Some thoughts I am sharing with friends...Life, I contemplate, is not so much about acquisition of things, admiration, respect or recognition, but more about detachment without disengaging -That is detachment in the soul from things or emotions etc... Experiencing, but without struggle or holding on too tightly. Emotions, thoughts, material stuf...  While they enrich life they are not the substance of life. The substance of life is that which remains constant, and one can only see that which is constant to the degree that mastery over the inconsistant is acheived. That which is constant but often hidden by the distraction of the mind and business of life, is a peaceful and quiet heart.  So then, movement through life is about allowing the circumstances of life- internal and external - to be an opportunity to discover that gentle, peaceful and quiet heart- a discovery of ones true self,
which reveals the nous (the center of the heart which sees God) which then through the nous leads to God and a revelation of who He is. So in fact, one could say if we find our true self we will find God, that is if we don't stop at the light of our own spirit -because we are not God, yet He is inside of us through His Spirit always connected, waiting for when we are clear enough to find Him synergizing with us through the innermost part of the heart/nous. This cannot happen with a mind that leaves or separates from the body or stays busy with distractions. This can only happen when the mind sumbits itself or bows itself back into the heart joining itself back to it's original state/place. Since the mind then is a part of the heart, when it- the mind- returns to it's righful place the heart is no longer divided and is one. Bringing the human back to its humanity, fixing that which is broken.
~lavonne

My Thoughts During Great Lent

When the gaze of the physical eye is allowed to soften
it can receive external light, allowing us to see, rather than to
look or try to peer into that which is around us, moving us
into a more natural state of being. This creates a present moment
awareness of our human experience, allowing us to move
from a hostile environment into a more friendly one,
and giving us a more accurate perception of reality.

This technique also allows the mind to return to the heart which
allows for  unification of the heart to occur. The mind can only
apprehend God when it is joined back to the heart. In it's truly
natural state, that is the minds function  - to operate from the heart
- not the head.

Further more when there us a softening of the physical eye,
quite responsively and automatically, there is  a softening of the inner eye -
the eye of the heart - Allowing the internal Light of God's Spirit to illumine the
Way and create a movement of the heart towards God - a movement of Joy
and a journey into His Kingdom. (and consequently away from the essence of hell -
anger, fear, etc..)

The mind cannot make this journey on it's own.  When the mind takes a journey
with movement that is from the head it will see things, but they will be distorted.
The mind will only see with clarity when it makes it's journey by bowing/submitting
itself back into the heart. As the heart softens and opens up into the Kingdom of
God vision becomes clear and Grace is apprehended.

One can also make this journey in a different way. We can  bow the mind into the
heart by simply thinking about the heart -Energy follows thought. With the
intention firmly in place to enter into the Kingdom of God, expecting God
to reveal Himself and with prayerful intent, we can reclaim our true humanness
and in doing so we will also find God.When we rediscover our true nature - we find God
because we are a reflection of Him -Created in His image - and in
finding our self we stumble into He who holds us and sustains
and us through ever abounding Grace and Love.

If we take the journey into the heart in this way we
find, that the gaze of the physical eye is naturally
and automatically softened and that we begin to receive the
natural energies of our surroundings in a way that is more supporting
to our human frame, allowing us to experience the physical realm
and the spiritual realm as an integrated joyful experience.

Which ever way one takes this journey, allowing ourselves to truly
take up the task of coming back to our self and God in an integrated way
is where true freedom lies.

Wish for nothing... not life, not death, but abandon yourself in the moment
to the absolute will of God and all fear will be eliminated. Absolute freedom
and Joy will be all that is left

My thoughts during Great Lent
May your path be well lit

Blessings

A container for Joy

We are only truly human; that is, we are in our proper and correct state of "human-ness" when we are able to unplug or remove that which is foreign to, and covering our true nature. If we see our true self, we will see that we are made of Light, Joy and every other virtuous emotion and energy. These are the energies of God and are truly the only things our bodies were created to "store" and participate in. These are the energies of health.  You will notice that the body is unable to process all other energies and negative emotions and consequently store in various places in the body causing all sort of problems for us.. Stress, headache, muscle tension, joint problems, heart disease, cancers, nervous breakdown....the list is very long. 

Stress is the underlying cause for all diseases. Yes, food plays an important part as well, however, one could argue that processed foods are a stressor on and in the body as well. Wrapped up in stress we find - anger, impatience, depression, helplessness, despair, fear, cynicism, egotism, and pride ...  It takes much work and dedication to remove these energies from the body. 

One spiritual discipline calls these negative emotions/energies seeds in the heart and yet another discipline sees these energies as a growth or a parasite that attaches to the soul. (It should be noted that the heart and the soul while they are different and distinct from each other are so interconnected they cannot be separated.)

Which ever way they are perceived it is clear that they are things that can, and indeed are able and desirous to have removed from our entire being and systems of our existence. Either through uprooting the seed or detaching the growth. 

Just as there are many tools and techniques to garden the soil of the earth or remove undesirable growths from what should otherwise be a healthy living organism, there are in the same way, many tools and techniques to help remove these negatives from the soul and body. (It should also be noted that just as the heart and soul are distinctly separate and completely integrated, this is also true of the body and soul. It is the soul that holds the body:  i.e. without the soul (mind) the body would receive no orders of activity.)

These seeds have been growing for a long time in us by virtue of the many experiences and circumstances we have had, and sometimes have even been born into. But now we are mature enough to understand the nature of them. Indeed we feel and our taught by popular modern sciences that they are just a part of us that we have to manage and control. In truth they are poisons to us and create many unfortunate malady's and injustices in our world. Yes they are a part of the human experience but to be clear the are not a part of our true nature. They are that which covers and hides our true nature, diminishing the quality of our existence.

Today we will let the body be a container of Joy, Peace and Light. We will be aware of the negative emotions, and if any anger or fear or any other harmful thing should arise in us today let's be watchers of them guiding them out of the body instead of companions. Let's watch them leave instead of embracing them, allowing our body to truly contain that it is meant to... Joy and Light 

Have a beautiful and prosperous day!