Great question. Suffering as grace is a hard concept to accept. But when it happens naturally as a result of soft practice over time it seems a logical destination, even if not a logical practice.
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It is a term borrowed from psychopharmacology. To adjust up/down based on test, lab, self reporting, results. Not all at once. Following best practice, but also immediate feedback from the individual. From a spiritual view, titration is informed by one’s own practice, journey, and wisdom. Just enough change and pressure to keep it interesting, but not enough to introduce dysfunction or harm.
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What really stuck out for me is the idea of “leaning into” our suffering, our schmoos, our difficult emotions, instead of trying to get away from them or just being destroyed by them. This is not a new concept for me at all, but it is so good to be reminded because I keep forgetting that this is the key.
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I don’t think one has to go digging. The wounds we need to heal, the issues, just come up as soon as we open to healing. “Pushing” ourselves seems cruel and unnecessary. Plenty arises on its own and it’s exactly what we need to deal with.
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I’m currently in a place of re-discovering my practice, so I can reopen my calloused heart. That is what pulled me to this course. It’s been some time since I’ve had that real student mindset and engulfment into yogic texts, divinely inspired teachings and wisdom. So, what came up was a sense of releasing (been doing a lot of releasing and then blocking off again lately)… but I just want to be open, open in my mind and open in my heart so I can relearn how to come back to my myself, my connection with the divine, so show up for myself like I show up for others.
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The fact that you are aware enough of the of your shmoos is half the battle. Wether you crank it up or not, you can simply catch yourself and just notice it. “Oh, here’s that recurring thought pattern again. Here’s that shmoo.” What I’ve come to notice is that the more we can step back and say “hey, there you are again” the less power it has to draw you in. Subtle, but powerful shift.
To your point, life cranks it up without asking, and that’s just part of the natural unfolding of it all. Life gives us exactly what we need and when we see it that way and step back into the witness, it helps us break that attachement.
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Yes. I think so many of us can relate to that desire. That softness of heart.
Yes! I find the more I fight something, the more tension is created. The “Hey there, I see you, it’s okay” seems to soften that tension. It reminds me of Jacob wrestling with the angel, and when he is named he becomes blessed and the wrestling stops.
It is the only thing that has changed things in my life. The naming and noticing without fighting.
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Tonight I’m touched by Mirabai’s share on shekhinah, the divine feminine, how, as a human being, I can experience the transcendent through the immanent - and how it is the only way to experience the transcendent. The thought makes me feel thankful for this body-mind which often only appears as an obstacle to experiencing the transcendent, with its senses, desires, attachments, delusion… This body-mind is a vessel, a vehicle for the divine, to experience itself. A receptacle. I’m already one with the One. As Krishna states in the Bhagavad Gita, He is the source, the origin, of the world, of my body-mind, of my experiencing the world through this body-mind. He is all of it - he is It. Nothing is mine. Not this body-mind, nothing. I am It. It’s all One. How would it feel to live with confidence in this Knowledge? The wonder of it. The wonder of One. My musings tonight as I hear a black bird singing through the open window. It is spring the sweetest season. Here it is again, the experience of softening, into heartfulness.
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how beautiful Heatherall…i am glad you came and offered such a beautiful vulnerable share 
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YES! Love this!!
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So grateful for this community and the opportunity to share. I live that shed-in-the-woods (literally, off-grid in the forest) lifestyle, too, and it is always interesting to me that just when I get complacent about living the ‘perfect’ chill life, there’s always something that comes 'round to bite me in the butt and remind me that I have plenty to work on, heartfulness-wise. So no need for cranking here… I suspect Kali Ma always has her compassionate smile of great big pointy teeth ready when I grow forgetful. One thing I have observed is that I am getting incrementally more skilful at finding these reminders amusing and informative rather than beating myself up about them. (Ahhh, soooo - here we are…) Loved that Mirabai spoke of perfectionism as a patriarchal construct… it is one that I bought into heavily for much of my life, and now I’m learning to dance with it differently. Great to be walking on the path with you all.
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Well said K.A. I always find it interesting to see things in perspective of our own relatively short lives. If the great scriptures have any truth, we have and will be doing this dance for a veeeery long time. Like weird slightly self aware salmon making our way back to source for all eternity. And it’s kind of fucking awesome (sometimes) and kind of fucking terrible (sometimes). But with the right equanimity, it is beautiful all the time! Mr. Dass certainly found the words to make that obvious, and I’m eternally grateful.
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Joining this class “late” just watched the talk with Mirabai and Jackie. I love this awareness that the patriarchal idea of this ideal perfect goal of enlightenment is the old way and that now we are on this path of Heartfulness which includes being with EVERYTHING as it is and bringing our vast open loving hearts. = spacious loving awareness to what is here - here in us - here in the collective. I also appreciated that the Goddesses are not Mrs God! and hearing about the Shekina because growing up Jewish I never heard that explanation of the candles for the Sabbath! I also appreciated the discussion of Sympathetic Joy because one of my Schmoos is jealousy and comparing myself to others and with that the sense that it is either her or me… which is such a convincing delusion! Also being willing to see and accept my schmoos rather than judging them. That enlightenment is the bringing of light to what we feel and who we became when we forgot who we truly are or were taught to suppress and deny our beautiful big glorious selves. I would like to translate this to everything - in nature so much beauty yet we judge humans on a spectrum as if there is an ugly flower or tree? Why can we not embrace everyone as. uniquely magnificent? No scale. I might ask Mirabai about beauty if I was on live with her - because it is such a thing for women. the ideals. Recent pics of Martha Stewart have sparked dialogue on. social media… and as I age and see my body as less than because it has aged I see the violence this has only psyche the way I abandon myself because of these social hierarchies of what is feminine and what is beautiful… thank you!
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