The Art of Experience to the Path of Singularity

My intuition tells me that there is nothing random about life. I have "felt" that for all that happens there is an energy of purpose or intelligent thought creating it. This is a concept I don't believe that we are truly meant to understand. Oh sure it's fun for some to sit around and try to figure it all out, I have been one of them, but I am quickly moving into a place past where life has to be figured out or defined into life is being directed in a purposeful way. It feels right - no science, no religion, no books - just my life's experience is what is leading me to my heart. It seems the more I try to live in the definition of life, trying to figure it all out and what it means, the more chaotic it becomes. Which has been leading me to being open to the "experience" of it all. As I grow into this body that I find foreign at best, I realize that is where I need to begin the act of "experience". Becoming one with the body that I was born to inhabit which has been a rocky relationship. Most of the time, I don't really want to be in my body, don't like it much and think somehow I got gyyped. But this morning I sort of had an awakening. Why not just experience the body I am in. Feel what it feels like to be in it - as opposed to judging what It shoulda coulda woulda been and experience the what is. Now, this is a new awareness, however, I am betting that if I can do that with "me", then that leads to everything around me - as once again, I am the hub of the wheel. What I am saying is, if I just experience, not judge, not define - but experience this human spacesuit - the result may be true freedom. With this freedom and/or this "knowing" it can lead me to another reality which is one of singularity. Living in the experience, removing the definition i.e. judgment tha this mind, body and spirit can easily morph into everything, everyone and every action on this planet which is purposeful. Whoa! Imagine that. I would actually have to sit and "be" and not judge even the most awful of actions. Please don't misunderstand that people shouldn't be held accountable for their actions if they are hurting others, but as we do coexist with someone who say is cruel to animal or children, we may want to understand that just possibly if we were given the very same circumstance as that perpetrator, we may have done the exact same thing. Hard to hold the microscope up to and put ourselves in this place. But better yet, I say, more than sitting and defining how we are alike or different and analyzing these circumstances, we might want to pay attention to how we feel when given this information. Or perhaps by just "being" with this information, could be what actually begins to change things. Maybe this is where most of the information is at - living in the experience of having an experience. This brings to mind one of my favorite quotes from Jospeh Campbell - in my opinion, one of the great thinkers and deeply spiritual men in the last 100 years. When Bill Moyer asked him if he was religious, he replied, "My experience is my religion." Living in the experience becomes a true knowing that I am part of everything that exists not only on this planet but beyond. Oh, my how disconnected I have found myself to be so many times in my life. And even now, I find that I want to separate, define, think about, pass judgment and/or find an excuse to not be a part of all that is around me. Through the act of wanting to define everything around me leads to the judgment of it which then separates me from the collective - the singularity of mind with all that is. Many thousands of years ago, wise sages of the East proclaimed that all of the universe, and every living and non-living thing in it, was a part of the collective consciousness. They said that our world is deeply interconnected at many levels and everything we do or think influences everything around us. We share the same energy with many different creatures and objects in the universe. An absolute gorgeous thought and one filled with responsibility. Maybe by brining ourselves to the center of all that is and if in that center is the core of the experience of all that has been and all that will be - then I believe we are opening ourselves to the great religion that has been hibernating in our collective DNA. We have a religion that is about here, now, each other and everything. With that knowlege humanity will no longer cast the rabid stones, but instead shine the soft light in what is to be remembered - divine love.

THE WOUNDED HEALER

The true measure of humanity is essentially determined in relationship to suffering and to the sufferer. This holds true both for the individual and for society. A society unable to accept its suffering members and incapable of helping to share their suffering and to bear in inwardly through “compassion” is a cruel and inhuman society.

I have so many reasons why I haven’t sent out my newsletter, so I will have to just put it under the umbrella of “life has been exceptionally eventful”. I guess before I ever entered this human body I signed up for all of these lessons which brings me to ask myself, “What the hell was I thinking?” I can’t say that any of it is bad or good because honestly experience has taught me that what I thought was a good thing wasn’t really what I needed and what I thought was bad turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. I won’t go into details but I am on the path of getting physically stronger allowing me to move into the next chapter in my life, hence, “the wounded healer.”

