The underlying teachings speak to each one of us, as long as we can stay present to listen. Several key phrases are: “All you have is right now. You can live a whole lifetime without ever being awake. People are not their thoughts. Stop gathering information from the outside; start gathering it from the inside.”

At one point, the student turned to his teacher remarking, “You are out of your mind.”

The teacher, played by Nick Nolte working as a gas station attendant, replied, “It has taken a lifetime of practice.” He went on to explain that some times you have to “lose your mind to come to your senses.”

If there are no “ordinary moments,” and if all that we have is “right now,” shouldn’t we be looking for the purpose in every action that we take or every obstacle that we encounter? If a “warrior acts” and a “fool reacts,” perhaps it is time to become conscious of the choices that we make and revisit the stories that we tell ourselves.

Peaceful Warrior is a worthy watch. It will touch on your vulnerability, arouse your curiosity and quietly challenge you to awaken to the very moments that make up your life.

Image: Tdukes, UK, 2005

In Harry Massey and Greg Becker’s film, The Living Matrix – The Science of Healing, light is shed on the fact that beliefs can, in fact, override biology. Our belief system is our body’s strongest medicine. For anything to truly take root, one has to believe in it fully. It is no wonder that my friend could not embrace chemotherapy; she simply did not believe that it would work for her. She had already seen too many of her family members left bald and bloated only to die from the “cure.”

Intention plays a vital role in the healing process. Our thoughts and our cognitions impact our physicality. Information and energy transfer producing both positive and negative feedback within our bodies. Without us being fully conscious of their influence, scrambled information can take root and leave us disease-oriented.

My friend did something interesting. She actually changed the cancer model. Instead of “fighting” cancer with chemotherapy, she actually embraced her illness. She transformed the “warfare” model into love by choosing health over disease

I suggest taking a moment out of your busy schedule to watch this fascinating film: The Living Matrix – The Science of Healing will, without a doubt, shed light on the life that you live and the choices that you make.

Photo by Tdukes: UK 2007

Photo: Tdukes, UK, 2005

Every day, through every endeavor, we are defined by our relationships and exist within their interdependent union. Most of the time, however, we do not realize the significance of those who pass through our lives. We think of ourselves as individuals independent of the other; however, this experience of separateness, of aloneness is simply an illusion. We are connected, each to the other, we have always been and we always will be.

The context of our organization, our business, our profession, our art and the relationships that ensue in our professional and personal life may be the most productive context in which to realize this oneness and to appreciate and receive the benefits. That is to say, we can profit by acknowledging that we are deeply and undeniably connected.

To reach the outcomes we seek, to perform at the level we know that we are capable, and to achieve our dreams, we do so through our relationships. And therefore, if, in fact, we already live in connection with one another, we do not have to re-create the bond that brings about the realization of our goals; we just have to remove the distortions that inhibit their manifestation.

There, however, is a catch; how we think and feel about our relationships is often entirely separate from the actual potential that lives within the relationship:

• Our thoughts about our relationships are actually just that, thoughts about our relationships.
• Our feelings about our relationships are just our feelings. They may or may not have much to do with the actual relationship.

It is not until we are engaged with the other or others who comprise the particular relationship that we can accurately determine its true nature. Meaning, this interdependent, co-arising entity, relationship, carries within it a potential for transformation. Knowing this, we have an opportunity to shape each moment of interaction. Whether we are with a stranger, our children, partner, colleagues or friends – we have a choice:

• If we greet the moment with kindness, a soft response emerges.
• If we show up with happiness, we invite a playful and hopeful connection.
• When we connect with compassion, an opportunity for deeper understanding is available.
• When we embrace the moment with curiosity, we open to a dance with the unknown.

With a mindful and present understanding, we can re-discover our relationships within an unfolding opportunity of possibility.  –Tdukes

We are at a revolutionary crossroads in our relationship to medical care. Caught by the industry standards, insurance restrictions, and tightly scheduled professional face time, the patient and the doctor have both entered into a new arena. With 15 minutes to diagnose, a patient spends more time waiting in his paper johnny than actually being seen by the doctor. Gone are the days of holistic care. In some ways, this new paradigm is slowly shifting the responsibility for wellness from the doctor to the patient or at the very least, it is forcing care to become a joint endeavor. However, this necessary change has left many in a void, faceless in the system, a number with a diagnostic code. It is here, as the template evolves, that Narrative Medicine, the story of humanity, the tale of the human condition, has the capacity to impact a system that has become, at best, tolerable.

