Gaia: Sacred Walk - Faith

Re: Living Prayer

http://jillianne.gaia.com — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 19:01:07 GMT

I second everything you have said. It is the book I recommend the most and one of the most honest and gripping stories I have ever come across. Surrender in the most essential sense and hope.

I may need to read it again! LOL

Re: Living Prayer

http://dhyan-salima.gaia.com — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 12:51:15 GMT

I have been reading "Left to Tell" 3 times now and am finding every time something in that book that I can use in my day to day live, something that changes my consciousness, the way I am with people, the way I go about my day, the way I show my love, the way I pray,... I was so happy that other people have read this book and it has been having an influence in other people's life. That was the reason why I wrote about this book in my blog, wanted to tell people that this great book is out there to read.

Thank you for sharing your personal prayer!!!!
If and how people pray and what prayer even is for them is so personal to everyone but it always seems to come straight from the soul. So I love hearing people's prayers or what prayer means to them. I always learn something, every time.

Quote on Faith

http://dhyan-salima.gaia.com — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 12:41:11 GMT

There is a quote on faith that hangs on a friend's wall. I have been seeing this quote so many times, everytime when I visit my friend and for the longest time the quote didn't really tell me anything. But in the last days and weeks thinking about this quote actually gave me some comfort and trust in whatever may come next in my life, even if that is not all clear and figured out yet.

Fath

When you come to the edge of all light you have known,
and you are about to step out into the darkness,
Faith is knowing one of two things will happen.
There will be something to stand on...
or you will be taught how to fly.

Re: Living Prayer

http://jillianne.gaia.com — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 21:15:03 GMT

What a beauitful treat this is. I had to get over my excitement about your reference to "Left to tell".... it is indirectly the link that connected my husband and I. What an incredible story and an honorable path.

I believe that prayer is our expression out to the Universe. If we act in ways that are hateful, our prayer is one of hate. It is simply communion with the divine and I find myself being very mindful in how I choose to commune. I wish my prayers to be based in love and joy.

This was such a great offering. I love the prayer you begin each day with. My has always been quite simple:

I always pray that I might honor the life in front of me. Sometimes it is more elaborate, but that tends to be the gist.

Nice offering!

Jill

Re: Living Prayer

http://dhyan-salima.gaia.com — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:25:26 GMT

Hi Nicole,

I don't know how the prayer would go in Dutch :-) Am still learning that language and not very far with that learning yet, just moved to Holland a couple of month ago. The prayer normally is a mixture between German and English and goes like

"Dear Lord, gib mir die Demut, die Staerke, den Mut und das Vertrauen alles Loszulassen und mich dir voll und ganz hinzugeben. Unconditional sweet and willing surrender to your will my dear Lord."

Don't know how I got to this language mixture, just kind of developed that way. Are you praying? What do you pray for and in what way? Words? A feeling? Chanting? Singing? Would love to hear.

Re: Living Prayer

http://singerseeker.gaia.com — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 06:14:55 GMT

fascinating... how does the prayer go in Dutch?

love

nicole

Living Prayer

http://dhyan-salima.gaia.com — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 23:33:42 GMT

Prayer has been my saving grace many times in my life. Writing in my last blog about the book "Left to Tell" got me thinking about prayer.

One of my most prayed personal prayers over the years has been

"My dear Lord, please give me the humility,
the strength, the courage and the trust
to let go of everything and to surrender to you fully.
Unconditional sweet and willing surrender to your will
my dear Lord."

This translation feels a bit a strange since normally I am praying this prayer in my mother tongue, which is not English, but it still expresses my desire to give all of myself to The Lord. Do I always know what God's will for me is? No. but I trust in that in the sincerity of my prayer the answer will be found. Trusting is not always easy but over the years I learned that it is a decision that I can make in the moment. And somehow deciding to trust God always leads to more trust because I can always see the results of my trust clearly, which leads to more trust.

Also, I found a very beautiful web page on prayer today, that helped inspire me to write about prayer today www.theladyinprayer.org

Are you praying? Why or why not? If yes, what are you praying for? And what have you experienced through praying? How did you come to pray?....

