Sunday, February 28, 2010

Towards the 'Waking-Up'


Many of the material structures around us have now become a transparent fiction: our financial systems, our job securities, pensions, educational systems, etc. It is becoming increasingly difficult to believe that these structures will continue to provide for our needs. As our rafts search for land, our paddles are being taken away from us. So when we eventually find fertile land it will be from our own efforts – and the cultivation that much more rewarding. As personal circumstances become more affected by the changes occurring in the world it will become necessary that people ‘wake-up’ to new responsibilities and decisions. After all, the upcoming years will be different from what has gone before. This is inevitable even on a physical level, as structures once seen as strong begin to lose their source of strength (literally, their ‘fuel’). And as these physical changes begin to impact and encroach upon each person’s well-being, new voices will be rising and asking for assistance, both tangible and invisible. There is always help for humanity; assistance is available to those who ask with genuine need. Only we need to remember that help often does not appear in the way that most people expect it. However, it is definitely present and available – only don’t expect a rescue!

It is not my premise to debate the dominant western thought-paradigms of Darwinian survivalist evolution and religious Creationism. What I do suggest, however, is that there is an evolutionary ‘design’ which allows for the creative development of living systems as well as planetary, solar, and galactic systems: the micro and the macro. And humanity is very much a part of this wider developmental design, whether consciously or unconsciously. Yet as the changes in social and cultural systems increasingly manifest it is hoped that more people will awaken to the understanding and conscience of their responsible participation. It is with conscious minds that creative action can have a more powerful effect. Especially amid disruptive circumstances it will be paramount that individuals respond with balanced minds and thoughtful actions. This is no time for super-heroes or martyrs: it will be a time to act within the human capacity; away from gratifications of recognition and attention. Diligent work with oneself, with others, and within the community is the action that guarantees a response.

There is no avoiding the fact that negative influences operate within our world, and have done so for a very long time. Such forces resist change; they resist anything that is a threat to their power. It may seem that during the times of transition the negative influences are at their peak. Hunbatz Men, teacher of Mayan science and spirituality, acknowledges these negative forces and contends that it is time to raise the frequency of the global mind: 'Now the world has a dark civilization, a dark culture. We need to re-establish a high culture...by raising the frequency of brain waves...the frequency of the modern mind is going to change in a positive way'.[i] Hunbatz Men claims that the Mayans have known for a very long time of the big sweeping changes that are to come. These changes, he says, are part of cyclic patterns that help to renew and re-vitalize Earth and her living systems.

The upcoming changes, to some degree, are unstoppable yet they function to ‘sweep the house clean’ rather than to reinforce the negative presence. This is important to remember so that we do not mistakenly feel over-powered by the disruptions coming with the change. Such disturbances, however distasteful, are necessary: just as the odour of bleach is distasteful and dangerous yet its function is to clean and purify. As the world struggles to accommodate more and different energies, there will be many ripples spreading out and into the homes of many. And whilst meditation is important as a means of practising inner balance and focused intentions, there will also be a need for disciplined action. Just as there is a discipline that holds the energies of the universe in their creative pattern, so too must human activities be focused with disciplined energy. Part of this can be fulfilled by shifting our ‘patterns’ away from a self-centered material consumerist agenda to a more Earth-centered set of values. As Doris Lessing wrote in her Canopus in Argos series, the ‘broken’ Earth needs to regain the energies of SOWF (‘Substance Of We Feeling’). In the end, real knowledge is simple and free; and it lives within each one of us.

Our behaviour and actions within our communities will be better served if we can realize that the Earth is a bio-spiritual planet. Further, that the cosmos of which Earth is a part is also the context and environment for our enduring reality:

The archetypal journey of the universe can now be experienced as the journey of each individual, since the entire universe has been involved in shaping our individual psychic as well as our physical being from that first awesome moment when the universe emerged.[ii]


[i] Mcfadden, S. (1991) Profiles in Wisdom: Native Elders Speak About the Earth, Santa Fe, NM, Bear & Company.

[ii] Berry, T. (1999) The Great Work: Our Way into the Future. New York: Three Rivers Press.


Sunday, February 21, 2010

Spiritual Renaissance


Human beings also function as energy nodes within the ‘human grid’. We receive, store, and distribute energy amongst ourselves. As open systems, energy is information, and vice-versa. In this context it is important to realise that this energy can be used to fuel individual self-development. The more focused a person’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviour, the finer the quality of energy. Much of our energy is lost daily through wasted emotions; when anger, fear, and other corruptive manifestations become assertive and exaggerated. At all times the negative seeks to embolden itself, to present itself as being greater than it is. Again, this is because there is always less negative inside us at all times in comparison to the positive. Thus, the negative needs to pretend it is worse than it actually is if it is to have any chance of great influence over the person. This is something to make ourselves constantly aware of: we can be food for the negative as well as the positive. As in ecology, everything is someone else’s food!

