InsightoutwithErrol

What Is Your Story

2010-08-24T17:30:00.001-07:00

What is the story you're telling yourself that controls your life? The story that you're starring in, that begins with the premise: "I'm separate from everything else, therefore, each man for himself. What I need is over there…I will try to take it, hold on to it and keep from losing it to others.....therefore, there is scarcity and I have to sacrifice to make sure me and mine are taken care of..." And I will sacrifice a lot to this cause... even if it kills me, and have as much fun as I can…and, oh, it will.

Who is making up the story...God? Evolution, Happenstance? Random-ness, the Democrats...Republicans... Terrorists? The powers that be?...those in control? The military, industrial (etc.) complex? You? Me? The Devil?

Who and what is running the show? Here below is the central unifying and motivating premise of reality as it shows up through evolution…conveniently in English in one compound sentence.

(Finally, the answer from Alfie)

"Free will contributes to the growth and refinement of the whole so that it can give birth to more and more free willing parts who, together, contribute to the growth and refinement of the whole, who...etc.."

"I beg your pardon!" You might be thinking, "Isn't that a little simplistic."

Think about it. Life is one continual struggle between self and the rest, trying to accommodate each other with a minimum of loss and a maximum of pleasure. And the tension between those two movements…the movement of coherence and the movement to fly off on a tangent…is what keeps the universe spinning. Welcome aboard. Time to get your sea legs.

If you are sailer, sometimes you get your sea legs by hanging out in the hole until you stop vomiting....

That's one way...another way to get your sea legs is to practice rolling along the above-mentioned continuum...the dance between the whole and its parts with more and more grace...until you realize that that is all it ever was...a dance between freedom and harmony.

So, come across...and don't forget to smell the flowers

Think on't.

--Errol Strider, Artistic DirectorThe Laughing Heart(415) 459-4512http://striderinnertainment.com/http://www.insightoutwitherrol.blogspot.com/http://www.utopiaradio.com/estrider@gmail.com

BUMPING INTO NOT ME

2010-05-07T14:30:00.001-07:00

Bumping into Not Me

By Errol Strider (pretending to be me)

Easing into this moment…

as I attempt to wend my way around the obstacles of my life…

those judgments I project before me...

that cause me to stumble and fall

and have to watch the ground

in order not to bump into the sharp edged walls

that I make of everyone

by the way I shape them

according to how they are not me.

--
Errol Strider, Artistic Director
The Laughing Heart
(415) 459-4512
http://striderinnertainment.com/
http://www.insightoutwitherrol.blogspot.com/
http://www.utopiaradio.com/
estrider@gmail.com

HOW TO BECOME THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

2010-04-07T15:51:00.001-07:00

How do you become the Light of the World? Simple…Fuse.

After all, what is light? It is the process of fusion. Two "particles" that are otherwise in resistance to each other (protons, egos, sexes, nationalities, religions, competitors, etc.…) who are forced to break through that resistance and converge.

Some call it sex. Either way... it's about interpenetration at the most fundamental level. So when we join with another at that deep level, the energy that was used to keep us apart is released... as Light.

So how does that process apply to human relationships? Well, we need to overcome our actually unnatural resistance to joining and allow the impulse to "co-inside" in love to dominate and take us over. We are enabled to do this becausse as we access that love and submit to its nature. This is the process of spiritual growth.

It's very simple: Duality deludes us into thinking that if we maintain our separation, we maintain our existence, but the truth is, when we join--when we fuse--we become as light, and indeed become the light of the world.

The way to move through this is to first recognize when you're in resistance, know that this is the fear of joining, and the perpetuation of the separation--the delusion of duality...stop, ask for the courage and the faith to be able to engage the resistance itself, and then when that is embraced through love, it's just a hop step and a leap (the "leap of faith" in fact) to be able to join with another, and at that point light is released into the world. At that point of fusion, you're fulfilling your purpose, your mission... you are being the light of the world.

This is why Jesus encouraged us to go the second mile, because, often as not, one of the parties in the conflict is unwilling to embrace the resistance, but indeed, exacerbates the problem through hostility, anger, judgement, denial, etc. This is why it is up to the more "enlightened" person in the engagement to initiate the shift. (And anyone can be the "more enlightened" person at any given moment. It is a constant choosing, no matter how enlightened one has been in the past or is to become, the light of love must be chosen every moment.)

This is good news, but not necessarily easy, because you don't have to wait for the other person to change in order to deliver the "goods.". The power to change, to be about "the good" resides within you. It is in your capacity to choose differently, and as you connect internally with the Source of that power, you are emboldened to go that second mile, cross the bridge/illusion of separation, bring the system back into wholeness, and release more light into the universe. And it is through this simple process that you fulfill who you are and make remarkable contributions to life.

And this is why you really can't fake it, you can only make it.

--
Errol Strider, Artistic Director
The Laughing Heart
(415) 459-4512
http://www.sexmoneygod.com/
http://striderinnertainment.com/
http://www.insightoutwitherrol.blogspot.com/
http://www.utopiaradio.com/
estrider@gmail.com

Jesus Poem for Easter inspired by "The Urantia Book"

2010-04-02T17:44:00.001-07:00

THERE WAS A MAN ONCE

By Errol Strider

There was a man once, truly that.

Who is known for the cross that he bore?

But who laughed in the market

And slept on the floor

Who designed riverboats in Capernaum,

Studied the ways of all men

In order to rule in perfection

With its trials, upsets, and demands

A universe of 10 million planets

Which the man, who upholds it

Designed, fashioned and planned.

There was a man once, truly that.

Who embraced the mortal dilemma

With a boundless trust

And abiding faith.

Who was immersed in a River Jordan

Allowing himself to give in

To life as we know it in fullness

With its sores, its aches and injustice

But which serves a great hidden purpose

Which the man, who entered its bowels

Could foresee what to us is so dim.

There was a man once, truly that

Who transcended all tradition and dogma

Who forgave the sin

And loved the sinner

Who feared not one who attacked him

But attempted to show them the truth.

By example, he set in their presence,

With his words, his acts, and entreaties

He sought to convince those around him

That all men could live as he

Secure, abandoned and free.

There was a man once, truly that

A man who broke from his elders

Made friends with the poor

Played with the kids

Made choices like all other men

To use power for good or for evil

To be simple or prideful and vain

Battled with grief, failure, betrayal,

But still to remain steadfast to the God,

Who this man knew always as Father and friend.

There was a man once, truly that.

Who did not what others expected

Disappointing his pupils

Estranging his mother

Rejecting requests of the masses

When they wanted to make him king

Yet allowed them to place down the palms

As he rode on an ass to the city

Where they rejected once and for all

This true man, who understood them

And forgave their blindness and gall.

There was a man once, truly that.

A man whom we all misinterpret

Who knows all as his brother

To the exclusion of none

Who did not really die on the cross

To wash away our sins

But to reveal a God of mercy

Who forgives, only loves, has compassion

On his ignorant children who err

So this man died only to show them

How far love would go for them.

There was a man once, truly that.

Whose life on this beleaguered planet

Was a model for all to behold.

Who revealed our humanity to us

What each person can actually become

When we join with this man in knowing

The Spirit that indwells our hearts.

And as he rose from the darkness of death

And appeared to those who knew him

He showed us the path to aliveness…

The deep forever mystery

Of the timeless journey of love.

YOU'RE BEING FONDLED

2010-03-29T12:37:00.001-07:00

Hello Dear Fellow Spiritual Sojourners…hope your trip is going well.

Long time no blog…

Ran into circumstances that forced me to practice what I preach (ugh!)

I am reminded that spiritual values are actually felt… thought you might appreciate this reminder.

“The universe is fondling you in ways you can’t possibly imagine.”

We don’t often think of the Universe fondling us exactly…often as not. the “fondling” can feel like rusty Brillo pads rubbing up against our psyche…that is, if we feel anything at all. But most all of us do long to feel good…and in a higher conscious moment to actually feel “the goodness” itself.

Be that as it may, if you stop for a moment, you can actually feel the fondling going on. And if you need some help, here’s a poem I wrote over thirty years ago. I was driving on Highway 70 from Denver to Steamboat Springs when I was struck by…well…I think the poem says it…

FEELINGS

by Errol Strider

I want to be touched.

I want the barren, cold hardness

of fear‑chromed sensations

to be transformed

Into willingness,

Embrace,

Excite,

And velvet, soft burlap nudging me.

I want signs with their opaque hard letters,

stranded in two dimensions

to become infused with Softness,

with pliable space.

The Present

to be filled

with cubed transcendence.

I want the shrubs left alone,

the trees to sprout and fly

sometimes in winter

And I want the snow to kiss me more often than it does.

I want the suckling.

I want to suckle the real universe,

to find the nipple of god,

place my lips on it,

caress and hail Him/Her/It...

To no longer be deceived by irrelevance,

sameness

or theft....

My own,

Stealing me from the Now

Stealing myself into Time

and its singular vision

and linear dryness

Away from my corrugated self.

THOU SHALT NOT STEAL...THYSELF!

I want to get off this bridge of polarity,

To arrive in Wonder

beyond this dotted reality

like halftones in a newspaper

This patched perception I call "my world"

trying so hard to misguide me

unkempt and concretized

defined by barbed wire thoughts

unwilling to unlock its waiting arms

or embrace my pre‑pubescent self

with seminal fluids.

Instead, I'm swallowed by some old dry sterile wind

bouncing off lifeless textures on the road

plaintfully asking me for a lift

or at least a quick feel.

I long to stand naked in a real breeze

with virgin oxygen to unmask myself

and reveal my ignorance gyrating

hoping it will breed....

Innocence...

Birth...

Plenty

and Saturation with all natural ingredients.

So, I lie in this fallow field

with my seeds in my pocket

waiting to plant myself

waiting to be unearthed

waiting for harvest

to reveal the sprouted essence

of my unquenchable Desire

for.....TOUCH.

WHAT'S AN INFINITY TO DO?

2010-02-19T16:59:00.001-08:00

WHAT'S AN INFINITY TO DO?

The Nature of the Human Stock Exchange
(continuation of last Blog...
"What's Real and How Would you Know?)

So, what's an Infinity to do? Where is it going to spill if it wants to diversify, if it is already filling up everything…always? Why, the finite, of course. "What's that?" asks infinity of itself. "Well…that's what would happens if I separate the In from the Finite"…There you have it. Could that be what happened 13.4 billions years ago? The "In"…separated from the "Finite" knowing full well that that was impossible…hence the illusion, but hey...an illusion might be a really fun thing…like putting an amazing puzzle back together…with the addition of something the Infinite could only dream about…Novelty…and indeed the infinite does probably and literally dream novelty it up…and that's where you come in.

Everything grows out of the nature and the quality of The Exchange.

Everything that happens occurs through an exchange. All life is just a bunch of never ending exchanges. All we ever do is exchange…exchange this air for that air, this water for that water, this saliva with that saliva…this car, this spouse, this idea, this emotion…all of it. All that is going on are exchanges.

Governments come into being as do corporations and all institutions to manage or at least attempt to manage, if not control, the exchange. Money exchange, stock exchange, chemical exchange, subatomic exchange, exchanging the purple dress one for the green one. Not to mention exchanging this body for not-this-body, probably the most mysterious of all exchanges...exchanging this mortal perspective for an immortal one.

And then there is what appears to be the opposite of exchange, the withhold, staying attached to something…all attempts to solidify, bind, control and concretize reality…to stop the movement of…the exchange.

The challenge is to manage and facilitate the exchange in such a way that, as Jeshua (aka Jesus) says, we keep the system in dynamic balance. Optimal exchange leads to an enrichment of those involved in the exchange: new formations, innovation and ever increasing complexity that must be harmonized with 'the rest', which in turn leads to a more abundant and variegated stew of life, which constitutes existence in the known universe...so far.

Every time we bump up against something, where we feel resistance, that is the universe calling to us to unfold, open up, receive, engage and be transformed through intercourse. Every lover knows this. Every artist knows this…the artist exchanges with her subject and out of that exchange comes the work of art. Lovers exchange and there is not only the potential for ecstasy but also for a brand new being. How's that for a fantastic two for one deal?
So it is with people, with us, with life itself. Consider that we are, in fact, the work of art (obviously) in process—and who knows what the completed piece will look like, or maybe it's just never finished or maybe it's "finished" in stages, in little bursts and fits, until we are called to evolve some more.
It looks like the Life is the canvas,
Absolute Will is the artist,

Our wills... the brushes…

Conscious beings…the paint becoming the picture,

and every time we exchange color with the canvas, we become more conscious…more Being.

BUT WHAT ABOUT DUALITY IN A SEAMLESS UNIVERSE?

After all, if there were not divisibility, how could there be an exchange? How could there be growth, change, diversification, manifest beauty. But if duality is essentially an illusion, what is going on in these "exchanges?" And how is it that we appear to be wrapped up in a package that is decidedly over here and not over there? This is me and not him, her and it? What's with that? …especially if "existence is seamless" as it is purported to be?"

Self awareness is reality turned inward upon itself and differentiated-- that love which continually flows out of the infinite exchange of love itself as the First Source Meets the Second Source in infinite discourse…love must inevitably spill inwardly/outwardly as differentiation…hence "duality." The only place for the Oneness to go is to the "Many-nesses."

"God is all love rolled up into One. We are all love unfolded into the Many".

Every conscious, volitional self-contained, self-aware being has the potential to become as God…to become an all-inclusive, even infinitely personalized universe of its own…forever expanding, universally exchanging…especially as it is understood that life is love exchanged in the ocean of Spirit.

