One of the most challenging practice activities that I say yes to is writing a piece for the Monastery newsletter. It challenges many conditioned beliefs and assumptions and really gets ego riled up, which is exactly why I continue to show up and say yes. Ego's conversation is predictable, and as I process map what it has to say, I see many familiar themes—all of which, when seen as projections, reveal ego for what it is.
The other day on a practice call, I described a recent practice experience as fun, and the facilitator, when reflecting, used the word play, which I so loved. It really expanded and clarified what I was seeing. And now awareness is expanding to see that underneath the label of "challenging" is a felt sense that the process of writing this is an opportunity to play with Life in the same way. So on one level, it does feel like a challenge, and as I continue to look and be open, awareness expands and more is revealed. That's the magic of recognizing that this human being is not that which is incessantly yakking away very close by.
On the radio show I heard Cheri or Ashwini say something like "…creating the receptors that can take in everything that Life has to offer, being open to whatever is given to us, to whatever is being revealed.”
What is really fun and playful is the experience of sitting down at the keyboard and seeing what drops in to say, typing Life's message in a stream of consciousness way and then moving the sentences around, changing words, clarifying into a coherent piece. It’s rather like a jigsaw puzzle. I'll be typing along and then just stop in mid-stream, breathing, waiting. Then the flow begins again.
I LOVE PRACTICE! Smiling, experiencing gratitude, so full of well-being and love, all of which is our birthright. And so grateful that I hear Life's call and answer YES!
Gasshō,
Karen M.