Goddess, Bodhisattva...same idea. Of course I believe that all deities are metaphors for certain qualities inherent in all of humankind. We all contain the potential for every characteristic, it is up to us to decide whether or not we will express/indulge. But everything is in everything. Focusing on deities which represent the qualities we want to express in ourselves is the oldest kind of magic...just like using herbs, crystals, and essential oils with the same vibration as the conditions we want to create. Where attention goes, energy flows. What you focus on, so you become.
I was reading on Facebook yesterday that Facebook had conducted a secret social experiment which really pissed some people off. It happened without their knowledge or permission, which I think is wrong, but the insight gleaned from this study is pretty eye-opening. They controlled the amount of negative vs. positive posts in the news feed of two separate groups and observed the effect of the negative posts on the group that had increased negativity in their feed. Their posts became increasingly negative, indicating that emotions are contagious.
Now, I believe that the media has already known this for a long time. It really makes you think twice about the constant barrage of negativity streaming through to us through the idiot box -- is this a form of social control? Are our emotions being manipulated, and for what purpose? What benefit would there be to the powers-that-be to keep us in a state of negativity? Does it render us less likely to act? Or is it that negativity is a lower vibration which makes us more easily manipulated? Or do they want us to become so consumed with the anger at all the injustices, the sadness over the plights of so many unfortunates, that we are simply too distracted to notice what they don't want us to see? I don't have the answer, but it's food for thought.
I just got done watching my dharma talk and I feel like I just dusted some cobwebs out of my mental attic. A recurring theme in my tarot readings about my relationship with Ramiro is balance -- both with the Temperance card and the 2 of Pentacles. The fact that he lives so far away is a benefit because I am less likely to become consumed in this relationship to the exclusion of my individuality. I have enough healthy space and distance that I can keep my head clear and stay focused on my goals. Sure, I get distracted from time to time and miss a couple days of yoga. But I always find my way back to my path, which I have not been able to do in a relationship before, and I think I'm making progress.
In the dharma talk, the monk was saying that the buddhas and bodhisvattas shine on all of us indiscriminately. They are like the moon, shining on every lake and pond. The only difference lies in the actual ponds and how polluted they are. Is the lake of your mind dirty? Can you purify it? If you can, you can reflect the light of the divine more clearly. Anyone can do it, but no one can do it for you. That's a message that has been popping up a lot around me lately -- no one can do it for you. If you want something to change or to happen, you're the only one who can do that.
That's a big thing I struggle with. I sit around waiting for things to happen. I hope and wish and pray but I take no action, hoping things will just work themselves out and magically I'll be where I need to be. I want to write, and I imagine that my novel will just write itself and come out on its own one day. But if I keep thinking like that, it will never happen. If I keep putting it off, it will remain in the future -- why not today? Today could be my day. Today IS my day. After all, nothing has ever happened in the past and nothing will ever happen in the future -- NOW is the only time anything happens.
I'm reading Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by B K S Iyengar. I'm also still reading Women Who Run with the Wolves. It reminds me of when I was a kid and would read multiple books at the same time :). I'm really liking the yoga sutras, though. I also bought the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads.
When I was at Kasey's wedding, the pastor was talking about how it doesn't just end when you meet "The One", and they complete you and you both live happily ever after. Because they can NOT complete you. No one could ever love you enough to fill you up, and if you look to a relationship to add that missing piece, you will be disappointed. He said a successful marriage is one with god at its center -- only god can fill you up. Now, of course I'm not Christian (or really anything else, for that matter). But I agree with this. My spirituality, however you may define it, is the only thing that makes me feel whole. If I abandon it for a relationship, thinking that relationship will be enough, it will not. It is only with balance -- keeping my spiritual connection WHILE engaging in my relationship -- that I will be truly happy.
He can't be my hero. I've got to be my own hero. I don't look at god like some separate entity outside of myself but rather as a force within myself and everything else. It is my recognition of that, devotion to the oneness of us all and respect for our collective divinity, that makes me "god-centered". I don't worship some old man in the sky. I honor the light in us all and aim to let love permeate everything I do on this planet...because we're all in it together.
This means hard work, like nothing I have ever done before. Recognizing, analyzing, and releasing petty emotions like anger and fear. Jealousy. Dealing with my hurt and frustration in different ways. Not blaming. Relationships are HARD. But this is some of the most transformative work I have ever done.
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