A Prayer Meeting in the Heart of the World

Okay, a wee bit more about my trip to Brazil... My first morning waking up in Abadiania my eyes popped open at about 6 am, first time for everything right? Every morning after I spontaneously awoke between the hours of 4:30 am and 6:30 am, depending on the schedule of that day. I had no alarm clock and it didn't matter if I went to bed at 9 pm or 12 am. I didn't even feel tired... weeeell most of the time anyway, lol. So that, for me, was pretty amazing and cool. Oh and, by the way, I am still waking up early, although here I may or may not get up early... that's an Abadiania thing.

My Sunday morning in Abadiania started around 6:30 am. I woke up, meditated, did a little stretching and then went down to the pousada dining room for breakfast. (I stayed at Pousada Irmâo Sol, Irmâ Lua aka "Martin's" and it was wonderful. You can find it in the Casa Guide) So, anyway, at breakfast my friends Brian and Noreen told me that they were going to a prayer meeting at the Casa de Dom Inacio de Loyola. I asked if I could tag along and they said, "Of course!"

I had no idea what to expect. the Casa is kinda technically Catholic, Jesuit and Spiritist. (I was born Episcopalian, grew up going to an ashram that was primarily Hindu but open to all faiths and over time I have become... hmmmm. All I know is that there is nothing that exists that is not God, Consciousness or whatever you'd like to call IT.)

So, to start the meeting a lovely man stands up in front of our little group of about twenty people and tells us to share prayers, poetry, hymns, songs or do whatever comes into our heart but to just please refrain from trying to coach us. He went on to say that each person in the meeting was doing their own work, that we should respect this and to please simply use this time to share. I was excited to hear what would come next!

People shared poetry, prayers and hymns in English, French, Armenian, German, Portuguese and even Gaelic! The prayer book that we were given contained every type of prayer imaginable, including a Native American blessing. We enjoyed hearing and joining in on several Buddhist and Hindu chants and the grand finale of this incredible worship sharing experience was the entire group singing "Let It Be" by the Beatles at the request of a lovely English gentleman. I must confess that I had tears streaming down my face for the better part of the hour long meeting. In my head I was begging God to somehow let me live in this incredible place where all people are welcome and encouraged to come and worship together in whatever manner they pleased. For me this was just further confirmation that Abadiania is in fact Heaven on Earth!

Morning has Broken and Oprah's Handing Us a Hot Cup o' Consciousness!

I was driving to the grocery store, yesterday, listening to Cat Steven's singing "Morning has Broken" and when I arrived, the spot I was going to park in had a cart in the middle of it. People not putting their carts away has been a pet peeve of mine in the past. Without even thinking about it I stopped the car got out, put the cart where it belonged and parked my car. There was no irritation in me, not even an echo of irritation. It was fabulous. Then I went into the store and shopped with total ease and joy. When I went to the check out area a cashier called me over with a friendly smile and it was so sweet. The funny part was that when I got home I found that he had placed a big bottle of juice on top of some rolls, squashing them! I was slightly irritated for about five seconds and then I just laughed and let it go.

I credit my great mood partly to the joy and gratitude that singing along with Cat Stevens inspired but mostly to the book that I've been reading for the past week, A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. The book is about learning how to step out of ourselves, observing our ego and becoming more present in our daily life. It's actually not new information for me, I mean some of it is, but mostly it's stuff that I've been learning or hearing for a good deal of my life. But the fact of the matter is, as my cousin Kanti says, until we really get it, I mean truly get IT, we need all of the help that we can get! It is extremely well written and it offers some fantastic insights. It may be the final straw for this lil' camel's back, yay! Oprah is offering a free web course with Eckhart Tolle, about this book, starting in March. The world is a changin' and it's ALL good, baby! Thanks again Oprah, you truly rock!

I've listened to that song many times but for some reason I was inspired to create the design in the photo above for TempleGreen.com last night.

God is my Skeleton

I use the word God... a lot. God means different things to different people and it came to me that perhaps I should clarify. I was born Episcopalian and then I met my spiritual teacher, who is Hindu, when I was about eleven. I am neither and I am both. I believe that nothing exists that is not "God". It could be called Atman, consciousness, Shiva, Zeus, Thor or by any word designated to the being that is all pervasive. I believe in unity and acceptance. I also assume that since we have different words in different languages for almost everything that it makes sense that we would have different names for that which is formless. A rose is a rose is a rose... Alrighty then!

So the other day I was japa walking through the snow when the poem "Footprints in the Sand" came into my head. I've always been rather fond of that poem. I suddenly felt a rush of gratitude for my life. I realized that, though my life has not always been easy, I have never really gone without. I've always had a roof over my head and food, usually very good food, to eat. I don't feel like God was carrying me or even walking beside me, I feel that God has always been my skeleton, holding me up when I couldn't do it for myself. The wave of gratitude became so strong that I actually had tears in my eyes. I am a big old sap, and that's just the way I like it!