PranaBeing blog: Woah, Dude!

We live in a fractal universe. This means that everything is encased within everything. The intelligence within a piece of DNA is reflected in the cell, and again in the tissue, in the organ, in the system, in the organism…and so on, out into the galaxy and beyond.

Ancient yogis explained it like this:

Yatha pinde tatha brahmande, yatha brahmande tatha pinde. - Yajurveda

As in the microcosm; so is the macrocosm; as is the macrocosm, so is the microcosm.

Nearly every aspect of our existence is unfathomably deep. We can “drill down” into something as simple as the breath and enter worlds of complexity and revelation.

We can step into a fresh start at the dawning of day…and just as readily claim a fresh start in each new moment, if we but know how to scale our attention.

Fractals are dynamics allowing for infinite complexity, displaying the splendid creativity of Life. My Teacher once told me, “If you want to know Nature, look within your own body.”

The same truth applies: if you want to know your Self, immerse in the experience of Nature.

Likewise, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Why is this necessary?

Because, you are the world. When I say, “Wake up to who you truly are” I am inviting you to embark upon a fractal journey of discovery.

One place to begin this journey is by considering that you—every last fleck of DNA, every thought, emotion, every action you have taken and will ever take—ripples out into the whole. You are a unique and irreplaceable part of All That Is.

As a human being, equipped with the potential to be self-aware, you are literally at the center of the known universe, in this moment, as you are experiencing it.

If everything I have just written about is a fool’s fantasy (which is somewhat likely, knowing me) - it may or may not change your life too much.

On the other hand, what if this is true?

Please start at the top of this post and read it again, as if every statement were speaking directly to you, about you.

Do you want to know who you are?

If so, what is your next step?

PranaBeing blog: Being Right

We emphasize fact-finding and pride ourselves on being right. We want to eradicate what is wrong. We are so annoyed when people with views totally opposed to our own share the same zeal for rightness as we do—and they have their own arsenal of facts to prove it!

We hustle to align ourselves with the right people/decisions as we distance ourselves from the wrong ones. And when we are made to look wrong or feel wrong, we despair.

We swim in a sea of human-generated facts and information that grows exponentially by the moment. We frantically scramble to gather more facts—to “educate” ourselves—as if to build an unequivocal shelter. Yet at any time, what was right can become wrong and our house of cards comes tumbling down. We become alienated and confused. We forget that all this is mind-made stuff.

The truth remains simple, timeless, and unfathomable.

So far as human history can tell, right never vanquishes wrong; they co-exist, bound together like day to night.

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other” doesn't make any sense. - Jalaluddin Rumi

Consider that there is a way to BE right.

Consider that there is a part of you that is rooted in deep knowing of what is right, good, and true. Hint: it is not competing with the many other voices clamoring for attention. This is a vast, quiet presence. Like an ancient, giant tree, this part represents steady wisdom. It does not cower; it has no need to defend itself, justify, or prove. It is connected to truth just as the tree is connected through mycelium to the whole forest and beyond. It knows what is right by feel.

Instead of looking outward to make the determination, instead of contrasting right against wrong in search of clarity, the access to this way of being is through tapping into your roots, listening… going deeper…tapping in…listening…refining…

How do we tap in?

Start by learning how to turn your attention inward and relax. When we reconnect with ourselves, we find the path toward freedom. If you want to explore this, visit PranaBeing on InsightTimer (it’s free) and start practicing.

Would you rather be happy or would you rather be right?

Yes.

PranaBeing blog: The Great River

The goal of Ayurveda is to support human beings in living a healthy, peaceful, harmonious, and long life. Ayurveda mentions the normal human life span at more than 100 years. Longevity is as much about quality as length of life.

The image used to help us understand longevity is that of a river.

The river begins high in the mountains, fed by snows and springs. As it descends, it gathers water and gains speed…trickling, gurgling, rushing… eventually roaring. Where the banks are narrow and the bed is shallow, the water forms a torrent, tumbling toward its inexorable destiny, at last discharging into an even larger river.

These Great Mothers, the lifelines of the Earth, guide all the smaller rivers to their ultimate merger in the sea. Roiling whitewater is thrilling to behold. Yet the silent power of a Great River is awe-inspiring. The banks are wide; the bed carved deep. An unfathomable amount of water is moving in that channel, sliding almost soundlessly. I experienced this on the banks of the Columbia. Camping near Castledale, British Columbia, I was enthralled by her palpable presence: the embodiment of gravity in motion, a stunning magnitude of energy. I’ve experienced several other powerful rivers, but the sheer volume and depth of the Columbia at this place was mesmerizing. I’ve never seen so much water, moving so quickly and silently.

Ayurveda teaches that longevity is like this Great River.

At the beginning, the river’s inputs are greater than the output. As it grows into a dynamic stream, smashing against narrow banks, its output is greater than input. When the river becomes a Great River, its capacity to receive is balanced by the energy it flows out, and this balance creates exponentially more power and strength.

True, lasting health and longevity have to do with balancing our inputs and outputs and expanding our capacity to allow life to flow through us.

As a highly trained over-achiever, I’ve found this concept to be challenging to consider. Yet I have lived long enough now to see the tendency toward a raging torrent in myself, and to understand the consequences of time spent where outputs > inputs.

My opinion is that we stand to benefit tremendously by considering a paradigm that empowers us to become conscious of the quality and balance of both inputs and outputs. I’d love to see this replace the obsolete norm our world is suffering from, where inputs are largely ignored, outputs are denied and justified, disease is expected—written off as “normal aging”—and we continue to look outside ourselves for a solution.

Let’s come back to the deeper wisdom throbbing in our blood and all the sacred waters of our body: the song of the Great River and her dance of dynamic balance.