It’s one thing to be wise but another thing to be humble enough to put one’s own wisdom to the test by acting upon what you know to be true. Just because someone is touted as being wise does not mean they are impeccable. To be impeccable is to be able to turn wisdom into action and to go through the trials to reach the truth of that wisdom, and then, ultimately, to arrive at even greater wisdom, which in its turn will need to be proven as well.
Sending you love,
The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne
Suspend judgment. And yet hold the self accountable and responsible so that all that you do is honed to perfection, so that you take full responsibility for all decisions, actions, and events in your life. Hone your energy to accept that it is your life, that you are in charge, and that everything is meaningful. In this manner, learn to sculpt a life of meaning, purpose, and intent. Your direction is always toward the impossible possible, the evolution of your wholeness, which is both harder and easier that you can imagine. Just be impeccable in everything you do.
Sending you love,
The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne
This being human is a guest house. Every morning is a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness… an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all. Treat each guest honorably. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond. (Rumi)
Today will determine the future direction of the world. A polarized electorate officially decides who will govern the country. Clarity may come at once, or take several weeks to determine. The significance of the outcome has taken center stage in the lives of many world citizens.
Equanimity is the ability to remain composed, no matter what fate befalls a person. In Buddhist terms, it means to not attach to an outcome such that one loses composure if one’s preference does not manifest. Full acceptance of what is is the challenge.
In shamanic terms, the challenge is to be impeccable in stating and supporting one’s intent, but equally to have no attachment as to whether or not it manifests. When Jeanne and I took the alternative cancer journey, our sole concern was to impeccably follow the signs that guided us. When it became evident that she would be leaving this world we marveled at the journey we’d taken. Success and failure are an equal set of opposites in the shaman’s world. Regardless of outcome one continues to travel one’s path of heart, without skipping a beat.
Polishing one’s link to equanimity is perhaps the major offering of life in Earth School. Earth is a world that requires attachment to survive, yet insists upon loss of everything at death. To open to love while knowing its temporal limits in human form, is the shadow over every human relationship. To retain one’s love in pure spirit form, as one leaps freely into infinity, is the true graduation from Earth School.
The seeds of reincarnation, or limbo, are one’s non-readiness to allow for what is: the relativity of human form in a physical world. To remain in the illusion that nothing has changed is the consequence of unrelenting attachment to all things physical. Indeed, “what a piece of work is man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties… the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals…” (lyrics from Hair). In one form or another, wherever we are, we will remain bound to this world until we arrive at equanimity, the attitudinal ticket to life beyond the body.
Days like today offer the opportunity to get deeply calm and connected to the transcendent dimension of life. Ego is the part of spirit most attached to control in the physical world. Ego has its wants, needs, and expectations. Ego rises in success and sinks in failure. Ego is frequently alienated from its fuller transcendent self and thus invests fully in measuring its worth by its standing in the outside world.
The transcendent self views all experiences of victimhood as opportunities for ego to be in acceptance of all that is, or has been, another definition of equanimity. An ego that has achieved this level of fluidity experiences the constancy of awe, regardless of experience.
Of course, one will have one’s very human reaction to today’s outcome. But, whether it be joy or sorrow, release it in the next exhalation. With equanimity, remain connected to one’s transcendent self, sharing with it this moment in time but being lifted by it to the fuller multidimensionality of life as well.
Finally, let love, the heart of the transcendent self, deliver one to the fullest acceptance of all that life is, with equanimity.
With Equanimity,
Chuck
When chaos reigns a warrior remains steady, taking what is happening outside as a signal to practice the warrior’s way, to work with the chaos within the self, treating it as if it were death itself seeking to attach, working through every inner fear and every moment of chill reality alike as if for the last time. A warrior knows that this too is a path with heart, that this too must be faced with the same loving kindness and compassion as a day of joy, that attention must be focused on a positive outcome. An impeccable warrior’s weapon of choice remains love, no matter the circumstance.
Sending you love and support,
The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne
Own your choices. Embrace your decisions. But make sure you know and fully acknowledge who you are binding yourself to and why, whom you are making contracts with and for what reason. Admit to the details of your inner truths, desires, and the little tricks you play on yourself to get what you want. At the same time, strive to be impeccable while fully aware that you are imperfect. It’s the intent that counts. No one is perfect. Everyone has their flaws, but knowing the truth of one’s self is the first step in upholding a certain standard of impeccability. A warrior seeks impeccability while simultaneously knowing full well the weaknesses, faults, and little tricks that come up regularly to thwart the warrior’s way. With good humor a warrior acknowledges everything—and indulges or not, depending on the situation—but always a warrior steps right back onto the path with heart that has always been the warrior’s first choice, continuing on the way with hardly a look back. That is the warrior’s way.
Sending you love,
The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne