Thoughts on Love of Life and the Art of Awareness

CHANGE-INEVITABLE

Acclaimed Nobel Peace Prize author, Albert Camus, once said, “Those who prefer their principles over their happiness, refuse to be happy outside the conditions they seem to have attached to their happiness.”

Indeed, our principles tend to harden into habits and although habits give shape to our inner lives, they can mutate into the rigidity of routine and create a kind of momentum that, rather than expanding our capacity for happiness, contracts it. In the trance of routine and principled productivity, we end up showing up for our daily lives while being absent from them.

And, like my friend RevDruanna Johnston has shown us on FB, few things break us out of our routines and awaken us to the living substance of happiness more powerfully than travel. What gives value to travel is fear. It breaks down a kind of inner structure we have created through our “daily grind” of work and remaining in familiar surroundings. One can no longer cheat — hide behind the hours spent at the office or at the plant (those hours we protest so loudly, which protect us so well from the pain of being alone). Far from our own people, our own language, stripped of all our props, deprived of our masks (one doesn’t know the fare on the streetcars, or anything else), we are completely on the surface of ourselves. But also, soul-sick, we restore to every being and every object its miraculous value.

For my part, my entire life has been undergirded by the ethos that happiness is our moral obligation. My love of life also carries with it a silent passion for what would perhaps escape me, a bitterness beneath a flame. Each day I leave this cloister I call home … like a woman lifted from herself, inscribed for a brief moment in the continuance of the world … and have come to realize that there is no love of life without despair of life. Absolute bliss necessitates an equal capacity for contact with absolute despair.

Where am I going with this? My emotions are not just the fuel that powers the psychological mechanism of a reasoning creature: they are parts, highly complex and messy parts, of this creature’s reasoning itself.

What counts is to be human and simple. No, what counts is to be true, and then everything fits in, humanity and simplicity. When am I truer than when I am the world? My cup brims over before I have time to desire. Eternity is there and I was hoping for it. What I wish for now is no longer happiness but simply awareness.

Have a great week, Everyone. I love you … Aloha! heart emoticon

For The Homeless ~ Blessing Bags, Created by YOU!

BLESSING-BAGS

Have you ever heard of a Blessing Bag? Read below and make a few. Keep them in your car and when you see someone on the street corner, give them one. I know there are lot people who panhandle for a living but there are also those who are really down on their luck and could use a few necessities and a huge Blessing. Give it a try…….you will love the feeling it gives you just knowing you made someone very happy.

 

STUFFING YOUR BLESSING BAGS

Gallon Size Ziploc Bag – This is key for several reasons:

Helps to keep everything together & in one place so they can easily access the supplies in their bags/backpacks
Keeps the items from spilling/leaking onto their personal items in their bags
The bags can later be used for other storage options within their bags – storing toiletries, snacks, etc

Hand-Warmers – we put a couple packs in, especially during the winter, but even for those chilly evenings in the spring/summer/fall these would be very welcome. We buy a pack of 40 at Costco for around $15 ($.38/pk) & then we have these on hand for blessing bags as well as camping, winter sports, etc.

Bag of Quarters – These are nice to include for washing clothes at the laundromat (we just put them in a snack-size Ziploc bag to keep them contained in a smaller area

Bottle of Water – Mini water bottles work great so they don’t take up too much space or if you can fit a regular size water bottle

Band-Aids – these are something that may often be needed but may not be something they would be able to spend money on or think about having.

Baby Wipes – a small pack of baby wipes would be a great one to include to help with feeling clean & fresh

Hand Sanitizer – another great option to help them feel cleaner

Wash Cloth – buy an inexpensive wash cloth to include

Toiletries:
*If you have a lot of items to include in your bags, travel-size toiletries work great

Toothbrush
Toothpaste (travel size if you have a lot of items to put into your bag)
Floss
Soap (we bring home soaps from hotels if we don’t end up using all of them)
Deodorant
Shampoo/conditioner (these are also great products to save from hotels if you don’t use them as they’re the perfect size for these bags)
Comb
Personal hygiene items if you’re making a kit for a woman (tampons, pantiliners, pads, etc)
Sunscreen (depending on time of year)
Chapstick
Personal Items:
New Socks
New Underwear
Inexpensive gloves
Non-Perishable Foods:
Granola Bars
Energy Bars
Tuna/cracker packs
Trail mix
Raisins
Peanuts
Fruit cup/ applesauce cup (& include a spoon)
Gum/hard candy
Hot Cocoa/Spiced Cider Mixes or on-the-go coffee mixes
Courtesy http://www.thriftynorthwestmom.com/blessing-bags-assemble-…/

WHAT IS A MYSTIC?