The stage of time and space is set…and you are invited to play your part... to keep filling up the gap between the "IN" and the "FINITE" with your "ever emerging selfhood." And that's achieved through making good exchanges…always willing to trade in what was… for what is eager to be…through and as you.
So, welcome to the "Human Stock Exchange"…where you can keep making exchanges...
the more fluid they are…the more ecstatic they become,
the deeper and more penetrating…the greater possibility for new Life... an ever new you...
the more that you give yourself to the exchange, the more love abounds.
Places Everyone!

Think on't!

--
Errol Strider
(415) 459-4512
http://www.sexmoneygod.com/
http://striderinnertainment.com/
http://www.insightoutwitherrol.blogspot.com/
http://www.utopiaradio.com/
estrider@gmail.com

WHAT'S REAL AND HOW WOULD YOU KNOW?

2010-02-12T15:00:00.001-08:00

What is "real" and how would you know?

Is something real if it has weight? Mass? What about an experience…Is that real? What makes experience real? Is the memory of the experience "real"?

Is any movement you make real? With your body? thoughts? Movement of the heart?

Feelings? Are they real? Is anything that is fleeting real? What about motion itself? Or Stillness?

Is pain real? Pleasure?

Is reality a Who? A what? A why?

All of the above?

None of the above?

What of any passing experience is real?

Understandably, there is so much to occupy us just to maintain, perpetuate and gratify ourselves, that these questions go mostly un-asked…and if they are asked, will they lead to answers? (My roommate in college assured me that there is no answer. Was he right?) Are any "answers that rise from the depth of being" real as it relates to the problems of living? The demands of life?

If you follow this line of questioning far enough it leaves you off at...

"Huh?"

So what informs me of what is real? I like to think that somehow "real" is related to eternity…that for something to be real, it has to persist in some kind of recognizable consistent unity throughout "Always"

And, while we're at it, the "real" must persist through ubiquity…anywhere I step into time and space and beyond…will reality be there to greet me?

In other words, if something is real… by this definition, it must be enduring.… So, if something isn't enduring, can it be real? What is it then that endures? What enables something to endure? What is enduring reality actually made of? Can we make it up? Are we made of it?

Or…

If "enduring" is a fundamental characteristic of "reality, what about "endearing"? Is endearing also as indigenous to reality as enduring?

Do they go hand and hand waltzing throug... Ubiquity?

Or is reality what most of us think is the only real "reality? "If it makes money, it's real?" "If it don't make money, it ain't real!"

So there's this profound dichotomy: According to a very prominent socially shared belief, if not conviction…"only that which makes money is real." How does that belief relate to the thought that is what is real is eternal and ubiquitous and may not cost any-thing and still be real?

How to reconcile this is apparent dichotomy. What's a mother to do?

This is where I think that the point of view that only that which makes money is real and the prospect of eternal existence stuff being real is crucial to reconcile. Because... we can be assured that we will continue to have to wrestle with everything that gives money its significance...but in spite of that we will still have to confront the ultimate, "huh?" ....eternity stretched out before us dressed as an unending question mark with no apparent job prospects?

Now, if we focus upon what these two perspectives have in common, I believe we can find our way to a more successful way of being in the world, with each other, and with reality.

So the admonition to "get real" starts to take on some...well...reality.

This is how we get there:

What I think they both have in common, what is real for both perspectives, the reality they share is that they're both about making an exchange.

I believe exchanging is the universal constant. Everything is constantly exchanging with everything else. In its best use, money facilitates the exchange in the world of time and space...products, services, and information. Indeed, all that's going on IS the exchange.

Premise: To get be real and to have a successful economy, we need to exchange more and more effectively at every level that exchange is possible.

When we come to appreciate that it's the exchange itself that generates resource, life, energy, then we can withdraw our addiction to the metaphor, money, and refocus ourselves upon that which is eternal and ever reliable, which is "the ongoing exchange." Specifically, for our purposes, we'll start with the Human Stock Exchange and the dynamics of exchange...how to maximize your use of it.

Next blog: The "Human Stock Exchange" and how it works!

Errol Strider
(415) 459-4512
http://striderinnertainment.com/
http://www.sexmoneygod.com/
http://www.utopiaradio.com/ (Insight Out Sunday nights live 7 PM PT

estrider@gmail.com

WHAT IS THE CONSUMMATE HUMAN BEING?

2010-02-04T12:31:00.001-08:00

What is the "consumate human being?"
A Mensch!

I invite you to go on the journey of "menschood" in this poem I wrote several years ago. In case you're not familiar with Yiddish or Hebrew, let me know and I'll translate, but I think you'll get the meaning...
Blessings,
Errol

BECOMING A MENSCH

By Errol Strider

Stand up full strength, stride inside yourself,

rimming over,

fully caffeinated male...

Fill the frame... with all your humanity,

no more holding back

no more crouching down

Come forth male God incarnate

light the way…generous spirit

pregnant man with Mensch inside you…

Mazeltov! It's a 144 pound mensch.

We've waited for years,

inside the sack of pain or shame,

the womb of struggle and faith,

the vagina of "It's about time"

You surround each moment with a giant L'chiam

and echoes of "To Life!"

reverberate into every resonant heart

Yea! Mr. Mensch

as you breath vitality into families, relationships,

communities and friends

you are such good company

companion,

slide over and ooze into me,

walk with me talk to me of heaven,

speak to me of joy

Show up manly soul

emerge,

raise your self to the full height

of grandeur man

You have arrived, undiminished,

arms open,

exuding splendor, majesty

and the humility to see it

in all who cross your vision.

You radiate wealth, gusto, effervescence

full pockets bursting with goodies

you enter our space and throw a mitzvah

make it a party

You reek love, you sly Mensch

you drip hope

you dish out possibility, free of charge

You flavor our yearning with the warm spice

of your exuberant presence

you nourish our minds with a buoyant knowing

a knowing that reaches into the First Source and Mensch

who has charged you to deliver his ubiquitous menschness

into every corner of time,

to impassionate every truth-filled desire.

to open up Mensch stands all across the world,

advertising the Menschood

giving out your Mensch brochures—

each warm, intoxicating smile that surges through your love

You are a mirror

for my latent, true, rich, abundant maleness

how gracious you are...

you make room inside you for my woman

you model exquisite intimacy,

the male and female at home in us

two hands clasped in gratitude

2 palms facing the world

ready to receive,

eager to give

What a present you are, you Menschness

friend to the earth,

compadre to the little, the bereft...

those who long for their Menschness,

though they know not what it means

or how to sound it in their person

A long standing grace has made it possible for you to appear now,

to take stage on planet earth

as you walk across the sand, the dirt, the highway,

songs spring from your footsteps

songs of Elohim and Adonai of Allah and Krishna,

of Buddha, Christ, and Mother-Son

As you step fully into this space,

we greet you with a bountiful "Good Yontif!"

Good Shabas!

...each moment suffused with Shabat,

the time to rest in God,

in the revelation of how Menschy we all can be...

when we discard doubt,

and step naked as a budding shoot from the showers of purification

into the full open embrace of renewed innocence

There you are, you hunk of Mensch,

luxuriating in self delight

forgiving the past,

trusting the future

bonded to this sacred instant

where your face beams assurance

to our waiting, eager, hungry pubescent souls

Shine forth, Sir Mensch,

Be Knighted in a diamond studded shout, of

"Hallelujah!

You bring life to the words,

"Bawruch ataw adonoi elohaynu melech hawolawm...

"Blessed art thou, Oh Eternal, Our God, King of the Universe..."

Father of all Mensches.

for all are full bodied total beings in your sight;

that's what makes you our Daddy Mensch

So, what is a Mensch?

A man or woman who walks securely in every living moment,

with full confidence

that every beat of his heart

and each breath of her soul

is a gift to life

and everyone he touches is a gift to himself.

Mazeltov…

Beloved…Mensch!

L'Chaim.

(PS...If you'd like to hear this read with beautiful music played by Itzhak Perlman, let me know and I'll send you the the mp3 file.)

THE LAUGHING HEART, EVOLUTION & SPIRAL DYNAMICS

2010-01-26T12:29:00.001-08:00

How The Laughing Heart Provides the Tools, Methods and Context for Advancing the Six Memes in the First Tier toward the Second Integral Tier.

Using Humor with Families

(q.v. "Spiral Dynamics" p://www.spiraldynamics.com/book/SDreview_Dinan.htm)

It seems that to consciously and actively participate in the evolutionary spiral, we'd want to advance each meme to its highest development and to assist it in transitioning to the next meme. (Meme = cultural matrix that has distinctive values, belief systems, ways of behaving that have evolved out of each other in an attempt to solve evolutionary problems. Each meme partially solves problems from the previous meme while generating new and different problems that in turn give birth to the next cultural matrix--meme).

While we need to honor and work with the evolutionary cycle/spiral, it is equally important to realize that we can interface with all memes in any given instant through accessing the still point that exists at the center of all this turning and spiraling that is always accessible… ("God exists at the still point at the center of our turning.")

The Laughing Heart provides a system for aiding each meme to access that still point, while simultaneously offering a communication technology to support each meme in solving the challenges each faces and that all memes face collectively (war, disease, environmental degradation, injustice, etc). By participating in this process, each meme can evolve to its zenith and then on to the next meme and eventually to the next tier.

A big part of that process is to mitigate the toxic side/effects of the red meme to the degree it asserts itself harmfully in each of the other memes thus reducing unnecessary wear and tear on our culture, and to empower all memes to address and transition through the inevitable breakdown of the last evolutionary stage which has been dominated by and characterized by a commitment to duality and to evolve the system to higher degrees of fulfilling the evolutionary imperative…liberating more and more creativity in dynamic balance with ever greater harmony and coherence. Compassion, which should be stoked in every meme (and which comes from that still point) demands it, justice demands it, health and well being demand it, our freedom and our unity demand it.

That being said, the Laughing Heart system provides a blueprint for building the infrastructure of the emerging stage of evolution which, by its very nature and principles resonates with both the fundamental patterns of reality and the urge to 'progress'. It is a model for Integral Education.

If you're reading this and can relate to it you are clearly one of those choosing ones who have heard the call to the Second Tier and are eager to make your (not insignificant) contribution.

The Laughing Heart provides the context for the meeting of the memes in ways that dissipate the tensions within them, between them and that can support individuals of all ages to relax their resistance to the evolutionary pull…whatever is the next inevitable condition that evolution is inviting them to engage with, transform and grow from. As these resistances are diminished, it is then possible to "install" a more progressive orientation that can help each meme evolve from where it is.

At The Laughing Heart we determine what helpful influences, knowledge, activities and practices will all the memes respond to while diffusing the natural resistance of the "dualistic mind" to perpetuate separation as a replacement for the unifying ground of being.

The Laughing Heart, through the use of theater, art, comedy and interactive processes, holds up a mirror to personal and collective awareness, so that toxic attitudes and behaviors, otherwise leaching into the whole system, can be recognized. Once recognized, it becomes possible to reveal creative choices and possibilities that are far more life enhancing.

In other words, "In order to get to where we're going we have to start from where we are." But if we don't actually know where we are, and even more importantly, are out of touch with where we are…and where others are… no matter what meme we're operating out of, or what combination of memes—which is more often the case—then it is almost impossible to recognize the creative alternative that can advance our status (move individuals and institutions to become more aligned with the positive directionality of evolution.) The use of art, laughter and interactive processes that involves families enables us to accomplish this with the least amount of defensiveness and damage and the greatest amount of joy, intelligence and playfulness.

Tool one: Artful humor. All memes have the capacity for laughter…admittedly some more than others. Since the ego needs to defend and perpetuate its existence, it can take itself (and its position) very seriously (false pride). This, as is so obvious, is the stimulus for so much interpersonal and inter-group conflict that leads to wars obsessive focus on competition and just generally not getting along. In turn, many of our dreams and efforts to make life more livable and meaningful are sabotaged.

Our ability to laugh at ourselves and our perspective, is inversely proportional to the ego investment we have in our ego' orientation and the degree to which our identity is tied up with our need to be separate and right.

This is why the use of laughter, especially, helping people to release the attachment they may have to recalcitrant perspectives, is so important to the process and why "The Laughing Heart" is about getting the heart laughing. A laughing heart is an open, flexible and vital heart, as opposed to a hardened heart where the doors of compassion are closed and the capacity to hold someone else's interests as our own is abrogated [Love your neighbor as yourself].

At "The Laughing Heart" and through LH activities, by helping different generations interact successfully with each other through play, art, humor and problem solving, we are setting the stage (establishing the foundational grid) for the unitive experience…the Integral Tier to emerge. (Kind of like those thin strips of metal webbing used in building highways that the concrete can adhere to.)

The activities, processes and environments of "The Laughing Heart" also build understanding, respect, tolerance, and forgiveness (adaptability) which, because they are transcendent values, need to come into being at every meme level. In addition problem solving skills developed within the family through LH activities can be used to address the very real problems that exist in our world.

"God is All Love rolled up into One. We are all love unfolding as the Many."

Think on't!

Next blogs…continuing how "The Laughing Heart" and its principles and practices and how they can facilitate individual and collective healing and growth.

Errol Strider
(415) 459-4512
http://striderinnertainment.com/
estrider@gmail.com

A RADICAL PERSPECTIVE FOR AN EXTREME TIME!

2010-01-13T19:08:00.001-08:00

THE LAUGHING HEART,
A Vision for Radical Change

PURPOSE, PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES, Part I

"A hands on approach to transformation"

From Bill Bradley and his book, The New American Story

"The only things that can stop us are fear, ignorance, self-centeredness, and greed."

