Lead Dust to Light

We have found each other to heal each other, by holding each other, accountable, for who and what we really are.  The lease, the lies, the Health Department Investigation, is simply to invite us to move beyond the constraints of polite conversation into the deep expression of the blockage, that causes us to though these motions again and again.

 It has long seemed that there is a teacher in all experience who positions obstacles in away that challenges awareness to rise beyond the limitations of logic and belief. While "mind" tends to draw logical, linear connections between things, looking constantly for external confirmation, there is an intelligence manifest as intuitive knowing, non-linear, the wisdom of experience, which often resides beyond the grasp of language, and cognizance.

In August as I found out that my kids had lead poisoning from interior and exterior un-contained lead at our apartment in North Minneapolis, I was filled with a mixed understanding.  My logical mind was quick to judge the landlords who illegally stripped lead paint from the exterior in August while our windows were open, despite having their upstairs tenant's son, in the same house, poisoned by lead 9 months prior.  Looking through this lens I would become filled with overwhelming rage and sense of being right.  I would observe as my body tightened and fight or flight hormones rushed through my veins.  Watching these emotions though, part of me remembered with a deep experiential understanding that no, in reality "it is what it is".

The the effect of a dual-awareness of the instant resulted in a sense of bi-location.  On the surface, is the known world, the world that we have agreed to call "reality".  Singing through the molecules, of the material world, though, overlaps an alternate dimension, where everything is symbolic, each molecule a portal into that without beginning or end.  An light/sound frequency I can only describe as "energetic" that dissolves mind and time.  A language of relationships, expressed through archetypes, the feeling of a patient and motherly elder, urging me to heal the cycling of this timeless relationship once and for all.  This instant is a chance to be free from a karmic cycle, which has lasted many many lifetimes.   To resolve the conversation, the belief, in which there is an element called lead, which has the capacity to poison, or that there is an other who through greed and injustice could be at fault, making victims of the innocent.

We have found each other to heal each other, by holding each other, accountable, for who and what we really are.  The lease, the lies, the Health Department Investigation, is simply to invite us to move beyond the constraints of polite conversation into the deep expression of the blockage, that causes us to though these motions again and again.

Lead Dust to Light is music I put together about sitting on the bench at North Commons, listening for the Nada (a cosmic dialtone) while my kids run and play on the play ground.   It sings of the feeling of ancient teachers who have opened my eyes, usually taking the form of neighbors and little kids. Lead is something so physical, an element... something "real".  Lead is a word.  It describes something, I can't see, but whose karmic effect, as patterns, as ripples echoes through the practical details of my daily life.  Lead is Light, concentrated, till it falls to the floor as dust, as alchemist of my own destiny my work here is to remember that we are not separate, nor have we ever been, but both the same song since beyond time forever.  We have found each other to reveal each other, by holding each other accountable for who and what we really are.

Lead Dust to Light : Prakṛti Prayer

So here's the deal... Last January we moved into into a house on North Girard with chipped lead paint covering the exterior... The landlords assured us that they had taken the highest precaution on the interior, and tested extensively and found zero lead.  Because the the unit was beautifully finished on the inside, 14 foot ceilings and a beautiful kitchen (and the only thing we could find at the time) we signed a year lease. 

Fast forward 8 months, my kids lead tests come back high on their physical for school.  My 1 year old son at level 16 (you want levels under 5). 

So for the last week we've been staying in my parents basement and waiting for the city to confirm that their is lead on the premise so we can move.

So many transformations, so much upheaval for our family in the last 5 years has experientially  etched in my mind that home is where my family is, not tied to anyone physical location.  I am so grateful for the countless ways that we have been blessed, and send out a prayer of love for all families dealing with living conditions that compromise their health or ability to fully serve.

We have the kids on a daily regimen of:

1. Zeolite
2. Chlorella
3. Creeping Charlie
4. Cilantro juice.

As ever the practice remains to experience this as it is, unshackled by the filters of my preference and or distinction.