Oh, my story how I started up praying: I was brought up Roman Catholic and always loved God and going to church and praying and all of it. But through life slowly that all changed and with 17 I had stopped praying or even believing in God for that matter. Then I received a tape from a friend with a women talking about her relationship with God and prayer and how real it is etc. I can't remember much of the tape but she said, that prayer works and if you are not sure that it does just try it out - pray and see for yourself that it works. Being a rather scientific minded person I liked the "science project: prayer" and thought of a prayer that would help proof that prayer works (or proof that it doesn't).

My test prayer was this: I was really, really bad in math and had a math exam the next day. Going against all deeply engrained Catholic believes I actually prayed for something for myself - that I would write a math test with a good grade (which never happened normally). The result: I had the best grade in class (not even understanding what the subject was even about). But not only that there was an astonishing huge gap between my grade and the 2nd best grade and all the grades of other people. For this one math exam my grade was truly outstanding.

Well, having proven the point that prayer works I didn't pray for the results of future math tests anymore and had the same bad math test results as always. But that wasn't the point anyway, I just wanted to see whether prayer works and having seen that math tests were not so important subjects to pray about anymore.

Re: what helps you feel more spiritually alive?

http://singerseeker.gaia.com — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 01:01:00 GMT

Dear Michael,

You are definitely a surfer, in the way it counts! :)

Thanks for this. Very insightful.

Love,

Nicole

Re: what helps you feel more spiritually alive?

http://instanttruth.gaia.com — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 01:16:58 GMT

I too experience many dry periods in spirituality. For a while thought they were "not special" but changing reference points helps. The spiritual experiences are kind of like surfing,??

you sit and wait bobbing and becoming the sea,
simple being, a drop of water seeking the ocean
then an explosion comes,
a wave lifts you up
paddle quick, this is your chance for fun
it rises
you move up
sit....wahooo... then stand,
now you are way up there
moving, riding, carving...the breeze, sun, rays, showers of spray are you
there is no you, just this moment here now surfing this place
then...... oops you lose balance yearning a bit to go back down maybe?
so you fall... fall and let go... fall into...being (which has and is always there)
so back to sitting and being
perhaps another wave will come... you know it will.

the whole time... all of it was simply water.... showing you both of her many forms.

(ps - i am really a skateboarder not a surfer) :)

Re: what helps you feel more spiritually alive?

http://singerseeker.gaia.com — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 15:51:27 GMT

I'm not sure I have any answers... my long dry period lasted nearly a year and suddenly disappeared in an explosion of energy and drive that for the past two months keeps me excited and moving forward.

Love,

Nicole

Re: what helps you feel more spiritually alive?

http://dhyan-salima.gaia.com — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 13:58:42 GMT

Dear Nicole, I would love to hear about what you are finding. I loved Jill's suggestion to you but am also curious what you find out for yourself. I have been having a spiritually dry phase for a while too, and have been finding little ways here and there to have breakthroughs. But am always open to hear what other people are finding to help move forward into something new.

One thing that works for me is that I have a girl-friend that I am venting with about all of the things that are hard or I don't like or that are just not alive or ... (always with the focus of moving, letting go and changing thinkgs). And in the end somehow what I really want to do, my pashion and love always comes out again ('til I need to vent again ;-) ).

Re: Yoga Anyone?

http://jillianne.gaia.com — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 18:24:07 GMT

Thanks, Nicole. I have watched and although I am really pleased to see it gain a wider appeal in our culture, the spiritual practise has all but been lost in it. The smallest portion of Yoga consist of the postures and the breathing.

Re: Yoga Anyone?

http://singerseeker.gaia.com — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 13:33:56 GMT

thanks for sharing this. like many, i mostly think of the asana and the breathing but am delighted to expand my awareness.

namaste,

nicole

Yoga Anyone?

http://jillianne.gaia.com — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 16:31:10 GMT

Yoga is a rich and beautiful path that offers the opportunity to live a more fully conscious life. Despite modern marketing... it is not a form of exercise. Yoga is a pathway to living, growing, evolving. The guidance behind the philosophy of yoga is more fully fleshed out in the Bhagavad Gita.

These are often called the Yoga Sutras. Yogic truths. Utilizing all of the yoga sutras becomes "Ashtanga" yoga. And that is best described in what is known as the "EIGHT LIMBS" of yoga.

