Waxing Philosophical between Day 7 & 8

So, when I started this blog, I did not intend for it to simply be a place for me to bore my friends and family with pictures and tales of my trip.  I could just invite them to dinner when I return, and hold them hostage for hours with tales of what probably only fascinates me.  What I did intend with this blog was multifaceted.  Yes, I wanted to invite friends to peek in on my journey (tainted by my eyes and perverse perspective).  However, I also wanted to have a place to wax philosophical about the topic of living life to the fullest.

So, before I post my pictures from Day 8 of my journey in India, I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on a few random (but related) points.

Feel free to skip this part if you're really just interested in the India trip…

Point #1:  Rest vs. Activity

Those who know me, know probably better than I do, that I do not idle well.  I don't rest much.  I go, go, go.  And when I'm resting, I'm somehow staying active.  Boredom is not my friend.  I fill in my time with hobbies, fitness, books, friends.  Sounds okay, right?  Well, something has been tugging at me to find a balance between rest and activity.  My rest-activity spectrum is way out of balance.

While on a 5 week trip away from home, this is an obvious subject for me to contemplate.  In fact, the extreme duration (5 weeks by American standards is extreme) is something to give me pause and consider whether or not I've gone mad.  It would be one thing to take 5 weeks off to deal with some family matters, then do a local driving trip in the US, or hang by the beach.  But to fly to another country, and go tramping around a foreign culture in extreme places for 5 weeks… Seems a bit nuts.  So, I've asked myself why.  The easy answers come first.  Then the harder questions.

Easy answers: Because I'm fascinated by India.  Because until now, I haven't allowed myself to do much International travel.  Because I haven't taken more than 7 business days off since I was 17 years old, and it's high time I did something about that.  Because I had about 6 weeks vacation accrued.  And on and on.

Harder questions: Why take such a long break, but fill it with frantic activity (16 cities in 34 days)? Why risk being totally disconnected from friends and family for so long, when so many personal matters are in flux?  Why the pattern of extremes?

Well, by now I know just enough of myself to recognize that both are true.  The easy answers, and the answers to the hard questions (e.g. If I stop, I'll be left with my thoughts, which is an uncomfortable place at times.)

Being that I do not care to simply accept that "that's just the way I am", it's time to seek higher ground.

As I contemplate the wisdom of the sayings and slogans regarding being active or overactive versus being at peace or idling, I see some conflict and paradox.  In the process of seeking the ideal balance, I see a few forces need to be employed; namely balance, self-awareness, and questioning motives.  Here are some of the sayings to which I am referring.

On the side of rest and stillness:

I am a human Being, not a human Doing.

Truth is found in stillness.

I am no longer trying to fill that God shaped hole.

On the side of activity:

The Devil will find work for idle hands.

Faith without works is dead.

Action, action, and more action.

But, we can't have it both ways right?  That's where slogans fall short.  They're easy to remember, and can be a bit trite.  At the risk of overcomplicating things, I thought I'd list out my current ideals in seeking balance between Rest and Activity.  Taken together, even the seemingly conflicting ideals, this litany seems to help.  Now, these are not statements of fact.  I do not live up to these standards.  The "I blah blah blah" bit is just a format for stating an ideal.

• I keep myself busy with esteemable acts.
• I strive to keep from falling idle.
• When tired, I rest.
• When rested, I am productive.
• I can rest at any time without stress.
• I can idle and quiet my mind without angst or fidgeting.
• When required to sit idle, I am at peace.
• I define myself by my character in action (not by my actions or results).  (For you Taoists, that's Te.)
• I balance activity with rest, but among the two, activity is the greater.  I seek to maximize activity while never compromising adequate rest to make the activity most productive.
• If I'm not sure whether or not I have the balance right, I can discern the truth by looking at my motives:
• Am I running from something?
• Does this action edify me and my purpose?
• Does it express my character or go against it?
• Is this action motivated by false pride?
• Do I have adequate rest and health to undertake this activity?  Would this activity compromise my rest or health such that I will be less productive in my other commitments?
• How does this activity align with my values and themes?

Just try to boil that into a trite little bumper sticker slogan. For me, this framework helps (when I take the time to use it).

So, in retrospect, looking at my decision to journey to India, it was an imperfect decision.  Yes, it edifies me and expresses my character.  However, in truth, I'm sure there were certain realities from which I was running when I planned the trip.  They've since been largely cared for, but my motives were not pure at the time.  False pride? Unfortunately this trickles into various parts of my life (usually unnoticed).  Yes, traces of false pride can be found in my decision around this trip.  I admit this primarily as an example of how I can use my framework to learn better how to seek a balance. 

