Category: Diary of a Bodhisattva

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Let go and Live

Julia Chi Taylor

Letting go of all we don’t need frees us to fully live – here in this incredible paradigm.

Free from tension

Free from fear

As our true self,

Living in the moment and the next and the next and the next

As awareness 

We are awareness

The overriding desire of the individual is to return to our Self.

We all want to ‘Be happy’ – Feel happy’

And for years – lifetimes  even – we seek this outside ourselves in the form of our achievements, our accomplishments, our relationships…

The initial feelings of joy, when we ‘get’ these things, eventually fades away and is often replaced by more yearning and wanting – for more.

The yearning we feel within us to fall in love, to be seen, to be successful is truly a yearning to let go of the ‘wanting’ – and to return home to our true self – the peace within us, the stillness, the silence from which all flows.

When let go of yearning and the tension that comes with that, we can discover again our true nature

From this place the external  experiences, relationships and all we ‘do’ and ‘have’ and ‘are’ -reflects this inner ease, and the enjoyment of the external becomes part of the ease within.

In letting go of the ‘wanting’ – to find happiness – the dis ease within falls away as the recognition of the true self emerges 

Our individual minds yearn and actively seek, but when we let go, we discover that we are part of the infinite consciousness, all that is…

All is connected, all is one and the same.

And so when we truly experience, that our experiences are the outer reflecting our the inner landscape, then we discover, that through letting go of the yearning and seeking, we are lead back home to the ease within – to our true self.

We are often lead back through the reflections we seemingly see outside us: in the form of a teacher, a book a lecture, that may appear and speaks to us and points us back to our self

Everything is consciousness

As humans we feel that the outside is different to what is going on inside us.

But they are one and the same, 

Our thoughts and feelings within are reflected outside, in what seems to be the solid world or ‘reality’

But one is all and all are one

We are not separate

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Too much to do.?

Julia Chi Taylor

There is never too much to do, when we are present.

When we know ourselves first as presence, secondly as form, then we will truly experience there is only now.

Do the thing in front of you, and keep the mind still and present on that one thing – and all is well.

Practical tools can help this of course – like a list of ‘things to do’, which holds the ‘things’ that otherwise buzz around the head. Instead they are contained, and then we can always return to the now, rather than trying to do a thing we’re not doing – in our head,

Be focused on the task in hand, keep the mind from chattering and doing gymnastics and then there is never too much to do – there is only what you are doing from the space of being

Present

It really is as simple as that!

But of course this takes practise and commitment – and then consistency, of that practise and commitment.

It also takes letting go of any identification with ‘being busy’, ‘being stressed’, ‘being overwhelmed’… 

Or, ‘feeling tense and anxious’….

These energies become personified, and take up residence if we are not mindful to remember who we truly are…

The distractions of the mind and the body are very beguiling, the troubles of worldly loss and gain, the struggles of ‘power over ‘and desire to accumulate are chimeras to the soul.

The very nature of being alive lends itself to creativity and action and new experiences and expansion – but with awareness that we are awareness, then all creativity can arise from the stillness within…

And we can experience Wu Wei – the Taoist description of ‘non- action’ or ‘non doing’ – which in essence means that there is being in the doing, and so all we do flows effortlessly from presence – awareness…

And we never feel that we have ‘too much to do’….

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Embracing our differences…

We feel safe when we are validated, understood, seen and heard….

So why would we not give this gift to another?

When we truly listen to the person in front of us…

When we cross the bridge into their world, and see things from their position…

When we really step into their shoes, rather than projecting from our side of the bridge and in our shoes…

When we do this, we will experience true connection, because we are not putting anything of ourselves onto the other, neither are we hoping or wanting them to be, what they may not be…

When we free ourselves from any expectation or desire that the other be as we want them to be, and instead meet the other as they are – a harmony and a healing happens in the space between us and them…

And the potential for inner growth and transformation occurs…

When we are heard and there is no judgement, it follows that we learn to love and accept ourselves a little bit more; and we can drop any pretences or masks that we might use to face the world – with that feelings of unworthiness vanish.

