WU WEI - The Art of Doing Nothing

The Art of Doing Nothing

"Sitting quietly. Doing nothing. Spring comes. And the grass grows by itself." This Haiku poem
by Matsuo Basho (1600's) floated into my inbox one morning after the US election. Sitting quietly and doing nothing was definitely not part of my game-plan that day. But, I tucked it away thinking if things "settled down" I'd revisit it at a later date.

Things didn't settle down! After the inauguration the country was more divided than ever before. Visible agitation and personal anguish were expressed everywhere. Some felt we were on a runaway train back to the dark ages. Friendships became irretrievably broken. Sadly in other cases, long term marriages or relationships ended because of election results. The very active "group-mind" behind the right and the left were at polar opposites. Neither side could agree on any topic.

After a few months sitting in this symbolically stretched-thin rubber band, I was at a loss on how to move forward. Then I remembered two spiritual teachers and the practices they taught me for when things seemed most bleak. The first was to be consciously aware of what you're doing and the second, reflect on what is actually transpiring behind the obvious appearances. So I took stock of my daily life. Being tied to the computer (which supports our many projects and seminars) was partly to blame. Bombarded by constant news flashes I was swallowed up with
anxiety just like everyone else. I had to do something pro-active. I clicked a few buttons and disabled the News Briefs, Facebook, and Twitter posts. Instantly my knee-jerk reactions to every breaking headline or post stopped. Ease entered the work-day. I focused on creative work instead of the chaotic news cycles with their inane talking-head commentaries.

Then, "Spring came and the grass began to grow by itself." I remembered the Haiku to "sit quietly and do nothing." What an indulgence that seemed. I looked up the concept of sitting quietly and doing nothing and found Wu Wei. It's one of the greatest principles in Taoism known as "action in non-action." That sounds like a contradiction but it's not. It's actually allowing our actions to happen effortlessly and finding that the actions are in fact, part of a greater flowing alignment. So I sat quietly, doing meditation practices, sending healing and blessing to governments around the world. A contented feeling washed over me that "the grass would grow by itself" or in other words, "All is well."

While I wasn't immune to the daily news, the practice of Wu Wei allowed the second spiritual
practice to form. I started looking behind what was actually transpiring and saw a bigger picture emerge. Reasoned individuals who had long been silent were mobilizing in support of their views. People who didn't care what was happening in the outer world, began to care again. They were marching, writing Congress, completing polls, contacting friends, attending Town Hall meetings, and some even taking the dramatic first step of running for public office. They were organizing into waves of action in a flowing alignment.

I'm much older now than the days when I too marched on Washington for various causes. Those marches in the 60's and 70's set in motion civil rights, the US withdrawal from Viet Nam, women's rights, Roe v. Wade and gay rights. The ones marching and lobbying today, along with those content with the status quo, will also see the results of their efforts playing out in the years to come. If actions are in alignment with a common purpose, and intended for the good of all, we'll experience the results of all their efforts.  It's happened before and it will again.  In fact, it's much like experiencing an exquisite cup of tea.

Why tea? Consider what transpires unseen and unknown behind a cup of tea. Things are happening behind the scenes.  It grows in the higher elevations of the earth. Tropical clouds
overhead create the rain that waters the tea bush. Human hands lovingly pick three or four perfect leaves from each stem, drying them for days before the crop goes to market. Auction houses buy the tea then ship it to the various countries to be purchased by brand or type by ordinary consumers.

Each cup of tea you enjoy contains an immense geological, geographical, political and social history. The visible and invisible efforts of the elements of earth, water, air, fire, and human hands create that exquisite cup. That's exactly what's happening in the external world. Our collective consciousness is affected by the activities of everyone who demonstrates for change. Some do it quietly on the internal world, seemingly doing nothing. Some do it fiercely in the outer world by marching, organizing, and lobbying. All put their desires into action, aligning with a purpose.

Wu Wei says there is "action in non-action." Whether we're active or not, the tea still grows. In time a delicious brew awaits us. Or as Julian of Norwich said, "All is well!"

                                                                                                 Jo Mooy - June 2017

How Many Marbles

How Many Marbles?

   

Thirty-five years ago I spent three years with an inspiring teacher. She  taught me about life and valuing the time we've been given on earth. She put it into perspective with a remarkable lesson. She said each person was specifically chosen to come to earth during times of great change with a mission to accomplish. The mission could be discovered by turning to a psychic reader, or a course of study might stir the fires of past-life skills needed now.

