I cannot emphasize enough the great teaching of the Maya: God talks to us all the time. Still, I am like a child on Christmas morning when synchronicities happen. One occurred on Saturday night, which I'll save for Friday's posting. The other happened on Palm Sunday. I was pondering the topic of my Monday posting: how our capacity to care defines us as human beings. When I checked my email, I found one from a close friend and brother on the spiritual path who now lives in Europe. He and his wife had just visited Dakau, and they were immensely moved by the experience. Instantly, I thought of the inspiring example of concentration camp survivors such as Dr. Victor Frankl and what they taught us. Our capacity to care not only defines us but saves us in the most horrible of circumstances. Focusing on his love for his wife kept him going. I’ll say more about that in a future posting. But for now, below is some inspiration from a little-known volume I discovered one day in my daily diaglogue with the Divine.
The wisdom of the sacred spiritual traditions from all over the world can inspire us further in our quest to live a life that is attuned to the boundless reality of love. This love is both within all and around us. Reflect on the following inspiring words of G. de Purucker taken from the volume entitled, The Esoteric Tradition. Drawing from the secret teachings of different sacred spiritual traditions, he declares:
"We humans are ‘fallen gods’, ‘fallen angels’ with capacities divine, active or latent, enshrined within our minds and souls…We fall to Earth; but we rise again! Indomitable is the spirit within us. Nothing can daunt or conquer it, if only we do use it. It is indomitable, for it is the energy pouring forth through our own individual wills from the very Heart of the Universe; and all evolution, all growth, all achievement, depend upon the degree with which we ally ourselves with this spiritual river of consciousness and force flooding our inmost being. All evil will pass away when men understand this and act accordingly, for evil is the running contrary to the operations of Spiritual Nature… Indeed we are fallen gods, fallen angels, learning, growing, evolving god-sparks. … The urge behind spiritual evolution and the objective which this urge is impelling us toward, is simply the divine hunger in the Universe to grow greater, to advance, to unfold: Excelsior! … and the objective is to become at-one self-consciously with the Boundless–something which never can be reached! Therein is infinite beauty, for there is no final ending for growth in beauty and splendor and wisdom and love and power. The Boundless Universe is our home! All things are latent in the core of the core of the being of each one of us; they are like sleeping powers of the Universe; and this core of the core of the being of each one of us is man’s own inner god, the Cosmic Dhyani-Buddha within him, the Divine Christ immanent within him: the living Osiris of the ways of infinity…"
• Today, consider that the boundless reality of love resides in the core of your bing. Take a slow, deep breath, and silently say, "God is love. Then, as you breathe out, silently say, "and so am I."
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Essence of Being Human
The Ancient Story of Care
In his searching study of the human condition, the existential philosopher Martin Heidegger described how fundamental and crucial the capacity to care is to our very nature as human beings. There is an old story about care that Heidegger quotes in his main work, Being and Time, which can also be found in Goethe’s Faust. My clinical experience echoed the truth found in this little parable. Whatever problems people presented in therapy, the common theme inevitably involved what they loved and cared about in life.
Once, when ‘Care’ was crossing a river, she saw some clay; she thoughtfully took up a piece and began to shape it. While she was meditating on what she had made, Jupiter came by. ‘Care’ asked him to give it spirit and this he gladly granted. But when she wanted her name to be bestowed upon it, he forbade this and demanded that it be given his name instead. While ‘Care’ and Jupiter were disputing, Earth arose and desired that her own name be conferred on the creature, since she had furnished it with part of her body. They asked Saturn to be their arbiter and he made the following decision, which seemed a just one: ‘Since you, Jupiter, have given its spirit, you shall receive that spirit at its death; and since you, Earth, have given its body, you shall receive its body. But since “Care” first shaped this creature, she shall possess it as long as it lives. And because there is now a dispute among you as to its name, let it be called homo [man], for it is made out of humus [earth].
Whatever else we can say about what it means to be human, the idea that, as this little parable suggests, it is from “care” that we originate. It is from care that we are born both physically and spiritually. Physically, we are conceived in an act of love and/or simply desire on the part of our parents. Either way, the sensibility of care is involved at some level, whether it was out of true love or lust. In this sense, care is part of how we came to be. Spiritually, we are born again, as we learn to develop the capacity to open our heart more fully and to care more deeply.
• Today, reflect on how it is care that possesses us for as long as we live. Hence, it is care, or, more precisely, the capacity to care that is the basis of all of our emotions and it is our emotions that then move us to take action in the world around us. It is because we care that we can feel mad, sad , or glad.
In his searching study of the human condition, the existential philosopher Martin Heidegger described how fundamental and crucial the capacity to care is to our very nature as human beings. There is an old story about care that Heidegger quotes in his main work, Being and Time, which can also be found in Goethe’s Faust. My clinical experience echoed the truth found in this little parable. Whatever problems people presented in therapy, the common theme inevitably involved what they loved and cared about in life.
Once, when ‘Care’ was crossing a river, she saw some clay; she thoughtfully took up a piece and began to shape it. While she was meditating on what she had made, Jupiter came by. ‘Care’ asked him to give it spirit and this he gladly granted. But when she wanted her name to be bestowed upon it, he forbade this and demanded that it be given his name instead. While ‘Care’ and Jupiter were disputing, Earth arose and desired that her own name be conferred on the creature, since she had furnished it with part of her body. They asked Saturn to be their arbiter and he made the following decision, which seemed a just one: ‘Since you, Jupiter, have given its spirit, you shall receive that spirit at its death; and since you, Earth, have given its body, you shall receive its body. But since “Care” first shaped this creature, she shall possess it as long as it lives. And because there is now a dispute among you as to its name, let it be called homo [man], for it is made out of humus [earth].
Whatever else we can say about what it means to be human, the idea that, as this little parable suggests, it is from “care” that we originate. It is from care that we are born both physically and spiritually. Physically, we are conceived in an act of love and/or simply desire on the part of our parents. Either way, the sensibility of care is involved at some level, whether it was out of true love or lust. In this sense, care is part of how we came to be. Spiritually, we are born again, as we learn to develop the capacity to open our heart more fully and to care more deeply.
• Today, reflect on how it is care that possesses us for as long as we live. Hence, it is care, or, more precisely, the capacity to care that is the basis of all of our emotions and it is our emotions that then move us to take action in the world around us. It is because we care that we can feel mad, sad , or glad.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Redeem the Reactive Reptile
In a previous posting entitled the Iguana & the Hawk, I mentioned the Mayan mystical symbol of the feathered serpent which expresses the goal of achieving an inner union of your lower, reactive-reptile nature with your higher, loving nature. One way to do this is by shifting your focus from fear and anger to love. Eventually, you can drop all techniques. Simple mindful awareness will enable you to shift effortlessly. It is as if your awareness becomes like the morning sun dissolving the clouds of night. The clouds of stress and conflict dissipate when you shine upon them the light of love that you are in the core of your being.
[The passage below is taken from 8 Steps to Love: How to Return to Love When You Need it the Most—The Moment Stress & Conflict Begin (www.drsrj.com).
Return to Love: Shift Your Focus & Energy Technique
With the shift your focus and energy technique, you use the sharp-focused awareness that is your sword of love to penetrate into the heart of your stress. You cut through your confusion to see what your stress tells you about what you hate and would love to have happen instead.
