Yin, Yang, War and Peace

I have a theory I’m working on in my head that may explain some of the disturbing things we are seeing around us lately.  If you’re interested, think along with me here, I promise I’ll get to the point eventually!

First I have to write about the idea of balancing masculine and feminine aspects of ourselves and of our communities. This is a huge topic, one that I really feel that I need to do a lot more research on, but I guess I have to start somewhere.

We’re probably all familiar with the terms yin and yang.  The symbol is really interesting, because each side has a little circle of the other –  meaning that the yin side still includes some yang, and the yang still includes some yin.

Before I say more, here’s a summary of what yin and yang traits would be.  Remember, you don’t have to be a man to have masculine traits, and you don’t have to be a woman to have the feminine!  (And if you believe that all of us have incarnated as both men and women, it might be easier to remember that we each incorporate all of these traits, or energies, just in different amounts.)

Feminine	Masculine
Yin	Yang
Loving	Living
Soft	Hard
Intuitive	Logical
Magnetic	Electric
Curves	Lines
Feeling	Doing

I am NOT an expert on this topic – please do your own research if you want to understand more.  It’s a huge topic.  But this theme keeps coming up for me, and being aware of the idea has made me look at what is going on in the world differently.  (And as I’ve said before, I think of all of these ideas as metaphors, not literal explanations.  It’s the mental exercise that helps you understand, it’s not The Answer.)

(I am adding this comment later:  If you read my previous post Encouraging People you will see that I was thinking this way a long time ago….the parallel is that when you look at Paul and Barnabas in the Bible, they represent the masculine and feminine approaches.  But anyway…)

The first time I really paid attention to this was when I read The Book of Destiny by Carlos Barrios (2009).  This is a book about the Maya, written at the request of the Mayan Elders.  The book makes it clear that the Maya have not been predicting “doomsday” at Winter Solstice 2012.  Rather, they say that we are entering The Fifth Sun.

“The famous date of December 21, 2012, is the start of a new cycle called Job Ajaw, or the Fifth Sun.  This new era will be ushered in by the solar meridian crossing the galactic equator and the earth aligning with the center of the galaxy.  At sunrise on December 21, 2012, for the first time in 26,000 years, the sun will rise to intersect with the Milky Way and the plane of the ecliptic. “  ( p. 116.)

According to the book, the First Sun was governed by feminine energy, or matriarchy, and was a formation period.  The Second Sun was governed by masculine energy, or patriarchy, and was a period of economic and intellectual development.  The Third Sun was governed by feminine energy and was a period of development of the mind and spirit.  The Fourth Sun, which is the period we are finishing, has been governed by masculine energy and has been a period of incredible scientific and technological development, however, we have worshiped reason and materialism, and failed to respect our environment.

The Fifth Sun will be balanced, governed by both masculine and feminine energy.  The Maya say it will be a time when the two sides will support one another, and the qualities in one will elevate the qualities in the other.  It is an era where peace and harmony will become possible.

So the main theme of what we are moving into, then, is balance.  We can think about this principle in terms of an individual person, a relationship between two people, a family, a community, a society, and the world.  And it is important to think of it as a process, it won’t happen overnight.  In fact, think about how the world has changed in the last 50 years.  I don’t think it’s hard to see that this process has already started.

As in any attempt to balance, many times the pendulum swings too far when adjustments are made, and it takes time for balance to settle in.  I think about some of the women I worked with, older than me, who took on strong masculine traits to be successful in business in the 1980s.  They acted more like men, rather than strong women.  There was nothing wrong with this, it was just part of the process.  We have to experiment to figure out how this new balance is going to work.

There’s lots more to talk about with this subject, but let me get to the theory I’m working on…

The world has changed, is changing, and some men are handling their own transition easier than others.  Men now share household chores, child-rearing responsibilities, many are comfortable sharing feelings and being compassionate.  It is now permissible in our society for men to incorporate a more balanced approach to life.  Women have become more independent, and moved toward the middle in their own way.   Relationships now are more about partnership and working together, rather than about a man being in charge and a woman subservient.  Again, it’s a process.

I am aware of more than a few people who describe having an onslaught of unexplainable, intense feelings.  You think you are going crazy, and it feels very out of control.  Each situation seems to be unique (I have my very own), and each person processes this and understands it in their own context.  Some face this head-on, some suppress it, some blame it on others, there are many variations of the story.  Many times this occurs in the context of changes in relationships.  But this is not a unique occurrence.  At the core is an experience that seemingly everything has changed.  It can be disconcerting, terrifying and baffling.