From Marianne Williamson's Healing of America

"What we lack is an evolved sense of our collective purpose for our talent and intelligence."
"But it feels as though there is no unified social force field for the effort, no number to call, no place to sign up."
"We need a new vortex of social energy in America, one that arises from the shared intention of our society."
"Minds in agreement form the most powerful force in the universe. To harness that force would constitute not so much a bridge as a super sonic transport into the 21st century."
"They want to feel that they are contributing to a larger process, something bigger than themselves."

The Laughing Heart is a response to this need…to be the "unified social force field for the effort, the number to call, the place to sign up, to be that super sonic transport" into the next millenium, and to provide the antidote to "fear, ignorance, self-centeredness and greed." (Talk about "audacity")

GOALS OF THE LAUGHING HEART:

To support and impact arguably the 5 major influences on the development and education of children: family, school, media, peers, religion.

To demonstrate and utilize state the of the art transformational methodologies through media

To provide a home/context for those individuals who see to cooperate with evolution and want to both support and be supported by others in doing the same.

To hold up a mirror to individual and cultural consciousness and attitudes in such a way that the individual can look at his/her perspective and see ways of improving it

To provide the support, education and guidance for making these radical advancements.

To provide the foundation and educational technology to develop enlightened leaders

The Laughing Heart is both about creating context and content for personal awakening and social transformation.

I had a conversation with Barbara Marx Hubbard, author and futurist) several years ago when she suggested that those of us who are at the cusp of evolution (meaning that we're probably broke but we do have a clue) have to create not only the creative content, but also the context to house it, since those contexts don't really exist…yet.

If we consider the Spiral dynamics perspective, then we can appreciate that as we leave the first tier of evolution which includes (in order)

Survival stage—let's get fed, warm, safe and laid,

Magic and mythic stage-warding off the bad through ritual and superstition,

Ego-emergence stage—when the individual makes its presence felt beyond the tribe…Attila the Hun, Mike Tyson, Dick Chane

Top down control stage—"How are we going to manage these barbarians and get them to give us their stuff?"

Rationality based stage—"You mean there's cause and effect, wow, and no more guilt? Sign me up!"

And finally the more sensitive egalitarian stage—"There's an inner self?" "My actions affect the environment?" "Holy Cow!" ("Oh really, some people think cows are holy? Who'd a thought?") etc.

To a lesser or greater degree these six stages come about as a reaction to the limitations and the shadow side of the previous stage (meme), and the impulse to find better ways to gain control over the forces that seem to be preventing people from the "good" life. But since each meme has emerged in reaction to the previous one, they linger in relative resistance to each other—with little mutual understanding, lots of competition, subjugation, wars and a propensity to take themselves way too seriously.

Indeed, we are at the brink of moving to the Integral tier, where self or collective identity is not known by what it is not, but by what it is… It becomes who it is by mining, harnessing and directing its talents for the betterment of the whole (it being a part of that whole) without the necessity of distinguishing itself from the other value systems and life forms through separation. And separation usually involves some kind of domination/subordination system…up/down comparison, us/them, "Mine!" "No "mine!!"--variations of giving life the finger...or as Rodney Dangerfield said so eloquently, "I get no respect."

This is why the Laughing Heart is about creating both the context and the content where integralism and its life affirming attributes can flourish.

" LAUGHING HEART...THE PLACE"

The Laughing Heart is as much about place as it is about methodology, a place to congregate, grow, create and Be. And what makes it a "place" in this integral model is the community, specifically, the relationships we establish between ourselves and all of life.

("Everything non-spiritual in human experience, excepting personality, is a means to an end. Every true relationship of mortal man with other persons--human or divine--is an end in itself."—The Urantia Book)

In the emerging evolutionary paradigm, it is the community itself that forms the "place," that is the new "church", that forms the "new covenant" that establishes a basis for a new kind of agreement to take place which in turn sets the stage for a more cooperative and life enhancing society. Indeed, the Laughing Heart which is a combination of the place, the relationships and the dynamics, is the very setting of that stage.

Innertainers are the Laughing Heart Players.

Teilhard de Chardin predicted the coming of what he calls "human energy technicians"…at Laughing Heart, we call them "Innertainers"

"He (the human energy technician) becomes the technician and engineer of the spiritual energies of the world. The highest morality is henceforth that which will best develop the phenomena of nature to its upper limits. No longer to protect but to develop, by awakening and convergence, the individual riches of the earth." Teilhard de Chardin

Traditionally in Judaism 10 "men" are required to form a minion… which is the requisite "context" for prayer (for some reason their idea of God needed ten guys, yes guys—but we've gotten beyond that. Jesus, being the efficient Jew that he was, got it down to 2... or more…because it only takes two to have an exchange). The Laughing Heart empowers that creative exchange (integral prayer). It establishes the holding space (like a womb, like the picture above) for our beloved self to emerge and for creation to occur. It also provides the tools, methods, principles, processes and the stage to practice and rehearse these dynamics, learn to excel in their use and prepare us to step onto the stage of life…without a net. ("Places, everyone")

"…the morality of interpersonal relationships, for such is the seed and secret of the continued and purposeful growth of society and government, human or superhuman. " The Urantia Book

Years ago I read that one of the main challenges for liberating atomic fusion is the difficulty of creating a container that won't self-destruct when such a powerful conflagration occurs. So every place where the Laughing Heart shows up-- whether live events, on the web, through media like video, audio and the printed word, in every relationship where there is true "meeting," The Laughing Heart emerges simultaneously as the container, the context and the co-creative activities that precipitate the emergence of the True and Noble Self. The Laughing Heart is the container that allows for fusion—a way to hold, energize and sustain life. We are thus nourished and empowered to be with life without leaving an unhealthy "wake" as the aftermath of our being together, but rather to leave us "awake" as we pass through each other's lives.

The context of humanity is so filled with discord, competition and separation (duh) that we need to prepare ourselves for this next step of fusion power, to establish the context that supports individuals and families to actually be the "containers" for the emergence of a more soulful awareness which provides a fertile soil for progress…and we need to rehearse our new roles!

Think on't!

Next Blogs:

"HOW THE LAUGHING HEART WORKS"

"WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE LAUGHING HEART?"

"WHO ARE YOU KIDDING?"

Check out our live radio show, "Insight Out" with Errol & Rochelle Strider every Sunday at 7 PM (PT) on http://www.utopiaradio.com/ or go to our web site and click on archives of our past programs
--
Errol Strider
(415) 459-4512
http://striderinnertainment.com/
estrider@gmail.com

BEWARE of (ALMOST ALL) GENERALIZATIONS

2010-01-06T15:22:00.001-08:00

BEHIND THE SEEMS

BEWARE THE USEFULNESS OF GENERALIZATIONS.

Accessorize, okay…generalize…watch out!

When you make a generalization, you're not actually describing anything that's really going on, just some temporary approximation about life to make it more "manageable."

Like the fellow in the picture, as he sits reading his paper near the Brooklyn Bridge. He's probably accepting some generalization, or at least an approximation of reality at that moment.

He may be reading about mass starvation, or massive layoffs, or just the plight of the masses, but even mass human suffering doesn't accurately describe what's going on at any given moment, because each person is having his or her own unique experience of tribulation. While it may appear that suffering is shared by the collective, and though it is influenced by the collective, in fact, all suffering as well as joy is experienced on an individual basis.

Maybe this guy's just a sports fan, in fact a NY Yankee fan reading about demolishing the Red Sox 10 to 3. But though his fellow Yankee fans may be sharing in the joy of winning, this guy is having his unique experience of victory, a day later with the sun on his back in the middle of a jog with sweat beads dripping on to the newspaper. Joy or pain though shared are uniquely experienced by each individual participant.

So, in order to stay conscious and not get sucked into making conclusions based on some generalization, which is, at best, a very fuzzy and indistinct approximation of reality, and which may or may not be relevant to my experience, I try to remind myself that at any given instant, billions of individual events are occurring on this planet…billions of conversations, billions of decisions, billions of observations, billions of interpretation of those observations, billions of people saying, "yes" to something, billions of people saying "no" to something else and billions of people who, at this moment, either can't make up their minds or are busy changing them…or both...I can't decide.

There are billions of individual people eating, sleeping, going to the bathroom, copulating, taking care of their children, working, cleaning up, messing up…and billions of people who are completely unaware of you or me…or each other. Except for a very small group—family, co-workers, fellow-students, lovers, cell-mates, fellow conspirators, Face-bookees, etc; all of these billions of us have a VERY limited experience of the other billions of us.

"So what?" you may ask, "What matters is what the Dow Jones is doing today? With all due respect," you may be thinking, "that generalization does indeed affect my life." (Maybe our guy on the bench is looking up the NASDAQ)

Yup, that's where the media comes in, by necessity and job description the media is the architect of many of our most popular generalizations: electronic media, print media, especially. For most of us, the only access to the other billions of people is through this media. So one thing the billions of us have in common is that we are relating to each other and interfacing with life through technological intermediaries …whether it's a pencil, a cell phone or the latest computer with the most advanced software.

Media has made it possible, apparently, to find out about those other billions of people. For instance, billions of us will watch the 2010 Winter Olympics. At least millions of us are staring at some screen, computer or TV set right now. And billions of us are coming to conclusions about life based on the media, which by its very nature can only make generalizations about anything, not to mention its propensity to focus on what is most dramatic—hence, if not billions, then at least dozens of crime shows on TV any given week…let alone re-runs.

When the news is reported, each of us will fall into some collective…some generalization, like "bureaucrats, terrorists, traffic, families, Christians, Libras, Moslems, insurgents, Cubans, CEO's, porn stars, academics, news people, housewives, kids, criminals, thirteen year olds, labor, management, Communists, birdwatchers"…any way that we can encapsulate collectives and make generalizations about groups of us who orient around some common phenomenon.…etc. etc. ad infinitum…so that we can have some control over our lives. "If we can generalize people, then we can control them." The fallacy of this generalization becomes more and more apparent the deeper we look.

One of the most persistent categorical generalizations we can make about ourselves is when we humans are considered "The Economy," and within that, "consumers". And since "the economy" is so vast, intricate and complex, because it really does involve all the billions of us, what are we as individuals, apparently at the mercy of "the economy," to do? We resort to generalizations like, "find a job", "look on Craig's list", "network," "get an education", "call your brother-in-law," or get sucked into the most alluring get rich quick scheme that comes to us. Yep, we hope that the generalization we make in response to the generalizations we adopt, will solve our individual problems. Often they do, too often…they don't.

Because of the Media, we assume that these generalizations fed to us by the experts, pollsters and those in "the know" can be useful in controlling our own set of circumstances and, as a result, we are can be more comfortable, stay healthier, have more pleasure, be better able to beat the other guys and get their stuff at a minimal loss to ourselves, and generally have a life created to our satisfaction so that in some media analysis, we would be classified and generalized as the "well off people"...and happy to be so dubbed.

But then again, there are other billions of us who, though we interact with the media and depend on those generalizations made about us to try and navigate our way through existence, still find ourselves classified by the media, when they even deign to mention as, as "the not so well off," and what makes it even worse, it does indeed appear that there are the "well-off"s" and the "not so well-off's"…the "have's" and the "have not's," two of our most cherished and efficient generalizations.

So, which, ultimately, is more useful? The generalizations we make about existence handed down to us by our priests, the media, pundits, pollsters and sociologists or is it in being aware of the actions, thoughts, desires, reactions, etc. that are taking place now by billions of individuals, one of which is reading this sentence. At this moment you, one of the billions, are thinking about what you're reading and finding some place in your meaning matrix to fit it in. (make sense of it), with the hope that considering these ideas will help you conform existence to what makes you feel your best, look your best, hear your best and even…be at your best... generally stimulate your senses to communicate very positive messages to you and assist you to make sense out of your life.

"Well," you may ask, "what's a billion-heir to do?" Since the concept of "billions of us" is too mind boggling to be relevant and since the generalizations we make are only relatively useful, at best, and not near as useful for the "not well off" as "the well off," what other option do we have?

My God…the individual. I rather suspect that the Divine knower of All Being doesn't recognize any of the generalizations we default to and find so useful, but, in fact, only relates to us as individuals.

So what really influences our lives for better or worse? The generalizations we make and react to or the billions of individuals and what each of us is choosing...at this very moment even...and who gets to decide? The generalization (get out the vote, vote for our guy and that will create the kind of government, hence the quality of life we want) or the individual voter who may ask in a moment of brave insight, "You mean it's up to me?"

Ultimately, each individual gets to determine whether to be run and delimited by generalizations or to chart his or her own course among the billions of available choices that could not possibly fit into any generalization ever offered to us.

And while we may not be directly acquainted with each other (and here the media actually is helpful), we know that not only are we all inextricably connected, but that in all of this mass of interconnections the individual is far more powerful than any generalization about him or her and is the ultimate arbiter and determiner of the nature and quality of his/her experience, that is, if he or she has the courage to lay claim to his unique and original self-made destiny.

But wait…bonus!…the more self-aware and enlightened each of us becomes, (and that truly is an individual attainment) the more we realize that it is we, not as a collective, but as individuals who determine the direction and quality of our lives and indeed of our civilization and that each of us as an individual just might be the trend setter that others will some day classify as a generalization. ("Buddhists", Freudians," "Franciscans"…as if the all the chips emulated the same block.) After all, all generalization began as some individual's distinctive experience.

In summary, question all generalizations (even this one), and learn to treasure and act on your unique relationship to life that may in fact transcend any generalization that you or anyone else could ever possibly make about you. You get to carve your unique signature on the face of reality. Indeed reality depends on it.

