What's Happening in the World and What Can I Do?

 

 

 

What’s Happening in the World 

and What Can I Do?

 

Everyone seems traumatized by world events these days. Literally traumatized: they spend a lot of time and energy chewing on, obsessing about what’s happening, talking about it with friends. They feel compelled to try to understand it, make sense of it, come to some kind of terms with it, find a way to feel less out of control and less bewildered and overwhelmed, find a way to deal with their own grief and pain about it, find out whether there even is any way to live a normal, happy life when so many others cannot do that.

Here are some touch-points that might be helpful. These are not offered as simplistic solutions that do not do justice to either the complexity of the world or the suffering in it. These are offered as doorways you might choose to step through to get an expanded perspective. They are touchstones, and if they are not useful for you, don't use them. They are simply perspectives you might not have entertained before, on what's happening in the world.

 

First, understand the nature of trauma: we are hardwired to create repeats of the event to try to make it turn out differently this time, and/or this time to experience an adequate capacity to deal with it and come out un-traumatized this time. If we know that is driving us, we can already feel more at peace and in control. If you feel the need, there are plenty of programs to help people heal from trauma.

 

Second, there is this context we can ask our own soul to show us, so that we absolutely know the truth and reality of it: that everyone who is suffering has chosen that experience. Their embodiment is part of their soul, and the soul has chosen. The soul is eternal, and is a portion of the infinite eternal Soul that creates everything all the time. For that soul, all experience is equally valuable for the purpose of knowing ourselves as portions of the Creator and expanding the universe through our creating. And its experience includes our own experiences of feeling horrified at the suffering and taking actions to eliminate it.

We generally don’t know this truth and reality. In fact it seems quite false and quite callous toward those who suffer. We can intend. and ask our own soul to help us to know this ultimate choicefulness, and that will be revealed. I speak from personal experience. Until it is revealed, however, it seems to be ridiculous, obviously false, and cruel toward those who suffer. It is often erroneously interpreted as "You are suffering because you deserve it."

This perspective does not, cannot, and is not intended to, diminish in any way the naturalness and rightness of horrified reactions to suffering. The heartbreak we feel is part of what is real and natural. Many of us respond instinctively to make the suffering stop and prevent it from recurring. That is part of the fail-safe built into the world, as mentioned below.

I can't seem to avoid hearing about horrifying actions happening in the world, and my best way of coping is to take each specific and turn it around into its opposite, that I do want, and offer that as a prayer, a declaration, an affirmation. Example: "All people are safe in their homes and as they live their lives." I believe that turning around what we see helps fulfill the purpose of anything we don't want, which is to stimulate and direct our creative powers.

I draw comfort in my heartbreak from knowing that I and others are being evoked into greater creativity, compassion, and contribution. We are being drawn into greater community, love, and action.

Third, there is also this context for what is happening in the world that we can know is true and real: that suffering is eventually self-eliminating. In our essence, as living creatures, we want thriving life, not suffering. This means that ultimately our world will emerge from her pretense of being less than a portion of the infinite and eternal, and all suffering will cease, because all suffering is caused by and possible only within that pretense, that illusion. The fail-safe is built into the system. Our world is based on a pretense, a voluntary forgetting of who we are. It is an unstable situation, and requires much effort to maintain. Therefore, eventually, because there is the built-in fail-safe to end the pretense, the world will return to the truth and the reality of who she is—and we as parts of her will also--and suffering will then become impossible.

This context generates another helpful perspective. In my own trust and knowing that there is a bigger picture going on, for this planet, I know all happenings are part of that bigger picture which is the shift out of the pretense of separation, the pretense that, as mentioned above, is the source of all experience of suffering. The self-limiting nature of that pretense means that the planet, and all of us, are headed toward a brighter, happier future and everything we see around us is happening in that context.

 

Fourth, until then, each of us faces the questions: How can I cope, and what is mine to do in this world? This whole essay addresses “how can I cope?” Discovering “what is mine to do” is super-important, as it allows us to actually embody and radiate the truth and the reality that will help bring an end to suffering. The briefest guide to knowing, in each moment, what is yours to do, is use your feelings, especially your heart, to sense what would bring you the most, deepest, highest joy, and that’s what’s your best contribution to removing suffering from the world. We uplift the world when we uplift ourselves, as we and the world are inter-being, inseparable.

 

Fifth, to do what is ours to do, we must allow others the same. Some are called to action. Some are called to destroy. Some are called to build. Some are called to be unconditional peace/love/joy and radiate that out, which uplifts everyone. To accomplish the return to the truth and reality of who we are, we must allow everyone to do their part even if we can’t see how it helps.

I find hope on days I feel hopeless, from knowing that for every bit of suffering that comes to my attention, there are an even greater number of acts of loving kindness and the building of the specifics of a more wonderful world that do not come to my attention. This I know with certainty.

