Monday, March 12th, 2012 at 8:54 pm
The Second Coming
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
–William Butler Yeats
We live in interesting times, rich with opportunity and fraught with danger. Illusion at every turn, truth mixed with error, it is a moment cosmically ripe for spiritual revolution. Even the sense of time is different. It seems to move faster in reference to exterior events, perhaps because centuries old traditions and institutions are collapsing or are endangered. Inwardly time is not being measured in days and weeks or seconds and minutes but in increments of growth, change and insight and all of this appears against the back drop of the slow-motion catastrophe that appears in the world news. The difficulties and obstacles confronting each and everyone on the spiritual path in this moment of transition are the tenuous stepping stones to the New Era.
Awareness of the fine line separating light from darkness brings into focus who we are and who we may become in our journey toward greater psychological and spiritual wholeness. The evolving soul is delimited by the world view she has embraced and by what has been transmitted through parents and culture, consciously and unconsciously. Inherited and often largely unexamined beliefs about life have created a ceiling restricting the natural upward evolution of self and society, of consciousness itself. It is difficult to rise higher than the philosophies with which we have encumbered ourselves. But all of this is changing. Lord Talbot in King Henry VI reminds us of the latent potential of our higher, more noble Self, "No, no, I am but a shadow of myself: you are deceiv’d, my substance is not here; for what you see is but the smallest part, and…were the whole frame here, it is of such a lofty and spacious pitch, your roof were not sufficient to contain it."
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Tuesday, February 28th, 2012 at 9:23 pm
I hope you have a chance to listen to Akiane on YouTube, to read her poetry and to see her gallery of paintings which are easily found on the internet. I was feeling creatively flat when I happened to catch an interview with her. I was moved by her deep connection with God and how effortlessly she accessed her artistic potential. Her mother described her seriousness and dedication to art, rising at four in the morning to go work at the studio. Akiane explained to her mother “You don’t wait for inspiration; it waits for you.” How much do we miss because we don’t present our self to the muse?
I selected one of her works for comment and to share my appreciation of her art with you. Below is Akiane’s self portrait. It is a visual treatise on Selfhood. She is a stand-in for each of us. At least, this is how I see it. The real Cosmos is the backdrop and yet a beautiful living star is just now being painted. Look at the starlit left hand. Look at her balance and her focus. Everything is vivid, breathing life –conscious yet still with the serenity of wholeness. She has merged with cosmos… or is cosmos merging and expressing itself (Herself) through her? Which is which? She captured the ultimate creative moment when the soul reflects the face of God, in whose image she is made and through this act dissolves into the Eternal Now. What I see in Akiane’s art is what I hear with the poems of Rumi, the revelation of my own soul.
The revelation of God as God is enfolded within the self as Self. Let go and merge into the unfettered world, your own radiant expression of the loved inner child self, far beyond the captivating constraints of millennial judgments and ego expression. Beyond good and evil, it awaits as a Presence, always present. In the hush Rumi’s voice comes in distant echoes, “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right-doing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” The Divine is waiting…
What I know of God is not measured in my limitation but in God’s infinite capacity to manifest in me the longing to be my Self, not only as identity but as an act of being, to create and share with me the higher reality I am becoming, ever singing into my heart the soul-stirring song of Awakening . Where does the music come from? Who is the musician? Who is listening? Is the beauty in the notes or in the silence that separates them? Am I now the note?
The joy of God’s creating is the pain in my increasing. Does this register consciously or is this the striving of dreams. And when I awake, am I entering another dream? No, when the starlight of cosmos was revealed, it was I who painted it. Cosmos and Psyche are both implicated; they are one and inseparable. It is God looking through my eyes. It is God who guides my brush. I am whole.
Thank you Akiane, for your beautiful gift.
by Michael McCann
Monday, January 16th, 2012 at 2:34 pm
There is a wonderful article to be found at http//www.urbandharma.org entitled Friendship in the Spiritual Community. Here the author shares an account of a conversation between Ananda and the Buddha. “Lord”, Ananda declares, “this spiritual friendship, spiritual companionship and spiritual intimacy is no less than half of the spiritual life.” The Buddha replies, “Say not so Ananda. It is the whole, not the half of the spiritual life.”
The idea about the essential nature and importance of friendship really made me pause and reflect. Certainly our spirituality does not exist in a vacuum. Words like love, compassion and forgiveness are not empty ideations but exist in relationship to another, to “I and Thou”. Here is the ‘word’ made manifest. Relationships are the proving ground of our evolving consciousness. I would like to highlight the following points made by the author.
