I am a Spirit, now am, always was
and all ways will be.
Somehow I have been thrown upon this
magnificent plane,
perhaps to experience my Self in
another way.
I have been thrown out of the Garden,
so that I might extend in my awareness more abundantly. But in the process, I have
somehow lost sight of my Source.
Perhaps it is this plane; a little too harsh and well disguised. Or maybe it's my windows, the senses. Or, quite possibly,
My ‘computer’ itself has become
jammed.
All this was given to me so that I
might increase in my awareness of my Self, yet somehow
I have convinced myself that this is all that there is, and choked
myself off with my own antennas - my own receptors.
But once in awhile I hear a little whisper and I see a little
miracle, that convince me beyond a doubt, that I am on a Journey,
and that this journey is to bring my
Self back - not to the Source I was before I was born - but to feel and be
at-one with that Source - yet still be me in this shell.
So that every move that I make now,
will be at-one with the Spirit - fully aware, fully alive,
in spirit and in body.
I want to try and look at our human condition
in another way now . . . Besides the two hemispheres that influence our nature,
we are also moving through history. We
each have a historical background that is unique to each culture, family and
individual. History is another prime
influence that needs to fit into our life chart - our family Circle.
Assuming that we have a soul when we come into this life, then our life
or history is not a circle, but is within a process of change - away from our
source. Assuming that our home is always at the center of the circle, then our
life becomes a journey away from that circle, and can best be described as a
line, because it is no longer in the circle. (It's actually a dotted line
because we are never totally separated from our soul O-)-)-)-)-)-- hence the
arcs in between. In essence, our Source
is whole and our life is constantly changing).
I want to elaborate on these two modes of reality a bit more. I said earlier that from the Native
perspective, the world is viewed from the center of the circle, and in the
Biblical, life is in the process of becoming fulfilled. One is whole and the other is lineal.
In the Native, the individual stands at the center of the Circle, and
relates to his world through the "Four Corners", which correspond to
the Medicine Wheel. In the Biblical,
the individual stands before the Christ, and seeks fulfillment by following His
example. The Native sees himself at
home in the world, the Christian on the other hand, sees himself coming Home
through the power at the center of the Cross.
The Native and the Biblical descriptions of Creation are two opposing
ways of perceiving reality. The Native is holistic and the Christian is
lineal. Each is characteristic of its
People, but they are opposing, because each culture originated differently. There are some similarities however; both
seem to agree that power focalizes at a Cross, and both seem to describe a
method for harnessing that power (the Bible and the Medicine Wheel).
In each case the story of Creation was recorded. However, the method of
recording was different for each culture. The Native story came from the
Creator, and was passed on through tradition. The Biblical came from God, and
was passed on through the Word. Both
stories came from one and the same Source, but there is a difference in
perception because of history, and locale.
When God created the Universe two modes of reality came into being - the
spirit world and the physical worlds. One is whole and the other is formed from
parts of that whole. In the spirit world we are not separated from the One
Being, but in the physical we are; hence there is division in the universe.
The original modes continue to influence us today. (Both modes have
become incorporated here on Earth within ideological cultures). In this case I
am comparing the Native and the Biblical. There is also division between the
traditional and the modern cultures. In a sense, the two Modes have become
politically divided into the ideologies of democracy and commune-ism.
Just as there are two types of seeing (objective and subjective) there
are also two types of being, those who are connected to the Earth, the body of
humanity, and those who are connected to the 'sky', the mind. Each type is
dominant in either their right or their left hemisphere, depending on the
origin of their culture. The source is
the same. The difference is in the perceiving. 
The People of the Earth perceive things from a holistic/connected
perspective, and the People of the 'sky' see the world as something to be
conquered. One side is intuitive and the other side is active. Eventually we
all end up back in the Circle, but how we get there and what we learn, depends
largely on how we view reality.
How we experience our lives depends largely on how we perceive the world
around us - how we perceive ourselves, and what we perceive our future to
be. The perfect picture is when the
vision of our future springs into action in our lives (when we start to make
the correct choices). The two modes come into harmony when we reach maturity.
There is a way of walking that can make our
journey a quest of the spirit, a method of walking that makes our moment in
time become a moment of eternity - taking us back into the Circle renewed.
There is a Power in life that can transform our life into something new, but
this Power can only come when we deal with our life in a certain way. It
depends largely on how we walk the 'waters' of life. I think walking on water
is a good description, because life can be pretty uncertain at times. I’ve put
together this little analog to help us stay afloat…
The ‘waters’ could be rough or they
could be calm. During our life they
will most likely be both at one time or another. However, there is a way of dealing with the storm, and there is a
way of appreciating the calm.
First we have to get our feet well grounded, but not stuck. Unfortunately some people get their feet so
well grounded that they never really venture out onto the waters. So it's not really a grounding that's
required, it's a feeling of grounded ness that's important, before we step out
onto the waters, so that when the 'storm' comes up we will have the strength to
move on.
Our feeling of being well grounded comes from how good we feel about our
self, and that depends largely on how well we have come to recognize our
position in the center of the Circle, our true home. We might become aware of a
great abyss opening up in front of us, death is always a possibility, but if we
see death as a reminder, then it helps us appreciate the moment of aliveness
more. The waters of life are like
that. We never really know when they
will open up and swallow us completely.
