Acceptance

Acceptance

 

“Bless instead of blame today; seek to understand someone rather than to correct them; focus on their innocence rather than their mistakes.  The results will be miraculous.” ~ Marianne Williamson

“Each of us is born with an internal navigation system.  The thinking of the world has a way of switching the system off, but we can always turn it on again through prayer, meditation and forgiveness.  Doing this puts us back on track in our lives, making us wise, convicted and powerful.”~ Marianne Williamson

“As you follow the beacon of an invisible Light, you yourself become a beacon to other people.”~ Marianne Williamson

Life is designed with Duality – Yin and Yang; Man and Woman;  Day and Night;  Cold and Hot;  Up and Down;  Good and Bad; The balance of positive and negative forces.

What is amazing about life is that “Good” is always Good.

And “Bad” is also always “Good” – eventually.

Martha Beck, the author of Steering by Starlight, discusses in her book two types of pain: clean pain and dirty pain.

“Clean pain” is the unpleasantness you feel when something “bad” happens to you: You catch the flu, lose a relationship, or get in a car accident.”

“Dirty Pain” is any suffering that comes not from these events themselves but from your thoughts about the events.”

Our level of Acceptance of the lessons and growth from each of our negative experiences greatly diminishes the majority of the discomfort we feel.

And if we are willing to make ourselves vulnerable to the pain and suffering and focus on the lessons, we can move towards our true selves – Peaceful, Blissful – in love with life – no matter what happens.

Our Acceptance of others is directly related to how well we accept ourselves.

 From Steering by Starlight:

                                                      

The Shallows: Material reality; world of form; view yourself as separate from all other things.  Approval oriented, seeking wealth, status, etc.

The Ring of Fire: The process of disbelieving false beliefs & grieving – The things that we think define us burn up as we get closer to our core.

Core of Peace: (The Stargazer) – No untruth can exist at this level of awareness.  No separation from the fabric of the universe, no pain, no fear, no death.

The gravitational pull of the Stargazer self draws us inward, trying to get us to the place where our hearts can heal once and for all and our dreams can come true. 

The Stargazer reality is so intense; its light is so bright, that nothing impermanent or false cans survive it.

By staying focused on the present moment we can avoid getting sucked in by the “Dirty Pain” of fearful thoughts that try to project passed pain and what ifs.  The large majority of worries are never going to happen.  And those that do, allow us to grow and become stronger and wiser.

“Your job is not to judge.  Your job is to love.  The more you love, the more lovely the reality you create.  Begin with your thoughts.  Choose love.  Choose love even if at first you don’t feel it.  Love is a decision.” ~ Diane L. Ross

Acceptance Meditation

Begin by taking in a series of three slow, deep inhales…and exhales…

Establish your calm rhythmic breathing…

When a thought appears in your mind, exchange it for a deep breath.

Now use your imagination to visualize in your mind’s eye the Universe – all of the galaxies, all of the solar systems within those galaxies, think of our own galaxy, think of our very own solar system within our galaxy, think of all of the planets and the sun within our solar system, think of the powerful energy of the sun, think of our very own planet earth, think of the nation where you live, think of the town within your nation that your live, think of your community, think of your family and home, think of your very own self, and think of all of the components that make up yourself.

Now, notice the subtle energy that flows within your body.

Imagine this inner Life Force as a glowing multi-colored energy field that spans through your entire body and spilling out beyond your body.  Become aware of how this energy feels inside of you.  As you breathe, you strengthen the intensity of this energy, and it feels warm, relaxing and fulfilling.  It shares the same qualities of Peace and LOVE.  You are here to experience LOVE in as many forms as you can imagine. Accept all the people and things that you cannot change.  But remember that LOVE is a decision. Choose LOVE over fear.  It is what is real – Fear is an illusion.

Take this time to focus on Acceptance of the Collective Life Force within everything.

Turn from Habitual to Faithful

We are such creatures of habit.  We follow routines like drying off the same exact way after showering, taking a particular route to a destination, we hang out with the same people – to name a few.  All of these examples demonstrate patterns that are familiar, comfortable and safe.   This is a natural manner in which our Conscious Mind operates. 

-          Our Conscious Minds are made up of the following: will memory, perception, reasoning, intuition & imagination.

-          This part of our minds or brain is only 2-4% of our total brain function

-          It is always referencing the past  and planning for the future

-          It sets goals and judges the results

-           Beta brain waves are associated with this part of our brains.  These brain waves are considered the fastest with  frequency range of 12 Hz – 38 Hz (or 12 to 38 cycles per second)

If we decided that we wanted to become less routine- oriented, try new things more often, and live more adventurously, then we need to tap into the Non-Conscious Mind.

