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BlueRaincoat
United Kingdom
1734 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 24 2016 : 2:54:10 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Bodhi Tree
I've lost count of how many people I've told about AYP, but it's probably in the hundreds by now.
Awsome!  |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2016 : 9:49:56 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Charliedog
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.
Full circle!  And we spiral onward, hand-in-hand...
quote:
Originally posted by Dogboy
...at this stage of married life, massage is the best physical expression of our love and history together.
I'll follow that lead! 
quote:
Originally posted by BlueRaincoat
Awsome!
Ain't it?!  |
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Charliedog
1625 Posts |
Posted - Mar 25 2016 : 03:49:11 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Dogboy
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. 
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Mar 27 2016 : 12:00:31 AM
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Blog #76: Terror and the Hidden Enemy
http://ayprecovery.org/blog-76-terr...idden-enemy/
Last night I had a dream that I was eating at a restaurant, and a man pulled out a machine gun and started threatening people. Sensing that he was about to spray bullets around the room at random diners, I ducked out the back before the massacre could take me down. I jumped over fences and raced away as fast as I could—in fear that the mindless killer might be in pursuit behind me. As is often the case, I don't remember how the dream ended, but when I woke up, I reflected on the content.
On a related note, I've had many flying dreams. Some of them are recreational and fantasy-like, but others involve me trying to escape, like when a policeman is chasing me. In last night's dream, I wasn't able to fly, probably because I didn't lucidly realize that my experience was a malleable dream. In any case, in my morning reflection on the REM extravaganza, I thought: What a coward I was! I should have tried to disarm the shooter and save other people. I should have invoked magical powers and been fearless. I should have not been afraid.
In The Secrets of Wilder, the hero John is able to do just that—use magical powers (siddhis) to stop a perpetrator from hurting one of his loved ones. John's tale of enlightenment has other superhero and comic book qualities, but there is plenty of normalcy in the story too.
My personal life hasn't yet had any superhero benchmarks. It's mainly been a comedy of errors that has played out against the backdrop of the grand miracle of life itself. But hey, there's still plenty of time, and there's got to be room for me to attain superhero status. I just need to find my proper uniform and a solid nickname, then it will be game on.
But, going back to my dream of terror, and my cowardice, it was certainly in line with events that have been unraveling on the global stage of waking consciousness as of late. No need to mention any particular instances; there are plenty being reported in the mass media on a regular basis.
The comic strip character Pogo famously said: "We have met the enemy, and he is us." What a simple, profound, and humorous quip that is. It points to the truth. The promise of enlightenment is to see one's self in everyone and everything. That means that the so-called enemies are still reflections of Self. Or, to quote another character from the Vietnam War film Platoon: "I think now, looking back, we did not fight the enemy; we fought ourselves. And the enemy was in us."
So, whether it's in a dream, or on the news, or right in front of me, I am confronted by myself everywhere I turn. There's no escaping the fact that my "self" is beyond Cody. And yet, Cody still remains, for a little while. So it makes sense to align and merge him with the rest of the Big Self, while there's still a chance. And besides, I don't have any better ideas.
When it comes to confronting terror, samyama is a helpful tool. Any negative thought, feeling, person, place or thing can be dropped in stillness, released, and transformed into something better. It's a morally self-regulating practice that relies on surrender to the divine within us.
There's also a Buddhist practice called tonglen, which takes a radical approach to suffering by grabbing the bull by the horns, so to speak. Suffering is breathed in directly, and liberation is breathed back out into the atmosphere. The inner light filters and transforms the darkness. On my recovery website, I have listed a similar practice of my own design called meeting in the middle. Meeting in the middle came to me as a way to endure the often rocky emotions and energy of AA meetings. I've been using it for a couple years now with good success.
Godspeed, and good luck.