For those who are more weighted toward the masculine (which is going to be more likely men), who have been most comfortable in the era we are leaving, this transition and this kind of experience is going to be harder and very uncomfortable.  Some have been raised in families, or faith communities, or work in jobs where it has been less acceptable to incorporate these changes.  They cannot avoid the onslaught of this new energy, yet they have no frame of reference or skill set to help them to assimilate feminine energy.  The old way of doing things just doesn’t work anymore.  They are losing the battle.

In a crisis, a primarily masculine person will try to gain control, to stabilize the situation, to DO SOMETHING to get things back on track, back to the proven way of how things used to work.  The problem is, the world today will no longer allow or support the old paradigm, and these attempts just won’t work, no matter how hard one tries.  A primarily feminine person will try to understand, will focus on feelings, but since we are talking about assimilating feminine energy, this will naturally be an easier process for the feminine.  We women have all lived with the old, masculine way, and we are more likely to see the benefit in moving toward greater balance.

So let’s talk about some of the crazy things we see happening.

Did you know that in 2009 and 2010, more US soldiers killed themselves than died in combat?

Masculine energy is more compatible with war, control and power.  A world with a balance of masculine and feminine energy will no longer support the culture of war.

Could it be, then, that as the balance of energy shifts, the men (and women) who are overseas at war will be affected?  As more feminine energy builds, and increases feelings, compassion, intuition and softness, how will individuals adjust and react to the situations of war?  Could this be why soldiers snap?  They may be overwhelmed by this energy, and they have no way to deal with it.  They may see no way out.  In a culture (the military) that is so masculine, how does one deal with the shift?

It’s not only showing up in the military.  I see the bizarre attacks on birth control and women’s health care as desperate attempts to retain control, to cling to “the way it was”.  It seems some men want us to return to the dark ages.

What I am saying, is that given what is going on in the world, this behavior is understandable.  I am choosing to interpret it with compassion.  How terrifying it must be to see the world changing before your eyes, to see everything you were ever taught or “knew” crumbling.  In this kind of situation, anyone would scramble to hold on to something well-known and “proven”.  I could be totally off-base on this, but step back and watch Rick Santorum, and tell me you can come up with a better explanation for his behavior.  (And UPDATE August 2012:  How about Rep. Todd Akin’s comments about “legitimate rape”?  Think about his statements and his perspective in the context of what I am saying.)

We’re all in a huge tug-of-war over this.  Making those who are having difficulty with the transition “wrong” isn’t going to help the process along.  Having compassion, some patience, and a sense of humor about their struggles, is probably a better way to help ease their transition.  Being aware that certain segments of the population may have a tougher transition will probably help us to anticipate where resistance will surface, which might help us avoid or at least understand some of the crazy behaviors.

NOTE:  It is my personal opinion that, despite the fact I think we should  be compassionate and have a sense of humor, I DON”T think we should be electing obviously unbalanced individuals to be our leaders.  Just sayin’.

Let’s all hang in there.  We’re all in this together.  Which makes me think of Ben Lee:

Why Doesn’t God Stop Tragedies?

Why does God allow such horrible tragedies to occur?  The senseless killing of women and children in Afghanistan, the shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida, eight killed in a house fire in West Virginia, the unexplained suicide of a young man…..the list goes on and on.  These tragedies hurt, and even if we want to trust God, and believe that all is for the best, still, the answers do not come.  We just want to understand.

Following are excerpts from an article that attempts to explain all this in the context of the shooting of Gabby Giffords in Tucson in January of 2011. 

The complete source article is here.  Read with an open mind.  It will definitely make you think.

You Don’t Know How the Frog Jumps

Humans want answers, and there are so many answers from so many places that don’t satisfy, and this might even be one of them. The reasoning of God escapes all of you because there are no linear reasons for things you experience. It is not pre-planned, since there is no predestination. There was no certainty that on that day on the eighth of January that these things would take place. There are, instead, only potentials.

So if you had the mind of God, you would have a layer of what we would call quantum logic, which is far larger than anything that you can conceive of. It’s nothing that any Human will ever be able to understand for it is the mind of God. Yet Humans carry in them the seeds of God and also that which is the Creator energy. So sometimes, just sometimes, we can make explanations that may not fit the logic puzzle of your reality, but you still understand at some level the appropriateness of all things even though you don’t have the mind of God. There is a part missing from what you understand and what you know. It even goes beyond your intuition of what you could possibly think about. To us, your reality as we see it in a quantum state is a series of potentials that are all together, happening all at once. The lines that connect them are free choice, and these are not known, but only are layers of potentials.

