In remote, southern India, in the state of Kerala near Tamil Nadu. On an Ashram that is incredibly quiet and peaceful. Listening. First outward listening, to the wind rushing through the ubiquitous palm trees, waves of sound, an orchestra of evocative, pulsating vibration. Listening to sounds of birds I have never heard, sounds I have never heard, a wake-up call. Now attempting to listen more deeply, to the silence behind the sound. Can I hear the larger picture, can I hear the whole that is greater than the parts. Can I attempt to connect by listening?
We are entering a new time and bearing the future is one of our aims. This will require a change of our consciousness, as well as cultivating a soft heart and true hope. A presence beyond sleep and wakefulness. Sitting in genuine three centered consciousness and ending our internal war with our personality. We work into an unknown future, but with resilience, building a community of hope, a love of life.
This is summed up well by this quote from Madame.
“What is difficult to understand is that without conscious effort, nothing is possible. Conscious effort is related to higher nature. My lower nature alone cannot lead me to consciousness. It is blind. But when I wake up and I feel that I belong to a higher world, this is only part of conscious effort. I become truly conscious only when I open to all my possibilities, higher and lower.
There is value only in conscious effort.”
And again summed up simply by Jack Kornfield.
“Our spiritual life depends upon knowing that we are both consciousness itself and wholly flawed and human—our practice is to learn to love both.”