Welcome to Planet Earth

Posted on March 16, 2010 by Craig

The other night, I went to bed pondering the question of who I need to focus on serving in my spiritual advising and healing work. I know, “everyone” needs spiritual healing and clarity on some level (whether they know it or not), but I simply can’t serve “everyone” so I need to focus on a niche.

The answer came in a dream: I was at a zoo with a couple friends. We were the only ones there. Planes passed overhead, para-dropping crates into the zoo. We opened the crates and found little furry animals, that were scared, confused, cold and possibly hungry.

The crate that I opened had mostly cats in it. (Not a zoo animal, I know, but this is how dreams work.) I checked to see if they were injured or hungry, but they were simply scared and cold. I laid down in the midst of them, and they piled on top of me and around me, seeking warmth and comfort. I cared for them.

When I awoke, I figured out that the dream was not so different from real life, in a way. Here we are, on Planet Earth, which largely resembles a zoo. Our souls are taken from their natural habitat (the spiritual realm) and brought here to be caged in bodies, circumstances and other limitations. A lot of us feel like we don’t really belong here; we’re like aliens trying to fit in, but we never quite manage to do it.

Alone and confused, we seek comfort from people that know how we feel. Unfortunately, the story we often tell ourselves is that nobody knows how we feel (which allows us to feel special and unique), but the truth is, lots of people feel this way and just don’t admit it.

I’ve felt different my whole life. I can point to circumstances, such as my spiritual tendencies, or “the alienation of the modern man” as an excuse for why I feel different. But to be honest, it’s just an attempt at explaining it.

It’s true that I’m “different.” Does this serve as an excuse for alienating myself and not risking intimate relationships? It has. But this attempt at protecting myself comes at great cost.

I’ve been parachuted into this zoo for a reason: to reach out to others who feel alienated and confused in this material existence.

It is time to take a risk and reach out to each other – to build a caring community. The era of the individualist is done. We need each other. Now.

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Trading in Beliefs for Truth

Posted on March 12, 2010 by Craig

At each successive stage in our lives, we are often forced to give up old beliefs about who we are and what life is all about. Eventually, it begs the question: Are any of our beliefs actually based on ultimate Truth and Reality, or are all our beliefs just over-simplified conclusions based on limited experiences?

What if none of my beliefs are completely accurate? What if they are all just stories I’ve told myself over and over, to avoid dealing with actual Truth?

Often Life strips away these stories one at a time, because we can’t handle losing our whole Story all at once. But eventually, I have to wonder if there is a greater Truth beyond all the stories I’ve been telling myself.

Is that scary? Depressing? It certainly is to the Ego. Because if I’m wrong about everything, isn’t that a fate worse than death? It is to the Ego.

But having glimpsed this Truth behind the veil of my own illusions, I am convinced that I must not allow the fears of Ego to stop me from exploring the Truth in greater detail. Because the Truth is, I do not have to be limited to the beliefs of scarcity, pain and conflict that my Ego continues to push.

The Truth is, our spiritual nature as human beings is far greater than we have ever imagined. We have the power to solve all our perceived problems. We have the capacity to care for one another and live in a world free from war. So much is possible for us, and yet, we have convinced ourselves that we are all victims in some horrible “reality” where nobody has enough, hunger is inevitable and death is the only absolute.

By creating this illusion that we are all powerless, we can absolve ourselves of responsibility for our lives. Unfortunately, we also give up our power, and subject ourselves to a fate worse than responsibility for our actions.

It’s time to give up our beliefs in the Illusion, and accept the Truth. It’s time to step up to our duties and create the world we know is possible.

Let’s start today.

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The Good Samaritan

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Craig

Tonight I helped out at a spiritual healers clinic, about half an hour away from home, on the other side of town. I left about half an hour before it started, so I was cutting it close.

About a block from home, I passed a stalled pickup on the other side of the boulevard. The driver was standing beside the truck, looking forlornly down the street, booster cables in hand. Since he was on the other side of the median, it was not convenient to stop and ask about his situation. I also figured I didn’t have the time.

Then a voice from an old story popped into my head: “Likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.”

“But I’ll be late for my healing duties,” I argued.

“This is your healing duties,” the voice countered.

“He’s probably already waiting for someone.”

“You’re someone.”

So my conscience (or guides, or angels) got me to do a U-turn at the lights and go back to help this guy. He was very grateful that I stopped at all, and grateful that I popped the hood, and grateful that his truck started. He was an all-around grateful guy. The whole deal took about two minutes, and then we were both on our way.

A few minutes later, when it sunk in, I felt an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. Why am I feeling grateful? I asked. I was the one that did the service.

Then I realized that the gratitude was not from me – it was for me. The same voice that had asked me to help out was filling me with gratitude for my simple act of compassion.

