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ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Remember the Law of Remembering!
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” Video for this Week: Remember the Law of Remembering!
MONDAY’S POEM: Echoes 1
My newest grandson, Tristan Wallace Bredeson, is here for a visit from California. He is just over three months old now, and beginning to show a delightful personality. He has been just about the most perfect baby I can imagine; he only fusses a little when he is hungry or needs a change! We are having a delightful time with him!
A new generation of Bredesons leads me to the poem today. I wrote it two years ago, but it seems to apply even more as the next generation, the next echo sounds forth. And with my son and grandson with me now, I do catch myself using expressions and words from my past, my parents. Are we learning lessons and moving on to new ones or are we just echoing within the chamber of time? Maybe the answer to this question is “yes”!
Echoes 1
Dad’s voice moved from
My ear to my throat
At breakfast. I heard
Him clearly: A non-sensical
Expression of his.
Mom’s voice jumped out of
My mouth with no thought
Or control behind it. It
Was clear, critical; some
Rule was broken.
Where is my voice? Has it
Been silenced by the tides
Of Time; lost in the returning
Ripples from the
Wall of Beyond?
Is the Wall of Time moving?
Is the sphere expanding?
The already learned lessons
Echo from the cold surface
Teaching, preaching.
Will we ever learn?
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Start with ‘We Are All One’ – Richard’s Commentary
It is healing to reread Rosemary’s “exploration” which was written before the midterm elections held Tuesday. Election Day is now behind us here in the US. Come January we will have a new Congress at the Federal level and a new shift in the political landscape across the country from State governorships to Statehouse composition.
Tuesday evening, as election results started coming in, I grew more and more concerned with this shift. Yes, I am a liberal, a progressive, a socialist…I am not afraid of these labels because they paint me with a color I am pleased to wear. So, you can understand why I grew concerned. The voters, if not the country, want change. This I do understand. My concern is with the direction of the changes. I woke up Wednesday morning feeling wounded; in need of healing.
Then I reread: Start with ‘We Are All One’; and I thought: What if we “Start with we are all one”?
There’s nothing like an election to bring out the worst in people, to polarize people, to divide and confuse, exaggerate and obfuscate to get people not only voting, but often voting against their own best interests. And then I read:
What do you believe? Let’s start with the folks around you, your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, the community, your country. Are they all ‘others’ to you? How about people who live on the other side of the world? The other side of the political spectrum? The other skin colors? The other religions?
And I ask myself about those on “the other side of the political spectrum” and begin to wonder. They are people doing the best they can with the information and resources they have. I may wish for them to have more information, more resources, but that is an empty wish. No matter the result from Tuesday’s election and no matter the polarity dividing people into political camps we are all in this together. And even that sounds socialist but we are here, all Earthlings, breathing the same air and held by the same gravity. And so the healing begins.
The more we focus on ‘otherness’ the less we understand about who we really are as individuals. Yes, we have separate physical bodies, but we are all one. We are all one big organism called ‘humanity’ on Earth.
The dividing lines begin to fade. There is shift and change, ebb and flow, a breeze from a different direction. As with everything in life it is temporary, impermanent. And maybe with this shift some things will get done. We can hope for a new level of cooperation, some consensus building over the next couple of years. Can we even hope for some compromise?
I don’t have to like the election results. I don’t have to pretend the direction the country may be turning is good or correct. But I do have to accept the change and find hope in movement. And I need to remember to:
Start with We Are All One. Everything really is connected, so connected, in fact, that it is One. We can share. Just as we learned in kindergarten, it is okay to take turns, to share, to participate together so that everyone is taken care of.
It’s the conservatives’ turn. Let’s heal from the bruising election and hope there can be some positive movement of the One Human Organism!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Start with ‘We Are All One’
You’ve heard that ‘seeing is believing,’ right? The truth is that ‘believing is seeing.’
What you believe becomes the lens through which you view everything.
What do you believe? Let’s start with the folks around you, your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, the community, your country. Are they all ‘others’ to you? How about people who live on the other side of the world? The other side of the political spectrum? The other skin colors? The other religions?
The more we focus on ‘otherness’ the less we understand about who we really are as individuals. Yes, we have separate physical bodies, but we are all one. We are all one big organism called ‘humanity’ on Earth.
Even the teachings about how we are all connected are trying to explain a concept that goes deeper than that. We Are All One. There really is no separation.
If you’ve heard anything about new science, quantum physics, you’ve probably heard that science understands that particles that seem to be discrete and individual somehow seem to know what other particles are doing without a connection network to transmit that information. (Or, at least, a connection that we can describe and understand at this time!) But if the particles (individuals) are all a part of one organism (consciousness) then maybe they don’t need a communication network. They just ‘know’ what is known elsewhere.
