Ep. 184 - Dialogue

I still talk in my sleep. 
I still dream. 
How can there be perfect stillness
when my brain's so noisy? 

Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao

Links:   

• 365 Tao,  by Deng Ming-Dao

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:02

We carry on a constant dialogue within ourselves. This is the origin of our problem. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the All Around Growth Podcast. Today we are going to be talking about dialogue. And this morning's fodder for conversation comes from a book by the title of 365 Dao Daily Meditations written by Deng Ming Dao. And for those of you who may be new, this is a show that is intended to provide insight and tools to building the life and homestead of our dreams. My name is Rob Kaiser and I am your host. Today is Tuesday, August 31st, 2021. This is episode number 184 of the show. I decided to turn to this book today, 365 DAO, because it's the last day of the month. Tomorrow will be September 1st. And as I've been walking around, both at the day job and here at the farm, I am noticing the change of the seasons already, the transition from summer into fall. In the tree lines, colors are already appearing. And it's not necessarily from stress so much, I would think. We've had a lot of water. We are having some heat finally towards the end of August. But we've had far more rain than normal this year. Far more rain than normal this season. This has been one of the wettest summers I can remember. And even though I've only been here for this is my eighth season here full-time. Seventh season full-time. I don't know. People that I've spoken with about the amount of rain have also recalled that this is the wettest summer ever. But with all that said, I thought it would be appropriate to shift gears from Dan Miller's book, like we've been talking about and reading about, a reading from, to 365 Dow. So let's just continue. We carry on a constant dialogue within ourselves. This is the origin of our problems. The very word dialogue means talking between two sides. We could not have an inner dialogue unless there was a split in our minds. We all have two sides. As long as they are not united, we cannot attain the wholeness that spirituality requires. Even with years of self-cultivation, it is not easy to tame the wild mind. One might appear to have attained perfect control in all waking situations, only to find endless turbulence during meditation and sleep. This is a sign of incomplete attainment. Perfection must be total. The process of perfection is long and must be methodical. Although our efforts must be to the utmost, we must never risk repressing ourselves. Indeed, rather than shutting away the unpleasant or unruly aspects of ourselves, we must take them all out and examine them. Daily introspection brings harmony to all those facets. Those aspects that are bad can be dissolved. Those that are of advantage can be cultivated. This effort will take many years, but in this gradual way, we will resolve ourselves with our subconscious mind and free ourselves from struggle and conflict. As I made the decision to read from this book this morning, it seemed even more appropriate as I walked out to the truck. And our tenant farmer, Cody, was in the barn getting ready for his day on the farm. Shout out to Cody if you're listening. I don't know if you are. Like myself, like you, Cody is an avid content consumer, primarily in the form of podcasts. I'd feel honored if he listened, but I imagine he doesn't. We still have a small audience. And you know, I wasn't intending to go or to take the dialogue in this direction this morning, but one of the two sides of my own inner dialogue is about this show. And oftentimes I think about I think about stopping it. I hope that I make a point to return to this and expand on it at a later date because it does it does impact the future of the show and the future of my future as well. And if you're an active listener of the show, it would affect your life as well, your future. So we'll save that topic for another day. But we did read that even with years of self-cultivation, that it's not easy to tame the wild mind. That some of us appear to have attained perfect control in all waking situations, only to find endless turbulence during meditation and sleep. Does this sound familiar? There's a lot of us out there who are able to be perceived by others in the world as though we've got it all together. When, in reality, on the inside, we're falling apart. Sometimes I feel this way. And I certainly know people who appear that way, but behind the scenes it's entirely different. You probably do too. And we read that this is a sign of incomplete attainment. That perfection must be total. So how do we how do we get there? What do we do? That's a difficult question to answer. But the author of the writing this morning, today's Daily Meditation, writes that the process of perfection is long and must be methodical. Long and must be methodical. We can't expect to experience results as quickly as we would like, but this is also a little hat tip towards hat tip. Because I think while the process may be long and methodical, if we're not consistent, then whether or not, or despite how methodical we may be if we're not consistent with our efforts, despite how much time it takes, if we're not consistent with the application of our efforts, it may be for nothing. We read that it does take many years, but in this gradual way we resolve ourselves with our subconscious mind and free ourselves from struggle and conflict. Many years. And it's not like I'm some kind of wise sage and have this infinite wisdom, but I read things like this. And some mosquito in the car here, and I wanted to let it out. Maybe it wasn't a mosquito, it was one of those little flies. Sort of looks like a bee. At any rate. Not satisfied with the time frame in which the results were to be experienced, so I'd remind this individual that of my own journey and share some experiences of my own. For example, this book that I'm reading from regarding the cultivation of one's spirituality. I've owned this book for probably twenty years. And I've been on this this path seeking this connection with Tao, seeking a relationship with God. And I pause because I'm trying to determine if I should say, and yet I'm not satisfied, but at the same time, the more effort I put into it, the more satisfied I am with the results I gain from my efforts. And that's important because if we don't put in the work, we aren't going to get or experience the result. And we can't just put in work. We can't just work, we can't just grind it out. I'm sure you've done it, I have too. And I say that we can't, because unless we go about performing the right work in the right way, it's proper application in the right context in our lives, we may end up spinning our wheels and getting nowhere fast. And if you're like me, I'm sure you've experienced that once or twice. And that's frustrating. One more time. We carry on a constant dialogue within ourselves. This is the origin of our problems. The very word dialogue means talking between two sides. We could not have an inner dialogue unless there was a split in our minds. We all have two sides. As long as they are not united, we cannot attain the wholeness that spirituality requires. As long as we are not at peace with ourselves, we will never be able to make progress in our spiritual path. As long as we are at odds with ourselves, we will not be able to grow and develop that relationship with God. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try, for I am of the belief that cultivating a relationship with God helps us work through the challenges that divide our mind. And the more concerted of an effort we make towards the growth and development of that relationship with God, the more united our mind can become, and the more progress we can make on enhancing that dialogue and growing that relationship with God. Well, guys, that's it for today's episode. Like I said, this was number 185, or episode number 185 of the show. And as always, episode number 184 of the show, I'm sorry. As always, there's links to the book that I read in the show notes, 365 DAO. There's also links to the community. If you want to get involved in a chat group with the rest of us, you can go on telegram at t.me slash allaroundgrowth. But if chat groups aren't your thing because you're already in dozens of them at this time, then by all means subscribe to Telegram, but join the broadcast channel and you can get updates when new episodes of the show are dropped. If you're an Apple Podcast listener, there's a link in the video notes for you as well to leave a rating and review on the show in Apple Podcasts because it's a little bit more complicated than it used to be, but ratings and reviews definitely help the algorithm and help expose new listeners to the show. So if you like what you hear and you want to help spread the word about the show and think that it may be of benefit to a friend, a loved one, or someone out there, then I would encourage you to share the show on social media or just you know send it to uh send it to a friend or loved one via text or email. It's easy to do, all in the show notes. There's also easy links to all episodes in the show notes as well for your reference. If you want to give everything a quick scroll and see all of the topics that have been covered in the past 183 episodes. Anyways, guys, that is it for today. I very much appreciate you listening. And if you want to drop me a line, if you have any questions, feedback on the show, you can join the telegram chat t.me slash allaroundgrowth, or you can shoot me an email at allaroundgrowth at gmail.com. This is Rob Kaiser. Thank you.