Concentration. Huh? What was that?

Dharana, or concentration, is the sixth limb of Ashtanga, or Eight Limbs, of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.  For me, dharana is one of the most vital steps along the path of Raja Yoga, or the Royal Road.  (From here on out, I will just refer to Raja Yoga as yoga.)  Looking around at the mainstream American society in which I am immersed I see a love of yoga, but mostly one which ends at merely the third rung of the ladder of Ashtanga, with the postures, or asanas.  There is so much more to the art and science of yoga than the physical postures!  (yes, that was a slightly exacerbated rant.  sorry. i'll be more patient now.)

For the ancient yogis, the postures were designed and practiced as a way to enable one to sit comfortably in a meditative posture for a long period of time. Yes, there are manymanymany auxiliary physical and mental benefits of the asanas, but they were never meant to be an end in the road.  I realize too, from my own experience and those of others I have talked with, that the physical postures are an excellent, gentle gateway to layers of Self, and of shedding layers of self, that we did not realize or want to shed otherwise.  And I love the practice of asanas. Sometimes, perhaps, I love them too much, so more than anything, this post is directed at myself.

Skipping the fourth and fifth limbs of pranayama (breath control) and pratyahara (sense withdrawal), and acknowledging that both have vital roles in the cleansing of the complete body system and subsequent raising of consciousness, I want to highlight the importance of dharana.  As one-pointed concentration, dharana is perhaps the most crucial step in achieving samadhi, the final limb and state of superconscious oneness known as enlightenment.  Without the ability to focus for an extended period of time, little is able to be accomplished.  This can be seen in the outer world as well as the inner.  There has never been anyone of any notable talent, skill, or gift that did not have required of them the need to focus solely on the refinement of their trade, be it an athlete, actor, mother, guru, you name it.  I could be mistaken, but I can think of no greatest that is a jack-of-all-trades.  Concentration, a narrowness of focus and energy, is what creates mastery.

Minutes ago I was sitting in Vedic meditation (similar to TM with it's use of mantras), and noticing how difficult it was for my mind to focus on the mantra for more than a few seconds before my mind drifted to oh-so-much-more-important things, like the writing of this blog, or answering that facebook post, or sending that email, or getting that resume out.  We think "I can't sit and focus for 20 minutes, there is so much in the world I will miss, that I need to do!"  Yet, in reality, those 20 minutes provide more for your day than everything else we bounce around doing.  And bounce is the key word here.  In our modern society we are given so many choices, so much flexibility, and so much praise to the manic god of multitasking that the discipline of concentrating, of simplicity, is, dare I say, more challenging than running a home, working fulltime, making gazillions of plans, and getting swept away with all there is to do, say, be, become, desire, fix, defend, create, and on and on and on.

How many things in your life have been left incomplete because you've been swept up in the tide and they've been swept under the rug?

Dharana, concentration.  Just breath.  Feel. Control. Sustain. And return again and again to the point of focus.  Give yourself to it.  Let go.  Trust.  Just be.  You are all ready worthy.  There is nothing more to do.  As is, you are perfect.

Thanks for letting me talk to myself.  Now, back to my practice.  Gotta sharpen that blade to slice through the illusions.    !Hi-yah!

Playing With Maya

Life is a game, a dance, a play in which we are the willingly fooled participants, and as agreed, we have forgotten all of this so that we may play the game of remembrance.
Imagine the universe as a living entity.  You can visualize it as an actual deity, such as Brahma (the Creator), while you, the earth, and other aspect of our reality, are but a small part of this larger, living whole.  We are like the little finger of Brahma.  Is the little finger not a part of Brahma too? Yes, it can act independently and unaware of the greater body of which it is a part, but just because it does not know, does not mean it is separate.  This is us.  We are unaware of the larger consciousness of which we are an inseparable component, but that limited perspective does not create an actual separation.

Maya, my six year old, is home now on Christmas Break from school.  She is distracting to have around, and I told her she needed to go outside and play with our border collie Chloe, so that I can have a few minutes to write in peace.  I just heard the front door open and Maya say, "Come Chloe!" to bring her back inside after only being gone from my awareness for a couple minutes.  My immediate reaction was just to yell back, "Maya, stay outside!" And the door slammed shut as she retreated back out.  To me, this is a perfect example of how we live in our 3D reality.  The Maya, or illusion, is scurrying all around, but we want even the idea of it to be hidden so that we may get on with our oh-so-important tasks at hand.  But are they really that important, all that stuff we fill our time with?  No.  It's all just a game, with an end goal of awakening, with no winners or losers, or first place.  And how we play the game, the journey from start to finish, is completely up to us.  I'm going to end this diversion now; I've got a puppy and my Maya to play with.  This hand of Brahma is going to throw a Frisbee.

