First, Self-Compassion

“I was meditating with my cat the other day
and all of a sudden she shouted,
‘What happened?!’
I knew exactly what she meant, but encouraged
her to say more – feeling that if she got it all out on the table
she would sleep better that night.
So I responded, ‘Tell me more, dear,’
and she soulfully meowed:
‘Well, I was mingled with the sky. I was comets
whizzing here and there. I was suns in heat, hell – I was
galaxies. But now look – I am
landlocked in fur.’
To this I said, ‘I know exactly what you mean.’
What to say about conversation between mystics?”
    Tukaram “Landlocked in Fur” in: “Love Poems From God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West” Ladinksy, 2002.

    Don't we all feel 'landlocked in fur' - trapped in our imperfect body & imperfect life? Perhaps we all have a vague memory of being not just stardust, but the Source itself.
    But for this very brief life ...

 

“Forget about enlightenment.

Sit down wherever you are
And listen to the wind singing in your veins.
Feel the love, the longing, and the fear in your bones.
Open your heart to who you are, right now,
Not who you would like to be.
Not the saint you’re striving to become.
But the being right here before you, inside you, around you.
All of you is holy.
You’re already more and less
Than whatever you can know.
Breathe out, touch in, let go.”                  John Welwood

 

    Tara Brach has a wonderful talk about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcb2UNwOKEA 

 

    Then, we're able to greet ourselves & others with 'Namaste':

     “A soul connection is a resonance between two people who respond to the essential beauty of each other's individual natures, behind their facades, and who connect on this deeper level. This kind of mutual recognition provides the catalyst for a potent alchemy. It is a sacred alliance whose purpose is to help both partners discover and realize their deepest potentials. While a heart connection lets us appreciate those we love just as they are, a soul connection opens up a further dimension -- seeing and loving them for who they could be, and for who we could become under their influence. This means recognizing that we both have an important part to play in helping each other become more fully who we are.... A soul connection not only inspires us to expand, but also forces us to confront whatever stands in the way of that expansion.” John Welwood