks are just drawn to controversy? Maybe controversy is really how we grow, much more so then repeating the quotes of the masters. Maybe engaging with controversy is how we become masters?
Who kows. I'm just saying…
mike
Controversy is how we do grow, but if we were not straitjacketed in the first place we won't need to grow!
EVERYTHING we want or ARE is already ALREADY findable in the Supermarket of Desire. Everygooglything! No exceptions. How is this possible? Well ask yourself, do you know anyone who desires something that is not already out there? Even the Wright brothers with their urge to fly got it it from the birdies! “I see, I want!” is the name of the game when we first got to the Beach. But it ISNT BAD TO WANT! It is just BAD to SUBDIVIDE! Maybe not bad, but only if you think mayhem and madness is not bad, and maybeee they are not sooo bad, beats drinking alot of the herbal tea that is out there, right?
Your theories (if I can recall any!) are fantastico, amigo~! Right on the money(seashells)! U go girl! Uhm, I mean, boy!
I think I just fell in love with a blog! I truly cringe at what the term “lightworker” has become. Ah, but if I pursue that thought this comment will get all serious and stuff. Here is a thought…create a pod called “Holistic Lightworking.” Keep all your original guidelines stated above. Go tell all those lightworkers that deny anything but light that they are not living a holistic lifestyle. How can one live holistically when they deny part of the whole? That will throw them right over the edge. Whether the earth is flat or round, they will fall right over the edge….And here is another thing, by denying the dark, did they reject Earth Hour this past weekend? Nothing worse for these “lightworkers” than sitting int he DARK for a WHOLE HOUR….
Oh and Satya-Seer-Thank you for showing me the light which pointed me to this blog!
Tut - tut Mike, which 'lightworkers' have you met? [Ok, don't answer that - unless it's me, of course -I'm sappy enough not to want to hurt someone's feelings]. Light's not a paint that can hide or brush over anything that's within. It's actually ABOUT discovering all those little imps and ghosts and yes, monsters hiding in the basement. But what do you do once they're out? They're no longer hiding, you look with light - they disappear.
I suspect you have thought some people are lightworkers who haven't really called themselves that. I wonder? My pet peeve - this one's not hiding - is that people who don't like the word “light”, tend to paint all those who do, with the same brush. And that those who don't enjoy conflict, are said to be “not real”. Or perhaps only the “painting others with the same brush” part is real.
And perhaps now that peeve is out it'll disappear too. Hmm.. so this is a roundabout way of saying, I enjoyed reading your blog, and the vagaries of serendipity that brought me here. I'm happy to see the different voices springing up around Gaia. It's what keeps things alive- even if they don't enjoy mingling!
Hi Meenakshi,
Thanks for stopping by. Can't say that I've made your acquaintance yet, but I do recall reading your comments in deb's metaphysical pod.
It seems there is always someone who can say better, what I'm trying to say badly. So here's a quote from Robert Masters:
“Being positive is so important to spiritual bypassing that it doesn't have much room for anything else. What spiritual bypassing doesn't see is its own negativity. It is negative about negativity. As you might expect, spiritual bypassing is a big fan of expansion, but is not so fond of contraction. It equates expansion with being positive, and contraction with being negative - expansion lifts us, contraction sinks us; expansion epitomizes yes, contraction no; expansion is “higher,” contraction “lower;” expansion frees us, contraction entraps us; and so on. In short expansion is good and contraction bad, however cleverly this may be put.
But negative does not equal contracted, just as positive does not equal expanded. Expansion and contraction are more intertwined than we might think…there is nothing inherently virtuous about expansion - think about, for example, of imperialism and colonization…nor anything inherently non virtuous about contraction. Every movement we make includes both. Spiritual bypassing, though, still holds expansion as something “better” than contraction, as exemplified by its enthusiasm for “expanded” consciousness..”
Possibly “lighworkers” is rather accusatory in tone and Master's “spiritual bypassing” is more succinct in describing what often occurs in Gaia, as well as elsewhere in spiritual company. In this case light does become a veil rather than a beacon. I too, have monsters in the basement, but they often seem immune to the “light.” (maybe that's just me). However, nothing worng with “light” as long as it does not serve to hide, as opposed to reveal. I'm all for revealing!
