Sunday Contemplation # 32 There Is No Fear In The Inner Eye

Moving Forward In A World Of Fear

Image by Sydney Michalski. Sydney writes the Nature Moments newsletter here on Substack. Her work is stunning…I hope you will take a moment to also check out her website.

• This Week’s Quote

• This Sunday’s Contemplation

• A Guided Meditation

• Grateful For

• This Week’s Community Chat

• Upcoming Activities

This Week’s Quote

If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is ‘Thank you,’ it will be enough.

Meister Eckhart - German mystic lived 1260-1328 AD

Good Morning Friends:

Here is a blessing for you from John O’Donohue, the wonderful Irish poet -

May the nourishment of the earth be yours, may the clarity of light be yours, may the fluency of the ocean be yours, may the protection of the ancestors be yours.

Last weekend I listened to David Whyte speak live here in Australia. It was a blessing, and he spoke beautifully of the tradition of wishing a blessing to others. So I wish that for you.

I also want to thank Yolanda Valdés writing here on Substack for the title of this week’s contemplation. It is from a beautiful poem she wrote.

So to our topic for your consideration this week.

This Sunday’s Contemplation

There Is No Fear In The Inner Eye - Moving Forward In A World Of Fear

The name of my substack site is Living Your Wisdom. I chose that title in the hope that I could explore with you how to connect the deepest inner wisdom that resides in each and every one of us, to the day to day existence we are gifted on this suffering, magnificent, paradoxical planet.

I find it challenging sometimes, because like you, I want to escape this world, turn by back. Enough already!

But I cannot. Why? My children, my grandchildren, my friends, those I love … you. The world is changed by the lives we live. We are called from deep within to live a life that will leave the world with some more love, some more peace.

So I return today to consider with you how we might resource ourselves to live in this time of such challenge, of such fear and uncertainty.

I won’t list the things to fear here. The news is full of the triggers for fear, and we each have our list.

But here is my list of the things I consider, contemplate, meditate on and hold close in, to resource myself to act in the world. Yolanda’s poem did for me what the best of simplicity does. It reminded me, it reminded me.

• Fear is a natural evolutionary response, built into our amygdala to be alert for the dangers to our survival. Being aware of potential danger is natural and important. The animal part of us will react with either fight, flight or freeze. Yet…we are primarily awareness, not primarily animal. Awareness gives us the power to choose past the instinct. Love and kindness are the responses of awareness. These responses recognise danger yet choose to respond differently than prompted by the amygdala. Don’t judge your initial response to things dangerous or perceived as dangerous. That response is natural. Be still and allow the response of awareness to arise. Choose that response.

• Facing the fear of death becomes a step we would be wise to make. It is a step only awareness can make. Our body and mind are designed to fear death and pursue survival. That is their nature. Our awareness alone transcends that.

• The history of the human race is filled with suffering and danger. It would appear likely that this will remain true for a significant period of time. There is a simple courage in waking up each day and deciding to do what you can to make the world better. There are ways to do that if we reach past the despair and fear to see them.

• We are made up of stillness and movement. We move in the world. We need stillness to discover the inner resources to enrich and guide how we move. That is not escaping, that is resourcing. Every day calls us to be both still, and to move.

• We are Awareness. Like The One from which we and all things arise, our ground of existence is our deepest experience. “I am” is my experience. It is more fundamental than our mind, body and the time and space senses we are gifted to function in this world. Our mind and body are precious, yet fleeting. Our presence and awareness are beyond the fleeting. Be still. Use your inner eye, set aside the fleeting for just a moment and “see” the place of no fear, no time, no space, no separation. I call that God, feel free to use whatever term works for you. Once you choose the label I will meet you there in the No Name place.

• We need each other. We need to support each other in choosing love and kindness, in choosing peace. Those who are currently choosing division, derision and violence, need us to stand together to show them a different way. History will say that there is a strong chance those blinded by derision will not be able to look past their blindness. But our children will. Our grandchildren will. History will.

• The value of your kindness and love is not measured by the apparent impact or the grandness of the gesture. The value is in the origin of your action, the heart of your movement. It is value mined from the infinite resources of our Awareness. That light will shine, through and beyond the dark.

Everything I just said, I know you know. I needed to remind myself today, and I hope this reminder was helpful for you too.

Thank you for reading this. See you next week I hope.

I wish you peace. I wish you love.

A Guided Meditation

I have received quite a bit of feedback that a guided meditation connected to the topic of these contemplations has been appreciated. When appropriate I will provide one each week. I missed last week. This week I will publish the one I promised, called The Two Hands Of Awakening.

Grateful For

I include this section because I found that when I read or hear about what others are grateful for, I tend to think more about what I am grateful for. Feel free to share what you are grateful for in the comments. I think it is a beautiful service to others.

Yesterday my wife and I went to pick up a second-hand bookshelf and a fish tank, we purchased from a gentleman who is downsizing for his retirement. We loaded it onto our ute ( “ute” is Australian for a “pick-up”for you Americans 🙂) and got to talking about life. It was a joy. We were about to go and he said…”would you do me a favour? Would you take these other things off my hands, I can’t find anyone to buy them”. So on the ute we loaded, two ladders, five or six garden tools, two sawhorses and some outside spotlights. He would not take any money for them and kept thanking us for “doing him the favour”. I was so touched by his simple kindness and the skill with which he made us feel what a service we were doing him. Humans eh!

This Week’s Community Chat

The theme in the chat this week is:

What helps you the most to live your life in love and kindness?

How do you face your fears?

or…as always…feel free to share anything that is in your heart to share.

Thank you.

Upcoming Activities

No announcements this week. Stay tuned…we are planning stuff.

Should you want to message me directly, please feel free to do so.