Social Evolution is About Personal Evolution

In the same way that we must question our personal intentions and behaviors to grow so to do we need to question the social intentions and behaviors of our current society.  The two are never separate.

Growth and moving forward begins the moment we summon the courage to create change in our lives.  Courage is a universal phenomena.  It is something we all muster up in times of challenge.  The challenges and travails we endure as individuals we also endure as a collective society and no longer do I see personal growth as solely "personal."  It is our narcissism that keeps us solely focused on our individual troubles.  Yet I believe this narcissism is born from the standards of our cultural ethic.  It is not something we can really blame ourselves about.  Yet without awareness of this we fail to see that our individual problems stem from the fact that our cultural ethic condones a life of isolation, fear for survival, the need for comparison, as well as a multitude of other ways of being that diminish our quality of life.  And in the same way that we are numb to the disastrous effects that the corporate state is having on the planet, so to are we numb to the fact that this corporate state and the life it espouses is detrimental to us as individuals.

Our cultural ethic tells us we never have enough and that the only way to secure our personal need is to compete against each other.  This fear driven ethic is simply not working anymore.  We may not see that there is a way out.  And if we are wealthy enough we find ways to not have empathy for those who are suffering.  But without questioning and inquiring into the possibility of a new way of life, at both the individual level and at the social level, we condone a spiritual death that eventually consumes the entire soul of humanity.

What I am attempting to do with my writing is to encourage you to think for yourself and question standard cultural assumptions.  For example, question to yourself, what is "progress" at the social level?  Is progress all about how we create greater sums of profit?  But hasn't profiteering off the destruction of our ecosystems had devastating global consequences?  The dominant cultural ethic suggests to us that our advancements in technology, medicine, and production out weight the consequences of their proliferation.  Yet, a race that is not mature enough to use advanced technology destroys itself.  A race that does not allow its greatest medical achievements to reach everyone, because it is a for-profit industry, leaves millions bankrupt and or dead prematurely.  We need to look at this reality if we are to grow as individuals.

What ever happened to the idea that progress is the creation of a communal ethic that creates harmony out of the empathy we feel for each other?

Real individual growth is all about being aware to the fact that our lives are inseparable and thus creating a society that allows for harmony between our inner and outer realities.  Without questioning ourselves and without questioning society we fail to grow.  The two are not separate.  Let me give you a quick example.  Anthropologists that have spent intimate time with some of the few nomadic tribes left on the planet have found that these people never harm each other.  There is no rape, no robbery, and no murder.  The reason why is that the tribe instinctively knows it is one organism.  Everyone depends on each other for their individual survival.

Given the state of our world as it is now we can no longer afford to be afraid to look at the hard truth.

It is becoming overwhelming apparent that our society is in the midst of big challenges.  Here in a America we have staggering inequality, a real unemployment rate over 16% [source], and the future of our current economic infrastructure is in imminent danger of collapsing.  The corporate elite who cajoled the public, without a voice, into bailing out their institutions with taxpayer subsidies created a situation that devastated the middle and lower classes.  The elite who control political and economic affairs knows the system is broken.  They are using all tactics possible to accumulate the lasts bits of wealth and dismantle public power as they go out to create their untouchable gated oasis.  We live in a totalitarian regime with a faceless dictator.  Unregulated markets make monsters out of men, but yet the real problem is our apathy that condones this way of life.

Chris Hedges wrote that "cultures that do not recognize that human life and the natural world have a sacred dimension, an intrinsic value beyond monetary value, cannibalize themselves until they die."  In the same way that we must seek personal insights to overcome our unique personal challenges so to do we also need to seek social insight into the way we live.  Again, as we fail to see that the collective social problem is our personal problem we are creating a future that is not in the favor of the majority of people.  The excess and narcissistic indulgence that we enjoy now comes at a major cost when we will no longer be able to afford the security we need to survive in the future as the integrity of our planet degrades.

