We wake up every morning to a virtual world that despite being real fails to encapsulate the truth of our core being. Every day we wake up within the boundaries of time and space and try our best to accomplish as much as we can before the sun goes down, or sometimes continue into the dark hours of the night. The power is always on, the Internet never sleeps, and this “getting things done” around the clock has become a lifestyle far away from the true waves of what we are riding.
There is no question that things must get done so we can make a living and pay our way through this fantastic opportunity of a lifetime to be a human being for a while on this earth. But is that it? Is chasing the sun “only to come up behind us again” all that we are here to do? I think not. If we live in one reality only, that of establishing ourselves as a respected positive influence on our local environment, we fail to recognize and honor our soul, that which we truly are. Our history does not begin with a mere date of birth and in the warmth of our parents’ arms, we go further back to the beginning of time. You can easily trace your true origin by exploring your personal sacred scripture and its rendition of a transpersonal family tree. There, you may find that we are all one in spirit and have come here to be just that, one with all and all with One.
I said all of that to tell you this: you are precious and must treat yourself as one. Not in an unhealthy narcissistic way, of course, but in a kind and loving way similar to how you treat your loved ones. This is the ultimate self-care and the core practice of wellness. I can also, if I may, share a method of self-care to be used at intervals in between the hustle and bustle of daily upkeep of the Outlook Calendar. The following practice will provide an opportunity to nourish your soul and nurture your core being as you turn your attention towards a greater reality within you that you are naturally a part of. Think of this as a form of meditation that would bring you closer to nature and its valuable treasures, including yourself. Please try it out and make some time afterwards to process the experience by writing about it, this will help with concretizing the images of heaven inside your heart. So, here is an example of what I saw, what I heard, and what I wrote immediately after when I practiced it one morning at home:
I encourage everyone, if you are not already doing this, to talk with plants, trees, and birds. Garden lizards too, they are way too charming to resist. Next time you see one and it freezes at your sight, just start a conversation with it. I am serious. You can also talk with inanimate objects, but that will come later as you get better at talking with things that grow. It will be strange at first, but soon you will get the hang of it. You just need one response from one of them to get hooked.
We have this Jasmine plant in a pot sitting in our little patio. This Jasmine is starting to bloom. It does this once a year in spring. I sat next to it today to catch some sun and do a bit of blooming myself. I looked at her and asked, "how are you doing?" This plant shoots out folded white petals first, then in a couple of days they spread out to become pretty little starry flowers with the smell of magic, kind of a smell that closes your eyes as you breathe it in and takes you to heaven with a subtle smile on your face. You would think that "this is enough, what more do you expect from a plant?" Well, I expect answers and you can too.
You have to be patient, give yourself up to the process, no expectations, no rush, just surrender and wait with some faith in your heart. That's what I did today, sat there and waited as I kept my eyes on her. She is really amazing. She makes these short branches that split off into two green leaves and the flower appears from the middle like a star. I can count two of them already with more sitting in the wings waiting for the sun to pass through and ripen them.
"Talk to me," I asked one more time, "how are you doing?" I must say they don't converse like we do; they say whatever they want to say, or whatever they feel like you need to know, in silence. My Jasmine finally responded, "we are seeds, rooted in earth, water runs in our veins, and the sun shines on us all. There is no Jasmine without these. But all is nothing without the fifth. The final force, the final word. There is consciousness before there are any seeds. Consciousness is the final word. It comes in between and binds us all together as one. Jasmine knows and blooms with five stars and smells nice."
To make it clear, they don't have a mouth and a tongue, so don't expect to hear a voice out there, that would be creepy, wouldn’t it? I have been told by my Honeysuckle that they communicate through sound waves that go straight to the heart, not to the ears. I know, the whole thing sounds strange, but it is what it is, "a sure thing," like the lizard says, "sooner or later you will shed your skin, the old one doesn't work anymore. Everything changes, you must change too. Let the old go, wait for the new to grow, then let that go too. If you don't, skin over skin over skin, you will stop breathing under thickened old skins."
-Parviz Nafari, Penny Lane Centers
