(HuffPost) Sacrifice: Choosing The Sacred Over the Profane

Not too long ago I tweeted, "When I know what I'm saying 'Yes' to, it's easy to say no."

Sacred. Profane. What do these words really mean? Is it about standing on some moral higher ground that assures belonging, safety, and the necessities of life? Paying homage to some being or group's values out of fear of being on the wrong side of the law?

What if there's a point of view that's not peering out from the bowels of some dank cave of insufficiency and insecurity built by ego's fear of future suffering rooted in the pain of the past?

What if there are no such absolutes as 'right' and 'wrong'?

Sacrifice at its root is about recognizing something as sacred and acting in accord with that recognition. Sacred isn't set in stone, and it certainly isn't about feeble attempts at self-deprivation. Self-deprivation is just an insecure ego's attempt to feel better about itself by being extreme.

What's sacred for you may be completely different from what's most aligned with my inner compass. They don't have to agree to both be of immense value.

Recently I had occasion to be in a private meeting with a teacher who embodies a kind of unfettered freedom and liberation I've always sensed as possible, but had never met face-to-face. I was given fifteen minutes to use in any way I wished, with the intention of bringing this liberated perspective to pressing concerns or questions.

Knowing about the meeting nearly two months in advance gave me plenty of time to obsess about coming up with questions that would really matter, make some long-term impact on my walk through life.

It wasn't until the final five minutes of the meeting that the most core concern I've lugged unknowingly through every corridor of my life surfaced.

"I have this irrational fear that I could do something which would irrevocably land me in eternal damnation, and it's at the back of every place where I have fear and get controlling. It makes no sense to me logically that I even have it. No amount of logic seems to make any real difference in releasing it's hold," I said, both surprised and supremely grateful that it revealed itself.

It's these kinds of not-yet-recognized fears that create factions, power struggles, wars, inner division, and separation from the very love we seek with each other, and ultimately within.

It's likely that this core fear is a teacher for me. It will reveal itself in various forms and circumstances, giving me the opportunity to hone my clarity, self-awareness, confidence, and trust. Versions of it are likely to be faithful companions, becoming the weights I use in the gym of my life to build the muscles of discrimination, detachment, focus, and Awareness of Truth that transcend morals and survival.

So as I willingly grow through the days, weeks, and beyond with the help of this ancient form of resistance, knowing why I walk ahead, what I'm saying 'Yes' to, is fuel for the walk.

I'm saying yes to freedom from any form of suffering.

I'm saying yes to that same freedom for anyone in the circles of my life.

I'm saying yes to being unshakably rooted in the clear and embodied knowing of What I am.

When the mind starts to get agitated, looking to control some situation or person to assure my safety and survival, simply taking a long pause to breathe and recognize that I am safe, whole, and free (to refocus my attention on what I'm saying 'Yes' to) is enough to create some space in my experience. It's enough to relax my body. It's a choice to feel that peace is more valuable (sacred) than control.

Know what's most valuable to you.

Know what can distract you from what you most value. This, for you, is the profane, and to be released.

Align your attention with what you most value and cherish.

Forgive yourself when you forget, and realign your attention with what you hold sacred.

Let the seeming wins and losses guide you into deeper core strength with the practice rather than being defining moments of your worth or lack thereof.

Let it be simple.

(art by Trey Speegle from an installation for the Manifest Quality Gallery in Hollywood, Spring 2010)

The Gap Between Knowing and Being

There are days like this one where I'm at a complete loss for how to rationalize the gluttonously nasty things human beings do to one another and our habitat on this planet.  It seems like destruction is a publicly traded commodity.  Kindness has become woo-woo.  Therapy, a way to band-aid the horrendous guilt, and narcotics, a way to sleep at night, only to wake to triple lattes as a replacement for crap sleep from the narcotics. 

It's a hamster wheel. 

I don't see an end in sight on days like this. 

We may very well create the end of the sustainability of the human race on this planet in my lifetime.

There's an ever-expanding fault-line gaping between what we truly know as right action and what we actually do with our time, money, and energy.  The race to get more of anything and everything faster than the competition to fill a bottomless hole is accelerating.  The snake is eating its own tail and we're so distracted as a race into hurrying towards something more, better, and different.

Three 46-minute sittings of meditation, an hour and a half of chanting, three hours of exercise, and a day filled with self-inquiry have not gotten the disgust and anxiety to abate.  I feel responsible for this mess.  I feel called to do something about it, and struggle with the notion of an ego driven to be lofted into heroism, rather than trust in a rooted altruism arising from my heart.  

