The Frog Who Came Home

A large green bullfrog has been sitting by the side of a small pond (no more than 3 ft. in diameter) by the front entrance of the Light Omega Center for three days now. He does not move, but he has communicated with me in a very simple way when I asked him what he is doing there and what he needs. He told me that he is attracted to the water - both to the sound of the waterfall (operated by a pump), and to the water itself which creates the remembrance in him of 'home'.

I wondered why he had found his way to such an isolated place without other wildlife or frogs for this remembrance, and asked him if he wanted to be moved elsewhere, but his answer was ambivalent - mostly, he was content to just be.

Later on, I had the impression that he had come there to die. When I asked him about this he said: it may be so.

The frog sits in an absolutely still, meditative pose all day. It seems that the energy here as well as the feeling and smell of the water is creating in him a sense of home and I am content to just leave him there.

There is a heightened spiritual consciousness operating in certain animals that sets them apart from the rest of the species, making them more aware, more sensitive. This, I perceive to be the case with this frog.

As I was thinking of writing about this, I came across a very simple and clear article about animal communication. What may seem very complex or mysterious is explained here in the language of life.

Additional Note: It was necessary to drain and refill the little pond with fresh water in the last two days and the frog disappeared for a day while we did it. Today he is back again and I asked him again how he is and whether he wanted to be moved elsewhere. The frog answered clearly this time, that this was now his home and he was content to just be there. He also thanked me several times for my concern for his wellbeing. A sweet reminder of the appreciation of other life forms for the offering of acknowledgment.

The Man Who Loved Snakes

I met a man recently who loved snakes. This was discovered during the few minutes I spent with him while he fixed our computer. He had one snake tattooed on his left forearm in black with little wiggles on either side indicating serpentine movement, and another larger snake in green tattooed on his right shoulder, coiled around a large red heart indicating love. He shared these tattoos with me in pauses between fixing the computer.

I asked him what he loved about snakes and he told me: their territoriality, their ability to defend their own, their protectiveness.

This was a gentle man, a sweet-hearted man, the kind you might immediately want to hug if it could be done without embarrassing him. You would want to do this because you could feel his good heart. This very gentle man had wrapped himself in snakes because they give him a feeling of power. Somewhere in his past he had become too vulnerable - too unable to protect himself or those he loved. His history was written on his left forearm and his right shoulder.

Identification with qualities of animals is a positive way of creating a goal in life. It creates an image and intention toward embodying that quality. Native peoples have done this for as long as mankind has lived on the Earth. In animals, they found strengths, wisdoms, and capacities that they, too, wanted to have. So it was with this very gentle man. His snakes were protecting a very sensitive and vulnerable heart, and not only his heart but the wellbeing of others whom he loved as well.

I put my hand lightly on his back in a gesture of friendship though I had only just met him. He smiled, and received the touch with warmth and shyness. "You are a very sensitive man," I told him. "I try to be," he said. Shortly after he was on his way.

This was a blessed meeting. A moment in time...

Understanding Sacred Relationships

Sacred relationships are relationships in which the Divine essence of the other and of oneself are acknowledged as real. Such a perspective creates a sense of honoring and respect which replaces the need-states that characterize most karmic relationships.

Within a sacred relationship, there is not the desire to change the other in order to meet one's own needs, but rather the desire to support the other so that they can grow and become who they are meant to be. This 'meant to be' is not a particular path of action or expression on an outer level. Rather, it is the path of complete inner freedom to allow the soul-essence to take charge of life and to direct life's decisions and movements.

In order for a sacred relationship to develop and to flourish, one must have the willingness to allow another to be real. This may seem like a simple idea but for many it is difficult to do. One hardly ever sees the reality of another person. This is because need-states and their associated fears are so strong in most people that they color perception, preventing one from seeing reality. Instead, one sees only a portion of reality, thinking it to be the whole. This limitation creates many distortions.

To let another be real one must be willing to see them with the eyes of love. Such love rejoices in the inner being of another, not for what it can do for oneself but because it is intrinsically beautiful and sacred. Witnessing the inner beauty and sanctity of another is the basis for all sacred relationships.

How can this state of perception be arrived at? The primary ingredient is to not have one's sense of identity or wholeness dependent upon others, but rather to allow and encourage it to exist within the firm foundation of self.

When the self can know who it is beyond anyone else's definition, that is, when the self can become real enough in its core identity to feel solid and enduring, then others can become more real as well.

The world is moving away from karmic relationships toward sacred relationships. As each one moves into greater degrees of wholeness within themselves through a reconnection with their Divine identity, the limitations of the past will become more and more of a memory, and the openness of an infinite future more and more of a realized possibility.


