Why are we here? One thing is certain: our time is limited. Our life here is only a visit. In the end, we must leave on what the shamans of ancient Mexico call, our definitive journey.
Unlike other journeys we may take in this world, in preparation for our definitive journey there are no bags to pack and only one appointment to keep, our appointment with death. At that appointment we are required to relinquish our bodies and our attachment to all things material as we enter the unknown in pure energetic form.
Throughout their physical lives shamans enter their energy bodies and take journeys into infinity. Upon returning they report that, though they discover amazing things on these journeys, the true preparation for facing the unknown is in this world, in the form of our encounters with petty tyrants. One major reason for our being in this world is, as I see it, to encounter and master our petty tyrants, the true proving ground for our definitive journey in infinity upon dying.
Petty tyrants can be defined as anything in this world that interrupts or shatters our expectations. Examples may include a crying baby that won’t allow us to sleep, a defiant teenager, an unloving parent, an exploitive boss, a ruthless ex-spouse, a rejecting lover, a condescending partner, a prejudiced teacher, a violent psychopath who physically or sexually abuses, etc. Petty tyrants can also come in the form of natural or unnatural disasters such as earthquakes and wars. In fact, the examples are endless and range from annoying everyday interactions to traumatic experiences. Petty tyrants are not fair, they don’t play by the rules; they devastate us, they use and abuse us, they take what they want, they destroy what they want. Our experiences of petty tyrants force us to relinquish our expectations of common decency, respect, love, or basic entitlements. Although these expectations may be our preferences in this world, they are, by far, not the true nature of reality, which is unpredictable. When faced with a petty tyrant we are thrust into a completely unpredictable, uncontrollable reality where anything can happen, anything goes.
Shamans say that our encounters with petty tyrants provide us with the necessary training to face the true nature of energetic reality; this is our destiny, this is why we are here. Energetic reality is fluid, ever changing. To maintain cohesion in energetic reality we must be able to flow without requirements, that is, preconceived expectations. Petty tyrants force us out of our world into the unknown. If we refuse to accept the unknown and choose instead to cling to our expectations of reality then we are not prepared for our definitive journey. If we insist upon a world that conforms to our expectations, we are not ready to enter the unknown. The Buddhists point out that if we cannot detach from our expectations upon dying, we must re-materialize; that is, reincarnate in the material world for more classes on detachment, with our petty tyrants as teachers. In fact, petty tyrants are our greatest teachers in this world.
The process of mastering our petty tyrants requires that we recapitulate. In recapitulation we face, squarely, all our experiences in life, releasing any attachment to them in the form of anger, resentment, fear, regret, hatred, sadness, self-pity, etc. Staying attached to unfairness, for example, would keep us attached to a predictable world that follows the rules. As long as we hold to the position that we are undeserving of the petty tyrants in our lives we remain deeply attached to creating our own world, a world of illusions, what the Buddhists call maya. Through recapitulation we arrive at a place of complete neutrality toward all our petty tyrants. We let go of any sense of being special or deserving of anything, we simply accept all the experiences in our lives as part of the journey, without judgment. Experiences are simply facts, they happened. With recapitulation we are released to completely let them go, with appreciation for lessons learned. We arrive at a place of readiness to enter an unpredictable world, our tyrants having prepared us well!
When we arrive at the place of utter neutrality, what the shamans call the place of no pity, we are offered the opportunity to thank our petty tyrants for journeying with us and preparing us for our final appointment with death, as we embark upon our definitive journey in infinity.
If you wish to correspond, please feel free to post a comment below.
Until we meet again,
Chuck
“Perceiving”
I am trying to encompass what you are saying and I keep coming back to “perceiving.” Petty tyrants disturb us, they jar us, they rattle us, they dangle death in front of us, and yet they are sort of guardians at the gates toward perceiving energy as it flows.
Are the petty tyrants implants to keep us from perceiving the “dark sea of awareness?” Or, are they here to help shatter the illusions of the shadow world? Both, like a double edged sword, like “twin worlds”……? When we die are sucked into the “dark sea of awareness” (loosing awareness), unless we learn how to “read the fine print” (the hidden document). The petty tyrants connect us to the hidden document. WOW! I feel like I’ve been thrust into something I knew and somehow had forgotten, and feel conflicted. And i feel conflicted because of the “foreign inventory” which can only be dispelled by “recapitulation.” WOW! The abyss awaits us all, and for some reason I can’t help but to sense that while we jump in, the flight of each sorcerer onto freedom is different? Carlos had to wrestle with a king vulture, and I’m not sure what I’ll be wrestling with next? Thanks for the hard pat on the back, Chuck. I really needed it.
