Peace begins within. Our family has had long discussions about peace, what it means to us, what it might mean to others. September 21st is International Peace Day. Our family has decided to start an annual Peace Bottle Project. We each write a note of peace and what it means to us, and add our name and mailing address. Then on September 21st we will launch our bottles in the ocean to find a soul somewhere who wants to start a dialogue about peace, what it means to them, and their experiences. If you decide to join us in this vision, please use strong bottles that will withstand the journey. Newspapers in Oregon and Washington are letting people know about this. People will be on the lookout for bottles so it’s not a litter issue. If you find a bottle, you are encouraged to recycle. For an interesting read on the science around flotsam and jetsam, I suggest Skye Moody’s book, Washed Up. May your message in a bottle help change the world one person at a time.

“Wisdom is like the rain. Its source is limitless, but it comes down according to the season. Grocers put sugar in a bag; their supply of sugar, however, is not limited to what’s in the bag. When you come to a grocer, he has an abundant supply of sugar. But he sees how much money you have brought with you and measures out the sugar accordingly.
Your money on the Path of God is courage and faith, and you will be taught according to your courage and faith. When you come looking for sugar, your bag will be examined to see how much it can hold; it will be filled accordingly.", Andrew Harvey , Teachings of Rumi.
I have read recently that there is a vast difference between knowledge and wisdom. We can read and study continuously, but until we use direct practice of what we have learned, we still only have knowledge. Wisdom comes from participation. We must practice, through faith and courage the things we learn. Only then does our bag begin to fill with the wonders of direct experience of Divine Wisdom.

Dan Millman , in his book, Wisdom of the Peaceful Warrior, tells the story of”… a young journalist who traveled to Poland to interview a respected rabbi. When he entered the rabbi’s living quarters, a simple room furnished only with a cot, a single shelf with books, and a small desk, the reporter was moved to ask, “Rabbi, where is your furniture?”
“Well, where is your furniture?” the rabbi responded.
“My furniture?” asked the puzzled journalist. “But—-I’m just passing through…”
“So am I,” said the rabbi. “So am I.”
This story reminds of us the difference between needs and wants. So often we create our lives around things that foster an attachment and ultimately a prison. Our needs are food, water and shelter. If we have a good environment, everything else is extra. This doesn’t make extras a bad thing, but it serves to remind us that they are simply wants, not needs. This acknowledgement allows us to choose right work and time to consider our path. We truly cannot take it with us. So what is important and how do you want to get there?

“Abundance is not something that we acquire. It is something we tune into. This thought is paramount to making the abundance principle function in our lives.”-Wayne Dyer, You’ll See It When You Believe It. Dyer reminds us of an important concept. When we think abundance is something that we must go out and get, then we tap into thoughts of scarcity. This type of thinking keeps us in relationships that are unhealthy, work that is unfulfilling and a life that is measured in future hopes and desires. What Dyer is telling us is that there is unlimited energy in the universe. All we have to do is claim it. But how do we do that? First we must shed all our baggage of not being good enough, not deserving. When we begin to love ourselves, we begin to take stock in what we truly want. This is our inheritance. As that love flows out from us we begin to receive. We must always remember no fear. When we start to feel terrified we need to ask ourselves what is the worst that can happen? How unhappy are we currently? Once we let go of fear and step out in faith tremendous things began to take shape. Abundance begins to flow in many ways. The first step is to stop tuning out on life and tune into our own channels.

The softest thing in the universe
Overcomes the hardest thing in the universe.
That without substance can enter where there is no room.
Hence I know the value of non-action.
Teaching without words and work without doing
Are understood by very few.

 -Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching

In difficult situations I try to remember the wisdom of water as it seems to do nothing, but over the years wears its own path through the boulder. The water would seem to be yielding, but through its patience, its perseverance, it is much stronger than the boulder. When we walk through the world loving others and leaving our ego behind, we enter life without substance. This is non-action. One cannot teach from the ego, but rather the heart. In doing so, there is an eternal patience with those around us. The changes that come forth in these people are through our love and acceptance. We see them as whole and perfect. This is a knowing without words and worthy work without doing. As we hold the vision, we become water and the world becomes our boulder.

In the Cherokee tradition a father takes his son into the forest and blindfolds him. He must stay there all night on a stump until the morning light shines through his blindfold. He must not say a word even though he is afraid. He can never tell the other boys about this experience because each one must go through his own rite of passage. There are many noises in the forest. There are many wild animals. He must persevere if he wants to become a man. It is a long night. When the sun comes up he removes his blindfold. It is then that he realizes his father has been sitting next to him all night, protecting his son.

