QNTNs.com Podcast

I write this in a Richmond airport

Natural law does exist. Truth does exist. Perception can be faulty. Giving grace to our behaviors is comforting, but it does not annul the consequences. Truth is not invented by perspective, opinion, and culture. Conversely, whitewashing falsehood only hides wickedness; poisoned honey remains injurious no matter how sweet.

The lesson is this: ignore the popular trends that suggest spiritual laws are bygone. Trust that Truth is timeless. Without hesitation, abide first by good morals: do right by yourself in accord with nature. Then expand your morals to ethics: do right by your community in accord with the universe.

Law is absolute. The sun will always burn. That does mean I will always be burned by the sun. That does not mean I will never be burned by the sun. The consequences are relative to my actions and abilities, but the law remains the same. Whether the consequence is relatively “good” or relatively “bad,” the judgement is your choice to make, but the reality of the result is constant.

They say eating meat is good. They say eating meat is bad. Eating meat, whether deemed “good” or “bad,” is eating meat. Meat has an effect in accord with its nature.

The admonition for us is to know our nature, respect our nature, all while ignoring the temptation to think, “Nature is only an invented belief and can be abided or not to the same effect.”

To slight nature is to slight yourself. Beware, QNTN, of moral relativism.

Did this lesson begin with a thought or an inspiration? Perhaps the culmination of this lesson came as part of life’s patterned happenstance.

What is a lesson?A lesson is a decision that compounds to make a better life. Maybe the lesson is learned, read, or dreamed. Whether or not abided, the lesson is true for life. These lessons are not original. Publishing lessons is not claiming the knowledge, but clarifying it.

Many of these excerpts are from David Hawkins’ “Discovery of the Presence of God,” the sixth book in a nine-part series outlining a way to higher consciousness. However, there are several other quotations that complement Hawkins’ ideas nicely.

A Tao Backstory

After longing for a lesson on the Tao, I found “The Tao of Pooh,” by Benjamin Hoff. It was just sitting there on a friend’s coffee table, so I picked it up, and he let me borrow it. The book was from Powell’s Books in Portland.

“That’s a dangerous place,” I said.

He rebutted, “I laid ground rules. I could only purchase one book — and from the used section. It was between Autobiography of a Yogi and this.” “Of course it was,” I thought.

In “The Tao of Pooh,” the argument is that Winnie-the-Pooh is a great example of a character working with the Tao, living by the way of nature. The book is not an argument, but a collection of parables to help the reader experience the Tao. Here’s one such example called “Cottleston Pie.”

Cleverness has its limitations. The thing that makes something truly different — unique, in fact — is something that Cleverness cannot really understand. We will refer to that special Something here as Inner Nature. Since it’s pretty much beyond the power of the intellect to measure or understand, we will have Pooh explain it to us, which he will do by way of the Cottleston Pie Principle. The Cottleston Pie Principle is based upon the song Cottleston Pie, which Pooh sang in Winnie-the-Pooh.

Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie,

Let’s start with the first part: “A fly can’t bird, but a bird can fly.” Very simple. It’s obvious, isn’t it? And yet, you’d be surprised how many people violate this simple principle every day of their lives and try to fit square pegs into round holes, ignoring the clear reality that Things Are As They Are.

In other words, everything has its own place and function. That applies to people, although many don’t seem to realise it, stuck as they are in the wrong job, the wrong marriage, or the wrong house. When you know and respect your own Inner Nature, you know where you belong. You also know where you don’t belong. One man’s food is often another man’s poison, and what is glamorous and exciting to some can be a dangerous trap to others.

Now that we know the principle, we can look at its applications. As we have likely recognized by now, no two snowflakes, trees, animals are alike. No two people are the same, either. Everything has its own Inner Nature. Unlike the forms of life, though, people are easily led away from what’s right for them, because people have Brain, and Brain can be fooled. Inner Nature, when relied on, cannot be fooled.

