June 30, 2013 Sunday Morning, Trainings Workshop One

Barbara: ...We're sitting in a semi-circle by the lake. It's a semi-cloudy morning with patches of blue sky, fluffy clouds, soft breeze, 2 swans floating on the water...

(there are many pauses; not noted)

Body relaxed; mouth gently open. Eyes soft, open, seeing, seeing. If a thought comes up, like, “Oh, two swans. Are there more?” just note “thinking” and come back to this immediate experience. Seeing, seeing the swans, pleasant. Breeze is touching my body, very soft, very pleasant, air element. And I can feel the moisture in the air, the water and the air element right there together. There's a very subtle warmth from the sun. Ah, warm, the fire element. I can see the fire element in the lake, too, the way it reflects off the water. And I can see it in the trees, a lot of light touching the trees.

No doing, just being, here and present, things just as they are...

Ahh... Feel the spaciousness, the ease. For now, for the first 10 minutes, let's keep eyes open, just resting in this state of awareness. Present with everything just as it is...

If objects come in—a child's laughter, a lawnmower across the lake or a dog barking, maybe a bug flying around your head—don't try to push those objects away, and don't get caught up in them. Just be present with these objects that are arising naturally and passing away. Just leave everything as it is, not trying to fix or change anything. Ahh...

(long pause; then pauses between words below)

Begin to bring attention to the elements in your own body. Earth element, this mass of human sitting here. Yet when I look at this tree by the lake, there is also earth element, yet there's so much space between the leaves, and they move lightly in the breeze. Be the tree. Begin to feel the air element in your body, along with the earth, and how air relates to the earth element. Can you see the water element in the tree? Without water, the tree could not be alive. Look at the tree and feel the water element in your own body. And the fire element, the vital energy of the tree, of each of us. See how all these elements come together in you. Nothing to fix or change, just watching it.

If you look up more at the sky, at the spaciousness there, and literally breathe it into your body, can you feel the increase of spaciousness and of the air element in your body? Not really increase, simply bringing more attention to the air element. Ahh... body just as it is, not trying to change it. But aware of all the wonders of it. Earth, air, fire, water, all there in a beautiful harmony.

(longer pause)

If you look at these trees, down in the earth they have roots. Look at this tree on our left hanging over the water, I was here the day that tree was planted, a little one-foot sprout. And I know before it was a one-foot sprout, it was a seed. And before that, it was simply the possibility of the seed from another adult tree. Everything manifesting from conditions.

Look at the tree, the wonderful shaking sound of the leaves as the wind blows. Go back to the place before the tree was, the ground out of which trees, lakes, mountains, humans, everything can manifest. Feel the expression of intention, of the seed itself and of the woman who planted it. Feeling the possibility that one day there would be a tree there that would provide shade by the lake.

(pause)

Go back in yourself. What were you before you were born? And yet there was some energetic movement within the akashic field, that ground, and then giving rise to this sentient human being. Someday in the distant future this tree may fall, as its predecessor did, decay into the earth, and in that rich soil, a new tree may grow. See that space in the akashic field, that ground of infinite potential, everything recreating, everything interwoven.

A hundred years from now, none of us will be here. Like the tree, we will have decayed into the earth. What remains? The love we left behind. And what else? Constantly interwoven with all that is. Feel this All-Ground, this akashic field, and the infinite potential for expression based on our intention and our energy.

Looking at the elements, there's no one element you can say is “me”. Move into the spacious connections, just as there's no one element you can say is tree, or is lake.

(pause)

At this point I'm going to be quiet. You may continue to sit with your eyes open for a while, or close them and move into your vipassana practice. Present with the primary object—the breath, nada, luminosity, space, whatever presents itself as primary object, and openheartedly present with whatever objects become predominant over that field of primary object, like the dog barking or the splash of a fish, just hearing. Feeling the hardness of the bench, or the softness of the breeze. If it becomes predominant bring attention to it. As it changes or dissolves, come back to the primary object.

