The Creative Impulses of the Soul

As light increases on the Earth, the creative impulses of the soul become stronger and the desire to express what is most true and most deeply held begins to feel more urgent. Being aware of these deepening motivations allows a choice to be made. One can stay with the more tightly bound habits of the past, or one can embrace the expansion and motivation to expand and be willing to risk moving into a new and unforeseen future.

No matter which choice is made, the pressure to integrate more fully with one's own soul identity is part of the time we are in. It is not an individual phenomenon but a planetary one. Despite the changes that this is bringing and will bring to relationships everywhere, it will also allow life individually and collectively to become more truthful, more caring, and more real.

Interacting With Others as Souls

The world is still greatly in need of healing, and one of the areas in which this is evident is the way in which work often dehumanizes people, casting them into narrow roles where they are compelled to separate themselves from their heart.

The next time you are involved in a difficult conversation with someone in a role - a salesperson, customer service representative, technical support person, consider this: each is a soul, and every person, if they really could choose, would choose to live with their hearts intact and not separate themselves from what is most important. Our current view of work and of relationships in general creates this separation. It is important to try, therefore, to get past this obstacle and to wish for others what they would wish for themselves - the possibility of living and working as a whole being with a whole heart.

In interacting with others, even when they are identified with their roles, see if you can still remain in your own heart. The practice of compassion will take you out of whatever role you are in and center you in a wider sphere of truth.

The Choice for Consciousness

The refinement and growth of conscious awareness is part of spiritual evolution. It is what enables greater freedom to take place within the individual and within one's life.

And yet many are reluctant to become more conscious, partly out of fear, and partly because it seems like work. The truth is that there is no other work that one takes embodiment for except to become more conscious. Despite the great variety of human experience and the variability of cultures, societies, and historical epochs, each human being, at whatever point they are at in their journey, is here to become more conscious.

If you are afraid, then, to learn more about yourself, or think there is nothing more to learn, perhaps it is time to look more deeply at your fear in that particular area, since all of light and love are here to support you. New doors are opening within you to think, feel, and love with greater freedom. It may be time to embrace these opportunities which will bring you to your own Divine self. Blessings.

The Practice of Respect

Respect, like many other spiritual practices, is something that can be experienced at deeper and deeper levels. Most people practice respect according to the norms of their culture and society, learning ways of speaking and acting toward elders, those in authority, friends, colleagues, etc. This is the simple encoding or conditioning of behavior through collective agreement and it is an important feature of what society teaches in order to maintain itself.

However, respect from a spiritual perspective is deeper than this. It has to do with viewing others outside of their roles as souls and children of God. This kind of respect grows in a natural way as the connection with one's own soul-essence deepens, but along the way there are things that can be done, and ways of perceiving that can be cultivated that foster the development of respect for the soul of others.

1. Allow your world to unify. Look at everyone you meet as a soul whether they are serving you lunch in a restaurant, driving a bus, or speaking rudely to you in passing. Their soul-nature is not dependent on their outer behavior.

2. Become aware of judgments you have concerning the behavior of another. Forgive yourself the judgment and ask for healing of all judgments. In the place of judgment, affirm the Divine soul-nature of the other silently to yourself.

3. Understand that you cannot take something from another that does not belong to you without it diminishing or hurting you at the same time. Many still live in fear about not having what they need, and so 'taking something' rather than asking for it or waiting for it to be given, whether physical or emotional, is a not uncommon practice. When fear diminishes through the incorporation of trust in the Divine, the desire to respect all of life - persons, animals, the Earth, one's own body - is a natural outgrowth. The capacity to wait for life to bring what is needed also follows.

Namaste.

Being Part of the Flow

Many things are changing now within the internal landscape as well as outwardly, and as a result of these shifts, relationships are changing. These changes can be gentle and progressive or sudden and unpredictable. In either case, the important thing is to be able to trust the flow of life, to believe in the future, and to open one's hands to let go of the past.

Letting go of the past in the presence of change requires a secure conviction that one will be alright with an unknown outcome. The sense of 'alright-ness' must therefore lie within the self, rather than be attributed to someone else or something else. This is an important shift that must take place if one is to grow emotionally and spiritually, and also if one is to ride the currents of change that are moving through life.

In the presence of change, one can be part of the flow or resist it. The difference typically has to do with the choice between fear and trust. How much can you trust yourself, trust life, trust God in the presence of the Unknown? This is the area of growth for many, now, and the answer to this question will determine how gracefully you can move through a time of change. All blessings be with you.

Which Reality Do You Choose?

We make the choice to be more conscious or less conscious in each moment of every day. Which reality do you choose?

Often, the response to this question is determined by how much discomfort we are feeling and whether the need to 'get away from it' is more important than the need to become more aware of it, its quality, its source.

