Soul Source
Summer
Solstice
Newsletter
June 2017
Chaos
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Contemplation
by Suchitra Davenport
"In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder, a secret order."
~Carl Jung
As a mindfulness counselor and spiritual teacher I am attuned to rhythms and cycles and notice them
es. Lately I have noticed how much I hear the word "chaos". "My mind is pure chaos." "My life is in chaos." "Emotionally, all is chaotic." "The whole world is in chaos!" These are a few exclamations I have heard recently. And, I can relate.
Here at Soul Source, on June 9
th
, we lost our beloved Jan Detrich, gifted astrologer, wisdom teacher, true friend and Soul Sister. Within a very short time frame, 6 weeks only, she was diagnosed with bile duct cancer and then quickly, quickly she was gone, gone, gone to the other shore. She suffered so intensely and we suffered with her and her family. Shock, loss, grief, disbelief, all surreal, all things out of order and in chaos. We are still breathing into this loss, as is the world. This newsletter, our first without Jan, is part of our memorial to her and to our trust in the reality and sustaining power of all that is good and true and beautiful.
And I see others, everywhere, also experiencing loss and big traumas...loss of loved ones, of jobs, of homes, of health, of marriages, of faith, of trust in goodness and wholeness. It is true, the whole world IS in chaos right now. And not one part of life seems to be escaping this vast seachange. It is as though we are all in a nightmare together. Structures are crumbling, our sense of reality is shifting, there is much to shake our heads at, to look at in disbelief, to be in fear about. And fear is rampant, anger and futility seem the norm and this short-sighted vision is dangerous. It breeds hopelessness, depression and anxiety, all past and future driven, taking us away from the simple present moment. It is only in the still equipoise of the present moment that we can see the sacred Beauty that is emerging out of the sacred chaos, the Mystery.
Chaos is defined as "the first thing to exist". According to Hesiod in Greek mythology, "at first Chaos came to be and from Chaos came Gaia." We know that all creative pursuits have messy and dissolving moments. Simply making a meal can turn the most ordered kitchen into a mess. When I am painting, I know that when things appear to be falling apart, something really good is about to happen. But I have to stay in it, stay awake, I have to trust and be in the unknown and in the mess, until the Beauty begins to reveal Itself. We all know that even within the darkest and most frozen winter, spring IS and always comes and is followed by the full Glory of summer.
So as we stand within the Summer Solstice energies, the time of greatest Light, it is imperative that we step back from the confusion and turmoil and we choose to see clearly what is Real and remember how this all works. There is always something of Beauty soon to break through. All is in perfect timing and in perfect order, this is the nature of the Mystery. Even in the middle of what appears to us as "chaos", we can step back a few paces, we can perhaps begin to see the faint outline of ordered beauty, the grand design which is invisible at such close range. Sometimes we must sit still and close our eyes to see in the clear Light. We can anchor back into our hearts and trust in the unknown and in the intrinsic Divine Order. We can look up at the stars and see magnificence, great beauty and sublime order. We can look into our children's eyes and see Love, the greatest force of order and beauty that exists. We can begin to note moments of kindness and all the creativity toward new ways and better ways emerging now. And yes, the chaos will still be here, but we will be the template of the New, the seeds of vision and the embodiment of all that is good and true and beautiful. This is our sacred task at this time. To sustain as Love in the midst of the chaos. To be in this world, but not of this world. To begin to live in a new world, which is breaking through, as a butterfly from the chrysalis. We must remember that as sure as today is Summer Solstice here, it is Winter Solstice down under. All is One and cannot be without the other. The chaos is not to be feared, but to be embraced as Mystery and pure creative process. Let us open to this seachange. Let us stay awake through it, midwives of something unknown. Let us stand as Presence together, awake and watchful with those who sleep and fear and who do not
yet
trust in Love and all that is good and true and beautiful.
We are in good company when we do so. There are vast numbers watching, listening, trusting, knowing that something beautiful is already alive and breathing, those here on the earth and those invisible helpers from the far and distant, and yet so close, realms. As, Arundhati Roy says and I fully agree, "Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing." Can you?
Please join us in celebrating Summer Solstice in this hemisphere at 12:24 am on June 21
st
by breathing with Her.
And please take one moment to say a prayer or sit in Silence, invoking a safe journey home for our dear Jan. Her field of service was wide and deep. Thank you, Jan, for all that you were to the world and all that you gave. You are forever alive in our Hearts and in the Cosmos you loved so fervently.
1949-2017
gate gate paragate
parasamgate bodhi svaha
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RECOMMENDATIONS
Audio:
click to download a talk by Adyashanti
from a recent retreat at Garrison Institute
Books:
by John Briggs
by Phillip Moffitt
Video:
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You need chaos within, to give birth to a dancing star.
Freidrich Nietzsche
The thing about chaos,
is that while it disturbs us,
it too, forces our hearts to roar
in a way we secretly find magnificent.
-Christopher Poindexter
To restore order means to liberate oneself from the spell of what seems, and come back to what is.
-Henri Tracol
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Chaos is the science of surprises, of the nonlinear and the unpredictable. It teaches us to expect the unexpected. While most traditional science deals with supposedly predictable phenomena like gravity, electricity, or chemical reactions, Chaos Theory deals with nonlinear things that are effectively impossible to predict or control, like turbulence, weather, the stock market, our brain states, and so on. These phenomena are often described by fractal mathematics, which captures the infinite complexity of nature. Many natural objects exhibit fractal properties, including landscapes, clouds, trees, organs, rivers etc, and many of the systems in which we live exhibit complex, chaotic behavior. Recognizing the chaotic, fractal nature of our world can give us new insight, power, and wisdom. For example, by understanding the complex, chaotic dynamics of the atmosphere, a balloon pilot can "steer" a balloon to a desired location. By understanding that our ecosystems, our social systems, and our economic systems are interconnected, we can hope to avoid actions which may end up being detrimental to our long-term well-being.
