The Glue that Binds Us All

Forest Flowers
Fairy Meadow by Nancy L

On a hike last year in the mountains, I walked out of pine forest into a clearing and found myself suddenly surrounded by flowers. The sight was so stunning that I can still picture it now months later. There were flowers, so many flowers everywhere! White, pink, violet, yellow blooms all around me; small whispers of color, large flagrant displays and every size and shape in between. Flowers were trumpeting the joy of life from every corner.

No two flowers in that clearing were exactly alike, yet all were similar. And seeing all those flower patterns reminded me of fractals; Scientists claim that every object in the Universe is created from sacred geometric fractal patterns. The same basic fractal patterns repeat again and again to form the foundation of every single object in our Universe.

Patterns within Patterns

I believe that these fractal patterns describe what human Souls are really like – our Souls express infinite variations of shape and hue that reflect patterns of the divine energy in unique and wonderful way; we are different and the same all at once. We are fractals in a field overflowing with fractals.

Spiritual teachers from every tradition have written and spoken about this field of sacred fractal patterns. This sacred field is known as the Akasha, a Sanskrit word that actually means “space”.  Many of the world’s ancient spiritual traditions (Taoists, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Mayans, Druids, etc.) claim that this field is where energies that log all of your Soul’s experiences from every lifetime since the beginning of the World are held.

“A substructure underpins the universe that is essentially a recording medium of everything, providing a means for everything to communicate with everything else. People are indivisible from their environment.”
~Lynne McTaggart

This field is also known as the Void – although, in my experience, it is far from empty. It holds all of the vibrational patterns of YOU in lifetime after lifetime. Sacred texts tell us that Akashic records are held in a vibrational form in this field. The Akasha hold the patterns of your actions and reactions while in human form; your beliefs, and your choices as well as the rippling impact (AKA karma) of each choice.

Web of Life

Akasha represent the “glue” of Spirit; the energetic relationships that weave and hold our Universe together. In many Native American tribes a legend is told of grandmother spider creating the Universe by weaving it all together with invisible threads.  And modern quantum physicists speak of “gluon”, the invisible force that binds subatomic particles together. Other scientists write about the Zero Point Field or Quantum Field; an invisible field of constantly oscillating energies that create the foundational structure of our entire Universe.

The Tao, gluon, web of life, Akasha, quantum field, zero point field… choose whatever name fits for you. Just know that you are connected and interrelated to every other part of the Universe through this magical web. The energy of the Tao or Akasha flows all around us in each moment. And it also flows within each of us; it is the energy of Soul and it animates and organizes our human form. It is the field of creation where everything is possible.

We are waves of Spirit,

We are born; we rise and flow
on the ocean of consciousness

Before falling once more
into the silent depths of the Tao.

 Soul Space Meditation

There is a space where true healing resides. This space is infinitesimally small, yet expansive beyond all reason. It lies at the edge of the Great Unknown. Step inside this space and you will know the healing power of boundless love. The divine essence of life is here and all is well.

How do you find this tiny space from which healing beckons? There are many paths; prayer, time in Nature, communing with children, conscious breathwork, dance… the list of ways is as endless as the stars.

Here is one simple way:

Sit. Your back is upright, your shoulders relaxed, your belly soft and your chin parallel to the floor.  Just Sit.

Now, close your eyes and breathe. Just breathe. Feel your breath move in and out of your chest; In and out, in and out. Once, twice, a hundred times, just breathe. It is so simple yet hard. Just breathe and your mind kicks into overdrive. Your thoughts will try to get in your way.

But you are not your thoughts. There is far more to you than thought. You are Soul. You are endless and eternal. You can step out of the way of your thoughts and watch them dance by. You can witness the flow of your own mind. Yes you can. Again and again, step out of your thoughts.

Again and again, breath in and watch, breathe out and watch. Step out of your thoughts, Observe the incessant chatter of your “monkey mind”, always restless, always grasping. Notice how feeling arise within you and then fade away.

Step out of your thoughts again and again. And come back to the breath. Feel the rise and fall. Air rolls in to your body and air rolls out. This is the universal wave of life force. Explore each wave as it rolls in and out of you.

