Thanks, Jack.\u00c2\u00a0 I didn’t suceed in developing much engagement with the other participants but I did all the reading and some of the exercises and I have appreciated your guidance–both through the Does Space Get Wet and\u00c2\u00a0your postings.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0LOK exercise 48 has been a good\u00c2\u00a0ending exercise for me, because I have found that it relates strongly to my present daily life–to which I now return without the continuing benefit of the on-line TSK course.\u00c2\u00a0 Putting Space at the center (and the provocative suggestion that this can reveal how the mental and physical aspects of our experience are indistinguishable) gives a wonderful shove towards a sense of wholeness.\u00c2\u00a0 Putting Time at the center (and the suggestion that this can allow the dynamic flow of life to take precedence over self-centered concerns) has provided me with both encouragement and a question.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0My wife and I spent a very stressful month during which a private school,\u00c2\u00a0which we want our 16-year old\u00c2\u00a0to attend this fall, only gradually\u00c2\u00a0divulged their concern that he\u00c2\u00a0is too withdrawn\u00c2\u00a0for their program.\u00c2\u00a0 My wife’s stress level was agonizing for her (since this school really seems like it can be a deliverance for our son), while I was much more able to wait for their application process\u00c2\u00a0to take its natural course.\u00c2\u00a0 For this greater comfort with the “dynamic flow” of life, I\u00c2\u00a0thank\u00c2\u00a0my contact with the TSK vision.\u00c2\u00a0 However, a question arises: my wife’s anxiety\u00c2\u00a0drove us to\u00c2\u00a0write some impassioned e-mail\u00c2\u00a0to the school and to offer to make the four hour drive to visit again.\u00c2\u00a0 I think this was\u00c2\u00a0an essential step\u00c2\u00a0in getting them to eventually accept our son for next year.\u00c2\u00a0 I think that it was vital to talk with them again in person, before they had made a final decision and that otherwise\u00c2\u00a0it may not have been possible to change their mind.\u00c2\u00a0 I do not for an instant wish for the kind of anxiety my wife has to live with, but with our different dynamics I sometimes feel that she draws more directly on Time’s energy.\u00c2\u00a0 My equanimity sometimes has an oblivious\u00c2\u00a0quality.\u00c2\u00a0 The third part of the exercise, putting knowledge at the center (and the suggestion that this can help make the positions of others as important as our own)\u00c2\u00a0is the part that describes what I most need to do in my daily life right now.\u00c2\u00a0 Again it is my 16 year-old son who provides the greatest challenge.\u00c2\u00a0 It is my hope that I can\u00c2\u00a0learn to quietly listen to him and remain present to him as a fellow being whose positions are as important as my own. I can already feel that this hope is helping our relationship.<\/p>\n
I hope that the retreat is nourishing for all of you who attend.–Michael\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thanks, Jack.\u00c2\u00a0 I didn’t suceed in developing much engagement with the other participants but I did all the reading and some of the exercises and I have appreciated your guidance–both through the Does Space Get Wet and\u00c2\u00a0your postings.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0LOK exercise 48 … Continue reading