Align habits with desires?

Can my current habits carry me to my desired future?

Image by Will Simpson

The question I have is What is this "desired future”?

I know what the actual future holds. Death.

But what do about desires before hand? Is desire the right approach for viewing habits as forces carrying life forward or not? Forward, progress, accomplishment, achievement, do these have worth? These things seem petty at worse and secondary at best compared to focus, presence, virtue, and helping others.

Unless focus, presence, virtue, and helping others are the desired futures and habits should/need/want to checked for alignment.

Hope you have an awesome day!

Credit - James Clear

This journal is meant as a reminder to encourage my future self. Where I work on my mental fitness and ‘adulting’. A reminder to him to operate in the world with love and compassion and some tips put together in a moment of clarity to help him when he is less clear and caught up in stuff the he can’t control. Continue the conversation anytime: will@kestrelcreek.com.

Network of knowledge

You don’t question your network of knowledge. Your network of knowledge is made up of all the inputs into what end up what you think you know.

From the earliest stages of learning, our parents teach us about the world. Plainly, some parents are more skilled and have a grander perspective than others.

Then your network grows to include teachers and friends. Plainly, some teachers are more skilled and have a grander perspective than others.

You read books (or not) and this grows your network of knowledge. Plainly, authors vary in their skill and perspective.

This should make it you clear about the tenuous nature of you network of knowledge. This is not a sad thing or something to be in any way be upset about. Just be aware. Especially be aware that this is everyone’ s situation. They grew up with their network of knowledge and they are operating to the best of their own particular network of knowledge.

Remember, you and everyone else, has a variable network of knowledge. Some of your network of knowledge reflects reality and some doesn’t. How can this not be the case given how we learn and what we are exposed to? It is a spectrum. Be careful about your certainty and tolerant of others.

Uncluttered thought networks

With a long self-less, word-less, silent interval, we again access to resources of 'uncluttered thought networks'. These tend to have remarkable innate and insightful capacities. This is a bottom-up process refined in meditation.

Austin James H., [2011]. Meditating selflessly: Practical neural zen.

Can the future occur several times

Using the analogy of a river, down river represents the past. Water (time) is past and has no potential. Up river represents future. Stored up in the mountains. Full of potential.

Future, future, future. Happens over and over. Can’t catch it, can’t stop it.

Hope you have an awesome day!

References

1. Erling Kagge (2018), Walking: one step at a time, Penguin Publishing Group,

2. Eihei Dōgen and Kazuaki Tanahashi (1985), Moon in a Dewdrop, North Point Press.

This journal is meant as a reminder to encourage my future self. Where I work on my mental fitness and ‘adulting’. A reminder to him to operate in the world with love and compassion and some tips put together in a moment of clarity to help him when he is less clear and caught up in stuff the he can’t control. Continue the conversation anytime: will@kestrelcreek.com.

Training in being stable

“Basically, there is nothing at all to do ... besides simply allowing our mind to be, without having to do anything. This is entirely against our usual habits. Our normal tendency is to think, “I want to do this. I want to do that.” Then we actually go do it. Finally, we feel happy and satisfied when it’s all neat, all completed, accomplished all by ourselves. But that attitude is totally wrong ... There is nothing whatsoever to do. We don’t have to construct what is unformed. Anything we try to do becomes an imitation, something made up by our thoughts and concepts.”

— Quintessential Dzogchen: confusion dawns as wisdom by Tulku Urgyen

A place and a time for everything.

Let everything be in its place. There is nothing to do, nothing that can be done to affect any change in "Reality" or "Big Mind" or "Buddhanature" or "Consciousness". Stuff just happens. Physics and time.

Just notice.

Zen Sickness

Zen sickness is an overindulgence in intellectual thinking and mental gamesmanship with Zen. The only cure for this type of sickness is to find a quiet spot, settle down there, do zazen with the "intention of withering away together with the mountain plants and trees."

Hakuin, Ekaku [1999]. Wild Ivy: The spiritual autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin

Opportunity costs

What we choose to do forms our life and character, by making poor choices other more healthy choices, the healthy choices are preempted. This is opportunity cost on a personal life/character level. The cost of one choice over another. Of far greater importance than material opportunity costs which can be paralyzing in today’s choice ridden world.

Hope you have an awesome day!

This journal is meant as a reminder to encourage my future self. Where I work on my mental fitness and ‘adulting’. A reminder to him to operate in the world with love and compassion and some tips put together in a moment of clarity to help him when he is less clear and caught up in stuff the he can’t control.  Continue the conversation anytime: will@kestrelcreek.com.