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6 Ways to Let Go of the Past and Not be Controlled by It

Life

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July 15, 2015

6 Ways to Let Go of the Past and Not be Controlled by It

“Everybody’s got a past. The past does not equal the truth unless you live there.” ~ Tony Robbins

Most of us know by now that holding on to the past does us no good. Can we change the past? No. Is reliving a past situation over and over in our minds ever going to make the past different? No. So why is it that so many of us spend time mulling over past situations?

It’s as if our mind believes if we keep thinking about it over and over, somehow we will have a magical thought or revelation that will suddenly make us feel better about what happened.

And while this may be the case some of the time, often when we use our heads to “think” of the solution vs. letting our heart feel the feelings it needs to in order to move forward from a situation, we notice that the same issues seem to pop back into our life in one form or another.

Either we continue to think about a past circumstance later as if the “aha moment” we had previously never happened, or another event pops into our reality that is similar to the previous one and then we wonder why we keep attracting similar people, places or events to us.

How do we finally make peace with the past once and for all? How can we go about being just ok with what did happen and at the same time rise above the old vibrations of our former self so that we don’t attract similar situations in future?

Here are 6 ways to let go of the past ~

“Let today be the day you finally release yourself from the imprisonment of past grudges and anger. Simplify your life. Let go of the poisonous past and live the abundantly beautiful present… today.” ~ Dr. Steve Maraboli

1) Forgive Yourself

Forget about forgiving others. To forgive another is completely impossible unless we have first forgiven our own selves. Our innocent hearts felt an emotion in response to a situation and we may have judged it as “wrong”.

“Anger, judgment, criticism, etc… are not very becoming of you, so you were wrong to feel these things,” is the message we send to our heart. So instead of your heart knowing that it is heard by us and loved unconditionally, we tell it is not “good enough” yet.

This is why emotions persist. They are only arising inside of us to be loved unconditionally. Instead of judging yourself for having less than desirable emotions, just forgive yourself for having them. It’s ok to feel an emotion.

It’s why we are here. Something miraculous happens as we begin to forgive ourselves. Inner peace emerges as soon as we stop judging ourselves for being human, and consequently we give other people the freedom to be human as well.

Suddenly we become more understanding, compassionate and empathetic in the face of any adversity, and the past situation that brought about so much angst inside of us are looked at from a more loving perspective.

2) Love the one who “fixates”

How many times have you criticized yourself for not being able to stop thinking about someone or what someone did to you or how a situation happened? Probably more than you would like to admit.

Unfortunately, trying to control our mind by condemning it for replaying the past isn’t going to make it stop. The replay will just keep coming, no matter how much we try to tighten the leash on our own minds. Surrender to it.

You can say something like, “I accept that I don’t know how to stop obsessing about what happened, I now call upon a higher power to resolve this issue for me.” When we relinquish “control” over to a force more powerful than us, we open ourselves up to receiving help.

Our ego isn’t designed to be able to get over anything on it’s own, only rising to a new level of consciousness will help us transcend any perceived “problem.” This can only happen as a result of inviting more presence and awareness into being.

3) Look for the positive

Nothing happens that isn’t meant to evolve us in to a better version of our former self. So when we think about a past situation try and find at least one “positive” that happened as a direct result of that circumstance.

This way we start training our minds to always look for the positive in any situation. Soon we notice we are naturally flowing with life instead of fighting and resisting every unplanned set of circumstances.

4) Express gratitude for what you learned

If we know that nothing in life happens that is not for our betterment, we can learn to start saying “thank you” as our response to everything. Even if we have no idea what we are thankful for at the time, we can be assured that sooner or later the reason behind a situation will reveal itself.

As we look to our past and try to make sense of things and fret over why something happened the way it did, just say thank you. Soon the reasons that we are thankful begin to show themselves to us and we become completely accepting and understanding of why things happened the way they did which allows us to move past things and live more in the present.

5) Remember, only “Now” exists

The past is over. It’s already done. The only moment we really have is now, and as we start to practice mindfulness either through meditation, or creativity or whatever, we start to live more in the now as a natural result. The by-product to being rooted in our “now” is that we notice that our minds are less inclined to re-visit the past.

