Sunday, September 7, 2008

How Do We Deal with the World?
I think alot these days about attitude and action, as I see so many people working themselves into a panic over the upcoming presidential election, as well as the dire condition of just about everything. If I go into much depth contemplating the lack of consciousness, heart, vision, and holistic intelligence so relentlessly in my face these days, and the panic that seems to arise in me whenever I let my attention drift, I can quickly spiral into an abyss filled with frustration and helplessness. And yet, in the same moment, I can sink into the peace beneath the surface disturbances and reconnect with soul, presence, the divine. Living well in these times doesn't mean having so much money that the craziness doesn't touch you.

I think we each have to find the right balance between on-purpose action and win-win-win problem-solving AND just being. Without consciousness, that balance becomes a polarity of saving-rescuing vs cocooning and apathy. I remember Don Juan's philosophy of "controlled folly" — basically that everything is already fine so nothing needs to be done, and yet we must convince ourselves that creativity and spiritual growth are worthwhile.

The world situations look very different when seen through the filter of mind-fear-ego vs. unity-love-soul. From the soul's view, there is a sanity working through the process, and even the contractions are purposeful. It doesn't mean we don't act on behalf of those less fortunate, or fail to balance our checking accounts, but that we take each action based on a moment by moment "just-rightness." We give up old rules and act from intuitive knowing.

I find that I am struggling — though perhaps that's too strong a word — not to fight the forces that knock me out of my "nice" alignments with inner peace. I know I am learning to find the peace in the chaos, or the larger order in the global, universal flow. And, without losing my specificity as an individual. There are many fine lines to pay attention to right now to achieve spiritual expansion. Right action, right timing, right thinking, right caring. . .