In previous posts we have looked at the idea of acceptance.  In our search for what acceptance means we have looked at a few things it is not.  Acceptance is not agreement, nor is it approval or condoning.  Today we look at the idea that acceptance is not resignation.

Acceptance is not passive

Many times people think that I am describing a passive behavior when I talk about learning acceptance.  Sometimes they think acceptance is similar to letting things run over us because we have no other choice.

I see acceptance as being a very active behavior.  When we are totally accepting of what is going on around us we are in the moment.  For me, acceptance and being in the moment are synonymous.  You may not be doing anything physically when you are in the moment, but your mind is totally occupied with what is happening to you at that particular moment.

Resignation is passive

I view resignation as a very passive behavior.  I “resign” myself to accepting something because I think that I have no other choice.  I can’t seem to do anything about the situation so I must resign myself to the situation.

This is not being accepting.  Neither is it being in the moment.  It is actually fighting the moment.

Consider this.  When I am fighting with the situation I am not in the moment.  I am resisting the situation.  I have an attachment to the way that I would like to see the situation.  I am allowing that attachment to fuel my resistance to the situation.

Resistance is always a sign that I am out of the moment – and have an attachment.  I fight the situation so long that I eventually seem to give in.  I “resign” myself to the situation.  I still have not given up my attachment – I have just decided to stop fighting for now.

Resignation just means that I want to maintain both my attachment and my resistance to the current situation.  I “resign” myself to the current situation because I am tired of fighting – for now.  Because I still have the attachment I will return to the fight as soon as I have rested up a bit and seen a new way to continue the battle.

The next time

Please remember to take a look at this idea the next time you “resign” yourself to a situation.  Are you truly giving in and accepting the moment because you have learned to accept the situation?  Or are you “resigning” yourself to the situation because you want to continue to hold on to your attachments?

In the long run it does not matter which you do.  Either way you will learn how it is best for you to handle the situation.

The sooner we learn true acceptance the sooner we will learn to live without fear and pain.

Until tomorrow –

Es kava turen hai

We work towards an identical goal.

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We occasionally write about ideas that are inspired by the book “Illusions” by Richard Bach.  Today we look at the cycle of learning, doing, and teaching.

Thankful Friday

As always, we take a few minutes each Friday to express our thanks.  Today we thank all of our readers.  It is very generous of you to take the time from your busy day to read these words.  Thanks to our small but continuously growing group of readers.

We also thank WordPress and FeedBurner for making this site free.  They allow us to write and distribute the writings to our readers.  Thanks WordPress and FeedBurner!

We exist to learn and grow

Back in the early days of this blog we started writing about the reason that we exist.  Since then we have brought that idea into numerous posts.  Long time readers will be familiar with the idea that the reason we exist is to learn and grown – and share that learning and growth with each other.

Life is really that simple.  On this planet we have chosen to make it much more complicated than it needs to be.

In the “Messiah’s Handbook” section of the book “Illusions” Richard Bach writes: “You are all learners, doers, and teachers.”  This to me implies the idea that we exist to learn and grow and share that learning with each other.  Hence the idea of “learners” and “teachers”.  What about the “doers”?

We have written several times on this site about the idea of learning by applying our knowledge.  This can also be called learning by doing.

The cycle of learning, doing, teaching

Let’s take a moment and look at the cycle of learning.  We start by knowing very little about something.  When we first start our learning our focus is simple.  There is so much to learn we focus only on the learning.

Gradually we learn enough to start to put the learning to use.  We start to apply what we are learning by doing what we have learned to do.  This increases our understanding because we now have practical knowledge that reinforces our learning.

Eventually by both learning and doing we have learned enough to start to help other people.  This does two things.  First it helps others to learn what we have learned.  Second, it reinforces our learning.  By explaining what we have learned, we get the opportunity to solidify our learning.  Nothing helps us learn more than to have to explain what we know to someone else.  We help them and ourselves at the same time.

We are all learners, doers, and teachers

Back to Richard Bach – I think he was describing this cycle.  At any point in our life we are learning several things.  We are also applying our new found learning to other areas of our lives.  Finally, we are also always teaching something.

At first, you may not think that you are doing these three things.  Watch your life for awhile.  I bet that you will find out that you are a learner, a doer, and a teacher.

That’s all for this week.  Have a great weekend!

Until Monday –

Es kava turen hai

We work towards an identical goal.

