Inner Divine Spirit

Genesis 27: 30-45, Inner Conflict

2012-02-17T03:36:00.001-08:00

Genesis 27: 30-45

v. 41, “Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing which his father had given him, and he said to himself, ‘The time of mourning for my father will soon be here; then I will kill my brother Jacob.’”

The story of Esau and Jacob offers a look at the competition, trickery, and murderous desires that are present and active within our psyches. Symbolically, the first-born Esau may represent a way of experiencing and expressing self that is a response to the outside world. He represents the known order; he follows the established “rules and regulations” of the day. This includes family, institutions, social mores, etc. We can consider him our “adaptive” self. The adaptive self includes the ways we defend or distance from our felt sense or embodied experiences. The most common way of doing this is denial. We deny our emotion, feeling, need, or desire to avoid negative responses.

Jacob, the twin who was second-born, represents something in us that moves with freedom from the adapted restrictions of the known order. After birth, the first known social order is the family system into which one is born. The first born way of being in the world is shaped here. Jacob represents an alternative way that, though born simultaneously, is not the favored; because, it does not comply with the outer standards and expectations. Natural tendencies and inclinations toward expression are often sacrificed to fit in!

Jacob and Esau represent inner conflict that is present in all of us. Rote, familiar ways conflict with alternative, less restrictive and more life giving ways. We have all experienced this when trying to change a habit pattern. We want something different, yet the old, established way seems intent on destroying the new.

In the scripture story, Jacob has the blessing of his father and the aid of his mother. Symbolically, we can interpret this to mean that the alternative, non-familiar, natural way of being has the favor of the Self/God Within. The life giving desires and energies of our soul are supported by the Inner Divine Spirit. When we look to the Self, we can find a way to bring the new, life giving energy into being.

Take a few minutes to acknowledge any inner conflicts. Identify the learned, familiar pattern or response and the accompanying alternative way. What comes automatically (the first born) and what accompanies it (the twin that is second born)? Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to show you the way beyond the conflict.

2 Samuels 7: 18-29, Taking Our Place

2012-02-17T03:34:00.000-08:00

2 Samuel 7: 18-29, Taking Our Place

18, “Then King David went into the presence of the Lord and took his place there and said, ‘What am I, Lord God, and what is my family, that thou hast brought me thus far?’”

We all long for and need our place. A sense of love and belonging--which defines one’s place in relationships--is a basic need according to Abraham Maslow. Our sense of self, who we are, is experienced in our feeling relationship to others--other people, animals, environments, objects, etc. The titles we have, the labels we are given, the roles we assume are means of defining our place in the outer world. These can help us relax and feel good about ourselves, or they can limit and thwart our wholeness.

King David went “into the presence of the Lord” and talked about his future. He asked God “to make good on what thou hast promised” (v. 25) regarding his place in the world. This provides a beautiful picture of a conscious relationship between our ego and Self/God Within. King David’s going “into the presence of the Lord and (taking) his place there” is symbolic of our ego turning towards the Self/God Within. Another way to say this is that our self consciousness looks to transcendent or supra-consciousness.

We often set off on pursuits and the activities of our days feeling as if we have to make things happen and do things by ourselves. We act all important and all powerful until we are reminded of our limitations and interdependency on others. What happens in these moments determines the felt experience we have! We can thrash about in our limitations or we can seek to connect with our larger Self that transcends any one thought, feeling, action, or moment in time and space. We choose to stay unconscious of the Self/God WIthin or we consciously choose to call on the Self and ask for help.

How do we know “our place” with the Self and others? Our place begins in our body and mind. The felt quality of our inner world will extend into our experiences with others. When we feel at home in our own skin, comfortable with our inner world of sensations, emotions, intuitions, we are more likely to have this experience with others. If we encounter rejection and hatred, we are more likely to keep our self--to still feel our value and worth in spite of feeling hurt and sad. When our thoughts, feelings, and actions towards ourselves reject and “throw” out our felt experiences, we end up without a place.

Our “place” of greatest struggle and unrest or greatest ease and contentment is within our self with our Self. King David’s example of talking with God about his life and future shows us the way to move towards ease within ourselves. Once we have an alignment between our ego/self and Self/Inner Divine, we can navigate whatever we need.

Take a few minutes to turn your attention and intention towards sensing, knowing, and dialoguing with the Self/God Within. Invite your energies to come home into your body mind as you breathe deeply and slowly. Notice what feelings, thoughts, and memories arrive. Continue breathing and invite each to take their place within your psyche/soul. As you begin to feel the place you have within your body mind, offer whatever concerns, desires, gratitudes you have at this moment to the Self. Listen for the response of the Inner Divine that often is wordless. Allow your self consciousness and transcendent consciousness to strengthen your place with yourself.

Ephesians 5: 1-20, Light

2012-02-17T03:32:00.000-08:00

Ephesians 5:1-20

13-14, “But everything, when once the light has shown it up, is illumined, and everything thus illumined is all light. And so the hymn says: ‘Awake, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine upon you.’”

Where do you sleep?
Where do you refuse to wake up and be alive?
Alive to the nuances of what you feel, see, touch, know.

Tasting the sweetness and the bitterness of what happens day in and day out.
Reality...
How much of it can we bear?

Moving in and out of our ideals, our perceptions, our distortions
To see fully and clearly what is.
Who we are; who we aren’t.

Truth is sometimes ugly.
It lurks in the dark
Creating shame that hides the suffering that is.

‘Awake, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine upon you.’

An invitation...
To life...to Light...to God Within...
A Self that transforms ugly truth and suffering.

To see, to know, to be aware
I release the shame that keeps me hidden
The secrets that keep me feeling dirty, wrong, useless

Shame is the underbelly of darkness.
Not seeing, denying, ignoring, pretending
I give power to that which destroys me

No longer will shame kill me
I gather all I know me to be
And I call for the me I Am

I Am comes
Bringing Light that mutes the power of darkness
I Am awake, I Am alive, I Am my Self.

As a species, humans are struggling to move from living in the dark--unaware, numb, unconscious, hidden--to living in the light--awake, feeling, conscious, seen. We are animal, so we have automatic, reflexive patterns and behaviors in our body and mind. We don’t have to worry about making ourselves breathe or digest food. It happens automatically. Yeah! There are other patterns, such as the the survival instinct, that prompt responses that are not life giving. We act reflexively and we destroy life--ours or another’s.

In a historical context, today’s scripture addresses the differences between the common morality and religion of the day and the new standard of the Christian community. Gratification of bodily needs and living out instinctive desires without regard for oneself and others was the norm. The negative and destructive behaviors (i.e., fornication, greed, indecency) that accompanied such choices violated the guidelines for human interaction (given in the Ten Commandments). Now, as then, we all have to deal with our animal (instinctive) nature and our central nervous system responses that prompt reflexive, instinctive, “kill or be killed” responses to ourself and others.

Christ’s teachings call us to live consciously--knowingly, intentionally, relationally. Consciousness starts with seeing. Awareness is the first step, but not the whole. Light infiltrates, it penetrates, it reaches deep into the soil that is below the surface of ego awareness. Consciousness involves our felt experience, our body and our mind. Seeing with only our head is one dimensional. We have the capacity within our psyches to see the whole. Our egos may fear falling apart in the face of what is, but the Self/the totality of psyche can and does hold us together.*

“Everything, when once the light has shown it up, is illumined, and everything thus illumined is all light.” Consciousness has a way of lightening us up! Naming, knowing, feeling, experiencing, and expressing our selves is powerful medicine. Ultimately, it releases the bogged down, heavy feeling states that make us sluggish and inert--dead.

Where are you stuck? Where are you not moving in spite of a desire to do so? Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to shine light upon what is happening inside of you that keeps you caught. Remember to call upon the Self to help you as a self/ego. The ego can bring a head consciousness, but the Self brings the embodied consciousness. We need both! Dialogue with the various states (thoughts, feelings, images) you find and receive what they have to offer. Invite each to take their rightful place in the whole of you. Remember, the Self is the totality of psyche that can and does hold all.

*Ego is our conscious sense of self, what is known about ourselves and what we have learned from historical experiences; the Self is the totality of our psyche--who we are on a soul level. Jung stated that the Self is a part of God that God put in us so that we would know there is a God. The Self can be thought of as supraConsciousness whereas the ego is self-consciousness.

Genesis 19: 1-29, We Are Led!

2012-02-17T03:28:00.003-08:00

Genesis 19: 1-17(18-23)24-29, We are Led!

verses 16, 26, “When he (Lot) lingered, they (the angels) took him by the hand, with his wife and daughters, and because the Lord had spared him, led him on until he was outside the city... But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she turned into a pillar of salt.”

The Western Mystery Tradition affirms that the Divine Essence pulls us forward, leads us on the path of enlightenment. We do the seeking, and the work of gardening our psyche/souls; but, God Within/the Self draws us to feel, image, and desire that which is needed for the fullest expression of our soul.

Each of us is moved forward by innate urgings, desires and impulses that prompt us to grow and live more wholly who we are.* The soul is teleological (purposeful). We are pulled (or pushed) forward to develop and grow. Nothing in nature stands still. It is either dying or growing! This is true of our body, minds, and spirits too.

Sometimes, we are reluctant to move! We know we need to give up a way of doing (or not doing) something, leave a relationship (with another, a place, a job, etc.), or take action on an idea or desire. We feel the prompt from “the angels” within that show up as intuitions, gut knowings, visions, etc. Our reason and evaluative functions sees changes we need to make in our habits, thoughts, home, psychic and physical environments. Yet, we stay where we are, doing the same thing; and we wonder why nothing is different! Like Lot, we may hear our inner “angels” directing us and still put off taking the needed step.

When we postpone or delay, we may find ourselves being pushed out of a situation or pulled into something new. Suddenly, we’re doing something we never thought we’d do. We may be in a relationship we’d never imagined for ourselves. We may be forced into new circumstances by another’s choice (our employer, our spouse, a friend, the driver in the lane beside us) or an unanticipated event (i.e., accident, illness, gifts, love). Such happenings take us to new territory in our inner and outer worlds. As “they (the angels) took (Lot) by the hand...and led him out...” , we too are led.

We have to be able to bear knowing the destruction we’ve left behind. Growth always involves death; something ends for the new to come. Where we are curious and look backwards, instead of forwards, like Lot’s wife, we are humbled...Salt is an alchemical symbol for the earth. To be earthed is to be humbled, to be grounded in the realities of being human. When we first see the hurt, confusion, disappointment, or angst in ourselves or others, we may feel immobilized. There is a rooting in the human condition of limitation and the reality that creation and destruction co-exist. No new is born unless the existing passes away.

Take a few minutes to notice where you are feeling led in your life. What are the angels of intuition, unanticipated circumstances, unbidden visitors of feelings and desires, etc. saying? Where are they pointing? What is the loss that is coming? Where are you being led to a new place of living? Notice where you feel humbled and grounded in the process. Set sacred intention to follow the leading of the Inner Divine Spirit as it comes.

* Analytical psychology talks about this as the individuation instinct. Jung states that our libido/life force has a direction it naturally flows unless blocked.

1 Samuel 3: 1-10, The Art of Hearing

2012-01-19T19:07:00.000-08:00

1 Samuel 3: 1-10, The Art of Hearing

v. 10, “The Lord came and stood there, and called, ‘Samuel, Samuel’, as before. Samuel answered, ‘Speak; thy servant hears thee.’”

How wonderful to be awake!
To hear, to feel, to know.
I listen for the nuances of Spirit.
She moves in the rhythms and paces of the day,
Flowing through my body,
She speaks to me in the cracks and crevices I am.
The broken places are the openings.
I step through them to find my Essence.

Today’s scripture offers a picture of psychic or soul growth as one is called forward to new responsibilities and new roles in relationships. While the story of Samuel is about people relationships, we can consider each character as an energy within our psyche/soul.

Samuel is the child-like self, open, curious, pure, intentional. He represents the new seed of the Self that is moving to consciousness. Eli is the known, conscious attitude; he is the self we identify with and call our ego. Eli’s sons are shadow (unconscious) aspects of ourselves; they show up as unbidden, rogue attitudes and feeling states that act in opposition to what our ego (Eli) says is right. Of course, the Lord manifests in the psychic structure of the Self--the totality of psyche that is the Divine Essence within us.

We all find ourselves, as Eli did with his sons, confronting energies that are acting of their own accord within us. These inner “sons” have always grown out of our attempts to live the fullness of who we are. Our ego mediates between the outer world and our inner world. It is the vehicle through which our larger Self/God Within expresses and lives in the physical, relational world. Sometimes, our attempts to be who we are, to grow in new ways, is misdirected by energies that are not connected consciously to our ego and/or Self. **

Eli’s sons did not listen to him. They continued their destructive ways. Symbolically, Eli represents our ego when it’s authority and scope of influence over self is no longer effective. We can all call to mind frustrated attempts to change a feeling state, a thought process, or a behavior pattern. No matter how much we talked to ourselves, or how hard we seemed to try, we found ourselves in the same place! When this happens, a new way and a new sense of self are needed. The old us (ego/sense of self) has to relinquish power for a new sense of self/ego to be established.

Fortunately, the Divine Within/the Self works on our behalf to grow our consciousness and to strengthen our sense of self. (The individuation instinct is the innate mechanism through which the Divine works to pull us forward in our development.) When we pay attention, and we build a conscious relationship to the unconscious, we begin to experience and know this firsthand. We then trust the process of letting go and opening to a new way of being, a new sense of self. This happened for Eli as he coached Samuel to listen to the Divine and to share with him (Eli) all that was said.

Where are you struggling with wayward “sons”--thoughts, feeling states, habits, behavior patterns--that are working against your stated desires and values? How have you given energy to these wittingly or unwittingly? Sit quietly, and listen for the voice of the Inner Divine. What is it saying? Where is the new potential in you? How is it wanting to express? Be courageous and open to the movement of the Divine in you. Set intention and follow through on needed changes. Welcome the larger sense of self that comes as the ego/self lets go of control and authority and aligns with the Self/God Within.

**Think of something you have done in an effort to help yourself, only to later learn it has caused harm. Coping mechanisms such as overeating, excessive drinking, compulsive spending are examples. Ideas, beliefs, habits, response patterns that have become rote and calcified, that no longer allow creative libido to flow and manifest, are examples. Reflexive psychic defenses such as rigidity, confusion, lack of focus are also examples as they are primitive responses to stressors that overwhelm the ego/self. As Eli with his sons, we (our ego’s) have no power to influence these wayward “sons”. Fortunately, the Self (the Lord God) works on our behalf in these moments.

Luke 2 and Matthew 2, New Birth

2012-01-19T19:06:00.000-08:00

Luke 2: 1-20
7, “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”

Matthew 2: 1-12
11, “Entering the house, they saw the child with mary his mother, and bowed o the ground in homage to him; then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts.”

A Christmas Poem

A New Dawn
Has Christ really been born?
In me? In you?

What will the new child look like?
What will he bring?
What will he ask?

I welcome the new life.
The new love, the new gifts,
The new Ways.

Help me, O God, to grow, to learn,
To let go of fear.
To know you in the new life!

An Epiphany Poem

A New Beginning
What next?
I honor the King Within.

To honor...
The cries, the yearnings, the longings...
That call me to move

To greater life, exploration, adventure, growth.
To take the steps as they’re shown
One by one.

To offer the gift of my presence
I follow and tend the new life within.
I listen; Where to next?

1 Corinthians 2: 14, Spiritual Discernment

2012-01-18T13:36:00.000-08:00

1 Corinthians 2: 14-3:15, Spiritual Discernment

14, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

Having eyes to see and ears to hear....Great spiritual masters remind us that
we must have abilities beyond the physical senses that allow us to discern spiritual truths. Our ego consciousness, by way of its limitation, can think we know all that is. We get trapped by our ego’s view or experiences. We dismiss what we don’t understand or literally see and touch. We have inner promptings and moments of clarity that we “reason away”. Every time we do this, we thwart the movement of the Divine Spirit Within.

The Self/God Within speaks to us through our body and through numinous experiences (i.e., “the still small voice of God”, the Voice of Silence). Our subtle body sensations and intuitions are the Spirit moving in us. We can have moments of knowing that are real even though not rationally explainable where we feel the Self’s presence and moving. These are often lost when other people pooh-pooh them,; or, we dismiss them because they are not in sync with our sense of what is.

Our desire to fit in, to belong with a group or community, predisposes us to give up our experience when it is different than others. We hold onto to collective established ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. We live and make choices according to what the outside world and authorities say is right. The collective consciousness becomes our guide. We ignore our larger consciousness, the Self/God Within, when we pay attention to and follow the outside world’s opinions. Whether these opinions come through our family, church, school, media, science, medicine, government, etc., they separate us from the Spirit of God when they do not support the “still, small voice of God Within.”

Developing and strengthening a conscious (known) line of communication between our sense of self/ego and the Self/God WIthin is how we begin to know and intentionally access our spiritual senses. We have to develop the muscle of discernment to know the Inner Divine Spirit from the adopted spirit of the world. In doing so, we have to withstand the input of others that call us foolish or that shame us. We have to risk trusting our self/Self over trusting others.

Where are you struggling to listen to the Inner Divine Spirit? What blocks you from hearing and acting on what you know from the still, small voice of God Within? Take a few minutes to center yourself by following your breath. Invite all the lost parts of you to take their rightful place within your body and mind. Feel the strength of your self in conscious connection to the Self/God WIthin. Let this inform you in how to move through the day.

Consciousness, in the esoteric spiritual tradition, extends beyond ego consciousness to include subconsciousness or body consciousness/felt knowing and transcendent/archetypal consciousness.*
*Analytical psychology refers to these aspects of consciousness as the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious.

1 Kings 5:2

2012-01-18T13:34:00.000-08:00

1 Kings 5:1-6:1, Facing Hostilities

2-4, “Solomon (said), ‘You know that my father David could not build a house in honor of the name of the Lord his God, because he was surrounded by armed nations until the Lord made them subject to him. But now on every side the Lord my God has given me peace...So I propose to build a house in honor of the name of the Lord my God...’”

How often our plans get sidetracked or usurped because of some hostile energy! A thought or emotion that cuts us, weighs us down, or blocks our joy grabs hold of us; we’re off in a direction that has nothing to do with what we want. The hostility can come at us from the outside world or our inner processes. People’s nasty comments or veiled jabs can set in motion an onslaught of destructive self-talk and emotion. Either way, we have to deal with the hostility before we can move forward with our relationship to self, other, project, desire, etc.

We often ignore conflicts and hostilities because they’re unpleasant and not what we want. We may feel helpless and think our only option is to “pull up” over them or pretend they don’t exist. We may respond reflexively in a way to “keep the peace”. The problem is that they keep showing up, uninvited, and at the worst possible times. They seem to accompany our forward movement either attempting to sabotage growth, or to steal the satisfaction and joy of living.

As I read today’s scripture, I think about “right work” and “right timing”. The author of Ecclesiastes (3:8) reminds us, “(there is)a time for war and a time for peace”. We must do the work that is the next step in our journey. David’s work was to deal with the armed nations around him and seek peace. Solomon’s work was to build the house of the Lord.

Growth involves cycles of creation, equilibrium, and destruction. The next step in the cycle may be dealing with armed and defensive energies in us. (We have to resolve the inner “wars” and hostilities in order to respond in healthy ways to other people’s hostilities.) Opposing desires, hostile feelings, negating thoughts, limiting beliefs, life destroying memories, etc. that block the flow of soul’s energy have to be faced. The destructive energy that is natural in the cycle of creation can be used to cut into the hostility and discern what is true and what is needed for peace.

As we consciously acknowledge all aspects of our psyche/soul--“the good, the bad, and the ugly”, the wanted and the unwanted, the accepted and the unsanctioned, the loving and the hateful--we can relate to each of the states with an intention for understanding and integration into our self. We do this by acknowledging, observing, listening and dialoguing with the energy. In this way, we create a line of communication between our ego and our larger psyche/Self, between our conscious and unconscious. Conscious relating invites the organic process of integration to occur. A third, a new state of feeling and thought and imaging, emerges; something in us shifts and we experience growth.

Take a few minutes to reflect on where you are experiencing hostility. What or who are the outer triggers? What are the inner processes--the attacking memories, thoughts, emotions? Ask the Inner Divine to give you strength and courage to face each one and to discern what’s needed. Be in ongoing relationship to each state (thought, feeling, sensation, etc.) until the uniting third emerges and you experience the free, life giving flow of your soul.

Genesis 32: 22-31, Grabbing Life

2011-08-14T06:16:00.000-07:00

26, “Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’ But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’”

I heard a sermon preached today about what a scoundrel Jacob was. Jacob had a way of going after and getting what he wanted even when it meant cheating and taking from another. The presenter stated that in Hebrew Jacob means “one who grabs; a usurper.” I immediately thought about Prometheus. In Greek Mythology, it was Prometheus who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humans. Both Jacob and Prometheus saw something they valued and wanted, and they grabbed it.

In today’s scripture, Jacob wanted the blessing of the angel with whom he wrestled. He was not willing to let go until he had it! Prior to this, he had wanted his brother’s birthright. When Esau wanted food Jacob had prepared, Jacob demanded the birthright in exchange for the meal. Esau readily agreed. What Esau saw as meaningless in the moment, Jacob grabbed! When their father was dying, Jacob craftily tricked him into passing the firstborn blessing to him.

Prometheus and Jacob went for the spirit (fire) that would carry and sustain them. They intentionally and consciously pursued what created more consciousness and life. With their actions, they valued what had energy and grabbed what carried the life force/libido. Esau did not. He sold his birthright for a meal! He did not hold onto what mattered--an inheritance that would sustain him and those closest to him.

Symbolically, fire is consciousness. The Divine Spirit is often depicted as tongues of fire. The creative life force pulsing through our bodies and souls can be described as “a fire that requires no wood”. It just burns! I believe this is what Jacob felt and sought as he grabbed for the blessings of his father and the angel.

Carl Jung has described consciousness as “contra naturem” (against nature). To have a self that has choice, that does not just respond automatically and reflexively from instincts or learned patterns of experience, requires effort. One has to work to build a relationship between what is known about oneself and what is not known, but felt and experienced. We have to want and seek something more than we have in our consciousness. Only when we value increased consciousness will our ego/self struggle to grab and hold onto the fiery energies of our heart and soul. We claim the blessing of “fire” that is our birthright as we wrestle with whatever comes to us.

Where are you wrestling within yourself? What are the sensations, feelings, thoughts, intuitions, perceptions, etc. that surround the struggle? Track what has the greatest fire or energy. Seek the blessing of consciousness that is present and let it give you the needed resources from within to create life sustaining relationships and environs.

Mark 8: 22-33, Seeing Clearly

2011-08-14T06:13:00.000-07:00

25, “Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened; his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.”

How we like to think what we see is all there is! We glance at something, we recall a picture of what something is like, we get a faint impression from a comment, we hear the words someone utters. Without conscious input, an image or idea about what’s happening comes to us. We react based on a picture of what we think is true. It may or may not be!

We all have times daily where we act or react based on what we think is real, only to find out later our truth is not the truth. The errant “vision” happens in all our relations--external ones with our spouse, family, friends, job, environment, etc. and internal relations with our thoughts, feelings, desires, sensations, “voices”, etc. We have to enter into a space of openness and receptivity to what “is” in order to see. Our preconceptions and filters--the “rose colored glasses” and the harsh tyrant, the sensations from past events, the internalized myths about who we are--have to be seen for the illusions they are. This usually requires more than one look.

In today’s scripture, Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes “once again”. The first time did not restore sight completely. The man needed a second touch. Is this not true of us? Yet, we get inpatient! We whine that no matter what we do or how hard we try, nothing changes. We quit looking to see what we do not yet know. We claim “insight” about ourselves, others, and the situation at hand; the insight has become one more idea that blocks us from seeing clearly. Insight is problematic when it is a head knowing that does not connect us to our embodied experience.

True consciousness is an energetic state that we feel in our bodies. It is often likened to electricity. It enlivens, it quickens, it awakens. It brings a vision--a seeing of what is that sets our mind and body in motion. Our seeing is often unconscious--not known to our ego. We act in ways that create and sustain situations in our lives---inner and outer--that are unpleasant, hurtful, stagnating, life destroying or that are pleasurable, nurturing, mobile, life giving. Our seeing clearly is the key to making choices and creating habit patterns (in our thoughts and actions) that allow us to relate to all there is in life giving ways.

Within our psyche/soul, there is an “image maker” that is constantly at work. It generates pictures that we experience in our inner world as body sensations, emotions, gut knowings. The image maker cloaks our soul’s energy with the dressings of our life experiences. The experiences often contradict the truth of our soul; yet, they prompt our thoughts and actions whether we are aware of them or not.

When we seek to know the larger truth of who we are, we open to the touch of the DivineWithin/the Self that allows us to see more clearly. The ego/self always has limited vision. It does not and cannot hold all there is about who we are or who others are. The Self/God Within can and does hold all the fragmented and disconnected pieces of our life’s experience--memories, feelings, emotions, thoughts, beliefs, sensations. Through consciously seeking and connecting to the Self, we invite the touch of the Inner Divine Spirit that allows are ego/self to grow and expand to integrate all of who we are and what we have experienced.

Reflect on the current state of your “vision”. Where are you feeling blurry or confused in making sense of something? Have there been recent experiences of being short-sighted or blind-sided? Where do you find yourself repeating patterns even when you want to do something differently? Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to help you see more fully and clearly what needs to be seen. Open to what is not yet known that will bring clear vision and all that comes from it.

Psalm 50, Tempest and Fire--The Divine's Emerging Presence

2011-07-26T17:48:00.000-07:00

Psalm 50, v. 3, “Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages.”

Years ago, I read an author who stated that every time we encounter God it is a crisis event. The psalmist seems to affirm this. He paints God’s emerging presence in our lives as a raging storm and a consuming fire. The peace and calm we desire usually comes secondary to the shake up and turmoil we feel when the Divine Presence makes itself known.

We all have times when we want something to be different in our lives. We aren’t happy, we feel restless, we long for our heart’s desire, we feel an urge to move and grow. Yet, we stay stuck. We go unconscious--we numb out, we deny reality, we pretend. In these moments, it sometimes takes a whirlwind, thunderstorm, or fire to wake us up.

The whirlwind, thunderstorm, or fire may show up in our inner world first, and then extend to the outer world of home, work, relationships, etc.. It may also begin with an unexpected event in the outer world that brings distress and upset. Our body sensations, feelings, thoughts, intuitions may whirl around uncontrollably. We may feel consumed/obsessed with an idea or a memory or a struggle. We may feel caught by an energy that we do not understand or know how to relate. In these moments, God Within/the Self* is demanding our attention and action.

We chose, consciously or by default, how we respond to the Self’s demand for our attention. We can feel punished by the Divine Essence and act like a victim. We can hold on to the old sense of self and way of living, and resist moving forward. Or, we can welcome the workings of God Within/the Self and look in the turmoil to see where and how the Divine is speaking. We can consciously go with the transformative fire/spirit and let go of the false self attitudes, behaviors, relationships, etc. to which we hold.

As we begin to identify with the Inner Divine Self, we have courage to withstand the storms and fires of change. We forget that growth means change; and, change means loss of the old to make room for the new. Death and destruction always precedes birth and creation. Old ways and structures must go for the new to emerge. Our soul is always seeking to live more fully and beautifully through our egos and in our lives. Nothing in natures stands still; we are either growing or dying. The Inner Divine propels us towards greater Self expression with “raging tempests” and “fire” when necessary.

Take a few minutes to reflect on where you feel the Divine’s emerging presence in your life. What are the “tempests” and “fires” you are experiencing? Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to help you see and know the seeds of your Divine Self in these experiences. Welcome the destruction of all the attitudes, emotions, and behaviors that are not true to your Divine Essence. Have courage to stand in the truth of who you really are.

*In Jungian psychology, the Self (with a capital “S”) is the psychic structure through which God manifests in our psyche/soul. The Self is the totality of our psyche/soul; the ego (or little “s” self) is our conscious sense of who we are. Building a conscious relationship between the ego and the Self is primary in Jungian psychology.

1 Corinthians 12:11, Acts2:4, Your Voice

2011-07-10T04:04:00.000-07:00

1 Corinthians 12:1, Acts 2:4, Your Voice

Acts 2: 1-21, v. 4, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

1 Corinthians 12: 4-13, v. 11, “All these (gifts, service, working) are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

How we doubt our inner voice and dismiss ourselves! Yet, it is the stirrings of the Inner Divine Spirit that speak to us in our innermost self. Our yearnings, desires, abilities, felt senses, and movements are conveyors of the Spirit Within/Self. They hold “our voice” which conveys the truth of who we are. It is our “tongue” that holds the spirit of our true selves. The Holy Spirit gives each of us the clarity and knowing of our own voice as we seek to discern what is us and what is “not us”.

The scriptures referenced above remind us that we are each given gifts, including our “tongue”--our way of speaking, our voice --by the Divine. The early Christians knew the power of the Voice of God Within. Their experience with Christ directly, or indirectly, ignited the strength and connection to the silent voice of God Within. They knew from their felt experience what was true for them. This gave them the ability to stand outside of the tradition and religious beliefs of the day.

The same knowing is available to us. We must claim the value of our inner process and the “language” of our heart and soul. We have to listen to what goes on inside us with an ear to discerning our heart’s truth and recognizing the internalized voices of others. As we do this, we begin to know our larger authentic core Self. We move from being identified with our roles and ego/self to feel our largess as an embodied Divine Spirit. We are so much bigger than any one thought, feeling, or action we have.

Our voice is often drowned out by the voices of those around us. The “others” can be authority figures such as parents, siblings, teachers, ministers, the latest “hot” self-help author, etc. The “others” can also be internalized voices repeating what people around us say or have said. We think “their” words are ours in spite of a niggling feeling that something is not right. Sometimes, we have forgotten who we are, what our felt experience is, and what our truth is. Other times, we hear the screaming voice of the Self/God Within, but we don’t listen. Either way, we bail on ourselves when we let others speak for us.

Take a few minutes to reflect on your conscious relationship to your Inner Divine Voice. What are you hearing? What are you resisting hearing? Are you listening to others over your Self? How and where is the Self/God Within leading you? Ask for clarity and strength to hear and follow your true voice--the voice of the Divine Within.

Part 2, Identifying Shame and Guilt

The shame and guilt of being different and separate from others (our parents, siblings, spouse, partner, co-workers, peer group, etc.) is part of what interferes with our hearing, believing, and trusting our Inner Divine Spirit. As we mediate these feelings (by connecting them to the whole of who we are), the feelings become bearable. We begin to know what/who we are, and what/who we are not. We feel the value of our self/ego related to our Self/God Within.

Where does shame and guilt stop you from hearing and valuing your inner voice? Where do you know and feel your value? Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to help you stay connected to your truth in the face of shame and guilt. Begin to claim and follow the voice of your heart and soul.

