Category Archives: Contemplation, Meditation, and Prayer

Meditation, contemplation, prayer and reflection. Lasára Allen’s articles will help you access deeper levels of spiritual awakening, opening, and awareness.

My Grandfather’s Flag – In Memoriam

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Father and daughter
This memorial day, I hope you’ll take a moment to remember, to pray for, all those who have fallen in the lines of fire – not just “our” men and boys, wives and daughters, but all of those who have fallen, everywhere around the world.

In Memoriam

Written Memorial Day, 2009

My mother grew up 
with photos 
of a dapper dresser
 and memories of
 comedy acts, shared songs of Scotland, her dream visitations 
the strongest vestiges
 of the man she called Daddy. My grandfather, George, died in World War II when my mother was seven.

A Scotsman by birth,
 and American by the choice
 of parents looking for a better life
, George came to this country at seven
; bright red curls
 and a brogue 
that – 
from what I understand 
- he never lost.

At a young age, with two children and a wife at home, every inch an American patriot, George became a tank-gunner
 fighting on the right side
 of the “good war.”

Many years later 
on the Peace March 
for Global Nuclear Disarmament my mother
 was mysteriously
 tracked down 
after decades of waiting 
for confirmation
 and some acknowledgment of her
 heinous
 loss

. She was given a purple heart 
in recognition of the red blood
 her father, the Scotsman, spilled in the name of America, the land he now called
 home.

My mother’s mother
 was a woman I called Grandma, 
but only met a few times

. After the death of George, the grandfather I never met, my grandmother never fell in love again
.

My grandfather burned to death
, the tank he manned
 becoming it’s own
 crematorium. There wasn’t even a body to send home.

Folded flag

Folded Flag

One Folded Flag

Last year my grandmother died
and my mother received a box
unceremonious cardboard, innocuous
holding her father’s 
only remains -

an artfully folded flag
a clan tartan and crest
a heart on a purple ribbon
a pile of letters home.

We touched the flag,
hand sewn, 
perfect
folded just that way 
since 1944

and prayed silently
tears welling.

Somewhere tonight,
a seven year old girl
awaits the return of her daddy
 from foreign soil

Or, in a land half a world away
bombs blasting in the distance
she
awaits, awaits.

May he return whole.

Let no more daughters wait 
a lifetime
for a flag
a medal on a purple ribbon
a pile of letters.

May no more widows mourn
alone and brittle
, hopelessly waiting
sitting 
for 75 years
at a window she knows will never be filled
with the endlessly dreamed of
return.

Fasting Against Hunger – at elephant

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“Day five of water-only fasting. No food at all since Friday night. And I’m not the only one. Hundreds of thousands of faith leaders, secular leaders, workers’ rights activist, and poor folks nation-wide are fasting too. I happen to fall into more than one of those categories.

And still the collective silence is deafening. Too many people think the budget crisis has nothing to do with them.  Or maybe the assumption is that it’s too hard to understand. Or perhaps everyone is experiencing “feeling fatigue”; too much global change, too fast, to pay attention anymore.

If you think the cuts proposed by the Republican-controlled house doesn’t matter, think again. Allow me to offer you a thumbnail view of the reasons YOU should give a damn – and perhaps fast against hunger, too:

Have you ever depended on governmental programs for subsidization (WIC, food stamps, free or subsidized health care – medicare, medicaid, state governmental health insurance, free clinics, immunization clinics, free or subsidized STI tests or treatment…) or known anyone who has? Have you ever had an abortion? Gotten free or subsidized childcare?”

READ MORE AT ELEPHANTJOURNAL.COM

Lent: A How-To for Mystics

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(Reprinted from Elephant Journal. First publication 3/8/11.)

I am not, nor have I ever been, your typical Christian. Most wouldn’t even call me Christian, though I would say my spiritual reality is very catholic (small “c” intentional) and I do have my own special relationship with Christ.

I am in no way claiming to be your spiritual adviser in these things. As a Mystic, you most likely draw from many faiths as I do, finding merit in each. Religion is a veil gracing the heart of what prayer and spiritual practice offer. (You say thief, I say liberator!)

As a Mystic you are also your own Priest, and therefore vested with the power to administer your own sacramentals. (I say Mystic, you say heretic!)

As with any spiritual under taking, intention is everything. So in choosing the way you want to observe Lent, remember that it’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. In other words, it’s not about “making it to Easter”, it’s about learning from the experience.

1. Basics of Lent: Lent is the 40-day period between Ash Wednesday (in this case, March 9) and Holy Thursday. Holy Thursday is the end of Lent, and the beginning of the three holy days of Easter.

2. Three Pillars: There are three pillars of Lent in traditional Catholicism. The pillars are fasting, prayer, and alms-giving. The basic premise of these spiritual undertakings

a. Fasting isn’t really about not eating, it’s about what you learn from not eating, or how you allow not eating to alter your perception. It can also be about allowing yourself temporary liberation from the cycle of eat-or-be-eaten, getting really high on just your breath, or allowing yourself the space to allow for worship to become a higher order of priority than bodily needs.

Spiritual fasting is a varied experience. People do it for all kinds of reasons, and get all kinds of results. I recommend that as you fast, you noticing your hunger. Experience your hunger as the hunger of that Rumi had for conversation with Shamz. That Teresa of Avila had for Christ.

b. Prayer is an adjunct to spiritual fasting that makes the whole more than the sum of its parts. When the energy of hunger is turned to a fevered devotion, prayer becomes a love song to God.

c. Alms-giving is a way to make the concept of sacrifice foundational and interactive. What are you willing to give up in order to benefit the lives of those around you? In your chosen hunger are you willing to feed with your food those who don’t choose hunger? Are you willing to offer your time, energy and intention to putting the words “love your neighbor” into action?

3. How-To, for the Mystic:

a. Ash Wednesday: “Remember, O man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.” —Genesis 3:19.

Ash Wednesday is the day when you see Catholics walking around with ash crosses on their foreheads. You, as your own Priest, will want to prepare a mixture of ash and water or oil. The ash can be from a piece of paper with a “sin” you’d like to eradicate written on it.

Once cool take the ash, make the paste, and paint a cross on your forehead with the ash, recognizing your willingness to bow before the Will of the power greater than yourself.

b. Build Your Lent: How much do you want to fast? What do you want to abstain from? What are you willing to tithe or offer up?Will you fast with water only? Bread and water? One single meal? Any of these options, or even less stringent undertakings such as eating lightly, forgoing meat, or forgoing other foods you enjoy. Or even foods you just eat habitually.

How do you want to enact the teachings of Christ?

This is not about the sacrifice that Christ made, but about the sacrifices you are willing to make in order to become more Christ-like. What actions can you surrender, and what actions can you commit to that will allow the light of Christ to flourish within you?

c. Holy Thursday, aka Thursday of Mysteries. Now it’s about Christ. This is a commemoration of the Last Supper.

After the last super was that night under the olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane. “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Reflect upon the Sacrifice that Christ was facing. What cup of poison are you shying away from? Will you take the cup, or will you flee?

Spend this night in reflection of what’s being asked of you by God.

d. Holy Friday is a commemoration of the crucifixion of Christ. Traditionally this is a day of fasting and mourning. If you really want to go for it you could spend Friday dressed in sack-cloth and covered in ashes, or taking a more direct and experiential connection with the Passion of the Christ, spend a in a cave wrapped in nothing but a shroud.

e. The Easter Vigil begins Saturday evening. You may take Saturday as another fasting day, clearing the ash and dust from your soul, until evening which is the officially the beginning of Holy Sunday, or…

f. Resurrection Day! You’ve made it! Don’t you feel great? What have you been reborn to, aside from the love of Christ? Or, in addition to it? Eat, drink, and be merry, bathed in the Light of Love and Rebirth!

I hope you have enjoyed your journey through this Mystic’s guide to Lent. May it provide good food – and fast – for thought. Amen.

Lent: A How-To for Mystics at Elephant.

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Read my latest at Elephant Journal, Lent; A How-To for Mystics, TODAY!

Excerpt:

I am not, nor have I ever been, your typical Christian. Most wouldn’t even call me Christian, though I would say my spiritual reality is very catholic (small “c” intentional) and I do have my own special relationship with Christ.

I am in no way claiming to be your spiritual adviser in these things. As a Mystic, you most likely draw from many faiths as I do, finding merit in each. Religion is a veil gracing the heart of what prayer and spiritual practice offer. (You say thief, I say liberator!)

As a Mystic you are also your own Priest, and therefore vested with the power to administer your own sacramentals. (I say Mystic, you say heretic!)

As with any spiritual under taking, intention is everything. So in choosing the way you want to observe Lent, remember that it’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. In other words, it’s not about “making it to Easter”, it’s about learning from the experience.

Read the rest NOW at Elephant! Enjoy, and peace be with you.

The Gift of Recognition

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Altruistic Fostering: http://balneus.wordpress.com/2010/01/30/chimps-altruism-and-helping-with-the-kids-of-others/

This week in my teleclass series, A Course in Deep Acceptance, we’re working on the theme of “Family”. Here I’ll share one of the exercises from the course materials with you.

The Gift of Recognition

Sometimes when I’m in the middle of a project it’s hard to hear a request for my attention as anything other than a distraction. And the less I pay attention, the bigger my child’s need gets for a moment of connection.

Soon, the chant of “mom! Mom! MOm! MOM!” begins, and my edge starts rising.

The energy shifts the moment that I remember this is an opportunity for presence and a chance for a moment of divine interaction. All I need to do is come present in love.

Today, I invite you to consciously enter into interaction as a moment-to-moment opportunity for the experience of pure presence. Bring your whole self into your heart, and connect from there.

Recognize the inherent wholeness, integrity, perfection in your loved ones, in strangers, in yourself. Make “love” a verb.

Want more? Read The Devotion of Presence and The Presence of Devotion; Dilemmas of a Householder.

In Honor of Dr. King – Lest We Forget

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On this day, and everyday, let us remember those who have gone before us, engaged in the ongoing struggle for recognition of the rights of all. Let us not forget the strides that have been made through applied inspiration, engaged activism, and movement toward the Greatest Dreams. And, let us not shy away from the miles ahead of us as we walk, march, and climb resolutely toward a tomorrow as shinning as the promise of our Dreams.

*`*`*`*

I Have a Dream

Martin Luther King, Jr., Washington, DC, August 28, 1963

Mr. Fingers – Can You Feel It – Martin Luther King Mix

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only”. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

It’s never the same river twice.

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Winter Solstice brought 2010 to a powerful close with a solstice/full moon/eclipse, and 2011 began with another astrological event that was intense. And while I don’t put store in the “determinist” theories of astrology, I do find many models and modes of exploration worth incorporating into my personal practice and path.

So, the full moon/lunar eclipse end of 2011 served as the beginning of a reintroduction of sitting meditation into my practice. And the full moon/solar eclipse brought me to a “rear-view mirror” look at my forward momentum.

