A dear friend of mine sent me a facebook message yesterday. She asked me, if I wanted to use a video at our meditation gathering on July 19th. After watching it, I could only say yes. We'll be watching this after our meditation.
Produced by James Newton Howard, this short film is relating Truth, in a clear and accessible way. We really do have enough books on peace - it really is time to be peace. We really are a part of nature - it is time to take responsibility for what we each need to do. And one of the most powerful practices I know to accomplish this is to meditate - every day.
Meditation really is simple. It is about being present, harmoniously retreating from the past and future, into a perfect Now. When I reveal Eternal Presence I am connecting with my heart. When I connect with the moment, when I shift my focus into that space in between craving and aversion, pure acceptance, I connect with the pure essence of who I am. I connect with Oneness.
These words cannot really convey the truth of what this means to you. I can write about meditation and you can read these words, but it really is for you to embrace this for yourself. Perhaps I write these words out of a calling to invite you, to entice you? Perhaps Mr. Howard was driven in a much more profound way by producing this film? What whatever the vehicle, we must be the drivers.
It is indeed time to remember, who we truly are. The more I practice connecting with Love, with my heart, the more old ideas of fear, forgetting and separation dissolve. It has taken time to wash away old remnants of the world. And it will take time to dissolve the old values, attitudes, beliefs and agreements within that have kept us imprisoned. There is no one way to do this. But my experience has taught me that meditation is a most exquisite method for dissolution.
And when we dissolve the old prison walls of beliefs and prejudice all sorts of wonderful qualities are revealed. Forgiveness, harmony, acceptance, joy and so much more result from choosing Love.
If you are not meditating every day then something has yet to shift for you. If you do not dance through the rhythms of love, gasping at the miracles of every moment, then only you can make that choice. So many teachers are saying so many similar things. We can choose love. We can choose to see that every one, beyond their choices, ignorance and moments of forgetfulness are beings of Love.
You are a great Spirit. If you have experienced resistance to meditation this is really a result of that part of you that is mediocre opposing the Truth of who you are. You are one. All are one. There is no time like the present to realize that now is the time to awaken.
Don't believe a word you hear,
Don't believe a word you read,
Don't believe a thing that you see.
But learn how to observe,
How to directly experience the Truth for yourself.
And from this place of direct experience you will know the Truth contained,
Within every word, sight, and event.
Know the Flow and be happy.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
What is Your Meditation Practice?
You cannot become harmony while focusing on self. It is my experience that meditation ultimately requires that we surrender ourselves to that place between craving and aversion, between like and dislike, and simply become present. Meditation can be a constant practice of sitting in harmony and allowing the revealing of Eternal Presence. There should be no doubts about the present moment, no hesitation to fully allow the embrace of the moment. Any resistances that surface are of themselves opportunities.
This morning I was speaking to some friends about Revealing Eternal Presence meditation. We were in discourse about the nature of meditation. The truth as I see it is that any meditation can be good for you. There is no 'one way' nor is there a way that is perfect for everyone.
The outer way of meditation, where we contemplate something in our imagination or an object of nature, such as a stone, can be a very good practice for refining concentration. It can result in an increase of mental efficiency and the ability to make decisions.
With the inner way of meditation one contemplates questions along the lines of, 'How am I Love? How well do I accept Love?" This can be very good for raising emotional awareness and is particularly good if you are ready to improve your emotional awareness and empathy.
The middle way, such as Revealing Eternal Presence meditation, works beneath the surface. I liken it to deep surgery where, through a process of observing in a state of harmony, we get to witness the Law of Cause and Effect dissolve old beliefs and mental conditionings from the Reservoir of Memories. This process of release is powerful since it gets to the root-cause of all the emotions and thought-patterns we experience on the surface. And so when I was asked if the middle way works at all levels, I answered that yes it does.
Any experienced gardener will tell you that if you simply pull a weed out of the ground you can expect a weed to sprout again in the same place. They will tell you that the reason for this is that unless you completely eradicate the root the plant will not truly be gone. This is the same with thought patterns and emotions. What we experience on the surface, the emotions, thought patterns, are all the result of previous thought-patterns that have carved themselves deep in the Subjective Mind, the unconscious. The Buddha called these Sankhara (in the Pali language) or mental conditionings. Not only do our conscious thoughts influence our conditions but our unconscious, or subjective, thoughts are also creating.
