Mindfulness (on the Go)

It can be a real challenge to stay present and balanced in today's world. We all have our routines that hopefully include an active creative and spiritual practice, but even with that, there are times when things get really busy and you feel out of sync. So, what can you do to stay centered when things are moving too fast?

You may be driving to work, getting your children ready for school, answering e-mails at your office, and lost in the jumble of your thoughts. So, most importantly, stop for a moment and begin to pay attention to your breath. This will always bring you back to the present moment.

Then, take that moment you have just opened up and expand on it, by creating an impromptu sacred space, wherever you are. You can do this completely within your own thoughts. As you follow your breath, turn off the radio or the television, and give yourself the room to focus on your thoughts and intentions.

We don't always realize this, but the various forms of stimulation we bring into our environment affect our mental outlook, both to our benefit and detriment. Radio, television, and the internet are deeply influential in that regard.

With that in mind, I like to open up the silence in my morning drive time by improvising a new mantra each day. Yesterday, I began to chant the simple "Alleluia" chorus that I remembered from my days of going to Catholic Mass. As I chanted this mantra, I began to visualize my heart chakra, and to literally see the doors of my heart opening, and the word "Alleluia" written in calligraphy on a scroll that unrolled from my heart and extended into space.

Visualization exercises such as these are invaluable to reframing your perspective and manifesting positive activity in your life. My intention with this particular visualization is to sketch it in my journal, but this will have to wait until my schedule slows just a little.

This entire chanting meditation only took a couple of minutes, a brief interlude in an otherwise busy day. And yet, it completely changed my outlook, from a compulsive rush to activity, into a more reflective and relaxed place.

There are any number of ways that you can reset yourself throughout the day. A quick step into nature, even if it's just a small green space in the heart of the city can work wonders. A song on your playlist, whether it has words or just a positive instrumental vibration can inspire you. Briefly focusing your attention on a lit votive candle or the feeling of the water as you shower, can both help to calm the mind.

Basically, anything that gets you to pause for a moment and puts a smile on your face can refresh and bring you back to mindfulness, no matter how simple it may be.

As an exercise, and a go to reference for when times are super busy and you don't feel centered, make a list of all the different ways that you can take a moment and find yourself in the midst of a busy day. By doing that, you will be better prepared for when those days come along.

So next time I'm chanting my mantra out on my morning drive, and see you, I'll wave to you as a reminder to us both that this day is ours to create and be mindful of the beauty within and around us.

Have fun creating your life (even on the run) today!

Inspiration (to Breathe and Create)

Do you sometimes feel stuck? Stuck in your life situation and wishing that you could be somewhere else and your life could be different? While we are called to be present in this moment and its circumstances, it is also, so important to creatively imagine that place we are stepping into next.

Let's try this!

Today I choose to live from a place of inspiration. I will find my higher place and begin to reimagine my life. When fear calls, I will use it, by acknowledging and then shifting the thought to a higher vibration, one of trust and adventure. Trust, that by following my heart, I am walking the true and honest path for my life, and that I will be rewarded for that. Adventure, in that I can let go of fear and dive into the excitement of the experience as it unfolds.

By making the transition from fear to inspiration, I open up to possibilities that did not exist before this moment. When we are in a place of fear and mistrust, we shut down physically, emotionally, spiritually. It is our attempt to find a safe and secure space, but it also closes us off from the limitless possibilities that exist when we are in co-creation with the universe.

Being inspired does not mean that we keep our heads in the sand. On the contrary, we are intended to be fully aware of our circumstances. As the twelve step programs tell us, we are to make a fearless and honest appraisal of our lives and selves. But, once having done that, we are then free to imagine our life, and the great potential that it holds for us.

Let's do an experiment today, and try the following:

The root word for inspire in Latin is inspirare. It literally means "to breathe in".

Take a few minutes to be in a quiet place. Be aware of your breathing. Breath coming in, breath going out. Your breath is the first sign that reminds you of the place of inspiration.

Now settling in, open your journal and write for a few minutes on how you see your life, just as it is right now. Next, take a few minutes and step into the place of your imagination where you can see your future life, just as you want it to be. Write as complete a description as you are able.

There is a gap, an unknown space between those two experiences, one of the you in the present, and one of the you in the future. Don't try to understand how you will get from this place to that one. Rather, focus on that feeling place of where you want to be. Visualize it as much as possible throughout your day. Draw, write about, or collect pictures that represent your new life. And, throughout the day, repeat this prayer as often as it comes to mind:

Today, I open the doors of my heart. I open them to life, to new experiences, to all the potential that is in me.

Have a wonderful day as you live from the heart!

mahakali

all sustenance involves the taking of life in some form,

so we enter into it with awareness and gratitude

for the dying that nourishes our living,

and when the time comes,

we give our bodies as an offering in return.

anahata

the heart traverses much in its journey

youthful exuberance gives way to experience

faith slips into the mysterious unknown

ecstatic peaks and the dark abyss

the bare desperation of the dying ego

brought down in violence by its own hand

glimpses of something more subtle

dreamlike just out of reach

by candlelight a path in the darkness

cuts through the here and the now

Into the Black

When darkness beckons, dive in to it.

