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Our New Spiritual Earth

25 Saturday Apr 2020

Posted by AjmaniK in life and living, nature, practice

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

commitment, earthday, healing, simplicity, spiritual earth

Earth Day celebrations this year followed the trend of so many events that have gone virtual or online over the past month or so. It has been a month where every day seems the same, and some days we are hard-pressed to remember what day of the week it actually is. In such times, one would have ample reason to forget about Earth Day, let alone celebrate it in any meaningful way. 

On the other hand, this is a year where the fiftieth Earth Day and Earth month observances could not have come at a more appropriate time. The incidence and spread of the SARS Covid-2 Virus or the Novel Coronavirus has brought large parts of the world to a virtual standstill. Some are referring to these times as “The Great Pause”. Country-wide “lockdowns” and “stay at home” orders have entered the vernacular of our awareness. 

There have been many visible and measurable effects of the pausing, the slowing-down, the stopping of everyday human activities on our planet. Early on in the pause, we saw satellite imagery of noticeable reduction of pollution over countries like China, large parts of Europe, India, and more. Residents of a city in northern India woke up to a new landscape of reduced air pollution. After almost three decades, they could now actually see the snow-capped peaks of their neighboring  Himalayas. Scientists have reported that the great pause had actually changed the level of seismic activity, the way the Earth was moving.

It is reasonable to expect that the effects of this unprecedented, large-scale pause in human activity are going to be short-term in nature. However, if seeing is indeed believing, then these changes have shown us how rapidly and dramatically we humans can effect change on our planet. One may argue that we are in extraordinary times, and that the current drastic reduction in human activity is a blip on the radar. That argument is probably correct. However, even small, incremental, persistent changes in our behavior can eventually change the energy and the vibration of our planet. It is like boiling cold water – it often seems like it is taking forever for the water to warm up. Once the water reaches 211F, it only takes a single degree of change, for it to change state and becomes steam. Massive change often comes in slow increments, from small commitments.

The newly minted weekly video gathering of #SpiritChat folks occurred on Earth Day this week. Four of us gathered briefly, and contemplated asked the question – what does Earth Day mean to us? Sharon (@awakeningtrue) offered that her hope was that more folks would take the opportunity to meditate on Gaia and her warm, golden, healing energy. Julie (@juliejordanscot) said that she was going to act on a challenge to hug a tree deeply, with a warm loving embrace, and feel its energetic, inner vibration. Quratulain (@iquarattariq) spoke about how the great pause has led her to ‘reduce her footprint’ on this One Earth, and to be grateful for her abundant life, when compared to so many others’ lives. On behalf of the community, I offered a reading of a short poem by Emily Dickinson…

Nature rarely uses yellow
Than another hue;
Saves she all of that for sunsets, —
Prodigal of blue;

Spending scarlet like a woman,
Yellow she affords
Only scantly and selectly,
Like a lover’s words.

– Nature XXXI #EmilyDickinson #CollectedPoems

 

IMG 3840

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunset in the backyard (Fall 2018) 

What may Earth Day mean to you? We have a few more days left in this Earth month of April. We still have time to consider some small changes that we can make in our lives — changes that will eventually make a huge impact on all the elements of our planet. The water we drink, the earth we plant seeds in, the air we breathe — all these elements, this ecology, is looking forward to helping ensure for our healthy, long-term survival. On this Earth day, in this Earth month, we can perhaps commit to meeting the planet and its elements at least half-way, can’t we? And yet, we have something greater to do.

The greater commitment we can make on this Earth Day is to take a great pause, and examine the state of our inner Earth. What can we do to cleanse our inner Earth’s elements of the toxic pollutants of fear, anger, jealousy, prejudice, and the like? How can we create a sustainable, rare Earth that embodies the five elements of simplicity, purity, peace, amity and compassion? If it is true that the outer world reflects the state of our inner world, then let us accept the invitation to begin within.

Let us embrace the opportunity provided by the great pause with a sense of urgency. The time to act is now. We have the heart and soul of the planet to heal. 

Kumud

P.S. Please join us on Sunday, April 26 at 9amET / 1pmUTC / 630pm India for our weekly gathering of the #SpiritChat community on twitter. We will discuss our commitment to action to the Earth within and without. Thank you for reading. Namaste – @AjmaniK

Do the best you can, until you know better; Then when you know better, Do better — Maya Angelou

IMG 2124

Our Spiritual Commitments

27 Saturday Aug 2016

Posted by AjmaniK in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

accountability, commitment, practices, spirituality

Memorial Day, the traditional beginning of summer here in the USA, seems like it was a ‘lifetime’ ago. The twelve weeks or so have whizzed by like a summer breeze and we stand at the doorstep of autumn. Some of us may already have made the shift (see last week’s ’back to school’ post) in mind and heart while some may be holding on valiantly to the last threads of summer. And even though we may have done this transition many times before, I find that it useful to reevaluate my commitments for the upcoming season as I move into fall.

Most of us find ourselves playing many roles in the living of our life. Women in particular, have so many ‘boxes to check’ every single day. In general, we stretch ourselves in many different directions. The ‘starcompass’ of our life is rarely ever symmetric, for that is the nature of life itself. What does your starcompass look like? Here is one way to construct it.

Divide your life commitments into eight broad areas. Feel to pick any or all from social, mental, spiritual, physical, financial, emotional and add some of your own. Now, evaluate how much life energy you spend in each area, say on a scale of one to 10. To create the starcompass, think of the eight major points on a compass. Mark the score for the first area, with a point at ‘N’. If the score is a full ’10’, your point would lie at the outer edge of the circle. Next, move to NW, and mark the score for the next area with another point. If the score is ‘5’, your point would be halfway to the periphery of the circle. And so on.

