Fast Forward at a Mellow Pace
by Dick Sutphen
For over 30 years, I've been teaching a street-wise form of Zen-based metaphysics. I also live this philosophy/lifestyle, because if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to keep up with myself. The old me would have tossed in the towel at my current pace and lifestyle.
As an example, in the last month I've maintained a regular schedule of counseling clients over the phone and in person in my Westlake, CA office. I also plan and conduct a weekly radio show and write this column. I've created new seminar processes and have written several mind-programming scripts to be studio recorded next month. In July, I participated in a hypnosis conference in New Orleans with healer Patti Conklin, came home, turned around and went right back out to Lily Dale, NY to conduct a professional training. I was home long enough to wash my clothes and re-pack before flying to Boston to teach for days at the National Guild of Hypnotists Conference.
Along the way, I visited Walden's Pond near Boston. I most enjoyed seeing the replica of Henry David Thoreau's 6' x 6' cabin on the edge of the pond (actually it's a beautiful lake) where he lived for two years as an experiment in "simplicity." Inside the tiny cabin was a small bed, a fireplace, a wood-burning stove, a writing desk and three chairs.
I sat down at the desk and tried to imagine myself writing a book with a quill pen and looking up to see the frozen lake and snow-covered landscape. "What a contrast to my life," I thought. "But would I trade that simple existence for my current fast-forward reality?" The answer came quickly: "No way."
I already apply a "keep it simple, mellow pace" viewpoint, which is supported by my philosophy.
If you accept reincarnation and karma, you accept self-responsibility.
So there is no one to blame for anything that happens to you. You set up the situation as an opportunity to learn and grow. When you accept all the blame, life is much simpler.
Another key is to accept that "what is, is." There are things you can change and there are things you cannot change (what is). Life gets simpler when you accept, opposed to resist, the things you cannot change.
A Zen goal is to develop "Detached Mind," which is key to moving fast at a mellow pace. This means your state of mind fluctuates only from positive to neutral as outside conditions change. You accept all the warmth and joy and happiness that life has to offer while detaching from negativity by allowing it to flow through you without affecting you. In other words, your state of mind drops no further than neutral.
To develop detached mind means to detach only from the negativity in your life. It is detachment based upon refusing to make matters worse than they already are. The moment you get upset or into drama, you are programming your mind for more of the same, thus you make matters worse.
Being on the road offers a constant opportunity to develop detached mind. Planes are late, flights canceled, luggage lost, hotels screw up, healthy food choices are few and far between, travelers are tired and stressed and tend to have short fuses. There is an old adage that says if you want to quickly experience someone's true personality, travel with them.
I don't want to say I'm above getting upset but if I do, it usually only lasts a few moments before I catch myself. In response to resistance or impending drama, I touch the tip of my index fingers to the tips of my thumbs, which is my mind-programmed trigger to observe without responding. It is your resistance to what is that causes your suffering, so it makes sense not to immediately resist what is unfolding.
Resistance is a fear-based emotion causing you to accept feelings of anger. You identify with the feeling and say, "I'm angry." You don't separate what you feel from who your really are. You're not the anger.
The anger is old programming.
Simply observing your reactions allows you to de-personalize negative feelings. Instead of saying, "I'm angry," say, "It is angry." By separating yourself from the feeling, you detach from the stress the feeling creates. Plus, by stepping back to observe, you give yourself time to react in your own best interest.
Or as a karate Sensi I once trained with used to say, "By pausing to observe, you can react with a calm mind and in your own best interest.
If you decide to act, act fast and decisively. You may decide it's in your best interest to break your adversary's* kneecap, but do it quickly and calmly."
As I write this, I've been home three days and leave in the morning to go to Sedona to conduct the "Shift" seminar before driving to Denver to headline the "Celebration Fair" at the Merchandise Mart over Labor Day.
I will do many private sessions along the way. And the road trip will unfold at a mellow pace. I hope.
I'll be discussing how to develop Detached Mind with Carol Morgan, Ph.D. on next weeks radio show (described below).
(*NOTE: Because it can take a drunk 25 seconds to feel pain, Sensi referenced the kneecap as a way to instantly disable an attacker. His first advice was always, "Never fight if there is anyway to avoid it.")
© 2008 Dick Sutphen. All Rights Reserved. Republished by Sunset Spiritualist Church with consent of the author.