ML&FF You Guru

THE YOU GURU

Before you delve into this book or any other maybe you should ask yourself a few questions.

Who should I place my trust in? Who’s word should I follow? What kind of a person would write a book on meditation, fulfillment and values?

Surely, the author of a book on meditation and life has a shaved head, the obligatory brown hooded robe, a silly pacifist grin, and faces east each morning, chanting mindfully as he or she pays homage to the rising sun. Likely, he or she can sit cross-legged for hours while contemplating philosophy, the wonders of the universe, and the meaning of life. All the while, his or her legs never fall asleep.

Perhaps he or she has studied with the great Eastern Masters in the Himalayas and can drone on ethereally about how you should live your life. He or she may speak in sanctimonious tongues, so vague that you have to forestall your thoughts and contemplate each phrase. Periodically, you may have to stop to congratulate yourself when you’re able to discern even a portion of the master’s bedazzling dialog. You might even then reason that you too are becoming one of the sacrosanct enlightened ones.

Is this how you envision meditation and those that promulgate its use? If so, you’re in for a surprise.

Personally, when I see or hear one of these ubiquitous GURUS I run, not walk, to the nearest exit. I rush up to a mirror, gaze into my eyes and confirm that I don’t require deprogramming. I thank my skepticism for enabling me to pull away before being pulled into a cult of mindless pretentious followers.

The author of Meditation, Life and Fly Fishing is the anti-thesis of what you might perceive an advocate of meditation and fulfillment to be. I have a bunch of hair on my head (so far anyway), an irreverent, possibly immature, sense of humor, and I laughingly curse eastward when the sun rises too early in the morning.

I studied at a conventional college, but learned far more at the College of Hard Knocks. I have developed the ‘trial and error’ method of learning to its’ potential.

Pollyanna and I don’t get along. I firmly believe that common sense should rule your life. When concepts are made difficult or wrapped in the mystique of religion or metaphysical theory that you cannot prove, be wary, be very wary. When a belief must hide in the shadows of rhetoric to maintain substance and cannot tolerate the light of reason and examination, then it can only have a counterproductive effect on your life.

Don’t arbitrarily disregard previously untried and unproven avenues in your life. The only way we progress is by seeking out new and better ways of coping with and mastering our existence. But, be very careful about whose ideas you adopt as your own.

Embrace new ideas. Look forward to change. Your life will altered, even if you cowardly choose to recoil in the apparently safe mode of stagnation. Go forth audaciously. Be like a ship sailing under full mast, forging ahead, rather than an empty boat bobbing around with its’ hatches battened, hoping to survive the storm. Become the master of your destiny, rather than a victim of it. Look far and wide for ways to enhance the lives of yourself and others.

However, let common sense help you ascertain that which can be authenticated and that which is to be taken solely on the word of another. Everyone has an opinion, some right, some wrong. Understand the premise for beliefs and vet them thoroughly before you commit even a portion of your valuable life to their pursuit. Unfortunately, charlatanry prevails; demagogues want to lead us in every direction. Don’t naively follow cultish ideas without testing the waters. Don’t capriciously follow every guru.

Authentication may not always require elaborate scientific studies with ideal conditions, control groups, and the like. Often, you will be able to verify an authority’s word by simply digesting the underlying premises of the assumption. Then, based on your own known truths, you can draw your own conclusions and confirm or deny its truth. Or, better yet, you can simply practice that which is being promulgated and measure the results.

Whatever opinions you choose, confirm that what you are assimilating into your subconscious, as gospel, accepting as your ‘truth’, is the by-product of your own educated judgment and not some dubious rhetoric of a pseudo guru.

Never allow any authority, no matter how glib or ostensibly credentialed, to intravenously feed you the blocks on which you will build your life. Without a solid foundation, little can prevent your structure from eventually crumbling and falling.

Assumptions are based on known truths built upon known truths. When a portion of your perceived reality is inaccurate, subsequent deduced truisms will be flawed as well.

Human nature encourages us to let others do our thinking for us. It’s easier. Laziness often prevails. This might not be harmful if you are lucky enough to choose the right guru who has mastered all facets of life. (By the way, there aren’t many. Christians believe the last one died on the cross.) However, when you relinquish control of your judgment, you open yourself to abuse. Sooner or later, you will suffer the adverse consequences of your cerebral sloth.

Do you remember the charismatic Reverend Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple in Guyana? Nine hundred twelve men, women and children ended their lives in a mass suicide because they were so taken with the ‘vision’ of their guru. How can we forget the unquestioned obedience of the lock-stepping Nazis of World War II? Adolf Hitler mesmerized much of a nation with his warped view of how the world should be. As a result, millions lost their lives and an entire world was thrown into turmoil.

These are extreme examples of relinquishing control, but they illustrate what can happen when you subrogate your thinking to others. Your mind is yours. It is not something to be lent to others to promulgate their notions and causes. Become an anomaly. Think for yourself.

Human nature causes us to find comfort within groups. Groups provide companionship, affirmations of our beliefs, and structure to our lives. However, groups also have a tendency to establish rules to abide by. The pressure to conform can be stressful. Deviants to their precepts are often ostracized, creating an atmosphere of limited growth and stagnation.

Even negative growth can occur in a group environment, if the group beliefs are inaccurate or perverted. Sheep and cattle run in herds, often to slaughter, human beings shouldn’t. They are capable of so much more.

