KARMA #1

“Know not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for you.” John Donne

The rules of karma need to be viewed with the back drop of four main factors.

The sensory body and its temptations, combined with the challenges of ego, monkey mind and shadow (evil inclination.) We are here to fully enjoy the senses but responsibly. Being in a sensory body is a gift which we lose when we leave for the 'elsewhere.'

Most are unaware of the wiles of our “Evil Inclination” who is a master of disguises, all appealing to our lesser self. His job is to make the rigors of spiritual growth seem wearisome, dull and drearily repetitive rather than exciting, adventuresome and cherishingly ritualistic.

Everyone will ultimately achieve the spiritual perfection for which we are created, and this may take many lifetimes because of free will. 

Free will. We are fully entitled to do whatever we want. Many believe we come around only once and so why not make the most of it - live for today for tomorrow we die. We may think that we negotiate our desires responsibly but still be karmically liable because we have no awareness of the laws of karma and spirit. Or we may be irresponsible and take a wrecking ball to our karmic profile not realizing there are consequences. God's love is not a test and God is not a test of love. Karma is built as a default into the soul and karma is the test. God does not micromanage. S/He knows our weaknesses and is alway hoping for our redemption. Free will is always a choice which can be an onerous responsibility.

Impermanence. Every thing is in the process of decay and anhow we cannot take our stuff with us into the afterlife. The only things we take are our experiences and our karma. The one who dies with the most toys does not win, s/he loses. Attachments impede not only our crossing the veil between worlds when we die but are an issue when we face a spiritual tribunal and our actions and attachments are taken into account.

" A net is set out for the living, everything is given on loan and all is preparation for a great celebration." Rev Akiva

The net that tests our free will is that of being tied to a sensory body in the face of the hypnosis of materialism and all the other enticing and sometimes toxic temptations. Samsara is the ongoing cycle of death and rebirth, where we come back again and again in an attempt to purify the soul. We have had countless bodily containers, always given on loan. If we play our karmic cards correctly there will be a celebration. However, the cards are stacked against us for many reasons. Steve Jobs said it in a nut shell - Apple is not here to give the public what it needs but to tell it what it wants. Planned obsolescence is back, as is 'fast fashion' with a vengeance playing on our 'desirous attachments' and hampering our spiritual progress. There is nothing wrong with having things but there is, when they have us. Its the want that is the enemy and not the need.

Attend to you needs and not your wants.

The play of light and dark outside of us.

"Shit happens!" Bumper sticker wisdom

The sages teach that without the sacred there is no mundane and without the mundane there is no sacred. They are different sides of the same reality. They are unique but not separate from the whole.

We are meant to coexist with but not assimilate the dark. The only way to overcome evil is with good.

 

The light and the dark each exist. We may choose to go towards either and will always be pursued or lured by the other.
The ambushes, the side paths, the pot holes are all clearly marked and may be guarded against if you choose to read the map, scope the terrain, plot the journey.
The contest is fiercest when the stakes are high and so we may expect to be challenged, tempted and dissuaded in any and all manner of our weaknesses – be they physical, mental or emotional – all of which are attributes of the spirit.

 

The good news is that shadow, monkey mind, and ego are necessary for our growth and survival. We are not here to get rid of them but subordinate them to our higher consciousness.

 

“He who has no Evil Inclination at all cannot give perfect service. What counts is to restrain the blaze in the hours of desire and let it flow into the hours of prayer and service.”  The Talmud

Its not what happens to us that counts but what we do with it. We can accommodate, enjoy for the moment or resign ourselves to what comes our way or rise above it.

With right understanding and action, we can create the conditions for transgressions to become merits.

Everyone is capable of redemption, even those with the bad prognosis of soul loss. The Talmud teaches that someone who has sinned in the worst way but then repents or “returns" to his or her Higher Self gains tremendous karmic merit in the spirit world. Jesus' parable of the prodigal son or daughter returning to the Father/Mother.

 

“… This person stands higher in heaven than a righteous one. Their degree is above the degree of those who have never sinned because it is more difficult for them to subdue their passions than for the others.”

