Coming Full Circle

My gaze is alive with Qi
Scintillating reflections in my Third Eye
Tingling pulsations energetically

Chi washing away regally pushed candy on my
Tell-Me-What-I-See (coke v. pepsi)
Chattering away, “nay, nay, nay”
Repulsing the monkey –
Internal martial artists might say

Mirroring mind-sets shifting and bending
Perspectives transcending
Close to falling, close to flight
Chi washing away my stage fright
In the darkness tonight

That was zen my friend
And this is right Tao

Warding off fixed ideas
In the Power of Now

Crystals sparkling off the Color of Water
Unplugging from intra-noise and outer fodder
Animal totems and tracks
Conversational consciousness reverberating within elemental forces,
Trickling downward crevasses and cracks

Mister, I’ve fought the powerful currents of
An old river in Egypt
Realizing my choice is to sink or swim
Tired of treading water (and)
Dramatic pendulum oscillations therein
Does the situation at hand got your expression grim?
Or is your feeling state merely a transitory a whim?

And though market forces take stock in my Qi
Re-working energetic yielding and rooting with Manifest Destiny
This too shall pass
Remembering gratitude in my heart for my teachers
While walking the center of the circle
Slumbering seeds underground
Dreaming with Groundhog in full synergy

Welcoming 2014 and Soul Purpose

The passion and fires burning within the Earth are also burning within humanity.  And you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be more intense energies igniting more opportunities to transform and heal – or die like the old ways no longer serving us.  The “out with the old, in with the new” earworm will amp up in 2014. Traditionally, it is natural for this to occur now as we move away from the Winter Solstice, as yin contracts and yang expands toward the Spring Equinox in March. But during our movement into a new age and paradigm, many of us are becoming more sensitive and attuned to the exponential intensity of these shifts and vibrational energies streaming in.

My sense is that it will become more difficult to ignore your soul purpose, as it will become more challenging to turn a blind eye to developing the “walking meditation” of watching the world turn with an “observation without judgment” lens. There can be a sense of losing control when we untangle our attachments, so as not to get too invested in what we identify with. But beyond that, a deeper place of inner peace is waiting for us to explore. Even if you feel that you are “wise to the ways of the world” and take ownership in a comfortable lifestyle in the material world – you also know the risky business of investing all your stock in possessions without diversification.

How do we get to know our soul potential?  How do we enact an “observation without judgment” view of our inner landscape and the world around us? Through trust, we open up our inner light to “walk in the sun” and share with others, rather than “hide her away from the rest of the world.”  Social media is one way to do this, as there is a reality to virtual connections.  But getting out in the natural environment and making face to face contact is best medicine. While our intimate relationship with our own Self is most important, we gaze deeper into the mirror through our relationships with others.  “Relationships are for a reason: for growth and learning, for nurturance and support, for love and romance, for sex and passion, for experience, for karmic debt or clearance, for business reasons, for security.”

When we look beneath the surface of our introverted and extroverted reactions to what is going on with curiosity and empathy, we begin to understand the experience of “walking in someone elses’ shoes.” We all say that we want to be seen and heard, but is that really the case? Are you afraid of your own power? Is there an underlying fear of feeling rejected or abandoned for allowing yourself to blossom into a flower or turn into a butterfly? It is a good time of year to re-work the dark and let go of external securities so that we learn to feel safe with the arrival of uncertain unknowns. There is a sense of security in “expecting the unexpected” by viewing life as “one big surprise birthday party.” The old guard of secrecy and concealment is fading into a distant memory. Do you need to resurrect old memories to re-work, transform and clear space for new co-creative experiences? Or do you want to remain ensconced in Groundhog Day, without realizing that you are unconsciously replaying old mental tapes and clinging to fixed ideas?

We are here on Earth for a reason. Waking up to our soul purpose is a key ingredient to that. It is a painful challenge to get stuck in the sphere of excuses, reasons rules and routine. At the end of the day, a way out of the suffering is to learn to live with the pain and understand the information that your pain has to shed light on finding your soul’s purpose. To avoid by exiting through anger or denial will cause more pain and suffering. But taking an authentic look at our anger and then channeling this energy in positive and constructive ways will open up new vortexes for transformation and healing.

Sending You Much Inner Peace in 2014,

Ari

Spirited Seasonal Blessings

Today, we get into alignment with the Winter Solstice – the darkest day of the year. Tomorrow, we gain a little bit of light every day. In the darkness, we have an opportunity to receive the information from our lower Chakras, or a “land down under”, so to speak. Although frequently unwanted and uncomfortable to look at, we are equipped with these Chakras to help us shed light on and live in harmonic relationship with the Earth, our sexuality, base emotions, personal will and self-esteem. It is easily conveniently inconvenient to resist this information, change the channel and exit or avoid with denial or aggression. However, we have the opportunity to dig a little deeper by taking an authentic glimpse into our bodily portals of consciousness. As such, we might allow ourselves to see what information Spirit has to reveal to us in our unfolding story. In this process, we may develop acceptance and even make friends with what is. One way to do this is be part of a fire ritual in community and share what you are grateful for and what you would like to let-go of this year.

