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Adventures in Urban Mysticism Volume TBD : Intro

I used to get excited when melancholy feelings came around because it meant a creative breakthrough was about to happen and that made me happy.  When I wrote Adventures in Urban Mysticism (AUM) Vol. 1 Rebirth, I was going through the healing of a pain that I had not encountered but stemmed back to childhood and as long as some may argue as many lives.

I encounter similar themes in my Life three years after the events that sparked that writing, the end of which I could only say was the greatest gift that I received. It’s funny because what made me feel alive at that time was to go out and do something different, to give my Soul a chance to breathe.  I prayed for dreams, followed signs, the etc. yada yada blah that I have written about many times and this time around, as the job near its conclusion, as I walk in shaky relationship territory, feeling more uncertain and vulnerable than ever, the fact that I am undertaking this Journey, fully conscious of alone-ness, is never more apparent.

What do you do when you have found that God is real?  How do you keep going once you’ve pierced the veil?  When does suffering stop?

I am filled with more questions than answers and the only thing that has any meaning is Love.  I feel a great deal of emotions.  Where AUM Vol. 1 began with Rage, this TBD begins empty.

I feel empty.  I feel as though these words are hollow and lack the passion that the words that have come before have.  I feel that I am only a vessel and the words pour through.  I feel like I am a pawn in a cruel yet beautiful game of the Universe as it continues its alignment.  And really that’s okay.  I can accept that my Life is more than mine, even if that’s All it is.

The phrase, “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.” is used to inspire hope in people who are suffering.  The fact that one is strong enough to get kicked repeatedly in the spiritual junk and keep going, and not fall into rage must mean something.  But do not confuse my words because I am not here this time to inspire.  No this time, I’m going further than hope, I am going for honest.  I said it before, the world is ready for authenticity.  And honesty is the only thing that’s going to ring the alarm for the collective to wake the f*** up.

I feel lost in a sea of experience.  Where the idea of self-mastery in order to give my hypothetical children a better life, that goal is no longer one I wish to experience.  What good is that if my healing is going to play out over a lifetime?  Even if I tell children the Truth, they shall be scarred by my humanity, which is not bad at all, but can afflict nonetheless.

So what then, is it?  What is driving it this time?  For that illusion and the chase, the end result of reconnecting with a lost Love and having a child did not happen the way my Ego envisioned.  And I am totally cool with that because through my failed world-view, I learned to appreciate the beauty within my decay is the same beauty as that of my growth.

I know I can express.  I have done it twice now.  I don’t care if it sells as I continued to do it and have done it on here for the last six years.  Right when I thought I was stepping away, here, Life hit me, and I know I had to submit, I had to say I’m done, in effect tapping out but I’m still in the ‘fight.’

I do not feel like a victim.  I am just being honest.  I am using a lot of ‘I’ language and I feel like I don’t want to do that but I cannot help it because in the end, time and time again, I find myself, with people I can call, but no one who can relate to what it is that…  I Am.  Not who I am, or that I am, but that… I Am.

It’s not bad.  It really isn’t, it’s just one of those things that happens.  Each one of us is in isolation yet sharing the collective experience through subjective lenses.  If I am poetic, it is not be design, though that riddle, the ending of which is found at paragraph’s last, was in fact by design, for merely I carry the message.  A message that is not mine, but is using me to express.

Where it was once an effort, because I was in denial, this is just how I write, because I am at last in touch with how I feel.  Great, a feeling man, like that doesn’t isolate me further.  LOL.  Deliberate sarcasm there.

“Look around you, how many Great Spirits do you see?”  The Teacher asked and I said them all for I see that spark in all.  I have that hope in all, yet, sometimes it feels blaring and obvious that I might be the only one in the room that sees the Truth of our beauty.

I have never felt like this, willingly an instrument.  It is new.  I have traveled the gamut of feelings, good and not-so.  Where I find the feel right now is so empty and void, that I am forcing myself to write in hopes that it does the trick.  But it isn’t, it can’t because it’s not meant to.  I am just meant to serve and this is my services.  That is my purpose.  To pout out these words, whether I find joy in it or not.

