Spiritual Questions Answered 2 : Ask Ghairo

ASK GHAIRO : SPIRITUAL QUESTIONS ANSWERED 2

QUESTION : I LOST MY SON IN A TAXI HIT AND RUN ACCIDENT 3 YEARS AGO. I AM STILL GRIEVING AND SWEARING. I SMOKE INCESSANTLY AND DRINK MASSES OF COFFEE. HOW DO I START A PROCESS OF FORGIVING AND HEALING

Losing a loved one before one spent sufficient time with them or enjoyed their company as much as we would have liked to, is not easy. If this is a child it is very, very painful. No amount of advice or any recommendations can take away this pain and the wound can bleed for many years. The pain however becomes harder to bear, when one runs away from it by embarking on strategies which do not allow one to fully feel the pain, sit through it and then release it.

One has to touch pain and loss for it to be released. There is no other way. More often than not, persons who have gone through similar turmoil and turbulence will cross your path to hold your hand or the presence of friends and family will offer strength when yours is flagging. Accept this assistance. There is no point in appearing to be strong, when actually one feels overwhelmed.  

As a human being, one has to experience all kinds of emotions from the severest pain to the heights of ecstasy. These are all the colours of God. One has to be with all of them and sit tight, knowing that through all, God is the stabilizing, trusted Source of everything including what is known as death. This All Encompassing Being puts out what we need to grapple with for us to grow and expand, for us to release fears and to enlarge our Hearts. Death is the movement to another form of Beingness.    

It is useful to let go gradually, if a loved one passes on. For example, it often is more painful to surround yourself with images of the loved one or material things that belonged to him or her. Acceptance is a very high form of consciousness and in releasing the person, we Accept God’s will. In moving towards a state of acceptance, release the images, the possessions, the products of the person. This will also allow the being to move further into space, timelessness and freedom and closer to God. When release does not happen, the loved one remains tied to Earth realm and imprisoned in space through non-acceptance and grief of family members or friends.

Grief is a low vibrational energy. One sits with it for a while, know it and the heartache it brings and then move on, to the next emotion we have to learn about. Coffee,  certain foods, addictive relationships, nicotine are all crutches which hold us together. Leaning on these will always keep one in a state of dependence and away from Spirit and One-ness with God.

When we become aware of this, we can use our will and effort to relinquish the crutches. Set the intent to let go and God and other unseen helpers will assist. For example, as soon as the urge for caffeine arises, know that it is a crutch and do something more invigorating, like going for a walk or having a shower. The urge will leave. If it comes back, its hold on you will be less. Each time one overcomes a desire, its hold lessens.   

A grieving process needs to take its full course, then pass. One cannot sit in it forever, or it creates havoc in the physical body and in the inner workings of cells. It can also affect one’s immune system. It is useful to talk to a healer when you suspect that you are in grief. Sometimes we are in grief and do not know this. Or we might be grieving about one thing or person and think it is grief about something else. A very intuitive healer will be able to lift this out and facilitate the letting to.

In the end, everything and everyone belongs to God. We are only the guardians of material things for a while, including loved ones like children. When we keep reminding ourselves that we enjoy the company of others so that we learn from them and they from us, it becomes easier to let go. Giving gratitude to God for the time spent with a child that has passed on, assists to put our relationship with the Divine in the centre of our consciousness.

Know also that all souls choose their time spent on the Earth realm. Any soul knows beforehand how it will pass over.  A central understanding on a spiritual path is that no-one can make choices for others. This is so when beings change their form as well.

Passing on is only moving into another form of existence. Life goes on in Infinity just as life needs to go on, when in material form.

QUESTION : HOW DOES DIET AFFECT SPIRITUAL PROGRESS. IS IT NECESSARY TO STOP EATING THE FOODS I LOVE, LIKE HAMBURGERS AND CHIPS ?

In my experience  diet does affect spiritual progress. You really are what you eat. Food is an essential part of your material conglomerate, which is one with your spirit.  For example, when an animal is killed for whatever reason a certain amount of hormones are released because of the fear of death. These hormones remain in the animal flesh even though it is cured and processed. When eating animal flesh, a human imbibes these fear hormones. The food becomes part of your make-up, so animal fear hormones becomes part of your own flesh. Fear attracts fear. With fear not much spiritual progress can be made. Animals also have a degree of consciousness. When we move to a position that we are all One Consciousness, how is it possible to “eat” of another with Consciousness ?  

The purer the foods one eats, the purer ones make-up. It is best to eat fresh fruit and vegetable, preferably organic, when embarking on a spiritual path. The more “live” the vegetable and fruit, the closer to Nature, the closer to Divinity. This is also best for one’s physical body as such foods contain the highest quality vitamins and minerals. The healthier the body, the better it can be used as a channel for God’s purposes.

Other foods that do not block meridians are sprouted seeds, grains and legumes, fresh wheatgrass juice, raw soups, nut milks, soaked ground nuts and seed sauces. Cooking food destroys valuable vitamins. Delicious raw food recipes are widely available nowadays.

                                                                             

One becomes accustomed to what one eats. So changing a dietary pattern is possible when serious about walking a spiritual path. Change your diet gradually, by removing toxins from the kidneys, liver and glands. A homeopath can make recommendations of how to do this. It is also useful to consult an Ayuvedic dietitian who will give recommendations based on your body type.

