CAVERNS OF THE MIND: SPIRITUALITY and FEAR

Spiritual Seekers--

Experiential knowledge of the Truth within and without does not erase the existence of the human condition.

When your spiritual energy (Goddess Kundalini Shákti) is awakened, you'll notice your practice becomes somewhat of a roller coaster ride as the kundalini touches upon charged energy pockets of the subconscious. I call these pockets the "caverns of the mind".

As the intensity ramps up, this time in our practice can seem a bit overwhelming. At times the emotions can be so intense that we feel like abandoning our practice. But the Goddess Kundalini is alluring, She keeps us coming back to the mat by entertaining us with visual and kinesthetic experiences that are as euphoric as the emotions are gut wrenching.

Fear is the greatest obstacle to spiritual freedom. Fear is the antithesis of freedom.

Fear caused the most upheaval in my practice (and life!) during this three year period of intense practice with the Goddess after shaktipat diksha.  For months I was playing Whack-A-Mole with my mind: every time I worked through one fear, another popped up.

The key is to work through your fears.

As much as you'd prefer to call it quits and go back to a life of ignorant bliss (that's not really bliss, tho, is it?), your practice will continually pull you back. In my early twenties I read a quote by Chögyam Trungpa, and it has proven to be true--"Once you're on the spiritual train, there's no getting off." This is a good thing. A boon of the highest order.

So what do we do with fear?

First we must acknowledge it's existence. Sit quietly, focusing on the natural rhythm of the breath. Once you're attuned to the sensations in your body, ask the question, "What emotions am I feeling right now?" You may be surprised at the answer: sometimes we think we're angry, 
but we discover we're actually sad. We think we're feeling guilt, but we're feeling fear.

By focusing on our breath and centering ourselves, we're distancing ourselves from the mind and letting our physical intelligence (intuition) lead us to the truth of what we're feeling.

I'm sharing all of this with you because even though my three years of intense austerities was years ago, and my practice is quite ordinary without the bells and whistles, I still go through periods of intense emotional upheaval. Not nearly as often as I used to, but I do get thrown off center, lose my footing, so to speak, and stumble.

It only makes sense, tho, right?

The spiritual energy is purifying our body, mind, and spirit. Sometimes this purging is done while in meditation without any 
feelings of upheaval. Other times, we are forced to face our fears head on. If we don't, they're just going to gain more momentum and come back with a vengeance until we acknowledge them.

Okay, you've sat quietly and you recognize you're filled with fear. Most times simply naming the emotion "Fear" and staring it straight in the face will help loosen its grip.

Our emotions want to be acknowledged. They're like little kids begging for attention, "Look at me! Look at me! I'm right here!" Once we've acknowledged it, we can sit quietly with the emotion, simply watching and feeling its presence, until it's transmuted back into pure consciousness energy. (This takes practice, but its worth the effort. Watching charged emotions dissolve back into pure 
consciousness energy is enlightening. To experience first hand the existence, sustenance, and dissolution of something is mystical, for this cycle is the cycle of birth, life, and death.)

Sometimes we need to go deeper, and explore the root of our fear. Such was the case in my practice the past two weeks. My practice itself was beautiful, but dealing with the mind stuff it brought up felt like pulling teeth; I was (am) dealing with shame that's surfaced from a traumatic childhood experience. Not fun, but necessary for my spiritual growth, as well as my overall growth and health as a human being.

This shame has been controlling so many facets of my adult life, creating so much fear--Once I realized this to be the case, I used meditation and contemplation (raja yoga), and studying of scripture and texts pertinent to my specific trauma (jnana yoga), to get at the root cause--to pull the roots of this samskara out of my subconscious mind. There's still much work to do. I feel I've pulled back enough layers of the onion that I'm finally at the door to healing. After all this work, I'm ready to begin the real work. Such is the spiritual life!

While navigating my way through this upheaval--and I use the word "navigating" because I felt lost many times-- I cried often and a lot.

Again, it was not fun. It was not easy. But I know that everything is a purification. The Goddess is expelling that which is keeping me bound.

Remember that everything IS energy,
even the pain and angst. And it's not only okay to cry, it's physiologically necessary to expel the grief, fear, etc., from our system in order to heal.

Remember that our sadhana (spiritual path/practice) is for the sake of our freedom from everything that keeps us bound to the cycle of birth and death. Our practice is not for nothing. The goal is yoga: Union with our highest Self. That which is beyond shame and fear. That which is our birthright. That which we already are and always have been, but which is often veiled by the play of consciousness in the form of maya (illusion).