Try to find the pause between two breaths. Sit in the pause, explore the pause, that razor sharp edge between the out- breath and the in. Explore that edge and feel it expand.

Again and again, step out of your thoughts. Ride the wave of breath. And find the space between. Breathe and explore the space that flows with the essence of you.

Each of us was born from the Tao. And we return to it when we leave here. Consciously connecting to this flow is transformative; it will help you “wake up” to your Soul’s purpose and remember why you are here. It will clarify and solidify your priorities and become an inner true north that guides your life.

The Tao of Flow

Still Water

There was something formless and perfect
before the universe was born.
It is serene. Empty.
Solitary. Unchanging.
Infinite. Eternally present.
It is the mother of the universe.
For lack of a better name,
I call it the Tao.

Since before time and space were,
the Tao is.

It is beyond is and is not.
How do I know this is true?
I look inside myself and see.

~Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 

The Smell of Spring

Spring Crocus
First Bloom by Nancy L

Last night it rained. This morning when I walked the dog, there was a scent in the air that took me a moment or two to place… Then suddenly I remembered; it is the smell of soil waking up, coming alive after its long sleep.  It is the smell of spring.

Go outside and sniff the air. Do you smell it? Listen. Perhaps you can hear the gentle whispers? Mama earth is beginning to stir. All winter, she has quietly held the seeds of spring in her soil body; she has coddled them and kept them safe, waiting for the time to sprout. And now spring is almost here and the seeds are stirring, preparing to crack open and grow new life.

The chickadees know; they whistle to each other from every treetop in my neighborhood. My dog knows; she sniffs at the soil with new interest. And the sheep know; they birth their lambs in February, knowing spring is almost here. My Celtic ancestors celebrated Imbolc at the time of lamb birthing. It was their way of honoring the end of winter and the promise of life returning to the land. Modern man has turned Imbolc into Groundhog Day, but I personally prefer the celebratory air of ancient Imbolc.

It has been snowing and snowing here, even more than usual. And I had begun to worry that winter might decide to go on and on and on. But then, on a cold, wet day in February, I hear earth’s whispers and I get a whiff of her soil coming alive. It feels like I just received a message from a long lost lover. And I instantly know that the spring I crave is on its way back to me.

Seed Time

Trail to Mt Sanitas

On Winter Solstice, we officially entered into Seed Time in the northern hemisphere. The sun moved into the sign of earthy Capricorn, the master of building and manifesting.

Winter is the time in Mama Earth’s cycle when she becomes still and appears to be lifeless. But beneath the surface, our earthy mother is very much alive; she is quietly gestating  seeds for the new year, loving and holding them safe in the dark. This time of holding in the dark ensures that when spring arrives, the new seeds will be ready to sprout and grow.

What is yearning to come into your life now?

How does the Universe want each of us to sprout and grow in 2015?

Let’s get still and listen in the darkness…

☾ ☽

“Creativity – like human life itself – begins in darkness.”

~Julia Cameron

What if the Temple was the Earth?

What if the Temple was the Earth?

What If?

What if our religion was each other?

If our practice was our life?

If prayer was our words?

What if the Temple was the Earth?

If forests were our church?

If holy water—the rivers, lakes and oceans?

What if meditation was our relationships?

If the Teacher was life?

If wisdom was self-knowledge?

If love was the center of our being

~Ganga White

The Soul, Like the Moon

 

Moon Starfish
Moon Starfish

The soul, like the moon,

is new, and always new again.

 

And I have seen the ocean

continuously creating.

 

Since I scoured my mind

and my body, I too

am new, each moment new. 

 

My teacher told me one thing,

live in the soul. 

 

When that was so,

I began to go naked,

and dance. 

 

~Lalla, 14th century Kashmir,
Translation by  Coleman Barks

Hum the Truth

Grasshopper and Zinnia
Grasshopper and Zinnia

An excerpt from “Your Very Own Flavor of Poetry”

…You came here to hum the truth
that comes in only your
color

to sit inside the arms of a moment
to find breath in each drop of dark, to skip and sip and frolic
with every fleeting firefly
of light

You came here to give oxygen to words
to spin every stain
and splash
into your very own flavor
of poetry

You came here to look into your own eyes
and  whisper –
Beloved…

~Julia Fehrenbacher
The Painted Path