Musings on Divinity

Authentic Power
Now that all the excitement and rhetoric, sometimes cruel, over the elections has settled down and we have had the Thanksgiving holiday to remind us of what is truly important in life, perhaps it is time to start thinking about what we want for our planet in the coming year.  Of course that means we will have to let go of the "what can I do?" attitude and realize we all have to participate.  Perhaps a good place to start is making decisions about how we choose to treat each other, right in our own families and neighborhoods.
The Dalai Lama teaches the simple idea that we all want the same thing.  David Friedman is one of the most successful composers on Broadway with a career spanning decades.  He wrote a beautiful song titled "We Can Be Kind" which puts the Dalai Lama's idea to music.  Here are a few lines from that song.

So many things you can't control
So many hurts that happen everyday
So many heartaches that pierce the soul
So much pain that won't ever go away

How do we make it better?
How do we make it through?
What can we do when there's nothing we can do?

We can be kind
We can take care of each other
We can remember that deep down inside
We all need the same thing
And maybe we'll find
If we are there for each other
That together we'll weather whatever tomorrow may bring

 The invitation I would extend is that each of us daily examine our thoughts, words and actions toward each other for the presence or absence of simple kindness and caring.  The truth is that what we think we will speak, and how we speak is how we act.  Therefore, rather than being powerless we have total control over our own experience of life and over the influence we have in the world.  You can claim your authentic power through this simple practice.

Never forget that you are a daughter or a son of the Living God, by whatever name you call that power.  All power is yours to claim when you align with the loving force of Creation.

Musings on Divinity

Ground of Being

  Some news is so big, so very important, that it's hard to even put into words.  There are concepts that are so huge, so much bigger than what our conscious minds can get around and grasp, that finding a way to talk about them can be very difficult.  I'd like to begin a discussion on what I believe is the greatest concept of all.   Our minds can't wrap around this concept well enough to describe it, and the best we can do is make guesses or assign names and attributes.  Yet it is possible for each of us to come to a deeper understanding of it; one that goes beyond words.
   So, even though our words may fall short and our intellects are too small, there is a part of us that is infinite, that is created in the image and likeness of the Creator of all that is.  When we reach a deeper level of understanding of our connection with all that is and bring more of it into our conscious awareness, then our lives change. 
   Let's start at the beginning.  What most of humanity now calls God is an infinite presence whose nature is love, operating through law.  Two of the great world scriptures, the Hebrew Scriptures and the Upanishads, came to us at about the same time.  In the Upanishads God is described as having the attributes of Presence, Power, and Light.  This is what science now calls "ground of being".  The ground of being out of which all form emanates.  Then in Genesis, God said, "let there be," and creation was formed.  In the beginning of the gospel of John this is explained.  "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God."  John is speaking of the power of the word:  in the beginning there was a source, a power, a ground of being.  That source created all that was made, and in him was life, and that life was the light of all men.  And the light shined in the darkness and the darkness conquered it not.
  Please don't be misled;.  Don't be fooled by the masculine character of this language.  It's a social convention, not a statement of the maleness of the creator.  But it's a social convention that was necessary because it's talking about a very personal relationship with this supreme power, this ground of being.  A personal pronoun has to be used somehow, to communicate across countless generations that the relationship is personal.  You see, this Presence and this Power that we talk about is alive, and we are in relationship with it. This is a presence and power that is infinite in potential and scope and ability, yet still fully present to us, in our experience.  In this presence there is life, and that life is the light of all of us.  All people.  You and me.  This is the true light that gives light to everyone who comes into the world.

What Do You See?

