I have read that patients hear everything that is said or felt in the hospital room even when sedated or unconscious. Anita Moorjani writes of watching and hearing the doctors and nurses and her family members from “above” and seeing the connections between everything as she went through a near-death experience. I have always believed this to be true. Recently, I had my own experience of something similar, though not at the edge of death. I was sedated for a breast cancer operation, and as I came out of sedation after surgery, I had the vivid experience of writing a very detailed letter describing how extraordinarily kind everyone was in the operating and recovery rooms. I lay there feeling it all intensely as I slowly returned to conscious awareness within the “real world.” But I ask you, “What is real here?” There was no doubt in my fully conscious mind that I was remembering what I experienced during surgery and immediately after. I had felt surrounded by Bodhisattvas.*

“In order for me to become a vessel, to be used, I had to have my attachments broken. You can’t be a true vessel if you’re attached. You have to be emptied out.”—Julia Butterfly Hill

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The idea of becoming a vessel, or conduit, for selfless love to flow through you into the world is part of many spiritual teachings. To be of service in this way can become one of the highest aspirations for those on a deeply committed spiritual path. Julia Butterfly Hill, who spent two years living in the branches of a 1500-year-old redwood tree to prevent it from being cut down, has described her own preparation for this dedicated act of service. She let go of all physical attachments in terms of possessions, but then Mother Nature emptied her of everything else in a fierce wind/rain storm that brought her face to face with the possibility of her own death. She was “emptied out” for the task ahead.

As spiritual souls having a human experience, our Divine purpose on earth is to actualize into the best version of ourselves. We do this through service to others. 

Even if you don’t consider yourself a healer, we are all here to support the world’s healing. We do so by focusing on our own alignment. When we personally are aligned with the Universe, we are bringing more harmony to the world and helping to heal the collective whole. 

Compassion refers to the desire to reduce the suffering of others, and we are acting to benefit others consciously. Just as healing the world begins with healing ourselves, compassion for others is easier when we also have compassion for ourselves. We are inextricable from the whole! 

The other day, I was on one of my rare excursions outside our home at the local grocery store. I was there with my basket of gluten-free bread, eggs, milk (okay, fine, I had a few gluten-free chocolate chip cookies in there, too!). Above the checkout area was a large, handwritten sign lettered in Sharpie that said:

“Please be kind to the staff. They are here to serve you during these trying times.”

At first, I thought, “How nice!” After all, I adore and appreciate any intentional reminder for kindness and love. 

But then it occurred to me that something must have happened to require someone to take the time to write the sign and put it up. Actually, something must have happened more than once. 

How many customers had snapped at the cashiers over the past 12 months? (I actually asked the cashier and she told me a few nasty stories!) 

How many people had sworn at the stock clerks because there was no toilet paper left on the shelves? 

How many complaints, angry voices, and frustrations had been taken out on others?

And suddenly, that sweet sign made me sad because of the hurt and suffering that was behind its creation.  

Building relationship and communion with Source

No one can deny that there are a lot of challenging things going on in the world right now. 

Here in the United States, unprecedented wildfires are spreading so quickly that containment seems out of reach. Racial unrest and political tensions show no sign of diminishing. Across the globe, coronavirus cases continue to spike while explosions, collapsing mines, earthquakes, and monsoon rains are overpowering our human desire for stability and safety.

It’s no wonder that a lot of people feel at a loss as to what they can do to help or make a difference. But there’s always some way we can assist another or nurture our planet, and when we decide to offer ourselves in service, it’s always a blessing, never a sacrifice.

We are all here to play our part!

Last week I wrote to you about how the choice we make to be in true, conscious Relationship with the Divine manifests not only as a covenant with the One Presence, but also with one another. 

I also talked about how being in conscious Relationship inspires a decision to be in service to all of life—including other people, nature, our planet, and our own Divine Self. 

Ever since I put those words to paper (so to speak), I’ve wondered about the people in our community, and in the world, who aren’t yet sure what that broader view of service looks like.

They may sometimes feel uplifted and inspired…

They may have experienced an inkling of personal transformation…

They may even have developed a mental strategy of what they might do.

But do they have the willingness to go from a deep feeling of Relationship and a personal plan for change into a mature and disciplined life of consistent asking, receiving, and giving?

So many of us have dived really deep to discover our connection to God, to examine our self-defeating patterns and to anchor into a co-creative partnership with life. And, it’s worked! There have been ahas, some real and tangible shifts and openings have taken place—heck, your life might look very different than it did when you first embarked upon this journey of self-realization.

And yet. (I’m sensing the heads nodding already.) Despite all the work you’ve done, all you’ve learned, you still struggle. You struggle with your finances. In relationships. To make impact.

