David Cumes Surgeon/Sangoma (Zulu for Shaman)

Saturday, January 28, 2017

THIS IS THE SECOND BLOG ON THE PLAY OF LIGHT & DARK

Jung was one of the first contemporary thinkers to stress how we project our own shadow onto others, and how damaging this can be

individually or globally.

Ancient wisdom and especially the Ancestors stress how important our evil inclination or shadow can be in getting in the way of spiritual transformation. Nevertheless it also is essential for our survival! The Creator has also put within us the inclination to do good.

The most important thing for spiritual grown is the tension arising out of choice between one and the other. The Talmud stresses that

he or she who has no evil inclination cannot do perfect service. As long as we make skillful choices our enlightenment process will be enhanced. Kabbalah tells us that we are always being tested to see how worthy we are.

Our evil inclination is also our weak underbelly that will make us rationalize why we should indulge in dysfunctional but possibly more pleasurable sentient temptations. By showing restraint, enjoying life's gifts responsibly and having right intent we can turn potential transgressions into karmic blessings.

There is an African proverb that says; "No matter how long the night, the day is sure to come."

The Ancestors stress; "Patience in the face of evil" (both that of the dark side of our selves as well as the tricksters who play on our weaknesses.

The play of dark with the light increases the closer we get to the light. The Ancestors call this A Costly Compliment. Nevertheless trickster spirits are always around trying to sabotage our spiritual progress.

Mostly they are mosquitoes at the picnic, sometimes wasps at the event and if we are getting close to the Crown Chakra or Keter they can be more like rattlesnakes. Nevertheless the only thing to fear is fear itself. If we are really that close to the light and remain impeccable we will be protected by our guides

Click to highlight the link, download and play the song that can help you meditate on this ancient wisdom

Becoming_-_MP3s/15_Do_Not_Bend.mp3

Sunday, January 22, 2017

THIS IS THE FIRST BLOG FOR 2017

I hope you ended off 2016 fruitfully.

We have two talks coming up in February on the Play of Light and Dark and since we will not be able to cover this important subject in only four hours I thought we could kick off the New Year with some additional thoughts on this topic.

For those that can attend

The play of these two polarities is really the tension that arises between two feelings - Love or Fear. The emotion of Fear has many guises; hate, vengeance, envy, compulsions, cravings, addictions, habits..., all of which are part of Narrow or Monkey Mind which can only be controlled by spiritual practice.

The play of light and dark has been there since the beginning of time and since the Creation. As described in Genesis we were kicked out of the "Garden" for eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge - the knowledge of good and evil. Knowledge is commendable but has its dark side too since it leads us to be tempted amongst other things - irresponsibly - with the sentient pleasures around us. The Ancestors advise that;

"Information is not to be equated with knowledge, knowledge is not to be equated with understanding, understanding is not to be equated with wisdom and wisdom is not to be equated with virtue."

In Genesis the punishment for eating of the Knowledge Tree and aligning with the serpent that represents the dark side was severe...

Fortunately there was also a Tree of Life in the Garden. If we can persuade the Cherubim who guard it with their flaming swords to let us in again we can still be readmitted if we are found to be worthy.

The Tree of Life is essentially a balance between contraction and expansion. Our will determines the balance. We can also refer to the contraction as Fear on the left (green here) side of the Tree and also in the center. On the right and in the center are the Five Loves designated above by the red hearts.

The central sephira or energy center of Tiferet or Beauty (blue) connotes love, empathy, compassion, forgiveness. The tension created by the triad of Judgment (Fear,) Mercy and Love is necessary for discrimination between right and wrong, skillful or unskillful. Kabbalah talks about "sweetening the judgments" - judging the behavior rather than the person since none of us are perfect.

Sadly many of our political leaders and the movies focus on vengeance and the mantra of; "I don't get mad, I get even!"

The choice between light and dark given to us by free will, and the relentlessness of Karma or the Law of Cause and Effects is in fact a paradoxical template for spiritual perfection occurring over many life times and through reincarnation. There can be no growth without conflict, no rose without a thorn so that we should embrace the challenges that life presents. If not for these, living would be like spiritual diabetes - extremely boring.

Click to highlight the link and then you can meditate on the song below;

Cest_La_Vie.mp3

Saturday, December 10, 2016

THIS IS THE LAST BLOG FOR 2016

(TO BEGIN AGAIN THE END OF JANUARY)

For those interested in

Kundalini as Transformation

the two videos from a recent talk are up on my web site davidcumes.com under "Videos" with another two on

Connecting with Spirit Guides.

There are two timely talks in February on

The Play of Light and Dark - Infinite Polarity
and more to follow in summer.

Have a wonderful holiday season and the best of everything for 2017.

I thought I would end the year with some of these quotes on judgment acknowledging that all below is easier said than done.
There is still a lot of angst around the results of the election and justifiable concern about what is to come. Maybe these quotes, the messages in the songs and bumping up our spiritual practice will help us get over the current concerns and hopefully for some, the feelings of despair.
There are only two emotions - love and fear. Judgment is often a manifestation of fear and ego. We do need to judge or maybe better still, discern or discriminate but it should not be out of anger or hate which are a part of fear. We cannot deny that evil exists and have to stand against injustice but not with malice in our hearts. Challenging the negative with negative is ineffective. Love, light and laughter are required.

