Stumbled Page #2: rendingtheveil.com

I found this amazingly well-written article on altered states, shamanism and psychonautics.

It retells in one particular paragraph how, over time, the influences of Protestant Christianity, technocracy and empirical science changed the way people looked at the spiritual. Not even in synagogues and mosques are the psychtropic substances used for shamanism accepted because they are seen as too primitive--and that supposedly, being "primitive" is a bad thing.

I'm not sure I understand that fear-laden train of thought, seeing as how I, myself am interested in such substances to induce shamanic trances. I'm not crazy about the idea of going to prison just for using something from nature, however so I find other ways to--if purists will pardon the expression--get my trance on.

There is more to this article than what I read, but I am definitely giving this site the "thumbs-up."

Click here to see and read the article.

BB,
Rev. Kat

StumbleUpon Page: Dharma for the Zen Student

I am endlessly fascinated by Buddhism, especially that of the Zen and Tibetan traditions. There is a part of me that wishes to practice it to some extent, though my true Heart lies with Druidry...yet all Spirit moves in a spiral, and all Truths end up touching one another here and there.

Ergo, when I found this site via StumbleUpon, I wanted to ScribeFire it.

The beginning quote I found rather humorous in its bold-faced riddling truth: "Zen is not what you think!" It's attributed to "anonymous," so sorry, no direct quotation today.

I would print it out for my use, but my inner editor sees far too many errors such as words run together and not properly spaced. So if I want this info in hard copy form, I'm going to have to copy and paste into Word or something. I don't know.

Anyway, here's the link if you want to check it out:

http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~schmitzr/bgz.htm

BB,
Rev. Kat ^.^

Tip of the Week—Hobbies as Meditation

When most people hear about meditation, they tend to envision the stereotypical Hindu or Buddhist monk sitting cross-legged in Full Lotus, hands positioned a certain way and an aura of peaceful tranquility on the monk’s face.

While that is certainly one of the more traditional forms of meditation, whether or not you are a monk in such traditions, there are some people, like myself, who also look to not-so-traditional ways of relaxing meditatively.

Hence, my tip of the week: Hobbies as Meditation.

When you think about it, it’s not that strange an idea. For instance, one of my hobbies now is knitting, not just because it’s fun, but the constant rhythmic motion and flow of each repetitive stitch one makes can induce a light meditative state: the breath slows, the mind quiets down and your blood pressure lowers. It’s more effective if the TV is off, sure, but even while watching TV and knitting, you can still achieve some measure of meditative calm from knitting.

Other hobbies that can induce a calm, relaxed state include woodworking, playing a musical instrument, doing yoga or tai chi and others that I am sure I’ve not thought of yet. Swimming is another one of my favorites, though it comes more under the category of exercise, as it raises the heart rate. However, though it raises the heart rate, I’ve experienced a clearing of the mind and cleansing of the soul that other hobbies help achieve. Maybe it’s because I’m in the water, and water is one surefire way to calm an agitated mind.

Despite what some people might think, a bungee-jumping hobby isn’t exactly meditative. It may clear your mind, but most people do it solely for the adrenaline rush. Not what I would call a calming way to spend an hour or so, but then I’m not too sold on the idea of jumping off a high ledge with no protection but a safety harness and the bungee cord attached to the safety gear. Sky-diving isn’t exactly what I’d call meditative, either, though parachuting might be—if the parachute cord works properly on a consistent basis.

But whatever hobby you have that works to calm your mind, lower your blood pressure and heart rate and perhaps to achieve enlightenment at some point, as long as it works, I would say it’s all good.

BB,

Rev. Kat ^.^

Spirituality News--A Response to a Blog Post 4/2/08

There wasn't much to peruse in my Google Alerts today, except for a very thoughtful, priceless gem coming from a site called realmuscleonline.com.

The author of the article examined the two sides of a common debate about martial arts: does it foster anger or spirituality?

I am going to assume for the moment that the author is a male, since I don't know too many women in my life who participate in the various disciplines of martial arts.

I mostly remember my dad not wanting me to take karate or anything like that because he was afraid I would use it wrongfully. I later learned his fears were unfounded, because while I've not really been able to learn martial arts yet, I did find out that taking a martial arts class has something of a transformative quality, and that I actually would have ended up a far more peaceful person than I am now.

Though there is the possibility that some people still choose to use martial arts while in an angered state of mind. The "Karate Kid" movie proves that with the abusive Cobra Kai doctrine taught by its ex-military macho-man "sensei."

Having watched various Jet Li and Jackie Chan films, and knowing what I know about some of the various disciplines, I know that I would rather go for Tai Chi or Aikido. Karate might be useful at times, though. As someone who prefers the way of peaceful reason, I think a "softer" discipline might be more up my alley.

And while reading the martial arts piece, I think I just discovered something about myself...and I mean really realized the implications of part of my personality...

My dad has this habit of painting me as an angry person--all the time. Yes, I admit, I do get reactive. But I don't necessarily get reactive just to get my dad upset, as he so thinks.

When I am talking with someone, my favored expectation is that most people can be reasonable when they want to be. But when people don't choose to be reasonable and balanced, I can just feel my inner temper rising, because my sense of justness and fair play is seriously offended and I want to make things right.

Thing is, I don't like the idea of hitting someone via martial arts if I'm feeling angry. And many times, the people I'm angry with I can't hit for very good reasons: it might be a boss (since I am, by traditional standards, unemployed, my boss would be myself), my future in-laws (and they're pieces of work, too!), certain politicians in the White House (On those guys, I'll just use my very strong "voting pencil kung fu"), an elderly female relative who shall remain nameless, and so on.

So...maybe the "kung fu" I've got to strengthen now is not so much the ability to defend myself physically, but to go inside and find peace within...and that, for me, is challenging to do right now, as making peace internally with people who insist on being @$$holes is not the easiest thing in the world.

And that kind of aspect of "martial arts" is probably the cornerstone of the whole shmere because the key to learning martial arts--especially going deeper into the disciplines--is learning to fight so that you don't have to.

But one thing is for sure...while my dad prevented me from taking martial arts because of his personal fears (which may or may not have been accurate. I don't know)--that didn't prevent me from remaining the Warrior spirit that I am. I guess if I feel as angry all the time as Pop thinks I am (and I am NOT angry all the time, by the way), I am merely echoing his own feelings of anger and injustice at the atrocities and chaos of this world.

Time for me to go back and read "Way of the Peaceful Warrior."

BB,
Rev. Kat ^.^

Experiments with the Law of Attraction and Attitude of Gratitude 4/1/08

I've been doing some thinking...

Perhaps my attempts at using the Law of Attraction and/or the Attitude of Gratitude have been scant because of some remaining, ingrained skepticism. I'm not sure. I do know that I'd like to swallow "The Secret" whole hog, as it were.

These are the questions that still plague my mind:

How do I release the doubt with this concept as much as I released the doubt enough to enter the world of Paganism and magick?

How do I deprogram my brain of any self-defeating talk or thoughtforms?

How do I do as the old phrase suggests and "let go and let God/dess"?

How do I know that the skepticism is mine and not someone else's?

How do I cultivate a climate of faith in my mind when I am surrounded by fearful people?

How do I align with the Divine Essence that sees this current economic downturn as an opportunity for We-the-People to do something creative with the situation instead of succumbing to the doom-n-gloom?

And then I am reminded of the Nike slogan: "Just Do It."

Is it really as easy as all that? I suppose it is. I have been known to make mountains out of the proverbial molehills. And that presents another question:

Did I learn that reaction to life or is that part of my basic personality? And how do I stop doing the mountain-out-of-molehill thing?

So, as you can see, I've still got a lot of questions that need addressing. Time to dig deep and resolve them. Maybe I'll use the Law of Attraction to get the answers I want.

I've heard of just that very thing being done, so why not?

BB,
Rev. Kat ^.^

Monday Meditation for 3/31/08: Garden of Dreams

Spring is officially here, and the first official spring rain has fallen, no snow included, thank you very much. :-P We in the Midwest have had flooding and all sorts of things just from the snow, which makes me really wonder as to what we’re attracting.

One might say that we’re attracting all this precipitation, whether in the form of snow or rain, because our emotional landscapes are parched. Or one might say we’ve been experiencing this wacky weather because we’ve upset the natural balance of the ecosystems and we’re reaping the negativity of the seeds of hubris that we’ve sown.

Or maybe it’s not us. Maybe it’s Mother Earth experiencing Her own shifting, just as we’re experiencing ours. We might just be going through a shift equivalent to that of mid-to-late adolescence: old enough to be sobered by our mistakes but still dominated by our youthful arrogance. Our technology has potentially surpassed our current level of immaturity and we’re reaping the results of that immaturity.

Now I’m not totally getting down on the human race, as I’d be getting down on myself, too. There are many people who wish to help change the world for the better, including myself.

Just as the season of winter dies away, making room for Maiden Spring, the darker times humanity has experienced will also pass away, making room for the new energies of Hope, Truth, Light and Love. And in the summer, we will begin to harvest the results of our planting those seeds of beauty. Of course, there will be weeds that try to choke out what we’ve planted, and we will have to work at weeding the garden. But in this sense, “weeding the garden” simply means spreading more Love and Truth, being a channel for the peace of the Goddess.

Even in achieving our own personal Garden of Dreams and Goals, we all need to remember to walk “the Beauty Way,” as it’s called by many Native American nations.

In this light, here are some questions you might want to contemplate at length.

What are your ideas, dreams and goals?

What do you desire for yourself and the world?

On what thoughts do you want to pour refreshing warm rain to help manifest your life’s mission?

What helpful energies do you want to send out to the universe?


Don’t worry about your ideas being “too grandiose.” Nothing is too large for the Goddess to handle, when you place Her on your “Creation team,” as it were.

So when you go to plant your gardens within the next few weeks, whether they be physical plots where flowers, fruits and vegetables grow in order to grace your table, or the inner gardens of your imaginative, fertile minds, remember these things:

Make your Gardens part of your personal “Beauty Way," planting Love, Truth, Hope and Light.

Get the Goddess on your own Creation Team…

Dream big…

…and don’t forget to ask for rain…:-D


Brightest Spring Blessings,
Rev. Kat ^.^