What I like. Thanks for asking.

For the first time since I started this blog, someone has emailed me and asked me what I LIKE in life. Instead of asking about the path, they asked about me.

Well, I try to take ego out of things, but it was nice to get the question. So here we go....

"I love your blog, but I have a question. Does being on this 'path' or religion mean that you have to give up everything fun? I mean, what do you like? What do you do for fun? You don't just sit around in silence all day, right? You seem like a good guy...Tell me about you."

First, let me clear up some mis-conceptions. My path is not a religion. It is not a systematic path of following a doctrine that someone wrote down a few hundred years ago. It is not an interpretation of someone else's ideals or views. It is simply and unveiling. It is a process of removing the cover to reveal the truth that has ALWAYS existed without opinion.

On this path, let me make one thing clear: No one can teach you anything. You already know the answers. All a "teacher" can do is REVEAL the truth. The truth is there. Just reach out for it. Close your eyes, shut up for 10 minutes and it will come to you. I promise.

So what do I "like" and what do I do for fun?

How about a list.

• Oklahoma University Football
• Getting tattoos
• Girls with tattoos 
• Girls who can rock a t-shirt and jeans
• Casual street fashion
• Sports on TV
• Good Beer (but never over-do it...not anymore!)
• Music
• Playing my guitar
• Playing video games with my son
• Earthy smells
• Long drives
• Going to the ocean
• Dreaming

I am a normal guy. I curse a little too much. I make mistakes. I don't always reach my full potential. I have flaws. BUT...I love myself. I love my path. And I love life.

Thanks for asking---That was fun. As much as I work on putting away my ego, it's nice that someone gave a damn. 

When things end...things begin

A few months ago, I (we) made a decision to pursue a long simmering relationship. Today that relationship ended. And the funny thing is that I am not as sad as I thought I might be. I won't get into the details of the how and why--I will just say that it HAD to happen. It HAD to be pursued and it HAD to end.

Don't get me wrong. I am sad at the WAY it ended. Assumptions and undeserved distrust are not things that anyone wants in their life. I am sad for the loss of some energetic fulfillment. I am sad for the loss of a specific kind of love that was given. But I am not sad that it ended.

Living this life, I have discovered that I am able to overcome loss and handle transitions better than I used to. Why? Because I have learned to remove my ego from it and just accept things on their own merit. Endings and beginnings are all a part of life. The circle continues.

I will always love her and care about her, but a romantic relationship was just not meant for us. There were TOO MANY issues to overcome. And that's ok. We were not on the same path---It doesn't make her a bad person--It doesn't make me a failure. It just means that it was not mean to be. It is the natural path of things.

How can I be sad about that?

All endings are the beginning to something else.

Peace to you---Be nice to each other.

K

To pass the word, or to wait....The Zen of decisions.

This morning I was greeted with a DM on Twitter from someone claiming to be a literary agent. This person suggested that MACHO ZEN would make a great memoir/non-fiction/spiritual help book.

Flattery aroused my first reaction which was all ego driven. Then I sat with it and decided that step one would be to check out this person and see if they were on the up and up.

Sure enough, this person appears to be an actual agent. Now, we will note that even though they suggested that my blog would make a good book, at no point did they offer to represent me or any potential book, so I am not sure what the DM actually means.

My next inclination is to just allow the river to flow and see what happens. The Universe will always send you signs and put things in your path. 90% of us fail to recognize these signs--or we talk ourselves out of them. And my teacher, DID just send me a message to "share the wisdom"---As MLH would say, "All the signs are pointing you in that direction."

However, if you have read all of the postings, you will note that this is the 2nd time that I have been "approached" with this idea. Nothing came of that time because I didn't pursue it properly--therefore we reach our moment of Zen--our QUESTION.

How much effort is required for us to continue to follow the flow of the river? How much would be "forcing the issue?" What constitutes the act of allowing something to happen and what does it mean to manipulate the situation to your advantage? DO we step in and move the flow in a specific direction, are we messing up the way the Universe wants it to go?

The answer of course is:

No.

WE are the Universe and the Universe is us. There is a difference between fighting AGAINST the signs and RECOGNIZING the signs and taking the steps that the Universe is placing in front of  us. Being in the flow of the river, being in the current does not mean that we let go and sink to the bottom. There is still effort required. We stay with the flow, but as a rudder, we have to move back and forth, maneuvering through the rocks.

Too many times, we can confuse a simple effort to make things happen, with interference. Remember we are going WITH the flow, not turning upstream.

So will I pursue this avenue? If the signs keep leading me there, then I will have no choice.

Only what CAN happen, WILL happen....

Be nice to each other

PEACE!