The higher power is in us. |
Edited by - Bodhi Tree on Mar 27 2016 12:01:11 AM |
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lalow33
USA
966 Posts |
Posted - Mar 27 2016 : 12:52:33 AM
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| Hi hear ya on the scary dreams!!! Crescendo here had to face it during the waking hrs. eventually. Tried to avoid it, ground, whatever, but too much energy. You know what's on the other side of fear, peace and compassion. Weird, huh? |
Edited by - lalow33 on Mar 27 2016 12:55:17 AM |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Mar 27 2016 : 01:58:57 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by lalow33
You know what's on the other side of fear, peace and compassion.
Yes indeed. All emotion is the power of love.  |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Apr 02 2016 : 2:47:06 PM
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Blog #77: Lance Armstong—Truth and Deception
http://ayprecovery.org/blog-77-lanc...d-deception/
He was high on top, but he came crashing down. He had garnered the admiration and celebration of millions, but he was abruptly stripped of his accolades, his endorsements, and his royal privileges. He took the dope, lied about it, and paid a big price.
The story of Lance Armstrong is a quintessential portrait of a man's fall from grace. I recently watched a documentary called Stop at Nothing, which chronicles his mercurial rise to international fame and fortune, followed by the crippling blows of truth that halted him in his tracks.
Being in recovery from drug abuse, I am able to deeply empathize with Armstrong's choices and misaligned ambitions. As I clearly state on my website, it is my contention that bhakti (desire for God/truth/liberation) is underneath all addiction, and that purity is at the core of all surface impurities. Therefore, I don't see Armstrong as an evil villain, per se, but more as an intense competitor who strayed off the path of nobility and integrity in pursuit of excellence. It's a mistake that I've made, but on a much more minuscule and inconsequential scale, obviously.
Lance Armstrong used drugs to enhance his athletic performance; I used drugs to chase transcendence. Our goal of acceleration and improvement was understandable enough, but the methods with which we sought achievement were ultimately detrimental. Fortunately, there is a solution, and that solution revolves around truth.
Truth is an eternal thing. It can only be eluded for brief stints, but one way or another, we will get sucked back into our sensibility about what is true, and what is real. After drifting into the murky realms of counterfeit and deceit, we must eventually return to the home base of a clear mind and a still heart.
There is an insightful YouTube video (https://youtu.be/c96qIK5uwNg) that analyzes several depositions and interviews in which Armstrong was blatantly lying about his history of doping. The analyst points out some key signs, or in poker language—"tells"—that reveal Armstrong was bluffing his case and misrepresenting the cards he was truly holding. Armstrong's words conveyed one message, but his body language told an altogether different story. The subtle, discerning eye of the YouTube detective is able to reveal the incongruent patterns that mark Armstrong's angle of deception.
I never got analyzed by a detective, but life itself set me straight, and continues to do so when I stray off course. Collective consciousness has an array of self-correcting mechanisms that are constantly being deployed to keep us all in check. It's called karma, or cause and effect.
Beyond karma is stillness, which is the instrument of all causes and effects. Therefore, to access stillness is to rectify and salvage all wrongs in a way that is permanently transformative. I'm sure Armstrong will realize this in due time, and will act accordingly—elevating his level of performance to greater heights than doping ever afforded him.
Come on in, the water's fine. :-)
The higher power is in us. |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2016 : 9:51:09 PM
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Blog #78: Throughness and Navigating Boundaries
http://ayprecovery.org/blog-78-thro...-boundaries/
When I take a lunch break at massage school, I sometimes walk off campus to a nearby Jamaican restaurant. Often times Bob Marley music is playing inside; the servers give each customer a free scoop of sherbet as they wait for their meals; and the food is fresh, well-cooked, and reasonably priced. For these reasons, it's an attractive destination.
To get there, I choose to take a route that requires me to hop over a short, waist-high fence in the southeast corner of campus. My other option would be to pass through the open gate on the northwest side, but that's in the opposite direction of the restaurant. So instead, I transcend the man-made boundary by traversing vertically over its flat, iron bars, rather than staying stuck to the horizontal concrete and having to trek the extra distance through the gate.
