Tag Archives: culture

Hive Mind

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Marvel at what happens when a collection of beautiful souls agrees it will!

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Recently, I was at Unity North Atlanta for an interfaith service where the presenter was Tom Blue Wolf, a Native American Elder from North Georgia. He discussed numerous amazing subjects, artfully linking them together in an intricate lattice-like experience. During his talk he spoke about bees. He’s a beekeeper, he sells honey and bee pollen. He shared how perfect they are in their creation.  He articulated, how they had evolved so little over millions of years. Unlike other species, who keep getting upgraded or deleted.

I am not an entomologist. However, the concept of the bee colony captivated my imagination. I began to think about the bees as über-collective consciousness. Their whole life dedicated to the survival of the whole. We can learn so much from them. The Earth is the whole, we all have the opportunity to be steward worker bees.

But in many societies, the image of a worker bee is a negative metaphor. We think of a mindless drone buzzing about in the mundane. Images come to mind of “sheeple” lined up twisting wingnuts on a conveyor belt.

However, a life of complete service is nothing to scoff at.  If we really subscribe to the philosophy that we are all one, we all are here to serve each other.

This does not denote that individual hopes and dreams are invaluable.  If we are aligned in our center and engage in introspective practices (such as affirmative prayer, internal dialogue, gratitude and meditation) we realize that these same hopes and dreams pervade all of human consciousness.  To quote the practice of loving-kindess meditation, we all want to be “happy, well, safe, peaceful and at ease”.

The Sanskrit word seva is “is a service which is performed without any expectation of result or award for performing it. Such services can be performed to benefit other human beings or society“.  All of our work can be done with this held in our heart.  Nothing is really ours, we are on borrowed time–so give it all away.

 

 

Reigning it In

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Good morning

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You be you…

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Uncoupling my consciousness

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A Starlet, who will not be named, popularized the term “conscious uncoupling”. At first, I thought it was pretentious; however, at this phase in my life, I can see validity in the statement. Moreover, it’s reciprocal is poignant.

Sitting still, in silence, affords us the opportunity to uncouple our consciousness from it’s habitual moving outward. In silence, we can peel back the layers that we have created to the substratum– the ground matrix where the Truth is.

It is so simple; yet, for many of us, it is not so easy.

We are always plugged in, we are always stimulating ourselves–even if the stimulation appears benign.

For example, a person may say “my meditation is working in the garden”. Communing with nature is a beautiful and healthy action. But, it’s still doing something. Listening to classical music is edifying; but, listening to music about engaging the senses. What is being avoided?

The senses are the vehicle through which we experience this world. Aside from sleeping (and many of us don’t do that) they are constantly being engaged. Furthermore, due to our hectic lifestyles they are exponentially more engaged then at any other time.

Being in a quiet room is disengagement from the sense of hearing. Deliberately sitting still is disengagement from our action sense of movement and the importer sense of touch. Closing the eyes is disengagement from the sense of sight. Now this energy can be directed to inner exploration.

This is the true uncoupling. The uncoupling of your temporary ego driven self which goes willy-nilly for everything wants and you open yourself, the definition of yoga , to Eternity.

The Zen of Anger

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I originally posted this in February 2015.  I am reposting with some edits–it feels so relevant to my previous post (Heartbreak Catapult).  The spiritual path (sadhana) is not a straight line it is a circuitous path.

It would be ludicrous to think as a practitioner of Yoga Meditation I don’t get angry. Candidly, my inclination toward becoming annoyed is a reason I am dutiful with my practice.

According to DISC personality typing, I am an “I”–which means “Influence”–but, it can also mean impulsive! The same energy that is the source of my strengths is also the source of my lesser strengths (not weaknesses).

This morning I got angry with my son.  Paradoxically, the people we are closest to can be the source of our greatest joy sand the catalyst of our greatest frustrations!

I have a lot invested in my son–he is after all, my son.  With an investment comes an expectation.  When the investment does not yield a return there is disappointment.  The return on investment is an attraction and the disappointment is an aversion.

According to the Yoga Sutras, both attraction (raga) and aversion (dvesha) are two sides of the same coin–attachment.  Both stem from a primal lack of knowledge regarding our True Nature (avidya) which is perennial and not ephemeral.

