As Spring approaches and my heart turns to the beauty of sunshine and warmer days, I am reminded also that with the arrival of summer and joy being outside more, swimming, hiking, bicycling and the many things I do from Spring through Fall, I also realize that there is at least one big drawback to the outdoors in warm weather....mosquitoes. I really dislike those tiny little creatures that bring on so much angst. However, one of the species gave me a very big message one time about 10 years ago that carried a lesson in oneness that I'll never forget.
I went on a Vision Quest in Idaho. For those of you who don't know what a Vision Quest is I'll give a quick description. I, along with about 8 others went to a very remote area with a Native American Shaman. The Quest is a very personal experience and is over a nine day period of time. The first 3 days are spent cleansing your body of toxins, hunting for a quest site, and doing some internal work on what you hope to accomplish during the 3 days that you spend totally alone, with minimal gear and 3 gallons of water..no food. Once you find the area that "calls" to you, the shaman looks at the site for suitability, then cleanses it and marks out a 15 foot
circle that you will live within for those three days. The day that you leave for your site there is a sweat lodge for final cleansing and smudging. The sites were very far apart so you see no-one for those three days. The shaman walks the area within which the sites are, but is careful that you don't see or hear him. Once a day you walk outside your circle and if you have a problem or are in trouble or need anything, you can leave a "marker" inside an area that has been agreed upon prior to your individual quest.
So....3 days, alone, in a remote wilderness; no toys, no music (except my own singing to myself, the trees and whatever bear might be wandering in the area), no books to read....what to do all day, and all night - sleep seemed to be pretty elusive. However, we had a journal to write in and I had some drawing materials, both of which I used extensively.
One afternoon I was drawing some of the surrounding area and a mosquito lit on my forearm. I stopped sketching, looked at the mosquito and pondered its purpose on earth. It came to me that only the female mosquito bites. They use the philandered blood to feed their young. The young are often eaten by fish, little fish get eaten by bigger fish, bigger fish get eaten by people or caught and used for by products in dog and cat food. Some of the fish die a natural death and become part of the soil as they are washed ashore or after being cleaned by fishermen/women, the discarded parts become compost. Out of the soil that has been enriched by the fish discard, plants, trees, gardens are nourished. This nourished food is eaten by people, animals, birds... then the real lesson hit me. That bit of blood the mosquito carried from my arm would go through a very great circle of life and therefore, I would be part of many things which ultimately means that I am one with all. It was the first time that I truly understood the "Oneness" concept and I have a mosquito to thank for that. I tend to look at mosquitoes differently now, as well as everything around me. I AM one with all and that truth has awakened a part of my that is large indeed.
Think about it, my friends, and awaken to a new YOU. Nemaste. Live large and consciously.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
COMMON GROUND
It is with great interest that I have read the blogs and responses to Mykyls' writings. I wasn't there for the original conversation that prompted the intense emotions that seemed to grow out of that conversation and it's perhaps good that I wasn't present.
I had been brought up in the church (protestant) and raised my children in the church also, believing that was the "right" thing to do. We learn to be parents from the parents who raised us. I can't say I wish I hadn't raised my children in the church because I know they picked up a few pieces of guidelines for behavior, belief systems, values and morals from what they learned there. At the very least, they learned enough to have something to compare to what they believed on their own. They also saw and heard things that formed different levels of attachment, or lack thereof, from people in churches we attended and from me. (Yes, my friends, I too am human and left my share of deep scars on my children).
As my children grew up, so did I and after they left home I began to really think for myself about what I experienced, saw and heard from the church, its members and leaders. I began to remember what it was like to attend church with my mother and it wasn't a pleasant source of memories. I began to withdraw from the sanctified walls and standing on the outside what I saw was a facade, a false facade, that guards its secrets beneath a robe of religiosity. I walked away from that church and away from organized religion 15 years ago and have grown more spiritually since I made that decision than I had any time since my childhood and through my young adulthood, even though I was very active in many church organized events.
My partner and I attend a discussion forum called Common Ground, founded by two men who have a dedication to world peace and who try to help people understand the fundamental beliefs of all religions. They believe that if we could understand other religious or spiritual perspectives we'd find a commonality that would surely lead to global peace. When you look at the history of war in the world, you will invariably find religious differences somewhere at the core.
