I've been having physical health issues, and naturally they're related to re-balancing in all the other energy centers:  emotions, personal will, heart connection, communication, intuition and always, those connections in oneness at the indescribable dimensions.

I've come to realize it's not an issue of causation as it is an issue of awareness. When I'm aware at the intuitive level, I am aware of what is about to happen, and of the choices I'm making, or not, at that time....

 It's not about the illness; for it is known that before an illness appears, the healing energies are present in our aura. So, I had seen it. 

It's not about 'me', because our boundaries are not as rigid as we imagine, and healing, being about wholeness, involves all who are near and dear to us.

Anyway, what's it all to do with the healing party? I wasn't  sending out for healing and  seeing why in that area as well, when suddenly in one of my healing groups, a call was sent out for another. As we got together, there was a miraculous event, and so I sent out mine.

Shall I ask another, she asked me, "the more the merrier"

That really hit me! Nicely.

We celebrate birthdays in physical and cyber space, and room launches- over at the 50+stars group today - and weddings and I've even heard of divorce parties.

So - why not a healing party? Why not be merry? For the healing started with the asking. Actually, before it.

So- we celebrate. And I'm going on a drive with my husband to pick up my mother from my sister's place..

And that's healing in itself.

I got some facts from my father who's visiting us :

Dada, is it Hardwar or Haridwar?

Both, he said - it can be called etiher Hardwar or Haridwar. Har after Lord Shiva and Hari is Lord Vishnu. But it is more appropriate to call it Haridwar, because it is on the path to Badrinath, which is the abode of Lord Vishnu.

And what about Dehradun?

That is about 3,000 feet above sea level. It is on the foothills.

And Rishikesh....even higher.

And Kulu Manali?


So now I am reminded of my journeys to the Himalayas. For indians they're not just mountains, they're places where rishi- munis live; the sages who are sometimes even more revered than the Gods; the ones who are in samadhi, deep meditation, in constant awareness of what is happening in the world and worlds.

There is that inner journey in which I have visited the HImalayas and felt the sages who live there, yearned even in childhood to be around the miracle of their living, and then there are the travels in childhood.

So for now: Haridwar.

There is an old family photo of three sisters: there is the oldest holding her littlest sister in her lap, almost bent over with her weight, as she was but three years younger, and the middle one on the side. In those days, when we posed for pictures, we would fan out our frocks. I seem to remember doing that.... Of course, it's a black and white photo.

Even then the marvel of the Ganga flowing swiftly by, was a huge draw. We stayed in a rest-house on its bank, and played in its icy waters each morning. The current is so swift, but my father said that in childhood they'd swim on it.

When I was first told that Christ walked on water, I pictured him walking on the Ganga at Haridwar.

I don't remember much more than the fresh breeze that I feel still, and that refreshes me.

We were told that the Ganga has pure water that can never be polluted. Human beings habitation and industries on the banks have put that myth to rest. But in our hearts, the Ganga too is not just a river; it is a symbol of purity that flows within.

I remember my great-grandfather, the huge bear-like man who was the kindest, gentlest grown-up I knew, who accompanied us. And Naniji, great-grandmother, the wisest person I have ever met- smallest in height, a delight to children, and largest in influence, a source of continuing wisdom. 

And the blessed presence of my dearest parents, who are visiting us now.

In the way that space and time come together, we are all together here - accompanying Swamiji as he makes his way back to his beloved mountains, with Nanaji and Nanima who are now revered ancestors, with my childhood self , always serious, whose hand I hold, and whom I embrace lovingly - ah yes, there is now a smile on the face.

And all my friends on Gaia, whose presence has caused this one to smile, and be sustained and happy --are there with me.

Thank you all.

Being alive, we inflict hurt without awareness
Being emotional, we feel hurt in many ways
Being social, we learn ways of showing  in public
Being loving, we know that hurt HURTS
Being intelligent, we know the processes of hurt and its removal
Being empathic, we feel the hurt of some or all
Being spiritual, we transcend hurt feelings
Being healers we transmute the hurt
Being still, we are aware of the hurt and what is within and around it
Being human, we have the choice of all of these.