Conversely, the apparent nature of the physical world is transient.  Due to this, we cling to the things and experiences of the physical world that we love.  We push away the things and experiences that we abhor.  But, both the pushing and pulling cause us suffering (dukha or dukkha).

I am attracted to my son doing what I believe is best (for me), he does something other than that, my expectation is not met, I experience disappointment, my disappointment is a form of suffering.  To the unmastered mind, all worldly experiences yield suffering because they are impermanent.  However, this does not have to be the case.

When we are rooted in awareness of our True Nature from earnest practice and non-attachment (abhyasa and vairagya) we are aware of the fleeting nature of our experiences and we can be released from the suffering of attraction and aversion.  It does not mean we are apathetic or ambivalent–I am still going to parent my child–with the hope that he leads a skillful and happy life.  But, I am working on not expecting him to do what I want.  We still have rules.  If he breaks them, he is punished.  But, now it’s not a big emotional tirade–because I didn’t get what I want.

Today I got angry; I felt the blood pump and my temperature rise.  But, I was very aware that this was a bodily experience and not who I am at the core; moreover, not an emotion I have to act on.  I didn’t resist the anger–that is aversion–I just let it come.  I went for a drive and returned as the person I want to be.

Heartbreak Catapult

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It has been a powerful 10 months–although when does life cease to provide opportunities for growth?  My husband and I separated and are in the process of divorcing; due to my spiritual prowess (sarcasm oozing) I thought I was over “it“.

I know grieving is a natural process– I even wrote a post about it!  Yet, somehow I hallucinated I had earned spiritual cred and would ascend the proverbial staircase effortlessly. Well, it hasn’t been flawless.

I, a long time aspirant, rebounded, ate too much sugar, slacked on my meditation practice, called into work sick, grumped with my children, and finally acknowledged that I am unhappy to be uncoupling.  But, the heartache is also bringing me to a place that is so real and fertile.

About a year ago, when I couldn’t even imagine that we were on the verge of separation, I was hosting a meditation retreat.  My group skyped with Ma Tri  and she shared a beautiful insight about devotion.  To paraphrase, she explained that these practices are not about suppressing emotions; rather, an adept harnesses them to fuel their quest for self-knowledge.  Emotions are energy–the energy of desire.

Right now, I have to be with this pain.  It is my teacher, it is teaching me about attachment.  But, it is also teaching me about gratitude.  I have gratitude for the skill of self-inquiry, which I have developed during this spiritual journey.  I have gratitude for the ability to shift from my sadness to reflect on what is working in my life.

When I feel that I am beating myself up, I return to my favorite Rumi poem, “…even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again, come, come”.  Then I know that these practices, my sadhana, is working.

All Yogic Approaches Involve the Replacement of Old Habit Patterns with New Benign Patterns

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Part 11, the final installment, of “How Do You Qualify Yoga?” (a series I originally posted and have converted to a permanent page).

“Everyone has weaknesses. Wise is he who acknowledges his weaknesses and works steadily to remove them and replace them with the essential virtues that strengthen him and make him brave, fearless, and truthful.”

Swami Rama: “The Perennial Psychology of the Bhagavad Gita”

There are so many ways to approach this qualifier of a Yogic approach (all of which I have discussed in previous posts): the eight-runged path of the Yoga Sutras, a discussion on samskaras, developing the skill of witnessing, and uncoloring.  Even better, a combination of the four (although a scholar can illustrate innumerous examples of this being the purpose of the practices).

In this Tradition, classically, one did not begin with meditation directly.  One began with developing a dharmic lifestyle.  This is seems at conflict with the Western concept of Yoga being almost amoral (not immoral)–as if anything goes.  The difference between the morality of Yoga and many other belief systems is the morality is intrinsic; it is morality for the sake of morality.  It arises from the understanding that we all are One; the integrity of a Yogi is not due to fear of retribution from a deity.  The early teachings of Yoga sought to develop this inner compass, then the aspirant would move into a seated meditation practice.

