Slightly Favoring

Slightly favoring: 

it's only slightly favoring of the mantra, not at the exclusion of other thoughts, but with a bit more attention placed on returning to the sound, allowing its vibration to settle the mind completely on its own. There's no need for us to concentrate nor give effort to the task. Really, it's just the joy of leaving the mind alone, non-interference with the natural flow of thoughts. 

every thought-stream eventually returns to the ocean of consciousness. 

in truth, it never left at all. 

meditation is the art of slightly favoring the mantra, nothing is manipulated to achieve a specific state and we're not searching for an end result of silence. Everything happens on it's own, completely so, and our only role is to gently bring the mantra back to mind, innocently, recognizing our thoughts at play and that the mantra is simply our return point. 

it's the easiest meditation that I know of because no thought or sensation is excluded, there's no force of attention here, nor is it an act of concentration. Mindfulness occurs as a natural process of a settled mind, a by product of our practice. Again, we're only slightly favoring the mantra, a small gift of our attention without seeking to hold it any longer than its due, completely letting go in the very moment of our thinking and then being carried by the vibrations of its sound. 

there's little effort given. 

we're only slightly favoring the mantra. 

meditation happens on its own.

completely so. 

~

Peace, Eric 

Even Earlier Now

Even earlier now: 

even earlier now, usually right around 3:30 a.m and I am drawn from bed, called really, to start my day with breathwork and meditation, several rounds of sun salutation and then enjoy a cup of coffee in the deep quiet of the morning. Soon after I head for my walk, it's another world outside at these hours, mostly me and first waking songbirds, with only a few cars in early commute, and an occasional runner who breaks the spell of silence with harsh breath and heavy steps, causing me to shield my eyes from their headlamps glare. I don't begrudge them their time, but my aim is solitude and I do my best to avoid the possibility of our meeting, taking the darker routes and least popular paths. 

I'm waking even earlier now...

seeking mostly to be alone. 

what it is - is reverence. These hours fill me with a sense of awe, it's as if I'm alone at first creation, a world in soft becoming. No words can possibly give this a description, predating spoken language, and everything is conveyed through silence and the experience of the body, sensations, an intuitive voice that urges me to listen to the quiet depth of morning without need of offering a reply. 

it's my most true conversation of the day. 

 and so even earlier now, I wake to simply be alone...

listening to the soft becoming of the world. 

~

Peace, Eric   

Prana

Prana: 

yoga is motion, more deeply though, and it's the ever present stillness that allows for its own fulfillment to be shown. It's energy, prana, expressed through the postures of the body. Beautifully so, artfully. There are times when it seems that prana guides our practice, taking charge of the body through its very cells, directing us through some divine play of poses, a flow beyond our current understanding of yoga. We are simply and only the expression of prana now, it's fulfillment, beautifully shown.

artfully.

this happens off the yoga mat as well, peak experiences where the mind seems unusually sharp and clear, suspended of all avenues of doubt, and every fiber of the body is committed to the task at hand. Again it's the dichotomy of motion and stillness healed of its division, no longer seen as separate things at all, but now experienced directly as one thing alone - prana,  subtlest of energy, our life force fully expressed as what we most truly are. 

yoga is the dance of possibilities, presently displayed. 

it's prana, 

artfully arranged. 

`

Peace, Eric 

Supposed to Be

Supposed to be: 

up to this point  - what I've learned through life and relationships is that it's all supposed to be a mess, never a settled thing, but that it's always in motion, offering us the best and only moment that's available right now. And this is far from being pessimistic, at least so for me, as I'm able to bring my deep sorrow to the surface, to show light on my every seeming mistake and heal them with a smile of recognition. Life's supposed to be this way. 

never truly a settled thing.

and that's the beauty and mystery of existence, that everything arises just perfectly so and then unfolds into the very instant, always to the unknown, even if we seem to guess correctly. It's remarkable that we get to love, to suffer loss, and see the transient nature of each experience. We're aware, witness to life and all that it offers, yet deeper still, we're participants through the very fiber of existence, we are the experience itself, never once removed from what's happening right now. 

even if we don't understand it, or if it holds no small amount of sorrow. 

life's supposed to hurt sometimes. 

but it's never less than beautiful.

and it's that transient nature, motion, that allows for love in its full expression, bringing change to every situation so that we can say; "yes, this too is love, even as my heart is broken." We're supposed to break, freeing us of rigid restraints that keep us locked in sure of any position. Mystery is the only option, reality, life through its motion of every possibility.

it's supposed to be this way.

