Be Here Now Kid
Be Here Now
Colorado
In 1996, I read this book called Be Here Now by Ram Dass and after reading it, I listened to Nas' It Was Written for the first time. I left the house and walked to a nearby park with a river and sat, listening to the water. Looking at the scene.
I was with friends.
We decided to go for a drive through Boulder, CO and up to the small town of Nederland, CO. I played chess with the woman that would become my wife in a small cafe with a squeaky wooden door. Maybe I had coffee... or tea. But I loved the old furniture, chess, the view of the Rockies. I was right there, right then.
We hiked up the mountains outside of Nederland. Up to the treeline. There, we were overtaken by the sleepiness that Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Lion, and the Tin Man faced in the poppy fields outside of the Emerald City.
We slept there, in the short grass and flowers of the treeline beyond Nederland.
I had the distinct sense that all things were one thing and I was a part of that whole. One life, one love, so there can only be one King......... One.
Years later, my son and I listened to a podcast and there is a story about 20 minutes in...
...and he and I got to talking about having an adventure in our lives. A mission. A purpose, and so forth. I explained to him that I believe meaning like this is revealed in the here and now.
He didn't get it.
It was written... people who live in the past, are depressed; while people who live in the future are anxious. In the present, one finds themselves connected to the meaning and purpose of the whole Universe... just be here now, son, and it will all be clear to you. You will see clear signs around you that guide you.
"But what about homework and boring things like cleaning my room?" He asked me.
You never know which direction the signs that speak to you will come from. Will it be embedded in the thoughts that are inspired by a chemistry practice problem set? Will it be set off by finding an old piece of artwork you made in 4th grade while cleaning your room? You don't choose the medium for the message, it just manifests...
He said, "So you think the Universe is just speaking to you through random things and actions?!"
Yes and no
I used to think it was the Universe. And for a time, it actually scared me...
I would hear a song that exactly mirrored the thoughts that were just in my head. Or I would see a billboard with the answer to a question I had just asked myself..... and it scared me. It made me think I was going insane. Now I think it was just me and the Universe having a conversation that my conscious brain was a bit too slow to pick up on all of the time. It was me, using the world, to speak to me. It was my brain playing the role of a friend walking with me and noticing a button down shirt in a store front window and saying "Hey, weren't you saying you needed a button down?" And i'm like - "Thanks buddy! Good eye!!" Except, it's my brain looking out for me like that.
It was my brain seeing things in my life that resonate with meaning to me personally. There are a billion pieces of stimuli outside of my mind in the world and then another billion ideas floating around in my head. Ultimately, my mind was just linking things that it thought I would appreciate as related. Like a powerful pattern seeking computer that is bridging two seemingly unrelated events or instances from my own life. Coincidences that also feel pretty magical. The relationship or pattern that my brain picks up on is meaningless to anyone else because they have not and cannot live the life I've lived. So, the profound connections I make in moments of clarity brought on by exposing myself to the here and now, by being fully present... are for me and me alone. Those connections reveal, and define, who I am. Only I wanted the button down shirt in that moment and in that place. But these realizations that project my inner thoughts, feelings, and desires onto the world around you also define the way I see, understand, and interact with the world. And that is a profound realization.
Wow... he said, but what if I have to plan a trip or something? Aren't I living in the future?
You don't have to be. Just plan here and now, you are hearing my words now but when you're planning, just plan. Starting to plan your vacation while someone is communicating with you is just rude. When you're looking at old photos, look at them and enjoy the experience. When doing chemistry homework, just do chemistry homework. Solve the problems, that's all.
Hmmmmmm...
This is what Jesus said, too.
"What?!" He said, "I thought Jesus was all Christian and fanatical..."
Okay, I said, don't get me wrong, this is only my interpretation. It is not what I would imagine most Christians believe...
First of all, it is questionable whether Jesus ever lived at all but it doesn't much matter. Let us take it as a parable. Jesus was Jewish and spoke up against the temple dogma of the day. He did not live for tomorrow or dwell in the past. He was where he was, doing what he was doing. And "through him", many say that means he is the messiah, but no, through him... by becoming him, being here now, just like he was... we enter the kingdom of God - meaning heaven right here on Earth. Here and Now
Our father (our lord, holy one, universe...) who art in heaven (peace, bliss, nirvana), hallowed be thy name (Om, Amen, the Universal vibration) Thine kingdom come, thine will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven (it will be heaven on Earth, the Kingdom of God here to enjoy for any and all) Give us this day our daily bread (spiritual bread, manna, guidance, acceptance) and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us (we must forgive ourselves and others - because those events happened - they are not here and now) Lead us not into temptation (hope, lust, envy, becoming more special in the future) but deliver us from evil (temptation to stray from our path delivers us into evil... what is our path? Be here now) Amen (Om, universal vibration).... We can be here now and take things as they come and that will provide a path for us from wherever we are to wherever/whoever we want to be. We can decide, in the here and now, that some of the things our mind is reflecting back to us are unhealthy. We can see that and as effortlessly as raising a glass to take a drink without thinking, we will slowly come to reject those thought patterns and new ones will emerge. That is inspired by new learning, new experiences, new growth. Don't stagnate. Stay in flow. Don't sleep, cuz sleep is the cousin of death...
So, I'm sure my son worries about his old man and a hippie hip hop philosophy but I think I'm doing alright with this worldview.
Comments
Post a Comment