The Middle Way & The Unseen

What If Everything You See in Others Is Actually You?

Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash

Hello there, friend. Welcome to this exploration of mindful presence.

How have you been lately?

Have you been truly present in everything that you do?

These are the questions we must ask ourselves as we navigate this precious existence, where each moment is currency we can enjoy before it inevitably passes.

Moments Are Precious Currency

We wear ourselves out sometimes because we try to keep things a certain way. We cling to the good ones and resent the bad ones, creating an imbalance that disturbs our inner peace.

Everything passes and bypasses—the good things, the bad things—they all vanish, and something will arise once again, only to vanish once more. This is the nature of existence, the constant flow of impermanence that we must learn to embrace.

The true trick, my friend, is to stay in the middle—the middle way as the Buddhists say, the Zen way, the center, the Divine Center.

Think of the center of the cross where two lines meet; it is the center, and we must go to our center of being in meditation, in our morning rituals, in our practice, in our sacred purpose.

In this place, joy, live and vitality is unconditional. This is where creation is forever happening.

The divine happening through you, as you and for you.

Each moment is where the power is, now you can relieve yourself of suffering, now is where you can start that dream you’ve been yearning.

Shift Your Perception—It's All a Gift

Do not resent things that you need to do. Shift your perception, for in being one-sided, we cause imbalance.

See each task as a gift, because in your nearest task wrapped is the gift of duty and the gift that will unlock the heavenly gates. It is in the small things—how you do something is how you do everything.

So become mindful of how you respond energetically or emotionally to certain thoughts.

Have you been skillful in your mindfulness kung fu? Are you now more comfortable with the way the mind works, knowing all these tricks?

First of all, know what mindfulness is: it is basically awareness.

It is simply being in the present non-judgingly, consciously allowing each thought that arises to come and go, and being a dutiful discerner of the things you will engage in.

Engage with a Light Grip

When you engage in things, do not entangle yourself with them.

You just engage with a light grip, carrying acceptance, carrying fortitude, understanding, putting priority in what you can influence and letting go of what you cannot control.

Affirm to yourself that there is nothing that you can control—most things in your life you cannot control, but there are things that you can influence.

You can influence others by being a good example, by being a good soldier. You can make others light up through your smile and the way you carry yourself.

Influence comes from your vibrational resonance rather than what you say or what you preach.

Words are very flimsy and lacking in embodying the truth—that's why there are wars because of this misunderstanding—but we try as much as we can to express things accurately.

Hold two opposing sides in gentle openness. Be the center. Be centered through impermanence.

A light grasp is being unattached but fully engaged. be fully present in the now what ever it maybe calling you to be. ‘It” being of service to the highest good in a particular moment.

Serving your Chief Aim Dream, your number one goal, and this might involve letting go of instant gratifications.

What you can do, you give. And give a little bit more of what you think you can at the moment.

This increases your capacity, enlarging your capabilities and brings you closer to what you truly are, which is infinite and divine.

This dish was born in the most unexpected way—cooking by the cove, nestled in the cozy, salty-aired escape that is Nick’s Cove. Surrounded by rugged coastline, the fog rolling in, and the hum of gulls in the distance, I found myself craving something warm, rustic, and grounding.

Vegan Bucatini Bolognese

Stay in the Center, Rising Above

The theme for today is the middle way, going to neutral. Stay in the middle, not clinging too much to the positive for it becomes toxic, and do not dwindle down to the negative for it is obviously not good.

Stay in the center, rising above and seeing both sides of the coin—the good and the bad—and you're just living mindfully in the middle, mindfully non-judging.

You're only loving, learning, observing, smiling, picking up the good and blessing the bad.

How are you going to embody this today? How are you going to stay in the middle? Are you going to leave some space for the things that don't go your way?

Be okay, give them space to be the things that you do not prefer, and let them go their way.

Bless them, understand them, and let them go their way.

Do not impose your side too much because your right side is the other one's left side.

All this is teaching us is to understand that there are many manifestations of God. To see that the peasant and the king are both of God is to understand TRUTH.

We All Have This Commonality of Oneness

Despite our differences, we all have this commonality of oneness. When you go to your center, see things as one.

This is the main thing that the Bible says—to treat everybody as yourself. See the differences and diversity as beauty because that is how life is, that's how life moves.

This one cell moves this way because of its nature, and it moves of its own accord, generating energy and life, and it moves and it just keeps on moving.

With movement comes transiency. We're all just in a constant state of change, so do not cling to who you were yesterday.

Do not cling too much to your self-image, your persona, what you think you want to become or what you want people to think you are.

Forget about it because people are just thinking of themselves—they're too busy dealing with their own things.

