Authenticity, Ecstasy & Iceland. . . .

. . . .no man can create a Zen garden like this.

If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation.
- J. Krishnamurti



Act One:

au·then·tic·i·ty
n.
The quality or condition of being authentic, real, genuine.

I have just returned from a two week trip to the UK and Iceland. I didn't bother to keep a daily log, check e-mail, or wear a watch. So in attempting to relate the events I will have to go with an overall theme, and feel, rather then a minute by minute account. And that will be far more accurate.

It was 24/7 daylight the entire time we where there. So here is the scene. . . . .


I started the trip in Manchester UK. My first night there we stopped into a small jazz club, along with friends from Estonia. Live Jazz, when done well, seems to be a great method for experiencing different states of consciousness. The musicians wait until just the right moment to enter into the music, like surfers waiting for just the right time to catch a wave. Once in . . . they are gone, and what is left is the music itself, with itself.

This music is impossible to plan, and that is exactly what makes it so dynamic, so valuable, so worthwhile.

I taught a few sessions on slow rolling with an emphasis on the three stage formula of slow down, let go, and observe position. Slow down the tempo, the pace. . .let go, don't rely on muscular contractions to hold onto to any single position. . . and, observe where you are in that moment.


Slowing down means relaxing. And relaxing cannot be emphasized enough. Letting go means exactly that, releasing.
And to observe means being fully present to what is now. This allows the athlete the ability to respond in time. They are more response able, which has to be the real meaning of responsibility.

On Monday we flew to Iceland. . these are pictures from the trip.

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch you must first create the Universe."
- Carl Sagan

As I stepped off the grid and into the countryside of Iceland, I was overtaken by a total sense of reverence.


The events of this trip always pointed back towards the same realization, the same theme, time and time again. The reality that trying to deal in cause and effect is truly absurd; that instead of that typical backwards vision we could be pointing the awareness inwards. We all have an innate ability to take ourselves inside, on an interior journey, which penetrates past the superficial layers of who we take ourselves to be at a cursory level.

And any attempt to work instead on the external levels of causality is not only superficial, it is absolutely upside down.



"People prefer to fight imaginary windmills rather then stare the dragon of their own unconscious in the eye. They are scared of the sacred."
- Georg Feuerstein


It is about Natural Being versus Trying. . . .

The truth of the sincere action is that it cannot be known by the ego, which will become prideful of it, ashamed of it, and always attempt to use it in some way shape or form for the purposes of manipulation.

you cannot try to be humble. .
you either are, or are not in the moment
you cannot try to be sincere. .
you either are, or are not in the moment
you cannot try to be genuine. .
you either are, or are not in the moment
you cannot try to be giving. .
you either are, or are not in the moment
you cannot try to be authentic. .
you either are, or are not in the moment
you cannot try and be ecstatic. .
you either are, or are not in the moment
You cannot try to be good. .

it just IS.


So the practice then is clearly observing which you are right now in the moment. . . trying only hinders this process of clear seeing. Seeing clearly is enough.

"Spiritual practice can never be fulfilled by imitation of an outer form of perfection."
- st John of the cross


In otherwords, to copy a virtue in another is copying, but never virtue.

We took a jeep way out towards a glacier, and visited a small mountian which we climbed up. The view from the top was undescribable. At one point I found a quiet spot on the edge of a cliff overlooking this large valley at the bottom of a glacier. The moss was close to a foot deep in places, having grown over hundreds of Years. It was softer then any carpet I can remember. I layed down in that area and hung my head over the cliff, watching the birds, the water, and breathing in the whole scene.


Reykjavik is also a beautiful city. . . lots to do and see.

The sun never sets here at this time of Year. The streets are filled with people at 3:30 in the morning, and it seems like noon. It's a good few evenings, and I remember as I look around that I never know exactly who I am talking to. Demons will disguise themselves as Angels, and Angels will take the form of Demons in places like this. And that is not a bad thing.

One day during the week we visited the natural hot spings known as the Blue Lagoon.

Iceland is one of those places with an ancient and deep biological memory. A land literaly glowing with a certain dynamic quality.



What I am talking about is this. . . .

Act Two:

ec·sta·sy
n. pl. ec·sta·sies

1. Intense joy or delight.
2. A state of emotion so intense that one is carried beyond rational thought.
3. The trance, frenzy, or rapture associated with mystic or prophetic exaltation

Control versus Surrender

Control is: - Surrender is:

Holding tight - Letting go
Try - Observe
Fight - Flow
Struggle - Release
Achieve - Dissolve

"As long as you want real power, you can't really have it."
- Ram Dass



"You see the fact that your spiritual journey is an entirely different ball game from the path you thought you where on. It is very difficult to make that transition."
- Ram Dass


The first and maybe biggest misunderstanding is that the individual can free himself, can become 'free'. . . .it is only consciousness that can become free of the individual, and not the other way around. But most everyone will see this inside out, most of the time.

"The soul attached to anything, however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of the Divine."
- St John of the cross


Act Three:

Genialis Lectus

How rare is it that we let someone see who we truly are in the moment. How rare is it that we don't throw on yet another mask.

Any attempt to try, force, mimic, or otherwise manipulate, takes us immediately out of the realm of authenticity. It is just another mask, another filter between self and grace.


Salome, described as a fiery girl, was the daughter of Herodias and the stepdaughter to Herod, ruler of Galilee during biblical times. Legend has it that Herod was holding John the Baptist captive throughout a grand celebration. Herod demanded that his stepdaughter, Salome, dance for him as entertainment. In return for her impressive exertions, he promised,

"Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom."

Some say that Salome deferred to her mother, who suggested she ask for the head of John the Baptist (on a silver platter). And because Herod was a man of his word, he complied.



"The minute you don't want any real power you will have more then you ever dreamed possible."
- Ram Dass

Even the head of a prophet won't bring real freedom.

Fundamentalists will see John the babtist as the victim there. But that is completely backwards.

You cannot plan for it, imitate it, manipulate it, or bring it about through the petty force of will.

It is. . . .GRACE.

Final Act:

Indulgere Genio

As Allan Watts would say. . . . So what if everything becomes strange.

On the flight home from Iceland I get the morning paper and see the seminar written on its pages. I have no idea what it says as it is all in Icelandic, but I can understand the words Bob Marley and Vibe, so I know we must have done good.


Sometimes I lose my ability to speak. The farther I go, the less there is to explain to myself. And if I go to far, all I can do is smile.

On the last night of the trip Karl and I wandered back to the same Jazz club that kicked started the journey. Kali Ma in one of her many forms recognizes me across the room, and she lips I am right there with you.

Have I enjoyed my trip, she asks?

That's all that matters. . .that is all she say's she needs to hear. And I know the level on which she is absolutely sincere, I hear it that way. . . . and my answer is a complete YES, authentic in every sense.

And there is no reply for that, because that takes her up as well. She drinks from my glass. And it is time to go home.


Talem vidi qualem capere potui

I saw her as such, in the way in which I was able to understand her.

It is not about cause and effect.

It is always inside.

And it's Now.

.