The Mystery of Life: the Self unveiled

Hi friends,

I’m thinking about why I write/illustrate/maintain Lordflea. This is what’s on my mind today and want to share with you some thoughts.

from my Heart to yours

from my Heart to yours

A lot of blogs are where people talk about what’s happening in their lives.  A modern gal raising her family while living on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma (pioneer woman); one offers everything there is to know about a certain subject, from soup to nuts (my fav: yoga dork); another, an often not-so-quiet inside view of a person’s daily routine (iambossy.com). For whatever merits the above blogs have, none of these subjects is quite what i’ve been sharing  about here on Lord Flea Sings.

You see, the only thing that matters to me is to document with either art or writing — and also how i focus my everyday actions — depictions of how I “think” the life we all know as “normal” is just the tip of the proverbial reality iceberg. “Things are not what they appear to be” could be a good subtitle of what the blog Lord Flea attempts to do, by sharing events, experiences, insights and proof of how very little we really know about what this life is all about.

Does it matter? To speculate of things others often don’t give a damn about?

Well yes, it does. Everyone has the right to be heard. And just because my opinion may not be the one most popularly held by the masses, for me it is true: We are spiritual beings having a human experience. And guess what? More and more people are waking up to this Fact! This is the true significance of the auspicious date of 2012, by the way, when enough of us seekers (awakened Sun Dancers in Native American terminology) are present here on Earth, creating a “tipping point” scenario when, due to our numbers at the year 2012, ALL of humanity will be influenced by our perceptions, due to the “dominoes theory” (when an action starts, in this case the spiritualization of humankind, all the “dominoes” in close range will be affected because the number of awakened individuals has now reached the level of saturation needed to cause a chain reaction….and the entire world will be transformed!).

the awakening of Gaia

the awakening of Gaia

How do i know this is true?

Not because anyone tells me, that’s for certain! So please, don’t believe me just because I say it … that your life is more than what it appears. When you start having experiences, that’s when a person knows what Truth really is. For me, I’ve always wanted to know the “secret” behind what life really is. Just Living has never been enough to satisfy my curiosity. I’ve searched far and wide and — wow! i’ve been given, over and over, experiences that prove beyond a shadow of doubt that “Life” is truly what the Native Americans call “The Mystery.”

We are all interconnected, this much I know. Whether by electromagnetic forces, DNA, or some other form of yet-undetected energy. This Oneness stuff is a reality I’ve felt since childhood. Only, we tend to forget how we felt as children, don’t we? As adults, some of us are interested in re-claiming the pure, simple, undiluted psychic connections that come more easily to less-intellectually and emotionally encumbered beings, the kids.

So, getting to my topic of today’s post, “explaining the Self” … in ancient texts, some of the most revered and oldest on our planet, the way the sages described the “object of life” was to describe the Self, called the Atman in Sanskrit, the language of the Upanishads. The Self is how Atman is translated into English, and no doubt it’s a lousy substitute, but language is a tricky thing for describing things that are, well, indescribable. So we just try our best, don’t we? Especially writers, artists, dancers, musicians who attempt to encapsulate the bliss, transport, and transcendence of humanity.

The Self can be thought of like the common denominator found in all creation. It is pure energy, pure consciousness, but it is not conscious of itself. It is form without form and of all form. It is, in one word, pure Spirit. I guess some can call it “God” but eghads i think that word is too politically/culturally/religiously charged these days to depict anything other than a humanoid-type that tells others how to live. And that ain’t what the Self is.

Sometimes to comprehend a new idea it’s useful to explore its opposite. Think of the Self’s opposite, which is the “small” self, the idea of “me” “I” “personality” “attributes”….and perhaps that helps to describe that the “Big” Self is none of these. The Big Self is a thing’s essence. For humans it’d be what you were before you were born; what you will continue to be once you have left your earthly body. What you are in-between those two other stages of being-ness as well.

Hmmmmm, interesting, eh? Once again, I want to remind you that I’m not a dreamer. This is stuff I’ve experienced. Yup!

Yes, the Self is that part of yourself that you’ve always sensed, and can cultivate as much as you wish, when you shut off your thinking mind, the analytical part of your makeup. Getting to the purity of the Self requires patience, and a willingness to strip yourself naked of all preconceptions. How can you experience the Self? The best, most practical, and always reliable method is by developing a meditation practice. You can learn to meditate by many means, it doesn’t matter which type of meditation you choose. Just do it! The more a person can spend time in the pure consciousness that underlies all thought, the more a person will understand the true secrets of this earthly life. And …. the rewards of pure bliss, understanding, and peace await anyone willing to try meditation. Other methods of tapping the source of being-ness (ritualistically imbibing psychotropic drugs, for instance; or undergoing re-birthing and other forms of metaphysical healing) are not reliable and their effects totally depend on outside variables, so therefore, i do NOT advocate using them. Meditation is the only reliable method of connecting with the Inner Self.

