Late April 2024 Insights
AWAKENING
“Some human beings find it easier to be open-minded, and some find it easier to
be open-hearted, but to really be here now is to be both.” Adyashanti
“Have the courage to overcome self -judgment because you can’t control everything.” Tom Jacobs
“That thing that really was hard is now truth for me.” Tom Jacobs
“Being
a leader
doesn’t mean
you have
followers.
It means
you go
first.” Sarah Elkhaldy
“Another aspect of openness is intimacy. The quickest access to Truth, and also to beauty, is when you are totally intimate with all of experience, the inner and the outer, even if the experience isn't ‘good.’ When you are being intimate with the whole of experience, the divided mind has to let go of whatever its project is at the moment. In this intimacy, one becomes very open and discovers a vastness. Whether the qualities of the experience are unpleasant or beautiful, as soon as you are intimate with the whole of experience, there is openness.” Adyashanti
“I think of how love may be the supreme creative act, the way it remakes the self and the world between selves.” Maria Povich - the marginalian
“The world
You see is a reflection of consciousness transforming.
You are connected to it on the individual level.
The collective is asking that you not only speak but hold your values + truth.
If aligned with your higher self it aligns with whole.“ Faram Siddiq
“To be human (especially an artist) is not a fixed experience. It is fluid and always changing. Every cell in your body exists in a constant state of death and regeneration.
The seasons change.
The moon moves in cycles.
So do we. Don't limit yourself to being the person you've always been.
Stay open. Stay curious.
Give yourself permission to become somebody new.” James McCrae
“The point is not to get rid of thoughts or feelings, but just not to feel located inside of them.
Openness has no particular location. It seems to be everywhere.
It has room for anything. There can be a thought or no thought.
There can be a feeling or no feeling. There can be sounds. There can be silence. Nothing disturbs openness. Nothing disturbs your true nature. We only get disturbed when we close ourselves by identifying with a particular point of view, a concept of who I am or who I believe or feel myself to be; we go into opposition against what's happening. But when we are being our true nature, which is openness, we find that we're actually not in opposition to anything. Whatever is happening in the openness is perfectly okay, and so we are able to respond to life in a spontaneous and wise way.” Adyashanti
“Awaken to what you know and trust and believe.” The Insight Center
“You can be aligned with the portals of your journey.” The Insight Center
“Some periods of our growth are so confusing that we don't even recognize that growth is happening. We may feel hostile or angry or weepy and hysterical, or we may feel depressed. It would never occur to us, unless we stumbled on a book or a person who explained to us, that we were in fact in the process of change, of actually becoming larger, spiritually, than we were before.
Whenever we grow, we tend to feel it, as a young seed must feel the weight and inertia of the earth as it seeks to break out of its shell on its way to becoming a plant.
Often the feeling is anything but pleasant. But what is most unpleasant is the not knowing what is happening.
Those long periods when something inside ourselves seems to be waiting, holding its breath, unsure about what the next step should be, eventually become the periods we wait for, for it is in those periods that we realize that we are being prepared for the next phase of our life and that, in all probability, a new level of the personality is about to be revealed.” Alice Walker, Living by the Word
“If it’s not happening right now, it’s not happening right now.” The Insight Center
“If you don’t know right now, you don’t know right now.” The Insight Center
HEALING
“One of the best boundaries you can have it simply not letting other people’s energy bring down your emotions. Living in you peace even when you come across those who, want you to join them in their storm is a sign of deep maturity.” yung pueblo
“Someone else’s energy operating within you feels like an unnecessary exaggeration of your energy.” The Insight Center
VIPASSANA MEDITATION AND BUDDHISM
“When we meditate, equanimity is about cultivating stability while remaining curious and being open to our experience. We might use mindful breathing to do this. While breathing in and out, what do we confront on the cushion? Discomfort, perhaps, or painful memories? Maybe restlessness and boredom? All that we suppress tends to rise to the forefront when the mind is quiet. Equanimity becomes about accepting these arisings. The breath, then, becomes our anchor, our tree trunk.” Bradley Donaldson
“Off the cushion, the practice is similar in that we are cultivating stability, but now we're doing it while contending with the challenges of day-to-day life. So, how do we approach what the Buddha called the "worldly conditions" of gain, loss, status, disgrace, praise, blame, pleasure, and pain? Do we react with bewilderment and frus-tration, or with understanding? Can we hold our experience with loving-kindness, compassion, or even joy? Breathing in, we see the situation for what it is. Breathing out, we stay curious.” Bradley Donaldson
“John Crook, Master Sheng Yen's first lay dharma heir, with whom I previously studied, articulated a helpful way to work with thoughts: let through, let be, let go. When thoughts show up, let them through. They are already part of the present. Blocking them will only tense and agitate the mind, perpetuating the habit of reacting to the present with aversion. Letting be is allowing the thoughts to be fully felt, seen, and heard as they unfold, moment after moment, without labeling, commenting, or trying to change them. Letting go is allowing the thoughts to leave on their own without being in a hurry to make them go away. In this way, there may be thoughts, but habitual reactivities to the thoughts are not activated, allowing the mind to relax and be still. This nonreactivity is silence.” Rebecca Li
“The paramis or paramitas are qualities that help us develop and reach true happiness, our highest potential. They are often translated as ‘per-fections,’ as they are the perfections of character necessary for enlightenment.
Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh called them practices that help us cross from the shore of confusion and suffering to the shore of liberation.
The ten paramis are:
1. Dana: generosity
2. Sila: virtue, morality
3. Nekkhamma: renunciation
4. Panna: wisdom
5. Viriya: energy, vigor, effort
6. Khanti: patience, tolerance
7. Sacca: truthfulness, honesty
8. Adhitthana: determination, resolve
9. Metta: goodwill, loving-kindness
10. Upekkha: equanimity, serenity Pali Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language.[1] It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon
“For the paramita of generosity, I've found Joseph Goldstein's practice very helpful. He tries to listen to and follow the impulse to give when it first arises. He tries to not be swayed by second thoughts or doubts, which could dampen or lessen the initial thought of generosity. Try it!” Kiara Jewel Lingo
“The first training is reverence for life. Aware of the suffering caused by killing, we commit to cultivating the insight of interbeing, growing our compassion, and learning ways to protect the lives of all beings.
The second training is true happiness. With this training, we're aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, stealing, and oppression, and we practice generosity in all our thoughts, speech, and actions.
The third training is true love, which is grounded in an awareness of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct. Guided by true love, we protect the safety and integrity of individuals and couples, families, and society.
The fourth training is loving speech and deep listening. Beginning with an awareness of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and a lack of listening, we commit to engaging in compassionate speech and listening. We promote reconciliation and peace in ourselves and among other people, groups, and nations.
Finally, the fifth mindfulness training is nourishment and healing. This training brings us into awareness of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption. We practice mindful eating, drinking, and consuming in order to cultivate good health-physical and mental-for ourselves, loved ones, and society.
With these five mindfulness trainings, we practice virtue. This allows us to find fresh vision for individual and collective wellness, and to develop and sustain the embodied perfection of wisdom.
As virtue takes up residence in our hearts, it brings love, peace, and resilience to our world.” Larry Ward
GRIEF
“The art of life is to stay wide open and be vulnerable, yet at the same time to sit with the mystery and the awe and with the unbearable pain - to just be with it all.” Ram Dass
“Grief is the last act of love we give to our loved one. Where there is deep grief, there was a great love.” Unknown
“Death has nothing to do with going away. The sun sets. The moon sets. But they are not gone.” Rumi
ASTROLOGY
Jupiter Uranus aligned April 21, 2024 – TODAY!
On April 21, 2024, Uranus and Jupiter will be conjunct – exactly aligned at 21˚ Taurus. You may have heard a lot about this already – or maybe you haven’t?
Wherever 21˚ Taurus is in your chart expect magnified, restlessness (anxiety?), and unexpected change – bold individuation is breaking through – and possible disruptive events that set us on a completely new trajectory. There is potential for rebellion, awakening, breakthrough, revolution, peak experiences, and quantum leaps.
This revolutionary alignment occurs in the sign of Taurus, the fixed sign of stability – and these planets of liberation and idealism will be breaking up fixed patterns – which can feel uncomfortable and extreme.
To prepare for this be aware and prepared for change. Jupiter expands – make things bigger and Uranus brings surprises. This may feel liberating to those of us who have more air and fire in our charts and more unsettling for those of us with a preponderance of water and earth. It is a time to break through blocks – and it will happen.
This energetic shift has been manifesting for months as Jupiter moved toward Uranus so think about what has shifted for you already. Events and shifts may have already happened and are now building in strength. As Jupiter moves beyond 21˚ the next few months, the changes that occurred will continue to deepen and grow. It may be internal or external – and it will definitely change our perspective.
“Anyone who has ever had a Pluto transit, can confirm Pluto is a planet. Who else but Pluto can take the highest-flying personality and knock that person to their knees for an in-depth look at the underworld, the machinations of the psyche, and the ultimate needs of the soul? “Philip Sedgwick
ANXIETY
Eight Tips for Anxiety from
1. be kind to yourself
2. reach out to someone
3. remember you are not alone
4. help someone else out
5. don't believe all your thoughts
6. make a gratitude list
7. remember everyone struggles
8. practice lovingkindness
Sharon Salzberg