Oooh i didnt realise the clock change either so thank you for the headals up for 24th!! 🙂  i will read asteya this fortnight...i think maybe i already read it! But will read again regardless x

Hello! It has been a while since I've written here. To be honest, 'life', curve balls, and workload have taken the attention.

In the forum we have already noted the first two of 5 Yamas, which are Ahimsa and Satya. Non-harm and truthfulness. 

We can apply these to thoughts, words, and actions.

As well as noting how we may harm or lie to ourselves and others, we can consider how others/media/society lies to and harms us, and the planet.

The next Yamas are Asteya and Bramacharya. Non-stealing and with-self-restraint.

Stealing is not always obvious. Consider how social media steals time and attention; consider how the (petty) dramas of life steal energy and attention too; consider how consumerism steals resources from the planet and communities, as well as thieving your cash flow. Approaching life without taking too much, or allowing ourselves to be taken from, leads to a natural sense of integrity, abundance, and contentment. Remember, while others may seem to have more, and it is tempting to keep playing the game, you are seeking something beyond the game, which is accessed by stilling the mind from ripples, including the ripples of comparison and greed.

Bramacharya is commonly thought of as restraint from sexual activity. But Bramacharya isn't always this overt. Think of Bramacharya as moderation. Moderation in sexual activity, eating, consumption of screens, sleep, buying things etc. You can sense the strong link to Asteya, as all the Yamas are interconnected. If you take too much sex, food, sleep, media, entertainment, idle conversation, alcohol, gaming.... whatever it is.....then you end up depleted! It's a paradox. The senses become over saturated and the energy becomes depleted.  This isn't about a grey existence, this is about a wise existence. If we are constantly pushed towards our preferences, and pulled away from our dislikes, then the mind is always occupied with longing ! Longing for more of this or less of that. Be mindful of your indulgences and moderate them. Be mindful of what you avoid, and sometimes, do what you don't want to do instead of indulging! Bramacharya stops longing, which in turn stills ripples of the mind and provides a sense of natural vitality. And that's exactly what we are aiming for. 🙏 ❤️

Reflections on Asteya and Bramacharya. 

I have noticed, for all the Yamas, that whatever worldly goal (intention) i create around them, the opposite will surge before settling.

For instance, for Ahimsa, the intention was to put non harm before truth. Yet just a day or two later, I found a tirade of truth leaving the body (!), directed at another, which visibly shocked the other person and me!

I take this as an opportunity. Life is showing me what I have inside of me. What the character is capable of. So, do you want to operate from impulses, joys, and sufferings of the character, or are you wanting to operate from elsewhere? If life does not show me what the character is capable of, then there is continued ignorance which will bite back later.

Asteya and Bramacharya have  given a suprise lesson. The assumption was to let go of unhelpful behaviour. But what actually happened was less helpful behaviour. The mind had become rigid and was pushing for more, more, more worldly pursuits, in terms of occupational, physical, and scheduling achievements. Rather than living in the moment with True guidance nudging action along, a fevered thirst for more took over. The mind became hooked into a thought stream of achievement. This is not a bad thing but it meant there was little awareness of a bigger picture. Character identity solidified. Where character solidifies there can often be a level of stress, anxiety, unease, and disconnection, or, seperation.

This is a balance that needs continual mindfulness. Because there is nothing wrong with the experience of striving and there is nothing wrong with the stress of worldly demands. But where is attention operating from during these experiences? If attention is bound with worldly pursuits, is it because the direction came from a sense of expansive right action, or is it because the character was avoiding difficult feelings (eg of fear, invisibility, unworthiness etc).

That's all for now folks, these are just musings of a mind. The mind loves to think 😆. Consciousness loves to exist. Realisations seem to grow and wane. Everything is breathing; contracting and expanding. Patterns within patterns. Enjoy the ride! 😎 💕

Next shiny things on 5 May. Its a reflection on the five Yamas, which together comprise the first of the eight limbs of yoga. 

There is no shiny things in the sanctuary on 19 May as the sanctuary will be on retreat. 💕

On 21 April we reviewed the chapter on Aparigraha, without-greed. The below is a summary/paraphrase of the authors words:

Author Bhava Ram gave a stark eye witness account of how little some people have; a pair of toddlers living inside a rubbish dump in the Phillipines. Fending for themselves, in competition with adults and animals for scraps, likely to soon be met with illness they will die from, becoming the food for the animals.

In comparison, how much we have. How self centred we prove ourselves to be by wanting more more more. Economies and societies and individual lives, based on greed. 

We are living from the senses, ego, and conditioning; we are focussed on petty concerns and desire. It is so easy to forget that we are part of a humanity. If our families, neighbours, associates, friends, and co workers are all living in the paradigm of material gain, then it's no wonder we are swept away in it too. Stuffing our bellies, homes, and lives with obesity on every level. 

We take too much. What can we give away willingly? And when gifting items to charity is initially met with resistance, when you hand over the items, does the resistance  disappear like a mist that never was?

Give thanks for what we do have. All is a blessing. By serving others, we come to know the truth of the oneness of humankind.

