Who am I? Who are You? Who are We?
I just recently updated my website and when I sat down to write a post I assumed it would be something supporting the foundation objectives of Beloved Presence or uniting premises or something... nope. I got Who are You? Which was immediately followed by,
Lol! Always the ego being a meany ...but honestly, it's a good question. Who AM I?
Who Am I?
I'm recording a podcast in a few hours with Śivani from Niwas Ashram and in getting prepped for the meet up I was triggered by one small thing she said in one of her podcasts. She said that someone saying "I am God." is a red flag for her. I was like, "oh shit, I've said that... like a lot, maybe even recently." Self-judgement, self-judgement, self-judgement.
So, yeah, I understand what she's saying because "I am God" isn't a comfortable place to stay because the next step is the bigger truth, which is "We are God". “We are god” feels good and right and real and truth.
But “I am God”, was a necessary place to start - for me, immersed in latent Western Christianity. In the West, Christianity separates us from divinity - we are definitely NOT divinity and women in particular are not even given a mirror to the possibility of divinity at all.
Be a mother.
That's our entire role and purpose in Christianity. There is no sense of embodiment of Spirit in Christianity - even though that's the point of Christ - the incarnation of Divine Presence on Earth... but ONLY Jesus - not you.
How can we identify beyond our self and our body in a spiritual sense if we are never fully embodied in the first place?
The Molson Canadian I AM campaign in the 90's was for me, an emotional connect to beingness, to being embodied. (I'm not saying the campaign was good or I support the premise of who and what Molson was pushing as "Canada" or "Canadian" - but the connection to proclaiming my beingness in the universe was how it hit me at the time.)
I am. I exist. I am real. I matter.
(This reminds me of Jane saying “Nothing is important. Everything matters.”)
Accepting embodiment is an essential step in fulfilling our purpose here on Earth. Building ground and roots and a sustainable, dependable vehicle for wisdom is necessary to create anything worthwhile on the physical plane.
"I" comes with a body - but the body isn't all there is. It's not the only thing. It's not the end game.
Body By-Pass
Spiritual practices in the West seem to want to race beyond the body and identify with Spirit and ‘all there is’. Identifying with the body only is limiting and untrue and can result in all kinds of ugliness. Most of the harmful systems and institutions in our society are based in identification with only the body as real. White Supremacy Culture and all bigotry and prejudice and injustice is based on identification with the body and the physical realm as the ultimate reality.
It seems counter-intuitive to encourage further engagement with the body - but embodiment isn't really happening in our society.
The exact opposite is happening.
Our emotions are transmitted and felt by the body and we want to by-pass that sh!t as quick as we can. We live in a society that does not tolerate or value emotions, intuition or the finer realms of feeling, in any way.
To be embodied means being fully present in our bodies and not defend against feeling, not defend against discomfort. This is a big ask for the systems and institutions in the West.
“Objectivity” doesn’t exist
It is not a coincidence that the current accepted view of the world is rooted in so-called "objective" non-feeling, fantasies of "logic". Western science, the economy, government and education are all based in a foundation that dismisses feeling, intuition and any experience in the body that can't be seen or dissected.
We can never understand our spiritual nature of frequencies and infinity by looking for it's source in dissection of the body. The search for answers is never going to be found in deconstructing the physical world. We will always find another "God Particle".
The dominance of physical reality as the only truth gives rise to decision-making that values power and profit over living beings.
Existence is not “Objective”
Science and technology are based in a fraudulent "objectivity" that holds human beings outside of and superior to Nature. We are never "outside" of what we are observing, and we are certainly not "superior' to the natural function and functioning of the Earth.
Western "spiritual" practices tend to race to identification with the whole beyond the body - bigger, greater, "more spiritual" and by-passing the daily difficulties that come with being embodied.
"You are not your body" is not code for ignore, deny, suppress and avoid your feelings. We are not our bodies, but we are souls expressing truth through our bodies for this life and avoiding feeling is not an evolution, it is a denial and it isn't helpful.
There is no healing without feeling.
You are both a body and spiritually, infinitely, everything. You are both this bit of stuff and all of creation. It is mind-bending, but it is the fundamental truth of existence. It is all loving inclusion.