She advised "doing the work yourself" by seeking answers through meditation, dreams or journaling. She said be mindful of the time you have on earth and know you've been given a limited amount of it. She said each of us had been given a secret number when we departed the spirit world. It was the number of years we have on earth and it related to our destiny and our mission. She said use the time wisely and with purpose. So I asked her "How do we measure our time left and how do we accomplish our mission?"

She'd heard the question from many students before me so had a prepared answer. She asked me a series of questions: "At the beginning of each day do you set an intention to be better than the day before? How do you spend your time and in what pursuits? Do you respond with kindness and compassion to others? What talents or skills do you generously share with others?  Are you frivolous or thoughtful with the hours of each day? Do you treasure each moment that you've been gifted to be here? At the end of each day are you grateful to Spirit?"

Taking a jar filled with marbles from her altar she said each marble represented a year left in her life. When she was younger, the jar was practically full but in the latter part of her seventh decade, there were only 15 marbles in the jar. Rolling them into her hands the visual made a lasting impression. She explained that when she was a young girl in South America her grandmother taught her the magic and medicine of the earth and how to relate to all species. Her grandmother also taught her about the finite number of years given to each person on earth.

To help her remember the teachings, her mission and her lineage, the grandmother placed 85 stones in a pouch. She said each stone represented her grand-daughter's life expectancy.  On each birthday she was to take a stone out of the pouch and deeply reflect on the year just past. What had she done with the year? How did she spend her time? Was it a year making the world a better place? Or was it squandered? She said at first the bag appeared filled with endless stones. But over time, as the stones began to diminish she realized the value of time and how it was being spent.

The questions always cause sober introspection. But the visual of the glass jar of marbles, diminishing with each passing year, is much more indelible. My teacher is gone now, but the lesson of the jar of marbles remains. Her lesson is use the time wisely! You never know how many marbles you really have left! 

Jo Mooy - March 2013

Life Do Overs

Life's Do Overs

 

I was thinking about 2012 and all the anticipation its brought to so many people. After reflecting on all the reasons that it's held us enthralled one simple thought rang out. 2012 offers a chance to really start anew with a blank slate. The more I thought about that blank slate, it seemed that like kids or casual golfers, we're looking down the barrel of a real-life Do-Over.  

Life is so full of promise and opportunity, especially when you're young. Goals get set and each one seems achievable. You're invincible! You can do anything and conquer any challenge. Then something happens along the way. John Lennon called it life. He said, "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans." He said that in a song lyric written just before he died.

But what about us? What about the goals and invicibility? As we get older, go off to college, get a job, assume more and more responsibility, perhaps get married and have children, the goals go dormant. All the promises and ideas we had sort of go into limbo. Most of the time, even the dreams get put aside. Every so often we're reminded of them, but usually it takes a crisis - health, job loss, death in the family, or even age - to revive the old thoughts or ideals of our youth. As the crisis unfolds we finally take time to look back on the life journey and wonder how the choices of the past took us to this point.

But what if we took a moment at this stage in life to reflect on what's important now? Is what we're doing now different from what was important in our youth? Can the dreams be re-captured?  What if the dreams aren't lost but were merely shelved? We often ask "God" to help us out of the crisis and usually make promises that go for naught.  But, what if there was a chance to "do over" our life? 

Recently, I read an article about a hospice care-giver who spent most of her time with patients in the final stages of their lives. She noticed most people grow the most when faced with their own mortality. So she undertook a project of asking herpatients what were the five things they most regretted in life or would have done differently. The patients, knowing they were in the final hours of their lives, wished they had done many things before it was too late.

Their Life Do-Over wishes were more than a list. The Do-Overs were really a philosophy of living. They spoke of being true, having courage, nurturing friendships, and expressing joy.  Their top five said:

 

1) I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself instead of the life others expected of me.
2) I wish I hadn't worked so hard.
3) I wish I had the courage to express my feelings.
4) I wish I had stayed in touch with my old friends.
5) I wish I had let myself be happier. 

2012 opens the gateway to the new world prophecies. We have a clean slate and can write anything on it. We have more than the hospice patients. We have the dreams, the memories, the friendships and the awareness. And, better yet, we have the time. It's not too late for us! 

   

Jo Mooy - April 2012

Ascension Revisited

Ascension Revisited

My well-ordered world shifted in late 2005 after the death of my mother.  At the time, I couldn't explain what was welling up from inside but sensed my life was about to dramatically change.  It did.  A stellar job, a long term relationship, life-long friends, and a lifestyle that left me wanting for nothing, ended. 

Suddenly unencumbered,  I relocated to Sarasota Florida, moved into an empty house with my "desert island" books, some CD's and a few folding chairs.  In the uncluttered serenity of the house I spent hours in meditation trusting in the unseen and unknowable.  Within a very short time, new friends appeared who had similar interests in spiritual topics.  (You know who you are!)  They felt more familiar than people I'd known all my life.   

