CONNECTING WITH AN OPEN HEART
Last week I received an invitation from a small town in Wyoming to a ceremony for Vietnam veterans. The names of each are being etched into a plaque to be mounted in the town square next month. They invited me as one of their own – a vet from Cowley, Wyoming. I felt the depth […]
DON’T LET THE ELECTION DISTRACT YOU
Don’t let the election in the United States be a distraction. Two political parties each pursuing external power have produced a destructive and predictable consequence. The pursuit of external power – the ability to manipulate and control – is now counterproductive to our evolution. It is toxic. This means that attempting to change circumstances in any way with external power will not […]
AFTER THE ELECTION – THE NEXT STEP
The great American president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, said at the beginning of World War II, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” That was a brave statement made from a five-sensory perspective to a five-sensory country in a five-sensory world. Human perception was limited to what we could see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. […]
THE NEW ARENA
This is a moment in the history of America and the history of the world in which we are beginning to experience in intimately personal terms the extent to which fear controls our activities. We are realizing for the first time as a species that personal growth is not a shallow or inconsequential activity. It is necessary and powerful. We are also […]
WARRIOR OF THE HEART
My adopted Lakota brother, Phil Lane, Jr., told me a story at a gathering of young Native Americans I have never forgotten, and I feel certain that I never will. A rancher on the plains often saw a sweat lodge near his range. A sweat lodge is a low dome-shaped tent made of bent young […]
DON’T LOSE YOUR COMPASSION
When I first arrived on Okinawa more than fifty years ago almost everyone told me that I would not want to leave at the end of my tour of duty. They were right. Okinawa’s white sand beaches and turquoise waters were breathtakingly beautiful. Lush green covered the island, and I slowly discovered how much I […]
HOW TO CREATE COMPASSIONATE HOLIDAYS
Compassionate Holidays require that you act consciously each moment. Unconscious caretaking and pleasing others (giving gifts because it is the “season”) are NOT compassionate deeds. They ignore the humanity of the recipient because the recipient is being exploited by frightened parts of your personality. This type of interaction multiplied billions of time each “Holiday Season” […]
THE BIGGEST COMMUNITY
Imagine a community that includes everyone. This is impossible from the perspective that is limited to what we can see, hear, touch, smell, and taste. From this perspective power is ability to manipulate and control, and everyone seeks it. Survival requires it, and human evolution requires survival. From this perspective, communities are good things. Individuals […]
A DIFFERENT CHOICE
Linda and I spent a wonderful two weeks in Japan. I was curious about how open the Japanese would be to authentic power and spiritual partnerships (partnerships between equals for the purpose of spiritual growth). They are very open. They drank in everything we shared and asked for more. A magazine that interviewed us last […]
Kindness
Last week our granddaughter graduated from Oregon State University. Linda and I were thrilled. The guest speaker surprised everyone. Instead of the usual encouragement to climb mountains and follow dreams, he suggested that the graduates be kind. “As you grow older,” said this wise and accomplished Turkish businessman who also has founded a four-year university […]