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ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: The Power of Connection
Who are you, really? Are you connected to your inner essence or are you going through the motions of your daily life, waiting for ‘someday,’ or retirement or the kids to leave home? Are you truly connected to your Life Purpose? Do you feel you have a connection to inner wisdom and guidance when you have a question?
‘Connection’ isn’t just about the electricity that flows through your house, waiting for a lamp to be plugged in and connecting. Sometimes we can fool ourselves into believing that we have to do something to get connected, just like that lamp.
But the truth is that we are always in a state of connection. All we have to do is to remember that this is so.
You are connected to your Higher Self at all times. Do you take advantage of that connection and access the wisdom that is available there?
You are connected to Source Energy, the energetic flow that is the source of abundance in the Universe.
You are connected to the Angels and Spirit Guides who can help you in your life but they are waiting for you to invite them in, to remember your connection.
And you are connected to other people through the cords of connection that have been established throughout time. Some of these connections are working for the highest good of all involved and others are drains of energy that aren’t supportive of your personal growth. Do you know how to determine the difference and what to do to disconnect the energies that don’t sustain you?
Connection is an energetic that, at its highest level, we all seek. We want to feel connected to others, to our guidance, to Source. In seeking we sometimes forget that it is not to be found outside ourselves, but to be remembered as an inner truth.
Are you seeking Connection? Are you feeling disconnected or connected to energy drains instead of supportive energies? What are you going to do about this?
Let 2014 be the year that you decide to connect to the parts of yourself that you have disowned, have disconnected yourself from. Decide to connect to the energies that support your personal growth this year. Find experts who can help you connect/disconnect as you need.
Start with connecting to your inner guidance. How do you do this? Meditation is a good way to start. Get still and listen to that inner voice.
Pay attention to the signals you receive from your intuition. Journal and allow yourself to write whatever wants to flow through your pen. Take a class that gives you an opportunity to make the connection to inner guides, your Higher Self.
Sometimes you are connected to energy that drains you. Learn how to disconnect or find someone to help you disconnect the cords that are holding you back from growth. Connection is as much about connecting to the energies that are supportive as it is about disconnecting from those that are not. You might need expert help to detach from energies that you aren’t conscious of being there. You will feel free when you have taken care of this.
Connect to like-minded people who support you along your path and with whom you can share your gifts to support them. This is not the time to be isolated from what is going on around you. The world has fewer boundaries than it used to and you are called to reach across the miles to those with whom it is time for you to connect. With 21st Century technology you can stay connected around the globe. It is no longer necessary that you find a tribe with which to connect in your own back yard.
Most importantly, connect with your higher purpose, the reason you are living this life on Planet Earth. Discover your Life Purpose and commit to it. When you connect to Purpose you feel fulfillment and joy. You will find your days opening before you with wonder and light. And you will be connecting to the other souls who have been waiting for you to show up and connect.
Do it now!
PS: Do you want to create some new connections in 2014? Come to Rosemary’s playshop, in person or by video link, and connect to a great group; and lay out your play script for 2014! January 25. Details Here
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Connections for 2014
Rosemary’s Two-Minute Video for this Week: Connections for 2014
PS: Do you want to create some new connections in 2014? Come to Rosemary’s playshop, in person or by video link, and connect to a great group; and lay out your play script for 2014! January 25. Details Here
MONDAY’S POEM: Practice
I mentioned in an earlier post this year that my “word for 2014” is Patience. Some days I think it is my word for this lifetime! But I am actually in conscious practice of all Six Paramitas, the Six Transcendent Perfections. My thought-poem for today is my meditation on these Paramitas:
Practice
Generosity begins with self, home.
Giving of oneself, even life itself,
Gains everything: Peace, joy, long-life
And the Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom.
Ethics begin with the mind, thoughts.
When the mind is clear, present,
The words of speech and
The actions of body follow, as does
The Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom.
Patience is the pivot point of all practice:
Anger is the teacher,
Patience is the lesson,
Long-lasting happiness is the path to
The Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom.
Joyful Exertion is the power
Fueled by courage and determination
That propel ordinary beings to Buddhahood,
And the Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom.