Now, for humans, this can get trickier because we like to think that we are unique individuals and we LOVE the word ‘mine’! From the time we first figure out what that word means, as toddlers, we use it to lay claim to what we perceive is ours, without regard to what anyone else wants. Just ask a toddler to care that you want to play with that toy that they’ve declared is ‘mine’ and see how far you get!
Grownups can evolve beyond this narrow vision of ‘mine’ into ‘ours,’ if they try. We learned to share in kindergarten, we practiced being a sibling or a couple or a family member or a community and we learned about the concept of ‘for the good of all.’ Not everyone, though, has embraced that concept.
In the midst of an election in a democracy, like the US, we hear all sorts of rhetoric and, sadly, lies. Everyone running for office claims to have the solutions for every problem. We often hear fear-mongering to get you all riled up about holding onto what you claim is ‘mine’ vs sharing with others, the concept of ‘ours.’ To back up these claims there are often statistics or stories that are concocted without a basis in fact.
The little toddler inside each voter reacts with that old idea of ‘mine’ and can be blindly led down a path that causes them to vote against their own best interest because they are so focused on ‘others’ trying to take what is ‘mine’ that they forget to analyze, calculate, do the research and educate themselves.
Start with We Are All One. Everything really is connected, so connected, in fact, that it is One. We can share. Just as we learned in kindergarten, it is okay to take turns, to share, to participate together so that everyone is taken care of.
Not only do we have privileges as human beings on Earth at this time, we also have responsibilities to each other and to the Earth. In a democracy, citizenship includes being educated and caring about others who share this democracy with you. As Earthlings, we share the planet with many others and so we have a responsibility to care for and about the Earth.
Get out the glass cleaner and clean off the lens through which you are looking at the world. Start with We Are All One!
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: We are One!
My “Two-Minute” Video for this Week: We are One!
MONDAY’S POEM: BALANCE
Today’s poem is a reprise. But it helps me remember this key to life and how to practice. And it is an echo of an experience Rosemary and I shared last evening; and that experience, too, was an echo of an earlier experience two years ago! Echoes within echoes, the cycle of time!
We helped sponsor, organize and share Ashana here in Annapolis for a concert Saturday night and an Activation Sunday evening. The Activation was powerful, a Kundalini Yoga experience of profound depth accompanied by Ashana’s amazing crystal bowls and angelic voice. For four hours we worked on opening and balancing our lower three chakras. This in turn helps open the upper three, all centered around the heart chakra. It was both deeply grounding helping us get in touch with the Earth, our Mother, and soaringly uplifting as we sailed and sang with the Angels!
And I reread this poem and remembered again that all is in balance; we all just need to remember!
Balance
Breathe in freshness,
The power of life in the Universe.
Breathe out love,
The acceptance of All in the Universe.
Consume deliciousness,
Every dish alive with energy.
Purge the waste without grief;
It is a meal for another.
Bring into the Universe all of You;
Your unique gifts are essential.
Let go of everything that is not yours;
There are others ready to serve.
Live your Life Purpose;
Your karmic journey is open.
Die as a Natural Human,
Fully embracing your sense of place.
©2013 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Choose to Celebrate! – Richard’s Commentary
The press does a great job of getting us into fear. This word is the center-point of Rosemary’s post. It seems, especially since 9/11, that there has been a deliberate campaign to keep us fearful. Call me a conspiracy theorist if you will, but think about it; watch the news (FOX or MSNBC) and listen for the undercurrent, the focus of the articles, the energy of the reporters or anchors. What is your sense?
Now, I don’t even want to go into the motivations for this, if there even are any. Sensation sells. And if the commercials on news channels are any indication then the news is all about selling. And maybe it’s that simple.
The key point here is we have choices. We can choose to listen and believe everything we hear on the news. If we do there is good reason for fear! Ebola is big in the news with a handful of people here in the US who have come down with the virus and one unfortunate death. But it is well controlled, contained and the chances of an epidemic here are next to none. So why all the frenzy and controversy? It sells; it keeps us tuned in. We have a choice – to tune out!
I am not suggesting a total “news fast” here, although there are many, including some of my esteemed teachers, who recommend avoiding the news, all media for that matter! I do limit the amount of news programming I watch and I watch with a very critical eye and ear, looking at the underlying story, motivation, nuance. And most importantly I choose how to react.
That said, if you ask Rosemary she would say I often over-react at the nonsense that is being spouted and reported as news. Maybe that’s my choice!
Here’s the key to Rosemary’s Exploration:
There are a lot of fear-mongers who would invite you to feel fear. There are a lot of situations in the world that, when focused on, will generate fear. There are, though, a lot MORE situations that invite us to celebrate.