Note: It is important to express love with the same or more intensity with which you feel your negative emotions. Exaggerate the movements to really reach into your heart as if to grab your negative emotions and then shift, lift and return them to love. Remember, you are redeeming the reptile, the dragon, your lower nature with your higher loving nature as you hear and feel with your heart what your negative emotions are “t”– telling you. As you open your fists, imagine releasing the butterfly of love, your capacity to love freely without clinging like the caterpillar.
Once you have a feel for this, you can mentally shift the energy of hate to love, by simply visualizing yourself making the movements instead of doing them. You use this technique in the heat of the moment. Practice in your daily life and with your stress list. Use the exact wording until you get the hang of it.The wording is deceptively simple yet very powerful. It helps you accept the message of your negative emotions as valid and valuable and it helps you return quickly to love so you can focus on and move toward what you love and want.
The phrase and that’s because is important as it links love and hate which is something we learn to separate in childhood in a primitive attempt to cope with the fear of expressing our anger. As children, we are prone to magical thinking when it comes to anger. We fear that our thoughts will somehow harm or kill our parents. This would leave us alone and abandoned. The other fear is that, since they are bigger than us, they will harm or kill us. Both fears are repressed, but the fear of losing love if we express our anger, stays with us. This phrase is a kind of mantra, a mental device, we can say that can really help us redirect the flow of our energy from our negative emotions back to love.
With this technique we redeem the reptile in us, the dragon, our lower nature driven by fear and anger with our higher nature of love.
1. Make a fist with both hands and pull them to your heart. Round your shoulders. Tighten your body and squat down slightly as you breathe in and then say aloud, “My feeling bad (or my fear, anger, sadness) is telling me that I hate…(breathe out and fill in the blank) __________.”
2. Now open your hands. Expand your chest. Stand up straight and as you extend your arms over your head as though reaching for the sky, breathe out and say aloud, “And that’s because I love…(breathe out and fill in the blank) ______.”
• Today, redeem the reptile by shifting the fear focus of any negative emtions that arise back into a love focus. You zero in on what you would love to have happen (desired outcome) instead of on what you would hate to have happen (feared outcome).
[The passage below is taken from 8 Steps to Love: How to Return to Love When You Need it the Most—The Moment Stress & Conflict Begin (www.drsrj.com).
Return to Love: Shift Your Focus & Energy Technique
With the shift your focus and energy technique, you use the sharp-focused awareness that is your sword of love to penetrate into the heart of your stress. You cut through your confusion to see what your stress tells you about what you hate and would love to have happen instead.
Note: It is important to express love with the same or more intensity with which you feel your negative emotions. Exaggerate the movements to really reach into your heart as if to grab your negative emotions and then shift, lift and return them to love. Remember, you are redeeming the reptile, the dragon, your lower nature with your higher loving nature as you hear and feel with your heart what your negative emotions are “t”– telling you. As you open your fists, imagine releasing the butterfly of love, your capacity to love freely without clinging like the caterpillar.
Once you have a feel for this, you can mentally shift the energy of hate to love, by simply visualizing yourself making the movements instead of doing them. You use this technique in the heat of the moment. Practice in your daily life and with your stress list. Use the exact wording until you get the hang of it.The wording is deceptively simple yet very powerful. It helps you accept the message of your negative emotions as valid and valuable and it helps you return quickly to love so you can focus on and move toward what you love and want.
The phrase and that’s because is important as it links love and hate which is something we learn to separate in childhood in a primitive attempt to cope with the fear of expressing our anger. As children, we are prone to magical thinking when it comes to anger. We fear that our thoughts will somehow harm or kill our parents. This would leave us alone and abandoned. The other fear is that, since they are bigger than us, they will harm or kill us. Both fears are repressed, but the fear of losing love if we express our anger, stays with us. This phrase is a kind of mantra, a mental device, we can say that can really help us redirect the flow of our energy from our negative emotions back to love.
With this technique we redeem the reptile in us, the dragon, our lower nature driven by fear and anger with our higher nature of love.
1. Make a fist with both hands and pull them to your heart. Round your shoulders. Tighten your body and squat down slightly as you breathe in and then say aloud, “My feeling bad (or my fear, anger, sadness) is telling me that I hate…(breathe out and fill in the blank) __________.”
2. Now open your hands. Expand your chest. Stand up straight and as you extend your arms over your head as though reaching for the sky, breathe out and say aloud, “And that’s because I love…(breathe out and fill in the blank) ______.”
• Today, redeem the reptile by shifting the fear focus of any negative emtions that arise back into a love focus. You zero in on what you would love to have happen (desired outcome) instead of on what you would hate to have happen (feared outcome).
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Needing Another to Change
Empathizing with the person irritating you by seeing the frustrating situation from his or her point of view can save us a lot of stress. It really is true that the person we are upset with is really doing the best he or she can. If he or she could do otherwise, then he or she would. And if the person upsetting us is ever going to be able to change his or her pattern such as being late, we have to approach the issue of change with love. Remember the mantra of compassion. Take a deep breath and silently tell the person:
I know in my heart that you would have done differently if you could have done differently but you couldn’t so you didn’t.
If we are harboring a need for someone to change, then anything we do will not be helpful. Even if unstated, the pressure of our need to change them can be felt by the other person. He or she may actually pick up a slight tension in our body. So we need to relax and accept the person as he or she is. Paradoxically, change can occur when we give up our need to change someone.
In other words, to help someone change, we must feel acceptance, compassion, and empathy for them in the current context and in the context of their overall life. For example, Dennis, a man in his thirties, was having a hard time with his wife, Sue. She was terribly jealous. Sue had a tendency to feel left out if he did anything with his male friends. Sue had grown up as the only girl with four brothers. She was younger than her brothers. When she tried to fit in during the banter at dinner, she was ignored. Sue felt left out and it hurt her deeply. At first, Dennis would get irritated with Sue’s jealousy.
Then, as Dennis considered Sue’s behavior in the context of her life, he could feel compassion for the little girl who felt so hurt and so left out. This didn’t mean he would not help her to heal this hurt. It just meant that he would be more understanding on the one hand when she attacked him with her hurt feelings. On the other hand, he could calmly help her see her pattern and could reassure her that he loved her and that she had not missed out on anything. She used to be so eaten-up by envy of her brothers doing things with her father. Dennis saw how he could help her stop having her old wound ripped open over and over again.
Consider for a moment taking an ultimately radical position of compassion. One of the steps to happiness outlined in the Buddhist book, Eight Steps to Happiness, involves “accepting defeat and offering the victory.” When someone gets upset with you, imagine taking full responsibility for his or her upset. You avoid defending yourself. You accept defeat in the sense that you accept you must have done something to trigger the other person’s upset no matter how minor. This is a very creative, compassionate, and caring position and runs contrary to our reptile reactivity.
This is also an ultimately powerful position. It is not to foster a crippling guilt; it is to practice deepening your compassion and gaining greater freedom, peace, and happiness. You are relinquishing your narcissistic dependency on other people seeing you as good and not bad. No longer are you ruled by the underlying universal issue from childhood that unconsciously is reexperienced through our adult relationships: “Mommy, don’t leave me! Don’t be angry at me! I won’t be bad! I’ll be good!”
Clearly, as with Sue, we all have sensitive areas that provide most of the fuel for the fire of any current upset. Ninety-percent of Sue’s upset with Dennis was because his actions triggered her early pain over feeling left out. When Dennis accessed the compassion and love in his heart, he could genuinely feel bad that he had done even the slightest thing to trigger Sue’s pattern of feeling left out. He could see that if he had been more careful and considerate of her feelings, she would probably not have gotten so upset.
