A Brief Rant On Religiosity And Ego
The trigger that fired this diatribe was Brit Hume’s assertion that Tiger Woods must, “Turn to the Christian faith,” rather than to his own Buddhist practice. I have little doubt that Hume is sincere in his own beliefs, and no doubt that Christianity has worked and can work wonders for those who are drawn to embrace it wholeheartedly. But I am thoroughly put off by those who profess to religious wisdom (of any brand) on the one hand, while at the same time remaining oblivious to how their beliefs have become hostage to their egos.
Applying The Law Of Silliness
In the previous post I provided a rationale and suggested a guideline for how much any person should indulge in silliness. On reflection I want to elevate that guideline from the status of a “suggestion” to that of a “law.” Like the Law of Thermodynamics, or the Law of Unintended Consequences, or the newest rage among laws, the Law of Attraction. I’m tempted to call it “Richards’ Law” in the hope that the name will catch on and forever tie me to this important principle (like Murphy), but I’ll be happy enough to let go of that presumption if the law becomes famous and does some good.
The Limits of Silliness
Everything has limits. Too much? Too little? Too big? Too small?
Last March I posted a bit of silliness, wrote that “silliness is under-rated,” and then suggested in a comment to a follow-up post that many of us who plow the field of self-development take ourselves far too seriously.
For those who might be silliness-challenged or who worry that their silliness-quotient is too high or too low (especially in the self-development field), here are descriptions of the limits.
The Key To Understanding
There are many matters that I cannot and do not need to understand, such as Love, and God, and why I became fascinated with an intersection in downtown Fargo, North Dakota.
I was in Fargo last week to lead an Open Space session and a Genius Workshop for Jodee Bock and the wonderful people that she always gathers for her annual Bigger Small Talk Summit.
The Mythic Pull Of Pathways
I can’t pass up a photo of a pathway. I have dozens of them; all images of roads of one kind or another stretching to a narrow point in the distance. From time to time I puzzle over my attraction to such images. I sense something is at work that I cannot explain with any of my habitual ways of interpreting reality, something mysterious, at least to me.
Words That Flame From “The Unstruck Bell”
Here are a few lines that I highlighted in Eknath Easwaren’s book, The Unstruck Bell, because they speak to me:
You are not upset because of your children or your partner; you are upset because you are upsettable.
Great figures on the spiritual path, such as Jesus the Christ, Moses, the Compassionate Buddha, or Mohammed, have all given us the same message: “Live only for yourself and you will never grow; live for the welfare of all around you and you will grow to your full stature.”
This is what stilling the mind means: laying to rest permanently every negative and selfish force in consciousness.
Words That Flame From “The Shack”
A few lines that I highlighted in The Shack (Wm. Paul Young) because they seemed to speak to me:
…you’re going to find this day a lot easier if you simply accept what is, instead of trying to fit it into your preconceived notions.
You must give up your right to decide what is good and evil on your own terms.
As well intentioned as it might be, you know that religious machinery can chew up people!
Grace doesn’t depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering you will find grace in many facets and colors.
When Procrastination Is Arguing With God
I was scrolling through some 250 comments posted in Liz Strauss’s recent “open mic” forum about procrastination. Many comments are about the roots of procrastination, and they cover all of what I have in the past told myself about the roots of my own procrastination: fear of failure, perfectionism, monotonous tasks, etc. All of those reasons once rang true for me but do no longer.
