Your destiny lies
on the road
that you have been avoiding.
May your contemplation be fruitful.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
purifying the darkness
Many of us use the expression "It's all good." What this really means to me is that everything can be used for our good because every situation is an opportunity to grow. With each situation we have a choice to either try to change/fix what is happening, or, let go and allow the situation to change us (sometimes this involves "doing" something of course, but that comes after we witness and let go).
I had a situation happen the other day where I 'put my walls up' instead of 'opening up' in a way that I would have liked. Instead of being hard on myself, I chose to feel the disappointment and related feelings and let them go. As I moved my awareness to the Observer Self, witnessed the thoughts and feelings, and relaxed my body an insight came to me regarding the situation. It was an insight about the ways that I sometimes respond in life which no longer serve me. It was only by staying present with what was right in front of me and letting go that I was able to move deeper within and reach this insight.
Michael Singer says:
"When a blockage gets hit, it is a good thing. It's time to open up internally and release the blocked energy. If you let go, and permit the purification process to take place inside, that blocked energy will be released." (TUS, p.78)
"No matter what happens below you, just turn your eyes upward and relax your heart. You do not have to leave the seat of Self in order to deal with the darkness. It will purify itself if you let it. Getting involved in the darkness does not dispel darkness; it feeds it. Don't even turn towards it. If you see disturbed energies within you, it's okay. Don't think that you don't have blockages left to release. Just sit in the seat of awareness and never leave. No matter what goes on below you, open your heart and let it go...Always let go as soon as you're aware that you didn't." (TUS, p.78)
I had a situation happen the other day where I 'put my walls up' instead of 'opening up' in a way that I would have liked. Instead of being hard on myself, I chose to feel the disappointment and related feelings and let them go. As I moved my awareness to the Observer Self, witnessed the thoughts and feelings, and relaxed my body an insight came to me regarding the situation. It was an insight about the ways that I sometimes respond in life which no longer serve me. It was only by staying present with what was right in front of me and letting go that I was able to move deeper within and reach this insight.
Michael Singer says:
"When a blockage gets hit, it is a good thing. It's time to open up internally and release the blocked energy. If you let go, and permit the purification process to take place inside, that blocked energy will be released." (TUS, p.78)
"No matter what happens below you, just turn your eyes upward and relax your heart. You do not have to leave the seat of Self in order to deal with the darkness. It will purify itself if you let it. Getting involved in the darkness does not dispel darkness; it feeds it. Don't even turn towards it. If you see disturbed energies within you, it's okay. Don't think that you don't have blockages left to release. Just sit in the seat of awareness and never leave. No matter what goes on below you, open your heart and let it go...Always let go as soon as you're aware that you didn't." (TUS, p.78)
Monday, June 18, 2012
a different dimension of being
I am currently focused on 3 spiritual practices: letting go of judgment, observing and letting go of the thoughts and feelings of the psyche, and grounding in the silence through meditation. I plan to blog about each of these practices over the next week or two.
Judgment. I am becoming more aware of the the judgments as they arise. Any satisfaction that I might have obtained from judging in the past (judging someone as ignorant, for example, so that I can feel better about myself), is now being over-shadowed by a sense of distaste for doing the judging. The judgmental thoughts keep me from getting close to others. Self-judgments do not serve any worthwhile purpose. Judgments interrupt any inner harmony that I am feeling. They keep me from accepting life the way it is showing up, therefore they are a set-up for struggle. When I am judging I am listening to the neurotic roommate that Michael Singer talked about instead of being open to the guidance of Spirit.
Letting go of judgments is like trying to remove wallpaper that has been glued onto a wall for a long time...every once in awhile you come across a strip that peels right off, but often the paper does not want to budge. Peeling it back requires persistence and patience. When I am having difficulty letting go of a judgment I set the intention to relax and let it go. I ask myself "Is this judgment worth closing myself off from Love/shakti/the energy of Spirit? Do I want to poison my inner environment with this negative energy?" Michael Singer suggests putting our focus on the point between the eye brows (the third eye) and letting go from there. He says that our energy will always go to the highest point.
