Author: anna

Anna is available for consultation that promotes clarity and grace of Being--illuminating the pathless path wherein we recognize our true nature, never changing, is here right now -- 'that' -- simple truth.

There is Only Love, Welcome to the New World

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Only by Love, only by Loving
Can you maintain the sense of Love and Peace.
Then emotions and fear will not dominate you
Because you are Love.
When in Love, only Love sits in your heart
And so fear has no place. ~Sri H.W.L. Poonja, Papaji

Gentle remembrance descends upon us as leaves fall from a tree, eventually touching the earth whence they came. We return to knowing the love that is our true nature and the unity of all things. Therein lays ‘salvation’.

“Teach the children love.”

As a number 9, this New Year will be dominated by service for the highest good. Each individual will be called upon to be the best that they can be; to deliver the goods they have developed over much time and bring levels of healing to human consciousness that will lift us beyond the grip of centuries of habitual response patterns.
We will hear the one heart beat from the ocean depths, to the mountain peaks, in the hot desert winds. The cool of stillness will permeate the air we breathe and we will hear only the sound of the waves perpetually caressing the shore before disappearing back into the sea.

Wisdom shall prevail. Wisdom to know thy self in the silence where understanding is based on not knowing and deep love pervades all existence, is tangible, is continuous, is what we undeniably share from breath to breath. ‘Utopia’, the realm of the idealist, rises up and out of the illusion that individuals create to keep the ego company in the world where the need for many things drives the train; always climbing the hill.

2016 is a year to reinvent our language. On January 1, Mercury, planet of communication, the messenger, is at 29 degrees 31 minutes Capricorn. In the last moment of this sign, that is the master of structure that supports humanity, so evolved is the knowledge of this structure that it has begun to dematerialize. The old structure is no longer necessary. Instead it becomes something that embraces all of us in love not judgment. Mercury is trine to the Moon at 0 degrees Libra where the notion of individuality has been transcended. We accept emergence into the sea of peace and perfect balance.

As we reinvent our language we give our selves the opportunity to “reconnect” the receptors that plug us into the unwavering intelligence of the heart. We trust because that is what is most obviously the only thing to do and know that there is no effort required to Be here in love and delight.

Mars at the same time, at 28 degrees Libra, the warrior of love, squares Mercury and generates the energy to honor thy true Self; with sword of light illuminates the path of ease and draws in the power of grace to shake the roots that have shackled us to an experience of suffering here; the spiritual warrior everywhere aggressively promoting love and peace.

Words maintain their power of poetic storytelling and sharing of the experience here but no longer have our entire attention as what delivers truth. A compassionate gaze, loving gesture, a smile or a frown, a back turned against the cold and bleak urban silence speak louder than words.

“Words are a pretext. It is the inner bond that draws one person to another,
not words.” ~ Rumi

Words spoken from the heart can not go far astray. The heart with ever beating pulse is the same pulse that beats in every heart and connects us to truth. The truth of being can not be described with words. Words have the potential to confuse and distract and yet this is our primary form of communication. The fewer the words, the simpler the statement, the closer we are to truth. The heart generates not from the past but from this moment to the next.

Words produce, like the spider, silken threads that lead us between periods of silence from this place to that where thoughts can conjure an infinite number of pictures that deceive and distract us from the truth which is without need of explanation. Silken threads that produce an energy imprint that travel through time.

Words, we chew on them as though they were delectable morsels that excite the palette and fill us up when in fact they can leave us perpetually searching and emaciated.

Words accompany us when the silence becomes unbearable and words then, from the mouths of babes and guru elevate us to breathe and ingest stillness.

Seeing delights us beyond words, is without judgment and moves us with ease and grace in the direction of this moment that happens to be, always, what is.

Seeing is the soul stretching its legs, taking ego by the hand and dancing through the night. In the morning it is apparent that under the stars, in the mysterious moonlight a wedding has taken place and at the subsequent banquet there is neither guest nor groom nor bride just a satisfaction uniting moment to moment.

Seeing allows us to wander without agenda touching, smelling, hearing as a human being, upright mammal, lost in the sensuality of an experience and ecstatic to do so. In the next moment there is clarity that such purity is truth, is this, no separation. I am what is sensed, all me/us, one—no separation.

“The observer is the observed.” ~J. Krishnamurti

One heart beat that we all hear and respond to even through the many layers of conditioning. From the deepest well from which we draw sustenance we find an endless source of love. The heart beat soothes us, calls us home and reverberates through time and space. There is awareness that ‘home’ is never not and this one has never not been, and has never not been the most perfect expression of source. With this realization love flows freely, endlessly, always has except that this mind has constructed such tales to obscure truth. And none of it matters because none of it is Real.

