Elements and Origins

I saw the Body’s Exhibit over the weekend and I have to say that I am absolutely astounded at what amazing miracles we are.  Just to see how every piece and part of our physical bodies works perfectly in harmony to allow us to see, hear and do all of the things that we do each day is amazing.  It is so easy to take that for granted.  Never the one to be satisfied with the superficial, I must go deeper than the physical body.  It is elemental in nature as I have written of before, made from all of the elements, perfectly.  But what is behind it, beneath it or above it?  What keeps it going?

Seeing the teeny tiny parts of the brain, I am sorry but I am not a believer that everything we are comes from just the biological hunk of fibers referred to as the brain that is merely a component part of the suit we wear.  What I have come to understand is that we are so much more.  An elemental is just that, an elemental – full of pieces and parts formed with automatic and selective processes that put the body in motion.  But what animates that form intelligently?  I call it Consciousness.  Others use different terms.  When I say Consciousness, think Energy.  I mean Consciousness with a very, very large C more in line with the absolute infinite or “All of Everything” as is quoted in the Kybalion.  Others may use the term Cosmic Consciousness, God, Goddess or Source.

There are some very unscientific theories that what animates the elemental human is a very tiny part of that infinite and vast Cosmic Consciousness.  You might call that tiny portion the spirit or the soul.  When that animating consciousness withdraws itself, the body ceases functioning and dies.  But that consciousness lives on.  Energy cannot die but can only transform.  As I walked around viewing the exhibits, I saw the forms of the elementals reduced to their most varied and basic parts and I realized the body is truly only a vehicle for our consciousness or Consciousness, I should say.

Theologians have innumerable and sometimes synchronistic positions on what we are and where we came from.  While I respect those positions and related theories, I think they fall short of the truth.  It’s something I feel deep within from that place I know I can trust more than anything.  There is a knowingness that arises within us all when we have learned to become very still and quiet.  This knowingness belongs to the chain of command, so-to-speak, that goes from the smallest part of our Consciousness straight to the Largest most Infinite part of our Consciousness.

We often take bits and pieces of premise for granted or truth without digging deeper for the evidence.  Take our very existence as a prime example.  We rest our theories on writings from antiquity but where is the proof?  There isn’t any proof.  If we intended to prove how we came to be, there are so many intangible ideas we must contend with.  Science contends with this every day and they must create a premise from which they can build their hypotheses and theories.  So, we started somewhere and just went with that and we still hold today that we were created by a white bearded man who created two individuals in His image, one male and one female, yin and yang.

In the creation myths that abound from various cultures all over the globe, there are very similar and also very different tales of our origins.  Our origins seem a bit obscure, to put it lightly.  Some think we are aliens.  Maybe we are.  Some think we evolved from apes or fish.  Maybe we did.  Some think we were created by the Great White Bearded God that lives in a magical kingdom called heaven.  Maybe we did.  Some believe that we individuated from the great Cosmic Consciousness to enter this dimension as a holographic elemental image for the purpose of having an experience that we take back to the Source of the Cosmic Consciousness when we’ve completed our experiencing.  Maybe we did.

Where does that leave any of us who are wondering about our origins?  How do you choose when belief is all you have and very little if any evidence at all? Some might say, “Now Jaie, you must have faith.”  “In what?,” I would respond.  I have faith in my Consciousness.  You see, I had the privilege of being Conscious outside of the body in this vast nothingness and everythingness that was so peaceful, so very quiet that for the first time in my life I could think and be without everything that comes with these elemental trappings.  But even that experience is only filtered through my perception so cannot be objective.

When I go with that inner knowing feeling, I feel that I am a tiny part of a much bigger Spirit that stays always and ever connected to Source and in my moments of greatest inspiration or intuition it is THAT voice that speaks to me subtly, encouragingly and lovingly to guide me through this situation or that.  When I consider such things, origins become a bit unimportant as I turn to other questions like “Why am I here at all?”  Wouldn’t that be a cool question to have answered?  Again, I can’t go with anything the outside world would project upon me because it wouldn’t resonate as truth with me, with that still small voice of the Spirit that comes through nudging me this way or that.  My dissatisfaction I find is nothing more than an attachment that I really need carry no longer.  My Spirit knows where it came from and the elemental me that will return to the dust from whence it came when my consciousness pulls out for the last time will query no more. 

