Others are the same and others are different

Knowledge is good when it contributes to our understanding of how to live our life.

Image by Will Simpson

Contradictory notions held at the same time. This is hard and we seem to be wired to do crazy things when confronted by two opposing notions. We likely chose one to stand with and one to vilify. But what if they both are true?

We all are subject to the curse of knowledge. What we know, we think everyone knows. When someone around us does or says something we know is wrong or will lead to negative outcomes, we think the person somehow knows better but is freely choosing to go against what they know to be true. We ascribe malicious to their behaviors rather than notice that they are but uneducated and if you had their level of knowledge you’d do or say the same.

The second notion to hold at the same time is what Seth Godin calls asserting anthropomorphism. Creating a homunculus, a person pull the levers of our life, a puppet in the brain. Someone behind the curtain that benevolently and accurately to life’s rewards. We are quick to say our “puppet master” steers us towards truth and virtue but not so easily see how this must be how everyone else’s “puppet master” is steering them. 

In the first example we see everyone as the same and problems of compassion arise and in the second example we see everyone as being different and separate and have more problems of compassion arise.

Two opposing notions held at the same time. What we know everyone knows and we are guided by truth and virtue but we are not so sure about others.

What is the antidote? 
See things as they are.
Don’t project.
Look and see the illusion we call the “puppet master”.
Realize we live in "a complex system, one we can understand a bit better if we test and measure and examine it closely."

Hope you have an awesome day!

Credits — Seth Godin

This journal is meant as a reminder to encourage my future self. Where I work on my mental fitness and ‘adulting’. A reminder to him to operate in the world with love and compassion and some tips put together in a moment of clarity to help him when he is less clear and caught up in stuff the he can’t control.  Continue the conversation anytime: will@kestrelcreek.com.

Tilting at windmills

Image by Will Simpson

I am a small person. Wanting to operate in the world without recognition. Ego pulls and tugs. Wants are endless and this includes the desire for recognition. But given how small I am, and how much the ego wants, how is this even possible, even desirable? It is like tilting at windmills. Thats a interesting notion. The ego, the untamed self, the immature self, is busy scheming and attacking imaginary enemies. While life goes on. You can chose to interact with the ego or just watch as the wonder and mystery of life unfolds. Please chose the later. 

Hope you have an awesome day!

Credits — The 59 Lojong Slogans - Atisha's mind-training techniques. Commentary by Judy Lief Tricycle Magazine 2010

This journal is meant as a reminder to encourage my future self. Where I work on my mental fitness and ‘adulting’. A reminder to him to operate in the world with love and compassion and some tips put together in a moment of clarity to help him when he is less clear and caught up in stuff the he can’t control.  Continue the conversation anytime: will@kestrelcreek.com.

Don’t be frivolous

If you fail to invest the time and effort to find a better path, it's unlikely you'll find one.

Image by Will Simpson

Look at how you spend your time, what you think about, and how your invest your energy. Are you engaged in frivolous activities? Do you have a laissez-faire thought process? How wisely do you invest your time? 

Frivolity can be confused with light-heartedness but is really a unwillingness to look closely at your subjective experience. Frivolity shouldn’t be confused with innocent unattached curiosity. 

You should also watch for the opposite of being frivolous, being seriously stogie. Life, balance and humor lie in the zone well between being frivolous and being seriously stogie.

Hope you have an awesome day!

Credits — The 59 Lojong Slogans - Atisha's mind-training techniques. Commentary by Judy Lief Tricycle Magazine 2010

This journal is meant as a reminder to encourage my future self. Where I work on my mental fitness and ‘adulting’. A reminder to him to operate in the world with love and compassion and some tips put together in a moment of clarity to help him when he is less clear and caught up in stuff the he can’t control.  Continue the conversation anytime: will@kestrelcreek.com.

Feedback Loop

The only thing I have to share is my mind. In every interaction it is my mind that presents everything about me. My thoughts shape and steer the conversation, my thoughts generate my actions, my mind's mood colors my stance. It is my mind’s thoughts, moods, feeling tones that are what I present when I have an interchange. The quality of my mind reflects on the quality of these interchanges and conversations. More present focused mind, more present focused conversations. 

I love this about meditation and Lojong Practice, conversations become direct feedback mechanisms letting you know your abilities as taming the mind.  They show what is working and give clues as to what needs work.

Sound more fiddly than it is.

Hope you have an awesome day!

Credits — Sam Harris
Credits — The 59 Lojong Slogans - Atisha's mind-training techniques. Commentary by Judy Lief Tricycle Magazine 2010

This journal is meant as a reminder to encourage my future self. Where I work on my mental fitness and ‘adulting’. A reminder to him to operate in the world with love and compassion and some tips put together in a moment of clarity to help him when he is less clear and caught up in stuff the he can’t control.  Continue the conversation anytime: will@kestrelcreek.com.

The trio

There is no target for the trio of study, reflection, and meditation to destroy other than self-grasping.

Hope you have an awesome day!

This journal is meant as a reminder to encourage my future self. Where I work on my mental fitness and ‘adulting’. A reminder to him to operate in the world with love and compassion and some tips put together in a moment of clarity to help him when he is less clear and caught up in stuff the he can’t control.  Continue the conversation anytime: will@kestrelcreek.com.

Mental Fitness Training

Find the spaces between thoughts and feelings
and rest in them for a moment.

Image by Will Simpson

Who am I training for? Personally I’m train myself to be what I hope is more touchable. More present, a fun and wise person. I’m of the type not to satisfied with what might be considered the common and usual default mode. This mode is not all that lovable. It is snappy and crabby if it feels threatened, not getting its way. My training resume includes mindfulness meditation, Lojong Practice, Zazen, journaling, synoptic reading and reflection. All this, and I consider myself a light weight, a beginner, an amateur.

Used to be that people generally accepted that people who trained in physical fitness are off their rockers. Someday soon I can only hope that people like me who train in mental fitness will be considered mainstream like my compatriots who train in physical fitness. 

Hope you have an awesome day!

Credits — Sam Harris

Credits — The 59 Lojong Slogans - Atisha's mind-training techniques. Commentary by Judy Lief Tricycle Magazine 2010

This journal is meant as a reminder to encourage my future self. Where I work on my mental fitness and ‘adulting’. A reminder to him to operate in the world with love and compassion and some tips put together in a moment of clarity to help him when he is less clear and caught up in stuff the he can’t control.  Continue the conversation anytime: will@kestrelcreek.com.

Training in the philosophy of mind

Image by Will Simpson

Meditation is training in the philosophy of mind and it goes against social norms. I goes against our entrenched egos and our “deep-rooted habit of self-fixation.” It is easy to find excuses for not doing it and as you do it, the ego is constantly trying to distract you. The ego can grab on to mind training and turn the ego player into some special person because he is doing “the training” and others are not. This ego is sly and tenacious. 

To have any lasting effect mind training must be practiced and not just theorized. With practice, you being to see the claustrophobia of playing along with the ego and the moments of freedom from the egos automaticity, leave, if only for moments at first, relief, lightness, and even joy.

Feel what you feel, and feel it completely. Start where you are at. And start again. Keep starting as if for the first time. 

Hope you have an awesome day!

Credits — Sam Harris
Credits — The 59 Lojong Slogans - Atisha's mind-training techniques. Commentary by Judy Lief Tricycle Magazine 2010

This journal is meant as a reminder to encourage my future self. Where I work on my mental fitness and ‘adulting’. A reminder to him to operate in the world with love and compassion and some tips put together in a moment of clarity to help him when he is less clear and caught up in stuff the he can’t control.  Continue the conversation anytime: will@kestrelcreek.com.