The Fallacy of Freedom To ‘Do What I Want’
Our forefathers fought, in their way, for freedom. Women have fought for the freedom to wear pants, to smoke cigarettes and the have an education. We have typically fought for the freedom of our country and the freedom to practice our religion.
Freedom has been, in the past, linked to increasing our choices.
However, things have gotten out of hand.
Freedom of Choice ?
Freedom has turned into freedom to buy different types of toilet paper. It’s become a consumer freedom, and it’s the same freedom the developing countries are striving for.
Freedom for many today is the freedom to do and buy what ever you want. And what is it, exactly, that we want?
As young adults, we think that our freedom is our right to do what we want. Our wants are dictated by advertising, hormones, social pressures and our will or ego to stay entertained.
Teenager’s View of Freedom
Teenagers are typically people who are pulled this way or that for no apparent rhyme or reason – this behaviour has been seen, as ‘freedom’, or going with the flow, to be able to do what you want at a whim of suggestion.
If my friend asks me to go out, then I want to be able to go, and if someone offers me a drink, I want to be able to drink it, and if I want to buy the latest mobile phone, I will feel deprived if I can not have it. I’d also like to be able to have sex with whom ever I’d like, and when ever I want, and to wear any clothes I want, and this, for me, is freedom.
Adults are seen as people who must curb their real wants and submit them to ‘conform’ to society, for the sake of family, society and work. Teenagers don’t want to become adults, and there are many adults who look at their lives through the eyes of a teenager. So when there is a chance, on holidays, or if they break up from their partner, or if they lose their work, they resort back to the teenage ideal of freedom.
That is, indulging the senses and being ‘free’ from thinking of the consequences of our actions.
‘Freedom’ is Seeking to Be a Victim
And if we look at it, for just a moment, we can see that this is not freedom. It’s the opposite. The ideal of freedom of western youth is being chained to the ever shifting whims of the ego.
The ego is a victim to concepts about what we ‘should do’, when we are a certain age, or single, or in certain situations. We are so full of our own ideas that we couldn’t see freedom if it hit us in the face.
Instead, we are victims. We can blame the politicians, we can blame advertisers and we can blame our parents, but the fact remains, that we have only ourself to blame.
We must admit, accept, and with grace, embrace our adulthood. That is, as far as I’m concerned, accept responsibility for our individual freedom.
Freedom is not.
Freedom is not following the dictates of a petulant and demanding child. And we know that our ego is nothing more than an attention demanding, bad tempered and selfish creature.
The ego wants entertainment. It’s a veteran illusion seeker. And we think we are this wilful self.
We are not.
Freedom is not about following consumer choices.
Freedom is not the urge to chase a different skirt or another pair of biceps.
Freedom is.
Freedom is freedom of the demands of the self.
Freedom is freedom from the whims of the ego.
Freedom is awaking to the eternal Self within.
Freedom is the realisation that we are, quite literally, one and the same. And putting this truth into action, is one way to express freedom, as it is.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Monday, December 22, 2008
Sage Woman
I'm tiding up on my computer, and came across this lovely bit of pc art created by my friend Pedro.
Thank you Pedro! I'm still considering using it as my avatar... though my shyness is holding me back. :)
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Be Careful of Giving Advice
I liked the idea of this blog, because I've always been a big advice giver.
Sometimes though, when you give advice, its not wanted, and you're just interfering with the course of cause and events.
How to know the difference between interfering and helping?
Sometimes, for me, its about being asked.
Sometimes, its about following something that feels like a calling.
Sometimes, its about letting other's make their own mistakes, and letting them learn by falling down.
Sometimes I'm wrong, and other times it goes a bit haywire.
And then I learn something. So, thanks to me, for making mistakes too.
Ankh Symbolism
One of the symbols that arrived in the past months was the ankh.
It was placed on top of, but, in some way, the same as, the pale blue sword along my spine.
Now, the handle of the sword, and the 'oval' of the ankh are in my head. The blade, and the length of the ankh is down my spine. The symbolism, for me, was that I was now a tool of 'God'. I was the sword. Only a tool, for service. The ankh, when it appeared, also gave me the impression that it was a handle. The two symbols merged, so while it is the sword (the word of god), it is the key to the earth mother. It is both. The 'key' to the underground.
So, by being flesh, and consciousness, again, I am being coerced into balance. The balance of being held between two energies. The yin and the yang.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Remembering The Buddha
Before we get caught up with ‘how to’s’ – I think there is something we should remember about Siddhartha.
He had searched and searched, using different techniques, to come to some sort of spiritual awareness. And it wasn’t until he gave up his search, he gave up looking, that his intention, his ego mind split, like the cracked shell of an egg, that he ‘awoke’ and was reborn.
Also, remember, that the Buddha did have a kind of fact sheet. Cause and effect and the way. However, its also important to remember that the Buddha did not suggest the same learning for all individuals. That’s one of the reasons there are so many Buddhist schools, different ways within the way. Each person is going to respond to different stimuli. The Buddha knew this. In his understanding, he gave each person their tools to help them.
How does this help us?
