02.25.08
Posted in Spirituality, Happiness, Healing at 4:09 pm by Administrator
This weekend we spent at the CSA meditation retreat in Lakemont, GA. I was reminded of the importance of being with people that you want to be like. I want to be like Roy Eugene Davis, and so I find it beneficial to be with him. It is the clarity of his consciousness that also uplifts my own.
Also I was reminded that the thoughts we think have an influence in the quality of our life. Today after your meditation practice, ask your self, “what thoughts do I want to think today?” “What do I want to be true for my self today?” Then hold to those thoughts, letting go of identification with all others.
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02.06.08
Posted in Spirituality, Happiness, Thoughts at 8:11 pm by Administrator
I sincerely want to see more people awake.
The more people that are awake, the better the world will be for them and many others.
To be awake is to know what you are, eternally and presently. This can be discovered by really wanting to know and taking the time to figure it out. Figuring it out is benefitted by shaking off the comfortable ideas you have created about yourself and your place in the world and doing what is necessary to experience clear awareness and inner stillness.
Being with people who are awake and effectively functional in the world is one way to begin. Finding ways to clear your mind and detach your awareness from the objects of the world is another way. Reading spiritually inspired books that do not play on fantasies or infantile desires is another.
Then all sorrow falls from you, and an eternal bliss (not the exagerated emotion, but the source of reality) blossoms from you.
What are you waiting for?
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07.28.07
Posted in Happiness, Thoughts, Healing at 10:39 am by Administrator
Usually I’m one for saying “Healing doesn’t have to hurt.” I still agree with that. It doesn’t have to hurt. But sometimes it does. Sometimes life delivers a good kick in the head and it is bothersome. Life doesn’t do that for fun, it does it when people aren’t listening to it. It is important to listen to life. Life can communicate gently and peacefully, but ultimately it will do what is necessary to get its message across.
This week I could say I got a good kick in the head from life. That awoke in me quite a few realizations of the way I had been thinking and being and how I needed to change some of my internal environment.
Thankfully I have a few very helpful and people in my life. Using the Yuen Method we cut through the underlying causes. Using meditation I was able to reflect on what needed to change in myself and to re attune to my spiritual source.
After spending a good week feeling unsettled and anxious, I had a good night’s sleep last night. I had pleasant dreams. I awoke up early, joyfully.
I attribute this to the fact that I seriously took stock of how I was living and thinking and made a firm commitment to change. I must say I’ve tried this in the past couple of years, but it did not stick. There is a difference this time. I now know why I need to be different. Before I didn’t know the why, and so there was no real energy behind the commitment. As I’ve said before, knowing the why is very important. It somehow takes the struggle out of the process of becoming the goal.
I’ve both implied and said this before too, what happens to me in my life is the result of my own actions and thoughts. However, reassuring it might initially feel to blame someone else, that just skirts around the issue and ignores the real source of my experiences. Both pleasure and pain are the result of my internal states. They come to me because something in me attracts them.
I have a friend who has often said, that “it is not you I’m worried about, it’s the other guy.” An example might be one could be a perfect driver but some nut will come along and smash up your car. So it wasn’t your fault it was the other guy’s. There is no other guy. If it is within myself than I will experience it. If it is not, then I will not.
I’ve often been afraid to admit that understanding out loud, for fear that some cosmic law called, “Let’s Prove Ryan Wrong” would go into effect. Well…that may be. If I have that concept within my consciousness it has the potential to occur. Same thing applies.
Last night I dreamt I was sleeping in a bedroom at my father’s parent’s (now deceased) house. Mostly I associated them with unhappiness and strife, as that is how I knew them in life. But in this dream it was peaceful. I knew they were no longer alive, and I got up from bed and wandered through the living room and kitchen down stairs to the basement where I knew Melissa was. Before reaching the basement I was slightly afraid I would see the ghost of my grandmother. I kept going. At the top of the stairs I could see candlelight flickering in the basement. I would say it was wintertime and probably chilly outside. At the bottom of the stairs, I saw Melissa sitting in the middle of the room with decorated christmas trees all around her, two candles lit and a slew of decorations everywhere. She looked up at me and said, “I finally got to airing out under the bar and found all these. Did you know they were there?” She was indicating all the decorations. It was a very happy feeling.
Alcoholism was a known problem in my dad’s side of the family. Hence, the reference to the bar. When I woke up this morning from that dream I had a sense that underneath all the crap (the negativity and alcoholism of my father’s family) there is good and there is beauty and there is peace (The Christmas decorations), and that we can choose to see either.
