Reincarnation is a belief system that makes sense to me; it fits in with the experiences I’ve had and the people I’ve met. Sometimes I meet someone and our connection is instantaneous, as if we’ve known each other before. And I’ve visited places where my feet seemed to know the way even if my brain didn’t, which suggests to me I’ve been there before in another life.
Reincarnation seems to me like a merry-go-round: I’m born, I live, I die. I’m born, I live, I die. On and on it goes. Death is like changing to a different horse – the circumstances are a bit different, but I’m still on the merry-go-round. I’m starting to think I’d like to get off the ride and try something new. But if death is not an exit strategy, just a chance to change horses, what to do?
I couldn’t find a merry-go-round, but this is pretty close.
According to the spiritual philosophy I’ve read,the only thing to do is to stop taking ownership for everything and make it about God/Brahma/Source/the divine. Instead of thinking, “I’m browsing the internet,” think, “The divine is browsing the internet.” I know, this is where my merry-go-round analogy falls apart, but what I’m trying to say, is instead of making everything about me, I have to make everything about God if I want to get out of the cycle of reincarnation. And that means everything, which already fits in with the notion I wrote about that everything contains consciousness.
It means God is the one typing this blogpost, it means God is the one reading this blogpost, it means God is this blogpost. I can’t take credit for any of my actions because as soon as I identify with my ego, that means for better or for worse I have to undergo the consequences and repercussions. Sometimes the consequences are pretty cool, like winning an award, but if the goal of my life is really to dance with the divine and stop the reincarnation cycle, then I don’t want any consequences from my actions either negative or positive.
There’s a pretty popular Sanskrit chant/mantra that sums this up well. Some people chant it before eating or when they get out of the shower. The translation is:
Salutations to the ancestors, salutations to inventors. The act of offering is Brahma; that which is offered is Brahma; the one to whom the offering is made is Brahma; and the person making the offering is Brahma. One will merge in Brahma after completing the duty assigned to him/her by Brahma.
I know that’s a lot of the word “Brahma.” Like I said to my dad yesterday, don’t get hung up on the word. Find one that resonates. For me, right now, saying Brahma doesn’t mean much. But if I say everything is God or the divine, that works better. The point is to start to get out of my own head a little and recognize the world is a bigger, broader place than what I realize. And also not to take things so seriously because instead, I recognize I’m an instrument. Life isn’t about me and my happiness, it’s about what can be worked through me. When I start to view things from that perspective, I’m closer to getting off the merry-go-round.
I dream of a world where we set our egos aside. A world where we let ourselves be instruments. A world where we make everything about the divine. A world where we stop accumulating actions and reactions and finally get off the reincarnation merry-go-round.
Another world is not only possible, it’s probable.
One of the things that’s been bugging me is the disposable nature of the goods our society makes. Appliances aren’t built to last anymore, they’re built to break, because if something breaks then we’ll buy another one.
A few years ago I had to return a cable box or internet router, something like that, to AT&T. The UPS store THREW AWAY perfectly good power chargers and cables because AT&T doesn’t take them back. That means working, functional cords and cables end up in a landfill. I’m angry just thinking about it. Where is the reverence for life? Why aren’t we holding inanimate objects as sacred? Should inanimate even be sacred? Is something only sacred if it has a soul? Do inanimate objects have a soul?
When I stare into the eyes of something living and breathing, like a cat, it’s easy to say, “Yes, this creature has a soul.” But what about something like a rock? Or something man-made like concrete?
Right now I’m trying to hold everything as sacred.
In my quest for the answer, I turned to the work of my spiritual teacher, who seems to have written about everything. He said there are two components to everything in the world: consciousness and Prakriti. Prakrti is a Sanskrit word that has no English equivalent but is similar to nature, or creation. Prakrti has to use consciousness to create anything; it’s the basic building block for all of life. It’s like a sculptor using clay to mold different shapes: The clay becomes a pot, a vase, a cow, but its origination is still clay.
Obviously there’s a difference between a cat and a calla lily (many differences, actually) and part of that difference according to my spiritual teacher, is the exertion of Prakrti. When the force of Prakrti is strong, the creation becomes more dense or crude. When the force of Prakrti is weaker, the creation becomes more light or subtle. If I’m maintaining my clay analogy here, Prakrti can be likened to soil and consciousness to water. The more Prakrti, the more soil, the thicker the clay. The more consciousness, the more water, the thinner the clay. A rock is very crude and dense so it has more Prakrti than consciousness, but it still has consciousness.
