On point…

So don’t be in a hurry and try to push or rush your practice. Do your meditation gently and gradually step by step. In regard to peacefulness, if you become peaceful, then accept it; if you don’t become peaceful, then accept that also. That’s the nature of the mind. We must find our own practice and persistently keep at it.

-Ajahn Chah, “Bodhinyana”

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Why was I dreaming about walking through the Sovereign Bank Arena? I’ve passed by there many a time, but never walked in.

And why was I dreaming about people having parties in subway cars? I’ve heard of it happening, but never seen it…

Of all days, today I am thankful to be alive, breathing, with a roof over my head and food in the house. The past couple of months have been rough for so many. I am fortunate for what I have.

Namaste

Over the past 24 hours, I’ve dreamed about…

–getting stuck in traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike. Instead of trying to find a shortcut, I stayed on the road and made it through;

–my mom and grandma gave me grief for still being single;

–and I was playing with my iPhone (the WordPress app, great for blogging on the go).

I’ve been struggling for the past hour to frame this properly, but what I’ve said before stil applies.

I will never understand why, when a woman has a choice between a good guy and a jerk, she goes for the jerk. Especially she says she wants a good guy.

Now, does this mean I will deviously morph into a jerk to win a woman? I’ll do that when hell freezes over. I will not become what I hate to get what I want. I’m going to be a better man.

No, I don’t have fireworks shooting out of my ass. Yet, this is (as I learned last year) a demerit against me. Well, no it isn’t. My calmness and steadiness are not demerits, not to be mistaken for boringness and passivity.

There is the story earlier this week of a guy who drove from California to New Jersey, and shot and killed his estranged wife–in church–after she refused to return with him. There is another story of a boyfriend in the Washington DC area who killed his ex-girlfriend despite the presence of federal marshals nearby.

I will never fathom why men act like this.

I will never fathom why women put up with jerks. Is it the sex? I like sex, too, but jeez, come on. After he’s done with you, then what?

This is not a rhetorical question: why do women put up with jerks? I’m not perfect by any means, but after hearing of women being treating like trash, here is somebody won’t do it.

Even if I am treated in such a manner.

Here we go again. I am having at least one major dream a night, again. I’ve got two things I need to do with this. 1) Chronicle these better 2) See if they mean anything. Whether or not they do, this was an interesting read.

Last night, I was in Charlotte, North Carolina, helping people get from the airport to the city. And there was a Marriott hotel prominently in the dream.

Hmmm…

(Thanksgiving thought for the day)

Of the hundred or so emails I get everyday, this subject line caught my eye this morning…

Be thankful for who you are

The way I see it, if you’re thankful for this, everything else should come easy.

Should.

As the Bible verse goes, the Lord helps those who who themselves. And if you help yourself, you can help others.

Namaste

Thanksgiving is coming up (in the U.S., that is…)

“I think I’ve discovered the secret of life – you just hang around until you get used to it.”

– Sally Brown, Peanuts

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I’m gonna say this once, and not because I am a Dallas Cowboys fan: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb is not a Hall of Fame player. He’s good, mind you, but not that good.

Of all the journeys I’ve been on, both tangible and intangible, the one I continue on is frustrating and rewarding at once.

I picked a new theme for the blog. I like the way the dates are posted (through I wish the header was bigger). Enjoy…

I had a peaceful, eerie moment the other morning. Another morning of stepping out of the door and on the way to work.

But as I walked out into the unusually cold morning, something hit me: the crisp air was perfectly still. No wind, no movement–it was like time once, for a moment, as frozen as the air. It was, to say the least, nice, to feel that moment of peace and tranquility.

I carried that with me the rest of day. And carry with me now.

I just heard Pittsburgh Panthers head football coach Dave Wannstadt say that with his team, chemistry changes every year. Interesting thought. Chemistry isn’t static (I don’t think). I morphs and changes form all the time. The worst thing you can do is think it will remain stationary. You have to work at it.

I’m still posting interesting links here.

I knew this music at night thing would pay off. I feel like I’m sleeping better, and I’m finding good music to listen to, like Jens Buchert’s Melange Electrique or Boards of Canada’s An Eagle in Your Mind.

Lauren Hill, “Everything is Everything.” When is your spring coming?

Yep, this is what I’m trying to aim for. Thank you Mr. Coelho.

The warrior of light projects his thoughts beyond the horizon.

Here’s to the imagination…

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create.”
~Albert Einstein

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Let’s see if I can answer them…

For the past three days, I’ve been stuck in traffic jams, slow-moving trains of metal funneling to a narrow point–a bridge, a toll plaza. And I thought, why am I being a lemming? Why am I mindlessly in traffic like this? Not totally mindlessly, but too close for comfort.

Ugh, bad question. A bad, energy-draining question.

Better to ask: What am I going to do about it?

And: What can I do to make it better?

Better questions to ask, with answers to come…

Strange, dreams have popped in my head the past two nights: one a humongous fight that seemed to last for hours, (I wasn’t fighting, just watching in amazement; I recognized a guy I went to high school with); another where water was rushing into my hometown (I was with my family; we survived); and me driving along a highway on Long Island.

Odd. What do they mean? Hmm…

Usually when I come home from work, I listen to ESPN radio online, right up until I go to bed. But tonight, I’m gonna do something different, to ease my way into slumber. I’m going to listen to jazz (from here) and ambient (Groove Salad from here), something to dial down the stress of the day and drift to dreamland.