- Many of those Buddhists who are familiar with the concept of spiritual friendship or kalyana mitrata think of it in terms of a ‘teacher-disciple’ relationship (or a ‘vertical’ relationship). As a result they pay little attention to a vital dimension of spiritual friendship that could be called horizontal friendship: that is, friendship with one’s peers.
- Notwithstanding the common image of the Buddha as solitary and withdrawn, in the East many images depict the Buddha accompanied by his chief disciples Sariputta and Moggallana, with hands raised in respect before them. Such images are, in effect, representations of the Buddha and the Sangha, (spiritual community) incorporating the vertical and horizontal axis of spiritual friendship in a single image.
- Far from being an incidental pleasure in the essentially solitary business of spiritual life, there are passages in the Buddhist scriptures which suggest that friendship between peers belongs not only to the Path but also to the Goal. (Italics mine.)
Christ imparted the concept of the vertical and horizontal axis of friendship, as well. “Wherever two or more are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Walking the spiritual path together secures the blessings of the Teacher and the Teaching. In friendship our shortcomings and flaws are only passing shadows, a source of humor and pathos. We are reinforced on our journey by the true bonds of friendship– those formed by our aspirations for transcendence. Here in the living world, we are blest to find friendship and to discover in it a deep well– a profound source and activator of psychological insight and spiritual growth.
Monday, July 25th, 2011 at 8:40 pm
I would like to add a comment on the entry regarding the massacre of the innocents in Norway. We see many events taking place in the world and feel powerless against them. But this powerlessness is the result of the projections of those who seek control for their fear of freedom.
I am immediately reminded of the parable of the Grand Inquisitor in The Brothers Karamozov, when the Grand Inquisitor faces Christ and says,
Didst Thou not often say then: “I will make you free”? …For fifteen centuries we have been wrestling with Thy freedom, but now it is over for good…But let me tell Thee that now, today, people are more persuaded than ever that they have perfect freedom, yet they have brought their freedom to us and laid it humbly at our feet.”
He also says, “Instead of taking freedom from them, Thou made it greater than ever! Didst Thou forget that man prefers peace and even death, to freedom of choice in the knowledge of good and evil. Nothing is more seductive for man than his freedom of conscience, but nothing is a greater cause of suffering.” Read More »
Tuesday, July 12th, 2011 at 8:43 am
July 12, 2011 – ROME – 2011 is on target to record the largest number of earthquakes in a single year for at least 12 years. Research by Irish Weather Online, using data from the US Geological Survey (USGS), has found that earthquake activity (5.0-9.9 magnitude) from 01 January to 19 June 2011 is already exceeding the total annual seismic activity for the years 2001, 2002 and 2003. 2011’s total number of recorded earthquakes is also expected to exceed the most seismically active year of the past 12 years, 2007. A total of 1,445 earthquakes, ranging in magnitude from 5.0 to 9.9, have been recorded in the year up to 19
June. The total number of earthquakes recorded globally for the entire of 2007 was 2,270. The massive earthquakes in Japan (2011), Chile (2010), Sichuan (2008), Sumatra (2005 and 2008) and Indonesia (2004) have served to remind us of the devastating impact of earthquakes on life and property. While the number of earthquakes ranging between 8.0 magnitude and 9.9 magnitude have shown no significant increases in recent years, the number of earthquakes ranging 5.0 magnitude to 7.9 magnitude is rising. In particular there has been a sharp rise during the past 12 years of moderate earthquakes in the range 5-6.9. While considered moderate to strong on the Richter Scale and far less severe than 7+ magnitude quakes, earthquakes in this range can still cause widespread damage and loss of life. Some well known examples include Haiti in 2010 (7 mag), San Francisco Bay, California, USA, in 1989 (6.9 mag), Caracas, Venezuela, in 1965 (6.5 mag), Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2011 (6.3 mag), L’Aquila, Italy in 2009 (5.8 mag), and Newcastle , Australia, in 1989 (5.6 mag). In the last 24 hours alone earthquakes ranging 5 magnitude or more have hit Tonga, Fiji, Panama, the South Sandwich Islands, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Peru and Indonesia. Seismologists argue that an increase in detected earthquakes does not necessarily represent an increase in actual earthquakes. The USGS, for example, says improved global communication and enhancements in detection technology have both contributed to higher earthquake numbers being recorded over time. –Irish Weather Online
247. Thus during cosmic shiftings a new keynote must definitely resound….For the new manvantara one must saturate space with the call to Hierarchy. Only thus can the best foundations of Existence enter into life. Hence our Teaching is so vital, hence our Hierarchy is so mighty, hence the great focus is given–for everything is grouped around the seed, and each step has its own saturation. -El Morya: Hierarchy 1931 from Agni Yoga
As earth and mankind go through this geological, physical, political, cultural, emotional, mental and spiritual transition, the hearts and hands of souls of light are called to serve their brothers and sisters in travail.
