"Unity with the universe."

The concept of me being unity with the universe.  There are two notions I feel in my head.  One is that there is a congruency with me, who I am and the universe, i.e., an identity, that we are one and the same.  There other is more of a dependency that I am an integral part of the universe so that the universe isn't this universe without me and I am not me without this universe, but we are not one and the same.  Sort of like my brain.  Well, I guess not exactly, the analogy doesn't quite follow and both sides are analogies, so one is right and the other not.  Like me being an organ part. The organ part... No, that isn't quite right.  So, all people, souls, spirits together make up the universe.  It's not right to be saying this universe is not this universe without me.  But, I am a part of the universe like an organ is part of the body.  The point is that all of us together make up the universe.  It is not that we are individuals separate from one another embedded in the universe. Together we are the universe. So, we are each an expression of what the universe is vs. together we are the universe.  I heard the other day, oh, a post on Facebook to the effect a pick against the right side that they do not see about taking care of nature and the earth, exploiting it and leading towards corporate interest over conservation and at the same time being followers and believers in loving god when in fact the god is nature so acts of anti-conservancy are acts against god.  So how do I lean.  Each of us is the universe or together we are the universe.  I like together we are the universe.  We are interconnected and that interconnected is the beauty of the universe.  If I go away, then the universe is still there.  If the universe goes away, then I am not there.  We share in the unity.  Of course the instantiation of the universe is different if I am not in it.  But, the universe is constantly changing and never the same.  It is a different universe from moment to moment and from place to place.  Taking Einstein's theories to heart, my universe is bound by the finite time for the propagation of information.  My universe is unique and different from anyone else's universe because my time and place is different from anyone else's.  No one else has the same bounds of perception as I do.  My horizon of perception includes  things some other people cannot perceive and it excludes things that other people can perceive.  That makes each of us unique.  I like that way of looking at things.  And that horizon of perception not only includes time and space, but it includes experience.  I should think about how experience is another dimension in our experience besides the physical dimensions of time and space. Even if someone else instead of me was at a time and place I was in, their past experience makes there perception different.  Our perception has dimensions of space, time, experience and perspective.

Our individual perceptions has dimensions of space, time, experience and perspective making each of us unique and beautiful in how we see and interpret the universe in the present moment.

Twitter: "Your perception has dimensions of space, time, experience, and perspective making you beautiful in how you see the universe at this moment."

"At some level, it is a selfish thing to seek that peace.  Is it really selfish?"

I've given myself a paradox in that seeking heaven and avoiding hell and behaving for that end is selfish and that behaving for those goals makes for a hollow love.  The only way to achieve happiness is to self-sacrifice trying to be happy and act for the happiness of others and forgo trying to achieve happiness for oneself.   The other day, a thought went through my mind that I don't know if I can recapture.  It allowed me to seek my own happiness in such a way that it is not selfish.  It is or was it as simple as that if I am happy, then it is easier and I am more effective in making others happy.  That almost feels right.  This notion is synergist.  The happier I am, the happier others are.  The happier others are, the happier I am.  Ah, the happiness of the universe, the well being of the universe.  I think the notion came out of living together for the happiness of one another.  It is a facet of unity with the universe.  Making myself happy is broader and wider reaching than just myself.  Making myself happy makes the universe happy.  Making myself happy makes others happy.  Maybe the best path into lay my desire out as desire for the universe to be happy and my individual happiness is along with it.  Or they are one and the same.  Can I be happy if the universe is not happy?  Does my individual happiness rise when merely trying to make others and the universe happier?  Or I only be happy if the universe is happy.  There is a coupling I don't quite see.  Am I selfish if I take the perspective that I am part of the universe, even a representation of the universe.  So, if I, as the universe want to be happy, is that selfish.  But, if there is nothing else, then how can that be selfish.  That is a great path towards seeing, feeling, being in unity with the universe. My happiness and happiness of the universe are one in the same.  Change my perspective to one of unity.  Not even if I'm happy, then the universe is happy or vice versa. It becomes I am the universe and the universe is me.  If I live for the happiness of the universe, I live for me own happiness because they are the same.  No different.   I think maybe meditating on that unity.  I need to be careful about falling into a trap of rationalizing.  Not merely thinking if I make myself happy, then the universe will be happy as a consequence.  Making myself happy is synonymous with making the universe happy.  But, the perspective I think is better reverse to not lapse into rationalization of selfishness.  I live to make the universe happy.  It may result in action to make this body, this mind over which I have direct dominion to be happy.  but, the goal is to make a happier universe.  That is the line along which my path can go to be a happier universe.  So, I have the vague notion in my head, but it is hard to make concrete because my perspective of 50 years is me and the universe rather than the universe, me or me the universe.  The universe is nothing without me.  I am nothing without the universe. Amen.