Love drifts, soars, meanders and dances in open spaces where flowers, yet to spring forth
will soon add their dazzling colors to a verdant landscape; in darkness to comfort the child in a moment of distress; in cities between the mortar and the meeting and in every nuance of expression that occurs in every interaction there is Love. Have we any reason to doubt our own existence as Love?

If there is a tarot card that guides us in 2016 we may consider the Fool 0. Empty headed, empty handed, except for the white rose of “spirit” and empty he stands at the precipice of not knowing. Love flows and he is willing to be moved by Love, with Love and for Love. He is Love and goes where he is called to go and to ‘do’ what he is called to ‘do’. There is no effort required here and in this we finally rest.

Wishing you the most exceptional 2016 of giving and receiving Love, Being and radiating Light. Namaste ~Anna

Happiness is…

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Happiness is not a Pursuit (thoughts for December)

There exists a way of being that underlies and suffuses all emotional states, that embraces all the joys and sorrows that come to us. A happiness so deep that, as Georges Bernants wrote, “nothing can change it, like the vast reserve of calm water beneath a storm.” The Sanskrit word for this state of being is sukha.

Sukha is the state of lasting well-being that manifests itself when we have freed ourselves of mental blindness and afflictive emotions. It is also the wisdom that allows us to see the world as it is, without veils or distortions. It is, finally, the joy of moving toward inner freedom and the loving kindness that radiates toward others. ~Arun Gandhi from a forward to Happiness by Matthieu Ricard

When we suspend judgment and see with the eyes of grace wherein everything is an expression of Divine Wisdom, there is a beautiful rhythm that rocks us, guides us, moves us. We touch the untouchable, drink in the dry desert, hear the silence, feel the stillness and dance to our hearts content in a world of marvelous mystery and limitless creation.
There are no thoughts of past or future only the resounding vibration that permeates all creation, establishing without thought, harmonious resonance in which the Being is freedom to play in the endless field of possibility.

Happiness is not a pursuit but the natural feeling that abides when we step out of the mirrored corridor of physical existence that causes us to reel in confusion. With which image do I identify A., B., C., or none of the above? If you answer none of the above the illusion/confusion disintegrates like a disturbing image in a dream that dissolves when we awaken. An afterimage may linger but it is known to be without substance (i.e: ultimate reality that underlies all outward manifestations and change) just as when we awaken to our true nature, the mind is seen to be an accumulation of thoughts that populate emptiness and are without substance. Whatever the thought, it is based on the past and is not the result of observation of this moment.

In this moment without thought is that which cannot be described with words or apprehended by the mind. It requires no effort, no thing, to be in this moment. The simplicity of this allows the body to rest in a way that it has not for perhaps a very long time. For this moment we have relinquished any desire for control over or attachment to any thing and abide in peace.

You must choose between your attachments and happiness. ~ Adyashanti

Happiness is knowing that there is nothing in the relative world that can displace what is always present, unwavering even in the face of worldly events. When we are peace—what a place of stillness to greet that world! May each and every day be filled with peace of mind and loving heart; that our steps touch the earth and each other in a way that amplifies the essence of wholeness, oneness, the Absolute. Let December be about giving of thy Self and reveling in this pure joy.

Sagittarius is the dominate sign for December and exists almost completely within the constellation Ophiucus the healer, known as such for the association to Asclepius the Greek healer. In mythic lore Asclepius witnessed a snake bringing herbs to an injured snake whence he developed the powers to heal. As the story unfolds, Jupiter was dissatisfied with this potential gift; that humanity might know immortality so he slew Asclepius and placed him in the sky as the constellation Ophiucus.

The constellation is the healer entwined by an enormous serpent, the serpent being representative of ‘wisdom’, the knowing of Truth. In the tarot the constellation of Ophiucus is associated with the Tower, number XVI of the major arcana. Number 16 or 7 reduced, is the number of tests or trials. The Tower is where we accomplish the letting go of old beliefs and patterns that we might be free to know the immortality of being; that our true nature is always, not influenced by weather or time. The Tower is the material plane, the structure that we create that we might feel secure and still wend our way to ‘god’. Yet if we believe that through this, in any way, we might discover Truth we are not clear. It all comes tumbling down—eventually—and, it is an event that can elicit great joy in a seeker, as then one is truly free, touching ‘god’ in everything, seeing ‘god’ as everything; knowing that ‘this’ is I and there is nothing I need do to uphold ‘this’.

