Reflections and practices for the Christmas period

I recently sent a message to the students on the I AM University Singapore Training Program which I thought those who have been attending the weekly meditation classes might find of some value. So here it is!:

"As for things to emphasize over the Christmas and New Year period, here are a few ideas:

- Focus on relaxation, regeneration and renewal of your inner and outer energy levels. Christmas can be hectic sometimes, and unless we are careful we can end up speeding through it in the same way that we do the rest of the year! The Winter Solstice and the birth of the Christ can be seen as the rebirth or renewal of the Christ child / Child of Light within ourselves, and an opportunity to begin the new year with a spirit refreshed and revitalized. Give yourself a chance to do this!
- Focus on balanced enjoyment, fun, play, communion with nature and the planet. Christmas may be totally over commercialized and exploit the attachment that children have to the idea of receiving gifts, but we can se through that and really get in touch with the sprit of play and the child within, as well as with our outer children and child relatives!
- Be prepared to look anew at your relationship to giving and receiving. Observe the quality with which you engage with these two fundamental human activities. Deepen your experience of them.
- Look back on 2008. Focus on the things that you have enjoyed and achieved, and that others around you have done and achieved. Increase you appreciation of these things, rejoice in them!
- Think about your core goals for 2009, what inner or outer goals are going to be on the top of your agenda over the next year?
- Focus on quality communication with family and friends. Often during the year we get so caught up in the practical aspects of day to day life that the quality and depth of our communication with those close to us deteriorates. Over the Christmas period, be aware of your speech and interaction with yourself and others, try and make it four or five star quality, rather than just 'budget hotel' service! (I'm not quite sure about that last analogy, but I thought it worth including as it communicates a certain something!)

Wishing you all the very best for the Christmas and New Year periods, it has been a pleasure working with all of you over this last year, and I look forward to being of service in 2009!"

Yours in the creative spirit of God,

Toby

Breathing meditations

Here are three forms of breathing meditation that I have recently published on the 'Creative Qi Gong' Blog:
'Breathing in a circle'
'Wave breathing'
'Core body breathing'

The Six Perfections: The Bodhisattva’s Path to Enlightenment.

Over the next few weeks in the Tuesday evening meditation classes we shall be focusing on the six perfections, and so in my next few blog articles over the coming weeks I intend to focus on each of the six perfections in turn and explain them a little.
Possessing the ‘Mind of Enlightenment’ (or bodhichitta in Sanskrit; ‘chitta’ meaning mind and ‘bodhi’ meaning enlightenment) is what distinguishes a Bodhisattva (translated literally: ‘being bound for enlightenment’) from other people. The mind of enlightenment itself is, simply put an intention to become an enlightened being in order to free other living beings from suffering, and lead them also to the blissful, happy state of enlightenment. A Bodhisattva who possesses this intention has essentially dedicated him/herself and all of her actions to the greater good of the planet and the evolution of the living beings who abide within the Planetary Being.

In a sense the mind of bodhichitta is quite a natural one. If someone were to ask you ‘would you like to become a Buddha so as to free others from suffering and lead them to the bliss of enlightenment? Most of us would answer “Yes that seems like a nice idea!” So, a Bodhisattva is simply someone whose main agenda or intention in life has become this.
The question then is, so, I want to become a Buddha out of love and compassion for other living beings, how do I do this? In Buddha’s teachings on the perfections we accomplish our enlightenment by training in six forms of enlightened action; giving or generosity, discipline, patience, effort, concentration and wisdom. These six types of action are the main inner and outer pathways that the Bodhisattva treads in order to accomplish her/his enlightenment for the benefit of others.

The perfection of giving
Giving in Buddhism is defined as a virtuous or positive intention to give (when giving is done in expectation of return, or with ulterior motive we cannot really therefore include such actions in this practice). An act of giving becomes the perfection of giving when we develop the intention of Bodhichitta before and as we engage in the action.

