Emerging From Stillness

“Throughout time there have been intersecting moments when the cycles of the great cosmic clocks line up in such a way that we are not only given a glimpse of all that is possible, but we actually have the opportunity to step beyond all that we have ever known as truth, and participate in a grander truth within a higher level of consciousness”

— Opening Dialogue from Youtube video: 2012 A Message of Hope

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Experiencing Meditation

As I sit down and bend my legs into half lotus my breathing begins to slow.
I adjust my cushion to roll my hips forward so it is easier to keep my back straight.
I close my eyes and place my awareness on the tip of my nose,

observing my natural, unconscious breath as it enters and leaves my body.
Thoughts continually emerge and snag my attention away until I remind myself to watch my breathing.
As my practice develops, my concentration strengthens,

extending the length of time I am focused on the silence behind the mental chatter.
Deep in this silence, truth emerges and inner will power blossoms.
Deep in this silence boundless humility, patience, understanding, compassion, and love for others expands.
As my thoughts fade into the background, I dive deep into the present moment and All that Is.

Sitting in Gratitude

I sit here today in a state of overwhelming gratitude. Gratitude is one of the few emotions which have the power to overwhelm me to the point of crying. I am thankful for having felt this emotion so deeply; my guess is that there are few people who have had such an experience. I also often cry when I think about the current state of our world and the way we treat this beautiful gift called Earth. I recently discovered that I had buried a lot of resentment towards humanity for crushing my youthful optimism and innocence. How can we possibly justify the way we treat each other? Instead of celebrating this gift of life we pursue war, exploitation, plunder, and slavery. And all in the name of what? Ideology? Religion? Economics? Nationalism? When we take the magic out of life we lose our compassion. It has taken me years to re-build the wonder and excitement towards the world I had when I was a child.

When I was a child I saw the world with eyes hungry to learn as much as possible. I felt the ever-present love and heard of endless possibilities of a world to explore. I had an eagerness and excitement to discover my growing reality. This reality started at the size of a house and soon grew to a few blocks. As I aged, my permissible realm of exploration expanded more and more. When the internet entered my life those boundaries expanded to include the entire planet. This unfiltered outlet of information quickly plunged me into sadness and fear, ultimately pushing me onto a different life track. I now realize this gradual jading of life is a root cause of many of my destructive behaviour patterns, from my procrastinating to my lack of passion for projects. It requires a lot of energy to stay motivated or to be excited to contribute when you are lacking inspiration. The process of finding the root cause of my destructive patterns ultimately became the process of rebuilding my inspired inner child wonder.

 

Re-discovering the Magic

What I have been inspired to share from my heart is a message of possibility. I believe in sharing my story because if it inspires and resonates with just one person, if it helps someone keep balance on their path, then it is more than worthwhile. One thought worth sharing is that while the internet has accelerated my growing sadness and fear towards the world, it has also provided opportunities to learn about powerful tools for changing my life. I was able to take control of my life again in order to move past the sadness and fear and into love and trust. The dip into fear and helplessness moved me full circle into finding inner strength and courage by expanding my perspective.

Taking back my power meant taking full responsibility for my actions, health, and life. Now I could learn about how my mind works, how to build rapport with people, how to create win-win relationships, how to eat to maximize my health, how to personally heal dis-ease, how to learn empowering beliefs and let go of limiting, how to grow food, and how to find inner peace and happiness. We now have the ability to learn virtually anything someone else knows, simply by moving our fingers. Food grows everywhere, there is a liquid that keeps us alive, I can communicate instantly across the planet, and I can lean anything I want by waving my fingertips – perhaps we do live in a magical world after all and we simply need a new pair of spectacles to see it.

 

Making the Change

I am enjoying my day off after serving for a Vipassana meditation course near Merritt, B.C. and felt inspired to write a quick blog. Much of my inspiration came after an incredible conversation with Jade, during which she filled me in on a few of the many things that have happened back home. What she described to me took place over nine days and yet sounded like it would fill a month. Before I left, I wrote a blog about why I was coming here so suddenly and for an extended time. I know that the more I change myself, the greater impact I have on the world around me. Changes within me are being reflected externally in shorter periods of time. I spend time centered and focused on my path and the people in my life start to do the same. This is how inspiration moves us to make the world a more beautiful place. We inspire each other to have the courage to follow our paths and speak our truth. We inspire each other to be more compassionate, generous, kind, and loving to one another. Change begins within.

I realized another contributing factor to my strong reluctance to truly apply myself in life was the discovery of the massive size of my previously hidden (to me) ego. I know that the intellect has its uses, but when we move through life in our heads we are ignoring the truer compass in our hearts. If I allow my ego to run my life, I slowly lose my grasp on the qualities that are truly important to me – compassion, kindness, generosity, and unselfish love. My ego sees the world as separate and strives to maximize its own selfish interests – and this pursuit does not allow for the depth of unselfish love I wish to give to others.

I have been told I have natural leadership qualities and find myself in roles of leadership the more I follow my path. As I step into leadership roles I begin to hear praise and see positive reflections of gratitude come my way. I am greatly appreciative of such heartfelt comments, yet I also recognize their ability to feed the ego if left unchecked. It is easy to let them ‘puff you up’, adding to feelings of huberous. This is why there are sayings of power corrupting absolutely. Positions of power, filled with an unchecked ego, run rampant across the globe and only exacerbate our problems. This is why I am committed to dissolving my ego – so I can serve others selflessly with compassion, patience, and understanding.

Serving Others

There is no higher purpose than serving others. It gets you out of your head and into your heart. It teaches you humility and grows your compassion for others. Serving this past meditation course has been an incredible joy. Contributing to such positive change in others is truly fulfilling to me. When your purpose is to serve others it becomes effortless to let inner compassion and happiness shine. I am now devoting the next month to my meditation practice in order to grow in presence, peace, discipline, understanding, and unselfish love for others. When I return home I will be returning to serve others to further develop my humility, compassion, and to dissolve the illusion of separation, while helping others to do the same.

Latent knowledge feeds the ego. Look how much more I know than that person the ego says. Wisdom is the application of that knowledge in the service of others. We can read all we want about positive virtues and think we are amazing individuals. The real test is whether or not we fully live those virtues each and every moment. Change begins within – indeed it is the only area we have any control over.

 

A Final Note

The world is not a dangerous place. Despite potential ideological and opinion differences, your neighbours are not your enemy. Do not fear the future. Be at ease in trust with the understanding of balance – the worse the world might seem, the greater the light that shines on the horizon. It is time to take hold of the reins of your life and to direct it where you need to go. There are warriors of light in every facet of society, poised and ready to stand together in the name of love, peace, and unity. Stay focused in your heart and continue to shine the light of your love out into the world; we need it now more than ever.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read these words. If you received any inspiration or gratitude from it, I ask that you share this blog with someone else with the intention of spreading the love, kindness, and inspiration. Spreading hugs are also appreciated if you do  not feel like sharing this blog :).

Namaste my brothers and sisters,
Sky Dreamer