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am committed to moving towards healing with sound. Not an original idea as it started with the Pythagorus, the father of mathematics, vegetarianism and harmonic sound healing along with being a gifted astrologer and astronomer. Music therapy is the more common of the modalities in the last 30 years, but the way I want to work is a little more about the use of the full harmonic spectrum than say, strumming a guitar while singing to the recipient. I will include essential oils, color and crystals – but the emphasis is on sound.

I have my tools, the template from which I want to work but what I don’t have in place is “me”. I have to heal me first. And even though I truly believe that this will work, I won’t really “know” until I utilize my template, on my own physical/mental/spiritual issues. There is a knowing and then there is a KNOWING. It seems to me that as healers (which I believe we all are) the insights into how we can be ministers of suffering especially in these times where many suffer specifically from the isolation that comes from our individualistic condition that we can call “nuclear man”, we have to journey through our own sufferings and isolation so that through our own wounds we too can offer a sincere healing. We heal by relating at a very deep level to the suffering of those we encounter. We speak of social issues like poverty, immigration or criminal justice but until we can integrate through our own experience the isolated feelings of marginalization, which at some level we all experience in different forms, then we are not addressing these issues at a spiritual level.

As a voice coach I’m good because I have been there. I lost my voice due to poor habits and then went through the long journey of finding my voice. Not only that, but I bring 40 years of experience to the student as I have been out in the field living a life of a musician. Though rewarding, it was mostly heartbreaking. I have learned many powerful lessons that I now can share. The student believes me because I am coming from a place of true passion, not a place of academia which frankly, I just have never been that interested in and had nothing to do with the grand teacher of them all, experience.

But on a larger scale we can look at all of our great teachers and/or messengers of truth. Ghandi, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, Moses, Bill W (founder of AA) and others…..they teach what they undertook , most of them by choice which makes it even more meaningful, their own journey of isolation and injustice. Through them we can enjoy the hope that comes through their redemptive suffering. Even in Greek Mythology, the wounded healer comes up over and over again. For example, the Titan god Prometheus, had been chained to a rock by Zeus, the chief Olympian god. Being chained to the rock was to be his (Prometheus') punishment for having previous stolen fire from Olympia as a gift to mortals. Each day Zeus' eagle would come and eat Prometheus' liver. Each night the liver would heal itself. Then the eagle would come again for his liver snacks. As stipulated by Zeus - Prometheus could only be released if (and when) an immortal offered to go to Tartarus and take his place. Going to Tartarus would mean the immortal was giving up his status as an immortal and would die. Chiron, being the son of Kronus and half-brother of Zeus, agreed to take the place of Prometheus, and then eventually died. Upon his death, he was then released from his wound that would never heal. Chiron was then honored with the constellation of Centaurus. Giving up one’s immortal life with a compassionate act is a lesson that I believe needs to be fine-tuned not only in me but if I can be so presumpitious, for mankind as well. What this world be like, if all we ever did was treat each other with compassion out of our own suffering?

This hope becomes our well spring through which our own suffering can offer others a vision of redemption. The reason these actions bring converts rather than ridicule is because the message of caring is not just an empty word but a living reality that people can see, feel and then benefit within the communal experience. In other words, wounds and weaknesses of all humanity are healed by the collective which is just another word for the divine SOURCE allowing a shared compassion due to our fellow human beings suffering.

When I look at my life and then turn an inward eye back out to my brothers and sisters, I am convinced that the reason we are all here is to learn, then live in love and compassion. Judgment is not mine to own but instead, removing judgment in an effort to retrieve the memory we must have all had at one time - we are all cells in the same body…. knowing that the single cell is only healthy as a whole. The inward eye is upon me. Once again the solution, the beginning, the vision lies within the hub of the wheel as my wounds may give measure of the knowledge and compassion to heal. After all, the deeper the pain that is exposed, the more universal it will be understood.

