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Lessons
in Seeing
by Dawn Baumann Brunke
I
recently found a book I bought ages ago, as a teenager. The book is
about learning how to draw. I have always wanted to draw in an
artistic manner, to faithfully ‘translate’ a visual image of that
which I see before me—faces, mountains, swooping ravens—onto
paper.
Paging
through the book, I recalled the reason I bought it and, perhaps, why
I kept it. Several pages featured drawings made both before and after
the students—not artists, but regular folks like you and me—began
the series of exercises described in the book. It was amazing to me
how someone who only knew how to draw stick figures one day could,
after only a few weeks of sketching exercises, draw in a realistic
manner that was really quite good.
Unfortunately,
the teen-age me never did get through the whole book. I stopped about
a third of the way, irritated by the numerous exercises that each took
a good half hour or more to complete. Where was the magical
transformation? Like most of us, I wanted it right away!
For
some good reason, however, I kept the book. I’m a Scorpio, after
all, determined even if things don’t go my way. And so it was with a
small smile that I began rereading. It seems my much older self must
have acquired a certain degree of patience over the years, for as I
resounded with the author’s upfront assertion that learning how to
draw isn’t so much about drawing but about learning how to see, I
intuitively knew that this was going to take some time—not just time
in the sense of minutes and hours, but a certain commitment to deep,
quality time. I thought of the painter Georgia O’Keefe and something
she once wrote that has always stuck with me: “Nobody sees a flower really—it is so small it takes time—we haven't
time—and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.”
It’s
nothing new, of course, that depth of vision requires depth of self,
that everything we come to know ‘out there’ is in direct
reflection with the level of our perceptions ‘in here.’ So, too,
it isn’t necessarily what we
see that changes when we deepen in ourselves; rather, it is the way
in which we see. In his classic The
Doors of Perception, Aldous Huxley put it this way: “To
be shaken out of the ruts of ordinary perception, to be shown for a
few timeless hours the outer and the inner worlds, not as they appear
to an animal obsessed with words and notions, but as they are
apprehended, directly and unconditionally, by Mind at Large—this is
an experience of inestimable value to everyone.”
Learning
to draw, like learning to see, is a private affair. It is also
something that is much more about who we are than what we do. And, it
is something that only we can give to ourselves. As J. Krishnamurti
noted in You Are the World:
“In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and
learn, then the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on
earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except
yourself.”
This
is always the paradox, isn’t it? Learning to see, opening to
enlightenment—it is always right here, right now—though to truly
free ourselves to that awareness means that we must be willing to see
the grandness of who we really are. And, for us humans, this takes
time.
Dawn Brunke is
the editor of Alaska Wellness and author of Animal Voices and
Awakening to Animal Voices: A Teen Guide to Telepathic Communication
with All Life (see www.animalvoices.net
for more).
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What
Do You Want?
Susan
Driggers
If you could
have anything that you wanted, what would it be? A new car?
A million dollars? A healthy body?
A meaningful relationship?
And, if you had these things that you want, what then? Would
you be happy? Maybe, maybe not…
As you
consider your answer, take it one step further: If I had that, what
would it give me? For example, if you had financial success, what
would it give you? Possible answer: freedom from worry. If you were
free from worry, what would that give you? Possible answer: peace of
mind. The point here, of course, is to go beyond the initial answer
and find what it is that you are truly seeking. Most of us will
arrive at an answer having something to do with happiness, peace,
love or something more expansive than money or things.
The problem
that many of us in our society face is being so busy in our lives
that we don’t take time for introspection or simply “being” in
the moment. There’s the deadline at work, the dog to walk, the
meal to cook, the yard to mow, the kids’ practices, etc. We fill
up our lives with so many have-to’s that there is precious little
time for exploring and doing what we really desire.
At some
point, we go onto automatic pilot and often forget that there is
anything else out there but all these “things.” We feel trapped
and have little attention, will, or energy left for anything else in
our lives but the busyness of day-to-day routines and chores. We
lead a rather zombie-like existence, dreaming about someday when
we’ll be able to retire, not be in school, or not have this or
that responsibility.
Sometimes I
find myself not even enjoying whatever activity I am doing, but
thinking about what to do next, and then after that, and after that.
I don’t have attention on where I am and what I am doing because I
am already moving onto the next thing. My attention becomes
scattered and I feel overwhelmed by how much there is to get done,
or I have no clear direction or focus. When this happens the result
is often that I don’t accomplish the things I set out to do or I
do them in a haphazard way and there is not a sense of completion or
fulfillment.