Thanks for stopping by, Meenakshi!
mikeS
That makes a lot of sense Mike, often contraction precedes new awareness and then growth. It's a bit like only associating with the light, when it is needed in the darker areas, we shouldn't fear the dark, but embrace both.
Hi Mike, I thought we had interacted before, but perhaps not. So rude of me to jump in and not first say Hi! I'm not a good greeter. But you are a very gracious host!
I completely agree about any bypassing [though I can never quite figure out what is and is not spiritual]. I feel that is exactly what I personally began to get out of when I felt I was a lightworker. It helped me to face darkness without succumbing to it. Will those around me see that? I doubt it, unless they are not called Masters, but are masters of their own inner power.
In our conversations, online and offline, which form usually a small part of our overall life,, it occurs to me that if we [knowingly] suppress something within ourselves, because we know it is inappropriate to a forum, to the listener, to a group online or offline; then we are trying to ensure that we don't rain on someone's parade, or smile at the funeral of someone who can't take a smile at that time. We are trying as best we can, to read the situation.
When we suppress or withstand others, it is an expression of the urges each of us has to improve things. Sometimes it is for that illusory 'myself” and for some of us it is for that equally illusory “oneself”. Whatever it is, [and I'm upset with being so verbose but plodding on!], the point is:
what do we do if we feel someone else is not being authentic?
I take the concern about perceived bypassing by others, to be a person's sense that if those around us are not genuine, it sullies any interaction with them. So what can we do to make it more genuine?
How would you approach their fear of showing their “deep-seated ancient issues and the wounds crying out to be healed”?
And btw , Mike, I feel you are amazing at making your point! If you've read thru to this point, I'd love your input. If a shadow is showing, it'll be hidden to me but perhaps you can point it out to me!For me, that is the value of communication.
Mike, sorry to come back, but I saw this :Note that when I write generalized theoretical posts I rarely get any
hits (and some of my theories are good. No really!). However, when I
specifically write about my observations within this Gaian forum and
its “pods,” many stop in and actually participate. Hmmm….Why is that?”
I too feel that “when I write generalized theoretical posts I rarely get any
hits” _ i think people don't really like to read. Do you? Then we can try to read each other.
“However, when I
specifically write about my observations within this Gaian forum and
its “pods,” many stop in and actually participate. Hmmm….Why is that?””
Perhaps just because it's more fun to talk about ourselves than about theories?
[ok, off I go]
Hi Meenakshi and Zephyr and much thanks for the depth of your comments.
I love to think about and then philosophize (talk) about stuff like this. I put out something to think about and others attach additional ideas which I add to and others add more and on and on… it really is an infinite game since we seem to have been playing since time began and will continue on, ad infinitum. It's good to have as many 'players' as possible with as few rules as is adequately manageable. Yet, obviously this will result in conflicting views and the heat that conflict brings.
Meenakshi you ask, “How would you approach their fear of showing their 'deep-seated ancient issues and the wounds crying out to be healed'”?
My only real point, mixed in with all my wordy waste matter, was that there was a tendency of some to redirect the course of things becuase of their own discomfort (fear?) of the conflict. From my experience this was done through various 'spiritualized' means and often only creates a sense of guilt in the opposing participants, like, 'how dare you be so negative' in this spiritual place!' In addition, this often occurs through consensus and other stakeholders to the spiritual 'place' seem to, in a sense, “gang up” on who they perceive as polluting the essence of the 'place.' Of course, this tends to be subtley manifest and not always blatantly clear on first glance
Certainly nothing wrong with spreading “light” and the world is in need of more light.
I work with families and couples and sometimes conflict is necessary to get to the light and I often intentionally bring up conflict in making a demand that certain patterns be authentically observed. Not always a comfortable process, to put it mildly. But it does seem that generally folks seek a way out of dissonance and into consonance (those not sociopathic). I belive we all want to be conflict-free but lack the means to access such a state of mind
So true! Theories are useless unless applied to experience, since experience is how we define ourselves. I always work better with ideas that can be easily transposed upon my experience of living. It's the lived-world (hyphenated to denote unity) that we're steeped in and not books or theories.
Thanks guys! Love to engage!
mike
Mike, we're [rightly] being gently careful about naming those who have formed our experience; so I guess we'll have to work that out on our own.
which actually is something that came to mind about this as well:
“My only real point, mixed in with all my wordy waste matter, was that
there was a tendency of some to redirect the course of things becuase
of their own discomfort (fear?) of the conflict.”
