The Serene Way

I.L.C (Integrative Life Coaching) session conversation

 

PART III

 

Identify patterns from your life and how they can be used to your best advantage

Achieve balance between work, home and play

Create personal tools to maintain and enhance a healthy lifestyle

 

 

P.:  ah…the infamous turtle…

 
Tim W.:  hahahah…there are many parables that we take for granted and pay lip service to, yet there are tremendous simplicities within them

P.:  are they not written for children…hmmm…

P.:  you do know that the originals were written for adults oftentimes?

Tim W.:  we are children…with active minds…we

P.:  oh…I love that…

P.:  yes we are all children…

Tim W.:  we lose that aspect of our selves

Tim W.:  the most important this is to play…enjoy all that we do

P.:  I tell my students that I am almost as young as them when they ask my age…

Tim W.:  find that within and you find truth

Tim W.:  I say I’m as old as my shoe size and will stay that way

P.:  perhaps this truth is why I enjoy beeing with children so much…

Tim W.:  society makes us think we have to act in a certain manner…at least children are authentic

P.:  lol…I haven’t tried that one

P.:  yes, children are gems in the universe

Tim W.:  yes, and we forget that this is part of who we are

P.:  so many do forget Tim, but I’m with you..play is important

P.:  and think about it…young children learn through their play…

P.:  adults do too…

P.:  how we interact with our environment can give us varied experiences, yes?

Tim W.:  exactly…laughter is the greatest way to get someone to remember something

Tim W.:  absolutely

Tim W.:  make it fun

Tim W.:  why make it any other way when it causes pain

Tim W.:  enjoy…be…totally

P.:  yes! and Tim?

P.:  you’re welcome to come to my classroom anytime…smiles… we do have lots of fun

Tim W.:  hahahaha….that’s too sweet@!!

P.:  shhh…just don’t tell the grownups

Tim W.:  they wouldn’t understand…though they should!!

P.:  lol…

Tim W.:  see you have this wonderful circumstance to see how to be…real…total..authentic…look to the children and you can find it in them…the let it all go…you only have to do the same

Tim W.:  all lovely creatures of creation

P.:  its funny you say that because I am most at peace when i am with them

P.:  I forget myself in a sense…I know you’ll understand that statement

P.:  if i could carry that over…sigh

P.:  animals are…

Tim W.:  then you only have to bring that with you…in this sense taking your work home is a good thing…hahaha

P.:  I see them, watch them and try to learn from their existence…

Tim W.:  you can…it is in your mind…if it is in your mind…quiet the merry go round and bring it to that point

Tim W.:  that is all they do, exist!

P.:  yes, i think meditation is beginning to help me with that…

Tim W.:  we put all the other stuff on them and ourselves..expectations, cultural taboos, etc

P.:  yes, you understand my meaning about animals

P.:  to be as they are…

Tim W.:  find what works for you…meditation is not just sitting and being silent or stilling the mind…for you when you reach that state in the classroom that is your meditation…the natural way for you

P.:  it is…

P.:  yes?

Tim W.:  it would seem so from what you have said…

Tim W.:  it is there you feel at one…the best you feel

P.:  it is also different from my meditation….when i am with them…I can just be

P.:  meditation goes through steps

Tim W.:  then you have just reached your own answer

Tim W.:  yes, and those steps are there as a method, if it cannot be attained in another way

 

P.:  so, i need to be with children all the time…grins

Tim W.:  hahahah….that depends on you…too much of a good thing

Tim W.:  lol

P.:  you have just given me a gift Tim…thank you

P.:  moderation, eh?

P.:  nature hikes bring me to me as well…that stillness I mean

Tim W.:  remember just being with them is the same as having the mind calmed in thinking like when you are with them

Tim W.:  there that is another place of meditation for you

P.:  now you have me searching for those moments

Tim W.:  the stillness, peace or whatever you wish to call it can manifest in many different ways…the thing is to bring that with you in all things and be that way in all things

Tim W.:  and you will find them…the too are part of your experience and patterns…being consciously aware of them will bring them into other situations where they bring this sense of just being

P.:  I am learning to let things be…to find that inner place

P.:  to let go of judgement

Tim W.:  you have found that inner place…it is only to remember that it is always there

Tim W.:  when you have that sense of being is there any judgement?

P.:  no need for judgement

Tim W.:  Is there a force to let things be?

P.:  no force

Tim W.:  ahhh…

P.:  things just are and all is okay

P.:  no fear even

Tim W.:  again you have found your answers…they are there…it is to remember just the being at those times…bring those situations to the conscious mind and all else no longer exists

Tim W.:  even fear

Tim W.:  the pratical becomes theory which can be again used in practical application

P.:  hmmm.

Tim W.:  the shift is only in the mind, conscious thought

P.:  thinking of outside influences…

P.:  everything is connected

Tim W.:  are they really outside?

