Sunday, April 3, 2011

Turning Our Ears Around & Getting Cling Free

I am doing two things these days. Eek it's Dharma multi tasking! To start with I have turned my ears around. I know, you'd like to see a picture but I'm afraid you're just going to have to take my word for it.

I have turned them around to facilitate listening to that sense of inner knowing. Okay, the gig's up. It's just a metaphorical turning of the ear. I am talking about listening to the body and the heart.

I am taking an energy healing course and last week saw an energy healer. Now if you think this is all crazy, new age stuff, you'd be..., well let's say that would be your belief. Let's get out the spiritual anti-static dryer sheet and all get cling free. If I were being product specific, I might say let's get some spiritual bounce going here.

As I study the energy of the body I am being reminded how much "information" and wisdom is inside of us, stored in the body in ways we don't know and don't address. The head is one way of knowing. And let me add, there is nothing wrong with what the noggin knows, it is just different from what the heart and the body know. And I am learning more about sensing this inner wisdom, about listening and trusting.

And that brings me to the second part of the equation. I am learning to trust, to trust what happens, to know that it makes sense in some larger version of the world, that it is wider than my small, personal vision. As my friend the Buddhist monk said this morning when we chatted, "something greater is at work here." This is the wonderful, sumptuous, mystery of life. Sometimes we feel exasperated by it, but if we can just appreciate the mystery, there is something quite delicious about the unseen, the unknown. It offers us surprise, amazement and gratitude as rewards. When we allow, interesting synchronistic events move into our line of vision.

So what is up on my Dharma radar is all about listening to the inner wisdom and having faith in what happens. In a way the faith is about acceptance. Byron Katie, in a book I'm reading called "A Thousand Names For Joy" talks about not arguing with what is. It doesn't mean we don't take appropriate action when necessary but we don't cling to "how we think things should be".

And of course in all this there is the good ol' Dharma practice of awareness. To listen to the body and the heart takes practice. You need to be quiet and attentive. So in the spirit of my current Dharma passion, I will be quiet now.

9 comments:

  1. Another sweet post. Another smile to keep in my pocket :) as well as the cling-free sheets, as I also turn towards that deep inner wisdom - and listen for its voice - trusting what I hear - trusting Life.

    I read Byron Katie's book that you mention a while back, but since you mentioned it I've pulled it off the shelf and noticed that it is heavily underlined and marked up in the margins. Must have been good!:) So am going to re-read it.

    Am excited for you on this phase of your journey... C

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  2. Always a good time to listen to that inner voice. I'll be interested to hear how the book seems this time around?

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  3. Letting go of how we think things should be... This actually reminds me of some graffiti I saw last week, it said, "Don't believe what you think!" :o) Dharma Graffiti. But your wise words ring true. This winter I've been doing chakra study and healing, and part of this I've been learning to go quiet, turning more inward. It's exciting when you realize you're trusting yourself! Bounce is a great way to describe it. I don't want to get too attached, though. ;o)

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  4. "...in some larger version of the world." Goodness, I can't tell you how much I love that phrase! Oh wait, I think I just did.

    As a Reiki Master, I work with this sort of thing all the time with clients, although they may not be aware of this...so I liked reading what you're working on.

    For me, I need to work on almost the opposite; I live way too much in my cranium and internal world. I have to learn to integrate that more with the world around me. Trusting my internal dialogue is sacred work, and I'm very in tune with it.

    I just need to balance it so it's not my preferred universe to dwell...but more an attempt to blend it successfully with all that is external to me.

    Isn't the travel of life fascinating?!

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  5. Tracy - Dharma Graffiti, I love that. I have seen this as a bumper sticker, paired with "Honk if you don't exist" The energy healing course I'm taking uses the chakras as part of the practice. Yes it is quite amazing to trust, a different way of being for me.

    Holly - Yes, balance. It's interesting you mention this. When I think about it, those of us who are not inclined in this way, are seeking balance when we embark upon this kind of study. For me, this world of energetics is very different from the head (which I can live in too much). Yes, "the travel of life is fascinating"!

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  6. Beautiful post. I think turning our ears around is a great practice! Although the busy-ness of life often gets in the way, things always go well when I take the time to really listen.

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  7. Well I love this idea...turning the ears around and listening to the inner prompts...great visual.

    "Honk if you don't exist" ain't too shabby either '-)

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  8. Spirit - And it seems there are so many things to get busy with in this modern world of ours. That is one thing I love about our recent move to the country, there are less city distractions to tire me out and use up my time. No TV, more garden time, more art time, more quiet time, ahhhh.

    Merci - Or maybe like a dog their hanging their head out the car window and the wind blows their ears inside out.

    Yeah I love "honk if you don't exist", kind of like a strange koan. Goes well with "don't believe everything you think"!

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  9. I'd love to have that sticker " honk if you don't exist."

    I love what you've mentioned here:
    It doesn't mean we don't take appropriate action when necessary but we don't cling to "how we think things should be".

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