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Don't Fight the Current

A Sunshine Coast Kind of Thursday Morning

Good Morning India!

Letting the Storm Pass

The Principles of Miracles 6-10

The original book cover
by Helen Shucman and
William Thetford

The following text is excerpted from A COURSE IN MIRACLES, under public domain law (see notes below)

If you have not read Principles 1-5 CLICK this link to read those Principles before these.

And here are Principles of Miracles 6-10 (of 50) quoted verbatim from the text, Chapter 1, Principles of Miracles

6. Miracles are natural. When they do not occur something has gone wrong.

7. Miracles are everyone's right, but purification is necessary first.

8. Miracles are healing because they supply a lack; they are performed by those who temporarily have more for those who temporarily have less.

9. Miracles are a kind of exchange. Like all expressions of love, which are  always miraculous in the true sense, the exchange  reverses the physical laws. They bring more love both to the giver and the receiver.

10. The use of miracles as spectacles to induce belief is a misunderstanding of their purpose.

Pay particular attention to Principle 8: PERFORMED BY THOSE WHO TEMPORARILY HAVE MORE, FOR THOSE WHO TEMPORARILY HAVE LESS.

While you contemplate these principles keep the following in mind (quoted verbatim from the text):

From Chapter 2: The Origins of Separation

Because of your likeness to your Creator you are creative. No child of God can lose this ability because it is inherent in what he is, but he can use it inappropriately by projecting. The inappropriate use of extension, or projection, occurs when you believe that some emptiness or lack exists in you, and that you can fill it with your own ideas instead of truth. This process involves the following steps:

• First, you believe that what God created can be changed by your own mind.

• Second, you believe that what is perfect can be rendered imperfect or lacking.

• Third, you believe that you can distort the creations of God, including yourself.

• Fourth, you believe that you can create yourself, and that the direction of your own creation is up to you.

And remember this as you ponder this material:

Nothing real can be threatened.

Nothing unreal exists.

Herein lies the peace of God.

Public Domain Information Link

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Public Domain version of
A COURSE IN MIRACLES 
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Principles of Miracles 1-5 link

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

There are certain times one must realize it is best to just
turn and walk away.

A COURSE IN MIRACLES, the Public Domain version

The Original Book Cover by
Helen Shucman and
William Thetford

Please see link at bottom for CND and US Public Domain Law information


There is a list of fifty Principles of Miracles in the first chapter of A Course In Miracles. I will post them, 5 principles per day. Give them some thought. See if they make sense to you; see if you can perceive how each principle may impact your life.

Principles of Miracles

1. There is no order of difficulty in miracles. One is not "harder" or "bigger" than another. They are all the same. All expressions of love are maximal.

2. Miracles as such do not matter. The only thing that matters is their source, which is far beyond evaluation.

3. Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love. The real miracle is the love that inspires them. In this sense everything that comes  
                                                              from love is a miracle.

4. All miracles mean life, and God is the giver of life. His voice will direct you very specifically. You will be told all you need to know.

5. Miracles are habits, and should be involuntary. They should not be  under conscious control. Consciously selected miracles can be misguided.

(Points 1 -5 are quoted verbatim from the original)

Hmmmm. If you can't find immediate meaning in the words put them aside and read them again. Print out this post and read the principles before you drift off to sleep at night, and read them again when you wake up in the morning. Put your sub-conscious mind to work on understanding what is meant. Pay particular attention to Principle number 4. Know, deep inside, that this is true. YOU WILL BE TOLD ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW.

And keep this in mind as well ~  ~ quoted verbatim from the original except for parts in [ ] ~ ~

This is a course in miracles. It is a required course [in life, I think, is meant]. Only the time you take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean that you can establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect what you want to take at a given time. The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence, which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all encompassing can have no opposite. This course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way:

Nothing real can be threatened.

Nothing unreal exists.

Herein lies the peace of God.

If you would like to receive
access to the Public Domain version of
A COURSE IN MIRACLES 
JOIN THIS SITE ~ ~ SERENE PROMOTIONS (TM) ~ ~
(the Join This Site box is at the top of this page on the left hand panel)
and the link will be sent to your inbox

Principles of Miracles 6-10 link

Public Domain Information Link

Good Morning!

Good Tuesday morning to all my peeps! I feel GREAT this dark, grey, rainy morning....LOL!

Wishing everyone prosperous happenings today and every day.

Be kind to all who cross your path, you may be the nicest person they come across today :)

Here's a "glass half full" kind of message for you all:

Moral Education: Self-Discipline Starts at Home

Truly, some of the worst moments in life are those times when, standing in front of a mirror, you have a hard time meeting your own eyes in the reflection; those times you think, “God, I wish I hadn’t of done that.”