And that is funny to me because now I feel it, that impossible scratch, the nudge that needs to be explored before a slap occurs.  I’ve been brought to my knees before.  If that happens again, it shall be because I am bowing to honor by choice and not by necessity.  I have to think the fact that these words are being revealed that I am honoring it.  No time to be Jonah…

I wanted AUM Vol. 2 to be Redemption.  Had a plan for Vol. 3 to be Revelation.  I guess like any Journey, it cannot be described until taken.  I went away before and that was powerful.  But something inside me is saying that’s not it, not this time.

This time it’s different and there the uncertainty enters the stage, ready to give the performance of its, uh, my Life.  Life has never been certain, I have never known much about my Life.  I did focus my energy and my thoughts to ‘manifest’ but I could not appreciate.  I focused and ‘manifested’ and did appreciate.  But that wasn’t what I was seeking either.

That epiphany led to healing and I suppose where I am now is open.  I feel ripped wide open.  Light, Dark, Grey, are interesting ideas but they are swirling around like some congealed something.

Whoever says it’s all bliss, is lying.  It is All Love, that is no lie and truly the Truth so bliss is a part of it.   But Love is so deep and has so many elements to it, even writing about it lacks the beauty that is found from the sand that irritates and becomes a pearl.

I think I’m exhausted or rather my Ego is.  I sense my Ego can’t even fight because at last it ran out of Kool-Aid.  It is what it is.

It is what it is.

It is what it is.

Exit.

Yes.

Word.

Beginning, In the

Love Like a Star

Sometimes all you can do is wish upon a star and hope that you are heard. Yet what happens when your wish comes true? What then do you do? Most often, our guiding star is Love. Blame Hollywood or perhaps something more Infinite.

We all wish for Love.

We are Creatures of Creation by the Creator. We are blessed with Great Power and have the ability to make wishes and Dreams come True. But there is a part of us, The Enemy Within, that will destroy whatever is created.

The Spiritual Journey allows us to view both sides of Creation, the Light and Dark. I believe Balance is acceptance of both, fighting neither, for they are already at odds. When at odds, you have a choice, to accept, embrace and stand firm, to let go.

We don’t really give ourselves the space to do any of this. Feelings feel so powerful when felt that they take us on a ride, detach us from where we are. They can be so strong they push others off keel.

A lack of mindfulness permeates the air of the World today and can be deadly. Where does this leave One who is aware, who strives to grow and share such. For we are All Human and can get pulled along with the tide.

There is an old saying: People enter our lives, for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

The lessons that come from each we encounter take us further into the Truth of who we are, which in the end is Love. It is hard to Love because Love is easy. To simple Love as Love is, resists everything that the physical level of ‘reality,’ or ‘illusion,’ or Both, can tell us.

It defies reason, logic, the makings and trappings of the Mind. But just as people can enter our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime, Love comes and goes in Its different Incarnations for All of the Above.

Love can be passionate. Love can be gentle. Love can be chaotic. But I have to believe that through the experiences of Love, we are given the conscious choice to grab the reins of the Spiritual Journey, and ride gracefully through the Healing that can come.

Healing in the form of Pain, moving beyond it, seeing the ugliness for what it is but being able to Love it too, because at the core, what scars us, is what we have the choice to consciously perpetuate or release.

Life is not easy. But it is. Life is hard. But it’s not. We need each and every cut and bruise in order to enjoy the gentle touches, the warm embraces, the perseverance, all the things that come on our own and shared with others.

The Soul asked for it in the first place. Perhaps instead of wishing we can take the pressure off of Wishes and Dreams. What if we could just Love Like a Star is bright? What then might the World look like?

Were we to Love like Stars, would we grow like the Stars in their abundance in this ever-expanding Universe if we allowed Love in its abundance? What then might our experiences be like as we make our ways through each day?

Questions that were dreamed since the beginning I imagine. One day we’ll get it aligned for the Universe is already aligned, in perfect balance, one day I am certain our Love will be just the same for we have the stars in our DNA.

The Man Behind the Mask

Just caught Iron Man 3 a few nights ago and saw some interesting foil work going on between Tony Stark and the Mandarin. I don’t want to spoil too much for anyone who has not yet viewed the movie, but the underlying theme of the movie dwells with the Human+Being hiding behind the mask.

