This abundance practice has been fun! The other day I couldn't stop laughing as I was brought face to face, or face to tail, with the clarity that asking for abundance opens you to more than having more money. Let me explain.
I have a 20-pound cat at home who acts as if he's never been fed and loved. Yes, that's him above, his name is Jasper. In the morning he begs for food as if he hasn't eaten it days. If he doesn't see me jumping out of bed to fulfill his needs, he moves to his obsessive licking habit as if he could nourish himself with paper's fiber content. A noise that is sure to motivate me in some direction. This particular morning I was chanting my abundance mantra sitting on my bed. I hadn't yet made it out of bed but because I simply sat up, Jasper assumed food was on the way and he ran to the dish. It didn't take long for him to realize I wasn't following so he returned to my room and, as I was in the middle of my chanting practice, proceeded to begin licking every book in his path. The noise being like nails on a chalkboard to me, I found myself quickly becoming agitated. “Om Shrim Maha Lakshmiyei Swaha, please grant me an abundance of patience. Om Shrim Maha Lakshmiyei Swaha, I pray to spirit, please more patience! Om Shrim Maha Lakshmiyei Swaha, Spirit, grant me an abundance of what it is i need if it's not patience! Om Shrim Maha Lakshmiyei Swaha, ...Jasper!” I broke my concentration to clap my hands loudly, Jasper jumped, stopped licking, and proceeded to sit watching me as I finished my 108 rounds...as if it was the most natural and relaxed thing in the world for him to do. Ok, so I'm still praying for patience.
Later that day, as I practiced Yin Yoga where the postures are held for 5 minutes each, Jasper grants me another opportunity for patience. I was folding forward with my forehead on a block in an intense hip stretch called 'shoelace' (it's like cow face, gomukhasana). As I struggled to maintain serenity and awareness of the sensations in my hips, Jasper comes in and starts rubbing against the block. Remember, this cat is 20 pounds so every time the block was 'nudged,' it was threatened to be knocked over. (Nudgenberg is one of his nicknames...think Hindenberg) Boom, boom, boom...head knocks into the block, butt from the right, butt from the left, purr purr purr...and just as I can't take it anymore I begin to giggle and laugh until finally I give in to his quest for love and move pet the beast. Wouldn't you know it, just at the moment I reach to for him he runs away!
Is there a lesson here? Other than the opportunity to practice tracking my emotions through the experience, I was gifted with abundance of joy. I could have remained angry & irritated and instead was filled with laughter. I was granted the opportunity for my mantra practice to be about more than money. Sometimes it seems that all of our problems will be solved if only we had that extra money. Another $100 in my pocket wouldn't have stopped Jasper's behavior...though maybe I could buy one of those fancy self-serving cat dishes...
Abundance and Peace to you all, namaste.
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