Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Beyond Mediocrity

Today, it's not odd for most of us to accept mediocrity instead of greatness. We do this all the time, because we believe it's our only option. Far too many of us have embodied mediocre lifestyles as acceptable ways to express our potential. And, unfortunately, this type of thinking is very prevalent among victims.  We believe it's not only acceptable but desirable. So we carve out images of success within the parameters of mediocre lifestyles. 

To embody mediocrity as a goal in life is difficult for most people to comprehend, much less accept. Yet when we think about it this type of thinking is what defines victims. As we know, as victims we strive to accomplish the small things in life that define mediocrity.  And by lowering our standards to satisfy our thirst for victim beliefs, we remain in perpetual states of powerlessness.

When we live with victim beliefs long enough, at some point in our lives, most of us begin to compare ourselves to others who are doing greater things. It is during this period of introspection that we begin to think about ourselves from the prism of "who am I?" By the time we reach this point in our lives, we are totally overwhelmed by pain and confusion. Whenever we are overcome with great difficulties, especially seemingly insoluble problems, we find it difficult to accept we are actually the person that's  experiencing the confusion and pain. This surreal, empty feeling of pain and suffering that's devoid of reality is who we are .

As victims on spiritual enlightenment journeys, it seems natural for us to live with confusion and pain in our lives. We have learned how to exist in cesspools of confusion and pain. Each time we act as victims the cesspool grows larger with new adherents fighting to free themselves. The more victims we encounter the more we believe they're responsible for our not being able to free us from the cesspool of confusion and pain. Unbeknown to us, we are the ones responsible for the confusion and pain we find ourselves suffocating in.

Many of us who victimize ourselves, seldom, if ever, believe we are responsible for accepting victim lifestyles. We search everywhere for someone to blame for the confusion and pain we feel now. We become angry with those who appear to have that which we desire.  Our anger grows each time we come in contact with someone who's doing better in life than we are. We believe they -- business mangers, presidents, vice-presidents, athletes, entertainers, and so forth -- have the success we only dream about.  We sadly believe we can't do any better than what we are doing now.

Similarly, many of us believe potentiality and mediocrity are congruent.  And to a certain degree that's probably valid for those who think of themselves as victims. We are expressing our potential in mediocrity. Regardless to our status in life, we do this all the time without ever examining the way we feel about what we are doing.  In many instances, we are willing to accept whatever careers we can get, even if it means destroying ourselves. We believe that expressing our true potential is not as important as accepting societal limitations on our power.


Meanwhile, as enlightenment-seekers, we believe mediocrity is an albatross around our necks. We are working to express our limitless power, which exists only outside the consciousness of victim-thinking individuals. Look for us in the limitless space of the universe; that's where you will find us.

You can read more insightful ideas in my book "Seeds from the Ashes" available on http://www.amazon.com/     You can now also join me on Facebook.

Friday, December 11, 2009

The Search for Security

Most of us want to live as long as we can. We like it here on this planet; the place we call home. We have build ourselves quite a kingdom here and we are reluctant to let go of it. So, without giving much thought to why we're here, we, nevertheless, seek and try all kinds of things in vain attempts to delay our inevitable departures.

Since this planet is the only home we have ever known, we want to control it similar to the way we control our other possessions. For some of us, a permanent place to stay is what life's all about.  Who wants to leave and go to another place,  unless we believe it's much better than where we are now? It's like buying a larger home in a more affluent neighborhood.

Most of us find it difficult to believe our joy for living is ever fulfilled unless we have some stability in our lives.  This type of thinking causes us to believe it's better to live in a place we own rather than one we rent. We don't find our lives very rewarding or fulfilling unless we own something.  And by owning things, we can stay where we are without having to move unexpectedly. Unfortunately, it's this type of behavior that drives us crazy with worry.

We worry about holding on to things. We work valiantly and earnestly to create lifestyles that provide us with the greatest sense of security. To achieve these lifestyles, we're willing to sell our  precious life-hours for money and its ancillary rewards. Many of us believe that with enough money, we can prolong our time here or, at least, make it more enjoyable.

Many of us believe money is more valuable than time; the most valuable commodity given to us. It is the source of security we all crave. We believe it will make us feel secure and create a sense of permanence in our lives. This will allow us to covet illusions of power, courage, wealth, and happiness.  Even though, we know from others that what we are experiencing is only temporary.

Nevertheless, with knowledge aforethought, we continue to sell our life-hours in exchange for money and promises of security and happiness. We do so knowingly by victimizing ourselves. From the prism of our victim beliefs, we perceive the world as rotating around financial, emotional, psychological, and egotistical comforts. The things we believe create the greatest form of security for us.

Meanwhile, even as we pursue our quest for security, we continue to get wake-up calls nudging us to stop and do something different.  We feel, perhaps innately, there's something not quite right about chasing after things. Yet, even with our doubts, we continue to pursue the things we believe will provide us with the greatest security. In other words, while we know that money, houses, careers, fame, and so on cannot provide us with the security we seek, this does not deter us in our pursuits for them. 

As victims, the things we desire seem so real to us. From our perspectives we don't actually believe they're only temporary interludes in our lives. To us, they have a reality and value greater than anything we have ever known.  These qualities are what make us desire to live in world where we have very little control over our existence.  And, without control over our existence, we don't find life enjoyable. 

