Archive
A FRIDAY POEM FROM “RHYTHMS AND CYCLES” – Shells
I planted a few seeds in some pots on our deck last week. Now I watch for the sprouts to break through. Spring time is such a wondrous season of birth; it’s the perfect time to consider all the cycles of life!
Shells
The heart does not expand
From an empty shell.
The seed is there inside
Waiting for the moment.
It takes a special love
To break through that shell.
The germ hovers in bonds
Trembling in dark potential.
The light waits calmly
Just outside the shell.
The sprout presses its power
Seeking a weakness and release.
Suddenly love explodes
Through that hard shell.
The tender life wiggles free
Reaching toward the light.
The heart embraces all life
To escape that empty shell.
The community grows
Filling the world with love.
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Conscious Relationships Start with Self-Love – Richard’s Commentary
Humans are social beings. It is all about relationships. Last week I wrote about our interdependence with others, what Thich Nhat Hahn calls “interbeing.” We are especially dependent on and interdependent with other humans. Here’s what Rosemary says about that:
Human beings are relationship experts. We are constantly adjusting relationships, in one direction or another. Relationships with significant others, with parents and with children, with co-workers, clients, neighbors, hairdressers, waitstaff at the local restaurant, checker at the grocery store. Every interaction with another human being is an element of a relationship.
And every relationship begins on the inside of ourselves. This is why it is so important to have that relationship in the first place! Do you have a good relationship with yourself?
In her post Rosemary writes about choices we have and we make moment to moment. The first choice is to have that inner relationship. How do you do that? It’s as easy as breathing! And we all need to do that!
The “conscious relationship with self” begins with conscious breathing. That’s right, bring your consciousness to your breathing pattern. Don’t try to change it or make an effort, just bring your attention to how your breath feels; think about the inhale; feel it as it comes in through your nose, down your throat, into your lungs. Where does it go there? Does it fill up your chest? Does it go down into your belly? Just notice. And on the exhale, how does that feel? What happens first? How much air do you exhale?
Shifting just our focus on our breath, with no change at all in rhythm or style, changes our body chemistry and our mental awareness! Imagine what might happen if you actually, consciously begin to control your breathing. Maybe your in-breath goes a bit deeper and is longer; maybe you hold it for just a moment as you sense it, notice the feeling of expansion. Then as you exhale maybe you do this more slowly, deliberately. And maybe you expel more air, even flattening your belly, back towards your spine as you push out more air – to make room for a bigger in-breath.
And you can continue in this manner, watching your breath, taking longer, deeper, slower breaths. This is the beginning of a relationship with yourself, your deeper self.
I’m not writing here to teach meditation. But I am echoing Rosemary’s intention that your best relationship is with yourself, inside. Here’s what she says about you:
Who you are, deep in your core, is a beautiful being of Light. Who you are, inside, is a spark of divine energy. Who you are, in the essence of you, is a person of access to great wisdom and love. THIS is the person that you really want to show up in every relationship, isn’t it?
I would like to have a relationship with this being of Light – you! Wouldn’t you?
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Conscious Relationships Start with Self-Love
All Love flows from Self-Love.
I’ve shared this many times and will keep doing so until each of us is totally in love with our own divine Self!
The most important relationship you have is the one you have with yourself. What is the measure of that relationship right now? Are you giving this relationship time, nurturing, attention, even money? Or are you putting off taking care of yourself while you care for others, or think that you cannot ‘afford’ to take care of yourself?
Human beings are relationship experts. We are constantly adjusting relationships, in one direction or another. Relationships with significant others, with parents and with children, with co-workers, clients, neighbors, hairdressers, waitstaff at the local restaurant, checker at the grocery store. Every interaction with another human being is an element of a relationship. If you are having a bad day, do you walk into the hardware store and act like the grumpy guy from down the street? When you have a bad day at work, do you come home and snap at the family?
When you have a great day, do you smile at the barista at Starbucks? Bring flowers home for the dinner table? Call a friend just to say ‘hi’?
You have choices. And every interaction with another human being involves a choice on your part about how you are showing up in that relationship.
Maybe you haven’t thought about how you treat the teller at the bank as a ‘relationship,’ but it is. It deserves care and tending. Your family members, too, deserve to have a relationship with you that comes from caring and love and it is your choice whether or not to offer nurturing in that relationship.
The first choice that you are called to make is to be true to your Self. Your relationship to your inner Self determines how you will relate to others. Do you struggle with a lack of self-love? Do you lash out at others instead of taking a breath and seeking guidance from your inner wisdom? Do you judge people without compassion about their circumstances, about which you might know nothing?
Who you are, deep in your core, is a beautiful being of Light. Who you are, inside, is a spark of divine energy. Who you are, in the essence of you, is a person of access to great wisdom and love. THIS is the person that you really want to show up in every relationship, isn’t it?
Take some time today to check in with yourself about your relationship with your Self. Tap into your own inner wisdom as you look around at the relationships in which you participate every day.
The word ‘namaste’ means ‘the Light in me honors the Light in you.’ Let your Light shine in every connection that you experience. Come from loving yourself, valuing that Light within, and sharing that Light with the outer world.
Conscious Relationships are the most rewarding. Start with a Conscious Relationship with your Self!
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Let’s Talk About Relationships
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” Video for this Week: Let’s Talk About Relationships
MONDAY’S POEM: The Dance of Time
Another Monday. The moon wanes, the month wanes into the third third and time marches on! Shortly we’ll be a third through 2014. With time on my mind here is a Monday poem I wrote in 2011 (about three years ago):
The Dance of Time
The passage of time is a spiral dance.
It weaves
It floats
It rises
It falls.
It is a multi-dimensional wave.
And like a wave it is stationary.
It moves
It calms
It comes
It goes.
