Sacred Sanctuary

As we quiet our mind, we begin to see the nature of our own resistance more clearly, struggles, inner dialogues of our mind’s committee, the way in which we procrastinate and develop passive resistance against life. As we cultivate ‘the witness’, things change. We don’t have to change them. Things just change. Everything in our life is there as a vehicle for our transformation. Together we are all on a journey called life. We all are a little broken, a little shattered inside, and a little hard where we should be soft. We are each brilliant and uncovering our potential through the muck, the mire and dark valley we slide down into. We discover our strength, tenacity, and commitment with each mountain top we ascend to. None of us are deprived of pain here and we have all suffered in our own ways. We have all experienced loss and betrayal, but we have also experienced brilliance, beauty and magnificence in all sorts of capacities.

Our yoga practice creates a sacred sanctuary for us to delve in deeper. To quiet our very own crazy and feel what resides within. When we are grounded, when our mind is still , when are fully present and we exist in ‘the witness’, access to the infinite treasure trove of answers is granted. The space of the witness is a place inside each of us where simple awareness resides. It is a place where we become aware of everything and we notice and watch without judgment. We are just present to what is, living from a heart-centered space, and we are fully immersed in the here and now.

The witness is your awareness of your own thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Witnessing is like waking up in the morning and then looking in the mirror and noticing yourself — not judging or criticizing, just neutrally observing the quality of being awake. That process of stepping back takes you out of being submerged in your experiences and thoughts and sensory input and into self-awareness.

Along with that self-awareness comes the subtle joy of just being here, alive, enjoying being present in this moment. Eventually, floating in that subjective awareness, the objects of awareness dissolve, and you will come into the spiritual Self, the Atmān, which is pure consciousness, joy, compassion, the One.

The witness is your centering device. It guides the work you do on yourself. Once you understand that there is a place in you that is not attached, you can extricate yourself from attachments. Pretty much everything we notice in the universe is a reflection of our attachments.

Jesus warned us, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt . . . For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.(Matthew 6:19-20)” Desire creates your universe; that’s just the way it works.

So your first job is to work on yourself. The greatest thing you can do for another human being is to get your own house in order and find your true spiritual heart.

Excerpt from Ram Dass’ book Polishing the Mirror: How to Live From Your Spiritual Heart.

The witness is a gateway that brings the spiritual into our physical life experience. When we learn to live from the witness we come home to our soul, we live from our heart, and we can access the plumb line of God. In contrast, the activity of our mind is governed by intentionality and implicitly is a movement governed by ego. It is activity that wants to grab information and to “conquer,” to keep control over, the objects of activity and the process of self-knowing. When we withdraw the senses (pratyahara) and center ourselves in the heart, looking for the deepest aspects of our being, we start to search our interior and we begin our journey toward our soul.  In this way, we pass from the usual “conquering” attitude of the mind to a receptive, contemplative disposition of the heart. It is a kind of surrender, which implies lucidity, discernment, vigilance. It is in the mind where we are fascinated by our words, but it is in the heart where we truly meet in the silence behind them.

There is nothing more powerful than having someone come alongside you and sit with you in the dark. Holding space. Not fixing. Just loving. Loving all aspects of our being—the brilliance, the dirty, the chaos, the sparkly……Sitting there and always being the beacon of light to guide us back to our own space of knowing. To allow us to redefine our reality, our truths, to expand beyond the false veils we see the world through. To be the witness for us when we don’t have the strength or wherewithal to do it for our self. To be the encourager when we get stuck. And to be our cheerleader when celebrate our inner victory.

Our journey is all about healing ourselves and healing each other in our own special ways. Let’s just help each other put all those pieces back together and make it to the end more beautifully. Let’s finish this life well and together. We are all travelers on this path of life. Let’s be raw and authentic in out travels as well as with our fellow sojourners. I think this quote by Ram Dass sums it up:

Ask yourself: Where am I?

Answer: Here.

Ask yourself: What time is it?

Answer Now.

Say it until you can hear it.

Onward and Upward as always....even in the chaos

Trish