Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Eric, Stevie Jay and Me - Join us!!

From Planet Waves - Eric talks about the upcoming Aries Full Moon:

"... the Aries Full Moon over the weekend. That lunation is about relationships: finding ourselves as individuals in relationships instead of being “half a couple” as we so often do. Tonight I’m priming my brain with a friend named Stevie Jay. Here is a snip from our conversation. He just wrote to me:"
Men love men and women love women, and that’s a reality of being human. And to take that simple reality and turn it into a “thing” via giving it a label adds all kinds of weight and significance and existential/social/interpersonal CONFLICT that are nothing more than mental constructs and have nothing to do with the reality of simply loving someone or simply being attracted to someone. Some of the best spiritual teachings deliver this very message: “Don’t label things; don’t draw lines. Render oneself vulnerable, like a child, and come into DIRECT contact with everything, with each other, with yourself, with whatever is before you.
“As soon as you’ve named it, you are no longer in DIRECT CONTACT with the thing, (whatever the thing is) — you’ve distorted it. Be nothing. Just be present with what IS.”
These are the basics of Zen Buddhism and these are also supposedly the central teachings of Jesus — to strip oneself of all dogma and stand naked before God. And folks just WON’T do it. This stuff sounds great on paper or in a Sunday church sermon, but it’s ultimately just another theory. Folks don’t really GET IT — that this shit is MADE UP. (They also didn’t want to hear it from Alfred Kinsey. Same message. Not interested.)
This “direct experience” approach is also taught by art teachers, (drawing, painting, etc.) Drawing 101: You look at a chair. In order to accurately draw the chair, you have to forget the word “chair.” You have to completely be present with the shapes and textures in your midst…and draw THAT. And the second you bring in the word “chair,” you’re no longer SEEING what is right there before you.

I know it doesn't take much to get me fired up...but come on!!!  Hellooooo?!  YES!!!  Can we just all be understanding of what we are?  Life is simple.  People are simple.  Living could be simple.  I am no expert or even half as good at living this way as I'd like...but it does make sense to me and it does turn me on and I do my best.  Let's experience each other in a real way.  Let's look past the labels of teacher, bus driver, etc. and relate to one another in the moment.  Let's be happy for each other, not ashamed to love one another, not afraid to express gratitude and affection.  The current state of the world is demanding that humans become humans again instead of corporate building blocks.  If we don't support each other through this mess (because it's only going to get worse) we will lose our entire world and there is no need for that to happen.  And besides losing our 'comfy credit bought' world...relating in truth to someone is joyous.  We feel good.  It feels 'right,'  it feeds the spirit and revives our true perceptions. 

2 comments:

TC said...

"Let's be happy for each other, not ashamed to love one another, not afraid to express gratitude and affection. The current state of the world is demanding that humans become humans again instead of corporate building blocks. If we don't support each other through this mess (because it's only going to get worse) we will lose our entire world and there is no need for that to happen. And besides losing our 'comfy credit bought' world...relating in truth to someone is joyous. We feel good. It feels 'right,' it feeds the spirit and revives our true perceptions."


How totally absolutely undeniably true. But it sounds like a voice from another century, world, dimension... I'm afraid I've about given up hope.

(Have no idea what a credit card can buy as I don't own one, but whatever it is, I don't think I'd care for any, anyway.)

Rachel said...

Sometimes I feel like I'm from a different dimension, haha. I'd like no one to lose hope. Let's have a hope parade.