I learned yesterday that you cannot ‘continue being loving’ and simultaneously be self-conscious, self-serving or even afraid. So, the good news: to ‘continue being loving’ is a practical antidote to our fearful impulses. That should make life more fun. I am delivering my first online training session today: may I approach it with the simple intention to ‘continue being loving’.
Yesterday, I had my second therapy session with the lovely P. It was beautiful. We worked with this part of me that eventually revealed it wanted ‘recognition‘ – though ‘not for egotistical reasons’. This is so helpful. I think, for many reasons, I have taken self-recognition out of my equation. I can all too often hurry on without recognising my:
- achievements
- skills
- difficulties
- needs
- feelings
And so, I tire myself. I make of myself a leaking cup that doesn’t fill. I keep pouring water in and watching it flow straight out. And I don’t give myself credit for things so I don’t necessary benefit from a sense of ‘accumulation’.
How can I apply recognition in this extraordinary time in history?
Let’s read and meditate…
THE QUALITY OF BEING ”When you do something, if you fix your mind on the activity with some confidence, the quality of your state of mind is the activity itself. When you are concentrated on the quality of your being, you are prepared for the activity. … When you dip your brush into the ink you already know the result of your drawing, or else you cannot paint. So before you do something, “being” is there, the result is there.” Zen Mind p104/6
***Zazen10minMarkWilliamsGuidedMed***
The opportunity is available to you all to bring recognition of your creative power. Each of you, in this moment of human history, will find yourselves at times flick-flacking between the senses of power and powerlessness. Can you embrace both willingly? Can you understand that in your powerlessness you are equally still ‘Creator Source’ itself?
Explain this dichotomy. How can we be powerless and Creator Source itself?
Feeling powerless is not the same as being powerless. Your dipping into powerlessness is your route back to experiencing your creative power anew. It’s hard to recognise light without occasional darkness, isn’t it?
And so how do we use the powerlessness correctly?
Within the sense of powerlessness you get to practise your trust. This is immense! Trust is a super power in itself. If you can trust that you are held, supported and even adored despite your sensations of powerlessness, then you really are lifted into the fresh uplands of faith.
‘Faith’ is a complex idea is this day’n’age, eh?
That’s because you were all doin’ it wrong!! You all thought faith was a pact between you and an invisible super hero. The deal was: ‘I close my eyes and jump, and the super hero will catch me.’ My goodness, how disappointed you all became when you fell flat on your noses. But also, how confused you became when, on occasion, and unpredictably, sometimes you didn’t fall but you flew! The problem arose in that you interpreted the flight as being due to ‘God’s mercy’ or ‘Divine power’. So when you fell again on your nose, you lamented that God had withdrawn ‘His’ mercy and power.
If only you had known this: the determinant behind whether you fell or flew was not some external super power! It was you! It was all down to the spirit (or frequency, or intent, or vibrational state) in which you jumped. This may sound rather ‘new agey’ to some of you, but it’s no different to classic Zen wisdom. See above…
When you dip your brush into the ink you already know the result of your drawing, or else you cannot paint. So before you do something, “being” is there, the result is there.
So ‘faith’ is the quality of trusting that pre-paving your own road is what it takes to travel the distance.
So, help me pre-pave today.
With pleasure. You may know that you have a list of things to do. Do them, and then start to rest.
Hm?
Your ‘lack of faith’ state says: It’ll never be done. The work is never done!
Your ‘faith’ state then would be: I’ll do the things and then they will be done.
Interesting take..!
When you believe you can never make progress, your quality of rest is always only moderate.
When you believe you can make progress, you set the stepping stones on a timeline, and walk them, one at a time, according to your timeline. Otherwise, your stepping stones are just a bucket of pebbles pouring into a bag.
You can trust: 1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1=10.
What is your ’10’? Work back from there.
You humans have extraordinary access to TIME in this period. USE it. With wisdom, with trust, with faith, with power, with creativity.
You wanted to know about recognition? Today is about the recognition of creative power. Start at your 10 and work out the 10 individual component stepping stones. Put them on a timeline. And walk forward.
Recognise your creative power, and you will be responding to the invitation of this moment. More on this another day. Just practice the 10 stepping stone approach. Ok?
Ok. Thank you… xxx
Recognise your creative power
