‍Aspiration Prayer

‍May our practice today give beneficial results

May what we do here together give us the power to be of benefit to others

May it help us overcome difficulties and delusions

May it clear away obstacles

May it bring us love and draw us towards enlightenment

-Sally Kempton

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In her very last course “Karma & Transformation” Sally gave us what she obviously considered her most meaningful gift to us.  The course was essentially a call to action. The theme: understanding the way our life is structured, and recognizing the Karmic patterns that shape or bind our life, as the first step to freedom.

Let’s face it: we are all stuck in patterns of negative thinking, anger, resentment, self-doubt, remorse.  Would we not all prefer to be free of these patterns and enjoy an inner life of freedom, and happiness, had we had the choice?  We do have the choice, according to the present dharma.   Transforming our inner negative habits and becoming happy, compassionate, free human beings is within our reach in this present moment, stated our beloved teacher quite clearly. 

We are the result of our karmic history, and it is our history and our karmic habits that bind us, but there is a way to break free from all the karmic patterns that cause us pain and anxiety and zap all the juice out of our lives.  The pivot point is recognizing our patterns, the conditions that formed them and seizing our ability to act in the present moment with love and compassion.  This kind of conscious action is the only way to break the harmful patterns of binding karma, and open the space for the liberating karma of beneficial action. 

An action that originates from the desire to benefit ourselves or our family only, creates binding karma because the we do not exist as individuals. We are part of an interconnected whole.  Liberating karma comes from the recognition that we are all interconnected. To act out of love and concern for others, for the benefit of other beings, somehow liberates and frees us; the good intention behind a selfless action somehow ripples auspiciousness back to us.   

Today we can choose freedom & happiness through our actions rooted in the recognition of our inter-connectedness and the intrinsic goodness of all life. Here are some steps that Sally gave us in order to: Transform Limiting Negative Karma into a Life of Freedom & Happiness!  

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With 3 Steps for a Positive Inner Practice Today:

1. SET A NEW ASPIRATION: TO BE HELPFUL 

‍‍Start with a positive aspiration for our actions to be of benefit to ourselves and others.

Example: You are about to step into a discussion or a situation that triggers anxiety or difficulty, or brings up fear. Before you enter the situation set an aspiration which you can repeat inwardly to yourself. 

‍Aspiration: Whatever I do or say let it be helpful to the other person. And remove the idea that you know how to be helpful.  Let it arise. 

2. ADOPT A NEW ATTITUDE:  OFFERING OUR ACTIONS 

Create new habits. In each situation, instead of entering an exchange in order to achieve or get something from it, reverse your attitude by thinking: What can I offer here.

3. CULTIVATE NEW HABITS: TURN NEGATIVITY INTO POSITIVE THOUGHT 

What produces the highest merit internally is:

Thinking well of other people. 

Giving people the benefit of the doubt.

Interrupting your habit of judging other people 

When you know you are not a fault finder, you can trust your actions*

*Being a good person is to have the judgement to draw the limit and hold boundaries when something needs to be refused. ‍

Sally’s last teaching course was called “Karma & Transformation.”  Our teacher was giving us one huge parting gift. Sally really wanted us to understand life’s most important concept, karma, so we can taste real freedom and joy. This is what I understood from her: 

We are called to understand our karma, the story of our life, as a way to break free from our bondage. Understanding comes from seeing our karmic patterns with clarity and compassion.  In the most positive and uplifting way we are called to come face to face with our difficulties, vasana, in Sanskrit and in Greek, our recurring patterns that obstruct our happiness and stop us from completely loving and accepting ourselves. The greatest gift of being born on planet earth is the freedom to act. 

Through present day action we can break free of karmic habits and transform.  But how are we to act with clarity?

Sally often quoted the Bhagavad Gita which points to the answer:  “Clear vision, or clear understanding leads to clear action.”

Seeing clearly is becoming intimate with the truth of our heart.  By remembering the way back to the heart, where the highest truth resides in the form of our Beloved Divine Self, we become free and joyful.   
An extraordinary immersion such as this becomes a joyous uplifting journey through the heavenly music of Gaiea Sanskrit and Antaratma — Thodoris Hiotis. Let our conversations bring to the surface our karmic obstacles so they can be embraced and dissolved by our circle of sharing.

The exquisite nature of Zen Rocks, resembling heaven indeed, the comfortable setting and heart-warming care of the community, along with delicious soothing food and many healing elements will set the ground for our “big welcome.” 

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Let this journey of music and mantras, tantric meditations, embodied movement, and deep sharing become a celebration, a mourning ritual, a time to re-connect and re-member the beloved souls in our lives, here and beyond, and to come in touch with the Beloved residing within us at all times.

This is a summer of many losses.  In my close circle there have been several deaths of important figures: my mother in law, beloved Pari, my aunt Georgia, the matriarch of my dad’s family, my 94-year old friend Bev, role model of a human being, and our beloved extraordinary meditation teacher, Sally Kempton.  

I believe that Sally was one of the most important voices in our planet today expounding the dharma, the truth of our divine essence, and sharing effective meditation techniques to help us get in touch with our blissful nature.  She also taught us how to get free of our “sticky karma” and plunge forward into a full life transformation. Her contribution to our personal growth and planetary consciousness is immense and it will continue to unfold.  She gave us enough teachings to guide us through lifetimes, and I am certain as we continue to practice with the rich body of teachings she left behind, we will understand more fully just how rare a spiritual teacher Sally Kempton really was, and how invaluable her illumined guidance has been for a clear and balanced life.  

Steeped so thoroughly in the teachings of Tantric Philosophy and Meditation, Sally wanted us to have a taste of the transformation promised in the yogic path, to embody the bliss she reveled in, to grow and expand beyond our limits, to literally “reach beyond the ceiling” of our understanding and taste limitless freedom in the highest sense of the world.  “If you cannot reach beyond the ceiling of your understanding,” she answered my question on a specific point once, “can you bring yourself to imagine it?”  

Sure we could. And we all did, for Sally was our Pipe Piper.  Through her consistent and passionate telecourses inspired by seminal texts on Meditation Philosophy and emanating from her own profound spiritual experience, she guided us in this uncharted territory with incredible love, most profound understanding, and her unequaled eloquence. 

With Sally gone from the physical dimension but ever present in our hearts, the journey continues.  On August 25 we will gather for a retreat of “Remembering the Beloved” to give ourselves the chance to have quiet space, to revel in beauty, and to relish our connection with Sally and everyone close to us who may have recently departed.  

In the exquisite nature of Zen Rocks, we will meet to listen to Sally’s teachings again, to discuss, share, and deepen our understanding.  We will sit in quiet meditation.  We will be treated to delicious truly delectable meals.  And we will be lulled all the way to the sweetest depths of the heart by the sublime mantras and kirtan Gaeia Sanskrit and Antaratma Theodore Hiotis.  These two fine musicians were paired to play music at Zen Rocks in a pre-pandemic retreat, and those of us who were present really lack words to convey the bliss and magic experienced.  

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Sally loved the music of Gaiea. Upon getting the news of Sally’s passing, sensing the need to deeply reconnect with our teacher’s essence, I immediately called on two people to join me: Nancy, my friend and companion in the yogic path with whom we shared the same devotion to Sally’s teachings for years, and, Gaiea,  whose presence at Zen  Rocks always invokes a blissful connectedness of the deepest kind.  Gaiea is a rare inspired artist singing her love for the divine with sublime beauty and buoyancy.  She simple travels you to another dimension through her voice and passion. 

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You are so warmly invited to join us at this intimate retreat to celebrate together the spirit of our beloved teacher and friend Sally, to practice, remember, and renew our connection to life!   And if you live far away and cannot join us with your  physical presence, please join our Zoom Celebration on Sunday, August 27.