Archive for August, 2009

Noticing

Monday, August 31st, 2009

Namaste,

Meditation is the art of inner listening, inner seeing and inner feeling.
Meditation is a practice that all religions accept.
The quality of awareness that you receive due to meditation can last all of your life.
Meditation allows you to hear the song within yourself that helps you to live with greater compassion.
It is if you leave the world behind, only to find it again in ordinary life.
Using life itself as the focus of a meditation practice brings you deeper than ever before.
You become aware.
The meditation expands.
You can choose a posture that keeps your body straight, yet at ease.
You take this seat between heaven and earth without being rigid.
To meditate is not to fight with the body.
If you become uncomfortable, it is time to move slowly.
There is no need to make yourself nervous.
You begin to connect to your own breath and your own body.
Come into the moment.

Love in the past is a memory; you need to love in the moment.
You need to connect to yourself in the moment.
Become aware of your breath.
Having found your posture with your eyes gently closed, begin to pay attention to your body.
Let your face become soft.
Let your mind relax as you feel your body resting on the Earth.
As you sit, you will notice many sounds and thoughts
Let the sounds and thoughts come and go like waves on the ocean.
You are at peace.
Simply be present.
You are in the space of relaxation.
Become aware that you are breathing.
Notice the sensation of the rhythm of the breath, the rise and fall of the belly.
Let the breath have its natural rhythm.
Focusing on the breath brings a steadiness of mind.
Let the breath be soft.
Feel the coolness or tingling or the expansion of the belly

Notice the sensations of the breath.
Notice that your mind is wandering and this is fine.
Notice it and come back to the breath.
After a few breaths, the waves of sound may have your mind wander; just come back to your breath.
Be gentle; there is no need to judge yourself.
Center yourself in the breathing.
Each time you are distracted, come back to the breath.
Place the palm of your hand on your belly.
Feel the natural rhythm of your hand on your belly.
It calms you and centers you.
You can return back to your hands on your belly when ever you want to.
Then just watch your breath.

This is a beginning.
You can be in meditation for many years, and yet you always can start in the moment like a beginner.
Just sit and connect to the breath.
When or if you feel tightness, just let it be.
Do not worry if your mind wanders.
The art of meditation is to see the mind wander and become aware of it.
When the breath becomes softer, let your attention become softer.

Expand your mind as you sit.
There may be areas of tightness and nervousness.
As you sit still, your body begins to open.
Perhaps you will feel tension.
It is not a problem; it is a kind of a healing.
You are being shown all the conflict or difficulties that you have stored in your body.
You are allowing the body to show you how to open.
The kindness of your own touch on the tension on your own body helps you receive your own kindness.
Receive the sensations with a kind awareness that allows you to name the tensions and be a friend to them.

It is important you pay attention to each aspect of the body to allow peace to come through you.
Let your eyes close gently and feel the natural rhythm of your breath.
Explore the body, scan the body and feel the area that most deeply asks for healing.
Then this breath becomes the healing breath of noticing.
Allow your attention to float with great kindness to yourself.
Now just sit and relax in your breath of noticing for as long as you want.
When you are finished return your attention to your breathing.
Breathe deeply into your heart space until you want it to end.
Come out of it all quiet and kindly.
Let your heart open as it will.
You are noticing these different feelings.
I love you all.

Love,
Ma Jaya

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The Art of Forgiveness

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

Namaste,

As you cultivate a beautiful state of being in your heart, you are able to draw upon it in any situation.
When you learn to meditate even a little, you are learning more and more about yourself.
You are learning to love both yourself and others unconditionally.
In meditation you are learning to leave your analytical mind, thus leaving the false created self, also known as the ego, behind.
To send your loving prayers to another is also a practice.
You learn that you are blessed and could bless others.

This may come fast or it may take a lifetime.
Let your eyes shine so everyone can see.
If one person gains insight to the heart, then the whole world becomes aware of the heart a little more.
Forgiveness allows us to release the past and go on in life.
The ancient teaching in all of our lives is that hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love alone is healed.
This comes from the time of the Buddha
This mantra helps you open and let go of the past without carrying the hatred of the past.
Forgiveness is a process – a very long process.
It is work of the heart.
When we think of forgiveness, we have to make a decision to let go.
Forgiveness simply means we do not carry the hate of the past or the poison of hate within us.

Sometimes this feels false, and this is ok.
Perhaps underneath many layers of fear there is a place that longs to love.
When you begin to love others, you can see the life return to them almost right away.
These are the basic steps that come when you start to do this inner work.
Your intention also has a healing power.
Just thinking of helping others begins the healing process.
Who we truly are affects the world more than anything else.

Ask the Universal Mother for forgiveness for hurting yourself or anyone else.
Remember the sorrows you caused yourself and let it go on the wings of the breath.
Offer yourself forgiveness and hold yourself in the arms of the Mother as you ask for forgiveness.
Over and over say to yourself, “I forgive myself, I forgive myself.”
As you ask for forgiveness of others, you forgive yourself.

Focus on your breath with awareness.

Breathe deeply, and feel the beauty of forgiveness.
Just sit quietly with the intention of forgiveness, watching the breath in and out.
Let yourself feel the breath in the center of the heart.
Feel the heart softening with the awareness of the breath.
Ask of the Universe, “May I be filled with love and forgiveness”— then feel your whole body hold the love and give the love.
Let the thoughts come and go, blessing each thought as you are filled with forgiveness for others and yourself.
Let the breath become calm as you have more awareness.
Let the feelings of forgiveness stay with you all day, until you feel to meditate again.

I wish you all well being of body soul and mind.
May you feel peace and happiness due to this meditation.
Forgiveness frees you of poison and replaces it with self-worth and joy.
As you strip yourself of the poison you have carried around with you for so long, you can feel that you are being held by the Universal Mother’s loving kindness.
Feel the freedom and the joy.
Keep breathing with awareness, as you live your life with compassion for all things and for yourself.
Let your eyes open gently and feel the spirit of kindness stay with you always.

In the Tao it is said, “I have three things to teach: simplicity, patience, and compassion.”
By saying these words over and over in your life, you will feel your birthright and your joy as well as your blessings.

I love you all.

Love,
Ma Jaya

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Naming your Thoughts

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

Namaste,

When you can honor all that is in you, whether it is dark or light, you become greater than all emotions.

With a deeper sense of confidence in yourself, you can conquer all things dark and light.

At times you do not want to close your eyes, so keep them open and get the very essence of the breath.

Let it come to your mind in unison with love, moment by moment, merging into each other in an open field of awareness.

This is definitely possible.

When you merge with all that is in you, you will be surprised how you are embracing all of your being beyond your ideas of yourself, thereby making room for this moment to be exactly as it is.

Do not label this moment in any way.

You are just a human being becoming aware.

Let the breath cradle the being that we call ourselves.

Embrace this being in its entirety.

You are the Mother of all your thoughts.

Bring your feelings close to you and your breath.

See how you feel.

You are completely open with your breath, with tenderness and kindness.

Give yourself permission to be ok as you are this very moment.

Let go of the past.

You have no need to hold on to the past or thoughts of the past.

Dwell in this moment, complete in itself.

It is secure in itself.

Your breath is robust in the embrace of your breath.

Take the moment; make it yours, yet do not try to hold on to it.

The sounds around you can be felt by you as a wave.

This is working with sound.

The sound becomes a part of you, and you learn after a time that you can include the sounds in your meditation.

The ego-mind sends thoughts, such as, “If only I had this or that.”

This is called if only mind.

It is always about what you think you want and do not have

George Bernard Shaw said there are two great disappointments in your life: not getting what you want, or getting what you want.

As you are watching your breath, think of the wanting mind.

As you acknowledge wanting, you see the mind for what it is.

The energies that arise can be made interesting by bowing internally to all things.

You can bow anytime.

The aspect of the mind that brings resistance can be recognized at times with mercy or kindness.

Hold the moment in the care of your attention.

Wanting to come back to your breath brings you a string of judgments.

Say to yourself, “There is the judging mind.”

The ego sends thoughts that you think should not have.

When sleepiness comes to you, notice how long it lasts.

Do not be intimidated by the sleepiness.

My Baba told me to go and sit by the edge of the well.

The well is deep, and you are afraid of falling into the well.

So you sit very still.

The mind tells you that you will be falling into the well.

All these thoughts that say, “You cannot be here.”

The ego brings the doubting mind.

Simply bow, say ‘thank you,’ and go on watching your breath.

Bow, and acknowledge the doubting mind.

Bowing to the doubting mind dissolves the doubting thoughts.

Gradually you become tired of the stories of doubt.

When your ego sends these thoughts of doubt, try to make yourself peaceful by watching the breath.

This takes only a few seconds.

Feeling the next breath can help you to quiet the mind and soften the heart.

