Everyday is a new day, a new adventure. That’s how my life continues to unfold. There is no past or future there is only now. The more I realize that concept and embrace it the more magical my life becomes. That’s not to say there is no pain… we all have pain, things that don’t quite turn out the way anticipated, or sometimes things that actually fall apart. When that happens now, I can realize that there is a lesson to be learned. Sometimes what transpires is even better than I could have planned for. Sometimes not. But there is always a lesson and a richness of life to cherish and be grateful for.
I have gotten this message over and over in the past year. The Universe seems to send me messages on a regular basis reminding me to not be attached to the outcomes of my efforts. It is my place to sow seeds and trust.
Most recently I attended the teachings on the Diamond Cutter Sutra in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition at UpDog Yoga in Rochester, MI. The class was taught by Ben Kramer and Kendra Rickert, students of Geshe Michael Roach.
Geshe Michael Roach, after 20 years of study, became the first Westerner in 600 years to pass the rigorous test for the title of Geshe, or Master of Buddhism, at Sera Mey Tibetan Monastery. An honor graduate of Princeton University, Geshe Michael has received the Presidential Scholar medal at the White House. He is the author of the international best seller The Diamond Cutter, which is featured and available through the Amazon link found on my blog.
I read The Diamond Cutter a couple of years ago, so I was familiar with the principles Geshe Michael promoted. I was intrigued with his story and very impressed with how he successfully and anonymously (no one was to know that he was a Buddhist Monk) applied Tibetan Buddhist principles to become a successful businessman in New York’s Diamond Trade.
Breaking into New York’s Diamond Trade is no small task! It is an industry dominated by Hassidic Jews; a closed society of family owned businesses comprised of sons, cousins, nephews. Trust is everything as there are no theft detectors for diamonds. Fortunes are contained in small shoe boxes. Getting into this industry was a accomplishment in itself! When I heard that Geshe Michael’s students would be teaching at UpDog I was certain that I needed to be there.
Just a week later Brian Granader, owner and director of Red Lotus Yoga in Rochester Hills, taught a Tibetan Heart Yoga class, complementing the Diamond Cutter teaching, at the Northville Yoga Center and I again found myself in attendance and very grateful for the opportunity to study with these teachers.
These classes focused on the emptiness of everything. Emptiness, not in the sense that nothing exists, but in the sense that the nature of all things is emptiness and we project on to everything. We literally “build” our world through projection. This was also the message that the Landmark Forum delivered when I attended last November.
So should I be surprised that yesterday when I was moving things in my office I discovered a funky little book I purchased from a used bookstore months ago that again delivers the same message? This little book was first published in 1972 and uses word’s like groovy. (Really, no joke! — I checked the copyright date when I saw that the book originally sold for $2.95! lol!) ) It’s the “Handbook to Higher Consciousness”, Ken Keyes Jr. It features 12 Pathways to becoming an Enlightened Being… that is to the higher consciousness planes of unconditional love and oneness.
The key to higher consciousness is to love everyone unconditionally, including yourself. By emotionally accepting what is here and now in our lives we can begin to stop struggling with life. We can begin to flow with life, with the people and things around us.
To get a clear perception of ourselves and the world around us takes constant inner work. It is worth the effort though. It is the only way to be truly happy and fulfilled in life. When our emotions are triggered our perceptions get confused. We can’t see ourselves and the world clearly. These emotional triggers spring a trap for us and the only way out of that trap is the emotional acceptance of the previously unacceptable.
When we can see clearly through emotional acceptance and love, we see that we are all one. We only appear to be separate from others when we operate from fear and distrust. Freedom is found in being centered, loving and sensing the oneness that connects us all. The Beatles had it right… all you need is love!
