Personal Development for Consciously Flexing the Consciousness

give purpose to nothing or purpose to all

It is pointless to choose the middle ground, to make purposeful what you, or others, deem to be purposeful.

We move forward as best we can, reaching toward the light between the branches to guide us out of the forest.

We don't know where we're going but once we know how to recognize the signs that are so abundant, once our eyes are open to them, we have a chance of discovering our own Buddha Nature, our Christ 2.0, our own real Self.

selections by Ajahn Chah

A visiting Zen student asked Ajahn Chah, "How old are you? Do you live here all year round?" "I live nowhere," he replied. "There is no place you can find me. I have no age. To have age, you must exist, and to think you exist is already a problem. Don't make problems; then the world has none either. Don't make a self. There's nothing more to say."

Once there was a layman who came to Ajahn Chah and asked him who Ajahn Chah was. Ajahn Chah, seeing that the spiritual development of the individual was not very advanced, pointed to himself and said, "This, this is Ajahn Chah." On another occasion, Ajahn Chah was asked the same question by someone else. This time, however, seeing that the questioner's capacity to understand the Dhamma was higher, Ajahn Chah answered by saying, "Ajahn Chah? There is NO Ajahn Chah."

If your mind is happy, then you are happy anywhere you go. When wisdom awakens within you, you will see Truth wherever you look. Truth is all there is. It's like when you've learned how to read - you can then read anywhere you go.

Any speech which ignores uncertainty is not the speech of a sage.

If your mind tries to tell you it has already attained the level of sotapanna, go and bow to a sotapanna. He'll tell you himself it's all uncertain. If you meet a sakadagami, go and pay respects to him. When he sees you, he'll simply say, "Not a sure thing!" If there's an anagami, go and bow to him. He'll tell you only one thing. "Uncertain!" If you meet even an arahant, go and bow to him. He'll tell you even more firmly, "It's all even more uncertain!" You'll hear the words of the Noble Ones: "Everything is uncertain. Don't cling to anything!"

Once you understand non-self, then the burden of life is gone. You'll be at peace with the world. When we see beyond self, we no longer cling to happiness and we can truly be happy. Learn to let go without struggle, simply let go, to be just as you are - no holding on, no attachment, free.

A devout elderly lady from a nearby province came on a pilgrimage to Wat Pah Pong. She told Ajahn Chah she could stay only a short time, as she had to return to take care of her grandchildren, and since she was an old lady, she asked if he could please give her a brief dhamma talk. Ajahn Chah replied with great force, "Hey, listen! There's no one here, just this! No owner, no one to be old, to be young, to be good or bad, weak or strong. Just this, that's all - just various elements of nature going their own way, all empty. No one born and no one to die! Those who speak of birth and death are speaking the language of ignorant children. In the language of the heart, of Dhamma, there are no such things as birth and death."

last summer was when i first ingested the DREAD LSD. :P

i was with four friends (adam, aaron, jake, and sean) when i ate my hit at sometime like 3:30 in the afternoon, at adam's house. it took about an hour when i started feeling exhilarated. i was entering into a new reality. i remember looking at myself in the mirror (wow, such huge pupils!) and i kept smiling. i'd stare intently, trying to remain stoic, but then one eye would start twitching and i'd laugh and have to look away.

i wanted something to munch on, and brought this up with my friends. sean and i readily agreed that suckers would be perfect. so the four of us decided to drive to the nearby grocery store. the second wave hit me when we were inside the store. there was so much food in one localized place! and the fruit!! it was so bright and inviting to my hunger! i snagged a banana. the others didn't take long; we didn't even head to the candy aisle, we just got the fuck out of there quickly as possible, as the flourescent lighting was starting to intensely bother each one of us.

back at the house, i found a small four-wheeled flat cart in adam's back yard. he and i decided to ride the cart down this hill that ended at the edge of some woods. we careened and crashed the cart nearly every ride down, but we just kept laughing and wanting to do it again. we had become young boys again. we also found a toad, which we observed with total fascination. at some point i looked up at the sky and noticed how the clouds seemed to be breathing. we laid with our backs on the hillside, watching the energy of the clouds flow and pulsate.

after a while jake suggested taking a trip to the local thrift store. that seemed a perfect idea to me; everyone else was content to stay where they were, though.

well, it was in the thrift store when my peak came on. i was geeking out almost the whole time. jake had to thoroughly convince me that the turqois parachute pants and red trench coat really didn't complement each other. but i did find one of the greatest books i've since read, Jonathan Livingston Seagull. and i also found an old-school LEGO poster, completely framed in hard, clear plastic, with the heading "Explore the Universe with your Imagination". :D

on our return drive, we happend to be mooned by some girls that looked to be about 12 or 13. honestly, that was the weirdest part of my trip.

after showing off my new-found treasure to the others, adam and i took a drive to a party in another town. we smoked some nugs along the way, but i didn't even notice a change in my high.normally i'm somewhat a more reclusive, introverted person, but at the party, conversation flowed smoothly with anyone, and i noticed an ability to read/understand most of the people i interacted with on a deeper level by just focusing on what their faces were expressing. some decipherings were surprising to me. some saddened me immensely.

i got into a game of fooseball and instantly "got in the zone". i discovered i was pretty much able to go auto-pilot and, while holding my own against my opponent very well, at the same time i was studying his methods of play, looking for and analyzing his patterns, and solving how to get past his defense. it was all a wild, intense experience. and, well, so was the entire trip itself. :) i started to feel the coming down affects soon after the game, so i'll end my story here.

albert einstein quote

"No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it."


In short, if you always think what you've always thought you'll always create what you've already got.