“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.

We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”

                                                                                                         ~Albert Einstein

One beautiful morning a small private plane took off over a lush wilderness with four men inside. Not long after takeoff the plane went down in a river. They all saw it coming, but no one could stop the crash.

My childhood friend, James was on that plane. He was the sole survivor. James says that beings he had never seen before surrounded him. They gave him a choice of going back to his body and continuing his life or leaving the body and going on with his journey elsewhere.

James said he thought about it. He thought about his wife and his existence and ultimately decided to go back to his earthly body and life, as he had always known it. Little did he know that his life would never be the same after that.

Evidently, he was so badly injured that his body could not sustain life, so he says that the beings that were with him told him what to do to keep his fractured form alive. They went through all of his organs one by one giving him instructions on how to keep them functioning.

When James came back to consciousness he was still in the plane and underwater. He could see his fellow passengers. They were all deceased. His description of seeing them is heartbreaking.

Somehow, people arrived and rescued James. They carried him to a nearby cabin. It just so happened that there was a physician amongst them. As they rushed into the cabin, someone used his arm to sweep clear a long table, where they laid my friend down. He said that he heard the doctor say, “ I don’t think this guy is going to make it.”

James opened his eyes and said, “Oh yes I am doc. They told me what to do to stay alive”, to which the doctor replied, “Well you’d better hurry up and do it son.”

James closed his eyes and did exactly as the beings he had encountered told him. One by one, he went through every organ and every system of his body. He was then medevac’d to the closest hospital. As he was rushed into the ER his body began to fail again. The ER doctor made the same statement that James had heard earlier that day.”, I don’t think he’s going to make it.” Once again James opened his eyes and said, “Oh yes, I am doc. They told me what to do to stay alive.” The ER doctor parroted the same reply as the earlier doctor had, telling James he’d better hurry up and do it.

James reached inside himself and did as he had been instructed. He survived. He’s alive and well today.

If this was all there was to his story, it would be most astounding, but it’s really just the beginning.

James spent months in the hospital. He had multiple surgeries. It’s a nightmare of a story, but still a story of survival and grit.

Even after his recovery, James was still able to control his bodily functions. He could stop and start his heart and sort of mess around with his insides. He could hear further and think deeper. He knew when someone was hurting or needed something. He felt people, animals and even plants.

He tells of a time when he was invited to a party at a home that he had never been in before. When he walked into the house, he could hear screaming coming from somewhere in the house. No one else seemed to be concerned, so he tried to mingle. But he kept hearing the screams. After a time, he was so uncomfortable that he went looking for the source of the unrelenting sound. He followed the noise upstairs and finally came to a closed door. Through the door he could clearly hear screaming. He opened the door and walked in. No one was there, but the screaming continued.

James looked to see a houseplant sitting atop a table. The plant was in distress and was screaming. He could hear the plant screaming.

He stuck his finger into the soil and realized that it was very dry and the plant needed water, so he took it downstairs and asked the maid to water it. She did and the plant stopped screaming.

There are a lot of details to his story, which I won’t go into here. After some time had passed, I asked James if he could still do all those amazing things with his body. He said that all of that had begun to fade and was pretty much gone.

I asked him if he had asked the beings if he could keep those abilities. He said that he had asked them and their reply was…”No. You wouldn’t be yourself anymore.”

When my beloved husband and love of my life, passed on from life here, James told me, “You know, you can still talk to him.” “I know.”, I said. He reminded me that I could to that…and I do.

In all the years that we were growing up, I never knew James to be religious or even very spiritual. He was very educated, but a regular guy that loved to fish, run through the trees and hang out with his buddies. I remember him as kind and warm, very brilliant, funny and nuts…a good kind of nuts.

Something really big happened to him when he stepped through the portal between this place and the next. He discovered his inner connection. That priceless connection is with him and he’ll never let loose of it. He’s been told that he is a mystic. He does speak on the subject now and again.

