Category: ArtKeyTypes

A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship. The Mastery of Love.

Don Miguel Ruiz

Amber-Allen Publishers, 1990 (210pp., $14, ISBN978-I878424-42-6)

 

I read this book in 2013, only to forget everything it had to say.  I just re-read it recently and decided to begin the YouTube channel I have been contemplating for a while, with a review of this book.

Don Miguel Ruiz is better known for his book The Four Agreements.  Ruiz was born and raised in Mexico and is a Toltec Nagual (Shaman) from the Eagle Knight lineage.  He comes from a long line of healers which is reflected in his writings.

The main message of this book is that finding love is really about finding self-love.  Ruiz introduces the book with the story of The Master. The story goes that a man admires his master so much, and invites him to have dinner at his house.  Every day the man receives a different guest, non who are the master himself.  The lesson as Ruiz writes is: The Master lives within everyone.  When you give food to the one who is starving, when you give water to the one who is thirsty, when you cover the one who is cold, you give your love to the Master (p.5).  All the individuals who showed up at the doorstep of this man were indeed an aspect of the Master. Loving all these aspects is the way to unconditional love.

After this introduction, Ruiz writes twelve chapters.

In the first chapter, Ruiz talks about how we are born with a healthy emotional body and how it starts getting poisoned by our care givers.  He says we domesticate children by a system of punishment, and reward.  By wanting to avoid punishment and gaining rewards we forget who we are.  We start putting on masks and this habit continues well into our life, and we use it in all our relationships.

In chapter two, which he titles The Loss of Innocence, Ruiz writes that seeing that we sense everything through our emotional body, our emotions are like an alarm system that help us know if there is danger. When we lose trust in our care givers as children is when we begin to lose our innocence. When we feel an injustice it gets held in our emotional body as poison. The reason being that that emotional body is wounded by losing trust.  Over time we feel like it’s not okay to be who we are and it becomes so ingrained in us that we take this into all our relationships as adults.  We use this emotional poison to hook the attention of those we are in relationship with, not for any particular reason but to release the poison.  Ruiz writes that according to Toltecs, this poison is called the parasite. The Parasite is all those beliefs that make you suffer  (p.38).  This parasite is handed down from generation to generation…

In chapter three Ruiz tells the story of the man who didn’t believe in love. This man thought that love just did not exist and his arguments were convincing until one day he meets a woman whom he doesn’t need anything from and she doesn’t need anything from him and they become friends and then lovers and soon after things are going well but the man begins to think he can give her happiness and that is what causes the relationship to crumble because no one can give you happiness, you have to find your own happiness within you.

Chapter four is how fear is the opposite of love and that when we love we cannot have expectations.  Fear is disrespectful, full of pity, irresponsible, and unkind, while love is respectful, empathic, responsible and kind. Most importantly love is unconditional while fear is conditional: I love you for no reason, with no justification.  I love you the way you are, and you are free to be the way you are.  If I don’t like the way you are, then I’d better be with someone who is the way I like her to be (p.63).  Don’t hold on to someone if you know that you do not accept them as they are.

In relationships we have to realize that everyone has their own dream we are each responsible for our own dream not the other person’s dream.  It is important to be able to communicate your dream to the other person.

Chapter five is about the perfect relationship.  The bottom line here is: people are who they are you either accept them as they are or you move on.  Ruiz writes: The right woman for you is the woman you love just as she is, the woman you don’t have the need to change at all,…you are going to be the right man for her if she loves you just the way you are and doesn’t want to change you  (p.77).

Ultimately it is about finding your voice and stating your needs but it can only be done when you love yourself enough.

The message in chapter six is that we need to look for love inside of our self and not outside. We find love in our own heart as Ruiz calls it our magical kitchen.

In chapter seven the author tells us that our life is a dream of our own making and if we do not like what is showing up in our life, we have the power to change that by finding what is causing the things we do not like to happen.  The way we react is a habit that has become a routine for us.  To change this we have to change a deeply rooted belief.  By becoming aware we become responsible for our life.