The feelings those regrettable actions bring up inside you, in your secret place, are just plain wicked; feelings of shame, guilt, regret and self-loathing. These feelings, if they occur often enough, will eventually erode your self-esteem and create a negative reality.

How do we, as parents, teach our children to lessen these occurrences? How do we ensure that our children reach adulthood able to face themselves in the mirror, with a clear conscience, as they gaze into their own windows of the soul?

As the guardians of our children’s young hearts and minds it is imperative that we teach them that, as Aristotle pointed out, “our habits make all the difference”. In order that they may develop into admirable adults, the overwhelming influence of the bad and the ugly, so prevalent in today’s society, must be negated by the good. By the daily observation of what William J. Bennett refers to as “successful everyday behavior”, our children receive their primary instruction in self-control and discipline. Reading the collection of tales, fables and anecdotes in Bennett’s, The Book of Virtues, to your young children will illustrate and emphasize your own “successful everyday behavior” while teaching them Lincoln’s truth: “when I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad”.

As parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and family friends of our youngest generation, we all should remember that “home is the first place where boys and girls first learn how to limit their wishes, abide by rules, and consider the rights and needs of others” (Sidonie Gruenberg).

MORAL EDUCATION: Whose Responsibility Is It?

            In his article, The Violent Heart, in the 2010 Winter Issue of Vision Magazine, David Hulme reviews Jonathan Glover’s, Humanity: A Moral History of the 20^th Century. Hulme agrees with Glover that “knowing what is right and exercising the will to do it” is grounded in “the early and continuous formation of character, [and that] a moral identity is one relevant fact of character”.

           Glover cites an emotional lack, somewhere in the background, of those capable of “humiliating, tormenting, wounding and killing others”. He claims this emotional lack, leads to a moral lack, which gives license to violent behavior.

            Hulme investigates this thread, using Bible passages. He concludes that “religious belief is no indication of a right spirit”, pointing out that throughout history many have justified killing, by their devotion to their notion of God. He finds that violence need not necessarily be physical; verbal abuse can be just as punishing as a slap in the face, or a punch in the ribs, as many an abused individual could tell you from experience. He also calls gossip another weapon in the arsenal of cruelty. He quite rightly defines ‘violence of the tongue’ as “slander, gossip, insolence, anger, [and even] passivity – the failure to speak out against such abuses. He quotes Glover: “the festival of cruelty is in full swing”.

            In the same issue of Vision, Brian Orchard, in The Teaching of Moral Values, cites a complaint by VOICE, a British union of teaching professionals: their classrooms have become chaotic because youngsters, entering the primary classes, are showing up with little or no moral training and are disruptively undisciplined. Philip Parkin, the general secretary of VOICE, bemoans the fact that the present state of familial life, and the oft shifting state of the relationships of the parental generation, bodes ill for the over-taxed staff of the education system and the moral state of the generation now attending primary schools.

            In The Book of Virtues, Bennett says that to “respond is to answer, and to be responsible is to be accountable”. In the parent/child relationship, the onus of responsibility, by reason of maturity, lies with the parent. As psychological studies have shown, a child’s character is formed during the first five years of their existence. It is quite obvious then, that the primary opportunity to build a solid foundation of character is rooted in infancy and early childhood, in the home.

            Mayhap, the “emotional lack” Glover writes about, in the background of those who choose violence and cruelty as a form of relating to others, is the failure of some parents to instill a sense of morality in their children, before the shutters are closed on the window of opportunity, and the soul loses some of the brighter illumination that comes along with higher standards of morality.

E-Mail to Moira Brown of 100 HUNTLEY STREET -- Crossroads Mission

Hi there Moira!

My name is Serena Aubrey and I created a Facebook group called WAY-FINDERS of CANADA. We are a group of almost 200 (and growing) like-minded individuals who post and comment on positivity and good works as we seek and quest to FIND our WAY towards spiritual evolution. The WAY-FINDER mission is to encourge people to be their best, do their best and encourage the best in others.

I am also developing an enterprise called, SERENE PROMOTIONS (TM), with the intention of publishing a print product that will support Single-Parent Second-Chance Students in Vancouver, BC (and potentially further afield) who choose to commit to re-entering formal education institutions in order to improve their reality and that of their children. The intention is to use 100% of the profit to provide grocery certificates, from grocery store partners, in order that qualifying students may be better able to concentrate on the task at hand, rather than worry about where the next meal is going to come from.

