Archive
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Have a Happy Authentic Holiday!
Rosemary’s “Three-Minute” video for the week: Have a Happy Authentic Holiday!
PS: Rosemary hosted a wonderful Winter Solstice event this past Saturday and channeled an important message from The Divine Feminine who gave us amazing guidance for 2014. You can receive this 57 minute recording for only $14. Go to my website for immediate access: TheScientificMystic.com
MONDAY’S POEM: Homecoming
I found this poem in a notebook stored from another time. I had written it for our daughter for Christmas exactly 20 years ago . She was coming home from school; and I remembered some of my own homecomings from when I would return from college.
And here it is Christmas again. Many will be coming home; perhaps there will be some resonance with this:
Homecoming
Sitting in the car
Outside the door
Emotions racing
I hesitated.
I knew all would
Be the same.
Nothing changed.
Not all was good;
Not all was bad.
Mixed – like life
I faced my future,
Opened my door,
Stepped out,
Breathed the fresh,
Unchanged country air.
I glanced around,
Saw the familiar
Scene remembered
For so long now,
Beyond remembering.
Time mingled with
Space – things froze.
I broke the spell
With a shake; stepped
Forward toward
The door with the
Weathered knob
And turned it open.
The threshold seemed
A barrier, not an entry.
A gateless gate from now
To the past; to the future?
I needed to know!
So I crossed over;
Inhaled the sameness;
Devoured the love waiting –
I was back home.
©1993 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Have a very happy “homecoming”!
My Authentic Buddhist Self
I’m not very fond of labels. Maybe it’s because I prefer to go through life flexibly, avoiding being “type-cast” in any particular role. Perhaps this keeps me in flow, ready for change, evolving through the lives I have lived, even in this one life-time! Or does it keep me from commitment?
I grew up in a so called Christian home. We didn’t so much think of ourselves as Christian at that time; everyone was one so there was no need to distinguish ourselves with the label. When filling out forms and the “religion question” was asked I checked the “Christian” box; this was automatic but I’m not so sure how authentic it was.
The University, Peace Corps and life experiences, not the least of which was initiation into Transcendental Meditation in 1969, moved me smartly beyond the Christian label. I wasn’t anti-Christian; I had just moved beyond the dogma and form I had grown up with.
I was ordained in December 2000 as an “Interfaith Minister” through Pebble Hill Interfaith Community Church in Pennsylvania. Yes, this is a label but it seemed broad enough to fit my approach to “stay loose.” And my ordination wasn’t so much to earn a title as to continue the search for an identity. My course of studies helped me along that path but I did not conclude anything other than to continue the search.
What am I searching for? Certainly not a label. But I am looking for an authentic identity. Don’t we all want to know who we are?
Rosemary and I have written a lot about this subject, “Purpose.” It really does come down to this in the end. Don’t we all long to know “why”?
It has come to this: in these days when we have written about authenticity it is time to go inside and seek the clear answer to the question. I have studied, practiced, remembered, sat for hours, been in silence, bowed to statues and other iconic art, chanted, risen in the dark before dawn to the call of the Han, considered the vows, all the while feeling the familiarity of it. And I have resisted. It is time now to embrace who I truly am.
For much of my life now I have been a practicing Zen Buddhist without taking the full vows and without the label. But I’m not a Zen Buddhist. What I have been truly resisting, or perhaps more accurately not fully realizing and embracing, is the call to study and practice Tibetan Buddhism, Vajrayana, The Diamond Path.
Why the resistance? In part I’ve thought of the Vajrayana as ornate, overly ceremonial and complex; I like the simple, clear Zen-way of things. In part I have resisted Tantra as a practice overly foreign and strange; I prefer the straightforward, easily comprehended approach to practice. And, in part, I have walked the Vajra Path in previous lives; I’ve done that, don’t need to do that, learn that again in this life.
Then I began to receive visions in my meditations; visions of the very ornate and overly ceremonial practices and technologies of Trantra. I began, again, to read the Kalachakra Tranta Rite of Initiation, this time with clarity and excitement. I researched when His Holiness is conferring the initiation again: 2014 in Ladakh! And I began having visions of doing this!
