Practical Meditation: Caught In A Mood

There are good moods and bad moods, states where we are enveloped in emotions.

If these do not give us a sense of Love, Harmony or Beauty they are "Bad Moods". They totally influence our perception of life events, and they are stressful, creating unwanted thoughts, speech and action! 

They are like a spell cast upon us, usually arising from past trauma, fear, or anger over situations which we can't yet seem to make peace with and let go. We don't want to repress these moods and we don't want to act out but we can hardly stop ourselves from doing so - we feel trapped, even held prisoner by them.  

What to do?

First, we have to break their hold, then find a way to step out of them, to step above them so we can see from another perspective, with a different light not clouded by their influence.

In short we need to find a way, to find the strength to be able to acknowledge them, yet watch them and not react. When we do this, they do not go away but neither do they exert a hold on us. They still come but we recognize them coming, we hear their footsteps and understand how they make us feel - this very recognition robs them of their power and returns that power to us. Theie influence upon us grows weaker until they are simply like flotsam passing by in the water of our consciousness.

My Spiritual Teachers would say to me: "What you have to do is learn to Watch your Breath". Indeed, if we can learn to watch our breathing, observing it, we also learn to 'watch your thoughts and emotions' - we develop a power in ourselves to become aware of our thoughts and emotions before they influence our action.  So just as you don't go around always holding your breath, you no longer hold or grab on to your thoughts and emotions, you become aware of them and some you choose to act on and some you let go. You also learn that your thoughts are not you! They are what they are - often conditioned upon events of the past, or reactions to the present.

In my experience the practices of personal freedom that systemically allow us to break the hold of "Bad Moods" through the power of self-awareness are ZAZEN, Balanced Breathing, and Pranayama. I will share a few of these practices in the next blog.

Infinity in a Finite Act

Within every moment there is freedom,

a moment not tied to past, present or future,

but steeped in eternity like tea ready to drink.

To drink this tea you need only relax

and become present to the stillness

between the gentle flowing of your breath.

You can't lose

Because

There is No Reality

But God,

You simply can't Lose!

 

 



Enlightenment or Service

The measure of our Enlightenment is found in our desire to serve.

As I have continued to meditate, the fantasy of seeking to become "Enlightened" has gradually given way to
the daily work of seeking ways to be of service in life.

Each morning asking: "Oh Beloved, show me how may I be of service to day", has become one of my mantras.

 

Learning “We Are One” the hard way…

The awareness of our inter-connectedness has been sub-consciously dawning upon us for quite some time. Outwardly we see it expressed in technology such as the Internet and the explosive use of Social Media; we see it in the impact of the global economy, and even the way in which “The News” brings tragedies of world into our living rooms.

We are at a point where cannot escape each other any longer – there is nowhere we can hide. So this sub-conscious awareness is becoming consciousness, whether we like it or not.

We are also collectively finally beginning to see that we are ecologically and biologically interconnected: The Gulf Oil spill, reactor melt downs at Chernobyl and Fukushima, the impact of Fracking, GMOs, mass destruction of forests and progressively the deterioration in the Ozone Layer will teach us that we are part of one big biological being living on this planet.  There are what we call ‘Natural Disasters’: Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Hurricanes, Volcanic Eruptions, Droughts, which now seem to have an impact upon the entire world. If this is not enough, we will be taught through Pandemics and they will get worse until, both individually and collectively, we not only begin to realize “We Are One” but also figure out how to act in ways that reflect this reality.

These disasters and tragedies represent several things:

1.     A cry for help from Mother Earth;

2.     A manifestation of our Ego’s lack of awareness of our inter-connection with all life on this planet;

3.     An urgent call to action both individual and collectively.

This of course is nothing new, the phrase “Think Globally – Act Locally” has been around for a long time, however right now the urgency of making changes is becoming critical. If we can act now, as much as we can, voluntarily, we can minimize the impact of the ‘forced change’ as well as heal and avert more long term consequences of our past actions.

And Act we are… there is positive change happening all around that we can support and participate in, for example: the positive use of Social Media for good; Global Spiritual activity such as “Winter Feast for the Soul”; Global Watch Groups; Global Prayer efforts; advancements in alternative energy solutions such as electric cars; rises in the numbers of Farmers Markets, Food Co-Ops; Greener Companies; local volunteer groups

for community and social support efforts.  If you look at all these, at their core they are all motivated by “Heart”, by Love, and they manifest as concrete actions in support of our One Being!  Love is always unifying for that the power of love!

