Ekotic Elaborations

Ekos is my place in space - in my body, in my home, in my world. I can wander perpetually with only a fleeting sense of place and no sense of being in-place, or I can withdraw from the world and stay at home, in my body, separate from the world, with no sense of purpose, promise, or progress. My body is a vehicle that carries my sense of what is divine when I follow my bliss to express my vitality, but as a temple, my body is also a sacred vessel that serves to contain value and quality so as to make it possible for me to know what is valuable and desirable, and what is worthy and worthwhile.

The world is a container for all that I need and desire. The mind and the senses serve as a bridge to this world, and the world serves as a mirror of my every need and desire. In essence, when I give my will to X, and in return, I receive X, then I know that I can only be given what I am willing to receive. When I know what I want, when I know what I want to be, when I know what I want to do, and when I know what I want to give, having and becoming follow in their wake. In between the extremes of Ekos lies a delicate balance of power that forever seeks a stable equilibrium - a balance between soul and spirit.

The body is a vessel of sanctity for soul and a vehicle of divinity for spirit. The bodily urges of soul alert me to my needs and the bodily impulses of spirit announce my desires. The urges of soul would have me satisfy my needs, whereas the impulses of spirit would have me fulfill my desires. Urges would have me settle down, stay put, and keep my place in space. Impulses would have me move forward, onward, and upward to obtain, retain, and sustain a sense of purpose, promise, and progress. Potential conflicts between soul and spirit make it possible for me to know what it is I need and want.

In my next post, I will introduce the extremes of Eros in light of these elaborations.

Paradigm and Purpose

Sublime intent, a feature of life lived constructively and creatively, reflects and requires a balance between the sacred and divine dimensions of life, which in turn reflects and requires a constructive and creative paradigm.

A paradigm conditions the course of a life to either reflect or produce a purpose. "Life is a beach" is one such paradigm. If life is a beach, then I would do well to follow my bliss. Consequently, the purpose of such a life is to contain and carry whatever keeps me in a state of bliss.

"Life is a game" is another such paradigm. If life is a game, then I would do well to play it with consummate skill. To play it with such skill might mean to win at all costs, to advance as far as possible, or to come out on top at the end - all of which condition the way I live, love, and learn.

Here's a chicken-and-egg question for you. Which comes first: the purpose or the paradigm? Do I already have a purpose waiting to be found, and so choose a paradigm that serves to realize this purpose? Or do I choose a paradigm and then find a purpose from within the paradigm?

As an exercise, complete this sentence stem: "Life is a ..." Keep going until you feel completely satisfied. For example, life is a beach, life is a game, life is a puzzle, life is a journey, life is a mission, life is a contract, life is a vision, life is a .... Choose one that resonates with the heart of your soul.

And then, complete the following sentence stem, and keep going until you feel completely assured: "Knowing that life is a [ ], my purpose in life is to ...”

Balance, Sacred and Divine

We attract what we attend.

If we find ourselves in the habit of saying, "I don't need this" or "I don't want this", then the image or feeling associated with [what it is we think or feel we do not need or want] builds up a charge, attracting the very thing we do not need or want, compelling us to repel it all the more forcibly.

In a vicious cycle.

Is there a way out?

Unfortunately, this situation is not a simple matter of letting go, of releasing the sense of not needing or wanting what it is we do not need or want. We might release repeatedly many such instances of this sense of not needing or wanting as they arise. And still, they return to invade our peace of mind.

What to do?

Basically, we take a stand with what we choose to attend and attract.

Ultimately, the answers lie in cultivating two habits of mind: (1) gather impressions of increase with a focus on quality, clarity, and vitality; and (2) prevent impressions of decrease with a selective ignorance of loss, lack, and limitation.

To make it easy to do this consistently requires two compatible frameworks: religious (Ekos Sacred) and spiritual (Eros Divine).

For me, it's not enough to simply cultivate the sacred dimension of life and it's not enough to simply celebrate the divine dimension of life. Putting too much emphasis on one at the expense of the other does not bring us balance in both satisfaction and fulfillment, which is what we ultimately desire.

I would encourage anyone to be mindful of this balance.

More to come on how to strike the balance.