Why fight to attain that which we already are?

I want to share an email I sent to a friend this week.

From: AimeeLovesYou
To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Date: Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 1:20 PM
Subject: Wow. I’m floored.

Wow. I’m floored.

I just found something that perfectly states what XXXXX & I were discussing on Saturday.

When I told him what I was passionate about, & he said that, that “beingness” I was interested in, that “infinite peace” (as he called it), is the missing link. The missing power & focus that all movements eventually crumble over. They lose sight of the truth & they get lost & they panic & they fade. Never realizing the truth that they initially & so passionately were seeking & wanted to see realized.

This is the quote I found today…

“Our consequential activity — our resulting doings — no matter how pure of heart or well-meaning — then automatically manufacture circumstances around us serving only to maintain the causal discomforts driving all our doings.

It is through this bias toward doing that all our religions, spiritual groups, and peace organizations arise.

And, because all organizational structures foster activity that is repetitive – activity that fast becomes familiar and routine to us — and because familiarity is the sleeping pill that sows unconsciousness and the resonance of habitual egoic behavior — all our resultant doings intended to accomplish “stillness,” to enter “the now,” to “achieve happiness,” and to “attain peace” lead nowhere.

The unfolding of time reveals they all lead directly into circumstances that foster fear, anger, and grief — the causal resonance out of which they arise.

This ongoing loop continues because our doings have not arisen from the intent to know the truth of being. They have arisen as an attempt to quell the inner discomfort of our unintegrated emotional imprints [emotional scars].“

I’m going to try to write some blog posts on Being, as well as Seeing. I know that these are my work — to explore, to share, & to know — it’s just hard because they seem so abstract sometimes, & not as concrete as something that everyone can relate to & visualize. But as an artist I think that that is my job. To find a means of expression that captures its essence so that it can be relatable & viable for everyone.

…Just the possibility alone makes me happy.

Love you,
A.

This email directly speaks to the point I was making yesterday about Occupy Wall Street [What is Occupy Wall Street?] & acknowledging that all the change we are experiencing right now on the planet is helping us to evolve & wake up to the truth in being. The truth of who we really are. All of these external events, or things we are standing for, or fighting for, or struggling for, are not the big picture. They are only a fragment of it, they are only a reflection of our current way of being (which is not based on being at all & the lack of awareness expressed clearly shows that). If we can see that we have lost our ability to be, we can then begin to feel again. And with that presence — not blame, not fight, not bury  to defuse or end the feeling that causes us to suffer — but to embrace it & move with awareness, move with clear intentions, & in doing that, what needs to be done happens effortlessly. The revolution simply becomes our evolution.

By the way, this is to the 99% (the people who seek change), as well as the 1% (the elite who like this current system as it is). Both are the 100% of people who have trouble being in peace, being in love, being in joy, being in harmony, being in grace, being in bliss, the list goes on. — Do you know why everyone has trouble? Because we don’t know how to simply be. This is why we are chasing freedom (or peace, or joy) via materialistic things, or through noble causes, or through saving others, or through work & passions, or through social reform, or through romance, or through goals & challenges, or through food, movies, travel, sport, — all of it. There is nothing wrong with any of these things. Material goods are fine, so is social reform & sports, whatever you like. All of it is beautiful, it’s what we have created together as a people — but it is not what will bring us to a state of infinite peace. Only being can do that.

Everyone has had moments of being: when an athlete is in the zone, or a dancer is moved by the music, or a child is smiling for no reason, or a monk is lost in meditation, or a lover is one with their lover, or a writer’s words flow automatically through their pen, or one is just totally present & fully in the moment. The point is, you are not forcing anything happen. You are not making anything happen. It’s just happening. — You are active, but you are not doing. You are allowing. You are letting go in order to be moved. This is what it means to trust.

Understand that this is where our power is. Not in making anything happen, or forcing our will, or excessively doing, but in letting go. In setting up our intention & aligning ourselves with it. The rest takes care of itself. This doesn’t mean that you aren’t active, or you aren’t doing something, it just means that you are allowing yourself to feel, to connect, to trust, to be moved. And trust me, just like the star athlete, when you do this, you do much more! You are much more effective & impactful. But it happens without your mind getting in the way.

