Wanderings' Wanderings

We all live in our own bubbles

Imagine for a moment you are walking down the street and can actually create the world in which you live.

This past week we had a client who continually said they didn’t want to be around negative or incompetent people, and she kept saying that over and over again, and then it hit me: the reason she was surrounded by those types of people is because she was continually focusing on that type of energy.  She was subconsciously drawing in the negative energy she was trying to keep out because her focus was on the negative, not the positive. When we brought this to her attention she looked like someone had slapped her in the face.

We sometimes become so focused on what we don’t want in this life that we forget to focus on what it is we DO want.  When become mired in the difficulties we never see that the path actually deviates around the problems.   Then we sit on our pity-pots crying the world is unfair and that we are incapable of positive things in our lives.

The world is exactly what we make it.  When we see only the strife and hardships,  then we are really focusing in on that type of energy and draw it towards ourselves, allowing it to feed upon our fears, and upon our own negativity.  When we are able to look beyond the mess in front of us to the possibility of hope and joy, then we allow for the opportunity for growth and new life.

When negative stuff happens, learn from it.  Take something positive away with you when you leave the negative behind.  Find a lesson worth learning and turn the page to a new chapter.

What do you want in this lifetime? Set a goal.  Now go get it and stop focusing on why you can not achieve your goal.  Focus instead on the goal and think of it as already achieved.

As you begin to focus on the positive in life, so too will you reflect that positivity to others.  When you show a positive and loving light, so too will you attract that positivity to your own life.

Go forth and reflect.

What do I want to do when I grow up?

I remember being asked the all important question every child faces on an almost daily basis, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  I quickly became frustrated with that question because it seemed no one wanted to get to know who I was, they only wanted to know what I wanted to become.  As a child, I couldn’t care less what I would become so I would often announce my career choice based on what ever happened to impact me that day.  Seldom, if ever, did any of those announcements carry with it the weight of “WHO” I was to become, only what I wanted to do with my life.

I also remember one particular day when I looked up at my father and said with all my might and the largest smile I could muster, “I want to be a good and wise man when I grow up.” I was quickly admonished for not thinking about what to do with my life, but I kept that lofty goal in my heart where it would remain safe and sound till I could once again look upon its innocent wisdom.  In the past few months I have often sat alone with myself in quiet contemplation thinking back to that day when I boldly stated who I wanted to be, rather than what I wanted to be.  Little did I know that one day would have such a lasting and permanent effect on my being.

“WHAT” we want to do with our lives changes greatly from time to time throughout our lives, but “WHO” we want to be should be the foundation of our entire way of life, and not just something to which we aspire, but actually something practiced and honed which will, in the long run, give us that personal sense of accomplishment and value.

Well, I’ve long sense grown and still find myself constantly evolving and growing, and I still ask myself the questions, “What do I want to do?”, and “Is this all there is?”  I find very little solace in empty answers.  But when I change my question to “Who do I want to become” suddenly the doors open wide and the limits disappear.

We are a people who constantly reinvent ourselves, but we are also on a evolutionary road.  We have the opportunity to become greater than the sum of our parts and grow into the type of being we wish to be, rather than focus on our life’s career path.

Let’s face facts, the career choice will always be an issue.  Do I work here, or there?  Do I change jobs?  Do I become a doctor, or take a different career path?  Do I go back to school and do something else with my life?  These are all questions we face throughout our lives.

Our internal personal growth, however, should remain fairly constant and maintain a singular focus on our internal being.  It may vary from time to time, but “WHO” we are should seldom, if ever change.  Sitting with ourselves and truly examining our core help us to grow in ways we may never have allowed ourselves to contemplate.

For you parents, it is nice to have children who can support themselves and do well in the world, but is that all there is?  Is that all you want for your child?  Try asking the truly difficult question and see what happens.  Instead of the usual, ask “WHO do you want to become?”

My answer is: Me. If your answer is that you want to be like someone else, then perhaps sit in silence with yourself and try to discover why you would rather be someone other than yourself.

Peace to all.