SERENE PROMOTIONS (TM) has developed a concept called
The New PEACE Paradigm ~~ an acronym for Positive Thought, Education, Advancement, Collaboration, Entrepreneurship
Copyright, 2011 Serene Promotions (TM)

Through the Way-Finders group I came into contact with Sandra Baite of Kepac Children's Home in Uganda. She cares for 30 orphans in a home donated by an eldery village woman who helps care for the children. Sandra claims that her home is registered as a legit charity in Uganda. This is not something I can verify though. I have told her on numerous occassions that I can not help her financially, and I can not in good conscious solicit funds from my contacts because of my inability to verify the veracity of her claim to be running this home as fact.

She has maintained contact with me though and I do believe that she is doing what she claims to be doing.

After Christmas she informed me that she cares for one little boy who suffers from a heart condition. He was hospitalized at the start of the New Year. He has since returned home and is over his medical emergency, but he requires on-going specialized care, which of course will require funds. Again, I am not in a position to verify any of this. However, neither can I ignore the need of a child. Sandra has told me that she will scan and email me documentation from the doctors at the Uganda Heart Institute in Mulago Hospital verifying the boy's condition.

As a member of the 100 HUNTLEY STREET audience I am aware that the CROSSROADS MISSION has a program called "UGANDA: Tapping into HOPE" operating in-country.....and this means that there are qualified people working in-country. Would it be possible to have someone from this program take the time to verify Sandra's predicament? It's a long-shot I know ~~ but nothing ventured, nothing gained. Right?

If, in fact, this scenario is an actuality I would like to suggest that Sandra's little boy be introduced to the Prayer Centre. Perhaps someone would be willing to become his benefactor one-on-one. It is after all, caring people who make this world a better place and a place where The New Peace Paradigm moves from concept to program.

I will CC this missive directly to the MISSIONS department and will also post it as a note on the WAY-FINDER of CANADA group page. Hopefully other people will become aware of this boy's medical plight and some one, some where, in a position to help will do so.

Thank you for your time Moira, and thank you for your wonderful work on 100 HUNTLEY STREET. I very much enjoy your hosting every week-day morning. Some links follow:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/CanadianBHWCommunity/  the WAY-FINDERs of CANADA group page

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Serene-Promotions-TM/101987616547484 the SERENE PROMOTIONS (TM) enterprise page

http://serenepromotions.blogspot.com/2011/04/story-of-sacred-stone-logo.html the SERENE PROMOTIONS (TM) blog and the story of the SEVEN SACRED STONES

serenenorth@yahoo.ca my direct email address

Kind regards Moira,

Serena Aubrey

MAHATMA -- It's Time to Allow Your MAHATMA to Shine!

MAHATMA means spiritual person, or person of GREAT SPIRIT.
Without a doubt Mahatma Ghandi falls in this category.
And without a doubt we all harbour that greatness within our souls.
The purpose of our life is to discover our greatness.
We were placed here to implement an impact of goodness.
My hope for humanity is that WE ALL discover our MAHATMA.
And that we leave that impression upon all who cross our path.

PEACE

Positive Thought
Education
Advancement
Collaboration
Entrepreneurship

CLICK HERE for the vid-clip THE GANDHI RAP: Be the Change by MC YOGI

Thoughtless Versus Thoughtful

Unfocused emotion is like a drive-by shooting;
Intent is sprayed haphazardly outwards in random action.

This creates words that harm and hurt,
Words that cause pain, humiliation, heartbreak, sadness, illness, hardship and agony.

Do not allow thoughtless words to escape an unguarded mouth;
Words that will maim another's spirit.
Instead, take the time to create thoughtful words that leave your mouth gracefully;
Words that will build up the collective spirit,
Both of other's and of your own.

Let the WILL of Our Creator,
Which lives within you
Exist in your beat, your breath, your blood, your bones -- in your entire being
Be ever aware that the WILL is alive within
It only requires your conscious say-so to awaken fully

Saying Hello From the Ground Level Cafe in Toronto

Connectivity is available at the GROUND LEVEL CAFE!

Checking in from the GROUND LEVEL CAFE in Toronto. I am a fortunate soul I must say. Totally by surprise I was offered a trip to Ottawa to visit a friend I have not seen since 1984 -- she has the sweetest children who arranged a surprise birthday party and sent me a ticket so I could be there as the "gift". How loving is that?

I decided to return to Vancouver via Toronto so I could visit my eldest daughter -- how could you travel clear across the country and not stop to visit?

And while in Toronto, how could you not arrange to meet with local members of the WAY-FINDER WEEKLY of CANADA group that you have been connecting with for the past year or so? What a fabulous opportunity!

So last night GRACE LAROZA, newly-published author of the novel, SIMON SAYS, and I met in the same neighbourhood as this cafe and we joyfully connected in person for the first time. I seized on the chance to conduct an interview of this up-an-coming new writer (she's already working on her second novel) while we did coffee! Grace is a fabulous example of one who persisted until she was successful in FINDING her WAY.

