Category: Philosophy, Spirituality & Metaphysics

  • The Point Of It All

    The Point Of It All

    Jacques de Villiers – writing quest: Article 48/365

    I saw Joey Evans’s presentation “From Para to Dakar” at The Tryst in Woodmead on Tuesday night.

    It’s a powerful story about how a terrible motorcycle accident left him a paraplegic with no chance of walking again. Through grit, belief, an unbelievable ability to endure pain and the support of his family, he defied all odds and walked. And, then he went on a quest to race and finish the Dakar on a motorcycle.

    The audience was riveted by his compelling story of overcoming overwhelming odds to triumph over adversity. 

    And, his message of: “You didn’t come this far to only come this far” landed. Inspirational discourses like this give the audience hope that they can overcome their own demons, strife and setbacks and triumph. That’s normally the goal, and “From Para to Dakar” certainly delivered on it.

    But, then from left field he landed what I thought was the essence of it all. He showed a video of his family greeting him at the airport. Their love and support carried him through his years of struggle to his moment of triumph. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Just thinking about it now, I’m tearing up. The audience got it. Whilst the trials, tribulations and triumphs make for a compelling story, they’re just the sideshow. 

    The essence of everything we do is love. And, love is the point of it all. And, a family’s love is the most precious of all. 

    Think about your own life: isn’t this what drives you; love and family? Both love and family provide the support and purpose that underpin many of our most cherished experiences.

    I have a notion that true success is measured not by our accomplishments or possessions, but by the number of loved ones by our side at the end, when we’re called home again.

    Joey’s keynote reminded me again how important love and family is. For me, it’s the only worthwhile pursuit.  

  • Pilfering Perfection

    Pilfering Perfection

    Jacques de Villiers – writing quest: Article 46/365

    Me: I’m imperfect, fractured and a failure. 

    God: Where’d you hear that?

    Me: I just know. When I go on Facebook I see the perfect lives of everyone.

    God: Aren’t you just cute? They think the same about your life. May I tell you a story?

    Me: You’re God. I definitely want to hear a story from you.

    God: When I created your original father and mother, I made them in my image; perfect. I also gave them a gift I’ve bestowed on no other, not even my favourite angels. Choice!

    I gave them only one instruction. “Don’t eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge.” I’d also blessed them with curiosity. They couldn’t help themselves. They ate the fruit. The serpent in the tree whispered, “You’re naked and exposed. You’re ugly. You’re stupid. You’re arrogant and prideful. You don’t deserve to be in paradise.” They were ashamed and tried to cover up their nakedness.

    You see, the tree is where I hid my dark side, my Yin. My only wish was for them to live in the light of their perfection, their Yang. Yes, although I am God, my omnipotence did not come easily. I wrestled with things worse than you will ever know before time ever existed so that you can play here.

    You were born perfect. That is the truth. You were born for a perfect purpose. That is the truth. We signed that contract when you were born. You agreed to do my work until I bring you home again.

    Me: So why do I feel so inadequate, imperfect and lost?

    God: The serpent pilfered perfection by telling a story to the original mother and father. Because he was devious and persuasive, he convinced them that they weren’t enough. That they were imperfect. As you grew up, your own mother, father, uncles, aunties, friends, teachers and preachers entrenched that story by telling you how to do this and how to do that. They taught you what was appropriate to their view of the world. As they were taught by those that came before them. Soon you believed them, that you weren’t enough. That you were imperfect.

    Me: Oh my goodness, you’re right. How do I fix it?

    God: By understanding that there is only truth and falsehood. I am the truth. That means that you are full and perfect. You are not empty and need to search for perfection. You are already perfection.

    The falsehoods are the stories you believe that were told to you, about you. When you experience shame, guilt, apathy, grief, and other negative emotions caused by the idea of imperfection, remember that it’s just a story. Remember, I gave you choice.  Just choose to drop the story, it’s that simple. Those that gave you the story, that’s their view of the world, it doesn’t have to be yours. Don’t let their stories shackle you in shame. 

    You are my most precious creation. You are the point of this entire exercise. You are my sun. And, like the sun, you are always there, omnipresent, and always perfect. The stories you are told are a dark cloud that’s hiding your light. Come my son, drop the story and reveal your sun. I love you.

  • Is Your Cup Empty?

    Is Your Cup Empty?

    Jacques de Villiers – writing quest: Article 44/365

    Are you in marketing and sales (or any human endeavour for that matter) and struggling and failing to achieve your outcomes?

    The clue may lie in the word ‘outcomes’.

    Outcomes are the language of business. We set targets, and we need to achieve them so that we can make a profit. 

    We don’t have control over the outcome; our clients do. The only thing we have control over is the work we do to engage with the client.

    There are only two ways that we navigate the world. We’re either here to take or we’re here to give.

    Most of us come from a place of emptiness that needs to be filled. Thus, we’ll always be takers. Our clients notice this predatory behaviour and respond appropriately. Typically, with a ‘no’ because nobody wants to be hunted. 

    Many sales-focused companies use the word hunter to describe their sales people. Why not just use the word “hunter” on their business cards instead of “business development”? Since the client already perceives the predatory focus, it would be more honest. If I were a sales leader, I would remove the word ‘hunter’ from the corporate lexicon. As an aside, I’d also lose the term ‘human resources’. Is it any wonder that most of our employees are actively disengaged? If the company sees me as a resource and disposable, I wouldn’t be motivated either.

    So, what’s a possible solution?

    In my experience, coming from a place of fullness, gratitude and unconditionality works for me.

    Fullness is rooted in gratitude. When we believe we have enough, only then can you give unconditionally.

    This argument is subtle and nuanced, but so is the universe. A 0000.1 percent shift in frequency can make all the difference. 

    Shifting from predatory attention (taking) to giving unconditionally could make all the difference.

    You and I are already full and have everything to be grateful for. We may have momentarily forgotten, but let’s remember now. Let’s turn our attention from taking to giving (unconditionally) and forgo the outcome.

    I can only speak for myself; the more I forgo the outcome, the more the outcome seeks me.  

  • Spiritual Home

    Spiritual Home

    Jacques de Villiers – writing quest: Article 43/365

    I’m spending a month at Zawia Ebrahim, a spiritual retreat nestled in Walker Fruit Farms on the way to Vereeniging.

    I practised prayer, meditation, and journaling at the retreat from 2015 to 2017 and still visit it regularly. It is my spiritual home.

    It never changes, it is like an immovable lighthouse of vibration. At any given time there are 10+ people praying five times a day (Ṣalāh صلاة). It’s been around for close to 30 years. By my calculation, that’s more than 547 500 prayers coming from one location.

    If we extrapolate that further, there are 1.9-billion Muslims in the world (25% of the population). For the sake of argument, let’s say that they all pray five times a day. That’s a whopping 9.5-billion prayers a day.

    Assuming that Christians and Jews pray twice a day, there are approximately 2.8-billion Christians (31% of the population) and 15.7-million Jews (0.2% of the population) who do so. That’s a lot of prayer at a tad over 5,6-billion prayers a day. 

    There are just over 1,1-billion Hindus (15.2% of the population). If they were to pray twice a day, that’d be 3.2-billion. 

    And, of course, let’s not forget the Buddhists at around 520-million followers. They’re like in prayer all day, so I don’t know how to tally that one up.

    That’s an astounding 18,3-billion prayers a day.

    I haven’t accounted for other spiritual practices, but they no doubt add a whack of good to the collective.

    There are many spiritual places like Zawia Ebrahim, including convents, monasteries, hermitages, ashrams, viharas and the like. Our spiritual homes lie within these sacred spaces. Before my shamanic and aboriginal friends react, I get that nature is the main home and everything else is a subset of that.

    Why then, with all these high frequencies going out every day, are we in the shit? 

    According to David R. Hawkins’s Map of Consciousness, enlightenment (1000) begins at 200 (courage). The Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) have a high level of resonance, but their implementation falls short because of human fallibilities. My interpretation is that they use force and not power to achieve enlightenment. It is indisputable that they are all violence-prone. These religions have been distorted by their followers to serve their own interests, rather than spiritual ones.

    According to Hawkins, Buddhism resonates higher than the others because it is not a religion based on violence (force) but one based on non-violence (power). If you don’t think that works, remember in 1948 how Ghandi (power) single-handedly dismantled the violent British Empire (force) with his non-violence philosophy.

    This is not a competition to see which spiritual practice is best. Every practice and philosophy should be based on love, kindness, and doing what benefits everyone and everything. Their intent is benevolent; the application is often malevolent. 

    I don’t feel that this is a war between philosophies but rather between light and dark. Hawkins states that our resonance is currently at 204, slightly above the level of courage. In the 90s it was under 200. Light is getting a foothold, but only just.

    What’s the answer? I’ve no idea.

    But, I do have a notion that we can’t rely on institutions to dictate how we behave. Make your spiritual home in your heart. Let’s take responsibility for our own spiritual welfare and how we show up in the world. And, then give everything its due courtesy and respond appropriately every time – with love and kindness.

  • Meditating Through Madness

    Meditating Through Madness

    Jacques de Villiers – writing quest: Article 33/365

    I’ve been meditating for more than 30 years now. It has probably been the single best practice that has kept me from totally unmooring from this reality. 

    Meditation seems to imitate life or life imitates it.

    For me meditation is about taking my mind and my emotions into a place of stillness. Or as Dr. Joe Dispenza puts it, becoming no thing, no body, no place and no time. 

    It’s all about breathing in the meditation I practice. It’s pretty much all about breathing in life too, isn’t it?

    During meditation, if my mind drifts, I bring my attention back by focusing on my breath through my nose.

    Meditation reveals the extent of my scatteredness and how easily I become distracted. A bird chirping takes me out of no thing. An aeroplane overhead gets my attention. An itch needs to be scratched. A thought needs to be followed. A fly needs to be shooed away.

    I’ve trained myself to allow myself to acknowledge those distractions. I don’t use the force of willpower to banish them from my consciousness. I let them go by returning to the breath.

    I always plan to have the perfect meditation, and it never happens. Sometimes out of the hour, I get 45 minutes of ‘real’ meditation. Sometimes 30 minutes. And, sometimes when things really go awry, five minutes. But even five minutes is valuable. For me five minutes of meditation is worth five hours in the gym. And, if I had to choose, I’d always choose the five minutes of meditation over the five hours of gym. Not because gym is hard, but because meditation is more likely to take me to where I really need to be on this journey.

    Here’s the thing: those five minutes are valuable to me and to the entire consciousness of the planet. Those five minutes get me through the madness.

    If you think you’re too small to make a difference, you’ve never been to bed with a mosquito.

    Anita Roddick, author of Business Unusual

    Always back to the breath

    Isn’t life akin to meditation? We have plans (purpose) to impact the planet (or, at least our corner of it) and then things happen to distract us and take us off our path. When you feel distracted, gently remind yourself of your purpose (breath) and fulfil the promise that is in you.

    Nothing we do will ever be perfect (in my experience, at least), but what we do matters. 

    If you don’t believe me, take Jesus for example. His ministry was a mere three years, and look at the astounding impact he made. 

    What do you think you can do in three years? One year? Five minutes? 

    Go do that. Go now!

  • Slapping The Creator

    Slapping The Creator

    Jacques de Villiers  writing quest: Article 29/365

    I got triggered the other day.

    I’ve been looking for CV writers to help me with my LinkedIn clients who need their resumes updated. I found two of them; highly experienced recruitment professionals. Both gifts from God.

    From a business standpoint, a blessing. One charges R900 per CV and the other one, R250. I charge R3 500 for a CV, so if I pass the work onto them, I can make a tidy profit. Maybe I’ll do that, but I doubt my conscience will allow it. I’m not in the habit of employing slave labour. In my experience, it takes around five hours to knock a CV up. So, the one makes R180 an hour and the other, R50 an hour.

