Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Tag: ~ Pema Chödrön

  • Consecrate This

    Compassion becomes real
    when we recognize
    our shared humanity.

    ~ Pema Chödrön

    Posted on Facebook by a Reunion Living Ministry colleague:

    “To bless whatever there is, and for no other reason but simply because it is, that is what we are made for as human beings.”

    ~ David Steindal-Rast

    I bless the heat and the fact that I can experience it. What do you bless today?

    I commented on her post: I bless a clean toilet tank and bowl.

    Yesterday afternoon some workers broke a water riser three houses from us.The park notified all residents that we would be without water for a few hours. Shortly after the water was back on VERY rusty water came pouring in! If you do not see the photos, you can click on the title of this post to read it on the website.

    The water in the toilet bowl began to clear some after MANY flushings, but the inside of the toilet tanks were very stained this morning:

    To see that coming out of our water lines was pretty shocking. The young man who manages our park day-to-day assured us it was rust from the loss of and then re-establishment of the water pressure in the lines. He even came over late last evening. We sent him home with our appreciation and some of John’s garden bounty: Sugar Rush cherry tomatoes.

    Today my thoughts and prayers are with those who lost loved ones and have been devastated by the fires on Maui. John and I had one of our best ever breakfast-out experiences in the historic town of Lahaina when we stayed on Maui and we fully understand things are not over just because it stops making the news. Friends and neighbors in Florida are still navigating the devastation of Hurricane Ian, now almost eleven months ago.

    A friend just brought her elderly father home following a hip-replacement. Thankfully they are receiving support from hospice, but even with that support there is a lot to navigate.

    Another friend leaves her home here in Michigan and goes to Wisconsin for weeks at a time in support of her 100-years-plus father’s staying in his own home.

    Many of you are aware of Barbara Brodsky’s caring for her husband, Hal, in their home in spite of his being paralyzed on one side and having aphasia post-stroke. Plus Barbara is deaf, and she just spent months non-weight bearing due to infection in the bone on her toe. She is recovering well and grateful to be able to shower and now to swim!

    People navigate many challenges every day, day-to-day.

    Readers know about our precious Jackson. He has been seizure free since the first week of November, however, he is not yet talking and things like potty training that would be expected about this age (he will be three in December) is out of the question at this time. They will be evaluating him related to his possibly being on the autism spectrum, and we hope for benefit of more early intervention services and therapy. This is not the parenting experience our granddaughter dreamed of.

    When something happens many prayers and thoughts come flooding forth, but, then life goes on and we may not always remember that life goes on….

      Daily Reflection from Deep Spring

      There are places in this universe where there is terrible pain, darkness, misunderstanding, which lead to hatred, greed, and fear. What you do on this simple planet Earth as you raise the vibration here has the ability to move the expression of Divinity, Buddha Nature, Christ Consciousness—whatever you want to call it—out into the universe. It raises its vibration. It makes it more powerful. This is the core of the work you’re doing. It is not just for you, to wake up or to live your life more comfortably. I’m delighted to see you living your lives more comfortably, but that’s not the end result. And if that were the end result in your mind, can you see how it would limit you? But when you immediately consecrate this goodness, this opening heart, this clarity, “I consecrate this. I offer it to all beings everywhere, in all the universes, that all beings truly may have an end to suffering,” that heightens it for yourself and it makes it available everywhere. No insight, no movement of the open heart is ever lost.

    The opening words from Pema Chödrön say it all: our humanity is shared. Recognizing this makes compassion real.

    Whatever we go through, we consecrate this….

    Amen.

  • Already a Butterfly

    In The Wisdom of No Escape: And the Path of Loving-kindness, Pema Chödrön qutoes Joseph Campbell, writing, “It has been said, quite accurately that the psychotic drowns in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight.” One might wonder what it is that the mystic sees/hears/knows/experiences which leads to the more pleasant conclusion.

    Last evening I was Zoom host for The Eden Project when Barbara Brodsky logged on saying Aaron was requesting the use of breakout rooms. I have hosted a lot of Zoom classes for/with Barbara and Aaron, but I have no experience setting up the breakout rooms. I reached out via text to my virtual buddy and I asked out loud of another friend whom Barbara said has a lot of experience with Zoom — neither of them had any experience with the breakout rooms.

