Before the Wells Are Gone

The bottom of the well is full of water. It rises as water flows in from the surrounding land until there is plenty. Then it is gradually depleted until it is filled once more. In this way the gentle ebb and flow of nature is demonstrated. As it breathes in and out, we go from plenty to less but always there is enough to go around when things are in harmony, in balance. The skies fill with water in clouds and rain upon the earth when more is needed, filling up the coffers of reserves in the land. This is the way things work when we are happy and contented with our lot and take only what we truly need and leave the excess.

Now, as we observe a change and heat has scorched some lands and floods immerse and cleanse others, there is imbalance and drought and death as a result. For thousands of years we have slowly turned a heavenly planet into a desert where plenty that was once known throughout is now gone. We will again know our home on Mother Earth as heaven restored as we learn to respect and love first ourselves and then all that is around us, of which we are just part, sharing in everything in a harmonious dance of existence. I pray this time will come before too long.

An Insane Life!

When I look at myself and ask, “What is it that sets me apart from others?” besides the fact that I am like everyone else, unique, I am drawn to one thing: my commitment, my absolute, seemingly undying commitment to myself, to fulfil myself at the highest possible level in this lifetime.

After all, I am just the same as everyone else in terms of my potential and indeed my source: we are all “chips off the old block”, shards of the universal consciousness. So, knowing that some people out-performing others is not about superiority, given that we each have infinite potential, it can only be one thing: commitment. Nothing else explains the difference between someone who is a couch potato all their life and someone who has an outstanding life.

But commitment to what? To having the best life I possibly can, to making the most of this life till the day I die. To making a difference in the world to the best of my ability.

Since I started writing this piece I also found out something else that sets me apart from others. I don’t live in fear. In fact, I refuse to live in fear. Such is my commitment to life that I expect mainly good things to happen to me and don’t expect bad things to happen very often. When they do there is usually a reason and I love my life this way.

How on earth have humans managed for a hundred thousand years or more without crash helmets, life insurance and medicare? Since when did we decide these were bare essentials of life? Who says I need a nest-egg for retirement - indeed, who says we need or even should retire?

What brought this to a head was listening a talk by a man who was arguing that we are too careful, too safety conscious these days, too scared and I agree. He even cited helmets you can now buy for toddlers to prevent the risk of head damage while children are learning to walk, for goodness sake! How I see it is, you may as well live in a bunker if you want to be that safe!

In fact, why bother to be born in the first place?!

The same question is valid not only for living a life in fear and not venturing out but also for not living a committed life. If we play safe for fear of harm, for fear of failure, for fear of success for fear of inadequacy, what point is there to life?

This may occur as a bold, even offensive, stance. Good! I don’t care! I want people to live wonderful fulfilled lives and, sure, they will die one day but they are likely to die a lot happier from that unforeseen accident (which was going to happen anyway when their time has come!) when they have lived life to the full.

Am I crazy? Probably, if you define sanity by reference to the collective agreement on what is “sane”. As I once said to someone I thought a friend (and now know to be its opposite), I would rather be crazy and this happy than supposedly sane and miserable like most people seem to be...indeed I would sooner die!

Walking My Talk, Not Running a Marathon!

It’s interesting how normally I like to live following my heart, doing what feels right moment by moment, yet when I get into something that I am excited about, it can be harder to listen to myself. I am so excited about the business I hope to launch later this year that I can find the excitement coupled with fears and doubts mix together and produce stress. I think I “should” be feeling a certain way or “should” be doing certain things. But that is rubbish and I know it only too well: it is no more true of this than anything else. In fact, I assert that it is a bare-faced lie that the ego tells to get us back under its wings, its tutelage, its misguidance.

What I found in allowing myself to get into this misguide state, somewhat uncharacteristically, earlier this week was that in forcing things it drained my confidence as I produce inferior work yet this does not happen when I go with the flow. It was very uncomfortable for a couple of days as I ploughed on regardless. However, yesterday I had the wisdom to “down tools”, not in rejection of anything but simply recognising I was not in a suitable state of mind to produce something enlightened and life-changing. When I look at it dispassionately, it is patently absurd to attempt to create something that will supposedly teach people how to access their inner greatness when I am doing the exact opposite! After all, if I practice what I preach, just maybe my customers will get it!

So, now it is the morning of the second day when I have vouched to do nothing unless I feel positively drawn to do it, inspired to do it. I will not resume any form of work until it feels right and I feel no guilt - guilt comes from the “shoulds”, things that common social agreement dictate; that we need to work hard and push ahead with things in order to deserve to succeed and in order to make a living for ourselves, a mentality that makes life a constant state of preparing to run a marathon! What utter nonsense is that?! I work for myself, owing no duty other than to myself and the universal life-force that I purport to serve. Indeed, to fulfil on my obligations to myself and “God” (as I will call that life-force for now), I must not allow myself to be driven by anything other than my heart and in that comes freedom, peace and ultimately effortless creativity. I have experienced this time and time again and yet how easily am I fooled by my ego into a different course of action!

You see, I know what I can do when I trust myself and God; I know I can make a difference to people just by my words when I come from my heart and am true to myself. So I will not sell myself (or God) short by one single ounce.

