lazyyogi - Tumblr blog

[lazyyogi]

“I’ve been making a list of the things they don’t teach you at school. They don’t teach you how to love somebody. They don’t teach you how to be famous. They don’t teach you how to be rich or how to be poor. They don’t teach you how to walk away from someone you don’t love any longer. They don’t teach you how to know what’s going on in someone else’s mind. They don’t teach you what to say to someone who’s dying. They don’t teach you anything worth knowing.”

— Neil Gaiman

[lazyyogi]

The first thing to remember is this: As long as you make an identity for yourself out of the pain, you cannot become free of it. As long as part of your sense of self is invested in your emotional pain, you will unconsciously resist or sabotage every attempt that you make to heal that pain.

Why? Quite simply because you want to keep yourself intact, and the pain has become an essential part of you. This is an unconscious process, and the only way to overcome it is to make it conscious.

To suddenly see that you are or have been attached to your pain can be quite a shocking realization. The moment you realize this, you have broken the attachment.

The pain-body is an energy field, almost like an entity, that has become temporarily lodged in your inner space. It is life energy that has become trapped, energy that is no longer flowing.

Of course, the pain-body is there because of certain things that happened in the past. It is the living past in you, and if you identify with it, you identify with the past.

A victim identity is the belief that the past is more powerful than the present, which is the opposite of the truth. It is the belief that other people and what they did to you are responsible for who you are now, for your emotional pain or your inability to be your true self.

The truth is that the only power there is is contained within this moment: It is the power of your presence. Once you know that, you also realize that you are responsible for your inner space now — nobody else is — and that the past cannot prevail against the power of the Now.

Eckhart Tolle

[lazyyogi]

Your purpose is to see the world through your own holiness…You are holy because your mind is part of God’s.

Your holiness is the salvation of the world. It lets you teach the world that it is one with you, not by preaching to it, not by telling it anything, but merely by your quiet recognition that in your holiness are all things blessed along with you.

A Course in Miracles

[lazyyogi]

Maybe I’m misunderstanding what Babaji is saying, actually I’m sure I am. But doesn’t this imply that I’m only seeing a misogynist as a misogynist because I’m one?

You're contemplating this quote by Baba Ram Dass: "What you meet in another being is the projection of your own level of evolution."

What he is conveying is this:

The features by which we view and understand ourselves are the same features by which we view and understand other people.

We can use your misogynist example to elaborate.

If you understand your own existence through fixed identities and judgments particularly around gender, then that is how you will view other people. If someone says something or behaves in a way that is misogynistic, you will mentally label them as such. Then when you think of or interact with them, that identity will be superimposed within your perception on some level.

Now lets say you have some sense that all beings have buddha nature, that all beings are made of divine essence. Along with this, you also understand your mind-body as something arising from interdependent causes rather than some inherent quality. Now you will have a more nuanced understanding of other humans as well.

When you see someone who speaks or behaves misogynistically, you can recognize that this is toxic behavior. But then also a question arises: How does a being made from divine essence fall into a harmful state of mind such as misogyny?

Your contemplation reveals that it is due to that person's ignorance of their own divine essence and their simultaneous reliance on gender for both identification and understanding that misogyny becomes possible.

In this way, you can discern a toxic and harmful mental state/behavior in a person even as you recognize the light of divinity within them.

So this is where Ram Dass is drawing our attention.

If you are seeking to realize divinity within yourself, but cannot see it in other humans then you still have work to do. And if you can discover divinity within yourself as well as others, it doesn't mean you lose all ability to discern ignorance and its causes.

You will find during the course of your spiritual practice that as your realizations regarding your own existence deepen, it will alter the way you understand and love other beings--human or otherwise. Similarly, deepening your love of other beings can help to deepen your understanding of your own existence. Both of these perspectives are integrated into spiritual techniques of various traditions.

Hope this helped! Much love, brother.

LY

[lazyyogi]

What you meet in another being is the projection of your own level of evolution.

Ram Dass

[lazyyogi]

The secret to adulting is this:

Learn how to reduce your resistance against the things you know you have to do.

You don’t have to like it or enjoy it. You just need to stop avoiding, delaying, or ignoring what you know to be in your best interest.

With repeated experience of the benefits, you will learn a new kind of appreciation for the practice we call “adulting.”

[lazyyogi]

Hi! Just reaching out to say I’m so glad you’re still on this platform 💗 your content always makes me feel comforted and hopeful. You seem to be more wise than most. Thank you for being you

What a wonderful message to receive on my birthday 😇

Thank you so much, my friend.

May you be blessed and enjoy a beautiful weekend.

Much love.

LY

[lazyyogi]

I've noticed recently in online meditation communities there is a rise of people sharing experiences about getting into deep meditation and interacting with other dimensional beings. It's left me feeling a bit freaked out.

What is your take on the concept of energetic entities or spirits?

Meditation practice itself does not necessarily lead to such experiences and if it does, it is just a phase of practice. During meditation practice, in the process of mental purification, all imprints of the mind are brought to the surface of our attention.