However, the roots of our experience really can be dissolved with meaningful practice. I am not proposing that Revealing Eternal Presence meditation is the only spiritual practice to accomplish the dissolving of such roots. But it is my experience that if one is diligent and perserveres that this indeed will be the effect.
Whatever meditation practice you undertake you should ensure the following:
Ultimately, meditation should lead you to seeing past the apparent reality and identity to Eternal Presence. We should feel a total and absolute offering of ourselves to a sense of unconditional Love. Concentration, awareness, the ability to watch oneself is a skill. The more we practice the better we become.
What is your meditation practice? If you are becoming curious and are looking for a practice to pursue then you should know that with the release of the new Know the Flow website I will also be publishing a series of meditation podcasts to take the meditator through the process that has worked so well for me. After all, this blog is just words. And no matter how much sense these words may make, it is only when we experience something for ourselves that we can truly make it ours.
Know the Flow and be happy my friends
This morning I was speaking to some friends about Revealing Eternal Presence meditation. We were in discourse about the nature of meditation. The truth as I see it is that any meditation can be good for you. There is no 'one way' nor is there a way that is perfect for everyone.
The outer way of meditation, where we contemplate something in our imagination or an object of nature, such as a stone, can be a very good practice for refining concentration. It can result in an increase of mental efficiency and the ability to make decisions.
With the inner way of meditation one contemplates questions along the lines of, 'How am I Love? How well do I accept Love?" This can be very good for raising emotional awareness and is particularly good if you are ready to improve your emotional awareness and empathy.
The middle way, such as Revealing Eternal Presence meditation, works beneath the surface. I liken it to deep surgery where, through a process of observing in a state of harmony, we get to witness the Law of Cause and Effect dissolve old beliefs and mental conditionings from the Reservoir of Memories. This process of release is powerful since it gets to the root-cause of all the emotions and thought-patterns we experience on the surface. And so when I was asked if the middle way works at all levels, I answered that yes it does.
Any experienced gardener will tell you that if you simply pull a weed out of the ground you can expect a weed to sprout again in the same place. They will tell you that the reason for this is that unless you completely eradicate the root the plant will not truly be gone. This is the same with thought patterns and emotions. What we experience on the surface, the emotions, thought patterns, are all the result of previous thought-patterns that have carved themselves deep in the Subjective Mind, the unconscious. The Buddha called these Sankhara (in the Pali language) or mental conditionings. Not only do our conscious thoughts influence our conditions but our unconscious, or subjective, thoughts are also creating.
However, the roots of our experience really can be dissolved with meaningful practice. I am not proposing that Revealing Eternal Presence meditation is the only spiritual practice to accomplish the dissolving of such roots. But it is my experience that if one is diligent and perserveres that this indeed will be the effect.
Whatever meditation practice you undertake you should ensure the following:
- You feel better when you are done with the meditation than when you sat down
- You feel drawn to meditate more and more, to the point that the meditation calls you to sit
- You experience an increased perception of radiance and illumination in your life
- In those moments you experience fear your reaction is one of recognition and observation (not suppression). The moments of ignorance, when observed with balanced and harmonious awareness, are wonderful opportunities for growth, release, and constitute work at the deepest level of experiential wisdom
Ultimately, meditation should lead you to seeing past the apparent reality and identity to Eternal Presence. We should feel a total and absolute offering of ourselves to a sense of unconditional Love. Concentration, awareness, the ability to watch oneself is a skill. The more we practice the better we become.
What is your meditation practice? If you are becoming curious and are looking for a practice to pursue then you should know that with the release of the new Know the Flow website I will also be publishing a series of meditation podcasts to take the meditator through the process that has worked so well for me. After all, this blog is just words. And no matter how much sense these words may make, it is only when we experience something for ourselves that we can truly make it ours.
Know the Flow and be happy my friends
Saturday, July 2, 2011
A Recap, a Celebration!
I just submitted an article to a newsletter about my journey over the past two and a half years. I thought I would share this through my blog. After all, this platform has been central to my evolving purpose.
