PEACE BE UPON YOU

Ugh!  Conflict, controversy, name-calling, denigrating, fighting, killing, spying, mistrust, distrust, dis-ease, manipulation, misinformation, greed....It gets overwhelming and demoralizing to pick up a newspaper, flip on the Nightly News, scroll through the internet newsfeeds.

Every so often I call a moratorium on "news".  I find I am less afraid, less stressed, less worried about the state of our world and the future of our planet when not constantly bombarded by strife.  I find when I focus on my own little life, the people in it, the things that are of immediate importance to me I find more peace.  Then the guilt sets in and the realization that I'm not just an island unto myself.  I am part of the greater whole with an obligation to learn, grow, model, and practice finding a path out of the darkness that so often envelopes human nature.

It is a delicate balance to be a part of, and a part from, this world.  I need inspiration.

In class this past week, Karen ended, as we always do, with bowing to each other in Namaste.  This time she included my very favorite Namaste mantra:

Bringing hands to our head at the Third Eye:  "May there be peace in our thoughts."

Bringing hands to our lips:  "May there be peace in our words."

Bringing hands to our hearts:  "May there be peace in our hearts."

In the religion of Islam, Muslims practice salat -- ritual prayer -- pausing five times each day to kneel on a prayer mat and praise God.  The salat ends with, "Peace Be Upon You".

I've decided to take up this practice -- upon awakening, mid-day, late afternoon, evening, before bed -- repeating the following slightly altered Namaste -- taking personal ownership of the sentiment by using the word "my", with the added salat close:

May there be peace in my thoughts.
May there be peace in my words.
May there be peace in my heart.
May Peace Be Upon Us All.

I wonder how our behaviors might be different, our ability to find solutions enhanced, if we could live those words as a promise to ourselves and each other.  I'm gonna give it a try. ©

Namaste,  donnajurene

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com

BEING WITH WHAT IS

8.10.15    I'm sitting at our campsite at Colonial Creek Campground.  J. has left on a several mile hike.  I am alone here by choice.  I did a 4-mile hike yesterday and hated it, even though I’ve done it before and recalled it being easy. Well, it is a relatively easy hike, but I was tired, hot, dehydrated and mostly it had that familiar feeling I get when hiking…of a death march.  

I’m unsure why I came on this trip.  While at home, I recalled that last time we were here I enjoyed it  But then I got here and remembered that we stayed three nights, which I recall thinking at the time was one night too many, so I guess I didn’t love it so much after all.  This time we are here for only two, thankfully.  

I think I came because it is pretty here. The weather is perfect.  And I wanted to share this with J. He loves camping and hiking.  But as he points out, my “sharing” also includes periods of complaint, sarcasm, and moroseness.  He likely prefers to be alone.  I can’t blame him.  I don’t do this with enthusiasm.  

I am rarely bored.  I hate the word and feel those who rely on it are just not interesting/interested or creative enough to use their time in a way that is fulfilling.  But I have to admit….here, with nowhere to go, no internet, no contact with my friends and family.  Hmm….I will be challenged to find something that holds my attention as this long day unfolds.

I have my novel (loving the Outlander series!), but I’ve been reading almost non-stop since finally giving up trying to sleep at 6:00 a.m. after fitful awakenings all night long.  It's 11:00 now and my vision is blurry.  I have to rest my eyes, so maybe a walk to the lake or around the campground loop is in order.  The sun is peeking through.  Yoga on the tent pad is an option, as is a perch by the stream and a time of meditation.  Breathe.

And there you have a glimpse into a Journal entry I wrote last Monday.  Whine, whine, whine.  Nope, I'm not a fan of camping even though we have a very modern, warm, cozy truck camper (stove! microwave! refrigerator! Queen bed!)  My sweet husband has tried his darnedest to make me comfortable enough to want to go camping with him, but mostly I don't see the point.  We have taken road trips in the camper and I like that.  I feel like a turtle with my "home" on my back.  But to drive a few hours to sit in woods?  Not so much.  I find it to be more convenient, quiet, private, and as beautiful at home.  (I'm grateful for the view and a wooded ravine on our property that I get to enjoy every day.)

So, when we returned and I gratefully came into Yoga Circle on Thursday, getting a big sympathetic hug from Karen, I was happy.  Then she read a selection from Eckhart Tolle's "The Power of Now" and it was perfect.  He talks about transforming suffering into peace:

"Your first chance is to surrender each moment to the reality of that moment.  Knowing that what is cannot be undone -- because it already is -- you say yes to what is, or accept what isn't.  The you do what you have to do, whatever the situation requires.  If you abide in this state of acceptance you create no more negativity, no more suffering, no more unhappiness.  You live then in a state of nonresistance, a state of grace and lightness, free of struggle."

Re-reading the Journal entry above, I see how I was lost in "suffering", trying to change the circumstances by dwelling on how much I didn't want to be doing what I was doing -- camping and hiking; didn't want to be where I was -- outside cell range and far too far away from Starbucks; didn't even want to be who I was -- a complaining ungrateful partner.

Then, slowly, I started to move into a place of acceptance.  I looked at a beautiful day stretching before me; a day of solitude and spaciousness.  I did take that walk around the campground loop which was quiet (not so very many campers on a Monday) and smelled of the forest.  I sat by the rushing stream, my back against the strong trunk of a cedar tree, closed my eyes and meditated for a good long while.  I walked down the short path to the edge of Diablo Lake, emerald green and shimmering in the afternoon sun.  I rolled out my Yoga travel mat on the vacant gravel tent pad and did a short standing asana practice.  Then I returned to my book, snacking on peanuts that drew the attention of two little chipmunks hoping for a handout.  Before I knew it, my husband was back and we had a lovely evening, chatting 'round the fit pit together.  I had given up suffering and accepted the "is" of the moment.

If I could do that more often, I'd be a happier woman.  The Power of Now, indeed.  ©

Namaste,  donnajurene