EDITORIAL: WHAT IS (N’T) ECSTATIC LIVING?
When I incorporated the word "Ecstatic" into the title of my book, I knew that even though it was the perfect word, it was liable to be misinterpreted by those who judge a book by it’s cover, especially the title on the cover. I realized that ecstatic has connotations from the sublime to the vulgar, none of which relates to the meaning I wanted to convey. Hopefully the subtitle: How to Revitalize Your Relationships, Career, Body, Mind and Soul," and the explanation on the back cover helped to offset this disadvantage of "Ecstatic." But unfortunately some people will glance at the cover, see "Ecstatic," and keep on browsing. For those readers who are more discriminating, the following will give you a better idea of what Ecstating LivingTM is and is not.
Ecstatic LivingTM is not about sex or tantra. When I attended Johnny Gray’s "Making Love Workshops" in the early 80’s there was always at least one person who, about halfway through the seminar, raised his or her hand and said something like, "All this psychology stuff is fine, but when are you going to talk about techniques?" Then Johhny would have to explain that his seminar was about making love work not about making love. Actually, if you applied the psychology stuff to relationships, you didn’t have to worry about technique. In the same way, better sex, while not being a focus of Ecstatic livingTM, is just one of its benefits.
Ecstatic LivingTM is not a new religion. God knows we have enough religions. It doesn’t require conforming to a certain dogma, world view or heaven view. Ecstatic LivingTM is a spiritual way of life that integrates the essential truths of all religions into a unified whole. The end of this way or path has many names: enlightenment, liberation, the ascension, self-realization, and so on. There is no set path that everyone has to follow. In fact, each person follows his or her own individual path.
The paths are not steep climbs up rugged mountains. The ecstatic life does not involve difficult physical, mental and emotional practices that take up your time and energy. An ecstatic life does involve certain TECHNIQUES, but most are easy and some are totally effortless. You can do them as little or as much as you like. All of them give you energy. And they’re fun to do. Another term for Ecstatic LivingTM is "Do-O-Raku. Herman Aihara, in 7 Basic Macrobiotic Principles wrote: "Do-o-Raku...means to enjoy Tao (to live with appreciation all the time wherever we are). When we are aware of nature’s impartial and absolute justice..., we can begin to enjoy our lives fully, by distributing infinite joy and thankfulness to everyone we meet. Interestingly, Do-o-Raku also means hobby...to live our life as a hobby -- which is what it is! Anything we do is a game....To live in perpetual ecstatic delight is Do-o-Raku."
An ecstatic person does not ignore reality by trying to maintain a positive attitude at all times. An ecstatic person is real and responds with honest feelings to whatever happens. However, the ecstatic person knows that the subconscious mind and the universe can be programmed to create a better reality.
Ecstatic LivingTM does not involve developing psychic or mental powers or communing with spirit guides. Spirits that hang around Earth, don’t want to move on and evolve, and they can keep you from evolving spiritually. Ecstatic LivingTM does involve attunement with your higher self and the purification and activation of all seven chakras, not just the third-eye chakras. The third-eye chakra is an energy center, which when opened, allows you to see auras and astral entities. If opened too soon, it can lead to insanity.
I define "ecstatic" as ec, the prefix for "out of" and static or "not progressing." Thus Ecstatic LivingTM is getting out of the ruts of negative thinking, inaction, bad habits, stuck emotions, and unsatisfying situations.
Now I will contrast Ecstatic LivingTM with static living and illustrate each point with examples. I will use two hypothetical people. One person I will call Mr. Murphy, and the other, Ms. O’Reilly. Murphy is static while O’Reilly is ecstatic.
With static living, accidents happen and you’re a victim. With ecstatic living, you avoid accidents and make things happen.
Murphy wakes up feeling nervous, but he doesn’t know why. If he studied astrology and checked his horoscope, he would see that transiting Mars was presently at 90 degrees to the location of Mercury when he was born, making a stressful, accident-prone aspect. Two cups of coffee don’t help; he’s too jumpy. On the way to work, his car skids on an icy stretch of road and he overcorrects, spins around and ends up in the ditch. He arrives late for work and his boss just gives him a dirty look. This makes Murphy angry and belligerant, another effect of Mars square Mercury.
O’Reilly wakes up feeling very energetic. She checks her horoscope and sees that transiting Mars is conjoin her natal Mars, giving her tremendous physical energy. She knows that if she doesn’t find outlets for this energy, it will manifest as accidents or arguments. So she jogs around the block a few times before going to work and asks her coworker to play handball with her during the lunch hour. At work, she tackles a project she has been putting off for weeks because it involves a lot of heavy lifting.
With static living, you either have no direction or are pulled in several directions and make no progress. With Ecstatic LivingTM, you make steady progress in one direction.
Murphy has worked at six different jobs in the last six years. He has either quit or been fired. Each time, he takes the first job that comes along and hopes it’s something he’ll like. But after a few weeks he hates it. If you ask him what he loves to do, he’ll say, "I don’t know; I haven’t really thought about it."
O’Reilly has a master plan for her career. She wants to be head of the shipping department at Kiddo Toy Manufacturing Company. She is well on her way toward reaching that goal. She knew five years ago, when she applied for a shipping clerk job that she would love it, because she likes dealing with people, making kids happy and being physically active.
With static living, you are reactive. That is, your thoughts, words and deeds are knee-jerk overreactions to what you sense in your environment based on fear, anger, vanity, lust, etc. With Ecstatic LivingTM, you are proactive based on intuition and love.
Murphy hates his job as an insurance salesman, but he’s too afraid to quit and find something he likes. As soon as Murphy sits down at his desk, which is buried in stacks of papers, and starts his computer, which is covered with yellow post-its, his boss comes in to tell him that he needs the O’Hara contract done by noon tomorrow. This immediately causes Murphy’s heart rate and blood pressure to shoot up because he is three days behind on the contract. But he doesn’t complain to his boss, because he’s in enough trouble as it is with being late for work again. Instead, he shuffles through the stacks of papers till he finds the O’Hara contract and starts working feverishly.
O’Reilly loves her job in the shipping department. She fancies herself as Santas helper and keeps a picture of a busy elf on her computer start-up screen. After O’Reilly sits at her immaculate, neat desk and opens her day planner, she receives a phone call from an irate customer, complaining about a defective toy. The customer rants and raves for over a minute. O’Reilly begins to feel annoyed but centers in her heart, thinks of a pleasant past experience and asks her higher self what she should do. When the customer stops to breathe, O’Reilly apologizes sincerely and promises to send a replacement right away. Since she is caught up on her work, she can take the time to do it. She encloses a personal note.
With static living, you are rigid and stuck. With Ecstatic LivingTM, you are flexible and open to change and growth.
Murphy uses the standard boiler plate clauses in writing the O’Hara proposal in order to save time. He realizes that the proposal, thus written, will not address all the needs of the client, but he feels he has no choice because he doesn’t have time to write something original and because his boss likes boiler plate and may look askance at anything out of the ordinary.
O’Reilly notices that much storage space in the shipping department is wasted because the shelving is constructed inefficiently. Also, she sees that the products are not arranged in any order on the shelves, so it takes a long time to find anything, especially for new workers. Rather than complain about the present system and keep on searching through cluttered aisles and shelves, she writes a proposal to her supervisor, detailing how the shelves and products can be better organized.
With static living, you maintain a negative energy balance. With Ecstatic LivingTM, you maintain a positive energy balance. I mean that in two ways: physically and spiritually. A negative physical energy balance means that you feel drained after working, socializing, and doing chores such as shopping and home repairs. When you feel charged up by engaging in work, talking with others, or everyday activities, you are maintaining a positive physical energy balance. The spiritual energy balance is called karma. Even those who don’t believe in karma and reincarnation know that if you put out negative or positive energy, you will eventually receive it in kind. Everyone knows and understands the expressions: "you reap what you sow," and "what goes around, comes around."
Muphy comes home exhausted and irritable. His wife wants to talk but all he wants to do is relax and watch TV. They get into an argument and he hurts her feelings. He stubbornly refuses to apologize and the home is charged with an uncomfortable, icy atmosphere.
O’Reilly comes home feeling charged up and spends an hour or so cleaning her apartment. Then she calls her boyfriend and tells him that she has a lot she needs to get off her chest and clear the air about. She is firm and honest, but doesn’t insult or threaten. They apologize to each other and she feels much better about their relationship.
I hope the above illustrations have given you a better idea about what Ecstatic LivingTM is and isn’t. To find out more about Ecstatic LivingTM, you can order the book by printing out this order form and mailing it along with a check or money order for $10 to ELI, Box 3544, Bozeman, MT 59772.
