Thoughts: Reflections….
From our friend, Lisa K. Fox:
Whales: Capturing our brother & sister killer whales, in Russia
If the marine entertainment industry folks tried to capture orcas in Atlantic waters, or off the Pacific coast….you bet there would be a fight.
So they’re doing it in the cold seas of Russia. According to Erich Hoyt:
Four more orcas have now been confirmed to have been captured in Russian waters for ocean amusement parks and aquariums. That makes seven total captured in the past 2+ months in two separate captures in the Sea of Okhotsk—the massive far eastern inland sea of Russia, lying due north of Japan. Having spent time with these wild, beautiful orcas, I feel personally, as well as professionally, depressed about these developments.
The first 2013 capture happened in mid-August. The three orcas, or killer whales, were taken by a Russian catching team, the same team that caught a female orca in the same general area at the same time last year. For the past year, that young female — someone named her Narnia and the name stuck — has been swimming alone in a tiny makeshift pen near Nakhodka (Vladivostok area), awaiting her fate. The rumors have consistently pointed to her eventual transfer to Moscow.
Thoughts: What if all the ice in the world melted?
According to this National Geographic interactive map, it would change things. A lot.
Now, look for your house.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/09/rising-seas/if-ice-melted-map
Intuitives & teachings: Ram Dass, on dying consciously
Baba Ram Dass keeps weaving in & out of my life, ever since I found Be Here Now when I was at university, at a lecture/teaching in Eugene, Oregon in the years just before his stroke, and lately, as I’ve been around folks who are facing death & dying. His approach offers a place to build what’s needed to face the end which we all can count on.
Here are thoughts from his blog:
My view has evolved to seeing death — the moment of death — as a ceremony. If people are sitting with you to help as you are going through this dying ceremony, help them to see you as the soul you truly are, not as your ego. If they identify you as your ego, during the last part of this ceremony they will cling to you and pull you back instead of facilitating your transformation.
Sadhana, either a specific practice or your overall spiritual transformation, begins with you as an ego and evolves into your being a soul, who you really are. The ego is identified with the incarnation, which stops at the moment of death.
The soul, on the other hand, has experienced many deaths. If you’ve done your sadhana fully, there will be no fear of death, and dying is just another moment.
If you are to die consciously, there’s no time like the present to prepare. Here is a brief checklist of some of the ways to approach your own death:
• Live your life consciously and fully. Learn to identify with and be present in your soul, not your ego.
• Fill your heart with love. Turn your mind toward God, guru, Truth.
• Continue with all of your spiritual practices: meditation, mantra, kirtan, all forms of devotion.
• Be there for the death of your parents, loved ones, or beloved animals. Know that the presence of your loved ones will remain when you are quiet and bring them into your consciousness.
• Read about the deaths of great saints, lamas, and yogis like Ramana Maharshi.
• If there is pain at the time of death, try to remain as conscious as possible. Medication for pain offers some solace but dulls your awareness.
• To be peaceful at the time of your death, seek peace inside today.
Death is another moment. If you’re not peaceful today, you probably won’t be peaceful tomorrow. Sudden death is, in many ways, more difficult to work with spiritually than a gradual passing.
If we are aware that death can happen at any moment, we start to work on ourselves more constantly, paying attention to the moment-to-moment content of our minds. If you practice being here now, being fully in the moment during your life, if you are living in that space, then the moment of death is just another moment.
– Ram Dass, excerpt from Polishing the Mirror: How to Live from your Spiritual Heart.
Whales: Killer whales seen off Kona, Hawaii
There is no known resident pod of orcas around Hawaii, which makes it that much more exciting – and that much more rare – when they are seen.
Here’s more from Pete Thomas Outdoors about last week’s sighting, and what it means.
Starpeople: Sunset…on Mars
Writings: Leadership lessons from dancing guy
This is drawn from Derek Sivers’ website, with permission:
If you’ve learned a lot about leadership and making a movement, then let’s watch a movement (click on the video below) happen, start to finish, in under 3 minutes, and dissect some lessons:
A leader needs the guts to stand alone and look ridiculous. But what he’s doing is so simple, it’s almost instructional. This is key. You must be easy to follow!
Now comes the first follower with a crucial role: he publicly shows everyone how to follow. Notice the leader embraces him as an equal, so it’s not about the leader anymore – it’s about them, plural. Notice he’s calling to his friends to join in. It takes guts to be a first follower! You stand out and brave ridicule, yourself. Being a first follower is an under-appreciated form of leadership. The first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader. If the leader is the flint, the first follower is the spark that makes the fire.
The 2nd follower is a turning point: it’s proof the first has done well. Now it’s not a lone nut, and it’s not two nuts. Three is a crowd and a crowd is news.
A movement must be public. Make sure outsiders see more than just the leader. Everyone needs to see the followers, because new followers emulate followers – not the leader.
