Aloha,
I'm Rev.
Cindy Palos and today I'm going to talk about a subject that I think is very important considering the changes that have been going on in the world.
And it's something I learned when I was doing Zen practice when I got my precepts and I took them in 1986.
But I've been doing meditation since I've been,
Well,
14 years old.
And it's something you learn in meditation as well.
When you learn to sit in meditation and in the silence long enough,
Things will come up and they may not be things we always love or like.
It may be things inside us that we actually do not want to face.
But those are the things we need most to face.
And I think there's a parallel going on in the world right now.
We do not like what's going on with COVID-19.
We do not like having to stay inside.
We do not like the rules.
We don't like what we're hearing on TV and in the news and on the radio.
And we don't like seeing all these deaths and all the sadness and what's coming from this.
And a lot of us are trying to escape in many ways.
But we really need to sit with it and accept it.
And acceptance is a very,
Very,
Very deep,
Deep practice.
And it takes a lot of courage.
It takes a lot of fortitude.
And it takes a lot of faith in a way too.
Because you have to be able to know that it's okay to not know.
There's so much going on right now that we have to accept that we don't have answers for.
And we like to control our environment.
We like to control our lives and we want answers.
However,
We're not getting really good answers,
Are we?
So I thought I'd talk a little bit about acceptance and do a meditation on acceptance today.
And I really believe that the more light,
And that's the energy field,
The highest energy field of acceptance that is brought into your awareness and being,
The more you can really deal with what's going on and who you are and also what we all encounter in life.
And part of us doesn't want to accept things.
But the reality is the struggle right now when you can't change things,
You have to accept them.
And you have to accept who you are.
And when we start to accept the whole energy field of this world and light and what is the maya,
The drama,
The dreams that we're encountering and the lessons we come from them,
Then we learn from what we learn to accept.
And then we also can apply that to other people and begin to accept them and whatever faults they may have.
We learn that they have to be accepted as well.
If we can't change them,
And very rarely can we change someone else,
I really change them,
We can guide them,
But they have to choose to change themselves.
And when we decide we can't really change them,
We have to accept them.
This is really valuable for people in family situations and situations in their life they can't change.
So what does it take to understand and accept you and your whole self and learn how to make the best of life's lessons?
When we encounter these challenging circumstances,
Unlike any other we've experienced in our lifetime,
We have to begin to learn and see and accept how this will help us to grow.
And we are getting some amazing examples of that right now.
Of people who are,
I'm going to relate to musicians because I have many,
Many friends who are musicians,
And I see them not bringing in any money.
There's no events going on and there's no performances they can do.
But look at what they've been able to do,
Doing free events online,
Free concerts online.
I mean,
Let's talk just about some of the beautiful things that have happened in the last month or two.
Of course I saw that beautiful performance by Andrea Bocelli on Easter.
He sang there in Milan at the Domo.
What a beautiful concert we were able to all experience that lifted our spirits,
That actually brought us to that understanding of the grace that he brought through when he sang Amazing Grace.
I don't know if you had a chance to see it,
But it's very worthwhile finding it.
It's on YouTube and Amazon.
At some point in our meditation and in our daily meditation work,
We're going to have to learn to encounter parts of ourself that we really don't care for.
And some of those parts are things we've kept hidden for a long,
Long,
Long time.
And maybe we've been hiding it more by drinking or eating or covering it up in many ways.
When we're broken down the way we have been with our defenses,
Then you finally have to let go and accept yourself and find that through acceptance you can allow the hidden side of yourself to emerge.
And then once you do,
You can deal with it.
You can learn to be okay with that hidden part of yourself.
You can even learn to love and forgive and understand that part of yourself.
You may find things you wish to change and then once you see it,
You can begin to take steps to take action to do that.
And you can make the changes with patience and compassion and understanding and that powerful gift of the light of love.
When you're on this long,
Long,
Long,
Long,
Long path that you're on,
You begin to build a foundation that allows you to be able to do this.
If you sit every morning in meditation,
If you take time,
Maybe at night and review what's going on,
If you take a spiritual retreat,
Many people are using this time that we've had with COVID-19 to do a retreat and you'll find that these retreats will not have a lot of distractions unless you choose to have them there.
And you'll begin to see into yourself in ways you may not have ever seen before.
Acceptance will emerge and you observe yourself from that place of the soul,
The objective observer,
Which can be used to watch and see what you're doing from a higher perspective.
And you begin to release the blocks you may have held in place to let the whole self,
All of who you are,
Everything,
Every part of you emerge.
You may have been functioning with just the higher self ignoring the body and the emotions and the soul need to be allowed to work together as a whole.
You need to be complete.
And as this happens,
You gain great compassion that can be used to relate with kindness to others on the path.
People really will be so appreciative to you for being accepting,
For not judging.
And when you accept others,
It helps them then to accept themselves.
