The state of beingness
It’s not what you do, it’s what you are that makes the difference.
Every morning I sit with a dear friend to meditate. It helps me navigate life. My increasing experience is this. It’s who you are that makes the difference much more than what you do.
She doesn’t say much but the level of her beingness shines through and the effect on me is profound.
Beingness. It is a space of consciousness. It is difficult to put into words. I feel people. And I can feel their level of beingness. This usually comes from a committed stance to continue to look at oneself, to have the clarity of sight when one goes off tangent, then to have a vision as to where one should go.
This is totally beyond the mind. In fact, it can only be felt if the mind is quiet. It needs regular practice. It needs developing the muscle to navigate the complications of life and the complexities within oneself.
What will inevitably happen is one will be able to sense the “me” that is not physical — that is much bigger than the physical body. It is calm, still and is aligned with High Principles.
This is my experience in life. When I am okay the people around me feel it. Without my saying or doing anything, things move forward. When I am with my sons, and I am stressed, they feel it. When I am disturbed about something they feel it. Just look at your life. There is a discomfort because you are not paying attention to them. See the effect your state of consciousness has on the people around you.
It’s not what you do, it’s what you are that makes the difference.
In this line, the clearing of subconscious is of great help. The conflicts and trauma of life leave deep imprints in our subconscious and more often than not become heavy baggage. These imprints affect the way we see the world and people, and in a very direct way our reactions to life in general. Have you ever dealt with someone or ever witnessed in yourself a reaction that is much more than the situation warrants? Or you meet someone and you don’t understand but your reaction is intense. Well, this comes from “accumulated gunk” in your subconscious. It is dead weight. Freedom is letting go of all these baggage so you can be free to be who you are. Free to live life without the imprints of decades past or sometimes even lifetimes past.
One can go on a guided retreat, learn how to forgive, learn how to inculcate wisdom. There are many ways. The system that has worked for me is IST. Inner Space Technology. This entails going through the gunk and then releasing it. More often than not when one feels pain the tendency is to shelve it aside because it is so painful. Thus, the experience is not processed but just set aside. But the experience does not go away nor does the trauma and most certainly not the impact on one’s consciousness. I have found that the most direct and fastest way to freedom is to have the courage to look at what happened and then allow the Divine to help you see and feel the event for what it was worth and then let go.
There are two accredited Inner Space practitioners in the country — myself and Frank Quilas — but you can also learn. On May 19-20 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., there will be a workshop on developing the clarity and vision within. Here you can learn to develop this internal muscle.
On May 21-27 there will be an IST intensive at Holy Spirit Mission Service Center in Tagaytay. This is where you learn to be a connector — exercising your vision while you hold the space for someone. And then as a client you practice having the courage to feel what is there. It can be a tremendously uplifting experience. I highly recommend it. It also gives you skills that I found very useful even in practical life, and most definitely in all aspects of personal life.
For inquiries, call or SMS Frank Quilas at 0917-6212159 or Sarah Bulan 0917-8780499 or email smbulan@abs-cbnfoundation.com.
Last week over lunch, I was having a discussion with my son. Sometimes he flippantly says the almost amazing things. So when it’s worth sharing, I write it down. I have been going around the country saying that the goal should never be just money. We are not material beings. We are emotional, we are spiritual. So I talk about happiness and Bhutan, whose goal is GNH not GDP yet they rake in US$2 billion yearly! Because they have so much forest cover, they have ample water to sell to India to China. They have free health, free education. Very little crime, healthcare, poverty if any at all.
Then my son came up with a quip. Mom the goal is not happiness — it should be mastery! That blew my mind because it was coming from this person who doesn’t even meditate. The statement is so resonant with my direction in life. The goal is not a fleeting space of whatever but to have mastery over my thoughts, and emotions. Then he said Mom the goal is not happiness — it’s freedom! This is literally what I feel as I progress spiritually. It’s an exhilaration of being that feels unfettered. He went on...Going through suffering may not feel happy while one is gong through it. But if one weathers it, the result is a deep happiness.
He said the choices made from a childlike heart result in the blooming of innocence.
So yes, we had a profound discussion, which is connected to today’s topic — Beingness.
Who we are, the flavor of our consciousness beyond the mind. Who we are in our hearts — that’s the key to our future — and that is the key to our country’s future.
There can be superb changes in the political scene but the reality is that unless there is a grassroots consciousness shift political change will be superficial. We need to shift gear inside.
There’s a video work we are doing at Kinatarcan, together with the government. It’s a model as of what can happen. The tents and furnishings come from SM and S&R UAP Metro Cebu chapter working overtime pro bono. They are amazing. DND helped with the build, TESDA gave training for hilot. DOST is giving training for cassava, dyeing of the banigs and we are just starting. The church is heavily involved.
The first video shows the island when we got there. The team building that was done. There are three barangays: Aglipay, Catholic and Seven Day Adventist. It was important that they work together.
The second video shows the work done this year — with people working together. One has to travel from the airport to Bantayan by three hours and then do a one-hour travel by boat to the island. We have fixed the boat so it’s going to be comfortable. The experience starts there.
I have to commend the United Architects of the Philippines-Metro Cebu Chapter. They have been of the highest calibre giving their all pro bono. I totally love them. I also want to officially give my appreciaton to S&R and SM. They gave the tents, the kitchen equipment, the mattresses, bed sheets and bankers. The future of Kinatarcan is happening because they cared.
If you are interested in sleeping under the stars, feeling the pristine island and helping the community that lives there, please call Gigi Labradores, the executive director of Fair Trade Philippines, a very decent and loving person. She has the Rates. All the money goes to the community. I told them they don’t have to pay me back, but they have to pay it forward. Ipasa ang pag-asa. with the money they make they put a percentage to a fund, which helps the next group of people inthe island. It’s exciting.
Check out the Kinatarcan Paraiso video at https://www.facebook.com/studioinspiromedia/videos/1976964975914476 and the Kinatarcan build video at https://www.facebook.com/studioinspiromedia/videos/1104111559731431. In this video you will see DND being involved n the build, DOST with the machines for cassava and training, the banigs the community are now making, and the games we played with ABS CBN stars just to make them happy. I want to commend Hanz Florentino for his superb work in doing the video.
If you want to go to Kinatarcan call Gigi at 939-6241801 or email fair.partnership16@gmail.com.In closing, know that you are so not alone. There are forces to guide you and support you. In this quest for beingness clearing of the subconscious is critical. Not feeling or closing off from the Divine, or not trusting is the recipe for a platonic life. We need to allow ourselves to feel, to open and receive.
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Email hellogina@gworld.ph if you have questions.
