Pi in the Eye

So, I jumped of the writing train at Crestone, and forgot to say that one of the skulls told me a joke. I went to the center of the circle to take a picture of Jack, and out of curiousity, I leaned over and touched The Professor that is carried by Lionfire. In my mind flashed an image of Pi (π) inside an eye. I thought “Really! Pi in the Eye?” I knew it to be a compact thought form, but it was implied as a joke. Hold onto your seats, I am about to bring in some sacred geometry here. The vesica piscis is a shape that is the intersection of two circles with the same diameter. The center of each circle lies on the circumference of the other, so the shape of the intersection is the vesica – the shape of the eye. Also note here that the intersection points create equilateral triangles - which in 3D would be a pyramid.

Pi is the ratio of any circle’s circumference to its diameter. Pi is an irrational number which means that its value cannot be expressed exactly as a fraction having integers in both the numerator and denominator. Therefore, its decimal representation never ends and never repeats. Think about that, the number that is essential for calculating anything having to do with a circle and therefore sacred geometry, never ends and never repeats. A circle has no end and no beginning, and the center of a circle is, as Dr. Ibrahim Karim says,  “the gateway beyond space and time”.   
If you did an internet search for 'vesica', you might find some interesting stuff, like this picture of a dying star taken by the Hubble Telescope.

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/996/07

You could also watch some great youtube videos of this very excited man giving some lessons on sacred geometry - ideas about the vesica being the womb of creation...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoMk0estzXc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12m1FPheZa0&feature=related


You can even take a look at how the shape is formed by the procession of the equinoxes
http://www.vesicapiscis.co.uk/   - talk about making our lifetime here on earth feel short!

We can go with the 3D expansion and look at this man's research on the sacred structure of the human body (this is amazing, by the way)   http://www.people.vcu.edu/~chenry/

You could start noticing vesicas in churches, synagogues, mosques, and all other kinds of spiritual centers. The original symbol of Christianity was the vesica piscis in the form of a fish.

So, one could go really deep into the possible meanings of this simple little picture that flashed into my mind - Pi in the Eye – or you could also think in simple terms – well maybe not too simple. Creation occurs with the intersection of 2. Our world has formed on the principles of duality.  Think of the tai ji symbol representing yin and yang. Up/down, in/out, day/night, right/wrong, masculine/feminine, etc. 

The intersection of 2 circles creates a third shape, so now we have 3, the balance. God- Holy Spirit-Christ,  Man-Woman-Child, Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva, Strength-Wisdom-Innocence. The abbreviated numerical representation of Pi is 3.14. Three (3), but 3 as an infinite, never ending and never repeating number.  So since we are currently moving from duality toward unity, the next step is 3 and the step after that is All That Is. We have to take baby steps so we can make it all together.  If we look at the third element coming from our duality as Pi, instead of just a 3, it seems to me we would jump on the fast track toward grasping the never ending, never repeating nature of our beingness. Maybe we could grasp that these seemingly real lives we are living, amid the chaos, are but one picture frame of our infinity.


We are all talking about oneness, while still struggling within the confinements of our individuality and egos.  I have been on a 3 week road trip with kids in the back seat of a SUV wishing I had a roll up limo window and having to settle with ear plugs.  We have experienced some of the most beautiful places in our country and daily witnessed sunsets over mountains, mesas, and open plains. We have participated in ceremony with Mayan elders, hugged ancient redwoods, and even just sungazed and felt one with All That Is. But back in the car, I am a human, sometimes easy-going, sometimes irritable, sometimes excited,  sometimes tired.

I say all this to remind you not to be discouraged, to hold the vision we are all creating of love and oneness, and love the times that we are still living in duality because this is part of it too (for now).  I often feel like a snake shedding its skin, periodically getting rid of old parts and becoming like new again. We are growing and awakening, changing and becoming - more of who we truly are. So lets be kind to ourselves and each other.
Besides...If you are taking it all too seriously, I’ll throw a Pi in your Eye.

More to come... I have been in places without internet, and in the car - alot! Wait until you hear about the event in LA!

Dharma, Karma, & Perspective

We arrived in Crestone on Wed, Nov. 2 after a short drive from Colorado Springs. Crestone, CO has become internationally known as a location for a large number of many different religious and spiritual traditions including Hindu ashrams, Zen Buddhist retreats, a Carmelite monastery, and  Tibetan Buddhist retreats.  Maurice and Hanne Strong purchased a great deal of land in the 1970s and supported spiritual projects by granting land and providing support to various spiritual groups.  I would say this is a fulfillment of destiny as the area is certainly conducive to meditation and spiritual practice. Farming would probably not fair well here –lots of rocks and high altitude.  Thrangu Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist lama, has stated that in part because Crestone is near the Continental Divide, with waters that flow in both directions, it is a particularly auspicious place. Just witnessing the sunrise and sunset on the Sangre de Cristo range can make you feel spiritual. We rented a little cabin in a neighborhood that contained several spiritual centers nearby including our morning destination. I also learned that the Maya called this the Valley of the Cranes - so the Ancient Ones were also here.

