These are question posed to me by Jerry on the post, Sitting #2.

Not judging the thoughts and or compulsions that seem to be unsavory and dark is one thing. However, is reducing them and even eliminating them possible?

Who decides that the thoughts are unsavory and dark? There needs to be the judgment of good or bad before any of that can take place. So, even if you consider you are not judging the thought, the idea that the thought is dark or should be eliminated is still a judgment.

When you sit in order to see these things, you must go slowly, in a step-wise fashion. Don’t instantly fall back on what you already know and have memorized. Leave space for the meaning to become apparent without your effort. This may not be easy to see yet, but you do not need to be there controlling what is happening. Just sit with your curiosity, and find out what is happening.

…when I am not in meditation, I am prone to experience thoughts and inclinations that are sometimes mean, unsympathetic, selfish, desirous and forgetful of higher spiritual truths and states-of-being.

That is exactly where you want to be. Forget what happens on the cushion, because that is not your daily life. It is just a short diversion, and when it is over, you will wish for it to continue.

If you have thoughts that are mean, selfish, and so on, those are your greatest teachers. It is the perfect opportunity to see what is happening within, without resorting to theorizing. When there is anger, it is not a theory; it is there. And it is in that moment when you can go deeper and deeper, sinking into the reality of how your mind is functioning. It is extremely beautiful to behold.

All of the thoughts you hate will set you free.

Don’t be so proud that you cannot step away from the anger to see it clearly. Usually, one is angry, and there may be a conscious recognition of that anger. But there is also a vested interest in staying angry. It could be that, if you suddenly stop being angry, people will think you are a fool for not sticking with it. Or it could be any of a thousand different reasons. But these will be clear when you see it for yourself.

There are no thoughts to avoid; only thoughts to observe.

Thru meditation and spiritual discipline, is it possible to be in that higher state-of-being more and more, without even meditating, so that the lower impulses are reduced and or eliminated?

If so called “lower impulses” are there, that is your meditation. It is not something you do for just one hour. It is the flow of awareness as you move about your day. It is everything as it is.

If you want to use it as a tool to eliminate certain types of thoughts, forget it. Awareness is the movement of sitting with what is (even if you are standing). It is something that moves as you move. It has nothing to do with what you believe to be good or bad.

That being said, it couldn’t be more simple. However, you might find it difficult to get into, if you have never considered such a thing. There is something I can recommend to you. If you decide to sit down and try to watch this movement, do it in nature. Go outside; somewhere close to mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, or whatever you happen to have where you live. Sit in that enviroment for some time and see what happens in your mind. Just watch, listen, observe.

The reason I recommend nature as often as I do is because it is something thought cannot touch. Thought can certainly make up stories and create theories about nature, but it cannot touch it. Thought can create a pencil, a chair, guitars, and the most magnificent cathedrals, but it can do absolutely nothing about nature. Only awe in its presence.

Or, are we doomed to exist with a mixture of yin and yang, positive and negative, that acceptance of(thus taking away their power over us)will bring about realizations which lead to enlightenment?

Is there doom in existing in a certain way, or is there only existence? Is thought good or bad, or is it merely your thoughts of thought being good or bad? Go deeply within yourself and look at it.

Do you want to accept + and - only because you crave an end result? If I accept what is, I’ll get the realization or the enlightenment. Is that it? If so, it is still the dualism of the seeker and the thing to be sought. Now, if this is what is there, it is absolutely fine. It simply becomes your meditation. You can only work with where you are and what you have.

You can never have more or less than what you have. That is where you start, and that is where it ends.

I don’t know that I’ve answered your questions, but I hope you can get something out of this. Feel free to leave your comments below, and maybe we can go into it together if you like.

This energy is massive. It bursts through the room and reaches out into infinity.

There is also that pain or pressure in the upper right portion of the brain. It pulses and seems to surge forth, but it in no way obstructs the liberation that allows clarity.

As one sits in the chair, this aliveness seems to pulse, like a metronome that counts in waves, not in beats.

This is all so fascinating.

Thoughts come and go, memories come and go, but there is nothing that tries to hold them. Without attachment, the thoughts are seen as a beautiful movement of the brain. The ebb and tide of these thoughts is wonderful to behold.

If one tries to hold thoughts out of fear, the beauty of what is will always slip through the fingers. That natural functioning will be missed, and the beauty of the organism will never be seen.

Slow down and experience the body and all of the wonders within. Let go of the need to know, the need to have, and see what is there.

This energy engulfs all. It is the purest essence of life.

The pain in the head is slipping away. But still, I may not much sleep tonight.

