Tantra Tip of the Day- Compassion is a Practice

Compassion for all beings is the foundation for all Tantric practice. The motivation to achieve enlightenment is born out of a desire to help others to awaken and to help end suffering for all beings. This practice is called Bodhichitta, which means “awakening mind.” In Buddhism the mind is associated with the heart and not the head. Bodhichitta also is associated with wisdom and spaciousness. So to activate compassion you awaken the heart with both wisdom and spaciousness.

Compassion is different from sympathy which can sometimes cause a feeling of being over whelmed by the suffering of others. If you become overwhelm by such emotions you are now one of those who is suffering. If you are suffering you loose your equanimity. Practicing compassion requires equanimity, an open heart and the intent to help others in every moment as much as you are able. Equanimity is an unbiased attitude toward all beings and is the foundation for practicing Bodhichitta. It is a state of being which requires awareness and letting go of attachment or aversion.

Here is a meditation for cultivating equanimity. Imagine you are surrounded by three people; one is your best friend, one your enemy or someone you dislike and one is a complete stranger to you. Now examine your feelings towards each of these people and see why you have labeled them friend, enemy and stranger. As you explore your feelings notice that these labels are impermanent. Your friend could move away and no longer be important to you. Your feelings for your enemy might be resolved if she offered to help you through a crisis. A stranger could become your friend or lover. In doing this meditation you can begin to let go of your attachment to your friends, aversion to your enemies and indifference to a stranger.

See if you can find a place of peace within yourself that allows you to see each person from a place of compassion. Generate the desire that all beings awaken and no longer suffer. You are practicing the beginning stages of Bodhichitta.

(C)Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.
www.TantraForAwakening.com
www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com

Original Art by Paul Heussenstamm
www.Mandalas.com

Tantra Tip of the Day- Honoring the Beloved

Within each of us is an Inner Beloved. How much are you in touch with yours. I received this piece of writing from my Facebook friend, Frank, this morning. I found it touching. Read it and see what it brings up for you.

My Beloved
In complete surrender, I give my heart to my Beloved. I love her in Form; I love her in Emptiness. I love her as she is coming; I love her as she is going; I love her presence, her absence. I love her in motion; I love her at rest; I love her expression; I love her silence. We are the audience that loves each other into being, her and me. She exists through the function of My Awareness and I am devoted to her out of my own selfish lust for the delight she brings. At the same time, I am immediately willing for her to walk out of my life forever (as if that were possible). My surrender is that complete. Of course, she can never leave me. Yes, water may leave the ocean, but its return is inevitable, and even when some of the water is traveling, even swimming through these veins, the Ocean is still there. My Beloved is forever in my heart, always, in all ways. We are creator and creature of each other. By Frank Carson Boyd, Feb. 24, 2009

In order to give and receive love, you need to have a healthy relationship with both your Inner Lover and Inner Beloved. Try this: Find a place sit or lie down quietly, breathe into your belly and let yourself become relaxed. Imagine yourself in a peaceful place. Call your Inner Beloved to you and see what you discover. How do look, notice their size, shape and coloring? How are they dressed? What qualities do they have? Do they have a message or a gift for you? Repeat this process with your Inner Lover and see what you discover. Find a way to honor both your Inner Beloved and your Inner Lover today. When your Inner Beloved feels honored by your Inner Lover all of your relationships will benefit. Share your experience with someone you love.

www.TantraForAwakening.com
www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com

Shifting the Paradigm- My Response to "Should Women Rule the World?"

Yesterday, I posted a blog titled, "Should Women Rule the World?" This was not my title, it was the title of an email I recieved, that I thought was provocative and would be interesting to post here. I want to clarify my thoughts on the subject.

I don't even believe in the concept of anybody ruling the world. I want to see a world where instead of a desire to rule over the world there was a desire to tend the world for the benefit of all beings. My view is not that we should value feminine over masculine but that we see that they both have valuable gifts to offer and that both be appreciate equally. The world would be far better off if all humans had acess to the full spectrum of both masculine and feminine wisdom. I believe that many on the Tantra path are integrating these aspects in ourselves so we can be more whole wise beings.

Until that happens wouldn't it be great if the feminine perspective was included more in the political and world scene. One of the clips on the link I posted, showed a panel of men (no women) trying to figure out a response to the ecomomic crisis. The point of the clip being that men are more short-sighted and willing to take greater risks, while women take a more cautious view and consider the future more. When one point of view is excluded there are bound to be blind spots they create problems.

I believe including women in policy-making all over the world is a start, but often women working in male dominated fields loose their feminine prespective, in an effort to be accepted they become one of the boys. So it is not just about women doing it or doing it better. There are men in the world who carry the feminine prespective as well. It is about learning to trust that by honoring both feminine and masculine we can create a healthier and happier world. This honoring begins within each one of us, as we become more aware of our inner male and female sides. I believe that exploring the inner masculine and inner feminine is an important part of shifting the paradigm from one of domination to one of partnership.

