Zen and Now

Written by Jason Shields

For whatever reason, I have been rereading the basic tenets and precepts of Zen Buddhism. One of the main tenets that students are taught is to constantly be aware of the Present Moment, to be in the Now. As I write this, for the first time in a long time, I am fully aware of the smooth touch of the keys on the keyboard as they click over and over. I am aware of the warmth of the morning sun shining upon my desk, illuminating my favorite quartz crystal. There is someone mowing their lawn as the hum of their mower vibrates in through my office window. This is what is known as living Zen; being fully immersed in the present moment.

As a child, growing up with cerebral palsy and Asperger's did have its disadvantages, but I also learned to see the beauty of the other side of things, the advantages of being aware, of being alive. Even now, when my right foot tends to tense a little from the small spasms created by the cerebral palsy, I have learned to use it as a meditation tool. Zen teaches that we are to be detached to our feelings and thoughts. It does not imply that we ignore thoughts and feelings, but rather to acknowledge that they are presently there and simply observe them without attaching any further meaning to them. As a child, before the advent of medication for muscular spasms, I had to learn how to deal with the constant tightness of my muscles, particularly on my right side. I learned that the more I fought to relax the muscle, the greater it tensed up.

Now, thanks to Zen practice, I have learned to embrace the tightness, become one with it as an experience in the now and inevitably, the tension dissipates on its own. If it does not dissipate, I remain with it, simply experiencing it as part of life. As long as I do not allow frustration, which are thoughts of attachment and assumption to set in, the once “tense” experience becomes merely an experience. True Zen living means remaining conscious and alert in the moment. As you read this article, if you are truly present with it, you would not be thinking, “how far down do I have to read to get to the point?” or “I have so many things to do today, I have no idea how I am going to get everything accomplished.” Sound familiar. Or, you could agree with me that you have been present with reading my words all along, but were you really? What were you doing before you clicked on the link to this article? Who did you talk to? What did you eat for breakfast or lunch or dinner today?

The point I am trying to make is that if you are not fully aware and engaged in each present moment in life, you are not fully alive and conscious. Instead, you are constantly engaged in a mental dialogue with the past and the future always running to and fro from the past to the future and back again: guilt, regret, anxiety, expectation, etc. With all of this running back and forth, you are missing Life. Life happens now, not in the past and certainly not in the future.

Zen living forces you to answer the question, “Who am I?” Who are you really? Humans have been struggling with this question for eons, which is why so many “self-help” books are so popular. People are not satisfied with their lives; they think they can become something better than what they are. “You can be whatever and whomever you want to be,” quotes the latest gurus. Is this true or are we being duped? Are we simply stuck with what we have? Or are we asking the wrong question entirely?

You can not and will never become something new. Society encourages people to focus their entire lives on becoming something they are not. Is this realistic? Is it possible? How many times have you tried to change and been successful at it? For a day or two (an hour or two)? You inevitably slip back into your old habits feeling even more defeated prior to beginning.

Living Zen means giving up the idea, the promises, that the present will get you what you want in the future as long as you do the right thing, behave the right way, say the right words, feel the right emotions, look a certain way. I have two things for you to ponder:

1. How do you know what you will want in the future, or who you want to be? How do you know your intellectualized solution will work and make you happy or be any better than you are right now?
2. Is it really in your control to do anything you wish with your life?

May I suggest the following answers:

1. You don't know.
2. It isn't.

Before you start getting depressed and hopeless at my answers, you have to understand and get a true grasp on the nature of Zen. Zen goes beyond the dualities of optimism and pessimism because both of these states of mind are presuming to make judgments about the future. You don't know who you will be tomorrow and you certainly cannot control everything that happens to you in your life. And that is just fine! It doesn't matter! Why?

Because you are already who you are, and you are already everything you need to be.

In this present moment, you are complete. Don't misunderstand me; you can have goals in life and you can still work toward creating changes in your life. However, if you are scurrying desperately toward some ultimate idea or persona of you that is somehow better than who you are now, someone who is superior, stronger, and improved, you will not get there. Dear friend, you must see how complete you are right now before you can make plans for a different direction in your life.

