Friday, September 14, 2012
Poem by Rumi
Does sunset sometimes look like the sun's coming up?
Do you know what a faithful love is like?
You're crying. You say you've burned yourself.
Can you think of anyone who's not
hazy with smoke?
Rumi
Personally, I resonate strongly with the last question of this poem. It seems as though more and more people are suffering various extreme blows in their lives. Some have already left the planet, others have remained, often as victims of unknown and mysterious diseases that expose them to great suffering, and many undergo unexpected losses.
The international picture contributes to the overall sense of grief. When such crises occur, it is as if the very atmosphere picks up the vibrations of chaos and confusion. This state adds to the sense of personal loss. Most of us are unclear, even bewildered, by the causes of such universal turmoil, but we all feel its effects.
I think this is the time to "batten down the hatches," and hold fast to those we love and to those aspects of our universe that we esteem. True friends will not betray us. Nature will endure, no matter what blows are inflicted by humankind upon her. We may in fact be at a great turning point in history, when familiar power structures shift and collapse, when new dominant ruling powers take shape, when many losses occur and new configurations emerge. We may be entering a new dark age, or perhaps we are on the verge of a bright transformation of universal social structures.
One thing is clear. Obviously we all had ancestors who managed to survive--wars, plagues, famines--catastrophes of all kind. If they had not been survivors, we ourselves would not be here now. Further, there is good reason to believe that even during times of vast social upheaval, many have managed to live lives of quiet personal fulfillment.
Kundalini itself is an invaluable source of reassurance in times of trouble. To begin with, it costs nothing. If properly experienced, it can reassure us that the positive principles of joy and affirmation continue, no matter what is going on in the turbulent world around us. It can tell us that we are connected to what is most powerful and meaningful in the universe, for we are a part of the universal process of creation and destruction, the energies of life itself.
