A Bodhisattva Meditation for Cultivating Loving Compassion for the Self

A Bodhisattva Meditation for Cultivating Loving Compassion for the Self
by LaSara Firefox, MPNLP, www.lasarafirefox.com

Gate gate, para gate, parasam gate, bodhi svaha.

The one responsibility of the bodhisattva is to not cause suffering.

The one commitment of the bodhisattva is to love all beings pervading space and time, regardless of any beings ability to return, or even receive, that love.

We've all been in situations where we have offered love to someone unwilling to return that love - for instance, we still love our child, even when in the a rage of differentiation she yells, "I hate you, mom!". We often call this unconditional love.

Those of you who have made a practice of cultivating compassion have probably intentionally cultivated love for someone who has withdrawn their love, or someone who doesn't agree with out beliefs or lifestyle, and therefore, at least on a hypothetical level, does not want your love. These maybe political or historical figures. Or they may be estranged family.

My largest break through in the depth and breadth of this commitment was when I realized that *I* was one of those beings pervading time and space, that deserved the love of my bodhisattva self, even when I was incapable of returning, or even receiving that love.

That it was the responsibility of my awakened self to address suffering, and the root of suffering, in my own life. It was my commitment, in my awakened heart, to cultivate loving compassion for my "imperfect" self - the one that was attaching to, and therefore being the cause of, my own suffering.

Sound tricky? Well, it is, and it isn't.

This is a great practice for days when your heart feels stuck or bruised, you're feeling a lack of self-love, or are feeling unable to forgive yourself for some past or present participation in the creation of suffering; that of yourself or another.

The ironic part of holding on to the guilt of being a cause of suffering, is that we continue to cause suffering through our attachment to the guilt!

It is not the negative emotion that causes the suffering. Nor is it the act that caused the suffering itself - whatever that act may be - that causes the suffering. The attachment to the suffering, in any form, is the root of the cause of suffering.

Truly, attachment to joy or pleasure, or any emotional state, is the root of the cause of suffering, but addressing that is a practice for another essay.

The way I've come to see it, the true work of the bodhisattva is to release ourselves from suffering, and the attachment to suffering. To engender the attitudes of enlightenment, and slowly, overtime, become proficient; and to do this work for the benefit of all beings.

Here's the practice, in three easy (or sometimes, not so easy) parts.

Part I: Two Ways of Generating Pure, Compassionate Love

1. Commit to the thought of not being the cause of suffering to yourself, or others. Release attachment to any suffering that has been caused in the past, by you or any being, or may be caused in the future. Release attachment to suffering itself.

a. Commit to pure, compassionate love for all beings pervading time and space. Start generating this love by feeling it in your body, if possible, and then growing that love with each breath.

b. Some times this approach may be out of reach, so instead, imagine some being you love easily - your child, your pet, your beloved, your best friend - enveloped in a soft, glowing bubble of your compassionate love for them. Breath by breath, grow this love until it fills your whole sense of time and space.

Part II: Recognize That You Are a Being That Deserves Your Love, Whether You Can Return, Or Even Accept, That Love.

1. Once you have filled all of time and space with your love, recognize that you are a being already released from suffering. That you are enveloped in your own pure, compassionate love. And in being filled and surrounded by your compassion, you are surrounded by the impartial, unconditional, compassionate love of all time and space.

There is no separation between You - the bodhisattva, that awakened being generating this love - and you, the self sitting and being held in it, regardless of your ability to return, or receive, that pure love. That love unattached to anything you think you have been, or think you may be. Anything you think you have done, or think you will do.

2. Allow that pure compassion, unattached to any outcome or past experience, to hold you securely in the awareness that you are already fully present. Fully perfect. Fully awake. Fully free from suffering, and the attachment to suffering.

Part III: Release Attachment to the Practise Itself

1. Stay in this state for as long as you are able, without clinging to it. Attachment to joy, pleasure, or comfort are also the root of suffering. Be present, not attached.