~

Peace, Eric 

My Own Best Opinion

My own best opinion: 

to be free of my own best opinion, able to entertain ideas other than my own - and this seems to be the place I increasing value, finding myself able to hold my own beliefs lightly while giving clear attention to the views of others. It's an allowing space, open to every expression, yet remaining inherently empty in the wake of every thought. 

 being unconditional in its hold.

of course I still have opinions, many cherished to the point of belief. But I find that I'm able to return to that clear point rather quickly now, a natural letting go, and that my need to argue my convictions is minimal. I am mostly free of my own best opinion. 

happily so. 

what it mostly is - is simply a refusal to cling to any ideas of certainty, seeing them as a preference and not at all the reality of the world. To be able to easily say to myself "I just don't have a final answer" and finding a sense of peace within not knowing. It seems I've arrived here mostly by grace, although my long time practice of meditation, breathwork, yoga, have helped me realize the presence of this space, providing glimpses of it's ever present state. 

or perhaps it was sorrow that finally broke me open. 

revealing a clear and spacious nature. 

but it doesn't really matter, as being free of my own bets opinion allows me to consider every possibility with equal value. At least in the moment they appear. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Least Effort

in Taoism it's called Wu Wei, or the principle of effortless action and it equates to living with the Tao, trusting in the wisdom of life to see us our daily affairs. Deepak Chopra in his book: The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success calls it the Law of Least Effort, a Vedic concept of allowing nature to run our affairs while offering as little resistance as possible. It's not really a practice, more of wisdom to remember as we seek to involve ourselves in every detail possible, believing that only we know best in how our lives should unfold.

except we often make a mess of it. 

what we believe is that our own intelligence is greater than nature's, that if we push hard against life's current we will turn its course to suit out way. We fight the river, going upstream continuously. And of course we exhaust ourselves. Least effort is about surrender, not to anything outside ourselves, but simply placing our faith in life itself, trusting that our own involvement is part of its natural rhythm and that our actions will arrive in spontaneous fashion, easily, never having to fight the river. 

it's about trust. 

perhaps the best way to see it is in saying that nature doesn't struggle against itself, not that there aren't opposing forces often at play, but that it's all nature, every bit of it, and not separate interest insisting upon their individual way. Nature always unfold perfectly within itself. The principle of least effort places us right in the thick of life, a current amidst currents, and we're ask to simply trust the same wisdom the brought us here to begin with, the forces that expanded the universe through its self creation of space/time, guided us from primordial oceans to first breath as we stepped on land. 

it's all still present, at hand, available through each moment. 

and so our only true option is to surrender to this process...

knowing that we belong full to life's currents. 

~

Peace, Eric 

Fully Immersed

Fully immersed: 

there's a deeper wisdom at play here, an intelligence greater than my own and yet one that I am intimately a part of - so that I now find myself fully immersed within it, responding to subtle means of healing that urge me to wake hours before dawn. This is my time of meditation, several rounds of sun salutation and yoga poses that seem to ease me into the day, a true sense of awakening found. As well, I am out of the door to walk well before sunrise, still fully dark, anticipating first light to reach my eyes and heal me through its soft display of colors. 

my mornings are a magical time of healing. 

truly so. 

there is something about walking at this hour that deeply joins me to nature. It's a continuation of my yoga, discovering myself as belonging to these hours, connected by virtue of my presence and desire to least disturb the holiness of earth and air. I am fully immersed in landscape, kin to smallest creature, my footsteps falling softly, breath hushed to barest whisper. I find that I am guarded of my walks, less willing to share the path with those in a rush for early miles before heading to their jobs. It's entirely selfish of me, and I am well aware of my faults here, my own bias. But I am eager for the sounds of nature to return, feeling that a sense of reverence has slightly been disturbed by their passing, holiness sacrificed for extra miles and a faster stride. The hours before sunrise are most truly meant for reverence, with nature providing a holy chorus for the pleasure of our listening. 

the more fully immersed we are in the morning hours the quieter we become, occurring naturally, a meditation of simply listening to the sounds of nature emerge from the silence of their hold. We learn how to move through this, a softer approach, matching our breath and stride to the slower pace of dawn. Our mornings are meant for reverence, to be fully immersed in nature. 

it's a magical time. 

~

Peace, Eric