I’m reading the book that has caught my attention time and time again over the past few decades, Be Here Now by Ram Dass. I’ve seen it on a bookstore shelf over the past thirty years I’ve been drawn to it time and time again, almost as if it was stalking me. In the past I always picked it up and thumbed through it but then sat it back down after thinking “this would be a waste of money”, “I don’t need one more book”, or “This doesn’t synch with the meditation technique I’m learning right now”.
Be Here Now wistfully eluded me until a few weeks ago. On my recent trip back home to Columbus I finally acted on the vague attraction to it and I’m thrilled I did. At first glance Be Here Now is a really odd book, mostly filled with pages scribbled with handwritten text peppered with hippy lingo and drawings that harken back to the Summer of Love. Oh, and it's printed on paper that resembles a brown paper bag. None of it made sense to my rational brain and maybe this is what initially put me off.
I guess what I’m trying to say that, in this life, timing is everything and different things draw us in during different seasons of our life. If it’s the wrong time words of wisdom might seem like gibberish but if it’s the right time those very same words can be transformational. The key is we must’ve become so rigid in our ideology that we stop accepting new things and ideas as we age. To continue to evolve as we age we have to remain flexible and open or else we find ourselves stuck, stagnant, and "old".
“Though we plant the seeds when we like it, and have the freedom to choose the quality of seeds we plant, note that the harvest is brought about by the higher consciousness in its Divine Timing.”― Sanchita Pandey, Lessons from My Garden
The key is we don’t want to continuously jump from one thing to the next or as the saying goes “be so open-minded that our brains fall out”, it requires a certain balance. This why we have to pay such close attention to those things that either enhance or detracts from our peace. This took me three decades of extremely intense work on myself to really figure out and put into practice.
Now, all of us are attracted to plenty of things that don’t serve us – a beautiful person, people who continually pay us empty compliments, a popular book, a fad diet, substances that make us feel good temporarily, but how many of these things enhance our peace?
Also, there are many things in life seem boring as hell on the surface but fill us with a deep sense of joy, sometimes this makes zero logical sense. If you find someone or something that sparks a sense of peace and well-being in you it’s a good sign you should be making a real effort to experience more of them or it. Try this and see how it changes your life. Life is an experiment after all.
After three decades of work, hundreds of books, countless hours of meditation, and lots of mistakes I can strip away the nuances of what I’ve learned and distill them into two basic points.
Pay close attention to those things that enhance your peace and sense of well-being. Make an effort to experience more of this. These are the things that are likely meant for you in this time and season of your life.
Likewise, try to eliminate anything from your life that constantly detracts from your peace and sense of well-being. This will likely waste your time and do you harm.
If we don't pay attention to these two things we always pay in other, often painful, ways like -- wasted time, unhappiness, financial hardship, anxiety/depression, and declining health.
I’ll leave you with one of the first poems I ever wrote. This was written around 1991 when I was twenty and my adult life was just beginning. I remember the day so vividly. I was still living with my parents in the house I grew up in. I was filled with a sense of hope and excitement and scribbled the poem down in a journal I was keeping at the time.
Months earlier I had been through a life changing experience and, subsequently, fell into a deep, dark depression. Then I had the breakthrough that pulled me from the abyss. Just a few weeks before I wrote this poem I found a little book on Meditation by Paramahansa Yogananda, started my meditation practice and nothing has been the same since.
It hasn't been an easy path for me but I can honestly say it’s been worth it. Pursuing a creative endeavor and living a life in which you allow both your brain and your heart to guide you can be very tricky. There have been times of drought, darkness, and confusion where I've questioned everything, especially when it feels like everyone else is passing you by. The thing is, once those seeds are sown, the harvest happens in time and when it does there is no greater joy on Earth than this.
All for now. Trust your instincts, invest in you, live boldly, and take chances.
