This week begins a little later than the last one. I shifted
my schedule so this blog would be posted by midweek. Expect next week’s by
Wednesday if not sooner.
As we move closer to the midway point between fall and
winter, I feel time quickening. These seasons of fall and winter are about
slowing down, but as a culture we pick up the pace and race towards the end of
the year. This Recovery Wheel work asks us to slow down early in the process.
Not always easy this time of year if you’re living by the culture and not
Nature. Follow the lead of the sun, Nature reminds us. Hang low and turn down
your outward attention. It’s time to go within.
Surrender
I continue to step into my story by surrendering it to a
higher consciousness. In the 12 Step program, this step is called surrender to
a higher power. The point is to let go of control. I can’t control what
happened in the past. No matter how many times I ruminate on it, it’s the past
and it is done.
Also, the story I tell about myself needs me to step in and get curious and not be in rewrite mode. A new story will emerge when it
is time. For now it’s important to stay curious as I move deeper within. The
next step is challenging and before I do this work, it’s good to practice being
curious and letting go of the outcome.
Fall and Via Negativa/Release
The season of fall is about letting go out of necessity. The
trees shed their leaves in order to help them get through the long winter of
ice and snow. They slow down. It’s important to do the work of letting go
before the next season on the Recovery Wheel.
The Creation Spirituality path of Via Negativa is perfect
for this part of the wheel. It’s all about letting go. It’s about emptying out.
It’s about releasing not only the past but ourselves from judgement.
The season of fall and the path of Via Negativa help us
release, empty and let go. We won’t be able to bear the weight of the pain if
we are holding onto judgement and old stories. Neither will we be able to
gather new insights when we are holding onto the old story and our rightness.
Letting go opens us up.
Things aren’t working as I’d like in my life because I’ve
focused on everyone but myself. I let go of trying to control the world around
me as well as myself. I take a deep breath and know there is only this moment.
How do I feel now? What am I thinking now? No more wondering about what the
other person is thinking or feeling. It’s none of my business unless they bring
it to my attention because of something I did. Even then, I need to stay
curious and wonder if something I did caused them distress or triggered a past
event of theirs. Was I speaking my truth without judgement of the other and
with love?
Right Concentration
And speaking of focus, my insight about my focus going off
in many directions is also a part of things not working. It’s time to bring in another
part of this aspect of the Recovery Wheel, Right Concentration, which is on the
Buddhist Eight Fold Path.
Right Concentration is about cultivating a mind that is
one-pointed. The Chinese character for concentration is “maintaining evenness”
or remaining on the middle path.
Last week we talked about Right Mindfulness. Is there a difference
between Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration? In my experience, Right
Mindfulness is the cultivation of a pattern of being. Right Concentration is
the cultivation of a one-pointed mind.
There are two kinds of concentration: active and selective.
Active: This is to notice what is as it arises and passes
away and then to notice what comes next. It is to dwell in the present, which means you learn to let go of the past.
Selective: Here you choose one object to focus on. Other
things may be going on, but you stay with your chosen object.
Right Concentration gives rise to insight because we live
each moment deeply. If you use concentration as an escape from yourself or a
situation, that is wrong concentration. That’s not to say we can’t use
diversion sometimes in order to give ourselves a rest, but we need to be aware
that is what we’re doing and to not let it get to the point of total avoidance.
When we avoid we suffer because we’re not dealing with that which is causing
our suffering. Right Concentration can liberate us.
Developing our concentration helps us stay focused on the
work and allows us to just be with whatever comes up. It will help us stay
curious about our story and to know what it is we need to let go of.
Right now, it’s important for me to practice concentration
to help me stay focused on those things I want to cultivate in my life as well
as do this inner work. Selective concentration will continue to be a part of my
daily meditation practice, and I’ll use it to keep focused on the work at hand
like writing this blog post.
What to Keep in Mind
as You Begin this Work
The second part of the
wheel looks like this:
Season: Autumn
12-Step: Surrender to a higher power.
Rising Strong Process: Reckoning
8 Fold Path: Right Concentration
Creation Spirituality Path: Via Negativa
Three Main Principles
to focus on for Recovery Wheel work:
Oneness/All is Love
Basic Goodness
Spiritual Law
Three Main Tools:
Meditation
Journaling
Self-care
Each week I’ll focus on one or two of these principles and
tools.
Week 3
Journaling/Reckoning
Practice:
Where do you need to let go of control in your life? Can you
surrender your story (about yourself and your past) to a higher consciousness?
Can you stay open to what your story means and has meant to you? How has
telling yourself this story brought you to where you are today?
Right Concentration
Practice:
During your meditation time, practice both active and
selective concentration. Feel the difference? What one do you think will help
you most on your path right now?
Via Negativa Practice:
Spend some time outdoors and let yourself relax into the
moment. Let go of worries, stories and just be. Notice and reflect on how
plants release leaves, flowers or fruit.
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