A couple classmates have joined me in jumping over the boundary fence, and we help each other carry things when making the transition. It's good teamwork, albeit a little mischievous.
Taking a shortcut usually carries a risk. Will we be admonished for hopping the fence? Might we get injured if we are too reckless with our acrobatics? Could we possibly set off a trend and influence other students to bypass the proper gate?
All valid questions and concerns. As it is now, my conscience approves of the shortcut. That could change. But the reason I'm writing about this little vignette is not really to sort out a moral dilemma, but rather to explore the broader topics of throughness and navigating boundaries, which are ever-evolving aspects of consciousness on Earth.
When it comes to deep meditation, I've gone through plenty of scenery in my journey to stillness. Perhaps what is most prevalent is the inner, ego voice. Since I'm verbally inclined as a writer and speaker, it makes sense that the auditory version of my individuality would be commonplace. There are other layers that are often waded through, like images, feelings, memories, dream sequences, and even scenery I can't yet comprehend or contextualize in words.
All I know is: I go through what I go through based on the technique of easily favoring the mantra. I trust the route and the parameters within the scope of the simple practice, mainly because the practice yields good results. I am also inspired by other long-term practitioners who are exuding qualities of happiness, humor, and general well-being. It's been an easy program for my mind to buy into.
Sometimes there are walls and obstructions that I encounter internally, and getting past them is not as quick as hopping the fence at school. I have to surrender my awareness to what arises, without any pre-planned escape routes, micro-management, or shortcuts. I follow the mantra wherever it takes me, regardless of the distance to be traveled. Eventually, the obstacles dissolve in stillness, and the purification and opening continues.
Yogani wrote in Lesson 390: "While we are all going through essentially the same process of purification and opening, the application of practices, experiences, and rate of manifestation of results will vary. So, who can say when you will be enlightened? No one can. But you can see signs and milestones emerging along the way."
The milestones are marked by the rise of perpetual serenity, ecstatic conductivity, and ultimately, an outpouring of divine love that flows through the boundless, unified field of Being.
1...2...3: Voilà.
In our massage class, we're reading a book called The Educated Heart, which discusses the importance and necessity of setting professional boundaries. Massage therapy is an intimate modality that involves mutual trust and an exchange of energy. The responsibility falls first and foremost in the hands of the therapist, and that's why ethics and regulations are brought forth early in the curriculum. Delicate territory requires delicate protocol.
Boundaries are inevitable. Some need to be respected and kept in place. Others will be dissolved or treated with more transparency. Buoyed by the peaceful witness, the acts of creative discrimination and passionate dispassion can lead the way of navigation through all scenery, inside and out.
The higher power is in us. |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Apr 09 2016 : 8:24:07 PM
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Blog #79: Beyond Healing
http://ayprecovery.org/blog-79-beyond-healing/
When I was a young boy, I remember suffering some scrapes and bruises on my body—due to tripping and falling, or fighting with my brother, or sliding improperly into second base when running across the dirt of a baseball diamond. I was always fascinated by watching the healing process occur. The skin would scab up and regenerate underneath, then the crust would fall off, and finally, everything would be like new (or close to new). I was usually impatient with the process—naturally wanting to accelerate the mending of the wound. But healing takes it own time, much like any organism takes it own time to grow and mature.
In my current massage class, our teacher said that as therapists, we don't do the healing. At best, we facilitate the healing. The body heals itself. We just loosen and stimulate the muscles and nerves to aid in the restoration of cells and tissue.
In the spiritual market, there are different kinds of healing modalities, like reiki, acupuncture, energy work, chakra alignment, shamanic techniques, and so on. Again, all of these methods are meant to awaken the recipient's innate capacity to re-create what has been damaged.
