Kent Wayne

Musings

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by

DirtySciFiBuddha
in

I’ve been given clues as to which external actions I’m supposed to take (eating, breathing, finding shelter, sleeping, etc.)

Internally, however, things are up for debate. External spirituality never appealed to me (rituals, rites, checklists and dos and don’ts that ensure I don’t burn for eternity, or spend endless incarnations where I’m tortured for what I did, but unable to remember it or knowing exactly how many hours I need to meditate, or how many good deeds I need to do to nullify karma so I can stop living out torturous incarnations).

So I began to entertain the premise behind most (if not all) of these belief systems. What if there’s a hidden benevolence that forms reality, one that is truly unconditional, and doesn’t require me to play an ambiguous and torturous game of Simon Says (navigating an ambiguous series of conditions that are hierarchically organized)? Being omnipotent, I’m willing to bet it wouldn’t need defending. Being omnipresent, I’m willing to bet I wouldn’t need to search for it. Maybe I’d just need to internally stop resisting it. Or, in proactive terms, allow it to come forth. That made more sense to me.

So internally, to keep things simple and unambiguous, I gravitate toward the basic recommendations. Be present. Surrender. Be empty. Trust things will be okay without any concrete rationale.

It seems to work better than condemning, justifying, yearning, categorizing, etc. It’s also less stressful. For me, anyways.

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If you enjoy these reflections, many more appear in Musings, Volume 1, a collection of Kent Wayne’s philosophical writings.

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Or see how these ideas shape the worlds of Kent Wayne’s fiction.

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Comments

23 responses to “Musings”

  1. Charlie Avatar
    Charlie

    A great way to be, and maybe if everyone thought that way there would be no wars?

    Reply
    1. DirtySciFiBuddha Avatar
      DirtySciFiBuddha

      Quite possibly!

      Reply
  2. Fifienne Avatar
    Fifienne

    I hate it when people say “surrender”, “be present” like “drink water”, “stay hydrated”.
    Okay, but HOW? Tell me how I surrender sir? 🙂

    Reply
    1. DirtySciFiBuddha Avatar
      DirtySciFiBuddha

      I just let myself think and feel whatever naturally arises, without feeding it (amplifying it and making it linger) by rationalizing it, reframing it, suppressing it, denying it, etcetera. Just let it be felt and it flows and goes on its own. That’s how it works for me, anyway. I don’t need to speak or act on it (I might get in trouble in a lot of cases where I do), but I realize I need to let things be felt, processed and released or they cause problems and turn into baggage

      Reply
      1. Fifienne Avatar
        Fifienne

        I guess I missed something in the evolution phase because for me it is different. I can not help but let that shit consume me, burn me up from the inside and then I try to work through all that anger.

      2. DirtySciFiBuddha Avatar
        DirtySciFiBuddha

        I was the same–I’d grapple with something unpleasant from months to weeks in my head. After awhile, I noticed things didn’t turn out as bad as I expected, and also, if I just let it burn through me, it goes away on its own, much faster than if I tried to fight it or rationalize it or suppress it. I hope things get easier and smoother for you.

      3. Fifienne Avatar
        Fifienne

        Maybe “in another life, when we are both cats” 🙂

      4. DirtySciFiBuddha Avatar
        DirtySciFiBuddha

        Great movie!

      5. Fifienne Avatar
        Fifienne

        /•᷅‎‎•᷄\੭

  3. Michelle Avatar
    Michelle

    Wisdom in those words. No matter how much I want to subscribe to some “way,” I usually gravitate back to just being and appreciating.

    Reply
  4. meganblack82 Avatar
    meganblack82

    That’s incredibly insightful. And that is the only explanation of life that makes any sense to me. I find that no matter how intentional I try to be, things often turn out differently anyway. So I often just choose to let things be what they are instead, even if it isn’t necessarily what I would choose if it were all up to me.

    Reply
    1. DirtySciFiBuddha Avatar
      DirtySciFiBuddha

      It’s the best way to be for me–I like to say it goes beyond faith, into an active practice of trust.

      Reply
      1. memoirpoet Avatar
        memoirpoet

        Absolutely!

  5. Solid's Seething Avatar
    Solid’s Seething

    “Pray this much, fast this much,
    Know this much, give this much,
    Fail, and face an ending of endless misery.”
    How much is much?
    They never say.

    So to bid adieu to such a loop is good.

