Intention Manifestation for Slackers

Steve Pavlina's article about manifesting what you desire reminded me about something that I wanted to mention: How intention manifesting and affirmations do work, even if you are (like me) prone to bursts of self-discipline followed by slower periods of slightly less intense energy.

Notice I did not say 'followed by totally slack, counter-productive periods of self-loathing and self-doubt.'

Not that there is anything wrong with that, you are what you are, but if you are down on yourself (in a major way) then you won't likely be very good at manifesting your dreams.

But having said that, you don't need to be as full-on as Mr Pavlina either (all power to him, don't get me wrong).

I have been doing my affirmations on-and-off for years. I write them down, then recite them religiously for a period of weeks or months, then forget about them for a while. A few couple of months ago I found an old list from three years back in my sock drawer (my messy, disorganised, mainly-full-of-solo-socks drawer). Reading through the list I was amazed to find that many of the things on the list had either totally come true or were a lot closer to where I wanted them to be.

So there you go, I reckon that my sub-conscious or whatever it is makes this stuff work (the Universe ... the Tao! That's it!) got the hint, and kept chipping away at it long after I stopped rabbiting the affirmations each day.

I'm not saying that doing the affirmations with more self-discipline wouldn't make your goals manifest more rapidly or with greater reliability, just that, if you aren't a Superman of Self-Discipline, you can still try out affirmations for yourself and be confident of some positive results.

BTW, since starting my latest list of affirmations three months ago, things have been getting better and better for me at an exciting rate. So that's nice :)

Don't forget to check out my new website Rebel Zen.

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Categories: Personal-Development, Meditation, Motivation, Productivity, Self-Improvement, Socks

Rebel Zen

Alright!

Rebel Zen is go!

I belatedly uploaded the site tonight - there are probably a few mistakes and dead links etc, but as I have an ad going around with URL on it I thought I'd better get it out there, imperfections and all.

Imperfections. That's exactly what Rebel Zen is all about - embracing them, accepting them, and learning to be pretty gosh-darn happy anyway thanks to the skill of meditation and the philosophies of Contemporary Taoism.

Over the next few days I will really tighten up the concept, but in the meantime have a look, have a laugh, and hopefully get something out of it ... and of course if you will be in Melbourne on the weekend of the 29th July, then give me a call or an email and reserve your seat at the first ever Rebel Zen workshop!

In case you were wondering where all of this sprung from, the new Rebel Zen direction has come about since I wrote this post. Which not only liberated me (some more) but seemed to strike a nerve with a small but healthy number of blog readers, and people who I have talked personally to since that day.

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Categories: Meditation, Zen, Tao, Taoism, Personal-Development, Self-Improvement, Happiness,

The Great Connection

Forgot to mention that I have a new article out now in July's LivingNow magazine. It is called 'The Great Connection' and kinda deals with meditation and the kooky visions that help us along on the meditation way. If you read a copy you will notice that there is a URL for a new website - and indeed I am about to launch one, but I am a little behind and didn't quite upload it on time. Should be up by tomorrow night :)

So I'll keep you posted for that!

Also I have been chatting with my boss at work and indeed with the whole office about my role at the magazine. The reason such chats have been going down is because Elizabeth (the boss) has decided to base the business model around the writings of Ricardo Semler and his book The Seven Day Weekend. Take a look at the book, and weep. Yes, my boss is very, very cool :)

So given that we kind of get to choose what we want to do, I put my hand up and snagged the job of taking the magazine online (properly). So that should be fun - and challenging! And also it looks likely that I get to copyedit the mag articles each month, as I did for July's issue. That may not be everybody's idea of fun but it is mine!

In other news I have been doing a course at the Melbourne Meditation Centre. The brains behind the business, Matt, trained with Eric Harrison, who, at least his books seem to prove, is a genius of communicating the meditation experience in words.

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Categories: Writing, Meditation

The Lazy Way (Tao) to Success

I was just reading this and realised that I forgot to mention, in regards to the post below, that once I am up-and-at-em, I really do enjoy my morning routine - so it is not some 'don't want to but it's good for me' thing - that would be so not flowing with the Tao.