It has taken me my whole life to return, again, to something familiar, something genuine, something that has been calling to me to come back. I’ve known I’m a Buddhist at heart. And now I am embracing the truth that I am a follower of the Trantric Path. Perhaps in some mysterious way this is my ultimate label.
You will be reading more about this journey I’m setting off on in the coming weeks and months. It is a journey home to my authentic self!
The Success of Your Authentic Self – Richard’s Commentary
Rosemary and I just returned from our monthly gathering of the EQUAAC group we are part of. This is the Equality Anne Arundel County group who, among other things, worked for the passage of Marriage Equality in Maryland. It’s a wonderful, warm group of men and women, both gay and straight who happen to believe in “equality” in all things! Rosemary and I are always welcomed with open arms, hugs, kisses and big smiles. It is such a pleasure to be part of this group!
And one thing always strikes me when we get together: I can be my authentic self with these wonderful human beings. I don’t have to pretend; there are no pretenses; there are no hidden motives, no one trying to get an upper hand or convince anyone of something other than genuine gladness to be together.
Maybe this is a luxury of getting older. I can be myself no matter whom I’m with or what I’m doing. Why can’t it always be this way? Here’s Rosemary’s answer:
We forget.
We forget to reach inside ourselves for answers. We forget that we are ‘enough’ just as we are. We forget that no one else knows exactly what our Soul Contract with the Universe is and that we agreed to come into this world at this time.
I am forgetting less often! I am working very hard, through my various practices to remember who I am, why I’m here and to live with that level of authenticity. And it does take practice. The ego wants to pretend; it’s sometimes easier that way, less risky. The ego doesn’t always like authenticity. But inside there are better answers; “real” answers. When we go inside we do remember what’s important.
And it is a matter of remembering, as Rosemary points out in yesterday’s post. We all come in knowing and remembering our purpose, our true self and the true reason the Universe called us to BE, here and now. Society and our ego want us to forget. We go through our growing years and our “educational process” learning to forget! If we all remembered to fulfill our purposes society would be very different. And society, just like our egos, wants to maintain the status quo.
There may be stability in the status quo but I wouldn’t call it success. Where is the impetus for evolution if we all toe the line and forget our purpose? Where’s the progress if we ignore our inner truth and accept someone else’s judgment about that? Where’s the lesson, the gain, the success if we pretend we are something other than who we came here to be?
Our success can only truly be measured against our true purpose. We all know our purpose; we may have forgotten it but it is in there, inside. We came with blueprints; we can remember. It takes practice but it is there.
Rosemary’s clarion call is to “remember.” I echo this call! We are called to awaken to our purpose, to our authentic selves. What better time than now, this holiday season and at year’s end to take up this cause and remember!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: The Success of Your Authentic Self
We forget, sometimes. We get caught up in images and activities and, horror of horrors, what other people think. We look in the mirror and see all the things that don’t match what we think we are supposed to look like. We envy the person who has the better partner, car, job, bank account.
And so we try. We follow a leader who says, ‘Just do what I do and you will have great success.’ We buy the clothes we think we should wear. We only date the folks we think our friends, parents, children will approve. We take a job that pays what someone says we should make, even if the job makes us feel miserable.
We forget.
We forget to reach inside ourselves for answers. We forget that we are ‘enough’ just as we are. We forget that no one else knows exactly what our Soul Contract with the Universe is and that we agreed to come into this world at this time.
We forget that we are a Child of the Universe with a unique reason for being on Planet Earth in the 21st Century. We forget that Mother Earth asked for us to come to her at this very moment in her history. We forget that we have a Purpose and that there is a reason we were born.
Our only work is to remember.
Remember that you are the only YOU the Universe will ever need. Remember that you are the Light of the World that only you can shine. Remember that your Purpose cannot be accomplished by any other Soul.
Remember that the Universe and Mother Earth conspired to bring you into human form to accomplish that Purpose and that they pledged to support you, with all the resources that you need to do that.
And all that you need to do is to Remember Who You Are.
