Candles on the Path

I regularly hear from some on the spiritual path “don’t intervene” it is not our role. But i ask, how can we not? It is not a moral question but rather do we really have any choice? For from what i see we interact with the all, yes intervene, every moments of our lives.

On the material level, most live in dwellings of some sort – of what are they built, are they heated or cooled, were the materials transported to where you now live? Do you drive or even ride public transit? Not only the fuel, but the vehicles themselves, and the roads they travel have altered the environment. Even if you walk or ride a bike, the paths you travel have been carved into the earth, and how many microscopic entities lay beneath our tires or feet. We wear clothes, and bathe. We eat food, (or some food “product”) which was grown somewhere, and the life forms that we consume add to our own. We dispose of our waste – even when we reduce our garbage for the landfill, we still all piss and shit. Even if we were to float naked and not consume, if we were to be alive we would still breathe – and every breath is inhaled into our bodies, and breathed back out – somewhat transformed from being inside – and the outbreath once again becomes part of the air that travels throughout the world. And in each breath we take, are parts that have been breathed in and out by so many other people and life forms, and through this we interact with the all, and part of you has become part of me which is returned to the world to become part of something else. we interact in order to live – and beyond the physical are emotions and thought forms which join into the collective consciousness. but even if you are not willing to acknowledge that, every physical action, our very breath, ties us to the greater whole.

So the question then becomes not IF we intervene or interact, but How.

What is a premonition? What does it really entail? Is it a vision of an event that is bound to occur or just of one of many possibilities to come? There are those of profound “life altering events”, be they for ourselves, others, or many around. There are also those that come calling up of seemingly small silly events. And when we get those visions, the small or insignificant becomes large and meaningful for it has entered into the forefronts of our consciousness. Often we label vision of unwanted or undesirable events as premonitions, and those that we desire, and that come true, as manifestation – is this really the difference.

Here i turn my attention to the premonitions of the “small” that we label “bad”. what does it mean to receive such a vision and then for it to manifest. Are we truly creating it? At times, but often not, or at least purely so. Those times when a stranger comes in, or something happens involving others beyond ourselves, and in my belief, we alone, did not call it to us – after all, no “I” is the only actor in the world.

Rather i believe, that a premonition is often a heads up – you could call it a warning, but that feeds into fear, and it is that which can make it real. For often what i have seen, is a single (vague) event, but not into the infinite beyond. In focusing on it, do i make it real and call its energies forth – perhaps, i do not always know. Or does my dread, or focus, call up actions and energies in myself that bring forth that specific possibility.

What if i looked at it as a heads up and nothing more. If i did not cling to it or try to push it away, but instead imagined how my highest self would respond. Just how would i react and bring in love and light into that situation? And in imagining and envisioning it, calling that energy forth, and thus possibly, a different outcome all together. The challenge might be real, perhaps inevitable, but in calling on the light, we can alter what is to come – and the premonition is god’s gift to us – saying remember me, do not fear, you have time now to prepare – to act and not merely react. And if our preparations are strong enough, the challenge might not arise, but does that mean we stop listening to that voice? The answer is ‘no’ – for there is no small thing, and we never truly know when we may be called upon.

A confession – the first of many i am sure. I will take notice and admit publically when i fall short of my ideals and hold the light within instead of shining it out. I do it often enough; often in small ways, but i realize there is truly no small thing – for all add up and make part of the oneness of it all.

Today is the first day of the year and already i have failed a test (again). I acted selfishly when i could have helped someone out. it was not convenient. it would put me out a bit. they had another way around, and so along with others i said no. i stay at a hostel in a dorm room. An older woman came in and wanted a bottom bunk, and none were available in this room. I have one of the bottom bunks, and despite the rickety beds and lack of a true ladder, i could have made it down in the middle of the night. But there was a co-ed dorm with empty beds, and so she moved downstairs instead. But i feel bad and guilty and know i did wrong, and the worst thing is that i knew it at the time.

If i truly walked in the light, i would have quickly offered mine up, been happy to help out, but instead i acted selfishly, and i’ll have more bad karma come back at me. I had an internal warning, time to prepare, for when i checked in three nights ago i had a feeling, and several since, that someone would move me out of my bed. instead of being grateful for the space i had, and then graciously giving it up to someone who needed it more, i clung on to what i had. i feel like a hypocrite as i act in ways i condemn in others – and again if i truly walked in the light i would not ask why me and not they.

It’s just a small thing i try to justify, but there really are no small things for every act contributes to the oneness that is all. And if i cannot be trusted with the small, then how can i be trusted with the great? it is not the guilt that will hinder my ascension, but the act that produced it. the oneness, purpose and joy that i felt today has now turned to making faces in the mirror, for i am not nearly as good as i make myself out to be.

But if i acknowledge when my light fails to shine, admit it, learn and let it go, i am shedding light on a darker place and thus helping the light to grow. and there are no small acts.