As amazing as it is that no two snow flakes are exactly alike, how much more differentiated can the billions of us become as we each follow our own calling and dance to our own drummer? While a generalization might attempt to encapsulate us, it can never fully and accurately identity you or me. That's up to...well...

the bilions of you's and me's.

Think on't.

Errol Strider
(415) 459-4512
http://striderinnertainment.com/
estrider@gmail.com

"LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT ANSWER IN ALL THE WRONG QUESTIONS"

2009-12-30T18:04:00.001-08:00

HOW TO GET THE ANSWER TO YOUR BURNING QUESTION?

Don't assume you know the right question to ask. Like this cow. She's asking, "Will you take that annoying green thing off my ear? " I don't know how to do that. But if she is asking, "Will you take my picture?" She's asking the right guy the right question. That I can do.

Too often we don't ask the right question and as a result become frustrated because the answer we're seeking isn't forthcoming.

But, according to the most reliable universe sources, the answer you want will appear when you ask the right question. The most effective question you will ever ask, according to A Course in Miracles is, "What's the question?"

Now the question you're probably asking at this point is "Why is that the question?" That's close enough. Let's start with that.

Simply stated, from ACIM point of view…the answer that you seek already IS, because you are not separate from it, or anything else, for that matter. The answer is just waiting for you to ask the "right" question…the question that will release the best answer to your current level of awareness and for your best use.

The universe is very obliging with its answers. Like the answer to the question, "How do you stay together as a unity and not just fly off into the universal smithereens…answer: Gravity & Suns (as in Smith & Sons)

EXAMPLES OF RIGHT AND WRONG QUESTIONS TO ASK:

I took a series of science courses at San Francisco City College "for the fun of it',just to learn the subjects…Physics, Genetics, Geology, Physiology, etc. and I was planning on taking a course in what most likely would be way over my head, Organic Chemistry.

So I decided to bone up on some algebra…I got an algebra book and started working problems. After I finished one problem, I went to the back of the book to find the answer and compare it with the answer I came up with. The book's answer was different than mine. My gut reaction question, "What did I do wrong?" As it turns out…that was the wrong question. When I compared my answer with the "correct" answer, I realized I hadn't done anything wrong. I simply had not taken the answer the next couple steps needed to be the definitive and irreducible answer. All my steps were correct. I just hadn't taken the problem far enough.

Could it be that some of our answers may not be wrong, just incomplete? We just don't take them far enough…all the way out, or in, as the case may be, to the ultimate answer. For ultimately, the answer to life exists in…the Ultimate.

So, back to the question, "Why is 'What's the question?' the question?" If your head is spinning, keep in mind that everything is spinning…you're right on track.

When confronted by some of life's more resistive conundrums…we might start asking our conditioned default questions like: "What should I do?" "How long will this take?" "Will it hurt?" "When will it stop hurting? "What will this cost?" "Can we afford this?" "Will we be late?" or one of our most popular questions, "What's the matter with me/him/her or it?"

Or the unspoken questions…next layer down:

"Will he like me?" "Am I doing this right?" "Will they see how embarrassed I am?" "Will this lie I'm telling keep the pain away?" "Why can't they see the rightness of my point of view?" "When will he/she stop talking?" "Will I hurt their feelings?" "What if they say no…will I be crushed…like I was all those other times?" etc. etc…all the many expressed and un-expressed questions that surge to the forefront of our minds when confronted by dilemma, contradiction or puzzlement.

My spouse, Rochelle, was trying to watch a video on my computer. She was having trouble seeing the picture on the screen because it appeared too dark. The question she asked was, "Why is the picture so dark?" Wrong question. As it turns out the screen appeared dark because she was sitting at an angle below the screen which made it look dark. All she had to do was either tilt the screen or sit higher. Which is why "Why is the screen so dark?" not the right question. It wasn't dark. Right question… "What position do I need assume to be in relationship with the screen so that I can see it correctly?"

What's a questioner to do?

How do we get from wrong question to right question? Again, don't assume you know the right question. Instead, take a minute to notice the series of assumptions that have led you to what is, if not the "wrong" question, then the question that won't actually give you the answer you requested.

See if you can apply this example to areas of your life that may look like a dark screen and lead you to assume that they are dark, when in fact, it may be a matter of changing your relationship to the screen through which you see life—changing your perspective.
Another example. It was 1973, I was performing my first one-man theatrical show and I was presenting it at a church in Burlingame, CA. just south of San Francisco where I was living at the time. The directions I was given were to take Hwy. 101 to Broadway, take a right, go over to Camino Real, and go South to the church in Burlingame.
After the performance I was on my way back going North on Camino Real looking for Broadway to get me to 101 and then up to the city. I went up and down Camino Real but could not find Broadway. Finally, after enough frustration, I pulled into a gas station to ask the attendant, "Where is Broadway?" He didn't know. Hmm...wrong question. So then I asked, "How do I get back to San Fransicso?" at which point he said, "Oh, just take a right at the corner. That street will take you to the highway. You'll see the on ramp North 101, just take it."

In this case I was looking for the "means" to the end, rather than focusing on what I truly wanted and asking, if not the "right" question, then perhaps the "best" question. "How do I get to San Francisco?" That lesson has served me well.

So what becomes apparent is that our knee-jerk-reaction questions are conditioned by our perspectives and assumptions. In order to change your perspective so that you can tee up the best possible question, it's helpful to realize that the perspective that launched the question in the first place thought seemingly correct, is, in fact, only a perspective, and will eventually give way to, what is hopefuyly, a broader and deeper point of view..

Well, you may justifiably ask, "In order to function, don't we need to operate from certain assumptions?" Of course, as long as we continue to challenge and refine those assumptions…just as I needed to refine my "answer' in the algebra problem, my question to the gas station attendant, and Rochelle's question to the computer.

So operating on assumptions and habitual perspectives to guide us in our choices are certainly, though relatively, useful…Newtonian Mechanics helps us solve certain problem, but we kind of have to leave those principles behind as we get closer to the speed of light, and even more so, to the speed of LOVE, which probably transcends the concept of speed and any and all time space questions…and just IS... but that's another essay.
So from a Benevolent Universe perspective, are we not already plugged into the answer?…which is why the it is always available to us and why we need to pose the "correct" question in order to gain access to that timid answer.
Then again, maybe the right question was articulated by my mother-in-law, Esther, several years ago when my spouse and I were visiting her in Brooklyn and we went for a ride with her in her car. At one point she pulled into a service station and asked the guy (yeah, this is when they still had 'the guy" who came over to your car) "Would you look under the hood…and see what's doing?"

What if we looked under the "hood" of human perceptions and asked, "What's doing?" We might be surprised to discover deep in the entrails of all those assumptioins, the right question, and even more astonished to discover just underneath that…the best answer.

"It's your carburetor, lady. And no, I don't know how to get that damn blue thing off the cow's ear?"

Think on't.

Check out our radio show live Sunday Nights 7 PM PT
www.utopiaradio.com
Errol Strider
(415) 459-4512
http://striderinnertainment.com/
estrider@gmail.com

RELAXING THE WANT/SHOULD SPASM, Part 2

2009-12-22T12:35:00.001-08:00

LEARNING TO TRUST!

In order to relax, you have to believe that the ground that supports you will continue to support you…no matter how creative a step you may take.

And why would you trust that? Well, you trust it all the time. Every time you take a step, you're actually falling and meeting the ground which predictably and even comfortably breaks your fall and gives you the impulse to take the next step.

And you know how you discovered that incredible level of trust…well, here we have to take you back to when you were a little younger…when you were just learning to walk. Remember that? ("Expletive of your own choosing"), it was probably one of, if not, the most important things that you will ever consciously learn, and you don't even remember learning it? What's with that!
Think about what you must have done to learn that "trust." After all, you didn't just learn how to walk, you learned how to trust.

My dance teacher in college, Harriett Ann Grey, would often say, "All dance is just falling and recovering."

And how did you learn to walk? Guess what? You fell down a bunch…a whole big bunch of times…and you got up…you recovered.

It was your destiny.

So, if learning to trust/walk required hundreds, if not thousands, of times of falling down and getting back up again, how many times will you have to practice the trust walk of faith before you can walk through life assured…certain that your every step will be met by the firm grasp of…not only material gravity, but spiritual gravity which also provides the spring in your step to keep you moving.

Yes, indeed, now The Cosmic Choreographer wants to teach you that you can not only trust the steps of your life to the "Ground of Being," but you can trust the dance of your life to your always dependable inner dance partner, who will lift you up and gracefully bring you back down so that you can ever rise again.

It's your destiny.

Think on't.

Errol Strider
(415) 459-4512
http://striderinnertainment.com/
estrider@gmail.com

Caught between "Want to" and "Should do??

2009-12-20T13:30:00.001-08:00

Escaping from the Want/Should jail cell of your own making…your "Get Out of Jail Free Card, Part I

Many of us spend a great deal of our life caught in the want/should jail. It's a simple cell…on one side beckoning to you is what you want to do. Your expectation: you'll feel relieved or happy or pleasured.

On the other side of your cell there's what you think you should do, or even more demanding and hateful, is what you believe you have to do. "If I don't do that, then I will experience the opposite of being relieved, happy or pleasured. I will be visited by pain or loss…and quite possibly…piss someone off. (That angry some one or some thing will likely let you know it in a way that won't be fun, to remind you that you can't just do what you want. You may even take on the role of that pissed off someone…it's called "guilt.")

Examples: the things you don't want to do to make money, to survive, to not get caught. The things you do for others that you don't want to do to mollify them, keep the peace, hurt them, avoid rejection, etc.

You may spend much of our life trying to negotiate this antagonism…Sometimes you do what you want and pay the consequences, Ow!...while other times you do what you believe you're supposed to do to avoid the pain and loss and hopefully achieve at least some degree of relief, pleasure, or comfort while paying the price of the pain of self-betrayal. Ouch!

Inevitably life demands some of this negotiation, but too often it reaches a point where your Will feels imprisoned. You have just entered the want/should jail cell...or your own making. This being pulled from one side of your cell to another can escalate to such a speed that it upgrades to…spasm. (Indeed…why Thomas Merton calls the ego a "spasm.) So there you are, caught somewhere in between, madly screaming inside yourself, "Is there a way out? "Who am I in this mess?! "Am I this spasm?!"

You feel compelled to resist the spasm. "This is awful! What can I do? How do I get relief?" So you may either seek respite through escaping addictions, which never work, or you will try to resist the spasm, which just adds to the pain of the spasm. Ow! Ouch!

If you've reached the point that living in your want/should cell is intolerable and are looking to get out of this jail, here's a get-out-of-jail strategy.

Step one…Give yourself permission to relax…

Now, if something is in spasm, what does it need? Certainly not to pursue the futility of escape or to be resisted. You need to find a way to relax.

Of course, it's one thing to give yourself the message, "It's okay to relax," but it's quite several other things to get your spasmodic self to stop long enough to even hear the message, let alone practice it…and it will take practice.

A simple place to start: Take three of the deepest and longest breaths possible for you to take. (Not to worry…they're still free…but hurry)

Or if that is even too aggressive a treatment, next time you take any kind of a break… go to the bathroom, go from one place to another, lie down, sit down, wait at a stop light, etc.…take these three deep vital breaths. That will stop you long enough to go to step two of this process:

Imagine yourself picking up the message that someone just put in your cell in an envelope with your name on it…Open it and read these lines… "It's okay to relax…at least for..." (and then you pick an amount of time that you're willing to give yourself permission to relax. Two seconds, maybe four...if you're adventurous, you can try six seconds or more. You do this as often as you can for as long as you can, and that becomes your beginning practice. You keep doing this more and more often and for longer periods of time every day until…you actually…relax. Guess what? You cannot be in spasm and be relaxed at the same time.

People might actually come up to you and ask, to your surprise, "How do you stay so relaxed? When were you released?" And that will even feel better than if they asked you, "How do you stay so thin? Or so young? Or so beautiful?" Imagine!

Think on't.

Next Blog: Part II: Avoiding recidivism. What you need to know to say out of the want/should jail and start having some chronic fun.

--
Errol Strider
(415) 459-4512
http://striderinnertainment.com/
estrider@gmail.com

"YEAH...BUT..."

2009-12-10T12:22:00.001-08:00

Once you start off on a spiritual journey, you will be assigned several companions. One of them is "Yeah, but..." Every time you attempt to step more fully into self-realization and spiritual intent, especially in the early stages, you can pretty well count on "Yeah, but..." to show up at your door.

As expected, "Yeah, but…" came by to see me today. I was attempting to hang out with another companion, "Why Worry? God's got you covered."

Now"Yeah, but..." always brings an entourage. You've heard of "Yes men." Well, "Yeah, but..." brings along a lot of ""Yeah, but... men"--Lobbyists, witnesses and experts to prove its case and justify its position. ("You won't have enough money." "Nobody cares for you." "People are undependable. "Get what you can while you can." "You can't trust men... or women." "Life on this planet is doomed unless we get with the program and we're too far gone in apathy and denial to do that." "God is irrelevant to your daily life" "Life sucks!" etc.)

Now, "Yeah, but…" usually doesn't tell me what action I actually need to take to address these annoying issues. That's not its job. Its job is just to incite worry, assuming that if it stokes up enough anxiety and reinforces it with adequate justifications, proofs and corroborations happily supplied by its "Yeah, but... men," I will forsake "Don't worry, God's got you covered." and "Get real." (One of "Yeah, but's favorite injunctions.)

You see, from "Yeah, but's…" point of view "Don't worry, God's got you covered." is not only preposterous, but actually illegal… according to its laws. Anyone guilty of promoting this point of view deserves punishment and annihilation, even better, crucifixion, if they still allowed it. At the very least, mounted on the rack of ridicule.

