Tao of Yummi, Sutra 78

What If A Celestial Event (Like the 8/21 Solar Eclipse) Created A Single Shared Moment of Mindfulness to Bring Us Together? Serendipity, That’s What.

Tao of Yummi, Sutra 78, Frame 1/6

Balance is the Heart of the Matter

No one wants to get caught off-balance or feel they’re a half step behind. From sports to business to spiritual fulfillment, it’s part of the human condition to seek center.

Playing a sport? Go for the goal. Building a house? Hit the nail on the head. Practicing meditation? Breathe.

If so many seek center, and center is a point of balance, why doesn’t it seem like more seek balance?

Zero-sum gamers, those who think that others have to lose so that they can win, think they’re seeking center. They’re afraid that if they don’t possess it all for themselves, then they’ll never be safe. It’s why they want to become, “the last man standing.” It’s also why greedy appetites can’t be satisfied.

Balance doesn’t come from a place of wanting it all for yourSelf.

On the other hand, you believe we only win together. You feel fear of loss or missing out, but you’re doing “the work” so you don’t attach to fear. Survival may take more in some areas, but you know when it’s enough. You may not have achieved balance yet, but you’re trying.

Sometimes it’s a question of opening to more rather than getting more. Whether it originates within, or you catch it from others, fear, anxiety, or other forms of shadow can get in the way as distraction from the delightful and unexpected, already all around.

You’ll still get distracted, feeling fear and anger. No need to let it shake you. This is why you practice. Feel it and then move on to the next. The heart of the matter is balance.

Tao of Yummi, Sutra 78, Frame 2/6

The Pragmatism of Positivity

The balance point you seek is a hub of positivity.

Positivity doesn’t mean pushing away the sorrows of the world or detaching from feeling shadow. That’s ignorance, and it’s not your bag.

People say, “You’re always so positive, but I’m a realist.” There’s nothing stopping you from being both.

Everyone has an innate power to set intention that cannot be taken away. It’s your choice. How did you set your intention today? This is the heart of the matter.

Some wake up and say, “I’m going out to take what’s mine today.” Taking usually means at someone else’s expense. This is a value-extractive mindset, and something that gave Wall Street a bad name.

Others awake and say, “I’m going to succeed at all costs.” If you’re not in the life-saving business, then “all costs” usually comes not only at someone else’s expense, but also involves destruction as necessary. The zero-sum game is guided by a value-destructive orientation.

Call it what you will… positivity, value-creativity…but starting each day with an intention to live into purpose makes the day meaningful. Positivity doesn’t shy away from shadow. When you’re here to help, you find joy and balance in the helping.

Tao of Yummi, Sutra 78, Frame 3/6

Check It: A Real-Time Serendipity

Though these Microsutras are each written daily, as close to the current moment of publishing a possible, the Tao of Yummi cartoons were each written almost 20 years ago and are being published in the original order in respect of the delightful and unexpected. Sutra 78’s cartoon image appears organically, and as is the case, serendipitously!

The total solar eclipse that will take place on August 21st, 2017, will be visible across the entire contiguous United States. The last time this happened was in 1979- remember where your smartphone was then? This solar eclipse is within a day’s drive of 200,000,000 people in North America, who all know where their smartphones are. It may be the largest shared moment of mindfulness in the history of the humanity. Right on time, that’s Serendipity!

Just as celestial objects can block your view of the sun, literally turning day to night, shiny objects can get in the way of your perception of truth.

Sometimes the shiny object that obscures your vision can even be the idea of your full potential.

Heroism is something you deeply admire in others and secretly hope for yourSelf. Why not? Heroes are here to help by nature. So are you, but although the work of the hero isn’t an unknown concept, the idea of your own heroism can become attachment and get in the way of “the work.”

Fear of failure, doubts about ability, and thoughts of unworthiness are a natural response to such grand potential- but you can’t let the shiny object get in the way of living into purpose.