Its best to write these truths down on Post-It Notes and index cards and keep them handy, because we're unable to recall these truths when we're in the throws of maya.

In closing, I would like to add the importance of
having spiritual friends and mentors, someone who's been where you stand now. (Be sure to use your intuition: anyone who claims your spiritual growth is contingent upon how much you pay him or her, or asks for egregious "donations", is most certainly a charlatan).

Remembering that you're not alone is key to weathering the caverns of the mind. All Great seekers go through this purification. Take refuge in the scriptures, too. I consider the Svetashvetara Upanishad home, and lose myself within the words often.

Also, it's good to remember to lean on the things that bring joy to your life. We're not martyrs. It's vital to let yourself experience joy while going through these upheavals. For me, it's music. Sometimes spiritual music in the form of kirtan, Qawwali, namaskirtana, bhajans. Other times, it's the grace infused compositions of my beloved friends Jason Becker, Steve Vai, and Vernon Reid, respectively. This week it's been all about Jason. 

We are human. Balancing our spiritual and daily lives is a tough road to navigate at first, but in time the two merge. And this is grace.

Love and All Great Blessings to you,
as my own Self.

Bhakti


Namo Namah





*Eternal thank yous and salutations to Sally ji Kempton [Swamiji Durgananda] for her countless years of altruism, asking only one thing in return: that I practice with great love and devotion. So much love.

Essay © 2015 D.L. Bhakti Brophy
"Caverns of the Mind"© 2002 D.L.Brophy
All Rights Reserved 

JAI BHAKTI™ BLOG: Raja Yoga: WITNESS EXPERIMENT

Last night, after meditation and while in a state of blissful expansion, I got on Twitter to see if I could engage with a fellow Tweeter who's political views are diametrically opposed to my own without losing my center, the state of expansiveness . His tweets are filled with hatred, and most of what he tweets as fact is simply not true.

Because I was in a state of expansion, I was able to Witness what I was doing while I was doing it. In other words, I wasn't merely reacting to this man's hate-filled tweets, I was watching my every move: metacognition, thinking about my thinking. (I've written about metacognitin many times in the past, please scroll through the archives for more info.)

The reason I did this experiment was because I normally get heated and quite charged when dealing with this kind of person--someone who spews hatred and lies regarding politics and offers no positive solutions.

It bothers me that people buy into so much of the propaganda we call the news. I'm mystified that people cannot intuitively tell right from wrong. (One of the most difficult things to navigate when one is "awake" is recognizing and remembering that others are still bound; compassion is key. After all, ignorance literally means "not knowing".)

My experiment was all about seeing if I could tweet about politics without  losing the state of expansion and, also, discover how defending my view of U.S. politics affects my mood.

What I discovered was that it was totally futile, and perhaps self righteous--even though the tweets were from my heart!-- to try and talk sense into this man. His tweets do affect my livelihood in a roundabout way because he's against helping the sick and elderly, however, everyone is entitled to his or her opinions. 

I also discovered that replying to this man's tweets slowly morphed my state of expansiveness into a state of constriction: from liberation back to Maya, from freedom to the feeling of being stuck.

One of the most important things I learned was 
that countering this man's political views on my Twitter feed offered nothing enlightening to my readers. How could it if the tweets were being offered from a state of constriction? I wasn't so much stating my opinions as I was countering this man's, and that's why I began to lose my center. My reaction to his tweets created the conflict. It's none of my business what he thinks.

Ultimately, I learned that I don't lose my center when discussing politics, but when I get defensive and feel a need to counter with my own point of view. This simply creates more drama, and after 26 years of studying and practicing on the spiritual path, that's the last  thing I'm chasing!

My conclusion to this experiment: 

The only way I can affect a change in this world is to keep an eye on my mood and do whatever needs to be done to cultivate the state of expansiveness.

I will continue to offer wisdom that creates a state of peace and bliss. That's one thing I can do from the confines of my room (virtually bedridden due to spinal injury and spinal diseases).

It is my wish and prayer that everyone, everywhere, experience this level of satchittananda (existence, consciousness, and bliss absolute) in his or her lifetime.

Hari Om Tat Sat!


©2014 DL Bhakti Brophy

BHAKTI'S TONGLEN PRACTICE: How to Deal With the Suffering and Injustices of the World (JAI BHAKTI™ BLOG)

BECOMING DEPRESSED OVER THE SUFFERING OF OTHERS HELPS NO ONE.
YOU CAN AFFECT A POSITIVE CHANGE!

