Life as a Happening

This morning, while reading “I am the Gate” by Osho, (one of my bibles),  I came across these words and am reminded…

We have front row seats in this masterpiece of life. We come into this dimension for a relatively brief moment in time to explore, to allow, to experience life on this plane. May we remember this deeply and not take it all too seriously. We are here as a happening to get these front row seats we desired, to enter in form to play with life here, to be able to create in this dimension. That which we seem to be will come… and go… and in the most beautiful, profound way, none of it “matters.” When we begin to connect with that and to allow ourselves to be a passive channel to life…. and (here’s the key part, to me) to allow that channel to be infused with the energy of that which it “desires”… meaning that which feels right, that which one is guided towards…. then we get to play with life, in life in a deeply powerful way… taking none of it personally, allowing it all in surrender… and responding by placing our focus on that which we desire.

Love, 

Sky

The Wisdom of Personal Practice

When I was young, I rebelled against religion, traditions, and rituals--mistakenly lumping them into the same category. To me, anything that was repeated reeked of falsehood and felt like the antithesis of spontaneity and truth. To me, this was black and white. Religion COULD ONLY be a cover up. Tradition COULD ONLY be a script that suppressed what would otherwise naturally arise from a present moment.

Only as I grew older and began to question and break down my own ideas and my mind's way of looking at things did I begin to see how having such strong attitudes about anything could never, ever serve me. Could never, ever be true. Attitudes are only needed where true understanding has not yet settled in.

And the deeper I went into myself, the more I discovered an ocean of openness wherein each action that springs into life has entirely a life of its own.

And the deeper and deeper I continued to go, the more I discovered the beauty of sitting with intention--simple as that. The more I discovered that this peaceful, empty truth within us that is nothing and everything all at the same time... exists in a completely different tempo than the world around us. It exists in stillness and silence, and often, the world around us plays in fast-paced chaos. And we, as humans, as divine and rooted in oneness as we are, ALSO exist very much in the world around us--there is no denying that... which means we are vulnerable to the influence of energies that we are surrounded by.

Our vulnerability is a beautiful, beautiful thing. And intelligence about our system and our sensitivities is an equally beautiful thing. If we consider that we are all made of silence and stars--AND WE ALL ARE--and that living here and now in this wild wonderful world can have a tendency to *create the feeling* that we have been UPROOTED from that silence and stars... then we can begin to imagine how having a daily practice where we re-orient into our true roots (of silence and stars) can serve us, our lives, our relationships, and the people around us in the deepest and truest of ways.

I do not know where I would be (within the wild scheme of where our awareness can latch) if I did not keep with a daily meditation practice. Quite the opposite of suppression and falsehood, it keeps me alive, flowing, truthful, and rooted in the simplicity and wisdom of life, God, the silence and the stars.

If there were one gift you might give to yourself to support yourself in remaining true in this life, to knowing, feeling, and embodying your divinity, love, and wild & precious heart, I would encourage you so very, very much to begin a daily practice. It could be anything that works for you. Anything we engage in that takes us into presence and the truth within ourselves–into totality with the moment–is meditation, be it singing, dancing, praying, journaling, yoga, crying, making love or art or a good meal, anything else. A daily practice is a living thing, and it can change too... but the gift is in giving yourself the moment to remember the truth of who you are... to anchor deep into the presence of your being... and to watch the miraculous and infinite ways in which that serves and shines your one and beautiful life.

Consider it xx

Love xx Sky

Orienting Towards the Sacred

Many people ask me about my inspiration for writing A Ceremony Called Life, and what it is about. The inspiration was simple: to share the scent of the sacred with others, a trail that may lead them into seeing the miraculous nature of every day. What it is about is our invitation to orient towards the sacred in all moments of life--and that is what I am inspired to share a bit more about now.

The book covers a lot ground, but at the center of it all is the direction of orienting over and over again back into witnessing life with eyes that are willing to see the sacred. That choose to look at the sacred. That allow themselves to see and recognize the sacred, even when it looks different than they want or wish. 

Sometimes I consider how "conscious life" and "embodied spirituality" can perhaps be simply explained as orientation. Over and over again, throughout life, we have the opportunity to "come back" into the present moment, and to orient ourselves into the perspective of our divine self, (which could only ever include the human self--for now, at least!). For example, I could choose to view a fight with my husband as "another problem" and scoff at it as an inconvenience-and no one is going to stop me if I do. But that wouldn't take me anywhere, and certainly wouldn't take me to truth. The other option I have, (and when we get to the crux of it, we can see that it's not even an option or a choice, but simply the overflow of living in love)--the other option I have is to view that challenging moment with my husband as a gift to look under the surface of what is REALLY going on: what need is unmet within both or one of us; what do we wish to say that needs to be heard, understood simply, and acknowledged;  where can I tune into the essence of compassion where I perhaps once felt resistance; and so on. This latter way of aligning with the moment is the gift that keeps giving, and is an example of orienting into the sacred (or the "ceremony," as the metaphor of the book goes.)

I hope you find this useful and supportive.

