Sucked In By Zero

Chasing Zero: Sucked in by ZeroZero the Mime once recounted a story concerning a Guru who was healing magically. You know-raising the dead and all that.

And as he wove the tale, I noticed that he was kind of wadding up a napkin in his left hand, that momentarily appeared in his right hand, and again in his left, and so on.Remembering the night-him telling that tale I was struck. Zero doing magic while telling a tale concerning sleight of hand? How cool.I was sucked in and humbled, not by what I saw, but rather what I couldn’t see: Napkins somehow changing from hand to hand. The power of magic itself. The unseen power. The power of zero.

Happiness May Bring

Happiness May BringThe King James version of the Bible says it this way - “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”In 1977 my mentor said to me: “place the spiritual first and there’s nothing you can’t do.”

But hearing that statement is one thing, doing that is another.Some 43 years later, I am here to report that everything he said was true. The worst day of my life was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. By losing every material stitch I was forced to reach out and place my efforts towards reaching for the only thing I had left to fall back on. I didn’t call my banker, my lawyer, nor my accountant, but rather a meat cutter/ carpenter/electrician; my spiritual advisor.And for the next three years, as my material life was stripped away, he set me on a track that I have followed ever since.By placing my efforts on the spiritual rather than the material world, on the giving rather than the taking side, by striving to attract” rather than to achieve, I have amassed a fortune. And the material fortune is far less important than the spiritual & emotional ease that I’ve received.Does one beget the other? Does spiritual discipline and emotional balance attract material wealth? Well here’s my conclusion in a capsule:“Money won’t bring you happiness; But happiness may bring you money.” JHM, 1986

All That's Left Behind

All That’s Left BehindYears ago I wrote a prayer for myself:“Thank you Godfor all I’ve been given,All I’ve had taken,And for all that’s left behind.”

My life’s been shaped sometimes gently and sometimes roughly.Today's result is a combination of my will, exercised in my imagination, and God’s power that moves the Celestial vibrations that form the world;these forms I am able to attract and shape by seeking God’s will in all of my daily activities.

Not Just Yet

Not Just YetThe morning brings me awe. A small sliver of silence that connects me to a Power of the World. It’s a fuel source, a spot that I may return to that gives me new power to pause and receive a divine guidance; a nudge, a hunch, an idea that just seems right. I can feel it. It fits. And often the answer to my little prayer is “not just yet.” 

The Jesus Blog

Chasing Zero - The Art of Choosing Zero: A Moment of AweSome very wise words from my friend, David Poleski. He is the original Zero, but more about that another time.Tipping my hat to you this morning. I wish we could have a conversation in person about all of this.

Zero, of course, occurs with the realization that the person we take ourselves to be is, in reality, a linguistic construct...an intellectual figment. Being ‘saved’ is to realize that there’s no one there to BE saved.Jesus of Nazareth put it thus: ‘...he whosoever loses HIS life (sees beyond the ego) finds life, and he whosoever finds life loses his own (realizes ‘Zero’).We’ve all Experienced this in one way or another…either in meditation or, more likely, when we are so engaged in doing something we love, that we lose all notions of self...time disappears and along with it, the ego.And when this happens, the great joy appears. This happens for two reasons…the first is, again, that our notion of self has disappeared (along with its myriad of problems). The other is that when we are doing something we love, we are doing what we are meant to be doing…what we were created for…what we were bio-chemically created to be doing.This is the same as doing God‘s will for, if God created us, ‘He’ created us with those very bio-chemical predispositions. When one encounters joy then, one can be sure that they are doing what they were created to be doing and, in addition, have become ‘Zero’ in the process.Notice, that when we are in joy, we are completely married to the present moment....time completely disappears. Again, Jesus of Nazareth put it thus: ‘....The way is wide that leads to destruction and many there are that go in thereat. The way is narrow that leads to righteousness, and a few there be that find it.'The ‘wide way’ he was talking about is the past and future (Where, when we are engaged in either of those we are in misery). The ‘narrow way’ is the present moment, and when we are in the present moment we are in peace and joy....and are at the place where the ego has disappeared and we have become Zero.Whoops…gotta fly. We really do need to talk about all of this in person...

The Art of Choosing Zero

Chasing Zero - The Art of Choosing Zero: A Moment of AweSome very wise words from my friend, David Poleski. He is the original Zero, but more about that another time.Tipping my hat to you this morning. I wish we could have a conversation in person about all of this.

Zero, of course, occurs with the realization that the person we take ourselves to be is, in reality, a linguistic construct...an intellectual figment. Being ‘saved’ is to realize that there’s no one there to BE saved.Jesus of Nazareth put it thus: ‘...he whosoever loses HIS life (sees beyond the ego) finds life, and he whosoever finds life loses his own (realizes ‘Zero’).We’ve all Experienced this in one way or another…either in meditation or, more likely, when we are so engaged in doing something we love, that we lose all notions of self...time disappears and along with it, the ego.And when this happens, the great joy appears. This happens for two reasons…the first is, again, that our notion of self has disappeared (along with its myriad of problems). The other is that when we are doing something we love, we are doing what we are meant to be doing…what we were created for…what we were bio-chemically created to be doing.This is the same as doing God‘s will for, if God created us, ‘He’ created us with those very bio-chemical predispositions. When one encounters joy then, one can be sure that they are doing what they were created to be doing and, in addition, have become ‘Zero’ in the process.Notice, that when we are in joy, we are completely married to the present moment....time completely disappears. Again, Jesus of Nazareth put it thus: ‘....The way is wide that leads to destruction and many there are that go in thereat. The way is narrow that leads to righteousness, and a few there be that find it.'The ‘wide way’ he was talking about is the past and future (Where, when we are engaged in either of those we are in misery). The ‘narrow way’ is the present moment, and when we are in the present moment we are in peace and joy....and are at the place where the ego has disappeared and we have become Zero.Whoops…gotta fly. We really do need to talk about all of this in person...

The Power of the Wedge

Chasing Zero: The Power of the WedgeIn AA we have formed the habit of carrying chips in our pockets to designate long lengths of sobriety. As in, 30 years is a great accomplishment. However, I haven’t found that to be true; I was closer to a drink my 21st year than I ever was my first; a more perilous 45th year than the 25th.So instead, I carry on my key chain - a wedge. Check it out: a small point on one end and a larger surface in the back.Just before the wedge begins there’s a place called Zero. And that is the place where a hunch, an idea, an inspiration, or a grudge sets the point in place.

The tip of the wedge symbolizes a small good or a small bad choice that can end either in a huge accomplishment affecting millions or someone’s tragic demise.Inspiration or grudge? How do you wish your life to be.Chasing Zero.

The Journey Begins

No One Did This To Me But Me

On December 25, 1973, after an eight-hour dinner - a dinner where no alcohol was served, I returned to my shack on the Port Madison Indian Reservation. I stared at the mirror on the bathroom wall.The image in the mirror was more than just kinda rough. A bloated, stringy-haired, red-faced wino was looking back. Drug-addled me for sure, but I was sober for the first time in years. I talked to the man in the mirror, "No one did this to you but you.”With that simple statement I was able to see the real source of all my woes...me. Not my mom, not my dad, not the judge, not even Vietnam. The source of my troubles was me.

I can never change you. I can always change me. The journey had begun.