Ok so I go out to get into my car yesterday to go look for work since I was just recently laid off.  Except my car is no where to be found.  I call the police station to ask if they have any record of anything happening to it and if not to file a report for a stolen vehicle.  Well they tell me it's been towed for parking tickets a few years ago.  So I call the towing company and find out its going to be 94.00 for the tow and 20.00 per day, plus the cost of the parking tickets which needs to be paid at city hall first.  So I call city hall to find out how much it is for these parking tickets.  To my utter shock I find out the tickets are 480.00.  Yes that's right with fee's and collections fees what was a few 5 dollar parking tickets are now 480.00, and there are absolutely no options for working with me to get this taken care of.   After having been through a horrible fall with a lot of bad stuff happening, including being laid off I have no money to pay this.  With the cost going up 20.00 a day this will quickly skyrocket out of control.   I have no idea why I'm even writing this.  It's not particularly spiritual, in fact its maddening.  It's been a long time since I have felt so utterly screwed.  I need a miracle.

For me bodybuilding started out with a quest for aesthetics, but I've always been a spiritual person to some degree. It didn't take long before I discovered the deeper essence - the zen of bodybuilding. It is in the gym where I sprint to ridiculous speeds, and push that bar up one more time, when there is nothing left but the will to get it up. It is in doing these things that I blow all the accumulated stress and astral garbage out of my nervous system. It is meditation, it is catharsis, it is a cleansing of the body and the worship of the self as a manifestation of the divine.

I don't know if you are familiar with the concepts of evolutionary enlightenment of not, but I have to suggest at least a little bit of it, as it's become so central to my bodybuilding practice and my life as a whole. From the moment of the big bang an impulse has been present, an original impulse. That impulse is to become, to grow from perfection to ever greater perfection. First subatomic particles became atoms, and atoms became molecules, and molecules became proteins, and proteins became cells, and cells became multi celled organisms, and organisms became animals and from animals came our ancestors, and from our ancestors became one of the greatest leaps in universal history - self aware beings capable of awareness of their own consciousness and evolutionary potential. For fourteen and a half billion years the original impulse has existed and flourished throughout the universe selecting the cream of the crop and gently recycling the previous forms into ever more perfect form. Here we are the cream of the crop of 14.5 billion years of natural selection, I am that and you are that, and within my bicep a million God's eyes seeking their own perfection.

What we can become, we must. To become aware of our place in evolutionary history is to become aware of both the awe of where we are in history and the awesome responsibility we have to be that evolutionary impulse. To see ourselves and all beings as living works of perfection moving towards ever more perfect form. For me when I lift, I maintain awareness of the millions of miracles going on in my body at this moment, the 10 million cells replaced each minute, and its amazing ability to adapt chemically to all manners of outside stimulus, and the miracle of being at the crux of human evolution. For me the lift is about that evolution, it's the evolutionary impulse to grow towards ever greater form, made manifest in my life, in my body, in every fiber of my being. To me to not realize my full potential is a form of slow suicide, what I can become I must. I must push my body to greater levels of strength and capability, I must move my soul towards greater evolutionary awareness and oneness with life.

When I look around at my human brothers and sisters and I see them involved in all their seemingly ridiculous drama's I try to remember that they are beings caught in suffering and moving towards evolutionary enlightenment, moving towards a more perfect form just like everything else in the universe since the beginning of time. It is in this awareness of our commonality, our oneness, that my work in the gym becomes work for the benefit of all living beings. When I lift, I lift for me, I lift for you, I lift for the freedom of Tibet, and the freedom of imprisoned monks in Burma, as I lift for the perfection of the universe itself, as my growing muscles are nothing but original impulse made of recycled material that has been present from the beginning of time.

