MY PRAYERS FOR THE PEOPLE
I've been in a deep ceremonial space this week that has offered a reaffirmation of many things that wish to be shared. In particular, I speak today of a message that seeks to be heard by many people who find themselves in places of perceived struggle, growing discontentment, or transition. I speak to the illusion of aloneness that pervades the human experience, as shared as it often is.
This weekend, one message that was repeatedly reinforced is that suffering is always a condition of the mind – always. Even in the most horrific of circumstances there are people who have shown us that peace and joy are possible and sustainable- and also a choice. And, sometimes, as beings wired (inherently) to support one another, we take on pain because others are unable.
Sometimes, we feel pain because it is necessary to show us how we have separated from our own divine natures. Sometimes, pain is just part of being human and having our hearts open. If we never felt pain, it would indicate we have shut down to a full experience of the heart and a deep compassion for others.
There is no shame in struggle. There is no shame in asking for help. There is no shame in making "mistakes" and trying again. Fear is the only thing that blocks us from entering into the expansive nature of vulnerability. . . and the opportunities that we create for ourselves to fully surrender so that Spirit and others can step in on our behalf.
ILLUSIONS
It is very interesting to play in a new age world that insists that any and all pain and suffering are an illusion. I think the illusion is any thinking that "believes" we are alone - ever. I think the illusion is that we can reach a place in our lives, evolution, or consciousness where bliss and love is the only experience we will ever have again. Although I believe love is our truest and higher nature, I can not dismiss that pain is, in fact, very real, even when it is self created.
I share (as opposed to spend) a great deal of my time praying with others and as a spiritual teacher and minister, am honored to hold a space for healing and realization that humbles me daily. For the last 6 years or so (2 years in full commitment) I have been walking a spiritual path that often remains unspoken in my writing and conversations because of a sacred intention to honor my own personal journey and the ancient ways of the Lakota people.
CONCEPTUAL VERSUS EMBODIED ONENESS
As I progress in my practice and am honored to engage in various initiations and progressions on my path, I find myself absent of the words to describe the depth of what this way of living and praying means to me. Without stories or details (which can sometimes dissipate energy and cheapen the essence or sacred nature of an experience), I find it challenging to describe the degree to which these ways of community and ceremony exemplify oneness - not just in thought - but in active behavior.
Sure, we’ve heard and repeated for years, “We are ONE” and “We’re all connected,” but how often do we really live and witness these principles in our lives – really? For me, the most profound blessing has been to understand, witness and experience Oneness, and the commonly spoken concept of “we are all connected” in a very real, actionable way. Being witness to how we can eat, drink and sleep for another as they engage in vision quest (where they fast and pray for several days in the wilderness) is just one example of how Oneness is embodied in not just our thoughts and conversations, but our behaviors.
In a time when so many are struggling, we, in this tradition, immediately move into prayer and ceremonies that bring us back into a state of connection, compassion, awareness and truth. The last several weeks have been a time of intense praying and preparation for me. Those of you who have spent time in an Ashram, for example, may be able to relate to what it feels like to cross the threshold of the conscious physical world and enter into a spaciousness of an indescribable presence, honoring and sacred experience that alters you, yet is almost impossible to explain. Each person’s spiritual experience is as unique as we are in personality. The ways we feel a deep and clear connection, a sense of oneness, or a trust in our faith varies. Yet, if fortunate, we have people in our lives that can relate or share similar stories.
WHAT CAN WE TRUST? WHAT CAN WE DO?
What we can trust is this. We are surrounded, at all times, by an immovable, ineffable, ever-mysterious force of consciousness and healing that walks us through each of our initiations. Whether we are self initiating our growth (sometimes through a creation of conflict or discomfort) our expansion or life is initiating us in ways we thought we could never be prepared for, let alone handle, we can do two things to help Spirit help ourselves.
Surrender and observe your thinking. Take responsibility to coach and transform the mind that repeats, again and again, "this is too hard, I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't do this." It's a lie we love to tell ourselves because it gives us permission to give up just moments before our self deceit will be revealed to us and show us how "wrong" we have been. I say this without the typical judgment that goes with the word "wrong." In this case, wrongness simply means we have stepped out of a TRUTH that exists even when we can’t see it.
