Discipline

Posted March 17, 2015

Filed under Poetry

Discipline is ready to love you.
It is a cool, uplifting wind
enlightening this life’s path,
putting one foot mindfully
before the other,
giving faith in each step.
This intricate dance, practiced
will one day be as tight as the drum
producing the rhythm
compelling your advancing feet.
This song of the divine
is only possible
with hard work and cultivation.
This watered and tended
garden gifts us
an abundance of nourishing food.
Since we are what we eat,
our discipline leaves us
bright-eyed and bushy-tailed
at our little corner markets,
offering freely from
baskets of leftovers
even after we’ve had
more than enough.
Embrace the discipline!
Roll up your sleeves and endeavor
to meet the very best you.
With dedication we can feed the world.

Peppering the Day with Mindfulness

Posted March 12, 2015

Filed under Insights, Simple Tips

I try to avoid reminiscing–not reflecting–on the past. Reminiscing means that I there is a longing, a desire for what cannot be, a nostalgia (the root word of which is pain). During reflection, I deliberately consider a past experience, asses if I chose the best course of action, and affirm to continue or discontinue what I was doing.

It is not a lack of sentimentality, rather, I believe (and have been taught), to fully experience one’s life, you have to be awake in the moment–right now.

The highest consciousness is expressing as all of us–right now. During the state of samadhi we are able to realize this consciousness manifesting as us. However, it is not something we can do yesterday, it is a level we awaken to in the present.

My teacher eloquently expressed, you are already in samadhi right now; however, that samadhi is on this human incarnation.

The yoga sutras prescribe five efforts and commitments aspirants should cultivate to assist them in remaining fully, nondually, in the present moment: shraddha (faith), virya (positive energy), smriti (mindfulness or remembering), samadhi (seeking sustained meditation), and prajna (pursuing the highest wisdom).

Smriti is not an obsessive needling, it is a gentle determination to perform one’s actions in a way that holds to attention on the highest goal–assuming that is your goal. Smriti does not pertain to only renunciate, a layperson can practice smriti through their everyday actions. One classic way is offering all actions to where they came from–the highest source.

The Unity Offering Prayer encompasses this concept (there are many variations available):

“Divine Love as me,
blesses and multiplies.
All that I have, all that I give,
all that I receive”.

When we are in our everyday life, there is a perceived duality. Our locus of operation and the Other. Simply, consistently, “seeing” our actions as service to the Highest is a way to remind us of Our True Nature. If we really believe that there is only One, all actions come from the One. Therefore, offer cleaning the car, mowing the lawn, preparing a meal as seva–selfless service.

P.S. As usual, click the links–the one on the five efforts has an exquisite meditation practice on it!

Meditate

Posted March 10, 2015

Filed under Poetry

There is a question at the center
From which all this emanates
The story of this mark
is what these lines are connecting.
Sticks and stones of habit and bones
are woven under careful roofs thatched.
The chicken came first
because the scheme of the egg
had not yet been hatched.
The three streams converging are quite a map,
diagram upon diagram of your ship and the treacherous landscape.
A much fussed over plan spelling out the means to escape
to a question mark.
Only sheer speculation to give it shape.
Destination unknown.
Is this carrot on a string sufficient bait?
I pursue and at times lash out
hungry and enslaved by fate
But that’s really not me,
just this body on mother earth
Hurling through space.
I am the question and the mark
operating this computer that animates.
I may not know exactly what I am
but I do know I must return home to consummate.
So I embrace living for the mysterious
punctuation at the end of the sentence.
Happy to contemplate…

Foresee

Posted March 8, 2015

Filed under Poetry

Loving freely
intertwined completely
In you there’s a better me
So effortlessly happy
laughing so easily
The best is yet to be

One

Posted March 7, 2015

Filed under Poetry, Prose

One

Looking for love
from all of the wrong
corporations
when I should be looking above.
Looking for love from the
administration,
when I should be looking within.
Falling out of love with my
fellow man
when I should be falling in.
Shouldn’t be asking so many questions.
I don’t need suggestions!
I know love’s going to win.
Stopped, dropped, surrendered,
And I’ll never stop giving in.
Already knew, just had to remember.
All is well under this powerful spell.
A perfect life for me,
conflict is done.
The truth is and always will be
that love’s already won.

