Today being the Summer Solstice, it’s time to share another one of the messages I’ve received from the natural world starting around 2002. This one is more from the cosmos, but it interacts with us right here on Earth. For a Summer Solstice meditation, click here.
I am the Sun. I give warmth and light to many planets. I nourish and feed and I have a lot of power left in me to last a very, very long time. I’d like to continue to serve the Earth, its Nature, creatures, humans, waters, trees and plants. It is up to humans to save and preserve so that there’s a purpose for me, so that I can continue to warm and provide light. This is the order of things. I rise in the morning and I set at night. I warm an entire section of the universe and I give light to it. I continue this cycle every day. For me to continue this cycle, there must be a good reason.
Preserve all species on Earth. Preserve your way of life as it has been lived on Earth for centuries. Help me do my job and fulfill my purpose, for I am the Sun and I am here to serve.
“Even after all this time
The sun never says to the earth,
‘You owe Me.’
Look what happens with
A love like that,
It lights the Whole Sky”
— Hafiz
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Do you need a media and activism break? I do! In no way have I stopped speaking up for clean, renewable sources of energy, and the hubris of oil. That’s ongoing and firm.
At the same time, I strongly feel that this epic opportunity for humanity to learn needs to be commemorated with positive images. This is a spill that must be remembered always. Not only in a worldly sense, but in a sacred way. The repercussions are far from over and we must honor every single living thing that’s been damaged, and will continue to suffer.
In January of this year I started a photoblog, where these photos were first posted (scroll down to see other photos). It’s a nature-based endeavor to understand embodiment, a sister path to spirituality, and the spirituality of nature herself, as well as creative pursuits. My relationship with the lens is an old one, now reborn.
I offer the following as ways to ease your mind and heart, motivate your commitment to intelligent future-mapping, and balance the glut of images from the Gulf and BP logo redesigns out there in the collective. Make sure you also absorb the full significance of the quote below as well. (Clicking the images will show them in full size.)
When the first chakra is disconnected from the feminine Earth, we can feel orphaned and motherless. The masculine principle predominates, and we look for security from material things. Individuality prevails over relationship, and selfish drives triumph over family, social and global responsibility. The more separated we become from the Earth, the more hostile we become to the feminine. We disown our passion, our creativity, and our sexuality. Eventually the Earth itself becomes a baneful place. I remember being told by a medicine woman in the Amazon, “Do you know why they are really cutting down the rain forest? Because it is wet and dark and tangled and feminine.”
– Alberto Villoldo
And I give you the following as a mental focus and Heart intention. Use it daily, share it widely, print it and paste it everywhere. This disaster isn’t limited to location or time.It’s global, ongoing and breaks time.
Mental focus and heart intention for the Gulf of Mexico
——— Having provided free content for over two years, the Reiki Help Blog is now asking for your support. Actually, the content remains free, but your support is needed. The button or link below will take you to a secure PayPal page where you can give any amount of your choosing.
Please donate what feels right. Each post is a considerable investment of thought, heart, energy and time.
I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while. At the end of 2009 when I was posting quite a bit about climate change, several subscribers chose to unsubscribe right after those posts were published. One can’t know of course, but one of my thoughts was that perhaps they felt the subject matter of this blog and climate change are not related. I’d like to share exactly how they are in fact related.
Climate change is a part of the ecology of our planet, and it’s in this ecology that we live. It’s not so much about a specific aspect of our ecology, but the “placeness” of it. If we’re talking about spiritual practice, well…We practice in this place, this earth, this moment. As for Reiki specifically, there’s this Reiki One-Liner from the first 50 published:
Reiki is an inner and outer ecology.
We live on holy ground. The only version of humanity that doesn’t recognize this is the technological, urban, gadget-obsessed, bot-like iteration. All other versions of humanity, modern and ancient know that this place, this cosmic home is holy ground.
Many times when I get out of my car in a parking lot and walk to some store in the endless sprawl of strip malls, I make a point to wonder what lies under the tarmac. What was here before? What wilderness would I have encountered here even fifty years ago?
