Friday, January 28, 2011

Money and Spirituality

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There are a lot of people who are walking a spiritual path that have a perspective that money and spirituality do not fit together. As a matter of fact there seems to be a gap between the spiritual world ~ and consequently metaphysics ~ and the material word in which money has its place, that it is still hard to bridge that gap in such a manner that it makes sense. That it starts fitting together.

From my perspective not just us humans, but also the world around us consists of ‘Mind, Body & Spirit’. And while that is something that most people who are on a spiritual path readily agree upon where it concerns mankind ~ looking at the world we live in it is not always seen as quite as obvious...
Thinking of the world, or even the earth in terms of a system of ‘Mind, Body & Spirit’ pretty quickly gives the impression that those factors aren’t parts of a balanced whole ~ but rather they are at odds with each other.

‘Body’, or the physical, material world in which money has its place may also be seen as a place with different values that may even be considered ‘lower’ values. Like greed. A world where a lot of things can be morally right, yet are ethically wrong...
‘Spirit’, or that part of our world that deals with the spiritual aspects of life is expected to have not only a higher energy frequency, but also higher standards.

As I said, for many of us the two don’t mix.

However, that is a perspective based on a value judgement.
When we value one aspect of our world ~ one aspect of life ~ over another, it gets easier for the two aspects to drift apart. This value judgement then is part of ‘Mind’. It is how we think about or perceive the world, and yes, the people around us, that may put ‘spirituality’ over ‘material’ or vice versa.

And yet, no matter how spiritual a person you are, no matter how strong a spiritual path you are walking ~ you still have to pay the rent and do your grocery shopping. Living in the world of today, you have to deal with the material, or even monetary aspects of life.

Perhaps then, the question isn’t about ‘Money or Spirituality’, but rather about ‘Money and Spirituality’. Bringing these two aspects of life to a more balanced perspective, where the higher spiritual standards are applied to the material world; where a ‘spiritual person‘ can be paid for their services with money.

People tend to function best when their ‘Mind, Body & Spirit’ are in balance ~ I dare say the same is true for the world we live in!
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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Sound

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There are sounds all around us. As a mater of fact, if we would want to experience silence, we need to really search for a place that has no sound. And even then, while it may not have the sounds we are accustomed to hearing, like cars, airplanes, trains ~ or even the neighbor’s kids playing in the garden, or a dog barking in the distance, there are still sounds...

The more quiet the place we have found, the louder the other sounds are...
The sounds of nature ~ the wind rustling through the leaves of the trees. The sound of our own heartbeat; or the sound of blood coursing through our veins.

When we start ‘listening’ in meditation, we might hear an entirely different set of sounds ~ the sounds of the universe... Of the sun, the moon, and the stars...

The other meaning of the word ‘sound’ is being whole ~ undamaged. A term that might be used n relationship to being healthy ~ being of sound health, or being of sound mind ~ yet basically refers to everything that is whole.

Nowhere does this principle show better than with checking the ‘wholeness’ of pottery. The sound the pottery makes when tapped upon becomes vastly different when it has a crack, no matter how well hidden the crack is.

Sound is a vibration, and when something has changed ~ for instance when the pottery has been damaged ~ its vibration changes.

Everything has its own vibration.
Objects, places, trees, plants, animals, and yes, each of us has a vibration that is uniquely ours. In a sense our own sound ~ or even our own song...

Have you ever chanted your own sound? Sung your own song?
And did you like the vibration you put out? Did you like what you heard?

Or did you want to change your vibration, your sound, into a vibration or sound ~ song even ~ that sounds more whole to your ears? Happier, healthier, or perhaps more productive?
The vibration of sound is the key to create those changes in your system!

