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Visions
Visions
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My brother recently told me that our difficulties in communication had to do with epistemology. I said, "Whaaaaaa...?" Looked it up. Apparently he was talking about, different ways of knowing. I think my way of knowing might increasingly be called "revelatory." Maybe that is what he meant. Anyway, here are some of my favorite musings, and they seem to be in the revelatory vein.
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Many years ago I was an activist working to save wilderness. The vast, elegant intelligence of the forest is so far beyond anything human that we cannot hold the sense of it in our minds. When the forests are gone-- and they are now just shadows-- our children will not know this intelligence. In despair I wondered, over and over again, why does this powerful elegant Being allow itself to be destroyed by puny humans??
After doing everything I could to save the Ancient Forest, and failing to save much if any of it, I understood that the fabric of the forest had already been rent, that huge portions of the biodiversity that enabled it to survive these many thousands of years since the last lava flows here, was already destroyed. I was in despair. It was the vast, exquisite, intelligence of the Natural World which drew me in to Itself and healed me, and it was to defend this that I struggled.
Why, I asked myself, would this vast Intelligence which could extinguish us in a minute if it so chose, why is Nature allowing us to harm and kill Her? Through the years, and still, the only answer that makes sense to me is that Nature, in Her wisdom, for reasons that I am just barely beginning to understand, values some part of us. That is why She invested in us. We are not a mistake.
I have come to believe that that part of us that She values is CONSCIOUSNESS. I used to rail, thinking humans are only parasites, but I see now that we are, indeed, part of that vast greatness and not separate. We need to do what we do in order to learn. If Nature thinks we are that important then I do too. Apparently we are worth her pain. The very fact that Nature has not annihilated us indicates how She feels about us. We carry the seed of something that Nature values very much.
I now understand that the Jesus story is a metaphor. Really the entity who is sacrificing herself for us is Nature, that ancient mature wild intelligence that is the Earth. The reason for her choice is because we are one with Her. I can't put better words Our waking, our ascension, our maturing into the Divine Nature which is who we are destined to manifest, is important to Her.
In their wisdom, the creatures, the air, the trees, the mountains, the rivers are betting on ME, that I can attain my full godhood. Maybe everybody will (I think we all will eventually, maybe not on this planet) but that is not something I have control over. What I have control over are my choices. Period. So I choose to follow my Heart now, because I believe it speaks to me the truth of the Divine. I believe my Heart speaks to me through my intuition so I practice following my intuition every day, even in small things. On this path I am learning. I thank every One, the heroes and the villains, the victims, and the innocent bystanders; I am so grateful! Because I understand that they are doing it all for me. Anybody else who gets benefit out of it is fine, too, but again, I cannot control that.
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Ever wonder what a planet waking up looks like? Apparently it looks just like this. It looks like what we see. --Haru
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Politics as an Integral Part of Spiritual Practice-- 2020
In February of this year (2020), I consciously began making “political” posts on Facebook, with the intention of exploring how engagement with political events could be part of a spiritual path. Sure beats the old community bulletin board ans Xeroxed notices!
If anyone is interested, here are the principles I set as intentions in February:
1. Do not allow yourself to become exhausted. Exhaustion indicates you are not drawing from Spirit but have moved into relying on your own energy.
2. The Greater Cause is internal, not external, and the greater Cause is perfect. External events are teachers and lessons for me to let go of old energy and to grow in Spirit. This means we can pursue politics without blaming anyone.
3. Be constantly aware of the energy that you are putting out into the world. Conduct my reactive dramas of uncertainly, fear, anger, disillusionment, etc., to proceed on an internal level rather than spewing out negative energy into the world.
4. Stay present in the moment.
5. Practice nonattachment to outcomes
It can be rough, Facebook. I don’t always keep these, but every controversial post I make is an opportunity to keep trying.
Interesting thing I have noticed: when I get unpleasant responses from commenters, it definitely brings up fear in me, not so much, it seems, from this life as from past lives, fears from Inquisition times and some other times before that, Roman times, witch-burning times…experiences of being not believed, being tortured and killed as a heretic. Surfacing of these memories, whether they are personal for me or whether they are threads that run for everyone through our culture, is extremely valuable. I am clear enough now to feel the fear at the same time that I know that I am safe, because, after all of this, I am still here! I let the fear run through me at the same time that I mostly hold my center if not immediately, then soon. Sooner and sooner.
I cannot be destroyed.
Every time a wave of fear comes over me, I go through this process of healing. I feel the fear, let it freely pass through me, await the response from my center, and respond in whatever way I feel. What a practice!
