Posts in the “personal” category

If you’ve ever seen the “Maine Cabin Masters” tv show, you may have seen the black flag that they fly on their cabins while they’re working on them. If you ever wondered about their black flag, here’s what I can tell you from this deleted scene video:

• In the video, which was posted on March 19, 2020, Ryan states that the flag is new.
• The flag signifies the Maine Cabin Masters “are here” and “we’re kicking butt on this project, and it’s going to be the best this camp will ever be.”
• It is the Maine Cabin Masters “skull and crossbones.”
• The image is a Chase Morrill design.

“Always kiss me goodnight. Always kiss me goodmorning, too.”

~ as seen in a house in Florida

As a brief note today, here is a short list of spiritual teachers I am aware of who have expressed the idea “I am not the body.” Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj made this the most obvious to me by writing a book titled, “I Am Not The Body,” but when you think about it, many spiritual teachers have said the exact same thing in different ways.

After my first-ever bought with diverticulitis, I wanted to make notes about what happened over the last five days.

Monday, April 7, 2015

On April 7, 2015, I woke up at 3:30am with pain and discomfort in my lower-left abdomen. I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know what it was. It felt like a golf ball was lodged in there, and several hours later it was still there.

In 2024 I watched the very emotional Elton John “Tiny Dancer” music video, and afterwards I wanted to do some research on how the music video was created, the story behind it, and what its meaning is. To that end, here’s a summary of what I found out about the “Tiny Dancer” music video.

The story and meaning of the Tiny Dancer song

The short story behind the Tiny Dancer song goes like this:

The song, “Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny),” by Elton John and Bernie Taupin is one of my favorite “sad” songs, and a great tribute to John Lennon, who was one of my “peaceful” inspirations when I was growing up. In the song, I think there are at least two interpretations of the lyrics, “It's funny how one insect can damage so much grain,” and I’d like to share those here.

“It was the 3rd of September...”

When I think of the song Papa Was A Rolling Stone, I think of the line, “And when he died, all he left us was a loan...”

(I never knew if the lyrics were supposed to be “alone” or “a loan,” but “a loan” is more accurate in the case of my father and family.)

“I would like my life to be a statement of love and compassion.”

~ Ram Dass

Many websites seem to have the wrong lyrics for the Dave Matthews song, Grey Street, so to help correct that problem, here are the correct lyrics for the long version of Grey Street that Dave Matthews played with Tim Reynolds at “Live at Farm Aid 2021”:

Here’s another A.I. faux painting. This one is based on the Matsuo Basho quote, “Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought.”

(I find it hard to get this one right because it’s hard to differentiate what someone is seeking.)

Regarding Jesus Christ, Maharaji began to cry and said, “He lost himself in the ocean of love.”

~ Maharaji (Neem Karoli Baba).
quoted in Miracle Of Love

I just came across this article where the author suggests that because of Elon Musk’s right-wing political actions, people boycott Tesla, advertisers should boycott Twitter/X, the FTC should sue him, and more.

September 1, 2016 was a day of rebirth for me. The previous day I was so weak, I couldn’t hold a carton of milk.

Crying in bed the next day, I decided something had to change, and eventually saw 26 doctors.

As this was going on, I wrote “Functional Programming, Simplified” (and the PDF is currently free!).

“Love the poor. Serve them. Give everything to the poor, even your clothing. Give it all away. Jesus gave away all, including his body.”

~ Maharaji (Neem Karoli Baba).
quoted in Miracle Of Love

As I became lucid in a dream this morning, I ran into Ram Dass. He was wearing a long-white outfit that I have seen in pictures of him, he was healthy again, with a big beard, and was much taller than I expected — significantly taller than me. (I later looked this up to find out he was 6’3”.)

He was standing next to a doorway and gathering people together for a seminar that he was giving, and asked if I wanted to attend. I said yes, and he said I was welcome if I could be like “The Lamb of God.”

I thought I knew what he meant by that, but just to be sure I asked him what he meant.

“If your kundalini (spinal energy) awakens, you can go to America without a plane.”

~ Maharaji (Neem Karoli Baba).
quoted in Miracle Of Love

“I am in the world, but not concerned with the world. I am going through the marketplace, but not as a purchaser.”

~ Ram Dass, quoting Maharaji, quoting Kabir, in Miracle of Love, one of his best books

“Stay in the ajna chakra (the point between the eyebrows, also known as the third eye) and think only of me.”

~ Maharaji (Neem Karoli Baba), talking to Ram Dass,
quoted in Miracle Of Love

When some devotees questioned him about hatha yoga — a physical method of attaining union with God — Maharajji told them: “Hatha yoga is okay if you are strictly brahmacharya. Otherwise it is dangerous. It is the difficult way to raise kundalini. You can raise kundalini by devotion and by feeding people. Kundalini does not necessarily manifest as outer symptoms; it can be awakened quietly."

~ Maharaji (Neem Karoli Baba).
quoted in Miracle Of Love

Maharaji often said “Sub ek,” which is translated as, “All one,” or, “All is one.” Per my collection of Ram Dass books, he said this in other ways as well:

“Everywhere I look I see only Ram (God).”

“See no difference, see all the same.”

“You can’t realize God if you see differences.”

(There are many more instances, but that’s good enough for today.)

~ Maharaji (Neem Karoli Baba).
quoted in Miracle Of Love