One Mystical Monkey

… A quick rambling from a busy Monkey, concerning a message sent in a dream and recently revisited in physical reality…

PEACOCK, recent experience in physical reality:
A beautiful bird, seen in the wild… one confident in itself enough not to be shy or threatened by humans approaching. It jumped down from it’s low perch to share the same footing as we, graceful and almost expectant in demeanor, he walked around, displaying his gorgeous plumage for several minutes, occasionally fluffing his feathers for maximum effect. Beautiful, rich, iridescent blue on his throat, lustrous green across his shoulders, tail feathers with blue center spots, ringed with a soft gold tone. Dazzled by the sight of this magnificent bird, we watched him for 20 minutes or more, getting within six feet of the beautiful creature.

FEATHERS, from a dream not long ago:
Peacock feathers, arranged in a vase with dried reeds, set for display (but not only for display) on a side table in the corner of a comfortably lit room, colored soft white and pale sea foam / turquoise green/blue. A disk, about a foot in diameter, also covered in feathers and held with the hands as if in mid-creation or in preparation for hanging upon the wall, being examined. Lush, vibrant tones of turquoise and royal blue and indigo and a pure deep green… a dream of … security and protection of a sort. Somehow a reminder of the spirit within and the pure Light that dwells there. A re-opening of the Heart and a reconnection to the Universal… aaaaah, the relief to be returned to this consciousness!

Common Meanings:
Often associated with greater vision and awareness, wisdom. It is the bird that most closely resembles the description of the Phoenix through many cultures world-wide. It is often also held sacred and associated with the God(s/esses) of various cultures including that of Amon-Ra and Horus in Egypt and Hindra to the Hindu populace. The peacock is also frequently thought to embody the concept of resurrection, and it is reputed to be able to destroy poisonous snakes…

What is the impact of our existence on the Earth? What is the true cost, in terms of renewable and non-renewable resources, of our energy consumption over the course of a week? … a day? … an hour? Is it really too much for the Earth to bear? What changes can we make as individuals and as societies (large and small) to alter the balance from mindless, selfish consumption to something a bit more realistic and sustainable?

These are excellent questions to ponder with Earth Day coming up (April 22, 2008) and Earth Hour just hours away (March 29)! “Going Green” is in vogue right now -it’s the politically correct stance to adopt. There is a large industry that has developed around the topics of artificial, human-influenced global warming, ecology and environmentalism - and not without justification. As a species we tend to consume more of Earth’s resources at a faster pace than they can possibly be replenished, even assuming all environmental destruction world-wide stops immediately.

So what happens if we simply turn out the lights for an hour?

That’s the question the folks at Earth Hour asked, and according to them,

“…if the greenhouse reduction achieved in the Sydney CBD during Earth Hour [2007] was sustained for a year, it would be equivalent to taking 48,616 cars off the road for a year.”

An hour without superfluous electronics and energy waste… An hour to cut down our mass consumerism, our reckless use of Earth’s resources. An hour to show some consideration for our planet, humanity and for the other species with whom we share the Earth. An hour to have a positive impact on our environment. An hour. Too much to ask?

But perhaps instead of just focusing on the “greenness” of this idea, we should also consider this a good opportunity to personally reconnect to our environment and our families - to consciously and intentionally remove some of those insulated walls with which we constantly surround ourselves. To go without our lights, media, and other conveniences for a single hour has an enormous potential to reconnect us with our families, with our community, with our world, and our universe. Take an hour and turn off the lights. Go look at the stars, take a night walk, cuddle with the kids, play a game, stare into your spouse’s candle-lit eyes. Meditate. BE. And make a statement while you’re at it.

And for some more information on Earth Hour, Earth Day, our ecological footprints, global warming and environmental issues…

• World Wildlife Fund
• Global Footprint Network
• Information on Ecological Footprints
• Ecological Footprint Quiz (basic comparative footprint to others in your country)
• Information on Earth Hour, March 29 2008
• Earth Hour 2008 Web site
• Earth Day Network: Information, Earth Day events and activities, lesson plans, opportunities to show your consumerist side, petitions and politics…
• Ecological calculators: everything from electronic pollution to carbon-emissions to nutrition…

“When everything goes up to heaven, does a new cycle of Earth begin?”