In all my questing for answers to the unanswerable, rather than give in to the frustration or buying anyone else’s answers as a definitive truth, I will go with what I trust and that is me.  I trust me implicitly.  My soul and spirit are clean.  I trust what comes through and I’m reassured that I need question no further.  I need only live and love and enjoy my time in this type of experience until my consciousness moves onto something else and be content with that.  Can I do it?  Yes, I think so and it starts today. 

In a way, I will always be an explorer of consciousness and seeking understanding of all of the things that create our behaviors and desires.  There is a part of me that wishes to protect an Earth that needs no protecting (yet another attachment).  All is perfect as it is because from it we are learning to take greater care.  From the tragedies we learn to be more careful with each other and ourselves.  From the hard times we learn to truly find gratitude for the good times.  From the desolate and lonely times we learn to turn within for comfort, solace and love.  These things and realizations take lifetimes sometimes.  And, that is okay.  So, suffice it to say, I’ve come to accept life on its terms and to have faith in myself to master whatever task I am called to master. That is my Consciousness and within that, I have that much faith in myself and no fear of failure.  Failure is learning. Am I any closer to the truth?  Well, I can’t say that I am for anyone else but I can say so for me.

(Photo:  NASA)

In Human Relations is Memory a Gift or a Curse?

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Sometimes I think the answer is both.  If you look back and recall a beautiful memory and it uplifts you, well I think then, that a memory can be a wonderful thing.  But what if our memories keep us trapped in a story that no longer belongs to today.  I could tell you of such stories in my life.  Some are tragic, some might make me incredulous if I fall too deeply into them and some would be absolutely unbelievable.  As I sit and consider some of the challenges in my own life, some things point back to memories.

Well, I wish to transform them right now with what I know.  I’ve become a yogi in training of late and am learning daily to see things differently.  I think my whole life I I have been in training for this moment and that, right there is the crux of my point.

We think the terrible and tragic things in our lives are punishment and proof of our unworthiness or worse, such things lock us into this victim thinking (now that is the real tragedy).  But think about this for just one moment.  How could you be the amazing and wonderful being and person that you are today were it not for those challenging occurrences in your life that polished your spirit and refined your character?  There is no punishment in that, only reward.

In order to transform from the effects of negative memories, we need only be willing to see the brighter side of the occurrence even if it seems does not exist.  You may have to dig through the rubble of an emotional experience to find the diamond of truth within the experience.  And, when you find that diamond, that light over-shines the shadow of a difficult experience.  You see we are here to experience and our memories are stored in order that we may recall our experience.  However, it is unwise if we wish to behold health mental status to live in the darkness of our memories.  Our stories do not begin with our memories.  Our stories begin in a much bright place than just that of our experiences and memories of them.

These things require one thing that I write in nearly every article I’ve written, every book and every philosophical conversation.  That one thing is this – Changing your perspective is key to your happiness, growth and success in life.  Are you willing to allow this beautiful light to enter into your life right now?  May you  are and maybe you’re not quite yet and that is okay.  Just understand how this works.  That’s all you need.  May your God or Goddess bless you on your journey.

If I may be of service, I offer life coaching and spiritual counseling as well as a course on Discovering your Conscious Self.  Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you need to.  Jaiehart@gmail.com.  You may also visit http://Ministryofconnectedconsciousness.org or http://www.jaiehart.com for information about my work.

 

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© 2015 Jaie Hart (photo/words)

The Nothingness

I’m listening to the wind rustle the leaves in the tree outside my window.  It’s a quiet day, a sleepy day and a slow moving day.  These are the best days to me.  It gives me time to pause, check out from my regular activities and simply reflect.  

 As the leaves begin to fall from the beautiful tree outside of my window, I too realize all of the things I am selectively intending to let fall away.  I set this intention with great conviction and determination.  I will not fail.  Although I do not fear failure, in fact, I often embrace it and laugh when it finds me for it simply means I’ve another lesson to learn.  But this, now this is different.

Long gone are the days of striving for perfection, striving to be at the top of anything and struggling for better or best in my endeavors.  I no longer seek these things because I have learned they do not matter.  These are the things of my ego.  I love my ego and it makes me laugh so hard sometimes with it’s urgings.  But, you see, I’ve learned to quiet it at times at least long enough to hear the voice of my soul and spirit and that voice speaks to me of things infinitely more important.