In deeper stages of meditation, the mind's imagination becomes much more concentrated. When this happens, the experiences from our imprints can feel significantly more real, almost like a lucid dream.

This may include experiences of other beings, be they humans or deities or spirits. It is important not to get distracted or fascinated by such occurrences.

Typically for beginners, their minds are so scattered and restless that they may just see fleeting images. But as the mind acquires greater concentration and focus, the power of the imagination also increases.

The actual technique of meditation doesn't change, however. Whether it is restless thoughts, intense imaginations, or experiences of spirit beings, all experiential phenomena are handled in the same way. Don't analyze it, don't react to it, just remain focused and composed.

The reality, the truth that we are attempting to realize is beyond all imaginations. Meditation practice continues, therefore, until all imagination has finally become totally silenced, which is called Samadhi.

I have had experiences of other beings, although not during meditation. Spirits, deities, and the like. Sometimes experiencing the presence of a deceased enlightened yogi can cause us to spontaneously go into a meditative state.

Are such experiences real?

Technically nothing is real other than the reality that is beyond all concepts and imaginations.

Yet we may still have experiences of spirit beings that feel just as real as our experiences with other humans.

If these experiences occur during our meditation practices, we should regard them as part of the illusion and simply persist in our practice of the meditation technique.

If these experiences occur outside of our meditation practices, we may accept whatever blessings or inspirations come with such encounters.

No need to fear or to get carried away with it. Having a guru can be helpful as they tend to ground us and calm us from freaking out when our practices get more intense.

Much love!

LY

[lazyyogi]

Yesterday I drove 2 hours to experience the solar eclipse totality.

As the moon slowly drifted across the sun, red and warm colors became more muted while blues and greens more vivid. I was struck by how incredibly bright the sun was even when 95% of its light was obscured by the moon.

Then came the magical moment of totality. We watched through our eclipse glasses as the tiny sliver of sun completely vanished behind the moon. The day’s warm temperatures suddenly dropped. Birds started singing forlorn bedtime melodies.

We took off our eclipse glasses and looked upon the totality in utter astonishment.

In a way like never before, the moon appeared as a truly 3 dimensional object floating in the sky. Planets became visible (that’s Venus in my picture). And we saw Baily’s Beads, delicate drops of golden sunlight at the edges of the moon.

I have not seen a single picture or video that adequately captures the eldritch splendor of eclipse totality.

The chills, the emotions and giddiness, it was a moment I will never forget for the rest of my life.

It was well worth the nearly 5 hour drive back.

An irreplaceable entrance to my birthday week ❤️🌙

[lazyyogi]

“Let him.”

Helpful tips for Monday’s event!

[lazyyogi]

$10 Divinations!

For today only, Sunday April 7th EST, I will be offering 2 card Lenormand readings. I will respond today to all orders placed today.

Lenormand is a curious divination deck, about which you may read more by clicking the above link.

In contrast to the arcane complexity of the Tarot, Lenormand responds to queries in a more concrete and tangible manner. I find that while the Tarot is helpful for contemplation and perspective, Lenormand is helpful for actionable advice or plain insight.

Therefore, you must specify a question. I am not offering general readings.

If you would like a reading, please send payment through Paypal to the address thelazylazyyogi@gmail.com.

In the section marked “Purpose,” specify your question. If there is no option to specify your question, please message me here on Tumblr or send an email to ben(at)thelazyyogi.com with your question.

I will then respond to the email address you use in Paypal unless otherwise specified. You will receive a picture of the cards I drew for you and a paragraph or two with my interpretation. I am also happy to answer any questions you might have about the reading.

Much love and happy Sunday!

LY

[lazyyogi]

The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.

Pema Chodron

[lazyyogi]

If you’re ever looking for an aesthetically pleasing and fun docuseries to casually throw on at some point, I highly recommend Midnight in Asia on Netflix. Such interesting discoveries and vignettes of nightlife in very different countries.

Each episode is a vibe.

[lazyyogi]

Hey Lazy! I was wondering if you'd ever heard of Bankei? He was a Zen practitioner in Japan in the 1600s. He taught the "Lazy Way" of "the Unborn." Which is interesting, since he was a Rinzai, not Soto practitioner, Rinzai being the more hardcore abuse you, hit you, do anything to get the student to have an enlightenment experience school. He sounds like your (and my) kinda guy!

Ha! I have not heard of him but I shall look into it.

Thanks so much for sharing. I always love getting connected to new teachers/practitioners of past and present.

LY

[lazyyogi]

“Let him.”

Helpful tips for Monday’s event!

[lazyyogi]

Do not expect change from those who do not seek it.

[lazyyogi]

The secret to adulting is this:

Learn how to reduce your resistance against the things you know you have to do.

You don’t have to like it or enjoy it. You just need to stop avoiding, delaying, or ignoring what you know to be in your best interest.

With repeated experience of the benefits, you will learn a new kind of appreciation for the practice we call “adulting.”