Spirituality

Comment

Comment by Darcy Neibaur on June 22, 2011 at 8:50pm

Thank you Kris for sharing and for the reminder that we always have something to be grateful for. You call it understand and I call it awareness.

Comment by Las Vegas Massage In Summerlin on June 22, 2011 at 6:03pm

“Should you find something on your dinner plate that doesn't appeal to you, don't complain. There are people who don't have anything on their plate.

Should you find yourself stuck in traffic, don't despair. There are people in this world for which driving is an unheard of privilege.

Should you despair over a relationship gone bad, think of the person who has never known what it's like to love and be loved in return.

Should you grieve the passing of another weekend, think of the woman in dire straits, working twelve hours a day, seven days a week to feed her children.

Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance, think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk

Think...you may find yourself grateful.”

 

I often hear people express a desire for deeper understanding. Why is it that some people seem to have understanding, and some don't seem to have so much? It might seem unfair. But you know, in daily life, we have a kind of proving ground for realization. Or we could say, a proving ground for the responsibility of realization.

 

This is similar in the case that some people do the work, and some don't.  The Work and Love: the most wonderful things to have in your life. And yet, at times there are things that are challenging or difficult in our work. At least, as I observe it is with me and my work as a massage therapist.    

 

There are often massage therapists who seem to think that things are just not going the way they would like. Therefore they are not grateful for the work and end up losing the opportunity. They don't see it as a privilege. They are so used to there being plenty to go around. It has no rare quality for them. And so they throw it away unthinkingly.

 

There are many things that go with maintaining our daily existence. And there are opportunities for each one of us. And often these opportunities are just out there and someone will pluck one and take it as their own, and own it, and do it. This is something that is an opportunity for you to be grateful for. But the down side of this situation that we all find ourselves in is when we are not grateful for it, and don't see that it is a privilege, a privilege to have this opportunity. Then it is taken from us, and we don't get more.

 

These daily opportunities are just proving grounds. This is nothing yet.

 

So if we cannot handle the heat in regular everyday living, if we cannot be grateful and live our life for the privilege that it is, then we will never be given any deep level of realization, because the responsibility is a thousand fold.

 

You know, it might seem like, "Oh boy I would like to have bliss consciousness, this spirituality, some kind of rapturous realization that I could carry around with me all the time". But it's not like that at all. I mean it is a tremendous responsibility. Every little iota, and speaking from my own experience, every little iota that is given, it is made clear that there is a responsibility that goes with it. And if you don't see it as a privilege in the deepest part of your heart and are grateful for it and honor it, then indeed it will be taken from you, sooner or later. And you certainly won't be given any more. You won't be moving on, at least not until that issue is relived and appreciated for what it was.

 

So, if you find yourself in your life, not moving ahead in financial, physical and emotional realization, then of course the same thing has to be true on a deeper, more spiritual level.

 

We must constantly remind ourselves, because it makes us grateful. It reminds ME that this is a privilege. And when we are acting with appropriate etiquette in our daily lives, in other words not letting our limited, animal nature run things, when we are acting with maturity, then we are demonstrating to the Infinite our level of responsibility, and our recognition and appreciation of this privilege we are given.

 

Of course we all make mistakes. We all fall down. We all forget things. We all forget to be grateful. It happens to me all the time. But, constantly remembering this appreciation, this gratefulness, bringing this back to our consciousness over and over again during the day, then it doesn't matter that we make mistakes.  We will then recover quickly and seamlessly. 

 

I fall down once, I get up again. I mean the way I progress is by making a mistake and learning from that, so of course that is not the end of things. Making a mistake means that I forgot to see this as a privilege. I forgot that I had been given a gift. Whatever I am engaged in that is a gift to me to be grateful for, and for me to honor, no matter how difficult. And if I do, then I will see things that I could never have seen in any other way. And I cannot tell others about them, actually. Why?  Because the only way YOU can see them is to get through that fire of difficulty to the other side. And it is that struggle that produces the substance, or character trait that we know of as maturity.

 

Kris

 

Comment by Nancy Toner Weinberger on June 13, 2011 at 4:33pm

It is my understanding that spirituality and religion are different because spirituality is an inherent part of every human being and religion is set of rules one embraces in an attempt to live out convictions  held about their inherent spirituality. Rules can change based on possible changes in our understanding, our relationship with our spirituality, but that inherent awareness that we are more than our physical body is deeper than beliefs.

 

My sense of this could be described this way. Our non-physical Self is beyond time and space, which are constructs of our physical existence. Our body allows us to experience time and space, and that attention to detail could be described as focus. To be aware of all time and all space at once limits experience as much as being aware of all possibilities limits experience. Two sides of the same coin. Like a fractal, if we are aware of a single touch to our arm, in our physical body we are able to fully experience that touch, because we are able to focus on that sensual experience and allow it to reverberate throughout our entire being. In our non-physical Self that touch is buried within the onslaught of so many simultaneous experiences and possibilities that it is invisible. The focus of attention that comes with being physical is a gift, a gift of intensity of feeling.  