When confronted with an unpleasant event or issue we can ask ourselves: ‘is this a problem or a situation?’ It may help to remember that every problem is also a situation, but not every situation is a problem. By finding out which is which we will have a better basis from which to act upon. With an increase in information and awareness comes a parallel increase in responsibility. We have a responsibility to ourselves, to others, and to our earthly and cosmic environment. As each of us develops according to our own capacity we may feel a strong desire to pass this on to others. Yet it is important that we talk to others in accordance with their level of understanding. There are likely to be times when we feel frustrated that other people are not ‘seeing’ things correctly; that they are not ‘understanding’ the evident truths. In periods of chaotic change, people often search for the tried and tested, the trusted and secure. For many, notions of evolutionary transformation and energetic change will seem nothing more than abstract fantasy: the hallucinations of a mind losing its reality-grip. Fine: all things come to those in their own time. What is important is that necessary energy is not needlessly wasted through vain or egoistic efforts. Frustration and haste can easily eat away at one’s own energy reserves, resulting in the person becoming less effective and functional. This is of no benefit to anyone. As in all endeavours, preparation and timing are essential factors. As Ali (fourth Caliph of Islam) is credited as saying: ‘Three things once gone are gone forever: the word spoken in haste; the arrow once sped from the bow; the missed opportunity’.

Increased acceleration of events is upon us, yet haste will be against us. A spiritual renaissance in the minds and hearts of more and more people will spread as physical events unfold to reveal their duplicity. In this awakening let us be assured that when we strive to develop and lift ourselves, we indirectly yet significantly also lift our world and those around us. In essence, spiritual realization is about realizing the spirit of others.
 


Everything will change. Yet humanity will continue, albeit in a different way. Our material structures will change, be transformed, and from this we will have the opportunity to become more human. These are the words of Maya indigenous elders who have anticipated these changes for a long time. It is time for a renewal of the spirit. By this, it is not meant that people should flock to spiritual doctrines. The true spirit is within the heart of each person, and is the responsibility of each person to find their own contact. Each pathway of experience is unique to every person for there are as many ways to the spiritual centre as there are people’s hearts. Nor is the true spirit one of contemplation alone, for the spiritual ideal of our era now is one of considerate action. And through this action, things will change. How difficult or easy these changes will be depends much upon the response of each person. What is important is not the event itself but rather how each person deals with it. The changes we face may be out of our hands, yet each of us has the power to choose how we respond to them.
Willaru Huayta, a spiritual messenger in the Inca tradition, has been travelling the globe telling people that 'The world is at a critical point of transition, which is highlighted by the crisis in spiritual and moral principles. Nationality is no longer important...Human truth is one. The most important thing now is to awaken the consciousness in a positive form.[i]


[i]  Mcfadden, S. (1991) Profiles in Wisdom: Native Elders Speak About the Earth, Santa Fe, NM, Bear & Company.


Sunday, February 14, 2010

Energy Flows & Functions


Our world then, as material and physical as it is, is nevertheless malleable. It can be affected by the strength of one’s own presence, intentions, questioning, and thoughts. Our cosmos is creative, endlessly renewing and replenishing itself. Within this energetic ebb-and-flow we can ‘fix’ ourselves (become the ‘attractor’ for the flux around us) by focusing our presence within each moment. Much of how we experience the future, specifically the coming earth changes, will rest upon how we perceive those changes. Our present generations are now required to direct themselves in accordance with their thoughts. A visionary impulse is necessary if we are to rise beyond these turbulent transition times towards a more constructive future. In other words, if we believe that the future changes will usher in a disruptive apocalyptic scenario, then this will be exactly how it plays out for us. This is the fear equation:  if we are fearful we are likely to attract the negative circumstances (again, like attracts like). And this fear equation has been holding back humanity from developing for far too long. If we perceive the world as life-threatening rather than life-promoting then this will influence how we interpret the changing times. Yet the fear equation is a mask: F.E.A.R. masquerades as False Evidence Appearing Real. To be prepared for the upcoming earth changes we are being asked, as sovereign individuals, which future we wish to embrace. Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner once wrote:

 

