Most esoteric types like to ‘go with the flow’. Extra effort or dealing with harsh obstacles or barriers don’t appeal to them. It’s always very cool and ZEN like to NOT want anything out of life or work to get SOMETHING.

But life is physical as well as metaphysical. Rewards for both planes of existence are worth some effort. And it is nice and rewarding to have accomplished something for yourself and others by NOT going with the flow.

People like Gandhi, Albert Einstein or Martin Luther didn’t go with the flow and waited for change - and they changed the world.

Achieving something means often to break your own comfort zone, work long hours and enduring serious pain. Often the result can be nothing, but sometimes it can be everything.

There are days that simply suck. There is no cosmic nor carmic reason for it. So indulge your misery or simply decide to snap out of it. A happy psyche can create a happy day …

Being defeated in public is embarrassing. A tough thing is hard to overcome. But people love the comeback kid - but only if you are brave enough to learn from your defeat, stand up and try again.

No matter where Mr Crab goes - he always is at home. We also carry often a lot of baggage with us, but sometimes our minds won’t rest, feel safe or at home - no matter where we are. Maybe it’s time to work on that mental shell and get rid of it. A human can survive in all ‘nakedness’ - Mr Crab can’t. It’s our advantage - let’s use it to live without fear and burden.

Some spiritual disciplines are so focused on transcending everything that they can’t appreciate the silly side of life any more. If you can’t laugh no more, you are already dead and have to be reborn as a sitcom character. Laughter is good for the soul and an excellent tool to overcome fear.

Don’t try to be a Saint, try to be a proper Human first. Have you already developed your full potential?

Sometimes there is a huge reward waiting for those who take action and have the courage for a bold move. Don’t be afraid - take heart and take your chances …

While playing with fire - many people ignore the complexity of it’s relationship with it’s surrounding. The strings of fire can expand beyond your grasp and burn you …

Since their is no such thing as a ‘universal fairness’ clause we have to cope with pretty heavy problems from time to time in our life’s. Some people say challenges can make you grow, but some challenges simply knock you out. Not every bad situation has a ‘good’ aspect, not every problem will make you grow and help you to become a better or even happier person.

Grow! Jump! Reach out! There are always things beyond our current limits - so we have to go beyond our limited self’s. It’s worth it.

How often do you really hold your own destiny in your hand? And how often do you carefully shape your own path? Do you leave it all to the universe by accident and pure faith? Or do you simply function?!

How often do we really apply our powers to shape our future in a conscious state of mind & spirit?

Some problems in life seem huge and you feel only tiny and insignificant. But David did beat Goliath - and small pinch in the right place can even make giant run away. Take your chance!

Nobody likes to be weak - but often we make ourselves smaller and weaker then we are. Why? Is it a lack of confidence? A lack of knowledge of strength and abilities? Or do we sometimes choose to be weak to get rid of any responsibilities and lucrative chances?

Martial arts always had the additional effect of building character - apart from the obvious effect of killing others even better. Thanks to more moderate times and less violence within societies martial art mostly became more spiritual instead of lethal.

Still the Warrior label lives on - and it’s a bad thing. It doesn’t matter if you try to make it more esoteric or peaceful by tweaking it like Rainbow Warrior or Dolphin Warrior.

But is it still the Way of a Warrior? No - unless you consider life, relationships and even business as war. Unless you are in a War or prepare for one you are not a Warrior. Any you should be happy about it.

The Way of a real Warrior who has to fight someday is tough and not just an esoteric hobby to make yourself feel stronger when you a pencil pusher in a huge company who likes to meddle with self enlightenment.

Some people are down to earth. Others like to fly between the clouds. The extreme ones go for the moon and stars. And the pros are one with the whole universe.

Why do people need to be someplace else with their minds & souls - except to stay in the here and now?

Some people call it love, others call it hormones. Some people call it lust, others call it hormones as well. Our brain loves drugs and loves being in love. That pink feeling is just the nicest kick around.

We are all idiots on this world - because none of us has figured out what’s it all about. But we can share the madness, beauty and laughter - and finally die in the end.

And dying is a stupid thing to do anyway … but we all do it.

Only those who are on a mission to somewhere realize when they feel lost or alone. Everybody else will simply sit at home and repeat themselves. Only through a change of scenery you will be able to see differences - and with different perceptions and experiences you can start to make judgements and improve your own world.

Hey, this spiritual stuff is real work!

In our age of convenience food, easy to swallow capsules and easy credit there is also a big need for instant enlightenment. Although every language seems to know it’s own version of “no pain no gain” the effort to do the inner or outer journey to a more fulfilled life is not very trendy - unless it comes with the label new age and can be done during a weekend workshop.

So what about it? Can’t spirituality be done with a bit of crying, drumming and tree hugging in a safe space where everybody can breath deeeeep aaaand leeet goooo?

Eeeeep! Wrong answer. Surely tree hugging might help, but spirituality is a constant process of change, reflection and renewal. Sure a weekend is great to kick it off or go deeper into a particular subject, but this might only be milestones on your personal journey.

I feel alive - when I am drowning!

Spirituality is like swimming, you simply can’t stop doing it while you are in the stream of life, otherwise you go down.

Your constant movement in your own waters should help you to reach for a higher state of consciousness, which supports your journey.

First a few words about consciousness. Most people confuse their minds or analytical abilities with it. Joseph Campell - great writer and mythologist - once said “where energy is, there is also consciousness”. Plant’s and animal have consciousness - and even your body has it’s own form of consciousness, it not just the mind by itself.

