Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Don't feel sorry for me; instead use the silence to go within.

I just got back from Maui. I went there to attend Wayne Dyer's workshop - have I mentioned that I love Wayne Dyer? The weekend was incredible; absolutely full of thoughts and ideas that will take me a while to assimilate into my being. I will be writing many posts on this workshop.

One of Wayne Dyer's teachers is Ram Dass. This was a man who was a Harvard professor but was not fulfilled with that. He ended up in India and studied with a guru. He wrote the book "Be Here Now" which I am in the process of reading. Ram Dass lectured for a long time without getting paid for any of his work. All that he made was donated. A few years back, Ram Dass suffered a stroke which left him in a wheel chair.

Wayne Dyer invited Ram Dass to come talk to us this weekend for a little while. His speech is extremely slow due to the stroke. When he first began talking it took him about a minute to get the following sentence out "don't feel sorry for me; instead use the silence to go within." He was referring to the silence between his words. He could say a word and then take 10 seconds before saying another. The tendency was to feel sorry for him but it was just not possible after that statement.

I was in awe of this man after he delivered his talk. Some of the insight offered was to be in a constant state of love. He talked about truly loving the room he was in and all the people and the walls on all sides. He gave us a mantra to contemplate: "I am loving awareness". Isn't that a fantastic mantra? I have used it every day since hearing it. I just repeat it all the time.

I probably have not done Ram Dass justice with this little post about what he talked about but I had to share with you a snippet of my experience. I did use the silence between his words to go within and to realize what my life is about and who I am. After that I realized that we are all one and an extension of the source we all came from. I also realized there is much to be grateful for in my life and that I was going to start a gratitude journal recording my gratitude for one full year. It has been awesome to realize that I am grateful for my husband, kids and family but also for snow, a cup of hot tea and books.

I would love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment below, email me to mary@marysalfi.com or send me a note on my Facebook account.

Use the silence that's in your life as an opportunity to go within and connect to the divine being that you are.

With love,
Mary

1 comment:

  1. wow... My Friend.. I am still trying to absorb the time in Maui myself. It truly was a life changing experience. I love Wayne Dyer and feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to be in his presence for 3 days. Ram Dass was truly inspiring. I also love the "I am loving awareness" mantra and say it every day. When Ram Dass spoke about Love he also spoke about:

    "Serve people, love people, don't be concerned with your ego or yourself".. "The ego is built on fear, the soul is built on LOVE".... Imagine changing fear into love.. how amazing is that. Just imagine the manifestations that will bring to someone's life.

    In terms of the silence, something that really spoke to my soul was " The memory of God comes to the quite mind. It cannot come to a mind in conflict". I spend time every day now, sitting and meditating and being one with God. It has brought me a level of calmness, peace and knowing that I cannot explain.

    It was awesome to experience the trip with you. You are listed on many pages in my Gratitude journal, my soul sister...

    with much love,
    Jacqueline

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