 

Everyone can be redeemed . For those that have reached rock bottom but manage to emerge like a Phoenix out of the ashes, their efforts are particularly worthy. They will be looked on favorably from above and will often be more powerful spiritually - if they choose to be - than those who may have had lesser challenges. This crisis and soul sickness once overcome has the potential to be a powerful Hero's journey where after a dark night of the soul, one comes back with the grail or gift to give back to others, often to those suffering under similar circumstances.

“May the hero awaken from forgetfulness and transcend all anxiety and sorrow.”  The Upanishads

What you touch touches you. What you let touch enhances or diminishes. Be careful of what you touch and where you immerse.

And as for your power, what are you doing in the wrong circle?

The Five Chapters (Portia Nelson, with poetic license)

1. I am walking down a path and fall into a hole. I have no idea how to get out. Its dark, I cannot see, I am afraid. Eventually after many hours of struggle I emerge from the hole.

2. I am walking down the path, again I don't see the hole. I fall in. This time it is still a struggle but it takes less time to get out.

3. I am walking down the path, I see the hole but not in time. I fall in but this time its easy to get out.

4. I am walking down the path. I see the hole and walk around it.

5. I take another path.

 

SOUL SICKNESS AND SOUL LOSS # 10

TREATMENT

And as for you power what are you doing in the wrong circle.

What you touch touches you. What you let touch, enhances or diminishes.

"One who guards  his mouth and tongue, guards his soul from troubles." Proverbs

"Guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking deceit." Psalms

Our Thoughts

"Our thoughts become our words 

Our words become our behavior.

Our behavior becomes our habits.

Our habits become our values

And our values become our destiny." 

M. Gandhi 

"The soul becomes dyed with the color of our thoughts."

"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts." Marcus Aurelius

"What we speak becomes the house we live in." Hafiz

Avoid vexatious people and their thought talk.

We need to guard our words with care.

 Care as in carefully and care as in caringly.

We need to decide which Mind we are going to use, Monkey or Big Mind.

The Mind controls the heart

Imagination creates possibilities

Choice sets the intent

Will actualizes

 Our own thoughts are influenced by our words and the words of others which can be imprinted in our subconscious. No matter how we think we will speak or act, what happens may manifest out of our subconscious rather than our conscious minds. 

Imagination is a dormant power, usually removed from us by our schooling.  The subconscious can be primed positively, more especially around sleep or in a meditative state using healthful imagery. The senses empower the imagination and make us feel it in our body.

The soul's conversation is best heard with the senses.

 Everything begins with the thought and the word.

Imagining positive potentials can materialize positively, negative ones negatively. 

 First imagine and see yourselves in a new way. Not just as someone striving and trying but as someone already succeeded and 'arrived.' Free of negative energy with the power to do amazing things. Then take action and actualize that power 

to help others, 

ridding yourself of the slightest doubt.

 The intention to use this power to help others is key to getting oneself out of the way. Because of free will we need to ask to receive, very specifically, in detail, and then the 'Field', your guides, Jesus, God can act.

MANAGING SHAME 

"Just as its presumptuous to put ourselves above others, so it is pretentious to put ourselves below them." Unknown

“Bring your sister grief by the hand and tell her to come and sit by the fire with you. Grief gives special honor to your losses and her tears are precious jewels that can be strung on strands of memory to be worn with pride and beauty by one’s spirit.”
Mpofu’s Grandmother

Submitting to guilt, and especially shame, tells us that we are no good. Shame can create a downward spiral leading to more shame. We all do bad things but that does not make us bad. Regret and remorse are feeling bad about one has done. Shame is feeling bad about who one is. It is possible to self-correct using guilt and even shame but they are best avoided.

"Shame is the swampland of the soul." C.G. Jung

“If we do not transform our pain we will most assuredly transmit it.” R. Rohr

The biggest danger is when we do not take accountability and self-enable or are enabled by others. We may then project our pain onto  others with malice, anger, hatred, envy and even a desire to do harm.

