Monstaville Book II. Chapter 26

26

“Flow with whatever is happening and let your mind be free. Stay centred by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate!”

- Zhuangzi.

One must accept the present conditions, however painful, AND think positively and, if possible, have faith in one’s hopes and wishes being realised. Otherwise, just simply affirming your will is a very masculine attempt to dominate and control life, to exterminate the conditions which you are resisting but which are likely to exist for a purpose, as some lesson or another, that one needs to learn sooner or later. If not now, then later, and hopefully it will not be delayed for a future life...unless one is so masochistic that the prospect of returning to the icky, ickle plane of matter yet again gets one’s pulse going!

“This is the real secret of life - to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realise it is play.” - Alan Watts.

My father (who is in touch with his spirit guides) wrote a message in a note pad from the monk who helps him. When I ran out of scrap paper for making notes for my books, he gave me some paper, including the remaining half of an A4 pad that he did not need. At the top of the first page he had written:

Being in the moment

“This does not mean simply being totally aware of what you are doing although that is very necessary. It is also in large measure concerned with accepting and welcoming the conditions you find yourself in and using them as an opportunity to grow into ‘who you really are.’ So, ‘being’ is accepting the ‘what is’ of each moment. It is vital that you understand this.”

Hardly surprising it found its way to me since I have written in a black marker pen on one of my bookcases the words of Zhuangzi (or ‘Zhuang Zhou’) included at the beginning of this chapter.

I feel, personally, that acceptance brings added strength which is like having a solid foundation - or, indeed, sturdy roots. It is a way of slowing down as opposed to increasing stress and raising one’s blood pressure through desire and expectation. I would go further than that and suggest that it provides access to wisdom as well. It is then for us to decide what to do with that strength in stillness. It is surely difficult to achieve a balance: slowing down and taking action, accepting circumstances and activating our will, developing an ability to do both, to use each as and when appropriate, and to combine the two (wisdom in action). This means that we would do well to draw upon hidden resources and practice manifesting the energy we find hardest to get a handle on in order to express our full potential; that is, to be all that we are and can be. [Retrospective note: In this way, we willingly enter into initiation and grow further, activating the higher chakras].  

“Be inwardly still and strong.” - Gildas (channelled through Ruth White, Gildas Communicates, Neville Spearman Limited, Suffolk, U.K., 1971).

Accept what is happening both to you and from you. Don’t deny or resist it because it represents the present moment, the reality. However, that does not mean that you are actively inviting or allowing it to happen. You can consciously refuse to allow what is happening to continue. You can actively apply your will to change your circumstances. But then you must let go and trust the universe to supply what you need for your soul growth regardless of it being your worst nightmare even! When the soul is bound tightly by karmic chains there is little choice but to endure the suffering and it kind makes a mockery of all self-help teachings. In that situation all you have to do is try not to get so depressed or negative that you take your own life and shut the door on the opportunity that you need in order to move on spiritually, not just in this life, but in eternity.  One has to pass through the dark tunnel of misery, of dis-ease, to reach the light at the other end even if that light is not presently visible and one does not believe or know that it exists. There is no other way. The wisest course of action is non-action: patient acceptance (albeit combined with turning inward to connect with our divine essence in the form of spiritual practice, transcendence and expression through which one may perceive and feel that tiny flickering flame in the distance and darkness - which is the Self waiting at the end of the corridor…in the chronic insanity complex of this glorified nut house! – grow within oneself exponentially. For, in truth, that Light is the eternal Now which is the Reality beyond this dream or nightmare we are experiencing as extended parts of ourselves with which we identify as separate egos). Otherwise, one simply suffers more unnecessarily.

“The English are not very spiritual people, so they invented cricket to give them some idea of eternity.” - George Bernard Shaw.

It is wise to accept the way things are now but as temporary, not permanent, conditions. You may fully expect them to improve - and have faith that they will - whether you change them directly or the universe changes them in response to your creative will (or faith). [Retrospective note: This positive and creative energy may well help to change the conditions within oneself which are responsible for one’s ordeals in the outer world. That is, the release may be speeded up and might well attract assistance from the forces of Light. If the obstacles to self-actualisation and the free expression of one’s higher self are removed and we no longer identify with dense forms that block the Sun’s light, then shadows also cease to be cast as ghoulish spectres in an externalised nightmare. From a higher perspective, it is encouraging to see a person finally rolling into the House of Horrors for it is an opportunity to face one’s inner demons, to feel and release the energy which is only repressed emotion that has blown up like a bubble in one’s emotional body through fear and denial over the course of several lifetimes. Time to burst that grubby ghoul by giving it more air to expand – that is, in the outside world - until it goes POP and is no more!]. If circumstances do not change, however, one ought to realise that they were placed in one’s life for a purpose. Some lessons require time. Some crises can only transform one’s consciousness slowly. It might be nigh impossible to be patient in the midst of chaos over a period of time but perhaps you need to feel powerless for just long enough to release something, some pattern of conditioning, some stubborn trait that you have held on to for many lifetimes, to let go of some fear or inhibition or something. Who knows what? If it is unconscious, it may be hard to fathom. Perhaps you need to tap into a deeper power within yourself and perhaps, although your life might seem more like death during this chrysalis phase, you will find your batteries recharged and your consciousness renewed, invigorated, given a new lease of life.

"The modalities of awakened doing are acceptance, enjoyment, and enthusiasm. Each one represents a certain vibrational frequency of consciousness. You need to be vigilant to make sure that one of them operates whenever you are engaged in doing anything at all - from the most simple task to the most complex." - Eckhart Tolle.

