It’s a Matter of Choice

 

Recently, I was talking with a young woman regarding matters of spirituality and our life choices. She had a lot of questions.

As I consider choice, sometimes it seems quite simple. We are a part of the One mysterious manifestation we call Life. In essence we are one with Being…. With the one life energy.  And we are also Actors and Doers who make decisions in the scenes in which we find ourselves. Choices are made. And the question comes up, “By whom are these choices being made?”

We may think we are making reasonable or logical choices.

We may be satisfied with going with our “gut” or intuitive sensing.

We may not take any action or avoid taking action …and this is also a choice.

We do the best we can and make the choices we make.

Who is the real choice-maker? Is the decision coming from conscious awareness in the moment? Does it come from thoughts that are actually being guided by feelings, desires, wants, and unspoken values? Are our actions driven and controlled by unconscious aspects and repressed shadowy parts or sub-personality elements or complexes of which we are unaware?

Of course, the unconscious motives or drivers of decisions are unknown by definition… they are unconscious to our waking present consciousness. It is only after making the same decision over and over again that we may “wake up” and “learn a lesson” that is often painful and disappointing. Yet all part of the mysterious path and journey toward awakening.

Carl Jung, along with other students of the psyche, suggests that the aspects of which we are unaware and unconscious tend to control our behavior. This is the perfect definition of the unexamined life. It can be like we are addicted to deep seated programs and thought patterns… or aspects of our unconscious mind which we might call sub-personalities or complexes.

So, choice is always shaded by our particular stained-glass experience. We make a choice with as much insight as we can muster at the time.

Conscious living calls for vigilance… a watching and an awareness based of love, caring, and the best light we can bring to the situation in which we find ourselves. Yet we choose with confidence that our choice is the best we can do at the time… and there is always room to learn and grow as we go forward… this is what we often hear referred to as personal and spiritual growth and development.

Mistakes are often interpretations based on societal rules… cultural and family values… that we have gone against. Mistakes may also be interpreted as such when our decision has left us in pain or disappointment from the decisions' outcome. In really, there probably aren’t really mistakes as such, just more lessons to learn and more unconscious drivers of which to become aware as we go forward.

Conscious living begins with finding that deep sense of “Being” which is the essence of Life Energy. It is the essence of consciousness and and being aware in this moment, beyond the thoughts and contents of our egoic mind.

I received a question from an online acquaintance who asked, “Do you ever think about anything that is not esoteric?” I took it to mean a humorous poke that was saying she had no clue what I was taking about.  Well, I hope this rambling about choices is more than meaningless gibberish. And ,if it makes no sense, then just leave it behind.

In fact, the freedom to choose is what can keep our spirit free. And… we need to be aware of which part of “me” is choosing… and why… Caution does not mean we live in paralysis caused by fear, but rather that we examine the choices that lead to action. Our choices create our lives and the next moment. My hope is that I can help create a better world through the choices I make that are based on kindness and the clearest awareness possible in this moment.

It is a matter of choice… from the purest awareness of being we can bring to the present moment.

And the question then arises: “What guidance shall we provide for ourselves, our children, our world for the choices we make?”

The answer that came was to be guided by “kindness”… and how shall we define “kindness”? … Compassion?... Consideration? I recalled that in essence most spiritual traditions further define this in some form of has become known as the “Golden Rule” which simply and positively states: “Do unto others as you would have them do onto you.” …"Treat others as you would like to be treated"…. “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

The following is a lovely video with soothing music that shares this guidance from various traditions:

http://youtu.be/2Ci613QcC5E

 

Here are some actual texts from various traditions:

Bahá'í Faith:  "Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not." "Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself." Baha'u'llah … "And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest for thyself." Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. 1

Brahmanism: "This is the sum of Dharma [duty]: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you". Mahabharata, 5:1517 "

Buddhism:  "...a state that is not pleasing or delightful to me, how could I inflict that upon another?" Samyutta NIkaya v. 353  … “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." Udana-Varga 5:18

Christianity:  "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." Matthew 7:12, King James Version… "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." Luke 6:31, King James Version… "...and don't do what you hate...", Gospel of Thomas 6. The Gospel of Thomas is one of about 40 gospels that circulated among the early Christian movement, but which never made it into the Christian Scriptures (New Testament).  

