promises, promises

10/12/2016

The Indian 1000 rupee banknote includes the words “I promise to pay the bearer the sum of one thousand rupees.” Under these words there is a signature and the word Governor, presumably referring to the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India – the nation’s central bank. This promise, it turns out, is not worth the paper it is written on. A month ago, in a surprise move, the Indian government declared both the 1000 rupee note and the old 500 rupee note worthless. Small numbers of the notes can, indeed, be traded in for valid currency at the Reserve Bank, until the end of this month. After that, it will be a broken promise.

Even with the best will in the world, promises often end up being broken. This is especially true of open-ended promises, like those on the Indian banknotes, or marriage vows and such like. Making such a promise merely shows a complete misunderstanding of the nature of existence. It assumes that one is in control of one’s life. It assumes one can predict all possible eventualities. Such promises might be made from a genuine naivety – out of ignorance of one’s own ignorance – but often there is an element of manipulation involved. We make a promise because we want someone to trust us. But psychology is cunning and words are often used as a substitute when the reality is lacking. Someone who feels himself to be untrustworthy will make a promise in order to hide this perceived defect. It might work for a while. The chances are though, as with these banknotes, that sooner or later the promise will be shown to be empty.

If you want to know who to trust, trust those who do not promise anything!

substitution

21/11/2016

I am in Salento, a small town in the heart of the coffee growing region to the south of Medellin, in Colombia. As the world’s best coffee comes from hereabouts, I felt obliged to drink an espresso. Now, I don’t often drink coffee these days, so when I do, it gives me a real buzz. I feel excited. My fingers dance over the keyboard twice as fast as normal. My heart beats faster than it needs to.

Experiencing all this I realise that we often, consciously or unconsciously, reach out for a substitute when something is felt as lacking in our life. When there is no authentic and meaningful face-to-face connection with another person, we turn to social media as a substitute. When there is no sexual intimacy, we turn to pornography, fantasy and masturbation. When we are not at peace within ourself, we turn to alcohol or other drugs. And when we have become so habituated to the world around us that it no longer stimulates us, we drink coffee.

There is a cost to all this substitution. Firstly, we tend to become addicted to our chosen substitutes. We become dependent on them. Then, if they are unavailable for whatever reason, we suffer greatly. Secondly, although these substitutes invoke similar feelings to the real thing, they are never quite as satisfactory. There is always something rather superficial, hollow and ultimately unsatisfactory in the sensations and emotions that they invoke. Thirdly, there is almost always a negative rebound after these artificially induced pleasures – a hangover follows.

However, there is something even worse about our tendency towards substitution. The substitutes themselves, and our dependence upon them, make it much less likely that we experience the real thing. We are so busy with social media that we forget to talk to the person sitting next to us. The fantasy sex makes us less sensitive to the delicacy of real intimate connection. The alcohol and drugs leave our mind dull and heavy and less in tune with our own, inner, delicacy. And that coffee, stimulating though it might be, in the end makes us less likely to see the world with the simple wonder of a child’s eyes.

waiting for Godot

22/10/2016

I have no plans. As I sit here and write these words, I have nothing at all in my diary: no appointments, no meetings, no dates, no trainings, no satsangs, no sessions. I have no travel tickets, no hotel bookings, no restaurant reservations. I have no job and no particularly significant relationship. My entire future, from this moment on, is a blank page. This is rare, even for me!

Most of my being is completely at ease with this empty future. Yet I notice that when the thinking mind looks at that blankness, it wants to fill it. Ideas of where to go and what to do keep popping up. In some sense, I could follow any of those ideas. However, I tend to only act when there is a felt sense of what to do, rather than just the cold, dry energy of a thought. When a real yes arises, it arises in the body, it is sensed as energy, a vital energy. And such a yes is not yet in me for any of the ideas that the mind has proposed.