Note from Claire: use your guidance. If you force giving away material things, then you may be doing so for an ego outcome. A better life?  A better self image ? It may or may not bring you those things, so let go of expectations and give without reward. If you are concerned about giving, then start smaller and see how you go. 

Thank you everyone for being here, listening in, or participating in the live zooms. 

On Sunday 5 May we had a summary of the five Yamas. I also read "Persistence and self honesty" by Shawn Nevins, and a short reading that was spontaneously written by me.

The general message of both is to keep going!!!

Ups and downs; round in circles; flip flopping as Roger Castillo calls it; contracting, expanding endlessly; breathing realisation out and in!

It doesn't matter where you think you are at, the inescapable truth is that you have started the journey, and it's not a journey you can abandon. Even if you try to abandon it, or forget, press pause, desire something else, or beg for the ride to stop so that you can get off.... It won't stop!... and somehow you spontaneously find yourself back on the path. Sometimes with a great amount of agonising in between.

If you despair, you are on the right path. If there is confusion, you are on the right path. If you doubt, you are on the right path. 

Why? 

Because if you doubt, you are seeking are seeking firmer ground, something you can trust. Its there. Keep going.  If you are confused, you are seeking something that is clear that cannot be questioned, something True. It is there! Keep going! If you despair, you will not settle and the journey is pushed on. Keep going! 

We may be using a thorn a remove a thorn (Ramana Maharishi), but that doesn't matter.

The mind will always create another story, usually in the form of a problem or a lack of ego identity self worth. This is the thing to watch for. 

Remember Sutra 1.2? "Yogas citta vritti nirodhah"

"Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind"

The Yamas help us to stop throwing pebbles into a still and vast expanse of water. It is the beginning of cessation of fluctuations.

Keep going!!

There is no shiny things on 19 May. See you two weeks after that. We will be commencing the Niyamas.

🕉️☯️☪️☸️✝️🪯✡️🌳💖🤟

Hello there. A person I shall call 'lovely soul' reached out to me after reading the next chapter on Saucha (purity).

Lovely soul takes a few medications to make a painful condition liveable. The book suggests that these are toxic and should be abandoned.

This is a good example of where, in terms of the book and it's suggestions, you must take what works for you, and leave the rest. 

Bhava Ram has written a good introductory text, but it is an introduction. Some of the book seems to be aimed at 'level 1', such as suggestions to avoid gossip and toxic detergents. But the suggestion to abandon medication doesn't seem like level 1 work to me. 

I don't have an opinion about medication but I do have a theory that I could only ever apply to myself. Where there has been a persistent condition in my body that limited daily function, I took medication to enable participation in life. Once I came off one medication, I came up with the theory that the path had become too intense, and the medication had paused the journey and provided some relief (not that there's a pause 😆). Perhaps the body had become Ill because the healing needed a guide and I didn't have one, and was not at the point of guiding myself. Perhaps it happened because I was resisting the journey and insisting on navigating from conditioning, rather that naturalness. Or perhaps it's some kind of karma...I am housed in a physical body that has a genetic mutation, so there was never any avoiding it. Who knows ? And perhaps it simply that, no matter what we are, in this manifestation, it's packaged in a physical form which is subject to some unavoidable laws of physics, chemistry and biology.

I do hear a lot about people manifesting their healing. Joe Dispenza and the Gaia crew talk about it a lot. And I'm sure it happens for some. But what if it happens for them because it was always going to happen for them ? Discovering healing and 'manifesting' it is part of their journey. Does that mean it's potentially a part of everyone's journey? That's just another thing that I don't have an answer to 😆 

One thing I do know, is that without living through years of discomfort, persistent limiting symptoms, and feeling marginalised and 'gaslit ' by clinicians, I wouldn't be able to do the job i have now. 

I always have and always wanted to walk with others on their healing journey. What kind of a practitioner could I be if I had not been in those shoes ?  And I tell you what, noone is broken. We constantly want to fix ourselves and fix others and do better. But for what we share at Awakening Together to be True, then the wholeness and completeness and perfection must necessarily be present, always.

So medication or no medication, I can guarantee you that where you're at is 💯 perfect. You are at exactly where you are supposed to be at. Trust you. Trust the journey. All is well. Keep going!!

✝️🕉️☯️☸️☪️✡️🪯🌳💖🤟

Since I last posted, we have read the chapters on Saucha (purity of body and mind) and Santosha (contentment).

Last weekend 14 July 2024, we read the chapter on Tapas. I commented that discipline seems to be the binding of the other Yamas and Niyamas. Because without disciplining the wayward thinking mind, we get into unhelpful patterns. For instance, "just one wine on a weekday won't hurt" could turn into a habit, and that in itself is not a problem, as long as the thinking mind doesn't then chastise itself . We could all give examples of toxic relationships with people, food, alcohol, shopping, screen time, sleep, recreational or prescribed drugs, that we feel aren't quite the correct fit, but we carry on in erroneous patterns. 

  The same is true for erroneous thought patterns about ourselves or others. Comparisons, dashed expectations, resentment, lack of worth, hopelessness, rejection etc etc.  and these can be more subtle than the actual behaviours that accompany them.

