Spirituality can refer to many different things.

When I look at the type of spirituality I am most familiar with, I find three facets. And one, two, or three of them can be present at once, in any combination.

First, there is fascination. We can be fascinate by many things, including the idea of what we may get out of spirituality (awakening, healing, peace, good rebirth), our own path and experiences (insights, dreams, glimpses), the stories in the tradition (cosmology, teaching stories), the teacher (personality, what they represent), more peripheral aspects such as reincarnation, supernatural powers, and auras, or even more peripheral things such as astrology, foreseeing the future, reincarnation, and also anything unexplained and weird such as UFOs, crop circles, ghosts and so on.

Fascination can be very helpful. It can make us feel good, hopeful, and inspired. It can help us stay with a path. It can be a needed temporary escape from problems. And it brings up projections, inviting us to find here what we see over there.

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The Mohammad caricature saga continues, and it is all quite predictable. Extremists on one side go out of their way to insult traditional Muslims. Extremists on the other side allow themselves to be insulted and try to retaliate by burning flags (pretty hopeless) or violence. And the media, always looking for a good story, focuses on the extremes and not the large middle ground dismayed by the whole spectacle.

Deliberately offending or hurting someone seems a poor strategy, and in this case, it only serves to inflame an already too hot and dangerous situation. Can we expect others to gain respect for “freedom of speech” when what they see is the most misguided and infantile examples of its use? Much better then to say what we have to say, with clarity and respect, defend freedom of speech through laws and regulations, and demonstrate responsible use of free speech.

It may also be good to notice that we have taboos as well, and there are places where we are hurt in a similar way, the boundaries are just located differently. When a discourse treads close to our own taboos, we expect respect and sensitivity, so we may as well treat others with that same respect.

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The recent Tiger Woods story is a reminder of a simple pointer:

Would I do what I am doing if everyone knew about it? What would I do differently if everyone would know it?

In our digital and highly connected age, it is very possible that everyone will know, and that gives an added reality to the question.

Here is another take on those questions: When I am alone, do I behave as I would if others were here?  How would it be to act as if others were here? When I am with others, do I feel and act as free as I do when I am alone? How would it be to feel and act with the freedom that is here when I am alone?

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As we move beyond childhood and teenage years, it is common to recognize in ourselves what we see in our parents, and especially what bugged us about them. And this can also be a good exploration in a more structured way.

What is it my parents do/did that bugs me? In what ways do I find myself doing the same? What are some specific examples? How does it feel to let that sink in? Is there more compassion? More understanding? More of a sense of us being in the same boat? An impulse to take more responsibility for how I act?

What is it my parents did or do that I admire? What are some specific examples? How am I doing the same or something similar? How does it feel to take that in?

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Neatorama asks why are people so interested in this Tiger Woods thing?

There are probably many different answers.

Here are some that come up for me, from my own experience in getting interested in certain stories in the news:

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Its a common dilemma: We imagine a boundary, elevate our side and devalue what is on the other side, and make it difficult for ourselves to recognize it as an imagined boundary.

It is easy to see among some Christian fundamentalists. In their own minds, they elevate humans as being made in God’s image, and devalue non-humans as a lesser category of beings. From within such a mindset, removing the boundary means that humans ends up in the same group as beasts, and it is not a very attractive proposition.

The solution is of course to elevate non-human species and gain a more realistic view of humans. We can recognize the immense beauty of the natural world. The intelligence, caring and fit to their environment of all species, come about through millions of years of evolution. Our shared ancestors and close kinship with all life. How we are all expressions of a seamless process of evolution of this planet. The ways our evolutionary past is played out in our daily life, and how a recognition of this can be a great help to us.

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I am curious about the fascination conspiracy theories have for some folks, including the current anti-vaccine camp.

For instance, how does the world look from within such a view?

When I explore it for myself, I find a fearful world.

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There are many reasons why I wouldn’t be a good teacher, at least not of the traditional type. Apart from not being qualified in any way, not being trained, and not enjoying projections coming my way, I often feel that traditional spiritual teachers play a cruel game with their students.

There is a reason for that cruel game, of course, and it is a quite innocent one. When there is an awakening, it is natural for many to want to share it. And when there is an absence of awakening here, combined with neediness at a human level, it is natural to seek something that will fill that hole, and spirituality can be one of those things.