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HOW TO HOLD A WORLD
by Jeff Foster
As your heart opens, as the defences against an illusory 'self' crumble, you begin to feel not just personal joys and sorrows, but the joys and sorrows of all humankind, of every sentient being, and perhaps of the entire universe as it moves in the void.
And sometimes it feels like everything is crumbling into chaos. The sadness of the world seems overwhelming, the immense suffering on this planet, all or most of it unnecessary. And the mind spins into chaos itself looking for answers, reasons, someone or something to blame, a way to fix everything today, or make it all stop.
Allow your heart to softly break today, if it must. There is a greater pain than a broken heart: a closed heart, a resistant heart, a heart unwilling to feel into the depths of every feeling, positive or negative; a heart numb to life. Allow waves of sorrow, grief, fear, even anger to move through you. These are all your children, and they are all alive, and all worthy of respect. Be the space; the container, not the contained.
No matter how chaotic the world seems, no matter how completely old certainties shatter, the invitation remains: Slow down. Breathe. Re-contact the ground. This moment. These sensations dancing in this body. This breath. Come out of the mind-made drama of fear and anticipation, judgement and blame, regret and retribution, and feel the sacredness where you are. Make a new beginning. Commit to the ground of love.
See outer chaos as an invitation to inner slowness. In the vastness of sky, there is enough room for the occasional storm. A hard heart shatters easily. A soft heart can expand to infinity, making room for an entire cosmos.
Awakening doesn't mean closing your eyes to a grieving world, but being the vastness in which it dances, in all its joys and sorrows.
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Choosing stillness in the midst of chaos is the path toward living in peace.
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Living in Chaos
by Gloria Shepard
In chaos, there is fertility.
~Anaïs Nin
Lately I find myself saying 'chaos' a lot. We're in the midst of a DIY project to replace flooring and ceilings in my very old house, a project that started with the expectation that it would only take a week or so (I know, we were naive!) but is well into its third month. As a homebody and someone with lots of earth in my astrology, I love to feel ordered and calm at home, but have been climbing over piles of flooring, navigating piles of furniture, and surrounded by dust and mess. It's disorienting.
Outer disorder stimulates the swirling, confusing, and shadowy emotions and thoughts that have long ruled my inner space. This inner disorder is what brought me to mindfulness years ago, the need to learn how to be with the angry, scared, helpless parts of myself that rose up when my kids didn't listen, when I got a rough email at work, and when I felt out of control.
Thich Nhat Hanh teaches a practice that I love and have used for many years. He invites us to hold our emotions as we would hold a baby, not pushing them away but tenderly caring for them, and whispering loving words, "My fear, I am here for you." As strange as this sounded to me when I started, it really helps to calm the struggle with in me.
Using tools that help me sit in the fire of my own thoughts and emotions, I am able to be with the world as it is. I open to the unsettled house, staying with the process and my discomfort so that my home can be transformed. I open to the deep changes going on in my family, allowing them to unfold without the added stress of my emotional reactions. I hold a dear friend and community in light and love during a profound transition without being lost in resistance. I sit in this confusing world we share right now, a world of violence, cruelty, horror and-at the same time-a world of love and tenderness and transformation. I breathe through the waves of fear and frustration and overwhelm that come with it all, anchoring in the courage to be present with my family and the world. And doing this, I help to midwife the new world's birth.
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Navaho and Tibetan sand paintings restore order to suffering beings and correct the imbalances that contribute to a chaotic, chattering mind or a community out of balance. These evanescent paintings tell us truths about ourselves.
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Adapted from
The Externalization of the Hierarchy
written in 1957 for these times we live in, by Alice Bailey
An effort is being constantly made to arrest the ugly chaos of the present and to produce the ordered beauty of the future. Disruption, lack of true security, and consequent fear are factors which contribute to the extreme difficulties of this time. The potency of this disrupting force is exceedingly great because it belongs to no one group of people and to all the ideologies. The chaos produced by indifference, the chaos produced by uncertainty, the chaos produced by fear, by starvation, by insecurity, by watching others suffer innocently, and the chaos produced by the warring and conflicting ambitious elements in every nation
(without exception)-
-these are the factors with which we all must deal; the task is one of supreme difficulty. The entire rhythm of international thinking has to be altered, and that constitutes a slow and arduous task; the ego centric leaders, citizens and groups which, in every country, are responsible for the chaos and uncertainty, have eventually to shift through evolution to those who can work in cooperation with the rhythm of the incoming seventh ray, and thus produce ordered beauty.
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Earth Prayer
by Mark Nepo
O Endless Creator, Force of Life, Seat of the Unconscious,
Dharma, Atman, Ra, Qalb, Dear Center of our Love,
Christlight, Yaweh, Allah, Mawu,
Mother of the Universe...
Let us, when swimming with the stream,
become the stream.
Let us, when moving with the music,
become the music.
Let us, when rocking the wounded,
become the suffering.
Let us live deep enough
till there is only one direction.
and slow enough till there is only
the beginning of time.
and loud enough in our hearts
till there is no need to speak.
Let us live for the grace beneath all we want,
let us see it in everything and everyone,
till we admit to the mystery
that when I look deep enough into you,
I find me, and when you dare to hear my fear
in the recess of your heart, you recognize it
as your secret which you thought
no one else knew.
O let us embrace
that unexpected moment of unity
as the atom of God.
Let us have the courage
to hold each other when we break
and worship what unfolds...
O nameless spirit that is not done with us,
let us love without a net
beyond the fear of death
until the speck of peace
we guard so well
becomes the world.
Solstice Blessings Everyone!
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