When I was little, I had this little colorful Buddha statue.
It wasn’t a statue of the serene sitting Buddha, but rather a Buddha statue of what’s generally considered “the laughing Buddha,” usually represented as a fat laughing man standing up with his arms stretching towards the sky.
I used to delightfully glance at him every time I passed by, and his presence always put a smile on my face. Like many others in the West, I grew up with limited concepts around Buddhism and my understanding of Buddhism could have remained as a delightful jet superficial appreciation for a fat man with his arms in the air putting a smile to my face.
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Despite all my initial misconceptions, I continued to be interested in Buddhism growing up, until one day, I went to a dharma center and started my journey of meditation and sutra recitations. I stopped learning from the collective misconceptions of the Western consciousness and began learning from real practitioners.
Whether Buddhist, a collector of universal wisdom, or just someone interested in finding practical ways to improve your life, the power of coming together in the name of Dharma is unbeatable.
I have started offering more ways for us to come together online by presenting live online classes with potentially transformative pieces of Buddhist wisdom and guided meditations which we all can benefit from. Subscribe to the Sky Dancer World Newsletter to not miss out.
Stay tuned.
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Enlightenment is sprung out of our willingness to consider what is broken, painful, and tragic as precious. Our broken, painful, and tragic stories are the heart of the matter —’no mud, no lotus’ asVen.Thich Nhat Hanh has said, and ‘there is a crack in everything – that is how the light gets in,’ as the composer and former Buddhist monk Leonard Cohan has stated.
In the moment of an ongoing planetary crisis, it’s hard to imagine the world being any other way than a place of chaos, collapse, and tragedy. Even with cures and prevention methods against threatening diseases and economic catastrophe, our old friend Fear knocks fervently on our door and says, “resistance is futile. I’ll hold you hostage.“
However, nothing lasts, and all is possible. Nothing lasts, and all is possible. Nothing lasts, and all is possible.
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Who would have thought in old Tibet that His Holiness the Dalai Lama would sit in a digitally streamed conference calling a Swedish teenager a leader in the context of planetary climate change? Or that a “help me Obi-wan Kenobi” hologram in your car’s front window would guide your vehicle to the next destination while your Grandpa is on load speaker from a skyrocket heading towards the new settlement on Mars.
That’s way out there.
Sounds like fiction to me. Jet, here we are.
Everything changes and everything is possible.
What we thought was impossible or mere fantasies thirty, forty years ago is now a true and living reality.
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Basic Buddhism started beyond the intrinsic rituals and architecturally advanced temple buildings like the ones that came later. In the early days of Buddhism, there was a simplicity permeating its existing core values.
The followers of Lord Buddha focused on a nomadic lifestyle, community building, and leading a middle way sort of life, avoiding falling into extremes. Nor the extreme of over-consumerism or an ascetic lifestyle where you own nothing and only eat what happens to fall from the trees. Neither of these extremes was encouraged. Instead, everyone who had realized the inescapable predicament of basic goodness, ethical conduct leading to a good night’s sleep, and peace of mind was in the forefront.
Buddhism was, and is, a practical philosophy that right from the beginning taught its followers to embody and live its teachings. Its practitioners did not merely gather around interesting philosophical discussions and settled with writing a book about it. Buddhism was never meant to be kept as an interesting discussion over a cup of tea, in a lecture hall, or a Dharma center. Nor as scholarly debates permeated by competitive pride leading to a Ph.D.
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The fundamental core of Buddhism is soaked in the preciousness of embodying an authentic path of transformation through living its’ value grounds.
Live it. Become it. Be it.
Buddhism is a practical philosophy, and we need to apply its wise basic goodness to embody that sustainable transformation we are longing for. The peace, the stillness, the bliss is already residing here. At this moment. No need to look outside. And yes, it’s not an easy path, then again – what is?
Everything is possible, and nothing will last. That’s our chance!
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As we are in the midst of a world of historical change, we can choose what we want to fill our potential future with. You don’t have to believe anything to get something out of Buddhism; you are invited to dive in and live it right now.