An astrologer friend recommended that I look back about twenty years to see what the repeating pattern was, and I found a few. But the biggest one had, and has, to do with developing my new telecourse, A Course in Deep Acceptance.

Twenty years ago I was at Sonoma State University. During the spring semester of ’91, I did an independent project as two of my course credits. The project was the creation of a training I called Toward Mindful Action. Interestingly, but not really surprisingly, this training held many of the same strands as I am weaving into the course materials for Deep Acceptance.

Finding that the house you’re building is still going up on the same foundational beliefs you’ve always held is a true reward. I’m grateful to the astrological portents for drawing my attention to the right journal, at the right moment, that brought me back to the core of it. Presence.

Sometimes the graceful spiral nature of development seems so clear; here I am, twenty years later, stepping my foot into the river – except that it’s never the same river twice. The water changes, the sand moves, the banks shift.

Then we awaken to the moment, and there is no river.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Today (Jan 5, 2011) is the last day of registration for this course-cycle.

My final Sexy Witch course is full, though there are 2 possibles – so a seat MAY open – put yourself on my waiting list.

A Course in Deep Acceptance has a beautiful crew, and there are a few seats open. I’m psyched working with the class materials, and look forward to sharing it with YOU!

Get in touch ASAP to get on board. ♥

ms.allen@lasaraallen.com

Looking Forward to 2011!

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Looking Forward to 2011!

(Instead of Resolutions, Try Dedications, Intentions, and WHY NOTs Instead.)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Dedications:

Self:

  • To keep working toward my best over-all health:
    • Exercise.
    • Diet.
    • Rest and Relaxation.
    • Meditation.
    • Mental health hygiene.
    • To listen to my body.
  • To be gentle with myself.
  • To continue deepening my spiritual practice.
  • To continue falling more and more into alignment with my soul/sole purpose.
  • To prioritize my creative and professional life, in balance with personal and familial care.
  • To welcome the big 4 – 0 with open arms!
  • To continue teaching, writing, and doing my work in the world.

Family:

  • To HAVE FUN together!
  • To spend regular, dedicated quality time with my man.
  • To spend regular, dedicated quality time with each of my girls.
  • To spend quality time with my girls, as a unit of three.
  • To create more intentional, shared family time.
  • To do fun fitness things together.
  • To socialize more as a family.
  • To remember to give gifts of time, words, touch, things, and love to my loved ones.
  • To celebrate all the important family holidays, commemorations, anniversaries, and notable events with mindfulness, joy, and non-attachment.

Community:

  • To continue with my grateful giving projects – and to share that experience with others, including family and friends.
    • Blanket, socks, and jacket drive.
    • Project Pizza
    • ???
  • To continue finding and fostering new friendships.
  • To continue renewing and deepening relationships with old friends.
  • To make space for social time, and follow through with intentionality.

Intentions:

  • To take life less seriously, and have more ease.
  • To continue embracing “balanced” and “normal” as positives in my personal experience.
  • To allow my ‘platform’ to shift into this alignment, with me.
  • To welcome even more wealth, and more joy and ease in the having and sharing of it.
  • To reintroduce daily yoga practice into my life.
  • To rededicate myself to sitting meditation practice.
  • To share yoga and meditation with my kids and man more.
  • To create spaces for community to gather for fun and enrichment.
  • To re-introduce teaching and facilitating face-to-face in my work.
  • To spend more time taking little trips with the Mr., and with the family.
  • To finally complete a new book.

Why Not???:

  • Plan and budget for me and the Mr.’s belated honeymoon?
  • Finally get certified as a yoga instructor?
  • Get certified as a Zumba! teacher?
  • Pitch some of the big-name websites, like Huffington Post, Psychology Today…?

Thank you for being part of my circle, and witnessing me on the path. And thank you for allowing me to do the same for you. (Please post some of your dedications in the comments section below!)

May the coming year bring all of our sweetest dreams to flower and fruit. Peace, love, health, and wealth to you in this new year of a new decade!
-Lasara

A New – Or POST – New Year’s Tradition; Give Up Resolutions!

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— It’s Never Too Late to Try Dedications, Intentions, and WHY NOTs!

by Lasára Allen, www.LasaraAllen.com

Are you planning on making any resolutions for the coming year?

Many of us make New Year’s resolutions – and then fail. A whopping 88% of well-meaning New Year’s revelers will “fail” in achieving the resolutions they set out as a goal at 12:01 AM, January 1st.

Though I have almost always met with success in my new year’s resolutions, I think resolutions come from a somewhat limited, and limiting, perspective. So instead of resolutions his year, I’ve chosen to make lists of Dedications, Intentions and WHY NOTs.

But always with any commitment I make, New Year’s or otherwise, I include one cautionary caveat, which I encourage you to adopt as well; remember that while any marker – New Year’s day, the new moon, an anniversary, or your birthday – can serve as an activator for a commitment, every breath is a chance for a new choice.

When you “fall short” of a commitment, offer yourself compassion instead of self-denigration. Gratitude for a lesson learned instead of self-blame.

It helps me to think of my dedications, intentions, and wishes (my WHY NOT list) as practices. For me, practice means that though I’m not perfect at it (that’s why it’s called practice, right?), I can grow more committed to my practice every day, or even every moment.

“I can grow more committed to my practice every moment.” I find this a great phrase, prayer, or mantra to remember as needed.

In the list structure I’ve designed, each list category has a descending, or higher to lower, level of commitment. 1: Dedications; 2: Intentions; 3; The “WHY NOT?” List.

Here’s a quick, easy guide on how to build these lists, and a few examples per category.

List One; Dedications:

The Mirriam-Webster Dictionary offers four definitions for the word dedication.

1 : an act or rite of dedicating to a divine being or to a sacred use, 2 : a devoting or setting aside for a particular purpose, 3 : a name and often a message prefixed to a literary, musical, or artistic production in tribute to a person or cause, 4 : self-sacrificing devotion <her dedication to the cause>, 5 : a ceremony to mark the official completion or opening of something…

I think all of these definitions have relevance here. Dedications are like vows that I’m making with God, my family, my community, the flow of life in general. And my life in specific. Of the three lists described here, this one carries the highest level of commitment.

In building this list think of the things you truly are committed to enacting in your everyday life. Consider the ways you want your life to shift, the relationships you will reconfigure, the people you are responsible for or to.

Then set pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, as case may be), and get writing. You can write out as many or as few as feels right. If your list gets too long, you can number each item by level of importance or resonance, and cut the ones that rank lowest.

Here are a few examples:

* To recognize that every area of my practice is an act of dedication to the liberation of all sentient beings pervading time and space.
* To recognize that mindfully and selflessly being of service to my husband, my children, my family, my friends, and my community is an inherent part of my spiritual practice, and to treat it as such. And, to remember that this is also a practice that engenders the attitudes of enlightenment that will lead eventually to the liberation of all beings.
* To continue following the path that my practices open for me.
* To build a circle of similarly minded friends in my community, and to actively commit to this as a practice of faith, desire, and love.
* To continue trusting that God has a plan for me that is greater than I can see, and that everyday I’m fulfilling that plan by living my life in accordance with my True Will, and with as much consciousness as I am capable of achieving.

List Two; Intentions

Mirriam-Webster has six definitions of the word intention. Of the six, I feel that the following five are all interestingly relevant in this case.

1 : a determination to act in a certain way : resolve, 2 : import, significance, 3 a : what one intends to do or bring about b : the object for which a prayer, mass, or pious act is offered, 4 : a process or manner of healing of incised wounds, 5 : concept; especially : a concept considered as the product of attention directed to an object of knowledge…

And here’s the etymology, thanks to etymonline.com;

intend c.1300, “direct one’s attention to,” from O.Fr. intendre “to direct one’s attention,” from L. intenderein- “toward” + tendere “to stretch” (see tenet). Sense of “have as a plan” (1390) was present in Latin. A Gmc. word for this was ettle, from O.N. ætla “to think, conjecture, propose,” from P.Gmc. *ahta “consideration, attention” (cf. O.E. eaht, Ger. acht). …

Intentions are thoughts, experiences and occurrences that you are casting forward into your future. Intentions may not take as much day-to-day attention, or may not be as interactive with others in your life. Whatever they are, for me they often have a lot to do with feeling-states and the outcomes of them.

Some examples of Intentions list items:

* To allow perfect abundance to enter into and flow in my life, and to have less attachment about how that flow occurs. To trust that God knows best how to deliver this abundance.
* To follow the attraction and direction of my heart with grace, trust, and joy.
* To invest in and develop forgiveness for myself and the harm that occurred in my past.
* More and more, to allow the support I so deeply desire.
* To take what I have learned of trust, honesty, and openness from my husband and begin generalizing it to the rest of the world.

List 3; The “WHY NOT?” List:

I got the idea for a WHY NOT list from Self Magazine actually. I thought it sounded like a great idea – to give myself the chance to dream big, and think outside the daily details of family, plans, life, family, service, love, did I mention family?

WHY NOT take a few minutes and get very self-focused?If you could do anything, what would it be? And remember, anything you truly desire, you most likely can pull off.

In my life I have found so much inspiration from people who have come up against challenges and beat the odds; a man with a prosthetic leg finishing a marathon in just over five hours. My dad being diagnosed with cancer and, instead of succumbing, actually choosing to live for the first time in his life. My sister, an amazing woman summited Mount Everest in her mid-40s.

This resilience and willingness to strive relies so much on a WHY NOT? attitude.

Even if you don’t complete all of them, just the willingness to reach for your WHY NOTs guarantees that you’ll have a great time in the coming year, and beyond.

Some of my WHY NOTs:

* Work toward my best comprehensive health in my life.
* Explore new religions. (Catholicism, traditional Tantra, deeper into Tibetan Buddhism and Tantric teachings and ritual.)
* Explore excavation of darkness and shadow, in the light.
* Go dancing.
* Take a dance class.
* Take a voice class

And, my final commitment; to view these lists at least once every three months, and mark off the things that actually have a completion point, and put stars next to the things I’m doing well with that are paths without destinations.

An often suggested tip that will help you keep to your commitments is the creation of an accountability system. This may be a one-on-one buddy system, a group, or even a public declaration with sceduled check in days. Share your Dedications, Intentions, and WHAT IFs with people who care, people who believe in you, people who will support you in your desired growth. And you can offer the same support back.

If you feel brave, you can allow this page to be part of YOUR accountability system. Feel free to post some (or all) of your Dedications, Intentions, and WHAT IFs in the comments section below.

With wishes of joy, abundance, and greatest gratitude, a very heartfelt prayer for a New Year that is beyond your sweetest dreams, from my heart to yours.

New Year’s Lazer Coaching Sessions – Start the New Year with focus and direction! * Mind, Body, Spirit Program – Three Week Program that will get your started on your path for 2011

Islamic and Sufi Mystical, Metaphysical, and Religious Quotes

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In honor of Ramadan, 2010

In the name of Allah, most beneficent, most merciful.