Touch Life Very Lightly

Today, may you touch life very lightly and not mess it up, not muddle the water, if I may say.

Imagine everything as a pristine clear lake, and sometimes we're tempted to put our hands in the water and play with it, and the water turns muddy.

Just watch it, watch it become clear, watch the wind blow, and observe the trees. Learn from nature.

As Byron Katie says, take the trash out without war in your heart and do your little part.

We do our part by being conscious of the products we consume, looking for that label, being mindful of our choices.

Everything we encounter can teach us something if we remain open and observant.

Ever find yourself staring at a fridge full of produce odds and ends with no clear plan? That was me last weekend—half a zucchini here, a few green beans there, an open container of mushrooms, and a jar of marinara that needed using. Instead of tossing things or letting them go to waste, I decided to make a fridge-clean-out vegan lasagna—and wow, it turned into something magical.

Everything You See in Others Is You

All is self, friend. All is mind. All is in your mind—your self-image, the image you portray to others, everything you see in other people is also a reflection of yourself.

This is a very good simplification of your life: what you see in others is you, a version of yourself—not you totally, but some aspects of it.

So try to find the good in everything because it will nurture the good in you too.

You're constantly making yourself as you think. Reality unfolds as you think it. As above, so below.

As you think, so you are. Change the way you see things, and the things you're looking at will change. That's how you deliberately create your life—become a conscious creator.

Everything That Vibrates Gets Absorbed

Do not watch violent media because you absorb it, you become it.

Is that too woo-woo for you? Is that too far-fetched? You think it's just a movie, doesn't matter?

But look into it, friend. Everything that vibrates and resonates gets absorbed through your energetic field, your skin and in your being.

Consider the work of Masaru Emoto, where thoughts and words affected water's molecular structure—bad words created distortion, good words created symmetrical mandalas.

Be conscious or else you’ll be directed unconsciously. Ever wondered why you stepped on poo or ran into an opening car door while cycling? its been your out of centeredness that has built up and materialized as events.

The beauty is you can always revert to now and clear your mind and energy.

Forgive all that you thought harmed you, forgive all that you resent in the world and wish well and be a light that ever renews, forgives, understands and heal.

We've been discussing the things unseen, and we're also embodying the middle way.

Create space between stimulus and response.

Watch your reactivity. Everything's just happening in your head. The moment you think about a thought, the moment you decide to step forward and really engage and impose your preference—that is where complexity happens, and in complexity we get entangled and suffer.

Be Sensitive to When You Are Called to Act

Be sensitive to when you are being called to act, when agency is required, which is very seldom and very simple. When a strong hunch ensues, I think that is when you act.

When you really feel compelled to move, you feel it in your stomach and in your brain and in your smile and in your eyes—like yes, I'm going to go for that, and I'll find a way to get to that.

That is when you act.

But try not to intervene when things are happening naturally.

Maybe you don't like it, but if you stop it, you'll get in trouble. The job is to find a way for you to accept it, or look into why you don’t like it. Give it a breath or two. Maybe you just need to change your view.

Open up your capability, enlarge your container of acceptance and understanding. Get some wisdom.

Just Be Gentle

Focus more on being rather than doing, but you got to do something—you got to do some things for you to be. It goes round and round. Just be gentle.

This is a lesson I take into consideration myself. I practice gentleness, softening, and ease because I know that I have energy in me, and sometimes I just want to give 100 percent to everything, losing my center, forgetting my why, and falling out of grace.

We must find balance, process our energy mindfully, and celebrate the good while letting trauma go and letting healing stay.

Be healed. You are one. Healing came from the word "whole"—in wholeness, all is understood. In wholeness, there is no war, there's only peace.

A gentle inflow of life from within, expanding outwards infinitely.

Your energy is inexhaustible from within. Think of a fountain, ever revitalizing, ever renewing, both powerful and gentle at the same time.

Unlimited Forgiveness, Unwavering Rectitude, Unselfish Performance of Duty

Create that peaceful field, make everything around you harmonious, and live in beauty.

Become accountable. What is your duty for today that you self-appoint onto yourself?

What is your self-appointed duty, and how are you going to embody it?

Embody it with full fervor, with unlimited forgiveness, unwavering rectitude, and unselfish performance of duty.

These three principles—the three U's—can guide us through any challenge, any moment of uncertainty, any call to action.

Make peace in your heart. Start early today.

You are loved, and in recognizing this love, we can spread it to others, creating ripples of consciousness that extend far beyond our individual experience. This is the middle way—not extreme in any direction, but centered in love, awareness, and gentle action.

Namaste, my friend. May you embody these principles today and every day forward.

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ICYMI