In chapter eight Ruiz talks about Sex as the biggest demon in hell.  The reason being life just is, if humans didn’t exist, no one would judge good or bad right or wrong.  We create angels and demons, and of course we create sin. But the human body was created to have sex!  All the rules that humanity creates around sex make you feel guilty when you actually do have sex.

The mind doesn’t need anything that the body needs, and yet it interferes in all the functions of the body. When the mind takes over the needs, nothing can satisfy it. When the mind thinks it is the body it’s a problem: The mind doesn’t need sex.  What the mind really needs is love, not sex. More than the mind its your soul that needs love…(p.127-8).  Ruiz says awareness begins when one realizes they are not the body, they realize that they are a life force.

In chapter nine Ruiz relates the story of Artemis the divine Greek huntress.  Once she started giving her power away and hunting outside herself, trying to get Hercules to love her, she fell from grace.  He says this story is a great lesson to never look outside oneself for love.

To remain inside oneself, the hunt must begin inside and is done by changing every routine that stands in the way of your freedom.

Chapter ten is seeing with the eyes of love, you must treat your body well, your body is praying to you.  You have to accept it completely. Once you do this, no one’s opinion of you will ever matter.  Honor your body every day in one way or another. When you wash it, feed it, clothe it, move it, do this in a sacred way.

In chapter eleven Ruiz writes that to heal the emotional body we have to open the emotional wounds. The way to open the wounds is to see everything as it is, not the way we want to see it.  The way to see this is looking that the injustice that you suffered is no longer true in the present moment.  This way you have a new perspective.

• Don’t believe me, my truth is not your truth
• Don’t believe yourself
• Don’t believe anyone else

That is as far as opening the wounds, the next step is the cleaning part. We do this through forgiveness. Forgiveness means letting go of the past. The final step is self-love.

In chapter twelve, the author says we were born to enjoy life not suffer through it. The idea that we came here to suffer is a program. Even drama is beautiful.  A healthy human being is not afraid to express love and not afraid to live.  When you awake, it means you no longer have emotional wounds in the emotional body.

Ruiz ends this book with prayers.

I found this to be a quick, and grasping read despite the fact that I had read it before. Although the main theme is that mastering love is actually about mastering self-love,  the author makes some very valid points about belief systems, how, and why we acquire them, and how they play a role in controlling our life.

Again, I find these concepts easy to read, and understand and yet when it comes to application, that is when we all fall down!

Memory has been on my mind lately.

Have you ever noticed how our memories are so selective? The things we choose to recall as opposed to all the other things we choose to forget?  It is really difficult to remember everything in full detail even when we have an epic experience.

I understand that it would be brutal to recall all the trauma we have been through in detail.  And that is one way our selective memory serves us.  Sometimes, forgetting things can be in our own best interest, and yes for sure that is a blessing.

I have always wondered why we take photos when they are not even giving us the memory of an experience in its entirety? To freeze a moment in time? What is the point?

Then there is also the idea of the collective memory.  Most of what we have in our collective memory is a fabrication.  Historical and archeological data cannot be verified without a shadow of a doubt and are based on reconstructions, best guesses, and methods that can be proven inefficient in a heartbeat.  It is nice to know where we came from and sort of have an idea of our past, but it would be difficult to know everything without a shadow of a doubt…

Research has shown that our memories are flawed , and no matter what we do remember, we usually embellish it with something or the other that was not in our actual experience.

Then there is the whole idea of our own personal perspective, and how we would have a completely different memory of the same event than someone else would…

So, what is the best possible way to preserve a memory?

According to neuroscience, write it down as soon as you can, or produce a piece of art that documents the event or experience.  I do not think that taking a photo would help tell about an entire experience but hey a video maybe your second best bet!

I still have a nagging question though, if we want to transcend the illusion of this physical dimension, how does keeping our past preserved in little snippets that do not even give us the complete story serve us?

