Amita Schmidt

Buddhist and Non-Dual Meditation Teacher

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Prayer or Despair?

In difficult times, choose prayer instead of despair.  Despair and fear lead to a freeze response in the body. Prayer unfreezes the heart and moves us towards connected action.

The immediacy of the world problems are our teacher now.  Many years ago during a retreat, my teacher Matt Flickstein asked me to carry a knife 24/7 for a week. I had to carry it on the toilet, in the shower, meditating, making food, brushing my teeth, at the dinner table, talking to others, and in bed all night while sleeping.  He told me, “Death can come at any moment. The knife will make sure you do not forget this.”  Carrying the knife made it clear that each moment could be my last, and reminded me to pray, be mindful, and express gratitude constantly that week.

In the weeks after I put the knife down, I soon forgot the fierce necessity of prayer and mindfulness.  Now, with nuclear and environmental destruction so immediate, all of us have a knife by our side.  It is not something we can “put away.”  The knife is here while we are on the toilet, making love, at the dinner table, or in the shower.  Rather than creating fear or despair, this can create a fierce reminder to be mindful, love and connect 24/7.   Prayer or despair?

 

 

 

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Waiting for the tsunami

“What are you going to do with your one precious life?”

Rapture, peace, prayer;

or confusion, anger, fear?

Waiting for the tsunami

happens where I live every year.

The earthquake on the other side of the world,

and thousands of miles away

we evacuate for the mountains,

not sure if the harbors, airport, and power station will be left in the morning.

People wait for a long eight hours until the wave comes,

not knowing will it be big or small?

Will it wipe out my home or not?

The way people wait is it’s own education,

in the inevitable.

Some empty the stores of liquor and cigarettes for tailgate parties.

Others listen compulsively to the radio, fear mounting as they prepare supplies for some unknown number of days to live on.

Others chose to pray and meditate and say “I love you.”

No way is the right way.

All God.

Everyone chooses their last moment of grace,

from the bottle, the news, or their one true religion.

I love the differences and have my preference.

“God I offer myself to thee,”

will be my one true offering,

as the water claims her rightful place at the center of things.

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Blessing practice

Our mind is a bit one track when it comes to emotions.  Give your mind anger, and it goes on and on about anger.  Give it something to bless or love, and it does that instead. Point your mind in an emotional direction and that’s essentially it’s direction.  This one track mind can work to your advantage as a channel-changer for difficult emotions.  When I find I am being angry or judgmental, I begin blessing someone, something, anything.  It doesn’t have to be the person I’m upset with.  Heck no, not yet.  But I can say a blessing for the earth, my neighbor’s dog, kids, someone driving by in a car, or anything else in that moment.  And after about three minutes of blessing I don’t really have an interest in going back to the anger.  Ditto if I’m in a car and someone in car in front of me does something that scares or angers me.  Instead of going on and on about the person who cut me off, I send a blessing to someone in another car alongside of me, or behind me.  This focusing on blessing another immediately stops the anger.  It’s not that anger is bad, it’s simply that if given the choice of having anger or having kindness, I prefer the latter.  And blessings can extend to neutral moments as well; the checkout clerk, sitting at a stoplight, waiting for an elevator.  There are always people around you to bless no matter what is happening.

This is a story given to me by the late Father Theophane, a Trappist monk who wrote “Tales of the Magic Monastery.”  This is an unpublished story in his genre of spiritual teaching reflections, and it relates to blessing:

She told me just to sit in the back and bless everyone. That’s what I did. It felt funny at first. Who was I to bless people? But I kept at it. Kept trying different ways. I assumed she’d give me more instructions about how to do it, but no, she never did. And I assumed she’d pass the job to someone else at some point, and give me some serious instructions in meditation. The others all seemed to know how to meditate—they’d sit there so still for hours. All I could do was bless them—one by one.

 I found myself thinking about them—what’s on this one’s mind? What’s that one like? How is he meditating? Is she happy? Judging was there too. Don’t judge—just bless. But some don’t seem to need blessing. That’s judging.

 It’s been so long now. Sometimes I wonder—does anyone know what I am doing? Does anyone appreciate me? Does anyone care? What would it be like to sit up front and do some serious meditating?

 

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The Chaos Virus

unnamedThe chaos virus is something that takes over individuals, a community, a country, the world. The chaos virus begins when we merge with defensiveness, greed, hatred, and fear.  It becomes a time of division, survival, overwhelm, anger, and not knowing what is true or not true.  It is fueled by the “self” and the illusion of separation. We have forgotten the Whole. We have forgotten interconnection.

You must prepare to be resilient and not get lost in anxiety, confusion, or fear.   In times of chaos it’s about the “how” equally as the “what.”  How do I conduct myself?  You must give life your all even if there are no hope of results.  In chaos there might be no results.  You only have the “how.”  Find your source of true courage and self-lessness.