If an additional card were created for the Tarot deck, making it number 22 of the major arcana, it might be a heart, access to the eternal Om, the pulse that infuses every cell every where. In Hinduism Om is ultimate reality, the Absolute, god. It is what is once we have mastered the journey of duality, the physical World (No. XXI major arcana). The number 22 is a master number that symbolizes the mastery of duality. Once we know the nature of duality we are at once aware of our true nature.

Our fears may run deep. That which inhibits us from knowing Self may rear up at us during those moments when we seem closest to Self discovery. If we have the Courage and Strength (No. VIII major arcana) to proceed through each moment, no matter how excruciating it may seem, we find what lies at the ‘heart of the individual’, deeper than the deepest fear, abiding in stillness and peace is ‘that’, ‘that’ is.

Happiness is ‘that’.

Thank you for your presence and the love that you are. May your holidays be filled with happiness!

Every day is a miracle…

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And everything together, all the voices, all the goals, all the striving, all the suffering, all the pleasure—everything together was the river of what is, the music of life. And when Siddhartha listened attentively to the thousandfold song of the river, when he did not fasten on the suffering or laughing, when he did not attach his mind to any one voice and become involved in it with his ego—when he listened to all of them, the whole, when he perceived the unity, then the great song of a thousand voices formed one single word: OM, perfection. ~from Siddhartha, Herman Hesse

One time, while looking in a mirror in the candle light faces roared across the surface as though on a movie screen, the film speeded up. Faster and faster they appeared and disappeared until my head hurt from watching so many images fly by. Old, young, black, white, yellow skin; hats, turbans, shawls, berets, bandages, cloaks, hoods, fierce eyes, grim, stern, laughing, smiling, loving. Faster yet and all became a blur. I closed my eyes and heard the roar of the ocean and finally fell asleep.

We rest knowing that it all comes and goes with haste, with deliberation, with certainty but that which I truly am is, always; expressed from the heart in multi-hued magnificence. Magnificent because it is everything. And previously I had dared only chip timidly at a corner of the stone that loomed over me, silently demanding to be chiseled away until only the truth remained. What was the fear that prevented boldly hammering away at the facade? Was it the fear that there might be nothing left when the process was complete? If only I had realized how very simple it is to embrace nothing as though a long, lost friend; the source of liberation and knowing Self.

Every day is a miracle, a mystery, an opportunity to discover something previously unknown. Being in the flow delivers us to the doorstep of the unexpected, what is in the moment, a miraculous opening of the heart—the heart crying out to the world in love—alive and listening. The vibration carries across the vast landscape of human experience soothing, caressing and cradling all into one exquisite expression and that is the eternal OM.

Let the heart lead in this dance of life so that each step is movement in harmony and peace. We listen without hearing. We listen with the heart and are transparent so that when the wind blows strong in late autumn days we are lifted into flight, set free to join the dance that has always enticed us, always moved us even when we have been most reluctant to take that next step.

 

When the Heart Cries A Loud…

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My Eyes So Soft
Don’t surrender your loneliness so quickly.
Let it cut more deep.
Let it ferment and season you as few human
Or even divine ingredients can.
Something missing in my heart tonight
has made my eyes so soft
my heart so tender,
My need of God absolutely clear.
~Hafiz
We all join together in soft, gentle loving dear hearts;
that is a wish for  all of us together–to embrace
in the most tender ways.

The Familiar

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The heart swells at the familiar.

How grateful one can be for the

waves that perpetually

roll to the shore,

the moon in various

stages rising above

the everyday occurrence.

The noise, the activity,

the grim, dim, shining,

effervescent, silence

trickling across this abundant,

scarce, dry

floodplain of humanity.

Ten sun salutations!

For life in all its

color is

a grand

Being.

 

Good Monday Morning: no separation

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Dim light stretches across the horizon

Into the cracks, Into the belly,

Into the memories brought here by stray thoughts

Marching in the mist, an army sure of victory

–denied success.

The sun slowly rising

Strewing silver slivers

Needles of light

Piercing the belief of night and day.

The Tempest and the Hero

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“If after every tempest come such calms,
May the winds blow till they have waken’d death!” ~ William Shakespeare, Othello

Today there is a new moon that is occurring as this is posted. A tidal wave of emotion about to flood this plain we call home and drown us all in the rapture of freedom from identity and judgment, from the limitation of the mind that spits out, with regularity and punctuality, thoughts to which we are enslaved; to the story that is the island in the ever rushing stream of consciousness cradling us.

