December 4, 2015

ME IN 2013

There is a sentence in the Tao Te Ching: the path forward seems to go back. 

I recently found these pages (below) that I wrote in 23  January 2013 in Los Angeles. As I looked to find pictures of myself during that time, I ran across this picture that I took during a visit to Chicago in mid-February 2013. I lived in Chicago from 1999-2008, and I found it fitting that I returned there as I was embarking on a new path.

I wrote these pages before I started this website on February 3rd. And I believe this visioning ultimately allowed me to channel questions that came to me in March 2015. I turned that collection of questions into a book entitled Meditative Questions (now found on zentaobooks.com)!!

Even then, I was inspired by sages like Lao-tzu and Thich Nhat Hanh. Their wisdom helped to propel me to greater understanding.

I am humbled and thankful for my January 2013 self for being brave enough to embark on such a bold journey.

It is never to late to go boldly where you have only dreamed of going. The path will find you ;)

 

 

image 23 Jan 2013 personal notes before starting website pt2 2013 Thay

 

 

<3

 

Photo source: My camera. Photographing my reflection on the Cloud Gate statue in Chicago, February 13, 2013.

December 4, 2015

PARTICIPATE IN YOUR OWN UNFOLDING

In 25 magical minutes, Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith (Agape International Center in the City of Angels) describes the four stages of spiritual unfoldment:

1. Victimhood — where you are not touching reality, but rather you’re touching your thoughts about reality

2. Manifestation of visioning — where you do not describe what you see, you see what you describe

3. Being a CHANNEL — we are surrendering to the potential that is within our own soul that wants to unfold

4. Being ONE with the Presence — where the sense of separation dissolves

Around the 15 minute mark, he also describes the wave as a unique manifestation of the ocean which hit the core of the Meditative Question: “Is the wave a part of the ocean?” ;)

EMBRACE FORGIVENESS

Importantly, Michael discusses how we must embrace forgiveness (16:40 mark), as all forgiveness is self-forgiveness. He shares, “If I am hanging on to resentment, if I’m hanging on to animosity, if I’m hanging on to hate…those thoughts are replicating themselves according to that frequency….and I am hanging on to that experience long after it has gone. AND the lack of forgiveness is one of the highest forms of self-abuse because I’m saying to the Universe, ‘Hit me again! Bring this experience again…I want more of this!’

So [by] hanging-on to the unforgiveness I’m abusing myself. I’m not hurting any individuals that may have said something bad about me or done something destructively. All that I’m doing is constantly circulating through my mind — ultimately my emotional body, my mental body, and my physical body  — toxic chemicals that are a direct result of those particular thoughts. I am abusing myself. So in order to move out of victimhood, we embrace forgiveness. And not just one time. We’re talking about a way of life…every single night perhaps as you go to bed, you scan your life and you begin to notice if there is any animosity or resentment that has begun to seep in. And you become to dissolve it through your inner act of forgiveness so that you can go to bed and wake up clean…so that you, as a pristine expression of the Infinite, are not pulling around your past like a carcass. You are stepping into the awareness of every single day. This is an ADVENTURE! This incarnation is a Super Soul Session!”

As we move forward through the stages, we ultimately give up the sense of separation from Life, Love, and God. The Presence is HERE. And YOU get to participate in your own unfolding. So just ask yourself, how can I bring Heaven to Earth every single day?  <3

I can only encourage you to view this incredible video. The rest is up to you ;)

 

Love,

sage signature1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Oprah Super Soul Sessions. Thank you Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith for sharing this beautiful message. I am thankful to be a part of the Agape community…and what an honor it is to have Meditative Questions as a part of the Alice’s Quiet Mind Bookstore at Agape! <3

December 3, 2015

FOR A TABLE TO EXIST

For a table to exist, we need wood, a carpenter, time, skillfulness, and many other causes. And each of these causes needs other causes in order to be.

The wood needs the forest, the sunshine, the rain, and so on. The carpenter needs his parents, breakfast, fresh air, and so on. And each of these things, in turn, has to be brought about by other conditions.

If we continue to look in this way, we’ll see that nothing has been left out; everything in the cosmos has come together to bring us this table. Looking deeply at the sunshine, the leaves of the tree, and the clouds, we can see the table. The one can be seen in the all; and the all can be seen in the one.

-Thich Nhat Hanh

 

 

Photo source: Coffee table by Kino Guerin

November 27, 2015

GRATITUDE

When I think of gratitude, I’m reminded of this story:

There was once a man with one eye who was quite depressed about having only one eye. As he walked down the road, lamenting about his lot in life, he ran across the man with no eyes. 

The man with one eye was filled with gratitude for his one eye. How lucky he was to be able to see at all! He continued down the road with pep in his step and a smile on his face. But then he ran into another man with two perfect eyes.

Immediately his pace slowed, and he was thrown into depression again. How could he be celebrating his one eye when this man had two beautiful eyes? 