I just have to look with new eyes to know. Recently I started a photoblog as an avenue of self-expression. Creativity and spirituality are sisters, but that’s for another post. You can subscribe to the new blog just like this one. It’s a growing ode to nature. Here’s a slideshow of the initial glimpses of my neighborhood. Holiness dotted in between the concrete…
(You may need to click back to the original post to see slideshow if you’re reading this in an email.)
This holiness isn’t limited to what’s natural around you. Wherever you are, it’s holy. Your home, the home of a family member or friend, workplace, place you stay when on vacation. Nature definitely has it’s own, undeniable spirituality, but greater than that is wherever you are.
Place is spiritual because it’s where we breathe. Our life is detailed in its locations. Our being is expressed in all the nooks and crannies made possible by the power of gravity.
You may be thinking, “what about nonlocality?” It’s true, we’re not only local, we’re multidimensional. And it’s all spiritual.
This word, this idea of “spirituality…” Isn’t it all-encompassing and all-embracing? If it isn’t, we need to reconsider. When one part is cutoff or hierarchically put above or below any other part, fragmentation ensues.
Personally, my gratitude starts with thankfulness for being here, today, standing on this ground, breathing on this spot. Without those conditions and premise, I’m unable to experience anything else. Sure, my higher Self can, but for me in my body to go along for the ride, I sit here in meditation, contemplation, visioning, Reiki’ng, loving…
If spirituality is all-inclusive, then the care of this place, its appreciation and longevity is under my wing too. Heaven is handled, angels have it under their wings. Earth? Let’s just say, we’re responsible for what we use.
You and I are living in the dimension of form at this time.
Without the body, the wisdom of the larger self cannot be known. –John Conger
Embrace place and see what it yields. Truly.
There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden or even your bathtub. –Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
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Please donate what feels right. Each post is a considerable investment of thought, heart, energy and time.
Whether it’s the recent earthquake in Haiti or the Asian Tsunami of 2004, the world becomes a little smaller and kinder as humanity bands together and suffers with the suffering, as well as pouring in aid. These are heart-wrenching events, together with remarkable responses in the form of millions of dollars donated via text messaging and social media.
There’s no doubt that aid on the ground is sorely needed. Rescue workers, medical help, drinking water, food and other supplies are how we respond to natural disasters because these are what the situation calls for. Everyone is “praying” too, giving thanks that it’s not them and in general “thinking” of the victims.
As spiritual practitioners we have even more specific and powerful methods at our disposal. This is what I’d like to explore. Consider these words from Paramahansa Yogananda, one of the greatest representatives of Sanatana Dharma (Eternal Truth) from India who lived and taught in the West. He said this in 1940, right around the start of WWII:
Everything that has happened throughout the ages is recorded in the ether. The vibrations of evil that mankind leaves in the ether upset the normal harmonious balance of the earth. When the earth becomes very heavy with disease and evil, these etheric disturbances cause the world to give way to earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters (…)
So, just like the human body, the earth suffers from inharmonies and disease. And it is because the combined actions of all people all over the world affect the planet on which we live. There is no question about that. The good and bad karmic conditions created by man determine and influence the climate; they affect the wind and the ocean, even the very structure of the earth, sometimes causing earthquakes. All the hatred, the anger, the evil we send out into the world, and the agony and rebellion they cause — all these are disturbing the magnetic force of the earth, like static in the air.
On-the-ground aid and healing help in the form of distant Reiki or other subtle action such as prayer is fine. These must and naturally take place. We can’t exactly stand around and watch. But, responding to single events simply doesn’t get to the root. It doesn’t address the next natural disaster, war or injustice.
Yogananda also said, “When materiality predominates in man’s consciousness, there is an emission of subtle negative rays; their cumulative power disturbs the electrical balance of nature…” By “materiality” he doesn’t mean only materialism but also spiritual ignorance: that there’s an enlivening subtle reality underpinning all we perceive as real with our five senses, central nervous system and brain.
Certainly take your subtle and overt action! As you donate time, funds, goods, and from your heart chant “May the Great Light bring everything Haiti needs to heal and rebuild!” also, ALSO set a steady intention that we, humanity, find and abide in a new balance, a new peace at the causal level. The solution is at a causal place and that’s what needs to be addressed.
To further illustrate the point, let’s look at a different, living teacher, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche from the Shambhala tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.