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The Norwegian princess recently published a book about angels and how to contact them, and someone I know just sent me an email with a story about how I had helped her in a past life.

As usual, these things are an invitation to explore, in this case explore ways of relating to these topics, and some possible effects of each of these ways of relating.

I can dismiss it, which can be fine, but I also miss out of insights.

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Nature is Satan’s church
- from Antichrist by Lars Von Trier

I listened to an interview with Lars Von Trier where he talks about fear of nature and nature as evil.

It is an interesting topic, and one that is rooted in the cultural distrust of nature in Europe and other places, and also in our evolution.

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What I see is what I am.

That is true in three ways:

What I see in the wider world - in others, culture, nature, fictional and real life stories, science, dreams - is a mirror of what is here now. It is a mirror of the characteristics and dynamics here now.

My world - the world I relate to and live within - is my own world of images. It is my own overlay of boundaries and interpretations on pure perception.

And it all happens within and as what I am and everything is.

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It is quite common to hear people say they are sensitive to the energy of others. It may be especially noticeable - and sometimes uncomfortable - in close quarters with others over time, and if the others have relatively strong internal conflicts going on. I notice it mostly on the train or bus, and I know many others notice it - among other times - when giving bodywork.

There are lots of ways to work with this. Visualize a cocoon around oneself. Working on grounding. Visualize roots down the earth. Visualize clarity. Pray for the other and yourself. Visualize healing for both of you. And so on. All of these may work fine to some extent and for a while, but they won’t work completely or always because they are just alleviating the symptoms.

When I explore this for myself, I find that the discomfort I experience has one source, and that is my own beliefs about what is going on. Here too, I find that the discomfort I experience comes from friction between my stories of what should be and what is.

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This book looks interesting:

Caveman Logic: The Persistence of Primitive Thinking in a Modern World.

(Via Integral Options Cafe.)

The press release makes some good points, and it is an interesting exploration. Why do we sometimes resist a more rational view? And what can be done about it when we notice it in ourselves, or encounter it in others?

It is also interesting to note that the author appears to mix in his own beliefs which muddles the logic slightly.

Davis laments a modern world in which more people believe in ESP, ghosts, and angels than in evolution. Superstition and religion get particularly critical treatment, although he argues that religion, itself, is not the problem but “an inevitable by-product of how our minds misperform.

It is not quite ESP, ghost and angels versus science and evolution. It is about how we relate, not what we relate to.

It is perfectly possible to be curious about ESP, ghost, UFOs and other mysterious phenomena, and take a pragmatic and scientific approach to it. We can study it through science and be quite receptive and open to whatever we may find.

And it is also perfectly possible to have a blind and irrational belief in atheism or particular scientific models, pretending those views and models are true when we know that atheism is just another unproven philosophy and any scientific model will be outdated and obsolete at some point in the future. (And that goes for our most basic worldview as well, and our most basic assumptions about life and existence.)

When we mix in our own beliefs as Davis does, it is also easy to be caught up in shadow projections. To get caught up in the “I am right, you are wrong” dynamics and all that comes with it.

And as always, this is a mirror for myself. I see Davis being caught up in his own beliefs, so how am I doing the same? How am I doing the same in relation to him right now? Can I find other specific examples from my own life?

In this case, it is perfectly possible - even likely - that I am horribly unfair and assign views to the author that he does not hold. I haven’t even read his book. I am just using it to make a point.

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A great example of cosmology as a reflection of what is here now.

It may well be a good model of what happened in a conventional sense, but it is also a good model of how our experience of the world is created here now.

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Some people and situations are especially good projection objects. They express qualities we are not in touch with in ourselves, characteristics outside of our conscious identity. So when we see it in others, it fascinates us. We may even be caught up in blind attractions and aversions to just those qualities, expressed in these people and situations.

Michael Jackson is a good example. His genius for music, dance, image and marketing gave him attention, and in itself made him a good project. Add eccentricity and scandals that never were resolved, and you have an irresistible and explosive mix.

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Any advice is for myself. Any advice that comes up for me is primarily for myself, even if it initially appears to be for someone else.

When I take this as a question and a pointer, I find that it is a starting point for fertile exploration. What do I find when I investigate it through my own experience?

When advice comes up in my thoughts, what happens if I take it to be primarily for someone or something (life, God, a situation) else? How do I treat the other? How do I treat myself? Where do I experience it in my body? What do I fear would happen if I didn’t hold onto that advice as for someone else?