It's amazing how the hue of nasty casts its shadow over every thought and feeling.

This too will lift.  It has come to pass.  

I'll hear some piece of music tomorrow, or the sound of the hummingbirds outside my window in the early hours, or read some status update on Facebook that restores my faith in humanity.  Or is it just more anesthesia?

What's the difference between burying my head in the sand and immersing myself in self-upliftment, self-realization?  Can I trust the mechanisms I have for seeing clearly the gap between knowing and being?  

Even as I write this, I know this is a visitation; the blossoming of stored old emotional energy enlivened the news on Uganda's proposed bill to make homosexuality a crime punishable by death.  

I know that the power of my days, months, and years of focused practice will burn up this distorted point of view in the ever-burning fires of Truth.  It will happen as surely as the Sun will rise in the morning.  

I will be infused with a new point of view:  one that has more space and compassion rooting through the crevices.  It comes because I have asked.  I have asked, and am never let down in sincere prayers like these.  I have not asked for the world to be rearranged overnight.  I have asked to see differently; to see in a way that is productive.  To see in a way that empowers actions based in Truth, motivated by trust, and marinated in knowing.

In the meantime, I sit.  I sit and attentively watch.  I move closer to the sensation of my breath, the simplicity of my body sensations, and the remembrance of all the ways I love myself.  Already I feel the shifting of the sands within.  

Writing brings its own release.  It's a way of participating without forcing change.  Reporting on the inner landscape without nailing myself to the cross for having these feelings reveals space.  In that space my breath deepens, and the healing expands.

The gap between knowing and being is my teacher.

Scott Schwenk

http://trustthebreath.com

http://scottschwenk.blogspot.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-schwenk

And Now the Laughing Begins

And Now the Laughing Begins

Riding the currents of 
Breath,
Not knowing whose
Yet sensing it as
Yours.


On certain days,
The surf pounding 
Against the gritty sand of
Fruitless mentation,
Agitation,
Irritation...


Only love
Caressing
Love.


Each sitting
A little warmer.


The thaw 
deepening towards 
a seeming icy core of
self-imposed
albeit
unconscious
holding back
separation
from You.


Each sitting
A little less familiar
A little less me
One less pair of 
Prada sunglasses
Reached for.
Less need for shielding.


I am the Light 
I've been protecting myself from.


And now the laughing
begins.

Scott Patrick Schwenk     1/26/10

Love, Clarity, and Support through the Holidays

Also, a little extra information to support you on your way through the next 30 days:

Along with the strong energy that moves in so many people during the holidays, Mercury goes into retrograde on Dec 25th until Jan 15th.  In the middle of this there will be a Full-Moon (second one this month, known as a “blue Moon”) and the same day there will be a partial Lunar Eclipse.

What does that mean?

It’s a perfect time to slow down....to slow down and minimize distractions while driving, to slow down in conversations and perhaps listen more carefully, to engage in things that nurture and uplift both you and the environments you’re spending time in, to write and play with some form of creativity, read books that remind you of the Truth of who and what you truly are, meditate, engage with the breathwork, do some selfless service, do a deep cleaning and clutter-clearing on all the spaces you spend time in..

If you engage with things along these lines, it’ll keep your energy moving.  When your energy is moving and being expressed in positive and creative ways, it’s less likely to get stuck inside and trigger the downward spiral.

If you need some more support?

I’ll be staying here in Los Angeles up until Dec 29th when I head to New Mexico to retreat with David Elliott.  I’m happy to schedule in-person and phone sessions to support your intentions.

Keep choosing to LOVE yourself, when you love yourself, you’re likely to take good care of yourself and express that same Love and care for all those around you (without having to carry anyone else’s “stuff”)...you’ll be able to let people have their process, and in-turn have more space for your own.

Have a great, nurturing, safe Holiday celebration in whatever ways most lift you up!

LOVE,
Scott

Scott Schwenk  
http://trustthebreath.com
http://scottschwenk.blogspot.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-schwenk

Celebrating Plenty! Breathwork ~ Sunday, Dec 13, Noon-1:30pm

This Sunday, we’ll CELEBRATE (a close cousin to Gratitude)!

At a time of year when there can be too many moments of feeling “not enough” (not enough time, money, sleep, sunshine, etc), it’s no wonder people get depleted and sick. So we’ll gather to CELEBRATE ABUNDANCE, to recognize, mark, and breathe into all the areas where there’s plenty, where there is FLOW, and we’ll watch them EXPAND through awareness, impacting every other area of life.


