That each being on Gaia deeply find their own space in this vast universe, and their light connection with all else.

For within each word in that sentence above, are universes of meaning and infinitudes of connection.

There are two ways to read this perspective:

I woke this morning, with some thoughts; and those I always share in writing. That is my discipline. In the past few days, they have often been of the Gaia community.

That in itself, if I think of the perspective of my life today, is amazing and shocking; because there is so much I will not be writing that is of real importance in my life; and so much that I will be writing that is not really important.  What I will be doing, in each case, is sharing - to anyone who can connect fully to listen. In the end, only those who can sense all, will be able to know 'me'.

But that takes a leap of listening - both to what is written and what is not. What is felt and what is not. 

I have found that communication between two people is often on the surface, and uni -or two-dimensional. We stop at the surface of words. Not the ones we hear or read. The ones we listen to or understand.

Will I remember when I am writing, that the other has limited time or talents as well? That there are those who are seeking, and those who are giving? That I can choose what is for the benefit of my life and leave aside what is not? Each requires courage, because we're answerable to that inner voice.

I am often told, both online and offline, that I have a peaceful presence. That causes people to either be drawn to me or stay away. When drawn to me, some forge a heart connection and I sense easily the peace radiating from their inner self.

Others feel they can 'take'  that peace by interacting with me. I see that there is a waiting for words, for a gesture, for a tone of voice. I usually connect to people in a way that I have learned with light-work, both offline and online. Heart to heart, and intuition to intuition. Keeping the energy clear, with breath, and removing hooks when I see them. Hooks do not help anyone - the one who needs or the one who is giving. It prevents each from being whole, healed. And this is an ongoing exercise in the human life. With detachment that comes from deep connection, with the heart-mind, we not only hear each others' words, we also sense that inner essence. To the extent that we can go inward within ourselves, we can go inward within the other.

From this perspective, we look into the other, and keep looking till we find only what we are seeking - light, or dark.


But there is another step, and that is where the incredible colors of communication come in. How does the other see themselves? For this to be seen, we need to connect, not attach, to each other's energy. That is the love connection - not the feeling of love that is attachment, but the being of love, in which there is just - connection, so deep that the boundaries of you and I are lost. From the heady hum of that connection, the mind sees- ah! one aspect is not yet seeing the essence; and we are brought out of that connection.

This is the region where conflict arises. Between the forces seeking to be filled and the force seeking to be.  How does one interact in this situation? From the conflict to the conflict, or from peace into the conflict?

I have done both. The path of the conflict- to -conflict is one of the primal forces of the universe, and it is ever in evidence. Planets disintegrate, meteorites dash into each other, there is fighting. Destruction and creation, once again neither inherently 'bad' or 'good'. Just what is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am taking a break from this, because after all, there is only so much time I have to write on the internet; there are the parents to enjoy and serve; the office to go to; family matters, other groups and places on Gaia.

Do I always remember, when seeking something that not only I - but others - have a choice?  Do we always exercise it mindfully?  Each moment, we can choose - do we go outward from peace or outward from conflict?  Do we seek balance or imbalance? Do I seek to destroy what I admire, or to learn from it?  Do I choose  conflict so that I am seen to engage, or do I respond to the whispers of those who are silent in distress, in beauty, or in unanswered words?

These are the rhetorical questions within us, where the real conflicts take place, the real courage to face them, and the real source of peace.

Internally.

I choose to speak from a space of peace to that peace within you.

I choose to connect the light within me, to the light within you.

Today, I am choosing harmony. And I see, that you are too.

Internally.
Namaste.

What is your perspective?

[cross-posted from Gaia Networking]

 

I was thinking about this today, and am delighted to see, while going through friends' blogs, that the question was asked a few days back!

I've changed it a little --I don't think we have true or untrue friends; I do feel we have friendships that are true or not.  In other words, I don't think we can 'try' to be a good friend. It is just more natural than that. If we can try to be true to our own self, then sometimes the friendship we offer to another will be true, and sometimes it will not.

in each case, I feel it is so important to follow that inclination.

 If I see that my friendship towards another is not true, which to me, means not naturally able to accept the other, as Elke wrote on her blog on friendship, then it's important to see if one can change one's inclination, but if not - to move away as graiously as possible.

As they say, there are friendships for a reason, some for a season and some for a lifetime. I value a friendship as true regardless of its length, if the time that we spend together, is spent in each of us truly reflecting who we are, deeply able to do so, and naturally able to accept the other. That is the beauty of friendship, that is the gift of friendship and that is what makes life worth living.

"neki kar, dariya mein dal" is a saying in India, in HIndi or perhaps in Urdu. The literal meaning is ' Do a good deed, then thow it in the river'.

In other words, forget it. But perhaps it has another meaning as well. Perhaps it means, let it flow, let it do the good that it can to whoever drinks from the river, but let it leave your energy, for it has done within you, what needed to get done.  If the thougth of what we have done stays with us, it can lead us to expect thankfulness, gratitude, perhaps even a good deed back at us. All ways to spoil relationships, not ways to enhance them.