*Edited from an original post published as “Who is a Spiritual Teacher?” February 25, 2016 on a blog I had to shut down due to a major hack.

 

In an age where spiritual teachers have come to hold the status of celebrities, it feels like most are after the fame. It is an ego thing. Some are claiming the title, without walking their talk.

This is not to generalize every teacher out there, rather to understand and bring attention to celebrity status spirituality.

Spiritual teachers are like the rest of us, humans. The one thing that distinguishes them as teachers of spirituality is that they have been gifted special talents for helping individuals move through areas in their life they feel stuck or stagnant. Do such gifts mean that they are now able to judge the rest of us as being less than they are? How does one even determine this test of consciousness? Does a teacher embrace a student or shut them out because “they see everything as something?” Or because they cannot evolve as fast as the teacher would like?

I learned from my teacher Almine, that all perspectives are important, that is, all levels of consciousness are of value. One is not less or more. We must embrace them all as seekers of truth and light.

Every spiritual teacher requires: equanimity.

We are all at different levels and different stages in our life, with different levels of trauma, and emotional baggage that needs to be processed. When a spiritual teacher claims to embrace non-duality, how can they ostracize you by judging your level of consciousness? Or what they perceive to be your degree of mindfulness? Wouldn’t that be projection? And if we are all one, why cut off your finger and tell it it’s less than you are?

Isn’t the job of a spiritual teacher/leader/seeker/mystic actually to embrace all levels of consciousness? All the saints, prophets and ascended masters through history have taught this.

When we reach enlightened states we must remain humble.  There is a high price to pay with arrogance. Human suffering is real, trauma is real, grief is real…yes, yes, I understand that in the greater scheme of spirituality it is all an illusion, but we live this illusion. Every day we wake up in it, unless we go hide in a cave somewhere. We are here on earth, and in this dimension for a reason. Experiencing our life with all its facets is a necessity for soul growth.  Claiming to be someone you are not is the flip side of authenticity.

A spiritual teacher is here to help in this process of growth. Anything less would not qualify them for such a position.

Who is truly a spiritual teacher?

A spiritual teacher is not looking for growing a business, or a name, he or she are not in it for the money or the fame.  They are in it because they truly want to facilitate and assist a person’s growth. They have an invested interest in a person’s evolution for no reason other than compassion, love, and the call to service.

A spiritual teacher is someone who has embraced his/her shadow publicly, and privately.  Someone who is not afraid to say what their struggles are, what they are working on, and where they are at with it.

A spiritual teacher is someone who values all of humanity. A seer who knows that we each have a role to play regardless of where we are on our path, regardless of what path we choose, regardless of what life we choose, regardless if we are still trying to move past the illusion, regardless if we are heart centered, head centered or gut centered.

A spiritual teacher has wisdom. This wisdom comes from experiencing life. You cannot teach that which you have not experienced. Otherwise you would just be regurgitating what someone else had said or written about and if it is not your experience then the teaching will remain shallow.

You can travel between worlds all you want, and communicate with beings, ascended masters, monks, and star races in alternate dimensions, but if you lack equanimity, and wisdom, the ability to embrace all stages of human conscious evolution, I am sorry, you cannot call yourself a spiritual teacher. You would qualify as a fraud.

Here is my slightly longer rant about sexuality.  I have been reflecting on this topic for quite some time, and I feel like I am not done with this reflection but thought I would share some of the insights I have had so far.  And who knows, maybe in a future post, I will completely disagree with myself!

I am writing this because I have noticed so much misinformation about what sacred sexuality means.

Food, and sex are of the physical realm.

Sexuality becomes a commodity if we use it in a hedonistic manner.  I don’t really care what the justification is.  You can justify such actions by saying that highly evolved beings will have sex and not become attached and that sex for sex sake is an indication of higher conscious levels.  I say, that is a bunch of bull. True we have freedom of choice, there is nothing better or worse than anything else, but please do not elevate sex to the status of sacred when you have treated it as a commodity.  Mindfulness is a key ingredient whether we are eating, having sex or anything else.

