Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Summer, Serenity, and the Beauty of Inanimate Objects

“Joy in looking and comprehending is nature's most beautiful gift.”  ~ Albert Einstein
Hello Beloveds,

With the recent Summer Solstice and New Moon Eclipse in Cancer, we have entered the time when the solar life force is the strongest in the Northern Hemisphere. With so much intensity on the planet, it’s critically important to notice what helps you feel in alignment. If you’re feeling out of sync, off-kilter, confused or garbled, it might be a sign that you are not living in a way that is congruent with your soul, your authentic self.

When we live in accordance with our True Nature, we feel good. We feel good even when we feel “bad.” There is a residing peace and contentment, daresay happiness or even joy, underneath even the so-called “negative” emotions. When we are seated in our self, we experience grief, anger, sorrow, loss, even frustration, with an ease that permeates all. There is a knowing, a holding, a basic trust that we are exactly where we need to be.

Think about it. Think about times when you’ve felt the blood-boiling of rage, or the bone-core-barrenness of deep grief, and you’ve just flat out felt good about it. This is because it is TRUE. It is real, it is here, and it is the authentic You.

When you’re living out of alignment with True Nature, even that which is supposed to feel good has an edginess to it. This is a sign you’re coming from ego, from separation from Source. You’re living from an idea that this is what is supposed to be happening, this what you are supposed to be doing. But it’s an idea. It’s not reality.

Reality is always easeful. It is always here. It is the place of rest, no matter what is unfolding.

The Beauty of Inanimate Objects

In summer, as in all seasons, we are urged to listen to the land. Listen to the wind, the trees, the flowers, the clouds. Listen to the rivers, the lakes, the sky. Listen, and you shall know exactly what is needed and called for in each and every moment.


These days, I’m reminded of the beauty of inanimate objects, not just of those found in nature, but also things human-crafted, human-made. I love that in most other languages besides English, we have feminine, masculine, neutral articles (e.g. German, der/die/das; French, le/la; Spanish, el/la, etc.) to indicate the gender of an object. We refer to objects as “she” or “he” and the whole object comes alive even more. “Der Zug,” or “the train” in German gives us the impression of a mighty creature huffing and puffing up the hill as we say, “there he goes! Watch him climb!” “Die Blume,” or “the flower” becomes She. “Look how beautiful She is!” as we gaze at the perfect rose.

Even the most unlikely candidates become alive through hints in language. This is a great pointer to the fact that All is Consciousness. Recognizing the Consciousness and beauty inherent in inanimate objects, we find aliveness, alertness, consciousness and story even in a hayfield. Above and below are photographs I took last week of two pastures and their recently collected haystacks and hayrolls. We can have an entire conversation with a hayfield when we really look. I am enamored with their beauty.

Aliveness is everywhere…

The other morning, my Beloved and I were driving across the valley and we had to slow to a stop as the most beautiful pronghorn antelope was standing right before our vehicle. Gorgeous markings shone vividly on her face, as die Antilope stared directly at us. She was looking for an opening to the prairie but was blocked by the cattle fence. Luckily, no cars were coming behind us, so we were able to sit and wait for her to find an opening in the fence. After a moment, she dove into a small opening in the barbed wire and pranced quickly across the cowfields, off into the sunset plains. Free again!

The Consciousness present in this animal was clear as a bell, as we looked directly into each other’s eyes.
We instinctively and collectively know there is intelligence present as we anthropomorphize animals and inanimate objects in Pixar, Disney, graphic novels, fairy tales. A teapot transforms into a friendly trickster, a pelican embodies the wise old man, a sea turtle a surf bum.

Non-humans are smart, flawed, perfectly imperfect, and just as conscious as we humans. Any animal lover will know that True Love is there and a connection is made, eye-to-eye, when one truly looks. This goes for trees, rivers, lakes and streams as well. Who’s to say that the Love is not reciprocated? Perhaps we experiment with extending this idea to every apparent separate object, every inextricable part of the whole.

Consciousness is everywhere. May joy and aliveness fill you as summer reveals its splendor and gifts!

With love,

Erin
Erin Reese, M.S. is a contemporary intuitive, spiritual counselor, author and guide. A modern mystic with over thirty years of experience, Erin Reese offers incisive, practical intuitive readings to her clients worldwide. She is a spiritual counselor, guide and mentor to those seeking an alternative to traditional psychotherapy or business coaching. Erin also offers non-dual meetings and retreats on embodied liberation and freedom from suffering.




  

Friday, June 5, 2020

Full Moon Lunar Eclipse: Healing Separation and Division


Prayer I, Angu Walters
Prayer I, Angu Walters (Cameroon)


Today, we have a full moon lunar eclipse in the mutable fire sign of Sagittarius, most ardent seeker of truth, the big picture philosopher, thrusting for wisdom.

Where, we ask, is the wisdom in our world these days? The people are in great pain. Our nation is pain, our world is in pain, our Black brothers and sisters are in pain, our collective hearts are breaking. How to respond wisely, skillfully?

Each of us will make choices based on what we feel is good and true and congruent in our hearts. Sometimes, within the same family, individuals will react differently to world events, protesting or pandemics. Partners may be on on different, yet allied, pages. Your girlfriend may be more politically involved and engaged than you. Your husband may be wired to read the news and dialogue constantly. Your best friend may be sick with rage while your neighbor seems to have left for another planet, opting out of everything all at once.

As for myself, I am a bit of a modern monk, with a hint of anchorite. I want to say a few words to those readers who also work from a more internal, contemplative realm...

We cultivate serenity in the midst of suffering. Some of us act as go-to allies, as healers or empaths. Our job is to keep cleaning up the internal shadow, and through that, we aid the collective to face its own shadow. Our task is to remain fiercely aware of calcified beliefs and duality, aware of all forms of entrapment, within and without.


Becoming attached to any point of view perpetuates divisiveness and strife. Our job is to keep cleaning up on the internal level, plumbing the depths. Resisting nothing: all places of horror and pain, disgust and rejection that we carry within ourselves. Our job is to face everything. The ego, the superego, cultural expectations, separations and division within the self. Everything.
"To be free means to open your heart and your being to the fullness of who you are, because only when you are resting in the place of unity can you truly honor and appreciate others and the incredible diversity of the universe." ~ Ram Dass


Trust the unfolding. If your guidance is to be an activist right now, do it. If you are outraged, use your voice. If you need to take a break so you can keep on keeping on, take a time out. You will be no good to anyone if you are strung out. Come back to center. Stay grounded. Remember your infallible connection to Source. This will nourish you in every way.

This is not a spiritual bypass. I repeat: this is not a spiritual bypass. This is because, until one is ready and actually doing the “work” to FACE EVERYTHING – everything arising in the world, the Self, Existence – every horror and racial injustice, evil, shadow, within and without. Nothing must be excluded.

This work is not for sissies. We are talking about freedom, in the here and now. One must be willing to allow the passing away of beliefs, concepts, ideas of right and wrong. Attachments to image, appearances, the ego. It’s a fire sale: everything must go.

Use your sword of discernment, activating the principle of viveka - the ability to discern the true from the false. When you come up against a calcified bit of consciousness, a belief that is ultimately entrapment in disguise, use your sword – yes, use it skillfully, but use it you must. Cut away that which is not true. It is from this place that we do our very best work, within and without.