This found me at an appropriate time

"In the name of the best within you,

do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst.

In the name of the values that keep you alive,

do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly,

the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title.

Do not lose your knowledge that man's proper estate is an upright posture,
an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. Do not let your fire go out,
spark by irreplaceable spark,
in the hopeless swamps of the approximate,
the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all.

Do not let the hero in your soul perish,
in lonely frustration for the life you deserved,
but have never been able to reach.
Check your road and the nature of your battle.
The world you desired can be won,
it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours." - Ayn Rand

- 

Rollerskates ON/OFF

It just occurred to me with enough pause to write it out in the midst of some closed eyed Ascension. On the days that I don't Ascend, it feels like I'm on roller-skates making my way through the slippery steep slopes of San Francisco, scenes flash by in a blur and I duck my head several times and flail my arms just to stay on my feet long enough to come crashing into my bed by the end of the day.

Step into the NOW and the roller blades come off your feet.

Vilja is Baptised

Today is a significant day for me, I am becoming a Godfather to a little baby girl named Vilja. This ceremony is taking place thousands of miles away in Norway; and the baby is the first child of a dear friend that I met on the Camino last year - Marion. She is one of the two sisters that I spent a few days walking together towards Santiago. God I miss those days...

At her request, I scanned and emailed my wish for Vilja so that Marion could print it and attach it to a little white helium balloon to be released as part of the ceremony. In recognition of our time on this earth as a journey and in the context of the Camino.I wrote:

"May all your arrows point to the Light. Buen Camino young beautiful pilgrim."

It is beginning to be understood by modern science that Consciousness influences matter and our thoughts know no boundaries. In fact, thoughts occur instantaneously everywhere the moment they form. So, at the appointed hour I did some meditation and in that sense I was present for Vilja's Baptism.

Quote of the Week

"Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know." - Michel de Montaigne

A relationship experiment

I have recently begun a new relationship and to ease things after being single for a while I've restricted my selection to just plants for now. Baby steps. Plants are easy to love, they will accept you even more unconditionally than animals who in turn accept you more unconditionally than humans. So, really plants are the ideal living partner and they help purify the air.


Last weekend I walked into the supermarket here at Midvalley and browsed the plant section looking for that special plant. And I found her after brief appraisal of numerous candidates, I felt certain that the one I had chosen would satisfy me more than all the others. So I stood in line at the checkout counter with my little plant... honestly I almost backed out but instead I held my resolve and soon I was walking home with her in hand proudly showing her off trying not to spill any of the water in her round glass bowl. She is of the sort where there is no soil to sustain her, she simply is weighed down in water by a few pebbles. As I walked home, I could feel my heart welling with pride and love for... JP. Yes, I named her JP because every other name seemed too human. JP stands for Jelly Plant as it says on the price tag right above $19.50.


It must seem absurd to consider a plant for a relationship. But if you've read The Little Prince you will understand, for The Little Prince so dearly loved a flower on his planet. In the exchange of dialogue with the fox on our planet earth, The Little Prince reveals that "You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed". It could be said that I have now tamed my plant by taking it home.


It may seem odd, but I do truly believe that there is an exchange of love that takes place between all living beings if you allow it and that rediscovering this relationship with nature is key to our sustainability as a species on this planet. For too long now this current civilization and past ones have sought to dominate and control nature through our intellect, when this is coupled by mankind's viewpoint of seeing ourselves separate from nature it is a recipe for disaster. We are already observing the long term repercussions of such in our changing climates and shrinking resources while the global population of our species continues to explode.


JP really brightens up a room, so I keep her on my desk at work and I introduce her to my coworkers as my new relationship. To which they typically respond with a puzzled expression "oh"... and then carry on walking.

The Little Prince

I've been neglecting my Blog. I've been of the opinion that nothing has transpired as to be worth blogging about because my life has become too ordinary and routine. But it is really an excuse, there are no ordinary moments. But it is our automated responses that make our lives seem mundane.

A friend and coworker of mine remarked recently that The Bright Path should continue... "it is like being aware of a different world". It touched me to hear this. It is precisely what I've been trying to convey with this blog - THERE IS ANOTHER WORLD, and it is more real than the one that we regress into when we are driven by our minds instead of our hearts, overcome by our fears and judgments, when we are lived by life instead of living it, when we feel life happening to us instead of creating it. Heaven is on earth. Freedom from suffering can be found.

I dedicate this entry to you dear friend who has inspired me once again to pen a few more lines, I know you are grieving the loss of your father in the past week and I hope the words I write provide you some measure of comfort in your time of mourning. Take a few steps with me Here and Now, maybe you might feel your father's hand in yours. Maybe...

We all go through this, losing someone we love. It cannot be avoided... for every 'hello' there is ALWAYS a 'goodbye'. The passing of a loved one is both an experience of great pain and yet of immense value. We are reminded of what actually matters most when the ones we love break depart our journey. That is the learning, well actually... the reminder. There is nothing to learn really, only to remember that all that matters is that which cannot be bought nor seen nor touched. It is simply our relationships with each other that bring value and determine to a large degree the level of satisfaction in our lives. If we as people never passed on from each other, would we ever get it then? What truly matters... perhaps not. It is the current culture to squander our time with each other in empty material pursuits of happiness. What if we lived each day as our last? And why should we not,... nothing is ever guaranteed except change.

As we mourn for ourselves we remain aware for a cause for celebration. We celebrate the moment of the departed being free from both the illusion that we live in and of the constraints of the corporeal form. Time and space dissolve. You mourn the loss of ever feeling your father hug you again in this lifetime yet there is the cause for rejoicing that now your father shall hug his father again. Without time and space, he now also hugs you as he pleases. And the cycle continues...

I've recently had the great fortune of reading a book called The Little Prince. This book has been around for decades, it has the appearance of a children's story but it contains some deep insights about the human condition. The main character is The Little Prince who comes from a distant planet and travels through the galaxy encountering other planets inhabited by a single adult that individually epitomize a particular mental condition that we tend to suffer due to our social programming. These encounters are meant to highlight the wretchedness of these conditions in a satirical manner. The Little Prince is an endearing character for he represents the innocence and the beauty within us untainted by such miseries impressed upon us by our enculturation. The story's essence can be captured in the following line uttered by a fox to the little prince: "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye." If we were to live this principle then perhaps the importance of dying and leaving each other behind would diminish.

As an interesting side note, a week ago I met a Polish girl that told me of a Spanish guy she once dated briefly who had tattoos of The Little Prince all over his body. I can only surmise that this person was motivated by the need to be reminded of the beauty and innocence inside of himself - that which makes each of us completely worthy of love by default.

- The Little Prince