— Interview with Lisa Erickson, Part Eight—
Go to Part One of Lisa Erickson’s Interview—
Mommy Mystic- Meditation, Yoga, Integrity and Surrender
Meditation How: Thank you for all of that— your point on war in particular. I appreciate everything you are saying. I don’t believe either you or I are comfortable with claiming to know “how it all works”. When you spoke about us all being peace and light, I believe you hit it on the nail. I also want to address your remarks about the goal being the same for all. I would like to rephrase everything I said about freedom being the goal. What I really want to say is that I believe that freedom is our starting place and birthright. Goals are something very different and deal with manifestations and expressions of that freedom, which is diverse in the extreme.
For me, recognizing this freedom is paramount before any goal need be considered. Otherwise those goals are tainted with programming. Some of us find enough comfort in that freedom that no further purpose need be designed. Meditation is for me the means by which, regardless of the technique, for recovering that freedom. Must we do anything with that freedom, once recovered? Is it not our identifications, ambitions, and goals that set us up for conflict— i.e. this is how it works? Perhaps this idea alone is too much to suggest.
Lisa: You know, your final questions here are exactly where I am at the moment— how to be of true service, service coming from light, as a vehicle of light, instead of from ego. Or is that desire just ego itself? So I am working through this one myself right now, hence some of the waffling that may have come through my answers. I feel I am an ‘action’ being, I have always been an active person, and now my karma has led to me having three kids!—(which I never thought I would have BTW, I was practically a monastic for many years).
So somehow, my life seems to have led me to a point where I am supposed to be engaged. And I do believe nothing, no experience, is wasted. So I am trying to see at the moment, exactly how I can let myself be ‘used’ by the light, I am trying to surrender my purpose, and allow myself to be guided, while remaining every vigilant for signs that I am acting from ego. And I am not quite sure yet where it is all going!
Meditation How: Krishnamurti in his book As One Is asserts that self-knowledge is not cumulative. I love these words, as they remind us that there is no way to know where it is all going, or for that matter, who we are apart from this light and this moment. Your “trying to see at the moment” is a good sign, I believe. It is when we are certain of something that we are not really present. In certainty we are carrying some narrowed view, missing life, and attracting conflict. I don’t need to ask any more questions, but I wanted to offer you the opportunity to respond and say anything more you’d like to say. I have really enjoyed this discussion with you.
Lisa: ‘Self-knowledge is not cumulative’, I love that also, and I feel the truth of it. And yet increasingly I do feel called to act in the world, in a way that I did not feel pulled to even just a couple of years ago. I think it is partly based on becoming a parent, and partly just a reflection of that ‘active’ nature I talked about earlier— that this is the way light comes through me.
I do think of each of us like this unique prism, with the light coming through us and refracting into the world in a wholly unique way. Some teach, some write, some paint, some become involved in social causes, and some simply dwell in being. I have enjoyed our discussion also, and really don’t have anything more to add.
Meditation How: Well put. After all, what is life without expression? I believe that the quality of that expression and its integrity lies in our willingness to drop ego, big plans, ideologies, and surrender to inner light— allowing that light to naturally ignite and inspire our activities. What a great process. Thank you again for participating.
About Lisa: Lisa is a meditation teacher, mom, and writer. She primarily teaches chakra meditation, combining practices drawn from Vajrayana Buddhism, kundalini yoga, and shamanic traditions. She has a deep interest in metaphysics and mysticism, and writes about these topics, as well as spiritual books, parenting, and women’s spirituality, on her blog Mommy Mystic. She is also the Buddhism editor for BellaOnline.
I appreciate so much the richness of this interview. One of the things I'm left thinking about is the balance of will and surrender, the interplay between the willingness to open our eyes and the power of the soul to bring us through the process we need to grow regardless of whether we're conscious of it or not. Knowing that makes it easier to trust life.
Thanks for the time and care that both of you put into this. It's a pleasure to read.
Susan, thanks so much for reading through all this, I'm glad it resonated for you. Yes, this will/surrender balance is the essence of the mystic path for me. The idea that the spiritual journey does require will or choice – that this is in fact the essence of our free will – and yet that it also is about letting go and allowing ourselves to be called 'home'. It's a mystery, right? Glad you checked out Benjaming's blog, he is doing great things here…