April/May 2008 DIVINEZine
5th edition
for Divine Bridges.
Upcoming Divine Bridges events:
Looks like our next event will be the end of June. I will let you know on the details when I have them. More than likely the next one will be on Salt Spring Island, but throughout the summer I will be expanding the schedule to include more events in more cities. If you have a special request for a time or place then let me know.
You may have noticed that this edition of the Ezine covers April and May (can't get anything past you, can I?) I will be out of the country for all of May on my own quest for spiritual and physical rejuvenation (actually I will be on the beach drinking margaritas in Mexico, but the official story sounds better). The ezine should be back with a nice tan with the June edition.
Cost is $30 per person (pay at the door or through our handy dandy Paypal link on our website).
If you planning on coming out then it is very helpful if you email your RSVP
Further information can be found on our web site at
www.divinebridges.com
Our March Event
March found us at our new venue, Sleeping Dog Farm in Victoria. I can't say enough nice things about this place. As soon as I entered the round sanctuary I felt the desire to chant as the acoustics are amazing. The owner (Leanne) was great to deal with and helped make the experience truly magical.
We once again had a small group (did some of you that emailed you were coming forget to change your clocks ahead? oh well we all know about "island time"). The small group didn't mean small results though! I could feel the energy chomping at the bit even before we started. Usually I have to sit down and ground for a bit before it comes through...not this time. As soon as I was seated I could feel the bridge forming and the energy pouring down. The energy was also different this time. Although it was very intense, it had a more nourishing quality to it. I guess I should back up a bit and mention some of the themes for this event. The overall theme was that of manifestation and the golden dragon. So far we have been working with energy that was more about tearing down old conditioning rather that manifesting something new. This time the messages we are about manifesting a new life with purpose. Funny enough the people present for the event were all focused on manifesting a new home where they would be connected to the land, and have that sense of solid foundation and freedom to work from. So I suggested for the session we stay focused on what we were trying to manifest, and I helped direct the energy in that way as it came through me. Aside from the abundance of the golden dragon energy, the other totem that came up for the event was Hare. Now hare is a spring totem, and is connected to the vernal equinox. It talks about rebirth and instant manifestation, just like a garden of crocuses and daffodils coming to bloom in the spring. One minute it is winter, the next we have flowers (for those on the prairies they will just have to trust me that is how it is out on the west coast). For those that have done their work this past "winter," we are now heading into that time of growth. This doesn't mean things will be easy, but it does indicate great change and movement.
As usual, the avataric presence came through, and the session had a very nurturing, loving, feeling that manifested through Divine stillness and grace. I also felt the presence of a large group of Tibetan monks sitting behind me chanting sutras. This was the largest "group" that I have felt come through in the sessions and I have to admit it felt good. As in the past sessions, it was at this point we broke into free-form chanting and toning. The combinations of sounds that came out were pretty amazing with some beautiful overtones.
Consensus was that the session had less movement than before but a greater sense of nurturing. To me it felt like a very warm hug. I look forward to seeing what this will manifest in the participants personal lives as well as what changes are coming for Divine Bridges. I felt that the initial cycle of Divine Bridges has come to completion, and that a new cycle will be starting soon. I can't wait to see what happens!
You Annoy Me
I was trying to find a topic for this month. I kept concentrating on spring topics like manifestation or awakening, but it didn't seem right. Something kept gnawing at me to tackle a different subject. In the end I knew what I had to talk about; petty tyrants. Now that may not seem like a very spiritual topic, but trust me, a petty tyrant is your greatest teacher. If you have never read Carlos Castaneda's "The Fire Within" then I strongly recommend it. Castaneda cover the subject in depth in the form of the teachings of Don Juan's apprenticeship. According to the teaching, a petty tyrant is someone who drives you to distraction (then charges you for gas money). A great petty tyrant is one who even holds your life in the balance due to their buffoonery. Don Juan was taught that this was a special teacher who brought important lessons. For when we can face them, and actually laugh at their behavior, that we have graduated the lesson.
So what lesson do these petty tyrants bring? Well that depends on where your food is. Your food, or emotional buttons are what you carry, it has nothing to do with the other person. Why does one one type of person bug you more than another, or why do they always target you...once again you have the hot button to press. To figure out what lesson they hold, you have to do a little bit of introspection. How do they make you feel? Why does that behavior set you off so easily. Where have you seen this before. What PATTERN does it represent? Go back to your early development; what childhood pattern is being played out here?
Okay so you noticed a pattern in your life; good, that's a start. Now find the core issue they are tying into..security fear, worthiness issue, confidence, fear of mistakes, etc etc. It is a good idea to journal this. Work through all your petty tyrants in your life and see them as to what issue they raised within you. You will quickly see these a pattern emerge.
What annoys us in someone else, can also represent what our own shadow carries. This is slightly different than a true petty tyrant, as instead of working on our emotional food they are simply giant mirrors. Again some self honesty and introspection can guide us.
