Tag Archives: right action

A Message to Humanity from Jeanne: A Sign Of Maturity

May we all take some time for sitting in quiet contemplation... - Photo by Jan Ketchel
May we all take some time for sitting in quiet contemplation…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

The theme of change continues in this week’s channeled message from Jan and Jeanne. The truth is, change is constant. What we elect to do with it is up to us, however, and that may be the only area of control that we have when we otherwise feel that we have absolutely no control. We can always make the right decision.

Some good advice in this week’s message! May it be helpful and guiding.

Message for Humanity from Jeanne: Act Appropriately

For new fruit to grow there must be a shedding of that which is no longer appropriate... - Photo by Jan Ketchel
For new fruit to grow there must be a shedding of that which is no longer appropriate…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

This week’s message alerts us to a coming shift. Time to prepare appropriately, as Jeanne suggests in this week’s channeled message. Offered most humbly, that all may benefit.

A Day in a Life: What Is Right Action?

The holidays are soon upon us. For some people they are longed for; time to get together with loved ones, catch up, and bask in the familiar. For others they can be dreaded, the very thought of having to once again show up at a family gathering nauseating to contemplate. No matter what our circumstances are we have to consider our responsibilities, to our self and others, especially at this time of year when we know that expectations will be in the air, that sensitive issues may come up. Will we acquiesce as we always have, or have we moved on? Do we attend family events out of duty or guilt, or are they meaningful and important to us? Are we selfish if we make other plans?

This time of year challenges us to give pause and consider where we now stand in our lives, both on the matter of family and in the deeper matters of the heart. We might decide to do things differently, because it is right for us to do so, to take action on behalf of our changing self, simply put: to decide that family above all just isn’t what is most important in these times of change. The decision itself will be challenging for us. Once made, we will have to deal with the consequences of our decision. Can we do so with the attitude of the changing self in charge, with our spirit on board, guiding us, with our psyche alert and ready to investigate our feelings and emotions on a deeper level?

Perhaps we decide that, of course, we will attend the family affair as we always have. As we sit at the family dinner table we might notice the usual tensions arise, both within ourselves and with others. Perhaps this tension is just a slight disturbance beneath the current of joviality, perhaps more noticeable. Perhaps, just as expected, the sisters criticize each other, the brothers get drunk, the parents argue, the kids get cranky and grandma and grandpa can’t handle any of it. Do we let this get to us? Do we sit there and judge everyone else? Do we take it personally, get offended or blame others? Do we try to make it better, compensate for everyone else? These are the projections that leave us feeling tense, resentful and unappreciated, that point out where our own deeper issues lie.

If we pause, sit back and take a deep breath, we might be able to allow our observer self to take in the scene. Perhaps we might consider addressing our observations and assumptions by looking within ourselves rather than at the actions of others. Perhaps we see how hilarious the whole situation really is or perhaps it’s really just sad, or a little of both. If we have deeper issues that we have been facing regarding our families all of this might trigger something that we hadn’t expected; it might set off an inability to withstand the impact of something within our own psyche.

Perhaps we already realize we don’t want to do this anymore, that we are in fact done with repeating the same family dynamics that have been acted out our whole lives. Perhaps we’re ready to stop playing the role we’ve been expected to play and having to be in the middle of everyone else’s role playing as well. Perhaps we’re ready to face the deeper issues that plague us and that our family of origin presents us with at every holiday gathering. All of these are things to take into consideration as we prepare for this holiday season.

If we make the decision to not attend a family gathering we will have to deal with the challenges of that decision. Who will we offend? Can we let them be offended? Can we dare to disappoint, knowing that it is right for us to refuse to subject ourselves to the tensions of unresolved family situations; that in fact it might be the healthy thing to do? It might just be time to nurture ourselves in a new way now, to carve sacred space and time in a venue of our own choosing.

Perhaps it’s time for us to realize that though we made the decision to change, others have not and may never. We have to be okay with that too, letting others take their own journeys, hopeful that some day they may take a new path. We cannot, however, convince anyone of anything; we can’t change another person, heal them, or make them into something they are not ready to be. It all has to come from within. The motivation and the intent has to be instigated by something cataclysmic within each individual. We know this ourselves, either because we have experienced it or because we’ve heard it said enough times and instinctively know it to be true. On the other hand, we can be an example of what it means to change, and that is what we may be challenged with this holiday season: to honor who we truly are, a changing, healing being on a new journey.

In the end, what will we gain or lose if we decide to do things differently this holiday season? In my own experiences, I’ve felt great relief in choosing healthy alternatives, to do my own thing rather than succumb to the dictates of family and society, rather than powerlessly acquiescing to tradition. But I have also had to face the disappointments I knew I was causing others. I have had to face that I was asking others to do something they may not have been ready for, my children for example.

I have bowed out of so many family events, not because I don’t love my family or like to be around them—quite the contrary, as they are an amazing group of thoughtful, talented people—but because the reasons to get together with anyone have to be genuine and meaningful to me and not simply because it’s traditional, that time of year again, or out of a sense of duty. Duty does play a role in our lives, but that is a different matter; duty must transcend being dutiful by default to dutifully embracing the compassionate, loving beings that we all are. And there are plenty of other times when I have attended to family members and family matters, fully embracing and embraced in this attitude.

In the end, there are times to be humble and gracious and giving, and there are times when it is appropriate to decide how we want to spend our energy. We have to decide what is the right action to take for where we are in our lives and compassionately allow ourselves to make the decision that is truly right for us; a decision made from the heart, absent of guilt, blame, resentment, and anger. As you can see, it can be a complicated process, but if we stick with our deepest heartfelt feelings and pay attention to the truth of our lives, we will act in a loving manner.

Sometimes our time of journeying with people is done; there is no next step to take. It’s a mature person who can honestly and lovingly say, “It’s been nice knowing you, but I think we’re done here. Good luck with the rest of your life.” No apologies, simply time to move on.

I let my deepest feelings prompt my actions. At times it has been quite a task to pay attention to the quiet-speaking heart, easily drowned out by the louder commercial call to celebrate, to receive and give, to eat and drink, to be happy. In the end it’s really about being in the moment, allowing the changing self to be fully present and lovingly active in the decision making.

On the path of right action, difficult and challenging as it is, and wishing you well,
Jan

Chuck’s Place: Twice Born—From Beliefs To Conscious Discrimination & The Atman

Beliefs.

Some beliefs, like a catechism, are handed down as a prescribed description of reality to be memorized, recited, and believed. Other beliefs assemble inside our minds as we strive to understand why things happen as they do. Beliefs are descriptions that create order and ascribe meaning to our world. Once a belief sets in, whether through the internalization process of socialization, or through some introverted process devoid of outside messaging, beliefs themselves become hardcore “facts” in our minds. And these believed facts are highly impervious to change.

Beliefs constructed in childhood, at such an impressionable time of our young ego’s development, can take up residence in our minds for a lifetime. Our beliefs, positive or negative, become our security blanket; they keep us safe and familiar as repetitive thoughts that comfort and guide us through the maze of life.

Ironically, the belief “I am ugly” can be as equally comforting as the belief “I am beautiful,” from the point of view of inner security. Security rests upon a known, familiar, redundant, predictable interpretation of reality. Consistent beliefs, positive or negative, build stability.

If one has held a lifelong belief that “It was my fault,” the liberating realization that “It wasn’t my fault” can feel more destabilizing than liberating, as it sends us into a deconstructed free fall of feeling that there is nothing safe to hold onto. This free fall, however, is a free fall of the ego alone. Ego is not Self. Ego is a part of a greater self, a Self to which it must awaken.

Twice born Self—beautiful Atman…

In Hindu philosophy the Atman is the true Self, the inner Buddha or Overself of Buddhism, the inner Christ of Christianity, the inner Nagual of the shamans of Ancient Mexico, the inner spirit in all of us. The ego is a functional tool of Atman, the tool of conscious discrimination, the decision maker that aligns action with right action. Right action is action in alignment with truth, with Atman. When ego uses conscious discrimination to deconstruct a false belief, ego goes into free fall, because the world it clings to is outed as a world of false beliefs, which must be surrendered.

Ego must allow the truth of Atman to manifest. To do this means relaxing defenses once dearly needed to construct a “safe world.” This construction is now identified as an anachronous artifact, a young ego’s construction of an illusion needed to create safety. The ego must allow itself to be reborn with Atman in the true nature of reality. This is the real meaning of being twice born—first time as an infant that grows an ego identity through accumulated beliefs, but more importantly grows an ego capable of conscious discrimination.

This exercise of conscious discrimination by ego leads to the collapse of its false beliefs and the birth, however traumatic—and all births are traumatic—into the Self, into the truth of the Atman. This is consciousness and Self reborn in second birth. This is the ultimate goal, to be twice born, with the opportunity for growth in this world, as enlightened Self.

In the canal,
Chuck

Chuck’s Place: The Taming Power of the Small

Such an important time. I struggled mightily to offer the right guidance. I wrote an entire blog and then could not keep my eyes open as I read it. It’s not the right message; I was forcing it. I’ve let it go; maybe it’s a message for another time. I humbly approach The Oracle: What is the guidance for now? I ask.

The answer I receive is hexagram #9: The Taming Power of the Small, with stirrings in the first, fourth, and fifth places. The interplay of images: wind blowing over heaven. The wind has the power to gather the clouds, but it cannot make it rain. For this we must wait.

The hexagram is composed of five powerful yang lines restrained by the influence of a single weak yin line. The yin influence has its limits. Although it has the power to restrain it cannot overcome the obstacle.

The radiation in Japan can only be minimally restrained, the circumference of evacuation must widen. Global Supply Lines at Risk as Shipping Lines Shun Japan says a headline in the New York Times; the entire world is now impacted with nuclear fallout. It is time to restrain our global appetites. Think local. Eat local.

Qaddafi can be restrained from flying his planes and from committing out-and-out genocide, but as yet he cannot be stopped. Again the influence possible in this time of revolution is, at best, a restraining influence; we can only have limited influence on the course of the revolution. It must play out in its own way and its own time.

Republicans chip away at the unions, Roe v. Wade, and cast Obama as a foreign infidel. In response, the discontent of the masses is stirring but, as yet, exerts little restraint on the madness. Revolutions are happening, but the time has not ripened for major changes in governance, though the necessary ingredients for change are indeed beginning to coalesce.

We find ourselves in a time of waiting, with limited influence. What should we do? The charged first line of the hexagram reads:

Return to the way.
How could there be blame in this?

-From The I Ching, the Richard Wilhelm translation, p. 41.

This line depicts being stirred to act in response to the energy of now, of revolution; we all want to do something to help. We seek to push forward and make progress. We are met by obstructions. We are guided to return to the way—the Tao—action in conformity with the true nature of the situation.

It’s not time yet for the clouds to bring forth the rain, so we must take out the garbage, do our taxes, clean out the litter box, and make a commitment to daily self-cultivation. Prepare our bodies and our spirits for the coming changes. Focus on the doable and the necessary. “Tame ourselves, our greatness will build—and we can yoke it for further actions.” -From The Living I Ching by Deng Ming-Dao, p. 125

The moving line in the fourth place again counsels the need to exert restraint upon a being of power and influence, perhaps the mighty ego self who is frightened, angry, appalled, and pushes for immediate action. The restraint here is to stay aligned with the truth and restrain from unnecessary action. Don’t fight the racist, the birther. Know the truth of nuclear energy. The time of great influence is not yet upon us, but we can restrain ourselves, save our energy and cultivate right actions, good habits in our lives—habits consonant with the coming changes to the world. Rest assured, the rains are coming.

The charged line in the fifth place, the ruler of the hexagram, counsels us to restrain by embracing our interdependent and interconnected One World—to bond and share the wealth. This is the restraint that must be placed on individual greed that can only accumulate and care for itself with no thought to the needs of others. This One World is the one we must restrain ourselves and hold out for, not a world restored to power as was.

If we follow the restraining influence of the time of The Taming Power of the Small by forging ourselves in the proper way, The Book of Changes predicts a future of advanced civilization in hexagram #50: The Cauldron.

The Cauldron was a huge three-legged pot, cast of bronze, a sacred vessel unique to early Chinese civilization with huge handles flaring up like dragons. The Cauldron, used in the temples, stood directly in the fire to cook food for the nourishment of all during ceremonies of sacrifice and honor to God.

The Cauldron is a manmade object, one of the few depicted in the I Ching. This makes it highly significant for an oracle that focuses almost exclusively on the influences of the elements in nature. The ability of mankind to create a vessel that can be used to commune with God, as well as nourish the people, is given archetypal significance in this book of wisdom. It is possible for us to achieve an advanced civilization that can acquiesce to the higher self or spirit through right action and thereby care for and nourish all.

What a hopeful change the I Ching suggests as our future possibility! The Cauldron is, in fact, the hexagram that directly follows the hexagram of Revolution in the I Ching. Under the best of circumstances the world revolution now might forge a true cauldron. However, this is predicated upon acquiescing to the limited influence and restraint necessary in The Taming Power of the Small, for that is where we are now.

Now is the time to engage in the painstaking process of forging the giant cauldron. This translates, on an individual level, into cultivating our selves into beings that can channel right action. Specifically, we must restrain ourselves from the old ways and keep the light of truth lit in our hearts. The time for great influence has not yet come, but it will come, it always rains eventually.

For now, we must take out the garbage, do our taxes, clean the litter box, cultivate a daily spiritual practice, limit our appetites, tend to our organic gardens, and wait for the rain. We must store our energy, not waste it on fighting the talking heads. Nature is leading this revolution. Change is inevitable.

Smallness tames. How slight the secret. How monumental the effect.”

-From The Living I Ching, by Deng Ming-Dao, p. 125.

Simply,
Chuck

If you wish to correspond, please feel free to post a comment below. And don’t forget to check out our facebook page at: Riverwalker Press on facebook where we post daily comments and quotes.