Tonight's niyama conversation was about saucha - purity.
Lots of ideas, observations and questions on purity and being pure with something (rather than making something pure) tossed around, but the end result was a collective group homework assignment.
We talked about how easy it is to jump right in and say something when we are in conversation with each other, rather than allowing ourselves to be comfortable with silence. We talked about meeting people where they are (for realsies!) without giving consideration to any past knowledge we have of one another - showing up to be present for what is true right now for the people we love and interact with.
We talked about how hard that is... to be pure with what is. What skill of attention and focus and how all of the other yamas will impact our ability to do this.
We got to talking about silent retreats and how a simple step toward purity in observation can be to remove words altogether.
So, as a group, we developed a homework assignment to sit in silence for four hours.
Rules are:
1. No words allowed. No writing, no reading, (None - not on the milk carton, not on the spines to the books on your bookshelf. Not in lyrics to songs. No being talked to, no texting, no computer. No place that words might come up.) Put a sheet over your bookshelf, don't open the fridge.
2. Do whatever you want (painting, gardening, walking, sleeping, etc.) but recognize if you're doing that thing to avoid sitting with yourself. Only allow the need for 'doing' to be whatever it is, and try to limit the time you're 'doing'.
3. Journal or take notes about your experience when you're done.
We agreed we'd all take four hours to do this, and then see what comes up. We're planning to share our experiences with one another when we meet again to talk about santosha (contentment) in August.
If you're interested in joining the silence, let us know by adding a comment. I'd love to have more of our community sharing in this exercise of exploration.
In service,
Tracy
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