So how do you deal with a petty tyrant? My favorite method I have come across came from an old friend. She said, "run them down with your vehicle!" Now we laughed about that because I know her vehicle is the Mahayana. Yana in Sanskrit stands for ferry boat or vehicle. So when dealing with her petty tyrant she turned to her spiritual practice, which in this case was Mahayana Buddhism.
Bottom line when dealing with a petty tyrant is non-engagement. If you don't rise to the bait then you can't get caught! With that sense of detachment it makes it much easier to see the karmic pattern that is being played out. As I mentioned in previous articles, awareness is one of the major tools in awakening. Bringing that awareness into the situation when you are not engaged with it, will allow you to clear another layer of the consciousness and conditioning that is holding you in your present situation. The other tool is emotional responsibility. Take some ownership of your stuff. It is a new age cop out to blame everything for your troubles rather than look in that mirror. Yes your moon might be aspecting harshly to saturn, but always remember the stars guide us they do not control us! Okay enough of a lecture, just make sure you don't get everyone to carry your baggage. When in doubt, pack lightly.
It isn't easy to stand your ground in the face of a petty tyrant, but it goes a long way into clearing the pattern. Now if you can master standing your ground along with non-engagement and a quirky smile then you really have a winning team.
Now if standing you ground sounds tough, then I have a real doozy for you. The Dalia Lama teaches this technique, and I personally found it to be one of the most difficult practices I have done. It is simple; love your enemies. Now the technique is more involved than just that. Since Buddhism teaches the circular nature of samsara (birth, death, and rebirth), the teaching goes that at some point everyone will have been your mother. The exercise goes along the lines of visualizing sending love first to your mother, then extended family, then friends, and community; all the time seeing that they were once your primary caregiver and source of nourishment. Easy so far, right? Now expand this to neutral individuals, then ones that you slightly dislike, and all the way out to your hated enemies (for me it was Barney that purple dinosaur ). Now seeing your hated enemy as your primary caregiver, who loved you, fed you, and changed your diapers takes you a huge step towards universal compassion. So love your enemies, it really ticks them off. The technique is covered in greater depth in the Dalai Lama's book "Expanding Love".
Well hopefully this month brought a few tools to help you deal with the individuals whose only purpose is to be a cautionary tale to others. And remember, if the mahayana doesn't run them down, a big old cadillac will work too.
This month's poem is one of my favorites by Rumi.
"Learn the alchemy true human beings know. The moment you accept what troubles you've been given, the door will open. Welcome difficulty as a familiar comrade. Joke with torment brought by the friend. Sorrows are the rags of old clothes and jackets that serve to cover, then are taken off. That undressing and the beautiful naked body underneath is the sweetness that comes after grief. The hurt you embrace becomes joy. Call it to you where it can change. A silk worm eating leaves makes a cocoon. Each of us weaves a chamber of leaves and sticks. Silk worms begin to truly exist as they disappear inside that room. Without legs we fly. When I stop speaking, this poem will close and open its silent wings."
Rumi
Please feel free to pass along this Ezine.
Anyone can subscribe to it at:
newsletter@divinebridges.com
and since we don't want to annoy, pester, and torment anyone (well not anymore than I usually do), you can unsubscribe at anytime by sending us an email saying "unsubscribe"(yes it will make the dragons cry but we will honour your request)
Divine Messages
And so I wandered around the yard looking for a burning bush. Wouldn't you know that when you need one, you can never find one. So no matter how many times I sat down in the past month to try and channel the message for this newsletter, nothing would come through. Instead of trying to fake or force it I am going to trust in Divine perfection and allow things to be as they are. Maybe next month after I am well rested from my journey I will be able to channel another message. Namaste
This month's card is from Osho Transformational Tarot:
Transformation Tarot Card
The Gates of Hell
The samurai's pride
Heaven and hell are not geographical, they are psychological, they are your psychology. Heaven and hell are not at the end of your life, they are here and now. Every moment the door opens; every moment you go on wavering between heaven and hell. It is a moment-to-moment question, it is urgent; in a single moment you can move from hell to heaven, from heaven to hell.
Hell and heaven are within you. The doors are very close to each other: with the right hand you can open one, with the left hand you can open another. With just a change of your mind, your being is transformed --from heaven to hell and from hell to heaven. Whenever you act unconsciously, without awareness, you are in hell; whenever you are conscious, whenever you act with full awareness, you are in heaven.
The Zen master Hakuin is one of the rare flowerings. A warrior came to him, a samurai, a great soldier, and he asked "Is there any hell, is there any heaven? If there is hell and heaven, where are the gates? Where do I enter from? How can I avoid hell and choose heaven?"
He was a simple warrior. A warrior is always simple; otherwise he cannot be a warrior. A warrior knows only two things, life and death--his life is always at stake, he is always gambling; He is a simple man. He had not come to learn any doctrine. He wanted to know where the gate was so he could avoid hell and enter heaven. And Hakuin replied in a way only a warrior could understand.
What did Hakuin do? He said, "Who are you?"
