I have been happily addicted to playing Mahjong on my phone.
The goal is to match pairs of identical tiles until all are removed from the board.
I rarely win. Maybe it is the soothing Chung Chong sound it makes when I match a pair.
The main strategy is to free up as many options as possible as soon as possible.
For example, clearing the tile with the two circles at the top of the pile opens up many possibilities.
The same with tiles on the edges.
The worst scenario is when a tile blocks copies of itself. I think there is a lesson in that! We do get in our own way sometimes.
It took me a few months to become aware that I was wasting a lot of mental energy mapping English names to the tiles: red sword, ‘n’, M & M, 1-bar, …
All that did was slow me down.
It is much easier to scan for patterns without thinking verbally.
Like when a person learns a second language and stops translating in their head and starts thinking directly in the new language.
Or a musician simply plays fluidly without thinking about theory or technique.
Simply playing in the moment.
Some would call that Flow.
If you find yourself with a Noisy Mind, no matter what you are doing, ask if the mental chatter, calculations, second-guessing, and like are helping with the task at hand or holding you back.
Look for the simplest, most direct way.
Easier said than done, but important for your success and peace of mind.
I recently came across this podcast by Danielle LaPorte about letting go of things that weigh us down so that we can come out the current crisis lighter in spirit.
“Binding identities, grievances, expired dreams, regrets, possessions. Can you feel the pressure to let go?
Energetic stagnation makes us more vulnerable to all kinds of viral things—from negative thought patterns to viruses. I’m rolling out “The List of Letting Go” so we can lighten our emotional load to fit through this portal of change.”
— Danielle Laporte
Danielle has an amazing voice and something in this podcast resonated with me. It may also resonate with you.
You may know actor Rainn Wilson for parts in The Office, Six Feet Under, and Many others.
The interview that appeared in Religion Unplugged provides a great introduction to The Baha’i Faith.
I know very little about it, though the following quote is why I am interested in learning more.
“Baha’u’llah’s teachings are very much progressive social teachings that are here for the unification of humankind,” Wilson said. “This is why I’m a Baha’i right now, especially because of this current political climate, Baha’u’llah’s message is one of love and unity and bringing people together. It’s the elimination of racial prejudice, the equality of women and men, elimination of extremes between wealth and poverty, universal education and the harmony of science and religion.”
I have often said that if you were to only by a single book on how to understand and live a life from a spiritual perspective, it would be Deepak Chopra’s The Seven Laws of Spiritual Success.
The book is short, barely over 100 pages.
Yet this book explains ancient ideas and Sanskrit words from Hinduism and Buddhism that we often use casually without fully understanding.
Words like Karma and Dharma.
The Seven Laws
The Law of Pure Potentiality
The Law of Giving
The Law of “Karma’ or Cause and Effect
The Law of Least Effort
The Law of Intention and Desire
The Law of Detachment
The Law of “Dharma” or Purpose in Life
Some may seem contradictory.
How do you reconcile The Law of Intention and Desire?
Deepak Chopra makes it look easy! A true Enlightened Master at work!
A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams
Each chapter on a spiritual law is followed by short set of instructions for applying the law of to your life. Here are the steps from Law Seven.
“Applying the Law ‘Darma’ or Purpose In Life”
“I will put the Law of Dharma into effect by making a commitment to take the following steps.”
“Today I will lovingly nurture the god or goddess in embryo that lies deep within my soul. I will pay attention to the spirit within me that animates both my body and my mind. I will awaken myself to this deep stillness within my heart. I will carry the consciousness of timeless, eternal Being in the midst of time-bound experience.”
“I will make a list of my unique tallents. Then I will list all the things that I love to do while expressing my unique talents. When I express my unique talents and use them in service of humanity, I lose track of time and create abundance in my life as well as in the lives of others.”
“I will ask myself daily, ‘How can I serve?’ and ‘How can I help?’ The answers to these these questions will allow me to help and serve my fellow human beings with love’
A simple recipe for life!
My challenge is to know what my special gifts are?
The other six laws lead to the seventh law.
Each one has steps to follow for “Applying The Law of …”.
Repeat to make it a daily practice. By some coincidence, there are Seven Laws and Seven Days! You could loop through and practice a new law each day of the week.
Eventually you will integrate each of the Laws of Success to simple be living the Seven Laws of Spiritual Success every day.
Repeat to create a lightness of being and love in the world.
Breathing Variation
Here a version you can do with simple breathing.
Tip: Breathe deep into the bottom of your lungs, expanding your lower rib cage.
Your Body
Breath in deeply, thinking Peace
Hold
Breath out thinking Peace
Repeat three times
Repeat with Harmony
Repeat with Laughter
Repeat with Love
Love is the Key
The stream is on the Xenia Retreat Centre on Bowen Island, near Vancouver, British Columbia.
The retreat centre is open for bookings such as weddings, silent retreats, artist retreats, writing retreats, executive retreats, yoga retreats, and more.
I am embarking on a new adventure to explore various spiritual paths and beliefs, starting with my own notions. It will start with blog posts and will likely involve interviews with a wide range of seekers and thinkers. There could be a book or two. There could be a documentary.
Let’s see where this path takes us.
Spiritual Free Agent
My mother fled the farm and the Catholic church when she was 18. She raised us to be independent thinkers and make our own choices choice about religious or spiritual beliefs or lack thereof.
When asked, I will often give the following smart-ass answer:
I am an Existential Christ-ian Taoist Shaman with a Buddhist Interpretation. Or perhaps simply a Free Agent.
Greg Dixon
I say it mostly as a joke, though it begins to hint at a very broad range of enquiry and experiences.
A Pattern Emerges in the Rearview Mirror
Although I seldom had a plan, there are a few interesting patterns visible when look at the ground I have covered in my life:
Watched the interviews of Joseph Campbell by Bill Moyes on The Masks of God. I have the books in the locker.
Visited the headquarters of the Theosophical Society in Adyar, India where they have manuscripts from many different spiritual traditions and a tree descended from the Bodhi tree where Siddhartha achieved Enlightenment and became the Buddha.
Attended and done video projects with Unity churches, United Churches, and Anglican Churches.
Did projects with the Masons and Shriners.
Shot video of a Muslim marriage ceremony and related celebrations.
Read the Koran, The Book of Morman, the Tao Te Ching, the Tao of Pooh, some of the Old Testament, different translations of the New Testament, and tried reading the Bhagavad Gita. Not a master of any of the texts.
Used a passage from Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet in my first wedding. There was a line about “Let there be space in your togetherness.” Indeed, there has been a few partners and over 5,000 Kilometres between us. We are still connected, though.
Been willing to try to understand the beliefs of any woman I was involved with.
Spent time in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malasia.
Have some Buddhist connections.
Spent a considerable amount of time with a Native artist shaman.
Have participated in and witnessed various Native ceremonies.
Am in awe of the natural world. As Albert Einstein said: “Not only is the universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think.”