For the longest while I felt that I had to experience both the good and the bad to be whole. Now I know that there is no need to create or experience drama or problems. Good and bad are just words. An experience is an experience. The label doesn’t change that. To be whole requires being whole. It doesn’t have to be conditioned.
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07.27.07
Posted in Spirituality, Happiness, Thoughts at 4:39 pm by Administrator
The Bhagavad Gita 17:3
“Faith is in accord with the basic nature of each person. A person is made of faith. One is what one’s faith is.”
Commentary from The Eternal Way:
“Deferential regard is in accord with the basic mind-body constitution of each person. One’s personality and circumstances are the result of preferred attitudes and actions. A person’s present state or condition is the result of what is believed and done.” Read the rest of this entry »
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04.13.07
Posted in Music, Happiness, Thoughts at 8:30 pm by Administrator
Everything in life is the same.
If you want to plant a garden, and you don’t know how, you figure it out on your own or find someone who does. Then you prepare the ground, plant the seeds and let them grow, while nourishing them appropriately and removing pests when necessary.
If you want to be happy, and you don’t know how, you either figure it out or find someone else who has done it. Then you prepare your life, plant the seeds you were taught and let them grow…etc.
If you want to learn music and you don’t know anything about it, you figure it out or find someone who can teach you. Then you set aside time to become familiar with the principles, and let them grow through practice.
If you want to find peace the same applies.
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12.12.06
Posted in Happiness, Thoughts, Healing at 10:43 pm by Administrator
As I was driving around today, looking for a Christmas tree with a rootball, attempting to sell a guitar case on Ebay, and on my way to a Chinese buffet it dawned on me that pain, sickness, and growing old are the result of mismanaging experiences, emotions, thoughts and feelings. By learning how to master these aspects of our objective existence we can navigate life gracefully.
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12.03.06
Posted in Music, Spirituality, Happiness at 5:01 pm by Administrator
Last night I was invited to a musical jam with some local musicians. I originally only planned to go for an hour or two, but the next thing I new it was 1:30 AM and I had been playing for about 3.5 hours. We basically played loud blues/rock/funk/jazz non stop. As I was leaving I got in my car and could here this beautiful music coming from the building. Seeing the full moon and the crystal clear stars with that music filling the air was really inspiring. I arrived home around 2:00 AM and had some green tea. I then polished up my guitar and meditated briefly. I realized how important it is to not only feed our souls with meditation, but also by doing what we love. I was so in the zone from playing music that my meditation occurred spontaneously.
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12.01.06
Posted in Spirituality, Happiness, Quotes at 2:48 pm by Administrator
9) Complete love, respect, acceptance and expression of our full potential lead one to selfless bliss.
In the last month it became apparent to me that our lives are created by own choosing. This is either conscious or unconscious. I had a long talk with my friend Jim about this. I was having a hard time swallowing the idea. At first I thought I had a hard time swallowing it because it felt rather harsh. Then I realized that the reason I had a hard time swallowing it wasn’t because it meant that I choose to experience my own misfortune as I initially thought. It was because it meant I was responsible for experiencing my own success and happiness. Read the rest of this entry »
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11.29.06
Posted in Music, Happiness at 4:14 pm by Administrator
Last night our Led Zep tribute band recorded some demos at the Blues Alley Recording Studio in Morgantown, WV.
After we recorded “The Immigrant Song”, which is one of the best rock songs of all time, and I listened to the play back, I realized that my role in this life is not to copy the achievements of others, but to enrich the consciousness of our planet with my own unique contribution.
I’d always been afraid of doing this, because I didn’t “think” I could do it right. Last night it occurred to me the Bhagavad Gita is correct when it says that it is better to do one’s own work than to try to do another’s work.
We were listening to the play back of one of my guitar solos and our drummer, Dave said something to me like, “Do you hear the time change”? I then asked if I was following it correctly to which he replied something to the effect of, “You’ve got a good sense of direction, you can do what you want, and you’ll be fine.” That was a liberating statement even though I don’t think I took it the way he intended it. So as with my previous studies in spirituality, it feels like it is also time to let go of my musical limitations and begin stepping out on my own into my own creativity. I mean really, Led Zeppelin didn’t just redo Elvis tunes, they put forth their own genius and talents and changed the landscape of music, not only inspiring more musicians than I care to count, but they also provided a great example for people to give their best no matter what the critics will say!
This brings me to another sentence that came to me partly yesterday and today.
8) Joy is your magnetic creative force that guides the creation of your destiny.
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