Be kind, be generous, develop patience. What matters is not what you believe or even what you experience in your formal meditation and sadhana practice. Choosing a sustainable way that is of benefit to you and all starts in the mind by implementing, that’s right, basic goodness. The historical Buddha portrayed that as the eightfold path consisting of:
right view right thinking right speech right conduct right livelihood right effort right mindfulness right samadhi
Please don’t take my word for it. Try it out yourself. ‘O bhikshus and wise men, just as a goldsmith would test his gold by burning, cutting, and rubbing it, so you must examine my words and accept them, but not merely out of reverence for me.‘ The Buddha – ghanavyuha sutra (Sutra of Dense Array)
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No Sila (ethical conduct) No Samadhi (blissful peace)
A curious mind analyses where the beep we came from, where we are going and how we impact others. To implement an emphasis on ethical conduct doesn’t make much sense as long as we disregard our interconnectedness. Threatening diseases and tsunamis do not stop at a human-made border and show its passport before proceeding. Neither does crops, drinking water and fresh air remain an exclusive limited edition in a shopping window unless we allow it. No matter how hard the winds of separation blow – we are stuck with the fact that we are in this together.
We are now standing before a crossroads where we mindlessly can sleepwalk down one lane and see where it will end up, while some humans settle on Mars, or we can mindfully choose to use this time of significant change to consciously create a society that is far better than what we have today!
The heart of the matter to succeed is to make ethical conduct to heart and embody it today.
Stop waiting for perfect. Just begin.
Be kind. Be generous. Set your boundaries out of self-compassion – while practicing radical acceptance, delight at the moment, and be patient with others.
Blessed be, Chimey
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A young girl in the village was pregnant. Her angry parents demanded to know who the father was. At first, there was a resistance to confess. Eventually, the anxious and embarrassed girl finally pointed to Hakuin, the Zen master whom everyone previously revered for living such a pure life. When the outraged parents confronted Hakuin with their daughter’s accusation, he simply replied, “Is that so?“
When the child was born, the parents brought it to the Hakuin, who now was viewed as a pariah by the whole village. They demanded that he take care of the child since it was his responsibility. “Is that so?” Hakuin said calmly as he accepted the child.
For many months he took excellent care of the child until the daughter could no longer withstand the lie she had told. She confessed that the birth father was a young man in the village whom she had tried to protect. The parents immediately went to Hakuin to see if he would return the baby. With profuse apologies, they explained what had happened. “Is that so?” Hakuin said as he handed them the child.
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We all have responsibilities. Sometimes others create them for us.
We then have a choice to accept these responsibilities or create an opposition. The Zen master in this story sees the greater good in carrying the responsibilities that he did not ask for and chooses that option rather than to oppose it.
“Is that so?” is both a passive challenge to the accusers and an invitation to look more deeply into the matter. The Master wisely declines to force the issue, accepts the minor injustice, and getting his reputation dragged in the dirt while avoiding greater disharmony. It’s a wise choice. Only a Master Mind could respond with such calm equality and radical acceptance to both accusation and apologies like these.
By doing so, he teaches the villagers that it’s possible to achieve complete acceptance of every person, situation, and emotion. Accusers or not. The Zen Master had no fear of being unjustly labeled since he had gone beyond the idea of an ego to defend. He received the child with utter care and later gave it up with the same peace of mind when asked to do so. He was beyond attachment to anything and anyone jet capable of acting from a place of love, peace, and compassion in any given situation.
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The Master in the story thereby taught the village accusers that perception is a relative phenomenon. They were given a chance to understand that truth simply is what it is despite how anyone labels it. Since any public criticism is a means for those who do not know themselves well enough to point a finger towards others, they, at the same time, mindlessly points three fingers back at themselves.
Of course, we are all free to tell the mountain that it is too high, the road that it winds too much, and the ocean that it is too wet. But will that change the height of the mountain, the curves of the road, and the wetness of the ocean?
Even a large boulder can not stop a river. Its resistance only marks its demise.
Blessed be,
Chimey
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So, what is wrong with translating Sati as Mindfulness? Well, part of the early translations suggests that it has to do with remembering.
So, what exactly are we supposed to remember?
‘Sati‘ – is the seventh acre of the Buddhist wheel called ‘the eightfold path.’ And in its completeness, the eightfold path includes Right view, right motivation, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. With ‘Sati’ meaning: Remembering the now.
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Remembering that which is experienced through the five senses at this moment.
In many modern contexts, ‘Sati’ has been derived from its rightful place as ONE of eight acres in the eightfold path. A wheel that together drives the path of liberation forward.