Spiritual and emotional work is not just personal.  It is primarily social.  Imagine asking Martin Luther King or Ghandi what was important to them.  It was not their individual gains that led to personal well being, but rather it was the joy and sense of accomplishment they received from their involvement in pushing society towards justice for all.  When we continue to allow those in power to keep "business as usual" without protesting for what is "right" justice and equality continue to decay.  To see the truth can be a scary thing.  But without knowledge and insight we will not grow, but rather, we will cannibalize ourselves into spiritual death.

St. Augustine stated that the rebel knows that hope has two beautiful daughters, anger and courage - anger at the way things are and the courage to see they do not remain as they are.  We are at a point now that individual growth is short sighted if it does not account for the well-being of others and a healthy functioning planet.  Do not expect any government to fix these problems.  These problems are not exterior to any of us.  They are within us.  And only with radical courage to see things as they are and a determined collective of voices to make change can we grow as both individuals and as a collective society.  We are undoubtedly one.  And the challenges we face as individuals, in a profound way, arise because we have lost sight of establishing a society that puts the gains of the community first as opposed to the gains of the individual.

How Celebrity Culture is Destroying Who We Are

 We no longer seek community as the most important, but rather that we, the self-proclaimed celebrity, as the most important.

We live in a world that celebrates image over substance and because of this we have lost sight of who we are.  We are bombarded daily with images that celebrate vanity, debauchery, and acts of senselessness.  Through the corporate mass media we are subliminally told what to think, how to interpret the way society operates, what is "right," what is "cool," and how to keep from looking old and unhip.

Since when did Kim Kardashian, the cast of the Jersey Shore, and the endless scandals we hear in the tabloids become more important than seeking truth and meaning?  Why do these headlines garner more attention than the unrelenting destruction of the Earth by the fossil fuel industry, the brutality of war all over this planet, and the overwhelming poverty found everywhere [even in America]?

Why did it become socially taboo to question events such as 9/11, the presence of american troops in the middle east, the possibility that the pillars of our society may be run by a corporate elite, or that our way of life may actually be destroying the vitality of the planet we depend on.  I think it is because celebrity culture has us being afraid to step out and take a stand.  Maybe celebrity culture has us so addicted to their "images" that things of meaning and substance become boring?

I think it is that we care so much what the "other person" may think about us that we seek to adopt a way of being, prescribed by celebrity and mass media, that makes it easy for us to "fit in."  It is the easiest way.  No longer do we need to think about our existence and how we should be.  We have sought image over substance.  And because of this we have lost touch with ourselves.  No longer do I care about how I will be received in this blog or in person.  I actually think it will bring me closer to my true identity.

Modern culture rationalizes existence through the piece meal filter it is feed by major media.  Do you really think that we ever hear the full story?  The full story of any story is never black or white.  It is complex, dynamic, and involves an array of motives and emotions that cannot be summed up by one catchy headline.  If you want to know the full story shut off the television and go outside.  Gather information.  Talk to your neighbors.  Talk with a homeless person and seek to understand their story.  Seek to understand the motives of the elite and politicians.  Yet also don't forget to nurture yourself for a while and listen to the birds, listen to children laughing, and to the wind as it rustles past your ears.  You can learn more from within yourself than you can from any other source.

"The Fantasy of celebrity culture is not designed simply to entertain.  It is designed to drain us emotionally, confuse us about our identity, make us blame ourselves for our predicament, condition us to chase illusions of fame and happiness, and keep us from fighting back." - Chris Hedges

The Universe Within You

"In oneself lies the entire world." - J. Krishnamurti

We witness the cyclonic movement within earthly phenomena, solar systems, galaxies, and even within our bodies.  Think of the hurricanes, the galactic orbits of celestial bodies, and the atomic structures that make up our very being.  The collective of all of this, the universe, is also in perpetual motion.

This universal movement has me questioning something very elemental to life.  Could it be that life is nothing but pure potential and creates itself along the influence of natural laws, of which, may even be under constant evolution?  It gets me thinking that over the span of eternity that anything is possible.