John 20: 22-23, Forgive Yourself

2011-06-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

John 20: 19-23, v. 22-23, “And (Jesus) breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

I invite you to think about today’s scripture as a movement within our individual psyches/souls. The literal context of the writing is Jesus speaking to his disciples. When we see the scripture as instruction from the Self/God Within to our self/ego, we see an important truth. When we receive and follow our Inner Divine Spirit, we forgive ourselves for whatever haunts us and we move on.

As we forgive ourselves--the adolescent or college kid who did stupid things, the failures, the betrayals to our own truth, our limitations, etc.--our energy shifts. It is cleared, cleaned. We are energized as the old/past loses its power. Feelings of shame and guilt that keep us paralyzed or going in circles release. We are freed to act with conscious choice and to begin thinking, feeling, and moving with our soul’s desires and beliefs. We realize that toxic shame and guilt serve no good purpose, and we begin to cultivate acceptance and forgiveness of our selves.

As we consciously meet the toxic shame and guilt within us, we can see the seed of Self (our total psyche) it holds. We find bits of our self (ego/personality) that hold life giving energy. Every feeling, thought, etc. within us has a seed of the Divine Self. Where shame and guilt paralyze and keep us stuck in old ways, the seed of the Divine Self has become distorted and fleshed out in a non-life giving ways. When we see and receive the Divine Spirit within the distortion (of guilt and shame), we connect to the energy/libido to be different--to live more of the reality of our psyche/soul. We can forgive.

The word “forgive” breaks into “for give”; it takes us to compassion. When we give in ways that support and sustain life, we act with compassion. Love, which manifests in the felt experience of attraction and magnetism, is inherent in compassion. The feelings of compassion and love always include a “leaning towards” or desire for life giving connection. Life giving connection comes about through the cycles of creation, equilibrium, and destruction (also known as birth, life, and death).

The energies of creation, equilibrium, and destruction are always at work in creating and sustaining life. Each has its place. Each can be used for life or against life. Forgiveness acknowledges that we sometimes (knowingly or unknowingly) sustain and build up when we need to let go and destroy; or, we tear down and tear apart when we need to build up. We hang onto relationships, jobs, habits, thought patterns, beliefs,etc. that destroy our soul’s expression. With words and actions, we tear down our selves, our inner processes, our feelings, experiences, people, places, or situations when building up is needed to sustain and create life.

Open to the power of forgiving yourself. As in the 12 Steps, “Make a searching and fearless moral inventory” in relationship to your self/Self. Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to make its presence felt to you, so you may consciously forgive yourself and open to aligning with the life giving cycle that includes creation/birth, equilibrium/life, and destruction/death. Affirm the power of the Divine Within to help you forgive yourself and live the life that is yours to live.

Ezekiel 11: 19, An Undivided Heart and a New Spirit

2011-06-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 11: 17-20, An UnDivided Heart and a New Spirit
v. 19, “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.”

The heart of flesh is a feeling heart. It has life; it quickens; it stirs. It is not passive, inert like stone. We are born with a heart of flesh that makes itself known in our desires, impulses, longings, images, dreams, and gut/body knowing. As we experience other’s disapproval or disdain, or we meet obstacles in acting from our heart, the heart of flesh can become a heart of stone. In this case, the stone represents a coldness and hardness to life.

Our life force becomes blocked, stagnant. It begins to rot in negative feelings, images, and thoughts. Our actions don’t flow from the truth of our nature. We give up following the path that we know is right for us; we end up confused. We go along with the people around us even when it feels wrong in our hearts and minds. We find ourselves half-hearted, not whole-hearted about who we are, our relationships, our day to day lives, because the totality of who we are is not present. We give up being clear-hearted, full-hearted, and strong-hearted out of fear of being rejected or abandoned. In the meantime, we are abandoning ourselves.

Carl Jung talked about an organic process called “The Transcendent Function”. The Transcendent Function provides a unifying, or uniting third when we can consciously hold the tension of opposites within us. The opposites may be as mundane as wanting to lose weight by passing up sweets and majorly craving your favorite dessert. Wherever we are in conflict about what we think, feel, or want to do, we can identify two opposing bits. When we can flesh out the opposing desires, see the bit of our self (ego/personality) and Self (totality of our psyche/soul) in each, the Divine Within (or Self) can activate the Transcendent Function and something in us shifts. It is as if we are given “an undivided heart” and a new spirit.

To move towards the undivided heart, we must be willing to feel, know, and relate to the split up pieces of our soul as they present in our feelings, moods, thoughts, images, fantasies, experiences, etc. Our culture has demonized aspects of the human experience (i.e., anger, sexual desire, allegiance to one’s soul over the outer collective); we have been taught to deny and pretend we don’t feel certain ways. This has resulted in division within our hearts and souls . To stay whole, we need to see and accept what we are experiencing internally; then, the split off bits of self can be reintegrated.

I often use the image of a pie shape. Disowned or denied slivers float around disconnected from the center; they are not held with the totality of the pie. Feelings, thoughts, images, etc. that are floating around, disconnected from the whole, have a lot more volatility, unpredictability, and power than those connected to the center. Every felt sensory experience has its rightful place. When we consciously relate to what goes on inside us, the conflicts have a chance to be healed by the Self/God Within. Our ego’s part is to stay with the tension and struggle of the opposites, with an eye towards understanding each fully and deeply. In this way, we invite the Transcendent Function.

Take a few minutes to reflect on the state of your heart. Where do you feel divided? Hold the image of being strong-hearted, full-hearted, clear-hearted, and whole-hearted. Be willing to look at and relate to whatever feelings, desires, images, and thoughts keep you from this unity. Invite the Inner Divine Spirit to help you flesh out what needs to be known, and to hold any seeming opposites. In this way, open to the unity of your psyche/soul.

Deuteronomy 8: 1-10, Carefully Observe

2011-05-30T07:20:00.000-07:00

Deuteronomy 8: 1-10, Carefully Observe

1, “You must carefully observe everything that I command you this day so that you may live and increase and may enter and occupy the land which the Lord promised to your forefathers upon oath.”

We live in a culture of “it’s not my fault; it’s “so and so’s” (you fill in the blank) fault.” The Judeo-Christian creation story highlights the prevalence of “passing the buck” even in Paradise. Adam declared, “Eve gave me the apple!”; meaning, “she made me do it.” Eve threw responsibility back to the snake. Like Adam and Eve, we may deny what we have done and refuse to accept responsibility for what our choices and actions have created.

We may resist seeing our selves--our thoughts, our emotional states, our actions, and the outcome these yield. We avoid feeling the discomfort of how our choices and actions, intended and unintended/conscious or unconscious, shape us, our relationships, and our environments (home, office, social groups, churches, nature, etc.) Unfortunately, not seeing insures we will continue to recreate the same states of consciousness within ourselves and the same types of relationships with other people and our environments.

Today’s scripture instructs us to “carefully observe everything” that God has set in motion. Our ego/self often wants to impose its ideas of how things work without first observing the way things are working. There are natural/spiritual laws or principles that govern and create. This is true of our personalities and bodies as well as nature and the environment. The key to changing anything, whether it’s an internal thought process or feeling state, or an external relationship exchange or environmental situation, is starting with what is.

Sometimes, people say, “but I already know what’s happening, and nothing is changing”. We may feel victimized or stuck. We can drop into the paralysis of shame, hopelessness, and despair. We can rage at the injustice we feel and displace the “not yet owned” guilt of knowing we have a part. God often gets blamed in the process. Psychologically, we blame our unconscious or the Self/God Within.

Yet, the holy writing quoted above states that the Divine has made an oath to bring us into greater life. It is up to us to carefully observe how we work, how others work, how nature works, etc. with an eye to what we need to see that our choices and actions may work within the natural/spiritual laws to move us towards greater life. (I believe greater life means an expanding consciousness that allows our lives to be in a perpetual state of improvement.)

I invite you to begin observing more carefully and attentively the processes at work within and around you. When you find yourself blaming another, or denying responsibility for any area or situation in your life, be courageous and look to see your part. Identify the sensations, emotions, accompanying images and memories, etc. that set in motion the affect and behaviors in which you engage. Let this information empower you to make different choices and create different outcomes for yourself.

Luke 7: 18-35, Our Trailblazer

2011-05-21T06:25:00.000-07:00

Luke 7: 18-35, Our Trailblazer

Luke 7: 18-35, v. 27, “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.”

We forget that we are not alone in the movement of our lives. Day in, and day out demands can burden us; we may feel overwhelmed, lethargic, confused. Our ego acts as if we are the source of all answers, plans, and resources. We get identified with feeling competent or incompetent based on the view of the consciousness we have in a single moment. Then, we wonder why we’re stuck. We are so much more than any one feeling, thought, or action!

Jesus answered the disciples of John the Baptist that John was the messenger who had been sent to prepare the way for the Christ. Jesus was not alone in making his way in the world. John the Baptist blazed a trail for him. I am comforted to think of the meaning of this within our psyche/soul.

We too have an energy in us that prepares the way for our soul to come into our feelings, thoughts, moods, images, sensations, etc. A part of us knows when God Within/the Self is coming to us in new ways. New thoughts, new visions, changing emotions, different body sensations. The ego, or our conscious self, is often unsure, maybe even scared and confused when the Inner Divine Spirit prompts us into new ways of being. We can go with the flow of the Divine Within, or we can block it and hold onto our hold ways.

If we choose to go with the prompting and presence of the Self/God Within, the way has already been prepared within our psyche/souls. The ego does not have to figure this out. Our conscious self only has to use its gifts to act in alignment with the new consciousness. We can use our thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition in service of our larger Self; or we can align with the fear and unknowing symbolized by the Pharisees in today’s story.

Take a few moments to reflect on where you are experiencing the coming of the Divine Within to greater expression in your bodymind and life. Where do you feel something new happening? What is changing without your bidding? What do you see being prepared for you? Affirm in whatever way is right for you that “the movement towards wholeness and health is instinctively guided.” The energy of John the Baptist is always at work in our psyches. It is our gift to see and know the presence of the Self/God Within in our ego and personality expressions.

John 13:27, Right Sacrifice

2011-05-01T08:07:00.001-07:00

John 13: 21-32, Right Sacrifice

v. 27, “As soon as Judas had received it, Satan entered him. Jesus said to him, ‘Do quickly what you have to do.’”

What do we mean by right sacrifice? The whole idea of giving something up, of consciously choosing to let go of or destroy a relationship, a habit, a schedule, a way of thinking, etc. evokes fear of doing something wrong. The energy of destruction is tied to the concept of evil and Satan in our culture. Yet, Jesus gave instruction to one of his disciples that led to his bodily death. Perhaps, this is the key to understanding right sacrifice. It was Jesus’ bodily death, not the death of his essence or being that was necessary. Jesus called upon a helper, Judas, to set this into motion.

The practice of right sacrifice is central to transformation. “Right sacrifice” refers to letting go, giving up, or “killing off” whatever keeps us from living the truth of our soul. Right sacrifice is aligned sacrifice; it means destroying whatever keeps us from living according to our Inner Divine Spirit. “Sacrificing the good for the better, and the better for the best” is one way of thinking about right sacrifice. Clearly, Jesus’ physical presence was good for all around him. Yet, there was a “better”---the coming of the Holy Spirit that brought Jesus’ presence for all of humanity all the time. Perhaps, the “best” is the personal knowing that comes when one cultivates a conscious relationship to the Spirit within.

As we cultivate a conscious relationship to the Spirit Within, we must sacrifice—give up, let go of, change—the beliefs, attitudes, actions, ways of being that are not true to who we are. Carl Jung stated that there is a direction or gradient in which our soul will flow if allowed. We all can find ourselves in habit patterns, belief systems, attitudes and moods, relationships, and ways of living that stifle, squash, or deaden our spirit. We end up feeling depressed, lethargic, or apathetic; at worse, we may “wish we weren’t here” or “wish we were dead”. These feelings are a messenger signaling the need for change; change that includes right sacrifice. Sacrifice that aligns our ego/personality with the larger truth of our Inner Divine Spirit involves a falling away of one way of being and living, so that another comes.

Jesus voluntarily and consciously gave up his form—his physical body. He knew that his Inner Divine Spirit would take another form; and it did. What are the forms—beliefs, attitudes, habits, automatic responses, moods, projects, relationships, work patterns, etc.-- you need to give up? Pay attention to where you are feeling dead and ask the Inner Divine Spirit to show you the needed sacrifice for new life/a new form to come. Be courageous and enlist the inner resources—feelings, desires, heart’s knowing—to set these in motion.

Deuteronomy 6: 10-15, Following the Self/God Within

2011-03-15T05:41:00.000-07:00

Deuteronomy 6: 10-15, Following the Self/God Within

Vs. 13-14, “The Lord your God you shall fear; him you shall serve, and by his name alone you shall swear. Do not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who are all around you.”

Sacred scriptures instruct us in the principles and laws that are at work in our bodyminds and in the outer world. The esoteric tradition teaches, “As above, so below; as within, so without.” The patterns of regulation that effect and create our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors are the same as those which govern the movement of the earth. For example, the law of gravitation is a physical manifestation of the law of love/ardor. Love/ardor is a force that moves us towards someone or something with great zeal or passion. When one loves, it is like a gravitational pull that brings things closer together. Gravity is love in the physical world.

Today’s scripture teaches that we are to follow and give allegiance only to “The Lord your God”. In the historical context of the story, the Israelites were being reminded of the necessity to stay loyal to and serve only Yahweh. Yahweh was/is One, the Divine that holds all and has the power to unite all. From the symbolic perspective of Jungian psychology, “the Lord your God” is the “Self”.

The Self is the totality of psyche (soul), and the organizing principle of psyche. Jung defined the Self as “a part of God that God put in us so that we will know there is a God.” When we realize that our ego, and “little s” self, is but a fragment of the totality we are, we rightfully fear the forces that show up as moods, affects, judgments, attitudes, etc. We can meet these with a healthy fear of respect and awe; or, we can meet these with the instinctive fear response of fight or flight. The latter usually shows up in judgmental, damming attitudes and numbing, self-destructive behaviors. The former shows up in the desire to understand oneself, to learn about oneself, and to make choices according to the truth of one’s soul.

The path of individuation (also known as salvation or enlightenment) means the ego/self follows the guidance and direction of the Self/God Within. Learning to distinguish the voice of the Self from “the gods of the peoples who are all around us” is a part of the process. There are always people, institutions, media, etc. that tell us what to value, how to believe/think, what to feel, and how to live. These “gods” can crowd out and cover up the perceptions, desires, and knowings that begin in our heart (and show up in our gut). By paying attention how our psychic energy is moving in these ways, we can begin to know the voice of the Self/God Within.

Take a few moments to follow your breath into your body/mind. Notice the feelings, emotions, thoughts, images, desires that are present. Breathe deeper into your belly and invite the feelings and images that originate from the Self/God Within to show themselves to you. Set sacred intention to follow the energy and guidance of the Inner Divine Spirit.

Matthew 24: 36-44, Be Ready

2010-11-19T11:55:00.000-08:00

Matthew 24: 36-44, Be Ready

v. 44, “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”

Life is full of the unexpected! In our day to day experiences, unexpected feelings, emotions, thoughts, and body sensations often show up; they can stir us in unanticipated ways and directions. When we seek to be aware and to consciously live in our body/mind, we pay attention to and value our inner experiences. We realize that our affects and body sensations are messengers through which the Self/God Within makes itself known to our ego.

Theologically, the scripture stated above is usually interpreted to refer to Jesus the Christ’s return to the earthly dimension. From the perspective of Jungian psychology, the Son of Man connects us to the essence of the Divine (aka The Self) within us. Carl Jung stated that each individual psyche (soul) has a gradient (or direction) in which the libido/life force flows. Whatever blocks our ability and readiness to receive, integrate, act on and embody the promptings of our Inner Divine Spirit has to be made conscious and cleared. Perhaps, this is what it means to “be ready, for the Son of Man is coming.”

The work of consciousness, also known as enlightenment or salvation, always involves clearing the beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and conditioning, etc. that block the natural movement of the Self/God Within into our ways of experiencing and living. Pain alerts us to these blocks. We may experience pain physically in the body, emotionally in our feelings and relationship connections, mentally in life negating thoughts and images, or spiritually in passive or inert moods or energy states.

Our culture places a premium on avoiding pain at all costs. Pain of all kinds and planes is quickly medicated, numbed, or denied. Prescription drugs, mood altering substances, overeating, obsessions (with people, sex, work, hobbies, etc.), tv or internet preoccupations, and addictive behaviors are just a handful of the destructive coping tactics that numb the messenger pain of the Self/God Within. Blaming God or other people is another response that colludes with what blocks our soul’s energy.

Take a few minutes to reflect on your readiness to move when the Inner Divine Spirit prompts. Where are you feeling the wake up messengers of Spirit in excitement and expansion or in pain and constriction? What are the unprocessed emotions and feelings that create the constriction? What will support your living more fully the truth of who you are as a ray of the Divine? Set a sacred intention to “be ready” for the movement of Spirit in and through you.

Luke 18: 9-14, Humble

2010-11-17T15:44:00.000-08:00

Luke 18: 9-14, Humble

Luke 18: 13-14, “The tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other (the Pharisee); for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

What does it mean to be humbled? Humility is a quality of humanness; it speaks of being of the earth, being grounded, living in the limitation of the body/mind. Psychologically, the ego (conscious sense of self) does not like the idea of limitation. The psychic truth is that the ego is small in comparison to the larger Self (the totality of our psyche/soul that includes both conscious and unconscious aspects of our nature). Living with this truth consciously requires a humbling of the ego/self.

The experience of being humbled is different than that of being humiliated. To be humiliated evokes feelings of shame. Shame triggers feelings that one is “bad”, flawed, and deficient, unworthy; it paralyzes us. It prevents us from moving internally; we lose access to the ability to make sense of our inner experience with the outer world. Shame keeps the ego (conscious self) from knowing one’s self or Self/God Within. Humility allows one to know one’s self and the Self while accepting and integrating the limitations of humanness.

In today’s scripture, the tax-collector who felt his limitation, his smallness, in relationship to God is the one who is “exalted”. The Pharisee, who declared himself superior to others, was not. Here is an important symbolic message to our ego. The ego who recognizes and feels the necessity of the Self/God Within receives the energetic gifts of the Self. The ego that denies its limitations, and its need of the larger psyche, is not strengthened by the Self.

So much of who we are is unknown. The unconscious psyche is the residence of the Inner Divine Spirit; unconscious means unknown. When we can follow the tax collector’s example, and acknowledge our limitations--how we miss the mark of embodying our larger Self-- we forge a relationship to the Inner Divine that lifts us up. It energizes and strengthens our sense of self and resourcefulness for living in the world. Our experience of who we are becomes more real, more whole. We are able to consciously bear and relate to aspects of ourselves that have previously shamed us into non-existence.

Where do you shame yourself? Where do you act as if you are superior? Where are the places you feel humbled—a sense of your humanness with all its resourcefulness and its limitation? Call on the Inner Divine Spirit to strengthen and sustain you as you acknowledge and accept the realities of your ego consciousness. Open to receive the energies of the Self/God Within that heal shame and arrogance, and allow you to accept your humanness with humility.

2 TImothy 1: 1-14, A Spirit of Power

2010-10-05T05:18:00.000-07:00

2 Timothy 1: 1-14, A Spirit of Power

v. 7, “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.”

Today’s scripture gives us criteria by which to discern the Inner Divine Spirit. It is a “spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline”. It is not the fearful, demeaning, aimless or lifeless energies we may experience in our body/minds. The Inner Divine Spirit may be expressing in the latter forms as the essence has been misshaped into life deadening ways; but God Within is power, love, and self-discipline.

The words power, love, and self-discipline may have negative associations for us. It is important to look at these and see if they have to do with the power, love, and self-discipline of the Self/God Within or the power, love, and discipline we have learned from outside sources and experiences. Here are some thoughts on the life giving aspects of the Inner Divine Spirit’s power. (Thoughts on the love and self-discipline of the Divine Within will follow over the next few days.)

Power is defined by Webster’s Dictionary first as “possession of control, authority or influence over others”. It is the Self or God Within that has possession of control, authority, and influence over our psyche/soul. Who we are, how we express ourselves, and what we do are the result of the interplay between our Spirit and what we have internalized vis a vis our earthly experiences. The latter often set in motion ways of being with ourselves and others that deaden our Spirit.

When our sense of self (and the world) is limited to what we think, feel and know about ourselves from past experiences, we tend to dismiss or ignore other expressions of our Inner Divine Spirit. When something goes awry, we may blame an external source (God or other person), instead of looking to see how and where our Spirit may be caught and inaccessible to us in the moment. By consciously re-connecting to the Inner Divine in these places, we move towards wholeness. Walt Whitman coined the phrase, “the power of presence”. As previously split off or repressed aspects of the Self are claimed by the ego/self, we begin to feel the power of the fullness of our psyche/soul.

Esoteric astrology offers one system of naming and considering the full resourcefulness and power of our psyche/soul. Some people get overly identified with the sign of the zodiac under which they were born. Esoteric astrology and spirituality teaches that we all contain all the signs. The sign under which we are born is the first activated template due to the inhalation of air at the moment the sun is in that sign. The truth is, we all have all the traits, tendencies, qualities, etc. When we realize this, we can choose to begin accessing and cultivating the connection to the needed resource that is within us, even if it lies dormant. In doing so, we move with the full power of our psyche/soul.

Take a few minutes to reflect on your “power of presence”. Where do you feel full of your soul? Where do you feel shut down, deadened? How do you relate to unanticipated (unbidden) feelings and emotions that carry your Inner Divine Spirit? Ask the Self for discernment and courage to know the power of your fullness and wholeness.

Matthew 8: 8-17, The Power of Word

2010-09-26T05:28:00.000-07:00

Matthew 8: 8-17, The Power of Word

v. 8, 16b, “The centurion said (to Jesus), ‘You need only say the word and the boy will be cured...and he drove the spirits out with a word and healed all who were sick.”

The Western Mystery Tradition teaches that “our words embody consciousness that shapes electro-magnetic forces into form.” The electro-magnetic forces are expressions of the libido or life force (also known as chi) that flows through our bodyminds.* The chi is akin to electricity; it is invisible to the unaided eye. We see only its effects.

Many sayings and teachings exist about words. Some support the power of words to change things; others dismiss them. The practice of daily affirmations or reading sacred scriptures teaches the value of word to impact consciousness, thus embodied life. The childhood taunt, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” devalues words.

Perhaps, the impact of words is tied to the energetic substance or life force that they hold. We have all voiced words that are hollow; they lack connection to our desire, intention, and feeling. We have also been on the receiving end of such words; they do not manifest in action. We are left hanging and waiting for follow through. The principle of “being a (wo)man of your word” implies there is something substantial or alive in the words. A person can be counted on to do what they say and live what they speak; because, their words are expressions of their life force.

Today’s scripture notes the power of the man Jesus to use word to heal others. When we reflect on Jesus as a symbol of the Christos/God Within, he shows us the power of the Self/God Within ourselves.** Words shape our life force by naming and linking the energies to emotions and affects that drive our expressions in thoughts, feelings, and actions. For instance, if the emotions of shame or guilt are linked to the body sensation and expression of need or longing, we learn to ignore or deny our need. It becomes split off and we lose access to our energy or life force. If our expressed need or longing is met, we feel affirmed in our self/Self; we learn to move with autonomy/separateness and initiative.

The Self/God Within has the power to heal, to make whole. With our ego, we can struggle and find the words that contain the truth of our inner experience. We can see the essence of the Self that is held in the sensation or intuition that gives rise to the thoughts and feelings. We can choose to relate to the energy in a way that integrates it into the whole of who we are. Some examples of looking for the energetic essence of words follow. When we hear ourselves using profanity, we may find an underlying, unconscious anger that needs to be resolved. When we go into the “poor me’s”, we may find a feeling of put upon that is alerting us to make stronger boundaries for ourselves. The words take us to energy within that needs to be made conscious, related to by our ego/self.

I invite you to set intention to be more aware of your words. Begin to observe the inner speak that goes on constantly. Note what comes out of your mouth that is congruent as well as incongruent with the ego’s momentary sense of who you are. Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to help you see the nuances of your life force held in words. Cultivate the ability to use your words in a way that heals—that makes you whole.

*The term bodymind refers to the totality of our embodiment as a human. Carl Jung once wrote that the body and mind are different densities of the same energy.
** The Self/God Within is the organizing principle of our psyche/soul; it is the psychic structure through which the libido/life force flows into our bodyminds

Luke 14: 1, 7-14,Ask the Poor, the Crippled, the Lame, and the Blind

2010-09-14T04:08:00.000-07:00

Luke 14: 1, 7-14, Ask the Poor, the Crippled, the Lame, the Blind

vs. 13-14, “But when you give a party, ask the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind; and so find happiness. For they have no means of repaying you; but you will be repaid on the day when good men rise from the dead.”

The word party brings to mind a festive social gathering or a group of people coming together for a common cause. We usually think of a party as including people we like, and people who are similar to us. We gravitate towards people where there is an easy fit and compatibility. We tend to operate the same way internally. We want to know and relate to those parts of ourselves that agree and fit easily with our sense of we are.

What about those aspects of the self/Self that disagree with or oppose the ego ideal? Often, the states of consciousness we experience as poor, crippled, lame, or blind are ignored, denied, or repressed. We might think of the “poor” as those places where we feel depressed, empty, lacking the wherewithal to do what we desire. The “crippled” is an apt image of the distorted patterns that form in our psyche as a result of life experiences. They show up when we react in the present moment as if we are reliving a situation from the past. The “lame” symbolizes our inertia, the inability to move or act that is often masked in passivity or indifference. The “blind” refers to places we know something in our body/mind, but we can’t get the words or consciousness to see clearly what’s happening.

Instead of being invited to consciousness, the energies we label poor, crippled, lame, or blind often stay disconnected from the ego/self. They remain unmediated, not tempered or balanced by the whole of one’s being. Whatever remains unconscious has more power as it operates independently of the whole of who we are.

We have all experienced the intensity of a feeling (i.e., anger, attraction, irritation) that seems to come from nowhere. We have also encountered people who blatantly denied having certain feeling states (like judgment or hatred) even though we were sensing them in their presence. We disavow these feelings because they seemingly have nothing of value to offer us, “no means of repaying us”. When we do not invite and relate the poor, crippled, lame, and blind parts of our psyche to consciousness, their energies act of they own volition. Our ego has no say so in when and how they appear.

Every state of consciousness in our psyche/soul is an aspect of the Self/God Within that offers us information and needed libido/life force. The scripture reminds us of the mystery of transformation with the statement, “You will be repaid on the day when good men rise from the dead.” When we engage consciously and intentionally with seemingly worthless aspects of our selves/Selves, the libido/life force that has been stuck is freed to find a life creating and sustaining expression. We can ask, “What is the message you have for me? What are trying to show me?” (For instance, our anger may become fuel for a desired change. Our attraction may lead to a new relationship or venture. Irritation may prompt us to be more honest with ourselves and others.)

Take a few minutes to reflect on the aspects of your self/Self that have been showing up over the past few days. Where are the energies that you may have dismissed as poor, crippled, lame, or blind? Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to help you know what each is saying to you. Be open to the mystery of transformation that will establish the needed flow of your Spirit.

Luke 16: 1-13, Valuing Our Wealth

2010-09-12T05:34:00.000-07:00

Luke 16: 1-13, Valuing Our Inner Riches

v. 10-11, “The man who can be trusted in little things can be trusted also in great; and the man who is dishonest in little things is dishonest also in great things. If then, you have not proved trustworthy with the wealth of this world, who will trust you with the wealth that is real?” (NIV)
“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust you with the true riches?” (NRSV)

How do you use your consciousness?** The stated scripture passage tells the story of a rich man who fired his manager for “squandering his property” (v. 1) We can think of the rich man as a symbol of the Self/God Within, and the manager as a symbol of the ego/conscious sense of self. Our ego does manage the resources of our psyche/soul as it makes choices of thought which become action.

Sometimes, the ego’s thought dismisses valuable pieces of the psyche/soul. Fleeting images, perceptions, sensations, intuitions, or felt experiences may be ignored or denied if they seem to conflict with the ego’s position or view. When the ego thinks that it’s thought is all there is of value, it squanders the riches of the Self as it ignores or demeans them. Think about what of your own inner riches you have overlooked or dismissed or demeaned already today. What are the feelings and inner experiences that got glossed over, denied, or rationalized away?

The scripture reminds us that how we respond to little things is how we respond to big things; and true riches are entrusted only to those who do well with the “wealth of this world” or “dishonest wealth”. As a symbol, the “wealth of this world” is the knowledge and intelligence of the body. The body operates at the level of sub-conscious or unconscious knowing. It is instinctive, reflexive, and automatic. It sends us information unbidden; sensations, stirrings, desires, longings, hunches, emotions, and passions appear of their own volition. For this reason, the wealth of the body/mind has been viewed negatively.

We need to respond to the information from our body/mind in a way that is honest and faithful to our true nature and larger self/Self. Whatever sensations, emotions, or feelings arise, they are expressions of and information from the embodied psyche/soul. With consciousness, our ego can ask and look to see what is coming into manifestation from the larger Self. We are faithful and trustworthy when we consciously relate to and integrate this wealth.

Take a few minutes to reflect on your conscious, ego attitude towards your larger self/Self. How are you trustworthy and honest with yourself? Where are you dishonest with yourself? What is the truth of how you manage the wealth of you body/mind? Where do you treasure and cultivate aspects of the Self? Where, when, and with who do you dismiss your inner riches? Set sacred intention to be more trustworthy and honest in dealing with your self/Self.

** From the perspective of analytical psychology, consciousness refers to the sense of self or ego one has. When something is conscious or known in the body and mind, it is connected to ego which has self-awareness. The Qabalistic tradition considers consciousness to be synonymous with life itself. It views consciousness as the life force that manifests in self-consciousness, sub-consciousness, and supra-consciousness. In Jungian thought, these equate to ego, personal unconscious, and the Self.

John 7: 37-52, Living Waters Within

2010-08-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

John 7: 37-52, Living Waters Within

Vs. 37b-38, “Jesus stood and cried aloud, ‘if anyone is thirsty let him come to me; whoever believes in me, let him drink.’ As Scripture says, ‘Streams of living water shall flow out from within him.’ He was speaking of the Spirit…”

How often we look outside ourselves for something to satisfy our thirst. It is right to reach for literal water to satisfy our physical thirst. Yet, our emotional, mental, and spiritual thirsts require “water” that is not physical in nature. On the spiritual plane, the water that is needed is the Spirit—the Inner Divine that flows through us and sustains us. Imagine and feel the beauty of the image of “Streams of living water flow(ing) out from within (you).” The streams are the flow of Spirit coming through your connection to Self/God Within.

