Warrior Priestess
Spirituality

What did Jesus Say ? 

With all the passion surrounding Jesus's teachings and their impact on our views of the Middle East - perhaps its time to explore the "real" meaning behind Jesus's words.   

For several millennia, the Sacred Medicine Wheel has been instrumental in maintaining the balance of power among the indigenous tribes of North America.  The "medicine" refers to "wisdom" and the "wheel" represents the cycles of life.  By learning to "walk the wheel" - and view life from many different perspectives - the Medicine Wheel offers a practical approach to cultivating harmony and balance in one's life.

Beginning in the Children's Fire (ages 0-3), we move clockwise (starting with the Men's Lodge) into a new lodge every 3 years.  After gaining the perspective of the Dog Soldiers, we return to the Children's Fire and begin another cycle around the wheel.

Here's a chart that will help you determine where you are on the wheel and offers some insight into each viewpoint.

In the U.S., our arms manufacturers and the Pentagon occupy the same lodge - the War Chief's Lodge.   The decision to go to war shouldn't be made from the same mindset as that of the organizations manufacturing the weapons.   Look where that's gotten us.

You can learn more about the Sacred MedicineWheel (tapes and workshops) at Rev. Rosalyn Bruyere's website

Tapihritsa
Noble Protector of Beings



With compassion - contemplating the benefit of beings.

Learn more about the Tibetan Bön culture and teachings at The Ligmincha Institute.

Whose Problem Is It Anyway ?

I'm learning a great "self secret" about the nature of my mind and my problems. 

Most of us spend our entire lives thinking about how to solve our problems.  We waste countless hours actively engaged in conversations about our problems with ourselves, our friends, our therapists, or just about anyone who will listen.   But, we still have problems.  We're all still suffering. 

Although suffering is useful in that it shakes us up and makes us question our reality - there is a path to freedom.  Consider this insight offered by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche at a recent retreat.

Our problems should be like shooting stars moving across the sky - there for a moment and gone the next.  We, on the other hand, experience wisdom like a shooting star - with our problems coming on steadily.

According to the Bön Dzogchen meditative tradition of Tibet, our thoughts arise from a clear empty space within us - and then vanish back into that emptiness.  Our essence is primordially pure and clear, like a crystal.  This is the true nature of our mind.  And, the wisest part of us knows this.

When confronted with a problem, try asking who is the one doing the looking?  Who is the one that's seeing the problem?  Obviously not the wisest part of us.   The "wrong" person is actually doing the looking - and we're very attached to that person.  In fact,  we're empowering that person - and as a result, we empower our problems - instead of letting them vanish quickly back into the emptiness.

Rinpoche also suggested that we question the popular practice of analyzing our inner child.  In the end, all we've managed to do is change our crying inner child into a smiling one.  But, there's still an inner child who's doing the looking.  Why not have our inner wise person do the looking?

This is but an introduction to a simple and yet profound way of shifting our perception of reality.  Try it out when you're faced with a problem.  Ask yourself who's seeing this as a problem?  Who's holding onto this problem?

I'm now asking myself who is saying that this is easier said than done?   Who is looking at this way of questioning as yet another problem?

You can learn more about the Tibetan Bön teachings at The Ligmincha Institute. 

In the Protection of
the Falcon God

Horus, Temple at Edfu, Egypt

---

Galileo's Middle Finger

The digitus infamis.

A symbolic gesture preserved for posterity?

While traveling through Italy in the 70's, I visited Firenze's Institute and Museum of the History of Science.  In the exhibit honoring Galileo, I noticed this artifact.  (Yes, its his middle finger.) I had to laugh.  Was this a message from beyond the grave?  To those who once condemned him? Galileo was part of the Scientific Renaissance.  A time when a great infusion of creative energy was being channeled into scientific breakthroughs.

Galileo's scientific contributions changed our view of the world.  His explorations lead to many discoveries - including the invention of the microscope, the improvement of the telescope, and the discovery of the moons of Jupiter.     

However, in spite of his success - he was ultimately tried for heresy, condemned, and sent into exile.  As a defender of Copernican Astronomy (which states that the sun, and not the earth, is the center of our solar system) - Galileo came up against the doctrine of the Church.  He spent the last years of his life blind and in declining health.  His middle finger was ultimately wrested from his body as his remains were being moved to their present location.

Fast forward to the present.  We find ourselves living in an age when the creative sparks are again igniting all manner of scientific discovery.  And as before, we find ourselves coming up against the dictates of the church.  Whether its in stem cell research or birth control - we're again faced with the prospect of being held hostage by narrow worldviews.

But, keep the faith.  Amazing insights are continuing to expand our understanding of our quantum universe.   We're moving toward the discovery of a revolutionary framework that will unify our scientific and mystical realities.  Let's keep our eyes on the horizon.  A new day is dawning.

For more info. on Galileo and the Institute
and Museum of the History of Science, click on their logo below. 

Update: Pope John Paul II Pardons Galileo.