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Charliedog
1625 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 16 2016 : 04:11:23 AM
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quote:
If we can demonstrably show that Deep Meditation, Spinal Breathing Pranayama, Samyama, bhakti, karma yoga, diet/cleansing, and other tools in the AYP toolshed—comprehensively and undeniably result in a far more functional and lasting divine intoxication, then people will flock to this yogic reservoir like thirsty camels in the desert. It will happen. Guaranteed.
It is hopeful to see, when I started teaching yoga&meditation 4 years ago not so many students were open for meditation or daily routine of yoga. It was once a week in class and thats it. As time passes by, and some students are with me from that time, more and more are open to daily routine. Also the meditation classes grow, there is more and more interest. What I did last year was a kind of challenge, do 40 day's in row sun salutations every morning, that worked, some do it still one year later.
This also works with meditation, next to the new 40 day's sun salutations this year, I will start today with a group 40 day's of meditation.
My experience is, if one can do it 40 day's in row, there really is a change and one will stay easier with the new routine. Grateful.
Onward 
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Edited by - Charliedog on Feb 16 2016 04:14:04 AM |
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Beehive
USA
117 Posts |
Posted - Feb 16 2016 : 11:51:10 AM
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Just spent some wonderful time reading your California posts.  And now the current one about why alcohol is still cool. LOVED all of it. Thank you for writing. As for the last post, I stumbled across a small Andrew Weil book years ago called the Natural Mind where he talks about exactly what you just wrote: That humans have an innate curiosity/desire for altered states of consciousness and he does a little blurb about everything from caffeine to LSD. He shares your view of alcohol.... Near the end of the book he comments that it is not uncommon to see drug/alcohol users move toward meditation. But how uncommon to see a meditator move to using drugs/alcohol. |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Feb 16 2016 : 7:33:47 PM
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Originally posted by Charliedog
Also the meditation classes grow, there is more and more interest. What I did last year was a kind of challenge, do 40 day's in row sun salutations every morning, that worked, some do it still one year later.
Nice!! There seems to be something magical about 40 days, for sure. I like how you're using that format as a catalyst to get students deeper into sadhana.
quote:
Originally posted by Beehive
As for the last post, I stumbled across a small Andrew Weil book years ago called the Natural Mind where he talks about exactly what you just wrote: That humans have an innate curiosity/desire for altered states of consciousness and he does a little blurb about everything from caffeine to LSD. He shares your view of alcohol.... Near the end of the book he comments that it is not uncommon to see drug/alcohol users move toward meditation. But how uncommon to see a meditator move to using drugs/alcohol.
Natural Mind is a book I read pretty early in sobriety. Very inspiring. I'm glad you also see the connection between addiction and bhakti. And I'm glad you enjoyed the California journals! Thanks for reading, Beehive.
Love. |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Feb 18 2016 : 5:20:30 PM
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Blog #66: The Advantages of Alcoholics Anonymous
http://ayprecovery.org/blog-66-the-...s-anonymous/
In the "Why AYP?" section of my website, I spend a considerable amount of time reviewing certain weaknesses I perceive in AA, while also highlighting some of the benefits. I have obviously felt a deep drive to improve the recovery paradigm, especially because I have witnessed relapses and failures firsthand, even by friends in the fellowship that have diligently followed the 12 Steps. In this blog, I'm not going to do any constructive criticism, but will instead focus solely on the positives of AA.
One of the immediate benefits of AA is its openness. Anyone can walk into a meeting, and I mean pretty much anyone. Even if you're drunk (non-threatening), you can sit in on a meeting. (If you're belligerently drunk and threatening other attendants, of course, appropriate measures will be taken to ensure the safety of the group). This open-door policy promotes and fosters inclusiveness, rather than exclusiveness. People in the raw, beginning stages of recovery need a place that is non-judgmental and welcoming, and AA fits that mold.