In the recent days of secular systems of Mindfulness, ‘Sati’s’ original place is not even known to most of us. A lot has also been lost in translation. By now, only a fraction of the connection is left with the original Buddhist path.
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Part of the similarity in these practices is the awareness method of purposely bringing one’s attention to the present moment and doing so without judgment. However, it takes more than just being aware to apply the full power of the practice of ‘Sati’, a skill we can develop through meditation and post-meditation.
Whenever you see a form, hear a sound, use ‘Sati’ or “remembering” to take a mental note or to be a witness of what is occurring at the moment without judging it as bad or good. We can draw our attention back to the body, our feelings, the mind, and the different phenomenon around us to take advantage of this practice in the ongoing moment.
While doing so, the practice will become complete when we apply the right motivation, right view, right effort, etc so that the use of ‘Sati’ includes a broader meaning then simply being aware of the present moment.
As we do so, we include an attitude of equanimity based on the understanding of no-self, no other. A mindset that neither favors nor opposes the object of which we are aware. This attitude is applied to all our experiences, whether that is an experience of the body, feelings, mind, or phenomena.
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To consciously practice ‘Sati’ in our daily lives, it’s very beneficial to turn to our natural breath as our meditation object. By doing so in conjunction with an attitude of equanimity, we enhance the part of the mind that is aware of the way things are.
This will also help us to arrive at radical acceptance rather than getting lost in how we would like things to be. Arriving at the point of radical acceptance will allow us to let go of our opinions and wants around our experiences and thereby arrive at a more peaceful place within.
As someone wise has said,” If we could stop wishing for what we don’t have and be content with what we have, we would be happy right this instance!”
It is healthy to heighten our sense of awareness and be mindful, AND it’s even more beneficial to do so with an attitude of equanimity. Hence, a change of our way of behaving occurs following our insights derived from incorporating the complete eightfold path. And much more so then detaching one of the acres from the wheel of the path to liberation and leaving the rest behind.
Don’t leave the attitude of equanimity at the doorstep of Mindfulness and allow your practice of ‘Sati’ to fall flat on simply being mindful. Remember the now, apply the complete path and rest in acceptance through letting it be. As.It.Is.
Blessed be,
Chimey
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As ten thousand years of climate stability are ending, the call to develop inner stability has never been more apparent. Time is now, so let’s not waste it but move into action! By being many who can embody a trustworthy path of stability and compassion, we can help many others in our global community.
We have to emphasize the transformative role of unbiased compassion in responding to suffering, including ecological crisis, and make authentic meditation a priority. Our minds can only endure that much, and in a time of crisis, we need to stabilize our minds before the pain gets overwhelming.
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By caring for each other, the Earth, and life at large, through adopting methods that are proven to give outstanding results, we will never regret our choice to engage in specific meditation methods. No matter what is going on in our lives, we need to expand our natural compassion and make our circles of care larger without delay.
Already back in In 2016, I was called to the ISSREC climate conference in Spain by a professor in Geology. Together with scientists and representatives from other religions, we wrote a declaration to our world leaders to address the climate crisis.
The Pope Francis Encyclical Laudato si inspired this declaration and is open to everyone that recognizes the urgency of environmental impact on our planet and appreciates the need to promote greater cooperation between the sciences and major religious and spiritual traditions towards solving these problems.
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According to a Swedish Newspaper (Dagens Nyheter), we now have six (6) years and two hundred and fifty (250) days to end carbon dioxide emission to keep the Earth’s temperature from rising and so create an irreversible tipping point. Six years and two hundred and fifty days from the day this blog post is released. And counting…
This is not a time to hide in denial, give up or stop caring. This is a time to wake up and care even more.
Since we are deeply interconnected with others and the environment, we are caring for ourselves through caring for others and the Earth. For instance, we can not become nature. We are nature. The future generations that we are encouraged to care for are no one else but us – returning.
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Therefore I’m offering the T.M.I.C.P. – The Triyana Meditation Instructor Certification Program. A continuing education for professionals in the healing community. A means to dive deeper into our spiritual journey and take responsibility for sustainable ways of stabilizing our minds so that we, in turn, can offer our students and clients the same. (Link at the end of this post.)