[inspired by the discussion Open Windows. How do I handle my hurt feelings - 2 ]

1) Do you talk to your own "heart" (conscience, inner voice, true self)?

We speak. On occasion when we're silent, we are in communion.


2) Name one thing that helps clear your mind and heart.

Breathing in ight, breathing out light


3) Pick three words that describe how you feel when in sync with your heart.

Joyful, knowing, clear

4) Do you think you have strong intuition?
(a simple yes or no is okay, or elaborate as you like ;)

Yes

5) Do you feel peaceful while cleanimg dishes like Santiago in the book, or annoyed or just wet?

Peaceful, inspired, expanded. And when Whiskers jumps up the ledge outside to look in, and taps at the window wonderingly, trying to grasp this concept of clear glass, we travere time and space to a civilization long ago, when we were together perhaps and he was sacred...or perhaps, I think, as his head follows the movements of my hands - he is learning how to wash dishes for his next lifetime,as a human!



No wonder I love washing dishes. It's so...grounding!!! LOL!!!!

[inspired by  Friday Five of the True Heart  Posted on Oct 30th, 2009 by Gaia Team]

  

As a child, I loved raw fruit. The opportunity to bite into a freshly plucked grown but hard guava vied for favor with the crisp sweetness of the ripening fruit. A 'ripe' guava - no, I could not eat it. Too soft  for me.

When you bite into a fully grown unripe fruit, your biting draws out its juice and its sweetness. It doesn't just yield its flavor, but keeps it ready for the strength of your jaws, the sharpness of your teeth.

I was content to do the same with relationships. It wouldn't be easy. Words would be misunderstood, intentions misconstrued, contemplative silence perceived as a threat. So I rose to the surface of the ocean. I spoke, I communicated, I learned some of the ways of the world, made friends, went for lunches.

The silence of the deep ocean calls to me again.

I wonder if aging teeth will convince the tongue to be satisfied with the easy sweetness of ripe guava.




Perhaps if I call it amrood, as my mother first called it when she described how she likes only raw fruit. She grew up in gardens with fruit trees, and which child can wait for fruit to ripen before eating it?

Change yourself, they said
For I cannot see your light
Don't feel your love or your caring
Can only see your might

Don't speak! they said
Just listen to my cry
For my needs drum in my ears
And your words distract

Be different, they said
For you are hiding what you feel
You do not show what you are
And your actions surprise

So I changed and I changed
turning and turning
Their anger and their fear
Made me go deeper within

And when I went within
I found that it was light
The light within shone clear
Their eyes were dimmed in fear

They could not see their light
So they struck out in fright
Distraught, confused, in fear
Not going deeper within

Buffeted by ocean waves
I dove into the depths
Whipped by winds of rage
Turned to the still within

From within the ocean depths arose a fountain of such might
That some who saw it, cried --no! That's too much light!
Stay at the ocean waves, don't leave the chaos just yet
For we need you, but we do not see your light

Namaste, said the soft voice
I see the light within you
Light within me reaches the ilght within you
And bathes the chaos in bliss

~~A magical conversation~~

When I first heard the words "Pray...pray...pray....Gaia is calling" by one who I knew progressively as Eli ,Swami Shraddhasudhasharananda, Guruji to some and Swami Eli to others--and all these and more  to me! - I was aware of different layers of interpretation, each thought with its opposite, all chaotic

Something's wrong with Earth, and our prayers will help --But why should we interfere with what's going on?
We are being asked to connect ~ Aren't we already connected?
We're being asked to pray - isn't the heart always  at prayer?

Layers through chaos...the way a star begins to shine.

Those powerful words kept ringing in my ears, till like a mantra that begins to flow into our energy field, they went beyond words into the essence.