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I have been struggling with a few things recently.  As I have been fighting myself I have noticed that it is like a Chinese finger trap.  We look at this today.

A child’s toy

I think we all played with Chinese finger traps when we were children.  It’s that tube that is woven of bamboo.  You put one finger in each end.  As you attempt to pull your fingers out the bamboo tightens on your fingers and you are trapped.

No matter how hard you pull you cannot get out.  It only gets tighter.  The only way to get your fingers out is to relax.  You push your fingers toward each other and the bamboo loosens.  When the bamboo is loose enough you can carefully pull your fingers out.

Fighting yourself

As I have been fighting with myself recently I have seen this child’s toy as an analogy.  It seems to me that when we fight with ourselves we wind up in the same type of situation.

The more we struggle the more we enmesh ourselves in the trap.  We are causing the trap by struggling.  We get caught up in the struggle and forget that we are causing the trap to tighten.

When we finally relax and get back into the moment we see that there is nothing else that we need to do.  Simply by relaxing and being with the situation the trap opens up and we can now extract ourselves.  Simple – but easily forgotten during the struggle.

Nobody wins

Here is one more little idea for today.  Whenever we fight ourselves we always lose.  Fighting ourselves means that we are not at peace with ourselves.  When this happens we always lose to the struggle.

Once again, the trick is to recognize when we are fighting ourselves and stop fighting.  As noted earlier, when we stop the struggle we get back into the moment and align ourselves with our true self.

I will keep you updated as I extricate myself from my personal finger trap.

Until Friday –

Es kava turen hai

We work towards an identical goal.

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Following my usual Sunday morning custom, I was at the Circle of Miracles in Doylestown, PA, yesterday.  I was brought to tears when they played the song “Imagine” by John Lennon.  Today we look at the vision contained in that song.

Welcome Back

I hope that everyone had a safe and happy holiday weekend.  In this part of the northeastern US we had fairly good weather.  I know that in other parts of the country, and the world, the weather has not been very good.  I hope that our readers have remained safe during any local weather adversity they may have encountered.

Imagine

Over the years the song “Imagine” has been very important to me.  I was still in my late teens when it was first released.  At that time I found the lyrics to be hopeful, but I cannot say that I was inspired.

Gradually I began to understand that John Lennon was expressing a universal hope in his lyrics.  The base idea was that we should all recognize each other’s humanity and learn to live together in peace.

I was still denying my spirituality when I first came to this understanding about the song.  The best that I could rationalize about the song was that John Lennon was being idealistic – I could not see how his vision of a peaceful world could ever be created.

After his death

It was not until several years after his death that I first got a glimpse of John Lennon’s vision.  I finally started to pursue the understanding of my true self and my spiritual path.  I would occasionally hear this song and I would see that I was gradually seeing the same vision as John Lennon.

That vision is one where we are not divided by lines on a map.  We are not divided by the dictates of our governments.  We are not divided by the ideology of our religions.  We are not divided by our possessions or lack thereof.

In short, the vision is what everyone has in their heart.  A world where we can all live in peace and harmony.  A world where we can help each other without worrying about what we will get out of it.

My tears

What brought me to tears yesterday was the thought this was probably one of the songs that caused people to assassinate John Lennon.  I will not go into conspiracy theories here.  All I will say is that there were many political assassinations in the US during the period 1963 to 1980.  They were all attributed to a lone killer that hated the person that was assassinated.  This is far too coincidental for me.

In the song “Imagine”, John Lennon questions all the major foundations that those in true political power rely on.  He questions political power, military might, the authority of religions, and the importance of personal possessions.  All of these things make up the base used by those in power on this planet.

The reason I was crying yesterday is that it is so sad that someone has to kill another person who is merely questioning their power base.  When you have to kill to maintain your power then you have already lost your power.  It may not come soon, or even in your lifetime, but it will come.

John Lennon was not the first, nor will he be the last, artist who died because of his vision.  However, he has set the bar high for the rest of us.  Let’s all see how much we can imagine in our lifetime.  Let’s see how much of his vision we can bring into reality.

Until tomorrow –

Es kava turen hai

We work towards an identical goal.

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I was thinking about a few things the other day.  (Thinking always gives me a horrible headache so I never do any more of it than I have to.)  What I thought about was the mess the world has gotten into in the last year and a half or so.  It seems to me that we, as a planet, have a great opportunity hiding within this mess.  Today we look at that opportunity.

