The Sublime Mystery of J.S. Bach

I have been luxuriating in a very healing experience – an immersion in the music of J.S. Bach for the past week, as WQXR-FM, a classical music station in NYC (my home town) has been playing ALL of the master’s music 24/7, from March 21st (his birthday) till Easter Sunday.

Bach has always been my favorite – and I know I’m not alone.

I’ve been pondering today what it is about his music that affects us so deeply, placing it for many in a category all its own. And something became clear to me.

What I hear in Bach’s music is an insight into the workings of the Universe – or (as he would doubtless prefer to say) into the mind of God.

What I hear is perfection and power of Mind combined with fathomless depth of Heart, embodied in endlessly varied Form.I hear mathematical complexity, order, and fractal patterning infused with total Love. I hear each dimension expressed at full throttle, holding nothing back – with each new invention adding to the inexhaustible creative drive, energy, and resource of the Creator.

I hear infinite tenderness, passion, joy, freedom, power, playful delight, and serene detachment expressed in turn, personal and impersonal at the same time.

I hear vast structures and intricate particularity, macro and micro expressing with the same precision even to the cellular, or atomic level.

I hear fully released intensity and unstoppable forward propulsion – just as the relentless creativity of Great Mind hurtles ceaseleslly, unfolding itself through evolutionary space/time.

What is the mystery that allow a “mere” human being (he looks ordinary enough in the images passed down to us) to bring through such vast, interconnected perfection?

I bow to the mystery and accept the gift of music, as I accept the gift of life, of cosmos, of Mind, Heart, and Form.

 

What if your fear isn’t really yours?

I’m working on some themes around how to deal with fear.  This is part 1 – having to do with the idea of Collective Consciousness as a source of much of our fear.

With all the influx of intense new energies, deluge of information, instability of our familiar institutions and uncertainty of the future – to say nothing of the financial shakiness many are experiencing now – there’s a lot of fear and anxiety going around.

This week I’m starting a series of messages on the topic of fear, because it’s been up for me and I’ve been thinking about it a lot.

Here’s one radical conclusion I’ve come to: Most of the fear we experience is not really ours. It doesn’t even belong to us.

I know because I speak to lots of people – and because I’m not immune to it myself.We live in a sea of collective consciousness – though few of us realize that. And that field of consciousness is like a blanket surrounding the planet made up of accumulated energies and thought forms, mostly having to do with fear and discord.

It’s kind of like Eckhart Tolle’s concept of the Pain Body, but on a planetary scale.

We are influenced by it, of course through the media and those we talk to. And we’re influenced by it energetically – just as we in turn can have a positive influence on that collective field every time we raise our own consciousness.

But it is important to know that not everything we’re feeling is really ours. We tend to take it very personally, and this compounds our suffering.

Also, there are ways to deliberately disconnect from the collective thought field. This form of “mental hygiene” is as important as washing your hands when you’ve been out in public touching doorknobs and handrails.

I’ve gotten in the habit of noticing when that happens and protecting myself from germs. Lately I’ve also started to tell those collective thought forms to be gone, as well.

I talked about how I do that in last week’s Monday Morning Coffee. So if you want to know my method, you can listen to it right here.

Then make a habit of listening to the show every Monday by connecting HERE.

The Paradox of Gratitude

The One Thing You Must Know

 Do you know that wonderful Leonard Cohen song – the one where he says, “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in”?

That is so profound, it gives me chills.

Don’t we think we are cracked, that the world is cracked? Don’t we reject what we think is wrong with ourselves, with our lives?

I know I’m guilty of that over and over.

And yet… what if those very things we reject are what we NEED? Are precious experiences by which our souls grow?

Now look at the image above, of the egg, full of cracks. Instead of letting the light in, in this case, it’s how the light gets OUT!

Because there’s treasure inside that egg… just like there’s treasure inside each one of us. Just like there’s treasure inside of you.

Your soul is a treasure, your essence is a treasure, the gifts you brought into this life are treasures. But in order to find them… sometimes we all need to crack a little.

That’s what the Akashic Record guides told me last week when I asked them about Gratitude. It’s what I’m calling the Paradox of Gratitude.

The paradox is that we are being called to be grateful not just for the things we think of as “good, fortunate, pleasurable.” Not just for our successes and joys.

No, from the perspective of the soul, we should be grateful for ALL our experiences – including the cracks in our lives, and in the world. 

Each of those “cracks” is here for a reason, to develop our deepest capacities for love, joy, courage, and strength. They are not mistakes. We didn’t do anything wrong.

As souls on an amazing journey of development and evolution, expansion and contribution, we are supposed to experience the full spectrum of life experience. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be incarnated at this time.

The wonderful secret is this: As we embrace this truth and open to our experience with acceptance and gratitude, we flow into alignment more and more with the frequency of our Higher Self. We come into resonance with our purpose.  We start to know who we truly are.

As we stop resisting and are able to say a heartfelt Yes to this adventure of life, life itself starts to transform and reflect the beauty of what is shining  through from within us  – through the cracks!

If you are inspired to go deeper, please join me for my  FREE teleseminar series, “Birthing Your Sacred Work.” The first call is coming up soon.

The Path Unfolds Only When You Walk On It

If you are a Spiritual Creative, you are probably conscious of being on a path – a spiritual path, a life path, or a path of self-discovery.

But being on a path does not necessarily mean that you have a clear idea of where that path is taking you. Sometimes all you know is that you want to move towards some greater alignment with yourself and your purpose, whatever that may be.

What if your vision is just a feeling, a sense, a glimmer of possibility? Something is calling you – but what is it, exactly?

There can be an enormous yearning in your soul without having to know precisely what that yearning is for.

How can you move towards such an elusive goal? . . .    Continue reading