To Errol is Human

Let's face it, it's nice to share a meal with someone you can relate to. When I want heartfelt comfort and soul nourishment…it really is immensely satisfying to know that I am in a relationship with a very intimate "Other"…and indeed, the more I surrender (snuggle up) to that Other-ness, the more I recognize that the other enjoys companionship just as much as I do. The meal just tastes better when we're sharing the same grass. But just to keep the scales balanced (I am a Libra), I love grazing in the open fields of un-endingness and non-distinction…it's relaxing, it's satisfying, there's no resistance and there's more than enough to go around. So let's face it...it's good to abide in "both/and".. which calls me to be a compassionate "other" when life needs "me-othering" and as permeating presence in the pastures of consciousness when distinction just gets in the way. So, thanks Jesus and thanks Buddha. Even tho

"When you make the person of God your significant other, every other person you meet becomes…… significant." ES I live in Buddhist Country…there are a lot of Buddhists around here in West Marin, S.F. Bay area. I'm not sure whether Buddhists believe in a personal God…a God that can be known as "Other". I don't think so. After all, how can there actually be an "other" in a non-dualistic universe…and yet…there is obviously personality distinction. I deal with others all the time…and if I forget or deny them their "other-ness," they are quick to remind me just how not them I am. Is God "Other? Is there just Being (and non-being)? How important is it to even make a distinction? And more importantly, how does one concept or the other affect our lives? ("Who's on first?") I'm kind of a both/and kind of guy. I like it that at the sub-atomic level…sometimes energy appears as particle and in other circumstances, as a wave

Who is the Enemy? (From Servant Leadership by Robert Greenleaf (c) 1970-1991 (I may not have written it, but I certainly have pondered it)...Love to get your comments. How does this affect you? How can you step up and be and/or follow the Servant Leader. (If you haven't been exposed to Robert Greenleaf's work on "Servant Leadership" well worth checking it out, that is if quality leadership for our society is important to you) Who is the enemy? Who is holding back more rapid movement to the better society that is reasonable and possible with available resources? Who is responsible for the mediocre performance of so many of our institutions? Who is standing in the way of a larger consensus on the definition of the better society and paths to reaching it? Not evil people. Not stupid people. Not apathetic people. Not the "system." Not the protesters, the disrupters, the revolutionaries, the reactionaries. Granting that fewer evil, stupid or apathetic peop

What do do when, " So you thought you had it all figured out." shows up in your face...like, no matter how much you think you want it, what you want is wagging its thumb at you.' Like when you bump up against your capacity to control your life and make it feel the way you want it to make you feel... Yeah, I'm talkin' to you, bozo!" "The inevitable confrotation," my brother-in-law Phil used to call it. And when we asked him to translate it, he smacked us a good one... "Pain buoyo, pain." And indeed the pain that he precipated reverberated in my head. "Oh That." "Yes, that." As the Buddha pointed out so well to us, "Yeah, there's suffering. Yeah, suffering sucks. But wait! There's an end to suffering Don't let your suffering suck you." Withdraw your attention from the world of thought and perception as long as you possibly can and as often as possible... and while your there abide in total wonder an

AND HOW DO YOU FIX IT? I asked myself the question…is there a specific, even single impetus for the mass amount of dysfunctionality experienced by humankind? "Yes," came the reply from the digitized burning bush, "Just type in the following letters in this particular sequence (not case sensitive) and you'll have your answer." "Okay." "B-E-T-R-A-W-A-L" "Well, when you put it like that…" was my almost first response when the "AWAL" at the end of the word jumped out at me. Then the digitized burning bush continued, anticipating my next, inevitable question… "Here's how it works." "It is the accumulated experience of life not responding to you the ways you'd like or expect it to, and, depending on the severity or the quantities of the pain, you will tend to respond to these betrayals with one of or a combination of the following five reaction states: ANGER, CYNICISM, DENIAL, SELF-BETRAYAL, PARANOIA, as a

Be honest now. Are you hiding from love? How would you know? Why would you do that? What is so threatening about love? Did you even ever consider that you may be hiding out from love? What do we mean by love? For many of us the closest we get to love is in ecstatic embrace, whether it be with a lover, with the child that can often emerge from that embrace, a beautiful sunset, riding down the rapids of the Colorado River, either catching an impossible-to-catch ball or someone you care about catching it, (or even someone you don't). These phenomena are saturated with love and demand our full attention, which we are usually delighted to give. You might even say... like the commercial, "I'm lovin' it." That's the love that I am referring to. The take-your-breath-away kind of love. The kind of love that leaves you saying, "If it all ended right now, this would have made my life worth while... (But I'll gladly take seconds.") The great paradox of human

DOES SOMETHING NEED TO CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE? WELL, GUESS WHAT? CHANGE MEANS CHANGING HABITS. Okay, you want to change? Something needs to change? Someone? Our recently elected president came to office on a commitment to change. Any honest observer knows that we need to change. If you're experiencing any kind of frustration, obviously, you want things to be different than they are. That's change. Options for change… Change the circumstances Change your mind/perception/self While we may desire change and feel we need it, we often overlook the fact that change involves changing a habit. Habits by their very nature resist change. But unless you're willing to recognize that you need to actually change a habit for change to occur, forget it, change ain't going to happen, including the habit of not wanting to change—(after all, if it changes…it just might get worse). Did you ever notice, you'll get this great urge to change something in your life…in the world…and