Cara Lumen | Sing a Deeper Song

Sing a Deeper Song

Taoism

Step Out of the Way 

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Step Out of the Way 

“The Master allows things to happen.
She shapes events as they come.
She steps out of the way and
Lets the Tao speak for itself.”
– Tao Te Ching, trans. Stephen Mitchell 

Allow things to happen!  No organizing.  No pushing and pulling. Just watching. Be aware of what shows up and how things are unfolding. Let life unfold.

How do you shape events as they come?  Whatever shows up comes from your thoughts, your beliefs, and your actions.  If you want something to be different, the change begins with you, within you.  You shape things as they come by making changes within yourself to accept, accommodate, release, repurpose, redirect.  A nudge here, a tweak there, a pause or two along the way. That’s how you shape what shows up.

Trust is a key part of your ability to allow things to happen.  Trust the harmonious and natural balance of the Tao. Trust you will only be given what you can handle. Trust that there’s a gift in everything that occurs.  

It is a huge relief to stop pushing and pulling and planning.  And simply be. Be present.  Be aware.  Be mindful. 

Let the Tao speak for itself.

To Sing a Deeper Song Consider:

Does Your Path Have Heart

What are the Foundations Stones Upon Which Your Build Your Life

Make Work Your Offering

Unleash the Power of your Sacred Garden

Follow Your Personal Drumbeat

Embracing Tao

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tao

By George, I think I’ve got it! At least a concrete glimmer of what I’m going for. I’ve been studying Taoism and how to express the Tao in my life. I used to call Tao “All-That-Is” or “Universal Mind”. What drew me to Taoism in the first place was a phrase from Stephen Mitchell’s translation of the Tao Te Ching, “The master allows things to happen,/She shapes events as they come./She steps out of the way/And lets the Tao speak for itself.” I’ve been working to slow my mind and my responses and simply let things unfold.

Use your mind for sorting and selecting

For most of my life, I have been studying and thinking and writing in order to understand what interests me. Recently in 365 Tao Meditation by Deng Ming-Dao I read, “Education is a means of gaining access to the conventional world of satisfying our curiosity, and of avoiding superstitious tendencies. The intellect uses discrimination, categorization, and dualistic distinctions in highly sophisticated ways.”

I began to understand that I’ve been educating myself about many things all my life. I’ve used my mind to make choices and to decide on the beliefs and values that resonate. However, I wasn’t certain that I was effectively putting what I learned into action.

Spiritual contemplation is behind all action

Deng Ming-Dao continues: “By contrast, spiritual contemplation involves no discrimination, no categorization, and no dualism, so it has very little need for scholasticism. It is pure action that requires the totality of our inner beings. It needs pure involvement, not mere study.”

That made me look at how much I enjoyed my mind and question if I’ve learned to live and breathe and fully express what I have come to embrace as truth for me.

Change is gradual

A game of cards showed me that I was learning to be present and flexible in the flow of life and that it is a fabulous way to live. The game requires a series of choices. Pick one card and your hand moves in one direction. Choose a different card and it flows another way. Like life. Each choice is like an eddy in a stream, it swirls around some things, picks up others in its path. You never know which it’ll be until it happens.

As I became more aware of how I was playing the game, I saw that I was choosing in the moment, I was following my intuition. I allowed my choices to lead to a natural conclusion based on the actions I took in the moment.

It felt exciting because I didn’t know where each choice would lead. I could see the possibilities of each choice. If an unexpected card was drawn, I rethought the direction I was going and opened myself up to new possibilities. Each choice gave me the possibility of a different conclusion.

And ”chance” played a part. The number of times I simply reached into the pile of cards and chose the exact one I needed was much higher than for anyone else who was playing the game. All because I was present, listening to my intuition, and making each choice based on what was presented in the moment. I am beginning to understand Tao.

Be present when you choose

“Spiritual contemplation is pure action that requires the totality of our inner beings. It needs pure involvement, not mere study,” Deng Ming-Dao concludes. I have to consciously drop all judgment and simply respond in the moment to how life unfolds. I will learn to drop all expectation and be in the present and allow each choice to be made from the fullness of my being.

I have a long way to go to make an understanding of Tao totally active in my life, but in this small moment of card playing I experienced how incredibly freeing and powerful it is to let events unfold and trust in the choices I make in the moment. I’ve become more aware of the times I’m caught up in my mind, and the times I allow myself to simply flow along the river of life.

Allow your spiritual essence to guide your decisions.

To Sing a Deeper Song consider

Live in the Nowhere That You Came From
Everyone Walks the Same Path
Why Unfolding Works
35—How to Hold the Space for Change
30 – The No Plan Plan

Return To The Simplicity Of The Uncarved Block

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The uncarved block is who we are at our core, the essence of our being. It is our pure self, our original state of being before it is shaped by various life processes. Returning to the simplicity of the uncarved block means returning to a wholeness that may currently be missing in our life. It is a place of referral we can access to guide our current experiences and choices.

