The True Seat of Consciousness

(Alex Grey artwork)

I was recently asked -  what is going on in the world? What is happening to people that they seem so out of control and negative? Why are they so unhappy?

The question can be answered with one word - fear. People feel the changes happening in our world and without understanding what those changes might mean, they become fearful that it will mean loss. Loss of everything they have held dear - a way of life, job, house, car, money, security, health.

Their fear is not unfounded. Many people are facing loss. So how do we step outside of fear of loss? After all, everyone will experience it at some point.

I believe the only way to step back from fear is to learn to live from the heart, side stepping the mind - which is where fear lives, learning to live from the true seat of consciousness, which is the heart. (Remember - we grow out of a heart, not a brain.) This is not the sentimental heart in which we are familiar - soft, weak, reactive, feminine, sympathetic, needful. On the contrary, the heart of which I am speaking is empowered by the Creator. It is the vibrational point of equality, the original awareness - the place where individuality and Oneness occurs. It possesses uncommon intelligence, resilience, with the ability to flow and adapt. It is empowered, and is capable of unending compassion and love. This distinction is important.

So how do we access this heart?

First, we must have behavioral intelligence.

The first step is to have humility. Recognizing that we are no better or higher than any other human being. We were all created equal, and in that realization, everything changes.

Learn appreciation. Appreciation begins with recognizing the small things in life that make it full and abundant. That doesn't mean money or prestige, but appreciation of clean water, food, the air we breathe or the birds singing in the tree. It is the recognition of life itself. It is being mindful. Contentment with the mundane.

Practice compassion. Most of us are doing the best we can, although it doesn't always seem so. The best way to avoid being judgemental is to bless the person, place, or thing. It shifts the mind from negative to positive, and keeps you heart-centered.

Forgiveness and Understanding. Sometimes easier said than done. These two take practice. But when we learn to put ourselves in other people's shoes, we get a better understanding of where they may be coming from - which makes it easier to forgive.

And last but not least, we must be valiant in our efforts to do the right thing. Asking ourselves if it is the right thing to do - not always the easiest, or most gratifying, but the right thing can lead to the heart of a lion. Strong and fearless.


(Adapted from James the Wingmaker teachings. For more information go here.)

Orangutans, Turtles & PayPal

I watched a Nightline segment that was bitter/sweet the other night regarding a sanctuary for baby elephants. Since I seem obsessed with elephants lately, (I wonder what that is all about), I found myself churning the video of a baby elephant not wanting to leave its dying mother, who was shot and robbed of her tusks. The baby was adopted by this woman (another woman!), and her foundation that has adopted over 130 baby elephants that have been orphaned - many by poachers looking for ivory to feed Asian markets. I was awake for hours. Despite trying to avoid news segments, these stories seem to creep in, affecting me even more deeply than ever before. My way of dealing with this issue is to shine a light on this wonderful woman's work.

I have also been using my PayPal account to send funds in every which direction. I'm going to be in trouble when the bill comes, but the baby Orangutans were in dire straits, and it seemed so much easier to just have the money come out once a month for the turtles through Oceana.

I also find that anything that draws a big reaction emotionally from me seems to pop up everywhere! As with these elephant stories, they seem to find me no matter how hard I try to hide from them. There were three last week alone. I will be scrolling along, minding my own business, reading dumb stories on Huff Post and bam! A story designed to rip everyone's heart out. Naturally I have to read it - for some reason I feel compelled to read every painful story, as if I am not giving the respect due if I don't take it in and make myself feel bad.

But that is not the gist of this post. I think we are all being inundated with negative images, thoughts, and fears. I am not alone in feeling bombarded, I'm sure. So, it's time to talk about ways to feel more centered, to feel joy in the moment, and hope for the future. With that in mind, I would like to ask YOU - what do you do to stay in the moment? What brings you joy?

And by the way, is there an issue that has you obsessed? If so, why do you think that is?

