Contemplation could be considered as a ‘peeling away’ of ‘encrusted layers’ of thoughts, attitudes, behaviour, etc, that have built up in our lives. It’s a ‘freeing up’ of our normal patterns of being in order to go deeper within ourselves, to become truer to ourselves so that we can return to ourselves.
Contemplation
Contemplation, in its fullest embrace, takes us beyond the rigid confines of our often prejudiced, knowledge based mind set into a much deeper experience, a broader realm of presence that softly and quietly opens us up to another world.
Contemplation
We cannot actively seek out contemplation as if it is on standby, 24/7, just waiting for us to discover it. But what we can do is lay down the conditions in our lives under which it can flourish and these are, simply put, the three S’s: solitude, silence and stillness. Then, if we are patient enough, a contemplative mood will eventually descend within us, filling us up with its unquestioning acceptance of the NOW moment.
Healing….
The moment we accept healing into our lives, the moment we surrender to its power of transformation is the moment we start to feel better on the road to improving our health.
Healing
When we experience long-term, persistent pain that refuses to be categorized, diagnosed as an ‘official’ illness we must drop our tendency to continually pathologize it – wrapping it up in a ‘clinical’ content that we think we can understand and deal with. Instead we should just open up ( in a non-judgemental, allowful manner) to its mystery – to what is happening in our bodies, and then rest. Suspend any thoughts about ‘fixing’ or ‘healing’ and just allow yourself to be mindfully present, fully alive to the mystery of it all. Then, in this surrender, this allowfulness we might just see some progress.
Healing
Life can be unjust and unfair, too many people can attest to this but we just have to work with the material we have been given, in the best way we can, hoping that we will eventually step back on the road to recovery. We must never forget that in the darkest hours we can still meet our salvation.
Healing
When there is an uprising of negative emotion and you feel weakened and despondent remember that your ‘visitor’ is awaiting a response from you. It’s asking to be acknowledged and recognized, given validation and provided we respond with an open, compassionate forgiving heart then we will alleviate much suffering.
Healing
Healing can only come to the mind of openness, receptivity and full acceptance. ‘Pulling the shutters down,’ closing off real possible, favourable, healthy outcomes -that could come our way – is not an option. We have within each of us a transformative, regenerative energy and we do need to participate with this. We do need to embrace its ‘magic’ if we are to improve our health – if we are to heal.
