1. Purpose of the newsletter
Our newsletter is designed to serve the community of private
individuals and professionals who have the desire to cultivate
a life of clarity, compassion, and creativity. Your interaction
and feedback is encouraged.
Please contact us at: seishindo@seishindo.org.
The main premises woven through our newsletters, are:
a) There is a Greater
Intelligence/God-mind present in our world that we all
have access to and that manifests for each of us in multiple
ways.
b) The web of life that
is created by each heartfelt connection between two individuals,
and the proliferation of respect and caring amongst communities
of people throughout the world, offers us abundant sources
of inspiration, support, and sustenance.
c) Our bodies, are highly
intelligent, and a source of great intuition and wisdom, once
we learn how to better attend to them.
d) Every challenging situation
we encounter has multiple high quality solutions. As we explore
how to listen deeply and acknowledge how little we really
know, we will discover how to embody a life of courage, creativity,
and humility.
In general this newsletter will espouse the theories and practices
of Seishin-do. To find out more about Seishindo please go
to: http//www.seishindo.org.
2. Musings
In our first newsletter I want to explore how the quality
of the life we live, is based upon the learning we derive
from our experiences. I know that for myself, it is sometimes
easy to feel that "Life has taught me some tough lessons,
and the scars do not heal easily." When I find myself thinking
such thoughts it usually means that I have fallen into the
trap of believing that "It is "only natural" that an "X" type
event or relationship, will lead to a "Y" type response."
In other words, "Based on a certain difficult set of circumstances,
the most likely outcome will tend to be negative."
At other times it becomes apparent that if I had somehow learned
something different from a particular challenging situation,
that the quality of my life would be much more rewarding.
3. Examples of Embodied Spirit
In working with a new client who was struggling with alcoholism,
we spent our first session with the client telling me in detail
how he had come to live such an unhealthy debilitating life.
In short my client said: "Both my parents were alcoholics,
and both of them were physically abusive to me. I grew up
never knowing what bad thing would happen next. I learned
from my parents that the best way to not have to feel the
pain and uncertainty of life was to escape into an altered
state of alcohol induced euphoria." When listening to a client
tell such a sad story, it is easy to believe that their situation
was all but preordained by their upbringing.
As fate would have it, a week after beginning to work with
this client, I went to a Chamber of Commerce luncheon to hear
an inspirational speaker discuss how we can live our life
fully, and succeed in times of hardship. The talk was geared
to business situations, and indeed the speaker was truly inspirational.
When the talk was over I waited around to thank him for his
talk and to let him know that I had received some wonderful
inspiration.
After introducing myself and thanking him, I asked him how
he had come to lead such an exemplary life. He looked around
to make sure no one else was listening and in a low voice
he said the following: "Both my parents were alcoholics, and
both of them were physically abusive to me.I grew up never
knowing what bad thing would happen next. I learned from my
parents that the worst possible way to deal with the pain
and uncertainty of life was to escape into an altered state
of alcohol induced euphoria. My parents taught me a difficult
but very important lesson. I learned from them that staying
present in the moment is the only real chance we have for
living a fulfilling life."
4. Dynamics of Embodied Spirit
What a truly great example of embodied spirit the motivational
speaker offers us. The quality of our life is not dependent
on the circumstances we encounter. The quality of our life
is dependent on what we learn from the circumstances we encounter.
Perhaps the greatest example of this wisdom is present in
the life of Nelson Mandela. He is a man that suffered great
pain and hardship, and somehow his suffering seasoned his
soul in a way that has led him to be compassionate and caring.
In the course of exploring how to live our life more fully
we can consider pondering one question over and over again,
"What can I learn from the difficulties I am experiencing,
that will actually ADD to the quality of my life?" At the
very least we can begin to entertain the fact that: We can
derive a wide range of learning from any single circumstance,
event, or relationship. When we get the most stuck in life
is when we believe that the one thing we did learn is the
only thing that can be learned.
5. Practices
Here is a practice that I have found helpful. You will most
likely want to read through all of the instructions at least
once before actually doing this practice.
Sit comfortably with a notebook or journal by your side. Breathe
deeply at least five or six times, inhaling and exhaling through
your nose. Take a moment and think of a time when you seemed
to have learned something that is detrimental to your overall
well being. For instance, you might have spilled your milk
as a young child and had the teacher chastise you for being
such a clumsy child, and ever since then you seem to have
the tendency to try and prove that your teacher was right.
Write down a short description of the event in your notebook,
and also write down a succinct phrase that encapsulates what
you seem to have learned. For instance; "I am clumsy." Then
place the notebook aside.
