the Tao and I

The Tao; everything that is, internal and external, the essence of all. Yin and Yang compliment each other as do big and small. There cannot be one without the other; no me without a you, no in without an out, no colour without a shape, no shape without a colour. No heaven without an Earth. All connected, all one.

The illusion of separateness is Western belief. The Westerner locates himself inside the brain and identifies with what he/she sees inside his/her internal cinema screen, the internal surround sound system, and takes this information and believes thats who he/she is. The Westerner disconnects him/herself with the external world and creates the illusion of self, believing that he/she is a separate being, entity from all things, an internal being. The root of which has given birth to loneliness, anxiety, guilt, regret, worry, I am this, I am that. We never say or even think 'I am One'. To say 'I am One', we are taught, is an Egotistical way to think (thinking is discouraged as it causes arguments and by not thinking causes 'Sheep following' behavior, making it easier to be rounded up when the time comes). 'I am One' is misinterpreted as 'I am God and You are separate from me, I am Great'.

Western man created the Bulldozer so he could conquer the external and natural world around him, not realizing the natural world is all part of the 'I am One' thinking, therefore man has nothing to conquer but himself. Once realization of 'I' and Nature and the Earth an the Heavens and the gods and God are all 'One', compliments, connected, the way we see the 'I' changes, allowing us to become Enlightened Buddhas. 'I, Me, Dean' personally, freaked out!!!

We are taught this 'separate' in school, the external world is separate from who you are and thus we must nurture an Ego and never feel connected and destroy what we have to, in order to get what we don't have, in order to get it what we want and desire (desire according to Buddha is the root cause of all suffering), got it? The Tao is Eastern thought and it is not mentioned in our society, Why is that? The Ego has knocked us off balance, made us all wobbly. Trees incidentally, that don't have Egos, stand strong and tall, Water, that is soft, conquers all and all of this new thinking is found inside Ancient Taoist literature thousands of years old. There are many Chinese Taoist exercises too that I'd like to talk about later, but for now, look up 'Chi Kung', add it to your new vocabulary!

Taoists believe we are all one, no I. The way to feel this oneness with everything is to become centered and stop locating ourselves in the head, but instead, to find our true centre in the heart or solar plexus regions of the body. The conscious mind inside the head disconnects from the centre and creates panic. The conscious needs the unconscious mind. The unconscious mind controls the beating of the heart and the breath. Taking control of the breath, breathing deep and calming the beating heart is choice and far from impossible or even difficult. The benefit of this practice and a good habit to have, will make all the difference and enjoyment of life and possibly prevent illness and unnecessary early death. The conscious mind creates the panic, the unconscious can restore it and meditation is a highly recommended practice that can liberate the mind from the Ego and the delusions it creates of 'self' and 'I am a this, a that ...', that prevent healthy living, mental stability, physical strength, and spiritual peace. Even to say 'I am a Taoist' defeats the intention (note to self (???)).

It is my dream - I, Me, my Ego - dreams of building a Taoist temple in Cambridge, where enlightened people, Taoist priests and Buddhist teachers can come and teach us these beliefs, ideas, thoughts. Not to strip us/one or stop us having fun, playing games on either our mobile phones or make us start wearing boring clothes and all looking the same or all becoming boring and dull, but to give us back a feeling of not being alone - spiritually disconnected from higher and greater things - that this separateness makes us or me feel. Life is hard, I know that and 'I' find people hard and for that 'I' seek and explore lots and lots of therapies to calm the mind, the mind that is disconnected, frightened, anxious about the future, depressed with the past. A temple would be likened to a hospital where we could go for some mental medicine, a moment of peace, a place to reconnect to that which we are already connected. Then after the service, we or 'I' would go back out into the world where the might 'Bulldozer' is king and its enemy is the forest and join back in the game, only feeling recharged and knowing its just a game.

There's lots I want to discuss, from; the Buddha, Feng Shui,  NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy), Memory Techniques, and lots and lots more. For now, if you are not feeling too good, take a deep controlled breath, calm the heart and consider this Oneness that the sages have been trying to give us or offering to us for thousands of years. Look up Allan Watts on youtube and listen to any of his work, any! Google the Tao Teh Ching by Lao Tzu, watch the BBC 'Life of the Buddha' available also on youtube and have a listen to the Hypno therapy videos too, I can't recomend Hypnosis enough, it can really help with emotional problems of any description, phobias, anxiety, grief or even just add a spring in your step. I'm going for a coffee. Lots to talk about. Remember your not alone, 'Imagine' (that) John Lennon.

Peace, Love, Light,

Indigo Cider (my alter Ego or the 'I' who isn't, hahahahah) xxx

P.S, I'm getting iphone 5 today, so I'm excited. Going into town too, shave my head and beard first so I look like Walt White from Breaking Bad, I want to impress a Polish girl who works in Neals Yard, sweet, I need to look cool and then I'm going to check out Vans shoe shop my daughter recommended. Its all go for a Taoist x