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Wonder Is a Prayer: Becoming Ecstatic

“We can make a discipline of awe and become transentient.
Doing so, we might realize an altered sense of humanity.”
John Lamb Lash, Not In His Image

“Revelation (Akasavani) never ceases.”
(from a Tantric scripture sighted by Woodruffe in Shakti and Shakta)

It’s undeniable that the ecstatic is increasingly nudging its way into our daily lives.  Before we go much further in unpacking what I mean by this assertion, let’s make sure we have our language down:

Ecstasy
late 14c., "in a frenzy or stupor, fearful, excited," from O.Fr. estaise "ecstasy, rapture," from L.L. extasis, from Gk. ekstasis "entrancement, astonishment; any displacement," in NT "a trance," from existanai "displace, put out of place," also "drive out of one's mind" (existanai phrenon), from ek "out" (see ex-) + histanai "to place, cause to stand," from PIE base *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Used by 17c. mystical writers for "a state of rapture that stupefied the body while the soul contemplated divine things," which probably helped the meaning shift to "exalted state of good feeling" (1610s).

I want to make this clear because ecstasy is too often described as unparalleled joy (which surely is included in its aura) yet it boasts much more depth and complexity.  I especially want to emphasize ecstasy’s meaning as ‘entrancement’, ‘astonishment’ and as a feeling which ‘drives out the mind’ while ‘contemplating divine things’.  In my personal experience, I find here distinct resonance—the ecstatic becomes me often when my wonder has become, as it were, a prayer; when my perspective has enlarged somehow to make for a greater sense of the world about me, about the self which is me and all beings and, often, those two realms in tandem.  In such a peak experience, I am suffuse with a sense of awe that demands me to revere while at the same time this reverence is not merely sent out to the luster of a starscape overhead, or the unbridled beauty of mountains trampling my horizon, but sent in to the being that is perceiving this; is able to not only perceive but in doing so apprehend some kind of overwhelming magnificence that shimmers my body into something utterly light-like.

There is definitely a rambunctious kind of joy here, in the sense that I’m overflowing with a happiness too immense for me to contain and, thus, trumps any attempts to limit it via calming techniques or simple mental reproaches.  If anything, attempts to impede or slow this effulgence of joy causes pain.  Surely it is as, drawing from the logic of Chinese Medicine, when feelings are arrested by the mind we are literally stagnating the force of life or qi.  Of course, the mind is given whim to do other, more agile and beneficial things with feeling, such as following them to conclusions, notions, actions, etc. but here I am emphasizing the mind’s tendency, as habituated by benumbed Western Culture, to abate any feelings that seem incontrollable and of the frenzied, ecstatic variety; feelings that ultimately ‘drive out the mind’.  Such feelings are a direct attack on the supremacy held by the intellectual mind so prized in Western Culture and point to why they are often encouraged to be suppressed.

“When the people lack a proper sense
of awe, some terrible fate decided by
the universe at large will befall them.”
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

It is with great joy that I am beginning to witness in this very Western Culture to which I am conditioned (and hopefully deconditioning from more and more) that the ecstatic is appearing in evermore frequency, approached by people of many different races, cultural imperatives, classes and the like as a binding force of pure feeling which transcends any limitations that might divide us, drawing us into one soup of succulent humanity.  In a world broken by conflict and inter-species division (which his-story falsifies as the incontrovertible way of life), this human brethren-broth of ecstasy offers one of the most wondrous salve to the fractured sense of humanity at large.  In activities which activate jubilance, either in movement, singing, dancing, even breathing, yoga or impassioned unitive discussion, it seems all of the conditions of society, culture, religion etc. are shook off revealing the essence of human nature.  Moreover, normative to human nature’s coming alive in such spaces and instances is a sense of capacious happiness, as if all we had to do was connect somehow and someway, powerfully, committedly and even (or perhaps essentially) playfully.

The ecstatic can do this and has for aeons been an integral part of indigenous practices (and by indigenous I include here Europeans who have for much of our known history been perpetrators of indigenous destruction but are now becoming more connected to their own native roots in classical Europa culture—see Not In His Image by John Lamb Lash for more on this. This is one of the greatest books written in the modern era with not a tinge of exaggeration).  Whether it be in the shaking ceremonies of the Kalahari, the impassioned Zikr of the Sufis, the many varied and fiery drum-dances that pervade Africa, to the even the modern rave, surrendering to furies of movement, singing and other free-flowing expressions is one of the oldest spiritual practices to connect us with greater dimensions of beingness.  Moreover, this is done fully embodied, not out of the body or even with plant substances such as entheogens.  These are naturally induced states simply utilizing the mind-body-soul in highly vibrant ways that we ‘normally’ would not in our domesticated society.  Paradoxically, it is by losing control of ourselves in such fits of ecstasy that we actually apprehend higher realms of control and guidance that are more based on feelings, vibrations and energetic phenomena rather than intellectual constructions.  It is here that we are coaxed to “see with our feelings.”

It is this engagement with our primal and primordial wildness that is an integral aspect of our culture which modern social norms have rooted out to vicious degrees.  In fact, it is quite tragic to apprehend how rigidly sanctioned expressions of the ecstatic are in modern culture: we’re allowed to go ‘nuts’ at sporting events, or under the influence of alcohol at bars and dance clubs but to enter into ecstatic states anywhere else is often met with the shut-down glances of subtle ostracisms by passerbyes and even the eventual reprimand by police or security forces.  When we apprehend how deep this goes we realize that perhaps in destroying native culture the world over, Western Culture has also destroyed its own connection to one of its most precious expressions and sources of life.