Today, practice creative compassion. Remember, if you open your heart to the person upsetting you with acceptance, compassion, and empathy, then the person is free to change and you are free as well. You move from irritation to liberation as you realize that your peace and happiness do not depend on anyone or anything external to you. For you have everything you need within your heart for your peace and happiness. After all is said and done, it’s all simply a matter of love.
I know in my heart that you would have done differently if you could have done differently but you couldn’t so you didn’t.
If we are harboring a need for someone to change, then anything we do will not be helpful. Even if unstated, the pressure of our need to change them can be felt by the other person. He or she may actually pick up a slight tension in our body. So we need to relax and accept the person as he or she is. Paradoxically, change can occur when we give up our need to change someone.
In other words, to help someone change, we must feel acceptance, compassion, and empathy for them in the current context and in the context of their overall life. For example, Dennis, a man in his thirties, was having a hard time with his wife, Sue. She was terribly jealous. Sue had a tendency to feel left out if he did anything with his male friends. Sue had grown up as the only girl with four brothers. She was younger than her brothers. When she tried to fit in during the banter at dinner, she was ignored. Sue felt left out and it hurt her deeply. At first, Dennis would get irritated with Sue’s jealousy.
Then, as Dennis considered Sue’s behavior in the context of her life, he could feel compassion for the little girl who felt so hurt and so left out. This didn’t mean he would not help her to heal this hurt. It just meant that he would be more understanding on the one hand when she attacked him with her hurt feelings. On the other hand, he could calmly help her see her pattern and could reassure her that he loved her and that she had not missed out on anything. She used to be so eaten-up by envy of her brothers doing things with her father. Dennis saw how he could help her stop having her old wound ripped open over and over again.
Consider for a moment taking an ultimately radical position of compassion. One of the steps to happiness outlined in the Buddhist book, Eight Steps to Happiness, involves “accepting defeat and offering the victory.” When someone gets upset with you, imagine taking full responsibility for his or her upset. You avoid defending yourself. You accept defeat in the sense that you accept you must have done something to trigger the other person’s upset no matter how minor. This is a very creative, compassionate, and caring position and runs contrary to our reptile reactivity.
This is also an ultimately powerful position. It is not to foster a crippling guilt; it is to practice deepening your compassion and gaining greater freedom, peace, and happiness. You are relinquishing your narcissistic dependency on other people seeing you as good and not bad. No longer are you ruled by the underlying universal issue from childhood that unconsciously is reexperienced through our adult relationships: “Mommy, don’t leave me! Don’t be angry at me! I won’t be bad! I’ll be good!”
Clearly, as with Sue, we all have sensitive areas that provide most of the fuel for the fire of any current upset. Ninety-percent of Sue’s upset with Dennis was because his actions triggered her early pain over feeling left out. When Dennis accessed the compassion and love in his heart, he could genuinely feel bad that he had done even the slightest thing to trigger Sue’s pattern of feeling left out. He could see that if he had been more careful and considerate of her feelings, she would probably not have gotten so upset.
Today, practice creative compassion. Remember, if you open your heart to the person upsetting you with acceptance, compassion, and empathy, then the person is free to change and you are free as well. You move from irritation to liberation as you realize that your peace and happiness do not depend on anyone or anything external to you. For you have everything you need within your heart for your peace and happiness. After all is said and done, it’s all simply a matter of love.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Being Creative vs. Reactive
As I was sipping an espresso and reading The Power of Kabbalah at a local outdoor café, I had a revelation. I was reading how the Kabbalah stresses the need to stop being reactive and start being proactive instead. Then it hit me like a bolt of lightning! The choice is between being reactive or creative. Suddenly, I saw how the words reactive and creative have all the same letters. The only difference is the location of the letter c within the two words. In creative the c is the first letter. In reactive it is hidden four letters inside the word. I then thought, “What could this symbolize?”
There seemed to be a spiritual truth being revealed. We could think of the letter c as standing for compassion and caring. When we are creative, we put our higher loving nature symbolized by the letter c first and foremost in our life. When we are reactive, we hide our higher loving nature and put our lower reactive reptile nature, symbolized by the letter r, first. Herein lies the clue as to how irritation can lead us to our liberation and ascension.
Our lower nature, the reptile, is reactive and responds to irritation by fight-or-flight. When we are reactive reptiles, we are up and down. Our emotional temperature depends on the emotional climate of those around us. The cold-blooded reptile is at the mercy of the environment. In contrast, our higher spiritual nature is like the eagle who transcends the environment. Truly, the difference between being creative or reactive is a matter of love.
At the heart of most sacred spiritual traditions is the concept of God or the Divine as the Creator. When we are being creative, we are being like God, the Divine. And when we are being reactive, we are hiding our higher loving and divine nature and placing the reactive reptile in us first. Our choice is to be a reactor or a creator. Take a deep breath and try repeating the affirmation: “I am not a reactive reptile! I am a caring and compassionate creator!”
• Today, keep reminding yourself that you are a creator, made in the image of God, and not a reactive reptile.
There seemed to be a spiritual truth being revealed. We could think of the letter c as standing for compassion and caring. When we are creative, we put our higher loving nature symbolized by the letter c first and foremost in our life. When we are reactive, we hide our higher loving nature and put our lower reactive reptile nature, symbolized by the letter r, first. Herein lies the clue as to how irritation can lead us to our liberation and ascension.
Our lower nature, the reptile, is reactive and responds to irritation by fight-or-flight. When we are reactive reptiles, we are up and down. Our emotional temperature depends on the emotional climate of those around us. The cold-blooded reptile is at the mercy of the environment. In contrast, our higher spiritual nature is like the eagle who transcends the environment. Truly, the difference between being creative or reactive is a matter of love.
At the heart of most sacred spiritual traditions is the concept of God or the Divine as the Creator. When we are being creative, we are being like God, the Divine. And when we are being reactive, we are hiding our higher loving and divine nature and placing the reactive reptile in us first. Our choice is to be a reactor or a creator. Take a deep breath and try repeating the affirmation: “I am not a reactive reptile! I am a caring and compassionate creator!”
• Today, keep reminding yourself that you are a creator, made in the image of God, and not a reactive reptile.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Formula for Finding Peace
One afernoon in Tikal, I was sitting in the shade. The sun was shining in a cloudless sky. No one was around. In the quiet stillness, I felt deeply peaceful, and I found myself contemplating the word peace. Suddenly, I saw how the letters of the word peace revealed the essence of true peace:
P-peace, E-equals, A-acceptance, C-compassion, and E-empathy.
Often, when we get angry, it is because we believe someone could have done differently. You can find peace when you are upset by someone who is behaving badly by repeating what I have come to call the mantra of compassion. (Mantra is a Sanskrit word meaning mental device.) Take a deep breath and silently tell the person:
I know in my heart that you would have done differently if you could have done differently but you couldn’t so you didn’t.
We don’t let people off the hook; we hold them accountable. At the same time, we recognize they can’t undo what they did. Peace comes along with insight into how to prevent further tragedy as we apply the formula: peace equals acceptance, compassion, and empathy.
This formula holds for the suffering we experience from beating ourselves up with guilt. We need to realize we cannot change the past no matter how much we suffer with guilt. I have always loved how beautifully the futility of trying to correct the past is depicted in the following verse from Edward Fitzgerald’s translation of The Ruba’iyat of Omar Khayyam.