Gerald's best friend Dave Wolf flew up from Austin, TX to join us on this stop of our journey. It was really inspiring to have someone come to share this with us, and I think especially nice for Gerald. I would have been esctatic if my best friend flew out here. Dave has been here before to participate in a Hopi ceremonial dance near the Great Sand Dunes. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset walk in the valley.

The ceremony was moved from an outdoor medicine wheel on someone’s private property, to a local Buddhist center in order to accommodate more people. When we arrived at the new location for the ceremony, we were told the ceremony was delayed 1 hour due to traveler fatigue. Of course I knew this was going to happen the night before, but I still rushed to get there before 8 am… just in case. I am trying to respect the new “in harmony with time” characteristic  I am cultivating.  I started this timeline in July and it is working mostly. I’m an optimist. Evidently I did not respect the “listen to the inner voice” charactistic again, or I would have at least eaten breakfast. With that said, there is no way I would exchange anything of the morning for fulfillment of expectation. We parked the car along to road to Dharma Ocean Retreat Center, jumped out with our coats, and headed uphill for a brisk walk to the community building. The sunrise light over the Sangre de Cristos began to illuminate the peaks and the valley to the west. “Wow, what a beautiful place on the planet” is what I am thinking… along with, “woo hooo, once again the amount of people coming far exceeded expectations.” There are lots of cars and people walking with us. I sense a feeling of common purpose and harmony, people are here to experience this moment and contribute to the manifestation of a common goal… a new age of love and unity.

Possibly a couple of hundred people were already gathered in the room, fanning out from a central circle. We squeezed in between the back wall and the last ring of people in chairs. We sat on our coats and smiled at the people around us as more people came in and we continued to move to make room.  A nice woman named Diane from Pagosa Springs was sitting to my left, so we chatted a little about our trip. 

People seem to agree with my viewpoint that Jack and Haven are uniquely fortunate to be having this experience. One lady nearby even high-fived me. I do not think there is another family with kids traveling across the country to sacred sites to witness this historical event.  The boys are even mimicking Hunbatz Men by frequently saying “I am very happy to see you again.”  They try to mimick his accent by saying “vurry hoppy” several times after, as they giggle. I think it is great they paid enough attention to actually remember something he said.

 

Someone from the community gathered everyone’s attention and led us in a heart smile meditation that culminated in us radiating out our love from that single point of light to the entire planet. I felt like I was part of the sun.

As the meditation ended, the woman toned and the entire room was filled with the voices of individual tones that combined into an angelic choir. Occasionally I just listened in amazement. Then drumming and chanting continued on for while including a joint chant of Hunab K’u (the Mayan word for the One Supreme God - the All That Is, the Center ) with the intention of sending gratitude and energy to the travelers and elders that are on this journey to heal our nation. We sang several repetitive chants:

 “We are one with the infinite sun, forever and ever and ever”,

 “Oh Mother we are calling, your children, we send healing”

“I am one, you are one, we are one together, unify people”

“Earth my body, water my blood, wind my breath, and fire my spirit”

We continued to keep sacred space open for the arrival of Hunbatz  Men and the guardians for almost 4 hours.  Amazingly – even though there was admittedly an increasing expectation of their arrival – we used the No Time to create something beautiful.  They were able enter into energized sacred space instead of having to spend precious energy bringing us in.

This day, Hunbatz Men spoke of the number 13 and touched on other subjects including the Mayan philosophy of correcting mistakes.  It seems that this pilgrimage is also about honoring the ancestors by correcting the mistakes relating to the way this land has turned away from spirit.  At each of the places we have visited, he has referred to ancient Mayas as the people who began these civilized locations including “Manhattan” (a derivative of the Mayan word for that place) which is where our country was born.  Traveling across the land with the skulls is going back again to correct the mistake of turning away from cosmic education.  He says the cosmic education will come from the crystal skulls, and this is necessary in order for us to continue.  He said the number 13 is in our body, represented by the major joints that are involved in our movement. 3 joints each in the arms and legs equaling 12, plus the neck. He said the movement of the joints connects us to the 13 dimensions and 13 planets which each give a certain energy. The diameter of the Earth is 13 thousand kilometers. The Maya say the earth has the same measure as our body. Our spirit is formed in the sacred geometrical shape of the sphere which is “OL” in Mayan.

