The Oprah Winfrey Show
Harpo Films
For One More Day
The Great Debaters
O, The Oprah Magazine
O at Home
Oprah & Friends
Oprah's Angel Network
Oprah's Book Club
Hello Dear Friends,
Thank you to all the people who have contributed their gratitude comments, which made for a truly beautiful and inspiring reading. While reading the comments, I felt a wonderful surge of energy. I was reminded, this morning in the shower, of that energy, when the words of a song came into my mind, "...What the world needs now is love sweet love..." I truly feel that by voicing our gratitude, even for the simple things, we are scattering love around the world. Surely, by showing your gratitude, you have extended your love to me and to all the other readers. What a blessing you have bestowed upon us! I am grateful for your blessings and the love that we are spreading to make this world a better place...for what the world needs now is love sweet love...
With the completion of chapter eight, we have entered the timeless realm of love, which is inner space. It is a realm of consciousness that cannot be understood through the intellect. Words merely point to that state of consciousness, that stillness. The keys that open the doors to that omnipresence of Love are acceptance, awareness and feeling. Love is not a concept. Love is the felt oneness with the totality of Life. The key word here is "felt". Love or inner space can only be known through experiencing, through feeling it within. Out of that feeling, that connection, arises your true purpose - which is to love, to let love flow into everything you do. In other words, being the space for everything that arises.
Cielo1 writes, "...I read that you teach tai chi and yoga to release the trapped energy in the body. I love practicing yoga, and I would like to get some pointers on how to allow the energy to flow and grow still awareness during the positions."
Any movement, whether it is Yoga, Qi Gong, Tai' Chi, walking (preferably brisk), running, jogging, etc., moves and activates the flow of energy. However, any movement done without awareness (presence) is only an exercise of the physical body. Such exercise or movement is usually a means to an end. Movement (yoga, or other exercises), if practiced with present moment awareness, not only begins to release the stagnant energy within the body and activate the flow of chi (energy), but can also be a portal into stillness, into inner space. Your primary practice in yoga or any movement or exercise should be Presence. That is primary, and the movement is secondary. In other words, most of your attention should be turned inward. Become aware of your breathing, of sensations in the body (not just at the start of your practice, but throughout). Accept what is, be totally in the present moment, without labeling, judging, comparing or criticizing yourself or others. If thoughts arise, notice them; then return your attention to your breath and energy body.
This is what I teach in my Presence through Movement TM workshops and retreats: using the physical form - the body - in order to access the formless dimension within ourselves, the state of consciousness that is Presence. In addition, there are yoga poses designed to release the old accumulated emotional energy trapped within the connective tissues of the body. The Qi Gong helps to restore the original natural life energy within, and also stimulates and opens the body's energy channels. Combining the two modalities, Qi Gong and Yoga, into a Presence-infused movement brings about a harmonious synthesis of action and stillness.
Priyav73 asks for clarification on last week's session with Oprah and Eckhart regarding love, loss, attachment to the form and the light of consciousness shining through the form. Priyav73 asks, "...how does one cope with the loss of a loved one, I feel my attachment to the form of my father and uncle is real, not altogether created by my ego..."
Eckhart last session used the analogy, "...a person's life is like a tapestry, which consists of all kinds of things that one identifies with...when a great loss happens...a huge hole is left in the tapestry...and that is painful when you identify with the tapestry (the form)...behind the tapestry, there's a light that shines through...that's why you can even see your life (the tapestry)...without the light of consciousness, nothing would be...when you don't resist this hole that has suddenly appeared in the tapestry of your life...there is suddenly peace...peace comes when the emptiness that is left behind when a form has dissolved is not resisted internally." Eckhart also said, "...even in true love, there is usually a little bit of attachment to the form..." However, if the attachment is too strong, you will not be able to sense the light of consciousness. That is to say, your primary connection has then been with the physical form (the person) rather than the true essence of the individual, formless consciousness. As you mentioned, "I feel my attachment....is real..." Yes, the attachment is real. Sadness over a loss of a loved one is not suffering if the sadness is accepted completely. Suffering happens when we expect life to be something more and different than what it is in the present moment. When we let go of all expectations, there is peace. We cope with loss through non-resistance to what is. So when your sadness arises, you accept and feel it completely. Through the acceptance of what is, the light of consciousness shines through the empty space left behind by the form that has dissolved. Remember, all forms are impermanent; the love within your father, your uncle and yourself is eternal.
Dies w asks, "...I have currently started using a mantra meditation (via School of Philosophy). However, it seems to be contradictory to use a sound, the mantra, to 'arrive' at silence. It is called a 'vehicle to silence'. Could you give some advice on this?..."