The uncarved block is a symbol of our original state

“The essence of the Uncarved Block is that things in their original simplicity contain their own natural power, power that is easily spoiled and lost when that simplicity is changed,”  – Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh 

To begin to understand the concept of the uncarved block, it is helpufl to compare three translations of verse 15 in the Tao Te Ching. “Whole as an uncarved block of wood.” in the John H. McDonald translation, “Shapable as a block of wood” in the translation by Stephen Mitchell and “Simple, like uncarved blocks of wood” in the translation by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English. Let’s see what that means to us.

“Whole” as an uncarved block of wood

“Whole” was my first personal interpretation of an uncarved block. What are we like at the core? What is our essence? The uncarved block is the center of our being. What were we before we layered our lives with experience?

“Shapable” as a block of wood

A block of wood can become anything – a practical tool, a work of art, a framework for a building. Our life experience gradually shapes our original uncarved block of self. Our beliefs dictate the shape, our responses and choices become our carving tools,

“Simple” like uncarved blocks of wood

Our life choices have shaped our uncarved block. Our goal is to find a way to let go of the form we are now in and become whole and uncarved again. Coming from the place of our uncarved block, we enjoy the simple, the quiet, and the natural. When we come from the place of our uncarved block, we do things spontaneously and then release them. We allow our life to unfold and simply shape things as they come.

What if we learn to stop where we are in our lives, go back to the essence of our uncarved block, and use what we find there to consciously shape what we want to be in this moment in time?

We can let go of form and become whole and uncarved again. We can use our instincts to make a positive choice in each situation.  We can do it without the burden of experiences, which may or may not be applicable to the new one. We can consciously shape who we are in the present moment.

“Whole,” “Shapable” and “Simple” are all important concepts as we begin to make choices about living more fully from our own uncarved block.

What is at the heart of your uncarved block?

If we are to go back to pure innocence what is there? My first response was “my spiritual essence.” As I dwell on what that means I use the word “Tao.” I see it as the driving force behind all I do. It is the place I go in meditation. It is the Qi energy I feel moving through my body during Qi Gong practice. It is reached through the mantras I know. It flows through the crystals I hold, that cat I pet, and the moving leaves outside my window. It can be touched through song, or a phrase or something someone says to you. How do you experience your uncarved block? What is at the heart of your uncarved block?

What qualities of your uncarved block do you currently express in your life?

Your uncarved block is present in your life right now.   Some of it may be dusty, rusted over, or layered with beliefs and emotions. However, important essences of your uncarved block have been present and shining throughout your life. What are they? The positive shapes the elements of my uncarved block have taken in my life are enthusiasm, curiosity, love of learning, my writing and the ability to see the overview while developing ideas. Think about your core, your essence. What qualities of your uncarved block do you currently express in your life?

What would you like to pull forward from the simpliciy of your uncarved block right now?

The uncarved block is unlimited in its potential. Our reality becomes the shape we carve out for ourselves. Ideally, we learn to return to an awareness of our uncarved, un-touched, un-formed self and use the simplicity of that framework to fully experience our present life. If you went back to your origins, what would you like to pull forward from the simpliciy of your uncarved block?

What would you like the essence of the uncarved block help you become?

When we return to the simplicity of our uncarved block, we eliminate all the layers of fear, limiting beliefs, uncertainty, and whatever other layers we have added in our life.  What is there waiting for you? What purity of purpose can be pulled forward into your life? Your uncarved block expresses itself in your personality, your talents, and your choices. What would you like the essence of the uncarved block help you become?

What will you do to become more aware of the wholeness, shapability and simplicity of your uncarved block?

Simply becoming more aware that wholeness exists within you may be enough. Learning to make your choices from the simplicity it provides may add serenity to your life. Understanding that your choices shape your life and choosing to make those choices from that deep wisdom within your uncared block may lead you to greater self-awareness. Allow your deeper song to spring from your uncarved block.

Simplify to find wholeness

People simplify their lives so they can access the wholeness of their uncarved block. They question their perceptions, examine their thoughts, and monitor their actions and their speech. If you had a blank life to live, what would you allow into it? Learn to remain rooted in the wholeness and simplicity of your uncarved block. Chose only what nurtures you.

Your uncarved block

The uncarved block is empty of beliefs. It is present. It is free. It asks you to live in an innate, spontaneous reality. To access it, you learn to reside in the present and respond in the moment. You learn to know yourself well enough to modify some behavior that is not working and cultivate the aspects or yourself that bring you joy. You life will benefit from living in the simplicity of the uncarved block.

The Mudra That Made a Difference

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I have meditated off and on for over fifty years. Recently I found a hand position (mudra) that took me to a deep inner awareness in seconds. I realized that a mudra can make a huge difference in the results of your meditation.