So immerse yourself in something you enjoy, create something, or do something that makes you feel “alive.” The pleasure of these tasks will motivate us to live more in our experiences as they happen instead of reliving the past and trying to change something that is impossible to change.

6) Allow yourself to feel

Don’t be afraid to feel any unresolved feelings that are still coming up in response to you thinking about a past situation. Allow yourself to get as angry as you want, cry if you need to, scream if you are so inclined, but whatever you do don’t stifle your emotions.

All emotions are “ok” and if we give ourselves some quiet time to feel any emotion we want, we allow ourselves a safe space to be able to move past them in a healthy manner.

The minute we give the green light to our hearts to feel anything it wants, we notice the energy of the emotions dissolving into the light of our own being.

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Let go
Forgive

5 Wiccan Tips to Manifest Your Desires

Lauren

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July 14, 2015

3

“Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.” ~ Don Miguel Ruiz

Perhaps the reason why many of us look outside; to books and friends, to mentors and peers to give us the tools to create a healthy routine and the means to begin manifesting the life we want is because we don’t trust ourselves.

Yet when we haven’t been given these tools or pointed in the right direction by those who should’ve done so to positively curb our natural development we often need a few more nudges than most. Or perhaps we have mastered the art of self love and care but are yet to take the plunge and start facing the ultimate act of self love. Doing what you came here to do.

When it comes to this next step – of manifesting and positively welcoming in those changes with open arms – we need a great deal of growing up and taking responsibility, but also a greater depth of honesty.

For the biggest message to the universe (and the most common way we are not impeccable with our words) is the little voice that says night and day; I’m not good enough for this, I don’t deserve it, I don’t have the capacity to help others, I’m not ready.

Some helpful routines and suggestions for manifesting what you want can be too vague, others too materialistic. The first rule of witchcraft, whether you’re interested in that side of it or not is that, whilst you’d love to be off creating colorful spells and doing one for this and one for that, actually the greatest wisdom is knowing that everything is already OK the way it is and doesn’t need your interference thank you very much.

The universe knows the bigger plan, so sit back and enjoy it. However, some things need a little nudge in the right direction, and if you’re completely changing the direction of your life or instigating major changes in many forms then you’ll probably need to study and rearrange your patterns and habits.

Here are five wiccan tips that work for me:

1) Dig deep

Before even planning and plotting over what you want to manifest, you must dig deep. This especially applies if you are asking and asking for something and you’re just not getting it. An example is the person who wants an apartment and a job, yet time and time again, despite wishing for both just runs into roadblocks.

The message this person is probably sending out is that they don’t really want to be there, or, that they’re just not sure what they want to do or where they want to live. The universe WILL give you everything you desire… it’s just that most people have no clue what exactly it is they want.

Be careful what you wish for is a common adage for a reason. You might just get it and it may not be what you wanted after all. Remember EVERYTHING has two sides and so explore the possible ‘down sides’ or less appealing aspects of your wish and how it might impact other parts of your life.

Sit down, let rip on the honesty and THINK HARD about what you really want. What are those little red flags that keep going up? Don’t ignore them. Pluck them out and study them with a magnifying glass. Like all stuck emotions and fears, the more you honestly explore and release them the more likely they are to dissolve into thin air.

2) Imagine

Having decided what you want, you still aren’t ready to take the plunge. Now IMAGINE exactly how you will be by projecting the ideal into your future. As I’ve already said, what often holds us back is that to know everything that’s going to happen and have it all planned out and set in stone is, well… a little boring. We like mystery and to have the forces of life play out and surprise us in ways we would never have imagined.

Is there a way you could focus on one element to manifest and leave the rest up to the professional and ever-knowing laws of nature? Or do you feel a sinking sensation of dread or disappointment when viewing your dream in such a way? Often, the first few times we do this we come up with false dreams, things we don’t really want at all.

As we all know of witchcraft, the dangerous side of it can prevail if not respected. Becoming a master of divine timing and having fun with spells or meditative manifestation exercises whilst staying humble is one thing, but forcing it can have tragic effects. Making others fall in love, contacting the dead… we don’t need to watch Disney’s Aladdin to know that these are all big no nos.

