Thursday 27 August 2009

Tarot Discussion – Osho Card IX - Aloneness

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  From the OSHO Zen Tarot Deck – Card IX – Aloneness

 

I was wondering why I had relatively few clients this week.  Although I am enjoying the time to work on writing and fall food prep, I wondered if I was missing something.  Then I pulled this card on “Aloneness”. The message resonated deeply for me.  Perhaps you too will find a message that fits for you in this very strange time and strange energy encompassing the Earth.

“ Loneliness is a negative state. You are feeling that it would have been better if the other were there - your friend, your wife, your mother, your beloved, your husband. It would have been good if the other were there, but the other is not. Loneliness is absence of the other. Aloneness is the presence of oneself. Aloneness is very positive. It is a presence, overflowing presence. You are so full of presence that you can fill the whole universe with your presence and there is no need for anybody.

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When we find no support among others for our deeply felt truths, we can either feel isolated and bitter, or celebrate the fact that our vision is strong enough even to survive the powerful human need for the approval of family, friends or colleagues.
If you are facing such a situation now, be aware of how you are choosing to view your "aloneness" and take responsibility for the choice you have made.
The humble figure in this card glows with a light that emanates from within. One of Gautam Buddha's most significant contributions to the spiritual life of humankind was to insist to his disciples, "Be a light unto yourself." Ultimately, each of us must develop within ourselves the capacity to make our way through the darkness without any companions, maps or guide.”

May you understand that you are never alone.

Judy@angelsandancestors.com     See info on Karma clearing under Services at www.angelsandancestors.com  See our “Book Department” for recommended reading.  http://www.angelsandancestors.com/bookstore.html

Wednesday 26 August 2009

Spirit Animal – Canada Geese

“The wild geese take flight low along the railroad tracks in the moonlight night.” Haiku written by Shiki

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Picture by Judith Hirst-Joyeux May 2008 “Canada Goose on a dead tree trunk”

The Canada Goose  is a wild goose native to the Arctic and Canada, and parts of the US. It has a black head and neck, white patches on the face, and a brownish-gray body.  Goose lives for a life span of ten to twenty four years in the wild, and longer in captivity. 

In 2005, two writers, Farid A. Muna and Ned Mansour wrote a fascinating article entitled, “Leadership Lessons Learned From Canada Geese”. A synopsis of the article, as listed by Emerald Group Publishing Limited, shows that Goose is worth emulating. 

“The first lesson is: work as a team: Canada Geese migrate long distances flying in V-formation. This formation results in lesser wind resistance, which allows the whole flock to add around 70 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew alone. Geese find out quickly that it pays handsomely to be team players. Second, wise leadership: when the leader at the apex of the V gets tired, it is relieved by another goose. Leaders rotate, empower, delegate, and even step down when it's in the best interest of the team. How often do we see this taking place among organizational leaders? Wise leaders ensure that their followers are well trained and developed in order to achieve true empowerment and smooth succession processes. Third, humane behavior: if a goose drops to the ground when it gets hurt or sick, two of its colleagues go down with it to take care of it until it either gets healthier or dies. In this fast-paced and competitive age, we seldom see managers going out of their way to help colleagues who are in trouble. In organizations, morale, productivity, and loyalty increase when employees are treated humanely.”

So, how does your team leader measure up to Goose.  If you are the leader, are you as compassionate and as wonderful a team player as Goose?

Judy@angelsandancestors.com Sign up for Free Newsletter http://www.angelsandancestors..com/signup.html  September issue will soon be released.

Monday 24 August 2009

Tarot Discussion – Osho Card 27 - Healing

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The card 27 – Healing – from the Osho Zen Tarot Deck.

 

Our world is one of action – reaction.  We do something, possibly thinking it is quite innocent, and someone takes offence to it.  They re-act to our act. They retaliate with words, physical assault, or a combination of both types of behaviour.  Generally, our ego response is to re-act to their re-act to our act.  Act has two distinct meanings.  The first meaning is “to do”.  The second meaning is “a formal record of something done or transacted.  The second meaning tell us that each act is being recorded.  Those people working through their spiritual growth will know that this recording happens in the Akashic Records. 

Osho gives us a nice lesson on healing this cycle of act-react on the Healing Card. This is the information that matches the card.  “You carry your wound. With the ego, your whole being is a wound. And you carry it around. Nobody is interested in hurting you, nobody is positively waiting to hurt you; everybody is engaged in safeguarding his own wound. Who has got the energy? But still it happens, because you are so ready to be wounded, so ready, just waiting on the brink for anything.