When Siona began the Gaia Minute Call meditations, I realized that I would need to do something in order to listen to Eli's voice on that call.  I  call [ring up ] my parents in India very often, so we had a wonderful calling plan for  India. As it turns out, my parents are miraculously visiting us here now, so I decided to use those minutes to call Swamiji instead. He agreed to be on a conference for the second Gaia minute call, where we heard him just prior to the meditation. What a strong, vibrant, loving voice!

As we moved into the message of the Gaia Minute, interpreting what it seemed to mean, I sensed that there would be questions about prayer; the layers I had experienced were not  only 'mine', and I wanted to be able to record them as well, in his voice. In his humility, Eli kept asking me  why I thought those words have such importance, but agreed.  What he had told me about prayer was important to share widely. 

And then on one magical day, when the breeze cooled a warm Florida morning, the sun shone through the clouds, and birds visiting for the winter filled the garden with song, the conversation took place. As I asked questions, the voice from the mountains answered and spoke and shared.

Now picture this: there I am, with completely amateur equipment - a cordless phone and a digital camcorder, not wanting to film the fence or the  home so much as the Earth home, walking about the garden, with phone in one hand and camera in other, holding them close so that the voice gets recorded at the right stages in the conversation, but pointing the camera to the sky. Mosquitoes are happy at my presence but usually they don't feast too much - I guess my blood isn't sweet enough for them! Bees are going about their activity, an occasional dragonfly flits by and as my heart is lifting with the blue sky and clouds and filming the spider webs framed crazily by the sky and the hawks watching overhead.  Aging muscles got their message across  as a need to film the sky, and I connecedt with Mother Earth as I haven't in a long while, by lying on that Florida grass.

Mother Earth, Father Sky, Grandfather Sun, and even Grandmother Moon! Animal guides, breeze and flowers.

It was heaven.

A voice from the mountains with a message connecting the dots of space and time, coming through apparatus that has been sent to earth as technology, to show us that the voice is always in our ear, the touch even closer than the heartbeat, the message coded into our DNA.

Brahmand is there in every moment, in the ordinary and the extraordinary.

And as I saw the parijat flower blossoming in the garden, I knew that just like the fable that talks of this tree being brought down from heaven to earth, so has Swamiji come to us from the mountains, as Eli, and the wonder is  that they could come as one and actually be a physical voice coming through the phone lines to be recorded and shared!

All of Gaia was there.

I am not one who easily bows to ones who come as teacher or guru or swami. But one who came this way, like a whisper filled with love, simplicity and purpose,  with a message that he could deliver  clearly and in our language and medium,  profound and powerful in its delivery, and encouraged us to receive and give in our own words, shining a light on those around him rather than on himself, but also graciously allowing himself to be recorded - to him, and to all who are around him, I bow most joyfully.

As I wrote on HummingBird's blog, I am not one who prays to ask as I never know what to ask for, never feel that what I could want would be better than what the more expanded self wills for me, but I was aware that prayers go out from the heart and those are the ones that are constantly being answered. When others spoke of praying for something, I used to wonder why I don't pray, not in others' words or my own; except when a mantra or bhajan make their way out through me…and yet feel so close to the Unnameable One. 

I could not therefore understand why we were being asked to pray in this direct, focused, conscious way.

I realized that when being asked to pray, a vague sense of fear comes into being. And that is not what is being conveyed here. That is why the inspiring message of the Gaia Minute came through: to send your highest vibration into Gaia. Fear will not do that. Knowledge will not do that.  Thinking will not do that. Prayer with an attitude of devotion will do that.

These words of Swamiji's connected it all for me. They helped me to realize that prayer is a state of being in our highest vibration while going about our daily or special activities. It helps us to access and use our energy in a way that staying in other states of emotion or disconnect cannot, for actions that are not only for ourselves but also for those we call others.

As the next step, I wanted to make the movie and post it on YouTube, but as things turned out, my aging computer equipment would not allow that. That is the way the Oneness reminds us to reach out and connect! My son uploaded the snippets and then I reached out to Kathy. A flurry of emails later, in which I saw an artist, a being of great beauty and sensitivity at work, a video has been made.