Seeing

   There are many ancient teaching stories from different traditions.  The heritage of the Sufi’s contain many wonderful stories, and often the chief character is a fellow named Nazrudin.  One day Nazrudin heard about a holy man, a very wise man who sat on a mountain pass not far away.  Being a seeker himself all his life, Nazrudin decided to travel to visit this wise man, and sit at his feet to see what he could learn.  He had been sitting there all day when a traveler came up the mountain toward the pass and asked about the village in the distance. What are the people like? The wise man asked why he left his former town.  The traveler said he was leaving because it was full of unfriendly, dishonest, unkind people.  “Such as the world has become,” said the wise man.  “You will find the same people in the next town.”
   Then a second traveler stopped and asked the wise man the same question.  When asked what the town he was leaving was like, he said it was a village full of loving, wonderful people.  They even paid for his move to this new town so he could find work.  Nazrudin replied, “such as the world has become.  You will find the same kind of people in the new village.  After the second traveler passed, Nazrudin looked at the holy man in confusion, and asked “Wise one, do you speak the truth?  “Yes, of course I speak the truth,” was the answer.  “Then how can you speak the truth and give a different truth to each man?”
   And that is the question.  How can it be that we can each go to the same place and find very different experiences?  You can see it powerfully in churches in transition.  Part of the congregation thinks the minister is the source of all the problems.  Part of them blame the board.  The larger part thinks everything is just fine and can’t figure out what the others are making a fuss over.  One church, filled with people who know each other; people having a different experience of the same community.
  What each of us, as people committed to making the world a better place, has to realize is that we don’t see the world as it is.  We see the world as we are.  If I am hasty to judge the actions of others in spite of not having complete information, then I have stepped into the energy of keeping the world the tense place that it is.  Each of us is accountable for our response to any situation and quick judgment blocks us from gathering complete information.
   Having said that, we know some people are not good at boundaries.  That’s why we lock our cars and our houses.  We must learn to set appropriate boundaries, while maintaining compassion for those whose path we can only see partially, and therefore have no way of  truly understanding.  What we do, what we say, how we respond to people face to face is very important but there is something even bigger.  The energy we carry in our body is broadcast moment by moment, and if that energy field is negative, we do damage even if we never interact with anyone.  There is an old saw that's been around for years, but it's still around because it's true.  "What we focus on increases."  Let's focus on what's good.

Children of the earth

An email arrived a few days ago that I must share with you.  No author was credited so I can only say "anonymous" or "unknown.  This is an excerpt from the story of the end of the life of Lawrence Anthony.

"Lawrence Anthony, a legend in South Africa and author of 3 books including the bestseller The Elephant Whisperer, bravely rescued wildlife and rehabilitated elephants all over the globe from human atrocities, including the courageous rescue of Baghdad Zoo animals during US invasion in 2003.
On March 7, 2012 Lawrence Anthony died.
He is remembered and missed by his wife, 2 sons, 2 grandsons and  numerous elephants.
Two days after his passing, the  WILD elephants showed up at his home led by two large matriarchs.
Separate wild herds arrived in droves to say goodbye to their beloved man-friend.
A total of 31 elephants had patiently walked over 12 miles to get to his South African House.

Witnessing this spectacle, humans were obviously in awe not only because of the supreme intelligence and precise timing that these elephants sensed about Lawrence 's passing, but also because of the profound memory and emotion the beloved animals evoked in such an organized way: Walking slowly - for days -Making their way in a solemn one-by-one queue from their habitat to his house.
Lawrence 's wife, Francoise, was especially touched, knowing that the elephants
had not been to his house prior to that day for well over 3 years!
But yet they knew where they were going.
The elephants obviously wanted to pay their deep respects, honoring their friend
who'd saved their lives - so much respect that they stayed for 2 days 2 nights without eating anything..
Then one morning, they left, making their long journey back home............"

The day I read this email I found an issue of National Geographic my husband left on the kitchen counter.  The lead story was about 25,000 elephants killed in the past year for their ivory.  With an aching heart I can't help wonder how many "dumb" animals are slaughtered each year for money or for sport.  No, I am not a vegetarian.  I know all beings on this planet must consume other living things in order to survive.  But we can stop the tortures of factory farms and useless, so-called sport and consume the gifts of life we are given by these other children of the earth with prayerful respect and gratitude.

Those we call "dumb animals" feel what we do.  Fear, love, gratitude, respect, joy, pain and perhaps some more feelings we humans have not evolved enough to access.  Truly we humans are too often the "dumb animals."  I hope we learn soon.

 

 

 

 

Becoming

Who am I?

   I am not trained in the science and discipline of astrology but I've learned a lot from a good friend who is very well trained and very good at it.  So here's a tidbit from astrology that I learned from her. Everyone's birth chart is divided into 12 areas of life expression called houses. The 10th house indicates our career, what we're supposed to be when we grow up. The sixth house details the work we do, which may or may not be how we achieve our career, and may or may not be how we earn a living. Income can come from several places, such as the eighth house of shared resources.  Florence Nightingale is a classic example. Her 10th house pointed to compassion and healing as her career, her sixth house pointed to physical labor as her work, and her eighth house accurately pointed to family wealth. She achieved her ultimate career by doing the physical work leading to the founding of the nursing profession, which was made financially possible because she inherited a lot of money.
   The principle at work here is "remember who you are," and learning about your natal astrological chart can help you do that.  Become intimately familiar with the callings of your heart, the values you will not compromise, and the understanding that those things are gifts meant to be expressed.  You will find these things detailed and supported in your natal chart if you get yourself a good astrologer to read it for you.  If you don't remember who you are, how can you become all you're meant to be?
   We live as the presence of the divine by expressing our true nature. We could express it joyfully and effectively in a number of jobs. We will not enjoy any job or career not in alignment with our true nature. Our true nature is this; we are spiritual beings, ideas in the mind of what we have named God, created in that same image and likeness.  This divine idea is the Christ, or Brahman, or Buddha, all names for the part of us that is divine. Our inner Christ nature is what is real about every human being and is the source from which all life takes shape. That divinity expresses uniquely through each one of us.
    If anyone ever tells you again that you were born in sin and need redemption, you simply look at them gently and say "that's not possible. I am made in God's image and there is no sin in God's image."  Those who can see that you know who you are will believe you.