If a rock has consciousness, what does that mean for us? For me, yesterday as I walked down the street, my feet pounding the pavement, it meant the world took on a different hue. It meant I starting thinking about how concrete has a consciousness. How everything around me is sacred and an expression of consciousness/source/the divine. No longer is a piece of cardboard a meaningless bit of disposable packaging, but instead something more precious that it pains me to toss away so easily. Everything suddenly becomes more valuable and something I want to express my reverence for.
I’m not sure I can articulate what I mean, but there’s something about knowing that the keys upon which I type have consciousness that makes the experience more transcendent and special. It brings out the caretaker in me who wants to make sure every object is used to its fullest capacity. It changes my mindset from, “I can throw this away and always get another one,” to, “I want to cherish and reuse this for as long as I can.”
I dream of a world where we all have a reverence for everything. A world where we treat ourselves and everything around us as sacred. A world where we cherish each and every thing in the known universe because we recognize it, too, has consciousness.
Another world is not only possible, it’s probable.
Right now my mind is whirling. It’s filled with visions of past people and situations. Of old friends, favorite teachers and former crushes. I’m mulling over my past self — who I was was and what I did. Last night was my eight year high school reunion (yes, eight year. It’s a small school and they combined classes from 1997-2002). Talk about a time warp. It’s a trip to see yourself in the eyes of another while you try to convince them in the span of five minutes you aren’t the same. That you are no longer that girl who lacks perspective, who gets so trapped in the details of life she doesn’t see the big picture. But of course to them you’ll always be the person who wore a yellow tanktop over a plaid shirt for tacky day.
I remarked to a friend of mine it’s weird to go from seeing certain people every day for years to all of a sudden not at all and then suddenly to see them again. I’m still tripping out this morning because my mind likes to reconcile the past with the present. To put together past selves with current realities. It’s like a puzzle — in high school you were this person and today you’re this person. Maybe it’s the journalist in me but I want to know the story. How did it all happen? How did you end up doing what you’re doing? I think I’m also still tripping out about my reunion because I’m not satisfied. I don’t know the stories. I don’t know the progressions from the past to the present. All I have are past selves and now current selves with no idea what happened in between. Perhaps though it doesn’t matter.
As I wrote about last week (and many times before), all there is is now. All there is is here. This moment in time as I sit on my bed typing on a borrowed laptop so old the wireless card is external. My mind likes to latch onto the past and mull it over but really the past matters only so much as I let it. It matters only as much as I allow it to shape the now. Of course there are consequences for every action and those consequences are still playing out, but me? My person? I get to decide moment by moment who I am and how my life will work. As Louise Hay says, “The point of of power is always in the now.” It doesn’t really matter who I was and what I did because I’m dealing with the now. The person I am today. The person who writes a weekly blog in the hopes her own struggles and insights will help others on their path of self-realization.
I may never know how my peers got to where they are and that’s ok. Because they’re here now. They’re nurses and actors and stay-at-home moms. They’re photographers and lawyers and teachers. All the trappings of what they’re doing pale in comparison to who they are. To their essence. I already know their essence, just as I know my own essence. We are all love incarnate. Divine beings in human form. Therefore I know them already. Even with eight year gaps and stories in between we still know one another. Because their essence remains unchanged. When I dip into all that is I recognize that. I no longer feel the pain of separation or the rupture of an abrupt goodbye. Because I am you and you are me. When I feel sadness it’s because I’ve forgotten that. Forgotten who I really am and where I come from, and I don’t mean Wichita, Kan. There are no goodbyes because how do you say goodbye to yourself? Even when you lose yourself you’ll eventually find you again. It’s inevitable.
We are always connected to each other and that will not change. No matter what happens in the physical realm, in the spiritual realm we are all one. So the fact I didn’t get to say goodbye to some folks, or that others didn’t attend the reunion, doesn’t ultimately matter. Time goes on and things in the physical world unfold but really we are eternal creatures. Outer appearances change but we remain the same.
I dream of a world where we recognize we are all connected at all times. A world where we understand “goodbye” is just a word because separation is an illusion. A world where we recognize our essence is what matters above all else. Above what we’re doing and how we got there. I dream of a world where we see ourselves for who we are really are: spiritual beings having a human experience.
Another world is not only possible, it’s probable.
Openness. To live a big, grand and exciting life I think requires openness. Being open to change, being open to positive messages from the universe, being open to all possibilities. How can we live the full life we are meant to if we are grasping onto ideas of the way things “should” be? If we are holding onto preconceived notions of how things “should” work, “should” turn out, “should” function?
When I reflect on my life, when I reflect on the adventures I have already experienced, I realize it’s because I approach life with an open heart (most of the time). It’s because I don’t close myself off to all possibilities. I ask for something and I’m open to receiving it in whatever form that takes.
The other day I asked Heather for a resource regarding communicating nonviolently in relationships. She told me to pray for it. Three days later I went to my coworker’s house and lying on the coffee table was exactly the kind of book I wanted to read! It felt as if the universe conspired to put that book there for me. So I could stumble across it. What a gift! What a treasure!
I say this not to brag or extol how much the universe loves me but rather illustrate this stuff happens all the time. And if it doesn’t, it can! Everyone can experience this kind of magic, this kind of grace. All it takes is an open heart and an open mind. Rising above our murky slumber to see the grace, see the serendipity in our lives. To see the guiding force and the love our Creator has for us all.
The way I see it, to live the life I wish to lead, to fulfill my dreams, it takes openness. Openness to being guided, openness to signs to messages to “coincidences.” Openness to what God has in store for us. When we turn our backs on the Universe there is only so much the Universe can do. Instead, when we open the windows to our hearts and minds anything can manifest. So much happens. It can and does and will.
I envision a world where we are all open to all possibilities. I envision a world where we communicate with divinity and allow divinity to communicate with us. I envision a world where we allow ourselves to be carried like dandelion seeds in the wind. Where our hearts and our minds are open. Where we all live big, grand, exciting lives and realize our utmost potential.
I know another world is not only possible, it’s probable.
Love. Such a big word for only four letters. I’ve heard there are people who horde saying, “I love you” like a squirrel putting away nuts for the winter.
I am not one of those people.
I say, “I love you” all the time. It doesn’t always mean the same thing, however. For me there are many shades of love. They all emanate from the same source but each is slightly different. The love I feel for my mother is different than the love I feel for my brother, which is different than the love I feel for a friend. And I feel a different love for different friends.
Why do I mention this? I mention this because I understand saying “I love you” can feel weighty but why be a miser? Love is the greatest gift we humans can give and receive. It’s what makes life worth living, and I’m not talking only about romantic love, although there’s that too. Love in general is what makes life precious, beautiful and fulfilling. A world without love is the worst kind of hell.
It is my firm belief the best way to make the world a better place is to spread more love. Spread love like you breath air. Give it away freely and to everyone. Even if you can’t say the words, send out that energy. Spread kindness, a loving energy. How can there be hate and war if everyone is spreading love? How can there be loneliness and isolation if each and everyone person feels they are loved? And the thing about love is not only does it feel good to receive but also to give. And while it may seem exhausting to constantly send love to people, love surrounds us. God’s love is ever present. Every object, every person, every thing is saturated in God’s love. We are absolutely drenched with it but sometimes we are blind to it or take it for granted.
The best way to not take it for granted is to give it back. How about saying I love you to God? Or even, “Thank you for bringing me into existence. Thank you for dropping me in your glorious creation. I love you and the life you have given me. Thank you.” How about letting everyone around you know they are loved? Why horde it? Why wait? Why not express it to anyone and everyone?
Just imagine what the world would be like if everyone felt a steady stream of love. If everyone felt cared about and loved unconditionally. Imagine what a utopia the world could be if we not only recognized God’s love for us but we spread that love to others. Imagine a world where everyone on the planet felt constant love from all corners. Where every child felt safe and loved unconditionally. Where every adult felt secure about the love in their lives.
We can bring that world into being. It’s already here, glimmering beneath the surface. I can see it.
I know not only is another world possible, it’s probable.
I wish to be transformed. Really and truly. I wish to soar to new heights to realize my full potential and be the person I’ve always dreamed I could be. I wish to do great, be great, and feel great. And you know what? I can.
I used to believe there were things about myself I was stuck with. I used to believe there were certain personality traits I was doomed to express forever.
Now I’ve come to realize everything can change, everything.
There’s an expression, “As you think so you become.” I think I can transform. I think I can change. I think I can realize my full potential. But retraining your thoughts is hard. Reciting affirmations all the time isn’t enough for me. The emotional freedom technique only takes me so far.
When I’ve gone as far as I can go I reach out my hand for help. I call on God and ask God to lift me up. I ask God to bring me above myself, my limitations. I ask God to help me to change, to show me the way. I ask God to help me soar to my highest heights, to transform me into my best person. I turn myself over to a power greater than myself, a power that has the capacity to change me, to get rid of the personality traits I no longer wish to express. I turn to God for my transformation.
And you know what? I shift, I change, I move. I don’t have to limit myself to what I “think” life is like. I don’t have to settle for anything, including myself. I don’t have to say “I’m impatient and that’s the way it will always be.” I can change, you can change, we all can change if we so desire.