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Poetry should move us, it should change us, it should glitch our brains, shift our moods to another frequency. Poetry should evoke feelings of melancholy, whimsy, it should remind us what it feels like to be in love, or cause us to think about something in a completely different way. I view poetry, and all art really, as a temporary and fragile bridge between our world and a more pure and refined one. This is a world we could bring into creation if enough of us believed in it. This book is ephemera, destined to end up forgotten, lingering on some dusty shelf or tucked away in a dark attic. Yet the words, they will live on in memory. I hope these words become a part of you, bubble up into your memory when you least expect them to and make you feel a little more alive.
Pick up a copy of Ephemera today on Amazon.
Most of us have experienced a moment of perfect peace at least once in our lives. In these moments we lose ourselves and feel connected to everything. I call these mindful moments. Words can’t describe how complete they make us feel.
These moments are usually fragile, evaporating in seconds. What if there was a way to train your mind to experience more of them? It’s deceptively easy and requires nothing more than a subtle shift in mindset. My new book, Mindful Moments, will teach you to be much more content despite the chaos and imperfect circumstances continuing to unfold around you. Upgrade your life experience today for only $15.99 on Amazon.com.
Let’s Keep In Touch
Books can indeed influence the way a person thinks. We will get a lot when we diligently read books. Have a nice day, Eric.
They can open up whole new worlds without traveling a mile! I hope you're enjoying your week, my friend. Is it summer where you are?
I agree that timing is everything, and that we should be open to new things and ideas as we age. I'll have to check out the book myself.
I also like your two basic points: pay attention to what enhances your peace and well-being, and eliminate anything that detracts from it. These are simple but powerful principles that can help us live more fulfilling lives.
It's a really useful book, if the timing is right. I've been studying this stuff for decades but I learned a few great nuggets of wisdom that I had never read elsewhere.
Thank you! Those two basic premises will get you far. I'm trying to be diligent about practicing them in my own life.
They say it's not us who look for the books. It is they who find us. I am one of those who fall in love with books and I don't rest until I buy them. But also in those "literary crushes", I have had several disappointments. Last year I wanted a book to do a college assignment, but it was very expensive. Every time I heard about the book, I said: "Universe, give me that book! Since the universe didn't listen to me, I saved up and bought it. Now it turns out that the book is not as good as I thought. hahaha. As for peace, a few years ago I had a long relationship with a guy. That relationship was like Russian roulette: sometimes I was in heaven and sometimes at the bottom of the abyss. Although I tried to separate because I knew it was a toxic relationship, he always managed to bring me back. To be honest: I had no peace. It wasn't me. I am a cheerful, fun, happy person. That relationship had me in the street of bitterness. Finally, we separated and I felt like I was starting to live again. Our peace of mind cannot be at stake or in the hands of others. Life is hard enough without having to carry the negative feelings of others. hahaha. I think I wrote too much!!! Have a great weekend, Eric!!! A big hug in the distance.
I think that saying is true! It's felt like this book was stalking me for the past twenty-five years. Lol. That's horrible when something disappoints you like that. I remember how much I wanted an ebike a few years ago and had to wait a few months for it. It was fun for a while but added a lot of extra complication to my life and then started breaking down. Sometimes reality doesn't meet our expectations. : )
I'm sorry to hear that. Relationships can be very tricky. I've had a few like that in my life. It's those who're closest to us that can hurt us the most, sometimes they're not even trying to do that. I'm glad that you're in a better place! Thanks and I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend, Nancy!
This resonates. I think that's a good classification you're making -- what feeds, and what kills you and your attention. That book looks really interesting, too, it seems to have a very unusual design and I love how you came to it (finally!) :DMaybe you got to reading it at the moment when you were ready. Maybe you would've read it five years ago and hated it. Who knows...
For me, it all boils down to these two things. I remember in the comments of one of your previous posts we were talking about how the best way to make an impact on the world is work on ourselves. This ties directly into that. If we're at peace there's less residual "background noise" we're more in tune with synchronicity. Yeah, for some reason this book rang true for me in this moment...especially the passages on non-dualism. I feel like that was the main nugget of info that I needed.
Unexpected things and financial hardship can happen anytime. Both of these happened to me in the recent past (and earlier too). The Hive blockchain helps a lot. I do not know where I would be now without it.