In this intention I am quantumly connected to the entire universe as energy. With this connection to universal energy, my pulse quickens, blood races oxygen and nutrients to muscles, nerve cells fire ordering neurotransmitters like adrenaline, ordering more testosterone, ordering the sweating reflex to cool the body, ordering the intention of fierce determination. The million manifest conditions in my body come together to create a state of mind of charge, that will not be defeated, a state of mind that is capable of pushing this body past all it's self imposed limits, to a quantum state where the bodies ability to do things is occurring far beyond what would be normal parameters, expanding its capability and growing it's quest toward greater forms of perfection. Along with this a very meditative process occurs, its a process of passive awareness as the body prepares for a lift, sitting quietly in the rest period after the last set; then comes the focused breathing - the conscious building of energy for the next lift; then comes the grounding where the energy is grounded and stabilized and accessed; and then comes the release as the lift gets underway, the mind orders the muscles to contract again, and again, as the mind and body push this fragile form towards its own greatest potentials, and when the lift is done, again comes rest in passive awareness. As this process is repeated dozens of times in a workout, the mind grows calm and clear, aware of this present moment completely, aware of all that occurs in this moment, and in such awareness becomes aware of the universe itself, aware of the entire universe taking place right within this very body.

To some this might be a difficult read, because I can't organize in clear cut paragraphs with the names of major philosophers, or the names of specific world religions, I can't call eastern or western, nor can I engage in endless intellectualizing about it. Why? Because I actually know what I am talking about, its something that has to be experienced to understand and once you have experienced it, you could never reduce it to intellectualization, and theorization. Experiential transcendence does not know logic, theories, egos, names, divisions, etc; it knows oneness and it knows the quest of all beings to move towards evolutionary enlightenment and progressively greater forms of perfection. In experience, I cannot talk about general theories, but only my experience as it exists in this moment.

Buddha Boy is back!

For those of  you familiar with Ram Bahadur Bomjon, "the Buddha Boy".  Here is his first teaching, and below follows my response regarding such to a friend.  I hope you will enjoy it.

Ram's Speech
 Murder, violence, greed, anger and temptation has made the human world a desperate place. A terrible storm has descended upon the human world, and this is carrying the world towards destruction. There is only one way to save the world and that is through 'dharma" (religious practice.) When one doesn't walk the righteous path of religious practice, this desperate world will surely be destroyed. Therefore, follow the path of religion and spread this message to your fellows. Never put obstacles, anger and disbelief in the way of my meditation's mission. I am only showing you the way; you must seek it on your own. What I will be, what I will do, the coming days will reveal. Human salvation, the salvation of all living beings, and peace in the world are my goal and my path. "Namo Buddha sangaya, Namo Buddha sangaya, namo sangaya." I am contemplating on the release of this chaotic world from the ocean of emotion, on our detachment from anger and temptation, without straying from the path for even a moment, I am renouncing my own attachment to my life and my home forever, I am working to save all living beings. But in this undisciplined world, my life's practice is reduced to mere entertainment. The practice and devotion of many Buddhas is directed at the world's betterment and happiness. It is essential but very difficult to understand that practice and devotion. But though it is easy to lead this ignorant existence, human beings don't understand that one day we must leave this uncertain world and go with the Lord of Death. Our long attachments with friends and family will dissolve into nothingness. We have to leave behind the wealth and property we have accumulated. What's the use of my happiness, when those who have loved me from the beginning, my mother, father, brothers, relatives are all unhappy. Therefore, to rescue all sentient beings, I have to be Buddha-mind, and emerge from my underground cave to do "vajra" meditation. To do this I have to realize the right path and knowledge, so do not disturb my practice. My practice detaches me from my body, my soul and this existence. In this situation there will be 72 goddess Kalis. Different gods will be present, along with the sounds of thunder and of "tangur ," and all the celestial gods and goddesses will be doing "puja" (worship.) So until I have sent a message, do not come here, and please explain this to others. Spread religious knowledge and religious messages throughout the world. Spread the message of world peace to all. Seek a righteous path and wisdom will be yours.  