I realized that watching Kathy bring this to life is watching prayer.

Then Anna did what the heavenly messenger HummingBird does...spread the nectar around and from Gaia.

And now people are responding with different layers of response. It is as it is meant to be. The cycles repeat, and in the hands of all, is the 9:09---the pattern that seems to repeat but actually takes us one step up, each time, raising the energy.

From seeing the wonder manifesting around me I know the prayer that went out from my heart. To see a true swami, one not attached even to this as a title. To the loving connection underlying different facets of Gaia.
 
It is not we who pray. It is not we who ask. It is what is to be, the connection, that comes to us as a prayer.  We just flow with it.

Om Namo Narayanaya


Links:The Gaia Minute Call - Week 2 with Swami Eli's voice
9:09 The Gaia Minute ~ a call to light
 A Guide To Prayer Prepared For The Gaia MinuteOct 28th, 2009 by  HummingBird
How ~KES  made the video


 

 

[Pardon the links that will stop functioning after Oct 26 when geocities goes offline. The info is all in this blog and I'll update as soon as possible]

PARENTING THE WHOLE CHILD

 

Who is a child?

What needs do you try to parent?

What chakras do you parent?

Do you parent the whole child?
If not, then where is your focus?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHO IS A CHILD?

 

Developmental psychologists tell us that the child is a developing human being : one who develops biologically, neurologically, cognitively, emotionally, and socially through defined phases of growth.
These phases of growth are infancy, childhood and adolescence.
At all these stages, the parent[s] or primary caregiver[s] plays a crucial role in development. Their very presence or absence influence the child. The values they teach, the opportunities they give their children, and the manner in which they discipline the child - all affect the relative maturity of the person as an adult.
People need their parents at adulthood, too; but it is not with the same intensity or urgency as when they are growing so dramatically, as they do till adolescence.
Parents change the style of their caregiving as a baby grows into a toddler, a child, and finally a teenager.
The style also differs with each child. Child and parent thus influence the other; and as one grows, so does the other. The difference is, that the child's growth is easier to notice than the parent's!

According to ancient wisdom in India, children have a deep inner wisdom. However, they have to spend their childhood in gaining knowledge from a teacher, or guru. They are in the first of four stages of life, which is called Brahmacharya-ashram. This is the time to gain intellectual and physical strength, "learn correct behavior, self- control, art of developing a pure mind, and the duties of man and the proper relationship between you, your family, your society and the world", said Swami Vivekananda.

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WHAT NEEDS DO YOU TRY TO PARENT?

What are the Child's Needs?

Abraham Maslow, the famous psychologist, gave a structure to various human needs . The wonder of his theory is that he described the order in which humans try to satisfy these needs. Lower level needs dominate in the urgency with which they motivate a person to take action to satisfy them. Once satisfied, the need subsides, and a higher-level need takes over.
Maslow's Pyramid of Needs

It seems common-sense to believe that a hungry person [lowest-level biological need] would first try to assuage hunger before, say looking for shelter [safety/security] or making friends.
Or that we would try to realize our potential [self-actualization] if we first have self-esteem.
How well does the heirarchy hold for people who are mystics or yogis?
What about a starving mother who feeds her child first?
What about children who are picky eaters? Who are very social but have low self-esteem? Or those who over-eat and are loners?
We need to see the importance of knowing the needs of our children and ourselves.
How well do we know these needs and energies inside us?
How well do we know them in our children?
Which level of the needs does the parent control?

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THE CHAKRAS

Chakras, or wheels, are like energy fields within our consciousness. They are not physical, but are located around physical parts of the body, and influence our physical, mental, emotional and psychological state.
It is interesting to see how the chakras correspond to the widely-used Maslow's pyramid of needs.

Chakras Maslow's Pyramid of Needs

As we can see, the chakras extend to levels beyond Maslow's heirarchy.