So, we do need discipline to overcome the thinking mind and habit patterns. 

"Austerity, self control, performance of duty without attachment - these are the body of that knowledge (of Brahman). The Vedas are it's limbs. Truth is it's very soul"

From page 33, The Upanishads, the breath of the eternal, Swami Prabhavananda and Frederick Manchester.

"The goal of worldly desire, the glittering objects for which all men long, the celestial pleasures they hope to gain by religious rites, the most sought after of miraculous powers- all these were within grasp. But all these, with firm resolve, thou hast renounced. The ancient, effulgent being, the indwelling Spirit, subtle, deep hidden in the lotus of the heart, is hard to know. But the wise man, following the path of meditation, knows him, and is freed from pleasure and pain"...." The gates of Joy stand open". 

From pg 17 and 18 same book. Included here because of reference to Shiny Things! 😀 

Sometimes we have to do something the thinking mind doesn't want to do. Trust. Follow inner guidance. We are all stepping in the right direction, just by being curious about all this. But just reading a recipe does not make the cake. Let's get baking. Together!

Feel free to post any personal reflections. I've more to say but work beckons. Go well X X X 😘 

Hello there!

It's been a while!

We moved on from tapas to the final niyamas of Svadhysya and Ishwara Pranidhana....

... which means self study/reflection and 'surrender'.

Depending on where we are at, those will look different to different people.

But in general, self study and reflection could mean contemplating a book of traditional scripture, spiritual wisdom, no matter the tradition , e.g., Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta, Islam, Jainism etc. Dedicated time to do this on a daily basis would form a Sadhana. Even five minutes daily is a big step there. It's helpful to have an intention to learn, or understand, or for the teachings to infuse you. 

Awakening Together offer many free and low cost programs to enable Svadhyaya. 

Surrender could mean putting attention on a deity or Guru such as Ganesha, JC, or Buddha, and aspiring to operate from that locus. It could mean a space in your home, body, or thoughts, that is dedicated to remembering the divine, such as an altar, heart, or mental mantra. Read the book or read up online for other ideas on Ishwara Pranidhana. 

We have now completed the first two limbs of Raja yoga, Yamas and Niyamas.

We keep coming back to these over and over. We may notice the similarities to guidance offered in other traditions. Like everything else, over time they become a natural part of life. Sometimes we meander away. We come back. 

Keep going 💪 😀! 💕 

I've read some great books while reading this one with you.

The first was The Upanishads, or at least some translated excerpts. Nice to percolate. I think it might have revealed some deeper understanding 🥳 Lots of phrases are repeated in the book, but the one for me is "lotus of the the heart". The awakened heart is truly abiding and I recommend Regina's Ramana MPP course if you want to know that. 

The second was The Hardest Problem, which asks how do we consolidate the idea of a 'good' God and the reality of suffering. I can't say I understood all of that book, as it used some academic terms and relied on me having a thorough understanding of new and old testament. But the themes resonated with Advaita. And it led me to the third book ...

A Grief Observed by CS Lewis. Very good. I will be recommending it to people living with bereavement, which is a lot of people. I intend to read some of CS Lewis' earlier spiritual musings. Apparently he was much more confident of his knowing and faith before his wife passed. Then as he says, his house of cards fell down. Everything he took to be sure was shattered into smitherines. That happens to all of us doesn't it? Whether it's greiving a loved one, becoming disabled by illness, losing a home and all of our material security and income. Life shatters us over and over. We build another house of cards. Down it comes. Ummm, well you'll have to read the book. But eventually the author takes comfort that his faith remains...it's just that he understands less. Like Adyashanti said, something like.....you can know the mystery, but it's still a mystery. 

I had some events recently that didn't just pick away at old wounds, it ripped the whole darn giant scab right off to leave a gaping, painful, pussing wound. The sense of injustice was enormous. I had to decide whether to stand for a sense of right not wrong, or to walk away and not get involved with the worldly concerns. Walked away. I'm still not sure if I have just repressed that wound. Perhaps if I had stood for the sense of fairness rather than rolled over, it would have meant a different outcome to usual and healed the wound ? Doesn't matter now. In fact I can simultaneously mentally curse the other involved, while knowing they are me 😆. In the grand manifestation of shiny things, it does not matter, because it's all one great big blob of happening. And the human gets to learn greater discernment. The human also got a very clear view of the insidiousness (judgment 😜) of a capitalist mindset, where the individual is merely an opportunity for profit by another individual. Where those who have most shiny things, from those with less. (You can't take my shiny heart 💛) . Seperation at it's finest 😆 Still, on this personal journey over here, it's clear that my programming is different from that programming, and everyone is operating on programming. We love to take things personally... "How dare you!". But where are we looking from?  You can only look from where you're at. No right no wrong way to look. 

I know what I want. That's where your aspiration steps in. What do you really want ? 🤔 Do you want to know or do you want the shiny things? I want them both! Do I really have to sacrifice one for the other ? There is nothing to sacrifice when you show yourself to me. You are the things. 👁️