A bunny is sitting peacefully outside my study window as I write these words.

He (or she) is absolutely gorgeous. He lives beneath the large blue spruce tree that grows outside our front door and provides him with security and shelter. I hope he has a long and happy life with the help of this tree and his own highly honed survival skills.

I didn’t think I would be writing a post about this bunny this morning. For one thing, I hadn’t seen him for a week, perhaps longer. No, I had it all planned out to write a post about various books that have been helpful to me in my life, and have blessed my life. But when I looked outside a few moments ago and saw this bunny, I started to think about innocence.

Key to happiness and fulfillment

The bunny — he is still there, resting peacefully in the grass at the very edge of the tree that is his friend and protector — is surely the very personification of innocence.

He has a good turn of speed, I give you that, but what options does he have to defend himself against the coyotes, for example, which roam this neighborhood?

The only thing that has kept him alive so far in this townhome complex in which JoAnn and I live is that he is a very alert little bunny– and as I say, can cover a lot of ground very quickly indeed.

The paradox of truth

It’s true that innocence, in the sense I’m speaking of it here, does not necessarily guarantee a long life to any particular physical form, our own included. But there’s a beautiful paradox in life:

When we are truly innocent — that is to say, open to the call of our own eternal Self — we find ourselves connected with the truth at the core of our being that is the very source of all true meaning and happiness.

7 benefits of innocence

Here are 7 reasons why I think it behooves each of us to inquire deeply into this matter of innocence:

1. Reconnect with our own being 

Innocence makes it possible for us to reconnect with our own divine character — which is itself innocent, untainted and untroubled by any of the disturbances and troubles of human existence

2. Hear the voice of truth

Innocence makes it possible to hear the clear, strong voice of our own eternal spirit speaking to us amidst the noise and confusion of this world

3. Live a daring life

Innocence makes it possible to live a daring life — because we trust the impulse of our own inner wisdom, and are willing to follow it whether others agree with us or not

4. Meet the challenges of life

Innocence makes it easier to accept and meet the challenges that life brings to us or to our loved ones or others

5. Helps us change easily 

Innocence makes it possible for us to change as readily and easily as possible. Since change is an absolute necessity, this is an attractive aspect of innocence.

6. Experience the beauty of life 

Innocence makes it possible for us to see and taste the authentic beauty and magic at the core of our existence

7. Makes it possible to forgive

An unforgiving attitude or spirit is a hard burden to bear. Innocence makes it possible to forgive — and easy to forgive.

The bunny is still there as I finish this post. I thought for a moment as I looked out the window that he was asleep. But as I stood up to leave and get a snack, he opened his eyes wide and looked straight at me.

Hmm. Another reason why innocence should be high on our priority list. It opens our eyes to the connection that we share with all other living things on this planet.

What is innocence?

What is true innocence? It’s not naivete, that’s for sure. I like the words attributed to Jesus: “Be ye therefore wise as serpents, harmless as doves” (Matt 10:16). 

I also like some words of the Indian sage, Ramana Maharshi: “The ultimate truth is so simple; it is nothing more than being in one’s natural, original state.”

Please write if you have any thoughts you’d like to share on this theme of innocence.

Please check out my guest post at Good Life Zen entitled “”The 10 timeless joys of aging.”

Have a wonderful holiday season. Be well.

Picture credit:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1221/4723574011_9bd4852732_m.jpg

Innocence — door to true meaning and happiness is a post from: The Happy Seeker - Living with grace at any age

It’s never too soon or too late to reconnect with what is timeless, and changeless, and deathless in you — the truth at the core of your own being.

You don’t have to be in a special building to do this, although of course there is nothing wrong with being in a special building.

You don’t have to be in some exotic place on the face of the globe — and it doesn’t even matter if it’s a special, obviously magical moment or not. More or less any moment will do.

You can commune with what is sacred and free in yourself in a temple, in a coffee shop, in a library or on a hilltop. Beside a rippling stream, or in the midst of a crowd in a supermarket.