~ Sunday, December 13th, 2009 Noon-1:30pm ~

We’re calling this event THE PRACTICE, and it’s for ALL levels of experience with the Breath. It happens for now in the sanctity of my healing space in West Hollywood. Reserve your space as soon as you know you’ll be coming, as it fills up quickly...

In this workshop, there won’t be much talking. We’ll set some intention very quickly in the beginning, and then get right down to the business of the Breathwork; an ancient 3-part breathing meditation that takes you beyond the dream of the limited ego experience....into the space of GRACE, the space of KNOWING, the space of deep REJUVENATION.

This is designed to be a place to work deeply with the breath and build /strengthen the muscles for your home practice.

ARRIVE on-time or better yet, early. No one will be admitted after the breathwork begins to honor and support the safe space created for The Work.

When: Sunday, December 13th, 2009
Time: Noon-1:30pm

Exchange: $40

Where: 1226 Havenhurst Dr. #9
(Havenhurst is 1 block West of Crescent Heights between Santa Monica Blvd and Fountain Ave)

Parking: It’s best to park at a meter on Santa Monica Blvd or in the West Hollywood City Lot just South of Santa Monica Blvd behind Out Of The Closet between Havenhurst and La Jolla. The City Lot is $1 per hour in quarters. Other meters in the area are free after 6pm.

RSVP: Due to size of the space, please RSVP to hold your place. If need be, we’ll start a waiting list. 24hrs cancellation by phone. (310) 922-4890

BRING: A folded blanket and/or yoga mat to lay on for the breathing meditation, water, and a smile!

LOVE,
SCOTT
http://trustthebreath.com
http://scottschwenk.blogspot.com

Excavation...

Something is happening.

In the chambers of my Heart
whilst quietly aslumber
amongst the
coziest of the cozy places
wedged effortlessly
between the various lumps of
feathers and cloth.

Ajar...

Clearly someone
must've
loosed the latch
leaving a window
to the chambers ajar.

And now this
Living Wind is
racing through the rooms
looking for any and all
ancient dust
which simply
doesn't belong,
whipping it up and out
of these causeways through
and around
and now
inside
the sanctum sanctorum.

Rupturing with a giggle
that glides
into to an uproaring
escape of
richter scale 9.2 laughter.

The gossamer veil
that once surrounded the
whole enterprise
in double-bagged
fashion
like groceries
in the 80's
is now flapping and flying in
this unstoppable
breeze
that is sometimes
racing at gale force.

I am Alive.

Scott Patrick Schwenk 11/28/09

Full-Moon Practice, Wed Dec 2nd

Full-Moon Practice...on Wednesday, December 2, 2009

This Wednesday night, we’ll gather to work Consciously with the profound energy of the Full-Moon. Questions to consider as you prepare to dive in ~ What are you ready to complete, let go of, and shed from the past year/years? What are you ready to step into, Create, and live in 2010 and beyond?

We’re calling this event THE PRACTICE, and it’s for ALL levels of experience with the Breath. It happens for now in the sanctity of my healing space in West Hollywood. Reserve your space as soon as you know you’ll be coming, as it fills up quickly...

In this workshop, there won’t be much talking. We’ll set some intention very quickly in the beginning, and then get right down to the business of the Breathwork; an ancient 3-part breathing meditation that takes you beyond the dream of the limited ego experience....into the space of GRACE, the space of KNOWING, the space of deep REJUVENATION.

This is designed to be a place to work deeply with the breath and build /strengthen the muscles for your home practice.

ARRIVE on-time or better yet, early. No one will be admitted after the breathwork begins to honor and support the safe space created for The Work.

When: Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Time: 7:30 – 9:00pm

Exchange: $40

Where: 1226 Havenhurst Dr. #9
(Havenhurst is 1 block West of Crescent Heights between Santa Monica Blvd and Fountain Ave)

Parking: It’s best to park at a meter on Santa Monica Blvd or in the West Hollywood City Lot just South of Santa Monica Blvd behind Out Of The Closet between Havenhurst and La Jolla. The City Lot is $1 per hour in quarters. Other meters in the area are free after 6pm.

RSVP: Due to size of the space, please RSVP to hold your place. If need be, we’ll start a waiting list. 24hrs cancellation by phone. (310) 922-4890

BRING: A folded blanket and/or yoga mat to lay on for the breathing meditation, water, and a smile!

LOVE,
SCOTT
http://trustthebreath.com
http://scottschwenk.blogspot.com

Absolute Monarchy

"You must have Absolute Monarchy over your inner world," someone said to me recently.