Confucianism: "Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you" Analects 15:23 …"Tse-kung asked, 'Is there one word that can serve as a principle of conduct for life?' Confucius replied, 'It is the word 'shu' -- reciprocity. Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.'" Doctrine of the Mean 13.3 …"Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence." Mencius VII.A.4

Ancient Egyptian: "Do for one who may do for you, that you may cause him thus to do." The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, 109 - 110 Translated by R.B. Parkinson. The original dates to circa 1800 BCE and may be the earliest version of the Epic of Reciprocity ever written. 2

Hinduism:  “This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you.” Mahabharata 5:1517

Islam: "None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself." Number 13 of Imam "Al-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths." 3

Jainism:  "Therefore, neither does he [a sage] cause violence to others nor does he make others do so." Acarangasutra 5.101-2… "In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as we regard our own self." Lord Mahavira, 24th Tirthankara … "A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated. "Sutrakritanga 1.11.33

Judaism:   "...thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.", Leviticus 19:18  …"What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. This is the law: all the rest is commentary." Talmud, Shabbat 31a… "And what you hate, do not do to any one." Tobit 4:15 4

Taoism:  "“Regard your neighbor’s gain as your gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss.” Tai Shang Kan Yin P’ien … "To those who are good to me, I am good; to those who are not good to me, I am also good. Thus all get to be good."

Zoroastrianism:  "That nature alone is good which refrains from doing to another whatsoever is not good for itself." Dadisten-I-dinik, 94,5 … "Whatever is disagreeable to yourself do not do unto others." Shayast-na-Shayast 13:29 5

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Blessings and Love to All,

John Hutchinson  ~  John@Sunhutch.com
Sundance Center for Conscious Living
January 7, 2014
 

Dreams... Fears... and New Life

Dreams... Fears... and New Life

The turning of the calendar page can be a time to reflect on what has gone before and what we would like to see emerge in the new days ahead.

Now I don't know if you consider yourself to be on a spiritual journey or not, and if you are on path of spiritual and personal growth, it may be useful to face the fears that might seem to jump into our paths and keep us from moving to our highest potential.

Last night I read a portion on the "Shaman's Death" and it described the process in which before becoming the fullest we are becoming, the journeyer will face his or her fears... and will be letting go of those fears...

It is a time when we celebrate the new...and the letting go of what no longer serves our highest and deepest ideals and mission in life...

Before I entered the dream-time, I planted the seed that perhaps I might be given some insight into my deeper fears... and in the midst of sleep found myself in a place of fear. I was in an elevator that I knew was rising up the exterior of a very tall building. My traveling companions were two women and a man... all related... two couples...

I faced the rear of the elevator and would not look outside since I felt a fear of heights. I moved to the place inside the elevator that was the most removed from the windows.

When we reached a floor near the top, I exited the elevator while holding my gaze down to the floor, so I would not be so aware of the height. The spouse of the other man spoke about her fear that the weight of so many people might tear apart a stairway and all of us would go crashing down.

Now, this is an example of how dreams can aid us in our daily walk. It has shown me that one of my fears is a fear of going to higher places in consciousness and seeing more... There is also an accompanying fear of plummeting down in a crash of the psyche as expressed by a related feminine aspect within...

[Note: For those not familiar with Carl Jung and his work with the dream-world, he described the two couples within our psyche. One couple represents the more dominant and outward male-female aspects of consciousness, while the other couple represents the more subtle or less conscious aspect of our psyche. This dream image represents that classic picture. Two couples, traveling together inside one vehicle, the elevator in this case, one that I clearly identified with as 'my' personal partnership, the other coupled partners are related since my partner and the other woman are sisters.]

