Being Zen
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
31st December 2021
Dearest One,
Well, the year is complete, the year long lessons of the Course in Miracles finished and the days getting longer.
It is time to start the lessons from the Course in Miracles all over again.
I have, over the years, read, studied and meditated on the book and the lessons many times with varying depths of intention.
These last few months on this Zen Healing Retreat ACIM and the lessons became one of the priorities consequently I am aware how much more
I have percolated on the text and lessons and at a much deeper level allowing the lessons to transform understanding, thought and awareness.
All of which has resulted in life being experienced differently.
So to commit to the book and lessons for the whole year with the intensity of the last few months is an exiting prospect to be relished
and enjoyed.
Not to mention what the `Course` will reveal to me during this reading.
Join me, drop me a line and share the experience.
Love is forgiving
Love is for giving.
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
29th December 2021
Dearest One,
There is much bubbling around at the moment, resulting in fewer posts. Woooph it is a time of deep percolation and much is emerging to be released. I was woken during the night by the overwhelming thought that I need to confess. Such a catholic concept and word yet it is also
anchored firmly in Step 5 of the Twelve Steps program where people
are to share with another human being the inventory of their life.
My ego would once have baulked at this notion, tell people all my failings...yeah right!
How others saw me used to matter -
Perhaps this is the outcome of these months in prayer and reflection, reading and meditating that it now feels an honour to be able to reveal
all to another person, for them to see me as I truly am.
How nice it would be to have a soft warm and loving soul whom my ego could fool and kid when it, undoubtedly, comes to a point
beyond it does not want to go.
No, I need help in transparency so a tough confessor is required, someone who will see beyond the ego `logic` or `reasoning` to the truth
that lies deep below.
For only when I am honest, truly honest can my psyche open to release that which does not serve, to empty from the guilt of my error recognition to fill my heart with trust in and love for God enabling a peace filled humble life.
"Your direction gives me peace." ACIM
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
27th December 2021
Dearest One,
It is a reflective time, these days of quiet and dark after the mania of the festivities.
A time to consider what worked this year and what didn't work so well,
What can I adapt to improve who I am and how I am in the world?
How can I live more fully in order to give more freely.
Having spent the year working with the Course in Miracles, reading the book and doing a lesson a day I know how powerful discipline is and give huge thanks for the women who read and studied it with me, Angela, Cate and Sarah Jane. It was because they were there that I kept going where once I would have slithered `off piste`. They were there and quietly my life adapted and it became a habit to start the day reading and then settling into meditation with the lesson. I say with absolute joy that am reading it again this year with another friend, Sue and will no doubt be amazed at all I read as I am reading it from a different viewpoint. It is one of those books... always something to learn or read more into.
So, a huge thanks to Angela, Cate and Sarah Jane for being there and reading with me. We made it!!!
Another short thought that, for me, kind of sums up the Course in Miracles is
"Through forgiveness
lies the Peace of God"
I know, a tad presumptuous to sum up a 1,000 page book into 7 words...
Back to Being Zen, refreshing, recommitting and deepening
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
26th December 2021
Dearest One,
Sharing a picture from the deck yesterday morning. Cold, clear with snow on the hills....contrasting with my son in Perth Australia at 43 degrees...!
Just wrong!
The joy of Christmas is hearing from people, many of whom I haven't heard from since last Christmas... hello, remember me?
It is lovely to catch up and get the festive letter to be updated or, in the case of a couple of friends, made to laugh loudly... from a very funny take on life.
Such a gift from God, a Godsend in fact, to be able to take
life lightly and laugh at oneself.
One thing I have learned over the years is that everything always sorts itself out and is alight in the end.
Back to Ev`s expression " I am too blessed to be stressed".
This has stuck and I have a feeling it will be thought, muttered,
spoken and shared a lot this coming year.
I give thanks for all my blessings of family, friends, home, vocation
Thank you Beloved.
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
23rd December 2021
Dearest One,
Happy Solstice...the Light has returned
This Sacred time.
Time stands still, nature pauses, we are blessed with Grace to start over.
The Divine blesses us with the gift of a new day each dawn.
At this, the Dawn of the Year I consciously choose to open to a
new year and all it offers.
This year I commit to living in
Humility, Integrity, Compassion, Kindness, Honesty, Innocence and Peace
I need your help.
To remind me when I forget
To catch me when I fall
To find me when I am lost.
To be my Angel on Earth
Thank you
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
21st December 2021
Dearest One,
Happy Solstice...the return of the Light
I can understand why people worship the sun and Light.
The last few days have been consistent in minus 3 degrees and freezing mist. When the mists part the sky is stunning in its clarity, the richness of the blue in the sky, the glowing sun which changes from white to golden as the day progresses to watching the snowy hills turn pink as the sun fades over the horizon. There is always something in nature to invoke awe and wonder
A few more days of reflection and percolation before the energy alters to forgive and release that which did not serve and to open to and deepen in listening to and acting upon Divine guidance.
Breathing out forgiveness with each breath
Breathing in acceptance and unconditional love
I breathe my Soul into life
That I may live a Soul-filled life.
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
19th December 2021
Dearest One,
Good morning dear One, lovely to share with you again.
I had a letter from a friend in which she used the expression
" I am too blessed to be stressed"
Thank you Ev`
Which struck me as not only sweetly poetic but also a phrase of deep thankfulness. How wonderful to be in touch with all one has and be
able to remain in a place of constant appreciation.
It is way too easy to focus on what we think we want and haven`t got and spend a day a week, a month or a long time bemoaning it rather than re-focussing our attention to all we do have.
This morning it was, and still is, -3 degrees so the walk was truncated slightly as it was cool on the lungs but I still had time to see and
photograph this to share with you.
This retreat time is allowing time to wonder at the night sky as well as
the frost on a cobweb. In the macrocosm is the microcosm.
As the saying goes `Life is what happens while you are working out your plans`. Add in the corollary "If you want to make God laugh, tell her your plans` and it is obvious what we have to do. Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Just trust we are where we are meant to be.
Trust the people we need to meet will find us.
Trust the God of our belief loves us.
Trust that all will be well.
"We are too blessed to be stressed"
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
16th December 2021
Dearest One,
Thank you for bearing with me through the inner meanderings of an inquiring mind.
Today I had what can only be described as a surreal experience.
Left home early as dawn was breaking to go for a walk, the morning skies can be quite something. After a while I noticed it was quiet, so quiet that I found a perch to sit upon to fully embrace this experience.
No sounds of people, vehicles, the road, roadworks or helicopters ( we get quite a few here).
It was quiet, so quiet it was silent but more than that, it was utterly still.
I sat and breathed with nature and was overwhelmed with the feeling of having joined Mother nature in her meditation.
The sky was still, the forest was still, no animals appeared and the sky
was still until a single swan flew passed, its wings woomph, woomph woomph as it used the air to fly.
The wings made no sound, neither did the bird, it was just the sound of air moving that created the sound. How can something invisible like air create a sound?
But of course, like the well known Koan
" If a tree falls in a forest does it make a sound if there is no-one
there to hear it?"
I know it was the effects of vibration being picked up by my hearing which took me down the path of vibration and sound - it reminded me of being told many years ago that the universe sings and that singing bowls
are the earthly manifestation of the sounds...
OH too much to think about,
I shall just have to hum my thoughts instead!
mmmmmmmmm xx
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
15th December 2021
Dearest One,
Yes, me again. From pictures of the night sky and the universe to a pine frond. There is so much magic in both the macro and micro world.
I haven't written for a couple of days as I am waiting for something to write about and save your eyes from abuse.
I have been reading about attachment, The story of Jesus when asked by a young man to join him replied yup, follow me give all your wealth away.
Or words to that effect, but the young man, despite his calling to follow Jesus, couldn`t give up his wealth.
Money is not the issue, it is our attachment to it. We are telling our divine that we do not trust that all our needs will be met.
What am I , or you, attached to? What could we not give up? It could be a bank balance, or a house, a car, a partner, a job, status, how others perceive us, being seen as right, a leader, powerful or a victim. Each in their own right is just `what they are` it is the `why` of our attachment that is or gift.
If willing to look within and be honest it is a gift of insight, of discovering a fear to be embraced and released - another step towards liberation,
freedom from the chains of fear.
The world of IT has been a great gift for me.. Once it was important, to me, to `know` everything and then along came computers, mobile phones and all manner of apps and hardware and other stuff. I very quickly realised I knew nothing and felt the blessed relief that comes with saying ` I do not know`. It is now applied to the whole of my life as I now know enough to know how little I know and know that I do not need to know anything.
This approach opens the doorway for an inner emptying of what I thought I knew, allowing the Divine to fill me with what I do need to know.
Surprisingly different to what I thought I needed to know.!
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
12th December 2021
Dearest One,
Here is the moon with a faint Venus on the right, A stunning night sky.
Nature offers so many opportunities to experience Reverence at this time of the year. Dawn and dusk are always precious times and with the long hors of darkness in winter we get to encounter both and the gift of the night sky which is, quite honestly, mind-blowing.
Along with the reverence these sights of our universe engender is a reminder of perspective and somehow that , really, small little niggle of a worry does not need that much focus. It all will be what it is.
Nature gifting us with awe and reverence; so much to be `lost 'in.
Dawn always forgiving with the promise of a new day.
Dusk to bless the day and invite reflection.
The night sky blessing us with perspective.
The year cycle reminding us of the flow of life
and the wonder of each season.
Nature is God`s Bible, the ultimate scripture.
We have much to learn from it if we so choose.
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
10th December 2021
Dear One,
How short the hours of daylight but the richness of those hours.
Speaking with a fellow Retreatant recently we were exploring how it does not feel like `doing anything` now. So many aspects have become
automatic and this is highlighting the need for ritual in daily life.
Rather than just doing stuff, I first pause, bring to mind why I am doing what I am about to do, request support from the God of my Awareness and give thanks for that ineffable accompaniment in the journey of life.
Reminders of the need for the Graceful Pause, just a few conscious breaths to gather fragmented thinking, to refocus the mind ensuring I do not dive in to activity with masses of scattered energy and no focus. Much like being a diffused eco light bulb becoming a laser beam of consciousness.
The intrinsic value of ritual is deepening from being something I could appreciate in my head to a conscious wholistic engagement of heart, mind
and soul entering the universal energy matrix empowering
whatever it is I am about to do.
Reminding me of the power of mindfulness in Zen.
Today I give thanks for the gifts of this Retreat, the gentle shimmying deeper within of the concepts and values that matter to me.
From being a jolly good idea and something to talk about, to gently transforming, becoming a cohesive embodied softening of my being opening for the Divine Presence to flow through.
An Shallach
indeed, `Thanks be to God`.
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
6th December 2021
Dear One,
May I write of scent, aroma, olfactory joys?
I am very blessed, in my walks as I go through some open ground where
the photographs of the amazing sky views like this one of
yesterday`s dawn are taken.
Also I walk through a pine tree forest in which the air tastes as good as it smells. That hint of pine, wood and freshness
gives a clarity to the air that is tangible.
As it came to conscious thought this morning I realised that the wee stops
I have en route, ( got to get fitter) are in the trees, I perch and breath deeply
absorbing all the wonders of this fresh air,
Clearing any toxins I might have inhaled and, hopefully, releasing accumulated toxins from life in the fast lane of previous years.
The breathing exercises I do have also helped as I can breath
more deeply and easily.
Having a `lung thang` has really highlighted how important the basics
of life are. To breath freely, to eat simply, to sleep soundly,
to love loved ones, to have peace in heart and mind -
wow what riches in the simplest of living
and the time to appreciate and give thanks for them all.
I know I do bang on a bit but it is as if I am `getting it` fresh
each time I write and slowly this awareness deepens and ( I hope)
is becoming the norm of my life.
How are you?
Please write and update me.
Lots of love
xx
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
9th December 2021
Dear One,
I read a beautiful line recently but forgot where from, please forgive.
"Reverence opens the soul to intimacy with God."
A friend was sharing how she had entered a church a while back and been awed at the atmosphere, the gleaming polished wood, the remnants of incense still identifiable in the air, the soaring arches above, the dust motes dancing in the colours of the stained glass windows all evoking a tenderness, a vulnerability in her heart, the desire to sit and soak
this feeling deep within, feeling her soul open to intimacy with
the God of her awareness.
I get it,
I have this feeling here when walking outdoors especially at quieter times like dawn and dusk when the light is transitioning and the atmosphere is liminal.
There are `low-lights` around the park just 2-3 feet high so perfect for perching on to breathe it all in. Taking time to stop and sky-gaze, seeing Gods handwriting in the clouds, breathing in the natural incense of
grass or hay, trees or flowers depending on the season.
Absorbing the reminder of how vast the planet and universe are and appreciating my small tiny place in it all -perspective truly gifting
reverence with an open heart in which to
spend time with my God.
Humbling beyond words.
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
5th December 2021
Dear One,
I know, another dawn photo, but the skies are so colourful when the rising sun hits the snow..... just sharing with you...
The Course in Miracles lesson today is
"I will receive whatever I request"
It does remind me to be careful of my thoughts.
The inner witness must stay alert else I might request something from ego rather than love. It is a well known phenomenon as the old saying goes
`Be careful what you wish for` is a good reminder to be
mindful of your desires.
This lesson accompanied me on my walk this morning, what have I requested lately and have I received it?
The answer is and unmitigated YES, I requested this time of quiet, contemplation in simplicity in nature and wow have I been blessed by it.
My health is improving daily, insights and `epiphanies` landing regularly
and frequently - or is it that this time gifts me with deeper awareness
and sensitivity to receive them as they land, or bubble up..?
Either way, a heart and soul felt thank you to the God of my awareness for the Grace of these Blessings
Thank you
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
4th December 2021
Dear One,
Oh the stark outlines, the sky colours are all so rich now, a whole new folder to create!
I haven't posted for a couple of days, on the one hand I could say nothing has happened but then nothing ever does it is just my perceptions that change.
In this middle phase there feels a settling, like I am not `doing` anything now, I am not `doing` a Zen Healing Retreat, I am just living a quiet life incorporating the guidelines of the Zen Healing Retreat and they are become the norm.
There are fewer highs and lows now yet a continuing sense of contentment, this is how living `works` for me. Discipline, meditation, reading, walking, studying, contemplation, writing, space to just be, simple eating are starting to settle into my bones.
What peace lies here.
The Course in Miracles lesson today is profound
"I am affected only by my thoughts"
So today I choose to think only thoughts of Love.
I am having a wave of how simple the spiritual journey really is and how hard the ego tries to distract us through making it complicated.
The Dali Lama is alleged to have said " My religion is kindness"
The Dali Lama rocks.
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
Zen Healing Retreat December 2021
1st December 2021
Dear One,
How I appreciate your being here to write to, it helps to focus the thoughts to what is relevant to a Zen Healing Retreat and omit the narrative of
life's more inconsequential aspects.
Having this space has been utterly profound of late as the death of Misha at the end of last month has brought up so much to be percolated upon, remembered, appreciated etc which this space has been here to support.
There has been time to bring other departed people to mind and sit with them in peace and space.
I am realising how much of life I had whizzed through barely stopping to pause let alone allow anything to distill and transform.
However I can also admit that previously when I had considered taking
time to fully remember someone or an event I had not known where
to begin so ended up spending most of the time in quiet with thoughts
flying hither and thither landing nowhere.
All too much, maybe this is why when the guidance towards this retreat time came is was for six months not the week i considered long enough - cue embarrassed chuckle with pink cheeks.
I thank Gods patience with me!