Interesting that a six-year-old asks this question apparently out of the blue… especially when there are several cosmologies and ancient texts indicating that we may be nearing the end of this current cycle of existence. But little kids are -or can be- less influenced and manipulated by the trappings of physicality… they are closer to the Source and understand the connection of One that we adults have forgotten (even though we may seek the Path). For younger children, everything is possible. They are, in many ways, our spiritual texts come to life, for they know, intrinsically and completely that everything really is possible. It is through their continued interaction with adults that children lose their wonderment and belief and through which they become limited by our artificial and superficial understanding of physical reality. “There is no spoon” is natural to a child, but it can be a rather difficult concept for an adult to even consider.

The above quote, although phrased as a question, gives us a great, contemporary hint that perhaps those cosmologies and ancient texts are not as far-fetched as our manufactured illusions and egocentric desires for self-preservation may want them to be. This child was just looking for confirmation of a truth of which he was already aware… the truth that everything is cyclical… including our physicality.

Consider the persistent myths and stories of great, ancient civilizations torn asunder by quakes and volcanoes… stories encapsulated into the cultural heritage of a wide variety of civilizations… stories which suddenly appear in our consciousness (scattered about the globe) at about the same time-frame. Is this mere coincidence or is it further evidence of our cyclical nature and the same concept as quoted above? If our world myths on this theme are examined not as unrelated stories with coincidental commonalities but as parts of a related whole, they speak a truth mankind does not often want to hear for it threatens our scientific “reasonable” concepts of reality and life. Leave it up to a six-year-old to adequately summarize the concept of the cyclical nature of existence so well!

But where does this leave those of us who are currently manifest in this physicality? It leaves us exactly where we ought to be - which is exactly where we are. It leaves us with a reminder that we are One, truly interconnected and perpetuating beyond the confines of our science and reason. It leaves us with an opportunity to transcend ego, the opportunity to evolve as a species, and the opportunity to try it all over again…

5yr old: “You know, some time dinosaurs will be back alive again…”
6yr old: “Yeah, I know. During the next cycle of Earth.”
5yr old: “And some time, I will be back alive again!”
6yr old: “Yeah, me too!”

… Hrrrrrmmm …

Namaste.

Have you heard of the cow who attained liberation?

It was dyslexic and kept on repeating OOOOMMM !

Reiki… a wonderful energy healing modality that transcends time, space, ego and injury to heal by channeling the ‘Universal Life Force’ (aka: Chi / Prana) through the Healer’s hands to the intended recipient. It is a versatile healing modality which does not involve the healer’s personal stores of energy and which can not be used for harm. In fact, the channeled energy goes to wherever and whenever it is needed most for the recipient, directed only partially by the healer. It can be a subtle energy, undetectable to those unfamiliar with sensing such things. But even the most cynical of those who consent to receiving a reiki treatment can be surprised by how intense and immediate a healing session can be.

For example, recently a dear one mentioned he had a bit of physical pain and consented to receiving reiki. He’s been intrigued by but a bit skeptical of my metaphysical pursuits for years now, and although he’s come a long, long way from where he was at understanding or sensing such things, he’s still unaccustomed to sensing the more subtle energies. But five minutes of reiki went a long way towards healing his injury (and removing tons of stress), and thirty seconds after the healing session ended he noticed just how much better he felt - to the point of letting a surprised laugh escape! Even after seeing me do reiki, listening to my explanations of such things, and even performing healings on him in the past, it took a tangible injury and an obvious healing to sway his perception. Where there was once skepticism, now there is at least a bit of belief.

And for some, “proof” in some form or another, is required for belief. But Life itself is experiential -and “proof” is the experience we have with a given situation. It is subjective, and variable. It is through our own individual interactions in the world (seen and unseen) that we grow and through which we develop our beliefs of life and living. This process, and “proof” … the Path… is different for everyone. What matters is that we’re willing to walk it.

Peace. Namaste.

The Spring Equinox is once more upon us. But this one is interesting in that not only is it the Equinox, but it is also the Full Moon, the Mayan New Year, Purim and Good Friday (probably a few others as well)… all on the same day! So in addition to the natural reminder of balance, this particular equinox effectively joins together much of humanity in spiritual and metaphysical celebrations at the same time! This is an opportunity for all of us to harmonize ourselves individually, to acclimate ourselves as a species and to regain our balance… a time to help all of Earth to harmonize and to effect a stronger, more permanent healing for ourselves, our planet and our universe. What a wonderful opportunity … a spiritual synchronicity… to bring Light to the world as never before!