The important thing to remember is that part of us has to die before we can be reborn. Part of us has to go, so that another part can live. The two can not live together. Everyone is different. The tools you use are just that – tools, to be picked up and put down, depending on your needs.
He had searched and searched, using different techniques, to come to some sort of spiritual awareness. And it wasn’t until he gave up his search, he gave up looking, that his intention, his ego mind split, like the cracked shell of an egg, that he ‘awoke’ and was reborn.
Also, remember, that the Buddha did have a kind of fact sheet. Cause and effect and the way. However, its also important to remember that the Buddha did not suggest the same learning for all individuals. That’s one of the reasons there are so many Buddhist schools, different ways within the way. Each person is going to respond to different stimuli. The Buddha knew this. In his understanding, he gave each person their tools to help them.
How does this help us?
The important thing to remember is that part of us has to die before we can be reborn. Part of us has to go, so that another part can live. The two can not live together. Everyone is different. The tools you use are just that – tools, to be picked up and put down, depending on your needs.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Asanas as a means to help Spiritual Emergence
Lately I’ve discovered how important asana practice is in helping the body assimilate the energy shifts in spiritual awakening.
This is not the same as kundalini yoga.
This is not the same as healing by using anana practice.
People all across the planet are awakening. There is something happening to the world. Its everywhere. People talking about 2012, strange dreams, weird sightings of spirits and increased clairvoyant activity.
I don’t know what’s happening to the world. I don’t claim to have a higher source of information. I only know that many people are talking about their spiritual emergence, their awakening.
Awakening to what? To another life beyond the constant round of shopping trips, and materialistic gains, and entertainment. A life that points at possible fulfilment on a spiritual level. At something more profound, more deep, more lasting.
But to get to such a place, we need to drop our little bag of knowledge. We need to give up a big part of our known, so that we can see into the possibility of the unknown.
People are struggling with the inner self and the outer self. They have headaches, sweating, pain, random itching and when the go to the doctor, as they should, for their check up – the doctor says, well, you can have a few (expensive) tests, but it looks like there’s nothing wrong with you. Possibly, you take the tests, and still, there’s nothing wrong with you – nothing that the medical profession can pin point.
What’s happening?
Some say its kundalini rising. Some call it spiritual awakening. Some say it’s the flowering of human consciousness. I don't know what to call it.
Remember, we are all changing. All of us have been afraid and fearing our own madness.
There is a template that can help us through this. It’s the chakra system. Feel free to read about what I wrote on suite101 about the Chakra Basics.
Now I’ve been practicing a mixture of yoga and qigong and meditation since 1989. Its not that long in a life time, and I’m the first one to say I’m still learning. But there is something I have discovered.
And that is asana practice and qigong can help keep the body open to the flow and changes of energy within the body. The energy moves – people feel it – and if your body is open, strong and flexible – it doesn’t block the flow. The asana practice keeps your body from holding the pain of spiritual emergence.
Everybody’s body is different. Ask your yoga teacher for help, if you think these symptoms sound like yours. Otherwise feel free to contact me.
Remember, you are highly recommended to visit your doctor first, before you try alternative therapies.
Spiritual Crisis - an interview with Christina Grof
Signs of Spiritual Awakening on Spiritual Blessings Forum
This is not the same as kundalini yoga.
This is not the same as healing by using anana practice.
People all across the planet are awakening. There is something happening to the world. Its everywhere. People talking about 2012, strange dreams, weird sightings of spirits and increased clairvoyant activity.
I don’t know what’s happening to the world. I don’t claim to have a higher source of information. I only know that many people are talking about their spiritual emergence, their awakening.
Awakening to what? To another life beyond the constant round of shopping trips, and materialistic gains, and entertainment. A life that points at possible fulfilment on a spiritual level. At something more profound, more deep, more lasting.
But to get to such a place, we need to drop our little bag of knowledge. We need to give up a big part of our known, so that we can see into the possibility of the unknown.
People are struggling with the inner self and the outer self. They have headaches, sweating, pain, random itching and when the go to the doctor, as they should, for their check up – the doctor says, well, you can have a few (expensive) tests, but it looks like there’s nothing wrong with you. Possibly, you take the tests, and still, there’s nothing wrong with you – nothing that the medical profession can pin point.
What’s happening?
Some say its kundalini rising. Some call it spiritual awakening. Some say it’s the flowering of human consciousness. I don't know what to call it.
Remember, we are all changing. All of us have been afraid and fearing our own madness.
There is a template that can help us through this. It’s the chakra system. Feel free to read about what I wrote on suite101 about the Chakra Basics.
Now I’ve been practicing a mixture of yoga and qigong and meditation since 1989. Its not that long in a life time, and I’m the first one to say I’m still learning. But there is something I have discovered.
And that is asana practice and qigong can help keep the body open to the flow and changes of energy within the body. The energy moves – people feel it – and if your body is open, strong and flexible – it doesn’t block the flow. The asana practice keeps your body from holding the pain of spiritual emergence.
Everybody’s body is different. Ask your yoga teacher for help, if you think these symptoms sound like yours. Otherwise feel free to contact me.