Because AA is self-supporting through its own contributions, there is a healthy autonomy at work. AA has spread worldwide, and it is fairly easy to start a new meeting anywhere, with the approval of a district committee. In that sense, it is much like AYP. Actually, AYP is even more flexible. The open-source platform of AYP has opened the floodgates for anyone to draw from the baseline and manifest community gatherings devoted to enlightenment. In fact, it is incumbent upon us, as leaders and practitioners, to bring AYP to the public in our respective localities. Yogani isn't going to do the work. We are. He laid the blueprint, now we have to build the sanctuaries. The architect has handed off the design to the carpenters.
By far and away, the leader of the budding trend of community development has been Tristan Dorling, and with his unveiling and roll-out of the certification program, it will surely bring AYP further into the limelight. Time, money, and divine will permitting—I will be in France in 2017 to complete the course. I most definitely want to pin the gold star by my name. It will be an official stamp, a resume booster, and a mark of commendation. Such things are certainly attractive to the public, and there is merit and value in having a diploma that signifies time well spent studying and mastering a discipline.
But, back to recovery.
AYP for Recovery is like the Mission Impossible message that is designed to self-destruct in 5 seconds once the message is received and understood. Once alcohol and drugs fade off the global scene, there will be no need for recovery. So my little project is a temporary measure to bolster and supplement the more long-term trajectory of AYP itself. In other words, recovery is merely a peripheral entrance to the main show...a kind of side door that leads to the central chamber.
Yogani's endorsement of AA, despite his lack of direct experience in the fellowship or program, is understandable. But I think that with the passage of time, AYP for Recovery will stand on its own as a viable alternative to AA and the 12 Steps. In particular, I have promoted the Dare to Dream Formula as a beginning stepping stone for anyone in recovery, precisely because it has been an instrumental strategy in my own recovery and movement forward.
To move forward, it is necessary to review and reconcile the past, but it is equally vital and important, perhaps more so, to envision and co-create a future based on personal talents and longings. The recovery and enlightenment equation is not complete unless there is a visionary dream emanating from the heart and mind. It's pure mechanics, and it's basically non-negotiable (in the best kind of way).
So, I am going to hold onto what I've learned from AA, drop the ineffective parts, and get a little closer to Paradise, here and now. At least that's the plan.
End of line. |
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samuelsincera
USA
10 Posts |
Posted - Feb 21 2016 : 6:54:06 PM
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| Wow I'm 90 days clean, just resolved to boot back up my TM practice, and bolster it with all the additional AYP techniques.. and have been having internal conflict with the fear-mongering/sponsorship-or-die aspect of the 12-step community in LA. I am so blessed to have found this link! Jeeezz Louise! |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Feb 21 2016 : 11:20:11 PM
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Jump on board, bro. I could use all the help I can get. Time to reform the recovery paradigm, AYP-style.
I was in L.A. a couple weeks ago visiting an AYP friend, but he relocated to Brooklyn last week, otherwise I would connect you two. In any case, feel free to email/call me whenever.
Unity. Strength. Wisdom. 
Cody  |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Feb 22 2016 : 6:23:27 PM
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Blog #67: Meditation on Wall Street
http://ayprecovery.org/blog-67-medi...wall-street/
I don't watch much TV, but every once in a while, a show catches my eye. There's a new series on Showtime called Billions, and it's definitely sparked my interest.
In the pilot episode, two lead characters are introduced. One is a U.S. Attorney named Chuck Rhoades. The other is a self-made billionaire named Bobby Axelrod. Chuck is trying to take down Bobby for financial crimes, but there's all kinds of tangled webs in between the two. For instance, Chuck's wife works for Bobby's hedge fund operation. Can we say conflict of interest?
Anyway, I mention the show because Chuck and Bobby both share a common habit: meditation! Yes, these white-collar adversaries are portrayed as daily mediators, sitting quietly with eyes closed, in their offices and homes. They may be unscrupulous and perverse in other areas, but at least the script writers of the show have given a shout out to the beloved practice of cultivating stillness. It's a good sign.
I don't recall which exact lesson, or maybe it's from a forum post, but I'm reminded of Yogani's example of a businessman that wants to meditate to become more profitable and successful in the material world. What does Yogani say about such a seemingly shallow motivation? He essentially says: Go for it!
