First Quarter Moon of October, and Navratri, Part 3

Navratri continues for the final three nights. The nine nights of Navratri are broken up into sets of three, and during each a different aspect of Shakti is meditated upon. For these final three nights we honor and thank the Divine Mother as Saraswati, who is "the essence of self". Saraswati’s wisdom and knowledge leads to enlightenment, happiness, and peace.

And this is the First Quarter Moon; we are one-quarter of the way through the moon cycle. The moon is waxing - getting larger - until it's full again. Now is the time to remain flexible, use my obstacles as fuel for growth, and show full effort for priorities.

Agenda Today:

1. Morning meditation and mantra

2. Journal queries

3. Make a full effort plan

4. Write a Mission Haiku

5. Practice visualization

6. Add to my altar

1. Morning meditation and mantra:
During Navratri, Hindus work on their vyavhaar (behaviour) and acharan (character). For these last three days I honor the intuitive aspect of the Mother.

Saraswati is dressed in white, holds a scroll and plays music on a veena. She is called the Flowing-One because she comes from the river, and offers the gift of fluidity in speech and thought. She is the embodiment of the knowledge of Truth and spiritual wisdom. Saraswati shines with the pure light and uplifting energy of sattwa.

On my path I pass through the stages that everyone has to pass through - one naturally leads to the next. As I eliminate an undesirable quality, I develop the virtue opposite to it. Each time I succeed in developing and strengthening my good qualities, I am ready to receive another bit of the Light, moving towards enlightenment - that's what the nine days of Navratri are all about.

On each morning of Navratri I light a small white candle. For these last three mornings I meditate on my inner wisdom, and the new light and understanding I have received this season.

I picture this Mother spirit sitting on the blossom of my heart, sprinkling me with cleansing waters, and shining the light of wisdom, peace, and Truth.

I continue to focus on my image of Saraswati and chant- 

• Om - the primordial sound 
• Aim - from which knowledge and powers of speech emanate 
• Sa-ra-swath-yai - goddess of wisdom 
• Na-ma-ha - I pray.

(You might want to chant along with someone who knows how. Many YouTube versions exist, and my favorite is here.)

2. Journal queries:

Today, at the first quarter moon, I prepare to give full effort to my priorities; I remember that for each opportunity in life there is a challenge. 

My theme this month is abundance, and the challenge to abundance is limitation; if I feel restricted, I will find it hard to accept the blessings that present themselves. 

The limitations I most often feel are lack of time and energy, making it easy to say, "I don't have the time or energy to take on anything new."

The practice for meeting this challenge is to open doors and step through.

Which of my priorities am I having the most trouble acting on this month? 

 
What potential challenges and obstacles do I face this week and month (things I don’t enjoy, don’t know how to do, or feel blocked on) and how can I best meet them? 

 

What do I need (tools, information, allies) in order to best practice the habits of abundance and gratitude? 

 

3. Make a full effort plan: 

At the first quarter moon, I prepare to give full effort to my priorities. Full effort requires:

• Attention: You remember what it is you want to do and your deepest reasons why - and also notice your emotions, energy, challenges, etc.
• A spark of energy and determination: You connect to your excitement for life, and sustain it long enough to accomplish your priorities.

I'm thinking today about full effort for all of my projects: house projects, garden projects, committee projects, art and gift-making projects. I was on a pretty good roll but I've bogged down a bit. I want to expand my time and energy by opening the door and stepping through to each project I want to complete, because my brilliant ideas won’t have any impact on the world unless I put them into form.

Today I made a Full Effort plan for completing my projects:

1. Build energy for my project by reviewing those I want to work on in the morning and listing what I need to prepare.
2. Gather the supplies I need and set them out on the table. 
3. When the time comes to act on one of my projects, I will focus my full attention on this one undertaking, and lean in to it with excitement and curiosity. I use the notion of "leaning in" as a body-mind-heart training.

4. Write a Mission Haiku:

My missions are my various big projects or directions in life. Today I'm looking at my mission for Creativity. I'll write it as a haiku, because a poem has a unique ability of getting to the core of a Truth. Here's the steps I use:

1. Write a brief, evocative sentence or two describing this top mission in my life, and the significant issues that surround it:

-I intend to be creative, expand my perspective (think outside the box), be curious, explore new ideas, take creative risks, make and do things with my hands, and express myself, because I was born to create: My creativity is from and of God, and is the voice of my soul.

2. List the most exciting or pleasing verbs that describe what I want to do with this mission:

Create, Make things, Experiment, Sew, Draw, Paint, Plant, Dig, Drill  

 

3. Next, list some core values that go with this mission:

Love, Unity with Nature, Celebration and Play, Creativity, Purpose, Service

4. Turn these sentences, verbs, and values into a haiku, an unrhymed poetic form consisting of 17 syllables arranged in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively (or a Cinquain, which is five lines, with 2, 4, 6, 8, and 2 syllables), that gets to the core of my mission, and gives me a framework for my actions.

Hands on.

Thread the needle;

Plant the seeds in the soil;

Pick up the brush and express myself-

Create!

5. Practice visualization:

I call on the practice of visualization to help bring my goals to fruition. Today I choose my top 3 projects to shine a light on. Creative visualization is a technique that uses my imagination to create change. It has three steps:

• First, center and relax each part of my body; count from 10 to 1, then open a connection to Spirit. Feel a soft warmth begin to grow and spread through me, until I am radiating quiet energy.
• Second, create a clear, detailed picture in my mind, as though the objective has been reached. Paint a vivid mental image of exactly how projects will look, and put as much positive energy into the image as possible. 
• Lastly, affirm that this is what I want with a short positive phrase in the present tense: "Today I paint a sign for UNITY to express my deepest desire."

The thought-image is like a signal-flare that guides the physical thing or deed to manifest in my life (or it's just a good way to keep my intentions in my mind). I will carry the vision of the completed goal with me, and focus on it often during the day, in a gentle manner.

6. Add to my altar:

For the next three nights the Mother is invoked as Saraswati, the Goddess of learning, wisdom, speech, music, and all the creative arts. Hindus often put books and art tools on the puja so that Saraswati can bless them.

Today I added paintbrushes to rededicate myself to creative expression.