Enough Already: Change, Meditation & Transcendence Volume One of the Testaments of the Temple of the Circus Monkey

By Angus McIntosh

Are we having fun yet? Is this what you wanted to be when you grew up? This book might help.

Enough Already can help you build the foundation for creating change in your life. Whether you hate you body, your partner, your job or life in general this book will help you find freedom, power and choice. You’ve never read anything like it before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Angus McIntosh
• Release date: Jan 21, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370204953

Angus McIntosh

I grew up in KY, TN, MI, and NY. I got thrown out of SUNY Purchase for drug use and failing grades. I kind of graduated from Hunter College 3 years later with a double BA in History and Psychology. (I never filed for my diploma.) I considered attending grad school but studied martial arts and Zen instead. I earned black belts in both Aikido and Tai Chi Chuan and studied other arts less seriously. I read voraciously and can hold my own on most topics, except maybe math. I’ve washed dishes, worked in a warehouse, spent 4 years at IBM, managed and then bought for a chain of independent bookstores, been a personal trainer specializing in mind-body relationships, started and closed a dojo, founded a nonprofit, worked with high need kids, and started the Temple of the Circus Monkey. As an adult, I’ve lived in NYC, Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Francisco. I like Asian girls, sex, motorcycles, rum, cigars, eating out, Coca-Cola, hard boiled detective stories, bad movies, and game shows. I have the attention span of a teenage gnat.

Book preview

Enough Already

Change, Meditation, & Transcendence

Volume one:

Testaments of the

Temple of the

Circus Monkey

Angus McIntosh

Archbishop of the

Temple of the Circus Monkey

All illustrations by Amanda McIntosh

Enough Already, 2nd Edition is published by the Temple of the Circus Monkey - Smashwords Edition

All opinions are those of the Author, Archbishop Angus McIntosh.

All rights reserved.

Permission inquiries [e-mail]

The year 2018 of the Common Era

Nevada, USA, Earth

Enter

at your

own

risk

This book is dedicated to Sharon.

Enough said

A READER’S GUIDE

Before you enter into my world there are a few things I think we should get straight. First of all, I’m an adult and I use colorful language. By that I mean words like fuck. If you’re offended by adult language please go find something written for children. I also tend to use a stream of consciousness style that can take some getting used to. I’m sure you’ll work it out.

Since you’re reading this I assume that you’re serious about taking control of your life. I want to make it perfectly clear that I DON’T CARE what you decide to do. I only care that you get to make the choice yourself and take responsibility for the ramifications. Most likely you’ll find different answers than I did. Good for you. Find your own joy and fun.

I expect that most readers will ignore some parts of each book. That’s cool. If you already have a strong personal philosophy or religion you should feel free to discard mine. The skills I’ve presented will work just as well for you anyway. Use what you can and ignore the rest. My ego won’t be offended.

Readers will quickly discover that I tend to ignore the social taboos against discussing things like spirituality and sex. It’s disconcerting to some people that I talk openly about faith and God. Sorry, but they’re a big part of life whether you talk about them or not. Before you start, I want to make my own views perfectly clear. I doubt that there’s a big anthropomorphic god. I think there is some universal spirit or energy that informs our lives and if you want to call it god, go right ahead. Regardless of religion I believe in Joy and fun, beauty and love, compassion and kindness. We are all free, but only the strong willed can exercise that freedom in a world full of bitter squirrels and demons. These books are the method I use to center myself, feel good, and find joy. I hope the ideas in them help you too. Just remember, as Shakespeare said, There are more things on heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Table of Contents

That 3:00 AM Question

Can You Spare Some Change?

Becoming a Warrior Monk

Love and Fear

Freedom Power and Choice

Creating Sacred Space

Your Body as The Way

What to Pack

Discipline and Dedication

Shit to Leave Behind

Yes, The World is Fucked

Yes, It’s Working Against You

The Tortoise and the Hare

Final Note

KW-Chop & Desert Monkey Dojo

CHAPTER 1: THAT 3:00 AM QUESTION

Are we there yet? Huh, huh, are we? You remember that question, don’t you? Riding in the back of the family car, anxious as hell to get somewhere exciting or at least somewhere else. Growing up was full of that kind of impatience. I can’t wait for high school. It’ll be so cool when I can finally drive. Life will be perfect when I get a girlfriend. When I have a job it’ll be great 'cause I’ll have my OWN money. Being an adult and able to do whatever I want will be so cool. Well, is it cool? Are you there yet? I didn’t think so.

Now don’t get all defensive on me. I know, you’ve been busy. Besides, you’re still here, and that’s nothing to be sneezed at. I mean, hey, congratulations, you’re a survivor. Of all the bazillions of organisms in the history of this planet, you’ve survived. In fact, you’re the heir to thousands of generations of survivors and you carry their traits with you. The ability to store fat saved your ancestors in lean times and allowed them to live long enough to raise new generations. Their cleverness, cunning, and drive to succeed are the basic building blocks for everything you do today. Survival can still be a nearly full time job. Providing for your basic needs, raising a family, and getting shit done probably fills up all of your day and then some.

Survival is an accomplishment and you SHOULD take pride in it. But, late at night, when things are quiet and you can’t sleep, that little voice in your head whispers that there should be more. Is survival all there is? Am I really happy? Where did the time go? No matter how good you are at persevering, no matter how well you provide for your needs, that late night doubt still comes creeping in. This book, and the Temple of the Circus Monkey, is for that little voice. Because it’s absolutely correct. You aren’t there yet.

Survival is good. Clearly better than the alternative. Duh. But lots of animals and organisms can survive. There are simple lichen colonies that live for hundreds of years. Giant tortoises live as long as we do. They’re very good at plodding along, getting enough to eat, and pulling their head in when it rains. Survival is defined as meeting all the basic goals necessary to continue your existence through time. It includes all the things you learned in elementary school: food, shelter, warmth, water, air. It also probably includes a few more things that are a little subtler: human contact, a sense of purpose, and a bit of acknowledgment. But is that really enough for humans? For you?

All kinds of idiots manage to survive. Snails survive. The guests on Jerry Springer survive. There has to be a little more to life than that, doesn’t there? Of course there is. You don’t have to settle for just surviving. That annoying little voice knows you could be thriving. And it is NEVER too late to start over.

So where exactly did the train run off the tracks? Why isn’t the