I have often reflected on masks for I have worn many in my Life. It has been a challenge to be an expressive, sensitive man in a culture that boxed men into basically three over-arching categories: The Alpha, The Flame, and The Metro. Add in a dash of the other categories that existed in High School that added an ‘ette’ to differentiate between males and females (i.e. Dude & Dudette, Nerd & Nerdette, etc.) and it is easy to see that people don’t really know who exists behind the mask.

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This has always been funny and at times tragic to me because I have never felt like I related to any of the things pop-culture was putting out. I wasn’t Alpha-tastic, Flaming, or Metropolitan and though I had some Nerd-like tendencies that bordered line of Geek, I have been active in various sports and martial arts since I was a teenager.  I didn’t grow up in the ghetto or a trailer park but I could relate to the anger I heard expressed in the Hip-Hop and Rock of my developing years.

For me to see Iron Man, the rich, Playboy Tony Stark challenged and feeling anxiety, gave a glimpse into more of what makes a person Human other than the obvious stereotypes:

Men are either funny or angry but never sad or Women are sexy and crafty but not always sexy and intelligent.  This was very welcome and unexpected from a Hollywood Blockbuster that will be seen by many.  I am pretty sure in a few weeks we will be able to chalk another W for the stereotypical roles in a few weeks.  Cough Fast & The Furious Cough Cough

I have written about comic books in the past and how they are brilliant in speaking to the Inner Child.  The evolution of comic book movies, now that they are viewed as economically viable, allows for the story arcs to explore the deeper archetypes that Human Consciousness travels. Which is great because we no longer need to sit through a 2.5 hour Drama to get the meat of humanity. We can now be entertained while looking at underlying themes.

Was it always this way? Perhaps as art has often been a forum for social commentary. I guess this was the first time I really felt like it spoke to me. Could also be reading Life as a Dream as I Live it…  The more we change, the World around us changes.  I have looked for deeper meaning in music videos so it should come as no surprise to find a deeper meaning in a commercial blockbuster such as Iron Man.

And if you aren’t looking for anything else but to be entertained, it delivers!  So… check out this movie!

To see a super-hero look more Human than not brought a sense of realism, reminded me of what makes Life so beautiful; the ability to see and discuss, to  share and relate.

And who knows, you might also get the opportunity to accept and embrace some of less glamorous parts of what makes you, you, and take another step along the Journey in Growth and Love.

So in Love…

A few years back, my Life pitched, I swung and done missed a curve ball that I didn’t expect but propelled me to do this Inner Work and figure out what this personal relationship with God through Love was all about to me.

So I went walking about…

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And realized that what we say in Hawaii is true, Aloha Ke Akua, God is Love, and I could feel that all over because I was a Mirror of Love myself…  We all are Mirrors!  Or for those of you more inclined to the following language:

We are made in God’s Image and Likeness. 

I took a number of videos and pictures on my trusty old smartphone (what an awesome Life, eh?  some ish goes down but many of us are blessed enough to have smartphones!) to document the sights and sounds.

One of my fondest memories is this video, of New York Street Performers, was taken outside of New York City’s famous American Museum of Natural History.

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It was a beautiful late summer day, the Life around me was vivid and Flowing and well, who isn’t a sucker for a classic Love song, eh?  With that, here ave a few Van Gogh Sunflowers to go with your Love song!

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Enjoy!

 

 

‘Do or Do not, there is no Try’ Meaning

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Like many people I have tried and failed quite often.  I have often tried and made mistakes.  Whenever I have used the word ‘try’ around my Teacher, Adya, she always says:

“Get that out of your vocabulary!”

I still use ‘try’ here and there even though I don’t much say it around her.  And if I do, I catch it and correct it as soon as it makes its way into sound.  I don’t necessarily think trying is bad.  But I understand why it is important to do, to give it one’s best fully instead of trying half-heartedly.  And I think that is what Yoda meant when he uttered:

Do or do not… There is no try.