    However —
    That a being is Omnipresent
    does not mean you shouldn’t search for that being actively.
    A person in a room with someone they love
    can still be turned away from their lover —
    not just in body posture,
    but more importantly, in heart posture.

    To seek is not to look for something absent.
    To seek is to recognise the presence of a present,
    and or presence, present.

    The heart is made to seek.
    That is why even in stillness,
    the mind wanders;
    in sleep, dream dances.

    And as long as the heart in its default state is to seek,
    it has already wrapped itself around something(s) it has found.
    The only question is:
    whatever that thing is,
    is it “the Everywhere Being”?

    For a person can be with you, and still not be with you.
    The former is spatial;
    the latter is relational.
    And relationships are not built on proximity.

    And an Omnipotent being
    does not need defending to be.
    But the defender of the Omnipotent
    defends his stand on the Omnipotent
    into better clarity in himself and in his world.

    To defend the defender
    is the definition of the defender
    working through the vessel.

    And if this penner penned that page right,
    I think the shift from:
    “What do I need to DO to be saved?”
    to
    “What do I need to STOP doing to let it through?”
    is a thought worth beholding in holding.

    However,
    in every “what do I need to STOP doing,”
    lies a “what do I need to START DOING.”

    As long as the heart is a doing — for it beats —
    there will always be a doing.

    For even in the gifting of a free gift,
    a soul still has to
    OPEN THEIR PALM,
    EXTEND IT,
    RECEIVE IT,
    ACKNOWLEDGE IT,
    AND THAT WITH A THANK YOU.

    It has never been about
    doing or not doing,
    but about knowing what to do,
    and what not to do,
    in light of the amount of light you have received.

    You know better than to gun yourself.
    That one act of restraint is a “doing” and a “not doing” —
    not because there is a hell,
    but because there is you.
    And you,
    matter to you.

    — / Solid’s Seething / heart in hands

    Reply
  6. Regina Davis-Sowers Avatar
    Regina Davis-Sowers

    This is a wonderful way to live. As a Christian, I am starting to question so much condemning and the burden that are placed on people which are meant to be easy and light but become arduous and unachievable.

    Reply
    1. DirtySciFiBuddha Avatar
      DirtySciFiBuddha

      I’m not a Christian, but I’m a giant fan of Christ. Personally, I believe he was being as true to his whole self as possible–a state I like to refer to as alignment–and if people want to refer to that as Christianity, that’s fine, whatever people want to call it is up to them. But if I was technically a Christian, I’d probably study Greek and Aramaic so I could really dig into the literal meaning of the texts (I think in the KJV, they combined four words for the underworld into Hell, which was inspired by Dante’s inferno; however, not all four of those words was linked to an eternal place of suffering, I think one of them was literally a mass graveyard for criminals, one of them was purgatory, etc.). In any case, I don’t think all of it is misinterpreted; some of the quotes stick in my brain–I think he was being objective and literal when he said my yoke is easy and my burden is light. My personal take on that is if we are in alignment, we will always enjoy synchronicities and miracles that help us fulfill our true purpose. And that it will always feel easy in our mind and spirit, even if it outwardly appears to be harsh. To me, it’s a matter of relaxing my inward resistance and letting something greater do its thing.

      Reply
  7. Boozilla Avatar
    Boozilla

    Absolutely!

    Reply
  8. Laurel Zito Avatar
    Laurel Zito

    There’s a book that I found helpful. The best guide to eastern philosophy and religion. I have the book on Audible anytime I start to forget about letting go. I listen to the book again that it always brings me peace of mind. The main premise is that nothing is permanent so to trying and hold on to impermanent things causes anxiety and suffering.

    Reply
  9. Lively Life Avatar
    Lively Life

    I may take on this musing of yours! So less complicated then many ways of living!

    Reply
  10. shredbobted Avatar
    shredbobted

    We spend a lot of time trying to fix things we think we did or are going to do when we could just understand that life isn’t perfect and be a lot less stressed out.

    Reply
    1. DirtySciFiBuddha Avatar
      DirtySciFiBuddha

      Yes, and that a lot of things turn out better than expected, especially with the passage of time and expanded perspective!

      Reply
  11. Ari Joshua Bouse Avatar
    Ari Joshua Bouse

    Right on!

    Reply
  12. emilyayad03 Avatar
    emilyayad03

    Only thing I wish I could do was go fishing and do nothing else like all the man. But I am stuck with my kids and their studies and it is never ending. Do I enjoy it? I don’t know. Would I leave it all? I don’t think so. My life is too full but I would hate the emptiness.

    Reply

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