Listening With Our Whole Body

Ok, so 3 buildings in 3 days did not happen. The day before the first turn over date, 2 of them were canceled at 3 PM. My first reaction was NO! Then I began breathing again and took it all in. I had no control over any of it. I could give you all the stories about how it was unfairly canceled, and how I had worked Thanksgiving weekend, and on and on and on, but I won't. Suffice to say that I recognized that whatever happens is necessary, and I concentrated on how I was feeling. Now, a week later, these 2 buildings are again scheduled to be turned over this week, They are ready. And if they do not get turned over it is not because of something I did or did not do. That much I know for sure. I have faced all my feelings about this and will continue to do so. One of the paradoxes that has come from this is that 'no one listens to what I say.' and 'I have to tell everyone every single thing or it won't get done.' Now there is a koan to sit with.

Today is St Lucia's Day. Sheila is doing a Portal as Sophia Center called Deep Listening: A Light in the Darkness. Dan and I are joining from afar. Here is a blurb from the flier. If you are called, join us too.

Sunday, December 13, 2009
~ The Feast of Saint Lucy ~
12 ~ 5pm Sophia Center

…Hearing sound with the whole body and mind,
One understands It intimately.
~ Eihei Dogen

Deep Listening is an extraordinary practice for this alignment, a profound empowerment of our inner Amazon. Deep Listening allows us to hear with our whole body-heart-mind. We hear the way a Mother hears her Child growing in her womb, the way we can hear the snow falling on a winter night.
Darkness is inescapable. It is the partner of Light. We often think of our
Amazon in terms of taking on the outer world and circumstances. The
inner work of the Amazon is to go toward and into the Darkness, listen
deeply to what our soul is whispering, hear what our body needs, and
develop the capacity to hear the whispers of comfort and guidance, the
whimpers and cries of the Child within, and the voice of the Heart that has,
perhaps, been silenced or unheard in the busyness of life. Deep listening
allows us to hear what our so-called demons are really wanting and
needing in order to become our allies and angels.
In examining a question deeply, with the whole body and mind,
it becomes a teaching that has skin, flesh, bones and marrow.
It is not only mind being transmitted by mind,
but the body itself becoming a vehicle of the truth
and expressing it in every single activity.
~John Daido Loori Roshi
Through Deep Listening, the eye that can see light in the darkness is also cultivated. Deep listening frees us from our conditioning, is without attachment, without any pre-conceived ideas or knowing what will appear.
the link to Sheila's website is included for more info on her work.

http://www.templeofthesacredfeminine.com/Temple/AboutUs/index.html

Much love to all as we sit in the darkness and ponder all that appears in the light.
Nancy