From an archetypal perspective (meaning as a universal template or blueprint), Jesus the Christ is the point of connection within psyche to the Divine Essence. The image of Jesus standing and crying aloud symbolizes the Self/God Within that is always present, calling our ego/self to stay connected and “drink”. The “drink” that we receive is the Spirit that is our libido/life force.

Our impulses, affects, desires, sensations, longings, etc. carry the streams of living water that Spirit pours into our body and mind. The sensations, intuitions, feelings, desires, or thoughts that flow from Spirit may be felt as threatening to our self/ego and current way of being. The instinctive, reflexive nature may activate a fight or flight response; body and mind may block the free flow of libido/Spirit with forgetfulness, confusion, numbness, apathy, or rigid patterns of muscular tension. Our ego/self may deny, dismiss, and rationalize away the promptings of the Inner Divine Spirit. We may cling to learned reasons and past experiences that negate or demonize the promptings of Spirit. We remain stagnate, dry and parched, even though the living waters are within.

We, with our ego/self, can consciously choose to receive and ingest, to relate to and integrate, and to act in sync with our libido/life force. When we are thirsty—feeling parched and dry in the realm of feelings, thoughts, or desires, we know Spirit as we are enlivened, energized from a deep, still place within. We have a standing invitation from the Self/God Within to drink as Spirit is always present in the various manifestations (sensations, intuitions, thoughts, feelings, etc.) of our libido/life force.

I invite you to meditate on the image of the Self/God Within calling you to move with your life force. Feel into the stream of living water within you. What are the trickles of excitement, anticipation, eagerness, interest, etc? Set intention to be open to the Inner Divine Spirit that satisfies your thirst for life. Be courageous and leave the ways you walk “the procession of the living dead”; and step into the streams of living water of your Spirit.

Job 7: 1-21, "Not Holding Your Peace"

2010-08-26T04:58:00.001-07:00

Job 7: 1-21, "Not Holding Your Peace"

v. 11, “But I will not hold my peace; I will speak out in the distress of my mind, and complain in the bitterness of my soul.”

Where do you give up, resign yourself to what is even though you feel distress and bitterness of mind and soul? Where do you sink into a passivity, inertia and feel put upon by others, including God? As Job was having more than his fair share of bad things happen to him, he chose to not passively suffer. He disavowed the role of compliant martyr or “accepting his lot in life”, and made a choice to “not hold (his) peace”. He gave voice to his feelings and thoughts; he spoke out to himself, his friends, and to God.

The book of Job has created much confusion for people. Why would God give over a loyal servant to be tested through suffering and loss? Whatever the answer, I believe that Job’s choice to speak out and talk with God is an important example for us. We are gifted with the capacity for consciousness; and consciousness brings the capacity for dialogue in relationship. Job reminds us to use and strengthen our consciousness.

From the perspective of Jungian psychology, we can view the interaction between Job and God as representative of interaction between our ego/self and the Self/God Within. Our ego/self is our conscious sense of who we are; the Self/God Within is the whole of who we are. The Self, in its totality, holds our soul in all its expressions—instinctive, reflexive, learned, and innate potentialities, etc. We are always more than the momentary self we know in one experience or set of circumstances.

Job seemed to know that the distress of mind and bitterness of soul he was feeling was not all there was for him. He was not willing to act as if it was. He gave voice to his feeling and called out for something more life sustaining. We have the same option. We, with our ego/self, can verbalize and dialogue with our larger Self wherever we are. With consciousness, we can courageously see our distress and bitterness, and name it. In doing this, we begin to see the truth of where we are. We can open to the reality of the larger Self and call forth the desired and needed life giving energies that can move us out of distress and bitterness to peace and joy.

I invite you to take a few minutes to name and give voice (verbally and/or on paper) to any “distress of (your) mind….or bitterness of (your) soul”. Where are the negatives that block your libido (life force) from flowing freely? Where have you knowingly or unknowingly become complacent and accepted inertia as your norm? Invite the courage of your soul to help you “not hold (your) peace” in these places. Call on the Inner Divine Spirit to come to you in your thoughts, feelings, intuitions, and sensations. Be willing to move into a life giving and life sustaining place (inner and outer).

Galations 4: 4-7, Freedom from Slavery

2010-08-16T05:59:00.000-07:00

Galations 4: 4-7, Freedom from Slavery
v. 7, “You are therefore no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then also by God’s own act an heir.”

The words “no longer a slave but a son” evoke feelings of freedom, elevation, and elation. The slave has lost control of himself and is dominated by another. The other may be a person or thing (such as a mood altering substance, an obsessive thought, or one’s character structure). A son and an heir have the resources of the parent at his disposal. S/He has the capacity to direct and control her/himself. What a move! Psychologically, what does it mean that we are sons and heirs of God?

From the perspective of Jungian Psychology and the Western Mystery Tradition of Qabalah, it is the ego/personality that moves from being a slave to unconscious (or unknown) affects, impulses, and reflexive patterns to living in conscious relationship to the unconscious and the Self/God Within. When we are a slave to the impulses and emotions that arise in us, we have lost connection to the freedom and power of choice. With consciousness, we have the needed access to our inner resources to be in charge of ourselves, to choose how to respond and what to do (or say).

Consciousness is more than self-awareness or insight. It is an embodied state of energy that changes our sense of self and relationship to self and Self. Awareness or insight is connected to images (including thoughts) that stir sensations and feelings that lead to a different experience in our body and mind. When consciousness comes, we feel as if we have been freed from the domination of something other than ourselves.

Responsibility is a by-product of consciousness. Sons and heirs have access to resources, and they have the freedom to decide how to utilize them. We all make choices every day about how to use our inner resources—the resources of thought, feeling, sensation, intuition and their various manifestations. In our “slave” mentality, we make choices unconsciously and unwittingly, and we often serve the desires and wants of others (individuals and institutions). We stay stuck in ruts, do things out of (lifeless) habits, and continue with the status quo. When we experience the freedom of being “God’s son and heir”, which comes from living in conscious relationship to the Self, we knowingly create with our responses. We meet our inner and outer experiences with the knowledge of our self/ego related to the Self/God Within.

I invite you to consider where you feel enslaved. What are the variables (thoughts, images, fantasies, beliefs, past experiences, fears, etc.) at work in the situation? Center yourself by focusing on your breath and ask the Inner Divine Spirit to give you consciousness about the situation. Open to receive a felt experience of your inner strength and resources that will allow you to act as the heir of the Self/God Within.

Luken 12: 49-56, Necessary Division

2010-08-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

Luke 12: 49-56, Necessary Division

v. 51, “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”

How many relationships do you know that are troublesome because of people being one and the same? Usually, problems arise from differing opinions or desires. Relationships with our self and others suffer where we are unable to stay connected in spite of differences and separation. The ideal of unity to which we aspire creates problems when it leads to a denial of differing realities. Internal conflicts between feelings, desires, and thoughts can be dismissed; or we can ignore external issues with another.

Jesus is recorded as having said, “I (came to bring) division”. When we consider this statement in the context of analytical psychology, it reminds us that the nature of the Self/God Within is to split itself into various manifestations (i.e., thoughts, feelings, impulses, longings, sensations, etc.)* We suffer when we are unable to acknowledge, relate to, and connect contradictory or opposing energies within our psyche. Division connects to the idea of discernment—separating to see more deeply and fully. The wisdom of discernment comes from the Self/God Within.

We tend to ignore the longings, emotions, feelings, and fleeting thoughts that do not fit the ego ideal of who we are. We shy away from knowing the conflict between the adaptive/learned self and the larger whole of who we are. The labeling of certain emotions and thoughts as sinful, bad, shaming, sick, or pathological has reinforced our conscious avoidance of various expressions of our psyche/soul.

Unfortunately, what is avoided tends to become more powerful. It expresses in more extreme ways as it is not tempered through connection to our whole self. For instance, anger that is split from the self may yield unproductive ranting and raging, or acts of violence; whereas, the same anger when integrated can fuel desired changes.

In order to live authentically and congruently, we need to see, clarify, differentiate, and then integrate the various aspects of our nature. The division is a necessary step in order for the energies to find their rightful conscious expression. Think about how many times you have found yourself saying one thing, but doing another. You want to change something you feel, say, or do; yet, you repeat the old patterns. Something remains unseen, or undifferentiated. When you see, feel, know, and live in relationship to the underlying (unconscious) feelings and thoughts, your psyche/soul begins to integrate them. Life giving or life promoting states of consciousness emerge. In this way, conflicting energies are tempered or balanced.

Take a few minutes to acknowledge the inner conflicts you have been ignoring or avoiding. Where is your learned/adaptive self prompting you to act one way, and your psyche/soul saying another? Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to give you discernment to see the natural divisions within you, and to hold them in relationship to the whole of your ego/self and Self. Open to the needed tempering, and set intention to act accordingly.

*Carl Jung said that the nature of the psyche (Greek, soul) is dissociative. It splits into parts.

Judges 2: 1-5, 11-23, Forsaking the Self

2010-08-04T12:14:00.000-07:00

Judges 2: 1-5, 11-23, Forsaking the Self

v. 12, “They forsook the Lord, their fathers’ God who had brought them out of Egypt, and went after other gods, gods of the races among whom they lived; they bowed before them and provoked the Lord to anger.”

The wanderings of the Israelites from faithful to wayward servants of God are the theme of many Old Testament stories. In spite of the freedom given from bondage in Egypt, the Israelites were attracted to and swayed by the “gods of the races among whom they lived.” Considered symbolically, we have a story that depicts our struggle to live from the authority of the Self/God Within. We know the freedom of living in sync with the Self, but we get seduced by what’s around us.

We feel a sense of freedom, an aliveness, in following our Inner Divine Spirit; yet, we will seek “gods” in order to fit in with people. We get sidetracked by the desire to follow the crowd, to be like others, or to not upset the people around us. We engage in behaviors, conversations, and internal dialogues that are not the larger truth of who we are. All the while, we know we are abandoning ourselves. Our perceptions and sense experiences remind us of who we are and the voice of the Self. Yet, we give our time, attention, energy, and loyalty to other gods.

The other gods are countless. Whenever we follow a principle, idea, or action that is not in alignment with the Self/God Within, we are bowing before another god. A family member, an employer, a coworker, the church, schools, or government may be the voice of the god. The outcome is always the same. The Self is provoked to anger.

I believe that the anger of the Self is expressed in the situation and outcome that evolves from our choice to follow other gods, and not the Inner Divine. The loss of the freedom of self and its positive states of consciousness (safety, love and belonging, self-esteem) is the natural angry response of our psyche/soul to being betrayed by our egos. We all know the pain of making choices that are counter to the voice of the Self, our inner wisdom voice.

Reflect for a moment on times in your life when you have followed a path that was not the direction of your Self/God Within. What were the triggers or hooks for doing so? Where is this happening now? Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to strengthen your inner knowing of who you are and who your soul is prompting you to become. Open to see your path, and to claim the courage and energy to live accordingly.

Colossians 2: 6-15 (16-19), No More Captivity

2010-07-31T04:58:00.000-07:00

Colossians 2: 6-15, (16-19), No More Captivity

v. 8, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe*, and not according to Christ.”
*also translated elements of the natural world or elementary ideas belonging to the world

Where are you feeling captive in your life? Stuck? Unable to move the way your heart and soul desires? Where does your inner knowing, your felt sense of a situation or person, get dismissed because some one else has judged it as bad or wrong?

We get caught or stuck when we live according to some one else’s beliefs, opinions, or viewpoints. Instead of clarifying what’s right for us, we do what “so and so” (one’s spouse, family, social circle, school, church, the media) said. We aspire to act and live in ways that the collective promotes, rather than following the prompting of our Inner Divine Spirit. Temporarily, we relieve ourselves of the responsibility for our decisions and actions; but we lose our autonomy--the freedom of being who we are.

The source of all possibilities in our human nature is the Self/God Within. The Self holds all of the aspects of our soul, and the unconscious templates that are the “hardwiring” of our psyche. The templates, which Jung referred to as archetypes, give the framework that structure our experiences and connect them according to our affects or emotions. When our way of relating to ourselves, others, and the world around us is defined by the common philosophy of the day or the traditions into which we were born, we become suspicious and doubtful of our felt experiences. The body sensations, instinctive responses, and feelings that inform us may be dismissed. The perceptions and inner images that they offer get lost; they are replaced by the prevailing philosophy and tradition.

When we live in allegiance to the outer philosophies and traditions, we weaken the connection to the Self/God Within. Our Inner Wisdom voice gets missed or dismissed. We end up in situations (inner feelings and thought cycles or outer relationships) that are unhealthy. We do not have the energy or libido to do anything differently because we have not tended the primary relationship to our energy source, the Self.

Today’s scripture reminds us of the importance of living according to Christ or God Within. This is the way out of the captivity of life destroying belief systems, accepted norms, prevailing trends, etc. How do we know the difference? Each of us has to work out our way of relating to the Self/God Within. No one can do that for us. Someone else’s experience may serve as a guidepost for us; but, their experience is theirs. It is imperative that we remember to seek the wisdom and understanding of the Self that manifests through our body and mind.

Where are you living in accordance to the Self/God Within? Where do you feel captive to some inner or outer situation that is not life promoting? Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to show you the philosophy, traditions, and ideas that are shaping your experience. Open to see the template that is shaping you, and invite the Divine to help you know and live from your Inner Spirit, not the spirit of the world.

2 Corinthians 5: 14-18, A New Order

2010-07-31T04:55:00.000-07:00

2 Corinthians 5: 14-18, A New Order
Vs. 15,17, “His purpose in dying for all was that men, while still in life, should cease to live for themselves, and should live for him who for their sake died and was raised to life….When anyone is united to Christ, there is a new world; the old order has gone, and a new order has already begun.”

In Jungian analytical psychology, Christ is a symbol of the Self. The Self is the organizing principle of psyche (soul) that Jung defined as “a part of God that God put in us so that we will know there is a God”. The Self encompasses the whole of our psyche/soul, what is known and what is unknown. The self, with a small “s”, refers to our conscious sense of who we are. The terms ego and self are sometimes used interchangeably.

Our ego or self is the psychic structure that mediates between our larger Self and the outside world. We need an ego in order to be healthy. Unfortunately, the phrase “should cease to live for themselves” has been misused to promote self denial that destroys the bridge between the Self/God Within and other people and the environment. We have been taught to dismiss or demonize our experiential, embodied self. We may experience pockets of self-hatred, self-contempt, or self-destruction that handicap our ability to live the larger reality of the Self manifesting in our ego/body. The conduit (ego/self) through which the Self flows is not strong enough to contain and channel the energies that want to take shape in the world.

We can also get caught in a limited and self-absorbed sense of who we are. Our ego/self may think and make choices as if it is the whole of our psyche/soul. We may act as if our momentary sense of who we are is all we are. We can have an arrogance and pride that forgets the Self/God Within. Perhaps, this is the state to which the phrase “should cease to live for themselves” is referring.

The Self/God Within makes a sacrifice of its wholeness and fullness each time it becomes limited in a particular form. The form may be an attitude, a belief, an emotion, a feeling, a passion, an intuition, or a behavior. The one attitude, belief, etc. expresses a ray of the whole; but it is not the Absolute. Our ego is like a ray of the Self. It is an expression of the wholeness we are that is limited in time and space with a particular focus, purpose, set of experiences, etc. Each time we join with the energies of the Self/God Within, “there is a new world”. Something changes within us and ultimately around us “as the old order has gone, and a new order has already begun.”

Unknown aspects of the Self usually make themselves known through inner stirrings. Our body sensations, intuitions, emotions, passions, fleeting fantasies, and dreams are the messengers of the Self. We often dismiss inner stirrings when they are not congruent with our ideal sense of self. The ego/self tends to feel inconvenienced or threatened or overwhelmed by what appears unbidden. To individuate, meaning to live in conscious relationship and alignment with the Self/God Within, our egos must cease to live as if self-sufficient and cultivate Self-sufficiency. The shift from reliance on one’s known self to the larger whole of Self occurs only through conscious choice and effort.

I invite you to consider the state of your ego/self in relationship to the Self/God Within. Where do you act as if your known, momentary sense of self is all you are? Where are you aware of the larger Self? How and where is your Inner Divine Spirit stirring? Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to show you the next step in being “united to Christ (the Self)” and experiencing the new order within.

Matthew 27: 1-10, Inner Betrayal

2010-07-26T04:03:00.000-07:00

Matthew 27: 1-10, Inner Betrayal
v. 3-4, “When Judas the traitor saw that Jesus had been condemned, he was seized with remorse, and returned the thirty silver pieces to the chief priests and elders. ‘I have sinned’, he said, ‘I have brought an innocent man to his death.’”

How many times have we made a decision, thinking it was in our best interest, only to learn that somehow we have deceived ourselves? In today’s scripture, Judas realizes that his betrayal of Jesus has led “an innocent man to his death.” He is remorseful; but his action and its impact stand. When we consider the story symbolically, we have a picture of an inner drama that plays out repeatedly within our psyches.

Jesus is a symbol of the Self/God Within. The Self flows into and through all aspects of our nature. As we are tempered by outside influences—family, institutions, environment, etc., aspects of the Self can be shamed and stay unconscious. Sometimes, the seeds of the Self end up in distorted, ugly, even self-destructive attitudes, patterns, and behaviors. Being conscious involves seeking and discerning the seed of the Self in all expressions of our psyche. As we seek, the seed is freed from the old ways, is integrated, and begins to grow new, healthy ways of being with oneself, others, and the world.

Judas and the chief priests and elders are examples of manifest aspects of the Self that represent learned or adaptive ways that are unhealthy. Judas symbolizes the betrayer within us. He shows up in the choices we make that dismiss, belittle, or disown (kill off) aspects of the Self. One tradition suggests that Judas is attempting to protect Jesus by handing him over to the chief priests and elders who were the religious authorities. Sometimes we think we are doing what’s in our best interest; only to find out later that we have hurt ourselves inadvertently. The prevailing inner authority, often tied to collective religious attitudes, fuels the anxiety we may feel when previously dismissed or disowned parts of ourselves show up. The disowned usually appears in unbidden affects (emotions and desires) and fantasies or dreams. The inner betrayer and internalized collective authority interfere with our soul’s desires and longings being lived.

Often, we realize that we have missed an opportunity to be more true to our souls after the fact. The internalized voices of “right and wrong, good and bad, have and not have” block the connection to the psychic energy that we experience as willpower or desire or the impulse to move/act. The motivator and fuel that accompanies appearances of the Self is killed. When we see this, like Judas, we may want to die; we may “kill” ourselves with various numbing activities (mood altering chemicals, overeating, overspending) or identify with feelings of apathy and depression.

Fortunately, our psychic processes are not limited to those depicted in today’s passage. There is the dynamic of resurrection or new birth that also occurs in our psyches/souls. As we realize we have “killed off” aspects of the Self/God Within, we can look to see the emotional, mental, and spiritual processes at work in us. We can call on the Inner Divine Spirit to help us align with the life giving cycles of our psyche/soul.

Take a few minutes to reflect on the energies within you symbolized by Judas and the chief priests and elders. Where do they show up? How do they appear? What shape or form do they take in your thoughts, words, and actions? Be courageous and ask the Inner Divine Spirit to connect you more strongly to the seeds of the Self/God Within than to the betraying, killing energies that keep you stuck and blocked.

Matthew 25: 1-13, Having Your Fuel

2010-07-14T05:24:00.000-07:00

Matthew 25: 1-13, Having Your Fuel

v. 2-4, “Five of them were foolish, and five prudent; when the foolish ones took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the others took flasks of oil with their lamps.”

The Parable of the Bridegroom is often used as an admonition to be ready for the Second Coming of Christ. From a literal perspective, this is seen as an external event that will be marked by the physical return of the historical Jesus. From a symbolic perspective (informed by analytical psychology), it is an internal process that occurs when unconscious (unknown) and disconnected aspects of the Self/God Within are acknowledged, integrated, and consciously related to the self/ego. The scripture gives us a clue as to what is necessary for the “second coming”—oil.

Webster’s Dictionary states that oil is a substance that is combustible, soluble in ether, and stains. It is slick and greasy, and it is composed of organic matter. These qualities aptly describe our passions and desires.

Our most powerful impulses and longings are organic; they emanate from deep within us instead of being imposed by our heads. We know they are present because of our felt experience—our body sensations, intuitions, emotions and the resulting thoughts and feelings. Sometimes, they appear in explosive ways at unexpected times. We do the unexpected, and scare ourselves. At other times, our desires and passions fuel our action towards an outcome—a personal change or a collective cause. (Many service groups begin because of one person’s passion around a cause.)

Passion and desire get a bad rap from most religious viewpoints. They are seen as the cause of suffering and the origin of outrageous acts of sexuality and aggression. Yet, the Proverbs states that “our heart’s desires are God’s promises to us.” Desire is what “lights one’s fire”; passion motivates us to take action. It moves something from the realm of potential (thoughts) to actuality (actions). It is the psychic fuel that lights the way for connecting with and integrating previously unknown parts of our Selves; this is how the ego unites with the Self/God Within.

The scripture points to the necessity of being aware of our desires and passions and carrying them with intention. Much of the time, we go through life like the “foolish ones”. We carry a source of light, but we forget about the oil. We dismiss our desires and passions, so we miss the opportunity to light the way and see where we can join with our larger nature, the Self/God Within. Our preparedness for encountering the Inner Divine is directly related to our remembering our “oil”.

Take a few minutes to become aware of the desires and passions that are stirring in you at this time. Where have you said or acted in unexpected or unanticipated ways? Where have you been intentional in cultivating and pursuing your heart’s desires? Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to help you be conscious of your desires and passions, and to intentionally hold them for the clear moment and place of action.

Ephesians 3: 14-21, Strengthened in Your Inner Being

2010-07-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 3: 14-21, Strengthened in Your Inner Being
Vs. 16-17, “I pray that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.”

We hear so much in pop psychology and spirituality about the “secret” of how to be successful in life. All too often, the teachings leave out the essential connection in change or growth. It happens as our inner being, the essence of who we are, is strengthened by the Divine Spirit that flows into and lives within us.

Cultivating a conscious relationship to the Inner Divine Spirit is the starting point for healthy living. The recognition that all we are--self or ego, internal processes (physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual), outer expressions (words, actions, behaviors)--is fueled by the Self/God Within initiates an opening for the ego/self to more fully and clearly align with the Self.

Can you imagine praying for yourself daily to be “strengthened in your inner being with power through (Christ’s) Spirit”? What an affirmation of the reality that our inner being is the conduit for the Divine to flow into us! Prayer sets sacred intention that focuses our attention and energies. It is a starting point for inviting the Inner Divine to make itself known to our consciousness. When we greet our thoughts, feelings, sensations, and intuitions as expressions of the Divine Self, we relate to them in a way that allows us to see and understand their purpose and place in our psyche/soul. We open to hear the message they carry from the Divine Within.

For Carl Jung, Christ is a symbol of the Self/God Within. The heart is representative of our subconscious or automatic consciousness. When we seek to see all that is within us as expressions of the Divine Self, we open to moments of faith—experiences of the Divine Within that are not yet translatable into words, but that nonetheless affect and change us. We begin to feel a sense of togetherness, an internal unity that expresses compassion and love towards all aspects of our selves. We know through our felt experience that we are rooted in the love of the Self/God Within.

I invite you to set sacred intention by asking “that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through the Divine Spirit”. Ask the parts of your nature that are ready to be integrated to make them selves known to you in the gentlest ways possible. Acknowledge each state—feeling, thought, image, memory, desire, etc.—respectfully and seek to see how it has served you. Offer gratitude for its efforts and open to receive the love of the Self that holds all aspects of you together.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-15, Cycling--Opposites of Creation and Destruction

2010-07-12T16:12:00.000-07:00

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-15, Cycling—Opposites of Creation and Destruction
v. 11, “He has made everything to suit its time; moreover he has given men a sense of time past and future, but no comprehension of God’s work from beginning to end.”

Today’s scripture is a familiar passage that’s often quoted flippantly when things are in upheaval or changing. We tend to overlook the powerful spiritual truth that everything exists with its opposite; everything cycles from creative to destructive. We see this principle at work in nature in the seasons. Spring brings new growth—beautiful flowers and leaves. Summer hosts the fullness of the new life. In the fall, flowers and leaves die; the (seeming) barrenness of winter then comes. We do not question why it is this way. We accept it as a given, and we live within the cycles and do what is appropriate for that time.

The cycles of creation and destruction, as seen in the seasons of nature, are at work within our bodymind. Consider the processes of metabolism with the tearing down of tissues (catabolism) and the building up of tissues (anabolism). Psychic (or soul) energies within us exist as pairs of opposites. They are bipolar; they have a light, creative, expansive side and a dark, destructive, constrictive side. Reading the passage noted above gives us several examples of these opposites: birthing and dying, planting and uprooting, killing and healing, pulling down and building up, weeping and laughing, mourning and dancing, scattering and gathering, embracing and refraining, seeking and losing, keeping and throwing away, tearing and mending, being silent and speaking, loving and hating, warring and keeping peace.

Our culture and institutions have demonized the dark and destructive forces; anything that is not light and sustaining has been labeled as wrong or an illness. Such an attitude prevents us from effectively living within the seasons of our own (psychic) nature. Instead of aligning with our energy cycles, we move with learned attitudes and beliefs, asserting our ego while ignoring the inner knowing of the Self/God Within.

When we begin new projects or relationships where we lack desire and energy, it is like planting new seeds in the winter instead of the spring. When we hold on to the forms (relationships, jobs, interests, ways of experiencing, attitudes about ourselves, habit patterns) that are dying and destructive to us, we miss the work of fall which includes raking up the old, dying leaves and clearing the ground for new growth. Often the suffering we experience is created by our ego’s choices to hold onto learned expectations and values instead of aligning with the seasons of psyche/soul and the heart. We forget or deny the truth “for everything its season.”

Take a few minutes to review the opposites listed above from the scripture passage. Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to show you where these energies are at work in you. Consider all four planes—physical (health, eating, exercise, environment), emotional (feelings, relationships, needs and wants, automatic response patterns), mental (relationships to self and others, beliefs and values), and spiritual (openness to the Mystery and the Inner Divine Spirit). Be courageous and begin to live according to the cycles of your own psyche/soul.

Luke 8: 20-29, Legion--Knowing Your Inner Devils

2010-07-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

Luke 8: 26-30

vs. 29-31, “For Jesus was already ordering the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many a time it had seized him, and then, for safety’s sake, they would secure him with chains and fetters; but, each time he broke loose, and with the devil in charge made off to the solitary places. Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’ ‘Legion’, he replied. This was because so many devils had taken possession of him. And they begged him not to banish them to the Abyss.”

Throughout history, humans have labeled forces and powers that seemed larger than them as spirit entities, good or bad. The Greeks personified these forces as the gods and goddesses we find in mythology. These “gods and goddesses” manifest in us as affects or strong feeling states. They are “legion”; there are many affective states that we must learn to mediate and humanize.

In mythology, the gods and goddesses have both their light or creative side and their dark or destructive side. Our religious heritage split the creative and destructive forces into separate beings. Only the creative, life giving, and life sustaining energies are attributed to God. Chaotic, dark, destructive, or reflexive energies are seen as the realm of Satan, demons, or devils. The wholeness of creation, which includes birth/creation, death / destruction, and resurrection/rebirth/equilibrium, continues to be split into opposites.

Splitting shows up in how we relate to our selves. Our felt experience includes many opposites, love and hate, desire and repulsion, joy and sadness (to name a few). Think of how many times you have been told, “You shouldn’t feel that way”. We learn to censor our feelings or affects according to what is “acceptable”. What we dismiss, deny, or cut off does not go away. It becomes unconscious; it is disconnected from our ego or sense of self and inaccessible at will.

When psychic/soul energies are split apart, the naturally occurring equilibrium of light and dark aspects is disrupted. The feelings appear in extremes, or larger than life proportion, because the natural tempering that occurs when connected to the other half is lost. We find ourselves to be like the man in today’s scripture. Affects relegated to the unconscious appear without our invitation. Feelings surface at the most inconvenient of times. They often feel alien, as if they are of some thing other than oneself. We may feel like or be perceived as the devil possessed man in today’s scripture.

Extreme affective states may argue on their behalf to find a place to continue living. For example, one’s unmediated anger may fuel a resentment or grudge that resides in the back of one’s mind. A feeling of abandonment may linger in a pattern of mistrust. Our conscious willingness to hold opposite feelings simultaneously, to acknowledge both sides, is what allows us to encounter the healing of Jesus. We must be willing to go into the Abyss that is “the world without form and void”. It is the state of unknowing that precedes the birth of any new life.

The healing power of God exists within our psyche/soul as an innate intelligence that we may call the Self. The Self (with a capital S) refers to the organizing principle of the psyche that Carl Jung states, “is a part of God that God put in us so we will know there is a God.” When we seek to live in conscious relationship to the Self/God Within, the natural order and equilibrium of our psyche/soul is reestablished. The chaotic, unmanageable feeling states become connected to the whole of the Self and self/ego. One is able to live with the totality of one’s inner states, giving expression to each in its rightful way. Our task is to consciously acknowledge, explore, understand, and relate to our inner “gods and devils” as they show up in our affects.

Take a few minutes to be aware of what’s stirring inside of you. What thoughts, feelings, sensations, and intuitions feel like you? What feels alien to you? Ask the Self/God Within to give you the courage to get to know these aspects of your psyche/soul. Be willing to open to the tempering power of the Self as you hold the nuances of opposing thoughts, feelings, etc.

1 Kings 19: 1-15a, Moving Out of Our Caves

2010-07-12T16:07:00.000-07:00

1 Kings 19: 1-15a

Vs. 11-13, “The answer came: ‘Go stand on the mount before the Lord.’ For the Lord was passing by: a great and strong wind came rending mountains and shattering rocks before him, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a low murmuring sound…Then there came a voice.”

How often do we retreat to the caves of silence, withdrawal, preoccupation with media or projects, the invisible walls between us and others or between us and our larger Self? In today’s passage, the prophet Elijah had retreated to a cave in fear for his life. We, like Elijah, get afraid. We fear that interaction with others or some not fully known part of our selves (i.e., feelings, desires, affects) will destroy us. So, we retreat; we numb, go unconscious, get confused, stay with unknowing.

The beauty of Biblical stories is they remind us of psychological as well as spiritual truths. The way out of the fear and out of the cave is standing before the Self/God Within. The Self/God Within always seeks us out and calls us to reconnect and to listen. This requires moving out of the caves, beyond the invisible emotional and mental walls that separate us from our Inner Divine Spirit and other people.

When Elijah is called to stand before the Lord, he witnesses an earthquake and a fire and a low murmuring sound. The voice of God is not in these acts of destruction, but Elijah must witness them before hearing the voice of God. Symbolically, the earthquake and fire represent phases of transformation.

