Heard in a meeting

'I want to do life 'neat', not dilute it with alcohol'.

I heard this and liked it, so I just thought I would share that.
It's a brilliant autumnal day over here. Have a lovely wednesday :)

What (free) stuff I'm listening to. Amongst other things.. Adyashanti

I love this !!!!! sooo much at the moment. Can't !! stop listening to it on my ipod. :)
The free basic teaching talks are ! excellent. But yes, I have bought some mp3's as well. Can't get enough of this at the moment. Love it to bits. I wonder what thing will be next?
Anyway I thought I would just include a reference to the free basic talks, as they pretty much cover 98% of the teaching anyway. Thats it.
I'm not going to go on about it as this one involves having to part with cash. Which I don't want to encourage people to do really. i prefer to mention free stuff only. I spend money on technology and esoteric stuff, so thats my weakness. My curiosity gets the better of me. Normally I lend people my CD's so that they can listen to the mp3's, but thats harder to do when we are not meeting each other in the AA meeting down the road, (!) but if you email me I'll see what I can do.
Hope you had a nice weekend :)
Full moon tonight!! Awesome :) I LOVE the full moon..

Here are links to the free talks on the basic teachings..? if you are interested. if not. Thats fine too :)
The Basic Teachings ~ Part 1....Principles of the Teaching
http://www.adyashanti.org/cafedharma/index.php?file=video
The Basic Teachings ~ Part 2 ...Application of the Teaching
http://www.adyashanti.org/cafedharma/index.php?file=video

3 free episodes of The Big Silence on BBC iplayer till the 12th of November

This was recommended to me and I think it is really good.

Update* The episodes have since been added to youtube so if you missed them on BBC iplayer, you can see them on youtube instead. They are on http://www.worthabbey.net/bbc/links-youtubeBS.htm

It is called The Big Silence and was broadcast on BBC2.
There are 7 days remaining to watch the 2 episodes for free on BBC iplayer online. There are two episodes of one hour each. The Retreat Centre used in this programme is St Beuno's in North Wales and has some of the most breathtaking scenery I have seen in avery long time. Stunningly beautiful. Here is a link for the place they attended if you think you might be interested in doing a retreat there. I must admit i was impressed with the Jesuits who acted as guides for retreat participants. They were very, very kind and gentle in my estimation. From what I saw in this programme. Here is a link for the retreat schedule in St Beuno's. For all I know it might be expensive. I have no idea. Monasteries offer retreats that are free or very affordable so do not despair if you have limited funds and would like to go on a retreat :)

Here is the link for the TV programme. http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/vjcp5/

I found it very moving. Excellent program. I loved the skillful insight into how to access the healing power of silence, and the transformation of the volunteers over 8 days. The volunteers were courageous and honest, very imperfect, yet they all underwent a deep transformation. They were humbled by the experience of witnessing their restlessness and conflicts when left with no distractions to 'escape' from their loneliness, boredom, and restlessness.

There are some very nice Christian monastics on here. Plus some very lovely non-monastic Jesuits (ie like you and me because we do not live in monasteries) who have managed to develop a valuable meditation practice despite work and home obligations. If you have never been to a retreat before this will give you an idea of the gentle-hearted people you are lucky enough to meet if you do. It is also an indication that it is not the ? type of path chosen that is important (as ? far as I know) meaning buddhist, christian, jesuit etc, but how much you are committed to the path you have chosen. Basically all people who sincerely and earnestly seek to grow along spiritual lines, and are committed to unconditional truth and love turn into wonderful human beings as a result of their devotional practice. Well thats what I think. 'Badges' such as Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Jesuit etc are less important than the willingness to go to any lengths to realize your best self.

Heres the blurb from the BBC iplayer website..
Abbot Christopher Jamison, a Benedictine monk, believes that he can teach five ordinary people the value of silent meditation, as practised by monks in monasteries, so they can make it part of their everyday lives. He sets up a three-month experiment to test out whether the ancient Chrisitan tradition of silence can become part of modern lives.
In this episode, Christopher brings the five volunteers to his own monastery, Worth Abbey, before sending them to begin a daunting eight days in complete silence at a specialist retreat centre.

Have a lovely weekend, ..and of course I hope life is treating you well :)

observational comedy on Spiritual Pride

AA Destroying The Social Lives Of Thousands Of Once-Fun Americans

This video does not seem to want to upload properly. Oh well You will just have to click on the link instead. It is from the Onion.
I am not endorsing the end result of this comedy sketch, but I LOVE its very accurate portrayal of taking oneself far !!! too seriously and the trap of Spiritual Pride, where you can end up feeling smug, self satisfied or slightly (!) superior to drinkers or other AA's with less recovery. Or anyone really..
When the first 100 members said 'We absolutely insist on enjoying life' they had a point. :)
Anyway, I could not resist sharing this as I thought was very funny and exposes the trap we can all fall into of thinking that we are more 'worthy' or ? something compared to other people because we have had a spiritual awakening.. Meaning we use the process of recovery as an 'ego-feeding-proposition' in itself. Reinforcing narcissism, self importance, self obsession and self centredness. My experience has taught me that much of what AA brings about is a series of very ego puncturing admissions, one after ! another. When however I feel as though I am moving toward an ego massaging proposition, I instinctively feel I am moving away from recovery. I simply do not trust that movement. I prefer ego puncturing. This allows me the freedom not to be serious all the time, or be 'earnest' like I mentioned in the previous post.
Anyway.. Have a great (sanctimonious-free, smug-free and pious-free) Thursday :)