In a recurring vision I see neon blue veins, like roots that feed everything and everyone animating consciousness.  These veins exist, not physically, but behind the curtain of the senses, the nourishing love of the divine mother Prakṛti present in everything and everyone.  She is ferocious in her divinity, singing even through lead paint dust and times the times which challenge our practice and wisdom.

Oh Divine Mother, destroy my resistance and preference that I be open the unfathomable expanse of your love. 

May I feel your presence in all things and everyone, even the dust my children breath.

May all beings everywhere be happy and free.

Namaste

He Shou Wu

He Shou Wu Zhi is the medicine made of the much revered root of Polygonum Multiflorum.  Tonic in nature it nourishes vital essence, or what in Chinese Medicine is called Jing, or in Ayurveda Ojas.

While it is true that most people don't know what to do with, and waste the energy that they have, for one with some ability to direct their energy this herb presents some interesting possibilities.

He Shou Wu is famed for its ability to restore prematurely grey hair to its original color.  While I personally have not experienced this, it seems the energy this herb cultivates could easily be directed in such a direction.

He Shou Wu is a long term energy builder.  This means you will not experience immediate energy in like from taking a stimulant, but over time, the energy this herb cultivates can become almost uncontainable.  If you are not established in, it is not necessarily recommended.  If you have though mastered sublimation of energy, then this herb is useful in providing more energy.

The story goes that sterile and weak old alchoholic named Mr. He who began consuming the root daily after having a dream about it.  He then fathered many children and lived to be over a hundred years old with a full head of black hair.  This effectively illustrates the nourishing effects of He Shou Wu.

He Shou Wu is a structural tonic strengthening to low back and knees, joints and tendons.  It is a sexual tonic to both men and women and increases production and quality of sperm and vitality of ova.    He Shou Wu has an anti-inflamatory effect on the liver, and is both nourishing and cleansing to the blood.  He Shou Wu is supportive of the immune system.

After taking it almost daily for 6 months with little noticeable effect, I one day began to notice an energizing effect.  It could be that this quality was there all along, but at this time I became tuned to it and since recognize the subtle yet powerful effect of He Shou Wu in my body.  This is manifest as higher sexual and spiritual frequency and is harmonic with the cycles of the moon.  While this was at first disruptive, I have been able to incorporate this energy into my practice of yoga, meditation and life.

I have also begun to associate this herb with an ability to change undesirable habits.  It seems in some people to motivate them, or give them a certain energy to reassess negative patterns.  It seems to nourish us in a way that directs our energy and attention to who we authentically are.

It has crossed my mind that perhaps some of the energizing affect of this herb has to do with redirecting existing energy in a benevolent way.  What ever the mechanism, He Shou Wu is one of my favorite herbs and may be worthwhile for those with a serious practice, with at least some ability to direct their energy.

Linden Dreams 6.5.12

The smell is intoxicating, the flowers syrupy sticky, almost resinous.
This morning up early, 5:00 am yoga, the sun already coming up across the river.  Because its warm I got to the river to practice. This place has a stone stage, with giant concrete steps leading both down to the river and up to a surrounding boardwalk on which grow many trees.  I've practiced here many times, but never noticed that the walk 6 feet above is an orchard of Tilia.  They are all singing in full flower.

In the early morning light the concrete monolithic forms an ancient temple, Golden Linden Blossoms hang in clusters like a haiku.

Overlapping spirit time, eternal instant echoing infinitely inwards, the limitless speaks full body lucid dream.

As the sun rises higher the her nectar is activated and waves of aromatic yellow essence animate my meditation.

After shavasana I collect flowers for tincture, tea, flower essence and eat them as I pick.  Small yellowish insects with translucent dragonfly wings drop from the glowing clusters onto my arms, big alien eyes of ascended insect masters.

I am grateful beyond words for such a sweet and melodic embrace.

When the Lindens were in bloom, after a long journey, having touched so many lives, my Teacher sat down on a bench. For the last time.  And with lightness and speed lifted in to the arms of the ancestors, from who he'd never been separate, but honored through unbound giving and humor.  His voice echoed of wisdom and suffering of many his teachers, a "tower of grace".