“Isn’t this kind of arrogant of me?” I asked myself. (Or rather, a less helpful, rather manipulative voice asked me.) After all, it wasn’t that big a deal. I just helped a guy boost his truck. Why give myself a standing ovation?

“But you listened. You did what you could. You took action. You helped someone today, when you could just as easily have listened to the fear instead. So, thank you.”

I felt the presence of the angels in that moment, with gratitude enfolding me. In fact, it was more than gratitude – it was pride. They were proud of me. Such a simple act of kindness, and it was like I was their kid playing the lead role in the school play. I could feel them bragging to each other about me.

My inner religious voice tried telling me that pride is bad, but the pride didn’t feel bad. It felt like the angels really wanted me to know that I was on the right path, taking the right steps, doing what I’m here to do, and that they were pleased as punch with my progress.

Today I made a simple decision to serve someone in need when my old mental habits wanted me to make excuses and keep driving. Today I did one thing right. So, I’m not going to make excuses for feeling good about that.

The angels could have helped the stranded motorist in some other way, but they chose to get me involved. And when they choose to help us help each other, we get to experience the compassion and gratitude that lifts our souls and makes the world a better place.

Oh – and – I was still early for the healers clinic.

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Native Leadership

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Craig

Ever since Columbus set foot in North America over 500 years ago, we white folk have been systematically destroying Native peoples and cultures. While we are not as likely to slaughter Natives today (we stopped doing that decades ago), it was less than a generation ago that we were herding Native children into Christian schools, where they were literally whipped into submission to a god that was not their own. They were stripped of their culture and their self-respect.

Today we try not to take the direct route with Native extermination. Today, we build freeways through Native reserves, tearing down forests and scaring away wildlife. (The City of Calgary can’t understand why this plan has been voted down by the Native community. We must have progress, right?)

After centuries of murder, abuse and cultural obliteration, North American Indians (a.k.a. Natives, or First Nations) have a long way to go just in terms of recovering some form of self-respect and cultural survival.

And what is needed is far more than that.

Having had a look at Shamanism, which is based in North and South American Native spirituality, I can see the rich spiritual heritage that American Natives have to offer us. Not just us, locally, but us, as a human race.

After centuries of Christianity dominating the North American landscape (and doing a sub-par job of it), it’s time for Native leaders to take a huge leap forward, not only pulling their own communities out of poverty, but recovering the rich spiritual wisdom of the elders, and leading the entire planet forward in spiritual evolution.

My challenge to the Natives in Canada: Get up off the street corner. Stand up. You no longer have the time or the luxury of staying victimized. We need you to step up and lead us. We need the rich wisdom that your elders have hidden away from the destruction of the descendents of Europe. We need your help. I know we don’t deserve it, after all that’s happened, but we do need it.

Now is the time.

—

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Voices in my head

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Craig

I have a lot of voices in my head. They start early in the morning, and keep me company all day, starting with “Get out of bed now, you lazy bum” and “Just five more minutes,” right up until “Why am I still awake?”

Most of the voices are annoying. Some are downright destructive. For example, when I go to start a new project, there’s the helpful voice that says “This will be fun” (I like that one) but also the stupid jerk voice of “You tried this once before, and it didn’t work, so you know it’s going to fail this time.”

If these pessimistic remarks were coming from friends of mine, they wouldn’t be my friends for very long.

I have so many different voices up there, it’s like a Parliament. Trouble is, the Opposition Party has installed itself as the Government, so nothing ever gets done. A motion is passed to wash the dishes, and just as quickly quashed, as the Opposition Party defeats its own bill. “Wash the dishes!” one voice says, and, “I don’t want to!” another voice says.

All the Opposition ever does is complain that the governing party isn’t doing enough, or is doing too much. They are never happy with anything. Even if the governing party is doing exactly what they would have done, it’s still wrong.

In my head (and yours as well), the Ego acts as the Opposition Leader. It criticizes everything we do, or try to do, or fail to do, or wish we could have done. But it also acts as the Prime Minister, pretending to be the real me, even though it’s really an imposter.

So now I’ve decided to make an executive decision. It’s my head; I can do what I like in there. I’m declaring myself the Governor General. My first order is to nullify the current parliament, and ask Spirit to form a Government. I am taking Ego off the throne and sending it across the floor to act as Opposition, where it belongs. Yes, I will always have an Opposition Party in my head, run by Ego, but it no longer has the power to veto all my actions. I now have the power to take action as required, and serve my constituents (my mind, body, soul and neighbors) as I see fit.

Some of the voices up there are still pretty strong, and I have a lot of work to do with regards to self-limiting beliefs. (Or is it as much work as I think? Hm.) But at least I’m waking up and recognizing that I do not have to listen to all those voices. And I hope you are, too.

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