Moya
Dear Moya,
You comment upon a major discovery of the shaman’s world : we live in a predatory universe. On the one hand we are challenged to not be consumed by our tyrants, on the other to appreciate their value in helping us lift the veils. Petty tyrants come in all shapes and sizes. Yes, I would say there are “implants”, impersonal beings seeking to feast upon available energy. Yet again, what a wonderful service does the vulture perform! In other instances I believe we “contract” with our tyrants to perform hugely tyrannical services in our lives as we seek to make a giant leap forward in our awareness. The larger the “offense” the more challenging to not be offended and yet the greater the opportunity to advance if we can truly let go. The sorcerers of old bemoaned the loss of the Spanish Conquistadores, the consummate tyrants, whose reign of terror offered such amazing opportunities to lose self importance!
With respect to recapitulation and the dark sea of awareness, this is a conundrum I have contemplated deeply. As I discussed in The Book of Us when Jeanne neared death I feared she had not completed her recapitulation and that her awareness might be lost to the dark sea of awareness. In fact, when Jeanne did re-emerge after death she explained that upon dying she was confronted with the ultimate instantaneous recapitulation of her life and her many lives. She was able to hold onto her awareness through this process and make the choice to remain in her energy body and continue her definitive journey. Obviously, the more we are able to recapitulate while in this world the better our preparation for that moment of dying. I believe that the Buddhists have discovered the same fact and spend most of their lives preparing for the moment of dying when awareness has the option of enlightenment or re-materialization. However, even if one is not prepared to continue in infinity this does not represent a loss of awareness, it simply means that we are not yet prepared to advance and must assume some new life form to once again attempt to awaken. We might even choose to return as a petty tyrant!
I must admit, however, that Jeanne was the consummate warrior and even with an incomplete recapitulation she was well prepared for her moment of dying. Hence, I recommend that all take full advantage of recapitulating in this world to prepare for our inevitable appointment.
Chuck
Hi Chuck,
Keeping with the theme “Thank you Petty Tyrant’s“, I would like to share an experience I had last Thursday evening when I had the privilege of listening to an amazing, humble, soft spoken man, share his life story. His name is Kuba Beck and he was # 611 on Schindler’s list. What makes him truly inspiring is not so much that he is a Holocaust survivor but that he shares his story of his horrific experiences motivated only by the goal to spread the message not to judge others. What I noticed first about him, even before he began to speak, was a sense of deep calmness which, as he spoke, projected outward and quickly wrapped around us like a warm shawl. He is so positive and believes so much in people’s essential goodness, that he has spent his life sharing his story all over the world. His humbleness blew me away as he spoke of how even in the darkest of days and nights, goodness and kindness could be found. Many times he praised Schindler for saving the lives of over 1000 Jews, risking his life many times. I sat there stunned as he spun his tale repeating many times: “and then it went from bad to worse”. It’s so much more powerful hearing it spoken from a man who had lived through it, than reading about it from a book! How much worse, I wondered, as he told his amazing story recounting many horrific experiences, always living with the intense fear of not knowing from minute to minute if he was going to die …..he said “much worse”. As he continued in his soft voice, I unsuccessfully tried to hide my emotion and wipe away tears. As I looked around the room, I could see that I was not alone. In the end, I could not comprehend how all this happened right before the eyes of the world or how one person could treat another person with so much cruelty, hatred and utter disregard for them as another human being or how he could experience such atrocities, such horrible, horrible offenses and come away feeling so positive ……I had so many questions and I pondered this over the next few days trying to make some sense out of it. While holding on to everything we have been learning about energy, evolution, awareness, the value of petty tyrants etc., if I do not judge his experiences and see them only as “experiences”, I see that there seems to be a similarity between his experiences and what other people have experienced when encountering any kind of abuse, whether it be domestic violence, sexual abuse, racial injustice, whatever the offense, I can see a common thread. Then I read “thank you petty tyrants” and it became clearer. I hear that he recounts a different story every time he speaks, which I see as his recapitulation, an essential part of the process for our evolving spirits, but still I struggle with why such extremes and why would someone choose this lesson? I had the sense that it was his choice to view his experiences as positive, it seems that he placed his “intent“ here? If petty tyrants are defined as: “anything in this world that interrupts or shatters our expectations“, then I guess you can definitely say that Mr. Beck did indeed have some pretty valuable “Petty Tyrants” as he truly is a fine example of a person who has arrived at the place of utter neutrality and definitely in “the place of no pity“. WOW!
Debbie
Dear Debbie,
The Holocaust certainly qualifies as a major example of a reign of terror by a major petty tyrant. Although the phrase “never forget” is often used to be sure that it is never forgotten, especially in light of revisionist efforts to erase the truth of it, I see the most important part of not forgetting as not forgetting to recapitulate the fullness of reactions to such a horrific experience in human history. On the other hand, the end result of recapitulation is neutrality, letting go and yes, gratitude. As counterintuitive as it may seem the shamans of ancient Mexico discovered that the most horrific of experiences and the resulting ability to detach from them is, in fact, the greatest preparation for the definitive journey. -Chuck