2. If you lose your way in the practice, return to the place in the practice where you became distracted. Perhaps there is some work there to move through. Or, perhaps you just got distracted. Or, perhaps there is a part of you that is unwilling to receive that love that is being generated.

Don't attach! Move fluidly to the points of the exercise that are within reach, and continue working towards compassionate love for all beings.

3. If tears come, let them come. And let them go. If laughter comes, let it come, and let it go. If euphoria comes, let is also go. If pain comes, let it arise, and release. Let yourself be exactly as you are, exactly where you are.

Cultivate compassion for every emotion that arises, and then release it.

4. Don't forget to breathe.

May this act, and all acts, be dedicated to the liberation and awakening of all beings. Bodhi svaha.

I consecrate these works, and all works, to the unfolding of self-awareness. May this act serve me as it serves all beings, through the revelation of awareness. May my increasing awakening to presence serve to bring awareness of presence to all beings throughout space and time. So it is.

About the Author:
LaSara Firefox, MPNLP, is a coach, author, educator, and game-designer. Her latest project, Gratitude Games, has been featured in international media. LaSara helps her clients find balance in their lives, and alignment with their personal and family-held values. She teaches and coaches internationally.

LaSara’s primary certification is in Neuro-Linguistic Programming/Patterning (NLP); a discipline that uses language and neurology - and the relationship between the two - to create resilience, healing, and positive, lasting change.

LaSara is mom to two amazing daughters, and wife to an outstanding man. She and her family live in California. To learn more, visit http://www.lasarafirefox.com.

Yoga Mama's Guide to Compassionate Citizenry, Ecstatic Presence Newsletter

In this newsletter: Note from LaSara: Yoga Mama's Guide to Compassionate Citizenry * Empowerment for Presence: There Is No Other * LaSara Recommends...*

As the election nears, there are questions on everyone's lips. Whether it's okay to talk about politics is one of this big ones. My opinion; it's not just alright, it's your responsibility to do so! This is a democracy, and as citizens, we are empowered to participate in the governance of our country.

Yoga Mama's Guide to Compassionate Citizenry:

1. Assume positive intent.

Just because politics tends to get dirty doesn't mean that I should add my own mud to the slinging. It can be a challenge to hold back, but doing so is good form. I want to hear your point of view, and I want you to hear mine. Let's keep it clean as we are able.

2. Generate Bodhicitta.

Bodhcitta means wisdom-consciousness, or awakened-consciousness. Engage in the political conversation from a place of wisdom and compassion. This allows you to recognize your own wounding, while allowing yourself not to react from the wounded place. It also allows you remember that everyone is doing what they think best for the world.

You don't have to agree with their methods (and you won't in many cases), but trust that everyone is doing their best. In addition to contributing to the process of your own potential awakening to the enlightened mind, it makes it easier to have a civilized conversation.

3. Don't take it personally.

While it is easy to get caught in the fervor of fear, hurt, power and probabilities, and while the outcome of election day is very important, remember that comments made about your candidate are not comments made about you. Political disagreements don't need to become personal ones.

As a business person, I know I am taking a risk by being public with my political views. But it is a risk I willingly take on, in order to be the best citizen, of this country and the world as a whole, that I can be. I respect your right and duty to do the same.

The place where politics and spirit meet is addressed in this issue's Empowerment for Presence; There Is No Other. Read on, and have an ecstatic day.

peace.

-LaSara

www.lasarafirefox.com

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Ready to give coaching a try? Contact me for a pre-coaching evaluation NOW! Drop a note to: firefox@lasarafirefox.com, or call 707-293-5153 to schedule.

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Empowerment for Presence: There Is No Other

by LaSara Firefox, www.lasarafirefox.com

I have a lot going on in my life right now, and all of it is the opportunity to achieve a more constant state (or station) of awakening to compassion. One of the largest of my personal challenges to living in my compassionate heart is Sarah Palin.

Why? To begin with, she's the iconic proof that we haven't "come a long way, baby!" at all. Palin represents the dumbing-down of America, but more painfully to me, she is the "answer" to senator Clinton's "ball-busting" demeanor. Palin is hailed by some as the perfect feminine candidate; MILF-esque, down-to-earth (folksy), and seemingly, dumb as a doornail. Ouch.

