Australia, July 2020

 

Though Earth dwellers of limited ability, without exception, we all are beings of light compressed in whichever physical body that bears our name and our lineage.

Of course, nothing that is of an esoteric nature is provable.

Nothing that has become accepted into a spiritual belief system or a religious faith is provable.

Not even the existence of a god.

Not even if many-many millions of people give it a name.

That said, the best belief for any of us is the stripped-down one that pushes us to lean in with healthy courage, determination and empathy, preferably before damaging emotions and thoughts overtake us.

But, then again, it’s never too late to stop – feel – reflect – feel again – and shuffle away from the termite-like behaviours that weaken our relationships as much as taint the understanding we have of ourselves.

In an illustrative attempt to keep it simple, let’s think of the force science calls electromagnetism.

Nothing to see.

Nothing to hear.

Nothing to feel or grasp.

Although it permeates all aspects of our daily lives, we only know it exists because of the observable effect it has on ‘things’.

It’s in the sun. It’s the energy of the waves in the oceans. It’s what makes magnets … magnets.

It gives us electricity and, invisibly, it carries the entire world wide web through space.

As it is, tiny zircons, chips off ancient rocks found in Western Australia and Greenland, point to evidence that Earth’s magnetic field dated back some 3.7 billion years ago.

Science also tells us that every single process which is keeping us alive traces back to an electric field created by each of the components of our body.

From brain to little toe, we are a very sophisticated electric field.

We are familiar with electroencephalography, known as EEG, which records the electrical activity of the brain.

Science also confirmed long ago what ancient wisdom has known all along: that the heart generates a magnetic field of energy that spreads beyond the boundary of our bodies. The electrical activity of our heart can be measured by an electrocardiogram (ECG).

Our heart’s electromagnetic resonance arcs from the heart and back.

Whether we refer to it as cosmic energy, our energy field, home of our qi, prana or aura, it makes very little difference, if any, to the way we manage this energy in ways that serve us best.

The vibrational patterns of our energy field change as our emotions alter our thoughts which lead us into actions, reactions and inaction that, for better or worse, had perhaps not been previously considered.

Equally, spiritual teachers and genuine leaders of faiths have, across centuries and millennia, repeated that if we, as individuals, aim to awaken to our full spiritual and human potential, we have to find a way to evolve beyond ego.

Beyond that, it’s up to each one of us living in a ‘free’ world somewhere on the planet, to activate our free will and settle on an origin of this life force energy.

It’s up to us to adhere to our choice of unbiased, heart-expanding version of religion, or to any spiritual tradition like Sufism, Shamanism, Kundalini, Qigong – or to any relevant findings in the area of Energy Medicine, Neuroscience and the field of neuroplasticity – or to any holistic indigenous practices.

And, better yet, in time, we could settle for a curated blend of each.

Once calmed and strengthened by our favourite form of prayers and meditations – our practice – we are free to follow Soul’s whispers by way of our intuition into the realm of already existing, coherent possibilities.

Then, as we align beneficial vibrations with our best intentions, we sense the pathway that will best support us.

Our personalised belief system develops all by itself in the quiet of our mind.

It sustains us when the going gets tough.

It allows healing energy to hum throughout our entire body system.

Moment by moment.

Day after day.  Year in/year out.

Sow  a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny – Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 -1882)

Anyway, in the absence of ‘greater’ knowledge, it is essential to resist manipulation from those who, despite their revered positions, are no more in the [absolute] know than we are and at least as fractured and divisive as politicians worldwide.

It is essential to our wellbeing to deal with our inner ‘what-is’ landscape with love, not fear, not anger – not resentment – and certainly not from within a vindictive ‘heart’.

When we find ourselves in turmoil, many of us turn to religion in search of meaning for our lives through guidance, solace and social connections.

What we seek is access to a source of stillness and radiance.

Too often, though, pulpit, microphone or megaphone preaching is tainted, at times severely tarnished, by the energy of the ego-personas delivering their words.

Though their beliefs may provide worshippers and others with answers to any existential questions, when their views are challenged, their divisive thoughts and actions of many often appear as ultra-rightist attempts to control by repression, exclusion and banishment.

Not only do they tend to cast vindictive, hard-hearted judgements on family members and members of their own congregations, but they also do so on society at large, as it responds to calls for greater personal agency.

“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”

Even today, in our streets, in our homes and from various platforms, many ‘people of faith’ disregard the second of the Ten Commandments, as they go about hurting others with actions and words in the name of their god.                                                                                                                                                                        

Religion as a whole can only become truly ‘trust and faith worthy’ when its leaders and adherents acknowledge responsibility for the violence and abuse, they, and/or their predecessors, have overtly and tacitly unleashed on to millions and millions of persons across the world.

