I heard an interview with Joseph Campbell in which he reflected on how the tallest buildings of any given era express the values and myths that drive that culture. So in ancient times, the tallest building of any town was the cathedral, temple or sacred monument, then in the era of princes and merchants, the tallest structures were the palaces and royal administrative buildings; now, in our modern, economically driven times, the tallest buildings are bank or corporate headquarters. Things that make you go “hmmm“.

Yuval Noah Harari points out that of all the stories homo sapiens have created, the most powerful and sustainable one so far is the story of the value and importance of money. Everything is driven by economics, the story of money seems to be today’s religion.

On one hand, I see this need to monetize everything we do as a collective delirium that has taken over our lives, a consensus reality that mistakes making a living for just living.

However, the idea that each one of us can transform our talents and passions into economy generating activities, that we all can become freelance content creators, independent entrepreneurs, life artists, is fantastic. The possibility to make our living by practicing the things we feel make life worth living, seems like a giant step in the evolution of our thinking and doing concerning work and how we understand what we’re here to do.

Given the upcoming fusion of robotics and artificial intelligence, the predictions about the future of work and the labor market are that a so-called “useless class” (Harari) may be created. Millions and millions of people out of work. This seems to be inevitable. But is it a problem? Doesn’t it open the door to the development of a population of researchers, philosophers, artists, freelance creatives, people free to develop themselves rather than chained to the wheels of underpaid labor with the sole purpose of paying off debts and consuming stuff produced in order to keep them working so they can buy stuff and keep the machine rolling?  Can it be that this is what the current transformation of the concepts of work and the shift towards independent freelance activity is about? As Douglas Rushkoff said, “I’m not an optimist, but I am hopeful.”

What we ATTEND to is what we end up believing is true…

What underlies what? What is the underlying reality?

What if consciousness is more fundamental, more underlying, than particles and forces?

Falling continuously into this moment of BEING.
Do not cling to your beliefs.
Do not cling to your securities.
Do not cling to anything.
Let AWARENESS, the focused silent witness
pierce gently the veil of opinions, beliefs, preconceptions, acquired reaction patterns, defense mechanisms, proofs and theories
and see what is that can contain the broadest truth as things present themselves now.

POLARITY AND UNTYING KNOTS – a conversation with my friend Dorit Weintal.

We were talking about some new year’s eve heated conversations about racism and immigration. Polarized issues. I was saying that there’s no point confronting “facts” against each other. So called facts just line up according to the values, viewpoints and instruments used by the researchers. 

Resonating with this, Dorit came up with this wonderful insight:          << If you want to release/untie a knot you can’t do it by pulling hard on the ends of the tangled rope in one direction or another. You need, instead, to take the knot in your fingers and delicately massage it, turning it this way and that, move it around to let it relax (moving your whole body with it as well). This way the openings will be found. >>

 

a meeting of souls not roles

Last night I was at dinner with friends and some friends of my friends. This couple, the friends of my friends, follow some spiritual teaching and the boyfriend (let’s call him A) of my friend is into yoga. We talked at length about the spiritual practice the couple is engaged in. I was really trying to understand what they were into and what this practice, which they were not really explaining, was giving them. In the course of the evening’s conversations I also said some things about what I do and share with people and some reflections about the yogic perspective came from A.

On the way home and this morning I was feeling some kind of sadness. At first it presented itself as doubts about the utility for others of the things I practice and teach. Is there interest? Is there any real benefit? Am I able to contribute to their understanding and happiness? After some time dancing with my jackals trying to sense what is in their heart, I came to the understanding that the real source of my sadness was my need to just BE and meet others beyond our roles, our professional or devotional identities – a meeting of souls beyond roles. In fact what I am practicing and sharing in my work are experiences and instruments for self-connection, discovering purpose, communication, collaboration and celebration that are free of labels, free of isms. Of course I am grateful and pay homage to the contributions and teachings of many masters, teachers, researchers and seekers. I acknowledge them by name so that anyone can deepen their familiarity with these things that have been and are of profound inspiration to me. But I’m never suggesting that anyone should become a follower of any of these things. My purpose is to inspire and facilitate each person’s awakening and transformational process toward what their real needs are and what the dreams that move them are.