I sleep in sometimes, but I know it is wonderful to be up really early sometimes, so then I need to apply just that little touch of effort to get out of bed. For the first five minutes I stumble around convinced that I am insane and should go back to bed, but then I sit to begin meditating and realise that this is one thing that helps me stay happy.

Tao of Five Weeks.

I am a little nervous. It would probably be wiser (or at least safer) not to set myself up like this ... but here goes:

As of yesterday I am starting another five weeks no drinking and recommitting to the 5:11am meditation and exercise routine. Mostly the drinking thing is pretty easy (but for a glass of red on a chilly winter evening, that I will miss). But I think it is needed. I have been quite the happy little hedonistic Taoist the last few weeks and it is time to give myself a chance to detox a little.

Kristiina wrote me a letter asking me if I was still doing the 5am up-and-at-em routine and the short answer was 'no'. It is just so cold here in Melbourne, and at that time of course, pitch black, so the temptation to sleep 'late' (7am) is almost irresistible. Couple this with late nights spent rockin' in the free world and whoops! There goes my commitment to make it through the winter without getting all fat and lazy.

What was that word? Oh, commitment ... that's right. I publicly made a commitment to get my arse out of bed every weekday morning at 5:11am and do my meditation, chi gung, and exercise routine - because I know it makes me feel great.

Don't get me wrong, I am not upset or disappointed in myself. I can't be bothered with that - Tao is as Tao does I always say. So, no, I am not giving myself a hard time about slacking off, I am just recommitting to get busy with the morning routine again. I look at the last couple of weeks as kind of like a half-time rest.

The days are getting longer again now, we've survived the winter solstice. Before we know it spring'll spring back into our lives and all my US readers will be cursing my name as I describe how fab I am looking, sitting at the cafe in the warm Aussie sunshine in my t-shirt (because I made myself exercise MOST of the winter!)

Wish me luck!

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Categories: Exercise, Personal-Development, Motivation, Goals, Health, Meditation, Self-Improvement

Tao Blog, Taoist Blog, or Taoism Blog?

Little Tao was walking by the pond with his friend Big Tao. As they strolled along, Big Tao couldn't help but think how Little Tao was usually very talkative, but today he was quiet.

'Is something on your mind Little Tao? You are being very Zen.'

'What do you mean by Zen?' asked Little Tao.

'Mu,' said Big Tao.

'What?' muttered Little Tao.

'Just Kidding, Little Tao,' Big Tao said, grinning at his Zen joke. 'But seriously, what is on your mind?'

'Well I was thinking of starting a blog,' said Little Tao.

'Great? About Taoism?' asked Big Tao.

'Yes, but...'

'But what, Little Tao?'

'Well I am confused about what to name it.' Little Tao scowled as he kicked a pebble. It flew into the air and fell with a splash into the pond. Big Tao smiled to himself as he watched the ripples circle outwards from where the rock had broken the surface of the water.

'Do you have any ideas?' he asked.

'Yes,' said Little Tao. 'I have three possible names: Tao Blog, Taoist Blog, or Taoism Blog. Which do you think is the best, Big Tao?'

Little Tao had been so preoccupied that he had not noticed Big Tao creep up behind him and next thing he knew he was sailing through the air towards the water.

Splash!

'There is your answer, Little Tao,' said Big Tao, standing by the edge of the pond laughing. Little Tao laughed also as he swam to the edge of the pond.

'Thank you, Big Tao, I knew you would help me find the answer!'

Question: What did Little Tao call his Blog?

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Categories: Tao, Taoism, Blogging, Zen

The Tao and the Te : Fundamentals of Taoism and Mind in General

Tao Te Brain

This site sets out to show that "the I Ching has a bilateral structure which parallels that of the brain. Here we wish to show that the classic daoist text "Tao Te Ching" also shares this structure. "Tao" means the way, "Te" means virtue, and "Ching" means classic or book. Tao is the general while Te is the particular."

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The Tao and the Te : Fundamentals of Taoism and Mind in General

Tao Te Brain

This site sets out to show that "the I Ching has a bilateral structure which parallels that of the brain. Here we wish to show that the classic daoist text "Tao Te Ching" also shares this structure. "Tao" means the way, "Te" means virtue, and "Ching" means classic or book. Tao is the general while Te is the particular."