It all began on the 23rd of January, 2009, at a day retreat of growth and celebration with other Practitioners, led by Linda Watson. During that day we were invited to write down what flowed through us about our purpose. I remember writing a piece and reading it out. The reaction of the room was palpable, feeling like a mix between the nurturing attentiveness of a mother to a newborn and the insightful gaze that a veteran teacher brings to the classroom. Except in this case, I was the innocent newborn. How little I realized what this would lead to.
After reading my passage aloud Linda suggested that I should write more. During the next break a couple of people asked me if I blogged. And by the end of the day this insecure adolescent had aspirations to self-publish through the Internet. I knew that I was going to blog (which plainly put, amounts to posting journal entries to a website).
Within a week I had had done my homework, and I reasoned that if nothing else this blog would serve as a compelling way to get me to journal. After all, I had just begun my Practitioner Studies and each class was checking in about our practice. Within a month I started to realize that this experience was transforming me. I had a yearning to bring my spirituality together with my technical experience and knew that the first step had been taken. The innocent newborn was growing. And so I continued to blog through 2009. By the end of the year I had published 100 blogs. But as is the case, when we step into the Flow it steps into us. What had started as a desire to express was now transforming.
During a meditation in early 2010 the idea of logging into something called Second Life popped into my awareness. I’d never used this technology before. But I had vaguely heard about it and after a brief bit of research I discovered that some very clever people had created this virtual three-dimensional world, complete with an economy and over 1.5 million people involved.
I logged in to Second Life and started to learn my way around. After the initial adjustment and learning curve I quickly realized that Second Life contained a multitude of expressions, from social gatherings, cities using it for planning, to churches in celebration. I was staggered by the potential of this and in mind the realization became obvious – such an environment transcended the limitations of the physical world. I was meeting people from all walks and locations of life. The seed of this virtual ministry was planted within me!
I quickly discovered groups of common interest and found a Buddhist meditation community. At the time I was struck by fusion of simplicity and magnificence of it all. Of course people could meditate together through the Internet. The apparent fact that I’m thousands of miles away from those I’m meditating from may be a shift from the experience of being in the same room, but as I meditated with those Buddhists two realizations were revealed. Firstly, I now knew why I was here. Their practice was not quite what I was looking for, but I was here to expand my meditation practice. And secondly, space was a limitation only within our minds.
I spent the next month searching groups, looking for a virtual community that would align with my philosophy, my belief system. And finding nothing that quite aligned, I founded a Second Life group called ‘Community for Spiritual Living’ and decided to start offering guided meditations. People started showing up for my daily 9.30pm meditations. Within a year the group had grown to over 200 members and there were a couple of people showing up every day for Meditation.
One person in particular stands out and after a while I got to hear her story. Whilst I held her in truth and had formed an environment for her to meditate that she could relate to, she did the work and ‘spent the spiritual coin’. From being someone contemplating suicide, who had been unemployed for over 2 years, she has not only gotten herself her dream job but is now leading meditations for others! She attributes much of this to the Community for Spiritual Living and our daily meditations (her testimony even formed one of my demonstration letters to License as a Practitioner).
From this humble beginning a remarkable series of events have unfolded. And whilst this is not the article to highlight all the details, my purpose is evolving. I’m working with a web-designer to upgrade my blog to a fully-blown website (http://www.knowtheflow.ca) that will be released to production at the end of July, 2011. That website will include sections on spiritual coaching (for my Professional Practitioner practice, using tools such as Skype), my spiritual poetry, daily affirmations, affirmative prayers and a practice I call Revealing Eternal Presence Meditation. For you see, what began as a way of strengthening my meditation practice has now transformed into the revealing of a beautiful meditation practice that is a repeatable process of release, that serves as a wonderful tool for releasing those old beliefs, values and mental conditionings that clog that pathway between the objective and subjective mind. I am even recording meditation podcasts that will make this practice available to anyone.
I am signed up to enter Ministerial Studies this September. I don’t know how things will play out, but my purpose is crystal clear. The insecure newborn of 1-23 is now stepping into adulthood, and my purpose to inspire and serve the revealing of Eternal Presence has just begun. If you would add this ministry to your Affirmative Prayers, knowing the perfect of expression and expansion of these teachings, I would be most grateful. Know the Flow and be happy, dear sisters and brothers-in-light.