Because we are interconnected every conscious, skillful action impacts the whole. 

So let’s continue to Wake Up, Stand Up, and Keep Up our efforts to participate in this great global, ecological, biological, and spiritual act of love for Mother Earth, each other and our progeny!

Evolutionary Spirituality

The New Awakening is not as we imagine, it is not the exclusive “spirituality” of ‘spiritual teachers and spiritual students’, of ‘spiritual leaders and spiritual groups’ of ‘spiritual orders’. It is a new “Inherent, natural spirituality” – a natural awareness of the spirit of Oneness connecting all things.

It is an inherent awareness of existence as that ‘which it is’, and so it is really ‘nothing special’, it is simply a clearer perception of life’s dynamic Oneness and interconnection.

The “forms” of the ‘old way’ are really not very relevant to those in tune with this new Spirituality. This is because the buildings which the ‘old forms’ were creating, have now been built and the new spirituality does not need those old forms anymore; they can be taken down so new forms can be built upon them.  Yes, “forms” are necessary for manifestation, and what the New Spirituality needs is new forms – this is spiritual evolution!

This natural, inherent awareness of being interconnected will result in new forms that embrace, enable and nurture individual, social and global holistic structures that are in harmony with our “Inter-being”.  The old forms were rigid, protective, exclusive forms, whereas the new forms will be organic and will come from people and places all over the place, all over the world!

Oh Light Bearers, Oh Lamp Lighters, to be relevant we must keep our hearts, minds, eyes and ears open to this change of form. Just as the old forms were exciting and wondrous in their time, the new forms will be a beautiful thing to see as they emerge and overcome the forces of inertia, duality and self-centeredness. 

Contemplation on The Emptiness that is Full - Shunyata

Inspired from the first three verses of The Heart Sutra of Great Perfection

The Venerable Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva,

When carrying out the profound Prajnaparamita career,

Penetrated through the five aggregates

And saw that they are Shunya in their nature.

Here, Shariputra, Form is Shunyata; Shunyata is Form.

Form does not differ from Shunyata; Shunyata does not differ from Form.

That which is Form is Shunyata; that which is Shunyata is Form.

The very same applies to feeling, idea, formations and consciousness.

Here Shariputra, all Dharma’s are marked with Shunyata;

Neither originated nor destroyed; neither defiled nor undefiled; neither decreased nor increased.

Therefore, Shariputra, in Shunyata, no form, no feeling, no idea, no formation, no consciousness…

Contemplation #1

Why seek emptiness? 

Because in becoming empty we become All in All.

Yet how can you seek that which cannot be sought? 

Surely emptiness cannot be found by seeking,

For our seeking forms a misty veil that distorts and hides it.

Yes, instead just sit - seek nothing, but surrender everything,

Over and over, all that stuff which fills you,

And then surrender you – it’s not the real you anyway.

Sunyata dawns in our awareness

Like clouds clearing from an open sky,

Not as a goal achieved but simply as true awareness.

Contemplation #2

Sitting in the stillness of a forest glen,

Surrendering everything until you become nothing,

Empty like the moon shining now upon us.

Becoming empty, we open to that quiet emerging of our true self;

Be still,

Don't scare it away with thinking, or 

try to capture it with conceptualization,

Just be present, allowing emptiness to fill you of its own accord.

Oh look!

The deer have come to enjoy the moon,

Appearing out of the dark forest.

Contemplation #3

In becoming empty, we become full of all things,

But yet are not filled.

There is a fullness that cannot be filled, for it is always empty;

If it were filled with just one thing, 

then it would not be full anymore.

Finding nothing, we become everything!

Contemplation #4

Seek it, it cannot be found,

       (don't seek, surrender);

Found, it cannot be grasped,

       (don't grasp, let go);

Present, it cannot be possessed -

       (don't  try to possess, be present).

Contemplation #5

What is It? 

It is the Self or yourself!

It is hidden by what you think you are,

Hidden by what you think you have made (or not made) of your life. Yet It cares not for these!

Though hidden, It cannot be lost - It IS you.

It is ignored at first, sought later; found through pain and embraced through surrender; actualized by living 

in an awakened way.

It is powerful, eternal, fearless, ever loving, ever free, and always positive; this awakening of you is relentless, unstoppable, evolving; It is always pushing to emerge, into your awareness and world, through every tiny hole made in your ego.