Golden Snippets from Israel

The recent Tuval retreat with John in Israel was great and the first snippets I'm going to share with you are from day two when John was speaking of the goodness of opening and softening in the midst of pain ...

 "The value of your past is that you're able to learn from

opening and softening within an instance of your past...

When life touches upon it and brings it up into your body, 

for openness and softness of heart that's a gift...

When something triggers your past it's triggered in your body; 

you are embodying your past...

Your body doesn't belong to your past,

your body belongs to your being.

You embody your past whether you realize it or not...

The deeper the pain, the deeper the level of beingness

that's able to move into your body.

Embodying your own being is you

earning your own being.

Earning your being in your body...

When the deeper levels of your body open

then the deeper levels of your own being are 

physically palpable..."

- John de Ruiter, 15 November 2013, Israel

And these next snippets are from the end of the retreat, on day five:

"It doesn't matter how many times you fall,

what matters is the manner and the speed

with which you get back up."  

"At first you don't know how to be in This,

later you won't know how not to be in This."   

- John de Ruiter, 18 November 2013, Israel

Before I sign off, another gentle reminder to see if you have a question you'd like to send in for John, to post it as a comment below.  I know many of you enjoy the dialogues with him (which I upload as a free podcast) and for them to continue there needs to be a steady supply of questions...

Until next time,

Love,

Shanti  

The Sermon on the Mount

A holy site overlooking the Sea of Galilee

Shalom! At last I can update you from the holy land! The above pic was taken just the other day when I went with some friends to the Sea of Galilee (that's me on the left looking all Middle Eastern). Before we went in for a swim at sunset we visited a peaceful spot overlooking the area which was supposedly a site visited by Jesus, from which he no doubt espoused some wisdom to a group of lucky ones; it definitely had that vibe. And John was also at the same site last year just to up the holy factor but really, after the five day retreat with him at Tuval, we were already steeped in the magic ...

The title of this week's Post was inspired by some of the informal talks John gave at Tuval on a hill top. Seated in his biblical booth (a makeshift shaded area over his chair complete with palm fronds) with us all gathered around him, made me think of the sermon on the mount ...  

In addition to the two formal meetings with John each day, there were so many more informal meetings and gatherings with him that it was almost like each day was one big non-stop meeting!  And the five day retreat was over so fast it made me wonder about the nature of time during meetings with John ... perhaps when we go deep with him, on those other levels, time is... not.  For sure I'm still digesting it all and at the same time I'm enjoying just being here in vibrant, sunny Israel.  I'm meeting new people and doing new things and, as always, applying John's teaching and noticing that when I am coming from what is deeper, it's all so different.  

Dear ones, I must dash, I'm meeting a friend in Tel Aviv for a walk along the beach to Old Jaffa.  Before I sign off, I've received a few questions (emailed directly to me) for John which I'll post soon - but as always, if you have a question for him don't hesitate to post it as a comment below.

Until next time,
Love 
Shanti

A Brief Sojourn

I'm off to Israel!

I had an altogether different Post planned for today, but this morning a fresh breeze caught my sails and I found myself thinking about spontaneously going to Israel and attending the retreat there with John... And much to my surprise, I have booked a ticket, almost packed my bags, and I leave in the wee hours... So for this week it's a short Post because I've got no time to do more ... with any luck I'll be able to access cyber space from Israel next week and I can keep you post-ed...

Until next time,

Love,

Shanti 

Difficult

difficult

ˈdɪfɪk(ə)lt/

adjective

adjective: difficult

1.

 needing much effort or skill to accomplish, deal with, or understand.

"she had a difficult decision to make"

 

The above definition was a cut and paste direct from a Google search I did just now. Yes, life has presented me with some rather humungous difficulties of late and I've been using all of my resources in dealing with that.  John's teaching, to soften in the midst of difficulty is good advice, for sure, and I've been doing that over and over.  But, it is a tad complicated and as such, softening only goes so far ... as it says above, "she had a difficult decision to make" - yeah, it's more like that.  So I do soften, and that helps me to stay open and not get caught up in hard and reactive thoughts, but it's the discerning what to do about it part of things which is actually the most challenging ...  I know it's ok to feel pain, and the lovely okness of beingness is always there, the silent undercurrent no matter what, but stuff needs to get sorted out! And there's not as much power available to me under the circumstances to affect such sorting, even when the clarity is shining.  Ah well, John's back from overseas at the end of the week so maybe he can help me sort things out.

 

Until next time,

Love,

Shanti