The Lent Question - Why Give Up Anything?

Published: Wed, 02/24/10

Dear ,

No fasting for me. I am indulging, delightfully indulging, in new life this Lent. I am experiencing the joy of holding in my arms all the sweetness of new life - my grandson, Edon Sebastian Kokoshi. Edon was born last Thursday morning. He is spending his first Lent drinking in the flowing milk from his mother's breasts while surrounded by the gentle, caring love of his good father. This Lent is a feast of love. (Edon, an Albanian name, means "I am love.")

My joy in Edon's presence and caring for my daughter and son-in-law has kept me from reaching out to all of you with some thoughts on Inner Lent until today. And letting you know I will be offering an Inner Lent teleseminar beginning this Sunday - see below.

With "grandmother" warmth,

Lynn

P.S. Thanks for all the sharing of your responses to the Biography exercises. I will be sending another one next week.

Why Give Up Anything?

The traditional Christian Lent practice tells us to give up something. I just heard from a client that a friend of her's had given up M&M's. Yes, I laughed, too. How many of us find spiritual significance in giving up candy or some other food? Or maybe you are giving up your favorite TV show. Why? What is the meaning of candy, TV and Lent for your soul?

As I work with the esoteric meaning of Lent, I don't know that we need to "give up" anything physical and pleasurable - although it may be a positive symbolic thing to do. Inner Lent feels more about dealing consciously with our soul hungers, desires, needs, cravings - with what we long for in a selfish way.

Perhaps Inner Lent is celebrated and experienced yearly by spending some amount of time each day for 40 days in sacred solitude, contemplating all that you hunger for with a quiet spirit-filled introspection. If you hunger for rest, a new job, a connection with a spiritual being, a vacation, a relationship or weight loss, the truth about your existence, a need to feel the joy of being loved, what do you notice about that hunger. Spend 40 days bringing consciousness to your longings.

What are the physical sensations of your soul hunger? What are the biographical roots of your soul hunger? What are your emotions about this hunger? How would you be different if the hunger was satisfied?

How would you deal with knowing this hunger will never be satisfied in this lifetime? Would you sell your soul - your thinking and your relationship to truth, your feeling and your relationship to beauty and harmony, your will and your relationship to doing good, your true freedom or your unselfish love - to have your hunger met?

Most of us hunger for things and sensory perceptions, but the hunger of Lent is for your destiny path, for healing, for liberation and for the ability for moral resistance - saying no in moral ways.

If you give up something like chocolate or TV, what are you developing? I ask this question because the mature soul strives toward inner goals. The mature soul does not simply follow tradition without understanding personal purpose.

What hunger do you need to suffer to build a stronger sense of self? Just considering this question is an act of self-development. This may not be the year to do the suffering. Just bringing your consciousness and contemplating the idea of the personal purpose to any denial and suffering and keeping it there forty days of contemplation is a meaningful Lenten practice.

I also want to share the "inside out" version of Lent. There are "Lenten" personalities, the individuals that are addicted to solitary suffering. Life is a continual fast, a continual denial of needs. They avoid pleasure and joy, even the simple ones and the brief moments. The "Lenten" personalities have a desperate pride in their addiction suffering. Inner Lent asks these souls not to fast, but to indulge a little. They need to suffer the discomforts of the sweetness of life. For them life is a desert and they need to spend Inner Lent in the oasis. How would their destiny be served by having 40 days of rich blessings? Where in their biography lives the source of their life of denial and isolation?

But...what if Lent is not about giving up anything at all? What if it is about successfully embodying a new sense of self?

The Inner Lent Teleseminar

Inner Lent leads each of us to deeply essential maturity of self-knowledge and self-mastery. What can Inner Lent offer your soul's development - the striving for the mature self? Can Inner Lent bring you to a new sense of your body, your soul and your spirit?

In the four sessions of the Inner Lent teleseminar, I explore with you the mysteries of being new, of incarnating your divine purpose and

understanding

the personal benefits of "40 days in the wilderness"
the many meanings of "NO!"
the three temptations of the modern soul as obstacles to freedom and love and how to vanquish them
the new esoteric perspectives on the great Lenten dialogues between Jesus Christ and Satan - there is so much in these words that can explain and support you in your daily inner dilemmas.

With what I cover and discuss with you in my Inner Lent
teleseminar, you will be able to apply your Inner Lent practice to
all areas of your life: health, diet, work, love, parenting,
spiritual practice, emotional well-being. Like Inner Christmas,
Inner Lent will give you the wonder, the wisdom and the wit to
shape a valued and valuable life.

As a result of participating in my Inner Lent teleseminar, you will
experience the support and caring of community. In the sharing and
listening, you will find the warmth of inspiration. The commitment
to the four teleseminars will keep you focused and attending to
your practice, working with the questions, and refining your
insights.

The Inner Lent program consists of

4 - 40 minute seminars via telephone or internet followed by 20 minutes for questions and comments.

downloadable unedited recordings of each seminar
a series of helpful email handouts and guides for "home" work.

There are three options to participating in Inner Lent. You can be on the Inner Lent calls on Sundays or Wednesdays. Or you can just listen to the recordings and work with the handouts and guides.

Sundays at 4PM Eastern, 1PM Pacific
Feb 28, Mar 7, Mar 14, Mar 21
or
Wednesdays at 8PM Eastern, 5PM Pacific
Mar 3, Mar 10, Mar 17, Mar 24

www.store.lynnjericho.com

Inner Lent or The Inner Life ?

If you are wondering whether to participate in Inner Lent or the Inner Life program or even considering doing both, here are my thoughts. What is your style of inner development? Do you like to immerse your self in lots of insight or do you take one insight and work with it deeply before moving to the next one? Are your burning questions more about the personal connection to the festivals or about your life and how you came to hold these questions? The Inner Life requires active participation and more engagement with others and has the benefit of social karma. Inner Lent and the other Inner Year programs are primarily presentations with Q&A. Both programs are spiritual, practical and deeply personal. Both will offer very enlightening thoughts and exercises. If you need to discuss your decision with me, feel free to call me 646-797-9669.

Learn more about The Inner Life here. www.lynnjericho.com/theinnerlife.html

Learn more about Inner Lent here. www.lynnjericho.com/programs.innerlent.html

Both The Inner Year and The Inner Life are cycles that will be repeated every year and like all cycles each repetition brings new perspectives and greater knowledge. Beginning next year, both programs will be incorporated into certificate and training programs for those who want to work deeply with the content for personal benefit and professional goals.

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