Death is Nature's reminder that we only have so long to live. Sometimes we forget this, and let our life
slip by without really experiencing it to the fullest. It is the feeling of grounded ness that
prepares us for walking the waters of life, and it is the feeling of
uncertainty that heightens the extent of our awareness.
We have become too secure in our lives.
We no longer experience life to the fullest. We spend most of our time experiencing our cars, our houses, and
our televisions. We shy away from
stepping out onto the ‘waters’, because we have become complacent. We don't
like uncertainties. This is yet another reason why we argue and fight. Our spirit does not feel good about the way
in which we deal with our lives, and is rebelling in many ways. Learning how to walk the waters of life, and
learning how to subdue the storm gives us that feeling of self worth, which comes
from taking risks and abandoning our self.
In our
own life we already know what our particular waters are, and what our own
particular storm is. But we will never
experience true peace unless we first venture out onto the waters, and learn
how to subdue the storm - Now a little about the future and the past, the two
influences that run horizontally with our path.
We determine our own future, and if it's based on a
lousy past, we may have trouble moving on. We spend all of our time trying to
overcome the burden of the past. The
future is really the only open road we
have out of our dilemma. Dropping our
undesirable past is the best way to release us from the burden, which is
holding us back. It is often our narrow
way of looking at things, which clouds the future for us. What we need to do is to see the future as
bright, and spacious, and open before us.
We need to see it as challenging and exciting, and we need to have faith
in our self to move on. Seeing it from
the spiritual side, the future always appears mysterious and ever changing . .
.
My past I like to
think of, as behind me, so I'll call it my Shadow. Although it is always influencing me, I only retreat into it when
I need to rest on my journey forward.
“Your true guide is
always on your left, and it comes to you from your Source. As you stand and watch the Sun going down in
the west, let it bathe you and enfold you.
Focus your thoughts on the future, and become aware of your guide as a
warm presence, whose Light is bathing you and protecting you. He is your true
Father, your protector, & your guide.
He originates in your left hemisphere.”
“In the morning,
when you are fresh and alive, go out and greet the morning Sun. Become aware of its rising. Like the sun, your higher self rises from
your nature. It is the other guide you
have, and it is made up of the positive turns you have made in your life. Your strength comes from your morning sun. He
or she will provide you with all the energy you need, as you venture out into the
coming day. Your nature always emerges
from your right hemisphere. During the
day, in your doing and in your being, try and become aware of these two guides. Come to know them as Presences, which can
help balance you, as you move forward into the future.”
As I look
into the horizon, I become filled with awe, and I rejoice in the splendor of it
all. I see the challenge ahead, and I
begin to venture out, stepping slowly at first, carefully grounded in my being. Soon the storm comes up and my ship begins
to sway in the wind. I have to face the
inevitable. But I ruffle my sails, and
turn squarely into the wind to take on the challenge.
As I begin
to walk the surface, I become filled with power and excitement. My feet seem to gain a power of their
own. I begin to sense my two guides
beside me. I know that they are truly
with me - Facing the storm has given me new strength on my journey. I feel clean.
Soon the
storm subsides and a great calm comes over me.
I feel good about having faced the storm. I stand in my Circle renewed, calm and at peace with my
self. 
In life, both realities are true.
We live in a Circle, but we are also in a process of Change. Living eternally is when both realities come
together within our Larger Being. Our Larger
Being is the collective unconscious of the family of humanity. It's easier to understand, if we can see how
all the divisions in the world fit into our journey - our history. History is becoming fulfilled, but the
process is hidden from us.
So far I've split the self into its attributes, and I've tried to
describe our path in relation to our Home.
By splitting our selves, our lives, and our history into their spiritual
attributes, we can see more clearly
what is happening in our world. By
emphasizing the gaps that exist between the opposites in the world, we may be
able to see how far we have strayed from our true selves, and living life to
the fullest.
Some people might say I've mixed up my left with my right hemisphere, but
for me, that's where they seem to fit best. The left is my intuitive and the
right, my active.
There is one more important character that I've left out of the picture,
up to this point, and who plays a major role in identifying where we stand in
the Circle. He is known in Native
mythology as the Raven, he is like the snake that tempted Eve. This is what the Raven does:
We have all been given a core, a soul; it is our birthright and our home.
It is something that is ours alone, a sacred spiritual Light that dwells deep
in our hearts. Well the Raven sees the
Light, and he steals and flies away with it.
He is the trickster, the imp within, who wants all the glory for
himself. The flight of the Raven
represents the first step the "I" takes in growing an alternate self
- the ego.
The Raven's job then, is one of tricking us into believing that what we
are doing is good for our self, when actually it's really taking all the credit
for its self. In the process the ego is
created, which soon becomes the twisted reflection of our true self. It's the
devil, the little voice within, which keeps urging us to preserve our ego. He is like the Raven in Native mythology,
the one who has stolen the Light. The difference between the Biblical and the
Native description of the Devil is that one has stolen the Light, and the other
has fallen from it. Either way it's not hard to recognize how they fit into our
lives.
The Raven steals our Light,
and as a result the whole process of rationalization begins. We begin to accept our actions, and as a
result our false self is automatically born.
We become stuck on our false self, and we prevent our true self from
venturing out of the Circle into the world.
He's got a good grip on our Souls, and he's not about to let go!