We are composed of the same elements that the stars are made of.  Are we then not intrinsically tied to the cosmos?  I pose that we are.  I contemplate that this connection is so grand that it evades linguistic description, but there still resides a yearning within me to know my roots so I attempt to dive deeper.

So far I have stated the idea that life at the universal level as well as at the human level is all about movement.  I have also stated that movement has the potential to be expressed in infinite ways.  The life of Gaia [the earth] and human civilization, both distinct "layers" of universal movement, exhibit their own rhythms and cycles.  Yet all phenomena is in some way connected.  Consider how astrological and human experience intertwine and impact each other.  How about the intense energy we feel within us during a mercury retrograde?


Each "layer" of experience is a system of its own.  There is the human experience, the animal experience, the geologic experience, the solar experience, the galactic experience, etc,.  How egocentric are we to think that the Sun, the creator of our very own solar system, does not "feel" its existence in some way?  To say no would diminish our own reflective capacity.  For we are the Sun.  And the Sun is what gives us life and the ability to perceive.

Observe the way our atomic structures move.  They orbit around a structure.  Also consider the relative space between atomic structures.  Just like the cosmos, the make up of the human body is mostly empty space.  It is almost like we have microscopic universes within our bodies.  I know these ideas are extremely abstract, but who is to say that the universe does not exist within us?  Maybe there is no start or end in creation and that all of life travels in and out of each other?  Could this be the etheric level of existence that fringe scientists talk about?  Could it be that all of life is connected in the "ethers?"  Size and shape is only relative and who is to say that we are not mini-gods co-creating within our own bodily universes?  And if this is "true" how does this impact the way we relate to life as a whole?


The energy we radiate into the world becomes directed by our own inner awareness and intention as to how we choose to live.  If all of life is connected why would we constantly choose to live a life that diminishes the vitality of the world around us [and also within us].  Our way of life is devouring our world.

Would it not be in our best interest to intend for outcomes that lead to symbiotic relationships with the world as a whole?  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gregg Braden on empathy, energy, and healing

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All of nature is a storehouse of galactic energy that traces its roots back to the same source.  That source has been what humans have been pondering and trying to understand since the dawn of their awakening.  I like to call this source spirit.  Call it what you will, it is just a word.  But it is the experiential realization of source that is what will bring you in alignment with what a symbiotic relationship would be like with the world around you.  Just like your body has a desire for you to nourish it so to does the world around you have a desire to be nourished.

When you gain an awareness that feels empathy for all of life you have connected with source energy.  To what degree does this empathy for life impact the way we choose to live?

---------------------------------------------

Yes, there are "natural laws" in the universe, but change is the only constant.  Even "god" is changing all the time.  If "god" is the all that is why would "god" not intend change so that it could know itself at deeper and deeper levels?

Imagine what source [god] feels like during the birth of a new galaxy  ... 

At this magnitude of size our existence is seemingly non-existent.  Yet we can feel the utter immensity of the cosmos.  This is because we are the cosmos. 

Maybe god intended that life could be innately connected so that god [the universe] could experience itself through all things [including you!]?  Maybe the same seemingly infinite cosmos that we stare upon on a clear night also exists within you?  As they say...as above so below...

Be who it is at the core of your being...when you do this you will find yourself very close to nature, to community, and to your fellow sentient being.  We are all offspring of the cosmos herself...and the cosmos knows only what is natural...to just be exactly who you are...

From Fear to Love. The Beginnings of an Awakening

There is a life waiting for all of us.  A new life.  A life not dictated by our fears and anxieties, but instead a life created by our love for life and all of its creations.  

The only thing that is stopping us from creating harmony is fear.  Fear is a global cultural norm.  It is systemic throughout humanity.  For example, we fear that if we cannot pay our bills that we will be cast onto the streets.  We also fear nature and so we fortify our environments and destroy mass ecosystems in the name of profit.  It is scientific fact that we are in the midst of the greatest mass extinction in 65 million years [Source].  We are over consuming the earths resources to keep "business as usual" and to "pay our bills."  So "normal" is this fear that we do not care to question its dominance over our lives and how it dictates economic and social activity.

