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The Last of the Water Snake
I don’t know about you but I’m glad we have a New Moon and a Chinese New Year coming in a week from today. Yes, this is the last week for the year of the Water Snake and I’m not sorry to see him slither away!
We are soon moving into Wood Horse, or Green Horse energy. The New Year begins on January 31 and I am sensing some very good energy coming our way. I’ve hinted at this before and will expand a bit on my thoughts today. For next week’s Friday post I will report my I Ching Gua cast and reading, not just for the new month but for the entire New Year. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile here’s what I think we can expect for the Wood Horse Year. First Horse aspects: from Wikipedia we can read the characteristics of Horse energy and people:
Idealistic and impulsive, the Tiger, Horse and Dog [note Horse is a member of this trine] follow the beat of their own drum. Defiant against injustice, these three signs wilt without large amounts of physical affection and loyal support for causes. They are productive, enthusiastic, independent, engaging, dynamic and honorable. They can also be rash, rebellious, quarrelsome, hot-headed, reckless, anxious, moody, disagreeable, and stubborn. Although these three signs are loyal, they can be very protective when lied to.
I sense a lot of energy coming in with the Horse Year; “productive, enthusiastic, independent, engaging, dynamic and honorable” are excellent energy descriptions for what is coming.
Furthermore, it is a Wood Horse Year we are coming into. Not to get too technical here, but the fixed element for the Horse is Fire. Wood feeds Fire, naturally, so a Wood Horse Year will be all “fired up.” Fire is of the heart; Wood will feed the “enthusiastic, engaging, dynamic” characteristics of the Horse.
I am particularly looking forward to this Wood Horse Year because I am a Wood Rooster. First, Horses and Roosters get along well. Second, my Wood element will feed the fiery Horse with even more Wood element. What I have to watch for is not to “burn my energy” too brightly or hot (no “hot-headedness” for me).
I am not one to put a lot of trust in predictions. What I do enjoy is sensing the energies intuitively through the various tools I use, from drawing and reading cards of various decks to casting I Ching Gua (hexagrams) for the New Year and each of the subsequent New Moon. It’s working with these intuited energies that can make a difference rather than relying on a reading of astrological signs. That said I do believe that the overall energy of the Chinese Zodiac can have an impact on events. Why? Because we are always at choice; our choices are influenced and made based on what we believe. If I choose to believe the incoming Wood Horse Year has good, plentiful, helpful, productive energy in store for us, then I will tend to look for and feel these positive effects.
What is your birth sign and element? How do you think you may interact with the Wood Horse energy? Do a little research; have fun with it! Here is a link to the Wikipedia page to get you started: Chinese Zodiac.
And say goodbye to Water Snake!
Possibilities Are Right in Front of You – Richard’s Commentary
Rosemary opens her post with a wonderful belief:
The ‘possible’ is constantly under attack because someone thinks it is improbable, or impossible, or difficult, or ‘not the way we do things.’
I call this a belief because it comes from an optimist! Optimists believe in the “possible” – and everything is possible!
I’ve been an optimist my whole life. I too believe anything is possible. This doesn’t mean everything I’ve ever attempted in life has succeeded, been possible in the long-haul. But this hasn’t changed my basic belief.
One of my last major programs for the company I retired from a few years ago was a satellite-based tracking system that we targeted to long-haul trucking companies. The idea was to offer a low-cost, easily installed device that could pin-point a unit’s location and even communicate with the driver using text messaging. The concept was developed long before smart phones, texting, immediate GPS-based location services, super-cheap hardware and ubiquitous cell-phone coverage. We developed the technology from the ground up and partnered with a new satellite company. We faced many hurdles, delays, technology short-fall, cost-creep and even market push-back. I was in charge of marketing and welcomed the possibility of major market penetration. I became really excited when we developed a device to track truck trailers when they were decoupled from their trucks. In fact during testing with a customer we actually located and recovered two trailers that had been stolen and taken into Mexico; we even helped recover the load on the trailers!
Exciting, right? My sales team began to take orders. The “pipeline” was growing! Majorpossibility here! Then…further delay; satellites didn’t launch as scheduled; technology failed; delivery of component parts was late; competing technology came on strong; and the company, wisely, withdrew development funding from my program. I took nearly a year to shut the program down, redistribute staff, sell off piece-parts, resolve lawsuits and close the program office.
Possibility turned to failure. I look back on this as a wonderful example of a “possibility right in front of me.” In this case it was handed to me; and I grabbed it and took it as far as I could. The program did not succeed; but I did! I made sales. I installed units and they recovered stolen equipment. That possibility was realized. And, oh by the way, I had a heck of a good time doing my darnedest to make the whole thing work. I even learned a great deal about the trucking industry! There was a lot of success inside this program that I look back on with good feelings and pride.
Eternal optimist? Yes. And I have had many great possibilities fall into my lap since that “failed” program. They keep on coming. My next one for 2014 involves a major trip mid-year that is exactly inline with my purpose and my entire world-view. It may be the biggest possibility of my life so far. I will be sharing more about this possibility as it unfolds, as I unfold it! Stay tuned!
Are you an optimist? Do you look at all the possibilities right in front of you? Do you follow Rosemary’s advice?