3) The power of three times three so mote it be

One last thing before taking the plunge – ask yourself, does it hurt anyone including myself? This is one hurdle many can never clear, especially when it comes to money as the sensitive among us simply can’t ask for more than we need or feel the entitlement to it.

It’s like the gender wage gap – in the U.S, women are 77% to every man’s 1$, mostly because women’s sense of entitlement and judgment of their own self worth in the interview is much lower.

The fact that all the world’s wealth already goes to those who believe they should have it and honor financial status and success above all else already makes my skin crawl, so these self help books that encourage you to feel entitled to money just doesn’t feel right somehow.

Do you NEED what you are desiring? Are you being greedy and are secretly aware of this? Perhaps this is a block, but also should be an indicator of the right thing to do. Buddha’s right speech and right livelihood indicate having a just reason attached to a goal.

If you want to save money to eventually buy a beautiful house and gardens to turn into a meditation centre or foster home will probably compliment your higher self as opposed to buy a second car. Having said that, each to their own and who are any of us to judge what others want, but this is a good rule. If it doesn’t hurt anyone including yourself, then go ahead.

4) Explore the best ways to manifest for you

Some do an image board, some repeat a mantra. Some wish for it everything night and others do so and then conveniently forget about it. The key thing is doing something, but most certainly with an air of detachment. Creatively explore ways to integrate it into your routine. Spells can be a fun and creative way to do this although beware becoming too attached to little mistakes and superstitions along the way.

Doing this with others can be even more powerful and avoid individual pedantries. Meditation may be more your thing, but remember to close any ‘wishes’ or visualizations of getting what you want with a prayer for others – a simple energy reminder and statement of humility to the universe that you are aware you already have all you need, that you are already grateful.

I find drawing up a routine with spaces for spontaneity can be an excellent way to manifest things. Just changing your habits and routine and acting as if you already have whatever it is you desire can be the most effective step.

5) And finally, keep going

Keep going, repeating steps one to four until it begins to happen. Often if it’s not happening you’re missing signs from the universe which are opportunities in disguise or still not being completely honest with yourself about what you want.

Revise, meditate on your past and any inner voices that may be telling you things that are holding you back. Manifesting can be a huge inner journey, and if done right, can open up all sorts of doors for you. With changes that can be enjoyed for the rest of your life.

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Casting Spells
Manifesting
Crystal ball
Altar

Interdependent Universe: Everything is Connected

Life

Gary Z McGee

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July 14, 2015

4

Interdependent Universe: Everything is Connected

“We are all connected; to each other, biologically. To the earth, chemically. To the rest of the universe atomically. We are not figuratively, but literally stardust.” ~ Neil DeGrasse Tyson

What does it really mean to be connected? Let’s look at some similar terminology: linked, associated, related, allied, coupled, joined, attached, fixed, tied, bonded, united, and coalescent. When it comes down to it, no single word can define the concept of everything is connected to everything else. Even the word “interdependent” falls short.

Even the term “quantum entanglement” doesn’t seem to do it justice. And, really, we shouldn’t expect our limited terminology to describe anything accurately. Our words are just tools we use to communicate an experience that ultimately cannot be communicated. And that has to be okay.

But there’s no reason why we can’t have fun trying to communicate it anyway. And there’s no reason why we can’t attempt to reconnect the disconnected by teaching them how everything is already connected. If we are to “turn our weaponry into livingry,” as Buckminster Fuller once suggested, we must first connect the disconnected.

Those who are disconnected (the majority) believe whatever they are conditioned to believe. Their minds are inflexible. But if we can get them to see how everything is connected, then maybe we can achieve a social dynamic where we are flexible enough to transform our weaponry into livingry.

We’re connected to each other biologically

“The strategy of self-distancing from the world has impelled and shaped the modern self –differentiating it, empowering it, but eventually so isolating it that it has come to dwell inside a solipsistic prison of its own assumptions.

Worse, in its inflation and increasingly manic desperation, the civilization possessed by that objectifying stance has now become a centrifugal force of destruction and self-destruction in a world too intimately interconnected to accommodate such a titanic juggernaut so out of balance with the whole.” ~ Richard Tarnas

Beyond the psychological archetypes, beyond Jung’s theoretical collective unconscious, beyond Greene’s hypothetical metamorality, there is an organic connection we all share as human beings; a living, breathing, natural biology that connects us all on a visceral level.