These plans must be tentative though; because as we live each moment, the world continues to spin on its axis and all kinds of events happen and change to determine what will happen next. We must deal and face the unexpected from time to time. You cannot control the unexpected or how you feel about it. All you can do is continue in your general direction and go with the flow.

And what about your goal? Your goal is to be, right now. What's the point of your journey? To be, right now. To help you become aware and awakened to the present moment, do the following exercise:

Everyone washes their hands, at least I hope they do, before a meal. Zen teaches that the ordinary, routine things we do everyday can become an extraordinary experience of learning to be in the present moment. When you arrive at the sink, engage all five senses. Feel the touch of the faucet handle. Is it smooth? It is cold to the touch. Turn the handle and listen to the sounds. Does the handle squeak? Can you hear the rush of the water coming seconds prior to it gushing out of the faucet? Wait a few seconds for the water to become warm and like you did when you were a child, place your fingers in the stream. Allow the water to filter through the spaces of your fingers as you feel it getting warmer and warmer. Pump out a little dab of soap on your hands and smell its fragrance as you lather it through both hands and feel your hands as they touch one another. As you rinse off the soap, notice how the bubbles gently swirl around the basin of the sink and down the drain. Feel the comfort and warmth of the towel you use to dry off your hands. See? I knew you could do it! You've just experienced the present moment! Welcome to Life! You can do this exercise with anything, any chore, any activity during your day.

So, Who are You? I, or should I say “you” will answer that next week.

Namaste!

Handling Defeat

Written by Jason Shields

Recently, many people have experienced defeat in many of its various guises: unemployment, lack of money, a break up in a relationship. You may feel defeated at the present moment. Some thing or some one whom you were counting on failed to materialize the way you thought. Or, you may feel stuck and depressed, powerless over your current situations. How you look at defeat can change your life completely for the better and forever.

Remember this Truth: All people experience defeat daily, even myself. Did I receive and accomplish everything that I had hoped to receive and accomplish today? No. Am I defeated? Have I failed? Depends on the moment and the person you are asking. For myself, defeat is defined differently than what you usually read in the dictionary. Most people equate defeat directly with failure. There is a dichotomy here: on the one hand, defeat is real and necessary for growth and on the other, a feeling of defeat can be negative and destructive.

Firstly, there is no fun or sense of accomplishment in doing something where the chance of defeat is null. Going against the odds is in our human nature; it is what allows us to learn and adapt to changing circumstances in life. What fun is there in knowing that you are going to “win” or “accomplish” something without a little resistance or the chance of losing.

There is no such thing as a “bad” day; only bad instances, moments that seem to go awry. Hard times come and go throughout the day. However, there are good moments, positive and uplifting moments that we experience each day as well. Therefore, logic dictates that there is no such thing as a “bad” life; merely bad experiences. No matter how “bad” Life seems to get, be assured that the pendulum will always swing back to the other side and get better. It always does and always will. Life is in a constant state of change and motion. Too often, we become slaves to our fleeting thoughts and often irrational emotions. We make it too easy to get caught up in the way we currently feel as opposed to looking at life in the present moment, from a detached perspective and simply observe that which is – that which is in the Now.

What we attend to in the present moment is what defines our future selves, our directions, and our empowerment. If we are not moving and flowing in the direction of life's currents, then we are probably stuck in the bank of the river in a tight crevice of frustration, continuously trying to free ourselves loose. The problem is, we try to use the same old tactics: assumptions and “feeling” our way loose.

Assumptions are dangerous and most importantly, they require no action on our part. We simply make an assumption, a faulty judgment or thought about the situation, and then act. The problem with assumptions is that they have no facts to support themselves. They have no basis in true reality, only in our minds do they have power. We falsely assume that when the “right” time or “right” day or “right” person comes along, we will be saved and let loose and all of our problems will eventually dissolve. Life does not work this way. The same problematic situations will continue to manifest themselves through other avenues until you learn to face them and embrace them with the pure knowledge that every situation we encounter in our life is meant as a lesson to improve upon ourselves and the world.