That's right, the mechanics of Deep Meditation will morally self-regulate a person, even if someone starts out with less than noble intentions and aspirations. Such is the power of following the mantra into inner silence. With enough time, persistence, and consistency, the goodness and virtue of our divine self will shine through, despite our shadowy beginnings. It is a hopeful and promising trajectory—to rely on the mechanics of active surrender, and to not worry too much about how pure our intentions are from the outset. It all gets taken care of if we apply the tried-and-true methods of full-scope yoga.
More than a guru, more than a man-made law, more than any amount of money...do I trust the reality of cause and effect, and the omnipresence of eternal stillness underlying all causes and effects. That's where my investment strategy resides: in the heart of pure bliss consciousness, and in the continuity of karma, which came long before Wall Street, and will be around long after it crumbles.
In the meantime, at least Hollywood is sprinkling some meditative fairy dust in the dark, sophisticated corners of our evolving culture. Pretty radical.
Catch you on the flipside. |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Feb 25 2016 : 6:20:16 PM
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Blog #68: Self-Inflicted Cigarette Burns
http://ayprecovery.org/blog-68-self...rette-burns/
When I used to drink a lot of booze in my early 20's, on a few separate occasions, I put burning cigarettes out on my arms, and even let a couple friends press those pointed, smoldering embers into my flesh. I have some permanent scars where the tissue got singed. Obviously, it's a foolish, macho-type thing to do, but, believe it or not, there's a spiritual truth hiding underneath the chicanery.
You see, I already had a sense of the witness back then. I knew that I could damage my body, but I knew that something inside of me was unbreakable, and beyond pain, which the witness surely is. So, I would witness and feel the pain surging through my body, and stay unshaken inside.
Actually, athletes do the same thing all the time. Whether in extreme sports or more mainstream games, competitors push themselves to the edge of their pain threshold and level of tolerance. Without an establishment in the witness, they could not keep striving to go beyond the boundaries. The barrage of uncomfortable sensations in the mind and body could not be overridden and transcended unless there was a silent watcher inside with its hands on the controls.
So, the witness can be there even without practices like Deep Meditation. If the witness is already there, Deep Meditation will just expand the native state and saturate the organism with more inner silence. If the person's awareness is so strongly glued to thoughts and feelings, then Deep Meditation will be the first step in unpeeling consciousness from the sensations.
Of course, from the witness perspective, all objects of perception are seen as separate from the observant self. It's like watching a movie—everything is projected on screen, but the viewer is separate from the screen and its events. This begs the question: What links the witness to its observations? Ah, there's where it gets interesting.
The link is none other than the heart. The heart is where empathy arises, and empathy is the direct sharing of another person's presence and feelings. To share is the realest thing an individual can experience. There is nothing realer.
The essence of enlightenment is not merely to go BEYOND everything. The essence of enlightenment is to BECOME everything. That is the merging and union that yoga delivers. Transcendence is not a denial of identity with body, mind, thoughts, or feelings. Transcendence is an encompassing of identity with All That Is (including body, mind, thoughts, feelings, and inner silence). That is unity. That is truth. That is the alignment of all temporal parts with their source, and the only reason that such a union can occur, is because there is no absolute division between the source and its parts. They are One.
The witness, and detachment, are only an intermediary stage in awakening. Ultimately, immersion and saturation in the entirety of Being signify the wholeness and completeness in what begins as a sense of separation, and ends with an ongoing flow in unity.
Therefore, I wonder: Am I the cigarette burning my arm—and all the painful sensations that come along with that trauma—or am I the silent witness watching the real-life movie unfold?
The truth is: I am both. It's a paradox.
Marinate on that for a little while. |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Mar 01 2016 : 8:14:09 PM
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Blog #69: LSD and Fantasia in New Orleans
http://ayprecovery.org/blog-69-lsd-...new-orleans/
I remember taking a sugar cube of LSD in New Orleans when I was 16 years old. The sugar cube glistened with a special kind of sacramental power and forbidden allure. I was fascinated by the fact that such a potent chemical could be contained inside a small, normally mundane piece of candy.
The anticipation of swallowing the dose brought up a little nausea and nervousness, and once the cube touched my tongue and went down the hatch, there were tingling sensations pulsing through my stomach and bloodstream. It was a slightly alien feeling, and I definitely could discern that the effects were artificially induced.