Meditative Contemplation is the only
Pathway home, to neutral mind,
To virtuous mind, to True Self,
And the Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom.
Wisdom, the exact nature of things:
All is impermanent,
All that is impure is suffering,
All is emptiness:
The Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom.
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
“Breakfast with Buddha” – A Book Review
I mentioned this book in my post yesterday as a sign of alignment of my path with the Plan of the Universe. It was a delightful Christmas gift and I raced through the book anticipating each new scene and experience: a good laugh, a shed tear, an unfolding story well told. Here is my short review:
I had not read anything by Roland Murello before I received this book. And I haven’t read a good “road-trip” story in a long time. Both encounters have been very rewarding. And perhaps the rewards have been deeper because I could so easily identify with all of the characters!
You don’t have to identify with any of the characters, however, to enjoy the book. If you are interested in a story of the movement of a fairly typical upper middleclass, middle aged American guy moving through early spiritual awakenings, then I highly recommend this well written book.
Otto Ringling is the main character. He grew up as a Lutheran in the Midwest (North Dakota) on a wheat farm. (I grew up as a Lutheran on a dairy farm in Wisconsin.) He is comfortable in his life: loving wife, two teenage kids whom he adores, great job publishing food books (he loves to eat fine food accompanied by great wine); all is going really well for him. But he has these nagging little discomforts with all of this; small inner tremors that begin to shake things up a bit.
Otto has a sister, Cecelia (mine is a sister-in-law). He calls her Seese (I call mine Cees). He claims his Seese is “as flaky as a good spanakopita crust.” (I won’t say anything here about my Cees, except that I love her!). Otto’s journey truly begins with the sudden death of their parents, the bigger tremor that really begins to shake his foundation.
Otto’s gradual awakening is guided by a Rinpoche, a “friend” of Cecelia. The story unfolds as a road-trip (just Otto and the Rinpoche) from Cecelia’s home in New Jersey to their parents’ farm in North Dakota. There are hilarious scenes through the whole trip, well described, often involving the search for the perfect meal along the meandering journey, as Otto serves Rinpoche a dose of true Americana and Rinpoche serves Otto a dose of the true way to awakening.
The book is light, fun, poignant, silly, profound and just plain enjoyable as a spiritual awakening travelogue. Perhaps I enjoyed it so much because it rang so true for me. But I think anyone who is beginning to get in touch with the truth and their own spiritual awakening will also enjoy the book.
And the best news for me is there is now a sequel: Lunch with Buddha. I can hardly wait to get my copy; and I’ve got a B&N gift card to spend!
Dreaming BIG!!! – Richard’s Commentary
How are you doing with those New Year’s Resolutions? Did you make a few, a lot? If you are anyone like me you have given up on trying to change your life that way. No, I made no resolutions, but that doesn’t mean I have no big dreams!
The Divine Feminine are spot on when they address this issue of resolutions, dreams, transformation and how to manifest the changes you want to see:
Where are you looking for your resources? Are you waiting to win the lottery? If so, are you buying tickets? Are you using the word ‘someday’ in your vocabulary of dreams, always placing that dream in the far distant future? Do you know what you actually need to take a step in the direction of your dreams?
You need Clarity, Commitment and Consciousness.
For me, clarity means “clear intention.” If we are muddled in our thinking, unsure of what it is we want to change, hesitant about reaching for the big goal, then the Universe can’t support us. Clear intention lets the Universe know our direction and can then offer the resources to help us realize our goals. This is the first component of manifestation.
Over the past few months I have become very clear in the direction I want the rest of my life to take. And the Universe is responding! Just as a trivial example of this, I received a book as a gift from a dear friend; it is Breakfast with Buddha by Roland Merullo. My friend had no idea when she picked this up for me that I have moved firmly back onto my Buddhist path. She had no idea that I am planning my own journey this year to return to my roots. Merullo’s novel and his characters have so much in common with my own life that it’s almost silly. My friend was moved by the Universe to place this book in my hands! (I’ll have more to say on Breakfast with Buddha in a future post.)
