I love the ideas presented in the Bodhisattvas Vow and thought that I would like to share it with you. The Vow is taken by those Buddhists who are enlightened as a vow to stay on earth and to continue to incarnate until all people have been released from the cycle of birth and death and suffering these bring to the unenlightened. These are lofty Ideals that many may say are unachievable but like everything else if you do your best to live up to even a portion of this vow then you are doing great things for the world and the people around you.

Bodhisattvas vow

May I be a guard for those who are protectorless,
A guide for those who journey on the road;
For those who wish to go across the water,
May I be a boat, a raft, a bridge.

May I be an isle for those who yearn for landfall,
And a lamp for those who long for light;
For those who need a resting place, a bed,
For all who need a servant, may I be a slave.

May I be the wishing jewel, the vase of plenty,
A word of power, and the supreme remedy.
May I be the trees of miracles,
And for every being, the abundant cow.

Like the great earth and the other elements,
Enduring as the sky itself endures,
For the boundless multitude of living beings,
May I be the ground and vessel of their life.

Thus, for every single thing that lives,
In number like the boundless reaches of the sky,
May I be their sustenance and nourishment
Until they pass beyond the bounds of suffering

photo by Aga Zabrzuch

of life and things unexpected the two are the same
one an unmapped journey one the path

make the map set a course and follow it
choose your destination and move towards it
blaze your trail so that others may follow
the unexpected is all you can expect
you are the map the journey and the destination

-James Wortz

What can we do as individuals during these times when so many are struggling and fearful. What can we do when everyday we are bombarded by the media by sensational stories meant to inflict fear, panic, and insight anger? Everyday people are fed this negative toxic information from more and more sources. You may have noticed that it is hard to escape even in general conversations it seems to be all that anyone can talk about. This in and of itself is not a bad thing it would be foolish to not stay some what informed but it is the way that it is presented. There is little to no balance of the positive with the negative. When all you do is talk about the negative aspects and do not look to find the positive (no matter how tiny) you are building up the negative energy in your system and spreading the fear, anger, and in some cases hatred to others.

I know that most of the people that read this article are already pretty mindful of the effects of their words on others and they choose not to add to the negative processes in the world. But I am seeing more and more people unable to escape the effects of this energy. So what can we do? How can we change any of this.

The first things to do is to practice mindfulness of  what we say,what we ingest( take into our minds and bodies),and what we think about. Mindfulness will guide us back to a healthy non-judgmental state. Mindfulness will help us limit our Media ingestion, and help us from spreading this toxic thinking and words to others.

The second thing and this is why I am writing this is to start telling positive stories. Start finding something positive or even neutral to talk about. Talk about the food drive that you helped with, Talk about your neighbor who has such a beautiful yard, talk about the anything and everything that you like,love, and are inspired by. When someone  Starts talking about the “problems of our country” remain silent. Silence is powerful it says that I will not join you in this. Write blogs about tiny inspiring events that are about love and compassion  not fear and hatred.

If you are so inclined write to your local media and tell the that you would enjoy some more positive stories instead of stories about war, poverty, crime, and politics. They may not change but atleast you put it out there that you want something different. Do not settle for this state of negative influence and negative energy. Fight to keep some lights burning. It is sometimes difficult to not wallow in the rest of it with everyone else but if you strive for the best and highest influence you can reach from where you are you can help change the world.

I was in the garden today looking at some zucchini when I came across this little green tree frog hiding in the leaves. I ran in and grabbed my camera to take a picture. While I was out there I decided to take a few more and do a quick little post. Elige and I have been truly blessed. This time last year we were living in a terrible little place. This year we have a Nice little house that we are working on buying. We have a yard with the start of a beautiful garden. It wasn`t until I was looking at these few photographs that I realized just how much our life has changed. It`s amazing the difference that a year can make.

We were looking around at the garden today because we had just got back from a farmers market around the State Capitol Building in Lansing. It was a nice collection of fruits and veggies, as well as fresh honey and Maple Syrup. There were some mushroom growers as we as plenty of nuts and baked goods. We stopped at this little booth and bought some Lavender to add to our garden. It was a nice little outing. It`s funny how something like this can remind you just how fortunate you are.