When the King doesn't know he's the King, doesn't sit powerfully in the seat, the role, of the King, he won't be King for long. You and I are have been wandering through this life, mostly deluded into believing something is missing, wrong, not quite ready, almost there...about ourselves! And the Truth of the matter is we are Whole, Perfect, Complete...what in Sanskrit is referred to as Purna.

There is a beautiful prayer/mantra in the Upanishads that is said to encapusulate the whole of the Upanishads. (The Upanishads have exerted an important influence on the rest of Hindu philosophy and were collectively considered one of the 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written by the British poet Martin Seymour-Smith (Wikipedia, 11/09).) In this prayer it is said,

Om. That is Perfect. This is Perfect. From the
Perfect springs the Perfect. If the perfect is
taken from the Perfect, the Perfect remains.

Like that little boy in "The Matrix" in the scene just before Neo goes in to meet with the Oracle hoping to find out he is. This monk-ish little boy, wrapped in white, playing at bending spoons with just the power of his Awareness, tells Neo, "It is not the spoon that bends, it is your mind that bends" (giving the 'appearance' that the spoon has bent).

The ancient philosophy of Vedanta encourages us to see Truly. And that to cultivate the ability to see Reality as It is, we need the support of discrimination; the ability to know the difference between fantasy and Reality, between projection/illusion and things as they really are. If you're walking down a dirt road in the middle of the night in Costa Rica, and up ahead you see something long, thick, and curvy laying across the middle of the road, it may be a snake...or a rope. Whichever you believe it is in the moment will determine whether your heart nearly thumps out of your ribcage believing it to be a dangerous snake, or you go on enjoying a peaceful walk as you step over the rope.

How many situations have I walked through in my life, attempting to rearrange the situation rather than my own point of view? The Buddhists call this act rearranging the furniture in a burning house. And another teacher laughs when he calls this way of walking through life, rearranging the deck-chairs on the Titanic.

Swami Muktananda of Ganeshpuri would say often, "The world is as you see it. If you don't like the world you see, change the prescription of your glasses."

We live in a time when so many of the greatest and most potent of teachings once passed from teacher to student in secret after many years of preparation are now out strewn out in books and youtube videos for anyone to find. How will we recognize these Diamond-sharp tools? Will we, and do we, mistake them for blunt, useless instruments?

I can have the best vegetable seeds on the market, harvested from plants grown with great attention and love in idyllic conditions on the most Organic farm known to man (I'm salivating...ha ha ha!). I can plant those seeds in my roof garden today. But if the soil hasn't been nurtured, and if I don't water and care for those seeds consistently over time, it won't matter how amazing the promise of great plants might be, nothing is going to grow in those conditions.

I came across some of the most potent teachings of my life over twenty years ago, but didn't recognize them. I was too busy hunting for anything that would give me a big peak experience. In my book it was all about gathering enough of these peak experiences, out-of-body moments, and overwhelming energy encounters, and amassing a lot of them. Then if I could string them all together, I could live in one big extended peak experience for life. So tell me, how is that any different that any other kind of addict? Seeking a peak experience from a bottle, a pill, a whatever? The only difference being that my addiction was legal and encouraged widely in the spiritual marketplace.

After years of this cat and mouse game with myself, I'm now (mostly) at the place where I know that biggest focus of my path is inside of me, if not the only useful focus. What am I believing? Can I know it's the Truth for certain? What happens when I believe "x"? What's here when I let go of all beliefs and sit quietly in gratitude and appreciation of this Moment exactly as it is, without a story or narration going in the background...just this moment, this inhalation, exactly as it is...not a good inhalation, not a bad inhalation, just the breath circulating.

And in this moment of just simple awareness of my own breath, I am present. When I am present, this Presence burns off the image of dark threatening clouds, revealing the Sun always steadily shining within.

Do I really need one more book? One more lecture? One more technique? Or do I have everything I need right Here? Am I willing to cultivate this garden over time, protecting the little Oak Tree shoots until they're strong and tall with deep roots, and broad leaves that give shade to anyone who's ready to rest in the Oasis of Reality?

I Am.

The Seer and the Scene...

For some, this kind of micro-awareness might smack of a kind of teeth-grinding effort to split hairs. For those who've been getting tired of the the roller-coaster ride of of living only for the senses, this might be a HUGE breath of fresh air. For me? This way of 'practicing' is my life...more of the time than not....except when I "forget".

There are some rich veins of Gold with powerful teachings that on the outset could seem either uber basic, or impenetrable. Patanjali's Yoga Sutras is no exception. Somewhere around the 2nd Century BC, a Sage/Saint by the name of Patanjali composed his famous YOGA SUTRAS as a guide to taking each of those single steps towards Freedom that draw Infinite Grace to You.

Vritti-sarupyam-itaratra

In other states [when the mind is not established in its essential nature], the seer appears the same as the thought waves in the mind. (Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, Book 1, Sutra 4...translation by Baba Hari Dass)

Whatever I focus on, becomes my experience. Said another way, "Where Awareness Goes, Energy Flows" (a saying made popular in the '70s and highlighted frequently by my friend and mentor David Elliott).

I live in a place (Los Angeles) that for most of the world is one big "scene". And what scene you move in here can seem to determine your social status. Or can it?

Are you and I cemented into a specific caste, wherever in the world we live?

Are our friends, jobs, relationships, preferences, and aversions all set in stone? Are we stuck with our current experience of ourselves and life until or if some "magical being" appears from thin air to change it for us?

Or...

Is the golden key to what to some may seem like a prison-cell of a life in our side pocket?

In my experience, that key has been with me all along. No one else has the key to my reality. No one else has the answer for me. Other people can have juicy information, but if I don't digest it and live it, it's just more information to gather dust on my already crowded bookshelves.

Digestion. What are you digesting? What are you not digesting? Any life-experiences that I haven't yet digested (ie; ones that still leave me with a 'bad taste in my mouth') continue to circulate through my thoughts, emotions, and body sensations, influencing how I see, hear, and experience the world around me, as well as shaping my inner experience of myself.

Oh ~ and it's not just the experiences that left a seeming 'bad taste' that stick around and mold my awareness, it's also the times and places when/where I experienced something great, and believed that someone or something outside of me was the cause, and have gone forward trying to re-create the same or similar situations so that I can hope to re-experience the same good feelings again and again.

However, the thing I missed seeing was and is the key ingredient. And that's what I feel Patanjali is cool enough to point out in this sutra ~ how I show up determines my experience, not what's happening.

What do I mean by "how I show up"?

Where I place my attention determines how I experience not only anything, but everything.

And there really is a kind of "inner musculature". Just like building specific muscles through consistent effort for something like rock-climbing, I can build the inner muscles for being able to choose where I put my attention.

For example (and I'm sure I'm the only one....ha ha), I have thoughts come up in my mind about other drivers that aren't always kind or uplifting (major understatement). When I believe these thoughts, my adrenaline pumps through my body getting me ready for fight or flight, more similar thoughts gather with the energy of "attack", and I'm no longer clear and present; I'm in reaction-mode.

I know I have a choice now. I can notice the initial thoughts that want to judge the person in front of me for pulling into my lane without using a turn-signal. I know that if I believe the judging attack-thoughts, my body will contract, and it won't feel good at all. There may be an adrenaline spike, which can be a bit intoxicating, but it doesn't feel like expansion or Love at all.

The attack thoughts only arise to protect me, in some sort of animal-like way. However, if I relax, let the attack thoughts pass, breathe, let my foot off the accelerator, I'm safe, and in no need of protecting, and in no need of attacking anything. When I believe the attack-thoughts, I become an attacker, and my reality becomes one of war of sorts.

As far as I can recollect, I never put images of war on my vision board as something to aspire to.

It's not my job to teach people how to drive. My job is healing. I'm a healer. And more and more often, I'm reminded that I'm a healer all of the time...not just when I'm teaching. When I focus on neutrality, when I focus on Self-Love, I can be a healing influence in any environment. When I allow myself to open, trust, connect with Self-Love, and let the healing expand, guess what comes into my life? People and experiences that reflect back to me where I am...in a place of Love.

So this entry reaches back a few posts to where I'm working with discipline...I'm choosing to be a disciple of Love. Choosing Love as my experience and expression is my discipline...is not only my spiritual practice, but my practice for a life that flows! May we both always be reminded of Love as the option of choice...

Why Wait?

Why wait until February 14th and the days leading up to it to fall deeply into Love? I know...you're not waiting. But what is Love? When I say Love, what immediately comes to mind? Hmmm.....curious.

I've been finding myself nearer than usual, and regularly, to the edge of tears since re-emerging from retreat in New Mexico with my friend and mentor David Elliott (http://reluctanthealer.com). And while some of the time, it's been motivated by what feels like an ancient sadness without any story-lines to back it up, the majority of the time, it's been the intensity of Love moving through my heart. I feel that sweet ache that comes just before the waterworks edging through my tear-ducts just writing into this.

