Cultivating Bravery

"A man with inner courage dares to live."
— Lao Tzu

As a spiritual warrior, one dares to live. One dares to live with authenticity in a manner which enables courageously facing life's constant change and perpetual motion or flow.

Chogyam Trungpa defined Bravery as:
“The act of both personally and socially manifesting”
–Chogyam Trungpa

One might want to sit with this, contemplate this and note any observations you see within in regards to this definition and your life.

How do you wish to live?

What is your Vision?

When living your Vision becomes your Intention you will be presented with many opportunities to choose or Allow it to manifest. Being present enough to notice these and act spontaneously with inner courage exemplifies the spiritual warrior concept of abruptness. We can define this interpretation of Abruptness as the ability to act suddenly, and a willingness to leap bravely beyond our habituated patterns.

The ability to shift from habituated mind to awakening to the present moment takes us from living passively with indecision and fear to pro-actively or co-creatively through authenticity and clarity.

This ability to shift is something we as spiritual warriors can cultivate and is aligned with our intention to live life with bravery, forward into the future with vision in continuity with our character and life goals.

Ripples in the Flow

The River has been whispering something to me on my morning runs.

When we notice ripples on the surface of our physical, emotional or mental states, often reffered to as our PEM, we can be sure that they are caused by something deeper, an obstruction or issue under the surface. The issue is not the water, the issue is not the ripple...the issue is some deep, old energy we must work on within ourselves to erode and flow over time.

Contemplative Running

Running. It’s never been my thing. As a child I ran around in the woods at play, but the kind of running for exercise many adults do I simply never really enjoyed. I found it to be hard work, sweaty and honestly rather boring. Recently, however I have found an amazing way to incorporate it into my life in a contemplative, meditational manner. I have begun to go on these runs several times a week, often earlier in the morning to avoid the heat of the day. It has helped tone my body, burn stored fat and pretty much get everything inside circulating and moving and flowing. The body is a living eco-system and things are meant to be hydrated and moving on the inside. But of course, we are more than our bodies and there is much in our mental and emotional bodies which need to flow as well.

I began running one morning when I realized that although I was an Environmental Educator and hiked throughout the week, as much as nearly five miles a day at times, it was not enough exercise for me and I needed to work on more cardiovascular and upper body exercise. I do not belong to a gym or go to the YMCA and it isn't in my budget currently. In a moment of frustration, I decided that none of these things were going to stop me from doing what I needed to do to meet my health intentions. I put on some shorts and a quick-dry shirt, filled my camel-back with water and headed out onto the street.

Living in the Mesa Junction part of town has many advantages for sure, close to the Public Library, local family owned restaurants and coffeehouses, local potters and artists, a historic tavern and even a small community garden. The building I live in is about a block from the Historic Downtown which has many small shops, galleries, salons, coffeehouses and pubs. It is also close to the Arkansas River.

I walked downhill toward the Union Street Bridge, increased my pace a bit and began to focus on my breathing. Arriving at the bridge I made my way over to the stairs and did a few preliminary stretches utilizing the railing and concrete blocks nearby as aids.Then down the stairs I went to the River Walk which runs the length of the South Side of the Arkansas River section which flows through the downtown area.

I began to jog along finding a comfortable pace and watching my breathing harmonize with the pace. I began to notice the steady beat of my feet and the rhythm of my breath over it and thought of it as a kind of music. As many poets, dj’s, and lyricists have pointed out, music can set up the initial patterns of thinking in the mind. Often, if there is a beat or a musical phrasing, a lyricist or writer can begin to put words in. I find this is true for me. As a poet I have used music a lot in this fashion, and at times the words just seem to fall into place. It was the same with the music I was experiencing kinetically from the physical movements of my body; the steady beat of my feet, the rhythm of my breathing and the swinging of my arms. Words began to fall into place; they were simple and positive at first, repeating simple inspirational phrases. Something like “when things are tough” thump-thump “I keep going” thump-thump “I don’t stop,” but as I went the phrases began to get more complex. I began to think about the fact that I was being the person I wanted to be right now, not intending to live a healthier lifestyle, but that I was DOING the thing that needed to be done to manifest those intentions. I was running toward my dreams by actually choosing to be as similar to my dream as I could in the moment. I was burning stored calories which I began to see as essentially ridding myself of the past which was lingering and moving or transforming my body and self toward the healthier, fitter and more vibrant being I desired to be.