“The foremost in religion is the acknowledgement of Him,
the perfection of acknowledging Him is to testify Him,
the perfection of testifying Him is to believe in His Oneness,
the perfection of believing in His Oneness is to regard Him Pure,
and the perfection of His purity is to deny Him attributes,
because every attribute is a proof that it is different from that to which it is attributed and everything to which something is attributed is different from the attribute.

Thus whoever attaches attributes to [God] recognizes His like,
and who recognizes His like regards Him two;
and who regards Him two recognizes parts for Him;
and who recognizes parts for Him mistook Him;
and who mistook Him pointed at Him;
and who pointed at Him admitted limitations for Him;
and who admitted limitations for Him numbered Him.

Whoever said in what is He, held that He is contained;
and whoever said on what is He held He is not on something else.
He is a Being, but not through phenomenon of coming into being.
He exists, but not from non-existence.
He is with everything but not in physical nearness.
He is different from everything but not in physical separation.
He acts but without connotation of movements and instruments.
He sees even when there is none to be looked at from among His creation.
He is only One, such that there is none with whom He may keep company or whom He may miss in his absence.”
- The Oneness of God, according to ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (of the House of the Prophet, peace be upon his soul.)

“I testify that there is no Deity [Lord] except the sole and matchless Allah [God]. And the testification of the singleness of Allah is a word that Allah has declared sincerity (as) its reality, and made the hearts the centre of its contact and union. And has made the specifications and research of the oneness of Allah’s station obvious and evident in the light of meditation. The Allah Who can not be seen by the eyes and tongues are unable and baffled to describe His virtues and attributes. And the intelligence and apprehension of man is helpless and destitute from the imagination of his how ness.”
- Fatima bint Muhammad (Peace be upon her soul.)

“In this journey the seeker reacheth a stage wherein he seeth all created things wandering distracted in search of the Friend. How many a Jacob will he see, hunting after his Joseph; he will behold many a lover, hasting to seek the Beloved, he will witness a world of desiring ones searching after the One Desired. At every moment he findeth a weighty matter, in every hour he becometh aware of a mystery; for he hath taken his heart away from both worlds, and set out for the Ka’bih of the Beloved. At every step, aid from the Invisible Realm will attend him and the heat of his search will grow.
One must judge of search by the standard of the Majnun of Love.* It is related that one day they came upon Majnun sifting the dust, and his tears flowing down. They said, “What doest thou?” He said, “I seek for Layli.” They cried, “Alas for thee! Layli is of pure spirit, and thou seekest her in the dust!” He said, “I seek her everywhere; haply somewhere I shall find her.”
Yea, although to the wise it be shameful to seek the Lord of Lords in the dust, yet this betokeneth intense ardor in searching. “Whoso seeketh out a thing with zeal shall find it.”

(Editor’s note: Literally, Majnun means insane. This is the title of the most celebrated lover of ancient Persian and Arabian lore, whose name was Qays ibn al-Mulawwah. The beloved of Qays was Layli, daughter of an Arabian prince. When Qays was denied Layli’s hand in marriage, he was driven mad by his devotion. Symbolizing true human love bordering on the divine, the story of Layli (or Layla) and Majnun has been made the theme of many a Persian romantic poem, particularly that of Nizami, written in 1188-1189 A.D.)

- Excerpted from The Seven Valleys, by Baha’u'llah.

“O My Brother! A pure heart is as a mirror; cleanse it with the burnish of love and severance from all save God, that the true sun may shine within it and the eternal morning dawn. Then wilt thou clearly see the meaning of “Neither doth My earth nor My heaven contain Me, but the heart of My faithful servant containeth Me.” And thou wilt take up thy life in thine hand, and with infinite longing cast it before the new Beloved One.”

- Excerpted from The Seven Valleys, by Baha’u'llah.

“My heart has become capable of every form; it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks, and a temple for idols and the pilgrim’s Ka’ba, and the tablets of the Torah and the book of the Koran. I follow the religion of Love: whatever way Love’s camels take, that is my religion and my faith.”
- Ibn al-Arabi

Love is a veil betwixt the lover and the loved one;
More than this I am not permitted to tell.
- Jalal-ud-Din Rumi

Tonglen Meditation as Self-Healing

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Tonglen meditation is a simple practice of transmutation. It’s the process of breathing in “dirty” energy, thoughts, or feelings, and releasing them with compassionate non-attachment as pure light.

As opposed to the idea of breathing peace and calm into the body and mind, in tonglen we breathe in pain and suffering (dukkha) and transform it into peacefulness through non-attachment.

Tonglen is a world-healing practice. But when applied to the self, tonglen can have nothing short of miraculous healing effects.

When in pain, this form of meditation may seem like a counter-intuitive process. To breathe in your pain may feel like the last thing you want to do. Instead of breathing in that pain or suffering, it may feel more natural to push it away, stifle it, ignore it, or resist it.

But resistance is attachment, and the more resistance grows, the more the suffering you’re trying to avoid does too.

As a method of self-healing, over time the practice of tonglen can become an – if not the – automatic response to stress, anger, a bad mood, or general funk.

In Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) there’s a tool called anchoring. An anchor is a link that is created either causally (naturally, or out of habit) or intentionally between an object and a state of emotion or consciousness, or between one state and another state.

Conscious, intentional anchoring can create the induction of a more positive state from a negative one, or it can be used as a way to remind you of tools that can help to transform that negative state.

In the context of application of tonglen as a self-healing practice, any negative emotion can be an anchor that will remind you to use breath to transform difficult emotions into pure compassionate release.

How To:
1. Notice your suffering. Allow this to be a reminder that you can release that suffering through practice.
2. Still or center yourself for a moment. With a breath or two, find a calm place in your experience of the moment.
3. Notice the negative energy (dukkha) as a cloud around your physical body.
4. With your breath, draw that cloud of suffering into your body.
5. Holding your breath in your chest for a moment, center yourself in non-attachment, and allow the suffering to transform into peace.
6. Release your breath as an exhalation of peace and clarity.
7. Repeat for as long as needed to clear your suffering.
Any practice of tonglen meditation is healing the whole. In the healing of the suffering of self is the healing of the world.

There is no self, and there is no other. As one of the innumerable sentient beings pervading time and space, the work you do to free yourself form your own attachment is work toward the liberation of all.

As you clear the skandas, aggregates, becloudings, the veils of illusion in your own life, the healing you create in your heart is truly the transmutation of the suffering of all beings.

I Love You – A Daily Practice

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As you move through your life today, think “I love you” to everything and everyone, ALL THE TIME! Or at least whenever you remember to. Most importantly, think “I LOVE YOU!” when you are feeling sad, angry, separate from another, or from source, or alone. Don’t forget that YOU are someone; think “I love you” to yourself, too!

18 Rules for Living

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Often referred to as “Dalai Lama’s 18 rules for living”, this piece of writing does not actually originate with the Dalai Lama. Regardless, it’s a great piece of writing, with many important reminders. I needed some of them badly today, and thought you might, too. Enjoy. I hope this list provides some sweet upliftment for you.

  1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
  2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
  3. Follow the three Rs:
    1. Respect for self
    2. Respect for others
    3. Responsibility for all your actions.
  4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
  5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
  6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
  7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
  8. Spend some time alone every day.
  9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
  10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
  11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
  12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
  13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
  14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
  15. Be gentle with the earth.
  16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
  17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
  18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

Breathing for the Liberation of All Beings

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For the first day in this 21 day experiment, I am not feeling overly inspired to write. As another writer taking part in the experiment asked this morning, “where do I start?” I answered; “Start where you are! Trite, but still good advice. :-) ”

And here I am. Stuck.

Over the past few days I have poured my very self out onto the page…and now, stillness. Quiet. It’s kind of a soothing quiet; the calm after the storm sort of quiet. You know it’s not going to last forever. But it’s that moment of grace.

Quiet is not always an easy place to sit. Especially when seeking it. Like when ass hits cushion, ready for meditation practice. Then quiet is not so easy.

Speaking of meditation practice, of sitting practice in particular, I haven’t been doing it. For over a year I have not been doing sitting meditation.

I haven’t been avoiding it because it’s too hard. I’ve been avoiding it because it’s too easy. Not too easy to find the simple quiet – too easy to find that ecstatic, expansive quiet. The quiet where light comes alive, slithers up my spine, blows the top off my head. And I ignite is ecstasy and entasy, involution and expansion both the same, that state of perfect beingness, where I “touch the face of god”, and then dissolve into it. I say, “touch the face of god” in quotations because in that sort of quiet, that ringing singing humming silence, there is no face, there is no god, there is not I to touch it.

In other words, I get to high. And in my world too high can lead to happy which, in other words, translates to just a little taste of mania.

It sucks to be afraid of mergence with the Most Beloved.

I live in a land where my own range of emotions is not to be trusted. Where happy can mean high can mean manic. Where waking up on the wrong side of bed can mean sad can mean depressed.

There is no simplicity in it. In my world, emotions are both bellwether and weather vane. Sometimes wrong side of the bed leads to sad leads to depression. Sometimes depression is the root of sadness and the reason for the waking up on the wrong side of the bed.

Emotions both lead to one another, and predict themselves. But sometimes the evidence of the state arrives too late to do anything about it.

So, I look at “happy” with a quizzical eye.

A while back, after meditating, I got happy. I was driving, and saw how the light hit the clouds just right. I started having many thoughts. And immediately thought, “Too happy!” All the same, once I got to my destination I pulled out my journal and pen and wrote a few pages of notes about God, and love, and who knows what else.

Underneath, in all caps, I wrote, “FEELING TOO GOOD. DON’T MAKE ANY DECISIONS OF IMPORTANCE RIGHT NOW.”

So I put an anchor on good moods to weight them down, and try to prop shove a buoy under bad ones, just in case.

Here in the world where emotions are not always simple, simplicity is not always the answer. “Don’t do something, just sit there,” can easily lead to tripping the light fantastic without moving a toe.

The only sitting meditation I can do without risk of Kundalini Rising is the practice of Tonglen, where I take the suffering of the world into my body, and release the suffering with my breath – transformed through nonattachment.

This form of meditation grounds me. It calms me. It brings me down to earth.

As a bodhisattva, it is my work to calm my own fires. To release attachment, to relearn my own self of no self. To heal my own heart. To release my own suffering, too.

As a world-healer, a bodhisattva, sometimes I forget that world-healing happens in my own heart. First, last, and only. This is not to say that meditation is the only activism; far from it. Our acts in the world are the healing of it. So are our acts in our homes and in our hearts. Thoughts are things, and things are thoughts, and all the ideas and arisings manifest in the here and now, thoughts and emotions becoming attachment causing suffering.

As I practice my tonglen, I release attachment. Attachment is suffering. Seeking of heights, sinking into lows, only becoming suffering in attachment.

Too happy, too sad, all expressions of an arising of self, a self both mutable and transmutable. So, I breathe in suffering, breath out in nonattachment. And so release suffering both global and personal

The world is my heart is the world. There is no there. I am That.

I breathe in, breathe out. For the liberation of all beings.

The Devotion of Presence, The Presence of Devotion

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Dilemmas of a Householder

There was a time in my life where I so strongly desired to be in perfect Presence all the time that my desire for Presence became the greatest pain I had ever felt.