You cannot touch a man of Tao. Why? - because there is no one to be touched. There is no wound. He is healthy, healed, whole. This word whole is beautiful. The word heal comes from the whole, and the word holy also comes from the whole. He is whole, healed, holy.
Be aware of your wound. Don't help it to grow, let it be healed; and it will be healed only when you move to the roots. The less the head, the more the wound will heal; with no head there is no wound. Live a headless life. Move as a total being, and accept things.

Just for twenty-four hours, try it - total acceptance, whatsoever happens. Someone insults you, accept it; don't react, and see what happens. Suddenly you will feel an energy flowing in you that you have not felt before.”

Judy@angelsandancestors.com Sign up for Free Newsletter http://www.angelsandancestors..com/signup.html  September issue will soon be released.

Sunday 23 August 2009

Buddha Speaks – Discriminating Consciousness

The following teaching comes from Zen Master Ta Hui.  I found this helpful in understanding that the way that we live life is actually a disease in itself. Perhaps because we become too attached to trying to understand life.

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photo from Microsoft Clip Art

 

Discriminating Consciousness And Wisdom

Constantly calculating and making plan, flowing along with birth and death, becoming afraid and agitated – all these are sentiments of discriminating consciousness.  Yet people studying the path these days do not recognize this disease, and just appear and disappear in its midst.  In the teachings its called acting according to discriminating consciousness, not according to wisdom.  Thereby they obscure the scenery of the fundamental ground, their original face.  But if you can abandon it all at once, so you neither think nor calculate, then these very sentiments of discriminating consciousness are the subtle wisdom of true emptiness – there is no other wisdom that can be attained….

This subtle wisdom of the true emptiness is coeval with the great void : the void is not subject to being obstructed by things, nor does it hinder the coming and going of all things within it. ~~Ta Hui~~

Judy@angelsandancestors.com Sign up for Free Newsletter http://www.angelsandancestors..com/signup.html  September issue will soon be released.

Tuesday 18 August 2009

Spirit Animal – Penguin Chick


Robert Friel's Highly Commended image from this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. The king penguin chick was caught examining footprints in the sand on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. WPY is run by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine.  From the site http://news.bbc.co.uk

I saw this picture and my first response was “Awwww!”  And then I thought about what was actually going on in the picture, and this time I said, “Wow!”  This little penguin is stopping to look at tracks that are different than his tracks or the tracks that he is used to seeing.  She has an early warning system already in place.

If seeing this baby penguin resonates for you, it may be that she brings you several messages.  The first is to be alert to what ever new opportunities cross your path.  It may only happen once in your lifetime.  The second message is to take time to stop and enjoy new things in your life.  When you experience the world with the joy of a child, you will once again be awakened to the magic of creation. 

Judy@angelsandancestors.com   See the August 2009 free newsletter at www.angelsandancestors.com    See the ebook version of The Story of Light: Volume 1, Path to Enlightenment at www.thestoryoflight.com

Thursday 6 August 2009

Buddha Speaks - Achieving (No Thing)

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Jade Buddha

Picture from www.thaiphotoblog.com

 

 

One of the principles that I learned while studying Shamanism is that Shaman and all humans are caretakers.  We don’t truly own anything because our human life, and the life of the object we think we own, is transient.  Another truth learned while studying Shamanism is that we need to practise generosity, and temper it with compassion.  The Quero of Peru have these truths in the vows they take as part of the Munay-Ki ceremony.  I came across this Buddhist story that reinforces the idea that we are caretakers, and that we should not become attached to objects.  Here is the story.

ACHIEVING NOTHING (No Thing)

 Once upon a time the Bodhisatta - the Enlightenment Being - was born into a high class family in northern India. When he grew up he gave up the ordinary desires of the everyday world and became a holy man. He went to the Himalayan Mountains where 500 other holy men became his followers.

He meditated throughout his long life. He gained supernatural powers - like flying through the air and understanding people's thoughts without their speaking. These special powers impressed his 500 followers greatly.

One rainy season, the chief follower took 250 of the holy men into the hill country villages to collect salt and other necessities. It just so happened that this was the time when the master was about to die. The 250 who were still by his side realized this. So they asked him, "Oh most holy one, in your long life practicing goodness and meditation, what was your greatest achievement?"

Having difficulty speaking as he was dying, the last words of the Enlightenment Being were, "No Thing." Then he was reborn in a heaven world.

Expecting to hear about some fantastic magical power, the 250 followers were disappointed. They said to each other. "After a long life practicing goodness and meditation. our poor master has achieved 'nothing'." Since they considered him a failure, they burned his body with no special ceremony, honors, or even respect.