Two weeks before Hurricane Katrina hit, I had emergency surgery to reconstruct my cervical spine. This meant that I was unable to volunteer, which I would have done had I not been laid up. Watching so many people suffer--and incensed as the US Government sat idly by with its bureaucratic thumbs up its bureaucratic arse-- left me in a state of despair. I spent my entire life helping others, and now I was stuck immobile on my parents' couch, watching the horror unfold on TV, unable to lift a finger to help. The physical pain I was experiencing, and the toll the nerve damage was taking on my physical body, meant nothing to me: My heart was breaking.


I expressed my dilemma with my dear friend, Meditation Master Sally Kempton:

"I feel useless, Sallyji! Why would I be rendered unable to help when so many people are suffering? I want so much to go down south to help. These people are suffering and I can't do a thing to help them."



I already knew that my meditation practice--everyone's meditation practice--effects a positive change in the world, but I could not reconcile why I would be given the capacity to give so much, and then not be able to help when so many thousands of people were in dire need of assistance.



Sally taught me the Buddhist practice called Tonglen, as taught to her by Pema Chödron. You can find Pema's Tonglen instructions in many of her fabulous books.



I tweaked the practice to better suit my situation. What remains hardly resembles Tonglen as it was taught to me, but the intention is the same, therefore I continue to call this practice Tonglen. Being virtually bedridden for the past nine years, I use this practice when I begin to feel discouraged that I am not able to be out in the world teaching, doing charity work, sharing my love of life with others, etc. When I feel my own suffering is in vain, I offer this practice to the world:



"May my suffering be enough for this world

so that no one else may have to suffer.

May my pain be enough for the world

So no one else may have to experience pain

May my level of physical discomfort be enough for this world

So that no one else may have to suffer this level of physical discomfort.

May my offering be enough

So that others may live in peace and good health.

Let my suffering be enough for this world.



May every being know

that he or she is being upheld by Grace.

Thank you for blessing me with this Life,

With this Grace,

With this Love.

I offer my life to Your service,

To the service of All.

May it be so.

And so it is."*



If you are feeling overwhelmed by the injustice and suffering in the world, I ask that you look deeply into these feelings. Label them ("I feel sad." "I feel helpless." "I feel scared." etc.), contemplate the feelings, and then create your own Tonglen based practice.



You will learn that, through your meditation and spiritual practices, you are effecting a positive change in this world. Moreover, through going deep in meditation (Raja Yoga), and by studying the Vedas (Jnana Yoga), the reality of existence reveals itself to you. You realize we are all exactly where we are meant to be at any given time. We are all playing roles: we have played them all before, and will continue to do so until Self Realization, and the cessation of the cycle of birth and death.



Tonglen is all about Love and Devotion (Bhakti Yoga) to the One who has become the many.



Love and All Great Blessings to You All


As my very own Self,

Bhakti






*©2005 DL Bhakti Brophy
 ©2014 DL Bhakti Brophy
 All Rights Reserved

The Mind Can Free Us or Enslave Us: The Choice is Yours!

“When will you live today?” is one of my favorite quotes. I have it written on the wall in the basement, right next to my drum set because I used to play the drums when I was trying to escape feelings like anger, anxiety, fear, etc. The quote reminded me that every moment I spent being angry, anxious, or fearful, I lost the precious moments of the day at hand. This quote reminds me that if I spend my time being upset about the past, or worrying about the future, then I am NOT living today. I am not living in the present moment.

Many of us have a million and one diversions that keep us from dealing with our strong emotions and negate our ability to live in the present moment. I live with chronic pain due to an incurable spinal disease. Yesterday was a particularly bad day—I could not handle the pain level and it made me intensely angry and mentally stressed. Instead of doing a meditation practice that I knew would dissolve the energy of the strong emotions, I walked up to the ice cream shop and got a double dip of coffee ice cream with chocolate sprinkles. At the time, this seemed like a much easier way of pacifying the horrible day I was having than doing a simple meditation practice. On my way home from the ice cream shop, I sat upon the steps of my local church and prayed for help with the current situation. As I truly allowed myself to feel and experience the mental pain and anguish caused by the physical pain, I cried, and the intense emotions dissipated. The rest of the day was pleasant, and I was able to interact with others—and myself-- more lovingly. I had reconnected with the peace within. The key to finding this peace is living in the present moment. The only place where peace truly exists is in the present moment. Moreover, the only way to connect with the present moment is through mindfulness meditation.