To illustrate our dependency on things for our existence, whenever we  lose our money, homes, jobs, or close relatives and friends, we are plunged into deep depression and grief over our losses. And regardless to how much spiritual guidance or inspiration we receive, we cannot move forward without coming to grips with our losses. While we attempt to rationalize our independence from the things causing us to suffer, we, nonetheless, remain victimized by our beliefs.
Similarly, it is during this rationalization process that we finally realize we are greater than the things we seek. It is this realization that opens the door to a new awareness of ourselves possessing the power to know we are secure and complete with who we are now.  It is not outside of us in the things, because it's already present in us.

When we understand ourselves, we understand the nature of our existence in this world.  We clearly know we are temporary caretakers of a valuable piece of property, Earth, which is where express who we are. And as caretakers, we must remain mindful of our responsibilities to express enlightenment. This requires us to overcome the victim beliefs causing us great suffering.

It is mindfulness of who we really are that frees us from illusions of security. This illumines our thoughts to understand we are not here to devalue our existence. We are here express enlightenment. And by doing this, we cultivate consciousnesses free from victim beliefs.  This is the security we seek.


The book "Seeds from the Ashes" is available now on http://www.amazon.com/  It's an excellent resource for those who are working on ourselves.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Habitual Behavior

There are few, if any of us, who focus on our habits as we go about our daily activities. Most of us are preoccupied with making decisions rather than understanding the tools we are using to make them. We rely so heavily on our decision-making modalities that everything else in our lives is secondary.

For most victims, we prioritize making decisions as our top priority. Perhaps we think this way, because so many successful people have told us to. According to them, only successful people are able to make the necessary decisions to get what they want. And since most of us are perceived by society to be unsuccessful, we believe we are this way because of our inabilities to make decisions.

Nevertheless, some of us find it difficult  making decisions, especially those requiring courage, mindfulness, compassion, and so forth. We find it easier seeking refuge in our dithering. And yet, unbeknown to us, it's our dithering with making tough decisions that's inextricably tying us to victim beliefs. By our embracing behavioral habits that are producing intense pain and unrelenting emotional suffering, we are creating the foundation for victim beliefs.

Similarly, when our pain becomes overwhelming, this is when we are ready to listen, and promise to do whatever is necessary to change our lives. Unfortunately, this promissory commitment is not backed by a legal tender belief system sufficient enough to subsidize the work that must be done to change our behavior. It is nothing more than reflex responses to temporary pain.

The problems we face in changing our beliefs are enormous. Whenever we seek to change, some of us begin by becoming too enthralled with the decision-making process. And in many cases, this reaction is driven by victim beliefs, which causes us to perceive change from the prism of powerlessness. So the changes we desire to make are tainted with blurred visions of what life is without dysfunctional behavior.

Nevertheless, when we do decide to take action, we feel the fire of anxiety burning in us. We want to do something now, not later. And depending on how messed-up we are at the time, we seek out any person, information, or beliefs that will help us move beyond the pain. Regardless to what we acquire from this search, we inevitably return to our visions of empowerment. Unless we have clear visions, we risk becoming victimized by the ritualized process we use to search for enlightenment in people, places, and things.

For some of us, the search process becomes greater than the goal.  We're so happy to be meditating, praying, and eating healthy meals that we forget why we are doing this in the first place. It is not the process we use, it is our commitments to clearing our minds of victim beliefs that's paramount to our achieving enlightenment.

When we become more concerned with processes than enlightenment itself, we traveling in circles of pain and suffering. And instead of removing victim beliefs, we are creating new ones. In other words, our new beliefs are merely extensions of the old ones expressing themselves in symbiotic illusions of freedom. Even though we believe we are doing something different, we are simply repositioning victim beliefs. It's similar to our redecorating a room in our house with the same furniture. Nothing has changed, except we now believe the furniture looks better.

Meanwhile, as we try to reshape our habits, we begin to realize the magnitude of the work we must do to clear our minds of victim beliefs.  For some of us, this is the moment we begin to use victim tainted visions to prioritize our habits. While there's nothing right or wrong about this process, it is dangerous for those who are unclear about their long-term to achieving enlightenment.

For some unknown reason, victims believe we know exactly, without doing any investigation at all into the causes, the specific habits responsible for us believing we are victims in the first place. We believe our new process, which was born from victim consciousness, clearly reveals to us that we need to stop procrastinating, overeating, drinking too much, complaining, and so forth to achieve enlightenment.

For us to change victim behavior, we must understand how we became victims in the first place. We begin this by understanding there's something in our decision-making process that causes us to think and act as victims. This self-discovery epiphany allows us perceive our habits as friends, not enemies. We are now able to see them present in all our activities and truly understand this is who we are without victim interpretations.


Similarly, without truly understanding the origins of our habits, and the circumstances from which they were created, we are spinning our wheels in a game of intellectual gymnastics. In other words, we are playing mind games with ourselves. And to stop playing mind games, we must do the action to clear away the debris causing us to think of ourselves as victims.

In the meantime, we must appreciate the work we are doing to clear our minds. And when  we gain a little light, this moves us closer to our goal of having clear minds. Then we will know how it feels to act with compassion, courage, peace, love, and freedom.

The book "Seeds from the Ashes" is an inspirational tool for those who seek to change the way they think and live. It is available online at http://www.amazon.com/ It is a good holiday give for someone you know who is in prison, unemployed, ill, depressed, or lonely. n