The pop culture is all abuzz regarding this 2012 Solstice. The story is, that according to the Mayans: On this date, our earth comes into alignment with the Sun and the center of our Galaxy.
It is said that the void, the dark center of our galaxy reflects a heat through the sun, on to the earth and her inhabitants. Those who are evolved enough, mind, body and spirit, are absorbed into it, and those who are not are burned.
If you really get to know some of these ancient archetypal stories, you will find them everywhere; so this story may sound like the one we hear in many religious traditions, about the events leading up to judgement day.
As I understand it, and have taught as a transformational facilitator, the “heat” described in the bible or mayan calendar, or anywhere else for that matter, is a Spiritual heat.
I’m often puzzled at people who hear that and say “oh good, yeah, that makes it better, somehow”....like Spirituality is less real for them, than physicality.
I’m often puzzled at people who hear that and say “oh good, yeah, that makes it better, somehow”....like Spirituality is less real for them, than physicality.
In my work as a yogi, there are many in my circle that are ascribing to all sorts of amplified ideas and emotions, at the once in a lifetime experience this will be. In truth, for me, every day is “once in a lifetime”. Each moment is precious.
This past week, my sister Jeanie reminded me that this planetary alignment is a very real event, which actually happens every year on the December 21st Solstice, as our solar system rides the cosmic elliptical.
This past week, my sister Jeanie reminded me that this planetary alignment is a very real event, which actually happens every year on the December 21st Solstice, as our solar system rides the cosmic elliptical.
Yet, in our conversation the other day, something in my understanding spontaneously opened. I gained a new insight that of course it happens every year, pouring a heat on to earth that is every bit as physical as it is spiritual.
Around the solstice of every December, a physical burning in the hearts of humankind occurs. A physical sensation of renewed spiritual warmth for our fellow men, and a steady flow of countless expressions of good-will pour through us for one another.
As I check out in the grocery store, I am given the option of purchasing a bag of food for a needy family. There have also been years, in which, I was a member in a needy family, and found money and gifts and notes of care left at my own door. Both experiences burned an equal and deep resonance of love and humility, that felt overpowering to my soul. In these holiday experiences, both the giver and the receiver are quite often altered to the point of tears.
Yes it is the 2012 shift. We are on the cusp of a new way of being. Tonight I would ask: Is it so far fetched to anticipate that we may be transformed into feeling this holy-day spirit for one another all year long, and every year from now on?
Think of what would have to evaporate in our culture for this to occur...We may need years of world wide recession in order to let go of all that we keep trying to “claim” as ours.
We may need to be at the brink of what we can bear, before we are willing to surrender those aspects of our heart that keep us from “melting into that fierce heat of living”, in the poet David Whyte’s words.
Is it really so new-age to speak of this heat creating such suffering in our hearts as our ego evaporates? I'm sure we have all felt our ego fighting to the death; particularly when life gets so intense, that we feel a deep burning desire to shift out of the place we have come to.
Does not our collective compassion and grieving for others in the midst of unspeakable tragedy feel like an experience that is too unbearable for us to witness, without lifting a steady stream of prayer on their behalf?
Yes, it is an intense personal revelation when we realize that the habits that keep us from true and lasting happiness, will have to be burned away. Only through this kind of a refiners fire that can blaze so hot, that we glimpse a true reflection of God’s face in our countenance. How intense is it to truly feel God working through you? How well can you bear that kind of intense intimacy? It can be near unbearable in its ecstasy, when we feel firsthand the milk of human kindness simmering bright and hot.
And here we are on the cusp of what has the potential to be that very day. It seems to come down to each of us individually, where we will stand amidst this fiery time.
Will we be the ones that keep fanning the flames of our egoic self, until there’s nothing left but the stubble of a soul; or will we integrate the shadow aspects of ourself, as the greatest teacher we will know?
Our shadow encompasses all those things we avoid reflecting upon on an average day; all the opportunities to make a difference for someone else; all the kindness and compliments and generosity withheld, and our inability to acknowledge and evolve our shortcomings. Our shadow self dissipates to the extent we are able to become one with the light, through any practice that awakens our consciousness; any experience where are able to recognize our own shortfalls in our potential and choose better behavior. In aligning ourselves with our potential Self, we begin to become one with the light and there is no shadow to cast, in the first place.
My moto for this renewed year, when it comes to fanning the flames of ignorance, self-justification, anger, hurt and unkindness: “Only I can prevent the forest fires that will stunt true growth.”...Each day I choose to rededicate myself, within life’s intensity, I shift the center of humanity.
It is my holiday wish, on the archetypal final 3-days in the womb, that mirror Christ's final three days in the tomb, that kindness, insight and redemption become our collective way of being.
Only in my own doing of what I suggest, may I be able to honestly wish each of YOU...
...a “Happy holy-day”, everyday from here on.
