Maintaining momentum presence is easier when I am present, my attention fully in the moment. Presence is an energetic exchange between me and whomever I am with. A lovely warmhearted exchange of words of joy and aliveness in all that I do.
Deep listening to what is being said in sync with what is not being expressed. Attention and alertness of memories/past in the present are released from almost involuntarily. As happens when I am in a stream of consciousness mindset.
Awakening from from the dream of my very ordinary existence living in an extraordinary time of evolution. This is the beginning of the end of involuntary and compulsive, unconscious rambling instead of present moment presence.
Love lies in service; only that which is done not for fame or name, not for the appreciation or thanks of those for whom it is done, is love’s service. by Hazrat Inayat Khan
The lover shows kindness and beneficence to the beloved. He does whatever he can for the beloved in the way of help, service, sacrifice, kindness, or rescue, and hides it from the world and even from the beloved. If the beloved does anything for him he exaggerates it, idealizes it, makes it into a mountain from a molehill. He takes poison from the hands of the beloved as sugar, and love’s pain in the wound of his heart is his only joy. By magnifying and idealizing whatever the beloved does for him and by diminishing and forgetting whatever he himself does for the beloved, he first develops his own gratitude, which creates all goodness in his life.
The Sufi moral is this: Love another and do not depend upon his love; and: Do good to another and do not depend upon receiving good from him; serve another and do not look for service from him. All you do for another out of your love and kindness, you should think that you do, not to that person, but to God. And if the person returns love for love, goodness for goodness, service for service, so much the better. If he does not return it, then pity him for what he loses; for his gain is much less than his loss.
Do not look for thanks or appreciation for all the good you do to others, nor use it as a means to stimulate your vanity. Do all that you consider good for the sake of goodness, not even for a return of that from God.
LOVE MUST LOVE Dharma is a Sanskrit word that means action that upholds evolution because it is aligned with the universe. It is generally understood as one’s purpose in life, because living your purpose is how we harmoniously play our part in the universe and grow spiritually. And our actions and the career we choose are a major part of our individual contribution to the whole.
Dharma is much more than a career, or even a role like motherhood, it is the ever-changing alignment of your body, mind, heart and spirit to what feels right for you in the present moment. It is being open to whatever the time and circumstances require of you. That means to truly live your dharma you need a degree of self-love, love of others, love of all that is.
SPIRITUAL QUESTING of wisdom awakens self-knowledge, spiritual self-worth. One’s true purpose in life.
My wish for you is that we will better know our own true nature and the depth of our own resources by being in conversation with the inner terrain as it opens, including how to restore our trust in life, when suffering makes us lose our way; how to begin the work of saying yes to life, so it can enliven us; and how to make our inwardness a resource and not a refuge.
DAILY PRACTICE There is always a practice before the practice; zazen sitting in silent observation of the breath. Inhale. Exhale. Is to understand the mystery the pause…
LINEAGE Lama Yeshe’s first lesson to me was to trust in the teachings of ancient wisdom one must trust the teacher. In Japan, before an apprentice can clay up his hands and work the wheel, he must watch the master potter for years. In Hawaii, before a young man can ever touch a boat, he must sit on the cliff of his ancestors and simply watch the sea.
It is this sort of deep progress that saves us. The idea is that no matter how much you have learned or even mastered having a mindset of humility and curiosity when approaching a subject is best.
Having a lack of preconceived notions when learning – this helps by obviously releasing ideas that could confine the new information.
Letting go of limiting beliefs and expertise – this helps by bringing about humility and openness to exceptionalism at the same time.
Being curious about even the smallest detail – this helps by bringing in a sense of deeper nuance, and nuance and subtleties are where the more complete Truth tends to be.
Considering all options no matter how simple or difficult they are – being able to find multiple solutions is always better than being stuck confined to a system which may lead to only one.
Beginning to see things with an eagerness to understand – having a sense of excitement about learning makes learning fun and it should never be a task.Consciously coexisting challenges our inner states of calm. When two people connect, the moment can strengthen each other. Stimulus and response start with awakening the slumber of a constant flow of thoughts.
Being emotionally and spiritually available grants permission, potency, and protection for our soul. In the stillness, and silence my soul feels protected from yours and or mine trigger emotions. Additionally, calmness is beautiful. Moreover, peace feels exquisite.
Cogitation and agitation trigger thoughts and feelings in an encounter with another person. When backbiting shifts the conversation away from me to the ‘other,’ feelings escalate from fear to anger, with this process weakens the sense of self. The ego feels a little stronger. In the ego’s delusion, diminishing another enhances your self-image.Any criticism of another is part of that energy stream. Emotions then arrive and amplify the thoughts.It is the loss of space.
To regain space, realise that you have lost space. Without this realization, you cannot act because you are overwhelmed by a stream of thought you may not even notice. Forgive them, for they know not what they do. They are unconscious. They are the stream of thought. As the stream of thought, you may fear its end because you fear your own end. Every entity wants to remain in form for as long as possible. Your choice is to bring some presence, some space, into the stream of thought. It’s coming at you from within your own mind.
Likewise, it’s coming from the other person as well. The awareness lasts about three seconds, then it’s gone.You must use those two or three seconds.In that moment, you realize the loss of space and act within the space you have. With a conscious choice, you take your attention out of thinking. You must anchor it somewhere else, or it won’t work. Next, you choose your breath, your body, or another sense perception you notice.
When you talk with another person, it’s easiest to use your breath or your inner body. Practice this beforehand, when conditions are easier, so that you can do it once it’s necessary. Go into your inner body, feel that your energy field is alive. And you’ll notice, you’re not thinking anymore. You can still listen. The amazing thing is that you can listen to another person, without thinking, easily, beautifully.
You are listening, but part of your attention is on your energy field – so you’ve taken attention away from your thoughts. There is a sense of aliveness in the background.It’s ultimately formless; it’s already the doorway into the formless. Feel that while you sit there and listen, and you’ve stepped out of the stream of thinking. Then, the quality of the interaction immediately changes. The other person may not consciously notice what’s happening, and may carry on for a while. It also does not mean that you cannot respond anymore. But how you respond and the quality of your response changes, too. You are no longer contributing to the negative nature, which is often the case, in conversations.
A certain amount of stillness will also be part of the words you speak. It’s so subtle that the other person probably will not notice it. Hang on to the inner body as the anchor. Let it be the anchor, and you become present. If you lose it again, the other person may say something challenging. After a short while you remember and return to the inner body. That’s a powerful anchor. Everything changes from there.It takes continuous practice.