The simple things

In a certain regard we are all moral and ethical philosophers. What i mean by this statement is we work around our world making thinking and non thinking decisions. We don’t kill for reasons we have learned and developed. We show compassion for reasons we have learned and developed.
In this framework we are honest to societal degrees that we find suit our lives. For instance we’ve all done the job interview. For most people, myself included, I had to adapt my honesty to a level where I can get the job but don’t go too far and blatantly lie. Why do you want the job? I don’t answer honestly, it’s not possible because I need to pay my rent, I need food. The correct answer would be, something like, your company is amazing and i’d love to use and develop my skills within this institution. The bs just starts to roll and roll.
So does this make my actions not right? Am i being deceitful? Well, yes. But lets look at the grand scheme of being dishonest. All actions contain other actions. Like an acorn contains the oak tree. It’s already there. With my dishonesty I don’t want to plant something that could be harmful. I don’t want to plant my acorn too close to my neighbors or even my own house because it would ultimately destroy it, right. You see where i’m going w/ this?
If i was to be honest it would cripple my life and a lot of people around me too. Hey you, you over there? You’re fat and stupid looking. How does this work? Are morals and ethics are clearly malleable. I don’t steal. I don’t cheat on my partner. Why? I don’t want to plant the acorn too close to the house, right?
So I conclude that observing my life and its unfolding through honesty being honest or dishonest is neither relevant or applicable and in both instances I’ve created a dichotomy that is fictitious or non existent -this is seen by the fact that one can never actually be either honest or dishonest, or more accurately our lives won’t work if we choose either extreme. Everything seems to be in the intent. So where do we go? It’s obvious and simple - we follow the middle path or a meeting in the middle, if you like. The integrity of this middle path is heightened when we just sit. So we sit, cultivate and act. No good or bad. Just the intuitive thing.

Come meditate with me tonight through our community page at 8pm (UK time)

3 haiku

twilight -
the tops of tenements
tumble into memory

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father’s old records -
our silence
between songs

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summer storm -
the river swells
beyond the graffiti

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Love

As a child i remember going to a joke shop. They obviously had many many fantastic and wonderful things for sale but one thing I see to vividly remember being sold was a love potion. On the packaging it stated whoever ingested the potion the first thing they see they would fall in love with - the package illustrated  this by a man seeing a plant and falling in love with- love hearts emanating from his head and all. 

In many movies and other forms of dramatic entertainment love and it’s manifestation into  relationships with others is often used as a defining point of the story and ultimately the human condition. The plot arcs and pivots around the characters creating a fictional world bound on interaction. It is in this we see how we give ourselves to our world of friends, family and loved ones. There is no action we commit that is isolate of the influence from these circles. We are inseparable from these circles in a very real and beautiful way. 

From this it seems like love is something we can tap into rather than falling into. It is sharing this universal feeling that is our common sense of being in love and having it be requited. A timeless secure feeling. And just like love meditation is something that we open up to. An opening up to the world. We drop out insecurities, likes dislikes and be in that moment.

We notice the annoying traits of our friends, families and loved ones but don’t let ourselves be carried away by them and their shit. We notice the sounds outside that distract us while we sit but we don’t spit and hiss with anger and loose our minds at the taxi driver honking his horn outside. No. We put our work in. We get stuck in. We notice. It’s all work and it’s all surrender. 

3 haiku

high sun -
a layer of dust
on her wedding band

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picnic bench -
the green crowns
of strawberries

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mother's sympathy -
the endless green
of these sycamores