Spirit – Soul, Courage – Page 12 – Living The Emerson Rule

November 30, 2020December 30, 2022

I Am That – In the Mirror of My Life

When I look around, what do I see? I see precisely what’s inside me. These things, people, places, all reflect my thoughts and beliefs. If I see it, it’s me – I am that. Before I retired one of my co-workers annoyed the hell out of me. Something about him rubbed me the wrong way. One day I had an epiphany – I am Bob! I am the annoying guy! For 30 years I’ve advocated what I call the mirror concept – this is what it means. I am what’s reflected back at me from my environment. I am Bob. Owning this can feel like swallowing a giant pill. Who willingly admits they ARE what they find hideous – or even mildly irritating? Some things are just too up close and personal. Must I be responsible? Yes. I must. Esther Hicks tells me that things wouldn’t show up if there’s nothing in my vibration drawing it there. When I acknowledged Bob as Me, my judgments eased. I cut him slack; treated him differently. Over time he reacted to me differently. Our relationship changed when I changed. Change starts with awareness, and with an open mind acceptance may follow. Awareness and acceptance can change the world.

“Belief: When you believe something, you have made it true for you. Thought: What you do comes from what you think. Perception: Everything you perceive is a witness to the thought system you want to be true.”

Perception is a mirror, not a fact.
And what I look on is my state
of mind, reflected outward.”

Gifts from A Course In Miracles F. Vaughan, R. Walsh

June 22, 2018December 30, 2022

Sitting With My Inner Grizzly

As I walked into the living room from an extended and very intense workout – my husband said “you’ve been at it a long time today” … my response: “yeah; helps me not want to pinch people’s heads off!”

Strong emotions … and the many ways to deal with them. With everything going on this week I employed more than one. Upping my endorphins with serious cardio absolutely morphed my mood. As did attending my favorite Gentle Yoga & Meditation class . . . and my extreme hip-hop dance class.

Reaching out to my mates, my community for support also provided relief to my fury. Exercise, deep breathing & meditation; community, all help level my emotions when I’m disturbed.

Several years ago while studying the works of Pema Chodron, I was introduced to a different way to cope with intense feelings; the practices of the Warrior Bodhisattva and applying tonglen (May 31, 2015 Blog Post). Wikipedia says that with tonglen:

“… one visualizes taking in the suffering of oneself and of others on the in-breath, and on the out-breath giving recognition, compassion, and succor to all sentient beings. As such it is a training in altruism.”

When I read this back in 2015, the whole concept was overwhelming. Starting small and with time I’ve allowed myself to be curious about what drives my strongest emotions. In her teaching on The Wisdom of No Escape, Pema says:

“When the flag goes up, we have an opportunity: we can stay with our painful emotion instead of spinning out. Staying is how we get the hang of gently catching ourselves when we’re about to let resentment harden into blame, righteousness, or alienation.”

Coming to know myself, accepting all my good, bad and ugly – embracing it, sitting with it; loving it . . . remains a work in progress.

“Sticking with uncertainty is how we learn to relax in the midst of chaos, how we learn to be cool when the ground beneath us suddenly disappears. We can bring ourselves back to the spiritual path countless times every day simply by exercising our willingness to rest in the uncertainly of the present moment—over and over again.”

Yes – Relaxing “..in the midst of chaos..” Learning “to be cool when the ground beneath us suddenly disappears.” . . . This is an intention I can embrace; a practice worth cultivating.

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From her book Comfortable with Uncertainty; Pema Chodron’s #4 of “108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion”

The Wisdom of No Escape

The central question of a warrior’s training is not how we avoid uncertainty and fear but how we relate to discomfort. How do we practice with difficulty, with our emotions, with the unpredictable encounters of an ordinary day? For those of us with a hunger to know the truth, painful emotions are like flags going up to say, “You’re stuck!” We regard disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, jealousy, and fear as moments that show us where we’re holding back, how we’re shutting down. Such uncomfortable feelings are messages that tell us to perk up and lean into a situation when we’d rather cave in and back away.

When the flag goes up, we have an opportunity: we can stay with our painful emotion instead of spinning out. Staying is how we get the hang of gently catching ourselves when we’re about to let resentment harden into blame, righteousness, or alienation. It’s also how we keep from smoothing things over by talking ourselves into a sense of relief or inspiration. This is easier said than done.

Ordinarily we are swept away by habitual momentum. We don’t interrupt our patterns even slightly. With practice, however, we learn to stay with a broken heart, with a nameless fear, with the desire for revenge. Sticking with uncertainty is how we learn to relax in the midst of chaos, how we learn to be cool when the ground beneath us suddenly disappears. We can bring ourselves back to the spiritual path countless times every day simply by exercising our willingness to rest in the uncertainly of the present moment—over and over again.

May 30, 2018December 30, 2022

Tell Me a Tale – Spin Me a Yarn

We’re born into a story. A story of culture and heritage – of country, shaped by region, city, neighborhood – fixed by family, gender, race and class. We believe this story as truth. Until one day … maybe, we can imagine something different.