Part of my regular contemplative or meditational practice involves a journal or a workbook in which I write out the lists of things I want to do or experience as well as lists of things I am grateful for or ways I would like to think of my life. I use a lot of Intention, Gratitude and Positive Affirmations in my personal work especially when transitioning through major times of change. I find that the focused clarity and frequent attention to these things can have a dramatic effect on the quickness and accuracy of my ability to shift from one kind of energy to another.

Before I knew it my mind had turned its attention on the areas of my life experience I wanted to shift or attract as well as areas that I wanted to expand into or allow to flow through and away from me.

It was at this point in my run that I came to the bridge just east of the Santa Fe and I-25 overpasses where the River Walk crosses the River.

I stopped in the center of the bridge and faced the oncoming flow of water which was a very apropos image for the interior work I had just been doing.

I began to watch the water and recount aloud the many things that were flowing to me in life or that I intended to flow to me in life, things I wanted to increase. It seemed to just flow out of me, specific items from many areas of my life. The things I loved about my perfect loving relationship, the abundance and financial opportunities that were flowing to me, gratitude about many dreams and goals I had achieved in the last few months. I began to get a very elated feeling of joy which I recognized as very good energy to resonate with and it inspired me to deeply feel the feeling of joy as I imagined all the things that were flowing to me in my life and many that I intended to flow to me.

When I had exhausted this listI turned and faced the river in the opposite direction to see the water flow over a small spillway and on out East towards Pueblo’s Historic East Side and further to the agricultural lands of the Mesa and beyond. Focusing on this image of the river flowing away from me I began to list the things in my life that were flowing through me and away, old patterns, old emotions, old ways of coping with challenges. I recounted anything I could think of that was appropriate I recognized as something which may or may not have been effective or advantageous or truly loved and enjoyed but which no longer had a place in the person I was in the present moment and the future self I was creating.

When I finished with this I knew I was done with that work and turned to continue my run. I was elated at the use of the natural flow of the river as a visual and contemplative aid in doing personal inner work. I felt I had found a new method of exercising that was invigorating and important to my overall health, a way to run and work to improve the body, mind and soul. I continued to run on around the Runyon Lakes behind Runyon Field, past a nice frog pond.

After a bit of time watching the ripples of large and mysterious fish in these ponds and checking out the frogs along the bank, I continued running and decided to keep left and head back around the lake with my eventual goal being to run to the Historic Union Avenue area.

The trail crosses a few small bridges and it occurred to me that this same flowing meditation could be practiced at any of these bridges or any stream. It even occurred to me that depending on ones environmental limitations one could make use of trains or the flow of traffic along a highway to do the same flowing meditation.

The trail crosses a land bridge between two lakes, one large one closer to Sante Fe Avenue, and behind it another smaller one closer to the confluence of the Fountain Creek and the Arkansas river.

On the North/East side of the lake I was surprised to encounter a stone-lined labyrinth. It is part of the Mahatma Gandhi Peace Garden which is not very well maintained or used as far as I can tell, however the paths are fairly weed free where people walk and someone had watered the few plants and cacti in the stone beds.

I decided that I should walk through this circular maze with its winding pathway toward center and out again. I knew there were therapeutic properties to the walking of labyrinths, things having to do with the right and left brain and possibly some deeper things dealing with psychological flow, but I was no expert, so I simply walked the labyrinth and got back on the trail to run some more.

The River Walk continues on alongside the larger lake and as it heads toward a parking lot for those visiting by car it passes another frog pond full of frogs and cattails and wonderful reflections. After making it's way through the parking lot it returns to more natural settings again as it runs along the creek which flows into the lakes. This path is lined with many flowers and birds are everywhere at this time of year.

Beyond this stretch, the path makes it’s way back into the more urban areas and reemerges to interfaces with Pueblo’s urbania by running underneath I-25 and then safely over Sante Fe Avenue via the Faye’s Crossing pedestrian bridge and then connects to the Historic Arkansas River Project River Walk. I ran along the neatly manicured greenbelt park and around the new Veterans Memorial Bridge and on into the Union area before heading back up Union Street, past all the shops and over the bridge back up to the Mesa Junction neighborhood of Pueblo I now call Home. I was greatly inspired by the beauty of the opportunities around me to not only meet my fitness intentions, but that there was more nature very near my neighborhood which I had never really explored.