Remember that all the circumstances around you have been brought to you by your ego/personality so that your Soul can learn the lessons it needs to learn. Remember that you are NOT your circumstances.
Remember that all the people around you are present to assist you in learning your lessons. Some of them drew the short straw and agreed to come into being so that they could represent the ‘jerk’ energy that you need to encounter to help you learn your lessons. Some people are here to help you remember that, while they may act as if they have something to say about you, you are not defined or confined or identified by anything that they say or think.
Your Authentic Self is the You who is the Light in the World that vibrates to your own unique frequency. Your success depends only on the extent to which you express your unique self in the world.
Be authentic. Be the real you. There is no one and nothing to hide behind. No one can judge you. No one can hold you back. Who can fight against the Universe and Mother Earth who are united to support you?
Get to know your Authentic Self. Get help to recognize yourself if you forget who you are. Present ONLY your Authentic Self to the world and allow others to learn their own lessons while you focus on yours.
And all you have to do is Remember.
PS: You are invited to Satsang with Rosemary. Guidance is available from many dimensions. Rosemary is continuing a series of teaching and channeling experiences for everyone! If you have spiritual questions, if you want to hear messages from other dimensions, if you are curious about life beyond this physical, three-dimensional world, if you are curious about the energies of 2014, join us for a unique experience! Come with your questions; this opportunity is interactive. Rosemary will teach and channel for part of the time and answer your questions at the end of the evening. And for December 21, the Winter Solstice, Rosemary is offering Satsang for FREE! Join us online or in person; check out the details here. Enter FREEDECEMBER as the coupon code in the Shopping Cart.
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Be Your Authentic Self!
Rosemary’s “Three-Minute” video for the week: Be Your Authentic Self!
PS: You are invited to Satsang with Rosemary. Guidance is available from many dimensions. Rosemary is continuing a series of teaching and channeling experiences for everyone! If you have spiritual questions, if you want to hear messages from other dimensions, if you are curious about life beyond this physical, three-dimensional world, if you are curious about the energies of 2014, join us for a unique experience! Come with your questions; this opportunity is interactive. Rosemary will teach and channel for part of the time and answer your questions at the end of the evening. And for December 21, the Winter Solstice, Rosemary is offering Satsang for FREE! Join us online or in person; check out the details here. Enter FREEDECEMBER as the coupon code in the Shopping Cart.
MONDAY’S POEM: What is Reality?
I ended last week with an exploration of reality. Today’s poem is part of that exploration. I love what both the Heart Sutra and Chapter 11 of the Taoteching have to say about emptiness and form. They say it better than I can ever hope to but here, joining my experience with the magic of crystals and these wonderful sources of deep wisdom is what I have to offer on the subject:
What is Reality?
Is it in the crystalline structure of quartz,
Laced molecules frozen in a matrix
Of beauty, depth, meaning, space and time?
Is it in the atoms of silicon and oxygen
Who breathe life into shapes, designs, pictures,
Faces, vibrations and voices echoing through time?
Is it in the structures of the atoms, whirling bits
Of nothing winking in and out of existence,
Vibrating from nothing to something to nothing in no-time?
Or, is it like the spokes of a wheel that disappear
Around the spinning hub, a matter of perception?
What is real, the spokes or the empty hub?
The still spoke is real. The spinning spoke is not real,
Beyond perception. Form is no other than emptiness,
Emptiness no other than form!
Prajna Paramita!
©2013 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
The Emptiness of Inherent Reality
In yesterday’s post I wrote about the “belief in crystals” and stated that in the first place “crystals are real” and therefore, are not subject to belief. They just are part of this Earth-plane we inhabit. I also wrote: Not only are crystals helping me clear stuck beliefs, they are helping me understand the deeper nature of reality. Interestingly this deeper nature of reality is nothing but a belief system. The existence of crystals in the “real” Earth-plane is actually a belief.
We live in a consensus-based reality that we view as real but may not be as real as we would like to believe!
