The Ritual of Marriage

I find it strange that Christians seem to claim that marriage only happens in the church. But what about other cultures and religions outside of Christianity. Do they not also get married and have their own set of rituals? Who has the right to claim the marriage ritual as their own and no one else's? To me it seems the ritual is part of our human psyche, a symbol of the bonding between two souls, regardless of what culture we're born into.

The Sacred in Everything?

I was watching Star Trek The Next Generation. In the episode I watched, Wesley came across a Native American who was trying to teach him the ways of his people. The Native American said that his people view all things as sacred. He also mentioned that we must also view ourselves as sacred. Wesley then asked himself if he believed himself to be be sacred.

Am I myself sacred? Do I believe I'm sacred? These are questions I struggle with because so often I do not treat myself as sacred. I often do not honor the being that is me. Too often I feel I take for granted this being that I am in this current moment. How does one finally begin to view oneself as sacred, a sacredness that connects to all?

Vesica Piscis and The Mandala?

What if the mandala is symbolic for many, if not infinite vesica piscis, where the center is the very essence that all things share? What if it's this area that we must all realize, an area beyond the many polarizations/dichotomies that exist?

Hidden Hubris?

If we hold on to our values and beliefs too tightly, and use our holding as an excuse to treat others as less, Are we acting as if we are gods, deciding which being is more worthy than the next? Thus which being is worthy of better treatment?

Perhaps we all secretly want to be gods... We want to be perfect... But how we go about this quest will affect how we experience the forces stronger than us... How we go about the quest will determine if we experience grace, or if we experience something far more sinister...

With each of our actions, who do we really serve?

My Own Pettiness

At what point can I set aside my own pettiness? And work to serve the greater good???

Ripple Effects

We all bring something to the table. We bring both our baggage and our gifts. And every action we take, and the way of our being affects others in a ripple effect in subtle but powerful ways. So how do we maintain a way of being that benefits the whole? And how can we be resistant to the effects of strong destructive influence? Whole groups fall into their shadow, projecting it upon others, painting others as monsters. Whole countries have done the same, scapegoating whole groups, creating destructive wakes of madness affecting all. How does one maintain clear sight through it all? We're all prone to influence, and we're all interconnected. If viruses of the psyche spread, is there hope for us? Will movies of the zombie apocalypse play out in real life again?

The Interconnected Threads behind Objects

All physical man-made objects have interconnected threads... Throughout the process of creation many hands and minds... And to the delivery and how the objects came to be in our presence, There are so many involved...

The Healing Listening State

https://youtu.be/B0Xv6Tb2k0E

Acting from a place of "Is-ness"

How do we act with faith and courage, trusting in the Is-ness of it all... trusting in the Is-ness that exists within us... without aggression towards ourselves and others...

And what's the right amount of effort to put in when trying to grow on our path? Can we grow without having to use whips?

Monster Creator

I paint a most vile picture of you
So I don't have to face the monster within myself

I wouldn't react to it if a part of me didn't believe in it.

If someone tells me I don't measure up in some area and I react to it strongly, then it's likely that a part of me believes in what has been said...

And when I react angrily or in an irritated manner, I'm likely casting blame for something that actually exists within me.

Individual Navigation

We all have our own paths to navigate. We each start at various points in space. We sometimes assume others have traveled our same path. We sometimes assume when we run into someone else along our personal journey that the darkness on the ground belongs to the other.

So how can we elucidate what's our shadow and what is someone else's shadow? If my shadow lands on someone, how can I tell I'll be able to see it clearly, and claim it as my own?

Creative Tension?

Perhaps the collisions that we experience with others in our lives, the people we interact with, it's this tension that allows for creation of a new thing. When the heart breaks a little, perhaps a little something from within seeps out and we're transformed little by little each time we touch that inner thing.

Cesspool

Cut to the quick
A deer in headlights
I flee to lick my wounds
A pain never fully expressed
A cesspool continues to grow

If There really Is a Collective Unconscious

If there really is a collective unconscious, then the most important thing is to learn how to get over our own personal shit for the sake of the whole. Learning to soften our own attitudes in order to decrease the aggression in the world would be part of the goal. Learning to acknowledge any hidden aggression would also be part of the goal. To live courageously, releasing aggression born out of fear would be the goal.

The Hardest and Easiest Thing

The hardest and easiest thing is falling in love and rolling with what happens. Things kind of just unfold and we go for a ride, making things easy. Though the ride itself reveals all, making things hard, forcing us to face ourselves and our partners: Union in the nude.

Tangled

The two were lying on the ground with the crowns of their heads barely grazing each other, both looking up at the stars together blissfully in each other's presence. In that space the time would pass unnoticed. Like roots of a tree creeping through the earth, their hair had grown towards each other. Each bit of hair carefully weaving with the hair of the other. By the time they had awaken from their revelry, they knew not what had happened. They struggled and struggled to free themselves, creating pain on both sides. Cutting the cords would be to cut a part of themselves. Remaining entangled meant learning and growing pains while the two had to learn to walk together side by side. With the passage of time cords lengthen allowing for increased freedom on both sides. But could the two make it in a union filled with many obstacles?

The Way I Perceive the World

The way I take in the world, it's as if everything is a potential chord that is played. Every chord has its own nuances, some more complicated than others. For the most part I can discern the nuanced tones and how they make me feel, but it's often difficult to explain in words.

War in a Peaceful Environment?

What if war actually still exists while in a seemingly peaceful environment? What if we must all take up arms when dealing with what's happening within? How do we create peace within the inner world?

The Heart in The Present Moment

The heart in the present moment moves agilely from left to right, and floats up and down... At any moment we experience joy, then suddenly we shift to feelings of sorrow for those who suffer... The common bond of each of those moments is a feeling of connectedness to that which is outside of ourselves. It's of us and not of us. By touching the hidden threads, the heart remains present and open to experiencing whatever comes its way...

When are We Ready?

Are we ready when we're acting from a pure heart and we're ready to surrender? In deepest of waters, how can we be sure we won't drown?

Shared Thread

When a piece can move us to bits or make us cry, there's a common underlying shared thread beneath the surface: A tug at the heart strings. If there were an instrument I'd like to learn to play well, it might be this one... to have access to the movements and vibrations that affect us at our core... A core that has the power to bind us all together in a beautiful harmonious way...

Sleepwalking

Light and airy
Like a dream
Floating with the wind
Dancing in the breeze

But there you are
Right here before me
Real yet not real
How do I awaken?

"It's okay if you make mistakes"

These are the words the young pre-school me so desperately needs to hear. The child who was laughed at by the teacher and his classmates when he was clueless how to do a task involving cutting and pasting something in order. I don't know if this memory is truly accurate or real, but it's burned in my mind. It's a feeling of being outcasted because I didn't know what I was doing and I had made a mistake. It was a lonely feeling, an isolating feeling where I felt I was on the outside away from everyone else. No one saved me from those feelings.

It's strange, I myself am hypersensitive to making mistakes, and I'm also hyper aware of mistakes others make when it comes to an area I know about, and an area where I feel mistakes are harmful to others. Perhaps I also need to hug those people who I view as making mistakes. It seems I become those laughing kids. I become the teacher who pointed out the mistake I had made, a type of twisted projection where I am the same person who caused loneliness in the pre-school version of me... And now I feel a sense of sorrow for those people I have attempted to correct... What if they too were like me???