Happy Thanks-giving

       When I feel into my body as I give thanks to God or anyone else, I remember a fundamental truth:  A grateful heart is a light and joyful heart. 

       Treat yourself to happy thanks-giving.

Inner Marriage

       Brian Roennow, a psychotherapist and spiritual teacher from Denmark, a wonderful friend and vibrant presence in the mentor group with Richard Moss, dashed off an email response to “Love-Ability” – a Weekly Wisdom I posted last month.  I was blown away by the depth of his insight and by its eloquence, especially since Brian responded so quickly and since English is not his native language.  I’m excited to share what he wrote.

       First, a couple quick notes:  In the chakra system, the solar plexus is an energy center that relates to personal identity (that which distinguishes us), and the heart is the energy center for love and compassion (that which unites us).  The word “chymical”, as Brian recently clarified for me, refers to a meeting of energies leading to mystical union and transformation.

        Here’s Brian:

In our hearts, feminine as well as masculine is present. But the feminine, encompassing empathic, nurturing and altruistic qualities etc., does not fight the masculine discerning, deciding and acting - and also altruistic - qualities. That fight goes on in the solar plexus/lunar plexus polarity at another level of consciousness.

No, in the heart, they marry, they say yes to each other and go forward into the chymical wedding. They are intimately forged together in a relationship where polarity is acknowledged and worshipped, in a deep playful manner.

And the fruit of this marriage is The Golden Child. 

This Child is our ability to connect with our deepest existence, with our deepest awareness of Self. Naive, playful, innocent, and yet full of wisdom and knowing. And it is our chance to ascend. Our ability to connect with the Divine, Nirvana, All, Non-dual. Whatever it is called. And to realize we have always been here - and we will never leave here - that is impossible and an illusion…

 Brian Roennow, personal correspondence, 10/21/13

       Joan Woolard, a dear friend and fellow sojourner in the Richard Moss mentor program, wrote this poem during a day of silence at the recent gathering of our group.  It touched something in me, as I suspect it may in you.

Porch Time

Breeze ever so gently beckoning to enter the pregnant pause

Take rest in the now; the land that time forgot

You know the place

It can be found between here and there

But don't look too hard or you'll miss it

Soften your gaze, loosen your grip and settle in

Let you mind wander and shift the focus of your awareness

Slip into the only place where you will find yourself, the now.

Nowhere to go

Nothing to do, fix or change

Just unending being with what is

Shadows lengthen

Leaves Rustle

Birds sing a call to action

Gather yourself and take flight on the wings of the now.

Joan Woolard

Big Heart Healing

       When I’m in distress – feeling anxious, ashamed, angry, etc. – the automatic tendency is to move into my head to process what I’m experiencing.  Truth be told, this is an attempt to defeat the distress, and it doesn’t work so well.  Usually, it just fuels the stories and interior dramas that create even more suffering. 

       Lately, I’ve experimented with acknowledging the distress, accepting its presence, and holding it gently in my heart – no analysis, no figuring, no words, no warfare.  I lean back, relax the body, breathe into my heart and witness heart’s natural expansion.  Small heart softens into Big Heart, the heart of compassion we all share.

       In this compassionate space, distress is invited to stay as long as it wants.  And yet, it dissolves – sometimes sooner, sometimes later.  Even when the discomfort is powerful and stubborn, I do my best to keep focused on the simple act of breathing into, and breathing out of, Big Heart. 

       The mind is a powerful instrument for processing many things.  Heart, however, is the better instrument for healing.