AOM Meditations: Facing Fear (022415)

4 Steps to Facing Your Fears

By Jesse Jacobs

(Source)

"Fear is sticky, like glue. The initial emotion of fear may only last a few minutes, but if we let it linger, it can get stuck in our system for days, months, or even a lifetime.

The sensation of fear is effective if it protects us from real threats. The fight-or-flight reaction has helped humans escape life-threatening dangers over the millennium. But in this era of thinking, creating, and problem solving, our fears are usually unfounded. And when fear sticks in our system, it becomes a toxic influence on our choices, emotions, and actions.

Here are a few tips for getting fear out of your system:

1. Label it.

The first step is to simply notice your fear. As soon as you feel that tightness in your chest, just say, “I’m feeling afraid.” By labeling the fear, you separate the feeling from who you are. It is just a sensation.

2. Accept it.

Once you notice your fear, don’t judge yourself for feeling this way. You’re human; to feel fear is part of our DNA. Instead, be proud of it–if you’re feeling fear, you’re likely pushing your comfort zone and fighting the good fight. Let the feeling flow through you.

3. Let it go.

This is the hardest part, because a part of our mind feels safer clinging to the fear. It feels productive, and we worry that if we let go of the fear, it’ll sneak up and catch us off-guard.

But there’s a difference between being aware of your risks and clinging to fear. Let your fear go, and like a passing rain shower it will soon dissipate.

4. Focus on the present.

Most people dwell on future outcomes that will probably never happen, or past failures that don’t define who we are. We can avoid useless fear by instead focusing on the present.

How do you get present? By stopping right here and now, and taking a breath. As soon as you feel that knot in your stomach, stop everything you’re doing and just sit with it. Turn off your phone, step away from your computer, and take three breaths. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.

In that pause, you can let the fear run its course. And once the storm has passed, you’ll move on, stronger and better equipped to face life’s challenges."

(Source)

MUSIC: AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" performed by 2 CELLOS

MOST AWESOME!!!!

Thanks to a Friend of AOM

For sending us this one

Hot Music!

Hot Guys!

Fun Video!

2CELLOS 

Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser 

playing their arrangement of 

"Thunderstruck" 

by AC/DC BaRock style!

Paintings: "Chestnut Tree in Bloom" by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Chestnut Tree in Bloom (1881)

by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841 - 1919)

AOM Meditations: Reflection 022415

Reflection is in many ways a lost art. It is an eyepiece to a world hidden away, the world within ourselves which is alive with truths and beauties and darkness we have never glimpsed. It seems sad that we slice our time too thin for dreaming long dreams and thinking long thoughts. We've grown uncomfortable with that sort of thing. For a long time I had been uneasy left alone. I would snap on the television or grab a book or make brownies. Anything. I suppose we are restless all alone with ourselves, all alone in a room with a stranger. What if we face ourselves and find we don't like the person we meet? I didn't even want to spend much time in prayer because God might confront me and I'd have to look at myself.

~Sue Monk Kidd

~*~

Only when the clamor of the outside world is silenced will you be able to hear the deeper vibration. Listen carefully.

~Sarah Ban Breathnach

~*~

I sincerely believe that there is a time in life for drifting. There is a time for sitting back and getting in touch with yourself. Some of our most interesting illuminations and ideas will come when we take time to reflect, time to kick back and cruise awhile.

~Rudolfo Anaya

MUSIC: "Billie Jean" performed by Michael Henry & Justin Robinett

This is really great!

These guys are so talented!

Michael Henry & Justin Robinett

Sing Michael Jackson's

"Billie Jean"

PAINTING: Starry Night over the Rhone by Vincent van Gogh

Starry Night over the Rhone

by Vincent van Gogh

AOM Meditations: The Joy of Walking by Leo Babauta

the joy of walking 

by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits

(Source)

"Today I set out from my house and walked. And walked.