DOLPHIN-SMILE

A mystic is not a magician or a crystal-ball-gazer. A mystic is rather a person who has had an experience of God’s love so unmistakable that it changes him or her forever, imparting a confidence that cannot be shaken, a humility that cannot be doubted, a freedom that exudes love and gentleness and authenticity. A mystic knows from experience, not books, that we are each beautiful beyond our understanding, loved beyond our capacity to love, united beyond our perceptions of difference and division.

Temple orientations on Maui, Hawaiian Islands | Patrick Kirch – Academia.edu

Academia.edu is a platform for academics to share research papers.

Read the entire paper here: Temple orientations on Maui, Hawaiian Islands | Patrick Kirch – Academia.edu

Hawaiian Sovereignty | Tlahcuilo Anahuac – Academia.edu

rainbow_nautilus
Just like many other geographical spaces that have been colonized, the Hawaiian Islands began as a sovereign and independent entity with their own societal structure and customs. After the initial invasion of western civilization beginning mainly in the late 18th century, native Hawaiian culture was destroyed through foreign societal and legislative systems, eventually leading to the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian government on January 17, 1893. After two illicit attempts by the U.S. to acquire Hawaiian sovereignty by a treaty of annexation, theHawaiian government was forcibly overthrown …

Source: Hawaiian Sovereignty | Tlahcuilo Anahuac – Academia.edu

HAWAIIAN CREATION | Devin Blanch – Academia.edu

 

In the beginning there was only endless darkness.Out of this darkness, two beings were born; the male Kumulipo, whose name means “The essence of darkness” and the female Po’ele whose name means “darkness itself”.
These two created all the creatures of the total darkness; the shellfish that live at the very bottom of the ocean floor,the plants that grow during the dark of night and the grubs that burrow in the earth. As these creatures were born the dark became slightly lighter.The first beings gave birth to the male Pouliuli whose name means “deep darkness” and the female Powehiwehi, whose name means “darkness with a little light”.
This couple created all the creatures of the almost-darkness; they created the fish that swim in the deep seas and land creatures that live in almost in darkness.
These dark creatures had offspring, and with every new life, the deep darkness of this world got a little brighter.The second couple gave birth to a third: the male Po’el’ele, whose name means “night” and the female Pohaha,whose name means “coming into dawn”.
These two created the creatures of the darkness-near-dawn; the insects that fly by night, the caterpillar, the grass-hopper and a large egg.
The egg hatched into thousands of birds. These were the birds that fly and sing in the hours just before dawn.The fish, the birds and the insects all had offspring- each new creature added some light to the darkness, until it was getting closer to the light we have in the hours before dawn.
Next to be born were Popanopano and Polalowwehi who gave birth to sea-turtles, lobsters and other shellfish that live in shallow waters in near-darkness. They gave birth to the male Po’hiolo and the female Po’ne’a’aku. Their names mean “night ending”. They produced the rat Pilo’I and Kamapua, the pig, both creatures of day and night.
By this time it was almost dawn and the earth was already buzzing with the life from so many creations. These twocreated the first dawn and light finally came into the world.
The first man, Ki’i and the first woman La’ila’a were born — they were both dark since they were born just at dawn. The first man and first woman had many children. With each generation, their skins became lighter and lighter until they became the color they are now.

Source: HAWAIIAN CREATION | Devin Blanch – Academia.edu

Tonight ~ Gemini Full Moon ~ Healing Meditation, 8pm PST

MOON-WORSHIP

Please join us as a worldwide community as we celebrate ourselves and each other under the light of a most auspicious Full Moon in Gemini … below is our meditation focus.

Aloha Ke Akua … Namaste’ … Metta … Peace.