In a world where a lot of our interaction with our environment ~ the world around us ~ takes place through sound, being aware of our own sound and how it can be affected by the sounds and vibrations around us can help us a great deal.
The more aware we become, the easier it will be to discern which sounds we would like to incorporate into our own unique sound ~ and what started out as a single vibration pretty soon becomes a song. A song with a melody that may sound discordant at times, yet can be changed to a different chord that is more pleasing to our ears.
The more aware we become, the better we can hear the music of life!
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Friday, January 21, 2011

Fairy Tales and Nature

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This morning I woke up with a certain fascination toward fairy tales ~ especially how nature in its widest sense is depicted or behaves in fairy tales.
In our grown-up world, fairy tales are viewed as children’s stories having to do with magical and imaginary beings and lands. As such they are usually not given a lot of importance...

Yet, our imagination is the very thing that can show us the things we can accomplish in life! So maybe fairy tales are a way in which we teach our children to express their imagination. On top of that most fairy tales have a moral. Often there is a strong sense about good and bad ~ about the things that are beneficial to the characters in the tale; and the things that are not. By a perceived association, the beneficial things for the characters in the fairy tale, are also beneficial to us.

In a lot of fairy tales, nature plays an important part. And in a fairy tale nature is not necessarily seen they same way we view it once we have grown up ~ in a fairy tale nature it is the world around us. Therefore it is perfectly natural that the beings you may encounter in a fairy tale communicate with you!

Consequently we find that in a fairy tale, we not only accept the existence of, for instance elves and gnomes ~ we think it quite natural to carry on a conversation with them. And we sense that the things that are true, and good, and beneficial for them, are all of that and more to us...

So there are tales where very beautiful, people-like beings in essence are tree spirits who live and are nurtured by ‘their’ tree and only occasionally step out of their environment to mingle in the world of us humans. Usually to help bring something ‘good’ into the world ~ something that is beneficial to both our physical world, and their magical, nature world.

There are lot’s of tales where gnomes are working away in the earth ~ the best known one of those is probably the tale of Snow White.

And then there are the tales in which animals are intelligent, wise, and yes, speaking beings that can help and protect us. And by the same token, animals who are angry, hateful beings that  can attack us.

So how ‘real’ are they?

We have sayings in our world, for instance that a person who is behaving badly is ‘behaving like a beast’. A fairy tale?
On the other hand, in this point in time there is a growing interest for ways in which we can regain a balance between our industrial world and nature. And with that there is a new appreciation for nature. For the trees ~ and the spirit of the trees. For the animals, their environment, and the importance to allow them their space, their habitat...

It makes me think that perhaps those old fairy tales have something to teach to us ‘grow-ups’ after all...
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Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Step by Step

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We are used to do things step by step. Whether it is something we want to achieve, some place we want to go to, or even taking some time off. One way or another we dream about it, we think of how we can make it happen, we make a plan, we start acting on our plan ~ and pretty soon we are well on our way to getting where we want to be...

When we look at the more spiritual aspect of it, we call it our path through life, our spiritual path, or our personal path. And this path we walk, as you might expect, step by step. One experience at a time. Part of that is because some of the experiences we have had or will have while walking our personal path are tied to a more or less specific age range. Like the experience of having fun jumping into puddles is one that is of our childhood years. While going to a restaurant for a nice dinner is most definitely a more adult experience.
One follows the other. Step by step.

But every once in a while I wonder what would happen if I would take the concept of taking things step by step to a smaller scale... To take a day in my life and go through it letting my feet take me... wherever... One step at a time...
In a sense just looking at where my feet will carry me that day...

Truth be told... I hardly ever actually do just that. But that doesn’t stop me from daydreaming about it.

Would my feet carry me to the forest? To the beach?
Would my feet bring me to a place with lots of people, or would they take me away from the hustle and bustle to a place of solitude, quiescence even?
Or would I find myself in a museum, a place of discovery?

And while I would take that day step by step, what would I learn about myself? About my path? My work?
What would I learn about the world around me? About friends and family ~ the people in my life?

At the end of the day, would I still be walking? Or would I sit down some place, enjoying a cool drink and watching the sun go down? And the next day ~ would I be all tired of walking all day? Or would I be better rested than I have been in a long, long time?