One can enjoy a high vibrational diet and cleanse the taste buds over time. Enjoying the true flavour of fresh fruit and vegetables is uplifting in itself. You will soon not want to eat the usual fried chips and hamburgers. Frying coats food making it difficult to digest and fat at a high temperature is known to be carcinogenic.

Cooked food can become addictive, especially if processed with MSG, and other flavorants and preservatives. Some flavorants and colorants  feed viral cellular patterns, which make it difficult to reach the cell centre, where Godhead is very prevalent. 

A detoxification diet will energize the body, making one more zestful and enthusiastic. The mind will become more alert and a closer connection to Spirit can be forged within a shorter time. So hamburgers and chips in moderation is OK, if you must,  but know that it is not life-sustaining, neither is it cleansing and it does stimulate cravings towards lower vibrational stances. Also be aware that a desire for food is one of the five desires we need to overcome, the other being desire for sleep, sex, money and fame. Ultimately, these desires trap us and act as lures.  

QUESTION : DO AFFIRMATIONS REALLY WORK ?

It is my perception that affirmations by and of itself will not work. It can re-programme the patterns of the mind at superficial levels and move to deeper levels when it is done alongside other methods of bringing about change in  behaviour and habits. For example, one cannot keep affirming “ I am a valuable divine child of God “ and then keep on smoking cigarettes. This would be hypocrisy as nicotine is known to destroy lungs. How can one move back towards divinity when one is also on a path of destruction ?

Affirmations are really about affirming the TRUTH. However, when working with affirmations, we work primarily with programming the mind. For such programming to take effect, other older patterns need to be released. One cannot, for example, repeat, “ I love and approve myself” a hundred times a day, when deep in the recesses of the mind, and in body cellular memory, there lurks the pattern of “I am not good enough”.  Ingrained memory patterning needs to be loosened as well as cellular negative programming existing in body cells. A multi-pronged strategy on a spiritual path is best. Yoga, massage, regular exercise in the fresh air will all assist in purifying cells and loosen ingrained memory patterns which no longer serve, so that  affirmations one works with becomes more effective.

If the mind is very busy, it is useful to repeat affirmations like anchors or mantras, which can help still the mind and take it back to a positive focal point. In this way, affirmations are effective.

It is best to design an affirmation programme yourself as you know best what you would like to change about  behavior. Some spiritual specialists say that one needs to work with a specific affirmation for 21 days, some say 40 days. My view is that the affirmations you need to work with will come to you or attract you. Work with it until you feel it is part of you. Sometimes an affirmation will come, then it will go and come back later. All this is fine.

Work with awareness in the present moment when repeating an affirmation. In other words, do not repeat it, parrot fashion.  I would advise to do affirmations at a particular time each day, so that one becomes disciplined about a reprogramming regime and change can be speeded up.

In the final analysis, to attain Enlightenment, all thought forms, including affirmations, need to be released, the mind dissolved so that in the state of emptiness, we attain ONENESS with all. Affirmations are useful as a step on the path, but it does not suit everybody. Affirmations in a spiritual language like Sanskrit or Quaranic verse carry very high vibratory force. 

QUESTION : I FEEL FRUSTRATED THAT I AM NOT DEVELOPING FAST ENOUGH. WHAT CAN I DO ?

Often when one is initiated onto a spiritual path, one tends to observe others on a similar path and judge where you are, based on that. Judgement is an activity of the mind and frustration could arise from such judgement. Our mind sets up expectations and goals and then tries to meet them. Sometimes it tries to force a way and can even become aggressive or obsessive about making progress whether this is progress on a spiritual path or progress in the dense physical realm.

On a spiritual path, movement is not based on judgement by the ego. There are no goalposts and no races to be won. We are all on a spiritual path, in the end, really. We just don’t always know it. We are guided by Spirit in totality and by spirit guides who appear from time to time.

How one develops is based on what one’s soul-spirit is ready to do and be. This is largely determined by Grace based on your intent, willingness and ego-less effort and service. It carries with it karmic legacies, the karma of your group, family and even country. It also carries with it a pre-programmed unfolding.

As soon as you start feeling frustrated, let go. I have found that the easiest way to do this, practically, is to concentrate on the breath, the inflow and the outflow. In Zen beginner meditation, one counts from 1 to 10 and start again at 1. 1 on the in breathe and 2 on the out breath. Such a exercise quickly  and easily takes one to the HERE and the NOW, the present moment. The present moment is actually the only thing that exists. What one does or do not do, in the present moment, determines the next step.

Trust your inner self and trust that you are doing the best you can at any given moment. Feel the frustration, then let it go as a passing emotion, in the same way you finish a bout of crying or a bout of laughter. Everything passes. The internalization of this is the remedy to all frustration.

When focusing on the present moment, and the feelings that arise in the body in the present moment, one can let go of these feelings. A way out of judging progress then arises naturally, right in front of us. It is when the mind WANTS to run ahead or dwell on what is not done, or sets unrealistic goals, that frustration creeps in. 

