Zen of Jake

creation

in the Bible the word for spirit is the same word for breath.

not many people realize that when god spoke to create everything that there was a day he did not speak. on the sixth day god created man out of the earth, out of what had already been created. then god breathed into adam and gave him life. gods first mandate to adam was to go and name all the animals and such. god stepped back and allowed man to speak.

when jesus returned to the disciples after resurrecting he said “receive the holy spirit” and then breathed on them.

in yoga there is a lot of emphasis on the breath, the prana. it is considered the “life-force.”

the medical term “artificial life support” is regarded as such, “artificial”, because there is some debate that if the person is unable to breath natural and on their own that they have already died. that what life they had, meaning the soul/spirit, has already passed on. the remaining being is considered “artificial life.”

in zen meditation we begin by sitting still and monitoring our breathing. the breath being a gateway toward stillness of mind; peace.

if god breathed, or, imparted his spirit into us to give us life… then what power our breath must carry! i think god knew this when he mandated adam to speak next and to name everything in eden. when there was nothing, god spoke and it became something. when adam looked at that something is was only a thing, then adam spoke and gave it a name. then it became… elephant. or what ever!

my point is this: we carry a great commanding power withing us. the power to create with our words. from within our heart, within our mind where we think and feel, we can formulate what we want to create. then, sending that thought through the complexes of our mind we deliver a message. the the spirit within us, or the air/breath, is pushed out from within our lungs. our lungs are the warmest, deepest, nearest place to our heart. then it travels through the throat where we create vibrations then out the mouth in the form of sounds we create with our tongue.

we create a thought and an intention in the silence of our minds where the world cannot hear. in the silent darkness of our mind we create a thought where the world does not yet recognize its existence. then we transpose that thought. we force its creation from nothing into something. from our abstract thoughts we create a vibration in our throat, we move our tongue to form the words, and pushing from within the warmest, deepest, nearest place to our heart we push the pneuma outward and force the vibrations of our words into the living world.

this is our act of creation.

our breath is our spirit.

breathe deep.

words

I see words as an art-form. The mind a canvas upon which I paint. The individuals I encounter a co-artist in the creation of the present moment. From “Hello” to “Goodbye”. First stroke to signature.

The exchange of words…

The exchange of thoughts…

The exchange of feelings…

The exchange of life…

From one to the other we can share our experiences, making each other older. Telling stories, expressing thoughts or feelings, making jokes, laughing, sharing our problems, expressing feelings toward each other. The right intentions with the right words and with the right tone of voice can be a very powerful ability.

communication

there are so many levels of thought. where do you think dreams come from?

when we communicate to someone, you know, have a conversation, three things happen. first, we have a feeling, an idea; something we want the other person to feel or something we want to impress upon them. then those feeling are interpreted in our conscious mind into images, sounds, memories, and conscious patterns of thought. secondly, we compile these thought patterns into expressible words using the vocabulary we have. we make sentences out of them that provide the raw data of our thoughts. thirdly, we speak the words and as we speak them there is emotion, tone, volume, emphasis, and inflection attached to the words. all of this to say just one thing to someone else!

the most common problem is that the person you are speaking to will first hear the emotion, tone, volume, emphasis, and inflection of your voice, then the raw data of words will be assimilated into their conscious mind where they will categorize each and every word and compare those words to all the past uses of the words in their lifetime. after internalizing the tone, categorizing and relating the words to their own experiences with them, finally they will produce a feeling or thought of their own based on the information you have provided.

Thought, emotion, feeling, motive

Words, sentence, phrase, data

Expression, tone, emphasis, inflection

———>

Reception, connection;

Interpretation, realization, internalization

Association, categorization, memory -> feeling emotion thought

Most arguments probably begin with bad communication. I’m sure many fights could be avoided of both parties stopped talking and really tried to discover from where the other is speaking.

It is so difficult to express the way I feel to other people. I try so hard to learn as much as I can and broaden my vocabulary but that can only go so far. I think we communicate more through the tone of our voice as we speak than from the actual words used. I might say something to someone, meaning to communicate one thing. But because of his/her’s past experience my words of choice may be received in a negative way. Here’s a terrible example; a lot of people use the phrase “that’s so retarded.” Most of us wouldn’t take offense to that. But when used around someone who has an actual retarded family member the words would stir negative feelings. In daily communication we use the words we are most comfortable with. That does not mean that the people hearing our words understand them the way we understand them.

harmony

harmony is difficult to achieve. not only is our goal to have peace between mind, body, and soul; but within each one of those are countless variables that easily take us off balance. it bothers me when i hear people bragging about how they’re a vegetarian while standing there smoking a cigarette. and fat christians that talk about the body being a temple for the Holy Spirit yet after church they eat at buffets restaurants like Golden Corral. speaking of which, do you all know what a “corral” is? it’s a cow pen: a pen for cattle. they aren’t even trying to hide it anymore haha!

