2012

I woke up early this morning, actually it was still the middle of the night, and I was so excited to be in 2012. I was so excited I felt like I did when I was a kid and Christmas was coming the next day. I call 2012 “magical year” Why you may wonder and I also may wonder? I am not quite sure why except that I now know that the gifts of 2011 were great and I know that by my own personal inner shift much enlightenment has grown within me so I only expect more of the same for 2012.

2012 is a year of extraordinary promise & prophecy, which nourish either our fear or our hopes. So many have written about it, talked about it and even made movies about it and at this point – the very opening of the year – we can still have no idea what it really will be like; doom and gloom or a brand new world. All I know at this point is that by my choice to live within a hopeful, life affirming focus, that is what I will get. 2011 was proof of that for me. So for 2012 I choose to believe in heaven, angels, faeries, beneficent aliens, good politics, banks of service, serendipity in business, good and supportive friends and all that is life affirming.

Looking back I find that 2011 was the year that I think I mostly settled in the now. Yes, now, and that is a huge achievement, something I have been working on for probably eons although I only realized this was my mission relatively recently. Living in the now is such a relief. It seems there is more time for everything, things get done in just the right time and in just the right way. There is far less angst about what happened in the past and what might happen in the future leaving me with the joy of savoring what is going on right now. Serendipity and miracles seem to find space within the now that they can never pry open in the future or in the past and yet there is something about living in the now that changes both the past and the future. 2012 is about living in the now.

Gregg Braden speaks eloquently about zero point and explains complex science of the shift of the ages and how we are moving into no time or now time, where linear time collapses into the now. All this is great but seemed nosense to me until I began to actually understand now time on a completely different level of consciousness. Discoveries in physics point out that time is an aberration. Ancient sages tell us that we live in a dream world and that our true nature is in all time. But this is so perplexing, it is almost the craziest koan out there and stops the brain short. In spite of that living in now time, now I have the faintest inkling that the sages are right and the we are eternal, it rings true and feels comfortable to me. The realer than real world of our spirit seems closer to me in now time.

It used to be that when I took on a project it was about accomplishing the task, finishing quickly, efficiently and producing a good product. More and more it has become about filling the moments with joy, reveling in now. So I am choosing projects that really pay off in the moment and the relevance of the end result is far less important to me. I guess this is “life as art”, there is no determined outcome but what really counts is the joy of exploring the process and stopping when the product feels finished. I am so much happier now than I used to be in my “work” mode. I suppose it should be called “fun” mode.

For New Year’s Eve we share a gift exchange with our friends. This year the gift was to be homemade. Of course everyone was a bit stressed about it even me and I can make so many kinds of things. Anyway I chose to make something not typical of my skill set – a lamp. My strengths lie in fabrics. I had such a great time making that lamp. It was so much fun creating something different and beautiful out of stuff that was around the house – a curtain rod, plate, some stones, a piece of veneer and some silver leaf. I do admit that I have some kind of unusual stuff kicking around, being a crafty person. The project was so satisfying and stretched my sense of what I can do. Also I was so impressed and delighted to see all the marvelous things my friends could make which ranged from baked goods, to plantings, pictures in frames, another lamp, artwork, jewelry, pottery, glass work, carpentry and more. I think everyone enjoyed their assignment. I know for me it was a beautiful affirmation of the great value in making something for the love of the making and the joy of giving all done in the very precious now.

In Between

There is a very peculiar sacred space that we might call in between. It is the space between all things as manifest and it is the open door to that which manifests. It is always available.

In ancient days Celtics, Druids and all nature spiritualities honored the in between spaces evidenced in the seasons and the day; soltices and equinoxes were recognized as profound moments replete with potential for the new season and dawn, dusk, midnight and midday present moments of turning in which to reset the next flow of life. I learned in meditation that the turning of the breath from in to out and out to in offers an ever present window into that eternal space of becoming, of potential or rather potency.

Today we seem to enjoy a desperate need to fill all our spaces with something; shopping, games, TV and mind altering substances protect us from that in between space, that sudden and disturbing feeling of emptiness. It is a feeling that comes after a really intense job is done, after a child is born, a project finish, a vacation over or the holiday season done and everyone has gone home. There we are left alone, quiet, rudderless; what to do? Most of us cram our lives full of activities, duties, obligations in order to avoid that feeling. Yet there is where our power lies. It is in the potency of in between that all possibilities lie. Too many people around the world today are coming face to face with that in between; loosing a job, a home or a life’s savings slams us right there in the emptiness and requires us to examine how it feels. Here is a moment to look to see and remember where did it all come from in the first place. How did we manifest this space, stuff, family, home, job to begin with? If we have forgotten our conscious universe welcomes us to look at it again and to remember this time where it all comes from.

There is a fabulous description of a new paradigm for physics by Nassim Haramein. Haramein has developed the formulas to reconcile the unified field theory and tells his path to discovery with great enthusiasm because it is a spiritual journey for him and all of us. His lecture is engaging, inspiring and mind-bending and well worth listening to you can find it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2qLIeN7gRI. To summarize though, and I am not a physicist so forgive me if I’m not quite getting it right, Haramein establishes that the strong force which is a power that Einstein discovered and necessarily inserted into all of his theories in order to make them work is actually black holes. Now what is a black hole? I suspect it is that same in between that we are examining here, it is that in between opening great and microscopic fissures within our reality like holes in swiss cheese. But Haramein shows us this force holds our reality together and he suggests that force is found in the center of every atom. It is the potent power of emptiness, the unthinkable power of creation which holds every possibility inside that emptiness. Haramein concludes that the purpose of this relationship that we as form have with this other part of us which is void is to be the divine consciousness expressing itself and then looking back at itself. Wow, that’s exactly what the profound esoteric religions say too. But watch Haramein explain this yourself.

