Life is truly a hero’s journey
out from a bliss beyond even oneness
and into the “here”
where you travel a destined road
meant to become embodied joy.
It is a courageous endeavor
worth the greatest accolade
heaven can bestow.
One day I was meditating on the life questions of why? Why am I here? What is the purpose? I needed a theme to describe my book in progress. Suddenly the above words came into my mind. I quickly wrote them down.
Remembering now my blow-out mystical experience when I was 9 years old, this statement resonates. On that day, I disappeared and became bliss itself and one with everything. On coming back in consciousness to “here,” my first insight was that the purpose of all creation is for FUN! As an adult, I often regarded this insight as typical of a child. Too simple! Too innocent! And anyway, how can pain and cruelty be fun?
Reflecting on the statement above, “your life is truly a hero’s journey”. Whose life? The detached witness to the traveler’s journey? I think not. The hero must be the “self” that experiences the pain, the pleasure, the turmoil, the tempering, the growing in wisdom, in short, the one who is embodied. The one destined to be filled with joy, bliss, enlightenment – all while embodied. A feat accomplished over time.
In the ancient tradition of sword-making, the bronze or steel is forged in a furnace and hammered then heated again and hammered – the process repeated over and over. The metal is tempered over time in a way that brings out its ultimate potential: firmness, strength, durability and radiance. Ancient mythology speaks of this process creating what they called, the Sacred Sword, having magical powers.
you travel a destined road meant to become embodied joy
What if our embodied lives are meant to produce through trial and triumph, a sacred, radiant, magical and powerful embodied creator, one “whose very gesture scatters Edens” as poet, William French, wrote. This is quite a lofty idea of our potential – yes!
But in one dream I had about what to dream, something said: “Dream as high as you can possibly now imagine, but know that it is but the tiniest of the potential you are actually capable of.”
We live in a time of many teachings out there about how to “easily” manifest “simple” things, like prosperity, a soul-mate, a trim and fit body, inner peace, etc. The techniques are becoming more sophisticated and the goals a bit loftier and It feels like I’m always flunking. I don’t care enough about the goal, maybe, or can’t seem to remember the steps. But then again, I’m not particularly interested in scattering Edens. Feeling lost in a crazy world, I just want some peace and quiet and a bit more confidence, for Christ’s sake!
Okaaay! As if on cue in a carefully choreographed play, the eternal witness steps on stage in an attempt to save the day.
As I explained in Part 2 of Listen to ME, to step back as a witness to my embodied self and her shenanigans, helps me detach from the feelings and urges so that I can see the situation more clearly and self-lovingly.
For example, there was a time recently when I thought someone very close had betrayed me. I was surprised at my reaction. I was beset with almost violent feelings of rejection, betrayal, rage, abandonment, you name it! This, despite reasonable evidence of non-betrayal. But then a tiny part of me came into consciousness, a part that wanted to avoid saying something I would regret and ruining a great friendship.
With great effort, I stepped back to observe these feelings and the raging mind chatter. This calmed my mind down just enough to realize my mind had exaggerated the whole thing. Building on that bit of calm, I stepped back to watch that me that was so hurt. She was out of touch with herself, her wisdom, simple logic and the truth of what she is. She was out of touch with the higher “ME” she had discovered as a child. A part of her was lost in a reaction based in past conditioning from her painful childhood.
As I had done when I had cancer, I looked on her with compassion. Like a lost child who wakes up from a nightmare, I decided to extend her love and comfort. I had learned from a lot of past experience that this was far more effective than reasoning with the mind or even correcting the concepts. The little girl inside, still scared and needed love and reassurance, not lectures.
This is what I seem to always come to when I go within and practice listening to ME. This ME is always pure love-wisdom.
Like your life, mine has had adventures of fun, success, love and also adventures of intense sorrow, physical and mental agony, and everything in between. She is still here and has traveled this road alone as we all do.
As I step back and look at her life, I see that she has always done the best she could given the inner and outer pressures and the state of learning at the moment. When one knows better one does better, someone wrote. Perhaps this all really is about becoming like the sacred sword that has been pressure tempered to become a thing beyond current imagining – a one whose very gesture scatters Edens.
It is a courageous endeavor
worth the greatest accolade
heaven can bestow.
There are moments now when I can look on some people out there lost in the darkness of forgetting as I have so often been. Forgetting who we really are brings desperation and fear that is out-pictured in our behaviour. Of course! And so everyone must be doing the best they can in each moment.
I said above that I want peace and quiet and a bit more confidence. With practice as the witness to my thoughts, actions and feelings, I come into more peace. I have more confidence and so much love and respect for the heroes who journey through this often difficult world, taking one step at a time to forge though the roaring winds of change and circumstance – heroes who leave here only to courageously return again and again to be perfected more.
Your life is truly a hero’s journey
out from a bliss beyond even oneness,
and into the “here”
where you travel a destined road
meant to become embodied joy.
It is a courageous endeavor
worth the greatest accolade
heaven can bestow.
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You make a Brother proud to have a wizard for a Sister
Thank you Bob, Love you.