A Song of Peace and a Story of Truth

This chant-song is performed by JaiMa James, who also put together the sacred images from Eastern and Western traditions.

from dharma-haven.org:

The mantra, Om Mani Padme Hum, originated in India; as it moved from India into Tibet, the pronunciation changed because some of the sounds in the Indian Sanskrit language were hard for Tibetans to pronounce.

Sanskrit form:  Om Mani Padme Hum

Tibetan form:  Om Mani Peme Hung

The True Sound of Truth

An old story speaks about a similar problem. A devoted meditator, after years concentrating on a particular mantra, had attained enough insight to begin teaching. The student’s humility was far from perfect, but the teachers at the monastery were not worried.

A few years of successful teaching left the meditator with no thoughts about learning from anyone; but upon hearing about a famous hermit living nearby, the opportunity was too exciting to be passed up.

The hermit lived alone on an island at the middle of a lake, so the meditator hired a man with a boat to row across to the island. The meditator was very respectful of the old hermit. As they shared some tea made with herbs the meditator asked him about his spiritual practice. The old man said he had no spiritual practice, except for a mantra which he repeated all the time to himself. The meditator was pleased: the hermit was using the same mantra he used himself — but when the hermit spoke the mantra aloud, the meditator was horrified!

“What’s wrong?” asked the hermit.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m afraid you’ve wasted your whole life! You are pronouncing the mantra incorrectly!”

“Oh, Dear! That is terrible. How should I say it?”

The meditator gave the correct pronunciation, and the old hermit was very grateful, asking to be left alone so he could get started right away. On the way back across the lake the meditator, now confirmed as an accomplished teacher, was pondering the sad fate of the hermit.

“It’s so fortunate that I came along. At least he will have a little time to practice correctly before he dies.”

Island in Lake Atter by Gustav Klimt, 1901

Just then, the meditator noticed that the boatman was looking quite shocked, and turned to see the hermit standing respectfully on the water, next to the boat.

“Excuse me, please. I hate to bother you, but I’ve forgotten the correct pronunciation again. Would you please repeat it for me?”

“You obviously don’t need it,” stammered the meditator; but the old man persisted in his polite request until the meditator relented and told him again the way he thought the mantra should be pronounced.

The old hermit was saying the mantra very carefully, slowly, over and over, as he walked across the surface of the water back to the island.

story from dharma haven

Joy to the World

Celebrate

A Call to Conscious Evolution

If we make the conscious choice to evolve, sometimes our changes may appear to be mystical transformations…

Allow yourself to take flight!

Read more about The Call to Conscious Evolution: Our Moment of Choice from www.Care2.com

At the Edge

This is a post from my dawnings.org website I had to share, because I just had the amazing, blessed honor to witness a supernova.

rebellious supernova confronts dark energy

An incredibly dear friend of mine called for a phone session because she was on the edge.  I call it ‘on the edge’ when we can no longer make sense of what is around us.  We aren’t quite fitting into our old version of reality, and aren’t quite yet gliding into our future.  We are on the edge.  When we have this experience, I suggest we look at the choice in front of us.  Living in the old is unacceptable – too painful and limiting.  The only real option is to be willing to experience something brand new.  Something we haven’t felt before.  Maybe we can imagine it, maybe not – but we know it is there.  It has to be.  We have outgrown the old so there must be something new for us.  That is the way of life.  All life.  That eternal essence is always able to take on a new form somehow.  Just as caterpillars emerge from their chrysalis with a brand new body and new way of being and a new mission, we have the same opportunity.  So for us, our catalyst may be pain.  Confusion.  Fear.  We may wrap ourselves in a cocoon looking for security. The only way to move forward, though, is to allow change.  As long as we stay in that old space looking for new answers we will remain frustrated.

Stars by Maxfield Parrish

We may begin our personal transformation by expressing our willingness to step beyond that edge of the old known world.  This in itself may be scary and confusing.  We have no idea what is there until we step over that edge and walk into our new life.

I am blessed to have the honor of assisting people at this edge.  I can help them to see what is beyond.  What they may choose.  To remind them that this is why they are here – to keep growing into that next amazing version of themselves.  Even stronger and brighter and clearer and more beautiful than what came before.  I am here to help them embody more of their pure, eternal essence here in this amazing flow of life.  To me, the edge is such a sacred place of birth that I am always overcome with awe and wonder.  It is my joy and my honor to be invited as an assistant and witness at this new beginning.

So, back to my friend who just went supernova.  That is the only way I can describe it right now.  As soon as she expressed her willingness to change, she started shining with such an intense light that the shock waves rolled through me two thousand miles away. She wasn’t destroyed, just beautifully transformed.

There is a lot of this transformation going on right now as more of us make our choices.  As we move beyond our edge, we are filled with more light, love, and expanded awareness.  As we choose to embody more of our true selves, the entire cosmos shines brighter.  We can move across that edge, and create a life of new joys.  We can.  I am seeing it all around me.

What are you choosing?  I encourage you to look inside and feel your truth.  Please express that truth as only you can.  You are a unique expression of miraculous eternal life.  Are you ready to move beyond the edge?

Loving Your Shadow

I am offering a teleclass on Tuesday, October 14th on “Loving Your Shadow”.

Bells 2 by Edmund Dulac

If your peaceful ecstasy could use a little assistance, you can read more about it on my other website, dawnings.org.

Friends

view more at http://plfoto.com/1106352/zdjecie.html

the golden glow

Photo by Kelly

Dare to Awaken, Dare to Love

“Dare, O human being, to awaken! Harmonize your song; intensify your commitment. Consult your heart and your heart alone. Expose yourself to loving; seek the protection of Love. To arrive at true being, come past the curtain waving in front of the Divine Light, which is your own light.”
– Lex Hixon (Nur al Jerrahi)

“His experience of being “orthodox in five different spiritual traditions” produced a unique philosophy, a “theory of relativity for religions”. He touched thousands of lives with his warm, joyful manner of teaching, celebrating, and encouraging spiritual seekers of all kinds.”

read more from Wikipedia, or at lexhixon.org, or ozakhixon.org

Soul

Soul

The Soul, secure in her existence,

smiles at the drawn dagger and defies its point.

The stars shall fade away,

the sun himself grow dim with age

and nature sink in years,

but thou shalt flourish in immortal youth,

unhurt amid the wars of elements,

the wreck of matter,

and the crush of worlds.

From “Cato” by Joseph Addison, 1713.

Moon Goddess by Josephine Wall

more by Josephine Wall