We have all experienced symbolic earthquakes. The moments when the ground of our beliefs, ideas, self perceptions, ways of interacting, and our outer world relationships have shifted. Familiar, comfortable, and old ways of being with ourselves and others have shattered. The moments of symbolic fire occur when our anger or passions rage; we know something must change internally and externally. We act differently; we give up the former masks or roles and we are more real about who we are.

Our willingness to stand and see the elements of transformation at work in us and around us precedes hearing the voice of God. We must face the necessary destruction of what is in order to hear the voice of God Within and have new life.

What are your caves? How do the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual walls between you and the Self/God Within look? Where and how do they appear between you and other people? Open to hear the Inner Divine Spirit calling you to move out of the caves and to see what needs to be seen. Ask for courage to withstand the earthquakes and fires of transformation so you may hear the voice of God Within.

Galations 3: 23-29, Moving Beyond the Law to Faith

2010-07-12T16:00:00.000-07:00

Galatians 3: 23-29

Vs. 23-25m, “Before this faith came, we were close prisoners in the custody of law, pending the revelation of faith. Thus the law was a kind of tutor in charge of us until Christ should come, when we should be justified through faith; and now that faith has come, the tutor’s charge is at an end.”

My favorite definition of faith comes from The Mystical Qabalah by Dion Fortune. She states that faith is:

The conscious result of supraconsciousness experience which has not been translated into terms of brain consciousness, and of which, therefore the normal personality is not directly aware, though it nevertheless feels, possibly with great intensity, the effects, and its emotional reactions are fundamentally and permanently modified thereby.

Faith is not the belief in an idea or doctrine or dogma; it is the state of consciousness that comes from an experience of God Within that is felt as something larger than oneself or ego. It is an experience of superconsciousness that we are not able to adequately capture it in words. Yet, we are altered by it. Something in our drive, our way of being with our selves, God Within, and others changes. The change is spontaneous, it happens. We can chose to go with it or stay loyal to our former ways.

The writer of Galatians notes that when we have faith, we are no longer “prisoners in the custody of law”. He describes law as a “tutor in charge of us until Christ should come.” It is interesting to think about the psychological structure which Freud termed superego as the mental equivalent of religious or spiritual law. The superego develops from the internalized shoulds, musts, and ought tos learned from family, school, church, society, etc. It is the precursor to one’s conscience and autonomous sense of self. To the degree that we are stuck in the internalized “laws”, we are a prisoner. We serve the learned ways even thought they may contradict our Inner Divine Spirit. We don’t have the ability to move in alliance with our larger selves or the Self/God Within.

Think for a minute about where you feel like a prisoner. In spite of your desires to experience or act differently, you find yourself limited by the learned ways. Often, the authority of “shoulds, musts, ought tos” squeezes out the space of silence in which we can hear the voice of the Self/God Within. When we find ourselves caught in these places, we can invite an experience of faith by clarifying what we know.

Carl Jung writes about an organic process, known as the Transcendent Function, through which a uniting third emerges when we consciously hold two opposing states of consciousness (thoughts, feelings, desires, etc.) simultaneously. The movement towards knowing the Christ/the Self/God Within begins with acknowledging, clarifying, and understanding what is within us. This means bringing conflicting thoughts, feelings, etc. to the light of consciousness and struggling to hold what is there with the intention of finding the Self/God Within. In this way, we open our psyche/soul to receive the transcendent or the supraconsciousness of the Inner Divine Spirit.

Take a few minutes to clarify your inner conflicts. What are the opposing perspectives of the superego or learned authority and your experience or felt sense? Write down what you know about each. Invite a focusing statement that holds the essence of the struggle. Listen to hear what comes. Faith comes as we consistently ask and seek the Inner Divine Spirit.

Luke 10: 38-42, The Better Part--Listening

2010-07-12T15:56:00.000-07:00

Luke 10: 38-42

Vs. 40-42, “But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things, there is need of only one thing, Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’”

The story of Mary and Martha is one of the most well known stories of the New Testament. It is often presented as a reminder to take time from the busyness of life to listen to the voice of God. Considered from the perspective of Jungian psychology, Mary, Martha, and Jesus the Lord symbolize energies within our psyche/soul.

Mary represents the part of us that seeks to listen and hear the voice of our larger Self or God Within. She shows up within as the urge to search, seek, study, pray, contemplate, and practice different spiritual (including personal growth) beliefs and disciplines. We can connect Mary to what Carl Jung called the individuation instinct. The individuation instinct is an inborn drive, an automatic longing and desire that pulls us towards a conscious relationship with the Self/God Within.

The longing and seeking to connect with the Self/God Within is often thwarted or criticized by the Martha in us. Martha represents the ego that gets outer directed and dismisses the value and need for quiet times of self and Self reflection and listening. We, with our egos or conscious sense of self, get focused on the roles we have. The learned response or “right thing to do” crowds out the option of listening for the Self/God Within to direct us in the moment. Martha was concerned about her role as hostess; she was busy with the tasks of serving others, including Jesus the Lord. Yet, she was missing the very opportunity to connect with him.

We too can get so focused on our ways of connecting to the Self/God Within that we miss the opportunity to be with our selves/Selves! The disciplines of journaling, studying, working with dreams, structured worship experiences, yoga, etc. can become more important than the actual being still and listening to hear the Self/God Within in the moment. Today’s scripture reminds us that being still and quiet, listening for the voice of the Self/God Within is “the better part” of being in the presence of the Self.

I invite you to take a few moments to listen for the voice of the Self/God Within you. Be open to feeling the movement of your Inner Divine Spirit towards a still, quiet place within you where you sense and know the presence of the Self/God Within.

Revelation 22: 12-21, Washing Your Robes

2010-05-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

Washing Your Robes

Revelation 22: 12-21
v. 14, “Happy are those who wash their robes clean! They will have the right to the tree of life and will enter by the gates of the city.”

Symbolically, the verse stated above gives instruction as to our/the ego’s task in life. We are to cultivate discernment and act with clarity to create thoughts, feeling states, behavior patterns, and a surrounding environment that are the purest and clearest or cleanest reflection of our soul.

The Tree of Life is a blueprint of the energies of the Divine that flow into the soul of humanity and the world at the moment of creation. On the Tree of Life, the Limitless Light of the Divine initially flows into the energies known as Wisdom and Understanding. Wisdom is called the “Inner Robe of Glory” as it holds the kernel of Divine Essence in a principle or image that we can conceive. Understanding is called the “Outer Robe of Concealment” as it fleshes out the bit of Wisdom into a practical application or form that we grasp and apply. The term “robe” is symbolic of the wisdom and understanding that lives within each of us. In Jungian analytic terms, we refer to the Divine Essence that contains Wisdom and Understanding as the Self.

The Self is the organizing principle of psyche, and “a part of God that God put in us so that we will know that there is a God.” Every aspect of the personality, ego or self, body, and mind clothe a seed of the Self. What we see--our thoughts, emotions, feelings, intuitions, actions, habit patterns, automatic responses—are the “Outer Robe of Concealment”. They are the manifestations of the Limitless Light of the Divine. They embody and hold our unconscious and conscious understanding and application of the Wisdom of our Divine Essence.

When we want to change our behavior or some aspect of our selves, we seek to understand it. We track its appearance, and its course of action within us. We try to identify the energy that stirs a mood or affect that result in thoughts and feelings and behaviors. We search for the root or origin of what we want to change. When we find the root, we can, with discernment, see the kernel of wisdom within it. We can connect with the energy or essence of the Self/Divine Within that has been hidden by the thoughts, emotions, or behaviors that are problematic. Through understanding, we access the “Inner Robe of Glory”.

Often the “Outer Robe of Concealment”, our bodymind with its learned patterns and ways of living, distort the essence of the Divine Self. The forms—personality traits, character qualities, habit patterns, etc.—can hide the Self/God Within so well that we forget the truth of who we are on a soul level. We become identified with what our ego knows and dismiss the larger Self.

Today’s scripture reminds us that it is with our ego/self that we can “wash our robes clean”. We have to seek to understand who and what we are; we can ask the Self/God Within for discernment regarding our ways. As we get clarity regarding the wisdom that is present, even in the distortions, we can cultivate and open to new ways of being and living that embody the Divine Essence in our bodymind, all its expressions, and our environment.

Take a few minutes to consider the state of your “Outer Robe of Concealment”—your body, mind, personality and all its expressions. What are the ways that allow a clean expression of your heart and soul? What are the ways that distort and hide the Divine Essence within you? Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to give you discernment regarding the needed expressions, inner and outer, that will allow you to embody more clearly the truth of your soul.

Exodus 32: 21-34, Golden Calves

2010-05-05T06:44:00.000-07:00

Exodus 32: 21-34
vs. 22-23, “Aaron replied, ‘Do not be angry sir, The people were deeply troubled; that you well know. And they said to me, “Make us gods to go ahead of us, as for this fellow Moses, who brought us up from Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”’”

How often our impatience and unknowing is the cause of our difficulties! Like the Israelites in today’s scripture, we get antsy not knowing something; so, we set about making what is known into gods. We cling to ideas, beliefs, values, or perceptions with which we are comfortable instead of seeking the felt presence of the Divine. We forget that life starts from the Mystery of the Limitless Light, “the world without form and void”. We do not like the void or the darkness; so, we create ways of living that thwart our libido/life force. We may even lose sight of our heart’s desires (which flow from the Inner Divine Spirit) as our libido/life force is captured in something stagnant.

Wherever we are attached to form, we eventually become stuck, lifeless, or empty. The form may be a relationship, a job situation, a habit, a belief, a thought pattern, etc. Forms are a necessary part of the human experience as we are called to embody—to manifest. Forms are problematic only when they become more important than the Spirit. When we hold to ways of living that thwart the flow of the Inner Divine Spirit, we make them gods.

The Israelites had practice living in relationship to a fixed, tangible god of the golden calf. When troubled, they were unwilling to stay in the fluid, ever-evolving relationship with the Divine Spirit. When we are troubled, we tend to reach for what we know. Like the wandering Israelites, we return to what was known in the past. Our allegiance goes to the relationships (to people, places, structures, teachings, beliefs, feelings, desires, and thoughts) that have been in place, instead of opening to the Spirit in the unknown or changing.

I invite you to consider where you are loyal to the gods that are man-made. What are the beliefs, relationships, feeling states, habit patterns, etc. that you know thwart your Inner Divine Spirit? Where do you feel lifeless, stuck, or as if you are dying? Where are you afraid of change? Open to feel what, where, and towards whom the Inner Divine is moving you (in the inner and outer worlds). Be courageous and stay with the discomfort until you sense in your body and mind the presence of the Divine flow. Set sacred intention to follow the energy of the Self/God Within.

Matthew 5: 11-16, Having Your Saltiness

2010-05-03T07:42:00.001-07:00

Matthew 5: 11-16
v. 13, “You are the salt of the world. And if the salt becomes tasteless, how is its saltiness to be restored? It is now good for nothing but to be thrown away and trodden underfoot.”

What does it mean for the followers of Christ to be told they are the salt of the world? In analytical psychology, Christ is a symbol of the Self/God Within each of us. Salt is a symbol of the “fixated volatile”; this means Spirit (the volatile) that has taken material (fixated) form. The spiritual path of the West is Incarnation—God becoming human; Spirit becoming matter, matter becoming Spirit. This happens in the human body. Jung once wrote, “If we really knew, the body and the mind (referring to spirit, not intellect) are the same thing, just different densities of the same energy.”
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When we embody the Inner Divine Spirit, we are the salt of the world. Salt gives flavor, adds spice, and preserves food. We can think of food symbolically as anything that nourishes us. Think about your felt or embodied experience when you move with heart and soul (passion). Now, think about the feeling when doing something that lacks heart and soul for you. We feel alive and nourished when we move with our heart’s desires and passions. We feel dead or shut down when we follow ideas, beliefs, or ways of living that lack soul.

Wherever we get disconnected from our libido/life force, we lose our saltiness or flavor. This usually happens because we feel shame. Our ego identifies with and believes that the body’s expressions are bad. Thoughts, feelings, sensations, and intuitions are denied, repressed, or split off. This may be prompted by an outside person or event, or it may be an automatic, internal response based on past experiences. We feel as if we, our bodies, are bad; we get paralyzed, and our libido stops flowing. The intellect takes over and creates (or internalizes) ideas, beliefs, thought patterns that deny the value of our inner experiences, impulses, and desires. Our saltiness is lost, because it is our desires that embody the flavor and essence of our Inner Divine Spirit.

Our soul moves in us as our heart’s desires. The rightful place of the intellect is to image forms that are the best expression of our heart’s desires. In this way, the head/intellect is the servant of the heart/soul. Our sensations, intuitions, thoughts, and feelings can become the truest expression of our soul when we seek the direction of the Inner Divine/Self. We then have our “saltiness”, the flavor or spice that is unique to whom we are, as we embody our soul’s desires.

Take a few minutes to be aware of the desires stirring in you. Perhaps, you want to list them; or draw a pie chart labeling each section with one of the desires. Don’t be surprised if conflicting desires appear. Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to teach you about these desires. Open to see which desires have the energy of your soul, and which are connected to learned patterns that begin with “head” energy. Set sacred intention to live and act according to your “saltiness”.

Ephesians 4: 7-8, 11-16, The Body

2010-05-03T07:38:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 4: 7-8, 11-16

vs. 15-16, “No, let us speak the truth in love; so shall we fully grow up into Christ. He is the head, and on him the whole body depends. Bonded and knit together by every constituent joint, the whole frame grows through the due activity of each part, and builds itself up in love.”

In the esoteric Judeo-Christian tradition, love is considered the force of which gravitation is an expression. It is the intangible something that draws things or people together; it propels us towards something or someone. “Speaking truth in love” can be understood to mean stating one’s truth (perceptions, experiences, feelings, etc.) in a way that draws us towards another or invites relationship. “The other” may be a person, process, or an aspect of our selves.

Parts of our selves may show up as energy that feels disconnected from who we think we are. We may experience thoughts, feelings, and desires that are seem alien to us; they are not congruent with what we consciously say or think. These energies are bits of the Self/God Within that have not been owned and connected to consciousness via the ego. When we feel shamed for our emotions, desires, or body sensations, we unwittingly label them “bad” and start to deny or hide them. Often, the experiences of the body are demonized; we separate from them instead of moving towards (loving) them.

The Self manifests itself in and through our body and mind. Whatever arises within our body and mind must be brought into loving relationship with our conscious self and integrated. All parts of the body and mind have a “due activity” that contributes to the building up of the ego/self relationship to the Self/God Within.

Symbolically, “To fully grow up into Christ” means to move towards a sense of self or ego that has conscious connection and union with the Divine Self/God Within. It is our task to see the expression of the Self/God Within in our body experience. Sensations and intuitions that occur in our body give rise to thoughts and feelings. When we dismiss, disparage, or reject any of these, we disconnect from a piece of who we are. We must learn to see into the images or impulses that arise in order to discern the function, purpose, and place of the energy it holds.

With loving consciousness, we can relate to and influence the direction of our energies. The scripture states the energetic truth, “The whole frame grows through the due activity of each part, and builds itself up in love.” It is our call as humans to understand our inner workings, and use our consciousness to connect to all aspects of our self and Self. This happens as we own our embodied experience and look to see the flow of the Self into the bodymind experience.

Take a few moments to observe what is happening in your bodymind at this time. Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to help you lovingly receive what is there. Ask what it holds for you; what wants to be embodied consciously. Perhaps, the tightness is your chest is saying, “open to love”. Perhaps, the queasiness in your gut is saying, “that person or project isn’t right for you.” Perhaps, the excitement/anxiety in your gut is saying, “wow, s/he or that is right for you.” Welcome the expressions of the Divine that take shape in you and seek guidance regarding their “due activity” and place in the whole of you.

John 12: 1-8

2010-03-24T05:21:00.000-07:00

John 12: 1-8

v. 5, 8, “(Judas said) Why was this perfume not sold for thirty pounds and given to the poor?”, (Jesus said) “Let her keep it till the day when she prepares for my burial; for you have the poor among you always, but you will not always have me.”

How often we can be like Judas! We get focused and fixated on the value of the material realm to the detriment of honoring the Divine Within. Outer needs and other’s demands can take priority. We judge our inner desire to relish in the presence of the Inner Divine Spirit. Considered symbolically, today’s scripture offers an image of an inner dynamic with which we all struggle.

In the story, Mary is anointing the feet of Jesus with oil and wiping it with her hair. What a beautiful image of love! Mary extends her self, her libido/life force, and her resources (oil) to connect with Jesus. She does not seem shy or embarrassed about her desire or feeling. No matter how non-rational her actions may seem to others, Mary expresses her passion for Jesus.

Mary symbolizes the receptive and magnetic energy within us that nurtures and treasures the expressions of our souls. We experience this energy when we feel ardor (being drawn towards something) and we act. In the moments of knowing and feeling the presence of God Within, this part of us instinctively moves to connect to the Self. It prompts us to take the time, energy, and resources to actively value, honor, and relate to the Divine Within. It listens to the “still small voice of God” throughout our normal daily activities and helps us pause to connect.

When our inner Mary shows up, the following kinds of things may happen. We take time out of a busy day to feel the beauty of Nature and offer a prayer of gratitude. We let go of the set schedule or agenda so we can share a cup of tea with a friend. We may even allow ourselves a creative expression (dance, art, woodworking, baking, movement) instead of pushing through the “to do” list. Whatever the action, we choose to move in a way that relates to and honors our Inner Divine Spirit.

Judas represents the outer focused, rational attitude that does not see beyond surface appearances and externally determined value. When we dismiss feeling, (gut) knowing, and passion, our inner “Judas” is at work. We lose sight of and connection to the Self/God Within as we value only the outer world and necessities of survival. There is no room for joyous, playful expression of our libido/life force. The passions that connect us to the Divine are deemed wasteful and selfish (as there are the poor and needy)! Our focus stays with lack. We miss the opportunity to know in our gut the presence of the Divine.

Jesus’ response can serve as a guiding principle for meeting our inner Judas and Mary. In the historical context, we know that Jesus was referencing his impending death. Symbolically, for our inner world and felt experiences, he states a truth about our experience while in the body. We have moments of feeling we are in the presence of the Divine, but the feeling does not last forever. When we have a conscious awareness of the Divine, we need to tend it by taking time to focus, relate, and treasure the knowing. Through our spiritual disciplines, we seek to strengthen and increase the frequency and conscious knowing of the presence of the Self/God Within.

Where has your inner “Judas” been interfering with connecting with the Self/Divine Within? How do you stop yourself from living the connection to your soul? Where do you feel the love and desire (that Mary symbolizes) for your own Inner Divine? Open to knowing in an embodied way the presence of God Within.

Philippians 3: 3b-14

2010-03-23T04:34:00.000-07:00

Philippians 3: 4b-14

vs. 7-9a, “But all such assets I have written off because of Christ. I would say more: I count everything sheer loss, because all is far outweighed by the gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I did in fact lose everything. I count it so much garbage, for the sake of gaining Christ and finding myself incorporate in him.”

Carl Jung writes about Christ as a symbol of the Self. In Analytical Psychology, the Self is the organizing principle of psyche (soul) that “is a part of God that God put in us, so that we can know there is a God.” When we live in conscious relationship to God Within, we are called as Paul was, to surrender our ego attachments to know the Self/God Within.

Paul writes about the error of believing externals connect us to Christ/the Self He lists the merits he himself possessed as having been a pious Pharisee who was “in legal rectitude, faultless.” He then makes the statement quoted above. He is pointing out that knowledge (felt knowing, not intellectual ideas) of Christ is what matters, not adherence to prescribed formulas, laws, or ways of acting. He states that he has lost everything; he has given up his identity, his raison d’être, and his previous lifestyle “for the sake of gaining Christ and finding myself incorporate in him.” His ego surrendered to the Self/God Within.

When we follow externally prescribed and imposed ways of thinking, emoting, and acting, we can find ourselves on a misguided path. Paul was living in accordance with the family, religious, and societal norms into which he was born and raised. As a result, he was off track, separated from God Within. When he encountered the Christ/God Within, everything shifted. He realized that what he held onto in the past was “garbage”.

The experience of knowing the Self/God Within changes everything. In the split second encounter, we have a felt knowing of our heart and soul as one with God. Unfortunately, we often loose it just as quickly, because it differs from our egos’ standards and ideals, values and morals. The Inner Divine Spirit speaks and moves in us through our libido/life force which we experience in our desires, longings, passions, and instinctive responses. Our willingness to encounter God in these is essential for our ego to be incorporated into or consciously connected to the Self/God Within.

Take a few moments to offer gratitude for the “garbage” you have left behind as you have followed the Inner Divine Spirit. Ask for the courage, clarity, and volition to let go of the external beliefs, structures, rules, etc. that keep you from living the truth of your heart and soul. Open to receive an experience of the Self/God Within that can carry you forward and sustain you.

Luke 15: 1-3, 11b-32

2010-03-18T05:53:00.000-07:00

Luke 15: 1-3, llb-32

v. 31-32, “’My boy’, said the father, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. How could we help celebrating this happy day? Your brother here was dead and has come back to life, was lost and is found.’”

A great truth about psyche/soul is reflected in the scripture stated above. Our psyche holds all aspects of our nature—the known and the unknown, the connected and the disconnected, the integrated and the separated, the in sync and the out of sync. Nothing is ever lost. We may experience living from states of consciousness that create unpleasant circumstances in our life. The libido/life force, the seeds of the Self/God Within, that are present in these choices eventually guide us back to living from the wholeness of who are.

Our ego often holds the attitude of the older brother in the parable. We shoot ourselves in the foot, so to speak, when parts of ourselves show up to be reunited to our sense of self. We judge the efforts and actions we have taken to explore, understand, and live from the desires of our true nature. We feel disdain and disgust for our longings, wants, and needs. Guilt and shame kick in to reject these aspects of self and Self.

The process of learning about our desires and impulses is usually messy, and it can seemingly squander our energies. We may even say, “I wasted my time on that relationship (person, project, etc.)!” The younger brother in the parable explored his prowess in the world, apart from the established order. He experimented with how to live, and where to live. In the process, he realized that he did not have what he wanted and needed. He acknowledged to himself (and to his father) that he had acted in misguided and misdirected ways. He chose to return to his father’s house.

Symbolically, the father represents the Self/the totality and organizing principle of psyche. The Self is God Within. When we do not stay connected to the Self, our desires and impulses act of their own accord. They do not have the benefit of being tempered or balanced by other aspects of the Self. When we, like the younger brother, realize we have acted against our Self, the Divine Within welcomes the ego/self and its new awareness. The energy (desire, longing, etc.) that prompted the searching is integrated into the whole of who we are. It finds its rightful place.

The reunion of lost or “wayward” parts of our nature is cause for celebration. Whenever we reconnect to a piece of our Self/God Within and our sense of self expands, it is cause for celebration. The Self feels joy, and wants “to party”. We can hold the attitude of the older brother and deny ourselves the pleasure and enjoyment of the new; or, we can enter into the fullness we are and celebrate our life.

Where have you been experimenting with living the desires of your nature? Are you creating the situations that reflect your heart’s desires, or are your energies being squandered? Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to guide you in re-connecting the desires and longings of your explorations to the whole of who you are. Trust that every impulse, longing, emotion, passion, etc. has its rightful place and rightful expression. Open to feel the joy that comes from lost parts of your self/Self being welcomed home.

Genesis 45: 1-15, Part 2

2010-03-16T04:14:00.000-07:00

Genesis 45: 1-15, Part 2

v. 5, “Now do not be distressed or take it amiss that you sold me into slavery here; it was God who sent me ahead of you to save men’s lives.”

The story of Joseph reminds us of the importance of how we think. He was sold into slavery by his brothers and imprisoned because of false accusations of wrongdoing; yet, he prospered. The scripture does not record the specifics of Joseph’s inner struggles or choices with his situation. We are told that he was put in charge of each of the households or living situations in which he found himself. When we consider the variables over which Joseph had control while a slave and prisoner, we might conclude that the primary freedom he had was in his thoughts.

Rudolph Steiner studied the interface of the spiritual world and the human. He stated that the only real freedom humans have is the freedom of thought. He saw the populous idea of willpower as misleading, because our bodyminds function reflexively and automatically. It is the thoughts we have and magnify that seed our bodymind and grow. They ultimately shape our reflexive bodymind responses. Willpower is our fleeting sense of control when we are in sync and aligned with the natural flow of our libido/life force. The esoteric Judeo-Christian tradition agrees that personal will is an illusion we experience when manifesting the Divine Will in us.

Proverbs states, “As a man thinketh, so he is.” The thoughts that shape our bodymind responses are both conscious and unconscious. The conscious ones we choose in the moment. The unconscious ones are unseen, but felt. They include the beliefs, images, ideas, and memories that shape our bodymind responses, but which we often disavow. We say we believe one thing, yet our behavior (inner and outer) reflects our belief in something different! Our willingness, courage, and ability to see our thoughts, including the unconsciously chosen images behind our surface responses, determine the amount of freedom we experience in our thoughts, and ultimately our lives.

Thought is tricky because it can be loud and obvious, or it can be subtle and quiet. Thinking is most often associated with intellectualizations and rationalizations. Yet, these limit the freedom of thought. Thought involves the capacity to image, to imagine, to create. The Kabbalistic Tree of Life teaches that the job of the Intellect is to create and hold the forms (i.e., images, pictures) that can most fully express the desires of the Divine Within. The felt intensity of the desire determines the effectiveness of thought. The innate ability to image, to think, is with us regardless of our circumstances. We choose, wittingly or unwittingly, how we use the freedom of thought.

Consider where you feel caught or stuck—as if imprisoned or enslaved. Maybe, you feel caught in a mood, or relationship pattern, or self-destructive behavior. Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to help you see the thoughts—the images, the memories, the beliefs—behind the situation. Open to the myriad of possible thoughts about what’s happening. Ask the Self/Divine Within to guide you in focusing and cultivating thought that is life enhancing and life sustaining for your soul.

Genesis 45: 1-15

2010-03-13T05:52:00.000-08:00

Genesis 45: 1-15

v. 5, “Now do not be distressed or take it amiss that you sold me into slavery here; it was God who sent me ahead of you to save men’s lives.”

What an impressive attitude! Joseph had been sold into slavery by his envious brothers. He ended up in a prison in Egypt where he interpreted dreams for the imprisoned butler and baker of the Pharaoh. The accuracy of his interpretations became known; and, he was called upon to interpret one of Pharaoh’s dreams. In it, Joseph saw the seven years of plenty and seven years of famine that were to come. Pharaoh recognized Joseph’s gifts and abilities. He made Joseph “a counselor to Pharaoh and lord over all his household and ruler of all Egypt.” (v.8) Ultimately, Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt for grain during the famine. After several interactions, Joseph revealed his true identity. He made the statement quoted from today’s scripture.

Joseph had an attitude or belief that God is at work in every situation. When we read the story, we find that “the Lord was with Joseph and he prospered.” (Gen. 39:2) In spite of the wrong done to him by his brothers (and the false accusation of Potiphar’s wife that landed him in prison), he continued to know God’s presence and live and move in sync with the Divine Within. He underwent the experiences, but he did not get stuck in them. He did not perpetuate the pain of envy, rejection, betrayal, disloyalty, or false accusation. He lived, labored, and even prospered while bearing the realities of his situation.

Too often, we get caught in cycles of emotional and mental pain. We ruminate, obsess, and unwittingly relive experiences that are hurtful to us. Old emotions with their connected memories, sensations, and fantasy images linger in our bodies in tight muscles, old injuries, and tender places. Rationalizations, justifications, and explanations replace thinking that can connect the body experiences (sensations, emotions, intuitions, passions, desires), including embodied experiences with the outside world of people and things, with thoughts that allow forward, life giving, life sustaining and nurturing responses.

Joseph suffered what was dealt him; he underwent the experiences. (The second definition of suffer in Webster’s Dictionary is “undergo experience”. The first includes “to feel keenly, to labor under.”) He did not get caught in cycles of pain, pity, or feeling victimized. He clearly bore what was and moved forward. He dealt with himself, and he continued to seek God’s guidance and presence in the midst of being wronged.

We have all been wronged in relationships. Somewhere, sometime, we have been mistreated, rejected, used, even abandoned. These are experiences we have to suffer, or they become self generating as we give into the negative feelings, beliefs, and images they create. By suffering—feeling the experience, laboring under it, we keep moving. We do not stop and get mired in what we cannot change or what we do not want. We continue to seek God Within/the Self. We remember that we are far more than what we have experienced with others or the current situations in which we find ourselves.

I invite you to move through today with an attitude of being with what is-- your emotions, thoughts, feelings, sensations—without judging, dismissing, or collapsing into them. Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to give you a felt connection to the Self/God Within that can sustain and help you prosper in the midst of what you suffer/bear

1 Corinthians 10: 1-13

2010-03-11T05:02:00.000-08:00

1 Corinthians: 10: 1-13

v. 13, “So far you have faced no trial beyond what man can bear. God keeps faith, and he will not allow you to be tested above your powers, but when the test comes he will at the same time provide a way out, by enabling you to sustain it.”

The above stated scripture is both disturbing and comforting. It can be confusing to image God as testing and putting us through trials while providing us the sustenance and wherewithal to move beyond them. The paradox is present within our psyches too. Carl Jung states, “The Self is both the harbinger of that which is helpful and that which is injurious to the self.” (For Jung, the Self is the organizing principle of psyche/soul that is “a part of God that God put in us so that we would know there is a God.”)

Whatever manifests in our ego/bodymind is an expression of the Divine Within. We experience “trials and tests” where distortions of our energy or life force create blocks that result in circular, life deadening patterns. For example, a circular physical block may manifest as chronic pain, body symptoms, and structural ailments. These often get labeled as “disease” in our culture. The same is true of the circular emotional, mental, and spiritual patterns that block us. Normal, but stuck, emotions of grief, sadness, hurt, elation, and franticness get labeled as mental disorders; mental states of worry, obsession, and fantasy may be called pathologies; and spiritual conditions of malaise and apathy or expansion and elation get labeled as depressive disorders including Bipolar.

Once labeled, problematic conditions or our “trials and tests” are most often related to as static and fixed. We do not look to see the origins within our psyche/soul, and how our bodymind’s state, albeit distorted, is an attempt of the Divine Self to express something. We need to see the seed of the Self that is cloaked in the problematic. It is here, in the seed of the Self, that we find the Self’s ability to move the blocked energy. In this way, the Self “provide(s) a way out”. For example, the seed of a compulsion may be our unmet need. As we acknowledge, validate, and relate to the need, the energy block loosens. We can consciously choose to focus on the seed and relating to it in life enhancing ways.