He opened up the discussion to questions, several of which related to the Mayan calendar and the end of time. After shortly saying that the Maya have many calendars, he took the opportunity to ask “Does the Gregorian calendar connect the people to spirit?”  No! He said this is why we should return to the 13 month calendar based on the moon and in this way begin to reconnect the people to the Earth and the cosmos. He has made several references to how the feminine energy is re-emerging to balance the planet, and again referred to the moon as the energy of women, the regulator of women’s bodies and the source of wisdom in women.  He also says the first part of our spirit comes from the sun, so in the morning we should venerate the sun. Someone asked what practice we could do to keep in balance with these changing times, and he answered that we should be with the sun.  Send love and gratitude to the sun.  I have practiced sun gazing over the last year, and certainly can say the results are amazing. 

Here is a great video with Hira Ratan Manek about sun gazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlCJPxxKoaY

The idea of correcting mistakes seems like a form of clearing karma to me.  If you view karma as a form of cause and effect, that allows us to see the reaction of our actions, then clearing karma would be like correcting mistakes.  From my experience, I know there is personal karma involved in a situation, when there is an emotional charge which feels out of my control.  A couple of weeks before coming on this journey, I had the opportunity to clear karma in 3 relationships that had an unresolved emotional element.  It was as if my heart was clearing wounds in order to be able to step up to being ready for unconditional love.  It is necessary to clear our personal karmas before we begin to take on the collective karma and heal our planet.  This is a good time to do this kind of work since timelines are in an open continuum and we can affect past, present, and future lives by doing the work in this one now.  Come on people, we can do this.

http://tomkenyon.com/jumping-time-lines

On our way out of the San Juan valley on Friday, we stopped at the Great Sand Dunes National Park for an adventure sliding down the sand slopes.  If you have never hiked up a mountain of sand, let me say this is an experience of 2 steps forward, one step back.. except it is more like step up, slide half way back down. I almost made it to what looked like the top of our dune, but found out there was just another slope out of sight. Kind of a metaphor for spiritual work except that this time sliding down was fun.  I stopped to take in the view, feeling like a small grain of sand on our huge beautiful planet. It is awe inspiring to think about how huge these dunes are, how small they are compared to the neighboring mountains, and how small this one huge remote place is in relation to the planet.   Then we could look to the stars…

Cahokia Mound and Almond Joy

Monday, October 31, 2011
On our way to Cahokia, we stopped in to a local Starbucks (for you know what) and Target for some medicine for the colds we all have. Seems like we always catch something when we leave the farm.  We asked several employees at both locations if they knew where Cahokia was, and the response was the same… no one even know what it was much less where.  So the largest pyramidal structure in our country is completely unknown to the people residing less than 15 miles away. The earthen mound known as Monk’s Mound is a massive platform mound with four terraces, 10 stories tall, and the largest man-made earthen mound north of Mexico. It is 100 feet high, 951 feet long, 836 feet wide and covers 13.8 acres. It also contains about 814,000 yd of earth that was carried and put there by humans. http://cahokiamounds.org/
My first thought when we pulled up to it was that when I was a teenager, we were always looking for places like this to hang out, make out, or just get a good view of the city. I guess all the young people today are too busy texting to look up and notice a huge multi-tiered mound with 156 steps going up the north side. The view of St. Louis from the top is incredible, and probably better at night or like on the 4^th of July but the sign says it closes at dusk.  It was a beautiful, perfect, completely clear day. Not one cloud appeared all afternoon, and I could see the entire circle of the horizon. We arrived at 12:30 pm and there were a few people milling around, a couple playing drums, and some people coming and going up the stairs. While we loitered in the grass, a flock of Canadian geese performed an air show directly over the mound for a few minutes and then disappeared on the horizon. Over the next hour and a half, probably about 200 hundred people ended up at the top of the mound including a Native American group with a woman in ceremonial dress. People gathered in circle around, and she began walking the inside of the circle with a smudge bowl and a feather fan. An eagle flew overhead and was noticed and appreciated by the Native Americans.  This was about the time the anticipated Mayan elder and his group arrived.

I should add that the pre-ceremony teaching (for $25 donation to the cause) had to be held at another location 20 miles away due to some monetary/payment confusion with the State Historic Site people. You cannot charge for ceremonies at the site - which is not what was happening, but you know how that goes...
At least we could have ceremony at the site.