    The intention to use the breakout rooms remained steady in our hearts and minds. I selected the “allow participants to choose” option. Not successful yet. One of the participants sent a link to a tutorial video, but knew I could not switch to that easily enough to learn while hosting the group. Another participant with some experience was willing to help, so I quickly made him co-host and together (with lots and lots of cooperation and co-creation) the breakout rooms were enjoyed!

    I was unable to join the small group because I was the Zoom host. I did not want to leave Barbara without support.  Awareness came instantly that spirit had given me the experience prior to the group meeting when I accidentally dropped my Osho Zen Tarot deck, and three cards spilled out.

    The first card is 20 Beyond Illusion:
    don’t look outside for what’s inside

    The second card is 5 of Clouds Comparison:
    all is needed and everything fits together

    The third card is Ace of Water Going with the Flow:
    everything is happening exactly as it should

    Just as the spilled card spread began with the butterfly, so did Aaron’s talk!

    When you are a caterpillar, you are already a butterfly and yet it has not manifested….

    You live in a world in which you have the power to change things!

    Where would you like to be in your awareness one month from now?

    How do we awaken the imaginal cells and begin to imagine a world/family/individual in which there is peace? What does it look like, feel like, taste like, smell like?

    You cannot think your way in, but you can sing your way, dance your way, or draw your way in.

    Begin with asking: “What conditions are necessary for a world of peace — a world without hatred?”

    I received a text message:

    M: Good afternoon, Miss Debra. If you are not too busy, could you pendle some thing for me? My question is ready.

    D: No….There is a bit of a jokester energy present. Does that make sense?

    M: A medication was prescribed for one of our guys. It’s pretty heavy duty. I am so not sure whether to start the script.

    D: Do you have it with you?

    M: I actually haven’t picked it up yet. Probably I’ll go in a little while. Muscle test?

    D: Yes! Muscle test. Do you have the script or can you imagine holding it up to your heart?

    M: Nothing tangible.

    D: Let’s do it with intention.

    M: When you asked me if I could imagine holding it up to my heart, I heard that it’s not for me. LOL.

    D: Direct your intention. And thank them for clarifying for us. LOL.

    M: Yes. LOL. I got “maybe.”

    D: Similar here. I actually asked if it would be beneficial, and I heard “maybe.” I asked if it could be harmful, and I heard “maybe.”

    M: Yes, that’s how it comes to me.

    D: What I am immediately aware of is that we are so oriented to the “right or wrong” instead of realizing that Spirit can work with anything and everything.

    M: Ahhhhh….

    D: You could not take it out of fear and you are adding fear to your little guy. You could take it out of fear and you are adding fear to your little guy. You could take it out of love and be adding love. You could not take it out of love and be adding love. Make sense?

    M: Yes, and then what is my next best step. Maybe sit with it some more.

    D: When you find your center of peace, you will act from that. Make that your best step. I am certainly navigating this as well — with all of the medication John is on.

    M: Yes, I can feel that. I certainly appreciate your sharing your journey.

    Opening the Daily Word this morning, essentially the same message comes through in Colossians 3:14: Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

    This is called equanimity in Buddhism: Mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation. As in,”She accepted both the pleasant and the unpleasant with equanimity.”

    Perhaps our true mystic nature is awakening from it’s caterpillar stage. After all, you are already a butterfly….
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    P.S. Permission to share this from one of the Zoom attendees:

    I had an extraordinary experience in our little group. I turned three times and this painting just unfolded in 15 minutes!

    Thought of your writings today. Once I’d finished the painting, I looked outside and the trees and the leaves everywhere looked even more vibrant. Wow! It felt like, as we as humans become more awake, all of the flora, fauna, trees etc will flourish!!!

  • Mindful Gap

    Joy to forgive
    and joy to be forgiven
    hang level in the balances of love.

    ~ Richard Garnett

    Last evening after our Zoom dominoes game ended, Linda asked us when we are planning to head south. One of the realities of the pandemic: It is difficult to plan.

    The one thing we have put into place is a reservation at a hotel in Smyrna for Saturday night. It feels undeniably awkward to not be pulling into 1500 Clayton Court and having Baxter come running out to meet us, followed closely by Thor and Butter and Stacey and Doug.

    Also undeniable is the lump in my throat and the tears running down my face.

