More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Read between
July 2 - October 22, 2020
Sometimes we need disharmonious experiences until we no longer need them.
Instead of trying to throw someone, just move your body here or there in harmony. If the person is attacking you, they will naturally fall down, even though that was not your intention. Just move in harmony.”
I have found that trying to change people does not serve anyone.
I have found this to be most challenging with regard to family relationships because of the degree to which they are bound in expectation. For this reason, family relationships provide great learning opportunities. You may think you have the perfect answer to solve someone’s “problem,” but they reject it outright because, really, they do not want to solve the problem; they just want to complain. Or maybe they do not see the cause of the problem as having anything to do with their own energetic projection; instead, they would like to blame others. In such cases your suggestion will not be
...more
whenever making a suggestion, we put it out there lightly, and if it meets with rejection, let it be.
At some point, another opportunity may arise to make another suggestion, at which time we may put it out there again, but without expectation. We treat the situation as if casting out our fishing line. We do not expect a fish to bite every time we cast, do we? Of course not. We cast without expectation. I...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
Often we are in fact identified with an imagined outcome. We may feel that we are helping them by pushing them to see it. But, in truth, other people are not our responsibility, and we cannot make them do anything. They have their own free will, and it’s wise to respect that.
We can love and care for people and not feel bad when things do not go well for them. Instead, we remain in a calm state, ready to be of assistance when the opportunity is ripe. At some point, their situation may grow so uncomfortable for them that they will honestly seek help, at which time they may listen.
Be authentic; admit mistakes and imperfections when they show up. Apologize authentically when an apology is in order. This is part of being human, and this inspires.
Live with integrity, heart as light as a feather, attracting other human beings seeking that same lightness.
“I never believe in 100 percent because if I believe in 100 percent then I have nothing more to understand, no more depth to explore. In reality, there is always more to uncover and to understand. So I always try for an ever-expanding 97 percent, leaving room to believe that 3 percent remains that I have yet to discover. Then I am eager to find that last 3 percent. And no matter how much my understanding grows, I have always another 3 percent left to discover, because as my understanding grows, so does the remaining 3 percent.”
Your job is to become so effective that others push you up because they feel awkward when compared to you because you are of equal rank with them even though your ability is obviously beyond theirs. In this way, you may be pushed up without ever desiring it, and therefore there is no ego involved. Your job is not to push your way up, but instead it’s to perfect, to refine and purify. If you are not pushed up, that is okay too, because you have no ego about it.”
A sword instructor in Japan used to say that our techniques should happen as smoothly as spreading warm butter over bread. He wanted us to remove any clunky, abrupt, or disharmonious movements so that the techniques could lose their edges, flow with no telegraphing. In this way, our movements become effectively invisible to the attacker. Although attackers can see the body moving, their minds cannot feel changes until it’s too late.
We can use the “spreading butter over bread” feeling when observing the flow of our breath or our pulse to easily notice when disharmony begins to arise within us, even before we have any recognizable emotion or thought. In this way, we can resolve disharmony before it overwhelms us.
A person on the path of unfoldment seeks to become as aware as possible of the workings of their own body and mind in the moment. Since all thinking and feeling have their mirrors in the body through the breath, pulse, and tension, we should develop such sensitivity and awareness that we know whenever tension grows in the body. Can you feel the pulse in all parts of the body by mere intention? Can you feel the pulse in your fingers and toes without touching them? Can you feel the pulse in your eyes?
Diligence I once asked my teacher what it takes to master aiki. He paused for a moment and then responded, “Practice every day but do not train yourself inflexibly. Instead train to be flexible and open because, quite naturally, your expression of each technique will change gradually and simplify as you perceive deeper through training. If you just come to class, this is insufficient. Each st...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
we do need to set a regular schedule for consistent meditation, which resolves darkness within to reveal the fundamental truth at the core of our very being.
Without having curiosity as to what we are feeling and tuning to, we cannot correct the tuning. Add in a regular self-check, so that you will not go too long without one. Then, little by little, decrease the intervals between checks until eventually your level of awareness around these matters remains constant. Be aware that at some point along the path even “good” habits need to be released, because a habit is a rut. We are moving toward consistent awareness, which transcends habits.
In the process of spiritual unfoldment, we will pass through many times in which we may perceive no progress or feel that the road ahead is too difficult to travel. At times we may feel down and out, that we can’t go on. Remember, there is no shame in crying, but when the tears are over, get back up and start moving again. Just get back up.
Get up, grab your gear, and get out the door. If you can make it that far, the momentum will carry you the rest of the way.
We just make the space for the meditation in our life and follow through every time unless Isness indicates otherwise. If, during the meditation, the mind drifts, don’t give up. Simply stay there for the allotted time, regardless. We may not realize it, but even though it may seem that the time is wasted, it isn’t. Half of the process is making the space and time for the meditation and doing it. Do not expect that each meditation will be comfortable or easy. This teaches us to have follow-through even in times of great difficulty.
An individual who is still too tightly bound up in the self is unable to touch in with Isness easily. If they do successfully set aside the self and allow Isness to express, they may find themselves utterly stunned at the result. The more we start to release the limiting content of the self and tune to consciousness, the more we are able to enjoy the fruits of the process.
When you can, set aside the self and allow inspiration to take over. Don’t worry, the self will be there waiting for you if you want to suit back up again. Allow the blessings to flow. And when you come back to the self, take a deep breath, relax, and allow yourself to enjoy that, too.
In the midst of heavenly glory, they hurried by without so much as a glance to the horizon. In their rush to live their lives, they were missing life.
On the path of unfoldment, it’s vital to slow down the pace and relax into an appreciation for all that is.
When you look at a sunset, for example, turn off the mental words that describe it. Open up all of your senses, and place the horizon in the center of your vision without limiting your awareness to it. Take it all in purely and relax into it. Absorb it deeply and share the feeling of deep appreciation for the totality. In this way, you remain conscious throughout the process instead of going into mind. Looking at a sunset then becomes inspirience instead of experience.
The truth about beauty is that such awareness comes from consciousness, not the mind. When we look at beauty through the mind, the critical function begins to dissect it, to analyze it, and — worse still — to acclimate to it. You could have the most beautiful woman in the world at your side, but sooner or later you will just regard her as normal if you view her only through the mind. The mind will find a way to sap the magic out of everything if you feed it.
Truly, the body draws sustenance just from being in nature and absorbing the atmosphere or presence. Nature tends to be tuned to calm awareness, and by being in nature, so long as we are open to it, we quite naturally begin to tune to calm awareness as well. For this reason, having regular access to a natural environment is exceedingly helpful in the process of unfoldment.