When I notice those unwanted internal news broadcasts, I remember the old Beavis and Butt-Head episodes. Do you remember watching those two character idiots watching MTV videos together – making comments like, “this sucks” and “change it”? Don’t those characters merely embody theatrical resistance to the inner space of our lower Chakras? After all, life really is like “a box of chocolates” because “you never really know what you’re gonna get.” And remembering a sense of humor is good medicine. We cannot always control, script and choreograph our life-like a reality show. Sometimes, the “best in show” is simply remembering the full-bellied laughter of the Buddha when the funeral parade comes knocking on our door. Our modern world is chock full of distractions that give us easy permission to change the channel, rather than being present on Channel Now. Being present doesn’t mean getting sucked into old dramas, mental tapes or the “voice in the head”- like feeding off an endless IV drip of sympathy. Rather, it does mean being in the moment with what is and breathing in and breathing out the living present, one step, one breath and one moment at a time. If “every thought is a judgment”, then just return to your breath and see what happens.

Many souls choose to leave the material realm this time of year. This is part of why this time of year is such a mixed bag for folks. We feel conflicted about getting into the spirit of the season, the emphasis on consumerism and pressure to buy gifts for each other that we hope will be well-received. We feel pressure to be “up”, instead of “coming down into our souls”. But we need to remember that this junction is really about gratitude and letting-go. Christ’s Light embodied the Sun that is a beacon of light that serves as shelter from the storm. His consciousness was meant to inspire us that the Kingdom of Heaven is an internal experience. When humanity evolves into this place with regularity, we see its unfolding reflected in our outer world. In this way, we become the change we want to see in the world.

Do you remember the character Holden Caufield in the classic book The Catcher in the Rye? Holden Caufield is the epitome of our dying Pisces age and represents the letting-go of our savior complex. The character can’t let-go of trying to catch lost souls jumping off the edge of the cliff, where he waits to save them from their doom. This lose-lose scenario leaves him feeling lonely so that he looks to fill his empty cup with alcohol to medicate his spirits. But we don’t need to carry the heavy burden of trying to save anybody. However, we can become an embodiment of inner peace. When we do this, our souls light up. When we don’t, our souls dim. Those of you who know material bounty and perhaps the “white picket fence”, have probably realized by now that “living the dream” of the leafy suburban lifestyle does not feed your soul alone. Meditation is a healthy spiritual diet that will nourish you soul and help you feel pleasantly full.

Sending much inner peace your way,

Ari

Remembering Past Family Members

Humanity is grieving the loss of Nelson Mandela – one of our great fraternity brothers on the forefront of our movement into a flowering New Age. It is hard to say good-bye to our loved ones that have passed on. In the letting-go, I am grateful for his energy and look forward to his spirit breaking out and shedding even more light on our Planet and Universe. Sadly, society is frequently put in the position of taking away freedom from those who cannot handle it. But for some free thinking individuals like brother Mandela, he was unjustly crucified for decades for breaking the rules by doing the right thing as a freedom fighter. I particularly appreciate his understanding that regardless of what was taken from him, he refused to allow his soulful attitude to be stolen. Regardless of how small his jail cell, he knew he was in charge of his attitude about the cards he was dealt. Part of being human is to indulge in a little self-pity once in a while. However, too much self-possession sneaks us into the portal of a Martyr. Did he not have the patience of Turtle while he walked this Earth? But like any enlightened Being or good role model, our task is to emulate the experience of inner peace rather than being seduced into the dogma of putting our guru onto a pedestal. Part of being human is learning to honor our imperfections. Otherwise, unwelcome disappointments will overwhelm our souls like a flash flood.

In much the same way as Gandhi, Nelson Mandela lead the cavalry by stampeding the institutional segregation system known around the globe as Apartheid. Isn’t it interesting that phonetically, Apartheid is pronounced as “apart hate”. Around Kindergarten, we learn to make judgments about our differences from one another as inferior or superior – My skin tone is different from that other kid, so that must mean that I am either better or worse and perhaps justified in hating him or her for that, goes the indoctrinated and typically unconscious belief system. It is a learned behavior. Our old world has not let go of this kind of programming just yet – although there is a burning desire to do so. Can you feel the Earth’s anger at that? Mandela’s death synchronizes with our dying old world of the perceived polarity of separation of “us” and “them”, heroes and villains, friends and enemies. Awareness reveals the yin and yang are always dancing with one another. Within our Being, we have the opportunity to look upon this sensuous feminine and masculine tango as energetic soul mates showing one another a mirror that reflects back parts of our greater whole – diverse expressions within our Unity. Where the sunlight dominates, the dark night is merely kneeling beneath her bounty. While poly amorous encounters might provide short-term extroverted happy endings – flirting with more introverted lovemaking probably leads to clearer forecasts and less dark and stormy weather down yonder.