I didn’t have a specific destination in mind, but wanted to walk a bit before finding a quiet place to write. So I walked, out of the town where I live and along the tropical, white-sand coastline, to the next town over.

As others drove cocooned in their cars, 

I walked, and emitted nothing but my breath.

As others spent their lunch hour pounding down fat-laden burgers and greasy fries or some other cheesy fried piled-high dish, 

I walked, and burned calories.

As others rushed and stressed, 

I walked, and took my time.

As others sat at their computers, 

I walked, and got my blood flowing.

As others held power business meetings and made deals, 

I walked, and had time to think.

As others were productive and got tasks done, 

I walked and got nothing done, and cleared my head.

As others had the comfort of shelter and air-conditioning, 

I walked and worked up a light sweat 

and was buffeted by the wind.

As a white gull floated serenely above a calm bay, 

I walked, and watched, and loved it.

I walked for an hour, then wrote and read, and then walked for another hour to get back home, tired but happy.

I can’t walk this much every day, but I walk as much as I can, because you need nothing to walk, you spend nothing, you consume nothing, you emit nothing.

And yet you have everything."

AOM TV: Laughing Tram Man

 Wanna Feel Good?

Just sit back

And experience this one

"When you smile to the world, 

the world smiles back"

~Laughing Buddha

~*~

"Laughing Tram Man"

Runtime: 1:16

MUSIC: "Silence" by Vargo

A very soothing, sensual song

With great lyrics

Lyrics to

"Silence"

by Vargo

Flowing silence is love.

Shared silence is friendship.

Silence seen is infinity.

Vibrating silence is creation.

Expressed silence is beauty.

Maintained silence is strength.

Allowed silence is rest.

Received silence is joy.

Perceived silence is knowledge.

Silence-alone is being.

Silence-alone is being, is being.

Are you drowning in the noises

that surround you everyday

do you struggle to keep things at bay

and at times does it feel like your loosing the way

are you tempted by the voices

trying to lead us all astray?

do not always believe what they say

come along, peace and quiet are not so far away

[Chorus:]

if your mind is out of tune

feel the silence -

don't know what to do

feel the silence -

it is inside of you

feel the silence -

if you listen you can hear it -

the silence in you

creation - love - friendship - infinity - 

beauty - joy - knowledge - strength

are you looking for a haven

anywhere that you may roam?

there is shelter an oasis of your own

come along, you'll find, you're already home

VARGO

"Silence"

A Beautiful Voice begins singing a beautiful melody at 1:58

AOM Meditations: Mindfulness

 Breathing in, I calm body and mind. 

Breathing out, I smile. 

Dwelling in the present moment 

I know this is the only moment.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

~*~

While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes, one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes.  At first glance, that might seem a little silly: why put so much stress on a simple thing?  But that’s precisely the point.  The fact that I am standing there and washing these bowls is a wondrous reality.  I’m being completely myself, following my breath, conscious of my presence, and conscious of my thoughts and actions.  There’s no way I can be tossed around mindlessly like a bottle slapped here and there on the waves.

While washing dishes, you might be thinking about the tea you’re going to drink afterwards, and so try to get them out of the way as quickly as possible in order to sit and drink tea.  But that means that you are incapable of living during the time you are washing the dishes.  When you are washing the dishes, washing the dishes must be the most important thing in your life.  Just as when you’re drinking tea, drinking tea must be the most important thing in your life.

In fact we are completely incapable of realizing the miracle of life while standing at the sink. If we can't wash the dishes, the chances are we won't be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future -and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life.”

~Thich Nhat Hanh

(The Miracle of Mindfulness)

~*~

Mindfulness is the energy of being aware and awake to the present moment. It is the continuous practice of touching life deeply in every moment of daily life. To be mindful is to be truly alive, present and at one with those around you and with what you are doing. We bring our body and mind into harmony while we wash the dishes, drive the car or take our morning shower.

~unknown

AOM TV: "What is Mindfulness" by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn

"Mindfulness simply means awareness. It's a direct, intuitive knowing of what you are doing while you are doing it. It's knowing what's going on inside your mind and body, and what's going on in the outside world as well.