Bullying Versus The Hero

Let me say, that I have rarelly been bullied. As a matter of fact, in my younger days, I was probably the one who when I wasn't just seeking a good time, would pick on someone when I really had nothing better to do. This is hard for me to admit as I can't believe I took part in this kind of behaviour. Bottom line, shame on me. But because I was the oppressor and not the oppressed, I have an understanding on why some would do what they do. I was hurting inside for a mulittude of reasons which are no longer important, and because of the pain, I was looking for some sort of recognition, but most importantly, love. Bullying comes in many colors as it is insidious. I see it everywhere. The chiropractor who is next door to my business and terrorizes anyone that parks in his parking lot (even though he sees one client at a time and there are 20 parking spaces), a woman who runs a group and pits young girls against each other so that she can get her way, a dance studio who bullies their dancers so that they have more control. It is everywhere. What has caused me to write this is that Congress is now going to pass an anti-bulling act. I'm sure that the people that have been bullied, feel some sort of justice is being served. But honestly, I can't see how it's really going to do anything to change anything. Bascially, it is another law on the books. It is a band aid in treating a virus that is systemic in the missing layers of our culture's skin. The psyche - and that is where we go to find out why bullying is an epic problem. Under the skin to the root of what might be going on. In order for a society to function, there has to be a certain level of trust. Each day when we leave our homes, we take for granted that most people are not going to attack us for no reason, that there will only be isolated incidents of theft in our community and that rioting and violence are not going to erupt in the streets. Whether we realize it or not, we depend on the fact that the vast majority of the people around us are going to act in a civilized manner. Unfortunately, the thin veneer of civilization that we all take for granted is starting to disappear. When I was growing up, I was taught that challenging times reveal our true character. There are many that believe that the declining economy is causing a lot of the chaos that we are now witnessing, but perhaps what is going on is that these challenging economic times are simply revealing the character that has been there all along. For decades, a "false prosperity" that was fueled by unprecedented amounts of debt has masked a lot of the internal rot that has taken hold in America. But now that our prosperity is crumbling, our lack of values is becoming startlingly clear. Greed, corruption and extreme self-centeredness have deeply infected our society. We see this in every country. We see this among those that are trying to survive on the mean streets of our largest cities. Civilization is breaking down on every level... desperate people do desperate things. Instead of teaching our children to love and care for one another, we have taught them to be incredibly self-involved. Today, way too many Americans deeply love themselves, deeply love money and are deeply addicted to entertainment. Each new generation seems to be even more prideful, even more arrogant and even more violent. As a nation, we are losing our empathy for others, our compassion for the needy and our respect for the elderly. So why the shock that there are bullies? I mean, when someone is surprised that their child has been bullied and how can other children be so cruel, my first thought is, are you kidding? We live in a country that is fighting three wars, and as far as I can tell has been bullying the rest of the world for sometime. The bulling is trickling downstream from our leaders into the collective mindset. So here we are looking at ourselves in the great cosmic mirror and maybe - taking a really good look for the first time in years. We have all of this pent up anger and angst over man made constructs that really have nothing to do with quality of life. Seeing and feeling being human without any mythology in tow to investigate and know our psyche. Hanging in a void of "well that doesn't work but then what does"? I propose that we turn from celebrity and look to the hero within. The part of us that reaches beyond the normal range of achievement and experience. Give our lives to something bigger than oneself. Connect with the physical deed, in which we perform a courageous act in battle and the spiritual deed, in which we learn to experience the supernormal range of human spiritual life allowing us to find our message. Pursuing leaving the world that we are in and go into a depth or into a distance or up to a height. There we come to what was missing in our consciousness in the world we formerly inhabited. Facing the problem of staying with that, and letting the world drop off, or returning with the wisdom while trying to hold on to the new way as we move back into our social world again. We have not slayed our own dragons. We have forgotten the importance of the journey as we crave instant gratification which has led us to right where we are standing. Picking on, judging, and bullying each other. I say take out our swords and cut away the web of deceit, keeping us from being who we truly are. A human being who is connected to all others, joined heart to heart, remembering how to love. From my garden to yours......