Archive for June, 2008
Monday, June 9th, 2008
Just Sitting
As heady as all of these words might strike us, pointing to Infinity is fairly simple. In fact, everything is Infinity, so there is no way to avoid it. Knowing this deeply, all things change to reflect our realization, and we begin to inhabit a different place of being. Just sitting still ignites a mysterious [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Chapter 6 - Practice by Michael McAlister
Sunday, June 8th, 2008
Sit Still, Be Quiet
Unfortunately for our greedy egos, awakening to an enlightened perspective cannot happen without stillness. You might be one of those exceedingly rare individuals who awakens without the support of either a teacher or a regular stillness practice. But the Enlightenment that the mystics and sages speak about can only ever show up through stillness. As [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Chapter 6 - Practice by Michael McAlister
Saturday, June 7th, 2008
Avoidance vs. Stillness
There is a difference between consciously aligning our lives from stillness and not feeling any need to get out of bed in the morning. A commitment to stillness doesn’t mean that we should absolve ourselves of any directed activity. This is simple laziness, which is nothing other than avoidance, and avoidance is an attachment to [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Chapter 6 - Practice by Michael McAlister
Friday, June 6th, 2008
In Body: Stillness
The meditative mind is silent. It is beyond thought…[T]he meditative mind is the religious mind—the mind that is not touched by the church, the temples or by chants… Meditation is not a means to an end. It is both the means and the end.
—J. Krishnamurthi
Be still and know that I am God.
—Psalm 46
In walking just [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Chapter 6 - Practice by Michael McAlister
Friday, June 6th, 2008
Let Go of Even More
It can be helpful to know that, regardless of our situation, whenever we make a decision, we always have three options: 1) we can leave the circumstance, 2) we can act to change the circumstance, or 3) we can completely surrender to the circumstance. There really isn’t anywhere else we can possibly go. Even if [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Chapter 6 - Practice by Michael McAlister
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
Let Go
A practitioner at a retreat that I was leading challenged me to simplify Awakening into as few words as possible.
Amazing, I thought silently, we are always looking for ways to speed up the process. Of course, I was including myself in this commentary since I had asked basically the same question of my teacher some [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Chapter 6 - Practice by Michael McAlister
Monday, June 2nd, 2008
The Stream
A teacher once told me that real spiritual practice was analogous to quieting life’s stream. Meditation begins to slow the flow of everything in our lives. As the rush of life’s stream begins to lose intensity, we can observe the stones upon the riverbed that impede the free and unobstructed flow of our living. As [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Chapter 6 - Practice by Michael McAlister
Sunday, June 1st, 2008
In Mind: Surrender
Repeating ‘Thou, Thou,’ I became Thou in me, no ‘I’ remained.
—The Mundaka Upanishad
Things are not as they appear, nor are they otherwise.
—The Lankavatara Sutra
Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense! What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained?
—Rabindranath Tagore
Several traditions equate surrender with renunciation. This is an [...]
