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Jan's Blog

A Day in a Life: Balance, Restless Dog & Broken Buddha

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Last week I wrote about balance being important during a recapitulation process, but maintaining balance is of course important at all times. By balance I mean everything from keeping the body and mind healthy with good eating, sleeping, exercise, and stimulating mental activity, to living a thoughtful, compassionate, loving, aware existence in the world, as well as finding a spiritual practice that personally resonates and allows for exploration of the inner self.

For me, balance means all of these things and much more. I’m in balance when I have time for creative work and meditation, even if only for a few minutes during especially busy or stressful times. I’m in balance when I cook, delighting in preparing even the simplest meal with fresh ingredients, and being offered the opportunity to share it in the presence of good company. I’m in balance when I take a few minutes to walk the dog or stroll down the road on a sunny afternoon taking in what nature offers. I’m in balance when I’m focused on a task or project. I’m in balance when I do inner work, attending to what arises during the day to puzzle or challenge me. I’m in balance when I write this blog. However, I awoke feeling very out of balance this morning and with absolutely no idea what I would write about today.

The dog was restless all night. We wondered if she was perhaps letting us know that her time here is almost done. She’s old. Her legs are bad. She’s deaf. When she sits outside in the yard the vultures begin to circle overhead. We’ve been noticing this phenomenon for weeks now, their keen senses of smell and sight picking up on the vulnerabilities of an old animal who would be unable, at this stage of life, to survive out in the wild. During the night I heard the coyotes howling several times and I wondered if she heard them too, calling her to the next world, come to accompany her spirit on its next journey. I worried about letting her out during the night, though she insisted, knowing that they were out there on the prowl.

She has a tendency to wander off. Early this morning I let her out for the millionth time since the night began and went into the kitchen to put the coffee on. Most of the time she goes outside and just stands motionless or wanders around marking her territory then heads back to the front door to be let back in, it’s a predictable routine. This time when I went to let her back in, she was nowhere in sight. Pulling on my rubber boots I went outside to look for her, noticing that the night sky with its brilliant spread of gleaming stars was beginning to cloud over. I saw her heading toward the neighbor’s open garage and set off at a jog, hoping to head her off before they discovered me standing between their cars in my pajamas. Before I could catch her she darted inside. Embarrassed, I darted in after her and coming up behind grabbed her by the thick mane around her shoulders, surprising her. She whipped around and stared at me, as if to say, “What the heck!? What are you doing?” Which is what I said to her.

Stubbornly, almost digging her heels in, she reluctantly allowed me to push, drag, and shove her back into the house. A little while later, Chuck had left for the office and she needed to go out again. By this time I was beginning to feel extremely frustrated, more out of balance at each scratch at the door signaling her desire to go out. This time I put a leash on her and took her for a walk. Upon returning to the house she refused to come back inside with me, though it was beginning to rain. I left her sitting outside, her leash looped around the neck of the stone Buddha we have sitting in front of our entryway. That ought to keep her safe, I thought.

Every few minutes I checked on her. Like the Buddha she sat quietly, sedately, the grand dame, the queen surveying her land, seemingly contented. All of a sudden she got up and before I could get to her she had dragged the heavy stone Buddha off the step. It fell, smashing its head into the step below, severing it from the body. The dog stood there, unaware of what had just happened. I grabbed the leash before she could do anymore damage and just stood there looking down at the beloved Buddha, the calm sentinel marking our door for so many years, now broken.

The Buddha has always been a symbol of balance to me, serene and calm, he sits unmoving, nothing bothers him and now he’s lost his head! “What does this mean?” I moaned, absolutely regretting the moment I had decided he was strong enough to keep our big dog from wandering. What does it mean indeed? I placed the head back onto the shoulders, where it now sits quite comfortably again. You would never know it was broken simply by looking at it.

I pondered the meaning of the Buddha losing its head. Suddenly I saw the significance of it: he doesn’t need his head! In other words, the Buddha is not the Buddha because of his head. He is the Buddha because he practiced losing his head, by sitting in stillness, detaching from the foibles of the conjuring mind. The Buddha is the symbol of mindlessness, empty head, having finally achieved ultimate clarity, enlightenment, and freedom from the temptations, frustrations, and restless activities of this world.

I must face my own attachment to this beautiful stone Buddha. Though the Buddha has lost his head I must not weep. I must be as contented as Buddha. Even now, with head severed by restless dog, he sits perfectly still, keeping watch over our front yard, still presenting me with the utter calmness of balance that I seek. Or perhaps now truly symbolizing what it means to maintain balance in life, that no matter what comes along to interrupt the flow of our lives or knock our heads off we must learn to anchor ourselves in the inner peacefulness and joy of just being.

If you wish, feel free to share or comment in the Post Comment section below.

Sending you all love, good wishes, and balance.
Jan

Messages from Jeanne

#704 Stay Centered, Focused & Detached

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Jan Ketchel channeling Jeanne Marie Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
What is the challenge that we must all face this week? We seem to be energetically dealing with a lot of restless energy and although I know very little about astrology I do know that the full moon, a phase we are in now, generally offers some intense energy shifts. So, what advice do you offer us as we step into this new week?

The challenge that all must face this week will be to stay centered, focused, and detached while outside energy attempts a major coup.

You note, correctly, the restlessness of this time, and although it may attempt to draw the impatient side out of you, I advise closing the doors of the self to the impact of this draw. Restlessness itself must not become a motivator, but it can be used wisely if centered balance is maintained. In order to use such energy for betterment, I suggest turning inward to a reminder of your personal plan, your greater purpose, and your eventual goal in life.

Restlessness may be used creatively. It may be channeled into meaningful activity if it remains focused inward, but such practical usage of it requires turning away from that which comes from outside, for it carries upon its back much that you do not need.

Be aware of your inner focus now as you begin this week. Find your calm center and return to it often. Within this calm center place your mantras, your intentions for the week, and anchor yourself in them today, and continually throughout the week, in order to remain firmly set in your personal energy.

For all practical purposes, outside energy is to be avoided at this time. That is my firm contention at this energetic time. Inwardly you will find all you need, especially if you find yourself greatly attached to the outside energy for whatever reason. If this is so in your case, understand that you are attached to it because you are being strongly urged to turn away from it! By turning inward you will not be avoiding anything, but in fact using its restless power to more forcefully anchor yourself, allowing it to push you more firmly in an inward direction.

Practice detachment throughout the week. Go with the flow of your inner energy rather than the pull of the outer energy. Find your true calm flow, attach to it, and do not let go of it for long, as you ride the energy of this, indeed, restless time.

There are many storms brewing. There are many enticing outer activities planned, presented, and popping up for your entertainment, but I suggest that you attend to your inner self in asking for guidance. Your inner energy will tell you how to handle it.

Do not feel obligated to honor non-growth oriented activities. Of course, play is always a necessary aspect of life, but I suggest, in this coming week, that a more serious attitude be adopted. A time of confrontation, if successfully handled, may lead to a much-needed shift and this is what you must attempt. This is what you are always attempting: to gain in awareness of energy, and to learn how the self handles it, so that you may shift and gain a new perspective on your personal life and your world at large. This is what you are being presented with now: the option to remain innerly attached to the energy of self and outerly detached from being drawn into restless and non-productive activities, using the energy to advance.

It’s not really that hard to do. It just involves staying focused on the one task at hand and that is, as always, inner growth.

Messages from Jeanne

#698 The Energy of Change is Full of Love

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Jan Ketchel channeling Jeanne Marie Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
What message do you have for us today, energetically and practically speaking?

On an energetic level, this is a time for inner work, recapitulation, and seeking balance. It is a time of great forces converging and aligning in preparation for shift to come.

It feels like we’ve already had some big shifts lately. Are there more to come?

Yes. I have spoken of this as a time of change. It is here, and when such energy is present there is the propensity but also the certainty of more change, for once the energetic charge has been fired the snowball effect is in play. I foresee great change still to come. This I see outside of you, but you know that this will also be what you are confronted with inside you, right?

Yes, it seems to be how it goes and, yes, it does seem to be a good time for inner work. It’s been easier to see and understand how I, personally, have projected inner issues onto the world. My inner process has really been progressing well; at least that’s how it feels. I hope your other readers are also feeling the same progress as they take their own inner journeys.

This is a time of recapitulation, and by that I mean that the energy, which asks for inner turning, is highly present, accessible, and engaging, but it is also energy full of kindness and gentleness. What may feel like pushy energy is full of love, My Dear Ones, and if you elect to engage it in recapitulation you will have some very interesting inner journeys. It is energy of protection and it covets the inner working process. If thus engaged, you will find that your inner work will not only be allowed, but time will be presented for it, though it is up to you to elect to do the inner work over some other enticement.

So, what do you offer us on a practical level?

I highly recommend that you, first, remain aware that this is inner work time. Secondly, look for the moments that will be granted so that you may spend time alone, reading, writing, musing in nature, or simply sitting in quietude. Thirdly, look outside of you for what is happening inside of you and turn that projection inward.