It is typically one of those things that you really don’t know the answers to unless you take that day and just do it. Step by step, walking the path your feet are choosing for you...
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Friday, January 14, 2011

Click

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Have you ever been in a situation where you really wanted to do something, go somewhere, or make something happen ~ and no matter how much energy or effort you put into it, it just didn’t come together?
And then suddenly everything clicks ~ and almost without effort on your side things start moving!

So what changed?

There are any number of things that might have changed to let this happen:
  • Timing ~ it (finally) became ‘the right time’ for it.
  • You let go of it and allowed it to move in its own direction.
  • You learned whatever life-lesson was there that was stopping it from ‘clicking’.

In each of these things, the universe determines whether things can move forward for you.

Looking at ‘timing’ this way, there is our human sense of timing ~ which often has this perspective of haste associated with it: ‘I want it and I want it now’. If the Universe’s timing happens to be in our future ~ chances are whatever it is we are working toward isn’t going to ‘click’.
On the other hand, sometimes what we really want to accomplish or have in our lives is so important to us that we hold on to it very tightly. We want it exactly the way we envision it ~ without realizing that the universe wants us to have all of that and more. More than we ever could imagine... And so the universe may patiently be waiting for us to let go, so it can move it in the direction that is truly best for us. From a universal perspective that is...
As we look at our life-lessons, it becomes really interesting! It can work something like this: When we are working on bringing more prosperity into our lives ~ more money if you wish ~ we may understand the value of money, yet until we fully comprehend the value of ourselves, it’s not happening. The prosperity (or money) in this example then is tied to things like self-worth, self-esteem, self-respect etc.

Here are three questions that can give insight into what is stopping the ‘click’ from happening:
  • Is this something I really need in my life, or something I want? Nothing wrong with ‘wanting’ something, but something you need for your personal, or even spiritual path, tends to come into your life easier.
  • Is this something that is truly a priority for me at this point in my life? Or do I, deep down inside of me,  want to spend my time and energy on something else entirely?
  • Do I honestly believe I am worth it? Am I truly convinced I deserve having it in my life?

When it is something you need, something that is a priority to you, and you know with all your heart you are worth having it ~ chances are you will hear that clicking sound every step of the way!
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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Memory Lane

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With the help of a USB record player I have been listening to all my old vinyl records these past few weeks. From the very first record I bought with my saved up weekly allowance ~ to the last record I bought right before I decided to take the next technological step and to buy a CD player...

And now it seems that the preferred way to access all the music I liked so well (and the music of which the purchase now baffles me) is through MP3 players. Whether that means a computer or a more portable model.

I never owned a great collection records or CD’s ~ but surprisingly it is enough to listen to music for over four days straight.
And as I have discovered, these four days would be the ultimate trip down Memory Lane...

With every piece of music, every song, memories come to the surface.

The memory of my Dad’s record player. It was a piece of wood furniture that housed a radio as well as a record player, and it was capable of playing the ‘regular’ Long Playing records, Singles, but also the older 78 rpm vinyl discs. In order to play your record, one had to open it and the record player would hinge into a horizontal position.

Later records were listened to on a more modern version. Now mostly plastic, it still housed a radio as well as a record player ~ however it had left behind the ‘furniture look’.

The first records I bought were traditional music.
Looking back, I would have thought I’d have bought some 60’s or 70’s music, as that was the time I grew up. Yet I don’t own a single record from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, or even Abba. Yet looking at the collection I have put together over all those years, the word eclectic comes to mind.

And so are the memories associated with every record, every CD I have listened to. Re-discovered in a sense.
Much to my surprise, most of my memories don’t have anything to do with the music itself. They are connected to the time frame in which I bought that particular record or CD.

Like the one that still makes me smile in appreciation for the cup of coffee a co-worker would have ready for me as soon as I came in to work the early morning shift...
Or the one bringing me right back to the Sunday morning breakfast table, listening to the radio program I actually liked ~ just not at that hour of the day...