And what about our social fears?  Sometimes we are so afraid to speak what we feel to our friends, our partners, and our families, that we suppress what we feel in order to keep the status quo.  We often keep ourselves quiet when there is such a vast array of emotional intelligence within us that should be shared.  We fear we will hurt or loose the relationships which we cherish so we stay silent.  We are afraid to be alone, but what we fail to see is that isolation and aloneness are only creations of the mind.  Our disconnection from life, from nature, and from spirit, is directly tied to the dominant cultural paradigm of fear based actions [or inaction].

Adherence to cultural norms based in fear diminishes our sensitivity to life.  We see that it is only adaptable to suppress our sensitivity.  It is only normal we say.  We must secure our livelihood, we must protect ourselves, and keep the economy "growing."  But can we not see that our fear driven culture is consuming not only the physical world at a rate that is not sustainable, but it is consuming our minds and diminishing our ability to be love, to be light, and to be connected to spirit.

This is as far as I will take it.  This entry is not intended to be a negative one.  It was written to shed awareness.  And only when we are aware can we make changes.  Despite the statements above everyone whom I meet and spend time with I have an inherent love for.  The reason why is because I see love within them.  We are all family in this life.  And it is this life of dualistic proportions that gives us the opportunity to even know what a "more harmonious life" would be.  It is this current society that allows us to see how we can grow.

Awareness of how fear influences our lives both at the individual level and the social level [for they are both one] brings us closer to the awakening that this world is crying out for [as well as our hearts... again, they are both one of the same].  It take courage to see the truth, but in your courage to see things as they are your reward is compassion and a sensitivity to life that will open your heart to the love that is all around you.  Be not focused then in the mind that dwells in fear, but instead take shelter in the faith that the connection to the spirit is real.  

On Isolation, Humility, and Connection

Every now and then feelings of loneliness can take over.  At times we may feel isolated and alone in a world that feels so separate from us.  We may feel loneliness when we part from a significant relationship, or when we move to a new town and don't know anyone, or when someone close to us dies, or we may simply feel it and not know why.  At the core of the feeling of loneliness is isolation.  We should not try to change this feeling because it is a natural part of the human experience.  Without it we would not know isolations opposite.

When we let any aspect of the human experience to be as it is, without trying to change it, we give our selves the opportunity for life to teach us humility.

Distracting ourselves from any type of unpleasant emotion may push it out of conscious awareness, but this unpleasant emotion will remain in the sub-conscious gnawing at us in some unseen way.  We may then start to feel these emotions creep up at some later date and not know why we feel depressed.  It is best to deal with things as they arise.

When we run away from our feelings we run away from ourselves and when we run away from ourselves we lower our capacity to be the fully present beacon of consciousness that we inherently are.

There is no doubt that at times in my life I have felt a seemingly unrelenting loneliness.  When I was 18 my life long best friend died peacefully in his sleep.  For almost a years time I would distract myself in unhealthy ways to placate the feelings I had brewing inside of me.  I questioned the purpose of life and was filled with an intense anger.  "Why God did my best friend have to leave this world so early?!"  Yet in this experience I gained a deep sense of humility for myself and for life.  The passing of Matthew's life is something I will go into greater detail at some later date.

What I learned brought me to a humbling and paradoxical realization.  I found out that only in the awareness of my isolation was I able to start to feel a profound connection to the world around me.  When I let go of the need to be connected to others to placate my loneliness I started to feel a natural connection.  It was something that was at first so subtle it was like the whisper of spirit, but when I tuned into it I felt it coming out of all living things.

We can tune into it by being humbly aware of the gift of life and the precious opportunity we have being here for just a short few moments in the landscape of eternity.