See also: Sacred Relationships Titles
Artwork by Daniel B. Holeman

Art, Spirituality, and Life

    Which one is this: art, spirit, or life?
- the Divine within the ordinary -    

   Or this?   
We tend to think of art, spirituality, and life as three separate domains, with rules and constructs that govern each. Yet, these three are only divided when we look at them from the outside in, in terms of the content they represent and the forms they display. When we look at the outer form of a work of art, the outer practice or name of a spiritual path, or the outer shape of a life, we imagine that we are having three different conversations about three different things.

This is only a matter of perspective, however. For when we look not at form but at the inner process by which each comes into being, we find that art, spirituality, and life all come from the same source. They are all avenues of exploration and expression that seek channels from the inner to the outer, from the invisible to the visible, and from the un-named to the named.

In the truest sense, we are all artists and we are all mystics. Our art emanates from the desire to express our deepest being as it arises into awareness in a steady flow of consciousness. Our life and our spirituality emanate as part of the same process.

Each person who discovers this source within themselves has something to say, something to create in the way of art, and something to share and live by as a spiritual principle. There is no one who is poor in this respect. All are complete at the level of inner being. Only the links to access this level need to be forged anew so that the well of life, spirit, and creativity can be born and find its home within time and space.

Those who feel that they are not 'artistic' are emphasizing the form aspect of creativity rather than the process aspect. Yet, the form aspect is the less important of the two, for it can be learned, unlearned, adapted, or let go of altogether in favor of the creation of a new form. The process, on the other hand, is given. It is a deep flow that comes from the inner being that pushes its way forward with the desire to express the beauty and truth that each self carries. Even when the outer self believes that only others carry this sense of beauty, this is never true. Each created being comes from the source of beauty, and therefore each has something uniquely beautiful to share.

Life, too, can become a work of art, and each gesture within life an expression of the impulse to create, a witness to the Divine. This is the highest form of art, not only to contain Creation within a vessel that has a name, and a place, and a time of construction or authorship. The highest form is to fully send the creative impulse from deep within the self into one's life, allowing it to shape, and create, and expand endlessly as the fulfillment of the prophecy of who one is.


Photos: Claude Renault - Women and Saris.

Spices - Kolkata - West Bengal

Choosing Life

This is the moment in time in which all can become new, not from the outside in but from the inside out.

Each moment is a choice made from the eye of the perceiver - how do you hold your life? How do you hold your relationship with God? How do you hold the others who pass by you throughout the day?

These are the choices to make daily, within each moment, within each breath, with the flow of each thought. Let the atoms of your being know that you choose life and love.

Inspiration

Inspiration opens the doors of perception so that truths that were not formerly accessible to the inner knowing suddenly become accessible. Inspiration is like a doorway in the mind that suddenly opens to reveal a room that one did not know was there. In this room are often the deeper truths remembered by the soul that are temporarily unavailable to the outer being. Also, within this room are the expansive connections with the world of Essences in which all things can be known. This is the world of Divine knowledge as compared to human, in which profound mysteries can be revealed.

It was in this way that I came to know more deeply than before, something that is profoundly true about the Earth.

In the midst of contemplating the miraculous healing capacity of the body when there is a skin abrasion due to a fall and the body creates a healing scab under which new skin grows, I realized that this miracle of regeneration applies to the Earth as well. Indeed, the Earth has this same healing capacity and can regenerate itself completely - its biosphere, its physical being, its metaphoric 'fingers' and 'toes' if mankind gives it the time, space, and additional light to do so. Then, like a skinned knee, the Earth will rebound and grow anew. It was not that this knowledge was lacking before, but as the light of God's mind took hold, it became a direct experience of analogy.

May God's wisdom in Creation be eternally blessed, for it has fashioned all things in harmony and balance within themselves. This is the untapped potential and wholeness of life, waiting to be revealed.

What is Synchronicity?

Synchronicity - the unexpected merging of two separate events that are emotionally and/or vibrationally connected with each other that come together in outer or inner reality. These events are brought about by vibrational affinity, not through one's own will.

Synchronicity can relate to people who appear suddenly just after one has thought about them; the answer to a problem one is trying to solve coming into view through some external analogy that discloses the solution; sounds, sights, words, or phrases that one hears on the radio or elsewhere that correspond to one's inner process of reflection; meeting long unseen friends by 'chance', etc.

Synchronicity is an outer manifestation of inner connection, demonstrating the relationship between all things that are part of each other in an interactive network of 'flow'. This network brings things together at meaningful times and allows the Divine plan to unfold according to its own purposes.