Walking memory lane, it’s all there. The events, the scents, the time of year, the way the light came through the tall willow trees next to our house.
It is re-assuring that it is all still there, safely archived in my mind...
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Friday, January 7, 2011

Sharing and Privacy

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Another issue that comes up as we start sharing more and more of ourselves with others is that there is such a thing as privacy. Even for those that are not extremely private people, there are some things that are private. Things that may be shared with a few very good friends, or maybe not at all.

Like with the responsibility in sharing, the boundary of privacy in sharing also has two sides.
You may have something to share, like advice, and see a friend you know would greatly benefit from this little nugget of wisdom; this advice. And without being asked for it, you just share it ~ without taking into consideration the process the other person is going through. Figuring it out for themselves might be the one thing they need at that point of their personal path.
And so, for you to share that bit of advice is an intrusion in the privacy of their personal path...

Also, there can be all the respect in the world on both sides of the ‘sharing equation’ toward each other ~ as soon as the sharing gets to be tied in to an expectation, the waters get muddy...

“You have shared it with me in the past, so I expect that you will share it with me now...”

“If I had it ~ I would share it with you. But I don’t have it and you do ~ and therefore I expect that you are going to share it with me. After all, that is what I would do if the situation were reversed...”

What happens is that a very specific part of personal privacy starts being treaded upon: the privacy to make your own decisions. The privacy to not have to defend your decisions.

What makes it even harder is that it has hardly anything to do with logic ~ it has to do with how we feel about our own space, about the situation, about ourselves. Once we feel the decision whether to share something with the other person or not ~ once our privacy is at stake, the more we feel pushed to share whatever it is the other person would like us to share, the less likely we are to actually do so.
Often because there is this uneasy feeling that the other person is taking something that you would have liked to share or give ~ at your terms and time, and from your heart...

It is that sense that when you give a finger, they will take your whole hand...

Yes, sharing is good! Yet it comes with responsibilities; it is done with respect and from the heart. And it should never be expected or taken for granted.
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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Sharing

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Sharing is good. Especially in this point in time as there are more and more people who want fewer possessions ~ whether that comes from the desire to reduce our ‘carbon footprint’ or from economic reasons.
If this is all there is to it, then in all likelihood vastly greater numbers of people were already sharing their possessions, their assets, and their resources. So just the fact that this is not happening (yet) tells me there is more to it than just this sense that sharing is good.

The sharing of possessions, assets and resources comes with shared responsibilities.

These responsibilities are different for the person who actually has the thing (let’s say a car), asset (for instance being a good listener, or the ability to give valuable advice), or resource (like the education or experience that enables you to give such worthy advice) ~ than for the person benefitting from sharing in this wealth.

Sharing can get out of hand where one person shares not just what they own, but also their energy and who they are with the world without ever receiving anything in return. In essence giving themselves away. On the other end, sharing can get out of hand when a person takes what is shared for granted and just takes and takes and takes... And becomes a ‘mooch’.

For the person who is wiling to share, the responsibility is to realize that sharing what they have is different from giving it away... And this implies that there still are boundaries that are set. You can share one thing with another person, but that doesn’t give the other person ‘the right’ to share in everything you have. So you can be totally okay with another person using your car every now and then ~ however that doesn’t mean that you are okay with them coming into your house and eating out of your fridge...

For the person on the other end, benefitting from being able to use a car they don’t own, the responsibility is to for instance share in the cost of the maintenance of that car. Not because you are asked to do so, but because it is a common-sensical thing that comes with your end of the bargain.

This is obvious when it is about sharing a car, but what happens when you are sharing in an asset or resource of someone who needs that asset or resource to make a living ~ to be able to pay the bills? All of a sudden boundaries tend to become vague ~ and with that questions arise. Like, will the other person be offended if I don’t take them up on their offer to share in their knowledge? Or what do I have I can share with them in return? What will be the responsibility I am sharing here?

Sharing is good. When also the responsibilities are shared.
Sharing is a two way street that is traversed with respect.
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