When I have written about "going within" or finding your path, what I am largely trying to say is that there is a commonality amongst all mankind....a "knowing" that's unexplainable except as it relates to some sort of belief system by which we live our lives. From my perspective there is no right or wrong, good or bad, sinners or saints. There is only the is-ness of our existence. Those who would destroy the world trade towers, bomb a harbor full of military ships filled with sea men, strap bombs to themselves and step into a subway at rush hour only to kill themselves and as many others as possible seem evil to civilized mankind. How can those kinds of destructive measures be reviled when what they've been taught from a very young age is that if you die for a religious cause, you will be immediately be sitting at the right hand of God? It's all they know and for those of you who are in the process of recovery from religious teachings that bent and shaped your young life are in the same boat. We've been taught to "honor" our mothers and fathers, even though some of us have known unspeakable abuse, neglect, and dishonoring from those we are suppose to honor. During the days of the Crusades, women were burned at the stake for healing with herbs and ceremony not condoned by the church. Countries were attacked and villages wiped out because they wouldn't bow to the Catholic God. Religious fanatics stole land and murdered thousands who refused to be converted to whatever belief system ruled the day. The United States became what we are as a nation via the initial invasion, rape, murder and annihilation of a people dedicated to the preservation of mother nature who killed animals only as needed, using every part of the animal as possible for food, clothing and tools, or cleared only as much land as they needed to grow crops that would feed their people. When they moved on they left the place they had used in better condition than when they initially settled. Now we rape the land, kill for sport, use whatever space, land, air in any way we please and when it becomes too polluted and depleted we leave land fills (dumps), broken concrete and blacktop, empty buildings that decay while housing rats and the retched refuse of our population that somehow are unacceptable as part of the human race. The rich become richer and the poor become poorer and each are disgusted with the other. All this in the name of civilization. All this out of pride of being better than others in our own nation and certainly better than undeveloped countries, who of course would benefit from "civilization" but are too backwards to know any better. We are a nation united, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Hmmmmm. And we are civilized to boot. I somehow don't feel very proud of being an American.
Our commonality lies at the deepest level of ourselves, not as Americans, but as homo-sapiens in a world full of other homo-sapiens, all from a common source with so much promise and with the same depth of self should any choose to go there. I have found a path that makes all this understandable and do-able. I've listened to lectures at Common Ground, heard tapes from some of the most spiritual (not religious) people of our time, gone to countless lectures/discussions in which has been expressed concern that religion, as an institution, has failed us and given that the enormous, heart-warming strong desire for a spirituality that will have meaning and direction and acceptance of everyone rather than a chosen, proven few. There is a refreshing movement from religion to spirituality that just might save us from ourselves in spite of ourselves. I find my path in the Tao Te Ching. I am also a pagan (you might look that up in a good dictionary - Concord Concise is a good one). Others find it in Buddhism or Zen or any number of possibilities, to find the way to the inner self where the questions to all answers can be found and the circle of life continues. Go into your search with acceptance and love for all, including yourself and go in peace my friends. Nemaste
I had been brought up in the church (protestant) and raised my children in the church also, believing that was the "right" thing to do. We learn to be parents from the parents who raised us. I can't say I wish I hadn't raised my children in the church because I know they picked up a few pieces of guidelines for behavior, belief systems, values and morals from what they learned there. At the very least, they learned enough to have something to compare to what they believed on their own. They also saw and heard things that formed different levels of attachment, or lack thereof, from people in churches we attended and from me. (Yes, my friends, I too am human and left my share of deep scars on my children).
As my children grew up, so did I and after they left home I began to really think for myself about what I experienced, saw and heard from the church, its members and leaders. I began to remember what it was like to attend church with my mother and it wasn't a pleasant source of memories. I began to withdraw from the sanctified walls and standing on the outside what I saw was a facade, a false facade, that guards its secrets beneath a robe of religiosity. I walked away from that church and away from organized religion 15 years ago and have grown more spiritually since I made that decision than I had any time since my childhood and through my young adulthood, even though I was very active in many church organized events.
My partner and I attend a discussion forum called Common Ground, founded by two men who have a dedication to world peace and who try to help people understand the fundamental beliefs of all religions. They believe that if we could understand other religious or spiritual perspectives we'd find a commonality that would surely lead to global peace. When you look at the history of war in the world, you will invariably find religious differences somewhere at the core.
