1 Dharma Blogs 2018 SPRING By Michael Erlewine 2 INTRODUCTION This is not intended to be a finely produced book, but rather a readable document for those who are interested in my particular take on dharma training and a few other topics. These blogs were from the Spring of 2018 posted on Facebook and Google+. [email protected] Here are some other links to more books, articles, and videos on these topics: Main Browsing Site: http://SpiritGrooves.net/ Organized Article Archive: http://MichaelErlewine.com/ YouTube Videos https://www.youtube.com/user/merlewine Spirit Grooves / Dharma Grooves Copyright 2018 © by Michael Erlewine You are free to share these blogs provided no money is charged Cover image is Vajradhara 3 Contents WHEN NOT-ENOUGH IS ENOUGH .......................... 9 FORCED INTO AWAKENING .................................. 11 LIBERATION THROUGH SEEING .......................... 14 DHARMA PRACTICE AND BOREDOM ................... 18 EQUINOX CRACKS: TASERS FROM THE SUN .... 22 THE FLAME AND THE SELFIE ............................... 24 DHARMA’S COLD COMFORT ................................ 27 DHARMA: BEYOND THE TURNING POINT ........... 30 BEING ALONE: “I’M JUST A LONELY BOY” ........... 34 KARMA: THOSE DEEP DOWN STUBBORN STAINS ................................................................................. 37 THE STOREHOUSE CONSCIOUSNESS: KARMA CHAMELEON .......................................................... 40 WHEN IN DOUBT, RIDE THE MOON CYCLE ........ 45 FORCING FACTS: ASTROLOGY IS CULTURAL ASTRONOMY .......................................................... 48 SHADOW FACTS AND SEEING ............................. 62 INTERPRETATION: THE SHADOW OF FACTS ..... 65 ASTROLOGY AND SAMSARA ................................ 73 DHARMA RELATIVITY: ONE FOR TWO ................. 76 NO HEAVEN IN THAT ............................................. 79 “WHAT, ME WORRY?” ............................................ 82 4 DISTRACTING DISTRACTION: WORRY BEGONE 85 RESPONSE TO THE ANTI-ASTROLOGERS .......... 88 THE PHOTOGRAPHY STARGATE ......................... 91 THE DHARMA OF DISFLUENCIES ......................... 95 LOONEY TUNES: “THAT’S ALL, FOLKS!” .............. 98 NATURAL HAIKU................................................... 101 THE BODY OF AWARENESS ............................... 104 MUSINGS: SHIFTING GEAR ................................. 107 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SON! .......................... 111 APO LENSES: PAINTING WITH LIGHT ................ 113 THE TRUTH IS THE FUTURE ............................... 118 PHOTOGRAPHY: GIVE ME A LITTLE ROOM PLEASE ................................................................. 121 KARMA MIRROR ................................................... 125 ARE REALIZED BEINGS STILL HUMAN? ............ 127 SIGNS OF DHARMA REALIZATION ..................... 130 DHARMA: OFF-WORLD DENIED .......................... 136 DHARMA: SKIN IN THE GAME ............................. 139 NEW MOON: WHEN LIFE GETS THIN ................. 142 THE DARK OF THE MOON ................................... 145 SOME IMPORTANT DHARMA CONCEPTS ......... 149 REALIZING DHARMA ............................................ 152 AMERICAN DHARMA ............................................ 155 DHARMA IN THE WEST ........................................ 158 5 SUPPLICATING THE LINEAGE ............................ 161 DHARMA CONFIDENCE ....................................... 167 THE PROBLEM WITH REMINDER PRAYERS ..... 170 THE FOUR THOUGHTS THAT TURN THE MIND TO THE DHARMA ....................................................... 175 MEETING THE KARMAPA AND THE TASHI PRAYER ................................................................ 180 DHARMA PATH: THE PICTURE WITHIN A PICTURE ............................................................................... 185 FREEDOM FROM THE FIVE FEARS .................... 186 THE OXYGEN VENT OF THE PRESENT MOMENT ............................................................................... 187 INTUIT: BEING IN THE MOMENT ......................... 190 RECITING DHARMA PRAYERS ........................... 193 INHERITING THE MIND ........................................ 199 THE PRECIOUS ONE ............................................ 203 “WHEN YOU SAID ‘WAIT’, YOU MEANT A LONG TIME” ..................................................................... 206 FACE-OFF AND FACE-UP .................................... 209 MARRIAGE AND DHARMA ................................... 211 IT’S MY OWN FAULTS .......................................... 214 OPENING OUR PRESENCE ................................. 217 THE URGENCY CONUNDRUM ............................ 219 “MANAGING” IS THE NEW NORMAL ................... 221 UNTOWARD LIFE EVENTS .................................. 225 6 THE “REAL” IN REALIZATION .............................. 