Ram Jam - Part I

“Our intention creates our reality” – Dr Wayne Dyer

Are we really in control of our lives?

The answer is of course NO, as we listen and take our opinions from all forms of media, friends, and colleagues even to some degree strangers. To the majority of the world’s population (95%) we are not what Dr Wayne Dyer states “Free from the good opinion of others”.

Let’s just say that you want a cup of coffee?, now this probable fictional parable can play out in many ways.

1. We go and get one when the desire comes into our mind
2. We really want one but wait until we walk past a coffee shop or until the opportunity presents itself
3. We crave coffee but never get one
4. We drop hints and hope that someone will get you one as we got them one the day before
5. We do nothing but silently crave one, and become annoyed that no-one noticed your thoughts

Let’s just sit and think for a minute, it could be said that 4 out the 5 scenarios we probably end up the loser. We want something and we intend to have one but the majority of the time we end up without!

So what feelings can come out from the original intention and the conclusion of “lack”? Let’s list them.

· Anger
· Frustration
· Annoyance
· Peeved ness (is this a word?)
· Vengefulness
· Lack of self worth

So a snapshot of some of the feelings or a veritable noun sandwich can bring about some pretty negative feelings from a basic need. The coffee is just a metaphor and can easily be replaced with love, car, house, job, kids and money.

There is however one common denominator and is what rich, famous and successful people have been doing since recorded time. If there is something they want, they get it. It all starts with intention.

Intention has lots of meanings but just listing its synonyms would help you to appreciate where I am going; they are meaning, goal, objective, plan, purpose, aim and target.

My intention today is not about wealth, not even about coffee it is about offering you a glimpse into my mind and what I think about. Today’s blog is about infinite significance and a gentleman called ‘Ram Dass’. (Formally known as Richard Alpert, are you paying attention at the back Dave Steele? Another Lost clue)

Now Richard ‘Ram Dass’ Alpert was a Jewish / American who rose to prominence in the early 1960’s as a Professor at Harvard University. To cut a long story short he hung out with Dr Timothy Leary (LSD inventor), the Grateful Dead and Aldous Huxley, he took a lot of magic mushrooms and was kicked out of the campus due to his experimental ideas.

During this time Dr Timothy Leary was preaching to the newly found Hippie Community the Mantra of “Tune in, Drop out” Dr Alpert was leaning more towards the Hindu ethic of serving others.

Now to the point of the blog and not a biography ‘Ram Dass’ as Alpert who would later change his name too, wrote a best selling book called “Be Here Now” where his main themes along with other topics were that “ we are all manifestations of God” and that every moment was of “infinite significance”.

Now, I have been thinking about this blog for a long time and have put it off for months but had a breakthrough thought the other day which would go someway to explaining this.

Every conscious thought creates a feeling and every subconscious thought creates a belief. Now this is quite an esoteric statement but want to refer back to the original intention question about the coffee.

Now we could have had an experiment where we actually had 5 free thinking individuals and all of them had the desire for coffee.

How many do you think would have gone straight out and purchased one? How many would have chosen the other options? Or how many would have relied on other people to play a part in their decision as they were not able to make the choice alone?

Do you see that life is like that? We all have the same pure thought or desire but each has different outcomes. The need for other people to validate your opinion or you to passively offer them a role in controlling your destiny is what of course the problem is.

I have been a Manager for many years and is still amuses me to this day that people see my role in controlling them or to control their destiny. I always try and confuse people on occasion and ask them, “So what do you want to do?” Which of course is always followed with “So why did you not do it then?” It is a common human trait to want to be validated and some people see a Manager as a surrogate parent. However how many of these people who want a coffee, would go out and get it?

To have great intentions and to re-quote Dr Wayne Dyer you must be “free from the good opinion of others” and going back to Ram Dass and what he meant by the manifestation of God in all of us, which I feel should not be taken literally.

What he meant was, and this is my opinion. Is that we are our own creators and only our intentions can bring about our destiny, and every single moment towards that is of infinite significance. Whether it is our thoughts or actions, we change the world around us.

A simple smile at a stranger could calm anger that would have been directed at someone else, offering someone in need, some water. When that person could bear the child of a future pioneer and curer of diseases. Every step we take, every thought we think, every smile we make, every object we touch all could have infinite significance.

Examples such as Archimedes and his Eureka moment in the bath, Newton whilst sitting under a tree and observing a falling apple and Gordon Brittas when a new plan comes across his mind all have infinite significance.

This all leads into how we can clearly develop our sense of intention and of course creates positive moments of infinite significance, this is where we can learn from the Eastern esoteric practices and two of which are Yoga and Meditation.

I have battled with these concepts and it is plainly obvious the benefits that Yoga and meditation would give me, but yet I still resist. As you may of guessed it, if I desire a coffee that is all it stays. A desire!

But something has inspired me, and it took an 18-month old child and the BBC to bring this all to a resolute calm in my mind and to show me the way.

Now even though the BBC collects £3 Billion each year from the enforced TV license scheme and the majority of it is wasted on current affairs and numerous programs on antiques and car boot sales, there is some money invested into the world famous Children’s programs.

There has been some good output in recent times, Bob the Builder, Teletubbies, In the Night Garden, Fimbles, Tweenies and Balamory. These are loved through-out the world but the new creation of one of the most profound yet beautifully simplistic and spiritual programs has caused a bit of a stir between the vicars and spinsters and The Guardian readership of middle England.

The very thought of a program called ‘Waybaloo’ which teaches kids to be in touch with their feelings through meditation and kiddies Yoga (Yogo) would of several years ago resulted in the burning of its creators as heretics and witches.

Although there could be rank ling’s of a modern day Witch finder General if we allow the broad sheets too much editorial airtime (ask Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross)

Yet my daughter is transfixed, and on her own volition copies the Yogo moves and remains in a state of awe and joyous rapture whenever the characters are on screen.

So the moral is that even the so called emotionally undeveloped are more intelligent than us, and can see the attraction and benefit of yogo and can easily express their emotions. I would bet that if my daughter continued with these beliefs that when she has an intention for a coffee, that she just goes and gets it. ***

This is one of my moments of infinite significance and the realisation that meditation can calm the mind and can help you make your intentions clear. The sitting in a lotus position is also not necessary but just sitting and being quiet is enough to guide you.

The theme of infinite significance is continued in the topic of my next blog, I have been avoiding this subject for a while and to be honest there was no need to be. We all beat ourselves up some times and have self doubt but the general advice is to forget about it and forgive your self.

I so NO, we do not forget, and to quote the charismatic Les Brown. The key to happiness is not to forgive and forget, it is to forgive and remember without resentment. That is the key to happiness.

A break though moment of infinite significance right there folks!!

So good night all xxxxx

PS: There have been four clues now in recent blogs about the ending of Lost. The hidden code is something that I am practicing for a future book. I would love to hear your theories.

PPS. *** = Just like Sawyer (that was the fourth clue?