Take your responsibility, for this life and beyond, by committing to level up your ability to remain a stable force through engaging in meditation!
A lack of love can cause people to have no help when they need help, no friends when they need a friend. So, in a sense, the most dangerous thing in the world is apathy. We think of weapons, violence, warfare, disease as terrible dangers, and indeed they are, but we can take measures to avoid them. But once our apathy takes hold of us, we can no longer avoid it.
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By definition, empathy is the opposite of apathy. Empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. In contrast, apathy is defined as a lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern.
When we stop caring for each other, the earth, and life at large, we are in deep troubled waters. No matter what is going on in our lives, we need to hold on to every little straw of compassion that we can accumulate.
Plant the seeds of compassion in your life and water them with your tears of carrying until they blossom into a field of empathy.
Empathy is coming into play when our actions are based on our wise heart-mind understanding—being aware of, staying present, not shutting down, not lashing out—being sensitive to one’s own needs as well as others, sharing our resources wisely. Dare to deeply experience different feelings and thoughts from a place of radical acceptance. No two people think the same. So, by being willing never to give up and keep on growing, we can commit to doing better in our empathy cultivation.
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Since we are deeply interconnected with others and the environment, we are caring for ourselves through caring for others and the earth. For instance, we can not become nature. We are nature.
If that’s hard to relate to, think of the breath you are taking each moment. Where did the air come from? Who did you share it with? Where did your exhalation go? Why do you get thirsty? How much of your body is water? What’s the difference between the water in your body and that in the lake and rivers?
Reflecting on interdependence, both Buddhism and science agree that we all have an automatic built-in empathic response. We are born with and weird with this inbuilt system of deeply caring! This innate system becomes covered over by habitual tendencies based on ignorance and comes to obscure our natural kind-loving-caring response system.
So, while being aware of this inner Buddha that we all have, then why does empathy seem in such short supply? Well, the delusion of being a separate self, lonely and cut-off from the rest of the world, easily gives rise to self-centredness. This self-created state wherein aversion and attraction” I want/ I don’t want” hinders us from acting upon our natural inclination toward altruistic action.
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Be kind to others. Give, and you shall receive. Walk in other’s shoes because whatever you are feeling today, others feel too. Whatever needs you have to be happy and joyful; others wish for that too. As long as we can’t hug each other, at least look others in the eyes with lovingkindness. If this were a video blog, I would look at you with lovingkindness right now. We can all give each other that care.
Yes, genuine empathy hurts since it involves sharing the discomfort, pain, and distress of others. When setting out to strip ourselves from the apathetic tendencies that we have developed, we will reach the rawness of our innate compassion that genuinely hurts. And that’s a good thing. Why? Because that’s how you know it’s for real.
We are not talking about pity here. Not for ourselves or others. That is a very ego-centered standpoint. It’s coming from a place of looking down at” the poor others” and makes us feel superior. Developing compassion can be tricky since we are embarking on a discovery journey where we are about to learn when we are truly capable of equalizing ourselves with others and not. This embarrassing journey of detecting our ego-centeredness is based on the understanding that we are in this together and need each other. By engaging in this journey, we will arrive at the heart that knows.
Developing empathy is not a cute thing that solely some Buddhists engage in. It’s a means of survival as well as a way to living fully!
Blessed be,
Chimey
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Some people may be under the impression that Buddhists are far too serious to celebrate something like the full moon, but it couldn’t be further from the truth! As I’m writing this, a potent Buddhist observation date is coming up—namely, the full moon of March 28th.
Like all full moon days, as well as new moon days, this one is a cause for celebration in the name of your spiritual practice. Since the full moon is one of the most sacred times in the Buddhist calendar, let it inspire you to make this one and all moon days true holy-days for you. Whether you choose to focus on your meditation practice, offering a generous meal, or engage in a spring cleaning of your house in the name of purification, this is a good time to do so. Full moon days are potent times for focusing on formal practice such as calm abiding and sadhanas.
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The phases of the moon represent the path of death and birth, reflected in bodies of water, just as in the fertile female body. The 28 days of the moon cycle always invite us to the repetitive cycle of planting seeds of good wishes to reaching fullness and then of beginning over again.
To make use of a complete cycle, plant your good wishes on new moons and let the time of the full moon be the culmination of your wishes for manifesting a kinder world for all.
