Louder is wonderful and articulate in her path to awakening.
You may enjoy a book I recently read called "A Crowbar in the Buddhist Garden: Writing from Prison" by a notorious most wanted bank robber, Stephen Reid.
And her awakening story has a nice synchronicity with the Buddhist-Yogi Michael Stone podcast I listened to this morning. The importance of the Yamas (yogic ethical principles) in being 'aligned' living a 'proper' life. Her description of the heaviness of being dishonest and denying the truth. Amazing.
Thank you, Guy! I will track down the book and the podcast.
Being 'aligned' is where we find an authentic life. And I believe we are here to pursue that amazing path back to/into our soul. And what a wonderful adventure that is! I look forward to reading/listening to these.
My journey into becoming a covid refugee is much like Portia's: it was God's invitation to align my energies with those of the Universe/God. The last few essays I've done have become a huge learning ground for me, each one a form of Nirvana. Elsewhere Stone points out that 'nirvana' is not an *end point destination*: it is the opening of the next gate into opportunity of more profound and intimate alignment with capital 'L' Life, Spirit, Universe, God, etc. If I remember correctly 'nirvana' actual refers to blowing out or quenching of those things that blind us and bind us to what is not true, and with clear(er) vision we see the greater truth. And that this seems to be pretty much an endless process for we mere mortal humans. Amazing stuff.
While Covid changed many lives, it didn't really impact mine (except for the isolation and loss of social networks, but I'd already been through that in cancer.)
The key events that led me to search for nirvana:
First, I had a rare neurologic disease, myasthenia gravis, when I was younger. The stats aren't good: about a third die, about a third are permanently disabled, about a third go on. It challenged my very identity on a fundamental basis. More on that in my upcoming book. :)
Second, I went through 6 years of "incurable" cancer. The upside is that I started a serious meditation practice that was life changing. Many more lessons from those years and experiences as well.
Third, for over a decade I flew high performance sailplanes. This will give you a sense of that sport: bit.ly/3MQtCfk In one 3 year period, there were 25 deaths among the pilots in my greater circle. The sport is fairly esoteric. As a result most of us have no more than 2 or 3 degrees of separation. But it's a sport into a spiritual realm where I had experiences that are beyond transcendental. I saw into a reality far beyond the tangible world most of us see as "real". I'll be publishing a piece on that in a bit.
I have an updated About page on the website, soon to be published that provides a bit more info. For a sneak peek (it's still in editing: https://bumpintheroad.us/about-3/)
From all this, eventually, came a deep spirituality that opened an endlessly amazing world to me. It IS the opening of the next gate! I can't wait to see what else awaits!
This is such a great share, Pat! Thank you!
Louder is wonderful and articulate in her path to awakening.
You may enjoy a book I recently read called "A Crowbar in the Buddhist Garden: Writing from Prison" by a notorious most wanted bank robber, Stephen Reid.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16108761-a-crowbar-in-the-buddhist-garden.
And her awakening story has a nice synchronicity with the Buddhist-Yogi Michael Stone podcast I listened to this morning. The importance of the Yamas (yogic ethical principles) in being 'aligned' living a 'proper' life. Her description of the heaviness of being dishonest and denying the truth. Amazing.
https://podcasts.apple.com/mx/podcast/awake-in-the-world-podcast/id923427517?i=1000378241648
Thank you Portia!
Thank you, Guy! I will track down the book and the podcast.
Being 'aligned' is where we find an authentic life. And I believe we are here to pursue that amazing path back to/into our soul. And what a wonderful adventure that is! I look forward to reading/listening to these.
Yes!
My journey into becoming a covid refugee is much like Portia's: it was God's invitation to align my energies with those of the Universe/God. The last few essays I've done have become a huge learning ground for me, each one a form of Nirvana. Elsewhere Stone points out that 'nirvana' is not an *end point destination*: it is the opening of the next gate into opportunity of more profound and intimate alignment with capital 'L' Life, Spirit, Universe, God, etc. If I remember correctly 'nirvana' actual refers to blowing out or quenching of those things that blind us and bind us to what is not true, and with clear(er) vision we see the greater truth. And that this seems to be pretty much an endless process for we mere mortal humans. Amazing stuff.
While Covid changed many lives, it didn't really impact mine (except for the isolation and loss of social networks, but I'd already been through that in cancer.)
The key events that led me to search for nirvana:
First, I had a rare neurologic disease, myasthenia gravis, when I was younger. The stats aren't good: about a third die, about a third are permanently disabled, about a third go on. It challenged my very identity on a fundamental basis. More on that in my upcoming book. :)
Second, I went through 6 years of "incurable" cancer. The upside is that I started a serious meditation practice that was life changing. Many more lessons from those years and experiences as well.
Third, for over a decade I flew high performance sailplanes. This will give you a sense of that sport: bit.ly/3MQtCfk In one 3 year period, there were 25 deaths among the pilots in my greater circle. The sport is fairly esoteric. As a result most of us have no more than 2 or 3 degrees of separation. But it's a sport into a spiritual realm where I had experiences that are beyond transcendental. I saw into a reality far beyond the tangible world most of us see as "real". I'll be publishing a piece on that in a bit.
I have an updated About page on the website, soon to be published that provides a bit more info. For a sneak peek (it's still in editing: https://bumpintheroad.us/about-3/)
From all this, eventually, came a deep spirituality that opened an endlessly amazing world to me. It IS the opening of the next gate! I can't wait to see what else awaits!
Great balls of fire, Pat! Amazing and uplifting (sailplane!) and affirmation/confirmation of the power of life as expression of spirit.
Thank you for sharing this. [Deep bow.] Namaste.
🙏🧘🏿♀️❤️❤️🧘🏿♀️🙏