Windrose

So, what eight areas did you choose to create the ‘starcompass’ with? What do your life’s commitments and corresponding energy investments look like? Are the eight points on your compass equidistant from the center? Is your starcompass symmetric about any particular axis? Do the areas with ‘large energy’ correspond to where you want to be investing that energy? Which areas with ‘low energy’ investments would you want to put more energy into? Is there one particularly ‘overweight’ commitment area that has your ‘starcompass’ to the point of tipping over?

The ‘starcompass’ exercise is only one of many ways to make an evaluation of our commitments. The important thing is to do an evaluation in some way and establish a ‘baseline’ awareness. Then, as we shift our actions through our energy, develop new habits, establish new practices and form new commitments, we can watch our ‘starcompass’ evolve over time. One year from today, we may have twelve monthly ‘starcompass’ drawings. We can lay them side by side and observe our ‘spiritual’ commitments – and maybe even make a ‘flipbook’ of our life… Imagine that!

Namaste,

Kumud @AjmaniK

Join us in our weekly #SpiritChat – Sunday, August 28th at 9amET/1pmUTC on twitter. Let us talk about our spiritual commitments. And, if you would like to share your first ‘starcompass’, please bring a graphic with you. Thank you!

On Faith and Commitment

02 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by AjmaniK in Uncategorized

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Tags

commitment, faith, spiritchat, spirituality

“On Faith and Commitment” – I chose these two big words for the live #SpiritChat conversation on Sunday, March 2nd 2014. Faith, because, it seems to pervade many aspects and actions of our lives. Commitment, because, it is tough to imagine the practice of Faith without it. Here are some notes on commitment, that inspired some of the ideas for the conversation.

You need to make a commitment, and once you make it, then life will give you some answers. -Les Brown
“Freedom is not the absence of commitments, but the ability to choose – and commit myself to – what is best for me.” ― Paulo Coelho
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” ― Bishop Desmond Tutu
Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even to your smallest acts. This is the secret of success. -Swami Sivananda
If you deny yourself commitment, what can you do with your life? -Harvey Fierstein
The person who has inspired me my whole life is my Mom, because she taught me commitment. She sacrificed. -Mike Krzyzewski
Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one’s own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others. -John F. Kennedy

Here are the questions asked during the live chat. The answers were compiled using #storify and are available at The http://storify.com/ajmanik/faith-and-commitment-spiritchat-summary. A full, complete transcript is also available at https://www.hashtracking.com/reports/spiritchat/spiritchat/faith (1504 tweets, 134 contributors, 7.8M timeline deliveries, 0.85M reach). Enjoy!

Ready? Q1. For many, Faith is a ‘Big’ word. How big is it for you? What image(s) does it evoke? #SpiritChat

Q2. Do you check the health of your Faith regularly? What is its state? #SpiritChat

Q3. Other than fear, what are some obstacles that impact your Faith and its growth? #SpiritChat

Q4. What spiritual practice(s) tends to have the most impact on Renewal of your faith? #SpiritChat

Q5. On Faith and Commitment? Is there a connection for you? What is it? #SpiritChat

Q6. “Faith requires sacrifice, not convenient commitment”? Agree or Disagree? #SpiritChat

Q7. Is commitment to spiritual practice(s) enough? What else may we need…? #SpiritChat

Final Q8. To those seeking freedom in Faith and commitment… you would say? #SpiritChat

Practical Spirituality – On Courage and Commitment

25 Saturday May 2013

Posted by AjmaniK in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

commitment, courage, spirit, spiritchat

The month of May in our weekly #SpiritChat conversations on twitter included the topics of diversity, mothering and harmony. As I look back through the discussions, one word that came up very often in the context of “what holds us back” from expressing ourselves to our full potential is ~ fear. In fact, fear represents a wide range of feelings, emotions and beliefs that can limit us, and our spiritual growth, if we do not practice how to understand and control it.

So, how do we understand and control fear? One possible way is to get familiar with, and practice courage. For courage can be an antidote to fear when invoked at the appropriate time. The #SpiritChat community did have a conversation about courage (May 2012) which examined fundamental questions like “what is courage?” and more. The dimension that we can add to the previous discussion is in the context of “Practical Spirituality” ~ of practicing courage with commitment.

The great philosopher Plato had tried to define courage ~ albeit inconclusively (see notes on the essay titled Laches). While all of us may not agree on the exact definition of courage, perhaps the definition is not as important as the practice of courage. Our definitions my be different, but we all know courage when we see it. The courage of a mother sparrow fighting off predators to protect her newborns. The courage of a friend or family member, who is in chronic pain, waking up every morning, putting a smile on their face and facing the world. The courage of first responders in crisis situations, rescuing lives by putting their own lives in jeopardy. The courage of those who choose to be true to themselves, sing to their own tune, to honor the spirit of diversity and harmony.

I am sure that you can come up with many more examples of commitment and courage in action, in motion. One question that comes to mind in the context of fear and courage: Is courage the only antidote to fear? Are some people just intrinsically more courageous than others? Or have they developed inner strength, and perhaps more courage, with practice? If courage can be developed by (spiritual) practice(s), what are some of these practice(s)? What is the connection between courage, diversity and harmony?

As I do (almost) every week, I invite you to a conversation about courage and commitment, in the context of practical spirituality, on Sunday May 26th at 9am ET with our #SpiritChat community. Tell us about your daily moments and acts of courage, and inspire us to overcome our fears. Thank you.

Kumud

P.S. Some of you may be aware that the final Sunday in May is celebrated as Memorial Day Weekend in the USA. It is a weekend that honors the commitment and sacrifice of all those who have paid the (ultimate) price to protect our freedoms. May we pause and reflect on their courage.

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