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Creating Bridges: Spirituality & Philosophy:
Lynn Andrews and The Path of the Heart
Bringing Joy
into Our Lives Now
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by Lynn Andrews |
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Dear Friends,
Spring in the Northern Hemisphere is the time Mother Earth begins to wake up from her long winter's nap. Her four-legged children come out of hibernation; the winged ones return to their nesting grounds in the far North; and her flora bursts forth in a riot of color and bloom as the cycle of life is reborn. Spring is about planting the seeds of new ideas and new endeavors in your life, discovering new clarity and healing the child within.
At the same time, the Southern Hemisphere prepares for the return of Autumn, the time of gathering the fruits of what we have sown in our lives and celebrating what we have become, as we prepare for retreat into our mental and spiritual caves of hibernation to regenerate while our Spirit prepares for its new birth.
Around the globe there is an amazing balance of energy as our Earth Mother dances her magnificent cycle of death, rebirth and transformation. As Agnes Whistling Elk taught me, this is the time when the world changes, the time when you can be transformed. You are the center fire. You are the flowering tree.
All this year, the Sisterhood of the Shields and I have been talking about the need to bring joy into our lives now. Whether we are just coming out of hibernation or are preparing to enter, time is moving in on us at an unprecedented rate, forcing us to birth our new loving, joyous selves now. And as she always does if we would but take the time to listen, Mother Earth is here to guide us through this transformation.
In Shakkai: Woman of the Sacred Garden, Shakkai taught me that when a leaf lets go of its connections with its body -- with its larger physical self -- it has moved into the source of power. "The source of power," Shakkai said, "floats on the wind. The source of power is like the wind itself. It can move mountains and change the surface of the oceans, but it is unseen. You cannot prove it, but you can feel it. It is like magic. Believe in the Great Spirit. Believe in the integrity of your own soul. Believe in the movement of the winds from the North and the South. Those winds can change the surface of the earth, just as spirit can change the surface of your mind."
The Winds of Change
Can there be any doubt that it is the winds which usher in the change of seasons on our planet? The ride is not always gentle; sometimes, it even appears to us to be cataclysmic. But always the magic of new life results and Spirit is born anew.
And so it is with the seasons of our own lives. Now is the time to move into your new life. Work with the winds of change and be transformed. Sit in a place of silence and introspection. Become very still and listen to the winds that are around you. What messages are they carrying for you that can help you through this time of transformation? You have worked very hard to develop the strength and ability to see yourself through your own eyes. Now is the time to define what power means to you: The power to be alive; the power to move into joy.
What connections are you holding onto that stop you from moving into the source of your own power? What are the connections, that stop you from moving forward on your own path of enlightenment, from moving toward evolvement in a more positive way? Find the source of your discontent, and then release it to the winds. Let go of it, and become as a leaf floating on the wind. Then you will be ready to be reborn. Believe in the Great Spirit. Believe in the integrity of your own soul.
"What is forever but a breath of the Great Spirit? The design of the universe is nothing. All of time is but the snap of an arrow in the bow of the Great Spirit. The song of the tribes of plants was sung. The song of the animals was sung. The song of the tribes of man was sung. Every world was remembered in song and no world was forgotten. The Great Spirit is sleeping in all the named and nameless things." (from Agnes Whistling Elk, Medicine Woman)
The Wind Is Calling You
"Gently," Shakkai said to me. "The wind is calling you. It is calling us to pray, to listen to her. She asks for peace, for peace of spirit. And she asks that you return to your original joy." Shakkai closed her eyes, and we meditated together for some time.
"I will teach you the way of light, the way of great illumination," she continued after a time. "All you must do is listen with your heart. In a way your pain has brought you to me, and it is good. Without your pain, you could not bear the joy that is soon to be yours."
"Forgive me, Shakkai," I interrupted. "But how do you mean, without my pain?"
"Your pain has given you depth, a way to open your spirit. Never think that there is not a reason for everything that happens."
I return often to Shakkai's beautiful Garden of Serenity, where she taught me so much about living in the world while at the same time following the sacred path, the path of illumination, the path of heart, of Spirit and of joy.
It sometimes seems that all we talk about anymore is how much stress there is in our lives, from global calamity to our own most intimate and personal dealings. And as I sit in Shakkai's Garden and look into the mirrors that are reflected there, I wonder, is our experience of stress governed at its essence by what goes on around us? Or do we as individuals play a great role in determining the level of stress which we allow to affect us, through the choices we make and the attitudes and ideas with which we shape our lives?
I know, of course, that it is the latter which defines our personal truth. I also know how very difficult it can be to stand in the center of our own truth when all around seems as a stubborn whirlwind of chaos and negativity. And that is when we most need to stop and drink deeply of Shakkai's immortal words of wisdom:
Find the Truth
"What we would create in the world, we must first create within ourselves. So many of us move outside ourselves to find truth. We go out into the world in search of something larger than ourselves. We do not realize that truth lies within."