I have been running this trail for over a month now and have seen Deer, Hawks, Fish, Frogs, a red Coachwhip snake, Swallows, Sparrows, Red-Winged Blackbirds, Mallards, Cormorants, a pair of Osprey fishing even what I believe to be a Beaver swimming in the lake near the creek It's good to break the mold, get out there and do it!

Think Big

I am part of an open membership group known The Art of Living and was recently sent this posting with a section from the book “Think Big” By Dr Den Carson

I believe that it is very good advice about living. I know that we can all translate this into our own spiritual language to make it applicable wisdom to each of us


Think Big
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T alent: Our Creator has endowed all of us not just with the ability to sing, dance or throw a ball, but with intellectual talent. Start getting in touch with that part of you that is intellectual and develop that; and think of careers that will allow you to use that.

H onesty: If you lead a clean and honest life, you don't put skeletons in the closet. If you put skeletons in the closet, they definitely will come back just when you don't want to see them and ruin your life.

I nsight: It comes from people who have already gone where you're trying to go. Learn from their triumphs and their mistakes.

N ice: If you're nice to people, then once they get over the suspicion of why you're being nice, they will be nice to you.

K nowledge: It makes you into a more valuable person. The more knowledge you have, the more people need you. It's an interesting phenomenon, but when people need you, they pay you, so you'll be okay in life.

B ooks: They are the mechanism for obtaining knowledge, as opposed to television.

I n-Depth Learning: Learn for the sake of knowledge and understanding, rather than for the sake of impressing people or taking a test.

G od: Never get too big for Him.



Also:

A Second Chance
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To be happy, drop the words “if only” and substitute instead the words “next time”

- Stanley Blanton, M.D.-
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The Art Of Living Blog can be found at:
http://gurujiskripa.blogspot.com/

Raspberry Jam

Mmmmmm . . . Raspberry Jam! I love it. I love strawberry Jam too. Let's face it i like jam.

There's nothing quite as joyful as opening a jar of raspberry jam on a cold, snowy winter day. Although opening a jar of garden tomatoes you canned last summer's end and thawing out some green chilies roasted and frozen that same weekend might rival the jam.

Once the jar of jam is opened, the scent alone reminds me of the fresh fruit, and the color(!) oh my, such a deep rich red the kind of red you just don't see in Colorado during the winter months. No, not red. Brown? Yes. Gray? Yes. White? You betcha! But red? No, not so much. Maybe left over Christmas ornaments, or perhaps ones cheeks or nose from being outside, but that's about it.

Oh, and this color remind me of other berries, strawberries especially; and roses and ruby-throated hummingbirds, and the little heads of the finches which nest in my porch light.

It's good to think of these things, to remember the joys of hearty Summer whilst deep in the throes of Old Man Winter.

These simple things we do, spreading jam on toast for breakfast or making our children's lunch for school can be moments to remind one to be mindful. We can take the time to think about the jam we are spreading. What is this glorious stuff full of seeds with their potential for more life and fruit bearing (well, maybe not after the canning process . . . but maybe if it's freezer jam). It is clearly more than the jam, it is not simply jam that is to say, for nothing is self arising. It is so much more than just jam.

Think of the rainwater that went into growing the plant and it's berries, and all that sunshine being turned into sugars by these miraculous plants. And what of the clouds in the great sky that brought that rain, and the ocean it came from and all the weather it brought to others on its way from there to here. What about the dirty hands of the gardener who pruned last years raspberry canes and planted the seeds or the root seedlings. And there's the soil, and the compost and leaf mulch which made it and the worms which enriched and aerated it. When you look at the jam can you see the rain and the soil, the gardener and the garden; can you see the sun, the weather and the worm.

No, this is clearly much more than simply jam, this is part of the endless process of life. Perhaps jam represents a still point moment in the planets water cycle. Perhaps it is the worms' pinnacle altruistic achievement.

How She Knew

and her children grew
since crying from birth,
to make their own wombs,
harvest fruit from the earth

that pollen from flowers
of daisies fed bees;
both laughter and hours
heal badly scraped knees

kites that she flew,
once tethered by string,
now nesting in trees
for birds on the wing

that's how she knew,
in no uncertain terms
that god loved earth,
the circle, the worms

-David A. Martin