Finding true peace for the first time

I was 18 when I consciously experienced for the first time  the timeless peace at the core of my existence.

I was a reporter on a South London newspaper, and on this particular evening, had gone to a concert in the Royal Festival Hall in London. As the concert was coming to a close, without any warning, I drifted into an experience of inner peace and calm unlike anything I had ever known.

As the program ended and people began getting to their feet, chatting to each other, shrugging into their coats, I looked around for a moment, bewildered.

Hadn’t they experienced the same thing I experienced? Well, maybe they did, maybe they didn’t. But as I joined the throng wending its way toward the exit, I realized that whatever had happened to me during the concert — I was back in the “normal” world now, and I’d better get used to it.

5 steps to surrender

What does it take to stop being pushed this way and that by the world’s noisy, insistent clamor and be guided instead by the timeless wisdom of our own being speaking to us in the stillness of our heart?

Here are some steps that I have found are necessary. Of course, if you have some more suggestions, I would love to hear them.

 1. Acknowledge our longing to be whole.

2. Be willing to face the unknown and the stillness at the core of our existence.

 3. Feel our pain and fear no matter how excruciating it may be.

4. Keep on keeping on.

5. Accept the beauty and perfection at the core of our being.

The joy of surrender

I love some words that my friend Gail Brenner wrote on the subject of surrender at her blog, A Flourishing Life:

“Surrender has been on my radar recently. I see how clinging to any thought form or wish or object takes so much effort. And inherent to the clinging is a subversive story of “me.” I want, I need, I expect, I think, I should. It’s exhausting and endless. Unless you surrender.

“Letting go of the attachment to “me” is so relaxing, like floating in space. By surrendering, you put down your defenses and realize the power of being one with now. You enter the flow and let life be lived through you.”

Not a burden

Surrendering to the truth of our existence is not a burden. It doesn’t require any effort. As Gail says, it’s “like floating in space.”

We still feel the push and pull of emotions and external events, mind you. But the ache is gone from our lives, replaced by a sense of increasing wholeness — a love for what is eternally happy and eternally free.

It has been calling to us all our life, just waiting to welcome us home.

Please share any thoughts you may have on these ideas.  And please watch for newsletter arriving soon now.

With blessings. Be well.

Picture credit:http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2375/2235430793_d14bda3cea.jpg

Getting rid of the ache in our lives is a post from: The Happy Seeker - Living with grace at any age

This happened about six years ago. It’s embarrassing as heck, but what can you do?

Our RV, a nice little 22 foot Winnebago that we call Tanner, needed an emissions check. I drive the RV by the way, because JoAnn isn’t comfortable with it.

We took Tanner over to a nearby garage and sat in the waiting room with a bunch of other people who were also waiting to get their vehicles checked out. Eventually the service guy came to us and said it had passed the test and was good to go.

JoAnn waited inside a few minutes while I went outside to start the engine and get Tanner turned around so that we could leave. There wasn’t a lot of space to maneuver and I had to really focus on what I was doing.

The trouble is that after finally getting Tanner turned around – without hitting anything — I just kept on going. That is to say, I proceeded out of the exit and drove home.

As I opened the front door of our house I heard the phone ringing. “Who could that be?” I asked myself. And then, in the same breath, “And why isn’t JoAnn home?”

This all happened very quickly, you must understand. The penny was beginning to drop, but hadn’t gotten all the way to the ground yet.

“Did you forget something?”

I picked up the phone. “Did you forget something?” a familiar voice asked.

Oh dear oh dear oh dear. “Embarrassed” hardly describes how I felt as I whipped back to the garage at a very hasty clip.

Good job that JoAnn is such a good sport is all I can say. Good job we were able to have a good laugh as we drove home together.

I suppose it’s only fair that JoAnn got quite a bit of mileage out of this story when she shared it with her local quilting group a week or two later. They all roared. Apparently quilting groups like telling husband stories and this one brought the house down.