So why would we not practice giving this type of love to all who we meet

Our world expands with each different encounter and conversation we have; and when we meet everyone in the spirit of namaste,

‘I honour the spirit in you that is the spirit in me’

Then there is no limit to what we might discover, or who we can connect with, as the connection is recognised from the outset…

When we live this way, with an open heart, and our inner light burning bright, we open the door to world peace; to healing globally, interaction by interaction…

When we are a light unto our self, then we honour the light in each and every person.

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Soaring Spirit

Julia Chi Taylor

Let your spirit soar!

Let it to be free…

Resist weighing it down with layers of thought and heavy feelings.

Stay present – and you will notice in every moment, the bright light that burns within and never ever goes out – ever.

It may feel it has at times – when the burdens are heavy, and the world feels bleak… Then the joy and light can seem to have fled.

But deep within all is well; even in the most tragic and trying of circumstances there is the ever burning light, of the truth of who you are… Knowing this, experiencing this, changes everything…

It doesn’t mean you won’t feel pain and grief at times, but there will be an absence of unnecessary suffering that so often accompanies our difficulties – and instead, we can experience the deep space and silence within.

In time, the more we practice presence – an awareness arises – that whatever distress or suffering you might be experiencing in the outer realms, can be shifted through journeying within – to the core of your being – and healing from the inside out.

The only way is inwards, to be able go onwards with a lighter step. The only way is to go within to heal and become whole, and then you will see this reflected on the screen of life, and in the reflection of another, all others….

Your soaring spirit dancing and playing… 

The inner journey can feel a hard one at first,,,

’If the outer would change, all would be well’, we think…

‘If he would change, she would change, I had more of this or that, and less distress – all would be well…’

But when we start to go within – we discover the answers lie there…

And the work has begun,

To set yourself free

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Transformation

julia chi taylor

We all have the opportunity to transform in any moment.

To remember who we truly are, and to dive deeply into the land of limitless possibility. We can travel deeply within and discover that there is no bottom to us – no limits – no top – no ceiling.

And know that we are all limitless beings receiving from a limitless source in limitless ways.

When we remember this we can travel to faraway places that we thought only existed in our imagination…

But our imagination is our power  – we can all soar to personal transformation and remember that magical child within us, that knew that life was a gift to be lived and loved.

That we came here to play and express our gifts in the manifest world.

We knew then nothing of stress or sorrow or hardship….

Sometimes we have to encounter these things, to clear the way again to remember to live and love fully, to let go of the traps of the mind that tell us we need certain things to happen – to be happy – or not to happen. to be happy…!

When we fully open to clearing away all the abherations and chimeras of life – the limiting beliefs, the patterns and programmes that we are often stuck in – when we clear all this away – we can open to the wonder of the universe, and experience ourselves as a part of all that is…

But even more than that

We know ourselves, the truth of who we are….

We are

Awareness

We are

Quiet…

And we discover that

Silence is freedom

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A never ending conversation…

Julia Chi Taylor

Our dialogues twist and weave in a never ending conversation.

Every word we utter, every thought we think has energy, power, it has its own life…

And so we must be aware of what we think, and what we say – we must be aware of our opinions, our beliefs, our judgemnets and prejudices -they are creations – they have form…

And when we believe they are real, they can take over, and we can lose the truth of who we truly are… Awareness; consciousness….

When we remove any attachment to the words and thoughts, when we bring ourselves back to our centre, to our stillness, then the thoughts collapse… They have no life anymore, the words too – they disappear into the ether…

They die

As we must die to our self, to our identifications – to all we believe ourselves to be, if we are to experience who we truly are.

Every single thing we ‘do’ here is a role, a conditioning that we have learnt, have been taught – and often have come to believe is who ‘we are’…

But we are not our roles or our conditioning.