Whereas wounds on the outside are easy to see, wounds on the inside are not so easily discernible. The symptoms of damage from drug abuse, for instance, may be felt in very palpable ways, but the objective evidence of abrasion to the organs and nerves cannot be seen by the naked eye. This invisibility factor makes the healing process somewhat nebulous, and where there is lack of clarity, there is room for imagination and multiple interpretations, which can blur the reality of what's happening. Of course, in the realm of emotional trauma, things are even muddier.
When it comes to my current endeavor, I'm not acquiring a massage therapy license to be a healer, per se. I'm acquiring the license because I'm an ecstatic bliss junkie, plain and simple. I crave ecstatic bliss, and ecstatic bliss is best when it's shared. In the case of massage therapy, it's shared in a professional, service-oriented dynamic. Healing may be incidental and necessary to reach the end goal, but I don't like to obsess about healing as the primary objective.
One of the great things about any healing that occurs through the AYP practice of samyama is that it's morally self-regulating. It's based on release of desires into stillness, rather than any extreme effort to entangle with someone's energetic matrix and surgically remove obstructions. The genius of stillness can take care of the necessary precision without us needing to manipulate much at all.
Of course, if a massage client comes to me and reports pain in a specific area, I will naturally pay special attention to that area, but I can still do it in a samyama fashion. By perpetually releasing intentions, gestures, and movements into stillness, I put myself in a position to be of maximal service, because I am being animated and guided by the omnipresent silence that is beyond my limited knowledge of the circumstance. That doesn't mean that I abandon any effort to acquire as much knowledge as possible about the situation, or to use specific techniques; it just means that I remain open to the flow of ecstatic bliss, and let that flow determine the outcome.
We live in a culture that is still burdened by injuries, disease, and other deficiencies of health. What's more disturbing is that we have sectors in the healthcare industry (including some within spirituality) that put heavy focus on treatment and healing as a means to earn big financial profit. Ironically, the sicker the patients are, the more profit there is to be earned. Of course, healthcare practitioners and workers need to be fairly compensated, but we need to shift the focus from an obsession with treatment and healing, to living in a world with an abundance of health, vitality, resilience, and yes, you guessed it, ecstatic bliss.
Going back to my recollections of being a youngster and watching my body heal, I realize that my main interest was in getting back into the game, and trying to improve my coordination and agility so that I didn't get injured again. Though the healing was interesting, I was more concerned with being able to perform well and take full advantage of the talents that were at my disposal. It's the same now.
Obstructions, such as tendencies that lead to injury and illness, are easily dissolved in pursuit of the chosen ideal.
The higher power is in us. |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Apr 14 2016 : 9:25:32 PM
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Blog #80: Scenery on Bayshore Boulevard
http://ayprecovery.org/blog-80-scen...e-boulevard/
A couple nights ago I was running on the illustrious sidewalk of Bayshore Boulevard, which hugs the perimeter of Tampa Bay in an unbroken stretch of nearly five miles. The white, columned balustrade looks down upon waves that lap against its barnacled sea wall. Pelicans, dolphins, gulls, stingrays, schools of mullet, and plenty of other marine life can be seen swimming, flying, and splashing around.
While I was running, my attention was mainly transfixed on two women running in tandem ahead of me. They were athletic and trotted along with lovely strides, and I felt more inspired than usual to keep a spring in my step. After about a mile or so, they slowed down to a walking speed, but I kept pushing forward—passing them with a slight twinge of regret.
Scenery cannot be hung onto indefinitely. It changes. The curvature and color disappear sometimes, then maybe it's just straight lines and monochrome for a while. But the mission and technique must be favored over what is encountered along the trajectory of the journey. Otherwise, the mythological sirens may distract us from the end goal.
Yogani once made a metaphor about how the occurrence of miracles is similar to embarking on a trip to a castle. Sometimes we have to wade through lots of treasure to get to the castle, but only when we get inside the castle can we have all the treasure. But if the treasure is sought for its own sake and obsessed over while in transit, we will never make it to the castle. Therefore, we are not to dilly dally or divert for too long, lest we delay our arrival and entry into the grand palace that awaits us.