I had very high expectations for the trip. I wanted to see reality in a totally different light, and to really "trip balls", as they say. I wanted to break on through to the other side. Most of all, I wanted a show: a sensory extravaganza.
We went to a Blockbuster to rent Disney's Fantasia, which is often recommended for stimulating the mind during a psychedelic experience. I was already becoming giddy in the store, and loudly describing to my brother how everything looked liquid and luminescent. He kept hushing me, probably because the customers and clerks were starting to notice my largely dilated eyes and the goofy grin plastered on my face.
We made it back to our friend's house in one piece, and after deftly bypassing his parents, we retreated to the bedroom to watch the movie. As the hallucinatory acid in my system began to pick up more momentum, my heart was deeply touched by what I was beholding on the screen. It was an intimate, underwater montage unfolding to the music of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. It was so delicate and precious, so resplendent and exquisite. There was a goldfish coyly hiding—enveloped under its own silky tail and lateral fins, like a mermaid concealed by a blanket of finely spun seaweed. The animated scene was the epitome of beauty.
But, I became disinterested with other scenes later in the movie, and the acid began to wear off. After the trip, I was left with a strong sense of yearning—a residual desire to further unpeel the layers of the physical world, and of myself.
Fast forward to the age of 28, when I first laid eyes on the cover of the Deep Meditation book. The plain blue background and run-of-the-mill font might have appeared boring to most, but to me, it sparkled with the same kind of magic that the LSD sugar cube had. But this time, my talisman wasn't a shortcut; it was a navigation manual for the long journey ahead.
With a dose of LSD, it's mainly sitting back and watching the show, but with AYP, it's more of an active surrender. The mantra has to be easily favored; the spinal nerve has to be traced up and down the central channel; the sutras have to be repeated and released; the vision of an ishta has to be cultivated, and so on. There's more outward flow. Not that people on LSD haven't done creative things, but the path of full-scope yoga requires much more participation on the inside and outside, which makes the letting go all the more sublime and rewarding.
The higher power is in us. |
Edited by - Bodhi Tree on Mar 01 2016 10:30:23 PM |
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Charliedog
1625 Posts |
Posted - Mar 02 2016 : 12:51:16 AM
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| Beautifully written Bodhi |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Mar 02 2016 : 11:54:15 PM
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| Thank you, Charlie-D! |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Mar 04 2016 : 5:46:24 PM
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Blog #70: Peruvian Flake
http://ayprecovery.org/blog-70-peruvian-flake/
On Saturday I was walking by the Hillsborough River alongside a row of parallel parked cars. In one of the cars was a man sitting in the driver seat. As I was walking by, he lifted a large, hardcover book up to his nose and snorted a line of some white powder through a rolled-up dollar bill. The fact that he was oblivious—or maybe just unconcerned—with me witnessing his nasal ingestion of what was most likely an illicit substance, really cracked me up. I laughed, but kept walking.
In my pre-sobriety days, I snorted some lines myself. Mostly cocaine and crushed pills (Xanax, Oxycodone, other narcotics). Cocaine was the worst. I remember the comedowns being particularly vicious. It felt like my soul was being sucked out of my body. I would lie in bed, writhing and paralyzed, unable to do anything but endure the pain. As Rick James said: "Cocaine is a hell of a drug."
I recently watched the Netflix series Narcos, which recreates the saga of Pablo Escobar and the Medellín Cartel. Actually, my dad was a minuscule fraction of that epic Columbian drug trade, as it spilled over into Miami and moved north through Florida and the rest of the country. He did prison time for minor trafficking. I never got involved with the selling though.
Cocaine alters consciousness in a peculiar way. The molecule acts as both a stimulant and an anesthetic, so there is a hyped-up numbness that arises. In theory, it's a great combination, because the mind stays focused without being distracted by the burdensome signals of pain. But, as we all know, the theory collapses under the weight of its own artificial constructs.
There's a myth that percolates the so-called counter culture, and that is that great artists have produced great works because they were high on drugs. While I don't doubt that a portion of famous songs, books, paintings, and other compositions were crafted while under the influence, I don't buy into the suggestion that drugs enhance the overall creative process, at least not in the long term.