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away

DO WE HAVE ANY INTERESTS IN COMMON?  Be bold, be daring, drop me a line and let me know what they are.  Also an important message for you, and a few updates from me.

I have had tremendously positive experiences with those I have met on here so I am sending an invitation to check it out and see if we have any interests in common and if we do, drop me a line and tell me about it and introduce yourself.

Interests
The exploration and expansion of consciousness, Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism, meditation, altered states of consciousness, The Universe, Buddhist practices of loving kindness,compassion and engaged buddhism

people, ideas, spirituality,

health, wellness, bodybuilding, fitness, supplements, nutrition, natural substances, brain wave entrainment,

extreme sports - skydiving, hang gliding, mountain climbing, Free Running/Parkour/Urban Tricking, Martial Arts (Not for fighting), again -Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away

reaching the Pinacle of Human Experience and Capability,  experiencing all the possible human experiences I can.  Travel, Adventure Travel, foreign travel

helping others, volunteering, disaster/humanitarian relief, emergency medicine,

environmentalism, humanitarian causes, liberty, freedom, peace, sensible government, computers, the internet,

music, art,

ITS A BIG WORLD and I am interested in thousands of things. Challenge Me.  Show me the next moment that will take my breath away.


MESSAGE TO YOU
No matter what happens in your life, never let the door to your heart slam shut.  When it does it can take an incredibly long time to re-open.  When you close that door and cut yourself off from love you cut yourself off from the energy of life and the spirit, the mind and body wilt from lack of light.  There is no more damaging thing to the progress of the spirit then to be cut off from love.  Sometimes it's something we have to work on.  For me it's going to meditation and practicing love meditation. 

The Buddha said that a moment of love meditiation is sixteen times more powerful then all the energy of the suns and stars.  There are many variations of love meditation and ultimately every version must be customized to your own practice.  There are general outlines of how to do it, but their are no perfect instructions except for those that arise from deep within.  A couple ways you might start are to sit quietly and focus your mind on your breathing to calm yourself, after you have achieved meditative centeredness then you can shift your attention to focusing on someone you love deeply.  I recommend that you think of several differnt people or beings that you love in different ways, so as to expand your definition of love to all inclusivness.  Eventually you expand this loving energy to include others you like, family and loved ones, and then to people you are neutral about, then even to those for whom you have negative feelings.  As your meditation continues, continue expanding your love farther and farther out until your love encompasses all living beings.

Another method is through the doorway of compassion.  For those in deep suffering or personal hurt this can be an effective way to get there.  It starts with holding either your present pain and suffering in focus or else recalling times in your life when you have been badly hurt, sick, betrayed, or wounded in some way.  The challenge at this point is simply to sit with with that suffering, and not to push it away, but to hold it with a gentle, open and vulnerable heart.  You may even weep, but this is not to be avoided.  Allow what ever reactions happen to come up and be what they will.   If you find it overwhelmingly painful, you might try to just observe it as the watcher/witness.  Simply observe that there is pain in this body and mind and it feels like this, and it has this effect and so on.  The idea is to become completely intimate with the nature of your own suffering.  Now this is not purely for masochistic purposes, this has a greater aim.  As you sit trully and completely, vulnerably aware of the depth of all of your own suffereing, holding it all and pushing away none, you will find something amazing arising.  When you have felt it all fully, you will develop a deep wish for no other being anywhere to experience this pain, this illness, this feeling, this suffering.  When you have sat with all of your own suffering and a deep wish for no other living being to experience suffering, a loving compassion for all living beings is born.  As you slowly shift your focus from your own pain to your wish for no living being to experieince this suffering, compassion can not help but to arrive and your compassion for the suffering of living beings gives way to a desire to allieviate the suffering of other living beings and a deep loving compassion for all that lives.  Take this compassionate love and expand it outward continuosly to include all living beings everywhere.  And then there too you have arrived at a deep experience of love meditation.