As best selling author Dannion Brinkley says, ” If God could not be here today, and He sent you, what difference has God made?” We are our brothers and sister’s keepers. Hold a hand, soothe a heart, bake bread, weed a garden, make tea, take someone to an errand, and be the difference.
Give the rosary, offer up violet flame mantras and decrees, meditate and grow. We are also called to reach out to others, build community and see the Logos and Christos in each heart.
We can do this together. We can make the difference in this time.
Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011 at 4:34 pm
Transmutation and Earthquakes
Nearly ninety years ago the Ascended Master El Morya physically contacted Nicholas Roerich, the Russian visionary artist, and his wife Helena in London after their escape from revolutionary Russia. They were able to maintain their contact with him and gave the world the Teachings of Agni Yoga.
Here are a number of poetic mediation glyphs from Nicholas and Helena Roerich from their Agni Yoga Society books on the subject of earthchanges, earthquakes and the power of transmutation which lies in the collective and personal consciousness.
Consider this idea: take One Prayer of fire, hope and light into your very heart. Become it, pray it, decree it, say it aloud as a mighty fiat to heaven. Gather with friends to meditate and pray. Let the world hear your voice rising to stay the tide of fear, hate, division and anger. Read More »
Editor
Community, Personal Transformation, Science of the Spoken Word, Spiritual Transformation, Violet Flame
Agni Yoga Society, earthchanges, El Morya, Nature & Elementals, Nicholas Roerich, spiritual brotherhood, world transformation
Sunday, February 13th, 2011 at 11:11 am
We are posting this essay from our friends at Starfires Astrology. This blog gives key information for our nation and world in terms of astrology, personal and planetary transformation and transmutation.
Learn more about the alchemy of the violet flame and the power of this new spiritual dispensation. The Violet Flame was first given in the 20th century to seekers on the spiritual path as a scientific and spiritual tool to accelerate consciousness and vibration so earth could transit more peacefully through these difficult times. Read More »
Editor
Alchemy, Astrology, Personal Transformation, Spiritual Transformation, Violet Flame
Astrology, Personal Transformation, Science of the Spoken Word, spiritual awakening, spiritual brotherhood, Violet Flame, world transformation
Monday, December 6th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Awakening To The Fire Of Our Reality
“Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit around it and pluck blackberries.”
–Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Moses met the Eternal God in the burning bush. When Moses asked His Name, He said, “I AM THAT I AM”. A Name given to mankind as a memorial to all generations and a statement of Being.
Where is our burning bush? It can come at any moment, the awareness of your child’s laugh, the goodness of a stranger, the remarkable miracle of a sunset, the quality of light pouring across the city or the plains. The Immanent God is all around us, beckoning us to a greater sense of reality.
Our calling is to awaken. The Buddha said, “I am awake”. Let us awaken.
“Earth is a planet of violet fire, earth is the purity God desires. I am a being of violet fire, I am the purity God desires”.
Try this prayer as you walk through your day and awaken.
Monday, August 2nd, 2010 at 11:52 am
A riveting account of a near death experience is given in a book called Secrets of the Light. Dannion Brinkley describes his shocking experience of death and of his consciousness or soul passing out of his body -more than once- and exploring the mysteries just beyond our daily level of reality.
Dannion saw the crystalline or etheric cities or the “heaven world”. He experienced the power of prayer and meditation to set one ‘s self free as well as setting others free from the downward pull of sadness, regret, violence and war. He was also shown a spiritual gift rather unknown to many spiritual seekers, that of the violet light or violet flame.
It is like the alchemical elixir of ancient times that was said to restore youth and well being. Taken in a spiritual context, this violet flame restores the spirit and transmutes the lead of mistakes, wrong doing and pain into the gold of opportunity, mercy and forgiveness.