If you are so inclined, there are coordinated meditations in which others are encouraged to participate… for, as has been stated through many channels through the years, when there are two (or more), the energy and healing is multiplied. One such coordinated meditation is the SOLAR WAVE 2008…

But whatever your celebration, I encourage you to find the time this day to pray, meditate, heal, and to spread the Light in whatever manner you so choose. Be diligent in your awareness, your thoughts, your emotions… for truly, with our minds we create the world. Some days, this is more strongly the case than on others *wink*

May we join together in the knowledge that we truly are ONE and become that which we are meant to be…

If you were all alone in the universe with no one to talk to, no one with which to share the beauty of the stars, to laugh with, to touch, what would be your purpose in life? It is other life, it is love, which gives your life meaning. This is harmony. We must discover the joy of each other, the joy of challenge, the joy of growth.
- Mitsugi Saotome

“When we look at things in the light of Tao,
Nothing is best, nothing is worst.
Each thing, seen in its own light,
Stands out in its own way.
It can seem to be “better”
Than what it is compared with it
On its own terms.
But seen in terms of the whole,
No one thing stands out as “better.”
…
So the whole cosmos is a grain of rice,
And tip of a hair
is as big as a mountain -
Such is the relative view.
…
Fine horses can travel a hundred miles a day,
But they cannot catch mice
Like terriers or weasels:
All creatures have gifts of their own.
…
Can a man cling only to heaven
And know nothing of earth?
They are correlative: to know one
is to know the other.
To refuse one
Is to refuse both.
…”

The Way of Chuang Tzu, “Great and Small”, Thomas Merton

It is Yin. It is Yang. It is Balance.
Namaste.

We are all influenced, to some degree or another, by each other, our cultures and societies, by the press and the media and governments and the modes of recreation (most notably television and movies) in which we participate. But we must break out of the influences thrust upon us and become the critical thinkers we are really meant to be. We must think -really and truly think- about the messages our news and media are giving us and those things put before us which serve to condition us into thinking and feeling a certain way or to believe a certain “party line”. We must listen to our hearts, think with our heads, and evaluate the legitimacy of each thing for ourselves, as objectively and critically as possible.
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What qualifies a person or personality as “normal” these days? Well, like most things it’s highly subjective and based around the opinions and judgments of others, according to various things which have influenced them. There are cultural and societal influences - the issues of cultural taboos between aspects of society, religious beliefs, levels of education, etc.

But in a culture where up to 20% of school-age kids are medicated to keep them docile and under control for long intervals of boring lectures and academics instead of running around personally experiencing the world around them… where most individuals (adults and children alike) are chronically sleep deprived… 9.5% are clinically depressed during any given one-year period… 31% of Americans are technically obese… we are conditioned to be constant consumers -mere followers of pointless fads… ‘educated’ to pass the required tests, to regurgitate the appropriate rhetoric and largely useless information on cue (instead of asking questions and positioning ourselves as clear-thinking leaders in society)… war and violence surrounds us on a multitude of levels… the ‘news’ is highly biased… and we’re force-fed our beliefs and morals by the media to which we’re addicted… the definition of “normal human” seemed awfully skewed to me.

But thinking about ‘normalcy’ in America (and the World) lately has brought some rather disturbing thoughts to mind… thoughts which I’ve wrestled with for a while now and thoughts which, I’ve realized, need to be voiced. These are thoughts which, although not purely spiritual in nature are part of our overall awakening -for part of our evolution is physical and involves the “here and now” in ways beyond personal mindfulness and responsibility. Part of our evolution as a species includes examining those illusions away from which we’ve shied and at least considering that what we’ve been taught (on some very basic levels) may not actually be true. It is taking the glasses off, so to speak, and really seeing what’s going on in our world… then taking the gloves off and doing something about it.

This evolutionary shift is about breaking the illusions which bind, communicating and sharing with each other on levels that just don’t seem to happen any more - levels of honesty, and trust, confidence and heart-felt communication. It is about communication, brainstorming, community, and developing better paradigms than those which have been in place for so long now. It is about being willing to shatter our illusions, knowing we’re not alone while we’re doing it, and then being willing to pick up the pieces with our hands, our heads, and most importantly of all, our hearts. Without our hearts to guide us truly on this path forward, nothing changes after the pieces are swept up - and things need to change. We need to change. Time for our evolution is here…

Will you come with me?