THE POWER OF THE “I AM”
Observe how you reinforce and imprint the story of the pain or the continuation of the undesired by restating it “as is” again, and again and again. Be aware of what you are "I AMing." Each statement of "I AM (fill in the blank) is a prayer for more of that which you "I AM." Each “I AM” is a reinforcement to the subconscious who will make sure you maintain what you "I Am" to yourself. And, each “I Am” is a prayer we make to the Universe. It is also helpful to be more aware of how you use your stories of pain to seek attention (and juice from others) that can be received in other, more positive, productive ways.
THE DICHOTOMY OF CONFLICT AND COMFORT
We can easily become addicted to drama and pain. We can easily become addicted to conflict and not feel alive unless we are experiencing, creating and reinforcing it. Many people get bored and disengage when conflict doesn’t exist. Through our conditioning in a world that relies on consumption sourced in conflict, it has become familiar and even desired and the familiar seeks to survive.
An interesting dichotomy is that as much as we are addicted to conflict, we also love comfort. Without being conscious to it, conflict can become what is comfortable and “normal.” Anything that unsettles that which is comfortable (broken hearts, not having a sense of tomorrow, doubt, fear, change, loss) takes us out of that which is familiar and certain. Even the most curious of humans seek to experience the familiar, even when the familiar is not what we want! When the familiar becomes threatened by the possibility of change, it seeks to survive. The impact is sometimes struggle, sometimes “failure” and sometimes self sabotage. And, much of our resistance to change is unconscious and is sourced in beliefs and expectations that we may not be aware of.
MIRACLES GIVE BIRTH TO AWARENESS
I say all of this with an awareness that has come from receiving many miracles in my life by challenging myself to go beyond what I thought in the energy of the "I Am." I moved beyond the perception of what I thought I couldn't handle or heal from. Both thoughts (I can't handle it and/or I can't heal from it) set up the only alternative of death. Whether a physical death or a spiritual death, this becomes the only outcome that is possible when we continue in this story.
I healed from a disease everyone told me was impossible to heal from. I had two children that everyone told me were never going to be able to survive beyond two trimesters. This fall, I sold a house everyone told us would be impossible to sell. I could go on with examples of the world's story not being true – not when we give up our stories of lack and limitation.
Our resistance to truth is what causes suffering to take on a life of its own. The truth is that we can't do much of anything all by ourselves. We ask for help and turn it over; observe how our thinking (and I AMing) is the cause of much of our suffering. Our causative thinking extends into our judgments, our illusionary notions of control, our thoughts of incapability or impossibility, and the many ways we interrupt a natural process of healing and growth with the reinforcement of our stories through both internal and external conversations.
DISSATISFACTION IS A SIGN OF THE SOUL UNEXPRESSED
Earlier this week in my Hypnotic Manifestation Group, I spoke about a phrase I shared in an interview last year when I stated, "Dissatisfaction is a sign of the soul unexpressed." When we shift out of the human relationship we have with our pain and instead, recognize it as our soul calling out to us to be expressed in a higher form, we can shift from the victim of our human circumstances (all self created) to the steward of the soul's experience.
So, what experience are you offering a soul who came to the planet to live, grow and contribute to others through your experiences? You decide. Now. No one and nothing else. We make vows in each moment - what vow do you take today; as all of us as witnesses and supporters?
What prayers are you stating – both intentional and consciously constructed and unintentional and unconsciously constructed, such as with what you are “I AMing?”
In a place of solitude, ceremony and prayer, I’ve been meditating on the question; “What are the most consistent prayers (in thought and in action) that have come to define my walk, not just my talk?” Here’s what I have received in response.
1. I pray that all people on the planet have a direct, certain and ongoing experience of God and a full awareness of their Divinity; to know that they are loved and supported in unseen (and often unobvious ways).
2. I pray that all people come be aware of the innate power they have as healers and creators in their own lives.
3. I pray that all people reach a point of embodied understanding of their Soul’s evolutionary journey and how it provides keys to their bigger why’s of past, present and future.
4. I pray that all people come to understand, embrace and live the Power of Their Way.
And, above all, I pray to be an example of these prayers in the demonstration of my life and my service. I pray to be a steward to my Soul’s experience and offer my passions and purpose in a way that contribute daily to enhance the human experience. I pray to live the power of my way (which is always aligned with the perspective of the Divine) and inspire others to do the same.
Love, Ani
Rev. Anita Pathik Law is the founder of The Power of Our Way Community and Hypnotic Manifestation and is known as a powerful voice in the consciousness movement. Visit www.powerofmyway.com, www.powerofourway.com, www.hypnoticmanifestation.com and www.divinitymovie.com, just a few of her co-creations.
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