The Way of Self-Reliance starts with recognizing who we are, what we’ve got to work with, and what works best for us. Sooner or later we are bound to discover some things about ourselves that we don’t like. But once we see they’re there, we can decide what we want to do with them. Do we want to get rid of them completely, change them into other things, or use them in beneficial ways? The last two approaches are often especially useful, since they avoid head-on conflict, and therefore minimize struggle.

In a similar manner, instead of struggling to erase what are referred to as negative emotions, we can learn to use them in positive ways. We could describe the principle like this: while pounding on the piano keys may produce noise, removing them doesn’t exactly further the creation of music.

Our lives are integral to the unfoldment of the universal life drama. Denying ourselves is denying life, and denying life is denying ourselves. This lesson on the Tao will make more sense once we continue into Hawkins’ teachings. Hawkins’ words reflect on what “The Tao of Pooh” calls “the Brain,” or intellectual mind. Intellectual mind “can be fooled,” and usually is a lie.

What’s the bible verse? John 8:44,

[Satan] was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.

That’s the intellectual mind, the ego, forever lying to our true Self. The Tao gives us a way to act once we have left our thoughts behind. Hawkins refers to this as our karmic “wind-up” toy, which is our universal character that forever knows how to act beyond thought. The karmic wind-up toy, the Cottelston Pie character, acts in harmony with their role on earth without interference from the intellectual mind questioning and thinking about what should be done.

Pooh doesn’t think about his actions; he intuitively responds to what the moment requires.

The Lesson

The lesson is to be still. Silence the mind. Witness. Observe. Be free. Be free from ourselves. Be in love.

When considering my motives and mode of operation, I conflate doing with being. I prioritize responsibilities above all else, as if achievements are the prerequisites for happiness. I am susceptible to thinking about what needs to be done instead of being in the flow of life, like Pooh, intuitively in the “is-ness” and in harmony with the Tao. When I think about how to attain happiness, I separate myself from it. I create a destination with an eternal ETA.

However, yoga philosophy says there is no prerequisite for happiness. Yoga says bliss is our true nature. The point is not to arrive but to remember we are already here.

Yoga’s Sanskrit root means “to unite,” meaning life’s supreme goal is uniting individual consciousness with God's consciousness. The rationale is that if we agree consciousness exists, we also agree that consciousness has a source. What does it mean, then, to unite with the source?

Many yogis define yoga’s goal as Self-realization. The yogi Paramahansa Yogananda, who founded Self-Realization Fellowship and wrote the aforementioned Autobiography of a Yogi, defines Self-realization as “… the knowing—in body, mind, and soul—that we are one with the omnipresence of God; that we do not have to pray that it come to us, that we are not merely near it at all times, but that God's omnipresence is our omnipresence; that we are just as much a part of Him now as we ever will be. All we have to do is improve our knowing.”

“All we have to do is improve our knowing.” How do we improve the knowing? Do we think ourselves into Self-realization?

This is where David Hawkins’ book provided helpful lessons, beginning with how he describes enlightenment.

The way to Enlightenment is simply that of surrendering the barriers that preclude the state of Realization. The personal self, therefore, does not become enlightened but instead falls away and is replaced by the previously obscured Reality of the Self as the Radiance of God Immanent. This is in contrast to linear concepts and beliefs about God as being primarily only transcendent and therefore 'elsewhere' in time and location.

…

The phenomenon of Enlightenment is thus analogous to the shining forth of the sun when the clouds have been removed. The radiance of the sun cannot be 'acquired', 'forced', or 'obtained,' all of which are linear concepts consequent to the suppositions of the ego/mind's belief in cause and effect. There is no 'cause' in Enlightenment anymore than there is a 'cause' of God. Such ideas represent misconceptions of theology and limitations of the dualistic, linear ego/mind. Thus, one does not 'get' Enlightenment, nor is there any personal self to whom the condition could be applied, much less held as a quality or attribute.

So we are to surrender our egoic clouds to reveal the Reality of the Self. The ego is masquerading as the Self, but what is the ego made of? David Hawkins’ lesson is that much of the ego, if not all of it, is the mental chatter that forms the ego’s identity.