What happens if I take the advice as primarily for myself? Can I find the grain of truth in it? How is it a helpful advice for me in this situation? In what other specific situations can it be helpful advice for myself? How would it be to live from it?

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Two simple and helpful questions:

When I am with others, am I free to act as if I was alone?

When I am alone, do I act with the integrity I aim for when I am with others?

This exploration is a help in finding more authenticity, to not blindly act from roles and from trying to impress myself and others, to not feel I have to present a certain image. It helps me find beliefs and inquire into them. And it helps me shift in real time, in the situation, through the question and where attention goes because of the question.

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I watched Letters From Iwo Jima earlier tonight. As one of two movies about the same battle, this one from the Japanese perspective, it is a great example of post-modernist approaches going mainstream. Why show just one perspective, when there are - at least - two major ones, and then several perspectives within each of those? 

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Whoever believes that the All itself is deficient is (himself) completely deficient.
Gospel of Thomas, verse 67.

This can be seen as referring to projections.

What I see in the world says more about me than the world. In a conventional sense, it says a lot about me and little about the world. In a real sense, it says all about me and nothing about the world.

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Something I keep noticing….

When I feel a need to defend against a story, it is because it doesn’t fit with stories - and their corresponding viewpoints and identities - that I take as true. It creates a sense of having to protect and defend certain viewpoints and identities. A sense of separation. Tension. Stress. Reactive emotions. Precariousness. Making some stories true and other false. Making others wrong and myself right. 

When I instead find the truth in the story and allow it to sink in, there is a shift. I find specific examples of how it is true. I take time to feel it. I find appreciation for it. And there is a shift into a sense of fullness. Coming home. Receptivity. Curiosity. Connection. Deep relaxation. No need to defend stories. A sense of shared humanity, of all of us in the same boat. 

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Some things about forgiveness…

Forgiveness comes from seeing that we all are in the same boat, recognizing myself in others. An open heart, kindness, clarity.

Forgiveness comes from investigating stories and finding what is more true for me than an initial belief. 

Forgiveness comes from recognizing that all is already forgiven, all is innocence. When we take a story as true, we have to act as if it is true. All has infinite causes, the local expressions of movements of the whole. 

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Some things about consistency and inconsistency…

I can, of course, aim at consistency in the ordinary sense, between values, words and actions. And also integrity in acting on what is more true for me than beliefs, and notice and inquire into beliefs and fears preventing me from acting on it.

But there are gifts in inconsistency as well.

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In both giving and receiving any form of help, I notice how much difference it makes to be clear about two simple things.

First, that I am already doing it for myself. And then, that all is OK as is.

And these two can easily co-exist with the everyday appearance of helping someone, and also inviting in certain shifts to help alleviate suffering and finding joy.

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I find that there is a great support from conventional views. Here are a few that comes to mind right now….

Sanity looks sane even from a conventional view, and awakening is all about sanity. If my actions looks anything but sane to others and in a conventional view, and especially if I notice it as a pattern, it is a reminder for me to take a look at what I am doing. Which stories do I take as true? Which views are fixed? Where do I need healing and maturing? (There may be exceptions to this, where an action from clarity and kindness may appear less sane to others, but those are rare and very occasional.)

People don’t want to be made inferior or wrong. It may look like they are just protecting an exclusive identity, which is true. But there is also another reason: it is not true that they are inferior or wrong. We are all the play of God so completely equal there. Our views and actions are the play of God. Delusion and awakening, clarity and confusion, equally God and Ground. Within the realm of ideas, it is of course possible to create hierarchies and boxes of inferior/superior and right/wrong, and place actions into those. But those are only tools and have no truth to them.

People don’t want to be proselytized. Again, it may look like there is a defense of an identity. But there is also more to it: there is no need for it. There is absolutely no need for anyone to wake up. (For awakening to happen through certain individuals.) And yet, when the interest awakens, why not do what we can to support it, with whatever skills, clarity and kindness is available to us?

People like to hold onto beliefs and identifications, finding a safe imagined little world - that reality doesn’t conform to. It is a reminder for me to investigate my own beliefs and identifications, including about them, and find more clarity for myself.

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Don’t look outside of yourself for answers, or for something to complete yourself.

It is common advice, and can be understood in a few different ways.