The power of intention and dedication.
In general, if we are mindfully holding the mind of enlightenment in our consciousness, then we can transform any action into an act of giving through the power of our intention, and by using our creativity. For example before we go to sleep at night we can think to ourselves “In the same way that I am now caring for and resting my body by sleeping, may all living beings also receive adequate rest and relaxation”. Or, if we step over a snail on a pathway, taking care not to harm it we can do so thinking “Through my action of caring for this snail, may all beings be protected from danger and harm”. Similarly at the end of any action we can dedicate the positive energy of the act to the welfare of all. For example if we put 50cents in a hospital charity can, we can think “may my action of giving be a cause for all living beings to experience good health and long life”. Alternatively, if we have enjoyed a good dinner with friends and lots of laughter we can think as we go home “May the joy that we have experienced this evening be a cause for all living beings to have lives filled with joy and laughter”.
So, using the power of our mindfulness and of intention and dedication we can transform many of our daily actions into the actions of a Bodhisattva!

More methods for cultivating the perfection of giving.
In his teachings on the six perfections, the Buddha divided giving into four major types:
1) The giving of material things.
2) The giving of ‘dharma’ or good counsel and wisdom (to ourselves as well as other people!)
3) Giving fearlessness. This is in the sense of protecting others from suffering and fear.
4) Giving love.

One fun practice to do each day is to simply try and consciously perform one of each of these four types of giving with the motivation of bodhichitta. If there are no opportunities to do them physically (there usually are!) then they can always be done inwardly, for example by sending others love through visualization, or by praying for those who are in danger. If we do this each day we will be pleased to feel that we are making a positive contribution to the evolution of the planet, and the happiness of the beings that live there. We may also be pleasantly surprised at how much giving we are already doing, but may not have appreciated up to this point.

Awareness of giving.
In general, being aware of times in the past and present when we have practiced giving and simply rejoicing and enjoying our generosity, however great or small really enhances the power of our mind of giving. Also, being aware and rejoicing in the generosity of others is another easy and powerful practice.

An essence level meditation on giving.
Sit quietly and clam your mind through focus on the body and breathing. Then bring to mind an act of giving that you or others have engaged in in the past, or that you may be going to do in the future. Focus on the pleasant feelings that arise from your contemplation, breathe these feelings in and out, allowing them to fill your body and mind with the energy and radiance of generosity. When you finish dedicate your meditation to the welfare of all living beings with a prayer such as “Through the power of my meditation may all living beings experience peace of mind combined with both inner and outer abundance.” In your spare moments during the day, return to the breathing and feelings of generosity that you generated. Let your mind rest regularly in this state.

Positive Thinking Workshop Preview: Reflections on Creativity.

This Sunday, 9th of November I will be doing a two hour workshop on ‘The Art of Positive Thinking’. As a preview to this I thought it would be fun to write a few words reflecting upon the relationship between positive thinking and creativity. This will give an idea regarding content for those who wish to attend the workshop, but should also be stimulating and useful as an article in itself for those who are reading but cannot attend.

I want to begin with a quote from Coomaraswarmy that I really like:
“It is not a question of an artist being a special type of person, but of every person being a special kind of artist.”

I’m going to stick to the discipline of painting to put across the relationship between creativity and positive thinking. Firstly, in the same way that an artist begins with a blank white canvas, so a person who is looking to master the art of positive thinking needs to become familiar with the ‘white canvas’ of his or her natural mind. In this context ‘natural mind’ simply means the mind when it is free of disturbing conceptual thoughts or turbulent feelings, just abiding its natural state. It is of immeasurable use to know from direct daily experience that behind the continual stream of thoughts and feelings lies the peace, tranquility and radiance of our natural mind. If we develop the skill of learning to let our mind rest in its natural state for regular periods each day, we will realize that knots and twists of negativity within our mind can be removed or unwound temporarily simply by allowing our mind to return to its natural,
non-conceptual state, to allow it to become like the white canvas of a painter. From there we can then learn to paint the canvas of our mind with new and vibrant colours in the form of positive thoughts and feelings.
“Easier said than done,” I hear you say, “isn’t the problem being able to clear the mind in the first place?” Yes, that is true, but here is the key to doing it; your conscious mind can only do one thing at a time, so, if you focus on watching the thoughts and feelings in your mind, rather than engaging and identifying with them, then you will find that they will start to clear from your consciousness quite swiftly and naturally. Imagine that your thoughts and feelings are like the waves on an ocean. You are sitting on a beach looking out, seeing the waves of your thoughts and feelings rise, break and subside back into the ocean of your mind, without getting involved. After doing this for a short while, you will find that your mind naturally starts to become clearer and lighter. With practice you will be able to make your mind into an inner blank white canvas within the space of a few minutes. This non-conceptual white canvas of the mind is by its nature peaceful, balanced and still.