Oh yes, I wasn't trying to imply that we're responsible for all the bad things that happen to us. Sometimes we are if our decisions are bad but hard times can fall upon any of us at any time. Hive certainly has helped a lot of people, me included. I'd still be trapped in my old life if it wasn't for Hive...deep in debt, tied to a desk job, putting off dreams until "tomorrow". It's totally changed my life.
Mine too. The Hive blockchain and the Hive community helped me to financially survive one winter, and currently also helping me to return from Hungary to Spain. And I am very grateful and very happy for this. My left arm is still healing. Probably it will still take a few weeks for the complete healing. After my left arm will be completely healed, I can return to Spain, and I can continue the alternative lifestyle (living in a cave/tent, and doing recycling).
I totally agree with you, time is what we are if we waste it and don't pay attention to it, we can never be successful in our life. So the coming life of man goes through many difficulties, we become young and if we do nothing, we will never succeed in the life that is coming to us, which is youth. Thanks for sharing this great poem with us.
I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading it!
Thank you for sharing your personal journey with Be Here Now by Ram Dass. Your reflection on the book's elusiveness and eventual impact resonates deeply. I accept that timing plays a crucial role in our receptivity to words of wisdom and transformational experiences. Your insight about remaining flexible and open as we age is a valuable reminder for personal growth which is something I would consider imbibing.
Your emphasis on paying attention to things that enhance our peace and well-being while eliminating those that detract from it is a powerful lesson. It really is a constant process of self-discovery and discernment, and your three decades of intense work and exploration have brought you to this wisdom.
Your poem is inspiring. Your courage to navigate through droughts, darkness, and confusion is commendable. Ultimately, when we sow the seeds of personal growth, the harvest unfolds in its own time, bringing immense joy. Thank you for sharing sir.
Thanks, I'm glad it was helpful!
Great post, Eric! Your message about paying close attention is incredibly relevant in today's fast-paced and distracted world. It's so easy to get caught up in the noise and lose sight of what truly matters. Your reminder to stay present and attentive is a powerful call to action. Let's strive to cultivate mindfulness, focus, and awareness in our daily lives. Thank you for sharing this important message!
Thank you! It's so easy to put off our spiritual practice even if we've experienced the benefits of it. It's almost as though the world tries to distract us from working on ourselves. This is where 99.9% of the effort lies, just fighting those distractions every day and making time for reflection, meditation, self-care.
When we push ourselves into this, the Holy Spirit also helps.
wonderful to read about your personal reflections and experiences. It is beautiful to see how you found the practice of meditation and how it has helped you to overcome difficult times. it is inspiring to see how meditation has been key in your life very nice poem have a nice weekend. full of blessings.
Thanks, so glad you enjoyed it!
We certainly have countless things that have no real benefits to us that we are doing and like to do today. It’s hard to find anyone out there taking this path you are on, I can imagine how much time and effort is needed to be able to transcend above all human ego and make peace with our very being.
Paying attention and meditating is one some of the things that are more beneficial to us as humans and will influence our overall performance, but only a few ever want to be on that path. Instead, it's all about clouts and clicks nowadays.
There are SO many distractions now, so many things competing for our attention. I'm glad I grew up before mobile phones and social media. I was able to establish some kind of spiritual practice, realize the benefits, and integrate it into my life before all of this technology came into being. It would take a lot more discipline now to get started.
Really wonderful post dearest Eric. I was entranced by how powerful and true your words were. Recently, I discovered that there were certain things and people especially that robbed me of my peace of mind and well-being. Not like I didn't know that but I just ignored it wallowed in misery instead.
But I finally took the step to cutting those people off and trust me when I say I feel a lot better afterwards.
Absolutely !luv your poem.
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I'm glad you saw your way through to the other side! Life is to precious and short to find ourselves entrapped in the never-ending drama of toxic people who aren't interested in getting better. Thank you!
You're welcome. It's always a pleasure reading you.🤗
This is so so correct on every level, thank you so much for sharing this thought provoking piece @ericvancewalton
Thank you for taking the time to read it!