“Feeling” your way out of a troublesome situation means relying on your emotions to somehow break yourself free of your problems. For example, you feel depressed because you gained five pounds over the holidays. Instead of accepting the fact of gaining the extra pounds and taking necessary action to rectify the situation such as eating healthier and exercising, you attempt to rectify it by spending money on some useless piece of clothing or a gadget to make you “feel better”. We tend to believe that when we feel better, we will do better. Dear friend, feelings are just as fleeting as thoughts from one second to the next. Depression may seem to be permanent, but you know in your heart that it is not. Depression comes and goes just like happiness and all other emotions come and go based on your thoughts and experiences of the present moment. Defeat then, is more a “feeling” than it is an outcome or a thing. Can you literally touch defeat with your hands? Can you taste it with your tongue? No! Defeat is merely a thought and a thought can be changed.

You can handle defeat in one of two ways: You can lose confidence in yourself, or you can learn from your mistakes and become better. Notice that I said “become better” which is implies taking action and trying again! Try again. In all of my life, I have never heard of someone dying from “trying again”. Knowing that you will make mistakes along the way is important too. It is a realization that life is far from perfect and that you are far from being perfect. It is a paradox but the “imperfection” in life and others is what makes living so beautiful and exciting! It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose the game; it is not a weakness, it is life. There will be times when it seems that you have lost and there will be times when you felt you have won the greatest victory the world has ever seen. One thing is certain, defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried in the first place is the true failure.

Stay Ready and Expect Great Things to Happen: Success Principle #5

Written by Jason Shields

The majority of people who are not achieving their goals or getting the most out of life are not organized and are not in a state of readiness and expectation. Many of us are waiting for something to happen, waiting for the right conditions, waiting for the right person. Instead, we need to focus on the right now. This principle is an outgrowth of Principle 4 – you have to keep working; you have to hustle. If you stay ready you do not have to get ready. When it all boils down to at the end of the day, it is what you do and say and expect that makes you who you are.

In essence, what are you doing each day to bring yourself that much closer to your goal? What actions are you taking? What thoughts are you thinking? What plans are you making? It is vitally important for you to take some action whether big or small toward your dreams. Even if it is sitting down and writing out a list of things you want to experience or creating a vision board where you use colorful pictures in magazines and paste them in a notebook for you to carry with you throughout the day. These images will remind you of what you are working so hard towards. Taking these actions prepares you; it allows you to be in a state of expectation for things to fall into place or at the very least, prepare you to be able to “see” the opportunities when they arise.

Staying ready also requires organization. One of the biggest mistakes people make is remaining in a constant state of disorder. Their homes are a mess; their offices are even worse. Order follows order. In other words, an orderly environment helps a person's mind become more orderly and focused. This may mean taking an entire week, a month for some of us, to go through our closets, desks, drawers, and getting rid of what no longer serves us and organizing what remains. I always feel better after I clean the house or mow the lawn and I do it at least once a week. Call it the Asperger's in me, but I find that when my office is clean and swept, I feel less anxious and more at ease to write without distractions.

In our hectic age, we desire instant results and I must admonish you dear reader: organization does not happen overnight. If you take things one at a time, or a room at a time, a closet at a time, etc., then you WILL get there. Once you are organized, it is important to keep it that way. This is one of my main problems. Yes, my house is clean, but it is so easy for me to allow the junk mail and bill receipts to pile up in one box until it overflows and covers the floor of the office closet. I still have to make myself sit down and go through every receipt and file every bill, transaction, and so forth and it usually takes an entire day if not two! Tax time is even worse, although I have to admit that I have made some strides. If I simply filed things where they should be filed as they came in individually, I wouldn't have to waste a whole day catching up. So, Stay Organized! Stay ready all the while preparing yourself, prepping yourself to move forward into a bright future.

