One Mind – One Spirit

NDP LEADER Jack Layton always played it big.

Jack Layton knew how to play the game.

In the world of politics, he was a rare bird indeed. Full of hope, full of optimism. He oozed warmth, so much so that some political pundits criticized him for having a smile on his face far too often.

This morning when I heard he had moved on to his next big adventure, I couldn’t help but feel for his family, for his party, and frankly for the country. He did it right, by reminding us that as a nation not only do we have a responsibility to improve the lives of our fellow human, but it can be done.

Yes, we all bare personal responsibility for our own experience. But it’s equally true that selfishness, whether collectively as a corporation or individually as a neighbour, can send those who may already be struggling further down a road to despair.

Layton’s vision was to make a difference that bettered people’s lives, rather than merely their pocketbooks. His desire was authentic, and therefore infectious.

My hope is that Layton’s legacy will inspire others to expand what he started. As a country, we have the opportunity to create something unique. A model that others can follow that creates an environment for individual creativity, expression and entrepreneurship all the while supporting the whole.

Thank you Jack Layton for providing an example for the rest of us to follow.

Peace and blessings.

A sense of pride can move mountains, or even city hall.

Where I live, city hall put up the rainbow flag for the first time ever this week. How times have changed.

Back in 1997, the mayor of this same city refused to declare Gay Pride Day. He was willing to announce Lesbian and Gay Day, but his feeling was there was nothing to be proud about. That was enough to unleash the hounds, and the human rights tribunal found him in violation.

So what exactly is pride – and why do some fear it while others embrace it?

From a traditional standpoint, pride is, after all, the number one hit on the Seven Deadly Sins chart. The poet Dante described it as “love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one’s neighbour.” That’s pride holding hands with its partner judgment.

But there’s another side to pride. It’s that sense of self that allows us to expand and grow. True pride is strictly an inside job. It’s never about the external, or what others think. Instead, it’s an acknowledgement of a journey. In order to feel proud of ourselves, it requires that we recognize all the hateful slings and arrows we so often aim at ourselves and then, rather than aim these same arrows at others, we can allow our higher selves to simply let them fall to the ground.

It’s in that moment that we stand tall. It’s in that moment that the true light that shines from within reveals itself.

We know we have pride when we feel joy; when we can celebrate that inner self and dance with it.

Because this life thing is a dance – with all its swings and twists and turns.

Like the flag that went up on city hall, rise up! The world needs you. All of you.

Peace.

Peace of Mind, Peace of Spirit

As I’m writing this, my thoughts are with Japan.

It’s so hard to not get caught up in what is unmistakeably one of the most significant dramas to unfold in my living memory.

But I also know that what is taking place there – from the tsunami to the explosions at the nuclear facility – is a divine idea in the mind of Spirit, even if my human mind has difficulty seeing exactly what that divine idea might be.

The irony is, whenever I try and think about what it could be, I realize, that like the Tao, I am by turns limiting that One Great Consciousness.

That’s the thing about us humans. We so rarely think big enough. If you’ve ever said: “why didn’t I think of that?” you know what I’m talking about.

I’m not trying to be light about what is clearly a very serious situation. What I’m trying to do is be gentle with myself when my inner being is so tempted to be caught up in the fear, the worry, the anxiety, the pain and the anguish. That only leads to a closed mind, and while we don’t always know the answer,  if we leave our minds open, we have a chance of seeing.

So here’s what I see. That everyone hears the call. That every scientific talent that has anything to offer is offering it to Japan right now. That every person working on restoring the country – from its electricity to water to transportation – is able to so do with a peaceful mind that is focused on its intention, and loving in its delivery. That every country opens its doors to the Japanese people with compassion, and that the right people stay behind to rebuild the country in a way that serves everyone. That businesses and industry come to Japan’s side with the consciousness of service.

And yet, I know too that as I say all these things, my thoughts are limited. So, I open my mind to all of this, knowing that there is so much more this world can offer.

The limitless power that we know as God is present right here and right now. As we turn away from what appears to be, we open our eyes to the infinite possibility of what is.

My thoughts are with you Japan. Your sun is rising.
 

“Dance is the movement of the universe concentrated in an individual.”  ~ Isadora Duncan

My mind is dancing right now.

It flits from one moment to the next, touching down briefly to capture some small fragment before moving on to the next thing, the next distraction, the next whatever I want to call it. It dips into the past, wonders about the future, makes lists of things to do, tries to solve problems and then leaves them.

“Take a breath!” I hear. It’s like Bob Fosse is in my head, telling me it’s time to lean into the experience, lean into the moment, forget what is or was, and just be. As he said, “The energy doesn’t end at the hands. I want such intensity that it feels like light is streaming from every finger.”

That energy, that light, cannot be planned. I can dance with my mind all I want, but it’s not until I reach in and relax into the space between the thoughts that my dance with life comes alive, that the “light” or Spirit, streams from my being.

As it is with dance, so it is with music. It is the space between the notes, the space between the movements that perfects the dance. It is that state of mind that knows there is nothing more perfect than the moment in time when there is no time. Timing really is everything.

So today, I dance with myself. I watch and pay attention to the dance emerging in my head. I ask myself – am I dancing joy or tragedy, am I dancing towards something, or away, and I make my choice accordingly.

And when I reach that point of inner stillness, when my mind is dancing with Love, dancing with the Divine, I recognize my own perfection and am at peace.

And so I dance.

It’s the irony of being Canadian that just as the days grow darkest, we are thrown into the story of new birth.
So it is for many of us, and so it was for me many Christmases ago when I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day caring for my first and only newborn.
Life is precious in all its forms, but it is in the baby that we see that purity the most clearly. Not because it isn’t there later in life, but because our eyes get cluttered up with the outer appearance.
The truth is, we are all that One Light, that One Love, and no matter how old we get, how far away we may be from where we started or where we want to go, that Light that is within us still shines.
We are creative beings, constantly capable of generating new life in so many forms it’s often hard to fathom.
Embrace the season, with all its unexpected gifts. With loving kindness to ourselves and others, we expand our consciousness and make ourselves known.

The light within always shines