Now, I have studied, practiced, sat Zazen, read and explored in most ways possible this notion of Buddhism for many years. But I have never really committed to this path. This is the second component of manifestation. The Universe needs to know we are serious about our clear intentions. All of my past studies and practices, while I took them very seriously, were not true commitments to the path. They were exploratory, forays into the fascinating world, but with no real committed intention of remaining there.
This has changed. I am committed. My living habits are changing to support the commitment: diet, drink, sleep, dream-time, meditation are all much more focused, real, and supporting my commitment. Again, the Universe is responding to my commitment with the resources I need to continue.
And it’s really all about changing our mind, isn’t it? One of Rosemary’s expressions I’m fond of is: If you want to change your life, change your mind. Reality is after all nothing more than consciousness, the third component of transformation. We all encounter blocks along our way. Most of these stumbling blocks, scattered across our paths, are mental blocks, maybe old beliefs planted in us from childhood. Much like the main character in Merullo’s book, Otto Ringling, I was raised as a Lutheran in the Midwest. “Lutherans don’t become Buddhists!” We don’t even think about Buddhists, unless they are setting themselves on fire in Viet Nam when we are burning our draft cards at a safe distance at the University! I’ve been changing my mind about a lot of things over the past 60 years; it’s time for this once-upon-a-time Lutheran to admit his true colors. Through many cycles of birth, old age, sickness and death, I’ve traveled the road as a Buddhist! I think I’ll finish this one the same way!
The Divine Feminine conclude: Dream BIG!!! With Clarity, Commitment and Consciousness you can live that dream!
And I do have Big Dreams for 2014. I hope you do too!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Dreaming BIG!!!
Guidance from The Divine Feminine that gives us all Hope.
“Dear Ones,
Now is the time for you to fulfill your fantasies for a dream life.
How far will you go? Do you realize that there is nothing holding you back?
Oh, you might think that you need more money or time or a different job or a different location, but the truth is that you have all that you need for your dream life inside you NOW.
Where are you looking for your resources? Are you waiting to win the lottery? If so, are you buying tickets? Are you using the word ‘someday’ in your vocabulary of dreams, always placing that dream in the far distant future? Do you know what you actually need to take a step in the direction of your dreams?
You need Clarity, Commitment and Consciousness.
Clarity will bring that distant, hazy dream into clear focus. You will see what it is that is truly your heart’s desire, instead of something that is ‘out there’ in a vague form. The more you can clarify the vision, the easier it will be to concentrate your energies in that direction. The more details that you can identify, the easier it will be to take specific steps to manifest that dream.
In gaining clarity about your dream, you must also ask yourself if this is your dream or someone else’s. Does this dream start in your Heart-Mind or does it come from something you think you should desire? Be very clear about the source of this dream! When you dig deeply into where it was born, you might surprise yourself to see that it is something you have dreamed for a long time but it is not really what you desire for yourself. You might hear someone else’s voice describing that dream. Or the long-held dream might have been the desire of a younger you but is no longer relevant as you have grown and matured and expanded your consciousness. Be sure about that dream.
Once your dream is clear to you, Commitment is required. It is easy to commit to a bold dream that comes from your own Heart-Mind! You WANT to make it happen. It is compelling and draws you forward into the new you. Your commitment to realizing this dream is not based on someone else’s measure or the ‘shoulds’ that live in your head. It is, instead, a vision of you living your best and richest life with the fullness of your energy working toward your own happiness and joy.
With Clarity and Commitment compelling you forward, it is time to bring your Consciousness into alignment with the vision of your dream life. If you have a vision of yourself living this dream life, but you cannot imagine that you can possibly get there, then your Consciousness is what must shift before anything in your physical reality can allow the manifestation of that dream.
What thought patterns have you been living that have held you from already realizing that dream? What beliefs have you held that have kept that dream at a distance from you? What are you holding onto in your life that is energetically holding you back from living the vision that you hold?
Shifting your limiting beliefs and any negative thoughts allows you to fully embrace that vision and sail forward toward the destination. And what you will find is that the destination continues your journey, for living your dreams creates the belief that you can continue to dream even bigger dreams and that you can make THEM come true, too!
