Justin Neilson

Cooperation

Biomimicry is copying the patterns of nature. Humans are part of nature, but our intellect has become something so profound it gets in the way of natural instinct. Something about our intellect is constantly trying to trick us into thinking that we are a separate from nature (and each other.) Charles Darwin told us, that nature works competitively, only the strongest survive but natural selection is only partially true. The more we learn about the world the more we realize there is a natural cooperation that happens between species. Ants working in colonies, wolves hunting in packs, fish removing parasites from each other’s scales, and bees will even give their own life for their hive. There are even less noticeable displays of cooperation between different species like bees, butterflies and hummingbirds pollinating for plants, fungi transferring nutrients from plant to plant, and whales protecting other species from sharks. Plants even provide food for us in the form of fruit and we in turn drop the seeds somewhere else for the plant. Taller plants provide smaller plants shade, plants protect bacteria and algae in soil, etc. As the highest form of life, we need to make sure all other life is thriving. To think there is a separation between each other or other living things is an illusion.

“One of the biggest crimes against life is thinking that you are anything but life” -Sadhguru.

Humans are in a fear-based and ego-based competition right now. We are living in what is called dominator culture right now where we take all we can from everything. We dominate nature and we dominate each other, and it is leading to our demise. We can have competition but right now we need a heavy dose of cooperation in society, just like in nature. (see Thomas Edison’s book) Alfie Kohn in his book, Punished by Rewards he writes, “The central message to all competition, in fact – is that everyone else is a potential obstacle to one’s own success. If the reward system sets people up as one another’s rivals, the predictable result is that each will view the other with suspicion and hostility and depending on their relative status, perhaps with contempt or envy as well.” Where there is competition, there will be winners but more so losers. In the classroom or work setting, there is only one winner. When we use cooperation, everyone can be a winner.

“If you don’t believe in cooperation, watch what happens to a wagon when one wheel comes off.” – English Proverb

A simple fact of life is that there is no one fixed method that will solve everything. There is no one way to that will work for anyone’s life. To live a fulfilling life, you must not only work diligently, but also know how to take leisure time. To become a successful teacher, you must point your students in the right direction but then let explore on their own, you cannot control them. This is also Bruce Lee’s basis for Jeet Kune Do, his original martial arts style. Jeet Kune Do is the style of no style because different opponents require different approaches. Lee says this in the Tao of Jeet Kune Do, “How can there be methods and systems to arrive at something that is living? To that which is static, fixed, dead, there can be a way, a definite path, but not to that which is living. Do not reduce reality to a static thing and then invent methods to reach it.” Life is change and adapting to change is what gives life. To solve our problems, we need to adapt to changing circumstances as a whole and right now we need to cooperate. Right now, our opponents are climate disasters, poverty, war, mental and physical health crises, food insecurity, racism and nescience, amongst other things. With so many people suffering do we really have time to compete. We talk about self-improvement as setting goals becoming stronger, but the goals somehow end up being the owner of a Lamborghini, instead of buying a bicycle, volunteering in your community, supporting a local business and donating to stabilize other broken parts of the world. Competition may have its uses, but we’re banging screws in with a hammer so to speak. We’re in a time where cooperation is vital in human existence and more so in the United States than other places. Next time you argue about which political party is the best or which social/economic system is better, remember that there is no right and wrong. The only right answer is which one is best right now.

“Truth has no path. Truth is living and, therefore, changing. It has no resting place, no form, no organized institution, no philosophy. When you see that, you will understand that this living this is also what you are. You cannot express and be alive through static, put-together form, through stylized movement.” -Bruce Lee

What will you do?

