Letting Go

Today is a tough day for me.   I gave my son over to the US Navy last night.  He leaves today for bootcamp in Chicago, Illinois.  He is going to be a Mineman.  Part of me feels happy and proud for him and part of me feels like my heart is in my throat choking off the very air I breathe …. and then part of me feels peace and calm knowing that he is fulfilling his own dharma.

“How do you know this is the experience you need?  Because this is the experience you are having at the moment.”  ~Eckhart Tolle

I trust that if Christian (my son) feels drawn towards the US Navy, so much so that he has diligently completed the requirements to join, then this is the experience he is supposed to be having.

From the time Christian was in my womb (21 years ago), I always felt the sense that he wasn’t mine.  He wasn’t a possession of mine to cling to and claim.  He didn’t “belong” to me.  I instinctively felt that I was a vehicle for his entry into this world and my purpose was to love him, nurture him and bring him up to let him go.  I never felt that he was the sole purpose of my existence or my happiness.  That seems like an awfully heavy burden to place on the shoulders of your child(ren) when they already have the burden of figuring out their own direction in life.  I knew he was his own person, with his own karma, his own dharma and his own internal compass already seeded and mapped with whatever it is he is supposed to do in this world.  My intent was to teach him how to listen to that internal compass as it would never steer him wrong.

“You are not the child of the people you call mother and father, but their fellow-adventurer on a bright journey to understand the things that are.”  ~Richard Bach

Even though I am overcome with waves of nausea, interspersed with waves of peace, I am able to observe these frequent shifts in my body and mind today, knowing that I am neither this body nor this mind.  I am the One behind the body and mind.  The part of me that is behind the body and mind realizes that my fellow Spirit Being, incarnated into this world as my son, is carrying on with his journey in this life and serving his purpose.  I send him out into the world with Love, Peace, a thousand Angels and the Light of the Ultimate Mother, Divine Mother to cover him and all who come in contact with him.

Aum ~ Peace ~ Amen

Beautiful Rowdy Prisoners

photo by johey24 @ flickr

The small man Builds cages for everyone He knows. While the sage, Who has to duck his head When the moon is low, Keeps dropping keys all night long For the Beautiful Rowdy Prisoners. ~hafiz

No one is useless in this world who ligh

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another. ~Charles Dickens

Our deepest fear is not t…

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

~Nelson Mandela speech, Marianne Williamson authored

You Are

Photo credit: willowing-arts.blogspot.com

Inspiration can come from unexpected places.  A friend posted a status update on Facebook a few days ago that read, “How do you learn to love yourself???”  My response was the following:

“by letting go of all that is not Love …. then you can see that you are Pure Love already”

My friend’s question, coupled with my yearning to further explain my response lead to the following poem ……

You Are

You are beautiful.
You are perfect
exactly the way you are.
There is nothing about you that needs to change.
Everything is exactly the way it should be
in your life
right now.
Your world may change
in the next second.
If it does
it was supposed to.
You are whole.
You are complete
exactly the way you are.
You are not half of another,
unfinished, waiting
for someone out there
to make you whole.
You are One.
The One.
The One and Only You.
You are a Sacred Slice of The Divine.
Your only goal in Life
is to remove all the barriers
that keep you from seeing
the Real You …
the Divine You,
the Holy You,
the Pure and Perfect You
that is always
every moment of every day
connected to Divine.
There isn’t anything you can do
say
think
be
not be
to break this Divine connection.
You are Whole.
You are Safe.
You are Holy.
You are Love.
In this moment,
in all moments before,
in all moments after,
You are Love.
Just the way you are
right now
You are Love.

Written by:  Lori Wise
12/30/2011

My hope is for my Facebook friend and for you to feel more connected this year to that unending Source of Divine Love that always exists in each of you.

When you forget that you are Love, what do you do to remind yourself of your true nature?  How can you help others remember their own true Love nature in the new year?

