1. Purpose of the newsletter
This 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.
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 wrote about how the quality of
the life we live, is dependent upon what we learn from the
circumstances we encounter. In regard to knowledge about one's
self, High quality learning = High quality
life.
In this newsletter I want to talk about the importance of
"not-knowing". Learning something new about ourself, and the
world we live in, often requires that we first un-learn what
we have learned in the past. This idea stems from a similar
idea in our last newsletter. We often get taught very
powerful yet incorrect lessons as we go through life. For
instance, a child incorrectly gets "taught" by a screaming
adult, that he is careless, lazy, selfish, or just plain
dumb. When the child naively believes what the screaming
adult is "teaching" him, the likelihood that the child will
learn new and life affirming things about himself in the
future, will tend to be seriously impeded. In order for the
child to free himself up for new learning, he will need to
first "not-know" some of what he has learned in the past.
Another way to say this could be "What will I need to
unlearn, before I can learn something new?" When wanting to
understand the truth, we have to return to our true nature
and let go of our opinions, our current condition, our
understanding of what is right and what is wrong. When our
mind is clear, talking, words, and thinking are not
necessary. The truth is just like this.
3. Examples of Embodied Spirit
When working with a client who is a serious body builder
that regularly injured himself during his training I said to
him "As we sit here now facing each other... Take a couple
of deep breaths.... And let your body move... as it lightly
feels some of its injuries...
As you move, let your body recall exactly how it has been
injured at various times in the past.... And then at some
point, freeze your body... Sit still... Feel your injuries..
And tell us what your body has learned from all of the
injuries it has received."
After taking a few minutes to breathe and move his body the
client froze and spoke these words, "I have come to
understand that you don't really know what I am capable of
and what is way beyond my means, and you don't even seem to
really care. I feel like you are quite happy to punish me if
it means that you might look better in front of others."
The moment the client finished uttering these words, I asked
him to begin breathing and moving again, and while moving
I suggested "Please have your body teach your rational mind
how to be a better workout partner."
After moving and breathing for a minute or so the client's
body offered the following words of advice to his rational
mind: "Just feel the way that I move. Feel me, and move with
me, and feel what is natural for me and what isn't. What
isn't natural for me isn't natural for you."....
Next, while continuing to speak from the point of view of
his body, the client gently asked his rational mind how he
felt about himself, and what his sense of self worth was.
One of the most interesting things the client's body
suggested to his rational mind was, "Imagine that you don't
even have a body, and that you only exist as a thought form.
What is your sense of self worth without a body?"...
"You see" his body said, "I feel like you are trying to tell
me that you would feel great about yourself if only I your
body, was somehow more perfect, but I don't really believe
this. I feel like you feel bad about yourself, and you try
to get me to take all the blame." Next he said, "I would
also like you to know that I feel terrible when you look in
the mirror and always make a comment about what is wrong
with me."....
This led the client and I into a very meaningful discussion
about the client's sense of self worth and how he felt like
he always had to somehow "do more" and "be better" if he was
to get the love and attention he desired. Not surprisingly
he said that his father's most usual question upon coming
home from work every evening was "What have you accomplished
today son?"
Over time, the client had come to learn, identify with, and
thus believe in, the "fact" that "My self worth is dependent
on what I accomplish, and I won't be loved for just being
myself."
As our work together progressed the client began to dissolve
his old learning about his sense of self and the dynamics of
loving relationships. One of the first steps in this process
was getting to a point of "not knowing" who he was. He did
this learning with the help of freeform improvisational
movement and stillness, awareness of his breath, and a
SUPPORTIVE inquiry undertaken with BOTH his body and his
rational mind, in regard to what it FEELS LIKE to be "Me".
As his old learnings dissolved, he began to learn that: "The
act of discovering who I am is very nourishing, never
ending, and always changing. Appreciating myself for who I
am is an infinitely richer experience than trying to live up
to an image of who I could be, if only I was different. My
understanding of who I am is no longer static and fixed.
Feeling who I am at any given moment continues to change and
surprise me."
4. Dynamics of Embodied Spirit
What we learn in the course of our life, determines the purpose,
importance, and outcomes, that we extract from our experience.
Whatever we feel we learn about ourself over and over again
winds up becoming part of our identity. Our identity sets
the foundation for our beliefs. Our beliefs determine how
we will be predisposed to act and react in the future. Learning-identity-beliefs
go hand in hand. In order to learn something new and life
affirming about yourself and the world around you, you will
usually have to change your personal sense of identity, and
some of your long held beliefs. Usually a first step in this
process is getting to a stage of not knowing who you really
are.
Perhaps you say "This all sounds reasonable. Now tell me how
I can go about changing what I am learning, my identity, and
my beliefs!"
