My First Haiku

Sort of. It's sort of my first haiku. My first haiku in many, many years....

Adventures in Meditating: Beyond the Sky

Last night before sleep I traveled beyond the sky through time and space to a familiar place I've never seen but have seen, a place I've never been but am from, a place where Truth lives, where eyes can feel, where sound has smell.

The power I felt upon arriving, what I saw, felt and heard was almost too much for me, almost jarring enough to send me right back out, and at times it did. But only to another backdrop, a backdrop more serene. Idyllic. Green.

But what felt like the Truest glimpse of my own personal space beyond space, my own slice of the Akasha, was like an ancient land, like the edge of the world, with jagged cliffs and a raging sea in a storm. Misty. Grey. I knew I was safe, and yet I was scared, as I didn't realize quite yet that here hidden fears are welcomed friends. When the Truth's so clear, there's nothing to fear. You just see things as they are and know how to proceed. Efficiently. Lovingly. Honestly.


Back to the green serene place I went to gaze into a well of water, a Heart-shaped pool, my eyes reflecting back what was beyond my reflection. Hissing snakes wanting to shed but unable, a locked box, a white house, a family photo, and then the snakes again, their slithering drawing me in seductively but then baring their teeth, reminding me to stop. Look deeper. Just be.

What does it all mean? There's no need for words. Just feeling. And I felt it. Everything I needed to know conveyed in these images, like a download and reprogramming.

And so this morning I woke up feeling washed clean. Feeling clear. Feeling ready. Feeling my hands reaching for clay, trying to recreate this vision, this place. It wasn't just a vision. I know I was there. I felt it in my body. Different from imagination. Different from a dream. Both a revisiting and a memory.

And now that I know how to access that place, I find myself wondering about the next time I go, Will it look different, or will it look the same? Perhaps the answer lies within my own internal state.

But before going off on a philosophical tangent and falling down a cerebral rabbit hole as I begin to ponder perception and reflections, reality and illusions, delusions, disillusions, I'm going to take the advice of those snakes and just stop. Stop with the questions. Stop and go deeper. Deep into feeling. Deeper beyond into just simply being.




Please note: This experience was not a result of my usual Union of Three Hearts Meditation. It was the result of a guided Akashic Clarity Meditation.

Adventures in Meditating: Devoured by a Goddess

I've recently gotten back into a daily, seated meditation practice. I realized that the trick would be to stop trying to find a whole hour for this, followed by 20-30 minutes of journaling. Instead? Shorten the practice; commit to less time with the the option of going for longer. And it's working. 

I wake up, roll out of bed, and then sit down with my journal beside me, set my timer for twenty-two minutes, and begin the Sheng Zhen practice Union of Three Hearts (aka Zhongtian Yiqi).

And a few weeks ago, when I first started getting back into this, something very interesting happened as a result of me asking for help with quieting my mind, which is something I sometimes do. When monkey mind is out of hand, or my body is having trouble relaxing, I simply ask for help. Sometimes it's a general request, and sometimes it's directed at someone or something specific. And every time I've thought to ask for help, I receive it. Some experiences are more obviously profound than others, like the one from a few weeks ago.

 In the Sheng Zhen system, there are various qigong forms that have been gifted by various avatars, such as Kuan Yin, Jesus, Mohammed, Hanuman. So while seated, trying to quiet my mind, this time I asked for help from all of them and others.; clearly, I was really needing some major assitance. So the names and images started coming.  Kuan Yin, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Hanuman, Heavenly Mother, Heavenly Father. And then other names and images started coming, a few Hindu Gods and Goddesses, and then it stopped with Kali. She was the one needed that day to put me in my place.

Kali, the Hindu Goddess associated with ego-death, empowerment, endings & beginnings, time & change, was now in my mind’s eye biting the heads off of the people who were popping into my head making noise, a few people with whom I was experiencing change and/or conflict. As I observed this, in awe, thinking it was interesting that she actually bit their heads off, she turned and looked at me.

