Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Here Comes the Blog...
(Picture of Randy Pausch, (not my dad.)) Little darling...here comes the blog...and I said, it's alright...
So, how is everyone out in cyberspace? OK, first I have to tell a funny story about the unlimited potential of mindlessness.
This really happened to me. Every once and a while, I imagine these "things" will stop happening, but the wheel just seems to keep turning and turning and turning, and...
So, last week in Yoga class, one of the students invited me to his 60th birthday party. He's been attending Yoga with me for the past year and a half and it's been amazing to witness each other's transformation through the self-reflecting mirror of our connection/consciousness...
I thought when he gave me the invitation he said the party was this past weekend. He actually gave me two invitations, so I figured it would be fun to bring someone with me. I meditated about it and decided to bring a friend of mine who is on one of the local television stations in Dallas. (It's funny that you know this just so you know he and I don't really know each other that well.) I know him from my appearances in Yoga segments on that station.
I thought it would be a great idea to invite him because it would open us up to a new "pathway of flow" as Shiva would say. Something different, something unusual, something out of the ordinary, i.e. box. So, the day before the party I e-mailed him and asked him if he had plans for Saturday night. He informed me he didn't, and so we made the plans to go to this party together.
Saturday night came, and he came to my house and we went to the party. When we got to the guard house, the guard seemed confused about the party we were talking about. After a few moments, she called their house to see if they were, in fact, having a party. No answer. So, she asked me, "Are you sure the party is tonight?" "Um, no." I said. So, she looks at the invitation I had handed her and she says, "It's not until May 10th." "Oh...great....thanks!" I replied.
Moral of the story. Was I embarassed? For like, one moment, which was probably one moment too long. Of course I laughed it off and pretended not to be. "Well, what do you want to do?" The funny part is, the night which I had "planned" not to be "a date" with my friend...ended up being a sort of "date" because I was mindless and didn't know "the date" of the party I was going to. Not coincidentally, it had just so happened to be his birthday the day before, and I didn't even know it. So, the party mishap, turned into a spontaneous (sahaja) birthday celebration with/for my friend. You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you find you get what you need. Amen.
We ended up grabbing a bite to eat, and then we went to this sushi restaurant in Dallas, Sushi Sapporo, gotta give it props, it was great times, and we sang karaoke. It was slightly tortorous being at a sushi restauarant considering I haven't eaten any fish since the middle of March....phhheewww...it's been a little intense. I'm learning a lot about breathing into this release.
Anyway, it was an awesome evening. I had the best time being mindless and spontaneous...I highly recommend it. Innocent mindlessness is just that...innocent. So, let your mind go...relax...breathe...do whatever you need to do to enjoy life...as long as it's in moderation most of the time. Once in a while, we're bound to slip a little, it happens. Maybe it's kind of like when we were kids...when we think we've slipped, we're actually sliding...remember that thing... Slip n' Slide? It's funny...because I loved that thing...remember? The yellow banana looking thing you put in the backyard and ran your garden hose over? Then, you would run...excuse me..."balls-to-the wall" and slide your ass off as far as you could. That was great stuff. And, the interesting thing, was I only liked it at certain places. Actually, ironically enough, one of my childhood friends who I haven't talked to in almost ten years, just reconnected with me. I liked it at his house, in his backyard. That's one of the only places I can really remember enjoying it that much. And, I think it had nohting to do with the "Slip n' Slide" it had everything to do with who I was slipping and sliding with. Wow, life is a miracle when we realize how sweet it is, the love that's been in our life since we breathed our first breath, and even before. I mean, that's been something I've been realizing...how important it is that our mother, and father, (if he happened to be there,) sent us loving energy and vibrations when we were in the womb. Some children aren't blessed with this love and affection from the moment of conception. They don't always know it in their immediate family. No wonder why Jesus taught the essential teaching of loving our neighbor as we love ourself. This is the only truth which will bring healing to the planet.