This quote by Adyashanti points the way to an inner freedom that exists on the other side of our judgments, pre-conceived thoughts, and expectations:
"As we begin to meet life as it is rather than as we think it should be, as we let go of our need to control and continuously interpret our experience, we start to open to life in completely new ways. We become deeply grounded in silence. The nature of this silence is a lack of conflict with life, and the more we open to this state of nonconflict, to this state of inner stillness, we begin to fall into grace of a different dimension of being---a dimension rooted in a deep intimacy with our own lives and with existence itself." (falling into grace, p. 135)
Judgment. I am becoming more aware of the the judgments as they arise. Any satisfaction that I might have obtained from judging in the past (judging someone as ignorant, for example, so that I can feel better about myself), is now being over-shadowed by a sense of distaste for doing the judging. The judgmental thoughts keep me from getting close to others. Self-judgments do not serve any worthwhile purpose. Judgments interrupt any inner harmony that I am feeling. They keep me from accepting life the way it is showing up, therefore they are a set-up for struggle. When I am judging I am listening to the neurotic roommate that Michael Singer talked about instead of being open to the guidance of Spirit.
Letting go of judgments is like trying to remove wallpaper that has been glued onto a wall for a long time...every once in awhile you come across a strip that peels right off, but often the paper does not want to budge. Peeling it back requires persistence and patience. When I am having difficulty letting go of a judgment I set the intention to relax and let it go. I ask myself "Is this judgment worth closing myself off from Love/shakti/the energy of Spirit? Do I want to poison my inner environment with this negative energy?" Michael Singer suggests putting our focus on the point between the eye brows (the third eye) and letting go from there. He says that our energy will always go to the highest point.
This quote by Adyashanti points the way to an inner freedom that exists on the other side of our judgments, pre-conceived thoughts, and expectations:
"As we begin to meet life as it is rather than as we think it should be, as we let go of our need to control and continuously interpret our experience, we start to open to life in completely new ways. We become deeply grounded in silence. The nature of this silence is a lack of conflict with life, and the more we open to this state of nonconflict, to this state of inner stillness, we begin to fall into grace of a different dimension of being---a dimension rooted in a deep intimacy with our own lives and with existence itself." (falling into grace, p. 135)
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
from judgment to silence
There have been many challenges this week in letting go of judgments. Sometimes I find that it is much easier to let go as soon as I notice the judgmental thought starting to grow, instead of waiting until I have built a case for why I should be judging. I also find that accepting myself for judging is necessary in order to let the judgments go. I am learning to say things to myself like "I am in a judgmental mood right now and that is okay." I certainly do not want to feed the judgments nor do I want to judge myself for judging. Instead I ground myself in the moment by noticing where I am at, take a breath, and let it be.
Adyashanti and Michael Singer talk about how the thoughts in our minds, the judgments, the stories we tells ourselves keep us from experiencing the moment. They keep us locked in the confines of the psyche and thus cut off from the power of Spirit. We use our minds to fix our problems so that our lives run smoothly but ultimately this does not work and we end up struggling with life. Adyashanti says:
"Revelation and insight come from ...a place that we as a culture seem to have so little respect for- a place called 'silence.'...We spend so much energy running away from silence, but silence is the ground from which awakening springs. It's the ground from which we shift out of this egoic state of consciousness, out of this belief in separation." (p. 86)
Adya says that silence is actually "a deep, wordless listening." So you notice the stories, the judgments etc. that the mind makes and then you listen.
"When we begin to see that our mind is just a storyteller, however, then we begin to listen-not for more thoughts or more complicated understanding, but for the silence. It is when you listen this way that you can see that it is only your mind that has the capacity to make you suffer. Only your mind has the capacity to convince you to struggle. Only your mind, nothing else. It's all an inside job. It's all happening inside of you." (p. 88).
As Michael Singer suggests you don't work with the world, you work with the mind...not by changing it, but by transcending it through witnessing from the place of silence.