So even despite the loneliness I feel at times...I know that life is with me, that spirit is all around me, and that even the stranger is family.  Nature too, has its own way of communication.  And only when I allow myself to feel can I connect to the emotional matrix of life that is all around me.  Yes, we should be selective to what energy we want to pick up, but a compassionate and humble heart will always attract you to just the "right" people and places.

Looking Within to See the Light

Despite what you may believe you are perfect just as you are.

What is it that influences the way we relate to ourselves?  Understanding this is vital to creating harmony and peace.  I am not saying we need to be questioning ourselves constantly, but it is important to periodically check in with ourselves and draw our awareness inward.  Without bringing awareness to the seemingly automatic sub-conscious mind we may never realize the perfection of who and what we are.

Are we conscious of what is affecting our mood and our worldview?

Could it be that the accumulation of all past experience strongly influences the way we experience life?  I am not saying that we are not unique and in some way untainted by the past, we are, but how strongly does the past presently exist within you?

Understanding the past and how it affects our perception is key to understanding how we feel and experience life.  When we witness how our relation to the past influences our reality we become aware of our selves in a profound way.  This is the art of self-meditation.

When we give ourselves time to be inwardly aware we start the process of transcending old patterns and belief structures that no longer serve us.

How do we come to understand what it is that holds us ignorant to our perfection?  What is that we should look into?  

We need to look inside and question?

Does our way of thinking enable us to be inwardly aware and sensitive to ourselves?

Does our way of thinking allow us to see each other as we are or do our thought structures create a reality before us that is based in some pre-conceived notion?  If so, does this limit our ability to see things as they are and be grounded in this moment?

If a life goal of yours is to be at peace with yourself it is important that you start to assess these questions.  I myself must do this on a regular basis.  If I do not the past with all of the ingrained modes of discrimination begin to shape my perception of not only the world around me, but also, and more importantly, of myself.  If I do not allow myself to be aware of how I think or behave I default to a way of relating to people or things that is comes up from my past.  In these instances I act on thought forms that are not really my own [because I learned them from others, mainly those who raised me] and I mentally laminate them on to others and other things to witness.  Yet I realize that I do not want to live through the filter of thought forms that are rooted in the past.  Ultimately, I will not find my peace this way.

When we perceive things as they are in their purest form we witness things without definition.  Words and concepts may help us navigate life, but they only do so in the relative sense and not in the ultimate sense.  The ultimate acknowledgment is that life is boundless and cannot be deified.  You yourself cannot be defined and you are amazing beyond any belief or thought you have about yourself.

This realization occurs in the moment when we inwardly witness that we are perfect even with our "self-perceived faults".  We are often hard on ourselves for not being what we think we should be.  But witness...that this is just a thought and not the actual reality as it is.

The thing is, only when we do accept ourselves for who we are, faults and all, do we begin to transcend that which holds us back in self-judgment.  Your "faults" are as perfect as you are.  Without them you would not know which way to grow.  Therefore, be humbly aware of how you relate to the present moment and forgive whatever it may be that holds you in a pattern of being ignorant to your perfection.

To Live in Faith or to Live in Fear...That is The Question

"Every missed step is a step closer...there are no mistakes"

Moving cross country has humbled and challenged me in a way I never would have imagined.  Being in a place where you have nothing to relate to strips you to your rawest core.  In the absence of the aspects of life that once gave me comfort I am forced to confront everything that I feel about myself.  I am beginning to witness that as I seek to see things about my old environment in my new environment what I am actually doing is seeking some sort of comfort or security tied the past.  Thus, to some degree, I am rejecting the present moment.

When I lived in New York everything was familiar to me.  Every street, every skyline, every person seemed familiar to me, even if I did not know them.  I was apart of the community.  For heavens sakes I had grown up there, my family and friends were there.  I felt rooted in the knowing of familiarity.  Yet here now, in the absence of everything I know I am forced to deal with myself in the absence of all of those psychological comforts.  It is humbling to witness how engrained thoughts, thoughts that I believed supported me and gave me a sense of self-worth, are actually debilitating me in this new experience.

