As you may already know, this week’s teachings come from the book “The Tao of Pooh”. An adaptation of the original Winnie the Pooh that recognizes the Zen-like qualities of this yellow bear. Here is the next excerpt from the book - Tigger is the bouncy one, always on the move! No time for a … Continue reading How will we know when to do and when to don’t?
Have you ever felt like the harder you try to "let go" of something, the more it sticks? We hear the term "letting go" regularly. We understand what is implied - not holding on to old emotions or emotional attachments - but in practice our "effort" to let go is so often not helpful as … Continue reading Peace requires us to surrender our illusions of control.
"There are no problems, only situations. It is all in how you approach them." - Sadhguru This thought by Sadhguru reminds me of a line in the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling that mentions "treating triumph and disaster just the same". It speaks of the possibility of having the kind of peace that is unaffected by circumstance, … Continue reading Peace is not the highest goal in life, it is the most fundamental requirement.
Have you ever found yourself spending way too much energy fighting a reality that is not going to change, or trying to keep control over what is ultimately beyond your control? It is like trying to push a boulder up a hill. You pour on the effort, muscles straining, but the darn thing barely budges. … Continue reading No more energy wasted on resistance.
Today’s wisdom comes from great teachers on the topic of meditation. And the central message for today is that, "of course you have thoughts and feelings, but your thoughts and feelings are not who you are." This becomes increasingly clear as you find that there is a space within you from where you are able … Continue reading Becoming better at feeling…
Being human, we have an ever changing flow in our emotional landscape. The thoughts we think and the emotions we feel flow in and out very much like clouds in the sky. Yet, often we view our emotions with apprehension, fearing the discomfort they might bring. Jaiya John reminds us today that by acknowledging and … Continue reading All the world’s wonder is a song. The notes and the singer are YOU!
Take a moment to create in your mind the image of a majestic mountain towering over the landscape around it. See it standing resolute against the ever-changing elements. This mountain, battered yet unyielding, represents an essential truth about ourselves: we possess an eternal constant within, capable of holding all of life's experiences without becoming a … Continue reading I am the eternal constant that can hold it all, without being victim to any of it.
"Self-awareness is the ability to take an honest look at your life without any attachment to it being right or wrong, good or bad." - Debbie Ford "Take an honest look at yourself!" There’s a lot to unpack here, this statement could be loaded with a lot of judgement. Have these words ever been spoken … Continue reading Take an honest look at yourself!
We all have those moments where emotions feel like a tidal wave, threatening to engulf us. Today’s message from Thich Nhat Hanh suggests a simple, yet powerful way to weather the storm. "Every time you have an energy that needs to be transformed like jealousy or fear, do something to care for this energy, if … Continue reading When you stop and breathe, you have the energy of a mother.
In today’s message Jiddu Krishnamurti reminds us that meditation is not about stopping thoughts, but watching them dance. Getting involved in a battle with your mind only turns into a futile fight with your own brain. Instead, shift your focus. Become the observer, watching the parade of thoughts and feelings rise and fall. "Meditation is … Continue reading It always starts with breath…
Pema Chödrön's words lead us into today's meditation, igniting a spark of liberation within us. Growth, she whispers, isn't a grand escape, but a homecoming - a rediscovery of the infinite wellspring within. "Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It’s about befriending who we are already." - Pema … Continue reading Unveil your inner sky and befriend yourself.
Today's meditation is called "I am the mountain" and I specifically wanted to find a poem about a mountain to share with you. And WOW! I found "The Mountain Poem" by Laura Ding-Edwards. While the poem doesn't exactly reflect the nature of today's meditation, I do feel that it reflects almost everything I stand for. … Continue reading If the mountain seems too big today, then climb a hill instead.
Victor Frankl's most well known message is probably - "In between stimulus and response there is a space. In this space lies our choice, and in this space lies our freedom." While this is true, quotes by themselves are always incomplete and these words make it sound like this space just exists automatically, and it … Continue reading When I can experience the reaction in my body without being overwhelmed, this is when I do have a choice over how I want to respond.
