Today is about voices. We are tuning in to our inner voice and are engaged in aligning with our paths. Looking at what is going on with you, it may not appear that you are aligning with your path, but things are not what they appear to be today. What’s important is that we are tuned in to the inner self. There is a message for each of us in the air today. To facilitate this, “drop out” as much as possible. Dampen the outer chaos and practice the skill of the wise owl going inside the tree to peer out and listen. Detach and do your own thing. Of course, this doesn’t mean we ignore our responsibilities, but we alter our focus to take in the full message that Sophia is delivering through her emissary Chinnamasta. Chinnamasta loves music so make sure you play some today.
As you have already ascertained, the waves come and go, and sometimes, it is as if your feet are being knocked out under you. But at other times, you will feel yourself as lifted aloft, and you will feel how the power of the waves surges underneath you, carrying you higher and longer than ever before. For such is the nature of these waves. They are not here to drown you, but to lift you even closer to that oh so elusive goal that you have searched for for such a long time. And what is this goal, we may ask, and we think you have all started to find your true answer to just that. For what on the outset started out for many as a quest for that perfect world, has now turned inwards. For you have all started to see the truth that paradise is not something that comes from the outside, it is indeed something that comes from within. And as soon as you discover this, much will start to fall into place. For then, you can finally start to build your future on the most solid base of them all, namely the one that you always carry with you.
For eons, mankind has set his store on other, more flimsy constructions. And these constructions have been many indeed, and they have gone by the name of family or ancestry, government or even religion. But all of these, no matter how closely tied they are to each and every one of you, are outside constructions, and nothing to build your own future on. We do not talk about a complete disregard for your fellow men here, nothing could be further from the truth. No, what we refer to, is the fact that for a very long time, makind has searched outside himself for some sort of salvation. And in many cases, it will have seemed as if he found it, only to discover that this salvation was a fickle one at best. For no matter how solid a ground you seem to stand on, it is nothing but quicksand if you do not have the rock-solid foundation you truly need inside. For then, and only then, can you start to build everything else around you.
So that is what this process is all about, the tearing down of everything old and misconstructed, and the rebuilding of the most solid foundation of them all. Namely that fact that you are indeed sovereign beings, complete and perfect, and ready to start to go out in the world as such. And when you do, you will start to interact with all of these other, new rock-solid beings that surround you, in the shape of your fellow men and women. And together, you will build the world of your dreams. But again, that dream must start at home as it were, with the complete dismantling of anything old and substandard that may be present inside, for then, to put the good pieces back together and build it into this rock-solid and immortal being you are all starting to emerge as. For what we have talked about today is not news to any of you, for you are not novices in this. For you have been in this construction business for a very long time now, and now, the time has come to survey this magnificent structure you are about to complete. It can be difficult at times in midst of all of the seeming chaos to see just how powerful a structure this really is, and just as it is on a regular construction site, without surveying the blueprint, it can be very difficult to get a clear image of what is under way in this confusing mass of busy workers. But we have the blueprints, dear ones, and we can see just how faithful you all are in following them, and so we can see clearly just how close you are to putting that final capstone into place, and declare this, the work of re-constructing yourselves, as finished.
It may not be all of the comfort you need at times like this, when tempers fly and irritation can become high in this, the final flurry of finishing touches before the unveiling. But trust us when we say that even if you might feel a bit stressed out now and then, and you feel as distant from the finished product as ever, know that this is not the case. For you are not lagging behind, not in any way, and you will all make the deadline you have set for yourselves for this process. So fret not, even if you at times may feel like your whole structure is tethering on the brink of collapse. For your building is indeed build on solid ground this time, not on the loose and treacherous sands of yesteryear, and as such, it can weather anything that maybe waiting ahead. We do not say this to imply any sort of cataclysmic event, we just say this in order to remind you that you are build of sturdy stuff now, and so come rain or shine, storm or quiet, you will be standing tall and proud and rightly so. For what you have done, is to build something that will last and last, and when you get to know this new you better, you will also see the bright future that you have in store. Not just as brilliant individuals, but as this whole beautiful conglomerate of magnificent structures, all linked together in a way that will make everything else pale in comparison. For this is no fata morgana, this is the true paradise you are building. For as you struggle and push to get those final pieces in place in your own personal setup, you are also simultaneously doing the same to this whole planet. For this is what dreams are made of. Not mere fiction, but the facts that you have already started to make it come true by making yourselves become true. The true humans, based on their true conviction that what you have become, will never be torn down again, and as such, paradise is already rising from the ashes of the old. And you are the ones making this happen, by doing the hard work of rebuilding your own personal being from the ground up. And now, you can all feel dizzy at times as you have started to raise this new you to such lofty heights, you are already towering above the old renamnts of the one you used to be. There is no need to look down now, dear ones, just keep your focus up, and you will have a better chance to finish this whole process off without being too overwhelmed by vertigo.