The path of Incarnation, our egos living in service to the Self/God Within, demands that we learn to work with our reflexive, automatic consciousness (vital or animal soul) in a way that sees the Divine Within it. Too often, we think we are what we do, or what we feel! We get identified with the smallness of the singular, momentary sensations, emotions, thoughts, or feelings we have. We forget that the Self/God Within is bigger than any one situation, “trial or test”. Even though we may feel at the mercy of our whims, impulses, unbidden thoughts and feelings, body sensations or conditions, the Self/God Within offers a different way. It is our task to seek this.

By “building a conscious relationship to the unconscious”, we open to knowing the Self/God Within as our ego/self cultivates a line of communication to the Self. We realize that we are not disconnected from God; rather, we are an expression of God. The ego is the embodied Self. When we realize this, our “trials and tests” come into perspective as learning opportunities. We relate to our daily inner and outer situations as the laboratory in which we/our egos are experimenting to become the fullest and clearest expression of the Divine Within.

Take a few moments to acknowledge your current “trials and tests”. What are the energies behind them? How do your desires and intellect shape them? What are the emotions that yield your physical responses? Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to help you see and know the seed of the Self/God Within that is present within all your experiences. Reach for the essence of the Divine Within that can “provide a way out, by enabling you to sustain it.”

Luke 13:1-9

2010-03-08T08:56:00.000-08:00

Luke 13: 1-9

Vs. 8-9, “But he replied, ‘Leave it, sir, this one year while I dig round it and manure it.”

The statement quoted above is from the parable of the vineyard grower. The vinedresser makes the comment to the owner after the latter wants a fig tree cut down for not bearing fruit. The vinedresser knows that digging and fertilizer might be what is needed for fruition.

Theologically, God is the vineyard owner, Jesus is the vinedresser, and we are the fig tree. Psychologically, the Self/God Within (and the organizing principle of psyche) is the vineyard owner; our Inner Divine Spirit is the vinedresser, and our embodied self (ego and body/mind) is the fig tree. Sometimes, our embodied self is not creating a nourishing life for our selves and others. When this happens, our larger Self wants the dead life destroyed. The Inner Divine Spirit responds with digging and fertilizing to stimulate fruitful growth!

It is the job of the ego/embodied self to give expression to the Divine Within. The ego mediates between the inside world of our inner processes, and the outside world of other people and the environment. Sometimes, the ego adopts ways of thinking, perceiving, and responding that are not fruitful for the soul. We move according to outer world norms and demands to the detriment of our selves/Selves. Our emotions, sensations, thoughts, and feelings seem to sabotage us. We are not fruitful in the ways we want!

The Inner Divine Spirit often responds to our stagnation and fruitlessness by digging up emotions, physical ailments, compulsive thoughts, feeling states, or relationship patterns, etc. that block the forward movement of our energy/libido. When this happens, we usually experience pain and suffering. We may seem to be going in circles, reliving the past. We may feel put upon, or like nothing ever works for us. We may even feel “shat upon”. The situations that arise at these times provide opportunities to be loosened from old, non-life giving habits that are physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.

Our willingness to acknowledge, understand, and extend compassion to our selves is essential as we face the “manure” within our lives. As we can bear to see what is dug up--the old ways of experiencing, perceiving, and interpreting that block growth, we begin to be fertilized for the new. The Inner Divine Spirit is at work! We, with our egos, can choose to cultivate and nurture new beliefs, moods, and actions that support the flow of the Inner Divine.

Take a few minutes to acknowledge where you feel the absence of fruit in your life. What are the issues, areas or relationships where you feel mired or lifeless? Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to help you see what needs to be dug up, or what has been dug up. Does it facilitate the flow of the Divine essence within you or does it block it? Commit to the attitudes, feelings, and movements that will loosen and nurture the ground of your ego/embodied self/Self as it needs at this time.

Mark 4: 21-34

2010-03-01T09:34:00.000-08:00

Mark 4: 21-34

v. 26-28a, “He said, ‘The Kingdom of God is like this. A man scatters seed on the land; he goes to bed at night and gets up in the morning, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he does not know. The ground produces a crop by itself.’”

The scripture stated above reminds us of the Mystery of life and growth. Symbolically, the land and the ground represent our body and mind. The esoteric tradition teaches that the Divine Spirit lives, moves, and reigns within each of us; thus, the Kingdom of God is within—it is our embodied Self. Saint Paul asserts this in the imagery of our body as the temple of God.

Anyone who gardens knows the mystery of growth. The gardener can till the soil, plant the seeds, pull the weeds, fertilize and water the plants. Yet, she cannot make the seeds grow. No matter how much knowledge we have, we are not in control of the processes of life. We can do our part to create the needed environment for growth; and with trial and error, we can learn what aids growth and what doesn’t. We can then tweak our actions.

The metaphor of gardening is true for our spiritual growth and individuation. (Individuation is the process through which one’s ego consciously connects to the Self/God Within and seeks to live more fully the truth of one’s Self.) We “scatter seeds” as we focus on images, ideas, beliefs, etc. Anything to which we give our attention seeds our body and mind. It grows. We don’t understand why some things grow and others don’t. Like gardeners, we must look, see, and tend the processes within us to the best of our ability.

We tend our psychic processes as we pay attention to what happens within us. As we track emotions, feelings, thoughts, and actions, we can learn about how we work. We can willingly and intentionally relate to these aspects of our selves with openness to seeing what is true about us that is yet unknown to our ego/self. The tools for psychic gardening include journaling, active imagination, dream work, contemplative practices, body movement, expressive arts, etc. As we cultivate receptivity to the larger Self/God Within, the necessary conditions for growth are nurtured.

Take a few minutes to see what’s growing in your life. What are the thoughts, feelings, habits, projects, relationships, etc. that are most active? Are they life sustaining or life destroying? Tend your own inner psychic processes as a gardener. What needs pulling up? What needs more emotional energy? What needs to be planted? Where do you need to add support? Ask your Inner Divine Spirit for the vision and energy to act in the ways necessary to be receptive to your psyche/soul’s growth.

Mark 3: 19b-35

2010-03-01T09:33:00.003-08:00

Mark 3: 19b-35

Vs. 24-25, “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand; if a household is divided against itself, that house will never stand.”

One of Carl Jung’s basic beliefs about the psyche/soul is that it is dissociable. This means that it can split itself into parts. These parts manifest as different pockets of feelings, desires, and thoughts that are disconnected from one’s sense of self; thus, they tend to act on their own. We have all experienced this when we say or do something that is “out of the ordinary” for us; we might even say, “That wasn’t like me!” We also encounter these split off energy pockets when we say we want to do one thing, but we end up doing another.

Today’s scripture reminds us of the need to integrate all aspects of ourselves. Split off feelings, desires, and thoughts have usually been denied or repressed because we feel guilt or shame when they surface. We have learned to respond to these impulses, desires, and emotions by quickly distancing from them. The problem is they don’t go away. They become more powerful because they are not connected to the ego/self. They may even take over healthy behaviors and distort them. For instance, instead of eating to feed physical hunger, we eat to numb feelings of emotional isolation and the need for human connection. Instead of acknowledging our anger and making necessary changes in our behavior, we may overeat or drink excessively to thwart the feeling. In the end, we are divided against ourselves.

To reintegrate or re-member disconnected emotions, sensations, feelings, thoughts, images, and desires, we must bear facing the guilt or shame that is connected to them. As we face the guilt or shame, it becomes humanized—it moves from being larger than life to have its place in our history. It becomes an emotional experience tied to a specific event, instead of the absolute truth about an aspect of self. For instance, we may have been shamed about our desire to be loved. We may have memories of being rejected, ridiculed, or blown off when we tried to get another’s attention and care. It is essential to separate such experience(s) and the resulting negative emotion from the psyche/soul’s desire. In accepting the past experience for the past, we can connect to the present feeling, desire, etc. in a way that allows us to move towards what we want, within ourselves and with others.

By acknowledging what is present within us—“the good, the bad, and the ugly”, we begin the process of relating to, understanding, valuing, and integrating all aspects of the self/embodied ego and Self/Divine Within. In doing this, we grow stronger. Our self/ego is strengthened as it feels a greater connection and relationship to the larger Self/Divine Within. The divisions within us are healed, and we feel the congruence and oneness of our self/Self that informs our day to day actions.

Where do you feel divided? Where are there conflicts within you? Is there discord between your body and your emotions, your emotions and your mind, your mind and your Inner Divine Spirit? As you identify the divisions, ask the Inner Divine to guide and strengthen you to see, feel, and know the seed of the Self in each aspect of your experience. It may be helpful to write down as full a description as possible of each “division”. Call on the Inner Divine Spirit to integrate the various parts (feelings, thoughts, desire, etc.) of your psyche/soul. Practice owning and valuing all aspects of your self/Self.

Psalm 57

2010-03-01T09:31:00.000-08:00

Psalm 57

vs. 1b-2, “I will take refuge in the shadow of thy wings until the storms are past. I will call upon God Most High, on God who fulfils his purpose for me.”

In the church community, people often talk about God’s call. The call may be to a vocation, or it may be to a simple action like fixing a meal for a neighbor, or an act of kindness for a friend. When we feel a “call”, there is a sense of connection to the Divine Within that prompts the movement or activity. The needed energy shows up; our desires and our thought processes offer support to act. We trust that what is unfolding is in line with God’s purpose for us. At these moments, we are consciously aware and aligned with our psyche/soul’s path.

Psychologically, our psyche/soul has a gradient that our libido or life force will naturally follow. The gradient is set in motion by “God who fulfills his purpose for (us)”. From the perspective of Analytical Psychology, the Self (with a capital “S”)/God Within sets the order. Carl Jung suggested that when we live in sync with the ordered flow of our psyche/soul, we are emotionally healthy. When energy gets blocked or distorted, we develop unhealthy patterns of interaction with ourselves and others that create illness and disease. Often, the “storms” we encounter are rooted in the energetic blocks in our psyche/soul, and body/mind.

In the moments of sickness and distress, whether physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual, the psalmist reminds us to seek the Divine Within. We need to call on the Inner Divine Spirit for refuge—a place of rest and recuperation—where we can gather ourselves. Often, we lose the ability to think clearly, to see beyond surface emotions, to move freely from our heart and soul, or to even know what we feel or want. Emotional storms can hold us captive; we forget we are more than the momentary experience.

Seeking the Self/God Within reconnects us to the whole of who we are. It invites our self/ego to move away from a place of stuck, distorted patterns. We open to the opportunity to see the seed of the Divine within the storm, and to see a new, more life giving way of expressing it. For instance, we can be angry and discharge the energy whining, complaining, yelling, or raging. Or, we can be angry and utilize the energy to make a change in how they behave—towards themselves and/or towards others. In the former, we stay in the storm. In the latter, we seek refuge and free the flow of our libido to create life supporting interactions.

What are the storms you are experiencing today? Consider each plane—the physical: your body, home, finances; the emotional: overall mood, hurts, suffering; the mental: negative self talk, self-hatred, ruminations, obsessions; the spiritual—malaise, apathy, inertia, pride. Seek the Inner Divine Spirit in each of these areas. Open to find the seed of the Self/God Within that needs to be freed to find an expression that is life giving and life sustaining.

Romans 10: 8b-13

2010-02-22T09:12:00.000-08:00

Romans 10: 8b-13

v. 9, “If on your lips is the confession, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and in our heart the faith that God raised him from the dead then you will find salvation.”

Carl Jung wrote an essay in which he talked about the instinctive factors in us from the psychological standpoint. He named the five categories of instincts as hunger, sexuality, activity, reflection, and creativity. For Jung, the move towards activity, reflection and creativity came after the satisfaction of hunger and sexuality. Considered symbolically as a picture of an inner process, today’s scripture offers a guideline for such a shift within us.

Much current pop psychology and spirituality claims the power of words and thoughts to create reality. There is a seed of truth in this; however, the source of the creative power is often wrongly interpreted to be one’s ego or conscious self. Today’s scripture and Jung’s understanding of psyche/soul reminds us that the source is the Christos/God Within that Jesus embodied and symbolizes. Deep transformation and growth in us occurs under the direction of our Inner Divine Spirit. Calling on this, making the “confession”, is the essential in moving forward.

“Salvation” is the theological term for a restoration of the ego/self with the Divine Self; it implies a state of wholeness. Jung used the term “individuation” for this. Often, we feel as if our wholeness is dead, non-existent. We do not believe in our heart that the Divine is present in us, or can lead us to the satisfaction of our instincts. Our emotional hungers and our desire for Eros (relatedness) may keep us from moving, seeing, or creating from our soul.

The truth of the embodied experience is that the Divine Essence in us is often thwarted because of our interactions with the outside world. We become adults who relate to ourselves, the Self/Divine Within, and others in ways that do not satisfy our instinctive needs. Yet, the Self/God Within calls us forward with our desires and longings. We keep struggling to find the way to express and satisfy our instincts.

As you struggle today, I invite you to reach to God Within and cultivate a belief in your heart that the Self/the Inner Divine Spirit can restore you to wholeness. The AA saying, “Fake it ‘til you make it”, has merit.

Take a few minutes to identify the ideas, beliefs, and historical events that keep you from the expression and satisfaction of your hunger, sexuality, activity, reflection, and creativity. Consider these on all four planes—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. “Confess” your need for the Inner Divine Spirit to guide and transform you to know and live from a more conscious connection between the ego/self and Self/God Within.

Mark 1: 1-13

2010-02-22T09:10:00.000-08:00

Mark 1: 1-13

v. 3, “A voice crying aloud in the wilderness, ‘prepare a way for the Lord; clear a straight path for him.’”

There are many popular books and spiritual teachings that talk about the ego/self as the hindrance to spiritual enlightenment. The idea implies that a loss of self is what is needed. I think today’s scripture gives a different impression when we consider the dynamics of our psyche it pictures.

Within our psyche/soul, there are different psychic structures. Just as our physical body has multiple bones, all working together, each with its own job, there are multiple psychic structures or “bones” that are necessary. Carl Jung’s model of the psyche offers a view of these structures.

In Jung’s model, the ego or conscious sense of self mediates between the outside world and one’s inner reality. Within the inner realm, one finds the Self, the Divine Within. The Self is “a part of God that God put in us so that we would know there is a God.” The ego is the manifestation of the Divine Self in the world while we are in a physical body.

The job of the ego, according to today’s scripture, is to “prepare a way…clear a straight path” for the Divine Within to come. The ego gets a bad wrap because we identify with expressions of the Self that have been convoluted, distorted, or even hijacked by ways learned from the outside world. We hold onto learned outer world views and behaviors that cloud or stop the flow of the Inner Divine Spirit to the ego/self. When our thoughts, desires, and actions are off track from the truth of our souls, we get caught recreating painful and life destroying situations.

Our willingness to see where and how are thoughts and feelings and actions originate is essential to clearing the path for our Divine Self to manifest in our ego. Psychological and spiritual disciplines such as dreamwork, journaling, meditation, psychotherapy, contemplative practices, study of sacred scriptures, yoga, bodywork techniques, etc. are ways of clearing the path between the ego and the Self/God Within. Such practices can increase consciousness, an expanded sense of self or ego that can feel, know, and intentionally cultivate the connection with the largeness of the Divine Within. This happens only as we willingly see where we, with out egos, continue to believe, practice, and unwittingly act in ways that block the flow of the Inner Divine into our sensations, emotions, thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Seeking to eradicate ego is dangerous. Seeking to cultivate ego as the ground or expression of the Inner Divine is what is needed.

Take a few minutes to identify where you feel blocked, clouded, or stuck. Track the body sensations, emotions, thoughts, and feelings that lead to and sustain this place. Open to other possibilities within you. In this way, prepare the way for your Inner Divine Spirit to come into your bodymind, ego, and embodied life.

Philippians 3: 13-21

2010-02-22T09:08:00.000-08:00

Philippians 3: 13-21

vs. 13b-14, “All I can say is this: forgetting what is behind me, and reaching out for that which lies ahead, I press towards the goal to win the prize which is God’s call to the life above, in Christ Jesus.”

How much time we waste in rehashing the past! We can spin round and round wondering why, ruminating over the “if only I’d…”, beating ourselves up, tending resentments, holding onto grudges. We inadvertently nurture our feelings of guilt, shame, helplessness, and inadequacy. Today’s scripture reminds us of the need to focus on where we are going; and to reach for the life that the Divine Within calls us to live.

Carl Jung talks about “regression in service of the Self”. In a nutshell, this means that we get pulled back to the past because an energy that is needed for forward movement in the present is stuck. It is stuck in the affect connected to the past experience; it is triggered because we are experiencing the same or similar affect in the present. For example, a current feeling, say of embarrassment or rejection, taps into past feelings of embarrassment or rejection that led to a loss of self. Instead of acting and feeling the totality of which we are, the ego/self connected to the Self/God Within, we are pulled to a disconnected piece of self that is limited to the feeling state within in it. It traps us because it is not integrated or connected with our whole self.

In the moments where we are reliving the past, we must look to see the seed of the Divine Self that got stuck there. The seed may be a feeling that was unexpressed or disowned, it may be a desire that was shamed and hidden, or it may be a quality or attribute that was labeled wrong. Whether the reliving is in our thoughts or in our actions, in our inner experiences or outer relationships, we forget what is behind us as we reclaim and reconnect with the bit of self in the past experience. We do this by acknowledging, owning, accepting, and lovingly bearing the experience. As we do this, something shifts as that which is connected to the whole is less powerful than what is separate and unbalanced.

Looking ahead and reaching for the life that is the fullest expression of our soul is the work of individuation or salvation. The Self/God Within is inborn in us. The Inner Divine Spirit flows through us in every body sensation, emotion, intuition, thought, and feeling we have. When we go in self-destructive circles, we need to look for the bit of our soul that got stuck. As we reconnect with this, we move towards the prize of “God’s call to the life above, in Christ Jesus.” Symbolically, this means a conscious connection and union between our ego and the Self/Divine Within. Experiences and emotions that were unbearable when disowned and disconnected from the totality of self are bearable when connected to the whole! We are then free from the past.

Take a few moments to invite any lost or disconnected parts of your self/Self to come back home into your bodymind. Look to see the disowned bits of self that keep you reliving past, painful experiences. Set sacred intention to look for and go with the (alternative) expressions of the Inner Divine Spirit that will provide the needed forward moving, life generating action—inner and outer. Act accordingly.

John 8: 12-20

2010-02-15T10:55:00.000-08:00

John 8:12-20

v. 12, “Once again Jesus addressed the people: ‘I am the light of the world. No follower of mine shall wander in the dark; he shall have the light of life.’”

Universally, light is associated with experiences of the Divine Mystery. Light is synonymous with Consciousness. The Kabbalistic tradition teaches that the life force (also known as libido or chi) is synonymous with Consciousness. The Self/Divine Within flows through all aspects of our psyche. It takes the forms of self-consciousness, sub or un consciousness, and supra or transcendent consciousness.

Self- consciousness is awareness and psychic energy connected to our ego. It includes our sense of self and our abilities to do things at will (when we want). Sub or un consciousness includes psychic energy that has been conditioned into patterns of body response, emotion, thought, and action. The patterns are shaped as a result of experiences in the world. The center of each of these patterns is a feeling that is associated with a universal template of energy known as an archetype. The archetype represents a psychic energy that evokes certain feelings and responses due to the qualities inherent in it. (For instance, the archetypes of Good Mother or Bad Mother have universal associations.) Supra or transcendent consciousness refers to the psychic energy of the Self/God Within.

Jesus called the people of his day to move beyond relating to God through laws or commandments that kept their instinctive desires in the dark. He invited people to move toward a (self) conscious knowing of their inner processes which include fantasies, dreams, emotions, and reflexive responses. When we are blind to our sub or unconscious, ignoring it because it contains what is unknown, we move through life in the dark. We don’t see what is real and present and active in the background of our known feelings, thoughts, and actions.

When we are aligned with our Divine nature, we have awareness, a self-consciousness, which differentiates the reflexive, instinctive impulses that are biologically based and shaped through past experiences from the promptings of desire and feeling that emanate from the Self/Divine Within. We see more clearly the whole of who we are, what we want, and how our life force wants to move. With light, we can respond to our emotions, feelings, and thoughts in different ways. With light, we can look to see the nuances of habits and moods; we can then effectively move toward different ways of being.

Where do you desire Light in your life? Take a few minutes to identify the places you feel in the dark—stuck, or at a loss as to what next. Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to open your eyes to see what is, without blame or judgment. You may want to track the progression of affect, thought, feeling, and action that happens internally in this place. Be open to the Self/Divine Within to bring light that shows a new, more life giving path.

Genesis 27: 30-45

2010-02-15T10:53:00.000-08:00

John 8: 33-47

2010-02-15T10:50:00.000-08:00

John 8: 33-47

v. 38, “I am revealing in words what I saw in my Father’s presence; and you are revealing in action what you learned from your father.”

In the scripture stated above, Jesus makes a distinction to the Pharisees between following God the Father and following the earthly father. While in a physical body, we experience the Divine Father as the inner dynamic, stimulating, life generating force we often call Spirit. The Spirit flows through our Inner Divine spirit.

Symbolically, the Pharisees represent our ego/selves when we follow the learned “should, must, out to” messages of the outer world (represented by father). Like the Pharisees, we are often attached to what we have experienced and inherited from the past. We can be convinced of its “rightness” or resigned to its presence. We may hold on to it even though something more life giving is present in the now.

All of us have struggled to change a behavior, to shift a mood, to cultivate a different belief, or to relate more truthfully. We must deal with the reality that our body and mind, the vehicle through which psyche/soul flows, operates out of patterns. Our automatic body functions--breathing, digestion, heart beat--go on because of patterns or repetitive paths the energy takes. Our emotional, mental, and spiritual bodies also function in this way.

There are patterns that allow for a free flow of our libido/life force; and there are patterns that stop or divert our Divine Essence to unhealthy ways. The unhealthy ways usually have arisen based on the meaning and interpretation given to past experiences. The sense we make of our body sensations, emotions, thoughts, and feelings are conditioned by the outer world (parents, caregivers, teachers, media, church, etc.). The resulting reflexive body sensations and emotions, thoughts and feelings, may or may not allow for a healthy, free flowing expression of the Divine life force through us.

Carl Jung once wrote that we cannot solve a problem in the same state of consciousness in which it was conceived. When we want to change something, we need a connection to the Inner Divine that will pull us beyond the repetitive, conditioned patterns. By seeking to know the larger Self/Divine Within, we open to moments of feeling and knowing the Divine authority within us. It is the Self that has the power, compassion—energy—that can shift the ego and the adaptive, conditioned self.

Where and how you are loyal to the learned patterns of the past? Identify undesired repetitive experiences to see the “father” patterns. Where are you open to the new, life creating movement of the Inner Divine Spirit? Where do you sense a new way, the presence of the Divine Self, but stay attached to the old? In whatever way your Inner Divine Spirit leads, set intention to follow the guidance and authority of the Inner Divine.

Genesis 22: 1-18

2010-02-06T08:23:00.001-08:00

Genesis 22:1-18
v. 2, “God said, ‘take your son Isaac, your only son, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him as a sacrifice on one of the hills which I will show you.’”

The scripture stated above comes from one of the most disturbing stories of the Old Testament. When considered literally, it evokes feelings of outrage and disbelief. To make useful meaning of the story, one must look to the deeper, implied or symbolic meaning. I offer the following symbolic associations and interpretations.

On the Kabalistic Tree of Life (a glyph of the energies of the Divine that came into the world soul and soul of humanity at the time of Creation), Isaac is associated with the emanation of Divine Strength and Severity. We experience this energy in us as volition or will-power. Abraham is associated with the emanation of Mercy and Compassion. On the Tree, Strength and Severity flows out of Mercy and Compassion.

Often, we think and act as if will-power is a creation of our conscious self or ego. We push ourselves with harsh tactics (judgment, extreme actions, self-blame, etcetera), thinking this is will-power. In this way, we make something that is God given, that is truly experienced only in connection to our Inner Divine Spirit, a work of our ego. Something ego or self-created takes our focus and intent away from connecting to what is God given in our psyches/souls in the Self.

The Self, the organizing principle of our psyche (which Carl Jung said is a part of God that God put in us so that we would know there is a God) contains the libido/life force that is true volition. When we align with our life force, we have the energy we call will-power. We recognize that this energy comes from following the desires of the larger Self versus the little self or ego.

Symbolically, Isaac represents the sense of volition or will that the ego feels. It may or may not be self/ego generated or Self given. Abraham represents a larger self that knows ego generated will is unsustainable. This is a clue for discerning the origin of one’s sense of will-power/ Strength and Severity. Is it abusive, punitive, legalistic, or spiteful? Or, is it merciful and compassionate, supportive and nurturing, tearing down only that which no longer gives life? The former flows from an ego disconnected from the Inner Divine; the latter flows to the ego from a conscious connection with the Inner Divine Spirit. Mercy and Compassion always accompany Divine Will or Volition!

The story of Abraham offers a picture of a movement necessary to clarify the will of our Self/Divine Within. Abraham is willing to follow what he experiences as God’s direction. He is willing to sacrifice what he has helped create (his son). He trusts that the right sacrifice will be provided. He says to Isaac, “God will provide himself with a young beast for the sacrifice.” (v. 8) Abraham moves forward as directed, willing to give up what he has created and sustained (his son). In the end, a ram is provided for the sacrifice. The ram is symbolic of passions and desires that are disconnected from the Self.

A sacrifice has to happen when we seek connection to the Divine Within. We, our ego, must be willing to surrender what we think and feel in order to know the desires and longings of our soul. The Inner Divine speaks to us through our body sensations, impulses, intuitions, and emotions. Our passions and our desires are conduits of our soul. Learning to discern what these mean as expressions of the Inner Divine requires a willingness to give up our ego interpretations of the inner experiences. Our creation has to be offered to the Divine Within for proving.

Sometimes, we are afraid to follow and consider our desires and longings. We may fear making a mistake; or we may fear giving up something our ego values and wants. We may fear seeing aspects of our selves that are different from whom we think we are. We may not want to see that our ego is moving towards something that is contrary to our soul or Self/Divine Within. We may want to avoid emotions, sensations, thoughts, and feelings that are accompanied by guilt and shame. Whatever our reluctance, the ego-Self axis is strengthened when we are willing to give up our ego ideals for the desires and longing of the Divine Within.

Take a few minutes to reflect on where you are struggling. Is there a sense of a sacrifice or letting go that needs to happen? Are you holding on to your ego created and ego sustained ways of interpreting and acting? Consider the passions and longings that are involved in the struggle. Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to show you the next steps in resolving the struggle. Be willing to know and act upon the desires of the Self/Divine Within.

Luke 1: 39-45(46-55)

2010-02-02T05:45:00.000-08:00

Luke 1: 36 and 45 (12/20/09)
“Moreover your kinswoman Elizabeth has herself conceived a son in her old age; and she who is reputed barren is now in her sixth month, for God’s promises can never fail….How happy is she who has had faith that the Lord’s promise would be fulfilled.”

Sometimes we know something deep in our gut. There’s an energetic resonance we feel, but can’t explain. The sensation that is not really physical, but nonetheless felt, tells us something. If we listen, there is usually a word or phrase that seems to correspond to the felt sense. Sometimes, there are sensory experiences of our connection to something larger than our selves. Out of such moments, the knowing called faith comes.

The word faith comes from the Latin word fidere which means to trust. In a religious connotation, it means to believe. Trust and belief in our embodied experience are the basis of life. Each day, we move in response to our felt experience. Most people do this without any conscious awareness. After saying or doing something, we may reflect on what we were feeling/experiencing that prompted the action. In the moment, we just act (with inner thoughts or outer expressions), automatically trusting and believing our perceptions.

The spiritual path of Incarnation and the psychological path of individuation involve moving toward a conscious awareness of what we trust and believe. Our felt sensory data/perception is automatically filtered through assumptions that have grown out of prior experiences. The assumed beliefs and ideas may be true about an experience or set of experiences one had; but, they may not be true about the whole of life. They may not be congruent with the reality of the Divine that flows into our psyches/souls.

Carl Jungs’s model of psyche reminds us that our psyche/soul is connected to the numinous/spiritual realm as the Self (God Within) is the organizing principle of our psyche. The energies that have been depicted as gods and goddesses throughout history are at work in us. These energies (called archetypes as they are overarching templates of how feeling states operate) are larger that any one experience. The presence and activation of these energies in us break us out of limiting, distorted beliefs and ideas held by our ego (conscious sense of self).

To live the truth of who we are requires a conscious awareness and choice to let go of distorted ideas and beliefs that limit the Inner Divine Spirit to the pathways of expression based on prior experiences. Today’s scripture reminds us that things can happen that are outside the patterned, conditioned experience. Elizabeth, “who is reputed barren”, is pregnant. What seemed impossible has happened!

The starting point of faith is one’s sensory experience. By striving to see and feel and know the Divine Within our life, we move towards felt experiences that allow us to perceive and move in new ways. By connecting to the something in us—that we know and feel as the strength and center point of our psyche—we connect to the something in us that is the Inner Divine Spirit. We each have to find our own way of doing this. One’s experience of faith and connection to the Divine Within/Self is specific to that person.

Take a few minutes today to seek and consciously acknowledge the Inner Divine within you. A simple practice of sitting quietly and becoming aware of one’s breath as a connection to the Ruach/Breath of God is a starting point. For each “in” breath, hold the intention of feeling your connection to the Divine; with each “out” breath, release the distorted ideas and beliefs that block a conscious knowing of your Inner Divine Spirit.

Revelation 21: 1-8

2009-12-13T06:26:00.000-08:00

Revelation 21: 1-8

vs. 1, 6, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had vanished, and there was no longer any sea….(God said) I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. A draught from the water-springs of life will be my free gift to the thirsty.”

The vision of John recorded in the book of Revelation is considered apocalyptic literature as it presents imagery of the end of the world as known and the new world that emerges. The “end of times” has evoked much speculation and emotionality as people wonder about what it means to our earth community. Perhaps, we are better served when we consider the scripture symbolically as a metaphor for what happens to a person as he/she individuates.

Carl Jung described individuation as an instinctive process whereby we move towards living more congruently from the Self/God Within. This means separating from the learned roles, adaptive responses, and habit patterns that are rote and out of sync with the truth of our soul. The “should, must, and ought to” injunctions that take authority away from the Inner Divine Spirit have to be acknowledged and released.

The destruction of old ways of thinking, feeling, emoting, sensing, and perceiving has a ripple effect. The inner changes translate into attitudes, ways of interacting, choices, and behavioral responses that alter our being in the world. As a result, our relationships, surroundings, and circumstances are changed.

The “new heaven and a new earth” are symbols of the new thoughts, beliefs, mental processes, reflective responses, cellular patterns, instinctive urges, and behaviors that emerge as we consciously choose to align with the Self/God Within. Anyone who has courageously acted on the guidance of the Inner Divine to make changes in their ways of being with self, Self/God Within, and others has experienced the destruction of the old world and the emergence of the new.

