Insight Center Newsletter for November 2021
AWAKENING Insights
“Make your life better by letting go of the attachment to wanting others to perceive you a certain way. Trying to control how others perceive you can drag you into people pleasing. You cannot control another’s perception because it is partially formed by their emotional history.” Yung Pueblo
“When I am attached, I suffer.” The Insight Center
“I am happy when I am free. I am happy when I am at peace.” The Insight Center
“You and I are one, and you and I are many. Our relationship is with the cosmos as well as here on earth. I’m not trying to sound mysterious. That’s the way it is.” Sojus Mel Weitsman
“Pull out the weeds and then let your garden be messy.” The Insight Center
“It's your decision. You decide.” The Insight Center
“If we truly wish to be free of our difficulties, our heart has no other recourse than to acknowledge the core issue (even if we have studiously avoided it for decades!) and accept its connection to the suffering we are experiencing.” – Ajahn Amaro
“It’s not all about doing, it’s also about allowing.” The Insight Center
“If a relationship feels out of balance, remember that you are ½ of the formula.” The Insight Center
I am fully vaccinated and welcome back all fully (CDC approved) vaccinated clients for services in person, in Portland. I will also continue to see clients via Zoom. If you have questions regarding offerings or would like to schedule an appointment, please contact me at theinsightcenter@gmail.com.
MEDITATION insights
“The mind becomes tranquil but alert, with neither too much or too little energy, and finds an equanimous stance that neither favors nor opposes anything but rather rests with quiet confidence on its object. A growing sense of well-being ensues and slowly matures into a state of profound equanimity. The mind in this state is said to be luminous, malleable, cleaned of its impurities, and thus able to see things clearly. Now the process of developing wisdom can begin.” Andrew Olendzki
“The beauty of an established spiritual life and practice is that no matter what arises in your life or in your mind, you continue your practice. And in this way, you let go, experience equanimity, detachment, freedom, wisdom, and peace.” The Insight Center
“When you have an established spiritual life and practice, you will evolve (become more enlightened- it’s incremental) along the way - it just happens. Don’t be attached to it! Keep up the practice.” The Insight Center
“The paradox of our practice is that the most effective way of transformation is to leave ourselves alone. The more we let everything be just what it is, the more we relax into an open attentive awareness of one moment after another.” Barry Magid, “Five Practices to Change Your Mind”
“Practice with equanimity and detachment and you will be free.” The Insight Center
“The path to freedom is to let go. The path to letting go is Vipassanā practice.” The Insight Center
“In zazen (sitting meditation) leave your front door open and your backdoor open. Let thoughts come and go. Just don’t serve them tea.” Shunryu Suzuki
“[To sit zazen (sitting meditation) for so many years] It’s like climbing a mountain - the higher you go the more beautiful the view - but it gets lonely.” Shunryu Suzuki
“Becoming calmer is one tangible benefit of meditation. But the deeper purpose is not to be calm per se, but most of all to be real - in other words, to be grounded in the truth of what is happening to you.” Lewis Richmond
“Though it sounds simple, letting go is an advanced practice. It is demanded in the greatest trials of our lives and in our final moments. It is here that the heart learns the secret; that to let go is to also embrace what is true.” Jack Kornfield
MEDITATION COURSE
I am teaching Vipassanā Meditation and Spiritual Practice Courses in Portland and on Zoom. Please contact me if you are interested, theinsightcenter@gmail.com or read more at Insight Center Meditation Course.
GRIEF insights
“In the perfect ecology of a tree, the dead become the heart of the living, and the living nourish the essence of the dead. So it is with our lives, where life and death cannot exist separately from each other.” Barbara Becker
“We need to understand the goodness of suffering. It is the compost that helps the roses grow, it is the mud from which magnificent lotuses emerge.” Thich Nhat Hanh
I experience a lot of grief each fall, especially after the time changes back and it gets dark at 4:45 PM! I love the beauty of the fall leaves, and then they get wet in the rain and fall to the ground. I know some people love this time of year, for me it is grief to watch nature shut down and go to sleep. I prefer spring when everything is awakening. In the meantime, I continue my meditation and healing practices, study, light a lot of candles, make soothing foods, and try to be creative. And sometimes I give in and take a long nap. Margaret
HEALING insights
I initiated an incredible group of Reiki ll practioners this past week. It was a beautiful experience to share the powerful tools of Reiki ll with these five humans who are all operating at high vibrations and ready to do transformative work. I congratulate them and thank them for showing up for this Workshop and the initiations. It is a privilege. The world needs you! Margaret
“Fall apart to come together.” The Insight Center
“You can love someone & still let them go. It’s possible to want to have someone in your life & know it isn’t possible. Sometimes people aren’t able, willing, or capable of showing up for us in the way we wish they would. Releasing them isn’t a declaration that we no longer love or care for them. It means we love ourselves enough to let go even when it hurts because we are a stand for healthy, honest relationships that inspire connection, intimacy & growth.” Sheleana Aiyana
ASTROLOGY insights
“The astrologer holds the mirror of truth before the client, then basically says, “now do as you will.” Steven Forrest
What I really want is for people to understand the components of astrology so that when issues arise, they can look at their chart and say, “Ah, my Uranus placement is blowing this thing up,” or “This Pluto transit is forever changing how I understand relationships.” I truly want people to understand their chart so they can integrate the information into their life experiences.
2021 has not been an easier year for most people. There are still very dynamic changes/transformations taking place across the world. 2020 was a year of upheaval as very strong planets in transit aligned. In 2021 many of these strong planets moved ahead – and then they went retrograde. For most of 2021 we have been living under the influence of retrograding planets. What does a retrograde ask of us? “Did you learn what you were supposed to learn? Did you really pay attention? Did you really go deep? Did you remove what was not working from your life? Were you brave? Did you transform or work toward transformation? It is as if the gears of change stop and grind backward – for almost a year.
And when they begin to move forward again, they do so slowly. Slowly but surely, they return to the place where they began their retrograde, and then, slowly they start to move forward. The changes are integrating and the more we pay attention to the changes the better we are. Awareness. Acceptance. Forgiveness.” A comprehensive astrology reading will show you where the transformations are happening for you. Margaret
COMPREHENSIVE ASTROLOGY COURSE
Comprehensive Astrology Course for 2022 begins in January 2022! This is a course I developed with original materials and is taught in person in Portland and online.
The class size is small, and all topics are personalized with your own charts! In this one-year, twelve class Course (1 class per month), you will learn each concept in depth.
Please contact me for course outline, fees, or questions at theinsighthcenter@gmail.com
ASTROLOGY FOR TEAMS OR FAMILIES
I would love to do this transformative Workshop for your professional team or family. Please reach out to me for Workshop information at theinsighthcenter@gmail.com.
GIFT CERTIFICATES are always available. I have a digital Gift Certificate that I will personalize and email to you. Available for 1 hour or 1.5-hour Astrology Reading ($125 or $190), and Reiki Intuitive Healing Sessions for $190. Contact me at theinsighthcenter@gmail.com to purchase!
©The Insight Center. All rights reserved. 2021.