You understand what I mean by this, right? For instance, if you think someone outside of you is acting irrationally or abruptly, do not spend too much time pondering that person’s issues, but instead ask the self, where and how do I act irrationally? Where and how to I act abruptly? Is it in relation to others, to ideas, or thoughts? Am I too dismissive of the issues of others, too afraid to make them my own?

You see, My Dears, you always have new issues to address. No matter how well you think you are doing, there is always something else to address. You might find that your outer world is flowing pretty well, is nicely balanced, and that you are in synch with the energy. But I hazard that if you go innerly, to a new deeper level, that you will run up against something that makes you uncomfortable or curious about the self. Right, Jan?

Well yes, Jeanne. I always find that I can go deeper, even if I think I’m doing pretty well. And even though I’ve done a pretty thorough recapitulation there is always something else that comes up, something that I may not be aware of until I meet it outside of me.

Yes, that is what happens. As you live your life, as you go out into the world each day you are bound to bump up against something that will raise your ire, your sense of dignity, your judgments, and confrontations with the choices you make each day.

So, how do we deal with what comes up?

As I said, take steps to calm your outer reaction after fully accepting that it is how you are feeling, by owning that feeling in an outerly projected sense and then turning it inward. For instance, you may get angry about something and that in itself must be accepted by you. But do not stay in anger. Do not allow it to consume you, but instead consume it. In a metaphorical sense, you could allow it to seep into your deeper self, to the fearful self, and ask this aspect of self to confront it. What is it that is causing this anger to boil up? What old issue is being prodded to come forth now so that you may resolve it?

If you attempt to spew anger outwardly it will remain outwardly present, perhaps even infecting others, as well as the balance of your day. But if you bravely face its old familiarity inside you, you may find that it relates to something that happened to you a long time ago. This is the inner work that will be aided and abetted by the energy of now. And, yes, you can and should use this energy of change to do your inner work and change yourself!

Do not be afraid of what lies inside you! Most likely you will find a small child in there just waiting to be rediscovered and released of all the old buried feelings. That’s all; it’s just you in there. And you know that you are just afraid of what you might encounter, when in fact you will find you are just innocence itself. Can you allow yourself to be innocent? That is my final question.

Chuck's Blog

#695 Chuck’s Place: WHY BP?

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Mother Earth, that mighty sentient being, has resorted to that ancient healing practice of leeching, or blood letting, to cure her wounds. Her BP, her blood pressure, has risen and blown a gasket, as her blood spews forth, poisoning the seas. With all our advanced technological know-how, we cannot cauterize or clot this flow. Bleeding, as all women experience, is nature’s way of cleansing.

The Earth poisons now our food supply. Why? And why won’t she stop? Why is she destroying herself? Frankly, I see no other way for Mother Earth to save herself, other than to create unprecedented destruction.

Mankind has been unable to evolve beyond greed, the true culprit of the wounding of the Earth. Mankind’s most prized possession, his reason, is but a puppet in the hands of his greed. Even in the midst of this unprecedented environmental disaster a judge has lifted the ban on offshore drilling. Our Mother realizes that the destruction must be vast and must impact us at a level we cannot ignore, at a level that forces us to change, to cap our greed, in order to survive.

Mother is providing us with a cure now, a flow, to move us forward. Mother is correcting the imbalance in mankind. This is no longer a problem solvable by reason; reason is no match for greed. Mother is forcing our instinct of self-preservation to confront our out-of-control hunger instinct, which has been allowed to consume and destroy, in the form of hoarding, accumulating, and exploiting the Earth. As this quote from a Wintu woman, in T. C. McLuhan’s Touch the Earth suggests, modern man has lost his connection to balance as reflected in his practices toward the Earth:

“When we Indians dig roots, we make little holes. When we build houses, we make little holes. When we burn grass for grasshoppers, we don’t ruin things. We shake down acorns and pinenuts. We don’t chop down the trees. We only use dead wood. But the White people plow up the ground, pull down the trees, kill everything. The tree says, ‘Don’t. I am sore. Don’t hurt me.’ But they chop it down and cut it up… They blast rocks and scatter them on the ground… How can the spirit of the earth like the White man? Everywhere the White man has touched it, it is sore.”

This is now a battle of instincts, instigated by the Great Mother Earth. Man, with his reason, is being put in his proper place, as Mother instinct takes over, with her menstrual flow, to clean things up and reassert natural balance. It’s not in our hands anymore. Mother Earth has taken over her own body. All we can do now is acquiesce to the facts of the destruction and what we need to do to survive. If we choose to continue to manipulate and spin reality, allowing reason to continue to feed our greed, Mother Earth will continue to spew toxins, her own chemotherapy, to bring us to truth. It’s an illusion for us to really believe that we are in control now.