Everybody develops in his/her unique way. No two paths are exactly alike. This is the beauty of creation and being on a path. The Path is your own. You determine the pace. Do this determination without forcing the way. So it is and so it shall be. 

ASK GHAIRO : Spiritual Questions Answered :

ASK GHAIRO

SPIRITUAL QUESTIONS ANSWERED no.1 : THERE IS NOTHING TO FEAR

 QUESTION : IF I WANT TO LET GO OF AN ATTACHMENT TO AN ORGANISATION WHICH I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN FOR SOME TIME, WHAT DO I DO ?

Ghairo’s Answer

Let go quietly, inauspiciously and peacefully. No need for discussion, no need for formal resignations, unless this is required, just plain simple letting go without any judgement of anybody or of yourself. If you feel angry or pained about this, release these emotions to God. Surrender. Detach.

Sometimes there are issues in organizations that need to play itself out in the normal course of events naturally, on its own. Your concern for an organization or its people is, in reality, a concern for yourself. This is where healing and evolution needs to start. Unnecessary involvement in organization is holding onto something which no longer benefits your personal growth or contribution to society or community. There is nothing to fear.

                                                                                                                          

QUESTION : HOW DO I BUILD MY CONFIDENCE AND SELF-ESTEEM TO START SOMETHING NEW

Ghairo’s answer

To build confidence and self-esteem in starting something new, my view is that one needs to start with small steps, like a baby crawling. One cannot walk until one crawls and one cannot run and jog until one can walk. When you have mastered one skill in a new undertaking, take another small step. Make the steps you take, concrete and practical. Set goals, knowing you can change these at any time along the way. 

Set your intention in regard to what you want to achieve and by when. Let Spirit guide you. The right way always opens up and things and people appear that will aid your projects or processes. In the Spirit realm, intention is the key. The Universal Organizing Force then organizes energy to make things happen – if the intention is of the highest order, things can happen fast.

FOCUS and make yourself available to be used as a tool for God’s purpose, so you do your work to give pleasure to God and in this way, you give pleasure to yourself and others.

Be PURPOSEFUL when starting something new and see it through to the end. This will give you confidence to start the next steps on any given task or on your own evolutionary path. BECOME THE SOURCE, as you work. Make your inner self the point of contact. Sometimes we think a single specific person has a resource we need, or has the answer to questions. But this is just a perception. The more open we are, the more persons or situations we can access.  

                                                                                                                

Everything you need is always inside of you. You mirror what you need outwards and then attract towards you the specific part to the jigsaw puzzle. The Reiki healing mantra, “ Just for today, do not worry.” is useful when starting something new that you are uncertain of. Say it while working or when the mind takes over and worries or uncertainties creep in. And be fearless.

The Nike slogan is a nice one “Just do it.” There is nothing to fear.  

QUESTION : WHAT ARE SPIRITUAL SYMBOLS AND HOW DO THEY WORK ?

Ghairo’s answer

Spiritual symbols are like keys to open doors. They work in a similar way to prayers. The more you work with them, the greater the impact, as they create a vibratory frequency in the quantum field around you. Different symbols have different frequencies just like different prayers have different purposes. Some symbols, when used often enough, and if  your intention is pure, open up the way to other symbols which expand and deepen your field of operation for God.

Spirit may reveal to you a symbol in a dream or when meditating. Most times, though, symbols are revealed to you through a teacher who is walking on a path before you or has been through the particular forest you are walking. If enough people work with a particular symbol at any time it becomes very powerful. Symbols can play itself out and become obsolete as new symbols are designed by Spirit or if Spirit wants to reveal something different that one needs to focus on.

Sets of spiritual symbols can also move to different parts of the Planet as they are needed.  Symbols which are used universally can stay with us for eons, they rest in space, then re-emerge when necessary. They do change too. Some enjoy changing, some stay the same. The spiral, for example, is universal. I perceive it will always be with us. But for example, the spiral used in Reiki in the Power symbol, has a modification which means different things to different people.

The Double Helix symbol has been resting and is now re-emerging. It is a spiral in essence, with a much higher frequency indicating an upward and downward movement as well as an inner and outer movement. There is more action in the Double Helix as it is a twosome. This symbol is prevalent now because of our need to focus on the DNA as a locus of transmutation into Pure Light.     

There are many modifications to the Cross symbol in a wide variety of cultures and religions. Its basis is always, dissecting Man to get to God.

It is best to work with symbols during or after a purification process. For example, working  with symbols while fasting is VERY powerful. Or when working in a group who sets as an intention the send healing energies to a particular war zone, for instance. Such a practice can create powerful transmutations or openings. Symbols assist us to work through our fears just as prayers do. There is really nothing to fear.  

QUESTION : I WANT MY SENSES TO SHARPEN. WHAT CAN I DO

Ghairo’s answer

Making full use of one’s physical senses is one of the easiest ways to access the Spiritual Realm. Fully utilizing the five senses also allows one to work with the sixth sense, the level of intuition. Intuition leads to Knowingness, when knowledge can be accessed instantaneously, without information. Appreciating what one sees, hears, feels, smells and tastes always allows the Universe to open ever wider versions of what is available for us to use and enjoy. Without our wonderful five physical senses, we cannot be fully in material form and evolve, increase and deepen our Light.

One of the best ways to sharpen senses is to be in nature regularly: At least for one half hour every day to appreciate the sounds, smells and colours in Nature. Commune with birdsong, examine intently the veins of a leaf, gaze vacantly at the ripples on a sea-bed. Really look. Really listen. Listen and look with the Heart. Focus on the heartbeat while doing this.  Breathe in deeply the smell of a particular herb until the brain is dizzy with the smell. If one sits in nature in meditation with sufficient focus and depth or sufficient vacancy and expansiveness or open-ness, Spirit will come along and intoxicate. Messages from God, or other unseen forces can visit easily and you will get to know the purposes of the Divine for the day, month or for your life, in the moment or in the year.

                                                                                                                  

Another useful way to sharpen senses, I have experienced, is to interchange them. For example, you may see a lovely rosebud. Listen to the sound vibrations the rosebud is releasing, with your eyes. So your eyes become your ears. When you hear an ambulance in the distance, taste the sound with your ears. This will sharpen your ears and the sense of what is happening. You might taste the blood of an accident in the distance and send healing there instantaneously. In this way, you assist the Godforce do the work that needs to be done at any given moment.

In a nutshell, if you want your senses to sharpen use them. Also be present in the Now, in Awareness with them. When you walk into a room, be aware of the colours. Be aware of what the room makes you feel like. When you look at an object, check for detail. When one tries to verbalize what the senses are relaying, it automatically sharpens the senses as one gives meaning to them.

This will alert you to energies and vibrations in a room or around an object or in the inner spaces of another being’s heart. The senses is the first point of reference for the mind to work a way into a situation, work a way out of a situation or transform a situation.

QUESTION : I HAVE HEARD OF THE VIOLET FLAME OF TRANSMUTATION. WHAT IS THIS.

Ghairo’s answer                 

The Violet Flame is a spiritual tool one is connected to, usually at a second level Reiki attunement. One is connected to this powerful tool via a Master. One can also be connected to it via Grace or a constant calling on the Flame with pure intention. This tool assists with the transmutation of psychic debris or the burning of unwanted karma, once the necessary spiritual work and preparation has been done. It will not respond, in my experience, when the necessary spiritual work has not been completed or the vibratory frequency of the person calling on the Flame is still ego-based. The Flame works well when it is channeled. 

The Flame, it is believed is connected to and protected by the Angels of the Violet Flame who works with it. It is also believed that the Flame sits at the centre of Planet Earth and can be called upon at any time when transmutation of misqualified energy is necessary. It is especially effective when called upon in a group. I perceive that the Flame vibrates with Amethysts, the colour Indigo and the Third Eye.  

QUESTION : WHAT  IS  PSYCHIC DEBRIS ?

Ghairo’s answer

Psychic debris is debris like any other debris except that one cannot see it. It surrounds objects, people, places, events, buildings – anything in the material realm. One picks up psychic debris on a daily basis. The mind can also manufacture psychic debris by its focus on “wanting” or emotions of low vibrational status like jealousy, greed, selfishness, resistance. Psychic debris must be cleared daily and in some cases, more than once a day. 

Psychic debris stick to things, people, places ie. it is sticky.

I would classify psychic debris as low level energy which moves in the direction of darkness and non-life as opposed to Light and Life. Psychic debris, when accumulated over long periods of time can become hardened thought-forms which are challenging to shift. Psychic debris can also be carried over from former lifetimes and it could be inherited genetically. It moves at atomic and sub-atomic levels. Often “warfares” between such debris and the Light can cause turmoil and illness.

Useful ways to clear psychic debris daily is to be in Nature, walk along the beach or in forests, mountains, meditate, do breathe work,  immersion prayer, swim in clean rivers,  or the sea, do cleansing fasts, eat only fresh fruit and vegetables, refrain from participation in mass activities and so on. Some spaces are high in psychic debris, like for example, nightclubs – where emotions build up, accumulate and stagnate. Such spaces should be avoided at all costs when on a spiritual path, unless one goes there with the intention of doing clearing work.

LOVE IS ALL THAT THERE IS : EPISODE 1

           

                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                             

                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                     
                       

LOVE IS ALL THAT THERE IS : EPISODE 1           

[copywrite Ghairo Daniels,Knysna, 2012]

 “Love is all that there is “, Renee Prinsloo, one of my spiritual masters use to exude this during the time she was preparing to pass over. With a relaxed inner radiant smile, she asserted this statement while her breast was being devoured by cancer. At this time she was threadbare with devotion, pain and illness, yet eyes ever glistening.

How does one reach this state of consciousness, of knowingness that everything that exists is Love. Everything - from the most decadent pollutionary practice, most violent wars, most hardened criminals to the sublime states of aliveness of God’s most conscious sons and daughters who walked this Planet. From the deadliest virus to the youngest new shoot on the cactus on the sill, Love is all that there is. Everything in material form as well as in non-material form is Love. How does one reach this state of knowingness? 

SOME ANSWERS FOR CONSIDERATION           

1.  LIVING IN DETACHMENT  : What’s this ?!

We live in detachment when we walk our path, do what is to be done, complete our daily tasks without any expectation or reward : without any fear or arrogance that we might fail or will succeed. We do it because it has to be done, in BEINGNESS. We complete tasks because it asks for completion. We extend ourselves because we feel we need to be extended. We serve others and the evolution of our own souls in doing the work. We expect nothing, we ask for nothing. We surrender the outcome to “ whatever will be, will be “.

In this state of willing nothingness a Divine Outcome is assured. It might not be what our ego wants or desires, but it certainly will be according to a Divine Plan for the greatest good of all concerned. All wants, desires, goals, needs are of the ego. When this ego is not in alignment with Divine Consciousness, what the outcome is, will not fulfill. So we work with devotion, even passion, total commitment – with a consciousness that we are not the task or the outcome.

I once witnessed a young Buddhist monk nearing the end of a three day task of making exquisite sand patterns on a large rectangle table. The completed artwork cannot be described and at the time, I had no Blackberry (!) to capture the image. He was using his fingers, his breath and a straw. An audience stood around admiring the work and he smiled back in admiration of his own masterpiece.

Then after wonder and awe-struck cheers, he unexpectedly took his fore-arm and wiped out three days artwork in one minute. Whoosh, whoosh. At the second whoosh, as our eyes opened wide, a little relative of his, about three years old, ran up to the table, stood in front of the chaotic coloured grains of sand and clapped, clapped and clapped. The monk smiled. What was the purpose of  three days of back-breaking work ?

To experience the glee of a three year old : uninvited, totally spontaneous happiness : that something could so easily be wiped out and that a tiny being could express such a thrill of delight and pass this around. The lesson ? A thought to sleep on. 

We work, exist, to learn lessons, increase consciousness, move towards BLISS. What the lesson is, we do not always know, neither is it necessary to know, at the point of doing. We do it with love, for Love, to extend our understanding of Love.

2. Love is all that there is when we know that  : I AM NOT THIS BODY. I AM NOT THIS MIND. Related to Ego is the body we have constructed. Soul constructs a body according to lessons it has already learnt and lessons it needs to learn. Body then, is a temporary vehicle to hold an amount of Love and Light that we, as souls, accumulated over lifetimes. We use body-mind to grow Love in Soul. Soul cannot do this without material form. Yay, for material form !! I am glad I am in it.  

The degree or quota of Divine Essence in each cell of our body including brain, is the degree of consciousness we live by. The body-mind then, is not “I”. The mind with the body is a tool, which needs to take instructions from Heart. Mind gives a plan according to conditions, circumstances, resources, situations, what is appropriate in the here and in the now. The greater the Love and Light within Mind, the greater is its capacity to interpret situations and complete tasks according to Divine Plan. The Mind is not the “I”.

3. Love is all that there is when we are able to REMAIN IN THE NOW : this moment, this instant in time and space. Mind, since it is a tool of  Ego continuously wants to move, be elsewhere, escape, go back, go forward, analyze, construct ….This is because Ego often does not want to experience pain or pleasure. Sometimes it does not want to experience reward, success, divinity, etc. for a host of reasons (eg. wants to remain in victim mode, is resistant, needs to assert itself, needs attention, etc.)

When Ego does not have the capacity to hold a range of states, it wants to escape. The state could be physical pain, it could be hunger, it could be satiation, it could be grief, it could be any of four hundred odd feeling states a human could experience. The Ego devises all kinds of methods to escape, from finding scapegoats to manipulating information.

When one has knowledge that the purpose of Ego is to test Soul, to play ones own Soul’s devil’s advocate, one can stand still, sit still, be centered in the now and remain with the state, in the moment. We know then that the play, the movement of Ego-Mind is not the “I”. The “I” is the stillness from which all flows, infinite, timeless, all-knowing, abundant….. We attune then to the words “Love is all that there is…”

Wilderness : Southern Cape : TEN : Life is just beginning

WILDERNESS : LIFE IS JUST BEGINNING : EPISODE 10 : CYCLE COMPLETE : THE MEANING OF TEN.

I gathered and priced all my craft goodies nice and early to join the Wilderness Talent Market at noon on a gloriously sunny spring day. I wondered into whose home my recently completed Peace Chain would go. I lovingly stitched Shanti, Salaam, Peace in small chain stitches on every third squared patch of material, with an Om Shanti prayer. It needed a nice cosy room. The awesomely spectacular views between Knysna and Wilderness never fail to make any downcast soul smile. A downcast soul this time around was my sulking teenager who had to do Math during the Spring holiday break. Tough love. Math is to be done. The forests of tall staggering pines on both sides of the road, the sea breezes blowing in, the limitless blue sky, sparkling rippling waters, the vastness of Mother Nature….she could not but be affected by this wave of Unconditional Love embracing us as the battered car upped the turns and bends.

WILDERNESS … The word itself conjures up images of man/woman unrestrained, in his-her natural state, delighting in the wild, questing, seeking, exploring, unconfined – This is the area where the TALENT market was to be held, on top of Wilderness Heights, up a curvy, untarred, bumpity-bump road, to Asante Farm. The entrance mosaic to the farm fills one with a sense of peace, of arrival and belonging. It seemed complete, yet incomplete, a riddle that need not be answered. Stall owners were setting up or putting down colourful blankets, hanging up dream-catchers and T-shirts, setting up gas stoves, putting on kettles. Landi, owner of the farm was there in her farmer’s wife spring outfit, complete with girdle and talent sheets, with warm fat arms and a smile to die for. Competent Mother Nature incarnate, all giving, if ever there was one.