Destruction is always messy and anxiety provoking at the least! If we reflect on tumultuous changes that have occurred in our lives, we can appreciate the sensational images that surround “the end of time”. The unexpected positives as well as negatives can upset the status quo and balance of our lives. Divorces, marriages, births, deaths, job changes, and geographical moves are just a few of the life events that demand inner shifts and a new world order. When we make changes that flow from the Inner Divine, we are sustained by the source of life, the Divine Within.

The scripture reads, “(God said), A draught from the water-springs of life will be my free gift to the thirsty.” The water of life is an ancient and powerful symbol of our libido or life force through which the Divine manifests in us. The “water-springs of life" is a beautiful image of the Self, the point of connection to God within our psyches. When we draw strength and compassion from the Self, there is a deep sense of inner peace that sustains us through outer turmoil, changes, and difficult emotions. The path of individuation, as well as many spiritual disciplines, cultivates the connection between Self/God Within and ego so that it is readily accessible. This is the gift of the Self/God Within to those who seek.

Consider the state of your “heaven and earth”. Create a picture with images or words that reflect the feeling tone of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of your life at this time. Note what is old, worn out, or destructive to you and your life. Celebrate what is new and life giving. Ask the Inner Divine to show you the next step in leaving the old, life destroying ways and receiving and living more fully the ways of the new. Be courageous in seeing, receiving, and moving!

Philippians 4:4-7

2009-12-13T06:23:00.001-08:00

Philippians 4:4-7

v.6, “The Lord is near; have no anxiety, but in everything make your requests known to God in prayer and petition with thanksgiving. Then the peace of God, which is beyond our utmost understanding, will keep guard over your hearts and your thoughts, in Christ Jesus.”

Anxiety is a common human experience. We all know what it feels like, because we have experienced it in some form. The first definition of anxiety in Webster’s Dictionary is “painful or apprehensive uneasiness of mind usually over an impending or anticipated ill.” The Advent season ushers in a time of anxiety for most as we attend to the outer demands of the season’s celebrations. We get caught feeling as if we have to do it all ourselves or something bad will happen. The anxiety sets in!

When we shift our focus to the symbolic, spiritual meaning of the Advent and Christmas seasons, we are offered an image of the way out of the anxiety—preparing for the birth of the Divine Child within us. Symbolically, the birth of Christ reminds us of the presence of the Divine Within/the Self (versus the ego/self) that is ever seeking ways to manifest in us. Our body experiences, our emotions, feelings, thoughts, and actions are the “children” of our psyche/soul. They are shaped according to the beliefs and resulting affects, conscious/known or unconscious/unknown, with which the ego/self is most identified.

The affirmation, “The Lord is near”, reminds us that the energy of the Christ, the Divine Essence Within, is close to us. In Jungian analytical psychology, the Divine Essence is referred to as the Self, with a capital “S”. The Self is the organizing principle of our psyche/soul, and is “the voice of God that God put in us so we would know there is a God.” We do not have to travel anywhere to know God; we only have to look within and be willing to see and hear the truth of our psyche/soul.

When we turn our attention inward, we begin to consciously connect to the energies of the Self by dialoguing with whatever is there. The inner dialogue, known as active imagination, goes on without conscious attention all the time. Think about the conflicting voices in your head: “I want a brownie… No, you don’t. You need to loose weight.” “He’s bad for me. I can’t see him…I can’t leave him alone.” “I want something to be different…I can’t do anything different.”

By attending to our inner dialogue and consciously engaging whatever “voices” or feelings we have, we open to understanding ourselves more fully. We can then build a relationship to whatever energies are behind the thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc. that we are experiencing. This relationship facilitates and invites an inner shift from anxious, problematic states to peaceful, joyous ones. In this way, “prayer and petition with thanksgiving” can be made to God as we live in relationship to the Self.

Take a few minutes to shift your focus to your inner process and to call on the Inner Divine Spirit for guidance. Acknowledge your anxieties and see where they live in your body. Dialogue with the Divine Within and ask for clarity and direction regarding these. Open to the birth of new ways of being—perceiving, feeling, thinking, and moving—that will move you toward peace and joy.

Psalm 82

2009-11-12T06:23:00.000-08:00

Psalm 82

v. 1, “God takes his stand in the court of heaven to deliver judgment among the gods themselves.”

Some Biblical scholars see the reference to “gods” as a mythological motif borrowed from the Canaanite pantheon. Others understand “gods” to be a reference to human judges. From the perspective of Analytical Psychology, “gods” aptly names the numinous archetypal energies that we experience first through our affects. Archetypes are universal templates that carry a specific feeling tone and blueprint for how the body senses, intuits, feels, and responds in its presence. Due to their unconscious origin, one/the ego often feels overwhelmed, knocked off balance, or swept away by them.

Maturation involves learning to meet, name, relate, and respond intentionally to the archetypal energies presenting in us through our instincts. Carl Jung notes that from the psychological standpoint there are five main categories of instinctive factors: hunger, sexuality, activity, reflection, and creativity. Children need help in learning how to name, understand, and make sense of these in relationship to themselves and others. To the degree this does not happen, we learn to resist the impact of the archetypes (which show up as affects and impulses) by engaging various patterns of muscular tension and limited emotional expression.

Fear of what is felt in the bodymind as unbidden sensations, intuitions, thoughts, and feelings result in holding on to what we have learned we are “supposed to” feel, think, do, etc. Wherever we experience problematic recurring muscular tension or emotional and relational loops, an archetypal energy has been blocked. For instance, tension in one’s legs may hold blocked aggression that can move us toward what we want. It may be blocked out of guilt or shame that what we want is not acceptable according to our learned beliefs or the collective. Chronic tightness in the upper torso may correspond to closed-heartedness towards self and others maintained by past, painful love experiences.

We sometimes feel helpless in the face of our bodymind responses. Within our psyche, there is a center, a core that Jung called the Self. The Self is an extension of God, the Divine Essence that holds us together on every plane— physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. It corresponds theologically to God, and may be seen as the representation or manifestation of God in our bodymind. The Self is the totality of who we are; it contains all aspects of the self/ego, body and mind. When we reach for the Self, we begin to connect to the totality of who we are instead of the momentary feeling, thought, desire, etc. We realize that there is an Inner Divine Spirit that manifests in the Intelligence of the Self and sorts the energies of our psyche and “delivers judgment among the gods (archetypal affects)".

We are continually choosing whether to seek and connect to the Self or to stay attached to the smallness of self/ego. Consciousness is contra naturam; it goes against nature. We must be intentional and deliberate to cultivate the ego-Self axis (an image that depicts the connection through which ego and Self dialogue). We do this by developing the capacity for self-awareness in the moment, paying attention to our embodied experience, listening for the message of sensations or emotions, exploring the imagery of our waking and night dreams, honoring the validity of our impulses and desires, being open to what is emerging within us, accepting the non-rational, mysterious, and unknown aspects of the Self/self, and asking the Self for guidance and transformation.

Take a few minutes to reach for the Self/God Within by verbalizing on paper or out loud the ego’s concerns and desires at this time. Ask for guidance in seeing and knowing what is, and how to move in life giving ways. Sit silently and listen. Be open throughout the day to new thoughts, feelings, impulses, or desires—openings---that may be the Inner Divine Spirit’s response to your seeking.

Wisdom of Solomon 3: 1-11

2009-11-10T05:32:00.000-08:00

Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-11

vs. 5-6, “and after a little chastisement they will receive great blessings, because God has tested them and found them worthy to be his. Like gold in a crucible he put them to the proof, and found them acceptable like an offering burnt whole upon the altar.”

Most of us think back to high school chemistry or math at the idea of “putting something to the proof”. In Medieval times, alchemy was a science that attempted to turn base metals into gold. Today’s scripture offers the alchemical image of heating gold so that the impurities are removed and it is proved. When we look at 10K gold, 14K gold, and 24K gold, side by side, we see the emerging brilliance that comes as the gold is heated to become more and more pure.

Carl Jung viewed alchemy as a metaphor of the individuation process. Individuation refers to an innate drive that prompts us to live according to our Inner Divine Spirit/Self’s guidance. Our inner guidance is often interrupted by learned and adapted ways of being and expressing that grow from previous experiences. Often, our suffering is a result of the conflict between the Divine Within/Self and the adaptive self/ego. We may experience the resulting difficulties and struggles as testing or chastisement from an outer God.

In Webster’s Dictionary, the archaic meaning of chastise is “chasten”. Chasten is defined as: “1. to correct by punishment or suffering: discipline, purify; 2. to prune of excess, pretense, or falsity: refine.” As gold is purified through heating, so our ego/bodymind is refined as we choose to encounter all in our life as “a dealing of God with our souls.” .Great philosophers throughout the ages have reminded us, “To thine own self be true.” We do not know who we truly are until we wrestle with the learned ways and the adaptive personas (roles) that thwart the free flow of our Inner Divine Spirit/Self into our ego/bodymind. Seeking to know God Within is the way through all experiences that feel like chastisement, testing, or being put to the proof.

The Tree of Life is a symbolic template of the energies of the Divine that went into the soul of man and the world soul at the time of Creation. On the Tree, the path that connects our automatic consciousness or vital (animal) soul with the Ruach or Divine Within is known as “The Intelligence of Trial and Probation”. It is said, “This is the first path whereby the Creator tries the adept (spiritual aspirant). Our vital soul is the reflexive, instinctive responses. Part of any spiritual path, including individuation, is cultivation of a conscious connection between the instinctive, reflexive self and the Self/God Within (the totality of who we are). We can choose to respond blindly from the reflexive, instinctive soul; or, we can build a conscious relationship to the Divine Within/Self and follow its lead.

Where is the gold of your soul being purified? In the crucible of life, we struggle where the Inner Divine Self clashes with outer expectations or circumstances that the ego has adopted. Where do you “feel the heat” in your bodymind at this time? See these situations as an opportunity for the purifying and refining of your bodymind to more beautifully hold and express your Inner Divine Spirit. Willingly allow the impurities of your self/ego to be “burned away”. Imagine stepping into the beauty you are, and living more fully your Inner Divine Self. Follow the energy and act accordingly!

Nehemiah 1: 1-11

2009-11-03T06:27:00.000-08:00

Nehemiah 1: 1-11

v. 4, “When I heard this news, I sat down and wept; I mourned for some days, fasting and praying to the God of heaven.”

Our culture has a penchant for making everything light, bright, and happy. The hedonistic mentality of pleasure in the moment, no matter what, leaves no place for the necessary periods of grieving and mourning that are a part of the cycle of life. We forget that in order for something new to come, something old must go.

The season of fall teaches us the necessity of the old dying and letting go in order for new growth to come. As the beautiful, colorful leaves fall to the ground, the dead is pushed away by the spore of the leaf that’s coming. By letting go, the dead makes space for the new to appear.

In order for us to grow, we must be willing to let go of “that which no longer grows us corn”--old deadening habits, thought patterns, beliefs, relationships, pursuits, emotional expectations, etc. Sometimes, the dead is attached to family, institutional, or cultural traditions. What was once beautiful and healthy and life giving, just as the green leaves of spring, has changed colors and is dying. The season and time for that way of being with oneself, family, friends, coworkers, and world has passed. These aspects of the self must change/die.

We know what is dying by the stench it creates. The stench manifests in numerous ways. Physically, we may become ill, have accidents, persist in self-destructive behaviors (overeating, promiscuity), or experience increasing muscular tension. Emotionally, we may feel angry, resentful, bitter, apathetic, or stifled. Mentally, we may obsess, zone out, numb, or stay in fantasy. Spiritually, we may align with fear, go into “overdrive” as if we are omnipotent, or become depressed. Unlike trees, we humans can block the emergence of new life by holding on to what is known. The stench is the result!

It is an act of courage, and a necessary step in individuation, to consciously let go of ways of being that block living the truth of that which you know from God Within. (Individuation is Carl Jung’s term for the process of letting go of the learned ways of being that block embodying and consciously living in relationship to God Within/the Self). As we willingly grow, we experience loss and we feel sad. Grief shows up with its stages of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Consciously feeling and moving through these emotions allow us to clear our psychic space. The clearing creates a fertile void in which the new can grow.

I invite you to identify what in your life is dead or dying. Look in every plane—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Become willing to consciously let go of the old and to receive the new. Grieve and mourn the loss, and GROW! With every leaf you see falling today, ask your Inner Divine Spirit to help you let go and remember the new is coming!

Ephesians 2: 13-22

2009-10-29T07:36:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 2: 13-22

Vs. 14, 16, “For he is himself our peace, Gentiles and Jews, he has made the two one, and in his own body of flesh and blood has broken down the enmity which stood like a dividing wall between them…This was his purpose, to reconcile the two in a single body to God through the cross, on which he killed the enmity.”

When we consider the scripture stated from a viewpoint of analytical psychology, each of the characters is an aspect of our psyche/soul. The Gentiles and the Jews can be seen as symbols of the instincts and archetypes within us. Instincts are automatic, reflexive impulses to respond to stimuli in certain ways; archetypes are automatic, unbidden affective states that create desire that propels us to move in certain ways. Instincts are like the infrared end of the light spectrum; archetypes are like the ultraviolet. Instincts are associated with the body and release somatic tension; archetypes are associated with the spirit and bring new expressions of one’s self. We all have suffered from the split between the two as the Gentiles and the Jews suffered from their division.

As Christ made the two one, referring to the Gentiles and Jews, God Within us unites antagonistic aspects of our nature. The antagonistic aspects usually show up as an impulse to respond in a certain way (i.e., eat for comfort, purchase something that catches the eye, call an “ex” who is hurtful to you because you feel lonely, ending a relationship or changing jobs) and a desire for something different (i.e., eating only when physically hungry, no impulse shopping, keeping healthy boundaries and finding new friends, wanting the relationship or job). There are innumerable ways in which we experience opposition within ourselves that fosters ill will or hatred of our self.

We have all felt volleyed back and forth between opposites in our nature. We decide on one way, but the other creeps up and interferes. The ego alone does not have the capacity to resolve the conflict in a way that unites the opposites and creates a unifying third (option). The Self or God Within us does have that capacity just as Christ had that effect with the Gentiles and Jews.

In analytical psychology, Carl Jung wrote about the phenomenon of “The Transcendent Function”. Simply stated, “The Transcendent Function” is an organic process that kicks in when we consciously relate to opposing positions and hold both within our bodymind simultaneously. Doing so, the uniting third emerges; it happens spontaneously. Our tendency is to align with one side and dismiss the other. Thus, we continue being tossed to and fro within our selves. To invite the Transcendent Function, we must consciously experience and hold the antagonistic energies together until the third emerges.

The cross is an apt symbol for the expression of God Within through the Transcendent Function. The opposites (literally, vertical and horizontal arms that we could say symbolize archetype and instinct) are united. A sacrifice is made as each must yield to the other as a union is formed.

Take a few minutes to acknowledge the conflicts within you. Flesh out the opposites by feeling into them. What are the ideas, beliefs, body sensations, emotions, and images that accompany them? (Journaling can be helpful in doing this.) Hold the opposites together and open for the Inner Divine Spirit to provide the uniting third.

Matthew 13: 1-9

2009-10-26T11:23:00.000-07:00

Matthew 13: 1-9

v.8, “And some of the seed fell into good soil, where it bore fruit, yielding a hundredfold, or it might be sixtyfold, or thirtyfold.”

The Parable of the Sower gives us a picture of what happens as seeds of the Self/God Within try to grow in our bodymind. (I use the term bodymind to denote the totality of our self/Self as a human being. According to Carl Jung, “the body and the mind are the same thing, just different densities of the same energy.” ) The seeds that fall into “good soil” grow; those that fall along the “footpath, rocky ground, and among thistles” do not grow to maturity. Considered symbolically, each of these represents a state of consciousness within the psyche that either facilitates the manifestation of the Divine Self or thwarts it.

Symbolically, the good soil is the bodymind that is open and receptive to the seeds of the Inner Divine Spirit as they appear. The ego/self tends the soil of the bodymind through any practices, disciplines, or pursuits that increase self-awareness, facilitate consciousness, build relationship between the ego and the larger Self/God Within. Common ways of doing this include journaling, contemplative prayer practices, conscious movement, active imagination, dreamwork, self-reflection, etc. Our psyche is the garden whose soil we must till, fertilize, weed, water, and harvest! Good soil for gardening is off the footpath, and free of rocks and thistles.

Psychologically, the footpath represents the common, well worn way. It is the habituated responses and the “norm” for how we (and those around us) do things. The footpath often becomes a rut. The soil becomes packed down, and nothing is able to penetrate it. Thus, it cannot grow anything new. The scripture reads, “Some seed fell along the footpath; and the birds came and ate it up.” The birds represent ideas and beliefs we hold. Consider how often ideas and beliefs you hold interfere with something new growing. You have an urge or desire that is filled with your Inner Divine Spirit and a little voice from within vetoes it. “You can’t do that!” “That’s not you!” “You’re too old!” Whatever the words or idea, it stops the new from penetrating and growing.

The symbol of rocky ground aptly represents the aspects of our bodymind where we are too tight, too tense, too inert, too fixated, and too cold to accept anything new. New seeds come, but they are not able to take root. The scripture says, “And it sprouted quickly because it had no depth of earth; but when the sun rose the young corn was scorched, and as it had no root it withered away.” Wherever we pay lip service to the prompting of the Self, but do not act on it, the seed has fallen on rocky ground.

The thistles are the symbol for all the clutter and busyness of our inner and outer lives that take up the space and light needed by the new. Of the seeds that fell among the thistles, the scripture says, “and the thistles shot up, and choked the corn.” We know our inner “thistles” as the prickly thoughts that sting us because of their criticality and judgment. They take our energy and focus as we feel shame and guilt that prevent movement, thus preventing the growth of the new. We get mired down in non-productive thinking and obsessions. The outer life “thistles” are the multitude of tasks and activities that distract us from tending to ourselves.

Take a few minutes to consider the state of your bodymind in light of the parable. Identify where the seeds of your Inner Divine Spirit are showing up. Perhaps there is a new urge, impulse, desire, or feeling prompting a new attitude or behavior. Is it falling on “good soil, the footpath, rocks, or among thistles”? Be a good gardener and utilize whatever tools you have to make yourself receptive and open to the manifestation of the Divine within you.

Matthew 12: 43-50

2009-10-22T05:53:00.000-07:00

Matthew 12: 43-50

vs. 43-45, “When an unclean spirit comes out of a man it wanders over the deserts seeking a resting-place, and finds none. Then it says, “I will go back to the home I left.” So it returns and finds the house unoccupied, swept clean, and tidy. Off it goes and collects seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they all come in and settle down; and in the end the man’s plight is worse than before.”

Symbolically, we can think of an unclean spirit as that energy which is not the truth, purity, and beauty of one’s innate Inner Divine Spirit. It is that which is not of our true nature or soul. Unclean spirit can refer to habits, attitudes, and behaviors that one has adopted because the surrounding community and collective say it’s the “right” way or the "in" thing. Sometimes the unclean can be very nice, neat, and pretty! What makes it unclean is the lack of congruency with one’s truth—the truth of one’s Inner Teacher that comes through embodied sensory (including the inner senses) experience.

Connecting with our Inner Divine Spirit is the way to face and no longer “house” unclean spirits. As we seek to know and live out of the knowing of who we are and who were created to be, our “house” is filled with who we are; we are not empty, so the “unclean spirits” have no where to reside. Symbolically, house refers to our personality or body/mind. The Kabbalah teaches that the personality or body/mind is the vehicle for the Divine to manifest. St Paul writes that our body is the temple of God. By recognizing this truth, we can build a conscious relationship between our personality/ego and God Within, so that our Inner Divine Spirit shapes and expresses in who we are.

Carl Jung stated that neurosis or emotional distress occurs when one lives out of an adaptive self to the detriment of the innate Self. Our adaptive self is shaped by all that we have learned and internalized from the outside world. The innate Self is the core essence of whom we (know we) are on a deep, guttural level. The essence of the Self makes itself known to us in our impulses, desires, longings, movements, etc. We all have felt the conflict between our gut knowing and desire and an adaptive self expectation. For example, knowing one is exhausted and needs to rest, but pushing to take an additional responsibility because someone has asked; going along with an activity or conversation even though it is not consistent with personal values; agreeing with another’s opinion even when you think differently. We are constantly choosing where to align. We can be empty of our Self, and free to house and express an “unclean spirit”—that which is not our truth; or, we can dare to feel, acknowledge, and express our Inner Divine Spirit.

Take a few minutes to reflect on the house of your personality and body/mind. Where do you feel you are living with an unclean spirit? What is the truth of your Inner Divine Spirit in this matter? Choose to be filled with your Inner Divine Spirit that the purity of God Within can manifest in your sensations, emotions, feelings, thoughts, etc.

1 Corinthians 12:27-14:3

2009-10-14T18:17:00.000-07:00

1 Corinthians 12:27-13:3

v. 27, “Now you are Christ’s body, and each of you a limb or organ of it.”

Paul’s statement to the Christian community at Corinth, “Now you are Christ’s body, and each of you a limb or organ of it,” gives a picture of how we, humanity, are interrelated and “one”. Each individual has a place, role, and function in the collective. The collective is a whole in which we are impacted by each other constantly, because we are connected energetically as we share “Christ’s Body”.

“Christ’s Body” can be understood as a symbol for the collective unconscious. Carl Jung postulated the presence of the collective unconscious within the human psyche as the source of universal templates (patterns of experiencing and behaving) that we have in common because we are born human. He observed the interconnectedness of humanity as he tracked the appearance of mythological and religious stories and symbols. The same themes and images appeared worldwide, simultaneously, without exchange between cultures. For Jung, the simultaneous appearance of the templates (known as archetypes) proved a shared source of consciousness. It also suggests that what comes to be known in one person stimulates or parallels that knowing in another. The collective unconscious or “Christ’s body” is the vehicle through which this happens.

Sometimes, we feel as if we don’t matter. We may feel disconnected from other people, and as if no one would notice our absence. Yet, we all feel the effects when an organ or limb of our physical body is not “present”—not functioning. It does matter! In the same way, we each matter; our presence and functioning is needed by the whole (humanity). A healthy body needs all parts fulfilling their raison d’être. So it is with the collective and us. We need each other to live as who we were created to be. Our individual and collective health is dependent upon knowing our essence and living accordingly.

Take a few minutes to reflect on your sense of self. What do you know about yourself? What is a mystery? What do you believe about who you are and who you are to become? Where are you living as who you truly are? Where are you caught in a false persona/role? Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to help you see more clearly and fully the totality of who you are and your raison d’être. Be courageous, and act on what you receive.

1 Corinthians 13: (1-3)4-13

2009-10-14T05:44:00.001-07:00

1 Corinthians 13: (1-3)4-13

vs. 11-12, “When I was a child, my speech, my outlook, and my thoughts were all childish. When I grew up, I had finished with childish things. Now we see only puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we shall see face to face. My knowledge now is partial; then it will be whole, like God’s knowledge of me.” (New English Bible)
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly; but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” (New Revised Standard Version)

Children live in a magical world of superheroes, fairy god mothers, bad witches, monsters, etc. Their inner world of unknown and unseen body sensations, emotions, etc. plays out in the fantasies of their games, stories, etc. An infant or young child does not have the capacity to name their emotions and make sense of their sensations without the help of adults. Thus, they are expressed symbolically in fantasies, games, play activity, body symptoms, etc. The psychological dynamic of projection, where an unknown affect/feeling from inside us gets projected outward onto something or someone, is at work. (For instance, we may have unconscious anger at another; so, we perceive them as angry instead of acknowledging our feeling.) The dynamic is at play throughout our life span. In this way, we encounter aspects of ourselves in the outside world.

Psychologically, one of the markers of an adult is the ability to discern the nuances of sensation and emotion they experience. They are able to make sense of them through thoughts and feelings that connect the realities of their inner experience to the outer world. Adults recognize their fantasies (images, fleeting thoughts, unbidden emotions) and projections (what they attribute to another) as information about themselves. They look to see what is true, to discern what is self/Self and what is other/another. They recognize the truth of Jung’s statement, “that the world has no face other than that which we give it.” The Qabbalists echo this in saying, “whatever face we give God is that which he shows us”.

Psychologically, the Kingdom of Heaven symbolizes the state of consciousness where we know experientially, in our body and mind, that we are one with the Self (God Within). We live in a perfect balance of the beauty of our soul. It is a place of conscious unity between ego and Self. This state of consciousness is innate within us, but we often lose connection with the felt experience and expression of this knowing. Outside responses to us that trigger feelings of mistrust, shame, and guilt interfere with our receptivity to our Inner Divine Spirit.

Like children, we are at the mercy of our emotions and sensations when we do not apply to ourselves the consciousness that we have developed. Consciousness expresses in the abilities to see, to focus, to assess, to choose, to act. Sometimes, we are blocked in applying our consciousness to ourselves because “we see only dimly”. When we see “the puzzling reflections”, we need to seek guidance from the Self and ask to be shown that which is unclear or distorted. This is a key to our life giving movement as adults. (Working with a skilled counselor, psychoanalyst, or healer can be helpful in seeing what is unseen.)

Consider how you move in the world and how you manage outer world demands to see the skills, abilities, and resources you have within you. Where are you stuck in unknowing or confusion about your inner experience? Consciously apply the resources you have within that you might see more clearly and fully to make sense of your inner and outer worlds. Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to help you feel and know the presence and beauty of your soul.

Job 23:1-9, 16-17

2009-10-12T10:56:00.000-07:00

Job 23:1-9, 16-17

vs. 4, 15b, 17, “I would state my case before him and set out my arguments in full….when I think about him, I am afraid…yet I am not reduced to silence by the darkness nor by the mystery which hides him.”

In An Answer to Job, Carl Jung wrote about the psychological meaning of Job’s suffering and its outcome. His concluding premise was that God needed Job in order to see himself more clearly. Job’s attempts to stay in relationship to God, even when he felt ignored by him, were finally met by God. Staying in relationship with God is what vindicated Job in the end.

Job was bold enough to be willing to talk with God, even though he was afraid. As he suffered, Job struggled to understand what was happening and why. He reflected on his life, and he stated what he saw, believed, and experienced. He acknowledged the presence of the darkness and mystery of life, but he continued to speak from his experience and viewpoint.

Psychologically, Job’s struggle with God symbolizes the ego’s struggle with the Self (totality of psyche/soul, God Within). Ego is synonymous with the conscious self. Ego is formed by what we see and know about ourselves. The darkness and mystery of the Self is all that is unconscious, both our personal patterns and the archetypal/instinctive templates that are reflexive.

Our suffering often originates from unconscious patterns that wreak havoc with our ego’s emotions, feelings, perceiving, thinking, etc. One may feel “(the Self’s) hand is heavy on me in my trouble.” At these times, the ego may try to go it alone. We may resort to known patterns of behavior and relationship with our selves and others even if they are problematic and limiting. The ego’s reliance only on what is known, without openness to seeing the unconscious Self, is ultimately self defeating. It is in the willingness to engage the unknown, the darkness and mystery of the Self, we are restored to health and vitality in life.

Take a few minutes to acknowledge where you are suffering in any way—physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. Look to see what you know about the situation and yourself. Pay attention to the emotions and affects that are present and note what they trigger in your body and mind. State what you know to yourself, and the Self. Open to see the workings of the darkness and mystery of the Inner Divine Spirit that can bring healing/wholeness.

Job 1:1, 2:1-10

2009-10-06T17:53:00.000-07:00

Job 1:1, 2:1-10

v. 10, “‘If we accept good from God, shall we not accept evil?’ Throughout all this, Job did not utter one sinful word.”

The idea of a God that is author of both good and evil is distasteful to many people. Yet, today’s scripture makes it clear that all comes from God. Psychologically, the Self is the manifestation of God within our psyches. Carl Jung wrote, “The Self is the originator of that which is both helpful, and injurious to the self.” When we grasp that all we think, feel, say, and experience has a seed of the Self/God in it, we are able to move beyond the surface appearance that may appear “evil” to the unseen energies and dynamics at play.

The Kabbalistic definition of evil is “misapplied force”. Misapplied force means utilizing an energy in a way that is opposite of what is needed or how it is intended. For instance, a heap of coals in the fireplace is “good”, a heap of coals on a rug is “evil”. Whether we utilize something in service of life or against life is the determinant of whether it is evil. Coals in the fireplace serve life, coals on the rug only burn the rug! Anger that prompts a change in one’s action serves life; anger that constellates rage keeps one stuck as it destroys the movement prompted by the emotion.

The dynamics of destruction, creation, and integration are always working in and around us. They are at work in the body process of metabolism which includes anabolic (building up) and catabolic (destroying) phases. Both are necessary for the synthesis or integration of new cells. These dynamics are present in our lives on all four planes: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. When we understand that something old must go in order for something new to come, we can align with the life cycle of creation, destruction, and integration. We can utilize whatever appears within us--usually as a sensation, emotion, or desire prompting an image, thought, or impulse--in sync with the appropriate phase of the cycle.

When we feel we have been wronged by God or the Self, it can serve us well to look for what and how the forces of destruction, creation, and integration are moving within us. Is your emotion being expressed to create your heart’s desires, or to inadvertently thwart and “destroy” them? Do your thoughts create images that reflect your heart’s desires or stifle them? Do you align with the totality of the Inner Divine Spirit or do you judge some expressions and dismiss them?

Take a few moments to reflect on what is being created in your life and what is being destroyed. Ask the Self/God Within to show you the life cycle at work so that you may see beyond what seems “evil”, and respond to the energy within you in service of your Inner Divine Spirit.

Matthew 7: 13-21

2009-10-05T07:25:00.000-07:00

Matthew 7: 13-21

vs. 13-14, “Enter by the narrow gate. The gate is wide that leads to perdition, there is plenty of room on the road, and many go that way; but the gate that leads to life is small and the road is narrow, and those who find it are few.”

“Be bold, be true, be real, be you!” Perhaps, the meaning of the “narrow gate” is reflected in this statement. The narrow gate is narrow because only you fit through it! To walk the path of incarnating the Divine Spirit that flows through you is a path that only you can walk. No one else can “go that way”. They must go their way.

Webster’s Dictionary defines perdition as “utter destruction”. From the perspective of analytical psychology, a person suffers when they live according to learned and assumed guidelines and roles in place of the guidance of their Inner Divine Spirit. Each of our psyches/souls has a direction or gradient that our life force will naturally follow if not blocked. It is the job of our ego/self to embody and live the realities of our Inner Divine Spirit.

