I love the Recording and Listening practice. I have used this tool since its inception. It has brought me back to Life many a time. The other day I came upon this quote from the Guide from an email class, and thought it is such a perfect reminder for us all. The Guide says to a class participant:

“That’s why you MUST do a recording and listening practice! You record about all the support you have, record your strengths (talents, gifts, abilities), record reminders about what the voices are and how they hoodwink you (and what you can turn your attention to instead), record the karmically conditioned habit of fighting natural impulses (and how that doesn’t work), record what you see about conditioned mind, and record your experience with faith. Then LISTEN. The identifications will fall off, clarity and kindness will arise, and faith will grow. The resistance to the R/L practice stems from the fact that egocentric karmic conditioning/self-hate knows the practice works to put it out of business! Gassho.”

I find Recording and Listening IS a must if we want to end suffering. The recording part is a great training tool to use, as we know, for disidentification. I get caught up in something; I record; the Mentor listens and gives wise counsel. I listen. I come back to Life.

One thing I particularly enjoy is monitoring my energy by recording its level. I use “well being” as the baseline and notice what makes my energy rise from that point (always something from Life in the moment) or plunge below well being (always something from egocentric karmic conditioning/self-hate.) By Recording and Listening to this, I become very aware of the triggers ego-I uses to bring my energy down below the place of well being, and practicing with this awareness I can avoid ending up down there in the first place.

Another thing I love to do is just happily go about telling the Mentor how grateful I am about what is going on in the moment. I find this a great way to keep my attention in the moment. I just talk to the Mentor like I’m talking to a best friend on the phone, only it’s even more pleasant; the Mentor is a very good listener. I really enjoy listening back to these recordings. The person talking sounds so very present, grateful, lit up, and so alive with Life. I find these recordings uplifting. So if my energy is in the least bit flagging, it isn’t for long! I come back to Life living Life, in an instant.

Thank you to the Guide, for the best practice-training tool ever (along with the supreme tool, bar none, meditation, of course.)

Gassho.

Do you have a favorite R/L insight, idea, or practice tool? We’d love to hear it! Send us your favorite quick tip (75 words or less) or submit your idea for a blog post.