Ordinary Magic: Everyday Life As Spiritual Path

Here is excerpt from John Welwood:
    The key to everyday life as spiritual practice lies in bringing a full, rich quality of being and presence into whatever we do. Yet “being” and “doing” often seem mutually exclusive. The cultures of the East have long cultivated being for thousands of years, while rarely, until recently, placing as much emphasis on doing. The cultures of the West have been busy doing for thousands of years- building, inventing, conquering the world- while often failing to appreciate that a healthy, fulfilling human life depends on the quality of one's being and presence. To find the spiritual path in our daily life, we need to bring being and doing together. This is precisely what happens in creativity, where the beauty that we love can become what we do.
    The basic principles of creativity are the same whether we are painting, writing, doing business, shooting an arrow, or driving a car. These principles also operate in meditative awareness. To be creative in any field of endeavor, we must first let go of fixed ways of thinking that cause us to act in habitual ways, so that we can perceive what is happening freshly and instantly adapt to changing circumstances. This is what Zen master Suzuki Roshi called “beginner's mind.”

How do you balance doing and being in your daily life?

Re: Ordinary Magic: Everyday Life As Spiritual Path

It is not always easy, but I find that it helps to clear the mind and realize the purpose of your actions, how it affects you, why you do it, and etc.  I find that by trying to understand the links between my actions(doing) and my physical/mental/spiritual being is a great way to feel more peaceful and fulfilled even in mundane daily tasks.

Re: Ordinary Magic: Everyday Life As Spiritual Path

There is an old Vedic phrase from the Bhagavad Gita that neatly encapsulates this whole area:”Established in Being, perform action.” This quote was a favourite of TM's founder, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and is his translation of the Sanskrit ,”Yogasthah kuru karmani.” There seems to be reasonably good scientific evidence that meditation as a precursor to the day's activities establishes a brain-wave synchrony which becomes increasingly stabilised with time and practice.

There are some fascinating studies which were done recently under the patronage of HH the Dalai Lama where Tibetan monks of considerable experience were examined while meditating using MRI scans. This showed that when they were subjectively experiencing states of profound “non-self” expanded awareness, activity in the parietal lobes ( associated with separating “self” from “other”) was virtually extinguished. It would also appear, if the studies on exponents of “Deeksha” are found to be valid, that similar states of non-selfness are stabilised in the brain circuitry of some, but not all, of those who have received that initiation.

So it would appear that balancing being and doing is a matter of cultivating a particular development of the neurobiological circuitry, rather than cultivating any “enlightened” attitudes. Which is rather refreshing.

Re: Ordinary Magic: Everyday Life As Spiritual Path

So it would appear that balancing being and doing is a matter of cultivating a particular development of the neurobiological circuitry, rather than cultivating any “enlightened” attitudes. Which is rather refreshing.

Well that is a relief, since changing neurobiological circuitry is so much easier than changing mere attitudes.  :-)

Re: Ordinary Magic: Everyday Life As Spiritual Path

That is one of my favorite Rumi quotes Wabi: “May the beauty we love be what we do.”  I found it on a bookmark earlier this year. 
Incidently, it is on the bookmark in my “Law Of Attraction” book by Abraham, Esther and Jerry Hicks.  So perhaps this info belongs here :) 
Their way of looking at being vs doing is the main reason I love them so much.  It would seem the simple way of saying how Abraham recommends to go about it, is to first start with thought.  Here is a quote I read just within the last 2 days or so.  Enjoy!  Its from pg 105:

“You did not come into this environment to create through action.  Instead, your action is meant to be a way in which you enjoy what you have created through thought.  When you take the time to deliberately offer your thought, discovering the power of aligning the thoughts of your desires with matching beliefs and expectations, the Law of Attraction will yield to you the results you are seeking.  However, if you do not take the time to line up your thoughts, there is not enough action in the world to compensate for that misalignment.

Action that is inspired from aligned thought is joyful action.  Action that is offered from a place of contradicted thought is hard work that is not satisfying and does not yield good results.  When you really feel like jumping into action, that is a clear sign that your vibration is pure and you are not offering contradictory thoughts to your own desire.  When you are having a hard time making yourself do something, or when the action your offer does not produce the results you are seeking, it is always bacause you are offering thoughts in opposition to your desire.

You are mostly physical-action beings at this time because you do not yet understand the power of your thought.  When you are better at applying your deliberate thought, there will not be so much action for you to tend to.”