My ego is scrambling to find some sense of familiarity.  It is producing all these sorts of automatic thoughts within me in attempts to create the situation it was used to.  In a way my ego wants me to be miserable here so that the ego can find itself back in New York where it believes all is familiar and comfortable.  But oh, how little does my ego want to remember how unsatisfied I was in New York.  And how short sighted is my ego when it feels it wants to recreate the past, something that is known and familiar, to satiate its desire for comfort.

The ego wants so much, but what it wants more than anything is a re-creation of the past.  It knows that in the past it existed, and in my case I existed without much trouble.  It seems as if the ego has created this sort of addiction within me to make sure that I know that "everything will be fine."  Yet, in the present moment, the only one true moment, "fine" becomes an experience, not something to psychologically hold onto.  Maybe if I can get out of my head I can realize that everything is fine no matter where I am or what is going on.  My higher self knows that it does not need any re-creation of the past in order to feel safe.  Peace and contentment are here now...if I can only get out of my way and fully surrender to this moment without hoping for something contrary to what is happening all around me.

I now know that I came to a new place to confront everything within me that has been hidden from me.  In moving here it was not my conscious intention to go through this process, but I believe the universe and my higher self knew this all along.  This is my faith talking.  And although it may feel as if I have taken steps backward, because not everything is all peaches and happiness, I know that I have taken the right steps.  Because from here I am forced to deal with myself in a way that I never would have been able to in New York, where everything was "known."

In actuality nothing was ever "known" in New York.  That was the illusion that temporality placated the ego while a deepening sense of dissatisfaction was brewing with me.  This deep sense of dissatisfaction arouse out of the sense that my immersion into the known, into the familiar, and into the perception of what I thought I was all about actually pushed me further and further away from my real self.

I still know I have a lot to experience and learn here.  A lot to witness within myself and a lot to shed...but one thing that is helping me deal with uneasy emotions is to ask myself ..."does this feeling arise from spirit...the aspect of self that will propel me to contentment and self-knowledge, or does this feeling arise from the ego...the sense of self that wants what is actually not present?  This is a very humbling question for me because I realize that I am not as "evolved" as I thought I may have been.  In this relative world I then praise myself for being humble and for feeling what may not feel so good.

The more I reject this present moment the more misery I create within myself.  The more I step into the now the more liberated and content I become.  So I must choose...and remind myself...that no matter where I am, all is in right order...

So the next step is simple...yet not so easy... How will I create this moment of now?  Will I choose to live in faith and know that all that is before me is in perfect order, blessing me with the experiences that will enhance my growth as a person...

OR

Will I live in fear in the debilitating effort to defend myself from a life that I feel has not been fair to me...


The latter has us chasing the illusion we create in our minds while the former grounds us in the only thing that is real...the divine beauty of the now...

The power to choose is mine [as well as yours]...

Knowing Yourself

To live completely, wholly, every day as if it were a new loveliness, there must be dying to everything of yesterday, otherwise you live mechanically, and a mechanical mind can never know what love is or what freedom is.  - Krishnamurti

It seems to me that we come to know each other only in reflection to the experiences we have with people, places, and things.  It would then seem plausible to think that we may come to know ourselves in a habitual manor when the people, places, and things of our lives become customary.  But what happens when everything around us changes?  What happens when we no longer witness our reflection the same way?  This begs the question, can we ever truly understand ourselves?

I have not yet reached my final destination and settled into my new home on the west coast, but as I find my self here in Texas, witnessing my emersion into new people and experiences, I feel as if it may have been possible that I really never understood my self.  What I mean to say is that while I was in New York and everything was customary I became tied to the definitions I held and thoughts I had about myself.  In a static environment this happens to us all.

So what do I mean by understanding myself?  Well let me first clarify.  I do feel that there is always a timeless aspect to all of us that transcends all the self declarations of who we think we are.  This is the knower from within that guides us and pushes us to develop our innate skills, but witnessing this aspect of ourself does not mean that we understand ourselves.  For example, you may be a great cook, but that does not define your existence.  Cooking is an act.  Not something definite. because the act is always changing and evolving.  Just like the fact that tomorrow is always a mystery so too is the person we are developing into.  And it seems that this absolute sense of self is as transitory and mysterious as the future.