There is always a chance to start fresh with the new moon, just as forgiveness, manifesting, and letting go are supported by the full moon’s time.
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Siddharta Gautama, who later became known as the Buddha, was born on a full moon. His renunciation of a lifestyle in extreme abundance was on a full moon. He became enlightened on a full moon and finally left his human form under a full moon—all in the spirit of intention, completion, and manifestation.
Traditional Buddhist societies observe the lunar calendar instead of the solar calendar used in the west. This is true, with few exceptions, such as the western-made lunar-inspired We’Moon calendar.
One of my poems,” Redemption,” written in honor of my African and Native American ancestors, is in the print to be published in this legendary We’Moon calendar, the edition of 2022 called:” The Magical Dark!”
To have an inclusion of my work in this longstanding lunar calendar in collaboration with international women’s cultures is a true honor. The inclusion of my poem in the We’Moon calendar is a manifestation of my intentions. It is a complete cycle that has culminated into an expression in a true spirit of the full moon that I’m so excited to share with you! It will be available to order in a few months.
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Until then, to get some guided inspiration right off the bat to kick-off this full moon holy-day, find me on YouTube or Sound Cloud for guided meditations.
And if nothing else, allow this full moon to be a time for non-judging, patience, beginner’s mind, trust, non-striving, acceptance, and letting go. These attitudes support each other and are deeply interconnected. Practicing one will lead to the others.
Blessed be,
Chimey
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With a developed sense of renunciation, we realize that our usual reliance on pleasure prevents us from having complete happiness.
Our usual compulsive habits need to be worn out, and we don’t have much time to act on them anymore. The more we realize that satisfying our pleasures will never add up, the more we can let go of our expectations for sense pleasures to be the answer to happiness ever after.
Instead of getting too tight around what we want or don’t want, we can remind ourselves to let go of any circumstance and adopt an attitude of both enjoyment free of attachment and radical acceptance.
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Try out enjoying what you have and what is coming your way without constantly wishing things to be different. At the same time, don’t expect any lasting solutions from the tangible items you enjoy. Relax into your appreciation and remember that all pleasures are fleeting.
Set your site on a higher form of happiness than what temporarily satisfies the senses. Go beyond your current wants and needs of what the world has to offer.
When you look in the mirror, realize that you are not the reflection in the mirror. Mindfully observe your reflection for what it is. This should be enough to tell you that you are not what you see in the mirror.
Through letting go of identifying with the wrong thing, the sense world will lose its grip on us. Keeping this in mind, we don’t have to get lost in the pleasures of the world, nor claw into our ownership of precious objects or drain ourselves in misery over misplaced stocks on the stock market.
We do not need to spiral down when things don’t go our way. Instead, renounce the world in a healthy sense. Get your head out of the norm box and take some fresh breaths. Let go. Remember. This too is a fleeting moment.
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Instead of taking refuge in sensory objects to resolve our dissatisfaction, we place our reliance on our inner light and highest potential, knowing that we are beyond measurable, powerful, and capable.
A sincere spiritual path of renunciation often indicates an abandonment of the pursuit of all material comforts, such as a home, intimate relationships, jewelry and investments etc. Something that we associate with the life of a nun or a monk. So-called worldly renunciation. An act of letting go of that which binds us to the material world, done in the interest of achieving enlightenment.
Still, there have been spiritual adepts throughout history who have managed to renounce their attachment to the world of sensory pleasures and adopted a way of relying on their inner resources for happiness while remaining in a worldly lifestyle. Kings and Queens of great wealth have even successfully carried out this type of renunciation without abandoning their riches.
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Most broadly, renunciation can be understood as letting go of whatever binds us to ignorance and suffering. The Buddha taught that genuine renunciation requires thoroughly perceiving how we make ourselves unhappy by grasping and greediness. When we understand the suffering that comes with allowing our greedy minds to continue in an unhealthy way, renunciation naturally follows. It becomes a positive and liberating act, not a punishment.
What can you renounce today?
Can we learn to live with less and let go of attachment to having things in a certain way? What if a healthy sense of renunciation is more than going forth into the homeless life of a nun or a monk?
Our greed and grasping that we indulge in are intoxicants that dull our natural clarity, but if we work our mind, a way out of this miserable state will follow.
