Waking up this morning, there is a quietness in the air, and a stillness inside. i remember times in my life when I would interpret this as being lonely. In the light of this Ancient work, these times do not feel in the least bit lonely. In fact, although I am the only one here, I don’t even feel ‘alone’.
The breeze moving through the leaves touches me with the voice its of rhythm, sound, sensation and quality — all of which escape the interpretation of my mind and lead me deeper into the moment. I am caught in a song awakening inside of me, touched by the song of the wind. The Life inside me and around me seem to be dancing together.
This lineage guides us to the visceral understanding that our perception in each moment, on every level, is Alive. Not alive in theory, but as a multi-dimensional, living, breathing Being — just like You! Coming closer and closer to this perception is an awakening of our own indigenous mind — a perception that can receive awakened Life in all that it sees and experiences; a perception that we were born with, and that never leaves us.
How can we learn to listen to that which has always been here, just beyond our awareness? All of who we are — from the molecules in our bodies to the complex patterns of our thoughts and emotions — is Awake and Alive.
As we habitually take our attention to our programmed perceptions, we cut off the pathways of this vibrant Life, and live within a very narrow bandwidth of ‘reality’.
Years ago, I experienced a lot of feelings of ‘aloneness’ along with avalanches of loneliness. My need to avoid this state, and to fill my days with contact, became a primary goal of my life. I went to great lengths to ‘fill the void’. Each time I tried, I would find myself alone, only to begin again, over and over, in a pattern that didn’t seem to have an end.
To be honest, I don’t exactly know how all of that changed. The only thing I know is that I entered this profound work with my teacher, Kahu Abraham Kawai’i, which guided me towards listening in ways I never had before — mostly to my body and my internal navigation. Over time, I allowed myself to welcome more and more Life, in it’s many forms, into my experience. My mind, although keenly interested in ‘knowing’, began to soften and increasingly relinquish it’s programmed agenda.
The ‘Ohana (Family) of our cellular being and the same pure Life that permeates the Universe, also permeates each of us. That Life is Awake and calling out to be heard. If we are feeling difficult emotions like depression, despair, hurt, hopelessness, anger or fear, these are also alive as members of our family. They can be listened to just like any other being. In fact, if they are present, they are definitely trying to speak. We can learn to listen and meet these Family Members in ways that are nourishing, and that move us forward in life, rather than halting us or throwing us into chaos.
Meeting the fullness of my experience in each moment has become a vibrant adventure. Sometimes, there are things happening physically or emotionally that I’d rather not feel, but bringing them closer to me, rather than pushing them away, has proven to be profoundly healing.
There is an Ancient Wisdom inside each of us that connects deeply to Life — far beyond what our mind can perceive. This Wisdom lives only in the here and now. This single breath is speaking; this sensation on the bottoms of your feet, this blink of your eyes. Life is waiting for our undivided attention.
Just beyond our perception of reality, an infinite amount of loving family lies in us and around us. We are never alone.