establishing divinity

As I sat in contemplation tonight, after a period of reading, these two words (establishing divinity) appeared in my consciousness. I sat and softened into them and what arose was the remembering that it is both important to 1. accept experience, and also 2. cultivate positive experience. Patanjali wrote about this in the context of "cultivating wholesome thoughts". I agree with this, and I would like to broaden thoughts to all of experience. For in psychology, behavioral modification is equally as important as cognitive restructuring. In simple terms, you can engage in positive, joyful experience, just as you can cultivate a mental image of a joyful, positive experience. Both can move one's beingness in a positive direction toward the Ultimate (the experience of connection with something profound), which is had in the present moment. Thus, the cultivation of positive experience, in my view, happens through present moment awareness.

This is the state of mindfulness.

Intentionally directing oneself toward direct here and now experience. For me, the harmonic tapping on the keyboard keys as I type, the music playing in the background, the tightness in my back and shoulders from sitting at the computer. The glare of the monitor slapping up against my glasses. This type of anchoring of the being to the moment. The engaging of oneself through the body to the innate holding onto the life world that the body has. Firmly rooting consciousness in body- I believe this to be the path toward liberation from suffering. And yes, often liberation is found in and through suffering. In and through are aspects of the prefix "trans", thus moving oneself through the various aspects (mind, body, spirit) of existence, one touches the transpersonal. It is through this realization that suffering and bliss are both states of being. As such, they can be cultivated just the same.

Namaste,
John