flow

Recognizing and Releasing Forms of Fear

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Recognizing fear

Restlessness

Leads to truth

Of experience

In this moment

Release the old

Welcome the new

Adjusting focus

Change and flow

Past the blockage

That no longer serves 

Its purpose

Releasing the fear

Of what might happen

Of making the wrong choice

Releasing into 

the compassion of

Self-trust

A gift, I give

Myself.

© Salem Islas-Madlo 2015

Today’s post was inspired by another post I stumbled upon in Instagram @shanananalove74:

What Are You Waiting For?

“I remember a time when I used to do a lot of waiting. With many decisions I would take the “wait and see” approach. So, I would wait and wait and wait. I would wait for the “right” time, some event to happen, enough money or for someone to give me permission. I realized after taking the “wait and see” approach for much of my adult life, that waiting, for me, was a form of fear. Fear of making the wrong choice fear that I wouldn’t follow through, fear of disappointing someone or myself, fear of the unknown or fear of what might change if I did follow through, but at the end of the day, it was all fear. I saw that if I kept waiting, I was cutting myself off from new experiences and new possibilities. If I kept waiting, I would spend the rest of my life waiting. Finally, at some point waiting became more painful than moving forward. So, I started making quicker decisions and letting my intuition guide me. I started doing things that scared me and stretched me outside my comfort zone. The more I did this the more my life expanded in extraordinary ways. I learned that stepping into the unknown is like a muscle and the more you work it the stronger you become and the more exciting life gets. It seems like the moment I stopped waiting is the moment I started living. Everyday I remind myself to keep stepping out. Even if I can’t see the path ahead, it always shows up to greet me just like magic. Each and every time.”

~Shana Ekedal

http://www.ShanaEkedal.com

The Formlessness of Impermanence

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Mists of divine thought

Formless pools of heaven

Presence in each breath

© Salem Islas-Madlo 2015

“Clouds are formless manifestations of water in gaseous form. Since clouds are water we must understand that water represents very powerful emotion able to create or to destroy, and either or, in creation and in death water remains fluid, it never becomes fixed.”

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“Clouds are the mists of heaven and earth which represent the divine thought of “God” coming forth from source with great desire to manifest the unmanifest. In this we know that when we observe the formlessness of clouds in continual shift of movement and shape, it is as if we are looking into the pools of heaven, the sky, and seeing the universal possibilities of thought, movement and form.”

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“Clouds represent divinity, pure thought and pure being, emptiness and everything. Clouds are creations of polar opposites existing as one in such a freedom of being they never become fixed in form, just like the flow of water clouds tell us to be free from everything yet as pure as divinity.”

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“Clouds are dreams that make us ponder everything we don’t understand but are designed to search out. Therefore clouds are creations way of telling us never to settle in one thing or another because in doing so we become fixed and fixed objects always resist the natural flow of universal fluidity.”

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“Be like a cloud, free and in heaven always shifting form and always moving through the skies of infinite space and timeless wisdom. To see and contemplate the clouds is to learn oneself just as it is in all of the elements of nature.”

-by the Community

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*This excerpt was taken from: http://www.answers.com/Q/What_do_clouds_symbolize

*photos by moi, except the calligraphy of Thich Nhat Hahn taken from https://thecompassionategardener.wordpress.com/2015/08/29/clouds-never-die/

Looking Deeper

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“It’s better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It can’t be taken away from you not by angels or demons, heaven or hell.” 

-Buddha

Recognizing the Need for Surrender

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*photo by Mikael Sundberg

“There are times when we must accept and surrender, or our struggle consumes us. If something should be changed and you have the power to change it, go ahead. But learn to recognize the situations that cannot be changed. They are the times when we feel as if we are bailing against the tide, when we struggle and are afraid.

  • If you don’t feel at peace, it’s time to surrender.
  • If life doesn’t flow, it’s time to surrender.
  • If you feel that you’re responsible for everything , it’s time to surrender.

And when you opt for change, think carefully about exactly what needs to be different, and why. Letting things be instead of constantly struggling to make them happen is a wonderful gift we give to ourselves. If we look back on life, we will see that some of our best moments and greatest opportunities did not come out of the struggle to set things right. They seem like lucky coincidences, as if they occurred because we were in the right places at the right times. That is how surrender works, and that is how life works: subtly. So many people who want to change what they are come to the realization that a shoemaker makes shoes, remembering that we can bring incredible style, creativity, and worth to the way we make shoes, instead of trying to do something else.”

-David Kessler-

Positioning in Awareness

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Today my meditation was about positioning, after I share the words of Deng Ming-Dao I will add my own inner reflections.

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Heron stands in the blue estuary,

Solitary, white, unmoving for hours.

A fish! Quick avian darting;

The prey captured.

“People always ask how to follow Tao. It is easy and natural as the heron standing in the water. The bird moves when it must;it does not move when stillness is appropriate.

The secret of its serenity is a type of vigilance, a contemplative state. The heron is not in mere dumbness or sleep. It knows a lucid stillness. It stands unmoving in the flow of the water. It gazes unperturbed and is aware. When Tao brings it something that it needs, it seizes the opportunity without hesitation or deliberation. Then it goes back to its quiescence without disturbing itself or its surroundings. Unless it found the right position in the water’s flow and remained patient, it would not have succeeded.   

Actions in life can be reduced to two factors: positioning and timing. If we are not in the right place at the right time, we cannot possibly take advantage of what life has to offer us. Almost anything is appropriate if an action is in accord with the time and the place. But we must be vigilant and prepared. Even if the time and the place are right, we can still miss our chance if we do not notice the moment, if we act inadequately, or if we hamper ourselves with doubts and second thoughts. When life presents an opportunity, we must be ready to seize it without hesitation or inhibition. Position is useless without awareness. If we have both, we make no mistakes.”  ~Deng Ming-Dao~

A few things struck me about this meditation, first, understanding something about stillness in direct relation to our own personal flow. We have to cultivate stillness in such a way with our everyday lives in order to recognize when it is appropriate and when it is appropriate to take action. Many times this has to do with balance. Where are we when it comes to balance in our lives?

The next thing which impressed me was ‘being in the flow.’ It is important to identify what that means for ourselves.  No one can do that for us. We are responsible for growing that inner knowledge. What kind of flow do we allow in our lives? What kind of flow do we need or want in our lives? What kind of flow keeps us healthy and balanced? It is about fertilizing an inner knowing of how our own inner energy flows in relation to the rest of life. Recognizing what nurtures our soul and letting the rest go. What brings us joy? What brings us sadness? How open are we? How closed are we? What makes us angry? When do we feel fear? As we begin to recognize our own energy, we also begin to recognize and listen to our intuition. When that begins to happen, a natural wisdom begins to blossom so that not only are we “being in the flow” but we begin to learn how to position ourselves in the flow.

The last thing which caught my attention is that:  All this takes patience, first and foremost with ourselves. This is born out of nourishing a self-love, honoring our essence on a daily basis.

I wish you all joy in the journey.