Thankful Friday

As always, we take a few minutes on Friday to express our thanks.  Today I want to thank my friend Judy for the wonderful Reiki treatments she has given me in the last few weeks.  Judy – thanks for all the help.

We also always thank WordPress and FeedBurner for providing the tools that make this blog free for all of us.  Thanks WordPress and FeedBurner.

What a mess

As some of you know I am a cineaste (cinema enthusiast).  I particularly like movies from the great Hollywood directors of the 1930’s and early 1940’s.  One such director is Frank Capra.  Most of us know him for “It’s A Wonderful Life”.

Frank Capra also made a film called “Meet John Doe”.  In this movie the character played by Walter Brennan says a line that is one of my all time favorite movie lines.  “I don’t read no papers, and I don’t listen to radios either. I know the world’s been shaved by a drunken barber, and I don’t have to read it.”

Well – I think the world has once again been shaved by a drunken barber.  We don’t have to read about it or see it on TV.

Where it came from

Part of the reason that we have the mess that we do is that a group of people attempted (and are still attempting) to divide us from each other.  They have a vision of the world wherein they feel safe only if they are in control of things.

In order to gain this control they have attempted (and often succeeded) in dividing us into smaller groups.  Once they have divided us, they then attempt to get us to fight with each other.  Once we start fighting each other we are no longer paying attention – or resisting them.

This has made it much easier for this group of people to consolidate the power that they think they need in order to maintain their control.  When you look at the overall economic and political situation in the world for the past ten years you can see how many of us paid more attention to things like gay rights, abortion, illegal immigration, and fear of terrorists than the real political and economic issues.  While our attention was diverted we gave away our power.

The opportunity

Here is the opportunity hidden within this current mess – we can now learn to work together.  We have had many years of a small group working against the interests of the large group.  We now have a chance for the large group to learn to work together in a way that helps us all.

We have the chance to learn that when we help each other we are actually helping ourselves.  We can choose to work together for the good of all of us.

We can also choose to only work for what is good for ourselves right now – and the hell with anyone else – let them take care of themselves.

All the great men of all the great religions have always encouraged us to work together and help each other.  Ignoring those that we can help only diminishes us.

Here is the way to help all of us – working together for the common good.  Let’s all of us choose to work together.  We will help each other and the world will be a better place.

Have a great weekend

This weekend is a special time for many religions.  My hope is that all of our readers observing religious events this weekend have a safe, happy, and holy weekend.

Until tomorrow –

Es kava turen hai

We work towards an identical goal.

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© Copyright 2009 by KanDu Associates, LLC 

The content of this blog is copyrighted by KanDu Associates.  All rights are reserved by the owner.  For reprint information please email:

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Today we look at one of my favorite lines from one of the greatest of all classic movies, “Casablanca”.  This movie is filled with memorable lines.  In the final sequence Humphrey Bogart says to Ingrid Bergman “It is clear that the problems of three small people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this world.”  Let’s explore this idea.

When we have a problem

Many of us get very upset when we have a problem.  We become focused on only our self and our problems.  We literally block out the rest of the world.  All that is important to us is our problem.

Sometimes we run around telling everyone we have a problem.  Sometimes we isolate ourselves and dwell on our problem.  No matter how we deal with it, we become totally consumed by what is going on with us.

Life is doing fine

Many of us lose sight of the fact that the rest of the world continues when we have a problem.  We want the world to stop just because we have a problem.  We soon find that things do not happen this way.

We wrote a post several months ago titled “Life Is Simple – People Make it Complicated”.  In that post we talked mostly about dealing with complications in our life.  Are not problems just another type of complication?  Over time we learn that the more we want to have problems the more we want to complicate our lives.

Back in July we also wrote a post “Life Is Doing Fine – It’s People Who Have Problems”.  This post looked at how everything around us tends to continue whether or not we have a problem.  It’s not that the world does not care if we have a problem.  In actuality it does not.  What is important is what we do when we have a problem.

Keep on going

It can be quite interesting to understand the proper approach to resolving a problem.  First, we cannot care if the world cares about our problem.  Our problem is ours – to resolve or not.  Either way it is our responsibility.

Second – we cannot suppress or deny the problem.  Any denial of the problem will only make it worse later.

