Wisdom in Waves
  • Home
  • Classes
  • Meditations
  • Books
  • Poems
  • Musings
  • About
  • Contact
  • Love

Sweet Surrender

6/11/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Aura Of Buddha by Wayne Bonney

I wake up with throbbing sensations in each temple, feeling as if the walls are quickly closing in. 
I wake up with belly muscles repeating somersaults as if they are training for a future Olympic event.
After all, I must be in tip top shape to perform.

Exploring these sensations from the inside out, I notice the mind trying to make sense of them.

What did I have for dinner last night?  Maybe the cauliflower is causing too much gas.
Did I get enough sleep?  Maybe I shouldn’t wake up so early to meditate.
Maybe I’m worried about future this or that.


Each time my attention wanders away from the body and breath, I gently note where I’ve been and try my best to return with kind awareness and warm curiosity.  After all, it’s hard to stay present when I still believe there is some other person or place that will promise eternal peace!
Thank you, Kaveri for your patience.  That’s why it’s called a practice, a path.

****

A spiritual path implies there is some place to get to, a final destination where you can rest because your debts are paid off, you’ve recovered fully from a devastating illness, you are finally vacationing in your dream place, or fill in the blank.  You are always on the move, avoiding paths that are unpleasant, carefully choosing routes that produce pleasure time and time again. 

What happens when you take off the heavy backpack of burden and lay it down beside you?  What happens as you stop to rest, to take a refreshing drink of water, to eat and fully engage your five senses with your surroundings?  What if you could feel the sun’s warmth mixed with cool sensations of a gentle breeze on your skin and on the inside?  What if you could appreciate a panoramic view of your whole life and relax into the present moment of your timeline?

Every answer you seek can be found in the foreign tongues of body sensations.  They are lost in translation when you try and think your way through the moment, when you try to rush towards a pleasurable answer and push away the painful ones.  The process of returning to the present moment, resting and relaxing into it, and reflecting on insights as they arise is not an easy one.  How can it be when you are taught to strive, to become someone and achieve something worthy of attention, of love? 

There is a certain sweetness in surrendering to the physical manifestations of thoughts and emotions rather than trusting the constant hum inside your head of possible disasters lurking just around the corner.  The only way to know this (not as a cognitive assignment, but as a marrow felt sense), is to practice again and again.  Not practicing for an external trophy, but for internal freedom and more space to love what is.

My wish for you, for me, for everyone on this planet is that we can periodically rest in these moments of awareness.   We don’t need to be anyone or do anything to experience deep and profound states of peace.  My wish is that we all have opportunities to slow down, to let the mind settle long enough so we can sense the aura of our True Nature, the same aura surrounding Jesus Christ, Buddha, Krishna, and all sentient beings we have revered throughout space and time in every mystical tradition.

May we relax into any given moment.
May we have patience for the answers that lead us to wise action.
When we fall, may we trust Indra’s net to catch us.

Sweet Surrender – Song Meditation
(When you hear this song, imagine that you are not surrendering to any one person, place, or thing but to this moment and a loving awareness guiding you, always.  If the song distracts you from your soul’s deepest longing, then let it go.)
​
(This blog post was inspired by a recent retreat with Dori Langevin and a series of talks on The Third Noble Truth and Nibbana by Tempel Smith.)
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Kaveri Patel, a woman who is always searching for the wisdom in waves.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014

    Categories

    All
    Anatta
    Body Wisdom
    Burnout
    Communication
    Compassion
    Creativity
    Diwali
    Doubt
    Elements
    Energy
    Equanimity
    Fear
    Forgiveness
    Freedom
    Gratitude
    Guilt
    Habits
    Impermanence
    Joy
    Kindness
    Light
    Middle Way
    Mindfulness
    Motivational Interviewing
    Parenting
    Passion
    Patience
    Peace
    Poetry
    Relationships
    Sacred Feminine
    Self Compassion
    Surrender
    True Nature
    Trust
    Uncertainty
    Wisdom

    Click to set custom HTML

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly