#6 Are you meditating?

Dear friends, I am away on retreat, so this will be brief.

As we venture into this tender territory of religious hurt, and we must find our way to the living  presence, the taproot of all genuine spiritual wisdom. It is not enough to get discover and understand the real hurt, betrayal, and numbing. Our souls longing cannot and must not be set aside in cynicism, despair, resignation, giving up, that comes from spiritual and religious wounding. We must see through this and reclaim our living presence. We must open ourselves up to the living truth so that we can know for ourselves the nourishment, love and wisdom that rises up through the taproots and veins of all sacred wisdom. 

So in a way we are on an archeological dig. It is not easy, especially because the betrayal of churches, ministers, gurus, superego laden theology runs deep. Even if we were not directly wounded we have taken in thousands of years of ignorance, misunderstanding and violence done in the name of Truth. So as we peel away at layers of confusion, damnation, and hurt, humiliation and betrayal of what is most sacred,  we need to be ever so gentle. We need to feel the support of our grounded presence, our shared need for sacred space. We need to watch for the return of the superego manifesting as god, Jesus, the Buddha, the goddess. 

One way to support this exploration is to keep returning to your practice of becoming present. Not only during meditation-- are you meditating?-- but during our daily lives. Especially when life is simple and ordinary. When you are in crisis and  triggered it is not easy to remember to breathe, to feel your feet, and to find your belly center. Your emotions, your nervous system are caught in well heeled brain storms. So practicing presence during meditation, while you are brushing your teeth, walking down the alley in the supermarket, eating a donut.... are ways to remember to come back to your embodied now. Eventually with much practice, self remembering becomes natural. And even then hours, even days can go by when we get lost. The mercy is that our willingness, our best efforts are enough. Coming back over and over is enough. Perfection is not only impossible but a barrier to presence.

Wishing you all very well from 8500 feet in the Rockies. See you on Monday 29th.Alison