Bulls in China Shops

[tribunalofmercy]

....Seriously.   I have felt the question Hanging out there, in more forums than the God Light.....and (naturally) I don't mind being the guinea pig to Address it, lol.  I would have put this in Q&A except I want to be Sure people can answer, speak "freely", ask questions or Anything...if you'll just Talk to me :/


It seems "We" crazy Westerners have wandered into Enlightenment in somewhat of a Spiritual foray - one that has been Steeped in tradition, mystic secretive-ness, sacred ground if you will...in the name of "New Age"...and just Stomped Around, trampling the status quo and claiming Everything is Okay.


(Question:) What is the world coming to??  Can ANY of this "new craze" be Real?  I mean, for Generations, centuries, EONS, everything has been carefully taught, rules and structure followed, sacred texts shared and analyzed and held Dear, and then all Heck breaks loose when Truth becomes a Free-for-all in the Rest of the world.


(....Can you just Imagine what my fundamental Church family thought when they came face to face with modern-day Pentecostals??   The Same Doggoned Thing, I believe) (and "my" traditional religion is not Nearly as old as those of the East)



Um, I Hear you.   And to me, while I have a very Open relationship with "God", it's all About sacredness, respect and Everything "Holy", as I call it.   Of course, to me it doesn't have to do with taking my shoes off when I walk into Church, or wearing a dress instead of jeans, as much as not Ever coming before the thrones of meditation or Truth or Anything pure, with uncleanness in my heart, and I Won't Do it.    It's not about having learned a "code of ethics" in my life, so much as it simply goes against Everything in me...if that makes sense.


However.  Here we Are...will we be able to put aside our very Natural, human feelings of hurt and confusion; feelings of being Invaded and losing All that "has been"?   In spite of my bumbling, I'm not here to "prance in and tell everyone how things Really are"....uh-uh. Not This girl.


I'd really like this to be an Open discussion of understanding and feelings, if we can keep ourselves responding in Love.  


Mary Anne

[tribunalofmercy]

I wonder, sometimes, what we Are afraid of...this post can expand to include All thoughts/opinions of "old ways" spiritually, vs "news ways", you know? Not just an East/West thing at All.

Last night my spirit guide(s) sat me down to Talk with me about my alter-ego, and what I am Hiding...goodness, I didn't know I was hiding Anything, but hello. (they're Good) And yes, I am Aware of my alter-ego - I Acknowledge 'her' - but I do Not like to look her in the Face, you know? She is Ugly to me, reminding me of everything from my ridiculous ego and need for Validation of what I think and say, to my Completely undisciplined nature at times...all of these things are things that cause me Shame, so I do not wish to spend Time with 'her'. And yet I must come Out of hiding, Embrace and accept her as Part of me before I can truly gain Control of this part of my nature.

I do hope that no one is Afraid of speaking their mind on these posts; I know you Have a mind about this.

When I was 12 years old I took the required catechism in Church and prepared to Receive Christ, and be baptized as is tradition...I asked my Mother if I was Ready. I felt Unworthy and thought surely I could Not just "join" with Christ if I were not Good enough. My Mother told me, "If Everyone waited until they were Good enough, no one would Ever get baptized."

This is more of a battle than many will admit in life - the unspoken feeling of not being Good enough for something, whether it be status in society; acceptance by a certain Group of peers; ranking position in a job; role in family life; so many things....

Are "we" worth being Free to laugh and dance as being Part of the song of Universal Truth? So many put limitations on this as well, feeling somehow that we Must make ourselves Worthy, and this is a Very uncomfortable "New Age" concept that I have seen people run to the Opposite extreme with...finding Balance is Very much a part of the thought behind this thread.

[gruntal]

This may be slightly off topic but it is a good analogy. There was some discussions in my High School music classes about what and how and the poor music teacher was decidedly on one side of the equation. Being of "old school" German ancestry he was at times in a constant battle with the "baby boomer" teen age kids he was stuck with. One day we had a substitute teacher who wasn't up to cracking the whip over us. In the absence of military discipline the class degenerated into spit wads, shouting ( chanting); kids were picking up instruments and using them like klaxton horns. There was nothing that day that class that was the slightest bit musical.

In other words it was second nature for those kids to be complete total absolute jerks.


All too soon we grew up to be the "love generation" that rediscovered all that was worthy. And we did it mostly by intuition and feeling. How could our parents had been so cold and blind? It was the natural order of things to be loving and peaceful. Starting with ourselves! No shame no guilt - everything was cool. Just "do your own thing" and it will be alright.

By all odds the nightmare did not go away. If anything it got worst. Being honest was not our salvation. I think we all found more then we bargained for except for who to blame. It was us. At some level we seek and that vindicates us. At another level we trash what ever we come in contact with. That is probably why religion remains the dominant vehicle of spirituality. Left to our own devices we are indeed bulls in china shops.

When I approach this I do not seek vindication. That comes elsewhere before I even enter the atrium. I do try to be harmonic with the teacher. It has naught with being worthy. None of us are worthy. But that does not require us to keep doing the same things over and over. Especially when it is patently self destructive.

[Ishtahota]

I am pretty sure that there are many different paths to this place that we are all going to. And when I am working with people here on the mountain I like to tell people why we do things the way that we do them. Sometimes I can share the why and sometimes I just cannot. When we do ceremony we do it in a certain way. Partly it is out of respect for those who passed it on to us. The most important part as I have been taught is that the subconsciouse and the higher-self respond when we feel that we are doing something sacred. As one of my elders put it, " ceremony is the language of the subconscious". The gates to our inner knowledge are unlocked when we feel that we are doing something sacred.

