Amita Schmidt

Buddhist and Non-Dual Meditation Teacher

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Dipa Ma’s Fearless Daughters

This is a writing I did for the book “Hidden Lamp” by Florence Caplow and Susan Moon 

Dipa Ma’s Fearless Daughters

Dipa Ma was on an airplane with a woman student. It was very turbulent, and the woman screamed. Dipa Ma was sitting across the aisle and took her hand and held it. Then she whispered, “The daughters of the Buddha are fearless.”

The first time I heard this story I thought, “Wait a minute, the Buddha never had a daughter.” Dipa Ma, however, is pointing to a truth here that is deeper than historical facts. First of all she is teaching her student that as Buddhist practitioners each one of us belongs to the Buddha’s family. No one is left out, not by gender, nor by time or history. We all belong to the lineage and the awakening of the Buddha, right here, right now.

Dipa Ma is also emphasizing the fearlessness needed on this path of the dharma. To know the truth one must be fearless, tireless, and loving, no matter what is happening. Whether there is airplane turbulence, or physical injury, can you have a heart and mind that is unshakeable? Waking up is not a part time job for the faint hearted. It is the ability to meet every moment continually without flinching. As a daughter of the Buddha, are you an example to all beings of the willingness to face what is, right now, without fear or argument?

A few months ago I had a lesson in being a fearless daughter of the Buddha. On a balmy sunny morning I decided to go out for a solo swim in the ocean in Hawaii where I live. There were some colorful fish where I was swimming and I became preoccupied with following some of them. Unfortunately I didn’t notice until it was too late that I had drifted out with an ocean current about one mile from the shore. To make matters worse a strong wind suddenly arose, and as I tried to swim to shore, the whitecaps pushed me back for every stroke I took.   When I realized I was a long way out, alone, in shark territory, and unable to make much progress against the wind, I had a moment of panic. It was similar to the scream of Dipa Ma’s student on the airplane. But then my dharma practice immediately kicked in. I labeled the feeling, “This is just panic. Panic is not going to help you. Don’t believe panic.” Then my daughter of the Buddha mind said, “Just do what you can do, stay focused on right now, one thing at a time. Start with one kick and one arm movement at a time. You can do that. Don’t worry about anything else.” I put a concentrated focus on the body and stayed out of the mind. I paid attention to the movement of my arms in the swimming motion, one breath at a time, and the kicking of my legs. I noticed that despite the wind I was able to move a tiny bit forward with each stroke. I focused on this small amount I was moving forward, rather than the feeling of being pushed back. A spontaneous resolve arose to not give up no matter how long it took. This protective dharma of the present moment, along with the resolve of the Buddha, eventually brought me back, exhausted, to the shore.

Whether we are experiencing a bumpy flight, a difficult ocean swim, or a turbulent life, our practice is all the same. We are here to meet this moment with willingness, openness, and fearlessness. It doesn’t matter how long it takes or how much the wind pushes us back. If there is a willingness to not give up, and a resolve to keep taking that one next step, then each one of us will find lasting freedom. This is the true legacy of a daughter of the Buddha.

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The Space Between Time

“We are the stillpoint of eternity functioning in the world of time.”  Adyashanti.

The other day I was reflecting on helping someone heal from their trauma, and it was shown to me, rather unexpectedly, that there is a space between time.  We have our histories, our stories, our trauma, and there is a space in between time and the human struggle.  It’s almost like the space between tectonic plates or dimensions.

This space between time has no trauma.  It is just Source.  It is eternal.  It is always here.  It is who we are, all together.   No matter what happens in your human life, the space between time, which is without story, without pain, without death, is here too.   It is not a spiritual bypass.  It co-exists within you. It doesn’t need anything to change. It’s the truth of your timeless being, side by side with the karmic patterning.  You don’t have to wait for special circumstances to find it.  The space between time is here now.  See for yourself and enjoy.

 

 

 

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The Goddess of Excrement

The Goddess of Excrement,   Tlazolteotl (pronounced tla-sol-TAY-otl), is from Aztec mythology, and is the most revered and important of all goddesses. She has black around her mouth as she eats all pain, trauma, grief, anger, shame, and sins.  She transforms these into fecundity for the field of life.  She represents both death and birth, filth and purification, all at the same time.  She is all-inclusive.

She is the regeneration of things untouchable and shameful into something fertile. She makes what is difficult into a life-giving force.  She is bold.  She is fearless.  Next time you encounter something difficult in yourself or another, call upon the Goddess of Excrement to help you.  Eat the pain and problems and transform them into a new birth.

Thank you Myrna Martin for this photo and reminding us of this Goddess www.myrnamartin.net

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Talking to Yourself in the Third Person Can Lower Stress and Negative Emotions

by Paul Ratner

If you are feeling stressed, try talking to yourself silently in the third person. That can help you control difficult emotions, says the first-of-its kind study by psychology researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) and the University of Michigan.