So, I have some knews to share. At first, I thought it might be a really heavy post. Then, I remembered over the past couple of day, God is so amazing. Every hardship we face is really his Grace disguised. It becomes visible to us when we accept our situation or reality. And, it requires faith to accept what we are given. When we invest our hearts in loving the One who loved us into existence, we realize that Love is eternally with us.
Jesus said to him, “‘you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37 – 40)
And, so, I've learned I must be authentic. It can be scary to be authentic, at times, because what if people don't have your best interest at heart? And, at the same time, I believe, when we follow the teachings of Jesus, or ultimately, of Universal Law, then we are taken care of beyond our wildest dreams. It is all Good...because it is all a dream. ;)
I found out this past Monday that my father, who had his kidney removed almost two years ago,(with a tumor in it) was diagnosed with having "spots" on his lungs. I have already been enlightened by the Grace of God, his unyielding and unconditional love, in more ways than I could have ever imagined in the past 48 hours. This diagnosis is not negative news. It is the opportunity for awakening, as Eckhart Tolle talks about in A New Earth, when we accept the return movement we will all make in our life.
Have I cried? Yes, a lot. In fact, just writing this right now brings tears to my eyes and a swelling over of love and emotion in my heart . I didn't teach today at all. I couldn't. And, I'm writing this right now because I can't sleep at the moment. Yesterday, I taught three classes...miraculously...in my first two classes I was blessed with the incredible opportunity to share my experience with the class. This was one of the most healing experiences I've ever known...to be this open...this authentic...this in the moment with mySelf and with their Self.
Two years ago when my dad had his kidney removed, I was not comfortable enough with mySelf to be able to communicate openly with my father about his experience. I mean, yes, of course we talked when he was in the hospital, the day of the operation, but leading up to it, I held back, I suppose I was intimidated and scared by the whole thing.
I'm realizing one of the most healing forces available to us, beyond breath and stillness, is communion, i.e. communication with one another, from that connected place called Presence. When we are fully present, i.e. not consumed with fear, anxiety, insecurity, etc., etc. we literally open ourselves up to the Grace of God. Resist not and accept all. That reminds me of the Rumi poem which I have to post. Before I post that, I want to share something with you from Oprah. It's been incredible to witness her transformation as she's grown through this experience with reading and studying A New Earth, and sitting in Satsang with Eckhart Tolle for 10 weeks. I've watched each episode...it's incredible. She featured a short segment on today's show about Randy Pausch.
I'm sure you are familiar with Randy Pausch, a popular professor at Carnegie Mellon University. When this 47 year old husband and father of 3, learned he was dying of pancreatic cancer, Randy gave his last lecture which became an internet sensation viewed by millions around the globe. His lecture, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" became the #1 best selling book in the United States, called, "The Last Lecture."
"I am dying soon. And, I am choosing to have fun today, tomorrow and every day I have left. Because if you lead your life the right way, the Karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you." - Randy Pausch
(Interesting, that my father, and his brother, both attended Carnegie Mellon.)
My favorite quote from this episode of Oprah today was actually by Dr. Oz. (No, I don't watch Oprah every day, just in moments of Divine timing.)
"The biggest lesson of all, for I think a lot of us who've gotten to know you through your work and the great book, is that hope is not about a good outcome... Hope is about making sense about what's going on in life. Randy, you shined a very bright light on a deep, narrow, dark ravine we have to go through at the end of our lives. That beautiful part of our human existence we often forget about. Thank you for that." - Dr. Oz
“And now these three remain:
faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” - I Corinthians 13:13
Phhheewwww....ok, I'm think I'm going to sign off for the night, before I get washed away by my tears. Thank you, Heavenly Father, both in the Manifest and Unmanifest, the Physical and Spiritual, the Eternal and Paternal, for all the blessings you bestow and have bestowed upon my life. I humbly bow to You.
Namaste...
p.s.- stay tuned for a blog about The Guru Pitka...may we each awaken to the Guru within us...Read more
posted by Leanne @ 11:09 PM 