What is a mudra?

A mudra is a spiritual gesture in the spiritual practice of Indian religions and traditions of Dharma and Taoism. You can see mudras in the hand positions of statues of Buddha and other eastern icons. In yoga, mudras are used in conjunction with yogic breathing exercise to stimulate different parts of the body involved with breathing and to affect the flow of prana in the body.   Mudras are used in meditation to deepen the connection.

I learned Transcendental Meditation over fifty years ago.  As I recall, there were no mudras involved, simply a mantra to be repeated while sitting in a chair. It is a powerful form of meditation. My husband and four children learned it with me. When I studied yoga in New York City, I began to learn a few mudras, often used in the balancing breathing positions that ended a class. I was once shown a very complex mudra by one of the Tibetian Monks who built a sand painting at the Museum of Natural History in New York City. I would go early to sit behind them when they meditated. It was very powerful. However, the mudra was complex and I forgot how to do it.

 Learn o feel the movement of energy

It takes some practice, but over time, you can become very sensitive to the flow of energy. My first experience was when I could feel the power of a crystal and interpret what chakra it addressed. When I became a Reiki Master Teacher I focused energy through my hands and my mind. I studied and subsequently taught  other subtle energy techniques. When I meditate, I am conscious of the flow of energy.

 Energy can heal

It took a year for me to learn T’ai Chi. That is complex and once I forgot one sequence I could not recapture it because there are many forms and I had moved away from my teacher. Next I learned Falun Gong  from practitioners in the San Francisco area and practiced it for ten years. Last year I began doing Zhan Zhaung (standing meditation) and Ba Duan Jin The Way of Energy: Mastering the Chinese Art of Internal Strength with Chi Kung Exercise (A Gaia Original) and am really amazed at the powerful flow of energy it creates and the healing and balancing it is doing on the physical plane. I can feel the chi energy moving in my Tan Tien, my meridians and my chakras. However, when I sat down to meditate after my Qi Gong practice my mind started thinking of things I wanted to write about that day. I could not sit for very long. I wanted to change that. I wanted to meditate longer and more serenely.

The first mudra change

Sometimes I held a crystal in my left hand while meditating . Other times the mudra I used was with my hands in my lap, palms up, one hand over the other with thumbs touching. I could never remember which hand was to go on top. It turns out that is a Buddhist mudra. One day Dr. Andrew Weill demonstrated his meditation mudra to Dr. Oz. He sat with his hands palms up on each leg with his thumbs holding his index finger. I tried that and immediately felt my meditation deepen.   That mudra is designed to balance the chi.

The second mudra change

I’ve been studying Taoism and I was reading some of the complimentary pages that were available to review online for a book called Taoist Yoga: Alchemy & Immortality by Charles Luk (Author) , Lu K’uan Yu (Author)  I saw a mudra instruction for meditation. I tried it and was immediate taken very deeply into mediation. My focus was behind my eyes in my third eye.  Everything else disappeared.  I loved it. My mind stilled and I went deeply into meditation.

According to Paul of Taoist Meditation: Mudras and meditation“ The classic Taoist mudra of covering one hand with another is actually a concealed system of versatile mudra, and it also holds the key to understanding what mudra is all about, for all chi-disciplines. With the fingers concealed, a practitioner is taught to focus on one or any combination of his fingers for chi generation and chi balancing. Unlike Tibetan Buddhism, the Taoist way does not have any fixed pattern. But how does a practitioner know what to do? The answer is that a practitioner is expected to feel chi himself and therefore is expected to be able to generate different chi by focusing on different fingers (or finger combinations) and will be expected to balance his chi accordingly, using his differently focused fingers”.

We are encouraged to experiment! The primary objective is to generate chi together with directing chi to move along the center line, most essential for cosmic circulations. To do this we must learn to feel the circulation of the chi and find the most powerful way to encourage its circulation.

The comparison

As I practiced my meditation, I tried both the side-open mudra of Dr. Weils and the center- closed mudra of Charles Luk. Although the open mudra embraced my third eye, for me, it was less concentrated, it felt wider and less focused. The closed mudra focused my third eye instantaneously.  I hadn’t known that a simple hand position could make such a difference. I am now able to enjoy the deepest meditation I’ve had in years thanks to finding a mudra that instaneously helps me quiet my mind.

“If a person is doing meditation without using his hands as management tools probably he is just sitting there doing nothing. What I’m saying is, doing hand positions should be the first physical act one should always attend to before use music or mantra to assist one to go into the meditative zone” Paul continues.

Experiment with mudras

If you are exploring meditation, you may want to explore mudras. Learn to be sensitive to the flow of chi energy. Notice how easily (or not) it is for you to move into meditation. Find the mudra that best suits you and let that be the mudra that makes a difference.