Love, Sky

Honoring Your Humanity and Embodying Divinity at the Same Time

The duality this possibility presents can be challenging for many. How can I dive into my feelings in all the rawness of their corners and simultaneously embody my divinity, my deeper truth? Doesn't the act of going into the feelings take me away from the truth, from the stillness, and deeper into duality?

***

In the deep dive of feeling, potent treasures of wisdom await. It takes great courage to explore the mysterious, powerful ocean of feeling, and there is much insight to receive. Each emotional experience is there to open you, to clear spaces that are tight, that are in resistance, so they may melt back into receptive spaces for love.

Emotions carry the essence of water, and like water, they move through spaces and push through barriers on their way. Consider it like this: when something happens and a trigger arrives and feelings erupt, it is like a big waving flag that says "dig here." Dig here to see where you are still stuck, where you need more acceptance. It is an invitation to salvation.

The recipe here includes surrender and detachment. You can feel the fullness of what is happening without attaching to it or identifying with it. Letting it flow through you is purity. When the mind comes in, you move into illusion. It is the resistance and analysis that moves you away from truth because then, you are no longer witnessing. Then, you are in identification, fear and scrutiny.

The divinity is in accepting whatever thoughts, feelings, and beliefs may come, without analysis and attachment. It comes when you let the mystery take over, when you let yourself become one with this ocean and allow it show you what it needs to show you. As far as I can know, it is impossible for the mind to reveal spiritual truth. Feeling, however, can trigger the remembrance of truth. It can inspire the awareness that you are to realize or remember truth. So just let the experience be the meditation it is meant to be.

The key to remaining in truth is in watching to make sure you remain out of identification with any stories, beliefs or thoughts that may have brought you to this moment, and with the feelings themselves. The key is in surrender, in letting go, in letting what is coming to come and eventually, to pass. This is the embodiment of divinity: being aware that all in front of you is here for your growth and wisdom, and not denying that which is natural for you, (in this case: an eruption of feeling). You are not these feelings that are passing, (nor are they "yours"), you are simply that which witnesses their song. Feel them with an openness to learn from their poetry. Allow what is coming to come and pass, greet them with your open arms.

When your are resting as the awareness that you are, how could you be anything but the embodiment of divinity?  The ultimate "spiritual goal," (if there was one), is not to transcend feelings and emotion or treat them like unmanageable ego-consequences that must go. Imagine how uninspiring life would be! How dead! You, like all the planets, plants and creatures on this Earth, are here to grow and evolve. Emotional experiences are often catalysts for great transformation and on their lighter side, they are sweet songs that caress and delight our souls.

Celebrate your humanness with awareness and patience, and watch everything fall into place as you open evermore, evermore, evermore.

The Space in Which We Dream

 

We know the dream space is powerful. It is a place where we have open access to the great universal mind, and the aspects within that great one mind which we refer to as our ("personal") subconscious. In this space, unresolved matters have the potential to play themselves out to resolution. Wishes and fears reveal themselves, so that they may be disempowered by your pure and simple awareness. Psychic channels are traveled through as we remember the possibility of what has already happened, (viewed as "the future"), so that we may walk with more clear intention and accountability on our path. The list of what we are capable of becoming aware of in our dreaming state is endless.

We can connect with guides and spirit animals, and receive key details of important messages, but whether we are asleep or awake in this sacred playground is entirely up to us. It is easy to accidentally treat this space as a time to escape and fall into a deeper sleep state, keeping our awareness in atrophy from the unconscious waking state into the deeper unconscious sleeping space. Intelligently entering the dreamworld for a restful psychic journey is also easy, it is just a new choice to make. Both possibilities are at our fingertips.

Choose to enter blindly, and you'll find yourself constantly having mash-up dreams where all the little crumbs of your days turn into nothing more than a dust cloud of incohesion. Or you "won't remember them." Choose to enter with intention and awareness, and a whole world of heart-opening, healing, and freedom becomes possible. The only necessary ingredients are awareness and choice.

How you engage your time before resting your head on your pillow is the choice. Do you end a frustrating day, or a lackluster day, or even a great day by cruising off to sleep in what is essentially ignorance? (Ignorance of the power of choices, that is.) Or do you honor your life and say hey, I'm going to take a moment to walk through this door with my eyes open. I deserve to deepen my feeling of peace, truth, ease and well-being... and I have, (I am), the potential of a fuller, ever-evolving embodiment of these things.

The base of the recipe you need to work with for conscious dreaming is simply meditation. It includes you doing whatever you need to do: lighting candles, cleansing your space with sage, chanting, deep breathing. It includes you letting go of the energy accumulated throughout the day, from the angry person on his phone at the coffee shop beside you to the way your partner ticked you off at lunch. It includes you being accountable for what triggers you, breathing open space into those tight spots, and setting the intention to resolve the disharmony within you in the dream space. It includes you praying to receive visions and clarity and to take astral flight.

And that wide open space that you fly into is where you can remain when you wake up. It is the wide open sky of truth. With dedication, you will begin to realize the part of you that is aware of these dreams is the same part of you that watches your waking life. You will begin to work with the subtle languages of life, of energy, and before you know it, you'll notice yourself holding the magic wand of your life, intentionally moving through each moment with awareness and power.

As always, go for it. Remember the power of your heart.