Relativity

Posted March 2, 2015

Filed under Poetry

Smash the glass chains of negativity
They shatter so beautiful, so easily
under the hammer of your positivity
and as the negative blood spatters
in a Pollock on the walls of possibility
Take your seat with the Mad Hatter,
Partake in his intoxicating tea
Get caught in a whirlwind of creativity
And wake up to a wonderland born
from a happy authenticity

Blow Us Away

Posted March 1, 2015

Filed under Poetry

holding hands
helping each other stand
much more than a friend
the best of us strongly depends
on the goodwill we send
in intricate crafts unmanned
releasing bombs of intensity and number
that no man can outrun or withstand
perfect explosions shake us from slumber
drawing us to the front lines
divine weapon at our command
us and them surrender and combine
to a nuclear reworking that demands
peace and compassion as our mission
an art to be practiced and refined
beginning the proud tradition
of improving each other’s position
freeing our brilliant minds
from the confusion of opposition
setting the stage for our grandest designs

Sacred Cow

Posted February 25, 2015

Filed under Poetry

Every moment is wholly a matter of now
Not what you say more a matter of how
Leave your tumultuous past in this sacred vow
Insight is a path leading to unending WOW!!
Going on forever beyond sunset and final bow
Headlong into whatever you choose to allow
This peace a gift you willingly endow
Each step a test don’t let it raise a brow
Nothing can splinter this practiced bough
Moreover is our dedication to this sacred Tao
Enlightenment in “Om” even heard in a cat’s meow
None is above you or rather holier than thou
To this I surrender and commence to kowtow

Fringe Benefits

Posted February 24, 2015

Filed under Insights

The endeavor of this blog is simple–but not easy: Changing the Past, Transforming the Future, by Loving Right Now! As most of our readership knows, we strive to serve others through sharing: teachings of the Himalayan Tradition, our insights and experiences in meditation, and our Poetry. However, my recent acumen is, being a Yoga Meditation Coach supports my own Life Goal–Self–Realization.

As I have said in previous postings, this tradition uses the word Realize (as opposed to transcend) because we are waking up to our Truth–our Real Nature.

About a year ago, my meditation practice began to shift. I felt a burning desire to affirm to Consciousness my desire to assist others develop a meditation practice. There were several factors contributing to this pull: I wanted to feel more “authentic”, I was unhappy with the direction I found many asana classes going in, and I was driven by the peace I find when I go inside–even during a seemingly lackluster sitting. Over the course of the year, spaces opened up and I was propelled from leading a casual workshop to several, then to multiple weekly classes and then this blog–which I am so fortunate to share with The Love of my Life.

As space (not really free time) has presented itself in my schedule, it has also presented itself in my heart. Coaching is propelling me into a place of intense devotion (bhava) to the teachings and teachers which have given me so much. Furthermore, it has forced me to raise the standards I hold myself too. I was inconsistent. I used to feel that I could not sit still, I could not quiet my mind (which I have relinquished trying to do), and I could not go deeply into meditation. But, as I began to share my passion, I found the committment (virya–notice the similarity to virility) that I had previously lacked. Merely (but, again not easily) having a modicum of accountability to others lit a fire under my rear.

My husband often says, “even if you practice serving other for selfish reasons, it raises the vibration of everything”. When I began this endeavor, I wanted to feel more authentic, I was unhappy with classes, I wanted to share my perspective on peace– it wasn’t about The Tradition is was about me…

Wow, I still have so much more undoing to do. As my beloved Swami J reminds me, this practice is about setting aside the false identities. Practice makes proficient–we are already perfect. We just have to Realize it.

P.S. Click the links!