Ninety-nine percent of the mind is already silent and without linear content. [Free of the ego.] Only one percent is active, but that one percent is the focus of attention.

Will the one percent of our chattering mind ever quit? Will it ever be at rest? Not while we are attached to it. Hawkins says,

[The mind] stops of its own accord when the energy of interest is removed. … It stops when it is not narcissistically energized. Thoughts, ideas, and concepts are of pragmatic and useful value to worldliness, but with the relinquishment of worldliness, they are excess baggage and of no value. In the infinite stillness of a great forest, of what value is a portable radio? One can visit the great, magnificent cathedrals of Europe and witness visitors busily talking on their cell phones and completely missing the wonderment of the stark, stunning beauty. They seem to be walking about unconsciously in some kind of dream world, oblivious to the timeless and silent beauty and magnificence.

Again, the mind stops when it is no longer narcissistically energized. Thinkingness is intrinsically a vanity. Survival is spontaneous and autonomous, an automatic karmic consequence. Even when the mind becomes totally silent, the body goes about its business like a karmic wind-up toy.

The question arises, “How do we practice this lesson?” Hawkins says,

By sharp focus and declining involvement, the capacity develops to sharply witness the formation of thought earlier and earlier in the thought-formation process prior to its becoming concretized and linear in defining a specificity.

… attention will be led to the silent, nonlinear origin of the energy field of thinkingness itself. This is the energy field of the desire to think, which is highly prized by the ego, for it is related to the belief/concept of 'I' or 'me'. Thus, it has a creative urgency as a 'need to think' or 'have to think', and the mind flails around in panic to grab a thought in order to survive.

One can surrender the desire of thinkingness to God, which then quickly brings up the mind's fear of survival. At that point, one has to surrender the will to survive to God. If one stops thinking, there is the fear of being mindless. To be thoughtless is called 'Divine idiocy', or 'Divine stupidity'. However, what actually needs to be known will reveal itself, not as thoug hts but as comprehension, understanding, and apperception via totalities. The Infinite Reality is omniscient and independent of talkingness, thinkingness, and verbalization of words. The narcissistic ego is addicted to talkingness. It is of no value to the Self. The ego/mind believes that if it stops thinking/feeling, the personal self will die for it is intrinsic to the ego's survival system. Therefore, it fears and avoids silence and stillness. The ego/self identifies with that which is linear, discrete, separate, and definable, i.e., content.

A last question arises, which is more a feeling of concern than a question. “Is this a sterile lesson that leads to the Void?” To which the answer is both “yes” and “no.” Hawkins answers that sentiment in this way,

Strikingly, the Void is very similar to the Ultimate State, except that it is devoid of the Love that is the very essence of Divinity. Without Love, the Void is like infinite, timeless, empty space. Devoid of the quality that identifies it as Divinity, the Void is a limitation. This appeared to be the final, great polarity/duality of the seeming opposites, the resolution of which permitted the Realization of the Self as the Allness and Oneness out of which Creation emerges.

The reminder to myself is to do both things: cease my capitulating to the restlessness of the mind while redirecting that energy to the surrender of God. Here is an example from a disciple of Yogananda, and former president of Self-Realization Fellowship, Sri Daya Mata, in the book, “Only Love.”

The first aim, then, is to quiet both body and mind, that the whispers of intuition may be heard. Our guru, Paramahansa Yogananda, taught us those techniques of concentration and meditation by which the body and mind can be stilled, thereby enabling us to commune directly with the Infinite. Yet how many have said to me in my travels around the world: "You are fortunate; you can do this, but I have bad luck. God does not respond to me." If God does not respond it is because the devotee does not feel sufficient yearning for Him and has not learned how to meditate deeply. Master told us: "When you sit for meditation you must strive to empty the mind of all physical and mental burdens and restlessness. You must forget the body, and you must forget self-will. These are vital steps that religionists of all spiritual paths must practice in order to commune with God. How can this be done? By the practice of yoga techniques of concentration."We were trained by Guruji to have one little corner in our rooms reserved only for meditation, for the thought of God. And we were taught to throw everything else out of our minds the moment we sat quietly in that "temple." We have to do it at the time of death, do we not? In an instant all of the engagements that we think are so important in this world, the care of the body which preoccupies us so much of the time, must be forsaken when death calls us. Therefore no duty in this world is more important than our duty to God, because no duty here can be performed without the power that comes from God. So when you sit to meditate, empty the mind of all troublesome thoughts. It can be done if you learn how to concentrate. The next point is that the devotee must develop humility. Unless and until we learn to forget ourselves, we can never fill the consciousness with the thought of God. The I, I, I-consciousness must go. We must learn and practice that humility which is spoken of in the Bhagavad Gita:

Uprightness, heed to injure naught which lives,

Humility is surrender of one's self, of heart, mind, and soul. It is surrender of the complete man at the feet of the Divine. How to practice this? Be like the devotee who follows the path of Karma Yoga; offer the fruits of all your actions at the feet of God. Hold always this thought: "Lord, Thou art the Doer; I am nothing. Thou art the Light that shines in the bulb; I am only the bulb."

The summarized lesson is this: be still. Then, in the stillness, surrender to love. From the Psalm most quoted by yogis, Psalms 46:10,

Be still, and know that I am God.

Commit to observing and letting go of the thoughts. The thoughts are not who you are.

Here is another excerpt from Hawkins for your inspiration,

A useful decision or choice is to decide to stop mentally talking about everything and refrain from interjecting comments, opinions, preferences, and value statements. It is therefore a discipline to just watch without evaluating, investing worth in, or editorializing, commenting, and having preferences about what is witnessed. One then sees the rising and falling away of phenomena and the transitory nature of appearance, which, with ordinary mentation, is conceptualized as a sequence of cause and effect. It is an informative practice to 'pretend' to be stupid, and by the invocation of radical humility, Essence shines forth. All thinking, from a spiritual viewpoint, is merely vanity, illusion, and pomposity. The less one thinks, the more delightful life becomes. Thinkingness eventually becomes replaced by knowingness. That one 'is' does not really need any thought at all. It is helpful, therefore, to make a decision to stop mental conversation and useless babbling.

That will be the task. The lesson and behavior is to stop mental conversation and useless babbling, but to avoid the void, I will replace the useless babbling with devotion, with love. So the lesson is complete. Be still. Love.

A Meditation Exercise

Also from David Hawkins.

The steps are very simple: relax completely and deeply; close the eyes; witness the visual field and merely focus on what is witnessed. Within the darkness, notice numerous tiny bits of dancing light phenomena (called "phosphenes"). Become at one with the lights (thoughtlessness ensues), and merge with the visual field. In due time, the context simultaneously begins to shift and deepen. The seeming separation between the witness and the observer disappears. One 'becomes' the phenomenon sans a localized observer.

Eventually, only awareness itself prevails, and all is spontaneous and nondual. The mind is bypassed and surrendered to Mind, which is autonomous. With practice, the capacity to be 'at one' with the silent, thoughtless state can be maintained with the eyes open. One then lives within the silent state.

In the beginning, the state is lost when it is necessary to return to functioning or necessary mentation. With practice, however, even that distraction can be transcended, and the silent state prevails even though the persona goes about relating and acting in the world.

Eventually, the inner state prevails and selfless action operates spontaneously and autonomously. It is the karmic 'wind-up toy'. It can eventually even think and respond to the world without interrupting the state of silent peace.

The persona is perceived by the world to be 'you', whereas it is only a linear functionality. It is like the ripples or waves of the ocean. As with contemplation, the sense of Self moves from content to context. One then abides in the silent awareness that Ramana Maharshi termed turiya, or the "fourth state."

Save all of QNTN’s songs via Spotify.

You might think it silly that I find your gift to me so perfect. It’s literally exactly what I asked for. To which you might retort, “No duh. We bought it from your giftly.”