So therefore, even as we speak, we know of the potentials that may occur that are both positive and negative in what you would call a future time. To us it is not the future, but simply a soup of potentials in a circle. So sometimes when we see a Human Being with free will and free choice who is going to create something that you would call a tragedy, it is to us a potential on that which you might call the canvas of what could happen. There’s no guarantee that it will. Are you starting to see the catalyst here? It’s Human free choice.

Yet the layers of the logic of Spirit often create something positive out of what you might see as negative. There are often offsetting energies that would be positive and good for the planet and this is the puzzle before you, because it looks like God is involved in these things, even though God did not create them. Therefore, many would say, “God is involved in the tragedy. How could this happen? Why would God let this happen?” We get this question constantly, with Humans on their knees in sorrow with tears. “If you’re really God, you would not have let this happen.” But the puzzle before you that is outside of your logic is this: The potentials are known by God, but there is no predestination. Humans can walk right into whatever they create. However, since we see the potentials of this, Spirit also can create something around it.

Spirit is in a quantum state where time does not proceed like it does for you. Even the date was unknown to God – when the Human would decide to pick up that gun and go to that place for whatever reason and accomplish that potential. Free choice is the axiom of the rules of Spirit and the Human. So it is that that which you would call the creative energy or God works with humanity and free choice together. It is the test of the planet. It always has been. It is the crux of the energy that was developed right here in Tucson. But you still don’t know how it works, so you come into judgment outside of the purview of all the knowledge you need to make a decision like that. You only look at the 3D, the energy of the tragedy.

I know this is complex for you and much of what I have said is not understandable. So let’s just say that the logic of God is beyond your understanding, since it does not fit with what you think are the way things work.

The Logic of the Jumping Frog

I’ll give you an example. Here is a classic story that is given in your logic classes even in your schools today. It is given to reveal how humanity often reasons when they don’t have all the information or even the concepts needed to come to judgment.

This is a parable. There was a championship frog. And this championship frog was taught to jump when the owner of the frog yelled, “Jump!” The cause and effect was established. The frog jumped every single time the owner yelled, “Jump!”

An experiment was done and the question was asked, “What would happen if you removed the legs of the frog?” And so they did. The master yelled, “Jump!”, but the frog did nothing. He just sat there. No legs.

Therefore, all of the scientific journals of the day wrote up the experiment and said it proved conclusively that, “removing the legs of a frog makes him deaf.” End of parable.

Now, perhaps this is silly to you, but Humans might actually do that if they really didn’t know how a frog jumps. And you’d accept that and over time you’d move on with that notion. As silly as it is to you, it exemplifies that you don’t know what you don’t know. And therefore, your logic is not the logic of God. You don’t have the mind of God, but you do have the love of God. You’re learning, for the love of God is a great teacher…

Events such as (the shooting in Tuscon), whether they are positive or negative, seem to wind up on an international stage where everybody can see them. That’s for a reason. There are reasons for things and this is one of them – so that you can see the effect of compassion…

Spirit did not create this Tucson tragedy, but because Spirit knew of the potentials of it, there were certain kinds of things synchronistically that would work for the planet. You don’t know how a frog jumps. It’s going to sound like Spirit planned all this, but we did not.

Let me tell you about the rules. Before we even speak of the event, let me speak of the rules of God.

God loves all unconditionally – rule number one.

Number two, God does not punish humanity. This city did nothing wrong. The people who were involved did nothing wrong. Yet Human Beings want to go to their knees in guilt and say, “What is it that would have created such a thing in our backyard, to our people, to the child, the religious leader?” And to the six who are not here anymore, what would you say to them? “What did we do wrong and why us?” That is always the question, is it not? And so you wring your hands and ask for answers. Because we knew of the potentials of a Human Being with free choice doing what he did, it was not that difficult for us to work with it. We could not stop the Human Being, and we never will. We won’t stop a Human any more than we could have stopped those who boarded the airplanes and flew them into buildings where 3,000 people died horrible deaths, crushed. It wounded the very heart of the nation! And many cried out, “You could have stopped them. Oh, the humanity,” they say. “Spirit, you could have stopped them.”



You don’t know how the frog jumps.

This is what you should know. Human Being, free choice will always trump the actions of God. But because we knew it might happen, synchronistically we had those ready with cameras on that 9/11 day. Synchronistically, everybody caught it. Synchronistically, the entire nation could participate in the compassion that went right into the Crystalline Grid, which will never be the same. And the 3,000 knew it in New York and so did the six in Tucson.

Standing on the other side of the veil years ago in your time, we saw the potential. We see the potentials of what even those unborn will do! They are only potentials, but they are in the soup of our reality, our quantumness. You don’t know how the frog jumps, so you cannot fathom what this must look like. It’s not predestination. It is, instead, predisposition. You are predisposed to follow a karmic path – for that energy that has you come to the earth with the parents that you have, with an unbalance that might occur, with the actions that may result, is that which propels Human choice. And we knew it. We knew it before he was ever born.