Most of the time our attention is not where we intended it to be. Our attention is hijacked by our thoughts and emotions, by our concerns, by our worries for the future, and our regrets and memories of the past. Mindful awareness is about learning to pay attention, in the present moment, and without judgement. It's like training a muscle - training attention to be where you want it to be. This reduces our tendency to work on autopilot, allowing us to us choose how we respond and react." 

In this video, mindfulness expert Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn defines "What is mindfulness?" and discusses the hard work and rewards of practicing mindfulness. 

Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn

"What is Mindfulness?"

MUSIC: Chopin's "Etude Op.10 No.3 in E Major" performed by Lang Lang

 Beautifully Expressive

Lang Lang plays Chopin 

"Etude Op.10 No.3 in E Major"

at The Berlin Philharmonic

AOM Meditations: "Principles of Awakening" by Jeff Foster

10 ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES OF AWAKENING

by Jeff Foster

(Source)

"1. NO DESTINATION; 

ONLY THE PRESENT MOMENT

There is only THIS; the present scene of the movie of your life. Come out of the epic story of time and space, past and future, regret and anticipation, and the seeking of different states and experiences; relax the habitual focus on ‘what’s gone’, ‘what’s not here yet’ – things you cannot possibly control from where you are. Come out of the story of ‘My Life’ and allow yourself to be fascinated by what is alive, here, right now. Be curious about this very alive dance of thoughts, sensations, feelings and impulses that is happening where you are. Remember, Now is the only place from which true answers can eventually emerge. The present moment is your true home, prior to time and space.

2. THINKING CREATES SUFFERING

Pain is not the problem; the problem is our thinking about pain, our resistance to discomfort, our attempt to escape it. The real problem begins when we start ruminating on our pain, our sadness, our fears, our anger; brooding over our discomforts, rewinding and fast-forwarding the movie! We chew on yesterday’s and tomorrow’s sorrows, rather than directly exploring and experiencing today’s sorrows as they arrive. We add an unnecessary layer of rumination and resistance to life, and this creates suffering. The invitation? Come out of past and future, seeking and striving, and meet life in the raw, right now, without judgement or the expectation that ‘peace’, ‘relaxation’, ‘enlightenment’ or any kind of shift will result. Meet the moment on its own terms; see it all as a gift. Show up, for the pleasant and unpleasant, the pleasurable and the painful, without an agenda.

3. THOUGHTS AND SENSATIONS 

ARE NOT PERSONAL

See thoughts and sensations as neutral and impersonal events in awareness. Just like sounds that we hear, thoughts and physical sensations arise and disappear spontaneously, like waves in the ocean of You. They cannot be controlled, deleted, or escaped. Cultivate the same gentle attitude towards thoughts and sensations as you have towards sounds. Meet them all with an attitude of kindness and curiosity. See them as welcome guests in your presence.

4. YOU ARE THE SPACE FOR THOUGHTS

Thoughts are not you, and they are not reality; they are only suggestions, possibilities, rumours, propaganda, judgements, voices, images, rewinds and fast-forwards – clouds in the vast sky of you. Don’t try to still, silence or stop thoughts, drop, delete or control them. Be the space for them, even if they are very active right now! Remember, if you notice thoughts, if you are mindful of them, you are not trapped in them. They do not define you. You are the silent container, not the contained. Be what you are – thought’s unchanging embrace.

5. BREATHE INTO DISCOMFORT AND PAIN

Breathe into uncomfortable sensations; give them dignity. Honour them rather than closing off to them, starving them of warmth. On the in-breath, imagine or feel your breath moving into the neglected and tender area, infusing it with life and love. Fill the uncomfortable area in your body with oxygen, warmth and dignity. Don’t try to ‘heal’ the sensations. They want to be met, honoured, included in the present scene. Assume that even discomfort holds intelligence; that it’s not ‘against’ you.