That move and those friends set a spiral in motion that allowed me to know Ascension not from what I'd read in books but as an experience.   I learned Ascension was about rising up out of the old to something much more beautiful, like a butterfly emerging from the caterpillar state. 

It's been five years since that move.  My personal changes were evident in 2005, but in retrospect the energies of Ascension moved me into completely new spiritual directions.  I still had the old skills that had served me well, but now I was using them differently.  Instead of organizing business projects like I did in my old life, I was now organizing spiritual events and ceremonies.  Instead of training new managers I was now teaching others how to use meditation and dreams to find their life purpose.  Instead of climbing the corporate ladder with an executive mentor, I was now on a level path with a spiritual master.  I discovered that I could live cheaper and on much less by getting rid of clutter and things I no longer needed.  I found I didn't have to be a consumer to be happy, instead joy was found through simple things like the magic of scent, sound and color in my small garden.  Most importantly, I learned that my beliefs, thoughts and actions affected not only my small circle of influence, but also had consequences in the unseen world.

 

Ancient texts and modern oracles said that in this time called Ascension the earth and humanity would move from the 3^rd dimension to the 4^th.  Today, it certainly feels like we're living in two worlds.  Part of humanity continues to squarely inhabit the 3^rd while the other is gently sliding into the 4^th.  While the 3D world continues to be stable and solid, has laws governing it, and functions in old familiar ways, it is visibly changing.  Physically, the oceans are warming, ice caps are melting, and food sources are drying up.  Mentally there's angst, fear and uncertainty about the future.  Emotionally, wars continue to be fought at a personal and tribal level.  On the spiritual level religion is being questioned as individuals struggle to understand its long held role amid their personal search for truth.

On the 3^rd Dimensional level, we continue to react to old problems with stagnant ideas.  Fear and anxiety govern most actions.  When changes do happen, most feel powerless to do anything about them.  In that dimension it's hard to hope for better solutions or to experience a better life. 

In the 4^th Dimensional level ease predominates.  In that dimension, form is shaped by thought, time is instantaneous, and consciousness alters both the third and fourth dimensions.  On the physical level disease is managed energetically or is non-existent.  On the mental level the nature of the soul is explored.  On the emotional level high ideals drive behavior.  Finally, on the spiritual level the goal is experiencing enlightenment.  Those in fourth dimensional consciousness know they are part of a mystical journey that will birth a lighter and more refined state of human. 

So where are we collectively on Ascension?  We're in the initiation phase.  But how we move through it is up to each individual.  If you're reading these articles on Ascension, you're probably aware of some of these changes.  Thirty years ago very few people would have seen the articles much less known about the topic.  Today thousands of articles and websites like it are widely read online.  The entire world has become wirelessly connected by keystrokes or through the latest images on nightly news. 

If you Google "Ascension of Earth" 4.8 million references appear.  A search on "Spirituality" generates 32.5M results while a search on "Life Purpose" yields 92.7 million references.  If you type the word "God" on the Google reference line 427 million hits occur.  All of these "hits" tell a story, provide information, or share obscure or arcane knowledge on spiritual topics.  If you spend focused time online, in meditation, or in intensely creative endeavors, you'll find yourself existing between the alpha and theta brain-wave stage where you'll often lose track of time, space, or even your physical needs.  These activities take you out of the 3^rd dimension and into the 4^th where a fluid world, filled with new concepts, inspiring ideals and endless possibilities exist.

But in 4^th Dimensional consciousness, there's a noticeable change.  What we think about the universe and our relation to it is much more heart-centered.  We're able to feel compassion for the global family that is desperately trying to erase feelings of lack, separation, and fear.  More than that, we are actively engaged in a solution, and committed to making the world a better place.  Through effortless efforts our thoughts, our behaviors, and our beliefs are focused on that goal!

During this time of Ascension, more and more people are searching for and finding spiritual ideals, teachers, masters or practices to guide them.  They've heard the real call of their life's purpose and are acting upon it.  No longer slaves to the rational world, they now work with complementary "Soul Groups" offering self-less service and loving healing to others.  They know they do not have to be physically present to affect change.  They only have to be present in consciousness. 

These are the initiates of Ascension whose thoughts and behavior, flowing freely through the 4^th dimension, entrains others who are on the same wave-length.  In this quantum field filled with hope and love, global consciousness is collectively uplifted.  Ascension means courageously living from the heart center, and compassionately caring about the plight of our fellow humans. In that dimensional place, a new world built on love and harmony evolves and together we all ascend.

Jo - December 2010