Consciousness is a great gift and a great responsibility. The feeling exists within the separated state that certain things cannot be looked at too closely or faced without great danger. Within the increasingly present state of at-one-ment, consciousness becomes more possible since the sense of integration with one's larger identity allows more internal space to see what is actually there.

May all beings be blessed with the space created by light to embrace the self on all levels. Amen.

Being Present to What Is

There is a spiritual currency in use now concerning being in the 'Now', the present moment, without exactly knowing what that means. One of the things it is taken to mean is an acceptance of what IS. However, what IS exists in the eye of the beholder until that beholder begins to see clearly. What IS exists outside the self and inside - one not more than the other. Therefore, in order to be present NOW, one has to engage with reality on all levels.

Acceptance can be superficial or it can be deep and filled with love and compassion. A measure of engagement with the NOW is the degree to which the heart is attuned to its natural state, without defenses and without fear. When this state is present, one is here and open to all experience. This engagement of the heart IS the present moment. It is here for all. It is All. Be willing to open your heart further and you will find it. Blessings.

Listening

Listening is a beautiful thing. To hear what someone else is truly saying to you through words, and gestures, and through what is behind these is a revelation of the soul of another.

Listening is a sacred act that allows others to become beloveds. It is a gesture of the heart and of selflessness which allows the other to be as important to you as you are to yourself. Blessings.

Presentness and Emotions

How can you be present with all and wherever you are, when different reactions are evoked by different people and different circumstances?

To be present, one must be aware, not cloudy, within a clear space, not burdened by inner preoccupations. This, however, is not an either-or condition, but rather one that is achieved in degrees and increments. It can also take place in certain situations and not in others. What is important is to note how present you are and to be aware of what holds you back. It is also important to hold the intention to be present to life as a way of life. Without this, the personal and collective emotional field of energies can sweep you away into whatever is going on in the moment.

A question was asked concerning the stabilization of one's energy field that I spoke of in "New Ways of Relating - Part 2." Here is the response, which also relates to the issue of 'presentness'. To be unaffected by the streams of emotional energy that surround you while being able to respond to others with love is a measure of both presentness and inner stability.

Stabilizing One's Energy Field

New Ways of Relating - Part 2

The karmic 'pull' of energy fields that resonate with each other is what causes the 'triggering' mechanism that is so familiar to people, where something that someone else does creates a reflexive response of discomfort, anger, or withdrawal within oneself. This interweaving of energy fields happens because both persons involved are in need of healing of the same issues, although the manifestation of the issue may occur quite differently in each.

To move beyond karmic relating, it is very important to be able to stabilize your own energy field. To the extent that this becomes possible, you are no longer easily drawn into the interactive energy pattern and can operate independently according to your own positive Divine intention.

Stabilizing of one's energy field is a function of stabilizing light within oneself and stabilizing one's relationship with the Divine. To the extent that you wish to move things to a place of healing in your relationship life, freeing yourself from karmic patterns, it is important to take responsibility for this aspect of being. The Practice of Alignment can help with this, as can other forms of attunement to the higher vibrations of light. Blessings.


See also New Ways of Relating

New Ways of Relating

The emerging consciousness of one's own Divine nature and unity with all of life brings a new paradigm for relationships into being. It is based on the recognition of others as souls, and not merely as personalities.

This is important, for if you hold the consciousness of others as souls, then you are more capable of overlooking difficult behavior that might otherwise hurt or wound you, realizing that that other person is doing the best they can with their own learning and healing process. If you view them as a soul, and stop identifying them with their outer self, you will be silently but effectively offering them an invitation to become more of what you are perceiving and sensing beneath the outer layer.

This invitation to become the inner self is fostered by not reacting with rejection, anger, blame, or judgment to the outer self.

It takes only ONE person to do this - a person who is conscious and who wants to become more so. Blessings.


See New Ways of Relating - Part 2

The Language of Love

There are some people who do well with personal love - intimate one-to-one relationships, and there are others, especially at this time in the unfolding of our collective awareness, who do well with universal love in the abstract, but not so well with the personal.

In reality, the two are eternally connected, both requiring the freeing of the self from whatever obstacles exist to the presence of love and its expression. Many spiritually dedicated people have a desire to enlarge their capacity to love and to love all in the oneness of what is, but the heart's capacity to love begins with one - it begins with taking down the barriers of fear that exist due to inner misrepresentations of what love or intimacy is truly like. Many are afraid to take down these barriers, and here is where the largest growth can take place - in your own willingness to love more where you are, as you are. The love for the Oneness that all of life belongs to will grow out of the heart's capacity to love well, to love freely, and to give itself in full surrender to the experience of loving, no matter whom it is with and no matter what the circumstances.

The universal and the personal are forever intertwined, and one cannot leap over personal difficulties in order to arrive at the larger view. In the intimate details of everything lies the goal itself. Blessings.

