In this last personification that Maya employs, people hear the “speaking of the tree.” What people? Twenty different groups who experienced prejudice, bigotry, racism, and other forms of ostracism and oppression. I don’t have the time to do those justice. The variety is enough to show the scope of oppression around this globe, the mindless, needless, Ego-fueled fears, jealousies, misunderstandings, and disrespect.
Once again, the transition into the voice of the tree is seamless. Why? It indicates the voices of Nature, the testimony of Spirit and Heart-energy surround us, speak to us, and reinforce the messages of blessing, wisdom, kindness, compassion, and love — a clear contrast to the primary energies most of humanity too often lives. The tree invites all to “Plant yourself beside me, here beside the river.” Before the tree gives the reason, however, a significant and long parenthesis is added: “Each of you, descendant of some passed on / Traveller, has been paid for.” The implication here takes the form of a debt that required settlement, a debt incurred by Ego, which we allowed to lift us in defiance of the laws of Nature, laws that illustrate how we can relate to the Universe. Nature gives examples of Spirit in all things, the same Spirit that is Heart in each of us. It can guide us into the higher frequencies of life, those that tend to peace, love, creativity, innovation, purpose, happiness. The tree continues as she calls on Indigenous People who named all the trees but were driven from their lands by Ego-controllers, by the same sort who claim that the almighty quest for wealth and power trumps everything: “You Pawnee, Apache and Seneca, / You Cherokee Nation, who rested with me, / Then forced on bloody feet…” Yet all of us have been paid for. We have Heart within by which we can now operate. Who abused the Indigenous People, and why did they do it? Again, a number of ethnicities are listed, but the why is the most significant fact. The tribes forced to leave opened the way for those “Desperate for gain, starving for gold.” Ego doesn’t hesitate to destroy, abuse, or even kill for those things that have nothing to do with the deepest yearnings of us all, those qualities that we ultimately desire. Sometimes, egotists maintain they do what they do for peace, love, and the common good. Their avarice, ours, produces a debt, so the tree says these named groups arrived “on a nightmare / Praying for a dream.” The ends never justify the means. At times, things that seem positive, like seeking wealth and being highly motivated to pray for some dream, can become a nightmare if the motive force is Ego. Exploring, discovering, and knowing who we are as Heart will shape the dreams and prevent nightmares. Once again the tree offers the invitation: “root yourselves beside me. / I am the tree planted by the river, / Which will not be moved.” Heart-energies, highest frequencies don’t change, don’t give out when times are tough. Nature reflects that. Then, the three elements of Nature here harmonize in their testimony to those seeking to know Self: “I, the rock, I the river, I the tree / I am yours…” Ego will sow discord, and sometimes we need discord to shake things up. However, when we recognize it and need to discover Self, we will not find false witness in Nature. In fact, they say, once again, “your passages have been paid.” Passages, journeys from our history painted mostly by Ego, in both personal and corporate operation, have cost us. Heart in us waits to be discovered, invited, and engaged to be our operating system, one that will set beauty, love, light, peace, creativity, and progress on a solid footing, nurtured and flowing with the right energy. Heart in us is the payment. We need not be bogged down: “Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need / For this bright morning dawning…” Discovering Self and creating Purpose to pursue those things yielding happiness, fullness, significance give us hope.This hope isn’t vague. It’s personal — “for you.” Heart allows us to explore our own past and view and evaluate it in truth: “History, despite its wrenching pain, / Cannot be unlived, and if faced with courage, / Need not be lived again.” Don’t deny. Accept. Release it. Allow Heart to lead onward and upward. When that discovery has been made, we can dream again, good dreams, dreams that become purpose and vision and health, dreams that become personal yet benefits, blesses, and works together for all. Maya, I think you agree with that, don’t you? Yes! “Give birth again to the dream. / Women, children, men, / Take it into the palms of your hands. / Mold it into the shape of your most / Private need. Sculpt it into / The image of your most public self.” All have Heart-essence. All may have a dream. None need ascribe to anyone else’s dream or their so-called truth. Being true to Self and living it will work together for a new history, a new way of writing history, a new definition of history. Discovering Self is not selfish; it benefits all. The past pall of Ego over our history dissipates in the light of Heart: “Do not be wedded forever / To fear, yoked eternally / To brutishness.” The propensity to accept war and destruction as natural is a lie. It does NOT have to be that way, and scheming, duplicitous political and governmental dealings for personal gain, even national, at the cost of others’ freedoms is brutishness — against Nature. How do we break free from those things which seem inevitable in an Ego-mindset? “The horizon leans forward, / Offering you space to place new steps of change.” Change for peace, equality, and a new history. Change that redefines Ego-led lives with Heart-energy. Redefines history. Redefines values. Redefines relationships. Reform won’t do it, because trying to reform something inferior caused by bad clay from the beginning won’t change anything: “Sculpt it..” Heart provides new material with which to work. Do we buy these ideas? Believe them? Why do we fear? Is it all too drastic? Listen: “You may have the courage to look up and out upon me, / The rock, the river, the tree, your country.” Anyone can: “No less to Midas than the mendicant.” Equality enjoyed in terms of opportunity and freedom to choose regardless of socioeconomic status or regardless of history: “No less to you now than the mastodon then.” How does it start, though? How could a new energy change the course of the history being created today and being defined by Ego ever be changed? The rock, the river, and the tree say, “…look up and out / And into your sister’s eyes, / Into your brother’s face, your country” Recognize that a nation, other nations, governments, institutions, corporations, or any aggregate of people are made up of individuals to be treated and related to as such. Valued. Therefore, the change, the redefinitions begin with you, with me, individuals. Is this too complicated? No, it’s choosing Heart over Ego to operate our lives. And that does not take much, really. Look into one another’s faces, knowing who we are, and “say simply, / Very simply / With hope / Good morning.” Good morning!
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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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