There are possibilities right in front of you but you may have donned your filter-glasses so that you can’t see them. Take off the glasses. Part the veil. Reach for the possibilities and stop listening to anyone who tells you that you can’t do it.
Impossible things are happening everyday!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Possibilities Are Right in Front of You
The ‘possible’ is constantly under attack because someone thinks it is improbable, or impossible, or difficult, or ‘not the way we do things.’
This year, embrace ‘possibilities’ as your theme. Search for the possible. Learn to recognize the possible. Talk about the possible. Catch yourself cancelling an idea before you’ve explored the possibilities. Catch other people trying to squash your dreams of what is possible for you.
So often we start out making a plan, setting goals, creating ‘resolutions’ because we think we should. The first rule of goal-setting is that it be realistic. ‘Realistic’ can be the enemy of ‘possible.’
Now, realistic can also just be realistic. But I have seen too many dreams crushed under the accusation that they are not realistic and therefore must be discarded.
What would happen today in the US if the President were to suggest that, in a decade or less, we would walk on the Moon? And, yet, despite all the naysayers, this country made that happen. (I know, there are those who say we didn’t really do that but, remember, I worked for NASA on the Hubble Space Telescope Project and I don’t think they can create a coverup that big!)
Possibilities draw us up to our greatness. Possibilities stretch us beyond what is comfortable and realistic to the former you and invite you to grow, to expand, to explore beyond what you already know into the possible you.
What is possible for you to consider? What dreams do you have that you can pursue?
In working with clients I sometimes have to catch them speaking a belief as if it is a rock-solid truism about how the Universe works. When we address that belief AS a belief, the world of possibilities can open up for them and the excitement starts.
Who is limiting you? Not ‘what’ is limiting you, but ‘who’? The answer is YOU. Even if you think you can list a bunch of folks who are holding you back, the real answer is YOU. You are believing the limitations of the past, the definition of ‘realistic’ that someone else has planted as a truism. You believe of yourself that you might not be able to reach for that dream and so you decide not to reach at all, rather than suffer the indignation of a potential failure.
There are so many possibilities and they are lurking right in front of you but they might be hiding behind that veil of illusion. Take some time alone to reach behind the veil and see what is there. What might you do if you forget about how you will accomplish it and just seek the possibilities? What dreams may lie beyond the veil that you haven’t dared to dream because you didn’t think they were realistic?
Our stories and myths contain all sorts of impossible things happening. Cinderella marries the Prince. Rodgers and Hammerstein even wrote a song for their version of Cinderella titled ‘Impossible’ that contains the line, ‘Impossible things are happening everyday.’ Rumpelstiltskin thought it was impossible that the miller’s daughter would guess his name but guess it she did.
There are possibilities right in front of you but you may have donned your filter-glasses so that you can’t see them. Take off the glasses. Part the veil. Reach for the possibilities and stop listening to anyone who tells you that you can’t do it.
Reach for the Moon. Impossible things are happening everyday!
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Possibilities
Rosemary’s Two-Minute Video for this Week: Possibilities
PS: Do you want to open up the possibilities for you in 2014? Join Rosemary’s playshop, in person or by video link, and expand your vista of possibilities; then lay out your play script for 2014! January 25. Details Here
The Power of Connection – Richard’s Commentary
“Connection” is Rosemary’s word for 2014. It is not surprising that early in the year she would choose this to write about. This word, in all of its meanings, can be taken in many directions. Rosemary goes through a long list, connection to Higher Self, connection to guides and angels, connection to others (both positive and negative connections to the people in our lives), connection to our purpose. All of these are important connections to be aware of, to remember; as Rosemary writes:
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.
For me her point here is if we are disconnected from ourselves, from that “inner truth”, then can we be connected to anything or anyone on the outside? And how easy it is to disconnect, to fall into isolation, to withdraw. I wonder sometimes if this isn’t at the root of the issues we face as a society, as a country, as a culture looking for something on the outside, some connection we are longing for but have no means to identify or find.
I don’t really want to get into politics here but somehow this word “connection” brings up social concerns. Humans are a connected species. We wouldn’t have survived and evolved over the millennia if we had been an isolated, individualistic being; in the wild we are not strong enough, don’t have all the necessary skills within ourselves to go-it-alone.
How many of the political battles we see raging in this country, whether it is over healthcare or foreign aid, political favoritism or retribution are about social issues, connections. It almost seems that people divide along the lines of: “we are all in this together” or “I’ve got mine; you need to be strong enough, work hard enough to get yours” – a survival of the fittest mentality!
Interestingly, since Darwin comes to mind here, much of the current research on the evolutionary process reveals that it is cooperation that is a primary mechanism for evolution, not competition! And we have to connect to cooperate, connect to survive and evolve!
Connection, beyond the necessary interdependence for survival, does begin within. When we are connected to ourselves, to Source, to Angels and Spirit Guides, we gain a certain level of confidence that can lead us outward to find healthy connections with others. When we are connected to our purpose our connections become productive and benefit society, the greater whole beyond ourselves. These vital inner connections are the ground for our being human, for lifting our spirits to join with others, in connection, in community to move and evolve consciously.
Are you connected?
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!
Men and The Goddess 