{"id":18583,"date":"2017-01-07T07:00:24","date_gmt":"2017-01-07T12:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/?p=18583"},"modified":"2017-01-06T15:06:14","modified_gmt":"2017-01-06T20:06:14","slug":"thoughts-for-the-new-yearpensees-pour-la-nouvelle-annee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/2017\/01\/07\/thoughts-for-the-new-yearpensees-pour-la-nouvelle-annee\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts for the New Year\/Pens\u00e9es pour la Nouvelle Ann\u00e9e"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Woodcut<\/a>

Woodcut in Camille Flammarion’s L’atmosph\u00e8re: m\u00e9t\u00e9orologie populaire<\/em>, 1888, captioned (English) “A medieval missionary tells that he has found the point where heaven and Earth meet…” Artist: unknown<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

We come into this world fresh from the realm of angels, still sparkling with the wisdom and innocence of our common spiritual homeland, that sacred place where we are imagined into being by the Divine.<\/p>\n

But the material world into which we are born, this world we have come to accept as real, begins to efface our sacred knowledge from the moment we draw first breath. Slowly we lose connection to our origins and to the understanding of our life-purpose, until at last we are educated out of such things. For some this education is more thorough and damaging than others.<\/p>\n

Yet deep within us all there is a profound yearning. Modern languages do not even have the vocabulary to describe this longing, which goes far beyond ennui, far beyond dissatisfaction. We fill the empty place with activities, with attachments, with mood-altering chemicals. Yet the void remains.<\/p>\n

It is possible to slowly unlearn what we have been taught. To discard the diseased notion, handed to us as fact, that there is an us and a them, that there is some benefit to us to fear, hate and harm others. When we engage in racism, sexism or any other \u2013ism, we are maiming a part of the body human because we do not see the truth of its wholeness. It is a lifetime process to undo the damage of bad learning, the kind that puts us into Malvina Reynolds’ little boxes, but we can do it.<\/p>\n

\"Little<\/a>

Little boxes. Photo (detail): Pilar Flores<\/a>, Creative Commons, some rights reserved<\/p><\/div>\n

For me, there is no one formula or belief system that will save us. I respect all religious beliefs, but because each has at one time served, and many still serve, as vehicles of further division, I do not subscribe to any. Every faith has at its core the potential to unite, however, and there are many teachings from which to respectfully learn: the Talmud, the Quran, the New Testament, the Great Law of the Haudenosaune and the oral traditions of indigenous cultures around the world, the teachings of the Buddha, the 12 steps, to name but a few. These are for us to use as inspiration, not for us to appropriate.<\/p>\n

Every path to unlearning, to healing, is unique to the individual. Each person will differ in terms of what belief system resonates most strongly with them, or which precept within any given tradition speaks to their heart and helps spark them awake. Sharing the things which have furthered our spiritual growth is important. Expecting or even demanding that someone walk the same path we have followed is destructive.<\/p>\n

No spiritual or political hero is going to step out of the shadows and heal our false learned beliefs for us. By no means am I suggesting we dismiss wise and compassionate souls like the Dalai Lama, Deepak Chopra, Thich Nhat Hanh, Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi), Paulo Coelho and many others. Quite the contrary\u2014these are some of our best guides. But anyone who claims they can usher in a shiny happy world if only we adhere to their program and regard them as the primary source of truth is at the very least a false guru, and quite likely dangerous.<\/p>\n

There are genuine teachers of unlearning, however, who are closer at hand than the luminaries mentioned above. We can become powerful teachers and healers for ourselves and one another when we are able to come from a place of vulnerability and authenticity. Of course this is easier said than done.<\/p>\n

Learning to be vulnerable requires dropping our shields. It feels risky. I believe that it can be made easier as an act of co-creation, with support from like-minded people. May this new year be one for removing armor and boxes, and truly meeting one another; may 2017 be a time of community and compassion.<\/p>\n

**************<\/p>\n

Pens\u00e9es pour la Nouvelle Ann\u00e9e<\/h2>\n

Nous arrivons dans ce monde fra\u00eechement issus du royaume des anges, encore \u00e9tincelants de la sagesse et de l’innocence de notre patrie spirituelle commune, ce royaume sacr\u00e9 o\u00f9 nous sommes imagin\u00e9s par le Divin.<\/p>\n

Mais, le monde mat\u00e9riel dans lequel nous sommes n\u00e9s, ce monde que nous sommes venus \u00e0 accepter comme r\u00e9el, commence \u00e0 effacer notre connaissance sacr\u00e9e d\u00e8s le premier souffle. Lentement, nous perdons la connexion \u00e0 nos origines et \u00e0 la compr\u00e9hension du but de notre vie. \u00c0 un point tel, que notr \u00e9ducation nous \u00e9loigne finalement de ces choses pourtant essentielles. Pour certains, cette \u00e9ducation est plus approfondie et plus dommageable que pour d’autres.<\/p>\n

Pourtant, au fond de nous, il y a une profonde aspiration. Les langues modernes n’ont m\u00eame pas un vocabulaire efficace pour d\u00e9crire ce d\u00e9sir, qui va bien au-del\u00e0 de l’ennui, bien au-del\u00e0 de l’insatisfaction. Nous remplissons le vide avec des activit\u00e9s, des attaches, des produits chimiques alt\u00e9rant l’humeur. Pourtant, le vide subsiste.<\/p>\n