The Moving Finger writes
And having writ moves on,
Not all thy piety nor wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
Nor all thy tears wash out a word of it.
With this verse, I have always pictured words appearing in the sands of time as the invisible moving finger of fate writes and then inexorably moves on. The past is gone. And yet, in the future, with firm resolve, we can choose to do differently. As for the present, in order to relieve yourself of paralyzing and unproductive guilt, you can direct the mantra of compassion toward yourself:
I know in my heart that I would have done differently if I could have done differently but I couldn’t so I didn’t.
ª This weekend, practice the mantra of compassion so that you can ACE the tests of anger and guilt.
P-peace, E-equals, A-acceptance, C-compassion, and E-empathy.
Often, when we get angry, it is because we believe someone could have done differently. You can find peace when you are upset by someone who is behaving badly by repeating what I have come to call the mantra of compassion. (Mantra is a Sanskrit word meaning mental device.) Take a deep breath and silently tell the person:
I know in my heart that you would have done differently if you could have done differently but you couldn’t so you didn’t.
We don’t let people off the hook; we hold them accountable. At the same time, we recognize they can’t undo what they did. Peace comes along with insight into how to prevent further tragedy as we apply the formula: peace equals acceptance, compassion, and empathy.
This formula holds for the suffering we experience from beating ourselves up with guilt. We need to realize we cannot change the past no matter how much we suffer with guilt. I have always loved how beautifully the futility of trying to correct the past is depicted in the following verse from Edward Fitzgerald’s translation of The Ruba’iyat of Omar Khayyam.
The Moving Finger writes
And having writ moves on,
Not all thy piety nor wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
Nor all thy tears wash out a word of it.
With this verse, I have always pictured words appearing in the sands of time as the invisible moving finger of fate writes and then inexorably moves on. The past is gone. And yet, in the future, with firm resolve, we can choose to do differently. As for the present, in order to relieve yourself of paralyzing and unproductive guilt, you can direct the mantra of compassion toward yourself:
I know in my heart that I would have done differently if I could have done differently but I couldn’t so I didn’t.
ª This weekend, practice the mantra of compassion so that you can ACE the tests of anger and guilt.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
The Iguana & the Hawk
The goal of ascending is expressed in the the Mayan symbols of Kukulcan, the feathered serpentt. Kukul translates as feathered and can translates as snake or serpent. When I asked the Maya for an example of someone who embodied this mystical symbol, they mentioned Christ. The book He Walked the Americas describes how Christ appeared to the Maya, and to other Native Americans such as the Apache.
It was a year before I went to Tikal when I was at the Mayan ruins of Tulum that I had an encounter with the Mayan mystical symbol of Kukulcan: the feathered serpent. As I mentioned in chapter two, the feathered serpent embodies the goal of our highest spiritual potential. In this image, we envision the spiritual potential for achieving the integration of the material (serpent or snake) and spiritual (eagle) sides of our nature.
My eyes were fixed on the way the sea and sky seemed to merge seamlessly and become indistinguishable at the horizon. Behind me were the ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Tulum. I felt a sacred serenity as I was sitting on the edge of a cliff. The sea shimmered from the intense light of the noonday sun while small waves of turquoise water were gently caressing the rocky shore. Each of us in the group had fifteen minutes to pick a spot for participating in a prayer for world peace. It was inspiring to think that at at the very same moment in sacred sites all over the world that day, people would be praying for world peace.
Before seeking a quiet spot, I happened to look down the face of the cliff. There I saw a huge iguana that was about six feet in length. He was seated on some rocks about thirty feet below me. The big lizard was looking up at the sky. As I followed the iguana’s gaze, I saw a hawk hovering about thirty feet above me. Here I was positioned midway between these two creatures. I recalled how the shamans consider the hawk to be a messenger of God, whereas the eagle is considered to be a direct expression of God.
The hawk then flew to my right and, steadying itself in the crosscurrents of wind, hung motionless in the air. With its head down, the hawk’s beak was pointing directly toward the ground. What an unusual sight to see the hawk hanging motionless, its feet aimed at the heavens and its head aimed at the earth.
Moments before I had seen a Mayan sculpture called the descending god. It was set in the stone slab above the entrance to one of the temples in Tulum. The sculpture was the figure of a Mayan male deity with a headdress and his head was pointing to Earth while his feet aimed toward the heavens. The resemblance between the stone sculpture and the hawk hanging in the air was remarkable. Ancient symbols were coming to life before my eyes by manifesting in the natural world surrounding me.
While I observed the hawk suspended in the air, time seemed to stand still. The bird held its position for what seemed to be almost a minute. It was a minute that seemed like an eternity. I got the impression that it was scanning the ground below for its next meal. I waited for the hawk to dive down and snatch up in its beak some unsuspecting prey.
When the hawk finally did dive down, it simply flew close to the ground shooting through the brush and then out to sea. No prey in its mouth. It just disappeared from view and seemed to pass through an invisible portal. I walked over to the spot where it had hovered and I found a small stone temple in ruins hidden in the brush. As I proceeded to meditate there, I had the feeling that the hawk had led me to an extension of the portal that it had disappeared into. Silently, I said to myself, “If indeed this is a portal to the spirit world, to a higher state of consciousness, then perhaps my prayer for world peace would be empowered!”
Right here in front of my eyes, I was witnessing a manifestation of the mystical symbol of the feathered serpent. I felt that I was being given a sign by the Divine of what it means to follow the path of spiritual transformation. Through this concrete symbol of the feathered serpent—the hawk and the iguana—I could now see how the Divine may communicate to us through other living beings. Such a perspective truly does help us heal our relationship with Mother Earth and all living beings. After all, the two creatures came into view right before a prayer for world peace.
As aspiring feathered serpents, we align our lower nature with the peaceful power of love: the dynamic and enduring life-force energy that animates all living beings including plants and animals alike. The goal is to align ourselves with this deeper and truer vision of God, the Divine Beloved, communicating to us through the physical universe and guiding us to practice loving-kindness in all we think, feel, say and do. [Parts of the above were taken from A Matter of Love, featured on www.drsrj.com]
Today, take the opportunity to practice kindness. Say a kind word words, perhaps pay a compliment, to the people who you encounter: the young man or woman taking your order at the coffee shop; the bank teller as you make your deposit or withdrawal; the cashier as you check out at the grocery store, and so on.
It was a year before I went to Tikal when I was at the Mayan ruins of Tulum that I had an encounter with the Mayan mystical symbol of Kukulcan: the feathered serpent. As I mentioned in chapter two, the feathered serpent embodies the goal of our highest spiritual potential. In this image, we envision the spiritual potential for achieving the integration of the material (serpent or snake) and spiritual (eagle) sides of our nature.
My eyes were fixed on the way the sea and sky seemed to merge seamlessly and become indistinguishable at the horizon. Behind me were the ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Tulum. I felt a sacred serenity as I was sitting on the edge of a cliff. The sea shimmered from the intense light of the noonday sun while small waves of turquoise water were gently caressing the rocky shore. Each of us in the group had fifteen minutes to pick a spot for participating in a prayer for world peace. It was inspiring to think that at at the very same moment in sacred sites all over the world that day, people would be praying for world peace.