Perceptually, we are all experiencing the human condition individually. But actually, we are all connected by the human condition interdependently.

Realizing the latter helps to alleviate the inherent suffering of the former. We are first and foremost social creatures.

The very idea of our “self” comes from using other “selves” as mirrors. We are each of us walking, talking, psychophysiological mirrors for each other. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we will become more compassionate and sympathetic, and the more likely we are to practice vulnerable empathy and fearless forgiveness.

We need to think less like desperate and isolated islands and more like robust and interconnected oceans. Like Arne Naess said, and Aldo Leopold before him, “think like a mountain.” We do this in order to harmonize ourselves with each other and with Gaia.

To become eco-conscious and eco-sensual, that is aware of our connection and interconnection to the micro and macro cosmos. We must bring our creativity to bear upon our egos and then imagine ourselves as oceans or mountains: greater eco-centric beings connected to all things.

But there is a prominent fear dwelling at the heart of the human condition. Most people are scared of facing their truer interdependent self. Indeed, the lesser independent self has a seeming stranglehold on most people’s perception of reality. This is because facing a difficult truth means disrupting the comfortable lies we’ve been telling ourselves.

Like Carlos Castaneda said, “People are afraid of connecting with their natural selves. This is because our modern lifestyles have become controlled by the Corporate Illuminati and are now disconnected with the spirit of Mother Nature and the spirit of planet Earth.”

Too long have we overfed the Ego at the expense of the Eco. We too easily forget that we are also connected to the earth.

We’re connected to the earth chemically

“Talk to a tree, which is more deeply rooted in God than any cross because no cross has roots, it is a dead thing – that’s why it kills… a tree is alive, with roots deep into the earth, branches high into the sky, connected with the whole, with the rays of the sun, with the stars – talk to the trees!” ~ Osho

The Earth is a living system of which we are all an aspect. Human beings are fundamentally interconnected with the Earth and with all its lifeforms. The boundaries we have set up between nature and the human soul are illusory at best and self-destructive at worst.

Neither the Earth’s environmental problems nor humanity’s unsustainability problems can be resolved without first taking full account of the interconnection between human nature and Mother Nature.

If we can become more attuned to the subtle forces of the ecosystems we inhabit, and more responsible with the not so subtle forces that we contribute to, then we can rediscover innate aptitudes that will help us to mend ourselves, our communities, and the planet.

The sooner we realize, as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe did, that “nature has neither core nor skin: she’s both at once outside and in,” the sooner we’ll get to a state where we can heal the alienation between person and planet, and establish a healthy relationship between the two.

There is an innate drive to live in harmony with the natural world and its primal rhythms. We have suppressed this drive through self-induced nature deprivation, and we are disoriented and suffering because of it.

As Carl Jung intuited, “Civilized Man does not understand how much his “rationalism” has put him at the mercy of the psychic ‘underworld.’ He has freed himself from superstition (or so he thinks), but in the process he has lost his spiritual values to a positively dangerous degree. His moral and spiritual tradition has disintegrated, and he is now paying the price for this break-up in the worldwide disorientation and dissociation.”

The human soul cannot be saved while the biosphere crumbles. Our sanity is linked with the health of our environment. A healthy human being naturally develops a responsibility for their environment. Likewise, a mature human being naturally develops a responsibility for the power they wield.

Our quest should be the integration of science and spirituality, of nature and the human soul, a vision which reminds us of our connectedness to the inner self, to each other, and to the planet.

We’re connected to the universe atomically

“What you do is what the whole universe is doing at the place you call the here and now. You are something the whole universe is doing in the same way that the wave is something that the whole ocean is doing. The real you is not a puppet which life pushes around. The real deep-down you is the whole universe.” ~ Alan Watts

Perceptually speaking, everything “exists” along an improbable line of probability. On a long enough timeline of probability, what’s possible and what’s impossible begin to merge. Perceptually, everything is separate and finite. But actually, everything is connected and infinite. It is this infinite connection, despite our limited finite perceptions, that makes us one with the cosmos.

Like the physicist Niels Bohr said, “We must be clear that when it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry. The poet, too, is not nearly so concerned with describing facts as with creating images and establishing mental connections.”