Here are some pictures from my garden. Hope you enjoy.

Oneness

There are a lot of people and things out there. Some of them we find enjoyable and others we wish to avoid.
So how is it that we are one with all of these things how is it that we are one with people such as murders,
and sex offenders. You might say that it is impossible that you share any similarities with any of these people.
You would be mistaken if  you truly believed that.

How can I make such claims? Well first of all it is a matter of science and the Law of Conservation.
The Law of Conservation states that you cannot create or destroy matter. Matter can only be changed
from one form to another. As it is changed, matter releases energy as it releases bits of the more
complex form becoming simpler in form ; or it requires energy to add bits as it goes from simple to
complex. This Law of the natural world shows that there is a finite amount of the stuff called matter.
Matter is what makes up our physical forms. It is also what the foods we eat, the water we drink, the air
we breathe, the planet we live on, and the stars in the sky are all built from.

So we are all built from the same stuff called matter; Matter that has been recycled through every physical
form that can be found on this planet. You are air, water, fire, earth, dog, cat, bird, and people.
On the physical level we are the same. You might say, but that is not the same as being one with something else.
Just because our bodies might have the same bits making them work does not mean that I Am the same as they are.
That is on a physical level, I don`t think like they do, I have too much compassion to harm another, I have a
different soul than they do. You are correct this is not the same as being one with something or someone else.
I think differently than other people. I feel differently than other people. My perspective is unique because
of my experiences. These are arguments that many will make meaning that because of our thoughts and experiences
we are separate beings with no connection. For all of our similarities in our atomic and molecular make up, each
of us is unique in our specific physical design.

There is another level we are seldom aware of. It is the level of Universal Consciousness.
This Level of being has been talked about in every major belief system that exists on the Earth at this
Time. This is the realm of Mystery. The realm Where we as humans lose the ability to understand with our
human minds. This is the Tao that Taoist say can Not be known. This is the Chi that Flows in Chinese
medicine. In Hermetic teachings this is the Mind of the Unknowable all. The essence of these thoughts when they
are boiled down is that we are all part of and inseparable from the Universal Consciousness. It can be
said that Creator and Creation are one and the same.

The ALL could be viewed as an ocean and we are the waves. We are water, Inseparable from the ocean until
suddenly we find that we have form,we have consciousness,we have physical characteristics. We soon learn to
Identify with our form and differentiate between our form and others. We begin to say” I am taller than
that wave.” or “I am faster than The other Wave.” We become so engrossed in the world of form that we
forget that we all started as water. We are all still water. and as we rush towards the shore and we see
the other waves disappearing we begin to worry about what will happen to us when we get to the shore.
Being so Identified with forms that we now have forgot our origins as water and part of the ALL. Finally
we hit the beach and our form dissolves and we return back to the water and settle into the peace of being
simply the ocean, the ALL once more.

It is this Identification with the world of forms that causes us to forget our origins as part of the
Universal Consciousness. This Identification brings us so much suffering as we attach ourselves to the
world of forms all the while forgetting that we Will eventually return to the peace of the source.

We are truly One we are the waves on the ocean who have forgotten that we do not exist separate form the
ocean. When we are still and our minds are quiet we begin to sense our true being as part of the Divine
Whole.

The mind emphasizes these differences. In fact the Mind creates all of these differences.

I had thought about writing a piece on the problem with the idea of opposites. I was reading in The light Shall set You Free in Chapter 8- Energy: The Foundation for the Universal Laws ;trying to get as many Perspectives on Ascension as I can; when I came to The phrase “In the battle of Armageddon…. ” . I closed the book in frustration and irritation. Now I know that this book has many overtones about the forces of Light and the Forces of Dark  as well

as outright statements such as this one; But it hit me suddenly as absurd inflammatory, sensational.

These Ideas of some battle of  The forces of Light and Dark are some of the mental constructs that cause further feelings of separation from source.  They are Ideas based in Ego. To believe that you and a few others are all that stand between the “Sons and Daughters of Dark” Preventing our personal and planetary Ascension is a separating thought form. Identification with this Thought forms cause further Ego Building forms. Forms such as “Us” and “Them”, “Good” and “Bad”, “Light” and “Dark”. These thoughts further the illusion of separateness.  Separateness from Source and Separateness From Creation.

