[2025 November DCTB Mindfulness Tip]
As the days shorten, the natural cycle of the Earth calls for us to slow down and go within. Autumn begins to fade into Winter, inviting us to seek our shadows. Inside the supportive womb of darkness, we find the roots of our suffering – if we are willing to look.
Although this is challenging, it is the most rewarding part of the spiritual path. It requires complete self-honesty and total self-compassion. Always be kind. Remember this is not a one and done scenario. We cycle through shadow and light, bringing all into balance.
In the silence of meditation, the structures that have held us together as a fixed self melt away. Through mindfulness we play our mind games and watch how we stitch these patterns back together. During moments of retreat, we contemplate these patterns. We dig deep below the surface to discover what we are really clinging to within the darkness. In the Light of Awareness, the grasping ceases and we are free.
Our spiritual and physical realities are not separate. These two aspects of being dance together as One, in motion and stillness. We are the embodiment of Enlightenment. This has always been so.
When we know this, we recognize the grand mandala of the relative – of the interconnection of our body/mind system with all that surrounds us, including the formless Universal. From this lens, where we are stuck in attachment becomes much clearer – again if we are willing to look at our fears and our doubts. Not to wallow in them, but simply to look at these shadows with humility and honesty.
In the Relative world there are endless distractions to keep us spinning in the whirlwind of existence and non-existence. But simply turning away from the whirlwind does not lead to Liberation. It only binds us tighter to our suffering as the patterns unfold in our subconscious. We must be willing to see all that we are.
For those who are ready to move their awareness beyond the limited confines of the relative world, who are ready to meet Truth, the only option is to embrace all that is swirling around and within without clinging and without trying to stop the whirlwind. Peering into the chaos and the darkest shadows, the play of Life seeking Life emerges into view.
Just as the monks pour the sand mandala with utmost care and attention, we examine our life. We notice all the tiny details that are creating the causes and conditions which will mold the next moment. We see how thoughts and actions as tiny as a grain of sand influence everything. In that minutia, we do our best to act in according to the highest, brightest Light we can access in this moment. And like when the sand mandala is complete, we sweep away the sand of our thoughts and actions along with any sense of personal doing.
We may act in small ways in our private life. Or we may be called to a larger stage. In either case, we work with our own shadows, our own attachments. We have control over only the focus of our own mind. As we process the fears and doubts within us, using whatever tools are most beneficial for our situation, we let them go. In doing so, we provide room for others to do the same. And all together, moment by moment, the shadows that haunt our world dissolve into the Light of Awareness.
Together, each in our own way, we are endlessly creating a bright, boundless future based in love, joy, and peace.
Looking for like-minded people on your spiritual journey? Sit with me and the other practitioners at Dharma Center of Trikaya Buddhism – both in person and via Zoom.
To be notified of new blog posts, please join my Happy News Mailing List and the Dharma Center Mailing list.
My work is entirely funded by my readers – by you. If you like what you have read, if you find insight or inspiration in these words, please help support this website by purchasing and reviewing my books, or visit my Support page to learn more ways you can help share the Dharma.
THANK YOU!