Meditation Blogger

Susie Harris wrote:

Dear Richard,
So many moments, when I am completely engaged in what I am doing, feel like enlightened moments. My "wise mind" is fully able to see truth, self truth, without judgement. The other day I was walking in this city where I live and there growing right in front of me was a vine filled with passion flowers.
That felt like enlightenment. I watched the flowers, finally selecting just one to focus on and there in the center of these tiny purple fronds was a bee. The moments felt like a gift from the universe, maybe because I was present(s).
Nice exercise, Thank you Richard.
Susie

Cathy Schultz wrote:

i am a survivor. my sister says i don't just survive, i thrive. my most enlightened time of life was my most "stupid" time of life and i keep trying to get back to that. i had a brain abscess - strapped to the gurney; they told my family i was gonna die in 3 hours. recovery was a bitch. took six months to go back to work - tried to go back twice. i had a pic line with two spouts. antibiotics that could "kill a horse" (according to an ER nurse in milwaukee). my sister recouped me for three months before i could live on my own again. lots of pain, lots of dependent (so not me), lots of uncomfortable . . . but after . . . i understood EVERYTHING - this life is what you make it, you are who you think you are, today is all you have - all the cliches grew legs. and it was simple. and i was so happy and amazed at how simple it is. and i thought to myself, geez, i'm the only one who's ever stopped me. THAT WAS THE FIRST ENLIGHTENMENT. and i was never so content and so pleased and life was never so easy before.

since then, i have developed this artistic curve - i was always so right-brained; now i have this artistic "bend" - color, shape - and i see the logic in it (very weird). i "see" things, i "read" things and emotions. my "screw-ups" come when my "readings" and "seeings" are internalized. i get confused. i get hurt.

i recently talked to a friend about suicide - i said i just have the cats, no kids, no lover. she said, cathy, you don't know how many people will be affected and she told me a story. and she understood. i am strong and i survive; most people don't want to believe that i can be weak - and i can't convince them. so i am left alone again.

sometimes, i think, enlightenment, self-actualization, and all those other heady words and terms are things/states that come when your nails are imbedded in a beam 40 stories up and you're so tired of fighting and holding on . . . and it HITS YOU. suicide is not the answer. the thought, the lack of fear of death, however, does empower my control over me and my life. i read somewhere that mediation is a sort of voluntary death in that your agenda will not be carried on in your death, so let it go for a minute and enjoy your peace. you have created your agenda. live it or change it. i have written this book. it's a very interesting book. but i am such a romantic. i love a happy ending. and it is time to begin the happily ever after. and i get it. chapter 54, part 1 - the happily ever after begins. self-enlightenment: begin your happily ever after.

funny. i miss triscuts - the only food i could eat during my reactions to the antibiotics; and law and order - the only time in my life i could watch it all day long and no one would give me shit. LOL. (sorry. i write. and i do believe i have just had an epipheny. thank you for your patience.)

Sarah L. wrote:

What a beautiful way to start my day by reading your story. I, too, had a period in my life when my health hung by a thread; within 14 months I had breast cancer, chemo, radiation, more chemo and then the removal of a benign pituitary tumor, which the recovery from was worse than the cancer.
What I gained from those times was a state of enlightenment I had never known before. After a divorce, which I found more painful than the health problems, I devoloped depression and severe anxiety. I frequently considered suicide. I am getting excellent professional help and doing much better. I seek out activities which will bring me that "all is right with the world" feeling. Your comment was an unexpected gift (the best kind) and I will re-read it many times. It is too bad that sometimes it takes a life threatening event to cause you to see the small things in life that are so awe inspiring and make you so grateful to be alive to experience it. Thank you again for your comments. Part of healing is knowing you are not the only one out there trying to recover and find your bliss.

Susie Harris wrote:

Dear Cathy & Sarah,
Mine was the first comment in this thread. I didn't mention what I did to find the tools to mindfulness or the pain that has been my definition of life before I spent 18 months in treatment. Trauma does bring us to the brink, learning to love our healing hearts brings us to enlightenment.
I wish us all peaceful healthy thoughts and a day where we are grateful for just being alive.
Susie

Susie Harris wrote:

Hi Richard,
The practice of mindfulness is something I try to incorporate in most every moment. I have to, otherwise I am bumping into furniture, knocking things over or just generally "not in my body". It's become a tool that I use for survival, the extraordinary gift is awareness. Through my struggle to stay alive, I found myself, not a bad deal eh?
Susie

Sally wrote:

I have had many enlightenments over the years. One I hold dear is the one when I realised that the universe supports me continually if I let it and the other was when I was newly into meditating and I felt at one completely for the first time and realised I didnt need anyone else or anything to feel happy, that I didnt need to do anything to be happy and that happiness was right here now and i just needed to open up to it and it is all around me.

chris wrote:

Great, this excercise reminds me my encounter with Harold Klemp, the living eck master. Meditation is part of me,keep this good job going.

Selena wrote:

So true Richard! I often wonder why we all aren't charging for our meditation cushions whenever we have a free moment since we know that is it the most direct path to enlightenment and inner peace. The human mind never cease to amaze me :)

Much Love.