If this was not Heaven, then what was ? Life is just beginning. In the far corner, the kiddies had a bonfire going and were testing their skill at burning twigs to just before it came half-way. I was puzzled at how these kiddies played unsupervised, yet in total control of their game. FIRE was going strongly, toddlers toddled around in bright outfits, barefoot. No fear was evident. In the deep recesses of my mind, the phrase came to the fore – “Fear not, when I am near”, and “There is nothing to fear. “ I remembered to underline these phrases.

I hung up my Peace Chain with the TEN squares, set out the beaded hearts, heart-decorated tablemats, then sauntered to check out goodies at neighboring stalls. I encouraged my teen to have an open air massage, which, to her detriment, she decided against, opting instead for hand reflexology.

Suni did my massage, niggling tight spots along my spine, unwinding the 72 000 nerves up the back, wrinkling out folded lower back muscles, then up to glands behind the ears and points all around the skull. Slowly I released old traumas that had come to the fore, to sounds of Hannelie Khoury’s folk tunes and guitar.

The smell of falafel drifted past, the cock crowed in broad sunlight, the horse neighed, the dogs barked. Where was I ? A hound being fed falafel, a horse nudging the fence eyeing my TEN point Peace Chain. Did she want it as a necklace ? Suni kept urging me to BREATHE. Breathe. “I am opening up your chest “, she urged. I breathed. All was well. Life is just beginning.

Then back to vertical position and a haziness. Ofcourse, this was the material realm and food seemed necessary. The best pizza in the Wilderness, prepared with utmost love in an oven surrounded by beautiful maidens and a pizza-maker who was dishing veggies surrounded by crystals, books, comfy couches, an ambience of relaxed naturalness. The feta melted, yet firm, the tomatoes fresh and blood red, the spinach tasty, the olives spluttering juice which dribbled down our chins. Just the right amount of cheese. Life was just beginning.

Then there was this stall owner, Mark, from Mark’s Delights, who was selling decadent raw cacao cake slices. Its base contained cashew nut and date pressed together with coconut oil, a melt in the mouth delight, which touched no heat at all. Rawlicious to perfection. He handled the cakes as if they were Olympic trophies, which they were !! It was not long before all his cake was SOLD OUT, so was the divine cashew nut cheese.

My Peace Chain happily smiled at all the buyers who oohed and aahed. One buyer, with a smile and eyes matching the Shanti stitches and beyond, so gentle was her aura, and so respectfully did she present her talents and curled up rands, that I could not be more delighted for the exchange. This buyer lived in my previous hometown, Muizenberg of the endless white sand and expansive beach ! She lived in the same street in which I lived a decade ago ! Lo and behold … A circle of TEN years. Ten - the number of completion. Ten – the number of perfection. Ten – the number of maximum achievement. There were ten squares on that Peace Chain. Ten, a spiritual cycle complete, preparation for the next venture, for greater work. Ten – the death of the little ego and a re-birth. Ten, a high emotional stability number.

My buyer said she will treasure the Chain and I, will treasure the smile in her eyes. Life is just beginning. ===============================================================

FASTING : Life is just Beginning: Episode 9

FASTING : Life is just beginning :  Episode 9

One way in which the Divine keeps me wedded to Him-Her as a devotee is by controlling my inflow. As I live at the edge, day by day, moment by moment, as no clients appear in my space, I do not eat. So, I fast. He-She-The-All- Knowing-Opulent- Divine Creator Master-Mistress-of-Everything lets me fast for several days on end. Then a glass of water becomes a holy spring of Divine Love. In it I see Life as just Beginning. HoHoHO !  H2O floats in a glass holding me together while I sit and watch a myriad birds, doing my holy mantras, focusing on Sun, enjoying its reflection on the still blue Knysna lagoon.

On such days, birds visit the back garden of the flat who have never visited before. Their feathers sparkle in rainbow colours in the light while blossomed trees around whisper bliss and ecstasy. I watch them building their nests, flying to and fro with bits of grass and tiny sticks, held firmly aloft. They do this to-ing and fro-ing the whole day long, one tiny mossie, not tiring. I’m awestruck at the magnificence of such endurance. No stopping to look for food, no nibbling between, just this backward and forward flying to this one half-built nest in a thickly branched acacia. There is an urgency, an urgency without haste, a knowledge that all can be done on time.

How unlike the human race who push and pull, manipulate to get things done at specific times, setting demanding deadlines which kill the joy of work. Then I turn inward. My skin becomes baby soft while fasting, my hair falls out, but what the heck, it is graying in any case and Life is just beginning !! My nails grow very fast during fasting sprees. Strange. I don’t know the reason for this ? Then there is all this time to do craft work and stitch interesting patterns and designs straight from the heart. Work becomes Joy. I fully comprehend Khalil Gibran who says “ When you work, you are a flute through which the whispering hours turn to music.”