In a deep sense, all of life is based on synchronicity, since we are at all times emitting energetic impulses without the conscious self being aware of it, and these energetic impulses find their way into the spiritual matrix of which we are a part, drawing to us those people, places, things, and events that will interact most fully with the energy we are sending forth. Viewed in this light, all of life is 'synchronized' with our readiness to experience.

When things one hopes for do not appear, or when thoughts one deliberately sends forth do not produce the anticipated result, this does not mean that the energetic principle of synchronicity is failing. Always, this principle draws together what is meant to be together. However, we are not always aware of the other frequencies on which we are sending forth impulses into the world. Like a radio with multiple frequency bands, we may have conscious thoughts broadcasting on one band, and a wide variety of unconscious, preconscious, and superconscious thoughts broadcasting on others. Self-awareness and clarity of focus narrows the range of bands upon which one is unconsciously shaping the world.

The great mystery and beauty of life lies in this: that life's unfoldment is exquisitely geared to our readiness to receive it. For better or worse, we are the co-creators of the great Mystery that represents the shape of our life.

Speaking to Trees - 2

 
There is a wooded area beside the house called 'The Grove' with large hemlock trees that stand in a perfect circle, creating a sacred space of silence and beauty.

I cleared out some of the undergrowth at the edge of this 'Grove' last week, removing small evergreens that grew where the shade and sunlight met.

Some of these were still so young that you could push them over with one finger. Others were a little more sturdy. In each case I asked permission to remove the young tree, and in each case the tree responded. Most said: "Yes, you may take me, for I will grow again elsewhere." This is what I had become accustomed to in the life of the forest. But there were three little saplings that stood like skinny fingers next to each other. They did not have many branches or look particularly lovely. Yet each of these three told me: "No, you must leave me here." This was surprising because of their unimpressive appearance, and yet I respected their wishes and left them alone. I believe that despite their outer appearance, they played an important part in the maintenance of the root system in that area of the woods.

With the undergrowth somewhat cleared, the large, beautiful hemlocks could now be seen in their grandeur from within the house - old residents of the forest floor, elders of the Earth.


See also: Speaking to Trees

Timelessness in Time - 2

No plans, no agendas, no fears, no intentions.
All is quietly expectant, waiting for the next moment to unfold.

Being part of the flow of the timeless within time,
God's presence breathes what is into existence.

Timelessness in Time

When you pour water into water,
which water is the one that was poured,
and which is the one that was poured into?

So it is with time and timelessness.
Both are there together,
inseparable,
each becoming the other.

A Garden for all People

Many people who create beautiful flower gardens like to look at them from their windows, or walk beside them down a narrow path concealed from onlookers. In the comfort of a private space, the smell of roses or jasmine can be drunk in slowly and deeply, and the beauty of color can be surveyed to the heart's content.

How touching it was then, to see as I walked by slowly, a garden of flowers that faced not toward the house of its creator from which it now could not be seen, but toward the street where passersby could view it and slow their cars slightly to enjoy it as they drove by. One might not think anything at all of such a gesture, except that someone who lived in the house behind the garden cared more about sharing it than 'having' it. More about bestowing it as a gift than owning it for themselves.

These tender gestures are everywhere if one looks for them. They are the unannounced sparks of generosity that touch the heart and must never be taken for granted. Someone, somewhere, cared for beauty and wanted to share it more than to possess it. That is a statement around which a life can be built, no less than a flower garden.

Speaking to the Animals

We walked slowly around the property, Malcolm chanting an ancient Native American song that had traveled with him from another lifetime. This song created sounds of joy and sacredness from deep within his throat and heart. He gave these to the Earth and to all creatures. We had not decided on this simple ceremony in advance, but felt it as an expression of the heart to ask the bear that had taken apart the bird feeders a month ago to respect the sacred boundary we were creating and to invite it to partake of the spiritual nourishment that is present, here, in this holy place. Malcolm was not speaking just to the bear but to all creatures, sharing his desire to live in harmony with them.

Yo-oh-hey-yo. Hey-ey-yo-yo.... he sang.

We wound our way around the bird feeders several times and around the edge of the opening in the trees that surround the house.

Yo-oh-hey-yo. Hey-ey-yo-yo....

A dog next door, hearing the chant, started barking very loudly and with a desire to communicate. His owner apologized, saying he was not usually like that. We offered a specific blessing for the dog, who was being affected by our ceremony.

Coming back to where we began, we touched the Earth in reverence and gratitude, fingers pointed downward. Having blessed the Earth, our small ceremony was complete.


See: Visit From a Bear
Eagle's Cry - Native American Flute - John De Boer