    For some reason, this move is triggering an avalanche of sadness and missing and fear of the unknown that staying safe at home since April has held back.

    On the surface, it would be easy to blame our son-in-love, Doug, for the emotions. Doug has expressed his unwillingness to wear a mask in his own home over the four-day weekend. Since Stacey let us know that mind has been spinning, churning up the hurt.

    Listening this morning to a talk by Pema Chödrön on the “Mindful Gap” allowed space for the wisdom mind to look at the neurotic mind, and now I am feeling what I am feeling: I don’t know what will allow me to feel safe visiting the kids.

    You see, it is not just that I am afraid of John or me getting the virus from them. I am afraid of having them give the virus to one or the other of us and then them having to live with that.

    Shantideva, an 8th-century CE Indian philosopher, Buddhist monk, poet and scholar cautioned against letting the mind be wild with impatience, gossip, attachment to things going your way. “When the urge arises…. do not act, be silent, do not speak, and like a log of wood, be sure to stay.”

    So this morning, I am staying with the truth of the painful feelings that things are not going to go my way.

    Suffering is transcended
    by total surrender.
    ~ Shantideva

    Meeting with our Grief Journey group yesterday brought home this universal suffering of arguing with what is, and the universal necessity of surrender.

    One mother lost her adult son in August of 2020.

    One wife lost her husband in January of 2020.

    One wife lost her husband 15 years ago… In 2020 she is still navigating life as it is. As we all are.

    This quotation by Hermann Broch, shared by a 70-something woman who lost her mom at age 5, points wisdom mind to the truth: No one’s death comes to pass without making some impression, and those close to the deceased inherit part of the liberated soul and become richer in their humanness.

    In our collective humanness, we are not just navigating the loss of persons. In the year 2020, we are collectively navigating the loss of the way things were, and the loss of the insistence things go our way.

    Weather permitting, perhaps we could gather a picnic and meet at a park. (Right now the forecast says 50% chance of rain.)

    Perhaps we could get take out from our favorite Thai restaurant and meet at their church fellowship hall.

    Neale Donald Walsch says, So, don’t try to “figure it out.” Stop it. Just focus on what you now wish to create. Keep moving forward. There’s nothing behind you that can possibly serve you better than your highest thoughts about tomorrow.

    In whatever ways it unfolds, all thoughts today about tomorrow deserve to be our highest.

    That is a mindful gap….


  • 21st Century Mystic

    Sacred Stories

    They were on FaceTime, sharing their reentry to the “real” world after having been on retreat for a week. The conversation turned to the awkwardness that can arise when using intuition in our everyday work life, especially in fields that do not embrace this path.

    One mentioned having heard author Alan Seale say, “In the 21st century we will all become mystics or we will be nothing at all.” She went on to mention how spiritual practice historically had been cloistered, where those called to service were likely living within religious community that understood such a calling. On Becoming a 21st Century Mystic: Pathways to Intuitive Living, was written in 1997. Very different from today!

    A few minutes after their conversation ended, the other friend sent a text message with a photo of a paragraph written by the Buddhist nun, Pema Chödrön:


    Along with the quotation was her comment, “I guess women have always had to figure out how to be busy mystics when cloistering was not available for them. Thought this part of my reading was a synchronicity with what we had discussed.”

    From the back cover of On Becoming a 21st Century Mystic:

    Intuition, in its highest form, is nothing less than the voice of God within you. It is one of God’s greatest gifts. Journey deep into your heart. Uncover your innate intuitive gifts. Discover vast realities beyond your outer senses. Experience the oneness of your rational and intuitive minds. A breakthrough book – a clear and practical guide for spiritual and intuitive living in the 21st century.

  • Let it Shine!

    We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.

    ~ Pema Chödrön

    This week’s Oakwood Retreat has been very intense. Staying at home for retreat has some benefits. You don’t have the expense of lodging or travel time, and you get to sleep in your own bed. Like all of life, though, everything holds its opposite.

    The morning instruction on working skillfully with distortion and heavy emotions was soooooo relevant…

    I have had one of the decidedly most unskillful weeks I have had for decades. When you are sitting in meditation for 6-8 hours, day after day, stuff will come up. The catalyst for my stuff was the (hopefully) last of the work to complete home repair related to the mold remediation. But vital to realize the catalyst (whatever the catalyst) is not the distortion. The distortion is how we relate to the what is triggering us.