It is difficult to make the shift from busy to quiet some times.  But, it is a most worthy endeavor if you can master it.  In those quiet and still moments, the peace of nothingness can permeate your very being.  Why strive for nothingness you might ask?  Well, because it helps me maintain my positive perspective in life.  It helps me to move through my days with more authenticity, and it makes me aware of the things I have created from the ego.  I see them and I’m aware.  That is what the nothingness brings me, awareness.  That awareness is the greatest gift of my entire life.

It doesn’t change my work or my routine or any of the things that I do but it changes the way I approach things, it changes the way I think about the things that I do and it gives me the ability to show myself a gentle love and kindness along with compassion that I could not see without those still and quiet moments of nothingness.

These moments can be gained in meditation, out walking in nature as you let your every day thoughts fall away or even an intentional mindful walk in the middle of a bustling city.  You can reach into this silence, this stillness and into the nothingness where all creation begins.  I’m off then to enjoy the quiet stillness of the day and reach into the nothingness that is everything to me for the solace it brings me.  Blessings of great peace and joy to you all. 

 

© 2015 Jaie (Deva) Hart (photo/words)

Are you Conflict Avoidant? Read On...

Wow what a week has it been.  I’ve had one conflict after another arise and I’m reminded of the Whack-a-Mole game.  I realized that as soon as I whacked one away, another cropped up.  After a while I began to lose patience with all that whacking away of conflict.  I decided to step back from it and get some perspective, a much higher perspective.  What I saw in a moment in the sun, listening to Deval Premal chanting was that each conflict that presented itself was actually an opportunity to learn.  I took a deep breath and just soaked in the light of the sun.  I calmed my frazzled nerves and went back to my day with a new perspective.  I can choose to be conflict avoidant and irritated when it shows up on my path or I can observe it and consider precisely why it showed up on my path.

Now, with this perspective, I can see with much greater clarity that conflict is actually a wonderful opportunity to learn something.  Whether the conflict is generated by people, situations or things, there is something to be learned.  So, learn I did and I’m so very grateful.  With people conflict arises primarily from assumption.  When each side makes an assumption from a perception filtered through their own environmental psychology and considers that assumption to be truth without even attempting to fact-check, conflict will arise.  Now, if each side is willing to tackle the conflict head on, open their minds and hearts to the fact that their perceptions and assumptions may not be the truth, each may have an opportunity to grow closer in understanding and even embrace compassion for the formerly held perception or assumption.  Is that not amazing?  It certainly is to me.

Oh if we only came with instruction books!  Sadly, we do not and we do not for good reason.  Are you curious about that reason?  It’s simple.  You are infinitely amazing just exactly as you are and whether you know it or not, you love the experience of living and through that living, you learn.  If you had a book that gave you all the answers, you’d be bored because you are just too smart for a simple class in the Earth School.

So, the next time you encounter conflict, observe the little “c” consciousness or ego’s need to engage.  Try if you can not to judge anything about what is happening but just observe and see if you can feel your way to the truth beyond assumption and perception.  You can then ask questions, validate facts and then move forward in full awareness.  It’s really quite amazing when you can train yourself to respond in this way in control of your faculties rather than being controlled by your little “c” consciousness.  Just some more food for thought beautiful souls.  Have a great day.

And if you need a little calm inspiration, have a listen to this great work from Deva Premal:

 

The Tree of Solitude

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It came in a vision

On a cold rainy day

A solitary tree

On a solitary hill

And above it

A blanket full of stars

I worked and worked

To pull it out of my head

With clumsy untrained fingers

And when finished

It moved me

But I didn’t know why

Many moons later in a meditation it came

The word "Solitude"

And it meant something

Something I didn’t understand

In another meditation and the vision became more clear

I was walking alone in a beautiful landscape

Ahead of me was the tree only now it was daylight

The sun shone behind it glorious white

Every branch etched in beauty unimaginable

I crested the hill and touched its smooth branches

And it filled me with that one thing I’ve been looking for

Solitude

And then they came

Friends from all time

Smiling they said, “You finally found it – the Tree of Solitude.”

