Spiritual Journey

Today I was at CnC participating in 2 events. The first one was the Conscious Living and Conscious Loving Roundtable and the second was a forum where I was the moderator for 4 persons sharing on their spiritual journey.

The first session is for those who had certain issue that they would like to resolve and were looking for some clarity. The second session was a sharing to allow people to learn from each other.

I realised that in the midst of both the sessions, it would seem that everyone had an issue and though it looked very diversed, a clear thing I could see is that it was all effects of a cause which at that moment the person is unable to identify. TL put it very nicely, if a person were able to be aware and identify the cause, they would no longer be affected by the patterns. So, it was clear that being aware is one part of the spiritual journey.

The other parts is about being patient with self as the exploration of self takes place using the tools that each has learnt. What was clear was that its was natural for each person to customise a certain tool for their own clarity and understanding.

Whatever the tool used, it was clear that the speakers all experience some changes as they walk their path. A very clear change was that they were no longer so attached to things and people. They feel lighter and freer, more accepting of things and there is also a sense of steadiness in maneuvering life's daily challenges. Of course, their self love increases the more they look within instead of without. The speakers were all in consensus that there is a need for honesty and integrity towards themselves about their own journey so that there is acceptance and willingness to see through whatever ugly stuff that comes up.

I thought it was great that there was no fixed method to walking the spiritual journey, each person must have the freedom to discover the method or tools that will work for them. And when the time is right, it also means time to let the tool go.

Live in The Present Moment

I was doing a new training session with SN last weekend. I asked the participants to list down the life they wish to experience physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally.

The answers that were given were that they wish to experience health, peace of mind, clarity, joy, energy, free from disease just to name a few.

When I mentioned to them that they can experience all that now, they were so skeptical.... it was hard for them to believe. I can see why because there is a belief that things cannot be so easy. What if at the basic level, things are indeed just that easy :)

I realised that they may not understand what I was saying. I wanted to tell them that in the Present Moment, they have and can make choices. There is no choice in the past because the past is over and there is no choice yet in the future because its not here. What we have in just the present moment and if we are hooked onto the past or future, we are not HERE, not PRESENT to what we are experience, so where is the choice? If we are not present to what we are experiencing, whatever we are experiencing are seen in the light of a past perception.

I mentioned that for example, if a person was sitting for a long time at the computer and if he is unaware, he will do it for hours and this would be his pattern to sit. This may eventually lead to bad posture and back ache. However, if he is aware that his posture is not correct, he can at the moment of awareness just stretch, breath and readjust his posture.... However, it may be within 5 seconds he goes back to the old posture if he is again unaware.  What I was getting at was that .... at the moment that he is aware, he is actually experiencing correct posture which leads to good health........ all he has to do is continuously be aware of himself and each moment of awareness brings about correct posture which eventually lead to him feeling more healthy because he no longer practice the old way of sitting. I was reading the newspaper just now about a story of a man in China who died after sitting in front of a computer for 3 days, hardly moving or eating or drinking because he is so hooked to online gambling. So, this proofs that being unaware can lead to death

SN mentioned that while we know its true, its quite hard for those who are suffering from debilitating illness to see this because they are constantly in pain. I do not have an answer to that question so far.

What I know is that if I was constantly aware of what going on in the mind and body, I have a better chance of understanding it compared to being unaware.

What is Success?

"What Is Success"

                by Ralph Waldo Emerson

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty;

To find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived;

This is to have succeeded.