How To Encourage Peace
Living Our Deeper Song
Ashe
(“Ah-Shay”)
The Creative in me honors the Creative in you!
As a spiritual person, how do I/we help heal the war-torn, hatred-filled eruptions in the world and bring peace to our own hearts and to the hearts of others? What do we change within ourselves?
“Don’t search for anything except peace. Try to calm the mind. Everything else will come on its own.”
– Baba Hari Das
Take a deep breath ad allow deep peace to fill your body. Feeling that makes me want to cry. I want it and need it so much. Take another breath and feel peace calm your mind. Perhaps you yawn in releasing. Allow peace to fill your heart. Peace is present right here and now, in ourselves and in everything we do and see.
“Every breath we take, every step we take, can be filled with peace, joy, and serenity.
The question is whether or not we are in touch with it. We need only to be awake, alive in the present moment.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh
Part of me says that if I focus on peace, I am ignoring what is going on in the world. But what you focus on you get. And I want peace.
We have work to do. In our spiritual practice of meditation, prayer and deep contemplation, we must focus on peace – what it looks like and feels like in our own lives and in the world. In your heart, experience yourself personally and collectively evolve into a new level of love, compassion, and vision of what could be…
“If you can empty your mind of all thoughts
your heart will embrace the tranquility of peace.
Watch the workings of all of creation,
but contemplate their return to the source.”
– Tao Te Ching, verse 16
I have turned my spiritual practice toward peace – visualizing peace, expecting peace, making certain my thoughts are peaceful and that I keep my vision focused on seeing and feeling and expecting peace in our world.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
– Mahatma Gandhi
How will you do that?
Deeper Song Affirmation
I focus on peace – in my heart and in the hearts of all humankind.
Deeper Song Process
- Do the peace work within yourself. Still your mind, go deep within and become peace. That will have great impact in the world.
===INNER WORK===
Deepen Your Inner Awareness
Stand On The Edge Of Opportunity
Now that I have decided to go for 104, I have some plans to make and some work to do. It’s not that I want to shape it precisely, but I do want to explore and look at new possibilities and consider new options.
One of my roles is to show people one way to actively age simply by illustrating what is possible. That includes continual intellectual exploration, an awareness of current affairs, and an involvement in constant learning, experimenting and exploring.
I seem to be organically expressing that through my enthusiasm and natural curiosity. I know that what I’m to do is to deepen my spiritual awareness and find opportunities to express what I find and share that and be that.
I have no role models. I only have this idea to live a lot longer and encourage my innate curiosity to open up new possibilities. I listen to my inner voice, visualize my future into being and listen to the guidance and nudges of the universe.
Are you listening? Do you pay attention to your inner voice and the opportunities the universe is placing before you? Where does that lead you? What are you going to do? You are standing at the edge of opportunity. Take the leap.
===SELF-HEALING===
Take Responsibility for Healing Yourself
Leave Room For The Unexpected
If we fill our lives too full, if we crowd our minds with thoughts and ideas and expectations, we may not leave room for the unexpected, let alone find ways to act upon it.
I journal at the end of each day to reflect on what I have learned and experienced but I need to add a conscious awareness of the unexpected nudges and perhaps make some choices about what to do with them. It could be a simple observation or a random comment from someone that suggests a new possibility.
Notice the habits that are holding you back. When I started attending this new group, I became aware of how important it was to me to be on time – if not a bit early. I have always been like that. That need and desire made me tense about waiting for the physical help I needed to get ready. It has taken six weeks for me to become more relaxed about that.
My mind is so quick to see the overview that I sometimes don’t take time to savor the more subtle possibilities.
We must leave space in our lives to explore an experiment. How do you slow yourself down? How do you create space for the unexpected?
===OUTER WORK===
Explore New Potential and Possibilities
Where Do You Want To Take Your Life Over The Next Few Years To Prepare For The Years After?
Several of my friends are retiring. They are planning for their next segment which in most cases is related to a way to continue to earn income by expanding an existing gift or exploring a new interest.
Now that I have arbitrarily decided to go for 104, I have some prep work to do – mostly on the physical plane. My choices are going to be affected by my physical process but the most work will need to be done within – to keep my spirits up – particularly around my eyes and the limitations the dry macular degeneration has begun to create that I have to work around. I’m not sure how to prepare for that except know that it is in progress and that I am a strong woman and can handle it. If I’m really smart, I will figure out the good in it…. I have to work on that one…
Where do you want to take your life over the next few years to prepare for the years after?
Use Writing To Clear and Clarify
I have used writing to clarify my thinking all my life. It’s sort of like writing to explain it to myself. Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way suggested writing “morning pages,” – write three pages of whatever’s on your mind as soon as you wake up.
Automatic writing or spontaneous writing is when you simply start writing what your mind is thinking. I was once taught that when I recorded a dream, I was to write on every other line so I could come back and read what I had written and add what insights and clarifying thoughts had surfaced about the dream description above it. I have not tried that with automatic writing but it sounds interesting.
A daily private stream-of-conscious writing session is a powerful way to excavate and articulate your deepest feelings, to identify them and address them. The goal is to get thoughts down on paper as unfiltered as possible.
How will you use automatic writing to reveal your innermost thoughts?
===DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE===
Self-Healing Spiritual Practice and Deepening Awareness of Our Cosmic Oneness
Spirituality And Your Spiritual Life Also Include Your Daily Interactions With Other People
How do you move through your day? Is it with spiritual awareness? Is it with peace in your heart? Is it with a desire to express love and kindness and generosity?
We get so caught up in our humanness that sometimes we really need to pause and consciously be more spiritually aware and express that in what we say and do.
I started to write that I don’t have a sense of being spiritual when I sit down at my computer – but I actually do. The minute that I read something that triggers an idea I want to share in his newsletter, I turn and write it – I explore it and express it from deep within myself.
As I was working on this issue, three high school students came in with the CNA. They were learning by observing. I asked them about the population they wanted to work with and we had a lively interchange. I like to think that I was an example of an interesting, intelligent, thoughtful and engaging old person. We touch the lives of others by our presence.
What does your light look like to other people? How can you make it brighter?
What Are The Root Causes Of Hate?
“Hate is based in issues of power and control. Hate comes from the idea that certain people can or should have power and control over others. These ideas come from our history where certain people took power over others. These ideas are built into systems that help certain people keep their power.” – Google
“Anti-Semitism is based on stereotypes and myths that target Jews as a people, their religious practices and beliefs, and the Jewish State of Israel. It is founded in Christianity.” Google
Hate is often fueled by a sense of personal threat and the dehumanization of others.
Examine your beliefs and identify their origin to make certain they are beliefs you want to hold and that they are true for you. Question their source. Explore their origins.
Your parents will also have implanted their own beliefs and prejudices on you which came partially from their parents.
What do you hold true and why is it true for you?
How Do You View Diversity?
I am learning more about other cultures since I moved into long term care because the staff is so diverse.
How do you view diversity? Do you learn from it? Do you explore the practices of other cultures to perhaps bring facets into your own spiritual practice?
I am spiritual but not religious. I am an independent seeker who brings into my personal spiritual practice the elements that resonate and nurture me.
Spirituality includes your spiritual practice which may include prayer, meditation, chanting, breathing exercises and ceremonies or rituals.
Spirituality and our spiritual life also include our daily interactions with other people. How does your spirituality manifest in your daily interactions?
Spend More Time In Solitude
Do you spend enough time alone? Do you take time to muse, to integrate, to imagine? It can be hard when you have to care for a family. But spending time in solitude is how you expand your spiritual awareness. It is how you listen to your Inner Voice and receive Guidance from the Universe.
Find a quiet place where the energy nurtures you. Sit in silence and encourage your mind to empty. In that emptiness restore balance to your whole being – no thoughts, just simply being present while your balance is restored. Practice emptying your mind. Let go of your life concerns and plans and simply listen. Absorb and reflect on what shows up.
If you are a parent, encourage your children to spend time in non-doing. Help them discover the powerful friendship of Self.
When and how will you spend more time in solitude?