There is a tempest brewing that has long battered this wall, raged against the fear and feigned indifference to that from which the tempest surges. The waves have tossed me back and forth until dizzy with confusion and torn to pieces by the winds, finally I relent. Peace then abides not only in this heart but everywhere I look. Even in the apparent cacophony of collective voice there is a hum that unites every light wave. Every light wave a source of joy, rising, fluttering, diving, skipping to and fro and yet ‘this’ remains still, tickled by every movement, intrigued, mystified and graciously bowing to every voice that cries out from the dark for ‘some of that’.

Who are our heroes? Who is it that we look up to and long to emulate? Often those people who are spontaneously living life to the utmost and reaping the rewards for bold action, often in service to others, are those that many admire and respect—great artists—poets, writers, painters, dancers, sculptors, musicians—and anyone who allows the passion of their true nature to lead them rather than being directed and resistant due to ones fears.

The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts. ~Henry Miller

A hero is not one who wants to save the world but someone who has the courage to let go of everything that resembles ‘security’ in order to experience one’s humanity (if anyone appears to be saved in the process it is only that the person has realized a truth that affords them similar liberty)

A hero ‘sees’ clearly and therefore moves with confidence, not through need or the will to succeed. A hero is not directed by the ego but pure exhilaration. ‘Seeing’ is the soul stretching its legs, taking ego by the hand and dancing through the night. In the morning it is apparent that under the stars, in the mysterious moonlight a wedding takes place and of the subsequent banquet there is neither guest nor groom nor bride just a satisfaction uniting moment to moment.

The tempest is not something we struggle against. It is something we engage with to the furthest edges of our reality in this moment and to the utmost, the very frontier of knowing; that one might be ready to embrace everything and willing to have nothing. With nothing we are more joyful than when we thought we had everything—there is nothing to lose ever. We are already everything and nothing; that which eradicates and transforms with a power that simply is.

One astrological comment: this new moon has an opposition from Pluto (that which eliminates and transforms) to a Mercury/Mars conjunction at 14 degrees Cancer. At this time the NASA spacecraft New Horizons is sending photos of this tiny planet back to earth, a 4 hour journey, that rate it as the most youthful surface of any planet in the solar system with geological transformation possibly still occurring. They have discovered a mountain range there that has appeared within the last 100 million years relatively recent compared to the age of the solar system at 4.56 billion years.

Pluto in opposition to Mercury/Mars upheaval and transformation of the thoughts that direct our actions and in Cancer—giving way to feeling, sensing that knows the truth rather than assuming based upon collective patterns.

Full Moon in Capricorn July 1st, 2015

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Full Moon 07.01.2015 @ 9 degrees Capricorn 55 minutes
10:20 p.m. EDT 07:20 p.m. PDT

full moon chart 07 01 2015Behold the full moon, behold my Self. Into every crevice light shines, finds its way amongst the wounds, the dreams, the tiny heart fluttering gives it a kick start and voila! Leap into the void, beliefs tumble into forgetfulness; suddenly not there, only a perpetual sense of the mystery—and no need to understand!

Running the rapids with an expert team of navigators is how we approach this Full Moon in Capricorn. The waters may seem turbulent but there isn’t one inch of the experience that we need fear. Like the down grade of a monster roller coaster we simply throw our hands in the air and go along for the ride. There is never anything out of place or occurring that is not that which is always and everything and therefore could not be different, more or better.

Efficiency, persistence, confidence, focus, discipline—nothing is carried that is not necessary to the journey. All excess baggage dropped along the way. With the outer planets engaged ‘mountains will move’; mountains of thoughts that have accumulated over millennia. Thoughts, the basis for which was and is no more, not in this moment. Not happening now. Simplicity is what is here in this moment now.

During the Full Moon on the west coast there is a deeper sense of compassion, generosity, creativity and wanting to share that unfolds as a result of the highlighting of Uranus in Aries trining Jupiter/Venus in Leo conjunction both sextiling Mercury in Gemini. Uranus the ‘awakener’ in easy aspect to the very benevolent Jupiter/Venus pairing can only mean the lightening of some perceptions of what it means to be here. Wisdom prevails allowing for a great sense of the ‘universal justice’ that moves everything. The resulting freedom from worry or concern, the notion that I must be responsible or effective allows one to experience stillness.

The mind (Mercury in its own sign, Gemini, between Uranus and Jupiter/Venus) functions but is no longer in control. There is awareness that I am not my thoughts which come and go. My true nature is always not temporary. I may have a thought now and never have that thought again. If I am defined by these thoughts if they no longer existed would “I” then be no more?

Mercury then becomes a partner to and a servant of the unchanging, ever present Reality prepared to express and communicate from a place of observation rather than judgment.