So I will now face those fears as they arise of "seeing too much"... of going or becoming "too high"... and the fear of "crashing" to the ground...

It seems as we are doing our best to walk according to the highest and deepest within, we are brought face to face with those aspects of which we need to let go in order to fully surrender to this Present Moment of Life.

Part of this message is to share with you my deepest wish for you to also meet your fears, your teachers, and to go through those illusions that might have been keeping you from fully expressing the Life Energy you have been gifted. Let us together hold the intention to walk as "One Tribe" and surrender to that which is 'highest' and 'deepest' within... the Flame of Life...

Love and Blessings on the path... John

The Transcending Urge

The Transcending Urge

"NO! Get away from those steps!" his mother screamed. While her intent was most likely based a loving concern for the child's safety, the energy was one of fear and possible anger... both energies that can be felt as attacks on a vulnerable being trying to find his or her way in this new world.

There are more positive ways to relate to one another than simply to react from fear or anger. We all have perhaps experienced the negative ways of parenting, both from the child's perspective and also in the parent's role. Hopefully, we have all had some experience along the journey of experiencing positive communication that respects one another as equal aspects of Life's One Being. Given specific responsibilities can bring out both love and fear. It is important for all in positions of responsibility to take time to start with a sense of Being and Love before we move into the actions of doing and living out our activities of service.

Do you wish to be a thwarter of other's growth and development and creative transcending? Or do you prefer to be one who affirms and empowers others on their path? Individuals and institutions have both played their part in the past of operating from a fear base that emphasizes the "no" rather than the "yes." Institutions, corporations, and other organizations have as part of their defined mission a goal of self preservation and survival that makes them basically ego-centric. This can be seen in industry, in military systems, in religious organizations, and of course in governmental bureaucracies. And it is certainly evident in our individual ego structures. It is part of the nature of survival and self-preservation.

Unless thwarted in specific ways by factors in our environment or genes, the tendency toward growth and development is a natural phenomenon. Given the needed nurturance, a child naturally moves from crawling to walking... and will most likely try to climb any set of steps he or she can find to explore the territory above. Of course the same is true about descending the basement stairs... all part of the natural inclination to explore the environment. Hopefully, there are caring guides present to help make the initial exploring adventures safe and positive experiences.

There seems to be a drive within to find that psychological or spiritual space that provides a sense of return home to the core of our being. It may be defined as looking for the missing piece... or perhaps being "chased by the hounds of Heaven."  It may not emerge for sometime as we are domesticated and taught to survive in the current ways of our tribe, culture, and interconnected world.  Tribal connections and tasks take precedence and are integrated into our personality as we enter this world dependent upon others.

In some ways, life seems paradoxical in our modern societies. We spend a good part of our lives being domesticated through tribal/cultural ritual and rules. Then we are educated to fit somewhere into the maze of our industrial and military systems or serving those who do or do not fit into those systems. It's all part of social living and social development. We are encouraged to develop strong survival skills and a strong ego so we can be successful in the world as it exists today. Then at some point... or perhaps at every point... we are aware that there is something that is missing ... some part of this Life puzzle that we haven't found yet. And we think that by looking for it in others, or in another job, or in another person, or in another place... we may magically stumble upon "it" ...the one "missing thing" that will make us happy, content, at peace.

This may be a necessary scenario to urge us on toward transcending our state of unfulfillment, despair, sadness, homesickness... or whatever you call(ed) it. So, first we are focused on developing our personal skills, talents, knowledge, etc to get along in the world... to make a living...to provide for ourselves and others. All good things... and in the process, we often lose touch with the very core of what is most important... the true sense of soul that is grounded in the larger Being of Life.

For our purpose here we can speak about two ways of looking at our life's orientation. One is focused on doing and one is focused on being. One is separate, individualized, and ego based which we might call the 'personal self.' The other is inclusive, interconnected and Love based which we might call the Transpersonal or Transcendent Self. In this case we do not mean to suggest that 'Transcendent' is above or better than the personal. I would suggest that everything is intricately tied together and that which at times appears transcendent to our experience is always within our experience since Life is not a duality but One. So the use of different terms is used for communicating differing aspects only. "Transcendent" might be considered as outside or beyond our current fields of experience and awareness.