Most people cringe when I mention the word ‘meditation’. They get this look of fear on their face, tell me they have tried to meditate once or twice before, and inevitably say things like:

“I couldn’t stop thinking.”

“My mind was driving me crazy. There was no peace anywhere to be found. My mind was thinking more than usual!”


“All I could hear was my heartbeat and it nearly drove me insane. Plus, I kept thinking the same thought repeatedly.”

“I gave up trying to meditate because I couldn’t get my mind to stop thinking. I’m just not cut out for it.”


Friends, allow me to clarify one thing with regard to the mind: the mind is not the enemy. It is the innate function of the mind to think, reason, acquire and apply knowledge. Therefore, when sitting for meditation, the key is not to stop the mind from doing its job, but to ‘Witness’ the mind. The key thing to remember is that the beginner’s goal in meditation is to watch the thoughts that arise in your mind. Simply be aware of the thoughts as they arise and disappear, and do not get ensnared by their drama. Just because you have a thought does not mean that you have to react to it. It is the mind’s job to think, so no matter what, unless you give it some downtime (i.e. meditation) and give it the space to turn in on itself, it will just keep thinking, and thinking, and thinking.

I know from experience that this may not be the easiest concept to grasp. The thought of ‘not being attached to thoughts’ and merely ‘witnessing’ them may seem rather odd, or even impossible. Thoughts come and go; it is as simple as that. As the Buddhists say, just think of them as clouds passing by in the sky. Alternatively, you can think of them like this: imagine that you have just poured yourself a tall glass of seltzer. You stare at the glass and watch as the bubbles at the bottom of the glass rise up, reach the top, hang out there for awhile, and then—POP—they’re gone. This is the way of thoughts: they are pulsations of energy that come and go.

When I say that the mind is not the enemy, I must make one thing clear. If you stay attached to your thoughts 24 hours a day, then the mind does enslave you. You have become a slave to your thoughts. However, if you learn some mindfulness techniques to help you begin a simple meditation practice, you will find that your mind is the vehicle that sets you free. You need your mind for Self-Realization. Your mind takes you to the Truth (peace) within yourself. Your mind is always seeking for something, always attaching itself to some sensory desire. As Osho says in his Book of Secrets, “The mind has to be turned from seeking to nonseeking.” This is done through meditation. The mind stops reacting to the world outside and begins to explore the incredible world within.

In future columns, I will be teaching you mindfulness techniques, simple meditation techniques, as well as sharing with you some important life lessons I have learned on my spiritual journey. For now, I would like to share with you the most simple meditation technique that you can do anywhere.

Find a comfortable position, perhaps sitting cross-legged on the floor with your back straight and your knees supported, or sitting upright on a chair with your feet hip width apart and your arms comfortably positioned at your side. Now, take a deep breath. While breathing in, count to four-- fill your entire lungs with air. Hold the air inside the lungs for a moment, and then slowly exhale—for approximately six to eight counts. Repeat this process three times. Feel as if you are filling a jar with water, and then slowly emptying the jar. This practice will help still the mind.

Close your eyes. Now, breathe naturally, and simply. Sit quietly and focus on your breath, not forcing anything, just watching your breath as it comes in and goes out. If you like, you can even say to yourself ‘breathing in’ on the inhalation, and ‘breathing out’ on the exhalation. Continue this practice for as long as you feel comfortable. If you begin to focus on your mind and become carried away with thinking, that is perfectly okay—your mind is used to being the focus of your attention. Just come back to your breath. Simply breathing in and breathing out.

Again, if you find yourself being enmeshed in your thoughts, please do not beat yourself up, be thankful that you have become aware of being caught up in the thought process and then go back to focusing on the breath.

You can do this exercise with your eyes open, as well. You might want to try it while waiting in line at the bank or the super market, or during commercials while watching TV. You can even do this practice as a walking meditation, being mindful of your breath and your surroundings. Of course, please do not try this or any other meditation while driving.

Until next month, be mindful of your breath as much as possible. The breath is the life force. It is the key to finding the freedom and peace we were born to find. The TRUTH that we are all searching for is closer than you could ever imagine. As Lao Tzu said in the Tao te Ching, “The greatest journey starts with one step”. Consider your new mindfulness breathing exercise your first step to innate freedom, joy, and bliss absolute.