During this time of chaos, you must also prepare to be spiritually aware, emotionally strong, and grounded in a power greater than yourself.  This power could be love, God, the force of the universe, or some consciousness greater than yourself (scientists are now able to measure consciousness, and they know that it is a continuum and that humans might only be somewhere in range of that continuum). It is a greatly challenging time where we cannot merge with our own personal suffering.   There is something more important, and it is the Whole.  It is the Source.

If the chaos virus goes viral here are some things to remember:

1) Be aware of the chaos virus.  Commit not to get lost in it or come under it’s spell.

2) Ground into your being, and connect fiercely to the deepest version of love that you know.  Hold fast to love.  No matter the storms of hate, or fear, or confusion.  Do not be swayed from the force of love as you know it, in the center of your being.  Love is all you are.  It will bring you back home.  It is all you ever do and are.  Do not be confused by anything else.  You are not pleasure or pain, success or loss, praise or blame.  You are love.  Please trust in this, even if you can’t feel it yet.

12592338_1081727765200263_1431145295415637829_n3) Call constantly upon the wisdom of nature, animals, the sun/moon/stars, the ancient ones/ancestors, chants, ceremonies, spirituality.

4) Do not merge with your thoughts or technology. Use your thoughts and technology as tools only. Your thoughts are not the essence of life. Technology, VR, internet are not reality.  Put down your thoughts. Call upon the Great spirits.  Call upon the Whole.  Call upon your ancestors.

5) Do things that connect, connect, connect.  Music, art, service, family, friends, community, food, gatherings, animals, children, hugs, nature, play. Connection is the doorway to wholeness and away from the disease of self.

6) Cultivate the “we” verses the “I.”  Creating an illusion of a separate self, and then serving this illusion, is part of the virus of chaos.   Develop an awareness of “I.”  Know when you are lost in “I, me and mine” thinking. Move from “I” sight to “We” sight. Start thinking about your life as part of the well-being of all.

stevemccurry7) Become a living prayer.  Make your mind, body, and spirit a constant prayer for all beings.  This is the way to break the illusion of self. Think in terms of the whole world.  Dedicate every thought, every action, every emotion to the well-being of all.

8) Practice deep meditation.  Do retreats.  Dig deep. Soul search.  Know what is most important, no matter what.

9) Stay sober.  Clean up your life.  Stay away from addictions: alcohol, drugs, overeating, internet, consumerism, gambling, workaholism, pornography, gaming, and thought addictions.  You will need a heart that is clean and clear. As things get more chaotic you will see more people getting lost in addictions. Be the person that lights the way rather someone who is lost in the pain.

10) Develop empathy, compassion, kindness, love.  Keep increasing your capacity for these emotions, even as times get difficult.  Do not succumb to the prevailing attitudes of others. Do not be afraid of your own suffering.  Let it fuel for an even more loving heart in yourself.

11) Zen master Bankei’s advice from centuries ago is useful for the chaos virus now:  “Do not sell your unborn nature to fear.”  “See into others’ hearts with your birthless eyes and to sense what is binding them.”  Rest in the Heart.img_0031

 

 

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The Love Sign

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Today was an usual day.  It began at 6am creating a “Love” sign to take with me to public places as part of a new lovingkindness practice.

I figured why not put meditation into action? So for today I held a Love Sign in public places.  Why “Love?” Well, it doesn’t require anything of the seer, it can be a noun or a verb, and more importantly it’s something that’s good for me to practice.

Throughout the day I sat in three different places: La Perouse Bay Nature Reserve, on a bench in front of the local swimming pool, and at the Maui Mall shopping plaza. Within minutes of holding the Love Sign it received lots of smiles and happy eyes.  Also, a local young dad flashed me a shaka, a tattooed girl blaring music and angrily shouting stopped to smile, a very old woman gave me $5, and another woman gave me candy. Additionally, I made friends with a homeless (x16 years) Gulf war combat veteran, Dann, who was picking up cans for recycling.  In our conversation he was sane, sober, and truly wise.  I asked Dann, “If you had a sign to hold, what would it be?”  He thought for awhile and then said “Respect.” He explained that as a homeless person he is judged by others, and people don’t take the time to see or respect him for who he is. If I hadn’t been holding the Love Sign, I too would have been one of those people who judged him and didn’t take the time to see him.

The best thing about holding the Love Sign is it forces me to embody love. It’s impossible to judge others when I am holding the Love Sign, and impossible to be sad or angry.  Good practice I figure.  Plus it’s always humbling to sit in public holding a sign.

Last but not least, when I stopped holding the Love Sign I felt I was still holding it in my heart.  And when I imagine I am always holding the Love Sign it has wonderful effects.  Everyone becomes family.