Category: perception

journaling, perception, writing

The Holiness of Everyday Things

Adele Satori
Image shows a paved narrow road, with trees and bushes on either side, and a bit of blue sky in the upper center.

It hasn’t escaped me these past few days.

Walking through the beautiful neighbourhoods near where I live. Old majestic homes, windy roads, and sculpted gardens.

Stopping to pet dogs. Chatting with neighbours. Sitting at my kitchen table reading and taking notes, or enjoying a meal I’ve just created. Holding a warming cup of tea or coffee in the mug the little boy across the way gave me for Christmas.
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The way a woman wearing an old coat a few sizes to big, and smelling of smoke, clutched it closer, as if it were a small comfort.

The thing that first I noticed about the couple walking through the store was that they were holding hands. You don’t see that all that often anymore, at least I haven’t noticed it. They looked to be in their late 60s/early 70s. And then I saw how grey they were. Their clothes rumpled and faded. Their shoes looked sooty. And their faces. Simultaneously blank, and yet so full. It was as thought they had suddenly materialized in the store, and weren’t sure how they got there.

I started to walk up to them, to say or offer something…. but they pulled closer together, and clasped their hands tighter.

It was then I knew. That there was nothing in the store for them in that moment. That more than anything, they wished they were just two people shopping. That they would go home, wandering through their beautiful neighbourhood, pet a familiar dog, and sit at their kitchen table to enjoy a meal they had just created.

creative practice, inspiration, instinctive meditation, journaling, meditation, mindfulness, perception, Personal growth, plants

The Dance of Opening

Adele Satori
Image shows white wild iris with purple center.

Life-changing events aren’t always monumentous, boisterous, or catastrophic. Sometimes they are subtle, silent, and a matter of timing.

The other day I was sitting next to a koi pond at the Self-Realization Fellowship International Headquarters. I closed my eyes for a moment, to better take in the sound of bird songs mingled with distant traffic, the scent of the nearby pines, and the peaceful play of the water falling into the pond.

I opened my eyes and noticed that a single petal of an iris bud was reaching out. As I was admiring shape of the petal, and the pattern of the yellow markings, something amazing happened. Very slowly, the rest of the petals opened, ever so slightly. My had flew up to my mouth in shocked awe of the best kind. When I was a kid, one of my favourite things was watching timelapse movies of flowers blooming, and here I was, witnessing a flower opening itself up to the world, right in front of me!

I became so attuned to that single flower that everything else fell away. The petals were performing a blossom butoh- slowly pulsing slightly opened and closed. If I hadn’t been paying attention I wouldn’t have noticed. Each dance open a little further out, and each dance in a little less closed.

There was no breeze. I then saw that before each movement outwards, the stem of the plant did a slight undulation. rising up to the flower to give it momentum to open a little more.

The whole while, I sat there with silent tears making their way down my cheeks. My whole being was filled with wonder and connection to creation. And I thought what an apt metaphor the opening of a flower is to one’s own journey of growth- unfolding to reveal the beauty that’s hidden within.

When the flower’s dance had slowed to the point I could no longer perceive it, I stood up, bent over close to it, whispered “thank you” and walked through the rest of the grounds, pausing now and then to witness the slight movement of leaves and fronds.

I walked out the gates a different person than I was walking in- maybe myself a little more open. I saw it as a sign to have find the courage to unfold, and reveal the beauty hidden inside.

I invite you in the coming days to make time to sit and witness more intimately the world around you. The songs of birds. Shapes of clouds. The pulse of life around you. What subtle moment might transport you into a new way of being?

creative practice, Creativity, inspiration, instinctive meditation, instinctive meditation, journaling, meditation, mindfulness, passion, perception, Personal Development, Personal growth, spirituality, writing

Dare the Wild Unknown

Adele Satori

I’ve been savouring this first stanza of Sutra 85, from “The Radiance Sutras” by Lorin Roche, PhD.

In trying something new, or even a fresh day, one can open one’s Self up to so much if an encounter, exploration, or a routine you’ve done a thousand time, is approached without layering expectations over the experience. I learn so much when I engage with something as if it is for the first time. Some of my best work has come when I haven’t been quite certain of what I am doing, and have the willingness to follow where events are leading me.

Here is the sutra in its entirety:
Toss aside your map of the world,
All your beliefs and constructs.
Dare the wild unknow.

Here in this terrifying freedom,
Naked before the universe,
Commune with the One
Who knows everything from the inside:
Invisible power pervading everywhere
Divine presence permeating everything.

Breathe tenderly as
The lover of all beings.

inspiration, instinctive meditation, meditation, mindfulness, perception, Personal Development, Personal growth

Level Up!

Adele Satori
Image shows certificate of completion from The Radiance Sutras® School of Meditation

I’m pleased to share that I’ve completed my advanced ,edotatopm teacjer training with The Radiance Sutras® School of Meditation, and am now an authorized teacher of Instinctive Meditation®. Woo!!

Instinctive meditation® is a form of meditation for everyday humans. You can incorporate it into any other practice you already have. It’s a practice that invites you to explore more deeply your inner and outer worlds. You’re probably doing it already, and don’t even realize it! It’s enriching my life so much.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be announcing how I might collaborate with you in creating a personal practice, as well as how instinctive meditation® can be a useful tool in your workplace.

I’m so grateful for this training, and the friendships I have made in my cohort.

instinctive meditation, journaling, meditation, perception, Personal Development, Personal growth

Find Your Way

Adele Satori
Image shows dappled sunlight on a grey stone wall with sharp green lichen (or moss)

The most simple thing can be a doorway into meditation. On my walk this morning, I was captivated by the unexpected green for this time of year , and the way the light was landing on this stone wall. I took the time to receive this beauty, and felt myself going into the beautiful relaxed awareness of meditation.

Your meditation can be as unique as you are, and may be different every time. Being open to allowing the experience to unfold, you begin to see doorways everywhere, and develop a deeper connection and appreciation for all that is around and within you.

This is the way of Instinctive Meditation®- meditation for modern humans.