CHICAGO CARLESS

The Life and Times of a Former New Yorker Living in Downtown Chicago

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Worldview

(July 12, 2008)–Since 2006, I have been aware of a spiritual awakening coursing through my life.  Until recently, only spits and spurts of that experience have made it far enough to the surface to make a real impact.  As these events have occurred I’ve chronicled them in my Spiritual Awakening archives, and I trace their thread more fully on my Journey page.

In May 2008, something completely unexpected happened to me that led to a full-blown transformation of myself, my view of the world, and, most of all, my ability to feel and celebrate joy and compassion.  I discuss this event in the three-year anniversary post that marks the debut of the overhauled CHICAGO CARLESS.

My revitalized perspective draws on ancient teachings that have been repeated many times throughout history by diverse philosophical thinkers and spiritual leaders (for a good introduction into what I have and continue to study, see the works of Buddhist teachers Pema Chödrön, Thich Nhat Han, and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the “secret” oral teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, the voluminous Jane Roberts Seth material,  the many writings of Deepak Chopra, and recent works from Eckhart Tolle). None of this is new to me–I accepted these beliefs privately as a teenager.  It just took 20 years to finally feel the truth of them–for me–in my life.

I’m sharing my worldview here because for a very long time I sought out similar perspectives on the Internet and through friends. My experience has been that though many people are aware something ineffable is happening in ourselves and the world around us, very few are willing to share those feelings publicly.

My blog has always been a window to what is inside of me, and frequently I receive email from readers who thank me for offering a supportive perspective on personal life situations that turned out to have meaning for them. I share this perspective here with the certainty that I am not the only one who harbors it, and in friendship to those who find fellowship in it.

Going forward, this perspective will inform my writing on CHICAGO CARLESS in the same measure as it has come to inform my life.

As with all things, your mileage may vary, and that’s totally OK. There’s a great quote drawn from Unitarian Universalism, a free faith I much admire:

We don’t have to think alike to love alike.

But no matter who we are, it is fundamental that we examine what we think. And most of all, that we love.

I believe:

  • That love, compassion, and change are the driving forces of the Universe.
  • That we as humans have a limitless ability–and responsibility–to allow love, compassion, joy, happiness, and peace to course through our lives and into the lives of those around us.
  • That true happiness, security, and well-being come from within.
  • That letting go of our misplaced attachments–to possessions, to people, and to our often highly limited ideas of ourselves–is the surest way to give joy a chance to enter our lives.
  • That ideas like these seem silly or unattainable to some only because we live in a society that has forgotten the importance of the human heart, and that we all have the ability to remember and reacquaint ourselves with matters of the heart.
  • That a higher power exists, and that the fundamental nature of ourselves and the world that we perceive is the spiritual consciousness of that higher power.
  • That there is no real separation between ourselves and the world around us, or between the mundane world and the world of spirit.
  • That every moment is holy, and every instant is a renewed chance to change our lives for the better.
  • That the only time we have the ability to celebrate love and compassion and the unlimited power to transform our lives–is now.
  • That the past never limits or binds us, that we limit and bind ourselves with misplaced fears, habits, and beliefs about the past.
  • That when we learn to let go in the present moment, past limitations fall away and our lives are transformed.
  • That, because of our fundamental spiritual natures, our beliefs, ideas, and expectations about ourselves, our lives, and the world around us manifest and create the reality that we live on a literal and ongoing basis, and that when we experience joyful situations or painful situations, we have only to examine our beliefs to find out why.
  • That the “secrets” to life, death, spirit, and meaning in one form or another have never been secret, guarded, or unattainable, but instead have lain openly throughout the ages for anyone to explore, but that few choose to do so because such ideas challenge traditionally held yet usually equally unexamined beliefs.
  • That there is not and cannot be one single valid spiritual journey.
  • And that by dint of being alive, each and every one of us is on a spiritual journey.

As with all things in this life, the choice and responsibility to take that journey, however you choose to define it, or not, rests with you and no one else.

May you choose well.

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