And the impact of this stand for my true worth? I feel great. No more nagging doubts., fear or guilt. Instead, I feel alive and creative and hungry for expression of the creativity in whatever way shows up for now. Who knows what the day may bring and it doesn’t matter if it has nothing to do with my work: if it doesn’t, I trust that there is a reason and it will work out when it is meant to and not before.

A Second Dawn

Beckoned from dormant consciousness by the wise words of a distant friend, I stir from within as I remember who I am and let go of notions that I am less than that. Gone in a flash, I now sit in my haven of peace, the venue for my redemptive meditations and healings, my dog in semi-slumber at my side offering me the solace of his loyalty and love when tears welled up earlier in the pain of my “sleep”.

Now all I do is cast my mind aside and a subtle smile appears on my now peaceful countenance, for it betrays that the truth has returned to my waking state and lends a lie to the nightmares of the conscious mind that tortured me in the early hours of the day.

I feel slightly silly in fact, the thought that I was so carried away by my fears, so forlorn that I contemplated the release of an early death sooner than face a reality of great disappointment in myself. The foolishness is compounded by the notion that I had thought myself “well travelled” on this journey of life, yet still the ego interrupts and troubles me unchecked from time to time. But even that thought is designed by the ego to flail myself with and so is set free and forgotten, since it means nothing and I allow that I am human and may stray and all is well and as it should be.

The result of this re-awakening is a certain lightness of being, an awareness that the state of “less than” in which I have writhed for some time has caused some discomfort in my physical body caused by indigestion and consumption beyond my needs to fill a gap left by the dormant self, the true self. So now I crave nurturing for my body in the form of clean water to drink and pure juices to wash through this abused vehicle to replenish it and show penance for what has gone on before. So it is then that I pray and make offerings to the temple that is my body, the sacred vehicle of this incarnation. So begins the dawn of my day anew.

The Lessons Learnt - Reporting a Shamanic Journey of Discovery

As we ventured forth on our journey, we began to notice animals everywhere, at out side, in front and behind us too. They watched as we roamed around looking for clues and found them too. These animals’ eyes were full of light that shone out and lit the way for us too, like torches in the night.

As we went farther, deeper into the abyss, we found more of the same: everywhere the same in fact, no exception, just light and animals in the place of darkness. It is as if they shone a torch of discovery on every dark patch around us until the dark was no more. In their eyes was the truth of our existence, of our oneness with everything, of the love that unites us all.

As our journey ended and we came back into the world of illusion we found ourselves once more separate and without light, but this time armed with what we saw we could make our own light and let it shine out upon the world and slowly but surely will unfold everlasting light, an end to the darkness illusion on Earth.

So, what we take from this experience, from this journey, is what follows: the light in the animals’ eyes is that which will be gleaned on each and every journey undertaken by the many you will engage in your endeavours and all you need do is be true to yourself on that journey and all else will follow as naturally as night follows day. Lead with inspiration, from the heart and never lose faith in who you are, for it will radiate from you like a beacon and bring light to the many who now seek it, forlorn in the dark worlds of their minds. That is all.

Love and The Second Amendment

Today I want to share an anonymised version of something that took place on Facebook. Someone I respect greatly had started a thread relating to the Second Amendment to the US constitution that purports to grant the right to bear arms. Others exchanged views endorsing the bearing of arms to keep crime low, citing statistical evidence that it works. Born and bred as I was in a country where arms are seriously frowned upon and the example of the US in this regard is seen as essentially extremely negative, I was surprised at the stance of people I know are committed to a new golden age of man in which peace and respect for life are paramount and my “opinions” were tendered accordingly but were not popular, “reasons” for their opinions being cited right, left and centre.

In the end, I withdrew my posts which led to the “host” commenting that he was disappointed that I withdrew my comments as my view was as valid as any (which was kind of him) which prompted me to send him a private message which read:

Dear [Joe]

Sorry if my hasty withdrawal from the thread about arms disappointed you. I did it partly because I should not have been in the thread in the first place plus I genuinely felt shocked/disappointed at the stance taken by people I thought committed to a new age. However, such comments by me, even here, are judgmental and may be why spirit has actively discouraged me from any form of expression of opinion.

I stand for love in the world: no conditions, no “but what about...” or “what if...”, just love. As you are well aware, love is beyond the world of reason and debate is in the world of reason and leads us nowhere but towards separation. I believe that only in my standing in a position of absolute commitment to it in the face of all reason will the new age come about - I cannot change others and do not seek to do so and I forgive those who cannot yet see the implications of their own stand that is less than love. It will work out either way in the end, I believe - however, I also believe that in the absence of enough committed people, the path will be much tougher than it needs to be, but if that is the collective will at present, so be it. God’s will be done. To that I am wedded and my opinions mean nothing, my reasons no more than the logical end-game of the experiences of my ego.

So, I stand for love...no reasons, no apologies and no conditions, even in the face of not having a clue how it can happen in these admittedly compelling reasons...but it will. My faith is stronger than are my reasons.

As a closing point, what was interesting was the reaction of the ego-personality you know as Maitland. He was quite upset at the situation and I see that he fears that it may not happen and that is OK - he is human and forgives himself! I hope you forgive me too.

With love and peace always,

Maitland