Why does our libido/life force get blocked and sometimes seem “utterly destroyed”? Our ego/self mediates between the Self (God Within and the totality of our psyche) and the outer world and collective consciousness. Collective consciousness includes the beliefs, attitudes, and ways of expressing held by our families, schools, churches, communities, states, nations, etc. In order to get the basic needs of safety, which include emotional safety, and love and belonging met, the ego/self may censor or block the natural flow of one’s life force. One finds “plenty of room on the road, (as) many go that way.” The populous road is the way of the collective that does not allow for the unique and valuable expressions of the Divine that only you embody.

As we mature psychologically and spiritually, the ego/self has the choice of which “gate” to enter. By building a conscious relationship to our inner workings and the unconscious, we can discern who we really are and connect to our life force to live accordingly. We must face our fears, our past wounds, and our longing for love and belonging in order to facilitate the free flow of our Inner Divine Spirit. The ego/self chooses by intention and attention what gate to enter. By seeing and holding to the reality of our Inner DivineSpirit over past experiences or learned beliefs and attitudes, we will find life in the fullest sense of the word!

Where are you entering the world through the narrow gate of who you are? Where are you walking the path of many? Compassionately see and meet the blocks that stop you from living. Ask your Inner Divine Spirit for courage and healing to fully embody you. Hold the intention to “Be bold, be true, be real, be you!”

Matthew 6: 19-24

2009-09-30T09:07:00.001-07:00

Matt. 6:19-24

v. 22, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eyes are sound, you will have light for your whole body; if the eyes are bad, your whole body will be in darkness.”

Universally, light is a symbol for consciousness. Consciousness refers to the state of being in which a person has self-awareness that is grounded in the body and flows from one’s own mind. It implies a connection to and association with the ego. A lamp lights up the dark. How and what we see shapes our sense of self and our expression of the Self/God Within!

On the Qabalistic Tree of Life, the eye is associated with the path that connects the energy of our “Holy Guardian Angel”, our Divine Self, to our intellect. Our intellect gives shape to our perceptions, feelings, and desires by naming them with words. The words create images that become a template for how we see, thus how we experience ourselves and the world. The image is not the reality itself. It is a representation of energy of the Divine Self that may or may not be accurate.

We all have internalized ways of seeing that facilitate a balanced and beautiful expression of our self and the Divine Self Within; and, we have images that interfere with this flow. The images that interfere create stuck places where we repeatedly interact with our selves or others in ways that are not life giving. Negative or difficult emotions and feeling are not necessarily signs of distorted images. They do signal the presence of distorted ways of seeing when we repeat the same self destructive patterns and end up in the undesired places over and over. Paying attention to the nuances of expression and subtle energies within us is the first step toward having “sound” eyes and “light for our bodies”.

Our willingness to look beyond surface appearances, to see “into” our initial reactions determines whether we live in the light or the dark. We must pay attention to our selves to see the inner workings of our body and mind, both what is known (conscious) and what is unknown (unconscious). We can then track how we respond to our felt experience of sensations, emotions, intuitions, and thoughts.

Our unconscious self is always present, compensating the conscious (self) position or view. By paying attention, we can begin to see what is in the unconscious or “dark”. We notice the feelings and affective responses that are not congruent with our consciously held ideal of self. We begin to see and relate to the unbidden energies. As we do this, the energy is integrated into one’s conscious sense of self. In this way, “you will have light for your whole body”.

Where are you moving freely? Where are you stuck? Take a few minutes to see and track what you know about your inner experience (emotions, desires, thoughts, feelings, sensations) and outer action in a stuck place. Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to help you see that which is still unseen. Open to receiving consciousness/Light that can clarify and illuminate the larger view of what’s happening, thus allowing you to move in a life affirming way.

2 Kings 17: 24-41

2009-09-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

2 Kings 17:24-41

vs. 38-39, “You shall not forget the covenant which I made with you; you shall not pay homage to other gods. But to the Lord your God you shall pay homage, and he will preserve you from all your enemies.”

One of my favorite stories from the Kabbalah is the following. At the moment of our conception, we were given a Holy Guardian Angel who accompanied us in the womb. The Holy Guardian Angel shared all the secrets of the universe and our life’s purpose with us. At the moment of birth, we forgot it all! We spend our life trying to connect back to what we know, but have forgotten. It is said that the Holy Guardian Angel is the Self (God Within).

In Jungian psychology, the Self is “a part of God that God put in us, so we would know that there is a God.” The Self is the organizing principle of our psyche/soul, and it is the totality of our psyche. The Self can be viewed as an expression or extension of Yahweh. The ego/self is an expression or extension of the Self. From this perspective, the scripture stated above speaks symbolically of the need for the ego/self to remember its covenant with the Self.

Covenant implies a relationship between two parties. From a Jungian psychological perspective, the ego builds a relationship with the Self by tending that which is emerging, expressing spontaneously, not yet fully known. All energies we experience within ourselves are aspects of the Self. Often the unconscious Self shows up as unbidden and unexpected affect in waking life or in dreams. Affective moods can feel like “gods” to us!

The “gods” referenced in the Old Testament are symbols of archetypes. Archetypes are numinous energies that express as universal templates that carry a feeling tone specific to it. For instance, the following archetypes each possess a quality unique to it: Mother, Father, Creator, Destroyer, Lover, King, and Magician. There are limitless numbers of archetypes. They manifest in us as feelings or moods that yield impulses and desires. It is the ego’s responsibility to meet the affective “gods” and help them find their rightful place and expression.

We are able to discern our covenant with the Self, the direction of our libido/life force, by mediating the archetypal energies of our affects, impulses, and desires. Sometimes, we get “carried away” by emotions and feelings and act in ways that are not congruent to the totality of who we are. People sometimes say, “I don’t know what got into me!”, when they behave “out of character”. Other times, we knowingly engage in behaviors that are self-destructive and undesired (passivity, overeating, promiscuity, over-drinking).

Many Old Testament stories highlight Yahweh’s demand to be honored as the only God. Psychologically, the Self makes the same demand. We experience a sense of peace and well being when the ego is aligned with the Self; and, we suffer when the ego acts separately in service to an unmediated affect or archetype/”god”.

Take a few minutes to reflect on your relationship to the Self. Feel into the place where you know the “Holy Guardian Angel”. Ask for clarity and direction about the archetypes/affective states with which you are currently struggling. Be willing to see where and how you need to align with the Self/God Within. Be willing to consciously know and integrate the energies in service of the Inner Divine Spirit.

1 Corinthian 3:16-23

2009-09-20T06:35:00.000-07:00

1 Corinthians 3:16-23

v. 16, “Surely you know that you are God’s temple, where the Spirit of God dwells.”

Pause and reflect on the import of the scripture, “You are God’s temple, where the Spirit of God dwells”. It is within us, in our body/mind that the Spirit of God lives. We do not have to look outside of ourselves for the Divine. We need only to look at the inner workings of our body/mind. Carl Jung wrote, “If we really knew the body and the mind are different densities of the same energy.” The energy is the Spirit of God we know as our Inner Divine Spirit. It is the psychic energy that takes form even in our DNA.

I was recently in the company of a pathologist who had become a Jungian Analyst. He shared research that substantiates the connection between one’s DNA that has been removed from the body and secluded in a laboratory test tube, and the person’s body/mind even when separated by 200 miles. The DNA responds to the shift in the person’s state of consciousness (emotions and sensations) although separated from the body by great distance. The connection is the Mystery of life, the Divine Spirit that manifests in us, and is not subject to laws of time and space.

We all have had experiences that separated us from knowing the Spirit within us. Early experiences where our innate, instinctive sensibility was denied or dismissed or violated set up mistrust in our embodied experience. When we moved the way we were prompted internally, we may have encountered shame and guilt as our autonomy and initiative were not in sync with those around us. The tempering of our instinctive self is a necessary part of the human experience. It is when the tempering becomes squashing and stifling versus balancing that problems occur.

Take a few minutes to consider your relationship to yourself as God’s temple. How do you tend your body/mind? How do you track the connections between your ego/conscious self and the body responses that come from the unconscious? Begin to greet each sensation, emotion, intuition, thought, and feeling as an expression of your Inner Divine Spirit. Where are the distortions from the past interfering with your Oneness with the Inner Divine? Meditate on the scripture noted above to feel into your value and importance as an embodiment of God.

1 Kings 13: 1-10 (11-25)

2009-09-13T06:40:00.000-07:00

1 Kings 13: 1-10 (11-25)

vs. 16-18, “ 'I cannot go back with you or enter your house’, said the other (prophet); ‘I can neither eat nor drink with you in this place, for it was told me by the word of the Lord: “You shall not eat and drink nothing there….”’ And the old man said to him, ‘I am also a prophet, as you are; and an angel commanded me by the word of the Lord to bring you home with me to eat and drink with me.’”

To whom do we listen? Whose guidance do we follow? Today’s scripture highlights the necessity of listening and following the word of God that comes to us directly, not through another.

The prophet was clear on the message he had received from God. He let himself be influenced by another, also a prophet. The latter prophet asserted his relationship to God in stating his request for the first prophet to dine with him. The first prophet deferred to the second prophet's “message” from God and abandoned what he knew through his direct experience of God. The result was his death for not following the voice of God within.

How often do we know deep within our gut the direction our Inner Divine Spirit wants us to take, but we abandon it to follow another! Carl Jung writes about kinship libido which is “our need for human connection”. The need for human connection overshadows our need for connection to the Inner Divine Spirit to the degree that we had early life experiences that betrayed, shamed, and guilt-ed us when we spontaneously expressed our spirit. As a result, we may have patterns of giving up the connection to our Inner Divine Spirit as we fear losing connection to another person (i.e, being ignored, shunned, ridiculed, and persecuted, hurt in some way) or being seen in a negative way (i.e., arrogant, aloof, selfish).

Whenever we listen to another person over the voice of God Within, we experience a death of self/Self as the true us does not get embodied in word and action. People sometimes defer to another person's knowing because they do not trust or discern their own inner guidance. Each of us must develop a conscious relationship to the ego-Self axis, theologically known as the self/ego living in relationship to the Holy Spirit. The axis is the point of connection between our conscious self or ego and our larger Self or God Within. Various spiritual disciplines and systems of understanding are roadmaps and tools for the endeavor.

I invite you to reflect on how you discern the voice of God Within. What are the disciplines and systems of understanding that facilitate this? What blocks it? Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to guide you to the embodied knowing you most need at this time in your life. Be alert for those who offer their “knowing” to replace your own. Be courageous and stand with what you know to be true for you!

Psalm 44

2009-09-09T04:53:00.000-07:00

Psalm 44

v. 3, “it was not our fathers’ swords won them the land, nor their arm that gave them the victory, but thy right hand and thy arm, and the light of thy presence; such was thy favor to them.”

One of my favorite quotes by Carl Jung is the following. “By building a conscious relationship to the unconscious, we can mitigate the negative effects of the unconscious.” His statement echoes the sentiment of the psalmist. The Mystery or Divine Essence known as God, or expressed as the unconscious aspect of psyche (Greek for soul), is the source of victory in our endeavors.

We live in an era that promotes ego consciousness and control. We are told that if we affirm the right things, visualize what we want, ignore the negatives and fears, we’ll have success. Another camp says, just do it! Somehow, brute will and force is supposed to bring what is desired. Although there are kernels of truth in these positions, they leave out the reality that we are a living, non-static, spontaneous, evolving, constantly manifesting Divine Spirit in a body. The psalmist and Jung remind us that relating to the Inner Divine Spirit, theologically as God or symbolically through the unconscious, is the key to transmuting the negative of our personalities and lives.

The unconscious is by definition that which is unknown. In Jung’s model of psyche, the collective unconscious is all that we inherit because we were born human. Instincts, innate knowings, and the energetic intelligences symbolized by the chakras are expressions of the collective unconscious. From the collective unconscious, we also are connected to the numinous or spirit energies known as archetypes. Archetypes are universal templates that are common to humanity in the feelings, behaviors, and perceptions that accompany them. For instance, worldwide, the archetypes of mother, or inferiority, or victim, or trickster, or magician, or king evoke similar feeling-toned images and responses.

The archetypes and instincts express as affects or feeling states that take shape in patterns of behavior and response known as complexes. The complexes are the psychic structures that make up the personal unconscious. This is the aspect of the unconscious where automatic, learned responses emerge. This is the home of those expressions where one realizes they are acting like their mother or father! Internalized ideals based on the outside world form here.

To live in relationship to the unconscious is to open to the Divine as it expresses in your personality. Your feeling toned responses and patterns of behavior with yourself and others provide an opportunity to connect with the archetypal or numinous energies behind them. When you connect to the affect or feeling, you begin a relationship to the Divine Spirit as it is appearing. The relationship between ego/self and the Inner Divine/Self includes acknowledging, listening and hearing, dialoguing, working with, and moving in concert with one another. It is an ongoing process that begins by relating to your feeling states of consciousness.

Strengthening the connection between your conscious self or ego and the unconscious or Inner Divine Spirit is the foundation for victory. Victory on the Qabalistic Tree of Life refers to the emanation of God that expresses in our intellect. The rightful place of the intellect is to give form or image to the desires of our heart and soul. Images and thoughts that are disconnected from our heart and soul are problematic; those that express the desires of our Inner Divine Spirit bring victory in our endeavors.

Take a few minutes to consider your relationship to the Mystery. How do you honor the ongoing, fluid interfacing of your ego/self and Divine Within/Self throughout the day? How is your intellect serving your heart’s desires? What and where are you seeking? Invite an increased dialogue and exchange with your Inner Divine Spirit as you consider the next steps to take.

Mark 15: 33-39

2009-09-07T07:15:00.000-07:00

Mark 15: 33-39

vs. 37-39, “Then Jesus gave a loud cry and died. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion who was standing opposite him saw how he died, he said, ‘Truly this man was a son of God.’”

The scripture stated above is theologically a foundation of Christian Protestantism. At Jesus’ death, the temple curtain was torn in half. People no longer needed an external intermediary to The Inner Most Holy of Holies where God’s presence was believed to reside in the temple. The inner sanctum had been accessible only to rabbis at certain times. Jesus’ death was followed by the giving of the Holy Spirit who resides with each individual and is accessible all the time. God lives within the inner sanctum of our embodied soul. Our body is the temple of God; we find God here.

As we consider the scripture symbolically, Jesus is the connection point between our ego and the Self or God Within. The centurion represents attitudes, feelings, beliefs, etc. that go along with and quietly enforces the status quo. The centurion may show up as the “why bother” when you are struggling to change a pattern. For instance, why bother going to the gym, you’ve already blown your diet today. Or, why bother talking with your partner; he/she never gets it anyway! The centurion may present as a fear of failure, loss, or rejection, based on past experience, which paralyzes you in the present. You stay caught in self-destructive, undesirable patterns.

The “centurion” is the messenger of the learned, adaptive self that responds and acts according to internalized beliefs and patterns; he dismisses your embodied felt sense and knowing if it disagrees with the learned. When this happens, an expression of your Inner Divine Spirit dies. At the moment of the death of the new expression of your soul, there is an opening to see and know God Within/the Self.

We experience “deaths” of our Inner Divine Spirit wherever we respond automatically and routinely in lifeless, disconnected ways. We eat mindlessly. We listen to another without really hearing what they are saying. We hold to a rebellious attitude even though it is our Selves whom we resist. We continue relationships, behaviors, habits even though we know they are life killing, not life giving.

As the centurion “saw how he died”, we must see how we kill expressions of our Inner Divine Spirit. Conscious transformation, changing, begins with seeing what is. The ego/little self often gets caught seeing through filters based on the past. The filters distort what is seen in the present, thereby, thwarting change or growth. Seeing where and how we participate in the killing of expressions of our Inner Divine Spirit is essential. Seeing presents an opportunity to choose to align with the Inner Divine. There is an opening for us to connect with God Within so that our Inner Divine flows more fully and freely into our thoughts, feelings, sensations, intuitions, and actions.

Take a few minutes to reflect on where your Inner Divine Spirit is birthing new life. How are you holding on to the learned, adaptive ways that kill the expressions of the Self/God Within? Where is your desire to live into a stronger and purer expression of your Inner Divine Spirit? Be courageous; see what is for you at this moment and step into the openings.

James 3:13-4:12

2009-09-03T17:18:00.000-07:00

James 3:13-4:12

v. 17, “But the wisdom from above is in the first place pure; and then peace-loving, considerate, and open to reason; it is straightforward and sincere, rich in mercy and in the kindly deeds that are its fruit.”

On the Qabbalistic Tree of Life, Wisdom is the second emanation of the Divine Essence as it flows into the soul of humanity and the world soul. The first emanation is known as the Crown; it symbolizes “The Beginning of the Whirlings” described in Genesis as “the world without form and void”.

The spiraling energy of God extends itself into the sphere of Wisdom. The book of Proverbs refers to Wisdom as the “highway of the stars”. It is represented by the constellations of our zodiac. Each constellation symbolizes a particular form or template the whirling energy takes. The sign under which you are born reflects the particular arrangement of the energies of Divine Wisdom at the time of your birth. It becomes an energetic blueprint as you take your first breath on earth. The universal life force, or Chaiah in Hebrew, expresses itself as Wisdom; thus, Wisdom is inherent within the life force.

In Qabbalistic thought, Wisdom is known as the Universal Mind turning inward. We often experience this as insight—seeing into a situation, behavior, etc. People sometimes struggle to distinguish between the voice of the Self (God Within) from the other “voices” that stream through us. The other “voices” include the internalized voices of our parents, teachers, the media, church, and desires and impulses that have been disowned.

The writer of James offers a description of wisdom that is helpful in knowing the voice of our Inner Divine Spirit. Wisdom is “in the first place pure”. It possesses the purity of the universal life force that expresses itself in one’s soul or the Self. Throughout the ages, wise men have said, “Know thyself,” and “To thine own self be true.” Living from a place of wisdom means living out of the truth you are. It means being authentic, not trying to be someone you are
not.

The other descriptors of wisdom are inherently present when we live from the wisdom of the universal life force in us. We are “peace-loving, considerate, and open to reason;” we are “straightforward and sincere, rich in mercy and in the kindly deeds that are its fruit.” When we live from the purity of who we are as a child of God, we can let others be who they are. By being who we are, we are accepting and considerate of whom others are. We don’t have a need to
make them who or what we want. We are able to see together, to reason, when there are differences instead of creating conflict. This is true within our selves also.

Wisdom leads us to an acceptance and integration of the varied desires, impulses, sensations, thoughts, and feelings we have. The result is the ability to be straightforward and sincere. We give up hiding from our selves. We express an attitude that is “rich in mercy and in kindly deeds” as we interact with our selves and others.

Take a few minutes to reflect on where and when you have known the Wisdom of your Inner Divine Spirit. What were the feeling qualities of the experience? Where are you struggling now to hear the Wisdom of God Within? Ask to know the purity of your soul in your impulses, desires, thoughts, feelings, etc. Look for the qualities of wisdom noted in today’s scripture as a guide to knowing the Voice of God Within.

2 Samuel 14: 1-20, 21-33

2009-08-12T06:45:00.000-07:00

2 Samuel 14:1-20, 21-33

v. 1, “Joab son of Zeruiah saw that the king’s heart was set on Absalom, so he went to Tekoah and fetched a wise woman.”

Joab knew the importance of restoration between King David and his son Absalom as “the king’s heart was set on Absalom”; so he devised a plan to help David open and invite Absalom’s return. He “fetched a wise woman” and sent her to the king with a story that helped David to see the negative repercussions of Absalom’s exile. In response, David had Joab retrieve Absalom.

Psychologically, we must welcome back parts of ourselves even if they have grieved us or caused us pain. Disowned or dissociated aspects of our selves are usual tied to desires, longings, emotions, and feelings that we judge as wrong or experience as repulsive. We deny these feelings or harbor them secretly in shame. If we consider today’s story symbolically, we repeatedly see the negative consequences of not facing and dealing with the aspects of ourselves symbolized by the characters in the reading.

The following events lead up to the readings noted above. Amnon desired his half-sister Tamar. Instead of dealing with this openly and asking for her in marriage, he devised a plan to rape her. This ultimately led to his death by order of his half-brother and Tamar’s full-brother Absalom. King David’s “heart was set on Absalom”, yet Absalom remained in exile because of the murder. Joab intervened to help David honor the desires of his heart and invite restoration.

Within us, the energy symbolized by Joab lives; there is a part of our psyche that acts on our behalf and sends a “wise woman” to help us see where we need reconnecting to our instincts, sensations, emotions, feelings, desires, thoughts, etc. The wise woman usually shows up as “a still small voice”, an intuition, a gut knowing. She may come in a dream that gives guidance. Sometimes, she appears in the synchronistic appearance of an animal, or an unbidden exchange with someone. We, with our egos, are given a chance to see what we are doing, and its consequences for us and others with a larger and more life giving view. We are led to reunion with what our heart desires.

What do you desire that you fear facing openly? What or whom do you love that you cannot bear to move towards honorably? What are the ways in which you take what you want in secrecy and through manipulation? Take a few minutes to consider where the drama symbolized in the story is playing out inside you. Watch for and receive the “wise woman” who helps you reconnect with your heart’s desires.

All Material Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved, Adair Gillis

Mark 9: 42-50

2009-08-10T06:46:00.000-07:00

Mark 9: 42-50

vs. 43, 45a, 47a, “If your hand is your undoing, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life maimed than to keep both hands and go to hell and the unquenchable fire….And if your foot is your undoing, cut it off….And if it is your eye, tear it out.”

From a symbolic standpoint, today’s reading instructs us that the ways we reach (hand), we move (foot), and we see (eye) have to be “cut off” if they are “our undoing” and lead to “hell and the unquenchable fire”. What does this mean? Psychologically, we can think of hell as separation from the Divine Within/the Self. The unquenchable fire represents primitive rage we feel (often unconsciously) when we live in ways that are disconnected from our true nature/the Self.

Disconnection and rage lead to our “undoing” as they prompt emotions and actions that are incongruous to the whole of the Self. The undoing may show up in feeling off center, low grade anxiety, self-doubts, fears, behavior that conflicts with one’s values, self-destructive patterns such as overeating and over-drinking, inability to move as one wants, dissociation between the body and the head, etc. Whatever the form, we are left in a state of “hell”!

The image of The Tree of Life from the Kabbalah (the esoteric Judeo-Christian tradition) shows ten energies that are emanations of the Divine into the world soul and the soul of humanity. The fifth sphere is Gevurah which means Strength and Severity. It is the emanation that gives courage and energy when used in service of our Inner Divine Spirit. If it acts separately from the Self/God Within, the consequence is destruction of one’s life force.

The energy of Gevurah is known as the “Celestial Surgeon”. The state of consciousness it represents has the ability to cut off whatever is our undoing. We need to consciously know this energy and call on it when we see ourselves moving, grasping, or viewing situations, and relationships, or ourselves in ways that we keep experiencing separation form the Inner Divine Spirit. When our relationship to the energies of Gevurah is conscious and in alignment with the Self/God Within, we have courage and energy to act as led by the Self. Our life force can move us in ways that are harmonious and life giving.

Consider how you are reaching and grasping for your needs and wants. How are you moving towards them in ways that are life giving and ways that are life destroying? What are the view points and ways of looking that give life or destroy life? Ask the Celestial Surgeon to act on your behalf and cut off whatever is blocking the flow of your Inner Divine Spirit at this time. Let the courage and energy of the Divine move you however you need.

All Material Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved, Adair Gillis

Acts 18:12-28

2009-08-07T03:58:00.000-07:00

Acts 18: 12-28

vs. 15b-16, “Gallio said to them….’I have no mind to be a judge in these matters.’ And he had them ejected from the court. Then there was a general attack on Sosthenes, who held office in the synagogue, and they gave him a beating in full view of the bench. But all this left Gallio quite unconcerned.”

The story from Acts tells about the Roman proconsul Gallio’s response to the Jews who brought Paul before him on charges he was “inducing people to worship God in ways that are against the law” (v. 14) The events that play out symbolize the violence that can go on inside oneself when something new, outside the established law, emerges.

The “law” represents the learned ways of sensing, feeling, thinking, and emoting that we internalize from the outside world. In the story, the Jews symbolize the inner authority that is modeled after the collective consciousness. The collective consciousness includes attitudes and beliefs of one’s culture, society, institutions including church and school, community, and family. It becomes the “norms” and the “expected”. It shows up in rote ways of living. For example, “We just don’t do that!” “We don’t talk about those things!” “We never act like that!”

The collective becomes the “old guard”—adaptive, learned ways that become entrenched and self-protective. The voices of inner judgment that say, “You should, you ought to, you must”, are agents of the old that hold us to compliance with the norms. Think of how these voices have blocked the flow and expression of an innate impulse in you even today!

Paul represents a new attitude, a new way of being, feeling, and experiencing the Divine. One begins to move from the prompting of desire and expression that flows within from the Inner Divine Spirit.

As the old (Jews) feels threatened, it presents its argument to the ego, symbolized by Gallio, as to why the new (Paul) is doing something wrong. We experience this whenever the inner established ways feel challenged and threatened. Think of your reflexive resistance when someone innocently offers an idea or view you’ve not considered. The dynamic is also at work where you want to change a behavior, but keep repeating the old. Arguments that rationalize and justify the lack of change and growth emerge.

Gallio represents the ego when it does not take responsibility for mediating the energies (feelings, emotions, thoughts, intuitions, sensations) that are in conflict within us. Think about times when you say, “I just don’t want to deal with that now.” You know something is brewing internally that is problematic, but you dismiss it as Gallio dismissed Paul and the Jews. When we refuse to exercise our consciousness to discern the truth of our inner experience, we open the door to violence towards ourselves. Violence towards the self/Self shows up as feelings of self-hate, shame, and criticality; self-destructive behaviors; body symptoms; illnesses; self-demeaning attitudes, etc.

The old ways turn on us when we refuse to make a choice to stand by the new life giving energies. In the story, “there was a general attack on Sosthenes…and (the Jews) gave him a beating in full view of the bench”. All we are told about Sosthenes is that he is an officer in the synagogue. He has some power in the system. In our psyches, he may show up as a bridging idea, an open mindedness, perception that is different from the past, a longing or desire. Regardless of the form, “Sosthenes” is given a beating.

Take a few minutes to reflect on your inner conflicts. Where is the ego refusing to mediate between old and new ways of being, experiencing, expressing? Where are you beating yourself? Feel into the attacked places and invite the old and new ideas, feelings, etc. to show themselves. Explore the feeling nuances of each and identify the beliefs and experiences behind them. Ask the Inner Divine Spirit to grant you courage and discernment to face and mediate the conflict.

Mark 6: 14-19

2009-08-02T06:19:00.001-07:00

Mark 6: 14-29

vs. 23-24, 26, “And (Herod) swore an oath to her, ‘Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.’ She (daughter) went out and said to her mother (Herodias), ‘What shall I ask for? She replied, ‘The head of John the Baptist.’…The king was greatly distressed, but….could not bring himself to refuse her.”

As I reflected on the story of the beheading of John the Baptist, I was struck by the symbolic significance of each character as an aspect of our psyche. The drama that unfolds in the story plays out repeatedly within us. We, with our egos (Herod), sense the importance and truth of a voice that is a messenger (John the Baptist) of the Inner Divine Spirit. We know something from our gut, but it makes us uncomfortable. It challenges the status quo of our life as John the Baptist challenged Herod’s marriage to Herodias. We find ways to keep it at bay. Herod imprisoned John the Baptist.

We “imprison” the messengers of the Divine Self with patterns of body armoring (muscular contractions) that mirror our emotional and mental response to life. The muscle tension stops the flow of the libido/life force throughout our bodymind and causes stagnation physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Our life force and Divine Spirit become imprisoned.

We can identify where and how we tighten by increasing our body awareness and beginning to dialogue with the contractions in order to release the stuck emotion. Common manifestations of “imprisonment” include chronic body tension and pain, repeating old patterns of behavior, reliving past events in our mind, obsessing, denying the obvious, and lack of energy to move towards what we want. The states of consciousness present in the aforementioned behaviors will show themselves to us if we look and listen with an open mind and heart towards our inner knowing. When the seed desire or need is seen, a new pattern can form.

The law of inertia dictates that the set patterns stay in place until a stronger energy of united desire and intellect challenges it. In the story, the set pattern or status quo is symbolized by Herodias. She was offended by John the Baptist and wanted to do away with him. So it is with our learned or set patterns! They seem to work against our hearing the voice of the Self/Divine Within. The ego, as Herod, may unaware offer the moment for the killing off of the messenger of the Self—the beheading.

Beheading symbolizes dissociation. Carl Jung states that dissociation is one of the basic mechanisms of psyche. Dissociation can be simply defined as the separation of the head and the body. The head with its intellect and imagination gets separated from our instinctive knowing, desires, and felt experiences. It is as if we are split apart. The two do not inform one another or create together. We may see what is happening, as Herod was deeply distressed about the request for John the Baptist’s head, but we go along with it. The dissociation has usually been reinforced by past relationships, and our needs for belonging and safety which get attached to pleasing others. As Herod, we may be “greatly distressed”, but we go with the “beheading”.

Take a few minutes to compassionately identify where “beheading” is occurring in your psyche. Look for the relationships, behaviors, attitudes, etc. where there is a tightening in your body, and mind, that results in incongruence between your outer expression and your inner experience. Ask and listen for the voice of the Inner Divine Spirit to lead you to a remembering of the innate flow of your life force. Identify how you can move in sync with your Inner Divine Spirit

All Material Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved, Adair Gillis

Jeremiah 45:1-5

2009-07-27T06:33:00.000-07:00

Jeremiah 45:1-5
v. 5, “You seek great things for yourself. Leave off seeking them; for I will bring disaster upon all mankind, says the Lord, and I will let you live wherever you go, but you shall save your life and nothing more.”

What is most important to you? What do you value more than anything else? So often, we become attached to things, ways of being, habit patterns, and conveniences of relationship to the detriment of our life and life force. Carl Jung notes that neurosis occurs when the natural flow of one’s life force (libido) is thwarted. Instead of living in sync with one’s innate Self, we give up the felt knowing of our passions for imposed ideas, beliefs, commitments, and fleeting desires. We do what we think we should, or what’s easy in the moment, instead of what we know our heart wants us to do!

To live in sync with one’s Self requires differentiating between the learned or adaptive self and the innate Self, and seeking a conscious relationship to the Self. Jung referred to this process as individuation. The process involves getting clarity about our persona (roles we play such as our profession, son or daughter, etc.), our complexes (automatic response patterns triggered by a particular affect or emotion), and our shadow (the unseen, unintended expression that always accompanies our actions).

As we gain consciousness and can distinguish between the voice of the learned and the voice of the Self, we can call upon the Divine in us for guidance, healing, comfort, etc. We have access to archetypal/instinctive energies that are universal templates of feeling and behavior that transcend what the ego can do alone. Archetypal energies are innate intelligences that are internal resources that may present of their own volition or may be called forth through intention.