As we read the spiritual masters from the various traditions, or read and listen to various current teachers of spiritual energies, or have various experiences of "the bigger picture," we see that there are differing orientations within the Oneness of Life. We can observe many who seem disinterested in spirituality and also many who seem satisfied in their own religious forms and institutions. And of course everyone seems to be on their individual paths, which we might assume is actually the case.

We might also consider that we are One in our individual and collective journey. We are part of a collective consciousness and a collective unconsciousness that holds the energies that are carried forth in the present moment. There are an infinite number of choices at any moment. People experience the stress and uncertainty of life and cope according to their own seeming preference. From accepting what is... to embracing what is... to being resigned to what is... to giving up on what is and finding solace in mind numbing forms of substances, food, sex, entertainment, or any other activity that can distract from the pain, sense of lostness, alienation, separation, unhappiness, etc.

Most of us have experience with these various states. People who would be considered very successful by most conventional standards may suddenly hit a wall and find their life meaningless. This has sometimes been labeled an "existential crisis" or a "crisis of meaning"... in which they find themselves in a condition in which none of their skills, talents, or intellect is of any help.

All religions have started with a person who dared to step beyond the tribal bounds... who dared to walk a different path to find some inner connection to that Life Source of energy and peace. They have left this physical world and are gone now. I would guess that each one of these spiritual beings was in touch with the same Life Energy and shared the essence of Being through their own filters of experience. The sacredness and mystery of Life seems universal. The Life Energy or Great Spirit or Holy Spirit of existence will never be caged or captured in institutional dogma or special books deemed holy and authoritative. The great Mystery and Life Source...often referred to as "God" ...is beyond words and the projections of the human mind.

We see that social religious institutions and groups can provide a real avenue for individuals to change and transcend their former activities. Then people often become attached to the form that helped them to Love and Forgive themselves and others and return to the present moment of freedom and a more fulfilling and abundant life. And then we also see that the social needs in us take over and we become attached to a specific form rather than remaining present in the Now. We see the separation that takes place when judgment enters creating 'us' and 'them.' Why do we need to cling to 'our' way, which become simply another ego attachment?

My guess is that we fall back into social convention and stagnating social forms because it is often difficult to stay in the present moment...to remain awake. It takes a trust and a certain willingness to accept that we do not know and can't control the future. Most organizations, as we can observe, are structured to remain stable which usually means they are not open to change in any significant way. God bless the form and individuals in our world who are open to change through feedback mechanisms other than money.

We see a polarity in most political systems of those who wish to make changes and those who want thing to either remain the same or somehow return to the past. Differences are a natural part of life and the best we can do at times is to do our best to live peacefully in the midst of the differences. Fear can motivate anyone and love, in its various forms, can also be a motivator us as well. And yet we are one as we consider the bigger picture.

Our ego structure is a natural and normal aspect of our development here on the planet Earth. "Ego structure" is also a concept... simply something we make up to try to communicate about a life process. One on the main dynamics of our personal ego is that it seems fairly well developed over time and also resists change. In this sense we could say there is an aspect of our psyche or make-up that wants to remain in-charge, stable, and the same. It wants to make sure that it protects this personality structure that it has spent years building. So the ego structure is like any other institution in that sense. It can be a great help in acting in the world around us... and it can be a great hindrance as we try to grow and change. It can resist the urging from Life's Deepest Energy or Source since it wants to assure its own supremacy. Thus, we can sometimes sense an internal conflict and battle waging.

Nightmares can be an indicator that something is trying to break into our conscious awareness from the depths of our personal or collective unconscious. The fear experienced can be seen as the ego fearing a loss of control or that its structure is being threatened. Jung and others suggested, and I agree from my own study and experience, that dreams help to convey things to our conscious mind that are not already known. When repressed or other unconscious material and energies are trying to be released, the ego freaks and we experience fear in our dreams and possible annihilation... All forms including our ego and personality structures are impermanent and yet the ego is like "a body at rest wanting to stay at rest" without change.

The urge toward transcendence is also an urge toward synthesis. Over time the process of growth and development tends to integrate more aspects of our personal functioning. People who were mostly cool-headed thinkers may find more of the emotional side emerging in the second part of life. Those more structured may become less so and feel more freedom to "go with the flow."  Those who were empirical-minded and believed only what they could observe may find their intuitive function popping up at unexpected times. Those who have been quite extroverted and outgoing, will probably discover more times when they enjoy solitude and quiet. And the opposites are equally possible. Life tends to balance out our early tendencies and different experiences can elicit the development of more latent abilities.

This process toward synthesis can be long and slow. It can also make rapid jumps at unexpected times. Most traditional psychological counseling has focused upon personality dynamics and the resolution and integration of energies to help a person function more satisfactorily in their life situations. Various approaches deal with issues in different ways. Some focus on getting the desired behavior while others attempt to release repressed emotions; some use talk therapy while others use dreams, hypnosis, visualization. Some rely on brief methods while others emphasize ongoing relationships with the 'professional.' The medical doctor of psychiatry may use various prescribed pharmaceuticals to try to alter the brain chemistry.

Since the 1960s there has been an increase in the teaching and practice of "spiritual psychology," sometimes referred to as "transpersonal psychology" or "transformative psychology."  As implied in the names, this form of guidance is open to a spiritual component. Jung was one of the first to express the notion that all healing must have an element of the "numinous" or spiritual energy involved. Roberto Assagioli, a contemporary and colleague of Jung and Freud, also emphasized the metaphysical or 'Higher Self" in the theories and practices of Psychosynthesis. There has always been "counseling" within the context of particular religions which tends to be guidance toward integrating the teaching of the religion in one's life and may also involve various forms of mediation and prayer.

The broader or more open forms of "transpersonal psychology" affirm the transformative possibility that the Deepest Life Energy or Spirit is an integral part of a satisfying life, without a strict interpretation of how Life energy is defined. Psychosynthesis, for instance, has sometimes been defined as an integration of eastern and western psychologies, philosophies, and religions... a truly eclectic and global approach which incorporates any methods and techniques that are helpful in the collaborative work of guide and client.

 We can say that the process of synthesis... the urge toward transcendence... is like a tree with its roots growing ever more solidly into the earth and the branches being drawn by the sun's light. There is richness in the tree or plant metaphor that could be the subject of an entire booklet in itself. De Chardin was a Catholic theologian and philosopher who, like Jung, Assagioli, and others postulated that each person is being drawn toward a place of wholeness. It has been called "teleology" which suggests the 'end point' or goal is a significant drive in our lives that urges us and draws us toward that "Mystery."

I am reminded that the center of the earth and the center of the Milky Way galaxy are both Fire... which can also be a symbol for Life Energy.

Our personal development can be viewed as that aspect of our lives that roots us in the earth, on the planet, in form... providing us with actual abilities to function in the world... to "DO"

Our spiritual development can be seen as being drawn toward the fullness of Life... the Source... to the Being to which we are all united as One. The more fully we can find our way home to this center within, waking to the present moment, then the more the richness of Spirit , of Life Energy will freely flow through form into action and service. Waking to Being ...Now...

Love and Peace,

John Hutchinson
November 5, 2010

Coincidence, Meaning, and Synchronicity

Coincidence, Meaning, and Synchronicity

There was a loud BANG ... and time stood still... as the car is spinning around in the middle of a busy interstate highway in New Jersey during rush hour traffic... cars and trucks doing 70 miles per hour... and here I am sitting in my car...spinning around in the middle lane... a tractor trailer kisses the door beside me ... the car continues its spin... I feel the bounce off a black 4-door sedan in the right lane... A brief thought wonders if it may be my time to leave this world ... then ... from the back seat area I hear a voice that calls out loudly and clearly,
"LET GO"... and so, with the car still spinning, I let go of the steering wheel... and I am amazed that the car stops spinning as it straightens out...and remains in the middle lane and I am now headed in the right direction... my hands naturally go back to the steering wheel and I guide the car to the nearest shoulder area...