Dare to be different. Become a dissident. Dare to oppose conventional thinking, for very often it is wrong. In fact unconventional thinking is very likely your key to success. Innovations by their very nature are abnormal and untraditional.

Do you want to excel at something in your life? If so, study those that have had tremendous success in their lives. Did they take the everyday approach to life? Did they follow along with the crowd? Did they deviate from the norm? Of course they did! They were all different.

Albert Einstein, one of the greatest contributors to science of the twentieth century, was considered an oddball by many and inept by others. He flunked classes where he later excelled almost beyond comprehension. Others may have thought that a young Bill Gates was a bit of a ‘geek’, not quite fitting their perception of the average person. The ‘hip’ high school auto mechanic was likely more revered by many. Look where the perceived geeks of yesterday are today.

Meditation was once considered ‘out there’ by a majority of the population. Today it is becoming more commonly accepted as its many benefits become more apparent. Too bad it has taken the general public this long to recognize its’ value. Ignorance, misperception and conformity have blinded many to its’ life altering abilities.

Successful people are clever enough to seek knowledge and advice from others, but they make their own decisions. They aren’t afraid to move ahead into uncharted territory. They dare to be different. They don’t follow gurus.

The ONLY rational guru to follow is the YOU GURU. The only rational group to follow is the YOU GROUP. You are going to have to declare independent status if you want to truly control your life. If you want to ascertain fact from fiction, make the right choices, and respect yourself, you must learn to develop your own truths and to ultimately seek your own council.

Be proud of your own opinions and values. Learn to cherish your own perceptions and ideas, especially when they don’t mesh with the established norm. When you deviate from what is commonly accepted and it is consistent with your values, you have the foundation from which you can build a truly exceptional life.

There is value in gathering the knowledge and ‘opinions’ of experts in a given field, but you must determine your own truths. Do not simply accumulate ‘expert opinion’, absorb it like a sponge, and then arbitrarily regurgitate it, to make decisions or to hold court for others.

Declare yourself an INDEPENDENT. Lose the all- encompassing labels. Take pieces of labels, but don’t swallow the whole nametag. You are not a Democrat. You are not a Republican. You are not an athlete. You are not a scholar. You are not an executive. You are YOU, so much more than any label could define and limit you to. Learn to walk away from labels, group thinking, and gurus. Learn to trust your own judgement and to value your own opinions, and to develop your OWN TRUTHS.

The author of Meditation, Life and Fly Fishing is a hardened SKEPTIC, fiercely independent in opinion. A former business executive, entrepreneur and kin to those from Missouri who say ‘prove it’. I have a suspicious New Age curiosity, a Republican/free market bent on economic issues without condoning their ‘bought and paid for’ political system, nor their dictatorial nature on personal choices, a Democratic compassion for human rights, and a Libertarian view on freedom. I am a ‘mut’. The sum total of a varied combination of view points inherent to any breathing, thinking, and independent human being. I defy labeling and you should too.

I have meditated in a variety of manners for over three decades. It has made an enormous difference in my life.

Without meditation’s therapeutic effect, life, sooner rather than later, becomes chaotic. Organization and planning give way to one crisis after another. Minor details are blown way out of proportion. Important projects lie uncompleted. My perspective is lost. My thought process becomes irrational. My IQ hovers with caterpillars.

Meditation brings me calm, happiness, and increased mental acuity and intuition. It helps me to keep life in perspective, to be responsible, while at the same time maintain a child-like sense of freedom, without the seriousness that ages many of us prematurely. By making life’s decisions clearer, it gives me the courage to expand my potential, rather than recoiling in the misperceptions of fear.

I meditate only to achieve these and other very practical benefits. My motivation for meditating is purely selfish. I don’t advocate a relationship with any metaphysical entity or authority. That’s your business. I have my own spiritual beliefs based upon my own perception of right, wrong, and what I hope to contribute to man and womankind and so should you.

I meditate for the clarity, peace, happiness and intuition it brings into my life. Some of the ‘out there’ New Age folks or religious fanatics can save your soul. I simply want you to have the opportunity to bring happiness and fulfillment into your life through a relatively simple process. What you do with it is your business and your business alone.

Having said that, I do think that once your meditations yield success in your life, you will have such an abundance of spiritual wealth that you will naturally want to share with others. Your success will benefit society almost effortlessly, as you contribute more and take less.

I advocate meditation and the methods described in Meditation, Life and Fly Fishing as a means to dramatically improve your life. I will not ask you to accept anything on faith. I will not ask you to blindly follow any doctrine with some assumed long-term benefit. I will only ask you to open your mind to the possibility that the methods of stress reduction, mind expansion and values described herein may benefit you. I will then ask you try the techniques and draw your own conclusions.

I believe the benefits will very quickly and very visibly materialize. Then, you can accept meditation and the other methods advocated. Sell yourself, bit-by-bit, piece-by-piece, as you experience the positive effects for yourself. This is how it should be. Accept nothing on faith, only upon delivery of the benefits promised. We should all be from Missouri, “the show me state”.

The You Guru reflects MY known truths, MY opinions, and MY philosophy and values. Accept them if you will, but only after examining their underlying premises and after practicing them. Then, and only then, should you allow them to become a part of YOUR truths and YOUR opinions.

Then you can become your own YOU GURU.

B.B. Mons

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