Kit

Back...and better than ever?

Before I begin to get into the meat of the blog again, please allow me to explain my 7 month absence.

I never wanted to be one of those bloggers who gained a bunch of followers and then disappeared but when my life flipped so drastically in January, I needed to step away, be grateful and see how my mind and soul changed. Would getting some success change my mind? Would I forget where I came from and what I had accomplished? Would I forget the suffering and the hardships that lead me to start the blog in the first place?

After 7 months away, a few things became clearer. I have had more contact with my teacher, I have had more success with work and more success with interpersonal relationships. I have re-connected with a love from long ago and I have learned who my friends are and were.

I have also realized that some people are posers and fakers when it comes to what I THOUGHT they were bring into my life. Some people were hurt by my decision to follow my path and accept my journey--and some were let down. It has been a tough lesson for me to learn that we each have our own Karma and if my decisions affect someone else like that, it is likely because that person put expectations on me that I wasn't aware of or I failed to communicate my own expectations of myself.

In connecting with my teacher, Zhou on such an ethereal level, I have been both humbled, surprised and even a tad disbelieving - but I have finally accepted his presence and my ability to transport myself to his plane and allow his teachings to continue.

The main message that I get from him all the time is that I am a student of his, but I still must be a teacher myself. I MUST continue the blog and I MUST continue to be an example of the Dharma and what comes with that.

"Even though I learn, so shall I continue to teach."

I thank you for the many emails I received and the outpouring of love and hope that you gave me last winter. But that is the past and we must not live there. I am grateful, but I am in the present. I am in the moment. I am where I am supposed to be. If I wasn't meant to be here, I wouldn't be.

Be nice to each other and thank you for coming back to see me!

PEACE TO YOU!
Kit

When the tide turns

After all I have been through the last few months, things have finally turned---I will spare you all of the details, suffice to say that I have a new job in my calling--my old profession. Back where I belong feels both strange and good. It hasn't been that long, but it was long enough to appreciate it more.

This journey is not over. Despite the fact that normalcy is returning to my 'material' world (I know you're humming the Madonna song now...), that doesn't mean that the journey has ended. This hasn't been about my job life--this is a journey for my soul...

Which is why, in this blog, I want to talk about WHAT to do when things begin to change for you...

In any endeavor you will have ebbs and flows. As you start to do things correctly; like living in the moment, being grateful for what you DO have instead of bitching about what you don't have, being compassionate and forgiving etc...things will begin to turn in 'your' way--Now that concept is a perception only. Things never move for us or against us. Things move only as they will, neither for or against us. It is only our perception of negative and positive that makes these things seem real. --Regardless, as you do things right you will begin to feel as if things are happening for you instead of against you. When this happens, we sometimes lose focus on what got us on the path in the first place.

Now that the perception of negative is being replaced by the perception of positive, I need to remain focused on my goals.

So we start by being grateful for the change. I have written a short mantra that has helped. Feel free to use it yourself if you like...

I am grateful for what I have. I am grateful for why I have it. I will never forget why I needed it. I will never forget how I got it.

When things begin to change for you--in whatever way you choose to perceive it--It is important to remain grateful.  And it is very important to EXPRESS that gratitude--Whenever you can.

Peace to you! Be nice to each other!

Kit

Don't Dam the Water--Just follow the stream

When a man walks lost in the woods and happens upon a stream--a wise man doesn't tell the stream which direction to flow. He thanks the stream for its presence---and follows it....If he tries to direct the stream by damming it, the stream is no longer natural and will only lead him to where HE wants it to go and that stream then becomes a stagnant pond with no direction..it won't lead him to where he was meant to be had he just surrendered and followed.


I wrote that this week and I think it is an important lesson. I was trying to make a point to a friend and thought to myself that I should save this and talk about it in a blog.

Too many of us try to make the stream head in the direction that WE want it to flow. We try to throw rocks into the stream and make the water flow in a specific direction. This is not the way to ocean!--

You have to be in the moment. You have to float or walk next to the stream. Follow it. Get into the stream, lie on your back, close your eyes and be in the moment.

Do you think it is a coincidence that the word CURRENT means both NOW (present) and FLOW (going in a specific direction)? There are no coincidences.

When I catch myself wanting something specific, looking toward the future or lamenting the past; I know that I am weak. I know that I am on the wrong path. I know that I am lying to myself. I am looking for a truth that doesn't exist. There is only ONE truth. And that truth is this: We do not have the ability to change the past, or predict the future. So why bother? What is the point of that? It is a waste of time--it only brings feelings of pain when we focus on things that we regret or covet things that we want. It only brings anxiety because we "don't have" or "wish we had" - And pain, regret, anxiety are all negative emotions.