This morning my professional energy is high. I feel very creative. So, what can I do with this creative energy? Turn it to something useful.

Sometimes in the journey of life, you don’t have a map; you have to navigate blindly. Like this guy, you’ll be amazed at what you can find.

They really don’t…

A good one, I think…

The dharma that is taught and the dharma that is experienced are descriptions of how to live, how to use your life to wake you up rather than put you to sleep. And if you choose to spend the rest of your life trying to find out what awake means and what asleep means, I think you might attain enlightenment.

-Pema Chödrön, “Wisdom of No Escape”

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To a friend of mine (whose vibrations are coming back)

Still waters run deep. Don’t let the calm and steady trick you into believing that still waters are boring.

Here is one benefit to being humble–you can be more aware of what is going on around you. Your thoughts and feelings are directed outward, and away from you. Toward others. And then, that energy will flow back to you.

Namaste

I saw this on a bumper sticker plastered on a case in Times Square Friday night. The thought may be interpreted not only for something at large, but maybe more personal…

Stop bitching, start a revolution.

In gratitude for yesterday’s rain…

The drops of rain make a hole in the stone not by violence, but by oft falling.

-Lucretius

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What are you gooing to do for the rest of my life?

Do everything I can to be happy. And that way, I can make other happy.

Instead of asking the wrong question–what’s wrong?–we need to ask the right question–what can be done to correct this? I think it’s the difference between being in fear and being in abudance.

I feel like I need to re-introduce myself to me this morning. I feel I’ve got a burst of energy, and now I need to do something with it. Listening to jazz before I head off to the office doesn’t hurt, either. So, now the question is–what constructive things can I do with this energy? We’ll see…

When I post this, I’m thinking about the economy. Daniel Bedingfield, “Gotta Get Thru This.”

It’s nice when people find you, and nice when you find people. Molly at Destination the Journey found me recently, and I’ve enjoyed reading her thoughts. She’s inspiring and thought-provoking. I liked her tought for the week:

Silence was the first language. The rest is translation.

I’ve thought about silence and a friend of mine. She’s not a big fan of it, while me, I can find out a lot about me there. It’s hard to find out things about yourself or others if you’re not still. (Sometimes I understand the need to move around–finding out about yourself is never an easy thing.) But from that silence, that stillness, you can move forward, leap forward if you want.

Think of pulling back a rubber band, if you will. The most important isn’t the release, but the pulling back of the band.

About a year ago, I went to Brussels, partly because I missed the place and partly because I needed to get the hell out of Dodge. I still remember the cold, clear air of the city the morning I landed.

Anyway, the weather here the past few days reminded of Brussels–gray, threatening to rain any moment. It was times like this I enjoyed being there, to sit in a cafe (like now) and watch the rain and people go by.

“The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices – to be found only in the minds of men.”

“For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy, and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all its own — for the children, and the children yet unborn.”

–Rod Serling

As you wake up this morning, remember something. The building blocks of tomorrow are formed by what you make today.

How is this for history, huh? My vote in a smelly gym did mean something. I’m happy my grandmother is alive to see this historic moment.

It’s raining here. But the sun is out, somewhere. It always is.

I’m like everyone else–I like fireworks displays. The last one I saw was July 4, at the Staten Island Yankees game. The sparklers burst forth high into the gloomy night sky, lighting the stadium. Further up the Hudson, you could see the bigger displays shooting off. 

And then, they disappeared. 

See, that’s the thing about fireworks–they are great while they last, but once they’re done, they’re done. 

Nature is a great teacher. The trees, the stars, the sun, all great examples to follow. Why? They last. They are build for the long haul. They may hide, but you know where they are. They are strong, built for endurance.

Here’s a strange exercise for you. When you see a tree, look at it. Look in the mirror.

And see yourself.

There are a couple of subjects I’ll cover in the next couple of days that need covering, like transformations, and what lasts and what doesn’t.

I knew it was coming Saturday. To get my mouth numb enough for the dentist to do her thing meant having five shots of the numbing agent (the high-strength kind) in my gums. The needle (I hate needles) was at a 45-degree angle to get into my gums. When the first one came in, she told me to take long breaths. And despite the pain I felt, the long breaths worked and calmed me down. Actually that was the worst part of the experience.

Breathing. Who’d think that’s a solution to anything?

I meant to post this poem when I saw it here, but time slipped away from me

Invictus, by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.

This election season, like most, tends to focus a lot of fear and lack. Scaring people, making them feel lost and confused in an ever-changing sea. Instead of tossing them a life preserver, or bringing the lifeboat to them, they (the ever-evil, ever-powerful they) keep them at sea.

No. A thousand times no.

People often take, or want to take, the easy road out. Remember what John F. Kennedy said–”We will go to the moon and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” That notion never went away, we just forgot. Or hid from it.

To a close friend of mine the other day, I passed along a quote from Mother Theresa–I know God promises not to give me more than I can handle. I just wish he didn’t trust me so much–God, The Force, or whatever you want to call it, trusts you. Show some trust.

You have more than you think you do. Not only do you have to trust The Force, you have to trust yourself.

I normally don’t stray into politics, but this is a good, smart take on what is happening here in the U.S. And, tying it into something I like to talk about–the journey the country is on continues.

I believe in the project called the United States of America.