Perhaps because they preferred to deal with that conflict within; by themselves or with others they feel can help? Not everything can be handled in an open forum…
But yes, it can be very uncomfortable to be stopped. I guess that's why “they” [wise sayings] ask us to be detached from our work, to some extent. Ah well…I've enjoyed this interaction. Now on to the other one [ego], I think.
Mike, irresistibly drawn to this again, I saw this “Possibly “lighworkers” is rather accusatory in tone and Master's
“spiritual bypassing” is more succinct in describing what often occurs
in Gaia, as well as elsewhere in spiritual company. In this case light
does become a veil rather than a beacon.”
It's true, staying engaged in a discussion can help that inner light brigade to get charged up! If you don't mind, I've linked this in a post Taking things lightly at The Power of LIght group.
This was a good post to read for me, as I had been wondering over some
of these same issues. Sometimes, I wonder if a Light in the darkness
is simply being there and allowing someone to experience their
darkness, rather than fleeing from it and calling the experience
negative. Yes, there are those who become swallowed by sadness, but
then it becomes more a matter of resource rather than alienation. I
don't think it is about us…all of the time, and to alleviate
someone's very real bleakness through even the act of listening and
acknowledging it as real, can be the first step in healing that dark
place.
Blessings~
Hey Nahnni,
Thanks for stopping by!
I agree. And it often seems to me that healing is a mutual activity and in seeking to help others in their pain, they help us through ours. In fact, I tend to see healing as only a mutual exchange. Can we possibly heal our 'self.'? Certainly, solitude is rejuvenating, but I wonder if it does not more easily become escape? Of course, I speak personally and have experience in escaping healing encounters rather than engaging. Now I tend to stay with it and see where we might wind up. Tough to do sometimes, though.
Thanks,
mikeS
That is my understanding too, mike. That healing is about becoming whole; and as we re-connect the fragments of ourselves, we find ourselves establishing balanced connections to those around us. Another way of saying, we are healing. ”
Etymology:Middle English helen, from Old English hǣlan; akin to Old High German heilen to heal, Old English hāl whole”
From Mirriam- Webster dictionary
Hi Meenakshi,
I agree and would only add that healing can not be done alone. Wholeness is inclusive and cannot exclude anything. Especially others. We heal through healing and others heal us through our healing them. This is as circular as the conflicts that sever us.
But this is just an idea in development and, as always, is open to change.
Thanks!
mikeS
I think the problem occurs if we don't honor the process. Or rather, don't trust it. Sometimes, roads and paths have to diverge to come back. And some relationships may be meant to be parallel lines, meeting in infinity.
I think where we might disagree is in thinking that not everything can be solved with words. Or even in a lifetime. it would be great if it did, of course!
Meenakshi,
I agree to honoring the process. However, I believe that solitary processes merely reinforce separateness, as opposed to unity. It may be true that “some relationships are meant to be parallel lines, meeting in infinity.” The problem may be when we decide we know which relationships that should be. How could we know?
Many 'ancient masters' agree with you about” words.” Yet, although this is certainly a weak and tenuous form of communication, it does seem to be all we have at present. Maybe when we allow our words to leave the surface and engage in depth, our words will finally take us to a more intimate form of communicating. I'm not yet quite ready to give up on words.
Thanks,
mikeS
Mike,
Seems I'm no stranger to conflict - Ha, oh you know that already about me. The cosmic joke's on me. Alot about how we experience life is entirely about perspective.
Is “positive” thinking a magic pill we take in the morning and by afternoon it's all fixed up nice and pretty with a bow for us ? - no. Can trying to view the silver lining make the pain a little less unbearable ? - often. Always ?, no.
I've never thought of, or called myself, a Lightworker but I do understand energy. I once thought of myself as a Red Witch, not White, not Black. I really don't think like that now in my maturity. Some still tell me I am a true witch. I'm a Pagan simply because I'm a country bumpkin. That will be fun, I believe you're an urbanite, yes? - no? We will have fun. As you know, I've joined your group for that purpose alone.
Energy flows through the emotions, energy flows through electric lines, energy - everything is composed of some form of energy. Energy moves and does stuff. Our thoughts are energy and they interact with energy to do stuff. I don't know how or why it works but it does something measurable but not provable to cold, hard intellectual types.