When we point fingers there are always three fingers pointing back at us. Judgment can be a projection of our own shadow and fears onto others.

The Ancestors say that there is only one real truth and that is Love. And also that;

"Truth is often ego clinging to its own image."

Let the messages from the ancestors in the songs be a guide about what the real issues are for us spiritually at this critical time. I have no clever answers other than the wisdom of the ancestors about being in danger of losing our spiritual power and our own unique destiny path.

Sometimes by perseverating on darkness we become part of it. Our karmic destiny is at stake here.

Matthew and the Talmud imply that judgment can be harmful to our karma and if attended by malice can come back to bite us. We can harm ourselves spiritually more than having any affect on the one(s) we are judging.

Maybe all this personifies the Dalai Lama's non hateful attitude to the Chinese who have forced the Tibetans into diaspora and destroyed their sacred places.

Karma will reconcile all differences.

Click below on the link to the song to highlight it - then click again to download and play

_Warnings_for_the_Way.mp3

More than ever...

Click below on the link to the song to highlight it - then click again to download and play

_Travelers.mp3

Click below on the link to the song to highlight it - then click again to download and play

Love.mp3

Maybe the wisest message is;

"we cannot control results, only our actions, we cannot predict outcomes, only our choices."

And even if the bar has been lowered the U.S.A is still comparatively a good place to be, (says I on my way to South Africa.) We must trust that the system will sort things out.

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Holiday season blog.

Before I head off for South Africa and hopefully also to some "Wilderness Rapture I thought in this blog I would share a few songs and quotes, mainly so that one could do an active meditation maybe beginning with a quote or one of your favorite nature experiences and building on this with your imagination and...
Seeing where the song takes you?

Maybe to your next retreat?

Maybe to some other hidden paradise?

Maybe to a relaxing nap?

Whatever.

I have been getting feedback from some of the blog readers and it seems that because I have been putting the songs at the end of the blog they are not being noticed or alternatively folks feel they cannot download or access them. (The other possibility is that there is no interest or no time for a meditation of this sort which is also fine.)

So for those who are interested in using the theme of the blog with the music as an active meditation this blog will have fewer words and more songs.

Feedback (dcumes@gmail.com) appreciated if this works for you or not. If not I may not include songs in next years blogs.

See the links below

First highlight by clicking on them

Then click again with the little hand just below on the link and it will download

Click play

This first song is called Mimoya which means spirit or spirit place (Zulu) and can be about meeting all the "Beings" in nature - Still, Growing, Wild and Talking - a prelude to entering a state of "Wilderness Rapture."

CLICK HERE BELOW

-_MP3s/04_Reunion.mp3

The Ancestors

This song - Isles of Gonne - is about a mystical wild place of the Druids where the Imagination, one's Heart and Love could all unite. They would sail there from Tir Na Nog.

AND HERE

-_MP3s/01_Isles_of_Gonne.mp3

The Zohar

This song - Hishtavut - means Equanimity, Harmony, Peace, Balance or when in nature - "Wilderness Rapture"

AND HERE

-_MP3s/14_Hishtavut_-_Equanimity.mp3

Unfortunately the songs do not flow one into the other so that you will have to come out of your reverie to download the next one.

Primal Sound of the Universe (... a feeble attempt at a song that came in a dream)

AND HERE

_MP3s/06_Primal_Sound_of_the_Universe.mp3

Friday, November 25, 2016

THANKSGIVING & GRATITUDE ARE UPON US SO I THOUGHT THAT I WOULD SHARE MORE INFORMATION AND QUOTES WITH A SONG OR TWO

Robert Emmons and other researchers have shown that Gratitude is a profound form of spiritual practice leading to joy, happiness and other wonderful attributes.

His research involved the following exercises:

The results were astounding:

The Ancestors appreciate gratitude as does the Creator.

The Ancestors also say;

"we are all one - though not the same."

All of us are made in the image of the Divine. God does not play favorites - but karma rules. As in Namaste - I see the Divine in you. These tenets are cause alone for gratitude.

In order for this to be fully actualized and not just be an intellectual construct we need to define and practice our God given gift that no-one else has and no-one else can manifest - our own unique archetype.

This might require keeping our day job that pays the rent and developing this skill outside of our livelihood (or retirement.)

Gratitude is spiritual practice but being in contact with who we truly are also leads to gratitude.

There is no light without dark - no rose without a thorn and hence grief, sadness and struggle must be part of the human condition. Without conflict there can be no change, no progress. Hence we must embrace and even have gratitude for the pain when it comes but acknowledge that;
pain is inevitable, suffering optional.

We are never alone and although we may not see, hear or feel them, our spirit guides are always with us. But because of free will -

we must ask to receive!

The way we reciprocate is with love, forgiveness and gratitude, best done done in the form of ritual and with the help of an altar.
(The video on connecting with spirit guides is still up on the web site for those who missed it. The recent two on Kundalini - the primal transformational energy of the universe will be up very soon. These are three key videos to connect with Self, Spirit, Gratitude and our destiny.)