The Blinking Cursor...

The blinking cursor shows me where I am on the page.

It signifies the Nowness of Now.

It alerts me that I am here, Now.

As the symbols and concepts enter the page, the Now-point indicator moves onward.

So it is in Life.

Once we create a concept or express ourselves trying to capture a moment, the moment is gone.

It seems that all teachings and worldviews are part of ego’s content past on by previous expressions of consciousness.

They are rooted in some experience in the past.

When we accept or identify with those concepts that become beliefs and worldviews, we crucify the reality of Now and rob ourselves of discovery of the Presence of Now.

Christians base their beliefs on what is suggested was the experience and teachings of a man from Nazareth. He seemed to have a direct experience of the fullness of Life… of the spirit of Life Energy. He has had quite an influence on the lives of others. Egoic structures have tried to capture that experience in institutions and teachings. While these teachings may point to that which is beyond the words and symbols, an identity and dependence on the experience of others is never the real thing it seems. The need of ego for identifying and attaching to ideas and things and people and anything is neither right nor wrong, rather a simple truth about the dynamics and workings of our human psyche. Once we become identified with thoughts within the natural working of the egoic mind, we will then most likely interpret and filter our experience through that particular world view, be it collective or personal mindset. A set mind is an egoic mind.

Buddhists and any other defined set of teaching may find the same dynamics to be true. The experience of the Buddha is interpreted in the teachings and the concepts can keep us egoically grounded in mental routine.

It seems the most practical approaches if the teachings of any spiritual tradition are to succeed in their goal is to provide others with the process and practical procedures and techniques to the experience. Breakthroughs in consciousness and expansion of consciousness occur in an infinite number of ways. Practice and ‘theory’ are both helpful at various levels. Identification with any one method can be an egoic trap.

Perhaps the most accurate guidance I have found in my experience is that the answers are found within… in our personal process and an awareness of our consciousness outside the contents of the mind.

We can read the teachers of religion and philosophy to see what their experience taught them in their day. And we must also see how those words are verified or not within our experiential understanding of Life Energy. For instance, the French philosopher and author, Descartes, considered by some to be the “Father of Modern Philosophy” or perhaps now more accurately stated,”of Rationalism,” has been often quoted for his dictum: “I think, therefore I am.” At one point in our experience, that may have made perfect sense. Yet there seems something quite backward in that pronouncement which places thinking as the penultimate aspect of human existence. In fact, some, myself included, see it as the reverse… “I am, therefore I think.” 

The penultimate in experience has been given the ‘label’: “I am” which signifies the basic experience of being. All else can be seen as content and structural dynamics of the human ego.

And the blinking cursor moves on within the page.

I am reminded that these words only point to this moment of now and are mere concepts that may jog the egoic mind in a particular direction that is in alignment with one person’s experience.

I must say that I have read much of works by eastern and western spiritual teachers, psychologies, and some philosophy. And in all of these there have moments of insight and expansion.

In Psychosynthesis, there is the attempt to bring the theory and practice together, as in many transpersonal schools of psychologies, in ways that focus on discovering our inner process and the expansion of our awareness toward more inclusive and satisfying living. The psychosynthesis approach is to use whatever methods and practices are appropriate for the person seeking guidance, no matter what school or theoretical roots it may have emerged through.

In Jungian studies, there is the useful emphasis that what remains unconscious tends to control us. This points to need for personal growth and awareness through dreamwork association, and collective archetypes.

Guided and spontaneous imagery, along with dreamwork help us to see pictures of the psyche’s dynamics that are somewhat beyond the ego’s structure or control.

And the blinking cursor moves on and brings us again to this moment.

All that I share is with a sense of helping to give us a broad framework or map of the dynamics of Life Energy that points back to this present moment.

When we look at the thoughts that keep us trapped in endless spirals of regret, negativity, guilt, grief and other thought loops that can prevent us from living more fully in the present, we may discover that they are rooted in what has happened in the past. Most of counseling and spiritual healing importantly looks at these areas. It can be important to express what was trapped in our bodies memory banks. And in order to be more present in the now, I have found it is a necessary step to let go of what was…sometimes through releasing its emotional grip, sometimes through forgiveness of self and others, and always involving some sort of acceptance of what ‘was’…our past experiences.  Then we develop strategies to shift our thought processes so when the focus goes back to the past, we can let go again and return to this present moment.

There are many forms of described meditation and practices. Becoming the aware observer of our experience, including sensitivity to the Life Energy within our body in the present moment is a good way that works for me. Usually whenever we are able to pop into the moment of awareness, we somewhat flip the ego projections and smile or laugh at our human experience and how easily our egoic mental gymnastics can control our feelings and thinking and actions.

There is that blinking cursor again… and I am reminded that there is always more… and we are always more than we ‘think’ we are…

One brief word about the future... It’s not now. All that applies to the past applies similarly to focus and identifying with the future. Nothing right or wrong with planning and having goals… it helps move us in a direction… It is best if the captain of our ship is as clear of the memories of the past or fogginess of the future as possible. Fear or Hope can both be distractions from being aware of what is in front of us right Now…

So let the blinking cursor on the writing page be a symbol of staying present and enjoying the depth of Being that we are…

JH, Feb. 10, 2013

 

Note: As always, my experience and conceptualization of that experience is only that... If these words resonate, that is fine. If they do not resonate, simply let them go as you move on in your own experience and on you own path with blessings and love. jh