Published by Sangha Live on September 26th, 2022
It’s an unusually busy workday, a week before the release of a new book which has spent a long time in creative incubation. In the mirror of deadlines and an overwhelming inbox, I observe a dance between the constriction and softening of my perception lens.
My book is about meeting the unknown, the mystery, the darkness, with an open heart… in order to see clearly. I’ve spent a long time compassionately investigating the human tendency to avoid discomfort and the unknown through labelling, assessing, and trying to understand life, rather than seeing life as it is.
I have observed within myself the following:
The urge to judge an emotion as bad/unwanted/inferior… rather than welcoming it with curiosity.
The attempt to push away shadow, rather than turn towards it as a sacred messenger.
The desire to reach binary conclusion in a discussion… rather than nurture the nuanced exploration and fluidity of heart-based inquiry.
I’ve even witnessed the mind’s attempt to know a tree in the wilderness through labelling/categorizing… rather than sensing and listening.
Our ability to see clearly with the heart is restored naturally as we release our fixation with the rational mind or the lamp of knowledge and surrender to elemental darkness. Darkness is the domain of receptivity. Seeing with the heart refers not solely to the organ of the heart, though it’s an extraordinary organ of relational intelligence. I am speaking of the heart of our beings, the sacred integration of body-heart-mind accessed through meditation.
Awareness sees beyond this versus that or me versus you. Awareness sees for the sake of seeing…free of goal/attainment. Awareness sees from spaciousness and inclusivity… with room for complexity, multi-dimensionality, compassion, and emergence.
More about my book, “Luminous Darkness,” including discount code valid through October 27, 2022.