First, in a conventional sense, it is an invitation to find in myself what I am looking for outside of myself. I may be looking for advice, and remember to (also) ask myself and find it in myself. I may be looking for something to complete me, and remember to give it to myself and find it in myself. It is a way to learn to trust what is here, see that it is already here, and that something outside of myself - teachings, people, situations - can remind me of what is already here. The world is my mirror.

It is an invitation to not get caught up in blind projections, in blind attractions and aversions. I may get advice from others, and enjoy things I am attracted to in others, but also remember to find it right here now. I can see it. Feel it. Find appreciation for it.

Then, I can notice that it is already happening. It is already that way. I may be looking for answers outside of myself, I may be looking outside of myself for something to complete me, and it may be outside of myself in a conventional sense, but is it really outside of myself?

It is all happening within my own world of images. The wider world and me that I see all this in is my own world of images. There is no outside and inside here.

The qualities and dynamics these images refer to are also here now. The wider world is a reminder, a mirror, of what is already here now. There is an inside and outside, but they mirror each other instantly and perfectly in this way.

And it is all happening as what I am and everything is. As that which all experience happens within, as and as an expression of.

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Here is a shadow-quickie.

I notice an aversion/attraction to somebody/thing in daily life, find the specific quality that brings it up, and then tell myself:

I am somebody who …

I am somebody who is a loser. I am somebody who is loud. I am somebody who is inconsiderate. I am somebody who is insane. I am somebody who is ugly. I am somebody who is angry. (Aversions.) I am somebody who has elegance. I am somebody who is smart. I am somebody who is clear. I am somebody who is friendly. (Attractions.)

I find at least three specific examples of how it is true in my own life. Times when I lived those qualities.

And I then take time to feel it. To let it sink in, get a bodily felt sense of being somebody who has those qualities. Taking time to allow my self image to reorganize to include this too, in a real and genuine way.

If I need to, I can do the same with the reversals of those qualities. In that way, I find both here now, and there is a freedom from both.

This simple practice probably works best if I have experience with projection work already, for instance from The Work.

The effects are often quite noticeable. From being caught up in aversions and attractions, and not immediately finding it in myself, there is a shift.

The world becomes a mirror, what is out there is also right here now. Tension melts. A sense of separation melts. There is a sense of fullness and wholeness. A sense of coming home. Of being complete here now. Spaciousness in all directions. I experience myself differently.

And then appreciation for those qualities, because they so clearly are part of the wholeness of who I am. Recognizing them here now, and feeling them here now, is the gateway into finding that wholeness. There is an allowing of them, an appreciation for them, a kindness towards the qualities and those expressing them (all of us including myself), even a love for them.

So I see these qualities right here, through specific examples of how they are expressed in my life. I take time to feel them here now, allowing my self-image to reorganize to include them. And from here, there is a sense of wholeness and gratitude for the qualities and the process.

I can find wholeness as who and what I am.

As who I am, this human self, I can find wholeness by noticing here what I see in the wider world. I can see, feel into and eventually find appreciation for it, whatever it is. The world is my mirror.

And when what I am notices itself, I find that there is already a wholeness there. It is that which all happens within and as.

To the extent I find the first form of wholeness, there is less neediness, less looking for something to complete me, less being caught up in attractions and aversions. This is an ongoing process before and within what I am noticing itself.

Life as is invites such a reorganization, it invites us to grow up. And when what I am notices itself, the invitation is even more pronounced.

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A few ways it is all for myself…

Whatever I do, I (already) do it for myself. I only need to notice.

When I help others or live in a way that seems good for the larger whole, I see that I do it for my own satisfaction. It feels good. It gives me joy. I do it for my sake.

Even when I follow a belief I have, I do it for my sake. A story seems true for me, so I act as if it is true because it seems right. As I find what is more true for me than the initial belief, I may change my actions or not, but I still do it for my sake. (The Work.)

And when I complain about something I am doing, I can do a simple inquiry.

For instance, I can make a list of things I do that I complain about, in a “have to” format. I have to pay taxes. I can then go through the list and change it to I want to… because. I want to pay taxes, because… I don’t want the consequences of not paying. (I am actually happy to pay taxes, but it is an example.)

So here I am seeing that I am already doing it for myself. I thought I was doing it because the government made me do it, but I now realize I am doing it out of kindness to myself - I don’t want the fines and possible jail time for not paying taxes. As I become more clear in this way, I may continue to do what I am doing, I may change the strategy, or I may decide to not do it anymore.  (This inquiry comes from Marshall Rosenberg.)