This is a short essay I wrote on screen writing back in 2005. I usually never revisit anything I write, but in this case, I found it to be interesting. When I found this piece on my computer, I wasn’t sure who wrote it until I nearly reached the end.

This was written before the realization in December 2006. Perhaps this piece foreshadows events not yet transpired? Anyway, it is interesting, at least to me, to see how words, related to a specific medium, can impact the whole of expression.

Maybe I should write a current piece on artistic expression? Just to see which chair one now sits upon.

Enjoy!

I’ll Climb Down the Rabbit Hole, and You Cut the Rope
by Takuin Minamoto

The first step is always the worst, you know. It never feels quite as solid as the places we usually tread. But where we usually tread is not at all where we wish to be, is it? We secretly long for those worlds that seem meaningful to us in a way that is not easily explained to others. Those locales, while dark or bereft of meaning to others, shine with the luminosity of life to us.

Do we not already have the stuff within us? Are we doomed to fail? Well, I wouldn’t start dusting off that noose just yet. The inner workings of our imaginations, and the content it contains, is THE repertoire, so the answer is in there, hidden amongst the bizarre odds and ends.

How long can we ignore the natural expression that pokes us, prods us, peeling back skin, revealing the beast inside? The signs are all there, but we need to learn to embrace what is not known. And it is not the expression itself that breathes life into that beast, but the lack of attention and fear of what we have never embraced. Don’t be afraid kids. There is nothing to fear, not in any pocket of the mind. Just put out your arms and welcome your expression into the world.

How does it feel to ignore the passions that burn deeply in our brain-cases? Doing what others feel is right for us? Or perhaps, what we believe is right because we don’t want to disappoint someone else? That puts us into conflict with ourselves before we even get one foot out the door. If we cannot resolve this difficulty within us, how can we hope to have real and complete relationships with other human beings? It is not possible. And since the completeness of life is all about relationship, we might be lost, floating in the wastes of our own internal struggles.

So, what does this have to do with making movies? Why should it matter? What’s it all about, Alfie?

More than just making films, it is about the completeness of our artistic expressions. Completeness meaning, everything we have within is used to the best of our ability. Being complete means that only our true selves can flower and grow. There is no room for dishonesty, or some falsehood in our intention. Just infinite space where we work with finite material.

And don’t bother with pretension when thinking of your own filmic expression; wonderful films are made inside and outside of the Hollywood system. There is nothing saying that a film, just because of where it is made, is inherently good or bad. There are, of course, advantages and disadvantages on both sides. But, we shouldn’t bother thinking of those things in the beginning, anyway.

Get started, and don’t look back. If you want to write a movie, get some paper and get to work. Don’t let fear stop you.

Be truthful, even in your lies. Don’t get bogged down with details or try to talk yourself out of it. Just shut up and write. Don’t slow down because you think it is awful. It very well could be awful, but now is not the time to deliberate on that. Rage against the dying of the light, as it were.

Be as clear as you can, even if it seems you have little to work with. Don’t write for the approval of others, or to tell everyone how cool you are. Works of complete selfishness and self-aggrandizement can be popular, but they never last. Not even Disco could last forever, and thank goodness for that; I couldn’t stomach to wear the clothing.

I do my work now in complete comfort since I passed through the Rabbit-Hole. Things are clear, and I am not afraid to move in any direction. It is a new adventure that I embark upon, and there is no going back.

You can join me if you like, just be sure to cut the rope behind you.

The light pours in,
eyes will open,
but consciousness
will not
collapse
to
a
point.

Energy seeps
through the borders
of body,
dissolving the
phenomenal
into
the spiritual.

One with all things,
All things being one.

“You are the wind.
Go and breathe life
into this world.”

Be.

The eyes are set deep in the head,
constantly looking, constantly alert.
What unimaginable things, timeless things,
have they seen?

The wrinkles run deep,
carved into the face.

Each line a memory,
scarring a soul
that can’t let go.

Death,
Pain,
Age,
and Hate,
have all paid rent
in his old face.

The brow furrows as he starts to think. The energy nearly knocks me over. Why resist what is?

I cannot share what is imagined, cannot wish for what should be, but I can feel all that he projects.

“It may hurt you, you’ll fear for what you have to lose, you may cry.”

I can’t tell him it won’t hurt me, but it is true.

“Sorrow may rise, but the freedom you’ve always wanted has never left you. It is the constant companion to your pain, loss, and suffering.”

I wish that something could be done,
that one could do it for you,
but your path is of One,
as all are.
Find out for yourself.

Those lines run deep,
but timelessness
and being,
run deeper than any memory.

Walk with me,
take my hand if you wish,
but do so on your own.

Let go and
don’t look back.

I’ll always love you.