Easier said than done; but then that alternative is enough to make it do-able!

While looking for somethingelse  in The Power of Light group, I came across a post I'd made last year, that brings another perspective into this thought:

"Ebb and flow: step up then step back
Meenakshi said May 20, 2008, 8:31 AM:

Light moves constantly but within it there are ebbs and flows. That is the inteligence and belance of divine order.

We plant a seed, provide its nourishment, then step back to allow it to sprout.
When it rains, even the desert blooms.

Plant an idea, or give advice and allow the other needed space and privacy to choose it or let it go.

Set an intent, send healing energies, then step back, for healing energy will continue to flow when ego ebbs.

Give help when asked, then move on, feeling the thankfulness in the giving and receiving.

Let go and let God
Flow then ebb
Let light."

What blessings pour into the river of light as it passes by us! We drink of them, perhaps offer a cup to a thirsty companion, and then let it go....

Image

I've rarely felt devoted to an idea, but the Gaia Minute completely has me in its spell. It's something deeply tied for me to ...love, laughter, and light.

[ See my earlier blog for details : 9:09 - the Gaia minute - it starts now ]

When Eli   used the word 'prayer', I realized that it is a strong one, and it would cause fears to arise as in - So what is going to happen now, that we need to pray? What do we need to pray for?

Words can have so many meanings, connotations, reactions.

That is why the Gaia Minute videos were made - to show that for him, the word at its highest level is akin to meditation, or  the deepest connection in which there are no words, nothing to ask, just ...receiving, being.

The message came to him, so he gave it as it came. It takes courage to do so, but sometimes it is as easy as lifting your palms up to receive water when you're thirsty.

Words to put Eli's message into my 'perspective came to me, and I voiced them and that is how the 9:09 The Gaia Minute first came to be. Just before it went out from my fingers, I paused - Do I really want to give you away? Yes, and it was off. Did it even come FROM me? They came through me, but were they ever 'mine' more than that I had been aware of them?

I feel deep devotion to Eli, whom I cannot classify. "I am NOTHING", he told me as only one who has transcended the bounds of separateness, and yet is responsive to its demands, can say. Some call him Guru, others Swami; I have called him both. I am not devoted to any of the words used to call him. I am deeply devoted to the message that resonated with me, to have 1000 or more people together pray at the same time.  If you are the 1001st, one who doesn't want to join, I value you just as greatly.

Devotion is so difficult for people to take. It can make them feel 'left out', uncomfortable.

I am deeply devoted to The Gaia Minute, but not attached to the whens or whyfores of its practice; and no longer even attached to its words for it is what it is. As a friend and I messaged each other recently - she said that meditation is not for her; and went LOL. And we went back and forth with how Lots of Love, or Lots of Laughter or...whichever way you can get into your highest vibration...works for you. We value each other greatly; we have a completely different view on life.

I feel deep devotion to the Gaia community, and to all its members. To those who are in groups with me and those who are not; those who respond to my blogs and those who don't; those who write to me and those who don't. It is the variety of Gaia that is its greatest joy.  To share the ways in which we can enhance that, I started the Gaia Networking  group a couple of years back, and it is a place where we can talk about how to co-exist.

I am deeply devoted to my dearest team members of One Light Many Windows . As we 'work' together, fussing about details or seeing a vision, chatting or sharing experiences, it is not the outward group, the threads so methodically laid out, the procedures for discussion or not, that are  important - though they are growing to be a gift without parallel -- but the sense of togetherness that we feel, that is one of my greatest joys. That is prayer, that is devotion, that is meditation, that is connection.


I am deeply devoted to you, even if I have never seen you or you have never seen me - not as a personality, butas a possibility of all that can be, of the immense potentiality of life, of the myriad probabilities all expressed in the choices you make ...and yet for me, the one certainty - that only the right thing can happen. I'm silly that way, and can't see that anything happens for the bad, however uncomfortable, traumatic or even painful it has been for me.  That one light shone from many windows; and those that were shut, were handling their own issues, to open when they could....

The devotion to one does not drown the devotion to the other....for I am deeply devoted to Gaia: Mother Earth with all beings: sentient and insentient.




 Perhaps I will leave this outpouring here; and allow you to complete this blog....

To Kathy / aka ~KES

No words can do justice to the incredible gifts you share on Gaia, with such grace, generosity, humility and persistence.

I am blessed to have you as friend, co-moderator, and artistic guide.
Being in a Team with you all around Gaia, is just a joy.

I don't know how much of a memorable surpise this is for you, but it certainly comes with a lot of holiday love.

[thanks to Memorable Surprises and Holiday Love      Posted on Dec 4th, 2009 by Gaia Team  ]

[Now to message Kathy with this!]

Adding this in :
I'm asking –can I post excerpts of all those who have written on this thread on Featured Member ~KES at Gaia Networking?

On my way down that delightful road I drive by, a thought that came to me - when I fell in love with the one who is now my husband,  I remember seeing him everywhere. I would see him disappearing into a bus, or the dining hall, or in that group of friends laughing outside the classroom, and also in the ones walking towards me.