CONCIOUSNESS RISING: Autopoiesis, Yoga, and Psychotherapy for Personal and Global Healing

I will be on a panel discussion at the Association of Transpersonal Psychology's annual conference in February 2010 with Babalola Chris-Rotimi, PhD and Tina Benson, MA.
Our panel will be:

CONCIOUSNESS RISING: AUTOPOIESIS, YOGA AND PSYCHOTHERAPY FOR PERSONAL AND GLOBAL HEALING

In this panel discussion you will hear from three different practitioners; a spiritual healer, a yoga teacher, and a psychotherapist about how these modalities can and are being used to create Self realization and bring healing to a world in crisis.  Babalola Chris-Rotimi, Ph.D., will briefly explore the concept of the Autopoiesis Theory of living systems, applying this theory to the idea of God as such a living system, share some thoughts on how God seems to be undergoing its own evolutionary process through the ages, and finally relate all of these to personal and global healing.  Marisa Smith, M.A., will share how as an ancient science of personal growth and the lived experience of spirit, yoga is helping to heal the Western psyche and the epidemic disharmony of life without inner knowing. Tina M. Benson, M.A., will be looking at the role of the pyschotherapist in guiding clients towards a transpersonal and transcendent experience of their own divinity.  She will also be showing a short film entitled, What Matters Most; a compilation of voices expressing the human longing for remembering each other and ourselves as expressions of the divine. 

This is sure to be an incredible event with many other inspiring speakers and discussions.  For more information, visit the ATP website.  

Hope to see you there!

Futuristic Love

Friend's of Bill and I, Karen and Jason, have created a monthly art collaborative here in Boise.  Each month two words are selected at random with which we budding artists use to inspire a creation in the medium of our choice.  For December, the words were Love and Futuristic.  Me being a writer, Bill encouraged me to write a blog using those words.   

Here goes...

Love Futuristic: Futuristic Love

Love is an energy, a felt sense, an experience of the present moment that opens us to the unknown, to the infinite, to the formless, compassionate feeling of unity and interconnection that is at the heart of our being.  Yes, our actual heart-centers.  If you were to pause now and bring forth a feeling of love, it wouldn't begin in your little toe, or in the core of your brain, though it can become whole body.  It would arise from the center of your chest, from your heart.  Close your eyes an breath into the love; feel its warmth melt the walls around your heart.

Love is singular, love is plural, an love is universal. Each is like a rung in a ladder, for it is impossible to realize universal love without first attaining self-love.  Loving oneself, or another, requires courage, forgiveness, acceptance, and a sense of humor.

Love is a verb, not a thing.  It cannot be possessed nor contained.  It is a process that we confuse with an object or event.  Life enlightenment, it may be realized, but it is not an end in itself.  It is the cocreative practice of making choices and acting from an open heart: to seek unity instead of division, to give freely, unconitionally, without expectations or boundaries, to see and be seen, as a mother gazes into a child's eyes for the first time.  

Love is our highest potential as human beings.  Feeling, deep , true, feeling is the challenge of our day.  So often we escape to intellectual descriptions because we truly o not know from experience the sense of embodying the explosive passion of this formless energy.  Return to the place before your birth, to the place of nonplace, nontime, free from judgment, where your soul merges with the infinite ocean of pure consciousness. 

The future never arrives.  You are always right here, right now.  At least, your body is.  Your mind is the ultimate time traveler, never lingering too long in the present.  It races from memories of the past to desires, hopes, and worries for the future, Out of a fear that it must always be prepared, to be on-guard.  Out of a disconnect from the ground of being, it creates the grand illusion of control.  We must learn to be comfortable with the unknown, for it is all we can truly know.  Let go, and be free.  In the free fall our wings expand.  Taking ourselves lightly allows us to soar.

Futuristic is that which might be, a vision for the future, an ideal projection from where we are to where we are going.  In the future we can hope to love more, to give more, to be more accepting and with open arms embrace from our authenticity the authenticity of another, shadows and all.

Compassion comes from knowing oneself at a core level.  From witnessing one's own shortcomings, errors, misdeeds, and disappointments can one know the struggle we all go through in living.  We are courageously doing our best...for what?  To be loved.