What this means is that we knew at a level you cannot fathom, the ones who went there that day to receive the bullets. They knew, too! Not consciously, but quantumly. I spoke to them before they came in. Did you know that?

I said to them, “Here’s the potential. See it? You’re a piece of God right now, about to become a Human Being and give away the power and all the knowledge that you have. Yet you wish to go down there once again and serve this planet, almost blind to the dimensions that you know so well here, working only in 3D, running into walls thick with drama and misunderstanding and death. Look at the potential! You might not last long.” Spirit asked the nine year old, “My dear, you may only have nine years, maybe a little more. Do you really want to risk this?” And you know what she said to me? “If it will help the planet, that’s what I’ll do.” 



And you wonder why we wash your feet? It’s not up to God to stop these things, but we could do everything that is within the purview of what we are allowed around Human free choice to make the best of it – and so we did.

Why Tucson?



I want to make a statement so that you’ll understand this, for one of the questions is, “When can we really, truly, start the healing of Tucson? When can we say we’ve turned the page and now we’re healing? We’ve mourned enough and now we’re ready to heal these lands and these hearts and all – when will it start?” I’ll tell you and you’re not going to understand. It started on January 8! This was so that the earth would have compassion for what happens here on an international stage, to the point that it would help peace on Earth come quicker. And you wonder what the six departed want to tell you? I know, for they are with me right now. They’re on the other side right now, looking back at you and they’re saying to you, “We did our part. Make it worth it. Make it worth it. We stepped right into it.”

Why Tucson? Why here? Oh, dear ones, listen to the synchronicity of this and understand. This is a healing place. It’s a clean place. … If this tragedy was going to happen anywhere, let it be here, for this is the energy of wisdom and this city will be able to generate a compassion that no other place would understand but this one. For those who deal in art and music and beauty and sound and light are wise old souls and there’s a lot of them here!

Now, let me give you something to think about and I’ll just get right to the elephant in the room. Was it political? It doesn’t matter. You cannot assign judgment or blame and Spirit will not, but here is an interesting fact. Because of the target that he chose, and that which is political in this tragedy, the attributes of it brought the president here. Then it was international, wasn’t it? Then for a moment, it became the compassion of the planet and not just the compassion of Tucson, or even of the United States. Do you see what happened? We couldn’t control the shooter, nor would we ever. Free choice. But the synchronicity around it, we helped with. You don’t know how the frog jumps, and some of you are still confused.

I want to take you back to 1999 to show you how unusual this is. In 1999, two young men walked into a school in Colorado and they were loaded with weapons. They proceeded to shoot their classmates and a lot more than six were killed. Can you imagine being a parent that day? You send your child to school and you expect them to come home. But they didn’t. The grief was great and the compassion was great and the tragedy was there to see, yet there was no presidential visit. Are you starting to see this?

In 2006, a very unbalanced man walked into a precious place, an Amish schoolhouse, and killed the children. There could be no greater dichotomy than this. The Amish are already sacred, compassionate, gentle, and harmonious people. In walked that which was pure evil to them, and the whole community reeled with sorrow, yet the president did not visit.

So here’s what I’m telling you: Politically, it took center stage. It did so for one reason, so that what a Human Being did here in free choice would actually create compassion for the planet. This will be something that creates an energy that will be far greater than any tragedy that you might assign to it. And that is the logic of God.

“But Kryon, if Spirit knew that, then they were part of all of this.” You don’t know how a frog jumps. And all that phrase means is that there is so much here hiding that you can’t assimilate with Human logic, or even love. Quantum energy is that way; it appears to be chaotic when it actually isn’t at all. There is, indeed, a system here.

The six who left you, you will mourn. … And all will be back sooner than you think. …

As these souls return, as they grow up, they will grow up in an energy that they helped create because of the compassion that was felt at their departure. That is the logic of God and it’s about the slow creation of peace on Earth. It’s about that which you are creating, which is changing the paradigm of your reality. Compassion is the key. So, Human Being, what are you going to do with that?

…

Compassion and unity are the new keywords of the planet. Tucson is part of it. I want to congratulate those in the room who already knew all this and who have been working these puzzles since January 8, and who have been healing the land and sending compassion to those who remain. There is love here. There is appropriateness here. You’re all working the same puzzle and there’ll come a day when you’ll understand it all.

