A New Energy Grid

From Anthony - Serving a life sentence in prison A teaching from Ramana Maharshi that has always resonated with me is that anxiety is a creation of the mind our real nature is peace. What I have found is that once my mind becomes still in meditation I experience my true nature which is still, silent peace. I have been in prison for many years the collective energy in here is definitely constrictive. However, I have found that I am only affected by the collective energy when I am identified with whatever is going on in the mental/emotional realm. The language of peace is still silence. When I remember that underlying energy within my own being I can also sense it as the underlying energy of the chaos in my external environment. Anthony From JT - When this beautiful soul says, "many years" that means 22 years in prison. I appreciate his humility and I believe those 22 years are equivalent to PhD or higher in practicing patience, the power of "Let Go" and meditation, and worth a mention. I have learned from my client (and honestly a friend too) that silence is a privilege. He wakes up at 2 or 3 a.m. every day to meditate because it is the only time he has pure silence in the prison to meditate for 1-2 hours. As for me, I appreciate the mention of archetypal energy as my life has been spent in archetypal energy. So much so that when I didn't know if I was going to die, I had a great urge to write my experiences for my daughter. Spending 4 years writing books and sharing with her how the Angel, the Warrior, the Mother and the Siren play a part in my life and many others. We all wear many "faces" and travel through what I see as The Four Pillars in life: Death Illness Sensuality Mothering I love how this article shares that we all have those feelings that go with the archetypes and the places we have been or the people we have been surrounded by. Not assigning whether they are positive or negative emotions but rather be the Witness and feel how those emotions arise. My life's work and passion revolve around how we integrate the archetypes and the Four Pillars. The media and society (depending on your culture- I am speaking of the one in USA) often hide from death and illness. These pillars in life have a negative connotation. When in reality they can lead to joy, awakenings and release. There is always wisdom within the suffering. Same with the Siren and the Mother - women are often looked down upon if they are a sensual being and a mother (and depending on your culture and upbringing sensuality may always be wrong or bad). My personal story that involves disrupting the inertia has to do with the Siren energy - sensuality and bald spots! I love to play in energies and integrate opposites. For instance, my immune system decided it wanted to attack my hair follicles (my immune system has attacked my muscles, joints, skin, lung ...list goes on and the Warrior and Angel within me are strong because of it). When I saw the 6 bald spots, first I became curious, and then I cycled through grief and sadness for about 30 min. Then I evoked the Siren's sensual energy to get curious and look at these new happening to my body. I have had very thick hair all my life and interesting to lose some of it. As I became curious about my bald spots I thought about how the Siren finds wisdom in unusual places and how she plays with the the five senses. I realized these new bald spots were extra sensitive. I noticed what it was like to get really in tune with the places where there was no hair. It was a cool sensation! Untouched skin is sensitive to heat and cold. I ran through how society might deem bald spots as unhealthy or a sign of aging.....then I sat in curiosity about all the emotions that arise with vanity. All just emotions as I am still the spirit within this skin bag:). This experience makes me want to talk with people with bald spots or who are newly balding and how they have experienced it. I know when hair loss is more apparent it may be harder to accept vs when you can hide it (which I can at this point because I have a lot of hair but don't know what the future brings I may look like a monk:). On my journey with chronic illness I have learned the more I share with the world the less it has a sting or shame...because Light moves through transparent vessels:) Hide full comment

Where I AM From Where I come from the alphabet is composed of 186 million stones Which are never enough to spell out how we really feel. I come from under but I also come from over and most of all come from within. When my zygote formed there were genes from so many stars and water molecules And the room was so overflowing with uncles and aunties That we had to rent another planet for my reception. I’m from a place where gravity is acknowledged but usually ignored. We hear music so deep in our skin that we do not need to eat for years at a time. The dance we create is a call to all the organisms to join our ebullient ecumenical colony. The song I sing rings out like Himalayan bells punctuated by scat solos and throat chants Taught in Kivas and caves that could express grief or the only other possibility. This place that I am from would never care or even notice what you wear. We love playing with our stones and arranging and rearranging them So that the smell of their colors, and the taste of their emanations Produces something so new that every metamorphosis from every cocoon Is such a unique expression that even we can not imagine the ecstatic beauty that is Without any doubt Evolving. Hide full comment

We all receive gifts or blessings from nature and from human beings. Everyday I get gifts from nature-the sunshine and the sunset, from the rainy clouds and from the mother earth. When I was born everyday I got the milk from the breast of my mother that nouruished me. Everynight she used to sing sweet lulabies. They still resonate with me in my heart though she passed away many years ago. She lives in my heart. My father taught me valuable lessons to know how to live spiritually. And I was blessed by many known and unkown people during my long life. I am grateful for their loving gifts. They will reside in my heart until I say goodbye to the world. How can I forget their blessings? How do I express my gratitude for their blessings? I thank them from my heart for thier pricelss gifts. Such memories are precious and unforgettable. Sometimes I bow to them. Sometimes I express my feelings of gratitude in words but mostly silently. Sometimes I let my heart sing songs of gratitude. Sometimes I cry when I feel their presnce in my heart. I am deeply grateful to all of them for being in my relatively long life. I have come across many people in my life who have extened their loving hands to help me, to take care of me and haven't abonded me inspite of my blunders. How can I forget them? And how can I forget mother earth and and the natural elements for taking care of me day and night. Friends: Let us pay our homage to all living and not living people in our life. They have blessed our life amd we are indebted to them. Namaste. Jagdish P Dave Hide full comment

This passage is a wonderful invitation to revisit a state of gratefulness that has no particular reason or cause in the outside world. So grateful for that! As for places with a vibe, it reminds me of my recent visit to the Ramakrishna Mission in Mumbai earlier this year. My family used to visit it 50 years ago, when it was surrounded by natural park-like setting. Now it is a smallish compound that is home to a serene temple (albiet with melodious kirtans happening in the evening) and an ashrama surrounded by very tall apartments all around it. Of course, with the accompanying traffic from the dense community of people. Despite the obvious change in the experience of getting to it and the ambiance of it, I experienced a becalming effect that made me realize that it is still a sanctuary! The ending of the passage made me think of the incantation "Aum" (often spelt as Om), which I recognize as an invitation to just BE in the Universe, void of anything that has a state -- the sound of nothing or indeed, everything! A U M . . . Hide full comment