Change begins on the inside, in making a decision to institute something new to combat something old. Though there may be discordancy and doubt, there is always the possibility of unity and oneness. The key lies in awakening the heart center, in bringing forth the love that lies there waiting, in stirring up love rather than fear and hate, in bringing forth goodness, acceptance, respect and appreciation rather than doubt, intolerance, mistrust, and judgments. Others are not the enemy, the enemy lies within. Stir the heart center and let its messages of oneness, unity, and love awaken. Let love guide the way now. For indeed, it is the only way if harmony is to be achieved. Stir up the energy of love and use it for good.
“There’s always a bit of heaven in a disaster area!” exclaimed Wavy Gravy, as the rains fell and the traffic snarled at the Woodstock Music Festival, fifty years ago this August. When I listened to Marianne Williamson at the 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate, I shared Wavy Gravy’s reaction, toward the chaos of now, “there’s always a bit of heaven in a disaster area!”
Love has arrived at the top echelon of political discourse. Love rises when it faces a truly worthy opponent. To continue on a path of knowledge in the world of the Shamans of Ancient Mexico, one must encounter a truly worthy opponent. In a recent Netflix episode, David Letterman and Howard Stern respectfully acknowledged the power of love’s most worthy opponent as they discussed the many personal interviews they had each conducted with Donald Trump over the past 30 years.
Last week, The Wall Street Journal called this past June the warmest gain in the Dow since 1938. This past week, France suffered the warmest temperatures in its history. Where’s the connection?
Last week, Duke Energy representative Randy Wheeless, in North Carolina, explained his company’s reluctance to pursue renewable energy. “I think a lot of environmentalists talk about the end of the world, but there are a lot of people still worried about the end of the month, and how to pay bills,” he said. What bills will be left to pay “when the Garden is gone,” as Neil Young sings?
The truth is evident. The issue of now is not what is true but what is right. Immigrant children are taken from their parents; this is government policy, which will cause deep, perhaps irreparable psychological damage to those children. This is scientifically known truth.
In this case, the coveted ‘end’ of illegal immigration is said to justify this inhumane ‘means.’ America First has supplanted what once made America the world’s great beacon of hope. America has lost its connection to the heart in the service of personal gain at all costs.
This national foray into heartless narcissism has been an incredibly humbling outing of America’s shadow. We all must face the preponderance of self-importance and the facade of altruism behind our noble American Dream. America stalked the heart center at its founding but has always masked its self-serving intent.
Thankfully, but dangerously, that facade has crumbled. As individuals we are challenged to face the preponderance of our narrow personal survival fears. Is the stock market’s contribution to our retirement more important than the survival of the world? Is trade really the highest god?
The worthy opponent of now is fixation at the third chakra, the home of narcissistic personal power. That fixation is obsessed only with the accrual of its own power. From its perspective, personal needs trump the survival of the world. We must all reckon with our attachment to this fixation. Masked altruism is what landed us here.
Real love awaits at the heart chakra. Real love embraces the truths and needs of the one world we are all part of. The heart chakra faces the truth of survival needs and will require, of all, great sacrifice to survive as a world.
We find our way to the heart by facing our own deepest truth with compassion. We then turn that compassion, however ruthlessly, to all the worthy opponents who boldly honor narcissism. No parts can be left out of the whole. From there, the heart will guide.
I hear Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young singing to me, from within, “Carry on, love is coming, love is coming to us all…..” Happy 4th. Celebrate true Independence.
Go down to the wellspring of life… – Photo by Jan Ketchel
On the eve of the summer solstice, the most enlightened day of the year, President Trump abruptly cancelled a retaliatory strike upon Iran.
The year is cyclical and repetitive, punctuated by seasons that mark life’s beginning to its completion. The summer solstice elongates the light of consciousness at its highest peak, a supreme opportunity to be in alignment with inner truth.
Perhaps under the impact of solstice energy, President Trump was influenced momentarily to be patient and acquiesce to the greater good.
I threw the I Ching this morning, with the question: Where are we now in the cycle of the Tao and how best to promote fulfillment?
The I Ching responded with hexagram #48, The Well, with moving lines in the fifth and sixth places. The model for The Well in nature is the tree, whose wooden roots penetrate the earth to draw up the water that sustains its life. The well, in ancient China, was accessed by a wooden pole that dipped a bucket into the water, which was raised to nourish all.
The I Ching warns that carelessness in raising the bucket can be disastrous, such as, “if for instance the military defense of a state is carried to such excess that it provokes wars by which the power of the state is annihilated, that is a breaking of the jug.”
On an individual level, the I Ching counsels that, “every human being can draw in the course of (their) education from the inexhaustible wellspring of the divine in (human) nature. But here likewise two dangers threaten: a (person) might fail in (their) education to penetrate to the real roots of humanity and remain fixed in convention… or (they) may suddenly collapse and neglect (their) self- development.”
