Occupy the Heart and Create Heartland Security

by Swami Beyondananda

       A thanks to the Occupy Wall Street movement, which reminded us that Wall Street has been occu‐ bright spot appeared on the horizon awhile ago, pying Main Street for generations. While middle‐class Americans were preoccupied with family values, gold collar criminals with Soprano Family values like Bernie Madoff made off with large chunks of the commonwealth. No wonder there’s disheartenment in the heartland! The Occupy movement broke this issue through the soundless barrier, and Americans from across the political spectrum have been waking up left and right. ... Leaders from both awakening wings... called for auditing the Fed. Others in the Occupy movement have gone even further, suggested auditing the overfed, but that’s another story.

       One thing is for sure. As the upwising picked up esteem..., there was plenty of residoodoo to metabolize. Which is why, as things come to a head it becomes more important than ever that they come to a heart as well. Because when it comes to healing our lives – or the world – the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. The heartless minds that value money over all else have tried to convince us that their inhuman nature is our human nature. I say if we want the Golden Rule to overrule the rule of gold, we have to embody the heart core values of truth, beauty and goodness.

       Instead of buying into the fear‐based Homeland Security, we must invest in Heartland Security – because our true security is in the land of the heart. In the head, we have beliefs that separate us, and what people believe – believe me – is unbelievable. That’s why we must leave the static of the head for the ecstatic of the heart. The more we expand our hearts, the less we will need to shrink our heads.

       It’s great that the Occupy movement [began] to rehearten a disheartened heartland. But before we become preoccupied with the usual head‐trips, we must occupy our own hearts. And the best way to do this – seriously – is with heart‐opening laughter. 

Swami’s Four‐Fold Path to Cosmic Comic Consciousness

       ...I know many of you reading this would love to uplift humanity. That would be a quantum leap indeed, so let me recommend the first small step to uplifting humankind. Ready? Begin by uplifting your own face. Allow the levitational pull to uplift the corners of your mouth in a smile, and you will trick yourself into believing you are happy. This is called Cosmic Comic Consciousness, and yes – it is contagious.

       Instead of buying into the notion that happiness is something we need to pursue out there, let’s laugh at the cosmic joke: Happiness has been right here all along, patiently waiting for us. Ha‐ha‐ha.

       Now of course, simply being happy is far too simple, isn’t it? So for those who still feel the need to “do” something to be happy, I have devised a simple four‐step program – that should, simply by simple arithmetic – work three times faster than those 12‐step programs. Ready? Here it is:

       Step One. Wake Up Laughing. As we wise up to the gravity, we must rise up with the levity. Not only does levity help us rise above whatever has been bringing us down, it shows us a higher perspective. When we wake up laughing, there is an awakening. In the wake of the ha‐ha, there’s an “aha.” And after the aha, there’s an “aaaahhhhhh …” and just like that, hearty laughter lifts us out of our head, and puts us squarely in the heart.

       Step Two. Wise Up Loving. As the Wisest Guys have been telling us for millennia, we are all one with the same One, and the purpose of life is thrival for all. Love is the currency in the new eco‐logical economy because the more we spend, the more we have! And having it is simple. All we have to do is open our blinds, and let it in. Here is the inescapable truth: Love has us surrounded. We might as well surrender. That’s right ‐‐ give up the fight, and surrender to Love. Listen, if Love is good enough for Jesus, Buddha and Beatles, it's good enough for me!

       Step Three. Grow Up Giving. If we want to overgrow the current dysfunction at the junction, WE – each of us, and all of us – must grow upward, evolving from children of God to adults of Good. Now while few of us have actually seen God, we have all seen Good. Goodness gracious, goodness is good! For millennia, children of God have been waiting for a messiah to fix this fixer‐upper of a world. And now adults of Good have realized the messiah is a do‐it‐yourself job, and the party of life is strictly BYOB … Be Your Own Buddha.

       Step Four. Show Up Living. As the gospel of FUNdamentalism (accent on FUN) teaches, we are not here to earn God’s love – we’re here to spend it! And how you spend it depends on what you love to do. Make a “bucket list” of all the undertakings you wish to undertake before being overtaken by the undertaker. Then start doing them. They say an unexamined life is not worth living, but it’s even truer that an unlived life is not worth examining. So … turn off your TV and tell a vision instead. The evolution will not be televised. It’s happening out here, and it’s even more real than reality TV … it’s called REALITY!

       Finally, as I bring this address to a close, I call on you to improve the state of your corner of the Universe and take a vow of levity. I am serious. We humans will never find our center of gravity until we find our center of levity. So, all those who wish to take a vow of levity – PLEASE RISE.

       Repeat after me. “All for fun … and fun for all!”
       And may we laugh, laugh, laugh till the sacred cows come home.
     
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Swami Beyondananda is the alter ego of writer and humorist Steve Bhaerman, and can be found online at www.wakeuplaughing.com.
There you can find out about the Swami Goes Green campaign.
© Copyright 2012 by Steve Bhaerman. All rights reserved