Aum ~ Peace ~ Amen

The Letters

Every single person who’s drifted in and out of your life is a part of your Divinely chosen experience.  As you move into the world of inspiration, you’ll find it easy – and even necessary – to give thanks for all these people, and to take serious note of what they brought you.  ~Dr. Wayne Dyer

Whenever a boyfriend or lover broke my heart, I would journal about the pain and the heartache.  I would spend hours alone sobbing and writing, sometimes gasping for air, tears dripping down onto the pages blurring the inked words I’d just freed from the depths of my soul.  It was sheer hell yet liberating at the same time.   I would pray from the most wounded corners of my heart for God to heal my heartache and not let me be bitter and hateful towards men.  Even as a young girl I seemed to know the heavy darkness hatred and bitterness bred.  I wanted no part of them.  I only wanted Love.

Through the years, I found that Love I was looking for reflecting back at me.   I found it in people, in prayer, in books, in music, in poetry, in temple, in nature, on mountaintops, on my bicycle and on dance floors.  I found that Love in yoga, in meditation, in kirtan, in chanting, in positive affirmations and in quotes.   That Love was even waiting for me in the arms of other lovers.  And then one day I found that Love in the strangest of places …… Inside.

The heartache that once permeated my chest had been transformed into wisdom, appreciation and gratitude.  Once I realized a key universal Truth, “Everything is temporary”, I released my death grip on the people in my life.  It was liberating for me (and for them).   No longer did I place my happiness in the hands of the people that were in my life.  Instead of trying to hold on to everyone that passed into my life, my goal was to love them and their presence in my life, and appreciate each moment I got to share with them.  That moment soon passes, to allow for another moment, that is equally as important.  It’s all too easy to focus the gaze on the potential loss, instead of enjoying the love, happiness and companionship someone brings into our life.  When it’s time for them to go, send them off with Peace and Love and thankfulness for the lessons, love and growth they brought into your life.

Inspiration from that Love has compelled me to begin writing letters of thankfulness to those who broke my heart.   As Dr. Wayne Dyer said, “Every single person who’s drifted in and out of your life is a part of your Divinely chosen experience.  As you move into the world of inspiration, you’ll find it easy – and even necessary – to give thanks for all these people, and to take serious note of what they brought you.”

Perhaps as I write The Letters I will share some of them here (with names changed).  

My hope is that by sharing my perspective of Love, even for those who have broken my heart, that you, too, will find space in your heart, your mind and your soul to find the blessing in everyone that has crossed your path.  Even if it didn’t turn out like you thought it was supposed to.  Even if they broke your heart.   Let Love fill the cracks with Gold.

 

When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold.  They believe that when something’s suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful.  ~Barbara Bloom

Has it been a struggle for you to recognize the blessing difficult and painful people bring into your lives?  What are the tools and methods you use to bridge the gap between broken hearts and appreciation for all experiences?

Aum ~ Peace ~ Amen

Let My Country Awake

Let My Country Awake Where the mind is without fear and the head held high, Where knowledge is free, Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls, Where words come out of the depth of truth, Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection, Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit, Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action, Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.  ~Rabindranath Tagore

Pilgrimage of Awakening

As Mechtild of Magdeburg said, “The day of my spiritual awakening was the day I saw – and knew I saw- all things in God and God in all things.” Everything else suddenly fell into perspective in the light of this awareness. In time, I was to discover that once Life had found me, once Love had taken me by the hand, there was no way I could stop the inner pilgrimage. There was no turning back. ~Nan Merrill

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting–
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

by:  Mary Oliver

 

A friend posted this poem on Facebook and when I read it, time stood still.  My breath stopped and it felt like my heartbeat temporarily suspended.  I had a beautiful moment in time when everything around me disappeared and all the cells in my Being were chanting ‘Aum’.  I read it again.  Then again.

Each time I read this poem I feel a great sense of Peace wash over me, a feeling that everything makes sense … in my life and in the world.  Mary Oliver’s words remind me to follow that intuitive, instinctive compass deep inside because that is what guides me Home to fulfilling my Dharma.  It’s easy to get distracted by gifts and shortcomings along the Dharmic journey.  This poem is a great reminder to keep my eyes on the real task, Being Me … not the ego me that is identified and attached to being a certain person, but the Me that is behind the labels and expectations, the Me that whispers from a different place and speaks to me in Inspirations and Dreams, Hopes and Loves ….. my Highest Me.

