Open Windows:
Living with Energy, Meaning and Purpose
Oakland, California
Cool and Sunny, November 29, 2017
The way we live opens windows and calls in a secret voice to anything still missing.”
Too Many Habits?
“I have too many habits!” said my friend as we drove to a practice group meeting for people learning to wake up in daily life (www.thomashubl.com). “I’m on automatic pilot all the time. I’ll suddenly wake up and realize I am doing everything by habit while my mind is somewhere else.”
This is called “sleepwalking” because we are actually dreaming while our habits carry us through the day.
It is not the habits which are the problem. Without habits we would waste our time trying to decide what to do next. It is the sleepwalking which is the problem.
Somewhere in the brain there is an on/off switch which controls our attention. When it is turned off, we are sleepwalking. When it is turned on, we are present with heart and soul. Our ordinary work often seems less interesting than our dream. That is why we prefer the dream. But when we realize that being Present is being alive, we want to be in the present moment.
How do we turn that switch on? The Sufi poet, Hafiz, used to call loudly to himself. “Hafiz, where are you?” To which he replied, “I am HERE!” With the HERE! He pulled himself into the present moment. He turned his on/off switch to ON.
Sometimes the switch opens spontaneously, but we can turn it on intentionally by calling our name and asking ourselves, “Where are you?” It will immediately become obvious that we are not HERE, and, like Hafiz, we can bring our whole being into the Present.
“I AM HERE!”
Looking UP,
Dorothy
Recommended reading: “Biology of Belief.” by Bruce Lipton