228 COMING EVENTS CAST THEIR SHADOWS ....... 231 THERE IS NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT ............ 233 “FINELY WROUGHT OR OVERWROUGHT” ........ 235 PREDICTING ASTROLOGY .................................. 237 AMIDST THE ROAR OF THE CROWD ................. 243 IT NEVER RAINS BUT IT POURS ......................... 247 A FEW WORDS TO MY ASTROLOGICAL FRIENDS ............................................................................... 249 CHARTING THE ALAYA CONSCIOUSNESS ....... 254 MEDITATION IS NOT EASY .................................. 258 “IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOU” ................................. 262 ASTROLOGY: “JIM DANDY TO THE RESCUE” ... 265 TURNING THE MIND ............................................. 273 MINING THE MIND FOR ASTROLOGY ................ 277 DHARMA’S ENDORPHINS .................................... 280 AMERICAN REALIZATION: DANIEL P. BROWN .. 284 MIXING MIND WITH MIND .................................... 289 DHARMA PUSH AND PULL .................................. 292 EMPTY OF NOTHING ........................................... 296 VIRTUAL REALITY ................................................ 301 REIFICATION REDUX ........................................... 303 THE NEED FOR OTHERS ..................................... 307 “I BELIEVE MOST PEOPLE ARE GOOD” ............. 309 7 “TO SAY MORE IN SILENCE THAN IN WORDS” . 312 THE BODHISATTVA WE DON’T KNOW ............... 315 “EVEN I CAN’T SNEAK UP ON A MIRROR” ......... 319 IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING OR YOU CAN SAY IT AGAIN .................................................................... 323 BODHICITTA: AWAKENED HEART ...................... 327 “UNTIL THE REAL THING COMES ALONG” ........ 330 LINING UP THE SPIRITUAL DOMINOES ............. 333 “A PIECE OF GOLD IN A SEA OF SILVER” .......... 335 “ENOUGH OR TOO MUCH” .................................. 340 INTERPRETING YOUR OWN ASTROLOGY ........ 342 8 WHEN NOT-ENOUGH IS ENOUGH March 9, 2018 “Enough or too much,” a familiar quote from mystic- poet William Blake in his “The Marriage of Heaven or Hell,” a poem I devoutly read in my early twenties. These days, what sticks in my mind is more like “When what’s not enough is enough.” How is that so? It reminds me of the old story of the soup of the soup of the soup. Each day, the soup was further watered down. Sometimes I feel that in this human race through time, each successive generation is weaker than the last. My point in bringing this up is that we may be surprised at what we, as just normal folks, can accomplish by working with our own lives; it’s more than I had imagined. And it is easy to fall into believing that we as individuals are just a snowflake in a worldwide blizzard and what we do will never be noticed, much less be meaningful, even to us. It’s tantamount to the old image of Earth being a lonely speck in an alien universe, when we are, if nothing else, a normal example of the intelligence in the cosmos -- children of the stars. We can think of ourselves as just one in a million, but if we are a “1” in a million zeros, we may be all there is and that is enough to actually count. I would bet that many (or most) of us struggle (as I do) to make progress with what weighs us down and to be free of what obscures us. Years ago, when I had a meeting with the famous economist Kenneth E. Boulding (and we read poems to each other), he had one line that most stuck in my mind. “Michael,” he said, “We each must learn to fail successfully.” 9 Fail we all do, at least physically, yet we can learn to fail successfully. That is one of my daily mantras. Although we may think that we fail in what we set out or hoped to do, the progress we do make can be significant. My first dharma teacher, Andrew Gunn McIver, a Scottish initiator for a Rosicrucian order, used to say to me (and many times), “Touch one, touch all.” And by this, he meant if we can touch or move ourselves, deeply, that is felt by all humanity and throughout all time. Not all battles are won on the battlefield of some far- off foreign war. What we do right here in our daily mundane-struggles right now can be as significant as anywhere else if it exists in the world as opposed to not existing at all. This is especially true in spiritual efforts, where any actual realization gained is irrevocable and can never be walked back. The point of this blog is that while we may feel that what we have attained is not near enough, it may indeed be enough to make a difference. For all we know, it could be all the difference in the world, the “1” in front of a million of zeros. Let’s not discredit what credit we may have, however little it may seem. Looking back, it may make all the difference. At least that’s how I look at it. 10 FORCED INTO AWAKENING March 9, 2018 I’m aware