I sought absolute ego death; annihilation of self into Self, the surrender of “I” into that which is greater than all Its parts combined.

The desire to merge with the supreme and eternal – whether you call It God, Brahman, Allah, nirvana, liberation, or any of the other words we might use to describe the ineffable – became unbearable. I was being driven mad by it. Separation from Itness (God, Krishna, Nirvana, Allah…) was agony. I desired always to surrender myself to this deeper home.

Hari, hear my plea.
Dark One, I am
your servant,
a vision of you has driven me mad.
Separation eats at my limbs.
Because of you
I’ll become a yogini and ramble
from city to city scouring the hidden quarters -
pasted with ash, clad in a deerskin
my body wasting
to cinder.
I’ll circle from forest to forest
wretched and howling -
O Unborn, Indestructible,
come to your beggar!
Finish her pain and touch her
with pleasure!
This coming and going will end,
says Mira,
with me clasping your
feet forever.

-Mirabai

I found myself struggling with the life choices I had made. “If only I were a sadhu,” I thought, “then I could give myself over, cease the thinking, the planning. I could give myself fully to Presence. I could constantly allow for the sweet surrender that is the greatest Union.”

But that choice, the path of the sadhu, the path of austerity, was not the choice I had made in building my life. I had two children to attend to. A husband. A career. I had deadlines to keep, money to make, children to care for, to love and support.

For months the ache of longing and the confusion caused by my desire for Presence was like a sword stuck through my heart. The pain of separation was searing; almost unbearable.

But I had already made my choices about how I was going to spend my life; once a mother, always a mother. I could have left my career, I could have left my home, I could have left my husband. (As a matter of fact, the leaving of my now-ex-husband was already in the works.)

But I could never leave my children. The suffering caused would be too great.

And my love for them, I am almost guilty to admit, felt like a loadstone around my neck, heavy as an anchor, yet pointing in the only direction I could go; nowhere.

Finally I began asking, “What is Presence? How can I be committed to relationship with others, and Present in The Eternal at the same time? How do I stay Present in love?”

The question rolled around my mouth in wordless curls. It ricocheted through my mind. It bounced and bounded, banged against the edges of my self.

After weeks of weighty rumination, after hours of sitting on my zafu, after what felt like gallons of tears, and after surrendering fully to the burning pain of separation, I broke through the koan that had formed itself inside of me. In a moment of realization, the answer arrived, fully formed and lotus-like.

The question became the answer; “how can I be present in love” became, “love is Presence.” Love is not attachment. Attachment is not love.

Attachments are the causes of dukkha – often translated as suffering, though in my opinion this is a limiting interpretation of the term.

According to Tantra Yoga, these attachments are called kankucas, or “becloudings”. According to Georg Feuerstein, the kankucas can be translated as partiality, knowledge, attachment, time, necessity. Partiality, because we cease to allow for fullness of being. Knowledge, because we cease to allow for growth. Attachment, because it clouds possibility of outcome. Time, because it limits consciousness of the eternal. Necessity, because it limits us.

In Buddhist terminology, the attachments are called skandhas. The skandhas are form, sensation, perception, impulses, and consciousness.

Of these attachments, form is the strongest (and the easiest to encapsulate), because

1., form leads to the illusion of separation from the formless, and

2., because form is transitory, and attachment to form as self leads to dukkha.

The skandhas are the aggregates that form a sense of self, and are the causes of clinging.

All of the skandhas, or parts of the sense of self-as-form are the causes dukkha.

My attachment to what I considered the “perfect” form of Presence, was, at that time, causing my own suffering.

These are obstacles to liberation; the illusion of separation, and the expectations, desires, and responsibilities that we so often mistake as love and commitment.Mom and girls.

As a householder, the desire for subsumation into the nondual must merge with the path of devotion, which is often a dualist form of worship. Moment to moment, we dance between mergence and devotion.

Loving in Presence is showing up to my relationship with my children, my husband, and my responsibilities in life in the fullness with which I show up to my relationship with the Divine.

How do we stay present in love? How do we stay Present in abiding relationships with mortal beings? By releasing the illusion of separation, moment to moment.

And when we find ourselves in separation, we stay Present by devoting ourselves to those we serve as if they were God Itself.

Because, after all, they are.

How to Grow a Grateful World: Three Steps to Engaged Gratitude

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seedlingDo you want more gratitude in your life? If so, cultivate it! This article will give you tools that allow you to take an active part in creating a more grateful world.

As AJ Muste, a committed nonviolent peace activist said, “There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.” The more we practice peace, the more peace becomes our lives. Just like peace, we can live in gratitude every moment.

Even in the midst of intense conflict, we can be cultivate gratitude.

The best ways to create gratitude in your experience of the world – in your world, your home, your life, your heart – is to practice, invest in, and engage with it. In addition to a host of physical health benefits from stress relief to heart health, recent studies prove that gratitude decreases both depression and loneliness.

Gratitude can also become a path of service that leads to acts that benefit humanity. Grow gratitude, and offer future generations a more beautiful world.

Grow Your Gratitude, in Three Steps:
1: Invoke and Embody Gratitude

Make gratitude real in this moment. Create gratitude in your very core.

Gratitude practice, asking powerful questions, inducing positive states, prayer and meditation are all ways to invoke gratitude. So is looking at your child, or your beloved. So is smelling a flower, or looking at your favorite piece of art. For some of us, listening to music, dancing, or running is an easy way to find the way to the gratitude nested inside of us.

With a little bit of practice, or for some even without, wherever we are, whatever we’re doing, we can invoke and embody the presence of gratitude.

Love can be a powerful doorway to gratitude. For now, an easy way to manifest the presence of gratitude is to think of something that makes you feel a love beyond limits, unconditional, eternal. The perfect love.

You may find this love at the heart of deep prayer, in the arms of your beloved, sharing a smile with your child.

Feel it. Breathe it in. And out. Ahhhh. There it is. Now feel it even more. Let your heart, your whole being, glow with this love, and allow it to grow into a full sense of gratitude.

Let each breath expand it, each heartbeat ground it in your being.

2: Grow Your Gratitude!
Gratitude heals the heart. This is true on multiple levels. Of course it makes sense on the metaphorical level – how could becoming grateful NOT heal a broken heart?

When we experience loss, healing comes from realizing that the sum total of the impact of any experience was for the best. When we get this, it becomes easy to be grateful for the experiences we encounter.

In addition to the metaphorical, gratitude also heals the actual physiology of your heart. This is metaphorically wonderful, and scientifically true! Gratitude practice is recommended as part of many heart surgery and heart disease recovery programs.

How does it work? Gratitude is the antidote for stress, anger, anxiety and many other ills. Stress, of course, is a huge contributor to both heart disease and heart attack.

Gratitude offers a rest to our physiological systems. For instance, say you’re standing in line at the grocery store, and the people in front of you are taking forever. You may be late getting to wherever you’re going, but is stressing out about it going to change the fact that you’re stuck in line? Not a chance!

The one thing you CAN change is how you are experiencing the moment. So, instead of obsessing about your situation, thinking of the negative outcomes, or giving in to the stress, take the time as an opportunity to cultivate gratitude.

Even starting small will work. You can be grateful that you have the money to buy food. You can be grateful that you have a chance to read those scintillating headlines on the trashy mags in the rack.

I often get really simple with it, and remember to be grateful that I have a moment to be in stillness and silence. Waiting in line is a perfect opportunity for a moment of standing meditation.

This choice is affecting you, and as a true believer in systems theory, I posit that perhaps, in some subtle way, it affects everything. Your stress is not just your stress.

Your gratitude is the same way. As you choose relaxation and gratitude instead of stress, the effect ripples outward. Your interaction with the cashier is going to be different. His or her interaction with the next person in line may well be different, too.

Even on the purely personal level, the benefits are too many to mention. Gratitude is SO much nicer to hold in our physical systems than the alternative.

Another wonderful bonus is that because our minds sort for, and we notice, that which we expect, when we start practicing gratitude, we start noticing more and more to be grateful for.

Gratitude practice, just like any other practice, becomes easier the more you do it!

3: Make Love a Verb; Gratitude in Action!
Love and gratitude become more powerful by far when put into engaged action. Engagement is the final step of this process. Take your gratitude and DO something with it.

That something might be sitting in prayer, sitting in community, sitting in silence. But think of how much more prayer you’d bring if you were to host group prayer nights at your home. Consider how much more gratitude you’d bring to your community through a shared gathering.

When you find gratitude for the food on your table, let it remind you that you can reduce suffering in the world by offering food to those in need. Make a meal, box it up, and offer it to a local homeless person you’ve seen around.

While you’re at it, have a conversation with this person.

At a Season for Nonviolence gathering I attended in 2007, Dr. Arun Gandhi, the great, great grandson of the Mahatma, pointed out that compassion is very different from pity. I paraphrase the esteemed man here:

“Pity offers the food and hopes the person will walk away with it. Compassion offers the food, asks the person how they ended up on the streets, witnesses the story, and does it’s part to cause an end to the reasons that this person and others end up without.”

In gratitude, I leave you with his words, and hope they echo through your world.

An Empowerment for Presence: Change Your Mind, Change the World

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Doorway to LightThe world is what you make it. The Buddha is credited with this quote:

“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.”

Consider how you are making your world – what thoughts are building what outcomes in your life?

If you can change how you think, you can change what you experience. There are any number of possible realities available in any given moment. Vantage, your position within and in relation to the rest of existence, counts for a lot.

What if you were to stand in a different position, look in a new direction? We are limited, grounded, by our perspective. On a physiological level, we can only see what’s in our field of vision. And even then, we only truly see parts of the picture. Much of what we “see” is generated by what our mind thinks should fill in the blanks.

The same thing happens with our minds. We see what we’re looking at. So, change your perspective. Change your frame. Change your mind. And watch the world change with you.

A Meditation on Peace, and the Prayer of Saint Francis

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Saint FrancisPrayer of Saint Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

A Meditation for Presence: Be Peace
The words offered up by Saint Francis present a powerful opportunity to create the world – by being in the world the way we want the world to be.

When we plant a seed, we offer the world the plant, and we also get to watch it grow. When we are the germinal point for light and love, we are, without fail, surrounded by it.

Plant seeds of hope, seeds of peace, seeds of joy. Become the beacon of your own offering – offer peace, and find yourself enveloped by it. Offer forgiveness, and find yourself forgiven. Offer love, and find yourself surrounded by it.

Manifestation in Twelve (Sort Of Complex) Steps!

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Spiral GalaxyManifesting is not always easy. Here are some tips that will help you through the days where it would be way too easy to give up hope. Manifestation is not a mystery; it’s a kind of technology or tool that one must learn to harness, and sometimes it just takes some work.

1. Desire + action = manifestation. Desire alone does not alter the case of a river. The universe does not usually move the course of the river on its own…it takes a bit of helpful trenching to create a new route. Trickle, then a gush, then a torrent.

