Theme for January 7, 2010

The theme continues to be Kabbalah and Healing with a focus on being in a state of unconditional self-acceptance.

Tonight we were led through guided meditation in which we were encouraged to return to scenes from pre-adolescence, high school, early adulthood and the present in which we had done something worthy of praise and reward, in which nothing special was happening and then in which we had done something that warranted and received some form of punishment or reprimand. In all scenes we were invited to envision receiving unconditional acceptance; in the younger scenarios from people in places of authority; parents or teachers, in the older scenes from ourselves.

The exercise was to find the unconditional quality of the acceptance, whether from another or from ourselves. Whether we had done something that would "earn" acceptance, nothing at all, or something that would normally result in punishment, we tried to imagine receiving the same unconditional acceptance. Some had trouble even imagining the unconditional acceptance coming from parents. Another realized that she has carried with her the conditional quality of her parents' acceptance of her in the inner voice that finds how she might do almost everything a little better.

We were reminded that unconditional acceptance is simply of state of being, that is constant, but does not imply a state of inertia or inactivity, as if there's no need to do any "better" since we can't "deserve" it. We looked at the metaphor of trees that loose their leaves. They are in a constant cycle, but are always in a state of unconditional acceptance, we appreciate them in every stage. Or the metaphor of the evergreen tree which doesn't reach a place of complacancy in which it just stops growing and stays the same. They continue to grow throughout their existence, becoming more and more of who they are, expressing their "Truth" more and more.

We are continuing with the exercise of unconditional self-acceptance, but we opened the door at the end of this evening to the idea of how we are unconditionally accepting of others, as well. Something to consider.

Remember to remember each other at 12noon every day.

Happy Holidays everyone. We'll see you in the New Year.