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The Secret

The Secret Movie. Gimmicky but kind of cool looking. Somehow I feel entirely skeptical though, probably more entertainment than actual secret to the great mysteries of the ages revealed in DVD now for 4.95 ;)

Chan (Zen) and Tao

Chan and Tao: "'He who replies to one asking about Tao, does not know Tao. Although one may hear about Tao, he does not really hear about Tao. There is no such thing as asking about Tao. There is no such thing as answering such questions. To ask a question which cannot be answered is vain. To answer a question which cannot be answered is unreal. And one who thus meets the vain with the unreal is one who has no physical perception of the universe, and no mental perception of the origin of existence.'"

Still busy getting something new ready so no 'real' posts just yet.

Mythology History Physics Philosophy Art Science Religion

Mythology History Physics Philosophy Art Science Religion

'(James) Joyce’s father commented about him, “If that fellow was dropped in the middle of the Sahara, he’d sit, be God, and make a map of it.”'

Actually this site is not about Joyce but it (the website) is interesting and that is a great quote ;) as is this:

'O blindness to the future! Kindly giv’n,
That each may fill the circle mark’d by Heav’n;
Who sees with equal eye, as God of all,
A hero perish, or a sparrow fall,
Atoms of systems into ruin hurled,
And now a bubble burst, and now a world.'
— Alexander Pope, Essay on Man

Hmmm, plus hints of Taoism seeping into the old esoteric waffle here by the (obviously quite brainy) author of this website:

'According to the Golden/Legal philosophy every individual is fundamentally a duality. Each person — indeed each entity — consists of an original, pure, sophomoric, masculine, extending, ascending aspect (White/Apollonian) and a mediating, worldly, mature, feminine, introverting, descending aspect (Red/Dionysian). Here we have the warrior and the priest, the virgin and the nymph, the Yang and the Yin. Every male duality is thus considered as inhering a female aspect, and vice versa.'

S'funny, always seems to come down to that, eh? The o-o-old duality thang. Probably where the average human's comprehension stops. Look past the duality and you are confronted by a single entity to bloody big for the average Joe to take in.

Call me Joe then...

Dance Meditation

Turbulent Times: Dance Meditation: "Dance-induced meditation is a reminder that meditation is not necessarily something passive and quiet and this is terribly important because people do tend to confuse spirituality, especially Eastern spirituality, with something a bit airy-fairy and wishy-washy, and they therefore ignore it."

Very interesting. Meanwhile, I am busy preparing something new so not much blogging this last week.

Flow on Brothers and Sisters ... plenty to read below :)

What's Wrong With Me?

Ever asked yourself that? I know I have :) but look - the answer to that question is NOTHING! There is nothing wrong with you dude!

You are a human and humans don't just feel great all the time - humans feel all kinds of emotions including the unpleasant ones. Humans make mistakes, they regret there actions, they lose their temper, they get drunk, they spend too much money on stupid things, they hurt themselves and the ones they love.

Normal.

All of this is completely normal and I want you to know right now that you don't need to be a super-disciplined self-help guru to be happy! You don't need to try and be perfect - YOU ALREADY ARE PERFECT! Even your so-called flaws, even those things that you want to change about yourself - these things are all perfect. That doesn't mean you can't implement positive change in your life - but meanwhile stop giving yourself a hard time TODAY!

I have been a little quiet this week in terms of blogging - and as usual this was not because I was 'doing nothing' (as much as I recommend that!) but because I have been T-H-I-N-K-I-N-G! I am about to launch a whole new arm of my meditation and personal development monster and this is precisely the thrust - you don't have to be hardcore to be happy! You can learn simple easy ideas and techniques to be consistently happy for the majority of your life and to be 'okay with it' when you're feeling shit. Full stop.

Warning: plot spoiler ahead!