P.:  ha

P.:  thinking same thoughts?

Tim W.:  yes, and yes

Tim W.:  so if you have fear…think of the hike…what happens to the fear…gone - yes?

P.:  yes…

Tim W.:  when you are judging…think of the children (being) what happens to the judgement…gone - yes?

P.:  definitely

Tim W.:  now you are using your own experience to lift your energy and to work through any turmoil that the mind creates…

P.:  I like that, yes, i feel the positive energy in that

Tim W.:  you have found your centre in different places…just bring that to all places that you are

P.:  it is so simple

Tim W.:  only when we are off that centre does the other stuff come about…yet we know the (absolutely) the simplicity of it

Tim W.:  good on ya!

P.:  yes, and…it’s okay to just be

P.:  confession

P.:  ?

Tim W.:  yeppers…we learn there…we exist there…we can experience all

P.:  any situation

P.:  is okay now

Tim W.:  it is all connected it is all part of who we are as emotional, physical and energetic beings

P.:  acceptance of self  of all

Tim W.:  it can be ok if we get to that centre…the mind doesn’t want us to get there because then it doesn’t have control or life

Tim W.:  exactly

P.:  silly…

P.:  emotions….

P.:  experiencing a silly tear…argh

Tim W.:  they are beautiful…they are the colour of our lives…just not to control us

Tim W.:  tears are beautiful, they are water and water is life

Tim W.:  the cleanse, they give life

P.:  water is…a tear is… I am…

P.:  how do i thank you…

|Tim W.:  no more need be said

Tim W.:  for what?

P.:  this conversation

Tim W.:  you have seen yourself

P.:  for being

Tim W.:  hahahah

P.:  smiles

Tim W.:  and that is returned…many fold!!

Tim W.:  we learn from interaction…all is…

P.:  yes, but what has Tim learned from this?

Tim W.:  Tim has connected with another beautiful soul that is on a wonderful journey to light

Tim W.:  we have shared our experience our thoughts and created a connection that is full of light

P.:  as has P…

P.:  reconnected…grins

Tim W.:  he has seen that light comes from shadow and has learned love is and as P. says “I am”

 

P.:  we are

Tim W.:  ONE~

 

 

 

©T.S. (Tim) White, 2008

All Rights reserved. 

www.TheSereneWay.com

 

 

 

 

I.L.C – Part I

I.L.C – Part II

 

 

For more information about I.L.C - Integrative Life Coaching, please feel free to contact Tim at tsw@TheSereneWay.com

 

 

“Societal choices, more often than not, are the result of expediency, statistical fallacy, sentiment, political or media pressure, or personal prejudice and vested interest.”

David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D.

Power vs. Force

 

I received a comment after posting a blog titled ‘Acceptance, Compassion & Tolerance Out of Anger & Resentment”, which was the catalyst for this entry.

 

“I (Also) Noticed On The Front Page Of Your Website That You Are Selling SHEEP SKIN Mats! That Is Not AHIMSA And It Certainly Is Not Peaceful And Serene For The Sweet Innocent Slaughtered SHEEP! :/ ~::~”

 

Why use meditation mats that are made from sweet innocent loving slaughtered sheep??? That is bloody bad karma and just mean. It is ahimsa for me to point this out to you. Why seek to make money from industries of horrid cruelty?You are a spiritually intelligent being. You seek to embody goodness and loving-kindness towards all beings…I believe. To do so we must wake up from participating in cruelty towards other beings… right? We must have an empathetic loving awakened conscience of loving-kindness towards ALL Life as Divine Spirit.

Why participate in blood money of cruelty? I know you are basically a sweet and loving spiritual person ~ I am just hoping that you will try to embody the higher Pure Consciousness and Loving-Kindness towards ALL LIFE. Precious Animals are not less than or lower than humans.”

 

 

In order to fully discuss this position, let’s look at a definition of ahimsa. Wikipedia describes ahimsa as follows: “the principle of non-violence can or should be applied to different life forms…”

 

This resource (Wikipedia) continues, “Jains go out of their way so as not to hurt even small insects and other minuscule animals and make considerable efforts not to injure plants in everyday life as far as possible. In accordance to this policy, eating of some foods, whose cultivation harms small insects and worms, as well as agriculture itself, is to be abstained from.”

 

Research and information gathered from texts such as ‘The Gospel According to Rama Krishna’, books by Swami Vivekananda, and other volumes of spiritual writings state that ahimsa—a yama of Yoga— is the practice of non-violence or harmlessness in action, word, thought, deed or emotion. All we do creates a karmic affect, no matter its desired intention.