More to come...

 The human egoic mind is constantly making associations and assigning meaning to events that occur. It can be quite a futile attempt at times to try to 'know' or 'understand' everything, since, in the words attributed to Einstein in a James Taylor song, "We can't understand it all." But our egoic mind seems to try its best, both in order to survive in the physical world and also to control or manipulate its environment in direct or covert ways.

Coincidence...
There is a belief by some people that everything is purposeful and meaningful at some level. This may or may not be true. Events that may occur simultaneously or within close proximity in time or space are called 'coincidental'... which may or may not be assigned meaning by the observer. To paraphrase Deepak Chopra: "every event has an infinite number of causes and also results in an infinite number of possible outcomes." And we find ourselves sitting here in the present moment of the causal quantum universe's Now!

Synchronicity...
Carl Jung coined the term "Synchronicity" in the early part of the 20^th century [about 1920] to signify meaningful coincidental events that would not be expected to occur together by chance. And it has become a part of our knowledge base ever since. Synchronistic events are experienced as meaningful by those who experience them. By way of example, one day as I was driving to a community church service with a friend, we were discussing synchronicities. I shared that one time Carl Jung was talking with a 'client' who had a dream about a golden beetle. As they talked he noticed a shimmering object on the window and there was a 'golden beetle' reflecting the sun's light. We arrived at the church and as we walked around the back of the car, I noticed a beetle in the rear window glistening in the morning sun.  we shared this experience in amazement and went into the church. During the morning talk, the minister used as an example illustrating his topic, the same story of Jung, his client, and the Golden Beetle. Later I investigated if there was some explainable way all three things may have happened. Did I read the sermon topic ahead of time and therefore shared my story of the beetle and Jung in anticipation. The answer was "No"... there was no conscious connection indicating what was to come in the minister's talk that day.

Of course, we assigned some meaning to the events of that morning that went beyond mere chance occurrences. It may even point to the interconnectedness of consciousness that plays a vital part in manifestation theories and how our focus and intention can attract similar energies, people, and events.

Some people, myself included, tend to see the phenomena of synchronicity in a good way as the "conspiratorial nature of the universe."  At times, events seem to occur that are both meaningful and guided by some mysterious intelligent energy that is beyond the understanding of our everyday or ordinary personal consciousness.

So, what is the nature of "Meaning"?

'Meaning' in events is related to the significance and assigned value we give to them.

Practical or Everyday Meaning

 'Meanings' of symbols and words are necessary and significant as a shared mode of communicating. In this case, the social group defines the words or symbols by agreement and usage. "Mowing the lawn" easily communicates a certain meaning and experience to the majority in our society, even though each person will have his or her own images and experience with which to interpret these few words. So while "mowing the lawn" conveys a general communication and concept, each person brings their own experience, understanding, education, biases, and feelings to these three words.

There are the actual meanings of the symbols, which are defined in any English dictionary. Then we add to seasoning to the meaning with our own personal experiences and filters and we can call this our interpretation. For this we can easily see how all "Meaning"... even in everyday day practical communication can be quite relative in nature and dependent upon personal differences.

Communication is often fraught with assumptions that we know what the other person means. The relative nature of how we interpret what other say or write can best be seen in the frustration between supervisor and employee, between team members who assume someone knows what to do, between relationship partners, etc.

There are specific communication skills and techniques that can be learned and applied to help improve the conveyance of meaning in our everyday lives.

"Deeper Meaning"

'Meaning' may have a deeply significant value to the one who experiences an event, whether or not that meaning is shared with others. If I said that when I turned the corner this morning, an acorn almost hit me in the head, we all could see this as a coincidence that just happened and do not need to assign any further 'deeper meaning' to the events. Although some people tend to see a meaning in everything and this is fine for them of course. And it can result in simple projections onto everything that avoids simply being with "what is" without the ego needing to understand or try to figure out "why" something happens.