I have come a full circle. I have been like that dude in the Alchemist by Paulo Cohelo who goes looking for the treasure or whatever only to find out that it was right where he was all along. Most of us know that going full-tilt into a life of non-stop partying and self-gratification doesn't make you happy - and now I have come to the conclusion (epiphany more like it) that you don't need to be the world's most self-disciplined puritanical yoga health guru to be happy. Forget about it! You'll just do what I did for a little while (quite recently and on-and-off for years) and make yourself miserable every time you let yourself down - forget expectations of becoming perfect - and realise that you are perfect now!

And if you find that hard to do then stick with me over the next couple of months because I'm gonna show you just how easy it is to be the most totally chilled out dude on the block. And I am 100% for real about that.

Meanwhile here is the article that helped me to remember what I sat down to blog about two hours ago (I got distracted and wound up surfing on a wave of electric light through the infosphere!)

All power to Pamela Slim - she gets it. She knows what you need to know - that there is nothing wrong with you. Amen!

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Categories: Personal-Development, Meditation, Taoism, Happiness, Motivation,

Tao of the Peaceful Warrior Movie

"The Way of the Peaceful Warrior", by Dan Millman, was one of the books that helped to change my life, or rather helped me to change my life.

It was written in 1973, the year I was born, but I had never heard of it until around the time I was starting to experiment with meditation and the like. It had a huge impact on my thinking. So it was with some excitement that I noticed a banner ad today that proclaimed the coming of a movie version! For once – I clicked!

Peaceful Warrior stars Nick Nolte as the enigmatic Socrates and a very fine piece of casting that is too; he is very much like the image I had of Socrates in my head when reading the book.

Strange the way things come around. Last month I was over at my ex-girlfriend's house for dinner (she and my present love are bestest buddies these days!) and I noticed the actual copy of the book that I had read all those years back on her shelf. I got a bit excited because I had been meaning to go pick up a copy as the manuscript I am currently working on is not entirely dissimilar in theme and I wanted to re-familiarise myself with it. So I borrowed it that evening. It sat on the coffee table with all the other books that await my attention (I can never seem to catch up with everything I want to read!) until the other day my girl picked it up and began to read it herself (much to my satisfaction as I have a hard time convincing her of the worth of the majority of the stuff I read).

The good news is she has been enjoying it, so I have been seeing the book every day, gently removing it from her fingers when she falls asleep reading each night.

And now - voila! There's a movie! I hadn't much thought about the book in years! Trippy!

If you haven't read it, give it a read before you go see it lest the movie do what Ron Howard and his buddies did to the quite passable (in my opinion, despite some cringe-worthy clichés etc.) The Da Vinci Code. The film version was just so totally lame compared to the excitement of the book. Thankfully it starred the very cute Audrey Tautou which was at least compensation for the disappointment!

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Categories: Movies, Meditation, Books, Personal-Development

What You'll Wish You'd Known

This is cool. I soooo wish somebody had talked to me like this when I was at school. Actually, I have vague memories that they might have but that I wasn't listening ;)

What You'll Wish You'd Known

Things are hotting up for my meditation and personal development workshop in July. It could be the coffee I just had but I am excited about it! If you live in Melbourne please click on the (big green) banner above or just give us a call on 0413 414 620 and we can have a chat about it. I'd love to see you there!

Anyway I am work, so I'd better get back to it :)

Rock on - or if you prefer...

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Tao of the Marijuana Blues (Part One)

I was surfin' around ye olde webola and I came across this post about depression.

I can so relate to what this person is going through. I have been there more than once. A number of commenters pointed it out already, but it seems worthwhile mentioning that the article's original poster doesn't seem very aware that the root cause of their depression is not the boredom with his or her job/life etc, nor the numbness they feel, but with their pot abuse.

Let me qualify before continuing: I am not claiming that I never smoke pot anymore* but that I have long since stopped smoking it everyday.

You can't smoke pot all the time and expect not to suffer side-effects. It took me years to admit this. As a young kid fresh out of school I was full of beans and motivation. So were my friends. Then we started smoking pot all the time and - hello! - we all turned into whinging scatterbrains. Several years went by before I realised that the reason I was never getting anything done, was feeling depressed and confused and just totally underwhelmed was because I was smoking so much pot.

"Duh!" I hear your girlfriend mutter from the study where she is busying herself getting a second university degree while you sit and pull bongs and wonder why the hell this cruel world doesn't recognise your genius yet.

