Excerpt from an email from Paul Lowe to his list today.

A Sufi saying: “Life is a bridge – don’t try and build a house on it.”

So look at this possibility: Life is to be lived. Lived!!!

Not to be observed, studied, understood, but Lived. If you have done anything before, it is old. This dimension is so vast there is no need to keep doing the same thing, in the same place, in the same way, with the same people. Really: “Take no thought of the morrow” – live.

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Looking at what’s been happening in the world the past weeks I came to see once again the insignificance and yet the preciousness of a single life, including mine.

It’s such an easy thing to feel touched by what I read in the newspapers, then make a donation, write a few emails to friends encouraging them to do so too, and yet turn away without really taking it in – all the way.

I have spent hours watching, reading and researching about the Haiti earthquake. Then, I came across this article from Katie Couric “The Human Face of Haitian Tragedy” on the Huffington Post. Read more »

by Clare Finlator

Anger and violence, like sex, are hot topics that tend to stir people up. This was certainly evident in last night’s sharing group where these energies were being experienced in some, and (in my perception) controlled or suppressed in others. I certainly had an exhilarating ride of a group, and this morning woke with some passionate energy to express myself on this topic.

In my view, practically everyone has rage within them. We are enraged by how we are bound, how we do not feel free to express ourselves as we truly are, how we edit ourselves, compromise, negotiate, make excuses,  -  the myriad facets of suppression. Often we project this onto others, they are the controlling ones, they are the ones that knocked the life out of us as children etc. Women also have the whole big story of male patriarchal tyranny, and persecution over lifetimes. Rage is the response we feel when we see our own control reflected in others. You may well have the urge to kill someone who is showing this to you. You may want to tear off their limbs, screaming.  Read more »

Another great email from Paul Lowe to his list today:

… to get an idea at least, imagine this…

The planet is in serious, serious trouble, and we can’t fix it. (Not much imagination needed so far eh). Extra Terrestrials say they could save us, but it would take a lot of resources – so they would need to be sure that we are worth saving. So they come down to take ‘a sample human’ to check to see if we are worth the trouble. And they pick you!

Good example? Of course they would not just ask questions, they would have the facility to read your mind, and inner self. Negativity? Resentments? Caring? Spending appropriate amount of time, money and energy into evolving. Living life fully? Putting back at least as much as you are taking? Honest?

You could try being truthful with yourself – both ways – and see how you feel about yourself?

Love…

Over the last days something’s been cooking here. It’s been going on for some time now in different forms, shapes and words. But with my bike getting stolen in the middle of Covent Garden last Saturday afternoon it popped to another level.

To begin with, I would have refused to acknowledge the reality of the situation if they wouldn’t have left the cut cables which made the fact painfully clear in the very instant of our return. Retrospectively the following moments in slow motion revealed: At first there was a shock, disbelieve that “somebody would really do this”. Then pain, heartbreak over the loss. The thought of “they might have done it for some reason” popped up. Eventually rage flashed. At this point manipulation and control kicked in to calm the situation and avoid an irrational outburst in the middle of the street. I watched myself picking up the remains and making my way to the tube, silently and boiling on the inside. The body was shaking but numbed to what was really going on and busy with the little voice in the head feeding stuff about this all being no big deal.  Read more »

Excerpt from an email from Paul Lowe to his list today.

The anger thing is so obvious – unless we do not want to know. If we do have the realisation, then all our conditioning about being justified about being angry at something outside our self is blown – and we have to be responsible – so we cannot partake in what most humans are addicted to: complaint. Our anger is our anger. Our anger has accumulated because we did not acknowledge it at the time. Often, especially in childhood, it is not ‘convenient’ – spelled trouble. So it has built up, and as it is poisonous to our system, the body is using any opportunity to let flow out.

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Excerpt from an email from Paul Lowe to his list today.

…it is the mind that is asking this question. When/if it gets an answer nothing useful will be accomplished. And it can be fun playing.

Chiocelessness cannot be chosen. So how do you make a choiceless choice? You can’t. The choice chooses you.

If you read about the lives of truly great and successful people, in any field, you will find there is a trend — they say that their success was not due to them — it came to them. Solutions and inspirations ‘popped through.’  Read more »

Excerpt from an email from Paul Lowe to his list today.

One thing that has been coming up quite strongly is the subject of how we live our lifetime. In one way it does not seem to matter at all, and in another way there does seem to be a wonderful opportunity. That wonderful being Gurdjieff is quoted as saying that humans are not born with a soul — they have to earn them. It may not seem all that obvious, but check it out — most people live a life more inclined to negativity and compliant rather than being grateful and open to opportunities. Living that way has unpleasant consequences. And even in the complaint there is rarely creative suggestions for alternatives. Like the reviewers who always finds something negative to say — but never even attempts to write, paint, or produce anything creative of their own.  Read more »

Excerpt from an email from Paul Lowe to his list today.

A broad description of one aspect is that anger masks fear. Almost everyone has fear, so almost everyone has anger.

Anger is a poison to the whole body/mind/emotional system, and as the body is a self-healing system it tries to get the anger out and away anyway it can, as soon as it can. As the ego feels humiliated if it has anger, it does not like to admit it has the residual anger — so it looks for circumstances where it feels as though it is justified for discharging the anger — usually at someone or something else. The other person/thing is seen as the cause of the anger. Not so.  Read more »