Become present to yourself sitting in your chair, and begin
to pay attention to your posture and your overall feeling.
Now, give your primary awareness to the experience of your
inhaling and exhaling. As you breathe, once again recall the
event in whatever way is natural for you.
As you sit there in the presence of both your breathing process
and the event, begin to imagine at least three new things
that you can now learn from the event you are recalling. Please
remember that you are wanting to learn three new things that
help alleviate or improve upon the initial situation, while
maintaining a positive sense of self worth and well-being.
Anything less than this would be less than "the truth." The
idea here is not to gloss over your shortcomings, but rather
to appreciate yourself while at the same time noticing what
could be improved or changed. So, in the case of the spilled
milk, communicating that it is important to keep one's full
attention on a challenging task, is well given advice that
does not burden the child with a negative self image.
Continue to give your primary attention to your breathing,
and allow ideas to somehow bubble up, rather than actively
trying to create new ideas. When you feel complete, write
down your new, and self-supportive learnings in your notebook.
Place your notebook aside and go back to paying attention
to your posture and your overall feeling as you sit in your
chair. Now, again, give your primary awareness to the experience
of your inhaling and exhaling. As you breathe, once again
recall the event in whatever way is natural for you.
As you sit there this time, in the presence of both your breathing
process and the event, begin to slowly and purposefully state
your new learnings to yourself. Take in a nice slow inhale,
and talk as you begin your exhale. After making a statement
of something learned, breathe fully for at least two rounds
before stating your next learning. (If your circumstances
allow, speaking your new learnings out loud is usually best.)
Repeat each learning at least three times, either randomly
or in a particular order. If you feel moved to you can also
add new learning statements to the initial three that you
wrote down. When you feel done, write down anything else that
pops into your mind, and also write a brief description of
how you feel. Sometimes this last step can be of surprising
importance, because you can learn something important simply
by taking part in this process.
Keep your new learnings in mind and use them as a mantra from
time to time. For instance, if you have tended to feel clumsy,
you can repeat your mantras to yourself just before performing
in front of others. Doing this will help you to embody your
learning. No matter what, go through this whole process again
a week or so from now, and see what has changed for you.
If for some reason this practice proves a bit more difficult
than you were planning on, you can try again later. Sometimes
when we are in the process of learning something new, we might
find that what we have learned in the past is somewhat hard
to let go of.
6. Suggested Books and Music
"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"
by Robert Pirsig, is certainly a book that helped me get started
on my journey. In a looping, rambling style that is at times
breathtaking, Pirsig talks about "quality" the importance
of paying attention to all of the little details that make
up any given moment, the power of frustration, the experience
of freedom you get from feeling the wind in your face, and
the rumbling of the motorcycle engine throughout your body,
and LOTS of other stuff. Ya gotta read it! A great philosophical
book, and a must read for anyone who somehow missed growing
up in the Sixties and Seventies.
"Circlesongs" by Bobby McFerrin.
This is the album that really launched the use of music in
Seishindo workshops, and we have Marleen and Patrick to thank
for bringing this CD to my awareness. The first weekend in
Belgium that I used this CD, I mainly played songs #1 and
#4 over and over again, with just a sprinkling of the other
cuts. As the name of the CD implies, these tunes just go round
and round and round. In your head, in your body, and filling
all of the spaces in between.
7. Endnote and Invitation
We invite you to send in
a) Questions and comments
relating to what you read here.
b) Experiences that relate
to the "Practices" presented.
c) The names of books/music/services/products,
etc. you feel might be of interest to the Seishindo community.
Please include a short write-up about your selections. Let
us know whether or not it is OK to have your name appear with
the information you share. We will do our best to address
most if not all input. Please send all input to seishindo@seishindo.org.
8. Links
The inspiration for the "Pure Heart Simple Mind" newsletter
comes from the excellent newsletter of my friend and colleague
Molly Gordon. I was amazed
and inspired to learn that Molly had garnered more than 10,000
subscribers in her first three years of operation.
Check out her sites on Business
Coaching and Self
Promotion & Small Business marketing to learn how
to live on purpose and prosper.
Molly Gordon is a highly successful business and
marketing coach, and she helps people connect their purpose
with the prosperity they desire. Visit her website to subscribe
to her free bi-weekly email newsletter, and to view lots of
other great information that her site houses.
9. Copyright | [un]Subscribe
Unless otherwise attributed, all material for the newsletter "Pure Heart,
Simple Mind"(tm) is written and edited by Charlie Badenhop ©. All rights reserved.
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