by Connie Habash | Mar 20, 2014 | Awareness, Centered, Mindfulness, Now, Presence, stillness
I have this painting you see here on my stairway. It’s a print of a watercolor of my spiritual teacher, Amma. I fell in love with it a few years ago, and knew it would look lovely on the landing of our stairs.
Every day, as I descend the 7 steps at the top of our staircase, I pause facing her image. Her eyes are closed and she has radiance beaming from her third eye in the center of her forehead. She holds her hands reverently, just above her solar plexus, in some sort of mudra – similar to folding them in prayer, but the tips of the little and index fingers touch.
Every time I come down the stairs, I take a few moments to pause with her image. I, too, close my eyes, and take a mindful breath. I put my hands in the mudra, and imagine the light at my 6th chakra. I silence my mind, if only for a moment.
by Connie Habash | Mar 5, 2014 | Acceptance, Appreciation, Buddha, Centered, Comparison, Depression, Happiness, Mindfulness, Now, Presence
The mind likes to do a lot of comparing. Am I doing as well as that person over there? My yoga poses suck. I am the best in the class! Their car is nicer than mine. It would be easy to write pages of this, wouldn’t it? It’s all too familiar.
In my years as a counselor, it’s become apparent to me that comparison is the root of depression. We wish things were different than they are, and we tend to focus on what we don’t have, or what isn’t happening right now. This is a sure-fire way to ruin your mood, and it does nothing for creating what you really want.
by Connie Habash | Feb 12, 2013 | Acceptance, Appreciation, Impermanence, Now, Presence
My 8 year old daughter asked me last night, “Why is it called Butterfly? What does butter have to do with it? Who came up with that name?” I had to admit I didn’t know. But it made me think of how often we use words or phrases without paying much attention to what we’re actually saying.
For instance, I heard a familiar phrase today as if for the first time: “It came to pass.” It’s commonly found in the bible, as a kick-starter for some sort of story or allegory. Hmmm… to pass. That means something was temporary, a happening. Something was just moving on through, as time passes by. After all, the phrase isn’t “it came to stay.”
by Connie Habash | Jan 23, 2013 | Blessings, Happiness, Now, Receiving, Seeking, Serendipity
I’ve spent a lot of my life seeking, seeking, seeking. Looking for God everywhere, searching for my teacher or my spiritual path.
Today, I was looking for space to store my daughter’s Christmas ornaments, and opened up the hall closet. There’s just enough room to fit the box up high on the shelf above the coats. But wait – what’s that green tassel I see?
by Connie Habash | Oct 31, 2012 | Acceptance, Buddha, Choices, Happiness, Illusion, Judgment, Nonattachment, Now, Presence, Right Action
The funniest thought arose in my meditation today, after I had been contemplating the Eightfold Noble Path – Buddha’s prescription for eradicating suffering and attaining liberation. Apparently, my thoughts weren’t entirely still (big surprise) and thus this image of an ice cream cone being offered to the Buddha somehow sprang to my awareness. Would he eat it? What would the Buddha do?
I can’t claim to know what the Buddha would do, to be quite frank. But, based on his teachings, I can certainly take a stab at it. There’s one thing I do know – the Buddha would be aware that he has choices. He can choose to eat it, he can choose not to eat it. He would know that any desire or aversion that arose regarding the ice cream would be continuing the cycle of suffering in this life. He also knows that judgment would be a slippery slope – it feeds the ego, the idea that we are right if we choose one way, and wrong if we choose another. This would lead to either pride or shame, which again is back on the hamster wheel of suffering.
I have this painting you see here on my stairway. It’s a print of a watercolor of my spiritual teacher, Amma. I fell in love with it a few years ago, and knew it would look lovely on the landing of our stairs.