Warm Regards,
Bhakti Brophy

PS HAPPY GURUPURNIMA!!!!

tags: Jaibhakti, Meditation, Bhakti Brophy, Osho, Siddha Yoga

Pain Can Set You Free

Throughout the past seven months, I have been trying to learn how to deal with chronic pain. I can personally tell you that pain can be used as a doorway to the Truth. The subtle observation of pain, and the realization that pain itself is a manifestation of the conscious energy that creates everything, can be a way to transcend the pain itself. To view pain as a ball of energy, as a constricted form of the conscious energy that exists in everything, and to go inside the ball of energy and then let it dissolve into the bliss and joy of the Heart is the way to freedom when experiencing chronic pain. This may not make sense to those of you who have not or do not experience chronic pain; however, pain can be a doorway into caitanya, into the freedom of the blemish free soul: into our true being.

In other words, pain, too, just like everything else that exists, is a manifestation of energy. What I'm saying is don't be afraid of the pain. Don't run from the pain. If you are in pain (whether physical or mental) just be with the pain. Label it as a manifestation of energy. Watch this 'ball of energy' that is pain, and let it dissolve. It will dissolve back into the pure energy that it came from.

How to do this? Let's say you are in mental anguish because you are angry at yourself or someone else. Don't think about what triggered you to be angry. In other words, forget about who or what made you angry. Just sit with the feelings and the emotions that you are experiencing. Recognize in what part of the body you feel the energy most significantly. Just sit with the feeling. Then, take an in breath and breathe into the energy. Breathe into your feelings of anger. You will witness the feeling dissolving.

So much of the time, we, as humans, feel it is not 'okay' to be angry. We think it makes us less human, or less worthy of being loved if we are angry. But, I have found that the key is not to push away the anger, as this only suppresses the feelings of anger--they eventually have to come out somehow, maybe in the form of a disease or illness, or in the form of frantic, uncontrollable rage. We must accept that feeling angry is okay, because it is a natural human emotion. Contrary to popular belief, emotions are not good or bad, they just are.

If we could just embrace the fact that we are angry, and sit with our feelings--forgetting about the trigger--but just sit and acknowledge our feelings, then we will find that they will dissolve back into the pure energy whence they came from. Just like a violent wave that crashes upon the shore dissolves back into the ocean, so too will your feelings of anger return back into their source, which, of course, is pure bliss. The bliss of the Heart.

All emotions are cyclical. No emotions last forever. To be truly alive, we must not cling to them. We must witness them, acknowledge them, and let them flow back to the source.

Is it possible to stop a wave from crashing onto the shore? Is it truly possible to deny ourselves the feelings of anger?

No. To be alive means to have emotions and feelings. To be truthful to our own being, we must experience our emotions. We must 'go with the flow'. To go with the flow, we mustn't cling to the river bank, we must trust our experience of life, and experience everything fully.

If we view physical pain in this way, we can experience it as a manifestation of the loving energy that has created all. Physical pain is at times excruciating, yet it can take us to our Truth. It can make us realize that our physical bodies are not going to last forever. I know that my physical pain has brought me closer to God/the Truth than I could have ever imagined. I am not afraid of death, I am afraid that I will not be able to live! That is a great place to be! Rather than thinking about what I CAN'T do, because of my physical limitations, I am taking inventory of what I CAN do! I have been given the opportunity to look at my life and to think about what really matters to me. This is a blessing!

It's time to live! Right now!

I offer you this: Go within, right now! Don't wait for tomorrow! The time to live is right now.

Whatever you are feeling right now, FEEL IT! Don't push it away. Don't suppress it. Feel it, so that you may be free. Be true to the moment. Whatever you are feeling in this moment-- Feel it. And let it go.

Years ago, I asked my beloved teacher Sally Kempton how to deal with a particularly strong emotion I was dealing with. She said, "Experience it, and then let it go."

I will forever cherish these words. They are a jewel in my crown. They are so true. And now, two or three years after she said them to me, I am understanding their beauty in action.

May your life be lived to the fullest. May you accept everything that you are experiencing so that you may be free. May you experience your emotions and feelings as pulsations of energy that come and go: everything comes and goes, except for the Supreme Bliss of the Heart.

"The Heart is the hub of all places. Go there and roam" --Bhagawan Nityananda.

Blessings,
Bhakti


tags: jaibhakti, chronic pain, Sally Kempton, Bhagawan Nityananda

Enter the Pain

You cannot run from pain. It's a futile endeavor that only leaves you wounded and cold. Pain is like a tick: it is not just going to decide to get up and leave your dog's backside; you have to get out the tweezers and pick the darn thing out. Moreover, don't do a half-assed job or there will be more hell to pay when the pain rears its ugly head again sometime in the near future.

