The Happy Medium

[dailynietzsche]

“A soul that knows it is loved but does not itself love betrays its sentiment: what is at the bottom comes up.”

—F. Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, §79.

[lazyyogi]

We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.

Seneca (via lazyyogi)

[hoopsfaith45]

Man, the more I think about it.. It's just the vibes I'm sensing. Y'all need to upgrade from the old and cramped up grinch status, I'm telling you. Making a living the same way for hundreds of years is surely not the way to go. And we call that experience! The system needs a reboot like your computer needs updates and a restart. We been ignoring hella updates on this thing simply due to selfish pride living in the guys who come up with ideas first, on some second grade finder's keeper's type bullshit, then we sell out our image and put worth to our name. We have no faith in knowing we'll be rewarded for sharing the idea or the hard work with others, and we claim an idea that was given from a higher source than our own, yet it hangs on our wall? If we gonna keep track at all, let's measure virtue and the eager attitude for pursuing these finest intricacies humanity once grounded itself in. I'm screaming "Take care" to friends whom I don't share friendships with, even though the phrase has lost its meaning. Vocabulary is a start, the beginning of learning. Honor the basics, then expand on them. Learn the words so you can learn the lessons. Then application is possible, but we must innovate further on the thoughts and stop hoarding them. Innovate in the category of sharing. That's some second grade reasoning type shit I wanna be on. Please tell me, for Christ sake.. Does anybody cha feel? Touch yourself, Brick. You're alive! Hell yeah, I'm bitter about my struggle. But mainly due to the fact that people have their wants and wishes disguised as needs and priorities. So much excess on the outside decorating an empty home on the inside. Home is where your heart is not just anywhere you wanna make it, dummies. Quit with the damn cliches already. They're about as annoying as those jingle bells you can wear on your ankles. I can hear you coming from miles away. Y'all like the trailer home with a jacked up limited edition truck, the brightest Christmas lights on the block because your dad is still in childish competition with his neighbor. A damn joke, that's what it is. That's why I run from those who bring out the worst in me. Key words, IN ME. Take notice and choose to discipline your flesh too. Maintain the borders of your skin and soul. Become transparent, like an open book which is see through, like a double sided mirror, or a glass lecture board. Imprint what is presented to you and examine how it feels. I take in the causes of my surroundings and I create teams for fulfilling those purposeful plans of collaboration. I'm a nerd who embraces everything for exactly what it is to the best of my ability, and I learn further understanding in the topic being evaluated, or I confirm old lessons of what not to do. Like a dry erase board with a database.. I'm a dumb ass thesaurus (yes, like the famous dinosaur) so I may not be smart in the ways you think I should be according to worldly knowledge, but I'm a collection of all the best. I've refined my tastes like the wine that touched Jesus' lips by the blood through which He forgives. I've allowed myself to be malleable in being carefully chiseled away at by relevant truth. That's my life responsibility. Go ahead and disrespect your vicinity like a blood hungry lion ravaging all innocent animals in your path with the ways of your uncontrollable indulgence and one track minded ways. That does not mean life is black and white, this or that. There are more pieces to the puzzle, and the world is bright and colorful. Add some compassion to that grit, and find the happy medium. Ambition without brakes is like a Ferrari with a dumbbell driving it. Blind and reckless. Dog eat dog never worked for long when the big dog got smart. Then somehow the big dog also got a heart. He played Lion, Scarecrow, and Tin Man all at once just because he grew the boldest triple nutsack in history and asked God for the right to unlimited auditions. I'm gonna be the gazelle that's never captured, the sheep that's never lost for long. You see.. I am keeping track by virtue and the eager attitude to pursue a cause higher than my own. That's what I define as money and riches in spiritual terms because that's exactly where the wisdom brews. We all deserve better versions of ourselves. Learn to love ourselves and who we can become, and we'll learn to better love others in return. Through ordering of the soul and a training of all parts: the heart in every vulnerability remaining true to itself and pumping raw emotion, the mind relentlessly filtering out opinion and perception, and the body selflessly serving it's maker by practicing purpose and attempting to apply understanding, we can become self studied, self learned, self taught, self trained individuals.. And in that order. Understand me now, muh freakers. Since you need some filler to spruce it up for you.. Seeds don't grow fruit, trees in fruitful circumstances do. Take your eyes off the shiny things and see the big picture already. Your brain yearns for something fresher. Read the furthest line down. Luke, I am your eye doctor.