Greed is permeating our minds on a global scale and has done so for thousands of years. We are reaching out for illusory objects left and right, which are already in the decay process as we approach them. It is true that not everybody is set up for challenging themselves with being content with less. We might not be ready to live in a tiny house, eat oatmeal porridge for dinner, and watch the stars at night instead of buying a bigger home, overeating and watching digital screens as a source of joy and fulfillment.
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But in a rapidly changing world, we need to seriously contemplate our lifestyles and act on the insights we derive.
Since not even when we know that the world depends on us making a rapid u-turn in this regard do we seem to find enough motivation to override our ingrained habits of reaching out for new shiny objects: a car, a smartphone, a new house.
What does one little plastic container matter? Thinks billions of people…
Instead of habitually turning to fleeting sense pleasures as your source of refuge, set your site on a higher form of happiness. Go beyond your current wants and needs. Place your reliance in your inner light and highest potential whether you live as a royalty or a monastic, or someone in between. Rest assure that we are all beyond measurable, powerful, and capable of making that u-turn.
Blessed be, Chimey
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The Divine Feminine is getting loader in society today, but where are the leaders who dare to embody feminine wisdom claiming her equal status as the queen of existence? We need her traits to survive! So take them, adopt them, nurture them within you and hurray them on in others and society at large! If you do the future belongs to you.
We don’t have to look far to find these balancing qualities. These are traits that live naturally within us all. Qualities that have been beaten, neglected, and suppressed for thousands of years. Characteristics that are unstoppable ones their humble waiting posture have been thrown aside, and SHE starts to rise to the throne – like now.
Contrary to popular belief, feminine qualities are not limited to biological women. It has nothing to do with gender identity whatsoever.
As we move through these times of transition, we must get used to that labeling traits as masculine or feminine reflects popular perception rather than evidence-based fact.
Yes, qualities such as; Empathy, Emotional Intelligence, Community building, Intuition, Environmental Awareness, and Inclusiveness are traditionally identified with women, while qualities such as Courage, Independence, Assertiveness, Drive, Competitiveness, Protection, and Hierarchical structures are generally associated with men.
As of now, we are forced out of the gender-limiting box. We are collectively starting to explore our complete existence beyond the former gender box for the first time in millennia. Leaders who dare to embody feminine wisdom holds all of our collective future in their hands.
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Each and every individual, and most of all leaders of all traits, are waking up to what sought-after qualities needed in the world today look like. It’s those that are called feminine.
To produce excellent results for leaders of any gender, we need a healthy combination of all our qualities to not remain as it has been up until now with divided quality sectors. Superior leadership is born when all our traits are applied beyond historical restrictions and false claims of one heap of qualities being better than the other.
Being sensitive to others’ thoughts and feelings, acknowledging others’ know-how, and not being afraid to ask for help, prioritizing community-building, seeking to serve others – before dominating others, sharing, listening, and supporting. These are the traits that belong to our future leaders. Giving life, and not taking it are some healthy guidelines to adopt in today’s leadership, no matter where we are on the gender spectrum.
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The Divine Feminine is on the rise after patiently waiting for thousands of years, and now there’s nothing that can stop her!
In Tibetan Buddhist mythology, SHE is often depicted as a dancing goddess with fierce gestures and bared fangs as a symbol of interconnectedness. A Sky Dancer, a Khandro (Tib.), a Dakini. (Sanskrit.) She is a reminder that we all possess these qualities. To differentiate between any of our inherent qualities is plain ignorance.
Allow me to use the genius saint Hildegard von Bingen‘s words, the German medieval Benedictine Abbess and contemplative artist, to depict an illustration of the divine feminine:
“She is so bright and glorious that you cannot look at her face or her garments for the splendor with which she shines. For she is terrible with the terror of the avenging lightning and gentle with the goodness of the bright sun, and both her terror and gentleness are incomprehensible to humans. But she is with everyone and in everyone, and so beautiful is her secret that no person can know the sweetness with which she sustains people and spares them in inscrutable mercy.”
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As our society and planet are cast into the dreadful fright of environmental chaos due to an imbalance between our inherent feminine and masculine qualities, we have to give our voice to HER and implement these qualities before it’s too late. To survive and live harmoniously on the planet, we must nourish the divine feminine without delay. Because when the Masculine and Feminine are out of balance, the natural result is chaos. That’s where we are currently at. Let us change that with the support from leaders who dare to embody feminine wisdom since the future belongs to you.
