Wandering into Total Awesomeness, Dude!

As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, our words have great meaning. Words cause vibration through sound, but the sounds they produce also cause vibrations of a different kind.

When we say certain words, their meaning is released into the Universe in vibratory energy. As this energy travels, its meaning is manifested and brought back to us in that manifestation.


However, when we over-use words, particularly very descriptive words, they begin to weaken in meaning. Today, everything is “awesome.” But is it? Is everything we see or experience really worthy of Awe? Awe, for those of you who don’t know, is described in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “inspiring a feeling of reverence, fear and wonder.” So can a skateboard or a guitar really inspire feelings of reverence, fear and wonder? Wonder, perhaps, but I doubt reverence and/or fear apply.

Using words to create irony is nothing new, but again, when overused, they begin to take on their original meaning. Like Awesome, wicked is one of these over-used words. Wicked means “evil or morally bad,” but used in an ironic manner it would mean “great.” But, again, it is over-used and becoming meaningless both as irony and in its original meaning.

The teachings of Buddhism, ask that we practice Right Speech, which means to abstain from false speech, especially avoiding lies and deceitful speech. We are asked to abstain from slanderous speech and to not use words maliciously against others, and to abstain from harsh words that offend or hurt others. Further, we are asked to abstain from idle chatter that lacks purpose or depth.

It is also my opinion that we should reserve some words for “special occasions,” times when they will have the greatest effect. Those of you who know me personally know I spent many years playing music in a number of bands. Musicians are not the greatest at displaying discretion in their speech. What I mean by that is that I have a vocabulary that would cause a sailor to blush. While I am pursuing a more spiritual path in life, I still find my language is that of a musician. Out of habit and non-mindfulness, I find myself using words that create negative vibrations in the universe. Using such words in everyday speech gives them no meaning.

But I’m not ready to stop calling my best friend the “biggest fucking pile of Ugly I ever saw.” If I were to avoid such speech with him, he’d most likely have me visit a hospital to make sure I’m not ill!

See you in August, you Ugly Bastard!

Wandering through a reflective place

A friend of mine was in a very competitive relationship with a romantic partner. Their way of dealing with each other was very much like a business transaction, so much so that he often said to me, "If I make that concession for her, what will she bring to the table in return?" Love, it turns out is not a business and the partnership disolved soon thereafter.


A nonagenarian who is in constant pain, yet afraid to die, prays to "That which we callGod*" every day, "Please take away my pain, but don't let me die." This, as I see it, is placing conditions on "That which we callGod" and how that being gets to let us experience our lives.


If we are to ask for fair treatment in our personal relationships with each other, should "That which we call God" not have the same fairness from us? We tend to expect miracles in our lives without making effort or commitment. Pain, discomfort, ill health, accidents, any number of problems ranging from inconvenient to disastrous, can come into our lives and we are told by our religious leaders, (I'm talking the Judeao/Christian beliefs here) to pray and our prayers will be answered. So we pray, "Dear God, please remove this thorn from my finger/thaw this frozen lock/don't let my girlfriend be pregnant/don't let me be late for work..." etc. and we expect, in some cases DEMAND results. But what are we willing to bring to the table? Nothing! So what can we truly expect to receive? Uh-huh.


As a Reiki Master, I was taught that my services require an exchange of energy; money paid for services rendered or something of that nature. I have often traded Reiki for other services such as a professional massage or a Reiki treatment in return. Reiki could be exchanged for a meal, a CD, or anythingof value. Exchange doesn't always mean money but it does mean something for something. In our relationships in our competitive Western society, we believe that to receive something for nothing gives us an advantage, while in truth it just makes us lazy and complacent. Without exchanging, we tip the balance and one person or group of people will suffer while the other gains an advantage.


So in your relationships with others, whether personal or professional, keep the balance fair. Trade kindness for kindness, cash for goods or services, or services for services. In your relationship with "That which we call God," keep the balance by doing something good... Plant a tree, clean up the litter from a local park, buy coffee for someone who left their money home... Act with kindness and your kindness will be repaid somehow, somewhere, someday. Believe in Karma.


