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And then ask yourself, where are the flowers in Gaza?

Very helpful thoughts, especially the pœtry. My own revelation came when I realised that Evolution is love in action – that the universe is engaged in a constant heuristic, which I imagine as being a cosmic intelligence it would involve the utmost arrogance to think human intelligence could grasp, yet the dimension we share with it/hir is the power of imagination, the power to make stuff happen. Every minute we cocreate the world; therefore we bear personal responsibility for what we find around us. The difficulty in affecting or being change is creating or locating an alternative narrative to engage the tram-track-following consciousness of fellow humans. At its best Art (conscious creativity) offers an expanded vision of human potentiality :: the tragedy today is that we are not asking this of it, preferring what reflects the squalor and poverty of our moral myopia. But this too can be changed if we follow our calling to realise our full humanity.

This is also a wonderful description of karma, the more we embrace experience positively the more it elevates our moral (/intentional) insight and the more profoundly we can see the true nature of reality.

I think if being a person of evolved consciousness means anything today it means having employed one’s intellect to recover the simplicity given to us by (our) nature, which education has deprived us of.

I wouldn’t call it laziness. I would call it anxiety – that has to be averted by being active :: in an attempt to convince myself that my life has value/meaning, when I'm afraid of the emptiness within. I guess busyness is my version of other people's muzak.

I too had a period of hospitalization for a sudden illness two yesrs ago, and it was a blessed time in that I actually couldnt do anything (tho thank God for mobile phones) and I really experienced the love surrounding & upholding me. It was one of several Near Death Experiences, and each one has made me more determined not to waste my time in trivial pursuits. There is so little we can do: yet, if we do it diligently, it's amazing just how much we can accomplish.

Here's my translation of a Kabir /Tagore poem In this tree a single bird with dancing song–almost unheard– swoops & thrills its deepest leaves with the enchanting tune she weaves. Who knows its purpose? For at night she comes, and leaves by dawn’s first light. For whom she sings, if not for me, who knows? It may be nobody. Suddenly present, as if from nowhere … she may as quickly disappear. I was not told about this tree, far less the bird – nor have I seen either its colour or its form, nor e’en what dance it may perform; yet its etheric call I hear – its ballet, tho unseen, is clear. Beside an abandoned path, this place is missed by those who’re ruled by haste. Few there are who know the way, and fewer still who choose to stay. Fellow seeker, Kabir says, don’t invite the race of fools who’ll drown the songs and cut the branches; rather, merely leave them clues. One or two within your days may note your path and share your gaze: them embrace without a word – for in their silence sings that bird. (MMS 2010)

This is an important reminder. From being very lost, I found meaning and became a goal-driven person (never extremely) but then having achieved my goals—to be a commercially successful composer—I realised there was a deeper musical reality that I could never reach by will or intellect, and so eventually I found the courage, with the aid of Sai Baba (to say nothing of the support of my wife), to leave that world; and enter the wilderness. For a good number of years I let myself be led by circumstance; but then, slowly, once again I found newer deeper meaning, and a musical language to express them. Since then I have been much clearer about soft goals. So I feel midway between both worlds; and it's a happy place. A lot of the time!

thank you for this text, I love it, I feel the same way you just put the words on how I feel.

Through practice I have found letting go of small things easy however I am hopeless at letting go of more intense emotions. I know I must let go before I get dragged down but often I don't and then I say something stupid which then leads to damaged relationships. I then resurface and wished I had let go at the beginning but it's too late. As Michael Singer says, you stop smoking by not putting the cigarette in your mouth. It's a question of will. Unfortunately mywill is often found lacking during high stress..

As a musician I think one of the extraordinary gifts we humans have created for ourselves is music. We derive a great deal of our identity from something that has no physical reality. Music is like a vast projection onto space itself and yet it creates and reflectsa moral (intentional) reality unique to each differing culture.
To me it's no mere coincidence that the greatest music of the just about every faith tradition has been written in praise of the creator spirit; for it has always been that when we align ourselves with the wordless reality music expresses we can reach a state of transcendencethat is akin to spiritual ecstasy.

 I am surprised at this post from Daniel Goleman, who is a deeply experienced meditator. We do not "catch" negative emotions, as he suggests, unless we attach to them. Take a deep breath and smile. Wonder why you were in such a hurry in the first place. The security guard is a human being with as many challenges as you, and he is only doing his job. Can you feel empathy for his situation? If not, you might want to revisit this in your next sitting.

What does Kent mean by this? The wording isn't clear.