On the east coast the effects of this Full Moon may show up as a practical implementation of revolutionary business concepts with far reaching benefit for humanity. Seeds that have been planted are breaking the surface and will continue to grow to enhance human experience here. Well, its already happening what changes is the resistance to some of these out of the box concepts and though we are slow in this country to embrace that which is for our own health and well being, the trend has been set.

It is a strategic Full Moon in that those in favor of what serves the highest good without actually knowing what that is stand up from those who would rather continue to fight for what serves the individual. Ultimately rather than creating greater separation there is greater awareness of unity.

After four years of writing Full and New Moon articles I am going to take a break from story telling. There really is no more story to tell as you may have noticed if you read these articles regularly. They all sound very similar. Something may or may not show up in their absence. As someone who enjoys writing it is entirely possible. In the meantime, thank you for your participation and support.

New Moon 06.16.2015: In Gemini. What is the message?

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New Moon 06.16.2015 @ 25 deg. Gemini 07 min.
EDT 10:05 a.m. PDT 07:05 a.m.

new moon 06 16 2015As this New Moon is in Gemini we ask what is the ‘messenger of the gods’ up to? That is Mercury, ruler of Gemini (and Virgo) known as Hermes in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus, king of the Greek pantheon and Maia the eldest of the seven sisters that are the Pleiades. On the 11th of June Mercury went direct allowing us to resume communicative activity without delay or interference. In fact with Mars conjunct the luminaries for the next few days the intellect, razor sharp, may zip through tasks and seek more to do–especially anything that directs one toward the ‘big picture’.

The underlying structure of the New Moon at 25 degrees Gemini is an exact grand trine (3 planets 120 degrees from each other) involving Uranus in Aries (evolution and illumination), Jupiter in Leo (generously and compassionately spreading the word) and Pallas Athena in Sagittarius (wisdom and ‘defense’ of Truth or upholding Truth). Profound underpinning that energetically circulates the essentials of the ‘big picture’=illumination, compassion and Truth with ease and grace, the nature of a grand trine—energy moving in a continuous flow–a passion for eliminating that which is not balance and harmony. This is a fire grand trine so plenty of energy to move us along.

The nature of Mercury is changeability. The sign Gemini is mutable indicating an ability to move quickly from one experience to the next as we continue to dance our way through all that fascinates us here learning the art of detachment and continuing the journey.

Although 6 planets are mutable in this chart, Saturn returning recently to Scorpio (a fixed sign) from Sagittarius offers a serious anchor for those who might otherwise feel ungrounded and another opportunity to examine whatever lies hidden hindering our ability to leap when necessary. Saturn completes its retrograde motion August 1st on the west coast and August 2nd on the east coast at 28 degrees Scorpio 17 minutes. As Scorpio represents the cycle of humanity birth, death, rebirth and regeneration there is a desire to understand this cycle as a relative experience; that our true nature is that from which this cycle emanates, not the cycle it self. When we realize the essence of duality, our truth is simultaneously known.

Gemini, the twins, implies two whereas the Truth is ‘not two’. However, the experience of two is necessary in order to recognize the Absolute. Here two exist within one and the motivation toward dissolution of the notion of separation is what drives us to seek many experiences. At this time assistance to successfully attain our goal appears in Black Moon Lilith at 6 degrees Libra and conjunct the North Node (where we strive toward). In Libra the quest is balance in the environment that results in stillness in the inner environment.
Stillness, peace is the absence of thoughts to which we are attached that create ‘not peace’. The Black Moon, the darkest depths of space, inherently knows stillness and all that does not contribute to this looms large in our field. Almost with exaggeration does the influence of BML move us from ego based desire and fear toward a place of pure observation and living without editing what shows up on the screen based upon patterns from the past that have nothing to do with this present moment.

BML trines Mercury within a degree so that subliminal messages can be expected. It may not be obvious what motivates some of our actions over the next few days but we may be sure that these actions will be supporting our highest good. Therefore trust your self and any insights you have now and always. You will see clearly that this is the easiest, most graceful way to be here. Everything occurs even without our constant need to manipulate and control.

The message is to deeply focus on, not what moves and changes but that which does not; that which is the fabric of the fabric. The intellect that directs us, may carry us to the edge of what is known of physical reality but it can not take us to what we are and have never not been. When the intellect directing ceases to be the authority we are free to Be without the supervision of a limited source. We are free as unlimited source.

As always the planets guide and as we are all at various stages of the journey our directions will be interpreted accordingly. Honoring the way in which you find your self uniquely expressing on the journey is as essential as being on the journey it self. It is the experience we want and can do without the judgment. Even that however, if that is what is happening is okay. But why judge what we know to be perfect as an expression of the
Absolute, all that is. How can that be not okay?