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  • These Words are not mine

    These words are not mine,
    They Belong to every beautiful soul that has come before me,
    To the first person that wanted to say "I see You"
    To the first man that wanted to tell a woman "I Love You"
    and to the first child that wanted to say "I am hungry"

    These words are not mine
    They belong to philosophers and poets
    To prophets and priests
    To sages and saints
    These are the words of rapists, murderers, liars and thieves,
    Crooks, criminals, two bit hustlers and one bit whores

    These words are not mine
    They belong to Bob Marley and Buddha
    "Overcome the devils with a little thing called Love"
    "Hatred does not cease, by hatred. Hatred can only cease by Love"
    These are the words of John Lennon and Jesus Christ
    "Everything is clearer when you’re in Love"
    "Love your enemies, and bless those that curse you"

    These words are not mine
    They belong Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi
    "Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal"
    "If peace is to be real, it must be unaffected by outside circumstances"
    These are the words of Karl Marx and Malik Shabazz
    "The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism"
    "You can’t separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace, unless he has freedom"

    These words are not mine
    They belong to the earth
    These are the words that wind whispers
    These are the words of the breaking waves
    These are the thunderous words of the earth trembling

    "Should i stop here or keep it moving?"
    "Keep moving Eric, I would keep it moving..."

    These words are not mine
    They belong to the Universe
    They belong to the spinning galaxies and expanding nebulae
    They belong to the radiant suns and planets that sustain life
    And most of all they belong to the black hole that remains in the center of all this chaos, holding it together

    These words are not mine
    They belong to the children
    To the mothers and fathers
    to the addicted and their addictions
    To the thinkers and their thoughts

    These words not mine
    They belong to everyone that is alive today
    To everyone that ever has lived
    And to everyone that ever will live

    These words are not mine
    These words are definitely not mine
    They belong to you
    7:21 AM

  • Subjectivity vs Objectivity, the Truth vs Facts

    As a people, it seems to me, we have developed a rather unhealthy habit, of paying more attention to evidence, facts, objects and proof, than to our most fundamental human predicaments, "who am i, and why am i here?". We all know why we do it, this habit is a product of our conditioning. Evidently, the fact is, that you need to have certain objects, in order to prove that you are a valuable individual in our society. If you have a big house, nice car, beautiful family and hold the position of corporate executive, then you are considered to be a success, even though inwardly you may be completely unfulfilled, restless, frustrated, and miserable. If you do nice, sweet, and generous things, people say "wow look at that person, they are always so generous and kind...a true altruist" even though, in truth you may have never given more than a small fraction of what you have to give, and even then, you did not do it out of true generosity, but out of a desire to be seen/viewed as a generous and compassionate individual. You may spend all of your days, studying a variety of subjects (or a single subject) and memorizing thousand of facts and philosophies. And though you may often impress the less educated with your vast knowledge, you still may have never had a single original idea, not one that you could in all honesty, say is truly your own.

    in this day and age, people love to define themselves and each other, in order that they may separate themselves and create imaginary limitations that they dare not attempt to move beyond. "Oh, well i don’t want to go to that party, because i’m a goth, and they’re preps, plus i can’t dance...."= i’m different and more deep, than those superficial preps, and i don’t want to try dancing, cause it’s hard to pretend like the world sucks when you’re shakin your ass... "Omg, did you see what she was wearing...lol..someone needs to teach that girl how to dress"= i am superior to her because i copied my style from mtv, vh1 and a variety of style and fashion magazines....even though if next month she is wearing the clothes i have on right now, they’ll already be out of style by then, and i’ll still get to feel superior. "Look at those drug using free loving, promiscuous hippies...i hope they know they are going straight to hell...but i’ll pray for them."= i have spent my entire life denying natural urges, and then pretending that i just don’t have them, and i now resent people who act on their impulses, because in my limited understanding of god i have decided that he wants us all to suffer now, and earn our entry into the kingdom of heaven, or when we die, we’ll be forced to suffer for eternity... (ps. if they are already doomed to hell, what’s the point in praying for them...you self righteous, god fearing idiot...j/k i’m not really mean like that, just pointing out an obvious flaw in their ideology)

    all of this seems so absurd to me. why should we limit ourselves? why should we define ourselves based on other’s opinions? and why should we derive our feelings of self worth based on how much "better" we are than everyone else? i tell you verily...you are not better than anyone else! you never have been and never will be. nor are you any worse, that is also impossible. you can be more skilled, more knowledgeable, stronger, faster, wiser, more attractive, more wealthy, and many other things, but none of these things make you "better". if you are smarter that is because someone else taught you (and don’t say "i’m self educated", because someone smarter than you wrote all the books you studied from, and they read the books of intellects that came before them, and so on), if you are a better dancer, it is because you studied other dancers and practiced their moves, until you were graceful enough to develop your own moves (which are more than likely just some modification or combination of other moves you learned) if you are more attractive, unless you had plastic surgery, you had nothing to do with your attractiveness, that was a gift from your parents/god. and if you are wealthier a whole list of things could have very easily went the other way (and still could) resulting in you being just as broke as the bum on the street corner (you know the one you tell to get a job every morning on your way to the office). and if you are wiser than others, it is because your environment has facilitated experiences that enabled you to realize the mysteries of life.

    "if we can’t base our feelings of self worth on any of our physical attributes, or talents, or material possessions, or the actions we have performed, then from whence can we legitimately derive a sense of personal value?"

    this is where we see just how important (though often overlooked) the subjective realm actually is. at the end of the day, this body has no meaning in itself, it is here to serve others, so the most logical conclusion, is that one should calculate their personal value, based on how well they serve and treat others. the most universal desires we have, as human beings, are peace, love, joy, prosperity, skillfulness, contentment, fulfillment, wisdom, knowledge and understanding, but of these, Love is the greatest of all our human desires, to love and be loved, unconditionally. as we seek to fulfill these desires, the most effective method i have found, is to focus on how we engage and interact with each other, and the environments we are placed in. asking ourselves questions like: "where does my feeling of peace come from?" (for me, acceptance) "where does my feeling of love come from?" (for me, reverence) "where does my feeling of fulfillment come from?" (for me awareness...when i am keenly aware of what i would like to do, i am instantly fulfilled in my decision, fulfilled through the course of carrying out the action i have chosen, and fulfilled upon the completion my chosen activity, regardless of the outcome...if it all turns out perfect, then that’s great, and if i fail miserably, by remaining fully aware and present through each step of the task, i know i will extract a valuable lesson from my failure, effectively making me more able to perform that task the next time i choose to give it a whirl) "where does my feeling of joy come from?" (for me, generosity...sharing the talents i have acquired [especially cooking] brings me a great sense of joy, and i am always careful to offer my talents sincerely and without any expectation of receiving something in return [not even gratitude, i am happy enough to simply serve, whoever may desire something i have to offer])

    the moral of the story is, do whatever brings you the most lasting and intense happiness. people are going to love you and hate you, regardless of what you do, and as long as you know in heart that you are not seeking to harm anyone through your actions, (even if others believe that you are) you do need to justify your actions to anyone. you may choose to explain what you were thinking and feeling at the time, if you feel that will give them some peace of mind, but you will not need to bury head and hold onto any of your trespasses against others. i mean hey, nobody’s perfect, and we’re all doing the best we can. i’ll wrap this shit up (B) with these words of the Tao Te Ching:


    When you are content to be simply yourself
    and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.

    Fill your bowl to the brim
    and it will spill.
    Keep sharpening your knife
    and it will blunt.
    Chase after money and security
    and your heart will never unclench.
    Care about people’s approval
    and you will be their prisoner.

    Do your work, then step back.
    The only path to serenity.

    Act without doing;
    work without effort.
    Think of the small as large
    and the few as many.
    Confront the difficult
    while it is still easy;
    accomplish the great task
    by a series of small acts.

    The Master never reaches for the great;
    thus she achieves greatness.
    When she runs into a difficulty,
    she stops and gives herself to it.
    She doesn’t cling to her own comfort;
    thus problems are no problem for her.
    7:19 AM

