I AM ALIVE for the purpose of serving my individual growth, as well as the growth of the whole. My wholehearted participation and generosity of spirit in sharing my gifts, is the promise my soul made in taking this life. I give my highest regard to how I feel, honoring my emotions as the messengers from my Source, that they truly are. I resolve to live in alignment with my True Self. I pledge to no longer abstain from Self-love. With my thoughts, I create my world. I aim to focus my attention on well being, rather than the absence of it. I consider my highest achievement and my greatest success, to be a state of Joy. My inner lover knows I am on a holy mission, a grand treasure hunt of finding out through what I love, what I have come to offer. Each inhale is an invitation from life, a call to union. Each exhale is my reply, an acceptance of this invitation and an offering of my spirit. Before opening my eyes each morning, I aspire to open my heart, awakening and inviting the inner lover to steward my life. I offer my life, my existence, as a sacred meeting ground for Great Love, the blessed and precious union of Spirit and Matter.
An interactive sacred sound concert and vocal meditation for uplifting personal and planetary well being..celebrating and releasing the past, embracing the present and laying a positive tone for the future... through toning, singing and being bathed in the universal song of the Gong, the transcendent tones of crystal singing bowls and the power of the human voice... An annual event, held this year at the Celebration Chapel in Kingston, NY.
It used to be that my thoughts were largely negative, only I was so desensitized to feeling badly that I did not notice. It began a long time ago as a measure of self-protection... I think. If I were hard on myself, then I would improve. If I thought of what could go wrong, then I would be better prepared...
It was faulty logic that exponentially increased my level of misery and vibrationally conditioned me to become the breeding ground for all the things I did not want.
I have become sensitive again. I dislike the negative reels, replays and play by plays of what might go wrong. I have little tolerance for my own senseless bad news, fixation on painful images, preoccupation with difficult feelings and thoughts that injure my spirit and lower my esteem and confidence.
Through reeducation, self care, practice and reprogramming, I have noticed that what gets air time in these precious 8" between my ears, has gradually attuned to uplifted thoughts, flirtation with happiness and downright preoccupation with a healthier, more fulfilled life... Hallelujah!
We are now 12 days into our 40-day practice. How is it going for you? Do you care to share what your practice has consisted of and how have you structured it? Has it been difficult to maintain? How do you feel? What do you notice? Please feel invited to share anything you care to.
The past 12 mornings for me have begun by assessing my mental, physical and emotional state, and noting it in my journal. Then I ask myself, 'What is the higher ground that I would prefer?' Meaning, how would I rather feel? I name that and record it in my journal.
And then I plunge into some of the most enjoyable moments of my day; the blissful practice of embodying the state of being that I most desire. How near or far I am from it determines how easy or difficult it is for me to make the shift.
The days when I am most distant, I have learned to be a child again imagining myself as I want to be when I grow up. I allow the preoccupation with what it would it feel like to be the one I dream of being.
Imagination yields to feeling better, and then feeling better yields to becoming. It is at that point that I understand that the process is simply recognizing and reclaiming these disowned part of my own nature.
One of the most profound spiritual practices I have undertaken to date is the practice of 'letting in love'. Amma, our modern day "hugging saint" from India describes two kids of poverty. The first results from a lack of food, shelter and clothing. The second is a poverty of love. While in the East there is widespread suffering from the first, here in the western world she observes, we suffer in epidemic proportions from the latter.
There is an infinite source of energy in the universe which has been referred to by many names - God , The Divine, Source and often simply Love. We live within this infinite energy and it lives within us. All of creation at the most fundamental level, is vibration.
The universe is fundamentally love, teeming with love actually. We cannot stop the continous flow of this energy throughout, but we do possess the power to block it within our own energy field. Many of us live largely unaware that we are doing just this on a daily basis, denying ourselves the love that is available to us in abundance.
I weep listening to all the people singing with us on the summer solstice. We had nearly 200 voices in that cave, calling love back in that moment. Maybe you will join us next year!
This "Mantra of Well Being" was born in a moment when no solutions could be found, seemingly the bottom. Those moments are of great value as I had no other recourse but to make an appeal from the fundamental level of my being and invite the pure healing energy of love.
It continues to feel good, as I sing this song to myself nearly every day when I sense myself even subtly shift into holding life/holding love away. I am amazed at the power of such a simple song. I am sharing it with you in case you might like to add it to your personal mantras.
Any activity performed in a conscious manner can be regarded as a spiritual practice...walking, doing dishes, gardening, journaling, even taking daily naps. There are many traditional and new age practices as well such as yoga, tai chi, conscious eating, sufi whirling, tea ceremony, painting, calligraphy, flower arranging, sacred sexuality, breath work, repetition of mantra...and more.