When I see you on the other side of the veil, briefly, before you return to the planet, you know how the frog jumps. In that precious moment, we’ll look at each other and smile, and you’ll go, “Send me back. I’ve got work to do.” Did you know that’s why I’m here? Kryon exists to explain these things to old souls. I give these things to you in pure love. There are no conditions here, whether you believe me or not. Whether you believe this is real channelling or not, whether you agree with me or not, I see God in you. And that’s good enough for me.

That’s good enough for me.

Kryon

Your Perspective cannot be “Wrong”!

When you feel something, it just is.  It is authentically your own emotional reaction.  Emotion is a natural part of being a human being.  Others may tell you that you “shouldn’t” feel this or that way, but the fact is that you do.   Feelings cannot, by definition, be “wrong.”

There is nothing wrong with you when you feel hurt, lonely, angry, scared, or whatever.  You are just being a normal person!

Unfortunately, many have bought into the idea that you “shouldn’t” feel certain ways.  Rather than acknowledging how they feel, they ignore, deny, and repress emotions, and then they feel guilty about it.  This is not healthy.

Just like your feelings cannot be “wrong”, the way you see the world cannot be “wrong.”  Your perspective is uniquely yours.  It will be different from almost every other human being in the world, sometimes in big ways and sometimes not so big ways.  Your perspective is based on your personal life experiences; no one else has lived your life, shared all your feelings, or faced the challenges you have faced.  So, of course you will have your own worldview!

There is nothing “wrong” with this!  Why would anyone want to ignore their own personal “story” and adopt a one-size-fits-all view of the world?  Why would we try to convince anyone else that they should see the world only from our perspective?

But people do this all the time.  They think they should see the world in the way they have been told to do so.  We learn to ignore our feelings, our experiences, our observations, our own conclusions, because we think we “shouldn’t” stray from the accepted paradigm that has been mapped out for us.

It is possible to share how we feel and our point of view, without pushing it on others.  But this is a skill that is rare.  But it’s not a hard skill to develop!

I would argue that the quality of the relationships we have with others can be highly dependent on how tolerant we are of the perspectives of others.  You don’t have to agree with them, but you can attempt to understand.

If you choose to listen to others, respect and accept their views, share your perspective with them without pushing yours, and basically treat them the way you would like to be treated, you will most likely be someone they like to spend time with.  You will most likely develop close relationships.  People will feel safe sharing with you.  They will feel understood.  And you will enjoy some lively discussion!

On the other hand, if you are so attached to your own perspective that you cannot bear to listen to others who don’t think like you, if you are a strong advocate for your own way of seeing the world, if you intimidate and manipulate others, don’t be surprised when other people avoid spending time with you!  Don’t be surprised when they clam up, and don’t expect them to share their innermost thoughts and dreams!

The Power of Optimism

Reality is in the eye of the beholder.  You literally create your own reality.  This sounds like crazy talk, but let’s think it through, and see if you don’t agree.

Have you had this experience?  You attend a party, or a meeting, or visit some place.  Maybe it’s just a conversation that you have.  Others are with you.  Later, when you hear them describe what happened, they have a completely different take on it than you do, and maybe you ask yourself, were we even in the same place?

How about the news?  Depending on whether or not you read the paper, or which news channel you tune in, or who you discuss current events with, you hear very different interpretations of what’s going on.  But we all live in the same world, right?  How can our “stories” be so different?

What IS, actually, REAL?

I’m not talking about the facts of events, although that is a related topic.  I’m talking about our “spin” and the story we view as “true”.

Think about a “bad” situation you have lived through or witnessed.  Pick a good one, meaning a really bad situation.  What is the story you have adopted about this?  Do you focus on the bad aspects or the good ones?  Wait, you might say, you told me to pick a bad situation, there’s not any “good” there!

I would argue that there is good in every situation, even in the ones that seem to be all bad.  And that is what I am talking about when I talk about the power of optimism.  There is always some good there.  It may be hidden, and it may be indirect, and you might not see it for a long time after.

The most important thing, in my opinion, is to realize that how you view the world is YOUR CHOICE.  You can spend your time thinking and talking about how bad everything is, how stupid people are, how corrupt the government is, etc.  I know lots of people who are on this track, and it’s an easy one to get sucked into.  The reality that is created by this is full of fear, unhappiness and bad guys.

Then there are others who choose to make the best out of every situation.  They are resilient.  They laugh at their own mistakes.  They forgive others, and assume that others have good intentions.  They make the best of what they’ve got.  And the reality that they see is full of faith, happiness and amazing people.

I’m not saying this is necessarily easy.  But the first step is to be aware of this dynamic, and to watch yourself and how you react to the world, and then to maybe make a conscious choice to be the optimist.