"As events beyond my control unfold. I go within to find peace.” – Renae Sauter "If you truly want the Universe to support you in becoming all you can be; be prepared for having any false supports removed from your life; leaving you standing as the warrior that you are." – Renae Sauter "Instead of … Continue reading Your soul is timeless and not threatened by the momentary fears of your human body.
Letting go... or hearing the words, "just let it go" is one of those disservices we do to ourselves and others while we're trying to be really well meaning. It feels like the right thing to say but we all have our own moments of struggling with our own personal example of not being able … Continue reading Just let it go…
Don't run, stay. Don't turn away, BE here. Our need to run is an old inner message that's trying to find safety, but it's going to run forever until the wiser part of you makes the firm decision "we will run no more". "You can't do anything as long as you are afraid of what … Continue reading Don’t run, stay.
The world around us is in a constant state of change, and if our "being happy" is dependent upon the weather always being the way we like it, then it is likely that we will never actually be happy. If happiness is something that is waiting for you around some distant corner somewhere in the … Continue reading Let your inner-being be your grounding and your guidance.
In biology, the definition of environment is the place where organisms live or occupy. Thus, the environment includes all the elements surrounding the organism. Living organisms constantly interact with their environment and adapt to all environmental conditions in order to survive. Today’s meditation is a recognition of the fact that we all live in an … Continue reading A gem cannot be polished without friction.
A message from today's meditation: Being a living, breathing organism on Earth means that we will be in constant contact with an ever changing environment around us. And what sets us clearly apart from all other organisms is how we have access to a lot more choice in our ability to respond to our environment, … Continue reading First find the calm-clarity within you before choosing how you will respond.
The theme of today's words from Hafez, is the life giving light from the Sun touching the surface of the Earth without asking anything in return. "There was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy … Continue reading Look what happens with a love like that, it lights the whole sky…
Whether it's the thoughts and feelings of your inner-world, or the things taking place in your outer-world, there will always be so much happening over which you have absolutely no control: "I love what I think, and I'm never tempted to believe it. Thoughts are like the wind or the leaves on the trees or … Continue reading The war is over.
A message from today's meditation: -------- I am the mountain - a poem. Within you there is a mountain, immovable whether sun or storm or snow. Your mountain has seen all of the beginnings, it knows that whatever comes will also go. This doesn't mean that you should never act, only that you lose your … Continue reading Are you running about like a frightened ghost?
"The glorification of busy will destroy us. Without space for healing, without time for reflection, without an opportunity to surrender, we risk a complete disconnect from the authentic self. We burn out on the fuels of willfulness, and eventually cannot find our way back to centre. And when we lose contact with our core, we … Continue reading When we are un-centred, we become easy targets.
A message from today's meditation: "Don't mistake the weather of your mind, for the sky of your BEING." - Jeff Foster The original meaning of the word meditation is, "to become familiar with," and it's understandable that grasping exactly what this means can be out of reach for new meditators. I'll try and break it … Continue reading Don’t mistake the weather of your mind, for the sky of your BEING.
"Our mind is like a blue sky. Clouds come and go. We tend to get caught up in the clouds and forget about the sky." - Andy Puddicombe "Remember the blue sky. It may at times be obscured by clouds, but it is always there." - Andy Puddicombe We know this to be true. Whenever … Continue reading There is a deeper part of you that is as timeless as the sun.
We’ve all experienced the kind of storms that life brings. Sometimes the storm is in the world around us and it seems our very existence is threatened - and sometimes the storm is within and it feels like our own being has turned against us, tearing us apart from the inside. Time, experience and wisdom … Continue reading Storms get tired too.
Letting go... or hearing the words, "just let it go" is one of those disservices we do to ourselves and others while meaning really well. It feels like the right thing to say but we all have our own moments of struggling with our own personal example of not being able to let something go … Continue reading How the f#@k do we let go?