Now here come 2 more, then 3 more. Now we’ve got momentum. This is the tipping point! Now we’ve got a movement!
As more people jump in, it’s no longer risky. If they were on the fence before, there’s no reason not to join now. They won’t be ridiculed, they won’t stand out, and they will be part of the in-crowd, if they hurry. Over the next minute you’ll see the rest who prefer to be part of the crowd, because eventually they’d be ridiculed for not joining.
And ladies and gentlemen that is how a movement is made! Let’s recap what we learned:
If you are a version of the shirtless dancing guy, all alone, remember the importance of nurturing your first few followers as equals, making everything clearly about the movement, not you.
Be public. Be easy to follow!
But the biggest lesson here – did you catch it?
Leadership is over-glorified.
Yes it started with the shirtless guy, and he’ll get all the credit, but you saw what really happened:
It was the first follower that transformed a lone nut into a leader.
There is no movement without the first follower.
We’re told we all need to be leaders, but that would be really ineffective.
The best way to make a movement, if you really care, is to courageously follow and show others how to follow.
When you find a lone nut doing something great, have the guts to be the first person to stand up and join in.
Writings: In between the light & the dark, the yes & the no…the purple
A little tale from my friend Lolit:
I love the story of the little girl who showed her teacher a picture she painted of a tree.
The tree was purple.
The teacher said, “Sweetheart, I’ve never seen a purple tree, now have I?”
“Oh?” said the little girl. “That’s too bad.”
Music: Check out Mike Dawes
OK, I have a new guitar hero – on Friday night in Nanaimo, BC, Josie & her mum & I went to see the International Guitar show, and the guys who played were awesome. Tonight I’d like to put the spotlight on Mike Dawes from the UK, one of the players that night.
Mike makes the room come alive, as he plays his guitar like a drumkit, with fingerstyle fretwork that is intricate & compelling. You can see why Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues has been playing with him (he’s officially the lead guitarist for the band), and you can see why the crowd was mesmerized with his work on stage last week.
Kudos from other music critics:
’He can make the guitar talk, with no effort!’ – Jamie Bell (Actor)
’I was in a trance, I didn’t notice I was spilling beer on my leg’ – Martin Harley
You can hear him here, with his signature song, Boogie Shred:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuRBGpEHcnI&feature=share&list=RD029-hJU-68pFQ
And here he is, with Gotye’s Somebody I Used to Know:
….and look up his work on YouTube. You’ll be glad you did!
Writings: “Get in!”… a tale of the other flood
An old monk’s tale…shared by a friend in Japan:
A religious man is on top of a roof during a great flood.
A man comes by in a boat and says, “Get in, get in!” The religious man replies, “No, I have faith in God. He will grant me a miracle.”
Later, the water is up to his waist and another boat comes by, and this guy tells him to get in again. The man responds that he has faith in God, and God will give him a miracle.
With the water chest high, another boat comes to rescue him, but he turns down the offer again. He says, “God will grant me a miracle.”
With the water at chin high, a helicopter throws down a ladder and they tell him to get in. Mumbling with water in his mouth, he again turns down the request for help.
And he drowns.
He arrives at the gates of heaven with broken faith, and says to Peter, “I thought God would grand me a miracle. I have been let down.”
St. Peter chuckles and responds, “I don’t know what you’re complaining about. We sent you three boats and a helicopter.”
Whales: Welcome home, old friend….”They are fishermen, like we are.”
Just what you want to hear. And yeah, more than a coincidence.
On Tuesday, killer whales came close to a ferry from Seattle as it approached Bainbridge Island. The killer whales surrounded the ferry and splashed in the water.
By coincidence, on board the ferry were officials from The Burke Museum in Seattle who were returning tribal artifacts to the new Suquamish Museum. The artifacts were dug up nearly 60 years ago from the site of the Old Man House, the winter village for the Suquamish tribe and home of Chief Seattle.
Also on board was Suquamish Chairman Leonard Forsman. He believes the appearance of the orcas was no coincidence. He believes they were welcoming the artifacts home to the reservation.
Here is the rest of the story – check it out!
Poetry: Good morning, starshine….
i thank you god for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any–lifted from the no
of all nothing–human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
e.e. cummings
Intuitives: Micara & the gift of opening yourself to your intuition
One of the intuitives I’d like you to meet is Micara Link, who had two big shifts in her life last year, as she moved with her husband from South Dakota to outside of Kansas City, AND welcomed their first child. She’s worked with Denise Linn, and over the past five years has really gotten her practice going, with her guidance to the treasures of intuition, as well as teaching & practicing reiki.
You can read more about Micara & what she offers at her website.
In today’s posting, here are her thoughts about strengthening your intuition, and your connection to it:
When I teach people how to reconnect to and strengthen their intuition, one of the biggest blocks that comes up is Lack of Trust.
“How do I know if my intuition is right?