Without action, manifestation will almost never follow. Manifestation requires work on your part.

Looking for the perfect job? Work on manifesting that job through all the tools of manifestation that you can acquire; prayer, visualization, mantras, dream boards, collage. AND, interview for every single job opening that looks like it might be the real deal!

Sometimes that perfect job (or relationship, or pile of money, or car) will just fall into your lap by pure magic. Usually you have to do your part to show the universe you’re committed enough to actually do or have the manifestation you are requesting.

2. Be specific in your request, but not TOO specific.

3. You need to know that your request can be fulfilled from any source – anywhere and any time.

4. You must have no reservations about what you ask for. This includes any feelings of lack of worthiness.

5. The delivery of your desires or requests must not be dependent in any way on any one person’s actions or responses.

6. If a block comes up to the manifestation, you need to reconsider the request. Don’t let doubt enter in, just use it as a recheck on your request. If doubt nags, perhaps it’s a message that you need to reconsider your desire or goal. Perhaps it’s a message that you’re heading in the wrong direction.

7. Know that NEED puts distance between you and your desired outcome. So reframe: instead of “I need a new car,” say, “It’s time for me to have (or manifest, or find, or whatever verb works for you) my perfect vehicle. Safe, reliable, and easy on the pocket,” or whatever your list is that creates “perfect” for you.

8. Have faith. Doubt on its own offers the opposite of the desired outcome. Like Lot looking over his shoulder when he doubted a divine promise and seeing his wife turn to a pillar of salt, your lack of trust erodes your own footing on your path toward your ideal end-point.

9. Remember that worrying is like praying for something you don’t want. I’m not sure who said that first, but it rings true. In other words, “We get what we expect, not what we desire.” – Chris Howard, a true modern day master.

10. Be aware that prayer helps, and practice it with passion. Pray to whomever works for you, but I personally have found Jesus to be particularly and peculiarly generous on the money count. :-) And in many other matters.

11. Let small miracles bolster your faith and commitment.

12. Practice gratitude for all your outcomes achieved. Every single one. Large, small, easy, challenging, make a prayer of gratitude each time the universe delivers on your request

Your Family is a Living System

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tree at sunsetBodies communicate, moods, good or bad, are caught and transmitted like a virus. Like ripples in a pond, what you feel radiates out. Your happiness, your ease, your joy. Or, your stress, your fear, your anger. Every moment, you are modeling the creation of the world.

And, every moment, your children are building the foundation of their future on the present that is your breath and being.

“The solution to adult problems tomorrow depends in large measure upon how our children grow up today.”
- Margaret Mead, anthropologist, 1901-1976

In case of an emergency, secure your mask first…

The aeronautical term “Time of Useful Consciousness (TUC)” applies to the minutes of consciousness one has in a depressurized plane. It’s the basis of the warning to make sure your mask is secure, and then act to ensure the safety of those dependent upon you only after you yourself are safe.

Let’s face it; if you can’t breath, you’re not going to be much help to your kids, or the old folks sitting in aisle 14. You need to have your wits about you in an emergency situation. That’s understandable.

What about in your daily life? Applying the reasoning of time of useful consciousness to our daily choices can become a template by which to figure out how to best use the time we have.

You are point zero in your system; the place where you create all change in the system you are part of – for good or ill, intentionally or unintentionally. And, if you are not in good health, your ability to affect positive change declines.

You are a system, and your family is a system. Your community is a system. The world we all share is a system.

Make your affect a positive one. The best way to start? Make a commitment to becoming the change you wish to see in the world. Take a step into living the life you dream of, right now.

An Awakened Heart Meditation: Cultivating Compassion

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**This meditation is modeled on the loving kindness meditation from Ezra Bayda’s book, Being Zen, and further modeled on many practice for what in Buddhism is called generating bodhicitta.**

This Awakened Heart meditation is designed to encourage awakening, develop presence, and to cultivate compassion. Bring your whole self to this experience, and come fully present in what is.

Before beginning the recitation of each line of the prayer/mantra/meditation, take a full breath in. Release the breath gently as you recite the line. Allow a pause between recitation of lines as you become conscious in drawing a deep, full, gentle breath. Be conscious of the words you are speaking as they form in your mouth and leave your lips, powered and empowered by your breath.

The second set of the meditation can be repeated as many times as you want, and may be used to bring your practice of compassion into fullness. I recommend that you devote each repetition of the second set to only one person, and repeat it as many times as you desire, or have the “bandwidth” for.

Hold the person you are dedicating the set to in your mind. You may want to imagine your compassion and love pouring out with your breath, and enveloping the recipient with gentle, glowing light. You can envision them circled in love, compassion, light, whatever image works for you.

A practice that I find healing and consciousness-raising is to devote the first round of the second set to someone I love with no resistance – one of my daughters, for example. Then with each additional round, i stretch my compassionate heart a little wider, including those who I may have recently felt some conflict with. Then to those beings – living or dead – who really stretch my compassion.

On the third round, if it helps you to increase the awakening of your heart, you may visualize the earth, the galaxy, the universe, all time and space.

Enjoy your practice. May this act benefit all beings.

May I be present in the awakened heart.
May I address that which clouds the awakened heart.
May I experience this moment as it is.
May this act benefit all beings.

May you be present in the awakened heart.
May you address that which clouds the awakened heart.
May you experience this moment as it is.
May this act benefit all beings.

May all beings be present in the awakened heart.
May all beings address all that which clouds the awakened heart.
May all beings experience this moment as it is.
May this act benefit all beings.

I am present in the awakened heart.
I address all that which clouds the awakened heart.
I experience this moment as it is.
This act benefits all beings.

The Answer to the Season’s Biggest Question; Yes, Santa IS Real!

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Keywords: — The Answer to the Season’s Biggest Question; Yes, Santa IS Real!, santa claus, santa clause, god, christmas, family, values, generosity, mysticism, children, santa is real, holiday season, hard questions, faith, christmas spirit, jesus, belief , magic, miracles, christmas miracles, question, santa, spirit, babbo natale

When it comes to the delicate matter of belief, there are creative ways to answer our children’s questions without taking the magic out of life.

When my oldest daughter was about five, she asked whether Santa Claus was real. Her dad and I told her that Santa is real to those who believe.

Is love real? Is hope real? Is magic real? Is faith real? We can’t touch or see any of these things, but most of us do believe in at least a few of them. In some cases, we can feel them. In others, we see proof of them appearing in the physical world.

I still believe in Santa Claus, and always will.

I believe that Tibetan Lamas reincarnate with full recall of their previous lives. I believe in knights in shining armor, and princesses in towers. Sometimes it irks me to admit it, but believe I do. I believe in faeries, and faerie tales, pookas, ghosts, saints, and goblins. And I believe in Christmas miracles.

Just like I believe in God, with Its ineffability, and the many faces It wears.

<em>Jitterbug Perfume</em> by Tim Robbins has one of the best descriptions I’ve seen of the human relationship with deity. The premise is this: the gods depend upon our belief in them to survive. Our belief makes them real.

The power of belief is an important gift we must safeguard and instruct in our children. Belief is what we build our lives upon. Without belief, we’re cast adrift on an endless, meaningless sea. Belief offers a rudder when nothing else can help us find our way. 

At 12, my oldest daughter started our Christmas festivities by saying she no longer believes in Santa. And then complained when she didn’t feel the Christmas Spirit flooding her as we trimmed the tree.

I talked to her about faith.

The fact is, sometimes it’s been hard to have faith that Santa will come. I’ll admit it; even I of abundant belief I have been known to test The Spirit from time to time. In 2006 I made one such test. It was my first Christmas post-divorce. I had no one to give my Christmas list to. No one to tell what I hoped to find under the tree. That year it was hard to find my belief in the Spirit of Christmas.

I wanted indoor/outdoor, “Ugg” knock-off slippers. It was what I wanted. It was a deal between me and God, and since I had asked, God knew exactly what was required to prove my faith. I know, it’s kind of petty. Slippers?

But sometime it’s the little things that matter. Cozy feet on a lonely morning. A small gift out of nowhere.

Come Christmas, I was gifted a pair of slippers. The gifter didn’t buy them for me, but for a niece. When the slippers didn’t fit the quickly growing girl, my sister asked me to take them instead; she didn’t want to go to the trouble of carrying them home on the plane and exchanging them.

I whispered a thank you to Santa, and reminded myself that sometimes He works in mysterious ways. He makes miracles occur. Or at least the belief in Him does.

I didn’t know my sister was bringing slippers for the nieces. She didn’t know I wanted them, either. But He did. And He delivered.

Throughout my life I’ve seen innumerable miracles of Christmas faith occur, large and small. Movies are built on the theme of The Christmas Miracle.

Art imitates life. Off the screen, food banks fill for at least one day with more than enough to feed the local hungry. I’ve seen people open their doors to strangers so they would have somewhere to be on Christmas morning. I’ve seen communities pull together and provide gifts for children who would have otherwise gone without.

To quote the words of song writer Red West, popularized by Elvis, “if every day could be just like Christmas, what a wonderful world this would be.”

Christmas movies with their grand, soaring themes serve only as a reminder of what’s possible when we allow ourselves to invest in love and faith. And as believing becomes more effortless, the miracles become larger.

My faith in the Miracle of Christmas is no longer shakable. No more tests required – I finally got my ultimate proof.

In 2007 my Christmas Miracle was the grandest The Spirit of Christmas has yet conspired to deliver for me. The man I’ve been waiting my whole life to find crossed mountains and rivers that stormy December to be by my side and spend the holidays with me and the children.

The holidays have never ended for us. They’ll continue for the rest of our lives. The man of my dreams, now my husband, hasn’t left since.

That Christmas I felt like both Doris and little Susan in Miracle on 34th Street; the home, the family, the life that I had been nearly afraid to desire became my greatest Christmas miracle. Now every holiday season is a celebration of that most profound of miracles; the emergence of a love perfect and complete.

As a Mystic Mama, I don’t feel that I’m misleading my children by encouraging them to believe in a power that makes their lives happier, more joyous, more bountiful, more hopeful, more magical.

As they grow older, my children get to become an active part of that energy of selfless giving. They become the ones who enact the spirit. The arms, legs, bodies and hearts that offer those miracles up.

I know from personal experience that the Holiday Spirit does exist. It’s palpable. It acts in the world.

Call it the power of faith, or Jesus, or Santa Claus, or generosity, it’s a reminder of a bond of love for our fellow man. Regardless of the name we give it, it sustains. It acts through and for each of us, bringing miracles to bear.

Kind of like God.

Mystical, Spiritual, Philosophical, Metaphysical, Inspirational Quotes Compiled by Lasára Allen

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God is Limitless.

God is Limitless.