 Hunbatz Men and the skull guardians were welcomed at the top after we watched him methodically climb those 156 steps in a light haze of copal smoke.  Everyone gathered around again in a huge circle, and the woman continued to walk around smudging everyone.  Her dress was fantastic, but I especially favored her head piece and kept thinking what a great project it would be for making use of all those turkey feathers I find in the horse pasture.  For some reason – which I am hoping to find out – people in the crowd from Chicago were asked to gather and divide into 4 groups of 7.  The crystal skulls were placed in a center circle, and the skull guardians stood in a circle around the skulls. The people from Chicago were placed in the 4 directions, 7 in a line at each direction, so that they formed another layer of the circle between the guardians and the outer circle. The outer circle was about 6 people deep, so the whole thing was probably 40-50 feet in diameter. (I do not cook with exact measurements either.)   They invited people who had brought their own crystal skulls or had crystals or stones to also place them within the circle of skulls. The people were pretty excited about that. I was sitting, and so I laid my hands and forehead on the ground to feel the energy of the circle of skulls in the earth.

 Hunbatz explained that we were going to honor the moon this day, and this sacred configuration was specifically for that purpose. He also had everyone hold up their hands and explained that our hands represent the moon also. We have 14 bones in our fingers on each hand, which totals 28 – the cycle of the moon. So each group of 7 people represented a week of the moon cycle of 4 weeks total = 28 days. (That is for those of you who are slow with math.)   Of course, the cresent moon was visible in the sky in the northwest in the bright light of day.
He expressed that he was happy to see everyone again – which is a Mayan custom to acknowledge that we have all known each other in previous incarnations. He emphasized that everyone who was here this day had been here before and he was grateful we had come again. He said we all came here from the stars and the skulls came from the stars also.  He spoke of the crystal skulls being brought here to re-open and re-activate this sacred place. He held a skull and explained that it was given to him from a Tibetan Lamma from the Himalayas and that it was given to the Lammas from our star family. He explained that teaching in our future would come from the skulls.

Now, I’ll take a little aside to tell you that each phrase Hunbatz spoke was repeated at each of the 4 directions by a man so that all people in the outer circle could hear what Hunbatz was saying. So in effect, each phrase was spoken 5 times. It was often comical, like the telephone game, and the crowd would correct the mis-spoken words, or one speaker sometimes left words out, but the next one did not, so all in all the message was transmitted. The method gifted the ceremony with a cooperative village atmosphere, not to mention it was sort of hypnotizing to hear the phrases repeated 5 times. The slow flow also added to the Time of No Time theme we are gliding on.

Hunbatz had each of the groups of 7 alternately dance around the inner circle and honor the skulls. In this way, each phase of the moon honored the energy and presence of the skulls in this place. I was sort of struck by how this culturally mixed group of people fell right into a rhythm with the process and each other as if they had all done it before - which evidently we have. There were several people with drums around me, and we were all playing together, with others in the circle with drums and rattles. I had my singing bow. I could not really hear it over the drums, but I could feel the vibration. Then Hunbatz and 3 of the skull guardians walked around the circle with skulls, sometimes placing the skulls up to people’s foreheads, or some people touching or holding them. I saw lots of smiles and tears.  I still personally feel somewhat reserved about actually touching or connecting individually with the skulls, and have only held the one carried by my friend Mary who was on the Spring Equinox trip with us in the Yucatan. I feel a curious connection to one skull that has recently emerged from Bolivia. Here is as picture of it – I feel a heart centered awareness from it, and it seems to transmit ideas through symbols, but this is my "beginner" skull-ology perception. We'll see...

Hunbatz explained that the energy of this place at Cahokia was now changed, and that people would see things here that they have not seen before. He wanted to be sure people understood it was not something to be afraid of.  Then he and a Native American man spent some time looking up into the immaculate blue sky alternately pointing at birds or planes, as if they expected a star craft to descend in our presence.  They were probably there, but not visible. I expected it too, but  nature was calling me to get down the steps so I regretfully left the circle. I cannot wait to hear on the news when people see something they have not seen before, and I hope it is star people coming to that site. That should surely make those young people look up from their touch pads and qwerty keyboards.

 As I was standing in the circle, I kept getting an energetic feeling of a large crowd on that mound.  I intuitively felt as though the entire ancestral lineage of each person physically present in the circle was present in that space/time. When I look with my eyes, I almost felt disappointed at the number of people I could see, as if it was discordant with the actual amount present. I actually walked the entire circuit if the circle to seek if changing my perspective allowed me to see better.  Later, when I talked to Gerald about it, he said there were many spirit lights all around.. as if the entire clear blue dome of the sky was sprinkled with glitter, and everywhere around us. It is the time where the veils are thin between our world and theirs. Let us remember where All Hallows Eve and the Day of the Dead came from by honoring our ancestors and loved ones passed over, and by spending this month of the year communing with them.

Of course we found a nice neighborhood on the west side of St. Louis for the boys to do some trick-or-treating in their spooky costumes and then we drove late night to Kansas City Here I Come by eating lots of candy to stay awake.  Tonight we made it to Colorado Springs, and tomorrow we journey to Crestone, CO for Tibetan Monks, a Medicine Wheel, certainly some loitering, and hopefully a warm fire.