The Eternal Dance
“It is this Eternal Dance that is always, at every moment, creating, destroying, and recreating all things; all things in all worlds and at every subtle level of all known and unknown universes are the constantly changing and evolving expressions of this secret lightning-dance, this vast blissful ecstatic dance, the Dance of the Sacred Marriage between the “masculine” and “feminine” poles and powers of the Godhead…”
–Andrew Harvey (Indian-born English Philosopher, 1952-)
“Enlightenment for Everyone: A Practical Guide to Realizing Your True Nature” (Paul Ferrini)
Resolving the Blocks In Your Life
“All the problems of the individual and of humanity have to do with a block in and most important, may be resolved by the flow of love/consciousness.”
–Alan Oken (American Spiritual Teacher, Astrologer and Minister of the Church of Religious Science, 1944-)
“Soul Centered Astrology: A Key to Your Expanding Self” (Alan Oken)
Doing What You Must Do
“You thought, as a boy, that a mage is one who can do anything. So I thought once. So did we all. And the truth is that as a man’s knowledge widens, ever the way he can follow grows narrower; until at last he chooses nothing, but does only and wholly what he must do.”
–Ursula K. Le Guin (American Writer, 1929-)
“A Wizard of Earthsea (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 1)” (Ursula K. Le Guin)
Living at 100%
“It is as if evolution has built a safety device in our nervous system that allows us to experience full happiness only when we are living at 100%–when we are fully using the physical and mental equipment we have been given.”
–Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Italian-born Hungarian American Psychologist and Author, 1934-)
“Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning” (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi)
Influencing With the Flowing Energy of the Self
“Energy is increased in solitude. If you are filled with the energy of the Self, that energy flows out of you and nourishes everyone in your vicinity. You don’t have to direct this power outwards, this energy will flow of its own accord.”
–Annamalai Swami (Indian Spiritual Teacher and Personal Attendant of Ramana Maharshi, 1906-1995)
The Flow of Power
“Power! Did you ever hear of men being asked whether other souls should have power or not? It is born in them. You may dam up the fountain of water, and make it a stagnant marsh, or you may let it run free and do its work; but you cannot say whether it shall be there; it is there. And it will act, if not openly for good, then covertly for evil; but it will act.”
–Olive Schreiner (a.k.a. Ralph Iron, South African-born Writer and Feminist, 1855-1920)
Everything Should Be Your Teacher
“Study how water flows in a valley stream, smoothly and freely between the rocks. Also learn from holy books and wise people. Everything – even mountains, rivers, plants and trees – should be your teacher.”
–Morihei Ueshiba (Japanese Martial Artist and Founder of Aikido, 1883-1969)
Peace Originates With the Flow
“Peace originates with the flow of things – its heart is like the movement of the wind and waves. The Way is like the veins that circulate blood through our bodies, following the natural flow of the life force. If you are separated in the slightest from that divine essence, you are far off the path.”
–Morihei Ueshiba (Japanese Martial Artist and Founder of Aikido, 1883-1969)
Life Is a Flowing Entity
“Life, to spiritual vision, is a flowing entity.”
–Rudolf Steiner (Croatian-born Austrian Mystic, Occultist, Social Philosopher, Architect and Founder of Anthroposophy, 1861-1925)
Intuition, Flow and the Avoidance of Danger
"Flow with whatever is happening and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.”
–Chuang Tzu (Chinese Philosopher, c.369-286 B.C.E.)
There is some intriguing evidence, summarized in a very interesting article that fewer people ride on trains on the days that there are accidents. Even when you take into consideration things like vacations, there still seem to be fewer travelers on days when an accident is to occur. Some people seem to know when it’s not a good day to be traveling: they exercise a form of unconscious intuition that keeps them out of harm’s way.
In the 1971 novel Recoil, Claude and Rhoda Nunes describe a boy called George who is so in tune with the pulse of a city that he arrives every intersection at the precise moment when he can cross; he reaches his destinations without any of the normal delays. And in any shops that he visits, he immediately attracts the attention of an assistant who just happens to be unoccupied. Though this is a novel, it is also a good illustration of the way things can happen for you when you are attuned to the world around you.
At one time I was doing a lot of work in Chicago, which involved visiting various sites in the city. My hosts used to joke about the way that they would normally struggle to find a place to leave the car, but that when I was their guest, we always get “rock star parking.” A space would open up for us in just the tight place at the right time. However, they were not quite right. We invariably did find a parking spot so long as I remained calm and detached, but the moment that either of us became fretful about being late, as soon as emotion was being stirred up, then the parking spots would vanish.
I once learned this lesson the hard way. I had some prized tickets to see a performance at the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden. And on that day, despite everything that I had been taught about how we choose our emotional states, despite all the things that I had tried to inculcate in my students, I forgot the lessons. My last patient of the day had required more help than I expected, the person accompanying me to the performance was very late, the traffic was awful and I became more and more anxious and then irritable. Not surprisingly, on this particular day, there was to be no special parking anywhere and I missed the whole of the first act of a favorite opera. Though painful, this was a valuable lesson.
The spiritual Master or Mistress is in a constant state of flow: being in the right place at the right time. Anyone can achieve this with a little practice. Step one is to gain some control over your emotions. Attunement with your body and with the world around you is difficult until you have been able to develop a measure of control of your emotional states. The best ways that I know for doing that are not simply trying to talk yourself into emotional control, but also to use three extra things: Flower essences, the Tapping therapies and acupressure.
There’s a very helpful little acupressure trick. If you run your fingers along the top of the trapezius muscle that runs from the back of your skull to your shoulder, in the very middle is an acupuncture point: Gallbladder 21. If you find yourself being overwhelmed by emotion, gentle pressure at that point for just a few moments will usually help you re-establish control of your emotions very quickly.
“When you do things from your soul you feel a river moving in you, a joy. When action come from another section, the feeling disappears.”
Jalal al-Din Rumi (Afghan Sufi Poet, 1207-1273)
“To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness. This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a certain way, good or bad. It seems almost paradoxical, yet when your inner dependency on form is gone, the general conditions of your life, the outer forms, tend to improve greatly. Things, people, or conditions that you thought you needed for your happiness now come to you with no struggle or effort on your part, and you are free to enjoy and appreciate them – while they last. All those things, of course, will still pass away, cycles will come and go, but with dependency gone there is no fear of loss anymore. Life flows with ease.”
–Eckhart Tolle (German-born Author and Spiritual Teacher, 1948-)