The only loss is to avoid what you are feeling.

They all are parts of you in search of liberation, anyhow.

Nothing to fear, no need to numb the sensations, just down.

Now, feeling all the way, down deep, into the black.

Fall into Winter 2011

...to look through my own eyes, as though through every set of eyes that has ever been. (vaishnava expansion)

embrace your mental projections, the gods, the devils; embody all the forms, rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief. play, explore, dive in, on and to and through them all to that infinite expanse, the unmanifest, upon which we act, always.

i don't generally believe in prophetic language, but I do believe we create self-fulfilling prophecies. having said that, I wish the apocalyptic crowd a happy end of the world, and join in with the consciousness raising bunch in hopes for an uptick on the One Love spectrum. 2012, let's dive into it. yeah, it had been a tough year for Kenny, but he was damn sure gonna make sure it ended with a bang. one week to wring holy hell outta this teardrop universe, before the bottom dropped out o' things, and they realized he was the one left holding the bag. pool halls, beer joints, dolls and thrills, they all waited for him, just around the corner to eternity.

humming on these, the shortest days of the year, "here comes the sun, little darlin' and I say, it's alright", while trying to steer clear of the frenetic, consumer orgiastic moment.

three nights ago, an owl flew across the road in front of me. this morning it was a hawk, swooping down to grab it's prey, oblivious to the downtown traffic. so what sooth do you say, my feathered friends?

the anger, the frustrations...wait, let go, watch them floating, momentary panic, unfulfilled desires...slowing now, emptiness...injustices and self-inflicted pain, slowly, back to the moment...there, expansive space without limit, overwhelming gratitude, you can't get it wrong, you have as long as you need to work it out, peace.

night falls and traffic rushin' / electrons and booties bumpin'
all along the city streets / neon lights the night to keep.

last night a small snake glistened on the wet sidewalk below me. i watched as it coiled and uncoiled in fluid motion, and considered how it functions as an emblem of wisdom, or conversely evil and corruption, in various spiritual traditions. to me it looked like beauty personified: power, direction, elegance, grace.

as I walk to work downtown, along this section of sidewalk I like to pretend that I am walking along the edge of a building, and how it might feel different if I weren't afraid.

and so we find it, in the shadowy, winding alleyways: the heart festooned, a garland both beating and bleeding. if it is that we can look with eyes of compassion, a pathway opens, however slim, into the third noble truth.

liberation comes, not by blinding epiphany, but through a thousand million moments, trench warfare liberating one chakra at a time. here it is the Svadisthana that finds expression, the gut, center of feeling and connection. beauty resides there, flawed and vulnerable in the darkness, shining all the more in its proximity.

Middle-aged guy, looks like Napoleon Dynamite walks up to my office door, looks at the placard, and says "I'm Randall, I buy books". I thought he was a student, come to mock me. Then I saw the earnest look on his face, and the stack of books in his arms, and realized he was speaking the truth.

look inside, look outward, it is the same infinite universe in all directions. even now, we are just touching the surface.

outside rain falls steadily, for many hours now, inside wood floors are mopped, thoughts ebb and flow in the stillness, Johnny Cash on the radio.

watching the eight worldly conditions flip like coins through the air.

Purusha and Prakriti sittin' in a tree...

'what's next mr. riff', she says.

walking the beautiful wildflower strewn minefield that is 21st century earth.

if you want to feel the gravitation to and away from those nearest you, ask yourself which ones among them teach you to love, and you will know the answer.

Here's the last question and answer from a recent e-mail interview:

-If you could curate your dream exhibition, what would it consist of?

Let's see. A table or bench made by young Jesus the carpenter. A street art installation made by some kid who hangs out in Garibaldi Plaza in Mexico City. The carnival carousel that looks like a giant Chinese paper lantern. The most awesome school diorama ever which blends fact and science fiction. With a performance by an aging punk band that has traded in its amps for strange, handmade acoustic instruments and ambient sound.

Note to my egoic self: i have to chuckle at the lengths you go to draw me in, but i don't play the game anymore. i recognize your illusion and...this mental space is liberated. :)

looking back with eyes of compassion and experience, at all the effort, at all the desire, at all the mistakes, i know i'd smile at my foolishness, and do it all again.

Walkin' down Continental Ave, headed to the gallery, mindin' my own business..."Hey, know who you look like? You look like that...m-th-rf-kn' rock-n-roll singer from back in the day. What's his name?"

cast away your cares, poor Rodin, their weight is nothing but the illusion you so carefully tend to.

tonight, the bright and morning star, it leads the moon across the night sky...teach me.

this is my path to liberation: to recognize when conditioning arises, to feel it's ebb and flow in my body, and not respond to it's pull.

Student at campus art reception says, "art is like the Blob, it's always moving". Not quite sure I got it, but I like the analogy nonetheless.

ALL BILLS PAID.

and nothing as my guide

everything i am inclined to hold onto, let it go.

every object, every belief, every opinion.

to become clear, like the reflection in a mirror.

an empty vessel, in all ways free,

with gratitude for all, and nothing as my guide.