I am immersed in a deep look, with the help of crystals, into the Kalachakra Tantra Rite of Initiation by His Holiness, the Dalai Lama and Jeffery Hopkins. The core of the book is based on the rite of initiation conducted by His Holiness in Madison, Wisconsin in 1981. I have had this book for a long time. I have attempted to read it before but was never able to get into it. Now I’m plowing through it with ease and excitement. Maybe some of my former beliefs are giving way to allow in the wisdom of this Tantra.
I am far from new to Buddhist thought. I have studied and practiced a form of Zen Buddhism for much of my life. I have worked with and read several texts on the Heart Sutra and have memorized a version of it from Zen Mountain Monastery where it is chanted daily. I have been chanting the sutra nearly daily for more than a decade. But this does not mean that I have fully penetrated the enormous implications of this holy text. I am getting closer! And it is likely the study of a life-time!
The main theme in the Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra is the emptiness of the five conditions of life, of reality: form, sensation, conception, discrimination and awareness. The practice and realization of this wisdom, this emptiness is what relieves suffering, sickness, old age and death and leads to the liberation from the wheel of samsara. This is the Perfection of Wisdom, the Prajna Paramita.
This can be summed up in the simple yet profound phrase: the emptiness of inherent reality. Of course, this too is a belief. But it is a belief that can lead to liberation from all suffering, all the misery that the Buddha witnessed as a young prince and led him on this journey to enlightenment.
I too am on a journey to this Heart of Perfect Wisdom, the Prajna Paramita. A major step along this journey is the Kalachakra Tantra Rite of Initiation. (I’ll write a full review of the book in a future post.) One of the key gateways on this journey is my suspension of belief in inherent, independent reality. And this can be particularly challenging living in modern western society where we are bombarded minute to minute by the commercial, material world of consumption of all forms of consensus reality. What would happen if we all suddenly stopped believing in the very underpinnings of life as we believe it?
With the realization of the emptiness of inherent reality comes Wisdom and Compassion – the two prongs of Buddhist philosophy. The Kalachakra Tantra is a path to this deeper understanding, this liberating belief. It is a path I have taken and will be reporting on here along the way!
Om Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha!
It’s Crystal Clear… – Richard’s Commentary
I love crystals. I have been enjoying them, working with them, carrying them, giving them for many years. And while many of the beautiful crystals can be clear, it is often the ones that hold inclusions, clouds, shadows, phantoms, figures, faces, occlusions and a variety of designs that are even more beautiful. And it is this embedded complex structure that can hold great meaning for us.
In her post, Rosemary speaks of two kinds of crystals, those found in the Earth and those we hold within ourselves. Both kinds are instructive and carry information for us – if we are willing to “dig” for it. Here’s what she says about the crystals of Earth:
Think of the crystallized belief as a crystal from the Earth. Crystals have a consciousness that has been created over millions of years. Humans have not been on the planet that long. What information might be stored in that crystal for you?
The “consciousness” of crystals is what we need to mine. Yes, first we have to discover them in the Earth, un-Earth them. Then we have to discover their meaning for us, the messages they bring.
The second type of crystals Rosemary speaks about are those crystallized beliefs that block the flow in our lives:
Now look at the crystals within you for the messages that they hold for you. What does stuck energy want you to know so that you can move forward and let the energy flow again?
Here’s the deal: the Earth’s crystals can help us break free of the crystallized beliefs we carry – when we are ready. This is the true “healing potential” of these crystals.
The perfect example is people who either do or do not believe in crystals. First, the crystals are real, they exist just as any other form of matter exists. So, I believe in the existence of crystals. Second, they hold information; their very structure, often extraordinarily complex, is information. Third, we can read and interpret that information, use its meaning in insightful and intuitive ways. OK, this third point may be touching on a belief. Fourth, using the interpreted information to clear blocks, clear or modify the internal crystalline structures we want to release, is clearly a belief. And so are those blocks, holding us back from fulfilling our true purpose, beliefs. Clearing those blocks means adopting new beliefs, e.g. the belief that crystals can be effective in the healing process.
I have been working with a specific set of crystals for over a week now. (Pictured here) And I find myself opening up and flowing more than I ever have. I attended a “crystal meditation” the other evening with an array of crystals, crystal and Tibetan singing bowls and meditative sounds. I went into a deep and long “bliss state” as never before. Not only are crystals helping me clear stuck beliefs, they are helping me understand the deeper nature of reality.
