To Stay Out of the Way
How do I stay out of the way? To practice the work for others, it can’t be about myself, but that’s tricky. I need to move aside so something can come thru me instead.
Inner Work
What is My Responsibility
The question, “what is my responsibility” looked me square in the face the other day. What I began to see in response to an internal kerfuffle at Claymont was that neither the event, nor the people involved, were at the crux of the problem. I had to admit my own laziness towards the responsibility of … Read more
To Be Impartial
What does it mean to be impartial? I think I know what it means. Not to take sides, not to have a horse in the race. To not be identified. Now there’s a good one. What are the signs of being identified? When I find tapes looping in my head, that’s usually a sign. When … Read more
The Work of Not Doing
My physical body is sick this week and it’s put me energetically in front of the work of not doing. I simply do not have the energy. Usually, I am all about doing. I start doing before I get out of bed, setting up the routine of the day and my relationship with it. Sometimes … Read more
Walking the Line
I feel like I’m walking the line, and a thin one at that, between drowning in negativity and sending positive energy out to the future. Part of me hopes the negativity I get caught up in is partisan politics, not our democracy being hijacked and turned into a Fascist regime. That I need to work … Read more
Being Asked
Am I being asked? Or is my Being asked? How do I “open to what is being asked?” And what does that mean? Last week, one of the Daily Tasks on Claymont’s Course of Study program had to do with allowing yourself to be inconvenienced. Could you catch yourself in one of those moments and … Read more
Resistance
There’s an undertow of resistance in me lately. Up to now, I’ve been cruising along feeling good in myself and balanced. The demands of Claymont’s Course of Study once again falling into a doable pattern that has become part of life. So why this amorphous sense of disquiet? I find myself asking questions. Am I … Read more
Oh Goody!
“Oh Goody!” is a phrase I learned to appreciate from Mrs. Popoff. It signifies delight when an opportunity to work on oneself suddenly arises. It is the unexpected moments when Life hands one an opportunity, sometimes in the least assuming way. I find these instances can provide a chance to work on a deeper level. … Read more
That Still, Quiet Place
That still, quiet place in the center of our being is the place I experience with Bennett’s Collected State exercise. He also called this a “non-emanating” state. The work of the exercise is to “let nothing enter, let nothing leave.” He also said it is one of the most difficult of all the exercises. In … Read more
Having a Practice
Having a practice has become part of my lifestyle. But does that make me more conscious? I’m not sure it does, but then, I’m not sure it doesn’t. I found myself contemplating this the other day. What I mean is, does having a practice become an excuse for not really “working” at other times during … Read more