When was the last time you talked to a person and really saw them?
The world is full of wonderful words and ideas that motivate and heal, In reality though sometimes all a person really needs is to be seen, I mean really seen, so they can know they are still hear and have a value in the world.
Since the start of this voyage in late 2006, my art work has been forcing me to challenge all my deepest perceptions of life the universe and everything. Many people can go for years on a mental auto pilot, navigating their way through life on beliefs family, friends and even the media put into place long before they, where really able to think on any deep level. Despite often the best intentions people can live a whole life as a slave to a lie that they never even new they where told.
That feeling we have that there must be more to life and that everything doesn’t feel quite right, is our inner self trying to wake us. To question everything is not easy, you will probably find the solid rock you have built your life on crumbling to dust beneath you . You may even find as I said above your whole life is based on a lie, if this turns out to be your truth you then have to ask some very important questions. Does this lie bring me happiness and empowerment and help the world in a positive manner? If you reach the conclusion it does then you may choose to remain in the lie, in the knowledge that you now fully understand that very little is truly what it seems and that all perceptions of life are just that.
What good can come from this soul searching ?
Well no matter if you change your life path as I have, choose to remain in your own fantasy world or live by others beliefs simply because it brings you comfort, you will have freed yourself from the unknowing. You will have become the director of the movie of your life and not just the puppet actor . You will witness events unfolding around you in the full knowledge that you have chosen this script the good the bad and the mundane.
The animal that chooses to remain in his cage even when the door is open, could on one hand be seen as being fearful of the world outside, or he could be seen as simply expressing his true freedom to stay exactly where he wants.
A personal life example :
I grew up in love with America, I longed to live in that glossy country I saw every week on the cinema screen, one day I was able to move to the states and I lived there for over three years. I got to experience many different states across America, it became very clear to me that at that time in my life America was not where I was meant to be. I returned home to England with the true knowledge that the grass is not greener and that England wasn’t my problem, I was. We project our own perceptions on to our surroundings. So if you have a projector that plays the movie ‘woe is me’ you may go to the most visually beautiful place on the planet, get out your projector play your movie and it will still be ‘woe is me’ .
You know this is true, but to face that we are the problem in our life is often the hardest thing to swallow. That much quoted line ‘Let He Who Is Without Sin Cast The First Stone’ gets many nods of approval from both believers and non, yet how many of us follow this universal wisdom . Many of us condemn everything and everyone around us and fail to cast that critical eye inwards ….
Finally I believe we are all perfection at our core, but sadly we are all coated in lies and misconceptions, held in place by an ego that demands we are this body of disempowering thoughts. As it has been said before, you are not your hand, you have a hand. Likewise you are not your thoughts, you simply have thoughts. Do your self a favour, turn off all your noise in your life, pick a subject that really troubles you and view it from every stand point possible, Honestly defend every stand point as if it was your own and your life depended on it , what will you discover? I believe if you do it correctly you will become unable to totally condemn view points you may have raged against for years. From this you may be able to build a bridge to people you thought you had nothing in common with. Likewise the opposite may happen.
‘Open your mind and free your soul’ …a snappy line but how many of us do it ?
Copyright ©Tony Pinfold 2008 All rights reserved
Seek comfort and happiness in stuff.
(Material junk clutters homes, minds and landfills.)
Look for validation in crowds.
(Scratch the surface do the famous look happy?)
Flutter around the glow of despair.
(Watch, read, listen and discuss the news.)
Believe salvation is found in another.
(Friends, lovers, priests and politicians.)
Mine for answers in bibles and books.
(Dissect literature in order to support our cause.)
Wrap ourselves in blankets of noise.
(Most fear the silence where truth resides.)
Try to build a world around solid facts?
(Science is no more solid than anything else.)
Rage against our place in the world.
(Scenery seldom heals a misplaced perception.)
Fight against everything we hate.
(What you appose grows.)
Deny who we are
(Divine essence)
Seek wisdom.
(we already have all the answers within, yet we continue to seek.)
Known by all, written by Tony Pinfold
I just wanted to let you know that my art work ‘Natures Messenger’ is on the cover of Suffolk / Norfolk Magazine ‘Inspirations’ this is a very good read so if you can pick up a copy do so ..They have also published my article in the magazine ‘We are One’ which can be found on this blog.
While I fully subscribe to the idea that we are ultimately one (see past blog) I do believe we all have different life purposes and plans that stimulate and make life on the planet function. Everyone is important and everyone has a place. For many it can take 20, 30 or in my case 40 years to figure out what that purpose or place in the world is, sadly some never do. But when you finally do, all of life aligns around you and carries you forward.
The answers too many of life’s decisions are not really found in the head which we all know is driven by the ego but on the level of subtle feelings. Sadly most of the time these feelings are so subtle you can’t even feel them (internally hear them) over the roar of every day life. That is when the taking of a few minutes out, can save you days, months and even lifetimes of problems.
