Why are We Doing This?
Why are We Practicing?
What in the name of Jesus, Buddha, Moses and the Wood Nymphs might Sylvia Plath, Step Two from 12 Step programs and the 23rd Psalm have in common?
After hearing this quote below, I started thinking about Sylvia Plath.
Then I found myself pondering and considering Step Two from Twelve-Step programs, which plays a big role in my life practice.
And then flittering into my mind came the 23rd Psalm.
A funny combination of thoughts, indeed.
This cascade of thoughts began with Sylvia. Here is her quote:
“It’s a hell of a responsibility to be yourself.
It’s much easier to be somebody else
or nobody at all.”*
Knowing as we do the heartbreak and intensity of Sylvia’s life, I find this quote profound. Her creative genius, her mental health status, the era in which she lived, all these pieces pulled and pushed and vied for her attention, for her focus.
Being ourselves is the gift of our wisdom teachings. Deeper than the anxiety, deeper than the creative drive, deeper than the role of parent or child, friend or foe, our essence calls us home. Day after day, hour after hour, moment after moment, we can return, we can renew, we can remember what is truly real; that place inside all of us, regardless of externals, that place of silence and wisdom, always available.
For twenty years on a daily basis, alcohol and drugs were my only coping tools. Like Sylvia implies, they gave me the energy (or so I thought), to try to be like everybody else, to finally fit in. I literally thought smoking pot throughout the day was cool. I wanted that identity, that counterculture, anti-establishment attitude that drugs seemed to offer me. I was, of course, headed in the opposite direction of my authentic self. Little did I know……
And now, how many times a day do I forget what’s important, what’s real? How many times a day do I get lost in the externals, the news, the fears about what isn’t happening (but someday might, damn it!), how many times a day do I get lost in the shuffle of the external world?
When I got sober and, oh, so slowly began considering the Steps of the program, I found a rich and relevant and viable way of reconnecting to that authentic self. Here’s the Second Step:
Came to believe that a Power greater than myself could restore me to sanity.**
By practicing mindful reconnection to that which is greater than me, (call it whatever you choose), I am restored. Time after time during the day, I imperfectly practice returning to that place of calm and connectivity.
It’s a process, not an event. This practice is an ongoing process, which brings attention back to that internal place of stability and silence.
And finally, the 23rd Psalm. During my dad’s funeral in 2000, the rabbi read it. It was the first time I heard it, that first time I allowed it in. This prayer has served me so well. After the funeral, getting back to work, I found it difficult driving from my home to Kripalu, a 12-minute drive. I started repeating the 23rd Psalm aloud until I landed in the Kripalu parking lot. The Psalm literally carried me. And then, at some point, perhaps months later, it wasn’t needed. Since then, this is a prayer I hold close.
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He/she makes me lay down in green pastures,
She leads me beside the still water.
She restores my soul.”***
Whatever it is you practice, whatever it is that gives you solace and silence, is a doorway to restoration. A realignment. A reconnection. A gear shift away from external to internal.
Why practice? Because it restores us.
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Friends, what do you practice?
Do you resonate with the concept of being restored?
How does that show up for you?
I would love to know.
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Speaking of being restored, I find this video is extraordinarily calming and centering. Please do watch. It’s worth it.
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Dear Friends,
Give us the courage and the strength
To keep practicing.
Give us the willingness and the intentionality
To open the door to restoration.
Give us the commitment to life,
To practice being with what is.
One breath.
One moment.
One nanosecond
At a time.
May all beings benefit from our time together.
Blessings,
Aruni
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A Strange Request
Folks, a few times a year I have a psychic reading to gather data for my life from another perspective. This time, my Spirit Guides had a strange request. They told me I need to get my message out to more people! They were talking about social media and marketing! Not exactly my forte. Anyway, I humbly request, as you read my offerings weekly, please consider forwarding it to somebody in your life.
I appreciate it deeply.
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* Sylvia Plath
** Twelve-step programs.
*** The 23rd Psalm
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