 

The sixth context is the realization that each of us is not alone, though it feels that way sometimes. There are millions and millions of living creatures on earth, including fellow humans, who are on the same path of being dedicated to being helpful and being uplifting. Some are on that path consciously, others are not conscious but being helpful and uplifting anyway. So if we want to reach out to others for morale-boosting and support, we will find them. 

 

A seventh possibly helpful touchstone for coping with what's happening in the world is a little aphorism that had a big impact on my life: Suffering about suffering does not decrease the amount of suffering in the world. Compassion does.

 

Finally I am helped in coping by using my attention to create more of what I want, not more of what I don't want. Some of us are among those not called to keep up with the news. We do not define a "responsible citizen" as necessarily including conscientiously following the (bad) "news"  and "knowing what's going on" in detail. Attention is creative, especially when combined with emotion, so we can use it wisely. Using it wisely is extremely helpful in coping with what's happening in the world.

 

Having all that fully present in our awareness as we move through this current world could help us and the world. May this little essay serve its purpose of being helpful, by fostering such awareness.

 

Here are two of my other blogposts related to this:

https://exploringsecondandthirdtier.blogspot.com/2022/05/ruminations-on-peace.html 

https://divinelightchurch.blogspot.com/2008/12/peace-on-earth-details.html 

In the interest of the purpose of this blogpost, some of our church theology has been simplified, but not to the point of falsifying. 

 

By Rev. Alia Aurami, Ph.D., Head Minister, Amplifying Divine Light in All Church

"Amplifying Divine Light in All" is a completely independent church fostering empowerment of people to co-create loving, thriving God-realized lives, and wellbeing for everyone, on a clean, peaceful Earth.

 

Our main religious purpose and mission is to amplify the Divine Light in everyone. When you read this article, you will agree or disagree with its various points, and then you will know more about what is true for you. Knowing more of your own Truth amplifies your Divine Light. Thus providing/presenting this article is one way for us to accomplish our purpose and mission. 

 

This article and our providing/presenting it are therefore a central and essential part of our exercise and practice of our religion. 

 

None of the contents herein are claimed as absolute truth. They represent one possible perspective which might prove useful for you. All results from using anything written in this blog are solely your own responsibility, which you assume by reading.

All rights reserved under the Common Law. This means please respect our creatorship.

Image by Anja from Pixabay

 

"Affairs are now soul size"

"Affairs are now soul size"

 

This so articulates that all of life is sacred, and why this is a sacred time in earth's history and humanity's history. 

Our church has some theological differences from the views expressed and implied, but nonetheless we find this spiritually uplifting, energizing, and inspiring, and offer it to you as that.

“A SLEEP OF PRISONERS”, from the play with that 

title, by Christopher Fry, 1951. I notice 

gratefulness.org offers this as a resource.

 

“The human heart can go to the lengths of God.

 
Dark and cold we may be, but this

 
Is no winter now. The frozen misery

 
Of centuries breaks, cracks, begins to move;

 
The thunder is the thunder of the floes.

 
The thaw, the flood, the upstart Spring.

Thank God our time is now when wrong

Comes up to face us everywhere,

Never to leave us ‘til we take

The longest stride of soul men ever took.

Affairs are now soul size.

The enterprise is exploration into God.

Where are you making for? It takes

So many thousand years to wake,

But will you wake for pity’s sake?”

Surprising Insights into "Being Grounded"

Surprising Insights into "Being Grounded"

Everyone knows it is desirable to be "grounded, centered, and balanced." I recently was travelling for a week, and ended up with some surprising insights into "being grounded" which I would like to share!

Basically, the main insight is that being grounded partly involves feeling safe, which partly requires feeling empowered, which partly requires knowing you have access to relevant resources, which partly requires familiarity with your environment.

But there's more.

First, here's my idea of what "being grounded" means. It means that one's awareness is present throughout one's body to the greatest extent possible, in addition to being wherever else it could be or is. It means that one's Spirit "fully inhabits" the body.

This is actually a relatively rare phenomenon, a fully-grounded person -- especially among spiritual types, whose consciousness tends to hang out slightly above and in back of the head, who fear the actual or potential pains and dangers the body is subject to.

For most people, it means "sending a grounding cord from the base of the spine down into the earth" so that one feels connected to the earth, rooted in the physical reality of earth. That has never done much for me; I ground to the earth by heart-energy: my heart loving the physical body of the earth, connecting to earth's heart.

Being centered means to me having one's awareness be located within one's body, and not pulled out into other people's emotions and thoughts beyond 'empathy' to a loss of contact with oneself. And being balanced means to me, being able to STAY centered.

Anyway, my insights came when I got home from my trip. I realized I had felt tired and time-stressed the whole trip, and pretty weird, but as I settled into being home, I realized by contrast that I was now PRESENT in my body and aware of my surroundings in a way I had not been on the trip. There was, as I introspected carefully in detail, a sense of reassurance in the familiarity of my surroundings, that I knew where things were and how to get things I needed. Predictability and familiarity were helping me feel more grounded.