We don't understand all there is to know about the behavior and possibilities of energy. Science is working on it and so am I, in the laboratory of my little life. If I do this, what will happen? Can I repeat it? Surprisingly often. Can I predict exactly how it will come out? Not usually, but then I like surprises.
I believe you are full of professional learning and career experience. I look forward to pitting my life experience and inner wisdom in stimulating discourse with you. As I said, I come because it will be fun.
Deb
Deb!
I don't know how or why it works but it does something measurable but not provable to cold, hard intellectual types…I believe you are full of professional learning and career experience.
I look forward to pitting my life experience and inner wisdom in
stimulating discourse with you.
Hmmm…Deb, I could be wrong but do I detect a challenge based on your perception of me? LOL.
I have participated in the underbelly of society in my youth and then attempted to see if that experience was transferable to working with those who are in it now. Much of my “professional learning and career experience,” (hmmm…I sense disdain in your voice) was tossed and I then sought to view the rotten core from a spiritual perspective and saw that it was not as rotten as I had interpreted (nor was I).
So let me provide a very brief and general autobiography: I was victim to severe physical and emotional abuse in childhood which seems to have prefaced my intense involvement with illicit stimulant abuse. I was born in Philadelphia and was a member of numerous crack houses. Joined the USMC to escape my geography, and following 4 years of that, have spent the better part of my life shedding that horrid military conditioning. I put myself through college and graduate school and found that my early experiences helped me engage with others experiencing similar and so that became my “career.” I then worked 8 years in a correctional facility, following that 10 years as an addiction counselor.
As, I think you know, I now reside in a very rural setting, since I did not want my children to experience urban stress. I now live deep in the woods and my wife and I (she is a therapist as well) work a small private practice.
Obviously there is much more to this, but the gist of it is that my life experiences tend to eclipse any “professional learning” I may have acquired.
Yes, the science of psychology has taught me much about alleviating the symptoms of suffering. But I seek for the cure and psychology has provided little direction in that endeavor.
And, yes, my deconstructing beliefs to get to the bottom of things can seem “hard, cold intellectual” but I am no stranger to emotion and can cry with the best of them as well as engage in deeply blissful experiences or dwell in the depths of intense rage.
I am happy you enjoyed this post and, I agree, it should be alot of fun!
mikeS
Mike,
Yep, you're wrong. I was just trying to feel truly playful last night. Too bad it is so hard to read intent by how well one is able to express themselves in writing but it is all this medium allows us. I doubt I can hold my own in the intellectual realm with your amazingly insightful nature. I'm really such an ordinary person and live an isolated life in the wilderness with little one-on-one physical contact with other human beings. Perhaps, I forget how at times, I don't know.
Nope, I'm looking forward to participating in the stimulating topics in your group and have just sent word of it (and this blog) to a young lady named Ashley, who I think would fit right in. I'm an odd sort myself. Like you, I've been down some pretty rough roads through life but I doubt as hard as yours or many others. I'm lucky I suppose to still be alive and that it wasn't worse than it was. A bit of a loner, a hermit, and sometimes, at odds with the prevailing currents - of the Gaian administration or the “elite” in this community. I actually try to get along, as long as it isn't at total odds with my authentic self. But I was simply saying, I don't fear conflict, won't run or flinch and hopefully will learn something through the process, however uncomfortable it might be.
Unfortunately, I'm still trying to discover, what is that authentic self deep within me and what has been manufactured by the human influences (family, friends and society) within my external self. So, defining what is authentic can be a bit of a challenge. I believe your group will help me define that more and that you will ever challenge me to “get real”. So, perhaps your blog is that first challenge for me to make sure I stay “real”. I most likely won't always succeed entirely. I have missed having that no holds barred engagement. The first group I was in at Zaadz was that sort but it died from being too rough and tumble. I see a bit of that spirit in your group's composition (but hopefully, the death part won't befall yours ! ! !).
Thanks to writing here, you are definitely a whole lot more “real” for me today. Wow, so we're both urban transplants who've chosen to be country bumpkins. That's just a joke really but country folk skew things that way. I'm not surprised to hear that psychology has not provided the “direction” you hoped. I have heard the biologist Bruce Lipton talk similarly of his field and so, he went from academia (where he could not be authentic) to private pursuit.
