Monday, April 28, 2008

Movie: The Love Guru



A life devoted to spiritual enlightenment can get very heavy if we're not careful. Oscar Wilde said "Life is too important to be taken seriously" and I couldn't agree more. Fun and laughter with some good natured irreverence thrown in are key ingredients to a happy life as far as I'm concerned. The spiritual teachers I respect the most do not take themselves or their teachings too seriously. They present themselves authentically, acknowledging spirituality as the most important part, but still one part of their total self. People who have spent time with the Dalai Lama or Desmond Tutu often remark about how often they smile, laugh and crack jokes. "Keeping it Real" as my otherwise sophisticated husband likes to say when he entertains me with his adolescent boy humor.

Mike Meyers, comic genius, has a new movie coming out in June called "The Love Guru." I laugh all the way through "Wayne's World" and "Austin Powers" (especially the 1st one) no matter how many times I watch them. The website and the trailer for the new movie look like an equally hilarious parody of today's spiritual lifestyle. I might be skeptical if I didn't know a little about how seriously Mike Meyer's takes his own spirituality since watching him on Iconoclasts, one of my favorite TV shows on the Sundance Channel. Each Iconoclasts episode features two people who are very different, but share the distinction of being creative pioneers in their field. Mike Meyers and Deepak Chopra were a featured pair. They are filmed hanging out, sharing stories and experiences and learning from each other. As a fan of both men, it was really fun to see a different, unexpected side of them. Click here to watch a clip from the show.
As he says in the clip, "Enlightenment is lightening up" and since nobody is as hysterically, respectfully, relentlessly irreverent better than Mike Meyers, I can't wait to watch and learn from a master.

Keep Calm

I am a sucker for stylish wisdom.
For example, the simplicity and humor of the high quality graphic design and art prints from
keep calm gallery in England.

I love my KEEP CALM postcard and LESS IS MORE poster which are framed and visible in my house. I have experienced many an attitude adjustment just walking by them.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Happy Earth Day

Mother Earth is a perfect example of being. She just is who she is with effortless perfection. And, like most mothers, she is reliable and available 24/7 so she is easy to take for granted. One day on the calendar is certainly not enough, but here goes:

To the Earth: Thank you for being such a magnificent place to live. Thank you for spinning in your orbit consistently and efficiently, providing us with sure and steady ground on which to walk, run, drive, bask and romp. Thank you for working in perfect harmony with the sun, no matter what, so that our time is divided into day and night by the rapture of sunrise and sunset. Thank you for the plants and trees that know exactly what to do and when to do it. Thank you for the oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds and streams that are so beautiful we often forget they are the source of all life. Thank you for the soil that grows our food and for your natural resources that are used as shelter and scenery by all of us living creatures.

Thank you for being a clear example of the bigger picture - a dignified model of life's paradox. Like us, you are complex, special and necessary, yet simply a tiny particle in the eternal vast universe. Thank you for continuing to give of yourself, without judgement. Happy Earth Day!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Movie: Peaceful Warrior

Inspired by true events, the movie "Peaceful Warrior" is adapted from the book "The Way of the Peaceful Warrior" by Dan Millman. The story begins at UC Berkeley where Dan is a college student and Olympic hopeful gymnast. While he seems to have everything going for him, Dan is restless and reckless. He meets a mysterious gas station attendant played by Nick Nolte and they develop a Karate Kid, there's a lot that can be learned by scrubbing floors, type of wise teacher/student relationship. It's not the greatest film experience ever, but I recommend it for its cleverly expressed and articulated lessons on living in the present and the triumphant happy ending of which I am always a fan. Even the trailer (above) can give you a quick inspiration fix.

Nick Nolte's character, who we only know as "Socrates" which is Dan's nickname for him, insists that Dan stop gathering information about life from outside of himself and start looking inside, the only place he'll find the answers he's looking for. Of course, the one way to access your true, inner self is to stop identifying with your thoughts which are "just reflexive." He tells Dan to "take out the trash," (of his mind) and he defines trash as "anything that's keeping you from the one thing that matters - here and now." There are some exciting scenes which illustrate how powerful we are when we are fully present and living in the moment.

One of the final scenes shows Dan embracing the big one, the lesson of all lessons - "The journey is what brings us happiness, not the destination." We've all heard this so many times it starts to lose its impact. What will it take for us to really get this? Dan Millman had a devastating accident which finally caused him to pay attention, but that doesn't have to happen to us. We can learn from him. Each moment has something wonderful to offer. Don't relive your past, don't get lost in the future. All we have is right now. We came here for this experience, not the results. There's always more results, but there's never another now, or now or now... We have to go beyond these words which lose their meaning from over-use and really feel what this means. Feel the now.

Monday, April 14, 2008

It's not easy being

It has not been the best day. I've been kind of down, moving in slow motion, not motivated to do much of anything, but have lots of stuff on my to do list, and feeling guilty for not doing it. Fun.

An opportunity I was really excited about didn't work out and I've allowed disappointment to seep into my day. I could justify the heck out of how great my life is anyway, but I'm too blue to try. Self pity is oddly satisfying sometimes.

On days like this I am confronted by my limitations regarding being. It's easy to be in the moment, enjoying "what is," when "what is" is going my way. I have to remember that it is my choice to focus on my negativity and what's causing it, or to let it go and just be. The good news is, we all have a metaphoric be muscle, and the more we flex it, the more easily and quickly we'll move from self pity into self awareness. And the bigger the be muscle, the lower the tolerance for hanging out in that wimpy dugout of self pity. In fact, feeling sorry for myself has gotten old, I'm boring myself, so it's time to move on and flex.

I'm only able to override my mood and suspend my negative thoughts for brief moments, but that's all it takes to catch glimpses of the feeling of being. It feels like relief, happiness and freedom. It feels like everything on every to do list getting done easily, and in perfect timing. It doesn't recognize the concept of missed opportunities, only the steady stream of new doors opening. My blue feelings aren't completely gone, but they have been interrupted long enough for me to remember that I have options and I'm free to be anytime, anywhere.

Monday, April 7, 2008

a letter to the be line



Dear be line:

I bought one of your T shirts, “be power” as I am going through a divorce and am trying to regain my belief in myself and the “powerful me” that I used to be.

I am writing to tell you how wearing this shirt gave me the support I needed when I traveled to Yosemite in August to throw my mother and father’s ashes off a 600 foot cliff. I have become afraid of heights as I’ve gotten older but really wanted to reunite my parents in the place that they honeymooned and loved so much.

Before the hike, I put on my “be power” shirt to remind myself, just like it says on the bottom of the shirt, that I possessed the strength and ability to overcome my fear. It was really comforting. Please look at my enclosed photos and see for yourself how I did!

And, just for good measure, on the way out of the park I pulled over at one of the vista points that had terrified me two days earlier. I walked over to the edge and looked down the cliff into the ravine below.

I really think this was the beginning of my journey back to the person I used to be!

Sincerely,

Meredith P.

(click here to see the shirt Meredith was wearing)

dear meredith, thanks for the great letter. sounds to me like your journey is not back to the person you used to be, but forward, becoming much more than you've been before. Congratulations on finding your power!