Love will greet you when you greet it, without fear, manipulation, or intent, for love is a manifestation of the heart and has no course except to flow openly and without inhibition. Pure love is not hard to find or experience. The only thing that keeps it away is the human condition that wants and is needy, that desires and is choosy, that considers it something to own and covet. Pure love knows no incidences, no rules, no concerns and that is why it is so pure. To experience it, learn to be open and innocent, without expectation; simply be present and see what happens. Love is not about you the individual. It is about the collective universe, and so it knows no bounds or shackles or restraint. It simply is.
Monthly Archives: January 2015
A Day in a Life: We Are In The Changing Times
– Photo by Jan Ketchel
I look at what is happening in the world today and part of me is horrified, but there is another part that knows that all new beginnings emerge out of chaos and destruction. This knowledge does not take away the need to be fully aware and concerned, but it points to a far greater reality: the times of change are now, and we are all in it together whether we want to be or not. The other reality that I embrace is that all of us are being simultaneously challenged to go through our own changes so that we can be fully present in a new world. In other words, if we all do something to change ourselves at the deepest of levels, we participate in changing the world at increasingly deeper levels too.
Death is around us all the time; we are aware of it. But it is only when it becomes personal, when it visits our own lives in some way that we must deal with it more directly. Some choose not to deal with it even then, unable to reconcile with endings or grasp at the notion of continued life. If we staunchly adhere to the idea that consciousness ends when the physical body dies, does that also mean that there is no hope for this world in chaos? I don’t think that way at all.
The Tarot card The Tower points to the kind of destruction that we are experiencing now. Society is collapsing all around us. Human life is of little consequence in the eyes of militant and ideological might, the attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris the most recent example. But what about the desecration of sacred lands and symbols of spiritual unity, the rapes of women in India, the shootings in America and other parts of the world? What are we being confronted with? What should we believe? How can our fellow human beings be so cruel and can they be trusted? Are we all hidden terrorists underneath the facades we present to the world? I could go on and on, but what seems most apparent to me is that we have to face that the world is not as black and white, as rational, as we may have wanted to believe. Things happen for reasons that reason is incapable of explaining.
Angeles Arrien writes in The Tarot Handbook that “The Tower is the symbol of the universal principle of healing, renovation, and restoration.” The card looks violent, a good symbol for the world today in fact. But she warns not to get caught up in the horrors of it but to look at it as a symbol of the necessary change and awakening, as all that is false or artificial within our natures must be dismantled before new life can happen. It points to the need to get back to the basics within and without, to reconnect with that which is innate, with spirit and nature inside us and outside of us.
We are all being asked now to do the deeper work that will enable us to start down a new path. We must return to balance, align with nature, with what it shows us about change. We must face the truth that what we have all become is being exposed and reflected in the violence in the world around us. We are all on a path of self-destruction and it will get worse, it has to if we are to change.
– Photo by Jan Ketchel
Sages have been predicting such changing times as these for a long time. Yogananda warned of it as he brought yoga to America. The Tibetans have been expecting it, in fact I see their diaspora as a necessary part of this process, bringing yet another form of ancient spirituality to the rest of the world. It’s clear to me that the hunger in the west for spiritual connection and the search for a spiritual identity has brought these ancient traditions to our shores, the power of intent in action.
Edgar Cayce, America’s most well-known psychic, warned of these changing times. Our own American Indians have been anticipating it. Even in more recent times, since the 1960s, the so-called “new age” gurus and the protectors of the earth have been predicting the decline of civilization as we know it, largely due to human folly. Many of them, however, have failed to speak of the rebirth of a new era. They have left us mired in the collapse with little hope for anything good to come out of it.
I truly believe that those “changing times” are here now, but I do not believe that all hope is lost, that it is too late, as many say. Not a defeatist by any means, I am instead a staunch and pragmatic optimist. The tower may be burning, but we have the power to build a new and better one.
Jeanne, the being I have channeled for the past 12 or so years, in her messages to humanity, as she calls them, has consistently asked us to make ourselves ready for the changing times. Along with many other current day messengers, from many realms and realities, she has not only called for a wake up, but has offered the means by which to prepare for not only the destruction but the renovation to follow. This involves a deep personal commitment to changing the self and how we live in the world, making decisions that are universally thoughtful and protective of our natural resources. We are being asked to let go of our personal greed, selfishness, and overconsumption in favor of less, in favor of a return to local community and commerce, to sustainable activities that not only embrace a new paradigm but enact it now.
