CELEBRATING 2023 AS ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING and REWARDING YEARS OF MY LIFE
I am amazed and grateful for all the great and good things we have shared, accomplished and grown through in 2023 here on Still Mountain
THE DAWNING LIGHT, Volume 8, # 685 Monday, January 1, 2024
STILL MOUNTAIN CHRONICLES Section # 38
Gratefully written by Chinmayan in celebration of all the good in 2023!
All images in this story courtesy of Pixabay
CELEBRATING 2023 AS ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING and REWARDING YEARS OF MY LIFE
I am amazed and I am grateful for all the great and good things that we have shared, accomplished and grown through in 2023 here on Still Mountain
As I was sitting here on this last day of 2023, enjoying the gentle sunlight of this fading day after a deep prayer session, my heart suddenly opened and my consciousness rapidly expanded on a rush of seeing all the great and beautiful things this past year brought into my life that I am grateful for.
To us, the birth of a new year is a time for prayerfully reflecting on our experiences, our lessons, our accomplishments and failures of the year now passing…and to listen to our own heart’s inner guidance on what is being called for from us and for us in the year ahead.
If I am honest, I would have to say that 2023 was one of the most challenging of this life…and yet, it has been one of the most rewarding and growthful.
When I review my mental tapes of the year, I am literally stunned at all that happened and how far we have come in just one year…
I AM GRATEFUL For Finally Launching “The Dawning Light”
We launched this newsletter on 12/22/2022, after years of delays and obstacles…. with my total dedication that, once launched, I would publish the “Daily Dawning Light” every morning before dawn and give anyone who signed up for my email list a FREE YEAR’S SUBSCRIPTION.
I am grateful that since then, we have sent our daily issue to our subscriber’s in boxes every day except one…that we have grown our “Dawning Light” family to hundreds of subscribers…and have nearly 700 great stories in our library.
I am grateful for every one of you who choose to read “The Dawning Light” and be a part of our small community of hundreds of good hearted people who share this journey of personal growth on your spiritual path.
You are like the dearest of family for me—you inspire me every day to keep on writing and publishing this labor of Love.
I give thanks to every one of you from the depths of my heart for being here…your appreciation, friendship and support mean everything to me!
I AM GRATEFUL for Every Step We Have Taken Towards Simple Living Freedom
We have learned that living a simpler life is not as simple or easy as it seems. For us, it is a long term work in progress.
The more we simplify, the more we see how we can simplify further.
A large part of seeking a simpler life involves letting go of everything, every one and every situation that we no longer need or is no longer in alignment with where we want our lives to go.
Over the past two years, we have cleared out storerooms and let go of a huge amount of no longer needed things…but we still have piles of tubs and storerooms to go through for another round of winnowing when I have time to do it.
We are aware of how much energy and attention is lost to things and situations that are static and stuck in the past.
I have seen how much lighter and more nurturing Still Mountain will be when every pile, every storeroom and every space has been throughly winnowed down to just the current and the essential.
I AM GRATEFUL for our courage, vision and tenacity it takes to boldly make changes…and for our faith in the Divine
I am aware that we would not have the courage, vision and tenacity it takes to consciously and boldly move out on our journey to a simpler life without our faith in the Divine and the leading of inner guidance.
I am aware that there is no real “security” in life because even the best laid plans, the fattest bank account or the most committed relationship can all suddenly change or disappear.
I know because we have been through it more than once…so for us, cultivating ever deeper personal relationship with the Divine is the only lasting refuge…and developing our faith and trust in God is the foundation for everything else.
If we did not have this deep faith that we share, it would simply be too scary to move out to create a much simpler life…
because that journey requires letting go of the old familiar lifestyle and its routines in order to move out to make the major changes we have made that our new life calls for…
such as choosing to close our business, sell our new truck and reorient to using our time to focus on the truly important things in life.
That meant being willing to live on a shoe string of meager income in order to achieve our precious “time freedom”, while trusting that our basic needs would be met.
One of our biggest lessons so far has been…” You must be ready, willing and able to give up your old life to create the space for building the great new life you feel called to create for yourself.”
I AM GRATEFUL for Prayer and Meditation…and for all my teachers.
I realized more than ever during 2023 that regular, daily prayer and meditation are absolute necessities because my greatest need is to feel the presence and leading of the Divine every single day.
In fact, I see the real value in my practices when my heart opens and my consciousness rises to a much higher level after I have been focused on my practices.
I will resume teaching these simple, yet powerful and effective practices in an online training course, “Meditation Training Intensive” early in 2024.
I teach these practices because it is impossible to make much progress on your spiritual path without practices that you can use for your own conscious self transformation.
I am grateful for all of my teachers who graciously and patiently taught me the principles and practices that give my life power, meaning and purpose.