It is a mystery beyond space.
The passage of time is music for the dance.
It sings
It plays
It beats
It rhymes.
It is the rhythm of my heart,
The song of my soul,
The symphony of my spirit.
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Rosemary on: Tools for Healing
Rosemary was on another radio show interview on Wednesday on the subject of Healing Tools for self-care. She offers some really good and very simple suggestions:
Connect! – Richard’s Commentary
We are all connected in so many ways. Do you ever consider just how connected we are? Thich Nhat Hahn speaks of this as interdependence. I heard him speak years ago about this concept of interconnectedness, not just with humans but with all things. It’s his way to begin to explain shunyata, or the Mahayana Buddhist philosophy of “emptiness.” We are interconnected with and interdependent on every atom and molecule on earth (and beyond)!
So as Rosemary writes:
Your life is all about connecting. You were born into a family or chosen by one. You have chosen friends and partners. You bore children or sired them. You have worked with people, paid some for services, gone to the doctor, bought groceries. Every thing you have done has contained an element of connection.
How deep does your “connecting” go?
All of these external, intricate interdependencies at the material, physical level are only a small (maybe miniscule) part of our connectedness. Rosemary urges another way to “Connect” – to the inner you:
When you connect with the inner you, you are tapping into your own power, your essence. When you have a strong connection to your inner wisdom, your guides, you gain clarity and confidence.
How vast is this connection for you? When you let your imagination run free how much ground does it cover, how many worlds do you visit?
Rosemary mentions many ways to connect to the inner you: meditation, contemplation, visualizations, writing. For those who don’t have a formal practice even daydreaming is a way to connect. Prayer is also an excellent way to connect and listen!
But how many of us resist this inner connection? How many even blot it out through various means of escape? Even in prayer it is easy to externalize the conversationmaking appeals to the Almighty out there somewhere in the Universe! Do we ever stop to listen, to keep this conversation bidirectional? When/if we do listen, where do we hear that voice?
Often people need help with this inner connection. For many indigenous peoples they relied on shamans as intercessors with the Spirit World. Western people rely on their priests and/or psychologists to facilitate the inner dialog. This is a wonderful way to begin the conversation. Sometimes we need translators to interpret the symbols. Sometimes we need validation that what we are hearing/feeling/seeing is true for us.
If you need help to jumpstart your inner connection, get it. The inner world is vast beyond belief. The inner connection, the inner dialog can take you on journeys beyond your wildest conscious imagination if you allow and listen. Your purpose calls you to this and your passion is waiting for you, just there, inside!
Have fun; have a great ride. And don’t worry about sending postcards!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Connect!
Your life is all about connecting. You were born into a family or chosen by one. You have chosen friends and partners. You bore children or sired them. You have worked with people, paid some for services, gone to the doctor, bought groceries. Every thing you have done has contained an element of connection.
Do you love to walk in Nature? Aren’t you connecting with Mother Earth, with the plants and animals as you walk?
Do you go to a job? Eat in a restaurant? Go shopping? Get together with friends for lunch? Spend holidays with the family?
It’s always about connecting.
And how much time do you spend connecting with the inner you? Have you connected with your inner wisdom, your guides, your angels, your intuition? This is the most important connecting you can do.
When you connect with the inner you, you are tapping into your own power, your essence. When you have a strong connection to your inner wisdom, your guides, you gain clarity and confidence.
People today seem to be searching for connection but looking outside for a place to ‘plug in.’ The real connection that they are seeking isn’t outside; it resides inside. Are you one of the seekers of an outside connection or are you remembering to connect to the inner you?
You don’t need to have a great love interest to be connected. It isn’t having a great job or a best friend or a perfect family that will give you the feeling of connection that you seek. All of those connections might be nice, but the most important one is the one that reaches inside you, into the depths of your inner essence, and brings forth the passion, your purpose, your inner divinity and shares that with the outside world.
It is a tall order to make that inner connection and then to share what you find with the world. Your inner light shines so brightly that it can dazzle those who wish to stay in the dark. Your inner guidance will point you in the direction of manifesting your dreams. The inner gifts that you reveal when you reach inside might frighten you with their intensity.
Are you ready to connect?
There are many ways to do this connecting. Your inner light is always shining. If you feel disconnected it is merely a forgetting, not a true disconnection. Meditation, guided visualization, working with a counselor, journaling – all of these techniques will help you to make the connection.
Many of the clients I work with are seeking the wisdom that they cannot hear from their own guides. Often I speak what they think they have been hearing and the guides are using me to confirm the message. It is a matter of trusting what you hear.
Do you trust the inner guidance that you receive? This is the most important aspect to the connection.
If you receive guidance after you connect but you do not trust the message, you will continue to stay stuck where you are. And isn’t the point to move forward, to grow?
Trust me when I tell you that you will have the energy to grow, to move forward, when you are connected to that inner YOU. Your passion, your purpose, your inner wisdom – all are ready for you to connect.
Are YOU ready? Connect!
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Connect! To Your Passion & Purpose
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” Video for this Week: Connect! To Your Passion & Purpose
MONDAY’S POEM: Facing Kalachakra
I have been preparing for the Kalachakra Initiation. As part of my preparation I have been doing some important, and overdue, shadow work. Kalachakra is helping with this. Today’s poem came out of some of this work.
Facing Kalachakra
Face me and burn in my
Blazing fire of purification.
Turn away and see the
Long shadow cast by my Light.
Kneel to your shadow stretching
Into the past, mistakes, wrong turns.
See that shadow shrinking
As ego gives way to surrender.
Prostrate fully along the ground
Offering shadow to Earth.
Rise in newness turning slowly
On unsteady legs just born.
Face me and learn the Truth
In my blazing fire of purity.
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Men and The Goddess 