whisper subtle longings….

Open choiceless awareness can be a useful practice for discovering transpersonal identity. It implies free-floating attention that is alert and diffuse. No effort is made to focus on any particular object. Moment by moment, experience is simply noted. This practice may be undertaken by anyone who wants to learn to heal him or herself. The process of becoming whole means acknowledging all experience. In order to know oneself fully, it is necessary to temporarily withdraw attention from the outside world and turn inward for self-observation. This process need not be self-indulgent or narcissistic. It is just another type of education. It is part of learning how the mind works and how it can be used more skillfully to resolve conflicts and reduce suffering. Self-healing begins with self-awareness, and transpersonal self-awareness can be viewed as a source of healing within each one of us. When we are willing to pay attention to inner experience we become capable of conscious self-regulation. Without self-awareness, attempts at self-control are likely to be unsuccessful in the long run, and may even be damaging. We must know ourselves and accept ourselves before attempting to manipulate ourselves for the purpose of changes we think are desirable. To understand all is to forgive all, and forgiving ourselves for being just as we are is the first step to healing…..Frances Vaughan

what is within you?

The great teachings unanimously emphasize that all the peace, wisdom, and joy in the universe are already within us; we don’t have to gain, develop, or attain them. Like a child standing in a beautiful park with his eyes shut tight, there’s no need to imagine trees, flowers, deer, birds, and sky; we merely need to open our eyes and realize what is already here, who we already are- as soon as we stop pretending we’re small or unholy. I could characterize nearly any spiritual practice as simply being; identify and stop, identify and stop, identify and stop. Identify the myriad forms of limitation and delusion we place upon ourselves, and muster the courage to stop each one. Little by little deep inside us, the diamond shines, the eyes open, the dawn rises, we become what we already are. Tat Twam Asi (Thou Art That)……Bo Lozoff

my suffering, my pain, my cold judgment….is yours to reflect back at me….may we find integrity in the bottomless well of ‘us & them’…..inter-beingness begins in the deep messages of self-arising……mercy abounds in the mirroring of rooted compassion….

The man who has many answers

is often found

in the theaters of information

where he offers, graciously,

his deep findings.

While the man who has many questions,

to comfort himself, makes music.

….Mary Oliver