Your Journey

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You Are on a Hero's Journey

 

Your Journey

 

GUIDELINES FOR LIFE

Compiled and written by John I. Mosher, Ph.D.

jimosher

Professor Emeritus, State University of New York

 

A woman upon celebrating her 100th birthday was asked

her secret for longevity. She stated that she thought

" that not worrying was a major factor in extending her

life. “I discovered,” she said, " that over 90% of

what I worried about when I was young never happened,

and that the small percent of what did happen was

beyond my control. So, I realized that worrying was a

waste of time and mental energy. From then on I

trained myself not to worry " .

 

Take time to think about why you do what you do, why

you feel what you feel, why you see life the way you

do. Does your way of seeing, feeling and doing bring

happiness to you and those around you? What is your

dream?

 

There is no law that states or enforces the idea that

life and events must always be as we wish them.

 

Make plans, set goals, do the best you can, and then

take it as it comes.

 

Flexible trees and people survive the storms of life.

 

Liking and disliking is stressful and tiring; it wears

one out.

 

Enjoy life as it is. To flow with life is

rejuvenating.

 

What is the benefit of a judging mind? Are you happier

for judging yourself? Are you happier by judging your

fellow beings?

 

Some Quotations:

" You may be certain that a disagreeable Person is not

comfortable with themselves. The amount of pain we

inflict on others is directly proportional to the

amount of pain we feel within ourselves. " (author

unknown)

 

" Wrath arises from thwarted desire " (Sri Yuteswar)

 

" The way is easy for those who have no preference "

(old Taoist saying)

 

" All suffering comes from attachment to desire "

(Gautama Buddha, 650 B.C.)

 

" As irrigators lead water where they want, As archers

make their arrows straight, As carpenters carve wood,

the wise shape their minds. " (The Dhammapada)

 

In the " spirit " of the Dhammapada quotation, the

following quotations, ideas, and statements are for

your new paths of thinking and contemplation:

 

Compassion is the recognition of the “Universal Self”

in others as well as yourself.

 

Compassion is unconditional love in practice. " Do not

judge others. Do not judge yourself. Mistakes are

opportunities to learn, in disguise.

 

" Do not be attached to your actions or the results of

your actions. " (Bhagavad

Gita)

 

" Be wise and kind and somewhat blind. " (John Ray)

 

" Do to others as you would have them do to you. " (The

Bible)

 

Do the best you can and take it as it comes. (Various

sources)

 

Treat all life with love and respect, including your

own life, because it is all one life. Thus, what you

do and think eventually affects you.

 

Cultivate happiness, joy, appreciation and gratitude

for all.

 

My silence does not mean approval, it means

non-interference.

 

" Kindly let me help you or you will drown said the

monkey, putting the fish safely up a tree.” (Alan

Watts)

 

" When we are minding someone else's business, we are

not minding our own. " (John Ray)

 

Intent is important. Is the motivation for your

thoughts and actions from " spirit " or from ego?

 

As you awaken you act from the center of your being,

not from ego, not from fear.

 

" When we can appreciate the beauty of the rain, the

wind, and the snow as well as the sun. Then we will

be free to experience the fullness of life. " (Shakti

Gawain)

 

In developing a product, technology, or engaging in

activities, the major test must be " What effect will

this have on the environment and future generations? "

If you don't know, then question it and hold off doing

it.

 

“If you really want to help this world, what you will

have to teach is how to live in it.” (Joseph Campbell)

 

" Impulses of life give authenticity” (Joseph Campbell)

 

The impulses of life are put in the realm of enjoying

without attachment. The awakened person participates

fully in life, having conquered fear, attachment, and

having selflessness, unconditional love, equanimity,

and being of greatest use to him/her self' and others

The hero's journey is the journey of self-awaken-ing.

 

THE HERO'S JOURNEY

Visualize this:

You are the hero. You were born from the realm of

spirit. into the relative or physical world, that act

is a: sacrifice, a heroic deed.

 

Consider your mother: There’s a Hero for you. She fed

your physical vehicle

from her own body. That is sacrifice and selfless

service (even though she may not have planned it).

 

She experienced the discomforts, cravings and emotions

which are a part of pregnancy.

 

She experienced the ordeal of giving birth to you,

that is a sacrifice and a heroic deed.

 

She and your father gave you selfless service in

raising you.

 

Now that you are in the physical world with a physical

body, your hero's journey has begun. The journey is

to awaken to your true nature who you really are and

act accordingly, this is the search for the Holy

Grail. Holy means whole or complete. The grail, which

was a cup or plate receiving the blood of Jesus, is a

symbol for awakening. Nature intends that you awaken

and all conditions and experiences in your life are

meant to channel you into a position where you want to

go beyond the " suffering " of the mind, ego, physical

relative world. Igjugarjuk (a shaman of the Caribou

Eskimo of Northern Canada) is quoted as having said

" True wisdom lives far from mankind out in the great

loneliness and can be reached only through suffering. "

It seems that it takes privation and suffering to

open our mind to that which is hidden to those who do

not seek awakening. To want to transcend the suffering

is one of the first steps to awakening and at that

time you have consciously started your search for " the

Holy Grail " .

 

Regardless of one's station in life, no matter how

favored one is with material comfort, loving family

and friends, no matter how powerful one is,

occasionally illness is experienced, one grows old and

everyone will die. In addition there are the smaller

psychological sufferings, frustrations, not being able

to do what we think we want, anger of experiencing

what we do not like, the envy of desiring what we do

not have, the fear of losing what we do have. We all

long for happiness, yet we are constantly laying the

foundations for unrest through habitual conditioning

of our minds. When we realize that we seem to be in

an endless cycle of rising and falling emotions which

offers no sense

of fulfillment or lasting happiness, many of us look

for a remedy. We look for another way to live. We

eventually realize what we thought was a normal

condition is in fact SUFFERING. We realize that

aversion and attachment (desire) both cause suffering.

These causes of suffering are based in our belief that

we are separate from others. Underlying this belief is

our fundamental ignorance of the nature of reality.

That is taking everything as it appears. By presuming

that “I” am the most important object in “my " world,

we blind ourselves to the truth that everything is

interdependent. It is our " ego centered " attitude (our

ignorance) that causes the reaction of liking and

disliking, attachment and aversion.

 

We can use our disturbing emotions as a catalyst for

transformation. As we thoughtfully, consciously, and

actively replace our disturbing mental activity with

consciously chosen aware, awake and enlightened

responses, our old habits are spontaneously and

naturally transformed. This is a way out, using

suffering as a path to liberation.

 

Thus our hero's journey with all of its trials and

tribulations are but incidences along the way to

finding the Holy Grail. The journey is one of

TRANSFORMING the mind. The great teachers of all time,

the awakened ones, have stated that it is the mind

that experiences suffering. They also say that the

mind can be transformed and taught a way of viewing

the world and of behaving in it that achieves the

goals of the spiritually developed individual and ends

personal suffering.

 

This brief introduction to developing spirituality is

intended to remind you of the Way. They are to guide

you through the mountains of ego, the forest of

confusion, the oceans of unconsciousness, and the

deserts of despair. One day on your journey, as you

look for the hidden cave behind the veil of the secret

waterfall, as clearly as the eagle sees, your eyes

will be opened to the treasure of the Holy Grail. You

are awakened; your journey to living in Reality has

begun.

 

(Copyright C 2001 and prior years John I. Mosher,

Ph.D., Albion, NY 14411. Reprinted with permission of

the author.)