For those that thought Yoga was breathing and bending.... That is like saying that Marriage is held in the "I DO". It is a small facet of a bigger devotion. Yoga positions and breathing are a small facet of the practice of yoga. Furthermore... inside of the eight limbs... the first two hold five guides each. Kind of like the beginning instructions to carry out the rest of the six limbs.

Without further ado.... The Eight Limbs of Yoga:

Yama: Internal Moral Discipline The five guides to this are:

Ahimsa - to practice non-violence in thought, action and deed.

Satya - Truthfulness. The capacity to stand naked and honor.

Asteya - Non-stealing. Right use of things.

Brahmacharya - Moderation in all things. Self-containment.

Aparighraha - Non-possessiveness. Simplicity.

Niyamas: External. Maintain a positive environment. The five guides:

Shaucha - Purity/Clarity. Orderliness of thoughts and environment.

Santosha - Contentment. Acceptance for what is.

Tapas - Austerity, sacrifice, discipline.

Swadhyaya - Self-improvement/learning. Spiritual development.

Ishwara-Pranidhana - Surrender to God.

Asana: Physical postures.

Pranayama: Increasing breathing and life force.

Pratyahara: Sensory inhibition.

Dharana: Intense focus needed for meditation.

Dyana: Meditation

Samadhi: Ecstasy. Union with the Divine.

The practice of yoga draws you deeper and deeper into an honest reflection of the divine within each being. And yet..... to not honor the first two legs of the eight legs will not lead to Samadhi. Surrender to the divine and ecstasy are hand in hand.

Service to the greater world is often times referred to as Karmic yoga. What a treasure. How beautiful to offer of self without recognition or need for such feedback. To simply offer because it is needed. May we all aspire to be Karmic Yoginis

Re: what helps you feel more spiritually alive?

http://singerseeker.gaia.com — Wed, 30 May 2007 14:11:43 GMT

yes, i know that's true. i'm not used to being so alienated from that wisdom for so long, but i know this time in the desert will bring its fruit in good time. thank you...

Re: what helps you feel more spiritually alive?

http://jillianne.gaia.com — Tue, 29 May 2007 22:18:05 GMT

Thank you! The bottom line is.... You have all the wisdom inside of you. That connection doesn't leave, you simply need to allow it to rise up once more!

Re: what helps you feel more spiritually alive?

http://singerseeker.gaia.com — Sun, 27 May 2007 20:34:48 GMT

wow~ what an awesome way to reconnect with the ground of your being... thank you, Jill

Re: what helps you feel more spiritually alive?

http://jillianne.gaia.com — Sat, 26 May 2007 17:09:41 GMT

When I was little there was a ceremony called "First Dance". It happens for children around the age of six or seven and becomes a symbolic ritual to find their own step with Spirit. It was really profound for me. I had drowned the day before first dance and was brought back to life by a wonderful man who'd been a medic in vietnam. When I stepped out to begin the dance, my feet found the beat and within minutes I was no longer aware of the people around or the other dancers. It was me. It was Nature. It was Spirit in me and around me. I was transported to the same sense I'd had the day before when I'd nearly died. Complete and utter love.

When I find myself struggling.... I make sure I have privacy and I put on a wonderful CD of the drums and the dances and I simply find my footsteps once more. It helps me remember who I am. It helps me feel the divine spark that runs through me. AND I ASK.

But that is where I always start. I come back to trusting my heart and soul and body to know the steps needed.

what helps you feel more spiritually alive?

http://singerseeker.gaia.com — Fri, 25 May 2007 22:13:35 GMT

i have be going through a long grey time spiritually, and having trouble finding a place or a way to pick up the threads again... any suggestions?

Re: A Metaphor for Faith

http://jillianne.gaia.com — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 02:47:53 GMT

That was a wonderful offering. I love labyrinths. I have been drawing my prayers since I was a four year old. There is something in following the patterns that let's us touch into something else greater and unspoken.

Last year someone who is building a labyrinth asked me to design the center of it from one of my prayer drawings. I kepth thinking "what do those two have in common"... and then I discovered what it was. Simply the stillness and the steps that let your soul dance!

Very, very nice. Thank you for offering this.