When I have written about "going within" or finding your path, what I am largely trying to say is that there is a commonality amongst all mankind....a "knowing" that's unexplainable except as it relates to some sort of belief system by which we live our lives. From my perspective there is no right or wrong, good or bad, sinners or saints. There is only the is-ness of our existence. Those who would destroy the world trade towers, bomb a harbor full of military ships filled with sea men, strap bombs to themselves and step into a subway at rush hour only to kill themselves and as many others as possible seem evil to civilized mankind. How can those kinds of destructive measures be reviled when what they've been taught from a very young age is that if you die for a religious cause, you will be immediately be sitting at the right hand of God? It's all they know and for those of you who are in the process of recovery from religious teachings that bent and shaped your young life are in the same boat. We've been taught to "honor" our mothers and fathers, even though some of us have known unspeakable abuse, neglect, and dishonoring from those we are suppose to honor. During the days of the Crusades, women were burned at the stake for healing with herbs and ceremony not condoned by the church. Countries were attacked and villages wiped out because they wouldn't bow to the Catholic God. Religious fanatics stole land and murdered thousands who refused to be converted to whatever belief system ruled the day. The United States became what we are as a nation via the initial invasion, rape, murder and annihilation of a people dedicated to the preservation of mother nature who killed animals only as needed, using every part of the animal as possible for food, clothing and tools, or cleared only as much land as they needed to grow crops that would feed their people. When they moved on they left the place they had used in better condition than when they initially settled. Now we rape the land, kill for sport, use whatever space, land, air in any way we please and when it becomes too polluted and depleted we leave land fills (dumps), broken concrete and blacktop, empty buildings that decay while housing rats and the retched refuse of our population that somehow are unacceptable as part of the human race. The rich become richer and the poor become poorer and each are disgusted with the other. All this in the name of civilization. All this out of pride of being better than others in our own nation and certainly better than undeveloped countries, who of course would benefit from "civilization" but are too backwards to know any better. We are a nation united, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Hmmmmm. And we are civilized to boot. I somehow don't feel very proud of being an American.
Our commonality lies at the deepest level of ourselves, not as Americans, but as homo-sapiens in a world full of other homo-sapiens, all from a common source with so much promise and with the same depth of self should any choose to go there. I have found a path that makes all this understandable and do-able. I've listened to lectures at Common Ground, heard tapes from some of the most spiritual (not religious) people of our time, gone to countless lectures/discussions in which has been expressed concern that religion, as an institution, has failed us and given that the enormous, heart-warming strong desire for a spirituality that will have meaning and direction and acceptance of everyone rather than a chosen, proven few. There is a refreshing movement from religion to spirituality that just might save us from ourselves in spite of ourselves. I find my path in the Tao Te Ching. I am also a pagan (you might look that up in a good dictionary - Concord Concise is a good one). Others find it in Buddhism or Zen or any number of possibilities, to find the way to the inner self where the questions to all answers can be found and the circle of life continues. Go into your search with acceptance and love for all, including yourself and go in peace my friends. Nemaste
Monday, March 24, 2008
HIDDEN WITHIN THE SILENCE
As we develop and grow there seems to be universal questions such as: 'Who am I?', 'What am I here for? ', 'Is there a purpose to life?' At some point we attempt to search for answers to these questions. Robert Frost, in his poem The Road Less Traveled, said: "...and I? I chose the road less traveled by and that has made all the difference". Whatever path we chose it serves us best if we truly devote ourselves to it and practice returning to it when we wander, and begin the practice all over again. Most people accept and dedicate themselves only half-heartily to their choice. Some people, after experiencing what they find, will throw it away entirely, seeing the process as absurd. As we walk our path we find ourselves, our inner thoughts and beliefs, our level of dedication and commitment, our attitudes about a plethora of ideas and beliefs. In so doing we find a greatness of self and others that heretofore has been hidden from us.
We may develop or establish a set of guidelines for sorting through the rubble we will inevitably encounter. Such as:
Confusion arises when we search for clarity.
It will feel like we are walking backwards when we are working for progress.
Obstacles litter the way to smoothness.
Receptivity is the only way to the greatest power.
Shamefulness seems to appear along with true innocence.
The greater the resources we think we have will feel sadly lacking.
There's a measure of suspicion whenever genuine goodness is experienced.
Solidity and dependability will be accompanied by uncertainty.
The effectiveness of boundaries will be endless.
Wise people are continually learning.
Within silence is hidden the most comforting music.
Formlessness is the foundation of the most beautiful art.
The path you choose , itself, is in the silence, without form and is the journey to all beauty and joy with yourself.
This choice will probably be the most difficult one you will make, especially if you truly dedicate yourself to the process. It so worth the growing pains. Nemaste, my friends.
We may develop or establish a set of guidelines for sorting through the rubble we will inevitably encounter. Such as:
Confusion arises when we search for clarity.
It will feel like we are walking backwards when we are working for progress.
Obstacles litter the way to smoothness.
Receptivity is the only way to the greatest power.
Shamefulness seems to appear along with true innocence.
The greater the resources we think we have will feel sadly lacking.
There's a measure of suspicion whenever genuine goodness is experienced.
Solidity and dependability will be accompanied by uncertainty.
The effectiveness of boundaries will be endless.
Wise people are continually learning.
Within silence is hidden the most comforting music.
Formlessness is the foundation of the most beautiful art.
The path you choose , itself, is in the silence, without form and is the journey to all beauty and joy with yourself.