Dream BIG!!! With Clarity, Commitment and Consciousness you can live that dream!
And so it is.”
Rosemary’s Comment: If this seems like too big a task, then start with Clarity. Work on defining, in great detail, what it is that you desire for yourself and your life now. Take the step and the leap will follow!
PS: Rosemary can help you with your big dreams! She channeled an hour-long message from The Divine Feminine on the Winter Solstice; they offered guidance and advice on what we might expect in 2014, and how to approach the year’s energies. Expect more change! The transformation continues! This message is available as an MP3 recording for a modest price; check out the details here: Winter Solstice Message
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Dream BIG!
My Two-Minute Video for this Week: Dream BIG!
PS: Rosemary can help you with your big dreams! She channeled an hour-long message from The Divine Feminine on the Winter Solstice; they offered guidance and advice on what we might expect in 2014, and how to approach the year’s energies. Expect more change! The transformation continues! This message is available as an MP3 recording for a modest price; check out the details here: Winter Solstice Message
MONDAY’S POEM: Patience
Patience has been a life-long lesson for me. I have committed to learn it, probably not finally but fully, this year. My “word for the year” is Patience. And with that announcement and commitment, my first poem of they year is just that!
Patience
Always rushing, always late.
Bly: “It’s already too late.”
What’s the hurry, why the haste?
Are we afraid death will win the race?
Ignore the signs, sharp curve ahead.
The moon is waxing, move briskly ahead.
But after the waxing, the moon will wane.
All that briskness; All in vain?
Waiting, always waiting, never enough.
Patience, learning patience, more than enough!
Where is the action, why just sit?
Are we afraid Death won’t fit?
Rushing or waiting, all the same.
Waxing and waning, cycles the same.
Let life catch up; it has its flow.
Be as patient as death; keep it slow.
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
I CHING GUA FOR THE NEW MOON IN CAPRICORN
We not only rang in a New Year at midnight on January 1, we also experienced a New Moon at 7:14 AM Eastern time on the First. Lots of new energy to begin the year!
As one of my practices I cast an I Ching Gua (a hexagram of yin and yang lines) on each new moon to “read” the energies that are coming in for us. The I Ching or “book of change” can be used as a divination tool, not so much to predict what is coming but to get a sense of the energies of change that may be coming up through the month. This is another of the many “intuitive tools” that are available to us to help us sense beyond the usual three-dimensional ways through our five senses.
To help with the interpretation of the Gua I rely on a book by Taoist Master Alfred Huang: The Complete I Ching. I find his translation to be thorough, detailed and clear. Of course there is plenty of room for my own reading of the Gua because the words and meanings of the I Ching can be open and obscure.
For January the Gua I cast using a 50-yarrow stalk method generated this hexagram:
The “x” and circles through the 3rd, 4th and 6th lines indicate they are “changing lines.” Master Huang recommends reading only the middle changing line when there are three. So, only the 4th line is used to generate a new, changed Gua as pictured below.
But first we need to understand “Hindrance.” This Gua is made up of two trigrams, Earth is the lower one and Heaven is the upper. This is not a particularly auspicious Gua because Heaven is above and drawing away from the Earth. There is a block here against progress. It is the opposite of “Advance” which is the preceding Gua in the I Ching sequence. But this is a natural flow: after advancing there comes hindrance. And, naturally, after a time of hindrance there can be further advance.
For me the energy here is to pause, for a short time. The Hindrance-Energy is on the way out with 2013. (Note the volatility of this initial Gua with three changing line.) Yet, there is no need to leap into anything big early in the New Year.
Using only the middle line, the 4th, as the changing line yields this Gua:
The Guan here is the same word as in Guan Yin the Goddess of Compassion. The literal meaning of her name is “Watching Sound.” In this sense Guan means meditating or concentrating.
The message for me is to meditate on any actions for the month and proceed with caution. In all things be an example. Watch yourself and also remember you are being watched by others. Contemplate before action. This Gua is approached from Hindrance. While the energy barriers are lifting and Hindrance is shifting there is no need for haste. Be considerate.