Finally, what you say matters. Ask yourself what words you use daily regarding your future and your goals. Brain science has proven that physically saying what you think positively or negatively physically alters your neuronal connections. You are literally what you say! Speak forth positive and uplifting phrases that propel you forward and in a direction of expectation. This is one of the reasons I am so adamant on having an inspirational quote and affirmation of the month. When you think affirmations such as “I am rich, well and happy now!” these words, even though you may not believe them at the time, prepare your neurons to rewire in new connections. This enables your brain to reflect that belief out into your world. So keep on keeping on and speak what you wish to experience in life.

This concludes our Five Principles of Success. I hope that you have gleaned just as much as I have over the past five weeks in putting these principles to the test. May God bless you to new heights of aspiration and inspiration.

Namaste!

Shadow People: Who Are They?

Written by Jason Shields

It is in the wee hours of the morning and you are laying in bed unable to sleep. Some thing that you can't quite pin down is troubling you: an eerie feeling, someone may be watching you from the depths of darkness in a corner of the room. You may have experienced an instance where you awoke suddenly, only to find yourself paralyzed, unable to move let alone call out. It is the light of day and you are in your kitchen doing the dishes or some other daily chore when, out of the corner of your eye, a black figure moves quickly only to vanish the moment you turn to investigate. An untold amount of my clients have related various versions of the same theme: shadows moving in the day and night appearing and vanishing in the same moment. What are they? Can they harm you?

Shadow people is the term used to describe these mysterious and somewhat elusive beings. History is replete with stories and legends of shadow people haunting the lives of our ancestors. Many historians have referred to them as Shadow Demons or Shadow Folk. Their personalities have been described as having a wide spectrum of shy and skittish to macabre and malevolent. Accounts of shadow people are worldwide and vary slightly from culture to culture.

I have seen and dealt with these creatures throughout my life. Children and pets are incredibly intuitive and open and can easily perceive these dark beings with the naked eye. As a child, I saw spirits, ghosts and shadow people, but I never was truly afraid of them. They were simply “pests” as my psychic grandmother referred to them. For every shadow person I saw, there were two spirits of light that came to surround me and protect me as I observed their various behaviors. Some would wisp around like dark smoke taking various forms of human beings or vicious animal-like shapes. Others would bellow out deep growls towards me in order to frighten me, but to no avail. I've always been fortunate to have had a psychic grandmother who understood what I went through as a child and I knew who and what the Shadow Folk represented.

Shadow beings are inter dimensional beings which travel through the first five dimensions of space-time. We, as physical humans live in the first four dimensions: height, depth, width and time. I am currently writing a book on the 11 Dimensions of our reality for future release for a better understanding of each dimension. Here, I shall try my best to provide a short lesson. Time is fluid and ever moving in all directions. For us, it moves linearly, in a seeming one way direction from past to present to future. The Fifth Dimension is the Astral Plane where most of us visit either in meditation while we visualize what we would like to create in our lives, while we astral travel, or while we are asleep and dreaming;. The Fifth Dimension is the gateway to the higher dimensions of what we would call higher realms of consciousness.

Shadow beings are a composite of negative energy formed by the conglomeration of all of the “stray” negative thoughts that we think on a daily basis. Recall that not every negative thought that you think manifests instantly or directly into your life. Thank God they do not! Nonetheless, a thought, positive or negative is energy and is projected outward and into the higher realms. This coagulation of energy can take on many different forms in our world: shadow beings, mischievous trolls and gnomes (not all gnomes in the spirit world are malevolent) and gremlins. I always say “the energy has to go somewhere”. As we sleep, especially, we dream and visit the astral realm where our subconscious fears manifest in a variety of forms from delusional parallel realities where a loved one you lost is once again alive to a seven-headed monster chasing you down a dark corridor. In essence, we give shape to these “things” on a subconscious level and they tend to take on the personalities of their creators.