That’s why BP. Mother has sent us a sign, using an acronym we can recognize: BP. Her blood pressure will no longer tolerate our greed. It’s pointless to blame BP; Mother has chosen BP for her own cleansing purposes, offering our consciousness the acronym BP to contemplate. Despite the destruction, Mother does have a sense of humor!

If you wish to correspond, please feel free to post a comment below.

Until we meet again,
Chuck

Messages from Jeanne

#694 Don’t Hold Back

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Jan Ketchel channeling Jeanne Marie Ketchel

Dear Jeanne,
Today’s weekly message falls on what was once a special day for you, your birthday. I extend birthday wishes, though I know you are far from this world in that sense.

Several people have forwarded us channeled messages regarding what is happening in the Gulf of Mexico, to our earth, to the animals, to ourselves, to life itself. All of them contain the same messages that you have been sending out for all the years that I have channeled you, the messages that we humans have come far from our true energetic roots and lost our connection to nature, earth, and spirit. At the same time that such messages are traveling around the globe, and the messages for all of us to awaken are stressed, I detect a new sensitivity and desire for truth, realness, and for connection to what really matters. I, personally, have always felt that most people, behind their fears and facades, are spiritually hungry and driven, but it has not been conventionally acceptable to be so. As the world became more technologically advanced and plastic we have further neglected our inner worlds.

I also feel that there is a big shift taking place, and whether it is intentionally set by our deeper yearning for connection to nature and spirit or not, it is happening anyway. This is the message that is being spread: change is being forced upon you, so are you going to take up the challenge and change as well?

We have conversed on this topic many times. Chuck has also written extensively about it in his blog. Is there anything new you would like to say on the subject? Or is there some other special message you would like to express on this once special day? Happy Birthday, Jeanne!

The messages of change and alarm must continue to spread, for although you may intuit a slow demise of earth’s resources over the past century, so must you now all take note: this disaster is of far greater consequence than you can imagine. Your time upon that earth must now become an era of full consciousness, your masses awoken with bitter truths, as the blood of Mother Earth does spill upon the shores. But of far more consequence is the impact upon the balance of nature that has thus far been heavily compromised and contaminated, left far too long. Balance no longer knows its own definition for it has long tilted into decay. The resulting heaviness of such poor attention to the balance of nature shows how powerfully mankind effects his environment.

This is an environmental disaster that has long been pending so do not make it into what it is not. Nor is this a spiritual disaster alone, but a far-reaching reality of your world. Your world is utterly compromised in that region, in the Gulf of Mexico, where there is, as of yet, no true knowledge to either describe it or to halt it. The fact is that greed is destroying the very earth. Earth, in its far superior mode of reaction to cause and effect, will not cease to spill its contents upon the waters and the land.

The biggest truth is that shift has already happened. Do you not see that it is no longer pending? Do you not see that the time of waiting for something to happen has passed? The thing that once seemed so far off and remote has already taken place. You are all living in a new world now. That is what you must wake up to. The world is different now.

Did you miss the moment of shift? On this day that I once celebrated as my own moment of shift, I suggest that you, each one of you, look at where shift has occurred in your own life; for something has changed now, and you are forced into acting and reacting differently in all aspects of life as a result. Notice that you have been pushed to change for a long time now. Accept that this is true for you, but also accept that this is true for all human beings.

Begin now to speak of this shift, of this push to change and awaken to the inner self. Your comments will be fully reciprocated, for there is a new language of intent spreading like wildfire upon that earth. It is the fire of new energy boiling up out of the Gulf of Mexico, burning back the times of greed and exploitation to reveal the utter truth of what life upon that earth is really all about: growth, transformation, evolution, respect for all living beings, love and compassion, and, above all, a time of shift to a level of higher awareness and to knowledge of that which lies beyond.

Take into consideration the gifts you are now being offered to truly shift your own awareness, to see what you could not clearly see before, to seriously consider that your time there is more meaningful than you have allowed yourself to believe, and that now you are being forcefully urged to embrace it to the fullest.

Do not hold back. I urge all of you to fully express your spiritual energetic selves. The earth itself is showing you how, without attachment to the resisters or the pretenders or the fearful ones. Go for it. Be one with the energy of your new times. Energy is abundant, but it must now come from within. The answers lie within.