WE THINK WE KNOW

• Note: the next online coed groups are a great way to get some coed (masculine/feminine) coaching and practice. I’ve rescheduled for October 26 as I will be in transit to my Tofino retreat next week. To register see SacredBodies.ca/coed (only one registration per pair of practice participants required)

• Today's suggested practice: Day 10 of this month's practice... (see below)

• My playlist while writing today's meditation: Albeniz, Suite Española, “Serenata” https://music.apple.com/ca/album/suite-espa%C3%B1ola-no-1-op-47-no-1-serenata-granada/720160695?i=720160956

• My morning practice: 6am for 60 minutes of physical, yogic, and Meditation for Authentic Self-Expression (day 17/40)

• My vulnerability practice: I am allowing myself to ENJOY this moment as I feel my heart ache, raw and open, receiving…

Hans Peter Meyer

VIDEO

Answering your questions: How long before the “man bashing” ends?

TODAY'S MEDITATION

So many words that I want to push into this space. I forget that this is a sacred space. I forget that this is a space in which silence is rewarded, in which I begin to know my purpose, profoundly: to hold space.

I was told by a younger man, I’m tired of this blaming the patriarchy thing. How long do I have to listen to this?

The short answer: For as long as it takes for him, me, for us to change “the patriarchy.”

The long answer: Until you, I, we stop taking it personally, — and start taking it personally.

Her nature is not what I imagined. Only now, in the proximity of these recent days, do I know how other she is, how other She is. … Maybe this is why some say that marriage, and by this I mean any committed sexual-romantic relationship, is a spiritual affair? Something beyond words. Beyond actions. Something that I risk in the dark land of mystery and magic, madness and faith.

Science is beginning to describe to us what is called the “quantum” reality. I can’t pretend to understand even the simplified descriptions. What I do understand is that the seeming none-sense of yogic wisdom also begins to “make sense,” now. The stories of what passed for miracles & the nonsensical & the magical now begins (so many beginnings!) to have scientific and mathematical solidity. At the very heart of things, I know this, a truth from my years of learning to live with loved ones’ addiction: I change my world far beyond my imagining simply by changing myself.

The hubris of the masculine —directional and solution-oriented and always seeking resolution, forever at home with death (there is more here than meets the eye or ear, trust me)— is to believe that words and actions are the measure of this life.

I am proud of my words. I am proud of my thinking. I am learning that I can be both proud, and humble. I can feel the power of my mind, and acknowledge that there is so much more to this moment than my words or thoughts can describe or imagine.

In his seventh precept John Wineland encourages us to “cultivate wonder and awe.” Stephen Jenkinson says that to live without awe is to be closed to further understanding. And so I practice, becoming vulnerable to the wonder and awe that lie just beyond what my words and mind can eclipse.

She calls me, my beloved does, without thinking, into dark and deep places where my words are not welcome, my thinking disgusting.

How long will I wander in this darkness? As long as it takes. I am beginning (again with the beginning!) to know this. As long as it takes. But for what? I don’t know. Can’t yet imagine. And this is why I practice: to have the nervous system capacity to hold space for my own impatience, my own fears, my own yearnings in this dark silence. To hold this space and gently, oh so gently, have my sensibilities opened to perceive and receive that which, at this moment, moves all around me, always present but I am insensible of, insensitive to.

In the face of my temptations to flatten this moment into what I know, to flatter myself with self-congratulatory understanding (aka “mansplaining?”) I surrender, and I trust.

TODAY’S INSPIRATIONS

🌀Your presence is what moves a person, not necessarily the words you speak. … [You] literally bridge the dimensions of the moment -- simply with the presence of your being.

(Guru Singh & Guruperkarma Kaur)

🌀Vibrate the Cosmos. The Cosmos shall clear the path. (Aquarian Sutra 5)

🌀The Conscious Warrior practices the cultivation of wonder and awe. (John Wineland, Precept 7)

🌀You are beautiful. (My beloved, my Oracle)

TODAY'S SUGGESTED PRACTICE

Day 10 of this month's practice, take 11 minutes today to sit and listen to, or chant, the Mangala Charn mantra... This meditation (Aad Guray Nameh, Jugad Guray Nameh, Sat Guray Nameh, Siri Guru Devay Nameh) is a prayer for protection and projection from the heart. We extend our heart without fear. We draw into our heart, without fear.

Please read through first, then ...

• Today, sit (or stand) in stillness as you listen and chant, or simply listen to this mantra, let this question stir within you…. What is the edge of my knowing, and how do I pretend to know more? What fear do I feel at the edge of this unknowing? Can I hold myself, trust myself, allow myself to step into this void?

• Setup: your "setup" for this month's daily practice is how you "hold onto yourself" and receive...

• Begin by closing your eyes and aligning your body into its truest, most elegant posture, tucking your chin to lift your heart, tilting your pelvis to straighten your spine. Become still, more still than you've ever been. Your alignment is the physical training for trustworthiness. Bring your hands to your heart, right (masculine) over left (feminine).

• Focus on feeling the vibration. That is all.

• Set your timer for 11 minutes or listen to the mantra sung by Snatam Kaur here:

• As the timer signals or the mantra ends allow your eyes to slowly open. Take three, relaxed breath cycles, no pressing, no effort, and feel yourself full, without thoughts, open. Safe to receive. Then, step into your day, letting the mantra echo as a nourishing vibration whenever you become still. You don't need to DO anything. Let the world come to you with its demands, its complaints, and yes, its endless tide of gifts and blessings.✨