Tantra Tip of the Day - Daffodils at Dawn Cultivate Being

This morning I went out for a walk as the sun was rising. It was quiet except for an occasional bird twittering in the trees. As I walked up the hill behind my house, I saw a bunch of daffodils blooming in my neighbor’s yard. Seeing the bright yellow flowers made my heart sing. They had popped out of the same earth that only 2 weeks ago was covered in snow. I continued my walk, watching as the sun lit up the world. Sedona is especially beautiful at dawn because the dawn light makes the red rocks glow as if illuminated from within.

As I walked along I felt this profound peace fill me. In that moment there were no problems, no desires and nothing to do. I slipped effortlessly into being; mind at rest, heart open, feeling love for nothing in particular. Life can be so simple when I just stop, even for a moment and allow my mind to be free, then I can see the gifts that are hidden in ordinary things.

Try this: As you move through your day see if you can find moments of stillness. Then notice what you discover hidden in your seemingly ordinary world. See if you can slip into being. How does it feel to just be? Notice the difference between being and doing. When you cultivate being, the doing happens with much less effort.

(C)Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.
www.TantraForAwakening.com
www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com

Tantra Tip of the Day - Honor Your Body Temple

In Bali each morning the temples are swept, incense is lit, offerings of fruit and flowers are presented and prayers are spoken. This is one way they practice honoring the Divine.

One of the gifts of being a human is having a physical body. Your body is the temple that houses your divine nature. How do you honor your “Body Temple?” What offerings do you give it each day? How much do you appreciate your body and all it does for you?

Try this: Today consider that your body is a sacred temple and treat it as such. Notice if you make different choices as you go through your day. At the end of your day take some time and honor your body in a way that feels good to you. As part of this honoring, touch each part of your body and offer gratitude and a blessing for all that it does for you, include the internal organs as well as the external body parts. Notice how it feels to connect with each part of your body and be present with it. Does seeing your body as a sacred temple change your relationship to it? How does your body want to be honored?

(C)Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.
www.TantraForAwakening.com
www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com

Should Women Rule the World?

This email was forwarded to me by a friend, from Vicki Noble, the creator of the Mother Peace Tarot Deck and author of several books on the Goddess. It is definitely food for thought. I have often felt that the feminine has a different response to emergancy situations than the masculine. This study shows that females "tend and befriend" in crisis rather than the male response of "fight or flight." What would the world be like if "tend and befriend" was the usual response to global crisis?

Blessings,
Crystal Dawn

Dear Motherpeace Friend:

I received an announcement this morning from the Matriarchal Studies Yahoo list calling attention to a Good Morning America segment asking the question, "Should Women Rule the World?"

This long-overdue and very welcome question is rightly directed toward the current crisis on Wall Street, focusing on evidence that came out in the last decade from Dr. Shelley Taylor's experiments proving that women do not have a testosterone-elicited "fight or flight" response. Women's response to stress instead produces the hormone oxytocin (generated in a woman's labor process and also in breast feeding), and instead of taking huge and dangerous risks, women tend to the children and collaborate with each other, finding the "big picture" instead of short term unstable solutions.

I've been saying for many years that the research is fabulous, but the conclusions are pale by comparison. The early media accounts of the "tend and befriend" experiments concluded that "women need female friends," when the research clearly suggested that women should govern the world! Now, at long last--and bless their journalistic hearts--these women on ABC's Good Morning America have set the story straight.

Should women rule the world? Of course--and the sooner the better, obviously!

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=6863333

This is REAL research on women--a break from the usual way that science universalizes the male experience and generalizes it to supposedly include women. Although the news women did not mention Dr. Taylor's name, I strongly recommend that you read her incredible book, The Tending Instinct, where she lays out the most amazing research results. This work is truly radical. I'm so pleased to see it finally getting the attention it deserves with conclusions that make sense instead of simply furthering a sentimental image of women as nurturers.

Lots of love, Vicki

Tantra Tip of the Day - Three Steps to Inner Peace

Does your life feel like it is going faster and faster? Does it feel like you are being dragged into an undertow of drama; your drama, your kid’s drama, or the economic drama in Washington? How can you be at peace in the midst of chaos?

First, shift your attention from what is going on in the world around you to the space in which these things arise. Can you sense this spaciousness? If not, close your eyes and exhale with a deep sigh, relax and state your intention for inner peace.

Second, imagine a cord of light at the base of your spine; send this cord down through your legs and feet deep into the center of the earth. Imagine there is a tree, rock, crystal or whatever it is for you and tie your grounding cord on to this object; give it a tug to make sure it feels secure. Now, release anything that is preventing you from being fully present in this moment down this grounding cord. Notice how it feels to let go of past and future and arrive in this moment.

Third, allow yourself to become conscious of Awareness. Awareness is spacious, still and peaceful, it is always present and is the emptiness in which life happens. Experience this spaciousness. What do you notice about it? Even if you only feel it for brief moments throughout your day, these moments of peace, when brought into conscious awareness can gradually be extended. Eventually you discover that inner peace is possible when you follow these 3 steps; 1) relax and state your intention for inner peace, 2) ground your energy and release past and future, and 3) allow yourself to experience spacious Awareness.

(C)Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.
www.TantraForAwakening.com
www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com