When I tried to explain to "Yeah, but..." that the reason I need not worry is that I am realizing that I'm enfolded in the embrace of an all loving, all supportive Presence that has my best interests at heart.

"Oh, that," "Yeah, but..." says disparagingly, insisting that IT has my best interests at heart, while attempting to persuade me that "Don't worry, God's got you covered." is stupid, useless, irresponsible, fucked up, or any other adjective that can describe the utter insanity of allowing this perspective into my mind and why I need to do something about it…before…(and here it resorts to some projected time in the future that "Yeah, but…" predicts, with great conviction and the exhaustive research supplied by its expert witnesses)... calamity occurs…if I don't change my ways, get busy worrying and take control.

Now part of why "Yeah, but…" is so convincing is that it can point to an almost infinite number of instances in which people who don't respond to it's highly trained and credible experts get their asses kicked and lose shit.

"Yeah, but..." can easily demonstrate through history that there is no "god" to cover my ass in troubling circumstances, let alone break my fall or pay my bills..

What "Yeah, but..." fails to mention, by cleverly hiding this reality, is that all this worry doesn't actually prevent life from kicking my ass or taking away my shit.

Nevertheless, I implore "Why worry? God's got you covered," "what do you have to say to that."

"Why worry, God's got you covered," humbly but authoritatively asks, "Do you do anything to beat your heart? Bring your self into existence? Breathe your lungs? Run your metabolism? Send messages throughout your nervous system? Continually feed and cleanse every cell in your body? Keep gravity operating? And does any amount of worry cause those things to happen?"

I turn to "Yeah, but…" who very deftly changes it's first name to "Well" and starts,
"Well, but…"'

"Oh, now you're "Well, but…" are you? "Well…but"…does it?"

"Well…no…"

"So if none of this angst makes the most essential processes of your life happen without you even being conscious of them, let alone worrying about them, then do you think agonizing will help our host solve any of the problems that confront him?

But "Yeah, but..." makes one more attempt to validate its position by bringing in its tag team partner, "No, but…" who trots out its list of very compelling "or else's." ("You better get real about all of this or..."You'll be homeless." "You won't have electricity." "You'll be rejected." "You can't pay your bills." You'll be downsized." "You'll be old, decrepit, alone, homeless and helpless, etc.)

"But doesn't all that worry just sap your energy and keep you from creatively engaging your problems?" "Don't worry. God's got you covered" retorts.
"Yeah, but..."

"So, isn't worry absolutely ridiculous and totally counterproductive…and that's why you, "Yeah, but…" are nothing but a worry wart and all your "or else's" are totally bogus?

"Well…yeah…

but…"

(Think on't...)

Errol Strider
(415) 459-4512
http://striderinnertainment.com/
estrider@gmail.com

IS GOD MOODY, TOO?

2009-12-03T16:37:00.001-08:00

"Hmm...what do I feel like doing today?" wonders God.

Let me guess. God is in the mood for…love--to experience life in his/her universe loving through and as us?

Possibly, but, as it turns out, she can only do that consistent with her nature.

That's where you come in.

"But…what is her nature? Isn't it love?" you may ask.

Yes, but it also depends on her mood.

God is very moody.

For instance, if God is what's behind everything, animating existence, infinitized… clearly God can be moody if not out right… fractious...

Between perfect stillness and the Big Bang…well…there's a lot of mood swings going on. Most any mood you could ever be in…not to mention, all that's followed the Big Bang. Talk about moody!

So that brings it back to us. How does God experience his/her universe as us and stay consistent with her nature?

Or more to the point…what are you in the mood for?

When you're in the mood for pancakes…or veal ptarmigan… great sex… a ride on the bay...or for a good movie, a day at the beach, a good conversation… or chocolate even? Is that God wanting to take the wrapper off? Is that God in the mood for those things, too?

When you're in the mood for a little self-indulgence, do you invite God to indulge herself with you? As you?

And what about mood swings? Will you allow God to swing along with you when your mood swings? Does God swing? Does God go both ways. In and out? Back and forth? Yin and yang? Is that fractitious?

Or, is God up for a threesome? Is God, in fact, a happy threesome? Did God, invent the ultimate threesome? Self beholding self emerging new self out of all that beholding?

Could it be that when you're "in the mood" for something, that that is the Prime Desire...desiring…actually triggering that mood.

Could it be that it's God that is in the mood for Frank Sinatra…a game of ping pong, a night at the opera, sitting down with a good book, playing a cross word puzzle or pulling your hat over your eyes?

On the other hand, are you ever "in the mood" for inflicting pain, receiving pain? Is that really a mood swing or is it just a desperate attempt to compensate for mood opportunities missed when you felt abused, abandoned, unseen or defiled? Stuff that may have put you in a...bad mood?

Check it out: Here's where God's nature reveals itself. When you have the luxury of being able to ask, "What am I in the mood for?" Are you not relaxed, available, with the energy, resources and maybe even the opportunity to satisfy that mood?

Could that be God's nature? Not only instigating the mood, but also providing that which will satisfy the mood?

Clever God. The giver and the receiver. And isn't that where we come in? Ever relaxed and ready to "swing". To go both ways…from giver to receiver endlessly…Perched on the pinnacle of eternity, eager to jump off?

Does God really swing both ways…from stillness to colossal undertakings? Is that who you are? A colossal undertaking emerging out of stillness, responding not just to God's mood for a little sensual treat in time and space, but to his whims, his larks…Does God often have a whim for a little unending creativity? My God, is God always in the mood for a lark?

And what about God's whims...If his moods are unpredictable, what about his whims? They must be positively capricious. And when God goes on a lark, how much is that going to cost!?

Hey, does God always give vent to his whims? Were you created on a whim? Or a lark?

"Today, just for a lark…" says God, "I think I'll evolve a new species, I'll give birth to…you, and I'll make you as moody as I am, just on a lark, mind you."

So, if you're following God's nature, I suspect, you're always in the mood for... a good mood... whether it's the sight of a baby, the feel of your lover's fingers gently stoking the inside of your wrist, the intensity of a roller coaster ride or the sound of waves lapping at your boat.

So, go ahead and whistle your mantra… "I'm in the mood for love." And while you're whistling, if you listen closely, you may hear God's infinite overtones—his moods whistling right along with you in perfect harmony.

So, how 'bout it, God...are you in the mood?
"I'm always in the mood." says the Deity. "But what about you?"

"Well, I am in the mood for a little snuggle, but wait, let me put on something more comfortable."

"Good idea," saith the Lady,

So, you put on your relaxed self, ready for action, and ever abiding in the trust, that, no matter what it may feel like, you can be assured that God is always in a Good Mood.

STARTING DOWN THE TRACKS OF HUMANITY'S RESTITUTION

2009-12-01T16:27:00.001-08:00

Since the two impediments to peace and love are fear and ignorance, we can safely say that, "It's the Fear, Stupid."

What we need to recognize to get started on the journey to global recovery.

My friend, James, stopped by the coffee house today (my office away from home-office--Peet's café in San Anselmo, CA) and confirmed what I had suspected are the biggest impediments to a successful and healthy society…

I had shared with him this passage from Bill Bradley's' book, The New American Story where Bill says, "The only things that can stop us are fear, ignorance, self-centeredness, and greed." James' top two picks of the week for the main villains dragging humanity around in the mire of disease, destruction and suffering were fear and ignorance.

So how does one or how do we, as a collective, diffuse the fear and educate the ignorant, especially when the ignorant are too frightened to be educated or to ignorant to know that they are run by fear?

This is not to take anything away from all our best efforts to actually solve the problems that are the result of fear, ignorance, self-centeredness, and greed. But let's face it, until we find ways to reduce the toxicity contained in these human attitudes, (not to mention our addiction to them) we will always be putting out the fires they've initiated.

Now these fires have their upside, to be sure…they keep us on our creative toes, adaptive, and compassionate, but really, how much fear, ignorance, self-interest and greed do we really need to develop these valuable traits that empower us to succesfully engage to life's challenges? I could do with less, couldn't you?

Now, of course it isn't "they" (these attitudes), but "us" (these humans) that are at both cause and effect here, but it is these un-examined impulses operating through us that are wreaking havoc on the human/bio/atmospheric systems. So, if we really want to arrest the forces that are responsible for dis-equality, environmental degradation, war, alienation, obscene deficits, disease, people who are late, insensitive, lazy, irresponsible… "stupid and ignorant", etc. (fill in the blank), then we must find a way to address the raw phenomena of fear and ignorance…and their first cousins, greed and self-centeredness.

Now, the last time we checked, we found humanity hanging on the precipice of some serious global shit. How can we, members of the human race, interface with humanity to "head it off at the 'past"? How can we, the hero, if not save the day, at least save some of the future days so that posterity won't have to deal with the troublesome and smelly legacy of our fear and ignorance.

Let's start by addressing and attending to the fear that drives...well...me…and to become willing to admit, at least as a starting point, that 'I don't know all there is to know," and…whoa!...apparently, I'm on my way (Watch out transformation, here I come…buckle up, Errol). Yes, until each of us recognizes the degree that we operate out of fear and that what we "know" is miniscule in the face of what we don't know, we won't initiate the degree and quality of change the systems requires to "right itself."

For better or worse, it is calamity that drives most of us to that recognition. Do we need to wait for the onslaught of pain and degradation to engage the process or can we roll up our sleeves, divest ourselves of pretentions, and get to work being ruthlessly honest with ourselves and face our ignorance and fear and apply ourselves to their respective diminish-ment?

So how about we begin the journey by dis-ignorant-ing ourselves of the tacit assumption that we are not driven by fear? That fear will drive us into the mistaken notion that something of the finite, which we have made an absolute in our own minds, will save us. (It can be money, or Allah, or Jesus, or winning people's approval or the right lover, the cheapest price, anything really…some "idol" that we were warned should not be put before the All-Oneness of Infinity, some addiction that we perpetuate to hold on to our dear delimited life…so that we can feel safe and alive. We attempt to make something finite fulfill the role of the absolute. Talk about ignorant…no wonder we're so scared.

Indeed, many of us, much of the time, grasp on to some tightly held perspective to ward off the dangers of the unknown (just beyond our self-definition) which is eager to gobble us up and leave no clue of our negligible existence behind. And thus we remain frightened, ignorant and dominated by self-interest and greed.

So there you have it…next blog…what to do? Or more precisely, how can we relate to ourselves and each other in such a way as to liberate and act upon our highest wisdom and deepest levels of compassion so that fear and ignorance don't so effectively dominate our minds, hearts and wills?

"To fear or not to fear"…that seems to be…if not the question… the issue.

Check out the doable response to this quagmire in my next blogs.

Think on't!

IS GOD TWO-FACED? Part 2 "Let's Face It"

2009-11-24T15:37:00.001-08:00

Let's face it, it's nice to share a meal with someone you can relate to.

When I want heartfelt comfort and soul nourishment…it really is immensely satisfying to know that I am in a relationship with a very intimate "Other"…and indeed, the more I surrender (snuggle up) to that Other-ness, the more I recognize that the other enjoys companionship just as much as I do. The meal just tastes better when we're sharing the same grass.

But just to keep the scales balanced (I am a Libra), I love grazing in the open fields of un-endingness and non-distinction…it's relaxing, it's satisfying, there's no resistance and there's more than enough to go around.

So let's face it...it's good to abide in "both/and".. which calls me to be a compassionate "other" when life needs "me-othering" and as permeating presence in the pastures of consciousness when distinction just gets in the way.

So, thanks Jesus and thanks Buddha. Even though you are of the same fertile "Ground of Being," by showing up in different guises, its make sharing the meal more flavorful and standing together... a treat for the infinite be-holder.

Think on't!

Epilogue:

"On a Walk" by Errol Strider

On a walk…or pacing…

when I really want to focus in…to perceive Essence…
I stare down into grass, dirt or concrete,
for in that focus…mesmerized…
the sweet inner gaze of the "Unfathamobile" filters up to me
And I stare…as into nothing…the ground within…
to walk in the experience
of knowing
that I am…accompanied.

IS GOD TWO-FACED? Part 1

2009-11-19T14:09:00.001-08:00

"When you make the person of God your significant other, every other person you meet becomes…… significant." ES

I live in Buddhist Country…there are a lot of Buddhists around here in West Marin, S.F. Bay area. I'm not sure whether Buddhists believe in a personal God…a God that can be known as "Other". I don't think so. After all, how can there actually be an "other" in a non-dualistic universe…and yet…there is obviously personality distinction. I deal with others all the time…and if I forget or deny them their "other-ness," they are quick to remind me just how not them I am.

Is God "Other? Is there just Being (and non-being)? How important is it to even make a distinction? And more importantly, how does one concept or the other affect our lives? ("Who's on first?")

I'm kind of a both/and kind of guy. I like it that at the sub-atomic level…sometimes energy appears as particle and in other circumstances, as a wave (and even more recently as string. What's next? A chord?) I guess it depends on the problem we're trying to solve. (see Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle)

I went to a conference in Boulder on science and spirituality a couple of years ago and heard one speaker say that recognizing each of us as "the sacred other stimulated compassion in him, while a Buddhist scientist found that believing we are all one evoked compassion in him. What I find helpful is to know that the universe is imminently personal…self-aware and volitional. To know that I am both housed and permeated by a Self-aware presence of living love is very comforting. And I need to be comforted…there's a lot of being jostled and irritated by "the others" going on.

Yes , a comforting face is welcome.

Indeed, Jesus referred to the Spirit of Truth (evidently a new and improved spiritual energy that he was able to liberate into the stream of human consciousness by virtue of his life, death and resurrection)…as "The Comforter."