Related articles

• Return to Nothingness (3quarksdaily.com)
• Jan Shepherd: Living a Life With Meaning (huffingtonpost.com)
• Mid Career Advice (tobiasbuckell.com)

Practicing Reiki

…why do we need hand positions in Reiki or in some of the other energy modalities?  If you are to follow Dr. Usui’s guidelines, you would use very specific hand positions.  These positions begin at the head, and follow down through the jaws, throat, heart, solar plexus, upper abdomen, lower abdomen and to the feet.  But, Mrs. Takata seemingly took a different tack.  She taught her students to go where they are guided through their intuition. Sometimes she would start at the feet, and work her way up, or she would start at the crown and work her way down. She did not have a standard set of hand positions, though she did teach Dr. Usui’s positioins so the students could likewise pass on that knowledge.

Then we get into the whole thing of distance healing when a person becomes a Reiki II.  No hand positions are used during a distance session, although a practitioner can use a stand-in, or a teddy bear, their leg, or just about any other device to symbolize the recipient.

So, again…  Why the hand positions?  Do you “have” to use them?  Well…  No… and well… sort of.

The more you advance through Reiki, that is to say the more you pratice, you will find your hands drawn to certain areas of the body which need more focus.  Certain “taught” hand positions begin to feel uncomfortable and instinct begins to take over.  Even Dr. Usui had specific positions for specific ailments showing that the standard positions didn’t always work.

The hand positions are not some sacred thing which must be followed regardless of the individual’s or client’s needs.  Remember, this is about the client, not about the practitioner.  The hand positions are a tool which help focus the mind and bring awareness to the practitioner.  They also comfort the client and help ease tension while at the same time allowing the energy to flow.

In practice, my wife and I always field questions about connecting chakras or having one hand in one position and another hand in a separate position.  We literally become thrilled that the students are stretching out and allowing their minds to expand past the base teaching.  In practice, my wife and I begin in two separate locations with her at the head, and me at the feet.  She sends, I draw and ground.  Again the point is doing what is needed for the CLIENT.

Think of all the other tools you use on a daily basis.  Do you use them the way they are supposed to be used, or do you have several multitaskers that can be used for many different things and in many different ways?  Sometime that pesky hammer is just way too far away, but the pair of pliers are right in my back pocket.  In Reiki, there is no such thing as the wrong tool at the wrong time.  Just remember to respect your client’s body, maintain an ETHICAL practice, and let your intuition help guide you to fulfill your client’s needs.

Peace Be Upon You.

K

(There are lots of excellent related articles at the end of this post.)

Conscience, Judas

Once again we come to that ever illusive concept of ‘Intention’ and this time there is a bit of a challenge regarding the concept.  My wife and I have been remiss is telling people that intention is the all powerful and only guiding force (or at least should be) in energy healing and in energywork of any kind, but there is so much more to intention than a mere thought.  There is an entire ethical component to intention, not the least of which is ensuring your intention does not interfere with, or control, or obfuscate in any way someone else’s intention.  I’m very sure that even Judas had the best of intentions for betraying Jesus, but in the end his conscience got the best of him.

When I start believing that I know more, or know better than a client, trusted friend, or anyone for that matter, I begin a cycle of control and dominance which is inconstant with health and healing.  This is true for any healing modality such as massage, energy healing, Western medicine (Doctors have long been held in the highest of regard, but they need to learn to work with their patient and not dictate to them) or even spirituality for that matter.  As a spiritual director I am well aware of how fragile the spiritual side of our humanity is, and as such I must be careful in helping people grow, ensuring they are doing so because they WANT to grown and not because I wish they would.  There is a very find line between assistance and dominance and so many people cross the line both consciously and unconsciously.  Either way they are playing a dangerous game that will one day come back to haunt them.

What is paramount when using Intention is that your mind and thoughts are balanced by those of the client or person seeking help.  You must ensure you adjust your intention to match theirs, or if you feel yourself pulled in another direction, then you must communicate that feeling to your client and seek their understanding and approval for the divergence.  Case in Point: You’ve been working with your client now for some time and have often felt something deep down trying to make it’s way to the surface, but have restrained yourself because of your client’s intent.  You’ve never communicated that feeling to your client.  During this session, you feel the same thing and decide to work on that feeling and see where it goes.  Suddenly your client has a reaction to the energy session.  There are so many different possibilities to what just happened that we won’t even begin to touch on them, but rather than having a potentially explosive situation, think about how this situation could have gone: you are working on the same client as above, but then when you sense the feeling coming up again, you communicate to your client that you are sensing something and don’t quite know how to describe what’s coming up.  The client relates to you that yes, they have some issues with a certain subject and that it’s okay to work on that area, or perhaps the area is too sensitive for them right now and they’d rather not work on the subject.