Interestingly, the future work proposed by the I Ching to solidify the best use of the well is hexagram #18: Work on what has been spoiled. That hexagram has us address the contents of the shadow or personal unconscious that create decay within the personality, as well as the attitude of the ego in a state of avoidance or inertia.
The two moving lines of the hexagram are extremely hopeful. The nine in the fifth place states that the water in the well is exceedingly pure, fed by a spring of living water. Thus, the channel to the living spirit is available in the hearts of everyone. However, what is lacking here is the volitional drawing from this wellspring of wisdom. Though the knowledge and right guidance are available, they must be drawn upon to arrive at right action.
The six at the top takes it to that final step: “One draws from the well without hindrance. It is dependable. Supreme good fortune.” All are empowered to draw from the inexhaustible guidance and nurturance of their inner well, situated in the higher truth of the heart chakra.
Thus, the I Ching highlights in these accentuated lines that the guidance we truly need is readily available within our hearts. We are primed to receive it, since we already have available to us the tools to procure it. The time is right to exercise such actions.
These tools include, reading the synchronistic signs that appear to guide us through our days, as well as the dreams which foreshadow the opportunities for self-development each night. In the calmness of meditation we open directly our channel to spirit.
Specifically, the I Ching asks us to face the source of our guilt. By facing and addressing the issues behind our guilt, the water of our inner well is clarified to nurture our fulfillment. Sometimes we must undergo shocks to our well before we are fully ready to deepen our fulfillment. This is the work of recapitulation that fully frees our energy from the ‘impurities’ of the past.
The time is right for deepening fulfillment through drinking the pure waters that await in the deepest caverns of the heart.
Be more loving. Let love surround you and ground you. Let it emerge from within and send it soaring. Let love become your mode of operation, your first and last thought, your go to action when all else fails. Let love be your guide and your helper. And what is love, truly? It is kindness and compassion. It is openness and trust. It is goodness and helpfulness. It’s not selfish. It is without judgment. It simply is. It is like the air you breathe, free for the taking, immeasurable, infinite, and yet you can capture it and utilize it for more than you know. It’s not personal but it is infinitely personally useful, for self and other. Get your love going and use it for good. The world needs you now, the loving being that you truly are. It will do you some good too, to be more loving. From your heart to your mouth, speak love. From your heart to your hands, give love. From your heart to your mind, think love. It’s not what you get, it’s what you give that matters.
Like rippling rings on water, let your love flow… – Photo by Jan Ketchel
Noticed, subliminally, that the ring on my pinky was quite loose, barely stayed on. A brief thought process to safely tuck it in my pocket was dismissed. Upon returning home, I discovered that the ring was gone. I was stunned but soon calmed, as I realized we, my ring and I, had made this agreement earlier in the day. I was alerted to its readiness to jump; it had given me one last obvious warning. I had given it the green light and it had chosen to launch.
The ring is composed of two thick golden entwined threads, a couple’s infinite love woven into a healing path, a sealed strand of intent ready for life. It had adorned my finger for 45 years. Though coveted, it expressed its intent to move freely in the world now. I release you, dear ring, so imbued with love, to bring your magic wherever you land.
Realized later that the day the ring sprang free, April 6th, was exactly one year to the day of our initiation at The Monroe Institute’s Gateway Voyage, where Jan and I abruptly moved into new life. Found out, as well, that our nearest neighbor, Elizabeth, had launched on her definitive journey into infinity that same day, having physically died in Los Angeles. Truly, this was a day of profound shift.
The spreading of love is indeed the karma of what is happening now, the work to be done. That which has fragmented must come back together. We must be patient in the knowing that change is constant. Disintegration, however vast, is the precursor to integration. Love is the energy of healing and union.
Spend not time judging the self, judgment is too divisive. Seek only clarity and truth. From the heart center ask the self the question, “does this old decision hold up now?” And if the answer is that it’s time to shift, walk in a new direction. Quietly, light as a feather, attract no attention, simply move on, filled to the brim with love.
To get to the truth of the heart, we must reach a profound state of relaxation. Allow each inward breath to reach every cell of the body. With the exhalation, ask every cell to profoundly release. Hold that level of relaxation as you begin the next inhalation, then release even deeper on the out breath. After some time, the body will become calm and receptive, the mind will have dropped its prejudices, and the truth of the heart will be ready to be heard.
Doubt is the third chakra’s devil’s advocate. Allow it to make its case, but recognize its narcissism. With calm, speak the truth. If unduly influenced by its call to arms or self-serving ploys, then reenter the matrix for another round of groundhog day. When the cycle completes, you’ll have accrued greater knowledge. And with it, what will you choose next time around?
The world populace oscillates now between its separate wants and true collective needs. Only love can settle the score, because it transcends the one-sidedness of separateness.
Toss the ring of what you hold dear into the ring of greater good. Let love grow in every interaction, in every thought and action. Let’s see what happens!
