Rays of the Light of the Sun

Imagine, if you will, the sun…bright beautiful light with rays spilling all about in every direction.  Remember as a child, you might have liked to draw it with your yellow and orange crayons, paint it or just sit on the grass and feel it.  Consider for a moment the sun, not as a bright continually combusting and radiating star but a metaphor for our Conscious existence.  Think about it and consider the saying, “We are all one.”  Go back now, imagine the sun as if it were the ultimate Big “C” Consciousness radiating in all of its glory.  Consider now for a moment, each of us tiny humans with our little “c” consciousness…The microcosm of the Macrocosm.  We are each like a ray of the Sun’s light.  We emanate from the same Source and we travel and move – Consciousness in Motion!

It is a simple metaphor but you can pick any other as you may choose – branches of a tree, rain drops and the ocean.  It doesn’t really matter how you choose to consider it as much as it matters that you do consider it.  Because, until you do, you may go on in your lives not understanding or realizing the impact you have on the Whole.  You are a bright and beautiful part of the Whole, traveling outward, experiencing Consciousness in motion from the Source Consciousness of our Origins.  We are not small egoic only, self-serving, narcissistic humans.  We may at times behave in ways incongruent with that statement but that is only behavior and can be relegated to malware installed in the consciousness operating system.  We are more than that, all of us, despite how we engage here with our consciousness.  We are rare and precious, driving always to persevere, that drive to go, that impetus to reach and grow.  We are amazing and we don’t even know what we are.  We just live day in and day out never giving it a thought.

It’s okay, really.  You don’t have to think about it but if you did, if you realized what it is you truly are, how might you perceive things and respond or react differently to all that you see and experience?  If you knew the stranger before you was in fact your brother or sister, traveling just like you are, would you be so quick to judge or to cause harm?  Would you have the strength of spirit to strive more towards inquiry than belief alone?  You could if you so chose or you could not if you so chose.  Free will dictates you can do as you see fit here in this realm including the violation of the law of Free will if you wanted.  In the end, it’s mostly you that suffers the fate of that violation because in violating another’s Free will, you violate your own.

Going back to the metaphor of human beings existing as beautiful rays of light from the Sun, we all shine.  We cannot shine more by going after or attempting to merge with or thwart the other shinning rays you encounter on your Conscious journey.  It just doesn’t work like that.  What helps you to shine ever more brightly is the realization that you are a star, your light is bright and when you appreciate just how much this is so, you keep your own light pure, pristine and sparkling as you journey encouraging the fellow rays (humans) to keep on shinning, keep on traveling in the light.  Even if you meet with dark and ominous storm clouds on some strange planet you’ve no idea how you encountered, you are still a beautiful ray of light, energy and Consciousness that never dies.  Your light and energy cannot ever be extinguished, only transformed.

Did you know you could transform even now?  Did you know that you could awaken to the myriad of choices before you in every 3^rd dimensional breathing moment you exist here right now?  So many choices have you and despite how you may feel in a moment, never are you alone–millions upon billions and trillions of rays of light emanate from the Sun of which I speak.  We reach and shine, that’s just what we do…it’s what We do.  So, do what you were meant to do at the moment of your choosing and just shine…shine like the Sun…be the bright and beautiful Consciousness that you are just because you can.

 

© 2015 Jaie Hart

Embracing Change

 

Sometimes in life we get rather comfortable with the routine of things.  We’re happily doing this or that humming right along and then suddenly it happens, change peers at you just above the horizon.  Sometimes that change is actually coming from deep within you but you may not notice that until you learn to become incredibly aware of how you create in this life and why.

Change often seems like an unwanted surprise and something we often at first resist.  But here is a little nugget of truth you’ve probably heard before or know deep down inside:  If nothing ever changed, we would become complacent, our senses dulled by routine and our brain cells would waste away without the challenge that change brings. 

So, we mix it up a bit or the universe in its infinite wisdom seems to help you along with that whether you are willing or not.  The depth of discomfort change will bring you depends solely on your level of resistance to it.  What we resist persists and so it’s best to face change with courage.  I feel that way about change.

Change is hard to deal with whether we choose it or it chooses us.  The thing to remember is that change is always good.  No.  Of course it doesn’t always feel good but when you get past the moment of big change and look back, you can often see the wisdom you may not have gained without it.  Even unwanted change can bring us necessary growth that we ultimately benefit greatly from.

So much change is on the wind as is so often the case for me.  I’ve learned to look at a change a little differently.  Instead of tensing up in fear or bracing at the thought of it, I just sort of jump into it and take what comes.  There is always something good in the end.  Always.  I can’t think of a single change that did not carry some form of benefit even if it initially brought me pain.  The pain contrasts, hones and refines our character and can make us better and stronger.  We just have to allow it to be that for us and then it will be.  Resisting change just makes it more painful.  Embracing it with curiosity and staying in the moment, makes it much more palatable or at least a tiny bit less painful to deal with.

Sometimes change means we have to mourn the way things used to be.  It’s okay to be in touch with your emotions when change shows up at your door.  Denying emotion is not a loving thing to do for one’s self.  Allowing yourself to feel how you feel is a very kind thing to do for you.  Trusting yourself to manage the change is another way to minimize any suffering.  You can handle change.  You can manage change.  You can recover from change.  You can even find some kind of silver lining in it if you want to.  Everything comes spinning right back to you and your thoughts and perceptions about change.