And to me he had given the gift of fearing no man.

He taught us without our knowing. Loyalty, and the art of invisibility.  Those of us who attended his school of unconditional joy and realness, will never forget to our self worth and to see the highest potential in others.  Generosity and forgiveness, more than a few of us felt he was like a father.

So respect to Real in all things, a dedication to wise.  And those who walk their talk, and have the strength to live fearlessly from the heart...

I'm so grateful to have known you. I love you Kevin

Rest in Gods Embrace Always!

Reishi Dreams

For a while I've suspected that the powdered hot water extractions, though they embody the liver protective and immune activating aspects of Reishi, were not as SHEN (consciousness) active as tea or tincture.  I take this back.

Dreamed last night I was running through a dark forest, bare feet wet with the dew.  My teacher and I harvesting giant red, glowing, laughing Reishis in the night around us.  What Bounty.

This mornings simple Recipe.

2 cups almond milk
1 heaping tablespoon Reishi 10:1 extract
1 spoonful honey

Shen is actived!

Protection 3: Intention Vectors

Intention:  The vector from you to what you are creating.

For example.  If you want an object, your intention is a vector that leads through time to you having the object.

Yoga: The vector that leads directly to the highest intention, Ishvara ईश्वर, the Supreme.   Total liberation, that all beings everywhere might be happy and Free.

It sounds pretty enough to put on a Hallmark card, but don't be fooled that this intention is anything other than a martial practice of Self defense.

For the practitioner many perils surround, things that distract you from your connection to Self, distractions from the vector of highest intention.

We can become distracted from our intention and spend weeks, or years, or lifetimes not remembering who we are and where we are going.

This happens.  I'm not making this up.

Until the fine day we release all false paradigm, there is the the possibility of awareness becoming dispersed in an unskillful way, trapped in attachments.... drawn away from the vector of your intention.


The Crowded Market

Its like if you've ever been a stranger walking through the medina in Tangier or some similar place.  As I walk many voices urge me this way and that.
"My Friend,My Friend"
"Over Here"
"Come here, look at this"
"Please, My Friend"
When I become confused by many vectors of intention shooting every direction around me like a laser light show, an arm appears to "Help me", and maybe another pulls from the other side.

Moments like this exist and in more subtle form too.

The Hustle

A good hustler can make you forget what your intention is in a situation.  He convinces you that his intention is your intention.

A hustler tries to draw your awareness away from what you want to create, in order to procure desired energy, an object, or outcome.  A skillful hustler plays your desires, fears, or need to stay within the bounds of some perceived paradigm, to guide you along the path he chooses.

In the larger crowded market of life this takes on an even more insidious form.  Many entities want your energy.  They will hustle you to get it.  They try to sell you something, be it a product, a belief system or an entire worldview.  Are you aware that you have been conditioned to see the work as a limited scope of possibility?  Are you aware that someone "profits" from this?

Our awareness sings as a frequency and and resonates with harmonic frequencies around us.  This leads to the "appearance" that the world is the way we "think" it is, or what in yoga is called Avidya. 


Ishvara Pranidhana

Lost in the dream of many intentions and the illusion of what I think, how do I remember who I am and where I am going?

In Yoga this practice is called Ishvara Pranidhana.  Being the expression of your Self (capital S).  Being unbound by the desires of the ego, personality and what we think, in order that thought word and deed are the will of your Supreme Self.  When practiced, this "Surrender to the Supreme" works as a portal which appears even in the dream of the crowded market, through which you are connected to the the Highest intention of who you are, Right Now.

Ishvara Pranidhana is very powerful and can even penetrate the spell of powerful emotions like rage.  That even in the midst of a explosion of temper, you may realize that you are connected to who you are, and may find that you are observing the dramatic roller coaster ride of body, mind, ego, personality etc. from a place of stillness.

Ishvara Pranidhana is the mental emotional expression of the inward upward current which right now welcomes every aspect of who and what you are to be more aligned with the intention of the Supreme Self.