So, what is
the answer to this dilemma? How
do we have more of what we want now? Harry
Palmer, an educator who has extensively explored consciousness over
the past two decades, developed Avatar®, a set of experiential
tools to assist us in this endeavor. Palmer developed his materials
for the purpose of teaching people an effective technique for
improving life according to our own self-generated blueprint.
Awakening
our own will and learning how to control attention are essential in
regaining control of our lives. For example, one simple exercise
called “Awakening the Will” (from ReSurfacing: Techniques for
Exploring Consciousness by Harry Palmer) can produce calming and
increased awareness. The
instructions are: (1) take a walk; (2) notice something; (3) decide
how you would describe it; (4) move on to something else and decide
how you would describe that. Continue the exercise for 20-30
minutes. If you become
aware of being distracted, simply return to the exercise without any
self-criticism. Even
doing this exercise for a few minutes can restore calmness to an
extremely busy mind.
As this
exercise reveals, one way to gain more control of our lives is by
learning to control our attention and will!
We can develop this skill in our daily lives and in all of
our activities by simply focusing our attention, deciding what
things we really need to do and want to do, breaking up large
projects into doable steps, and being aware of each moment and
living in it. As Palmer notes, “To a far greater extent than
common knowledge would lead anyone to believe, people’s happiness,
health, and success are not determined by the thoughts, ideas, and
imaginings they have of themselves, but are determined by the
ability to change these things.”
I began my
Avatar path in 1996 when I took a ReSurfacing workshop.
I discovered a transparent belief (one that we have but is
unknown to us) that was affecting my life. It was: “I’m only
worthwhile if I make money.” This “aha” moment was a turning
point and I couldn’t wait to take the entire course and discover
what other surprises were in my consciousness waiting to be
explored. Avatar
has enabled me to change things in my life that weren’t working,
live more deliberately, and create the life that I want. I continue
to explore myself through the use of Avatar tools, and assist others
in their journeys of self-discovery.
Susan
Driggers is a Licensed Avatar Master, Retired Registered Nurse
and Social Worker. For more information e-mail driggers@gci.net,
phone 349-2968, or visit the website, www.avatarepc.com.
(Avatar
and ReSurfacing are registered trademarks of Star's Edge
International, Inc. All rights reserved.)
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Accident
or Incident?
Denise
Knapp
| Do
you want to have accidents in your life, or incidents that
are positive? It is your choice. |
Did you ever have a shocking
experience only to later wonder, which is it: an accident
or an incident? When
I totaled my car two years ago, a friend from the metaphysical
community asked me that very question. I really had to think about
it. Was it an accident? Not if I believe that everything happens in
perfect order. Well, then, maybe it was an incident. Does everything
happen the way it is supposed to happen? Do I really have that much
control over my life, or am I doing what Spirit/God/Buddha (whatever
term you wish to call the powerful almighty) has planned for me. Or
is it both? Am I in control of my life as long as I believe in the
power of God and the Spirit within me?
Not too many years ago, I was
attempting to live that philosophy, i.e.: to accept that everything
happens the way it is supposed to happen. I was partly doing so to
justify why certain unpleasant (learning) experiences happened in my
life. I now live that
philosophy because I know it is true. I know I can decide to be
happy or sad, take someone else’s derogatory comment personally or
not, look at events as negative or positive—and even try to figure
out what lesson I am receiving from each experience.
Still, it really boils down to
the fact that I can be in control of my life as long as I let go of
my learned bad habits,
and know that my life is already planned for me. All I have to do is
live it. When I put positive instead of negative thoughts out into
the atmosphere, I am rewarded with positive experiences.
An example: when I totaled my
car, I hit an ice patch under an overpass while traveling north on
the New Seward highway. I could have swerved to the left; however, I
would have involved another car. I remember thinking, “Okay, God,
I am in your hands.” I then relaxed and let the car hit the
embankment and flip upside down. Within 30 seconds, a pediatric
nurse appeared (most likely from the car I elected not to take with
me), then an EMT, and a second EMT. Many days later, I realized they
were my guardian angels. Also, the angel medallion hooked on my sun
visor landed on the floor where I could see it while hanging in the
seatbelt upside down.
It was interesting that I had
been on my way to a much-needed massage. After the
accident/incident, the insurance company sent me to a chiropractor
and I received a total of three massages over the next few weeks.