[hoopsfaith45]

Colossians 2:20-23

Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

[lazyyogi]

Speaking of motivation, I have a dilemma. I have wanted to be a more musical person for a while. To the best of my knowledge, I've thought hard about it and I'm pretty sure that it's something that I actually want to do, at least something more than a fickle desire. However, at any one moment, I don't have the motivation to sit down and do it. If I can't force myself to do something, does that really mean I want it? If I don't have the motivation, can it really make me happy? Is it worth it?

If you have to force yourself to do something, where is the actual want? A sincere desire is itself the motivation to fulfill it. Yet a desire and its fulfillment will not give you lasting happiness. By all means, fulfill whatever desires you wish but don’t expect them to give you something that you can only find within.

The aspiration to “be a more musical person” is somewhat superficial in the sense that it seems to seek a derived identity from music. A musician didn’t start up music because they wanted to be a more musical person. They did it because they love music!

You could have said you’ve always wanted to learn a certain instrument or that you really want to jam to this or that but instead you put it in terms of being when you said “be a more musical person.” It’s important not to confuse the idea of something with the thing itself. Many of us, myself included, have chased after things because we liked the idea of them. But not only is that a typically unsuccessful endeavor but even when it is successful, it doesn’t give us what we were seeking in the first place. 

So ask yourself what you are really desiring when you say you want to be a more musical person. If it actually is music, then find an instrument you’re drawn to and sign up for lessons with someone you think is good. One of my best friends became a phenomenal guitarist in a year and a half because she took lessons several times a week, played for several hours every day, and just loved music. Now she’s living in San Francisco and plays in a band. 

I don’t mean to say you must become a musician or not play music at all; I’m just using musicians as an example. But if you aren’t truly moved toward music even as a hobby, then what are you seeking by means of this desire? 

Music is beautiful in that it engages all of your attention in the moment while bringing the mind, body, and emotions together as one. It transcends language and thought but keeps you in the present. Quite a good spiritual practice.

That’s my two cents on the matter.

Also keep in mind that I do not know you and no one else can know you better than you yourself. I’m just drawing attention to a few things that are appearing here. After thorough introspection, you will know the truth for yourself. As always, disregard anything I say that is not either useful to you or true in your own experience. 

Namaste my friend :)

[dailynietzsche]

“We really ought to free ourselves from the seduction of words!”

—F. Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil: Part One, §16 (excerpt).

[dailynietzsche]

“A man who wills commands something within himself that renders obedience, or that he believes renders obedience.”

—F. Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil: Part One, §19 (excerpt).

[lazyyogi]

Continuous attentiveness will only come with long practice. If you are truly watchful, each thought will dissolve at the moment that it appears. But to reach this level of disassociation you must have no attachments at all. If you have the slightest interest in any particular thought, it will evade your attentiveness, connect with other thoughts, and take over your mind for a few seconds. This will happen more easily if you are accustomed to reacting emotionally to a particular thought.

Annamalai Swami (via lazyyogi)

[lazyyogi]

Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.

Eckhart Tolle (via lazyyogi)

[hoopsfaith45]

Exit Your Box!