Here is a fundamental truth: if you created them, you can destroy them. The predicament that we find ourselves in often is that we fear the unknown and the “darkness” of the world and this fear literally feeds these beings. This is often the reason why we feel drained after an encounter with a shadow person. When you fear that a thing or person can literally harm you physically, mentally, or spiritually, you are giving that energy being permission to do so. It is natural to jump suddenly when you see a shadow being dart out of the corner of your eye. For a brief moment, you are afraid, but that is not the type of fear that I am talking about. The former is a natural, biological built-in response which enables us to move quickly from harm's way if a bus were barreling down the road we are walking upon. The latter is more sinister in that we “think” and ponder on who or what it is that we are seeing or feeling and “demonize” the energy. Another issue worth mentioning is a solicitation not to engage in conversation with these “beings”. They are highly volatile in nature and even though to a curious mind it may seem worth engaging, nothing but incomprehensible gobbledygook can be obtained.

Shadow Beings have been photographed throughout history.

Energy can be transformed. There are many techniques that you can use to rid yourself of Shadow Beings when or if they invade your household. Simple prayer often transforms the negative energy into light. Darkness cannot exist in light and vice-versa. Call on the Archangel Michael, angel of the element of fire to surround you and protect you with what I call the “White Flames”. Simply visualize yourself and the entire room engulfed in warm white flames of fire that purify the surrounding space while repeating a mantra of your choice: Ohm, God, Allah, etc. If you are more of a physically minded person who loves to take “action,” you may cleanse the room with a good cedar/sage blend of incense. Going counter-clockwise from the doorway of the room, smudge the area with the incense by wafting its smoke into the corners and along the borders of the room while visualizing white light increasing in intensity. Hold a white candle while praying a personal prayer of positive energy and protection and then light it in the center of the room while meditating.

Remind yourself often that you are in control of your own reality and that you have the power and love of the Universe to transform any negative energy/being that comes into your life. This is the same admonishment given regarding shadow people. It is simply energy that can be transformed.

Success Principle #4: Don't Be Outworked and Don't Give Up!

Written By Jason Shields

Don't be outworked and don't give up. These two are synonymous with each other so I include them as one principle. “I will not be outworked period!” Actor Will Smith quoted the above statement. Other people may be more talented than you, they may be smarter and they may be sexier, but all of that doesn't matter. You have to possess an “I will not be outworked and I will not give up” attitude. I like what Will says, “you might be all of those things [sexier, smarter, more talented] but if we get on a treadmill together – there are [one of] two things [that are going to happen]: you're getting off first or I'm gonna die.” It is truly that simple: do not let others outwork you. The one who is willing to hustle the most out on the court of life is the one who will pick up that loose ball and score.

There is an ongoing daily battle that takes place within ourselves. One moment, we feel on top of the world and the next, down on ourselves and others. There are two parts of our psyches that are at odds with one another from time to time. For example, it is a cold, winter morning and you are warm and snug in your bed when the alarm goes off. Depending upon the day and your feelings, the alarm may sound like nails on a chalkboard as you hit the snooze button and bury your head deeper under the covers. Or, it may be a day where you are starting a new job or a new project that you conceived of and are excited to jump out of bed and jump into the day with a curiosity of what wonderful things your day may hold. In this instance, you hustle out of bed with an excitement that you once felt when you awoke as a child on Christmas morning.

The principle of “don't be outworked and don't give up” can be summed up in one word: hustle. To hustle means to get going, to keep going. Hustle above and beyond your “call of duty”. Hustling means That you have to work long hours and well into the night on your dreams and goals. Hustling may mean getting up an hour early in the morning so that you do have extra time to meditate or workout. Success comes from going that extra mile above and beyond the competition. Am I suggesting that you ignore your family responsibilities? Of course not. It is what you do in your spare time that matters the most. Many people are content with getting up in the morning, going to work, coming home and then watching television for the rest of the evening only to get up the next morning and experience the same routine. Yet, in this roundabout routine, we still expect that our lives will get better. We erroneously expect that we will eventually earn more money and experience more abundance but without the extra effort.