American students experience Tuina

In the first case, you took control away from the client, and in the second case you gave the client complete control over what happens to them.  In the first situation, the net has dropped out from under the client, and in the second, they are made to feel safe and secure, knowing you are out for their best interest.  Even if you’ve been working with the same client for years and years, you must still allow your client complete control over their healing.  They must take the responsibility for their health and wellness and can only do so if they are fully informed as to what is going on during a session.  If you work silently during the treatments, then make sure to bring up your observations at the end of the session when you discuss how the session progressed and then give your recommendations for the next session.  Again, this puts your client in control of their healing, or growth.

When you think of Intention think of this: your own will or wish for someone else must never be more important than what the person feels is right for them.  Just because you want them to be in a better place doesn’t necessarily mean they want the same thing.  When a person feels trapped or cornered they often react in a manner contrary with healing and the potential for their becoming overly emotional, or even violent increases.

I could intent to create peace on earth, but unless everyone on earth is willing to have peaceful coexistence with each other, my intent will never come to fruition, and if I ever impose my intent on others by forcing them to have peaceful relations, then I am creating an environment which is totally contrary to the intent.  Give people a chance to control their lives and they will often choose the right path for them, but control and dominate and you only succeed in maintaining a hostile environment.

The road to hell may be paved in good intentions, but then the road to heaven is paved in intentions made manifest through cooperation.

Peace…

Related articles

• Shen Mind Intent (clearstaichi.com)
• Relax here: The art of energy healing (timeoutny.com)
• Energy Healings: Basics of Prana, Reiki and Aura . (using-spiritual-energy.blogspot.com)
• Preparing for Unprogrammed Worship in A Programmed (Quaker) Meeting (gatheringinlight.com)
• Your energy creates alchemy (whoheals.com)
• Energy Protection – 7 Steps (clearstaichi.com)
• On Being a Student Therapist: Making a Diagnosis (psychcentral.com)
• Massage is energy exchange (starkeys.com)

On the inside, looking out

There simply is no other way for us to view the world, but from our own eyes, and through our own life experiences.  We judge everything around us by our own light, or darkness, and see things as we wish to see them, and rarely as they truly are.  We see things around us with magnifying glass in hand looking for every scrap of detail and answers to questions yet unasked.

We sit quietly in our own thoughts looking out at a world filled with so many varying types of people and wonders.  We are products of our surroundings, yet…

…yet sometimes we break the cycle and can see the world for what it is; a stage by which we can live out our hope and dreams, but still we can only ever see through our selves to the world around us.

I heard the other day someone say to another person, “Try to see it through my eyes…”  Yeah, right.  Like that is ever possible!  We can empathize with those around us, but we can never truly understand or even begin to imagine how what we do can affect another individual, or another society, or even another world.  One sneeze or cough aimed in just the right direction can have consequences that may last a lifetime.  The particle of dust you put into the air by sweeping your floor, may become the next meteor shower on some other planet.  While that’s not likely to happen, there is always a reaction for every action.

Paradise Circus

Still we sit in the metaphorical darkness looking out past our experiences wondering what it’s like to do something other than what we do, or to be someone other than who we are, ever seeking that spark which might ignite us once more to stand up and be loved for who and what we are.

“It is our light, not our darkness” which binds our minds.  It is our own fears of insecurity which keep us from achieving anything in this lifetime.

As I sit here, on the inside looking out, I see everything as I would like to have it, and nothing of what has been.  I look to the future, trying not to live in the past.  I move into my own awareness of who and what I am before I can be of any help to anyone outside of me and I approach everything and everyone knowing I can only imagine what they have experienced in their lives.  I can never truly know how their experiences affected them.  Not everyone shares the same emotional sequences, or works through pain in the same way.

That’s what makes us all so special, that together, though we are similar in nature,  we are all unique.

It does not serve for anyone to act small so that others may rise to new heights.  Shine your light so others may follow suit.  Don’t collect followers, instead empower future leaders!