* I'm not sure if I believe in the traditional definition of God as taught by the church. I do believe in a Greater Power and for the sake of identifying that Power, I am willing to go along with the traditional Christian name of "God." But since many do not wish to acknowledge that name, I simply refer to It as "That which we call God." That way, my meaning is known without sparking debate. I think our naming of that Power is as personal as our relationship with It, and that is true for each and every person alive.


~Still Wandering....

Wandering to the Light

I am a being of light (Lightness is my being)

Light flows through me and from me

My essence is light and light is my source

And to light I shall return.

Grrr...

Grrrrrrr......

That about says it all.

Wandering Toward the End of Another Year...

Summer is over, we've had some snow, even though it didn't stay. The canoe and barbecue are put away along with the lawn furniture. Christmas is a month away, and another new year approaches.

The last year has been an unusual one for me... so many changes. I still yearn to resolve issues that have gone unresolved, but it's against the law to unbury the dead. However, it's all making sense in some ways and that's an improvement.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanouccah, Blessed Ramadan, Happy Solstice... However you choose to deal with this time of year, may you do so safely and with good cheer.

~Still Wandering

Wandering in the post Love Wasteland, part 2

1968, like a middle child, rests uncomfortably between the two greatest years of the most wonderful time of my life.

If 1967 was the summer of love, 1968 was the spring of death. Beginning with the assination of Civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Junior in April, the horror continued with the slaying of Robert Kennedy in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, exactly two months after Dr King was killed.

When I try to explain these events to my younger friends like Saltwater Tibs and the ever lovely Susie Chambers, words fail me. I know they have their own tortures to deal with in their own ways, but I don't think they can ever grasp what it was like to know that people, including young people their age, were being killed for having an opinion that was contrary to that of the "Establishment." Not in Communist Russia, nor Red China, but in North America.

I recently wandered back to that front step where I sat in 1967, listening to my pocket radio. As I sat there, it was easy to remember the way it felt that evening forty years ago... I could once again hear the music that was popular at that time, thanks to a new device known as an MP-3 player. :-) I could also feel optimistic again. For a moment I allowed myself to believe that love and peace could one day be a reality. While I cannot condone war, I can remember those who died to bring attention to the atrocities that war brings. Martin and Bobbie, your message got through, you will not be forgotten.

~Still Wandering...

Wandering in Grateful Amazement

In the 2004 film, What the #$*! Do We Know!?, there is a scene where the female lead, Amanda, is waiting for a subway train. While waiting, she sees a demonstration of the work of Japanese Doctor Masaru Emoto who has had remarkable findings working with simple water. Dr. Emoto explains that by simply adding written words to the outside of a water container, we can change the crystalline structure of the water within. Now, we've all been told to be careful what we say, that our words have consequences, but this was a new spin on that. In the 2006 book and film The Secret, the statement "Thoughts become Things." is made more than once. As I began to assimilate this information and put those ideas together in my mind, I reached a disturbing conclusion. If water can be turned black and vile by simply writing "I hate you" on the bottle, and if thoughts can indeed become real things, then what we think and say can seriously affect our health and state of being! Another well-known doctor, Bernie Siegel, has been saying that for over thirty years. Dr. Siegel has had remarkable success in treating cancer patients with nothing more than their thoughts. Then it occurred to me... No wonder there are so many people with serious illnesses in western society. We are in a constant state of agitation, bombarded by negative images from our televisions on networks such as CNN, negative news on the radio, negative topics in our conversations and the music we listen to, all of which is happening as we eat our meals and drink our water/milk/tea/coffee/whatever. We are literally ingesting negativity into our bodies with our meals! The Secret also mentions "an attitude of gratitude"... of mentally giving thanks for what we have, even if it's not yet all we want. So why not adopt an attitude of gratitude (a sincere one) with our food and water? Perhaps we can change the molecular structure to something more positive and beneficial. Maybe in this way we can reduce the amount of sickness in our bodies and minds. Once that is done, it will be easy to bring peace to our planet and learn to love one another instead of always starting wars to kill each other.

~Still Wandering...