Think of a bad dancer. Why do they not dance well? Because they are in their head & they think they have to move their body. But in order to feel the rhythm, you have to completely let go & allow your body to be moved. — And which dancers are the best dancers? The ones that can let go. The ones that can listen. The ones that can feel. — Are they active? Yes. Are they doing something? Yes. But, they let energy do the work. They allow their intention to lead & they surrender to the dance.

Can you imagine if everyday was like that? You never had to do anything & nothing felt like work. Because you were allowing yourself to be. To trust. To feel. To be moved. This is the most powerful way you can be. This is who we all already are. But we block it. We don’t know how to trust ourselves, how to trust our own innate intelligence.

Describing being is very difficult. It’s experiential. It’s not something you can fully understand with the mind — only with the heart. This is something intangible. And the problem is, that most people seek quick tangible results. Something they can show others & feel good about. The tangible fruits of their labor comes quick: “Look what I have achieved!” or “Look at the difference I made!” or “Look what I got!” — This is not that. This is power. This is energy. This is grace. Not money, not something to see, not something to be proud of, it is actually nothing — just beingness. Just peace. Just joy. Just love. Beneath it all, beneath all the work, & the game, & the hurt, it’s what we are all striving for, but we are fighting to attain that which we already are.

“All relative life without the conscious basis of Being is like a ship without a rudder, ever at the mercy of the tossing sea.”
– Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

And I just want to add: I’m all for Occupy Wall Street. I just hope that it eventually evolves into a deeper & more unifying movement (not us against them). A movement that isn’t afraid to be revolutionary, yet is willing to look within for all answers. I take my hat of to them. Their bravery has made history & they have inspired millions. And if they proceed to move with heart, their revolution will naturally become everyone’s evolution.

Question: What is Occupy Wall Street? Answer: Just the Beginning.

I’m going to present videos & photographs & information about the Occupy Wall Street movement (OWS – also #OccupyWallStreet or #OWS, written as Twitter hashtags). Following that, I’ll write a few words on how I feel about the global need for change & what I think is on the horizon. And lastly, at the end of this post, I will leave information on how you can support the OWS movement.

Occupy Wall Street, New York City

I received a FAQs sheet at Occupy Wall Street being held at New York City’s Zuccotti Park (formerly Liberty Plaza Park) near Ground Zero. What struck me is that the sheet clearly read: “We are not a protest movement. We do not protest against things, and we do not have one or two simple demands. We are a movement which does call for accountability, however – accountability to ourselves and to our country.” To me the key word is: accountability. Personal responsibility for all aspects of one’s life is very important. This movement stems out of people who are tired of living in a country that calls itself a democracy when it is not. And now they have held themselves accountable for being the ultimate source for creating this democracy.

It continues, “We must be accountable to ourselves. First and foremost, we are calling upon ourselves, and upon one another, to wake up and employ our power as citizens: to participate rather than observe, to raise our strong voices together, rather than complaining feebly in isolation. We cannot ‘whine’ about the injustices wreaked upon us if we have been complacent and silent in the face of these injustices. We must take responsibility for our own futures – and here at Liberty Plaza, that is exactly what we are doing, by modeling the kind of society in which everyone has the right to live. Here in Liberty Plaza, having lost our sense that we live in a democracy, we are reclaiming its practice.”

The next paragraph states, “Our government must be accountable to us, and corporations must be accountable to the government. We are saying definitively: We no longer live in a democracy, and we refuse to accept that. We seek an end to the collusion between corrupt politicians and corporate criminals, as democratic and capitalist institutions have become conflated. (*1) As such we must see major advances in the area of the relationship between corporations, and people, on par with the amendments which outlawed slavery and assured civil rights to all people regardless of race, sex, or class…”

I wish I could type the whole FAQs sheet out for you, but this blog post would be way too long (-it’s too long as it is!) So, I will just add one footnote that belongs to the paragraph above, I think it’s important.

*1 “In the United States, the right to become rich has become collapsed with the very notion of liberty. From the time we are children, Americans learn to confuse democracy (a system of decision-making and governance), with capitalism (a system for regulating and releasing money flows).”