Don't get me wrong, I do relish this trip.  It has been an experience of a lifetime. It's just that there's something quite extreme about it, which told me that some introspection was in order.

I think my next vacation will likely be somewhere much closer to home, and that perhaps next year I'll concoct a more well-balanced vacation schedule when it comes to activity and rest.

 

Point #2: Consciousness

As I wander from temple to temple, palace to palace, and learn of this god or that prophet, of course I think a bit about religion, faith and human spirituality. It has been intriguing learning a bit more about Hinduism and various forms of Buddhism and how it evolved as it traveled from India through Tibet and back again.

Did you know that when Buddhism started in India, it was one man calling for all of humanity to raise their consciousness, trying to help them understand how?  But by the time it spread through Tibet and re-emerged in India, it had merged with dogmas and tantras of Hinduism, such that the Buddha's were gods to be worshiped, along with tales of future Buddha's yet to be born.  Somehow, man had taken the original message ("you can do this") and changed it to something to worship ("only He can do this"). Why do we do this? I think we don't want to take responsibility for what we are capable of.

If the people of the world truly believed what Buddha said to us, we would not have a religion called Buddhism.  We'd have a fellowship of people who were striving together to grow their consciousness, using what Buddha laid out for us as a path (the eight-fold path).

If the people of the world truly believed what Jesus Christ said to us, we would not have a religion called Christianity.  We'd have a fellowship of people who were striving together to improve how they connect with God ("pray like this…" the lord's prayer), to be better with one another (the golden rule), and those who were ready to would be seeking to raise their consciousness to become "more Christ-like".  After all, he said "ye are gods".  We are to be like him.  Not below him.  Did he say "worship me, and never forget that you can never be like me, or live up to my example, so you're off the hook really"?  No. He said something that people interpret to mean that.  ("…except that ye come through me…")  I know that as Christians we believe in "The Son" as divine.  It's unfortunate that Christ let us off the hook that easily, distancing his divine example from what we mortals are capable of.

Well, I truly don't mean to stir up the fear and faith of the God fearing people in the blogosphere. If you disagree with my theology or interpretation of scripture, that's just fine.  The point that I am perhaps inadequately attempting to make is that some of the greatest and most spiritual men that we've turned to have told us directly that we need to raise our consciousness.

So, what is consciousness?  Is it an accumulation of knowledge?  A special attunement to the Truth? A metaphysical phenomenon?  I'm sure that it has a little bit of all of these elements to some degree.  But, the way that I prefer to look at consciousness is hopefully much simpler.  It's all a matter of Truth, Delusion, Humility and Action.

• To be conscious, I must be aware of something. 
• The more things that I become aware of, the more that I am capable of being conscious.
• To become aware of the Truth of certain things, I must often become aware of the delusion of other things.
• To become aware of my delusions, I must be humble enough to admit my fallibility and fearless enough to let go of old beliefs.
• Once I'm aware of certain truths and delusions, I have a choice to consciously put that awareness into action (as in making decisions and taking actions that are guided by my awareness of the Truth).
• If I am seeking higher consciousness, I must rigorously and fearlessly search for my delusions and replace them with Truth, while continuously practicing putting my awareness of the Truth into action.

I was talking with someone this evening about consciousness. (I would state the person's name, but prefer not to entangle them in the debate).  They commented that it seems that Hinduism and Buddhism both include an inherent call to action for their followers to increase their consciousness, and that Islam and Christianity seem to leave out this call to action (or at least it is not a central theme).  They of course have rules, morals, and guidelines for living.  However, they do not specifically focus on personal growth and evolving the spirit throughout life.  I'm sure someone more versed in the Bible would be able to find some passage or other that mentions growth or spiritual process.  However, can anyone truly say that the Christian or Islamic movements are embodied by a primary thrust of personal/spiritual growth or a lifelong mission to increase consciousness?  I don't say this to disparage any given religion.  It's just an interesting observation of the differences.

I myself identify as Roman Catholic.  I don't think that means I'm not allowed to seek enlightenment.  "Ye are gods" after all.

Goodness, I've shown my cards.  The cat's out of the bag, and I've crossed the line of talking openly about religion. Just to forewarn any of you who are raring for a blog-fight; I don't intend to fight back.  I'm simply stating my views.  Please feel free to do the same on your blog.  Friendly debate is fun. Zealotry and dogmatic argument is not.

 

All right, that's about enough philosophy for one night.  Next on my India trip is Jaipur, as the Moghul Highlights tour winds down, and the Little Tibet tour is about to begin.