Using a mantra allows your attention to become one pointed so that it doesn't get drawn into every thought that arises. In the same way, awareness of the breath or inner body is used to draw your attention away from the thinking mind so that the stillness within can be revealed. Therefore, the use of a technique or "vehicle" is fine; however, a time comes when we must leave the "vehicle" behind. A mantra (or any technique) can be helpful up to a point. At some stage, however, it needs to be dropped, otherwise it becomes an obstacle. When the mantra is dropped, only the stillness (pure consciousness) remains. The mantra has then served its purpose. Some people don't need a mantra. They go to the stillness directly. It depends on the individual.
Cielo1 writes, "...I really was stirred by this subject of the ever-changing nature of things. In the last weeks it has become so clear how there is always going to be 'something up', whether it is no money to pay bills, or kids are sick or I don't feel good about my body, or somebody else's drama comes to my attention, and this cycle might repeat itself or something else comes up. In a way this feels like an awakening from this idea that once some 'problem is resolved', money is made or I have the perfect body, or even once I reach a certain level of awakening 'things will be good'. Rather, I feel some kind of hopelessness in this realization. Do you have any insights in this?..."
To arrive at hopelessness, as you have, is good. Congratulations! It means you are awakening from the dream. The dream of what? Your life as you think it should be.
You have realized that there is no perfect life situation. The expectation of a "perfect life" is an illusion. This illusion is the cause of great suffering in people. Now you have become "dis-illusioned", which is surely a good thing. You can now stop looking for fulfillment where it cannot be found: in your life-situation, and realize that true fulfillment is already here when you align yourself internally with the present moment.
Dolphin773 says, "...In the beginning of labor I can be present and be with my breathing and in my body. Basically I can handle it and I feel at peace and I feel focused. But at the end of the labor usually in the last two hours I feel out of control with the pain. It is so intense I cannot accept it and I feel like I cannot go on anymore. Would you suggest I try an epidural this time for the last half of labor? I was thinking that maybe I simply need it to cut the pain in half I am hoping and help me get through that hard end part of the labor? Or do you have some other advice for me on how to cope with the last part of labor..."
Can you become aware of your own projection of the future? Your expectation, imagination and anticipation of the last two hours of childbirth, the so called intolerable pain, is causing your distress, anxiety and fear. Here is a true story about projecting into future events. I recall at one of the ten day silent retreats I attended, I shared a room with a woman who had asthma. When she slept, she made a gasping sound. The sound was so loud that it woke me up and kept me from sleeping. However, I decided that I would not complain, but use the intensely loud noise and sleepless nights as my spiritual practice. There were several meditation sittings throughout the day. However, there were two meditations that I would not attend because those were the hours that I slept, from 9:00 to 11:00 PM and 5:00 to 7:00 AM. During the rest of the night, I would lie awake in bed, cursing and trying to practice presence. Night after night this went on, until the second to last night of the ten day retreat. I was lying in bed, between 9:00 and 11:00 PM, desperately trying to fall asleep. My mind was racing with thoughts such as, "I'll never get any sleep tonight, I should have asked for another room, screw this spiritual practice crap, and so on." Suddenly, I realized that my thoughts were of the future. It was one of those aha moments, when I heard a thought, unlike the usual thoughts that were going through my head that night. It said, "How do you know that you won't get any sleep tonight? Maybe she won't be as loud or maybe you won't hear anything. Maybe you will sleep." The next thing I knew, I woke up the next morning in time to join my roommate and others for the 5:00 am meditation hour.
Does this mean you won't have any labor pain? I doubt it. However, the pain may not be as intense as you experienced last time. It's possible that you may ease through this child birthing experience, relatively speaking, without even asking for painkillers or an epidural. The point, however, is, nobody knows the future moment until it arrives. I do know, though, when I stopped projecting into the future and became present in the moment, my life situation wasn't anything that I had imagined (feared) it to be.
Regarding your experience, "...During labor I really felt sorry for myself and angry my husband didn't have this pain but that I had to alone feel this pain to give us both a child..." In that moment, I believe it is called "transition," women often feel intense pain, anger or some kind of emotional upset. I recall slapping my husband across the face. Only when that moment arrives, transition, will you know whether or not to relieve the pain of labor through continued breathing, drugs or an epidural. In your previous two childbirths, you managed without it. Remember, the saying, in ANE and last session's webinar class, "this too shall pass." Childbirth is such a beautiful and sacred experience. It was the birth (labor and all) of my child that started my deeper journey to God.
In closing, I am grateful for my beautiful view of the nearby forest, the sound of chirping outside my window as I write these words, and the golden silence between the intermittent song of the bird. I would like to leave you with these words that Eckhart said last webinar session, "Feel yourself as life, rather than a person. You are Life experiencing itself temporarily as this person."
Be well...be in peace...
Kim Eng
© 2008, Kim Eng
Asked the energy body and it said this:
Thank you again for opening my heart.
Dear Kim! That was beautiful. "This too shall pass." That is very helpful. I like what you said about me thinking it will be the same. It may not and I will know what to do during that time, not right now. I thank you for your comments for me. I am so happy these thoughts have really helped out.