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