“Accept what is in front of you without wanting the situation to be other than it is. Stop looking for results. We serve whatever or whoever stands before us without any thought for ourselves.” - Laozi (alternative translation: "Accept what is in front of you, without wanting the situation to be other than it is. Study the natural order of things and work with it, rather than against it. For to try to change what is - only sets up resistance. Nature provides everything, without requiring payment or thanks and provides for all without discrimination. Therefore let us present the same face to everyone and treat all men as equals…however they may behave. In this clarity of a still and open mind truth will be reflected.”).

“At times I see things so clearly. We are each unique in the way we look, feel, and think. Live without expectations and you will never be disappointed. Don’t live by others values and don’t evaluate people based on yours. You can be happy and at peace in what ever you do, if you can just accept things as they happen. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t reach for your dreams, but don’t let them consume who you are. You are absolutely fantastic just the way you are. Honest.” – An Online Acquaintance.

“Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.” - Albert Einstein.

“Accept - then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it. Make it your friend and ally, not your enemy. This will miraculously transform your whole life.” - Eckhart Tolle.

“Bad humour is an evasion of reality; good humour is an acceptance of it.” – Malcom Muggeridge (www.saidwhat.co.uk/topicquote/humour).

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” - Laozi.

“Tranquillity in disturbance means perfection.” - Zhuangzi (Chapter 6, quoted in The Watercourse Way by Alan Watts, Penguin Books, London, U.K., 1975, p.92).

“Your great task of preparation is to become islands of tranquillity in the midst of a busy and anxious world.” - Gildas (Gildas Communicates by Ruth White and Mary Swainson, Neville Spearman, Suffolk, U.K., 1971).

“When you are tranquil, then you cannot be invaded and because you are free from invasion of any kind, you show forth all that is within you in the most positive way, and your work becomes lighter and easier because of this great strength which is at your command.” - Gildas (ibid.).

“Chuang-Tzu [Zhuangzi], ancient Taoist sage, said that once you’ve found stillness at the centre and can maintain awareness of its splendid silence as you operate on this noisy planet, even gods will flock to you, let alone mere mortals – the significance being that pretty much every opportunity comes to you through other people, hence the importance of being magnetic enough to draw others willingly into your orbit.” B Barefoot Doctor (Dear Barefoot. Taoist Wisdom For Everyday Living, Atlantic Books on behalf of Guardian Newspapers Ltd, London, U.K., 2004, p.56).

I-Ching: Hexagram 23. Difficulty, or Conflict. Mountain over Earth.

“You will be facing a very difficult time. Things will deteriorate and get worse...The Mountain is eroding. Yet the soil will accumulate on the ground.” (Book of Changes. An Interpretation for the Modern Age by Chan Chiu Ming and Xu Qinghua, Asiapac Books, Singapore, 1997, p.86).

“This situation is under the control of inferior elements or people. You can do little, other than quietly endure what you cannot change. Do not attempt a vigorous defence, because this will only increase your difficulties. If possible keep a low profile and reduce your public contacts. Focus your attention on surviving until this cycle moves to a more constructive phase. Your interests are best served by accepting these difficult times gracefully and by being gracious to the ordinary people around you. Take care of yourself and discipline the tendency to worry about or lament this situation. Maintain a quiet hope for better times.” (Ruling Lines. A New Interpretation of the I Ching For Making Intelligent Decisions - Professionally and Personally by Robert R. Leichtman and Carl Japikse, Ariel Press, Ohio, U.S., 1990, p.76).

“Personal: An impasse has developed in your personal relations and activities; it is unlikely that it can be resolved. Concentrate on persevering through these difficult times. Now is not the time for righteous anger or recriminations. Be compassionate; tolerate gracefully the decline and the elements which have caused it. Take care of yourself. The cycle will eventually improve.” (ibid.).

[Retrospective note: The Gaian I Ching by James Clair Lewis (which can be found online at www.jamesclairlewis.com) says that ‘conflict is a part of life.’ “Feel what is going on. Strive for clarity. Expand your horizons. Become the Spiritual Light.” Plus: Interpretation for Line 1: “Do not bother to argue over small matters. Grow up!” Interpretation for Line 4: “Eliminate conflict by changing your attitude”].

Babaji

Love and serve all mankind, Assist everyone

Be cheerful, be courteous
Be a dynamo of irrepressible happiness
See God and good in every face
There is no saint without a past
There is no sinner without a future
Praise every soul
If you cannot praise someone, let them pass out of your life

Be original, be inventive
Dare, dare, and then dare more
Do not imitate. Stand on your own ground
Do not lean on the borrowed staff of others
Think your own thoughts. Be yourself
All perfection and all virtues of God are hidden inside you, reveal them
God is already within you reveal Him

Let God emancipate you. Let your life be that of a rose
Through silence it speaks in the language of fragrance

- A Poem by Babaji.

Baldrick (Tony Robinson): It's a cunning plan actually.

Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson): Of course it is.

Baldrick: You see, you know they say that somewhere there's a bullet with your name on it?

Blackadder: Yes?

Baldrick: Well, I thought if I owned the bullet with my name on it, I'd never get hit by it, 'cos I won't ever shoot myself.

Blackadder: Oh, shame.

Baldrick: And, the chances of there being two bullets with my name on them are very small indeed.

Blackadder: That's not the only thing around here that's ‘very small indeed.’ Your brain for example, is so minute, Baldrick, that if a hungry cannibal cracked your head open there wouldn't be enough inside to cover a small water-biscuit.

- Blackadder Goes Forth (Series 4, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, BBC TV, 1989).

And now for MY cunning plan: my cunning plan, basically, is to meditate when I planned to meditate…which is…er…over an hour ago!

 

If you're of a certain generation, Richard III under a car park turns out to be one of the funniest things ever