my point is, be in harmony. if you work out, go to the gym, run a mile and then reward yourself with a cheeseburger… you’re out of balance. let everything you do be focused and in one direction.

even a good thing may become bad if used to its extreme. moderation is key. if i work too hard i have no fun. if i play too hard i get nothing done. balancing our responsibilities with our passions is a necessity

pride

A prideful man cannot see his own pride. Having already believed himself to be ‘good’, you cannot tell him or convince him otherwise. He has already chosen his position. Pride is the arrogance to always believe oneself right. To hold oneself in superiority towards others. A prideful man cannot believe that he is prideful, that would contradict the pride.

Pride is the only spiritual illness you cannot self diagnose.

Are You Broken or Just Broken-hearted?

You who are all knowing
I who am all willing
The one they call god
Are you all loving?
The one who cannot be healed
A broken stone
Are you caring?
Are you god?

Yesterday I was happy
Yesterday I was a fool
Why does increasing wisdom
Come with increasing pain
The further I go the weaker my heart gets
How much father until my heart breaks
Why is there so much pain
For such little a gain

When I am wise as the prophets
Will my heart explode
When I find the purest joy
What sorrows will be told
My name is the name of misery
my pain, the pain of centuries
lifetimes of sorrow have befallen me
tomorrow I will be only a memory

to you who are all knowing
are you also caring?
To you who are loving
Do you ease the pain of suffering?

—
I see your pain and I see you
How beautiful a nighttime gloom
From glory you came here
That tomorrow your joy may bloom
You agree with everything I’ve said
But you live in a world of regret
Words have loved me
And worlds have praised me
To you who are faithless
Are you faithful?
You who are joyless
Where is your joy?
How many lifetimes do you wish
How many seconds chances do you get
I once saved a child from death
I will again save a man from all that’s left
How many tears have you shed?
I tell you, this isn’t as bad as it gets.
You cry out for my attention?
You scream for a god’s help?
Don’t you know what they call me?
all knowing.
all willing.
all loving.
all healing.
—

What does it mean to be a man
And where does time go after the fallen sand
Who counts the steps that I take
Who writes down the letters of my mistakes
Can a god ever be real
Is there a peace I will ever feel?

I’ve known the different between being lonely
And being alone.
I’ve felt the pain from laughter
And the pain from gloom.
Is there a difference between depression
And being depressed?
Is there a difference between being loved
And being dismissed?

—
Are you broken
Or just broken-hearted?
Cry away girl, cry away
I’ve shed tears for your misery
Come with me girl, I know the way
Come with me and you’ll be ok
—

Love's Energy

If I only spoke to you in words
What would you know of me?
If you were to me only what I heard
Could I love those memories?
Would you love my memory?
Without ever feeling my energy?

This world believes in less and less
As science teaches us what’s real;
I liked people more when they
Believed in something they could feel.
Loves lost it’s energy
The feelings behind the word
And you would only be a memory
If love didn’t grow roots.
Now I am torn between worlds
Of thought, feeling, and control;
Though I could will the sounds from me,
I’d rather give you my energy.

holy abortion

I saw a king casting his crowns
The screams of queens and peasants all loud
The jester hording his masters riches
Something’s gone wrong in this kingdom

I’ll create gods beneath my feet
And make them do my bidding to the human race
Some will heal and some will curse
And they will call them “God”
Singing songs to the makers of terror
The real anarchists of the earth
Praising the chaos of their hearts
Hymns passed around like heroin

I used to believe in church and fairy tales
And listen to men speak of what they don’t understand
What qualifies a man to teach another of love and life?
Of heaven and hell
We’re the passive terrorist
The catholics and non-denominationalists
Corrupting soul after soul to join an army
To fight a war against intelligence

You capture souls not set them free
and damn them with you in eternity
worshippers of form and formation
praising the chaos in their hearts;
they praise a “spirit” terrorist
and I am your god, the abomination
you once had something good within you
until the pastor gave you an abortion
you’ll bleed slowly now
you’ll feel so “holy” now
and then somehow;
you’ll love them for it…

mentat

Leave nothing undone. I don’t think that I am a perfectionist. I don’t judge the quality of my work. But in everything I do I try all options. I exhaust the possibilities. There is a type of mind that does not stop until every aspect of thought is rationalized and understood. I find that when I have an experience I will later reflect upon it. During my reflections I dismantle it, tear it apart, separate my own personal thoughts on the matter, disconnect the emotions from the actions, and view the experience as raw, unedited, uncategorized data.