Our unity as the universe demands that happiness is not an individual endeavor, but an interconnected purpose whose successes and failures everywhere touch everyone.

Twitter: "Universal unity demands happiness is not individual effort, but interconnected purpose whose success and failure everywhere affects us all."

"Kindness (desire to ease burden), Compassion (desire for well-being) , Teaching (nurturing growth), Love (unconditional acceptance) are linch pins for happiness." 3 minutes mantra, 8 minutes contemplation.

Kindness, compassion, teaching, love are aspects for happiness.  I'm not sure this truth is accurate.  It is an attempt to express truth that is difficult if not impossible to put into words.  Does happiness flow from acting on these values, or do these values flow from happiness?  I think these values flow from happiness.  Though, the DL, says it the other way around.  If it is as the DL says, then if one is alone, if one is left as the only living sentient being that can be happy, then you cannot practice these values.  Therefore, I believe they flow from happiness.  Happiness is at the core of our beings. We do not change from being not happy to happy.  Our happiness is masked by our sufferings.  This might be a question of the boundary of happiness being feelings or happiness being a state of mind or happiness being an inherent part of being human and it is just it's manifestation in feelings that we are aware of. I am convinced for myself that happiness is not a feeling or state of mind.  It is my natural state.  It is anxieties and sufferings that hide my happiness from myself.  They are "unnatural" and stripping away the unnatural reveals the true nature.  So, happiness is a state of mind, but it is the natural state of mind.  Anxieties are a normal part of being in dealing with crises of our lives.  But, they pass with the crises.  You are a beautiful person inside with a natural state of happiness, that when apparently lost, is only covered by our fears and anxieties.  This may all have an amount of bullshit in it because of the workings of the brain.

"Happiness comes most strongly from making others happy." 3:00 mantra, 8:00 contemplation.

Happiness comes most strongly from making others happy.  What does it mean for someone else to make me happy?  It means to make be feel valued, to make me feel good and at peace with myself.  The DL would have you make people happy through compassion and peace.  My loving values are helping people with their well-being, their burdens, their growth and accepting them as they are.  Why is it making others happy makes me happy?  It means letting go of my pleasures and ego, letting go of the energy and resources I use for those  things and directing them to others to share my loving values.  And, it also means, making myself happy, by pursuing my loving values for myself in place of pursuing pleasures.  And, it doesn't need to be in place, but in priority over.  Pleasures are delighting in the universe which I think may really be our purpose instead of being happy.  Being happy enables us to delight in the universe.  When suffering arises, then it gets in the way of enjoying and delighting in the universe.  Going back, turning towards making others happy helps us to let go of commitments we've made toward what we think are the things we're supposed to want to do for ourselves. Jeez, the words are hard to get here.  We become wrapped up and dedicated to our ego that we become slaves to our ego and lose our freedom.  We become slaves to that which we believe is the right way to be for the sake of being right and that serves no purpose other than to allow ourselves to live as children with adults dictating our every action.  Living as children blindly following the rules of our parents and teachers chokes us from living as children taking delight in the universe.