Light and Love to all!
BB

K

(Inspiration for this piece was derived from Marianne Williamson and her poem “Our Greatest Fear”, and from the first picture on this page.)

I always hear that one needs to take a negative experience and turn it into a positive one by changing our perception or how we view the negative situation.  The practice is simple, one simply sees that which is ugly as Beautiful, the harmful as harmless, the impermanent as permanent.  It is a simply mind shift where the perceived reality changes only slightly, but so the negative experience becomes a positive one.

That practice is rather unhealthy mentally.  One never fully accepts the experience for what it is thereby dealing with the myriads of emotions or other internal issues which may arise.  It is also imperative that the nature of a thing remain as it is and not be forcibly changed.  To force something to be what it is not, is unethical.

Human-kind has this overwhelming need to justify and define so as to better control and dominate.  We must purge all that is wrong or negative, and replace it with right and positive.  When we do so, we destroy the original identity of the thing we have changed.

Instead do this:  recognize the ugly as ugly, the beautiful as beautiful, the harmful as harmful, the harmless as harmless.  In this way you are fully aware of the truth of a thing.  There is no skewing of right or wrong.  It simply is what it is.  Deal with how it makes you feel then and there.  Do not wait, do not procrastinate.  When you have finished with the experience, decide if it is to be an influence in your life or not, then follow through with that decision.  If it is not to be an influence in your life, then let it go without ever condemning it for what it is, or denying it’s value in this world.

It has value because it exists.

Related articles

• Reality Checking In Conflict (dragonintuitive.com)
• It is not MY truth (liveactivecultures.net)

Transitions need not be “overwhelming” changes in our lives.  They can be filled with longing, memories, powerful emotions, and strong thoughts.  The experience one has with transition will totally depend on the way in which the transition occurred: a bad experience can bring up negative thoughts and emotions, a good experience can likewise bring up good thoughts and emotions.  What ever it is, what remains most important is that a person owns their own responsibility for the transition.  Do not put blame on another person for something they have no power to control.  You and you alone are responsible for your own thoughts and emotions.

Remember, we allow ourselves to feel various emotions that arise from time to time.  No one can make us feel anything.  If you claim, “XYZ person makes me feel such and such,” then you are giving that person way too much power over you.  YOU and you alone are in full control of your emotional state; or at least you should be.  If you find it difficult to get over a situation, or feel overwhelmed by it, then you really should seek out professional help, or seek counseling from a trusted friend.

A transition is merely a bend in the path.  It is a new direction, but it is not a new path.  This is often the most confused aspect of making a transition.  People will often refer to transitions as “beginning a new path”,  when in fact, we are only ever on one path in our lives: our own.  We can no more begin a new path in our lives than we can change out our skin for a newer model.  Sure we can nip and tuck, but we can never totally change who we are.

Image by tapperboy via Flickr

The same holds true for our paths.  We are only ever on one path in our lives, though the scenery and path itself may change.  There may be hills, turns, u-turns, round-abouts, and myriads of other changes, and/or challenges to our paths, but there is only ever one path.

So, a major change has happened in your life.  Are you going to let it paralyze you, or are you going to learn from it and move on knowing there is a whole world at your feet?  Are you going to focus on the negative, or are you going to see good in the brilliant hues and ever changing landscape before you?

Remain mired in all that is negative if you must, but do not blame others for your inability to move beyond the moment.  You and you alone are responsible for your part in any transition.

May you only ever see the brilliant path before you: don’t peer too long or hard into the shadow of the past.

K

When a lotus flower opens, do you think it worries about what it looks like?  Is a Rose any less beautiful because it grows in soil rather than in the water?

Do you think the God above cares if you have 5 educational degrees rather than only two?  Do you think Jesus Christ cares by which name He is known or if you refer to Him in the Sanskrit, Greek, or the Hebrew language?

Mr. Shakespeare once wrote, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”~ Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

Well, the opposite holds true as well…   A piece of fecal matter by any other name would still smell like shit.

When I was in Seminary, we had a sheet of paper which passed from dorm room to dorm room.  It read:

Okay so what’s the point?

How often do we wish we were something we are not, or wished we could change something about ourselves and can’t?  The better question is, would it really make that big of a difference?