Before seeking a quiet spot, I happened to look down the face of the cliff. There I saw a huge iguana that was about six feet in length. He was seated on some rocks about thirty feet below me. The big lizard was looking up at the sky. As I followed the iguana’s gaze, I saw a hawk hovering about thirty feet above me. Here I was positioned midway between these two creatures. I recalled how the shamans consider the hawk to be a messenger of God, whereas the eagle is considered to be a direct expression of God.
The hawk then flew to my right and, steadying itself in the crosscurrents of wind, hung motionless in the air. With its head down, the hawk’s beak was pointing directly toward the ground. What an unusual sight to see the hawk hanging motionless, its feet aimed at the heavens and its head aimed at the earth.
Moments before I had seen a Mayan sculpture called the descending god. It was set in the stone slab above the entrance to one of the temples in Tulum. The sculpture was the figure of a Mayan male deity with a headdress and his head was pointing to Earth while his feet aimed toward the heavens. The resemblance between the stone sculpture and the hawk hanging in the air was remarkable. Ancient symbols were coming to life before my eyes by manifesting in the natural world surrounding me.
While I observed the hawk suspended in the air, time seemed to stand still. The bird held its position for what seemed to be almost a minute. It was a minute that seemed like an eternity. I got the impression that it was scanning the ground below for its next meal. I waited for the hawk to dive down and snatch up in its beak some unsuspecting prey.
When the hawk finally did dive down, it simply flew close to the ground shooting through the brush and then out to sea. No prey in its mouth. It just disappeared from view and seemed to pass through an invisible portal. I walked over to the spot where it had hovered and I found a small stone temple in ruins hidden in the brush. As I proceeded to meditate there, I had the feeling that the hawk had led me to an extension of the portal that it had disappeared into. Silently, I said to myself, “If indeed this is a portal to the spirit world, to a higher state of consciousness, then perhaps my prayer for world peace would be empowered!”
Right here in front of my eyes, I was witnessing a manifestation of the mystical symbol of the feathered serpent. I felt that I was being given a sign by the Divine of what it means to follow the path of spiritual transformation. Through this concrete symbol of the feathered serpent—the hawk and the iguana—I could now see how the Divine may communicate to us through other living beings. Such a perspective truly does help us heal our relationship with Mother Earth and all living beings. After all, the two creatures came into view right before a prayer for world peace.
As aspiring feathered serpents, we align our lower nature with the peaceful power of love: the dynamic and enduring life-force energy that animates all living beings including plants and animals alike. The goal is to align ourselves with this deeper and truer vision of God, the Divine Beloved, communicating to us through the physical universe and guiding us to practice loving-kindness in all we think, feel, say and do. [Parts of the above were taken from A Matter of Love, featured on www.drsrj.com]
Today, take the opportunity to practice kindness. Say a kind word words, perhaps pay a compliment, to the people who you encounter: the young man or woman taking your order at the coffee shop; the bank teller as you make your deposit or withdrawal; the cashier as you check out at the grocery store, and so on.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Keeping the Flame Alive
Only one who remains unaffected by honor
and insult can keep the divine flame alive.
—Swami Rama
Keeping the flame of the candle within you burning, the light of love in your innermost heart shining, involves recognizing when you are tempted to tense up and hold your breath when anger arises after someone has insulted or offended you. The flame of the divine in you is fanned by slow, deep breathing. Literally, the incoming oxygen stokes the tiny furnaces (mitachondria) in the cells of your body. As your muscles relax around your blood vessels, your blood flows freely as does your life-force energy. And, by slaying the dragon of dependency, you focus on inner peace. You simply remind yourself that you are NOT dependent on something external to yourself to feel good and be at peace. For you can feel good instantly by taking a slow, deep breath. You remind yourself that the core of your being, your innermost heart, houses love: the ultimate power operating in the universe.
When you feel offended, the anger and subsequent tension that threaten to extinguish the divine flame in you, need not be the result of deeply buried traumas. The stress you feel can be the triggered by the need to prove you are right. This need can cause needless strife and conflict. This is one of heads of the dragon of dependency: “I need, or I am dependent, on others to see that I am right and I need their external validation and/or admiration to feel good and be at peace.” In psychoanalytic terms, such needs fall into the category of narcissistic needs. Like Narcissus in Greek mythology, we can become enamored of the idealized self image we project to the world and want to see reflected back to us. When that self image is challenged, the result can be narcissistic rage: “You make me look bad and I’ll get you back and make you look bad.” In the extreme such rage can lead to murder; in lesser forms it can lead to unnecessary arguments, hurt feelings, and so forth.
Here is an ordinary and trivial example. Last week, a friend picked me up to take me to a meeting. Bob Seger was belting out Old Time Rock and Roll on the radio. I excitedly related to her that this was the song Tom Cruise made even more famous when he danced to it in his underwear in the 1983 film Risky Business. ‘Oh that’s not it,” she said with a dismissive air of condescending certainty. “It was another song that I can’t quite recall.” For an instant, I felt a surge of anger, propelling me to retaliate against the perceived put down. I was allowing myself to be affected by insult. I was certain I was right, and I felt a strong urge to react to her condescending tone. I would show her and prove I was right by suggesting we go on the internet and verify it.
Instead, I curbed my urge and let it go. I took a slow, deep breath, thinking cool as I breathed in and calm as I breathed out. I engaged in the inner quest with a question. “Do I really need for her to see and acknowledge that I was right? No. I don’t It’s not important.” I then slew the dragon of dependency by breathing in and silently affirming, “I AM NOT dependent on you knowing I’m right to feel good and be at peace.” Breathing out, I silently reminded myself, “I feel good and at peace right now as I let go of my need to be right.”
• Today, notice when the need for others to see you as being right comes up and experiment with pairing the words cool and calm with some slow, deep breathing. Then, engage in the inner quest with a question. “Is it important for others to see me as right?” It might be, such as in a business meeting. But by doing slow, deep breathing and questioning yourself, you can center yourself. You can then coolly and calmly assert your position without the emotional charge of feeling insulted or offended when others disagree. You thereby keep the divine flame within you alive.
and insult can keep the divine flame alive.
—Swami Rama
Keeping the flame of the candle within you burning, the light of love in your innermost heart shining, involves recognizing when you are tempted to tense up and hold your breath when anger arises after someone has insulted or offended you. The flame of the divine in you is fanned by slow, deep breathing. Literally, the incoming oxygen stokes the tiny furnaces (mitachondria) in the cells of your body. As your muscles relax around your blood vessels, your blood flows freely as does your life-force energy. And, by slaying the dragon of dependency, you focus on inner peace. You simply remind yourself that you are NOT dependent on something external to yourself to feel good and be at peace. For you can feel good instantly by taking a slow, deep breath. You remind yourself that the core of your being, your innermost heart, houses love: the ultimate power operating in the universe.
When you feel offended, the anger and subsequent tension that threaten to extinguish the divine flame in you, need not be the result of deeply buried traumas. The stress you feel can be the triggered by the need to prove you are right. This need can cause needless strife and conflict. This is one of heads of the dragon of dependency: “I need, or I am dependent, on others to see that I am right and I need their external validation and/or admiration to feel good and be at peace.” In psychoanalytic terms, such needs fall into the category of narcissistic needs. Like Narcissus in Greek mythology, we can become enamored of the idealized self image we project to the world and want to see reflected back to us. When that self image is challenged, the result can be narcissistic rage: “You make me look bad and I’ll get you back and make you look bad.” In the extreme such rage can lead to murder; in lesser forms it can lead to unnecessary arguments, hurt feelings, and so forth.
