Here & Now Notes & Jokes

The Path of self discovery has a kind of road map.

And it depends upon what we have learned so far.

Before entering the Path of self discovery, we either

blame others…or we blame ourselves…for our misfortunes.

Once we enter the Path, we often turn that around.

And when we move deep into the Path, we stop blaming both.

We simply stop blaming….

©2008 Subhan Schenker

A man has 50-yard-line tickets for the Super Bowl. As he sits down, another
man comes down and asks if anyone is sitting in the seat next to him.

"No", he said, "the seat is empty".

"This is incredible", said the man. "Who in his right mind would have a seat like this for the Super Bowl, the biggest sporting event in the world, and not use it ?"

Somberly, the man says, "Well... the seat actually belongs to me. My wife was supposed to come here with me, but she passed away. This is the first Super Bowl we have not been to together since we got married in 1967."

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that. That's terrible. But couldn't you find someone else - a friend or relative, or even a neighbor - to take the seat?"

The man shakes his head, "No. They're all at the funeral."

Maya is the Hindi word that has been translated in the west to mean “illusion.”

It is said that life on this planet is maya – an illusion.

This translation creates a misunderstanding which goes like this:
life as we experience it doesn’t really exist if it is maya.

What is more helpful is to understand that maya really means “that which is impermanent but which gives the illusion that it is permanent."

Everything in the physical world will come and go. On an intellectual level, we have that understanding. Yet we still go about our daily lives with an unconscious expectation that the world around us has permanence.

What we don’t understand is that when a hundred billion years are dropped into eternity, they disappear in less than a nanosecond. Any number of years – in fact anything finite – will vanish without a trace when placed in the context of infinity.

And when it is deeply understood that nothing in the finite world has endurance, then the only “thing” which does endure is that which has no substance, which is pure potentiality. It can be called the unmanifest…or it can be called "no-thingness." Everything else comes and goes, but the potentiality always abides, forever…and even beyond forever!

This understanding, even if it is presently intellectual, opens the door for a deeper exploration into that which never dies – that which is not maya!

And it explains much of the pain we experience in our lives because we are always trying to do something impossible - to hold on to the impermanent….

©2008 Subhan Schenker

Opposites do attract.

So there is a good chance that as a woman, if you live in your male energy, you will attract more vulnerable/female-energy men. And if you live in your vulnerability, you will attract more male-oriented energy. The same is true of men and the women they attract.

It is when there is a balance of both energies within, that we will start to attract others with that balance….

©2008 Subhan Schenker

The mystics of this world have said that we are infinite potential in a finite form; the unmanifested in manifested form. If this is so, then our connection to this unmanifested, infinite potential can be experienced more and more if we are willing to move beyond the limits that the mind places on us. As usual, Osho has put this understanding in exquisite focus:

"Remain a process. Whether it is love or it is knowledge or anything else, always remember that life should not be confined and one should never"demark." And any time that you come to a limit, you have to take a jump. You have to go beyond it. All limits have to be broken. No limit has to be accepted. Once you accept the limit, you are dead. So never accept any limitation on your being and you will be growing and growing. That unlimited process is what God is all about." Osho

©2007 Subhan Schenker

Thoughts - when we identify with them and listen to them - make us who we are. So, when it comes to how we live our lives, we often have thoughts that tell us we are incapable of being responsible for how we live it. Alice Walker put it nicely: "The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any."

Watch these thoughts and learn to create a distance from them so that they don't become the ruler of our lives.... This distance grows through meditation, which is simply going inside into the silence, where vast reserves of energy, creativity and aliveness reside.

©2007 Subhan Schenker

Even if we were to give the Bush Administration the best of intentions in invading Iraq, it would still be a huge failure because the idea of "spreading democracy" is one that won't fly. Leave it to the Indian mystic Osho to give us a huge insight into why forcing freedom on these people doesn't work! Here's what he says:

“When slavery is by choice it is freedom, but if freedom is without choice it is slavery. Freedom and slavery are clearly demarcated entities. If we have chosen slavery of our own will it is freedom, but if freedom is imposed upon us it is slavery.”
Osho

Forcing anything on people virtually demands resistance!

©2007 Subhan Schenker

A mechanic was removing a cylinder-head from the motor of a Harley motorcycle when he spotted a well-known cardiologist in his shop.
The cardiologist was there waiting for the service manager to come take a look at his bike when the mechanic shouted across the garage: “Hey Doc, want to take a look at this?”The cardiologist, a bit surprised, walked over to where the mechanic was working on the motorcycle. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, “So Doc, look at this engine. I open its heart, take the valves out, repair any damage, and then put them back in, and when I finish, it works just like new. So how come I make $39,675 a year (a pretty small salary) and you get the really big bucks ($1,695,759) when you and I are doing basically the same work?”The cardiologist paused, smiled and leaned over, then whispered to the mechanic: “Try doing it with the engine running.”