 

It is evident that this ‘practice’ has different meanings and applications depending on the environmental/cultural experience and religious belief of the individual. There are levels of adherence to this practice. This is true for all ideologies; it is the depth of conviction to the belief, whether individual or group, that plays a fundamental role in their actions and reactions. We need look no further than organized religion to see how extremes in the attachment to dogma have created tension and segregation, leading to struggle, suppression and war.

Traditionally, meditation was performed on natural animal skin such as tiger or deer, as I have seen in pictures of gurus and swamis. This provided a softer cushion for a more comfortable way to maintain a meditative posture; it also created a synergy with the meditative process by providing a deeper, natural connection to earth energies, thereby intensifying the benefits of meditation. I have not read that these pelts materialized out of cosmic energy; the animals’ lives did end in some manner.

 

Historically speaking and according to evolutionary theory, man was a hunter-gatherer. Being of aboriginal heritage—Native Canadian M’ic M’aq—my family’s heritage and culture dictated that whenever an animal is taken for food, all parts of that animal are used in order to honour a manifestation of gratitude for that which the earth provides. As a child, I remember that after the moose hunt (which my extended family continues) the meat was canned or frozen, the antlers were used for the handles of eating utensils, and the hide for leather garments, snowshoes and various ties and bindings. All was treated as a gift from Mother Earth and what She provided for our sustenance.

 

The sheep in question are from my brother’s farm. He has a small flock, and his intention is to use the entire animal, in keeping with his cultural heritage, in order to provide for his family. The sheep run free in the pastures on 108 acres, eating grass and natural feed. They are tended with love and kindness. They are protected from coyotes by dogs, donkeys and a llama provided by my brother and his family. His wife is the ‘at home’ veterinarian who provides the occasional antibiotic to ensure the sheep’s health, and is doula or mid-wife during lambing season. In the winter, lambs that are born too small or too many at a time for a single ewe to care for are taken into the house, dried with towels, and bottle-fed—one of the great experiences I have had the pleasure to participate in.

 

Indeed, I take issue with commercial farming and the poor treatment of livestock for the gathering of wealth for the few. The treatment of animals on commercial farms is in truth a manifested aspect of profit and greed. I also take issue with the reckless harvest of animals of the sea for a singular use, such as longline net capture of sharks for the sole purpose of obtaining their fins, which some claim are an aphrodisiac. This materialistic approach has caused many problems. Commercial farms have created the need to regulate society’s food channels. Yet, with a single bacterial outbreak in an industrial processing plant, an entire food network delivers health hazards. Recently, an outbreak of listeriosis in a packaging plant in Canada played havoc on the food channel, resulting in a recall of processed, packaged meat. This past summer tomatoes had to be removed from the shelves due to problems at a processing plant in the United States. Both of these incidents also affected fast food outlets, including the corporate giant MacDonald’s.

I often think that we have formulated a hierarchy based on what we perceive as sentient beings. It is only our current perception that dictates these ideas; they continue to change and develop based on scientific research, which increases our understanding. There are many ‘seekers’ who have taken leave of society to live in renunciation in the wilderness. There, they develop the ability to listen to the wisdom of the tree and the messages upon the wind. There is even mention of those who can live on air alone; they receive sustenance from the energy inherent in everything that is, so highly developed is their connection to the divine source.

 

A tree is alive—it has a series of capillaries that carry nutrients throughout its body, similar in function and design to the human lymph and digestive systems. Firstly, in terms of the lymph system, it has circulatory vessels without a central pump which regulate defense mechanisms. Secondly, like the digestive system, fluid is moved by a process of contraction called peristalsis. A tree has life, it exists, it is energy. The same can be said of all plants. They react to external stimuli: lower vibrations limit growth, whereas higher energies accelerate it. If you sing to a plant it will respond positively with growth; if you yell at it, so too will it wilt.

Man, in being a form of compressed energy, is in essence the same as a potato, a carrot, an apple or bacteria, only differing in the form of the expression of that energy. Anything we ingest is an aspect of energy, which is necessary for cellular metabolism and the continuance of a physical form. All life forms must absorb energy in order to sustain their life cycle. The process is consistent and paramount for all life—energy, in some form, is assimilated and then expunged to return into the fold of a universal balance.

 

Our current perspective deems an animal closer to our own existence. It is our own ego-centricity and the rationalization of projecting human characteristics onto other life forms that creates an imposed judgment. Pulling a carrot out of the ground ends the life cycle of that plant, the same as ending the life cycle of any other organism, whether or not we currently consider it to be sentient. If one is sacred, then all is sacred.

 

On a Path to Light, only when we accept all forms of energy as equal will we truly realize that all life is sacrosanct, and to be accepted as a blessing.

 

 

 

© T.S. (Tim) White, 2008

All rights reserved

www.TheSereneWay.com

 

 

 

To be continued…

 

With a further discussion of commercial farming and Ahimsa

I.L.C (Integrative Life Coaching) session conversation

 

PART II

 

Identify patterns from your life and how they can be used to your best advantage

Achieve balance between work, home and play

Create personal tools to maintain and enhance a healthy lifestyle

 

 

Tim W.:  that is a step in creating the witness

Tim W.:  when we look at things from this ‘detached’ witness we are no longer part of the reaction.

Tim W.:  we can look at is as separate, yet part of who we are

Tim W.:  the patterns are so ingrained and sub or un conscious that we are not able to recognize them in a conscious manner

Tim W.:  all programmed before we are 6 years old

 

P.:  yet does the reaction change…go away? doesn’t there always have to be a reaction to every action so to speak?

 

Tim W.:  it may not go away…it will be our first line of defence…but in awareness we have the ability to deal with it inside rather than projecting it onto a person or object

 

P.:  before 6? I’ve heard that children before the age of six can sometimes remember a past life

 

Tim W.:  we all have that ability…

Tim W.:  we get to a point around 2 where we don’t remember prior to that

Tim W.:  we can however train the mind to find those chemical and biological patterns to go back further…

Tim W.:  then we can remember invitro and then into past lives…at least according to what I have read and it seems to make some sense to me…anything is possible

 

P.:  would that bring us to a better awarenes?

 

Tim W.:  that is life’s search

Tim W.:  always within

 

P.:  I mean an awareness to the truth of all

 

Tim W.:  I find meditation has been a great tool for this

 

P.:  I have just started meditation after my accident…it has done so much for me

 

Tim W.:  that in itself is merely acceptance…we struggle to find reason and we struggle to learn acceptance…that stuggle is struggle not acceptance

 

P.:  I am a beginner

 

Tim W.:  we all are…we learn to roll on our tummies before we sit, then crawl, walk then run

 

P.:  so there does not have to be a reason? we just are, yes?

 

Tim W.:  start from where we are and move from there…the issue arises that we want the goal immediately…and them mind then says it is impossible

Tim W.:  there does not have to be a reason…all just is

Tim W.:  or neti, neti…not this, not this

Tim W.:  our mind tries to say there are reasons, because that is its function…finding black and white…yet there are many colours and shades

 

P.:  I have so much to discover…I am only just discovering…I often feel so human in my thinking…smiles

 

Tim W.:  we have to allow … in that desire we put energy into it and it gets further away…I call it the shopping cart syndrome…we puch the cart and it stays in front of us..only when we let go do we walk

Tim W.:  into it

Tim W.:  we are HUMAN

Tim W.:  so feeling so is a truth

Tim W.:  accept it an be so…we have animal instincts and divine…we are both

Tim W.:  we are all

Tim W.:  all is us

 

P.:  yes, I think that desire can become a double edged sword in this

 

Tim W.:  desire again like fear is within the mind

 

P.:  desire is and fear is…

 

Tim W.:  we may achieve that desire, but where does that leave us…creating a new desire and the cycle continues

 

P.:  no?

P.:  sigh…a pattern begins…

 

Tim W.:  they are manifestations of the mind…they exist there but no where else

Tim W.:  so so they exist…if we make it so yes…if we do not then we only have now, the present, love, bliss and being

 

P.:  we are all…different parts of a whole

 

Tim W.:  and the whole is different parts of us

Tim W.:  they are one in the same

 

P.:  yes i see that now

P.:  the power of now

 

Tim W.:  refractions of the light…a crystal will refract the colours of the spectrum yet it is from a single light

 

P.:  a great example Tim

 

Tim W.:  Eckhart Tolle…power of now…yes

Tim W.:  simple yet the mind keeps us from it.

Tim W.:  depression from thinking about the past

Tim W.:  worry from thinking about the future

 

P.:  how does one stay on track…

P.:  arrgh

 

Tim W.:  neither exist except within the mind

 

P.:  worry destroys

P.:  sounds so peaceful

 

Tim W.:  on track…we are continually on track

 

P.:  what will be, will be

 

Tim W.:  only our judgements on it create the illusion of something different

Tim W.:  yes worry destroys, but it keeps things in check as well…and we come back to good and bad…both and neither

 

P.:  this may sound strange…but….what does one do with the mind??

 

Tim W.:  we can try to control it…through awareness…the reactions may still be for a time…but in time with that new patterns are established and then it simply is

Tim W.:  that is what meditation brings us to

 

P.:  ahhh

 

Tim W.:  first focus…to keep the mind on track

Tim W.:  then concentration…to keep the mind steady

Tim W.:  then meditation when the mind is stilled

 

P.:  peace comes with this stillness

 

Tim W.:  the samadhi…when the soul is now in full awareness

Tim W.:  stillness comes with stillness….peace again is a definition within the mind

 

P.:  but i have noticed that I am becoming unconsciously aware of things

P.:  after I meditate I mean

 

Tim W.:  hmmm