Occupy Together: Occupations all over the USA

All over the USA “Occupations” have been popping up from city to city. It’s steadily growing in the number of supporters & in the number of locations.

I was so proud to see this video of my hometown, the East Bay in Northern California. The video is from Occupy Oakland (aka #HellaOcuppy).

Occupy World: Occupations all over the globe

October 15th, 2011 was a day of Global Occupation, the International Day of Action. There were Occupations everywhere.

From Paris to Palestine, demonstrations were held in over 950 cities & 85 countries.

England’s Occupy London had the pleasure of demonstrating side by side with Julian Assange of WikiLeaks. He spoke to demonstrators from the steps of Saint Paul’s Cathedral.

If this is the beginning, what is next?

No doubt about it, there is much more to come. Not only in the way of government reform, or even epidemics & environmental concerns  – but in each one of us individually in a way we haven’t been challenged before.

We will eventually find that there is nowhere to turn for a sense of true security & peace. At that point it will be obvious that it can only come from the one who is seeking it.

The only thing we can truly change is ourselves. The only place we can truly find peace is within us.

Looking for answers or solutions outside of oneself never works in the long-term.

At the same time, yes! – Occupy Wall Street & other movements are important & necessary. Especially when it comes to waking people up & taking them out of their comfort zone – their automatic way of sheepishly & passively speeding through their lives. It makes total sense to be forward moving & create the external changes needed at the moment, but after that, the work just gets deeper.

Otherwise, everything reverts back to the way it was. The work will not be done until we have uprooted the source of the confusion & suffering within us, & cultivate a new way of being.

In my opinion we need a balance between the tangible side of ourselves & the intangible side. Our culture is so wrapped up in the importance of materialistic things, or external things (anyone or anything outside of ourselves). But it is the intangible experiences of love, harmony, joy, generosity, trust, balance, peace, & more, that truly make us happy, that make us come alive & make us feel whole.

Love, harmony, & joy are states of being & they can only be experienced & generated from within. The only one that ever has control of this is us. Each one of us has the power to create & maintain these states of well-being.

For lasting change, the most important revolution that needs to take place, is the one within.

Creating a daily lifestyle for ourselves that is meaningful & healthful, as well as  building communities with others based on the values & qualities we believe in, this is what change in action is all about.

So let’s #OccupyLove!  #OccupyBliss! #OccupyJoy! OccupyAwareness! #OccupyMindfulness #OcuppyPeacefulness #OccupyOneness!

The ways you can support  Occupy Wall Street or other Occupations near you…

Every Occupation needs something, the most important thing you can give is you. Share your love & support by physically being there & by sharing your intentions (what you intend by showing your support) with others. If you aren’t able to be there in person, actions like: donating money, food, blankets, hygiene supplies, drinking water, rain gear, tarps, tents, etc, can also be a great way to show your support. So can blogging, taking & sharing photographs or video, spreading the word, & doing whatever you can to contribute.

To send a donation to Occupy Wall Street in New York, their shipping address along with a link for information on their current needs is listed below. There is also a link to all other city Occupations in the USA.

The UPS Store
C/O Occupy Wall Street
118A Fulton Street #205
New York, New York 10038

Occupy Wall Street NYC donation link

List & map of over 200 Occupy Wall Street USA solidarity events link

10/16/2011 UPDATE:
I also forgot to add that you can support by donating to a billboard in Times Square; or by showing your support with blog comments for those who stand for #OccupyLove; or by getting involved via yoga as activism; or by banking with a credit union instead of big banks like Citibank & Wells Fargo; or you can mentor a young person & share your journey of developing a more sustainable lifestyle; or you can sign petitions that stand for civil rights; or you can start a community food growing program & other sustainable projects to empower yourself & your fellow neighbors; and! …you can share this blog post on Twitter & Facebook. Here is a short link for you: http://tinyurl.com/3lgvksx

Thank you! ♥

“As I go through all kinds of feelings & experiences in my journey through life — delight, surprise, chagrin, dismay — I hold this question as a guiding light: “What do I really need right now to be happy?” What I come to over & over again is that only qualities as vast & deep as love, connection & kindness will really make me happy in any sort of enduring way.”
– Sharon Salzberg