The most powerful form of practice that I know of however, is the method of tuning into the state of consciousness that we are hoping to someday reside in full time. If your spiritual goal is to feel unlimited and it is a life long feeling of scarcity that you suffer from, then what could be more logical and effective than practicing the feeling of abundance?
If like many people you are ready to reclaim more joy for yourself, then start by tuning into joyful thoughts for 15 minutes a day. Simply close your eyes and dedicate yourself to nothing other than feeling your inherent wellness and inborn happiness. Imagine. Try on. Act it out inside yourself. The more you carve out time to feel it, the more you begin to expand your ability to hold that higher vibrational state.
If it is a feeling of separation that you have established a long standing identity with, then practice the emotional state of unity. For 15 sacred minutes, begin living your life as you want it. Feel merged, involved, part of....allow yourself the feeling that you have been denied.
How else can we possibly get to where we want to be, besides going there? Acknowledge that nobody and nothing will ever come along and hand you what you want in this regard. Only you can take yourself there. And why not go there sooner rather than later?
Based on the clarity you hopefully received after reflecting on 4 Points To Consider Before Choosing A Spiritual Practice, I again invite you to join me in a 40 day spiritual practice of tuning consciousness (The equinox technically starts September 23 at 5:04 a.m., eastern daylight time and the 40 day period we are focusing on is from Spetember 23rd to November 1st). Combine this with a physical practice that would inspire and support you at this time, such as yoga or vocal toning or journaling, and you could have something to really look forward to.
It is most important to tailor your spiritual practice to your particular needs and goals and make sure that it is something that you enjoy. You need not devote hours. Even 15 minutes of practice a day has the power to yield significant results. Let's stay tuned around this and keep in touch and see what happens!
1)What is the trouble or tension in my life? Identify the most looming area of discomfort or discontent.
Understanding the place of greatest tension, helps us to define our particular path in this lifetime. The trouble we encounter simultaneously presents us with our preference; what we are truly wanting and what is in alignment with who we truly are.
Joseph Campbell says, "Where you stumble is where your treasure lies." Our greatest challenges provide insight into where our soul most wants growth.
2)What is my path in this lifetime? What have I come to evolve in myself? From my personal experience and in witnessing others through my work, I have discovered something exquisite...not only does the nature of my struggle reveal my soul's mission, but it also is the gift I bring and the area where my soul has the potential to make its greatest contribution.
3)Where am I on my path? What do I feel I am on the precipice of achieving in my soul development? And what growth or movement would I like to experience next?
4)What are the day to day stumbling blocks I encounter in trying to achieve this state of being that I desire? What do I wish came more naturally and easily to me?
It is important to carve out space in our lives to practice being the one that we are becoming; the one that we want and feel we are meant to be. This is the purpose of spiritual practice; to move ourselves along on our particular path of self development toward the happier, healthier, more aligned, compassionate and empowered self.
By definition then, the spiritual practice that we choose should uplift us and be enjoyable. If it is not, then what we are actually practicing is misalignment and discontent. When what we want and what we practice are in disagreement, we do not get the spiritual growth that we are seeking.
I know that if I approach spiritual practice with the motive to fix something that I perceive is "wrong" with me, it is ineffective. Even if what I am doing in and of itself is a beneficial thing or something I could enjoy, if I am actively vibrating around what is flawed about me then I am strengthening the power of that conditioning.
If my intent is to shift to an improved state, then it is vital that I reach beyond my current level of consciousness to the way of being and feeling that I aspire to. It is important that I practice residing there as long as I can until it becomes natural for me.
Growth will happen no other way. Spiritual practice is simply this; taking time out to live, feel and be as you truly desire, until it takes hold as your dominant way of being.
Mid-June marked the peak of extroversion for me. After that, if I paid attention, I could observe myself subtly but steadily retreating inward. Next week, the sun will spend equal time above the horizon as it does below, and I too will likely have the desire for a balance of solitude and communion.
All that I set in motion early in the year that managed to take root in the world and reach fullness, I will harvest and integrate in the weeks to come.
Undeniably, I am influenced by my planet's movement around the sun. I am as much nature as the plants and animals, and so my spiritual life tends to mirror the path of the largest and most influential star in my solar system.
Over the years, I have consciously allowed these cues from the sun to inform my spiritual practice. Here in the northern hemisphere, we are currently approaching another distinct phase in the solar-spiritual year, the autumnal equinox through the cross quarter day of November 1st.
This is a time of pulling into closure a year of growth; an important phase for integrating new dimensions of self and seeing that they become well established in the totality of our being.
Over the next several days I will be writing more about this and looking at spiritual practice from a broad perspective.
I am inviting my readers and particularly my unencumbered being focus group to join me in 40 days of practice (the 40 day period extending from the equinox, September 23rd through November 1st). By being in contact here I hope to create a network to support each of us in sustaining a consistent and effective practice.
