Archive for May, 2013
Wild Cosmic Heart Retreat in Hawaii – 4 Spots Left!
Thursday, May 30th, 2013
Take a deep dive into your heart while enjoying time connecting and playing in Hawaii. The retreat includes exploring heart-centered practices and ceremonies, walks on the beach, meditations, chanting, sound healing, guided visualizations, gentle yoga classes, a bonfire overlooking the ocean, walking in a lava tube, Hawaiian excursions and cultural events and much more!
Spend a week exploring, listening, relaxing, connecting, playing, and laughing. The Second Annual Wild Cosmic Heart Retreat takes place at Kalani Oceanside on the Big Island November 3 – 9, 2013. There are four spots available for this amazing retreat.
Register with a deposit by June 10, 2013 and save $75. Payment plans accepted.
You Are Pure Joy. Have You Noticed?
Wednesday, May 29th, 2013
In the book, A Thousand Names for Joy, by Byron Katie she writes about how kind reality is as we inquire our thoughts and experience the awakened min in action. Katie writes:
As you begin to wake yourself up from your dreams of hell or purgatory, heaven dawns on you in a way that the imagination can’t comprehend. And then, as you to continue to question what you believe, you realize that heaven too, is just a beginning. There is something better than heaven. It’s the eternal, meaningless, infinitely creative mind. It can’t stop for time or space or even joy. It’s so brilliant that it will shake what’s left of you into the depths of all-consuming wonder. (Chapter 44)
Have You Noticed You?
As my meditation this morning reminded me, You Are Paradise. Heaven Is Within.
You Are Pure Joy.
What Does It Mean to Be Peace?
Tuesday, May 28th, 2013
How are you being peace in the world?
I recently launched a website, triZENbe (Zen Tribes). triZENbe is a global movement and community of people who want to bring (more) peace into their lives, into their homes, into their schools, into their communities, and into the World.
As I began to listen for my inner voice of peace, I became curious about when people experience peace. I had conversations with folks about what peace means to them.
What is your voice of peace? On the triZENbe website, there is a section called Zen Voices. I am looking to add ideas of what it means to be peace in the world. If you would be willing to add your voice to this page and share your thoughts about peace, please email me at maflanagan@toningtheom.com to listen for my inner voice of peace. I had conversations with folks about what peace means to them. I am curious about how and when people experience peace.
My hope is that by creating more peace within ourselves, we extend that to our “tribes” – whether our tribe is our family, friends, co-workers, community, and/or the world.
What does peace mean to you?
We are one thought away from peace. ~Mary Anne Flanagan
Let Us Remember
Monday, May 27th, 2013
One another
Those before us
One another
Our incredible freedoms
One another
Thank you to all who have given their life.
Mastering Our Breath
Friday, May 24th, 2013
As I sat with my teacher this week, she invited me to be mindful of my breathing. We took a few slow, gentle breaths in and out.
As my homework, my teacher has invited me to be mindful of my breathing throughout my day. I am to take conscious breaths.
My teacher said, “I want you to master your breathing. If you can master your breath, you can master anything.”
Want to join me in my daily practice of breathing with mindfulness throughout the day?
Breathe in. Breathe out. Let’s master our breathing – a breath at a time.
Metta View
Thursday, May 23rd, 2013
What if we observed our thoughts?
What if we observed our mind?
What if we observed our heart?
What if we observed ourself?
What is your Metta view?
Cape May Poem
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013
Sitting still
watching the waves roll in
Remembering the winged-ones
My first ruby crowned kinglet
Listening to the music
of purple martins in white houses
Allowing the wind
to carry me away in the woods
Noticing the light
dawn to dusk — a setting sun
Awakening to quiet
Resting into nothingness.
Mary Anne Flanagan
Without an Agenda
Monday, May 20th, 2013
As I walked along the meadows in Cape May last week, I followed a long dirt path and let all agendas go. I had an immediate guttural sense to walk without an agenda.
Later in the day, I opened my email that included a weekly message from Pema Chödrön. The message read:
“First, come into the present. Flash on what’s happening with you right now. Be fully aware of your body, its energetic quality. Be aware of your thoughts and emotions.
Next, feel your heart, literally placing your hand on your chest if you find that helpful. This is a way of accepting yourself just as you are in that moment, a way of saying, “This is my experience right now, and it’s okay.”
Then go into the next moment without any agenda.”
As I return back into my daily routine, I am taking this lesson with me — stay in the present and go into each moment without an agenda.
Open Up to Your Wild Cosmic Heart
Thursday, May 16th, 2013
Join us November 3 – 9, 2013 at Kalani Oceanside as we celebrate the Second Annual Wild Cosmic Heart Retreat in Hawaii!
True Refuge of the Heart
Wednesday, May 15th, 2013
“We can find our true refuge within our our hearts and minds —right here, right now, in the midst of our moment-to-moment lives. We find true refuge whenever we recognize the silent space of awareness behind our busy doing and striving. We find refuge whenever our hearts open with tenderness and love. We find refuge whenever we connect with the innate clarity and intelligence of our true nature.”
—Tara Brach, True Refuge: Finding Peace and Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart
What say you?
Where and how do you find your true refuge of the heart?