Enjoy some of my favorite quotes on mysticism, metaphysics, and more:

A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
Albert Einstein

My heart has become capable of every form: it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks,
And a temple for idols, and the pilgrim’s Ka’ba, and the tables of the Tora and the book of the Koran.
I follow the religion of Love, whichever way his camels take. My religion and my faith is the true religion.
We have a pattern in Bishr, the lover of Hind and her sister, and in Qays and Lubna, and in Mayya and Ghaylan.
Ali Ibn Arabi

After your death you will be what you were before your birth.
Arthur Schopenhauer

All is divine, all is God, and unity is divinity.
Sathya Sai Baba

I have said that the soul is not more than  the body.
And I have said that the body is not more than  the soul,
And nothing, not God, is greater to one than one’s-self is,
And whoever walks a furlong without sympathy walks to his own funeral, dressed in his shroud,
(…)
And there is no object so soft but it makes a hub for the wheeled universe,
And any man or woman shall stand cool and supercilious before a million universes.

And I call to mankind, Be not curious about God.
For I who am curious about each am not curious about God,
No array of terms can say how much I am at peace about God and about death.

Why  should I wish to see God better than this day?
I see something of God in each hour of twenty-four, and each moment then

In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my own face in the glass;
I find letters from God dropped in the street, and every one is signed by God’s name,

And I leave them where they are, for I know that others will punctually come forever and ever.
(…)
I hear and behold God in every object, yet I understand God not in the least,
Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself.
Walt Whitman, Excerpts, Song of Myself

And above all things, never think that you’re not good enough yourself. A man should never think that. My belief is that in life people will take you at your own reckoning.
Isaac Asimov

I do nothing. The Holy Spirit accomplishes all through me.
William Blake

If a man wishes to be sure of the road he treads on, he must close his eyes and walk in the dark.
St. John of the Cross

In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.
St. John of the Cross

If you purify your soul of attachment to and desire for things, you will understand them spiritually. If you deny your appetite for them, you will enjoy their truth, understanding what is certain in them.
St. John of the Cross

The foremost in religion is the acknowledgement of Him, the perfection of acknowledging Him is to testify Him, the perfection of testifying Him is to believe in His Oneness, the perfection of believing in His Oneness is to regard Him Pure, and the perfection of His purity is to deny Him attributes, because every attribute is a proof that it is different from that to which it is attributed and everything to which something is attributed is different from the attribute. Thus whoever attaches attributes to Allah recognises His like, and who recognises His like regards Him two; and who regards Him two recognises parts for Him; and who recognises parts for Him mistook Him; and who mistook Him pointed at Him; and who pointed at Him admitted limitations for Him; and who admitted limitations for Him numbered Him.
Whoever said in what is He, held that He is contained; and whoever said on what is He held He is not on something else. He is a Being but not through phenomenon of coming into being. He exists but not from non-existence. He is with everything but not in physical nearness. He is different from everything but not in physical separation. He acts but without connotation of movements and instruments. He sees even when there is none to be looked at from among His creation. He is only One, such that there is none with whom He may keep company or whom He may miss in his absence.
The oneness of god, according to Ali ibn Abi Talib

I testify that there is no Deity (God) except the sole and matchless Allah. And (…that) the singleness of Allah is a word that (has been) declared (sincerely as…) reality, and made the hearts the centre of its contact and union. And has made the specifications and research of the oneness of Allah’s station obvious and evident in the light of meditation. The Allah Who can not be seen by the eyes, and tongues are unable and baffled to describe His virtues and attributes. And the intelligence and apprehension of man is helpless and destitute from the imagination of his how-ness.
Fatima bint Muhammad

Some of Lasára Allen’s Favorite Gratitude Quotes

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Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.

~ Kahlil Gibran

You say grace before meals.  All right.  But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.

~ G.K. Chesterton

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice.

~ Meister Eckhart

Let us give thanks for this beautiful day. Let us give thanks for this life. Let us give thanks for the water without which life would not be possible. Let us give thanks for Grandmother Earth who protects and nourishes us.

~ Lakota Daily Prayer of Gratitude

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy


Every moment my heart beats, it is a song; Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah…
~ Sheik Bhukari


For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and
food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Grace isn’t a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal.  It’s a way to live.

~ Jacqueline Winspear

Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can – there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.

~  Sarah Caldwell


When you are grateful fear disappears and abundance appears.

~ Anthony Robbins


You don’t get out of life what you want, you get what you expect.

~ Neil Sutton.


If you have lived, take thankfully the past.

~ John Dryden


As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily.  The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world.

~ Adabella Radici

A Bodhisattva Meditation for Cultivating Loving Compassion for the Self

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blue lotus buddha

A Bodhisattva Meditation for Cultivating Loving Compassion for the Self

by Lasára Allen, www.lasaraallen.com

Gate gate, para gate, parasam gate, bodhi svaha.

The one responsibility of the bodhisattva is to not cause suffering.

The one commitment of the bodhisattva is to love all beings pervading space and time, regardless of any beings ability to return, or even receive, that love.

We’ve all been in situations where we have offered love to someone unwilling to return that love – for instance, we still love our child, even when in the a rage of differentiation she yells, “I hate you, Mom!”. We often call this unconditional love.

Those of you who have made a practice of cultivating compassion have probably intentionally cultivated love for someone who has withdrawn their love, or someone who doesn’t agree with out beliefs or lifestyle, and therefore, at least on a hypothetical level, does not want your love. These maybe political or historical figures. Or they may be estranged family.

My largest break through in the depth and breadth of this commitment was when I realized that *I* was one of those beings pervading time and space, that deserved the love of my bodhisattva self, even when I was incapable of returning, or even receiving that love.

That it was the responsibility of my awakened self to address suffering, and the root of suffering, in my own life. It was my commitment, in my awakened heart, to cultivate loving compassion for my “imperfect” self – the one that was attaching to, and therefore being the cause of, my own suffering.

Sound tricky? Well, it is, and it isn’t.

This is a great practice for days when your heart feels stuck or bruised, you’re feeling a lack of self-love, or are feeling unable to forgive yourself for some past or present participation in the creation of suffering; that of yourself or another.

The ironic part of holding on to the guilt of being a cause of suffering, is that we continue to cause suffering through our attachment to the guilt!

It is not the negative emotion that causes the suffering. Nor is it the act that caused the suffering itself – whatever that act may be – that causes the suffering. The attachment to the suffering, in any form, is the root of the cause of suffering.

Truly, attachment to joy or pleasure, or any emotional state, is the root of the cause of suffering, but addressing that is a practice for another essay.

The way I’ve come to see it, the true work of the bodhisattva is to release ourselves from suffering, and the attachment to suffering. To engender the attitudes of enlightenment, and slowly, overtime, become proficient; and to do this work for the benefit of all beings.

Here’s the practice, in three easy (or sometimes, not so easy) parts.

Part I: Two Ways of Generating Pure, Compassionate Love

1. Commit to the thought of not being the cause of suffering to yourself, or others. Release attachment to any suffering that has been caused in the past, by you or any being, or may be caused in the future. Release attachment to suffering itself.

a. Commit to pure, compassionate love for all beings pervading time and space. Start generating this love by feeling it in your body, if possible, and then growing that love with each breath.

b. Some times this approach may be out of reach, so instead, imagine some being you love easily – your child, your pet, your beloved, your best friend – enveloped in a soft, glowing bubble of your compassionate love for them. Breath by breath, grow this love until it fills your whole sense of time and space.

Part II: Recognize That You Are a Being That Deserves Your Love, Whether You Can Return, Or Even Accept, That Love.

1. Once you’ve filled all of time and space with your love, recognize that you are a being already released from suffering. That you are enveloped in your own pure, compassionate love. And in being filled and surrounded by your compassion, you are surrounded by the impartial, unconditional, compassionate love of all time and space.

There is no separation between You – the bodhisattva, that awakened being generating this love – and you, the self sitting and being held in it, regardless of your ability to return, or receive, that pure love. That love unattached to anything you think you have been, or think you may be. Anything you think you have done, or think you will do.

2. Allow that pure compassion, unattached to any outcome or past experience, to hold you securely in the awareness that you are already fully present. Fully perfect. Fully awake. Fully free from suffering, and the attachment to suffering.

Part III: Release Attachment to the Practice Itself

1. Stay in this state for as long as you are able, without clinging to it. Attachment to joy, pleasure, or comfort are also the root of suffering. Be present, not attached.

2. If you lose your way in the practice, return to the place in the practice where you became distracted. Perhaps there is some work there to move through. Or, perhaps you just got distracted. Or, perhaps there is a part of you that’s unwilling to receive that love that is being generated. Don’t attach! Move fluidly to the points of the exercise that are within reach, and continue working towards compassionate love for all beings.

3. If tears come, let them come. And let them go. If laughter comes, let it come, and let it go. If euphoria comes, let is also go. If pain comes, let it arise, and release. Let yourself be exactly as you are, exactly where you are. Cultivate compassion for every emotion that arises, and then release it.

4. Don’t forget to breathe.

May this act, and all acts, be dedicated to the liberation and awakening of all beings. Bodhi svaha.

I dedicate these works, and all works, to the unfolding of awareness. May this act serve me, as it serves all beings, through the revelation of awareness. May my increasing awakening to presence serve to bring awareness of presence to all beings throughout space and time. So it is.

The Bodhisattva Vow

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OM TARE TUTARE TURE MAMA AYURPUNYE JNANA PUTIN KURU SVAHA.

bodhisattva, definition;
n. Buddhism
An enlightened being who, out of compassion, forgoes nirvana in order to save others.
[Sanskrit bodhisattvaḥ, one whose essence is enlightenment : bodhiḥ, perfect knowledge + sattvam, essence, being (from sat-, existing).]
- Answers.com

This Page Offers A Sampling of Many Ways of Engaging with the Vow of the Bodhisattva and Quotes on Generating Bodhicitta

Om Tare tutare ture svaha.

Translations of the vow vary, and so do modes of application. By reading about many you will learn whether the vow resonates with you, and if it does what ways you will find for engaging with or applying the vow of the Bodhisattva.

My own interpretation of the deeper vows of dedication to an enacting of the Bodhisattva vow on a very basic level is this:

The one responsibility of the bodhisattva is to not cause suffering.

The one commitment of the bodhisattva is to love all beings pervading space and time, regardless of any beings ability to return, or even receive, that love.

My own interpretation of the basic four-fold vow of the Bodhisattva:

Beings are without number; I vow to be one.
Suffering is inexhaustible; I vow to extinguish it.
Paths to enlightenment are innumerable. I vow to walk them all.
Enlightenment is not a goal. I vow to achieve it.

And more traditional interpretation, also by me:

Sentient beings are numberless; through my practice I vow to liberate them.
The veils of illusions arise again and again; I vow to penetrate them.
Paths to enlightenment are without number; I vow to walk them all.
Enlightenment is not a goal; I vow to achieve it.

And one more offering, my interpretation of part of the longer vow written in Tibetan script as part of the tattoo on my chest. (Yes, I do have the vow indelibly inked on my skin as a reminder of my spiritual purpose!)

Just as the enlightened beings
Who have gone before me
Generated the mind of enlightenment
And accomplished all the stages
Of the Bodhisattva training,
So will I too, for the sake of all beings,
Practice the work of attainment
And over time
Become proficient.
Svaha.