—

This story illustrates why we can never be fully happy when we compare. When you compare, there is always someone who has less than you. It can be easier to feel grateful when you realize that you have more. However, there is always someone who has more than you. This comparison can cause feelings of discontent — and even failure — that you have not achieved what they have achieved.

But when you are content with what you have, it does not matter what others have. When you are overflowing with gratitude, you can be happy for the success others experience and help those in need. You are not comparing, you are living in gratitude for all that you’ve been blessed to have.

Another side effect of gratitude is that you attract more of what you are thankful for. So if you are thankful for your good health, you attract more good health. The same true for wealth. Similarly, when you express your gratitude and love for others, you strengthen those relationships.

I’ve always loved this quote from Oprah: “Be thankful for what you have, you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”

—

Starting a daily gratitude practice is a very beneficial habit. One suggestion is to begin a gratitude journal. By simply recording three things everyday that you are thankful for, you can positively impact your health and wellness.

By being thankful for what we have, we increase our capacity to receive more.

 

Photo source: Pillow of prayers by Sankar Sridhar

November 18, 2015

EXPECTATIONS

There is a question in my book, Meditative Questions, that always makes me think:

What is the source of your unhappiness?

Is it your expectations?

I think this is a difficult question to face. If we view it from the perspective of our expectations about other people, it can be very easy to blame other people for our feelings. ‘She made me mad’, ‘he hurt my feelings’, and ‘they don’t care about me’ are different ways that this might be communicated.  But is that really how it works? Is that person causing you to feel a certain way…or are you choosing to feel that way? 

When we impose expectations on other people, we are establishing our baseline for what needs to happen to make us happy. We shift the blame of our reactions from ourselves to someone else. We put other people in charge of making us happy. (And we stop caring about how our reactions might effect someone else.)

But happiness is and always will be an inside job. No one can make us feel unhappy without our consent. 

When we awaken to the reality that we must take responsibility for our own happiness, we stop basing our happiness on the expectations we have of other people.  And we stop viewing the world based on our definition of right and wrong. We share love regardless of the choices other people make. Because we understand that we are love.

Namaste.

Photo source: Mexico, my mobile phone :)

November 8, 2015

YOGA CLASS

I had not been to a yoga class in years before yesterday…I’m more of a meditator ;) I think yoga is a beautiful practice, however I find that the studios have the capacity to overheat me! Nonetheless, a friend kindly invited me to attend his class so I went for it.

Before the class began, I asked a couple of ladies that were there where I might find a mat. In socks, I walked to the area they indicated. As I was walking back, I stepped on a few mats to avoid interrupting their conversation. One of the ladies politely, but with a slight trace of annoyance, said, “You don’t step on other people’s mats. It’s yoga etiquette.” I replied, with a smile, saying, “Oh, thank you. It has been a few years since I was in a class.”

But the question that came to my heart was, “How enlightened can one really be if one is irritated by others walking on their mat…in socks?”  It was a good lesson for me to consider during the practice. ;)

It was a lovely class!

 

Namaste.

 

Photo source: Goddess Meditating

 

November 3, 2015

CHANGE IS CHALLENGING

“Change is challenging.” – L.E.E.

It is very easy to get “stuck” in familiar routines. We may stay in a job that negatively impacts our health or carry on in a relationship that is a constant struggle because we convince ourselves that the current situation is better than the (imagined worse) alternative.

Change can be scary when we imagine how things can get worse. But what about considering how they can be better?  What if you performed work that fulfilled your sense of purpose and had a relationship that was supportive and nurturing?

I believe that we are subconsciously taught not to expect too much from life. Our self limiting beliefs can place us in a prison of our own making. We don’t feel that we can become free. The reality is that we are always one decision away from freedom. The possibilities for our lives are limitless.

The best part about change is that if the new experience quite what we expected, we change change again!

Photo source: Nirvana by Francesco Riccardo Iamcomino (photo taken in Iceland)

October 27, 2015

PAY NO ATTENTION

“When your mind is always completely empty you will have achieved purity. But don’t think about it or you’ll lose it. If you fall into a state of nonpurity again, however, simply pay no attention to it and you will be free once more.”

-Zen teaching

One of the key beliefs behind my book, Meditative Questions, is that one’s thoughts are both the reason for one’s pain…but also the key to one’s liberation. So often, we do not even question our thoughts. We may even amplify our anxiety by worrying about things that may never happen.

The key is always to empty ourselves and pay no attention to these fleeting thoughts and worries. For they are illusions.

Photo source: Empty bowl. Emptiness is what we use.

October 19, 2015

THE ONLY REALITY IS NOW

A Japanese warrior was captured by his enemies and thrown into prison.

That night he was unable to sleep because he feared that the next day he would be interrogated, tortured, and executed.

Then the words of his Zen master came to him, “Tomorrow is not real. It is an illusion. The only reality is now.”

Heeding these words, the warrior became peaceful and fell asleep.

Photo source: Araidne sleeping

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