Is Crises a Catalyst?

I've been doing some thinking about crises. We certainly have had a few over the last couple ofyears.

The way I see it, there cannot be change or evolution, without crises. We simply would be too happy doing what we have always done. Unfortunately for us, what we have always done is no longer sustainable and being the magnificent creatures we are, we'll now find ways to get ourselves out of the messes we've created by being unconscious to other life forms and our planet.

We need a certain amount of fear to get us going. Otherwise we sit fat and happy, doing the same things day after day, complacent in our ignorance.

At no other time in history, however, have we had the ability to connect with each other as we do now. This ability to synthesize, utilizing the brilliance of each person's natural gifts, will bring us to a new frontier.

No where is this more telling than the nuclear catastrophe unfolding in Japan. The technology is antiquated and built in a dangerous location. The thinking behind nuclear energy by the Japanese people, however, is right on. Their desire to free themselves from fossil fuel addiction is very forward thinking. It is the technology that needs to be modernized. The plants were built in the 1970's and are no longer considered safe - especially with spent fuel rods stored at the top of the building - a relic by today's standards. But maybe we need an entirely new technology - maybe we need something clean and safe. Maybe it is time for our best and brightest to work at solving the world's problems and not head off to Wall Street to make oodles of money, actually bringing our world to the brink of economic disaster with their financial machinations for more, more, more.

Would any of this happen without the crises we've faced? I don't think so. We would all still be thinking that buying stuff equates happiness. We need to get the stuffing scared out of us to move forward. And I believe we will now go in that direction. It is time for humanity to move into a new evolutionary stage.

Crises can be a catalyst for change. An opportunity to work together to solve the issues of our time, as it brings home the notion that we are interconnected in ways unimaginable just a few years ago. 

Emotions - Part III - Fear

Moving on from anger, lets look at another issue of our time - fear. Just as a reminder, I'm using Gill Edward's Stepping Into the Magic as a basis for this series. I think the combination of being a working clinical psychologist, with one foot in science and the other in spirituality, makes for a well-rounded look at emotions and their effect on our lives.

FEAR
I could write a chapter on fear, but for the sake of keeping it brief, I just want to remind everyone that fear is a good thing. It keeps us moving when we need to move, it keeps us safe from taking dangerous risk, and prepares us for action. Without it we would not have evolved. Research shows that we actually do better when moderately anxious - fear and excitement hone our instincts. Whenever we face growth and change there is an element of fear that usually goes along with it. She suggests how we label it - may be the defining factor between experiencing it as exciting or frightening. She says that when we choose to grow through joy we need to learn to enjoy fear. Reaching for our dreams means constantly facing new challenges - and new fears.

How do we do that?

"Fear comes from our illusion of separateness. It comes from forgetting that we create our own reality. When we walk in the remembering - knowing that we create it all, knowing that we are loved, knowing the only true Reality is love - how can we be afraid?"

She suggests one way to befriend fear is to do something that scares us - parachute jumping, firewalking, speaking in public, asking for a promotion, stroking a spider - you get the picture. Another way is to imagine the worse case scenario in fine detail, and then imagine yourself handling the situation and moving beyond it. I personally think of the logo NO FEAR, and that helps me move beyond worry.

"Fear is a magnet, so whenever we worry about the future, we are attracting that future towards us. Every thought is a prayer! So it is important to acknowledge and release our worries and fears. If I hear a worry run through my mind I sometimes blow that fear into my hands, as if I am holding a frightened bird. Then I attune to Spirit, inhale trust and optimism - and breathe this into my hands to heal and transform the fear. Or I simply put a red cross through the mental image - and gently smile, to reassure my Basic Self that its fears are groundless. Shining the light of awareness upon our fears is often all that is needed to dispel the shadows."

I could not have said it better. 

Since this was longer than expected, next time will be shame and guilt, doubt and confusion. Are you still with me? Am I boring everyone with this series? What about you - how do you deal with fear?