Aina and the Mana
Last year I met up with Dreaming Bear, and we went for a journey out to the Applegate River area in Southern Oregon for an afternoon spent by the river. There he told me about the word 'Aina'. He explained to me that 'Aina' is the Hawaiian word for the Land, and for the spirit of the Land and Nature. It was so lovely to finally have a word for something that I've always felt, but never had a name for in our American linguistics. I love the word Aina, as it gives a name for the energy of the land, and by giving it a name - it is as though consciousness is breathed into it. I spent that afternoon by the river, meditating upon boulders, bathing in the cold, clear waters and contemplating the nature of Aina; the great web of life interconnecting reality in what we know as ecosystems, small and large.
What Is Shakti?
The first time I ever heard the word Shakti used, it was in relation to sex and sexual energy. That was almost 7 years ago, when I'd just moved to the West Coast; still a newbie and naive to West Coast understandings & lingo. So, what is Shakti? First, I would like to speak from my experience and then from classical Indian definitions and descriptions. I know when I am shaktified - as the feeling of being Shaktified is a decidedly different state than that of regular, daily life - the life of the mundane; being filled with Shakti is the most prized, most special state to be in. When I am filled with Shakti - for me it is a spiritual, ecstatic energy that moves through my whole body - a spiritual, mystical power that liberates me and allows me to become an embodiment of the Divine Feminine and the frequency of the Goddess. This most often happens in relationship to music; chanting, drumming, rhythms, dancing.
Being Embodied
To understand embodiment, it is helpful to look at its opposite; being unembodied. It is easy to fall into an un-embodied state; it's easy to lose oneself and to not be aware that oneself has become un-embodied, and not notice until the signs are screaming at you in every direction - especially in this culture. In fact, our culture supports and encourages its citizens to be un-embodied. Thus, becoming Embodied is a revolutionary act of freedom, in this culture of enslavement to socially dysfunctional norms.
Receiving Resonance Medicine
Listen to the sounds surrounding you now. Open your ears. What do you hear? In every moment, we are saturated in a vibrational field of sounds, resonating within the cellular chamber of our body. Our body receives every sound and energy pulsing through it, from the dump truck picking up trash first thing in the morning, to the sound of a bus beeping as it backs up, to the sound of a hummingbird hovering just above us out of reach, to the undulating pulsings of a deep throat singing tone. Every sound registers in our body, and if we are present enough to the sensations in our body as we sit in a Modern Urban environment, we can learn how to become vibrationally aware to the degree that our bodies are being constantly thwarted in its attempt to reside in a peaceful state of homeostasis. Our bodies have the capacity to experience deep states of blissfulness, relaxation and pleasure. And likewise, our bodies have the tremendous capacity to be overwhelmed by stress, tension, pain and irritation.
Dakini Wisdom
There is a question; what is a Dakini? I invite the wisdom of the Dakinis to answer, and allow the fluid rhythm pulse of the ocean of goddess to move through like a gentle waterfall. Do you hear the gentle whisperings of the Dakini in nature? It is where the wisdom and love of the sacred feminine resides. Within the nooks and crannies, hidden in caverns, opening out into the sunlight; it is where the ocean meets the rain, and the above falls and merges with the below. In the imagination and remembering of all that is beauty, bubbling up from the wellsprings of pachamama's embrace with heaven. That is where you will find the language of Dakini uncovered.Dakinis are primordial divine feminine essences, catapulting the consciousness of our newly arisen feminine spirits to enter into their power and usher in the era of grace. Dakinis are the birdsongs whispering through the hair tresses of every woman, inviting a union with their full potential and joyful embrace of all that is true. To be one within and to be one without. To be be within the one and surrendered to the languageless echoes of soft sound, where the feminine speaks in poetics and channels the fire of celestial song.
