2 BIRTHDAYS AND AN OBSERVATION

Greetings my friends:
Today is March 1st and I have done the unthinkable by not posting yesterday to wish my wife, the lovely Patty, a very Happy Birthday. I won't mention her age, because she hates her birthday. Patty, being a glass-half-empty type of person, believes she is old and washed up and hasn't accomplished anything in her life. Never mind that she has a Master's Degree, has sustained a marriage for 20 years, has 2 great kids, and nice friends. Anyway...Happy Birthday Hon, I love you very much. Anyone wishing to send the Lovely Patty a birthday greeting, may email her at peatea63@yahoo.com

Today being March 1st, I'd also like to send birthday greetings out to good friend Kevin Koehler, who turns 53 today. Have a great day, Kev. I know you're looking forward to the Vegas trip in a couple of weeks.

A LEN IS RIGHT COMMENT ON RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY
I've recently been doing some reading on Buddhism. For some time now I have been interested in why Buddhists seem to be at peace more than others, why Asian religions seem so mysterious, and why these people seem to live longer. Risking a derisive attitude from those who know me to be a Pagan Non-believer, I bought the book Buddhism For Dummies. While I did not get all my questions answered, I believe I have hit upon some truths and some insight into what it is with man and his spiritual beliefs.

First off, I just want to explain what I'm getting as the central point of Buddhism. It is a philosophy of kindness and compassion. And I believe that the main way to Enlightenment is through Meditation. This means Introspection and trying to figure out the truths of your own soul by looking inside yourself and trying to identify flaws and make changes. That's not really a full explanation, but it will serve as one for now.

While reading this book and learning what the whole thing is about, I realized a couple of things. First off, it seems to me that in questions of man and Religion or Spirituality, that the majority of people NEED, for some reason, a focal point for their beliefs. They need to believe that they can sit near Jesus in Heaven. They need to believe that God actually spoke to Moses, and that the Torah is THE Bible. They need to believe that Allah is to be praised. They need a teacher, a guru, a priest or rabbi to guide them through their lives and give them something to focus on to make it through their day.

It seems to me that another word for Focal Point would be CRUTCH. We all seem to need guidance from others. We seem to need something tangible to see or touch, or to grab on to so we have someone or something to blame if we fail or stumble along the path.

WHAT'S THE MESSAGE?
The message is....and I'm taking this from the idea of Buddhist meditation practices, that to find your answers, to find clarity, a person needs to spend some time looking inside themselves. Introspection and complete honesty with yourself is how you will find these answers. You don't NEED a bible or a god. You, my friends, HAVE IT ALL right inside of yourselves. The Power, or the God, or the Spirit is inside of you and it doesn't need the help of some Born-Again evangelist or a guru, priest or shamen to come out.

If you need an answer, do not look for it from others. Others have their own agendas, their own problems. By being brutally honest with ourselves and seeking the answer from inside ourselves, we eliminate the need for a Crutch. We are all very strong, though we may not know it. It's not about the money, our status-symbol jobs, our social stratus, etc..., it's about peace and happiness within our own selves. WE are the power. We just need to learn how to harvest that power and put that personal power to use in the best way.

GO...SEEK...FIND. BUT DON'T LOOK TOO FAR, BECAUSE IT'S RIGHT INSIDE OF YOU.
That's all for now. Trust me, LEN IS RIGHT.

I am,
Len Tollerton