Inspiration – Page 11

The eyes of goodness

February 24, 2012 By Atalwin Pilon 1 Comment

This morning I felt somewhat nervous and depressed. I get that feeling when I don’t feel useful and limited. Here I feel physically limited by the city. I miss exercise and tried running a couple of days ago but the exhaust fumes of the traffic make it uncomfortable to breath (just walking outside feels already unhealthy). Second is that I don’t get the amount of work done because of limited access to the Internet. I am starting to feel guilty and to feel I am losing control over my project: things are not going as I hoped and expected. I was very easy to make appointments but they were cancelled and postponed just as easily.

I would like to make a contribution but I don’t want to intrude. People are working here. I feel frustrated, I feel sad. And I’m getting angry because this post is taking it’s own direction. I don’t want a sad post.

What can I do? I can accept, surrender and start all over again. I can stop taking myself so fucking serious. I can overcome my embarrassment to offer something and I can take no for an answer. I can be flexible. I can be less ambitious and more sensitive to what is needed.

Arriving in a difficult place with beautiful people

February 5, 2012 By Atalwin Pilon 1 Comment

The energy of my trip changed this morning. Recently I learned that exercise and meditation is the way to stay grounded in vulnerable times. To honor that insight I started this morning with 4o minutes of sitting on the bed of my hostel in Jerusalem. After breakfast I did 30 more. Then I went into the souk to get my beard trimmed (I’m growing my beard to look more muslim, I’m not kidding). Went back to the hostel to get my bags and stroll to the busstation. I passed by a money exchange and wanted to use the ATM. Instead of letting me use the ATM the guy presented me a portable PIN device like you see in bars and restaurants and swiped my card. Once I as walking outside I realized I was robbed of 20+ dollars. I saw my anger and my impulses to start a riot come up in my awareness. I grinned and realized that practicing meditation doesn’t keep people from robbing you.

Taking a deep plunge into Jewish tradition

January 31, 2012 By Atalwin Pilon 4 Comments

I arrived on a Friday afternoon, a couple hours before Shabbat. Shabbat is a day of strict rest. The religious Jews are not even allowed to switch the light on or off. Which means they have found all kinds of clever solutions like leaving the light on and have special plates that keep the food warm for the next day. The hours before Shabbat are very hectic; everybody is rushing. If feels like rushing to your massage appointment, as somebody put it.

Dreams and intentions for 2012 and beyond

January 31, 2012 By Atalwin Pilon 2 Comments

I did this exercise in the first week of 2011 and to my surprise there were quite a few things that actually came through when I read it again a year later. More on that later perhaps. I have little time and I want to make my list now.

So this is the deal: write for 2 minutes (or 3 when you type slow like me) anything that comes up: all your dreams, wishes and desires. Don’t hold back. That way you will give your higher self the opportunity to speak (and perhaps your dirty suppressed side would like to speak also).

Here we go:

I want to love

I want to be open

I want to give…

When disaster strikes

July 14, 2011 By Atalwin Pilon 2 Comments

What I feel now when I look at the picture is a beautiful illustration of how the mind works, or my mind at least. We tend to not really want to look at our stuff. We rather deny or avoid the confrontation with what we don’t want to see. Everything in our Universe is always in flux, always changing. On the one hand we know that, on the other we fear that. We want things to stay the same. That gives us a sense of security.

But we have no guarantees. Even our brick houses can collapse under the force of a hurricane. Disaster can strike any moment. Our sense of security can vanish in a second.

The black wolf and the white wolf

June 23, 2011 By Atalwin Pilon 47 Comments

One of the children pops the question that puzzles him. “Grandfather, why do people fight?”. “Well” the old man replies “we all have two wolves inside us, you see. They are in our chest. And these wolves are contantly fighting each other”. The eyes of the children have grown big by now. “In our chests too, grandfather?” asks another child. “And in your chest too?” asks a third one. He nods, “yes, in my chest too”. He surely has their attention now. Grandfather continues. “There is a white wolf and a black wolf. The black wolf is filled with fear, anger, envy, jealousy, greed, and arrogance. The white wolf is filled with peace, love, hope, courage, humility, compassion, and faith. They battle constantly”. Then he stops. It’s the child that asked the initial question that can’t handle the tension anymore. “But grandfather, which wolf wins?”. The old Cherokee simply replies, “the one that we feed”.

The perfection of imperfection

March 12, 2011 By Atalwin Pilon 3 Comments

So I’m caught up in this eternal dance of my loving heart and my fearful ego. My hearts want to embrace, my ego wants to compare and judge. And when I embrace my comparing and judging my ego tells me that I can now safely say that nobody can embrace like me, creating distance again between me and other.

Sometimes it’s helpful to see the truth. Not inside us but right in front of us. Sometimes we see something that is very pure, very fragile and we realize it’s perfect even if it isn’t.

Please sacrifice 5 minutes of your precious life to watch this video.

Enlightened Faces #6 Eckhart Tolle

March 9, 2011 By Atalwin Pilon Leave a Comment

Letting the dreams out

January 30, 2011 By Atalwin Pilon 2 Comments

We worked together for 2,5 hours, faciltating an experience of openness, connectedness, togetherness, acceptance, space and silence. The willingness of these beautiful young people to plunge into the experience touches me. At the age of 23, I can imagine that me and my friends would sabotage a similar process, thinking that acting rebellious would be the cool thing to do. Working with this group gives me hope. Hope for our planet and hope for the future. I wish them an open heart and a strong back bone on their journey. I wish them the courage to stay true to their hearts when the going gets tough. I hope their bonds grow strong and that they got each others back, supporting each other when facing resistance. And finally, I hope that they will forever keep dreaming and that their dreams will come true; not just for me, not just for them but also for the sake of our planet.

12 simple ways for wholehearted and mindful living

November 24, 2010 By Atalwin Pilon 2 Comments

In reality we are not obsessed with doing things right, we are obsessed with the fear of doing things wrong. This fear has a tight grip on us. The way to go beyond this fear is to go beyond right and wrong. So instead of trying to do things the right way (read: evading to do things the wrong way) we can start doing things fully. This way we can add awareness or mindfulness to our lives. We add quality tou our lives and life to our qualities. How? Do mundane things wholeheartedly. No more, no less.

Are you ready to become a Warrior?