Yes. Exactly. Isn’t that perfect?! Our cousin thinks pre-arranged gift-giving undermines the thoughtfulness of the gift. Perhaps. But in purchasing exactly what I wanted, you were being thoughtful, thinking how particular I can be, you thought it best not to let your ego decide on my behalf what my ego wanted as a Christmas gift — what could be more thoughtful than that?!

And in our mother’s gift-giving spirit, you bought me a thoughtful something extra: TEA!

I’ve been drinking the tea every night and wearing your shirt every day — as you saw with your own eyes when we visited. So … thank you!

Much love to you both,From Quentin 🙂

What is a lesson?A lesson is a decision that compounds to make a better life. Maybe the lesson is learned, read, or dreamed. Whether or not abided, the lesson is true for life. These lessons are not original. Publishing lessons is not an act of claiming the knowledge, but clarifying it.

A saint once said, “If you’re not helping others, you’re hurting them.”

My cognitive fallacy training taught me to dismiss such statements, prey to binary thinking: black or white, right or wrong, helpful or hurtful. But these words won’t quit their echoing between my ears.

I see the family’s dishes in the sink and the thought resonates, “If you’re not helping others, you’re hurting them.” In the beginning, we are driven by guilt or maybe a sense of duty, so I dutifully do the dishes.

I find linens, not mine, in the dryer. I could throw them onto the counter to be folded by another, but the thought returns, “If you’re not helping others, you’re hurting them.” Ugh. Per guilt, or superstition, or my own compulsive way, I fold the laundry.

I overhear a stranger in the airport, lost between the terminals. It is my preference not to speak to others, but knowing how to aid them, the thought returns, “If you’re not helping others, you’re hurting them,” and so I speak. “Excuse me. I couldn’t help but overhear you. Are you on flight DL661? Yea. I have it here. It moved to A34. Departing at 5:50, yea? Nice. So you’ll have twenty minutes or so before it starts boarding. Yea. My pleasure.”

But how do you know when to help someone? You mustn’t feel compelled to do the dishes for the entire party, nor the laundry for the entire fraternity, nor meddle in the affairs of every hapless stranger? No. Though, why not? But no. That’s not the most helpful point, not the true lesson. Guilt is not the driver here.

The devil’s advocate says, “No, there is a gray area. It is most certainly possible to do no good while doing no bad. There is a neutral state, neither helpful nor harmful. Why help others when others can help themselves?”

Say I don’t do the dishes. My father does his own dish. What harm is that? Maybe none. But let’s suppose another question. What love is brought by inaction?

When my father returns to the dirtied sink he has left, his reality is unchanged. What he has is what he receives. But when he returns to the sink whose dishes are done, perhaps he is delightfully surprised, receiving more than his expectations. Maybe he says, “Thank you,” and looks upon the universe as a benevolent friend. He receives more than he had, the product of which is love. Abundance. Infinite.

Now consider the feelings of the giver. Knowing or not of the receiver’s feelings, the giver enjoys the anticipation of what will be received, transmuting banal work into inspired service. Working for ourselves is a chore; working for each other is a gift.

Be it then that we never do our own dish, but in doing dishes for others, our dishes are done for us. To take this gift away from us should be to take away the joy of life. Can it then be reasoned true that if we are not helping others we are missing the opportunity for inspired living, and in losing that feeling of love we are hurting ourselves as much as others? I should reason.

“If you are not helping others, you are hurting them.”

The lesson is to help others whenever, however, and in whatever proportion is brought to us by our inspiration. Worry not how, for this lesson is irreversible. Having read these words is enough. Trust that the right opportunities will be there for you. The lesson is in remembrance, to act as we honor ourselves to be.

Another year passes and whether we're young, old, or in between, we still have the opportunity to grow. Adults can grow just as much as children, and children can stagnate just as much as adults. So there are the children who are stuck in their ways and the adults who are forever new.

Only you know your year, but as I recount tales of the others whom you know, tales of obdurance, ardent to old values, I find stark contrast with the rich habits you have made in prayer, devotional reading, and introspection, alongside the new ventures in your vocation.