And the warrior replied, "I am a samurai."
It is a thing of much pride to be a samurai in Japan. It means being a perfect warrior, a man who will not hesitate a single moment to give his life. For him, life and death are just a game. He said, "I am a samurai, I am a leader of samurais. Even the emperor pays respect to me."
Hakuin laughed and said, " You, a samurai? You look like a beggar."
The samurai's pride was hurt, his ego hammered. He forgot what he had come for. He took out his sword and was just about to kill Hakuin. He forgot that he had come to this master to ask where is the gate of heaven, to ask where is the gate of hell.
Hakuin laughed and said, "This is the gate of hell. With this sword, this anger, this ego, here opens the gate." This is what a warrior can understand. Immediately he understood: This is the gate. He put his sword back in its sheath.
And Hakuin said, "Here opens the gate of heaven."
Hell and heaven are within you, both gates are within you. When you are behaving unconsciously there is the gate of hell; when you become alert and conscious, there is the gate of heaven.
What happened to this samurai? When he was just about to kill Hakuin, was he conscious? Was he conscious of what he was about to do? Was he conscious of what he had come for? All consciousness had disappeared. When the ego takes over, you cannot be alert. Ego is the drug, the intoxicant that makes you completely unconscious. You act but the act comes from the unconscious, not from your consciousness. And whenever any act comes from the unconscious, the door of hell is open. Whatsoever you do, if you are not aware of what you are doing the gate of hell opens.
Immediately the samurai became alert. Suddenly, when Hakuin said, "This is the gate, you have already opened it"-- the very situation must have created alertness. A single moment more and Hakuin's head would have been severed; a single moment more and it would have been separated from the body. And Hakuin said, "This is the gate of hell."
This is not a philosophical answer; no master answers in a philosophical way. Philosophy exists only for mediocre, unenlightened minds. The master responds but the response is not verbal, it is total. That this man may have killed him is not the point. "If you kill me and it makes you alert, it is worth it"--Hakuin played the game.
This must have happened to the warrior--stopped, sword in hand with Hakuin just before him--the eyes of Hakuin were laughing, the face was smiling, and the gate of heaven opened. He understood: the sword went back into its sheath. While putting the sword back into the sheath he must have been totally silent, peaceful. The anger had disappeared, the energy moving in anger had become silence.
If you suddenly awake in the middle of anger, you will feel a peace you have never felt before. Energy was moving and suddenly it stops--you will have silence, immediate silence. You will fall into your inner being and the fall will be so sudden, you will become aware.
It is not a slow fall, it is so sudden that you cannot remain unaware. You can remain unaware only with routine things, with gradual things; you move so slowly you can't feel movement. This was sudden movement-- from activity to no-activity, from thought to no-thought, from mind to no-mind. As the sword was going back into its sheath, the warrior realized. And Hakuin said, "Here open the doors of heaven."
Silence is the door. Inner peace is the door. Nonviolence is the door. Love and compassion are the doors.
If you wish to sponsor a Divine Bridges event, then contact us. Consider having a Divine Bridges event for your next group gathering. Want us to add a city to our schedule? Then let us know!
We are all Linked!
So I thought I would take a little space each month to share some links I have come across. They might be teachings, new concepts, businesses I find intriguing, or just something that appeals to my brand of sacred coyote craziness. If you have a link you want me to include then drop me an email!
Since so much of our attention is focused on the current struggles of Tibet I thought I would use this space to pass along some links on how to support their cause for freedom.
Dalai Lama calling for dialogue and restraint, and an end to violence:
http://www.dalailama.com/news.216.htm
and
http://www.agi.it/world/news/200803191258-pol-ren0032-art.html
some of the links from our previous DivinEzine that have recent updates
My very good friend Ian has started a new business offering meditation/visualization CDs and Mp3s that are encoded with entrainment frequencies. I have listened to a couple of them already, and have to say they definitely deepen the quality of my meditation. Ian also has some great meditation instruction and advice on his website. I highly recommend him as a meditation teacher. Update: Ian is launching a line of Ebooks. Included in the tiles are ones on mantras, meditation, and childhood obesity.
http://www.meditation-all-you-need.com/
Michael Waters is an amazing musical artists living on Vancouver Island. His music has evolved to be a spiritual practice. His site has some free MP3s to download of his music.Update: Michael's spring BC tour. Check out this guitar mystic at:
I can personally attest to how nice these custom mala beads are to use in meditation. I use mine daily. Brian has some good instructional videos on this site on how to use a mala in meditation.
http://destinationom.typepad.com/
Did you know?
The further dragons travel from their home in China, the more toes they lose! Fortunately, when wandering dragons return home to China, all their missing toes grow back. so according to the legend and artwork:
Have you heard the one about the Avatar who made herself a hotdog?
She created one with everything...
How many Buddhas does it take to change a lightbulb?
.
.None...
.
They all have their own inner light.
ARCHIVES
Did you miss a previous EZine?
NAMASTE
Robert Oakes