In one conversation, the group was speaking about self-control, in response to the question “Can there be too much self-control?” We were in jail, sharing a little comaraderie with a group of inmates. The speaker was afraid that life without drugs wouldn’t be any fun. He said that when he got out, he would give up everything but daily casual use of pot – he would need that in order to keep at least a tiny bit of fun in his life.

The other conversation was a satsung with Mooji, which I witnessed on YouTube. The questioner was afraid that enlightenment wouldn’t be any fun – all that peace, space, quiet. Would there be any fun there he asked.

Frankly, I get it. I’m somewhere between my partying days and waking up – and in that middle space I sometimes wonder where is the fun?

My theory is, life isn’t about fun. Fun is some sort of physcial high – a function of neurochemicals. It doesn’t last. But the consequences of it do. The first speaker was in jail due to the consequences of his need for fun and his fear of not having it. And he’s not the only one.

I think the game is about is joy. Joy is what overflows from the awakened state. Some call it bliss. I’ve tasted both versions of “fun” – I choose the awakened version. I’m happy to say goodbye to worldly, bodily fun. And by the way, I’ll say goodbye to the fear of the absence of fun as well because that sounds really nutty to me – whether it comes up in jail or satsung.

I look for guac along my path daily as I go about my business. I stash chips and tortillas nearby in case I make a strike. Today, I’m writing about my latest guac experiences.

Earlier this week, I sampled Speed Guac. I had sliced some cheddar and Joyce was spreading it over tortilla chips – our version of nachos. One of our house mates said, to no one in particular, “Hey, we should have some guac with that!” Knowing we had too many ripe avocados in the house – thank you Spirit – I asked if he was making. He was!

He and his honey assembled their Speed Guac in the time Joyce was melting the cheese in the toaster oven. Whoosh! The three of them worked in perfect harmony as I watched them make more guac and nachos than we could eat – not! When it comes to guac, you just stir in the leftover crushed chips and eat with a spoon – which I did.

My own guac could be called Instant Guac. My daughter Emily makes a home-made salsa loaded with goodies and way too hot for me to eat – unless I mix it with avocados. When that happens, it’s Instant Guac – a great contribution to potluck dinners, except that there’s rarely anything left to bring home.

But my favorite guac is the one made by my son Nick, which could be called Slow Guac. He selects fresh ingredients, which he prepares lovingly – and slowly – paying attention to every detail and every cut. Nick’s slow guac can take center stage at Christmas dinner – it’s that good. Whenever Nick’s around, we plant the necessary ingredients nearby and beg him to take over the kitchen.

Speed, Instant, or Slow, I’m still a guac hound.

• to manifest
• to heal
• to treat all relationships as sacred
• to choose joy
• to yield control of my body to my heart
• to live my awakening with ease and grace
• to embrace my highest good
• to catalyze awakening
• to live a life at one with all life
• to co-create perfect gardens
• to play with my wife
• to attract abundant cash to purchase what I need and want
• perfect self-expression
• to attract those attuned to these intentions
• to serve in ways that promote joy
• all of these intentions as one
• to support all life forms in their return to Source
• to know truth
• to choose and realize my purpose
• to be a good steward
• to extend these intentions to all
• to play joyfully
• to experiment with living

In one section of the book, he asks “What can we control?” He begins his ruminations with considering whether or not we can control the heavens, then works his way inward, including weather, and finally our body. He concludes that the only thing we can control is our throughts, and that controlling our thoughts is a worthy life-long endeavor. Over all other things, the most we can hope for is influence.

I found this a radical argument when I read it, but it rang true for me and I have operated from it ever since. Until last weekend.

I was watching a video of satsung with Mooji – one of the great gifts of having access to the internet – and he made a simple statement: we cannot control our thoughts.

He asked, when a thought comes, did you know it was coming?

Certainly in meditation we experience thoughts arising and passing like clouds – that’s an old metaphor and one Mooji uses too. Did you know they were coming?

If we don’t control our thoughts, then, like everything else around us, they’re  part of the leela – the grand play. But where do they come from? And over what, if anything, do we have control?

Mooji says we can control our attention. We choose which thoughts to give attention. Of the bazillions of thoughts and perceptions arising continuously in front of our consciousness, which ones will we tend to? Clearly, there are way way too many to pay attention to all or even most of them.

And, in paying attention to the thoughts we choose, what will be our reaction?

As I consider this, I feel the world drifting away from me – losing its importantance as I turn my attention to the one is doing the seeing. No surprise, this is exactly what Mooji has been pointing to. This is the feeling of  detachment spoken by the eastern traditions. This is the feeling of being in the world but not of the world spoken of by Jesus.

And so this morning when I made some comment about thinking, Joyce replied “I’ve had enough f-ing thinking!” I quite agree!

As to what’s the source of thoughts, I think the very word “source” provides an interesting clue!

This morning, I came to see money as a tool used by Spirit to help me develop faith.

In the midst of all my money angst, I kept going back to the book of Mathew and the liles of the field and birds of the air. They toil not, neither do they spin. And yet Solomon in all his glory was not arryed like one of these. They do not sow, neither do they reap. And yet God feeds them.

Today, I am a lily. Today, I am a bird.

Stop toiling. Stop spinning. Stop sowing. Stop reaping. Just be fully who I AM and know that I will be arrayed. I will be fed. Not because I earned it by work, but because I earned it by faith. That’s all that’s asked of me really – have faith.