In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Sir Galahad the Chaste ventures foolishly into Castle Anthrax after seeing a beacon resembling the grail shining from a tower high above. Once inside, he is greeted by a hostess who informs him that there are "8 score young blondes and brunettes...all between 16 and 19-and-a-half" who spend their isolated days "bathing, dressing, undressing, and knitting exciting underwear." After two nurses try to strip him of his clothes under the false pretense of tending to his wounds, he tries to hightail it out of there, only to stumble into another room full of voluptuous, bathing nuns.
The twin sister of the hostess desperately apologizes to the knight and implores him to implement punishment on all of the sisters by vigorously and thoroughly spanking them. Galahad, knowing that he has fallen deeper into the trap, finally escapes the fortress before the maidens are able to swallow him whole in their mire of seduction. Brahmacharya prevails, and the quest for the grail continues.
But what if the divine feminine is actually the holy grail that is being sought?
In his novel The Da Vinci Code, author Dan Brown makes that exact contention. It is the shape of the sacred chalice that symbolically points to the receptive quality of the female reproductive organ. In Brown's book, the real secret is that, for milennia, the male-dominated Catholic Church has been concealing the fact that Jesus actually married Mary Magdalene, who then gave birth to their child. Lo and behold!—there is a royal lineage of Christ's blood flowing through an active heritage in the present day.
What's more is that Brown includes some esoteric, sexual rituals that utilize the feminine body as a portal to God (can we say tantra?). He puts the feminine in a sacred role as a key to unlocking higher dimensions of consciousness.
In AYP, there is much talk about merging inner silence (the masculine) with ecstasy (the feminine). Without this union, the enlightenment equation is incomplete. After all, if inner silence is unchanging, eternal, and beyond form, doesn't that get boring after a while? Without the elements of change, manifestation, and colorful expression, inner silence remains stagnant and unfulfilled. Shiva needs Shakti to awaken him from his meditative slumber. And She delivers, without fail.
Welcome to the New Age.
The higher power is in us. |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Apr 29 2016 : 7:44:40 PM
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Blog #81: Baseline With Modifications
http://ayprecovery.org/blog-81-base...difications/
I haven't written a blog in a couple weeks, and boy, have my readers been screaming for a new one. I mean they've been e-mailing me by the thousands—demanding more of my half-baked insights and incredibly trivial anecdotes that I somehow manage to relate to AYP, even if it's by a ridiculous stretch of the imagination.
Well, I certainly don't want to withhold any more of my pseudo-philosophical, amateur journalism, so here's a new one.
Massage school. What a trip. I go there five days a week, from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Then I work from 4:00 PM to Midnight. The six hours of sleep that I usually catch at night are pretty precious, and I nap or meditate during the afternoon break. The weekends are more golden than ever. Free time is not taken for granted.
Fortunately, my gracious massage teacher is allowing me to lead silent meditations everyday at the beginning of class. This is a huge boon because it lets me sustain my daily practices, while also sharing collective stillness with my fellow therapists-in-training. After our short, 10-minute session of silent meditation (I have already given them instructions on Deep Meditation, and continue to clarify the finer points and questions), I do a spoken version of samyama (both quantitative and qualitative). It goes something like this:
"As we stretch and relax, we can let our awareness come back into the room, and into our bodies, then we can let it expand outward to touch the rest of our school...then further out into the city...stretching out into the state...to the nation...then encompassing the entire world, as if we were holding the world in our hands, and finally—reaching out into the cosmos..." Then I go through the list of the nine qualitative sutras (just one repetition per sutra) at a slow pace, but not nearly as slow as the prescribed 15-second gap when done inwardly. After I utter the final cherry-on-top sutra of Lightness of Air, then we go around the room so that every single student has a chance to offer a few sutras of their own choosing. So far, they've been very creative in putting emotional content into their words as they softly speak them out loud, into the collective consciousness that binds us all.