Here is an ordinary and trivial example. Last week, a friend picked me up to take me to a meeting. Bob Seger was belting out Old Time Rock and Roll on the radio. I excitedly related to her that this was the song Tom Cruise made even more famous when he danced to it in his underwear in the 1983 film Risky Business. ‘Oh that’s not it,” she said with a dismissive air of condescending certainty. “It was another song that I can’t quite recall.” For an instant, I felt a surge of anger, propelling me to retaliate against the perceived put down. I was allowing myself to be affected by insult. I was certain I was right, and I felt a strong urge to react to her condescending tone. I would show her and prove I was right by suggesting we go on the internet and verify it.
Instead, I curbed my urge and let it go. I took a slow, deep breath, thinking cool as I breathed in and calm as I breathed out. I engaged in the inner quest with a question. “Do I really need for her to see and acknowledge that I was right? No. I don’t It’s not important.” I then slew the dragon of dependency by breathing in and silently affirming, “I AM NOT dependent on you knowing I’m right to feel good and be at peace.” Breathing out, I silently reminded myself, “I feel good and at peace right now as I let go of my need to be right.”
• Today, notice when the need for others to see you as being right comes up and experiment with pairing the words cool and calm with some slow, deep breathing. Then, engage in the inner quest with a question. “Is it important for others to see me as right?” It might be, such as in a business meeting. But by doing slow, deep breathing and questioning yourself, you can center yourself. You can then coolly and calmly assert your position without the emotional charge of feeling insulted or offended when others disagree. You thereby keep the divine flame within you alive.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Sacred Fire
Everything in the world has come out of one Divine Being, the sacred fire. The sages are the direct manifestation of that fire. Sages do not belong to any culture, religion, caste, or creed. They belong to God . . . Their religion is the religion of love.
—Swami Rama
The bluish-violet flame of the sacred fire was spectacular against the black velvet of the night sky that seemed to blanket our ceremony. The shamans were chanting as they slowly circled the fire. As the shamans made their offerings to the fire, the rest of us followed the shamans’ lead and made our offerings. Here we were on the side of a mountain just before the summer solstice intending peace for our planet and for our individual lives.
We were offering up our lives to be healed in the heat and splendor of the dancing flames. The ancient spiritual tradition of Eckankar tells us that God, the Divine, is li(Today's posting comes from A Matter of Love)ght and sound. The light and sound of the fire and of the shamans’ chanting exercised a hypnotic effect on us all. We were joined in a group trance.
The concept of the sacred fire is found in other spiritual traditions as evidenced in the quote above. For those of us educated in the intellectual tradition of American universities, we have a tendency to look at the fire as symbolic. Although there is some truth to the fire as a symbol pointing beyond itself, the shamans were sure to help us realize the living reality of the sacred fire. In the book At The Eleventh Hour, the Himalayan sage, Sombari Baba, addresses a young Swami Rama. Sombari Baba addresses this tendency to see the fire as only a symbol and not as a living reality.
"You modern children have become slave to your intellect. Instead of experiencing the truth directly, you look for a symbolic meaning in it. Fire is a living truth. It is a link between Earth and heaven. It is divine and resides in everything and everyone. You burn your psychological trash in the fire of knowledge, but you can burn your tangible, physical trash only in a living, blazing fire, that is not a symbol of something else but rather is a self-evident reality. Similarly, you provide nourishment to your soul by offering your love to God, who is beyond names and form. But you provide nourishment to your body, mind, and senses by expressing your love through oblations offered into fire, the manifest form of God on Earth."
The healing energy swirled around us while the flames of the fire danced before us. Warm waves of love surged through us all as the heat of the fire seemed to penetrate our hearts on this cool night. Caught up in the rhythm of the ceremony, our individual hearts merged into one heart. At the same time that we sought healing for the microcosm of each of our individual selves, we sought healing for the macrocosm of our Mother Earth.
Earlier that day, the shamans told us that the sacred fire ceremony seeks to establish an equilibrium and harmony with God, nature, and with each other. Ordinary things that come from nature are used to attain the equilibrium being sought: chocolate, cinnamon, rosemary, sugar, liquor, and candles. Raising his hands above his head as if to touch the stars above, Gerardo began our sacred fire ceremony with the following prayer:
"We thank our God with these things from nature.
We thank Grandfather Sun, Grandmother Moon,
the wind, Mother Earth, divine water, and fire."
The purpose of the ceremony, Gerardo stressed, is to not only help the people participating find the “right equilibrium” for their lives but also to help them evolve and “ascend spiritually.” This ascension involves attaining a respect for God, nature, and humanity. Gerardo proclaimed to us that, “solidarity among all the peoples of the world” is one of the primary goals of the ceremony. He indicated further that the ceremony seeks the “common good.” He then said: “We ask for life, food, education, and other necessities.” Regarding each of the people participating in the ceremony, Gerardo explained, “For us, the ceremony is for the nurturing of our soul.”
Speaking for the shamans, Gerardo stated that: “We were taught that we must heal the planet. There is a crisis on our planet and we feel we must heal each other through the ceremonies.” Furthermore, he emphasized, “We know God is everywhere and we come together to celebrate God.” Then he reminded us of the Mayan view that “we are all brothers and sisters on the spiritual path.” [Today's posting is taken from A Matter of Love listed on www.drsrj.com.]
—Swami Rama
The bluish-violet flame of the sacred fire was spectacular against the black velvet of the night sky that seemed to blanket our ceremony. The shamans were chanting as they slowly circled the fire. As the shamans made their offerings to the fire, the rest of us followed the shamans’ lead and made our offerings. Here we were on the side of a mountain just before the summer solstice intending peace for our planet and for our individual lives.
We were offering up our lives to be healed in the heat and splendor of the dancing flames. The ancient spiritual tradition of Eckankar tells us that God, the Divine, is li(Today's posting comes from A Matter of Love)ght and sound. The light and sound of the fire and of the shamans’ chanting exercised a hypnotic effect on us all. We were joined in a group trance.
The concept of the sacred fire is found in other spiritual traditions as evidenced in the quote above. For those of us educated in the intellectual tradition of American universities, we have a tendency to look at the fire as symbolic. Although there is some truth to the fire as a symbol pointing beyond itself, the shamans were sure to help us realize the living reality of the sacred fire. In the book At The Eleventh Hour, the Himalayan sage, Sombari Baba, addresses a young Swami Rama. Sombari Baba addresses this tendency to see the fire as only a symbol and not as a living reality.
"You modern children have become slave to your intellect. Instead of experiencing the truth directly, you look for a symbolic meaning in it. Fire is a living truth. It is a link between Earth and heaven. It is divine and resides in everything and everyone. You burn your psychological trash in the fire of knowledge, but you can burn your tangible, physical trash only in a living, blazing fire, that is not a symbol of something else but rather is a self-evident reality. Similarly, you provide nourishment to your soul by offering your love to God, who is beyond names and form. But you provide nourishment to your body, mind, and senses by expressing your love through oblations offered into fire, the manifest form of God on Earth."
The healing energy swirled around us while the flames of the fire danced before us. Warm waves of love surged through us all as the heat of the fire seemed to penetrate our hearts on this cool night. Caught up in the rhythm of the ceremony, our individual hearts merged into one heart. At the same time that we sought healing for the microcosm of each of our individual selves, we sought healing for the macrocosm of our Mother Earth.
