Fire in the Dancing Heart: Reflections on Life and Death

By Bikem Ozturk

Whatever your story, be it a rape, abortion, or mental illness, you are bigger than your story. You can stop, stay in the present moment, and feel the Divine Love in yourself and God's love for you. You can thrive! It is possible!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Oct 29, 2014
• ISBN: 9781452560212

Bikem Ozturk

Bikem Ozturk, born in Istanbul, Turkey, is a writer, dancer, and healer who would like to accompany you during your life journey to full contentment and joy. Bikem writes journals since she moved to the United States in 1993. She was a member of the first dance theater company, Green Grapes, in Turkey. She is a Reiki Master of the Usui System of Reiki. She brings the path of Zen Buddhism into her practice. Bikem has been a student of Zen since 1991. She considers the Venerable Vietnamese Zen teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, her primary teacher. Her practice is mindfulness in everyday life and to live this precious human life fully and joyfully. Bikem currently lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with her beloved husband and son. Please visit Bikem Ozturk at www.bikem.org

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Copyright © 2014 Bikem Ozturk

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

ISBN: 978-1-4525-6020-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-6021-2 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-6022-9 (hc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012918757

Balboa Press

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Balboa Press rev. date: 09/18/2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Introduction

PART I: FIRE

Oneness

Forgiveness

Psychosis

Saints

Twin Souls

Heart Practices

Changes, Angels

The Golden Buddha

PART II: DANCING

Now and Here

Joy

Space of Awereness

Passion

Prayers to God

The Present Moment

Mindfulness

Thoughts

Heart Feelings

Walking Meditation

Labyrinth

Slowing Down

Soul Story

Reality

Dreams as Messengers

Dancing

Fear

Compassion

Balance

Awakening Buddhas

Anger

Breath

Death

Intuition

Integrity

Family Life

PART III: HEART

Life is Our Best Teacher

Soul Mates

Marriage

Trust

Grace

Gratitude

The Ground of Being

Energy

Boddhicitta - The Awakened Heart

Animals

Mystery

New Beginnings and Transformation

Happiness

Harmony

Creativity

Children

Parents

Doing Our Best

Impermanence

Sense of Wonder

Sense of Peace

Don’t Give Up

Enlightenment

Wisdom

The Great Spirit

About the Author

Dedicated to my beloved husband Selcuk Ozturk, my beloved son Atesh Can Ozturk, my dear mom Nazan Kerametli, my dear late dad Can Kerametli, my dear aunt Ekmel Kangal.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank all the people in my life who supported me in writing this book: my Mom and Aunt Ekmel, for support from miles away over the phone; my husband, Selcuk and my dear son, Atesh Can for familial bliss in our home; my sister, Șule Kerametli; my brother, Berkhan Kerametli and his family; my friends in Turkey: Ayda Ersan, Deniz Polat, Gökçe Demirel, Güler Köknar and Zeynep Günsür Yüceil; my friend from Austria, Oioana; my friend from Switzerland, Fisun Rosner; my friends from Pittsburgh: Anu Kumar and Parvaneh Torkamani; my Turkish community in Maryland: Naciye Sağmanlıgil, Muammer Sağmanlıgil, Zeynep Kaymaz, Emre Kaymaz, Ayşegül Özdemirli, Metin Özdemirli, and all their children; the writing classes with Banu Turhan; and Zeyno Aygen Dodd for website support and fellow-Buddhist support.

This book would not be in its final form without Randon Billings Noble, who gave me writing support and helped me with editing; my writing teacher Sara Taber, who read the first drafts of my essays told me to continue writing; my other writing teacher, Susan Tbierghien, who told me to write as a mosaic and trust my writing voice; my first mentor Susan Bauer, and my dear spiritual friend Ginny Novak, who wrote the foreword.

And last but not least, I would like to thank all the spiritual teachers who answered my letters, and whose books, tapes, and Dharma talks were valuable to me.

I also thank God for blessing me with this wonderful life. I am forever grateful. Thank you.

FOREWORD

One cannot help but be drawn to Bikem Ozturk’s writing. She writes as she is: a lover— a lover of nature, of creation, of people, and of God. She writes as someone who has known pain, suffering and mental illness, and who chooses to live a life of compassion, joy and forgiveness.

Bikem writes clearly as a Buddhist for both believers and non-believers, and makes such practices as mindfulness, impermanence, meditation, and oneness both attractive and attainable. She has lived all that she writes about, and gives concrete examples from her own rich international experience. The language she uses about children, death, dance and love is captivating.

I have had the honor of knowing Bikem for the past 14 years and have seen her put love into practice, as she speaks and listens with the same respect to the person at the cash register, the homeless man, the stranger and the friend. We have shared our lives over many cups of tea. The invitation to you now is to make your own cup of tea, relax, and enjoy these essays.

Ginny Novak

Spiritual Companion in the Christian Tradition

INTRODUCTION

My book, Fire in the Dancing Heart, was written through my meditations and prayers, distilling the wisdom that I reached over four decades of a lifetime. I started writing the book in 2003, worked through it with some fellow writers individually and in a writing group. The book is about my reflections on life, illness, loss, and hope, all of which were a part of my own life.

While I was writing my book, I got pregnant and gave birth to my son. This changed my perspective on the world in a positive way. While my life went from terrible, to bad, to good, better and best, I contemplated these positive changes and wrote about them.

This book is intended for a large audience from people who are spiritual, to people with mental illness as well as their families and caregivers. My intention was to write a spiritual book to help all beings to see the world as both a mystery and an adventure.

May it benefit all beings,

May its merit be shared by all beings.

God bless,

Bikem Ozturk

March 1, 2012

Silver Spring, Maryland

PART I

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FIRE

ONENESS

I had a couple of spiritual experiences about the Oneness of the Universe and the Oneness of us with all of Life. In one of them, I was 25 years old and was lying down in bed in G Ö ztepe, Istanbul. All of a sudden, I felt the whole universe turning over in my heart area. The universe was in me and I was in the universe. We were One.

Another time I was sitting in the garden of the French Consulate in Taksim, Istanbul and drinking coffee from a round, white, porcelain cup. I became one with this coffee cup. There were no boundaries between us. I was it, it was me. It was a beautiful experience and afterwards I felt blissful for a week.

We are in the Universe but the Universe is also in us. As above, so below. Nothing is separated from the Whole.