Below (separate post - Part Two) is something I wrote before I stopped smoking pot all day every day. If you read through anything I have written lately you will see that there is a huge difference between my state of mind now and how I felt back then. Notice also how I did not associate the depression I felt with the fact that I had a pot habit. I would have denied the link at this time. I would have blamed this heartless world for rendering me lost in a meaningless forest of despair, or something wordsome like that. But the truth was I was damaging my natural ability to get the most out of this wonderful opportunity that is Life...

*I still say yes to the odd puff at a party on the weekends, but to be honest this isn't working for me very well. I enjoy the feeling at the time, but the next day my emotional balance tends to be off. I find that hydroponic weed, as opposed to bush-bud, is particularly guilty of causing this (and other) side effect(s).

Regardless of the distinctions between the two types of weed, I pretty much assume that I will continue to smoke less and less until I don't smoke anymore at all. That's the plan anyway.

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Categories: Motivation, Health, Personal-Development, Self-Improvement, Marijuana, Productivity

Tao of the Marijuana Blues (Part Two)

St. Kilda, 1998

The phone rings.
A pang of anxiety.
Fear of corrupt exchange.
I let the answering machine machine it's way through its' designated task. Painstakingly, it repeats its' only idea ever. Clicks. Beeps. Whirs. A female voice blathers as I leave the room.
I lie down. Impotent. My thin foam mattress. cost $45. Rip off. It was never anything close to comfortable, and now it's infested with fleas.
Get up, look in the fridge. It's only been five minutes since I last peeked, and still,
Nothing tasty has appeared.
Lucky I'm not hungry.
My latest housemate doesn't want smoking in the flat, so I stand on the back porch and grimly feed my addiction. The wind ruins the experience. I like the smoke to hang around my face as I casually draw back. No chance in the irritatingly chill St. Kilda breeze.
'God I hate insects.' I shudder as I catch sight of my face in the mirror. Neither am I impressed with ominous spiders, webs brazenly slung too low.
I look like I feel. A cockroach.
I pick up my battered old guitar, strum it a little.
Out of tune. I put it down.
It sits in the corner next to my decrepit post-war migrant suitcase.
Filthy clothes and dog-eared books everywhere, the floor, the bed. Empty take-away containers. Grotty tissues. A couple of odd belongings that somehow hung in through the years; An old tin robot; A snow-shaker with a warped picture inside, my girl. Apart from the flea infested mattress, the only furniture is a crappy old chair that came with the room. There are no posters.
I pull on my only shoes and walk to the Seven-Eleven. I buy milk and smokes. The Asian boy behind the counter is unhappy. Contemptuous.
Accidentally knock a girl's bike over as I push open the door to leave. From inside the store she shoots me a greasy look. Tough. It was her own stupid fault for leaving it in the way. I don't pick it up.
Returning home I make instant coffee and smoke another evil fag. I wonder how it is that I have to come to be like this; a world-weary floater, nervy smoke stained fingers shaking.
I turn on the T.V.
Slouch on couch.
I don't care what channel. Just stare.

I'm still staring two hours later when my flatmate comes in.
And half an hour later as she leaves again.

And four hours later when she arrives home once more.

I smoke some pot.
I don't get very high.
I go to bed.

One month later my flatmate's boyfriend gets into trouble. This stresses her out. I am the easy scapegoat.
She trips out while her big, friendly man looks sheepish and apologetic.
I pack my old case once again. Make a few calls.
I move that afternoon; broken guitar and the case, kept shut with an octopus strap. Only had to catch the bus out front and down Barkly a few stops.

I leave her the mattress, but take a couple of fleas.

Just in case.

***********************************************************************************

If you are having trouble with the weed factor, I would highly recommend you read the book by, and if possible seek treatment from Jost Sauer. He's been there, done that, and now devotes his time to helping others to deal with the problems of drug and alcohol abuse using Traditional Chinese Medicine and his own unique program.

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Categories: Motivation, Health, Marijuana, Personal-Development Productivity

Tao of the Artiste

Bob made a comment on his blog about me wanting to be 'the next great self-help guru' which was kind of funny, if not entirely without merit.