More and more of us are realizing this.  There is a collective interest in expanding the sense of the Self with varied explorations of healing, dance, art, spirituality, even entheogens.  People are understanding that perspectives heal and that ours has been detrimentally narrow.  Even in the Occupy movement I see not the vitriol of anger spewing frustration on monolithic authoritarian systems but a boundless and playful enthusiasm of liberating creativity held long captive in the human essence and now surging forth not out of mere desperation but the joy and confidence in knowing the world can change and we can change it—all of it-- for the better. 

It is here that the ecstatic truly takes shape as something that is vital to the human spirit and the evolution of our species.  We face incredible challenges to transform the world and yet nevermore has there been the awareness of what is really wrong.  But to do so is going to require radical change, courage and community, sourced in a relentless belief in human ingenuity, potential and creativity with a devotion to maintaining positivity—holding light, aloft—in the midst of darkened days.  It is here that the ecstatic dances of our African brethren, the spirit-songs of our First Nations family and the deep, pulsing and shaking core of every human heart set alight by laughter and empowered feelings serves as vital energy to nourish the galvanization of human culture as a force of global change and rectification in the age of mass awakening and collective action.

“In the Mysteries one learns more about nature than about the gods”
Cicero

Let us recall that almost every indigenous culture has its roots in a profound connection to the Earth, seen as the very fount by which our life is not only fed but given purpose.  In this way, we engage a multidimensional reality that sees this planet as something teeming with life, alive itself, and we a blessed part of this wildly complex eco-spiritual journey.  It’s time we made our prayers torches of sun-bursting devotion to the greatness within and without us.  It’s time we embraced all, no matter colour or creed, with the love of meeting another aspect of the Self.  It’s time we danced together, sang together, healed together and created ecstasy together by the sheer force of connecting the light from one heart to another in great conflagrations of knowing and feeling.  We are changing the world, each moment, each thought, each action.  Life has regained a sense of adventure and all are being called to join in the entrancing drama of recreating this world as something of powerful, truthful beauty.  What better case for ecstasy.  I’m shaking as I write this!

I’d like to close with a final passage from John Lamb Lash, here referencing Earth as the Greek Goddess figure, Gaia, and speaking of some the classical Mysteries which we were initiations into spiritual awakening and purpose and often included activities that catalyzed the ecstatic...

“Perceiving Gaia as the Eleusinian initiates did was also an act of love; because the realization that our minds are not our own inspires immense affection for the Other.  Humanity cannot survive without observing the interspecies bond. To love all that is not human, animals and plants, insects, the atmosphere, empowers us to be human. Loving Gaia is the highest calling of humanity. It is also the path of enlightenment that can lead us to coevolution in the most direct way, the safest and sanest way, because the spirituality of the Mystery experience grows directly from our biological endowment.” John Lamb Lash

I have been reading David Wilcock's new book The Source Field Investigations with great enthusiasm. The ideas in this book I believe make this one of the most significant works for our era in terms of presenting an extremely broad and bold perspective on the cutting edge of human scientific explorations into Truth with a capital T. Highly, highly recommend it to ALL.

This morning I found myself immersed in a chapter discussing new insights scientists have discovered about DNA. We have actually discovered that DNA can be directly effected by our thoughts and emotions and we can also affect the DNA of others from thousands of miles away. It has been also discovered that DNA absorbs and releases photons or light and that this may be its primary source of nourishment, making the new age concept of 'lightwork' suddenly take on tangible proportions. But what struck me about reading all of this is that scientists have discovered that the essential energy that affected DNA the most is love. Love has a specific affect on us: "Greater coherence, greater organization, greater structure and greater crystallization--all these effects show us that the energy fields, molecules and cells of our bodies are working in greater harmony and Unity. For the first time, this actually gives us a scientific definition of love." After reading this passage in particular, I felt a chain of inspired insights hit me and what occured to me was how palpable this feeling of love, especially of the self (perhaps the most intimate experience of love) is. These days I have been working quite assiduosly on developing my spiritual practices surrounding the idea of presence (ever being in the Now) which becomes a palpable feeling of one's energy field (what Eckhart Tolle calls Inner-Body Awareness) and creating a more loving and wise relationship with my self. And what I have found is that my life has become much more suffuse with the principles David shares in the quoted passage. It's not only profoundly thrilling to feel coherence and harmony in my being as a much more graceful state of consciousness, emotional expression and physiological vitality but it's even more profound to see how much better a being I am in service to others as I am better able to be attentive to peoples' needs, more intuitive to how to potentially aid in those needs and all around much more radiant, meaning exuding a healthy, positive energy.

Love of one's self is essential to the spiritual path not as a narcissistic pursuit but as something much deeper and more mature. By loving one's self, one is intending to serve the highest in themselves to the best of their ability at all times. This means taking care of all aspects of the being and not abusing one's self in any way. This means drawing in any disparate parts of the self immersed in shadow into the illuminated sphere of our consciousness to be worked on not stowed away and repressed. This means treating every situation, no matter how horrendous, as something to serve with our best and merge with as fully as we can with our presence, embodying the force of union so connected to love. This doesn't mean if a situation is distasteful to remain in it but only to be so completely aware of oneself that one can know how to erect necessary boundaries in any given moment or act accordingly not react disharmoniously. Ultimately, the more present we are or united/loving of the moment, the more able we are to act from greater depth. Ah, love indeed requires constant revision in our era! May it be! May we all be that revision!