 

When we receive bodywork, to the degree we can relax into the sensations, we can become more and more open to the experience of life. Our body can become more of the vehicle that allows details of experience and less of a prison keeping us from the direct experience of our life. Our direct experience of who we are through receiving bodywork opens us to our connection to our spirituality. The bodyworker does not need to “do” anything to bring this about. Simply spending the time with non-demanding touch allows the connection to emerge more and more. This is why some clients come every week and also why some clients never return.

 

Pain is a prison because we shut down feeling. Pleasure invites freedom.  When we help our clients relieve pain and tension, we contribute to their aliveness, and aliveness is spiritual. So whether or not we bring discussions of spirituality into our sessions with clients, we are involved with spirituality in what we do.

 

Sort of the Cliff Notes version, sorry for that.

Comment by Las Vegas Massage In Summerlin on June 13, 2011 at 10:44am

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This may be a bit off-track, yet seems relevant to me.

 

The quest for spirituality is about the quest, not spirituality.

 

Here’s a bit from one of my favorite authors, Jed McKenna.  It’s in regards to enlightenment, yet I’m sure you can understand his point if you look at yourself closely. 

 

Listen!

 

Here's all you need to know to become enlightened:

 

Sit down, shut up, and ask yourself what's true until you know.

 

That's it.  That's the whole deal - a complete teaching of enlightenment, a complete practice.  If you ever have any questions or problems - no matter what the question or problem is - the answer is always exactly the same:

 

Sit down, shut up, and ask yourself what's true until you know.   In other words, go jump off a cliff.

 

Don't go near the cliff and contemplate jumping off.  Don't read a book about jumping off.  Don't study the art and science of jumping off.  Don't join a support group for jumping off.  Don't write poems about jumping off.  Don't suck up to someone else who jumped off.

 

Just jump.

 

Ring any bells in regards to spirituality or your massage business?

 

Kris

Comment by Las Vegas Massage In Summerlin on June 13, 2011 at 10:43am

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Well said, Julie.

Comment by frankboadu on June 11, 2011 at 11:09am

I have stopped joining the group.

Comment by Darcy Neibaur on June 11, 2011 at 5:29am

Such Great Sharing here. I am so enjoying reading it all.

Comment by Las Vegas Massage In Summerlin on June 10, 2011 at 2:56pm

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Jena:  "...but I believe it must be included in our work if we are to be of any benefit to our clients."

 

Kris:  I don't "believe" that we do, and I don't "believe" that it must be included to have a purpose.  There is a big difference between the word "belief" and the word "faith." 

 

When I believe something to be so, then I tend to see everything as if it backs up that belief, and distrust or reject anything that clearly doesn't support that belief.  In other words, belief is narrowing down, or limiting, of that which can be experienced "as it is." 

 

Can you see how this occurs in those protesting the perceived removal of spirituality in massage or Eastern philosophy?  Everything they see either supports or is against their beliefs.  It's the same with those steeped in Western medicine. 

 

Whereas if I have faith, there doesn't need to be any object of that faith.  Faith is an opening, an acceptance, and it provides an ability to be with whatever arises in confidence.  So belief is quite limiting and therefore somewhat dangerous, while faith is freeing.

 

So, the important question:  "How will this help me in my practice to know this?"  What is my practice?  My practice is to be completely present in this moment and to experience whatever arises fully.  And that's it. 

 

There is nothing more, because everything else is imagined or constructed.   We have sensation, we have emotion, and we have thought.  All three of these arise, often simultaneously, and we invariably take them to be fact, while actually, they are only the movement of energy.  If we look, we can notice that there is an awareness that is aware of all these movements, but is not a part of them, and is not effected directly by them.  This awareness we tend to call "I", but when we fall into this awareness, we find no "thing" there that could be identified as an "I" or a "person" or a "body".  It is the direct experience of this causeless awareness experiencing itself that is the purpose of my practice.

 

So, I suppose I can say that I believe and have faith in being present in this moment and experience whatever arises fully.  My purpose is the focus of my attention at this moment.

 

Every single tradition ever invented carries the truth within it.  The trick is not to get caught up in that which is not the truth within it, of which there is always plenty.  To this end we must be "ruthless" with ourselves in our approach ("ruth" is old English for "pity").  In other words, we must be simple, open, and honest, and not be taken in by all comers. 

 

Kris

Comment by Las Vegas Massage In Summerlin on June 10, 2011 at 2:48pm

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Jena writes:  I pray for His Spirit to be present in my practice, I open myself up for Him to work through my touch If He so chooses, and I pray for each client (silently) before I conclude their massage.  I believe He gave me...

 

Kris:  Ha!  I've now been telling my girlfriend Angela for years God was Male!

 

<evil grin>

 

Kris

 

Comment by Jena Vaughn on June 10, 2011 at 1:39pm

By the way, just to add, I think to achieve any healing the mind, body, and spirit need to be in harmony; in balance with each other.  Therefore, I don't think we can deny spirituality in our work.  Each one of us will handle the spiritual side of our work according to our own beliefs, but I believe it must be included in our work if we are to be of any benefit to our clients.

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