    That doesn’t sound like a good deal for them at all. It is apparent that I don’t need to feel guilty for paying low wages, they have already enslaved themselves with their beliefs.

    I would go so far as to say that it is an insult to the unlimited potential that courses through them. It’s akin to a slap in the face of their creator.

    I had to ask why I’m triggered? Easy. I was that person. I was worse, actually.  I used to give advice for free. And, the dirty little secret that I carry with me is that I still do. 

    Just the other day I presented a keynote to 200 or so people at a conference. A delegate contacted me to schedule a meeting. She liked my presentation and wanted advice on becoming a speaker.

    I was there with bells on it, and even paid for the coffee.

    Speaker coaches command high fees for just an hour of their expertise. Me, I just give it up for free.

    What’s with that? 

    Do I need validation so much that I don’t respect my value or my time? Have I got nothing better to do? Do I value myself so little?

    Those are the questions that I’ll be pondering this weekend. 

    You’re smart. Don’t be disrespectful and sad like me. You should charge like a grown-up. Remain true to your integrity. Inspire pride in your creator. 

  • Learning To Speak Universe

    Learning To Speak Universe

    Jacques – writing quest: Article 28/365

    I got lost coming out of Vanderbijlpark, today. I know right, how does one do that? Evidently one can. Instead of going on the R59, I ended up on the N1 where I had to pay a toll at Grasmere Plaza. 

    This morning before I left for Vanderbijlpark, I saw R30 on my kitchen table. I nearly left it there, but something told me to take it. Perhaps I could get a coffee? Only credit cards and cash are accepted as payment for the toll. I had a debit card which wasn’t acceptable. Luckily I had the R30. Once again my universe came to the rescue.

    I remember when I was visiting my child in George last year. We decided to take a drive to Sedgefield, some 38 kilometres away. We were about five kilometres out of George when my child realised that they had left something at the house. So, we had to go back. I wasn’t stressed because I speak ‘universe’ and I knew something was afoot. All things are for my good.

    On our way back from Sedgefield we ran out of petrol (don’t ask) right next to the Caltex petrol station in the Wilderness. We managed to push the car to the station and sorted things out.

    Had we not gone back to the house to fetch something, we would have run out of petrol up the hill near Dolphin’s Point. There is nowhere for a car to pull over, and I would have blocked the traffic going back to George. It would have been a real hassle and probably taken a couple of hours to sort out, instead of the 20-minute detour at the petrol station.

    What are the chances of us running out of fuel right next to a petrol station? Pretty good, when you learn to speak universe.

  • Whispers in the Wind

    Whispers in the Wind

    Article 23/365 of Jacques’s writing quest.

    I woke up around 01h00 this morning. Outside it was deathly quiet. The air was so still that even the squadrons of mosquitoes that plagued me every night couldn’t fly. Their wings found no purchase in nothingness.

    It unsettled me.

    The wind plucked up and whispered life back into the night and everything was alright.

    I’d never given much thought to wind until I started reading the works of Carlos Castaneda and his experience with the Yaqui shaman, Don Juan.

    The Yaqui, an indigenous people from Sonora, Mexico, believe that the wind often carries messages from the spirit world.

    I’ve become more in tune with nature as a consequence of reading Castaneda and taking an interest in shamanic practices. 

    Whenever I feel the wind, I look to the trees and shrubs and if I open my perception, and look really carefully, I swear I can see sentience in them. Let’s call them spirits because I can’t think of anything else they could be.

    Sometimes they’re benign and sometimes they’re malevolent. I was once running in Walkerville in the early evening on a quiet road surrounded by open fields and Bluegum trees. This wind rustled through the trees following my footsteps. I stopped and the wind stopped. I started, and the wind started. I felt fear. And, at that moment I was reminded of Carlos Castaneda’s words: ‘In a world where death is the hunter, my friend, there is no time for regrets or doubts. There is only time for decisions.’

    I decided to run, and run fast, I wasn’t going to die that day.

    On another occasion I was running in the morning on a road surrounded by pine trees. The wind whistled through them and I felt the most wonderful sense of peace. I stopped and bathed in it. 