As Albert Einstein said, "A human being is part of a whole, that we call Universe - a part limited by time and space.  He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something seperate from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.  This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us towards our personal desires, and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.  Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embreace all living creatures and whole Nature with its beauty.  Nobody has been able to achieve it completely, but striving for such an achievement is a part of liberation and the foundation for inner security."

Plant the seeds of love now, in the tilled soil of your soul which yearns to connect.  The future will bear the fruits of your efforts, for love is never wasted. 

Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan ~ The Place where Humans Become God

I have just returned from Teo...had another wonderful journey into the heart of my being.  Everytime I travel I remember again and again, here I am.  We can fool ourselves into thinking that a place, or person, or circumstance, will change us, that somehow we'll be different because of external forces.  And though that may be true on a subtle level, it is our internal being that is the real filter for our Self in the world.  For me, going to a place like Teo is an opportunity to embrace my shadow side, because there it still is.  I see the challenges that are triggered by my shadow as opportunities for growth.  Will I choose a different response this time?  Or will I react? Or will I just witness.  This time I was a witness.  "Ahhh, there you are my old companions: Anger, Self-Righteouness, and Jealousy."

That's not to say that those emotions are the norm of my personality by any means, but they rear their head in my dreams and in my assumptions.  And I take note.  I know soon there will be chance to embrace their energy and select a higher road, one of love, humility, compassion, or forgiveness. I am grateful to Teo for being a mirror.  For being a place where I can know my Self, let go of the past, and put my old beliefs to rest.

Returning from Teo I feel a lightness of being.  I have been awakened and transformed on a deep level, in more ways than I know now.  With a satisfied smile, I breath into life.  I love myself just the way I am.

Retreat Sweat Lodge Disaster

I was on retreat myself when the tragic sweat lodge deaths occurred in Arizona.  Shocking and saddening, the details that describe the event are unlike any that I have experienced in the sweats I've attended over the past 8 years.  Beginning with my initiation on the Fort Peck Reservation with the traditional Sioux and Assiniboine natives, to the deserts of Utah with only three of us non-natives in the lodge, to the sacred womb of Donna Emma's lodge behind the Pyramid of the Moon in Teo, I have experienced sweat lodges in a wide variety of settings.  Besides one exceptionally hot sweat with the Lakota in Bozeman, all pushed my limits but were tollerable and highly transformative.  All were safe. Even with the hottest sweat, those who needed a rest, including myself, were respectfully allowed space.

My heart goes out to all involved in the tragic sweat lodge deaths.  For an insightful article about the recent catastrophe, see Carl Hammerschlag's article on Reality Sandwich: Sweat Lodge Tragedy.

Ascension, Entheogens & Inter-Dimensional Exploration

Hiking Wolverine Canyon - photo by Mike Quinn

Down the Rabbit Hole

I'm pretty certain that most who attended The Supernatural: Exploring Other Dimensions -- the retreat held at the Boulder Mountain Guest Ranch in Southern Utah this October -- didn't quite know what they were getting themselves into (or out of).  I was one who, as the fool, has stepped merrily off the cliff a nd glided down the rabbit hole without any expectations but to enjoy the desert and get to meet the Reality Sandwich crew.  What I got was so much more.

With three main presenters at the retreat, the participants could just about be divided into three equal camps: those who love Graham Hancock, those who love Lisa Renee, and those who love Daniel Pinchbeck.  Though Daniel is what motivated me to drive 11 hours into the desert, all three inspired my journey home.  I floated away with renewed energy and inspiration, feeling awakened on a deep level, alert, and armed from the heart-center for mastering the 2012 transition.

The Supernatural Retreat was billed as an exploration of "dimensional shifts, veiled realms a ccessed through altered states of consciousness, ancient myths and sacred sites, and intergalactic communication." Um, OK, whatever that means...perhaps to keep from  fully freaking out my left-brained, rational, quantitative partner who was holding down the fort while I took passage into the unknown, I didn't even begin to consider where the creators of this adventure might be going with that statement, nor suspect where it might lead me. "I'm going to network,  Sweetie, I'll  see you in a few days. Ta-ta!"


For the full article visit Reality Sandwich:  http://realitysandwich.com/Boulder_Mt_Retreat_09

Cheers!
m

A New Path

The past few months I have witnesses many changes in my life: a move from Seattle to Boise, being a first time homeowner, teaching a new yoga class, becoming a dog owner (Chloe Dot the Thunder Dog!), and getting engaged to be married, plus lots of travel and adjusting to Maya's new school schedule and Bill's new work schedule. Lot's happening! To say the least, I am a Householder like I never have been before.

