Awake in the World

Joseph Campbell suggested that when we “find our bliss” and it will lead us to where we need to be. Bliss goes beyond happiness.

Everyone wants to find happiness. Happiness is good. It’s a wonderful feeling that comes from buying a new dress or eating an ice cream cone. It may be connected with having physical desires met, but happiness can be fleeting and temporary. Joy dives deeper and last longer. It touches into the spiritual and comes from within. Bliss is the ultimate harvest of spiritual life. It’s an experience that transcends the physical and according to wisdom traditions, it is our true nature. If you want to find that path through the shades of happiness and joy to bliss, how do you get there? One way to  begin is to cultivate your inner secret garden, that sacred space within you where  the seeds you plant can be cultivated and grow into a harvest of joy.

Some essential tools that help to dig deep and tend the inner garden include a regular meditation practice, a dedication to pay attention to and act on the guidance of your inner gardener – that higher, wiser part of you that is Divine – and a yearning to get rid of inner junk and pests that stand in the way. This junk is often old stuff from the past, including attitudes and habits that may have served us well at one time, but now just get in the way and hold us back. It’s time to let go of these and grow into the new life that’s waiting.

One of my favorite ways to cultivate bliss in my secret garden is through consciously choosing guiding values. Values are like seeds. They may include peace, kindness, generosity, joy, determination, patience, and more. When we choose the seeds we want to grow more of in our life, we can begin to cultivate them both inside during meditation and also through actions in our daily lives. One of the seeds I tend regularly is love. As the inner tending and nurturing progresses, we attune more deeply to spirit and become one with its qualities of peace, awareness, and bliss. These qualities are our divine nature and the more they are expressed in our lives, the closer we live to the Source. With patience and perseverance, the secret garden transforms into a garden of bliss.

Bio: Debra Moffitt is the award winning author of Awake in the World: 108 Practices to Live a Divinely Inspired Life and “Garden of Bliss: Cultivating the Inner Landscape for Self-Discovery” (Llewellyn Worldwide, May 2013). A visionary, dreamer and teacher, she’s devoted to nurturing the spiritual in everyday life. She leads workshops on spiritual practices, writing and creativity in the U.S. and Europe. More at http://www.awakeintheworld.com and on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/DebraMoffittAwakeintheWorld

If you are slapped on one cheek, turn the other too. – Jesus

Non-violence is an elevated way of being. Many of us are raised with feelings of, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But moving to a place where vengeance and forgiveness take precedent over payback is a way of also elevating all of the human race. An example of the practice of non-violence comes from Rasi Bhuiyan. A Muslim, he was shot as he worked in a gas station by a man upset by the 9/11 attacks. Bhuiyan later went on to try to save the life of the man who attacked him, saying the man “went through a healing process and learned from his mistake.” His assailant was convicted of murder and given the death sentence, but Bhuiyan says that his own practices as a Muslim brought him to forgive and he protested against the death penalty. “Hate is not a solution. Killing is not a solution,” Rasi says. He makes a conscious effort to weave together communities.

Many people were introduced to the practice of non-violence or ahimsa, as it’s called in Sanskrit, by Mahatma Gandhi. The small, thin Gandhi began a movement to liberate India from British rule through his ideas of passive resistance. In his personal life Gandhi took these ideas deeply to heart, considering that to harm in action is not sufficient. A true practice of non-violence must extend to the ways we speak and even more deeply, to the ways we think.

Gandhi’s influence spread around the world. Martin Luther King, Jr. was inspired by him and used his ideas and practices in the freedom marches in the south. Instead of using violence to effect change, Gandhi created marches and encouraged Indians to make home-spun cloth and other Indian products including salt as ways to overcome British domination.

Non-violence, at its deepest means paying attention to speech. The tongue can create wounds that may not heal. Ahimsa means acting in ways that will not cause pain or suffering to others. On the subtle level it means taking care to watch thoughts so that they do not send out harmful energy and ideas. The practice of non-violence, when taken to heart, is a great challenge that will also bring great rewards. Today, will you accept the challenge to watch your thoughts, words and actions?

Bio: Debra Moffitt is the award winning author of Awake in the World: 108 Practices to Live a Divinely Inspired Life and “Garden of Bliss: Cultivating the Inner Landscape for Self-Discovery” (Llewellyn Worldwide, May 2013). A visionary, dreamer and teacher, she’s devoted to nurturing the spiritual in everyday life. She leads workshops on spiritual practices, writing and creativity in the U.S. and Europe. More at http://www.awakeintheworld.com and on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/DebraMoffittAwakeintheWorld

If you want to make big changes in your life, the easiest and only way to begin is one step at a time. If you’ve ever looked at a mountain from the bottom before climbing it, the trek can appear to be a daunting task. But miraculously, by taking one step at a time, the miles lead you to the peak.  Running will bring burnout, but going at a slow, steady pace brings endurance. When we start a project or set a goal, we’re often full of good intentions. Eat right, workout more, write a novel. Exercises classes are full, but by mid-January those good intentions fade. It may be that we try to tackle too many things at once, go too fast, and expect immediate results. 

I often set big goals and I don’t know about you, but I’ve often pushed myself – body, mind, and spirit – to the point of burnout to achieve them. When I do this, it takes me months to get back to the old energy levels. This year I’m opting for the regular, steady pace that gets me to the goal safe, balanced and at just the right time. If you recall the story of the turtle and the hare, then you’ll remember a similar message. The turtle keeps at it, while the hare rushes ahead, lazes around then rushes again, and the turtle’s steadiness wins the race in the end. It’s sticking to a regular commitment that makes the difference — whether it’s working out, cutting down on food intake, or putting a thousand words a day on paper to create a novel. Those daily increments get the job done.

Bio: Debra Moffitt is the award winning author of Awake in the World: 108 Practices to Live a Divinely Inspired Life and “Garden of Bliss: Cultivating the Inner Landscape for Self-Discovery” (Llewellyn Worldwide, February 2013). A visionary, dreamer and teacher, she’s devoted to nurturing the spiritual in everyday life. She leads workshops on spiritual practices, writing and creativity in the U.S. and Europe. More at http://www.awakeintheworld.com and on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/DebraMoffittAwakeintheWorld

“Do your duty until it becomes your joy.”

How often do we have to make choices between doing the right thing and doing the easier thing?  My favorite story about doing the right thing which is called dharma in Sanskrit, comes from the Bhagavad Gita and is applicable to anyone. It takes place on a battle field. Arjuna, a brave young man has been trained as a warrior. But on this day of one of the greatest battles the world has ever seen, his spirits plunge. He rides down the center of the battle field in a chariot driven by Lord Krishna. On the opposing side he witnesses people who have been near and dear to him. They too are poised for war. As he looks into their faces he loses heart. “I can’t do it,” he tells Krishna. “I can’t fight and risk killing them.”

He slumps in the chariot, dispirited. But Krishna reproaches him: “You have been trained, oh warrior. To fight in battle for a good cause is your highest duty. Whether you fight or not, these men you see are fated to die in battle today. You have the choice of going down in history as a great warrior or a coward. The wise man would do his duty.”

Arjuna decides to fight and becomes a legend. This is one of the great teaching about dharma – and how to perform it even in difficult circumstances. This battle, according to Jack Hawley, author of The Bhagavad Gita: A Walk Through for Westerners, is symbolic. It’s about an inner battle, a struggle to slay our inner foes. These may include hatred, anger, greed, lust, envy and jealousy. These enemies get in the way of living a content, happy and spiritually fulfilled life.

How will your duty become joy today?

Bio: Debra Moffitt is the award winning author of Awake in the World: 108 Practices to Live a Divinely Inspired Life and “Garden of Bliss”. A visionary, dreamer and teacher, she’s devoted to nurturing the spiritual in everyday life. She leads workshops on spiritual practices, writing and creativity in the U.S. and Europe. More at http://www.awakeintheworld.com and on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/DebraMoffittAwakeintheWorld