While taking communion with the Full Moon and Winter Solstice coming up, we look forward to the light increasing thereafter. The reptilian-brain position of viewing ourselves as separate and disconnected from one another embodies a developmentally delayed way of looking at our world. While this dirge is a real position, it is not the position. Those of us that stay in that place have become comfortably numb with this familiar funeral parlor. You could even say it feels safe, even though it is a traumatic place to live. Our future plight as a human family, global and Universally Eco-sensitive community rests on learning to emulate the likes of Nelson Mandela and others that walk in “the Way, the Light and the Truth”. We all need to bring in more inner peace into our world. We all need a sense of security and belonging. At the end of the day, inner peace will only come from within – even though it abounds without.

Wishing You Infinite Inner Peace,

Ari

Venturing Down Old Roads With New Neurons

After overindulging in food, drink and enjoying the fuel injected Detroit Lions atypically route another team on national television, my wife and I ventured to a reunion. En route down Thunder Road, a dynamic mix of 90s background music conjured up nostalgia from that era, juxtaposed with Billy Joel’s Scenes from an Italian Restaurant danced on in my mind.

When we got to town, we made a pit stop to eat at a local pizzeria that features authentic pizza. In the spirit of life being like one big surprise birthday party, we recognized old friends for an unscripted encounter. It wasn’t Mystic Pizza, but we enjoyed a heavenly slice of conversational exchange on life’s happenings and where are they now. This is a good time of year to come down into our souls and revisit our past connections, if only in other areas of consciousness like our dreams, visions and imaginations. Of course, being present is easy to avoid these days with the emphasis on virtual social media, 24 hour shopping, playing with gadgets and other distractions. While reconnecting in a physical way can be especially anxiety provoking, underneath that rock is an opportunity to breathe new air into old relationships and connections. While I can appreciate bowing out gracefully from old relationships that appear stale and toxic, it was also a great energetic opportunity to re-work and transform. My heart is pleasantly full from that.

In much the same way as the good n’ plenty of our citizenry, High School years were an interesting experience. In the dancing and mingling, we celebrated diversity in unity during our cross-constellation exchanges. Right Tao, isn’t everything old new again? Bearing witness to a theatrical cast of characters – it was music to my ears to see that girls just want to have fun . . . but be careful because the floor is slippery when wet! I was in my element – trying my best to be mindful of organic opportunities to connect with peeps from back in the day. In my estimation, we consumed a co-creative venue to see old friends and breathe in fresh air. For yours truly, talking football with some old teammates was poetry in motion and a welcome nightcap. In the spirit of that, an old teammate gave me a bear hug that would have left any star NFL thoroughbred inundated.

Looking back, I walked away from the experience with the wisdom that you know you love your soul mate in their rank and beauty when you can laugh again at idiosyncrasies that once drove you nuts. In true Hollywood fashion, the romantic ideal of finding your soul mate reads like a Utopian fairy tale with a happy ending. But the reality of taking a road trip together and sharing balanced conversation without the aid of technological audio to fill in the airwaves is music to my ears. When we can authentically gaze upon our partner with the viewpoint that we are mirrors for an other’s soul development, we bear witness to As Good as it Gets.

In learning to live on Earth in this way, I am thankful for the infinite spirited blessings of this season. Tis the season to meditate on gratitude and letting go as we embark toward the darkest night of the forthcoming Winter Solstice. And while it is natural to over-indulge during this time, it is also a good time to clean out.

Be Well,

Ari

Living on Earth

Could it be that I see
myself in your eyes?
Perhaps an old self through an entangled
spider web of past lives?

I take a deep breath,
exhale and let go . . .
That was zen old friend,
this is right tao.

Could it be that I’m a tree,
rooted in the Earth?
A Universal antennae . . .
Beaming spirited messages to thee.

I’m alive, I’m alive
in elemental forces of Nature–wind, air and fire.
Here on the ground.
Learning to live on this Earth . . . Down to the wire.

Standing On The Doorstep of Infinity

We stand at the doorstep of Infinity . . .
Massive change is coming our way

A Full-Moon on Sunday . . .
Trailed by a Comet in its waning wake

Giddy-Up toward the darkest hour on the Winter Solstice . . .
Coaxing back the Light in the dark of the Night

Releasing egoic entanglements with form . . .
Spirited energies realigning who we are

Rising tides of oceanic waves flooding our sea of consciousness . . .
Slumbering sheeple waking up from napping while under the influence of conditioning

I’m sitting at the dock of the bay in my meditation space . . .
Theta state in my green lantern heart space

Feeling waters of empathy bubbling up wells of Love . . .
Illuminating my soul

O darkness of yin . . .
Light a moonshadow o’er my inner landscape

I’m checking out energetic pulsations of neurotransmitters traveling through my bodily pathways . . .
Portals to consciousness are they

Universal Spirits In A Material World

The weather underground is akin to the air up there
A Full Moon and Comet are coming soon to a theatre near you

What do we do?
Well it’s up to you . . .

Surfing the energetic waves rolling into the bay of emotional tides . . .
Do you bear witness to a fading Twilight Zone curtain?
(With or without the applications of technology)

An Empire burns while the Cosmic Chakra Wheel in the Sky turns . . .

Peace in the Middle East
Peace in the Americas
Peace in Africa, China, Tibet and Planet throughout

We are the Dali Llama
We are Malcolm X
We are Universal spirits in a material world

Healing our polarity consciousness
Integrating our Yin-Yang soulful feminine Moon and masculine Sun
Tunneling inward into the dark toward the Winter Solstice

And from the ashes a Phoenix Rises –
Clearing dust settles with meditation as shelter from the storm

Reflections Of An Experience With A Spirit Messenger

A part of me died when you crossed
O’er the other side of the veils . . .

In this spirited door-step between space and time,
The curtain between realms are thinning now . . .

I remember a part of my soul that had gone to sleep for a spell.
And then I saw a deer in the woods–
Remembering when I woke up in that moment to new adventures.

Today, I walk in awakening moccasins . . .
On a Universal street in Divine Light of brotherly and sisterly Love.

Tomorrow my footprints . . .
Run with the wind . . .

Into a timeless place called Infinity . . .

Where past, present and future . . .
Coalesce into an eternal moment

Personal Power

Personal power versus force (sensitivity) . . .
Dreams and desires manifesting . . .
Picture a bright golden sun in your solar plexus cuz it helps shed light on the darkness on the edge of town . . .

Doc Oz’s wizardry reveals we are what we eat in a Fast Food Nation . . .

Mercury in retrograde revisits past relationship dramas and sometimes Twilight Zoned out realities . . . But remember Spider’s medicine to walk the center of the circle without getting too tangled up in the web . . .

There is narcissism in becoming too self-absorbed in our emotions . . .
Green Heart-centered empathy helps us place others in the center and walk along their strands for a spell . . .

Making friends with our pain dissolves our suffering . . . On the cushion, we feel a new wave of energy come in rather than exiting with anger and denial . . .

Are you going to be a rock or water in this eternal moment? Remember to breathe and allow the waters of your soul smooth out the edgy areas.

An Andean shaman’s pipe dream high on the mountain . . . A few moments later a trigger happy ghost revisits my consciousness . . . it’s not raining out but I’m sleeping in a puddle . . . This collective old world nightmare is the death of us (the lunatic and Emperor’s New Clothes are in my head) . . .

An elderly woman behind the rearview mirror of privilege foolishly asserts to a younger filly a “conceal rather than reveal” mantra while oblivious to swinging the door wide open to the protective fortress (what lies beneath your unexamined self?) . . .

Past memories and future projections kill the living moment . . . Entanglements within the web of form blocks intimate pathways of internal communication systems that venture out along leaves of trees and fiber optic highways . . .

Re-working success by giving back Karmic baggage that is dumped on us from previous generations is the Phoenix Rising out of the ashes . . .

Being like water helps us navigate the rocks more gracefully . . .

I dig on seeing the birds flying into the portals of energetic imprints of fallen leaves . . . My ears to the ground with the aid of Bat echolocation . . . Did that angry red squirrel let go of a past turkey’s thievery?

Was Wonder Woman’s invisible jet a metaphor for the possibility of inner space Merkaba travels through cleansed doors of perception?

Being positive and choosing to focus on the silver lining enhances the soul self and everything else in a sweetly satisfying soulful harmonic convergence . . .
Like a Divine John Lennon watching the wheels of his Chakras going round and round cuz life is what happens when we are busy making other plans . . .

Waning light soon outta sight as darkness fades into night . . . Thinning veils awaken spirited conversations and close encounters that liven up dead zones of dark matter and illuminate the shadows coming out into the light during this Samhain.