Jammie Chat, Day 16: You Are Not Your Addiction

Quote:

"Every addiction arises from an unconscious refusal to face and move through your own pain. Every addiction starts with pain and ends with pain. Whatever the substance you are addicted to--alcohol, food, legal or illegal drugs, or a person--you are using something or somebody to cover up your pain." ~Eckhart Tolle

I mis-remembered Cee Lo Green's quote, but you'll hear it in the Begin Again trailer:

A Serving of Eckhart

One of my favourite diners in WV on Rt. 340--awesome sweet potato fries! Food-related photo explained below because one always thinks of diners when pondering consciousness in the world of Eckhart Tolle.

Last night was Eckhart's last webinar with Oprah. He was talking about being present in whatever you're doing and he used the example of a waiter. It sparked a memory of my first lunch with John Morgan. We were at Applebee's (or Crapplebee's as my brother says) and John asked the waitress for a napkin. When she returned to the table, she tossed the napkin at him and had turned around before it hit the table. He did a v. funny imitation of her, which of course she missed. She did all the waitress things: she took our orders, served our drinks, brought our food. All without any lifeforce behind it. It was a glorious illustration of lack of presence. Conversely, on our way to St. Johnsbury, we stopped at a v. quaint trolley-car-turned-restaurant and had a whole happy dining experience. The food was just regular food, but the waitress was SO nice; we laughed & swapped from-a-big-family stories. She was there.

I see why Eckhart calls it The Power of Now. In our culture of multi-tasking, our attention is divided and our energy dispersed. When you pull your energy from the past and future, you have ALL of it for the present moment. In that moment, you find stillness and are connected to the Source. And then you allow that lifeforce to live through you instead of struggling to force things to happen.

Eckhart Tolle Quote-of-the-Day

Sunrise lesson on Light & dark

There is only one perpetrator of evil on the planet: human unconsciousness. That realization is true forgiveness. With forgiveness, your victim identity dissolves, and your true power emerges--the power of Presence. Instead of blaming the darkness, you bring in the light.

P.S. Eckhart webinar with Oprah tonight.

Treasure in the Labyrinth

I chose a theme word for this year: treasure. As a noun, it denotes something special, perhaps hidden. It's also a verb: you treasure a person or thing. I've been reading Eckhart Tolle's book about life purpose and thinking that I want to do something on that theme for my next CD.

Remi and I had a little ritual: as I would begin to walk the labyrinth, he would go rub up against the bush at the side of the porch. When I got to the center, he would trot over to me and sit down and lean into me while I pet him.

You know those quiet moments of peace where there are no thoughts or concerns? This was one of them. Looking out at the mountain with the sun on my face, Remi leaning into me. *sigh* LOVEly. And then I heard "Treasure in the labyrinth." That is what I felt. When we went back into the house, I started to write. I thought I was going to write a script, but this poem came through instead. Not the sing-songy rhymes I usually get. Just as I finished up, Mum was at the door and the rest of the day unfolded. It was Remi's last gift to me before he crossed over.

TREASURE IN THE LABYRINTH

What is your treasure?
Hidden inside,
Waiting to be discovered?
Uncovered? Recovered?
What is your dream?
What do you aspire?
It is your treasure
That you treasure.
It is your life’s journey,
Your path, your purpose.
It is waiting for you
To take the leap
Into the unknown
Into the darkness
Into the void that creates
The SPACE for you to grow
Into your BEAUTY
Your GRACE
Your POWER.
You are the gem that has
Been tossed and polished
by the storms of your doing
And undoing.

Anything Else

Last night I was going to watch Oprah's webinar with Eckhart Tolle. It was a few minutes before it was to start and I was chatting with John. I won't give the techno-details, but I was following directions and I wasn't getting into the class.

Then John told me a story. A Dave Dobson Story.

Do you remember that story Dave tells about learning to fly? [Maybe. Often I don't remember something Dave said until it's necessary. That's how Dave was.] Anyway, the story was something about what would Dave do if the instructor had a heart attack and the plane was plummiting to the earth and he had to land the plane all by himself when he'd never done it before.

He would take the controls, pull up on the nose.

What if none of it worked?

Pray.

And then what? Anything else. Do anything. Keep going until. How badly do you want this?

So I redoubled my efforts. I've learned this from John: when in doubt, restart your computer. Except that I forget until he reminds me. And whenever he says reminds me of a story, I pay attention. Thanks, John. And thanks, Dave.

