In a Universal Mind

Nothing in this universe is inherently bad or good, I have been told and am working to reconcile. It’s just life with its beautiful, eternal ebb and flow. That said, there is a lot which my mind perceives as dark or negative influence and light or positive influence.  Let’s take any number of the crisis’ in the world as an example.  The decline of our American civilization is evident as our economy weakens under the stress of over reliance on finite fossil fuels, overindulgence of resources, and collapsing public educational systems.  This problem we face is not just a potential collapse here in America, but the problem is now accepted as global.  The point is, the time to come together is now.  It doesn’t matter whose side you were on, or whose side you feel you are on now.  There is only one side, only one universe, one heart, one love, which is ALL.

My Tai Chi group from TC Society, here in LA, likes to muse over some of these subjects over coffee and tea after a class at Yahoo center park.  It is wonderful sharing ideas with these friends who come from a variety of backgrounds, all who contribute some important insight.  The point is not to lament or complain and end up cursing the government or the various politicians that can easily be perceived as the problem and as often occurs when entering these sorts of converstations. Instead, I feel that we do this as a way to channel the energy, like we do in our movements of the Tai Chi Long form, inorder to transmute and transform the energy into something that no longer can harm us.  We yield to the energy that attacks and by staying soft and flexible we find an escape which leads to victory. Simply put, you can not hit what is not there.

Some time ago, while under the influence of this so called negative energy which bombards us in the morning after our calming dream state in the form of rude drivers, or terrible headlines in the news of war, famine, terror, disease, and death, I wrote a poem which I would like to share now.  This is the way I sometimes choose to deal with this bombardment so that I can go on with my day and not be tempted to hurt somebody (physically or emotionally).

“Where is your will to be weird? Has it been crushed by fear and too much beer?  They promised you untruths and unsound dividends, easy ways to make amends with friends that only like you for your ends. But in the end you only pay. And more and more, the good people stay away. But, it doesn’t have to be this way.

It’s easy to see their need for greed, they’re afraid of starving the more they feed, while watching their fear-based reality go up for trial and the unjustly accused cry out to be freed before the masses of outraged citizens.  It’s easy to be outraged at a system set up to destroy you, enslave you, even after they tame you. Even when it takes years, sweat, and mountains of money to control and maintain their fragile status quo.

What they do or do not know is that it all changes, changes with time, no matter what is done or undone. It can be a day, a month, or a snap of my fingers if you’ll remember we are cosmic beings not just earthlings, so connected beyond our limited, five known senses.  And once we know this we can create bliss. And once we show this we invite death like Horus, an old friend that we miss.”

“In your dreams” I remember the bullies at school would sometimes snide and add a little extra slur, “fool”!  Just because you might be excited about learning that new skateboard trick you just saw in the video, or that song you discovered on the James Brown record and you say, “I’m going to write something like that some day”. . .

Why do we torture dreamers?  What’s wrong with dreaming?  I say, nothing at all.  Is it because these mules are afraid your success will interfere with there life or happiness somehow?  If it wasn’t for dreamers where would the world be?  Worse than it is, for sure. Man, don’t we have computers that help us communicate across vast distances instantly because of dreamers?

Still, when I would hear that I would begin to think, and question my thoughts and ideas.  But why would we receive certain thoughts if they were out of the question? This sort of thing was bad enough from a peer but if an adult or authority figure issued the comment, depending on who it was it could be crippling.  Negativity of some form is created, and either sent inward, directed outward to the perpetrator or worse, both.

It cripples our kids to impose limits on their dreams.  Thankfully today if someone tells me that, and I detect that same presumptuous and arrogant tone I simply reply with a smile, “Thank you”.  For I know now that dreams are powerful, and knowing that makes mine powerful.

Even after the worst of days, a heavenly dream can cure the soul from the ills of the often infected landscape of our waking life.  But, sometimes as is the case with people like me it can do more.  It can even start to drive your waking actions in a certain way if you can begin to allow for their magic to exist and seep into your life.  That is what I have been trying to do since childhood, and am just barely starting to realize that not only is this possible, but also our birthright.  It’s just hard as hell to figure that out.  It helps when someone tells you to do it, as someone did to me.  So, try it.  Who knows what your true destiny is except you, the real you. Take a moment to speak to the inner you before going to bed and tell yourself you want to follow your dreams, you want to remember the signs you see when your mind is asleep and your spirit roams free.

I try to tell  my mind constantly that it needs to shut the hell up, because not only does it make too much noise, but the poor thing is constantly burdened with the incessant noise all around.  Dreams can help guide us toward that which we need in life for nourishment and that which takes out the trash.