So for now at least, I sit and wait. On the one hand, this waiting is as empty and meaningless as Waiting for Godot. On the other hand, the inaction is clearly the correct action, which can also be said of Waiting for Godot.

a quiet day at DIMA

03/10/2016

I have the good fortune to be a guest, for a few days, at the DIMA centre for conscious living, on the island of Mallorca. Last week there was a primal therapeutic group taking place here, doubtlessly involving much activity. In contrast, like the calm after a storm, today has been a quiet day. The centre, housed in an old finca – a farmhouse – is situated in the countryside, far from noisy towns or the busy coastal tourist areas. Consequently, it is peaceful here. Often the only sounds to be heard are the chirping of birds or the rustling of leaves when the breeze picks up.

Spending a leisurely day here, doing some simple chores and sitting silently, I feel my inner world becoming quiet too. It is so often this way: the inner and outer worlds reflecting each other. And how rarely we have quiet days! The outer world is often frenetic. It follows that the inner world is frenetic too; noisy, chaotic and fast-paced; busy, knowing no peace. So spending a quiet day here at DIMA has reminded me how important it is to seek out peaceful environments and make the time for quiet days. Only this way do we have a chance to find peace and quiet in our own inner world.

together or apart?

22/06/2016

I rarely allow myself to be sucked into political debate. However, the imminent referendum in the UK, regarding continued membership of the European Union, is so much in the mass consciousness that even I feel drawn to comment.

For me, the question is not so much whether the UK should remain in or leave the EU. Rather, the question is: Am I, as an individual, a member of the community of European people? If I am, then of course the UK should remain. If I am not, then it would be more appropriate for the country to leave.

Note that my question is not: Do I want to be part of the European community?; rather it is: Do I feel that I am part of the community? It is a more fundamental question about the nature of things, rather than about my personal desires for how I would like things to be.

With this perspective, the question is equivalent to: Am I separate from my fellow human beings? The ego tends to want to answer Yes to this question. Setting aside the ego, answering instead from the spiritual being, it is clear that I am not separate from my fellow beings. When we clearly see that all humans are part of one family, indeed that all beings are part of one being, then it is obvious that the fate of all of us, as individuals, is inextricably intertwined. We are together, whether we like it or not.

Our political energy must be directed at creating structures that recognise the fundamental togetherness of humanity and support cooperation, rather than reinforcing arbitrary and anachronistic separations between human beings – false separations that stir up the ego to hatred and lead eventually to war.

I’ll be voting for the UK to remain in the EU.

soaring with the eagles

24/04/2016

The other day, when I was walking high on the mountain ridge (see previous episode: new terrain), an eagle appeared. It was soaring effortlessly on an updraft right next to the ridge, a magnificent bird. In the clear mountain air, I felt like I could almost reach out and touch it. I could clearly see the individual feathers in its wings and the way they fluttered slightly in the wind. It was with me for a few moments and then simply turned and soared off across the valley. In no time it was far away, all without a single beat of its wings.

An intimate friend of mine is also soaring at the moment. It is beautiful to have seen her spreading her wings, flying ever higher, to heaven itself. And I smile to know that she is uncaged. At times it is so tempting for us humans to put each other in a cage; perhaps a beautiful, gilded cage wrought of enticing promises, but a cage nonetheless.

I simply refuse to do that, to put anyone in a cage. That is why I never accept disciples. And that is why my intimate friends are always free, to soar with the eagles.

new terrain

21/04/2016

I have been coming here for years. I love the view from the guest house, down the tranquil valley and across to a series of mountain ridges. For years I had been intending to ascend the nearest of those ridges. Today I finally diid it. It was much easier than I had expected: a goat herders’ path could be followed all the way, skirting the steeper sections and zig-zagging up the slopes as needed. The way passed through beautiful rhododendron woods before emerging onto steep grassy pastures, with rocky outcrops to add to the scene. I finally ended up at another wood, high on the mountain, with majestic old trees, a magical place. The views all the while were magnificent.

What I noticed as I was walking up the ridge was how much I enjoyed being on new terrain. For me there is a great joy in discovering new places. Somewhere in me there is definitely the explorer’s spirit. I feel lucky to have this aspect in my character. For what is the spiritual journey if not a journey of exploration and discovery, a journey into new terrain!