Pain does not really have an 'ugly head'. We say that pain rears its ugly head simply because pain is (in most cases) not a pleasant experience. However, pain is just another emotional red flag, another physical or physiological function of the body to let us know that something ain't right!
This is true. Well, if you read the last post, you know that I have a beautiful relationship with my true Self, my essence. But, as a mere human who is not fully-realized, I also experience all five functions of Shiva (click here if you are not familiar with the five functions; if you have no idea what I'm talking about; if you once knew but have since forgotten; or if you merely want to read a post from my early archives. Whatever floats your boat keeps you afloat, and that's fine with me.)

?

Don't ask.

Getting back to my point, Shiva is the Creator, Sustainer, Destroyer, The One who veils us from the Truth, and the Bestower of Grace. These are his five functions. Thank God, I do not spend a lot of my time with the veil of ignorance over my head, so to speak. I am usually privy to the wondrous source of Bliss and Joy that is contained within the depths of my Heart Center. Yet, last night I had a terrible case of deception. I couldn't find my 'center' because I was too busy chasing my tail. I was so unbalanced that I didn't even realize that I was chasing my tail!

I let myself get a bit overwhelmed with my current situation (being out of work, my health, etc.). Rather than checking in to see how I was doing both physically and mentally, I kept pushing forward--knowing that I needed to meet certain deadlines and attend certain meetings that I wasn't looking forward to participating in. Lot's of anxiety was coming up. I could feel it brewing in the pit of my stomach. Nevertheless, I didn't stop to meditate, to figure out where I needed to be paying attention to the pent up tension in my body so that I could release it.

Well, last night I got totally overwhelmed. For the life of me, I could not find my center. This is a terribly awful place to be; especially when you KNOW that the current anxiety and tension is all a state of mind. Actually, it is all created by the mind, but takes on physical traits when not given attention at the onset. I cried a lot--which is actually a very important way to release toxins. However, I woke up with the pit of my stomach still tied into knots, and my chest was tight as hell.

I went for a walk this morning, and felt the onset of a panic attack. I felt sweaty and faint. Oh, man! I thought. How did I let myself get this out of control? I haven't had a panic attack in YEARS! I stopped exactly where I was on the sidewalk; listened to the voice in my head (You're going to faint! Better call someone!); then I turned around and took a shorter route home. I counted every step:

Inhale for four steps...1..2..3..4..

Hold breath for four steps...1..2..3..4..

Exhale for four steps...1..2..3..4...

Hold breath for four steps...1..2..3..4..
Repeat
After doing about three rounds of this walking meditation, I was feeling much better. You see, the reason I was getting the panic attack symptoms were because I was so anxious that I was holding my breath (or, at the most, I was taking shallow breaths). I walked through the parking lot of a local church, and thanked God for helping me. I turned around to take one more look at the church, and discovered the moon out in full daylight, seeminly hanging right above the cross. Om Guru Om!

After I ate my lunch, I emailed my friend Sally, just to tell her how I was feeling. I was sick of identifying with the physical body and the pain. She told me to love myself. This was profound. She also reminded me of a very simple meditation technique to release the anxiety--or any other junk that was stuck in my body. Of course, I followed her advice and had a wonderful meditation. At first it didn't feel too wonderful! I sat on my cushion, did my formal prayers, and then sat. I just sat and simply felt the state of my physical body. I was so tense! I focused on the parts of the body that were filled with tension, breathed into those areas, and then-- on the out-breath-- released the tension. I wondered how long it had been since I actually checked in to witness the state of my body and mind.
I ended up repeating one of my favorite mantras, too. I let myself sing the mantra in any way that felt appropriate. After about 75 minutes, I was totally in peace. I could feel 'Aum', the primordial sound, reverberating in my body as I sang the mantra.


In closing, I would like to offer you this: You can't run from your pain. You have to deal with it when it rears its beautiful head. Pain is an indication that something is a bit off. Something needs attention. It's very important to check in with ourselves to see how we are doing. And, as Sally says, we need to do this breathing out the tension meditation repeatedly.

I thank Sally for being there for me, and always offering me her love and support and her infinite wisdom. And I thank all of you who have offered your good wishes and prayers.

Namaste!
Bhakti

tags: jaibhakti, Sally Kempton, meditation, pain management, spirituality