For remember, you are not yet used to moving in these let us call them elevated spheres, and as such, you will feel a little bit insecure and unsteady on your feet. So just stay focused on where you are going, and do not spend too much time mulling about where you actually came from. That way, your heart will follow your eyes, and you will find yourself striving towards your own completion in a way that will help you to attain it faster than if you spend too much time looking back over your shoulder. For you are not going back, you are simply to keep moving ahead, and that is what you do each and every day, even at the times where you feel more like you are holding on for dear life, on the brink of being tossed back down onto the ground again. But trust us when we say that this is not the case, it is simply a signal that you have not yet gotten used to the purer air at this height. So just take your time and go slow whenever you feel the need to do so. As we said, there is no risk that you will miss your stipulated time of completion. So again we say that all is well, and even if your whole structure seems to be swaying considerably at times, it is more solid than you think and it can withstand it all. For you are made of the same stuff as the stars, indeed you are all stars, and you shine brightly even in the brightest of daylight. Not just today, but forever.
An anthropologist proposed a game to the kids in an African tribe. He put a basket full of fruit near a tree and told the kids that who ever got there first won the sweet fruits. When he told them to run they all took each others hands and ran together, then sat together enjoying their treats. When he asked them why they had run like that as one could have had all the fruits for himself they said: ”UBUNTU, how can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?”
‘UBUNTU’ in the Xhosa culture means: “I am because we are”.
I don’t speak Xhosa, so I am not sure if this is true but it was such a good story I wanted to share it as soon as I opened the email it came in;-)
As a child I was confused by competition due to feeling much the same as those children. Being aspie I was naturally good at most things in school, but I felt terrible when the other children were sad when they didn’t do well. I did not understand why we had to do things in a way that made such distinctions.
Why not learn together, work together so that each person’s skills help the others and all learn more? Of course when I tried to propose this I got into trouble repeatedly-hierarchy likes nothing less than a refusal to play by its arbitrary rules!
People told me I shouldn’t care because I was the one who was “winning”, but to me winning was no fun if someone else had to lose. Their sadness hurt my heart a lot more than any any joy in my own “success” could heal.
In high school I became very ill, and eventually totally disabled. Now I’m the one “losing”. I don’t like having no money, living in a bed and all the rest-there are plenty of things I long to do that are out of reach; but at least now I’m not making anyone else feel bad about themselves.
Life has taught me that humility is the truth-none of us is anything without the whole systems of which we are functioning parts. Having to ask strangers for help getting the bathroom door open brings this clearly into focus-especially if you have to wait a while for one to show up!;-)
I would love to live in a society where this concept of Ubuntu was the standard. What a joy each day would be without all the strife and struggle that characterize our competitive capitalist “dog eat dog” society!
I have on occasion felt bad for being such a “loser” by society’s standards. But it has just occurred to me that in my own value system I’m not a loser for not participating effectively in a hierarchical/ dominator system with which I completely disagree. (not that I really had a choice;-)
I wonder if it is even possible to work to dismantle something while actively participating in it?
Yet again Audre Lourde has inspired my learning, growth and understanding, literally decades after I read her work…I *finally* understand what “You cannot tear down the master’s house using the master’s tools” really means.
You cannot beat the colonizer at his own game, you cannot “Fix” what is wrong using the system designed to make it wrong in the first place.
The colonizer sets up a system based on selfishness, cruelty and oppression and then calls those who refuse to participate “savages” and works to exterminate them and take their resources.
Love is hate, peace is war, and the most loving and egalitarian are the savages….I do believe Mr Orwell was telling a home truth about how things are done, don’t you?
Language is a very powerful program for our minds, when we choose our language, we choose our future. How we choose to speak, affects how we understand and perceive, and thus how we choose to act and believe.
I have copied below some sections from the wikipedia article on Ubuntu for a historical perspective on this story-
Ubuntu: “I am what I am because of who we all are.” (From a definition offered by Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee.)
A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, based from a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.
One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can’t exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can’t be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality Ubuntu you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.
A traveller through a country would stop at a village and he didn’t have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu, but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?
Tim Jackson refers to Ubuntu as a philosophy that supports the changes he says are necessary to create a future that is economically and environmentally sustainable.[10]
Ubuntu is recognised as being an important source of law within the context of strained or broken relationships amongst individuals or communities and as an aid for providing remedies which contribute towards more mutually acceptable remedies for the parties in such cases. Ubuntu is a concept which:
is to be contrasted with vengeance;
dictates that a high value be placed on the life of a human being;
is inextricably linked to the values of and which places a high premium on dignity, compassion, humaneness and respect for humanity of another;
dictates a shift from confrontation to mediation and conciliation;
dictates good attitudes and shared concern;
favours the re-establishment of harmony in the relationship between parties and that such harmony should restore the dignity of the plaintiff without ruining the defendant;
favours restorative rather than retributive justice;
operates in a direction favouring reconciliation rather than estrangement of disputants;
works towards sensitising a disputant or a defendant in litigation to the hurtful impact of his actions to the other party and towards changing such conduct rather than merely punishing the disputant;
promotes mutual understanding rather than punishment;
favours face-to-face encounters of disputants with a view to facilitating differences being resolved rather than conflict and victory for the most powerful;
favours civility and civilised dialogue premised on mutual tolerance.