Even those people who seemingly have the worst situations you can imagine, can see the good and the potential good in life.  Here’s an amazing example.  The video is very evangelical (which may or may not resonate with you) but that’s not why I’m including it.  See beyond that aspect while you watch it, and notice how Nick and Bethany have chosen to view their own stories with optimism.  Each of these two amazing people have created a happy, positive world around themselves.  (Also I have to note that this is filmed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki Beach, a place near and dear to my heart, and that just makes it all the more perfect.)

Think about how different the world would be, if every single person chose to have this kind of outlook on life.  Our world would be an entirely different place.  And it would be REAL.

Labor Pains

The experience of giving birth is an amazing thing.

We all know that going through labor is the natural process that leads to the wonderful miracle that is the birth of a child.  When we think about it, it’s one of those things that is hard to wrap your head around.  Miracles are that way.  After we witness the miracle, we focus on how wonderful it is, and we naturally forget about the painful parts that got us there.  It’s just how human nature works.  And, no surprise, right now I’m thinking about this as a metaphor.

Let’s talk about the process.  I’ve had three children.  I can share my experiences of going through the process and the perspective I gained from this.  But I also understand that each experience is unique (which is an important attribute of the metaphor).

I am always annoyed by how the movies portray women going into labor.  They make it look as if there are no warning signs, that all of a sudden there is great pain and panic that surprises everyone involved.  The reality is that there are lots of signs that indicate this experience is coming.  Not the least of which is, you know you are pregnant!  Duh!!  With all the preparation we go through, with all the conversations we have with friends and family, all the expectations, all the classes we do or do not attend, I’m here to tell you no one is surprised that they go into labor.  Panicked, sure, but not surprised.

I’ve always thought, too, that part of the plan is that you get so big and can’t sleep and get so miserable, that despite the fact that you are afraid of the process, when you get to the point where the time is near, you are so done with the whole thing, you are just so ready, you just want to jump off that cliff and get the whole thing over with.

And the reality is, the process is gradual.  My sister-in-law just felt weird and off the night before she went into labor.  I know the first pains I was aware of, each time, were not so bad, and not so often.  I knew it was starting, but the whole process builds so that you can get a little used to what’s coming.

I wasn’t into taking the classes to try and have a natural childbirth.  I was all for the epidural and not having to deal with the worst of the pain.  It wasn’t until my third child, who came faster, during shift change at the hospital, when the anesthesiologist got called to do a c-section, the nurse disappeared, and I was left with the prospect of having nothing between me and hard labor.

In your head, you know what’s going on and that you will get through it and survive.  You know it won’t take forever.  But it’s scary as hell and hurts like hell.  In the middle of the pain of those contractions, you are thrown into the depths of the unknown, and in that moment you have no idea how you are going to get through it.  No one can make it better. If you’re lucky, you have someone to reassure you, to hold your hand. But they know, and you know, that this is all on you.  No one is going to go through this for you. We’ve all heard about the women that curse out their husbands, or the women that scream.  (My roommate in Maternity didn’t believe me that I was the one the entire ward heard screaming bloody murder.)   There is nothing that you can do to change what is happening.  No going back.  You logically know you will get through it, but you cannot believe that you will at the same time.  Really, it is quite an experience.

It gets worse and worse, harder and harder.  But then that baby is born.  Almost instantly, you forget everything.  All you see is the miracle.  Nothing else matters, it’s gone.  Sure, if you think about it, you do remember, but the weight of the memory fades very quickly, and it’s mostly intellectual, not emotional.  It no longer has a hold on you.  If this were not the case, nobody would have more than one child, I think.

So, about the metaphor…if we call it “spiritual rebirth”, what do we mean by that?  If it involves “labor pains” then I guess we can’t get through the process without the pain.  We aren’t experiencing the pain because we are doing something wrong – it’s just the way the process works.  We can try to numb it, but the real, natural way involves moments of intense pain, discomfort, fear/terror, hopelessness…and we can’t really know it until we experience it. No one can adequately describe it for you or prepare you for it.  When the time comes, you know you will get through it, you have to get through it.  At that point, it is too late to go back – you have no choice.  At least there are the periods of rest and recovery, in preparation for the next contraction.  You find yourself taking it one step at a time. The pains get more intense, and more frequent.  But, the natural consequence of the process, at the end, is a miracle.  And we know that when we experience the miracle, all the fear and pain will be forgotten, and seen as worth it, every little bit.

Empathy…Understand Me

Run your fingers through my soul.
For once, just once,
feel exactly what I feel,
believe what I believe, 
perceive as I perceive,
look, experience, examine, and for once, just once,
Understand…

Someone posted this as a picture on Facebook.  I’m sorry I don’t know who wrote it.