"Self-condemnation strengths guilt (and especially) shame which is one of the greatest obstacles on the path of Self-realization. " 

Sri Swami Rama

The Soul is pure and can be redeemed by corrective measures. The soul and body should be allowed to “return” to one another and be in harmony. 

Psychotherapy alone may not be enough to bring the soul back into the body and allow for self-forgiveness.  

 

"The voice of shame is self-judgment, silence, secrecy and invisibility." Brene’ Brown

  

“The wound carries the medicine.” African proverb

 

The only way out of it is through it. Restoring self-love and self-worth can be difficult. Being invulnerable is the enemy of shame.

"I am a rock, I am an island, and a rock feels no pain and an island never cries." Paul Simon

 This can be part of a 'Lone Ranger,' individualistic mentality and is not healthful  

 Being vulnerable is to be courageous which implies having the courage to be imperfect and to come out of the closet of shame. To have compassion and empathy for oneself – to treat oneself as one would a good friend. It requires not being stuck in damaging self-talk and self-blame. 

Isolation is antithetical to healing which in these instance requires community and and the sufferer being open and vulnerable. 

Empathy from a kind, skillful friend, witness or therapist who will listen to one's pain is key.  This is a seminal principle in rehabilitation or recovery programs where one shares one’s dysfunctions with a group in a safe, secure, empathetic environment. 

 

“Shame cannot survive being spoken. Find someone you trust and tell them how you’re feeling. Talking with a trusted person will give you a fresh perspective on what’s happening, which will challenge the spiral’s negative views.” Brene’ Brown

 

If possible, it is healing to forgive the perpetrator or at least have measure of compassion for them. We never heal completely from a deep injury until we forgive. Above all the sufferer must forgive themselves and get rid of any element of self-blame. Shift the blame to where it belongs. 

Be patient with yourself, kind to yourself and, above all, release yourself from what you are not accountable.

A skillful shaman and ritual, where the 'F'ield' and the Ancestors are invoked, can help subordinate shadow, Monkey mind and ego to their rightful place. 

Indigenous societies use ritual to heal grief and shame. Here there is Coherence in the tribe where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. Coherence was first described by the Maharishi university who showed that when a critical number of people were meditating in a city the crime rate dropped. Group meditations are usually more powerful than when done alone. Coherence spreads out not only to the immediate group but possibly to the community and even beyond. It also has an effect on the supernal realms which participate through our guides and ancestors to help the healing happen.

 

 

SOUL SICKNESS AND SOUL LOSS # 9

TREATMENT

The way to God is with God.

Nature

The Wild Beings of Air, the Growing Beings of Water and the Still Beings of Earth

The Stiil Being can protect through crystals, semiprecious and precious stones and talismans - always through intention and asking to receive.

To experience the Still Beings we must touch them, Growing Beings, listen to them, Wild Beings dance with thema and the Talking Beings feel with them.

 We are all one though not the same.

The soul's fulfilment is through the senses.

From my flesh shall I behold God.

"Wilderness is an instrument for enabling us to recover our lost capacity for religious experience." Laurens Van der Post

The more we immerse ourselves especially in the soft fascinations of nature the more the Earth Mother can help us. We are never Motherless children and God is also always there as Kabbalah teaches, playing hide and seek. However, no one wants to play.

 "Search for me and you will find me, seek me with all your heart and I will let you find me" Jeremiah

The soft fascinations include; the sunsets/sunrises, moonsets/moonrises, the sounds of nature - the mantra of the bush, the gurgling of a creek, the wind in the trees, the aromas and scents, the daily and seasonal changes. We need to immerse and entrain ourselves into natures healing vibrations.

Use aroma, fragrance, incense, essential oils.

Eating or drinking something sacred strengthens the soul. Place a sage leaf in your water bottle. Use rosemary, lavender anything that brings joy. Plants with aroma are plants of power especially if they create incense when dried and burned. Cooking with aromatic spices empowers the food with prayer and intention.

.

Take a sacred bath. Enhance the vibration of the water by playing sacred music, burning incense, lighting a candle and placing sacred plants - juniper, cedar, sage, rosemarie, lavender - in the bath. Emoto's research showed that water has resonance, memory, consciousness and vibration and responds to loving stimuli.