As we walk on our soul journeys, we too, become like the young Cherokee boy, alone in the forest and blindfolded. Our fears consume us. We feel alone and terrified. For the boy he knows there is no other way. He must become a man. We also know that we must grow and evolve spiritually. The knowledge that we have no choice but to move forward is exhausting at times. Our daily trials are like the unidentified sounds in the forest. We are luckier than than young boy. We already know the outcome. We know that Spirit is by us at all times, protecting us from the forest of life. While we must make the journey, we can do so in the knowledge that we are never alone.

The August 2008 copy of Shift Magazine has an interesting article by Angeles Arrien called “Wisdom’s Way:  Growing into Spiritual Maturity. I particularly liked this excerpt:  “Throughout history, images of thresholds and gates have served as symbolic passageways into new worlds. Symbolically, there is a marked distinction between a threshold and a gate. A threshold suggests the place or moment where transformational work, learning, or integration occurs. The gate suggests protecting and testing that which must occur before we are allowed entry and permitted to do work at the threshold.”

I have often used St. John of the Cross and his “dark night of the soul” with students, and even though it captures momentousness of that experience, I really resonate with the threshold and gate image. Arrien speaks about the archetypal images that surface at the gate.  We stand at the gate and must let go of all the old ways of being before we can open the gate and step over the threshold. Once over the threshold, we work. As Arrien points out to thresh is to work and separate out the husks and seeds as on a threshing floor.

When we begin to view our journeys in terms of these images a sort of anticipation fills us. The dark night of the soul now becomes a place where my youngest son might see in terms of a teleporter. Every time we feel that change or chaos starting in our lives we can know we are at a gate. Stop. Open the gate slowly and with intention. You are not a victim, but a traveler. Step through and over the threshold ready to begin a new piece of work. As Arrien so elegantly puts it, we are on a “holy excursion”.

What is the meaning of the one year in the nine year astrological cycle? One is a beginning number, a time of new growth, new opportunities. Last year, the nine year, was a time of cleaning out your life’s closet in preparation. What is particularly confusing for many people is the concept they have around new beginnings. Where is the excitement? Where are the rewards?  How come this year is still bringing challenges instead of abundant opportunities?

Growth in its beginning stages can be likened to the process of the spring plant pushing through the soil. There is the struggle upwards through the darkness, the pressure of the soil on the plant, until finally it bursts forth opening to the sun. New beginnings are never without effort or struggle. Our lives, like plants, need both water and sun. We need the cleansing in order to promote growth.

As you envision your year, pull in energy from all around you, the trees, the plants, the mountains, and the ocean. The energy from these sources fuels your intention. Likewise, let all your negatives flow out to these natural surroundings. As they are truly grounded in Mother Earth, they will take your energy and turn it into a positive flow for them. 

Remember to stay centered and focused. Balance is particularly important this year as it sets the pattern for the full nine years. A one year is powerful in that what you request from the universe, you receive. Be thoughtful about your intentions. Understand that your time and universal time can be different so if you want something six months from now, you need to be very specific. Otherwise you may get what you want too quickly. 

Finally, remember Source is All There Is. If Source is Good and all there is is Source, then there can be only Good. As you are within yourself, that will be reflected in your outer world. When you attain balance within, you will attain balance without. Create the life you want by thinking on the positives within your life and adopting an attitude of gratitude.

Welcome to The Center for Inner Awareness blog! Our goal at The Center for Inner Awareness is to help our students to realize the Divinity Within and that is the goal of this blog. I will share metaphysical tools and stories with you to enliven and enrich your inner space. In this sense I hope our experience together will truly be interactive as your feedback and experiences from working with tools and concepts will help others. 

The soul journey is work. It’s about awakening to The Knower Within. Each message will invite you to explore this inner space in ways you may have never experienced. When you start to awaken you begin to help others through your intentions.  There is a scientific basis to spirituality. We know that the energy field either negative or positive affects the world around it. You will begin to experience the truth of as within so without. The more you work on the inner self to become balanced the more you will experience that balance in your outer world.

We will also have weekly podcasts from services at The H.O.M.E. Center which is a Living New Thought church in Salem, Oregon. H.O.M.E. stands for Helping Ourselves Master Every day. From time to time students from The Center for Inner Awareness will share their insights and journeys. I hope you join us in this adventure and let us know what things you would like to learn or hear about. Welcome, and let the journey begin!