Practice this with sincerity and intent, and watch the blessings of loving kindness and compassion begin to flow into your lives.  Without expectation, simply observe the quality of relationships with others.  Observe how animals react to you.  Watch your feelings of wellbeing, happiness, hope and contentment.  Simply observe the conditions of life as you practice this mediation over the course of at least a couple weeks, and hopefully indefinitely.  Love meditation can crack some the toughest,  most stubbornly resistant problems when all else seems to be of no avail.  The key to this though is to allow it to unfold as it will, free from the restrictive enviroment of yet more expectations.  Release any expectations you have and simply let the miracle of love meditation bloom in your life.


 UPDATES
I am enthusiastically getting re-started on writing an in depth meditation book unlike anything currently out there.  Stay to tuned for excerpts from that and see what it is I want to say to the world.

Although this was orginally written in an email to a friend, this is a great summary of what's up with me.  What is it that you most need, that challenges the most, that troubles you the most, that most needs some help, that your most excited about...Dare to take the next step drop me a few lines, I might just be able to give you your next vital clue.

The week has been busy again, with lots going on heading into the weekend.  Even with all the small things that need to be taken care of I am feeling energized and ready to take on what must be done.  Being able to participate in the ongoing healing of a number of others has my energy on high.  There is a lot of love flowing forth from me and in turn flowing back in from the universe.  It's funny how when I am giving the most from the center of who I truly am is precisely when I am most energized.  It's been pretty awesome, I've been in the gym seven days a week and not feeling exhasted or fatigued at all from it, my diet is incredibly healthy, and in general I am feeling physically the strongest I have ever been.  Spiritually is following closely behind as I again refocus on meditation, incorporate Yoga, and return to in depth spirtual study. 

Amidst all this fun, I am also preping for the relief trip to Burma, training in PTSD assessment, treatment, group treatment, psychological first responder studies, and special topics in refugee and cross cultural issues.  Much of it I already know, but I want to be certain that I am operating with the best possible practices and the latest information available.  I am about to undertake some language training as well. A significant portion of my gym workout is devoted to physical training specifically for the types of things that I may have to deal with on the ground in Burma/Thailand, endurance, long distance treks/runs, carrying heavy loads and all that fun stuff.  Thank God that I have a purpose, I generally despise extended heavy load cardio, it's just not fun, but when you know your life or the lives of others may depend on the preparation you do today, one finds a huge resevoir of energy to keep going.

I am looking forward to the trip a great deal in terms of having a very real opportunity to apply Buddhist/Dharmic psychology and concepts in the treatment and care of critically stressed individuals.  The experience will be invaluable, and I can't imagine what I would rather be doing then helping those who need it most.

Anyway, I am pretty stoked about everything!  It's great to feel strong, healthy, energized and excited for the future, as well as experiencing deep peace and spirituality arising out of compassion for the suffering of all living beings.  It's a good place to be, its an incredible place to be.  I am just beginning to live the most extraordinary lucid dream in the history of existance.  Care to joing me?  Ready or not, lets do this!  Ready , set, go!

Namaste,

Chad

For those of you who haven't seen this, its awesome!!!

thinkarete.themanifesto.

What would you do if you weren't afraid?

OK...

So...uh...what exactly are you waiting for?

This isn't a dress rehearsal...

Wake up!

Here's the deal: What we can be, we MUST be.

Period.

There's no getting around that one.

So, turn off your TV. Put down your drink. Get off the medication.

Quit numbing yourself. The pain's not going away.

Not until you thinkarete.

“thinkarete”?

Yep.

Gandhi got it. Einstein got it. Mother Theresa got it.

Tiger gets it. Gates gets it. Oprah gets it.

The Greeks got it.

Get this: Guys like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle said that if you want happiness you better live with areté--a word that literally means virtue or excellence but has a deeper meaning...something closer to “constantly striving to reach your highest potential.”

areté.

How beautiful is that? It was one of the highest ideals of Greek culture.