Breathe in again, and let the awareness be spacious and easy.

Notice the sounds as you receive them in the body.

You can rest peacefully in the present moment, both breath and body.

Feel the natural rhythm of the breath.

If there are thoughts that carry you away from the moment, just keep breathing with awareness.

If you are feeling restless, say to yourself, “Restless, restless, restless.”

Return back to the breath.

Name your thoughts softly.

Doubting; planning; sounds; being uncomfortable.

Thoughts come and go, breath comes and goes, doubts come and go.

Label them.

These are your chosen thoughts.

Practice with the moods that are present right now.

Give them space to open or change as they will.

Notice what happens as you bring your awareness to the mood you are in.

Remember to acknowledge the mood.

Restless; tired; thinking.

Notice what happens as you meet them with awareness.

It becomes very exciting as you learn to label your moods and your thoughts.

You are stronger than your ego.

So many tell me, “Ma I am lost in thought; what should I do?”

What matters is that you recognize that you are thinking.

This moment you are given a choice to dive deeper into the thoughts, or just let the thoughts go gently.

The naming of the thoughts just lets you become aware of what is happening in the moment.

It feels wonderful.

You are wonderful.

Feel what you feel.

Love what you feel.

Never get angry about how you feel.

It is just a way to see and feel the breath like never before.

There is no fear, just love and truth.

Sometimes the theme of your meditation will be sorrow or sleepiness.

Do not be afraid of the feelings that come up in meditation.

It is a new road – a fabulous road.

When there is a thought that comes over and over, give it a soft name.

It wants to be acknowledged

Perhaps it is feelings that want you to make a peaceful heart.

You will find some way through your own awareness to hear the story that your mind tells.

By using the breath in the center of your awareness, you are growing – whether you are meditating for 10 years, or fifty years, or just starting.

This is love and kindness.

Sit in your own beauty, becoming more aware of life and sounds all around you – living, breathing, loving, and the sound of your truth.

This truth does not hurt another or yourself.

This breath quiets your mind and frees you.

Love,

Ma Jaya

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Mindfulness

Friday, August 21st, 2009

Namaste,

Mindfulness is a feeling, a feeling that embraces all feelings.
Mindfulness is a gift given to us by our past actions into the bloom of the moment.
We only have moments to live our lives.
We have this moment, and this is the only chance we have to appreciate this moment.
It is truly miraculous; yet, sadly, it can be ignored or overlooked.
Ignoring the moment may cloud our lives.
We may lose touch with our path in life.
There is only the moment far beyond shadows of thoughts.

The lack of awareness is like losing touch with ourselves.
It isolates us and cuts off our view of the world, the heavens, life, and even death.
Be aware of the breath.
Study it.
See how the chest spreads open with the in-breath and how the belly contracts on the out-breath.
The out-breath gets rid of staleness; so breathe out more by contracting the belly, and get rid of that which is stuck to time and the past.

We tend to whittle ourselves down to nothing; we cannot recognize this if we are not mindful of the moment.
Yesterdays wear us down and we become toxic.
The out-breath lets out large amounts of turmoil that we have allowed to affect us.
Can you spend time with yourself, or do you always identify with your thoughts?
Your thoughts are not powerful; they have no roots, and they cannot hurt you.
Just by being mindful, you can rid your whole life of unnecessary pain.
You are whole and perfect the way you are.
See if you have turned away from your life and do not realize it until this moment.
This will bring you to the path of regret.
The path of regret is an unnecessary moment that already has happened.

T.S. Eliot talks of what we lose when we are not mindful.
Jung speaks of paying attention to your life, no matter what is right or wrong, knowing that everything can be worked with.
I am willing to work with all of you and the landscape of your life right now, no matter what.
Acknowledging all the dark and turbulent moments of our life helps us the most.
Stress begins to take a back seat to the now.
Do you feel pain, emotional pain, that you tend to wall over?
Sooner or later you have to face the mirror of your life, the human condition and what you make of it.
This is the experience that is going on now.
You cannot turn away from it.
It is in your way, with no regrets – only learning in the moment.
You all have complete hope in your life; sometimes you have so many deep resources that you can’t imagine are yours.
Healing is always in the moment.
Every one of us can use the moment to heal our souls.
You just have to care enough about yourself and those around you, and then include others that you just hear about.

