Utmost gentle affection

‘Know that you will fall asleep. When you do, wake yourself with the utmost, gentle affection…’

Yogi Amrit Desai

While making holiday preparations, I became aware of a persistent headache that seemed to interfere with my desire for peace and serenity. Instead of reaching for the medicine bottle I decided to sit with the tension and see if there was something I needed to acknowledge.

When I allowed myself to be honest about the pain, I realized that I was holding tightly to beliefs about the ‘special-ness’ of the holidays instead of just being present with the unfolding experience. I was glossing over some sadness about memories that were lost to the mists of time. Nevertheless, they still seemed to hold power below my conscious awareness and revealed themselves as an annoying headache.

I sat and asked my inner self what I needed to do to release the pain. I intuitively felt that deep breathing and thoughts of forgiveness of the past would help bring balance to the unconscious hurt. After a short time of doing this, I saw that my present life circumstances and the people around me were the perfect balm for healing this old belief.

As I breathed, I stopped feeling resentment that the present did not meet up to some outworn, idealized belief. I forgave myself for believing these old thoughts had any power over me. I was shown that it is only old thoughts, feelings and memories that appear to manifest as sickness or tension in the body. Only unacknowledged, unforgiven thoughts can seem to cause us pain.

Be willing to sit patiently with the discomfort. Watch the ego wiggle and squirm as it is witnessed; its peevish ways revealed to the light of day. Have compassion for any parts of your self that appear alone, separate or misplaced in time and space. Witnessing with Loving Presence will bring greater awareness of how to proceed from the heart, leaving outdated ideas in the dust.

Our task is to treat ourselves with supreme gentleness and be willing to let these seeming hurts float to the surface. We can then pull them from the waters of our unconscious mind and quietly blow the breath of new life back into them. Sudden harsh movements, such as criticism or judgement, will cause them to slip away again until the next healing opportunity arises.

 
Falling asleep is inevitable; waking up is unavoidable. Therefore be kind to yourself. Treat yourself with utmost gentle affection….

Weightlessness

“…Awakening of the heart leads us to question every belief, challenge every perception, and re-evaluate our intentions.. we realize how we form judgements based on these images…from this value system we make endless plans for our lives, we set goal for ourselves and others, and we attempt to control our surroundings and the events that occur.”

 Maggie Victor, A choice for love

Christine was recently guided to consider ‘weightlessness’ before starting a Mandala workshop. Meditation and reflection on this concept revealed the value of handing our burdens over to spirit, the inner teacher.

As we begin to notice the sophisticated ways that habitual thoughts interfere with our peace, we make slow but sure strides toward undoing the ego. Affirming that these thoughts are not real and forgiving ourselves for believing in them is very powerful. As we begin to question beliefs that we have taken for granted, we start to regain our true selves.

Very often, beliefs are heavy and weigh us down with fear and worry. As we learn to hand them over, we discover the weightlessness of our true nature. From this place of peace we become open to inner direction. When we develop confidence in our ability to listen to spirit in our own unique way, we rely much less on the learned patterns of the past.

Rear view of seated meditation

This image emerged from Christine’s inner eye. It shows that by surrendering the ideas and beliefs of the world, we can awaken to a deeper kind of awareness. From this place, we are free from the burdens we have placed upon ourselves that can lead to illness.

Experience has shown us that our divine nature is all-powerful and always brings us what we need in ways that we can handle. This may not appear to be the case to our ego, which always tries to undermine our efforts. Laughter can be wonderful medicine when ego tries to make things too serious.

Forgive yourself for believing that you are small and insignificant and reach fearlessly and passionately toward the immense love that you are. As you may have found, joining with your true nature is an unforgettable and profound experience; it changes the way you view your life and the lives of those around you forever.

End-of-life care with Loving Presence

May all beings find happiness and the causes of happiness,
May all beings be free of suffering and the causes of suffering,
May all beings never be separate from the bliss that is sorrow-less,
May all dwell in equanimity, free from aversion and clinging.

Whether you are facing illness, overwhelming stress, or the end of your own life, it is possible to move through these challenges with greater peace and joy.

Allow yourself to consider that suffering is not necessary and it is possible to see every situation as an opportunity to awaken. The Buddhist tradition uses the Prayer of the Four Immeasurables to remind us how often we add to our discomfort.

