We will hold with the theme of Kabbalah and Healing and giving to ourselves unconditional self-acceptance. We will of course not meet next week on Thanksgiving.
Tonight was very rich. We talked about the season of moving into Winter and the longer nights and shorter days. For most of human history this was a time of rest and introspection. The harvest has been completed, our storehouses filled and we went into our "caves" as winter overcame our lives and rested, anticipating the coming of Spring, but taking advantage of the rest. Now we live in a time when electricity overcomes the dark, life is fast-paced and the commercialization of the holidays does not allow for a moments rest. In this time we are called to give ourselves unconditional self-acceptance for not following the manic lead of the world around us and for finding ways to rest.
We were also reminded of the difference between self-love (action/right pillar) and self-acceptance (state of being/central pillar) and were challenged to think about what we would experience on the left pillar. Possibilities were self-containment, self-understanding, and self-allowance. There was no consensus, but our thoughts were stirred.
The question was also raised of Yesod's role in a positive central pillar experience. We get used to thinking of Yesod from a negative perspective, as being a weight that pulls us down out of our Truth at Tiferet or denies our Truth in a display of false humility. We were reminded that Yesod is our center of imagination and dreamtime. The this is our persona and when we are accessing Tiferet, it is our Yesod that portrays that to the world. A companion is going through the process of writing a resume and cover letter for a job application and was challenged by a friend to be more truthful about her accomplishments and accolades from her peers and community. She identified her "weak" Yesod which was not accessing the truth about her accomplishments. We agreed that the truth is just that and does not imply arrogance or inflation when stated clearly.
We were also reminded of the psychological healing of facing the truth of our station in life. Death can come at any time. We do not need to fear it and in fact can have a real freedom and psychological stability when we acknowledge that the "darkness is rising" even in the basic process of aging, but that there is peace in true consciousness of the central pillar, where we have unconditional self-acceptance.
Remember, no meeting on Thanksgiving. There will be a meditation on Dec 3 and we will not meet the rest of December. After December 3 we will not meet until January 7.
Remember to think of your companions at 12noon daily.
November 19, 2009
November 12, 2009
Theme for Thursday, November 19, 2009
We will continue with the theme of Kabbalah and Healing holding our focus on giving ourselves unconditional self-acceptance.
Tonight we had some excellent conversation around the whole idea of self-acceptance. We all agreed that it is not an easy assignment. Thoughts of worthiness keep coming into the mind. Internal dialogs that say, once I do this, change this about myself, overcome this bad habit, then I will be able to give myself unconditional self-acceptance. We re-visited the difference between self-acceptance and self-love, acknowledging that the biggest difference is that self-love is an act from the right pillar, self-acceptance is a state of being on the central pillar.
It seems that going into a place of self-acceptance initiates a desire to be better; not out of a desire to be more worthy, but as if the state of self-acceptance isa magnet to be more true to oneself. It feels as if the ability to give self-acceptance is an expression of our divine self since part of the human condition is to place conditions on things and self-acceptance would require alot of conditions from a human perspective.
Another block to unconditional self-acceptance can be the need to overcome a sense of guilt. When we tried to place this idea on the Tree it was agreed that guilt can be placed anywhere (we may feel guilty for our instinctive drives, Netzah, or our bodies, Malkhut, etc), but that in most cases guilt will be centered around Yesod in that we are not living up to an image that is expected of us and that these expectations come primarily from the four side triads.
We also spoke generally of healing on the left pillar, specifically on the path between Gevurah and Hod where the Hanged Man from the Tarot is placed. This card brings with it the opportunity to see things from a different perspective. So that as we move from the place of Hod, where we get clear communication and process it is perhaps a new way, we create a cleaner, healthier container for ourselves at Gevurah which may allow for a "new perspective".
We also spoke of the need for self-acceptance when acting outside our confort zone in a way that we have previously felt to be negative. This was brought out in a discussion about facing animal energy with animal energy. The distinction being an animal person with access to one's Tiferet as opposed to someone consumed by their animal energy to the point of acting outside of one's truth.
Continue to practice giving yourself unconditional self-acceptance. Practice it every day. In fact, you could add it to your exercise of remembering your companions at 12noon every day. Of course you don't have to limit yourself to just that one time a day!
Tonight we had some excellent conversation around the whole idea of self-acceptance. We all agreed that it is not an easy assignment. Thoughts of worthiness keep coming into the mind. Internal dialogs that say, once I do this, change this about myself, overcome this bad habit, then I will be able to give myself unconditional self-acceptance. We re-visited the difference between self-acceptance and self-love, acknowledging that the biggest difference is that self-love is an act from the right pillar, self-acceptance is a state of being on the central pillar.
It seems that going into a place of self-acceptance initiates a desire to be better; not out of a desire to be more worthy, but as if the state of self-acceptance isa magnet to be more true to oneself. It feels as if the ability to give self-acceptance is an expression of our divine self since part of the human condition is to place conditions on things and self-acceptance would require alot of conditions from a human perspective.
Another block to unconditional self-acceptance can be the need to overcome a sense of guilt. When we tried to place this idea on the Tree it was agreed that guilt can be placed anywhere (we may feel guilty for our instinctive drives, Netzah, or our bodies, Malkhut, etc), but that in most cases guilt will be centered around Yesod in that we are not living up to an image that is expected of us and that these expectations come primarily from the four side triads.
We also spoke generally of healing on the left pillar, specifically on the path between Gevurah and Hod where the Hanged Man from the Tarot is placed. This card brings with it the opportunity to see things from a different perspective. So that as we move from the place of Hod, where we get clear communication and process it is perhaps a new way, we create a cleaner, healthier container for ourselves at Gevurah which may allow for a "new perspective".
We also spoke of the need for self-acceptance when acting outside our confort zone in a way that we have previously felt to be negative. This was brought out in a discussion about facing animal energy with animal energy. The distinction being an animal person with access to one's Tiferet as opposed to someone consumed by their animal energy to the point of acting outside of one's truth.
Continue to practice giving yourself unconditional self-acceptance. Practice it every day. In fact, you could add it to your exercise of remembering your companions at 12noon every day. Of course you don't have to limit yourself to just that one time a day!
November 05, 2009
Theme for November 12, 2009
We continue with the theme Kabbalah and Healing with a focus on giving ourselves unconditional self-acceptance.
Tonight Megan took us through the Pilgrim's Journey meditation. We were all invited to be Pilgrims on a journey to the holy city of Jerusalem. It was interesting to observe how we each experienced the different levels as we ascended up through Jacob's Ladder to the Holy of Holies in the temple of the heavenly city. Few of us wanted to return.
Continue to remember eachother at 12noon and to give yourself unconditional self-acceptance.
Tonight Megan took us through the Pilgrim's Journey meditation. We were all invited to be Pilgrims on a journey to the holy city of Jerusalem. It was interesting to observe how we each experienced the different levels as we ascended up through Jacob's Ladder to the Holy of Holies in the temple of the heavenly city. Few of us wanted to return.
Continue to remember eachother at 12noon and to give yourself unconditional self-acceptance.
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