Hi All, Thought I’d share my experience with this exercise. First of all, I want to mention that I am never comfortable with looking at myself in the mirror… I am much too self-critical. LOL! So I was surprised at some of what I experienced.
I began by getting into a relaxed state by sitting in my backyard and enjoying the nature that is there. The plant life, the beautiful energy from the purple henbit flowers in bloom, and the soothing energy from the yellow forsythia bush flowers in bloom. The fresh spring green grass, the trees budding out, the robins hopping about, and the beauty of my miniture peach tree covered in pink blooms, the birds singing. My little dog happily chewing on a stick he found under the tree. My big dog prancing around the yard, smiling. And my two cats basking in the sunshine.
After feeling very relaxed, I went inside, got my large hand mirror from the bathroom, sat on my comfortable couch, and began to stare into my own eyes in the mirror. At first, I felt a little embarassed staring into my own eyes this way. But to my huge surprise, after a minute or so, I began to feel COMFORTABLE with myself, RELAXED with myself. My breathing became deeper and more relaxed. I felt very peaceful and good. I was amazed at how relaxed I was feeling with myself. (Maybe it was my divine self that I was sensing??)
I then stated to myself that I am willing to be more confident, and that I am willing to live in faith, and then I asked God to help me be willing to surrender to His will.
As I declared these statements, I felt like I was actually making an important commitment to myself, like a promise to myself. And I deeply felt that I do not want to disapoint myself (let myself down) by not keeping these commitments to be willing to be more confident, live in faith and surrender to God’s will.
I was surprised by this because normally I do not bother to make promises to myself, (like New Year’s resolutions, etc) because I don’t feel commited to keeping them.
Most of all, I was surprised how relaxed, comfortable, and peaceful/happy I felt with looking into my eyes. I never expected that.
Thank you for sharing your experience with the exercise in Lesson 18, Mary. You can repeat this as often as you like and see what happens. It is possible to go beyond what the eyes ordinarily see--which is actually dominated by what the mind tells us we are seeing--which gets in the way of REAL SEEING. Real Seeing has nothing to do with false seeing.
ReplyDeleteReal seeing means the curtain of the mind is not clouding your vision with false images. You experience the essence of what you are seeing.
When you see behind the false, you see that deep within you is a place of confidence, faith, and relaxation. It already exists. We do not have to create it; only to see it.
So this exercise is about getting out of the way and seeing what is already there.
Good work, Mary. And thanks for sharing the beauty of springtime in your yard.
Indira, I appreciate your comments so much. The part about "deep within you is a place of confidence, faith, and relaxation. It already exists, we do not have to create it; only see it."
ReplyDeleteI've read that "all you need is within you" many times, but I have never understood that. I still have always felt that what I need is outside me somewhere.
But I feel like the exercise has helped me to actually "experience" that place within me that is confident, relaxed and peaceful. At least a glimpse of it.
And I went back and was reading lesson 16 - The Courage to be You, and something in there had new meaning for me. It said:
"The spiritual path is a process of turing inward, instead of outward".
Even tho I feel I have been on a spiritual path for years, I have still continued to turn outward... looking for things outside myself.
I need to try this exercise again, so I can practice turning inward.
Also, I have a question.... When I spend time in nature, I feel peaceful inside. I've always thought that looking at the plants and trees and animals brought me peace inside... because I am feeling their divine energy, their joy at just "being" a flower or tree, etc. But in truth, is it that they just help me to find that place within myself that is already peaceful? Or is it a combination of both?
Thank you Indira.
In answer to your question, Mary….when we are in nature, we have an opportunity to experience, not only the essence of the plants, waters, and trees, but also of the nature spirits who lovingly watch over nature.
ReplyDeleteBeing in nature can take us closer to the peace within. When we are in nature, when all boundaries drop, we can just be, in unity with everything that IS. No separation. No comparison. No longing. Just Being.
The simplest way to be peaceful is to hang out with peace. We do this by "hanging out" with the angels in our school, reading our lessons, and communicating with each other.
We can also do this by "hanging out" in nature. There we connect with the essence of nature, as well as the nature spirits. As the hard shell of beliefs we have collected about ourselves falls away, we can relax into the peacefulness of nature and experience the peace that is our true nature.
Dear Indira,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your beautiful answer... it helps me to understand better, and your answer is another lesson in itself.
I will be reading this over and over many times, and enjoying the truth and beauty that it contains. I feel I am starting to believe that peace actually IS within us already, and IS our true nature. I have "heard" that for years, but now I am finally starting to believe it in my heart too. Baby steps for now... but as the 12 steps say... it is spiritual PROGRESS not PERFECTION that I seek. And this IS progress for me. :-)