The Opening of Intuition

Notice that your awareness may be moving in the direction of greater sensitivity at this time. This is light's gift to you - that you may notice more things. One area in which this frequently takes place is that of relationships. Being able to see the deeper meaning or intent of what someone else is saying or doing happens as greater clarity comes into being. It may be that you can feel the energy behind words or within the body of another. This may not be known to your conscious mind, but your intuition has a mind of its own that operates through the heart and the higher senses.

It is a learning process to develop trust in one's intuition, but an important part of regaining your connection with the other levels of your being. Let your senses and awarenesses open, and see what comes to you. Blessings.

Breathing

Paying attention to one's breath is an important way of coming more fully into the present moment. Many people know this, but do not take the time to do it, often because they are too busy with other things to remember to breathe with awareness.

Breath connects us to life-force and to our inner life. It creates a consciousness of what is going on in the body and hear, not just the mind. It opens us to inner guidance. The reasons for not paying attention to breathing at times throughout the day are simple - we are too involved with what is going on in our minds to do so.

Becoming more fully involved in the present moment is a doorway to new experience that cannot happen while one is fully engaged with the mind. What new experience? This depends upon the flow of awareness that is uniquely the inner journey of each soul.

The experience of the present creates a new view of life - one that does not rely on worrying, planning, and thinking, in order to feel safe. Instead, it relies on trusting, allowing, and participating in the flow of life in order to feel safe. This is an important part of the consciousness shift that is happening now and it can happen more fully for those willing to embrace the present moment with love and care, as if it mattered. Each moment matters. Each is sacred. But to perceive this one must be there with one's full self. This is God's invitation to each soul - to show up at the feast of life.

Overcoming Numbness

Television often saturates the senses so that they become immune to responding emotionally and with humanity to scenes of violence or cruelty.

News media also saturate the senses so that they become immune to hearing or seeing people committing atrocities or being harmed.

In the face of sensory and emotional saturation with the pain of the world, it is easy to become numb, just as it is easy to become numb in the face of one's own deep pain. And yet numbness is not the best solution to this problem for it merely suppresses the pain that one feels temporarily; it does not do away with it.

What is more useful for the world at large and for each individual who is growing is to bear witness to pain with a sense of compassion - with a heart that is larger than the pain itself. By bearing witness with a sense of compassion, by making oneself 'an instrument of peace' to use the expression of Saint Francis - "Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace," the pain can be held within the context of an overriding purpose to help. Even a small amount of bearing witness without becoming numb is often a greater help than one ever knows.

"Make me an instrument of Thy peace and love" opens the heart, allows healing to begin, and sends love into the world. In the presence of conflict, suffering, and pain, it creates the full intentionality to bring healing love to all who suffer or are afraid, including oneself.

Relationships: Love and Truth

The balance needs to be found in relationships between love and truth. All relationships are based on the dimension of depth, and real intimacy, love, or sharing with others cannot take place unless a high degree of truth is part of the relationship.

If you are afraid to be truthful because it will hurt another or cause greater separation, then consider this: that the absence of truth is already creating a separation and limiting what another can share with you and you with them. Souls help each other by encouraging each other to be more real. This is the meaning of "when you set yourself free, you set others free as well." It is why souls come together in the highest sense - to help each other into greater wholeness.

Relationships as Energy

The effect of increased spiritual light on people's bodies, whether they are conscious of it or not, is that the body becomes less solid and dense and more light-filled. As a consequence, human beings become more sensitive to the energies passing through them from their own unconscious mind, as well as energies passing through them from others.

This is a new phenomenon, one that has not been part of human experience before in a widespread way. And so most people do not know what to do with these energetic perceptions or even that they are having them. Since conscious awareness does not mediate responsiveness in many cases, it becomes more likely that individuals will react unconsciously to either the light in another or to the darkness in another, depending upon what they feel and resonate with at a given moment in time.

If you have been feeling certain people becoming more reactive to you in recent times, it may be because they are becoming more energetically sensitive (on the level of the body) without being more energetically aware. Light can join with light in another, but darkness can also react to light's presence with discomfort, projection, or rejection. Darkness can join with darkness in another even when that other is being amiable and not exhibiting it outwardly. This is because the ENERGY within, not the PERSON, is joining with what it perceives inside.

This is a time which calls for greater awareness, greater patience, and greater trust, that these energetic reactions are all part of the process of healing and that all is in motion toward that end. In relation to others who may be less conscious of being in or needing to be in a healing process, patience and forgiveness are needed since the process is happening whether one is aware of it or not.

Try, therefore, not to take things personally when others are reactive to you in ways that may be uncomfortable or different from how they have been in the past. Love is the best and primary healing force in all difficult situations, and it only takes one to love, not two. With this in mind, all relationships can be moved along further in the direction of wholeness and healing. May all be blessed in the light of a new day. JR

Honoring Relationships

   Namaste - I bow to the Divine Self within You

To be present in relationships is to honor them - to carry them with us where we go and to not neglect them as we would not neglect a child of our own, or a person who asked for our help, or the needs of our own bodies when they require restoration to health.

