Skillful Means

by Nick Andrea

At dusk,
the Moon awakens me from
forgetfulness of this.

This I believe to be the goal of all human life. What is this? This. Right here, right now. ‘Me’ in this moment.

Countless spiritual and yogic traditions have devised means to come back to this – astanga yoga, meditation, mantra, visualization, drumming, ecstatic dance, prayer – all beautiful expressions of the human aspiration for presence. This also happens to be my passion in life, after all, “what else is there than this?”

I used to work with youth and tried to teach them presence but this was very hard for them to grasp in the ways I was demonstrating it. Teenagers, for example (especially of the American variety), don’t take to sitting silently for any length of time. Maybe I can do that, but I found that to expect them to was unrealistic. Hec, most adults in my family can’t even do that. I got discouraged and gave up.

Though, I continued to deepen my own practice. After some, however, time I began to discover that the sort of excessive discipline I was trying to teach them was not conducive to my own growth in presence. I found it increasingly separate me from the moment. I started to think maybe I’ve got an inner teenager, too. Ironically, though, I began to notice this presence appearing spontaneously without any rigorous *formal discipline. It came while walking the dog, preparing dinner, or even doing something I hated for work. That’s not to say practices like yoga and qigong and even drumming which I love so much didn’t also produce it, they did, but only when they were called for.

Appropriateness. I have found that the moment has an intelligence vastly more expansive than my unit consciousness (which is to say, my human mind). It knows what is needed. Since the golden discovery that the dawning of spiritual awareness is not limited to moments of formal spiritual practice I have begun experimenting with different methods for eliciting it. I know feel that creativity is an integral part of it, especially in my path, and that the revelation of the correct “practice” in found in this intimacy with now.

Today, for example, I took my drum outside and played for a good while. This occupied my brain enough that I was able to enter the moment purely and sit for some time in stillness. What I saw was I think the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen – a tree against the backdrop of a blue sky; beauty in the eye of the beholder.

But going back to the example of drumming, I remember when I used to play with Alokli (check me out in the orange playing the bell, on the left!). I would go to class, play for three hours, and feel like a million bucks every time, hands down. It didn’t matter how I felt or what I was dealing with when I walked in the door. The power of drumming…

But, many such things have power if they are what’s needed in the moment. And how do we know what that is? You guessed it, by being here. Thanks for reading.

*”Formal” here means adhering to a rigid form of how something should look, for example, 30 minutes of Zazen meditation sitting in lotus posture twice a day. I find that I can still have strict discipline as long as it’s not tied to any specific form, but to the formless now.

Moments at Dusk

by Nick Andrea

Moments at dusk;
With every step,
This deepens.

Unfathomable Truths

by Nick Andrea

The birds
the crescent moon
the still air on my skin
Uttering truths of unfathomable depth
At dusk.

Intuition

by Nick Andrea

We were nearing the end of our yoga class today when the teacher asked us to do the inversion of our choice. I did shoulder stand, and when I came out of it a bit earlier than everyone else I immediately went into “happy baby pose.” Now, I don’t like this pose and I don’t do it by choice, nor does this particularly teacher do it very often. So, I don’t know why I was prompted to, it just felt like the “flow” of the moment.

Then the teacher saw me and said to the class, “our class psychic, Nick, is already in our final pose, happy baby. So go ahead and follow him to that one.” I asked him afterwards if he had been thinking about doing this before and he said yes, he had been planning on it for a while. Evidently, I had tuned into the cosmic radio station.

The more I let go of effort the more this sort of occurrence happens to me. It’s not always rational, in fact, usually it stretches me in some way, yet, time and time again it pans out to be true. From that I’ve this growing sense of the unseen connections that exist among all things. How could my body know where the yoga teacher was going if on some level we are connected?

Speaking of which, I’d like to discuss the details of that moment. I’m coming out of shoulder stand and my body just feels, or hears, or knows where to go. There was some resistance from my mind because, of course, it thinks the body doesn’t like this pose. It doth protest, “Body, why do that pose? We don’t like it.” But, the body knows better; the being knows better. Ego is resistance, relax that and Nature speaks for itself.

My learning these days is that awakening intuition takes no effort at all. There is nothing to do to “get there,” no special formal practice that guarantees us a clear channel to It, because it is already with us. It always has been. So, how can doing anything bring us closer to what we already are? Therefore, I say that the effort is to get rid of effort because trying too hard is the obstacle, but just by listening and remaining open does it blossom like a rose. Trusting enough to let the ego down is what allows us to tune into that cosmic radio station.

In closing, I’d like to say that I’m not writing this to toot my own horn but as a student of intuition I feel compelled to record these stories (as much for myself as anybody) as lessons on how to activate this wonderful gift that we all have. God bless.

This Moment Is It

by Nick Andrea

I have lived my entire adult life looking for some idea or practice that would guarantee my enlightenment. Naturally, I have been drawn to practices like Buddhist meditation, Taoist internal alchemy, and 8-limbed Raja Yoga as foolproof formulas to get me there. After all, the Buddha said we need a raft to cross the river to the shore of enlightenment.

Yet, practicing these things over the years never seemed to get me any closer, though, it did intensify my neurotic need to be other than I was. It also separated me more and more from the present moment and those around me. It wasn’t until I met my teacher that this obsession began to break down.

It began with reading an Eckhart Tolle interview where he is asked, “Does your spiritual practice involve prayer and meditation, or is it more a state of being?,” and replies, “It is more a state of being.” (Reference http://www.eckharttolle.com/article/Spiritual-Awakening-Of-Eckhart-Tolle). It was then that I realized that this great artist of life doesn’t “do” anything to be who he is, he just is. That began a cascade of realizations that culminated with my meeting with my meditation teacher this morning, As I sat with my meditation teacher, Bill Walz. He asked, “What are you when you’re drumming?” I replied, “Being like a child.” He responded, “Then that’s a powerful spiritual practice for you,” because children are not worried about the past, the future, or something outside of this. They are masters of the here and now, and the here and now is where enlightenment is found.

It is walking the dog, cooking dinner, taking a shower. It is being with friends, driving my car, and also sitting quietly breathing and holding root lock. Sitting meditation, hatha yoga, and qigong are not bad practices. After all, they do wonders for the mind and body just like eating well and having a low stress work environment. But these are expressions of enlightenment, not paths to them. We do them because we ARE enlightened, not because we’re not.

Enlightenment is not a thing that can be gained in the future. It can only be found in satisfaction with this moment. It is taking joy in making curried potatoes for a potluck I’m going to, tonight. It is the lush green trees outside my window. It is the cool kangen water I’m drinking out of my mason jar.

What, if not this, are we looking for, and if we’re obsessed with a practice – with one particular expression of enlightenment – how can we be here and now?

Moments of Silence

by Nick Andrea

Through the movements
of the dog looking for his seat
moments of silence.

Pauses

by Nick Andrea

Dog moves in circles
Looking for his place to sit
And sometimes pauses.

Outside Inside

by Nick Andrea

Thunderous, thunderous
Rain, outside, as we practice
Yoga, inside.

A-B Tech

by Nick Andrea

At community
College I learned to write code
Computers could speak

Without finishing
The degree I free-
lance for a living.

Best damned thousand bucks
This philosophical soul
Ever did spend. Yeah!

Sincerely Squirrelly at Dusk

by Nick Andrea

Dusk, the day doth close
As trees prepare for the night,
And squirrels, as well.