Our world – the very survival of our species – depends on the rise of the Divine Feminine.
Welcome here. Embrace her. Honor her.
The glorious 17th Karmapa has said:” Our ideas about what it means to be a woman or a man – that is, our gender constructs – are given meaning and importance in our day-to-day reality. Gender identities permeate so much of our experience that it is easy to forget that they are just ideas created to categorize human beings. Nevertheless, masculine and feminine categories are often treated as if they were eternal truths. But they are not. They have no objective reality. Because gender is a concept, it is a product of our mind – and has no absolute existence separate from the mind that conceives of it. Gender categories are not inherently real in and of themselves.”
Traits such as inclusiveness, intuition, supportiveness, gentleness, cooperativeness, empathy, affection, and circular leadership have been cited as stereotypically feminine. Still, they are all neutral and inherent, just as their counterparts. This is the time to incorporate them all, our so-called healthy feminine and healthy so-called masculine qualities, and become whole human beings beyond gender labels for a brighter future.
I wish you happy inclusiveness in yourself and society at large.
Blessed be,
Chimey
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In our pursuit of the need to be loved, we have a parallel need: the need to love and care for others. This healthy desire is just as strong as the need to be loved and nurtured in return.
We know that the desire to love and care for others is hardwired and intensely seated within us. And when we manage to let it flow through us and bypass all temporary blockages and preferences, we get happy much more easily!
The manifest love experiences that we get through loving also enhances our happiness levels. It’s a double win situation. Because happiness, in turn, sets all kinds of positive endorphins and circumstances in motion. Therefore, expressing love, care, and compassion for others benefits not just the recipient of our affection but also ourselves as the person who delivers it.
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We need to expand that capability of loving-kindness, like I wrote about in my last blog post, “Go To Hell,” as well. Not through forcing change but by expanding our circles of love and compassion, extending that feeling of love and affection that we naturally have to include more and more beings and nature.
When we feel alone and miserable in our lives and our practice, we benefit from remembering that we live in an interconnected web with all there is on a bigger scale.
Our hearts open when we are relaxed and allow ourselves to be at ease with ourselves as we are. That is where we need to start since our natural openness may be covered up by many layers of doubt, fear, anxiety, and low self-esteem due to habitual patterns.
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The good news is that we don’t need to go through all these layers one by one to get to the healing rawness of our open hearts. Instead, we can put on our mindfulness glasses and start small by observing when our hearts spontaneously opens. Maybe it’s by seeing a puppy or baby or any other being in a vulnerable position that makes our heart tick. Stay awake to the ongoing moments of spontaneous heart opening, and you will see what ticks yours.
The need to nourish and reach out to others that comes spontaneously before we even have time to think is a good reference point to remind us of this hardwired system of loving kindness that is in us. Use these moments of spontaneous awakening of the heart’s desire to love and be loved, and put them into action in wider and wider circles as part of your mission to live and let live.
Because, with a strong and patient motivation in the right direction, an intention that is allowed to grow organically, we will get to where we want to go; love and be loved, as slow and steady accomplishes the task.
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While by solely remaining in the intellect, the knots and doubts around what we can do may instead become tighter and tighter. I can’t stress enough how crucial it is that we set the wheel of loving-kindness into motion.
Love and being loved is a prerequisite for us as human beings to survive. Love and affection is something we cannot live without. We can give material gifts, protection and knowledge, and so on, but there is nothing as important as the gift of love and affection. Without it, we feel unhappy, lonely, and unloved. We forget that geographical distance and physical locations can’t keep us apart and that we are all together in the greater web of existence.
Today is the first day of the Tibetan New Year of the Iron-Ox. This year offers us the feminine qualities of loyalty, nurturing, and keeping a slow pace. We can tap into those qualities, ride the force of love, and create a reasonable ground for nurturing each other throughout the rest of 2021 and cultivating this innate drive even more within us.
After creating a proper ground by observing our spontaneous moments of extending our care and training our mind to cultivate it, it is natural to develop care and consideration for others further outside our immediate sphere. Start with yourself and let the circles grow from there.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be at ease.
Tashi Delek! Happy New Year!
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