P.S. Plummit? Plummet? Where's my spell-checker?

Favourite Eckhart Quotes

Oprah's webinar with Eckhart is tonight (9 p.m. EST). Here are a coupla Chapter 2 quotes:

Even a stone, and more easily a flower or a bird, could show you the way back to God, to the Source, to yourself.

Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at this moment.

Offended

I have had the occassion this week to offend a few people, especially with Monday's post. And in turn, I have been offended--sometimes in response to offending someone. But this a.m. I woke up thinking about all this. One of don miguel ruiz's 4 agreements is not to take anything personally. A person's behaviour is theirs, not yours. It is easier to look at a 2-year-old having a tantrum and recognize it as such, than to see it in an adult. Both behaviours are a pattern. As adults we get caught up in the content of a behaviour, instead of looking at the pattern. Cue Dave Dobson: At one time this pattern had a purpose and got a desired outcome. What worked for you at age 5, may not be a useful response as an adult. I wonder if you can get curious about updating those patterns....

Back to being offended: The question is, Who is being offended? Not the me that is connected to universal consciousness. It's the ego-me that needs to be right--and self-righteous. Even if I'm interpreting a behaviour as "mean," even if the intent from the person is to be mean, it doesn't matter. What matters is my response to the situation: how much emotional energy am I going to waste on this? How am I going to respond? Sometimes the best response, is no response. In that place of stillness, where there is no separation, what does it matter? It doesn't.

Eckhart Tolle said on Monday's webinar with Oprah that you can't force enlightenment on someone. You can fill-in-the-blank with enlightement. You can't force an opinion, a feeling, an idea. We all have our own lessons to learn. We all have our patterns to outgrow. Or not.

P.S. I am venturing out into the world this weekend so will most likely not be posting til Monday. Have a GREAT weekend!

P.P. S. Today is the LAST DAY to enter The Grasshopper's drawing for lots of cool *free* stuff from John Morgan! GO SEE.

Invocations of Grace

I drifted off last night after Susan's Invocations of Grace teleconference. It was a really wonderful experience; deeply relaxing, healing, and restorative. Actually, I was drifting in & out of consciousness through the meditation part. It was just what I needed to integrate my experiences reading Eckhart Tolle--that whole "awakening" thing...sometimes I just want to sleep.

One of the things that Susan talked about was acknowledgement. We were to pick an issue or intention to think about as she guided us through the meditation. She said that if there was any part resisting, just to acknowledge it. Sometimes that's all you need to help to shift a pattern. Acknowledgement works with parts of ourselves that we deny or resist. What you resist, persists. I think it also works with people. When you take a pause and give your full attention and are completely present, it transcends personality, ego, or behaviour. It acknowledges the divinity within where we are all the same. Anyway, just a thought. Namaste.

Grasshopper Notes

I’m a huge Grasshopper fan and my blog is sprinkled with John Morgan quotes. A day doesn't go by when I don't write something down that he's said that's profound, thought-provoking or funny. I’m *SO EXCITED* because Grasshopper Notes is going to become a book. He’s asking for people’s 3 favourite blog posts/newsletters to make sure they get included. Only 3? In return, he'll include you in a drawing to win 5 fabulous John Morgan products of your choice. You can find out all about it here. These are some of my favourite blogposts with quotes:

Mad Libs

“You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing that goodness to emerge.” ~Eckhart Tolle

As I wrote it down, it became clear to me that any desired outcome could be substituted for the word “Good” and the adage remains just as profound. The framework of the quote acts as a cosmic Mad Lib. For example, you could substitute these words: “Happy,” “Joyous,” “Rich,” “Sexy,” “Insightful,” “Loving,” “Caring,” “Fulfilled,” etc. for the word “Good” and the source of emergence is always the same.

Inspiration
John’s eloquent tribute to Dave Dobson.

Frustration/Dissatisfaction
John's take on "falling apart."

He has 2 posts called "Creation." This one:

"You created this. Now what else can you create?” ~The Grasshopper

Your life begins to change when you recognize that you are a creator. You’ve created a past that has a hold on your present. It isn’t necessary to get into therapy to find out the causative factors. That may be interesting information, but it’s most often used to justify why you are the way you are now. “I’m the son of an alcoholic parent,” “I’m an incest victim,” “Clowns scared me when I was 4,” are some examples of how the justification keeps you in place.

“I’m the son of a bricklayer” is my answer to all the justifications. So what? The building of the causative factor into an entity is just another wall you will have to break down to change things up – so don’t build it in the first place.”

