Festival of Life

heartconnection:

Each of us is a moving center, a space of divine mystery. And though we spend most of our time on the surface in the daily details of ordinary existence, most us hunger to connect to this space within, to break through to bliss, to be swept away into something bigger than us….

Dance is the fastest, most direct route to the truth — not some big truth that belongs to everybody, but the get down and personal kind, the what’s-happening-in-me-right-now kind of truth. We dance to reclaim our brilliant ability to disappear in something bigger, something safe, a space without a critic or a judge or an analyst. — Gabrielle Roth, The Spiritual Power of Dance

heartconnection:

He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity’s sunrise.

William Blake

heartconnection:

We have this idea that love is supposed to last forever. But love isn’t like that. It’s a free-flowing energy that comes and goes when it pleases. Sometimes, it stays for life; other times it stays for a second, a day, a month or a year. So don’t fear love when it comes simply because it makes you vulnerable. But don’t be surprised when it leaves either. Just be glad you had the opportunity to experience it. ― Neil Strauss

heartconnection:

William Blake said that to live in virtue is acting not according to the fixed expectations of someone else’s limited ideas but in accord with a deeper, bigger Self, beyond consciousness, with the wholeness of the living universe, that which expresses itself impulsively and spontaneously through dreams, art, play and spirituality.

— Stephen Nachmanovitch, Free Play

(Source: fuckyeahpsychedelics)

heartconnection:

As more Americans live a lonely, virtual existence—isolated in air-conditioned homes, communicating through keyboards and plasma screens— it’s our responsibility to seek out innovative ways to bring more joy and human contact into our lives. And it’s worth looking at how mainstream images of love limit our options; it’s worth challenging conventional prescriptions of how to live happily every after; it’s worth inviting more love into our lives, and it’s worth experimenting with new ways to forge meaningful connections. We need to take risks to realize dreams that don’t conform to the status quo. — Vicki Vantoch, The Threesome Handbook

This blog is meant to help discover, foster and expand on new ways to form deep connections. I hope to demonstrate the beauty formed by connecting our bodies through partner yoga (pictured above) or dance like contact improv, connecting our spirits through tantra or meditation, and connecting our minds through poetry and honest communication.

But first we must reject culturally imposed views of to whom we should be extending our love. I focus a lot on polyamory (practicing multiple intimate relationships) because polyamory grew out of a desire to break free from the current monogamous paradigm. But practicing ‘radical love’ can be so much more than just having 3 boyfriends.

Radical love means being creative enough to practice love in a variety of ways with everyone you meet, at a level where you both are comfortable. If you want to go deeper with someone then express those feelings and desires. See where it takes you. Any act that forms a connection also breaks the illusion of separation and isolation. To me, this connection is the essence of love. No, it’s not easy, but yes, it’s totally worth it.

PS. Wendy-O Matik defines radical love as: the freedom to love whom you want, how you want, as many as you want, so long as personal integrity, respect, honesty, and consent are at the core of all relationships.

(Source: enlighteneddiscipline)

heartconnection:

Love is something in your life where you cannot be egoistic, where the other becomes more important to you. It is a reciprocal surrender, where both are surrendering to the god of love, and both become humble. Love is the only energy that gives you hints that there is something that you cannot control. The ego is the great controller, thus there is no room for an ego in any true loving relationship. 

— Osho, Being in Love

Our moments of true intimacy are when we stop controlling. We have to let go of the controls in order to experience that contactfullness and tenderness. When we’re with another person, if there’s any agenda to get something, to get their approval, to change them, we can’t be open-hearted and present.

— Tara Brach, Intimacy with life 

(Source: random-impressions)

heartconnection:

Love is something in your life where you cannot be egoistic, where the other becomes more important to you. It is a reciprocal surrender, where both are surrendering to the god of love, and both become humble. Love is the only energy that gives you hints that there is something that you cannot control. The ego is the great controller, thus there is no room for an ego in any true loving relationship. 

— Osho, Being in Love

Our moments of true intimacy are when we stop controlling. We have to let go of the controls in order to experience that contactfullness and tenderness. When we’re with another person, if there’s any agenda to get something, to get their approval, to change them, we can’t be open-hearted and present.

— Tara Brach, Intimacy with life 

(Source: random-impressions)

heartconnection:

Love is something in your life where you cannot be egoistic, where the other becomes more important to you. It is a reciprocal surrender, where both are surrendering to the god of love, and both become humble. Love is the only energy that gives you hints that there is something that you cannot control. The ego is the great controller, thus there is no room for an ego in any true loving relationship. 

— Osho, Being in Love

Our moments of true intimacy are when we stop controlling. We have to let go of the controls in order to experience that contactfullness and tenderness. When we’re with another person, if there’s any agenda to get something, to get their approval, to change them, we can’t be open-hearted and present.

— Tara Brach, Intimacy with life 

(Source: random-impressions)

heartconnection:

Love is something in your life where you cannot be egoistic, where the other becomes more important to you. It is a reciprocal surrender, where both are surrendering to the god of love, and both become humble. Love is the only energy that gives you hints that there is something that you cannot control. The ego is the great controller, thus there is no room for an ego in any true loving relationship. 

— Osho, Being in Love

Our moments of true intimacy are when we stop controlling. We have to let go of the controls in order to experience that contactfullness and tenderness. When we’re with another person, if there’s any agenda to get something, to get their approval, to change them, we can’t be open-hearted and present.