While we are in this form, it is good that we can remember how to walk and talk and ‘do’ the things we have learnt, like driving a car, riding a bicycle, reading, writing and arithmetic.

But always we must know we are not these things

We are more than all of these things

We are not our thoughts for we are the source of all thought

There is no beginning or end to us

We exist

And it had always been this way….

And when we take time to go within, to drop all the roles, the ideas, the opinions and instead experience our selves, beyond the created self, then we experience true joy, bliss

And we can truly ‘in joy’ this experience called life 

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Let go and live

Port de Pollença

Running in the sun again, certainly feels easier to me than running in the chilly, and the wet! 

My preference is warm – the air balmy, only a need for a pair of shorts and singlet –  and then – like this morning, a dip in the ocean immediately afterwards… 

With not a stitch on too…!

But – the secret is to be fully present – wherever we are…

In the sunny climes, or the wet and windy ones, and appreciate that we are alive, experiencing this human journey…

This gift of life on earth….

Anadi and I arrived here in Port de Pollença yesterday afternoon…

After a great night’s sleep in a gigantic bed! – We rose early this morning and set off along the promenade…

The sun a fiery ball of orange over the sea…

The roads were very quiet, except for some cyclists and runners, and there was a group of swimmers, swimming together across the bay, looking like some strange sea creature with many tentacles rising out of the water…

As we approached ‘home’ the sea called out to us… 

‘There’s no one around, you can skinny dip here…’ 

And so we did…!

We whipped off our kit and plunged straight into its welcoming embrace…

What a glorious feeling, the healing balm of the morning mediterranean

Ease and joy is our natural state; it is always there for us if we are willing to stay present and dive through the patterns and programmes that so often create suffering while we are here…

We can rid ourselves of our worldly suffering – right now – in this moment.

In every moment 

It can take lifetimes 

But it happens now, in letting go of our attachment to pain, to identification with the stress of the human journey – the ‘I’ who is attached to forgetting who we truly are…

Who we are cannot be thought, we the source of all thought with no beginning or end…

And as we clear the painful emotions, investigate and let go of the adaptations we have created – we discover that we are free, and that we have always been free…

And that this life is here for us to create our experience now, and now and now… 

In this very moment we can heal our past and create an entirely different future 

We can dive into the balmy sea of joy.

We can let go and live 

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Winning is an attitude

julia Chi

I ran in the Sussex Road relay championships at the weekend…

My race was three by two mile legs…I ran leg three and loved every exhausting moment!

I am finding it joyous, and such fun, to still be striving to run fast in my sixties!

Winning is an attitude, and the nineteen year old is alive and well within me, thinking that anything is possible and ‘let’s find out’!

I am loving the Zen of running and accepting what is…

Whilst fully embracing the fun of stretching for excellence… 

Exploring going beyond limitations, without the attachment to outcome that made much of my running in my younger years less enjoyable than it could have been…!

The ‘could, should, ought to do better’, tainted some of my performances in the past, which in retrospect I now think were remarkable!

On Saturday, I ran faster for two miles than I have in awhile! 

14.01 – almost six something mile ing again…! In fact the first mile likely WAS a six something… 🙂 

Yes – winning is an attitude; when we strive and stretch to reach goals, if this is what we want – or we simply commit to do our best each day…

Goals are not for everyone; we are all unique, and over the years, I have discovered it is more joyous when we live free from any external pressure, or measurement of what is good or bad…

Winning is personal – we win our own race when we do our best, apply ourself to the task in hand, and are always encouraging, positive and kind to orselves…

When we pick ourselves up if things don’t quite go to plan…

When we get up one more time than we fall…

The Zen of living is in extending to win our own race, through our actions in the outer world – whilst staying silent within, and paying attention to each step, each moment – and thereby experiencing an inner journey of transcendence and self realisation through the journey….

In my case, this has always been the running path…!

