Seeds for a happy planet

Some time ago I posted a question on my Facebook wall: “Sitting with this question: what makes witnessing so powerful? Is it because it links with our deepest soul?” A whole lot of answers came, and really nice ones.

The question had been fueled by recent experiences in some gatherings or learning events. One was were we did a listening circle – instead of speaking when you had the talking piece, now you were the one to listen to the others who would share what they saw was your precious gift. To me, it was a very special moment and someone said: This is even beyond Appreciative Inquiry! It was special because we could all touch a layer that we normally don’t give words to. It was about each others essence. I would say it was about and from the soul level. Also in the Immersion, a learning gathering around Living Wholeness the witnessing was very present.

Here are some of the answers that came on my FB page:
I have been sitting with this question as well Some words from Alan Watts made me wonder if that’s a possible answer!
“Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence.” ~ Alan Watts

Often I’m reminded that our anatomy doesn’t let us see our own beauty except in a mirror. We can do that for each other!

There is definitely something about being seen and heard – and maybe that is about the universe being seen and heard through each of us.

mirror neurons?

perhaps the gracefulness of not attempting to change but accepting something…

there’s also something about seeing and hearing ourselves within that process which makes it so potent for me too.

The Vedas talk about unmanifest Being splitting itself into Rishi, Devata and Chandas – the Knower, the Process of Knowing and the Known – in order that it might know itself. Witnessing is a practice of being consciously aware of all three to complete the trinity, rather than just focusing on the ‘Known’ …

Isn’t there a lot of wisdom in my friends? I really was surprised by the abundance of the answers, as this was more or less the first time I engaged myself in this way on Facebook!

Collages from our experience in nature… the invitation was to listen to nature. This was the overall question: What is it that humanity needs to remember in order to rewild, repattern and restory?

Some time ago I posted a question on my Facebook wall: “Sitting with this question: what makes witnessing so powerful? Is it because it links with our deepest soul?” A whole lot of answers came; and really nice ones.

The question had been fueled by recent experiences in some gatherings and learning events. In one we did a witnessing circle. It was a listening circle – instead of speaking when you had the talking piece, now you were the one to listen to the others who would share what they saw was your precious gift. To me, it was a very special moment and someone said: This is even beyond Appreciative Inquiry! It was special because we could all touch a layer that we normally don’t give words to. It was basically naming each other’s essence. I would say it was about and from the soul level. Also in the Axladitsa Immersion, a learning gathering around Living Wholeness this witnessing was very present throughout the gathering.

Here are some of the answers that came on my FB page:
“I have been sitting with this question as well Some words from Alan Watts made me wonder if that’s a possible answer!
“Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence.” ~ Alan Watts”

“Often I’m reminded that our anatomy doesn’t let us see our own beauty except in a mirror. We can do that for each other!”

“There is definitely something about being seen and heard – and maybe that is about the universe being seen and heard through each of us.”

“Mirror neurons?”

“Perhaps the gracefulness of not attempting to change but accepting something…”

“There’s also something about seeing and hearing ourselves within that process which makes it so potent for me too.”

“The Vedas talk about unmanifest Being splitting itself into Rishi, Devata and Chandas – the Knower, the Process of Knowing and the Known – in order that it might know itself. Witnessing is a practice of being consciously aware of all three to complete the trinity, rather than just focusing on the ‘Known’…”

Isn’t there a lot of wisdom in my friends? I really was surprised by the abundance of the answers, as this was more or less the first time I engaged myself in this way on Facebook!

The witnessing evoked in the Immersion the notion of Radical Amasement. To me, to be in a state of real witnessing, be it something in nature, an old tool or someone else, I become radical amased about the ingenuity of what is in front of me. The wonder of life, that explodes in these myriad of different forms, so many different ‘solutions’ to so many different ‘problems’… it is just awesome!

Then you realize it is not about solutions and problems, but it is about how life tries out each and every way to express the richness of itself. It seems always trying out what kind of life forms are life-bearing or life-affirming. It just goes on doing that; and it never stops. Still the big bang is happening all the time….

Summer Solstice is a celebration of the longest day of the year and the beginning of summer. Since ancient times humans have celebrated this time in festivals honoring the life giving power of the sun, and the abundance and vitality of life at its zenith.

Ancient systems of knowledge were universally orientated to celestial events, particularly the solstices and equinoxes that mark the seasons of life on earth. Honoring of these cardinal points is found throughout the world in sites as diverse as Stonehenge in the British Isles, the Big Horn Medicine Wheel in Wyoming, USA, the Caracol Tower of Mexico, and the Pyramids of Egypt.

Solstices happen twice each year, when the tilt of the Earth’s axis is most inclined toward (summer) or away (winter) from the Sun. The name is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstice the Sun appears to stands still in its path before reversing direction. Of course as we view this time from a global perspective, it is obvious that the northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere are opposites, so that the summer solstice of one hemisphere is the winter solstice of the other.

In the Occident, the solstices and equinoxes mark the beginning of the seasons, such that summer solstice is the first day of summer. In East Asian Cultures, they mark the middle of the seasons. This reflects the understanding that the Chi, or energy, in the movement from yin to yang crests at the midpoint. Hence the Chinese character for solstice means “extreme”, signifying the zenith of the energies of summer and winter.

A similar sense of flowing between seemingly contrary forces (as symbolized by Yin and Yang) is expressed in the traditions of the British Isles, where the Oak King- who rules the waxing year, reigns from Winter Solstice to Summer Solstice when he abdicates to the Holly King who rules the waning year. Thus, in traditions of both East and West, we acknowledge that in the realm of duality opposites give rise to each other in turn. We experience this mystery every year when the longest day marks the beginning of the light’s incremental waning toward winter’s darkness, and again at winter solstice when the darkest night heralds the return of the light.

Many ancients, such as the Druids, celebrate the marriage of Heaven and Earth during Midsummer Solstice, reflecting the alchemical fusion of spirit and matter at the heart of creation. Though celebrations held in different parts of the world differ, they reveal a common essence of celebrating light at its zenith and the bounty and goodness of life that is given by the vitalizing radiance of the sun.

Thanks to Dana Lynne Andersen for the text and to Ursula who forwarded the picture!

THE GREAT TURNING*

You’ve asked me to tell you of the Great Turning, of how we saved the world from disaster. The answer is both simple and complex:
We turned.

For hundreds of years we had turned
away as life on earth grew more precarious.
We turned away from the homeless men on the streets, the stench from the river, the children orphaned in Iraq, the mothers dying of AIDS in Africa.

We turned away because that is what we had been taught.
To turn away, from the pain, from the hurt in another’s eyes, from the drunken father or the friend betrayed. Always we were told, in actions louder than words, to turn away, turn away. And so we became a lonely people caught up in a world moving too quickly, too mindlessly toward its own demise.

Until it seemed as if there was no safe place to turn. No place, inside or out, that did not remind us of fear or terror, despair and loss, anger and grief.

Yet on one of those days someone did turn.

Turned to face the pain.
Turned to face the stranger.
Turned to look at the smoldering world
and the hatred seething in too many eyes.
Turned to face himself, herself.

And then another turned.
And another. And another.
And as they wept, they took
each other’s hands.

Until whole groups of people were turning.
Young and old, gay and straight. People
of all colors, all nations, all religions.
Turning not only to the pain and hurt
but to the beauty, gratitude and love.
Turning to one another with
forgiveness and a longing
for peace in their hearts.

At first the turning made people dizzy, even silly. There were people standing to the side gawking, criticizing, trying to knock the turners down.
But the people turning kept getting up, kept helping one another to their feet. Their laughter and kindness brought others into the turning circle until even the naysayers began to smile and sway.

As the people turned, they began to spin, reweaving the web of life, mending the shocking tears, knitting it back together with the colors of the earth, sewing on tiny mirrors so the beauty of each person, each creature, each plant, each life form might be seen and respected.

And as the people turned, as they spun

like the earth through the universe, the web wrapped around them like a soft baby blanket, making it clear all were loved, nothing separate.

As this love reached into every crack and crevice, the people began to wake and wonder, to breathe and give thanks, to work and celebrate together.

And so the world was saved, but only as long as you, too, sweet one, remember to turn.

–written by Christine Fry (October 19, 2004)
*Thanks to Joanna Macy

Posted by David Sibbet, but worth re-publishing!

Symptoms of Inner Peace

. an unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment

. loss of interest in judging others or yourself

. loss of interest in conflict

. loss of ability to worry (very serious symptom)

. frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation

. contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature

. frequent attacks of smiling through the eyes from the heart

. tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen

. tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than from fear based on past experience

. susceptibility to love extended by others and the uncontrollable urge to extend love

If you have all or most of the the above symptoms, be advised that your condition of peace may be incurable. If you are exposed to anyone exhibiting these symptoms, remain exposed at your own risk. These conditions of peace are highly infectious.

Unknown Author