Ebb and flow

Action and contemplation
go hand in hand together
in mutual recipriosity
so much so
we should not try to part them

feeling and thinking
doing and being
outer and inner
mind and heart
above and below
we are, they are, all is
co-related,
it's not so much that they are interconnected
it's more that they are inseparable

ok now we know this
the question is
how do we experience it?
how is the apparent dualism transcended?
after all it is an illusion
these are only words
that can seem as real to us
as the warm rays of the sun on a summers day

whichever door we go into first
feeling or thinking
it will lead to the other,
because they take you into the same room
they are like different ends of a sandwich
or different points on a circle
all paths lead to the other
if we let them
they are mutually inclusive
and feed one another
like the serpent eating its own tale

and yet they can become blinded
blocked from one another
like a pendulum that is caught and stops

what is then missing is awareness
an awareness of the other
of the others existence and how to welcome it in
we all have an inherent preference
socially the west educates towards thinking
and yet to not embrace feeling
is to miss the whole experience
and those of us who are all feeling
lack an appreciation for logos
being stuck in one place
is to miss the need for flow
the movement
the dance
the completion.

Transformation and change,
as Richard Rohr says, are everything;
"When prayer is authentic
it will always lead to actions of mercy;
when actions of mercy are attempted at any depth,
they will always drive you to prayer."

Riding the wave

Throughout January I have heard numerous metaphors using water as a reference for understanding the meaning of life. Water is one of the four elements, some say it represents our emotions. Even the commonly used phrase - still waters run deep - shows how water is used to describe a persons state of being.

Here in the UK talk of water in the context of our climatic state is an almost daily occurence. Having just experienced a week of snow fall the thaw is setting in which brings with it floods. Nothing new anymore and yet floods are devastating for those whose livelihoods and/or homes are caught up in its path. Really there is no such thing as floods. What we have is high water levels and too many homes and other developments built on lowland and flood plains. Whatever happened to building on hilltops?

Today I was listening to storyteller Michael Meade, he was talking about the way water terms are used in our vocabulary to describe qualities associated with money, for example, curreny comes from a term for water flow. We have fast currents and slow currents. One thing about currency is it is rarely, if ever, constant for very long. Flow is dynamic, ever changing and in constant flux and relationship with all it comes into contact with.So why are we always wanting, expecting even, money and currencies to rise, when we know from life itself that currents ebb and flow. They go up and they go down. They swell and recede. You can't have one without the other. We are now learning even where there is drought and desertification it is possible to revive and rejuvinate water supplies.

Tonight I read about the surfer Garrett McNamara who off the coast of Portugal is riding the biggest waves I've ever seen. 100ft monuments to wind and water form these skyhigh walls of sea that Garrett seems able to hold his surfboard onto while the water is breaking behind him. The sound alone must be immense not to mention the weight of the crashing wave. It's daunting and inspiring to see this tiny human being dancing with the elements in this way. He looks to be having fun. Like he's out there for the challenge and for no other reason than it's the most exhilirating feeling in the world.

It makes me wonder about my awareness of water and what waves I am choosing to ride ... ?

Go with the flow

Life, love, happiness are often spoken about using the metaphor of flow. The idea being to find your way through life, to discover depths of love or happiness what you need to do is let go of the edge of the river and go with the flow.

There is a well known book on finding lasting happiness called Flow written by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. I have not read the book myself, although I have heard much about it. Looking up the title on amazon.com it say's that Mihaly's studies have revealed that what makes experience genuinely satisfying is 'flow' - a state of concentration so focused that it amounts to complete absorption in an activity and results in the achievement of a perfect state of happiness. This sounds similar to what sports stars describe as getting into the zone when experiencing peak performance. All of which may have an external manifestation but also speaks to an inner journey and understanding.

Last night I went to the very last open evening at Schumacher College. The speaker was Minni Jain and the title of her talk was 'Flow'. Minni spoke about projects she was involved in back in India that were reviving and then protecting defunct rivers. Through the revival of rivers life, vegetation and greenery were being brought back into desert lands.

This very real reconnection with flowing waters has lead Minni on to further inquiries into flow in other forms. For example, how do we revive flow in the dry barren lands of education, health care, politics, economics and communities?

In words inspired by those of Minni Jain

Let it Flow

I don't really make decisions
I just go with the flow
Don't resist
Go with the flow

Flow is everywhere
The river is everywhere
Don't resist
Let yourself go into the flow

There is a flow within us
There is a flow in the universe
Don't resist
Go deeper into the flow

The flow within, the flow without
They get imbalanced
Don't resist
Find the flow

Are you willing to work?
Are you willing to do anything?
Don't resist
Let it flow

Traditional wisdom was being ignored
Modern engineering had failed
Don't resist
Listen for the flow

Slow down, walk the land and know
Ask, what you can do to find the flow?
Don't resist
Be with the flow

Building the new ...

I saw this quote recently and was struck by how it aligned so well with two of Joanna Macy's three dimensions of the Great Turning. She speaks of three ways to contribute to the shifts that are taking place within each of us and within our socities, cultures and institutions. For more detailed information check out Joanna's amazing website. 

In brief the three dimesions are:

1. Actions to slow the damage to Earth and its beings

• Documenting and the ecological and health effects of the Industrial Growth Society;
• Lobbying or protesting against the World Trade Organization and the international trade agreements that endanger ecosystems and undermine social and economic justice;
• Blowing the whistle on illegal and unethical corporate practices;
• Blockading and conducting vigils at places of ecological destruction, such as old-growth forests under threat of clear-cutting or at nuclear dumping grounds.

Work of this kind buys time. It saves some lives, and some ecosystems, species, and cultures, as well as some of the gene pool, for the sustainable society to come. But it is insufficient to bring that society about.

2. Analysis of structural causes and the creation of structural alternatives

• Teach-ins and study groups on the Industrial Growth Society;
• Strategies and programs for nonviolent, citizen-based defense;
• Reduction of reliance on fossil and nuclear fuels and conversion to renewable energy sources;
• Collaborative living arrangements such as co-housing and eco-villages; 
• Community gardens, consumer cooperatives, community-supported agriculture, watershed restoration, local currencies...

 3. Shift in Consciousness

These structural alternatives must mirror what we want and how we relate to Earth and each other. They arise in the resurgence of wisdom traditions, reminding us again that our world is a sacred whole, worthy of adoration and service.
The many forms and ingredients of this dimension include:

• general living systems theory;
• deep ecology and the deep, long-range ecology movement;
• Creation Spirituality and Liberation Theology;
• Engaged Buddhism and similar currents in other traditions;
• the resurgence of shamanic traditions;
• ecofeminism;
• ecopsychology;
• the simple living movement.

These activities help us cope with our fear and rage, stop us from sticking our heads in the sand or pointing the finger of blame at others. They help us overcome feelings of panic or paralysis.