And once you connect, there i no limit to the exploration of the Self.

So, my dear friends, you can see the subjects I discuss here are not what most bloggers elaborate on. Being popular, in synch with world trends, on top of the news, all these things don’t mean much to me. What does matter is to spread the Truth that life here on Earth is a gift. We who are alive at this present time are indeed lucky, because in being alive we can bring into the material plane that which is present throughout all the Universe … pure energy, unlimited possibilities. We humans are much more than what most of us think we are.

We are beings of light being given the opportunity to spread the word, share the energy, dive into the bliss of our spiritual nature.

The sooner one realizes this as fact, the more a person can enjoy the life they are leading, no matter what the circumstances are. Rich or poor, educated or not, living in freedom or incarcerated in tyranny — outer circumstances of our lives come and go, and yes, must be dealt with, and always worked on to make the experience as true, as clear, as unobstructed as possible. But even if a person were to never know what the modern world has to offer, or they never get to leave their little village in the Third World, and must struggle for something to eat, if a person has learned to tap into the unlimited power of their inner Self, that true part of their humanness, they are living the life we all aspire to!

A successful human existence is when a person embraces their unlimited Inner Self as the true “I am.”

in the Light, your pal Lordflea

ps. i’m just learning my new macBookPro and have not mastered how to upload my images, so please excuse my lousy attempt today! Ommmmm

Life— and Death — what never changes

so here i am still discussing “change.” Besides what I’ve said previously about the constancy of change being the only thing one can rely on in our lives, and the reliance upon a Higher Power, for those of us lucky enough to hold this comforting Truth of the sanctity of life close to our hearts and minds—the other thing about change that never sways is the inevitability of Life one day ending in Death. 

the three aspects of mySelf

the three aspects of mySelf

This is a painting i did to portray what i’m talking about here. It’s a self-portrait, done on my 32nd birthday (not too long ago). The three different representations of my own Self are simply this, as lordflea sees IT:

the blue face, somewhat hidden, is how i perceive myself from an everyday, living-the-life-i-have point of view; how i can “see” the ever-beckoning choices before me and how I have the Inner Power to choose how my life decisions go: what i make of my life’s potential, what i came into life with, how i use my gifts, and how i see mySelf contributing to the uplifting evolution of humankind (instead of the opposite, contributing to our downfall).

the green side of my Being-ness: this is my ancestral Self: what i’ve inherited from the DNA within my body, the temple of my soul; what i’ve learned from the culture i was born into, and the many generations of cultural imprint upon my soul—even before i arrived in this life i have here and now, today.

the “flesh colored” figure: ahhhh, here is the REAL me. The naked Truth. This is my spiritual body, my glistening aura, my True Self. It is always within me, as all three aspects of mySelf are as well. But this part of mySelf is the most important to me. That’s why it is the most predominant, and fully formed.

By the way—when i painted this painting i hadn’t had ANY of this figured out. I just painted. It’s only in hindsight, after many journeys, many lessons, many teachers, that I’ve been able to decipher the totally WEIRD art that i create.

So why am I talking about this particular topic, life and death, and who we REALLY are, today? Well, a good friend of mine, Isabel, lost her mother yesterday. Isabel Senior died at home. A few of us gathered with our friend and sat with Isabel and her ritualistically cleansed, annoited, and nicely dressed and laid out dead mother’s body, and …. no, it wasn’t morbid! … it was quite beautiful. After the initial hotness of tears (because this lady who passed over into the Light, who would have been 90 on Sunday, was a dear heart i had known for years, and I was feeling a wave of sadness only because i couldn’t visit her anymore, even though we were all glad she’d finally been released from her too-long later-life journey of a major stroke, almost total immobility, and loss of so much of life’s great gifts)—it was a joy to celebrate Isabel Sr’s life, which had been lived well.

Unlike the contrasting and senseless loss of my friend, Michelle, three weeks ago. She was only 44 and died as a result of her own actions: drinking and drugging herself to death.

Choices. We can choose to live well, take good care of our temples and enjoy the benefits of health—even though we’ll always have SOME challenge to figure out (toe fungus? bad back? overweight? tennis elbow? diabetes?). Our bodies–our temples—are the greatest gift we’re given in this life, but it is not WHO or WHAT we actually are. People too often forget this. And for this reason, I am a yogi because in the scriptures of yoga that is clearly taught: we are the eternal Self…all of us, a part of the ONE.