Before I tell you what it is – no, I’m not going to make you guess – let me say a few words about why it’s important info – especially now.

As far as I can tell, the rules of the game just changed. I used to think my purpose would be my special way of saving the world – that unique service I could do that no one else could do. I’ve been moving toward it for a long time. As the tens of years accumulate, a bit of a pattern – or several patterns – were emerging.

But now, I think that’s over.

The message I’m getting loudly, clearly, and repeatedly is that the game now is about creating – about being the change – about showing up as fully who I am, being fully who I am, expressing fully who I am, and allowing that to change the world.

So, who am I? For today’s topic, I’m a guy who gets absolutely fired up about connecting in sacred space.

This is what my first book, Choosing Joy at Work, is really about – I now see. It’s what my second book, Peaceful Awakening, is about. It’s what my third book, Learning Lessons: Gardening With Nature, is about. It’s what my healing website is about. I’ve called it joy, and it is surely major joy for me to connect in sacred space.

I’m not going to define “connect” or “sacred space” here. What I will say is that it’s my intention to create sacred space – and to be present to give and receive connection in that space. For me, that’s when the miracles show up – and the joy.

It sure feels good to be this clear about my life purpose!

Do you feel the sacred space enfolding you now? Do you feel a connection between us?

How do you do that?

It helps me to be in a quiet setting.

It’s easier for me either in My Chair or in Nature.

It helps to be conscious of sensory input – what I’m hearing especially. It helps to close my eyes and shut down that whole set of input.

I ask for help. There are three spirits which share their gift with me in opening a space for peace. One is a crystal spirit – when I ask this one to join me, I feel a deep stillness. One is a plant spirit – when I ask for healing from this one, I feel a great release. One is an Awaiku – when I ask this one to quiet my mind, I go blank.

My idea is to be still in the midst of chaos – like the busy coffee shop I was in yesterday. At first it was difficult to cope with the bustle around me. Later, I was so present to the conversation that most of the noise was somehow filtered out.

When I’m truly quiet, I’m paying total attention to everything unfolding in the situation in front of me – and, there are not thoughts about it.

Getting to that state is what I’m up to today!

If we are to awaken peacefully, what attitude do we choose toward that which arises all around us?

If situations arise not for our comfort but to awaken us, how do we face difficult situations?

For today, I make two suggestions. First, don’t get sucked into the situation. It’s easy to be drawn into the drama of what’s unfolding, especially when it’s big, powerful, unusual, nearby, or charged with issues of injustice. Don’t bite. This is what Jesus meant by being “in the world but not of the world.” We can’t go hide from situations – we must engage them – but only from a feeling of detachment.

Detachment means stepping back from the situation and asking “what’s the awakening in this for me?” Detachment doesn’t mean we don’t feel the injustice – it means we aren’t overtaken by it – we aren’t consumed by it. Detachment finds us in a place where can take action powerfully, rather than being swept up in the craziness of the situation itself.

And what action are we to take? Here, the question is “what’s the awakening in this for my brothers and sisters.” How can I be truly helpful in this situation as I engage with it? How can we get the awakening, leave the suffering, and move on?

Here, the key for me is light. Shine light into darkness. Be the light in every situation. See if we can hold that light for those lost in the situation. Be the lighthouse. Allow the situation and it’s drama to fall away into the light of love.

That’s the challenge in every situation. We’re getting some doozies these days. Make sure you’ve got an extra pair of D batteries and get out there and shine your light!

We arrived at the meeting point in less than five minutes. We’re getting somewhat used to the realization that there are probably a dozen trailheads within five minutes.

We greeted our hiking companions with hugs. Also not what we’ve been accustomed to most of our lives.

The hike was a bit challenging, but there were stairs. Nature had provided them, with a little skillful help from the guys and gals who maintain our trails around here – a big thank-you by the way!

The redrock mountains pulled me in, as I stared, wondering what might lie behind this outcropping or who had preceded me on this path. The trees were strangely twisted and stunted – and strangely beautiful. It’s a pretty wild place so all the local birds and animals had safely hidden themselves. The breeze was as beautiful as I could ever imagine, carrying the fragrance of the pines, junipers, and other abundant life around us.

Along the way, nearly everyone we met greeted us warmly. Hikers helped each other up steep inclines, pointed out other-worldly rock formations, and even scamped down a deep slope to retrieve a pink hat that had floated away from one of our party.

We leave a hike like this strangely complete and at the same time, somehow incomplete. We stood around talking in the parking area about nothing important – exchanging contact information – looking forward to seeing each other again – perhaps on the next hike.

What seems odd to me is that I’m sure I connected deeply with Nature on the hike, and that I connected just as deeply with the people on the trail – but somehow, it didn’t happen in a way I can put my finger on.

Over the weekend, Joyce and I created an ebook entitled Choosing Joy – #1: Valentines Day. In it, we covered three ideas to help readers celebrate the day. The first section has to do with recommiting to our marriages through writing vows and a simple ceremony. The second section speaks to the idea of using our senses to quickly connect to joy. The final section provides a brief meditation around loving our self.

We also attended a hugshop presented by a friend we call The Hugman. Although it may seem a toss-away action, we can connect deeply in hugging. It’s a great way to take a moment to breathe and to share our love. Try it!

To us, these simple actions speak to our love – for each other, for Spirit, and for our self. I encourage you to take a few moments today – and everyday – to celebrate love!