Becoming Sacred Presence

The ship is sinking at my house.   I don’t know if it’s the eclipse situation, Mercury going retrograde, cold cloudy days, or just the end of the school year but things have been rough this week. My husband’s back is out.  My son’s usually infectious enthusiasm has disappeared.  And my daughter is 15 (need I say more?)  Add my battle with self-doubt around new creations and we’ve got a maelstrom of agitation going full blast.

But there’s also something kind of magical happening.  

I would usually be swept under by the waves of negativity coming in from all sides.  If you’ve only been with me in a yoga class or coaching session you might find it hard to believe, but I can be super negative when life isn’t going my way.  But this time I’m not. 

It’s surprising to me, but somehow I’m remembering that life is kinda hard for folks right now.  I’m literally singing to myself: “It’s eclipse season… everyone’s having a hard time.”   My little song is helping me keep my center, both for myself and for my people.  The result of that is that in a time when more negativity is definitely not needed, I’m able to be a kind and loving presence.  That is my one of my deepest wishes.

Sacred Presence

Sacred Presence is what you are at your core.  You are Sacred.  And you are Presence.  You are Presence with thoughts and stories running through clogging up the works.  Presence with emotions flowing or sticking like glue inside that also block the view, cloud the vision.

Presence has vision, an eagle eye view on the world, your life, and the lives of those in your care.  It’s a way of lifting up and lifting out of the quagmire of thoughts / story / emotion into the frequency of Love, care, devotion, and clear seeing. In Presence you do not lose your thoughts or feelings, they too are held in the embrace of Love.

So, perhaps Sacred Presence is actually Loving Sacred Presence.  There is no Presence without Love.  It cannot exist - do not fool yourself.  Without Love, what your mind thinks is Presence is actually detachment, distance, and separation.  We do not need any more of that on this planet.   

We need more Love, but present Love.  Love that sees from above and can hold the whole being, even in its darkness and struggle.  Not detached.  Deeply Feeling.  It feels like standing in a hug or encircled by elders who only want the best for you.  Love and care unencumbered by thought / habit / story / passing emotions.

Becoming Sacred Presence

The key to becoming Sacred Presence is the becoming.  You become.  You do not effort or work.  You do not take off or put on Presence like a cozy bathrobe.  You become it. 

You become it by, yes of course, seeing your thoughts (and loving them) as what they are: passing phenomena.  By seeing your emotions (and loving them) as what they are: passing experiences.  And by softening your grip on your stories; letting them move through you with out becoming stuck.

At the same time, you become by removing the armor around your heart.  So much of life has been surprising.  It shocked you out of Presence and build protective barriers around your heart.   

But perhaps those barriers are less necessary now.  Allow them to crumble like dust to the Earth.  Then meet the world heart first; heart open.  Meet yourself, meet your dear ones.  Be brave and continue.  As the armor crumbles, and the thoughts / stories/ feelings release you you become who you are - Loving Sacred Presence.

Presence is Peace

You will practice this many times.  More times than your brain would wish.  Continue.  Even when it seems nothing changes - continue.

Then stand in the kitchen with your crying child and welcome him into your embrace.  Hold the hand of your friend as she walks through difficulty.  Sing to your own human heart as you cope with your doubts.  

And be at peace.  Sacred Presence is Peace.