How many times have you set your heart on something or even someone, only to time and time again come up against resistance on your quest. I have come to know that if something becomes too hard to achieve it really wasn’t meant to happen. In the past I would simply climb over these obstacles and not notice the warning signs. Then without fail when ever I finally obtained the desired thing? That’s when my problems really began, I would be totally unaware that all this time I had been swimming against the flow of life. I just couldn’t understand why every time I got something I thought I wanted, more Problems would unfold than I ever had before, conflicts, stress, debt and ultimately at some point loss and heart ache.
Then I would kid myself by saying that I’d really learnt my lesson on that, and go straight off in search of some other unobtainable item to make my world complete. My personal life was just a non relenting struggle that seemed to drain my life energy away
Then finally one day I woke up to the fact that life really didn’t have to be so hard, this constant grasping for things was pointless and making for a very bumpy ride. I had to just go with the flow and stop listening to the demanding and ultimately clueless ego.
Now one thing I think is important to point out, is that going with the flow does not mean your just doing what others want and being pulled along by the great tide of common thinking. Your life flow may at times join with others but ultimately it is separate and special to you. You must pay attention to your feelings and not always assume the majority has any more clue than you. For example have you ever had that feeling that you are totally alone in a large group or crowd, well I believe that is your true feelings letting you know that these people are not for you and it’s time to move on.
Life is rather uncomplicated we are born, we live and we die. Everything else that attempts to slow stop or divert that process is ultimately futile, so rather than spending the whole time grasping and missing everything, why not just layback, take pleasure in the view and see where the flow of life takes you. I’m living proof that my life flow has become far more interesting than anything my ego ever had to offer.
What is a Podcast?
Well I leave to my good friend Wikipedia to explain:-
A podcast is a series of digital-media files which are distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and computers. The term podcast, like broadcast, can refer either to the series of content itself or to the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also called podcasting. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster.
Why do I think podcast are brilliant?
*Well for many reasons Pod casts give you the chance to learn about things the mainstream media has no interest in or could it be the mainstream media has no interest in you being interested.
*If you like radio 4 or the World Service you’ll love podcasts as you can just listen to what you want without all that negative news.
*They are more times than not, totally free and very easy to download and play on your PC or media player such as an ipod.
*If you live in the U.K and are interested in things of a spiritual nature you really have very few other ways of finding out about all the different ideas and concepts.
*Most of the time the production qualities match or exceed that of radio talk shows.
*Very few commercials
How to listen to a podcast…
There are many ways you can listen to a podcast but most of them first require you to download the file containing the program. Now I know not everyone is a computer geek and still for many sending e-mail is problematic!
So this is the easiest way to start listening
Go to http://www.apple.com/itunes/
Download the Itunes software (don’t panic it’s free & you can have a PC or Mac)
Once loaded go to the podcast section of the store
Seek out what you want to listen to (most of it is free, but some of the big name stuff costs money… chose wisely)
Down load the file (the Itunes software will do this all for you)
Turn on your PC speakers and enjoy the program
If you find something you really like to listen to you can subscribe to a podcast and Itunes will automatically download the next new program when it is released. It does this only when you open the Itunes program.
As I said there are many ways you can get podcasts this is just the least problematic.
So if you have never listen to a podcast before what are you waiting for – get expanding your brain.
Ok my wife and I became vegetarians over 4 years ago. I have no problem with people eating meat and i am not on a crusade to stop the world from eating animals. People will give up eating animals when they are ready to do so.
The main reason I gave up eating ‘Flesh’
Over the years the life quality of animals in the food chain has been reduced and reduced, and despite what other people feel is ok I can not see that any animal unable to run, jump and live in natural light has any quality of life no matter how well they are cared for.
The way the animals are put to death is also beyond my ability to personally live with.
Despite all claims that animals do not have feelings, anyone that has a pet will know this is complete bull. Like so many things in life the human brain will do anything to try to rationalise and make acceptable even the most absurd notions. The key problems with animal slaughter for me is the fact that the animals are herded into small pens for transport and then subjected to the sounds and smells of the slaughter house before the act of slaughter is committed. Anyone who has taken a dog to a vet will know how they pick up on the smells and fear of other animals. How amplified must that be in these animal death camps? Plus the way the animals are handled in their final moment lacks the respect all life should be given.
I know that many people find ‘veggies’ a joke or need to constantly try to make it an issue. Like I said, I simply state why I don’t eat meat… what you choose to do is up to you.
I guess my only hope is that all people fully investigate the way animals are handled in the food chain and see if that aligns with their own feelings of animals. If it doesn’t then the answer is simple- just stop eating meat. It’s easy and anytime that smell of fast food engages your senses just recall the pain and suffering the animal as been through to bring you that tasteless and nutritionally devoid burger.
Below I have added links to pages on the vegetarian site so you can find out how the animal lives before it makes its way into your gut. I fully understand that some farmers look after their livestock and have a great deal of respect for that animal. They do their best to make the life of the animal as relaxed and normal as possible, but they would have to agree that they are few and far between. Just click on the name to go to the websites… (some people may find this very distressing – but I guess that’s the point)
Cattle
Pigs
Sheep
turkey
deer
Chickens
goats
Why not view The Meatrix I and II for a cartoon of intensive animal farming… Thought provoking not grotesque… http://www.themeatrix.com/