What they found is that talking to yourself in the third person during stressful moments may work better than giving yourself a first-person talk. Let’s say your name is John and you are very upset. Asking “Why is John upset?” would cause less emotional reaction than “Why am I upset?” and allow you to start dealing with the underlying emotions.

Jason Moser, MSU associate professor of psychology, explained why this approach works:

“Essentially, we think referring to yourself in the third person leads people to think about themselves more similar to how they think about others, and you can see evidence for this in the brain,” pointed out Moser. “That helps people gain a tiny bit of psychological distance from their experiences, which can often be useful for regulating emotions.”

The study involved two experiments, with one requiring participants to react to neutral or disturbing images in both the first and third person. Their brain activity was monitored during that time by an electroencephalograph. When the subjects were shown disturbing photos like a man holding a gun to their heads, their emotional brain activity decreased quickly (within 1 second) if they they referred to themselves in the third person.

The researchers also found employing third-person speech is no more taxing on your brain than talking in first person. In comparison, other forms of emotional regulation, like mindfulness, require considerable mental effort, said Moser.

Another experiment had participants recounting painful experiences from their past, using first and third person language, while they were undergoing fMRI imaging.

Similarly, when talking in third person, participants had less activity in the brain region used for reflecting on painful emotional situations.

“What’s really exciting here is that the brain data from these two complimentary experiments suggest that third-person self-talk may constitute a relatively effortless form of emotion regulation, “ saidUniversity of Michigan psychology professor Ethan Kross. “If this ends up being true – we won’t know until more research is done – there are lots of important implications these findings have for our basic understanding of how self-control works, and for how to help people control their emotions in daily life.”

You can read the study here, published in Scientific Reports.

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Ancient Hawaiian Spirituality and Internal Family Systems Therapy

 

As part of his ancient Hawaiian spiritual training, Kahu (priest) Abraham Kawai’i taught about the internal family to his students in Hawaii in the 1960’s. This internal family understanding had been passed down from his elders, and his elder’s elders. This ancient Hawaiian spiritual teaching on internal family systems, is a reminder of the timeless power and interconnection of IFS (Internal Family Systems Therapy). Although Kahu might have different approaches with these ideas, we are all one family in bringing these truths and understandings to the world. The understanding of internal family crosses centuries, nationalities, and cultures. Bless us all, and thank you to Dick Schwartz and Kahu Kawai’i for this timeless work we are all doing together. The following is Abraham Kawai’i’s ancient offerings on understanding and adjusting the internal family as a way to freedom:

Internal family as the true source of our spiritual power

  • Family, your internal family, is the source of your spiritual and emotional power. It is where your mana (spiritual power) is generated and expressed from. You adjust the members of your family so you stand powerful in your place at the center of your universe.
  • You will never be alone—there is always a member of the family there.
  • Family is the internal universe of You, and it is where your wealth lies and your spirit resides… Refine it with compassion and your life will become a living prayer.
  • This work is to find the dignity of the universe of Yourself. It is also about bringing those who want it to a place of dignity and joy within themselves.

Components of the internal family

  • Family is everything that you are. What are you? Who are you? You are every thought, emotion, idea, longing. Family is everything in your existence. Everything you touch, everything you hear and speak, everything you walk to, come from, or stand upon, every moment of your life.
  • You need to be aware of your space of existence all the time. What is your space of existence? Your space of existence is everything you see, hear, smell, touch or feel. Everything you walk to, come from, or stand upon. Every longing, every thought, and every desire; everything you speak, every part of your body, every cell, every hair, every movement, every moment of your life. If you are aware of your space of existence and claim responsibility for it, you are at the center of your power. There is nothing you cannot achieve, in this existence or any other.
  • Everything you feel and everything that is here is a member of your family. In your mind if you are angry, that is a member of your family. If you are sad, that is a member of your family. Grief or anger can only be an obstacle when you don’t recognize it as a family member.
  • Fear is a child of yours. The pathway through fear is the pathway to being One with oneself.

How to adjust your internal family

  • In a loving and unassuming way, understand yourself totally and completely. Approach your family members with dignity. To build and manifest the depth of yourself, you need to adjust yourself in a way that affects your internal family.
  • Family is always there to support you and move you forward. A family member is never an obstacle.
  • All members of your family need to be given time to express themselves. You might express anger, or fear for a moment or two, and anger or fear will be satisfied. They are never an obstacle in your life. The good, the bad and the ugly are all family. Members of your family are a gift to yourself, one that when not judged or labeled will contribute to the quality and the harmony of your existence.
  • The members of your internal family are never a burden to be crushed or eradicated. The members of your family are to be cherished and given a task to do, so you will find wholeness and completeness on your path in this life.

The effect of this work with biological family and loved ones

  • If one member of the family makes a great step and changes, the whole family changes as well. If you make a quantum leap in your consciousness, you become the tip of the spear and the family gets the ride too.

 

Mahalo to Jody Mountain for her teachings of Abraham Kawai’i and Tamara-Hrehorczak-Stephens for her book “Abraham Kawai’i: A brief history of the man, the kahuna, and kahuna bodywork” (2012) the source of many of the quotations above.