survival and celebration

{There appears to be a conflict between survival and celebration.  Survival, taking care of your basic needs,  is based on pragmatism, exertion, and often drudgery.  Celebration, on the other hand, is often connected with extravagance and doing something beyond your means. For the warrior, ruling your world means that you can live in a dignified and disciplined way, without frivolity, and at the same time enjoy life.}

In the dictionary, the definition of discipline is based on the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience. 

The word discipline becomes beauty-full when we approach it from a new perspective. 

Discipline comes from the root disciple. Disciple means to be a follower or student of a teacher, leader, or philosopher. Whether we are an apprentice to another or act as our own teacher and student, discipline helps us have mastery in the world. 

In today’s fast-paced and frenetic world, just getting the most basic daily routines done can leave us exhausted and empty at the end of the day. We need discipline to do the work required, to get the results we desire. And yet, there has to be more to just getting things done to get what we desire. 

This commitment is called DEVOTION. 

Devotion to our work.
Devotion to our relationships.
Devotion to making our deepest dreams and desires come true. 

When we look at discipline as devotion, discipline is no longer the gut-wrenching hard work that we were brought up to believe. It's a kind of discipline that is inspired by an intense internal desire. It’s a sacred commitment we make for ourselves that nurtures and nourishes us wholly (holy. 

In order to master the art of any craft, our daily activities require repetition and relentless commitment to practice for perfection. That kind of perfection takes practice. 

Practice is our prayer.
And prayer is beautiful.

*quote by Choygam Trungpa, The Sacred Path of the Warrior 

celebrate the feast of faith and joy

{Faith is based on genuineness, trusting in yourself and your vision. 
You are not faking anything, and you are not trying to impress anybody. 

Faith inspires discipline, which is not based on punishment or arbitrary 

rules and authority, but rather on becoming thoroughly gentle and 

genuine.   Discipline guides you and shows you how to live in the 

warrior?s world. With this unwavering discipline, the warrior takes joy 

in the journey and joy in working with others. This joy is like music, 

which celebrates its own rhythm and melody. The celebration is 

continuous, in spite of the ups and downs of life.}


* quote by chogyam trungpa rinpoche





copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

the path of the sacred warrior

you are a warrior when you have the bravery to face who you are, without fear, embarrassment, or denial. this is the basis of the spiritual path.

-- Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.


the premise of buddhism is that we all have basic goodness. when we stand in this space, we develop confidence and strength. not to be confused with power, strength is soft. it is gentle. it is compassionate. not to be confused with being nice. or being a jellyfish.

see things as they are, but without judgement or preconceptions.

do you trust what you see?











copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

17/30

i am just a reinvention of what has already come before me.

today's focus of celebration: authors and inspiration

i am perpetually and gratefully inspired by others.
i devour books like other devour food. Food for my soul.
sometimes, food for the spirit is more needed than for the body.

thanking those great masters of art + spirituality that have come before that continue to inspire me.
just a few to bow down in thanks.

rumi
anais nin
m.f.k. fisher
john o'donahue
david whyte
chogyum trungpa
goethe
carl jung




























copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

24/30

life is a series of experiences and circumstances.
we can get caught in the net, or we can swim off gracefully out into the deep blue sea

Today's focus of celebration: overcome hope and fear

my favorite book this year has been The Sacred Path of the Warrior. it has been both my bible and my best friend.
i remember the first time I read it- a flood of tearful recognition. it was awe-inspiring to recognize myself on the page, in all my habitual glory and goriness. that is where the path begins. being completely naked and honest about one's self.

and, not getting caught up in it. training the mind through meditation so that our everyday is not just a serious of ups and downs, excitement and disappointments. it is, as Chogyum Trunpa puts it, overcoming hope and fear.

it is equanimity.
it is enlightenment.

not there yet, but definitely on the path.















copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

make space for the warrior

when doubt arises, contemplate warriorship.

-chogyum trunpa rinpoche














copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

love's fool

love
what is love?
what is love
love is a fading memory
love is piercingly present
love is ful of charm
love is hideously in the way
explosion of love makes you feel ecstatic
explosion of love makes you feel suicidal
love brings goodliness and godliness
love brings celestial vision
Love creates the unity of heaven and earth.
Love tears apart heaven and earth.
Is love sympathy.
Is love gentleness.
Is love possessiveness.
Is love sexuality.
Is love friendship.
Who knows?