When I joined an Independent Franciscan Order, I was asked if I wanted to change my name.  I of course knew of the custom of adopting a saint’s name so that I could aspire to live a saintly life, but in my mind, it wouldn’t have been me. My response to my superior was, “I know who I am and I choose not to hide behind pretense.”  I am secure in who I am, and to be honest, I have nothing from which to hide.”

I’ve been given title after title and it still has never changed who I am inside.  If’n I’m insecure to begin with, a name change or title addition isn’t going to change a thing.  The same holds true if’n I’m happy with myself, and know I have been honest and forthright.  I am who I am because of the life I’ve lead, and not because of the names or titles I’ve given myself, or have been given by others.  I am who I am because I can be nothing else.  I can not be cat, or dog, or horse, or rat, because I am none of these things.  I am human.  I am me.  I am because I have been me ever since my birth.

Rene Descartes

We can sit here an discuss Nietzsche, Descartes, Hegel, and others, but ultimately where would we end up?  We would be no better off than we are now.  Even the greatest of philosophers could come up with no better than: (in the original French) “Je pense donc je suis,”, (translated to Latin in his later works) “Cogito ergo sum” (and finally as we know it now) “I think, therefore I am” ~ René Descartes Mr. Descartes obviously never dealth with those individuals born without brains.  They exist though they may not be aware of their own existence.  Would it therefore be more correct to say, that because we think, we are aware of the existence around us?

Well, that’s the key isn’t it!  I mean look for a moment at the simple statement, “I think therefore I am.”  If I wish to be a certain way, I can be.  I don’t need to change my label.  I can simply change my way of thinking.  “Because I think, I am aware of those around me.” Okay.  I’m cool with that, but it doesn’t mean they are judging me!  Quite the contrary.  More often than not, I am projecting my own insecurities of myself onto those around me so I only see or hear the negative of anything said to me or about me.  To change who I am, I need only think about the positive I already have rather than focusing on the negative.  I am, in reality, doing the perceiving and the judging.

The same holds true with the “definition” under which we choose to celebrate our connection to the Sacred or the Divine.  How many names are there for God?  How many Theological, philosophical, and scientific names or definitions must we come up with to define something so simple as the Divine?

A better question: Who the Hell Cares!?  God is God.  It doesn’t matter the names and titles we come up with, it’s still God.  It doesn’t matter how much we anthropomorphize (assign human attributes to) God, it’s still God.  It doesn’t matter under which religion or under which tradition of a specific religion.  What matters more is our own person understanding of the Divine and how we are connected to, and then reflect that connection back to those around us.

It likewise does not matter if we are talking about Kerygma or a proclamation (preaching of the gospels), ontological ideology or the principles and causes of being.  Definitions and names simply get it the way of what is real.  Are we talking about Jesus, or Ea-shoa’?  They are after all the same person, just different languages. Who you trying to impress by using an ancient language no longer used?  It’s also not going to matter if one day we are Catholic and the next day change our minds and become Lutheran, or Muslim, or what have you.  What matters more is how we choose to live out our connection to what we hold sacred.  What matters most is what’s inside ourselves, not the big words we can use, or how many people we can impress!

If you believe Siddhartha attained enlightenment and became a Buddha (remember there are others who have achieved the state of Buddha), and have chosen to follow in that tradition, then you are a still following a path of Divine inspiration no matter if you call the Divine Buddha, or God.  The same holds true for the Christians, Pagans, and other world religions.  It is the same spark of Divine which we seek in ourselves and in those around us.  It simply does not matter by what name we have chosen to refer to its’ existence.  We call this concept, Universal Love.  It is through Tolerance, Acceptance, and Love that we find the Peace, Tranquility, and Hope which emanates from the Divine; it is the Universal Love of the Divine which we seek.  It does not matter by which name we refer to it’s being.

So, what it all boils down to is be yourself.  You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone.  You don’t have to count your certificates and diplomas.  You don’t have to call yourself by high and mighty titles to feel good about what you are doing in this life.  You do not have to change who you are to love others universally, nor do you need to be anything less than what you are at this moment in time.

Practice your Faith however you wish.  Do not let others condemn you by calling you names for believing what you believe, but in your believing, grow.  Do not become as a stagnate pool of water, but grow and develop, ebb and flow.