I have yet to meet with ROXANNE SPEARS who created the enterprise called, SDG CRAFTS on Eglington Avenue. I will also be conducting an in-store interview with Roxanne. I am very interested in how she claimed the courage to take that leap in faith that allowed her to make the decision that set her firmly on the path to FINDING her WAY to achieving her vision and dream. I am proud of both these young ladies who persisted gracefully until they had the prize in hand -- kudos to them both!

And last, but certainly not least, I have an invite from SWARN LATA, another local WAY-FINDER WEEKLY member who has offered to cook up some genuine Indian food for us to partake in together. Lata immigrated from India and persisted in her intention to create a music school which specializes in teaching the sitar -- an instrument that has always resonated with my soul -- the notes that are coaxed from its strings have always held a mystical quality for me. I look forward to the meal, and also to viewing the music studio/school she has created in the heart of Toronto. I hope that Lata will also grace me with an interview that describes the journey she has taken to FINDING her WAY.

Look for the interviews on this site in the very near future :)

Please LIKE this site and help support the Single-Parent Student Grocery Fund that the profits of the WAY-FINDER WEEKLY (to be published by Serene Promotions(TM) in the near future) will be allocated to. Clicking LIKE is all we will ask of you ever :)

THIS SITE NEEDS YOUR HELP!

SERENE PROMOTIONS IS READY TO LAUNCH

THE

WAY-FINDER WEEKLY

BUT WE NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE

and it's super easy for you to help us out

 Simply click on the blue

JOIN THIS SITE

 box to the left of the arrow and sign on. That's it! That's all we need!

In order for this publication to be a success we need to convince advertisers that our intention is supported by the masses and that their ads will be viewed by a readership that wants to help encourage, promote and support Single-Parent Re-Entry Students who have committed to a course of studies that will improve their lives and that of their children. 

CLICK HERE

to find out what that intention is

and why YOU would want to help promote it.

Feel free to voice your support by leaving your

POSITIVE THOUGHTS

about this endeavour in the comments below!

THANK YOU!

RESIST NOT EVIL



My Pop's Drawing
This 1951 sketch was his perception
of himself as the young warrior
 setting out to conquer his world.
He taught me a lot about
being self-aware



I just love it when Divinity reaches down into my life and makes itself SO evident. No sooner had I posted a Facebook comment that FEAR is a SHADOW , I walked into my dining room and picked up an open book off the table called THE THIRD JESUS by Deepak Chopra and I my eyes fell upon this passage (p. 155-7):

RESIST NOT EVIL

Applying the teaching: Evil is the collective and personal shadow.

Here are a few paraphrased excerpts from this passage:

• Evil should not be resisted -- once you fully examine your "shadow" you will find that it is the hidden parts of self, expressing outwardly what you haven't resolved inwardly
• If you don't learn to understand your shadow it will continuously find new ways to bring back the things you hate and fear
• Shadows are your inner hidey-holes where you store your negative traits -- the forbidden feelings: anger, revenge, jealousy, prejudice, rampant desires, murderous rage
• The shadow contains all that we feel is unacceptable about ourselves: the things that will jeopardize our standing in the eyes of others, the things that will cause us to "lose face"
• Only by wresting the shadow's power away, can we learn to overcome the shame, the harsh self-judgement, the guilt; and this only occurs if we learn to bring the shadow into the light -- expose it, admit it exists, come to terms with it, forgive yourself and put it behind you
• The shadow only has power over you if you give it power -- you have to "rehabilitate" your shadow, because you can not get rid of it (the sun will shine and there it will always be, the shadow of you); this is the duality of life -- in order for there to be good, there must be evil

Chopra writes:

As you begin to re-examine your history in a new light, you can rehabilitate the shadow. It poses as your enemy largely in reaction to your own guilt and fear. The shadow can't be abolished, so don't try. It's this fact, the eternal play of good and evil, that Jesus wants people to see, in order that they can rise to a higher plane of existence. He doesn't ask us to conquer evil. Struggling against evil only brings more energy into its grasp. But if you stop resisting evil and come to terms with it instead, you will be taking steps toward the ultimate realization that evil is a wound inflicted in separation and healed in unity.