6. ACCEPTANCE IS NOT A ‘DOING’; 

IT IS ALREADY SO

Acceptance doesn't mean that something unpleasant will go away. It may stay awhile. Don’t try to accept it (as this is often resistance in disguise) but acknowledge that it is ALREADY accepted, already here. Treat it as if it perhaps will always be here. This removes the pressure of time (trying to make it go away, wondering why it’s “still here”). It IS here, now. Bow before THIS reality. Be curious. And allow any urges, any feelings of frustration, boredom, disappointment or even despair, to come up too and be included. They are all part of the present scene, not blocks. Even a feeling of blockage is part of the scene!

7. NO ‘ALWAYS’, NO ‘NEVER’

In reality, there is no ‘always’ and no ‘never’. Be mindful of these words; they are lies, and can create a sense of urgency and powerlessness; they feed the story of seeking and lack. There is no ‘rest of my life’, no ‘for years’, no ‘all day long’. There is only Now, your only place of power. Sometimes even thinking about tomorrow is just too much work. Be here.

8. YOU ONLY GET ‘THERE’ 

BY BEING ‘HERE’

Often we focus so much on the goal/destination that we forget the journey, disconnect from each precious step, and stress is created. Trust that just being present will lead you to where you should be. Take the focus off the 10,000 steps to come, the 10,000 steps you have not yet trodden, and remember the present step, the ancient living ground. Often we don’t know where we are headed, and that’s okay. Befriend uncertainty, doubt; learn to love this sacred place of no answers. It is alive, and creative, and full of potential.

9. EMBRACE THE STUMBLING

If you realize that you’re lost in a story, that you’re disconnected, celebrate. You have just woken up from a dream. A great intelligence is alive in you, a power to realize and connect. You have stepped out of millions of years of conditioning. Don’t punish yourself for forgetting, but celebrate your ability to remember. The moment doesn’t mind that you forgot it! Forgetting is a perfect part of the movie. Allow yourself to forget, sometimes! Be humbled by the journey rather than trying to be ‘perfect’. Doubt, disappointment and disillusionment will be constant friends along this pathless path. There is no destination in presence, no image of ‘success’ to live up to. You cannot go wrong, when there is no image of ‘right’.

10. NEVER COMPARE YOURSELF

You are unique; your journey is wholly original. We may all be expressions of the very same ocean of consciousness, but at the same time, we are all unique expressions of that very ocean, totally unique in our wave-ness! Don’t compare yourself with anyone else! When you start comparing, you devalue your own unique, irreplaceable gifts, talents and truths and disconnect from your unique present experience. Don’t compare this moment with any image of how it could, should, or might have been. Healing is possible when you say YES to where you are now, even if it’s not where you dreamed you would be ‘by now’. Trust, and trust sometimes that you cannot trust. Perhaps even your inability to trust can be trusted here, and even the feeling that you cannot hold the moment, is itself already being held…” (Source)

~Jeff Foster

AOM TV: "A New Story of the People" from Sustainable Human

 Insightful and Inspiring

"The greatest illusion of this world is the illusion of separation."

"Human beings are a storytelling species. As much as we would like to believe that we are rational, scientific people who consider all the "facts" before acting, the truth is that our stories and the roles we play in them have a far greater impact on our behavior. Your family, past experience, and even your name are all part of the story of who you are (or at least who you tell yourself you are). We play many roles in different stories - husband, wife, co-worker, business partner, sibling, employee, boss, waiter, customer, father, mother, friend - and it is each of these roles that has a far greater impact on our behavior.

We also have another kind of story, a collective story that answers the question of who we are as a people. The current story of the people descends from the Newtonian, mechanistic worldview. It says that we are each separate beings - separate from each other and from Nature -interacting through market transactions to maximize economic and reproductive self-interest. In this story, dolphins suffocated by oil spills, starving children, and ostracized homeless people does not affect us. How can it if we are truly separate from one another?