You are most welcome
sometimes you find. hm, no...
sometimes you SEE the signs and words the universe sends you to be needed just in time
thank you
Absolutely! The most important thing is to be at peace so we can see those signs. I think they're happening every day but if our minds are clouded by fear, worry, drama, anxiety we just don't see them. You're welcome!
The habit of ignoring the bad factors in your life, is a blessing, not everyone has it. If you don't know the art to ignore things, you will fall in trouble. Your day and night will be as if you are living in Hell.
Adapting the good things and habits is also a blessing.
Yes, separating ourselves from toxicity is very important. Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking we can change people but, the truth is, no one can change sick/deluded people but themselves.
That's a great poem! It's one of your very first?!
Your two points are critically important to me as well. If we could do this, we would all be better able at listening to ourselves, and not take on the personalities and moral judgements of others.
Thank you! There may have been one before this (I’m not sure) but it was either the first or second one I wrote.
This is the main thing I’m working on and trying to hone now. Once you cross that half a century mark time feels so much more important.
I hope you’re well and enjoying summer! 🌞
Time seems to move faster! I look forward to all the poems you will write.
I remember my first ever poem very well, a haiku, and it was pretty good! I wrote it in sixth grade, then didn't write another poem for around forty years.
in the mere of blue
lays the beauty of the sky
and the wake of day
I don't know how I found the obscure meaning of mere but here it is #3
The only other thing I remember about sixth grade was the look on Mrs. Brown's face when I answered her question "What is the #1 best selling book of all time?" with a title by Jean Harlow, a book my mother was reading at the time. When one of my daughters was in third grade, a teacher was talking about the bible, and my daughter raised her hand to ask a question: "What is the bible?" Like mother like daughter, my minime.
It sure does! I really appreciate you saying that. After being around here so long I wonder sometimes how many people are still enjoying what I do. It'll be seven years in just a few days!
That is a fabulous poem! Were you an introvert as a child? I certainly was. I think I internalized so much that it came out in art and the written word.
Haha, I bet those teachers were so surprised! I wouldn't have known that tidbit of trivia at that age either. My brother and I weren't raised in the church at all, that's something I'm thankful for in hindsight.
That is really the best thing to do to look for things that gives yiu inner peace of mind without troubling oneself over some certain issues.
Your words are always inspiring likewise your poem being touching with a lot to learn from and I appreciate you sharing such for people to learn from it as well.
Thanks!
Experience they say is the best teacher and that is why we are opportuned to learn a lot from things and people around us.
An awesome poem and your words are very inspiring. Paying attention to things that put us at peace are the best habit we need to feed on... Although distraction will surely come in when you begin to discover your through self. I love your words and its amazing to read all over again.
Thank you very much!
Sometimes it is needed we just sit down and think about whether the positivity and negativity of it is worth and most times we should pick lessons to the mistakes we made ago
I know from myself that as years pass by, I leave people or things that disturb my peace in my life. Until now, if we haven't had any benefit from them, then we no need to carry them on our shoulders ;)
It's very difficult sometimes to separate ourselves from people or things that disturb our peace. In the past I've fooled myself into believing that I can still keep them at arm's length and they won't negatively impact me but that's never been the case.
#hive #posh
very interesting article,Always the best for you friend,Greetings from me to friends there and families there.
Poetry should move our souls, I love this!
So very true. I find this happening more and more as I get older. Perhaps it's a life experience thing, perhaps it's a shifting in the way we interpret messages. I've found it especially true as a mom, and as my kids get older/go through certain phases, there will be song lyrics, or sayings my grandparents used that suddenly just ring so true, when before they were just some nonsensical words strung together.
Thanks for sharing!
I think you're right! I notice this more as I get older. We view life on such a deeper level as the years roll by. You're welcome, thanks for visiting my blog!
Wise words to follow, life is very seasonal, changes most definitely do come into play in making decisions that are right for oneself.
Amazingly deep and very true reflection!
!LUV
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! help(no space) to get help on Hive. InfoThank you Joan! I hope you're well!
Getting back on track and feeling a little human once again! Take care and enjoy your warm months.
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