Steven Liebowitz's Blog, page 116

The TED Talk

2013-09-04 14.45.20

Why Wait?

“Think how we live,” Devorah said, shaking her head sadly, “looking forward, looking back but overlooking what is here and now. Be not content with future happiness. It has no meaning, and is not your just reward. Why should deliverance be disguised as death? Why should the good appear in evil’s form? You have cause for joy now, only now. And you will know this when you exchange the ego’s purpose, for spirit’s.

“Time, like everything else, in neutral. It’s purpose gives it all the meaning it holds for you. What purpose does time serve for you? You have been told that everything brings good that comes from God. Yet it seems as if this is not so. Good in disaster’s form is difficult to credit and makes no sense. Why spend time waiting for the good in disaster to be revealed to you? Claim your reality as spirit and experience the good that comes from God now!”

Being a Victim

I drifted into feeling like a victim earlier this morning. The bodily aches and pains, the problems with Comcast, the up-front cost of getting Devorah out. I was angry and wanted to lash out. Now, I’m feeling better. My cousin the physician says about people my age, “You’ll never feel worse than when you get out of bed.” Boy, that’s the truth! What happened? Why am I better now and not feeling like a victim? I accepted responsibility; remembered I had a choice, gave it all over. I realized I didn’t enjoy how I was feeling, didn’t want to be a victim and asked to see it differently. It’s not easy to do this. But when I was mindful enough, I did it. Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you, seek and ye shall find….

Wandering

Not all who wander are lost. Wandering is often a form of exploring, of discovering, of lowering barriers and boundaries and releasing limitations. From the linear, rational perspective of the ego, wandering and daydreaming seem like a waste of time, even lazy or wrong. But most of us realize that by relaxing the ego’s strict control, we can actually find a new source of creativity, innovation, power and beauty in ourSelves.

The Present

The past is gone; the future is not yet here; today is a gift. That’s why they call it the present. How are you using your present? Are you a human being or a human doing? Are you open to the wonder of what’s happening inside and outside of you here and now? Or are you as I often am, musing over what happened there and then; or what might happen in the times to come?

Even the happy memories we often cling to, set-up expectations that make the present seem somehow wanting and less-than, and make us seek to recreate what can not be recreated. Please, let these go! Become aware and mindful of what you’re doing under your radar. Experience the wonder of the moment! See life stretched before you in smiling repose, like a fully laden buffet table, and take what will to make your heart sing.

Happiness

Hafiz, the wonderful Sufi poet, said, “Ever since happiness heard your name, it has been running through the streets trying to find you.” And A. Lincoln: “Most folks are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Could this be true?

The Other Side of Specialness

Context gives meaning. In the context of contributing to a world that works for everyone and everything, a world mirroring Spirit’s wholeness, inclusion, love and compassion, each of us has a special function – a special contribution to make that only we can make. In the context of the ego world of self promotion, blame, fear and guilt, the purpose of specialness is to separate, set us apart, exalt me at your expense. In Spirit’s context my specialness takes nothing from your specialness because each of us has a unique special contribution to make. In the ego’s context, my specialness comes at your expense. For me to be special, you have to be plain, ordinary, and nothing special.

Specialness in this view is, as most things in life, is neutral, with its meaning coming from who we’re identifying with and the purpose it serves. Identifying with Spirit, our specialness contributes to a world that works for everyone and everything. IDing with ego, our specialness contributes to a world that works for some and not others a world of separation, inequality, unfairness, injustice, fear, hate and blame. So specialness itself is neutral and not a problem. The problem is the context, identity and purpose we chose – either Spirit or ego. The goal is not to fix the ego’s nightmare world but to express our god-given specialness.

Thank you!

Thank you to all the folks that came to see Dr Steve and Devorah Saturday at Temple Hatikvah in Homestead & an even bigger ty to those that bought books.

Tomorrow, Sat, 8/24 at 6 PM

TOMMOROW Saturday, August 24 at 6 PM, Dr Steve and Devorah will be presenting at Temple  Hatikvah, Homestead Jewish Center’s, 183 NE 8th Street, Campbell Drive (312th St) open house – free buffet

Not So Special Afterall?

Our specialness is re-enforced by pop science, human hubris and social conditioning. Conventional wisdom says human beings are special, superior and the peak of evolution because we, of all the creatures on earth, can think and use tools. What if other creatures can think and use tools, what does that say about our specialness? Is it still so important? Do we need our arrogant specialness to survive and prosper or does our so-called ‘specialness’ get in our way and keep us from making a contribution to a world that works for everything and everyone in it?

The July 22 issue of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly reported that ten untrained cockatoos were not only able to think and use tools, but were also able to innovate and solve problems: “Ten untrained cockatoos were presented with a complex device that, if a series of steps were completed, would give a quarter of a cashew.  First, the birds had to remove a pin, then a screw, then a bolt; then turn a wheel 90 degrees and then a latch sideways.

“It took one of the birds, Pipin, less than two hours to finish the process unassisted in five different sessions. Other birds finished the puzzle with some help or watching a bird partner do the task. Each task required a different set of behaviors and an understanding of the necessity of completing each task in sequence.”

And we talk about ‘bird brains’! This is only the most recent ‘discovery’ of so-called special, human intelligence, outside humans. What might be accomplished if we could let go of our arrogant specialness and be compassionate, loving parts of the world, instead of above and beyond it?