This belief that we are separate from one another is being challenged both by quantum science and our own intuition. We know in our hearts that the world is supposed to be much more beautiful than what has been offered to us as normal. As the old story of separation falls apart, a new story based on the interconnected web of life is being born.

This inviting video provides a glimpse at this new emerging story. As you watch it, try to feel the story through your heart and ask yourself if you are ready to believe in this story." (Source)

A New Story of the People

from Sustainable Human

MUSIC: "Zion's Glory" by Really Slow Motion (Fran Soto)

Epic! Powerful! Uplifting!

"Zion´s Glory"

Music by Really Slow Motion

Composer: Fran Soto

Album: Cosmogeny

AOM Meditations: "Miracles" by Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman's

"Miracles"

from Leaves of Grass

As for me, I know nothing else but miracles,

Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,

Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,

Or wade with naked feet along the beach 

just in the edge of the water,

Or stand under the trees in the woods,

Or talk by day with any one I love,

Or sleep in bed at night with any one I love,

Or watch honey bees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon...

Or the wonderfulness of the sundown,

Or of stars shining so quiet and bright,

Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring...

What stranger miracles are there?

~Walt Whitman

AOM TV: Harry Baker's "Paper People"

Absolutely Stunning and Entertaining

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. From primes to proper pop-up purple paper people, Harry Baker performs his a pun-tastic and poignant poetry.

Harry Baker has always loved words. He's been blessed enough to travel round the world with them, winning the Poetry Slam World Cup in 2012 and currently using a maths degree as an excuse to live in Germany and find heaps more new words to play with. After two 5-star Edinburgh Fringe festival shows and almost growing a beard once, the next adventure is having his first book released in April this year.

While funny, this poem is very meaningful

Harry Baker

 Grand Slam Poetry Champion performing at TEDxExeter

performing

"Paper People"

MUSIC: "Firework" by Katy Perry

Inspiring Feel Good Song

Very Positive Message for All

The person who made this video did an incredible job

Such attention to detail 

Katy Perry

"Firework"

MUSIC: "Under the Blue Sky" by Diane Arkenstone

Lyrics from "Under the Blue Sky"

"Look into the big blue Sky

Walk into the Sun

Laughing as the Clouds blow by

Until the Day is done

Sit beside the Morning Stream

That Flows into the Sea

Step inside this endless Dream

And BE 

all you can BE"

~*~

One of my favorite songs from Diane

A Feel Good, Flow With Life Song

Diane Arkenstone

"Under the Blue Sky"

PAINTING: "Moonlight" by Henri Moret

"Moonlight"

(1909)

by Henri Moret

(1856 - 1913)

~*~

The Light shining through the Clouds

The rhythmic Dance of the Sky

The Motion of the Ocean

The Light splashing on the Waters

MUSIC VIDEO: "HU: The Zikr" - Sufi Zikr Meditation

CAPTIVATING and MEMORIZING 

Breathtaking. Entrancing. Exhilarating.

Lovingly presenting the short video 'Introduction to Hu, The Zikr' with the soul-stirring narration by beloved Anandmurti Gurumaa. It features the ecstatic poetry of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi coupled with captivating music that truly enthralls. Watch, awaken, and don't go back to sleep. Rejoice watching it!

HU: The Zikr

Narration by 

Anandmurti Gurumaa

Sufi Zikr Meditation 

Poetry by 

Rumi

Music composed by 

Kanchman Babbar

Ney by Kanchman Babbar

Rhythm by Babbi

For years, copying other people, I tried to know myself.
From within, I couldn’t decide what to do.
Unable to see, I heard my name being called.
Then I walked outside.

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.

~Rumi

Equanimity: 011615

Equanimity

adapted from a talk by Gil Fronsdal

(SOURCE)

"Equanimity is one of the most sublime emotions of Buddhist practice. It is the ground for wisdom and freedom and the protector of compassion and love. While some may think of equanimity as dry neutrality or cool aloofness, mature equanimity produces a radiance and warmth of being. The Buddha described a mind filled with equanimity as “abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility and without ill-will.”