The memorable scene depicted the brash teenager of Luke Skywalker grappling with a hard choice as he followed his Path.  He could continue his training and learn the ways of the Force or he could give up.  This choice was something that was not easy as he had to face his greatest Fear, acknowledging the Truth that his father was one of the largest forces of Evil in his story told a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

From my experience in Life, when we have trouble whilst grappling with what to do next and face our fears, it can be hard to keep going, not give up.  As hard as it can be, sometimes Life throws a curve or gives some inspiration when we need it most in order to take the next step in our Journey. Luke couldn’t do for himself so the Star Wars Universe put his friends in danger, giving him extra motivation to stop trying.

In that instance, he stopped trying and actually gave into the tune that Life had been playing for him all along.  If you watch the series through its first trilogy conclusion, even though he leaves his training, he does go on to become a Jedi Knight and a Master.  Though he didn’t listen to Yoda’s teaching the first time, his Path gave him what he needed in order to ‘Do’ what he needed to do.  And it did so in a painful way.  He lost his buddy for a time, lost his hand, and got the rude awakening about his Father.

But that is how Life goes.  Doesn’t matter if the song is the same and someone has already sang it to us.  Sometimes we just have to sing, listen, and dance for ourselves.

Who is Johnny Redd?

Who is Johnny Redd?

He is You.  Him is Me.  He is Her.  Her is She.

Johnny Redd is Whoever One Wants Him to be.

He is the Ultimate Shadow,  the Unseen Freedom that we all can be.

When Johnny Speaks, he does so that We can see.

Now who is Johnny Redd? I don’t know any more or less than you.  So why don’t you tell me who Johnny Redd is to You?

Because your Truth is just as True.

Non-Attachment… It’s Really All Okay

Note: This piece was a submission for Tiny Buddha that was not selected but gonna give some airtime for here. Enjoy.

“Serenity comes when you trade expectations for acceptance.”  ~ Unknown

In my Life, expectations rooted in the expectations of others have led me to experience a lack of being, an incapability to be mindful, and unable to enjoy the presence of each moment.   I have had to hit my head against the wall repetitiously to learn this.

At the start of 2009, I sat amidst my Quarter Life Crisis, which was on life support as I was close to turning 30, and I was trying to just “Breathe and Smile,” as Thich Nhat Hahn put it.  I had been meditating off and on for years, part of the spiritual hokey pokey I played, before starting to realize that I truly was seeking to live mindfully and create a peaceful existence for myself.  As I went deep into meditation that night, I heard a voice within my being ask: “What do you want Jason?”

As I focused on the question and where it came from, I felt like it was asking me what was in my Heart, the area in my chest feeling like it was opening up.  One of my teachers expressed that “the body is the way the Spirit experiences the world” so I was learning to pay attention to sensations within my body.  In that instance, as my Heart opened, I saw the image of a woman and that startled me.

I had not really any idea what that meant or why.  Within a few months I found the answer, meeting the woman who was presented as a vision and with whom our lives seemed intertwined with synchronicity.  I thought for sure that we would be married.

Well, Life being the “expect the unexpected” that it is, happened and we broke up during a series of events that changed my life. Within a short period of time, I was laid off from work, laid off from that relationship, and experienced the Death of my Grandfather, the latter two experiences within a day of one another.

Having been brought to my knees by Life, I had a choice: to see myself as a victim or quit playing the hokey pokey, strive to go deep within to understand, to let go, and finally accept.  My pattern of fighting the occurrences of life stemmed back to childhood when I found out that my family was moving, an experience that was very difficult to understand at the time, impacted my development, and took years to process.  The trauma that I experienced from the sudden change at the young age and made me strive unable to accept the house of cards tumbling around me each and every time a change occurred.

I began to pray for dreams, interpret them, and observe/interpret the symbols of my life as they showed up in my experience.  If it worked for people in the past and other cultures, it had to work for me and I began to trust that Life knew more than me because each time I went through a change, in hindsight, I realized it was for the better, if only because of the growth that unfolded for me.  I wanted to stop resisting the change and enjoy the whole show.

I found ways to joke about Mindfulness so that I could enjoy it, telling people that it was Okay-Ness, because within each moment, the perspective can shift and we can find the beauty in the chaos, the chaos in the beauty, or both.  And whatever we focused on was in fact Okay because it was there to teach us.