Successful people do not wait until their circumstances “get better”. They create their own circumstances via thought and persistent action in spite of how good or bad they feel at that moment. For example, there are some days where I just do not want to go to the gym to workout. I have a set routine where I workout different body parts each day and if I am to experience growth and more strength, I need to go to the gym whether my mind or body feels like it or not. It is interesting how recent events in my life fit so well with what I am currently writing about. Yesterday was a tough day for me gym-wise. My lower back pain was excruciating due to lifting heavily the week before and I just did not want to set foot into the gym, let alone continue with my exercise regime.

Then I heard Will Smith's voice in my head saying “You gotta hustle!” So I told myself, “I may feel like crap today, but I'm getting out there and I'm going to do it and get it done!” And I did! I felt the pain, but I pushed through it and gave it my all. Of course, I came home to a pile of dishes in the sink and some laundry. Again, I heard that voice, “Hustle!” and I kept moving and got it all finished. In spite of what you feel or think, do it anyway! Finish the task! You may feel so tired right now that you believe that you can't move another muscle, move forward anyway! Once the particular task for today is finished, then you can collapse on your bed and I guarantee that when you do collapse, there will be a smile on your face and a feeling of “I did it!” that will warm your body and soul.

In reality, you are competing against you; nobody else. It is perfectly fine to look around you to see what others in your particular field are doing or how they are doing it. This is how we learn. Yes, I know that there are bodybuilders that are bigger and more trim than I am. I know that there are psychics who appear to be more successful than I am at this time. However, instead of falling into the comparison trap, I simply look at my colleagues and admire them and try to do my best to learn from them which in turn, makes me a better bodybuilder or psychic or life coach.

What this success principle really comes down to is the battle within our psyche. There is a tiny voice within us which I call the “cranky child”. It is constantly complaining and making excuses about why it can't do something. It is the lazy part of us that expects that everything be brought to it on a silver plate. We all have this cranky child within us from time to time. How does one tame this child? Become your own parent! A good parent will firmly but lovingly instruct their child that they are to do what they are told whether it be chores or going to football practice, or even homework. Well, in a sense, as adults we have chores: dishes, laundry, cleaning. We have “practice” which we call working out our body through exercise. Most importantly, we have our own “homework” which we relate to dream and goal fulfillment. Recall when you were in school and you had homework to do that was “extra,” above and beyond what you learned at school or college that day. What did you do? Chances are your parents made you turn off the television and or the radio and sit in your room or at the table to study and finish the “extra learning” required for successful completion of your degree/grade.

This is the same concept used for us only our homework has to do with our real dreams of what we truly wish to accomplish and experience. Your job as your own parent will be to say to yourself “You WILL work on this tonight whether you want to or not! You have to get this done!” You may be in a job that you despise while secretly wishing for the career of your dreams. Ask yourself this question, “What am I doing in my spare time to go after that career (goal)?” If you have a family and other extra obligations, you will have to hustle even harder. I promise you that there are thousands of successful people who have had a full-time job and a full-time family and still managed to accomplish their set goals. It may have taken them a little longer and many sleepless nights, but the fire within their soul kept them going! Dear reader, you can do whatever you set your mind and heart to! Hustling sometimes means that you forgo your nightly television viewing and working on that novel that you always dreamed of writing. It may mean declining an offer to friends who want you to go out to drink and play pool and instead, practice on your hobby or skill that you wish to hone and use in the future. It may mean that in spite of feeling tired, overwhelmed, depressed and in pain, that you still “get moving” and move that much closer to your desired end.

“Do not be outworked” means to outdo yourself. Take yourself and your work beyond the comfortable box you're in and go the extra mile. You will adapt. At first, it will be stressful and there will be times where your inner “cranky child” will cry and stomp around and throw a fit. All the while, though, it is your job to take charge and make yourself do it and the child will eventually grow up. 

Namaste!