Even this afternoon, buying almonds under the crassest florescent lights in Trader Joes, that now familiar pulsation intensified in the center of my chest, my body heated up, and I felt like I was about to cry. From what? The simple thought of appreciation for the apples, how beautiful they looked, and gratitude for all the people, animals, insects, and essential elements involved in those apples forming, growing, and making it to market.

Gratitude has been the most common trigger for the 'almost-tears' these last two weeks. And while a part of my ego (that still is under the hysterical and dated perspective that strong men shouldn't be moved to tears in public) would want to suppress this intensity of feeling, the rest of me knows better. The rest of me knows this is one the most important times of my life so far. Why? My Heart is opening to depths I always longed for, but never knew for sure would really happen for me.

So I've endeavored to keep the whole thing really simple. To gently attend to these movements by bringing awareness and gratitude to my Heart and all the ways it's now being allowed to open and express. To let go of any expectations that arise about how it may play out in some imagined future, and come back to right now, the simplicity of what I'm feeling, and the generosity of my own breath.

I don't really care if I get all that moved in public right now. And how am I to know ~ it could be giving someone I don't even know or notice, the permission to feel more deeply into his or her own Heart. No more waiting for Love, Love is here now.

Another Day at the Quarry

Inhaling
Exhaling
Gliding
In and Out
of various
and sundry
human suits.

Where are they hung in-between?
Is the human suit closet
organized by
color
or texture
or size?

Scott Patrick Schwenk 10/23/09

Returning

Nothing to say
riding these luscious
waves of This.
Freefalling
Gliding
Floating
Rushing into
Nothing
and Everything
as my chest rises and falls
with each pulsation
within the Changeless.
Your face appearing
everywhere I look.
Your gaze
lighting up my Heart
with the vision of
Fullness
Wholeness
Perfection.
Why Oh Why
my mind,
do you still wander
so far away from the
hearth of God's love
into infinite kingdoms of
desire,
gain and loss...
When you could have
Everything.
Rest in this inhalation,
This heartbeat,
The sound of the wasp
buzzing outside the window.
What more are you looking for?

Scott Patrick Schwenk 8/16/09

Full Moon/Eclipse BreathWorks group with Live Music in NYC

Using the LIGHT to Navigate the Shadow

In this special BreathWorks collaboration with Didge Project (AJ Block and Tyler Sussman), we'll be working with the Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse which will both be reaching their peak at 8:55pm this night, and an ancient rhythmic breathing meditation to magnify your Awareness, and expand your capacity to reveal and release any illusions you may still be carrying around LOVE. AJ and Tyler will be playing Didgeridoos during the breathwork. The Didge is said to be the very first instrument, after the human voice, and carries powerful vibrations to heal, reveal, release, and Awaken. Come join us!

When: Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
Time: 8:00pm (sharp) - 9:30pm
Where: Gallery 151, 350 Bowery (between E. 3rd St. and E. 4th St.)
Exchange: $40
Bring: Something to sit on and lay on for the breathwork (ie; yoga mat or folded blanket) and a small bottle of water.

Approaching The Meal

Definitely hungry
and willing to be more patient
as everything really worth realizing
is already here
the more i relax
the more i smile and
let go
while remaining attentive to exchange
the easier its getting to see the Truth
right under my nose.
Ahhhh……
THANK YOU!!!
You are the storyteller now
each word
a note
passing through the
flute of the spine
chakras
the holes
breath awakening the
senses to recognize and allow
His/Her Light
to permeate and
reveal.


Scott Patrick Schwenk June 19, 2009

Come, Spirit, Come!

Come, Spirit, Come…
Fill this pen with
Your endless ink.

Come, Spirit, Come!
Shatter the glass
In all the windows of division,
That Your sweet breath of freedom
Would blow through all
Dilapidated buildings of despair...

Come, Spirit, Come!
Reveal the Trust
Joy and
Truth
Contained in the
Seeds
The core of all
Your Holy Names.

Your smile on my face
Will open more hearts
Than a thousand
Lectures intoned
With perfected pace,
Rigorous study,
And a starry-eyed gaze.

Come, Spirit, Come!
Bring the Awakening
Part the veils
Grounding Your
Love into these
Traveled soles.
Coursing through every footstep
Ingraving Your invitation Home
Into sidewalk cracks
Splitting sidelong
In every metropolis

Germinating,
Sprouting,
Growing the
Seed of Creation,
In the compost of the mind,
Revealing only Grace, and
The Faceless Face,
No birth,
No death,
Just This...

Come, Spirit, Come...

Scott Patrick Schwenk 6/25/09

How Do You Know?

How do you know;
your words
are falling on deaf ears,
your art
is falling on blind eyes,
your garden
is withering on the vine?