Third – we cannot allow the problem to adversely affect our other responsibilities and actions.  The problem will inevitably affect what we are doing.  However, we need to limit those affects and not use them as an excuse.

It can be quite interesting when learning to balance these three things.  However, learning this skill will be a good start at resolving our problems in as painless a manner as possible.

Finally, we must realize that our problems don’t amount to a hill of beans in this world.  We should treat them accordingly.  Then get on with what we have to do.

Until tomorrow –

Es kava turen hai

We work towards an identical goal.

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© Copyright 2009 by KanDu Associates, LLC 

The content of this blog is copyrighted by KanDu Associates.  All rights are reserved by the owner.  For reprint information please email:

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I am starting a new venture and can no longer devote the time to a daily post.  The new publishing schedule will be three times a week.  I will be publishing on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

I extend my deepest appreciation to all of our readers who have been reading this on a daily basis.  As always, I will approve and answer all comments as soon as possible.

This topic was brought up at the Circle of Miracles yesterday.  It was an interesting question.  We look at this idea today.

Welcome Back

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  We had some great weather here in this part of the northeastern US.  Some of the cherry trees and magnolias are starting to flower – as are many of the early flowers.  Hopefully winter has been banished for the next six or seven months.

Does Evil Exist?

This idea was brought up today at the Circle of Miracles in Doylestown, PA.  I will present a summary of the discussion.  Please follow this link to view the full text.

A student asked his professor if cold existed.  The professor said that cold existed.  The student told the professor that cold did not exist.  The professor was amazed.  The student went on to explain that what we perceive of as cold is actually a lack of heat.

The student continued.  He asked the professor if dark existed.  The professor said that night was darkness.  The student then told the professor that darkness was only the absence of light.

Finally the student asked the professor if evil existed.  You would think that the professor would have learned his lesson by now.  But he had not.  The professor stated that we see evil in the world everyday.

The student then told the professor that evil is only the absence of our Creator’s unconditional love.  When we treat each other without unconditional love we are actually being evil.

By the way, the student was Albert Einstein.  This is purported to be a true incident.

Our evil is mostly benign

Unfortunately we have become accustomed to treating each other without unconditional love.  Most of the time this behavior is more benign than anything else.  However, when we treat each other with anything less than unconditional love we are desensitizing ourselves to one another.

As this desensitizing sets in, it can gradually grow into not caring about each other.  As soon as we do not care about each other we can start to justify cruel and uncaring behavior towards each other.

When we are desensitized to one another we no longer see each other as if they were ourselves.  As long as we see others like ourselves we tend to treat them as we would want to be treated.  We do not hurt them because we see it as if we were hurting ourselves.  When we are desensitized to each other we no longer care if we hurt each other because we no longer view it as hurting ourselves.

There may be no evil in the world – but there is an awful lot of not caring about each other.  Please attempt to look at your life and note those people that you do not care about.  Please recognize that this is where the not caring starts. 

Then work to learn how to see these people that you do not care about as if they were you or your family.  Then start to care for them as if they were your family – for in reality they are part of your family.

The world will be a better place for this.

Until tomorrow –

Es kava turen hai

We work towards an identical goal.

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© Copyright 2009 by KanDu Associates, LLC 

The content of this blog is copyrighted by KanDu Associates.  All rights are reserved by the owner.  For reprint information please email:

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As I have recently noted, I am currently starting a new venture.  This has brought up a lot of my unresolved issues.  I have been working on aspects of these issues for many years.  Yesterday I remembered to accept that I have made progress on these issues.  Today we look at why this is so important.

Thankful Friday

As always, we take a little time on Friday to thank those around us.  This week we thank all of our readers.  Our readership reached an all time high during the month of March.  Thanks to everyone for taking the time from their busy day to read what we write on this site.

We always thank WordPress and FeedBurner for the tools that make this site possible.  Without them we would not be able to publish and distribute this site.  Thanks WordPress and FeedBurner!

Showing others their progress

I am involved in several discussion groups.  One of the techniques that I use to help members of those groups is to remind them of the progress that they have made.  As they talk about the issues they are dealing with I remind them of where they were several months or a year ago.

Once they have seen their own progress it becomes relatively simple to see that their current issues are not that much different.  Most of the time these individuals are able to see that they can use their past progress to overcome their current challenges.