 

The Game of Life (Video Game Version)

Let’s play “What If…” with a new video game called The Game of Life.  Pretend with me.  Let’s play along together and see what happens.

We’re going to pretend we’re just our soul, and we’re hanging out with God and family and friends, and it’s before we’re born.

God says to us, “ok, it’s your turn to play the Game of Life on Earth, and here’s what you need to do.”  He hands us a controller.  “There are lots of decisions to be made to set up your life experience.  All the decisions affect each other, but don’t worry, you can decide the details in any order you wish and you can make as many changes as you like until you are satisfied.”

“Keep in mind the experiences and lessons you wish to experience, and make your choices consistent with them.  And coordinate with everybody else.”

So, we go to the video screen where we pick the avatar.  The questions start popping up, too many to list:

• Male or Female?
• Personality?
• Motivations?
• Ego characteristics?
• Appearance?
• Body type?  (you get to pick all the details)
• Disabilities?
• Birthday?  Easy birth, difficult birth?  Home or hospital?
• Astrological sign?

Now pick your family situation and location:

• Pick your family…..mom, dad, grandparents, siblings, pets, etc.
• Rich or poor?  Social status?
• Education levels?  Professions?
• Family dynamics?
• What part of the world?
• What kind of house?  Neighborhood?  How often will this change?

Who else will you play with and what kind of relationships will you have with them?

• Friends
• Enemies
• Teachers
• Lovers
• Spouse(s)
• Children
• Wise old man that lives across the street

Pick the situations you would like to experience, the theme of your life lessons, etc:

–What trait would you like to work on?  Patience, tolerance, self-worth, etc.

–Experiences:  War?  Cooperation?  Education?  Prison?  Poverty?  Wealth?  Dysfunctional family?  Challenging kids?  A carefree, simple life?  Etc.

So, we’ve made all our decisions, down to every last detail.  In fact, the level of detail is astounding, and can only be comprehended when we are with God.  We’ve had time to discuss and coordinate everything with all the other players.  We have a pretty good idea of how it could play out, but we still have to play the game.

(I am imagining, at this point, the Angels sitting around placing bets about how it’s going to work out, who will accomplish what, and trying to make all kinds of predictions.  Then the wise one says, “Hey, you can never tell what’s going to happen – that’s why we play the game!”)

Then God says, “Are you all ready?”

“YES!!” we all shout.

“Ok, but before we begin, I have to remind you about The Rules.”

Well, I guess every game has its rules, huh.

“The one primary rule is that you will forget everything you know.  You will be immersed in the virtual reality world of the game, and you will believe that it is real.  You will believe that the game is all that there is.  You won’t forget right away, but you will still be getting used to your newborn body and figuring out how to make it work, and you won’t be able to tell anyone what you know.  By the time you learn to talk, you will probably have forgotten most everything, and you will become very convinced that the world is real.  Even if you do remember and are able to talk about it, most people will dismiss what you say because you’re a child or they won’t even be listening.  Remember, it is going to be frustrating.”

“Now, some of you may have picked really challenging scenarios for this time around.  I realize you are eager to experience some of the extremes, but make sure you are up for it.  Remember, when you experience abuse, pain, suffering, betrayal, and loneliness, it will feel extremely real.  Right now you know it’s just a game, but it won’t feel like that while you are playing.  The game is set up to support Fear, and you will have to fight to resist Fear from taking over.   You would not be playing this game if you were not a strong soul, but the game will be challenging nonetheless.”

“All of us understand your intentions, but once you are there you will forget them to a certain extent.  You will have free will – we cannot control what you do, you are free to play however you want.”

“But also know that you will not be alone.  First of all, a piece of you will remain with me and never leave you at the same time.  When you are in the game, this will seem impossible to you.  In addition, my assistants and I will always be watching, with controllers in hand.  We will nudge you when needed.  There will be many hints along the way.  And remember that we will work with you during your sleep as well.”

“Over the years, we have planted many, many seeds of wisdom and guidance.  They are everywhere, but finding them and recognizing them will only be possible with determination.”

“For those of you playing at the highest levels, your veil of forgetfulness will be more faint.  You will retain a sense of knowing that there’s something more, but you will have to work hard and pay attention to figure it out.  The skills you developed in previous plays will be a big help.”

“We all know that the ultimate goal of the game, once you have mastered all the levels, is to go in one more time and figure out that it is, in fact, a game.  To remember.  Even this final play will not be easy, because most of the other players will make you doubt yourself and will call you crazy.”

Hey, if it were easy, it wouldn’t be a very good game, would it?

Now, are you ready?

Reincarnation: Credible Evidence?

