LOVE. FAMILY. COMMUNITY.
I am a great believer in love. I have experienced too many to recall dark nights of the Soul. Abject loneliness. Self imposed solitary times of great self-reflection. It was I who abandoned God.
The path to love reveals the souls longing for love, acceptance, validation and belonging. Together we can. Alone feeling separate from God, from one another is a painful place to inhabit.
Illusion is being bound to depend upon a false ideal about a person, place or thing. Living the lie is a painful, isolating existence. Obsessive thinking needs certainty. Fear is an absence of courage to accept what is happening in the present moment in time, as real.
In the immediacy of daily life it is easy to lose focus and forget that you are powerful human being. Aspire to possess emotional freedom. It is a wonderful way to live. The glitches can then come and go. The truism: “This too shall pass” never fails to bring my mind into awareness to release, to let go.
In detachment lies the wisdom of uncertainty . . . in the wisdom of uncertainty lies the freedom from our past, from the known, which is a conditioned rigid mindset.
And resistance to change, to step into the unknown, the field of all possibilities, awakens our soul from the slumber of illusion if we choose to surrender ourselves to the creative realm that orchestrates the dance of the universe.
Stress defined my life design, a constant companion. Today, if I am drifting mentally away from the present, I become stressed. Simple. Being mindful when I am being triggered is a tremendous advantage.
INNER PILGRIMAGES living with heightened vibrational presence is ever present in perfect alignment with a continuum of healing my soul practices. Many years ago, I took my unexamined life on perma-pilgrimage. Traveling to heartcentred sacred ancient sites, to bow and or sit at the feet of living spiritual teachers, modern day mystics, silent meditation teachers.
Meher Baba’s Ashram with His wonderful remaining Manadali – all the while volunteering at the Meher Dispensary and teaching English at Meher School to local impoverished by circumstance but not by spirit beautifully polite, proud Indian children whose joy and love of nature, animals, their families fields as far as the eye could see in a rural village that was as remote as it gets from my former air-brushed existence. The best of times.
Moreover, too many to recall, Dark Night of the Soul subsumed my Soul. Until I asked for help, nothing changed then everything all at once changed me, forever. “The wonderful energy it releases and the eager action by which it carries our message to the next suffering alcoholic and which finally translates the Twelve Steps into action upon all our affairs is the payoff, the magnificent reality, of Alcoholics Anonymous.”
Meher Baba’s Mandali taught me who taught me the art of spiritual elegance; equipoise. Their love awakened my intuition and the perfectly imperfect balance of the head and the heart.
Become conscious of this life Divine. Be a better person. Kinder, compassionate and empathic. The map of the soul is not the territory. What is key to igniting an enriched life force is to know who you are. Layers of self-denial have been peeled away to reveal the abject beauty of being comfortable in my own skin.
The way forward is less cluttered with obstacles when I release what is no longer serving a divine purpose in my life. Feelings are energy in motion. Feelings continue to keep moving forward. Nothing is permanent in life. The illusion of something being forever creates suffering, cravings and attachment.
Whenever I have experienced feelings of hopelessness and helplessness it has been because I am holding onto something that no longer fits into my life design. A person, place or thing that does not love me back. The pathos of addiction is the attraction to pain. A self-fulfilling prophecy.
I am a great believer in the potency of transcending existential cycles in my life. Dark nights of the Soul are solitary times of great self reflection.
Pain is an indicator that something is out of sync. I call this a departure from illusion, pretending to myself and others that everything is fine, pretending to be happy with circumstances and pretending to be perfect.
When we pretend to be who we are not it is an invitation to endure living the lie of existence. The consequence of living the lie? Exquisite emotional pain. The sense of loss is often overwhelming when things don’t last, or our expectations fall upon deaf ears. When we pretend we are happy in love and life, we mask feelings of inadequacy, fueled by low Self-esteem, we lie to keep our demons captive in the fertile states of a toxic imagination. Jung believed that separating a person from their fantasy could be dangerous, I concur. Easing away from the edge is healthier, slowly, but purposefully detaching.
