It’s All Good…..

When I was in prison I worked with a guy that was crazy funny. One of his go to lines was “Hey bro, it’s all good”. He didn’t own the phrase but he delivered  it at the right time and made it funny. The truth is I’ve never laughed so hard as I have in prison. The combination of not using drugs and being stuck in a place where a sense of humor is a survival mechanism led to some hilarious conversations. Most people in prison are there because they’re addicts – most of these aren’t dangerous. The ones you have to worry about are the ones whose motivations were more psychotic.

Not that it’s all fun and games but it’s really no different from being out here. There’s just more room out here.

There are a few books, as I’ve mentioned, I read over and over. They always address where I’m off the mark ( somewhat annoying ). I also forget to practice what I know to be best – so I keep my reminders close at hand.

The books are Eckhart Tolle, The New Earth, J. Krishnamurti, Freedom from the Known, Alan Watts, Still The Mind and Chogyam Trungpa, Meditation In Practice.

That saying – it’s all good – came to mind when I was reading Tolle’s book again the other night. He was targeting the ego’s affinity for blaming the outer world for everything. Basically, it’s all bad. They’re bad, institutions are bad, this is wrong, if it weren’t for this and so on – that’s the ego.

We could say it’s us – but that’s the ego too. There really is no us. This would call for a definition which is only available from, or necessary for, the ego. The self, really isn’t anything either. That’s an ego product too. There are two possible states for consciousness. One that is driven by the ego and one that is involved with intelligence.

Now – these are Tolle terms. But here is the crux: When ego say’s “That’s bad” we can catch it and say “That’s good – It’s all good”. Is it all good? Too deep, doesn’t matter. The point is to weaken the ego. Exposure weakens the ego, which increases awareness, which allows intelligence to enter.

For now there isn’t much more than that. Like everything here –  it provides a practice.

I was talking with a friend the other day about depression and getting overwhelmed and so on. I told her that I looked at my brain/thought system the way I’d look at a toddler in Tiffany’s. As long as I pay attention and keep an eye on the rascal I can avoid a calamity. As soon as I turn my back – Whammo. This is how I treat my brain. It’s really the only enemy I have. I should also say, that enemy is good -right? I couldn’t think of another word for enemy.

Anyway the practice is – pay attention, whenever we see, hear, sense the ego reacting negatively we catch it. We interfere with it’s habitual process. What we do after we catch it is up to us. We could say, “I see you…”, and maybe add, “It’s all good….”.