Jesus in fact said, "You have seen me, you have seen the Father." Now, while I can accept the notion that God is much much more than a personality, personality is still one of the faces that God presents to us…along with Infinity of Being, evolution, and even 'non-being…oh… and the face on the cover of "Mad".

And in the faces of people, if you look closely enough, you'll see that while each face is decidedly different...there is another face in there that you recognize as...

your own. ("How did that get there?")

I think I would not appreciate existence quite as much if there weren't such diversity...so many faces on the countenance of the Infinite. You might even stumble into the paradox that, somehow the infinite gets bigger because of all the distinctive faces it makes. (You could even criticize the Infinite for mugging...it makes so many silly faces.)

When these "separate" faces behold each other, something in the unique-ness of each cross- fertilizes with that which is unique to the other and both experience "putting a new face on it."

Each is suddenly expanded by the other and that is how the Infinite (already a face full) gets…bigger. Some (facial) "expression" passes from one to another that neither had in the first "face."

And those moments give birth to "smiling faces."

Think on't.

Next blog, "Is God Two-faced?" Part II, "So let's face it!"

Looking at the faces of Jesus and the Buddha in your mirror.

WHO IS THE ENEMY?

2009-11-15T12:11:00.001-08:00

Who is the Enemy?
(From Servant Leadership by Robert Greenleaf (c) 1970-1991

(I may not have written it, but I certainly have pondered it)...Love to get your comments. How does this affect you? How can you step up and be and/or follow the Servant Leader. (If you haven't been exposed to Robert Greenleaf's work on "Servant Leadership" well worth checking it out, that is if quality leadership for our society is important to you)

Who is the enemy? Who is holding back more rapid movement to the better society that is reasonable and possible with available resources? Who is responsible for the mediocre performance of so many of our institutions? Who is standing in the way of a larger consensus on the definition of the better society and paths to reaching it?

Not evil people. Not stupid people. Not apathetic people. Not the "system." Not the protesters, the disrupters, the revolutionaries, the reactionaries.

Granting that fewer evil, stupid or apathetic people or a better "system" might make the job easier, their removal would not change matters, not for long.
The better society will come, if it comes, with plenty of evil, stupid, apathetic people around and with an imperfect, ponderous, inertia-charged "system" as the vehicle for change.
Liquidate the offending people, radically alter or destroy the system, and in less than a generation they will all be back.
It is not the nature of things that society can be cleaned up once and for all according to an ideal plan. And even if it were possible, who would want to live in an aseptic world?
Evil, stupidity, apathy, the "system" are not the enemy even though society building forces will be contending with them all the time.
The healthy society, like the healthy body, is not the one that has taken the most medicine. It is the one in which the internal health building forces are in the best shape.

The real enemy is fuzzy thinking on the part of good, intelligent vital people, and their failure to lead, and to follow servants as leaders. (bold, Errol)
Too many settle for being critics and experts. There is too much intellectual wheel spinning, too much retreating into "research," too little preparation for and willingness to undertake the hard and high risk tasks of building better institutions in an imperfect world, too little disposition to see "the problem" as residing in here and not out there.

In short, the enemy is strong natural servants who have the potential to lead but do not lead, or who choose to follow a non-servant. (bold, Errol) They suffer. Society suffers. And so it may be in the future.

"SO, YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD IT ALL FIGURED OUT?"

2009-11-12T18:18:00.000-08:00

What do do when, "So you thought you had it all figured out." shows up in your face...like, no matter how much you think you want it, what you want is wagging its thumb at you.'

Like when you bump up against your capacity to control your life and make it feel the way you want it to make you feel...

Yeah, I'm talkin' to you, bozo!"
"The inevitable confrotation," my brother-in-law Phil used to call it.
And when we asked him to translate it, he smacked us a good one... "Pain buoyo, pain." And indeed the pain that he precipated reverberated in my head. "Oh That."
"Yes, that."

As the Buddha pointed out so well to us, "Yeah, there's suffering. Yeah, suffering sucks. But wait! There's an end to suffering Don't let your suffering suck you."

Withdraw your attention from the world of thought and perception as long as you possibly can and as often as possible... and while your there abide in total wonder and unknowing...willing to "not know shit."
In other words, leave everything behind when you step into the NOW...

as a matter of fact, that is

how you step into the Now.

That's pretty much it.
Except...what Jesus added to the picture...

A terrific way to access and harness the Power to drive you into awareness.

So it's like Buddha charts the course and Jesus fuels your passion for the mission.

But you get to take the steering wheel and send your pedal toward the metal...and put whomever you'd like in the seat beside you.

Make friends with your unknowing, you'll find out that it gets more and more fun not to know.

Think on't

go to littletastetreatsfromjesus.come

Errol P. Strider

WHAT’S WRONG…AT THE VERY CORE OF IT ALL?

2009-11-05T17:16:00.001-08:00

AND HOW DO YOU FIX IT?

I asked myself the question…is there a specific, even single impetus for the mass amount of dysfunctionality experienced by humankind?

"Yes," came the reply from the digitized burning bush, "Just type in the following letters in this particular sequence (not case sensitive) and you'll have your answer."

"Okay."

"B-E-T-R-A-W-A-L"

"Well, when you put it like that…" was my almost first response when the "AWAL" at the end of the word jumped out at me. Then the digitized burning bush continued, anticipating my next, inevitable question…

"Here's how it works."

"It is the accumulated experience of life not responding to you the ways you'd like or expect it to, and, depending on the severity or the quantities of the pain, you will tend to respond to these betrayals with one of or a combination of the following five reaction states: ANGER, CYNICISM, DENIAL, SELF-BETRAYAL, PARANOIA, as articulated by James Hillman in his definitive essay on "Betrayal."

"Eventually these attitudes become chronic orientations to life…your default template basic judgment screen, as it were, through which you filter all that life sends your way. (And you're not limited to one…oh, no, they work better in combination, and if they're used effectively, they will deprive you of the primary rights of your existence. (oh, that Pesky ol' existence again)… which colors all your perceptions and in consequence of that, all your decisions…from which your life experience evolves…and which predictably determines your "Next."

"You see, when your "Next" triggers pain and resistance to it, that's what we're calling, "Betrayal." It happens from the git-go…being thrust out of a very pleasant watery environment into one in which you're going to have to work for a living. Whoa!

But wait…there's more…you are thrust out into circumstances that are demanding, confusing, frustrating, etc. (you fill in your word that denotes "expletive-ing) and that you're sure you... did not order.

"Then you go to one of the default responses, or you mix and match as needed.

Question: Your preferred response to betrawal?
A. Anger

B. Cynicism

C. Denial

D. Self-betrayal

E. Paranoia

F. All of the above

G. A unique mixture of all of the above depending on what triggers the memory of the pain of betrayal.

"So… it's kind of like you create this swimming pool and you fill it with one of the above, (anger, denial, cynicism, self-betrayal, paranoia). Basically, you swim around in this stuff, breathing it and looking out at life through the distorted picture that it necessarily gives you. That gooey mixture becomes the interface between you and life.

"As the irritant in the oyster triggers the creation of a pearl, the one of great price perhaps, the irritance of betrawal creates the equivalent of the chaos of cancer cells trying their best to not get with the program.

"Since we swim about in this mental slush (your own patented combo of anger, denial, cynicism, self-betrayal, paranoia du jour) it will ultimately deprive you of innocent point of view and you could very well end up living a soul-less life.

"(While you can't really completely obliterate your soul, you certainly can handicap it, and deprive it of your awareness…not realizing that your awareness of your soul and it's awareness of you provide the equivalent of the ever-spontaneous-power-generating system of Being otherwise called, "Life."

"So, there you have it. What's to be done?

Three R's:

Re-cognize: Start by learning to catch yourself in the act

Re-frame: Pick out a point of view that you'd like to have even though you cannot justify in any way having that point of view…(go to our web site, ww.betterpointsofview.com aka www.sexmoneygod.com for options)

Re-solve: Make a commitment to yourself to live your life as if this "superior" (or at least preferable) point of view IS valid for YOU, and keep choosing/making up your life according to that perspective (practice, perservere, ask for support...from me for instance)

Oh, and by the way…leave your expectations at the door of the next… "Next."

DO YOU SQUIRM IN THE FACE OF FULL SERVICE LOVE?

2009-11-03T13:02:00.001-08:00

Be honest now. Are you hiding from love? How would you know? Why would you do that? What is so threatening about love? Did you even ever consider that you may be hiding out from love? What do we mean by love?

For many of us the closest we get to love is in ecstatic embrace, whether it be with a lover, with the child that can often emerge from that embrace, a beautiful sunset, riding down the rapids of the Colorado River, either catching an impossible-to-catch ball or someone you care about catching it, (or even someone you don't). These phenomena are saturated with love and demand our full attention, which we are usually delighted to give. You might even say... like the commercial, "I'm lovin' it."

That's the love that I am referring to. The take-your-breath-away kind of love. The kind of love that leaves you saying, "If it all ended right now, this would have made my life worth while... (But I'll gladly take seconds.")

The great paradox of humanity is that what we seek the most, we most resist, like two magnets turning this way and that because they can't make up their mind.

Hmmmm... shall I separate or congeal? Shall I push off or cohere? Shall I move out or move in?

Well, if you look closely at the activity of lovemaking, popularly called "fucking," you'll notice,... it's both. You have to go out in order to come in to keep the sensation going, and in that moment all that counts is the sensation. (We'll deal with responsibility, another time.)

The issue is knowing when to do which... come out, go in. You can take a hint from breath. Once you've expelled all your breath, you would naturally have an urge to inhale... you'd think.

It's pretty much the same with sex. When you come out, it's time to go back in, that is, if you're a plunger. And even if you're not a plunger, but a receptor, you're happy to keep it moving.

But it seems that when it comes the interface between the self that you think you are... over here... and that which appears to be over there, like the environment, or something distasteful or incomprehensible, there often can be hesitation, when to move toward... when to move away. For instance, when to try and get as much for yourself with complete disregard for the consequences to others, or when sharing yourself with life in the most efficacious way possible becomes more attractive.

So where did we leave you? Maybe asking yourself, "Am I hiding out from love?"

The answer is easy... because love is all-consuming; it could veritably eat you up and spit you out, or even worse... not spit you out. And there you'd be...

...permanently affixed to love.

Bummer...

No wonder we hesitate to surrender to the complete immersion in the...

... Infinite Allness of Existence.

Talk about all-consuming...

you bet we're squirmin'...

Think on't!

(I'm lovin' it.)

DOES SOMETHING NEED TO CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE?

2009-11-02T13:31:00.001-08:00

DOES SOMETHING NEED TO CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE?

WELL, GUESS WHAT? CHANGE MEANS CHANGING HABITS.

Okay, you want to change? Something needs to change? Someone? Our recently elected president came to office on a commitment to change. Any honest observer knows that we need to change. If you're experiencing any kind of frustration, obviously, you want things to be different than they are. That's change.

Options for change…

Change the circumstances

Change your mind/perception/self

While we may desire change and feel we need it, we often overlook the fact that change involves changing a habit. Habits by their very nature resist change. But unless you're willing to recognize that you need to actually change a habit for change to occur, forget it, change ain't going to happen, including the habit of not wanting to change—(after all, if it changes…it just might get worse).

Did you ever notice, you'll get this great urge to change something in your life…in the world…and yet…as much as you think it should happen, it doesn't? You read the right books, you're inspired by them. You take a workshop that seems to actually change you, and yet the change doesn't stick. Whether it's changing your diet, different ways of relating/reacting to others, starting a new exercise program, changing the world…things that you think you should do to make life better for you, for others, for society, and for nature... the call for change is very compelling but often very difficult.

Well, guess what…it's not enough to change your conscious mind. For change to happen, you have to engage your subconscious.. After all, what part of the mind is currently controlling your habits?

Not your conscious mind. No…whether it's as simple as putting food on a fork and guiding it into your mouth, or as complex as re-visioning and reordering society, it necessarily involves working not only with the conscious mind, but also with the subconscious mind.

This requires understanding how the subconscious works, how habits are formed, and how they're broken and how new habits are established. Beyond this understanding, it also requires the tools, training and the support to make it happen.
I envision the conscious mind as like a scout of a wagon train. The scout can get on his horse and gallop off to parts unknown, find game, check out the countryside, even take a look over the crest and see the vista of the sought after destination…but then there's the wagon train…wagons, oxen, feuding families, breakdowns, disease, chaos…much harder to get moving than the unencumbered scout. Well, in some ways, that's what the subconscious is like.

So once your conscious mind has determined to change something about you (we'll deal with needed societal changes later), you will need to re-program your sub-conscious accordingly.

Your sub-conscious, the part of your mind that controls your habits--is doing a very good job of maintaining the habits you've already set up…like going to the refrigerator and eating a pint of chocolate milky sugary frozen goo instead of the 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise your body really needs.

Your sub-conscious is going to require a great deal of persuasion in order to change that habit. Not only is it programmed to go for the frozen milky gooey stuff, but it and you really enjoy that sweet comfort food. It's much more fun than 30 minutes of intense, sweat producing exercise.

This also holds true when you want to change things like your habit of judging yourself for eating the goo and not doing the exercise…and your automatic shame when someone catches you eating the goo.

Now, just imagine how difficult it is to get the people that don't agree with you who are doing bad things to society to change their habits. They are habituated to doing the things that piss you off…that they need to change. What they're doing obviously feels good to them, or, while they might recognize that change is needed, they will inevitably confront the same subconscious resistance to change that you do... and you're motivated.