Obviously, this is an example of the baseline with modifications approach. In other words, I have taken a couple baseline AYP techniques and adapted them to suit some peculiar needs that are arising in my life. And what are those peculiar needs? Well, as previously mentioned, I'm on a super-tight schedule, and I'm introducing AYP to a new audience that didn't necessarily sign up to meditate when they enrolled in massage school. Therefore, I have watered things down a little bit, and created an abbreviated version of practice, instead of abandoning a morning routine altogether.
In my not-so-humble opinion, this is exactly why AYP will flourish in the long run. It's not just a matter of AYP being taught in boutique yoga studios, or at secluded retreat centers, or through the prosthetic interface of the internet. It's a matter of AYP being brought into the trenches—in places like low-income schools and blue-collar populations, or in front of recovering addicts and other victims of their own self-induced suffering and stupidity. These territories are, paradoxically, the most fertile ground for progress and transformation. Why? Because the hunger and thirst for change is very high.
When we are in touch with the Spirit, there is a primal fire inside that burns with a palpable intensity, even as our surface movements continue to become refined, graceful, and more fluid. And that's what I'm learning about massage. A hybrid of zealous passion and knowledgeable precision is needed.
The higher power is in us. |
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Dogboy
USA
2294 Posts |
Posted - Apr 29 2016 : 8:23:28 PM
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quote:
When we are in touch with the Spirit, there is a primal fire inside that burns with a palpable intensity, even as our surface movements continue to become refined, graceful, and more fluid
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Charliedog
1625 Posts |
Posted - Apr 30 2016 : 03:32:39 AM
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| Bhakti Speaking, for sure You are in touch with the Spirit |
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sunyata
USA
1513 Posts |
Posted - Apr 30 2016 : 2:46:08 PM
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quote:
It's a matter of AYP being brought into the trenches—in places like low-income schools and blue-collar populations, or in front of recovering addicts and other victims of their own self-induced suffering
quote:
When we are in touch with the Spirit, there is a primal fire inside that burns with a palpable intensity, even as our surface movements continue to become refined, graceful, and more fluid. And that's what I'm learning about massage. A hybrid of zealous passion and knowledgeable precision is needed
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Apr 30 2016 : 4:38:57 PM
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| Dogboy Charliedog Sunyata |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Jun 18 2016 : 9:06:29 PM
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Blog #82: Old Stomping Grounds
http://ayprecovery.org/blog-82-old-...ing-grounds/
Last night I got off work at midnight and went to some bars I used to frequent during my drinking days. There are three in particular I chose to visit on the Howard Street strip, which continues to be developed, gentrified, and yuppified at a vigorous pace. I started with The Dubliner.
When I walked in, I was pleased to see a live duo of an acoustic guitarist and drummer playing "Under the Bridge" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It's a song I know how to play, and it's about recovering from addiction. Then the duo rolled into a medley beginning with the tune "Superstitious" by Stevie Wonder, seamlessly mixing in "Voodoo Child" by Jimi Hendrix, then returning to "Superstitious" for the finish. At the end of the medley, the singer handed off his guitar to a guy on the side of the stage. This new singer immediately announced into the microphone how drunk he was, then rattled off a sloppy rendition of Johnny Cash's classic "Folsom Prison Blues" (which I can also play), followed by an equally sloppy version of Steve Miller's "The Joker" (yes, I can play that too), punctuating the end of each song with further reference to his drunkenness, while also encouraging the audience to accelerate their own inebriation. I smiled and continued to drink my glass of water.
I stepped around to the side of the stage to pay my compliments to the first singer, who happened to have a Jimi Hendrix portrait painted on the face of his Martin guitar. He told me that an artist friend of his had done it, and I replied that an artist friend of mine had carved some yoga etchings into my guitar. He said: "Oh, you practice yoga? I do too." I wished him well and connected with him through Facebook.
Leaving The Dubliner, I recalled an incident in the back parking lot from over a decade ago in which I had tussled with a state champion wrestler, who had left me with some nice bruises and scrapes. He was skilled. I was mainly cocky.
I continued my stroll down memory lane and went a half-block farther until I reached MacDinton's, which is like a frat party that's outgrown its college days but wishes to persist into the realm of young professionals with business degrees. There was a live band playing there too (this time with a bass player). The electric guitarist pined away with "Sweet Home Alabama"—not quite nailing the trademark riff with accuracy or completeness, but putting plenty of gusto into his performance nevertheless.
As I rocked back and forth on my feet, some automatic yoga cropped up in the form of kechari mudra, which happens sporadically sometimes, especially in group settings where there's a lot of energy swirling around. I tasted the sweetness of amrita dripping down from the nasopharynx and enjoyed the sensation, but I noted a very subtle hint of spiritual pretentiousness in my posture. I inquired into it, loosened up more, and shrugged it off.
But right there on the dance floor, I started to contemplate and wish for a new kind of venue, a new kind of late-night scene. I was wanting to keep the rock n' roll, but dispose of the booze, to carry on with the ecstatic vibe, but transform the white-collar, plastic aesthetic. I thought: I can make it happen. I can thread the needle between the mainstream and the ultra-mellow kirtan. I just need to utilize the magic formula of vision, desire, and action, and it will come to be.
I left MacDinton's and walked by another bar that had recently been torn down and replaced with condominiums. I stared at the spot where the old bar once stood, where I had been kicked out for a variety of offenses, like throwing cardboard drink coasters at fellow patrons in some kind of pseudo-ninja fantasy, then wrecking my car into the bar owner's SUV in the parking lot, and finally speeding off to escape accountability. Months later the owner had randomly encountered me in the wee hours of the night at a Texas Hold-Em table at the Hard Rock Casino, and he asked me if I had ran into his car. Being high on Xanax, cocaine, and of course, liquor, I replied, "Oh no, that wasn't me." To this day, I forget his name and face, and have yet to make amends with him. Well, I suppose karma will rectify it somehow and give me an opportunity to make it right.
I kept walking to my last stop, which was a dive bar called The Tiny Tap, established in 1934—the oldest in Tampa. It was much more of a blue-collar crowd, with cheap pool and cheap beer. One night I had got into a fight with a guy there who was disrespecting a female friend of mine. He had clocked me in the jaw when I wasn't looking, knocking me down to the ground. I sprung up quickly and put him in a choke hold, submitting him on his back. I ended up winning that fight.
I left the Tiny Tap and headed home. When I got to the railroad tracks that diagonally intersect Howard Street and peel off towards my neighborhood, I took off my shirt and absorbed the saltwater breeze, full of recycled air from ages past. I walked on top of the tracks and remembered placing pennies on those very same rails with my father when I was a child, then returning the next day to find them perfectly flattened, as we had hoped for.
The landmarks on Howard Street change, the people that populate the city change, the stories and events that shape their lives change. But something stays the same. And That, we call stillness, inner silence, the witness. I dive into that presence everyday, like clockwork. And I wonder: what treasures are yet to be revealed from that deep, infinite source that is mind-bogglingly mysterious?
The higher power is in us. |
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Charliedog
1625 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2016 : 02:57:23 AM
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quote:
But right there on the dance floor, I started to contemplate and wish for a new kind of venue, a new kind of late-night scene. I was wanting to keep the rock n' roll, but dispose of the booze, to carry on with the ecstatic vibe, but transform the white-collar, plastic aesthetic. I thought: I can make it happen. I can thread the needle between the mainstream and the ultra-mellow kirtan. I just need to utilize the magic formula of vision, desire, and action, and it will come to be.
If we have faith magic will happen Bodhi, we can write our own scenario
quote:
The landmarks on Howard Street change, the people that populate the city change, the stories and events that shape their lives change. But something stays the same. And That, we call stillness, inner silence, the witness. I dive into that presence everyday, like clockwork. And I wonder: what treasures are yet to be revealed from that deep, infinite source that is mind-bogglingly mysterious?
