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A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING

 

A New Awareness

As with any journey of discovery, there comes a time when you must leave the comfort of what you know as a light-hearted view of life to explore the true nature of your reality. With this in mind comes the realization that this newsletter must now begin to evolve to present more in-depth information so that you can further your own journey of discovery and kindle within the curiosity to explore your own spiritual truths and path.

Compassion

Compassion .... the word itself invokes warm feelings and generosity. It is a caring, giving and open heart; at least that is what society would have us believe. It's hard to imagine that such a word could have a draw back or down side. For itself compassion is a wonderful word and we do need more of it.

So how can such a wonderful word or thing have a down side. It has more to do with society's expectation of compassion and compassionate people. Every dictionary describes it as "caring and helping" this is the part of compassion that brings out the best in people and it is the thing we need more of; however the environment that brings forth "empathy with another's suffering, or commiseration" these words that can become a bane for healers and sensitives alike. Even those who are not healers or empathetic can begin to have problems with compassion if they are in the role of exposing dire need and extreme conditions or if they work constantly with such situations. The problem itself is in how we teach or don't teach people how to deal with compassion.

While compassion for the sake of helping those in trouble and those less fortunate is what we want and need to see; it's our lack of understanding and how we share those teachings that are the problem. As we see more children with sensitive and open spiritual understandings coming into this world we need to teach them how best to deal with compassion. If we don't we will continue to see an increase in the number and types of dis-eases in the body, such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. "Illnesses/dis-eases" without physical cause in the body, "illnesses/dis-eases" that are spirit induced and that are a forced separation from the world at large.

It comes down to caring without be involved and without internalizing other people's pain and suffering. We can understand and care. We should do what we can and what we are comfortable with but we should never seek to "feel" someone else's pain. It is a difficult mind-set to adopt but it is vital for our health and well-being. Part of Buddhist philosophy deals with compassion: According to the Tao Te Ching, "compassion is not an emotion, it is a commitment" .... this would be a good reference for Western society to adopt.

As a healer it's probably one of the hardest lessons to learn and we all have to learn it. Part of you wants desperately to help ease another's suffering. So in we rush headlong opening our mind and spirit to hurt, willing to carry the weight of the world in order that others don't continue to suffer. To learn to help where you can and to leave the rest be can be mentally crippling because others or we ourselves begin to question our sincerity and sometime even our integrity; .... Do you really care? The answer is Yes but its how we handle it that matters.

So how do we learn to turn off our emotion when we see infants and children dying, when we see innocent life taken, when we see severely disabled or disfigured individuals, or when we witness disasters like a tsunami or earthquake. I have to admit it is an extremely hard thing to do. Logic in these situations must be given free reign. Ask yourself what can I do to stop these things from occurring? Can you, when you're 10,000 miles away stop that child from dying in the next day? You can give money, help raise money or help raise awareness and hope that it gets used to help those children. We can give supplies and help victims of disaster but what can you do to stop that disaster from happening. This sounds like "cold, hard reason" and it is. It is learning to help where you can and letting go of the rest. Unfortunately guilt becomes a major player in compassion .... how can you have so much while others have so little? This guilt feeds an unending cycle of hope and despair; hope that things will change and be better and despair when the world continues on its way. We end up losing ourselves in the emotion and destroying our sense of compassion.

How we choose to be caring and compassionate has to be in tune with our spiritual life. We have to accept that we can't be the all encompassing compassionate person that fits into society's expectations. Even when we offer compassion to ourselves we must view events as disassociated things or we end up wallowing in a sea of self-pity and despair. We have to find and develop a state of separation to be truly compassionate. To lose ourselves in another's pain or our own serves no purpose and we in turn lose our compassionate nature. We end up shunning the world and destroying our sense of purpose and any hope we had for our future.