An additional way of training our thinking and feeling is by acquiring a quality we can call “positivity.” There is a beautiful legend that tells of Christ Jesus and several other people walking past a dead dog. The others all turned away from the ugly sight, but Christ Jesus spoke admiringly of the animal’s beautiful teeth. We can practice maintaining the soul-attitude toward the world that this legend exemplifies. The erroneous, the bad, and the ugly must not prevent the soul from finding the true, the good, and the beautiful wherever they are present.[i]

 

Another maxim in general literature says: 'Pigs grunt, dogs bark, penguins waddle, what do human beings do?’ Amusing perhaps, and poignant too; yet upon deeper consideration the answer is that human beings do a lot, or rather have the inherent potentiality to do a lot. One of these ‘potentialities’ is the power of focused and directed consciousness. Humans - homo sapiens sapiens - have the capacity to be as bridges between spirit and matter; between creative impulse and physical manifestation; between the angelic and the elemental. Again, to reiterate, we can function as transformers – as facilitators of energy.

 

Human beings can act as transmitters (like energy batteries), directing incoming energy across, into, and through the Earth; in a sense, grounding the energies. Like an ‘earth wire’ in electrical plugs, humans are able to ground energy that radiates from non-terrestrial sources into our earthly planetary body. We serve as mobile transducers, whilst the more static energy nodes are the ancient sacred sites, stone circles, megalithic sites, that can be found dotted all over our planet. Life, including human life, is a membrane layer of transmuting energy. The power of human thought and intention can play a great part in the process of energy transference. The function of the ‘human facilitator’ is thus one of the reasons behind the concept of human pilgrimage.

 

There has been much research upon how the world’s many megalithic sites were used for solar cults, religious worship, or similar activities etc. However, it is hard to find one overall unifying theory that relates to the exact, specific function of these various sites. In general, it can be said that a primary role of such sites is an energetic one. Stonehenge in the UK, for example, had a function to channel energy that was made available according to specific times/events of cosmic phenomena. Thus, the site had to be correctly aligned for these precise energy emissions. Various sites over the world show signs of their function as energy channels - be they stone circles, single stones (dolmens), sacred groves, hills, shrines, etc. Together they constitute an earth-grid that operates to receive and distribute cosmic energies along, and into, the earth. Many Christian churches, once considered pagan sites, are built upon these energy lines; this was part of a functioning knowledge system, now largely forgotten. Larger structures, such as cathedrals like Notre-Dame and Chartres, were constructed to function as energy-accumulators (like batteries), which is often indicated in their design by the use of spirals or labyrinths in their construction.

An important element for energy storage and transmission is correct timing; knowing when specific ‘cosmic energy’ is flowing. Thus, at particular times of the year certain areas are targeted by energy currents entering the Earth. Ancient knowledge made use of this in the original Christian calendars; this was reflected in the names of the saints to which different churches are dedicated (although the system has undergone some degree of corruption). For example, in some cultures there is a specific day of the year which is attached to a particular saint so that the original purpose was for the entire community to gather at the church for their ‘Saint’s Day’ - a day that represented the exact time when the maximum energy was available in that area during the year. Likewise, festivals in specific places in the countryside, along with established pilgrim routes, enabled a line of transmission whereby people would act as the channel, or conduit, for passing along the energy, thus maintaining the energy flow within the earth-grid.

This system is still in place, although the functional use of many sites and events has been weakened. However, the earth-grid is still an operative system and is pulsed regularly with cosmic energies, both according to natural cosmic alignments as well as specific and deliberate ‘energy-feeding’ from external interventions. So the question as what can humans do is partly answered by the concept of energy transmitters. And the more focused and balanced the ‘transmitter’, the finer and more effective the energies. Of course, we can also waddle too, and grunt occasionally!


[i] Steiner, R. (1998) An Outline of Esoteric Science. Great Barrington, MA: Steiner Books.


Sunday, February 07, 2010

Transforming Energy

The 21st century is the meeting point where the wisdom of ancient traditions shall find a synthesis with modern science. Our knowledge systems are converging now to help us synthesize and make use of our resources, to help us advance and continue forward. It is a reciprocal process, whereby assisting the cosmos with its evolutionary design we are given the opportunity to bring ourselves up, as a sentient species, towards greater knowledge and growth. Humans are a required resource within the greater evolutionary design. Several esoteric sources, such as Ernest Scott and Rodney Collin , have indicated the time lengths involved with the inception of cultures by conscious minds. They further explain how there is a set time designated for our present global civilisation to evolve enough conscious minds in order to assist, and/or provide enough energies, for the next planetary phase. This notion, whilst obscure and abstract to some, is not without its active adherents. One term that has come into context for this situation is that of Reciprocal Maintenance.