The English word “equanimity” translates two separate Pali words used by the Buddha. Each represents a different aspect of equanimity.

The most common Pali word translated as “equanimity” is upekkha, meaning “to look over.” It refers to the equanimity that arises from the power of observation, the ability to see without being caught by what we see. When well-developed, such power gives rise to a great sense of peace.

Upekkha can also refer to the ease that comes from seeing a bigger picture. Colloquially, in India the word was sometimes used to mean “to see with patience.” We might understand this as “seeing with understanding.” For example, when we know not to take offensive words personally, we are less likely to react to what was said. Instead, we remain at ease or equanimous. This form of equanimity is sometimes compared to grandmotherly love. The grandmother clearly loves her grandchildren but, thanks to her experience with her own children, is less likely to be caught up in the drama of her grandchildren’s lives.

The second word often translated as equanimity is tatramajjhattata, a compound made of simple Pali words. Tatra, meaning “there,” sometimes refers to “all these things.” Majjha means “middle,” and tata means “to stand or to pose.” Put together, the word becomes “to stand in the middle of all this.” As a form of equanimity, “being in the middle” refers to balance, to remaining centered in the middle of whatever is happening. This balance comes from inner strength or stability. The strong presence of inner calm, well-being, confidence, vitality, or integrity can keep us upright, like a ballast keeps a ship upright in strong winds. As inner strength develops, equanimity follows.

Equanimity is a protection from the “eight worldly winds”: praise and blame, success and failure, pleasure and pain, fame and disrepute. Becoming attached to or excessively elated with success, praise, fame or pleasure can be a set-up for suffering when the winds of life change direction. For example, success can be wonderful, but if it leads to arrogance, we have more to lose in future challenges. Becoming personally invested in praise can tend toward conceit. Identifying with failure, we may feel incompetent or inadequate. Reacting to pain, we may become discouraged. If we understand or feel that our sense of inner well-being is independent of the eight winds, we are more likely to remain on an even keel in their midst."

From the website: Insight Meditation Center

Mindfulness: 011615

All consciousness involves awareness in the sense of a knowing or experiencing of an object. But with the practice of mindfulness, awareness is applied at a special pitch. The mind is deliberately kept at the level of bare attention, a detached observation of what is happening within us and around us in the present moment. 

In the practice of right mindfulness the mind is trained to remain in the present, open, quiet, and alert, contemplating the present event. All judgements and interpretations have to be suspended, or if they occur, just registered and dropped. The task is simply to note whatever comes up and just as it is occurring, riding the changes of events in the way a surfer rides the waves of the sea. The whole process is a way of coming back into the present, of standing in the here and now without slipping away, without getting swept away by the tides of distracting thoughts.

~ Bhikkhu Bodhi, The Noble Eightfold Path

POETRY: "What Was Told, That" by Rumi - Read by Coleman Barks

 A Poem by Rumi 

Beautifully read by Coleman Barks

What Was Told, That

What was said to the rose that made it open was said

to me here in my chest.

What was told the cypress that made it strong

and straight, 

what was whispered the jasmine 

so it is what it is, 

whatever made sugarcane sweet, 

whatever was said to the inhabitants of the town of 

Chigil in Turkestan that makes them so handsome, 

whatever lets the pomegranate flower blush

like a human face, that is being said to me now. I blush. 

Whatever put eloquence in

language, that's happening here.

The great warehouse doors open; I fill with gratitude,

chewing a piece of sugarcane,

in love with the one to whom every that belongs!  

Hey Sweetie! AOM SoulFood 2 Begins

Welcome to AOM SoulFood 2

Hey Sweetie,

Bookmark this blog

(Or copy and save to a text file this URL)
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So if anything happens to AOM SoulFood

I will be able to keep us together going forward

You can also contact me at this E-mail address:

Peace and Love,

AOM