For events of a massive scale, we can bring up the series of crusades and other religious wars. Then, we can add colonialism, terrorism, the forced exile of minorities and the horror and trauma resulting from such practices.

Then, there’s the everyday physical and emotional violence, the abuse and the lies playing out in our homes and workplaces, in our streets, in places of worship and in our Courts and Parliaments, too.

Which of these moral transgressions have not been or are not, by and large, initiated by persons who would describe themselves as god-fearing, religious folks? Besides, who in the world is not familiar with the imperatives ‘You shall not kill’ and ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour’ and ‘Thou shalt not covet’?

Will there ever be a global culture less driven by envy and by the desire for more than we already have once physical, emotional and financial securities have been achieved?

Cultures, we are told, cannot remain static. They evolve or decline.

They explore or implode.

Serious question: could we, today, even begin to imagine a global society in which the tenor of holistic guiding principles would be respected by the majority of religious people of all denominations?

Applied across changing circumstances, not only in actions but also in their hearts?

More questions: can we even begin to imagine what life on Earth would look like, sound like and feel like should, in one era or another, the basic tenets of compassion, empathy and unconditional love become core elements of a new default paradigm?

When we hear the voices of others will we, one day, sense a loving connection with one another?

Will we ever understand that those who generate hatred actually long for love?

Will we accept that when we feel fearful and unsafe inside ourselves, our heart energy can penetrate the darkness?

That it can create calmness and the will to push through with resilience and coherence; that it will help us see beyond limitations into the realm of existing possibilities lying in wait on the other side of the veil.

Will humanity ever heed the inner command to love ourselves and to love others enough to make Inequality a truly vintage practice?

If it were somehow left up to us, pre-birth, as free-floating soul energy lounging in the upper reaches of the cosmos, would we put up our hand to be incarnated, i.e. compressed into a human body on planet Earth?

Definitely not a choice for the faint-hearted!

What is clear is that seeking spiritual awakening is not merely about improving our personal happiness – though most of us could always do with an extra dose.

Learning how to retain our equanimity in the face of uncertainty, fear, or pain doesn’t make testing times go away, but it certainly makes us emotionally stronger.

As it is, a search on the Path goes a long way in doing that. It might even be the only way.

Though the comparison might sound trite, accessing newfound holistic remedy amounts to slowly growing from a sapling into a healthy, deeply rooted, sturdy tree, however much buffeted by the natural and human world.

Sure, even as a fully grown tree feels tremors vibrating upward from below and winds ripping from above. Branches get broken. Drenched by storms that destroy the animal life sheltered within its branches and in between its roots, it may be burnt by fires.

Scarred, yes, but only bark-deep.

It stands its ground.

Its wounds define it.

They make it unique.

They might even become a talking point.

What’s for sure is that the sturdy tree knows how to heal itself. It knows how to rejuvenate and thrive.

Life eventually returns to its leafy branches and other forms of life are quick to nestle into it.

At any time and every time, the driving force to overcome shame, self-justification, anger and other depleting emotions could be a cocktail of care, compassion and empathy.

We need this brew for ourselves.

We need it for those nearest us and for those furthest away.

We need that cocktail of emotions when we show up to invigorate noble causes. We’re not ‘anti’ this and ‘anti’ that. That’s too basic.

Instead, we are ‘pro’ this and ‘pro’ that. Pro equality and justice for all, for example.

We spice up our healing smoothie with a search for connection. A search for peace, and unity.

In the grand scheme of positive changes, the emotions, thoughts, words, actions and purposeful inaction we choose may seem small, but they are never insignificant. Their effect is cumulative.

Heads up: before we can flow, we struggle.

We struggle to create and access what we desire.

We desire certain things and certain achievements because each one, we think, would be a stepping stone to a blissful life.

As we have had a hand in their co-creation, one thing to keep in mind is that our search for a ‘persona-l’ upgrade never entitles us to cut loose from relationships judged dysfunctional.

When we feel hope-less, apathetic and our thoughts increasingly lean towards at-risk behaviour or self-harm, we’re disconnected from our inner knowing.

That’s when we worry about what others might think or say about us and to us.

That’s when we’re afraid to instigate the changes our intuition is telling to address.

What works best inside our homes, in the streets and beyond is a healthy, heart-based, non-divisive belief system that pushes us to think outside of the box – more to the point, one that forces us outside of our unconscious ego-personas.

One that pushes us beyond the early taming process we underwent as children to be assimilated, as best as we could, within our family dynamics.

And beyond the ripple effect of how ‘appreciated’ or ‘depreciated’ we might have felt as children.

Bottom line: as we help ourselves, we help the collective.

So, for us, adults, whatever situation is underfoot, it always comes back to an essential, unvarying question: how do I make it better, given this crazy situation?