    On one walk, I saw two crickets. On another, about a half dozen earth worms. Twice I had a red-bellied woodpecker hanging right on my window! Every day that shrub is filled with the comings and goings of sparrows. But one morning I heard a disturbance, opened my eyes and saw that a hawk was actually in the middle of the shrub. I had six Blue Jays at the feeder one morning, and this morning I had four big crows.

    Cricket totem: A sign of good luck in many cultures, cricket symbolizes initiative and intelligence, and having the gift of foresight.

    Earthworm totem: Working old ground; examining the past and its effects upon present conditions; including exploring past lives.

    Sparrow totem: Integrity, empowerment, persistence, hard work, peace and wisdom. Guides us to learn to work hard with all.

    Woodpecker totem: The power of rhythm. Discrimination. Connected to the heartbeat of Mother Earth herself. Symbolizes the stimulation and awakening of new mental faculties. New ways to look at things — new wisdom and new rhythms to dance to.

    Hawk totem: Represents focus, strength, and poise, and can show you your hidden abilities to lead yourself and others to a more positive outcome.

    Blue Jay totem: Symbolized by assertiveness, determination, and above all, intelligence.

    Crow totem: Watchful creatures with sharp and powerful foresight. An omen of transformation and change.

    When you go on retreat, you practice noble silence. This does not just mean not talking. You are excused from any of the normal social politeness. No small talk, no anticipating others needs, no distracting yourself with discursive thought. You see clearly the weeds in your own garden. So I wrote a poem.

      When Weeds Grow: A Haiku

      Every place where weeds grow
      Oxygen is shared with you
      Breathe in and feel TRUTH

      Challenges abound
      And LOVE is always around
      We have so much help

      What do you see as
      Weeds grow there in your garden?
      Breathe…. They are pure gift

    During the final sitting, my mind went back to some trauma I experienced while traveling to Europe in 2011 — this exact same week! Mind was churning trying to remember the details. What was the name of the country where I had gone to the exotic gardens? Thinking, grasping, trying to remember until I let my mind soften, like taking a step back, and simply intended access to the information. Pop! Monaco….

    This is not a new lesson for me. I remember leaving the house a bit late with my earrings in my hand. Pulling up to the stop sign, the left earring slipped in but I could not find the hole in my right ear. The next stop sign, I tried again. Again without success. At the third stop sign I asked for help. Pop! The earring went right in and I heard a voice say, “We would have helped at the first stop sign if you had asked.”

    I have wired lamps, lifted heavy objects, remembered things, found things, and received guidance regularly for a very long time. Our teacher, Aaron, was speaking of how the mundane mind can be very helpful to orchestrate some tasks. One student asked Aaron if he uses Barbara Brodsky’s mundane mind for working with the technology. Aaron replied, “No, I just invite the computer to co-create with me.”

    The current conditions are chaotic. We need all the co-creation with spirit we can access. As Aaron said, “How can I save anyone if I can’t save myself?”

    This week I saw a quotation by Thich Nhat Hanh: “The next Buddha may be a sangha.”

    It definitely took a sangha to offer this wonderful week of focused dharma practice. Sharing a few notes from my journal:

    You have come as midwives. You can be the midwife who is there in the room being calm or the one running around the room saying, “It isn’t coming quickly enough!”

    Be with things as they are. Not stoically, but lovingly. Liberation means walking on the unstable ground and finding your own balance.

    Allow the practice to ground us in the innate perfection without denial of the conditions.

    Say, “I consecrate this effort to the good of all beings.”

    Each time you are able to offer kindness in a difficult condition, it changes the world around you.

    One day when we sang “This Little Light of Mine” the teacher said it is really a great big light, so I wrote new words to the tune:

    This GREAT Big Light of Mine
    (sing it to the tune of This Little Light of Mine)

    This GREAT BIG light of mine
    I’m gonna let it shine
    This GREAT BIG light of mine
    This light is divine
    This GREAT BIG light of mine
    Isn’t even really mine
    Let it shine, let it shine, let it

    Let it shine around your town
    We can let it shine
    We have help, we’re not alone
    Please just let it shine
    Let it shine when fear appears
    We can let it shine
    Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine