11c. Living from the Ground of Being
What have you discovered this week through the idea of Ground in meditation practice? Downloadable podcast: dec0415entry living from the ground of being.mp4
What have you discovered this week through the idea of Ground in meditation practice? Downloadable podcast: dec0415entry living from the ground of being.mp4
Get centered and feel the inner ground of composure, stability, and centeredness. Smile, breathe, and be present. Experience the foundational ground of Presence, authenticity, and integrity. As kindness is expressed, observe the ground of heart-mind through compassion as action. As respect is given to another person, place, or thing, delight in the shared ground of appreciation … More 11a: Ground is internal.
Real flow comes from inside, from being centered. A river attends to itself, its flow, and everything on its periphery as necessary. Animals and plants receive life from the river, but not because the river plans it or thinks about it or efforts to achieve their needs. The river simply flows. Also, it is the … More 3c: The river makes the banks.
We can feel integrity. The feeling is within good posture, within honesty, within truth, and a motivation that will benefit others. Integrity has sub-experiences or a sub-set of qualities within it, such as ease with oneself, patience or timeless engaging of the moment as it is, clarity, matter-of-factness. With these and with integrity, one experiences … More 12c: One’s Rainbow of Integrity
The central channel is a mechanism within the human subtle body. Truth be told, a central channel is found within all bodies on the planet: animal, plant, mountains, and rivers. In a human being, the chakras or energy centers are aligned along it. The same is so for other beings and their subtle bodies. The … More 12a. Straight up
A human being is a complex whole. Well-being lies in coordinating the various layers of that wholeness. Coordinated, we experience creativity, ease, joy, less friction with life and others, and less pain. Uncoordinated, with one part of us ill at ease or multiple aspects not valued, we are stymied, irritable, impatient, gluttonous, and diseased. Asana … More 8b. Coordinating Vibrations
In this meditation, the experience of the interlude of the breath (on the in and out breath) was the focus. It is a tangible space between that is also a moment of ripened potential. The potential of any moment is already present, but giving that moment space to BE without adding or subtracting anything from … More 7b. Vibrant Neutrality
Teaching and teacher are every moment. With open eyes, open heart and mind, we can realize that all that is happy, sad, painful, or delightful is calling out with a teaching. Realizing this simple and profound truth is to bring forward Awakeness. Living from this wide awakeness is a softened existence, one that is open … More Extraordinary Ordinary-ness
It is called a practice for a reason. With diligence, effort, and right motivation, a meditation practice will establish within oneself. If any of these is missing or haphazard, then that which a meditation practice is and that which it will bring forward within a person cannot happen. What can happen within oneself when the … More The stature of one’s practice
The ground gives one a sense of stability and surety. What are other things that do that? concepts and beliefs some forms of relationship a sense of self, who or what we think we are thinking (“I think therefore I am.” one’s environment, or the working of appliances, or the internet, or electricity Most of … More The many grounds of one’s life
Working in the garden this morning, I contemplated the growth of the plants. Many things are necessary in order for that to happen. Yet, when all that is necessary is present, then the plant grows and brings forward its fullness. So, I pondered, is my meditation practice still growing? Is meditation still producing fruit? Downloadable … More Still growing?
I could sing the praises of meditation day and night! The powers that it brings forward from inside a person are profound and common. Patience: did you ever consider patience a power? How amazing is gentle patience, calmness in the turbulence of modern life, joyful celebration of a child being a child and needing extra … More The powerful Ground of meditation
A meditation practice brings us home to within. There to be discovered is patience, ease, and dedication. Inside ourself is brilliance of all kinds, joy ready to giggle, and integrity. A meditation practice brings us to the truth that has been said by masters of all traditions: there is nowhere to go and no one else to … More The ground within (Step 11b)
Just on Earth there is no other ground, on the Path of human excellence meditation is the ground. All other practices are important – and even necessary as parts of the Path – but without meditation as foundational within one’s practice the fullness of human Beingness cannot be established or accomplished. I recognize that accomplish … More The ground of enlightenment (Step 11a)
Mind is a very comprehensive word. It refers to: creative processes, intuitive processes, emotional processes, and sorting out daily living processes. In order to accomplish all of these, mind has three primary qualities: contracting or exacting, expanding and opening, and empty mind or mind in a state of peace. Human beings are unique in that … More of three minds
The first several steps of The Practice of Living Awareness give us the tools and techniques to learn Peaceful Abiding (shamatha). Just as important is the constant encouragement to take each of those techniques or tools into one’s life. Smile – lighten up Breathe – you are alive. Celebrate life. Flow – set your own … More Choose your state of mind
Meditation training combines two factors: feminine and masculine. Within The Practice of Living Awareness, feminine energy is within the first several steps: Flow, Soften and Open, Receive-Release as examples. Masculine energy is within the next several steps beginning with Asana. Asana brings an acuity to one’s practice: straighten up, hold the attitude and altitude, command … More Ahhh, Composure!
Smile, take a long slow deep breath, and there IT is: the essential nature of you. It’s that simple because, in truth, we are that simple: simple Beingness What is profound is that from this simple pure Beingness all of our vibrations are born. The vibrations of pure Being express as clarity, awareness, caring and … More Accessing the Essence that is
“The river makes the banks; it’s not the other way around.” Also, “our inside creates our outside. Then the outside (that has been created) conditions our inside.” Or from the words of Invictus that inspired Nelson Mandela during his decades of imprisonment, “I am the master of my life.” Ultimately, it’s this simple. This is … More Creating a happy life: flow
The wind blows outside, and I am breathing. Responsibilities call, and I am breathing. The wind calms outside. I am breathing. Responsibilities attended. I am breathing. Be steadfast like the breath, not distracted or stormy. Composure is a choice. Downloadable podcast: I am breathing
The river makes the banks. The river cuts its way through, moves what it needs to, and eventually makes its mark on the landscape. Rivers are a might force of life. The breath is a river inside us. Breath and the river point to stability and change. The trail of the breath is constant and … More The river makes the banks …
Here, now. The past is gone. It is a set of energies, circumstances, people, and things that will never come together in exactly the same way again. The future does not exist. It has not yet happened, which means that the future can be what we choose. We can create it. Yet, in truth, the … More Present: a meditation in here-now
Duality is how we live. Acknowledging duality as a fact (that is to say that humanity lives as if duality is a fact) means that duality can be used to establish oneness. We begin the Intermediate level with this empowerment: that one can create oneness out of duality IF one chooses. Listen now. Download … More Using duality. The Intermediate level begins.
It is that simple. Awareness is one’s choice. Smiling, letting go, letting be, rejoicing, celebrating, appreciating, understanding all are one’s choice. Patience, contentment, ease, composure also are one’s choice. Similarly, so distraction, rudeness, impatience, agitation, aggravation, denial, and heedlessness are too. Life is one’s choice. And giving one’s self this truth – Awareness is one’s … More “We smile, and take a long-slow-deep breath …”
Composure and all its related states are one’s choice. When a desire arises, we have choice if to act upon it. When an opinion arises, we have choice if to speak it. We have choice a thousand times a day as to how to BE, what to do, to spend money or keep it in … More Choose composure! Step 8