When the chief follower returned he asked, "Where is the holy one?" "He has died," they told him. "Did you ask him about his greatest achievement?" "Of course we did," they answered. "And what did he say?" asked the chief follower. "He said he achieved 'nothing'," they replied, "so we didn't celebrate his funeral with any special honors."

Then the chief follower said, "You brothers did not understand the meaning of the teacher's words. He achieved the great knowledge of 'No Thing'. He realized that the names of things are not what they are. There is what there is, without being called 'this thing' or 'that thing'. There is no 'Thing'." In this way the chief follower explained the wonderful achievement of their great master, but they still did not understand.

Meanwhile, from his heaven world,, the reborn Enlightenment Being saw that his former chief follower's words were not accepted. So he left the heaven world and appeared floating in the air above his former followers' monastery. In praise of the chief follower's wisdom he said, "The one who hears the Truth and understands automatically, is far better off than a hundred fools who spend a hundred years thinking and thinking and thinking."

By preaching in this way, the Great Being encouraged the 500 holy men to continue seeking Truth. After lives spent in serious meditation, all 500 died and were reborn in the same heaven world with their former master.

Judy@angelsandancestors.com   See the August 2009 free newsletter at www.angelsandancestors.com    See the ebook version of The Story of Light: Volume 1, Path to Enlightenment at www.thestoryoflight.com

Wednesday 5 August 2009

Angels Speak – What is inside a Star?

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Star wr124 in the center of nebula m1-67, credit to

Credit: Yves Grosdidier (University of Montreal and Observatoire de Strasbourg), Anthony Moffat (Universitie de Montreal), Gilles Joncas (Universite Laval), Agnes Acker (Observatoire de Strasbourg), and NASA

In 2007, Paramount Pictures released a movie called “Stardust”. The movie was based on a book by Neil Gaiman.  The heroine of the movie is a Star that falls to Earth.  One of her human traits is that when she is happy, she shines. The movie struck a chord in me, and I watch the movie often.

I love looking at the stars! I love to watch shooting stars.  I love to watch them shine and twinkle.  I have made many a wish upon a star, and, most of those wishes have come true. 

I finally got to wondering why the stars twinkle so much after a night of star gazing with friends.  The twinkles seemed particularly bright.  Here’s what I found:

  • Stars twinkle because they are very far away, and so appear as tiny points of light in our night sky. Some of this light is absorbed by moving air in the Earth's atmosphere, making the star appear to sparkle.
  • The light that we see is just one kind of radiation known as 'visible light'. Other kinds include X-rays, ultraviolet, microwaves, radio waves and infrared. Different stars give out varying amounts of these signals, known as their 'spectrum'.
  • When measured, the spectrum appears as a series of bright and dark lines positioned at specific points or 'frequencies'. This is the blueprint of a star and provides a wealth of information about what is happening inside.

Why not go outside tonight and watch the stars.  While you are at it, make a wish. Or, make several!

Judy@angelsandancestors.com   See the August 2009 free newsletter at www.angelsandancestors.com    See the ebook version of The Story of Light: Volume 1, Path to Enlightenment at www.thestoryoflight.com

Monday 3 August 2009

Ancestors Speak - How Indian Corn Came Into The World

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Picture of Storyteller and the children from www.firstpeople.us

Note:  This is the time of corn harvesting.  Corn has always been sacred to The People of North America.   This is a wonderful tale of how Indian Corn came to be.  I thank my friends for sharing this story with me.

Namaste,  Judy

Long, long ago, in a beautiful part of this country, there lived an Indian with his wife and children .He was poor and found it hard to provide food enough for his family. But though needy he was kind and contented, and always gave thanks to the Great Spirit for everything that he received. His eldest son, Wunzh, was likewise kind and gentle and thankful of heart, and he longed greatly to do something for his people.

The time came that Wunzh reached the age when every Indian boy fasts so that he may see in a vision the Spirit that is to be his guide through life. Wunph's father built him a little lodge apart, so that the boy might rest there undisturbed during his days of fasting. Then Wunzh withdrew to begin the solemn rite.

On the first day he walked alone in the woods looking at the flowers and plants, and filling his mind with the beautiful images of growing things so that he might see them in his night-dreams. He saw how the flowers and herbs and berries grew, and he knew that some were good for food, and that others healed wounds and cured sickness. And his heart was filled with even a greater longing to do something for his family and his tribe.

Truly, thought he, the Great Spirit made all things. To Him we owe our lives. But could He not make it easier for us to get our food than hunting and catching fish? I must try to find this out in my vision.