The book that caught my eye in the bookstore in early fall of 2010 was titled “Old Souls.”  It just popped out at me.  I was already somehow aware that I should listen to these subtle nudgings, so, I bought it and read it.  It’s about a University of Virginia researcher named Ian Stevenson, who traveled to places in the world where there were reports of children who remembered past lives.  He researched cases where children could describe places they had never been, speak languages they had never been exposed to, and identify people in photos that they had never met.  This is legitimate research, by a well-respected professor.  Of course, it is difficult to “prove” anything we consider to be “paranormal” but the book really made me think.  What was even more interesting, is that when I told people about this book, several shared stories of people they knew who remembered past lives.

Hmmm…

Then, there’s Edgar Cayce.  I had never heard of him, but I had come across several places that suggested reading about him.  I got a copy of The Essential Edgar Cayce in late spring of 2011.   Cayce was born in Kentucky in 1877 and died in 1945.

From the Intro to the book:

“Cayce was a Christian mystic philosopher and an intuitive healer.  For the forty-three years of his adult life, he taught by delivering discourses, or by giving “readings” while in a prayer-induced trance, which were transcribed by a secretary or family member because he could recall nothing once the sessions were over.

Cayce had a perspective on reincarnation, karma, and grace that is potentially acceptable to the Judeo-Christian world.  Cayce presents reincarnation as an inescapable reality of how the universe operates; but, according to his theories, the harsh, retributive flavor of karma is softened by insistence that the healing and reconciling influences of grace are also available to every soul.”

The essence of the Cayce philosophy is summarized in the book:

1.   Everything is connected – all is one.

2.   Life is purposeful.

3.   Approach life as an adventure.

4.   Be noncompetitive; show compassion.

5.   Take responsibility for yourself.

6.    Look ahead rather than back.

7.    Changing anything starts with an ideal.

8.    All time is one time.

9.    Success cannot be measured by material standards.

10.  Courage is essential to any spiritual growth.

11.   Evil is real and comes in many forms. 

12.   Learn to stand up for yourself; learn to say no when it’s needed.

So, this man who was born in rural America, who read the Bible through once for every year of his life, came up with ideas about reincarnation and spiritual growth that are strikingly similar to others I was coming across.

Hmmmm again….

By the time I read Many Lives, Many Masters in the summer of 2011, I had already “discovered” most, if not all, of the concepts that are presented in it.  The fun part about reading this book was that it brought everything together.

By the early 1980s, the author, Dr. Brian Weiss was already a highly credentialed psychiatrist, a Yale M.D. who had published many papers in scientific journals, and held the position of Chief of Psychiatry at a large university-affiliated hospital in Miami.  A very mainstream, conventional doctor/scientist.  In reading his book, I found that the way he explained his own reactions and thinking about his experiences to be very thoughtful, reflective, and insightful, which to me, made him an even more credible source.

Dr. Weiss wrote this book in the late 1980s, several years after the experiences he describes occurred.  His story is about a patient who had several serious phobias, who did not make progress after 18 months of conventional treatment.  When Dr. Weiss tried hypnotherapy, she started recalling her past lives. The woman began making amazing progress in healing her fears.   Dr. Weiss describes how he was totally unprepared for this, and did not know what to make of it.  So he started researching…

Dr. Weiss talks about reviewing a textbook from a comparative religions course he took at Columbia.  “There were indeed references to reincarnation in the Old and the New Testaments.  In A.D. 325 the Roman emperor Constantine the Great, along with his mother, Helena, had deleted references to reincarnation contained in the New Testament.  The Second Council of Constantinople, meeting in A.D. 553, confirmed this action and declared the concept of reincarnation a heresy.  Apparently they thought this concept would weaken the growing power of the Church by giving humans too much time to seek their salvation.  Yet the original references had been there; the early Church fathers had accepted the concept of reincarnation. “

Another hmmmm…

Personally, I grew up attending mainstream Protestant churches.  I’m not someone who remembers a past life or ever really thought about that, beyond the usual joking references people sometimes make.  But, I am aware that in the Bible, for instance, the people asked John the Baptist if he was Elijah (John 1:21).  There are obvious references in the Bible to prophets returning.  What else would you call Jesus’ second coming (as understood by most), but another incarnation?

So, if reincarnation is a possibility or even a probability, it seems to me to be a rather important thing to know about, right?  What would you do differently if you knew you were on a continuous spiritual journey?  Wouldn’t knowing this take away your fear of dying?  Doesn’t it make you wonder about the purpose behind it all?

Hmmm…

It’s June 2013 and I have to add this video, very interesting:

Check this out:  where do you think this 5 year old got his talent?

http://www.superstarmagazine.com/5-year-old-piano-prodigy-performs-powerful-private-concert-for-101-year-old-fan/#_