 If we recall the story I shared above about Jung, the beetle, his client, the clients dream, my car window beetle, the minister's talk of Jung and the beetle, the prior car discussion with my friend about synchronicity, etc., then perhaps we can see how easy it can be to make the leap to the 'universe conspiring with us' in a more personally meaningful way... a deeper meaning that will not be found in the dictionary.

It's my understanding that we cannot really know from the perspective of our egoic mind if something is truly meaningful in any absolute way. We just cannot know for sure. We can sense a "deeper meaning"  within the context of a specific situation. We can intuit that events are meaningful. We can agree that some events are meaningful as a group. That does not make them meaningful in any absolute way. It does however provide a sense of intelligence and purpose beyond our personal ego and experience... a sense of the "bigger picture."

To summarize:

• Coincidences are when two or more events occur either simultaneously or close together in the conventional timeframe. Coincidence is simply 'what is' without assignment of a deeper meaning, whether or not there is one.
• Chance is the assumption that there is probably no known shared cause for events to occur as they do.
• Meaning is both significant for and relative to the person or people who share an event depending on their particular experiences and personal filters of interpretation.
• Synchronicity is two or more events occurring coincidentally that have meaning to the observer(s) and/or participant(s) and which seem unlikely to have occurred due to chance.

The "Rest of the Story"...
I began this section by telling a personal story. So here's "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey used to report on his news broadcasts.

What actually happened?

I don't really know, nor do I need to know... The best I can do is relate the probable cause as compiled by discussions with the Saturn technician, the insurance adjuster, and the body work technician. When I first pulled off the road, I assumed I would find a blown tire since there was an explosive bang that initiated the spin. But all the tires were fine. And the Saturn seemed to be driving fine. I thought perhaps it was something on the road surface that flew up and banged loudly against the underbelly of the car. When I took it to Saturn service technician to make sure it was safe to drive, he could find no evidence of my first theory. He suggested that most likely what happened was that the truck to my rear in the next lane touched the left rear of the my car and sent it into a spin He explained that when race cars are traveling at fairly high speeds, it only takes a slight bump by another vehicle to send a car out of control and into a spin. The marks on the car were consistent with this theory, so that's good enough for me... plus it was confirmed as a good explanation by the other experts I spoke with. To be fair to the driver of the truck, it's impossible to know who did the drifting. I could have drifted a bit so that the lug nuts on his front tires hit my car...or he may have drifted into the lane I was in. Either way, the slight bump started my spiritual experience and lesson of the day.... and that's the "rest of the story."

Lessons from the Whirling Dervish Auto Episode
The spinning on the interstate truly was an extra-ordinary experience in which I simply seemed to noticed everything in a calm and peaceful manner. There were several meaningful lessons I took from that experience:

• No time, No fear, No thoughts: When a real crisis occurred, there was no time and no fear, simply being present. The reality of "what was" suspended the stream of thoughts usually rambling through consciousness and the emotional fears that our minds can create will play we play in fantasylands of past and future.
• Guardian Angel: There is some intelligent guardian energy that uses a form I can relate to when it is vitally necessary. The "voice" I clearly and audibly heard was as real as it needed to be to get my attention in a concise way.
• Trust and Obey: There is a lesson in this to follow the guidance I receive. The voice said, "Let Go" and without thinking about it or considering the options, I did it... with positive results to be sure.
• Life Lessons: I followed the guidance provided for this specific situation. So the first thing is to hear the guidance. I was going through a transition at that time in my life and career and was kind of spinning in circles in my own personal way as I experienced the uncertainty of that transition. I took from the near-disastrous highway incident that perhaps I simply needed to let go of trying to steer my life out of the spin and trust the guidance that is available. And in Life's own timing, the guidance will always be here when needed.