Lifestyle

Real Religion?

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“Real religion is the transformation of anxiety into laughter.”

— Alan Watts   

There are a numerous amount of religions, and that’s ok. To each their own. 

I study multiple religious books but I don’t identify with any one religion. I am open to many religions, and I enjoy learning. 

Anyway, most of these religions are very serious – so serious that if you don’t believe in it, you’re going to be tormented in hell forever!!!! 

Now that’s a real trick those religions pulled on people to control people & scare people into obedience.  

I can’t say if there is a heaven or hell, but I can say that real laughter can be a spiritual experience. (& not laughter at another person pain, but laughter to laugh. Laughter at something funny. Laughing because we feel so much joy in our life.)  

To ease the anxieties of people & add some joyful laughter. That sounds like a spiritual experience to me. 

Storms Are Great Teachers

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“A single storm at sea teaches a sailor more than a thousand calm days on land. Value the lessons of the storm, for they are the ones that truly save you.” 

Most of us prefer calm days to stormy ones, but it’s the storms that teach us the most. 

If we never experience storms in our life – we won’t be prepared for life. 

Life happens. Your car breaks down. You lose your wallet. A storm destroys your basement. You lose men on your ship when a storm hits. 

Life happens. 

The best way to be prepared is to experience storms early in your life. 

When you’re young it’s helpful to have a parent or captain lead you through your first storms, but you must learn how to handle the storms on your own.  

Storms will inevitably happen in your life – as they happen to everyone. 

Don’t fear the storm & don’t run away from it. 

Look at the storm & learn that it is here to help you become stronger. 

Jump Into Life

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“He who jumps into the void owes no explanation to those who stand and watch.”

— Jean-Luc Godard  

Are you a sideliner or a player? Perhaps both. 

Sometimes on the sidelines and sometimes the main character. 

When we lead in life, we must fully go into that time and space as a leader.  

Even when we are on the sidelines we can watch life fully – we can jump into it. 

And we owe no explanation to those who watch us.  

The majority of people are more watchers of life than livers of it. And that’s ok.  

The next time you are leading something, I encourage you to fully jump into your role, embrace it & enjoy it – & worry not about how others may perceive you. 

Trust yourself. 

Choose Love Over Blind Obedience

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“And what does the money machine eat? It eats youth, spontaneity, life, beauty, and above all, it eats creativity. It eats quality and shits out quantity.”

— William S Burroughs  

The systems, in multiple countries, operate to guide people into working for the system. 

Death roams this planet looking for the next life to devour. The next life to transform to be more death-like and less life-like.  

The majority of children are vibrant & excited to live & learn about life…until ignorant & dead-minded “adults” teach them to fearfully obey them.  

Many people & organizations teach fear to children and adults, and then they wonder where life went… the feeling of being alive. 

The joy of life & living has turned more into a fear & blind obedience – & to behave like a lifeless machine – so that you’ll fit in with all the other lifeless machine people.   

Some fear is healthy – but too much fear truly drains the life out of a person.  

Mindfulness meditation is one practice to allow life to fill you up again. 

Nutrition of Your Mind

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“When we think about nutrition, we often only think of food. But it’s also the information you consume, the people who influence you, and the content you allow in your mind. Your brain deserves clean nutrition too.”  

Some people are obsessed with nutrition of their body, but who thinks about nutrition of their mind?  

Who understands that the news and shows we watch are influencing our mind? 

Studies show that you become like the 5 people you are closest with. 

You become similar to what you consume, and who you’re around.  

What are you doing, not just for a healthy body, but for a healthy mind?

DARE To Use Your Own Intelligence

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“Have the courage to use your own intelligence.”

— Immanuel Kant 

If you’ve had a unique language and way of thinking and living for the first 25 years of your life, and then angry, uneducated, military-like men march into your life and tell you you’re wrong, & they try forcing their beliefs into you, would you submit?  

Sort of like what the Europeans did to the Indians. 

