Mirrors

Not so many moons ago, it became clear to me that everyone and everything we come upon in life serves as a mirror. It is help send from other dimension, to aid us find our way through this chaos.
Whatever we see in those arounds is usually a reflection of our own image, something we couldn't see on our own.
The reflection and the shadow are in this constant game of hide and seek, one aspect becomes clear just to obscure another. It's an endless spiral.
As we learn to play this game it becomes more.... I wouldn't say enjoyable, but may be more entertaining.  We make sense of  the rules, just to discover that they no longer apply. We think we have dealt with something, just to see it come up again with more power and more depth. Most importantly, we learn not to take it so personally and seriously and we gain new tools along the way. It's the game of Life- of light and shadow in us.

Somehow our human psyche is trained to the "ugliness" first, however. The harder lessons are the first we learn. We tend not to believe the good things so readily.
It is always easier to see the dark in us, to believe the bad, to assume we are undeserving and not worthy. It is a  habit to  notice and to mirror that in others.

We forget to look into the beautiful mirrors around us.
There are the mirrors that reflect the shadows- they show us the things we want to rid ourselves of.
Yet there are the mirrors of the Beauty in us. So much harder to notice and to say " I am That too". The mirrors than inspire us to be more of our true selves.
The mirrors that inspire us to continue walking this path, not going where it is going.
The mirrors that blind us with so much Love and Light. And we are that too.
Yes, there are those who help us see ourselves as we truly are- magnificent birds spiraling in Light.

So if you look around you and see beautiful people around you, beings that mesmerize and awe you with their beauty know that you are that as well!

Rapture

For the longest time I have used this word, Rapture, not entirely knowing its correct meaning.
I like the taste of it in my mouth, there is something very sensual about the way it rolls around and drips off the tongue, like a sweet nectar.
I woke up in the early hours of the morning, with Rapture stuck in my head and piercing through my whole being.
What is rapture? The dictionary said it's joyful ecstasy... Words have been falling short in the past few weeks of expressing that which is inside me.
Rapture is the feeling of infinite, timeless bliss, the agony of sustaining it, of holding the intensity of the feeling it without giving in to the desire to contain it. To allow this impossible emotion to overtake you and annihilate the parts of you that no longer need to exist.
It's the Love, the joy, the rapture that blurs our boundaries and allows us to expand, to grow, to become more of us and experience the Union with Spirit.
It's the Love and compassion for another human being that transports us into other dimensions and realms, sprinkled with Magic and glistening with otherworldly joy. One that does not know the limits of the human experience.
Rapture is meeting your resistance, holding it and looking at it, experiencing it fully and then blasting through it, knowing that the only palpable barrier between you and the rest of the Universe are the walls you have built around yourself.
 The agony of the understanding and the ecstasy of feeling the web that intricately weaves us all together into One existence blended together. Rapture.

I am awake... Now what?

I am awake.... Now what?
It seems this awakening we are all longing for is not the end destination, the invaluable prize, the wholly grail.
It seems this wakening, we work so hard towards to is the just very first small step on a very steep stairway, to territories unknown.
To awaken means to be aware.
To be aware of the stories in our heads, to be aware of how we react to the daily fluctuations of the mind, to observe our mental chatter and while learning from those experiences to use our discernment as to what is real and what is a story.
Many... most of us are already awake. Yet we keep striving towards the awakening still, like puppies chasing their own end. We expected some serious boom-bang, heavenly lights and chimes to accompany our awakening, yet here we are each day squinting our eyes open and hoping the nightmare of being trapped in 3D is over. We keep hoping we have done the hard work, walked the spiritual path, paid our dues of service and now is time for the Divine Will and Light to take over and float us home on angel wings.
One tiny detail we forgot while srcambling to transcend our earthly condition is that we ARE the Divine Will. We are the Divine choosing to manifest as we are and it is our choice what we do with our awakened soul.
The trick of the whole game, I think, is that the soul, the Divine, the superconsciousness, whatever you want to call it, wants to awaken with the Mind, the human part of us still fully functioning. And while we have managed to awake and say " Here we are", we haven't totally accepted that we are in control now. Or in more human terms, we are avoiding the responsibility, still thinking small. Still accepting limitations.
The mind, because it is brilliant, has tricked us into continuing to play the game, even though the game is actually over. It will keep leading us to exotic places and illusionary worlds, until we shake off the doziness of our waking up and say, "Oh, I can just exit now." It is that simple.
And again, exiting, is not about leaving something behind and transcending into a new world where we just float around and exercise our magical powers at will.
By exiting we just drop the illusionary visions and narrow definitions of what is possible.
Anything is possible. We just haven't allowed ourselves to be totally convinced yet...

Fear

We are just a string of experiences, empty of meaning and void of permanence. We fight to perpetuate "ourselves " by creating patterns and telling stories to convince us that those patterns define is.

" Self" is just the story of "self" we create, and we become attached to that story, afraid that if we don't embody this image we have of ourselves, we will dissolve into nothingness.

The Truth is there was no "Self" to begin with. The boundaries of the "self" are mind-made: the separation between me and you, us and others, mine and yours are illusionary and created by the Ego in order to breathe into existence a separate indentity. In reality the separation does not exist.

We use everything- our day to day interactions and reactions to reinforce the story. We create likes and dislikes, excuses and attachments so we can hold onto something we believe is the self.

The patterns are easy to attach to and identify with because they provide predictability and safety- we know how we will react to the environment and how the environment will react to us.

Our fear is nothing but a reaction to something out of pattern.

Fear is our pattern towards the unkown.

Self-inquiry

What does it take to keep the stillness in the mind and in the rhythm of the breath throughout every day tasks?

Can we see out inhale and exhale as a ritual regardless of whether we are sitting in meditation, eating lunch or vigorously moving? What does it take to sustain the awareness?

Can we yoke our intention, the focus of our attention to the rhythm of the breath and keep it there no matter what distraction we encounter?

Which is easier to control-  mind or breath?

Which is the first to get distracted- mind or breathing?

By noticing and being curious about this process we are practicing svadhyaya- self-inquiry.

we are...

We are writing our own stories. 

We are the canvas that we paint on with our breath, with our love.

Fill me up with Love

Fill me up with love

I want no more hatred and anger and fear

Heal me

I want no more judgement and prejudice

In my heart

Fill me up with love

And let me share

With every other being

Let me love like you do

Without the shadow of doubt

Without condition

Heal me

Fill me up with love