My purpose here is to inspire a profound respect for that emptiness which is always present and sometimes intrudes upon our lives wreaking havoc on our sense of self. We are greater than form and in the void is where we will find greater understanding of our greatness.

I offer this poem that I just found in my notebook, I don’t know when I wrote it or why but it speaks to this issue:

The Sacred space of In Between.

In between the white sky and the grey sound is a thin blue line. A blue line that denotes infinity – a blue line that circumnavigates the earth – a blue line that we right now travel within and that we breathe.

In between the fleshy colors and the grey, green, brown, wood, soil, asphalt surface of this gorgeous earth is a microcosm of vibrating space, a thrumming rythmn of caresses, a stroke of blessings attracting and repelling me from my one and primary field of support.

In between the wind and my breath is a pause, a consideration of life inside and outside; swelling my lungs, swelling the sky, tasting my lips, tasting the clouds, one continuous stream of life force in and out.

In between this thought and the next is a potent eternity containing this poem both ephemeral and manifest with all fruits; real and unreal, eaten or rotted, all there ready to be known.

In between the night and day is in or out both the way to the day and to the night a sacred doorway promising delicious black – the void, replete with potential and entrancing white; the manifest chaos that distracts us all.

Cultivate the in between – there lies the true rest within both the black and the white space.

Unconditional Love

Love is the fabric of the universe, it is the frequency of the universe and it is the flow of communication between beings. So much of love is discussed in popular culture, in songs and in entertainment but is that really love? We are not talking about romantic love here although that is a very small part of the love equation. Any part of the love pie can lead us to the true nature of love; romantic love, familial love, love of pets, love of tribe and especially love of self, as long as the ego is held in check. Unfortunately the ego can derail any of these paths of love with tragic consequences and it takes discipline to walk the knife’s edge toward enlightened understanding of the nature of love.

The closest that we can get to the concept of primordial love or of the kind of love that the Mother Creator has for her beings is unconditional love. Yet even that does not begin to express it fully. In the Vedic tradition we hear that our true nature is that of the unknowable divine, of Shiva, the one unmanifest God and we learn that that nature is Sat Chit Ananda – Being, Consciousness and Bliss. This is the kind of love we are talking about. It is a natural state of awareness, isness and acceptance. This is the state of Heaven, it is a state that is your natural birthright. It is a state that we all know, that we often chase after without really knowing how to get it.

Tiny hits of this bliss of heaven, our natural state can be tasted. We may feel it in a perfect piece of chocolate, the warmth of our loving interactions,  in profound gratitude or in meditation and yet the feeling is fleeting. We chase it in even more dangerous ways, through drugs, sex and dangerous forms of stimulation that can never provide that lasting connection. One of the most delicious paths to cultivating this understanding and ultimate immersion is through the ancient Indian Bhakti tradition which simply prescribes love; love through service, love through chanting, love through dancing and love through worship. It is an easy and a most delicious path.

I feel singularly blessed to have experienced the primordial nature of love as there was a time in my life when I would lie awake at night and feel blissful waves of the energy of the universe roll over and past me. I have felt breathed by the universe and like a rushing river flowed through me. These are experiences of the natural and perpetual movement of love that is a conscious force of creativity, that permeates all things and nourishes all that is created. Once the impetus of creation moves from the stillness of the emptiness, which is really the universal field of potentiality then it becomes that love; a kind of nourishment, glue, substrate and consciousness all at once out of which we become.

So there it is, perhaps, the easiest way to know heaven is to commit to love. Commit to love unconditionally, commit to “love the one you’re with”. Commit to love anyone you can – family, friends,  pets, enemies, co-workers and your self. If you don’t or can’t then focus really diligently on where you can love because where you focus is where seeds will grow. Commit to love in all circumstances. Seek out circumstances that foster love and while you are a fledgling unconditional lover avoid circumstances that circumvent your natural love. Be selfish with your cultivation of love. By this I mean selfishly cultivate love rather than fear or hate or jealousy or competition or any other state that chases your love away.  Your love is more important than any other state, be grateful for it. Be grateful to those that provide you the opportunity to explore and expand it. Love will save you, it will save the world, Love is the world.

I want to share something with you that I was working on for a while starting in 2006. One day I picked up a Bible and it occurred to me that the creation story could be retold from a different point of view. Imagine that instead of a vengeful, judgmental God the Creator is a Mother – a loving, generous Mother whose only hope is that her creation will succeed and flourish and know its own greatness within her. Here is the result of my first few verses. I hope that you enjoy them.

BIRTH

Chapter 1

  1. First and always there was The Immaculate Womb,And this principle includes both male and female; for That Immaculate Divine Creator truly includes all and all is made from That. The Immaculate is all that ever was, is or will be as well as all that might and may never be as well as the potential for all that is and is not.And Its nature was, is and will always be perfect Love.
  2. The Immaculate Divine Creator is eternal absolute bliss where no thing and all things rest together in vast potential.
  3. All is merged in bliss and at once knew and did not know its fullest nature.
  4. Then in one eternal moment She inhaled and an extraordinary light burst from no being into being.
  5. When She saw this light she was overwhelmed with perfect Love and She knew that this was good.
  6. In this way the Immaculate Mother and her beloved, now separated may see and know each other. And the Divine Mother marked the birth of the first dawn.
  7. With sudden knowing and seeing by this extraordinary light came her divine desire to create, so out of her Immaculate Womb came the first thought.
  8. And She determined to reflect the unknown bliss of her non-being within this new thought that her fullest love might be known.