THE MANDALA: Seeking the Sacred -- Sacred Art




Rangoli * Photo Credit: Simona Rich Site Link

Back in May, while cruising the on-line  travel photo albums of my Facebook contacts, I came across a pic that caught my eye and stayed in my head. Simona Rich (an internet e-book marketer, personal development coach and fellow blogger) posted a photo she took at an ashram (a spiritual centre where people gather to meditate and pray) in Surat, India. The picture portrayed an intricate circular design created out of coloured sand. I asked her if she knew of it's specific meaning and purpose...she did not, but another of her blog FOLLOWER's, Anupriya Singh of India (who attends Massachusettes U. in Lowell MA), posted a link for me and offered her expertise and knowledge of anything Indian (thank you Anupriya). Her link took me to the Wikipedia page for rangoli -- traditional Indian folk art. Constructed on living-room floors and in the courtyards of Indian homes, they are believed to attract and welcome deities and to bring good fortune. They are considered sacred. The symbology used in the designs  is ancient, passed down through the generations. These designs are created on a daily basis, as they are swept away at the end the day and thrown into a body of water, in recognition of the fact that all in physical life is impermanent.

Intrigued, I continued to dig around on the internet to research this spiritual practice. I believe now that Simona's picture triggered something intuitive in me, some primordial knowledge I was not consciously aware of, that added fuel to the flames of my soul-fire. From link to link I kept looking until I came to some sites that were related to mandala's...

The Pocket Oxford Dictionary (1996, 9th Ed.: Oxford U. Press) defines a mandala to be a circular figure used as a religious symbol of the universe. It is a Sanskrit word -- of the ancient and sacred Hindu language. On the Exotic India Art site (Site Link) the newsletter archives revealed that the root word is manda -- meaning essence; to which la was added -- meaning container. So a mandala is an artistic expression of a container of essence.

Further research informed me that the ancient use of mandala's was spiritual in nature and is historically credited to the Bhuddist belief system, and adapted into use by the Hindu belief. Spiritually, it is associated with both the universe and the soul -- or the outer and the inner beings.

As representative of the outer dimensions the mandala portrays not only our planet, our solar system and our universe, but also the minutest particles that we now understand all is composed of -- the atom -- pure energy.

The mandala as representative of the inner dimension shows our human condition -- from it's outer circumference into it's middle start-point (a dot -- an infintesimally small circle) it portrays our struggle to understand ourselves in relation to our origin; and from that origin point to the outer circumference it portrays our struggle to relate to and understand all else that exists.

Segmented into quadrants the mandala leads to an understanding of our duality in both dimensions (and without doubt the Taoist mandala, the Yin Yang symbol of duality, is the most universally recognized symbol of the dualist tradition). There is above and below, before and behind which can be related to birth and death, male and female, good and evil, rich and poor, infinity and impermanance -- each a reflection of the other. Without this duality there is nothingness, none...a void.



Fibonacci images downloaded
from Wikipedia



Sacred geometry or mathematics, within the circumference of the circle, is an integral element of the traditional mandala. In the Yin Yang symbol the sacred Fibonacci number sequence is in evidence in it's dual spirals. The spiral, which follows a proven mathematical sequence, occurs throughout the natural world. It is a repetitive pattern of life. It is interesting to note that although this number sequence and the equivalent spiral is named after Leonardo Fibonacci, an Italian mathematician from Pisa, it was actually a sequence that was recognized through the application of a Hindu-Arabic number system that had been developed between the 1st and 5th centuries. It was considered to be a Sacred Sanskrit number system. Recognizing the ease of use of this 0-9 number system, over the Roman number system in use in the Western world at the time, Fibonacci spent considerable time and energy learning this system by travelling throughout the Meditarranenan region, and points east, to seek out the Eastern mathemeticians who could teach him what they knew. He then introduced this superior system to the Western world, and it eventually replaced the Roman numeral system. In his book Liber Abaci (published in 1202) Fibonacci explained that the sequence begins with 0 and 1. Added together it equals 1, when the last number is added to the number before it in the sequence it adds up to the next sequential number, in this case 2. The sequence of Fibonacci numbers continues in that order:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987...........

The Fibonacci Spiral

Fibonacci explained how this sequence can be related to the spiral symbol by tiling the sequence numbers and then connecting each tile using a curve on the opposite corner of each square. In this orderly fashioning of squares and curves the spiral emerges.

He also showed how this pattern of life occurs in the natural world:

                                    

Pineapple images downloaded
 from Wikipedia



As in the pineapple: one can see where a repetitive 5-parallel sequence spirals around the pineapple. As well as an 8-parallel sequence spiral (not shown), and finally a 13 parallel sequence spiral. Hereby, the Fibonacci number sequence comes into natural play and order with the Fibonacci numbers of 5, 8 and 13.