The truth is that no one else shares the same space as you. Every moment of your past has combined to create this person you are now, the one who’s here to help. These moments have also positioned you as the one who can help when you see the need arise.

When you’re the one uniquely positioned, willing and able to help, isn’t that what being a hero is all about? Open to the truth about your potential.

Tao of Yummi, Sutra 78, Frame 4/6

Open 24/7 to the Delightful & Unexpected

What’s openness to the delightful and unexpected look like?

It’s a sustainable cycle that you can do “the work” to achieve, no matter where you are, who you are, or what you believe.

Your pragmatic ideal is to live into purpose each day. Living into purpose, you see the need for help arise from your unique vantage point. Seeing more, you act, creating the authentic value that’s yours to give.

Becoming mindful, you acknowledge whatever feelings you experience in the current moment, and have the power to choose how you want to engage with these feelings. They’re like thoughts that appear in meditation…just thoughts that are part of the human condition. Without judgment, they just are, and so you continue.

Neither attached to expectation or emotion, nor detached from the experience, you can open to as much as possible in the current moment. This is where you’ll find the creative space, through the doorways of love, inspiration and creativity. The delightful and unexpected reside right here, in the eternal now.

Serendipity’s like seeing a road sign that tells you that you’re still going the direction you intended. Without purpose, mindfulness and openness, you’d be distracted and miss it.

The full potential of openness is a matter of balance. Open wide and as porous as possible, the experience flows through yourSelf like oxygen through your skin. Shaping the experience as it unfolds by asking what’s really going on is the balancing act. Fulfillment, contentment and peace are within reach.

Tao of Yummi, Sutra 78, Frame 5/6

The Compassion Rhyme

Surround yourSelf with beauty.

You can and this is how…

Love in your heart for all as one’s

Your inspiration now.

Here to help and looking

For opportunity

To give as need arises-

Value-creativity!

When giving is receiving,

You’ve reached the point you see.

Compassion and connection

Is your reality.

Tao of Yummi, Sutra 78, Frame 6/6

Faith. World Faith.

Imagine a moment of mindfulness where everyone, regardless of culture or creed, happens to become mindful in the same moment.

It doesn’t have to cost a dime.

It doesn’t have to go against anyone’s beliefs.

It doesn’t have to scare anyone.

It just has to happen.

One moment. One Universe — all the way in and all the way out.

What if as many people as possible were to become mindful during as much of the full run of the solar eclipse as possible, on August 21st? Even if it’s only an overlapping moment for 100,000,000 people or so becoming present, it’s a step in the right direction.

Don’t get hung up on this specific celestial event. It can be a practice run, but maybe it will be a celestial event that brings us together someday.

Do what you can and see what it’s like.

Faith. World faith.

…AND IF you found value here, please click that li’l GREEN HEART to help share it with others you love and respect…even if you’ve yet to meet them.

Thank you!

This is Tao of Yummi, Sutra 78.

The Tao of Yummi is a serial conscious cartoon strip about finding your way to the delightful and unexpected through purpose and mindfulness. If you’re living into purpose and mindful in the moment, you’ll open to the infinite love, inspiration and creativity that is already yours.

Infinite love and gratitude, as ever, to Kris Smith, Jake Nelder, Ben Nelder, Amy Nelder, Peter Rutter, Jan Kadrie, Kaleo Sallas, Meika Cooper, Laura Hoffman, Joni Woolard, Korbin von Stentzsch, Malia Henriks, Alex Tanassi, Ben Cooper, Danna Colman, Srinath, Neal Gorenflo, John Heinsen, Glase Lomond, Derek Sivers, Jay Lauf, Max Schorr, Ben Goldhirsh, Casey Caplowe, Oprah Winfrey, Julie M Jensen, and Amy Jo Martin!

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Yummi Delish a.k.a. Jeff Nelder

Written by

…talkin' 'bout purpose, mindfulness & Serendipity. We are all essential expressions of the Universe. This is your authentic Self. Welcome friends!

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