This is why it's good to practice changing yourself as it allows you to appreciate just how difficult it is going to be to change anyione else. And who knows…maybe when you've changed yourself, the changes "out there" might not even be necessary.

And by the way, in case you hadn't noticed, you probably don't want to actually change, unless you're desperate or in pain. Or, if you're a rare bird, you recognize the positive attributes that will result from the change that you know in your heart need to happen and that will in turn motivate you to go through the necessary focus and effort that the transition of change requires.

So it's good to start with little things just to get you into the "habit" of making change. Here is an outline of the steps for making change...especially change that improves the quality of your life.

1. Determine what change needs to happen.

2. Strengthen the motivation to make that change.

3. Learn the tools and techniques of change

4. Reprogram the subconscious to make the change.

5. Get support, be patient with yourself, and persevere..

We'll get more into the details of the steps once you have persuaded yourself that change really needs to happen and have accessed the motivation. I look forward to hearing from you, and I'm eager to support you in making whatever changes you feel are necessary for your life and that which you care about.

PRE-FLIGHT INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE YOU TAKE OFF

2009-10-27T15:49:00.001-07:00

Pre-Flight Instructions

By Errol Strider

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This is your captain speaking I'd like to welcome you aboard flight one-for-all en route to Mt. Omega, with continuing service to higher awareness, unlimited possibility, and ubiquitous consciousness.

We will be travelling at an altitude of as-high-as-we-can-get.

Our in-flight magazine, Universe Traveler is located inside your mind. It contains interesting particles as well as information about the in flight leverage selections and a wide choice of mental faculties.

To be assured that your mind won't run amuck, fasten your seat belt by inserting the mental tip when you buckle. You will find your mental tip at the outermost edge of your assumptions..

You have the additional option of tightening by grasping or feel more secure by letting go.

To release your will, lift the mental flack where you last buckled.

Feel free to take the mental tip with you as our gift..

Today's mental tip is "If all else, take it personally."

You can get the most out of this flight if you let what's looking in the window as panaroramic as what you see looking out the window.

Feel free to let other points of view displace your old fight or flight patterns.

In case tyour points of view won't budge, this aircraft has 2 far-seeing openings, 2 windows to your soul and exits located anywhere you're willing to see your reality differently.

Window exits lead to off-wing slides. To operate, remove the belief that you've got life handled, pull your handle down and in until you feel the hand of a Reassuring Presence handling you, then you can safely let go.

Each door is equipped with an escape slide. You can slide into alcoholism, drug abuse, television watching, shopping, power, greed, gluttony or all of the above. Look out the window to the world for plenty of other escape options. Follow any of these compulsions to escape.

Your life is always pressurized, but if there is an increase in pressure, a panel (of judges) will open and a choice of masks will appear-- sad, mad, and glad. Put on the mask that most fits your state of mind, pull the mask toward you to start the flow of awareness. Even though the bag may not inflate, do not use this as a excuse to inflate...yourself. You will find yourself heavier and it will be more difficult to take off...whatever is holding you down...or back.

In the unlikely event of a water landing, your bottom may be used as a flotation device. You will find it attached to your legs. Upon landing in the water, place your arms around your bottom and kiss your bottom goodbye.

Soul lights will now be turned on. Thank you for your intention.

But wait! Before taking off, we like to leave you with one more important mental tip

"Remember, eternity takes no time at all."

"NEED" A POETIC PERSPECTIVE

2009-10-26T12:36:00.001-07:00

I Need

by Errol Strider

I need to shed my longing in the spring;

And bare my heart in the forlorn mist of lonely winters

To discern in autumn the wisdom of death

And in summer to remember the seasons of barrenness.

I need to voice my yearning in the twilight,

To affirm my identity at dawn

To perceive that suns don't stand still at noon,

Nor do stars wane in the blue of sleep.

I need to be touched in the mid of morning,

And to be recharged in the lull of afternoons;

To be lifted out of myself when the sun begins to set,

And to be made humble and thankful as first rays sift over the horizon.

I need to engender a feeling of trust in the waking hours of men,

And to not be deceived by sleep masquerading as death,

But to grasp the erectness of meanings that stretch out into heaven,

To know substance and essence well as behavior and form.

I need to understand myself revealed in the faces of men,

And to not judge them by their surface and shadows

For in the finding of cause for behavior that mars,

I see myself struggling to grow.

If I look beyond the barriers my brother erects,

I see him saying, too,

"I have need to be filled."

--
Errol Strider
(415) 459-4512
http://striderinnertainment.com/
estrider@juno.com

MICHAEL MOORE, "COOPERATION...A DIFFERENT KIND OF LOVE STORY"

2009-10-23T16:15:00.001-07:00

Text message from God: "When you step into the Do-duality, don't get it all over yourself.."

I saw Michael Moore's movie, "Capitalism, a Love Story" last night.

I can imagine many of us going, "Ooooo!" "Yuk" "They're awful." "What can we do?" Then we're taken over by a feeling of impotence or simply the distractions and the compulsivity's of our own needs and wants, and it becomes just another movie.

And we become, like the guards at the doors of the big corporations that Mr. Moore approached… "Sorry, you can't talk to our CEO, let alone convert him/her."

And what is the CEO or your consciousness? For most of us it is a false sense of who we are concocted out of our need to separate ourselves in order to know ourselves…hence…greed, denial, apathy, war/competition, dis-ease, etc.

I suggest that we start by becoming a little reflective…rather than reflexive.

Consider: We are unlikely to change the system or the people in it, especially those who are in power.

But, we are not helpless…How about planting the seeds of awareness, compassion, and responsibility in the minds of those who are just forming their values…children…good place to start. Ya think?
Children develop their values based on the five following influences:

Family
School
Media

Peers
Religious system (if any)

What would it take to prepare the soil in each of these influential areas so that the seeds of wisdom can blossom…so that we can have enlighten leaders in time for the complete breakdown of the domination system? Good time to start, wouldn't you say?

If you'd like to know more how this can be done…let me know…I've got some ideas…and if I can cross-fertilize with your ideas…hey, we can help move evolution along in the direction it's already headed.
What say ye?

"AWAKEN" THE NEW "WILL" CONDITIONER

2009-10-22T15:15:00.001-07:00

AWAKEN, The Conditioner

by Errol Strider

Is your life drab? Has your will lost its bounce, the sparkle, the luster?

Do the highlights just disappear into the dark?

Has your will become hard and brittle with divided beginnings…split endings, making it unresponsive to love, incapable of making healthy choices?

Or maybe your will was abused by early conditioning… leaving it limp, stringy and depressed…

Then you'll want to try our new life line conditioner, "Awaken".

AWAKEN, unlike the old paradigm conditioners, doesn't harness, flatten, or deplete your natural will.

It leaves it, silky, soft and responsive to the gentlest touch, the most sublime guidance.

The old conditioners acted to subvert your will, making it listless, abrasive or stiff.

And what is life with a stiff will? No joy, no resilience.

No, you want your will firm enough to penetrate, but supple enough to receive.

What you want is the flexibility and allure of a properly conditioned will.

Remember when your will first started growing out? How free, flowing and zesty it was.

You could feel the spirit moving through it--balancing it, adjusting it, the luxurious and natural sheen...the lift...the way light could just bounce off your will and radiate your natural beauty.

And then, remember how those early conditioners would try to force the strands of your will to fit into some old style image that really wasn't you.

Well now, you can get a fresh start with "Awaken"...the Holy way to have more body in your life.

When applied directly into your crown chokra, "Awaken" un-conditions and cleanses all those old beliefs right out through your scalp.

Then it replaces those toxic perceptions with "Fresh Viewpoint," our patented process. This makes the transition so easy and effortless that all you'll need is a short period of Grace to allow Fresh Viewpoint to penetrate deep into your consciousness.

And then get ready to experience your will spring back to life.

Awaken uses a very old and time proven formula.

Unlike many conditioners that use artificial and inorganic beliefs, Awaken uses only the purest ingredients harvested directly from the source of will…who's been around since time began...literally.

Awaken is applied by a gentle stroking of the will, a luxurious message that goes to the very core of your volition.

If you use Awaken moment to moment, in no time at all, your will will return to that wholesome, gorgeous and alive state it was designed for.

And with Awaken, you can be sure that your will has that all-important quality of being yielding.

As you know, a yielding will is a happy will, a will that invites warm loving thoughts to run their fingers through it.

So, if you want to turn heads and enlighten consciousness when you walk into a room, try Awaken, the only conditioner that leaves your will unencumbered and free.

Possible side effects include: Out of body experiences, loss of appetites for sensation, power or prestige, reduction of interest in material acquisitions and self-forgetfulness.

Please consult your inner beautician.

THE ANTIDOTE TO GREED AND GLUTTONY

2009-10-20T12:51:00.001-07:00

THE ANTIDOTE TO GREED AND GLUTTONY

The never ending impulse to "More"…Getting…drives us and is driving us bloated and insane.

General belief: "If this (whatever it is…food, money, sex, drugs, being right, rock and roll…) is good, then more of it must be better."

That's pretty much controlling belief that dominates most people's perception of life …based on the following premises:

What I want/need is out/over there.

I have to do something to "get" it from over there to over here.
In order to "do" the right something I have to "have" the right resource (skills, money, connections, knowledge, a plan, clout, etc.)

Therefore I need to do something in order to "have" the right combination of those "somethings"…
This leads to a viscous circle…that goes from not having, to doing, to not having, to frustration…to death.

Can we think of a better approach?

Let's start with… The impulse to more is good and natural.

Here is mistake and the twist…

It's not about getting more (can't be done…which is why it leads to greed, addiction, narcissism gluttony, etc.) it's about BECOMING MORE.

We BECOME "MORE" simply by sharing life…allowing people/things/impressions into our consciousness with a welcoming and curious embrace…no matter what "it/they" look or feel like.

Then share what is most fundamental and true for each of us…mo matter how scary that is… as artfully as we can. Indeed…transmute that practice into a work of art.
Questions?
Comments?
Let's go…let's commit to the transition from the last stage of evolution to the emerging one…the former based on duality, the latter one based on the notion of a "Seamless existence."

Next topic…how we do it…

Text message from God… "Though separated at birth, forgiveness and adaptation are identical twins.

MAKING A CASE FOR LIVING LIFE IN A BUBBLE!

2009-10-19T16:52:00.001-07:00

LOOKING AT LIFE THROUGH ROSE COLORED GLASSES---

MAKING A CASE FOR LIVING LIFE IN A BUBBLE.

or…

How to escape from the time/space continuum and turn your problems into

punch lines or opportunities for soul growth.

bub·ble –n.

2. a small globule of gas in a thin liquid envelope.

4. anything that lacks firmness, substance, or permanence; an illusion or delusion.

11. a sudden, small, temporary change or divergence from a trend: In May there was a bubble in car sales, with three percent more being sold than last year.

16. to seethe or stir, as with excitement:

For my purposes, definitions 11 (a sudden, small, temporary change or divergence from a trend ) and 16 (to seethe or stir, as with excitement) are most accurate, although seen from the point of view of the disparaging "realist", they would probably define my bubble according to definition 4 (anything that lacks firmness, substance, or permanence; an illusion or delusion).

But what I am going to suggest is that life from within the bubble is far more real than it appears looking from the outside the bubble and, in fact, offers opportunities for human advancement barely recognized from outside the bubble. So this is an invitation to come on in.

The realists might suggest that if I persist in my delusionist ways, I'm certain to die…life will, in fact, kill me…Well, I've got news for you, realists…life will kill you, too. But life is safer inside the bubble…it's safer because there's no fear…and a place of no fear is always a safer place to live than a place of fear…and believe me, and you can ask any realist to confirm this, life outside the bubble is full of fear. Some may even claim that life outside the bubble is run by fear, which is why, after many excursions between life in the bubble and life outside the bubble, I have decided to take up permanent residency inside my bubble.

Clearly life, as it is seen from inside the bubble is distorted…and, quite frankly, it needs to be distorted. In its current "torted"* state, life outside the bubble is a bitch…as many realists would describe it…a bunch of problems and then you die. But from within the bubble, life is filled with eternal possibilities for a pleasant surprise.

*tort tôrt), n. Law. a wrongful act, not including a breach of contract or trust, that results in injury to another's person, property, reputation, or the like, and for which the injured party is entitled to compensation

I think even a confirmed realist living outside the bubble would agree that life out there is very "torted', "full of wrongful acts that result in injury to other persons and their property, reputation and 'the like" for which they are entitled to compensation," but, often as not, people don't get any compensation, and as a result many feel betrayed…Hence…the cynical point of view of the realist and why it is so helpful to come into the bubble where life is dis-tort-ed, and where in fact there is compensation. And that compensation comes in the form (actually formless) of Grace…

Grace makes it possible for the bubble to exist and for you to live inside the bubble. Grace is the very substance of the bubble, it is what makes up my bubble and "You can never do enough to deserve grace, all you can do is accept it." (text message from God)

You see, life outside the Bubble which we will call LOB as contrasted with life inside the Bubble which we will call LIB. (implying liberty) there is an almost universally agreed upon assumption that it is by doing that things get done. So the concept of accepting or receiving, especially that which cannot be understood and especially controlled like Grace, is foreign to the LOByists. In fact, it is the capacity to receive that allows one to absorb the grace that makes living in the Bubble possible in the first place, that enables one to be a LIBer.

Controlling, (the default reaction of the "LOByist) in many ways, is the opposite of receiving. And if one is driven by the ever-separating-aspect of self, the ego…constant control must be maintained otherwise separation will collapse and the ego will self destruct. So the ego is afraid of allowing anything uncontrollable in, especially anything as uncontrollable Grace…unearned assurance provided by a benevolent though often misunderstood Universe.