Sex, like food is a biological, physical need, an appetite so to speak.  That requires to be satisfied.  Elevating this to a level of higher vibration means elevating it through DISCERNMENT, using the faculty of consciousness. That is why we were given this faculty and that is why we are humans, not animals.  Treating sexuality like a commodity, with lack of mindfulness, and discernment does not classify it as ‘sacred’.

Why are you performing what you are, and what it is you want out of it? What are you looking for? What is your goal? Satisfying an urge? Sex for sex sake? Feeling good?

If we wish to elevate sexuality beyond the physical realm we have to view it from an energetic level.  And when we do so, it gets even more complicated as recent research has revealed that we take on our partners qualities, energies,  and even some of their DNA into our own system when we have sex.  Can you imagine what you are bringing into your life when you are with multiple partners at a time?

The universal law of polarity, found in the Kybalion states that everything follows the law of poles, light and dark, day and night, feminine and masculine.

“Everything is dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.” — The Kybalion.

So duality as an equation is:

feminine +masculine = one

light + dark= one

day + night = one

love + hate = one

 

but in this day and age when applied to sexuality we have :

feminine + feminine + feminine  + masculine

or

masculine + feminine + feminine

or

masculine + feminine + masculine + feminine

and the list goes on…

To create balance of poles there must be two poles not 4 or 10, just two poles.

We require a physical body to experience sex, and it is up to us as individuals to elevate it to its ‘sacred’ status.

Sacred sex is when we experience this at an energetic level, when we are present, clear, and pure energies are a requirement.  When we transcend the physical and access the etheric realms of subtle bodies and feel the energetic resonance.  That is sacred sex.  I have surely experienced this on a soul level and know that it is possible.  There are certain criteria that need to be met. I will surely blog about those criteria at a later date as I am still reflecting on them at the moment.  I will say though that honesty with oneself, and the other are of utmost importance and also the ability to be present.

You can be attracted to many, it doesn’t mean you have to have sex.  Yeah it maybe pleasurable, but is it the pleasure we are after? And if so, we know it will only be a temporary fulfillment. That is where discernment comes in. If that is what we want, then well and good, no judgements here, just a continuous unwavering real commitment to our personal truth.

Everything is sacred, yes, but we can’t kill someone and call that sacred just like we can’t have multiple sexual partners and call it sacred.

It is nice to have freedom, consent is sexy, we were given free will to use it wisely. If we wish to evolve as a species, returning back to our hunter gatherer ways of life will only take us back not move us forward.  Our hunter gatherer ancestors behaved in such a way.  They followed their instincts, and had sex because they needed to fulfill that urge with no need for their conscious faculties whatsoever, and total ignorance of consequences.

Another troubling concept I have been hearing is ‘having sex like a man’, yes giving back the power to the feminine to decide to consent or not is great, however the trouble with this is why not reverse it and say ‘having sex like a woman’? After all it is the feminine we are trying to heal, aren’t we? So we give her a more masculine approach? I don’t understand this.  Why not offer a feminine approach of sexuality to the masculine instead?

What is wrong with being more discerning? What is wrong with not wanting to take on another’s DNA? What is wrong with not wanting to acquire another’s energies, and character just for the sake of a pleasurable few moments???

I am really not trying to condemn or judge but offering some of the questions I have, and trying to bring more awareness to this subject from a personal perspective.

If we accept the notion that everything is sacred, there really is no such thing as sacred sexuality.  What there is, is conscious sexuality, and unconscious sexuality.  What does conscious sexuality look like? That which is discerning.  That which asks the questions, and accepts the consequences.  Conscious sexuality is based on truth, complete, and utter honesty with one self and the other.

So many want deep connection. Yet we just walk away from that when given the chance.

We talk about shallow things, the weather, food, politics, government, and never truly share our stuff, what makes us who we are.

It’s understandable you may not want to connect with everyone you meet, you get to pick and choose.