To end, possibly my favourite quote of all time from one of the great Russian writers and spiritualists:
"All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love."
--Leo Tolstoy

       For my second writing on the topic of the Inner-Guru I’d like to share a profound teaching called the Art of Heart found in the seminal text on Chinese Medicine called Rooted In Spirit which is a translation of Chapter Eight of the classical text, The Spiritual Pivot, with commentary from Claude Larre and Elizabeth Rochat.

      In the Daoist traditions that nourish the classical sense of Chinese Medicine, we find the Heart is given station of Emperor/Empress of our being.  This is primarily because the Heart is the house of our shen or what has been translated as spirit or consciousness.  It is this function that makes the Heart so important because it possesses our ability to be aware and to know: “The heart is alive, and it possesses knowledge; it knows, and from knowing makes distinctions.  To make distinctions is to know all parts of the whole at once.” (48)  This is important because, as the Daoists caution us, being in the world requires that we navigate ourselves appropriately and become aware that we can conduct ourselves in a way with the world that recklessly drains our vitality, leads us into conflict with others and other hazardous situations that could have been avoided if we had awareness to choose our actions and attitudes more wisely.  This emphasizes an inherent moral dimension to life that seems at odds to our present, post-modern culture that is fairly anemic on the moral front.  One need look no further than the state of things in the world to see that we’re a species of life largely acting unethically what with our economic systems prizing greed and relentless profit largely at the cost of the devastation of our environment and the oppression and exploitation of other peoples.  However, a moral or ethical dimension to life is the essence of practically all spiritual traditions.  Most of the great spiritual masters, figures, prophets, teachers etc. are revered because they expressed a vision of how to conduct oneself in the world with virtue, which has given profound clarity to many in how to navigate the challenging trials of life.  For instance, in Buddhism we find in the Noble Eightfold Path a whole series of statements emphasizing the necessity to conduct oneself rightly instead of wrongly if one is to live to one’s highest stature.

      What is incredibly promising is the wisdom from the Daoists that the ability to know how to conduct oneself in goodness or virtue doesn’t necessarily require a teacher, though that can of course be of significant help.  This is because awareness and comprehension of virtue is seen as being the essential nature of the heart: we all have a built in inner-guidance system that knows in any given moment what is the right thing to do, say or right way of being.  The challenge then is being perpetually aware of our heart as the foundation of our consciousness.  This is called the Art of Heart: “The art of heart (xin shu) consists of maintaining firmly one’s heart-anchor in peace and correctness, solid as a tree trunk, the pillar in the centre…One must not allow oneself to be carried away by trembling passions or by quickness of too much ardour, symbolized here by the thoroughbred horse.  One must not abandon oneself to the never-assuaged desires of the senses, represented here by the three monkeys.” (49)

      To be rooted in the Heart requires effort because the Daoists warn us “not to overload the heart…as soon as we are aware of this fullness which is always bad—perhaps mortally dangerous—we must empty our heart.” (44). This then asserts the significance of renunciation in the path of life if we are to maintain a clear channel to the Heart’s wisdom.  Renunciation need not insist extreme negations but merely points to the need to moderate oneself accordingly and always seek to strike a balance within oneself between extremes (this known as the Middle Way in Buddhism).  Perhaps this is why such activities as meditation, yoga, tai chi, qi gong and other wellness activities which emphasize using body practice to still the mind and generate more vitality in one’s nature are so popular in our modern era.  It’s as if the populace, racked with anxiety by the tumult in the world around them and perhaps within their own lives, are striving to rectify themselves by instilling enough peace to be more aware of the Heart as the root of their consciousness.

      The Art of the Heart need not be something esoteric or mystical.  I believe that everyone already inherently is aware that at any given moment they intuitively know in their deepest depths what is right in any given moment.  The challenge is then acting on that deep inner-knowing and not rejecting that wisdom, which means deeply trusting life and our nature as a source of wisdom or, ultimately, trusting that we all have an inner-guru that knows all, spontaneously, in any moment.

      To practice the Art of Heart and get in touch with the Inner-Guru is a true challenge but one that bears the highest fruit.  In order to carry out such an endeavour, I recommend a daily meditation habit and also the practice of constant self-reflection upon oneself which is also known as the practice of mindfulness.  As Eckhart Tolle teaches, the true battle between good and evil really comes down to the conflict between consciousness and unconsciousness.  But constantly reflecting on ourselves, we are devoting ourselves to being more conscious, or, more sourced in the wisdom of our Heart.  As another teacher once told me the correct attitude is to imagine oneself as a guard in watchtower (consciousness) and at any given moment the enemy (unconsciousness) may appear to invade past our gates.  The key is to be relentlessly vigilant of oneself.  For now, I challenge you to live a Conscious Day: for one day spend as much time as possible being conscious of oneself, especially being aware of when we get drawn away from our centre and, in that case, constantly pulling oneself back to our Heart.  I’m certain you will be stunned to notice just how different our states of consciousness are and the distinction between consciousness and unconsciousness.  Truly, life is so much richer the more conscious we are.

      “Calm and quietude, the Art of the Heart, are not the denial of the movements and reactions that make up life.  On the contrary, the Art of Heart is analysis of these movements and reactions.  It is the temperance that distances anger and outbursts.  It is the perpetual reestablishment of a balance made of breaths and blood, flesh and bone, feelings and thought.”

