Buying Into Their Own B.S. By Scott Shaw

By Scott Shaw

 

            As I have often stated, for whatever karmic reason, I have walked the spiritual path for most of my life. And, I use the term, “Spiritual Path,” for lack of a better term. But, I am referring to those of us who have decided to make the evolution of human consciousness and tuning into and understanding of the great-beyond their primary focus.

            As someone who has been on this road for a lot of years I have witnessed many things about people on the path. Perhaps most disconcerting is those who buy into their own bullshit. But, I’ll get into that in a moment.

            People are drawn to spirituality for an untold number of reasons. Some enter the path at a young age and some much later. Most, when they decided to, “Get Spiritual,” find their pathway in organized religion—which is very pervasive and universally accepted in all cultures. So, it is easily at hand. Then, there are the more abstract realms of spiritually which call out to people like me. In either case, the person who has newly found the path is generally the most fervent about it.

            I remember when I was a young boy of about eleven or twelve and I was sent to summer camp. One of my campmates was a young boy who used to love to make flavored toothpicks and chew on them. He brought his little bottle of liquid cinnamon spice and he would daily dip a few toothpicks into it to keep in his mouth throughout the day. Though this seemed a bit strange and bizarre to me, what was more curious about the boy was that he had already decided what he wanted to do with his life. He was going to be a minister. While most children of this age group have little idea of what they want to become, he had decided. Me, I wanted to grow up and be like Neil Young or Jimi Hendrix. In any case, he had set upon his path very early in life. Whether or not he ever became a minster, I don’t know. But, what I do know is that youth who enter the spiritual path possess a deep belief in the possibilities of what it has to offer.

            In fact, this is not only true for youth but for others who enter the path at whatever stage of their life. Once upon the path, the first step is generally to seek out a teacher to guide you down the road to your ultimate end-goal. This is where the problems begin.  I have seen it so many times. A person new to the path is full of anticipation, promises, and belief. Thus, they are quick to believe whatever they hear and are easily taken advantage of.

            The reality is, when a person is new to the path they are full of exuberance. Belief equals exuberance. But, what comes next?

            In this state of exuberance many desire to go out and spread this emotion to the world. They want others to be as full of joy as they are. Me too… When I was young I wanted to tell all my friends and family about what I was experiences and guide them to experience the same. This, even though most people do not desire to walk down this road.

            As time progress, however, and a person’s knowledge becomes deeper, they generally no longer need to go out and spill it onto people who are not of the same mindset and do not desire to walk down the path.  They simply become who they are and embrace their cosmic understandings in a more pure and personal space. But then, there are the others. Those, who as they get older decided that they have something unique to give. They have found their calling. They possess something; a deeper knowledge that others do not hold. Thus, they decide to become teachers. And, oh yeah, that usually equals them getting paid for what they teach or, at least, being provided with other various favors.

            In formalized religious, there are generally schools that a person must attend to rise to the level of a teacher. On the spiritual path, this is generally not the case. So, anybody can go out there and claim that they have had a particular revelatory experienced and that experience is what makes them so all knowing and the one that other people should follow.  But, their experience is generally not real. It is simply something that they have read about; something that they have projected as something deep and meaningful, or simply they have realized this is a good way to attract people to follow them to feed their pocketbooks and their ego.

            Mostly, what I have seen is that the people who do this spout knowledge that they have read from books written by other people or have heard at lectures. But, whatever it is, their knowledge is based upon, “Borrowed knowledge.” It does not rise from a pure, personal source—though they will, of course, argue that this is not the case till the end of their days. These are the people who buy into their own bullshit.

            Spirituality is an organic, uniquely individual space of consciousness. Even though two people may be following the same teachings, their interpretation and internal understandings are uniquely their own. People believe they need a teacher because people seek interaction and they seek affirmation that what they are thinking is okay.  But, is what you are thinking, what you are thinking, or have you been guided to think that way? This is the ultimate understanding of consciousness. Are you, you? Or, are you the creation of someone else’s belief system?

            Being you, you are free. That is nirvana. Being what someone else tells you to be is maya. That is illusion.

            Here are a couple of simply rules so you don’t step into someone else’s bullshit.

            Have you heard what they are saying before; from another source, perhaps said in a slightly different way?

            Are they charging you for their knowledge?  Knowledge is free. It doesn’t cost a dime.

            Are they calling you, “My child, my loved-one, my dead-one?” If they are, they are projecting that they are more than you. No one is more than you. You are the source of your own spirituality and enlightenment. Be you. Not a student of someone who buys into their own bullshit.

 

Copyright © 2012—All Rights Reserved

Scott Shaw Writings on Zen, Yoga, and Human Consciousness

The Yin and Yang of Insecurity By Scott Shaw

By Scott Shaw

People come at life based upon one of two mindsets: confidence or insecurity. If one is confident then they approach life with a sense of dynamic awareness. If, on the other hand, they are insecure, they come at life, and the people interactive with their life, from a space of fear, judgment, and dismissal.

As is explained in the theory of Yin and Yang, in all dark there is a bit of light, just as in all light there is a bit of darkness. We can also attach this understanding to the human condition of personal psychological definition and how a person behaves based upon their psychological conditioning.

There are two distinct breeds of the insecure person. The first is the meek. They are the very passive, the reserved, and the person who fades into any sphere of personal interaction they encounter because they do not feel worthy on any level of human comparison. The person who embraces this style of insecurity is commonly the one who is the most easily taken advantage of because they are easily manipulated.

The other style of insecure person is the boisterous, the outspoken, the hateful, the judgmental, and the all knowing. Though they appear to be very self-assured, in truth, they are not. In fact, they are just the opposite and that is why they behave in such a forthright manner. Thus, Yang in the Yin.

Due to the fact that they do not possess a clear sense of self, self-awareness, and are hiding their true inner-definition from the world, they focus on life elements outside of themselves in order to make themselves appear to be more than what they actually are or to keep the focus of other people from truly focusing on them.

Many times, the insecure person will project a position of all-knowing judgment. This, however, is just a disingenuous method to get people to not look too closely at the flaws this person possesses.

The thing about a person who bases their life upon personal insecurity is that they will rarely, if ever, state that they are an insecure person. In fact, some are so unaware of their interpersonal demons that they do not even realize it. For those who are aware of the fact that they possess an insecure mentality, many will hide this fact by any means possible in order to protect themselves from attacks and reprisals.

The number one thing that a person who is defined by insecurity will project is the mind reality of, look the other way. Do not look at me. This, as stated, may be presented by hiding from the world or it may be illustrated by throwing judgments left and right so others will think about other things and not them. In either case, the person who is based upon psychological insecurity will rarely posses the refined, discerning mindset to be able to admit their problem to themselves and dig down to the root of that life expression and thereby emerge as a whole, complete, and self-actualize individual.

The answer? There is none. As insecurity is a problem that exists within and is wholly expressed by the individual, only the individual can create a change within himself or herself. Thus, you can explain to them who they are. You can suggest what they should do and what they should stop doing. But, it is only when they choose to actually take a long hard look at themselves, study and then redefine their projection of reality that they can ever move away from being defined by insecurity.

Copyright © 2018—All Rights Reserved

 

Scott Shaw Writings on Zen, Yoga, and Human Consciousness

Stealing and Selling Other People’s Work and Internet Piracy is not a Victimless Crime By Scott Shaw

By Scott Shaw

            Ever since the dawning of the Internet, bootlegging, (for lack of a better word), has become quite rampant. Meaning, that people copy and sell products that they did not create to other people for a profit. But, none of that money goes back to the people who actually created the product; be it a book, music, or a film.

            Maybe stealing is a better term...

            Certainly, the whole Napster syndrome shook the music industry a few years ago. At that point, people were copying music, uploading it, and “Sharing it” with other people. Though it changed the music industry forever, it also affected the financial livelihoods of many artists.

            In the more recent past, movies have come to be bootlegged, uploaded, and then people are allowed to watch them by paying a price to join the website service that is showing them.

            Now, in terms of high budget films, one could argue that the movie studios have already made a lot of money on these films, so why do they need to make more? Be that as it may, there is a whole other side to the issue. For example, people like myself, who pay for their films to be made out of their own pocket. When these sites get a copy of my films and put them up on the Internet, it can really kill sales. And, believe me, it costs a lot of money and time to make a movie. And, it is very sad when someone else is making a profit from my creation, when I am not.

            Some people believe that the “File sharing sites” are better than the ones just described, as they appear to be free. They are not. Someone in that chain is making money or these site would not be active. Someone, but not the creator of the project.

            Another path where people are commonly bootlegging other people’s creations is in relation to books. I have found several of my books, copied and put up on sites on the Internet. Now, let’s think about this for a moment. The people who do this may like the book, but they did not write the book, they did not spend the money to have the book printed that was laid out by the publishing company. Yet, they scan the books and are selling people the ability to read them on the Internet. They are the one’s making the money. Not the author or the publishing company.

            Recently, I was popping around the Internet and I found a website that is selling scanned copies of martial art magazines. In fact, this site is selling photocopies of several magazines I wrote articles for. They scan them and then sell them.

            Of course, on this website, the people are not honorable enough to provide a name, address, or telephone number where you can contact them. Which illustrates that they know what they are doing is wrong, illegal, and uncool. So, I emailed them. They did not reply.

            But, think about this for a moment. How long do you think it takes to write an article? Then, you have to supply photographs for the techniques presented in the article. This all costs time and money.

            Back in the day, when these magazines were published, they use to pay me $125.00 per article. The photographs alone used to cost me more than that to produce. So, I personally made no money. And, this is not to mention all the time and money it actually took, on the part of the publishing company, to create and release these magazines. But now, here is somebody on the Internet, who had nothing to do with the creation of these magazines, making money by selling someone else’s hard earned work.

            Ultimately, if you’ve ever created something, that you cared about, and took the time and made the effort to get it published or released, you will understand the problem with what is happening when these websites release this information.

            We all want things for free or for cheap-er. This being stated, whether you are paying to access a site or viewing and downloading content for free, you really should think about the reality of what is going on and how your actions are affecting the lives of creative people before you access these sites that sell and make money off of the creative work of other people.

Internet Piracy is not a Victimless Crime

            I was flipping through channels last night and I came upon the Arsenio Hall Show. Prince was on.

            At first glance, this show was kind of interesting in that this same show could have taken place twenty years ago when Arsenio’s first late show was on the air. But, there they were, Arsenio and Prince both looking quite good for their age.

            I was never a really big fan of Prince back in the day. Though me, being who I am, I do own all his vinyl and most of his CDs. It was later that I came to appreciate his music and his contribution to popular music in general. This, though I do have an abstract connection to Prince in that my high school friend, Lisa Coleman, was his keyboard player for a number of years in the Purple Rain era and an actor, Kevin Thompson, who I have used in a number of my films was a Prince impersonator until that era dried up. In any case, it was an interesting show to watch. 

            When Arsenio was talking to Prince they discussed his love and hate relationship with the internet and how music gets out-there for free which really impacts an artist’s bankbook. Though Prince made his own contribution to the changing evolution of music by being one of the first artists to break away from a major record label, what he said made me think back to the time when the whole Napster thing took place and there were a lot of musicians out there rallying against people getting their music for free. I remember when they spoke to Dave Grohl, (Nirvana, Foo Fighters, etc.), and he said, “Why should I care, I’m already rich.” I believe that is an important, and oftentimes overlooked statement to keep in mind when one views this subject.

            There is a certain group of people who now expect to get everything for free on the internet — whether it is music, movies, books, or whatever. But, by taking those items for free you are really causing the person who created those things to not earn money for their creation. As money is one of the most essential elements to life, it is what we must have to survive. And, by taking these creations for free, you are really creating karma for yourself.

            It is one of the most instrumental laws of understood spirituality; do not take things for free or steal things because then karma is created. One should always extend a payment for whatever they receive, as then karma remains clean.

            But to view this subject in a little bit more in-depth manner; first of all, do you think the websites who host these downloads are doing it for free? No, they are not. They are earning money by being in existence or they would not be there.