I realized by contrast that despite my frequent contacts and loving attention on my trip to birds, flowers, the ground, the sky, the air, the plants, that I had felt some degree of "dissociation" the whole time, which is another way of saying "ungrounded." I got through the days, but there was a distancing, a tension within me. I was functioning "on automatic," not fully present.

So I've made this list of what is conducive to staying grounded, especially while traveling, and what makes it more challenging. I'll be applying these insights in the future, and if you do, I'd love to hear your experiences!

The matter of "chronic ungroundedness" due to the soul's fear of being fully embodied, that's another article.

So, IMO it is harder to be grounded when you are:

• tired, from exertion or from sleeping poorly or too little
• under time pressure, deadlines
• have an unpredictable schedule
• are subject to discomforts: bad smells, uncomfortable bed, etc.
• alone or with people you don't trust and who don't seem competent to help you
• hungry or toxic from food not right for you
• in unfamiliar surroundings
• short on money
• cut off from nature
• have health challenges that require certain things at certain times, not all of which you have available with you
• in crowds of strangers
• subject to stressors such as loud noises,air pressure changes, etc.
• have responsibilities to carry out, like caring for kids or monitoring email re a sick relative
• have to make a good impression, like making a presentation or meeting someone important to your future
• are treated impersonally or unkindly
• have limited time or energy for exercise or movement
• are fully responsible for your own logistics and wellbeing, or have to rely on strangers for help in these matters
• have no one to share your current state or experiences with, to debrief with

Ultimately, I believe it is possible to be fully grounded even with all the factors above  operating, if one feels "safe" by having a fully awakened consciousness, fully aware of one's infinite, eternal self, fully empowered as a portion of the Infinite Creative Power. Then the unfamiliar poses no threats, just challenges that can be danced with, and resources do "magically" show up when needed. The "grounding" is paradoxically the dissolving of the clash or separation between embodiment and Spirit, which allows their unification or identicalness to be one's constant sense of Being.

AND, it can be nice and handy, to know what one can do, to arrange to feel more grounded, by using the lists in this article.

The advantages of being grounded? It certainly feels more comfortable. One has fuller access to one's knowledge, wisdom, inner resources. Life is more enjoyable. It's easier to play. Laughter itself is an activity which enhances groundedness.

Being ungrounded itself is scary, uncomfortable, weird, confining, and weakening!

So, you can turn the above list around for yourself, but just in case, I'll do that for you. 

It's easier to be grounded, especially while traveling, if you:

• are well-rested, from appropriate exertion and good and long-enough sleep
• arrange to easily deal with your timelines, deadlines
• have a predictable schedule, as much routine as possible
• can be physically comfortable, including your clothes, shoes, etc.
• are with people you care about, who care about you, and whom you regard as pretty competent to deal with the situations you are in
• well-fed and eating foods right for you, with enough water
• in familiar surroundings or places you have researched
• have adequate money on hand to deal with nearly any emergency that might come up
• have good access to Nature of some sort
• have on hand whatever you might need to deal with your health challenges
• among familiar people, or at least people you feel similar to in important ways
• are not subject to stressors such as loud noises,air pressure changes, etc.
• have as few responsibilities to carry out as possible
• are either well-prepared to make a good impression, or don't have to
• are treated kindly by others
• have adequate time and energy for exercise or movement
• have either friends or strangers you can rely on for help with logistics and wellbeing
• have some one to share your current state or experiences with, to debrief with

These were not on the negative factors list, but you can add them to the "conducive factors" list:

• have someone to give and receive caring touch with
• find ways to laugh and play
• pay attention to your environment and experiences; decide to "be present"
• often notice your feet, and your body, and deliberately relax and fill with love
• BREATHE
• smile

Please add your thoughts, insights, recommendations!

by Rev. Alia Aurami, Ph.D., Head Minister, Amplifying Divine Light in All Church

"Amplifying Divine Light in All" is a completely independent church fostering empowerment of people to co-create loving, thriving God-realized lives, and wellbeing for everyone, on a clean, peaceful Earth.

Our main religious purpose and mission is to amplify the Divine Light in everyone. When you read this article, you will agree or disagree with its various points, and then you will know more about what is true for you. Knowing more of your own Truth amplifies your Divine Light. Thus providing/presenting this article is one way for us to accomplish our purpose and mission. 

This article and our providing/presenting it are therefore a central and essential part of our exercise and practice of our religion. 

None of the contents herein are claimed as absolute truth. They represent one possible perspective which might prove useful for you.

All rights reserved under the Common Law. This means please respect our creatorship.

The Invitation (guest blogger)

THE INVITATION

by Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Native American Elder

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your Heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams,for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals, or have you shriveled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide, fade or fix it. I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or you own; if you can dance with wildness, and let ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal without betraying your own soul. I want to know if you can see the beauty even when it's not pretty every day, and if you can source your life from ITS presence. I want to know if you can be with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, YES!

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn't interest me who you are, or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where, or what, or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself. And if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.