A while ago I was talking with my amazing friend Chris, a devote spiritual seeker and finder who, among many of his adventures and explorations, has spent a long time working with a guru in India. We were discussing a recent tension in my life I was experiencing with a spiritual teacher I had taken on and was not in total harmony with and so challenged I asked for Chris' advice, knowing he was an individual who had pursued and experienced the spiritual to high degrees. Chris listened intently to my accounts of discord and then offered a simple yet incredibly profound remark: "All teachers or gurus are essentially pointing their students to one realization: that the true guru is within." I nodded in total appreciation as a luminous smile bloomed on my face. I believe this is one of the most significant wisdoms to hold and work with and after years of trying, often in desperation, to seek guidance externally from teachers, I believe I am now fully coming into the understanding of what the inner-guru is all about and truly getting in touch with my own.

This has been a long and arduous realization for me to consider. Often in our culture, so rife with spiritual awakening, we find before us a spiritual supermarket of sorts: workshops, teachings, teachers, retreats, you name it, all dazzling us with the hope of giving us the essential kernel of truth that will satisfy us finally and completely. And yet, for most of us, we find ourselves shimmying from one teaching/teacher to the next, gaining ever-new insights and yet never reaching that satisfaction we so crave. There's many reasons for this and I'll try and tease apart some of the more significant points. For one, our culture is one of constant desire and activity where restlessness is the norm. In Chinese Medicine, we regard it as excessive yang which is the active force in the universe, while yin, signifying stillness, meditation and reflection or the passive force, is scarcely engaged, much to our detriment. To this end, our restlessness is a kind of attention-deficit-disorder caused to some degree because we're bedazzled and even bewitched by so many options in our information-laden era but also, and perhaps harder to acknowledge, we're not very good at actually sitting and working with spiritual teachings because they inevitable are about self-realization and self-transformation, which not only takes dedication to work through but can also be uncomfortable. All too often, at the first sense of challenge, we look instead to another teaching to whisk us away into bliss, while sending distrust to life's adversities which, as Shakespeare asserted, often bring out the sweetest results.

To remedy this spiritual malaise, I believe the subject of the inner-guru can be of tremendous aid. You see our culture is also one rife with disempowerment. Historically speaking, we've been an oppressed people for millennia the world over--oppressed primarily by beliefs systems that have limited our potentials and full expression of the human spirit. In our present era, these belief systems have weakened and humanity is experiencing a powerful liberation of thought and belief. Essential to this understanding is the need for the belief of our inner-power and divinity to come through and be embodied in the world. Many of the great spiritual teachers attest that the nature found in every human being is something innately glorious and infinite in power. To that end, the path of self-realization has been championed in the East as the essential path to awaken one's divine nature and inspire a life living from that foundation, doing nothing less than bringing light into the world. This is where the inner-guru takes centre stage. I`d like to turn now to the wisdom of Chinese Medicine to share an interesting anecdote to help illuminate this point.

The Heart in Chinese Medicine is said to be the house or temple of the shen which has been translated as spirit, consciousness or awareness. The Heart is also said to be the emperor-empress of us, holding the ability to know truth in any moment spontaneously, meaning not with the linear time of intellectual analysis but as a vibration of knowledge and wisdom that simply arises by itself. This is an INCREDIBLE gift and power that all human beings possess and means that at any given moment, we are aware of truth and have the ability to act and embody that truth. This is why living from the heart is verified by almost all spiritual traditions as the highest way to live. However, to be aware of the heart-mind (as some Buddhists called it) is a process of "discerning the whisper" as Mikki Sankey, founder of Esoteric Acupuncture, tells us. This means that this voice of truth is very subtle and in a culture that has revered the brain or intellect as the superior mind for a long time now, it can be difficult to shift one's self-governance to the heart but wholly essential if one wishes to live in truth and to their highest. Ultimately, it is the Heart that is the inner-guru.

The most powerful way to get in touch with the inner-guru or heart-mind is through the act of meditation which is a practice that stills the intellectual mind to connect us with our deeper nature, which through my experience is the consciousness we've been describing in the Heart. Although a popular form of meditation called non-seed emphasizes the need to simply quiet the intellect to total silence, other forms of meditation emphasize slowing and quieting the thoughts to then connect with the Heart and then allow a contemplation of things in our life, spiritual truths and other profound topics we may be curious about or seeking clarity upon, from our deeper nature which is more suffuse with truth. Meditation in this way can be highly profound! Moreover, in my own spiritual practice, making meditation a way of life through movement meditation and awareness of breath (things discussed in great length by Eckart Tolle) can allow us to constantly be in touch with truth consciousness, not only while seated in traditional meditation, making our whole life a wave of truth. The potentials for rectifying not only ourselves but the world then become entirely real as wherever we go we carry a beacon of light to illuminate the darkness of ignorance or quagmires of confusion, helping to bring more coherence and harmony into the world. In Chinese, this is called the Art of Heart (xin shu), a profound topic I will elaborate in my next post. For now, get in touch with the heart through meditation and any activity that helps still the intellect. Know that from the Heart is where we wish to live. Shine your deepest nature out into the world, knowing that within us all is  "Ìn the individual the heart is the son of Heaven, the image of Heaven, suggesting to man that he molds himself to Earth, to Heaven, and to Nature.`` (The Heart of Chinese Medicine)

Sometimes life can be more than a little uncertain when we have some rather challenging and intense choices to make.  It seems each one affords both positive and negative potentials and even when you write it all down on paper, weighing the pros and cons, your intuition can still veto all analysis with one quick swipe of heartspeak. Indeed, on that note, intuition itself can be a whole challenge: how to tap into it clearly so that one can really trust the authenticity of its voice? Is it to be revered as it is in some circles as the voice of truth, deeper than any intellectual endeavour?  And what is intuition in fact?  Well that would be (and will be!) another post entirely though I will touch upon it here to some degree.  But really, the essence of what I wish to discuss is how do we find some kind of clarity in the midst of uncertainty, especially when we're besieged by ambiguity.

I have come to the discovery that some times you really can't know, that is, it's hard to predict exactly what future a particular choice will end up manifesting.  Sure we can get a feeling and even think about it to the point of seeming clarity but then all in one foul swoop of emotions all conjecture can fall like a house of cards.  I am facing just such an immense uncertainty in my own personal life and though I have chosen to make a decision based on both mind (thought) and heart (intuition) that seems clear, I still feel plagued by confusion.  However, I recognize here the necessity and virtue of surrender.  The fact is we can`t know exactly where a choice will take us and by contantly and even obsessively ruminating over it we actually deprieve ourselves of one of our greatest strengths in reality: the ability to be present to the powerfully symbolic realm of the present moment.  You see, I have found from my own experience, when we live in the moment, constantly wresting our awareness from fantasias of past and future, we can find an incredibly interactive world of experiences that are constantly speaking to us in the sometimes abstract and sometimes quite clarion symbolism of destiny.  This can be incredibly engaging and extremely useful and is a magical side of life lost on many in a culture that has raised the analytical intellect into a wrongful station of supremacy.  As many ancient traditions tell us, such as Taoism, when we live spontaneously, vigilant to what is happening here and now, we engage the dynamic currents of destiny.  For reality is not some static event but a complex web of forces that are quite conscious and intelligent. The experience of coincidences/synchronicities is just the tip of the iceberg!

In this way, we also co-create life, and being creative is one of the essences of being human. By engaging life in such a way, we find suddenly a wealth of experiences calling to us, that are also profoundly useful for our learning. In all of this comes a trust in the goodness of life and human nature, something the Taoists constantly asserted.  How often do we distrust life, though, and the intuition of our nature?  Quite often indeed.  One look at the stories that have programmed our culture for milennia gives us insight into the origins of the distrust. Consider for example the doctrine of the Fallen World in Christianity and Judaism that posits that Earth is somehow a negative realm where we are burdened with original sin. But what if Earth was actually a beautiful world rife with consciousness and wisdom to nourish and help us grow and our nature actually divine?

There’s much more that comes with making decisions that I could delve into, such as the tremendous usefulness of meditation, contemplation, reflection in nature and also having the conviction to make decisions that may make us temporarily uncomfortable but I’ll leave that for another post.  For now, I’d like us all to consider making a decision and then letting go of it and trusting that reality, rich with the language of destiny, will interact with us and help us always find our way, even if that means letting us know somehow the decision was wrong!  For in that sense, what is a right or wrong decision, so long as one lives mindfully aware to the present and all its dynamism of destiny?  The key is to maintain presence, which takes positivity and uprightness for often decisions can make us depressed which weakens our energy, leaving us more vulnerable to being blown away in winds of circular thinking and unbridled emotions.  Keep moving, keep flowing--this is essential.  And when we do stop to be still, make certain we do so in an act of meditation and conteplation so that thought is dipped deeper in the seas of wisdom (which in Chinese Medicine is called interfacing Fire and Water, or the Heart and Kidneys) and not in the stagnation of unconstructive thought, divorced from depth and heart.  It's in union that we find the greatest pleasure (think of sex) so always bring the mind and heart together, which is what meditation and contemplation are all about.  And if you need some aphrodisia to get them often conflicted parties to commingle I recommend yoga, qi gong and making music or even simple sound.

A good exercise is to constantly reflect on oneself throughout the day, even arranging for perhaps a two-minute pause each hour to just be present to oneself and the moment around you.  For some, this becomes a practice to the point where each day they are so present that there’s never a moment when they are drifting in the past or the future, unless to contemplate something of need.  The breath is a powerful portal to the now so use awareness of its mechanism to bring you in.  Also, to maintain positivity, working with affirmations and uplifting music, even in tandem, can be very powerful.  And sometimes you have to fake it till you make: just smiling releases incredible endorphins and can change perspective! Dancing and movement can have the same effect. A teacher of mine always use to say when you're stuck just move in another direction, even if it seems absurd, just to stimulate the flow again.  Remember, whatever you decide, the most important part is trusting that destiny is always helping you to take that decision to fruition in the lesson you need to learn to help you grow and evolve to let your beautiful nature shine even more.  Pay attention, be aware and be positive that we’re part of a process of evolution that is going somewhere ever-great and positive!

It comes with great relief for many to see us now entering the final lap to destination summer.  The days are starting to really pick up in heat and the outdoors calls to us.  This summer, I invite us to really spend time attuning to nature and each other in more communal activities.  We spend so much of our lives these days being entrained to electronic devices and really we should be spending an equal amount of time entraining to the frequencies of the natural world which are of tremendous benefit not only for restoring us but also in activating our consciousness in a variety of ways.  It’s known that some of the most healing sounds, for instance, are nature sounds because they are so complex and stimulate the mind-body unlike anything else.  Just think of being in an abundantly green setting, in a forest perhaps, hearing the multifarious bird songs of elaborate frequencies, the intricate melody of water flowing in a nearby stream, the mating hum of insects and the whispers of leaves in the wind.  And that’s just the frequency picked up by the ear!  There is also the frequencies considered by our nose with the fresh air and verdant smells of rich grass and plant life.  In Japan, there is a profound act of cultivating health called ‘tree-bathing’ which literally means walking amidst trees, breathing in the source of fresh air.  Moreover, trees are regarded as exuding energetic fields that are ethereal in nature as their great height pulls down energy from high above where things are more pure.  As science tells us now, energy is information as well and perhaps this is why I often counsel friends and patients of mine whenever they’re besieged by a dilemma in their lives to walk in the park.  Almost always they seem to find a spontaneous spring of wisdom bursting forth! 

As we make the effort to equalize our time between electronics and nature, we’re also invited to spend more time with each other.  This is important because the world is definitely moving to more of a community-based energetic and people power is truly brimming as the true force of democracy as seen in uprisings in the Middle East and now Europe.  People are awakening to the fact that when we come and commune together over shared and beloved values of freedom and integrity, we are a force that no army or tyranny can quell.  By coming together with others more often, we begin to tap into this power, much like the more candles are lit the more light is illuminated.  And with this collective light comes more warmth which nourishes our hearts which are gateways to the unity-consciousness of the love vibration.  The world is set to become less and less a place of individualism and more and more about group-created reality.  Especially as the economy continues to spiral into rebirth as something entirely new, the theme of its evolution seems to be toward something that considers the sustainability of the Earth and the human interests before profits.  Ultimately, the new system is establishing cooperation as its currency.  Now I am no Christian but I find it interesting that Jesus and the teachings of many mystics in other traditions pointed out lucidly that salvation for humanity is loving one another.  In order to do this, we must claim ourselves as foremost human beings, making all national, religious and other cultural identities secondary.  For truly, if we were to share what we have out of the spirit of love and its energy of oneness embracing us all as one human family, what adversity of financial depression or warfare can befall us?  Even if such challenges were to manifest, the spirit of oneness serves as our highest and most advanced response.  Always has and always will. Even more, we can extend such unity consciousness to all creatures, plant and animal, as one family of life!  Think of the infinite power and creativity we’ve just plugged into! Wow!  For some, this won’t stop at simple Earthly identity but even stretch out into the cosmos, where we take infinite shape, meaning every attribute we have is suddenly sustained by the limitless.  So instead of courage, we have infinite courage, infinite love, infinite health and so on.  Incredibly powerful affirmations to take in and radiate out!  We can take guidance from the intrepid government of Bolivia who are the first nation on the planet to pass The Law of Mother Earth which extends the same rights to the Earth as it does human beings.  I believe this act will be remembered in our history as something incredibly meaningful: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2011/2011-04-20-01.html (follow the link to read the translation of the law itself! Really beautiful).  We are truly remembering that one of our greatest purposes is to be stewards for the Earth for truly we care for the Earth we are opened to a whole realm of mystical sciences and ecological spirituality that will fulfill us in the highest ways possible.  Working with nature means learning from the greatest teacher of all: creation itself.

So this summer, shine like the Solstice Sun, and see the Sun as a symbol of your essential nature: indomitable light, never going out, radiating out without limit and at light-speed, nourishing all that it contacts with the source of life itself; a burning passion to live and evolve!  And remember, light is energy which is information so lots of light visualizations (i.e. breathing in light, absorbing it into the blood and our being) will help unlock the wisdom of the cosmos coded in photons.  This ain’t even mysticism anymore, folks, it’s science!  May we all become empowered evermore by the nourishment of the universe, ever-stronger in our emboldening times and growing responsibilities to care for the Earth and the greater whole of the human family and ever-loving by the laws of oneness and truth which rule all!  The highest in me sees the highest in you: Namaste!

“Suspend disbelief and remain open to true discovery, even if it means challenging the existing order of things”
Ervin Laszlo

I gave a presentation last evening on the convergence of science and spirituality and it was an evening of quite engaging discussion. Truly, this is a topic of immense magnitude and requires substantial and intricate teasing apart of perspectives as it is nothing short of a questioning of our deepest beliefs in the nature of reality. As what has been called 'new sciences' come forth with more profound explorations into the nature of the universe and consciousness itself (some even positing they are one and the same), our patience and respect is called upon so that all points of view can be articulated clearly and responded to appropriately. This is not about one view winning a station of supremacy over others but a joining in collective inquiry into the deepest of truths and even into the nature of what we are. I take a moment here to revere the times we are alive in. To discuss these topics so openly is a remarkable blessing. I believe our time affords us the most freedom of perspective and expression that we've known in our recorded history (though our annals can only go so far back on record and there may have been times of yore when such a level of cultural development was reached and the sophistications of ancient structures such as megalithic sites speak to this potential). We should feel grateful for the work of those that came before to get us here and we should also feel implicated to carry the torch forward for the benefit of future generations. To such an endeavour!

Last evening left me wanting to extrapolate many of the ideas I didn't have time to remark on and many I spoke to sharing some form of virtual discussion on specific points as a good launch pad for generating an evolution of our understanding on these most significant points. Thus, I wish to raise the notion of what philosopher of science and integral theorist, Ervin Laszlo, calls the Akashic or A-Field. In his canonical text, Science and the Akashic Field, Laszlo discusses many of the theories of the 'new sciences', mostly explored by Quantum Mechanics.  The theory he discusses in the greatest length is the notion of a scientific understanding of the fact that all that is in the universe seems to arise and fall back into one immense field.  Moreover, all that comes out of this field is entagled and, thus, interconnected, which gives theoretical plausability for many of the psychic phenomenon that for aeons had been relegated into realms of magic, mysticism and the supernatural. It appears that, in fact, nature may be just super! Laszlo draws a paraellel between this all-encompassing, womb-like field and the element of akash found in Indian philosophy: “In Indian philosophy the ultimate end of the physical world is a return to Akasha, its original subtle-energy womb.  At the end of time as we know it, the almost infinitely varied things and forms of the manifest world dissolve into formlessness, living beings exist in a state of pure potentiality, and dynamic functions condense into static stillness.  In Akasha, all attributes of the manifest world merge into a state that is beyond attributes: the state of Brahman.  Although it is undifferentiated, Brahman is dynamic and creative…The cycles of samsara—of being-to-becoming and again of becoming-to-being—are the lila of Brahman: its play of ceaseless creation and dissolution.  In Indian philosophy, absolute reality is the reality of Brahman.  The manifest world enjoys but a derived, secondary reality and mistaking it for the real is the illusion of maya.  The absolute reality of Brahman and the derived reality of the manifest world constitute a co-created and constantly co-creating whole: this is the advaitavada (the nonduality) of the universe.”

This is quite a profound notion that has been verified by thousands of scientific experiments.  It’s profound that science is beginning to reveal a sense of reality long held as true by many of the Eastern mystical traditions.  The implications are massive: if such a field exists in which everything is interconnected/entangled, then what goes on in our interior world plays a much more significant role in the exterior world.  In fact, the whole notion of interior/exterior is nullified.  This may not be apprehended by our normal senses yet our more ethereal sensibilities (such as ‘feeling’ energy, synchronicities of thoughts, etc.) lean into this.  As I stated last night, this brings the whole concept of transparency into a whole new light and raises some interesting questions.  If this is how reality is, what should this change about our societies?  What does this mean on a personal level for us all?

Calling All Creators

 
"What do you do when an animal is mortally wounded? Do you run up to it and get real close so it can kick you and injure you? You’ve seen what a dying animal does, flailing about: it’ll kill anything close to it. Stand back and let it die. And when it’s dead, go in and get that tail.” Milton, Toronto Mystic, on the absurdity of protesting the G20


            While listening to Max Igan’s latest profound commentary, I was struck during his discussion of the ins and outs of corporatism and its inevitable journey to fascism that there is hardly an example in all of human consciousness of what an actual HARMONIOUS society looks like.  And it’s not like they haven’t existed.  I think foremost of my great Uncle, Ernest Thompson Seaton’s book The Gospel of the Redman  whose account of the worldview and social culture of indigenous peoples in North America before they were thoroughly engulfed by colonial civilization describes a utopian society where a homeless citizen is viewed as a terrible sin that weighs down on all members of society who quickly seek the individual out, clothe them and nurse them back to strength in their living so they can reclaim an empowered role in society.  And utopian is not being sensational but is, in fact, borrowing the term expressed by many colonists, soldiers and priests alike, who were dumbstruck at how few social ills that were commonplace back home in Europe, such as corruption, poverty and war, were present amongst the ‘savages’.  But even though such books are out there, during our most FORMATIVE years of education when the worldviews are constructed that sustain us for most of our lives (unless we rebel at some point), we are force-fed a boring, extremely narrow and most certainly prejudiced perspective on the way things are.  Some of even more dramatic inclinations would say that our modern educational institutions represent the true terrorism in this world! (“Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school” Albert Einstein). 

            Truly, the state of our educational systems is poisoning the evolution of not only individuals but human culture in general.  To think that our youth are still reading science books based on outdated scientific paradigms such as Newtonian Physics, are still being taught Mathematics as a secular subject (when the origin of Math is wholly mystical and spiritual—-just check out the life of Pythagoras to see it was more than just about triangles! Better yet, watch the movie Pi!), are still being taught sexual education from a fear-based foundation of the threats of STDs and HIV rather than explaining that sexual techniques nourish intimacy, are still being taught HIS-story instead of HER-story and phew! – the list goes on and on, folks. You get the picture…But it’s far from hopeless: the Internet, when used with the right intent, represents possibly the greatest antagonist of ignorance WE HAVE EVER SEEN.

            This is important NOW because in case you missed it our whole sense of the world just took a massive kick to the face this past weekend and it’s due time.  We’ve been living in a dreamland, folks, of entitlement, SUPERfluous conveniences and complicit complacency for a LOOOOONG time, and it’s TIME we woke up.  In some ways, we owe the now-unmasked fascist police force a huge thank you for giving us unparalleled motivation to change the world. That’s right ‘peace officers’: THANK YOU! It’s weird, isn’t it, how the truth works like that sometimes? Oh, paradoxes (‘Sweet are the uses of adversity’ Will Shakespeare).

            As I said before, I was struck during Max’s commentary that there are precious little thought-forms out there of harmonious societies for us to reference, to be inspired by and guide us.  This is unsettling and of great detriment I feel.  Again, knowledge of those societies is out there but it’s often suppressed in an INSTANT by hoodlums of history writing or bombed into anonymity the moment the phrase WE ARE A DEMOCRACY is uttered (heck, or even thought!). We in the West are lucky in the sense that we have more freedom to roam than other nations that are frankly in pitiful states of brokenness and tyranny and we must realize and seize that freedom, remembering the struggle it come out of. 

            So we can do the research and find the stories of those sublime societies and string them together in the tale of humanity’s forgotten or deliberately hidden past OR we can dip into our souls/true nature that is ALWAYS plugged into truth and vision what kind of a world we would like to live in.  Then, we are beginning to create thought-forms or ideals, which are powerful in themselves because everything that manifests in the material world must first begin as an idea before stepping down the steps into physical fruition.  We all need to do this and do it muchly.  We need to continually engage our creativity, setting our imaginations wild to vision the world we want to live in and then share those ideas with others, finding common grounds, nurturing that ground and planting more seeds in those grounds, where fertility will be even more so, mineralized by the meetings of our minds.  We need to start unplugging ourselves from all the little distractions that the modern world attempts to throw at us to wrest away from alignment with our true nature (that means you, World Cup!).  And we need to realize this is spiritual work and that that’s the highest work we can do.  We are on a mission, folks, from the moment those two halves of Mama and Papa made a whole, and it’s to push things forward, change the world and cultivate that change evermore!

            Don’t be so doomy and gloomy these days, brothers and sisters. Lick your wounds. It’s not like this kind of bullshit hasn’t gone down before and in MUCH WORSE fashion.  Just ask any of your elders, especially if they’re not Caucasian!  What just happened is only the beginning but we have the most advanced technology in the universe at our disposal to create new outcomes: CHOICE. Consciously make choices and assume your divine role of creator of this world, of this universe.  Don’t be hoodwinked by all the fear and emotions flinging around like drugs these days.  That’s what all the forces that are against change want: us to be so caught up in drama that we try and fight what’s already dead.  We should be much more interested in aligning and creating what is just now being born.  The empire is falling.  What are you doing standing before it and yelling at it to die?  It IS dying.  Get out of the way so you don’t get squished.  As a spiritual teacher recently told me with a knowing grin, “G20, is that like a vitamin supplement or something?”, we should also be so fleeting with the attention we give the monoliths of sociopaths.  What are you waiting for?  We’ve got a world to change!!! Start dreaming, start visioning, start sharing (and caring-BIG LOVE!) and start creating. What else were you born to do? And NEVER forget:


Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Albert Einstein

 

In La’kech

Darren

Wouldn't it be brilliant this weekend if nobody showed up to protest? If all them 'peace officers' fitted with their gamut of 'peace-making tools' (their 'peace-making' shields-tasers-batons-and let's not forget them 'peace-making' super-sonic gazoos) were left standing around with nothing to do but bask perhaps in the glorious sunshine of a luminous summer day? What if there was no riot for the riot-police? What if there was another, better, funner and more creative, effective way to protest? What if we left that old world of patriarchal-capitalist-hegemonic-materialist-military-industrial complex behind by not cooperating in the reason for $1 billion dollars (from who knows who!) for 'security'?

It would make the $1 billion spent on security seem disastrously ABSURD!!! I can see the gleaming, gleeful headlines parading the newstands:

$1 billion+ Goes To Complete Waste As Would-Be Protesters Decide to Protest in New Ways!

Security? Can You Say Over-Reaction?

"I'm Bored. Do you know who won in the World Cup today" says young Police Officer

Riot-Police En Masse Caught Napping in Nearby Park

SERIOUSLY: instead of protesting we should gather to share ideas on how to create a new world of integrity, authenticity and beauty, mixing it up with spontaneous song and dance to truly celebrate our humanity and our planet. What use is there anyhow going downtown to confront our would-be leaders when we know the inevitable will occur: we'll be barred access by LEGIONS of antagonistic 'peace officers' with lots of mischievious ways to deter us, zoned off in carefully controlled spaces that will only make us more frustrated, ultimately feeling more angry and deflated, and potentially put in danger by true provocateurs whose anger boils over into violence (giving the riot police occasion to work and perhaps use their super-sonic gazoos) OR there will be provocateurs planted by the police as they did in Quebec some years ago. Ultimately, there's nothing really to gain by it unless you really want to go and rage away and get potentially harmed, as our would-be leaders chuckle behind their armed armada, feeling all the more important and victorious by the droves protesting outside, disabled from actually doing them any harm...

There's lots of great events already converging all over the city where people will be gathering to create and celebrate. I for one am taking part in the beautiful Human Summit on Sunday. I'm also considering heading to Dufferin Grove Park for a day of meditation, music and playing crystal singing bowls. On an aside, know that Saturday the 26th is not only a lunar eclipse but one of the most significant astrological configurations we've seen of late. To be at a protest, feeding our corrupt leaders with our frustrations and anger would be a deft way to distract us from absorbing this amazing celestial imprint. In fact, many astrologers and other well-meaning thinkers are advising that the 26th is a great day to be spent at home or with friends, absorbing the beautiful energy from the skies. Something to chew on!

I hope you consider my sentiments, brothers and sisters! Feel free to add your thoughts and feelings as well! Let us come together in these disturbing and wondrous times to create the world we've always dreamed of! Let us stand in our power and remember what we really are!!!

BIG LOVE
Darren

***FINAL NOTE: a great way to raise one's energy this summer is by experiencing The Chemical Brothers EPIC New LP, Further. Listen to a clip below!***
HAPPY SOLSTICE!!!