I finally feel pretty settled into our new home (which I absolutely love, so that makes it kinda easy) and am ready to get back on track with writing and my personal practices. The practices have certainly taken a back seat during all of this transition. Though through it all I don't know if I've ever felt more connected to spirit or my personal strength. These are powerful times we are living in, full of impetuous and hope. It seems that almost as soon as an idea comes into my head I see it manifest in the world.

But I'm learning patience too, something, as those closest to me can attest to, I'm not always the best at. Is there something about being in the now that makes you want it all now? I have to remember that just because I can see it in my mind's eye doesn't mean that it's ready to awaken in the world. I have a quote over my dresser that reminds me that life needs to bloom at its own rate: Its a card I framed of a beautiful purple flower with the caption "Joy surprises the patient soul." Indeed it does.

Looking back at how much my life has transformed over the last year, its almost hard for me to believe how many seeds have come to fruition. I still have bigger dreams that are yet to manifest (like getting a paying job...)but I'm not worried because I'm taking active steps towards them. And that's what we're here to do: to dream, have clarity of vision, then be commited to climbing each rung of the ladder towards the goal. And one day you're there and the view is magnificent.

At the same time, I am trying to remain open to unforeseen twists and forks in the road. Often the events and circumstances in life can be even greater than you had hoped or imagined, but only if you're willing to let in the unexpected. This is where patience comes in, and a little bit of trust. And there's the paradox too: to be open yet focused, to have clarity while allowing for the mystery. Does this lead to the best possible life? I can't say so for certain, but I sure am pretty happy. I can feel settled with the knowledge that this new path that lies before me is of my own creation, and deep gratitude for the grace that has allowed me to experience it.

Where could you allow more of the unknown in your life? And where do you need more to put more concentrated effort?

Remember...Joy surprises the patient soul!

Toltec & Yogic Retreat in Teotihuacan, Mexico

Soar with the Angels - Merging Hearts with Spirit
With Lee McCormick, Dr. Sage Breslin
and Marisa Smith, MA

November 12- 17, 2009

There are 27 Continuing Education units offered for this journey, as approved by the NASW, NAADAC, and the BBS of California (MFT, LCSW)

It is almost 2010..two years from the 2012 Consciousness Shift. If you are awake and alive you are aware that life as we have known it is shifting and what we once took for granted as the way to do things is not working very well.

This is a great time in our history and our personal lives. This is the time to let go of trying to figure it all out or control life to whatever seems like success and allow the Light and the greater aspects of ourselves to create from our deepest integrity. All we need to make this transition is already within us.

Join us in November in Teotihuacan. Teo is one of the places of Consciousness on our planet that has held the frequency of the New Awareness and journeying there will only open you to an alignment with yourself and your Divinity.

The choice to be proactive is the choice to be free....We have made this trip as inexspensive as possible so take advantage, JUMP! DO IT NOW!

Dr. Sage Breslin, Psychologist and Intuitive Consultant, will enable you to address the obstacles that have presented in your life, express and release stored emotions, and embrace the life you’ve always dreamed of.

Under the gentle guidance of Marisa’s yoga teachings, you will learn to truly honor your body as the temple of your spirit and to adjust to your new-found energy.

The perspectives offered by these guides, as well as the vibrant energy of Teotihuacan, will enable you to let go of the beliefs and fears that have held you back from manifesting all that you can be. Come remember who and what you are.

Join us for the sweetest of experiences through the ancient powerful city of Teotihuacan where for 3,000 years humans gathered for healing practices and sacred ceremony.

This journey will free your mind, body and spirit, to clear, connect and commune in ways you have not yet been capable of. Your journey will be the greatest gift to yourself and those you love! Open your life to the grace and ease of the angels and come soar with us!

Accommodations provided by the beautiful Dreaming House.
Price of $795 double occupancy, $995 single, includes delicious meals and transportation to and from the airport.

Day trips to ancient sites including The Citadel and The Temple of Quetzalcoatl, The Avenue of the Dead, Pyramid of the Moon, Quetzalpapalotl Palace, Patio of the Jaguars and one of the world’s most magnificent sites, The Pyramid of the Sun. You will have the opportunity to see beautiful murals and carvings in the site’s two museums in which you can explore the city’s fascinating history.

Contact Gretchen at (615) 557-5245
or email information@spiritrecovery.com
Visit: www.thedreaminghousemx.com

* Trip cost includes double occupancy at the beautiful Dreaming House Retreat Center, all meals and transportation to and from Mexico City airport. Space is limited, prices based on double occupancy, airfare to Mexico City not included. Private upgrades available for an additional $200.