Remembering to do this for myself

As I have been struggling with some of these old issues, I seem to have forgotten to apply this idea for myself.  Intellectually I know that I am not in the same place I was a year ago.  Somehow this idea did not register.

I was driving to a client yesterday.  All of a sudden I had a blinding insight.  It was not quite a Paul-on-the-road-to-Damascus moment.  However, it was sufficient to get my attention.

What I saw was that I had made progress working through the issues with which I have been struggling.  Not just in the past year or the last few months.  In just the past few weeks I have made steps toward resolving these issues.

I cannot tell you how important this was to me.  I had been resigned to the fact that I was continuing to struggle with issues that I had been working on for many years.  When I saw that I had actually made some progress recently it was like a weight was lifted from my shoulders.  I saw that I might be able to resolve those issues this time around.

Don’t get me wrong.  The issues are not resolved yet.  I still need to do a lot of work.  Yet, having seen this progress I am much more encouraged to see that I can resolve these issues.  I am close to being able to see that the issues can be resolved.  And that is all that is important.  Once I see that the issues can be resolved I will be able to finally resolve them.

Please do the same for yourself.  When you face a challenge – remember where you were.  Realize that the fact that you have made progress means that you can continue to make progress.  All you have to do is keep putting one foot ahead of the other and you will get wherever you need to go.

Have a great weekend!

Until Monday –

Es kava turen hai

We work towards an identical goal.

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Email

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© Copyright 2009 by KanDu Associates, LLC 

The content of this blog is copyrighted by KanDu Associates.  All rights are reserved by the owner.  For reprint information please email:

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I have been going through some interesting experiences during the last few weeks.  I have been putting to use a lot of the concepts that I have been explaining on this site.  Today we look at a few of those concepts.

Remembering the lessons

In February we published a post entitled “Ghandi Said to Practice.”  We talked at length about the importance of putting into practice the spiritual teachings that we learn.  I also recounted that my teacher was – and still is – constantly urging me to apply, apply, and apply!

Well – I have been doing that intensively for the past few weeks.  I am working on a new venture and keep falling out of the moment.  Many times I am more out of the moment than I am in the moment.

Teaching what we need to learn

In our post “We Teach Best What we Need to Learn Most” I talked about how we often are teaching the things that are our most important lessons.  That idea could very well describe my experience of the past few months.

As I look back at all of the challenges that I have been facing, I see that I have been writing about them.  Here are some of the recent posts that have become the lessons that I need to be learning right now.

I have been forgetting to “Relax and Enjoy the Ride”.  I have gotten too caught up in the issues that I am creating.  At times I have forgotten to enjoy myself despite the apparent challenges.

I have also forgotten on occasion that “What We Resist Persists”.  I have been resisting some very old lessons.  Some of these lessons I have been resisting for many years.  I am gradually learning not to resist them.  The habit of resisting is very ingrained.  However, I am gradually learning to let go and allow.

It was brought to my attention today that wanting control is keeping me from getting it.  Evidently this was another post that I wrote in an attempt to learn from what I am teaching.

Does this mean this stuff doesn’t work?

Not at all.  All it means is that some of us have a lot of stuff to work through.  Remember – it is the journey that is important.  There is no actual destination.  Anything that we perceive as a destination becomes a resting point where we review what we have learned since the last destination.  We then gather ourselves up and start off for the next destination.

Another aspect of this is that the farther we go the lessons become much more subtle.  Even though I am working through lessons that I first encountered many years ago, I have a lot more experience with the process.

Thirty years ago I had no experience and no tools with which to resolve my issues.  In the intervening years I have gained a great deal of experience and gathered quite a few tools.  I am now able to deal with more difficult and more subtle issues.

I have made a lot of progress – but there is always so much more to learn.  I just need to remember to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

Until tomorrow –

Es kava turen hai

We work towards an identical goal.

Subscribe

Don’t miss any updates.  Get daily posts by email.  Subscribe to this blog by clicking here: SUBSCRIBE

This email list is maintained by FeedBurner, a subsidiary of Google.  I hate to receive spam and advertisements in my email.  I will never sell your email address for such purposes.

Email

You can email us directly at:  noahnow@yahoo.com

Copyright

© Copyright 2009 by KanDu Associates, LLC 

The content of this blog is copyrighted by KanDu Associates.  All rights are reserved by the owner.  For reprint information please email:

noahnow@yahoo.com