In all that Chuck and I do, clinically and in the channeled messages and personal posts we write each week, our message has been consistent: We are all being asked to change, and here are some options and ideas for how to do that: Choose what feels right, but don’t hold back. Your spirit and the world you live in are asking you to break through all that holds you bound to old ideas, emotions, behaviors, to go through the changing times and prepare yourself so that you are ready for the rebuilding times. How can we rebuild, renovate, renew, if we have not first destroyed that which is obviously not working? This means both within and without, of course! Those are our messages.
– Photo by Jan Ketchel
We have offered recapitulation as a means of changing the self, a process of deep inner work, but there are many processes and we know that recapitulation is perhaps not right for everyone. To choose a path is a very personal decision, but from my own experience I can tell you that the right path is not an easy path. Easy paths do not necessarily offer the disruptions and the challenges that signal a new direction, or that something is not right, or perhaps they do in that they become boring, unfulfilling, too comfortable. And so, a good sign that the spirit is urging new movement is when the comfortable becomes uncomfortable. To challenge the self to seek a new path is to step outside of your comfort zones and try something new. It might take a lot of searching to find the right path, but even the search can yield inspiration and insight.
The only real way to change is to take action. Life is full of experiences waiting to happen, but if we do not move ourselves into action we will not have any experiences. Our lives will stagnate and we might even start to imagine that there is no real meaning in life, that we are destined to be stuck forever, that nothing good will happen to us. But this is never true. It’s only true if you decide it’s true. Often at times such as these we are being prodded to wake up, to stop our negative thoughts and do something to change what we are unhappy with. Sometimes our wakeup call is just that subtle a catalyst. If you jolt yourself into action you will discover that life will meet you. Suddenly, life becomes full of new experiences and new opportunities!
So, where am I going with all of this? As we begin another new year, I implore you all to take this time of change very seriously. Seek to reconcile your own life. Seek to find the connection to that which is inside you, both your spirit and your core issues that keep you disconnected and uncomfortable. Confront your weaknesses and turn them into your strengths, into the catalysts that will change you.
Yes, these are the changing times and that means we must all be brutally honest with ourselves in every thought, action, and deed. As we look around at the destruction of the world, at the terrible things people are doing to each other, we have to look inside ourselves and question our own motives for how we think and act, for the messages we give ourselves, and the things that come out of our mouths. Do we really believe the things we say? What will it take for us to challenge ourselves to change so that we too may rise out of the fires of destruction like the phoenix, the firebird, transformed into new life.
– Photo by Jan Ketchel
And so, just as Chuck wrote in his first blog of this New Year with a dire message of the necessity for change, I begin my own year of blogging with a similar message, a message that I not only write but act upon in my own life. Every day, I confront myself, for I am intent upon more fully embracing and becoming all that has been revealed, my greatest challenge now to not hold back. I just have to keep daring myself.
I know that I will die one day and I am intent upon not dying unfulfilled, and so, I dare. And I wish the same for all of you. So please be daring. Take the path of heart and change that is right for you. If you do not seek you will not find, but if you begin the search the path will appear and you will recognize it. It will be tough, but the rewards are more than you can ever imagine.
I send you love and gratitude for daring to take such a journey, as you are part of the greater whole of this changing energy. Know that with each breath you take and each step you take you are transforming.
Not holding back,
Jan
Soulbyte for Friday January 9, 2015
Wherever your path takes you today, go with humility and grace, thankful for the opportunity to live through these times of great change. Like a warrior fully aware that each breath, each step, and each action matters, own your place in this life and then behave accordingly. And yet, with the innate wisdom of the sages inside you, call forth your own wise spirit to join you more fully on this day and those to come. Bind your intent more fully to that of this wise spirit within and walk your path of heart with gratitude for all that you are given. In this manner, you will discover that no person ever walks alone. Your joinery is deeply entwined with that of your spirit, two warriors, companions always. Know that you are safe and deeply loved as you embrace this duality of self and step onward into the light of a new enchanting day.
Soulbyte for Thursday January 8, 2015
What are you searching for? What do you really want? Where do you stand today, one week into the New Year? Have your intentions held up, still foremost in your mind, body, and soul? What do you really need?
You are a creature of nature, fluid and ever-changing. Do not forget this. Allow yourself to be like water, flowing, tumbling, moving, yet taking time also for calm pooling, for reflection and deep introspection. Be gentle but also unstoppable, yet follow always your spirit’s intent. Do not force, yet let your spirit flow freely, as it will, allowing the creative and the adventurous sides to have their outlets. Don’t hold back that which you cannot, but curb your outright disregard of all that desires to gush forth unbidden, for not everything is appropriate. You are human, as well as flowing water, and so you must use discretion as well as the innate qualities of kindness, compassion and love that naturally wish to flow forth from you out into the world. Seek always your balance first and then you will know what you really seek.