So, having created the ‘white canvas’, within your mind, there then remains the challenge of painting a work of art each day onto your consciousness using the creative power of positive thinking.
Let us say the ‘pallet’ which you use to paint on your inner canvas is made up of what happens to you during each day of your life. Each day a different set of paints and colours is placed upon your pallet, and it is up to you to use what you have been given in order to create your work of art.
On this subject I have two points that I would like to share with you for the remainder of this article. The first is that the nature of the colours themselves depends upon the attitude and perception with which we approach them. For example “my wife and I are not getting along well” is very different from “my wife and I are going through a learning process that is going to deepen our relationship in the long term”. My point here is that the ‘colour’ of the events that happen in our life depends upon the perspective that we choose to see them with. So, firstly we can brighten up our ‘daily pallet’ each day by choosing carefully the attitudes and perspectives through which we see what is happening to us.
The second point is that great art is not always made up of bright rainbow colours. Some of the greatest art has been made up of colours that many people may consider to be dull or uninspiring. For example the self portraits of Rembrandt, or more recently the abstract canvases of Mark Rothko are works of beauty and depth, and yet they are made up of muddy browns, grays and other turgid colours, worked together to produce a masterpiece. So my second point here is be careful about judging what you have been given on your pallet each day, and rigidly labeling it as a ‘good colour’ or a ‘bad colour’. If we use our creative abilities, we can come to see the how the most superficially dull or dreary colours can be combined together artistically to create an artwork of great beauty and depth.

Meditating with our Ancestors in the Eternal Present

Next Tuesday, 4th November at 7.30pm at Basic Essence, I shall be leading an ‘Earth Healing and Transformation’ meditation on the above topic. With this in mind, I thought it would be a good time to write a little on the subject of our ancestors and the role they can play in our life and evolutionary path. For those of you that can make it, I look forward to seeing you then, for those that cannot, I hope the article will be stimulating nonetheless.

The significance of November 1st

In the northern hemisphere, in ancient cultures, November 1st (May 1st in the southern hemisphere) was seen as an intersection, or gateway between the light part of the year, and the dark winter months. It was, and is, thought to be a time when the ‘veil’ or gap between the outer human world and the inner spiritual world was particularly thin. It, therefore, represented a particularly good time for communication and communion with our ancestors, and the spirit of generations past.

How do we relate to our ancestors when seeking to commune with them?

There are two basic paradigms that are helpful to remember when we consider opening communication with our ancestors.
Firstly, when we seek to commune with the spirit of our ancestors, we should do so in the spirit of love and compassion, not fear. If you think of your intentions toward your children, or to members of the younger generation that you feel close to, your natural intention is one of love, goodwill and benevolence. In a similar way, our ancestors will, in general, be naturally positively disposed toward us, and want us to be successful. Thus when we connect with them we should approach the communication with confidence in the natural positive bond that we enjoy with them, not in fear and trepidation.
Secondly, we should be clear that we are not worshiping them in any way as gods, deities or enlightened beings. We are connecting to them in the same manner as we would with loved ones who are still living. Friends and family may have wisdom and support to offer us, but we would be foolish to regard them as infallible. Instead we take their opinion and perspective on situations, and weigh it up in the light of our own wisdom. It should be the same with the spirit of those departed: wise discernment is needed at all times.

In what way can we communicate with those who are long departed?

This question is an important one to contemplate. Authentic communication with ancestors is very different indeed from ‘spiritualism’ where the so-called ‘ghost of Auntie Meg’ is called up for words of comfort (and to find out where that pesky long- lost will is hidden!).
When we seek to communicate with our ancestors in an authentic way, we should seek to do so within the ‘eternal present’. The eternal present sees time not as a linear concept where the past extends backward in a line from the present moment and the future extends forward. Rather it sees time as being more like a web where all the past, present and future of both ourselves and our ancestors (past and future) are unfolding simultaneously in an interconnected web. Thus, when we connect with our ancestors, we are connecting to them as they are within their own living time, place and present moment.
This can be a challenging concept for those who are only used to seeing time as a linear concept, but viewed from the level of consciousness of the soul, all time is simultaneously unfolding within the eternal present. The past can be influenced and affected by our actions now, in the same way that the actions of our future ancestors can have an effect on our present experience and life.