I feel that I am, as they say, clearing this for the collective. Am I right in my opinions? Was I right then? More important than this question, is, that I can freely express my heart. Writing this now creates a milestone for me, in my thinking. I hope that in some way, these thoughts might embolden some others as well. “All things work for good….”
Blessings to all. Haru
If anyone is interested, here are the principles I set as intentions in February:
1. Do not allow yourself to become exhausted. Exhaustion indicates you are not drawing from Spirit but have moved into relying on your own energy.
2. The Greater Cause is internal, not external, and the greater Cause is perfect. External events are teachers and lessons for me to let go of old energy and to grow in Spirit. This means we can pursue politics without blaming anyone.
3. Be constantly aware of the energy that you are putting out into the world. Conduct my reactive dramas of uncertainly, fear, anger, disillusionment, etc., to proceed on an internal level rather than spewing out negative energy into the world.
4. Stay present in the moment.
5. Practice nonattachment to outcomes
It can be rough, Facebook. I don’t always keep these, but every controversial post I make is an opportunity to keep trying.
Interesting thing I have noticed: when I get unpleasant responses from commenters, it definitely brings up fear in me, not so much, it seems, from this life as from past lives, fears from Inquisition times and some other times before that, Roman times, witch-burning times…experiences of being not believed, being tortured and killed as a heretic. Surfacing of these memories, whether they are personal for me or whether they are threads that run for everyone through our culture, is extremely valuable. I am clear enough now to feel the fear at the same time that I know that I am safe, because, after all of this, I am still here! I let the fear run through me at the same time that I mostly hold my center if not immediately, then soon. Sooner and sooner.
I cannot be destroyed.
Every time a wave of fear comes over me, I go through this process of healing. I feel the fear, let it freely pass through me, await the response from my center, and respond in whatever way I feel. What a practice!
I feel that I am, as they say, clearing this for the collective. Am I right in my opinions? Was I right then? More important than this question, is, that I can freely express my heart. Writing this now creates a milestone for me, in my thinking. I hope that in some way, these thoughts might embolden some others as well. “All things work for good….”
Blessings to all. Haru
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From Starhawk:
"What comes after the revolution? You do well to ask that question before you wage one. Easier to bring the old system down than to create the new. Growth and evolution take time. We learn by trial and error, by making mistakes and trying again.'
"Revolution, when it comes, is sometimes swift. Rebuilding, reshaping, is always slow.'
"And change brings questions difficult to answer. How do we create justice? Do we hold the perpetrators accountable for the crimes? If we forgive, does that let the injustice continue? If we exact revenge, who do we become?'
"For my part, if I could, I would declare a general amnesty for all of us, everywhere. Forgive our debts and our mistakes, our missteps and failings and betrayals, even our occasional or devoted cruelties, all the ways we play out our inner torment on one another. We are wounded creatures, all of us, bashing away with bloody limbs. We never had a chance to be anything else. Forgive it all, and start anew.'
"Let us forgive all the ways we wander in circles, take the wrong path. We all lose the way. Let it go and know that all you have to do, really, is just to come back. Stand up again when you fall. When you can't see ahead, grope your way back to the trail.'
"That's all we can ask."
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"What comes after the revolution? You do well to ask that question before you wage one. Easier to bring the old system down than to create the new. Growth and evolution take time. We learn by trial and error, by making mistakes and trying again.'
"Revolution, when it comes, is sometimes swift. Rebuilding, reshaping, is always slow.'
"And change brings questions difficult to answer. How do we create justice? Do we hold the perpetrators accountable for the crimes? If we forgive, does that let the injustice continue? If we exact revenge, who do we become?'
"For my part, if I could, I would declare a general amnesty for all of us, everywhere. Forgive our debts and our mistakes, our missteps and failings and betrayals, even our occasional or devoted cruelties, all the ways we play out our inner torment on one another. We are wounded creatures, all of us, bashing away with bloody limbs. We never had a chance to be anything else. Forgive it all, and start anew.'
"Let us forgive all the ways we wander in circles, take the wrong path. We all lose the way. Let it go and know that all you have to do, really, is just to come back. Stand up again when you fall. When you can't see ahead, grope your way back to the trail.'
"That's all we can ask."
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(Spinning disk: Third dimensional reality as we usually experience it. Backlit. "All the world's a stage...." Vertical axis: who I really am, reaching from and to Infinity. From and to God.)
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And from Gary Snyder:
stay together
learn the flowers
go light
For the Children, Turtle Island, 1975
stay together
learn the flowers
go light
For the Children, Turtle Island, 1975
Comments? Contact me: haruspruce1@gmail.com