Time to Wake Up
Aug 03, 2024 9:43 pm
Hi there,
Time to Wake Up! -- These were the words our Sufi teacher, Adnan, always used to wake us from a deep sleep following a long chanting or drumming.
It could also be the title of a book about Adnan's Sufi work.
According to Adnan, there are no good or bad people, only those who are awake and those who are asleep. The vision of the Sufi work is to awaken us from the dreary dream of the material world to the joyous and creative life guided by spirit.
The material world of daily life is not real. It is a dream we continuously weave through our recollection of the past and imagination of the future. Both past and future are constructions of the mind.
Only the present is real!
Waking is the realization that only this moment, this present-- here and now is real. The present is a beautiful place to be -- full of color, vitality, and peace--a lot like a sunrise that wakes us in the morning.
At Sufi camp, there are many spectacular sunrises. They provide a wonderful metaphor for our experience of spiritual awakening. The sunrise catches our attention and brings us into the moment with spectacular, awe-inspiring beauty. And it holds our attention as it unfolds from moment to moment.
A photo of the sunrise is not the same thing as the sunrise itself. The photo is static and two-dimensional while sunrise is a 3-dimensional process. Similarly, being in the moment is not static. The moment is an ever-changing experience. You can focus on the moment, yet never contain or capture it. It is gone in a flash sliding into the next moment.
You may remember a particular moment - an experience of exhilaration, clarity, or understanding, but even this, momentous as it might feel, is only a recollection and echo of the real moment.
Photos and memories can be useful in reminding us of the feelings we had at that moment or any similar moment. We can receive an emotional or spiritual lift through our memory. This spiritual memory is real and in the moment can wake us to the present. Only in the present do we find the moment. It is never the photo or the memory.
I take photos of the sunrise or the mountain to remind me of the beauty of camp when I am back in foggy California. They remind me of camp, spiritual bliss, and friends. They entice me and my husband to return. Do you feel drawn to camp too?
The sunrise, the mountain, and the moment are forever unfolding in a continuous sequence of moment to moment to moment.
When you focus on the moment, your thinking stops and you enter a different mind state of peace, ease, and contentment. This practice is not an easy one. The mind, the ego, and others can distract us. Yet if you stay with it, at least for a little while each day, the mindstate is reinforced and your capacity expands. More and more you can pause and take notice of what is around you, of what you are seeing, hearing, and feeling. The more you practice being in the present, the easier it becomes.
Sufi camp makes this development more accessible because there are fewer distractions and more moments of beauty to catch your breath. Yet even here, it is a matter of choice. You can stay in camp or drive off to Mountainair for breakfast.
We develop our capacity for spirit and presence over time. What I can absorb now is different from when I started the Sufi work 40 years ago. I can go deep into the work and stay with it for a longer time. However, when I exceed my capacity, I can become negative like anyone else. That is why Tamsin, and Adnan before her, paid close attention to the impact of the workshops on the students. Arguments, accidents, and running off to town are all signs that capacity may be reaching its limits at least for some.
I did well this summer. No accidents, 2 trips to Mountainair and I only began to eat more in the last few days of my stay. However, when I arrived home, I had a fall while taking a walk that evening. My right hand is swollen, but fortunately not broken. Typing is a challenge, although less so today than yesterday.
Did I exceed my spiritual capacity at camp? Is this accident a sign that I did too much Sufi at camp? Or was it the shock of my reentry into the material world, instantly caught up in the drama of my husband's damaged van and the unscrupulous automobile insurance company that wishes to limit its expenses?
It doesn't further me or anyone to analyze too much the illusions of daily life. Let them go. Instead, I will think of my accident as the Universe reminding me to go slow as I reenter my work and daily life. I welcome this constraint.
I will be teaching Sunday and Tuesday on Zoom with a NEW ZOOM LINK. Please copy the link below into your calendar from here on out.
Don’t forget to use the password SUFI all in caps if you are asked for the password.
SUNDAY-
Class 1 hosted by Michelle
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88050735178?pwd=zkrVoc4Mtg0pSXtAAWmoCrHWQb2qb1.1
9:00 am- Torreon
11:00 am - New York (EST)
16:00 – Limerick
17:00 - Madrid (CET)
TUESDAY – hosted by Michelle
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88050735178?pwd=zkrVoc4Mtg0pSXtAAWmoCrHWQb2qb1.1
11:30 am – Torreon
1:30 pm - New York (EST)
18:30 – Limerick
19:30 - Vienna, Madrid (CET)
Be brilliant,
Dr. Michelle
Life Transformation Coach
Empowering Women to Reinvent Their Life After Loss
Secrets of Life and Death