Another curious element was that three days before, I had mentioned
to some co-workers my car mileage had just turned 100,000 and did
they think I should get a newer car? My totaled car brought in more
dollars than I had paid for it three years earlier. Is all this
coincidence?
Was it also coincidence that I
had been to the used book store that day and had purchased Louise
Hay’s book on positive body affirmations? Was it coincidence that
I had read an affirmation protecting every body part while letting
my dog run around the tennis court to get some exercise? Was it
coincidence (even though my dog always rode everywhere with me in
the car) that I did not open the hatchback this time, and he did not
stop and demand to get into the back, but bee-lined for his kennel
instead? Was it coincidence that some glass vases I had loosely
packed in the back of the car were thrown from the car and did not
break?
With these facts in mind,
would you say that I had a car accident? My conclusion was that my
metaphysical friend was right: it was not an accident, but an
incident—in fact, a very positive incident!
Do you want to have accidents
in your life, or incidents that are positive? It is your choice.
Think about it before you blame others for something that has
happened to you. Can you imagine how much this philosophy might
relieve the stress in our lives—if all of us looked for the
positive in everything and everyone?
The next time you have an accident, think of it instead as an
incident. Look for the positive in each situation. Tell everyone
what a good experience it was and what you learned from it. See if
it does not change your outlook on life and eliminate
‘accidents’ from ever happening!
In
Anchorage
for 26 years, Denise Knapp has worked in health and childcare. She
owns A Rabbit Creek B&B & Antiques, and is an independent
distributor for mangosteen fruit juice. 345-0733; winwin@alaska.net;
www.mygotools.com/xango/winwin.
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The
Observer Self
Bruce
Bibee
One
of the ways you know you’re dealing with spiritual stuff (rather
than just fantasy or magical thinking) is because you’re operating
from the Observer Self.
For
those unfamiliar with the term, Observer Self, here’s the theory.
There is your brain (organic and wonderful). There is your mind
(problem-solving processes which function through the medium of the
brain). There is your awareness (or lack thereof; or the development
thereof which leads to self-awareness). There is consciousness (a
vast field within which awareness swims; this leads to
self-consciousness, which evolves to Self-consciousness and is the
goal of the spiritual disciplines).
When
one becomes self-aware, this condition presupposes that “you”
are external to your own ego. This is so because you can observe
your inner dialogue, and you can only do that if you’re outside
looking in. In other words, you now hold your own ego and its
processes as objects in your field of consciousness, rather than as
a subjective reality (e.g., identified with your body, thoughts,
feelings, or patterns of behavior).
In
short, you are watching yourself think, feel or do. But, one must
wonder, where am I that I can do that? On what platform am I
standing so that I can objectively look into my own workings?
Isn’t this the pathological state known as “dissociation?”
In
answering this question, we start getting into the fun part of this
topic, because the answer is, “yes and no.” Yes, in the sense
that mainstream psychology has no other way to define this
objectification of one’s ego. If you’re outside your mind/body
observing yourself, well, you’re not supposed to be out there,
because there is no “out there” for you to be. And, the
mainstream folks know, heavy-duty stress or trauma (such as rape,
combat, or even car wrecks) can produce this out-of-body sensation
or illusion. So, there can’t be anything really good about it.
After all, it’s produced by extreme circumstances.
In
sum, dissociative episodes are produced by extreme fear. We bounce
out of our bodies when we are totally freaked out in some way or
another. And when we are out of our bodies, we can see our bodies
getting raped, shot at, tossed through the windshield, or whatever.
Eventually, when the dust settles, we go back into our bodies and
deal with the result of the trauma. (Or, we can stay dissociated
most of the time because we can never trust the human condition
again—which I’m not going to address in this article.)
There
is another way out of the body. This way is never pathological, and
it’s the only way you can actually get to the Observer Self
anyhow. It’s through self-compassion. And the process usually
begins when you start monitoring your internal dialogues (what is
oftentimes called self-talk), with the purpose of interrupting how
you talk yourself into doing stupid stuff.
As
you get more comfortable observing yourself (in essence, more
identified with the Observer), you also end up with a healthy
detachment from your own ego. It’s the kind of detachment that
gives you the perspective to actually take better care of yourself
than ever before (as you are less impulsive or ego-driven than ever
before). Paradoxically, this makes you even more self-compassionate
and self-nurturing, as well as more demanding of your best in all
things.