"No one has any less or more right to be who they are." 2:30 mantra, 7:30 contemplation.

No one has any less or more right to be who they are.  I'm not sure I believe our actions define who we are.  They may be representative of our current state of mind.  I believe we are loving creatures who want to be happy and that our states of mind get clouded by defenses mechanisms in response to how we've been treated. I'm going on here and rationalizing.  I can't get socio and psychopaths out of my head.  There are people who cannot feel empathy.  Then, can they desire compassion and kindness, well-being, easing of burdens, growth of others and accept others?  I don't know.  I can only know about myself and project that on to others.  I should read up on social and psychopaths.  Of course, if I define how people can or can't be, then I am closing my mind to all the possibilities of how people can be.  I cannot allow the picture of myself and it's projection on to others be a generalization of others.  I can only say if you are like me, then maybe what is true for me is true for you.  I try to share what I have learned.  It may not apply to you as a unique and beautiful person different from myself.  Drink of it and decide for yourself if it is helpful or not on your path of life.  You have the right to be who you are and to be that person.  Being a murderer, a lover, a rapist, a giver describes your actions, they are not representations of who you are.   There is a question in my mind about what it means to be human.  If someone is hard wired to murder and they cannot be changed does that mean they are a person who's being is fundamentally one who harms others.  Can there be people who fundamentally have sin that cannot be overcome.  I don't know.  It is something to thing about.

"There is no absolute moral right or wrong." 2:30 mantra, 7:30 contemplation.

There is no absolute moral right or wrong.  There are only actions that are consistent with our personal, individual values and consequences for those actions.  If you act in a way inconsistent with your values, then that is wrong for you, it may be also be wrong for someone else with some common or similar values, but it may also be right for another person as they do have values that are different from yours.  I value happiness and not suffering for all.  Because of that I value for myself and others well-being, ease of burden, growth and acceptance.  To act contrary to those values, is wrong for me, not morally wrong, but wrong because, well, wait, wait a minute.  I forget that wrongness brings about anxiety and punishing of my self-esteem.  I am what I am.  If I act contrary to my values, then in reality, those aren't my values.  However, those values are values I know will make me happy if I follow them.  But, we our constantly in flux, influenced by our past, by things in this moment in time.  Our values, what we really believe at any moment shifts and ebbs and flows.  So, I will act according to my values at any moment.  The next moment I may feel differently and the past action be contrary to my new moment.  I do have an over arching set of values that generally govern my actions and that I know are better for my happiness and the happiness of those around me.  But, in moments of stress, my values my shift. But, that is okay.  I am who I am at any moment. Amen.  You, as a beautiful individual different from me, have different values, and hence, different codes of right and wrong.

"Love is unconditional." 2:30 mantra, 7:30 contemplation.

Love is unconditional.  That might just be loaded.  If I rationalize its unconditionality, then the conclusion is that none loves anyone.  This happens if I make it black and white.  Pure love is unconditional.  That is better.  The love I have with Mary is predicated on a reciprocal relationship.  At least, I think it is.  It's come about because of the reciprocation. If love is not pure in its condition, then there is a power situation if the other person wants your love.  But, what if they don't, then there is no power.  The things they can want are well-being, easing of burden, to grow, to be accepted.  Someone may not care if I offer or give them these things.  That may not care if I am kind or compassionate towards them.  Then, there is no power in my hands.  Love is about the desire of these things for another person.  It isn't the actual acts of providing them.  We may not have the opportunity nor the means.  But, it is the desire for anyone, and we do have the opportunity and means to provide them for some people.  It isn't about indiscriminately acting on the futures for others.  We have to balance what we can do against what we desire to do.  We physically cannot give these virtues to everyone.  That is not possible.  We give them as we can as we encounter them or decide to give more later when we encounter them.  To love is to desire happiness without condition or judgment for others and yourself as you and all are beautiful creations of the universe.