The Paradise Quotient, Pt. 2

"Quotient": The number obtained by dividing one quantity by another... or so says The American Heritage Dictionary... and perhaps the little that we remember of basic math... "Paradise", of course, means different things to different people, but generally speaking, the idea of paradise is that which every human being hungers for: a welcome home, rest, safety, health, happiness, and the conviviality of family and friends... Hence, we have religion, philosophy, spirituality, and metaphysics (and one might very well add science, art, music, literature, poetry, gardening, etc.), each attempting to point the way...

One might summarize all of the above with study, practice, effort, concentration, contemplation, and experiment. The heart hungers for paradise... while the mind sees positioning: and "positioning" gives birth to the Unholy Trinity of Privilege, Profit, and Power. Midway between the hungry heart and the positioning mind are the techniques of religion and spirituality (I mean, why shouldn't someone make a living teaching technique?) Well...

Today, the big seller is "mindfulness" ... Buddhist mindfulness, Yogic mindfulness, Taoist mindfulness, Educators mindfulness, Christian mindfulness, Nurses mindfulness, etc. etc... And opposing / rejecting this "New Age fallacy of mindfulness" are the Fundamentalists. Fundamentalists might be Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, etc. They too recognize an opportunity when they see one... Why not? But! If we divide all of this "quantity" with the simple practice of awe: dividing and dividing all the way down to the barest of essentials: where would we be then?

Here it is: tonight, and every night, while we are asleep, around a million folks will die in their sleep. Every night. Around a million folks! [Okay. I'll admit it. The Paradise Quotient, Pt. 1 was chalk-full of quotations to whet your spiritual appetite... but, almost, beside the point.] So, here's the Paradise Quotient: when you wake up in the morning, tap your chest: are you still alive? If you have a partner, is she / he still alive? Are the people with whom you are closest still alive? Yes! Then, hot damn! Holy moly! Wow! Say it: I'm still alive! 

All of happiness is rooted in the awesome gift of breath! Because you breathe, good is possible! Because you breathe, you can celebrate the moments of your life! This is mindfulness: and it is free! Because you are likely busy with your work, home, and creativity, you might just WOW! once every hour: I'm alive! When you begin to celebrate your breath, frequently through the course of your day, a deepening spirituality will awaken within you: there are millions -- billions -- of other human beings alive and breathing as you are, indeed, you / we are all sharing in the same air that this Sacred Planet is freely gifting us: Holy Moly! Gifting us!  

When our WOW! becomes gratitude and praise, a graciousness will inevitably take seed in our heart-mind: graciousness precedes everything that is good: happiness, health, rest, conviviality and on into justice, equality, and peace... all are rooted in our renewed appreciation for the gift of our breath! Because we graciously receive the gift of breath, we just might reach the threshold of happiness -- and at that very same time, we understand that our happiness is intimately connected to the happiness (or the lack of) of every other person with whom we are sharing our breath... and so we commit to a sacred activism in pursuit of the essentials for everyone: home, safety, rest, food, health, happiness, and conviviality with family and friends (which also means, of course, the regeneration and protection of this precious blue Planet)...

The time that we have, the number of breaths that we will take in our life, are precious... and in the long run, way too few... but with a steady hot damn I'm still alive! we have another day, another hour, or perhaps just one more minute, to do what we should have been doing all along: Oh very Dear One! I am so very thankful for having had the chance to know You and to love You! Perhaps we'll "just" kiss for our last minute... maybe we'll join a demonstration for equality for women for our last hour... maybe, just maybe, we'll all say WOW! at the very same moment, with the very same breath, and in awe watch the rising of Paradise within us and all around us... leaving no one out and nothing behind... 

This wouldn't be a blog by me without another quotation. Here's Meister Eckhart: "Each creature points you toward God and new birth and toward seeing the world as God sees it Transparently! Thus all things become nothing but God." Paradise, right? Hot Damn!

[Note: There is nothing that arises from nothing... Insight rises from insight... insights make their way around the Planet... I am indebted to All of my mentors and teachers (aren't we all?)... Especially to Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, St. Francis, St. Hildegard, Matthew Fox, Yogananda, Ellen Grace O'Brian, Andrew Harvey, Bede Griffiths, Leonard Cohen, Sadhguru, and Sri Ramakrishna from among many others...]