Creation
“Who you are is someone that you made up and got comfortable with.”

I quote that last one a lot! The deadline for entering is this Friday, March 7th. So go check it out!

P.S. AlSO, tonight is Susan's Invocations of Grace teleconference at 9 p.m. EST.

I've Joined . . .

Robbie's flowering cactus

Oprah's Bookclub for aN Eckhart Tolle webinar series based on the new book A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. I've started reading it and it's v. quotable and profound. Here's a nice stop-and-smell-the-roses quote:

Seeing beauty in a flower could awaken humans, however briefly, to the beauty that is an essential part of their own innermost being, their true nature. The first recognition of beauty was one of the most significant events in the evolution of human consciousness. The feelings of joy and love are intrinsically connected to that recognition.

The Gift of Presence

"When you're in that place of presence, there are no magic words." ~John Morgan

I reminded John yesterday that he said this to me in a conversation--prolly when he was expounding on the virtues of Eckhart Tolle. "Oh, really? I did?" He didn't remember. He must've said it while in that place. I've been reading Radical Forgiveness--it really is v. radical. I fell asleep after I'd read this:

"Don't pray for peace. Pray to feel peace. That's the most creative prayer you can make. Peace is the strongest power on earth, and it is certainly called for at this time. When we can feel peace in our hearts, we will know Love and our world will reflect it."

So I fell asleep praying to feel peace and extending that prayer to my friends who have lost a beloved family member. I woke at 4 a.m. feeling that place of presence, absolute peace. Warm and cozy, listening to the snores of Remi at the foot of my bed. It is rare that I don't wake up with the To Do List in my head. Nothing from the past, no worries of the future, just the present. What a gift.

Day of Rest

Even when the sky is heavily overcast, the sun hasn't disappeared. It's still there on the other side of the the clouds. ~Eckhart Tolle

It's a good day to curl up with a cup of tea and a book. I'm reading my Xmas gift from John, The Power of NOW, by Eckhart Tolle. I've joked about what a snooze-fest listening to the audio book was, but the book is pretty good. For an enlightened guy.

How Long Do You Plan on Being a Hermit?

Some people have asked. It's not indefinite, this retreat into the wilderness. It's where I need to be for NOW. I can stay in the present moment, out here in Nature. Hmmm...almost sounds sort of Eckhart Tolle, don't you think? haha

But look where I'm living! The road I'm on is so BEAUTIFUL.

[BTW, this is where I saw my first bear!]

I was listening to John's Self Image CD last night and he has a line in there about going to a place where you feel peaceful. I used to imagine another place outside myself, like my labyrinth in WV or walking along a beach. I used to meditate A LOT just to get that sense of inner peace because I was in a much more stressful environment. And as celebrated cell-biologist Bruce Lipton says in Chapter 2 of his BRILLIANT book, The Biology of Belief: It's the Environment, Stupid. Your environment affects your health, your behaviour, your feelings. Change your environment, change your life. Which is what I've done.

And being out here in Nature...is nurturing.

[Science geek reference] haha

What I feel is that peace is where I am. Now. In this moment. And when I venture back out into the world, I trust that I will be able to keep that place of peace within me wherever I go.

Big City Wilderness

I got a call yesterday from my boss, John Morgan. He's in NYC to see Eckhart Tolle at the Beacon Theatre. John has an aversion to talking on his cell phone in public, so I was surprised he called me. One time I gabbed with him as I was navigating the aisles of Walmart. "How can you do that?" he asked me. I'm multi-tasking. So he says, "I'm joining the rest of the jackasses on their phones." When in Rome... It was so otherworldly to hear all the street noises of the city while standing out in my yard.

I'm not really in Eckhart Tolle's Fan Club--nothing against him, but I tried to listen to an audio series and it was such a Snooze Fest. I like him better when someone else is quoting him. Like John. [OMG, when I googled Eckhart Tolle, it seems he really does have a fan club!] So I'll leave you with some cool quotes:

"You may not yet be able to bring your unconscious mind activity into awareness as thoughts, but it will always be reflected in the body as an emotion, and of this you can become aware."

"Where there is anger, there is always pain underneath"

"Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to "die before you die" — and find that there is no death"

P.S. Something extraordinary happened to John yesterday, but it's not my story to tell. I told him he has to do a blog post for it. Altho, things like that happen to me all the time. Oooh, what could it be? Stay tuned.