Relationships need watering. They are the beautiful expression of love manifesting between souls, often with the purpose of mutual healing and growth. To be faithful to love is to be faithful to relationships - to see that they are not subordinated to other things in life because we do not have the time or energy to take care of them.

If we do not have the energy or time to take care of that which we love, what do we have time for?

Time, in any case, is not the most important thing that relationships need, even though it may appear so. Consciousness is what is needed. Presentness is needed. A person can be apart from us for a very long period of time and we can feel very close to them because the moments of communication are intimate and true. And others can be around us on a daily basis and we can ignore them and not give them the best of ourselves or the caring that is needed.

As we grow in spiritual awareness, we must grow also in accountability to life, to love, and to relationships - for all of life is a relationship with every living thing, all of the time, for every living thing is part of God.


Photo: Claude Renault - Namaste - Tamil Nadu

House

There is a house I passed by yesterday while driving down a busy road. Its back faced the highway, not more than fifteen feet from the line of cars. Its front was hidden from view except for a rusted trailer top that peeked from behind and a few rubber tires. It isn't possible to know anything about the residents of this house as one drives by, except what the stark gray shingles and the small, square, regulation windows might convey. But behind the house in its hidden private front yard, was life, and I wondered as I drove by - what life is that?

This house set my heart to thinking about its residents, and, by extension, of souls in general who present a face to the world and retain a private world that no one else sees. I frequently wonder as I pass this house, who lives there? Did they choose to live there because the land was cheap, or perhaps handed down to them from another time? Have they made their peace with the sound of traffic and the exhaust of cars? Do they feel that they are at home in their front yard which no one can see? What is this private world that exists only feet from the road.

These questions apply to the world of every soul, for each carries a universe within themselves, each is a universe. Who gets to see this universe in many instances is no one at all. Whether that is a tragic fact or an indifferent one is a matter of individual awareness. Some might not feel that it matters whether they contained an inner universe or not, their attention being directed elsewhere. But there are oh so many souls who are longing to be seen, longing to be met in their interior world.

What is true for the house by the side of the road is often true for the human condition at present. We do what we have to do to present the face that we wish to a busy world - sometimes out of fear, sometimes out of necessity, sometimes out of the belief that nothing else is possible. And yet what world would we live in if people could view our private yards, those hidden from view the way the front side of this house remained concealed. We can only imagine a world without defenses, of greater truth, of greater visibility, of greater love for the inner being. Fear must be removed before this can be possible, and self-love and respect must take its place.

One day, though, allowing oneself to be visible and known will not be as difficult as it is today. For the general tenor of that time will be sharing and the desire to share, rather than the desire or need to conceal out of fear. Then, we shall see the inner world of others, no longer hidden from themselves or behind a facade, but revealed for all to witness and for all to appreciate and be grateful for.

Intellect and Soul

Many people who have been closed are now opening to a deeper sense of life and of themselves. The rational left brain is pondering its own experience and the limitations of that experience and beginning to reach for something else.

Often, what slows down this process and makes it more laborious is the way in which the intellect has been used to protect the self from feeling or knowing certain deeper levels of awareness. This protection has worked well in many cases, since with a well-honed intellect one can operate very successfully in the world - at least outwardly.

And yet the intellect is not the soul. Beneath the rational mind and the outer success is the awareness that something else is missing. Eventually, over time, a reaching for that something else takes place.

Help toward making the shift toward greater feeling, intuition, inspiration, and softeness in general can be had by making efforts in the direction of acknowledging whatever fear may be present toward doing so.

Sometimes, the intellect has done such a good job disguising this fear that it is invisible to the conscious self. Nevertheless, the turning of the soul toward a deeper level of truth will produce the beginning changes that need to happen to open up a different level of awareness. The principle of "ask and it shall be given" is true here, for those who desire to know the truth of their deeper nature will find it.

Planetary Ascension - Comments

The response to the new video has been very deep and extensive, and I am involved with the production of the next videos that will follow. If you have not yet viewed "Planetary Ascension," you can do so at Light Omega's YouTube Channel.

The creative process can become a 'calling' in which the soul flows outward in order to manifest its deepest essence through expression. Each person has such creative potential within themselves, waiting to be discovered. It is a matter of knowing this and trusting this and asking God to open the doors. Blessings and thank you to those who have shared YouTube comments and responses to "Planetary Ascension." .

How to Become More Present in the Present

1. Believe: The most important thing in your life is what is happening right now. 'Right now' includes what is inside you as well as what is outside.

2. Know: God manifests within human experience most readily when the undertow of past memories, thoughts, feelings, and worries are left behind and an empty space is created. The empty space welcomes the Divine.