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2016 : 11:48:41 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Charliedog
If we have faith magic will happen Bodhi, we can write our own scenario
Yes indeed. Let's keep writing our scenario.  |
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sunyata
USA
1513 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2016 : 3:36:22 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Bodhi Tree
Blog #82: Old Stomping Grounds
http://ayprecovery.org/blog-82-old-...ing-grounds/
But right there on the dance floor, I started to contemplate and wish for a new kind of venue, a new kind of late-night scene. I was wanting to keep the rock n' roll, but dispose of the booze, to carry on with the ecstatic vibe, but transform the white-collar, plastic aesthetic. I thought: I can make it happen. I can thread the needle between the mainstream and the ultra-mellow kirtan.
This would be neat. You can do it!
quote:
And I wonder: what treasures are yet to be revealed from that deep, infinite source that is mind-bogglingly mysterious?
Same here. Rush of ecstatic bliss every time this thought pops ups.
Thank you for honestly sharing your past adventures. |
Edited by - sunyata on Jun 19 2016 3:37:27 PM |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Jun 20 2016 : 12:48:05 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by sunyata
Same here. Rush of ecstatic bliss every time this thought pops ups.
Birds of a feather...flock together. I can see us now...flying in perfect V formation. |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2016 : 8:49:53 PM
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Blog #83: Reformation and Revolution
http://ayprecovery.org/blog-83-refo...-revolution/
The 1st Step of AA: "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable."
If I were to re-write the 1st step of AA, I would re-write it to be this: "We have power over alcohol, and that power comes from letting go of alcohol and picking up something new."
It's a big mistake to assume a position of powerlessness at the beginning of sobriety and recovery. The reason why it's such a big mistake is that because people in need of recovery are already in a place of disempowerment, and to plunge further into powerlessness does not provide a solution to the problem.
Of course, seeking a higher power is highly advantageous, but if that higher power is not sought within oneself, there will be no substantial progress. If the higher power is regarded to be an external deity that is not part of oneself, the recovering person will be stuck in a psychological trap of misbelieved and misperceived separation, rather than union with divinity. The Higher Power is the Higher Self, and both are found within. It's that simple.
The ultimate source of power is stillness. The source of all creation comes from inner silence. Energy emerges from the seed of tranquility.
Therefore, a person in recovery must immediately adopt a strategy of merging with stillness—to regain their power, to be restored to full health, and to surpass their former state of being. By adopting such a strategy, a person will become a living organism of stillness in action, and a vessel for the outpouring of divine love.
When a person must let go of something that they've been holding onto for a prolonged period, it can be difficult if that person does not have something new to grab hold of. A person needs something new to grab hold of in order to let go of the old habit, pattern, or object of energized attention. So, with recovery, a person can let go of drugs and alcohol, and immediately start to pick up new habits from the baseline of AYP, with self-pacing applied. This shift is more than a change in belief; it is a change in behavior and neurobiology at the deepest level.
This process of active surrender is not contrary or adversarial to personal will power. This process of active surrender is the epitome and ultimate achievement of personal will power. We are, after all, surrendering to our Self.
The higher power is in us. |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2016 : 8:58:23 PM
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P.S. Since starting massage therapy school and continuing to work a full-time job, my blog writing has decreased significantly. Hopefully, that will change as time and energy become more available. I want AYP for Recovery to be a viable option for anyone interested in shifting gears to a higher plane of functionality, and my blog writing is aimed towards reinforcing that platform of transformation.
On the note of transformation, I will be posting any future blogs in the AYP Plus forum, which is a fantastic improvement to the already amazing public forum here at AYP. Hope to see you there!
Thank you all for reading, and best wishes on your chosen path! |
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lalow33
USA
966 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2016 : 9:09:19 PM
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| You should post the recovery stuff here as well. My opinion. You are free to disregard it. |
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