And they'll get the sense that you see them for who they really are.
The great teachers and masters,
Buddha,
Christ,
Krishna,
Had the ability to see that soul,
The real true self and others.
I wrote this poem,
Even when you see me not,
I am with you.
Even the prompting of the wind,
I hear your call.
I connect you to the soul.
I will not let you fall.
For you are in the net of eternity,
With the cosmic force to light your way home.
And this home will hold you and accept you and lift you.
Even the light of your name is known.
For you are made from the fabric of the cosmos and the universe.
You are part of that fiber that enlightens the world.
With the power of the soul to bring forth the way to know how to be visible and yet unseen,
Heard and yet unheard.
Accepting the unknown,
Living and dying in the same breath as you journey onwards to your home.
You are the light and love.
You are the guide and the student.
You are the way and the life.
As you live in the belief of the great love of the plan,
So shall it be.
And then you will understand your fellow humans.
I'm reminded of a Zen story which I've always been fascinated with.
It's the Zen Tiger and Strawberry story and it goes like this.
A man was walking across a field when he saw a tiger.
Fearing for his life,
The man fled but the tiger gave chase.
The man reached the edge of a cliff and just as he thought the tiger would get him,
He spotted a vine growing over the edge of the cliff.
Moving onto it,
He swung himself over the edge to safety.
The tiger came to the edge and snarled at him from above.
While precariously perched like this,
The man saw another tiger growling at him from below.
Trembling,
He held on to the thin vine that was keeping him from being dinner for the tigers.
What could be worse than this,
He wondered.
Just then two mice scampered out and began gnawing at the vine he was hanging onto.
As they chewed and chewed,
The man pondered over his fate.
He saw a juicy red strawberry on a ledge next to him.
Grasping the vine with one hand,
He plucked the strawberry with the other.
Ah,
How sweet it tasted.
So in this time of fear and COVID-19,
We could make that the tiger,
Or tigers,
Or the mice.
The thing is that in this moment,
That strawberry,
If you're right there,
In this moment that strawberry is so good.
And the tigers,
Well they can be death.
And virtually we're going to at one time or another face those tigers.
But the strawberry is everything also in existence.
So we can ponder that one.
That's part of the beauty of Zen.
Everyone can have their own interpretation of what was going on while he was hanging there on that vine and tasted the strawberry.
We'll go into a meditation and maybe take a look at what happens.
That strawberry in this very moment.
Accept yourself,
Beloveds.
My friends,
Let's take a moment to go within.
And let's get comfortable and breathe deep,
Breathing into the count of three.
Holding for a couple seconds and breathing out to the count of three.
Breathing in acceptance.
Holding your breath.
Breathing out total understanding into all parts of your mind and your body and your soul.
Breathing in the light,
Holding it and breathing out and letting go of any tension,
Anything that you've been holding.
Just let go,
Let go,
Let go.
Breathing in deeply and going deeper and deeper into that silence within.
And sit here in total,
Total acceptance.
Allow all of yourself to emerge.
Relax your mind.
Relax your neck,
Your body,
Your emotions.
Be still and know who you really are.
Connect with all of who you are.
Connect with your soul.
And from the point of your objective observer,
See from a higher perspective,
Is there anything you are covering up that you need to let go?
Is there anything in you that you need to let emerge and accept?
Is there any anger?
Is there any frustration?
Is there any fear?
Breathe in that power to go to that place where you may be feeling something you wish to release,
Going deeper and deeper into any place that may be held.
Breathe it in.
See how it feels.
Let yourself be there with it,
100% okay.
Bathe yourself in the great gift of acceptance,
Compassion,
Understanding,
And allow that self to merge with the entire energy of the universe,
The cosmic fiber from which you are part.
Breathe that energy in and realize you are okay.
It is okay to be here now and to accept yourself and to allow yourself to feel anything you need to feel and then to give it unconditional love,
Unconditional acceptance.
Breathe that in.
Breathe it out and allow all of yourself to feel good.
To feel okay and know that you are okay right now and that all is well.
Allow yourself to feel that energy of acceptance.
Stay here in that place in the light of acceptance right now.
If anything comes up that needs to be recognized,
Allow it to come up.
See it,
Embrace it.
Remember you are okay.
And slowly breathe out and release anything,
Remembering any thoughts that you might want to write down,
Any ideas and plan of action to accept some part of you that you've seen that you'd like to work on.
You can choose to be in control of yourself by working on yourself when you see something inside that you've been holding back.
Now you can understand it and work with it and love it and release it and let it go.
I thank you so much for listening.
I thank you so much for diving deep into who you are.
And this is a practice that takes a long,
Long time,
So do not be afraid to go into this day after day after day and work with accepting life,
Accepting yourself and accepting others for who you are and who they are because in truth,
In spirit,
You are all part of this one energy.
Blessings and love to each and every one of you always.