Full Moon Meditation

Preparation:   If at all possible for this healing meditation, allow yourself to stand or sit barefoot upon the earth in a quiet place bathing yourself directly in the light of the full moon. You may even want to do this meditation with a group of likeminded friends. This is a powerful opportunity to trigger an ongoing purification process of body, mind, emotions and spirit and of Mother Earth and for letting go of all that no longer serves you.

If you cannot do this meditation physically under the light of the full moon, then just imagine with all your senses what it would feel like if you were standing bathed in the light of the full moon.

Meditation:   Breathe deeply, filling your lungs with the cool, crisp evening air, and then exhaling slowly and patiently, feeling worries, stresses and tensions just melting out of that body and mind, as you relax deeper and deeper. – It seems so easy to just let go and relax in the glorious light of the full moon – feeling so safe and so wonderfully supported by her nurturing feminine energy. – Each long, slow deep breath in and out taking you comfortably into deeper and deeper states of relaxation – Everything else is becoming unimportant and is fading into the background as you connect more and more with the energy of the full moon.

Now standing completely in the light of the full moon, raise your face to look directly at the moon. – Feel her energies blessing your face.- Experience her divine feminine presence.- Feel her cool, clear energy bathing you – your body now tingling with this purifying energy going into each and every cell, right down to the level of the DNA. If your eyes are not already closed, just allow them to softly close now.

Take you awareness to the top of your head to where the energy center called your crown chakra is. – Imagine that there is a pure white lotus bud there – Rotate this beautiful white lotus bud slowly anticlockwise until the petals are open wide and flat.

– Your crown chakra is now open. –

Feel the feminine energies of the moon now flooding into your whole being via your open crown chakra.- Now take your awareness to about 15 cms or 6 inches above your crown chakra to an energy center called the soul star chakra where you can connect strongly to the higher realms of light and love. Imagine another pure white lotus bud in your soul star chakra and rotate this slowly anticlockwise to open your soul star. – Feel your energy field beginning to expand with the inflow of more and more light.

Bring your awareness to the soles of your feet and imagine energetic roots developing from them and connecting to your earth star chakra about 15 cms or 6 inches below your feet.

Imagine those energetic roots going even deeper, grounding you firmly to the earth.

– A strong connection to your earth star chakra allows you to hold more Divine Light and Love in your body and energy field and also anchor this into Mother Earth. –

You may even like to visualize a downward-pointing lotus bud in your earth star chakra that you can rotate to open, connecting that energy center to deeper and deeper levels within the earth.

You may already be beginning to see or sense one or more of the divine feminine goddesses gathering close by, watching you through the eyes of Love.- Use your inner sight to become aware of at least one of the nurturing goddesses of the Divine feminine, such as Mother Mary, Kwan Yin – the Goddess of Compassion – or the Egyptian Goddess Isis, the Universal Mother Goddess. – Allow them to gather around you, silently, serenely and filled with Grace. – You may catch a glimpse of angel wings – or feel them gently flutter past as angels descend around you. – Experience this gathering of Divine Love. – Friendly nature spirits, the bridge between the 3rd and 5th dimensions, are being drawn to you now like moths to a candle flame. – Bathed in the moonlight, you are now encircled by these higher presences of light and Love.

Continue breathing in the pure white light energy of the full moon, drinking the moonbeams of Love into your very soul.

– Getting a sense now of every cell in your body being cleansed and purified. –

With your inner sight you may even be able to see your organs, such as your liver, being energized, purified and filled with transformational white light.

– Feeling or seeing your energy field expanding, as it is filling with white light, you are beginning to comfortably lose awareness of the boundary of your physical body. –

Experience your energy field tingling and merging with those of the assembled higher Divine feminine presences, all becoming one field of energy.

– Feel this energy of Divine Love intensifying. –

Feeling and finding that you are now effortlessly breathing rhythmically in and out of your heart.

– You are now heart breathing, connecting to the heart of the moon and the heart of the Earth –

You are now breathing deeply and rhythmically through your heart.

– It’s as if you have BECOME your heart. –

All you are sensing is your heart opening and expanding in bliss. – It may even feel a little ticklish inside like a heart orgasm. –

Releasing the heartache, the grief, the sadness, the relationships gone wrong, and all emotional hurt and pain that has been blocking the heart from fully experiencing Divine Love.