Botswana
In the Tswana language the same concept exists. It is called botho, and the phrase that a person is a person through other people translates to motho ke motho ka batho. Botho is one of Botswana’s five national principles (the others being Democracy, Development, Self Reliance and Unity).[citation
needed] Botswana’s Vision 2016 states: Botho defines a process for earning respect by first giving it, and to gain empowerment by empowering others. It encourages people to applaud rather than resent those who succeed. It disapproves of anti-social, disgraceful, inhuman and criminal behaviour, and encourages social justice for all.
Malawi
In Malawi, the same philosophy is called “uMunthu”.[12] Malawian philosophers have been writing about uMunthu for years. According to the Catholic Diocese of Zomba bishop Rt. Rev. Fr. Thomas Msusa, The African worldview is about living as one family, belonging to God.[13] Msusa noted that in Africa We say I am because we are, or in Chichewakali kokha nkanyama, tili awiri ntiwanthu (when you are on your own you are as good as an animal of the wild; when there are two of you, you form a community). The philosophy of uMunthu has been passed on through proverbs such as Mwana wa mnzako ngwako yemwe, ukachenjera manja udya naye (your neighbor’s child is your own, his/her success is your success too).[13] Some notable Malawian uMunthu philosophers and intellectuals who have written about this worldview are Augustine Musopole, Gerard Chigona, Chiwoza Bandawe, Richard Tambulasi, Harvey Kwiyani and Happy Kayuni. This includes Malawian philosopher and theologist Harvey Sindimas treatment of uMunthu as an important African philosophy is highlighted in his 1995 book Africas Agenda: The legacy of liberalism and colonialism in the crisis of African values.[14]
In film, the English translation of the proverb lent its hand to forming the title of Madonna‘s documentary, “I Am Because We Are” about Malawian orphans.
Rwanda and Burundi
In Kinyarwanda and Kirundi, the national languages respectively for Rwanda and Burundi, ubuntu means, among other things, ‘human generosity’ as well as humanity (as above). In Rwanda and Burundi society it is common for people to exhort or appeal to others to “gira ubuntu” meaning to “have consideration and be humane” towards others; thus it has the extended meanings of ‘generosity’ and ‘free, given at no cost’. It also has the general meaning of “human’s essence”, which also include the other meanings of the word, as it will be said of a person who shows no mercy nor consideration to others that he is an animal (igikoko, inyamaswa).
Uganda
In Kitara, a dialect cluster spoken by the Nyankore, Nyoro, Tooro, and Kiga of western Uganda and also the Haya, Nyambo and others of northern Tanzania, obuntu refers to the human characteristics of generosity, consideration and humane-ness towards others in the community. In Ganda, the language of central Uganda, obuntu bulamu means being humane, showing kindness and refers to the same characteristics.In Lugwere, a language spoken in eastern Uganda, Kobuntu means the behaviour generally accepted by humans and its natural characteristics.[15]
Kenya and Tanzania
In Kiswahili, a language spoken throughout the coast of East Africa and some of Kenya, the word may refer to “utu”, which means humanness. It is a concept that condemns acts and deeds that seem unfair even in the slightest. The Bantu speakers of East Africa are believed to have originated from the Congo basin and in precolonial times “utu” was the main philosophy governing them. It meant that everything that was done was for the benefit of the whole community. In Luhya (umundu), Kikuyu (undu), Kamba, Meru (untu) and Kisii languages, spoken mainly in the Western, Central, Eastern and Nyanza provinces of Kenya, the “umundu” stands for humanness or the act of being humane to other human beings and to nature in general.
I really liked the ‘see also’ section for this article-it seems this underlying truth has been suppressed by the colonizers but never forgotten by the people anywhere on Earth.
They burned the library at Alexandria(and many others) to prevent exactly what is happening now-I guess they didn’t count on all those oral tradition peoples having such good memories or that Asian people had libraries too;-)
http://www.livinginthefireofchange.com The opening pipe ceremony and gratitude prayer for the Living in the Fire of Change Conference, by Native Elder Seqouyah Trueblood. Photographed and edited by Velcrow Ripper. Assistant Camera Michelle Grenier. A FIerce Light Flash made with support from the Ontario Arts Council. http://www.velcrowripper.comhttp://www.fiercelight.org
Featuring beloved Zen Buddhist teacher, Roshi Joan Halifax, answering the question: how could the climate crisis become a great love story? From acclaimed director Velcrow Ripper’s upcoming feature doc, (in progress) EVOLVE LOVE: Love in A Time of Climate Crisis. http://www.evolvelovelive.com Music by: Adham Shaikh (sonicturtle.com), Bluetech (bluetechonline.com), and Zoe Keating (zoekeating.com) EVOLVE LOVE will be released in 2012.
Spirit In Action 