Workplace Prayer

Workplace Prayer

My Heavenly father, as I enter this workplace I bring your presence with me. I speak your peace, your grace, your mercy, and your perfect order in this office. I acknowledge your power over all that will be spoken, thought, decided, and done within these walls.

Lord, I thank you for the gifts you have blessed me with. I commit to using them responsibly in your honor. Give me a fresh supply of strength to do my job. Anoint my projects, ideas, and energy so that even my smallest accomplishment may bring you glory.

Lord, when I am confused guide me. When I am burned out infuse me with the light of the Holy Spirit. May the work that I do and the way I do it bring faith, joy, and a smile to all that I come in contact with today.

http://www.beliefnet.com/Prayers/Christian/Work/Workplace-Prayer.aspx

You Can’t Do It Alone

This is Chapter 16 of the Kornfield book.

“It is a basic principle of spiritual life that we learn the deepest things in unknown territory.  Often it is when we feel most confused inwardly and are in the midst of our greatest difficulties that something new will open.  We awaken most easily to the mystery of life through our weakest side.  The areas of our greatest strength, where we are the most competent and clearest, tend to keep us away from the mystery.  To go into this territory beyond our own self, to enter these realms without a guide, can be like trying to life ourselves by our own bootstraps.”  (Kornfield 229).

The Spiritual Roller Coaster: Kundalini and Other Side Effects

This is Chapter 9 of the Kornfield book.

The sections in this chapter are:

(1)  Atitudes Toward Altered States–Certain spiritual paths insist that we need to attain profoundly altered states of consciousness in order to discovery a “transcendent” vision of life, to open beyond our body and mind and realize the divine taste of liberation. [Other schools]’s teachings say that liberation and transcendence must be discovered here and now, for if not here in the present, where else can it be found?  Instead of seeking to transcend, the perspective of the “immanent” school teaches reality, enlightenment, or the divine must shine through every moment or it is not genuine. (p. 120)

(2)  Some Common Altered States–When we begin a spiritual practice, we struggle with the pains of our body and the armoring we have forged for it over the years, we face emotional storms, and we encounter a procession of five common hinderances.  But as we continue spiritual practice, and become more familiar and compassionate with our deepest difficulties, even the most ingrained pattens of holding and fear will gradually lose their power over us.  We develop a spirit of calm and steadiness, whatever our means of practice. (p. 122)

(a)  Raptures–rapture is a broad term used to cover the many kinds of chills, movements, lights, floating, vibrations, delight, and more that open with deep concentration, as well as the enormous pleasure they can bring to meditation.  (p. 122)…Deep concentration can lead to all kinds of visions and visionary experiences.  Floods of memories, images of past lives, scenes of foreign lands, pictures of heavens and hells, the energies of all the great archetypes, can open before our eyes.  (p. 125)…(this has happened to me:  “…we can experience a release of the strongest kinds of emotions, from sorrow and despair to delight and ecstasy.  Meditation may feel like an emotional roller coaster as we allow ourselves to be plunged into unconscious emotions.” p. 126)

(b)  Chakras–This section describes the chakras and the openings of the energy body and the experience as our inner energy tries to move and free itself in the body

(3)  Skillful Means of Working with the Energetic and Emotional Openings–we need a teacher who has personally encountered and understood these dimensions of the psyche

(a)  All Experiences are Side Effects–In the Buddhist tradition, the Buddha often reminded students that the purpose of his teaching was not the accumulation of special good deeds and good karma or rapture or insight or bliss, but only the sure heart’s release–a true liberation of our being in every realm.  This freedom and awakening, and this alone, is the purpose of any genuine spiritual path. (p. 129)

(b)  Finding the Brake—very cool and interesting section!  The most important thing, however, is:  it is necessary to find a guide, someone who has touched their own madness, grief, and loss of boundaries, who can gradually and fearlessly direct us back to the ground of our own true nature.  (p. 132)

(c)  Awareness of the Dance–the practitioner’s primary responsibility is to open to the experience with a full awareness, observing and sensing it as a part of the dance of our human life. (p. 133)

(4)  Meditation:  Reflecting on Your Attitude Toward Altered States

Reflection on Schiffmann Book

The most important thing in this book is the chapter, Chapter 9, on asanas.  The instructions are fantastic.  The levels of difficulty are available, and the September 2 and 3 posts show that benefits are stated.  I learned that the most stable sitting position for meditation is lotus because it makes it easy to sit straight.

