Can you ever have too much gratitude? I doubt it?
This is a repost from 2014; however, I was reminded, through a cascade of`teachable moments, to be eternally gratefully–for every moment. There is no need to anticipate, and this does take effort, the next moment will get here!
Prayer is an interesting activity. Like meditation, it is an opportunity to go inside and merge with stillness. However, so many people pray their power away–they ask for assistance, intervention, and blessings; but, they do not, simply, offer gratitude for what is going well.
Recently, I was challenged by a dear friend to post 3 statements of gratitude, for a week, on my Facebook page. Over, the years I have done several exercises in gratitude– which is something I continue to work on cultivating. Whenever, I make a conscious attempt to find something to be grateful for, the gratitude flows in abundance. One positive thought, attending to one gift, becoming aware of an inkling of Prasad becomes a river of plenty.
Many people mistakenly believe that prayer is not part of the Yoga tradition. Conversely, this tradition has consists of four pillars: meditation, contemplation, mantra, and prayer. However, it is taught, prayer begins as a dialogue and converges into a unification.
Prayer instills us with bhava, the strong emotion of devotion–but, we don’t have to pray our power away. Offer gratitude for what is working. You and the Divine Source are one and the same– therefore, nothing can be against you. Sit with the blessings before asking for intervention. You may discover that you are all the resources you need.
When the modifications of the mind have become weakened, the mind becomes a transparent crystal…
Sutra 1.4
I originally posted this a year ago. This posting is extremely close to my heart. I’m always seeking a friendship with my heart and mind.
The last few weeks have been fairly hectic: I am planning a meditation intensive retreat, I am taking some continuing education classes, my work schedule is changing, the children have a bunch of activities, and I am a little over-extended. So working on a blog post has been demoted on my list of obligations.
But, despite all the busyness, my mind-state has been fairly steady, or ekagra. I attribute this to regularity in my practice.
In the Yoga Tradition, the mind is viewed as an instrument through which we receive information about the sensory world (manas), where we store memories and formulate opinions (chitta), it is where our sense of individuality arises (ahamkara), and where our conscience resides (buddhi)–but, not our consciousness.
The four aforementioned aspects of the mind are collectively called the antahkarana–or the inner instrument. The word “instrument” is so profound. Yoga science expounds, the mind is not who we are; but, mind is a tool, which can be sharpened to glean clearer understanding of who we are and what needs to be done to Realize our True Nature.
According to Yoga science, our minds becomes colored by our experiences— think of it as a dusty layer on a window. Therefore, they do not allow the truth to diffuse through. We are colored by perceptions of race, social status, gender, etc. Reflect for a moment on a baby who lacks these associations.
Through meditation we wipe off the layers of dust and eventually the clear mind allows the truth to shine through.
But, the mind is only capable of becoming crystalline…
What is the light that shines through the crystalline mind?
Eventually, the mind, like all good tools must be set down. Would you walk around in the house you built clutching the hammer?
Over time, with dedication, consistency, and faith, the mind is set down and total awareness of the Self will shine through.
Until then, tell your mind “thank-you” for all that it does. Do not be angry with your mind for thinking any more than you would be angry with your hand for grasping or your ear for hearing. Ask your mind to be your friend, so that you can dust the lens, and see the world as it truly is.
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Marvel at what happens when a collection of beautiful souls agrees it will!
CBH
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.
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.
From the Gross to the Subtle 