Response-Ability Our Dreams

What and How?

   Chris and I are traveling from Arizona to British Columbia in a few weeks.  We are going by car and taking our time along the western coast.  Chris has created an itinerary that includes daily driving time, overnight stops and special sights.  We have a desire to see all of this country and we have the ability to respond to that desire.

   Many of us have had dreams that we never really reached for because we just couldn’t see how they could come true.  We are such a task oriented society that we want to be able to see the whole road, from the first idea that struck us all the way to its final outcome; manifesting our dream.  We want road maps and time lines and motels along the way.  Launching our dream can be sort of like driving across country without a map or GPS.  If we can’t see the entire path we have a difficult time taking the first step.  Yet we do have the ability to respond to the urge contained in that dream.

   There is a quote from Laurence J Peter, which goes something like this:  “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else.”  That speaks to the most important part of making dreams come true.  You have to know what it is.  You have to be able to pin down your final destination.  For instance, I want to be interviewed by Oprah Winfrey about one of my books.  Do you suppose I have any idea how to make that happen?  Not so much, but its clear the first step is writing the book and getting it published.  The next step is calling attention to it.  That could be steps three through umpty-hundred.

   The point is, each step you take reveals the next step.  You see, we are not responsible for the “how,” we are only responsible for the “what.”  When you nail down your “what” and begin taking steps in that direction you might get a great surprise.  The “what” just might morph and change into something else; something so great you never would have dared to dream it in the beginning.  As you are guided in the steps to take, you may also be guided to a higher path and that higher path is guaranteed to give you greater joy.  That always happens when you choose your “what” and trust to Spirit to guide your steps.  You’ve got the ability to respond to your dreams.  Let’s get walking!

Response-Ability Our Elders

Our Elders

Chris and I have a delightful habit on mornings when the weather is good, which it is most of the time.  We take our first cup of coffee out on the back patio and sit surrounded by flowers and birds and the amazing Arizona sky.  Most mornings it takes us an hour or more to drink that first cup (thermal mugs) because we tend to slip into a meditative state for a while.  Yesterday was one of those long mornings.  We were still sitting out back, in our jammies and coffee in hand when an elderly gentleman I will call Ron walked in our front door, through the house, and came out to the patio.  We had never seen him before.  We engaged him in conversation.  He knew his name but not much else.
We asked to see his wallet and it had some cards in it.  Two of them were employee ID cards, one from Allied Signal and one from Honeywell.  Another was a 1996 insurance card for a 1996 Cadillac.  Seems he did well in his working years. He said he was somewhere in his 90’s, probably 95, which would be my father’s age if he were still alive.  Dad also worked at Allied Signal and Honeywell at about the same time as Ron.  Bit of a chill from that one.  There was one card in his wallet with a local phone number, which I called while Chris called the police.  The phone number belonged to his sister and the police had a missing persons report on a man fitting Ron’s description.
The two officers who came within minutes were very gentle with Ron and asked his permission to take him home.  They stayed and chatted a few minutes to make sure Ron wasn’t frightened of them, then drove him home.  Turns out Ron lives on the block just behind our house and had wandered away and didn’t know how to get back.  Our front door was probably the only one unlocked in the neighborhood and I’m glad it was.
This got me thinking about our society and its potential direction for the future.  In China, Japan, some European countries and among most indigenous people the elderly are revered and cared for.  Their wisdom is sought, respected and often heeded.  Here, we stuff them away out of sight.  Now some want to take away the pittance of the social safety net called Social Security and Medicare, even though the money for that safety net came out of their own wages for years.  No wonder many societies consider us barbarians.  In the matter of care of our elders, we are.  I pray we learn and grow enough to rise above this.