Change is the one thing we can always count on in life.  Why not settle in and get comfortable with that idea and find a way to be okay with it?  If you don’t like certain changes, depending upon what they are, you have decisions to make. We do get to make some choices in life.  While we cannot stop the sun from setting, we can learn to love the stars.  If we don’t care for sunlight and sunburns, we can move into the shade and still enjoy the day.  Being willing to be a change agent for yourself is sometimes very necessary to bring about your own growth too.  Change is not the enemy.  We can become our own enemy when we face it.  It’s up to us how we will choose to see it.  We can struggle against it and suffer or we can let it flow and carry us to a better place in time.

© 2015 Jaie Hart (Photo/Words)

Compassion for All of Humanity

Yesterday I had the unique and wonderful opportunity to participate in something amazing. I have long respected the work of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama and was fortunate to be able to attend his 80^th birthday celebration in Orange County, California on July 5, 2015. The things I took in from the moment I arrived are still being processed within my being. His Holiness is an amazing and wonderful teacher and the lessons are not just in the words that he speaks but also within everything that happens around him.

As soon as we pulled into the venue you could hear the chants and drum beats of the anti-supporters. I just observed them and the commotion they created without reacting realizing that in all likelihood, His Holiness would hold the same compassion for them as he does everyone else. After we parked the car and made our way to the venue, there were the real supporters, the every day people and those who silently explained what the anti-supporters were about. There was no hatred for the anti-supporters in return and I’m reminded that here in the U.S., we do have freedom of speech. Although why we would speak out against compassion is still something I struggle with a bit. I have much learning to do.

The events within the event we witnessed were simply put, amazing. Wonderful performances of various kinds in celebration of our having the Dalai Lama with us here for 80 years! Truly it is a blessing. If there is anything I’ve learned in this life it is to reach for compassion no matter what you face for in so doing you can alleviate much self-imposed suffering as well as beginning to ease the suffering of others.

The event presented wonderful and famous leaders, entertainers, academics and fellow Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. Again, I’m reminded that while His Holiness is a great supporter and leader of Buddhist doctrine, he is also the head political leader of his nation, Tibet. It is interesting how politics and religion seem always to clash and yet here we have it in one individual and this individual supports and holds compassion for those who follow all paths whether or not they are his own and whether or not he personally believes in those paths. His personal belief is not forcefully imposed on people. His compassion seems endless and that is miraculous in this world. Yet another lesson learned.

We are faced with choices in everything we encounter. For a very long time I have tried very hard to stay A-political publicly. I do have my own opinions and have been called an “F-ing liberal” on more than one occasion with much ire. I don’t begrudge the labelers as long as they do not force me to live against my truth (and I fully understand that my free will ends at my person – a personal rule of thumb). I try instead to understand their perspectives whether they are name-calling, belittling or attacking. 

I’ve tried to stay quiet mostly because I’ve seen people torn apart by religion and politics and frankly I just wasn’t strong enough to deal with it. Now I realize it isn’t a matter of strength so much as it is a matter of holding compassion no matter what you face or how it comes to you. So, I had to think very hard about what it is that I truly stand for because I can no longer silently just think and wish or hope that things will change. As I learned yesterday, we have to take action.

The things I care about most in this world relate to humanity and providing for it despite borders, cultures or religious beliefs. I’m an American by birth but in my blood there are so many countries, Ireland, Scotland, England, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, India, Slovenia, Slovakia, German and that is just one side of my family. You see, although I was born in North America, I cannot find myself saying just “God Bless America” and be satisfied with that. Why not “Bless all of Humanity?” I’m grateful to have been born where I was born, I’m incredibly grateful for all of those who help us maintain the constitutional freedoms we enjoy here and I deeply respect every single soul who fought for freedom throughout the ages against any form of oppression. I willingly pay my taxes even if sometimes a bit begrudgingly because I don’t necessarily agree with the majority in terms of how that money is spent. I’d prefer it not be spent on so many wars I’m not behind but I’m part of a country and I must stand with it or decide to find peaceable and compassionate ways to influence more positive outcomes.

I think no matter where you were born you will find good things and not so good things about the soil on which you were born. “Be grateful any way,” is how I think. But I go back to something that I learned again and I go back to what I stand for again. I stand for humanity. I stand for all cultures. I stand for equal rights. I stand for freedom of speech and freedom of expression. I very strongly stand for uplifting rather than degrading human beings in any way shape or form.

I realize that every human being across the planet has their beliefs and all will take action on those beliefs as they see fit. I believe in protecting humanity, uplifting humanity, healing humanity, feeding humanity, sheltering humanity and supporting humanity. So now I think enough with good thoughts alone. It is time now for action. I write, I inform, and try to point out that no matter what degree of a circle you stand upon with your belief, there are 359 more degrees. I prefer to teach people to look at their beliefs and truly understand them, all of them. If we could learn about and understand what blocks our ability to love ourselves and each other, hold compassion for ourselves and each other and to support ourselves and each other, I think we could change the world.

The Dalai Lama wants to see compassion in this world – much more of it. I have to say that I stand with him with every cell of my being and every shred of all that comprises my consciousness. The events of the day yesterday, his words and presence, and the love inspired in the thousands in attendance were proof to me of just how effective and powerful love and compassion can be. It doesn’t require any dogma or money and it doesn’t require blood. It just requires an openness of heart and spirit. To me that is something that seems so simple. I wish that every human could feel this beautiful thing and realize no matter what soil you were born upon, no matter your culture or your beliefs, when you can find the heart of compassion you have become among the richest of human beings in the world. When you find it, share it. That’s what I learned in all of my years and saw summarized in a wonderful tribute to a great spiritual/political leader yesterday. I’m just in awe and will be forever grateful for the opportunity. Thank you His Holiness the Dalai Lama for all the compassion you embody and for sharing your special day with us in the West. We love you. Blessings of great love and compassion for all.

© 2015 Jaie Hart (photo/words)