3. Cultivate simplicity. Being proud to be busy or stressed as a sign of success does not allow for the development of an inner life that flourishes in quiet and in peace.

4. Let go of any belief you carry that you are not responsible if you give time to yourself, time to be alone, time to make contact with the Divine. Your responsibilities to Life include bringing your whole self to it. This is not possible without a deep connection with your own being.

5. Rest. Find a balance between activity and non-activity. Especially now that increased spiritual light is changing your body in ways that you may not be aware of,
rest is needed to reveal the new possiblities that are developing within you.

6. Allow love to be more important than it has been. The transformation of an entire planet is taking place around and because of the vibration of love. Let this be your primary focus.

7. Express gratitude on a daily basis. Gratitude allows you to interact more deeply with life. You can be grateful for each day, and especially for each interaction with others. Each time you show up, a flower opens in God's heart.

Letting Go of Roles

Many people are afraid to let go of roles. Roles create a comfort zone of how to respond to situations, people, and expectations. At the same time, they limit the depth of encounter with life and its possibilities.

Not being in a role is a choice that can be made by each heart. It is a choice one makes in service to life and love, not out of the personal ego. Such a movement places you in unknown territory where your love and desire to connect, embrace, and support others may be met with indifference or fear. It may be misunderstood and turned away from.

Nevertheless, the choice to live beyond roles is a calling of the heart, as deep as any other that God awakens. It only takes one heart to respond to this calling. That heart will seize every opportunity, look for every opening, and experience gratitude for every possibility that steps beyond the limits of the pre-conceived and the stereotyped.

Led by love, this heart will make a deliberate choice to remain open when others are closed, and to remain fearless when others are fearful. It will do this not out of a desire to break down defenses, but out of a desire to uphold, to liberate, and to bring the joy of self-expression and true being to others.

At a certain point in time, the choice to step beyond roles is not even a choice but an inevitability. For the flow of life that is God engages the heart, body, and soul to such a degree that something less than complete presence and complete availability to love's purposes is no longer possible. Then, only love remains, and the myriad ways in which it can come into being.


You may find of interest the video inspired by this post.
Becomimng a Beloved - Letting Go of Roles

Currents of Life

Seeing with new eyes, it is possible to see and feel currents of Divine life moving through the ordinary.

This is especially true in relation to other souls, where the unique expression of the higher being is more often peeking through the ordinary and conventional layer of expression.

As a witness to this, it is possible to aid, enhance, support, and love that greater expression, often both concealed and revealed behind the content of ordinary words. It can be known by the feeling it stirs in your heart.

Be on the lookout for currents of life moving. If you hold as part of your work the support of all beings, everywhere, then you will notice, more and more, what you can do to help.

The Revelation of Truth

God speaks in a whisper to our open
hearts and minds,
making known the truth of the soul.
We learn about ourselves in this way and
also about others.

Intuitions of truth fall like rain into
a silent space.
And even if the mind is not silent,
the message of the Divine can find its way
between the words of whatever thoughts are
taking place.

This phenomenon of inner communication
is an intimate encounter with the Beloved,
bringing us toward what we are meant to hear,
or know, or be.

In trust, the gentle message falls into an
accepting space. There, it blossoms and grows,
nurturing new life both for ourselves
and for the world.

Spiritual Anchoring

  Mandala of the Inner Life

From: Beginning a Spiritual Practice,
www.lightomega.org
It is hard to be fully present with oneself or with others when one is, at the same time, avoiding feelings of pain. Often, the heart shuts down so as to not feel at all, when anticipated feeling threatens to create a tidal wave that one fears will innundate.

At a time of heightened intensity everywhere, one must anchor in heightened love that resides in the core of the self. No one is without this resource. There is only greater or lesser difficulty in experiencing it. The importance of spiritual anchoring at this time is that it teached that emotions are not the bottom line of one's identity. That emotions are real, but that there is something even more real that can be discovered. This enduring core of truth remains, no matter what the emotional self may be feeling.

This, beloveds, is the profound turning point in human consciousness that we are at today, namely, the awareness that emotions are not who we are but only a layer of who we are, and that there is something of God to be turned to within each one that can stabilize, uplift, inform, and create the means for dealing with whatever challenges life presents.

May it be so for all. Amen.

The Open Door Moment

The 'open door moment' is a moment of interactive possibility with another person or situation where an invitation is present to allow healing or love to go to a deeper level. The perception of possibility must be gained through intuition, since the outer self of another may not themselves recognize the new possibility emerging. Prayerfulness in general and in particular about allowing oneself to become an instrument of healing awakens intuition toward these moments. However, they also require the putting aside of personal needs and fears so that a true perception of what exists for the other can take place.

The world of possibility and of new life exists all around us in nature, within ourselves, and in relationship with others. To recognize new life emerging one must pay close attention. Then, the choice is present to align with that new life through some form of expression, or to close down around it due to fear or self-doubt. At times one's response can involve both opening and closing simultaneously. Then trust must be strengthened so that only the response of openness remains.