Also, any advice that comes up for me is for myself, even if initially a story tells me it is for someone else. He should be more open hearted > I should be more open hearted. That feels more true. That is what I want for myself.

This goes for advice I tell myself comes from myself, and advice that comes from someone else - even if it appears to be for yet another person. It doesn’t matter. It it all for me. I can always find how it is true for me, and how I want it for myself.

And anything happening is an invitation for me to grow and wake up, it is for myself. For instance, anything happening is an invitation for me to investigate my beliefs around it, and find what is (already) more true for me.

It doesn’t matter what it is, where it is, or who it apparently is happening to. It is still all for me, as an invitation to grow and wake up.

And finally, all is the play of God, for God. All is the play of what I am - that which all happens within and as, for what I am.

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I went into a bookstore earlier today and saw an interesting book on the history of the Hollow Earth ideas.

It is often interesting to explore these types of ideas, since they do not conform with mainstream views and so are more easily recognized as projections.

So what about the hollow earth ideas?

They reflect a fascination with mystery, with anything that makes life seem a little more magical. Life as is, is inherently mystery, but if we don’t recognize it due to a story of “life is mundane”, we try to add it to life. We project it out.

They may reflect a wish to poke the establishment. I know something that those in power, including scientists, either don’t know or try to cover up. It gives a feeling of I know, they don’t. The game is precarious in this case the hollow earth stories cannot easily be supported.

More interesting is our tendency to fill in white areas of the map, any map. We don’t know something, so project our stories in there to fill it in. In this case, it is a literal white area on the (3d) map since nobody has been down there to take a look. In other cases, we don’t really know in spite of lots of data and maps, and there too project stories and take them as real.

And we can work with the hollow earth stories as with any other stories we have. We can inquire into them. We can recognize them as part of our world of images. We can find their content right here now, and not (only) out there.

In a more traditional psychological view, subterranian may indicate the shadow. Something hidden below us, something here that doesn’t fit my story of what is, something that doesn’t fit my stories of who I am. And this can in some cases even include ascended masters - our inherent wakeness and wisdom.

Or since the Earth is a sphere and contains everything we are familiar with, all life and what life depends on, it can have to do with our wholeness as humans. The wholeness of our body-psyche which is a whole world in itself. Whatever I see out there in the world mirrors qualities and dynamics right here.

When I look at my own wholeness, I indeed find that it is alive (awake), it is spiritual (awakeness), it is mysterious (cannot know), it is terrible (shadow), it is hollow (no thing appearing as something). It is all that the hollow earth stories tells us about.

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What will happen in 2012?

Will the mysterious planet Nibiru enter the local solar system and wreak havoc with Earth?

Will the sun rise in conjunction with the milky way and strange things happen?

Will the completion of the thirteenth B’ak’tun cycle in the Long Count of the Maya calendar coincide with a major shift in collective human consciousness?

Will nothing special happen, proving the folks holding those beliefs as cooks?

2012 - like UFOs and other good projection objects - is fertile ground for exploration.

First, what are the practical effects of taking certain stories about 2012 as true or as guidelines for actions? Do I relate to others and myself differently? Do I become more or less engaged? Do I become more receptive or more entrenched in holding certain perspectives and identities? These stories are just tools anyway, so what type of tools are they and what are the effects of using them?

Then, whatever stories I hold about 2012 or others’ beliefs about 2012, I can find it all right here.

I can notice that it all happens within my own world of images. My own stories about it and what I see in others, the wider world and in 2012 is all happening within my own world of images.

I can find the characteristics and dynamics I see in others, the wider world and in 2012 right here as well. How do they happen right here, as I hold onto these stories? How do they happen in my life otherwise?

I can notice all as happening within and as awakeness.

Another way to explore this is to identify and inquire into my beliefs around 2012 and others holding certain ideas about 2012.

2012 is doomsday. 2012 means a major shift in human consciousness. People who think 2012 is doomsday or means a shift in consciousness are flaky cooks, with little or no grasp on reality and science. I know what will happen. My views are right. I am right, they are wrong.

When 2012 arrives, I can notice what happens whether my expectations are met or not. If my expectations are met, do I take it as proof that I was right all along? That I am better than others? If my expectations are not met, do I try to explain it away? Do I take it as an opportunity for inquiry?

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