Tuesday, September 22, 2009

September 22, 2009 'Making Choices'


I had no idea that the same Joey Green that wrote one of my favorite books is considered "the guru of weird uses for brand-name products". It is a beautiful book full of illustrations by Cathy Pavia and calligraphy by Sumi Nishikawa. It is called "The Zen of Oz: Ten Spiritual Lessons from Over the Rainbow." The zen is real for the author of the books of "The Wonderful World of Oz" , L.Frank Baum included much of the zen in it. However, the book is based on the film made by directed mainly by Victor Fleming starring Judy Garland.

I lived in Kansas for many years and experienced tornadoes and cyclones. You make choices in how you react to tornadoes.

In the book, Green states that the cyclone becomes a physical manifestation of Dorothy Gale's (played by Judy Garland) inner struggle for self-awareness, the result of the "gale" winds storming through her psyche. (Trust me, these symbols which is throughout the film do work and they were put there on purpose. I bet you did not know that.) Dorothy runs into the empty house while her family is in the storm cellar and gets hit in the head by a window that is blown off its hinges. It is when Dorothy wakes up, opens the front door and crosses yet another threshold and enters the land of Oz. My point and Green's is Dorothy is making choices here. She has been making them all along.

Part of our life resides in Karma and that Karma has been created by ourselves. Dorothy has been angering evil wicked individuals such as the woman who wanted to take away Toto and now she lands a house on a wicked witch and angers her sister. To break free from this pattern, Dorothy must rise above her karma and in order for her to do this she must understand why she has been obsessively seeing Aunt Em's love and resolve the subconscious conflict that prompted her to risk Toto's life-aligning herself with the TAo and discover her true Self and take control of her life.

You can avoid the trip over the rainbow if you are consciously aware of your choices in Kansas although it sounds more fun to go to Oz. The author states that you have to do is step back and observe the choices you make every moment. This is mindfulness.

I have read this book twice and am reading it again. This section of become aware of what is happening in my life, my past karma and what choices I made up to this point and letting go of my mistakes and looking for true Self is on page 29-31. Ah, to have a book with the information and if I can't find the true Self on those pages, I can read how one person did it in the rest of the book. And if I can't discover it, I can always watch the movie.


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