As Sri Satchidananda says, “The hardest task we have is to tame our minds.” How true. The monkey mind goes crazy with chatter, telling us to do that and this, creating chaos in our lives- with the fear monkey most times being the loudest.
What to do? Meditation is one of the foremost ways to tame the mind. Sitting in silence, watching, observing your breath and witnessing your mind is a powerful practice of awareness. During this quiessence, if the monkeys are particularly loud and rambunctious, BREATHE and ALLOW the monkeys to chatter, keeping your focus on your breath. If a particular monkey is being obstinate, you can change the focus of your meditation to more analytical and actually sit with the monkey, entertaining its’ chatter. Once we give the monkey attention, calm it, it will recede into the background. Then return to the focus on your breath.
Focusing on breath brings us to NOW, right here, right now. WE are not projecting into the future nor in memory about the past. We are in the present moment, in reality, experiencing it – ENJOY THE BEAUTY OF NOW!

Of course, there are many different reasons to do so – to become more centered and peaceful, to be more in the present, to be able to live life more fully, joyfully and be in the now. To create a break from the constant chatter of the monkey mind and engage in the bliss of silence.
Dr. David Hawkins has another view on why to pray and meditate which I find fascinating. He says, “In the interconnected universe, every improvement we make in our private world improves the world at large for EVERYONE…
One individual who lives and vibrates to the energy of optimism and a willingness to be non-judgmental of others will counterbalance the negativity of 90,000 individuals…
One individual who lives and vibrates to the energy of pure love and reverence for all of life will counterbalance the negativity of 750,000 individuals…
One individual who lives and vibrates to the energy of illumination, bliss and infinite peace will counterbalance the negativity of 10 million individuals…
One individual who lives and vibrates to the energy of grace, pure spirit beyond the body, in a world of compete oneness, will counterbalance the negativity of 70 million individuals…”
Perhaps this is why there is needed only 67,000 or so individuals who have reached grace and pure enlightenment in order for the world to be catapulted into the 1,000 years of peace. The Hundreth Monkey Phenomena will be engaged and whisk us all into the New Age of Peace.
Keep sitting with a smile on your face and BREATHE!

I was reading a teaching by Swami Satchidananda and I have been contemplating it ever since. He is quoted as saying,”If you have a contented mind, everything will just happen by itself. You won’t have to do anything. Somebody is doing everything through you. You have nothing to worry about, even if you make a mistake. Suppose you do your best and you still make a mistake. Then you made a mistake. If you think, I didn’t do my best; somebody else did that best through me and somebody else made the mistake, then you are not responsible for doing the best or doing the worst.”
“Literally speaking, none of us is doing anything here. There’s only one doer:the Cosmic Intelligence that does everything and works through everybody…If we can understand this, life will be a super heaven for us. We will always be in bliss.”
I can understand his perspective. It would create humility, less ego involvement, and opening up to yet another level of letting go to trust and faith. However, my question to you all is: wouldn’t this thinking promote irresponsibility of behavior in those who were not on his wave length/vibrational path? Wouldn’t it be really simple to literally blame the Cosmic Intelligence for one’s short comings, bad luck, laziness, victim consciousness, karma, etc.? I think there is a fine line here between accepting one’s responsibility for one’s life and then opening up to a whole other level of allowing and letting go. What do you think?

“One must have chaos in oneself in order to give birth to a dancing star.”
Friedrich Nietzsche

I have been thinking about this quote – that out of chaos arises beauty; in fact chaos is needed to create beauty. I know for me, I have my comfort zones that I operate day to day life out of. There are times, though, that I open to the possibilities of the Universe. I step outside my boundaries, my sandbox, and venture out into the craziness of Life. I find that when I do this, I need to have courage, trust and faith, and simply allow for whatever is to occur. I allow for what I think is disorganized, non linear, illogical, downright crazy to happen.

I believe that it’s this, the letting go and trusting, that gives the foundation and nourishment for the birth of the dancing star to appear.

Maybe beauty is not planned, yet organically, spontaneously appears out of what is seemingly chaos. But is it chaos? Perhaps that’s our view of it. Perhaps our little, fearful minds see it as such. It is different than normal. The challenge is that perhaps what is illogical, non linear, disorganized, crazy or “chaos” is actually wonderfully organized in such a way that beauty appears every minute of every day and we just have to expand our awareness to embrace it, accept it, love it for what it is and enjoy the Dancing Stars.

Challenge your selves this weekend and birth a dancing star!

In the viagra of Soren Kjerkegaard, the famous Danish theologian; “Once you label me you negate me.”

I was at a couple of social functions this weekend. I was amongst some people I knew, and many strangers. I found my mind categorizing “others” – old, young, too much makeup, fat, skinny, etc. All of these opinions of “others” kept me away or separated from them, kept me at a safe distance. Really? Safe distance from whom? Maybe on the surface from “them”, but ultimately myself. I looked at my mind scurrying from one subject to the next, opinions and judgments flying in all directions, some even aimed at me.
Perhaps I have labeled these “others” and self in an effort to keep my life in a contained, manageable, working order. However, I have found as I do that, I am missing out on so much of what life and “others” can offer me. Once labeled, there is little to discover. The journey stops. However, if not labeled and accepted, one can delve into another’s depths- or for that matter one’s own depths- to uncover so much richness.
So , this weekend as I watched my mind do it’s thing, I nodded and smiled to it realizing that it is part of being human to do that – to label “others” and even self. However I don’t have to buy into it, I don’t have to accept it, I can refuse the label, and go on to discover more about me and others for they are one in the same reflecting back on each other. There is no difference between me and them.

“Take more time, cover less ground.” I like this quote by Thomas Merton. I feel it describes where I find myself landing on my journey to the heart and it feels joyful and like I can exhale. For decades I was about accomplishing more, doing more, striving, comparing, etc. Now I am me, being me, in the moment and there is a lot less pressure. Sure, there are errands that need to be done, client appointments that need to be kept, different potential stresses throughout the day. I find if I schedule less, I can relax, enjoy, and give more time to what is being and doing in the moment. I enjoy life more and relish the small moments- a bird playing in a puddle on a hot day, the wonder of an orchid flower-and that which tumbles upon me and “messes up” my day, I am learning to accept and be with. It’s all perfect, and so are we.

Thomas Merton
Dancing In The Waters of Li