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DO YOU PARENT THE WHOLE CHILD?
Where is your main focus as a parent? How do you assess that your child
is “growing well?” If s/he is happy? Tall? Intelligent?
Getting good grades at school? Popular? Good at sports? Helpful? Kind?

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© 1997 Meenakshi Suri

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I posted a little before the question came up- so - this is my response to climate change

In short:
Climate changes
Perhaps we can influence it
It starts with internal change
Internal change can influence the way we treat our Gaia
And that is always a good thing.



In long: Trees and climate change - a deeply personal tale

When I think of the confusion surrounding the where's whyfore's what's and even whether's of climate change, I take refuge under the beautiful trees that have been friends, companions, heroes and joys of my life.

These are a few of my favorite trees.
The acacia I  detour to pass by, to feast on  its explosion of color
Reflected in the silk floss tree with its thorny bark that attracts hummingbirds



Next to royal poincianas- the gul mohur -  that blaze orange at the point where three roads meet


And the solid oak trees whose branches support children on swings
I know the paths in my life as defined by the trees that grace them
What will happen to the trees as earth's climate changes?
I think of the events of my life as reflected in the trees that I have loved
The ancient gingko in a round-about in Paris where I walked with friends one day.


The fragrant blossoming harsinghar, which I found in America after searching for three years.


The banyan in Madras that shaded us as we attended talks by J Krishnamurti, or listened to the Dalai Lama. It had a majesty, as it spread freely, whose memory sustained me when I looked, shocked, at the ones uprooted by hurricanes in Miami.



A fig tree we call  peepal  has suddenly appeared on the roof in Miami, a blessing sent by Buddha through the birds. Will it grow as ancient as the bodhi tree under which Gautama became the Buddha? Or even as large as the one I knew in childhood?  I saw my first large snake there. Will the air around it be as pure, the water it soaks, as plentiful, the nutrients in the soil, as rich? I cannot find space to grow it in, and it makes me wonder. Perhaps it's time to move away from cities, to spaces where trees can grow freely. Where banyans do not need to be cut to fit into the parameters of road and power cables, leaving them helpless under the onslaught of hurricanes.

I think of the petrified forests that appear to be closer to stone than organic matter; diamonds made of deeply compressed organic matter. the trees that sprouted thousands of years ago.  They adapted to tremendous changes - why won't we?




What will happen to the trees that still line the paths where my loved one and I wandered?
The ones that I was searching for, and helped us find this house that has become a home in a faraway land?
The aam, lychee, amrood, anaar, chikoo fruit trees that show us the changing seasons even in tropical climates?
What do they portend about how we will react to the coming climate change?

Trees seems so stable; so able to withstand the myriad changes the world has gone through. Will they be able to withstand the predicted climate change?

Our earth is not something that is out there. Its state is woven into our memories and our present. Our visions of the future are interlaced with the visions of what happens to everything on earth. What are we doing to help it to be radiant?


Perhaps the tree might help. The cosmic tree that reveals the inter-relationship of all on earth;
The metaphor of  the tree that helps us ground, expand, center, clear, nourish, nurture, breathe.
The story of the brave little tree that bent in the storm to spring back when it was calm.

A little voice tells me - climate change isn't out there. It's in here. It's not only about external climate, but also about internal climate. It's about how we use our emotions to influence our actions, what we choose to care for, how we apply the collective wisdom that we have gained. Do we need to worry about climate change? Assign blame? Get angry? I think what we need to do, is to be deeply grounded into our earth, sense her feelings. Expand into the atmosphere, and sense its moods. Keep clear the toxins within our personal and earth body, and make each moment one in which we are mindful of earth as Gaia - all sentient and insentient beings on this planet.

The Gaia Minute

If today seems dark, remember: when the seed first begins to grow, it is in darkness. Slowly but surely, it makes its way towards light.

Earth already survived climate change  ..why can't we?




As my memories propel me onward, I am inspired by Eli who came from the sacred mountains: