27.8.2008

The only way out is IN!

John opened today's practise after receiving an email from Prem with the title of Prem's book "The only way Out is In".

How true that with a seeking, grasping mind we search for things on the outside and yet the core of the desire and the suffering is on the inside. But as well as expressing the philosophical side, John brought it to the yoga mat, in to the experience. After all the yoga mat is the mirror where we see ourselves, the reflection of ourselves, how we live, how we perceive, how we behave…

So John's idea was that to treat our time here at Stillpoint as though we are in a research institute. We are the scientists, we discover, dissolve, unravel, and go on a journey. And today we did a blind practise by closing our eyes, which doesn't necessarily mean shutting the yes. But by closing the eyes and restricting the sensory stimulation we are looking inside and we are looking outside to see the potential field of possibilities. Where the body does not have boundaries, where the surface we're on doesn't have limitations. It could be anything! John would say 2as you twisting to bind, and take your arms, see if you can reach to the core of earth, go beyond the floorboards. After all it is only the mind that labels this hard surface as the floor". And as we did a handstand together he asked me to feel like a parrot with colourful tail, light, bright, expanding its wings as it flies…Guess what happened, I leaped like a bird and thankfully John was there to stop me from crashing into the windows. Again it shows that when the eyes are open what we see can easily limit what our potential is. But then the next level, which is certainly where john is, is that there comes a point that you can have your eyes open and still see beyond the physical dimension, seeing the inside, outside and beyond!

Ah…anyway, it's been an interesting start to the morning. And it is absolutely gorgeous outside, so sunny, bright, snow on the mountains in distance…Time for me to greet the nature by going to the meditation tree.

There was also something beautiful Lucy said yesterday when we witnessed an extraordinary sunset. "When God puts on a show, you just have to look and take it in". She said that because we were missing some of it by sitting indoors and knittingJ