Where Ever You Go, There You Are!

As my path takes me further and further inward, I seem to come across just the opposite - people who  apparently live their lives outwardly, dealing strongly in the duality of physical existence.  I find it a stretch not to get caught up in that energy when confronted with it up close and personal - partly because I am an Empath, and partly because, despite my best efforts, I live in that same duality.  Darn!

The current challenge I find myself faced with is how to keep my Spiritual Integrity when faced with those who, in my opinion (or more likely, judgment) are allowing themselves to be run by circumstances outside themselves and beyond their control.  There are people on my path who allow themselves to rail at the unfairness of the situation(s) they find themselves and seem to want somebody else to fix things for them.  And I want to either cut them totally out of my life or shake them until they wake up and see that the answer is within.  Why can't they see that?  I certainly can!

So, as I am recovering from several months of chaos in my life, I am finally able to step back and take a look at my culpability in all this.  First, I have allowed outside circumstances - a mother in hospice, a daughter's wedding, surgery, a houseguest, and the birth of a grandchild - keep me from going to my source.   Not intentionally, of course.  Not consciously. It just happened.  

So, what does that mean?  I think it means that I allowed circumstances outside myself pull me out into a much fuller engagement with duality than I feel comfortable.  It means that what I see in others is the mirror of that which is going on within myself.  I am judging the very thing in others that I am experiencing.  Once again - Darn!

As a Spiritual Being having a Human Experience, I find myself faltering when it comes to Love, Acceptance, and Forgiveness - the teachings of my spiritual teachers.  Oh, no!  Yes, I am human.  Just as those people in my life who act as mirrors to me are human.  Those that I have been judging really deserve my thanks.  Thanks for showing me that every place I go, I bring the same me along.  There is no place in the physical world where I can truly escape the human being that I am, but I can raise my consciousness and awareness and learn to be gentle with myself and others.  I can learn to accept that my path is my path and not the path of those around me.  

I have no business judging where on the continuum of Spiritual wakefulness anybody else might be - for, just as no two snowflakes are alike, no two Spiritual paths are alike.  And, as I judge others trying to control the circumstances of their lives to obtain something other than they have, I realize that I must release that part of me that wants to control the circumstances of my life with which I am not particularly happy. The outer is merely a means to an end and no matter where I go or what I do physically in the world to try to change things, the true key is to go back inside where I belong, become still again, and know I am God.

Namaste!

Season of Light

This year, for some unknown reason, I felt called to (loosely) observe the tradition of Hanukkah.  Every year involves presents for the grandchildren and cards to my kids' families, but I have not lit candles, seen a dreidel, or made latkes (potato pancakes) in I do not know how long.  I initially "blamed" this calling on hanging out with three specific friends from my spiritual community who are very interested in Judaism, Jewish mysticism, and Jewish ritual.  None of them were "born" members of the tribe but all have the calling, and one in particular recently aligned her Jewish soul with her physical self and converted.  Anybody who knows me is aware that I am not called to religion, ritual, or the "trappings" so this took me by surprise.  I actually told them via e-mail that this was all their fault.

I already have a menorah which has been in a cabinet unused for years.  Two days before the first candle I went on a search for Hanukkah candles.  I was unable to find them in the local grocery store but I did buy two boxes of latke mix.  I checked with one of the guilty parties mentioned above and was referred to the local synagogue.  I found one fairly close to my home, went the day before the official start, purchased my candles, and went home.  I then proceeded to invite a friend/neighbor Angela and her six year old daughter Maddie to join me for the candle lighting each evening.  This invitation has since grown to her extended immediate family.  

Since finding the candles, I was also able to find one store with a very small Hanukkah section and picked up a supply of dreidels.  Hanukkah for me is not complete without latkes and dreidels.  Every evening for the last four nights, Maddie and Angela come over and we light the appropriate number of candles.  Actually, Maddie lights them, I recite the Hebrew blessings, and Maddie reads the English translation.  Maddie got a dreidel the first night and when her cousins make it here, probably the last night, they will get their dreidels.

Now, this is not so remarkable, people do this every year, and sometimes do it up really big.  What I find interesting is the fact that Angela and her family, who do not know much about Jewish holidays, are so excited about something I usually ignore.  So, I started to look beneath the surface and was given some interesting insights.

This year, Hanukkah (The Festival of Lights) ends on the day of Christmas eve.  So the Festival of Lights this year leads right into to the Christian celebration of the birth of The Messiah.  The mystics of all traditions follow the Light to attain oneness with God while the Bible quotes Jesus as saying "I am the Light of the World".  I personally do not accept Jesus as The Messiah but I do accept him as a rabbi, mystic, and one of the teaching masters of my Spiritual path.  Since there are no coincidences, I find this personal Hanukkah renewal a very significant spiritual movement.  It is another means of bringing my consciousness into alignment with my Soul and beyond and sharing the message with others. And based on feedback from Angela, I sense she feels something mystical about this as well.  I feel the beginning of an annual holiday tradition between our families being created.  May we all know that we are one with The Light and one with The Holy Spirit!

Namaste.

WHAT'S LEFT TO SAY?

I planned to post a soul-full piece about the wonderful magic I received at the retreat I attended November 7-9 at Gilchrist Retreat Center.  And wonderful things indeed came to me!  However, I find it impossible to actually put them in words.  And what I am realizing, is that I have come to the point where words cannot express my inner process, so I will not even attempt them!

Everything is meaningless when one has come to the reunification with God.  Not to say that I am always in that space, but I am there enough that my energy is directed inward and upward as opposed as into the world of words, ideas, and concepts - Spiritual or not!  So, I have nothing at this point to share about my experiences.  I received the gift of knowing the Loving on an intimate level and words cannot describe the Loving.  Or Home.  Or God-ing.

To my fellow travelers - I wish you the gift of this Knowing!  All that I have left to say right now is -

Namaste!

A Facebook Challenge

I joined Facebook several years ago at the suggestion of my daughter who proposed it as a way to keep up with my grandchildren.  In addition to keeping up with my growing family I have reconnected with scores of people with whom I lost touch over the years and for this, I am quite grateful.  I do, however, find many people are using social media as a means of public communication.  The communication is frequently very helpful, amusing, or down right funny. However, a day does not go by when I do not experience the energy of mass hysteria.  I read or hear posts exhorting about moral, political, and social problems.  Day after day, month after month.  

In the duality of our physical lives, we really only have Love or Fear.  The Fear I experience in social media has many names but it is really just Fear.  The Facebook posts I read run the gamut of complaints about our president, complaints about the Republicans, complaints over health care, complaints about illegal immigrants, and now complaints about disease.  Much energy is expended complaining, blaming, and accusing.  To what end?  Aside from venting the energy of fear, is anything really changed?

The energy of the world we live in today is very challenging to those living in Fear.  But it is not just happening now.  Historically, we have never existed apart from challenging times, which lead to fear, to war, to hunger, and even to near extinction of the world as it was known.  Remember world history?  To those who turn to their bibles, maybe it is time to revisit the passages when God's wrath created upheaval in the world.  If we really take a look, we will find comparable instances and similarities to our current situation.  The only difference is that we are experiencing the illusion of upheaval instead of our ancestors.  

I believe it is time for all to really go inward.  Take a look at our religious or spiritual beliefs.  Measure our beliefs about Jesus, Buddha, God, or whichever Divine Being with which we resonate against how we are reacting to current events.  In Spirit, the only energy that exists is Loving.  If the actions we take come from a place of Fear then we are not serving the greater good.  If we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem.  I challenge any and all who feel they must do something, please do something that promotes Love and Loving!  Blessed Be!!!

Namaste.