The Value of Patience

Come next month, August 2011, I will have been doing mediumship work for 12 years. When I started back in 2000, it was with a mixture of fear, curiosity, and an overwhelming desire to figure out just what the heck the universe was wishing me to do that compelled me to move forward and explore this part of my consciousness.

It’s been an interesting ride – and like any trip, it’s had both its highs and lows.

One of the big lessons I’ve learned is that it’s not so much about acquiring more skills or styles to one’s repertoire, but rather letting go of the blocks you are holding inside that keep the ability from really being “honed.” In order to serve spirit and help others heal, personal biases and prejudices must be examined which might introduce “interference” or “disruption” to the process. Unfortunately, such judgments may not be so easily discovered, especially if they are buried quite deep.

This is why it is so important to have patience. No matter what goals we are trying to achieve, having patience with ourselves and the process is going to allow opportunities to present themselves before our eyes – versus being impatient, inconsolable, and frenetic.

When we are impatient, our minds run at a dizzying pace – usually trying to figure out a way to “attack, attack, attack” a problem. “Hi-ho, Silver! Charge!” That’s the kind of attitude I most often take, which probably gets me into the most trouble. So much energy and emotion gets expended in the accompanying sense of frustration that the frustration ends up becoming the focus. It is then that we get caught in the unforgiving loop impatience creates. This continuous whirlpool ultimately closes one’s self off to the possibilities which the genuine act of patience provides.

In many cases, when we cry “Hi-ho, Silver!” we really have no idea how best to solve the issue that is bothering us – we’re just going to attack it at every angle and hope that eventually some kind of tactic will work. You know – if you fail, get back up and try again (just do it a little bit differently). That’s good solid advice, as we know it’s foolish to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. However, our own ignorance as to the nature of a problem really doesn’t give us a clue as to what different method might produce a positive result. It is at this junction we must accept that we DO NOT KNOW and LET GO of the fight. Instead of trying to control the problem and force a solution, we must come to realize we cannot force or control anything that we do not fully comprehend or understand.

Here comes that line I always dread to hear (because it forces me to relinquish my own control – which isn’t working, by the way – and also my own power): Let the universe provide the answer.

The only way to successfully allow the universe a moment to get a word in edge-wise is to be patient. When we allow ourselves to be in a patient frame of being and LET GO, we no longer allow our minds and bodies to be filled with frenetic energy and stress; we don’t run our brains on the rollercoaster of confusion. In turn, we become more open and observant. When we are at peace with patience, the universe – that all-encompassing sphere of eternal time/space and knowledge – can then find a way to provide the answers you seek. Surely, as they say, if the universe can figure out how to make planets orbit the sun and create all the particulars for life to grow (and for us to make things such as Styrofoam), then indeed it has the answers to your dilemma. But you won’t get them without being open to receive them.

And that’s what it’s really about -- being open to receive. You can’t receive when you are distracted by anxiety, frustration, and worry. If you don’t know what the next step is, then don’t try taking a next step; instead, step back and be open to the vast knowledge that created the cosmos to give you a clue. Maybe (just maybe) all it takes is getting out of your own way.

In this overly fast-paced world where we can pretty much get whatever we want by the click of a button, it does become easy to get frustrated when it seems our wishes are not coming to fruition immediately (in accordance with how fast “everything else” can get done). When this is happening, we must recognize that perhaps we might be lacking key information and should take some time to step back, regroup, and perhaps let the “impossible” become possible. That is, the world doesn’t always work in the way our logical minds would like it to, and by stepping back we then invite the universe be the harbinger of miracles. Miracles don’t have to be pie-in-the-sky major huge events; they can be small, simple, yet capable of moving us in ways our logical selves could never fathom. By being patient, we transform our energy from chaotic into harmony – or at least, closer to harmony than what it used to be. And when we are in a state of harmony, the universe opens doors and we are open enough to see them, and clear enough consciously to walk through them.

If you feel you are running up against a brick wall, that brick wall may not be anything more than your own self. In order to get passed it, LET GO. And in letting go, be PATIENT and allow the universe to light the way. So long as your intentions are still in your consciousness, the course of your experience will still be driven by those intentions. But at least you won’t be swerving around like a drunken driver trying to find the correct turn on the road ahead getting there. Instead, give yourself a brake (pun intended) and look for the signs. Then step on the gas and go with a real sense of direction.