By clinging to things we believe we need, or resisting ideas and concepts that go against our familiar way of doing things, we feel deep emotional distress. Equanimity means that we sit effortlessly and do not buy into the stories our fear-based ego tries to throw at us. We simply watch patiently and forgive ourselves for believing they have any power to hurt us.

At The Light Tree we begin from first-hand awareness that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. In other words, we are clear that we are already healed and whole. It is only our fear-based ego, with its limited view of situations, that distracts us in myriad ways from knowing the truth of who we are.

In her nursing practice, Marcy has noticed that aversion and clinging only add to feelings of panic that signal a perceived loss of control. This kind of spiritual pain is compounded by a dizzying array of fears that can arise during a health crisis.

A common question when facing serious illness is: ‘What hope is left for me if I am dying?’ This is the ego’s limited view of itself and is a perfectly natural response to an uncertain situation.

Marcy has found that the most helpful response is to sit patiently with the peace of Loving Presence and witness each aspect of the fear until its dissolves. She begins by acknowledging the discomfort that arises and begins to express itself. From there, new ways of coping begin to emerge that were previously invisible to the distressed mind.

Taking this approach has shown her the importance of removing limitations on how healing unfolds for each person. By avoiding attachment to an outcome, or clinging to the opinions of others, she invites you to find your own state of equanimity. From this calm place, new awareness unfolds and although the situation may remain the same, your perception of it will evolve.

Dissolving fear into love

Fearless embodiment does not mean that fear is not present; rather in the face of that fear; you know you are one with Spirit. And here you are held as you trust that you can meet these places within and allow the love that leads to the truth….
-Stacy Sully-

How do we dissolve fear and confusion into the love that already exists within us? When illness strikes it becomes even more challenging to stay calm and optimistic. Our inner voice can seem far away as cynicism and anger arise to meet this often unwanted change in our plans.

Chronic illness and stress can lead to greater self awareness if we choose to use them as tools for healing. The challenge is to have faith in our innate ability to heal our minds. We can dissolve fear, panic and anger as they emerge to sidetrack our healing process. The misery cycle of self-limiting thoughts is not inevitable!

Our fear-based and limited self, the ego, immediately wants to control the situation with familiar and outworn patterns it learned from the past. Be glad; the sooner we recognize them the faster we can show them the door!

Our ego has taken over our minds like a virus. We don’t always know its habits until it tries to be in charge of our functioning. By acknowledging that a disease lives in our mind, it can be brought to light by the power of self-awareness. Our unlimited Self knows exactly how these foreign ideas and fantasies can be dissolved. An inward focus will assist our innate wisdom to point towards our own personal healing journey.

The antidote to fear is forgiveness; not the kind of forgiveness in which our ego likes to be judgmental and self righteous. Rather, we advocate self-forgiveness and encourage you to let yourself off the blame-shame-guilt hook and move on! Staying stuck in the patterns of the past is hurtful and keeps us locked in cycles of pain. It is more helpful to say ‘I forgive myself for believing that this is real’. Say it every time your critic jumps up like a noisy, yapping puppy!

To learn more about forgiveness you might like to read the bestselling book Love Is Letting Go of Fear by psychiatrist Jerry Jampolsky. He has guided millions of readers toward the realization that by releasing the restrictive thinking imposed by our own minds we can embrace a life in which negativity, doubt, and fear are replaced with optimism, joy, and love.

Meanwhile, start to notice when attack thoughts arise to discredit, minimize or ridicule your efforts. Be happy! This is an opportunity for forgiveness. Willingness to develop self-awareness is the first step to dissolving the ego’s thought system.

Love is the healer


Let it Be Love that guides you, that wills you, that fortifies you and informs you.

Let it Be Love that circumvents all time and has you stand in the newness of every moment.

Let it Be Love that calls you home from guilt and fear.

Let it Be love that carves the pathway where you no longer are a stranger to yourSELF.

Let it Be Love that answers all questions and quells all doubts of past and future.

Let it Be Love that gently undoes the Ego.

Let it Be Love that reminds you that you stand in eternity as the very gift that Love has given itSELF.

There is only ONE truth and that truth is Love Let it Be Love that reminds you that there is only Love.

Love is the only action worth taking, the only knowledge worth knowing and the only truth worth living.

By Stacy Sully, our beloved friend and guide.

Read more at: http://undoing-the-ego.org/stacyblog/