Reminds me of a joke I heard a long time ago when I was still living in England. A vicar is traveling somewhere by train. When the conductor comes along and asks for his ticket, the vicar starts searching his pockets. After awhile, he gets a bit flustered.

“It’s all right sir,” the conductor says kindly. “I know who you are.”

The vicar looks up indignantly. “My dear man, that’s not the point. I need the ticket to remind me where I’m going.”

Key to a happy marriage?

I always share my posts with JoAnn before I send them out. As she sat down to read this article she had a good laugh and then she said: “What turned that into a funny experience rather than a disaster or fight was because we understand each other.

“The other people in the garage were quite worried for me when they saw you driving off without me, and if I wanted to, I could have been really mad when I called you.

“But I think we’ve learned to be thankful for each other’s strong points while at the same time we understand and accept each other’s idiosyncrasies.”

Is this a key to a happy marriage? I think it is.

The magic of complementation

I’m a poet and dreamer. Imagination is where I live — though I’m happy to say I’ve become more connected to earth since I met JoAnn. One of the blessings of complementation, I suppose you could say.

As you may suspect, I’m definitely capable of being a bit absent-minded at times.

JoAnn, on the other hand, is very focused — very practical, and down to earth. Imagination isn’t really her thing. Ask her to read a poem, for example, and her eyes immediately begin to glaze over.

If you were to ask me what has held us together despite these differences since we first met 15 years ago — I would answer this:

We both love inner peace.

We cherish truth more than anything else in the world — and this gives us a basis for agreement.

Somewhere to turn when we are in trouble

It doesn’t mean we don’t run into difficulties, of course. It doesn’t mean we don’t get into arguments and fights once in a while.

But we have somewhere to turn when we get into trouble together — which so far has never let us down.

As JoAnn said, we have been learning to understand each other better, and appreciate our differences. And while that is all very uncomfortable at times, it is also quite magical and wonderful.

If I’m having trouble trying to make my office look a bit nicer — or if I’m getting nowhere trying to open a difficult package — it’s a pleasure to know I have a partner who can bring a little more practical expertise into the situation.

Growing toward light and happiness

It takes a heap of patience and integrity to learn how to love and appreciate another person without sacrificing our own truth and individuality.

As my mentor said one time: “Perhaps it shouldn’t be live and learn. Perhaps it should be learn and live.”

But as far as I’m concerned, it’s worth every bit of hardship and discomfort that may come along.

What greater joy could there be than to share in a relationship that is growing toward wholeness – toward light and happiness?

To quote the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke:

“For one human being to love another that is perhaps the most difficult of our tasks; the ultimate, the last test and proof; the work for which all other work is the preparation.”

Or as George Eliot put it:

“What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined… to strengthen each other… to be at one with each other in silent unspeakable memories.”

Picture credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ferranp/

The surprises (and delights) of a complementary relationship is a post from: The Happy Seeker - Living with grace at any age

I’d like to focus on persistence in this post. Persistence isn’t one of those big, flashy qualities that gets a lot of attention, but it goes to the very core of what makes life work. The universe surely needs persistence to keep its various galaxies and systems operating as they should. The redwood tree, just starting out on its journey, a little wisp of a thing perhaps 3 feet tall, is obviously going to need persistence to reach its true potential.

And so it is for us.

Calvin Coolidge, the 30th US president, had this to say about persistence. “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

My wife, JoAnn, belongs to a quilting group that calls itself the Finishing Club. JoAnn joined this group about two years ago because — one reason at least — she has quite a lot of quilts stashed away in hidden places here and there that never quite made it to the finish line. She thought, correctly, that being in this group would motivate her.

When she left home an hour or so ago to attend this morning’s meeting of this group in the basement of a local church, my wife took with her a quilt that has a rather special significance for her. She actually began this quilt 20 years ago. It was the first quilt she ever made, or perhaps I should say, attempted, and it got her started in quilting — but it remained unfinished and forgotten as new projects and new possibilities came along.

I should mention that JoAnn hit upon the idea of quilting at a time in her life when she was in a transition, wondering what she should do after retiring from Shell. One day she thought to herself, “I like to sew. Perhaps I would like to quilt.” She found she liked to quilt very much, and it quickly became not just a hobby, but a passion — a way of life.

In any case, a week or two ago, JoAnn decided enough is enough, and she set to work in earnest to finish this particular quilt that, as you can imagine, has a very special meaning for her. As she left home to go to the quilters’ meeting an hour or two ago, she was very much looking forward to displaying this finished quilt — to the accompaniment of a drumroll, perhaps, and loud cries of “well done.”

Personally, I love this particular quality we call persistence. In the face of life’s tribulations and setbacks, persistence is the only thing that kept me going at times. I’m sure this has been true for you also.

We may be used to giving thanks for things that we have in an external sense, for the material blessings that come along in our life. Let us take a moment to give sincere and grateful thanks for something that does not have any external form — except perhaps the form we give it in our own lives — but is an immense blessing nonetheless: The truth of persistence.

Persistence is part of your true nature. It is part of our true character.

Think about it. Someone, or something might have made a mistake, you know, and amidst the confusion of creating, forgotten all about the need for persistence. No, I don’t want to think about it. The very idea makes me feel very uncomfortable and ill at ease.

I’m going to let Confucius have the last word on this topic. He said, however many years ago this was, “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”

Actually, best of all would be if you have the last word. What do you think about this post? Has persistence played an important part in your life? Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or share the post with friends. Until next time – keep on keeping on.

In honor of persistence — what can take its place? is a post from: The Happy Seeker - Living with grace at any age

I was thinking about life this morning while waiting for a doctor’s appointment. Actually, I wasn’t thinking about it, I was experiencing it. Life as it truly is, endless, boundless, source of all beauty and all form. If I can find the right words, I’ll share my experience with you.

Eckhart Tolle, author of  ground-breaking book, The Power of Now, www.eckharttolle.com, likes to talk about the tremendous benefits that accrue when we stop thinking so much. He’s absolutely right. We discover peace. We discover wisdom. We discover who we truly are.  We discover Heaven in the here and now.

In any case, I had this wonderful experience of deliberately putting thoughts to one side for a little while, something I enjoy doing more and more in my life. I could have thought about something if I had wanted to, but I didn’t want to.

I was still conscious. I was quite alert enough to hear when the receptionist called my name. But for a precious interlude, maybe 20 or 30 minutes, sitting in the large medical clinic with a lot of sick people all around me — I surrendered to bliss. It wasn’t a bliss I had to manufacture somehow. It was a bliss that already existed.

My body and mind and heart were set free to simply commune for a little while with being. My own timeless being. With God, dare I say. With the beauty and glory of life as it truly is.

I can’t think of any greater joy in this world than being consciously aware of the balm of our own being.

Perhaps the frenetic drive we see in the world to experience more and more excitement, more and more sex, more and more pleasure, more and more of something or other, simply reflects the emptiness that is in us. The awful anger, violence, and division are driven by the fact that we do not know ourselves as we truly are.

When we give ourselves the opportunity to be still, there is space for beautiful, creative thoughts to arise, and there is also space to become aware of  useless, repetitive, or negative thoughts when they arise, so that they no longer shape our existence. 

Who said we have to roll over and accept the status quo which the egoic mind of this world and our own egoic mind continually try to force upon us?

Freedom is knocking at your door and my door every moment in these tumultuous days. We have the priceless opportunity while we yet live to discover for ourselves the true nature of life — our own true nature.

We have the opportunity to discover who we truly are beyond name or form. Not the caricature we may have created in our own minds – not the caricature others may have created about us — but an eternal, loving presence beyond words to describe.

We will never understand life intellectually. But we can experience it. We can know it. And when we do experience it, miracles happen.

A little time in Heaven — waiting in a medical clinic is a post from: The Happy Seeker - Living with grace at any age