Rosemary goes on to list many, even down to the functions of our bodies, the meals we eat and the air we breathe. Do you celebrate your stomach for taking care of the meal you just ate?
One of the methods I choose while practicing Qigong is the “inner smile” made popular by Mantak Chia. As my practice winds down and I begin the closing breathing and self-massage, I go through my inner organs in my mind’s eye and thank them with a smile! This is my way of celebrating my health, my body and my physical life. Fear, bad news, horror stories of violence and greed will not give me ulcers. I smile to my stomach and offer my thanks and praise for the awesome work it does!
And if that sounds too weird to you, then choose other ways to celebrate. Maybe it’s your safety record as a good driver. Maybe it’s a fabulous accomplishment by you or a family member. Look for the good news from the simple, everyday successes to the complexities of technology that allow you to read this half-way around the world, instantly.
As Rosemary concludes:
Celebrate! You are reading this. Fear reminds you that you have forgotten to celebrate what’s good, what’s going well. Choose to focus on celebrating and let the fear take a back seat. There’s always something to celebrate, even if it’s just that next breath that you take!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Choose to Celebrate!
You are always at a point of choice about how you will respond to a given situation. The way it works is: an event happens, you have a knee-jerk reaction, and you respond. When you are living a conscious life, you pause after that knee-jerk reaction and CHOOSE how you will respond.
Life happens. Stuff happens to and around and in us. We have natural tendencies to react in a certain way. Your first response might be anger. It might be fear. It might be to blame someone else. It might be to assume that it is your fault. There are lots of ways that you can react to a stimulus.
But you CHOOSE the way you will respond to that stimulus. If you allow your unconscious mind to make the choice, it will choose to operate under the same strategies from which your knee-jerk reaction arose.
However, if you give yourself a chance to pause, you will have many more options for choosing a response.
There are a lot of fear-mongers who would invite you to feel fear. There are a lot of situations in the world that, when focused on, will generate fear. There are, though, a lot MORE situations that invite us to celebrate.
But do we focus on celebrating or on fear?
The chances are very slim that you will ever contract the Eboli virus. And, yet, many people are hysterically afraid of this disease which is, admittedly, not a fun thing to have. It is, however, very difficult to contract this disease. But you are certainly hearing a lot about it, often with an undertone of fear.
Now think about all the things that are going RIGHT with your body, right now, in this moment, as you read these words. You have molecules and atoms and cells and tissues and organs that are all functioning without your conscious mind having to direct the show. Air is going in and out of your lungs without your conscious effort, unless you choose to focus on your breathing.
The last meal you ate is digesting itself without your focus. You can reach for a drink of water without having to consciously fire off every muscle involved in the action. Your eyes and brain are working together to make sense of the images you read on this page.
In other words, there are a whole lot of reasons for you to celebrate your body!
Are you feeling fearful at the moment about something that hasn’t happened yet?
Allow that fear to invite you into celebration of something that IS HAPPENING in this present moment. Get into gratitude for things that are working the way you want them to work. Think about the volunteers around the globe who are selflessly serving others right now.
Think about the Sun rising every single morning without your assistance. The things that you worry about are possibilities that haven’t materialized yet. Even if you have a fear based on something that has already happened, is that fear leading to the resources to make the optimal choice of response or is it constricting your vision so much that you can’t see any other possibilities?
Celebrate! You are reading this. Fear reminds you that you have forgotten to celebrate what’s good, what’s going well. Choose to focus on celebrating and let the fear take a back seat. There’s always something to celebrate, even if it’s just that next breath that you take!
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Choose to Celebrate!
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” Video for this Week: Choose to Celebrate!
MONDAY’S POEM: Cosmic Aura
In case you hadn’t noticed, dear reader, I love the Fall. For many reasons it is my favorite season. One thing I particularly enjoy is watching the changing qualities of the light. Every day seems different, but the underlying quality is gold. My last couple of poems posted here are recent ones as I relish these shortening days filled with wonderful light, color, sounds, smells, all those sumptuous “flavors” of late harvest (so full and sweet) and the coming cold!
Cosmic Aura
Bright day follows cool morning rain.
That tale lingers in the glisten on the deck,
The scattering gray at the eastward edge.
Now is a fine day dawning.
There is gold lighting the canopy.
The trees reflect the Cosmic Aura.
That radiant light begins within,
Extends outward to fill
The entire known Universe –
And beyond (we don’t know much!).
It is a deep light, endless,
Dancing ecstatically at the edge,
Holding boundless love
In the gossamer fingers of God,
Arms of Goddess holding Cosmos to her breast.
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Men and The Goddess 