One more quote from Rosemary:
Everything you need to know is available. You just need to know where to look and how to interpret what you find. Start with what you know are energy blocks. And be ready for the energy leap of personal growth to follow the crystal clarity!
Everything I need to know about reality is available. Crystals are real. Crystals heal. For me this is “crystal clear.”
PS: Are you looking for “crystal clarity”? Guidance is available from many dimensions. Rosemary is continuing a series of teaching and channeling experiences for everyone! If you have spiritual questions, if you want to hear messages from other dimensions, if you are curious about life beyond this physical, three-dimensional world, if you are curious about the energies of 2014, join us for a unique experience! Come with your questions; this opportunity is interactive. Rosemary will teach and channel for part of the time and answer your questions at the end of the evening. Join us online or in person; check out the details here.
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: It’s Crystal Clear…
Each of us has within us beliefs and thoughts that we take to be the Truth, no ifs, ands or buts. What if those beliefs and thoughts were not really Truth with a capital T?
As we move forward into the new consciousness of 21st Century thinking it becomes more important that we examine the places within us where we have formalized beliefs and thoughts that are no longer relevant to our personal growth. Have you looked?
A crystalized belief feels like an energy block. It is not negative or bad; it is merely a block where the energy feels stuck. It is important, though, because stuck energy prevents us from moving forward into our highest potential. And the longer energy stays stuck the more problems that block can cause us.
Think of the crystalized belief as a crystal from the Earth. Crystals have a consciousness that has been created over millions of years. Humans have not been on the planet that long. What information might be stored in that crystal for you?
Now look at the crystals within you for the messages that they hold for you. What does stuck energy want you to know so that you can move forward and let the energy flow again?
Once you have received the message what will you do with the information?
I have worked with clients who take a long time to recognize the crystallized belief that came from parental instructions. Others have been influenced by church or teachers or society. A belief that has been around for a long time within us can grow its own structure until it resembles a crystal stone and seems to be a permanent part of the person.
YOU, however, are in charge of what you believe! The crystals within you are messengers for you. They are waiting for you to identify and communicate with them. They want to be released into the Universe but are willing to stay within you until you are ready to interact with them.
Do you believe that ‘Money doesn’t grow on trees’? If so, would you ignore a tree filled with hundred dollar bills because you don’t believe it exists? Do you believe you are ‘not good enough’ because someone told you that 40 years ago? Are you willing to replace that thought if someone today were to tell you something different? One problem with holding on to crystallized beliefs is that they become so familiar that you can be afraid to let go. What happens if you don’t believe that anymore? What belief will you replace that one with?
Lately we’ve been experiencing the world of Earth’s crystals in a new way. There is a reason that a certain crystal will cross your path. There is a resonance in the energy of a crystal that communicates with something inside of you. Crystal radios use actual crystals as transmitters of energy. Mainstream technology is putting crystals in everyday items such as hair dryers and comforters. Crystals are coming out of the closet to help humanity.
Check out the corners of the closets of your mind. Where might you find the hidden gem of a crystal with a message for you? Do you need help? Find a counselor who can help you look at those crystallized beliefs of yours and unveil the message.
Once you have the information you no longer need to keep the energy blocked. Release that inner crystal and things become ‘crystal clear’ to you!
Everything you need to know is available. You just need to know where to look and how to interpret what you find. Start with what you know are energy blocks. And be ready for the energy leap of personal growth to follow the crystal clarity!
PS: Are you looking for “crystal clarity”? Guidance is available from many dimensions. Rosemary is continuing a series of teaching and channeling experiences for everyone! If you have spiritual questions, if you want to hear messages from other dimensions, if you are curious about life beyond this physical, three-dimensional world, if you are curious about the energies of 2014, join us for a unique experience! Come with your questions; this opportunity is interactive. Rosemary will teach and channel for part of the time and answer your questions at the end of the evening. Join us online or in person; check out the details here.
Men and The Goddess 