How do I know it’s ok to trust it?
What if I’m wrong?”, they say.
My answer? Your intuition is always correct and it is always safe to trust it.
Why? Because your intuition is the loving voice within that is connected to God.
How do you learn to trust? There’s no short-cut, no secret, no way to teach you to trust – you just have to do it. You have to make the decision & commitment to live from within. Over time you will learn that your intuition is worthy of your trust, but first you have to be willing to take a risk, let go, and surrender to your inner guide.
One of the reasons I love teaching Intuition Development is because it’s during these classes that we create a sacred space to practice your intuition. The more you practice, the more you begin to trust. When you’re put into a room full of strangers, and you’re ‘reading’ them accurately, your doubt-filled mind starts to hush up. Instead, you awaken to the truth of your intuition. You begin to ‘hear’ the difference between your ego-mind, and your love-based intuitive mind.
It can be quite the head trip at times, I totally understand.
I remember when I first communicated with someone’s loved one on the other side… I didn’t even believe in Heaven at the time! It was like my neurons were backfiring, all the circuits made where crashing… how could this be possible?
But it was, and over time, I began to see how powerful, beautiful, magical, and empowering (oh, I could go on and on…;) life is when I live from the guidance of my most sacred advisor: my intuition.
Embracing my inner guide and committing to live from this place within has completely changed my life in the most amazing ways, which is why I am passionate about helping you do the same.
So what exactly IS your intuition and how does it work?
Your intuition is communication from your most holy self, your soul. Your soul is a spark of light extended from The Universe. The Universe is a life-sustaining, supportive, loving force that works within you and for you.
Your intuition comes to you in the form of feelings, hunches, visions, repetitive thoughts, and sometimes a very strong inner knowing.
Your intuition is never fear-based. It always comes from a place of love and peace.
Your intuition is powerful! Listening to the guidance you receive can change your life, especially if you’ve been ignoring it. The fear many people have in listening to this voice is because they know it will change their life – no more living in denial – living from your intuition is living a life of truth and purpose. Our egos tend to have a heavy grip on our wings of trust, holding us back from really stepping into our light.
Your intuition often communicates in whispers. It’s like a feeling or voice beneath all the busyness and chaos. Describing it this way might make it seem like it’s hard to ‘hear’ your intuition, but it’s not. It’s right there. Paying attention will help you recognize it. Also, the more you listen to this whisper, the louder it will get. Over time it won’t seem be so quiet anymore.
Your intuition doesn’t always make sense. This is one of the hardest parts in trusting it because our minds really want things to make sense in a linear, logical, and practical way. Guidance from our intuition can sometimes seem ‘crazy’ with no basis to the information we are getting. This is where the magic really happens! This is the time when we get the opportunity to first-handedly experience the motto, “Jump and the net will appear.” Listen to your inner voice even if it doesn’t make sense. It will. Give it time.
Your intuition is connected to the energy of pure potential and creative life-force which is another way of describing the energy of Source or God. I mention this again, because I want to remind you how miraculous your intuition really is. There are many times you might be looking ahead on your path thinking, “I can’t do this! I have no idea what to do or where to go. Everything seems impossible!”
And then by the power of a tiny whisper from within, everything seems to fall into place better than you could even imagine. This is how your intuition can make the seemingly impossible, possible. Every bump in the road can be maneuvered through your inner guidance. It’s always there to steer you where you’re meant to go.
You who are reading this – yes YOU! – You are SO intuitive! You wouldn’t be reading this right now if you weren’t. I hope this helps you ditch any doubt you have in trusting your inner guide.
Please feel free to send me any questions you have regarding intuition and I will do my best to answer them. (Click here to send me a message!)
It is my passion to help you clear the fear and step into your light through the power of your Intuition! Whoopee! I feel like yelling that from the rooftop!
Just for today, trust your intuition no matter what. See what happens. I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Thank you!
++++++++++++
Here’s a vid with Micara discussing releasing fear:
A Course in Miracles teaches that fear is false and Love is the true reality. In today’s meditation (below), you are guided to release your fears, replace them with love, and restore your right-mind. Use this meditation whenever you need to get back on track — free from fear, worry, stress, and anxiety.
Funnier: More views! Or, redefining a leap of faith….
It is my hope that the lessons below are not lost on you, gentle reader, before you upload your video to YouTube. Remember what it takes to be what you most want to be, both before and after you take that leap. (No cats were harmed in the making of this comic.) (I think.)
Thoughts: Where peace begins…
If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.
~ Lao Tse ~
About Brother Ian
Over the centuries, Brother Ian has been collecting stories & information & discourses for the purpose of elevating the human condition as needed, dissecting it when necessary, and building the case for hope.
In the spirit of noting that organized crime, organized baseball, organized labour, and organized religion tend to engender controversy & occasional discord, I promise to be neither organized or critical of those who are.