According to many wisdom traditions, we are in a dark age. More than a thousand years ago, Padmasambhava, the great teacher who brought Buddhism from India to Tibet, predicted that this particular age would be distinguished by our increasing cleverness. We would create myriad ways to keep ourselves entertained, becoming experts in how to spend free time. We would use our intellect not for betterment but for hanging out in one form of distraction or another, constantly on holiday. Our discursive minds would run rampant. Padmasambhava predicted that as we became shrewder and cleverer, compassion would seem increasingly futile and we would forget to bring meaning to our lives.
Think aimless texting, YouTube, Cheese Whiz and other junk foods, lolcats, MySpace, and “there’s an app for that” mentality, to name a few. Now, read on:
In the Shambhala teachings, we call this dark age the “setting sun.” The Tibetan word for “setting sun” literally means the dregs, the remains of the day. “Remains” refers to the last remnants of virtue, the positive activity that takes us forward and open our hearts and minds rather than shuts them down. Virtues like compassion and loving-kindness lead to happiness because they uplift our being. In a time when positive activity is not valued, turmoil and negativity thicken our minds, causing confusion and unhappiness. We don’t have a clear understanding of our purpose or potential. When an activity that enables us to move forward to enlightenment is on the wane, our life-force energy is low. If we do not really understand where things are going or what the journey is — if we do not have a map, so to speak — we lose energy by spinning in circles, not practicing in the right direction.
As spiritual practitioners we have at our disposal a range of methods to shift humanity and the Earth. Instead of healing each situation as it occurs and recurs (engage that as well), intend a shift in life’s vibratory essence, a shift to wholeness and harmony. If you’ve been watching the news about Haiti, despite millions in aid much of it can’t even land at the airport in Port-au-Prince.
The mechanical solution is a hard one. By the time this aid is distributed how much good will it do? It makes more sense to bring our healing action to the causal level and ensure future generations don’t bear the burden of unenlightened ways that are perpetuated blindly. Make it count!
There’s no time like the start of the year to plunge headlong into conservation issues. The United Nations thinks so too. Read on to find out why.
But first let’s talks about dolphins. “Dolphins have been declared the world’s second most intelligent creatures after humans…” reports the Times Online. Their intelligence has been well documented. What’s new about this reporting is even more confirmation about what kind of intelligence dolphins have. And, for me, the most crucial point:
The researchers argue that their work shows it is morally unacceptable to keep such intelligent animals in amusement parks or to kill them for food or by accident when fishing. Some 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises die in this way each year.
And:
The neuroanatomy suggests psychological continuity between humans and dolphins and has profound implications for the ethics of human-dolphin interactions…
And:
The scientific research…suggests that dolphins are ‘non-human persons’ who qualify for moral standing as individuals…
Enough said.
Species are disappearing, have been disappearing at an alarming rate for quite some time now. ScienceDaily reported in October ’08 that “Earth is in the midst of the sixth mass extinction of both plants and animals, with nearly 50 percent of all species disappearing…”
To find out the current classification of threatened species, visit IUCNRedList.org.
The dolphin news isn’t about extinction, but the ethics of the relationship humans have with Earth’s other lifeforms. Whether we recognize all species as “individuals” or not, as the ones endowed with self-reflection we are being asked to act.
That’s why the United Nations is launching the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) on Monday, January 11 with a special celebration in Berlin.
The 2010 IYB is promoting some important messages. First, humans are part of nature’s rich diversity and have the power to protect or destroy it. Second, biodiversity is essential for sustaining the living networks and systems that provide us all with health, wealth, food, fuel and the vital services our lives depend on. Third, human activity is causing the diversity of life on Earth to be lost at a greatly accelerated rate; but we can prevent this loss. And fourth, we have made some achievements to safeguard biodiversity but we need to do much more and we must act urgently.
The fact of the matter is that biodiversity is closely linked to our own survival, if we were to ignore all its other significant aspects and narrowly focus on one alone. Find out more about the International Year of Biodiversity here and here.
You may also take these quotes into your Heart contemplation:
There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before. –Robert Wilson Lynd
Only after the last tree has been cut down, only after the last river has been poisoned, only after the last fish has been caught, only then will you find that money cannot be eaten. –Cree Indian Prophecy
