Jun 2008

Fear & Stress

30/06/08 15:41

These are the same. The problem with calling it stress is that it appears to be ouside of us and therefore beyond out control. The benefit of calling it fear is that we can then own that we have caused it through our thoughts and beliefs. This cascades into emotion, physiological response and physical response. Owning our fear allows us to look at it and then examine it and choose differently.

Spiritual Practice #1: Awareness

30/06/08 13:57

I hope to continue offering a variety of exercises for mind and heart to reconnect with your Essence. In a sequay from the “Distractions from Essence” post, let me ask you this.... who or what is aware of the distractions? Yoga is fundamentally an experiment in spirituality, in the Awareness of Bliss. This means that we can test reality against our direct experience and verify things for ourselves. In this case inquire, investigate, “test” who you are. You can experience that there is someting to be aware of, such as the distraction or the feeling that preceeds the desire to be distracted. And there is something (or someone) that is aware of the object, of the distraction. Its easy to describe the object, however it is also possible to inquire (“sense”) into the feeling of Awareness and describe it too.

Can you do this now - notice an object and then notice the feeling experience of being Aware.

This image was taken from: www.art4spirit.com

Distractions from Essence

30/06/08 13:37

Don’t be distracted by your distractions! I know that’s what they are for, but ask yourself “What am I distracting myself from?” More than likely it is something perceived as uncomfortable, threatening or fearful. These fears are self-perpetuating as long as they remain unseen and unexamined. To free yourself from the tyrnanny of the egoic mind, each belief and assumption that makes you unhappy must be examined and seen to be false. It is true that the Truth will set you free. It is more important to have the experience of truth than to have this understanding. At your core - the part of you that cannot be further reduced, you are Joyful Love. Our spiritual path is one way is encountering the fear in order to reveal the hidden love.

Often fears can be deconstructed to reveal one of the five pointer sisters. The kanchukas are the five beliefs that all human beings share which are reflections of our imagined separation from God. They all boil down to a sense of separation and scarcity. In a sense each one of these can be a reminder or pointer that we have strayed away from the Awareness of this inner essential Joy. This Joy has no cause and is independant of all things of the world. In a sense it is no-thing.

New Age Doesn't Ensure Happiness

25/06/08 21:10

I received an email today about a new type of treatment which struck me as just another cleverly disguised way of removing personal power and deflecting change from the place that needs it most - the mind. Happiness is not outside of you. I contend that our one core motivation (beyond survival) is happiness. Everything we do is to gain some happiness - the car, the job, power, money are all ways of trying to get happiness. That includes laser reflexology, yoga poses and massage therapy. There is no happiness in beauty or an aligned yoga pose or being pain free; happiness is possible under all circumstances including difficult ones. There is no external person or circumstnace or treatment that will give you the happiness you seek. All external seeking fails - external solutions are snakeoil. I agree that there is temporary happiness, however it is always followed by some form of disappointment; that is not the kind of happiness we are looking for. We are looking for the kind of happiness that lasts, that doesn’t tarnish - and that you will never find in the external world. If you look to externals you will look but never find. We want to be finders! To find true abiding happiness and personal power you must look within and be willing to change your mind about what and how you think of yourself.