Insights for October 2024
Insights for October 2024
My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered... Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most....
You are right in your assessments.... Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is that we were made for these times. Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement.
—Clarissa Pinkola Estés "Letter to a Young Activist During Troubled Times"
AWAKENING:
“You know your wisdom.” The Insight Center
“You’re not looking for something, you’re looking for openings.” The Insight Center
"How do you let go of attachments to things?
Don't even try. It's impossible.
Attachment to things drops away by itself
when you no longer seek to find yourself in them." Eckhart Tolle
“Live the truth you know.” Pierre Jeanty
Rebecca Solnit is certain of only one thing—that hope includes uncertainty. "We don't know what's going to happen next, and that gives us room to act," she says. "Hope is active engagement with uncertainty and the possibilities that it holds."
“Keep navigating back to truth” The Insight Center
“Throw your life into Truth. Don’t try to stuff Truth into your life.” Adyashanti
“We will ultimately be generous with our soul.” The Insight Center
“Stand tall against the nothingness and remember why you are here.” The Insight Center
“I reach into the pile and grab only the crispy ones and leave the lesser-cooked ones behind. I’m not wasting the calories on those limp losers.” David Leibovitz
“Sometimes, elevation requires isolation.” The Insight Center
“I’m taking my time.” The Insight Center
“Are you afraid to live your truth?” The Insight Center
Yung Pueblo article, Hard Moments are Natural During Your Journey:
I am signing up for this course. Join me!
HEALING:
check in with your heart …
check in with your nervous system …
check in with your breathing …
check in with your grounding …
check in with your soul …
Do it slowly and with love and compassion 🧡
This is called spiritual alignment/hygiene. It’s a simple practice and powerful. Try it. It will get easier and more effective over time. 🧡🙏🏻✨
ASTROLOGY:
Jupiter retrogrades on October 9 and will remain retrograde into early February next year. Use this time (abundantly) wisely – look at its house placement in your chart.
Pluto pivots direct (from retrograding) in Capricorn on October 12 and will not stay in Capricorn for long. Goodbye to Pluto in Capricorn in our lifetimes!
Pluto moves into Aquarius on November 19 - for almost two decades!
Saturn resumes direct motion on November 15. This will bring us some ease – what did we learn?
VIPASSANA MEDIATION:
“Don’t follow your thoughts,
follow your breath.” The Insight Center
“Don’t count your breaths,
don’t label your breaths (“in” “out”),
just watch your breath,
one inhale and one exhale
at a time as it naturally travels over your upper lip.“ The Insight Center
“All the time
every meditation
no matter what
follow the breath
in and out
in and out.
That is all,
in and out.” The Insight Center
“At every stage of awareness we follow the breath
in and out
in and out
in and out” The Insight Center
“Meditative clarity is:
I am who I am.” The Insight Center
“There is buddha peace in my heart.” The Insight Center
GRIEF:
“One of the things that can make navigating times of transition and challenge even more difficult is when we resist the changes coming at us or we think there's something wrong with our life, or with us, when the road gets bumpy. We may believe that life is not supposed to be this way. That if we plan and prepare carefully enough, or act in a meticulously organized fash-ion, or follow all the rules, we can stay in control and our life circumstances will remain smooth and predictable.” Kaira Jewel Lingo
“But transition and challenge are a part of life. They are not wrong or bad. In the Buddha's most essential teaching of the Four Noble Truths, he shares his discovery that suffering is a part of life, and there is no escape from it. This is the first Noble Truth and acknowledging it can help us to suffer less. If we can accept where we are, and not judge the disruption in our life as wrong or bad, we can touch great freedom. This is because fighting what is actually doesn't work. As the saying goes, "Whatever we resist persists." Kaira Jewel Lingo
“Imagine a large tree in a storm. The top of the tree is waving about violently in the wind, but if you look down at the trunk of the tree, it's firm, very solid. It is the same with us. In times of emotional turmoil, it is dangerous to stay at the level of our mind, the upper branches. Feeding the thoughts of anxiety, anger, or despair can get us into real trouble. Instead, we can bring our attention down to our belly, the trunk of our tree, which is stable and steady. There we'll be safe. We bring all of our awareness to our belly and don't let our attention get caught up in the thrashing of the upper branches of our thinking mind. At least not until they calm down and the storm has passed.” Kaira Jewel Lingo
RELATIONSHIPS:
“You are the beach and ocean to my sun and sky.” The Insight Center