Our stories are important to our unfolding health as a civilization. As we walk the ridgeline, we are reminded of our past as we make our way toward our future. As we step into the present, we need to gather our voices to insure that our humanity, our humanness does not become lost or replaced, buried under the tide of facelessness. After all, we have come to walk this path; we need to claim it. ~ Sdukes

Image: Boston MFA by Tdukes

Just recently, we met face-to-face. My heart was full; this was indeed a moment I had much anticipated. Imagine the reunion, the inquiry into my world, in return my graceful complements of his work, the impact that he and his writings have had in my own life. As I introduced myself, his dark eyes hardened and remained hidden behind a veil of feigned enlightenment. There was none of me in their reflection. There was none of me anywhere. Much like a beggar on a street in India, I was rebuffed, left to stand empty handed with my anticipation hanging in the air. Where was the mindfulness, the welcoming of the other and most importantly where was the loving attention that was at the root of all teaching?

As that painful moment passed, I began to slowly feel empowered. I saw him clearly for the first time in 30 years. I had caught him without his game face, and he was just a man. He was not my true teacher after all. In fact, in that moment it was me who was graceful, mindful and wise. Realization comes at a price, and between the many emotions that surfaced as a result of our encounter, I came to see that one cannot look outside for a true teacher. Our true teacher does not live somewhere else; our true teacher resides within each one of us. When our hearts are open and our attention steady, and when we greet the unexpected with loving attention, we become both student and teacher, we become the wise one. ~ SDD

Image: Tdukes, 2011

“He must be sick,” one hiker commented.

“Call a ranger,” another responded.

Yet, the bobcat squatted on all fours belly to the ground, waiting. We walked a little closer keeping our greyhound tight to his leash, raised our binoculars, and we, too, waited. Time passed slowly and soon our dog began to whine. He was tired of this waiting and was ready to continue on our hike. But, we calmed him and again we waited. Several hikers who had joined us grew tired of the wait convinced that the cat had come to his final resting place, and they moved on. And, it was then, in the blink of an eye, that the bobcat sprang forward, landed on his prey, taking him squarely between his teeth. Before he headed off into the underbrush, the bobcat turned his head slightly and just long enough for us to see his bounty.

What if we had not waited, what if our curiosity and patience were overruled by our need to continue to the Inn for lunch on the lawn? Had we not waited, we would be telling the world about the sick bobcat atop the mountain; instead, we were able to witness life and death and the subtle interplay between the two.

On the ridgeline, there is the propensity to keep it moving, to make camp before nightfall, to get to the end; yet, it is the steps taken along the path that bind us to our future, our authenticity and most importantly, our humanity. ~ Sdukes

Image Courtesy of: http://bit.ly/yJCSV4

Trauma resonates in many forms, and without a clearing, takes root. What was once pristine becomes encumbered holding memories of past misdeeds. Paul has made it his mission, his commitment to heal the Earth. Trained at an early age, Paul understands both the subtleties and the complexities of our native land. Put simply, Paul listens as the Earth speaks.

Passionate about his life’s work and compassionate to those who share his calling, Paul is student and teacher, vessel and vehicle. He walks a quiet line over a narrow trail along a steep ridge and in his footprints leaves his healings. ~Sdukes

Image: Courtesy of Helping Heal the Earth

There’s a tribe in West Africa whose members count the birthday of a child from the day the child is first a thought in its mother’s mind. On that day, a woman goes out and sits under a tree and quietly listens and waits until she can hear the song of her child. When she has heard the song, she returns to the village and teaches it to the man whom she has envisioned as the child’s father so that they can sing the song when they make love, inviting their child to join them. The expectant mother then sings this song to the child in her womb and teaches it to the midwives, who sing it when the child is born. And the villagers all learn the child’s song so that whenever the child cries or hurts himself, they pick it up, hold it in their arms, and sing the song. The song is also sung when the young man or woman goes through a rite of passage, when he or she marries, and then for the last time, when he or she is about to die (p.42-43).

Imagine being known by your community for your own sweet song, not your accomplishments, your status or your commodities. At the core of your being: a melody, a melody that your mother heard while she sat waiting patiently to hear you sing.