Trust yourself and your prayers. Trust God and the soul within all that is always seeking a way to come forward. Trust your inner wisdom to know if the moment is now.

Standing at the Threshold

    Standing at the Threshold

Two Days of Silence

There are, within each life, moments of deepening awareness, moments of recognizing a more profound sense of one's inner being than normally occurs. These are the moments of contact with one's center - the place within which the deepest identity resides, the place that gives ultimate meaning to one's life. In these moments of greater awareness one doesn't need to pursue a spiritual life. It is already there. And each person has within themselves the point of access, the inner map that leads to that place of deepening.

It is with this in mind that I listened to a radio interview with a woman who had just written a book on the virtue of silence. This woman was not a practicing Buddhist or a practicing anything that had a spiritual name. Rather, she was one who, for sixteen years, had found the merit of setting aside two days each month in which to be completely silent.

Her journey was not spectacular or glamorous. It did not produce spiritual fireworks in any of the ways we typically speak of these. Yet, it fulfilled the quest of her heart and soul to find a point of greater contact with herself, a point of deeper truth. In the stillness, she found herself to be more and more at home. And even though after each day of silence she went back to fully and actively participating in the verbal affairs of life, her two days of silence per month had a profound effect on the rest of her days.

Each embodied soul has, at their disposal, similar choices that can be made. Each can make a choice for solitude, a choice for going within, a choice for establishing contact with inner truth. The world is now ready to discuss the value of such things on mainstream radio broadcasts. It is ready to think about the meaning and value of an inner life. Yet, it is up to each one to find that value within themselves. Such a value defies the temptation to feel one is "too busy." "Too busy" may be a standard for activity for many, it may even be commponplace. But it cannot be a standard for life. For life asks of us something different than activity. It asks us to engage in a relationship of the heart, one in which we involve ourselves with the meaning of each moment - one in which we engage in a dance with both the Giver and the Gift.

Understanding Others

Understanding others does not depend upon having had an identical experience to what another is feeling, nor does it depend upon a course of study that develops conceptual knowledge, though each of these can contribute to understanding.

More than anything else, understanding others comes from living in a clear space where one's own needs, fears, and concerns no longer obscure truth. For the reality of what is shines with a light of its own when it is not covered over by darkness. Then, the truth of another can emerge clearly, be seen, felt, and appreciated.

It is in this way that peace in the world can be born - not through each seeking their own advantage and finding a fragile compromise that may or may not work for a time, but by each developing the capacity to come together in a clear space, in trust, and in the willingness to pursue truth.

Voices of Hope

  VOICES OF HOPE

When peace flows like a river
then I will be at peace.
When love flows till forever,
My heart will find its ease.
When truth is everpresent,
and falsehood no longer preys,
My heart will know the Earth has found
its home in God's embrace.


Artwork: Peace Mandala by Corinna Zubin-Lyon

How to Have a Conversation - Listening in a Clear Space

A real conversation takes place in a clear space without expectations or projections. This is difficult to do for most people, since fear and need-states occupy a prominent part of what we accept as the basis for speaking with others.

To hear clearly, one must be willing to hear and not afraid to hear. Then, only truth will emerge.

To speak clearly, one must be able to remain connected with one's center and the center of feeling that lies in the heart. Then it will be possible to know what to say.

Listening with openness and without projection is an act of love. It invites reciprocity. It nourishes innocence. It allows Divine love to infuse the conversation. Then, all can emerge that love makes possible.


See the earlier articles on 'How to Have a Conversation':

How to have a Conversation
Being Vulnerable
Letting Go of Defenses

The Art of Life or Life as Art

When we speak of 'art' as a subject, we tend to solidify it so that we call to mind things that have been made like paintings, sculptures, pieces of music or other forms. This is a content or 'outcome' approach to art that does not address the deeper level of the creative process.

The creative process of art and the creative process of life are the same. They emerge from the same flow and originate at the same Source. They both have as their motive the need to express the essential self. Art-as-process in its most fundamental sense is a Divinely ordained process - the inner being or soul wanting to express on the physical plane. Here, the question is not whether one has talent or what the ultimate form will be that gives shape to that expression, but what the inner drive or longing is to communicate what needs to be said. This will-to-express can take any form or no form. It is the drive of the inner being that creates beauty, that creates relationships that are loving and that creates the shape of a life itself.

We need to find a new language in which to speak of this so that art and life no longer seem so separate. Thinking of both as emanating from the inner wellspring that wants to live fully helps our understanding. Both art and life are expressions of our will-to-live, and not only our will-to-live, but God's will to live and to express through us.

More about this subject can be discovered by ordering the CD called "Art, Spirituality, and the Choice to Live," a Dharma talk given by Julie Redstone recently. For inquiries contact information @lightomega.org.