It should be one of ours.

Tragically, it's not.

We seem to be more interested in resumes, accolades and 401k's.

Speaking of retirement...

Who came up with that? Work like crazy doing something we're not passionate about so we can accumulate enough money to pay the bills from our stress-caused illnesses while we complain about what we should have done when we were still young.

Hmmm...We can't quite figure that one out. Seems like it makes a bit more sense to go ahead and dare to live now...

Why not thinkarete?

Live to your highest potential--moment to moment to moment.

Not in the mood?

Fine. Then live with regret, anxiety, and disillusionment.

Your call.

Think about it. When do we feel most alive?

Exactly. When we're being ourselves--our highest selves.

You want happiness?

thinkarete.

Dream. Grow. Stretch yourself.

Rip off the tie. Jump out of the cubicle.

Dream. Think. Dare to be crazy.

What are you waiting for?

thinkarete.

Are you crazy enough to think you can change the world?

Good.

Now go out and do it.

Live. Love. Smile. Hug. Laugh. Dream. Do. Create.

Have fun. Be intense. Be audacious. Be unreasonable. Act impeccably. Breathe.

Be you. Be different. Get paid to do what you love. Dance in your underwear on your way to work...

Why not?

Ditch the tie. Escape the cube. Leave the 8-5. Trash the resume.

Ignore the critics. And the cynics. Burn the corporate ladders. Laugh at the ceilings.

Quit the bitching. Open your mind. End the laziness. Overcome the fear. Transcend the conditioning...

Why not?

Move the world.

Change the world.

Push the human race forward.

Whatever you call it, go out and do it.

When?

Now.

Not when you have enough money or once you do this or do that. That's nonsense.

It's not gonna be easy, but go out and live your dream. Now.

You deserve it.

And, if that doesn't move you: The world deserves it.

thinkarete.

http://www.thinkarete.com

Well I have been meaning to take the plunge into actually starting to blog on this site, and this excerpt from an Interview gave me the perfect reason.  

BW: That’s why it’s so much fun to ask a small child, “Do you remember when you were big?” because a young mind is very open to accepting other realms of possibility—and after all, truly there isn’t just one future.

The things we choose now, with our own free will, can either enjoin us with or edge us away from Divine grace. Every day and many times a day, some people reach up and receive miracles. We never want to turn away.

When glimpsing toward other realms, our visions are the reflections of intentional contact with higher forms of intelligence. Guess what? That higher consciousness is us!

There is a keen efficiency in the universe. The coincidences and synchronicities are Divine sparks of insight. Becoming more patient with momentary ambiguity, trusting and going with the flow, we return to being “conduits and conveyors of peace.”

You and I are both mortal and immortal, and there is nothing to fear. There is really no death, only life after life. I’m aware of having lived at least a dozen other lives so far. All religions demonstrate that our souls are eternal and can never be destroyed. Leaps of consciousness are our rocket boosters; and we always reunite with loved ones.

Knowing that we will reconnect in body and spirit can bring comfort and peace; our own unique ‘evidentials’ that as we send better energies into these present moments, we create the certainly of happier future lives. Plural.

In moments of doubt or concern, go into your heart and “choose to return to love,” as Marianne Williamson reminds us. Because the kingdom of heaven resides in each person’s heart, all joy and happiness come from our own center, straight from within.

It’s no surprise that love is the only true power: then, now and forever.

SOURCE:  Interview

“Remember the Future”

Celebrating The Unusual Mind of
Brian Weiss, M.D.

by Mary Grace McCord

http://www.aiht.edu/newsletter/vibev12n3/weiss.asp


Isn't amazing how things like this come up when you need them most.  I was having a very frustrating day and anger over being falsely accused was rising and threatening to derail my whole day, and then out of nowhere this email shows up with a link to this story.  Ah the power of the truth to tame the savage beast.  It was so good that the desire to share it with you all finally made me take the initiative to start blogging.