The Power of Failure

By Guy Harriman

The Power of Failure is a handbook to amuse and hopefully provide service to those who are determined to be in truth and love as they search inside. The thirteen stories are drawn in part from the author's travel experiences, and wry observations of people. Many of these types of characters come from all over the world to live in the San Francisco Bay Area. The author worked with some of them during his life as a chip designer in Silicon Valley, as well as a yoga teacher and energy worker in California and Thailand. The stories and their unique characters came to life on their own as they were being written. These characters may be larger than life in some ways, but they mirror back parts of ourselves we may recognize and empathize with. In laughing at their excesses, we also have an opportunity to laugh at ourselves, reducing the seemingly impossible task of transformation of the persona down to these few simple, joyful and effortless laughs. The magic of love and truth then can take care of the rest.
The most difficult, illusive and yet rewarding work we ever can undertake in our lives is our inner journey, where we travel inside our conscious context to find the light of love and truth. No one can do this work for us. If we think they can and we give our power away to them, as cult leader, authority figure, or romantic partner, we immediately lose ourselves, and disconnect from the authentic journey.
If we try to do our inner work using the intellect instead of the heart, we cannot reach the deeper truth of love, which is beyond dualistic thinking. The intellectual approach is also disruptive of the search for our personal inner truth, the truth of our souls.
The stories allow the reader to observe and easily learn from the manipulative and fear-based actions of some of the characters. The clear, accepting, and objective descriptions of the personalities also shows the loving and kind nature of ordinary people no matter where and when the live.
The author offers the thirteen chapters in The Power of Failure as an enjoyable, but serious and powerful excursion on your spiritual path, to shine a light of love and joy onto that perilous but necessary soul journey.
In a world culture obsessed with money, power, and external materialistic abundance, the Power of Failure shows us a different set of values which provides a gentle, safe, and contented way of life based on our inner world, the world of the heart and soul.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Guy Harriman
• Release date: May 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301761661

Guy Harriman

I was born in the UK and went to Leeds University Medical school for one year at the age of 18, before dropping out and getting interested in electronic music. Through designing and building synthesizers I decided to study Electronics at Manchester University, and then worked for 23 years as a chip designer, moving to Silicon Valley in 1989 to work for Steve Jobs at NeXT. I worked at Cisco Systems for 6 years, leaving in 2000, and then focused on my yoga teacher and body and energy worker spiritual journey. I started yoga in 1979, when I also became a vegetarian. I turned vegan in 1985. I started teaching Reiki in 1996, and learned Tibetan Chi Gong in 1997. I first traveled to Thailand in 1998, and then lived in Chiang Mai, in the north of Thailand, up to 6 months a year, most years until I moved there in 2008. I bought some land just outside Chiang Mai that year and built a Healing Center there. I wrote my first book, The Power of Failure, in three weeks during March 2013.

Book preview

The Power of Failure

A Book of Contentment

by

Guy Harriman

"The Path of Failure leads to Success"

old Japanese Proverb

Published by LannaYoga Books

www.lannayoga.com

isbn: 9781301761661

copyright Guy Harriman 2013. All rights reserved.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold

or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person,

please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did

not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to

Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the work

of this author.

~~~~~~~~~

Preface

Love of Language and Language of Love

Flowering like Spring's Yellow Orchids

They light again the path to your Heart

So now, how can you fear to be apart?

The observations and stories in this book are presented to the reader for spiritual guidance and enjoyment. The somewhat whimsical stories may tickle your inner child, unconsciously touching a part of you that the adult has long ago forgotten.

The values and karmic insights in these writings are based on the author's personal understanding of the ancient Yoga philosophy of Advaita Vedanta, which is the wisdom of non-duality.

Western religions are uniformly dualistic, setting up battles between good and evil, light and dark, desires and aversions.

Advaita Vedanta looks beyond this shallow view of the nature of life, and accepts that all aspects of the world around us serve our spiritual growth and our ability to live in harmony within ourselves, no matter what the external situation may be.

Buddhism and Taoism also teach from this non-dualistic perspective, leading the searcher for truth to the possibility of contentment.

When we are content, we no longer feel the stress of rejection, both of ourselves, and of others. We no longer feel the need to fix the world, and everyone else. Self-hatred and prejudice of others different from ourselves sow the seeds of discontent. However these seeds provide us with all the tools we need to transcend this duality and rise with grace into the light of contentment.

Ironically, it is from this place of contentment and inner peace that we move away from acting through force and coercion to impose our will on the outside world, and into a place of power.

Someone who is coming from power, like Mahatma Gandhi or the Dalai Lama, for example, has a much larger influence on the world than any number of political or military leaders who act out of inner fear to destroy the lives of millions. Your power and contentment radiate out into your family and social environment, helping others to feel at peace themselves.

If you are ready, let your inner child listen and laugh, as we explore in these thirteen stories the humor of the mess that we get ourselves into as adults, no matter where we live and which culture we are part of.

Let the adults do their serious stuff, time to play and have fun!

~~~~~~~~~

Thirteen chapters for a softer life

Achieving Enough

Ability and Effort

Abstract Thinking

Acceptance of Change

Anger and Aggression

Ambiguity

Altering Consciousness

Allowing Peace

Animus Mundi

Attention and Intention

Adaptable Living

Anatomy of Feeling

Alchemy of Love

~~~~~~~~~

Chapter One: Achieving Enough

We are told that to succeed we must achieve tangible results in the world. We must be measured, defined, tested and approved of. All of this at a very young age, when we are open to programing and are desperate for approval and love in the family, when we are vulnerable to external influences and unaware of our true nature.

The essence of ourselves is found when we look inwards through the doorway of our heart. The soul lives there, experiencing our existence at a different consciousness than our mind. The soul knows the reality of connectedness. It is as much a part of nature as the birds flying in the sky. It is unconcerned with the petty matters of day to day life.

The soul has no interest in achievement in the material world, except in the ways the material world touches our spiritual world. The material world is a mirror to the soul, a game room in which our moral nature and our behavior act either in harmony or dissonance.

The dance of the soul to the music of our day to day lives is a dance of presence. The soul listens, like a good friend, and does not comment. The karma caused by unaware and selfish reactions to the stimulus of the outside world is fuel for the growth of the soul. The consciousness of unlimited patience and empathy is a large part of the beauty of the soul. Our mundane self awareness, which seems all-consuming to our mind, misses the love and beauty of the soul's dance, as we seduce ourselves into desire and gratification, neediness and control, lack and forcefulness. We believe we are meeting important needs inside ourselves, such as approval from others, but we ignore the truth of the expression of our interconnectedness with all beings. This connection of love, undramatic, simple and fundamental, is like a glass of pure water being offered to us when we are thirsty.

Achievements provide momentary happiness, as we feel that all the hard effort must pay off, and others must recognize us and reward us with approval. However, happiness is merely a temporary psychological state and is soon replaced with an empty feeling. There is never enough happiness. It does not come from contentment as joy does. Joy is the light that shines our love out from our heart into our internal and external environment.

When we achieve enough, we are no longer needy of approval, and we can surf the waves of the flow of fortune between us and those around us. Then we can recognize how amazing it is to know what is enough. We can change our consumption pattern, from binging and greediness, to being gratefully satisfied with the sufficiency which comes to us automatically in peace and grace.

The Story of Enen

The small table collapsed with a loud BANG. Beren looked around – what was that noise coming from? He saw his father, Addan, bent over his work, a look of horror on his drawn, tired face.

The table had collapsed. Splintered wood lay everywhere on the floor. Addan had spent nine months working on every detail of the wood carving. Day after day and night after night, the intricacy of the panel growing with each touch of the knife.

Beren remembered the day the Duke had arrived and spoken to his father nine months previously. Gold coins were laid on the table, talk of quality, drawings of the proposed carving, negotiation and bargaining.

The Duke had ordered the carving as a wedding present for their youngest daughter Daen. Beren had seen Daen in the village, when she occasionally came to bring food to those in need.

Beren remembered his father's pride at being offered the commission. There were many woodsmen in the village who spent their free time carving designs into unusual pieces of wood they found as they cut the firewood to make charcoal. The standard of work was high, as this skill was passed down through the generations.

Beren's own grandfather had given him a simple knife and crude chisel at the age of five. Beren loved his grandfather, his mother's father, more than any other person. When he thought of his grandfather he felt content and at peace. Beren recalled his grandfather's patience and kindness as Beren struggled to feel the connection between his thoughts and feelings, his breath and emotions, and the result of each stroke of the knife and chisel.

When Beren watched his father at work over the period of nine months following the payment of the deposit for the carving, he could feel his own hands moving in empathy with his father's meticulous work. Often Beren would stay quiet and hidden in the kitchen, where he could observe his father without being noticed. He was caught in the simple drama and meditation of the work. Time stopped for Beren, and he felt each heartbeat in his chest as a hollow drum beat, heard before in the forest where the shamans played. Beren spent many days in this state of entrancement. During these days his friends missed him, and his mother, Enen, watched him become pale and withdrawn. She had no insight into the feelings running so powerfully through her son's heart. But she could clearly see that his being was changing, as if being carved by Addan's knife strokes.