So here's the practice I am sitting with in accepting Palin as part of the undifferentiated all-that-is: three steps to cultivating compassion.

1. I recognize Palin, and my feelings for her, as my own shadow, my own wounded self seeking the light of acceptance, my own wounded femininity aspiring to recognition in a "patriarchal" world, my own fear and my own failing.

2. I awaken my "witness self", the one who easily sees my own broken parts, and loves me into wholeness, even when I feel unlovable, or unloving.

3. I allow my heart to open and grow, and visualize Palin held securely in my own heart, or enveloped in my heart-energy. I breath into this love, and allow myself to heal in, and through, it.

I undertake this practice for the benefit of all beings, pervading space and time.In the process, I heal my own heart. I address my own shadow, and in moving through the pain of it, I become more awakened to the process of integration.

In the healing of my own heart, and the growth and expansion of it, I come to have more faith in the possibility of healing. Anger is a poisoned blade that harms the one that holds it. I am only capable of healing myself. But, perhaps in healing myself, I heal the world.

Consider yourself empowered.

LaSara Recommends...

Book:

Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature

Edited by Connie Zweig and Jeremiah Abrams, Tarcher, 1990

Meeting the Shadow addresses the dark areas of the psyche from many angles and perspectives, and through numerous lenses. It's helpful both as a cautionary measure, and as a doorway to cultivating understanding of the shadow and how it functions and manifests. Even-handed, honest, and engaging, essays from scholars, spiritual seekers and leaders, pundits, parents and more.

TV Show:

Grey's Anatomy is a really, really good show. My husband and I watch it together, and are equally moved by it. Grey's Anatomy deals with epic themes with a light hand. And, as a fan of moral ambivalence that's true to life, the show offers opportunities for viewers to arrive at our own conclusions about right and wrong.

As a comment on women in culture, the show makes up for my heart-ache regarding Palin. (See above!) Grey's posse is sexually empowered, though wounded - like most of us; hard-working, yet sometimes over-extended; invested in image, though often pissed-off when objectified. In other words, I know these women. They're me. And you. And my sisters. And my peers.

So glad to have another year of growing up with this crew.

The Ecstatic Presence Project * 705 N. State St. #205, Ukiah, CA, 95482 * 707-293-5153 * firefox@lasara.us * www.lasarafirefox.com

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Coming to Practice * Gratitude Games

In this post: Coming to practice... * Ecstatic Presence Empowerment: Gratitude Games!

Coming to Practice

When it’s hardest to give myself to practice, it’s the most important to do so.

Big changes are afoot in my life, and I - knocked off center - come back to the zafu, sit in front of my quiet altar, draw a card for contemplation from my goddess deck, and receive Kuan Yin. Goddess of Compassion. She will lead my practice today.

I draw at random from my stack of meditation books. It’s Jon Kabbat-Zinn’s Wherever You Go, There You Are. I open to a page at random, and it’s an essay called “A What-Is-My-Way? Meditation”.

I find my way in the few minutes of quiet. The way of surrender. The power of prayer enfolds me, and I surrender to being held by something larger.

I feel my heart constrict, a baby in the birth canal, I am being pushed through this moment, into a larger awareness of self, of potential.

Death and birth are solitary walks. Every moment of it, truly alone…yet not alone. In facing my absolute sense of self, I break nearly into a knowing of the larger truth – that there is no alone.

Compassion sits just outside my reach, because I have placed it there. Presence is, or is not. Presence is releasing expectation, releasing attachment, releasing time.

There is no time in the eternal now, the forever unfolding is-ness of the moment.

I am present, in practice. I am breathing compassion, in practice.

So I come back to the meditation altar, back to the pillow, and sit.

peace.

-LaSara
www.lasarafirefox.com

Ecstatic Presence Empowerment: Gratitude Games!
by LaSara Firefox, www.lasarafirefox.com

I wrote this Empowerment for the Thanksgiving holiday. However, every day is a good day to practice gratitude. Gratitude helps heal the heart (yes, it's scientifically proven to help with healing rates after heart surgery or heart disease), it reduces stress, and it helps us to learn to notice the things in life that support ease and grace.

Here are some fun and easy ways to introduce gratitude practice to your family and friends. If you feel inspire to integrate gratitude practice into your life, consider hosting a Gratitude Gathering. You can use these games as a starting point.

1. Gratitude Practice: The old standby. Everyone in your cluster takes a turn saying something they’re grateful for. One offering isn't enough? Go around again!
2. "Gratigories": Take turns choosing categories, and then everyone at your table offers one thing they are grateful for in the chosen "gratigory."

At our family Thanksgiving last year we played this, and it was great! Some fun - and surprisingly touching - gratigories we came up with; public utilities, things that happened to or for us when we were teens, family traditions that have been handed down, the influence of famous people.

Have fun with the gratigories! The more diverse, the better.

3. A Grateful A to Z: An alphabet of gratitude! Start with A, and make
your way to Z. Make sure everyone takes a turn. This is obviously a great gratitude game for the wee ones in your crew.

4. Compassionate Gratitude: The most challenging o my gratitude games perhaps, but what better way to strengthen your practice of compassion, than with gratitude?

The point of Compassionate Gratitude is to find things to be grateful about in areas that challenge your lovingness. Politics? Family? America? Media? Culture? Choose your topic, and find the gift in the challenge!

Consider yourself empowered!

About the author:
LaSara FireFox, MPNLP, is mom to two amazing daughters, a life coach, and an educator. She helps her clients and students to find balance in their lives, and alignment with their personal and family-held values.

Visit LaSara’s website at www.lasarafirefox.com for more information. At the site, you can listen to her “Yoga Mama Satsangha” podcast series, download free parenting-related items, and more.

Eight Gifts from a Wild Fire, OR, How I Spent My Summer Vacation, 2008, OR, What I Gained in the Fire

by LaSara FireFox, www.lasarafirefox.com

1. It's reminded us what's truly precious.

Life, limb, love, family, breath itself. Houses can be rebuilt. Communities will resurrect. Dreams can be molded from scratch. Life itself, and those we love, are the only truly non-renewable resources we stand to lose in the ancient battle of man against nature.

Nature's bigger, and we owe It Its due. Sometimes it's time to stand down, turn-tail and run. If it comes to it, at least we know we did what we could to create the most positive possible outcome.

The permanence/impermanance questions arise and fall away, and what's still true when the smoke clears is that if we're all still standing, we've made it through with what truly matters.

2. It's an opportunity to catch up with childhood friends.
Many of us have moved far a field from the halcyon days that founded the fields we grew up in. But in the last week I've seen more than a couple friendships renewed.

It's great to see everyone claiming the ground we stand on again. We've had a chance to meet anew on common soil. We can continue the trend.

3. It's a chance to remember what we're capable of.
Felling and moving trees by hand, making homestead after homestead fire safe, sleeping with the crackling of fire and the occasional "BOOM!" of an exploding tree echoing in the distance.

Emergency may bring out the best or the worst in each of us. I think most of us have had our moments of each. But the glory of the body under strain is miraculous. Feats of amazing strength and endurance stand as testament to our ability to persevere. To endure.

My personal contribution, while not monumental in the overall scheme of things, has made me feel more competent and confident. And younger than I was last week.

On a community level, we've been reminded too. Teams of community crew have been out roaming from home to home, making sure things are as prepared as possible. I think we've been given back something in that; it's a thing we FOUND in this fire.

4. A common "enemy" unites the good in us all.

When was the last time you got to see a sheriff, county and state employees, and medical marijuana providers pulling together to create a positive outcome?

Well, there's a first time for everything. This was it, for this particular assemblage. It was, and is, a thing of beauty.

Let's adopt this one for the long term, wherever we can. What would the world be like if we focused on the areas that bring us together rather than the ones that divide and conquer?

There will be a lot of rebuilding to do here in our community, in our county, and across the state, once the fires have burned themselves out. Let's learn from the fires, and from the flooding in New Orleans, and the other disasters that we've all been shaped by over the past few years. Let's find, and reinforce our strengths.

5. It's a chance to let bygones be bygones.
Communities pull together in times of challenge. With communities as old as ours, there's a lot of water under the bridge. What better chance will we ever have to let the past fall away and the present emerge renewed, like the naked floor of our forest home, than this?

We're all lending a hand. Let's try to find a smile for one another in the shared work. Let's let words be a balm and hearts heal. It's never too late to let our wounds heal.

6. It's a chance to get perspective on continuity and change.
Last time our community had to pull together to fight fires, it was a generation earlier. The kids at the edges were us - now we're the ones on the front lines helping the older folks stay out of harm's way.

A generation ago the gardens of green would have been yanked before the fire crews got on site. Now the conversation had as we sit with the civil servants waiting for the flames to come - or fall away - are about legalization, double binds, fair taxation, and how to end the war in Iraq so we can all feel good about paying our taxes again.

Some things change, some stay the same. We're still proving what we're made of out in the outlaw hills of Mendo, but we're also taking direction from the trained professionals who are here to help. We're sitting in community, uniforms of tie die and jeans, and uniforms of safety yellow, side by side.

7. It allows the space to cultivate nonattachment.
Nonattachment is a practice. Sometimes it's a practice breath by breath. With the fire, we've had days of preparing for the possible loss of childhood homes, investments, holdings. And, day by day we sacrifice more to the hope of stopping the fire before it hits the houses.

Trees come down, one by one. Bulldozer tracks are cut into hills and valleys. Dirt stands exposed - raw soil open the amber, apocalyptic haze of day.

We lose a limb, to save a body. And even then, it's a gamble. There is nothing to control, nor be controlled by. Moment to moment new choices arise. And then the moment passes, and that is gone too.

8. It gives us a chance to gain global perspective, and cultivate compassion and gratitude.
While taking tools in hand and making our space "defensible", i thought long and hard about my friends in the middle east who have this thought as a constant one, and not against a force of nature, but against other human beings.

With this awareness, I grow the love in my heart, wishing that this love could come like a cleansing rain and quench the thirsty soil and soul of a planet embattled. I find gratitude in the moments where common ground is found, and grow the prayer, rising up, from my lips;

"May this act and all acts be dedicated unto the complete liberation and supreme enlightenment of all beings pervading space and time. so it is. may the benefit of practice, mine and others, come to fruition ultimately and immediately, and i remain in a state of presence."

May this act benefit all beings.

Stay safe wherever you are. Kiss your babies. Hold your loved ones. Look for the silver-linings in those billowing clouds of smoke. And, keep on loving each other.

About the author:

LaSara FireFox, MPT-NLP, is a master practitioner/trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming/Patterning, life coach, educator, and professional speaker. LaSara helps her clients to find balance in their lives, and alignment with their personal and family-held values.

In addition, she is a mother of two, a successful author (Sexy Witch - Llewellyn, 2005), and founder and CEO of two companies; the Ecstatic Presence Project and Global Family Awakening: an educational, peace and humanitarian family adventure club. She teaches and coaches internationally.

LaSara's first book, Sexy Witch, was published in English and internationally distributed in 2005, has been reviewed in twelve languages (at last count), and will soon be available in Spanish, Russian and Czech. Her next book, Yoga Mama, is due out in 2009.

For more info, please visit www.lasarafirefox.com.

(Feel free to share this article. Please see “copy left” info below. THANKS!!!!)

(L) – Copy Left: All Materials may be reproduced with attribution, and in-full. Leave links intact. May not be excerpted without permission. Quoting is welcome, when conducted in accordance with Basic MLA quoting guidelines. Created by LaSara FireFox, January 2008. Updated 6.23.08.
www.lasarafirefox.com * 707.293-5153 * info@lasarafirefox.com