Earlier that day, the shamans told us that the sacred fire ceremony seeks to establish an equilibrium and harmony with God, nature, and with each other. Ordinary things that come from nature are used to attain the equilibrium being sought: chocolate, cinnamon, rosemary, sugar, liquor, and candles. Raising his hands above his head as if to touch the stars above, Gerardo began our sacred fire ceremony with the following prayer:
"We thank our God with these things from nature.
We thank Grandfather Sun, Grandmother Moon,
the wind, Mother Earth, divine water, and fire."
The purpose of the ceremony, Gerardo stressed, is to not only help the people participating find the “right equilibrium” for their lives but also to help them evolve and “ascend spiritually.” This ascension involves attaining a respect for God, nature, and humanity. Gerardo proclaimed to us that, “solidarity among all the peoples of the world” is one of the primary goals of the ceremony. He indicated further that the ceremony seeks the “common good.” He then said: “We ask for life, food, education, and other necessities.” Regarding each of the people participating in the ceremony, Gerardo explained, “For us, the ceremony is for the nurturing of our soul.”
Speaking for the shamans, Gerardo stated that: “We were taught that we must heal the planet. There is a crisis on our planet and we feel we must heal each other through the ceremonies.” Furthermore, he emphasized, “We know God is everywhere and we come together to celebrate God.” Then he reminded us of the Mayan view that “we are all brothers and sisters on the spiritual path.” [Today's posting is taken from A Matter of Love listed on www.drsrj.com.]
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
One Flame . . . Many Candles
“There is one flame but many candles.”
—Alice Howell
A friend of mine, a retired Episcopal priest, shared with me these words from author Alice Howell (The Dove in the Stone and Web of the Sea). The various sacred traditions can help us see the light of love, the good, in others. In Christian terms, we remember that, as Jesus taught, “That which you do to the least among us, you do unto me” (Matthew 25:24). Therefore, we need to see Christ in others and treat them accordingly.
In Buddhist terms, it means recognizing the Buddha nature in others no matter how unappealing their surface behavior. This is best illustrated in what is called the practice of the Never disparaging and Never Despising Buddha. No matter how the people of a village treated him, he kept telling each person that he sees his or her Buddha nature.
In Hindu tradition, the gretting "Namaste" involves recognizing the divine in others. When one says, "Namaste" with hands held in front of one's chest as if praying and bends forward slightly, one is saying, "The divine in me acknowledges the divine in you."
• Today, as you go through your day, look past the surface of others and think of them as having a candle shining within them. This candle as the light of love. And, since God is love, think of each candle as the Spirit of God shining the light of love. Contemplate the words of Alice Howell, “There is one flame but many candles.”
—Alice Howell
A friend of mine, a retired Episcopal priest, shared with me these words from author Alice Howell (The Dove in the Stone and Web of the Sea). The various sacred traditions can help us see the light of love, the good, in others. In Christian terms, we remember that, as Jesus taught, “That which you do to the least among us, you do unto me” (Matthew 25:24). Therefore, we need to see Christ in others and treat them accordingly.
In Buddhist terms, it means recognizing the Buddha nature in others no matter how unappealing their surface behavior. This is best illustrated in what is called the practice of the Never disparaging and Never Despising Buddha. No matter how the people of a village treated him, he kept telling each person that he sees his or her Buddha nature.
In Hindu tradition, the gretting "Namaste" involves recognizing the divine in others. When one says, "Namaste" with hands held in front of one's chest as if praying and bends forward slightly, one is saying, "The divine in me acknowledges the divine in you."
• Today, as you go through your day, look past the surface of others and think of them as having a candle shining within them. This candle as the light of love. And, since God is love, think of each candle as the Spirit of God shining the light of love. Contemplate the words of Alice Howell, “There is one flame but many candles.”
Monday, March 8, 2010
The Oscars Bring to Light
Hollywood honors performances that reflect what the Mayan shamans said would be happening in this time period leading to 2012. What has been hidden in the darkness will be brought into the light. Individually and collectively, core issues are coming into consciousness to be cleared. The issues brought to light included family dysfunction and sexual abuse, alcohol and fading fame, the turn around of the plight of a homeless black teenage boy, the addiction to the emotional rush of war, and the excessive slaughter and suffering of mammals used for food.
The Oscar for Best Supporting Actress went to the comedienne Monique for her dramatic portrayal of a horribly abusive mother in the film Precious, a story about sexual abuse. Jeff Bridges won Best Actor for his portrayal of a washed up, boozing Country Music star. Sandra Bullock won Best Actress for her performance of a mother of two who takes in a homeless black teenager and helps him become a star football player.
The Hurt Locker, the winner for Best Picture, made us aware of the dark, addictive quality of war. It also showed the human side of war: the participants in war are someone’s son or daughter, wife or husband, father or mother. And, for the first time in 82 years of Oscar history, a woman won for Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow won for The Hurt Locker. This is one of many ripples on the surface of a larger and deeper process predicted by Carl Jung many years ago. Jung foresaw that after 2000 years of a patriarchal period in human history, the long repressed feminine principle would emerge into the light of collective consciousness.
The Cove won Best Documentary Feature in its depiction of the trapping and slaughter of porpoise for specialty food in Japan. One of its contenders, Food, Inc., revealed the suffering inflicted on female animals (cows and chickens) by the forced production of offspring and excessive quantities of food (milk, eggs, beef, and poultry).
• Today, reflect on what stresseful issues are coming up for you to recognize and release
The Oscar for Best Supporting Actress went to the comedienne Monique for her dramatic portrayal of a horribly abusive mother in the film Precious, a story about sexual abuse. Jeff Bridges won Best Actor for his portrayal of a washed up, boozing Country Music star. Sandra Bullock won Best Actress for her performance of a mother of two who takes in a homeless black teenager and helps him become a star football player.
The Hurt Locker, the winner for Best Picture, made us aware of the dark, addictive quality of war. It also showed the human side of war: the participants in war are someone’s son or daughter, wife or husband, father or mother. And, for the first time in 82 years of Oscar history, a woman won for Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow won for The Hurt Locker. This is one of many ripples on the surface of a larger and deeper process predicted by Carl Jung many years ago. Jung foresaw that after 2000 years of a patriarchal period in human history, the long repressed feminine principle would emerge into the light of collective consciousness.
The Cove won Best Documentary Feature in its depiction of the trapping and slaughter of porpoise for specialty food in Japan. One of its contenders, Food, Inc., revealed the suffering inflicted on female animals (cows and chickens) by the forced production of offspring and excessive quantities of food (milk, eggs, beef, and poultry).
• Today, reflect on what stresseful issues are coming up for you to recognize and release
Friday, March 5, 2010
Let Not One Be Left
“Let not one be left behind.”
—Mayan shamans don Serillo and Gerardo Barrios
I first heard these words when I was staying at the hacienda of don Serillo, which was set in the beautiful countryside of Guatemala. He was then considered the head of the Mayan shamans of all the Americas: South, Central and North. On this, my second trip to study with the Maya, I would hear Gerardo say these words to a group of us in Tikal. We came from all over the world: Australia, Europe, the British Isles, as well as from different areas of the USA. The key message: humanity and planet Earth are ascending to a higher level of consciousness. The process, we were told, began on 11/11/1992 and would end on 12/21/2012. In this last month of the year 2012, the ascension will be complete and we will be entering an era of light. Now, on this second trip I just given a mythic image of this process: Earth was a dragon that had curled up and fallen asleep. Now the dragon was waking up and resuming its flight. What did the Maya mean by such terms as ascending and ascension?