I thought I was going crazy. I was of course! There is no more delightful craziness as love, and no easier way for divine forces to ease us into a relationship that we are meant to have.

I also thought I was being non-discerning. He was so unique; how did I feel that he was like everyone else? It was only later that I realized - when love comes to us, the beloved is within all that we see. Even more, we can see nothing else. He infuses evey pore of our very being. Love is the greatest gift of God.

When the One we love is the very oneness, that is all that we can see.

Whenever I see the beauty of a sunrise, these words of Kabirdas come to my mind:
Laali mere laal ki, jin dekhon tith laal.
Laali dekhan mai gayi, mai bhi go gayi laal.

The essence of my beloved is everwhere
When I went to look for that essence, I too became red with it.

[with apologies for my translation]

The word 'laal' has so many meanings and connotations [red, beloved child, beloved, essence]; and Kabirdas wrote in the simplest of languages, showing the most profound truths.

I rushed to post this in the  Meeting Love group

"when you walk, the feet move on the ground, not the hair, yet the hair will go where the feet  do. the legs and hips are powering the feet, yet they never touch the ground while walking. the eyes move around, helping the brain to navigate, yet their connection at that moment with mother earth seems tenuous at best."

-excerpt from a book being written, Chasing Gaia, by GenieInABottle

Thoughts?

Many years ago, when I was in the 8th standard [sort-of like 8th grade in the US], I moved to a new school. I was seated at the last row of the class. One of the teachers asked me a question . "I can write  but I can't say it," I mumbled, mortified at all those eyes looking back at me.

No one who knows me today can believe how painfully shy I was, how lacking in confidence, quick to withdraw into my shell. That shell is still my home, but not one to withdraw into - it's one that helps me to be 'at home' and at ease wherever I may be, but also, not only where I am physically.

Now of course, I can say it and write it - and it was never more evident than this past month. Back in October at   DIVING DEEPER: A Writing Workshop  we were reminded that NaNoWriMo was approaching - the National Novel Writing Month [Don't you believe it. It's not National…it's INTERnational!]. Basically it's a movement to write madly for one month in November each year —just write and write and write up to 50000 words and then in December and later, edit and fashion it into a novel. Quantity, they say - not quality. Now here's the first challenge: here I am, always trying : Can you say it in one sentence?  Rarely have problems finding words to speak or write, carving spaces with black upon white, but that many in this time? It would be a rush against time.

This month, I have my beloved parents visiting from India.  This was certainly not the time to take on more commitments! Then one morning, at the edge of sleep, Blip came. He was rushing through cyberspace, looking for reasons to show [how?] humans that their life on planet Earth had NOT destroyed it. One thing that he did, was to get me out of bed as qigong had done once, Suddenly seeing all the directions this was taking the novel, I also mentioned it to our beloved Eli  who was leaving online communicating.

Signing on to NaNoWriMo, there was another surprise - suddenly, GenieInABottle appeared! Never a name I had used or even thought of.  And as it wrote, all the story lines  remembered in childhood dissolved into the story, new characters appeared, showing me that the story was moving from Sci-Fi to ....mainstream fiction, perhaps. I shared some excerpts at Diving Deeper, seeking help with determining the genre. Labeling as genre - an interesting twist to what I'd once written here about labelling.

How liberating was writing - just me and that novel. 'Just me ' expands into all that was happening - time carved out of Gaia activities; co-moderators taking any slack my distraction caused, without complaint; still managing to cook and clean and even participate in meditation and teaching sessions at my daughter's school as volunteer mom.  The family adapting at seeing their mom and wife and daughter enthusiasticaly typing at various times, gently supportive. The look-in whenever possible to the NaNoWriMo room at DD for ideas, suggestions, support given and received.

As I wrote, watching that NaNo Stats graph go up, stay static or inch its way onward, I knew that it would just take place. Somehow, those words that swirled around me, sensed that it was their time to emerge. The initiations, meditations, healing and connection work that I had done, helped everything to morph into each other, time to expand, visions to unfurl, apprehensions to be allayed, guilt to be removed.

The wrists ached but once; I felt overwhelmed once, with home and office and writing. All grist for the mill!


For a while, I stopped posting about the Gaia Minute, but as friends from different parts of the world helped me to translate its message, and the Gaia Minute Calls continued, with the daily practice of connecting to Gaia as she is, and the satsang that is Gaia Community, Chasing Humans morphed into Chasing Gaia. 


Writing this novel has been a deeply connecting experience. The words and spaces fitting in neatly as that yin-yang that lies at the base of the story. I had once wanted to write about the mapping of the yin-yang: those regions of light and dark. This theme subsumes the stories.

Thank you to all who have helped in this story getting written. It has been you, and him and her and it and them.

When I was a child [hmmm…a story's coming through now!] I used to love writing. One of my earliest memories ...hmmm, better read that one at There's a Novel in there Somewhere- NaNoWriMo

What now?...Now to continue those stories that are still to play out, edit and organize and then give it all another look. Stay tuned! What are you writing?