Insights for September 2014
Grow. Image by Margaret Gervais, Portland, Oregon
"Letting go does not mean losing knowledge we have gained from the past. The knowledge of the past stays with us. To let go is simply to release any images and emotions, grudges and fears, clingings and disappointments that bind our spirit. Like emptying a cup, letting go leaves us free to receive, refreshed, sensitive, and awake." Jack Kornfield, The Wise Heart.From Jack Kornfield, one of my favorite meditation teachers at a weekend intensive, The Psychology of Loving Awareness, Seattle, April, 2014:
“True equanimity is the true heart that can remain peaceful in this world, with its joys and sorrows. Let it all rise. Take your seat in the midst.
The silence of the cosmos is in you.
Your happiness and suffering depends on your journey and actions, not my best wishes for you.
Balance love, with the wisdom of equanimity.
You should probably be doing less
You have to give up all hope of a better past."
From Robert Hand, An Interview with Robert Hand, The Mountain Astrologer, Oct./Nov. 2014:
“So, it’s a matter of raising your understanding and your spiritual awareness – raising your consciousness to see how you can use the transcendental creativity.” page 42.
“Higher consciousness will never be achieved by a group of people of any size. It has to be achieved by individuals first and then by the collective. There has to be a critical mass of enlightened people before that will happen.” page 43.
“Nonresistance, non judgment, and nonattachment are the three aspects of true freedom and enlightened living.” Eckhart Tolle
"The trap of high experiences, however they occur, is that you become attached to their memory and so you try to recreate them. These memories compel you to try to reproduce the high. Ultimately they trap you, because they interfere with your experience of the present moment. In meditation you must be in the moment, letting go of comparisons and memories. If the high was too powerful in comparison to the rest of your life, it overrides the present and keeps you focused on the past. The paradox, of course, is that were you to let go of the past, you would find in the present moment the same quality that you once had. But because you're trying to repeat the past, you lose the moment." Ram Dass, Love Serve Remember.
From David Pond's Autumn Equinox Newsletter, about the upcoming Grand Trine in Fire, with Uranus in Aries, Jupiter in Leo and Mars in Sagittarius (www.davidpond.com):
"Move into the rooms that already have light."
This is not so much getting the darkness out of rooms in your consciousness as it is moving into the rooms that already have light, and if there are rooms that have no light, put in a light, rather than attempt to get rid of the darkness. Instead of resolving fears, insecurities, feelings of inadequacy, overwhelm them with the positive feelings of what you appreciate about your life and are thankful for and look forward to.
What you pay attention to grows: This is the one aspect that you have more control of than in any other area of your life; after all, you are the only custodian and final authority of what you pay attention to. This is not something that could happen, it is happening now and how our individual lives are all unique, even though we all have access to the same collective energy. So what have you been growing with your attention in the garden of your consciousness? There can be favorable opportunities available, but if you stay stuck to the news channel, you’ll miss it.”
"It is much better to look at karma as a psychology of habit, rather than your cosmic bank account." Ethan Nichtern, www.ethannichtern.com.
"When Buddhists talk about the preciousness of a human birth, it’s the awareness associated with human birth that’s the opportunity. We become aware to bring ourselves to higher consciousness." Ram Dass, Love Serve Remember