With the plane now at its cruising altitude, I found myself recalling the work of Teilhard de Chardin, the French philosopher and Catholic priest. Over two decades ago, he had claimed that humanity was evolving toward love. I began to see where the divine destiny of humanity seemed to be heading.
As I now reflected on this, I noted that the first four letters of the word evolve is love spelled backwards. If we add another o after the l we get evol-o-ve. The letter o is like a circle which symbolizes wholeness. Therefore, when we think of evolving spiritually we are evolving toward love, toward where we can love forwards and backwards, that is, where the energy of love moves forward toward others and back toward us.
This higher, loving consciousness was translated into English as the consciousness of ascension. Joshua Stone, author of The Complete Ascension Manual, defines the consciousness of ascension as “total joy” and “total unconditional love.” It is the “feeling of being at one with God at all times.” And, since God is said to be love, being at one with God is being guided by love in what we think, feel, say, and do.
• Today, as you go through your day, try out the following affirmation. Breathe in, pause, and, as you exhale, relax, and silently say to God, “I AM never separated from the expansive energy and peaceful power of Your pure, everlasting love.” Then, breathe in, pause, and, as you exhale, relax and silently say, “For, in the core of my being, my innermost heart, I AM the expansive energy and peaceful power of Your pure, everlasting love.”
—Mayan shamans don Serillo and Gerardo Barrios
I first heard these words when I was staying at the hacienda of don Serillo, which was set in the beautiful countryside of Guatemala. He was then considered the head of the Mayan shamans of all the Americas: South, Central and North. On this, my second trip to study with the Maya, I would hear Gerardo say these words to a group of us in Tikal. We came from all over the world: Australia, Europe, the British Isles, as well as from different areas of the USA. The key message: humanity and planet Earth are ascending to a higher level of consciousness. The process, we were told, began on 11/11/1992 and would end on 12/21/2012. In this last month of the year 2012, the ascension will be complete and we will be entering an era of light. Now, on this second trip I just given a mythic image of this process: Earth was a dragon that had curled up and fallen asleep. Now the dragon was waking up and resuming its flight. What did the Maya mean by such terms as ascending and ascension?
With the plane now at its cruising altitude, I found myself recalling the work of Teilhard de Chardin, the French philosopher and Catholic priest. Over two decades ago, he had claimed that humanity was evolving toward love. I began to see where the divine destiny of humanity seemed to be heading.
As I now reflected on this, I noted that the first four letters of the word evolve is love spelled backwards. If we add another o after the l we get evol-o-ve. The letter o is like a circle which symbolizes wholeness. Therefore, when we think of evolving spiritually we are evolving toward love, toward where we can love forwards and backwards, that is, where the energy of love moves forward toward others and back toward us.
This higher, loving consciousness was translated into English as the consciousness of ascension. Joshua Stone, author of The Complete Ascension Manual, defines the consciousness of ascension as “total joy” and “total unconditional love.” It is the “feeling of being at one with God at all times.” And, since God is said to be love, being at one with God is being guided by love in what we think, feel, say, and do.
• Today, as you go through your day, try out the following affirmation. Breathe in, pause, and, as you exhale, relax, and silently say to God, “I AM never separated from the expansive energy and peaceful power of Your pure, everlasting love.” Then, breathe in, pause, and, as you exhale, relax and silently say, “For, in the core of my being, my innermost heart, I AM the expansive energy and peaceful power of Your pure, everlasting love.”
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The Plane to Guatemala
The plane to Guatemala stopped for a quick layover in Dallas and a man sat down one seat over from me, and he holds up a book. I think that he is handing me my book that I had left on the empty seat between us. It is The Celestine Prophecy and he points to the book I have with me The Celestine Vision. His name is Ken and I discover that he is going to Tikal to study with the shamans as well. And here we were seated in the same row reading books by the same author. The meaningful coincidences just kept coming.
Ken saw that I had been writing some notes and asked me about what I was writing. I told him it was about the symbolism of the dragon for my book, Slay the Dragon—Not Each Other. Ken tells me of a legend that involves a dragon. It is a legend he heard from a shaman of the Onondaga Indians, one of the seven tribes of the Iroquois Nation.
A dragon was flying through the heavens. After growing tired, it rolls itself into a ball, goes to sleep and becomes the earth. One day the dragon will awaken and resume its journey through the heavens.
Instantly, I am struck by the synchronicity. In addition, it is a beautiful symbol of the idea of the transformation of the Earth at the heart of the Mayan teachings. Suddenly, we hit turbulence and the plane is really shaking for what the pilot cautions us may be for quite a while.
After fifteen minutes of turbulence, I began thinking about my physical separation from the woman I loved. As the thought came to me that although I would love to be with her, I realize that I can handle the physical separation for love continues to exist even when we are not in the physical presence of our beloved.
The turbulence stops immediately as I feel at peace with being apart from my love. Obviously, I can’t say my thought caused the plane to stop shaking but what a message. As I focus on love and not loss, the turbulence within me and around me stops instantly. Then it hits me—there is no separation from love.
As I reflect on how we are never separated from love, I realize that love is the dynamic and enduring energy animating all of life. I then consider that when we are feeling love by being with or even thinking of someone we love, we feel alive all over; and when we are doing something we love, our actions flow effortlessly. (excerpted from the first chapter of A Matter of Love)
• Today, as you go through your day try out the following affirmation. Breathe in, pause, and, as you as you exhale, relax and silently say, “I AM never separated from the expansive energy and peaceful power of love.” Then, breathe in, pause, and, as you exhale, relax and silently say, “For, in the core of my being, my innermost heart, I AM the expansive energy and peaceful power of love.”
Ken saw that I had been writing some notes and asked me about what I was writing. I told him it was about the symbolism of the dragon for my book, Slay the Dragon—Not Each Other. Ken tells me of a legend that involves a dragon. It is a legend he heard from a shaman of the Onondaga Indians, one of the seven tribes of the Iroquois Nation.
A dragon was flying through the heavens. After growing tired, it rolls itself into a ball, goes to sleep and becomes the earth. One day the dragon will awaken and resume its journey through the heavens.
Instantly, I am struck by the synchronicity. In addition, it is a beautiful symbol of the idea of the transformation of the Earth at the heart of the Mayan teachings. Suddenly, we hit turbulence and the plane is really shaking for what the pilot cautions us may be for quite a while.
After fifteen minutes of turbulence, I began thinking about my physical separation from the woman I loved. As the thought came to me that although I would love to be with her, I realize that I can handle the physical separation for love continues to exist even when we are not in the physical presence of our beloved.
The turbulence stops immediately as I feel at peace with being apart from my love. Obviously, I can’t say my thought caused the plane to stop shaking but what a message. As I focus on love and not loss, the turbulence within me and around me stops instantly. Then it hits me—there is no separation from love.
As I reflect on how we are never separated from love, I realize that love is the dynamic and enduring energy animating all of life. I then consider that when we are feeling love by being with or even thinking of someone we love, we feel alive all over; and when we are doing something we love, our actions flow effortlessly. (excerpted from the first chapter of A Matter of Love)
• Today, as you go through your day try out the following affirmation. Breathe in, pause, and, as you as you exhale, relax and silently say, “I AM never separated from the expansive energy and peaceful power of love.” Then, breathe in, pause, and, as you exhale, relax and silently say, “For, in the core of my being, my innermost heart, I AM the expansive energy and peaceful power of love.”
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