In the Bible, David fasted for his child’s life, Ezra fasted on his return to Jerusalem, the Israelites fasted when confessing sins. Jews fasted when Haman wanted to destroy them, Queen Ester asked them to fast so that she could help them, they fasted in repentance during drought and called for holy fasts at times of need. In Zechariah the Creator asks whether fasting was really done for him and that fasting is to be joyful occasions. Do we touch joy when we fast ? Without a fast touching Joy, it has little meaning as we do not draw nearer the Divine – which is His-Her purpose with this spiritual tool.  

When Jesus was questioned about fasting, he gave the answer that when he is taken, his disciples will fast. I understand this to mean, when the Light leaves, fasting is necessary for a return to Light, as a purification tool : to shrink the cloth and make new wineskins so that new wine can be poured into new skins. Have you noticed how quickly the body renews itself when fasting ? Annah, the Prophetess fasted for many days before speaking about the role of Jesus. In the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, it is clear that fasting needs to be part of a process of humbling before God. Fasting is known to clear the mind and give the ability to speak the Truth as it comes from Divinity through a voice.  Jesus fasted before his Temptation. It obviously strengthened his resolve, faith and inner self. Saul fasted before he set off for Cyprus where his work was made lighter. Fasting as a preparation for the spreading of the Gospel seems to have been a regular practice. 

Fasting is to happen on the Day of Atonement, to please God. In Mathew, we understand that fasting is only for God. Muslims are very clear about this as a crucial tenet of Islam. Fasting is a pact between God, the Ultimate and the individual. The Holy Quran states that fasting is decreed during the month of Ramadaan to become righteous, except when ill or on a journey or menstruating. The Quran states that God wants fasting to be made easy - an understanding is that we fast for the glorification of the Creator, to increase our gratitude for His gifts and to make our path homeward clearer.

In a “Course in Miracles”, a more contemporary spiritual text, miracles are possible for anybody, if purification happens. Implicit is the need to fast, for purification of body, mind and strengthening of soul. The Bhagavad Gita speaks about a consciousness which relates to food and a consciousness which relates to bliss, the two on opposite ends of a scale of evolution.

How one understands food and relates to it, is obviously an important aspect of the development of consciousness. The more dense and toxic the food we eat, the more dense and toxic the body and mind. The lighter, fresher, more alive the food, the lighter, fresher, more alive the body and mind. Pure logic : We are what we eat. So refraining from food, it is just the breath we inhale which feeds us. If the air we breathe is as pure as we can find, and the thoughts we inhale with the breathe are pure, as we filter out that whose gravitational pull is low, Viola ! we raise our consciousness slowly, but surely –if refraining from food becomes a regular practice or we are Divinely controlled when fasting becomes a natural part of our cycle of being alive.

So Sweet Ones, what about foregoing those slap chips. Hard hey. But it can be done. Use the Will. Use the Will, Use the Will, Use the Will.. 

ARUM LILIES IN KNYSNA : (Life is just beginning series : Episode 8)

LIFE IS JUST BEGINNING EPISODE 8 : ARUM LILIES IN KNYSNA

It is challenging to describe the Arum Lily. The closest I come to finding an exact description is magnetically PURE. It draws one – into its wildness. A single snowy white receptacle, on a single straight stem with a strong yellow heavily powdered pistil growing in a field surrounded by weeds somehow gives one a sense that all of life is pure, that life is magnetic – that its ebbs, flows, dips, raises is inherent to its intrinsic beauty.Endlessly changing, yet changeless.

Then there are those Arums growing in groups out of dungheaps, peeping magnetically through tall forest trees. “Come to us. See how we live and fade away only to be reborn next spring. Here are fairies resting against the base of our stems. They drink dew drops from our elephant leaves. We challenge you to be wild and free….”

In Knysna,  Arums pop up everywhere this time of year – along busy roads, next to ponds, at the edge of manicured gardens, along cultivate fields of herbs, in big strong hands of  hungry flower –pickers who tread the back paths of green ferny dens on this tip of the African continent.

Arum lilies always seem to juxtapose themselves making appearances in unexpected places, next to unexpected connections. An arum lily seen from my flat window stands singularly erect, its sharp pointed tip pointing in the direction of round Water lily leaves. The pointing makes the roundedness of Water Lily more openly fat, more giving and inviting. Arum Lily supports its kingdom. It stands in the middle of delicate peach reed florets, its strength apparent, an unchallenged leader.

Then walking down the street, behind a barbed partly rusted hospital fence, one glared defiantly at me, saying, “ Look, I’m behind bars, but I’m emerging in full bloom, fresh, white, hard. How the whiteness of  Arum Lily transforms as it moves back into Earth is fascinating. From snow white leathery thickness to a creamy white, slowly wrinkling into light brown transparency. The pistil becomes soft and mushy, now most of its pollen has been dispersed in some way or the other. It starts drying out.

How much like the human. We disperse our bounties, dry out, gather wrinkles, but instead of seeing this as beauty in another form, we often regret middle age, our maturing selves, desperately trying to retain that which has to change, that which is a natural part of an inherent unfolding, unflinching cycle.