Or they march into your life and tell you that you are correct – but they hate it! And they want to change you to be like them. 

It happens more often than you can imagine. Conformity has always been a stronger gravitational pull than beating to the sound of your own drums.  

Einstein said, “Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.”  

It is almost always fear within a person that guides them to conform. 

And when you conform, you lose your independence. You stop seeing the world with your own eyes & you start seeing the world from someone else’s perspective. 

Many people want that though – they want to be led, and that is okay. 

But if you’re going to be an authentic leader, you must DARE to use your own intelligence. 

Happiness > Dignified

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“I would always rather be happy than dignified.”

— Charlotte Bronte  

Is happiness something only for children?    

As people age, it appears that any true happiness leaves them. (Not everyone, but the majority).

Many people get more death-like as they age, and less life-like. 

The true joy they had a child leaves them as they learn about the “real world.”  

In the real world you discover some people who only find “happiness” at someone else’s pain….thats not happiness or joy; that is sickness. 

But if the majority of people are sick, and even world leaders promote this sickness – it’s difficult to find true happiness. 

So, it is great to be serious, but we can also be happy too (& not “happy” at someone’s pain).  

How can you discover a real happiness again? 

That’s a great question, and the answer will be different for most people. 

What did you enjoy when you were younger? 

Do you have any hobbies that you actually like? 

Turn the television off. Ignore cruel politicians & never befriend a person who laughs at someone else’s pain.

You’ll never be happy if you laugh at the pain of someone. 

Think about what you enjoy, and take time to do some of that. 

Are You Present?

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Something I observe with the human race is that most of them are never present. 

Their minds are elsewhere. 

One persons mind is living in the past. 

One persons mind is dreaming of the future. 

And one persons mind is not even their own… they’ve lost their mind and now they are everywhere but present with themselves. 

Everything is always happening in the present moment, even if your mind is not present. 

The body is present, always, but the mind can be all sorts of places. 

The good news is that your mind can be present too, in an intelligent way. 

I may write another meditation guide, but the first one I wrote is here, titled the 7 psychedelic meditations.  

Psychedelic in this context means “mind-manifesting”  

Life happens in the present. 

Buy the meditation guide today to begin your journey into the present moment. 

How To Calm Negative Energy

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“There are many ways to calm a negative energy without suppressing or fighting it. You recognize it, you smile to it, and you invite something nicer to come up and replace it; you read some inspiring words, you listen to a piece of beautiful music, you go somewhere in nature, or you do some walking meditation.”

— Thich Nhat Hahn 

Negativity is a part of human society. 

Positivity is too, but negativity seems to be “winning” so far. 

It’s easy to watch the news and get emotional and angry. 

70% of USA politicians intentions are to provoke negative emotions in people.

It’s easy to take the negative bait of a politician – but then you’re caught like a fish. 

It’s easy to be negative. It’s easy to be angry. 

It’s easy to hate.  

And the majority of people conform to “easy” because what is great is difficult. 

It takes time to be positive. 

It takes being intentional about your mental health. 

It takes ignoring cruel politicians and focusing on good leaders and being a good leader.  

But yea, Thich Nhat Hahn has some good ideas about how to calm negative energy: 

— Invite something nicer to replace the negative

— Read some inspiring words

— Listen to beautiful music 

— Go somewhere in nature 

— Do walking meditation 

Add Fun To The Game & Arts

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“When an archer shoots for enjoyment, he has all his skill; when he shoots for a brass buckle, he gets nervous; when he shoots for a prize of gold, he begins to see two targets.”

— Zhuangzi    

In this life there is work & play, and some people get to play for work; athletes & artists mainly. 

The best artists and athletes really love what they do.  

To most of them though, it is still work & requires extreme effort. 

The fun gets taken out of the game & the art as we age, but it doesn’t have to.   

Just because others have lost the joy of the game or art doesn’t mean you need to. Don’t conform. 

If you love the game, play. You’ll become great. 

If you love the art, do it. You’ll also become great.