I am grateful for the blossoming of my own personal practices now, after more than 50 years on the path, and for the increasingly clear access to my own inner guidance and all the visions and deeper understandings that I am being called to.
I AM GRATEFUL for the Positive Shifts In Our Relationship
I am grateful…and amazed..for all the positive shifts that have been blossoming in my relationship with Ani.
Our relationship has been evolving from day one because our core reality is and always has been our deep bond of Love and caring that we have for each other.
I know it was already existing when we met in this lifetime, for I recognized her from our being together in previous lives. In those lives, our connection was based on the dharma and serving others…and when we met 15 years ago, it was like taking up where we left off.
I know that the Divine arranges our lives to support our maximum spiritual growth, even if we are unaware of it. That is certainly true for us.
Ani and I were brought together to fulfill the highest purposes through our ever evolving love relationship, through having to work through all kinds of challenges and difficulties that required us to be strong, to make changes and grow.
Our relationship has been through many stages…from working friendship to romantic connection to being married to our now being the nearest and dearest of spiritual friends and companions.
I am grateful every single day to be close with Ani, but it definitely is not an easy or a “happily ever after” situation.
We both work on our relationship every day, just as if you want a beautiful garden, it must be tended constantly to blossom.
I am grateful that we have worked through so much healing and transformation that we now share much better communication and a delightful state of profound peace and harmonious alignment.
I am grateful that neither of us chose to quit when the going was so hard that any one of our conflicts or challenging hard times would have destroyed most relationships.
I am increasingly grateful for Ani herself, who chooses to stand with me;
who graces my life with her wisdom and beautiful qualities;
who matches me at every level—from the nitty gritty practical to the highest spiritual states;
who gives me the opportunity to learn how to Love ever more consciously as I seek to Love her as she needs to be loved;
who is patient and forgiving when I make mistakes or do things that disappoint or hurt her;
who loves and believes in herself and chooses to believe in me and stay on our journey of love together.
I AM GRATEFUL That We Were Able To Get Ani Her Own Tiny House That She Loves
I have much to give thanks for this year for all the progress we have made together on Still Mountain itself…from clearing out storerooms to replacing our firewood production shed that was destroyed in last winter’s terrible storms to doing major work to our old building’s electrical system.
But by far, the most important accomplishment this year is that we finally were able to find and get a “new” and awesomely perfect tiny house for Ani that she loves.
We have been working towards this for years as we tried first to remodel a room in the main meditation center building for her, then bought a tiny house that wasn’t a good fit, and finally sold it for enough money so that we could launch the search for her ideal home.
Once Ani had a clear vision of what she needed and wanted, we searched for it on line for months.
We finally found it this summer…a 36 foot tiny house for sale a few hundred miles away from Still Mountain.
We took a 10 day road trip to go see it, make a good deal, register it and bring it back to Still Mountain. We already had the perfect spot for its new berth on our north boundary, with expansive views of the fields, oak groves and distant mountains.
But the tiny house came with a long list of daunting repairs that took months of work and financial investment to complete.
For months, it seemed like all we did was work through one problem after another.
For example, I had turned on the main air conditioner on a very hot day only to have it self destruct and fry parts of the electrical system.
It took two months to repair and restore power to the tiny house.
Then we discovered that both of its furnaces had major issues, which took another two months and significant financial investment to sort out.
But it was all worth it, for the house is perfect for Ani.
We have restored, repaired and upgraded it so that it is beautiful, functional and toasty warm.
Ani has added many touches that really make it in her ideal home…
I AM GRATEFUL to be on Still Mountain, which is now our ideal sanctuary and sacred place for the next chapter of our lives…
I know that 2024 is going to be year of massive challenge and change in the world.
I sense, as I believe most of us sense, that 2024 is going to be a pivotal year for everyone on earth.
I sense that we are all about to go through a long gauntlet of wake-up calls, the resolution of which will determine the future for humanity and our planet.
These are momentous times.
It is when the darkness is rising and threatening to completely take us over that all of us who have heard the call must now stand up to shine our lights as brightly and lovingly as we can.
It is a fact that most of the great advancements for humanity have come about when the great and good people have stepped forward to answer the challenges of their time.
This is such a time for all of us who are here on earth now…and in my heart, I believe that we will rise to the challenges and that we will prevail because people like us, who live to love and serve, stand up to work for the greater good for all.
THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE WITH US TODAY!
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Meanwhile, may this be one of the most wonderful and amazing days of your life!
STILL MOUNTAIN MEDITATION/ INNER RESOURCE INSTITUTE
Center for Authentic Meditation Training and Practical Spirituality
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We are planning to launch our next “Meditation Training Intensive” course in the first months of 2024.
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“Your greatest service to humanity is to attain your own Self Realization!” Ramana Maharshi
From our hearts to yours…
Never miss a chance to tell your beloveds that you love them and why and what they mean to you…
You never know when we may get another chance in this wild and beautiful world!