I saw the movie, and read the book. The Bible, that is, quite a few times, as a child. It was terrifying, comforting, alarming, confusing, challenging, And the people who took it as their compass were no better off in respect of intellectual clarity than those who ignored it entirely, although they did have a kind of courage, as they squared up to living and dying, that impressed me.
The idea of heaven is a Christian one, I think. Nirvana, Bliss, the hereafter, there are many names for that other 99.999999999 % of our being which is other than on this planet. There are also those who speak of hell, but I prefer not to go there at all, not even in contemplation.
When you learn to focus, it's wise though difficult to take that huge percentage into account. The awkward truth is that you hav to go through the needle's eye to get some inkling of it, and being the earthbound animals that we are, supper, cash, sex, soccer, image, action and interest - the connecting one as well as the capital-driven one - keep us in our habits of perception, purpose and pain-avoiding tactics.
The pain-avoiding tactics are the most illuminating signals of that huge percentage, which for the purposes of this blog, is my term for heaven. I do not believe in heaven, so to speak. I have no option but to accept that huge percentage and to try to focus my being accordingly.
I don't think it's possible for any thinking person to continue to assume that one's life is a random, meaningless event. Everything that's rational, reasonable and even tested points the other way. Read Lynne McTaggart's The Field, The Intention Experiment and The Bond to check this out. There's plenty to more to read but this would do for That Huge Percentage 101.
The other thing to do is stop the pain-avoiding tactics and see what happens.
The most prevalent and poignant kind of pain that I know of arises from the fear of separation that death brings. The fear is not only of losing loved ones, but of being cut off , verily, from love and belonging, per se. It's a horrible one, worse than going to the dentist. Whereas you previously managed to pre-occupy yourself with daily business, suddenly, abruptly, frighteningly everything is up close and personal and there's no avoiding the huge and overwhelming emotions. There are no answers, not even questions. It's not like a fierce dog or a dangerous situation that you can understand and fear. Liam Neeson, talking about losing his wife, said it was as though evey now and then, the world goes lop-sided and is no longer a safe place to be. The problem is the total incomprehensibility of it all, not merely conceptually, but to the emotional extremes.
When you learn to focus, it's not as though you control the focus. It's more like learning to go with the energy that focuses you to the extent that you allow.
There's a yin and yang to language, one side being incisive articulation, the other being utterly obtuse and overwhelming emotions. The clarity of language does not express the desperate wail. But if you will accept and even embrace the overwhelmingness of the heart, and that is what I understand the heart to be, the point of contact between the material and the spiritual, human and para-human, the minute and that huge percentage, heaven and earth, you will experience new energy. Coaches like pithy things to remember. Here's one: Here Exists the Art of Reality and Truth. If you can bear to be in that space, you will catch up with focus: emotional, intellectual and volitional.
Immobilisation at the dark end of the tunnel happens when the structures and systems that we have created control us. Cars crash, toilets leak, money is taxable, education is politicized, health policed, criminals victimized, art vandalized, thinking dominated, decision delayed. The heart learns to hesitate.To me, this is the very opposite of heaven. I have a huge wild fig tree. This is the season when it drops hundred of thousands, perhaps millions of little hard, squashy figlets that mess up the garden for a period. To me, the fecundity of nature reflects the generosity of heaven. Out there in space, way beyond our control or grasp, black holes do their thing, and white light re-visits what will ultimately be clear to our fear-dominated minds. I find comfort in the mad number of stars, world within worlds, the unimaginable houses of heaven. I find the love of generosity liberating. The people who taught me to look for heaven and fear hell also taught me to give. I am grateful. I believe that if there is one thing that frees the captive mind it is the magic of learning to give, materially, emotionally, spiritually. One does not give only by giving out, or giving away. One sends out one's own generosity of heart, whatever the gift is, no matter how simple or sophisticated. This is our daily bread.
It's said that we become what we focus on. Strangely, we don't pay enough attention to that on which our hearts focus. Many things move me, yet I realize that one of the ways in which heaven moves things on earth is through generosity.
