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(30 April - 12 May, 2008)
30 April, 2008: Seven Generations
Scientists are alerting us to the fragility and sensitivity of our planet.
It is the tradition of the Iroquois people that in arriving at a decision
they consider its implications right down to the seventh generation that
comes after them.
David Peat "Blackfoot Physics"
May 1, 2008: Initiatory Events
Initiatory events are those that mark a man or woman's life forever, that
pull a person deeper into life than they would normally chose to go. Initiatory
events are those that define who a person is, or cause some power to erupt
from them, or strip everything from them until all that is left is their
essential self.
Michael Mead "Men and the Water of Life"
May 2, 2008: Grace and acceptance
Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It strikes
us when we walk through the dark valley of an empty and meaningless life.
It strikes us when we feel that our separation is deeper than usual, because
we have violated another life, a life which we loved, or from which we
were estranged. It strikes us when our disgust for our own being, our
indifference, our weakness, our hostility, and our lack of direction and
composure have become intolerable to us. It strikes us when, year after
year, the longed-for perfection of life does not appear, when the old
compulsions reign within us as they have for decades, when despair destroys
all joy and courage.
Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and
it is as though a voice were saying: "You are accepted. You are accepted,
accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you
do not know. Do not ask for the name now, perhaps you will find it later.
Do not try to do anything now; perhaps later you will do much. Do not
seek for anything; do not perform anything; do not intend anything. Simply
accept the fact that you are accepted!"
If that happens to us, we experience grace. After such an experience we
may not be better than before, and we may not believe more than before.
But everything is transformed. In that moment grace conquers sin, and
the reconciliation bridges the gulf of estrangement. and nothing is demanded
of this experience, no religious or moral or intellectual presupposition,
nothing but acceptance.
Paul Tillich "You are Accepted"
May 5, 2008: Knowing Nothing
A warrior acts as if he knows what he is doing, when in effect he knows
nothing.
Carlos Castaneda "Journey to Ixtlan"
May 6, 2008: THE WEST AND INDIGENOUS CULTURES
My elders are convinced that the West is as endangered as the indigenous
cultures it has decimated in the name of colonialism. There is no doubt
that, at this time in history, Western civilisation is suffering a great
sickness of the soul. The West's progressive turning away from functional
spiritual values; its total disregard for the environment and the protection
of natural resources; the violence of inner cities with their problems
of poverty, drugs, and crime; spiralling unemployment and economic disarray;
and growing intolerance towards people of colour and the values of other
cultures-- all of these trends, if unchecked, will eventually bring about
a terrible self-destruction.
In the face of all this global chaos, the only possible hope is self-transformation.
Unless we as individuals find new ways of understanding between people,
ways that can touch and transform the heart and soul deeply, both indigenous
cultures and those in the West will continue to fade away, dismayed that
all the wonders of technology, all the many philosophical "isms",
and all the planning of the global corporations will be helpless to reverse
this trend.
Malidoma Patrice Some "Of Water and the Spirit. Ritual, Magic,
and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman"
May 7, 2008: When the ways of women are forgotten
When the ways of women are forgotten, only the voices of men are heard.
Without the stories of women, only male heroes are born.
When the language spoken can be understood by half the community, the
wisdom of the ages is lost.
Reinventing the wheel every generation should not be necessary.
Pamela Metz and Jacqueline Tobin "The Tao of Women"
May 8, 2008: The conditions for insight
You have to create the conditions for insight to arrive. You have to stand
on the edge of the unknown.
If you rearrange the pieces of the known world you still have the known
world.
James O'Dea (Institute of Noetic Sciences)
May 9, 2008: If we want to be loved
If we want to be loved, the way to get it is to love. It is not only the
very best method, but it is the only method. To receive love we must love
because what we give out must come back. If I love you, I feel wonderful.
If you love me, you feel wonderful. It’s the one who loves who feels
great. So wanting to be loved is getting into a direction that can never
be satisfied. The happy one is the one loving, the one giving.
Lester Levinson 'The Power of Love'
May 12, 2008: Creativity, Inspiration and Spirit
The most enjoyable thing for me...is the inspirational, the spirit...
my joy is when you're like possessed, like a medium.
I'll be sitting around, it will come in the middle of the night ...this
thing comes as a whole piece, you know, words and music. I think - Can
I say I wrote it? I don't know who the hell wrote it. I'm just sitting
here and the whole damn song comes out.
John Lennon. (Quoted in Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh "The
Elixir and the Stone: The Tradition of Magic and Alchemy")
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