The spiritual disciplines that each person experiences on their journey always deliver tools to help steer through the endless debris fields ahead. In a never-ending teaching mantra, spiritual disciplines affirm the virtues of meditation (or silent, quiet contemplation) and controlled breathing. The Sixth Patriarch said, “Meditation is the essence of wisdom, and wisdom is the function of meditation.” Practiced daily, it can restore harmony to the chaos. Wisdom and insights come forth when the mind is still. The Platform Sutra suggests just sitting. Add nothing to it—just sit and breathe evenly. In that space, (done for about 30 minutes) the discord lessens or disappears, and a sense of ease will return.
Walking The Way is not a technique. It’s a way of living and being. Becoming aware of it forever changes the individual. The Way opens “the code” of who you are. Every soul is on its own path. Each path has its own characteristics and qualities. What we might call a “negative path” has harsh challenges for the person walking it. But only courageous souls choose that path. What we call “good paths” are easy in comparison, for they carry lesser psychic wounds at end of life. Every path is going in the same direction. It seems like there are many paths but there’s only one path spiraling forward like an elongated slinky. Each soul, regardless of the positive or negative qualities expressed on its journey, is always a lighted pearl on the coils of the slinky.
There’s much more meaning to it than this intellectual understanding. Studying or trying to grasp the essence of The Way is a lifelong pursuit. Yet, in one moment of stillness, it can blossom. I’m only a novice with a rudimentary understanding. But every so often, while falling asleep at night, or in the silence of a no-thought meditation, I get a glimpse of the grandeur of the journeys each soul has chosen to walk and I see clearly how each one illuminates the next one. And, I see the magnificence of each soul that has chosen to do this during times of extreme disorder, like the one we’re currently experiencing. When those infrequent glimpses occur, the chaos dissolves, inspiration returns, hope is restored, and I’m good for another 50,000 miles along The Way.
Conscious Living with Jo Mooy
Jo Mooy has studied with many spiritual traditions over the past 40 years. The wide diversity of this training allows her to develop spiritual seminars and retreats that explore inspirational concepts, give purpose and guidance to students, and present esoteric teachings in an understandable manner. Along with Patricia Cockerill, she has guided the Women’s Meditation Circle since January 2006 where it has been honored for five years in a row as the “Favorite Meditation” group in Sarasota, FL, by Natural Awakenings Magazine. Teaching and using Sound as a retreat healing practice, Jo was certified as a Sound Healer through Jonathan Goldman’s Sound Healing Association. She writes and publishes a monthly internationally distributed e-newsletter called Spiritual Connections and is a staff writer for Spirit of Maat magazine in Sedona. For more information go to http://www.starsoundings.com or email jomooy@gmail.com.
38