I've never written with as much purpose, clarity, or color as when I found AYP and stuck with sobriety. The inner sensuality of the natural mind, uninhibited by synthetic stimulation, is unquestionably superior. Even so, I'm still healing, and often times treading water—trying to generate enough momentum to reach a better plateau.
The effects of long-term use of drugs like alcohol and cocaine don't just fade away with a next-day hangover. They last for years. Prolonged use results in prolonged recovery, and the process of regeneration and reintegration is long and arduous. But I'd rather be licking my wounds on the way to freedom, than staying comfortably numb and drifting further away from the truth. It's not that hard of a decision or commitment. The logic is perfectly sound, and the love of the chosen ideal is perpetually sustaining.
The higher power is in us. |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Mar 08 2016 : 11:10:05 PM
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Blog #71: Knocked Down to Size
http://ayprecovery.org/blog-71-knoc...own-to-size/
Conor McGregor's impressive winning streak and tirade of hubris was brought to a halt on Saturday night when we has skillfully defeated by Nate Diaz in two rounds of high-intensity, mixed martial arts fighting in Las Vegas at UFC 196. The Irishman was choked into submission by Diaz, a California native who talks plenty of trash himself, even in the midst of exchanging blows with his opponent. But after Diaz won the fight Saturday night, he hugged McGregor in a gesture of humility and condolence.
I watched the fight at a sports bar near my office. The restaurant was lined with HD TVs on every wall, and since every table, booth, and free stool was occupied, I propped myself up in a corner near the kitchen, parallel to the thoroughfare of servers breezing by. When McGregor appeared on screen, I felt a rush of adrenaline surge through my body, and when he entered the ring, I felt something a little different...a wave of empathetic fear swept over me. I thought: He's outmatched; he's not going to win.
I'm not claiming to have powers of premonition or prophecy, but it was a distinct, strong sensation that stirred in my stomach and heart. Sure enough, McGregor came out blazing and exhausted himself quickly with spinning wheel kicks that didn't land, while his punches were easily absorbed and blocked by Diaz. By the second round, McGregor was panting, and Diaz was able to close in deftly with striking combinations, ultimately finishing McGregor, the featherweight champion, with a rear-naked choke on the mat.
The featherweight division tops off at 145 pounds, so McGregor had made a bold move to challenge Diaz in the welterweight class, which is capped at 170 pounds. Most commentators claim that it was Diaz's superior weight and height that led to his victory. In simplest terms, perhaps McGregor bit off more than he could chew. In the post-fight press conference, McGregor quietly conceded that he would return to the featherweight class to defend his title before making any efforts to have a rematch with Diaz or to contend with heavier men of the welterweight division.
"Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." That quote is from Proverbs, and my grandmother Barbara has often referenced that verse, among other jewels in her repertoire of wisdom and insight, to help keep me in check and whittle me down to size when needed.
Though it is understandably dubious whether watching men pummel each other into states of submission or unconsciousness is beneficial to my path of AYP, enlightenment, and especially nonviolence, I will put forth a couple observations on the matter.
Conor McGregor is part of my ishta (my chosen ideal) because he devotes himself to the art of battle with a remarkable degree of diligence and excellence. He strives for perfection, even knowing that he will never achieve it. It's not so much his audacious antics that inspire me, though he's certainly entertaining. Rather, it's the intensity of vision, desire, and action that he puts into his craft that really gives me hope. The seed of his mastery is no different than the seed of any spiritual master. His methodology and expression may be harsher, but inside, the flame which animates and ignites his limbs is universal to the human condition.
Yogani wrote: "We can choose to become active in surrendering our stories and dramas (and our knee-jerk reactions) to what is happening right now, even as the stories and dramas continue to play in our head. That's fine. Let them play. We just release in stillness and live our life. In doing so, we can become fierce warriors of Being."
So, there is a place for the warrior archetype on this spiritual path—not necessarily in a UFC octagon, but most definitely on the meditation mat, where the fire still burns ever so brightly.