Just be patient and breathe …

The Inner Landscape

Hello, again, everyone! This week’s blog is a mixture of information received during a meditation and the culmination of some research into the psychic “landscape.” We are always curious about where and how psychic information is perceived and received, and while on vacation I chanced upon a book written by a well-respected and researched medium from the 1930’s – 1960’s. She talked about how she was compelled to follow the “inner landscape” which gave her the psychic information she was receiving. Her description of the environment was inspiring and matched often what I have felt when receiving psychic information. So, for the last few weeks, I have focused on the concept “inner landscape” and received some messages about our interaction with it. Hopefully this entry will inspire you to check it out for yourself! Have a great week!

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(The details were taken from a meditation and have been re-written in the third person for ease of narrative.)

The ego-mind is engaged mainly in the “upper” portion of perceiving reality, and it’s usually focused on the external part of our experiences – what’s out in front of us in the physical environment – utilizing the standard five senses. The physical body, however, can perceive greater vistas and is not confined to the “beam” of external sights “outside.” In that sense, the inner senses of the physical organism can provide a more holistic and encompassing perception than strictly the ego-mind can, as the ego-mind sifts what it takes in – keeping what it wants and discarding the rest, based on one’s personal beliefs and attitudes.

We have labeled the body’s perceptions and information – that deep inner voice and landscape – as the “subconscious” or “unconscious.” Whether this is actually part of the body or that it is merely accessible by the body’s inner senses, it doesn’t much matter; but we are given a chance to enter into union with this locale. Such designations of “subconscious” or “unconscious” make us think and feel that access to the domain are hidden or somehow “not in view” of our normal conscious minds and requires a great amount of work, mystery, and thus distrust (and dare I say, suspicion?).

This is actually not the case.

It’s not that this inner consciousness is “sub” (meaning below or less-than), or even “un” (meaning “not,” as in “not- conscious” and hence inaccessible); rather, this inner ocean is just the “ignored consciousness.” It is flowing right there in full view, vigor, and splendor – we have just lost touch with acknowledging and honoring it. What’s worse, with the aforementioned designations, we are telling ourselves that it’s really not easily seen, heard, much less understood, so we build up beliefs which amount to barriers that need to be addressed and removed from the ego-mind before coming into its full embrace and receive its wisdom. Well, when you ignore something for so long, that happens …

As mentioned earlier, in the past few weeks I have focused on going deeper into this landscape. What I am discovering is that this inner environment is highly intelligent and detail oriented. That is, I am beginning to believe that it can communicate in finer detail than we do in normal consciousness – it’s not confined by the limitations of language. The work comes in taking time to learn its unique linguistics: the sights, sounds, symbols and feelings it utilizes in presenting information. And since it is holistic, it takes into account an infinite amount of variables that our normal conscious “up there” brain filters out.

This inner landscape is part and parcel of a pervading consciousness field that all life shares – meaning, it is the larger field of knowledge and information that is eternal and all-encompassing in nature. Our personalities burst from this field in the course of a lifetime, and unfortunately, we unwittingly lose sight of it and ignore it for modes of thinking in the “external” world, of which we forget were seeded and birthed from this field in the first place.

This is where information perceived as “psychic” resides. The term “psychic” is again a term that we as a species have created (obviously – we write our own language). At one point in our several hundred thousand year history, the abilities perceived as “mystical, psychic experiences” were a normal part of our everyday lives. We would not have grown out of the Stone Age without them, as they were used to foresee eminent dangers to individual and tribe; to “remote view” where the good hunting grounds were located; to communicate with deceased ancestors for wisdom and guidance. But eventually we turned away from acknowledging and utilizing this inner field and its information in lieu of defining the “out there” experience as being somehow separate and divisible from us, by virtue of its physical appearance and how, at times, it appears to come “at” us rather than “from” us. I guess this could be perceived as the Fall from Grace. Those who remained conscious of the “unconscious” could perceive events as being seeded and grown from this primal well of all creation, but as more and more people took to adopting a new way of thinking and relating to the outside world, the more the inner landscape lost its light, its luster, grew “out-of-focus” until it was finally relegated to being a “sub” portion of our being, instead of the very base of all we are and do. So now, when this inner portion is accessed and its typical information brought forth, it “appears” mysterious, miraculous, or somehow “not normal” (when in fact, it really should be), and hence we have applied the term “psychic” with all its other-worldly connotations.

Nevertheless, this inner landscape is a vital part of everyone. We just have to learn to look within, and upon that glance, dip our toe into the water and decide whether or not we really wish to remain upon the shore or dive in and swim.

‘til next time!