Earth consciousness

If you want to help the earth, you need to develop an earth consciousness.

The Gaia hypothesis holds the belief that the earth is a living, breathing creature. Designed to support a diverse population of other living creatures, including humans, the earth can cleanse itself, feed itself, nurture itself, and protect itself. It also provides those same life-giving attributes to all that live here. To develop an earth consciousness, you need only adopt the role of nurturer and understand that if you fail to provide, those who are dependent upon you will fail to survive.

And there is no back-up earth to help out.

You have to construct flawless systems that are self-regulating.

You have to adjust and recalibrate those systems based upon the demands of an ever-growing population of creatures.

You don’t get to sleep. Only parts of you get to go dormant for 3 to 4 months out of the year.

You depend upon the creatures to willingly give back what they no longer need so you can recycle and use those resources again.

You have to be ready for them to give you back materials that have been so distorted you barely recognize what they were in their original form.

And, when those who depend upon you take so much that you have an insufficient supply to use for your needs, there is not much you can do about it.

Except, perhaps, pop an earthquake or two.

Send around a few hurricanes, cyclones, and tornadoes.

Rain endlessly so that rivers burst from their boundaries.

Just to let the creatures know that you will eventually reclaim it all, including them.

That is the way of things.

I believe we (the universal consciousness that we all are) designed the earth to be just as it is to help us learn, become more, and transcend our fear of being so temporarily human. Nothing we do here lasts forever except that which we learn and become.

©2010 by Barbara L. Kass

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Transcending consciousness

In Albert Einstein’s quote “You cannot solve a problem from the same level of consciousness that created it,” note that he does not define the level of consciousness. The implication is that the level does not have to be higher or lower, just different. Some people might believe that they have to develop a “higher” consciousness to solve their problem, but I believe that one has only to transcend the level of consciousness that he or she was in when the problem was created.

Transcendence can mean to rise above something, but it also means to go beyond the limits. I have to start with self-awareness to begin my transcendence journeys. How am I limiting myself? Where am I at right now with the problem at hand? Am I still stuck in the same place emotionally, mentally, and spiritually as when the problem first appeared? Just because I am older, have more experience, and grown in other areas does not mean that I have transcended the consciousness that perpetuates the problem or situation. If I want to help myself, I need to develop a “me” consciousness, and it is not the “me” who created the problem in the first place. The “me” who needs to respond to my problems is the person who I am becoming.                                       

This is where purposeful thinking shows how creative and wonderful the mind can be. I ask myself the question: how many ways can I think differently about the situation? And I watch as my mind grasps this new challenge, analyzes it, and starts delivering options. I judge the options based on how they make me feel and the response of my eternal presence. From the various viewpoints my mind delivers, I can see the problem differently, and often realize solutions I had not thought of before. Sometimes, the solution is to do nothing because by taking a different viewpoint – thinking differently about the situation – the “problem” changes and is no longer a problem. When a solution requires action on my part, I ask: Is the solution good for everyone? If not, who does it harm? Is it the right solution?

 And the solution that I go with is the solution I can live with.

In his book, Full Catastrophe Living, Jon Kabat-Zinn writes: “There is an art to facing difficulties in ways that lead to effective solutions and to inner peace and harmony. When we are able to mobilize our inner resources to face our problems artfully, we can orient ourselves to use the pressure of the problem to propel us through it, like sailor using the wind to propel a boat.”

 ^©2010 by Barbara L. Kass

Thinking purposefully

Everything humans have made on this earth was first a thought – I mean EVERYTHING: money, cars, bridges, roads, Spam, hotdogs, medicine, landfills, hulahoops, styrofoam, computers, governments . . . think of one thing that was NOT first a thought. Yesterday, I wrote about how my word creates my world. My words could not exist if it were not for the thoughts my mind crafts with instantaneous precision.

 The mind is programmed to function continuously and relentlessly, and our thoughts form the words we say and the actions we perform. Thinking itself might be involuntary and many times thoughts are there bursting uncontrollably in our brains. Incredibly, though, we have the ability to monitor our thoughts, to change our thoughts, and to think purposefully.

 I believe it is our eternal presence who is always aware and nudges us to pay attention to what we are thinking before we speak or act. My presence exists only in this present moment and by connecting with the present, I connect with my presence, and can be aware to watch my thoughts, create my thoughts, and ask my mind to come up with a different thought. We all use our minds purposefully. How many times have you asked yourself to find a solution for a problem and you managed to think of one? How many times have you decided that you wanted to do something and found a way to do it? You used the power of your mind and your ability to manage your thinking process. It is an incredible power that we don’t use as effectively as we might.

 With our thoughts, we created a system of survival on this earth that is failing us. In order to create a system that will sustain us, we need to transcend the consciousness that created our current systems. More on this tomorrow.  

 ^©2010 by Barbara L. Kass

My word creates my world

My word, whether it is written or spoken, creates my world and impacts the lives of others. I need to guard it carefully and make it as sacred as my actions. I would never slap a loved one in the face, yet, upon occasion, I let go with a verbal assault that is the emotional equivalent. And, I always regret it.  I need to remember that those who I love and care for rely upon my word. If I speak harshly of another, that person is impacted, but even more, I will have consequences. That person will not trust the love I profess to have for them. If I say “this is so or that is so or this will happen or I am this or that or will be this or that” then I need to take care and heed my own word because those words create the energy that I will live. If I cannot make it so, I lose credibility, belief, faith, and reliability. I have come across people who believe it is okay to give their word, break their word, and then say, “oh, sorry,” and then think that the next time they give their word, I am going to trust them again; I trust them less the next time, even less the next time, less, and less, and less.

Don Miguel Ruiz wrote a book called The Four Agreements. The first agreement is “Be Impeccable With Your Word.” Don Miguel points out in very simple language that we also cause ourselves problems with our words through gossip. Gossip is talking about another person outside of that person’s presence and most gossip words are negative manifestations. My perception of what another person is doing or saying is clouded by my own interpretations and belief system. I am capable of passing judgment without knowing or fully living another person’s experience. Knowing I cannot ever live another person’s experience means I must acknowledge this tendency to judge, accept it, and realize I have the power to not exercise it.

 To myself, I must first be true; my word to myself I will first keep, and then to all of you.

^©2010 by Barbara L. Kass

Problem solving

“You cannot solve a problem from the same level of consciousness that created it.” ~Albert Einstein~
While I thought I was leaving a friend some words of wisdom and support on her blog, I read this quote. As it turns out, she was giving me words of wisdom. Ever since then, any time I have approached a situation in my life that has caused me any vexation at all, I have stopped and realized that I need to transcend whatever consciousness I was(am?) when I first entered the relationship with that situation before I can resolve it, and bing! suddenly I am in this balanced place . . . a place of sort of starting over, but with a whole lot more insight about myself.

In trying to keep things the same, we create stagnation and recreate the problem over and over and over. Transcendence requires change and when we change, we can see more, live more, and understand more.

^©2010 by Barbara L. Kass