"More" is always at War...

                                                                      "More" is always at War...

For those of us lucky enough to live in an "advanced" nation, and lucky as well to be living  in relative "peace", we are, nevertheless, also living in cultures that prioritize "more". Isn't this also true for our religions? We "need" more of G-d, more of faith, more of obedience, more of prayer and meditation, and especially, more of our money in the "basket"... We need more money! We need more time! We need... Unfortunately, this "horse" is not about to die, no matter how hard or how much we beat it... "More" is warring for every inch and aspect of us...

​On the other hand, or rather, at the very same time, we begin to feel increasingly uncomfortable: "more" demands that we work ourselves to death, while what we really want is time for relaxed sex, for reading a good book, for play with our kids, and for a kind of prayer that is not asking for, or needing, anything... Dealing with "more" is an essential task for those of us who desire to live a sacred life, in reality, not in the abstract...

​If it is true, as Rumi insisted, that you are the universe in ecstatic motion, then shouldn't we be all about cultivating our happiness? Obviously, this cultivation is a problem: "more happy" cannot be either bought or sold, for happiness is the result of contentment... "More" requires our constant subservience to the general discontent... indeed, discontent is the wheel upon which our economics, politics, and religions turn...

​Motion implies direction: so where are we, where are you, and where am I headed? Discontentment is a cliff toward which we, you, and I are headed: and that promised "drop" is not in the least bit promising! Discontentment breeds despair, anger, rage, grief, blame, abuse, and addictions. Discontentment breeds theft, greed, and systems of exploitation and oppression. Inevitably, violence is then manifested in its many guises... Shouldn't we, at this point, be pondering the wisdom of changing our direction?

​Shouldn't we, at this point, consider the how of contentment? The simple secret of contentment is less of "me, myself, and I" and more of "you, you, and you"... (In this case, "more" becomes wholly-holy). The Dalai Lama has written, If you contribute to other people's happiness, you will find the true goal,the true meaning of life... The "more" that we incline ourselves to living compassion, or as Gandalf put it, small acts of kindness and love, then we will be finding our contentment growing by leaps and bounds! Then! the universe gets really ecstatic! Its like a solitary dandelion that wakes up to a dandelion explosion... all that it had to do was become "less" and go to seed... giving itself away... we can do the same, and likely as not drive our neighbors crazy: look at all those free dandelions! what's that all about?

​Building your sacred life is really all about cultivating contentment and compassion... and leaving the dandelions alone...