Below this point is mostly quotation from other sources, starting with some links I love:

Bodhisattva Vows by Taitaku Pat Phelan

What is Bodhisattva?

The Bodhisattva Vow

Taking the Bodhisattva Vow

A very fine example of a Bodhisattva vow is found at the very end of the Avatamsaka Sutra by Samantabhadra. In Shantideva‘s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, the Bodhisattva vow is taken with the following famous two verses from Sutra:

“ Just as all the previous Sugatas, the Buddhas/Generated the mind of enlightenment/And accomplished all the stages/Of the Bodhisattva training,/So will I too, for the sake of all beings,/Generate the mind of enlightenment/And accomplish all the stages/Of the Bodhisattva training.[3] ”

Berzin (1997: unpaginated) links the mindstream to the bodhisattva vows:

The promise to keep bodhisattva vows applies not only to this life, but to each subsequent lifetime until enlightenment. Thus these vows continue on our mind-stream into future lives.[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva_vows#Taking_the_Bodhisattva_vow

Four Trainings for Bodhichitta Resolve Not to Decline in This Life

(1) Each day and night, recalling the advantages of the bodhichitta motivation. Just as we readily overcome our tiredness and tap our energies when we need to attend to our children, we easily surmount all difficulties and use all our potentials when our primary motivation in life is bodhichitta.

(2) Reaffirming and strengthening this motivation by rededicating our hearts to enlightenment and others three times each day and three times each night.

(3) Striving to strengthen enlightenment-building networks of positive force and deep awareness (collections of merit and insight). In other words, helping others as effectively as we can, and doing so with as much deep awareness of reality as possible.

[See: The Two Enlightenment-Building Networks (The Two Collections).]

(4) Never giving up trying to help anyone, or at least wishing to be able to do so, no matter how difficult he or she may be.

http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/archives/practice_material/vows/bodhisattva/actions_train_aspiring_bodhichitta.html

We will now speak about the benefits of the bodhisattva vow. In the sutrayana teachings, there are 230 benefits talked about by the Budha. We will condense these and explain them in four points.

The first benefit of having obtained the bodhisattva vow is that through the practice of bodhicitta, we will learn how to remove suffering and obtain happiness. We will come to recognize that the root of all happiness is bodhicitta.

Secondly, having developed bodhicitta, not only do we experience our own happiness that is free from suffering, but with the bodhisattva vow, we are able to benefit others by giving happiness and removing suffering. For example, a long time ago Buddha Shakyamuni turned the wheel of Dharma in India in a place known as Bodh Gaya. Because the Buddha turned the wheel of the Dharma and revealed the teachings, they spread to many other countries where people practiced them and achieved the complete realization of Buddhahood, the experience of ultimate happiness free from suffering. How did all those beings obtain Buddhahood? They did this by following the instruction of Shakyamuni Buddha. How did Shakyamuni Buddha himself obtain the level of the ultimate experience of happiness? In the very beginning he developed what is known as bodhicitta. Through the development and perfection of bodhicitta, the Buddha was able to benefit limitless beings.

*

When we begin to develop the altruistic attitude of bodhicitta, it may seem to be quite limited, as a very small number of such thoughts arise in our mind, and we think this really cannot help anybody. However, in the long run, as bodhicitta develops, we become more familiar with it and realize that this buddha activity is the source of all happiness, and the method to remove suffering and benefit uncountable beings.

The third benefit of obtaining the bodhisattva vow and developing bodhicitta is that since we all have our greatest enemy within ourselves, the conflicting emotions, through which we experience endless suffering, it is bodhicitta that gives us the strength to overcome these conflicting emotions. Bodhicitta is like a sword that cuts through all suffering .

The fourth benefit of developing pure bodhicitta is that it is the root of obtaining ultimate happiness for self and others. If it is not pure, we can not experience happiness, nor can we teach others to experience happiness. Bodhicitta is like a precious, wish-fulfilling jewel.

This teaching was given by the Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra on November 9, 1985. It was translated by Chojor Radha.

http://www.kagyu.org/kagyulineage/buddhism/tra/tra06.php

The passions of delusion are inexhaustible.
I vow to extinguish them all at once.

The number of beings is endless. I vow to help save them all.

The Truth cannot be told. I vow to tell it.

The Way which cannot be followed is unattainable. I vow to attain it.
http://www.katinkahesselink.net/tibet/bodhisatva.htm

Corollaries or Vows that Follow from the Bodhisattva Vow:

We pledge to AVOID:

1. Praising yourself and belittling others because of your attachment to receiving offerings, being respected and venerated as a teacher, and gaining profit in general.

2. Not giving material aid or teaching the Dharma to those who are pained with suffering and without a protector because of your being under the influence of miserliness and wanting to amass knowledge for yourself alone.

3. Not listening to someone who has previously offended you but who declares his offense and begs forgiveness, and holding a grudge against him.

4. Condemning the teachings of the Buddha and teaching distorted views.

5. Taking offerings to the Three Jewels of Refuge for yourself by such means as stealth, robbery or devious schemes.

6. Despising the Tripitaka and saying these texts are not the teaching of the Buddha.

7. Evicting monks from a monastery or casting them out of the Sangha even if they have broken their vows, because of not forgiving them.

8. Committing any of the five heinous crimes of killing your mother, your father, an Arhat, drawing blood intentionally from a Buddha or causing a division in the Sangha by supporting and spreading sectarian views.

9. Holding views contrary to the teachings of the Buddha such as sectarianism, disbelief in the Three Jewels of Refuge, the law of cause and effect, and so forth.

10. Completely destroying any place by means of fire, bombs, pollution and black magic.

11. Teaching Sunyata to those who are not ready to understand it.

12. Turning people away from working for the full enlightenment of Buddhahood and encouraging them to work merely for their own liberation from suffering.

13. Encouraging people to abandon their vowed rules of moral conduct.

14. Causing others to hold the distorted views you might hold about the Hinayana teachings, as well as belittling the Hinayana teachings and saying that their practice does not lead to Nirvana.

15. Practising, supporting or teaching the Dharma for financial profit and fame while saying your motives are pure and that others are pursuing Dharma for such base aims.

16. Telling others, even though you may have very little or no understanding of Sunyata, that if they obtain as profound an understanding as you have, that then they will become as great and as highly realized as you are.

17. Taking gifts from others and encouraging others to give you things originally intended as offerings to the Three Jewels of Refuge.

18. Taking anything away from those monks who are practicing meditation and giving it to those who are merely reciting texts.

~ from The Complete Six-Session Guru-Yoga Primer,
courtesy K. McD.

http://www.khandro.net/Bud_bodhisattva_vow.htm

37.

It is the practice of bodhisattvas
To dedicate the merit accomplished through their efforts
By means of completely pure insight
Free of concepts of giver, receiver, and gift
In order to clear away the suffering of sentient beings.

http://www.khandro.net/Bud_bodhisattva_vow.htm

Gate Gate Paragate Para Sam Gate Bodhi Svaha

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Thanks and credit for this page to: Tom Barrett and www.interluderetreat.com Mantra Mystery
GATE GATE PARA GATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA!Mantra of the Prajna Paramita (Hint: Gate is pronounced like “gah-tay”)

The mantra of the Prajna Paramita is found at the end of a brief, but classic Buddhist scripture, The Heart of the Prajna Paramita Sutra, often called The Heart Sutra or The Great Heart of Wisdom Sutra. ‘Prajna’ means ‘wisdom.’ ‘Paramita’ means a crossing over, or going beyond. The last verse of the sutra goes like this:

“Therefore, Prajna Paramita is know as the most divine mantra,
the great enlightening mantra,
the utmost mantra,
the incomparable mantra,
destroyer of all suffering!
Since what is true is not in vain,
listen to the mantra of the Prajna Paramita– it goes like this: GATE GATE PARA GATE PARASAM GATE BODHI SVAHA!”

Years ago we wrote down a translation of this mantra on an index card and have kept it in a special place. That translation was:

“Going, going, going on beyond, always going on beyond, always becoming Buddha.”

This seems a marvelous thought. It suggests movement toward awakening. It expresses the enlightenment of a buddha as an unfolding process, rather than a steady state. It puts us in the hopeful position of one who may not have arrived, but who may be on the way. The destination may not be an end, but the trip itself.

As appealing as this translation is, it is by no means the only one. When you do an Internet search for the terms “Heart Sutra” or “Prajna Paramita” you get numerous references. At these various pages you will find several different translations of the mantra. These include:

  • Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone altogether beyond. Oh what an awakening! All hail!
  • Gone, gone, gone beyond altogether beyond, Awakening, fulfilled!
  • Gone, gone, gone to the Other Shore, attained the Other Shore having never left.
  • Gone, gone, totally gone, totally completely gone, enlightened, so be it.
  • “Oh, you have done! You have done! You have completely crossed the margin. This is Enlightenment! Congratulations!”

You will also find the point of view that the mantra is essentially untranslatable. Untranslatable does not mean meaningless, so how can one approach the meaning? We are most fortunate to have access to varying translations of this powerful phrase. Like a detective we can view the pieces, recognize the commonalities, and find the truth behind the inadequate English words. Better yet, perhaps we can hold each interpretation in mind to taste it’s unique flavor. As a connoisseur of fine wines can distinguish the character of different vintages of similar wines, we can sniff the mantra, swirl it around, and drink deeply of its essence.The Sanskrit mantra carries such meaning that one can easily take it half a dozen ways. Each of the translations may be true, yet any one may be inadequate to express the full meaning. But that is the marvel of a mantra. It is just a word or just a sound until you hold it in your heart, mind and soul. The meaning comes through repetition and involvement.

Practice:

Use the mantra of the Prajna Paramita to take you beyond. Let it take you to the other shore. Allow it to awaken you. Let it remind you of your becoming. Let it carry you away without your leaving. Repeat the mantra to yourself. Say it out loud or silently to yourself. Say it over and over. Through repetition it will become part of you. Through diligent practice you may become part of it. As you repeat this “most divine mantra” hold in your mind the alternate interpretations noted above. Sense the subtle differences in meaning. Carry the various meanings until they merge and all the meanings blend into one pure understanding.

GATE GATE PARA GATE PARASAM GATE BODHI SVAHA

Thanks and credit  for this page credit to: Tom Barrett and www.interluderetreat.com

 © 2002 Tom Barrett

A New New Year Tradition; Give Up Resolutions!

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A NEW New Year’s Tradition; Give Up Resolutions!

– Try Dedications, Intentions, and WHY NOTs Instead.
by Lasára Allen, www.LasaraAllen.com

Have you made any resolutions for 2010?

Many of us make resolutions – and then fail. Though I have almost always met with success in my new year’s resolutions, I think resolutions come from a somewhat limited, and limiting, perspective. So instead of resolutions his year, I’ve choosen to make lists of Dedications, Intentions and WHY NOTs.

But always with any new year commitment I make, I include one cautionary caveat, which I encourage you to adopt as well; remember that while any marker – new year’s day, new moon, an anniversary, or your birthday – can serve as an activator for a commitment, every breath is a chance for a new choice.