            From a more philosophic standpoint, (if you want to make excuses for yourself), downloading movies and music financed by major studios or corporation can be viewed as, “Sticking it to the man,” if you want to view life from an anarchistic point of view. But, for people like myself or on a much higher scale someone like Prince, who finances all we do out of our own pockets, it becomes a very different ballgame. For me, I can’t make the same claim as Dave Grohl. So, every dime taken out of my pocket really changes my reality.

            The other side of the issue is that there is nothing I can do about it. My books, music, and movies are out there on this offshore websites being offered for free. Do the people or corporations who run those websites care about what affect they are having on me and the other creative people in my predicament? Probably not. Why? Because they are generating money to support their lifestyle based on the creations of others.

            There is just something wrong in that equitation.

            This is what people really need to think about when they do what they do, whether it be downloading things for free, without thinking about what effect it has on the creator of the work, or simply not taking the time to think about the impact they are having on this world by their various actions.

            What you choose to do and how you choose to do it affects everything in this world. How you choose to live your life affects the next evolution of this Life-Place. So, if you are doing things that negatively impact other people, don’t cry when karma comes calling. Because you are the one who set it in motion.

            Internet piracy is not a victimless crime. And, the victim may end up being you.

Copyright © 2011 & 2014 — All Rights Reserved

   

Scott Shaw Writings on Zen, Yoga, and Human Consciousness

Judgement By Scott Shaw

By Scott Shaw

            “I enjoy your book, About Peace. I was surprised to see the photograph that you have chosen to put on the home page of your web page. I am really disappointed that you have chosen to use women as objects to promote yourself. Please consider how offensive this is. I had considered buying more copies of your book to give as gifts, but now I am really disillusioned about who you are and what you believe and promote.”

            This is an e-mail that I received and it pretty much speaks for itself. What it also ideally depicts is the perceived illusion, the maya, if you will, of how people expect other people to behave. In fact, what many people desire is that other people act in a predetermined manner that they deem appropriate in accordance with their own definition of reality. Which leads me to the point of this article…

            I often discuss with people how personal judgment, about another person’s life and another person’s choices, truly effects, in a negative manner, an individual’s own life and their own interaction with life-fulfillment and enlightenment. The statement that is posted above is an ideal example of what keeps one from truly embracing all this world has to offer.

            Is the above e-mail based in spirituality? No, it is not. It is based in judgment. And, this is the reason that I always suggest to people that they remove themselves from all preconceived notions and never sit in judgment of another person’s life.

            Why? Because, in a nutshell, no outside individual can ever possess all of the facts and understanding about another person’s life and why they do what they do.

            But, let’s continue…

Buying a Book

            If a person buys one of my books and they enjoy it or it helps them, that’s great. If while reading the book, they find some sense of deeper meaning and life-happiness, even better. That is why I wrote About Peace and other books on spirituality. But, you have to understand an essential fact about life, we each seek what we seek. If we are seeking spirituality, then we will find spirituality. We will travel to places where spirituality exists and we will find books like About Peace and other spiritual writings.

            It is just the simple fact of life; we find what we are looking for.

            But, now here comes the other side of the issue, when we are looking for something, we have already come to define what we consider the definition of that SOMETHING to be. If we are seeking spirituality, we have already defined in our mind what we consider spirituality to look like. As I have talked and written about many times, spirituality is quite commonly defined in very limited terms: a person must look a certain way, dress a certain way, and do certain things.

            The question then arises, however, is what you define as being spiritual, true spirituality or is it simply what your thinking mind has decided spirituality should look like?

            You really need to ask yourself that question, because if spirituality is only defined by what you expect it to look like, then it is not spirituality at all, it is simply mind-stuff and that is the chief causation factor for maya, illusion. And, this is the primary reason why people never truly interaction with enlightenment, (another subject I have written extensively about), because then they are bogged down with their own created illusion of what they think enlightenment is supposed to be. Thus, they never free themselves enough to truly embrace Nirvana.

            Now, it is important to understand, I am not criticizing the individual who wrote me this e-mail. In fact, I find it quite amusing, because if they knew anything about me or my website they would know that I do not, ‘Use women as objects to promote myself.’ I just thought the photo they referenced was a fun memory and an interesting image. And, the photos on the website are in a continuous state of flux.

            Believe me, I get e-mails and letters all the time, most are very nice and complimentary. But, a few, like this one, want me to change who I am and want me to behave in a manner that the author finds appropriate.