Buddha Said:Hatred does not ever cease in this world by hating, but by love; this is an eternal truth… Overcome anger by love, Overcome evil by good. Overcome the miser by giving, overcome the liar by truth.

Jesus Said: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

It is that simple.

Peace to All.
K

For those who have been studying ancient paths of self discovery since their birth, it may be easy to “empty” oneself and find an inner peace through the ridding of the self of superficial ideas, but for the rest of us who have not had the luxury of a lifetime of practice, it may be a bit of a struggle to even grasp that the idea of emptiness does not really mean becoming devoid of a thing.  But there is something quite important we are forgetting here.  The concept of emptiness is a theory.  It is as much hypothesis as many of the other belief systems out there, and it does not mean the complete non-existence.

While the religious, or philosophical concept of emptiness is sound, there is something which has nagged at me for the past 20 or so years.  What replaces the emptiness.  If the single most hope for a Buddhist is existence without boundaries, then why not simply destroy the physical body?  The answer is very simply that when emptiness is achieved, it is achieved as a mental preparedness for  the knowledge that the individual is not the “end-all, be-all” of existence, but that the person exists with, in, and around other energies, all interconnected, all interdependent, and all one.

The single most problem with emptiness, is that we are human and because we have individual thought we do perceive, and exist apart from the rest of existence.  We have individual memory, we have individual understanding and perception of given events and teachings, and we even have separate and distinct physical manifestations of being.  It is not an easy thing to let go of our individuality and blend our beingness with all of existence.

In Taoism, which was founded roughly at the same time as Buddhism, the concept of emptiness is not so much that one becomes devoid of personhood, but that one becomes balanced by the recognition that other energy entities also exist on the path to enlightenment and that all energies co-mingle and share common bonds of being, even though they are separate and distinct.  In Taoism it “refers to a power which envelops, surrounds and flows through all things, living and non-living. The Tao regulates natural processes and nourishes balance in the Universe. It embodies the harmony of opposites (i.e. there would be no love without hate, no light without dark, no male without female.)”

In the last article, we suggested a thing is never truly devoid of anything.  When you look a glass containing liquid, do you see the glass as half full, or half empty?  I see it as always full regardless of the amount of liquid (or other stuff) which may take up space within it’s walls.  Even if there is only half the amount of liquid in the glass, there is still air pushing the liquid down.  Need proof?  Next time there is a high pressure moving into your area, keep an eye on your toilet.  As the air pressure increases, you will notice the water level go down in your toilet bowl.  It is a simple enough principle to understand.  So too is it with emptiness.  In the case of metaphysical emptiness, we become filled with understanding, so the balance continues without our ever realizing.

It is imperative to remember that in Buddhism emptiness is not “nihilism”, or the complete lack of existence.  In Buddhism, the same question is asked, “is the cup half empty or half full?”  The response is, “Define cup.”  Buddhist emptiness is the discovery that all of existence is perception and that there exists as many perceptions as there are entities doing the perceiving.  Emptiness then, focuses the purity of essence and not on the perception.

Image by d0.0b via Flickr

There is even a Christian concept of emptiness, though it is a bit different from both the Buddhist and Taoist traditions.  In the Christian sense of emptiness, we let go of the superficial idea that we are in control of our existence, and allow God, Christ, and/or the Spirit to work through us and guide us to a fulfilling life.  It is an acceptance that a higher being can have influence over our existence. We empty ourselves to allow for the Divine to enter our lives.

Either way you chose to look at it a certain balance must be achieved by recognizing there exist many different ideas of emptiness, fullness, enlightenment, and ascension.  The Christ taught us there is no one way to view the world, and that we must remain ever vigilant and ever watchful, and that we too are capable of so much more than what we are.

All we have to do is see past the personal vendettas, our own self importance, and our own need for control over everything around us.  Control is an illusion, empty the mind of the need for control, and the mind is filled with the recognition that all life is equal:  there can be no exceptions.

The idea is not to become nothing, but to recognize everything.  It is a paradox, but one that can be understood by simply letting go of definitions, expectations, and perceptions of what “should” be.

And by the way, one need not be religious to understand and benefit from the concept of Emptiness.  It is amazing what can happen when one lets go of the need to control expected outcomes.  Often, the happy accidents are the ones which have not only the most influence, but also the most beauty.

Peace to all.

