I spend a formidable amount of time trying to connect the dots. I meet somebody in life or online and I wonder what our karmic connection is.
How is it that I can suddenly have almost 300 new "friends" on the Internet that I have never spoken with or met?
It is an awesome responsibility if you think about it. Suddenly what you say is heard. Maybe not by everyone... but certainly by enough people to make an impression.
So what are we putting out? What is our message? Well - if I truly had a captive audience (which I don't consider is totally true - it is more like we are all in the hall between classes and there is a general buzz of conversation happening.
I would say... PREPARE. Seriously. I know that there are a million things we can do with our day. I am the king of passing a day with entertaining distractions and very little productivity. But there is an event horizon. I have only a mediocre awareness of it - and I am doing exactly as the Buddha said all humans do... I am doubting. I doubt the relevance of my death to my life.
That is an odd consideration. The Buddha taught that this life is a delusion - that we are 100% sold on the truth of our experience, and yet every microscopic movement we make toward unfolding the delusional veil can have a "snap back" factor. A point at which we try for a while and then find our mind buried deeper in the denial. Why?
Because how can we stand the thought that all this effort and travail of the life we lead could lead to squat? You HATE hearing that don't you? I know I wanna be like "PROVE IT"! And that is so arrogant. The proof will come - according to every profound and mystical teaching - the veil will lift as our consciousness separates from the earthly bindings... but by then, we are too steeped in our experience to stop and relax the consciousness and move skillfully.
I recommend that we prepare well. The answers and the method are available - but it has been taught that these are the toughest times to connect with it. Kaliyuga is the name of this time. A time of extreme degeneration when we believe in the most superficial truths... but the irony is that Kaliyuga also brings the actual truth in a way that it can be accomplished very quickly. By the way if people tell you everything is love and light... RUN. Or better yet watch the news. Is what you see on the news love and light?
In an odd way it reminds me of old school video games. (Donkey Kong and Pac Man as dharma training.... really?) You train to progress through the higher levels by extensive repetition of the levels that become easier with practice. And you get better at the games, but you always had to start at the beginning - no matter how familiar the game became (its why I use old school for my example... now youpunch in a code and pick up where you left off, but you miss that fundamental repetition that tunes your skills in) You need to be more skilled in the later screens of the games. You are closer to the coveted result but the game is presenting mind boggling challenges and new obstacles at you on each new screen.
I recall the adrenaline pumping in a roomful of college students as one of us might defeat the screen that would bring us to the end of Zelda, or Mario Brothers - or whatever challenge we all encouraged among ourselves. A limited metaphor, but a tangible memory in this life.
How amazing if we rallied that same support for those who might wish to conquer hatred, jealousy, greed, judgement in our lives. No doubt as we approached even the nearest proximity to that goal - the HARSHEST characters of those displays would arise and assault us with an arsenal of challenge. And some place inside you would have to CENTER and go into the zone where you could move through that level, face those opponents and still remain grounded in the compassion.
Easy to explain in metaphor. Less easy to accomplish. But life has a funny way of letting you conquer each new level and advance to the challenge phases. And if you are fortunate and have a good guide - you can eventually move forward and conquer those virtual demons and what you learned in combatting them prepared you for the next level.
So I babble. On a day where I feel practically GUILTY for having a moment to ponder, reflect and blog. Who even has time to read these posts anymore? The world has moved to soundbites. But I encourage any who might stumble upon this post - to love deeply the challenges that life is presenting. On that day when you transition from this life (and it will happen for all of us) you want to be stable, undistracted and motivated by compassion. You must be free of regret and not attached to the bogus material supports that cannot help you in a gossamer transition - a subtle movement of consciousness where your body, health, wealth and acquaintances from the life you are leaving behind are useless to you. The only guide you will have is the wisdom of the awakened ones and the habits of mind. No brain, no body, just the root thoughts that drive you through your daily activity. That will drive you into your next life. Will it seem like a heaven or a hell to you? You can taste it now if you look at your practice and your faith and the results you are experiencing.
So do the work. Meditate. Find out how your mind is. Is it wild and unruly? If you wanna know just try to sit quietly for 10 minutes. Yeah. Scarey ain't it?
Tame the mind. Rest assured that whatever presentation death takes, you can be advanced at calm mindfulness, and may have learned the method of refuge, generation and accomplishment (assuming you HAVE learned those. If you haven't... now is a GREAT time to explore them.)
Peace ya'll. Get your dharma on. Life is too short to buy a bridge of material comfort you ain't never gonna be able to cross to the promised land!