            It is essential to understand, however, that an individual who writes an e-mail like this is not simply focusing all their attention upon me. They invoke this type of behavior across the board. They want everybody to be the way they want them to be. But, this is not true spirituality. And, someone invoking this style of behavior has no right to judge anybody — not if they are an ordinary person or a well-know spiritual teacher or guru. Why? Because, attempting to dominate the actions of other people is based in ego; thinking, “I know more than you. I know what is right, you don’t.”

            That mindset is not spirituality!

            I mean, let’s think about it; how many of us remember when churches across the U.S. where claiming that rock n’ roll was the devil’s music and anybody who listened to it was a sinner? How ridiculous was that? Or, remember in the 1960s and into the 1970s if you were a male with long hair you were a totally outcast and in complete opposition to all that was just and right. What a joke!

            The point I am making here is the same point that I discuss in the book About Peace and elsewhere in my writings,

            As long as you have desires, as long as you have definitions, you will never be free. Because, you will never be happy unless your definitions are met. Which they never will be. And, you will never find enlightenment, unless enlightenment meets your expectations. But, expectations have nothing to do with spirituality or enlightenment. Expectations are not true spirituality. They are simply judgment. And, judgment has nothing to do with true spirituality!

            Ultimately, what you have to do is to define what you want out of life. And, as previously discussed, you will find what you are looking for.

            If you are looking for someone to criticize, you can find a million reasons, in a million people, to criticize. But, if you are seeking true spirituality, then you simply allow everything and every person to be as they are.

People Are Beautiful

            Let’s face it, women are beautiful. Women find men beautiful. Everybody and everything is beautiful. People ARE objects (as the e-mailer stated). We are things — moving, living, feeling THINGS. So, yes, we are objects, if you want to call people objects. But, that does not make us lesser human beings. What makes us lesser human beings is to unleash our judgment upon the world. For that is the basis of all conflict. And, conflict has nothing to do with true spirituality.

            Feel what you feel. That is the predetermined condition of life. But, you do not have to spread your own predetermined feelings upon others.

Art

            How many of us enjoy truly artistic photographs or paintings of people? I do. But, do I sit there and say that a specific photograph or painting is not spiritual or is not artistic because of what the subject in the photograph is or is not wearing? No, I do not. I may like, I may not. But, that does not change the fact that I appreciate it as art.

            Here is the question you must ask yourself, “Who has the ultimate knowledge that gives them the right to judge anybody and tell them how they should live their life?”

            Do you have that ultimate knowledge?

This is Life

            This is life, you must decide who and what you are going to be. Are you going to walk through life full of predetermined judgment? Or, are you going to truly understand spiritually and accept everything and everyone for what and who they are - allowing each individual to be who they are, embracing the arts and life as they see fit?

            To people who don’t know me, my life may appear to be a contradiction. But, it really is not. For me, what my life is about is bridging the gap between perceived spirituality and the world. You see, this is really common sense, but many people do not understand the simple fact that you can live in the world but not be of the world. That you can walk with sinners and still be a saint. You do not have to dress a certain way. (I used to be a Swami. Think how I used to dress.) You can do what you do, have some life-fun and still be contributing to the overall good, as opposed to the overall-bad which is born out of judgment.

            We all must understand that what we think is only what we think. But, do we need to tell other people what we think? No, not unless they ask. Do we need to try to influence other people to feel what we feel, do what we do? No, that is not spirituality.

            Ultimately, we must learn to keep out opinions to ourselves. Because, in truth, the only one who cares about our opinions is ourselves.

            Live, love, be who you are, do what you will do. Let go and be free of judgment. This is Zen

IS — is enlightenment. This is Zen.

IS NOT — is not enlightenment. It is not Zen.

IS or IS NOT is your choice.

Enlightenment is your choice.

Who are you going to be? It is your choice.

This is Life.

This is Zen

This is Scott Shaw Singing Out.

Copyright © 2007 — All Rights Reserved.

You can also find this article on scottshaw.com @ Judgement and the Spiritual Path

  Scott Shaw Writings on Zen, Yoga, and Human Consciousness