The mental connections we establish are the stories we tell each other. There are non-fiction laws to the story that is our universe unfolding, but it seems more like a work of fiction.

We are the stymied and astonished readers of this story; blinded by the miraculous interconnectedness and supersymmetry of it all to such an extent that we consistently forget that this very compelling story abides by the laws of non-fiction. One might even argue that our minds inject a kind of fiction upon the non-fiction story that is our universe unfolding. Thus creating paradox.

But we can always flip the tables on ourselves and our outdated worldviews. Try this: I am somebody (individual, unique, ego, concerned with the self) subsuming everybody (social, collective, egoless, concerned with the human condition) transcending nobody (cosmic, interconnected, immanent, concerned with an interdependent cosmos).

When it comes down to it the lines of separation drawn between us and the universe is an illusion. We can no more be separated from the cosmos as from the air we breathe, the ground we walk on, or the bacteria in our stomach that digests our food. The guts of the stars that died before us are the same, atomically, as the guts in our bodies. We are star stuff doing star stuff in human form.

How amazing is that? And when we combine the precepts of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, Schrodinger’s equation, Zeno’s paradoxes, and the many-worlds interpretation of the quantum wavefunction, it stands to reason that an infinite interdependent multiverse is at hand, and paradox only occurs because of our bias toward finitude despite the infinite interconnectedness of the cosmos.

At the end of the day, we are the universe frolicking in human form for a while. We are an interdependent universe playing the role of independent verses. We are tiny human-shaped waves emerging from a gargantuan cosmic ocean. We are the almighty infinite wavefunction that has collapsed into finite waves for a paradoxical amount of time.

We are an infinite God godding its godhood into finite godlings who vainly attempt to pierce through the veil of ignominy; who dare to burst through the Doors of Perception and into the vastness of infinity, knowing full well that we will most certainly fail, but flourishing forward anyway, ever so closer to that unattainable enlightenment that casts its shadow back upon us.

But it matters not, because we know –balls-to-bones, ovaries-to-marrow– that the journey is the thing.

Everything is Connected -- Here's How: | Tom Chi | TEDxTaipei

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Universe

Lao Tzu and the Wisdom of the Tao Te Ching

Lauren

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July 13, 2015

7

Lao Tzu and the Wisdom of the Tao Te Ching

The Problem of the Word

“The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named is not the eternal name”

Paradoxically, all religions seem to be aware of this having been formed around the teachings of a prophet who became enlightened and comprehended the nature of existence and called it God, yet were unable to pass on these teachings without using the questionable and wholly misinterpreted Word.

The Word of God is not actually the word of god is it? It’s been translated, tampered with and passed down through Chinese whispers until the whole thing has become entirely inaccurate. Us humans are faced with this conundrum yet we continue to try.

As Jesus so rightly said, he was ‘a’ son of God rather than ‘the’ son of god… Makes your stomach flip doesn’t it, to think how a whole religion can be pivoted on one simple pronoun?

What then, do we use to reach those moments of enlightenment if not the word? Or is it simply the way in which we use it?

Rather than stipulating a list of rules, perhaps the best way to trigger or trip up the mind and land it swimming in the beautiful abyss of the Now is to use parable, meditative sentences that simplify language, or simply not speak at all.

“When the world knows beauty as beauty, ugliness arises
When it knows good as good, evil arises”

Contradiction is the Essence of Life

“Yield and remain whole
Bend and remain straight
Be low and become filled
Be worn out and become renewed
Have little and receive
Have much and be confused”

The Tao as Lao Tzu lays out is as much to do with emptiness as it is to do with opposites. The Tao seems to sit at the heart of all opposites; where the gap between breaths waits, where exhaustion comes and one gives up, only then will come relief and aid… perhaps even joy.

Traveling and staying humble and unassuming will keep us close to the clear brutality of life, only then to discover that it’s incredibly kind and nurturing. Ego and the word want to freeze things, to put them on hold and stamp them all over with rules.

Nature, the Tao and the Divine (perhaps all one and the same) seem to if nothing else be understood through impermanence. God is an ever present trickster, lovingly antagonizing us through the motions like a cat playing with a stunned mouse.