It all began on the 23rd of January, 2009, at a day retreat of growth and celebration with other Practitioners, led by Linda Watson. During that day we were invited to write down what flowed through us about our purpose. I remember writing a piece and reading it out. The reaction of the room was palpable, feeling like a mix between the nurturing attentiveness of a mother to a newborn and the insightful gaze that a veteran teacher brings to the classroom. Except in this case, I was the innocent newborn. How little I realized what this would lead to.
After reading my passage aloud Linda suggested that I should write more. During the next break a couple of people asked me if I blogged. And by the end of the day this insecure adolescent had aspirations to self-publish through the Internet. I knew that I was going to blog (which plainly put, amounts to posting journal entries to a website).
Within a week I had had done my homework, and I reasoned that if nothing else this blog would serve as a compelling way to get me to journal. After all, I had just begun my Practitioner Studies and each class was checking in about our practice. Within a month I started to realize that this experience was transforming me. I had a yearning to bring my spirituality together with my technical experience and knew that the first step had been taken. The innocent newborn was growing. And so I continued to blog through 2009. By the end of the year I had published 100 blogs. But as is the case, when we step into the Flow it steps into us. What had started as a desire to express was now transforming.
During a meditation in early 2010 the idea of logging into something called Second Life popped into my awareness. I’d never used this technology before. But I had vaguely heard about it and after a brief bit of research I discovered that some very clever people had created this virtual three-dimensional world, complete with an economy and over 1.5 million people involved.
I logged in to Second Life and started to learn my way around. After the initial adjustment and learning curve I quickly realized that Second Life contained a multitude of expressions, from social gatherings, cities using it for planning, to churches in celebration. I was staggered by the potential of this and in mind the realization became obvious – such an environment transcended the limitations of the physical world. I was meeting people from all walks and locations of life. The seed of this virtual ministry was planted within me!
I quickly discovered groups of common interest and found a Buddhist meditation community. At the time I was struck by fusion of simplicity and magnificence of it all. Of course people could meditate together through the Internet. The apparent fact that I’m thousands of miles away from those I’m meditating from may be a shift from the experience of being in the same room, but as I meditated with those Buddhists two realizations were revealed. Firstly, I now knew why I was here. Their practice was not quite what I was looking for, but I was here to expand my meditation practice. And secondly, space was a limitation only within our minds.
I spent the next month searching groups, looking for a virtual community that would align with my philosophy, my belief system. And finding nothing that quite aligned, I founded a Second Life group called ‘Community for Spiritual Living’ and decided to start offering guided meditations. People started showing up for my daily 9.30pm meditations. Within a year the group had grown to over 200 members and there were a couple of people showing up every day for Meditation.
One person in particular stands out and after a while I got to hear her story. Whilst I held her in truth and had formed an environment for her to meditate that she could relate to, she did the work and ‘spent the spiritual coin’. From being someone contemplating suicide, who had been unemployed for over 2 years, she has not only gotten herself her dream job but is now leading meditations for others! She attributes much of this to the Community for Spiritual Living and our daily meditations (her testimony even formed one of my demonstration letters to License as a Practitioner).
From this humble beginning a remarkable series of events have unfolded. And whilst this is not the article to highlight all the details, my purpose is evolving. I’m working with a web-designer to upgrade my blog to a fully-blown website (http://www.knowtheflow.ca) that will be released to production at the end of July, 2011. That website will include sections on spiritual coaching (for my Professional Practitioner practice, using tools such as Skype), my spiritual poetry, daily affirmations, affirmative prayers and a practice I call Revealing Eternal Presence Meditation. For you see, what began as a way of strengthening my meditation practice has now transformed into the revealing of a beautiful meditation practice that is a repeatable process of release, that serves as a wonderful tool for releasing those old beliefs, values and mental conditionings that clog that pathway between the objective and subjective mind. I am even recording meditation podcasts that will make this practice available to anyone.
I am signed up to enter Ministerial Studies this September. I don’t know how things will play out, but my purpose is crystal clear. The insecure newborn of 1-23 is now stepping into adulthood, and my purpose to inspire and serve the revealing of Eternal Presence has just begun. If you would add this ministry to your Affirmative Prayers, knowing the perfect of expression and expansion of these teachings, I would be most grateful. Know the Flow and be happy, dear sisters and brothers-in-light.
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