I understand that it is important to feel comfortable and we have to build an element of trust before we reveal those layers of our self.  What if the trust we seek is inside us? What if the things we say and share are only distractions from the things that are really important about us?

It’s not about filling space with empty words it’s about being human, and sharing what makes you, you!

Are you interested in people’s stories?

Do you sometimes wonder about the struggles and triumphs of their lives?

Do you ask the questions: what are you passionate about, what motivates your life?

Are you interested in sharing about who you are at your core or do you only share about the layers that hide your essence? Hiding behind a jumble of spiritual mambo jumbo…

Basically what I’m asking here and trying to get to, is do you look to connect with people or is it only that you wish to make just another connection?

If you spend time with someone, and yet unable to share, and ask about this person… you really have not connected to anything although it may seem to you that you have. Time spent together does not imply or guarantee a connection.

Please, don’t pretend that you love everyone and everything and throw out philosophies about how it’s all about love when the only thing that will get you to Love is actually being with, and seeing the person in front of you.  Otherwise, it’s just another way of spiritual bypassing.

Pretense kills connection. Empty philosophies will never save you.

So many of us complain of isolation and loneliness and then when given the chance for deep connection… we just walk away and distract our self with superficial words flung here, and there, saving our self from having to connect because connecting so deeply to people scares the shit out of us and we’d rather pretend that we love instead of begin to actually SHOW how we love.

We’d rather pretend we are “all that” instead of be who we really are.

What a mystery…

As soon as we show up to connect we come up with a bunch of lies about who we are, and what we want, and where we are at and get so lost that we forget why we are sharing in the first place. We bottle up all our true and real emotions only to have a meltdown a few days later…

I ask you about you and you answer about me? That’s beating around the bush…

How about sharing how you are scared, intimidated, wondering if you belong, if you are good enough, if you’re being judged…

Deep connections, that to me is the definition of friendship. Any other supposed acquaintance is just that, an acquaintance.

Why not ask these questions instead of how are you today?

How do you feel today?

How may I support you?

What are you passionate about?

What are your struggles?

What do you consider your triumphs?

What do you want for yourself in the future?

Past, present, and future they are interwoven within the fabric of our life. One cannot be separate from the other they are all the same thing just given different names..

Past… present…future

Do you see that there is no difference?

Past

Present

Future

Nothing separates them

Except the choice of, and the order of the letters

Past

Present

Future

Can you touch any of them?

Past

Present

Future?

Can you smell them?

Past

Present

Future

Do your eyes see them?

Past

Present

Future

Can you hear them?

 

If you can’t

Touch

Smell

See

Or hear the past, the present and the future, then where are they really?

 

Past

Present

Future

 

They live in the AUTHENTICITY of each moment.

 

Forever is one moment at a time.

 

Let’s not participate in the lies of yesterday, today or tomorrow.

The life I lead just did a 365 degree rotation around itself.

I just got back from Philia two nights ago. I was there to lead, and facilitate a Womb Healing retreat for thirteen women at Teal Swan’s request. It is still wondrous how this happened, and that it was happening to me.

I thought I was there to mostly facilitate an opening into creative process, and although I was prepared for some trauma to arise, I had not really known the extent of what I was about to face.

Shortly after the retreat began and everyone was introduced I could not help but notice that there was at least one woman representing each generation. There was a mix of woman in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.  I sensed that this was not random at all.

The work was intense, the land was powerful, and the days blended into each other.

I chose some guided meditations, and simple yoga flow with a sprinkle of breath work to assist in the release of what has been suppressed through  the many generations.  Philia staff, and team was on site to assist with the Completion Process when needed, and it sure was needed.

Little did I know what was in store for me!

It didn’t take too long before it felt like I was in a hall of mirrors. I was face to face with myself, and no-where to go but within.  All these versions of myself began to emerge in the faces of the women I was holding space for, faces of me during different times of my life.  The more I looked, and was willing to stay and not run, the more I was able to see.  It felt like I had taken plant medicine but that medicine was the Feminine in all her power, and all her brokenness come to pay me a visit or two. The wildest thing is that I did not break down, not even once.