It seems harsh yet the journey only appears cruel because we forget our roots. We are both the cat and the mouse, the carpet beneath them and the air in between them too. There is no distinction.

It’s because of this that we can manifest whatever we want from life once the boundaries of the mind are dissolved.

“Those who follow virtue are with virtue
Those who follow loss are with loss”

We Are One

“Those that attained oneness since ancient times
The sky attained oneness and thus clarity
The earth attained oneness and thus tranquility
The gods attained oneness and thus divinity
The valley attained oneness and thus abundance
The myriad things attained oneness and thus life
The rulers attained oneness and became the standard for the world
These all emerged from oneness”

The Bodhisattva understands that it’s simply their intention and healing vibration that can help others when they’re suffering. Jesus and the phrase ‘he dies for our sins’ has frequently baffled me until I realized that, Christianity aside, Jesus was a Bodhisattva.

He cleansed a whole people and period through forgiving those who were torturing him. What an achievement! There are degrees of enlightenment, but the highest truly does seems to be giving and compassion for others.

The effect the Bodhisattva has is to build a world for others to enjoy and build upon in turn. ‘The sky attained oneness and thus clarity’… in our span of history, clearly merely a glimmer of the bigger picture, the ancients have shaped it for us.

On a rudimentary level you could list the ways in which religion has harmed us. But as the Tzu states in the previous wisdom; without one we would have no other.

Perhaps the benefits of prophets, individuals and supposed nobodies are largely unseen yet thoroughly and profusely there, helping us explore every nook and cranny of existence.

However, one thing the Tao asserts is –

“Do not wish to be shiny like jade
Be dull like rocks”

Have Compassion for All

“The Tao is the wonder of all things
The treasure of the kind person
The protection of the unkind person”

The unkind person is not someone to be feared unless you see them in yourself – they are to be loved and cherished. Not because they teach you something, but because they are suffering and need protection. The wonder of all things is the worship and appreciation of both sides of the coin.

The bullies have been bullied, the unjust and power-hungry are not some face-less hounds, hungry vampires trying to trick and consume you. They are human too, and to see them as anything else is to forget our own humanity.

“The Tao is the wonder of all things”

Small is Mighty

“Nothing in the world is softer or weaker than water
Yet nothing is better at overcoming the hard and strong
This is because nothing can replace it”

The greatest belief we can probably hope to hold throughout our lives, is the belief that, though we are pretty insignificant and should never be fooled into getting too big for our boots, the ‘softer’ we are (softer, kinder, more yielding and fluid), the more influence we may have in the long run.

People often get so caught up in trying to make a difference, they forget that a lifetimes work starts with the smallest kindnesses in daily life. Not even kindnesses, but doing the right thing and staying true to that inner voice that sees all and knows when we go against ourselves or turn a blind eye.

When you open your eyes are thousands of opportunities to make a difference throughout our days. To ignore them is the real crime.

“Sages do not accumulate
The more they assist others, the more they possess
The more they give to others, the more they gain”

Dao De Jing or Tao Te Ching - Book of the way

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Lao Tzu
Butterfly
Nature

Four Reasons to Create and Destroy a God

Issues

Gary Z McGee

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July 11, 2015

8

Four Reasons to Create and Destroy a God

“You do not believe; you only believe that you believe.” ~ Samuel Coleridge

Belief can be a briar patch of thorny ignorance. Paraphrasing Ernest Becker, “When we place all our eggs into one basket we tend to clutch that basket for dear life.” The problem with this strategy is that such clinging has a tendency to lead to a fear-filled, fear-based lifestyle.

We’re more likely to “play the victim” under such a state of existential fear. Most of the time these baskets are passed down from generation to generation and we’re told that it’s in our best interest to also place our eggs into those same baskets. So there is typically an exorbitant amount of social pressure involved.

But there is a far superior strategy: to take things into consideration rather than believe in things; to maintain open-mindedness by remaining curious and skeptical rather than apathetic and convinced.

Like Gerry Spence said, “I’d rather have a mind open by wonder than one closed by belief.”

The important thing is to remain circumspect. Take all the information into consideration and then weigh it against reality. Take it in, process it, and then let it go. Don’t cling to it. Learn from it. Then move on with your humility intact.