This choice will probably be the most difficult one you will make, especially if you truly dedicate yourself to the process. It so worth the growing pains. Nemaste, my friends.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
FALLING DOWN
There is an art to falling down...it's called growth. The amount of gentleness and awareness with which we pick ourselves up,the lightness of the hand that brushes us off and the open willingness we engage to continue and move on to the next step, which may well be beyond our safe edge, into the mystery of being are all the considerations by which growth is measured.
When my heart aches for another's pain, when I do random acts of kindness without anyone knowing what I've done, when I step into and past my own physical pain to ease another's and when I hold a woman, or a man, as they cry the tears of their brokenness, I know I have fallen many times somewhere along the way and the scars on my knees and hands have healed.
When I look away from a small child in tears, or an old person in rags, or a handicapped man or woman who looks at me with pleading eyes and drool running from their mouth, I know I am in the process of falling and also know that I will have need of introspection and that I'll be struggling with forgiving myself.
When I let myself down by not letting myself play, or by procrastinating over an unpleasant task that will invariably be there tomorrow just as it's there today, or when I judge myself for not doing something better or forget an important date, I've fallen again. When I ruminate over the number of times I've fallen, I fall even further. All opportunities for growth, some more difficult than others, but every one a gift. Accept your gifts and grow with grace. Nemaste my friends.
When my heart aches for another's pain, when I do random acts of kindness without anyone knowing what I've done, when I step into and past my own physical pain to ease another's and when I hold a woman, or a man, as they cry the tears of their brokenness, I know I have fallen many times somewhere along the way and the scars on my knees and hands have healed.
When I look away from a small child in tears, or an old person in rags, or a handicapped man or woman who looks at me with pleading eyes and drool running from their mouth, I know I am in the process of falling and also know that I will have need of introspection and that I'll be struggling with forgiving myself.
When I let myself down by not letting myself play, or by procrastinating over an unpleasant task that will invariably be there tomorrow just as it's there today, or when I judge myself for not doing something better or forget an important date, I've fallen again. When I ruminate over the number of times I've fallen, I fall even further. All opportunities for growth, some more difficult than others, but every one a gift. Accept your gifts and grow with grace. Nemaste my friends.
Monday, March 17, 2008
FINDING WHOLENESS
Our society seems to need to label things, people and events in order to understand, control, feel safe..... One of these areas is in defining age...somehow youth is more desirable than age. I would challenge this concept.
For the sage, age and youth are joined because the folly of youth and the wisdom of age has each had its day and are equally embraced. The innocence of youth and the experience of age support one another very well. The energy and goal orientation of youth is followed by a welcoming of rest and introspection as the sage emerges. Life and death are both elements of experience and cannot be separated.
As opposites have come and gone, the sage has, and does, experience them and then lets them go without feeling anxiousness about loss and does not need to hold fast to them for they have come and gone as have the moments that presented them. The sage feels no need to lecture but instead enjoys conversation. She can act in any way that seems appropriate or necessary without worrying about what anyone thinks ( letting others do the same) while living in contentment and satisfaction and joy. The sage welcomes the morning no less than youth for the sun shines on both, the rain nourishes both worlds, food and good company sustains each and when the sun sets on yet another day, it is glorious in its beauty and brings rest to youth and age alike.
For the sage, age and youth are joined because the folly of youth and the wisdom of age has each had its day and are equally embraced. The innocence of youth and the experience of age support one another very well. The energy and goal orientation of youth is followed by a welcoming of rest and introspection as the sage emerges. Life and death are both elements of experience and cannot be separated.
As opposites have come and gone, the sage has, and does, experience them and then lets them go without feeling anxiousness about loss and does not need to hold fast to them for they have come and gone as have the moments that presented them. The sage feels no need to lecture but instead enjoys conversation. She can act in any way that seems appropriate or necessary without worrying about what anyone thinks ( letting others do the same) while living in contentment and satisfaction and joy. The sage welcomes the morning no less than youth for the sun shines on both, the rain nourishes both worlds, food and good company sustains each and when the sun sets on yet another day, it is glorious in its beauty and brings rest to youth and age alike.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
I consider myself a sage, if only because of my age, and I find that many younger people see "older" as stiff in the body and a hard heart with a wandering mind. Just for the record (and as it applies to me - for I don't like to presume that my truth or my reality is theirs) sages don't generally find this to be true. "Our minds begin to see the oneness of all things, our bodies become more supple and flexible and our hearts soften in love" (William Martin in The Sages Tao Te Ching) I train my mind through meditation and reading as well as mental exercises that are challenging and force me to solve problems and think clearly. I horseback ride, I hike and bicycle, I garden, I play with my dogs and grandchildren. As for my heart....I listen, accept and forgive, both to myself and others. Peace is in my heart and makes it a soft and loving place. I allow myself to feel and am working at not judging myself. I do the hard work of seeking ever deeper answers that I didn't have time to do as a young mother and wife. a job which I judge myself pretty harshly for not doing as well as I wish I had. But those days are long gone and I can be in the moment much more frequently and see much more clearly before making choices.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Inner World
I've been writing and thinking a great deal about the idea of the inner self this week and I'm not sure how much of it has struck a familiar note with any of you out there. I struggle with my inner self on a fairly regular basis because I'm so wrapped up in the familiarity of my life as I've always known it. It's often easier to take the day to day, moment to moment "stuff" as it comes, respond out of old patterns, then go on to the next moment. The problem with this is that I'm being re-active in my life instead of pro-active, which is what I prefer being - and can most often be. That word "be" is also another big two letter word with carries so much meaning.