Uh oh. Wasn't it enough that she severed the heads of these people who were bugging me? ;) No. It wasn't enough, because it was me, my own ego, creating all this chatter in my head. My own ego creating my own suffering. So then she breathed fire towards me, which although I don't recall that being something she's known to do, that's what was happening,  and it came through as a message, as a gift-- this energy, this element of fire, was there to help empower me to let go, be free, and take action. 

Sounds good, right? Time to get back to meditating, right? Wrong. She wasn't done with me yet. While I was analyzing what had already happened, so clearly still in monkey mind mode, she suddenly swooped in and ate my entire body to shut me up once and for all, engulfing me with one gulp. 

And then? Well, she processed and eliminated me almost instantaneously. I came right back out of her in the form of shit or mud and then saw a lotus flower out of which I grew into this beautiful and strong goddess in a white dress, totally at peace and clear and ready to take on the world. It was awesome!

And after that scenario played out? End of show. I was at peace, with a quiet mind, able to continue my meditation practice, forgetting my body, forgetting my mind, forgetting everything as my qi and love energy expanded and merged with the universe.
  
Ta da! ;)

Now, while I can't promise you'll experience anything like that, I suggest asking for help if you're having trouble quieting your mind during meditation. It's really easy. You just think, "help. Help me meditate." And then open up to receiving help in whatever form it is delivered. Might come on as a sudden or gradual calm and focus, or it could be something more dramatic, something where the mind engages even more at first. Just be open. You never know what you're gonna get. But if you ask, and believe, then you absolutely will receive.

© 2014 Rebecca Clio Gould. All rights reserved.
 

Wanna know what you are?

You are a big body of Love! That's what you are....

(Please note, this blog entry is my most recent newsletter. I'm posting it here as a first step in an attempt to get back into blogging...  ;) )

Predictable, right? Sending out a newsletter in February about love? Yeah, I thought about doing something different. But the truth is sometimes I need a break from thinking outside of the box. ;)

That being said, this is not a typical February newsletter about love. It's not about how to strengthen your love relationships or spice things up in the bedroom. No. This is about Sheng Zhen (pronounced "shung jen"). Sheng means sacred. Zhen means truth. And what's the most sacred, highest truth? Unconditional Love. The pure energy of Love. Not love with a little "l," but Love with a big "L." It has nothing to do with anything personal. It simply is. And it is always there all around you and inside of you in an infinite supply.

Sheng Zhen is not just about doing some movements or meditating; it's a philosophy and can be a way of life as well. Sheng Zhen teaches that Love and qi (vital life force energy, pronounced "chee") are always together and are the original and basic energies of the Universe. Master Li Junfeng says that where there is Love there is qi, and where there is qi, there is life. Similar to one of my favorite Gandhi quotes:

Through the movements and contemplations of Sheng Zhen Gong, we get in touch with this energy of Unconditional Love. We embody Love.
 

And this is why Sheng Zhen is so powerful, so healing, and can deeply heal and touch people's lives.

Now, I invite you to shut your eyes, take a deep breath, relax and open your body and mind. Recall your origin; you come from Love. You already *are* the embodiment of Love. This is how we begin the practice of Sheng Zhen, not just in the classroom, but out in the world.

Imagine a world where you walk around feeling, knowing, that you are a big body of Love. Full of qi and full of Love. And knowing, seeing, that everyone else is too. What does that feel like? What does that look like? All it takes is the thought "I am a big body of Love," and a willingness, a curiosity even, to see what happens, to see what one simple, beautiful thought can do. Wanna try it?

Just think it. It really can be that easy.

And if you want more, you can also check out videos on YouTube (like Awakening the Soul, or Sheng Zhen Healing Gong, which are ideal for beginners), contact me or other teachers for lessons, or travel to a workshop or training with Master Li. And there's still the option of coming with me to Mexico for a week in April if you sign up by February 15.

Whether or not practicing Sheng Zhen or simply playing around with the "I am a big body of Love" mantra resonates with you, I highly encourage you to think about the bigger picture, the deeper meaning of Love, not just during this month when we're seeing big red hearts and the word "love" everywhere, but every month, every day. Every moment. Love is key.