Now it was about this time as my mind has latched on to these ideas that I was beginning to rail against the Opposites of Light and Dark. I will give you a taste of the process.

“They talk about light as being the thing that we aspire towards, and Dark as the Negative or Opposite of that but Dark is only the literary opposite of Light. Light Has know true opposite. What is the Opposite of Light? Light is a Wave and a Particle. So it is matter and energy at different times. The true opposite of matter is anti-matter.  When matter and anti-matter come into contact they Annihilate one another and both cease to exist( at least as far as we know). This is a True opposite. They bring complete balance and disappear.  So what would be the opposite of light (with a slight tone of frustration in my thought)? Darkness is not an opposite it is an absence of light. Light is not the inclusion of light( it is in one usage but not as a Noun as it is used in many Writings on spirituality and especially ascension)It is Light. So this idea of opposing forces would mean that there has to be something that when it comes into contact with light that the two can not exist in the same space and would nullify one another. “

This thought process although logical began to go in circles that were very unforthcoming with any resolution. I was not so much Obsessed as Possessed By the question.  It was about then that I decided to write an article about the fallacy opposites in Spirituality and Light Work  in particular. Well as you can Guess I have since come to the conclusion that I was not completely understanding something.

What I did not understanding completely is that it is not Opposite but the word Opposite used erroneously to refer to Polarity.

Coming Next- What is Polarity?

The Formless

Well I have been Thinking  a lot lately about Mystery. I have always considered myself a bit of a mystic or student of the mystery school. In the process of researching Ascension for my up coming class I came across a lot of material that reinforced that feeling.

Mystery is the unknown formless aspect of the Universe. In many of the major Spiritual belief systems in the world Mystery is accepted as part of the way that the Divine works within our lives.  I like to take this a step further (as does Eckhart Tolle ) and say that not only is this part of the way the divine works in our lives but is truly the purpose of our lives moving to reconnect with the formless or the mysterious.

Many people believe that a mystery is something that needs to be solved, analyzed, and explained away. It is through this process of Intelectualization that we move not closer to understanding but further from experiencing the true mystery.

The Tao De ching says the Tao that can be Spoken about is not the Tao. This means that it is not the formlessness that lies behind all of creation. The formless conscience that is the creative force that is the true essence of form.

How is it that understanding a mystery moves further from the true understanding? It is that the formless can not be understood by our mind and put into words. When we begin to try and say that the formless or mystery is this or that; or that it behaves this way or that way in our lives we are no longer speaking about the formless we are speaking about mental forms that are created by our mind. For example when we say that god is a jealous god we are speaking about the mental construct that we have created about god. In it`s very essence God is beyond the comprehesion of our human minds and our ability to descibe it.

When we build mental Contructs and forms and try to intelectualize the mysterious we actual begin to limit the ways that we allow the formless to act in our lives. we begin to believe that the formless is seperate from us and be haves only in predetermined ways. This Idea of seperateness is another form created by the mind. It says that we are seperate from creation and creator. The formless is the Creator and is a part of all. It is truly our purpose in this life to return to the consciousness of the formless. To disolve the The identification with forms(Physical, mental, social, emotional) and live our live in the present moment.

Now this probably is leaving many of you saying to yourselves…”Um what?” Thats alright this little article is not meant to tell you exactly how to go about doing that it is just meant to bring you to a state of mindfulness about our beliefs and the Systems that we incorporate in our spirituality. Are our beliefs moving us closer to our purpose or further away?

As I have been developing the Dream Path I recieved a message about what it should be. The mesage was that it needs to be “Simple, Organic, and Grounded in the present Moment” .  This means that if the system is to complicated it is a mental construct and does not truly bring you closer to the Divine. It should be Organic Meaning that it can change and grow as our present situation changes. And finaly it needs to be grounded in the present moment meaning that it can not be overly concerned about the past or what will happen when. We can truly only act in the present moment. this is where we are and where we connect with the formless. Not in some future where we have evolved past our need for Bodies or have Moved to another Dimension of existance.