Like Aristotle said, “It is the mark of an educated mind to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

If only it were that simple. Alas, the human condition is itself a briar patch. And sometimes that briar patch needs some jostling. It needs to be shaken up a bit. Its thorns need some taming lest they become too sharp.

We must be able to maintain our curiosity lest we stagnate or even devolve as a species. In short: we need to astonish ourselves. This sometimes means forcing a state of astonishment. And that’s where creating a god and destroying it comes into play.

The self-astonishment gained in creating and destroying a god prevents us from being too rigid in our position or opinion. It enriches us by providing us with new ways of being, by broadening our awareness and understanding, by opening wide our eyes, our hearts, our minds, and our souls to the awe-inspiring miracle of the universe and our place within it. It keeps us spiritually and existentially vigilant.

And if that’s not convincing enough, here are four other reasons to create and destroy a god.

1) Because it’s creative

“Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it.” ~ Bertolt Brecht

Who created all things? Who created Yahweh? Who created Allah? Who created the Flying Spaghetti Monster? My answer is another question: who cares?

But many people would answer my question with: a lot of people do. Fair enough… In a universe where energy can neither be created nor destroyed, where it can only ever constantly change from one form to another, and as an agent of change myself, I’m cool with that.

I’m cool with sincerity, but not so cool with seriousness. A creative sense of humor seems to be in order.

Like Aldous Huxley said, “All gods are homemade, and it is we who pull their strings, and so, give them the power to pull ours.”

Creating power constructs is an admirable task, but not being able to cut the strings to such power is lamentable. The gods can either be adjuncts or puppeteers, guides or tyrants. The choice is ours.

So let’s be creative. Let’s think extraordinarily. What are some other names we can call this infinite nothingness/somethingness, this all-encompassing interconnectedness? Rob Brezsny calls it the Blooming Haha. I call it the Dancing Nothing. My alter ego Jester Guru calls it Trickster Apocalypse.

Most people simply call it Love, or God, or the Divine. We can call it whatever we want. That’s the beauty of the artistic process. We’re free to create or destroy anything we so desire. The same goes with creating and destroying gods. We just need to become better at it is all. And part of becoming better at it is learning how to let go.

If, as Mark Twain said, “History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes,” then it behooves us to come up with better rhymes and discard what doesn’t work. We are a social species with a historical tendency to create gods.

The problem is we also have a historical tendency to prop those gods up and revere them through a kind of myopic and dogmatic blind faith. The problem is there are too many baskets being filled with eggs and not enough new baskets being made. And especially not enough baskets being made out of the refuse of the old.

Do not deny the creative death (dying life) you carry in your heart. The gods are dead, long live the gods: thus the present must die so that the future may live.

2) Because it’s humbling

“Let go of certainty. The opposite isn’t uncertainty. It’s openness, curiosity and a willingness to embrace paradox, rather than choose up sides. The ultimate challenge is to accept ourselves exactly as we are, but never stop trying to learn and grow.” ~ Tony Schwartz

Creating and destroying a god is an extremely humbling process. It helps us get over ourselves. It helps us mediate infinity into a finite construct, and vice versa. It helps alleviate the conflict between the god and worm inside us by allowing for a cathartic space within which to pour our existential anxiety.

We create a god and it fulfills us spiritually and symbolically. We destroy a god and it instills us with courage and humility. It builds us up just as it tears us down. This way, power never gets to the point to where it can corrupt absolutely. Like Friedrich Nietzsche said, “Is it not this: to debase yourself in order to injure your pride? To let your folly shine out in order to mock your wisdom?”

Build a god. Pour your passion into it. Then tear it down so as not to remain spiritually stuck or existentially stagnant. Then build another one. We’re all creative. We’re all destructive. We just need to learn how to get better at doing both.

Like Sir Isaac Newton said, “To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me.”

We can all be that “child” playing on the beach, where the sand castles are gods and the tide is the constant reminder that things change, and must change, in order for beauty to be beautiful and meaning to be meaningful.

