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MONDAY’S POEM: Leo Sun
I wrote today’s poem about three years ago under a Leo Sun. You probably know by now I was born in Leo, my wife, Rosemary is also a Leo (same birthday!). I have a brother, Jerry who is a Leo (also same birthday!). Our nephew is a Leo. Today is my sister-in-law’s birthday – making her a Leo. And, last and best, our new grandson, Tristan is a Leo! Wow, a lot to celebrate! And we still have a few more days with Sun in Leo to continue the celebration. My poem today is dedicated to ALL LEOs! Enjoy the Sun!
Leo Sun
Our newest Leo, Tristan
Seek the light within;
This is where the fire burns.
It is a golden light,
A speck of the burning Sun.
Breathe in the golden beams;
Feed the inner fire.
The Lion Heart consumes
The flame; rejoice!
Bright August frames
This happy time
When inner shines so bright.
Rejoice, again rejoice! – before the night.
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
FRIDAY’S POEM FROM “RHYTHMS AND CYCLES” – Undefining
My word for the week has been “transparency.” I’ve worked with this notion a bit more and reached a deeper understanding of the meaning of “undefining” as it applies to oneself, the ego, the persona we so often hide behind.
I’m putting this poem, which came from my ruminations on transparency, into my “Rhythms and Cycles” collection because I believe as we grow and evolve as humans we go through a cyclic process of trying on costumes, masks, personae to see how they fit and feel. And then, as snakes shedding their skins, we grow out of them, beyond them and reach for a new way of being. We are in a constant state of becoming; notice the rhythms of becoming in your life!
Undefining
Let all masks, personae, identifications fall away.
Rise above all definitions that seem to fit, to feel good.
Let the “costumes” fall to the floor, around your feet.
What remains?
Stand naked, transparent,
Unashamed and unabashed
By the true essence of self you stand within!
There is nothing here but you…
And nothing between that you and all else:
Others in community, the Universe.
You meet here in that All:
The unmasked, unadulterated, Universal All…
The transparent water drop,
Naked, alone, pure light
Blends into the Ocean of becoming.
Nothing remains but bliss…
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Trim It Up! – Richard’s Commentary
Transparency
This is a word, a feeling, a state of being I am working with this week. It came to me as a card from the Mayan Oracle deck that I referenced in my Monday post. It is a “lens” card – a diagram and a word to help us with perspective. And it seems I am gaining a very new perspective through this lens. Here is some of the writing I’ve done so far from a perspective through this “transparent lens”:
Transparency is about trying on new roles, new personae. It is about dropping the mask of illusion and stepping into a clear and blissful vision of the egoless self.
This takes tremendous trust! It is a vulnerable opening process backed by the belief that the Universe is completely benevolent, safe. We are safe to be anyone we can choose. This is Divine Bliss.
This clarity allows the light to radiate in, from and through with no filtering by the personality. It is a pure radiance…
And,
Robin Williams died on Monday. Did he derive his talent, skill, genius from being as transparent as any human can be? When Gurudev speaks and writes about the “witness” is he not talking about becoming transparent?
Rise out of the ego state and look, observe from that higher platform of transparency. This is a “dark mirror.” This is a “black hole” as Gurudev states. And it is completely transparent. From this vantage Truth can be seen.
Gurudev is Yogi Amrit Desai, an amazing man who has written of the importance of rising out of ego and personality into the state of being as “witness.” I compare this to moving into a state of complete transparency.
The process of becoming transparent to this level seems akin to “trimming it up.” Rosemary’s image in her post used trimming the dead branches of a tree in our yard to illustrate her point. The process cleared our view, brought in more light, made the yard more transparent and lightened the tree of its dead weight. Trimming to the point of transparency lifts us to new levels of vision and greater heights of bliss. Why is this important? Rosemary’s answer:
The guidance I am receiving is that we have no time now to pussyfoot around. We are focusing on growth, on expansion, on moving into deeper territories where we live the examined life, not an unconscious one. If you have relationships, situations, ‘stuff’ that doesn’t support you, that you feel holds you back or, worse, is toxic for you, then it is time to trim that out of your life.
“Live an examined life.” Become more transparent, especially to yourself. This is the call. And from that high vista you can be anyone you choose!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Trim It Up!
You can trim your hair. You can trim your waistline. You can trim the bushes by the front door. But do you ever think about trimming what is surrounding you in your life?
Sometimes we assume that something, some person, or some situation, must stay with us simply because it is already in our life. The truth is that you can eliminate whatever does not serve your personal growth or your highest good.
What relationships in your life are you holding onto because they are long-term and familiar, even though they no longer serve your growth? Are you in a job that feels as if it robs you of joy but you feel that you need to go there every day anyway? What possessions do you surround yourself with that steal your energy because they require so much care or space or attention or money to maintain?