Our fears typically revolve around the unknowable and it seems that what causes us our greatest anxiety is change.  But change on the exterior of our lives is necessary in order for us to come to witness different aspects of who we are.  I am not saying I do not fear change, but in spite of it I must face it in order to grow.  I feel that we can all relate to this principle.  This is the space where liberation occurs and peace is found.  In letting go and letting change occur naturally.

So if we become liberated by facing change head on without fear we loose the identifications we have built up about ourselves because we no longer resist what is occurring even in spite that it may run counter to what we wish to experience or what we think we should be experience.  This becomes a peaceful experience when we no longer define ourselves with the thoughts we have about ourselves.  So when you feel like you no longer understand yourself, do not become confused, you are moving closer to understanding your true nature as the timeless and undefinable creature that you are.

This is a life long process that has no end, but liberation is not an end, it is a journey.  So understanding yourself becomes as mysterious and divine as life itself.  This is the beauty of life and the eternal experience that creation has set up before us.  This is why the healers talk about letting go.  New experiences and challenges help you do just that.  So why not take the internal road less traveled and push your boundaries?  You have your whole life to do it.  And you have your whole life to die to your yesterdays and live anew today.  This is more refreshing than you may have imagined.


Image created by Willow Arlenea: The Visionary Art of Willow Arlenea

I Found Myself in Everything

By Rachel Durling


In this age where knowledge is praised ignorance is frowned upon.  Yet ignorance is often essential in order to have a completely pure experience in this world.  It may sound paradoxical, but sometimes greater self awareness can only come by yielding ourselves to non-awareness.  When we have an idea of ¨who we are,¨ or go on a quest to find that person, we create duality.  In defining ourselves we separate ourselves from the core of existence, and as a result we are denied the joy, liberation, and free falling love that submission to that pure existence grants us.

A newborn baby`s eyes are clear, wide, and sparkle with wonder.  Instead of observing this and concluding that it`s something unique to babies and young children why don`t we ask ourselves, what is it about the way they are experiencing the world that makes them shimmer?  We were all babies at one point – we all know how to glow.  In most adults we see that the light has dimmed.  Is this because we have forgotten something, or could it be that we have learned too much?  

Very young children radically accept everything they encounter because they have no basis of comparison.  Children do not yet rationalize their experiences and so they bumble through this rough and tough and beautiful land like mini-Magellans…endlessly testing their minds and bodies with trust and amazement.  They never stop exploring and the greatest gift they don't know they have is that of ignorance.  The simple fact that they don't yet define these things as 'minds' and 'bodies' grants them the freedom to use them in their own terms.

When we become self aware we are met with a huge challenge; to observe our thoughts, actions, and interactions with the purpose of learning and advancing in our personal and spiritual growth while not identifying with these things.  The moment we identify ourselves as anything; a wife, a businessman, an artist, a yoga teacher, a father, a writer, etc, we contaminate ourselves with expectations.  When we free ourselves of the notion that these labels have anything to do with who we are we become more apt to connect with our own true nature and that of the things and people which surround us. This goes as far as liberating ourselves of the pressure that accompanies the anticipation of the outcome of our work and our creations.  In everything we do we must add a touch of ignorance, as if we have never done it before in order to live the experience in its entirety.  

Since a truly unique creation is born in the exact moment of execution, we never really have done it before, have we?

There is so much life that passes our periphery, beauty lost to our awareness, because we have drawn borders around ourselves.  What if we were nothing?  We would still exist, so would that in turn make us everything?  We did not come into this world incomplete.  Self awareness is something that is learned, so we know that without it, we are still complete.