If I'm busy "doing" whatever needs to be done I may be productive, but that path takes me into a confusing territory of remembering who I am. We all need to stop and just "be" in the moment, in ourselves, in the emotion of the moment, in the joy of the moment. Keeping myself busy "doing" allows me to avoid the harder work of the inner self.
There is often difficulty awakening to their inner self, especially when "doing" the familiar keeps us distracted and feeling important. We are often so numb that we find it very hard to discover the new, interesting and adventurous parts of ourselves. That leaves us in a shadowy, strange encounter with our soul world. Perhaps it would help if we considered ourselves for a while as a stranger to out own deepest depths....view ourselves as a stranger who just walked into our inner sanctum. This might be a liberating exercise, helping to break the fearful stranglehold of complacency and familiarity. This less invasive path to our inner self might help us feel a sense of excitement and magic, mystery and inquisitiveness about the self we have rarely, if ever, met, much less conversed with, challenged, laughed and played with. We are not forever relegated to a deadened life, forever feeling that there's something missing, something more that we intuitively know is available to us, but haven't found a way to reach.
I am a great believer in the power of the subconscious and the means by which it reaches out and gives us messages via dreams. I journal, I write my dreams and interpret them as best as I can or have my partner help me with them. I've learned a great deal about myself and am excited about the possibilities of growth. I think that's why this blogspot opportunity has become so important to me. I'd like for others to experience this new consciousness. Perhaps if more of us could become more consciously aware of the self that lies within; the self that's largely been betrayed by the society that raised us a new collective consciousness would develop that might just change the world.
I hope you begin, if you haven't already, to become with your inner self. There's an amazing world that dwells within. Namaste my friends.
If I'm busy "doing" whatever needs to be done I may be productive, but that path takes me into a confusing territory of remembering who I am. We all need to stop and just "be" in the moment, in ourselves, in the emotion of the moment, in the joy of the moment. Keeping myself busy "doing" allows me to avoid the harder work of the inner self.
There is often difficulty awakening to their inner self, especially when "doing" the familiar keeps us distracted and feeling important. We are often so numb that we find it very hard to discover the new, interesting and adventurous parts of ourselves. That leaves us in a shadowy, strange encounter with our soul world. Perhaps it would help if we considered ourselves for a while as a stranger to out own deepest depths....view ourselves as a stranger who just walked into our inner sanctum. This might be a liberating exercise, helping to break the fearful stranglehold of complacency and familiarity. This less invasive path to our inner self might help us feel a sense of excitement and magic, mystery and inquisitiveness about the self we have rarely, if ever, met, much less conversed with, challenged, laughed and played with. We are not forever relegated to a deadened life, forever feeling that there's something missing, something more that we intuitively know is available to us, but haven't found a way to reach.
I am a great believer in the power of the subconscious and the means by which it reaches out and gives us messages via dreams. I journal, I write my dreams and interpret them as best as I can or have my partner help me with them. I've learned a great deal about myself and am excited about the possibilities of growth. I think that's why this blogspot opportunity has become so important to me. I'd like for others to experience this new consciousness. Perhaps if more of us could become more consciously aware of the self that lies within; the self that's largely been betrayed by the society that raised us a new collective consciousness would develop that might just change the world.
I hope you begin, if you haven't already, to become with your inner self. There's an amazing world that dwells within. Namaste my friends.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Practice Without Struggle
Whatever path we've chosen or will choose is best walked without struggle. Resistance is the result of struggle and to resist create much more suffering than is needed in our lives and in the world.
The present moment is all we really have and focusing on that we can clearly see what we must do to be most effective. Walk that path without complaining, without resistance, or trying to second-guess our choices. Then stop. We don't need to complicate our actions by seeking non-existent control or recognition. We can walk quietly, without needing the approval of others, when we truly know who we are, and who we are is only wanting to reach deeper and know ourselves better. It is enough...and more.