I hope that by sharing this poem with you, a bit of that Peace will kiss your heart also, and allow space for you to Be You.

Namaste, Great Souls~

Mani/Pedi Revelations

Relaxing in the chair that massages my back while my pedicurist, Phan, was carefully and meticulously perfecting my toenails and my feet, I felt an overwhelming sense of healing and Love from Divine Mother flowing through her to me.

As Phan so carefully and lovingly filed my toenails, sloughed off the dead skin on my feet, and began rubbing my calves, feet and toes with lotion, I began to witness the realization unfolding in me as Divine Mother brought healing to my calves and feet through the hands of my pedicurist. Sitting back with my eyes closed in bliss, I found myself lost in a mantra of thankfulness, repeating over and over again “Thank you, Divine Mother, for loving me through Phan’s hands.” This mantra played over and over again in my heart as though it was a part of my actual heartbeat. It was a profound thought to me that even though Phan had no idea I have pain in my hands and feet from ‘posturing’, mostly at night while I am sleeping, she somehow managed to gravitate to the exact places I needed her healing touch. Even as my mind would think, “Oh, just a little lower,” she would instantly move to that spot as though she could telepathically read my thoughts. I could feel the stress and tension melting away with every rub of her hands as though Divine Mother were doing it HerSelf. I could imagine the newly created space in my muscles being filled with healing Love and Light, and realized that Phan didn’t even need to be aware that Divine Mother was healing me through her. I didn’t even need to know, for that matter, but today, I did know.

It moved me so greatly that I began to see how Divine Mother loves me in a myriad of ways I hadn’t previously thought of before. For instance, I’m lucky enough to have a Significant Other that enjoys rubbing my hands. They do get swollen and sore sometimes, from the posturing, and he so kindly will sit with me on the couch and rub them as we watch television together. His touch feels so warm and healing to my tired, sore, swollen fingers, and brings much relief to not only my hands and fingers, but my entire body relaxes as a result. Sometimes the relief is so great, I can only close my eyes and repeat in my heart, “Thank you, Divine Mother, for loving me through Dominic’s hands.”

With this new shift in my perspective, I am also able to see Divine Mother loving and healing me through the hands of my masseuse. As part of my Wellness Plan, I try to get at least one massage a month and since my pedicure revelations, it has been an even more wonderful experience for me. As my masseuse gently rids my muscles of stress and tension, my heart and Soul fill with Love from Divine Mother. Once again, lost in my bliss, my heart can only repeat the mantra, “Thank you, Divine Mother, for loving me through my masseuse’s hands.”

My realization continues to gain momentum as I can see plainly how Divine Mother nourishes me through the hands of the chefs at Chipotle and In-N-Out Burger, and all restaurants, for that matter. Even on the plane ride out here to Orlando, FL I was able to see how Divine Mother nourished me through the flight attendants by offering me water and juice and other snacks to stave off hunger.

Realizing all the various ways Divine Mother feeds me, feeds my soul, and feeds my heart has been incredibly profound and enlightening. Even now, as I type this blog, sitting at the beautiful desk in my hotel room at the Gaylord Palms Hotel (which to our surprise was so graciously and spontaneously upgraded to a beautiful Executive Suite upon check-in), I recognize the housekeeper emptying the trash, providing fresh, clean towels for me and Dominic to use, and putting fresh clean sheets on the bed are simply Divine Mother, flowing through the housekeeper to us, taking care of us, usually without us even acknowledging it. Except for this time. This time I acknowledge it.

I think of the reference in the Bible that says that [paraphrasing] not even the birds of the air are concerned for God takes care of them. Why, then, should I, being made in the image of God, fear for a single thing? Don’t I know that God/Divine Mother will also take care of me? Yes, yes I do.  ”Thank you Divine Mother for loving me through all people.”

Aum ~ Peace ~ Amen