Succintly, generosity brings heaven to earth. Go the other way towards greed, fear, cruelty and deceit. It's clear enough.
The idea of heaven is a Christian one, I think. Nirvana, Bliss, the hereafter, there are many names for that other 99.999999999 % of our being which is other than on this planet. There are also those who speak of hell, but I prefer not to go there at all, not even in contemplation.
When you learn to focus, it's wise though difficult to take that huge percentage into account. The awkward truth is that you hav to go through the needle's eye to get some inkling of it, and being the earthbound animals that we are, supper, cash, sex, soccer, image, action and interest - the connecting one as well as the capital-driven one - keep us in our habits of perception, purpose and pain-avoiding tactics.
The pain-avoiding tactics are the most illuminating signals of that huge percentage, which for the purposes of this blog, is my term for heaven. I do not believe in heaven, so to speak. I have no option but to accept that huge percentage and to try to focus my being accordingly.
I don't think it's possible for any thinking person to continue to assume that one's life is a random, meaningless event. Everything that's rational, reasonable and even tested points the other way. Read Lynne McTaggart's The Field, The Intention Experiment and The Bond to check this out. There's plenty to more to read but this would do for That Huge Percentage 101.
The other thing to do is stop the pain-avoiding tactics and see what happens.
The most prevalent and poignant kind of pain that I know of arises from the fear of separation that death brings. The fear is not only of losing loved ones, but of being cut off , verily, from love and belonging, per se. It's a horrible one, worse than going to the dentist. Whereas you previously managed to pre-occupy yourself with daily business, suddenly, abruptly, frighteningly everything is up close and personal and there's no avoiding the huge and overwhelming emotions. There are no answers, not even questions. It's not like a fierce dog or a dangerous situation that you can understand and fear. Liam Neeson, talking about losing his wife, said it was as though evey now and then, the world goes lop-sided and is no longer a safe place to be. The problem is the total incomprehensibility of it all, not merely conceptually, but to the emotional extremes.
When you learn to focus, it's not as though you control the focus. It's more like learning to go with the energy that focuses you to the extent that you allow.
There's a yin and yang to language, one side being incisive articulation, the other being utterly obtuse and overwhelming emotions. The clarity of language does not express the desperate wail. But if you will accept and even embrace the overwhelmingness of the heart, and that is what I understand the heart to be, the point of contact between the material and the spiritual, human and para-human, the minute and that huge percentage, heaven and earth, you will experience new energy. Coaches like pithy things to remember. Here's one: Here Exists the Art of Reality and Truth. If you can bear to be in that space, you will catch up with focus: emotional, intellectual and volitional.
Immobilisation at the dark end of the tunnel happens when the structures and systems that we have created control us. Cars crash, toilets leak, money is taxable, education is politicized, health policed, criminals victimized, art vandalized, thinking dominated, decision delayed. The heart learns to hesitate.To me, this is the very opposite of heaven. I have a huge wild fig tree. This is the season when it drops hundred of thousands, perhaps millions of little hard, squashy figlets that mess up the garden for a period. To me, the fecundity of nature reflects the generosity of heaven. Out there in space, way beyond our control or grasp, black holes do their thing, and white light re-visits what will ultimately be clear to our fear-dominated minds. I find comfort in the mad number of stars, world within worlds, the unimaginable houses of heaven. I find the love of generosity liberating. The people who taught me to look for heaven and fear hell also taught me to give. I am grateful. I believe that if there is one thing that frees the captive mind it is the magic of learning to give, materially, emotionally, spiritually. One does not give only by giving out, or giving away. One sends out one's own generosity of heart, whatever the gift is, no matter how simple or sophisticated. This is our daily bread.
It's said that we become what we focus on. Strangely, we don't pay enough attention to that on which our hearts focus. Many things move me, yet I realize that one of the ways in which heaven moves things on earth is through generosity.
Succintly, generosity brings heaven to earth. Go the other way towards greed, fear, cruelty and deceit. It's clear enough.
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