In my life I've known a number of people with fibromyalgia. One of these individuals was a catalyst for taking my mission as a healer to the fore instead of it being a side-line aspect of my life. I watched as this man, with a huge heart, gave of his time and caring to injured workers. The toll of his compassion and desire to see honourable and ethical behaviour from his employer changed his life. He always had time to talk and to listen when someone approached him whether they felt they had nothing left or whether they just sought advice. I wondered sometimes does anyone talk to him just for the sake of saying "Hi?" I listened, as we worked together when he needed to voice his frustrations; and my capacity for healing and understanding grew. I watched as fibromyalgia ran wild across his body while he still took on more and more from those he sought to help. I watched as his back ached and bent until it could not be straightened because of the caring he took upon himself. I watched as his legs grew tired of that weight that he would not share until he wore braces on both legs. I watched as he was proved vindicated by a tribunal of law and saw a glimmer of hope begin. Then I felt the tumour grow as he held in the pain from all that he and others had endured; for he refused to talk about it. So I learned about compassion from watching and learning from one who was never taught how to be compassionate even to himself.

As you can see compassion can be a devastating emotion even when it brings out the best in us. It becomes vital that we begin now to teach ourselves, our children and our society about compassion; not as an overwhelming emotion but as a commitment do what we can and to let the rest be.

I bid you understanding and a peaceful acceptance on your journey of growth. Blessings.

 

CRYSTALS

Apophyllite

 

Apophyllite is a crystal that comes to us from India, Britain, Australia, Norway and parts of Europe. It tends to be a whitish sometimes clear crystal. It is also found in varying shades of green from very pale to an almost emerald colour or in shades of pinkish or yellowish peach. Apophyllite has a very high water content and therefore may take on the appearance of a shimmery luster where there has been a clean separation from the balance of the stone.

On the meta-physical realm Apophyllite is said to aid a person to connect with the Akashic Records; which are the repository for all life events and life charts/scripts past, present and future. Apophyllite is also able to connect you with the spirit realms while you maintain your connection to the physical world. Many astral travelers will hold this crystal in order to maintain this connection while in their meditations. Apophyllite is also used as a confidence booster while it encourages the wearer to be comfortable and happier in crowds and society at large. Apophyllite is sometimes named a "truth stone" as the wearer must face who they are and continue to show that person to the world. Apophyllite can also be very useful for scrying as it opens the intuition to the spirit realm.

On the physical realm, Apophyllite is said to be able to aid asthma sufferers and others who suffer with respiratory problems. It can also aid the body in releasing toxins hidden within the body on the cellular level while increasing the oxygen levels in the body. It can also aid in relieving depression and mental blocks. Apophyllite is also know for it calming effects and for allowing the bearer to see "the light at the end of the tunnel" while they travel through the tests and trials of life.

To clean Apophyllite it is recommended that it held under warm running water and then left to sit in clean water with other crystalline structured stones such as tourmaline (preferably green) or rock crystals.

Apophyllite

 

A BLESSING for MAY DAY

The celebration of the May Day is one of the ancient celebrations that continues to this day. Although it may mean different things to different people ultimately it is in celebration of the sun's return and the growing warmth of the year. It is a time to celebrate the renewed, ever present reminders of living. The energy that brings forth the early flowers and the tender shoots of our food crops also brings a reminder of the growing potential of our own special dreams and hopes.

"Universal Light, Christ Consciousness, be with us now,

Join with us in celebrating our time of growth,

Allow us to feel the joy of potential as our dreams finally begins to take root in our world.

Aid us in releasing any fear as we begin to speed toward our full glory.

Be with us as we sing of untold joys and share our hopes with all of creation. "

Blessed be.

 

 

MONTHLY MEDITATION

"The Holy Sound of Aum"

"Teach me to hear Thy voice, O Father, the cosmic voice that commanded all vibration to spring forth. Manifest to me as Aum, the cosmic song of all sound.

O Holy Ghost, sacred Aum vibration, enlarge my consciousness as I listen to thine omnipresent sound. Make me feel that I am both the cosmic ocean and the little wave of body-vibration in it.

O omnipresent cosmic sound of Aum, reverberate through me, expanding my consciousness from the body to the universe, and teach me to feel in Thee the all-permeating perennial bliss.

O infinite Energy, infinite Wisdom, recharge me with Thy spiritual vibration.

O cosmic sound of Aum, guide me, be with me, lead me from darkness to light."

 

From Metaphysical Meditations by Paramahansa Yogananda