Baby Boomer Life

First off, I have to tell you that the author of Baby Boomer Life has been in quite a quandary over which author to write about next. Remember, I told you about all the fabulous, amazing, and astonishing teachers, doctors, metaphysicians, and authors at Louise Hay’s party in Tampa?
(Okay, it was a conference but it was also a birthday party so that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!)

Well, I started to write about several of the people who really impacted me and found that I couldn’t choose and it was really gummin’ up the flow. I mean it was like having writer’s block only the reverse. I had so much to tell you that I didn’t know where to begin. So here is what I did (in true Louise Hay form!) I pulled a card out of Doreen Virtue’s Archangel Oracle Cards and the card said Angel Therapy,” Give your cares and worries to us angels and allow us to take your burdens.”

I thought, now that works for me, so I walked away from the computer, sat back, and turned on PBS, and who do you think was there? Who else? Dr. Wayne Dyer of course! I watched his talk about the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, PBS version, and got even more as his keynote from the Louise Hay event was largely reinforced and once again I was captivated. Bingo! Decision made. And here we are.

Dr. Wayne Dyer was the opening keynote speaker at the I Can Do It! Conference and everyone was really looking forward to hearing him talk about his new book, Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life.

Now, if you are a Wayne Dyer fan or if you are not, and if you are vaguely familiar with the Tao Te Ching or if you never heard of it; this is a very worthwhile and life changing subject, not to mention a challenge. Personally, I am proud of Dr. Dyer for taking on such an awesome and intimidating piece of work to bring to the American public and his loyal readers because I believe it takes courage and conviction to bring forth the message of a way of living that is not only very ancient but also very foreign to Americans at large.

Frankly, I don’t know that anyone could have done it any better, and the main thing is that someone-namely Dr. Dyer, did it! Now that I am studying the Tao Te Ching, thanks to Dr. Dyer’s book, I have come to feel that it is a very timely message for anyone but especially for us boomer’s who have often looked to the East for words and traditions of wisdom.

Just remember the days of John Lennon, David Carradine , and Ram Dass. Remember our fascination with Kung Fu, Tai Chi, and Buddha. Anyway, as this subject came up I learned something new about my life partner and that is, that even he carried a pocket size version of the Tao Te Ching in his back pocket for easy reading on buses, in between classes, and on work breaks all through the seventies in Berkeley.
Apparently there have been several translations to choose from over the years and his favorite was the one by Witter Bynner but we learned from Dr. Dyer of another by Stephen Mitchell ,the husband of Byron Katie, the creator and author of The Work.

All these self help guru’s and authors married to other self help guru’s and authors….how do I keep it straight?
and where was I now-oh yes….

At the event during his keynote, Dr. Dyer told us that two years ago, just after his 65th birthday, he walked into his condo in Florida where he’d been working and residing for years and he said to his assistant,”Here are the keys; I want you to sell or give away everything and keep nothing here; I am leaving it all”, at which point he left and moved to Maui, only later realizing that even his doctorate diploma was in there along with many other beautiful and expensive gifts, art, etc., that he would never see again. Still, remembering he hadn’t even as much as looked at it in years,he did not return or ask about anything he left behind. It was all part of letting go.

That was his response to the effect of the Tao Te Ching in his life. Isn’t that what we call walking your talk? While in Maui, Dr. Dyer wrote “Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life“, his latest book about “living the wisdom of the Tao”. According to Dr. Dyer, he is no longer accepting gifts-but he does accept the love and intention. He has simplified his life and is no longer accumulating stuff, his has given up the struggles with things like what color shirt goes with what tie and what will the stage setting colors be and all the other time wasting horse hockey that we all put up with every day.Wayne Dyer has even traded a long history of relentlessly running 8 miles a day for a gentler practice and now does yoga. So this is freedom.

And I have to say, I have been getting a big kick out of seeing Dr. Dyer pad around barefoot on stages and sets all over the country as part of his new lifestyle. I bet he will be staying close to home in Maui this winter!

Here is a verse from Lao Tzu’s work that I thought you might like out of the Witter Bynner translation.

Verse 8
Man at his best,like water,
Serves as he goes along:
Like water he seeks his own level,
The common level of life,
Loves living close to the earth,
Living clear down in his heart,
Loves kinship with his neighbors,
The pick of words that tell the truth,
The even tenor of a well-run state,
The fair profit of able dealing,
The right timing of useful deeds,
And for blocking no one’s way,
No one blames him.

I have to say that I admire Wayne Dyer for having the courage to not only change but to allow us to witness his willingness to change in such a humble and loving manner. He is very forceful in his opinions, as I heard when he recorded his HayHouse Radio program with Marianne Williamson at the Conference, but his intention is a leveling of the playing field and I appreciate where he is coming from. He is a man of great heart. Buy his book and see what you think. It’s worth a read and it may change your life.

By the way, Dr. Dyer spoke with candor of another book he read and it’s author’s painful but timely recollection of the painful grip of drugs on a life and that book is “A Million Little Pieces” by James Frey. The book and it’s author became friends of Dr. Dyers when he was seeking help for his daughter who had a problem similar to James Frey’s and Dr. Dyer was out there, like so many of us boomer parents or grandparents, seeking help for his child. Somewhere in every family we are feeling the effect of drugs and the drug subculture. This helped the Dyer family and it may help someone you know too.

We are all helping each other Baby Boomer Life readers and it isn’t always pretty but it’s always real. We’re in this together and the only way out is through. Peace out.