The external challenges we all face many times relate directly to those things we experience as internal challenges. For instance, when we encounter those with whom we need to have some sort of relationship and something about them repulses us, more often than not that repulsive something represents challenges, deficiencies, or reflections of things we don’t like about ourselves. We project onto them what we hate about ourselves, and that begins bad relationships.
If anyone believes that does not bear directly on the way groups all the way up to nations relate to one another, then that person is naive. I’m aware many dynamics are involved and many other factors that come into play; however, the most basic things we as individuals face are the ones that drive anything beyond self. Coming into a relationship with core Self allows us to deal with life, process it, enjoy it, prosper in it; knowing Self, awakening to Heart, gives access to the positive emotions and states that most say they wish to experience. The rub here is that if people operate from Ego rather than Heart, they will not be seeking Heart-principles. They will be seeking Ego-satisfiers. Remember, Ego does what it can to protect the individual in the midst of society but not unify us with the whole, so the actions of such people, leaders, or governments may mimic Heart-principles, but they will not accept them. Ego leaders usually seek power plays under the guise of securing peace — just one example. Masses of people calling on and acknowledging Heart will make for change, true change, Heart change. The essence of that is love. We need to learn to love Self, and only Heart will take us there. Ego condemns or exalts but never settles on a centered Self. What do I mean by that? This morning I wrote this: Spirit is all, the center of all, yet Spirit is the center in us. Its center is the Universe and is within us. A bit earlier this evening, I had the opportunity to dig for quotes that might relate. Found several, but especially one from Black Elk, a strong leader and medicine man of the Oglala Sioux tribe. So much wisdom was lived and shared from Heart but squashed by the egos of white Europeans. Yes, some Native Americans acted in Ego, and some Whites acted in Heart. No critical mass was ever reached for peace, acceptance, coexistence — for love. If you don’t think that should be the primary focus, then I hope to this Universe that you never have anything to do with determining the path of any group or nation. The quote is rather lengthy; however, it is powerful and pertinent and contains Heart-wisdom, love. Here it is: “The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells Wakan-Taka (the Great Spirit), and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us. “This is the real peace, and the others are but reflections of this. The second peace is that which is made between two individuals, and the third is that which is made between two nations. But above all you should understand that there can never be peace between nations until there is known that true peace, which, as I have often said, is within the souls of men” (http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Wisdom/BlackElk.html). I would call for this idea — this concept of peace within by acknowledging Heart, by recognizing that each individual bears eternal Spirit —to be the basis of our mental and emotional health on an individual level. It should also be the foundation of any educational system. It most certainly should be the guiding philosophy of politics, governments, and foreign relations. The United States has little known such truth, save in statements that guided the founding, which is the only reason the nation made it to start with. However, the abject, abysmal failure to live to those principles, which in the Declaration of Independence were clearly stated, has caused Ego-suffering for almost 250 years. Black Elk lived from 1863 to 1950. He spanned the time of the old ways into the modern world. He said this in later life: “When I look back now from this high hill of my old age, I can still see the butchered women and children lying heapen and scattered all along the crooked gulch as plain as when I saw them with eyes still young. And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A peoples dream died there. It was a beautiful dream. . . .the nations hoop is broken and scattered. There is no center any longer, and the sacred tree is dead” (http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Wisdom/BlackElk.html). This was the legacy of Whites gaining “peace,” touting victory and security. From what? Love, a love they couldn’t accept or receive because they did not and often now do not accept their own Heart’s urgings to love Self. And it’s not just Whites, but in this relationship it was. For Black Elk’s people, corporately, that may have been true; I cannot judge. I know, though, that each of us can know that center because we each have Heart operative in us, and it is a center of Love. And that is the only thing that will give peace internally and make peace externally. It’s all based on that. Own it. Live it. If you want what most say they do — love and peace. Blessings!
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Questions to consider:How many times have you asked yourself or simply thought about the following questions?
Who am I, really? What is my truth? How do my actions reveal what I really feel and believe? What would I do with my life if I could do anything? What is my passion? Why am I here? How can I discover answers to any of these questions? If you have considered any of these questions, I hope that my experiences and writing will give you some guidance. Please read my blog and comment and share your thoughts. I would love to hear from you! Archives
December 2019
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