Life Questions for the New Year

Life brings change; welcome and unwelcome. The difference between the two is often only a matter of perception if our basic needs for food, shelter, safety and belonging are being met. Here in the United States, many of us are fortunate enough to have abundance in these areas.

Last week I caught myself envious of a colleague who is about to build a new home. Huge bedrooms, great room, backyard, kitchen, etc. A dream house for her and her partner. Oh, how I did covet the ability to do that! I began to think about my lack of financial resources, played the blame game (and I placed a good bit of it on my own shoulders, I'll have you know) and completed a solid course of internal whining.

But, thanks to long Life and self-reflection, my thoughts eventually turned to all the wonderous things I have done, seen and experienced, in my time on this planet. I started to think about all the plans I have set in motion and the desires I have yet to fulfill. Perhaps a poor choice on my part, but I have never been interested in accumulating anything other than Love. And even that I am learning to give before I receive (slow going on some days, but I am learning!). But , I sometimes worry about the day when I will be considered old. Will I have enough to survive - to provide for my basic needs?

This culture values many things external to the inner Life. Whether that has a positive or negative impact on our lives is a relevant conversation. If our basic needs are met, what guides our choices? Is it the accumulation of material and physical things or is it our reason d'etre, our purpose? What is our purpose in Life and how do we know if we are fulfilling it? What choices do we make if fulfilling that purpose does not bring us the wealth we see around us? Should we change course or plod onward? I have found myself considering these questions over the past few years.

Who are we? and Why are we here? become central questions that begin in adolescence and continue throughout our lives. How we answer these questions deeply influences our outcomes. The choices we make as we define ourselves can have long term implications. As a nation we are riddled with divorce, isolation, longing, violence, poverty, and an unquenchable desire for more of everything. We are chasing joy, and while some of us find a bit on Sunday, most of us take comfort that the "other guy/girl/group" won't find favor with our God. That somehow we are better, by virtue of our beliefs.

And if I choose to follow the path designed by my inner Life, as I most certainly will, I realize I am engaging in a massive experiment. The creation of reality, my reality, on this planet. With its ripple effect on the rest of the collective consciousness, what I believe and live has power. And the same is true of you. (Lakota Clay has a nice piece on the noetic sciences and the expansion of our consciousness - check it out at the link on the right).

Most of us just want to get from one day to the next, make sure our children are safe and healthy and protect whatever possessions we have that we believe are valuable. Given the stress and strains of Life, the level of violence we tolerate and perpetuate, and the barriers that keep us separate from one another, these goals are by no means small ones. Yet, it seems to me that there must be a way to live more harmoniously, with less fear and so much more ease in fulfilling the basic needs of Life.

I think it requires a change of mind. That we see ourselves as connected to one another and make our decisions from that perspective. That we allow ourselves to be guided by what we know in our hearts is true. That we offer help instead of punishment, Love instead of hate, truth instead of convenient excuses. Those are huge changes. And along the way there will be hard questions about how to react when we are feeling attacked, when others are not changing and threaten our well being. I wish I had answers for these questions, but I am just trying to navigate my way through the change along with my fellow pathmakers/pathfinders.

I do know that there is a tipping point. The point at which enough people have changed their minds in favor of Love that the course of human existence will be changed for the better and that change will be unstoppable. There will be enough people believing in living Life from a place of inner Love, truth and joy that the differences between us will no longer be reasons for fear, pain and death.

In my heart, I know that all of us are powerful. The sun shines on the just and unjust alike; Love is for everyone. I am lucky that many of the people I come in contact with are of like mind and spirit. They support me in remembering and understanding my purpose, in the face of those circumstances, ideas and emotional responses that might derail me. I am grateful for their Love and kindness.

This holiday season, as you go about your family and religious ceremonies, think about what is really important in your Life. Ask yourself the central questions Who am I? and Why am I here? Then jot down a line or two and add them to this site. I'd like to support you in your quest to live Life from the inside-out.

That the sun will shine brightly upon you is given. My prayer is that you recognize its warmth upon your face.

Away

Sometimes far away is better;
a little distance,
a new perspective.

My dreamcatcher holds night dreams of you;
bringing the gifts of your voice,
your laughter and
your touch
to the place of magic
where I am only who I am
without censure.

Dreams that wriggle and squirm
like toddlers in search of freedom
like you
they have stepped off into a different bright and colorful future.

But these days are not like the old days.
I guess I mean they are not like my young days.
No baleful of tears, no wailing, no bemoaning of my fate.

Instead I burn sage,
shed the cleansing tears,
open the inner chamber doors and breathe the perfect breath of Life.

I am a woman
and I have lived disappointment by the heartful.
I am not easily broken, chipped or cracked by what might have been
but is not.

I am fully formed,
a woman.
I understand the turns of Life
with its sorrow-filled lessons
and resultant new skin, new path, new hope.

Still,
there are moments when I long for a plane ticket and a suitcase,
for a place in time and space
with no memory or hope of Life with you.

Sometimes I know that far away is better.