Actions that we choose out of our inner knowing is correct, but still may be difficult. It is focused, dedicated and effective. If you think to struggle over actions you will complicate the outcome and will not lead to a strong, lasting good.
The present moment is all we really have and focusing on that we can clearly see what we must do to be most effective. Walk that path without complaining, without resistance, or trying to second-guess our choices. Then stop. We don't need to complicate our actions by seeking non-existent control or recognition. We can walk quietly, without needing the approval of others, when we truly know who we are, and who we are is only wanting to reach deeper and know ourselves better. It is enough...and more.
Actions that we choose out of our inner knowing is correct, but still may be difficult. It is focused, dedicated and effective. If you think to struggle over actions you will complicate the outcome and will not lead to a strong, lasting good.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Walking in our world
As we grow and mature we chose a path, a life we wish to walk, to live in a certain way, to work in a specific field, to have a family or not, what our outward persona is to be and countless other things. As we walk this path, our energy is focused on the things that fulfill our plan. When we step aside of our chosen way, fear contaminates our energy and we do whatever we can to protect ourselves.
The greatest suffering we experience comes from not knowing who we are or where our place is in life. Perhaps we question whether our chosen path is the one we really want; the job we've worked to make a living becomes less and less satisfying, something seems to be missing and we search in desperation for something to take away the discomfort. We become most unhappy when we continually want something more, something else. We sometimes search in endless circles for something to take the place of our discontent, our unhappiness.
It is only when we pause to take a few very deep breaths, let each one out slowly, calming the racing thoughts and uncomfortable discouragement and begin to let go of the "stuff" that fills our minds and look within, deep within, for the real self. If we can find contentment with each breath that leads the way to the forgotten inner self we will be eternally content. When we become acquainted with the real self, the way to freedom, happiness, fulfillment and purpose becomes an "a-ha" moment and the smoky mirror clearly reflects the real person. That real person exists then within the path chosen or makes choices to change their life. Whatever choice that was made initially or later in life is all good. Our impact on the world is just what the world needed. There is no good or bad except as we think it (Shakespeare).
This day I would hope that each person dare to take those breaths that will let them see deeper inside themselves. What you find will be wonderful and satisfying. The journey may be long and true understanding may come with many questions, but those too are all good. For myself, I love the process of discovering myself and incorporating my discoveries into an ever growing relationship with myself and the universe.
The greatest suffering we experience comes from not knowing who we are or where our place is in life. Perhaps we question whether our chosen path is the one we really want; the job we've worked to make a living becomes less and less satisfying, something seems to be missing and we search in desperation for something to take away the discomfort. We become most unhappy when we continually want something more, something else. We sometimes search in endless circles for something to take the place of our discontent, our unhappiness.
It is only when we pause to take a few very deep breaths, let each one out slowly, calming the racing thoughts and uncomfortable discouragement and begin to let go of the "stuff" that fills our minds and look within, deep within, for the real self. If we can find contentment with each breath that leads the way to the forgotten inner self we will be eternally content. When we become acquainted with the real self, the way to freedom, happiness, fulfillment and purpose becomes an "a-ha" moment and the smoky mirror clearly reflects the real person. That real person exists then within the path chosen or makes choices to change their life. Whatever choice that was made initially or later in life is all good. Our impact on the world is just what the world needed. There is no good or bad except as we think it (Shakespeare).
This day I would hope that each person dare to take those breaths that will let them see deeper inside themselves. What you find will be wonderful and satisfying. The journey may be long and true understanding may come with many questions, but those too are all good. For myself, I love the process of discovering myself and incorporating my discoveries into an ever growing relationship with myself and the universe.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Letting go
Our safety and well-being are not dependent on the extent to which we control our lives. Control is an illusion. We are not separate from life, from the lives around, from this country's or global events. Attempting control separates us and brings misery more often than not. "No man is an island, no man stands alone. Each man's joy is joy to me, each man's grief is our own".
(Words to a song that I can't remember the title of as I write this).
Letting go of the belief that control is possible means we can let go of the idea that control keeps us safe. We've been so well conditioned to believe that in the attempt to keep ourselves and loved ones safe and happy we more often open the door to anxiety and suffering. We've even been taught not to think of ourselves so much, to be afraid of cracking the door to self and thereby have let go of considering ourselves as separate egos.
Being rather a scholar in human development, I know that developing an ego is an important aspect in human growth. However, development of the ego is a stage rather than the end product of person hood. Like the development of a cocoon is a natural and necessary part of being a caterpillar. However, development doesn't stop there. At some point the cocoon begins to soften, wear thin then opens into the next stage. What if there were a natural process much like this that involves our opinions, possessions, attitudes, beliefs and our ego. What if the ego is enveloped in a cocoon and one day it opens, not to the darkness of fear and death, but spreads its wings under a warm and loving sun to fly on to another stage?