The higher power in us. |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Mar 12 2016 : 01:32:03 AM
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Blog #72: Going with the Flow
http://ayprecovery.org/blog-72-goin...th-the-flow/
The churning of the outgoing tide tugged against my torso as I wedged my bare feet into the bottom of a channel that ran in between a sandbar and an oyster bed along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The estuary was thick with saltwater and brimming with life—above and below the waterline. I was wade fishing, and maybe baptizing myself too.
My cousin Connor was fishing near our beached canoe, and his hound dog Missy kept chasing the bobber as he cast his line out into the briny creek. Connor would yell at her to stay put, but finally, he just gave up and started laughing as she swam freely back and forth in a game of aquatic fetch.
In the ocean, there is perpetual flow. On the land, it is the same. Everything moves until it comes to rest. This is the cycle of life. This is stillness in action.
In AYP, we talk about purification and opening. The practices purify the obstructions lodged in our nervous system, thereby opening our heart and mind to a more divine bandwidth of ongoing experience. Just as the ocean flows through its channels and estuaries, so does inner silence and energy move through our microcosmic system of individuality.
When the ocean becomes polluted, we clean it up. When the mind becomes tainted with delusion, we do the same. And if we don't do it, nature will surely find a way to take care of the job. Nature has plenty of self-regulating mechanisms that protect and sustain its organisms, and since human beings are an extension of nature, we have the same capabilities and instincts to survive, and better yet, to thrive in our own ecosystem.
Going with the flow of purification and opening is an art. It takes time. It takes finesse. It takes devotion. Even though I've got five solid years of AYP under my belt, it still feels like I'm just scratching the surface. I can sense the vastness of the interior, and I know that hidden worlds exist in incomprehensible abundance. I catch glimpses, and I persist with the navigation. I fall into stillness, and I emerge on the surface again. In short, I continue.
When Connor and I got back in the canoe, the paddling felt different. Wading in the gulf stream and dunking my head underwater had refreshed me. There was a palpable rejuvenation that resulted from exposure to the motherly element. My awareness became more acute and lucid, and in a small way, I was reborn.
To surrender to the elements is to die and be born again, and each time, we get a little bit closer to Paradise. Only in returning to where we come from can we move forward into the unknown. Once again, a paradox unfolds.
The inner sensuality of active surrender is more than a passive mindfulness. It is a mindfulness with purpose. It is a well-structured, systematic program that also lends itself to spontaneity and improvisation. It is the best of both worlds. It is the genius of AYP.
The higher power is in us. |
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kumar ul islam
United Kingdom
791 Posts |
Posted - Mar 13 2016 : 05:16:12 AM
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Beehive
USA
117 Posts |
Posted - Mar 13 2016 : 10:57:15 AM
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Charliedog
1625 Posts |
Posted - Mar 13 2016 : 12:16:03 PM
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Mar 15 2016 : 7:56:37 PM
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 Kumar Beehive Charliedog |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Mar 15 2016 : 8:00:08 PM
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Blog #73: Zootopia
http://ayprecovery.org/blog-73-zootopia/
The latest animated Disney film Zootopia portrays a world of animals in which predators and prey coexist in nonviolent harmony in a humanized, urban landscape. In the movie, there are no humans—only talking animals, like rabbits and foxes. In fact, the main character is a female rabbit named Judy, who becomes a police officer and unexpectedly forms an alliance with a sly fox named Nick.
The film brilliantly utilizes a literary tool called personification, or anthropomorphism, which is the superimposition of human qualities onto non-human characters and objects. This narrative sleight of hand is both captivating and believable, due to the story's superb craftsmanship.
As I was watching the show last night in an AMC theater, I kept having jaw-dropping reactions to the level of detail achieved in Disney's concoction of virtual reality. The fox's fur glimmered with shades of elegant and orange grittiness; the rabbit's ears perked up and drooped in accordance with a variety of emotional states; the hyper-resolution of the visual scenery bolstered and enhanced the witty dialogue and humor of the cornucopia of creatures.
It's not surprising that the Rotten Tomatoes website is currently reporting a 99% approval rate for the movie from well-renowned critics across the nation.