80% of our cells contain water. Connecting our cells with the enhanced vibration of this water creates balance and serenity. One can  do the same where one finds a pristine pool, river or untainted ocean. Breath in white light and goodness and breath out thick black smoke of what you need to get rid of, into the healing water.

CONNECT WITH THE ELEMENTS WITH THE GROWING BEINGS

Smudging

(The Growing Beings of the Water Element Combined with the Air Element of the Fragrance)

This cleansing method is part of all ancient indigenous and other wisdoms. It repels negativity within and blocks any coming from without. Chanting or praying aloud while smudging empowers the plant's soul power to emerge and do its work. 

The Zohar says that the incense offering is the most potent antidote against evil forces. Plants can be used growing, cut or dried.

Breath Work and Sound

(The Air Element)

The Breath

 The breath like the soul is pure. The soul is single, it is never split but it can split from the body. Breath meditation is a powerful way of connecting body with soul and bringing it back to its sensory bound home. Yoga has eight pathways for  rehabilitation of the soul - two of them sensory; the asanas (postures), and Pranayama - breath meditation. 

Source of my power the breath You have given me the breath you have given me is pure.

Flame of the Infinite One is the soul breath of the human.

"What is god? The breath within the breath." Kabir

The soul yearns to do the Creator's will and clings to the body when all is well. A body caught up in sensory pleaures distances itself the soul.

The soul can be brought back to the body by breath meditation - Pranayama in yoga. Ujjayi and Alternate Nostril breath techniques can quickly help us find equanimity and balance. There are excellent dvd's on You Tube worth viewing and they are easily learnt. They can quickly pacify us and switch the brain from an agitated beta, sympathetic, flight of fight state into a relaxed parasympathetic, alfa state.

Sound

(The Air Element)

Sound shatters and crumbles barriers to the mind and heart. Sound speaks to one's vibrations. One of the best ways to cleanse oneself is with sound.

Tibetan gongs, drums, didgeridoos, thumb pianos, crystal bowls...

Sacred mantras that are chanted; bhajans, kirtans... 

 or any music that speaks to ones heart and soul. 

 Love laughter and song chase away the dark and all that is dreaded in your nights and days.

The Three L's

Light

Love 

Laughter

 Find them wherever you can and above all avoid, their opposites at all cost in toxic movies, TV, social media or elsewhere. High vibrations over low ones.

Gratitude

Find joy and gratitude in hidden recesses.

 Neuroscience has shown that gratitude creates happiness and facilitates a positive feedback loop. Gratitude creates more gratitude.

Gratitude is spiritual practice. Check out Robert Emmons research. Gratitude is prayer through thanks rather than supplication.

 

 SOUL SICKNESS AND SOUL LOSS # 8

TREATMENT

SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

Soul sickness can be mild, moderate or severe (as in PTSD) and can be corrected. Soul loss is critical and has a bad prognosis.            

The soul separates from the body with soul sickness and potentially completely and permanently with soul loss. 

If the body and mind are 'cleansed' this will facilitate the soul's return. 

Somatic psychology is proving that attention to the body is vital for complete healing. Some form of bodily practice that inspires the senses can liberate toxic memories imprinted in the body and allow for deeper healing. 

The soul's fulfillment is through the experience of the senses.

Sensory and somatic oriented spiritual practice can enhance this cleansing and reunion. 

It can be yoga, tai chi, chi gong or anything non-esoteric done for its own sake like dancing, singing, playing a musical instrument, walking or hiking in nature or something else like skilled body work, acupuncture or acupressure. 

The standing postures and warrior poses in yoga some of which are not difficult can help give one a strong resolve as well as the strength and balance to face the difficulties. They also indicate what one's level of 'balance' is for the day ahead. 

Many with soul sickness have cured themselves with deep immersions into nature.  

Reiki, sound healing, sensory driven guided imagery, shamanic expertise, essential oils and laughter can all be powerful medicine.

However, a regular, sustainable, enjoyable spiritual practice is the backbone of any of the other treatments. If necessary it may have to be done more than once daily. 

Spiritual practice will help to subordinate monkey mind to spacious mind, ego to our higher Self, our shadow to our inclination to do good and our tricksters to our spirit guides. 

Soul sickness leaves one more vulnerable to one's inner negative polarities.

The Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman, amongst many of his teachings, reminds us that the last thing that happened to us is what we will remember and may be imprinted. Also that we need to replace any negative experience with a positive one a soon as possible because the former could linger. Essentially ... when you fall off your metaphoric horse get back on it again. 

 Spiritual practice can help to turn the shit into manure. 

Or watch a funny movie, go for a walk on the beach, call a good friend... In the case of someone with an addiction - call their sponsor and go to a meeting.

 Many of us today because of the state of the planet are feeling despondent and sometimes hopeless. We have to be proactive in changing our inner conversation. We all have a level of mild soul sickness which continually needs to be attended to and reversed.

FORGIVENESS

(Requires its own blog, but essentially...)

We need to forgive ourselves, 

forgive others if possible, 

and also ask forgiveness from those we may have wronged. 

“To err is human, to forgive divine.”

Forgiveness for others must first begin by forgiving oneself. 

“Despise no human and consider nothing impossible, for there is no person who does not have his hour and there is nothing that does not have its place.” Talmud

One should never despise oneself - doing so is antithetical to the Creator who made us in His image. Soul sickness can be alleviated with repentance and self-forgiveness. 

Forgiveness is to return to the Self and to the Creator - the parable of the Prodigal son/daughter.

 

“In forgiving and letting go we can then exalt in treasuring what we truly most treasure.” J. O’Donahue

 

Victims of abuse may have to forgive themselves as well as attempting to have some compassion for those who persecuted them since they themselves may also have been victims of similar circumstances. They also need to shift any self blame to where it belongs. 

At the end of the day, karma is relentless and the perpetrators will suffer the consequences. The only way to correct the bad is by doing good.

 

"Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord."

What you resist will persist. What you destroy destroys you. What you defeat, defeats you. 

What you sanctify, sanctifies you.

Our responsibility is to clear ourselves of negative effects and not allow anyone to have power over us. Forgiveness does this. Forgiveness does not mean reconciliation - walk away after and don't look back. 

Forgiveness is a personally beneficial process. Neuroscience and ancient wisdom have shown that it is more beneficial for the person giving the forgiveness than the one receiving it - it also increases ones T cell counts and is healthful. It removes the albatross hanging around one's neck.

"I'm gonna lay down my burden down by the river side, aint gonna study war no more ..." 

African American spiritual song

Self-compassion aligns with self-worth and generates less in the way of negative emotions. If one has wronged oneself or others it is important to realize that ...

Restoring Self-worth is critical. Self-worth means we are all worthy being made in the image of the Creator – even if our actions are unskillful - we are all on a journey of “Becoming.” 

No one is perfect and everyone (or almost everyone) can be redeemed. 

Self-esteem (with a small s) can be a recipe for narcissism and is not the same as Self-worth.

If one has wronged oneself we need to admit to unskillfulness, take corrective action, forgive oneself and let go of the angst. Universal Self-Acceptance (U.S.A) or an unconditional positive regard for the True Self reduces anxiety and depression and increases happiness, optimism, positive emotions, and Self-worth. We are all worthy of U.S.A.  

Remember that you are made not for brokenness and sorrow but for wholeness and for joy.

If the burden were taken away the lesson would not be there. Coping with it is what will count (karmically).

In every crisis there is opportunity.

Asking for forgiveness 

Taking accountability

"Those who cannot see themselves cannot be redeemed..."

It takes vulnerability, self-awareness and courage to admit to what we have done wrong. Denial will negate the possibility for forgiveness.

“… We can only be redeemed to the extent to which we see ourselves.” Talmud

 

Acting contrary to conscience is different from justifying and rationalizing a wrong doing. The latter compounds, not merely worsens ...

 When we enable ourselves or are enabled by others we fail to take accountability. The shadow then projects its own issues more readily onto others. We need to admit what we did wrong and make amends. 

Asking forgiveness is especially important before death.