Feel yourself breathing Divine Love from this energy field into your heart, filling it to overflowing and then breathing Love back out into this unified field of Oneness.

– As the energy of your heart is expanding wider and wider, old energetic blocks are melting away and are being healed with Divine Love. –

In the serene silence you sense the rhythmic pulse of your own heartbeat now harmonizing with the heartbeat of all Creation.

– Underlying your own heartbeat is the heartbeat of Gaia, our Mother Earth, who nurtures and feeds us. –

Allow yourself to tune into this much deeper and more sustained heartbeat.

– You may receive it as a very subtle sense, or it may be quite strong. –

Take this opportunity now to say a prayer of Gratitude in your mind for all the ways in which Mother Earth sustains you.

Allow this energy of Divine Love to flow directly from your expanded heart chakra on the in-breath to deep into the heart of Mother Earth on the outbreath, via your earth star chakra.

– Wherever you are in the world, you are activating a portal of Divine Light and Love from the higher realms directly into the crystalline grid of the Earth. –

Allow yourself to imagine the awesome power of thousands of people across the globe all under the light of this full moon activating energy portals of Light and Love, or Divine doorways, connecting heaven and earth.

– See or get a sense of thousands of Lightworkers across the planet now opening these portals of Divine Light and Love, using the Divine Feminine energies of the full moon and anchoring these into the heart of the Earth and the crystalline grid. –

Take a minute to imagine this now. – How do YOU experience it? –

I’m seeing the Earth like a spherical, multifaceted clear quartz crystal radiating out brilliant radiant light.

– Spend some time now either channeling this Divine feminine energy of Love and Light into the crystalline grid generally or specifically to those places you feel are most in need of healing. –

How are you experiencing the energies shifting and changing in this crystalline grid?

Mother Earth has her own chakra system, with many ley lines sending energy throughout her chakra system and throughout the crystalline grid.

– Glastonbury in England is purported to be the Earth’s Heart Chakra. Bali is known as the World Purification Center where the two most important leylines of the Earth intersect, known as the feminine Rainbow Serpent and the masculine Plumed Serpent. –

You may like to intentionally send the energy of Light and Love to Glastonbury and/or focus your intent on feeding this energy into Bali at the intersection of these two strong leylines, which are rather like the aorta of the Earth.

– You are now contributing, as the powerful, magnificent Lightworker you are, to the purification, raising of consciousness and healing of Mother Earth and all her inhabitants. –

Imagine all the following receiving healing with Divine Love and Light: toxicity, pollution, environmental degradation, loss of rainforests, loss of animal habitats, stripping of resources, greed, war, political instability, starvation and suffering everywhere.

– All receiving healing –

You are an agent of planetary change.

Realise your God-given power for the highest good of all. See or get a sense of the positive energetic changes that are taking place even now with the efforts of you and other Lightworkers around the world.

From this full moon until the new moon you will easily and effortlessly shed old outmoded beliefs, patterns, habits, people and material goods that have been holding you back from full expression as the magnificent healer and Lightworker you are.

When you are ready to come out of this meditation, you will see or get a sense of the angels and Divine feminine presences starting to recede gently into the background.

– Thank them for their nurturing love and support. –

Allow your energy centers to readjust themselves to being able to hold the greatest amount of Divine Love and Light that you can cope with vibrationally in your full waking consciousness.

======

Notes:   You can repeat this meditation at any full moon, continuing to send more and more Love and Light into the Earth for healing.

Become aware of your physical body now and the cool, dark earth beneath your feet, grounding you safely and securely to Mother Earth. Still feeling yourself bathed in the moonbeams of cleansing, purifying white light, begin to wriggle your fingers and toes.

– Taking a couple of good deep breaths, feel yourself coming fully back into your physical body and having a bit of a stretch –

If you are so guided, you may place your hands in the prayer position in front of your heart and give thanks for being chosen as a Lightworker at this important time in history.

Have a glass of water, relax and allow the energies of Divine Love and Light to continue to integrate within every cell of your body, right down to the level of your DNA.