Somewhere
along the line, though, you become aware of this rather strange
situation. You are, after all, not operating anymore from the normal
narcissistic self-indulgence of our age. You will begin to feel out
of place in the soap operas “normal” people call “life.” So,
what do you do?
Most
of us find relief in some sort of meditative practice. (See:
Lawrence
LeShan,
How To Meditate. It’s a good primer on this topic.) Through
meditation, we strengthen our association with the Observer Self.
Then, once we are secure there, we find that the Observer Self is
the “vehicle” we use to explore the various dimensions of
spirit, of which there are generally acknowledged to be four: Nature
mysticism, Deity mysticism, Formless mysticism, and the Great
Mystery. This will be discussed in the next issue.
Bruce
Bibee is a licensed professional counselor and a kung-fu instructor.
You can reach him at 562-1242.
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Simple
Questions
Kimberly
Chancey
We
know that a loving world is preferable than a non-loving
one. But why, exactly, is that so?
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A few months ago, someone
asked me some fascinating questions. First, why is it so important to
love everyone? Second, why is it important to especially love ourselves?
These are deceptively simple questions, requiring more than simple
answers. In responding, I found myself revisiting some fundamental
beliefs and understanding my answers in a new light.
Loving one another is a
primary directive advocated by all enlightened philosophies across the
world. Intuitively, we know that a loving world is preferable than a
non-loving one. But why, exactly, is that so? And why is it so important
that we start with ourselves?
One of the most
successful aspects of parenting my children was summed up in our one and
only family rule: We don’t hurt anyone—including ourselves. That
simple philosophy helped us navigate every situation we faced during my
children’s formative years. So, how can we as a community adapt and
transform this rule? What would happen if our one rule was: We love
everyone—including ourselves?
A Course in
Miracles (as well as many other
philosophies) teaches that there are only two basic emotional states:
love and fear. All other emotions are aspects or colors of these basic
two. One interpretation of choosing love is via removing ourselves from
living in a state of fear. Sometimes, in our dualistic thinking, love is
misperceived as being weak. Fear may be erroneously considered as the
more powerful state. Quite the opposite is true.
The teachings of the Dali
Lama, Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, and other spiritual leaders give
countless examples to show that love is the most powerful force in the
Universe. However, love does not require condoning fearful, hate-filled
acts. Nor does it require that we abandon defending ourselves when
appropriate. Many of the most powerful martial arts originated in
defense of holy ideals. We also know from the martial arts that when one
enters into a fear-based motivation, one’s intuition and other
spiritually-based gifts fail to operate, leaving one vulnerable to
failure.
Convince yourself of the
power of loving in using it to eliminate sources of fear from your life.
For myself, I often find it necessary to face my fears directly. For
example, several years ago I noticed that I feared being alone in a dark
place. Intentionally, I put myself in that situation, choosing to go as
my own loving protector, almost as a means of showing that there was not
inherent danger. In response to that stimulus, I began having
spontaneous memory recall of many events going back into my childhood.
Upon seeing those events with my adult perspective, I was able to
reassure the child whom still lives within me and, in essence, conquer
the fear.
If we accept that we are
energy, and that energy can be described in terms of frequency and
intensity, then our emotional condition affects us deeply on many
different levels. We are all composed of the union of four different
bodies: the physical, mental, emotional, and etheric. Our physical body
represents the things we do. It represents us on the three dimensional
plain. The emotional body represents the things we feel. Our mental body
houses the things we think. The etheric body is the subtle life-force
body, which sustains the life of the physical body. It serves as the
pattern for physical metabolic functions. It is the repository of life
force, sometimes called ch'i, ki, prana, orgone or libido.
The vibratory level we establish in any of our bodies is reflected on
each of the others. So, if words are the language of the physical body,
thoughts are the language of the mental body, feelings are the language
of the emotional body, then vibrations are the language of the etheric
body.
Vibrations can be seen to
affect us as if we were like musical instruments. If we have a guitar
whose strings are at rest, and we pluck one of the strings, the
neighboring string will begin to vibrate in response. Similarly, as we
change our vibration, the neighboring string (or, the people and world
around us) responds. This reaction is an important feature in creating a
peaceful world and also in attracting the things we desire in life:
abundance, health, satisfying relationships. Physics teaches us that in
time, one vibratory level or frequency will only co-exist with other
elements that resonate in a similar vibration. We each have an effect on
one another to draw each other into similar patterns or levels.
One of the most powerful
tools we have in co-creating our world is to influence our own
frequency. Elevating your frequency can be accomplished by intentionally
placing yourself in the most powerful loving emotions, such as peace,
joy, and compassion.