I was playing taxi woman to my daughter, waiting outside the orthodontist where she was having a different coloured set of braces fitted, like many crazy teens and I, like an outsider, had not the opportunity to sit in a dentist chair for many years, momentarily felt a wave of  slavish resentment, cooped in a broken down car, waiting to taxi her to her next appointment, her art lesson. I was about to think the thought “Spoilt brat”, when suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw it. A massive glorious Arum Lily, primly, lovingly, in a teeny weeny patch of sand outside the orthodontist stoep, winking at me, whispering, “Circumstances matter not. Life is just beginning. “! I smiled at Arum. My spirit soared and danced with its Consciousness of Beingness. Life did indeed just begin. 

Strong yellow erect powdery pistil ::::::::::::::

Magnetically Pure.

Snowy white receptacle.

Alongside Forest trees ####.

Absolutely wild and free &&&&&&

Young and Old Together*******

White winks through the bushes)))))))

Alongside a pond, enjoying the sunshine ''''''''

Unfurling, unfolding, manifesting....

I'm almost done this time around.

Nothing can describe : I am wordless, nameless ....

Yipppeeee ! Middle age, Here I am !

Be holed and Behold and almost begone, but not yet.

Still around, green and brown together Life ends and begins all at  once.

Who I am to Be?

Arum they have called me.

Arum I shall be.

I and mine witness these Humans. They are an interesting lot.

Life is just beginning : Episode 7: Be your own miracle : NOW is the Time...

Miracle Tomato : LIFE IS JUST BEGINNING : EPISODE 7 : by Ghairo Daniels

Shades of grey is Sky today with whiffs of white and dark grey puffs blown across the background  with no respect for time or pace. What is time anyway. Man’s creation. Woman's creation. Layered trees sway in the wind. First the tall old pines, some about to collapse with mere sprinklings of cones on bare branches. Thick shorter trees reach the necks of the pines trying to prevent Decay. But Decay knows its day and does not want to prevent any moving along. There is no grief for change here. Oh no, no.

No grief here : only the Bliss of Infinite Life

Wild canary nests in reeds : ooowoowoo : a cosy little place so well camouflaged, Knysna, Spring 2012, copywrite: ghairo.daniels

Then the flowered bushes, a variety of white, pink and yellow daisy bushes in full spring bloom. Cerise geraniums sit in a corner along the path to the compost heap while wild canaries flit from reed to reed in a lovely muddy pond. A blanket of water-lilies enjoy light sways as I notice many nests in the reeds so well camouflaged. The whoosh sound of  Wind speaks and my mind quietens. Then tens of tens of wild canaries appear from the middle of the reeds, a  tumeric yellow fountain of joy. Another unveiling. Another day. Life is just beginning.

I passed the Rasta fruit stalls early in the morning to buy R20 fruit after I dropped my teenager off at school, and picked up the laundry, trying to calculate how much petrol dough I would need to the end of school term. And the question again arouse – Is this whole private school affair a worthwhile thing ?  Parking the car, I  went for my R20 fruit : asked for one tomatoes, one bananas, one apples and one oranges : meaning a packet of each which would cost R20.

The young Rasta politely said yes Ma’am and very, very slowly, in slowest motion, yet exceptionally alert, in a most gentlemanly manner proceeded to untie a packet to give me one tiny firm tomato. His thick short fingers with fat hands had not seen water for many days, with fingernails not knowing scissors for longer than that. These heavy fat hands, with thick finger knuckles, lovingly and gently took from the plastic packet one small bright red ripe tomato and held it between thumb and forefinger as if a diamond presented to a queen. I watched mesmerized, spellbound by the contrast. Then smiled and said I meant one packet each.

Light of God through  Tomato from Rasta fruit hawker, Knysna Central 2012, copywrite.ghairodaniels2012

Rasta man lovingly replaced tiny smooth gleaming tomato which had now become a ruby, re-tied the packet, still in slow motion, then  proceeded to hand me the rest of my request, as if the Queen of Sheba had just come shopping at his stall. Life had just begun, the fruits of Earth revealed. May that Rasta be blessed and so be his fruit stall. I was not so sorry I could not shop at Woolworths for my tomatoes, private schooling apart.  

TODAY’S RECALLING : SOME PRINCIPLES OF MIRACLES FROM “ A COURSE IN MIRACLES.“ check it out ! sweet beings of Love.

·                    There is no order of difficulty in miracles. One is not harder or bigger than another. They are all the same.

·                     Miracles are natural. When they do not occur, something has gone wrong.

·                     Miracles are everyone’s right, but purification is necessary first.

·                     Miracles are thoughts. Thoughts can represent the lower or bodily level of experience or the higher or spiritual level of experience. [which do you choose?]

·                     Miracles are both beginnings and endings, so they alter the temporal order. They are always affirmations of rebirth, which seem to go back, but really go forward.

·                     Miracles bear witness to truth. They are convincing because they arise from conviction. Without conviction, they deteriorate into magic.

·                     Miracles transcend the body. They are sudden shifts into invisibility, away from the bodily level.

·                     Miracles are natural signs of forgiveness. Through miracles, you accept God’s forgiveness by extending it to others.

·                     Miracles rearrange perception and place all levels in true perspective. This is healing because sickness comes from confusing the levels.

·                     The miracle compares what you have made with Creation, accepting what is in accord with it as true, and rejecting what is out of accord as false.

BE YOUR OWN MIRACLE NOW, IN THIS MOMENT OF GLORY.

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