The list of questions to ask yourself goes on and on. Maybe it’s time for a trim.
Do you ever find yourself indulging in negative self-talk, the kind where you put yourself down or tell yourself that you are not good enough for something? Self-talk is another candidate for a trim.
What about beliefs that are holding you back? If you have unconscious beliefs that you made as a child they may be keeping you from the forward momentum in your growth that you desire for yourself. You can clear limiting beliefs and trim the ropes that hold you back.
When a client tells me a story, I am listening not just for the content but also for the way they are telling the story. The language gives me a lot of information about the meaning behind the story they are telling. Often the ‘trimming’ occurs when I suggest a different way to language the story. You can trim away the old energies and move beyond the way you habitually interacted with those facts. This is a huge benefit to someone who wants to leap forward in their life but feels their story is holding them back.
Just as Spring Cleaning is a way to clear the clutter – in the house, the closet and the mind – this Summer Trimming is called for when subtle or insidious forces are acting on us and our growth depends upon our trimming away what is holding us back or keeping us stuck.
Look around at what is in your life and make a conscious choice to keep it or discard it. Sometimes this requires a painful choice, but your personal growth depends on it.
The guidance I am receiving is that we have no time now to pussyfoot around. We are focusing on growth, on expansion, on moving into deeper territories where we live the examined life, not an unconscious one. If you have relationships, situations, ‘stuff’ that doesn’t support you, that you feel holds you back or, worse, is toxic for you, then it is time to trim that out of your life.
Think of the big tree that has all those dead branches trimmed off so that now all of its energy is focused on new growth. Think of how freely you’ll breathe when you’ve trimmed away the weight of the dead branches that are hanging on you!
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: What Needs Trimming in Your Life?
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” Video for this Week: What Needs Trimming in Your Life?
MONDAY’S POEM: Transparency
I have several ways I reach inside myself to gain insight (inner sight) into energies around me, intuitive knowing within me. One way is to use cards of various kinds: everything from a number of Tarot decks, to spirit and goddess cards by several authors and artists. I recently picked up a new set of cards that has been in our collection for some time but had remained untouched – The Mayan Oracle deck by Ariel Spilsbury and Michael Bryner. There is deep wisdom in these cards and the writing describing them. I am enjoying the study and the guidance they are bringing to me. I particularly like the subtitle: Return Path to the Stars!
Yesterday I drew a “lens” card, Transparency. I am challenged by it to become more open, clear-minded – like a canvas on which to paint a new self! Today’s poem came from considering this challenge!
Transparency
An open book, a sheet of white paper
Waiting for words, reaching for wisdom.
A gateless gate, the clear sky beyond
Flowing to then, leading to lessons.
A faceless face, the makeup in jars
Tempting the soul, offering a mask.
Five empty lines, a staff with no strokes
Begging for notes, listening for music.
It all begins somewhere, nowhere, now
In the emptiness and purity of light.
This is transparency!
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
How’s That Planning Thing Going for You? – Richard’s Commentary
We are home from the last leg of our journey to the south, visiting family and friends all the way from Maryland to the “main event” in Orlando, Florida and back again. We left Raleigh, North Carolina yesterday where we spent some time with second son’s family, and plunged right back into our “normal” lives. In fact we arrived just in time to lead our Consciousness Exploration Group scheduled for the first Wednesday of every month.
It was a “busy” trip with one-night stands in several places as we drove south. Planning and coordination was key to keep us relatively on track to get from place to place. The trip went really well. Our last leg was uneventful.
We did get a little tangled up in navigating between Orlando and the Amrit Yoga Ashram, where we spent a delightful time with our nephew. Our Google Maps were not in complete agreement with our GPS guidance and we made some wrong turns on the toll roads. We spent a couple extra dollars backtracking, and, yes, my reaction was anger and frustration. I failed to take the advice Rosemary offered in her Exploration post:
Event happens. Then you React. And then you CHOOSE how you will respond.
Event (Plan seems to go awry). What is your REACTION? Anger? Upset? Depression? Denial? So many different emotions can arise and they can stem from previous experiences, even from your childhood. Reactions start at the unconscious level. But your RESPONSE is chosen consciously.
The key here is choice. The initial reaction is OK; we all react to missteps, to little, and big mistakes, to detours in life that annoy. It is the next step that matters. It is the conscious pause to move into our higher brain and consider an appropriate response, choose that response and act.
The second key is to work on shortening the time from reaction to chosen appropriate response. This seems to be the main work of my lifetime. My primary lesson is patience; and I get many opportunities to practice! Highway detours are just an example.
We will likely need to change our plans for visiting our new grandson in California. We had planned to go out for second son’s birthday, a few weeks after planned birth of Tristan. Son’s plans went into a sharp detour when Tristan decided to come into the world three and a half weeks early! Sometimes other people’s choices affect our plans!