After moving into meditation, we begin to notice that thoughts come and go constantly. As we spend more time in this space we begin to notice that thoughts have trends.  Perhaps we discover we have a trend towards judgement, craving of material items, or feelings of unworthiness.  These trends can be thought of as being grooves that are etched into our mind-field–the Yogis called these samskaras.

The initial goal of Yoga meditation is to become AWARE of these patterns, NOT to critique or engage with them.  Early meditation is not psychoanalysis, it is accepting that all minds are capable of all types of thoughts: good, bad, and neutral.  But, thought is not who we are, it is what we are doing.  The art of witnessing is allowing the mind to naturally unfold without interfering with the process.  This reduces the emotional attachment to the thought, it uncolors them.  It is easier said than done.

Over time, the more practiced meditator begins to take a dispassionate stance and without judgment seeks to teach the mind to cultivate thoughts which bring them closer to harmony.  A practiced meditator explains to their mind (yes, I know how that sounds; but, dialogue with one’s own mind is essential if you want your mind be sharpened) this thought is useful and this thought is not useful.  Over time the mind entrains towards thoughts which create equanimity.

So after writing this series, what have I learned: I need to meditate more!

 

Keeping Company with the Truth

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I originally posted this about a year ago; but, my feelings have not diminished.  It needed to be restated.  I refreshed it a little, too.

Satsang is a Sanskrit word I love; it has an onomatopoeia-like quality to it… When I say it I feel a warmth, like Picasso said, “the sun in my belly”.

Satsang can be translated as, “keeping company with the truth “. Sat, means “highest truth”. It is one of the attributes of the Center of Consciousness.

The suffix -sang in “Satsang” means community; as in the Buddhist term “Sangha”.

In previous posts, I stressed the necessity of going inside to steep in Center of Consciousness. The distillate of direct experience is the highest truth.  It is not mere conceptual knowledge.

However, since it is Our Collective Center, we can also expand our knowledge of it by spending time with other seekers.  We can help each other to remember Our True Nature–the aforementioned Center of Consciousness–which is eternal and flawless.

It is so to forget, even for the most dedicated aspirant. Self-seeking can be isolating.  But, the spiritual path is not supposed be grim.  Even monks gather in communities!   So, go into the cave; but, emerge and share the Divinity of Our True Nature.

The Driving Dead

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I have a visceral reaction to rush-hour traffic–it is abhorrent. But, I live in metro-Atlanta, it’s unavoidable. It’s also a great opportunity to test my spiritual practices It’s my own laboratory: I listen to “edutaining” audiobooks, I try to remain present, I avoid judging other drivers, I resist the phone.

The Yoga Sutras suggest five behaviors for a spiritual seeker to cultivate; one of these attitudes is mindfulness (smriti).  Which is simply, paying attention to whatever you are paying attention to.  It is also seeing that the path is every step you take; not compartmentalizing spiritual life and secular life.  I am learning a great deal about myself while I am behind the wheel.

Recently, while wrestling with the traffic juggernaut, one of my greatest teachers abruptly tested me.  She wanted me to see if I was grounded in my practices. During a particularly frenetic moment, my five-year-old daughter, Clementine, exclaimed from her booster seat, “I don’t want you to die and leave me alone!”

This was seemingly out of nowhere; yet, in a previous post, I noted our home is in a state of transition. So, the outburst wasn’t entirely unwarranted.

My mind was in a whirl; how do I explain impermanence to a child while, paradoxically, trying not to kill us on the road?

The answer was simple, my practices had prepared me, I surrendered.  Yoga practices make you flexible–not as a contortionist.  Sadhana is a process of systematically reducing reducing attachments, such as expectations, and attaining a state of pure spontaneity.

So, without being too kerflummoxed, I was in a new role–Teacher Mom.  Off went the radio, deep breathing resumed, and a truly beautiful moment ensued. I told Clementine that everything she can see is a cosmic ocean.  I explained we are all waves in the ocean.  A wave rises and falls; but, is never removed from the ocean.  In the same manner, we have not and cannot ever be apart.  She continued to be emotional; but, she found comfort in knowing she and I are One.

I offered a prayer of gratitude for my car temple.  What a sublime moment of intimacy in the sea of automotive chaos.  Every moment is Divine.