Chuck’s Place: We’re All In The Same Dream
Chuck starts off with our first blog of the New Year, restating the intent that we embody, to take full responsibility for who we are and how we choose to participate in the dream of this reality. It’s what we at Riverwalker Press are all about. As the New Year begins we invite all of you to participate in dreaming a new dream with us. Happy New Year!
Warmly, with love and gratitude from us both,
Chuck and Jan
What does your dream look like?
– Photo by Jan Ketchel
Every cell in our body has a life of its own. It is challenged daily to obtain necessary resources for its survival, maintain balance, rid itself of wastes and spawn new life. Little does that single cell know that it is actually part of a much greater integrated whole, a human body.
The interdependent reality of our wholeness escapes us as we focus daily, like every single cell within us, on our individual tasks of survival and fulfillment. Nonetheless, if we contemplate our greater cosmic reality, perhaps we might glimpse, through reason or intuition or experience, the oneness of everything. And, from that place of oneness, all of us are responsible for the dream we are in and where we are going to take it. We are all empowered, through consciousness and intent, to advance the dream, that is, to change the world we live in.
Over the past couple of days, the stock market has been in a downslide. Why? Because the price of oil has been plunging rapidly. Meanwhile, the auto industry has had its best year in sales in decades, due in large part to increased sales of gas guzzlers, the consequence of cheaper gas. Meanwhile, many, whose economic survival is dependent upon the stock market, are faced with threatening losses as “safe” investments like oil plummet in value. Behind all these challenges to daily survival lies the reality that fossil fuels are a major contributor to the rapid destabilization and destruction of the planet that feeds and houses us.
We, as individuals, are empowered to decide where this dream will go next. Many are so focused on personal survival that they feel obliged to make the best investments, irrespective of environmental consequences or the total destruction of lives and cultures outside of their own. Gas guzzling cars are one of the things that most of us use daily and yet most people can’t afford to switch up to hybrid vehicles or they are drawn to the perks of less fuel efficient cars, while still others have much more basic needs of daily survival, putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads.
If we look to government to solve the greater issue of climate change we are confronted with the likes of today’s headlines: Big Threat For Obama’s Climate Efforts From GOP-Run Congress.* It’s easy to indulge in powerlessness and point fingers at the GOP, but to be truly responsible we must examine the GOP within ourselves. No one can separate themselves from deciding which way this dream will unfold; we’re all part of the same whole.
The GOP reflects an old dream that insists that the world is ours for the taking, that consideration beyond the needs of self and ours is unnecessary. That dream downplays the interdependent reality and the global concerns that effect us all and instead focuses on the individual’s responsibility to ensure survival of the personal dream. That dream has been given full latitude to play itself out and now finds itself approaching nightmare, as that dream and the world it has generated are unsustainable. This nightmare has caused many to wake up and face the facts, but still many others, reflected in the newly elected American Congress, remain staunch champions of the supremacy of the old dream; self above all.
The truth is, we are all living cells of the same dream, each empowered to decide, within the context of our own lives, which way the dream will proceed. On a concrete level, if I refuse to invest in fossil fuels, I am changing the dream. If I choose to buy a fuel-efficient car, regardless of other sales’ enticements, I choose a different dream. If I choose to replace my light bulbs with an expensive, highly efficient LED bulb, I choose a different dream. There are even simpler choices we can all make, such as to recycle or to be less wasteful overall.
– Photo by Jan Ketchel
When Jeanne was in this world—as the Hindus say: at the gross level of reality—she strongly preached the power of the purse to effect change. Now she resides fully in the astral plane, the next, finer dimension of reality that houses our soul or spirit, guiding us to exercise the power of intent to effect change in our lives within and without. Though the main fuel of the astral dimension, intent is equally effective in the gross dimension of our reality, awaiting our discovery of its power.
When we pray, when we state our intent, repeat our mantras, send love and compassion, we are transforming the dream world we are in. Everyone who loves their enemy reconciles with their own divided wholeness and advances the dream.
If I can love the GOP within myself—the part that demands individual responsibility but is also so susceptible to self interest—exploitative and greedy—I can make responsible choices in the myriad of decisions I make today to advance the dream in a new direction for all living beings. Such a decision might be as simple as where I choose to place my awareness, how I choose to think or spend my personal energy.
If worry and fear beckon, I might shift to some moments of intentional release of tension in my body, into calm, deliberate breathing. This simple act changes the energy I bring to the integrated wholeness of the one dream that we all live in and are dreaming together.
Imagine if each of us decided to awaken to the power of intent and bring it into the gross dimension that we all live in in such a calm and nurturing way. It might just be a strong enough intent to course-correct the orbit of the dream we are now in, sending us into a new dream of sustainability. We are never powerless.
Staying awake in the dream,
Chuck
* Headline in The Huffington Post January 6, 2015