The Grace of God, the trajectory of evolution sweeps through the universe gobbling up anything that isn't committed to love and life, and since all fear-based reactions to life, especially chronic fears, don't exist in the primordial and evolving state of love, any thought, activity, or feeling that is fear-based evaporates, just as a shadow disappears when the light is cast upon it.

Now, living inside the bubble does not in any way mean that you have no contact with the cruel and injurious life outside the bubble…it just places a semi-permeable membrane between you and life (like a cell) on the outside per definition #2…a small globule of gas contained in a thin clear liquid.

You see, what you breath inside the bubble is unpolluted grace…while the thin liquid film between you and the harsh "real" world is actually composed of a combination of tears of grief and joy as they are expelled from any humble being who is willing to mourn…which is why Jesus said, blessed are those who mourn…for they shall be free to live life inside a bubble.

Next lesson: How to get inside the bubble…a vacation plan for disillusioned "objectifiles." (and where are the best places to eat). More later…

THE MEDIA IS NOT ALL THAT IT CRACKS YOU UP TO BE!

2009-10-17T14:10:00.001-07:00

WATCH OUT FOR THE MEDIA! IT' NOT ALL THAT IT CRACKS YOU UP TO BE

One of the things we most appreciate about the media, especially comedy TV shows, is that it cracks us up.

But Beware: The media literally cracks you up…it puts cracks in your psyche…separating you from aspects of yourself, and cracks can easily develop into craters, chasms and canyons…given the right set of pulls, pressures and problems.

Then it's just a hop, skip and a fall…into crators…

an easy misstep that will drive you into chasms (especially cata-chasms),

and an unconscious stumble that will get you lost in canyons of self-deception.

The craters grow from common misconceptions, the chasms from mutual delusion…and, the canyons from the rivers of denial.

Here's the punch line…this should crack you up…

We, then attempt to solve our manifold problems from the fantasy space stations we created...

Our agreed upon assumptions, fed by our collusion with the media in creating never ending conflicts for fun and profit

..whilst we look for a handout from "wisdom", but unwilling to do the work wisdom requires to release its bounty.

BE AWARE:

The media sells, produces, feeds off of, and perpetuates conflict!

Conflict makes money…any war monger, fear producer or marketing guru knows that.

Create conflict, make it relatively unbearable and then sell the solution.

These are not new insights to any clear observer, but when we mistake all of that for "reality" and make choices based on all that "sound and fury", we've become blind observers! The blind observers leading the…(you get the point.)

Media hides what is really happening…if it didn't hide it, it wouldn't be in business and keep you in busyness—too busy to actually see what's happenin, but ever running on the treadmill of consumption!.

Consumer BeWare!
What Media doesn't reveal, because it can't, is that reality is composed of billions upon billions of transactions going in any given instant…and that's just your own life.

As the media looks out at the landscape of existence (ever on the alert for geo-psychic faults") generalizations are made, and if they're massive enough and intense enough, they'll show up as the News.

We then adjust our perceptions and conclusions about this generalized unreality and make choices accordingly… further removing us from "Reality." (Yes, if you're thinking, "We're nuts!" You're right!)

So where can you go to find the reliable News that doesn't depend on conflict as its most compelling ingredient…just like sugar is the most alluring ingredient in so much food (which creates all kinds of conflict in your body.)

Answer: To find the true news, go to what is actually new…the Now.

What is new is this moment appearing out of nowhere (not the perishable past).

Media News is never new.

Only what shows up in the Now is New!

But the only way you can get the "real news" is if you're reporting "live".

Now, both the good and the bad news is that in order to show up in the now, you have to leave behind all those assumptions, judgments, rationalizations, justifications, and misperceptions that block out "Immediacy" (Unfortunately, the foundations and fabric of your perceived existence, but not to worry, letting go of all of that is a "crack up.")

So…champ…all that is needed is a little willingness to be informed about what the real "News" is…

So...suspend your "knowing,"

engage what shows up

and let go of the part of the past that is still "dying for resolution" (un-forgiveness).

But Buyer BeAware!... "It's never too late to show up in the Now!"

I'D LIKE A SURRENDER/TRUST COMBO, PLEASE.

2009-10-16T13:07:00.000-07:00

I'D LIKE THE "SURRENDER/TRUST COMBO, Please"

Not easy words, eh? Trust…hmmm…trust what, trust whom…why? When? See? …tough words…lots to consider…and why even consider it?
Benefits of Trust…what's in it for you?

You can relax…

Life flows more easily

Everything goes on sale at once…and you can afford it.

Benefits of not trusting

You don't get hurt as easily

Ward off loss…

Get out of life with fewer scars, disappointments and betrayals.

Who should care?

People who are suffering

People who know people who are suffering

People who want to reduce suffering

Telemarketers

Downside of Trusting:

Have to let go of your addictions

Have to let go of your contrived self-identity

Have to become more attractive.

Downside of Not-Trusting…

Ever reducing universe options

Fear squelched existence.

Ultimate isolation and less fun.

What else does trust do?

Lubricates the pathways of interpersonal exchange.

Makes the ground of existence more dependable and buoyant.

Saturates all transitions with spiritual "come."

What or who are we trusting?

"Exactly." Abbot and Costello

Or…to be more specific

"The Evolutionary Imperative" variously called,

"The Will of God, Allah, Krishna, Buddha, Christ, anyone whom I've been grateful and happy to obey.

People often experience it directly through

A hug

A Blessing

Golden laced sunsets…

The act of creation

The delightful surprise

Timely Forgiveness

Transcending self-interest

Examining the exquisite dances of existence as they display themselves through universe peepholes, like…physics, biology, astronomy, physiology, good management theory, successful relationships, parent/child continuum, great movies, symphonies, meals…thanksgiving.

Yep, it's there to behold wherever we're willing to look…as long as we look for it in the Now…
And that brings us to surrender…
A topic for our next conversation.

(And by the way, the pictures that I put up are ones that I've taken and each one comes with a little "Text Message" from God that I've received. Let me hear from you with your email and I'll send you the photo with message.)

The Need for Mutual Recognition

2009-10-15T14:01:00.001-07:00

While we are madly scrambling about to avoid as much pain and gain as much pleasure as we can, consider the benefits of stopping to share some mutual recognition.

As I observe the human condition...most of us are busy trying to get something, go somewhere, attract or avoid someone...eats up a lot of energy and often leaves us frustrated in terms of achieving our goals...money, security, sex, comfort, knowledge, power, influence, health...those sorts of things...

Here's the irony...what we actually want and more often what we need is very likely right before us waiting to be mined from our relationship with another, specifically, through our mutual recognition.
If we really knew who and what was standing before us in any given exchange is the opportunity of a life time...even the opportunity of an eternal life time.

Life is all about making exchanges...nothing comes about without an exchange from the tiniest particle to the biggest ego.

The more deeply and thoroughly we exchange with one another, the more energy is liberated and the closer we get to resolving our issues.

How this works is the study of physics, biology, chemistry, sociology, religion, family dynamics and relationships... I want to explore this with you so that you can benefit from this knowledge and begin to benefit from the practice of "MUTUAL RECOGNITION"

First the potential benefits...more

Life,

Love,

Unity,

Respect,

Honesty,

Justice

and Kindness

and the energy and imagination to translate those eternal dimensions into practical actions that lead to real life improvement.

Next...how it works and how it can work for you.

Stay tuned!
Errol

Beliefs and Assumptions to Question

2009-10-14T12:11:00.000-07:00

Text message from God: "You can't afford the luxury of self-reliance any more."

Certain beliefs that you have to at least question…if not abandon in order to really address and solve many of the problems that face us:

"It's about the money."

"I have to solve this problem…myself."

"There is much to fear."

"I lack the wherewithal to solve it."

"I need to accomplish "this," but no matter what I do, it's never enough."

"I am somehow disconnected from the rest of the universe, especially the part of the universe that has what I lack and want."

"I'm a piece of shit…"
"Something or someone out there has to change in order for me to be all right."

Opportunity to make positive change

2009-10-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

We've all heard the expression, changes starts with us as individuals. In spite of the compelling call of this admonition, we often are tempted to address change by trying to fix something outside of ourselves. This is understandable. Sensual data comes to us from "out there." Yeshua has told us that "the kingdom of Heaven is within"...ergo, if you want to get to what is fundamental and where fundamental change takes place...check out the Inner you.
Years a go I wrote a very brief essay that appeared on Celestial Seasonings Spearmint tea box...(I was hoping to get Morning Thunder, but I like Spearmint...so I took it.) What I shared then, and my mind hasn't changed much since then is the metaphor that if you want to change one element (oxygen, hydrogen, etc.) into another you must fuse them at the nuclear level...Then real change occurs. Otherwise you're just manipulating the particles at the surface level and nothing fundamentally changes.
Obama came to office on the platform that emphasized the need to change, and then was thrust into the very entrenched world of the military,/industrial,/congressional/ etc. complex...where those in the greatest position to change things are probably the least willing.
So what about this inner change? How does it happen and how can it influence the collective. I am so impressed at how unthinking we tend to be when it comes to addressing the mammoth problems our world/people face. How we tend to react to generalities and gross assumptions fed to us by the media. We are mostly deluded and unconscious when it comes to the realization of what change really is and can be and from where it must be initiated.
But though it feels so good to gripe and react, I think it is much more productive to take a pro-active approach to our "problems, to realize where and how that fundamental change starts and needs to happen and to develop a vision and strategies of how that might come about.
As the Urantia Book states in its "cardinal features of the Kingdom of Heaven" the individual is preeminent. So let us start with us... as individuals...and ask ourselves what changes do we need to make within ourselves to bring about ...within our unique self..wholeness, justice... etc.? Do we even know? Do we care? What will it take to awaken within us the realization that the change starts with me and that change, if we are sincere about improving the quality of our lives, must begin now. So what will it take to begin with you? With me? And how do we proceed? Stay tuned.

2009-10-13T15:57:00.000-07:00

Message from the Now Oct 13 09

2009-10-13T13:21:00.000-07:00

Hey Partner...there's a lot of stuff going on out there and in here demanding my interest and attention...how about you? Stuff that feels good, looks good, and stuff that's challenging my fight or flight reflex...
Victim? Oppressor? Intermediary? What's your choice?
Okay, let's start by going to whatever conflict that you can influence directly, hold hands with the Spirit of Union, jump in and mix it up...that seems to be the call from the All Knower All Being...
Bottom line..the problems that we face look a lot different from "The Now" than they do from the past/future matrix...tempting though that is.
Are you ready/willing to change? And if so, into what? If you could pick any place on the evolutionary spiral, where would you place yourself? Where you are now, for instance?

So here's a little poem I'd like to share with you...to get us re-oriented: (By the way, ACIM (A Course in Miracles)suggests that the first step is to strengthen our motivation to change...how strong is yours?) "First step to what?" you may ask. Well, first step to re-orienting ourselves in the direction that evolution is headed...for one thing. Now mind you, I trust that in the long run, we are all headed that way, but we could save ourselves a lot of time...and more importantly, suffering, if we worked with the program rather than resist it...and if all it takes is a little knowledge, practice and support, well, by all means, let's seize it and get moving...get motivated! If you will...
Okay, we'll have to hold off on the poem until I can determine how to cut and paste it.
Speaking of metaphors..."Cut and Paste" is a great one. If you were invited to cut and paste different aspects of yourself, what would you pick? Let me know...get back to me and we can continue with the process of "Waking Up!" in time...just in time, as a matter of fact! Cut you up? Paste you into the developing story of evolution.

Premise # 1: "Life is on your side!" True? False? True for some but not true for others? True from time to time? Mostly false? What if...it were actually completely and utterly true? That to me is the message of Faith...the Message that Yeshua demonstrated as he submitted to the ultimate test...entering the illusion of separation...of duality...and finding his way out of that illusion into...guess where? Why, the Now, of course. Where he keeps emerging timelessly...and invites us to re-emerge endlessly out of this very beat in between time...the center of the cyclone...the pole around which life spins..."God is, after all, the still point at the center of our turning."
Faith urges us to "Act as if life was in fact on your side."
Johan just sat down with me at the coffee shop and e shared with me..."I am the human of the human..." I am that I Am. In other words, what if God were the first human? showing up shortly after the stage for phenomenal reality was set by 13 billion years of you...ready to play hide and seek with consciousness...other self-aware independent beings simultaneously connecting with everything else, and yet, with each connection/confrontation...giving birth to new dimensions of consciousness playing in the back yard of existence--physicality.
"
So what Johan and I have arrived at is the notion of a Unified theory of the Soul." How about you? How about coming to our Unified Experience of the Soul? We're starting a program, and you're invited to participate...we're calling it an integrative fitness program...more to come later.
Just got a tweet from God, "
"Which is more important to fire? The pieces of wood or the spaces in between them?
Let me hear from you...
Errol

Welcome aboard, Partner.

2009-10-09T13:13:00.001-07:00

Welcome aboard, Partner. This universe is filled with a vast array of particulates...all vying for importance in our perception...generally prodded along by pain, pleasure or curiosity. If you're experiencing any of these or would like to...along with a "Sense of Human" then please join me on this ride, while we consider things like...what is meaning and how much is it? Can you get it on sale? Can you get wisdom without living it? Who's in charge? How much does he charge? What do I do to shift from a limited dualistic perspective to an eternal vision. Where do I get on? Etc...so let me start you off with a couple of poems I've written so that we can begin to get acquainted...
"We're all gathered in a wash...
like bubbles...
clinging...
and then...cleansed by each other...
helping to explode our shells...
each leaving a vacuum...
waiting to be filled
by god!