An animal in the wild is not bound by a sense of self and so is free to be exactly what it is.  While hiking through the Bolivian Amazon I encountered a group of wild monkeys calling to each other and swinging through the trees.  The sound of their call shattered all barriers between me and pure existence and I stood in frozen amazement, tears streaming down my cheeks.  It was something that I can not recall ever experiencing, and realized that what had happened was that by observing other beings living in this state of consciousness I was transported back to my birth, to that innocence that allows us to experience everything in its entirety, in the exact moment, as it is.  

This state of consciousness also liberated me from all fear.  I had no fear of death because I did not even identify with my life, rather, there was just life all around me, and I was that life in itself.  I did not identify with my body, so I had no fear of losing it.  I did not identify with my memories, thoughts, and feelings, so I had no fear of losing the ones I love.  This does not imply an indifference to those things.  On the contrary, it brought me closer to everything and everyone I care about.  The monkeys were a bridge.  A bridge is a thing unique in its form, but it is also something that unites one side with another.  So, the monkeys were a bridge that connected me with their state of consciousness, and in my connection with that, I was part of them as well.  

I lost myself to me, and found myself in everything.

By stepping out of ourselves we step into another, and then another, and into an untamed, fresh, world united.  Forget about who you are and relax into the bliss of being, and you will experience this world as the jungle child. Innocent. Free. Wild.


About the author: Rachel is one of my dearest friends. We met in college almost a decade ago. Her perspective and passion for life connected us from the very beginning. Since our college days Rachel has challenged herself by taking the path less traveled. After spending a few years on the west coast she moved south and has been spending the last 4 years of her life in both Central and South America. As a dancer, artist, yogi, writer, and musician she beautifies any environment she finds herself in. Thank you Rachel for your sincere friendship.

Moving Past Uncertainty

As of lately, the realization of the responsibilities that lay before me has stirred up some fear within me.  I worry about how my arrival in the bay area will be.  I do not have a job lined up and I know very few people there.  My companion, my girlfriend, is in the same situation. I am grateful for our partnership as we take on this endeavor, both together as a couple and as individuals.  Still, at times, I feel anxious, uncertain, and I wish I knew how it will all unfold.

In times like these I need to remind myself of why I am doing this.  I ask myself, "what does it feel like when I think of not taking this opportunity and just staying in New York?"  Upon observation...I just begin to feel uncomfortable.

My higher self knows that everything is in its right place.  This inner acknowledgment is what I am holding onto to sustain my courage.  I feel passionate that the move will influence my development and help me grow.  I also feel like I have nothing to lose.  And as some of my teachers remind me, the world does not have to be a scary place.

I am also, at times, finally feeling what it is like to let go of all the worry.  Preparing myself for this move has taught me this in a unique way.  There is a part of me that is feeling confident that everything will happen peacefully and naturally.

------------------ 

Challenging ourselves pushes us to redefine ourselves.  In these bold pursuits we are pushed to broaden our emotional understanding of life and of ourselves.  To me this is the most important process of my life.  I feel that this process helps me understand not only myself more, but existence itself.

When we feel uncertain about a particular situation try to remind yourself of what brings you passion.  When feeling lost seek to reinvigorate yourself by following the hero within that challenges you to take the high road.  Allow what brings you passion to dictate the course of your life.  There of course will be challenges along the way, but these are the experiences that push you to expand the understanding you have about yourself.

Maybe you cannot understand what it is that you are passionate about?  This itself is part of the journey.  If you always knew everything about the direction of your life path you would not have to go through the inner work that helps you navigate this path.  You may have an inclination about what may interest you, but without getting involved and acting upon this inclination you will never truly know.

To know what you want out your life you have to be brave by doing things that are completely new to you and to get involved with new people.  You may never know exactly what you want in the abstraction of the future, but I do bet there is a feeling within that knows exactly how you feel about the current situation.  Assessing your feelings in this moment will bring you into your awareness.  And only in awareness can the next big revelation begin to unravel.

Whether we decide to control of the process or not, we all project what we feel into our intentions in a way that influences the manifestation of our reality.