One possible answer would be the following words from a Sanskrit
mantra:
"Om.
This is perfect.
That is perfect.
From the perfect, comes the perfect.
If from the perfect the perfect is taken away,
Only the perfect remains.
Om, peace, peace, peace."
Such is the sense of perfection we get when holding a baby.
This sense of perfection, is the inherent blessing that exists
as the essence of everything. This sense of perfection is
present at all times and doesn't require any healing or change
to take place. This sense of perfection is dynamic rather
than static, and welcomes the necessary ongoing changes of
life. You are invited to simply notice what is, rather than
attempting to correct what you believe needs to be different.
In Japanese flower arranging it is common that one of the
branches in the arrangement is bent or broken, to signify
that the arranger has attempted to present the flowers in
a "natural" state. It is the "imperfection" of the broken
branch that leads us to understand that the arrangement is
potentially "perfect." We encourage you to look for and appreciate
your "broken branches" as a sign of your uniqueness and perfection.
Each one of us, no matter how seemingly evolved we might be,
has imperfections and personal ego attachments. These imperfections
and attachments are not something to be overcome or transcended,
but rather something to be understood, appreciated, and accepted
in the course of our life journey. If we do not honor and
appreciate our individual shortcomings, then a part of us
will always be feeling that we are somehow needing to be fixed.
5. Practices
Here is a practice that I have found helpful for myself and
for my clients. You will most likely want to read through
all of the instructions at least once before actually doing
this practice.
I developed this practice from the Zen teaching of Seung Sahn.
You might find this practice to be somewhat the opposite of
exercises that you have tried in the past. Please be open
to experimenting and discovering. This practice is designed
to help us dissolve our usual sense of "knowing" in order
to help us open up to the possibilities of learning something
new.
Sit or stand in front of a mirror. While looking into the
mirror say the following in a supportive and curious tone
of voice.
"I don't know who you are, and I don't know who I am."
Breathe deeply, and be comfortable in knowing that this statement
is definitely true on many levels.
Next say to yourself:
"There is much that I see that I do not understand."
Take a deep breath.
"There is much that I hear that I do not understand."
Take a deep breath.
"There is much that I feel that I do not understand."
Take a deep breath.
Become present to yourself looking in the mirror.
Begin to pay attention to your posture, your body movements,
and your overall feeling, and give your primary awareness
to the experience of your inhaling and exhaling... Take a
minute or two for this.
Now make some of the following statements, feeling free to
improvise with whatever YOU are drawn to feel and say:
"I don't know if I am successful or not."
Take a deep breath.
"I don't know if I am good looking or not."
Take a deep breath.
"I don't know exactly where my life is leading me." Take a
deep breath.
"I don't know who I really am."
Take a deep breath.
"I don't know many things that I would like to know."
Take a deep breath.
"I don't know what I don't know.
Take a deep breath.
"I don't know what I do know."
Take a deep breath.
As you feel into the presence of your breathing, know that
"not knowing" and "not fully understanding" is an essential
part of the human condition.
Take a deep breath or two and sit calmly for a minute or two,
as you feel deeply into your true human self. The idea here
is to become comfortable with "not knowing." Appreciate yourself
fully, while accepting that there is so much that you do not
know.
When you are ready, make some notes about what "not knowing"
is teaching you.
During the course of the next two weeks repeat this practice
numerous times. You might particularly want to do this practice
when you are feeling upset, confused, or despondent. It is
likely that you will find this exercise to be quite liberating.
Give yourself some time to think about how you can find a
sense of calmness amidst all of the ongoing changes in life
that you do not fully understand. Rather than attempting to
rush into an action or an answer, take a moment to breathe
into a sense of feeling yourself fully in the moment.
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 find
that what we have learned in the past impedes us from learning
something new in the moment.
6. Suggested Books and Music
"Only Don't Know - The Teaching Letters
of Zen Master Seung Sahn".
This book by the Korean Zen master is highly engaging and
enjoyable to read and learn from. His ideas have been of great
help in the development of Seishindo. His other two books
"The Whole World Is A Single Flower" and "Dropping Ashes on
the Buddha" are also well worth reading.
Please check out the following two CD's:
"ReTURNING" and "Praises
for the World" by Jennifer Berezan. Jennifer's music
is circular, lyrical, and great for building a relaxed, joyful
state that is in rhythm with your breathing and heartbeat.
My thanks to Sandy Morris for turning me onto these two CD's
and a number of other great selections.
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
www.stephengilligan.com
Stephen Gilligan Ph.D. was a core student of Dr. Milton Erickson.
He is the founder of Self Relations therapy, and he is an
international trainer of hypnotic communication and Self Relations
therapy. Stephen's work is of the highest quality, and you
can benefit greatly by reading his books and taking one of
his many trainings.
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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