Daisy image downloaded from Wikipedia

 Or in the daisy: here you can visually see the spirals created by the naturally occuring inner parts of a simple daisy...but is it really so simple? Or is it evidence of the intricate Divine in the grand scheme of nature? Did these mathematical thoughts just occur in the human mind? Or is it intuitive primordial knowledge that each and every one of us is born with and which is contained, deeply rooted, in our own "container of essence"....our higher consciousness....our soul? What inner whisperings did the earlier creators of the Sanskrit number system of 0-9 listen to in order to develop their system and then to take notice of the numerical sequence; and furthermore to then notice that this sequence occurs naturally throughout the world around us -- not only in flowers and fruit, but in shells, in geological formations, in water waves, in sound waves, in light refraction and even in snowflakes and ice crystals. And what inner whisperings did Fibonacci listen to in order to so enthusiastically pursue that knowledge, in what one could only imagine would be difficult travel scenarios in the late 1100's? And to then introduce that system as the mathematical knowledge the world now uses in every facet of living? Gives some pause for thought doesn't it?

Geometric shapes other than circles and spirals, such as triangles and squares are also extensively incorporated into most mandala designs. The purpose of these spiritual mandala's was to use them to focus one's thoughts; to quiet the mind, to reach an inner space of stillness wherein one could seek God. Rather than allowing the mind to jump around erractically (like a crazed monkey, as Buddha said), focusing on the repetitive patterns within the Sacred Circle of the mandala can bring one to a state of anxiety-free quietude; a space where it is possible to just listen...listen for that inner voice....listen for that intuitve knowledge....listen for that current of Infinity.

 

At the Sayyida Rouqqaya Mosque in Damascus, Syria
Photo Credit: Jaqueline Mulders, 2011
My cousin (right), an extensive traveller;
 Jacqueline wanders this world and posts pictures of
places that inspire wonder and awe

Is the religious use of mandala's restricted to Eastern spiritual beliefs, rituals and practices? Certainly not. Almost all religions and faith systems make use of the mandala in one form or another.

Muslim worshippers of Allah reverently offer their devotions under mosque domes decorated in beautifully rendered sacred mandala's. Known by the Islamic art form of arabesque the stylized use of geometrical and vegetal repetitive patterns is said to be indicative of the nature of God: unified, transcendent and infinite. Not only is the use of this sacred art form applied in religious settings, but it also appears in other areas of everyday life: in rug-making, pottery, carving, stonework, etc. It seems that mandala's are pervasive in every-day Islamic life.

In Christian renderings, sacred mandala art can be found in many variations. Thousands of Catholic Cathedrals, as well as other Christian churches and chapels world-wide, carry this form of sacred art in the beautifully pieced-together stained-glass images that are most often wrought in some form of mandala.

 

The beautiful Rose Window at
Notre Dame. Downloaded from Wikipedia.



Devotees walking the
Chartres Cathedral Labyrinth, France
Downloaded from Wikipedia.

There are other Christian symbols that can be related to the mandala: the halo, the Host (or the communion wafer) and the Celtic cross.  All are circular, or have a circular element, and all represent divinity.

The medieval Christian prayer paths, also known as labyrinths, are also  found on many cathedral floors and/or church-grounds. The labyrinths are large -- often as big as a good-sized room. The paths are walked by devotees who use them to focus their prayers and meditations. It is said that it is helpful to walk the path from it's outer edge to the centre, that it brings one closer to one's inner being, closer to God. A path walker enters the labyrinth and follows the path around and around, with each circuit leading closer to the center. Once in the centre, there is room to sit in contemplation. One leaves the circle by following the path back out. Modern marketing has seen the development of personal labyrinths one can trace with a finger, a sort of desk-top version. Again, it is meant as a focussing tool to bring the mind into spiritual focus, to help find the inner peace required for contemplation of the Divine.

The same use of the circular representation for the physical and spiritual dimensions can be found in most native cultures and spiritual beliefs around the world. In Bighorn, Wyoming the ancient medicine wheel, or sacred hoop, was constructed on the ground using rocks and stones by the Objiwa and the Assinniboine nations. In locations throughout the US there are remains and indications of other medicine wheels. These sacred circles had less to do with biological healing, and were more focussed on spiritual healing. They were in use possibly as far back as 7,000 years, and perhaps even dated back to pre-historic times -- or since the dawn of time. The Hopi people, of northeastern Arizona, also adhere to the spiritual practice of dedicated medicine wheels. Their traditional meaning represents the four directions (north, east, south and west), the four basic elements of life (air, water, fire and earth), the four colours of humanity (red, white, yellow and black), and also include specific animal totems. Indiginous peoples in Australia make use of a circle that is associated with the creator-spirit, Baiame, of their belief system. It is called a  Bora Ring, and it is especially significant in the initiation rights of a boy's passage into manhood.

These same sacred hoops are found in Canada, most notably in Alberta where it is said the highest documented remains of ancient medicine wheels are located: over seventy individual wheels. It is reported that outside of Brooks, Alberta there is a sacred hoop that has been dated to over 5,000 years old, which was specifically aligned with the movement of the sun and the summer/winter soltices. Dubbed Canada's Stonehenge by author Gordon Freeman, it purpotedly predates the Egyptian pyraminds.

And then of course there are the Mayan and Aztec calendar rounds; remarkably similar in design to all the other mandala's world-wide. And let's not forget the wheel of the zodiac, a mandala most people are aware of and have seen all their lives....the representation of the celestial universe and all that moves within it, in Divine order, including humanity.



Carl Jung 1875 - 1961
Image downloaded from Wikipedia

Outside of mankind's spiritual use of these sacred circles,

Carl Jung, the renown pioneer of psycho-analysis treatment, conducted extensive research into the use of mandala's as a form of art therapy.

Coming from a childhood rooted in dysfunction, Jung grew up seeking inner stability to create a balance within himself. As a young lad he implemented certain personal rituals that gave him peace of mind. One such ritual involved a tiny wooden figure he had carved himself, a stone he had painted in upper and lower halves, and small written messages he would bundle together and stash in a secure, secret hiding place. Whenever his disruptive external life would threaten to unhinge his personal equilibrium he would retreat to his secret space to find the inner peace that would allow him to shake off the anxieties created by the outer turmoil.

Later, when Jung began to study psychiatry he realized that his personal childhood ceremony was , in fact, an archetypical response rooted in the collective unconscious of human experience. For millenia, long before he stashed his little power bundle of peace in its secret hidey-hole in the attic, both individually and communally, mankind had practiced similar rituals and ceremonies to calm the storm within, in order to relate rationally with the external. As a little boy, Jung had no way of having gained any information about prior use of such a talisman; it was just something that occurred to him from deep within. And that calling from within, led him within, to where he found peace.

Jung's life-long thirst for knowledge and understanding of the human condition led him on a study of world religions. He felt that, deep down inside, people can not ignore the calling of a Divine voice: that to do so works against the psyche. He delved into Christianity, Hinduism, Bhuddhism, Gnosticism and Taoism and became aware of the mandala. Another archetype, Jung thought it to be symbology that somehow filters its way into the sub-conscious to be utilized by humanity throughout the ages. Jung felt a deep kinship with the use of the mandala. He had begun drawing his own personal mandala's, after dreaming of one, and found it to be another useful tool to create an inner space of peace. He suggested to his colleagues that mandala's be introduced into their psychiatric practices as a form of art therapy.  He himself made use of art therapy and mandala colouring extensively in his practice. He felt it had real power to alleviate psychic pain, to bring one inside oneself, and heal the wounds of emotional and mental abuse.

In the begining of this article I wrote that I believed Simona's picture of the rangoli awoke some primordial knowledge in me. So I shall end this piece with what I think is proof of that assumption:

In October of 2010, the 11th day of that month to be exact (Thanksgiving Day, here in Canada), I sat at my dining room table doodling a logo for one of the Serene Promotions (TM) business ideas under development. Once the WAY-FINDER WEEKLY publication is up and running (hopefully by end September), and the Single-Parent Re-entry Student Grocery support fund is operational....the next business move will be to open up an internet-cafe/study-hall. It is to be called OPEN YOUR EYES CAFE or the OYE CAFE for short. As I was uploading the mandala pictures for this piece, the bright light went off in my head and I remembered that logo. Inadvertently, six months before Simona's picture sparked a little quest for knowledge about that rangoli, I had somehow utilized that primordial knowledge in the creation of that logo, and without realizing it (until just now as I am finishing this article) I had created a mandala of my own. I now see that I had acknowledged, deep within my spirit, the path that was chosen for me -- "a path that will prosper me and not harm me, a path that gives me hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11)...a path that will allow me to be of service to my community and my fellow man.

A final point: after I began this little mandala quest I found three discarded copies of a magazine (still in their plastic shipping wrap) in an apartment move-out pile, in my building's basement (often times, when foreign students complete their studies they just board a plane and return home, leaving their Canadian belongings behind, which the maintenance crew has to clear out. I up-cycle a lot of excellent stuff out of those piles!). You'll never guess what the name of the magazine was......MANDALA: The Official Publication of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition....LOL, just a little synchronicity....but that is another article altogether...SYNCHRONICITY: The Sacred, Crossing Your Path

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IS IT TABOO TO TALK ABOUT TALKING TO GOD?

During Oprah's final monologue on the Oprah Show she deviated from her prepared talk and mentioned God and His importance in her life and to her success.

She did so with a wry grin and immediately acknowledged , "I know, I know, there's going to be people that get their back's up because I mentioned God. Oooohhh, not God, don't bring God into it."

And she is right. Mainstream society doesn't want to hear it; it's almost taboo. Don't bring up God or prayer at work, you'll be labeled a freak or a Bible thumper. Don't bring up God at your PTA meeting or you will be given strange looks as other parents move away from you as if they may become infected with religiosity. In some situations people will even become angered if the subject is brought up.

It seems that for many people  God and prayer is only acceptable in church, synagogue or temple, weddings and funerals, or when one is experiencing moments of profound misery so great that it causes an involuntary outcry for mercy. And yet, there are multitudes of people who have a personal, spiritual relationship.with God that they maintain and deepen through an active and meaningful practice of prayer.

Recently I borrowed a book called, TALKING TO GOD: Portrait of a World at Prayer (2006, Stone Creek Publications) and the truth of this was brought home to my soul in a most profound manner. I believe in God and I converse with Him on a daily basis, but I am one of those people who hedge their bets in public in order to avoid controversy. I skirt around the God issue in conversation or with my pen  and keyboard as if He were taboo. I refer to God as the Universe, or the One, or the Source, or the Absolute  -- not an outright denial, but certainly couched in terminology that I think would be more acceptable to others who do not think of God on a daily basis, and to whom the practice of prayer would seem alien. And I wonder in my inner space what God thinks of this. It certainly is a bit stand-offish. If my son or daughters were to refer to me as "that woman of my origin" or "she who raised me" instead of Mom, I would be hurt and offended.

The fifteen essays that are gathered together in TALKING TO GOD contain wisdom and spiritual knowledge. Of the six prayers sandwiched in between the essays, I was only familiar with one -- the other five were beautiful prose offering praise and glory to God that filled my cup and my soul to overflowing. And accompanying the text are vibrant, beautiful, soulful photographs that display the worship, prayers and faith of all the world's major religions. Uplifting and enlightening, the book is a blessing. Here is a selection of the inspiring quotes, blessings and prayers from its' pages:

He who is in the sun,

and in the fire,

and in the heart of man

is One.

He who knows this

is one with the One.

The Upanishads

Photographic Credit:  Mark Downey - Lowell Thomas Award for Photography
In Nara, Japan a man stops to offer prayer outside  the Todai Temple

God's answers
are wiser
than our prayers.

Unknown

Photographic Credit: Richard Nowitz - 1996 Travel Photography Award

Russian Orthodox Nuns, Easter Celebration in Jerusalem

Prayer does not change God

but it changes he who prays.

Photographic Credit: Alison Wright -- Freelance, 1993 Dorothea Lange Award
Prayer bridges the generations. Tibetan Buddhist's at Sarnath, India

Beauty is before me

And Beauty is behind me
Above and below me
Hovers the Beautiful
I am surrounded by it!
I am immersed in it!
In my youth I am aware of it..
And in old age I shall walk quietly
The Beautiful trail.

Navajo Blessing Way

Photographic Credit: Stephen Trimble - Ansel Adams Award for Photography

An Apache Sunrise Ceremony Initiate - covered in cornmeal and earth

Honouring the Elements

The world is holy.

We are holy.

Daily prayers are delivered on

The lips of breaking waves,

The whisperings of grasses,

The shimmering of leaves.

Terry Tempest Williams

Photographic Credit: Louise Gubb - Images of  the Apartheid Struggle
Mass at Christ King Cathedral, Johannesburg, South Africa


Oh God, help us in this darkened period of human history to remember once again who we are and what the purpose of our existence is here on earth. We have become usurpers of the human state, parading as human beings without full awareness of what it really means to be human. Rather than being a channel of Thy grace for Thy creation, we have decimated the harmony of life on earth, pushing many of the species (including ours) to the verge of extinction.

Oh God, awaken us at the begining of this new era from the dream of negligence and help us to fulfill our responsibilities as representatives of Thy sovereignty here on earth with essential duties toward each other and toward the whole of creation. Help us to remember our true nature, to recall whence we came and wither we shall go. Aid us in the journey of life to do Thy will and to act as the bridge between Heaven and earth, thus fulfilling the role for which Thou didst create us. Shower Thy grace upon us to be a beacon of light rather than a dark cloud for the ambience that surrounds us. Only with Thy aid can we create the peace within and harmony with the outer environment, both natural and social, for which our souls yearn. Only awareness of Thy oneness can prevent us from idolatry and dispersive multiplicity that destroy all that our inner being seeks. We pray Thee to help us remain true to our inner selves, to that primordial nature which we still carry in the deep recesses of our souls.

Seyyed Hossein Nasr

The holiest Name in the world,

the name of the Creator

Is the sound of your own breathing

Lawrence Kushner

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