Il est possible de d\u00e9sapprendre lentement ce qu’on nous a enseign\u00e9. Pour \u00e9carter le concept absurde, qui nous est souvent transmis comme fait, qu’il y a un nous et un eux, qu’il y a un avantage pour nous de craindre, de ha\u00efr et de nuire aux autres. Quand nous nous engageons dans le racisme, le sexisme ou tout autre -isme, nous mutilons une partie du corps de l\u2019humanit\u00e9 parce que nous ne voyons pas la v\u00e9rit\u00e9 de sa totalit\u00e9. C’est un processus qui dure toute une vie de pouvoir d\u00e9faire les d\u00e9g\u00e2ts caus\u00e9s par un mauvais apprentissage, le genre de d\u00e9g\u00e2ts qui nous met dans les petites bo\u00eetes de Malvina Reynolds. Mais nous pouvons le faire.<\/p>\n

Selon moi, il n’y a pas de formule ou de syst\u00e8me de croyances qui puissent nous sauver. Je respecte toutes les croyances religieuses, cependant, puisque chacune a servi \u00e0 un moment donn\u00e9, et beaucoup servent encore de moyens ult\u00e9rieurs de division, je pr\u00e9f\u00e8re ne souscrire \u00e0 aucune. Toutes les traditions religieuses ont en leur sein le potentiel d\u2019unir, et il y a beaucoup d’enseignements \u00e0 apprendre d\u2019elles dans le respect: le Talmud, le Coran, le Nouveau Testament, la Grande Loi des Haudenosaunee et les traditions orales des cultures indig\u00e8nes dans le monde, les enseignements du Bouddha, les 12 \u00e9tapes, pour n’en nommer que quelques-uns. Ces r\u00e9cits sont l\u00e0 pour que nous les utilisions comme source d\u2019inspiration, certainement pas pour que nous en r\u00e9clamions la paternit\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Le chemin vers le d\u00e9sapprentissage, vers la gu\u00e9rison, est unique \u00e0 chaque individu. Une personne pourra par exemple adopter un syst\u00e8me de croyance en lequel elle trouvera une plus grande r\u00e9sonnance, ou elle pourra encore adopter un pr\u00e9cepte quelconque choisi d\u2019une tradition qui parle \u00e0 son c\u0153ur afin de l\u2019aider \u00e0 s\u2019\u00e9veiller. Partager les choses qui ont favoris\u00e9 notre croissance spirituelle est important. Attendre ou m\u00eame exiger que quelqu’un emprunte le m\u00eame chemin que nous est destructeur.<\/p>\n

Aucun h\u00e9ros spirituel ou politique ne va sortir de l\u2019ombre et gu\u00e9rir nos fausses croyances pour nous. Je ne sugg\u00e8re en aucun cas que nous rejetions des \u00e2mes sages et compatissantes comme le Dalai Lama, Deepak Chopra, Thich Nhat Hanh, Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi) ou Paulo Coelho. Bien au contraire, Ils sont quelques-uns de nos meilleurs guides. Toutefois, quiconque pr\u00e9tend qu’il peut nous conduire \u00e0 un monde heureux et lumineux \u00e0 condition que nous adh\u00e9rions \u00e0 son programme et que nous le consid\u00e9rions comme d\u00e9tenteur de v\u00e9rit\u00e9, est \u00e0 tout le moins un faux gourou, et est tr\u00e8s probablement dangereux.<\/p>\n

Il existe de v\u00e9ritables enseignants du d\u00e9sapprentissage qui peuvent \u00eatre cependant plus accessibles que les sommit\u00e9s susmentionn\u00e9es. Nous pouvons devenir des enseignants et des gu\u00e9risseurs puissants pour nous-m\u00eames en tout premier lieu. Ensuite, nous pouvons le devenir les uns pour les autres \u00e0 condition que nous puissions incarner des valeurs telles que la vuln\u00e9rabilit\u00e9 et l\u2019authenticit\u00e9. Bien s\u00fbr, c’est plus facile \u00e0 dire qu’\u00e0 faire.<\/p>\n

Apprendre \u00e0 \u00eatre vuln\u00e9rable exige de laisser tomber nos boucliers. C’est risqu\u00e9. Nous croyons que cela peut \u00eatre simplifi\u00e9 par un acte de co-cr\u00e9ation, avec le soutien de personnes partageant les m\u00eames id\u00e9es. Puisse cette nouvelle ann\u00e9e \u00eatre celle o\u00f9 l’on enl\u00e8ve toute armure et bo\u00eetes, et o\u00f9 l’on se rencontre r\u00e9ellement; Que 2017 soit un temps pour la communaut\u00e9 et la compassion.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

**************<\/p>\n

Little Boxes<\/strong><\/p>\n

~Malvina Reynolds, 1962~<\/p>\n

Little boxes on the hillside
\nLittle boxes made of ticky tacky
\nLittle boxes on the hillside
\nLittle boxes all the same.<\/p>\n

There’s a pink one and a green one
\nAnd a blue one and a yellow one
\nAnd they’re all made out of ticky tacky,
\nAnd they all look just the same.<\/p>\n

And the people in the houses
\nAll went to the university,
\nWhere they were put in boxes,
\nAnd they came out all the same.<\/p>\n

And there’s doctors and lawyers
\nAnd business executives,
\nAnd they’re all made out of ticky tacky
\nAnd they all look just the same.<\/p>\n

And they all play on the golf course,
\nAnd drink their martinis dry,
\nAnd they all have pretty children,
\nAnd the children go to school.<\/p>\n

And the children go to summer camp
\nAnd then to the university,
\nWhere they are put in boxes
\nAnd they come out all the same.<\/p>\n

And the boys go into business,
\nAnd marry and raise a family,
\nIn boxes made of ticky tacky,
\nAnd they all look just the same.<\/p>\n

There’s a pink one and a green one
\nAnd a blue one and a yellow one
\nAnd they’re all made out of ticky tacky
\nAnd they all look just the same.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We come into this world fresh from the realm of angels, still sparkling with the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[9418],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18583"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/102"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18583"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18591,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18583\/revisions\/18591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}