I dream of a world where we as humans don’t settle for anything. Where we recognize all possibilities. Where we understand Yes We Can for anything, for everything. Where we can rid ourselves of personality traits we don’t like. Where we can rise above the issues giving us trouble. Where we can reach our dreams, where we can find success, where we transform ourselves. It can happen. It already has.
Not only is another world possible, it’s probable.
My good friend Heather sent me an audio recording from the Reverend Michael Beckwith, founder of the
Rev. Beckwith talks about how we are all vibratory beings. How our natural state is one where we feel “high” and connected to divinity. Here’s an excerpt of what he said that really hit home for me:
“You’re a vibratory being. And when you come to that understanding the work/play you’re participating in is about lifting your frequency so that you are not fighting circumstances, situations, people, places, and things. Instead you are rising above that into a realm of cosmic ideation that allows you to transcend the world of appearances, transcend even your seeming personal mind and perceptions and opinions so that you can begin to see the world that has been made before the beginning of time. In the beginning was the word, the word was with God. You begin to see this world and participate in this word and a whole other thing begins to happen. You begin to understand ‘I make all things new. I make all things new. I make all things new.’ You are a vibration. This is why a right understanding of God and prayer lifts your vibration. When you understand that God…is spirit, not a man in the sky, not an anthropomorphic being, but God is spirit, every where present, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, omniactive, the only thing going on is the power, the presence and the love of God. When in truth that begins to dawn on your awareness…you’re a vibratory being…The right understanding of God and prayer lifts your vibration.”
Powerful stuff in and of itself, right?
Beckwith goes on to talk about how the world we want to live in already exists. Right now what we’re trying to do now is let it manifest. The antonym of manifest is latent. Latent means “present and capable of becoming though not now visible, obvious, active, or symptomatic.”
The world we want to live in is latent. It’s here, it’s present but not obvious or visible. You, I, we can make that world visible. We can make that world manifest. Instead of focusing on what’s wrong in the world let’s focus on what’s right, what’s working, what’s good, what’s great. Let us lift our vibration and rise above the muck. Let us lift our vibration and rise above the things we wish would disappear.
How do we do that? I think one way is to focus on what’s working, what we wish to see. As Gandhi said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Let’s be the change! We are the change! We are the light and the love and the goodness. You, me, we, us. We are working to bring the world we wish to see into being. Right now, in this moment, as we are.
When we let our love and our light shine through our being we allow God/Spirit/the Divine to work through us. To use us as an instrument to make the latent world manifest. When we move our ego out of the way, when we move our “I” feeling to the side, we let God work through us, to lift us and the world around us.
I think the other way we lift our vibration is through spirituality. Whatever your path may be, I think by remembering we are all divine, that God is in everything, also lifts our vibration. By remembering our connection to the Cosmic source of all life, that inherently makes us “high,” lifts us up and allows us to soar.
I want to soar. Will you soar with me?
Not only is another world possible, it’s probable.
I have a tendency to spiral out and think about what I’m doing in an hour, tomorrow, this weekend, etc. When I moved to California that practice ceased because, well, when you don’t know where you’re living next or where the money will come from to buy groceries, it’s difficult to live in the future.
However, now I’m settled with a job and an apartment and I find myself going back to that terrible habit. I find myself constantly thinking about what’s next, what’s next, what’s next. I bring this up because (I think) many people do the same thing. I think most of us don’t live in the Here and Now because I dunno, maybe we’re constantly searching for something better.
For me at least, when I continuously think about the future I miss out on what’s right in front of me. I never get to enjoy where I am or what I’m doing. I never fully experience anything because I’m too worried about what’s next. How sad! What a tragedy to go through life never fully living in the moment.
While I realize there is a whole book (several actually) to Being Here, Now, there are some things that snap me back to my present moment, that keep me from constantly living in the future.
What I do is try to be more physically present. I notice how my yoga mat feels beneath my fingers. I notice how my hair feels when it brushes against the nape of my neck. I take a deep inhale and figure out what I smell. I listen to the sounds around me and try to distinguish what they are, what could be making them. I bring my awareness to my tongue and discern what I taste. (You get the picture.)
Why is this important? To me it’s important to Be Here, Now not only because this is the only moment we get but because being present brings me closer to God. I find God infused in every moment but only if I experience the moment! When I stop to notice my surroundings, enjoy where I am, I feel God’s presence and the latent divinity in everything. Yes it’s easier for me to think about the future but it’s much more fulfilling to live in the present.
I envision a world where people appreciate every single moment of their lives (even the bad ones!) because this moment is everything. I envision a world where people enjoy what is before them and revel in it instead of jumping ahead. I envision a world where we don’t trudge through the day but rather appreciate it for the gift it is.
It is my firm belief not only is another world possible, it’s probable.
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