To find peace we must
become peace. To find joy, we must become joy. Finding compassion means
becoming compassion.
Loving yourself is the
only way to initiate this process—to introduce the higher vibration
and elicit the response. As we practice responding in positive, loving
ways, it becomes more habitual and natural to us. The saints among us
see only the loving and perfect being as they gaze on others. Such can
be our goal, and our method of bringing Heaven to Earth.
Begin by loving yourself
and forgiving every real or imagined offense, including things you may
regret doing, things others have judged insufficient, and things you may
have disliked about yourself. Look to all four of your bodies, the
physical, mental, emotional, and etheric. Recognize that you are a
unique creation, perfect for experiencing the life of your choosing, the
life you came here to live. Truly love the Spark of Heaven that you are.
In doing so, you will help to create a world that responds to that
Divine Spark in everyone, a world of compassion and encouragement for
all of our unique paths.
Reverend Kimberly Chancey
is an engineer, scientist, researcher and teacher. She conducts the
Beloved Community Gatherings, also known as Anchorage Community
Spiritual Gathering, based on the belief that Universal Truth lies in
the unification of Human Understanding.
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Receiving
Messages: The Scenic Route
by Dawn Baumann Brunke
...why
not use the guidance of one’s inner voice more consciously
on a daily basis? How much more sensitive and aware of the
interplay between our inner and outer worlds would we
become?
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Not
too long ago I received a
very nice email from a young man in
Amsterdam
. He had read one of my books and wrote to share some of his
experiences. We corresponded briefly and he encouraged me to read a book
about dolphins and whales that he had found very enlightening. The book
was fairly old and difficult to find as it was no longer in print.
However, because of this young man’s enthusiasm for the book, I
persisted and eventually tracked down a copy at a small metaphysical
bookstore in the
Midwest
.
What
was funny was that I had talked to the owner of this bookstore about a
year prior. I had forgotten about this, however, until just after I
called to place my order. When the same gentleman I had spoken to
answered the phone, we were both very pleased to meet again in this way
and pick up on our discussion from a year ago. This happened easily and
naturally, as if not much time had passed at all. As we hung up, the man
promised to send the book.
When
the mail arrived a few days later, I opened the package from the
bookstore to discover not only the dolphin and whale book, but also a
20-year-old paperback copy of a book about listening to one’s inner
guide. The book store owner had included a note saying that he thought I
might enjoy this one as well. And I did!
The
book was written by a man who decided to use a seven-month stay in
Europe
as his “laboratory” for learning how to increase his awareness and
listen at ever deeper levels to his inner guide. To make things really
interesting, he chose to consult his inner guide on each and every
decision—from which road to follow and which town, restaurant or
campground to stop at, to which foods to eat and even where to purchase
gas.
I
loved that this writer was bold enough to give himself up to trusting at
such deep levels for such ordinary things. Many of us know that we can
use our intuition and inner guides to help us with big decisions, but we
often gloss over the little decisions of the day and rely instead on
routine and habit, or the dictates of our rational mind. Nothing wrong
with that, of course, but then again: why not use the guidance of
one’s inner voice more consciously on a daily basis? How much more
sensitive and aware of the interplay between our inner and outer worlds
would we become?
One
of the explorer-author’s central beliefs is that the totality of all
we ever need to know is all around us, or within us, all the time. All
it requires is that we listen.
Can
it really be so simple? Clearly, many metaphysical schools of thought
concur and many different healing and spiritual traditions urge us to
find and listen to that small, still voice within.
Like so many things in our world, this is really nothing
new—just another way we can learn more about who we really are, if we
choose.
I
am grateful for the reminders to listen and look beneath the surface.
Especially when such reminders come via the scenic route—a reader who
recommends a book that I find through a book store, whose owner I used
to know sends me a free copy of a book he thinks I might enjoy—with
such stylish flourishes and twists.
As
we move into winter and through the threshold of the upcoming New Year,
may we remember to give ourselves the gift of quiet time.
May we send ourselves small reminders to listen to the voice of
our inner selves and recognize the inner wisdom of others. The answers
and messages we most need to know truly are all around us, all the time,
in the most ordinary and fantastic ways. It is up to us to be present
and open to receive.
Dawn Brunke is
the editor of Alaska Wellness and author of Animal Voices and Awakening
to Animal Voices: A Teen Guide to Telepathic Communication with All Life
(see www.animalvoices.net
for more).
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