Ep. 77 Kevin Krenitsky: Abide in the Still Point
I haven’t read Frank Herbert’s Dune, nor have I seen the recent movie. Scenes from the cult David Lynch film are, however, imprinted on my mind, and I’m not just talking about Sting in his underpants. I’m referring - of course -to the Litany Against Fear, a poetic mantra recited by the Bene Gesserit, and it goes like this: "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." Who is this I, that remains when the fear has gone? Maybe somewhat tangentially, but this makes me this think of the words of Pema Chodron: “Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible in us be found.” This fearless I, this indestructible, intrinsic self, could this be who we really are when we strip away all that we have accumulated, all that we cling to, all that our ego desperately holds onto to give itself substance in this chaotic world of culture and expectation that we have created for ourselves? Mooji famously asked us to “step into the fire of self discovery” claiming that “this fire will not burn you, it will burn only what you are not, and set your heart free.” This week's guest is Kevin Krenitsky, author of the forthcoming book, The Still Point. The premise is this - life gets better, easier, and flows with less resistance, when we stop fighting it, and instead come to it only as it is, and not with all the stories we have attached to it. And furthermore, we get better when we come to it only as we are, and not with all the trappings of emotion, anxiety, worry and ego. The still point of who we are, and where we are. As Pema Chodron might say, that part of us which is indestructible. You can find out more about Kevin at www.authorkevinkrenitsky.com www.conversationsonliving.com