With this is mind, what I am going to do is describe below two ‘magical images’ that can enable us to connect to the living spirit of our ancestors. A magical image differs from a simple visualized object in that it has the power to act as an interface or gateway between two worlds or dimensional levels of consciousness:

1. The Ancestral Web
After settling your mind in meditation, visualize before you an ‘ancestral web’ made up of lines of light, with nodes/points of light at the intersection between the lines. Each node or point of light is an ancestor, living out their life in the ‘eternal present’ (from a conventional perspective, they may be ancestors from our families’ near or deep past, or from the future). Identify one of these nodes of light as being your place within the ancestral web. Place around yourself a bubble of golden white light, and in your mind’s eye enter into that node of light within the ancestral web. Now within the web open yourself to communion with the spirit of your ancestors in the spirit of love and wisdom. Feel the flow of light between you and your ancestors moving through the lines of light within your ancestral web. Any negative or unbalanced energy from your ancestors is denied entrance to your energy field by the bubble of light surrounding you. Any positive energy communication from the living spirit of your ancestors flows into your being and consciousness.
Sit quietly for a while within your ancestral web and observe the impressions that may come to you intuitively.

2. The Shrine of the Ancestors.
If you like you can do this meditation in front of a shelf or wall where you have pictures of your family and loved ones, past and present.
Visualize yourself in the basement of a house, or in a cave, with the level at which you are sitting being below ground. See in front of you an alcove within the cave or basement wall. Within the alcove there is a ledge made of stone that has upon it pictures of your ancestors and candles lit to illuminate them. Some of the faces are familiar to you, others are unfamiliar, seeming to come from the very distant past, a different age. Take some time to look at these pictures, and, as you do so, feel yourself connecting to the spirit of your ancestors. Consciously state your intent to commune with your ancestors in the spirit of love, light and wisdom.
At the back of the ledge there is a large, flat piece of polished stone, within which you can see your face dimly reflected. As you stare at the reflective surface, your own image fades and you find yourself looking at what appears to be a series of shifting images that are flowing across and within the surface of the stone. Allow yourself to move into a reflective state, and see what your ancestors may wish to communicate to you through these images.

Zazen Meditation

During the 1990's I lived in a city in the north east of the UK called Newcastle upon Tyne. During that time I got to know of a Zen Buddhist centre called Throssel Hole Abbey. Although I never spent that much time there due to being more involved in the Tibetan tradition of Buddhism, I always had a nice feeling about the place. On their website they have an e-book by their Abbot entitled 'Sitting Buddha' (click on the 'Sitting Buddha' icon on the Throssel homepage) which is a very nice introduction to the practice of 'zazen' or sitting meditation. I have always considered the Zen tradition of meditation a good foundation for overall meditation practice because it is so simple and essential. This is a good text for getting to know and starting to integrate zazen into your own meditation and daily life...

Still Point Breathing Meditation

(Note: Scroll down to bottom of page to listen to guided recording of this meditation)

The following is a basic form of breathing meditation that we can use to help build our ability to still the mind and focus single pointedly on one object for a period of time. We use it in class from time to time, and the feedback I often get from people is that they find it a particularly effective way to sill their mind and move into a meditative space. It uses the natural still point between each inhalation and exhalation as its object.

Stage 1:
Sit, stand or lie in a comfortable position, with a straight back, mouth closed and breathing gently through the nose.
Make the decision that for the next 10 minutes (or whatever amount of time you have set apart for meditation) you are going to give yourself a mental holiday.
Take a few moments just to become aware of your body in the space that it is located, the natural process of breathing and the flow of thoughts and feelings through your consciousness.