If you are standing in the middle of a whirlwind, do not expect that whirlwind to subside just because your intentions are good! Every relationship in your life, no matter how fabulous or how unsettled, provides you with an opportunity for spiritual growth, a possibility to experience more love in your life. As my teachers have so often said, it is the situation or person with the ability to upset you the most, to pull you the furthest off your center, that is your greatest teacher.
Look at your physical life, your environment, your health, your body and what you do in the world. What situations or persons have the ability to upset you the most, to throw you off your center and out of balance?
When you have isolated those things that are at the source of your greatest stress, sit across the Sacred Wheel from them and ask them, one by one, what it is that they have come to teach you? What aspects of yourself, what aspects of your original joy have they come to return to you?
Once you have found their truth, thank them for their teachings and then release them back into the universe, as a leaf floating on the wind. Take the lessons they brought you into your center. Then you will be able to sing of the great songs of the Universe: See God in everything! Find Great Spirit in everyone!
That is truly the way to move into peace, joy and love in your life!
The Sacred in All Things
Why do we put so much focus on personal healing as we walk this beautiful path of enlightenment, learning to find the Sacred in all things? It is Springtime in the Northern Hemisphere! Wouldn't we better be off out of doors, simply letting our spirits run free in the bright warmth of the sun, as children do, while we shake off Winter's fierce grip and the cobwebs of our hibernation? Breathe deeply of the gentle, fresh air and be cleansed by its exotic floral scents; bask in the blush of the flowers' first bloom until we feel our own cheeks blushing with exhilaration and renewal? Be as one with the transformation that is going on around us until we, ourselves, are transformed!
The answer is, yes! That is exactly what we do, especially at this time of year. For as Grandmother said in Woman of Wyrrd, "The source of all power is hidden in our mother, the land. To live, we must partake of our mother's body."
And we partake of our mother's body every time we move out of doors to sit in the park and immerse ourselves in the excitement and laughter that is all around us; or walk alongside a stream and allow ourselves to become ensorcelled by the reflections of the sun dancing off the waters, echoing the songs of the breeze as they whisper through the leaves of the trees. Every time we stop to smell a flower in full bloom, perhaps in a clay pot on our windowsill or passing the florist on our way home from somewhere, we partake of our mother's body and come alive.
With Intent
The only difference is that when we are on the path of enlightenment, we learn to do the things that we do with intent, and to move in the world with sacred intent. It is the power of your intent which leads you around the sacred wheel of endeavor. It is the form of your intent which leads you to the power of transformation.
The path of illumination, my teachers taught me in Shakkai, Woman of the Sacred Garden, is the path of balance, the path of balance with one foot in the material world and one foot securely rooted in the spiritual world. As Shakkai said, life is a great game and a dangerous one and a fatal one. It is a game that is painful for all of us. It is not easy to be human, and we have all chosen this game so that we may learn, so that we may grow into varying stages of enlightenment.
So this year, as you move back into the great out of doors, follow the path of enlightenment with intent. When you walk alongside a river or a stream, listen to what it has to tell you. The river, the creek speaks to us of movement. Watch the river flow as if you were a mountain high above, then let the waterfall of life work for you, as you become like a twig carried on the surface of the rushing water.
There is a difference, Agnes Whistling Elk taught me, between movement and activity. If you are moving around in a fit of anger, scrambling things, throwing things, stomping around, that is activity. Movement is quite a different thing. It is like an action that comes from the heart and soul of your body. It moves out into the world as an expression of power.
The movement of the river is life force reflected through the water, and as it flows by you, it tells you of truth. When you are out of doors, you are surrounded by truth. You are surrounded by your teachers, and the teachers are in nature, in the trees, in the grass that moves in the gentle wind.
Sit on the earth with your back against a tree and get in touch with your roots, which move deep into middle earth. Move with them and become aware of what stirs within you. Listen to your body-mind and your heart. What are they telling you about a given situation?
Become one with the flow of the river, dissolving the sense of mind and living totally in your instinctual nature.
When you go to the center, when you go to the beginning of things, you move, not out into the world for your instruction, but to the interior world, the universe that lives within. It is from the essence of that universe that all life is born.
Listen to the movement of the spirits of place that are all around you, and move with them to the center of your universe, the center of your truth. Then you can truly be reborn into joy and transformation!
Many Blessings and Prayers for Peace,
Lynn Andrews
Join me at the 16th Annual Joshua Tree Event, Sacred Luminaria: Igniting the Fires of Joy, May 27-30, 2004. (link)
Continue to Lynn Andrew's Power Deck Card for May and prayer for May. |
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Lynn Andrews,
Shaman, Author & Lecturer
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Internationally acclaimed author, preeminent teacher and 21st century shaman, Lynn Andrews has written 18 books and created The Power Deck, audio meditations, and videos.
Lynn Andrews offers a variety of opportunities to work with her at her annual events and through online courses She also offers a degree program and a 4-year mystery school. CE credit is available for nurses and therapists. Lynn is available for private phone sessions.
For information about Lynn Andrews' Mystery School, events including Joshua Tree and Hawaii, Online Courses, or to schedule a phone call with Lynn please call 1-800-554-7414 (US), or 1-213-683-3804 (international), or visit Lynn's website at www.lynnandrews.com/.
www.lynnandrews.com
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