These generations that were reflecting my mirrors were echos of my past, and distant calls from my ancestors but maybe not just my ancestors, all our ancestors, also perhaps the future…

It is not news that the Feminine has been injured. Disrespect, and violation to the Feminine have been going on for centuries,  in many cultures, and many ways, and have been accepted as normal social ways of being.

It is no wonder Teal remarked on the last day of the retreat “the Divine Feminine is not rising“, how on earth can she rise with so much hurt? She maybe trying to rise, yet the need to heal  is more pertinent now for her than it is to rise.

The patterns that bind must be cut through, and burned. There is no other way.

The way to cut through is in the answer to: what were the mirrors  showing me?

To trust more

To connect more

To not lose myself in connection

To release ALL expectations as they are only programs of society

To have and stick with my boundaries

To trust my gut

To ask for what I need

To speak my truth

To be proactive NOT passive

To not take anything personally

We as women cannot afford to sit and watch anymore, we cannot be silent.  And when I say this I don’t mean go out and protest in the streets because that is not what is required.  It maybe helpful in some small way but there is more deeper, and difficult work that is needed.  We must come face to face with these mirrors.

What is required is for every woman to take serious inventory of all the times she was mistreated, abused, harassed, objectified, violated in any way shape or form, belittled, manipulated, controlled, silenced, shamed, guilted, treated like dirt because she menstruates, been a victim of misogyny… and the list goes on, each woman must look at all this, and understand it’s lesson, that this has nothing to do with her personally,  and once that is deeply understood then she can release it forever.  It will take time, but is so worth the effort.  I say this from experience.  It is not just some metaphysical mambo jambo.

Every man is required to do the same in finding all those instances where his masculine had caused these things knowingly or unknowingly and learn the lessons they offer, the programs he was made to believe -subconsciously in most instances -about himself, and her, and release them…

Only then will the Divine Feminine be able to rise as it needs, and must.

There is no other way.

You can be a feminist all you want but not when you try so hard to be so masculine. That will never liberate you. Standing powerful in your femininity is your saving grace.

You were born with a strength, and power so secret, giving birth is your mystery, and your holy grail.  Never lose sight of that.

 

<3

Suzy

The main condition for the achievement of love is the overcoming of one’s narcissism. The narcissistic orientation is one in which one experiences as real only that which exists within oneself, while the phenomena in the outside world have no reality in themselves, but are experienced only from the viewpoint of their being useful or dangerous to one. The opposite pole to narcissism is objectivity, it is the faculty to see other people and things as they are, objectively, and to be able to separate this objective picture from a picture which is formed by one’s desires and fears. ~ Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving

I stumbled across this quote just last night, and in a flash of insight many questions I had were suddenly answered.

I have been reflecting on the inner, and outer worlds a lot lately. The mystical notion of “as within, so without” that whatever exists within us also exists around us, or is reflected in our environment, and relationships.

I recalled that Almine writes in her book “The Bridge of No Time” that the inner world is where we are able to explore oneness, and the outer world is how we explore duality.

The interesting thing that struck me about the quote is that within each pole the inner, and outer there are other poles, and each pole does NOT imply lesser or more, nor does it imply better or worse. Within the oneness, there is a tendency to narcissistic ways of being, and within the outer world, the world of duality, we learn about objectivity. Inner teaches us about ourself, the outer teaches us about others. They are both equally necessary.

Yes indeed, now it is no longer a theory, I SEE how both polarities are necessary. I also see how it is easy to polarize into one or the other. I see the consequences of over polarization.

It is true it felt like a moment of revelation to me, yet with the answers, some more questions emerged. Is it possible to never be polarized into anyone pole? Is there such a thing as maintaining the balance between the two poles? Does this mean that to reach a non-dual state we must just focus on the inner world?