Stage 2:
Now, as you follow your breathing, insert a short pause at the top of the inhalation before you begin to exhale. Likewise, insert a short pause at the bottom of the exhalation before you start to inhale. Within these two short pauses, observe that there is a natural point of balance and stillness. As you breathe now, be aware of the point of balance and stillness within the pauses at the top and bottom of the breath. As you reach the top of the in-breath, allow your mind to abide momentarily in stillness before you begin to exhale. As you reach the bottom of the out-breath allow your mind to abide momentarily in stillness before you begin to inhale. Stay with this pattern of breathing for a while. Gradually allow the sense stillness in your mind and body to grow deeper and more pervasive with each in-breath and each out-breath. You may find that your breathing starts to slow a little. This is fine, just let the pace of breathing follow its natural impulses.

Stage 3:

When you feel ready, try and extend the point of stillness into the process of the entire breath so that you find the still point at the top of the inhalation. Then as you exhale, sustain your awareness and connection with the stillness without interruption throughout the exhalation. Then maintain the still point of balance in your being as you pause at the bottom of the exhalation, and keep your awareness of the still point within your being as you inhale.
Without straining your concentration or trying too hard, just try and go from one cycle of inhalation/exhalation to the next whilst remaining in touch with the point of stillness and balance within your being.
With each breath feel your connection to stillness increasing in depth. Allow your mind to merge gradually with the stillness like water mixing with water. Allow your mind and body to become unified in this state of pure stillness and being.

Conclusion:
At the end of the meditation open your eyes and take a few deeper breaths to ground yourself in your physical body, and in your present moment physical surroundings. Relax your concentration.

With practice you will find yourself able to centre your mind in stillness using this meditation when out and about in your daily life. This experience of stillness, stability and balance can become the fulcrum around which all of the movement aspects of your consciousness and daily life can revolve without you becoming knocked off balance.

Listen to guided recording of Still Point Breathing meditation here

© Toby Ouvry 2009 please do not reproduce without permission.

A Perspective on the Worldwide Stock Market Crash and Current Recession

Of course a big topic in every ones minds and conversations over the last weeks has been the stock market crash and subsequent economic downturn in the global economy. With this in mind I asked an I AM University student whose career is as a financial securities analyst to write a couple of paragraphs on the lessons that can be learned from the situation for those actively involved in their spiritual path. Here’s what he came up with, some very interesting points. With many thanks to Mark for his time and effort in putting the below synopsis together:

An Overall Assessment:

Greed and fear
Unfortunately, the financial markets, or the Wall Street profession has two basic emotions-greed and fear. In the financial profession the workload, workplace and overall sentiment is good during economic good times but greed runs rampant at most Wall Street firms. When the economy turns sour greed turns to fear. Fear is a greater emotion than greed. As a result, the financial markets become much more volatile making it difficult for securities analysts such as myself to make good stock picks on a consistent basis.

A technical analysis of what has happened:
This down turn in the U.S. economy is not surprising. There is an analytical tool called ‘Technical Analysis’ that shows the U.S. stock market completed a multi-year double top in 2000 and 2007. In between the S&P 500 the market barometer used by most financial professionals in the U.S. bottomed at about 800 after tumbling from 1500. Since the peak last year the S&P has fallen from about 1550 to 1100. One can expect the S&P shall drop meaningfully below 800 in the next 6-36 months. Such a drop obviously implies much greater problems ahead than we are currently aware of today. Although the stock market has not yet imploded and is nearly 25% above the last recession low the media/financial news talks about how difficult it is for any company to borrow money and how the economy is the worst since the depression. Also, I have seen discussion that the says the U.S. is headed for a depression or for becoming a rural economy. A lot of fear mongering is going around. Considering that my organization has been one of the few financial firms in the area to have hired in the last few years a severe economic recession or depression does not bode well for job security.

What are the Lessons that can be Learned?

Dealing with fear:
What lessons can be learned from what is going on? Frank Hebert says in his book entitled Dune, "Fear is the mind-killer". Fear locks our awareness into the material plane. The more you spend your time locked in the experience of fear, the more you will believe the reality that is playing out.
It helps to cope with the fear to realize that what is taking place is part of the economic cycle. Everyone remembers the economic depression that started in 1929. It is easy to forget the depression that started in 1837 that lasted until 1843 and another one that started in 1892. These events are part of a normal business cycle.
Humanity has an attachment to money and many have a fear of lack or not having enough money. In fact this is one of humanities greatest fears. In order for humanity to move on to the next stage of evolution in its consciousness it must transcend this fear of not having enough money. I believe that if the global economy does collapse ending a monetary system as we know it, that this is part of the process associated with the end of an era in the development of human consciousness and the rebirth of a new one.

