Living True To Our Roots

Bull Elk and His Harem

Every celestial body has definitive root characteristics. The root characteristic of this particular planet is that it is a receptive womb. Planet Earth is female and produces a mothering, nurturing base. Gregge Tiffen (Learning Without Experience Is A Bell Without A Clapper – September, 2008)

We ARE the Planet. The Planet is US.

The visual beauty of the earth here in the southern Rocky Mountains where I’m blessed to live lies in stark contrast to the visual appearance of the devastation we’ve witnessed over the past month. Forest fires, hurricanes, floods, drought have ravaged the earth and seriously impacted millions around the globe.

Here, it’s easy to experience the nurturing touch of the Planet through my senses. Some days the smell of the pines is so strong that I can taste it. To touch a tree is to feel its strength and at the same time its vulnerability. The gentle flow of a mountain stream has been one of my favorite sounds for decades – long before I moved to these mountains. And, the landscape – from the valley floor to the top of the soaring 14,000 foot peaks – is a visual feast every day, every season. Here, even on the coldest, windiest days, I feel the receptivity and nurturing that is the way of Earth.

Likewise that same root – receptivity, mothering, nurturing – is present in the midst and wake of so-called ‘natural’ disasters. Beyond the sense that something old is making way for something new, we witness some of the best in ourselves. Neighbors help neighbors. Strangers help those in need, both up close and personal as well as from afar. These expressions represent the best of our living true to the root characteristics of our planet.

And, that - living true to our roots - is a requirement. It is necessary if we are to ever have a chance at creating lasting peace among all peoples of the planet. It is necessary if we as a species are to continue to inhabit Mother Earth. A sturdy pine does not grow from roots of tender grass. Only grass grows from those roots.

Grassroots

Here are the root characteristics that I believe we are meant to live from:

We are meant to have dominion – loving, nurturing, receptive dominion – over the planet. We are not meant to dominate the planet or one another.

We are meant to be fed from the abundance that the earth provides. We are not meant to be gluttonous or to attempt to nourish ourselves with fake food or man’s laws disguised as laws of the Universe.

We are meant to manifest and to understand that everything we think, say and do manifests. From that understanding we can align ourselves with the true nature of the planet. We are not meant to suffer, rather we are meant to learn.

We are meant to adapt, to embrace change as a natural characteristic of the planet. We are meant to evolve. We are not meant to keep things, including ourselves, as they are or to try to return them to something that we or they were in the past.

As you go about your week, consider the roots that Mother Earth gifted you with when you came to the Planet.  You ARE the Planet. The Planet is YOU. Are you aligned and living true to your roots?

Treetops and Mountaintops - Fall Beauty Abounds

Changing the World

Evening Moon in the Woods

Every thought we have has an effect on us and our planet as well. We can be mindful of our thoughts. Every time we indulge in a negative thought, we produce disharmony on both the non-physical (or non-visible) level as well as the manifested level. Our effect is enormous. Commuting negative thoughts to positive ones would begin to change the world from what it is to the place it was originally intended to be – a place of graciousness, compassion, harmony, and beauty.  Gregge Tiffen (Life in the World Hereafter – The Journey Continues)

Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.    …  I have decided to stick to love...Hate is too great a burden to bear. Martin Luther King Jr.

It’s easy to become angry, discouraged, hopeless and more in the wake of the chaos and disorder in our world. Massive storms, flooding, fires, displacement, famine, wars are occurring around the globe.

We like to place blame for these events on governments, politicians, corporations, and the like. That’s easier than taking responsibility for the part we play through our thoughts and the words and deeds that follow them.

Through our thoughts, we’re creating this world. And, through them, we can change it. (Yes, action is required, but first we need new understandings and new thoughts to guide our actions.)

Angry thoughts about current events, current leaders, indeed ANYthing, only serve to create more of the same. Blaming ‘them’ – whoever they may be is not the issue. I am. You are. Each of us bears some responsibility for the chaos and discord in the world.  Who among us has not railed about the despicable behavior of others? Who among us has not reacted in fear to some event? Who does not feel some degree of angst about the future? These are all thoughts that contribute darkness rather than bring forth light.

What if indeed our thoughts matter as Gregge suggests? What if they never die, but rather continue to exist in the cosmos FOREVER?  What about my thoughts about the things and people I fear? What about my snarky comments – the ones that come in reaction and ‘seem’ to disappear in a flash as if they don’t matter?

They matter.  They matter a lot. Current events are rooted in our collective thinking. Surely I – and we – can do better than this. Surely we can create a world where light prevails and where compassion and harmony drive our choices. At least we can begin to turn the tide. We ARE that powerful.

In quiet moments I envision a world where dominion is expressed through care for the planet and all of her creatures. I envision a world where we hold a common understanding of how the Universe operates so that we can operate in concert with rather than opposition to Universal law. And, in those same moments, I wonder if I have the courage to accept responsibility – without guilt, without blame - for my part in the state of our world? Do I have the will to be more mindful and diligent in my thoughts so that my contributions are toward a more positive future.   

This week I’m aiming for my activism, in whatever form, to be grounded in care and compassion. As I share my opinions about the decisions of our leaders, I’m going to hold them in light and remember that, like me, they are here on a learning journey that is unique to them. And, I’m going to take time to send thoughts of care to and harmony with the planet into the cosmos. Join me?

Morning Moon Over the Valley

What WAS I Thinking?

Looking UP!

Like produces like and only after its kind. … Cause producing an exact effect. The Law of Karma is the first basic law of life established on the planet. … This means that every thought equals itself in another thought or action. Gregge Tiffen (The Language of a Mystic: Creativity – March, 2009)

I often think about the impact of our thoughts as contributions to the quality of life on the planet.  For good or ill our thoughts collectively matter on a global, planetary level.  They matter up close and personal in our own day to day lives as well.

As I come to end of another trip around the sun and prepare for the next, I find myself reflecting on the law of cause and effect and I wonder just what thoughts created my experiences this cycle. 

What was I thinking that led to the experience of a hiatal hernia flare-up?  More importantly, what thoughts led to the actions that supported my recovery? What thoughts led to a controversial situation that had me choose ‘flight’ over fight since no other options seemed available?  What thoughts bring forth the ease with which my life mostly flows?

Although I’m still in the midst of this review and reflection, I’ve noticed that specific thoughts are challenging to identify in these situations. Patterns of thoughts and the beliefs underneath them are much easier to spot.  My thoughts tend to be grounded in trusting that the Universe is unfolding just as it should, accompanied by a strong sense of self-belief and an abundance of gratitude. At least that’s my aim.

And, sometimes my thoughts miss that target.  Perhaps I took in a bit too much of how the world thinks about health (‘there’s something wrong, find the problem and medicate to fix it) and allowed that to overshadow my own belief in the body’s capacity to heal and maintain health when I provide the support it needs. 

Sometimes thoughts can feel just as tight and tangled as these trees ... yet, they are beautiful in the midst of nature's beauty.

And, sometimes my thoughts just take off on a mindless journey of their own. I feel helpless to reel them back in. ‘How dare she/he …?’ ‘Can you believe (blah, blah, blah)?’ Then, I remember that those thoughts just like the beautiful ones are creating equal thoughts or actions and I stop.  Mindless thoughts have no place in a universe characterized by abundance, beauty, harmony, joy, love, light, life, peace, and power.  It occurs to me as I write that a ‘find and replace’ feature in my mind would be an awesome app. Heck, while we’re creating, how about a ‘virus’ screen for negative thoughts?

For now though, self-awareness and making each change will need to suffice. Notice a worry about health or a concern about not having enough ________ (you can fill in the blank for you)? Thinking snarky thoughts about someone or some event? Don’t extend by feeding. Cut off its life line. Return to my core.

While I may not be able to identify the specific thought that led to an experience, I observe the patterns and the trends.  I’m exploring which ones I want to nurture and expand in this new cycle.  And, I know which ones I want to post the ‘access denied!’ message to.  And, the beat goes on into the new …

Bluebird, blue sky. Beautiful Day!

What The World Needs Now

A few of my favorite things -- Cool Hand Luke, Cottonwood Creek, and a beautiful crisp morning!

What the world needs now is love, sweet love… (lyrics by Hal David, music by Burt Bacharach)

Without our faith in the unseen, the reality becomes too overwhelming, too horrible to bear. It is from the unseen that we draw the courage to deal with the reality that confronts us. (Gregge Tiffen – It’s Springtime: Flow With The Power of Nature – March, 2007)

What the world needs now IS love, the vibration of love from every being on the planet.  Love is a characteristic of the Universe. With love come the other Universal characteristics: abundance, beauty, harmony, joy, light (intelligence), life, peace, and power. The world needs these as its foundation.  We need them in order to navigate that world.

This week I’m struck by the level of despair that I’ve heard in listening to the world: to news reports, to Facebook posts, to conversations with others.  With all my heart, I beg you: DENY DESPAIR.  Yes, I know that in the view of many, the world as we know it is falling apart. Change is upon us. Our opportunity is to be the love on which a new foundation can be built.

Allowing despair and any other members of the family of fear to take hold of your being is just what the world would like. Despair, you see, leads to abdication. And, that is how the world controls. As contemporary author and activist Rivera Sun says in The Dandelion Insurrection, “When fear is used to control us, love is how we rebel.”

I want change to be grounded in love, not in fear. And, since I have no control over others, it seems that my job is to muster all the love, the harmony, the light that I can in my own walk through this world.  I notice that it’s easy for me to get caught up in the drama that seems to be the world today. Yet I want to stay informed.

In reflecting on how to do so, I was reminded by something my coach wrote this week that we have two eyes – one to focus on the world, the other to focus on the Universe. I have two ears as well. Perhaps the same applies. Listen to the world with one. Listen to the Universe with the other.

For certain I need an antidote to what I see and hear when I look at/listen to the world. For me, the Universe offers just that in the form of nature and, perhaps more important, quiet time to listen to the small, still voice inside.  I also find inspired places in the world to explore: art, inspirational writing, and music to name a few. Then, I can see and hear the world from a different perspective. This I know. And this I am learning to apply and to practice.

What about you? Are your ‘sources’ of input only from the world’s chaos? Or are you giving equal time to the Universe so that you can find and contribute the love that our world so needs?  

May we have the clarity and flow of a mountain stream.

Matriot For The Planet

What a difference a day makes ...

Once you acquire planetary loyalty, you are loyal to everybody. You are way out of line if you try being loyal to people before you are totally loyal to the planet.  Gregge Tiffen (The Language of a Mystic: Universality – November, 2009)

It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.” Baha’u’llah

Yesterday ... 

Some years ago in a personal musing about the planet and my country I had the idea that we would be better served by embracing being ‘patriots’ for the planet rather than continuing to maintain the unsustainable patriotism that pits one (country or group) against another.  That idea circled back this morning as I considered the universal law of reflection and how I might expand my capacity to express a softer, gentler me and, thus be better able to see the same in others.

I thought that I was creating a new word when ‘matriot’ appeared on the page.  However, a trip to the dictionary quickly revealed its existence and this definition: “Hometown, school, or parish pride or loyalty, as opposed to nationalism or patriotism. Love or celebration of a woman's influence upon society; a women's equivalent to male patriotism. Love of the motherland, as opposed to patriotism as love of the fatherland.” 

I appreciate the first definition, as it reflects what I’ve been aiming for this week: staying close to home, staying present with myself moment to moment and avoiding the fray of ‘what if’ scenarios rampant all around.  It’s a time to not get ahead of myself, to make no plans, and to look to nature first.

The Urban dictionary online offered the meaning that is closest to what I was thinking:  

A person who loves, supports, and defends the earth and its interests with devotion.  Of country, patriot. Of earth, matriot

What occurs to me as I muse to see how the law of reflection fuses with being a matriot for the planet is that we need to nurture the language needed to bring forth the change we seek in the world. This is of course not a new idea. ‘Change your language. Change your life’ is a staple meme in self-development circles.  

Bringing this back home from we to me, how will I nurture new language for me?  The immediate opportunity is carefully observing the language of my thoughts and the words I speak. In taking care with my words, I can nurture and grow the divine feminine within. At the same time, I can be super selective about the language I choose as input, what I listen to and what I read.  That’s a start on growing my capacity to be a Matriot for the Earth.

How about you?  

Sunday Night's Super Moon

Difficult Times

An especially beautiful sunrise over the mountains: snow, a fog bank, and sunlight in the trees

When you are in difficult situations, ask yourself what your life is trying to show you. Gregge Tiffen, Life in the World Hereafter: The Journey Continues (available from P-Systems - http://www.p-systemsinc.com/publications.htm and on amazon.com)

I wanted to title this post ‘The Most Important Question You Can Ask’, but I resist the temptation to shout what I understand to be mystical truth.  I don’t know about you, but I learn best when something comes to me understated.  I like to be surprised when some new piece of knowledge or an experience exceeds my expectations. My ‘critical eye/I’ kicks in when I experience something as less than I thought was promised.

What is true for me now however is that approaching all of life, especially difficult times, as learning opportunities is the most important shift that I have made in my 66 years of this life.

Sincerely asking the question ‘what does this event in my life want to teach me?’ with an open mind and an open heart is an elixir that helps me move from struggle and suffering to greater ease and peace.  With an attitude of genuine curiosity, I can engage in necessary actions that step-by-step often lead to inspiration and deep insight. Hidden possibilities are revealed in holding the question lightly even in the darkest of situations.

Old habits and patterns stagnated some aspect of my growth can emerge with an invitation to be released to make way for new growth.  Shedding skins and dropping leaves are two of nature’s many reminders that the way must be prepared for the new. Difficult times in our lives are like weather changes that signal the time for growth is nigh.  New growth signals our resilience and our adaptability, and it builds these strengths.

Life’s events are meant to be our teachers. We are not meant to enter them knowing what to or what the outcome will be.

They exist FOR us, for our experimentation and our learning. They are opportunities to call forth our will. Though they may bring pain, sadness, angst, even fear, life’s events –each and every one- are gifts of an omnipotent universe. That universe knows what we need on our path of learning to navigate on this planet, in this life, and beyond.

Wherever you find yourself this week, whether easy or difficult times are upon you, give yourself the gift of tapping into that omnipotence with the question: what can this event teach me?  Then, be willing to listen and to learn.

And equally beautiful in the west, a morning rainbow across the valley

A Moment in Time

Another beautiful day dawns in the Sangres.

Everything we know about the Universe shows movement and change. No one thing remains the same. Planets move in their orbits never staying in the same place. On the planet, trees change leaves year-by-year, and seasons come and go. However, we work to keep our systems in society from changing, or, at the very least, try to control the change and how it manifests. We suffer the debts that society is suffering because of that very effort.  Gregge Tiffen (Finding Freedom: The Meaning of Independence Day – July, 2007)

There are many things that I could write about how ‘we work to keep our systems from changing’. Indeed, if you read between the lines of many of my posts, you’re likely to discover that theme.  Heck, sometimes it’s right on the line.

But today I simply want to mark a moment in time, a historic moment. Rather two such moments. First was the moment earlier this week when a woman was formally nominated by a major political party to serve as President of the United States of America.  The second will occur tonight when Hillary Clinton accepts that nomination.

In the loud noise of political controversy and probably far too much commentary, the significance of this shift may not be obvious. But on the tree of the emergence of feminine leadership in our world, another leaf is opening. Another glass ceiling has been shattered.

Set aside everything you’ve thought, heard, or think that you know about Hillary Clinton for just a moment. Take time to allow the event to sink in.  As events often are, this event is bigger than the person.

Without over-exaggerating it, I believe this is a big deal in the experiment we call the United States of America. The event itself represents real change despite any of her views or her past decisions aimed at just what Gregge suggests: keeping the systems from changing. 

This change is yet another moment in history that we are privileged to dance in.  What dance we will do, what we will make of it is very much up to each of us.  Will we walk away in disgust because we don’t like the music?  Or will we step up and dance, making the most of the opportunities that this, like all events, presents?

The garden offers a visual feast to match the bounty of our harvests.

Jungle Rules

Early morning haze ... smoke from a large fire nearby

We believe we can get control, but we do not believe we have control so the jungle rules take over. Gregge Tiffen (To Know Another, Know Thyself – July, 2008)

As I gaze out at the world beyond my door, it seems to me that the jungle rules aren’t serving us very well. I think about the concept that we are in this world, but not of it as it relates to how I experience daily life. The man we know as Jesus taught that we are not of this world and it seems that he lived his life from that belief.

What, I wonder, might life lived from being in but not of the world look like – individually and collectively?  Would we feel the powerlessness that seems rampant in our world? Would the boiling anger we witness daily (and perhaps even feel ourselves) cool down?  Is the angst and anger in our world rooted in our separation from knowing and using the personal power that we have each been given as individual units in a vast, indeed infinite, Universe? 

Perhaps ‘taking back’ our power is not about grabbing it from outside of us, but rather a series of ongoing opportunities that each of us has to individually learn to use the power we’ve been given. Perhaps this is what Gandhi had in mind when he encouraged his followers to be ‘being the change’ they wished to see in the world.

As I bring my idealism down to ground level where my own opportunities to engage in this learning live, I find myself humbled, challenged and inspired. I’m humbled when I catch myself judging others and engaging my thoughts in how to control. I’m humbled by how subtle ‘control over’ appears, sometimes masked as ‘understanding and collaboration with’. I’m challenged to be aware before I step on that path, and I’m inspired to find another way.

Although I don’t need to look much beyond my own nose (there is plenty of opportunity right here!) I see this struggle played out on the world stage. We’ve come to believe that things (money, weapons, water, fuel, relationships, and more) have power and we look beyond ourselves to others and to ‘the systems’ for answers, for protection, and to provide what we need. We are angry when we discover that the price we’ve paid seems to be our freedom.

All around us systems are failing.  Perhaps their crumbling is because we have given them so much of our power. To our peril, we’ve come to believe that they are life. We see the rules of the jungle playing out in an effort to continue the illusion that ‘control over’ is the path to freedom. At the same time many understand that such control is mutable, fleeting and that (s)he who has control today will be the oppressed of tomorrow.

What kind of world will we create when we slay the bounds of the jungle rules and understand that true control is the power within?

Luke says 'Don't forget the power of play!'

Power Source

Stormy weather ...

The Power of potential is not the power of humans, but rather the spiritual Power invested in us on a Universal level. It is the Power of consciousness being aware of its omnipotent force in the Universal scheme of things.  Gregge Tiffen (Deserve Success and You Will Command It – March, 2008)

The planet is a friendly place. The world is hostile. It has never been otherwise. It is designed for mass subjugation of the populace. The laws of the system are designed to keep you in check. However, every single individual is powerful. Patrece on behalf of P-Systems (Self Enhancement Series for Cindy, April, 2007)

The first several hours of this day found my mood matching the weather: unsettled and stormy.  The day is gray. The wind is howling. Rain and sleet have fallen periodically since before dawn. It’s a snuggle-in sort of day, and I’m grateful that my only need to go beyond the back door is to take the canine pack out to stretch their legs.

As I get quiet to ask for clarity, I find two things tugging at my heart: one personal, one global. Personally, I’m missing home and wanting to be back in my own environment. Four plus weeks is a long time away, and my body is weary from pounding pavement rather than the mountain roads and trails of home. Although he’s adapted to a very different life here, I’m guessing that Luke too longs for the leash-free life of home.

Beyond my own personal desire, as I observe the world, I’m struck by the intensity of the discord. It’s not new of course.  It occurs to me that real change requires not just a political revolution (though perhaps that’s a start!) but an evolution of the spirit where every individual has the awareness and courage to operate from their spiritual power. This power is not from the mundane world, but rather the gift to each and every one of us from the Universe.

We’ve been disconnected from awareness of this true Power, unplugged from Source. This is the way of the world and its systems, made by man to serve man, but not mankind. Humanity suffers.

Despite the world, spring dawns ...

So, it’s no wonder that there is so much angst and anger. We’ve been duped into believing that this world is our source and that the pie is not big enough for all to share. Some can have. Others cannot. 

We blame. We fear. We fight.

On this path, we lose.  Momentary victories of one group over another do not sustain any of us over the long term. We need look no further than the vitriol in our national political discourse or that of radicals of all persuasions to see this today.  History is replete with examples of winning and losing. Even the “war to end all wars” didn’t.

We are hungry for leadership that understands and is not afraid to acknowledge the Source of individual power. We need to harness that understanding to build systems that do the same.

Sometimes real change happens only after we’ve hit bottom.  Perhaps that is the good news. As I survey the global political environment and take in the daily news (or so it is called), I wonder “are we there yet?”

... and Spring blooms. Onward!

March Mantra

Raven graces a final hike to the Ziggurat before our journey west begins.

If you are not learning, you are not living.  Gregge Tiffen – The Journey Continues: Near Life Experiences (March, 2010)

I’m living!  And, my mantra for this month where we will welcome spring reflects the curiosity I hold for the learning opportunities available to me moment to moment, day to day.

Since posting last week’s blog suggesting an adventure in my future, Luke and I traveled 1,226 miles across four western states, and we’re settling into a new environment from which I’ll be creating my experience for the next few weeks.  The learning opportunities are vast: adaptability, flexibility, patience, courage, along with some very specific learning about canine care and how to travel cross-country with a dog.  And, those are the ones I’m aware of now. I suspect others to join me on the journey.  

I’ve come to eastern Washington to take care of a family member’s dogs so that she can make a long-planned trip abroad.  She has courage and passion in places where I don’t. She loves the adventure of travel to other cultures, this trip to Nepal. She has the courage to follow her passion despite the chaos in the world and the possibility that she will not see her beloved canines again.  One is elderly. The other was diagnosed with cancer late last year.

With support from her vet, Cousin Marty and I have outlined the possibilities and I’m prepared to both use my judgement and follow her wishes regarding decisions that may present themselves while she is away.

As I write this morning, Luke is at my feet, ever the model of composure and adaptability.  Gilley and Bonner are alertly waiting for their mom to return. She’s out for a last round of pre-trip errands before departing tomorrow.

So often when we step out of our routine life, as I’m doing these next few weeks, we let events define us.  I’m aiming to follow a different path, the road less traveled of awareness in the moment of each event as an opportunity for learning and for using what I’ve learning to this point in choosing each step.

Our home away from home in March.