Our psyche has a gradient or direction that our libido will follow. We do not have to force it. We only have to align with it. To do so, we must leave off seeking “great things for (our)selves” and “save (our) life”. Our life, our life force, the flow of our Divine essence is what matters! Our attachment to activities, behaviors, relationships, projects, etc. that have become deadening have to be released.

Take a few minutes to sit quietly and be aware of the life force as it pulses through your body. (Connecting with the breath can be a way to begin this awareness.) Reflect on this time in your life and how your libido is moving. What feelings, thoughts, actions, relationships, projects, etc. allow for the free flow of your Divine essence? Where does your life force get stopped? Consider holding the intention to “leave off seeking…and save (your) life.” What would you do differently beginning now?

All Material Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved, Adair Gillis

Mark 2: 1-12

2009-07-14T06:51:00.000-07:00

Mark 2: 1-12
v. 4, “Four men were carrying him, but because of the crowd they could not get to him. So they opened up the roof over the place where Jesus was, and…lowered the stretcher on which the paralyzed man was lying.”

The Tree of Life from Kabbalah teaches that there are ten emanations or energies that extend from the Divine Essence to create the world soul and the soul of humanity. The tenth, culminating sphere is Malkuth or the Kingdom. It is the Earth and our BodyMind. The virtue of this sphere is discrimination. The vice is inertia. We must learn to master these two aspects of consciousness, discrimination and inertia, while in our body.

Considered symbolically, today’s scripture reading offers a picture of the interplay between aspects of our psyche that are inert or paralyzed and those that are active and discriminating. Of course, there is the crowd, the massa confusa (the mass of confusion), that blocks our discriminating attempts to reach the Divine Within for healing of our paralysis.

The story instructs us that when we are paralyzed, stuck, unable to move, we must utilize our psychological functions of thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition—“the four men”—to navigate around our confusion to reach the Self/Divine Within. This means calling forth what we know, what we value, what we sense, and what we intuit. Starting in the moment with the basics, if that’s all that’s known, is potentially transforming. The basics may be as simple as: I am (name). I physically am (name the place). I feel (emotion). I want (desire). I sense (perceptual data). I have a gut sense (intuition). Even when this seems useless, it begins to help the ego identify with “the four men” who are free to move, and not the paralyzed “man” in us.

Inertia is a given in the world of form. Without it, nothing would take a shape or structure that holds. The inertia of form that allows the Inner Divine Spirit to flow is healthy. Paralysis that stops the flow of one’s libido, one’s Inner Divine Spirit, is the problem. The healing power of Jesus lives in us through our Self/God within. With our ego and its psychological abilities to discriminate, we can take whatever paralyzes us to the Divine Within for healing. We have an option other than being paralyzed.

Take a few minutes to identify a place where you are stuck. Call on your thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition to clarify and bring discrimination. Acknowledge any massa confusa you feel and simply move beyond it with what you can discriminate. Offer your discrimination and the paralyzed place to the Divine Within and ask for healing. Ask that your Spirit may freely move in your BodyMind and Kingdom.

Luke 23: 13-25

2009-07-14T06:48:00.000-07:00

Luke 23: 13-25
vs. 20-21, 23b, “Pilate addressed them again in his desire to release Jesus, but they shouted back, ‘Crucify him, crucify him.’…Their shouts prevailed and Pilate decided that they should have their way.”

People often blame God when things go awry for them. The prevailing, collective mentality is one of victimhood and blame before an unseen, All Powerful, and All Controlling God figure. The story in Luke offers a different view of destructive forces in our lives when we symbolically view each of the participants as aspects of our psyches.

Just as God created our bodies with parts which have different functions, so it is with our psyche. We have psychic structures such as collective consciousness, persona, and ego, personal unconscious (which includes complexes — learned patterns of response collected around an affect), collective unconscious (which includes instincts and archetypes) and the Self. All of the psychic structures have a seed of the Self/God Within, albeit sometimes fleshed out in distorted ways.

In Luke’s story, we can view Pilate as the ego, the ruling self-consciousness. He tries to do what is true for him—to free Jesus. Yet, there are protesters. The protesters represent the collective consciousness that we internalize as authority. The collective consciousness includes institutions such as government, church, and schools; cultural and family mores, the media, and our peer group. It represents the standard or norm which is the current way of thinking. Collective consciousness has positive and negative aspects and repercussions.

The negative impact is felt when the expected “should, must, or ought to” conflicts with the promptings of God Within that the ego is intuiting. We experience this when we want to act in a certain direction, but get sidetracked by the nay saying voices within. Examples of this include: being a couch potato when the bodymind says movement is desired and needed; eating or drinking to relieve stress when the bodymind knows it is not hungry or thirsty; doing something we do not want to, because “we have to”, and feeling resentment that ruins it for self and others; setting aside a creative activity like music or art that feeds the soul, but is judged as frivolous by the collective. There are infinite ways we collude with the collective cry, “kill him”. The result is the same. Some aspect of the Divine Within that is trying to live gets thwarted. The ego protests, but eventually succumbs to the pressure of the internalized collective.

The killing of the Divine Within may feel like more than we want to bear as our responsibility. The story of Pilate in Matthew (27:24) says, “he took water and washed his hands in full view of the people, saying, ‘My hands are clean of this man’s blood; see to that yourselves’.” When we abdicate our God given gift of consciousness and choice, we are orchestrating our suffering and “deaths”. We experience losses of the Self that lead to a sense of deadness that we feel as emptiness, unknowing, and meaninglessness. This is not God’s fault, but of our own making. Sometimes, it is knowingly chosen; other times, it is chosen blindly because of ignorance or lack of consciousness. We must be willing to see and to know the forces within us, and stay in the dialogue and struggle to protect the Inner Divine Spirit as it manifests through us.

I invite you to identify where the internalized, collective protesters are stopping the action that you know is right for protecting and expressing your Inner Divine Spirit. Maybe, it’s regarding a change in attitude, or a shift in habit patterns, or steps to change an outer relationship. Stay in dialogue with the negative voices and get to know them. Open to the possibility of a uniting third emerging that allows the Inner Divine Spirit to embody in your feelings, thoughts, and actions.

1 Samuel 16:14-17:11

2009-07-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

1 Samuel 16:14-17:11
v. 23, “And whenever a spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play on it, so that Saul found relief; he recovered and the evil spirit left him alone.”

Carl Jung states that the Self (totality of psyche, God Within) is the author of all, “both that which is helpful and that which is injurious to the self.” Considered symbolically, the reading from 1 Samuel gives us a picture of the various aspects of self (our ego consciousness), and their interrelationships in the whole of Self. God Within/the Self provides a means of comfort even when there is an “evil spirit.”

Esoteric Judeo-Christian tradition teaches that evil is misapplied force. For example, a burning coal placed in a stove is good; the same coal placed on carpet is evil. The latter misuses the power or force in the burning coal. Building up something that needs to die or destroying something that needs to grow are evil; the actions utilize energies against the natural cycle of life versus in sync with it. Examples include the following: maintaining lifestyle patterns (such as overeating, lack of exercise) that destroy one’s health; staying in relationships to maintain status quo even though one is slowing losing connection to the Self; stopping a creative project that brings joy because others are critical; cutting off interactions out of fear.

Emotionally, misapplied force (of feelings) often appears as “evil spirits”. Emotions which show up as messengers—information about who we are and what we need—are often ignored, overlooked, or denied. The energy of these emotions then turn on us, and create depression, confusion, unknowing, rage, paranoia, or other states that separate us from God Within or the Self.

Fritz Perls, founder of Gestalt Therapy, said, “Depression is anger turned inward.” Confusion often appears to mask fear of what is known. Unknowing often is the denial of one’s embodied (felt sense) experience. Rage often appears after the dismissal of anger that has informed one of needed changes. Paranoia results from the lack of integration of inner experience with present reality.

Saul called upon David with his harp when he experienced an “evil spirit”. We too can call upon another aspect of Self to soothe and free us from being swallowed by the negative. Music often facilitates such a shift. Angeles Arrien states that the universal healing salves are singing, dancing, storytelling, and solitude. Moving into these activities can be our way of “calling upon David to play his harp”.

I invite you to consciously attend to whatever “evil spirit” may present by utilizing one of the healing salves. When the “evil spirit” has left, consider the energy or emotion behind it. Ask, what is the inner experience that needs to be unblocked and allowed to flow naturally outward? What thoughts, actions, and embodied experiences effortlessly come as you do this? Be courageous, and move with the flow of your own Inner Divine Spirit.

1 Samuel 17: (1-31)32-49

2009-06-28T04:53:00.000-07:00

1 Samuel 17: (1-31)32-49
v. 45a, “David answered, ‘You have come against me with sword and spear and dagger, but I have come against you in the name of the Lord of Hosts’…”
vs. 48-50a, “When the Philistine began moving towards him again, David ran quickly to engage him. He put his hand into his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on the forehead…and he fell flat on his face on the ground. So David proved the victor with his sling and stone….”

The story of David and Goliath is probably one of the most well known Old Testament stories. It is easy to interpret Goliath symbolically as the things in our lives that feel too big to face. In our psyche, these things are usually first encountered as affective or feeling states.

Gargantuan emotion seems to come from nowhere and feel as if it will destroy us. Our longings, desires, disappointments, hurts, and fears often fall into this realm. Our egos fear that owning the feeling states will destroy our lives--the well known and long established relationships, alliances, etc. David’s response to Goliath is instructive about how to face our inner giants successfully.

First, David had faith in God and his ability to defeat Goliath. He says, “The Lord who saved me from the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine.” (v. 37) David represents the ego who consciously knows the connection to the Self or God Within. This conscious knowing is born from past experiences where instinctive, reflexive body states have been connected to the larger Self. One has experiences of knowing there is more within them than the momentary feeling state.

Secondly, David refuses the armor of King Saul. David symbolizes the ego that knows the heaviness of defense mechanisms that place barriers between one’s self and the Divine Within, and the self and other people. These defense mechanisms are many. They often show up as “de-ex-ifying”—defending, explaining, and justifying. Defense mechanisms create states of confusion or “feeling at a loss” as they separate us from our embodied experience and knowing.

Thirdly, David “picked up his stick, chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in a shepherd’s bag which served as his pouch.” (v. 40) The stick represents the masculine energies or phallic power. The shepherd’s bag with the five stones represents the feminine power of embodied experience.

The stick is a symbol of phallic power. We know our phallic power when we are motivated to move towards what we desire. Our life force propels us forward and we move. We often think of this as “willpower”. It is noteworthy that the Hebrew word for will also means delight. Our “willpower” is synonymous with our “delight power”.

The shepherd’s bag with five stones symbolizes the body. Incarnation is about God coming into matter. The Spirit lives in and through our body and mind. We know the Inner Divine through our five senses (the five stones), yet we often reject our sensory information because it conflicts with what we think or have been told to feel. When we begin to receive our felt experience as information from the Inner Divine, we move towards the philosopher’s stone. The philosopher’s stone is the crystallized clarity and knowing of oneness between self and Self/God Within. It comes through diligent awareness and intentional concentration to see the Self/Divine within our felt, embodied experiences.

As we seek knowing and clarity of our affective (feeling) states as extensions of the Self/God Within, we develop a conscious knowing of the inner spiritual senses. We find these referenced through common phrases such as “I smell a rat. I just know it in my gut. It feels off. I can see it in my mind’s eye.” It is with the inner senses that we know the still, small voice of God Within, the Voice of Silence. With this knowing, we can face the “giants” within and “prove the victor”.

What are the giants within with which you are struggling? Name the affects or feelings that accompany them. Identify the sensory information that is present in your body and ask what it is saying. Be courageous and take your “stick”, your desire/will power, in hand and move. Act on what you know in your body and mind. Notice what armor/ego defenses appear and gently lay them aside.

All Material Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved, Adair Gillis

2 Corinthians 5: 6-10

2009-06-18T17:30:00.000-07:00

2 Corinthians 5: 6-10
vs. 5, 9-10, “Even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord—for we walk by faith, not by sight…we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.”

Many people think of the body/mind and Divine Spirit as opposites. Yet, the image of The Tree of Life, from the esoteric Judeo-Christian tradition found in Kabbalah, teaches they are one. The Limitless Light/essence of God flows into the Chaiah/Universal Life Force that takes shape in the Neshamah/the Divine Soul. Our individual souls flow from the Divine Soul and take shape in our personalities/body/minds. The body/mind is simply an extension of the Divine Essence within us.

Paul is noting the felt sense of natural (unconscious) humanity when he speaks of being in the body as “being away from the Lord”. Natural humanity is not yet aware or conscious that the Divine Spirit is present and accessible beyond the surface appearances of sensory experience. In a state of natural humanity, we respond to our felt experience as if it were the absolute truth. With consciousness, we begin to see with our inner eyes the essence within the experience/form. We come to know the movement of the Life Force within the form. We recognize there are many possibilities for how the Life Force or Limitless Light takes shape in us. We name its various expressions as our sensations, emotions, intuitions, thoughts, feelings, etc.

We open to experience the Divine within our embodied states by holding the following thoughts. Our body and mind experiences express our Divine Spirit. Our Divine Spirit gives form to our body and mind experiences. The act of seeking to know this connection acknowledges that the Divine is present. Our body states or embodiment are seen as opportunities to experience and know God within us. We open to faith.

Faith can be defined as the result of a supraconscious (beyond ego, transcendent) experience that one cannot put into adequate words. Yet, one is touched and changed by it forever. We cannot make ourselves have faith; but, we can open to receive faith by seeking to know the Divine Within, “to please him”.

To please the Divine Within, we must honor and respond to our felt sense experiences as they are connected to our Inner Divine Spirit. Impulsive responses or automatic sensations and emotion are present because they express an aspect of the Divine Within. The Divine expresses through all our feeling states, even those undesirable ones we dismiss. We have to ask what the seed of the felt sense wants us to see and know about ourselves/our souls.

Paul says that we receive “recompense for what has been done in the body”. Webster’s definition of recompense includes, “to return in kind: requite; an equivalent or a return for something done, suffered, or given”. Compensation is a basic psychological and spiritual law. Conscious compensates unconscious; unconscious compensates conscious. Body and mind compensate the unseen, but felt, energetic essence we are. Our Life Force compensates the body and mind. Our embodied experiences are expressions of our Inner Divine Spirit. We may think or act as if the two are opposed and split. This error creates much suffering and alienation from the Divine Within.

Reflect on how recent embodied experiences, pleasant and unpleasant, are expressing the flow of your Life Force. Look for what your Inner Divine Spirit is saying through your sensory experiences. What is being returned in kind between your thoughts and feelings, sensations and intuitions? Ask to receive faith that you may know the oneness of your body/mind and your Inner Divine Spirit.

All Material Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved, Adair Gillis

2 Corinthians 7: 2-16

2009-06-14T10:00:00.001-07:00

2 Corinthians 7: 2-16
v. 10, “For the wound which is borne in God’s way brings a change of heart too salutary to regret; but the hurt which is borne in the world’s way brings death.”

In esoteric spiritual traditions, the heart is a symbol of our subconscious or personal unconscious. It is the realm of our psyche/soul that responds automatically and grows and develops into patterns whatever is planted in it. The subconscious/personal unconscious is seeded through beliefs, experiences, and thoughts taken in from the outside world as well as our innate, instinctive physical and spiritual natures.

The heart is the center point of the seven energy centers of the body known as the chakras. It mediates, connects, and infuses the lower three centers (sacrum, reproductive organs, and solar plexus) and the higher three (throat, third eye, and crown). The heart is often thought of as the seat of our emotions.

Our emotions are the heartbeat or pulse of our very being/Inner Divine Spirit. The wounds we feel in relationships create painful emotions. Paul makes a distinction between bearing such wounds “in God’s way” and “in the world’s way”.

Psychologically, we can think of God’s way as the way of the Self (the totality of psyche/soul) and the world’s way as the way of the false or adaptive self. Our sense of self or ego is often identified with the latter; we are caught in past experiences and historical events. We think we are no more than the sum of our experiences. Comments like “I’ve always been this way”, or “I’ve never been able to do that” are signals of a self-limiting “way of the world”.

Our body is the first world in which we live. The physical structure of the body exists because of set, automatic patterns. Our emotional nature expresses through the body in our felt sense. The felt sense comes from all we experience internally through our sensations, intuitions, and reflexive longings. These also get shaped into reflexive, automatic patterns.

Our emotional responses to various affects or feeling states are conditioned from the moment of conception. The conditioning comes through interaction with the outside world—people, environment. The way of the Self/God Within may get supported or it may be thwarted by "the world's way”.

How many times have you thought, “I can’t feel that feeling! It’s wrong (according to Mom, Dad, church, etc.)”? The “world's way" is your way of being. A false or adaptive self has replaced the self that flows from the Inner Divine Spirit. The necessary compassionate and accepting presence to all aspects of one’s Self has been short circuited. Thus, one bears a wound “in the way of the world”; a death occurs as an aspect or expression of the Self is dismissed.

Psychologically, to bear a hurt in the way of God means to see the emotion as an expression of the psyche/soul. Whatever we experience in our body has to be seen, acknowledged, and accepted as information about the Self/totality of psyche. It does not mean acting in the outer world on every felt sense. It does mean acting internally to relate to the feeling or raw emotion. We do this by looking to see what it is about, what it means in our larger experience, and seeking expression that is congruent to the Self/Inner Divine Spirit. In this way, we bear a wound “in God’s way”.

Recall any fresh or lingering wounds with which you struggle. Notice body sensations and felt sense reactions that are stirred by thoughts of the wound. Breathe into the felt sense and invite the core affect to make it's self known. Ask what it needs from you. Know that the Self/Divine Within is present and will show you “God’s way”.

All Material Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved, Adair Gillis

Isaiah 6: 1-8

2009-06-09T18:35:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 6: 1-8
v. 1, “In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord…”
vs. 6-7, “Then one of the seraphim flew to me carrying in his hand a coal which he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is removed, and your sin is wiped away.’”

The scripture passage and Isaiah’s experience of seeing the Lord, being touched by the seraphim, being cleansed of sin, and accepting God’s call begins with the death of King Uzziah. If we think symbolically, we see all the characters and the movement in the story as aspects of our psyche/soul undergoing growth. It gives us a picture of the internal, organic process of transformation/change within us.

Transformation/change occurs in the following way. Something in us dies; usually, we notice this because of a shift in emotions and feelings. We encounter the Divine Within—the larger Self who expresses through all we feel, think, and experience. We are touched by a god-like energy; we experience a burning passion or desire that is not of the ego’s choosing or bidding. We feel changed by this---cleansed, released from something old, desirous of something different for ourselves. We become willing to follow the heart’s desire and allow it to energize and move us. We follow the new found sense of connection to our Inner Divine Spirit. We act on it.

After seeing the Lord enthroned, Isaiah declared, “Woe is me. I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips.” (v. 5) The seraphim responded to his self-reflection, self-awareness, and acknowledgment of his internal sense of self.

In Jungian psychology, the seraphim are a symbol of an archetype. An archetype is a universal template of an energy that has feeling characteristics and qualities that are common among all peoples. (i.e., Mother, Father, Inferiority, Superiority) They are innate as we are born human. Archetypes are often experienced as numinous, spirit-like, and larger than life as they tend to present through emotions and felt sense experiences that are unbidden. Archetypes set in motion behaviors that occur throughout the lifespan. There are innumerable archetypes.

What is most important is to know that there are energies/resources within us that are inborn. They respond to our self-reflection, self-awareness, and acceptance of our feelings of being lost, not knowing, inadequacy, wrongdoing, and sinfulness. (Note: The Greek word for sin is an archery term which means “missing the mark”. Sin means our self expression is missing the mark of reflecting and expressing the Self/Divine Within.)

We tend to deny, dismiss, and fear loss. We don’t like not knowing or acknowledging what we don’t see clearly. The acceptance of our unknowingness (being lost) is what prompts something from within us to come to our aid. Our ego has to realize and acknowledge it’s limitations in order to receive help, the touch of the Divine Within.

Take a few moments to reflect on what’s dying/changing in your life. Acknowledge whatever feelings of loss and lack of direction/unknowingness you feel in the face of the situations. Open to experience the touch of the Divine Within however it comes (i.e., emotion, desire, felt sense, etc.) Move as it prompts.

All Material Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved, Adair Gillis

Luke 9: 51-62

2009-06-05T04:59:00.000-07:00

Luke 9: 51-62
vs. 59, 62, “To another he said, follow me, but the man replied, ‘Let me go and bury my father first.’ Jesus said, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead; you must go and announce the kingdom of God’….Yet another said, ‘I will follow you, sir; but let me first say good-bye to my people at home.’ To him Jesus said, ‘No one who sets his hand to the plough and then keeps looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.’”

Psychologically, we can think of the kingdom of God as the state of peace and joy where we feel oneness and congruency within ourselves. Our egos are aligned with our larger Self; in Christian theology, this means the “I” lives in service to the Christ Within or Holy Spirit. Carl Jung’s concept of individuation refers to the process whereby we shed learned, adaptive ways of thinking, feeling, and expressing that block living the call of the Divine Within that comes through our heartfelt desires.

In order to individuate and grow spiritually, emotionally, and mentally, we must let go of the past and leave behind that which is lifeless and sterile/dead—that which “no longer grows us corn”. To individuate is the same as “to be in the world, but not of the world.” We leave behind the societal and family ways of being that are not congruent with the guidance of the Inner Divine Spirit/the Self.

A quality of embodiment is inertia. Inertia means patterns are set, so things happen automatically and reflexively. Our heart beat, our digestive processes, and our breathing are examples on the physical plane. Patterns also get set on the emotional and mental planes. You may be aware that you consistently react in a certain way if a particular emotion or thought presents. For instance, you may lash out at others or overeat when angry. You may withdraw and get quiet when afraid. The principle of inertia works on all planes.

Mentally and emotionally, we stay stuck in the same places by going over events from the past. We review and judge or disavow our actions with “what if…if only…” We second guess ourselves or shut down to life in the present moment because we have not accepted and let go of the past. We have to make a choice to go forward instead of revisiting the dead and the familiar.

Where we find ourselves pulled into the past and repeating patterns even though we desire to change and grow, we need to look for where our energy, our life force as related to self or others, is stuck. Where did the impulse for movement get thwarted in the past? Often, mistrust, shame, and guilt are emotions that indicate where energy needs to be freed. By attending to these experiences from the past and their current reverberations with a compassionate presence, something can shift and our energy can be freed for the present. We can differentiate the validity of the felt experience in the past event from the present situation.

Consider what “no longer grows you corn”. What is dead and lifeless in terms of your beliefs, habit patterns, and ways of interacting with self, the Divine, and others? Where are you being called by the Divine Within to make changes, to grow? Practice not looking back; cultivate your connection to the Divine Within at this moment and place in time.

All Material Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved, Adair Gillis

Deuteronomy 3: 1-11

2009-06-05T04:57:00.000-07:00

Deuteronomy 3: 1-11
v. 6, “Thus we put to death all the men, women, and dependants in every city, as we did Sihon king of Heshbon. All the cattle and the spoil from the cities we took as booty for ourselves.”

Many Old Testament stories tell of Israel’s advance into Canaan and the destruction of foreign cultures and peoples. If we consider the stories symbolically and psychologically, we see the proper use of destructive energies—to destroy that in our nature which is not in alignment with our Inner Divine Spirit. Where we have inner conflicts, we are called to clarify the desires of our heart and soul. Jesus sates, “Thou cannot serve two masters.”

The Divine Within/Self demands that we sacrifice/give up the ways of being and expressing that are not true to our innate nature. Living in sync with the Self/the totality of psyche is a requirement on the path known spiritually as salvation or enlightenment and psychologically as individuation.

Carl Jung states that every person’s libido has a gradient (direction) it will naturally follow. Emotional, mental, physical problems result when the natural flow of one’s Spirit is thwarted or distorted. Disturbances show us where we are not living true to our life force.

Thwarting of our souls’ impulses and desires happens inadvertently as we are socialized to live according to expectations of family, church, school, culture, etc. Tempering of primitive impulses (ie., all the things the Ten Commandments prohibit—stealing, killing, etc.) is necessary to healthy and civilized living. The tempering is problematic only when expressions of our nature wrongly get tied to these prohibitions as we are shamed, “guilted”, or hurt because of what we have expressed.

Fear of the other—what is not us, not like our perceived self—fuels our rejection and dismissing of our desires. Balancing of our animal nature (including instincts noted in the 10 Commandments) occurs as we bring our instinctive impulses to light and see them in relationship to what we value and present day realities. For instance, we may feel so angry at another person that we think, “I could beat them to a pulp…I’m going to tear them apart (verbally).” As we see the impulse and hold it in the context of all we feel and desire—the larger whole of who we are which probably includes wanting to express love and care for self and other and to not be violent—the energy of the anger can be freed to be used constructively. This might mean a healthy and mutually respectful conversation happens, or we set needed boundaries, or we express the energy in an unrelated activity. People often talk about how much housework they get done when angry!

With consciousness, we take “the cattle and spoil…as booty.” The motive power of the feeling toned response is intentionally utilized in service of one’s Self/the whole of psyche or soul versus the momentary experience of self/ego. We choose to kill our forms/expressions that are not true to the Self/Divine Within. The energies of creation, equilibrium, and destruction are always at work in us. The ingestion, digestion, and assimilation of food are examples on the physical plane. All three are necessary for life to happen physcially, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

Think about how the energies of destruction, equilibrium, and creation are at work in you now. What are the forms—beliefs, values, habits, behaviors—that are interfering with living the truth of who you are? What are the soul’s desires that want to take shape in form—to be born or created in the world? Set an intention and practice to align with destroying that which is not true to your nature, creating (bringing into action/form) your heart’s desires, and celebrating the beauty and balance of your Inner Divine Spirit.

All Material Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved, Adair Gillis

1 John 5: 9-13

2009-05-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

1 John 5: 9-13
vs. 11, 12b, “The witness is this: that God has given us eternal life, and that this is found in his Son…he who does not possess the Son of God has not that life.”

The esoteric (not mainstream) Judeo-Christian tradition teaches that humanity is the Son of God. We read in the New Testament that Jesus the Christ was the new Adam. Adam, in Hebrew, means humanity. In the Old Testament stories, Adam/Humanity is concerned with the establishment of God as One in the outer world. In the New Testament, the new Adam/Christ focuses us our inner reality and the oneness of Self/Divine Within.

Consider the commandments of “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind; and Love your neighbor as yourself.” Our relationship within, to ourselves, and to God is primary. Tending the inner realm leads to knowing the eternal life of the Divine Self that expresses through one's ego/personality

At the time of creation, humanity was given dominion over all things on earth. Adam was “put in the garden of Eden to till it and care for it.” (Gen. 2: 15) He was also given the responsibility and power to name the living creatures on earth. (Gen. 2: 19) Psychologically, the Garden of Eden is the state of consciousness where we know Oneness with the Self/Divine Within. It is our job to cultivate this connection, and to name what appears (i.e., emotions, sensations, feelings) within the psyche/soul and look for the expression of the Divine Self in it.

On The Tree of Life, a “blueprint” of the emanations or aspects of God as they flow into the soul, the emanation of Adam/Christ corresponds to the Ruach—the Breath of God. The Breath of God manifests in us through our breath. We associate breath with the life force or our essence. It is this essence that keeps us alive while embodied. It is this essence that is eternal.

How do we experience and know the eternal essence within us? Earlier in the referenced text, the author writes, “for there are three witnesses; the Spirit, the water, and the blood.” The Spirit flows into us as the Ruach—the Inner Divine Spirit that is beyond words, forms, images. We know it through our felt sense. It literally flows through the water and blood in our bodies bringing physical and energetic nourishment to every cell of our being. Psychologically, we feel the water as our emotions and the blood as our passions. These convey the eternal Self.

Often, our emotions, reactions, and body sensations are conditioned responses programmed vis a vis earlier experiences. Who we think we are and how we see ourselves may be a false self. It is false to the degree that it does not express the totality of who we are. The ego operates as if it is independent of the Self/Inner Divine Spirit. We hold on to ways of being because we unconsciously fear or feel annihilated by expressions, our own or others, that are not congruent with how we experience.

When we open to all we are, we find life eternal. We can give up habits, patterns of thinking, being “just the way we are”, to risk feeling, thinking, and acting in new ways that are expressions of a larger Self. We consciously own and integrate emotions, yearnings, etc. that have been pushed away previously. When we look for the seed of the emotion, thought, etc., we begin to know and trust the Self that holds in spite of shifts of self expression and relationship changes.

Begin to be aware of what is transitory in your nature and what is constant. Look for the seed of the Divine that is within all of your expressions. Open to feel and know the Oneness of Self that holds and provides a foundation within, a sense of self that allows you to move and grow without fear of death/change--to know that your essence always survives.

All Material Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved, Adair Gillis

John 15: 9-17

2009-05-23T05:41:00.000-07:00

John 15: 9-17
vs. 12-15a, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. There is no greater love than this, that a man should lay down his life for his friends.”

Psychologically, to lay down one’s life for another means to let go of whom we think we are being in the relationship and to be open to what we are experiencing in the moment including how the other is impacted by us. Our ego consciousness--who we think we are and how we perceive ourselves--is only one aspect of the Self that is present. To every interaction, we bring all aspects of our psyche—what we know and what we don’t know about ourselves (our conscious and unconscious selves).

Love is relational. Whenever we feel love, there is always an object/recipient of the love. The object may be another person, a pet, a feeling, an activity, nature, or a thing. Regardless, love binds. It draws us towards someone or something. It connects.

Carl Jung writes that the “need for human connection”, what he calls kinship libido, is always present. We want human connection so much that we filter, censor, and edit who we are so that we feel acceptable to others. Our ego/sense of self survives by disowning parts of oneself (i.e., thoughts, emotions, talents) that don’t coincide with who we think we should be according to external standards (i.e., family, church, the other person).

Denied aspects of ourselves tend to become filters through which we experience others. We end up attributing our unconscious thoughts and feelings to someone else. We project them onto another. Think about how the movie projector works. Your unconscious psyche is the machine and the other person is the screen.

To lay down your life for your friends means giving up the projections and owning what’s within you. You have to lay down your ideas of who you are and consciously relate to all you are. This means paying attention and relating to whatever is going on inside us. By doing this, we become capable of doing the same for another person.
Shame and guilt are often unseen and unheard messengers that alert us to aspects of our nature that need to be loved—to be bound to the whole of oneself consciously.

To begin to reconnect with disowned or repressed aspects of your psyche/soul, pay attention to feelings of unrest and dis-ease that mask guilt and shame which show up when thoughts, emotions, desires begin to stir. Practice extending the arms of love to whatever shows up.*

*Angeles Arrien in The Four Fold Way names the arms of love as acknowledgment, acceptance, recognition, validation, and gratitude.

All Material Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved, Adair Gillis