We can search all we want. We can "try" different religions and philosophies all we want--but while we are doing that--we do not know what we are doing. We don't have the answers. We can't teach. We can't show others--because WE are still searching for the truth...We do not KNOW the truth while we are still LOOKING for the truth.

And THAT is beauty of the truth....It doesn't change. It doesn't move. It simply is....The truth is the ocean. It is always there. No matter how many rivers we dam, no matter how many rocks we throw, we will NEVER change where the ocean is...we only divert ourselves from finding it.

And the only way to the ocean, is to get into the current (the NOW, the FLOW) and let it take us where it will.

I have a new job opportunity. For those of you who have been reading this, you know how much I was being negatively affected by my job, but you also know that I allowed the current to flow. I was grateful (usually) for the paycheck. I didn't like the job, but I found something to be grateful for....and I allowed the flow to carry me.

Now I have a great new opportunity. Some will say that I manifested this job....so HOW is that different from wanting something to change--coveting a new job? Because I didn't ask for it. I only showed my gratitude and trusted that I was in the right place at the right time. I trusted that I was in my old position for a reason. I learned lessons while I was there. I learned more about myself...and when that lesson was learned, I let go and relaxed in the stream.

I never asked specifically for this new job. I never said "I want to go to Montana and get back into the radio business..." I simply said "Its time for me to move on...take me where you will...."

I didn't manifest a new ocean. I just manifested a boat.

Peace to you. BE NICE to each other---Give what you don't have. Take what is offered from those who give with their heart---and BE NICE!




Kit

Riding the Wave

This weekend was a really interesting weekend for me. By interesting, I mean that it was MORE than enlightening. It was more the eye-opening. It was...

Justification. I have been shown PROOF. I have been shown that faith is repaid. Diligence is repaid.

The thing is that justification is not a right, but when it comes, it is a gift. We don't walk the path in an effort to  "get what's coming to us," or to get vindication for all of the good work we are doing. We walk the path because it is simply the right thing to do. If we do get something in return that is all just icing on the cake.

During my meditations the last few weeks, I have been constantly told to "trust" and to "ride the wave."

Also during these last few weeks, I have been "told' to leave my job and to trust that everything would be fine. I was scared to take the steps that were required (quitting the job that was slowly killing my soul without having another one, and refusing to accept help from someone to whom I KNOW I would eventually "owe" to the point that they would hang it over me forever.

Instead, I trusted. I trusted people who had never let me down before, I trusted friends who followed through on promises, I trusted and was grateful to the Universe for the messages and guess what? The responses came. Good things happened. New opportunities have come my way--opportunities that, when they come to fruition, will be the first step in turning things back around for me.

So I am maintaining trust, I am maintaining gratitude and maintaining hope.

I still need support. I still need faith and I still need the occasional hand--

But make no mistake, I have been given a gift---and I won't forget it.

Help me....Please.

I have an opportunity to spend 2-4 months on the Sioux Nation in South Dakota in a volunteer project to help teach and work at the youth center--helping children between 4 and 18 years old. 

These kids are living in one of the more impoverished areas in the United States and have very little access to educational sources that we take for granted. I will be doing everything from teaching basic computer skills, working in the kitchen and helping with office work. Some of the kids come from homes where there is substance abuse or abandonment issues - 

Here are some of the issues that these kids and their families have to deal with....

• Unemployment rate of 80-90% 
• Per capita income of $4,000 
• 8 Times the United States rate of diabetes 
• 5 Times the United States rate of cervical cancer 
• Twice the rate of heart disease 
• 8 Times the United States rate of Tuberculosis 
• Alcoholism rate estimated as high as 80% 
• 1 in 4 infants born with fetal alcohol syndrome or effects 
• Suicide rate more than twice the national rate 
• Teen suicide rate 4 times the national rate 
• Infant mortality is three times the national rate 
• Life expectancy on Pine Ridge is the lowest in the United States and the 2nd lowest in the Western Hemisphere. Only Haiti has a lower rate. 

I am also hoping to start a boxing and self-defense program for the little kids- Children who only know poverty and abuse have a lower self-esteem and a lowered outlook on life. I am a firm believer that helping them achieve their educational goals AND I know from teaching boxing to kids will build self-confidence and help them in other aspects of life. 

In order for me to take that much time off of work, getting no income, I need to raise $2000-$4000 for expenses and to pay for my housing while I am there.  Some of the money will actually go to the volunteer organization that makes this possible.

Please help in any way that you can. In addition to helping the kids, you would be helping me do some good in this world--after 47 years of taking--it is time for me to give back....Maybe you too?