We are learning how to hold space for ourselves to identify as an individual in a body and identify with the wholiness of all of existence everywhere and every time. We are both the individual body of ancestral dna and cultural heritage and historical baggage and specific gifts and talents, preferences and passions; AND we are the descendants of Divine Wholiness and a Beloved Presence to ourselves and others.
I see loving inclusive spiritual pathways as holding space for these ideas to take root and grow in the mind of Western society. This pathway will transform harmful systems and institutions based in the false idea of ultimate reality as separate objects devoid of love and care.
Sharing these truths in the world is important, maybe the most important. Sharing your truth matters, in whatever way you choose to share it.
This is why I'm becoming more and more passionate about sharing Beloved Presence - which I can finally do plainly, as it is - embodying divine wholiness in the physical world. Sharing my truth and standing for truth of Beloved Presence and wholiness in my life is the greatest gift I can give to the world, and the greatest gift I can give myself. It’s where my joy and peace lives.
Standing in integrity with myself (which is also the whole) and authenticity in myself (which is also the whole) and standing for my core beliefs about being alive is the most radical way I can imagine living.
Standing for embodied spiritual truth becomes a revolutionary act.
When I stand for Beloved Presence and Wholiness, when I share and give that belief to others, I have it returned to me. Giving is getting. Giving makes space for my truth to land back in me and then I own it too. It's mine and it is rooted and unshakeable.
When I stand for truth, what aligns with this truth moves towards me. I get what I'm giving over and over. This happens on every frequency, with every broadcast we make out into the world, in every myriad of ways, large and small. We get what we give.
What are you giving?
What truth in your life are you afraid to stand for?
Standing for is not fighting against or trying to convince or change minds or allegiance. Standing in your truth is simply being firm and unwavering, regardless of the feedback. (This doesn't mean arrogance in the face of new information or nuance or never changing our mind when we're wrong - it is simply knowing truth in our heart and our spirit and standing for that truth regardless of the feedback.)
Standing for Beloved Presence and Wholiness and Loving Inclusion and Nature is Kin and We are Nature is holding space for the rooting of this expanded consciousness for everyone.
Standing for your truth allows it to be born into the world.
I am able to stand for my truth now because of those that went before me who stood in their truth in their own way.
What do you need to stand for your truth in the world?
What do you need to stand for your truth in the face of family, friends, co-workers, bosses, the public and strangers?
What permissions do you need to give yourself? (Permission never comes from outside of ourselves.)
If any part of your truth is loving inclusion, you have my permission.
If any part of your truth is loving inclusion, Beloved Presence gives you permission.
If any part of your truth is loving inclusion, Creation gives you permission.
You have permission. You've always had permission - so what do you need to stand in your truth in the world?
Divine Reminders:
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On a poster, on a sticky note, painted on a canvas, in a sketchbook or journal, on a piece of paper - whatever way you are guided, write down your truth.
Unabashedly, unapologetically, without holding back - knowing that this has been given you by Creation from the beginning and that all of Creation wants nothing more than for you to live your truth of the whole to the best of your ability, what is your truth?
Write it down.
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*** A journal doesn’t have to be words - it can be art or images or scribbles or music or movement… whatever you do to process your emotions - put it somewhere that you can access it again… because we forget our revelations unless we can remind ourselves of the re-membering. ***
For the rest of the week - journal about every time you felt your truth wanting to be expressed in the world.
Did you express your truth fully? If so, how did it feel? What was the response?
If not, why? What did you feel you needed before you could express yourself fully?
How can you give yourself what you need to express yourself fully right now?
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Try not to judge your feelings or your needs.
If it wasn't valuable, you wouldn't need it.
Hugs, support, love, safety, confidence, courage... all are available to us in the moment if we can practice and then remember to be there for ourselves in our need.
Be gentle with yourself because no one teaches us how to live this way. No one teaches us how to use all our Presence and Being to find our Selves in the world and the Work that we will do.
No one teaches us how to rely as equally on empathic intuition and body sensation as we do logical rationality. No one teaches us how to make sense of these intense desires to share deep truths that we only partially understand. Be gentle with yourself.