Spiritual Focus and Spontaneity

Tags

focus, spiritual practice, spontaneity, vision

By the time you read this, we would have been past the first week of the new year that is 2017. In last Sunday’s conversation, we had touched upon the notion of new beginnings in the new year. For me, one aspect of ‘new beginnings’ is a commitment to a somewhat ‘regular’ evaluation of our Self. Maybe you will join me for a few minutes.

How was the first week of the New Year for you? Did you come ‘barging out the door’ after the holidays, full of energy to deep-dive into your action plans – to find that you were running on fumes by Thursday, and the shortened week left you a day short of what you thought you were going to be able to accomplish? If so, join my club. If not, you probably had a better focus, a better balance, and a better energy distribution than I did. Wonderful. You and I need to talk offline 🙂

Now that we have our quick self-evaluation behind us, we can move forward. In getting ready for the Sunday chat on twitter, I often pick up a book or two on Friday evening, and stack them on my bedside table. Last night, I openened up “The Way of Zen” by Alan Watts. This is the page that flowed out…

So long as the conscious intellect is frantically trying to clutch the world in its net of abstractions, and to inssiste that life be bound and fitted to its rigid categories, the intellect will wear itself out… Philosophy of Tao

This stirred my mind, and then my heart. What are some of us (including me) doing in the New Year? We are barely into the first week of January, and we are at risk of ‘wearing out our intellect’ by focusing on ‘frantically trying to clutch the world’ and fit it into our ‘rigid categories’. And the author went on…

The Tao is accessible only to the mind which can practice the simple and subtle art of wu-wei…

A ‘simple and subtle art’? OK. Now I am really paying attention and focused on what the author had to say. What is this art, this principle of wu-wei? Memories of my Karate Sensei’s lectures during class started filtering through my mind as I searched for this term. No. Nothing. So, I read on.

wu-wei is the experience where the mind arrives at decisions spontaneously… decisions which are effective to the degree that one knows how to let one’s mind alone, trusting it to work by itself…

Aha. There it is. Spontaneity. A sense of flow returns, to break us out of our ‘rigid categories’. I sense a return of and an embrace of freedom for the mind from the shackles of too much focus, by ‘letting one’s mind alone’. Trusting. Now, the literal meaning of wu-wei is further broken down…

wu means “not” or “non-” and wei means “action”, “striving”, “straining”…

Wait. Does this mean that if we adopt wu-wei that we are signing up for “non-action”? I look at it as signing up for “non-striving”… dialing back the mind’s hyper-focus on what we set out to ‘achieve’, to ‘strive’ towards. So, wu-wei can create time and space for flow and spontaneity. We relax our laser-life focus on our ‘goals’, and allow for “peripheral vision” to let us see out of the corners of our eyes.

The author uses the analogy of how a baby or infant actually sees the world. Their field of vision is wide, often even ‘blurry’. They do not focus on one particular thing, yet they manage to “see everything”. The world labels them as inarticulate, even “dumb” or “stupid”, but in their lack of cleverness, their innate spontaneity, is hidden a wonderful spiritual ability…

Cut out cleverness, and there are no anxieties!

So begins the poem that talks about the benefits of being ‘stupid’ in the world’s eyes. There is often great merit in being without ‘cleverness or ‘guile’ in the matters of the heart and soul. Consider this. When we act spontaneously to do something that brings a spark of Joy to our heart, we rarely do it from a position of stress or anxiety, do we? We trust the mind, we let go, and deep dive into spontaneity.

In summary, the message for me seems to be – keep focus, but don’t build the focus wall so high that you don’t allow time and space for spontaneity to enter your heart. I share the message with you, in the hope that it helps all of us relax into the week ahead.

As if to corroborate, I learnt in this week’s meditation MasterClass ~ Learn to let the mind relax. That is the first step, the beginning of meditation.

Namaste,

Kumud

P.S. As I was finishing up this post, I recalled my Sensei often reminding me – ‘peripheral vision’ is one of your greatest assets… anybody can develop a keen, focused, ‘straight on’ vision, but the great warriors have great ‘peripheral vision’… and you develop that by relaxing, ‘not-striving’… there it is. Wu-Wei! Join us on twitter in #SpiritChat – Sunday, January 8th at 9amET. We will talk more about Focus and Spontaneity. Namaste.