After a month Enen decided to take action. When she scolded Beren he looked deeply hurt. He withdrew into himself. So she knew it was time to consult her mentor Bawn, the oldest shaman in the forest.

Enen told Addan one bright summer's morning, just after the rains, that she wished to consult with Bawn. As usual, Addan barely moved, his focus entirely on the Duke's caring. Beren also did not notice his mother leaving, although he felt a shadow cross his heart briefly as the door closed.

Enen had a full day's walk to make before she arrived at the clearing near the three lightning struck trees. This was Bawn's Lair, a place of power and majesty held in much respect by the villages. Enen was barely aware of the beauty of nature around her. She was just as consumed with her thoughts and desires as Addan. Enen wished for a fulfilling emotional life in the family, but both husband and son were withdrawn and barely communicated with her.

The more Enen cajoled Addan about his lack of warmth, the missing sexual contact for many years, his silence and lack of affection, the more Addan withdrew into his carving. Enen was completely unaware of her part in this – she felt her husband was failing in his duty, but as his wife she was bound through family, social and financial obligations to serve him for the rest of her life.

The carving, although providing much needed income to the family, was a symbol of her failure to win attention back from her husband. She was determined to have her family the way she pictured it, and spent most of her waking life obsessing about the issues in never-ending and minute detail.

As she walked, distracted, in her long dress and soft shoes, guided only by past memory of the path, she did not notice the wet ground turn to mud. With one slip of her right foot, she landed flat on her back in the deep oozing mud, skirt up over her head and mud dripping down her furious face.

This is all Addan's fault! Why did I ever marry that selfish oaf? I could have had any of the other boys in the village!

An old jackdaw flew by, and sat guffawing in a branch just above her head.

Haaw haw haaaw, haw haw haw!

Too angry to cry, she tried to get up and fell over on her front. Minutes later, the mud started drying in her hair from the sun, and she looked like a wild woman, a mad witch of the wood, banished from social contact. Eventually she got up, and slumped her way along the rest of the path to Bawn's trees.

A pile of offerings lay in the center of the three trees, a yellow beeswax candle and carved figure of Odin hanging upside down on the tree Yggdrasil dominating the earth altar. Just as Odin had wished to gain power over the runes though the agony of hanging from the tree, so Bawn had performed many austerities in the tree circle of his Lair.

The sight of the figure of Odin in his suffering suddenly pulled Enen out of her foul self-pitying mood. The symbol of Odin triggered a deep wisdom that all was right in her world, no matter what her mind was lashing her with. With a simple heartfelt smile, Enen turned her mud-covered head in the direction of the soft footsteps she heard approaching,

Bawn felt warm affection for Enen. He was also sensitive enough not to question her surprising appearance, although the laughing Jackdaw kept up his mocking in the background. Deciding to ignore the mud and focus on their hearts, they embraced and spent many minutes looking deep in each other's eyes. Bawn felt the pain of a worried mother emanating from Enen's eyes, but held his peace while they reconnected with the silent energy of love. Eventually Enen spoke to Bawn.

The Duke's carving for Daen's wedding is consuming Addan and Beren. There is a demon in the wood. It is holding them both in trance. I no longer really exist to them...

Warm tears fell softly and slowly onto Bawn's cheeks. He had felt these tears before. Enen was like a daughter to him. Bawn felt his heart soften and he reached deep into his well of wisdom.

Bawn watched the visions come up, his window into the fabric of nature, hard won through many summers and winters of contemplation and isolation.

Eventually he heard his words to Enen, softly spoken directly from his heart to her heart.

Enen my daughter, the wood which the Duke choose for the carving is the Ash. The Ash has a sacred purpose in this world. It balances karma. It has the power to teach the soul lessons. The Ash is doing its work, both for Addan, and more importantly for Beren.

What am I to do, Bawn?

"Focus on contentment, Enen.

But, Bawn, you know a mother's heart. She wants to protect her flesh, her son, from harm or pain.

"We have spoken of this before. The mother is a vessel of light. The light is only clear