Remember, you are highly recommended to visit your doctor first, before you try alternative therapies.
Spiritual Crisis - an interview with Christina Grof
Signs of Spiritual Awakening on Spiritual Blessings Forum
Balance
Balance.
My destiny, my life plan, my soul’s contract is to discover and implement balance.
I’m a Libran. The scales. Constantly feeling and balancing life’s movement.
As I grew older, I started to try to balance my emotions, and my education, to learn about other subjects in the world, to open my mind, to become more balanced.
I like harmony and peaceful places.
Then I discovered that I couldn’t control my environment, but I could control my responses. So, we enter into balancing the mind.
Then I realised that I had different impulses, coming through the world at me – inspirations, dreams, callings, sudden needs and desires that were on a different level – and I started to learn about the chakra system, and implement its template into my life.
And then I realised, up to this point, why I was searching and insistent to find this point of balance.
My search is your search. Your search is mine. And together, only together, can we move forward.
Tell me what you are searching for.
I’ve stopped my search. I’ve found my centre, my point of balance.
Now, its just about living it. My mind is cleaned, my heart is cleaned – now – to embody, in action, on the physical plane – all of the threads that have come together.
Walking my talk.
Putting money where my mouth is.
Refusing to pass the buck.
Standing still, and realising that I knew it all along, but my search kept me busy, kept me active, kept me from myself.
The centre – the living embodiment of harmony within the human being, is the heart centre. The emotional centre. It is only from here, that we can move in true balance with the world and not hurt, block, harm and destroy the gentle balance of our earth and our relationships.
The heart centre acts as a processing centre for the light above and from the earth below.
A healthy, functioning and balanced energy system, life, relationships allow the two energies to meet within the child – the human.
We are children, most loved, most prized, most hoped for. All of us.
Light from above, and matter from below. Their creation – you and me.
My destiny, my life plan, my soul’s contract is to discover and implement balance.
I’m a Libran. The scales. Constantly feeling and balancing life’s movement.
As I grew older, I started to try to balance my emotions, and my education, to learn about other subjects in the world, to open my mind, to become more balanced.
I like harmony and peaceful places.
Then I discovered that I couldn’t control my environment, but I could control my responses. So, we enter into balancing the mind.
Then I realised that I had different impulses, coming through the world at me – inspirations, dreams, callings, sudden needs and desires that were on a different level – and I started to learn about the chakra system, and implement its template into my life.
And then I realised, up to this point, why I was searching and insistent to find this point of balance.
My search is your search. Your search is mine. And together, only together, can we move forward.
Tell me what you are searching for.
I’ve stopped my search. I’ve found my centre, my point of balance.
Now, its just about living it. My mind is cleaned, my heart is cleaned – now – to embody, in action, on the physical plane – all of the threads that have come together.
Walking my talk.
Putting money where my mouth is.
Refusing to pass the buck.
Standing still, and realising that I knew it all along, but my search kept me busy, kept me active, kept me from myself.
The centre – the living embodiment of harmony within the human being, is the heart centre. The emotional centre. It is only from here, that we can move in true balance with the world and not hurt, block, harm and destroy the gentle balance of our earth and our relationships.
The heart centre acts as a processing centre for the light above and from the earth below.
A healthy, functioning and balanced energy system, life, relationships allow the two energies to meet within the child – the human.
We are children, most loved, most prized, most hoped for. All of us.
Light from above, and matter from below. Their creation – you and me.
Tolerance
Tolerance is the key to any conversation.
Listening is the door to opening your understanding.
Let your opinions be sand castles. Build them up with true intention to show your ideas, but let the tide and the winds blow them down once they’ve served your purpose.
Before every other consideration. We are humans. Together. All communication can begin from this basic understanding.
Listening is the door to opening your understanding.
Let your opinions be sand castles. Build them up with true intention to show your ideas, but let the tide and the winds blow them down once they’ve served your purpose.
Before every other consideration. We are humans. Together. All communication can begin from this basic understanding.
Heart Chakra - the Centre Piece
The mother’s energy, rising up from the ground. Embodied in the earth, the rivers, the trees, rocks and sacred spaces.
The father’s energy sweeping down in the form of white piercing light, air, in the consciousness of all matter.
The mother comes from the root chakra. She winds up, through the body.
The father pierces from the crown, as sharp as the most prized sword.
They converge, the two energies – in the centre piece, the heart.
When the male and female come together, when they meet, within the human body – we have the child.
The child, the creation, the manifest of the one and the other is embodied within the human heart centre.
As above, so below. The point on the horizon, the meeting point between the two is your heart.
The father’s energy sweeping down in the form of white piercing light, air, in the consciousness of all matter.
The mother comes from the root chakra. She winds up, through the body.
The father pierces from the crown, as sharp as the most prized sword.
They converge, the two energies – in the centre piece, the heart.
When the male and female come together, when they meet, within the human body – we have the child.
The child, the creation, the manifest of the one and the other is embodied within the human heart centre.
As above, so below. The point on the horizon, the meeting point between the two is your heart.
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