Topic
started: 10/15/2008
"When the world is burning, the important thing to ask is, what is being born?" What do YOU think is being born in the world today? What is your role?
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Awareness of Collective Consciousness is being BORN , In Oneness!!!
My role is of ITS Messanger , living It , Celebrating It n Sharing IT !
With all that's going on in the financial markets, I've found myself pulled into the drama in recent weeks, feeling at once anxious and hopeful. Anxious because I can't help but be concerned with how these events will play out in my personal life for me and my family, and hopeful because I've long felt that a bad day on the stock market is a good day for planet earth.
The other day I thought about how easy it is to dwell on what is dying instead of on what is emerging. It's been said that everyone is needed to help birth a new level of awareness, and I believe that. But how do we do it? It seems to me that identifying with either end of the polarity, old or emerging, isn't necessarily constructive. The one is past, and the other not yet here.
Instead of living in the past or dwelling on the future, it feels to me that doing our best to live in the present, and allowing space for the emergence of a spontaneous creativity, is what is called for now. Yet, I know that holding off on willfully driving change goes against the grain these days. However we each approach these times, they're a challenge, for it feels like we're being called to rebuild a boat at the same time we're sailing it across an ocean.
I'd like to hear others thoughts on what you think is being born in these times, and how you're making your way.
I like your analogy of building the boat while you are sailing it. That is so true for finding your life's purpose, because although we would like to hit the pause button on life and allow for the quiet time to meditate, contemplate or ponder our role, our role is requiring us to be present each and every moment. It is a quandary. You hit the nail on the head though in referring to the present moment.
A great book that is really helping me to see the forest through the trees is "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose" by Eckhart Tolle. It is a surprisingly simple and enlightening book. It sounds like from your comments that you have either read it already, or are on the path to awakening.
I am right there with trying to figure out my role as well. But, I think that if we apply these principles in this book, the pieces will come together. Not thinking or worrying about it too much is extremely liberating!
I agree that not thinking or worrying too much is extremely liberating. Now, if I can just get better at letting those go so I can enjoy the freedom that comes from their departure!
Day by day, though, practice is helping me make progress. I have read Tolle's book you refer to, and I liked it a lot, along with his even more concise book "Stillness Speaks", which was the first book of his I read. Highly recommended.
I continue to be amazed at how quickly I can get positive feedback from applying the principles of trust and surrender and allowing myself to be a conduit for something deeper to arise in the present moment. Incredible things happen when I just let go of the brain chatter and go through my life activities paying attention to my senses, rather than my thoughts. Do you too get these seemingly concrete confirmations of the validity of this approach?
What is particularly gratifying these days is that so many others are on the same path, and by sharing our experiences and thoughts, we affirm one another and more often than not find meaningful commonalities. Thanks for writing!
What is being born? Maybe that since the world is burning, and it'll probably only get worse, people HAVE to learn how to hold together and some already do. But it is "easy" to hold together in bad times, the real challenge is that we learn how to hold together in the "good" times, when there is no particular reason for it or we "don't need help." I think that's the challenge, because if you are not a victim of for example a catastrophe it's harder to be as nice to somebody as you would be if you are the victim. Then you are vulnerable and in need of help and you open your heart. We should always do that, not just in times of desperate need!
Elias - I think you make an important distinction between people's abilities and inclinations during "good" times versus difficult times. The difficult times certainly seem to put our values and character to the test! And, while it may be relatively easy to spontaneously be nice to someone in immediate trouble, being nice and giving to the same person over longer periods can easily devolve into less-kind impulses if the person remains in need or adopts a victim mentality.
If I understand correctly, you propose bridging these different circumstances by opening your heart, and I very much agree. Indeed, I imagine that coming from the heart may be THE key to ensuring that my response stays positive in the short, or long, term.
As the world is burning, we must open our hearts!
How do you stay vulnerable and keep your heart open during these tough times?
Good point Alan, I agree, the bad times could turn you toward both directions, you could indeed call it a test.
You asked: "How do you stay vulnerable and keep your heart open during these tough times?"
Well, you don't necessarily have to stay vulnerable, but if you haven't opened your heart before (of course it is not a constant state for most), it might be easier to experience this opening of the heart during vulnerability. And I wanna add that I am sure, everybody already did that, at least in their childhood, but now we have to find that part of us again in adulthood.
But you asked "how." I guess, it really depends on the individual, on one's attitude, if you can bring up a thought like: "I am in this tough situation, but hang on, these other people are too! So why not hold together?" But I have to say, I have never been in a situation like that so I can't be a 100% sure that I would act like that as well, but I hope it would be like that and that I trust myself enough.
And it gives you a good feeling, being good to other people, at least for me. So if you want there even is a "selfish" aspect in kindness toward others. It makes you feel good. ;-)
But we could also talk about the opposite question: How do you keep your heart open during good times? You could take appreciation for the good time as an example or the example thought "These people are in need, if this would happen to me, I would wanna get help from people," but even if you have the appreciation or that thought, it is easy to forget and to wallow in the good and nice life a lot of us have, including me.
What would you say to that?
I think you're right on about the fact that most of us have experienced times in our childhood of being vulnerable and open, and we've subsequently experienced what it is to close down as we've gotten older. So, 'remembering' that part of us as adults is critical, for sure.
I also think that feeling good ourselves about being good for others is a great thing. If that is our motivation, I think that's okay because, as they say, if we don't love ourselves we can't love others!
How do we keep our heart open in good times? I think by being present and seeing what is, and doing so will naturally lead us toward the heart.
I think we get to know who the baby is like after we go through the labor pains. To ask us to imagine what is being born only limits the child while it is still in the womb. We know that something is being born, yes. And to nurture that something, to make space for it, we may have to suspend our THINKING about what it "might be," lest we limit it.
My role is to wait, listen, and follow my intuition... But perhaps I will not know the part I play—ever. Again, it is like asking a teenager what job they will have in the future... I don't know what the future will bring, and so I must stay open to what I must do.
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