Awareness

Well, not long after my six month anniversary of being seizure free (meaning I could drive again for a few days) I had a partial seizure this evening. Oh well, I’m apparently not quite ready to be free of them. Anyway, I wanted to share some other information that I had recently come across that I found quite powerful.

The first is a quote someone passed along by an author named Rosenburg (not an exact quote), “Behind every criticism, judgement, or blame resides an unexpressed or unfulfilled need or want.” This reminds us to be present and aware of how you are feeling as often as possible. I am planning on reading “Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life” by Jon Kabat-Zinn to help increase my awareness of the present moment. On a similar note, while trying to incubate a dream on being granted the power of presence, I had some simple advice come to me: Think before you say something and don’t let an unkind word out of your mouth.

Some ideas have come to me, while I’m on the subject, regarding mindfulness and not getting hung up in the future or past events. Everything you’ve done to this point was absolutely necessary to your survival. Look back for guidance but don’t have regrets about it. Everything in the future will turn out just as it’s supposed to, so don’t waste energy with needless worry.

Finally, I have been exposed to the concept of Ho’oponopono (an old form of Hawaiian healing that translates into “to make right” or “to rectify an error”) from several places now and recently missed a local workshop on the subject. However, the a recent article I read in the October issue of Natural Awakenings magazine sums up the concept quite well.

Taking responsibility for all that happens and taking action when trouble spots arise are at the fundamental core of the practice (which brings us back to awareness). I would recommend reading this article if you can, but it is not currently on their website. So, in the meantime I will try to hit the highlights of what’s covered. The article makes comparisons between how we function and how computers function.

“In Ho’opononopono, a physical symptom (pain or disease) or an emotional symptom (judgement or upset) appears to an individual–causing the person to stop and pay attention; this serves as the clue that a cleansing process is needed... When the person agrees to do the cleansing, he or she makes it possible to clear the way for whatever bigger processing is needed to take the next step...”

“How does the Ho’oponopono cleansing process work then? Well, for one thing, each individual is only allowed to work on their own system/computer/internal memory. Whenever a clue shows up on the “screen” of a person’s mind, the “owner” walks it through a 3 step process of repentance (“I’m sorry”), forgiveness (“please forgive me”) and transmutation (“I love you”), which thereby effectively transmutes the stored memory (bad file) back into blank, reusable disk space and opens the same space for positive function...”

“The first two steps of repentance and forgiveness are directed at both the person experiencing the pain and the one who triggered it (and is very likely being blamed for it). ‘I’m sorry...that I accused you, that I have been subservient to this stored replaying memory and keeping myself back/down, that I have taken it out on you and on myself as I now realize we are both innocent victims of bad files...’ So ‘please forgive me for operating from this subconscious/unconscious place and interfering with my own progress as well as making your life uncomfortable/unhappy.’ The third step, also for the benefit of all parties with similar stored memories, adds the missing ingredient/energy/cleansing to all ow the transmutation to be complete: ‘I love you...for you are the same as I am...both subject to the patterns/memories of our pasts from which we have heretofore not known how to free ourselves and now have the choice/knowledge/process to change that and move into the place of oneness and dissolve our differences, remembering and embracing our lack of separateness.’”

I had to read parts of the article a few times to get it, but I feel a bit better about dealing with my life as a result (and not sweating the little things) so I wanted to share it with you as well. Keep me posted on your experiences as well.
Take care,
Trey

PS - If you want more info on Ho’oponopono or the magazine I mentioned, see the links below.
http://www.hooponopono.org/
http://www.naturalawakeningsmag.com/