Essential Spirituality – who is guiding me?

Spirituality section I was browsing a spirituality section in the local Barnes & Noble – it looked pretty sad to me. Tarot reading, angel answers, psychic and astrology books – this is what Spirituality is reduced to on book shelves. This is what we have been warned against – lulling ourselves into a state of fake peace where some other supreme being or entity is supposed to send us inspiring messages and energy. “Explore the world of spiritual wisdom” is the underlying theme, but I wonder how much real change people are experiencing from reading these titles. I am not at all against these practices and as a matter of fact, I read horoscopes once in a while to receive encouraging messages. However, this is not true spirituality and it should not be called as such. The “side effects” of meditation and spiritual practices that rely on limited positivity are explained very clearly in Chapter 8 of “Harmony Meditation: from well-being to well-dying.”

In ZEN method for executive leaders today our teacher talked about a spiritual field which is different from the energy field. We were able to experience firsthand the relationship among energy, spirituality and chakras, and what the right attitude should be toward these phenomena and principles.

We learned that there are mechanisms that allow us to grow the ability to connect to higher purpose and wisdom. A study and practice of these mechanisms is the ultimate empowerment as it enables us to progress toward the bigger and brighter Self, toward the authentic alive peace with unlimited power and potential.

 

Hundred shades of ego – brighter anyway

“How do you know that your ego is not getting ahead of you?” – my friend asked me recently. Good question. I thought about it and realized that I examine my ego quite frequently, on everyday basis. I am just not calling it ego anymore, and it does not necessarily have a shameful and regretful connotation.

When we were children, we were taught what was good and what was bad, and there was not much in between on this scale of black and white. If we keep judging ourselves and others with this primitive binary scale of zeros and ones, likes and dislikes, love and hatred, saint and evil, we’ll end up in a living hell. None of the important life questions can be resolved by applying the same answer to all people and situations. Same with the ego – it’s not all good or bad, there is much more to be learned about our egos.

The ego does not only show up when we do something terrible. We could be sensing it even if we just think something judgmental or express ourselves in a non-optimal manner. That’s not a peaceful existence, but is there a solution? Yes, there is.

In ZEN method for executive leaders training I took recently, it became so clear why the usual ways of dealing with negative feedback of ego do not work. Our teacher Johwa Choi explained why the type of meditation majority of people are practicing these days may be good for stress relief and relaxation, but not for someone seeking answers to who they truly are, someone seeking for authentic change beyond the physical and energy phenomena.

I won’t do justice to what we learned over two days of this one-of-a-kind intensive weekend training in this short blog, but I will say this. If we perceive our ego as enemy, we don’t get to know it well enough, and we can never become whole. It isn’t an option to live ego-less unless we die or become saints. Then our teacher advises us getting to know who we are intimately, including ego’s clever mechanisms of self-preservation. One of the fastest ways to see and experience this intricate relationship between thoughts, emotions, consciousness, the ego and the truest self is via a powerful method called ZEN method – Zero Enhanced Nothingness. I wish Gilbert Chesterton knew of this method when he wrote: “One may understand the cosmos, but never the ego; the self is more distant than any star.”

Brightness anywayThrough meditation one can and should develop a better sense of who he or she is. Gradually the screen lightens up with a wider spectrum of colors – different hues and shades of ego and truest self are coming to life. These colors may be dark and depressing at times, but switching to a brighter scale becomes easier and faster with practice. To me this is where true freedom can be found – a place of brilliant brightness with the ego playing under its embracing rays.

Learning at any age

I’ve always admired my parents for their thirst for learning and self-improvement, and their recent visit was no exception. They energetically pursued various activities – learning English, exercising at the local gym almost every day, and learning to meditate at Harmony Meditation Center. I’ve signed them up for a “ZEN Method” training and watched how miraculous things unfolded in front of my eyes. All the more miraculous considering my parents’ age – early 70’s and late 60’s. I wish I could keep that attitude of openness, gratitude, and continuous learning throughout my whole life.

Here is my mom’s testimonial.

Dear teacher Johwa,

My first encounter with Harmony Meditation and its methods made me reevaluate my worldview. When I left, I continued meditation and Taichi exercises for over a year, and I believe they contributed greatly to my well-being and ability to cope with fatigue and health issues.

This time I was introduced to guided meditation and ZEN method. I experienced and became aware of Hanl and interconnectedness of its power with human beings and the Earth. I experienced first-hand the vital role of breathing and brain’s inner workings. Every time I come to train in the center, I experience a new feeling. Every movement creates an influx of energy to various muscles.

I wish I could come to the center and study with you every day. I feel how precious your teaching is and it’s power to change my thinking and consciousness, to heal the diseases accumulated over many years. I am grateful for all the care and wisdom you shared with me and my husband. He is a retired physicist and engineer, and it took him a long time to experience benefits of meditation. He experienced some powerful healing phenomena during the ZEN method training and started coming to meditation classes of his own will after that. This was a miracle!

 I wish you and your family health, happiness, and prosperity.

 

Life Saving Priorities

Changing my life begins with changing my priorities. Changing my life begins with changing myself. Repeatedly. All over again.

Saving my Life begins with changing my life. Living Life is finding Life, finding my Self yet again.

Changing myself begins with getting my priorities straight.

Once again. All over. It’s time!

Excuses? Excuse me!

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Once again. All over. It’s Time!

Will do. Breaking free from behind myself. Giving it up.  Finding you who is me, alltogether Life. You, holding the mirror.

Once again. All over again. Timing!

Living Love. Once again. All over again.

Savor “Who am I?” and its power’. 

Changing, Saving, Living.    Life, Definitely! Timing!

Impostor of Love

“Your body language shapes who you are” – said Amy Cuddy in her TED talk. We are more used to thinking that our body language is a manifestation of who we are, not the other way around. The authors of the controlled experiment inferred that by changing the posture for only 2 minutes they were able to observe significant changes in body chemistry. In the power pose group the average cortisol level (stress hormone) decreased by 25 percent and the average testosterone level increased by 19% from the baseline.

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What impressed me most is duration of poses: in only 2 minutes the body responded to  postures. My teacher Grand-Master Johwa Choi always said that human body is very honest, it does not lie. You could train your mind by training your body, and the other way around. Then the question is: what value do I want to internalize and project the most? For some people or situations, it may be power, and doing the power poses as suggested in the talk might help. For others, it may be love, freedom, and hope.

Practitioners of meditation have long known of the self-persuasion process. Our feelings are subjective because they are judged by us, the very same object that is feeling them. Feeling love or not feeling love is not a yes/no type of measurement, and over time practitioners can recognize purity, vastness, and subtlety of their own feelings. It is quite possible to feel tired and uplifted at the same time, painful and joyful, sad and hopeful.

I choose to focus on expanding my love, even if I am not feeling it at the moment toward a person or toward myself. Sometimes it is so tiny, I have to send in a SWAT team to make it show itself. The subject of love can be anything, the bigger the better – humanity or even the whole Universe. Love keeps growing with constant care, attention, and practice, until one day it will become 100% love all the time, everlasting and overflowing.  I live for that day.

Dr. Cuddy’s main message was: “Fake it until you become it.” My teacher’s message in the ZEN method workshop is:

“Breathe love until it flows out of your eyes and ears.”

What kind of love? Not the relative love, but the absolute MuAh-centered love. Enjoy your  love!

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