Competition vs co-operation:
Current society promotes competitiveness. Competitiveness is part of separateness. For humanity to truly evolve in terms of our consciousness, we need to think from oneness. This means that for humanity to advance the economic system has to change from competition-based to cooperation-based where peoples' aspirations are not based on how much money they have but how much service they have provided others. The road may be a tough one. In spiritual teachings we are constantly taught that our mind creates our reality. I try to think with an abundance-minded consciousness. Until money is no longer the commodity used to purchase basic necessities my intention is to try to accumulate more and along the way help others.
I think I read somewhere in one of Dr. Stone's books that we can best touch the heart's of others when we ourselves are in a state of abundance.
One last lesson, Djwhal Khul (an ascended master made famous by the channeled work of Madam Blavatsky and Alice Bailey in the early and mid 20th centuries) has written in a message, "When you wear the colours green and gold in your own energy field you'll naturally magnetize to you more money". I try to remember that whatever lies in front of me is part of my learning and lessons and that sometimes hardship or problems can lead to the best lessons (golden nuggets of wisdom).

Is the ego all bad?

A lot of people on the spiritual path experience a certain level of confusion when it comes to our egos. Can we keep any part of our ego if we embark on our path? Or does it all have to be sacrificed? Here is one answer I gave in response to a related question. Posted with thanks to the student for the question:

Question: Toby, I’d like to ask if you can please help me clarify two things: - Is the ego all bad? We talk about negative ego, is there a positive ego?

Answer: No, the ego is not all bad. When we talk of the ego, what we are referring to is the sum total of our thoughts (mental body), feelings (emotional body), sub-conscious mind, conscious mind and physical body. The ego is the sum total of ourselves that functions in daily life, that thinks, feels, talks, acts and so on...

From this definition we can see that the term 'ego' is a neutral term that is used to refer to ourselves as a personality in daily life. On the path of integrated mastery we are not trying to destroy our ego, we are simply trying to;
1) Recognize the aspects of our ego that are good and positive, and to strengthen and preserve them.
2) Recognize the aspects of our ego that are negative or unwholesome and destroy, reprogram, heal and re-work these parts of our ego into positive or spiritualized habits and energies.
By engaging in this process over time we build a 'positive ego'. By this I mean a personality within self that is deeply happy and harmonious and that thinks, feels, speaks and acts in an altogether positive way that is in harmony with our true spiritual being.

The 'negative ego' is a term that is used to describe all of the negative or dysfunctional aspects of our ego. In the category of the negative ego is placed all of our fear-based thinking and feeling, all delusion, all separation consciousness, all selfish egotism, all imbalanced thinking. The negative ego is 'all bad' in the sense that it is all the energy, habits, feelings and perceptions presently in our consciousness that definitely needs to be overcome, re-worked, healed, re-programmed and spiritualized in order to find our inner peace and to make progress on the path of integrated mastery.
The negative ego in the I AM University teachings is set up in 'opposition' to 'Christ consciousness', which is basically the process of learning to think, feel and act from our positive spiritual or Christed mind (the Christ here referring to the original pattern or blueprint for our consciousness that was conceived during its creation in the spiritual realms) . You can read more about the negative ego and Christ consciousness here:

So, in conclusion, the ego is not all bad, it simply refers to the sum total of our self as a personality on earth. On the spiritual path / the path of Integrated Mastery we are not trying to destroy our ego, we are trying to re-work it into a positive, harmonious, balanced organism. In order to do this we do have to overcome our 'negative ego' which is our fear based and separative thinking.

This is an important point to be clear about because there are many spiritual practitioners who labor under the misconception that all ego is bad, and that anything to do with our ego we should avoid at all costs. This attitude in itself leads to a host of imbalances and fragmentation!