When you “fall short” of a commitment, offer yourself compassion instead of self-denigration. Gratitude instead of blame.

It helps me to think of my dedications, intentions, and wishes – my WHY NOT list, as practices. For me, practice means; though I’m not perfect at it (that’s why it’s called practice, right?), I am growing more committed and successful in it everyday.

I find this a great phrase, prayer, or mantra to remember as needed.
In the list structure I’ve used this year, each list has a higher level of commitment. 1: Dedications; 2: Intentions; 3; My “WHY NOT?” List.

Here’s a quick, easy guide on how to build these lists, and a few examples of my own per category.

List One; Dedications:

The Mirriam-Webster Dictionary offers four definitions for the word dedication.

1 : an act or rite of dedicating to a divine being or to a sacred use, 2 : a devoting or setting aside for a particular purpose, 3 : a name and often a message prefixed to a literary, musical, or artistic production in tribute to a person or cause, 4 : self-sacrificing devotion <her dedication to the cause>, 5 : a ceremony to mark the official completion or opening of something…

I think all of them have relevance here. For me, dedications are like vows that I’m making with God, my family, my community, the flow of life in general. And my life in specific. Of the three lists, as you might guess, this is the highest level of commitment.

In building this list, think of the things you truly are committed to enacting in your everyday life. Consider the ways you want your life to shift, the relationships you will reconfigure, the people you are responsible for or to.

Then set pen to paper (or finger to key board, as case may be), and get writing. You can  write out as many or as few as feels right. If your list gets to long, you can number each item by level of importance or resonance, and then cut the ones that rank lowest.

Here are a few items from my Dedications for 2010 list:

* To recognize that every area of practice towards my own health is an act of dedication to the liberation of all sentient beings pervading time and space.
* To recognize that serving my husband, my children, my family and my friends are part of my spiritual practice, and to treat it as such. And, to remeber that this also serve the liberation of all beings.
* To continue following the path that my gratitude practice opens for me.
* To build a circle of similarly minded friends here in the area, and to actively commitment to this as a practice of faith, desire, and love.
* To continue trusting that God has a plan for me that is greater than I can see, and that every day I’m fulfilling that plan by living my life in as much consciousness as I can achieve.

List Two; Intentions

Mirriam-Webster has six definitions of the word intention. Of the six, I feel that the following five are all interestingly relevant in this case.

1 : a determination to act in a certain way : resolve, 2 : import, significance, 3 a : what one intends to do or bring about b : the object for which a prayer, mass, or pious act is offered, 4 : a process or manner of healing of incised wounds, 5 : concept; especially : a concept considered as the product of attention directed to an object of knowledge…

And here’s the etymology, thanks to etymonline.com;

intend c.1300, “direct one’s attention to,” from O.Fr. intendre “to direct one’s attention,” from L. intenderein- “toward” + tendere “to stretch” (see tenet). Sense of “have as a plan” (1390) was present in Latin. A Gmc. word for this was ettle, from O.N. ætla “to think, conjecture, propose,” from P.Gmc. *ahta “consideration, attention” (cf. O.E. eaht, Ger. acht). …

In my mind, intentions are thoughts, experiences  and occurrences that you are casting forward into your future. Intetnions may not take as much day-to-day attention, or may not be as interactive with others in your life. Whatever they are, for me they often have a lot to do with feeling-states and the outcomes of them.

Some things off my Intentions for 2010 list:

* To allow financial, desired, perfect abundance to enter and flow in my life, and have less attachment about how that flow occurs. To trust that God knows best how to deliver this abundance.
* To follow the attraction and direction of my heart with grace, trust, and joy.
* To invest in and develop forgiveness for myself and and the harm that occurred in my past.
* More and more, to allow the support I so deeply desire.
* To take what I have learned of trust, honesty, and openness from my husband and begin generalizing it to the rest of the world.

List 3; My “WHY NOT?” List (this year and beyond):

I got the idea for a WHY NOT list from Self Magazine actually. I thought it sounded like a great idea – to give myself the chance to dream big, and think outside the daily details of family, plans, life, family, service, love, did I mention family?

WHY NOT take a few minutes and get very self-focused?If you could do anything, what would it be? And remember, anything you desire, you probably actually can pull off.

In my life, and lately in training for my half-marathon (one of my WHY NOTs, as you’ll see below), I have found so much inspiration from people who have come up against challenges and beat the odss; a man with a prosthetic leg finishing a marathon in just over five hours. People being diagnosed with cancer, and instead of succumbing, actually choosing to live for the first time in their lives. My sister, an amzing woman who is mentoring me on my marathon experience, summited Mount Everest four years ago in her mid-40s.

If you’re willing to reach for your WHY NOTs, there’s no way you’ll fail in having a great 2010, and beyond.

Some of my WHY NOTs, for 2010 and beyond:

* Run a half marathon – and then a full!
* Work toward my best comprehensive health in my life.
* Explore new religions. (Catholicism, traditional Tantra, deeper into Tibetan Buddhism and Tantric teachings and ritual.)
* Explore excavation of darkness and shadow, in the light.
* Go dancing.
* Take a dance class (again after all these years).
* Take a voice class (again after all these years).
* Visit different churches just to see what part of me the services sing to.

And, my final commitment; to view these lists at least once every three months, and mark off the things that actually have a completion point, and put stars next to the things I’m doing well with that are paths without destinations.

What are your commitments, intentions, or WHY NOTs? I look forward to seeing what you have to share. Please click here! It will be great to have you there.

With wishes of joy, abundance, and greatest gratitude, a very heartfelt prayer for a 2010 that is beyond your sweetest dreams, from my heart to yours.

In GRATITUDE! (heart here.)

Author Bio:
Lasára Allen is an author, an educator, advocate, ad the creator of Gratitude Games. Her articles cover a range of topics including gratitude, parenting, relationships, fitness, yoga, health & holistic well-being, compassion, and spiritual practice. As an advocate, Lasára writes and speaks about living, parenting and working with bipolar disorder. In 2008, she designed Gratigories and her other Gratitude Games.

Over the years, Lasára has helped clients and students find balance in their lives, and alignment with personal and family-held values. She has taught, spoken, and coached internationally.

Lasára is mom to two amazing daughters, and wife to Robert Allen, an outstanding man.

Find more of Lasára’s writing, updates, and tons of health and fitness focus, – including an interactive “co-accountability” focused area – at http://www.LasaraAllen.com, and more about Lasára’s gratitude projects at http://www.TheGratitudePlace.com.

I’m Grateful for 2009!

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Things I’m most grateful for from 2009

    The Kiss, Lasara and Robert Allen

  • Getting married to my true and eternal love. It’s for reals, yo! Seriously now, I didn’t think that love like this was possible, and there’s nothing I have loved more to be proved wrong about that. I want to shout it from the mountaintops; TRUE LOVE IS REAL! I have been matched, not just met. For finding my twin flame, I will be eternally grateful.
  • My constantly renewing relationship with my amazing daughters. They continue making my heart sing. My pride in them is boundless. I love the way they learn, listen, love, laugh. I love the way they allow themselves to cry, ask for hugs when they need them, reflect our family values of gratitude, honesty, generosity, and friendliness. I love watching them grow into young women, sometimes slowly – and sometimes just a little bit faster than I’d like for a moment or two. Then I remember; “Your children are not your children./They are the sons and daughters of Life’s own longing for itself./They come through you but not from you,/And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.” – The Prophet, On Children, Kahlil Gibran. They are becoming more themselves – more self possessed – everyday.
  • Learning trust. It’s a BIG ONE for me, and my man has been instrumental in helping me to confront and move through the fears that have previously blocked my ability to achieve it.
  • Learning honesty and transparency on a deeper level than ever before. This great gift has allowed, and is allowing for my true, authentic self to reveal itself day by day. It has allowed my defensiveness to drop, my stories to fall away, transform, change.

    • Mr. and the Kids make Cupcakes.

  • My gratitude practice. It keeps me moving into living the life I long to create. (I like saying it that way better than, “creating the life I long to live.”
  • My physical practice. Though I’m not perfect at it (that’s why it’s called practice, right?), it saves my life and my sanity. I am growing more committed and successful in it everyday. Especially with the half marathon I’m training for. :-) My asana yoga, running, Pilates, boot camp, the sweat, the gentle burn, the increase in lng capacity, my heart growing stronger, the stabilization of my body chemicals; I would can’t live without it.
  • My increase in self-directed honesty and insight about bipolar disorder and how it affects my life. Again with much gratitude to my Mr. and to my girls, I’m learning how to manage a condition/disorder/disability that will be a part of my world for the rest of my life. My man truly understands how bipolar disorder affects me, and he’s learning to hear and notice my symptoms, and understand and support me me without judgment.
  • Opportunities to advocate for understanding of bipolar disorder like The Hot Mommas Project case study competition – and, like this one, right now. THANK YOU for listening/reading.
  • A final willingness to accept the help that new classes of medications can offer people who live with bipolar disorder. Even when I my meds feel like a block instead of a baseline, I find my gratitude for the stabilization they offer. Sure, there are things I’ve had to give up – like the Super-High of mania. But the manic high, just like many forms of “high” do, affected my judgment and made me a real bit*h to live with. I’ happy to becoming happy, trust-worthy, and trusting. Even if it means I’ve turned down the volume of life by a few clicks. The white noise got kinda loud sometimes anyway.
    • My new year novena., santa teresita

    My new year's eve novena; a flowery and easeful, trusting prayer to Santa Teresita.

  • My growing comfort with and honesty about my conversion experience, and my conversion itself polytheism/pantheism (the religion I was raised in and practiced into my 30s – even to the extent that I was ordained as a Priestess of a Neo-Pagan church at 29) to monotheism. It’s bee a huge shift, and in the process I’ve lost touch with much of my community. (This part of it was somewhat unavoidable, though sad, and an area I would like to somehow mend.) But on the positive, there were many moments of growth, awareness, and unarguably miraculous experience  that are traced in light and grace and tattooed on the surface of my cells in this romance with God, and the slow dawning of my true change of heart. This mystical transformation has been a grand, glorious, at times tumultuous love affair with my own wholeness. Ibn ‘Arabi says it perfectly; “My heart has become capable of every form:/it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks,/And a temple for idols, and the pilgrim’s Ka’ba,/and the tables of the Tora and the book of the Koran./I follow the religion of Love, whichever way his camels take…“
  • My relationship with God. How “It” is (I am) there (here) even when I forget that it is/I am.

For me, 2009 was an awe-inspiring, heart-shaking, challenging, revelatory, heart-opening, dream-manifesting, intense, liberating, life-changing year. Through it, I’ve grown into a new me. My marriage has tempered me, and revealed me. My children have grown me up through their own amazing growth. After two years in a shared cocoon, the Mr. and I emerge, pupua to perfectly paired butterflies.

It’s a whole new world.

I hope that your 2009 has been as amazing.

I trust that 2010 will bring more of what we all desire from seed to flower, in our abundant gardens of dreams.