3) Because it makes us more courageous

“You are an explorer, and you represent our species, and the greatest good you can do is to bring back a new idea, because our world is endangered by the absence of good ideas. Our world is in crisis because of the absence of consciousness.” ~ Terence McKenna

Relying on outdated gods built by our forefathers is boring. Leaning on those gods like they were crutches is cowardly and pathetic. There is a far more superior approach: stand on the shoulders of giants and see further than they did. Challenge yourself. Will yourself into fearlessness. Dare yourself to walk the tightrope between man and overman. The ropes extend from one giant’s shoulder to another. Human wisdom cannot be contained.

It can only ever be a process that changes. It’s less like a single giant knowing all things, and more like infinite giants connected to all things. We are all giants, just as we are all the ones who stand upon the shoulders of giants.

It’s all connected. We’re all connected. And the way we tap into the wisdom of this connection is by challenging ourselves to walk the precarious tightropes that connect the Truth.

This is dangerous, sure. But courage is only ever courage when there is danger, when there is uncertainty, when there is pain to be learned from. Creating gods in order to achieve enlightenment, or the divine, or nirvana, takes an immense amount of courage, but destroying the very gods that got you there takes even more courage, tantamount to Promethean-Nietzschean proportions (See “If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him”).

Like Prometheus himself said, “I would rather be chained to this rock than be the obedient servant of the gods.”

Don’t limit yourself to a single giant’s shoulders. Don’t limit yourself to only one “sacred” text. Don’t be a victim of the ordinary. Don’t allow your vision to be clouded by the smoke and mirrors of the herd-like human humdrum. Steal fire from the gods if you have to. Topple thrones and melt down sacred idols if need be.

Like Cecil Beaton said, “Be daring. Be different. Be impractical. Be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.”

Indeed. Destroy your throne of gold, you must. Crutches have always had more utility in dust.

4) Because it’s funny as hell (or heaven)

“There is no polite way to suggest to someone that they have devoted their life to a folly.” ~ Daniel Dennett

There is nothing funnier than witnessing grown adults froth and spittle in religious fervor over having their cherished beliefs questioned or challenged. The key, on both sides of the religious/spiritual divide, is to to cultivate a sacred sense of humor. This means being sincere while not taken oneself too seriously.

If we can speak our own mind without being overly serious, then we are practicing a good sense of humor. If we cannot speak our own mind without being overly serious, then we fail at practicing a good sense of humor.

Creating and destroying a god achieves this sacred sense of humor because the process itself is the epitome of not taking itself too seriously. It is inherently anti-dogmatic and therefore free of being overly serious. And furthermore, it is free to develop into a humor of the most high.

Here’s the thing: art does not prevail despite failure, but through it. Art, if done exceptionally, is always vandalism. The same thing applies to creating and destroying gods: creating a new god, if done exceptionally, is always blasphemy. There will always be those who cling to outdated values.

But there’s nothing saying we cannot have a good sense of humor about how we go about challenging those values. That’s precisely why Quixote is my co-pilot; we know all the rules but the rules don’t know us. No windmill is safe… Pun intended.

Just ask yourself this question: would you rather the thrill that comes from daring the gods and failing, or the safety that comes from accepting a low-grade ennui and succeeding.

Now consider what Joseph Campbell asked us all: “The old gods are dead or dying and people everywhere are searching, asking: What is the new mythology to be, the mythology of this unified earth as of one harmonious being?”

Our answer should be to create this new mythology, a self-inflicted mythology. And it begins with destroying our outdated gods and then creating updated gods from their sacred compost. Our gods can either be a phoenix that courageously rises out of its own ashes, or a stagnant fixture we grovel under in dogmatic cowardice. One fits with cosmic law and one does not. It’s as simple as that. The key is maintaining the transitory.

When it comes down to it, all we have is the in-between. We’re stuck in a fleeting impermanence disguised as a permanent. All we have is a beautiful rending within which to relish.

We’re constantly being torn between spirit and flesh, between the sacred and the profane, between life and death, and between infinity and finitude. We might as well own up to it. We might as well get better at being ephemeral. Creating a god and destroying it is doing precisely that.

Like Simone De Beauvoir said, “Man lives within the transitory or not at all. He must regard his undertakings as finite and will them absolutely.”

Regarding our undertakings as finite is the humility gained from destroying our gods. Willing our undertakings absolutely is the sacredness gained from creating our gods. Both are necessary in order to maintain the beauty of the transitory.