A further way to interpret a Gua is to form a new one from the 2nd, 3rd and 4th lines as the lower trigram and the 3rd, 4th and 5th lines as the upper trigram. This yields the “mutual gua” – in this case Bo, Falling away. This too holds a sense of warning energy. Conserve what you have. This New Moon will wax to fullness and then wane again. Proceed with caution during the waning moon.
Hindrance quickly yields to Watching early in the month. Meditate on all action. As the Chinese say about Pi: pi ji tai lai, which means: “Out of the depths of misfortune comes bliss. At the end of Hindrance appears Advance.”
Enjoy this moon-cycle and the start of this fabulous New Year however you wish to interpret the energies captured by the I Ching!
PS: My friend and astrologer, Gloria Hesseloff, had this to say about this Capricorn New Moon: “2014 invites us to continue ‘planting the seeds’ for the next 26,000 years, or at least the next few generations.” Planting seeds for generations certainly requires thoughtful patience!
Reflections from 2013 = Guidance for 2014 – Richard’s Commentary
As my commentary on Rosemary’s important post from yesterday I simply want to trace the development of the reflections leading to the guidance for the new year and note why these thoughts and development are so important to our growth in consciousness.
Each of us has a responsibility to ourselves and to others to learn how to live in community with the people around us. Evolution in conscious returns us to community. I say “returns us” here because as the human race was developing a few thousand years ago, we did so only in community. The “rugged individualism” of the so-called modern west had yet to arise. Humans depended on other humans, living together in social structures in which everyone had a role to play, a dependent and cooperative role. We need to return to that level of consciousness.
Reach out beyond what you can see to the possibilities that are there. Always reach higher. We are never finished with development. “After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” There is no limit, no goal that can be achieved and sustained without reaching higher.
A crystalized belief feels like an energy block. Examine all beliefs; The Divine Feminine during the Winter Solstice message channeled by Rosemary, said our beliefs will be challenged in 2014. We will be called to defend them. Are you prepared to defend all of your beliefs? Are you prepared to release the ones that are holding you back?
When you find yourself stuck in a rut, or not sure what your next step is, remind yourself that you are always at a point of choice in your life. We are always at choice. This can be either exhilarating or daunting. Choose the freedom and exhilaration this requires and make the best choices you can with the information you have in the moment. If it turns out to be the right choice, celebrate your brilliance. If it turns out there may have been a better choice, forgive yourself, learn the lesson and move on!
It’s okay to consider yourself and your own needs. It’s not “selfish” to take care of yourself. You cannot serve from an empty container. You first have to love yourself in order to be able to love your neighbor, and your enemy!
When you put your attention on being instead of doing, your energy flows into being the you you were meant to be. We are humanbeings. Find the way to be, in the moment, in the present, right here, right now. Now is the only reality. If you find the way to be then you will have the energy and the motivation to do.
When you demand control of your environment, you limit the ways in which the Universe answers your requests. This is excellent advice for the western mind. We are all about control; we want things just so, the way we planned them, the way we expect them, the way they “should” be! But what if the Universe has something better in store? What if we pause, be in the present and listen? Letting go of that false sense of control not only opens the doors to possibility greater than we can imagine, it also relieves an incredible load of stress!
and
This message is from The Divine Feminine for us:
“Dear Ones,
The flames are licking at the Doors of Change. Those who fear change are trying to engulf the opportunities in flames so that you and others will not walk through them. Do not let these fear-mongers paralyze you.
Change and Opportunity are two sides of the same coin, of the same door.”
Choose change and you choose opportunity.
Community, possibility, examined beliefs, choice, self-care, presence, flow and fearlessness open the doors of opportunity. The change you find there will be of your own making! And it will make for a wonderful 2014!
PS: The Divine Feminine, as channeled by Rosemary on the Winter Solstice, offered amazing advice for 2014. Expect more change! The transformation continues! Their message is available as an MP3 recording for a modest price; check out the details here: Winter Solstice Mesage
Men and The Goddess 