On Spontaneity and Patience

Tags

patience, spirichat, spontaneity

The #SpiritChat conversation on Sunday April 7th was about Spontaneity ~ A conversation that was expertly guided by my good friend and veteran #SpiritChat-ter @EmeliaSam. I asked her to take on the helm of the chat as I had hatched some last-minute spring-break plans with my family. So, at very short notice, Emelia agreed to take on the role of chat host, so that the community could gather, engage, discuss and uplift each other.

The transcript for the chat on Spontaneity is available at http://bit.ly/sc-tr-040713 ~ I invite you to read and see the brilliance of the #SpiritChat community in full flow. It was very heartening for me to know that there are leaders in the community willing to serve, spontaneously 🙂 I thank all of you who showed up and engaged, and supported Emelia. Spontaneity brought a lot of smiles to a lot of folks. Thank you again.

As I searched for the discussion topic for our April 14th chat, I decided that it may be interesting to explore the opposite of spontaneity. I am far from being the spontaneous type (although I am getting better at letting myself go :)) – I lean more towards being (overly) thoughtful, deliberate and careful. I like to describe it as “patience”. It may not be the exact opposite of spontaneity, but I believe that it is an equally essential tool to have as part of our spiritual “bag of tricks”.

Some may posit that patience is just an euphemism for procrastination, indecision, laziness. Perhaps. However, we are all familiar with the aphorisms of “haste makes waste” and “good things come to those who wait”. So, as always, there are two sides to the story of patience. Which side do you lean towards? In what circumstances does patience approach procrastination?

Some may posit that patience is an indicator of determination, resolve, and staying power. A virtue that can stand us in good stead in situations where spontaneity may not be the best path to follow. So, how does one decide – should one exercise spontaneity or adopt patience? What informs patience? How do we develop it?

All of us who walk the spiritual path are well aware that, without patience, a little forbearance, progress would be difficult. One may posit that patience is the foundation of faith and prayer. One of my favorite quotes on patience is by the mystic Kabir, born in India in the 1400s. In response to one of his followers, who was questioning why it was taking God so long to answer his prayers, he said:

Patience, dear heart. Will He, who has known every hair on your body since you were in your mother’s womb, forsake you now?

In this age of instant messaging, communication and social media, perhaps patience is a dying virtue. The pressure to respond quickly, for time always seems to be of the essence, puts patience to the test. Yes, in a way, twitter chats like #SpiritChat do not help the matter. All those questions compel us to try and respond, quickly 🙂 So, how do we find the time to develop patience? Or is it a virtue that has been replaced by something else, something better?

So, as usual, we have few questions as we transition from spontaneity to patience. I invite you to join us Sunday April 14th at 9am ET on twitter in #SpiritChat ~ I look forward to learning from all of you.

Be well. Be patient. Watch the universe unfold.

Kumud

Update: (Abbreviated) Transcripts for the live chat ~ On Spontaneity and Patience ~ bit.ly/sc-tr-041413 ~ share and enjoy – Thank you!

Questions asked during the chat are listed below. I invite you to answer in the comments ~

Ready? Q1. Patience. What image or feeling(s) does the word invoke for you? #SpiritChat 

Q2. In this "fast paced" world, is patience still a relevant virtue? Why or why not? #SpiritChat 

Q3. Are there any important life-lessons that IMpatience has taught you? Do share. #SpiritChat

Q4. "Patience is the companion of wisdom" -St Augustine. How can we develop more of it? #SpiritChat

Q5. Are there life-situations where patience is a liability? How so? #SpiritChat 

Q6. Patience or Spontaneity. How do we discern which to choose in the moment? #SpiritChat

Q7. What is the connection between patience, wellness and healing? #SpiritChat 

Q8. What two or three things do we need to add to patience to move forward spiritually?  #SpiritChat

Some quotes on patience that I uncovered while I was preparing the chat questions ~ sharing with you!

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These are your greatest treasures.” Lao Tzu

“One minute of patience, ten years of peace” – Greek Proverb

“Patience can conquer destiny” – Irish Saying

“Faith is not simply a patience that passively suffers until the storm is past. Rather, it is a spirit that bears things – with resignations, yes, but above all, with blazing, serene hope.” – Corazon Aquino

“Patience and fortitude conquer all things” – Emerson

“He that can have Patience, can have what he will” – Benjamin Franklin

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” – Leo Tolstoy

“Patience is the companion of wisdom.” – St Augustine

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions” – Rainer Maria Rilke