Sometimes you gotta be jolted out of your own existence to see clearly. When little is presented to you, it's easy to search for ways in which everything applies to you and your own life. You start gathering the biggest rocks with all your favorite qualities written on them and you keep them proudly stacked outside your peripherals. Your walls build higher and your tiny man made world thrives, until the idle hand falls into a deep slumber within its sheltered contentment from having built its own fortress. Fool and folly lead to your demise as you fall deeper into what tickles your senses, since you are left alone in a box and asked to entertain yourself with no help at all. The life you've built becomes all you know, and you need it to thrive if you are to survive. Anything outside your box is foreign territory, and you know nothing of it. How could you? All your time has been and will forever be spent on maintaining your box. Interact often and extend your own opportunities, however, and in a manner that is genuine and somewhat likable, then life will present itself early and often in various forms through fruitful connections. When much is presented to you, you become more aware of others and realize they are not a means to an end like the apples you eat or the paper towels you buy. A horse eats the apple. He is the end. A plant pulls water in from the roots, using it as a means to its own end. The reason why the world is in chaos is because we treat living things like means, not ends. People will come and go as they please and do as they shall, and we must accept that. They are their own ends, no matter how loose. Treat people as people, not as things. How you choose to live differently from them is the deciding factor of impact. You can choose to box yourself up and avoid all the loose cannons, or you can branch out and accept them on their journey to tie those loose ends. You may come across a few battle wounds, but scars tell stories and stories heal hearts. If humanity proves to be unmovable, the most stubborn bull on the farm, jolt as deemed necessary. These lives, they know no harm. The sting of truth will rattle them soon. Your seeds of wisdom bloom into an abundance of good karma. Bridges built better than new. They'll bare no arms with open arms as they thank you for just being you. Those branches will turn into roots. Those seeds will sprout into spruce.

[lazyyogi]

Love your blog! How did you start this journey? :) . You inspired me.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve had a curiosity for the weird and the strange things that defy our notions of what’s real and normal. At a young age, this manifested as an interest in the supernatural and the occult. 

I was given a very privileged and loving upbringing; as a result, I didn’t really understand suffering. However, as I grew older into the seventh grade or so, a fear of death started cropping up when I would lay in bed at night before falling asleep. It was a gripping fear of non-existence. 

When my father died the summer before my senior year in high school, I realized that everything will end, no matter how bad or how good. I had a few strange consciousness experiences by that time in my life as well as a mild familiarity with meditation. Therefore I didn’t abandon myself to nihilism nor did I jump at any religious explanations. 

“You have to take seriously the notion that understanding the universe is your responsibility, because the only understanding of the universe that will be useful to you is your own understanding.” ~ Terence McKenna

I wasn’t interested in what religions or authority figures had to say with respect to what death and birth is all about. I wanted my own insight; I wanted to experientially understand not just intellectually know or believe. 

That’s when my journey became predominantly spiritual. This only deepened as time went on and I shipped off to college. When I lost one of my best friends to mental illness and suicide, it again drove home the point that nothing lasts. If nothing lasts then we can’t waste this precious opportunity to discover what is real and eternal. 

I learned a lot from advanced spiritual practitioners and I began making the effort to attend events in which teachings were being given from a supposedly enlightened guru. I would keep an open mind, listen, and practice what they taught. Over time it became clear what was most useful and what I didn’t find as effective. With spiritual practice and small awakenings along the way, it became possible to more clearly discern the presence and teachings of self-realization.

After college, I had many of my forms of security yanked out from under me. Unemployed, isolated living at home, directionless, and dealing poorly with the end of a six year relationship, I started to understand a small slice of suffering. Of course at the time it felt like a pit of glass spikes covered in acid. 

That’s when I was forced to use what I had learned in order to heal myself from the pain caused by my ignorance and illusions. 

Many think of the spiritual path as some lofty and profound thing, and it can be that way for some people. But there’s also nothing more ordinary and relevant than the path. If peace, freedom, and happiness are to your liking, then walk your path. Put into practice what you learn and only then will you be able to tell the difference between mere philosophy and Awakening.

As McKenna said, the only understanding that will be useful to you is your own. The understanding of others can be helpful but only up to a point.

Namaste :) much love

[hoopsfaith45]

Keeping a little kid happy comes down to one thing: treating them like a "grown up" aka a real person. There is a prerequisite for this skill: growing up and treating the every day person like a real person.

[hoopsfaith45]

Thoughts..

Self awareness allows mass input with a finer filter. By taking the time and care to intricately lay the inner maze for which life shall attempt to fool an ignorant or misled individual by illogic, an even kilter attitude is produced and one becomes not so easily phased by opinion. False truth is caught on the outskirts of these walls at best, much further away from home than before. Shot down in their tracks. Being orderly within the soul allows the heart to pump raw emotion from this mass input of self experience, and without vulnerability, because the mind is quick to recognize anything foreign and not of it's own kind. This fine filter from self awareness and the building of wisdom separate from opinion is the key to being the most raw and transparent individual humanity can offer.