I'll be quiet now for about half an hour.

silent meditation

(recording ends; Q&A period did not record)

Following are notes from a one hour Q/A period, written by one of the participants. These are not direct quotes from Aaron, but are very clear notes.

AARON: Q & A

Q: If intention co-creates, what is allowing compared to co-creating --  with physical death, say?  There seems to be a soft spot between accepting and co-creating.

A:  Accepting means presence with things as they are but also having responsibility.  You are always co-creating when you have softness, spaciousness and willingness to hear.

So say your intention is to live with kindness, to be present with an open heart.  No "I should;" welcome a scary person.  Stay in touch with your own feelings and act wisely.

Scary situation first reaction:  feel tension in “fear”.  

Breathing in I smile to this fear.

Breathing out I experience calmness.

Right there with the fear is the no-fear.  That which is watching the fear is not afraid.  You can do this with ordinary consciousness.

OR

You can go into the akashic field and see the dozens of times you've reacted with fear and anger.  You can choose the possibility for discernment, loving and skillful wisdom.   In this way you are co-creating for your highest good to act skillfully and not make dangerous choices.

Q: Is the akashic field the spirit body?

A:  No.  The akashic field is the ground of primordial purity expressing from the all-ground, the very first expression of the all-ground.  Out of the ground expresses that which is perfect.   The essence of this primordial purity is non-harm, service to all beings.

 The second expression is fear-based negativity.  This rests on top of the primordial purity but is also within the all-ground.

For instance, something shakes you and something negative comes up.  There is an ego-based reaction.  All of this is grounded in the akashic field.

Currently Aaron  is working with Barbara on a book on Non-Duality.

The non-dual is the essence of everything.  Light/darkness, spaciousness/contraction,  service to self/service to other, etc.    

Go to the all-ground before conditions have arisen.  You can see all the triggers that push you off.  You can see all possibilities and you don't have to be reactive.

Q:  How do you work with the log-jam of hyper kyo?

A:  In hyper kyo there is no space, nothing is moving.  Are you going to add energy to it?  Push it?  No.  You would just get deeper jitsu and more hyper kyo.   Simply step back one step and things begin to move.   Body workers know this -- just  draw the energy out and energy can start to flow.  After that you can give it more energy if needed.

Q:  Is duality an illusion?

A:  Yes it is and a very potent illusion, very compelling but not necessary.  If you don't understand, you get sucked in.  If you do understand, you get sucked in but you know you are getting sucked in.

Q: How does the akashic field play in to healing chronic conditions?

A:  It depends on the nature of the conditions.  The physical body is the most dense, the emotional less dense, then mental body and the spirit body the least dense.    Therefore, mental beliefs can be healed faster if they have not been expressed in the physical.  Seeing it all from the akashic field, we see there are alternatives and we can change.

The physical body with its cellular level conditions takes more time to shift.  You can still work from the akashic field.  As with Barbara's healing, she hears perfectly in the akashic field.  She sees both the dead nerves and the potential for hearing.  Yet it takes time for nerves to reinstall.  

So hold to "everything is possible" and allow the highest perfection to re-express.

Q:  So I'm looking at contraction with compassion, giving it space and it dissolves.  Now there is a second choice to look more deeply into contraction and see the triggers.  How do we look more deeply?

A: Have you used the Seven Branch Prayer?  It addresses habitual tendencies that have shallow roots very nicely.   If you are stuck in  "I can't" ask "Is that so?"  The roots dissolve.  The release happens when we stop giving energy to the contraction. Barbara had to see what she didn't want to hear.  She had to be willing to hear the cries of the world.  Ask "Is there any root here?"  When we note the pattern it releases.  If it doesn't respond, then begin to explore.  The exploration is "What is this protecting me from?"  Approach the distortion with loving energy, not alarm or fixing energy.

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