Venture Fourth Weekly Work
Week Twenty-Two May 18, 2010

Dear friends,

Good morning; Here is my first, more quiet day at home since my new computer. I have meetings with 5 of you today; I spoke to the rest of you last week. This morning I want to sum up where we are and what you are working on, just to clarify.

This next month you should be:

1)meditating daily, with vipassana and also with awareness of the space between objects. You may also be doing a separate pure awareness practice, eyes open, resting in awareness, or you may have found you prefer to simply incorporate awareness into the vipassana practice. Either way, there should be knowing of the arising and passing of conditioned objects, noted by conditioned consciousness, and the presence of awareness that can rest in spaciousness. We need to nurture both: presence, with mundane consciousness and the innate ability to rest in pure awareness.

2) strengthening your contact with spirit in whatever ways feel most appropriate. For most of you, this means some time spent consciously connecting with your guides, in meditation or through journaling.

3) working mindfully with the soul traits that are your special focus, rotating them weekly or working with several at once as we will have discussed individually.

4) whatever practices are helpful toward nurturing balance and wholeness: work with charkas, toning, elements, crystals, breathing, journeying, mudra meditation. . . . You will not have time to do everything and it is not expected. See what tool(s) support you most.

5) your journals are still welcomed and I do read them; it helps me to see where you are and have a clearer direction in our private meetings. More important, journaling is a very helpful tool for you. But it is no longer a requirement, now that you have done it for a year. If it helps, please continue it. If it remains burdensome, it's okay to stop.

6) Read Donald Rothberg's The Engaged Spiritual Life. Begin to reflect on the question, what areas of service in the world call most to you? Remember that "service" may be as simple as washing the dishes or planting flowers. How do we interact with our world; with love and while resting in awareness, or from a contracted place? "Who" interacts?

Intensive 4:

Aaron and I are still refining what we'll do. However, a focus will be deepening into "Who am I?" Who is this being that aspires to service, at the deepest level? What ego and mundane characteristics get in the way of ever more pure and clear presence? What tools support release of such blockage and invite pure presence?

We will definitely have a period of silent practice, between 24 and 36 hours.

We will definitely do further work with the elements, to develop that very useful tool. The element work may also involve some group journeying.

I will see some of you at the DSC June retreat. To others, wishing you and beautiful June

With love, barbara