In November of last year, my Grandmother passed away.  Within minutes of finding out about this, my car died on me while I was driving.  A friend informed me that perhaps it was my Grandma saying bye.

I believed it because for a time I drove her old car and it did the same thing to me, dying out while I was driving and left me on the side of the road, signs I took as it was time to leave a bad work situation that I was stubborn on exiting because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to pay my rent.

As I look at Life’s Road, with its twists and turns, I am beginning to appreciate what presence brings in each moment because our fears really can facilitate our experiences.  With all my expectations, I rarely had the opportunity to appreciate the emotions I didn’t like that came with change because I was not ready for disappointment, anger, or sadness.  I have fought my emotions for so long and when I lost that last relationship shortly after my job and right before my Grandfather, I couldn’t fight the feeling because of how intense it was and how it consumed me.

It was a lifetime of not accepting change and the feelings that came with it and during that time, I felt it all fully because it helped me to really feel alive.  I have since been cultivating the garden of my observer and feel all of this without getting so overtaken by it that I forget I have peace in each moment, if only because I realize I am not my emotion, I am just feeling them.  Whatever I am feeling is really okay because it wouldn’t be experienced if it was not necessary.

The disappointment that came with my attachments, the suffering that I thought I was going through was merely my opposition to allowing whatever was present in my life.  The other day, my then girlfriend and I broke up.  I met her months before my Grandmother passed and there was chemistry that I chose to ignore until I was reminded of the frailty of life on the day my Grandmother passed away.

I gave love a chance again because I was present and it felt right to do so.  I opened, allowed myself back into love, and yet we broke up.

It was mutually created, it sucks, but it is beautiful because I can allow my feelings to exist.  I can accept that this is where I am.  As with previous changes, where I didn’t know what was yet to come, I still do not know.

The fact that I feel strong enough to get out of bed, go to work, keep walking, give myself space to grieve, be angry, smile, laugh and feel peace as I go through each day is liberating.  It is challenging but considering that I am a stronger person this time around, I made it through something that was at the time what I would consider worse, so I will be okay.

I am going to be okay because I already am.  Even though I didn’t set out for this relationship to unfold as it did, the fact is it did.  I am not a victim.  I just had an experience and that is cool.

 

Circles of Life : Healing the Inner Child

At 434 Tattoo, Tattoo Adam has often expressed to me the idea of circles and Life, and  I have heard oftentimes that it is important to close circles before entering into new endeavors.  When I watch how the patterns in Life unfold, I have many times seen repeats, though in new experiences with new people, the same lessons seem to apply.

I’m told that I am still young, at the cusp of 33, and I can look back and see how I was hardly present in my Life.  I was either wishing to be ahead or past something or had an opportunity to revisit another ‘past something,’ that had occurred.  When a Mentor expressed that I should expect the unexpected, the words did not quite register until a jarring change after jarring change occurred.

As each shake to my Life hit, I started to adopt a mantra of: ”This is where I am…”

It is usually when I can honestly say those words without shuddering, that I finally accept whatever has occurred, if only to feel aligned within, whether it makes sense outside of me or not.  To get to the place where I can say those words, I often have to check-in with the different characters of my Inner Family.  The one who seems to have taken the brunt of it all, my Inner Child, is usually the last who I remember to check-in with.  I am striving to be more attentive to that part of me because each jab of Life, which sparks the incessant non-sense of “I am not Loved” by Life, God, whoever, whatever really has to do with the wound to my Inner Child, who I have spent a Lifetime learning how to Love and who I will continue to do the same, if only to Love within more Fully.

I have long believed it possible to not have to run away or escape the “this is where I am…” that is going on in Life around me.  Just because I felt that way does not mean that I have necessarily applied it.  There may always be a part of me that wants to go for a run, a run away from my Life, but if I can be okay with that, perhaps then, I can move back to a sense of peace… permanently.

If we find Inner Peace, it allows us to find the Love in All of Life, even when chaos may be unfolding around us.  Storms have calms and there has to be a way that we can be there for if Nature does not judge itself, why should we?

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