With hugs and smiles they congratulated me for my journey

They sat with me under the tree and no one spoke a word

A thought reached out to me through the silence

“Dear one, even in Solitude we are with you.  You are never alone.”

In a moment, with tears streaming down my face

I again tasted the sweetest essence of pure love.

 

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© 2015 Jaie Hart (photo/painting:  Jaie Hart)

The Warrior's Sword

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With all of my other projects in life of late, it seems I’ve neglected this blog a bit.  Well, it has been for good reason.  You see, I’ve been very busy learning some very wonderful things about life and as I learn, I suppose I like to have a little time to test my learning before I begin writing.

Lately I’ve taken up Kundalini Yoga Certification training.  For whatever reason, it called to me.  I’ve learned in life that whenever I receive those very subtle, quiet and internal urgings and I pay attention to them, they almost always turn into something beautiful.  I was prepared for the mental agility required for Kundalini Yoga and I knew that the physical aspects would be a challenge for this body that has spent by far too much time working at a computer screen for long hours.

Something that I have learned in my studying and working with my wonderful teacher is that sometimes the Malware (e.g., the environmental psychology that seeps into our conscious operating system unbeknownst to us) is so deeply entrenched that no amount of psychotherapy or counseling will bring to the light of day those things we most wish to work on.  Sometimes it takes the intent to go at something differently, almost indirectly in order to make the greatest progress.  Kundalini Yoga seems to work that way for me.

Since I began, I have uncovered bits and bytes of malware trapped not just within my psyche but deeply entrenched within the cellular aspects of  my being.  When my teacher first mentioned this concept to me, I wasn’t sure about the validity of the concept.  I question her no more.  She is amazingly spot on as always and I thank the stars above for that little inkling of an urge that lead me to the door of her Yoga Studio.  In the short time I’ve been involved in training, I have uncovered some rather surprising issues deep within the core of my being that I never knew even existed.

I write about these topics continually so I shouldn’t have been so surprised to find something buried but when one particular core level matter surfaced and the pain of it hit, my training allowed me to do something I’ve never before been able to do.  That is, give my self total and complete permission to feel in the absence of all judgment, be kind, understanding and compassionate with myself as I deal with a very sensitive issue that arises from the inner child in me. 

We all have these matters and I guess the moral to my long story here is that it is vitally important that you give yourselves permission right here and right now to feel what you feel and to know that what you feel is okay and also to love yourself with all that you have while you are in the process of feeling.  It seems so simple but we are not taught this.  Another theme I write about is all of the things we are not taught.  I’ve become adept at many things in my time on Earth and if I may say, I am proud of myself for those things but I have become both humbled and very proud of my ability fail, to be frail, to be vulnerable completely to whatever it is that decides to rise from within me. 

In times of old I’d have run screaming from emotion.  Taking the warrior’s tough stance in mastering self and anything else that comes before us is admirable.  But and this is a really BIG but, there is nothing that takes more strength, more stamina, more skill, and more will power than to face a forgotten wound and allow it to come to the light of day for much needed acknowledgement, understanding, compassion and learning.  We must learn to just be with it knowing that no matter what we will be okay.

This, my training and learning of late has brought me.  What a precious gift.  I’ve laid down my sword many times over the years and picked it right back up to protect the wounds inside.  No more.  The sword no longer exists.  I’ve decided to bury it for good.  Instead I stand for self love, self compassion and self-kindness.  I also stand for showing these very same things to all of humanity as I continue to learn and grow.  I also wish to continue to share these learnings in the hopes it may help give another the courage to stand up and just be beautifully perfect, wounds and all in the light of the sun. 

Having said all of the above, this does not in any way mean that I will not put up appropriate boundaries in front of those who would harbor ill-respect, lacking integrity or honor.  I need not deal with such nonsense as I turn within and focus on dealing with my own shadows.  Let others fend for themselves or ask for help but I will not tolerate what does not serve me.  I guess that part of my warrior spirit will always live but it now lives to serve in a new way – a good way.

May your God or Goddess comfort you, hold you and bless you now and for all time.  Yours, Deva Kirtan Kaur (aka Jaie Hart).

Call for Topics

What are you most curious about in terms of contemplating consciousness, spirituality or everyday human interactions?  Send me an email at jaiehart@gmail.com and I'll post your question (confidentially) and respond.

Blessings and have a great week.

Jaie Hart