Gong San Ho

Become the watcher

Gerard S. Hoff1 Comment

 

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Your mind is in a constant mode of doing marathons. Most of the time you’re not knowing what you’re thinking, that you’re thinking, how you’re thinking, who is thinking and why ‘it’ is thinking. So many unfinished thoughts, just lingering in your mind.
It’s a busy place up there.

Now imagine driving a mountainbike (it could be a car, but then it is difficult to end the story…). Fortunately, our brain has a sub-routine that is able to manage the constant stream of thoughts while doing a complex thing like biking.

But sometimes you’re too pre-occupied with thoughts and not paying enough attention to biking, the road and the obstacles, Suddenly there’s an abyss.

In a reflex you turn your wheel, your whole life passes in an instant before your eyes, you fall on to the ground, your bike keeps sliding, but you somehow you’re able to grab a branch of some kind and manage to hold.

Then there’s this silence.
A few seconds later you hear your bike crash.

In the reflex, your mind stopped thinking instantly. It is exactly then when your consciousness takes over. This reflex is the deepest part of your being that reacts. The thinking of the mind becomes obsolete. It is this sensation I believe we should embrace more often.

It is the angel in you. And you can use the angel, because she’s is in anyone of us, spread your wings, fly up and look from a distance at yourself. Become aware, as a watcher, of your own thoughts. You’ll probably have a lot of laughs! It doesn’t have to be on a constant basis (that is impossible), but be aware.

Just now and then, during the day, become the watcher, release the angel.

 

 

Wandering Spirit

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Stone angel

It is funny.
The contradiction of independency.
We believe we’re independent, but we’re not.

We’re attached to habits, rituals, things, a job, a car, certain friends, things we know, we have or we believe. And we like to talk about it, show it, or just think about it, so we feel good and confident. We feel these things are part of who we are.

Now imagine these things are taken away.
What’s left of you?

Everything and more!
It is not the things that make who we are, that is the ego that attached to these things. The true you, your spirit is unattached and doesn’t need things to be the coolest being on earth. Yes, that’s who you are, without things, isn’t that amazing?

It is like going parachute jumping.
Sitting high up in the air, with the parachute strapped on, frantically holding on the the handles. Thinking about that, it is not a nice place to sit. The only thing from keeping you from flying, instead of sitting there stuck, is letting go of the handles. Then you’re free as a bird, weightless, majestic and a great view.

Sit back, relax, keep breathing and let go.
And let go again and again, until it becomes a natural habit,
Like a wondering spirit.

Remember: Even statues can fly, they just need stronger wings.

Wandering Spirits is part of the Heavenliness

 

The Path

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In one of his rare writings, the Sufi sage Hafik comments on the idea of travel;

“Accept with wisdom the fact that the Path is full of contradictions.

Many times the Path will contradict itself, just to stimulate the passenger to discover what will happen at the next curve. If two travelers take this journey together, it is almost certain that one of them is on the wrong Path.

Each person must run his own risks along his Way, because there are no set formulas to achieving the Truth.

Only the ignorant try to imitate the ways of others. The intelligent men don’t waste their time with that, and develop their own set of skills.

They know that no two leaves in the forest of a million trees are exactly the same. No two Paths on the Journey of Life are exactly the same.”

I like to add a last thought. Either as inspiration or as a post-rationalisation. Whatever fits best at the time or situation: “Diversity is the path to enlightment”.

Apparition – Spirit FM

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Do you recognize that?
That constant stream of words going on in your head?
That is Mind.FM, the radio frequency of your ego. Mind.FM has a very powerful transmitter and has the power to overrule all.

That ego is not you, but pretends it is, and does anything to proof it.

In a way there’s nothing wrong with ego. In fact without it, life becomes perhaps boring. But ego is also responsible for a lot of negativity, like fear, jealousy, the feeling you’re not good enough, or the feeling of being a victim. In that sense it gives a wrong or fake purpose in life.

It is like looking in the mirror. The person you see is the one you recognize as yourself (or at least the image you have of yourself). When you smile, it smiles, when you frown it frowns, but when you raise your right hand it does the opposite. Looking at it from the perspective of the ego that is frustrating.

The trick is to become aware of the one watching the one who’s watching the image in the mirror. The one that is listening to your mind’s continuous flow of words and thoughts (and has some good laughs about the crazy things that happen there), that is the true you, your spirit, your connection to the source. The closer you get to the spirit, the less the ego can interfere.The real purpose in life is to live in the now and enjoy the moment. Watching your mind through the eyes of your spirit gets you there. The way is to be fully aware of the ego in order to learn and to grow.

Just remember there’s always the one watching you, watching yourself in the mirror. Try to connect to him or her at anytime, especially when you feel negative energy, like anger, envy, hate, frustration, jealousy. That awareness is the beginning of a new powerful radio frequency: the one of the spirit.

The one of the true you.

Waylaid

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What is the flow of life?
Is it something you determine or is it something divine?

Life

I believe the flow of life is the thing you want, can and dare to embrace. It is about making decisions, without hesitation. Decisions that are instinctive, from the source.

The funny thing is that hesitations (can) come afterwards. Second thoughts, doubts, fear, things from the past, things from the future and it is rational.

It is the mind that furiously tries to avoid change. The mind wants to stay where it is and derives a large part of it’s (your) identity from that, change means an adaptation to something new.

Don’t hesitate, just do.
The nice things, the good things, the bad things, the things that need to be done, the things that have to be done, the things that should be done and even the things you don’t like to be done. Connect to the source, the original spirit that did not hesitate to embrace the opportunity, including the steps that need to be done to get there.

And it can be a long journey.
It can be a first stone of a long line of domino stones that need to fall down, small stones and huge stones, but eventually they all fall down and you get to the reward,
in order to find new stones to push over,
new prices to look forward to.

Don’t think big,
think small, one brilliant step at the time.

Feel big,
use every steps as inspiration and celebration.
Don’t let anybody else hold you up,
including your ego.

Don’t be waylaid

 

 

 

Waylaid orinated in Middle Dutch ‘wegelagen’ to lie in wait, derivative of wegelage a lying in wait

 

Animal Zen Masters: The Albatross

Gerard S. Hoff3 Comments

Nature delivers the greatest Zen masters in learning how to live in the now.

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Albatrosses are the biggest birds on earth.
Some of them can have a wing span of 370 centimeters (12 feet). The bones in the wings are hollow to save weight and at the same time make them ultra strong. The front of the wing bone has a rounded shape for aerodynamics.

Albatrosses spend most of their life in the air.
They fly highly efficient and can lock-up the wings in with a special muscle and shoulder joint. By only moving their head they change direction, using dynamic soaring and slope soaring. That way they can fly distances up to a 1000 kilometers a day, effortless.
The only exertion is when they take off.

Life is not about carrying weight,
it’s about floating in the air.
Lock your wings.

Animal Zen Masters: The Earthworm

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Nature delivers the greatest Zen masters in learning how to live in the now.

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Earthworms have a major impact on the soil structure. When we walk the earth, billions of worms dig tunnels and break down plant material, making the soil airy and healthy.

The most amazing thing about earthworms is their power to regenerate their body.

Segments of their body can be detached and then simply re-formed again. Even from internal organs it is known that the nervous system can regenerate.
Imagine.

To grow in life is to detach,
the soul will regenerate.

Animal Zen Masters: The Baby Giraffe

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Nature delivers the greatest Zen masters in learning how to live in the now.

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Giraffes spend most of their lives standing up; they even sleep and give birth standing up. That makes the birth of a giraffe baby, one of the most violent births in the animal kingdom. A drop of 2 meters, right off the smoothing womb.

The giraffe calf can already stand up and walk after about an hour is able to run the first day. Within week, it starts to collecting its own leaves.

Wisdom begins in wonder – Socrates

Animal Zen Masters: The Bee

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Nature delivers the greatest Zen masters in learning how to live in the now.

A bee is living in a hive with hundreds of thousands of other bees, where every bee plays it’s own distinctive role. Outside the hive the bee is on its own, but its role even more significant.
For us.

Bees are important for the pollination of many plants and therefore have an indirect role of about thirty percent of all of the chain in the human food.

Next time you see a bee, be aware of the importance of it.

Be yourself, everyone else is taken.

Animal Zen Masters: The Spider

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Nature delivers the greatest Zen masters in learning how to live in the now.

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The web of the spider is an ingenious object. One sticky thread after the other creating the base and then weaving the circles until it’s finished.
It takes a day to make.

After it’s finished the spider retreats in a corner out of sight and waits. All flies have seen him making the web, so avoid being near it. But the spider waits and  waits until the flies forget and one gets trapped in the sticky threads.
Then it moves.

Patience may be one of the largest bases for success