— Tara Brach, Intimacy with life 

(Source: random-impressions)

heartconnection:

‘Thousands of workmen meet together and work in factories or mines. They are obliged to work, at the risk of their lives, at most dangerous occupations, for the sake of millionaires. Formally, men were made slaves under physical compulsion, now they are enslaved by the temptation of money and of the luxuries that money can buy. All this you can ascertain… this civilization takes note neither of morality nor of spirituality… civilization seeks to increase bodily comforts and it fails miserably even in doing so.’ - Mahatma Ghandi, 1922 

‘Only by opening our eyes and heart to the suffering of the world can we ever find freedom and peace.” - Jack Kornfield, After Ecstasy, The Laundry

By posting this picture of an iphone factory worker, I do not mean to depress anyone’s spirits. I simply mean to wake up the heart of compassion and empathy. I think when the love inside encounters suffering in the world, it turns into compassion.

The root of ignorance is to ignore, meaning to ignore the state of reality and the interconnectedness of all things. We cannot ignore the effects our actions have on the suffering of others, nor can we pretend we are somehow separate or protected from the suffering of other human beings.

Let’s not forget Thich Nhat Hanh’s mantra for compassion:

‘Darling, I care about your suffering’.

heartconnection:

Please cherish your skin, flesh, bones, and marrow,
Knowing each other, intimate friends become even more intimate.
When someone asks the meaning of coming from the west,
[Bodhidharma] faces the wall for nine years.
 —Dōgen, Eihei Kōroku (via zenyogagurdjieff)   

Looking back on our lives we see what matters is our intimate presence, that we’re here, 

that it’s these connections that matter;

openheartedness, sincerity, realness.

For many of us in relationships, we demand our partners to be a certain way. I would love you more if you did this. 

We must begin to learn to pay attention to each other without controlling. 

A mindful presence is not controlling. It is highly aware without judgement, just noticing.

Tara Brach - Intimacy with life

The picture above is of my friend Brian (on top) and me (bottom) doing some acroyoga therapeutic, one of my favorite ways to connect. 

The best thing about therapeutic flying is that whether you’re a base or a flyer, you don’t do much. The flyer is essentially floating in space, something none of us are used to, so you don’t have to get all fancy with tricks and movement. This feeling of weightlessness really allows the flyer to simply let go, relax and receive. As a base you can really sense your flyer opening up, and depending on how connected you two are you can really open up too. 

Try it sometime!

heartconnection:

Thinking that we can find some lasting pleasure and avoid pain is what in buddhism is called samsara, a hopeless cycle that goes round and round endlessly and causes us to suffer greatly. Suffering is inevitable for human beings as long as we believe that things last — that they don’t disintegrate, that they can be counted on to satisfy our hunger for security. 

- Pema Chodron

When we see reality accurately, we discover that mind states are actually a function of our being; they are not a function of how much we have or what we have. This is one of the ironies of desire. There are so many things that we can have, and that we do have, without the suffering of attachment, without compromise or loss. These are inner qualities such as love, faith, wisdom and peace. Such states are not produced by a process of having more and more, through feverish seeking. 

When we become lost in desire, we are put firmly into the framework of linear time. We become focused on getting what we do not yet have, or on keeping what we do have. We become oriented toward the future. To be caught in this concept of linear time brings us to what in Buddhist teachings is called bhava, or becoming, always falling into the next moment. It is as if before each breath ends, we are leaning forward to grasp at the next breath. 

- Sharon Salzberg

In offering our presence to others, it helps to actually be present. Not thinking about tomorrow and not thinking about all the things you have to do later. Teachers often talk about the “if only” mind or the “if then” mind that takes us out of the present moment. “If only I didn’t have to deal with this health problem, then I could be really present” or “If I got that promotion, then I could take a vacation and really be happy.” However, we often find that whenever we get to that moment where we thought we’d actually be happy, our mind has already moved onto the next thing. We will never be able to relax with where we are or who we are if we always think there’s somewhere better to be or someone better to be. Being present (Being Here Now!) is the key to being more, living more and loving more.

heartconnection:

The altar is a daily reminder not only of how we have dedicated our lives, but of how the great forces of compassion throughout the world are dedicated along with us. The truth of interconnection brings us responsibility, but it also brings us companionship and solace. We do not work alone for change; the great powers of existence work with us… an alter can be one expression of a concerned heart. The very ritual of turning to an altar is profound act of rededication. Each time we bow we can reawaken to the reality that we are not alone. Each time we meditate or pray, chant or serve, we step beyond the small sense of self, we remember that all beings awaken together.

— Jack Kornfield, After Ecstasy, The Laundry 

Take a rock, any old rock, from outside and put it in the right middle of your living room. If just for a few minutes a day you pay attention to that rock, it will become a sacred rock. 

How come? When we’re present, we fall in love. We sense our belonging to whatever we’re paying attention to. Have you noticed how people really think their dog is the special dog? Well, whatever we pay attention to, a plant, a rock or our partner, we belong to, we become a part of, we get a sense of who we are. 

Perhaps the best definition of enlightenment is to be intimate with all things. And meditation, this practice of deepening attention, creates that intimacy. If everyone paused and developed their capacity to pay attention, that means pay attention to this body and this earth, we will behave out of loving presence, kindness and compassion. 

— Tara Brach, Loving the Earth 

(Source: enchanted-gaia)