  • Here Comes the Sun

    i woke up this morning and the sun spoke to me. i was a bit startled by it at first, as i was not expecting the sun to talk, i mean, it had never said anything before, so why should today be any different? but it was, today was very different indeed. i took a deep breath, to help the initial surprise subside a bit. once i had calmed down, i realized the sun talking was not the only thing that was different about this day, it seemed as if the whole universe had changed. colors were more vivid, the ground beneath my feet felt softer, like someone had installed a thin layer of rubber over the entire earth, and the birds were singing a song more beautiful than i had ever heard before. what’s more, it seemed as if i knew what they were saying...not like i had learned to speak bird or something, but i somehow ’just knew’ what they were singing about "Good morning sleepy head!! isn’t it a Lovely day to be alive?" they chirped in unison. it was all quite overwhelming, but once i got over the initial shock, i found that i was more relaxed than i ever been before, and decided it would be best to turn my attention back to the sun to try and find out what it was telling me. it’s voice was thunderous, and soft at the same, and although i could feel the vibration of bass moving through my body, it almost sounded as if it was whispering. it spoke sweetly, in a way that felt very familiar, like i was being reunited with my long lost love from some other lifetime. the first words it spoke to me, once it had noticed that i was now giving it my undivided attention, confirmed my suspicion..."It has been a long time since we last spoke with each other. did you sleep well?"
    i had to think about it for a moment, as i was so absorbed in the experience of talking to the sun, that i had completely forgotten how i slept. after i remembered, i told the sun, that i had many sweet dreams, some nightmares, and played many roles throughout my slumber. i tossed and turned a bit when the nightmares would come, and sometimes i would even halfway wake up, for just long enough to choose a new dream. all in all, i told her, i slept well and that i was now feeling completely rejuvenated, and ready to see what wonderful adventures the day has in store for us.
    the sun gave me a warm smile and said we should start the day off with a meal. "what’s on the menu?" i asked playfully. the sun said it could make whatever i wanted, and then, in the most polite and unassuming way, it said "how would you feel about a salad made of fresh mango, strawberries, clementines, pineapple chunks, papaya, guava and star fruit, with a bit of honey drizzled over it?"
    my mouth was already watering at "fresh mango" and the rest of it sounded like a recipe for the most delicious fruit salad anyone has ever tasted. with great enthusiasm, i responded "how can i argue with that kind of logic?" and the sun had it prepared in a moment’s time. after breakfast she asked me what i wanted to do today, and i honestly had no idea. i said to her "you know it’s been such a long time since we have been together like this, i think it would be nice to just sit here and be with you for a moment, and just to enjoy being in each others presence." the sun agreed saying "that’s a great idea. i couldn’t have come up any better an idea than that" and so it was.

    after gazing at each other lovingly for a while, the sun asked "do you want to know a secret?"

    "sure!!" i replied eagerly

    "you created me" she said sincerely

    "me?"

    "yes, you... well to be more accurate, we created me."
    with this, i was a bit confused and the sun offered some clarification.saying to me gently,

    "in the beginning, you and i were one, and even though I/We knew who we were, that knowing was really only a theory, an idea, so from within Us, arose the desire to *experience* Who We Are"

    "really!?!" i replied.

    "yes, and out of the Love that We are , We created this day, just so that you could know the joy of remembering who You are"

    "wow!" i really didn’t know what to say to that, and then a question popped up in my mind."so if We are Love, why did we create so many bad things in the world?"

    in it’s infinite wisdom the sun replied "if no one ever transgressed you, you could not know the peace comes out of offering your forgiveness, if you never made a mistake, you could not know the joy of realization, and if you already knew everything, you could not know the thrill of learning something new, or solving a puzzle. do you understand now?"

    "i think so" i replied "but did we really have to hurt so many people in the process?"

    "the hurt was only an illusion, it was only our forgetfulness that created the pain. every time we remembered Who We Are, our experience was one of joy, bliss, peace and Love, and every time we forgot Who We Are, our experience was of pain, fear, delusion and anger. but at the end of the day we cannot avoid being Who We Are, because It is our essence, It is the core of our being, and though we may choose to hide It under many layers of illusion, It is always there, eager for us to strip down and dance naked in the streets. do you see now?"

    "yes! wow! this is the most amazing news! thank you for being here, and thank you for telling me this wonderful news. is there anyway i can ever repay you?"

    "you mean repay you, don’t you? we are One, remember?"

    "oh yeah...so where I/We go from here?"

    "go into the world and be Who You Are, and help others to remember Who They Are, for that is where Our greatest joy is hidden. always remember, We Are One, and do your best to help others remember as well."
    7:17 AM

  • I am Still

    I am your peace, your wisdom and your love

    the phone rings, the clock ticks, the door opens,

    and I am Still

    the people think, talk, and create conflicts,

    and I am Still

    the people sing, dance and celebrate,

    and I am Still

    the people laugh, cry and console each other,

    and I am Still

    I am all of your Perfections, and all of your Shortcomings,

    All of your Successes and all of your Failures

    All of your Fears, and all of your Desires

    All of your Joy, and all of your Pain

    the universe will always continue whirling about,

    Expanding, contracting and burning with Love

    but as for Me, I will always remain,

    Unchanged, Untouched and Unmoved,

    I am Still
    7:16 AM

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