(Words to a song that I can't remember the title of as I write this).
Letting go of the belief that control is possible means we can let go of the idea that control keeps us safe. We've been so well conditioned to believe that in the attempt to keep ourselves and loved ones safe and happy we more often open the door to anxiety and suffering. We've even been taught not to think of ourselves so much, to be afraid of cracking the door to self and thereby have let go of considering ourselves as separate egos.
Being rather a scholar in human development, I know that developing an ego is an important aspect in human growth. However, development of the ego is a stage rather than the end product of person hood. Like the development of a cocoon is a natural and necessary part of being a caterpillar. However, development doesn't stop there. At some point the cocoon begins to soften, wear thin then opens into the next stage. What if there were a natural process much like this that involves our opinions, possessions, attitudes, beliefs and our ego. What if the ego is enveloped in a cocoon and one day it opens, not to the darkness of fear and death, but spreads its wings under a warm and loving sun to fly on to another stage?
Monday, March 10, 2008
There's no fixing what isn't broken
Aggression is not a requirement in response to confrontation. If we don't seek our own way, no one is a competitor and we don't have to respond in anger when someone opposes us. It's so easy to be non aggressive and peaceful when others behave as we think they should. The real test of the sense of self we think we have is when push comes to shove. When people oppose or attack our thoughts or our sense of right and wrong, a non aggressive response would be unexpected. It would be good to try to think about what a non aggressive response would look like so when the opportunity for each of us to offer resolution to some life issue, as it seems it must in life as it is today, we are able to respond as we choose instead of react out of fear.
When we know, with the deep knowing that comes from within, our strengths and our weaknesses we can use both for benefit . There is no need to try to fix ourselves or others and therefore we can relax in an easy and natural way as we walk our path.
When we know, with the deep knowing that comes from within, our strengths and our weaknesses we can use both for benefit . There is no need to try to fix ourselves or others and therefore we can relax in an easy and natural way as we walk our path.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Embrace all
In the process of looking within and finding that part of us that society has encourged us to put in some "appropriate" place so we fit better in the world, we will find some parts that seem acceptable and some not acceptable. But both are part of the reality of who we are and embracing both doesn't mean changing ourselves. It means opening ourselves to the wonder of who we really are.
Very young children are wonderful examples of living in the moment and being who they are in every moment. They don't feel shame until shame is taught to them. They don't feel guilt over spilled milk or a broken plate until they're taught that both are an unacceptable inconvenience. Time is a gift of many moments, always available to do with as they wish until someone teaches them that work is more desireable and useful than play. As "good" children, we all learned our lessons well and dutifully practiced what we were taught until we now fit some mold or other that the great world has packaged, stamped as "not fragile" and mailed off to the reality we have so long accepted as our life lived by "our selves".
All that declared, can we, with boldness, determination and gentleness, begin the journey to the center, our very own center, and consider embracing all that has dwelt there in darkness and shame for so very long? Can we embrace both the acceptable and unacceptable parts? Can we gently embrace the pain and without judgement enfold in our awareness the judged?
This process is not about changing ourselves. As William Martin said in "A Path and a Practice", it's about opening ourselves to the real wonder of life and to the wonder we truly are. Unconsciously, we live the idea that if we accept ourselves as we really are, we will not change. The second part of that idea is that if we accept ourselves as we really are, we will act in hurtful and harmful ways. What if those assumptions aren't true? What parts of you are the most difficult to accept and why are they difficult. What if much or most of what you were taught as a child was destructive to the real you?
I have been on a path of recovery from my childhood teachings for a very long time and can say that I truly trust myself enough to listen to that wee small voice within that knocks on the door to my heart and, sometimes timidly, but more often boldly now, asks to come in, to be heard, to be loved just as I am and just as I am becoming of my own free will. It seems to me that all of life would be so much easier and more peaceful if more individuals could do the same....and more. The world, both near and far, just might be able to be friends.
Very young children are wonderful examples of living in the moment and being who they are in every moment. They don't feel shame until shame is taught to them. They don't feel guilt over spilled milk or a broken plate until they're taught that both are an unacceptable inconvenience. Time is a gift of many moments, always available to do with as they wish until someone teaches them that work is more desireable and useful than play. As "good" children, we all learned our lessons well and dutifully practiced what we were taught until we now fit some mold or other that the great world has packaged, stamped as "not fragile" and mailed off to the reality we have so long accepted as our life lived by "our selves".
All that declared, can we, with boldness, determination and gentleness, begin the journey to the center, our very own center, and consider embracing all that has dwelt there in darkness and shame for so very long? Can we embrace both the acceptable and unacceptable parts? Can we gently embrace the pain and without judgement enfold in our awareness the judged?
