Turn Practicalities Into a Meditation

Don't despair! When lost in the ignorance & confusion of your body, feelings or emotions, there is a simple step to take that allows you to connect to joy.

Tony Samara, world-renowned spiritual teacher & author of 16 books, has been sharing deep spiritual work & energy transmission for the evolution of consciousness for over 25 years. Combining meditation, detoxing the body, a plant-based diet & a simple lifestyle, he is best known for how his work touches more deeply than words.

Transcript

You you and today we continue with understanding how karma yoga can be a joyful experience karma yoga meaning the action of spiritual work in the everyday mundane world how can we bring that sense of joy and that sense of celebration into the practicalities that are necessary and important in everyday situations here in the school the everyday situations are practicalities that have been turned into meditation so the practicalities become an extension of the meditation that is not just done for a little while but that becomes more of a habit so how to create such habits so that they become more permanently anchored in our experience and one way is to be discerning I like the word discerning because it doesn't mean that you are judging or utilizing your past social belief systems to create an understanding of the situation but rather you are removing that which is ignorant that the knowledge or the wisdom that is not real,

The false that is occupying the space and allowing for the truth to be more present into the situation whatever the situation may be that you are creating in the work that you do,

The karma yoga so discernment is very important and very often in the new age and more alternative spaces where spiritual practice is highlighted as important but not really taken very deeply in the sense that it is not seen from that depth discernment is seen as a negative but for me discernment is very important it is part of the work to make sure that you let go of whatever it is that creates negative belief systems and we don't know this until we can sort the situation that is in the mind or that is in the emotions that creates a lot of confusion ignorance doesn't allow for freedom,

Doesn't allow for enlightenment so whatever is creating that sense of ignorance needs to be seen for what it is you don't need to fall into it,

You don't need to get caught by its energy or its intensity you just need to see what it is,

That it is creating the sense of negativity what is it creating in your mind,

What is it creating in your body,

What is it creating in your emotions you don't need to analyse or intellectualise the problems that you have that just creates more of the same there is no need to get caught into the situation,

Meditation is about being detached discernment is coming from a space of detachment discernment is coming from a space of detachment,

This means that you have to be strong you mustn't allow the mind to carry on in the way that it does judgement is totally different from discernment judging yourself just means that you put yourself into a box I'm not good enough,

I'm not this,

I am that or whatever it is judgement that you have creates a picture,

A belief system and usually it's a repetition,

It's a karmic situation that repeats itself or it is a social habit that you've learnt or adopted your mind and your way to believe that that is the only truth,

Judgement only creates more of the same discernment is not only a sense of detachment from the situation you can't ignore what is going on,

What is creating pain and suffering some people say,

Oh yeah,

You just have to believe in something oh,

I'm healthy,

I'm fine,

I'm not sick and there is the disease hidden in your bones,

In your cells,

Eating away at your health oh no,

I believe that it's not there,

It's just a joke you can't fool yourself into believing something or pretending to be something the work,

The spiritual work requires that you see,

That you open your eyes to what is there you know,

If you are sick,

Yes,

I'm sick and by acknowledging that you are unwell,

That there is an imbalance okay,

You see it and you can let go of the energy that's creating that imbalance without seeing,

There is ignorance some people say ignorance is bliss,

For me,

Ignorance is the reason why we live in a world that is full of suffering it is the reason why you,

The depth of you is lost in the confusion because you are ignorant to the realities that need to be seen the realities that some psychologists call the unconscious,

Your depth that only comes up to the surface once in a while and then quickly is pushed aside because you don't want to rock the boat you don't want to create more suffering because life is hard life is difficult,

I don't want to feel more,

Think more negative so I just pretend and believe that everything is okay if you do this for too long,

You know the consequences of such actions ignorance creates more suffering,

Believing in something that is not real because the energy deep inside is different,

Doesn't change anything in the end,

It is a superficial spiritual practice deep spiritual practice requires courage,

Requires strength,

Requires that you feel and you see what is going on and then discern what is not necessary,

What has no value discerning means you let go of certain things if you feel you are a victim,

If you feel that you are silly,

If you feel you are this or that,

That is creating a negative discernment means to see that that is there and to trust that by letting it go and bringing your focus back to reality,

Not to the belief system,

Back to reality that is a space of stillness inside of yourself,

That is a space that is detached from the pictures that is so beyond words,

So beyond thinking,

So beyond anything that it requires that you drop everything,

That is discernment,

Drop everything that allows for your mind to believe in something that is not that sense of greatness light that is deep within yourself,

That comes from the depth rather than from the superficial pictures that the mind likes to control and run around analysing and playing with forever as we do with these wonderful toys that are experiences that then become boring that then become useless,

That then don't fulfill anything except for creating more situations that require that you go down that road of ignorance where bliss is just an idea bliss is a reality that you just don't believe in at all,

You don't have to you don't have to believe in anything,

The work is as Kabir says and it's very simple,

He who is discerning knows by the word and the ignorance stand gasping you don't want to be standing and gasping at what looks,

The illusions,

What looks like something amazing something wonderful,

You know the ideas that the mind creates as the wonderful reason why you need to do this or do that that is how society has constantly controlled the ignorant masses by promises,

By games,

By toys that don't have an intrinsic value and throwing them around and hoping that the reality that you are caught up in the illusions that you are caught up in create this momentum where you keep following this superficial aspect of yourself rather than go deeper,

Rather than in a detached way see what is going on and let go of those toys,

Of those games those situations that the mind knows have no value,

Hence what Kabir says he who is discerning knows by the word,

What is the word?