My list is long for giving thanks, and waiting until Thanksgiving is nice but not as noble as being thankful each day.  Where I fail there is room to grow.  I know I’ve been a selfish creature and I know I have not.  I know how to act, I know how to act not.

It is easy to get clouded by all the madness that occurs on a daily basis in this narrow waking reality we call life.  The latest TSA scandal is just one of the aggravations that can try and ruin a happy thankful mood. But, no matter because in spirit we travel without boundaries and touch the hearts of whoever we desire and heal as we can be healed with nothing more than thought and conscious vibration. So, its important to take time out just to connect that way.  Then there is the whole myriad of cool tech gadgets we have these days to actually speak, write or video chat with our friends and family. Heal this world

Family is a precious resource. The time to enjoy them is now.  In America most of us seem to live to work.  Hustle bustle, break a leg because time is money. Such nonsense.  Before you know it the best of your years are spent in a haze of traffic and supermarket checkout lines.  And death approaches your left ear to whisper one final lament.

Meanwhile, the smart part of the world works to live.  If we really used these massive brains of ours properly and efficiently we would have solved that and other problems by now.  But the time is now.  Nothing yesterday matters as much as today.  And nothing tomorrow can be borrowed today.  So, relax get happy and eat, drink, and whatever else you are allowed to get into.  Answers to the hardest problems come when the mind is most relaxed and not over strained by anxious intent.  Blessings.

I want to start this blog by giving thanks to the tremendous power of spirit that guides and informs my songwriting craft. Whether writing songs for my reggae project Mentone, Latin rock/reggae/cumbia project Las Manchas or my own personal material this ubiquitous, though unseen and therefore visceral force has been with me since birth. On my path, due to confusion, I have alternated between strong and weak states. But, several events from the last few years have helped me understand how to use it, and to know that it does in fact exist in a more powerful and real way than I could have ever imagined. As inspiration, it whispers words and sounds that haunt my mind until they find expression in song. The process is so cathartic that as it takes its course I am healed by its vibration and opened once again so I can receive the abundance that the universe desperately wishes to grant.

It is so exciting that I feel compelled to share the stories with you the reader in hopes that you will derive inspiration, entertainment and your own enlightenment, if only through the vicarious act of reliving curious events and states of mind.

This is the story of a man that was drowning in a sea of discontent, fear, and uncertainty. Sadly, the world around him grew more and more menacing apart from his family in a land of illusions and empty promises. “Why is it my destiny to be bound to this reality?” It is nothing but a distorted prism of fantastic light but the shade has been drawn and we see only an occasional glimmer!

Then suddenly I met a stranger with the most familiar old and new face. He was a mischievous and fun loving soul like my own and soon we were conspiring to shake things up and make the boredom of life vanish if only for a day. So, we took a trip to the mountains of Palm Springs where we ate magic Psilocybin mushrooms and wandered about the ancient rocks and streams with Native American names. It was then on that first occasion of imbibing what I believed to be a fun, recreational drug that my spirit helper was heard for the first time since early childhood.

It was then that I was instructed to scale a large rounded rock cliff that dropped some twenty feet into a pool of deep, cold water. To accomplish this it was necessary to splash the rock with water to create a slippery surface, take a running start then dive onto the rock belly first and allow gravity to propel the body down the face of the rock slide for a few terrifying feet before diving headfirst into the pool. But, that’s impossible I remember protesting.

“Watch me”, he boasted. And the phantom that was instructing me quickly splashed the rock, leaped into the air and disappeared from site.

“Don’t back down, or you’ll regret it”, is all I remember of the creature’s boyish taunts. I was nearly trembling from fear because of the encounter and ensuing command. But, I obeyed anyway. I felt as though I had no choice. And ever since, my path has taken a distinct and peculiar turn. I was twenty years old studying fine art in college at the time, but was compelled to drop this major and switch to the serious study of music. I had always enjoyed an affinity for music and a natural talent. But now spirit was telling me I had lots to learn, I had wasted too much time not devoting myself seriously to this study earlier and I had to make up for a lot of lost time. I could no longer ignore the songs that came to my head. They were good enough to be heard, but I just had to cultivate my musicianship, hone the craft of songwriting over the course of many trying and lonely years before my destiny could be reached.

Of course, there are many moments that I have considered running from this calling because it seems so insurmountable. There are many talents I possess. Many others of which, no doubt would have made me a wealthy man before now. But, I have never deviated and this is the story of my successes and failures. The story is still unfolding. And you too can play an important role. If you are reading this, it is by no accident. The universe makes no mistakes and to quote the Great Tao Te Ching,

“When primal Simplicity diversifies,
It becomes useful vessels,
Which, in the hands of the Sage, become officers.
Hence, ‘a great tailor does little cutting’.”