Insights for August 2020

Insights for August 2020

 “So much. Injustice. Poverty. Environmental destruction. Soul crushing. Pain. Sorrow. Fear. Change. Unknowns. Destroy and rebuild. Rethink. Redo. Radical honesty. Division. Uprising. Voices. Lives. Connection. Unity. Support. Union. Equal. Share. Evolve. Dissolve. Connect. Share. Be. Do. Reach out. Commit. Give. Open heart. Open mind. Active spirit. Demand. Commit. Engage. Act. Powerless? Powerful. Say yes.” Margaret Gervais

Awakening:

“Awareness grows wisdom. So, rely on wisdom; it will stand by you.”  Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Buddhadharma, Spring 2020.

“At the heart of everything is awareness itself “ Ajahn Sujato, Tricycle, Summer 2020. Pg. 37.

"The truest solitude is not something outside you, not an absence of men or of sound around you; it is an abyss opening up in the center of your soul. And this abyss of interior solitude is created by a hunger that will never be sampled with any created things."  Thomas Merton

“people are trapped in history

and history is trapped in them.

it is certain, in any case, that ignorance,

allied with power, is the most ferocious

enemy justice can have.

i imagine one of the reasons people cling

to their hates so stubbornly is because they

sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced

to deal with pain.” James Baldwin

“How to stay connected to your soul: When something happens in the world that is wrong, don’t try to move on with your life like it is right. The voice within you that says, ‘This is not ok’ is a direct call from the basic goodness of your spirit. Pick it up. Every time. Pick it up. And stay on the line until you figure out how to help.” Cleo Wade

“Remember to hold your power at the core of your being.” Margaret Gervais

“Put your roots down into the deepest grounding of your understanding.” Margaret Gervais

“People working on their healing, the ones with new love in their hearts, more self-awareness in their minds, a greater ability to manage their reactions and actively undoing their old patterns/biases are helping humanity shift into a better world. Your compassion creates real change.” Yung pueblo

“Growth for me is realizing some people actually aren’t interested in growing.” maryamhasnaa

“We didn’t understand as children that our parents still had work to do on themselves.” maryamhasnaa

“It doesn’t matter where I am, I am always here with myself.” Margaret Gervais

“Only when emotions are truly attended to can they be endured and transformed into useful energies that express our needs and help guide us through life.” Josh Korda, “A Safe Container for Fear.“

Buddhists have a role to play … in creating a different vision of America that is from the start about multiplicity and not singularity, from the start about interdependence.“ Interview with Duncan Ryuken Williams by Ashoka Mukpo, “Never Again”

“To guide our love and power [empowerment] we need wisdom.” Melvin McLeod, Lion’s Roar, September 2020.“...if we are really going to help people effectively, we need power to go with our love.” Melvin McLeod, Lion’s Roar, September 2020.

Astrology:This is a time of challenge, endurance, resilience and transformation.

Retrogrades August 1, 2020:

Ceres (fierce nurturer) all month

Jupiter (expand) all month

Saturn (restrict) all month

Neptune (dream), all month,

Uranus (REBEL) goes retrograde August 15 for the rest of the month, AND

Pluto (destroy and rebuild)

are ALL RETROGRADE 💥🎯💥(6 planets)!

Rethink, redo, revise, restructure, review, realign, revisit, realign etc.

Fierce placements in August:

Mars (warrior action) in Aries (feisty and aggressive) all month

Mars (warrior action) squares (challenges) Pluto (destroy and rebuild) all month

Mars (warrior action) squares (challenges) Saturn (restriction) all month

Jupiter (expand) and Saturn (restrict) conjunct (working to integrate) all month (who will reign?)

Mercury (mind) opposes (disagreeing and trying to find balance) Pluto (destroy and rebuild) July 31- Aug. 6.

Mercury (mind) opposes (disagreeing and trying to find balance) Saturn (restrict) August 1-8

Sun (solar power) squares (challenges) Uranus (rebel) August 5-15

Mars (warrior action) square (challenges) Jupiter (expansion) August 19-20

As you can see, there is a lot of cosmic energy storming through our collective consciousness. These placements are challenging for all of us. We can look at our chart and see where the transformative energies are activated for us.

Meditation:“A meditator’s job is to remember to be aware.” Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Buddhadharma, Spring 2020.

“If you are angry and you meditate to get rid of your anger, you will only frustrate yourself. Meditate because you are angry, not to eliminate it.” Mark Epstein

“Metta for those I do not know:

Let your body stay relaxed and easy. Smile.

Blessing is a relief to the mind.

Think about familiar strangers in your life, dentists, hairdressers, supermarket clerks whom you recognize but rarely think about out of context.

Imagine a group of familiar strangers and wish for them:

May you feel safe. May you feel content.

May you feel strong. May you live with ease.”  Spirit Rock

“When new issues arise, view them with equanimity and let them go. Just like the old stuff, let the new stuff go too. No matter what arises, look at it with equanimity and let it go. #meditativeawareness” Margaret Gervais

“If you are feeling depressed, meditate using insight meditation, and the depression will show up, you will look at it and let it go, over and over (and over) until it is equalized; until you see it in meditation as another thing arising and that is all. The equanimity of this practice heals.” Margaret Gervais

Healing:“every step forward is a small rebirth.healing yourself, letting go, undoing past conditioning, reclaiming your power, this work causes big transformations in your perception and behavior. take the time to meet yourself and learn your new preferences. let the new you lead.” yung pueblo

“Even after healing significant trauma and old conditioning, you will not be happy all of the time. It is natural for your mood to go up and down. What does change is that you react less to old triggers and when the mind feels turbulent you do not fall easily into past patterns.” Yung pueblo

“Lie down. Breathe deeply filling and emptying your stomach, slowly, 3x. Bring your awareness to your spine.Visualize your spine being a row of pebbles. When you breathe out visualize this row of pebbles falling gently into a shallow stream. Keep doing this. Now visualize bringing all of your energies that support you into your body and into the pebbles. Imagine the pebbles being gentle magnets that draw all energies that support you into them. Keep doing this. Gather all of your energies into these stones. Breathe out and let the stones gently fall into a shallow stream. Repeat.” Margaret Gervais

“Sensitivity requires maintenance.” Steven Forrest. The Book of Air.

“Stop holding onto people. Just because you have history together.” femalecollective

Relationships:

“Find a partner that is equally committed to supporting you through the good times and through the tough moments of growth and healing. Coming together as imperfect people can be hard. Imperfections can sometimes cause unintentional conflict, especially when one is going through a moment of inner turbulence. It is patience, calm communications and selfless listening that gets couples through the storm. Conflict decreases when both turn inward and focus on building their self-awareness.” yung pueblo

“A healthy marriage has some grit in the system (things to learn from each other.) “Steven Forrest. The Book of Air.

“Real maturity in a relationship is letting your partner know when your mind feels heavy/turbulent before your thoughts find a way to make a story that blames your tension on them; naming it allows you to know if is there and your partner to know that is it time to support you/hold space.” Yung pueblo

Covid19:

“sleep.hydrate.meditate.move.nourish.communicate.followCDCrules.andthendocovidyourownway.” Margaret Gervais