When John Lennon and Yoko Ono released “Imagine” I was 12. Their call for me was set inside my story. Could I imagine no heaven? No nation – no possessions? No I couldn’t, not then.

Reading Yuval Noah Harari’s Homo Dues; A Brief History of Tomorrow is opening my mind to a potential that John Lennon saw 47 years ago. It’s uncomfortable, unnerving and exciting.

Let me step outside my story, my comfort zone; see reality from a different vantage point. Change my perspective; make an actual paradigm shift.

Could I try on for size the possibility that there’s no heaven, no hell and purgatory just doesn’t exist? Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. My sins won’t be punished; my sacrifices unrewarded. No being born again. All that exists is today. If this is true – what changes? Do I choose differently?

Considering I’ve depended on Karma – with a CAPITAL K to take care of some of the most egregious shit-heads of the world a new story is a huge ask for me.

Harari cleverly outlines psychological and scientific aspects of our “experiencing self” and “narrating self” – how our self-told stories shape what and how we feel. He says that it’s “much easier to live with the fantasy because the fantasy gives meaning to suffering.”

Byron Katie’s approach – doing “The Work” to accept life as it meets me, helps move me off a story that’s grinding me down. Make Inquiries. Ask – The Four Questions and Turnaround:

“Is it true?
Can you absolutely know that it’s true?
How do you react; what happens when you believe that thought?
Who would you be without the thought?

… Turn it around, and find three genuine examples of how the turnaround is true in your life.”

This is how Byron Katie helped me “Let Go of the Big Mad”

It’s all a story.

I’m tellin’ ya – we gotta . . . TELL BETTER STORIES!!!

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[Pi:] “So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can’t prove the question either way, which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals?” – Yann Martel, The Life of Pi

April 13, 2018December 29, 2022

What You Feel Is What You Attract

“Don’t be so predictable.”

Pema Chodron – Compassion Cards; teachings for awakening the heart in everyday life

When I pulled this card out of the pack – to see what the Universe wanted me to meditate about; my first reaction was to put it back and pick another card. Surely I checked the “don’t be predictable” box!

No. Stop. Think. I’m asking the Universe to provide insight. Theoretically using these cards opens my mind; pokes at my perceptions – encourages mindfulness.

Hmmmm…. do I know more than the Universe? Right. Pretty predicable.

In his book Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself, Dr. Joe Dispenza connects quantum science, habitual thinking and behavior, brain physiology and meditation – to unleash our power to substantially change. If I want my life to be different I must change my “beliefs about the nature of reality.”

“Until you break from the way you see your present reality, any change in your life will always be haphazard and transitory.”

Don’t be so predictable.

I could say – hey, I’m good with who I am and what I believe. But then if I complain about being left behind, or hate that the world’s changing around me in ways I don’t like – then maybe the “I’m good” is a lie.

“How we think and how we feel produces a state of being, which generates an electromagnetic signature that influences every atom in our world.

“So if we want to change some aspect of our reality, we have to think, feel, and act in new ways; we have to “be” different in terms of our responses to experiences. We have to “become” someone else. We have to create a new state of mind . . . we need to observe a new outcome with that new mind.”

This new way of being creates an altered electromagnetic field to power my world – all the molecules, particles and bits. This field will pull me toward a new reality; or help that reality find me.

According to Dr. Joe, when we “mentally rehearse a desired experience via thought alone, you will experience the emotions of that event before it has physically manifested.” Meditating can help change how we think, feel and act.

“When you begin to feel like some potential future reality is happening to you in the moment that you are focusing on it, you are rewriting your automatic habits, attitudes and other unwanted subconscious programs.”

Maybe a new electromagnetic field of reality can jolt me out of my furious, annoyed and thoroughly appalled frame of mind about the political landscape. I certainly could use some re-jiggering in my brain on this topic.

It will certainly take more than the power of positive thinking. More than just wishful musing. It will require a real shift in my emotional center – insist my psyche be stunned, flabbergasted – dumbfounded even.

Okay – so I meditate. For weeks. Patiently, eagerly; watchfully.

It fascinates me how my revelations come; the mechanisms for my astonishment and wonder. This time it was delivered through “the long read” on April 5th in The Guardian: the demise of the nation state.

“After decades of globalisation, our political system has become obsolete – and spasms of resurgent nationalism are a sign of its irreversible decline. By Rana Dasgupta”

This article brought similar emotions as when I read Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens, and how I feel now reading his book Homo Deus. Understanding and appreciating history – connecting the dots to arrive at today’s state of affairs; can be disturbing, enlightening, exhausting and wholly liberating.

Today’s political paradigm is maybe 100 to 300 years old. In the grand scheme of infinity and eternity – we’re a speck, a dot . . . a dab. What I think, what our world leaders think, is all made up. Made up in our minds, our habits; our beliefs and opinions. Things WILL change. Probably dramatically – and in spectacularly unfathomable ways.

In my own, singular way I can change – so I connect with those around me; move the dialog positively – contribute with actions that elevate. Quit being so pissed off. Stop. Think. Don’t be so predictable.

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“Memory is useful because it gives us a sense of continuity. But memory is also imprisoning because it conditions us in predictable ways.” – Deepak Chopra