But it is to wherever your own inner compass points you …

You are you, and there is only one you in the whole world…

Winning is an attitude… 

An experience of fun, joy, liberation through each step of your life

The world misses out when you are not expressing yourself freely and fully

Winning your own race…

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Life, a meditation on the move…

Presence

In the step

The zone 

In the moment

A meditation on the move

Now

These words and phrases all describe a state of flow when performing an activity – often sport…

But ultimately life….A meditation on the move
When life is a meditation on the move then everything flows…

I listen to some Spanish every day – to keep my ‘ear in’!
I usually listen to a YouTube channel where people are interviewed in the street about a subject… Today, the subject was about ‘stress…’ 

‘What do you find stressful’? The interviewer asked person after person ( in Español!)

Every single person who was interviewed found something – or even everything – in their life stressful…
Their work, relationships, the traffic, noise, children… Something or everything…

It was portrayed as ‘normal’ for life to be stressful…

But the truth is that to be permanently under stress, as many people are, is unnatural…

And it isn’t the situation… Other people, work, relationships… Even traffic – that is actually causing the stress…

It is our response to it.

In the case of noise or traffic jams, or any ‘problem’ or puzzle – just ‘giving permission ‘ for the ‘thing’ to be there, can change our perception of it…

Or changing the narrative…
‘I’ve time to just be and reflect while I sit in this traffic…’
Even when we need to ‘get somewhere’ – the practise of letting go and being where we actually are, is life changing…

Life to be permanently stressful is not our natural state… Our natural state is relaxation, joy, easy movement and presence…

As we move from child to ‘grow up’ – this is what often happens, we just grow ‘up’ and are tall and carrying more weight and years in our being; but the child is still hurt and carrying those wounds – and so  life feels difficult….

We are all creating our own realities from the inside out, we are projecting our subconscious thoughts feelings and patterns onto the screen of life; and we can all change the whole world, by changing our own inner world…

When we ‘look out’ wanting everything around us to change, we stay in an impossible loop…

When we want the other to be different, we disempower ourselves.

We are the change, we have within us everything to transform our lives, and the lives of others by our very presence.

When we shine with our own light, we become beacons of joy

Life becomes a meditation on the move, and we light the way for all we encounter on the path… 

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Transcendence

Julia Chi

I like the word transcendence…

I like its form and its sound…

‘Transcendence’ – to go beyond….

The body, the mind, limitations – to go beyond…

To realise our true nature…

Our true nature, which is always there… It can express through the body and the mind and all that we are; but awareness is there between our thoughts.

It is there when we are silent, no words being spoken, no actions occurring

It is always there

We are 

I am 

Each of our journeys of self discovery will be unique, even though the core truths that are revealed are the same…

Transcendence occurs as we dissolve the separate ego… There is no magic formula to experience this, other than presence in each moment; an alert and non judgemental attentiveness to our every thought word and deed…

Through this practise, we experience the centre that is unchanging, still, calm

The still small voice of calm…

I always loved the hymn

‘Speak through the earthquake, wind and fire;
Oh still small voice of calm…’

These words said it all to me as i was growing up, singing the hymn in assembly at school…

And as we discover who we truly are, life takes on a different perspective… We experience the mystery, the learning the fun, the growth, the adventure with no purpose other than to stay in each step, here and now and delight in each moment,,,

All that is…

There is no beginning or end to who we are.

We are

I am

We are the energy that flows

And we become the flow of our expression – we are the run, the dance, the song itself

We are transcendent – we are free of believing there is an end, and that there was a beginning to who we are 

And we know we are 

Always and forever 

Transcendent

The ego dissolves and the adventure begins

The joy of expansive beauty, peace everlasting – a beautiful view – our spirits uplifted during meditation – is the same being who cries and thinks too much and feels pain and frustration

‘I am’ is always there, while the feelings and thoughts rise and fall on the screen of this existence, but ‘we are’, always 

And forever 

We are 

I am