Re: Ordinary Magic: Everyday Life As Spiritual Path

Thank you for this post. I have been truly seeing the truth of what you write in my life. When I shift my focus to simply being and doing what I love, life begins to move towards me bringing much joy and support. When I let go of what I think I should do and simplify down to what brings peace to me and those around me, life begins to unfold before my eyes.

Re: Ordinary Magic: Everyday Life As Spiritual Path

Just some thoughts before I call it a day…

When I contemplate on “being” I connect with my higher Self, which is Spirit, which is timeless, which is bliss. It's pure love. I connect with my state of “being” when I am mindful and ascent in a state of enlightenment.  At that moment, I am fully aware. It's a wonderful state to be in; however, before my birth I came from a state of eternal enlightenment and onenness, and I will rejoin into that state again when I die. In the meantime, I'm here. I'm on earth–at least that is what my mind tells me. 

Now, remember that it was our decision to take on “physical form” and step out of enlightenment. So, the objective of being on earth is not to reach enlightenment. If that was the case, we could as well have stayed “home.”  I believe that we are here to joyfully create and do. We are here to recreate and redefine that what we are: energy … love… We are here to manifest aspects of the Divine. 

So, doing and being come together. If we want to create a magnificent and deeply fulfilling existence we need to be conscious that we are Spiritual beings, engaged in a process of mindful “doing.”

Good night.
With Love and Admiration
Adrianus

Re: Ordinary Magic: Everyday Life As Spiritual Path

Contact and Withdrawal. In gestalt psychology it is understood that people can actually only make contact if they also have time to withdraw, to be alone and to make contact with themselves. I am wondering if anyone has any thoughts about how being in relationship either supports or distracts them from their life's work. It seems to me that there is an on-going dance of finding this delicate balance. The balance of relationship, support, independence, community, any thoughts?

Re: Ordinary Magic: Everyday Life As Spiritual Path

Balance…  What a loaded word :)
But so true.  That is my biggest life lesson.  Having balance in my life.  I would have to fully agree that I need to withdraw and reflect in order to fully make contact with another from a place of feeling “whole”.
On the other hand, I read something that struck me a certain way.  Perhaps it will for you as well.  It is from Abraham-Hicks.  I am paraphrasing… :

We never get it wrong. and we never get it done.

So I would agree again that finding a balance in your life is a never ending thing.  To some that is a difficult thing.  To others, that is the joyous expression of being alive.  I am working on making it more and more part of the joyous expression of being alive.  For in the end, that is what I crave; more delicious experience.

Re: Ordinary Magic: Everyday Life As Spiritual Path

Thank you for this presepective on balance as “a joyous expression of being alive.” That will stay with me…and hopefully make even the difficult aspects more tolerable or even joyous!

Re: Ordinary Magic: Everyday Life As Spiritual Path

Very inspiring stuff, you guys.

Z, old buddy, I really liked that quote about action\thought. I experience ordinary magic so much these days. I'm waking up to the endless possibilities of life. This is no longer an intellectual understanding but a vivid, palpable feeling of 'everything goes'. This life is my playground.

However from a practical perspective I feel inhibited. I feel as if my doing is always not aligned, is always against the hidden current somehow, always runs into dead ends and does not bring to results.

Perhaps I am wrong, but my being (i.e when I just am with myself) seems to constantly call for change, for some sort of a practical leap which will manifest my deep being into a joyful doing (damn, that is a great term). It's as if it's saying, okay - you've dug so deep and struck water, now resurface and bring life to the desert (i.e my life lol).

But I can't seem to manifest that… what do you think could be the inhibitor of growth?

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I wondering if anyone has thoughts to share regarding the idea of the evolution of masculine and feminine energies? Are these terms antiquated?  Are they fundamental human aspects? Culturally generated? mythically generated?

Re: Ordinary Magic: Everyday Life As Spiritual Path

I wondering if anyone has thoughts to share regarding the idea of the evolution of masculine and feminine energies? Are these terms antiquated?  Are they fundamental human aspects? Culturally generated? mythically generated?

Re: Ordinary Magic: Everyday Life As Spiritual Path

Hi Allison,
I see this as Ha-Tha yoga . Ha means sun/masculine/active and Tha means moon/feminine/passive.
To me balancing masculine and feminine energies in the body , means a balance between being active and resting.
If we over-exert muscles, the blood flow , and prana, gets restricted,creating toxins, so we don't have as much energy coursing through the body.
If we rest too much, energioes in the tissues becomes stagnant, like when a pool of water is left without moving gets stagnant, creating toxins, so the blood flow and prana doesn't course though the body as well as it could.

Love,
Soul