Letting Go

You may be afraid to let go of something because you fear nothing will come to take its place.

You may be afraid because you've been holding on for so long that you've forgotten how to let go.

You may be afraid to let go because the one who has been holding on is who you have been, and who will you be if you're not that?

All questions about letting go have to do with fear.

All answers have to do with love and trust.

The Unknown is not empty. It is a vibrant, alive, full Unknown, filled with love that comes from God and is God.

Instead of picturing an empty space where something was, picture a space that is alive and pulsating. Now, it is covered with a veil. When you enter it, the veil will be lifted.

Then, a new empty space will be created as you continue to move into the future.

This is the path of new creation. It is how one becomes free. It is how humanity will learn to flow with the Divine movement of life.

A Frog Named 'Peace'

The frog that came to live with us late in June has remained in and around the small pond right beside the front entrance of Light Omega. His name is 'Peace' and he sometimes sits all day on the bank of the little pond, staring at the water cascading down the vertical rocks. The pump is now active on most days and he can sit like this for hours without moving, watching, listening, being.

Today I asked him if he had anything to say to me and he responded by saying that he felt well taken care of. In addition to the loving attention he receives from those who enjoy his presence here, the addition of lily pads to the pond I think has made him quite happy. Peace-frog has become the inspiration of a song, of postings, and of those gentle movements of the heart that are part of the innocence that each soul carries. His being here as a representative of the animal kingdom is most precious, as he carries the light within his being to all with whom he is connected: to his species, to other animals, and to the Earth itself.


See: The Frog Who Came Home

Painting the Canvas of Life

Peacock Feather Close-up

Art, Spirituality, and Life - 2

* * *
Each person has something they know, something they love, and something they can make or say. Here is the essence of art: not content but process; not talent but vision; not form but emergence.

In this way does one reach the source of art and life together. Not as a 'doing' but as an aspect of 'being'. Out of this 'being' arise both art and life as the graceful flowering of the soul.

* * *

See also: Art, Spirituality, and Life

The Center

Love calls us to be present
out of the depths of ourselves.
No matter where we have been,
it beckons us from the world of worry,
doubt, and brooding
into the world of the Beloved.

It asks us to be faithful to it
through all trials and tribulations,
to give the best of ourselves to love
for love's sake,
for life's sake,
and because it is more real
than all that is not love.

Dance of the Saris

Photo: Claude Renault: Saris. Prayag. Uttar Pradesh.

Reaching for the New

Imagine reaching toward something in front of you with one arm, stretching, stretching, stretching as far as you can go... while the other arm is holding on to something with equal force behind you. Clearly, there would be a serious limit to how far the reaching could extend, even if you were reaching toward something that was very desireable.

Opening to something new is like that. It involves reaching with one arm and letting go with the other. Holding on to what is behind you prevents the new from emerging. Therefore, no matter how much one desires a goal that the mind or heart may choose, the desire must be accompanied by a letting go in order that the new may appear.

Both mind and heart can be made ready to let go to the extent that each becomes rooted in a relationship with God. Then, one does not let go into emptiness or fear, even while the goal has not yet been reached. One lets go into love and trust. One lets go into God.

Making Miracles Possible

There are two avenues of movement that open the door to the miraculous, and both lead to the same end.

There is the path of reaching toward God in any of the many ways that the human heart and soul is capable of reaching. This allows Divine miracles to enter life, even where no conscious relationship with the Divine has existed before.

There is also the path of reaching toward the deepest truth of self. Scrupulous honesty and an unwillingness to blame others can also open the door to the miraculous.

When one reaches toward the deepest truth of self as if extending toward the bottom of a well, one finds at the bottom, always, the space in which love dwells. Yet, before finding that, one may also encounter the feeling of an emptiness in which contact with love's presence seems to be lost. Here the question arises: How do you feel love? How do you express it? How do you diminish it? How do you withold it? In the presence of reaching, once blame toward others has been released and one is solely responsible for the presence or absence of love, in that sacred space the door to the miraculous opens. For the reaching toward love and the reaching toward God are the same reaching. One is to the Source of life without - to the Creator of all. The other is to the Source of life within - the Divine source of love at the center of our being.

Reach in either direction and you will open the door to the miraculous.

What Is Intimacy? - 2

We have lived with different portions of ourselves in compartments, some known to this person, some known to that. Often, there is fear of another knowing each of our compartments, the unhealed as well as the healed. Sometimes there is a forgetting that it is possible to know another without compartments, for this is a matter of a deeper kind of knowing and a matter of trust.

Intimacy lies in this trust and in the transparency of truth - the willingness to see and be seen. Without transparency, one cannot feel 'met'. And yet transparency requires a letting go of defenses, a letting go of protection. This is often hard for people and is why intimacy is in many instances only partly realized.

What is intimacy?