The word is the sound of truth the sound that is deep deep inside of what is known as the Atma,

You know the soul of your whole being I call this the heart,

The word is the heart that speaks the language of love and when you hear the message from that space,

When you feel the message from that space when love becomes manifested in a way that the mind and emotions can comprehend through language,

Through the communication that happens internally inside of yourself when the unconscious speaks from the space of freedom,

When your actions are spontaneous when the space that you create around you is that of love,

Then you understand that all the rest is a waste of time your anger,

Your negativity,

Because you are not attached to it and because you see it in that discernment where the word makes deep sense to your experience then you let it go,

You don't have to let it go even,

It lets go of itself how wonderful,

It lets go of itself,

This means that simply the state of awareness allows for this transformation simply letting go of whatever is creating ignorance makes awareness more profound,

More real,

More concrete,

More present into this moment so that you can feel what is going on,

So that you can sense what is going on,

So that your heart knows what is going on you come back to this moment,

You are not caught in the illusion of tomorrow or in the next few minutes or in the next day you are here in this present moment,

And that is awareness,

When you are here in this present moment all the ideas of the past,

All the ideas of the future are just ideas,

They may have some value,

But they are just ideas and if you see the value of the ideas,

Then they bring love into this present moment if they have no value,

If they are just a game,

Then because you are not attached to anything but that sense of love,

The space where communication flows where harmony is present,

Then they are just there,

You watch them like you watch a movie they are interesting,

They create a whole world for themselves,

But you are not in that world,

You are present in the reality of this moment how wonderful to know that spirituality is as simple as that,

The practice is more complex,

Yes,

The practice is more complex we would love to be in this moment,

We would love to have our heart anchored in the experience of freedom but you are human,

So often that experience changes,

You get caught in something,

Then that game takes you to another game and another game,

What to do,

Don't despair,

Understand that that is the maya,

That is the illusion that the mind is creating but it is the mind,

It's not reality,

So if you are detached from that game,

Even when it happens,

The energy is not put into such discernment is pulling yourself away from anger,

Pulling yourself away from being disturbed by negative aspects of emotions putting yourself away from being disturbed by what brings the sense of chaos to the mind and coming back,

Anchoring your experience in this moment,

The breath,

The space here,

The body,

The body,

Not just the body that is reflected in your thoughts or your emotions,

But the physical body that is here,

That is grounded in the experience of being,

How wonderful when you do that then the karmic wheel keeps turning around,

Your mind perhaps plays these interesting games,

But you are in a space of discernment meaning that you don't put your energy into that space,

You have the freedom to choose where you put your energy you have the freedom only if there is awareness,

Hence karma yoga is an exercise,

A beautiful exercise of awareness awareness into all aspects of your everyday mundane situations,

It is vital,

Meditation happens hopefully for you,

Happens in the morning and in the evening hopefully half an hour,

At least half an hour daily,

That is the space where there is no distraction from the mundane but then it needs to go deeper,

It needs to go to all aspects of your life,

Meditation then is an action that happens in all that you are doing and it is more complex because there are more factors that you are dealing with,

But you have learnt in the half an hour when you sit and you are tranquil and your mind is more peaceful but that space is a reality,

So you just have to remind yourself to come back to that space by being in a space of discernment where whatever it is that is distracting you is seen for what it is,

So that the awareness comes back into your actions so that you are conscious in the way that you speak to people,

The way that you feel the situations,

The way that you relate to people and situations around you whatever they may be,

From work to children,

Family,

Friends,

Strangers,

So that there is a consciousness in what you are doing and through that expansion of consciousness,

Awareness then replicates its own structure in everything so not only do you free yourself from the illusions of life,

You transform them because the replication not only is a space of detachment,

Through that detachment you replicate the possibility of creating that sense of freedom in everything inside of yourself and outside so that replication sometimes takes a little while but that happens a peaceful mind is a peaceful world and the world becomes peaceful because your mind is peaceful and that state of stillness,

That state of freedom is what you need to do it's the reason you are here to understand how to come back home to that space and then the world changes I hope that you remember this in your actions today in the next few weeks how to bring this beautiful knowledge into your everyday practice and to remember that if it doesn't work out,

You are human to come back to the space of stillness,

Don't judge yourself,

Don't create another illusion I have failed on the spiritual part because I am unable to follow these simple teachings of creating peace within myself you know that is another game that the mind plays,

Just trust,

Love the space of awareness to expand through its own replication rather than you controlling and hoping that it will move or needs to move at a certain pace and that awareness needs to be here now in every way just trust that awareness,

The process of creating the space of freedom is in itself beautiful trust that journey and don't look for the outer,

What's the word,

References to show you if what you are doing is right or what you are doing is wrong just trust the process,

Let go of whatever it is,

Even the judgement of the process itself let go of whatever it is that keeps you away from that spontaneous joyous space of freedom that happens only by letting go of everything that in itself is a criticism of the potential within yourself thank you you you you you you you

Reviews

this found me on a day I was journaling regarding things THIS applies to. I will revisit often.Thank yoU!

Ignorance is the only thing which makes u to understand what all is about and letting go of all the criticism

Very helpful to me in this moment, this time, and on this world. Thank you! Much love.