Can you see the
arrogance of your
shape-shifting ego
manipulating
the tides of your
remaining insecurity?

Can you recognize
the pure
shining
unperturbable
GRACE
shining behind the
shucking, jiving,
and shenanigans of
mind...
this self-same GRACE
is illuminating
illusions
idiosyncrasies
and idolatry just
to bring you
HOME
once and for all?

This journey
Dear One
is not
to be taken
whilst drooling
drunk,
sleeping at the wheel of
your virtual life.

THIS journey
is not for the faint of heart.

It will take you
through the woods
on the darkest night
just to see if you flinch,
recoiling from Trust and Faith
falling down into the
wool of the world's despair
pulled so stealthily
(albeit by you)
over your human eyes.

It will reveal the Truth.
It will reveal the Love.
It will reveal the ONE
that you and I are
have been
and will always BE.

Will you take my hand
as long as we both
see separation
and walk with me?

Will you Trust
in the power of
two or more gathered
in His/Her name,
knowing the name
is just a convenient
finger pointing at the Moon?

Will you share this MIracle
with me?

I will walk and
I will not rest from
this journey
until there is no speck of
beingness that
believes in separation from
LOVE.

And if you hear the Call,
put on your dancing clothes
put on your funky hat
and your tilted shades,
and bring
all your raucous laughter
to the streets as
we shake and sweat and
dance out all division
until that cute portly woman of proverbial fame
comes out onto our stage
to sing.

Give your gifts
Dance your dance
Paint your Heart on
Every pillar and post and
let your sacred smile
leap across your face
for no need of good reason
other than that it can!

Scott Patrick Schwenk 6/9/09

Walking In The Light Without Tripping Over Shadows

Until it's some other way for you and I, until all the illusions are burned out, we must know and make peace with our walk....and recall that with the intention to walk in the Light, and the activity of putting actual consecutive footsteps to that walk, that we will face shadows. Shadows being those elements that appear real and are based on some conscious or unconscious illusions we still hold.

It's so easy to forget that shadows cannot appear without a light-source. It is the light-source that reveals a shadow. With no light, there would be no differentiation or contrast to see any differences.

So it is crucial, and of vast value to remember that even when the heaviest and seemingly most fearsome beliefs (illusions/shadows) start to surface, that there is an unperturbable Light-Source behind all shadows.

A Light-Source that when given even a little attention can change the whole human experience. It doesn't matter what tradition you find yourself waking up inside of (or outside of, as the case may be).

What matters is the recognition of Truth and the willingness to have it be North on the compass, THE organizing principle. To have regular and consistent ways and means for checking in with and placing attention on this organizing principle every day and throughout each day.

We're moving deeply into the experience of the Full Moon this week (it exacts on Sunday at 11:12am PST). The Full Moon reflects a tremendous amount of light. When this light hits any object, it casts a shadow. This is especially true on the level of internal experience. This Light hits the consciousness and wherever there still lives any form of conscious or unconscious identification with illusion, that identification acts like a gnarled big old tree in the middle of the night out in a field. When the light of the Full Moon hits that tree, a gnarled-looking shadow is cast alongside the tree.

If you look at the shadow and believe it to be a real reality (having it's own independent existence), you will have certain experiences. And your thoughts, words, and actions will arise from this illusion. Everything created from this way of seeing will be based on illusion. Anything created on a foundation of illusion will be shaky at best, and highly destructive at worst.

Are you willing to be your own "vision coach", training your eyes to see the Truth, training your will to focus on the Truth, and training your habits to become pillars of strength to support your ever-deepening recognition of Truth.

I am by no means advocating an extremist way of working with oneself. The time for walling oneself up indefinitely in a cave, monastery, ashram, or other cloistered institution seems to have passed for most of us.

As one contemporary teacher of awakening says, "Anyone can be enlightened in heaven, can you be enlightened in hell?" I hear that as a strong support to waking up and calling on the strength to stop going back to sleep even in the most uncomfortable of circumstances.

What are some indications of putting oneself back to sleep, consciously or unconsciously? Check in with your body....what's happening with your body? Is it holding anywhere, contracting in some noticeable way? Are you sitting on any emotions, swallowing them into your gut? Are you in judgment of yourself, another, or life?

Judgment is one of the clearest ways for me to recognize that I'm believing in some illusion. And when I believe in illusion, I will suffer. And only every time. Judgment is a reflection of some form of insecurity. And insecurity is one of the main ways you and I avoid the Truth. The Truth that we are already the Awakeness we seek. We are already the wholeness and Love that we search for in so many people, places, and experiences.