Observing the Mind of Dissatisfaction
The most incredible meditations come through when I'm releasing with the enema. I squat on top of the toilet and release both waste and emotions. And the magic, I've learned, comes in through a deep state of relaxation - both in the mind and in the sphincter muscles. As I relax deeply, the colon releases more and more completely, and I go deeper and deeper into a profound state of meditation. It has become one of my favorite spiritual practices, because it facilitates opening up and surrendering and releasing the mind & thoughts & hurts & pains & frustrations. And I always seem to emerge lighter and brighter than I felt in the hours before. In one of my recent bathing + enema rituals, I had a major realization about the source of my pain. The realization came to me like a voice of pure light clarity as I was relaxing into a deep release of my colon. I had been asking "Why?" and the answer came as my voice speaking back to me: 'I don't like this,' 'This food is not good,' 'This place feels weird,' 'I don't want this,' 'I don't like these clothes' and on and on.
Multiple Reality Disorder
These days, we seem to each be experiencing our own unique realities, wholly unique to ourselves. In modern America, there are many universally agreed upon experiences in the consensual reality, such as monetary systems, coffee cups, tables, chairs, cars and facebook. Yet it seems we are all beginning to fragment into highly specialized, unique to ourselves reality perspectives that have been created & enforced by our experiences, habits, education, belief systems and intuitions. Sometimes we find similar people - kindred "tribe" who speak our language and seem to embody a familiar reality frequency, and with them, we feel at home, comfortable, & safe. With others, we may distrust or judge, because they seem to embody a wholly different slice of the reality pie. How do we create peace on earth - a harmonious, working, functioning, thriving, mutually supportive ecosystem of interlocking web of relationships that are not based upon oppression or taking advantage of others? In a world where we are all increasingly emerging from a narrow bandwidth of the reality pie, how do we each embody and make our slice of the reality pie accessible to others?
Songs are the Key to Heaven
I am guided by dreams. My life's trajectory has been directly influenced by dreams and visions. Once, several years ago at a party in Portland, I had this very profound psychedelic experience, which had been awaken only through chanting and dancing. I found myself outside next to the curb, feeling this strong sense that in order to be allowed into Heaven, you must learn how to sing a heavenly song. Your heart must feel it so deeply that your heart pours forth, becoming the key, through the frequency of feeling from the soul of the song. That was the sense I received in that moment. This sense echoed through to years later, when I woke up from a dream I had in Cusco Peru, the morning of my first visit to Saqsaywaman and my encounter with a random young Quechuan gentleman who toured me around Saqsaywaman, making Coca Leaf offerings and doing meditations at various sites. That morning, I had awoken from the most profound Lucid dream, which gave to me a clear vision of my life's work and what my purpose on earth is. I share with you the journalled story fresh from that moment, in June of 2007.
Our Transformational Times
Given the current nature of global affairs, we have become consumed with placing our wagers on what's next as the "global economic crisis" event unfolds across the headlines. We have been feeling tremoring waves of this expectable event for some time now, and it should come to no surprise to John McCain and any other ostrich-heads-stuck-in-sand folks that the fundamental basis of our economy is dubious & unsustainable, and that there really is a transformational process unfolding on planet Earth currently. Is it surprising to anyone that as we walk daily towards 2012, and we walk daily towards a future of incredible technological innovation and the mandatory necessity of an eco-sustainability-centered future, that we will be confronted with every dirty aspect of the collective unconsciousness.
Reality is Psychic
Reality is Reponsive to Consciousness. We must begin to understand that our reality is shaped by our belief systems, not the other way around. We can create the reality we want, if our belief system is in alignment with our desires. If we want one reality, but our belief system says something else then our reality will create a mirror image of our subconscious beliefs. Reality is a dream mirage that teaches us how to be more in tune with ourself, it is as responsive to our consciousness as food is to our hands. We create what we want in the material realm, whether it be a plate of food or a hand crafted table or an item of clothing, and before we can begin, we must have the idea within our consciousness and begin making choices to create the manifestation of our plan. Whether it be making a journey to a destination, manifesting our new home, finding a new job - we can create what we want because reality is responsive to our desires and our creative energies are what propel us forward in this dance. And if we are confused, or uncertain of what we want, and we believe that we are out of control in reality, we will be shown exactly that it is true. We must own our power as creation masters, learning how to master the subtle dance of creating with our willpower and surrendering to the flow of the "reality support team" - spirits or what we can call the Tao - to help align us and bring to us what we need in perfect timing.