In reading Einstein’s quote, I wonder if James had once honored the rational mind having forgotten the sacred gift of the intuitive mind. I think I’ll ask him that question. If that was the case earlier in his life, it certainly is not the case now. Now, he is all about the sacred gift of his intuitive mind.

“God should not be called an individual substance, since the principal of individuation is matter.”

                                                                                                                                            ~Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas was an 11^thcentury Christina philosopher who pursued his life’s goals with determination and devotion in the face of great opposition.

HISTORY: Thomas Aquinas (1225 – March 7, 1274) was most likely born in a castle in the Kingdom Sicily (present-day Lazio, Italy.)

His father was a knight and his uncle the abbot of the first Benedictine Monastery at Monte Cassino. While his brothers pursued military careers, his parents intended for Thomas to follow his uncle into the abbacy. But Thomas had other ideas.

Because of the political climate at the time Thomas was not able to complete his studies in Monte Cassino and so was enrolled in University at Naples.  It was there that Thomas was likely introduced to Aristotle, Averroes and Maimonides, all of whom would greatly influence his theological philosophy.

At this time Thomas fell under the influence of a Dominican preacher, who was actively seeking to expand the order and bring in new and devout followers.

At the age of 19 and much to the chagrin of his family, he decided to join the Dominican Order. In an attempt to mitigate his mother’s influence, the monks made plans to move Thomas to Rome and then from Rome to Paris.

His mother masterminded a kidnapping at the hand of his own brothers who nabbed him on his way to Rome and delivered him back to his parents at the castle of Monte San Giovanni, Campano.

Thomas was held captive in his family castle for almost a year. The family was sure that he would capitulate and renounce the Dominicans.

When that didn’t happen, two of his brothers hired a prostitute to seduce him. Legend has it that two angels appeared to him while he slept, giving him strength and the determination to remain celibate and so he ran the prostitute off with a fire iron.

Seeing that all of her best efforts to dissuade him had failed, his mother had to craft a plan to save the family’s dignity. In the dark of night, she arranged for Thomas to escape through his window. Somehow for her, escape was less damaging than surrender to the Dominicans. Thomas was then sent to Naples and finally on to Rome to meet Johannes von Wildeshausen, the Master General of the Dominican Order and that was that.

HIS INFLUENCE: Thomas spent his life teaching, writing, meditating and praying. For many centuries there have been claims that Thomas would periodically fall into spiritual ecstasy and levitate.

It is said that on one such occasion, he encountered Christ who told him, “You have written well about me. What reward would you have for your labor?” Thomas’s reply, “Nothing but you Lord.”

Whether those claims are true or not, one thing is for sure. Thomas Aquinas was a man of deep faith and devotion. He became a great influence on Christian thought and philosophy and has remained so since.

His comment above that God should not be individuated follows a line of thinking expressed by the greatest religious and spiritual philosophers all throughout history in pretty much every known religion.

Thomas said that God should not be called a substance. Perhaps that’s because substance is limited. It has a beginning and an end and in his experience the Creator has no limitation and certainly no end.

In Hindu thought, the only thing that’s real is that which never changes. That notion goes on to say that the only thing that never changes is the Divine. Everything that we know here has a life span.

THE MESSAGE: The human mind is mostly influenced by what we experience here. It is only when we make extraordinary attempts to get to a quieter and more reflective place that we can perhaps have a glimpse of the grand and omnipotent Divine that gives birth to all substance but itself, is not substance…a heavenly connection that we cannot express in words, but can only experience in the attending heart of a still, aware and insistent soul.

Anyone who scuba dives knows how addictive it can be. The only sound you can hear is the air that leaves your lungs floating away like dancing spheres as you glide suspended and weightless in the depth of Mother’s womb.

You cannot run or jump. The sea plants around you sway gently with the current of the immense sea that buoys you. The marine life swims with the natural rhythm that has no end. It may ebb and flow, but it never ends.

This is a world that few humans experience and the deepest parts are unknown and unchartered. It’s mysterious and vastly different from life on dry land.

There’s been much arguing for a number of years about whether global warming is compromising planet Earth. I’m not going to argue the point. No one is likely to be swayed one way or the other by anything I write here.

My only comment is this. We are the only stewards of the Earth. It seems to me that whatever we are given, we are obligated to care for the very best we can. I think we could do a much better job than we are doing.

The Great Barrier Reef of Australia has been a focal point for those that are aware of and committed to understanding, loving and caring for what we cannot see…the undulating flow of life carrying bio-networks that birth beauty beyond comprehension. The reef is a 2,300 kilometer (over 1,400 mile) ecosystem living miles and miles beneath us.

Imagine what it would be like to miniaturize one’s self and drift through the Great Barrier Reef. The magnificent colors and the fractured sunlight laying across the brilliant plants and the unimaginable beauty of the coral life that seems infinite. The magical nooks and crannies, the curves and dips as you glide through massive beds of coral of every shape and color. The brilliantly painted marine life that swims, eats and lives in tandem with the magic of a world completely unlike our own.

HISTORY: The Great Barrier Reef has died and been reborn five times since the Ice Age. Two reefs were destroyed by exposure when sea levels fell. The three after that were overwhelmed by a combination of water too deep for it to live in and sediment from the mainland. The current reef is the sixth in the last 30,000 years. The miracle of its ability to regenerate is nothing short of astonishing.

                           GREAT BARRIER REEF DEVELOPMENT CHART

THE THREAT: The threat to the reef now seems to be what’s known as “bleaching”. It’s something that occurs when temperatures rise and tiny little creatures called polyps release toxins instead of the symbiotic algae needed to seed the reef. The toxins cause the coral to lose its color and die. Since we have no way of knowing when the rising temperatures might reverse, we have no way to judge whether or not the reef can resurrect itself if it dies again.

WHAT’S BEING DONE: There are scientists who are now experimenting with coral fertility treatments. They hope to create a baby boom for The Great Barrier Reef. The coral IVF is designed to help heal damaged coral and is showing signs of success.

There are those that are for the IVF treatments and those that feel the money should be spent to study and rectify the effects of the pollution and rising temperatures that seem to be choking the planet and the Great Barrier Reef along with it.

I really hate to think that one day all we will have left of this Icon Of The Ocean will be pictures and video. The thought that all that mystery and magic could be still and lifeless is sort of sickening.

The Great Barrier Reef makes me think of beauty beyond imagination and life for life’s sake. It feels akin to the inner part of something pure and uncompromising. It’s a symbol of the mystery of the inner part of the soul that we cannot touch with our fingers, but can only access with our true Self.

For me it begs the question, if we humans spent even a small amount time with the greatness of our inner self, would it inspire us to understand the interconnectedness of all life? If we as a whole had a better sense of the true Self, the inner mind, would it not excite us come together to nurture all life, knowing that in those acts of caring and love, we are nurturing ourselves.

carolynstonecloud.com

Many years ago I came across a book called “How To Meditate”written by Lawrence Leshan. In his book Mr. LeShan gives instruction on several different types of meditation, structured and non-structured. Two comments that he makes in the book have stuck with me for over 30 years.

The first, “If our bodies were as undisciplined as our minds, we’d never make it across the street alive.”The second, “It takes 21 days to make a habit and 21 days to break a habit.” Meditation is designed to get and keep control of the mind. Control your mind, control your life…right?

It’s taken decades and decades, but modern society seems to have finally embraced the benefits of meditation.  People who meditate are generally more centered and less likely to be thrown off their mark by unforeseen or difficult circumstances. The physical benefits are astounding. Blood pressure begins to regulate itself, the body and mind relax and the breath gets steady and deep.

So why don’t more people meditate?

Because it just isn’t easy. The mind has a monkey in it. And that crazy critter loves to run and jump from branch to branch, never staying in one place for too long. The hardest thing about meditating is to get control and settle the monkey mind.

When first beginning to meditate, most of us find that we can’t stay focused for even a few seconds. For an adult that’s a very frustrating experience. It exasperating and tremendously uncomfortable, so we just give up. There are also a million excuses to not sit down in the first place. At that point we either walk away completely, or it sits in the back of the brain like Mom wagging her finger at us naughty children who don’t do what we’re supposed to do and we just live with the nagging feeling that we’re never getting anywhere with it.

I can tell you from experience that there’s nothing like meditation…nothing. It does everything it’s touted to do. But, it’s still hard to get into the habit. Once you do, everything changes.

Meditation is like food, but food for the soul. We would never consider starving the body but think nothing of starving the soul. There’s a little secret in this that’s pretty important.  No matter how much we feed the body, it eventually dies and no matter how much we starve the soul, it lives forever. That’s how mighty your soul is. But in order for the soul to progress and grow it needs to be fed too. In order for the inner self to blossom it needs attention and it can’t get attention from anything on the outside.

So what’s any of this got to do with rock climbing?

I know people who love to rock climb. At first I thought it was one of those over the top, gut wrenching, body busting forms of exercise. I watched some videos of folks hanging on the side of a cliff and found myself holding my breath. Hopefully they weren’t holding theirs. Then I came across a view articles about how rock climbing gives the participants strength and great mental focus. As I investigated further, I found some rock climbers using the word “meditation” to describe their experience.

That really caught my attention. Rock climbing/meditation? Wow!

There are ancient forms of moving meditation such as Tai Chi and Qi Gong. They are wonderful at moving energy and vitality through the body and the mind. Maybe we can add Rock Climbing to the list of moving meditations.

One rock climber expressed that when you’re high in the air, pressed up against Mother’s Mountain and don’t really know which way to go, it’s just not an option to think about anything except that moment. She said it was all about experiencing the oneness between the physical, mental and spiritual.

Meditation whether moving or still is something that one must experience alone. Even if you’re in a room with others, it’s all about the internal process.  You’re on the inside at that point and free to experience everything that’s there. It’s your time, your space and your journey.

I have a new and greater respect for rock climbing now. And I understand why those that love it MUST keep doing it.

Don’t give up on meditation. You deserve the peace and power it infuses into all who drink at it’s unending and ever giving well.

                            Find a style that suits you. Moving or Still.

carolynstonecloud.com

The American Buffalo once roamed the grasslands of North America in magnificent and vast herds. They became nearly extinct by a mix of commercial hunting, and mass slaughter in the 19^thcentury and the introduction of bovine deceases from domestic cattle nearly finished them off. Fortunately they have recently made a comeback in a few national parks and reserves.

The American Buffalo is the national mammal of the United States, and so it should be.

I love to think of animals as our guides in life. We so often miss what they are trying to tell us. When we use Totem Animal Spirit, it connects us to our ancestry, the earth and the ancient symbols we’ve lost through modernism.

There’s nothing wrong with progress or modernism. It’s just not enough to fill the deep well of our consciousness that is tethered to our beginning and to the journey toward home.

As with all symbols, we have an opportunity to sit and contemplate a richer definition that can inform us in a swift and gently way, enlightening us as we sit quietly. Symbols take us into the fabric of our creativity and knowing.

Native Americans have always considered Buffalo a power animal. When we contemplate with Buffalo we are asked to walk a more sacred path and to engage with Mother Earth and Father Sky.

Buffalo brings prosperity to those that have an open heart and seek to live in harmony with all life in the universe. You really begin to know and live like Buffalo when all relationships are honored and kept as sacred and when you feel and express gratitude for all parts of your life and for all of creation.

The large head indicates great intellect and the horns reach toward the sky, hinting at a connection with higher thinking.

Buffalo will carry your burden if you are willing to give it up. The symbol of release is in the eyes of this brave and beautiful creature. Don’t hang on to what does not serve your highest good.

If you are burdened, close your eyes and see Buffalo. He/she is the symbol of caring and compassion, strength and power. You don’t need to say anything. Breathe and release. The Buffalo can carry the load. Lay it down, say thank you and carry on.

carolynstonecloud.com