K

Image by Richard Lamb Photography via Flickr

(The following was written in my personal journal on the 28th of November, while on retreat.)

It does my heart good to sit on familiar wooden frames while staring at an open sky framed by shapes, sounds and vibrations.  As it just so happens, many more people have discovered my sacred place and now fill the surrounding spaces providing both a comforting background noise as well as a constant low level vibration which slowly sooths my arthritic bones.

Staring at the old familiar shapes on the raised platform allowed for simple visions and thoughs to come forth from the depths of hollow and empty voids; nothing overly fantastic, but simple personal discoveries.

One such thought which permeates everything I see is directed towards the use of personal affirmations.  Have I been wrong in their use prior to these new thoughts?  Now the overwhelming urge which arise are not to use them, but to no longer use them.

Affirmations are used readily in the healing world, but have become nothing more than tools for healers to charge more money from their clients.  Few today actually use them as intended: for healing.  The simplicity of the statement, “I am” should be strong enough to stand on its very own without clouding it with fluffy phrasing.  Nothing can be more powerful than helping a client discover “I Am”, giving them individual personal empowerment through self discovery and realization.   It’s so simple, yet so powerful.  I can be nothing more than what I am at this moment, and in this moment, I am: letting go of all expected outcomes, just allowing the totality of being to permeate the core of personal existence.

Something crawling to the forefront of my mind is telling me it’s not so much about the actual affirmation, but the empowerment behind the transformation an affirmation can bring: universal acceptance of the self, through the self, and by the self.

Image by Will Hale via Flickr

But then my mind began drifting away from the subject of affirmations, and it suddenly hit me;  not all at once, but slowly as my eyes moved from inspiration to inspiration.  The subject matter changed from affirmations to true universalism, or catholicism.  It is not about Christ, his passing, his resurrection, or even about his life.  It is not about any of the traditions, whether Hebrew, Christian, Buddhist, or any of the other traditions.  It is not about prophecy, epistemology, or even about eschatology.  It is not about religion, or religiosity.   It’s not even about the fact that men and women wrote something attributed to a deity thousands of years ago, its about the truth of the message contained within, behind, and in between the written words.  It is about the pureness of the reasons behind the thoughts and written events: forgiveness, compassion and love; not just for a few people or for select groups, but universally for all people, even those once deemed unworthy, and even for the self.

Christ’s love was never withheld from anyone including those who were against him; those we would consider his enemies.  He viewed them with pure love and truest compassion, and even proclaimed all should love their enemies as they do their friends.  I don’t know that I’ve ever read a passage where the Christ withheld his love from any individual INCLUDING Judas his betrayer.  He got mad at people, but never withdrew his love.

It matters not if the stories regarding the Savior are real or fallacy.  What does matter is the truth behind the stories. What does matter is the investment of personal growth in the faith in which one subscribes.

Image by TitaniumDreads via Flickr

The story of Christ is not about the development of a new religion, it’s about embracing our own individual inner-beauty and finding peace within ourselves.  It’s about us coming to terms with our own beings and how we connect with those around us.  It’s about our connection to the great Divine of existence.  Many of us celebrate that existence through the Divinity of the Christ; the Son of God, but in truth it could be celebrated through all of the varying stories of religions across the globe.  It could be celebrated through the great stories of  the Prophet Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh, or the attainment of enlightenment by Siddhartha, also known as a Buddha.  It could be celebrated through the diversity of the Mayan culture, or Maori peoples.  The truest test of Universal acceptance, love, compassion, or understanding is that it does not matter what the tradition, no one deserves to be condemned for their beliefs: no matter what anyone else says or the reasons others have for condemning other belief systems.

True catholicity depends on the Universal love and acceptance of all beings; regardless of origin, regardless of individual paths or the diverse celebrations established by each of the groups.

True love, true compassion, and true acceptance has no set boundary as to which group deserves acceptance, love, or compassion:  they all do.

There should never be a case where anyone should ever condemn another for their beliefs; no matter the reason, and no matter the outcome.  Those who condemn other beliefs or practices show only their boorishness, contemptible behavior, and infantile understanding of the true universal commonality all beings on this earth share.

The truest vision of perfection, is there exists no imperfection: all are equal.

Sit in your own silence and discover for yourselves your own truth.

Peace.

K