Rev. Nancy Ballinger
Spiritual Director
AWAKENING Interfaith Spiritual Community
Rev. Nancy Ballinger has lived in Morro Bay with her husband Ron Schow since 1993. As an educator and Marriage, Family and Child Therapist she taught internationally for 10 yrs. with Quest International, consulted with alcohol treatment programs, served as Children's Bereavement Counselor for Hospice of SLO and had a private practice until 2000.
In 1996 Nancy entered an interfaith seminary, and in 2000, graduated and was ordained. Since her ordination, ministry has been her full time work - offering counseling, classes, worship services, retreats, meditation, weddings, memorials, and more.
As the Spiritual Director and founding minister of AWAKENING Interfaith Spiritual Community in Morro Bay, she brings a rich background in Eastern and Western spirituality and philosophy, and an inspiring message of living an authentic life to one's fullest potential.
AWAKENING Interfaith Spiritual Community is located at 1130 Napa St. (old Morro Elementary)
Weekly meditation offered :
Mondays 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Sundays 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
ALL WELCOME
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Finding the Sacred in Everyday Life
Nancy Ballinger
Watching the moon
at dawn,
solitary, mid-sky,
I knew myself completely:
no part left out.
Izumi Shikibu (974-1034)
With years of putting around the bay, my husband Ron and I decided a few weeks ago to take to the seas. After exploring various options, launching at Moonstone beach seemed a wise choice for the maiden ocean voyage in our fairly new tandem kayak.
We went early in the day on a morning that predicted small swells. Setting our course, we chose a huge clump of seaweed on the horizon as our goal. Ever keeping in mind that it was important to take each wave head-on, we proceeded, fully knowing if one caught us off guard and hit broadside we would likely tip and find ourselves in deep water trying to stay afloat.
The adventure of meditating is like this. We arrange the optimal conditions for a rewarding experience. First we explore the best time for us to practice. I find morning works for me, before checking e-mail or making calls and while the waves of thought are still relatively calm. Then we find a place where we can be still and quiet for a period of time. I find that place sitting in my study. For others it can be walking on the beach or resting in the garden. To quiet the mind we choose a single point of focus and keep our attention there. It really doesn't matter what we choose, since the purpose is always the same -- to have a focal point.
Following the breath is the most common technique used in meditation. It supports the body, as well as the mind, in becoming quiet. In walking meditation we attach the breath to each step. In sitting meditation we notice the breath as it comes and goes. If we use a mantra, which could be a word or scriptural phrase, we repeat it in coordination with the breath. Regardless of technique, the important idea is to have a point on the horizon to direct the boat we call "mind."
As the waves of thought crash into our meditation we steer the mind with the oars of breath directly and straight on through them, returning our attention to our point of focus, the mantra.
As anyone who has ever taken a ride in a tandem kayak or a bicycle built-for-two knows, it is essential for the two parties involved to work together. Ron and I always enjoy watching couples that want to take our tandem bike or kayak for a spin. My years as a marriage counselor come back to me and I smile at their high level negotiations of who will be at the helm and in charge.
In the same way, in meditation there are two necessary components that must learn to work together for success - determination and the wisdom of discernment. Determination is what gets us up out of our warm, cozy bed in the morning or motivates us to leave the office during lunch break to sit for 20 minutes in the park. With determination we decide to turn off the TV an hour earlier and make meditation part of our bedtime routine. It takes determination, the strong rower in the mind boat, to get us moving in the direction of the goal -- resting in the calm waters of contentment and peace.
Now, if determination has his way he will run the show, determined to accomplish and master this task of becoming a meditator! With a fanny-pack full of "shoulds," the ego, fueled by determination, takes over making it a new project. First, he must find the perfect place to meditate and takes weeks deciding and getting the space set up. Next job is to determine the correct mantra through perusing volumes of meditation books and online "mantra" searches. He remembers a teacher once recommended a meditation shawl, meditation beads, and meditation cushion. On and on the boat mind goes at full throttle and out of control with thoughts and desires about this meditation project
Eventually the other vital element in the team calmly says - whoa! We are swerving off course here and we are totally out of sync. The wisdom of discernment, having been on this adventure many times before, gently, without harsh judgment, focuses on the breath oars and points our little boat of mind back in the right direction. The wisdom of discernment reminds us what meditation is and is not. Meditation is not something that we do or make happen. It is arranging conditions conducive to quieting the mind and resting in our natural state of wholeness.
In the beginning there seems to be a never-ending set of thought waves breaking on the infinite sea of mind. Our preoccupation with thoughts about the past and future create waves in our mental field that cause us to be restless and unhappy. Always treading water to stay afloat, we are hit broadside by the ever-shifting circumstance of life and winds of change. I can tell you, it is possible through meditation to first quiet these thoughts and then to actually let them go.
With the power of determination and the wisdom of discernment we confidently and humbly embark on the ever-new adventure of each meditation.
To learn more about meditation join us for the Living the Eternal Way Spiritual Training Course beginning Sept. 3
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