You are far more than your thoughts.
It is just a thought, it cannot hurt you.
Let it be, it has no roots.
Practice meditation to connect with your lives.
Have the experience of being alive.
Meditation is not complicated.
It is simple
It is not trying to make your life a blank.
It is just bringing awareness to the breath.
Start now.
Feel your breath; actually feel your breath.
Does it feel good?
Can you understand that you have the choice to allow the thoughts to hurt you or help you – or you may simply go on with a slight acknowledgment?
Take this moment of the breath.

Yes, it is a moment of the breath.
All of a sudden you are feeling a sense of mindfulness.
Your breath is coming in and out.
This is meditating.
How sweet is the moment when you pay attention?
Feel the chest fill.
Then hold it there.
Sometimes you feel lightheaded, or sometimes you just begin to feel – and it does not even matter what you feel.
No matter how old or young you are, you are paying attention on purpose; what a way to live your life, fully paying attention on purpose!

Do not judge what you are doing.
You are experiencing your breath on your own terms.
Now breathe out deeply and pay attention to how you feel.
Then let the breath do what it does.
Be sweet to yourself.
Notice how you are following the breath in and out.
Check now and see where your mind is.
Observe.

As you take your shower this day, think of nothing but the water on your body and what it is doing.
Meditation is an invitation to wake up and enjoy the moment by being there and feeling the moment.
You actually can enjoy your shower or your bath or all of life of what is now.

Be in the Here and the Now.
You have this body and you have the breath – what a wonderful place to start!
I love you all.

Love,
Ma Jaya

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The Desire to be Right

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

Namaste,

When you can give unconditional love, you will find yourself feeling full instead of empty.
In relationships of any kind, one must stifle the desire to be right.
Practice this, and you will find love instead of anger.
Allow space in your togetherness.
This can be between lovers, friends, students, married, or single – in other words, anytime there are two or more instead of one.
The more space you have in a relationship the more the relationship will flourish.
Always remember that you are not the boss of any relationship.
Your friendship comes about giving, not demanding.

You do not have to understand why some else wants to do whatever they want to do.
To have a higher state of consciousness between you and those you love deeply will be viewed eventually as real magic of spirituality.
You can create wonderful relationships by offering only love in your life together.
Do not be filled with doubt about yourself and others, most of this is none of your business.
Those of you who must be right cannot find true happiness.
Individuals will enter and exit your life many times over.

Do not constantly wonder about why they did what they did.
You do not have to have an extreme happiness with everyone you meet.
Visualize yourself sending out love to all whom you meet.
The only limitations you have are those that you put on yourself.
Stop forcing yourself to try to make others think as you think.
Give your friends the great love that is in the center of your being; when you are about to be seduced by the ego to strike out, purposely pay no attention to the thoughts your ego sends you.
Take time to say to yourself, “It is just a thought, it is just a thought.”
Start this moment being the one who cannot be abused by words.

Know this, and let go of conflicts in any of your relationships.
Use the power of your heart not to demand any outcome in a discussion.
Stop pursuing what you do not want.
Keep your mouth quiet before reacting.
Reach out with love.
Expect nothing and give everything.
The ego sends you expectations of how others should be.
It is truly none of your business how one acts; your business is how you react toward others.
Stop focusing on what you want others to feel or do.
Focus on your elf and the beauty that you feel when you give love.

When I would come to Big Henry under the boardwalk where I grew up, crying that someone hurt me bad or made fun of me, he would smile and say, “Girl child, did God tell you these things?”
I would smile and say, “No, Big Henry.”
Then he said, “For God’s sake, stop complaining and just move on!”
He made me laugh, and at times he made me cry.
And when I would tell him this he would say to me, “Girl child, nothing or nobody can make you do anything! No one owns your soul; your soul belongs to you and to God.”
Growing up being the only white child with so many homeless and beautiful African Americans, I learnt more before I was nine than I did my whole life.
No matter how much I have served my whole life, I could never give as much as they gave that little girl whom they called ‘girl child.’
And so I learnt how to be with people who thought differently from me and to appreciate everything they had to give or teach me.
They sacrificed their lives for the little white girl in their care.

So start feeling full by giving fullness to others, and get rid of the desire to be right.
This only brings pain to yourself and to others, for if you are always right, then others are always wrong.
As Big Henry would say, “And that ain’t right, just ain’t right.”
You know when I write about those days under the boardwalk during and after World War II, the words just flow from me as if I am not writing at all.
Every word means so much to me sixty-two years later.
Nothing is ever wasted.
Everything is a teaching, only if we can truly listen, without having to agree or not agree.
I love you all so very much.

Love,
Ma Jaya

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