This process is not about changing ourselves. As William Martin said in "A Path and a Practice", it's about opening ourselves to the real wonder of life and to the wonder we truly are. Unconsciously, we live the idea that if we accept ourselves as we really are, we will not change. The second part of that idea is that if we accept ourselves as we really are, we will act in hurtful and harmful ways. What if those assumptions aren't true? What parts of you are the most difficult to accept and why are they difficult. What if much or most of what you were taught as a child was destructive to the real you?
I have been on a path of recovery from my childhood teachings for a very long time and can say that I truly trust myself enough to listen to that wee small voice within that knocks on the door to my heart and, sometimes timidly, but more often boldly now, asks to come in, to be heard, to be loved just as I am and just as I am becoming of my own free will. It seems to me that all of life would be so much easier and more peaceful if more individuals could do the same....and more. The world, both near and far, just might be able to be friends.
Friday, March 7, 2008
There are moments and then there are moments
It is sometimes very difficult to stay in the moment when one's world is repleat with friends and family who also share our moments. I am not one who hides in a corner when others are going through growth pains, but neither will I interject thoughts, suggestions or ideas if not asked. As a mother and grandmother well ingrained with societal shoulds and having grown in the love that comes with each life which interacts with mine, it is sometimes very painful to step back while maintaining support, to let go of the strong desire to step in and "fix it". Once we cross the boundaries of another's growth process, we intrude where we have a less than clear understanding of the other's relationship with the idea of self construction as I explained what I meant by that in yesterday's posting. Finding a balance of caring and providing support for others without loosing our own sense of self in the moment and avoiding enmeshment in the pain of others is growth in and of itself. Looking within ouselves at the relationship of the other's pain to our own place on the wheel of life, we may, indeed, find that there are lessons for ourselves in this crossing of paths and remembering when we were where they are.
There is a comment by William Martin in "The Sage's Tao Te Ching" that is appropriate here: Learning to see things from a different angle requires great courage. Old voices within will seek to kingle the fire of fear: Your're not going to have enoughl You must hold on! You're going to be alonel You're going to die. This is the truth of the Tao: We will always have enough. We can let go. We are never alone."
I would like to leave you this moment with the thought that the deeper one goes, as diving in a pond, the clearer the way can be seen.
There is a comment by William Martin in "The Sage's Tao Te Ching" that is appropriate here: Learning to see things from a different angle requires great courage. Old voices within will seek to kingle the fire of fear: Your're not going to have enoughl You must hold on! You're going to be alonel You're going to die. This is the truth of the Tao: We will always have enough. We can let go. We are never alone."
I would like to leave you this moment with the thought that the deeper one goes, as diving in a pond, the clearer the way can be seen.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Now
It would seem to me that at some point in one's life there comes a realization that what one has done all their lives, or even more so the life we've dedicated ourselves to, begins to pose the question: is this all there is? This doesn't mean that what has been done heretofore is no longer of worth. It's simply that the first half (or so) of our life we pretty much choose vocations, lifestyle, outward persona according to a set of societal expectations. Then gradually and quietly new thoughts and expectations for ourselves that we never dared entertain begin to become more and more insistent and pervasive. Our real self is tired of taking the suggested congested road more traveled. We daringly take a baby step into an unexperienced , ( but so familiar in some deep recess of ourself), vista and life begins to change. From that first step we retreat again to life
as it has been...familiar, safe, manageable...but now with a sense that returns uncalled of something missing and the inner soul finds the crack in the shell of self-protection and becomes a promoter of an iconoclast of the status quo.
There comes a day when declaring a difference in world view and self that releases a deep, evolving wonder and there is a joy in getting up in the morning not unlike the dew and sun filled days of early youth. One knows there is no going back and that is a good thing because new birth has arrived. There's a wonderful reason to proceed into the new unmapped territory, but none to go back to the limited self. Only this moment, this time, this exploration is important. What this moment contains is the building materials for the foundation of new growth for the remainder of life and it is ALL good. The soul has been recognized and acknowledged and can finally breathe.
as it has been...familiar, safe, manageable...but now with a sense that returns uncalled of something missing and the inner soul finds the crack in the shell of self-protection and becomes a promoter of an iconoclast of the status quo.
There comes a day when declaring a difference in world view and self that releases a deep, evolving wonder and there is a joy in getting up in the morning not unlike the dew and sun filled days of early youth. One knows there is no going back and that is a good thing because new birth has arrived. There's a wonderful reason to proceed into the new unmapped territory, but none to go back to the limited self. Only this moment, this time, this exploration is important. What this moment contains is the building materials for the foundation of new growth for the remainder of life and it is ALL good. The soul has been recognized and acknowledged and can finally breathe.
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