July 8, 1975. From Timely Rain, pages 112 to 113.






copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

oh, to be so bold

honesty. truth. authenticity. daring. boldness. inching my way out the edge.

it shouldn't take a lot of work to be bold, but it does take practice.

here are some tomes to myself that help keep me on on the path:

1. be mindful of what you think, say and do. are you reacting from old, worn out patterns that no longer work, or are you committed to a new way of being that serves you and others well.

2. take time for replenishing. we need to refuel if we are expected to show up full of energy and on our game. it's hard to "go with the flow" when we are just trying to keep up with the current. do what you need to do to get and stay in balance. like physical exercise, our mental state also needs the same kind of disciplined workout, even if it is the discipline to shut off for a while.

3. stop making nice. it's wonderful to be generous and kind, but when you say "yes" just to please others, you set yourself {and others} unknowingly, for disappointment. better to say no than to say a yes that will be regretful later.

4. when in doubt, contemplate warriorship. my teacher, john, reminds me all the time. just sit. nothing really matters until i can see with clarity and awareness. until then, its back to the cushion for the warrior to feel the wisdom.



copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

making friends with your own terror

The lonely child who travels through
the fearful waste and desolate fields,
and listens to their barren tune,
greets as an unknown and best friend
the terror in him, and he sings
in darkness all the sweetest songs.

–Chogyam Trungpa, excerpt, “The Silent Song of Loneliness”

from Susan Piver's site. One to love.







copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

dharma art

At this point and time in my life, I am often asking different questions. I am looking to live life differently than the previous decades. Less accomplishments and doing, more living and being. Chogyam Trunpa calls this the "the art of living" and he says this is where our art must begin. Like ancient masters who have practiced for years, we too must practice. Our practice is our intentional daily lives. The way we fold our clothes. How we make our bed. The attention with with we wash dishes or clean our kitchen. When our basic foundation is ordered we can move out into the world with less neurosis and confusion. {we hope!}

We can bring that way of being to our art. Until we are that we of being, we have no art. We have struggle and ego and aggression and confusion.

When I meditate, which I don't do nearly enough, I can feel the difference. It is a practice that grounds me. I see things and people and situations more clearly. I let go. I am calm, despite the crazy conversations that spontaneously take place inside my head. If I am not meditating, I can spiral down into a million stories. None of which serve me well. None of which most likely resemble any truth of actual reality. But for me, for that moment, it is real.
When I meditate, I have signaled to my Self that I matter. That I am prioritizing my life to take care of my well-being.
Those parts of me that work without my interruption appreciate it greatly. Those parts of me that struggle and strive and toss and turn welcome the permission to just "do nothing" and be, if only for ten minutes out of my day.

Sundays are sacred for me and this is where dharma art reveals itself- in the quiet, in the calming down, in the space where the divine can be heard and allowed to show its grace.
How to make everyday our sacred dharma art?




copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

Having Fun

I don't know about you, but I often take myself way too seriously.
I love to laugh and love to be around people who make me laugh. The kind that comes naturally, without thinking or self-consciousness. It is a kind of joy.

How can we bring more fun into our lives?
How can we give our Selves permission to have fun?

Once you start looking, really open your eyes, you will see it. It may first appear as small moments of joy.
Or big moments of laughter- and, if we are lucky, we will be able to laugh at our selves! It is liberating to be able to see our selves with humor. If we can lighten up on our selves, we can lighten up our lives.

"Cheer up!" as Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche says.

It will liberate your life.



copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

everyday as an art form

Chogyam Trunga wrote a book many years ago called True Perception: the path of dharma art.

It is about living our lives everyday as an art form. It is how I want [and aspire daily} to live my life. Some days feel like a theatre piece playing out on the world's great stage. Other days are quiet and subtle, like enso drawings effortlessly painted onto the page with dense, black ink. And other days are chaos and disconnection, bearing only a resemblance of my neurosis that comes out like a Jackson Pollack painting on a bad day.

If we envisoned ourselves living an artful life, living our life as an art form, what would we create?

I would create beauty.
I would create simplicity. Wabi-sabi.
Taken from one of my favorite books of the same name.
I would think of restraint.
I would pick things that had meaning, being selective in what I put on the palatte.
I would certainly be more conscious of what I speak, how I act and what I wear.

no time like now to begin.

Read Chogyam Trunpa's original essay HERE.

copyright 2009 Alisa Barry