===HOW TO BE A STRONG CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF THE CIRCLE OF LIGHT BEARERS===
Expand Your Role in the Rapidly Evolving Universe
Be Like A Tree And Let The Dead Leaves Drop – Rumi
Trees honor the change of the seasons – they know when to drop their leaves. They know how to wait patiently until it is time to grow new ones.
Animals are organically attuned to nature. They grow warm coats for winter and shed them in the spring. They mate so their offspring is born in the safety of warming weather.
Our unfolding life has its own rhythm. There are times when we must protect ourselves and other times when we must let things go. Do you know what to release and when to release it?
Begin with your expectations. What do you expect of yourself? What do you expect of your children? What do you expect of your friends? How does it feel to drop your expectations and simply embrace what is being offered? There is undoubtedly a lovely unexpected gift in each of your relationships when you pause to release your expectations and more closely examine what is gently being offered.
Sometime we just need to be still and let things unfold.
I, for one, have to work at that. I go barreling down a path with great enthusiasm and often do not give things time to unfold, or ripen, or mature.
I need to develop patience – with myself, with the steady unfolding of my life. I need to quiet my mind and be more contemplative. What do you need to do in order to “Be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop.” – Rumi
===BROADEN YOUR HORIZON – EXPAND YOUR VIEW===
Raise Your Sights and Your Expectations
Stay Flexible and Ready to Create A New Future
Sometimes we can plan too much. We get so caught up in what we have decided to do that we miss the unexpected concepts and opportunities that the Universe offers.
I’m trying to become less structured so my Inner Voice can offer its insights and suggestions. I need to spend more time in unstructured openness so I can pause, tune into what I want in the moment and choose from that perspective.
Then I have to be open to the options and nudges and new paths that open. We must learn to stay flexible and be ready to create a new future.
===REFLECTIONS OF A DEEPER SONG PODCAST===
Listen to my
Reflections of a Deeper Song Podcast on
Apple / Spotify / Googleand the
Deeper Song Website
===CARA’S CORNER===
I Want To Establish A New Pattern
There are several ways in which I want to change my life. My first one is on the physical level where I want to establish more daily practices. The second is to leave room to establish new practices that deepen my life experience and move me forward. The first thing I have to do is leave time to experiment and contemplate and cultivate.
I’m going to start with a standing Qigong practice I used to do. That will lead into more Qigong moves. I have some moves I do sitting down but I think I will place them in a second point as I complete my writing for the day.
I need some goals. One – to do those chosen moves every day and two – figure out where to put them in my day. Once they are established, I can set longer goals.
I want to have room to experiment. My sound hearing practice is minuscule. I want to explore and expand it.
These are all physical goals around walking because that’s where I need to do the most work.
I need to identify two times a day to do this. I want to make certain that I don’t over-challenge myself and become discouraged. I won’t set goals for the result I want because that might limit me. I’d like to be surprised…
I do have to figure out when to do these organically in my day but my intention is there and it will unfold. How do you establish a new pattern in your life?
===SING A DEEPER SONG ===
Cultivating Change
I plant the seeds of change. They are small but very determined. I diligently care for them.
I plant the seeds of change. They are small but very determined. I diligently care for them. As change grows, I nurture it and encourage it to grow and strengthen.
I plant the seeds of change. They are small but very determined. I diligently care for them. As change grows, I nurture it and encourage it to grow and strengthen. When I harvest one crop of changes, I go back to my seed catalog of change to see what crops I want to harvest next. I keep planting and harvesting and grow my life.
– Cara Lumen, November, 2023
We create our future with every thought we think, every action we take. Move forward mindfully as you sing your Deeper Song.
Namaste,
Cara
Come Sing a Deeper Song
I help Transformational Leaders
deepen our relationship with the Unseen World
and expand our role in the New Consciousness
Cara Lumen, explorer, spiritual philosopher, teacher, guide, leads us on a journey of self-awareness, spiritual expansion and impactful service. She helps us believe in our value, trust in our gifts, express our passion in a unique manner and build something meaningful around our wisdom and expertise. She helps us sing a deeper song.
Live in the nowhere that you came from,
even though you have an address here – Rumi
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