Ooooooommmmmm

Oooooooommmmmmm

Life and Death. What else is there worth living for? It’s pretty intense stuff, when you’re right next to it. Either the birth of a gorgeous new soul entering our world, or the leaving of one after a life lived—-well, according to whatever choices were made.

Isabel Senior was a grand lady. Filled with love for her family and others. And in turn, she was always surrounded by adoring people. She was kind, open-hearted, yet sophisticated, stylish, and interested in all of life’s many offerings. If Isabel Sr. had demons she dealt with them quietly, and got on with her life at hand. On the other side of the coin Michelle struggled very loudly, very ego-centrically with her demons. And even though she too was blessed with intelligence, beauty, and a loving family—she made the bad choice of indulging in self pity, over and over. She never let go of the demons. That was her choice. And now she is dead, waaaaay too prematurely. Isabel Sr. is dead too, but everyone is celebrating her life, and her release from her old age harassment. Because her passing-over seems like a reward—whereas Michelle’s death is a horribly tragic end to a life filled with endlessly bad choices. Michelle’s little four-year-old Nicole, left behind in stunned confusion, will have to bear the stigma of what her mother’s choices meant to her life. Michelle’s other daughter, Carri, aged 24, is shocked into a stunned spiral of what can only be life-defining understanding—or not. Carri is the one who found her mother, dead from an overdose. What can one think of life, when faced with such trauma?

take time and breathe....look within your own Self

take time and breathe .... look within your own Self

 our choices direct our life’s experiences.

We can make our lives a prayer. This is why I do mantra repetition. CONSTANTLY. Om Namah Shivaya (I honor my Inner Self) is ONE with my breath, my mind, my life.

We can experience heaven on earth, right here, right now—even in the midst of life’s tragedies, violence of war and oppression, and personal adversity, if we choose to see life as an experience our spiritual Self is having—and realize this “life” we have is only a temporary stop on our REAL journey. To where? I know not. But I do know there is much more than meets the eye, in this existence called Life.

Or—the other choice—we can make our lives sheer hell, if our viewpoint is that of wanting to control everything about life, know every little thing about it. Some things are just plain un-knowable. Life is a mystery.

The choice is ours.

set your sails and let your breathe lead you to the Source

set your sails and let your breathe lead you to the Source

in the Light, lordflea

yoga in buenos aires

here we are in argentina, where a woman is president and people are not that affected by the global economic crunch, i´m told,  but unfortunately the aires in buenos aires (good airs) is NOT buenos…because of the pollution, which in spanish is the more graphic word, contaminacion. here the people are lovely, and i mean not just in looks but in manners. everyone smiles and looks you in the eye. there is absolutely NO obesity also, which is perhaps the most startling contrast between this place and everywhere else you go to in America these days. <people, stop eating junk!! here people eat a lot of beef but it has hardly any fat, due to the fact that it apparently is grass fed, as opposed to the american grain’fed cattle, or worse,given feed loaded with chemicals, appetite’enhancers, etc.

i´m meeting the ex wife of an old friend of mine´whom i don´t know, who happens to be a yoga teacher here in buenos aires. we will together visit an ancient, very respected cemetary right next to my hotel, where peron himself is buried. perhaps eva too, but i don´t know that yet.  then i´ll be taking my friend´s yoga class, which of course will be in spanish. mi espanol es mucho mas mejor que el otros tiempos en los  pays espagnoles.

we rented bicycles, something Carter and i love to do wherever we go. biking around is the best way to check out a new place. i recommend everyone does that, in order to vibe out what´s really happening in a new place, whether it´s a city or a rural place, in a new country, or just in another part of your county. if a bike is available this is the most fun way to cover a lot of ground and see the sort of places usually only the daring adventurous locals get to see. when we travel we don´t head for the shops, bars, eateries or galleries or museums, but to the back streets, the docks, the alleys and unheralded places where the working people hang, or the outer edges of the city, where you can see how a city is put together, by the trains, trucks and ships that come and go. but then, carter and i are sailors and we love to be where the underbelly of a place thrives, rather than where the deals are. so many people who travel seem to go some place just to get a deal. who cares, not me. i go for the stories each person has in their eyes, or the way the streets are lined up, which plants grow there and which don´t, rather than what all the famous artists who have died or are even still alive, have depicted life in their country to be, or what their inner sentiments are. i´d rather make up my own mind than to be influenced by others´art. but then…this is an artist speaking, an person who considers writing to be word’painting, and images in collaboration with establishing a deeper connection to the Inner Self.

no pictures today, or any of my drawings, but i hope you take this opportunity to look over some of the older posts in lordflea. wishing you a great day. how do you like the way i´ve used this spanish keyboard…where i can´t even find the question mark…

in the Light, lordflea, from buenos aires, where we stay for a few more days before heading to cordoba, close to chile.