Surfing Transformation
This month is nearly over - and the summer is now officially for me - two thirds of the way through as well...
It was not the kind of summer I had originally envisioned for there were so many unexpected turns that were taken. But in my heart of hearts, I know that everything was as it needed to be - and indeed, everything is always as it should be...
I spent Saturday afternoon and early evening, attending Sally Kempton's workshop, titled - "Surfing Transformation: How to Navigate Your Journey of Inner Awakening and Change," at Willow Street Yoga Center.
I have regularly attended Sally's workshops, and it was also wonderful to return to Willow Street and see so many friends.
As always, Sally had much to say that was helpful to me. Her insights and the practices she led us through were particularly meaningful. In fact, a couple of the practices resulted in one of the most profound "aha!" moments that I have had - and I know I will be sitting with those insights and reflecting on them for a long time!
Without getting into a lot of the details, I had a profound realization regarding my relationship to knowledge in general, and a needing to know as much as I can - about a lot of things...
Yesterday afternoon, I typed my copious notes, and just as I was finishing them, I saw a Facebook update a dear friend posted. Ironically - he misquoted the poet Mary Oliver - but his post was exactly worded as I needed to hear it in that particular moment. Though he corrected his posting, I will re-create the original one I saw and read - as I "remember" it (Thank you Bill for posting it!):
I leave you with some excerpts from my notes, to give you a taste of the wonderful experiences I had, that I know will enable me to surf these waves of transformation that have engulfed my life this year. These are my notes quoting Sally to the best of my ability:
"We do not transform ourselves – we choose to align with the process and the consciousness that allows transformation to occur. Effort and grace are the two wings of the bird. But effort is very subtle in this process – allowing for grace to be the transformative power."
"Every transformation started with some type of awakening. It might be seeing and recognizing a behavior pattern within yourself that is dysfunctional – or it may involve an awakening to love."
"If it were true that my spiritual process was crucial to the future of humanity - would I be inspired to live in the noblest way? This is a good and interesting question because doing our spiritual practice for ourselves is not enough - it's important to understand it's not just about us."
"If you give yourself fully to the journey - you will experience transformation. There is always redemption. And there is always the experience of constant awakening."
"Transformation is different from awakening. Transformation takes place in the becoming of reality. Awakening is an embrace into the beingness of you."
For more information on Sally Kempton, visit her website:
www.sallykempton.com
It was not the kind of summer I had originally envisioned for there were so many unexpected turns that were taken. But in my heart of hearts, I know that everything was as it needed to be - and indeed, everything is always as it should be...
I spent Saturday afternoon and early evening, attending Sally Kempton's workshop, titled - "Surfing Transformation: How to Navigate Your Journey of Inner Awakening and Change," at Willow Street Yoga Center.
I have regularly attended Sally's workshops, and it was also wonderful to return to Willow Street and see so many friends.
As always, Sally had much to say that was helpful to me. Her insights and the practices she led us through were particularly meaningful. In fact, a couple of the practices resulted in one of the most profound "aha!" moments that I have had - and I know I will be sitting with those insights and reflecting on them for a long time!
Without getting into a lot of the details, I had a profound realization regarding my relationship to knowledge in general, and a needing to know as much as I can - about a lot of things...
Yesterday afternoon, I typed my copious notes, and just as I was finishing them, I saw a Facebook update a dear friend posted. Ironically - he misquoted the poet Mary Oliver - but his post was exactly worded as I needed to hear it in that particular moment. Though he corrected his posting, I will re-create the original one I saw and read - as I "remember" it (Thank you Bill for posting it!):
"I believe I will never quite know.
Though I play at the edges of knowing,
[My] part is not knowing...
Though I play at the edges of knowing,
[My] part is not knowing...
I leave you with some excerpts from my notes, to give you a taste of the wonderful experiences I had, that I know will enable me to surf these waves of transformation that have engulfed my life this year. These are my notes quoting Sally to the best of my ability:
"We do not transform ourselves – we choose to align with the process and the consciousness that allows transformation to occur. Effort and grace are the two wings of the bird. But effort is very subtle in this process – allowing for grace to be the transformative power."
"Every transformation started with some type of awakening. It might be seeing and recognizing a behavior pattern within yourself that is dysfunctional – or it may involve an awakening to love."
"If it were true that my spiritual process was crucial to the future of humanity - would I be inspired to live in the noblest way? This is a good and interesting question because doing our spiritual practice for ourselves is not enough - it's important to understand it's not just about us."
"If you give yourself fully to the journey - you will experience transformation. There is always redemption. And there is always the experience of constant awakening."
"Transformation is different from awakening. Transformation takes place in the becoming of reality. Awakening is an embrace into the beingness of you."
For more information on Sally Kempton, visit her website:
www.sallykempton.com
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