Detaching can trigger feelings of isolation that run deep into the recess of the psyche. In Sufism, it is said the Heart remembers, and the Mind records. This why taking the time to release negative emotions is advisable. Learning how to observe ourselves, developing a mindful physic-pause button means that the neural pathways continue to pump out impulses but we don’t have to act on them. Free will. Continuing to choose to not act on your first impulsive thought and you will notice a difference in your self esteem. Self-reflection augments self-discovery. What obstructs this from occurring is an inability to believe that change is possible. Repetition compulsion is powerful. There is a false sense of security that is derived from “knowing” the outcome in a situation. Obsessive thinking wants certainty.
A hard taskmaster to possess in a world that offers no guarantees.Love is my anchoring point – a complex skillset of guiding principles to engender the process of sustaining the journey forward.
Each day is a new beginning and presents the opportunity begin doing your day differently in order to actualise your authenticity is to begin with journalling. Exercising the mind is just as important as is Zazen Meditation, pranayama, eating less, moving more. What we eat today, walk and talk tomorrow. Cutting out sugar and processed food is a hard choice to make, but one that is worth the commitment to change.
Experiences on the spiritual path continue to reveal the magnificence of maximal love, realms away from pseudo sentimentality, pivots of profound expressions of courageous applied wisdom in all dimensions of life, from close, intimate love, to companionship, social engagement and environmental action.
RECOVERY brings into alignment with the soul, ones mind and heart. It comes down to self-love: the daily commitment to thine own self be true. To learn how to keep ones own counsel .
AWARENESS of pacing and pausing throught the day. Remembering to breathe. The courage to change. Self acceptance. All is well when I bring loving kindness to my every action.
SOFTENING hardwired rigid thinking kept me stuck, subsumed in shame, afraid to live and afraid to die. I am 38 years sober – and I am not same the person who lost their way, when every day was hell on earth to a life beyond my wildest dreams.
People will love you and leave you throughout life. The only relationship you can ever guarantee to remain intact while you’re alive is the one you have with yourself. Therefore, this is the one you must nurture the most. Be committed to filling your own cup and allow yourself to overpour with love. As you rise in self-love, you will naturally offer your energy wholeheartedly in your interactions and engagements.
Even amidst adversity, such as the end of a romantic relationship, inspire change by making self-accountability a prominent aspect of your healing. Every experience contributes to your evolutionary journey. We can learn so much about ourselves through other people, even if they come bearing pain. Some individuals appear to be harsh tutors. But essentially, they can give us the direction we need to return to ourselves – to the reservoir of love within.
Pain is an indicator that something is out of sync with universal reality. When I lie to myself and others I pretend to myself and other everything is fine, content with circumstances, and perfect.
When we live the lie… to be who we are not, it invites us to endure the lie of existence. The consequence of living the lie is exquisite emotional pain. The sense of loss is often overwhelming when things don’t last. Moreover, our expectations fall upon deaf ears. When we pretend, we are happy in love and life. We mask feelings of inadequacy, fueled by low Self-esteem. We lie to keep our demons captive in a toxic imagination. Jung believed that separating a person from their fantasy could be dangerous. I concur. Easing away from the edge is healthier. By doing this, we detach slowly but purposefully.
Detaching can trigger feelings of isolation that run deep into the recess of the psyche. In Sufism, it is said the Heart remembers, and the Mind records. This is why taking the time to release negative emotions is advisable. Learning how to observe ourselves helps. Developing a mindful physic-pause button helps manage impulses, even as neural pathways continue to pump them out.
FREEDOM FROM COMPULSIVITY is pausing before reacting… choosing not to act on your first impulse. You will notice a difference in your self-esteem. Additionally, self-reflection augments self-discovery. Obstacles include an inability to believe change is possible. Repetition compulsion is powerful. A false sense of security comes from knowing the outcome. Obsessive thinking wants certainty. It is a hard taskmaster in a world with no guarantees.
Freedom from the bondage of self is my absolute safe place. Moreover, meditation’s strength in stillness invites retreat and return.Additionally, Sat Nam. Therefore, I am that. Additionally, an easier, softer way of living life.I am enough. Moreover, I do not dwell in suffering. Furthermore, I revisit pain and suffering as an authentic human being.Thus, it is your anchoring point to sustain the journey forward. Also, intuition honors your value system and what life means to you. What inspires you and ignites your spirit. Finally, what awakens abundant ‘Ah Aha’ moments when everything makes sense.
SAVERSHAM