The most annoying thing about this book was the author’s use of second person.  “You will come alive,”  “You will sense the creative movement,” “You will feel moved to move.”  I have a legal background and “you” is absolutely unacceptable.  So this was annoying to me personally.  However, I do believe it is good for the purposes of this book.  It would be great if the whole book were a guided meditation script.

You know what else about this book?  It felt to me like a recipe book for yoga practice.  “You add some meditation,” “You follow this guide for meditation,” “You follow these steps for asanas.” Yes, reading this book on yoga was like reading Southern Living’s cookbook.  They both have very thorough instructions that bring forth great results.  Schiffmann, to me, is like a Barefoot Contessa of yoga.

Further, I did not really treat the blog posts corresponding to this book as a “study guide,” but instead I picked and chose what was important to me personally.

Another great chapter was Chapter 6, The Wind Through the Instrument.  It contained obvious but important breathing techniques, for example:  “Opening movements such as back bends and lifting arms are done on inhale.  Folding or closing movements such as forward bends and lowering arms are done on exhale.”  Chapter 10, Meditation, reflected this:  “Pull in life with each inhalation, and release every sense of strain and fear with each exhalation.”

The quote that helped me grow as a person most was found in Chapter 1, Stillness: “If you feel guilty, ashamed, embarrassed, or confused about who you are, if you feel judged, you will invariably have difficulty giving and receiving love.  It will not feel natural to you to express love easily.  And when you are not giving or receiving love, when the energy of love is not circulating or passing through you easily, you gradually become bitter, you lose your natural sweetness.”  This had a great follow through in Chapter 2, The Core of Goodness:  “You will also realize that it is not egocentric to be appreciative of the creative energy that you are.  Nor is it arrogant, presumptuous, or conceited to feel good inside about yourself, or to be happy for no apparent reason, or to acknowledge that you are a perfect creation of [God].”

Another quote that helped me grow as a person was found in Chapter 6, The Wind Through the Instrument:  “The quality of your yoga, and of your life, depends solely on how interested you are in the doing of it.  Interest unleashes the energy of passion, and passion expresses itself as quality.”

Reflection?  I really don’t have much of a reflection…Not much in this book really ruffled my feathers.  I understand that asking for guidance is a required skill; I understand asking for guidance uses my memory faculty; I understand that I need to remember to be present; I understand that I need to be patient; I understand that I need to seek clarity.  Ah!  And then “Know You Do Not Know” arises!  I am happy to add this level to my life, spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually.– “Unless you are clear about the limitations of what you know, you will continue to think you can answer your own questions and solve your own problems.  And in your efforts to solve them with insufficient data, you will effectively deafen your ears to the inner voice.”

Also, during the period I read this book, I became aware of an emotional lacking in my life.  I’m not trusting enough.  So it was good to read: “It takes courage to let go of what we know, even though we know it’s partial, and begin trusting something that we do not yet know is fully trustworthy.”  (Regarding “Know You Do Not Know.”)  Further:  “Knowing you do not know satisfies the part of your mind [or heart] that wants to know and be certain.”

Wow, I love reflection time because it forces me to think about what I have read.  I was worried I wouldn’t have much to reflect on because I was not as enchanted with Schiffmann as I was totally consumed by Gannon and Life.  But I feel I have learned, I have an arsenal of information for teaching meditation and asanas.  I have picked out what is important to me.  that is enough.