Inspiration

Andrew Harvey writes, “Man is the astrolabe of God, but it requires an astronomer to know the astrolabe.” When Harvey asks us to become astronomers it is so we may know, and reflect the cosmos. We possess this incredibly delicate and precise instrument that can measure and understand every layer of being, but we’re not using it. We don’t know how. We are untrained. We are perfectly capable of becoming astronomers, of seeing layers of divine movement through soul and infinite space. We do this by penetrating Self, by de-mystifying feelings and behavior. In this work of perceiving and penetrating our core, we understand, even illuminate the cosmos. We see that illness and health are the same coin, that you and I are one, made multiple, that life and death are polarities of a single thread. All life holds and reflects ‘the other,’ as moonlight in the night. It is very American to view death not only different than, but opposed to life. We fight dying with every terrified muscle. If we don’t struggle with physical death, perhaps it is a psychic blow, or physical changes that obliterate a known life. How do we reconcile and recover from that magnitude of suffering and loss? moving from one level of existence to another is an enormous threshold to cross. Now is a fine time to become a practitioner, fine tuning our astrolabe, becoming a soul-astronomer. We all strain under the intensified energies of the cosmos, and many are already in full paradigm shifts. Those that aren’t, must stand steady to help others make the leap. Our job is to polish the glass, enjoy seeing the cosmos open to our widening perceptions, and hold our instrument with love and sensitivity. Asana: Marichyasana I, this is a pose dedicated to Marichi, grandfather of……

Dreams lie unspent behind sight Too dim for visions Not yet visible, For eyes hooded by Silver shadows of the moon. We lie in wait To sabotage the day, Consuming only golden apples of the sun, Mistrusting rainbow hues. As dutiful soldiers overlooking orders, “Eyes dead ahead, attach bayonets!” Will we surrender the saber To see 10,000 veils?

Our best friends remind us of the right stuff. They feed us soul food. They hold our hand when we cross risky roads. They’ve got our back. Crossing between an old life/old friends and new life/new found amis, I am constantly reminded how lucky we are in our vast array of friendships, how profoundly important they are to us, and how wonderfully weird and iconoclastic they grow. One of the old friends fed me a particularly stunning bite of soul food recently. She is a beautiful woman. She is smart, generous, talented. That said, she struggles with the nature of intimate, committed relationships, as do most. In some lives it is costlier. She recently broke up with a man she had deeply loved and been with for several years. She had every reason to be broken, resentful, thrashed. Instead, she’s arrived at a farther shore. “You know,” she said, “I could be sad and of course depressed, or angry. I go through all that, and more. But these days I’m listening to another voice. I believe it is my soul, which says, ‘I’m really grateful we loved each other. His personality and ego couldn’t love me in the way I needed, but his soul loved me enough to suffer through all we created together, and the tortured breakup. We did torture each other in our happiness, and our pain. I’ve concluded that it takes a really soulful, loving Self to agree to take on those depths with someone else, doing it for their own growth, and the other’s. Today, I’m working on letting everything else go but that. Of course I struggle with regrets on having ‘made a mistake’ once again. Yes, I lay in sleepless depression some nights. But my soul voice is growing stronger as I Practice listening……

Is it our mythic self that yearns for ritual to take our hand and guide us toward wider dimensions? Does this mythos carry our ‘true name,’ that is the name holding the energy of our mystic, magical Self, the soul-Self? Mythic beings require ritual and celebration, talismans and shared Grace. The drudge of daily-do can smother a body wanting to hold wider parameters. With the Spring Equinox, then Passover, followed by Easter, most of the Western world celebrates in some fashion during the coming weeks. Many in northern climes celebrate simply surviving another winter. Whether we celebrate religiously, or not, the arrival of spring is a powerful time to call down the Gods, for they are calling us. Their demand is to step forward more consciously, bravely, and magnificently. We are being requisitioned to deepen our core, and reach out to share at more profound levels. As the pace of the world grows more demanding, myth and mysticism seek another road, a slower pace, and quiet time. But it is a riskier journey. It asks for greater heart. It begs to leave old minds of intolerance and bigotry. We are tuning into higher frequencies, faster vibrations. Perhaps there is yet only a faint tugging toward this other, bolder life. Perhaps we hear the call, but do not yet know our ‘true name.’ Creating communion out of celebration and ritual sustains and emboldens to grow toward what is yet not real. It succors everyone, even those standing apart, especially those. It creates community, connecting past and future in vibrations of passionate, creative rhythms. Asanas: Choose one that makes you feel you are dancing, even when standing still. Find a place within the Asana that enlivens your mind, even with the mind stilled and ‘mindless.’ Create one that fills the heart, even……

Is it our mythic self that yearns for ritual to take our hand and guide us toward wider dimensions? Does this mythos carry our ‘true name,’ that is the name holding the energy of our mystic, magical Self, the soul-Self? Mythic beings require ritual and celebration, talismans and shared Grace. The drudge of daily-do can smother a body wanting to hold wider parameters. With the Spring Equinox, then Passover, followed by Easter, most of the Western world celebrates in some fashion during the coming weeks. Many in northern climes celebrate simply surviving another winter. Whether we celebrate religiously, or not, the arrival of spring is a powerful time to call down the Gods, for they are calling us. Their demand is to step forward more consciously, bravely, and magnificently. We are being requisitioned to deepen our core, and reach out to share at more profound levels. As the pace of the world grows more demanding, myth and mysticism seek another road, a slower pace, and quiet time. But it is a riskier journey. It asks for greater heart. It begs to leave old minds of intolerance and bigotry. We are tuning into higher frequencies, faster vibrations. Perhaps there is yet only a faint tugging toward this other, bolder life. Perhaps we hear the call, but do not yet know our ‘true name.’ Creating communion out of celebration and ritual sustains and emboldens to grow toward what is yet not real. It succors everyone, even those standing apart, especially those. It creates community, connecting past and future in vibrations of passionate, creative rhythms. Asanas: Choose one that makes you feel you are dancing, even when standing still. Find a place within the Asana that enlivens your mind, even with the mind stilled and ‘mindless.’ Create one that fills the heart, even……

March 9, 2010 #263 Rumi wrote, “Seek the path that demands your whole being, ” which is a perfect dictate at any time, but particularly timely this week as Mars turns direct. It is important to dream again, to regain faith, especially if efforts have felt on hold, and projects waylaid. Our desires, our will, and intentions are resuming forward motion, and while we may have no more control than we did before, by next week we will feel like we do. When faith and hope are stranded by low tides, it is particularly difficult to keep dreams aloft, never mind set sail on unknown seas. Creating ones life demands faith and hope to be front and center, not mired in needless drama, and wasted effort. To hoist sail toward the unknown, brings up fear. When fear is part of a process, then fear is part of the answer, and Rumi’s ‘whole being’ has little room for that. Fear stinks. We smell it and shrink, abandoning that large, whole, incandescent Self. Becoming a whole being is to become efficient in what we are deficient. 15 years ago I had no patience, little compassion, and lots of judgment, but I had a dream. This dream has yet to manifest. But I have grown bushels of patience and compassion, and greatly reduced my judgment in the pursuit of this vision. Perhaps those were my true quests? Perhaps the vision I had hoped for was only a by-product to get me here, free of stanky low tides, sailing across wide oceans of discovery? Who is to know these things? Sit with what brings you solace. Take faith as you may. Hold hope lightly. We are moving on, becoming and dreaming, dreaming and becoming. Asana: Ganda Bherundasana/Feet to Cheek Pose, otherwise known as terrible……