Adyashanti and Michael Singer talk about how the thoughts in our minds, the judgments, the stories we tells ourselves keep us from experiencing the moment. They keep us locked in the confines of the psyche and thus cut off from the power of Spirit. We use our minds to fix our problems so that our lives run smoothly but ultimately this does not work and we end up struggling with life. Adyashanti says:
"Revelation and insight come from ...a place that we as a culture seem to have so little respect for- a place called 'silence.'...We spend so much energy running away from silence, but silence is the ground from which awakening springs. It's the ground from which we shift out of this egoic state of consciousness, out of this belief in separation." (p. 86)
Adya says that silence is actually "a deep, wordless listening." So you notice the stories, the judgments etc. that the mind makes and then you listen.
"When we begin to see that our mind is just a storyteller, however, then we begin to listen-not for more thoughts or more complicated understanding, but for the silence. It is when you listen this way that you can see that it is only your mind that has the capacity to make you suffer. Only your mind has the capacity to convince you to struggle. Only your mind, nothing else. It's all an inside job. It's all happening inside of you." (p. 88).
As Michael Singer suggests you don't work with the world, you work with the mind...not by changing it, but by transcending it through witnessing from the place of silence.
Monday, June 4, 2012
letting go of judgments
As I was finishing up a run on Friday PM, it struck me that I need to let go of judgments, all judgments including judgments of myself, others, situations etc. Since then I have noticed many things about judging. My judgments are often subtle, a little criticism here and there about how I need to do better at this and that, or about how another person is wrong... Sometimes my judgments are not so subtle.
I can not emphasize enough how much freer I feel when I let go of judgments. I now realize that judgments serve absolutely no purpose in my life. It seems that one of the ways that I have used judging is to keep myself safe. If I evaluate who or what I am dealing with, I can make better decisions about who or what is safe. Not so. I am finding that as I let go of judgments I am more centered and clear, and therefore it is much easier for me to deal with life. Life is so much simpler when I do not judge. Adya and Michael Singer talk about "accepting life as it is showing up" and "dealing with what is right in front of us" and I find that I can do this so much easier without judgments.
It is not always easy to let go of judgments, and, it requires a lot of focus to notice when I am judging. I am changing some of my judgments to preferences (e.g., "I prefer to read this book" as opposed to "I do not like that book."). Putting so much energy into what we do and do not like seems to be a waste of energy. Michael Singer gives an example of how we might feel if our new neighbors turned out to be hillbillies. Instead of judging them, why not view them as interesting? Does it serve any purpose to judge others just because they are different?
Judgments come from the neurotic roommate not from the Self. I choose to let them go. I know this will be a process and I do not judge myself for the times that I mess up! :)
I am so grateful for the awareness that this is what I need to do in order to grow into a greater awareness of who I am. Thank you God.
I can not emphasize enough how much freer I feel when I let go of judgments. I now realize that judgments serve absolutely no purpose in my life. It seems that one of the ways that I have used judging is to keep myself safe. If I evaluate who or what I am dealing with, I can make better decisions about who or what is safe. Not so. I am finding that as I let go of judgments I am more centered and clear, and therefore it is much easier for me to deal with life. Life is so much simpler when I do not judge. Adya and Michael Singer talk about "accepting life as it is showing up" and "dealing with what is right in front of us" and I find that I can do this so much easier without judgments.
It is not always easy to let go of judgments, and, it requires a lot of focus to notice when I am judging. I am changing some of my judgments to preferences (e.g., "I prefer to read this book" as opposed to "I do not like that book."). Putting so much energy into what we do and do not like seems to be a waste of energy. Michael Singer gives an example of how we might feel if our new neighbors turned out to be hillbillies. Instead of judging them, why not view them as interesting? Does it serve any purpose to judge others just because they are different?
Judgments come from the neurotic roommate not from the Self. I choose to let them go. I know this will be a process and I do not judge myself for the times that I mess up! :)
I am so grateful for the awareness that this is what I need to do in order to grow into a greater awareness of who I am. Thank you God.
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