Insecurity is an illusion.

It feeds on lifeforce.

If you can be kept busy feeling insecure, you can be kept from sharing your Gifts with the world. You can be kept from recognizing Love. You can continue needing something on the outside to "stimulate" you in one way or another. Love needs nothing but itSelf. It is complete in itSelf. It is fulfilled in itSelf.

The opportunity opens up in the willingness to walk the walk even when it's uncomfortable. Especially when it's uncomfortable. To keep showing up for yourSelf. To be skeptical of ANY judgments that arise. To reach for the situations that consistently push you to grow outside of old views of yourself. To work with the practices that help you to See from many perspectives and points of view. Practices that help you get out of the loop of linear thinking, and feeling and recognizing the spaciousness and wholeness of Who and What you Are.

If your happiness feels tied to another person, your job, your house, your bank-account, sugar, sex, the weather, or anything else that can come and go, it's time to wake up. If you're still reading here, this is for you. It's definitely for me. I'm working with this as much as anyone. So as I was saying, if your happiness is feeling tied to anything outside of yourself, it's time to question that. Find out if it really is true that your happiness is tied to something outside of yourself. I can promise you from experience that it is not. I can promise you from experience that Spirit is real by whatever name you might call it, or not call it. There is a vast, unlimited Source. It has no judgment. Not of you, not of your choices, not of the people you know, not of politics, religion, sex, or anything at all. Judgment is born of separation and insecurity.

When I can embrace you as myself, I am free. When I cannot, I am bound. My work today is to see the Truth...to recognize the One Face in the many. To exchange with the Truth with every breath. To invite Source to reveal the Truth moment-by-moment that I may be the clearest expression of Unconditional Love for myself and all beings.

We are worth it. It is our birthright. Awakeness is. Love is. We are supported beyond belief!

Exchange

When you try to exchange
all your wants and needs for
perfect happiness
through the illusions of
this seeming world
block the Reality of
His exchange with You
always unfolding itSelf.

Let go of this dance
with empty calories,
words without meaning,
work without fruit,
and dances without joy.

Let Him whirl
through your Imagination,
pulsing, throbbing, expanding
his Dance of Creation
in every wink of your
beautiful eyes,
every beat of your
gorgeous Heart
drenched in the nectar of
Love for no reason,
Rollicking laughter with no punchline,
Wild warm embraces empty of need.

You, oh yes Dear One,
You
are His Beloved
Her Beloved...
And you don't have a vote in it!

Scott Patrick Schwenk 5/27/09

Who Will You Blame?

Who will you blame
this time for
all of your pain?
Another proposition
campaign,
new number,
different name?

It's time you
take responsibility
fielding thoughts
through the eye of wisdom
not those crackled
taped-up
specks of time
time gone by
imagination run wild
and always ever
not in your favor.

Have you ever
questioned these
oh-so-true propositions
posited by your own
inherited positions
dispositions
and inquisitions?

Maybe it is
all about
you v. pain
you v. blame
you v. mayhem
homespun in
your own brain.

Maybe there is
no hope for that jail
around your hopes
and oh by the way
have you noticed
it's made of
your own disdain.

Jailer and jailee
set yourself free
the keys are
hanging behind
the chain of
unquestioned beliefs
circling round and round
your thought-trained brain.

Freedom is only
one breath away.
Heaven and Hell
living in the choice
between your thoughts.

And when you are Free,
who will you blame then?
Silliest thought of All to
recover the Golden Throne of
your own awakening with
tattered old sheets of
three-ringed paper
scrawled with
jibberish born of
someone else's pain.

Scott Patrick Schwenk 5/26/09

How Do I Judge Thee...

How Do I Judge Thee

How do I judge thee?
How long have I avoided
counting the ways
means and ends
of this down-world spiral
into complete separation
from all of You.

If I would only let
one little fissure
open in
the secret chamber of
my heart
I could begin
to hear your sweet melody
chanting the chorus of
unconditional Love
through every cell of this
living world of Heart
these fluid brushstrokes of
Your art
Creating and dissolving
Forms, formlessness
Above and below
Expansion and contraction.

Oh life
would that I suspend
judgement and
accept all of Your faces
all of Your smiles
through countless rivers
gorges and lives.

Oh breath,
winding through
the labyrinth of my soul
waking memory of Your face
my face, the One face
in every face...

Oh breath,
a thousand bows
will never be enough to
honor the gift You are.

So for now,
I will just smile
at the next face I see.

Scott Patrick Schwenk 5/24/09