I shall leave these questions be for the moment, resting, and trusting that if they are meant to be known the answers will some day be shown.

Blogging has definitely been on my mind for some time now.  The only thing is I have been feeling very ADD with all that’s happening in the world today.  I wrote a few pieces and never got around to finishing them.  Between the situation in Syria, ISIS, the recent US elections, the North Dakota pipeline, and today’s headline story in Ohio, it is no wonder I have been feeling so scattered. I am sure I am not alone.

I finally realized that there is just this one issue that has been front, and center for me that brings up really strong emotions in a variety of ways. Not that I have no feelings about the other issues, because I do. This is the pipeline I am talking about.  I feel strongly about clean water for sure, and more than that I feel strongly about hurting humans let alone who are peacefully protesting for a simple human right.  Not only this I feel strongly about the fact that water is a basic human need.  I feel strongly that the ancient wisdom of all Native tribes is worth much more than a pipeline.  Mostly, I feel strongly that there is definitely a more peaceful way to resolve this situation.  Aggression is never the answer.  Yet sadly, this is mostly how our world functions today.  There’s more to this…

As I write this piece I realize that there is a deeper reason for why I am gravitating towards this issue.  This is not because all the other issues are minor, on the contrary. I think they are all deserving of attention.  No, it’s not that in a past life I was Native American (although that would surely be an honor), nor is it that I feel obligated to stand with Standing Rock because it’s the cool thing to do ( I suppose it is in a way).  Rather it seems that the reason is much deeper, and has something to do with my being human with a strong connection to the power of my Sacred Womb. I am a human who is done with the outdated ways of the patriarchy and is hopeful for a new world order built on something like Riane Eisler’s model of partnership.  I want Riane for president.

Since I am so much into learning about the unseen worlds, I am trying to grasp the situation  from a metaphysical perspective. I probably will need more time to figure it all out, but what I do know is that water is associated with womb energy.  The womb is feminine energy, and the womb creates life. The main ingredient for life in the womb is water. Water is life.  Water is the feminine.

I made a conscious decision a few days ago that the best thing I can do in the place I find myself in is to tend to my own sacred womb.  I am being the change I want to see in the world.  Strengthening, blessing, purifying, and grounding myself in my divine feminine essence. My center of power.  This is certainly not just a practice for women.  I encourage all humanity to develop such a practice.  It seems to me to be a great first step out of our outdated patriarchal programs.

Even if you are male, you have a womb presence as part of your subtle body.  It is the center of all creativity. It is the place where we “bake” all our dreams, imaginings, and wants in life.    It is not only a place of creation but the womb is also like a sponge.  It absorbs energies from all over the place and therefore requires a lot of attention and care.  The womb correlates with three of our chakras the root, navel, and solar plexus chakras are all a part of the womb. Physically it is the entire pelvic cavity. For anyone who may have had surgery in this part of their body, you would be happy to know that you still possess that creative ability with or without the physical aspect.  You still have a Sacred Womb.

Like everything else in this universe, there are certainly metaphysical layers to the situation in North Dakota that I have been reflecting on, and maybe more that will emerge later.

The first layer is the underlying universal laws that control this universe which Mahayana Buddhism would call “mystic” or “myoho”, Muslims would say this is “mawaraiyat” or “that which is hidden from human sight”. There are correlates in all mystical traditions which I will most likely be blogging about in future posts.

The second layer is that we are a mini reflection of the earth mother.  Her womb energy lives in us. It always comes back to doing our own self work so it can reflect back to us through the larger perspective.

The third layer is that this is most definitely yet another sign of the Divine Feminine attempting to rise.  Just a day ago, the women came together at Standing Rock to show how it is possible to lead from a heart centered place of PEACE, and that there is no reason to resort to violence.  All it really takes is standing in the powerful sacred womb space.  This can be everyone, not just women.  Everyone can connect to that space.  It is “myoho” in and of itself.

I leave you with grace to reflect on this, and perhaps more layers will be revealed to you.