Crashing Into The Theory of One

The pairs of opposites keep us in an illusion and make us think, 'This is this, and that is that'. At the same time by throwing a greater light upon things we shall find in the end that they are quite different from what we had thought. Seeing the nature and character of life, the Sufi says that it is not very important to distinguish between two opposites. What is most important is to recognize that One which is hiding behind it all. Naturally after realizing life the Sufi climbs the ladder which leads him to unity, to the idea of unity which comes through the synthesis of life, by seeing One in all things, in all beings. Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan

I know I'm late checking out this movie, but having seen it I feel as if I could write about it, talk about it, debate about it for hours and hours. Okay, so what does Crash have to do with the Sufi belief expressed above?

From my perspective, the most interesting position of the movie was that judgment, in all its many forms cuts many ways. At first glance there are clearly racist and ignorant people running rampant in this world. And I know that's no surprise to anyone. But look a little closer, because those same bullies and villains are full of compassion, understanding, helplessness, disillusionment, Love and all of the other emotions that make us human.

What is good and what is bad changes when we change our vantage point. Judge not lest ye be judged, comes to mind. How can any of us know the why of another's actions? I think of the number of times I have done things and not understood the why of them until months or years later.

If the path of our Soul can be hidden from us until the time of our individual understanding, it can only be arrogance that has us believing we know the Soul of another.

Je m'accuse! I am guilty of the offense as charged. And so we come to another essential question. How do we remember, honor and make room for the path of our fellow beings? We live in a world where duality appears to rule. You bring me pain, but I want pleasure. I do the unexpected and you label it 'bad', I behave as you wish and you label me 'good'. I hate you and yet what I want is to Love you. We bounce between these poles and believe this is Life. And when we're not bouncing we're stuck and waiting for the next 'good' thing to happen or working to avoid the next 'bad' thing.

I'm starting to believe that Life is more than the trip between opposites, more than the shades of gray we seem to find around every corner. I am asking myself to look around behind the thing in front of me and see the One. What is there that I cannot see? What is the essential answer that makes pain or pleasure meaningless, right or wrong irrelevant, Life or death illusion?

There is only One that can do that when given our attention. That Everything that has many names, none of them complete. It is the All of Life, beyond our ability to conceive until we reach past duality, and then we can sense only the barest inkling. To get there I think I have to be open to the reality that is right in front of me. Open to the people I Love and the people I say I can't Love. I struggle with that, because it FEELS like some people are more worthy than others. Because some people bring out in me what feels 'good' (and oh, how I Love to Love them) and others bring out the parts of me that are challenged and challenging - so I feel 'bad' (working day and night not to hate them).

What's a being to do? I circle round on this planet, through the cycles of seasons, lessons, births and losses. I try to remember that I am - I try to remember that I AM! To honor this Life as the living representation of its Creator. And here, at the mid-point of my Life, I am learning to remember that you too, are the living representation of my Creator; along with everything else of energy and matter. Here, at the mid-point, I've come crashing into the theory of One.

What The Bleep

What The Bleep Do We Know

Being a parent means coming up with the answers - how to figure percentages, solve algebraic equations, even deciding what's for dinner. It's a part of the job. But what do we do with the really tough questions? Questions like what's the purpose of Life, why I am here, why does it hurt sometimes, how can we ever really know each other, have we been here before and will we be back again.

They are the essential questions that I've asked myself, and doubtless you have too. These days I wonder if I will be able to articulate the stumbling answers I have found when the wonder I call Sky asks them. (You can see that I am ever hopeful that when she asks I'll be one of those folks that she turns to for help with the answers) I feel as if I am still searching for answers of my own. But if asked today here is what I might tell her:

We are here for Love. To give it and receive it, to expect it yet not demand it. We are here to give freely from our hearts, to join consciously with our Spirits, to share openly with our minds. When it hurts it's because we've forgotten why we're here, and if we hang in with that hurt (though not necessarily with the person who helped give rise to it) - we can remember what we have forgotten. That we are perfect creations in a perfect and orderly Universe which is ever expanding and unfolding. That much of what we think we know is only what we believe and each of us is as wrong as we are right. That our perceptions of time and space are mental tricks that we have a difficult time breaking out of.

But, sometimes we have miracles that overcome those false boundaries - miracles of night dreams and daydreams that bring messages; or when a book that holds some truth we need shouts at us in a bookstore or friends and strangers alike recommend it with no way of knowing how much we need that very book; or when a friend or relative we've been thinking of calls; or we get an idea to take a different route to work and find out we saved 2 hours in traffic because the usual way was backed up by an accident. You know what I'm talking about, maybe you call it coincidence. I call it Spirit and it speaks to us all the time.

There are so many markers on the road to our freedom, so many messages whispered to our souls, and we need to pay attention. The real tricky part is that my path is not yours - we're each on a very unique journey. And yet, we're all connected on the journey to One. It's a real mystery, full of seeming contradiction. But for each of us there are also things that we know are true. My one hope is that, for my young one, the path to truth holds as little pain as possible. A hope shared by many a Mom.

So what do you think of the essential questions?