Threshold

offering of love

cool breeze, open sky, warm heart

tender and alive

The Spiral

Life is a spiral, endlessly blooming or slowly wilting, depending on our point of view.

It begins with survival, putting food to mouth. Even a newborn infant will crawl to reach mother’s milk.

Next is the support of kin and tribe. Children need love and attention.

Once a child has grown strong, they’ll feel the need to rebel, demanding, “Don’t tell me what to do!”

When children grow up, the law of the land is established, whether it be honor among thieves, or knights of the round table.

Once they learn the rules, individuals start to game the system, looking for power and profit.

When the cruelty of exploitation becomes unbearable, equality and justice cause the people to join together and rise up as one.

Seeing the limits of all manner of narrow minded thinking, individuals who have been given everything they need to progress, seek to give back however they can.

In common cause, without coercion, nor hesitation, those who see clearly unite to nourish and grow the spiral.

As humanity blossoms, one by one, we become truly free of limitation and suffering.

Finally, we return to everything.

Practical Notes

True concern for others' wellbeing evolves from the maturation of nonviolent competition, which itself is based on a true rule of law. Only after giving up harm while pursuing our own benefit can we eventually learn to think of the benefit of all. I think this is true as individuals and collectively. After we learn to appreciate everything and everyone equally, we can begin to clearly identify the cause of our own and each others' suffering in any given situation. Then, secure in our own personal meaning and its dependency on the group, we can work together towards universal uplift.

At more developed stages, societies will not progress on the Spiral without addressing the psychological progress of its individual members. Therefore, a governing elite will never be able to accomplish meaningful change until the fundamental framework of the average person's underlying consciousness changes accordingly.

Seven Primary Motivations

1. Survival Instincts: Need to Feed - “Can I eat that?”

2. Tribal Ways: Kindness Binds Us - “Do I know you?”

3. Heroic Power: Don't Tell Me What To Do! - “Will you get in my way?”

4. Authoritarian Stability: Follow the Rules - “What I am supposed to do now?”

5. Opportunistic Ambition: Do Your Best - “What’s in it for me?”

6. Communal Enterprise: We're All Good - “Why can’t we all just get along?”

7. Metacognitive Insight: Life Is But a Dream - “Am I being totally honest with myself?”

The Yoga of Three Endeavors

The yoga of the body is gentleness. May I always endeavor to love true. This is kindness.

The yoga of the breath is simplicity. May I always endeavor to live simply. This is responsibility.

The yoga of mind is bliss. May I always endeavor to be honest. This is integrity.

Divine Play

Ultimate and relative

Perceptions seeming separate

Appearances born from primordial awareness

A separation demanding union

Bliss dissolves all boundaries

Dedication of Yoga

I give myself completely to my own yoga of body, speech and mind.

To love, serve, honor and protect is my only purpose.

May this yoga bring harmony and prosperity to myself and others.

May this wish, firmly rooted in the mind, riding the breath, become the natural expression of the body.

The Heart of Yoga - Finding Joy in Everyday Life

The heart of yoga is finding stillness, gratitude and unity in our everyday experience of body, speech and mind.

We do this by bringing awareness to the movements of the body, the rhythm of the breath, as well as the thoughts and feelings we experience.

As the body, breath and mind become more familiar, we begin to feel more confident and at ease.

Greater confidence and ease allow us to work more fearlessly for the benefit of ourselves and each other, even throughout the ups and downs of our daily lives.

Working for the benefit of ourselves and others is the direct cause of happiness and joy in everyday life.

Practicing yoga calms the mind, clears away the ignorance of narrow-minded thinking and teaches us how to let go of our own selfish fixations.

Integrity, responsibility and kindness are the inner foundations of the three noble qualities of inner peace, clarity and selflessness.

The cultivation of awareness, mindfulness and compassion are their respective practices.

The essence of awareness is non-distraction, the essence of mindfulness is pure intention and the essence of compassion is unconditional love.

Ideally, their manifestation is open, natural and spontaneous, overflowing from a genuine space of wisdom and love.

Put simply, a yogi is calm, clear and responsive because, ultimately, our true nature is presence, intelligence and love.

Four Attentions to the Breath

Completely Letting Go

Rest and relax,

staying mindful,

let every moment of experience come and go,

breathing without effort or focus…

Just Breathing

Breath slowly, gently;

try to pay close attention to the sensation of every inhale,

every exhale…

Belly Breath

Bring the focus to the belly,

inhaling, gently expand the belly;

exhaling, engage the core,

pulling the belly inwards…

Three Part Breath

Exhale slowly, pulling in the belly, engage the core from the bottom of the spine to the top of the collar bones;

inhale slowly, keeping the belly engaged, breath into the top of the lungs, letting the collar bones rise (first part),

next expand the ribs (second part),

finally, the belly relaxes, letting the lungs expand fully (third part);

and repeat…

Breath Deep

Breath deep the sweet gift of life

Let it fill the entire chest

The belly too

Let all tension dissolve into the earth

Feel roots of energy draw richness up

And let compassion blossom

A tender heart overflowing

Like a flower in early Spring unfolds

Upon a sunlit caress

Warmth flows freely

To give life again

Remember the breath

Three Pillars of a Healthy Mind

Empathy and Nonviolent Communication

• Empathy is the ability to identify with and relate to another person’s emotional responses

• Nonviolent communication is the motivation and skills necessary to recognize and resolve conflict stemming from misunderstanding and psychological triggering

Forgiveness and Gratitude

• Forgiveness is clearly seeing our own and each other’s flaws and mistakes without anger, blame or frustration

• Gratitude is a deep appreciation that stems from love and respect

Self-Reflective Awareness

• Self-reflective awareness is the simple, clear and direct experience of present moment awareness, free of mental chatter and emotional baggage

• Leads to integrity, responsibility and kindness of body, speech and mind

• Integrity is boundless, clear and without deception

• Responsibility is heartfelt and personal

• Kindness is gentle and warm

Harming None

a leaf in the wind

going gently, harming none

will never know shame

Learning to Let Go

lazy and impatient

I confused effort with practice

and looking with seeing

there is no true ground

except in forgiveness and letting go

so let love radiate from the center

and burn all thoughts away

let joy bubble up

just sit

don't try to nervously pop mind bubbles

let them be taken by the wind

and fall where they may

The Perfection of Being

The problem isn't that perfection is unattainable, the challenge is that it is everywhere. We call some things good and some bad, ignoring most of it, all while working within the same natural framework of cause and effect, comprised of five elements. That interdependency itself is perfection. Letting go of the mere desire for things to be different and working fearlessly to make beings' lives better, each in our own way, is the path of the spiritual warrior.

ཨ

Ah

At first, I dulled the blade of wisdom with pointless activities.

When I realized my mistake, I frantically tried to make up for lost time, but continued to dull my wisdom with pointless activities.

Now, using just the space of awareness, I will hone the blade of wisdom to cut through anything.

Ah

ཨ

Free to Choose

the fangs of fear

do paralyze the deer

but only inspire a yogi

to awaken

to arise

to live

without regret or sorrow

not living for tomorrow

but right now

in this moment

free to choose

or lose

the entire universe

in a single mustard seed

Sacred View

Sacred view is not wishful thinking, but the gateway to this present moment mind.

The perfection of being is not here then gone, nor suddenly arisen, but always acting as the ground of causes and conditions, until pointed out, contemplated and self-liberated.

The depth, scope and vividness of awareness are without measure.

What is the limit of awareness?

Disappointed Mind

Disappointed mind

There is nothing for you here

The moment is gone

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