It did however bring to mind something that has been quietly bothering me lately - the fact that I have been concentrating more on the personal development side of my 'career' than on art-for-art's-sake. This needs to be addressed because at the end of the day I am an artist who gets into self improvement, not a personal development guy who likes to write and sing on the side. Sometimes I get really bored of philosophy, motivation, goal setting, meditation, Taoism, health and fitness, productivity and all the rest and put the whole thing aside for months - but I never do this with my art.

My two main artistic outlets are writing fiction and writing and singing songs on my guitar. Given this, and given the fact that I am faced with a short weekend of (gasp!) only two days before I have to get back to the office, I have decided to take a weekend off from most all of my 'other projects' and just concentrate on writing fiction and preparing to record a new acoustic CD next weekend.

This means I will NOT be:

• Tweaking my websites


• Promoting my upcoming meditation workshops


• Writing non-fiction articles


• Wasting time reading totally cool productivity sites like this

However, having said that I am about to make another post to this blog because I have something to say, hopefully something that will be of slightly more interest to other people than this navel-gazer of a blog post ;)

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Categories: Productivity, Writing, Goals, Motivation,

In Defence of the Fool.

Today my latest article to get published in LivingNow magazine, “Inner Master, Inner Fool”, hits the streets. To say that it is a privilege and an honour to be getting published on such a regular basis would be an understatement – it is one of those wonderful sweet things in life where all the years of ups and downs seem to have suddenly revealed a purpose, and I am very, very grateful for the gift.

The article itself is about a technique I came up with to help ‘resist’ temptation – a Taoist way – resisting without resisting. Apologies to those who cannot access the print article. I will reinstate it online once June has been and gone. Speaking of which, I will be uploading all of the old Living Now articles to the web soon, as well as a ‘best of’ The Contemporary Taoist (blog).

In Defence of the Fool.

Since writing “Inner Master, Inner Fool”, I have been doing a lot of reading into the Tarot and have been struck by the power of the archetype of the first card in the major trumps - the Fool. It occurred to me as I read up on his journey through life as it is illustrated through the cards, that the Fool is indeed a Taoist himself. He perfectly fits the mold. He is not clever. He is innocent. He appears to the world to be stupid – and yet this is where his inherent power lies.

After reading about the guy, I realised that in my article I gave the Fool a bit of a bad rap. I basically blamed him for the wanton desires that plague us humans and cast him as the ‘bad guy’.

This has turned out to be quite amusing, because as I have moved further along my path since writing the article, I have swung back from a period of focusing on ‘control’ (after a period of lack of self-discipline) to a more balanced recognition that there is no more joy in becoming a stiff than there is in being a total waste-oid.

We must keep the Fool in us alive for it is this part of us that tastes life – both the sweet and the sour. If we completely stifle the Fool, we stifle the child in ourselves, and this is a path to unhappiness and boredom.

My point is that while we must keep the Fool under control, and not let his sense of abandon overwhelm us or cloud our good judgment, we must also cut ourselves a little slack. The ingredients for happiness include a generous spoonful of spontaneity as well as a pinch of self-denial. As the Buddha taught – the middle path is the wisest road to follow.

So having said this – it is a new month! I have a running project happening each month where I come up with a new habit, working off the theory that it takes about 21 days to form a new habit. In April I decided to form the habit of not getting too drunk too often :) which has worked quite well (although admittedly I have had some ‘fun’ finding the balance ... with the result that I have decided to give beer a miss for a while, in favour of a red wine here or there, as beer tends to get me revved up and a little too woo-woo for the greater good ... crazy Celtic genes, you see).

In May I formed the habit of reciting my positive affirmations aloud each day. This was surprisingly easy to implement (once I hit on the idea of doing them in my car on the way to work) and has been proving at the very least a fantastic psychological booster.

So what new habit for June? I have decided to go with developing the habit of writing AT LEAST 500 words a day (no matter how busy I otherwise am) in order to get my novels happening. They took a bit of back seat the last couple of months, which was fine as I was getting the column happening, but now I want to refocus on my number one goal – which is to become a full-time published author. So be it.

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Categories: Writing, Goals, Personal-Development, Motivation