Like every blog I write, I will find a way to relate this topic to AYP. In this case, it's not a very hard task, since this particular piece of cinematic art is overflowing with jewels of bhakti, self-inquiry, and karma yoga.
So, going back to the details of the movie...a twist in the plot occurs when a group of normally civilized predators (a gentlemanly panther and law-abiding otter, to name a few) suddenly turn savage and attack innocent bystanders, thereby exhibiting traits of evolutionary regression. A wave of panic overcomes the city, and the protagonist police officer has to investigate and discover the root cause of these outbreaks. In her pursuit of truth and justice, the heroine gives the audience an opportunity to reflect on the trajectory of humanity and life on Earth.
In AYP, there is much talk about spirituality and evolutionary progress. To progress is the opposite of regression. It is moving forward in the spirit of growth and development, and leaving behind tendencies that thwart or stifle global unity. In Zootopia, random acts of violence and their misunderstood causes threaten the harmony of the culture. In our non-fictional realm outside of the movies, we have similar obstructions to dissolve, obviously.
The solution, both in the movie and in real life, is to amplify our pure awareness so that we can penetrate the dark clouds that have obscured the reality of Oneness. It is this same pure awareness that produces magnificent works of art—celebrating the beauty of diversity within unity.
The higher power is in us. |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Mar 18 2016 : 7:57:46 PM
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Blog #74: The Power of Memory
http://ayprecovery.org/blog-74-the-...r-of-memory/
It was late Wednesday night. I couldn't sleep. So I started scrolling through some on-demand movies on my smartphone, and I found Chasing Amy, which I hadn't seen since high school.
Earlier in the day, I had ran into my old friend Johnny, who, interestingly enough, I also hadn't seen since high school. We both happened to be buying smoothies at Xtreme Juice, which is a store I also frequented during my pre-college days, and where a couple of my teenage classmates had worked as well.
I guess Wednesday was a retro, throwback, warp-in-time day. Or maybe I'm just painting it that way in my mind so this blog will come across as deep, insightful, and super-synchronistic. In any case, I'm telling the truth about the high school correlation between the movie, my cool friend, and the smoothie shop. They all sent me spiraling back into memory.
Memory is a marvelous and miraculous aspect of Being.
Memory strings together every word, letter, and thought to form a coherent piece of communication. All the parts coalesce into a meaningful whole, thereby giving otherwise arbitrary fragments a purposeful solidification and expression through language and narrative. Without memory, there is no story to tell, and no meaning to comprehend. In short, memory is vital to life and consciousness.
To remember is to give credence to the past, which means absorbing the past into the present, and also connecting the past to the future, effectively creating the Here and Now. Therefore: Past + Present + Future = Here & Now.
So, enlightenment isn't a blind forgetting or erasure of the past; enlightenment is a full integration of the past into the here and now. To the credit of Alcoholics Anonymous, they certainly try to reconcile the past by using the 12 Steps. Where I differ with AA is my contention that the past doesn't merely have to be viewed through a lens of morality (right vs. wrong), but can instead be considered within the context of cause and effect (i.e., which desires did we attach to which objects, and how can we effectively redirect our desire for transcendence to better means?).
Anyway, when I watched Chasing Amy at the end of the night, my emotions were stirred in a cathartic way. The film portrays the intimacy of a romantic relationship with touching, artistic transparency, and one of the main themes is how the characters must learn to cope with their shadowy past, especially in regards to sexuality. Ultimately, the resolution of the plot doesn't play out in typical, happy-ending fashion, but even so, there is plenty of wisdom and liberation to be gleaned from the conclusion. Besides that, the leading actress is very endearing and beautiful, so I would recommend the movie based on her alone. After all, is there anything better than the stunning radiance of the divine feminine? Not that I've found.
Fortunately, AYP presents sexuality in a very practical, non-esoteric way. The tantra lessons are simple and straightforward. All that is required is to apply the practices and principles according to one's personal inclinations.
But I digress.
The more sobriety and inner silence I get under my belt, the more that I find memory to be a priceless asset. The ability to salvage the past, and to peer backwards with a clear mind, is what catalyzes my future vision and ishta.
The higher power is in us. |
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Dogboy
USA
2294 Posts |
Posted - Mar 18 2016 : 9:10:08 PM
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Misty colored memories, of the way you were  memories ripen as we do |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Mar 23 2016 : 7:50:50 PM
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| I dig it, Dogboy! [Misty colored glasses] |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Mar 23 2016 : 7:57:21 PM
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Blog #75: Massage Therapy
http://ayprecovery.org/blog-75-massage-therapy/
I started massage school on Monday.
When I walked into the classroom and sat down at a desk, I looked to my immediate left and saw a classmate reading a book entitled Kundalini Rising: Exploring the Energy of Awakening. I smiled to myself and thought: Oh yes, I'm in the right place. Of course, I couldn't resist starting a conversation with my classmate about her reading material, and in a matter of minutes, guess what I mentioned? Wait for it...wait for it...here we go...AYP!
Shocker, right?
Then today, I was eating lunch with another classmate, and again, in a matter of minutes, she started talking about a strong kundalini blast she had experienced last year. I just laughed exuberantly and proceeded to tell her my own tale of being touched by the Spirit. We also talked about our mutual affinity for Harry Potter, and I showed her the "Dark Mark" of Voldemort etched on my inner forearm, recently drawn with henna ink by an artistic co-worker. (The "Dark Mark" is a depiction of a kundalini-like snake crawling out of a skull—it's pretty gnarly and creative.) Naturally, I eventually brought AYP into the conversation.
I've lost count of how many people I've told about AYP, but it's probably in the hundreds by now. It happens randomly. The other day I was at Smoothie King, and the cashier was wearing a chakra necklace, and I said: "Hey, check out this website," then she eagerly scribbled down the address. At sporadic times like those, when I feel like it's a good opportunity to bring up AYP, I speak a few casual words, then let them go, like samyama. Who knows when or how they will take effect? I don't worry too much about the outcome, because I simply enjoy any chance to speak freely about this platform in the open air (which is realer to me than the online forum).
Despite my cheerleader demeanor and persistent candor in divulging my spiritual preferences and past history, there are still only a handful of people I'm in touch with locally who practice AYP. But, in time, I think a few will turn into many. This material is too good to be ignored indefinitely. I know it to be true, even though I can't prove it. The unfolding of the future will be proof enough.
Anyway, I was conversing with yet another classmate today, and he told me how a relatively new massage technique called myofascial release had helped heal his knee injury, after surgery had failed to mend the damage. He was so inspired by his own recovery that he is getting his massage therapy license so he can pay it forward to others in need.
The power of human touch is undeniable. I'm not sure that anything comes closer than touch to expressing and transmitting the vibrations of love that emanate from stillness. When I wrote a series of blogs on the five senses, I deliberately put touch at the very end of the series—saving the best for last.
It is through touch that we feel, and it is through feeling that we realize and become who we are destined to be. To feel at the deepest level is to experientially know the truth, thereby returning to the source of our own consciousness. The more stillness there is, the realer it becomes.
The higher power is in us. |
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Charliedog
1625 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2016 : 04:46:01 AM
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Thank you for sharing your new experiences Cody,
quote:
He was so inspired by his own recovery that he is getting his massage therapy license so he can pay it forward to others in need.
Yesterday one of my students was telling me, she is having an intake at the Yoga TeacherTraining school I studied. Because of yoga her life changed for the better, she is strong enough now to make the choices she feels in her heart. I was happily surprised, you can imagine.
Grateful to see how this unfolds. Throw back in time. The same way I said this to my yoga teacher 6 years ago with the same insecurities I told him, she was telling me yesterday.
It's beautiful to see that what you feel is worth to pay forward is really heard.
Wishing you happy, interesting study times
Next to yoga It is my believe too that we all need loving human touch. Only to touch or being touched has already a healing effect, can you can imagine what massage does.
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Dogboy
USA
2294 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2016 : 11:55:13 AM
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quote:
Next to yoga It is my believe too that we all need loving human touch. Only to touch or being touched has already a healing effect, can you can imagine what massage does.]
So true on so many pranic levels; at this stage of married life, massage is the best physical expression of our love and history together. |
Edited by - Dogboy on Mar 24 2016 11:59:04 AM |
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