Yep, nothing is ever as “rotten” as some might interpret it. I have thought that my whole life (used to hang out with wild bikers in my early days, trying to be respected as a strong woman in a very masculine environment, heck, come to think of it, I've been in many different kinds of masculine environments - like cross-country truck driving. Guess it comes of being close to my dad and being his “son” a bit). I was wearing this fun Peace Frogs T-Shirt last night. There was one frog depicted 3 ways - the “good” had a halo & wings but was Red, the “bad” had horns and speared tail and was Blue and the “real” frog was just Green. Somehow, it reflects what I truly believe about all people.
At least, I had the presence of mind to say “pitting in stimulating” (as in engaging) and not “pitting against”. I was really, really exhausted when I wrote last night. What a difference a decent (if you can call 6 hrs that) amount of sleep can do for a person. It has been an intense week for me. To top it all off, my husband and children hit a whole group of deer last night, totaling the front end of our car and lightening struck in our house, frying some business phone lines, which took up my whole morning to track down. Those two were just one night's experience for me - oh yeah, add to that wading through all the posts in this blog, as it had been recommended to me for reading. And I can still feel I was just letting go and having fun writing you, maybe poking a tiny bit, since you were doing it too, just in the “spirit” of that which I was detecting was part of this blog. Perhaps the other stresses lay too close to the surface of what was coming “through”.
Actually I have the utmost respect for you and am looking forward to more interaction in the future.
Deb
PS - my copy of the book Finite & Infinite Games is enroute, the one you encouraged in your group. And based upon your recommendation of this author, I went for Breakfast at the Victory: The Mysticism of Ordinary Experience at the same time, as something that seemed perhaps interesting. See, I'm serious but having fun, too.
Deb,
Ha! well, even though I was wrong, i kinda enjoyed my little autobiographical piece, nonetheless. However, you are admitting to 'poking” and I certainly cannot deny that this blog post was an attempt to 'poke' as well.
Geez, now you guys have me worried that Carse's “Finite and Infinite Games” might be a let down and after all the 'play' I've given it! Let me know how his other books read, since I've never read any other titles by that author.
Actually, I sense a bit of conflict brewing up in the Life Games pod on “intuition.” You might want to have a go at it, agree or disagreeing.
Thanks,
mikeS
Mike, looks like you have two players to lob those tennis balls at! [Hi Deb!]
mikeS:I'm not yet quite ready to give up on
words.
Me too. Not entirely.
mikeS:I agree to honoring the process. However, I believe
that solitary processes merely reinforce separateness, as opposed to
unity.
To each her/his own! If there is unity, there is unity, with or without words and whether or not we are engaging.
mikeS:It may be true that “some relationships are meant to be parallel
lines, meeting in infinity.” The problem may be when we decide we know
which relationships that should be. How could we know?
As my mother would say:”What the mind desires as fun, the heart rules!” [sounds so much more fun in Hindi!]
mikeS: Many
'ancient masters' agree with you about” words.” Yet, although this is
certainly a weak and tenuous form of communication, it does seem to be
all we have at present.
Yes, online. That's very true. But even online, understanding another is about Filling in the silence
mikeS:Maybe when we allow our words to leave the
surface and engage in depth, our words will finally take us to a more
intimate form of communicating.
There's a meeting of minds on this one!
I click this line that says “Leave Your Wise and Insightful Comment” and feel suddenly annoyed. What if I want to leave a stupid comment? Maybe they should post at the comment link “There are No Stupid Comments.”
Anyway,
Hi Meenakshi,
To each her/his own! If there is unity, there is unity, with or without words and whether or not we are engaging.
Seems like a big “if.”
So IF I experience unity with you, but you experience no such unity with me can we still call that “unity”? It seems to me that an experience of unity comes from understanding. The deeper and more expansive our understanding the more unified the experience. My feeling is that this unified experience can only come from deep engagement. I agree there is always unity since nothing we can think or do can dissolve truth. However, experiencing truth is a whole other matter and I believe it cannot be experienced alone or on any solitary path to “enlightenment.”
What say you?
mikeS
deep engagement: when silence, words, and the spaces between words all convey the essence of a person. To be reached when we have understood our own silence and our own words.