There is a lot of work to be done in this world, injustice is happening everywhere, and education needs spread. Social injustice, Environmental injustice, Unlivable Cities, Food Deserts, Inadequate Healthcare, Poverty, Nescience, Pollution, Lack of Biodiversity; the list goes on and each problem somehow ties hand in hand; there is a direct connection to almost all societal problems. There is a root problem to all these problems, and it is an elusive and unconscious creation of the human mind that manifests into the rapid paced, capitalistic, competitive, and dominating culture that we live in. It’s a product of a mixture of common factors such as ego, fear, the monkey mind, with a dash of “colonizer karma” passed down since way before these lands were unrightfully stolen from the natives. We live in a system dominantly based on the idea of currency and “free market,” but if I grow my own food and produce my own power, the need for money goes down. Unfortunately, we’re sold on the fact we need a lawn filled with herbicides and pesticides that makes nutrients in that soil scarce because it’s good for the economy, and if we do garden it needs to be in neat rows in a pretty box made of lumber. I’ve made a garden bed out of large branches that looked awesome, didn’t cost me a penny. But society has it’s norms of conformity. Like don’t talk to your neighbors or play outside; stay in and watch tv or scroll on your cell phone because that’s good for the economy. Buy prepackaged garbage to eat, don’t bother learning the cheaper alternative which is how to cook healthy homecooked meals because that helps the economy. Don’t buy local food even though that would give average people around you more power to grow their operations. Instead eat food grown 500 miles away injected with chemicals and preservatives that degrade soil because simply because it is one dollar cheaper than the local organic alternative and then this way when the next political election happens, farmers, chemical companies, trucking companies, and other big businesses can fund political campaigns to help fund their destructive practices. Also, the government will give you free healthcare if you promise to earn a very miniscule amount of money annually but ironically almost no doctors will accept your insurance and if you do go to a doctor, they won’t tell you to eat healthy or exercise because what good does that do for the economy? Your insurance will let you go to urgent care centers though, but unfortunately, they are like the fast food of medical care, cheap fast and barely keep you alive. Finally, it’s so normal that there’s so much intentional sprawl in this country you’re practically forced to buy a car which is just one more financial burden while you drive past the countless miles of grass lawns that are biological wastelands that hardly support earthworms, not to mention pollinators, birds, or practically anything else. These problems are for practically everyone, I didn’t even scrape the surface of racial inequality in this country which will take things much deeper. I take no political stance, they act like it’s just a reality TV show, but in a world ran by money, does that not have a sense of control over people like the communist ways we as Americans despise so much? Do the problems above sound like we have freedom anymore? The divide in the United States is evident but could the need for different political parties in a country be because there are a variety of different people, in different, situations, that have different needs? Could it be true that the best way is a mixture of ways working together as one? The nature of life is flow and change. The moment things become stagnant; they’re dying. Still water grows germs, moving water stays clean. Beating heart good, stopped heart means death. Noticing that all societal problems come from the same root is good, we do not have to try to fix everything. If we can just focus on for example, cities being more livable it will fix a variety of problems. Livable cities are lively cities; proven that mixed use buildings, effective public transportation, green public spaces, and walkability/bike ability solve health problems, equality issues, social justice issues, environmental justice issues, bring communities together, and life back to the people; It makes life more affordable, less stressful, and more enjoyable. This concept reminds me of an old yogic saying that if you focus one aspect of health the rest of the body will fall in line. But we need to educate people, we need to speak up, and we need to stand out. In “The Mysterious Stranger” by Mark Twain 1916, one of his lead characters, an all-knowing angel, during a stoning of someone innocent that a young boy, another lead character, was forced to participate in, say to the human boy “Only 2 people (out of the 20 or 30) here actually wanted to throw their stones at them. Like you did, humans simply tend to follow whoever is the loudest and most threatening.” And Twain is onto something. A person will not be themselves, do what they want to do, or say what they want to say, while not hurting anyone, just because someone can make fun of them of possibly worse. Revolutionary ideas are left unsaid because of this, and this baboonish dominator behavior needs to stop, but it is up to us to speak up for what we believe is right despite the ape-like-humans. It is usually the gentle ones that have the most positive and progressive ideas about which direction humanity should take in life but yet are also the quietest and nonconfrontational. For anyone reading this who wants to speak out; Are you aware of what needs to be said? Are you aware that people of color have an 80% less chance of having easy access to a safe area of nature to walk like a park, or to own their own land, let alone a good piece of farmland or prime real-estate? Are you aware that an average of 70% of Nutrional value in fresh produce has gone down in the last 50 years due to inorganic agricultural practices that are destroying the soil it’s grown on just to maximize output? Positive change that happens when you shop locally, garden at home, and support community gardens. To quote Ron Finley, the Gangster Gardener, “Growing your own food, is like printing your own money,” Positive change happens when you walk, ride your bike, or take the bus/subway to where you’re going instead of driving. There’s a huge debate about what’s better gas or electric; if you live in the city neither, ride a bike. Positive change happens when we shop sustainably in bulk departments and cut out the plastic. It’s the way we live and the way we are that affect everything around us. Live simply, live intentionally, at the deliberate pace of nature, Not the heedless pace of man. Transform yourself into a person that is loving, compassionate, joyful, open minded, and that will speak their own mind if they feel it will make a true positive change in the world. There’s plenty to do; what will you do?

Alone With Yourself

Take time alone to yourself is extremely important for spiritual growth. Shamans become shamans by taking long breaks in the woods alone to connect with the world and to connect with themselves; to see life how it really is. The advantage of being alone is that you have greater control over your thoughts and become more conscious. When people come together, we develop a synergy with each other. This synergy used unconsciously is not in our favor. It can propel both of you towards a direction of your choosing but also you may be taken a direction not most optimal to you; without consciousness it becomes fairly random. The monkey mind (compulsive behavior) comes out of humans more when we are together than when we are alone. Time alone allows us to tap deeper into our consciousness which is a significant characteristic that only humans possess. When we are alone, that is our time to plan, that is the time to create ourselves, and that is the time to tap deep into consciousness. When we connect with ourselves in this way it can be looked at as preparing ourselves to reenter the community as a better person. We are products of our environment, but when we are alone, we control what product we are becoming and when we reintroduce ourselves to our daily environments, we begin to change the environment itself to fit us more. Life is sort of like a battle, of external things shaping you one way, and you trying to shape yourself another way. If we want our lives to be the way WE want, alone time is important. It reminds me of the quote, “If we want to improve the world, first we must improve ourselves.” It’s true, we cannot force others to do anything, all we can do is set the good example to change the environment. But I must add that our alone time is only useful if we do not distract ourselves with social media, television, and et cetera. Things that are good to do alone (if you feel you must do something) are journal/write, draw/paint, or exercise. What is most effective for spiritual growth is to do nothing. Quietly sitting still is the best. If you cannot be by yourself then you do not know how to be with other people. “If you cannot sit alone with yourself that just means you are in bad company.” -Sadhguru. If we cannot be good company for ourselves, how can we be good company for other people? When we see other people, do we use them to give us energy or do we contribute energy to them? Do they balance us out chemically, and if so, why can we not balance our own chemistry? Alone time is when we learn to contribute energy and still maintain our own balance even when the other person is not contributing. Alone time is when we learn to gain stability. Stability of thoughts, stability of emotions, and stability of self. It’s how we find WHO WE ARE. This blog is mainly about creating our lives and world how we want, so I want to add that, when alone, a lot of manifesting is happening; more-so than when with company. Conscious creation is the purpose to being human, it is why we were made, and it is the next phase of evolution. Neville Goddard interprets each character in the bible to be allegorical for a phase of life. When we go through these phases, the unconscious part of us dies and are reborn conscious creators, Jesus Christ. “If you can sit alone and believe your thoughts are creating forces, with no help from others, you have reached Jesus Christ.” -Neville Goddard. If you really want to learn what life is about become silent, still, and spend time alone; alone with yourself.

Focus and imagination

Imagination is the creative faculty unique to being human. Other animals have a limited sense of imagination, our ability to create is one of the key differences of being human. And not just the ability to create outside circumstances such as art or architecture, but to create how we want to be. Imagination is key to this. Everything that is here right now first took place in the imagination. Furthermore, all actions you perform physically or emotionally first took place as a thought in your imagination. As they say, “god” created us in his imagine. I think this phrase is often misinterpreted, so I say the creator created us to create. In other words, the universe works through us to be hands on with its manifesting. The question is, do we use this power consciously or unconsciously? For the average human, depending on their level of will power, their consciousness will alternate at certain times. Will power translates into focus, and your level of focus will determine how vivid of imagination you can consciously control. To see something in your imagination is the type of occurrence that is needed for creation. So see it so clearly you felt as though it actually happened. Focus is needed for this. Focus is essential to overcome belief systems that block your imagination. Have you ever resisted something you create in your imagination? This happens because of past belief systems you unconsciously programmed into yourself. To be so focused you burn right through these resistances, you therefore become the creator of your own life.

What is Spirituality?

“Spirituality is not doing anything, it is just seeing life for what it is, rather than imagining it some other way.” -Jaggi Sadhguru Vasudev.

There are many misconceptions about what spiritual really is. The word spiritual literally implied that it is beyond physicality. When we talk about being spiritual, it should mean that we are beyond the physical aspects of who we think we are created by the mind and body: our identity, our compulsions, our emotions and more. There is still a monkey inside of the human being that is always attempting to make its way to the surface. Spirituality is about mastery over the monkey inside us. Mastery over the mind, body, emotion, and life energy that makes us beings, instead of just animals. To always be conscious and present. To take action and not reaction. To create our own destiny is a definite possibility for a human being. Spirituality is a way to overcome the more primitive urges of the human being (resent, anger, desire, the ego, pleasure) and drawing out the higher faculties (love, compassion, discipline, stillness, bliss, joy.) As an example, chocolate is pleasurable, we have a desire for the chemical reaction that happens when eating sweets. It will stimulate your body and mind into a state of pleasure, but all the chocolate in the world will never bring you real joy or bliss. These come from within. The external world is primarily physical, your internal world is metaphysical. There is a whole universe inside you to explore in the depths of you mind and emotion, that you will learn more about existence from than anything outside of you. Whatever force that is creating the universe, mother nature, has given humans the ability to create. The creator has created us to CREATE. The power of creation is your imagination and is within you. To direct this power consciously is the point of being human. It doesn’t quite matter what you do with it, as long as it is of your choosing. When it does it’s own things is the most common source of suffering because we want life to happen our own way. Mastery of mind, is mastery of emotion, which is mastering our destiny. This is what true spirituality is about. Taking control of our own faculties.

Some might say that sounds unheard of. A lot of ‘spiritual‘ teachings come from the idea of accepting things the way they are, which has some truth. But do I have to be upset about the way things are to attempt to improve them? No, I can accept life for what it is and still hope things go another way. Spirituality is about perseverance. When things seem to not be improving you still try anyway, because that is acting beyond fear or doubt which are just illusions created by the mind to keep you safe. With safety comes boundaries, with boundaries you are trapped; in a prison of you own making. Spirituality is seeking freedom, boundlessness that is available to all of us. So I can accept things, understand things, and hope for those same things to improve.

Train Your Brain

The brain is a muscle. And just like any muscle, the more it is exercised, the stronger it becomes. If we are striving to create our lives consciously, one must organize their minds in a way to manifest the desires we have for ourselves. To reach a goal, or destination, the mind should be focused and unwavering. Earl Nightingale made popular a story about a man who stopped digging 5 feet before he hit one of the largest gold mines in the western part of the world. The moral of the story was to always keep going, because you never know when you are just about to reach your goal. With a well-established mind, it will easily overcome doubt, fears, worries, and distractions. Focus is one of the most powerful tools a human can develop. A strong focus is about duration. Even a scattered mind is focused on many things for brief periods, but, just like traveling, if you keep changing your direction there is small chance of ending where you started out to head. In a society fanaticized on instant gratification, most people miss the value of a long-term consequence that a focused mind will bring you. A focused mind can and will yield to you anything in the realms of reality. If you want to start your own country, this may take some time and a lot of mental stamina, but it is possible. Thomas Edison made roughly 1000 failed inventions before inventing his highly successful version of the lightbulb. His focus and will to keep going has placed him in the history books for over a hundred years. Mr. Edison trained his mind to overlook each “failure.” He was so focused on the process of actualizing the ideas he had that each failed invention left his mind un-wavered toward creating a better invention. When a mind becomes so strong, with a will to match its strength, it will remain unphased, despite undesired situations. Create habits that will upgrade your mental faculties. Cater to every situation with intentional thoughts and actions. This will program your mind to always be constructive and progressive. If you keep moving a certain direction, your momentum in that direction will become so strong it is difficult to stop. This being said, it is important we move in a desired direction. If you continue moving in that direction you will definitely surpass your initial expectations. There are many different methods one can use to become more focused: One can meditate, solve puzzles (like crosswords or sudoku,) practice martial arts, do cardio exercises for durations of time, walk through nature, play a board game such as chess, read or write stories, do yoga, or activities such as painting or drawing. All of these are great methods to develop mental stamina. Exercise your imagination. Exercise your memory. Exercise intentional deliberate placement of your attention. Where focus goes energy flows. The mind is like a vehicle. If we do not steer our vehicles in the direction of our choosing it will just go off road into a wall or ditch. Thoughts can take you anywhere you want to go, but you have to hold tightly on the wheel and direct your mind where to go. Train your brain and focus on the road ahead.

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Intention

Today, I am reading Wayne Dyer’s book, The Power of Intention, and his words bring back memories of my experiments with visualization and laws of attraction. It never ceases to amaze me how the mind can bring about experiences in our reality when we pay attention to it. We’ve all had that moment where something pops into our present experience and we think, “I was just thinking about this.” Is this all a coincidence? Well actually, that is a trick question because most of us think of the word coincidence to mean a strange unlikely occurrence as if to happen by luck, but actually the word coincidence means to coincide which is when things connect smoothly together. When we say that was a coincidence we mean that all lined up to fit perfectly together, so yes, to answer the previous question it is coincidence. How do we make these coincidences? Well that’s where intention comes in. I talk a lot about “habit” in my blog, and if there is one habit we should have it is to put positive intention into everything we do. When you put an intention into things you have a much higher chance of producing the desired result. During my experiments, I didn’t quite have the word intention in my vocabulary yet, but that is exactly what I was doing. I would visualize everything exactly how I wanted it to turn out. Now, it was always very simple things like a laugh from jokes I say or a, “yeah, sure I’ll help.” If someone became upset I would picture them happy and whole. Like I said my intentions were very simple but it worked I would say 90% of the time. After about a year or so I’ve learned a few key aspects to it working out so well. They are as follows: a good attitude despite possible failure, focus (not succumbing to the fears of doubt), and a comfortable surrender (you cannot make something happen, you can only let it happen.) Earl Nightingale, master of human character development, always said, “Attitude is the most important word in the world in any language; Attitude will determine our altitude; Successful people do not have a good attitude because they are successful, they are successful because they have a good attitude.” Do not let outside sources determine how you fell. When you put an intention into something, and right when you think it fails, keep the same attitude because sometimes your manifestation shows up right when you think your intention did nothing. Focus is a word that I feel has a seriousness attached to it that does not need to be there. When I say focus in this sense, I really mean this: Keep your mind on how you want things to happen. Any thought of fear of what could otherwise happen is not focusing on what you desire. Focusing is easy. We do it all that time, but consciously directing our own focus seems to be where people have difficulties, all you have to do is keep placing your focus back where you desire, when it trails away, put it back and eventually it shall become unwavering; Practice makes perfect. Lastly, I say a comfortable surrender because it need not be stressful. Surrendering should be the easiest thing in the world right? It literally requires NOT doing things. Well, you may be in for a surprise. I find most people have a hard time with faith, trust, and delegation. Imagine the universe is your employee. You tell your employee to do something, but your always looking over their shoulder, or telling them to hurry up. They will have a hard time working for you. Most employees would quit if that was the situation. The universe is always working for you, until you decide that it is working against you. You always get what you subconsciously expect, so if you decide life is hard and working against you… that’s exactly what you will get. Delegation is one of the most powerful things we can do because we can focus on other things while they work themselves out. Jackie Chan said this, “Don’t worry about controlling other people, the only one you should worry about controlling is you.”

Seeking, trying, doing

“All that you seek, is seeking you.” Rumi the great Indian poet once said that. It’s described as a higher power putting the desire for something into you that makes you seek it in the first place. But what does it mean to SEEK? In Rumi’s context it seems to mean to “act upon” or “act towards.” (Where focus goes, energy flows.) Sometimes you do not have to succeed because, as Rumi said, it is also seeking you. All you have to do is TRY. I’ve been reading a lot about the origin of the word karma and it is actually translated as “action.” Your karma actually means your experience of your life, based on your actions; mental actions, physical actions, and emotional actions. If “seek” means to “act towards,” then what you try for will find you, but it is based on your action. What you say is important. What you think is important. What you do is important… because that is your karma. Our behaviors we practice will have a tendency to become fixed if we let them. A public speaker I listen to a lot always says, “If you do the right things, the right things will happen.” Let’s ignore our fears, worries, and anxieties and simply DO the right things, even if it feels strange or uncomfortable. Become who you want by doing what “they” would do.

Possibilities Vs. Problems

For every problem there is a possibility. Potential lies in every circumstance, no matter what situation you are in, so are problems ever actually problems? It’s an odd paradox where both are one and the same. Embrace the possibility in change because life will change on you or you can change life. Most people do not like change but that is the most beautiful part of life. Everyone of us is born rich, whether it be rich with life, personality, spiritually rich, or financially. We are all given the same tools at birth. We have a human body, a mind, and a spirit. A rich person can become broke just as easily as it is for a broke person to become rich, but the first may happen much faster than the latter. The point is, your circumstance will never determine your destiny. Your circumstance can only determine your action steps. If I’m in California heading to Hawaii I find a boat; If I’m in New York headed to Florida I’ll take a car. If I want to move a rock I use my arms; If I want someone else to help me move a rock I use my voice. Abundance for everyone is everywhere. This Earth is infinitely giving; INFINITELY! Your whole life, you will be given food, water, air, friends, family, prana, love, beauty, acceptance, information, intelligence… the list goes on. People may starve but it is not the Earth that deprived them of that. If I’m hungry, I can plant a crop. Everything we need Earth gives us. Every tool we need to find these things is inside of us. Every problem is a possibility. No “but’s” about it. If something is hard it gives you the opportunity to grow stronger. When you grow stronger you FEEL better. When you feel better your life and experience will BE better. Create what you want in that beautiful brain and the moment you hit a wall, climb over, walk around, or just punch through it because nothing can stop you except for yourself. This universal dance we do is just for fun and with no fearful tasks or duties, it would not be exciting. Try what ever you want to try. Do whatever you want to do, but have fun doing it. Do work joyfully and on purpose. When a problem comes notice the possibility, and forget the “problem.” Instead of saying “We can’t do this this way,” say, “We should do this a different way.” The possibility is that there’s a better way this could be, so what is the problem?

Observe Yourself

The essence of the human being is pure awareness. That is what you are: Awareness. You are not the body; you are not the mind. You raise your hand.. are you aware your hand is raised? Yes. Does your hand know that it is raised? No. You are the awareness watching these things happen. The point of meditation is to get in touch with this awareness. To do this all you do is observe. Watch your thoughts. Watch your breath. Watch your energies. Do not try to control, just watch. Meditation can bring upon negative emotions that you should not reject; when you just observe them they will slowly drift away on their own accord. I will agree that facing these emotions is a scary thing and takes and extreme level of trust, but once they are gone, all you have to experience is sweet and loving emotions! Generating positive emotions are natural for you as a human being, negative emotions are blown up because of rejection. Observing negative emotions on the forefront can be extremely uncomfortable, but they do fade away once you accept them. This technique can not only be used for inside situations, but outside situations as well. Earl Nightingale states that this is a characteristic of the ‘self actualized’ human being. We have this characteristic as a small child, simply noting and observing instead of arguing or demanding a situation be otherwise. Rejecting situations or feelings will act as a block in the system preventing you from flowing through life easier and gracefully. If you practice meditation, and you get anxious or upset, just watch the feeling. Welcome the feeling and do not try to control the feeling, just sit there and look at it. It will climax and drift away. We all want life to be a certain way for us. That is the point of Committed to Creating.. but it is most important that you accept things how they are, and simply observe. The point of this website is to not have everything the way we want it is to strive for everything the way we want. Watch life. Watch you surrounding. You will find yourself more in tune with an infinite power you may never have a real understanding of. As soon as you believe you understand life, it tends to throw another factor into the mix so it is most important that you just observe. It is a lot more fun to watch than try to control. What is the most important in your experience, some other life or your life? Your life! Enhance your life and experiences. A sweetness in your experience will trickle into the lives of those around you. Please, just take time once a day to just observe yourself.