It is the ability to see, to know, and to love. It is also the ability to be seen, to be known, and to be loved, not just at the level of the outer self but at the level of one's deeper being.

True intimacy combines all compartments. It allows the light of love to move through all so that all can be seen, all can be known, and all can be permeated by love. How rare is this gift in today's world - rare because we conceal in order to protect, to feel loved, or to be approved of, not only by others but by ourselves as well. To be transparent, one must be willilng to see oneself.

As light increases and affects humanity's consciousness, intimacy will become more possible for protection will no longer be needed. The revealing power of light will awaken unused and new ways of knowing and of sensing. The unifying power of light will create a new capacity for openness. One day there will be nothing to hide and no where to hide it. All will be viewed in the light of unity and love.

What is the light of unity?

It is the knowledge that I am part of you and you of me. Therefore, there is nothing that you are that can cause me to reject you, for how can I reject part of myself? There may be things that are in need of changing or healing, but these are things that can be held in the light of love.

When the light of unity is part of human experience, intimacy will grow as the natural form of self-expression. Then, many will experience being 'met' with many others, for these will be spiritual meetings of a deep kind. The truest meeting, however, brought about by advancing light, will not just be with others, but with oneself and with God. This will become the new foundation for intimacy, and it will affect all relationships and all ways of being.

May the light of unity bless all beings everywhere. Amen.


See also: What is Intimacy?

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

Living in Timelessness

There is the timelessness of the eternal Moment which is the coexistence of all things, places, and possibilities narrowed to a single point.

And there is the timelessness of living without a personal past - relating to life's flow in the present as that which is most real.

The first penetrates the fabric of time, creating the experience of the Eternal as a living reality.

The second penetrates the illusion of a personal self shaped by history and bound to it.

To live timelessly in time is a gift to the experiencing self and to humanity as well, for it embodies the sacred within human form. It does not do away with relationship or connection with others, but rather enfolds these in the ultimate perspective of Divine Love. It does not do away with the self as a point of consciousness, but rather transforms this into part of the Oneness.

Timelessness and time are not opposites but two parts of the same thing. Time is the vessel. The timeless is what is poured into it.

Water

I sat beside the reservoir today and listened to the gentle waves lapping against the shore. There was scarcely a breeze, but the waves came anyway, one after another, in the arms of the slight wind that blew.

As I watched, I felt the life of water - not just this water, but all water, and the remarkable gift of it. Before there was water there was the idea of water in the Mind of God - the idea of a substance that would represent fluidity - indeed, that would teach fluidity to emerging consciousness. I felt in this the entire thrust of Creation, manifesting those ideas that would give meaning and structure to physical existence.

Human beings often view nature as a thing, composed of physical objects, landscapes, and elements. But before it became a thing, it was part of a Divine movement - the light that moved over the face of the deep - the 'Lila' that is the Divine play of God.

All of this spoke to me in the waves lapping on the shore. Nothing is accidental, they said. All is holy.

Hunger for Spirit

Each soul comes into life with certain things of the spirit that they hunger for. These things may not conform to the outer shape of any particular religion or spiritual discipline. Yet, the heart knows what it waits for as the gift of life and of spirit.

Whether love, friendship, or entrance into the great Mystery, the heart's goals are essentially spiritual for they represent an ideal of ultimate value that the soul strives to realize in life. Such an aspiration, no matter how it is framed by the mind, derives from the source of all ideals which is God.

Whithin God, all ideals come together as One which is why the experience of that One is bliss or Nirvana. Nirvana is the experience of the oneness of all ideals within the single Source that they emanate from.

In human experience this is quite different. Here, ideals can be aspired to with partial commitment or with a full heart, and one ideal can seem to conflict with another. In the place of ultimate truth, however, each pure ideal exists in harmony with all others as the many faces of the exalted Divine.

What is Intimacy?

  Do you feel the wind..?
Do you feel the light within..?
Let me help you to see..
Take my hand and dance with me...
-----------------
It is a lifelong journey to discover what intimacy truly is, and beyond a single lifetime, it is also the journey of the soul through time. For the soul is continually learning about the nature of love, until it merges with the universal which is the perfection of limitless love.

Within the human sphere and beyond, intimacy has to do with the way of feeling 'met' and of 'meeting' others. It relates not only to one's partner or spouse, but to all beings with whom one is in relationship, both human and non-human. Intimacy asks us to be fully present to the sacred nature of our relationship with them, to see and to know them in the fullness of who they are. The greatest intimacy is between God and the inner being or self. Within this intimacy, one feels fully known and knowing, fully loved and loving. In a word - completely 'met.'

Meeting others can also become a spiritual practice - a call to bring the fullest measure of attention, openness, listening, and honoring to the occasion of meeting another. The great beauty and potential of relationship lies in this meeting between the depth of another and the depth of our own self. Those moments of meeting often mark the highpoints of an entire life.


Photo and Poem: Festblues ~ Nina