Meditation and the power of creative imagination

For many people, the perception and practice of meditaton can get stuck in a rather rigid and formal format that over time can become uninspiring. Using the power of our imagination to respond to daliy life events in a creative way can help us to break out of an overly rigid approach to meditation and to find inspiration for our pracitce from all sorts of surprising sources.
Here are a couple of inspiring examples from a student:

On Native American Elders

I have a natural affinity for the Native Americans. Whenever I meditate upon the shaman elders, I feel peaceful. One morning, I receive an inspiration and visualize a shaman elder clad in deep sky blue Red Indian Hopi tribal dress. He was walking along in the streets which I commonly pass by. I begin to visualize all other city dwellers in the streets to be like him, peaceful, loving and calm! All were walking to their tribal lodge to perform some sacred rituals, prayers or meditation. Respect and honor is their code of life. I take a deep breath and allow myself to be overcome by the sum total quiet and peaceful experience.

The cotton wool meditation

I bought a bottle of vitamin pills. Embedded in it was some soft mass of cotton wool. I took the soft mass of cotton wool out of the bottle and its fluffiness filled my hands immediately. I close my eyes and embrace it with my palms. For a few moments, I become completely overcome by a sense of loving tenderness derived from embracing this piece of soft mass. With this touch, I connect myself with the tenderness, kind lovingness, defenselessness, harmlessness, white purity, gentleness and innocence of the cotton wool. Like a kitten, like a lamb, Jesus/Kuan Yin/God picks me up and holds me dearly in their arms. I allow myself to experience, to feel and to receive this love from God.

On Sleep and Dreams

Meditation and the sleeping/dream state are connected in that they both work with more subtle levels of consciousness than we normally use in our everyday, waking consciousness. As we progress in our meditation practice, the opportunity arises for us to start to use our sleep in order to complement our meditation practice. Below is my response to a recent question from a student that touches upon this subject:

Q: I have not been working consciously with my dreams and I usually don't make conscious dreams. I would like to begin doing more clearing work and more learning, receiving more spiritual knowledge in my dreams. Do you know about Tibetan dream analysis?

A: I don't know/have not read much about Tibetan dream analysis specifically, but in general I dream a lot and make a point of recording what I do dream as I find it very meaningful for reflection.

One classical exercise you might like to try in order to increase your awareness and effectiveness regarding sleep and dream time is, as you are falling asleep, to consciously work your way back through the events of the day, and review each one of them in your mind. If you fall asleep doing this, your mind will continue to process the day’s events in the same way that you were doing before you fell asleep.
This is one way to direct you consciousness during sleep time.

The second thing that you might try is to meditate immediately before you go to bed, and then try and retain conscious awareness of the energies and themes of the meditation as you fall asleep. Your mind will then naturally gravitate towards inner plane sources of spiritual inspiration/education (related to the themes of your meditation) whilst you sleep, and so you may find that you have dreams that reflect this.

One note of caution here, sometimes, if we are very busy in our outer, waking life, it is best just to focus on solid sleep and getting rested. Sometimes we can pursue active learning and development whilst we sleep by using methods such as those described above, however at other times it may be best simply to deliberately cultivate sound sleep, and not too much else.

Balance is the key here.

A speech by the late David Foster Wallace

I just got sent this link by a freind whom I shared many hours meditating with as a monk. I think there is a lot in it that is really useful for the aspiring meditator, as well as the aspiring human being!!

On being a ‘love finder’ versus being a ‘fault finder’

One of the interesting areas of the spiritual path that many people find difficult to reconcile is that of finding a balance between keeping a spiritual perception of (and perspective on) any given situation or person, whilst at the same time being able to recognize and deal with our own and other people’s manifest flaws and imperfections.
How can we be a ‘love finder’, seeing the good qualities in all around us, whilst at the same time being a ‘fault finder’ in the sense of making an accurate assessment of what needs to be improved?
This came up in a question that I was recently asked by a student; I have placed my answer along with the question below…

Here is the question:
“My question as I take this to heart and practice in my daily life is: Knowing that in any situation there is always room for improvement, am I being a “fault-finder’ if I call out the areas for improvement? Teachers do it to help students do better and I know I do it with my employees. So it is not that we regard everything as perfect, but that we point out the needed areas for improvement in a loving way – not in a malicious, scandalous or critical manner. Likewise, I should be prepared to take the same “constructive” criticism and not feel slighted when these are offered to me. I will be thankful if these are offered in a loving manner. Should it be the case that it is offered to me in a manner that is “destructive” – I will ensure that I have my golden bubble of protection around me so that these “attack” thoughts and arrows do not penetrate and get through to me. Is the above interpretation correct in terms of how I can practice this principle of being a Love Finder?”

Here is my answer:
The first point here is that to stop being a fault finder should not mean that we lose our faculties of discernment and ability clearly to identify areas that need improvement in ourselves, others and life situations. As you observe, it is part of the function of a teacher, mentor (and sometimes a parent) to point out the faults of those in their charge in order to help them improve. So, if you are in a position of responsibility toward others, then it is actually your responsibility to point out their faults and help them improve :-) However, when you do this you are not losing sight of the inherent perfection and worthiness that they possess within them.
There are basically two extremes here - the first is to see others’ faults, which then causes you to see them as inherently bad and faulty. The other extreme is only to see the pure spirit within the person, and lose your ability to discern the conventional faults and areas where that person is making mistakes. In fact, both of these extremes are of the negative ego, although the latter is more subtly so.
The Christed or ‘integrated spiritual’ balance is found in seeing the inherent purity within people, but without losing your ability to see clearly their faults and articulate the solutions to these flaws in a clear way.

Regarding others who point out our faults with a negative and/or malicious motivation, you are right in that keeping up your golden bubble of protection and preventing any attack energy getting to you is really the way to go. If you do this, you will also then be in a position to see any constructive feedback that you can take from their criticism. Just because their motivation is faulty, does not mean that there may not be some truth in what they are saying!!

In terms of mentoring employees and our children, I feel showing them how to receive criticism and feedback in a constructive way is really a huge gift that we can give them. If they are able to receive this in a positive and objective way, then that really opens the door for them to a lifetime of learning, improvement and truly increases their ability to achieve to their highest potential.
I think even personality level life coaches would see this to be the case. For example I remember reading a book by Robert Kiyosaki (the founder of the 'rich dad' series of books on finance and wealth management), the final chapter of which was a list of his 'golden keys' to success. One of the major ones was being able to receive feedback and criticism in an open and positive way.

Reflections on the first 'Earth Healing and Transformation' Meditation

Last Friday, the 12th September, saw the beginning of a new once monthly series of meditations that I have entitled 'Meditations for Earth Healing and Transformation'. I have had a mind to do these classes for a while now, as I feel strongly that both our own path to inner peace, wholeness and integrity, and our survival as a planet depend upon our developing strong relationships to the other living beings which inhabit our planet with us.



Who are these other living beings? They are those which inhabit the human, faery(or devic), animal, plant/tree and crystal kingdoms. Each person contains within them the latent potential to develop links with different members of these other kingdoms and, by nourishing these relationships, we find that we can develop strong alliances with particular animals, plants, devas, crystals and humans on both an inner and outer level. These relationships in turn nurture and inform different lines of action that we may then choose to take on a practical level in order to bring harmony and peace to the inhabitants of the earth in ways that we could not have conceived of before.

This may lead to a complete revision and regeneration of our perception of what it means to be a part of this beautiful planet that we call the earth. There is something deeply spiritual that awakens within us as we embark upon our relationship with our fellow beings in the other kingdoms of the world. It is as if, previously, we were seeing ourselves and our planet in only two dimensions, but now we are seeing things with a new depth and sense of reality that is fully three dimensional, or even fourth or fifth dimensional.

Having said all this, I don't think even I was prepared for quite how powerful the first meditation experience was. It certainly made me feel that my impulse to initiate these classes was a good one. Here is what one of those who attended the class said about their experience:

"Connecting with the six directions and visualizing our guides in forms such as animal, minerals and human was especially fantastic. The themes and methods we used particularly appealed to me and were most creative and productive. On meeting my guides during the meditation I was rather moved - the energies were extremely empowering, positive and loving. I have, in fact, felt able to recall and connect with the energy of the guides/allies anytime I have needed to, since the session. I felt very strong connections to them, and to the Earth and space in which we visualized the guides/allies. This has continued to aid my positivity, confidence and calmness during the days that have followed."

If anyone who was not able to attend the class but would like a copy of it, please let me know, a CD copy is available for purchase.
The date for next month’s class is Tuesday 14th October 7.30-8.30pm at Basic Essence.

For an explaination of the image at the top of this post please go here