Remain grounded even while you seek spiritual awareness, for spiritual awareness will do no good if it is not grounded in reality. The reality of life on Earth is your true reality, where you have come to work on and evolve the self. The reality of spiritual awareness is equally important but only in that it be used to enhance the work of the life you are in. So keep a good balance as you seek to enhance yourself in both material and spiritual ways. Let one work with the other to both teach and advance you and let neither one nor the other dominate.
It’s not that hard to calm the central nervous system. Look at a beautiful picture, and breathe deeply. Imagine a place that is special to you, and breathe deeply. Close your eyes, and breathe deeply. Sit in the light of the sun, and breathe deeply. Take a walk, and breathe deeply. Sit beside water, and breathe deeply. Gaze at the night sky, and breathe deeply. There are so many opportunities in a day to get calm, to take care of yourself for a few moments, and to align with your own spirit. Just do it, just breathe.
The conflicting energies of independent ocean currents meet at a point of confluence, such as Cape Agulhas, at the southernmost tip of Africa, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans come to meet. Sailors experience such points of confluence as particularly hazardous waters to navigate. The challenge is one of equaniminous accommodation of such clashing energies in a living domain of ruthless opposition.
Such is the state of America, and the rest of the world, right now, as we approach the coming crescendo of election day, November 8th. The true, underlying point of confluence has always existed, as all parts of all that is are represented in our greater wholeness. What distinguishes now is the full unleashing of these primal energy undercurrents to the Earth’s surface, exploding the usually dependable walls of civilized restraint.
These currents are archetypal energies whose passions excite numinous fascination. Numinous experience is defined as spiritual awe and ecstasy, a true meeting with the divine. For the human ego, an experience with the energy of the collective unconscious is numinous. Though ego may be threatened with disintegration at such an encounter, it craves contact with its spiritual source.
The conscious experience of leaving one’s body, or communing with a disembodied spirit, is numinous. Some numinous experiences are ecstatic, others terrifying. Nonetheless, the fascination with either can be quite compelling. Apocalyptic and horror movies are frequently blockbuster successes, as vicarious brushes with the terrible of archetypal energies claim their due.
Archetypes are the prototypical gods and goddesses behind our perceptions and emotional relationships in this world. Fear of encounters with authority figures is actually fear of the Old Testament God, Yaweh, in his wrathful mood. Craving the attention and validation from a beloved is actually a numinous hunger for mirroring from the Great Mother goddess, superimposed upon a mere mortal woman or man.
When the archetypes are activated, the passions they arouse demand release, sometimes with fatal consequences. On this Day of the Dead may we be reminded of our human form’s finiteness. Though we crave numinous union with the divine, may we survive it as well.
I approach the coming point of confluence, November 8th, with equanimity. I, like everyone, have my version of what would be best to serve stability in our rapidly changing world. I voted my preference. But now I stand back in even-tempered awe, awaiting the outcome.
I have no attachment to that outcome, whatever it may be. I await it in the spirit of total equanimity. I intend to accept and live the outcome as the majority chooses it to be. I am part of a greater whole and must reside within the developmental level the majority has achieved.
Numinosity is felt in the perilous grasp of the undertow, as well as in the calm of the eye of the storm. Either way, we are in the presence of divine encounter.
Equanimity allows us to truly go with the flow, without resistance. The spirits present on this Day of the Dead remind us of life everlasting, as we cling tightly to our current dream. May we dream on and awaken with equanimity, as we navigate the confluence of now.
Remember this fact: I am free to choose the attitude I will take toward anything I encounter.
Self-regulation takes discipline. Discipline takes commitment. Commitment takes effort. And effort takes heart, a path of heart to be exact. A path of heart encompasses effort, commitment, discipline and self-regulation. If you are to progress, really progress toward a more spiritually balanced state that is active and in constant motion then attention to these details will aid you. Look to the wise heart within, to the calm mind and the vigor of your spirit to gain the perfect balance of self-regulation that is right for you personally, within and without. It’s just about getting to know the self in a deeper and calmer way, so that happiness, contentment and balance may become the norm.
Find balance within the self rather than looking outwardly. What is outside of you is merely reflecting what you think you need, while what is inside you is the barebones truth. Sometimes the truth is too hard to accept so time is spent avoiding it. But in the end, the only place to go for real and deep resolution to what ails you is inward.