Any path that one follows will always become hard and difficult before things get better. When things are not going well for people, most will switch there path hoping for an easier softer way. The problem that I have with doing this is that our subconscious picks up signs and symbols to use when it communicates with us. Different beliefs have different meanings for the same symbols. So if I have followed the Native American Path, Wicca, and Christianity, then information coming from my subconscious and higher-self, would be like a teacher trying to teach me something while mixing the German, Italian and Russian language together. I think that it is more important for the young to take the time to find their hearts path and then stick with it until they develope a good relationship with their subconscious and their higher-self.

[tribunalofmercy]

I see patterns in things; like, in marriages. One thing about our existence in duality here, is that our Feelings seem to ebb and flow like undulations of the waves...like vibrational highs and lows, you know? People who are newly married are "high" on the new relationship (*cough* generally), but as the years pass they seem to "fall in and out of love", you know? And the Best marriages are the ones that Roll with that, not giving up when things are "out" but reaching for the Core of their bond and gathering Strength when things are "high".


I never made it that long in a marriage...years and Years, that is...but I know my marriage to God. "He" and I, as I have said, have been married for 27 years (and yes, that Is a story but not for this time)...I have noticed with God that it is "I" who experience the ebbs and flows of the relationship - falling "in and out" of Strong love with him in that way...it is "I" as human, of course, that experiences the duality of nature and cannot seem to Hold my "honeymoon" stage 24/7, 365 days a year, lol.

"God" doesn't have a problem with it. He doesn't seem to get tired, or experience jealousy, or give Up on me. He waits Patiently for me when I am on that "low" swing of the tide, and runs Tirelessly with me when I am on the "high" side...

He wouldn't be one to wander onto a new website, be all excited, make a Gazillion threads (even though God likely has a Lot to say) with Expectations, then get disappointed when people don't Respond well to Crazy Newcomers. lol Oh, but I have done that in the past. I have rushed Headlong into new experiences, heedless of the risk, and then ended up Leaving after a few months or a year because I have either become disappointed, downright Crushed or I have been politely Run Off.

...Thing is, the Obvious solution is to go Slow, but not for the right Reasons....more because we have been Hurt in the past, you know? We build up Walls to protect ourselves; we trust less easily; we hesitate to Share too much because of what Might happen, because goodness knows it's happened Before. And because we might be exposed as Imperfect. Not to mention we have learned we don't Have all the answers...

And I Agree. I am Not so good with going slowly, but I will continue to Try - you may be Surprised at how Much I am trying, Now! haha But I am also working to do things Differently than I have before, not being disappointed or building walls because I Perceive rejection in any form...that's focusing on Me, and that isn't going to Work any more. It isn't About "me".


God knows Everything about a perfect relationship, and the Sharing of it with others; this is Opinion on my part, of course, because I have chosen to Believe in God...or Love; Higher Self; Truth; etc - kind of personified - in the first place. So I keep Watching "God", trying to understand how God does it, you know? Rather than watching how People do it, unless I see they are Acting like God. And there are those who Do

I won't ask you to trust me, or not be apprehensive about me; what I'm Hoping, is that you will not run me off, even though I am Different. And that you will live your truth Before me, that I may see and learn from you. And maybe that you will keep your hearts open for All things that might just be Truth...you never know:)

[mojomojo]

Hi, Mary Anne,



definition of a friend, someone who accepts another for who they are,



Looking forward to your next post, my friend,
Robert.

[sparklekaz]

Dear Mary Anne,

I love your energy and the way your mind works. You take something apart, break it down into understandable bite size chunks, so what you say is easy to digest, and respond too. So please, do not change who you are. I wish you could see yourself, as 'we' see you.

Over time I have asked myself many of the questions you pose. My thoughts and feelings about spirituality have changed so much over time. In the beginning, I struggled with the conflicts I felt regarding my own Catholic upbringing and the so called 'new age' thoughts. Except they are not 'new' are they. Many of the thoughts and teachings belonging to other spiritual paths, which are thousands of years old. Certainly much older than Christianity.

I always had a problem with the dogma and doctrine of Christianity. In as much as I was taught that 'it was the true and only way'. Though I have to say I am eternally gratefully for the love it instilled in me at a very young age, for the spiritual. Exploring other belief systems such as Buddhism, Hinduism and the Native American paths have opened my eyes in so many ways. I see the similarities, even if the methods and rituals applied are different.

Buddhism in particular has offered me sustanence, insight and comfort when struggling with personal issues, trying to make sense of the experiences I've had, and in contemplating the meaning of life. Native American spirituality echoes within me the love and honour I have always felt towards nature, the animal word and mother earth. It also teaches similar spiritual lessons to that of Buddhism in terms of personal and spiritual growth. My world has grown so much and I often wonder what my life would have been like, if I had not taken 'the bull by the horns' and branched out in my search for answers about self-understanding and spiritual truths. For it does take a kind of courage, to be different. Plus fighting off the fear punishment, which is indoctrinated into one at a very young age. When I first started practicing spiritual healing and Reiki, at the back of my mind I had an ongoing mental argument with myself that what I was doing, wasn't going to send me to hell. Which is ridiculous isn't it.

I have experienced criticism in the past, because of my refusal to follow one course, one path. But I like the analogy of the 'Honey Bee', who flits from flower to flower, taking the choicest nectar. And I feel no conflict in that. I believe that our path's through life, sometimes similar. sometimes outright different, have running through them a underlying commonality. The further afield I explore, the more I see we are all searching for the same thing, albeit in different places. Ultimately we are going the same way. We are all walking up the mountain.

Love and light
Kaz

[tribunalofmercy]

Me too, Kaz...the honey bee

Thanks for being exactly who You are; your thoughts are worded to be equally easy to embrace, and it's a Gift you have.

To the best of my knowledge I have not met another that thinks as you do (though I'm sure they are Out there)