    Later, when I interrogated both instances, I came to the conclusion that somehow I created these experiences.

    In the first instance in Walkerville I remember that I had an extremely negative day.

    And, in the second instance, I’d had a beautiful restful night.

    Perhaps I’m romanticising this. Who can say?

    But, what I definitely know is that my thoughts and attitude at the moment definitely reflect in what happens next. I now stand sentinel over my thoughts and words and guard them vigorously so that nothing negative slips out. 

    The whispers in the wind are real, and they’ve been made by me.

  • The Healing Power Of Silence

    The Healing Power Of Silence

    Article 16/365 of Jacques’s writing quest.

    I have found true silence once in my life and since then I’ve been on a Grail quest to find it again.

    I don’t know about you, but I find that there’s too much noise around. If it’s not in my environment, it’s in my head. 

    And, having tinnitus buzzing in my ears, doesn’t help my Grail quest.

    I was taking a run at the Pinnacle Point Golf Course in Mosselbay when I came across a small valley. As I ran through it, all the noise ceased. I stopped, puzzled. I spoke just to make sure that I hadn’t finally gone stone deaf. 

    I sat down and absorbed the sound of silence. It enveloped me like a loving cocoon and soothed me. I became no thing, no one, and no place. For a brief moment of time (turned out that it was 10 minutes) I really felt as if I was connected to the great soup of consciousness.

    I felt like I was home with the great mother that I’d disconnected from lifetimes ago. For the first time in a long time (ever), I felt real peace.

    I’ve seen the healing power of silence, and it is something to behold. I went to the Bateleur Nature Reserve in Waterberg for a team building activity with around 15 corporate executives who were hardened, cynical, and jaded. 

    Our facilitators took us to a dry river bed one evening. They asked us to lie on our backs and look at the magnificent cosmos. We were then asked to close our eyes and let the majesty of it all take us. 

    It couldn’t have been more than five minutes when we heard the first sob. Then came the next one, and then the one after that. Before long, all of us were howling. 

    For me, it felt like every sin I was carrying disappeared. For the first time in my life I felt connected to all that is. It was a seminal moment in my life. The catharsis of crying is amazing. 

    I want to find that peace and connection again.

    Please, let the noise stop.

  • There’s Energy To The Familiar

    There’s Energy To The Familiar

    Article 13/365 of Jacques’s Writing Quest

    There’s energy to the familiar. Place has memory and time has memory.

    I’ll never forget when I used to sleep in the mosque (مَسْجِد) at the spiritual retreat in Walker Fruit Farms. I had a profound and tranquil sleep every time. Countless prostration and prayers echoed off the walls and rose up from the Persian carpets. It was like a homecoming to the source. Comforting like a mother to a child. 

    I’ve always loved hanging out in holy spaces. They carry the essence of the divine and the magnitude of everything that is. I’ve spent a lot of time in cathedrals in France and Italy, prayed in Dutch Reformed churches, given thanks at shamanic Despachos, meditated to music at kirtan, and remembered my Rab at Dhikr.

    I’ve created a small space for myself at my home where I undertake my spiritual practice; prayer and meditation. The more I practice in this space, the more I feel its energy growing. Sometimes I just step into the space, and immediately feel a profundity of being. 

    I’ve discovered that doing my spiritual practice at the same time every day, in the special space I’ve created, has a much bigger impact.

    I would imagine that the place and time has become what the NLP practitioners call a trigger. I grooved a habit. 

    I’ve managed to do the same for my writing. I write at the same place every day and have set up quirky rituals that help me get into the groove. I’m assuming that speaking to Hemingway is quirky and not on the road to full-blown madness. I always give thanks to the muse, Calliope who helps me become eloquent and heroic in my writing.

    The more I practice (spirituality and writing), the more the two intertwine and blur into a consciousness stream. I can’t tell the difference between them any more. I cannot separate them from me and me from them. We are no thing and one thing. The more I practice these things, the more I see a sliver of the divine. Let’s hope I don’t run out of road before I turn that sliver into a crack so that I can get a peek at enlightenment. How wonderful would that be?