I am inspired and thankful that whatever journey lies ahead, we take the next step knowing we are on the expedition of life, the school of life, letting every year count — so different than the couch of life whose opportunities rarely stand.

More than mere inspiration, though, I know I am improved by you. When I hosted my friends at your mountain house, every word from their lips was gratitude. Gratitude for the “yummy” space where we resided. Gratitude for the hospitality. Gratitude for the cooking, the generosity they received. They thanked me, and I said the pleasure was mine, but the pleasure is also to have you, another parent to teach the lesson of hospitality and generosity. The true Self within me has been instilled and inspired by the goodness within you. Thank you. I love you.

And, happy birthday! May the next year be another triumphant step towards our best Selves.

The Sun came through the clouds today and cast Her orange upon this city of Atlanta. It’d been since days of rain that blue had shown, making now a rebirth of the land whose flower children giggled in the sun.

In this end of December, the air was crispy sixty and I was with a friend headed to the airport to see a friend, to see you. Friends. Friends. A new proof in my life that human connection can be easy. Enjoyable.

We stopped in a youthful neighborhood whose apartments neighbored Whole Foods, Patagonia, bars, yoga studios, and the famous beltline akin to New York’s High Line if the High Line were for locals and covered the expanse of a town.

My heart was, is sooooo open. I can feel my heart in my stomach, through my spleen, dropping, dropping, dropping with love. Is this right? Silly. I sit in pleasure worshipping Thee.

When in St. Louis upon the setting sun before your show, I walked the block behind The Fox and wished to cry. Always have I loved Thee; always will I love Thee. I chanted these lyrics in my mind.

That thrill to see Thee is the thrill to see you, share time with you, presence with you, candor with you, moments with you, energy with you, beauty with you. With you. Always have I loved Thee; always will I love Thee.

I’m here for the characters to the scenes.

What is a lesson?A lesson is a decision that compounds to make a better life. Maybe the lesson is learned, read, or dreamed. Whether or not abided, the lesson is true for life. These lessons are not original. Publishing lessons is not an act of claiming the knowledge, but clarifying it.

The tatami mat is a simple lesson. Sleep on your tatami mat, your Japanese futon.

When those years ago came with the decision to sell your bed frame to your cousin’s then-lover, after the moments passed when the dogs soiled your mattress, the decision came to not purchase a traditional bed.

Traditionally, Americans enjoy tall beds where the mattress sits atop a spring box. Perhaps a non-traditional bed could have been a European frame (low on the ground), or a Murphy bed (stowed in a pantry), or a sleeper sofa (stowed in a couch). Perhaps. But you wanted something even more non-traditional.

You had two features in mind:

* Portable. You wanted a bed that fits in your car. You are young and so you know the time will come for constant moving. You have seen your friends whose landlords force seasonal migrations, moving with the affordable rent. That time has not yet come for you. You still live at your parents. But the time will come. (Why it has not come yet, I do not know. Perhaps wives do not make off with futon-loving bachelors?)

* Uncomfortable.

It’s the latter that prompts this lesson. See, an uncomfortable bed does not mean you cannot sleep. Just the opposite. An uncomfortable bed is firm, promoting good posture and proper flow of prana, proper sleep. However, upon the morning, the uncomfortable bed rears its blessed uncomfortability. Because when you awake on a futon, you are awake. There is no grogginess. There is no sleeping-in.

Fortunately, it is not my nature to loiter on the futon. I have seen Japanese films where characters read, write, and relax on their futons, but this is no American habit of mine. No. The bed will be a bed. It will be for sleeping.

The lesson is to sleep on the bed. The challenge is that I remain in a house among other beds more enticing than my own. Hence this reminder, this lesson.

If you should go to bed on your futon, your days will start on time, your priorities will be met, and your True Self will be honored, all when you awake upon your futon. You will build mastery by doing the hard thing, the right thing.

Quit sleeping in, quit delaying the ultimate goal for the immediate comfort. It feels good to commit to your values. Now, be done with your old habits. Be done.