So Wunzh returned to his lodge and fasted and slept. On the third day he became weak and faint. Soon he saw in a vision a young brave coming down from the sky and approaching the lodge. He was clad in rich garments of green and yellow colors. On his head was a tuft of nodding green plumes, and all his motions were graceful and swaying.

I am sent to you, O Wunzh, said the sky- stranger, that Great Spirit who made all things in sky and earth. He has seen your fasting, and knows how you wish to do good to your people, and that you do not seek for strength in war nor for the praise of warriors. I am sent to tell you how you may do good to your kindred. Arise and wrestle with me, for only overcoming me may you learn the secret.

Wunzh, though he was weak from fasting, felt courage grow in his heart, and he arose and wrestled with the stranger. But soon he became weaker and exhausted, and the stranger, seeing this, smiled gently on him and said: My friend, this is enough for once, I will come again to-morrow. And he vanished as suddenly as he had appeared.

The next day the stranger came, and Wunzh felt himself weaker than before; nevertheless he rose and wrestled bravely. Then the stranger spoke a second time. My friend, he said, have courage! To-morrow will be your last trial. And he disappeared from Wunzh's sight.

On the third day the stranger came as before, and the struggle was renewed. And Wunzh, though fainter in body, grew strong in mind and will, and he determined to win or perish in the attempt. He exerted all his powers, and, lo! in a while, he prevailed and overcame the stranger.

O Wunzh, my friend, said the conquered one, you have wrestled manfully. You have met your trial well. To-morrow I shall come again and you must wrestle with me for the last time. You will prevail. Do you then strip off my garments, to throw them away?

In the morning Wunzh's father came to him with food. My son, he said, you have fasted long. It is seven days since you have tasted food, and you must not sacrifice your life. The Master of Life does not require that.

My father, replied the boy, wait until the sun goes down to-morrow. For a certain reason I wish to fast until that hour.

Very well, said the old man, I shall wait until the time arrives when you feel inclined to eat. And he went away.

The next day, at the usual hour, the sky stranger came again. And, though Wunzh had fasted seven days, he felt a new power arise within him. He grasped the stranger with superhuman strength, and threw him down. He took from him his beautiful garments,and, finding him dead, buried him in the softened earth, and did all else as he had been directed.

He then returned to his father's lodge, and partook sparingly of food. There he abode for some time. But he never forgot.

Weeks passed , the summer was drawing to a close. One day Wunzh asked his father to follow him. He led him to a distant meadow. There, in the place where the stranger had been buried, stood a tall and graceful plant, with bright- colored, silken hair, and crowned nodding green plumes. Its stalk was covered with waving leaves, and there grew from its sides clusters of milk-filled ears of corn, golden and sweet, each ear closely wrapped in its green husks.

It is my friend! shouted the boy joyously; it is Mondawmin, the Indian Corn! We need no longer depend on hunting, so long as this gift is planted and cared for. The Great Spirit has heard my voice and has sent us this food.

Then the whole family feasted on the ears of corn and thanked the Great Spirit who gave it. So Indian Corn came into the world.

Judy@angelsandancestors.com   See the August 2009 free newsletter at www.angelsandancestors.com    See the ebook version of The Story of Light: Volume 1, Path to Enlightenment at www.thestoryoflight.com

Saturday 1 August 2009

Ancestors Speak – August 1 – Lammas

image Calendar page by Judith Hirst-Joyeux

 

 

As the months turn from July into August, the feeling of harvest becomes a reality.  Pickings are available for different berries through to the first beans and peas. In some places, early corn is ready.

Our Celtic Ancestors celebrated the festival of LAMMAS on August first.  Some call it the festival of the new bread.  This is because in some areas, the first wheat crops are ripe and ready to harvest.  The feasting celebrates the Goddess for her goodness in ensuring a great harvest.  Stalks of wheat and ears of corn are offered as tributes to her generosity. 

In Aboriginal cultures through North America, the Green Corn Ceremony is celebrated.  Dancing and feasting and offerings to Great Spirit are made to ensure the ongoing abundance of corn, beans and squash.  Mature corn that is ready to roast is the signal for the start of this celebration.

Our Ancestors also believed that with this festival, souls who had not moved on, that is, souls that are stuck on Earth, were given the opportunity, by the generous nature of the Goddess, to move on to the higher dimensions. 

Judy@angelsandancestors.com   See the August 2009 free newsletter at www.angelsandancestors.com    See the ebook version of The Story of Light: Volume 1, Path to Enlightenment at www.thestoryoflight.com