[lazyyogi]

Hi lazyyogi :) How could bad music influence our mind ?

Influence is only possible through inattentiveness. When you are conscious of the way something is trying to influence you, its effect is drastically diminished. 

Take billboards and advertisements for example. They bombard us with images and slogans meant to create a need. They have an agenda, whether it be to inform or to sell. More common is an ad that is trying to sell you something, whether that be a product, agenda, lifestyle, or identity. 

If you are a student of spiritual practices, you will be practicing mindfulness at all times. You will notice the way you feel before, during, and after seeing an advertisement. In doing so, you will know for yourself the effect that the ad is having on you. 

Without that direct experiential witnessing, an ad’s influence is much stronger on us. Just imagine how awful it is for someone to look at an ad depicting a certain type of human body and for that person to subconsciously accept that such a depiction is of a “normal” body. 

Soon we start waging wars against body types, against advertisements, against oppressive but legal practices of imagery, and so on. We struggle so much to free ourselves from this notion whereas a bit of awareness within would have revealed its falseness to begin with. 

When you speak of “bad” music, I do not know if you simply mean music that does not appeal to your taste or music that features lyrics with violent, misogynistic, oppressive, or otherwise harmful connotations. 

Regardless, the extent of such a thing’s influence is limited by the degree to which you are engaged in mindfulness and meditative awareness.

We could blame violent television shows and films for the acts of violence we see in society. We could blame misogynistic music for the sexism and oppression we witness. We could blame advertising for the greed and identity confusion we notice amongst humanity. 

But if we just get to the root of it all, the quality of awareness we practice as individuals on a moment to moment basis, then all of that is cut off at the knees. This is kind of why I often emphasize that all problems and suffering caused in this world are due to ignorance rather than any inherent evil. It is where we are unaware and inattentive that we cause so much damage to ourselves and each other. 

So free yourself and encourage others to do so as well. Then you may listen to whatever music you like. 

Namaste :) Much love

[hoopsfaith45]

If there is trouble, go through it. Go though the trouble of DOING SOMETHING.

[hoopsfaith45]

I hit this girl of interest with some thoughtful poetry the other day, she ain't got nothing to say in return but thanks. In the same breath, she wanna claim that she can't let herself stop talking to me because I'm "too cute not to." Keep in mind, still nothing to say. I extend a friendship and choose to be patient with her, give it a chance over time for her to slowly creep on out of her gorgeous shell so that she can be loved for *who* she is and not what she is. Wrong approach apparently, as she now wants to block me from contact altogether. Listen close, ladies.. if you crumble under pressure when an actual gentleman comes along, and you play the game like your pretty face is all it takes to win my interest.. By logic, I simply cannot see you as more than a pretty face. Hell, I value random friendships gained through meeting creepy strangers on the streets of the city more than what you're offering me. Please understand one thing. There is an art to being chivalrous, but there is also an art to recognizing and receiving chivalry. Chivalry is not necessarily about being smooth or charming, but it is about being thoughtful and sweet. That remains consistent. But no worries.. you need not heed my advice because I speak in plain terms on how the world should be, not how it actually is. You can always find another cute idiot who's down for the cause and shout "more, more, more!" You'll get what you want every time and never what you need, but it's just so easy! This, my friends, is not chivalry. So now that you're informed and aware, choose wisely: Love or self glory?

[hoopsfaith45]

People with jobs spend their days off as slobs

They never get comfort or rest

They eat and they sleep, regenerate peace, 

Their bodies will never want less

If one should devote one's life to the most

One never will ever satisfy

For the bones of the most burn bright just to boast

Bout those who buy into the lie!

My, oh my. Where has the time gone?

A body withers its pedals away

The feet that must travel the earth by the gavel

The roots lost their reason to stay

They gave up their vote by doing the most

In hopes of success and a toast

While lost in the journey, a life lost concerning

The desires of which it devotes