Son Andrew seems to have handled this big change in his plans relatively well. He and Mom are home now and Tristan will follow soon when he is eating well and gaining a bit of weight (he was four and a half pounds at birth).
Of course we are easy with this change in plans; it means we get to see him that much sooner! We have to rearrange some scheduled events and reschedule the trip; fortunately we had not yet made flight reservations.
Some detours are good, even wonderful. This is what Rosemary means by “this or something better.” The best plans include this line!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: How’s That Planning Thing Going for You?
We can plan. We can organize. We can expect. And then Life Happens.
Have you ever had a plan, had everything organized down to the tiniest detail, and set your expectations on that plan working out exactly as you planned it? And have you had the experience of having little or big glitches shift things out of Plan A?
We have all had this experience. We THINK we are in charge of everything but the Universe sometimes (or often) has a different plan and guess who succeeds?
This isn’t about whether or not you should develop a plan of action to accomplish something. It’s good to have a plan. But do you become so invested in YOUR plan that you forget the ‘this or something better’ part of your request to the Universe? There is a value in learning to go with the flow.
We saw this with the birth of our grandson. His parents had Plan A, Plan B, Plan C and the baby decided to be born on HIS schedule, the way HE wanted to come into the world, with HIS CHOSEN astrological birth chart. He was born the day that a surprise baby shower had been planned for his Mommy. The surprise was his appearance in the world 3 ½ weeks early!
What plans have you developed that have seemed to go awry? How do you react when that happens?
Remember that the formula is:
Event happens. Then you React. And then you CHOOSE how you will respond.
Event (Plan seems to go awry). What is your REACTION? Anger? Upset? Depression? Denial? So many different emotions can arise and they can stem from previous experiences, even from your childhood. Reactions start at the unconscious level. But your RESPONSE is chosen consciously.
Do you allow your reaction to dictate your response? Or do you hit the pause button and give yourself a chance to consciously choose how you will respond? This is how you live a conscious life.
Babies choose how and when they will come into the world. Most of us accept that they have a plan of their own. But what about other plans that don’t go the way you want them to, or planned them, or expected? What if another person interferes with your plans? What do you do then?
Remember that you CHOOSE how to respond. You can choose to get upset and to stay upset but that isn’t a very resourceful place to be. Even if you do get upset, you can decide to respond by figuring out a new plan, to go with the flow.
Do you plan differently in your work than at home? Are you flexible in the workplace to get along with others but you are rigid at home because you want things to be just the way you intend for them to be? Notice if you operate differently and then ask yourself, ‘Why?’ Sometimes it is easier to adjust plans in the workplace because you are not emotionally invested in them and you are resourceful when you are in ‘work mode.’ But when you are at home, with the family or in a social setting, you might have stronger expectations that you have control over your life. Can you go with the flow? Are you willing to work on Plan B or Plan C?
If you are the opposite – going with the flow outside of work but expecting everyone around you at work to line up with your plan – what could you gain by adding some flexibility to your methods? What if Plan A was the goal but Plan B was also OK?
Think about this the next time you decide that your plans must go exactly as you arranged them. Those creative babies might have a mind of their own!
This or something better.
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Big News: Tristan Wallace Bredeson is on the Planet!
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” Video for this Week: Big News: Tristan Wallace Bredeson is on the Planet!
MONDAY’S POEM: Connection
The theme I started today’s poem with is “Connection.” I am feeling connected. The last several days have been all about connection: from our trip south, connecting along with way with family and friends, to the event we attended with Red Elephant and connecting with the “herd” at the Stand, Speak and Profit program, to the Ashram, Amrit Yoga Institute and yoga practice, and now prepared to return “home” – to reconnect. The Big Connect for these days is to the future – our newest grandson, Tristan, who brings a new light into the world! Can I summarize all of these delicious feelings in a poem?
Connection
I like the feeling of the word.
I like the sense of it –
The two “ns” in the middle
Are connectors –
Like twins holding hands
Across the word.
I like the feel of the “co”
Within the breath –
A catch in the throat and
A soft exhalation.
Across the “ns” we connect
With the click
In the throat and
With the tongue.
Another quieting sound
Of the breath moving to the close
Of the word
With the trailing n.
Connection.
We are all looking for connection.
And as with all things conscious
The connection begins within.
There is no outer; we create with
The connection within.
It is all inside.
And from there the connection
With breath begins
The connection with the All.
It is deep, inside.
It grows there expanding
Ever deeper and higher and wider
Taking in the totality of it all.
Connection can only expand
From the inside.
Just as all love flows
From self-love,
So too does all connection flow
From inner connection.
Breath
Body
Vibration
Prana
Yoga
Union
Connection.
It is all right here.
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Men and The Goddess 