ARE WE ENDING AN ERA?
ARE WE ENDING AN ERA? – YARO
STARAK
“Some of the water of life
tries to enter the world and flow through each of us. So that the collective
and personal crises which all are facing now may threaten our habitual ways of
being and acting on one level of life, while opening the doors of vision and
understanding on other levels. Part of what happens amid all the uncertainty
and liminality, because we are changing in ourselves, our relationships change,
and we can find new ways of relating to other people, but also to nature and
also to the divine.” Michael Meade
Recently I was listening to
Meade’s podcast about the old story of John of Patmos who was banned to a cave near
Greece and wrote his prophecy about the coming of APOCALIPSIS. Here is what
history tells us:
Early tradition says that John
was banished to Patmos by the Roman authorities. This tradition is credible
because banishment was a common punishment used during the Imperial period for
a number of offenses. Among such offenses were the practices of magic and
astrology. Prophecy was viewed by the Romans as belonging to the same category,
whether Pagan, Jewish, or Christian. Prophecy with political implications, like
that expressed by John in the Book of Revelation, would have been perceived as
a threat to Roman political power and order. (Natural History 4.69–70; Tacitus,
Annals).
I am reflecting about the current
‘Revelations’ about a rare coronavirus that supposedly came out of a fish
market in China and quickly spread globally. That pandemic is only an example
of what people like John of Patmos (if he were alive today) would proclaim the
end of the world as we know it.
Currently, we are in
several crisis that are threatening our survival as humans. Covid-19, fires in
Canada and California, Floods in Europe and many more disasters
everywhere. The modern apocalyptic story is now with us and many so called
“experts” are filling the web and social media with extreme stories of our
demise.
The great predictions of John
have not materialised, and I am certain that we will also solve the many
challenges this time. In the meantime, I am proposing a way to spend the time
(in lockdown) by placing an empty chair in front of you and have a ‘dialogue’
with yourself. Gestalt therapy is a way to discover how to live HERE AND NOW
and create space only for you. Videotaping or recording your dialogue is very
useful for healing self and help others. There is no coming back or ‘returning’
to the “New Normal”, as many leaders and experts are promising. Everyone must
examine their inner soul and discover what is the NEW TIME.
The water of life is flowing as
Michael Meade says: “When I hear people talking about returning to normal, I
find myself repeating the idea that normal cannot know itself. Normal is not a
place anyone really wants to be, especially if a person wants to be themselves.
Since there is no normal self, the idea of living in normal is truly
self-defeating.
Rather, we have a desperate
need to figure out how to go forward, which means finding our way to a better
place, one that is more inclusive of all kinds of people, but also more
inclusive of the various parts of our own selves that are often excluded from
the ideas and the practices of normal. There is also a danger in trying to return
too quickly in ways that are not healing or reassuring to our own souls”
BEARS IN ALASKA
I am proposing here a metaphor to
reflect upon. Recently I saw a video of several bears catching salmon on a
river flowing downward and the salmon jumping up stream and the bears skilfully
catching as many as possible. Perhaps we are the “bears” catching all we can to
live a rich and healthy life while the climate changes and pandemics are
closing in on us, and we are not aware or do not care.
Most people are attached to
solutions that give us expert answers in exaggerated images of what is good for
everyone. But in troubled times we get attached to extreme visions (like John
of Patmos) believing in fantasies, prophecies and conspiracies.
I was reflecting about the bears
catching salmon and one thought came to me about the river slowly getting dry
and the salmon will not be able to jump to produce new ones up-stream and the bears
will go hungry and even die. I do not know what the bears will do to survive
but we human beings have a mighty brain that is capable to survive and by
creatively design solutions and in time, the Apocalyptic fears will dissolve as
time goes by.
I have some ideas already to
fine-tune our creative thinking and stay ready for the ‘light at the end of the
tunnel’. One idea came to me reading a book by Sol Luckman: POTENTIATE YOUR
DNA, another one is by Pedram Shojai THE URBAN MONK.
The first book claims to have the
secret to regenerate your DNA using specific sound effects.
Here is what the author said: The
Potentiation session initiates a progressive repatterning designed to “reset”
your bioenergy fields, which serve as the blueprint for your body-mind-spirit
and, as such, when distorted by trauma or toxicity (or both), can induce
dysfunctions of various kinds.
In the second book, (a bit simpler to understand) we can use his healing methods. The author states:
“Chronic stress is a killer. Modern stressors are basically death by a
thousand cuts. Our abstract concept of money or currency is tied to our very
survival and triggers the same circuitry. It messes with us and stresses us
out. Money is tight, and deep down that means something that our bodies
understand viscerally. Low levels of cortisol release over a sustained period
have terrible consequences for the body.”
I am reflecting about the word
“MONEY”. I am imagining that this is our biggest stressor. Like the bears
frantically fishing on the river, we frantically ‘fish’ for more and more
money. Statistics in the Western world indicate that we are coming to a “dry
season” as there are more and more poor and only a few rich. Governments are
frantically getting Covid vaccines and businesses are closed on lockdown.
So, I am suggesting some ‘at
home’ simple rituals to stay alert and well, the Urban Monk suggests:
CLENSING
MEDITATION OR MINDFULLNESS
Try to use meditation as an
operating system instead. This means you constantly scan your consciousness and
cue for calm. You can sense thoughts that make you reactive and uneasy, and you
learn to let them pass. You don’t let them knock you off your perch.
LEARN TO LISTEN
Millions of bits of information pass through
your brain every second. From the position of your foot to the wind hitting
your face, it’s all data that reflects in the mind as noise. There’s also a
steady stream of past memories, trauma, emotions, and pain that your brain is
constantly working to keep at arm’s distance. It is loud up there. Most people
first notice this when they try to meditate and panic when they realize it . .
. chaos is actually inside.
SHAKE IT OUT
Stand with your feet shoulder-width
apart, with your hands in front of your torso.
Turn your palms so they’re facing
your chest, as if you’re holding a tree or beach ball in front of you.
Bend your knees slightly and
curl your tongue so it’s touching the roof of your mouth.
Breathe gently in through your
nose and out through your nose to your lower abdomen. Keep your shoulders,
wrists—and your entire body—relaxed. This is called Tree Pose or Tai Chi Pose.
Let yourself relax into this
stance and take a few breaths into your lower abdomen. Allow your body to
start subtly moving around within the confines of the stance.
WALK BAREFOOT IN THE GRASS
Take a walk to the park and take
off your shoes and just slowly walk on the grass and you will feel the
regeneration that the Earth is giving your body. Do this every day or at least
on weekends.
NAMASTE!
