In fact, this meeting happens at 9am, after I have already been meditating and singing some songs from Taize.  Of course I don’t do this routine absolutely everyday, but I do notice that when I don’t, the rest of the day doesn’t have the ‘holding’ that other days  have.

Particularly though, an inspirational reading helps to set the tone for the day; to have me be the master of my destiny that day, no matter what happens; and also allows us all in the community to connect with each other through it.

SOMEONE UNTIED YOUR CAMEL

I cannot sit still with my countrymen in chains.
I cannot act mute
Hearing the world’s loneliness
Crying near the Beloved’s heart.

My love for God is such
That I could dance with Him tonight without you,
But I would rather have you there.

Is your caravan lost?

It is,
If you no longer weep from gratitude or happiness,
Or weep
From being cut deep with the awareness
Of the extraordinary beauty
That emanates from the most simple act
And common object.

My dear, is your caravan lost?

It is if you can no longer be kind to yourself
And loving to those who must live
With the sometimes difficult task of loving you.

At least come to know
That someone untied your camel last night
For I hear its gentle voice
Calling for God in the desert.

At least come to know
That Hafiz will always hold a lantern
With the galaxies blooming inside
And that

I will always guide your soul to
The divine warmth and exhilaration
Of our Beloved’s
Tent.

~ Hafiz ~

(The Gift — versions of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky)

From: http://www.panhala.net/Archive/Someone_Untied_Your_Camel.html

Notice and Ease Tool™

Now for time reasons I hadn’t gone into exactly how to do that on the call, but reflecting afterwards I realised that this is a crucial part of my own spiritual practice and what I therefore bring to my own business.  When I am in a place of fear, anxiety, worry, or just tightness and tension, it is very tempting to think that ‘more’ will solve whatever problem I am facing, ie more clients, more money, more time, more ease and flow in my life or business.  Thoughts that go along with this attitude are things like ‘If only I had more.… then everything would be OK’.  Maybe you don’t think anything quite as crude as that, but I’m willing to bet that when you’re fretting, it’ll be something along those lines.

This is completely understandable — we live in a culture where everything is based on getting more — our whole economy is based on growth, ie more.  We have been brought up to see a successful life as improving on our life situations, buying bigger houses, going on more expensive holidays, growing our businesses.  But we are beginning to see now the folly of this; and my suggestion here is that when you are in a place of fear, instead of thinking that ‘more’ might solve the problem (and the opposite is true too  - if your worry leads you to think you need ‘less’ of anything, then it’s just the other side of the same coin), that what is being yearned for isn’t what you think it is.

What is being yearned for is a sense of safety.  The mistake that gets made is that we think the ‘more’ will bring us that safety. I certainly can put my hand up and say that, and I spoke about this on the call yesterday.  Faced with a husband who couldn’t work, no pension arrangements, hitting 50, and wondering how I was going to provide for our futures, I (understandably!) thought that getting lots of money was a good idea.

But in my journey around money since, when I have gone from having plenty (even though I still thought I needed more) to owing hundreds of thousands, I have slowly begun to realise that money was never going to be the answer to my fears.  What I was really wanting was a sense of security, of feeling safe.

I’ve been practicing being in this feeling place for some time now, and it was only when I was asked this question yesterday that I realised how vital it has been to my own development, and how much it has caused me to feel free of worry, despite the fact that outer circumstances have not changed that much (yet!).

So I will be working on how to help you develop your own sense of inner safety over the next weeks/months. Right now, please post below if you have any  thoughts about this idea — do you experience a sense of safety in your life, and if so, how? And if not, what do you do to manage your fears and worries?

Not today though!   Someone was practicing heavy breathing, or so it seemed to me.  She was breathing in, holding the breath, and then breathing out. Not the end of the world, you might think, but in a silent atmosphere, it is very noisy!

What was interesting though was the effect it had on me — I was so furiously angry that I began harbouring violent fantasies about decapitating her — not quite the done thing!  Fortunately I wasn’t totally engaged in this, and was watching all these thoughts and feelings being activated, and all because she wasn’t, according to me, ‘doing it right’!  She should have been silent like all the rest of us.

Aaaah!  The judgements!  The criticism!  And then the self-judgment and self-criticism for feeling like this at all!  It was all there, as I sat watching it, and realised that I needed to welcome these feelings in rather than try not to have them.  Well, I did welcome them (eventually), and made some progress towards thoughts of alienation and fear underneath the anger.  Then the bells dinged for the end of the meditation and I was out there like a shot!

Very funny, even as I write it here.  Fortunately I have other experiences when sitting silently like this, more nurturing ones, but whoever was it said that meditation was one of the most peaceful things you can give yourself?  Not for me today!

“Read it”, he said, “it’s incredible, really inspiring!”

“Is it the same Paul Hawken who visited Findhorn in the seventies and wrote The Magic of Findhorn?” I said.

And indeed it is.  That book is out of print, but at the time it was famous for telling the world about the enormous vegetables being grown at Findhorn at the time, which led to the huge community expansion that happened in those years.  Paul has since then written 6 other books, the latest being Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came Into Being and Why No-one Saw It Coming. But what has all this to do with RichThinkers and your business or project?

Read the commencement address and you will see that this is the current context out of which we are all operating our businesses or projects, charities or non-profits, whatever is your passion. Paul expresses it beautifully; starkly yes, but with immense grace, as he speaks to young people about to make their way in the world.   Which is what you reading this site are doing too.  Making your way, contributing from your heart and soul, caring about people and our planet, wanting to run your business in an ethical way that gives back to the planet, not just taking.

Here’s a quote:

“Forget that this task of planet-saving is not possible in the time required. Don’t be put off by people who know what is not possible. Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it was impossible only after you are done”.

Wow.  This is such a great example of rich thinking. Here’s another:

“At present we are stealing the future, selling it in the present, and calling it gross domestic product. We can just as easily have an economy that is based on healing the future instead of stealing it. We can either create assets for the future or take the assets of the future. One is called restoration and the other exploitation. And whenever we exploit the earth, we exploit people and cause untold suffering. Working for the earth is not a way to get rich, it is a way to be rich”.

And Rich Thinking is just that — being rich right now, in this instant, in your heart; and radiating that to others through your daily acitivities, your services, your organisation or however you channel your particular passion.  Read the address and answer his two questions at the end — let your inner riches be known to you, and spill them out into the world.