Consciousness connects you to the world, it’s awareness of what is happening, it let’s you change/direct energy, feel it and relate to it, it opens yourself to the outer and inner world. Thinking in these terms it makes a lot of sense to get into a higher state of consciousness, since it allows you to do more, be closer to yourself and your path.

Hey, it’s all so easy!

We all know situations in our life’s when we are distracted, stressed and out of focus - altogether a lower state of consciousness. Almost every known form of spirituality offer exercises or methods to recenter yourself and find your inner balance. For someone it might be running, the next person prays, meditates or simply watches the sky. Any method is valid as long it centers yourself and helps to achieve that higher state.

Another great value of the higher and complete state of consciousness is, that it can much better deal with paradoxes, confusing emotions and inner pictures. Our normal mind is usually trained to deal with “cause & effect” logical problems. So if we hit a road bump that goes way beyond simple human logic our analytical self gets confused, stuck, frustrated. Sheer willpower seems often to make it worse then actually pulling us out of our misery.

Most of our personal problems are way beyond logical/mental conflicts. It’s usually a mixture out of your ego, interpersonal barriers/communication, emotional needs/wants and social interaction. A very potent mixture that is way beyond simple “yes”, “no” and “maybe” thinking.

The higher consciousness (the whole yourself) has a much better chance of solving the problem, since it will connect to your problem on many levels. It should also include your subconscious which helps to develop creativity and visions. You need these “tools” to break and expand your current abilities or current perception of your situation.

I have problems - therefore I am.

Now this is very important: Most of our problems arise from a limited vision or knowledge of a situation. If it’s a simple logical or knowledge problem, your mind will do to acquire a new piece of information, integrate it in your life and solve the little bugger. BUT if your problem/limit is more complex you need a more complex set of solutions and tools.

Here is a simple problem with a typical logical dilemma - and a more expanded solution:

I want to have a walk in the park and enjoy the sunshine, but I am stopped in my tracks by a bloody sign that tells me to go off the grass. Now my mind faces a very common dualistic dilemma: either I accept to get overruled by that sign I am frustrated, because my day in the park is spoiled OR I ignore the sign and risk social confrontation.

I am stuck with two logical choices, both with their own not completely satisfying solutions.

In a higher state of consciousness I can observe that my little ego wants something and it wants it right now, so the little sign is frustrating my ego big time. Looking beyond my anger/frustration cycle I am becoming aware of other solutions, like going to a different park or growing out of similar situations where I bring myself into conflict with an authority.

This was simple - right? Now add to that situation a charming lady I want to impress plus a policemen and maybe some other elements and you can see it can get pretty complex pretty easily.

But let’s go back to deeper personal problems.

Wakeup from your own limited matrix.

Like I said before we are mostly limited by our own egos or visions, like if I can’t see myself as the new departement head I will never go for it. We can’t manifest “actions” in real life if we lack the vision, confidence and relationship for them. So this is not just a case of “do I have the right qualifications for the job” but a more complex inner problem.

Here it helps to work with your consciousness and subconscious on your inner limits - so what’s holding me back to become the department head? How do I feel about this job? Do I really want it? Why am I holding myself back - what are the motivations behind that? Why do I have such strange associations with success that I am holding back?

This is soul searching at it’s best!

If one faces negative or destructive inner patterns, lack of motivation and visions then creativity is needed to create new patterns, visions and associations. If your inner world is limiting you - how can you grow. Humans need to grow like plants. If their pot is to small there will be a lot of pain …

Everybody dreams of bigger mice to catch.

This is why a good connection to your subconscious is so important, since it’s the best source for inner pictures/visions that might explain what’s holding back as well as creating better ones. Instead of “thinking it all thru” you expand your complete inner cosmos to deal in a better way with a more complex life. You not only get new insights but also happier life.

For example if I start my positive reprogramming by dreaming about myself in that new position that would help to dissolve old barriers. Another way is consciously sitting down and imagining myself to do this job. Every great athlete knows this kind of exercises, like running the track in your mind before you actually start. A new job might be a lot of work, but dissolving my barriers would enrich my life and new perspectives.

So soul searching is a constant process of a higher consciousness sorting out old and useless associations and visions you might have and replacing them with vital and healthy new ones. It might be painful to let go of some old and beloved ideas/visions, but they simply limit you … get the expanded new version for free from your subconscious and have a happier life.

*repost 2003-08-03*

Too often we are distort ourselves into pleasing others to love us. The need to feel loved and accepted can make people do crazy stuff, because our ego doesn’t like to stand apart or has the strength to withstand social pressure. But the inner black hole can only be filled or dissolved by self love and self respect, something you can only give yourself - nobody else.

It is amazing how deep dualistic thinking is entrenched in western thinking, culture and most of all language. We love pairing opposite concepts: up & down, good & evil, left & right, north & south …

How boring and most of all WRONG. Life is a bit more complicated then rhetorical polarities and mental compartments. Reality doesn’t work in words - it’s simply there. To be experienced and not to be judged with simple concepts or believe systems. So if you want to free yourself - then first of all get rid of old mental patterns, mental scales and system to sort the world into.

A free person is a person without systems or words. A tough assignment for any modern mind, which is filled with a gazillion concepts, meanings, explanations and metaphors.

Meditation is still trendy and cool - and gets even more acceptance in the western world. But why do people meditate? Often they join groups and classes without a religious context or spiritual goals. Do they meditate to get their minds off things or stress? Or simply to switch off? But what is the best reason to meditate? To find god? To find yourself? To find tranquillity? Or to find nothing at all?

So many spiritual and religious people expect a payback or rescue team from their favorite Gods for being ‘good’. But there are no angels out there to watch out for you. God’s gift to you is a brain and a heart that are very capable - they will save you if you are willing to use them.