Maybe you didn’t expect rainbows and kittens and sunshine every moment, but, c’mon, really? To still have to be dealing with [fill in the blank] (debt, insecurity, a soul-deadening job, one more failed relationship)?

Oh, I’ve been there, brother (or sister). And here’s what God told me: It’s not about you.

How can we stay open to both the suffering and the joy of life?

You and I are in training to be free. We’re in training to be so present, so spacious, so embracing, we’re in training to not look away, deny or close our hearts when we can’t bear something. The statement, “I can’t bear it,” is what burns you out in social action. When you’re in the presence of suffering and contracting, it’s the contraction that starves you to death.

When you close your heart down to protect yourself from suffering, you also close yourself off from being fed by that same life situation.

If you can stay open to both the suffering and the joys and the stuff of life, all of it, then it’s like a living spirit. It just connects to your living spirit and there’s a tremendous feeding going on.

Why is karma yoga an important vehicle for conscious awakening?

In the simplest sense, you could say that Karma Yoga is using your karma as a way of coming into ‘yog’, or union with God, by using the “stuff” of your life. Using it as the way in which you do work in the world, and acknowledging whether or not that work in the world is a vehicle for spiritual awakening.

In books like the Bhagavad Gita, Karma Yoga is specified as Krishna saying to Arjuna, “Do what you do, but offer the fruits of it to me” …. That’s what karma yoga is.

What is the ultimate act of compassion?

A conversation on compassion with Ram Dass & Raghu Markus

Raghu Markus: Can you talk about how we go about cultivating compassion so that we start to become more kind to ourselves and to others?

Ram Dass: We’ve lived our lives with negative images of ourselves, from childhood on, and we’ve built upon those images, and built upon them, and they became very heavy weights. These thoughts about us are a part of our ego, and they’re manifested through our roles of child or husband, wife, breadwinner, all of those roles. They’re built upon the thoughts of, “I’m not truthful” or “I’m not likable”, “I’m not good” – all of those negative images. Once you identify with your soul you start to taste the love in your true self, in your spiritual heart and it’s different than all of the loves you’ve ever had. It’s just different; it’s unconditional love.

Now you have the clarity and the vantage point of being able to see your incarnation through the perspective of the soul – it gives you a panoramic view of your incarnation. Only then can you develop compassion, first for yourself and then for others.

How can we begin to heal the world?

If we are to help heal the world, we need to remember that it is a sacred place.

Our actions need to be positive statements, reminders that even in the worst times there is a world worth struggling for. We need to find ways to keep the vision alive, to acknowledge but not get caught in the dark side. To remember that even the worst aspects of suffering are only part of the whole picture. We need to enter lightly.

Entering lightly means not ignoring suffering but treating it gently.

We don’t want to ignore another’s pain, but our becoming depressed or angry about it doesn’t relieve it and may increase it. The delicate balance is in allowing ourselves to feel the pain fully, to be sad or angry or hurt by it, but not be so weighted down by it that we are unable to act to relieve it. It is a matter of ends and means again: to create a caring, loving, peaceful world, we need to act with care and love and peace.

How does embodying our own truth facilitate freedom for all?

The question is about the balance between inner work (work on yourself) and outer work. I’ll tell you, each person has got to intuitively trust themselves about where they are and what they can handle. If you look at a lot of social activism, you will find many people who are deeply entrapped in righteousness and anger.

And they will guilt trip you continually for not doing more. And if you say, “I’m going to go home and meditate,” they look at you like you’re killing little children. You’ve got to have incredible strength, and you feel like some kind of a viper for saying, “I’m going to take the afternoon off to go swimming.” I was in New York working with the homeless. And I’m so good. I am so good. Seva is good and I’m good. And we do good things. And it’s all wonderful.

The Answer to Dying

The answer to dying is to be present in the moment. And the way in which you die is by being conscious at the moment of dying and saying, ‘Right! Look at this! Far out! Look at this energy!’

Be fully conscious now. People say to me ‘Is this the Aquarian Age do you think? Do you think the Apocalypse is about to occur? Are we in the dark as part of the Kali Yuga? What do you think?’ And I say ‘I have no idea!’ ‘Are the dark forces going to win? Is somebody going to push the button? Have you noticed that as you go around the world the tremendous resurgence of the living spirit?’ All I say is that as I get higher I notice highness every where I look, but that’s just my projective system I don’t know what’s going on out there. But the further point it that I don’t care, that’s my predicament. I’m not waiting for the Messiah, I don’t care whether there’s an avatar or if there isn’t an avatar.