The term ‘Reciprocal Maintenance’ was used in the writings of philosopher G.I. Gurdjieff to denote humanity’s relationship with the cosmos. This relationship is one where each being exists to support each other, as well as the larger whole. In other words, everything exists to ‘feed’ something else. This term also explains how everything exists for a purpose; how each living organism can transform and supply energy for the whole. In this respect, the function of humankind is to transform energy whilst alive. And naturally, the best ‘quality’ of energy is that which is provided consciously rather than extracted unconsciously. For example, Algae functions to transform sunlight into more complex molecules; plants function to transform sunlight and raw matter into organic compounds; bees function not only for themselves but also to pollinate flowers and thus catalyze food chains.

In the scheme of things, we can say that humanity functions as a transformer of energy: for ourselves, the community, the Earth, and for the cosmos. Our possibilities, and capacities, as human beings may in some way be dependent upon the degree to which we are able to fulfil this function. We can say that this is one of our primary functions as sentient biological organisms. In an old Vedic allegory there is the story of the Horse (feeling), the Carriage (instinct), the Driver (thinking) which are at the service of the ‘Passenger’ or ‘Owner’. However, the problem is that the ‘Passenger’ has fallen asleep within the carriage so the Horse and Driver go where they please, and often at a speedy pace! Thus, the purpose and destination of the ‘Owner’ is being ignored. This allegory informs us that ‘Man’ is ‘asleep at the wheel’ and has failed to wake-up and take control of the situation; namely, to steer oneself to one’s correct destination. By ‘waking-up’, an individual can learn to contribute conscious energy, in greater or lesser amounts, through conscious creative living and purposeful participation in life. On the other hand, if not enough individuals are contributing such energies, other means may be employed to extract the necessary ‘fuel’ from us. It was Gurdjieff’s stated belief that the overall quality of humanity’s conscious energies has been deteriorating over several millennia - especially in so-called ‘civilized’ societies. Whereas we had been prodigious ‘energy-transformers’, we were now pale reflections of former capacities.

This suggests that humankind has been forsaking its ecological function in the world; has been reneging on its obligation of ‘reciprocal maintenance’. Many have speculated upon these ‘other means’ employed to extract the energies from humanity; usually focusing on events that release extreme emotions such as warfare and natural disasters. This view offers a radical, and unpleasant, reworking of human history. It suggests that warfare, disasters, calamities, etc are not the result of accidental, sociological, and/or political causes but may be interventions created to fulfil the needs of a cosmic evolutionary ‘eco-system’. However this may be, it is not my intention to speculate on these matters, but rather to focus on the positive aspects of how humanity may relate to conscious evolution. In this respect, evolutionary design does obligate humanity to function as good energy transformers (as in all living systems). In our own ways we can all ‘return some energies’ if we act according to the right kind of perceptions and behaviour. It would assist us also if we took to reminding ourselves that we are not alone, nor separate in our lives, but instead are interrelated to all processes social, terrestrial, and cosmic. We are, in all senses, a part of the unfathomable creative, universal fabric of life.

There is far more depth and wisdom to our lives than is taught in our educational establishments, mainstream media, or institutional religions. Yet this tyranny of perception is entering a transition period also, as increased information floods our physical and non-physical channels. The world of the glittery and gritty consumerist struggle is being invaded by change from all angles. Nothing is immune to these changing times; not even our own immune systems. Many of us have immune systems that have been conditioned and strengthened from birth to accept the perceived socio-cultural paradigm of our circumstances. Now, along with many systems and institutions, our own inner systems are beginning to desire alternative food, and more nutritious energies. We know something is amiss when there is an inner urge to start looking for pieces of a different puzzle, when external experiences increasingly fail to ‘sit right’ with us. In some sense these stirrings will indicate a struggle between powers: between your own inherent power of self-determination over the power from consensus social forces. Everywhere and in everything power is prevalent in society. It thrives upon the material energies produced. Yet there are degrees of power, and genuine power is the power to empower others. And above all: subtle energy is powerful and powerful energy is subtle. Let us remember that energy goes where attention flows – so, what’s your attention focused on? It is now becoming well-understood that like attracts like is a universal axiom. This relates more appropriately now with what the new sciences are telling us about the power of ‘intention’ to affect bio-information fields. We need to exercise our intentions to ask the ‘right questions’. As Grandmother Twylah of the Seneca Indian tradition has stated: ‘Each person should ask themselves four questions: i) Am I happy in what I'm doing?; ii) Is what I'm doing going to add to the confusion in the world?; iii) What am I doing to bring about peace and contentment?; iv) How will I be remembered when I'm gone?’