-          This portion of our mind is:

-          Where beliefs or attitudes dwell

-          where accomplishments are recorded

-          Operates in the present moment

-          Records EVERYTHING ever done

-          96-98% or your brain function

-          If you have ever experienced getting in your car and driving home and not remembering even driving, your Non-Conscious Mind got your there – force of habit.

-          In order to access this part of our minds we must be in Alpha or Theta brain waves

*A habit of thought is when you think something over and over.  A habit of thought over time becomes an attitude or a belief.  This gets stored in your Non-Conscious Mind.

*Alpha brainwaves are associated with creativity, with a boost to your immune system, with the ability to cope with life

* Theta brain waves are associated with the inner self, with your intuition, reprogramming your brain with ideas and beliefs that you truly want to believe, “Super learning”, etc.

*Groups of people that already experience Theta Waves include: people who meditate, people who are extroverted, children, artists, and inventors

How does all of the information about our Conscious & Non- Conscious Minds fit in with Faith?

The habitual, safe, comfort-seeking part of us has trouble with the notion of Faith.

 Definition of Faith:

~ Firm belief in something for which there is no proof

~ Sincerity of intentions

Quotes related to Faith

“Faith is setting an intention and surrendering to the invisible forces that allow Life to flourish.” ~ Me

“Leap and the net will appear” ~ Julia Cameron

“ Every problem has a gift for you in its hands.” ~ Richard Bach

“ Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” ~ Anais Win

Jesus said: “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

(What he is saying is children are Faith oriented, they are so in the present moment, they have high levels of Theta Brain Waves, and they do not have highly developed conscious minds yet, they are creative, they are “super-learners”, they tend to be fearless.)

“True Faith requires both parts of our minds to be in HARMONY. “ ~ Me

Our objective for increasing FAITH as a result of meditation is:

- Increase the presence of Alpha brain waves and Theta brain waves and to access our non-conscious minds.

- Allow your conscious mind to enter a state of rest

- Access the realm of pure consciousness – where pure energy comes from

- Embrace our natural state of “perfection” where everything is always okay

- Have a relationship with our inner selves, and maybe learn what our deepest, purest desires are

                  

From

www.tinybuddha.com

(Editor’s Note: This is a contribution by Kate Lamie)

The author wrote an article about major hardships that she encountered in her life that compelled her to change the ways she lived in order to live more authentically.

“The word challenge leaves a very different taste in my mouth nowadays. It feels like a dare, more playful and less painful. An excuse to meet a part of me I haven’t yet had the chance to bump into.”

Here are three tools I use on a daily basis to keep getting to know myself amidst (and sometimes because of) my challenges:

1)     Do one small thing to make today better than yesterday.

2)    Begin to embrace your own brand of happy. Don’t ask it to look exactly like “everyone else’s.”

3)    You’re holding the remote; go ahead and press the pause button when needed.

 Guided Meditation

Before we begin this guided meditation we are going to take a series of deep inhalations and exhalations – breath in as deeply as possible, hold your breath for a brief moment and exhale completely.  Do this three times.

Allow your breathing to return to a normal rhythmic manner.  We will take several moments to allow your breathing to regulate.  Focus your attention on your breathing.  Allow any thoughts to gently float away.  Try to stay with your breath and in this moment.  Nothing else matters right now.

Now – I want you to imagine yourself sitting cross legged in the center of a circular room.  This room is surrounded by beautiful multi-colored stained glass windows that allow a beautiful ambient light to come in and gently light up the room.  It is quiet except for a hint of peaceful music playing in the background.  The fragrance in the room is a fresh citrusy smell – and it is delightful.  As you sit here you feel comfortable, warm and secure.  You breath in deeply absorbing the peaceful state you are experiencing.  You assess the feeling in your body and you notice a radiating feeling from within that makes you aware of your life force.  You feel the tingling inside of energy, all through your body.  And you realize that your mind is quiet while you focus on the sensation of your body.  You awareness broadens back to the circular space that you are sitting directly in the middle of.  As you look up again in the window you notice that there are images made up of the stained glass that look familiar to you.  They are images of your memories.  They are from your fondest memories – the moments in your life that did not begin as pleasant experiences, but as time went on they revealed a beautiful experience as you persevered on.  They are the things that happened after experiencing uncomfortable, difficult, and seemingly never ending times.  What seemed like a hardship or tragedy became a triumph of your spirit.  And as you observe these images you realize that the pain you felt could have been avoided if you had exercised your sense of Faith. 

Take this time to reflect on something that you may want to turn over to Faith – imagine yourself allowing this something to be handed over to the Divine forces that allow Life to Flourish. 

Focus on this surrender – You may repeat to yourself – Let Go, Let Go, Let Go…

"Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you love.  It will not lead you astray."



Beach



Palm Tree (original by Sally Evans)

Wheat Field with Cypresses (originally by Van Gogh)



Lotus Blossom