More on the Inner Landscape

Ok, I have to admit that it sometimes seems a little crazy to dwell on the inner landscape. There is so much to do and such an urgency in the multiple details of our lives and the vast needs of the world at large. But I believe with all my heart that we cannot redesign a different, sustainable future where the well-being of all life is valued, if that same value does not sit at the core of our inner selves. We cannot change the outside without first taking a look at what sits inside of us. We cannot redesign or understand the true meaning of abundance without first being internal gardeners of our own hearts and minds.

And so into the craziness, the absurdity, the speed, the joys and sorrows of the outer world, we take time to pause, to pray, to reflect, to walk, to be still, to commune with that which is greater than we are. We take time to water and weed our internal garden and make sure the seedlings of kindness, compassion, endurance, and forgiveness are growing and flourishing.

I think this was a secret of the great ones.

Building the Inner Landscape

When I began to study what I call the “great ones”, I was literally blown away by how much good they accomplished. Countries were freed, hospitals built for the poor, unfair laws changed, the poor and destitute were loved and cared for….the list goes on and on; suffice it to say that it seems to me that each one of the people I studied accomplished more than I could in lifetimes. And yet, they all were some kind of contemplative; they spent great periods of time in prayer and reflection

They spent time caring for their inner landscapes and tending to their inner resources. It is as if they knew that the landscape of their hearts would be congruent with their actions in the world. They knew that it is impossible to love when our hearts are full of hatred. They knew that it is impossible to practice moderation when our hearts are full of greed. They knew that it is impossible to practice kindness when our hearts our full of violence.

They must have asked themselves, if this heart and if this mind were the heart and the mind of the whole world, what kind of a world would it be? And so they nourished the seeds of love and compassion while also tending to with their fiery passion for justice. They cut the chains that bound them to their own selfishness so that they could freely serve the greater good. They closed their eyes to the world’s ranking of importance so that they could reach out to the lowliest of the low. And they did all of this from a place of seemingly limitless energy and an almost childlike joy.

As we go about crafting our lives, we have to ask the hard questions of our inner selves first. What occupies space in our hearts? What occupies space in our minds? What provokes acts of unkindness from our hands? What makes us eat more than our stomachs really want? What makes us buy more than we really need? What is so important that we rush through the day and miss the grace of the moment?

Creating Spaciousness on the Inside

Thanks to you who asked me to talk more about creating spaciousness on the inside.

As I continue to practice this concept, I feel like a farmer who is planting and tending seeds in the inside of her being. These seeds are a slow breath, a practice of doing one thing at a time, giving my full attention to what I am doing, pausing, moving slower, speaking slower, being grateful, being available. Tending these seeds moment to moment has begun to make me feel more and more spacious inside rather than constricted and frenzied like a robot without an off swith.

Perhaps another way to talk about it is the sense of melting into life, trusting in the benevolence of life. I am reminded of the simple childhood round "Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream; merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream."

Finding Spaciousness

OK, I give up. I have been trying to find spaciousness in my life for a long, long, time. I have failed. Perhaps it is an impossible goal for a normal American life. But the longing, the hunger for, the yearning, remain.

So, I'm in a new experiment, and it is going pretty well. Because I can't "make" spaciousness happen on the outside of my life, I am practicing spaciousness on the inside. I am being spaciousness, I am bringing spaciousness to my day, to the interruptions, to the full schedules, to the upsets.

And surprisingly, it is changing everything. My breath is slower, my speech is slower, I feel oceans of fluidity inside me, I am content.

I am tasting the eternity that sits in each breath and each moment.

Do you have a Beautiful Mind or an Ugly Mind?

I was taking a walk recently and noticed that the trim on a particular house in my neighborhood had just been painted a bright almost neon lime green. Not only that, but the paint job was quite messy. My mind instantly went to judgment. “Oh, how ugly! This sure brings the neighborhood down. How could anyone paint their home such a ridiculous color.” Every time I took my daily walk, this was the litany that went though my mind!

One morning, however, as I was walking, a very elderly gentleman, bent over and looking at least in his mid-90’s was having a discussion with another man. The elderly gentleman, obviously the owner of the house, was beaming with delight and pride telling the younger fellow how he had painted all this trim by himself! My heart opened as I witnessed the joy in this elderly man’s face at his amazing accomplishment. That house instantly became beautiful to me, and every time I have walked by since then, I feel an overwhelming smile in my heart.

Swami Rama once said, “A beautiful mind sees beauty; an ugly mind sees ugliness.” What do you see as you walk about your day? Do you see beauty or do you see ugly?