Dear Meditators
During lockdown I started two projects in our garden. The first, adding a new path around the whole garden. The other, making repairs to an old pathway.
The old pathway needed weeding badly. Some weeds ran deep and were extra tough to dig out. The new pathway had to be weeded also before layering it with old newspaper, black weed cloth and tree bark mulch. The old pathway had some really tough weeds with long roots attached, others were easy to pull out. After many hours of weeding and laying mulch I stood back to look at my work. The old pathway still has some weeds growing through, they will take more time to pull out. Some weeds will always have the faint remains of their seeds growing and will grow back again. I love my Garden, it’s a happy place for our Grandchildren and us to run around and explore together.
I likened my garden story to myself. My old life (pre meditation days) of rushing, skipping through life, ignoring the bad habits (my weeds) I picked up along the way. Not paying attention to what was happening to my health, relationships or my work that I loved so much. Happiness escaped me and it felt like my glass was always half empty.
Optimists will usually say the glass is half-full, whereas pessimists will usually point out that it's half-empty. Optimists tend to focus on the good: there is still water available to drink. Pessimists, on the other hand, see the negative: there is water missing from what otherwise could be a full glass.
Slowly, slowly after learning meditation life changed from rushing and anticipating the worst (fear) to discovering my inner Being (charm), my inner light that became my guide and influence, the knower inside. Slowly, slowly the neural pathways have changed the nervous system. It takes time to weed out the old habits, perhaps this lifetime!! There will always be some remnants of the old habits, the old pathways.
How do I grow my internal garden?
*By letting go of old habits and low consciousness thinking - I allow new knowledge and experiences to come in.
*Trust, invite and welcome new desires and ideas knowing that my creative juices and inner aware together will bring me enlightenment and fulfillment.
*Pay attention to my inner voice, my Being and feel the charm or the aversion messages that comes to me.
*As we are now in Spring let’s take time to clear out the Winter Ama – the sticky substances that builds up inside the body and clogs the mind.
*Check in with myself? How do I feel physically, mentally and spiritually?
*I take Being into Action and trust that everything is well and wisely set in place.
*I stop rushing in life, slow down and water my garden. The weeds (old habits and thinking patterns) will start to die off and not come back eventually.
Today I will notice when I am rushing and not paying attention to what is happening around me. I will pay attention to my senses in the present moment- what am I hearing, touching, seeing, tasting and smelling. If I find myself lingering on negative thought’s I will water my beautiful garden and take good care of myself, paying attention to what I need not what I want.
Love to everyone & Jai Guru Deva
Liz
