We are all God

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I made this video to express how I feel about spirituality - the Big Picture, so to speak, and all of the thoughts that I have about how things fit together - life, its meaning, our connection to each other, God, and the Universe, time, and otherworldly beings. It's pretty packed. 

I think that I could probably make more videos that expand on ideas presented here, but I wanted to ask your opinion about this, and how this video strikes you.

Thank you, Namaste.
Peace. Love.

Mazel Tov...and now what do I say?

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This weekend is my 13 year old daughter, Rayna's Bat Mitzvah.

 (For any readers not sure what that is, it's a Jewish Rite of Passage for kids turning 13 in which they lead prayers, and read a passage from the Torah - that's the "Old Testament" - a scroll written entirely in Hebrew. It takes months of preparation to learn. The student also prepares a speech about what all of this means to him or her. It signifies being old enough to take on a more responsible role - in fact, those who have had a Bar or Bat Mitzvah are counted as Jewish "adults" for the purposes of ritual and responsibility.)

As the mom of the Bat Mitzvah, I'm supposed to say a few words to my daughter in front of the congregation during the ceremony. I'm struggling to decide what to say. I mean, of course, "I'm so proud of you, you're such a beautiful young woman inside and out, and you've grown so much" come to mind. But beyond that...I'm feeling stumped.

Those of you who have been blog readers here will probably know that I struggle personally with formal religion. This is especially so because Reiki gave me my spiritual connection, not praying in temple. I'm really saying it lightly here, because I actually harbor a lot of resentment toward formal prayer. It really does nothing for me spiritually except frustrate me. I think Reiki has changed me into a Spiritualist. But I'm still a Spiritualist in a Jewish life, with a Jewish family and kids that go to Jewish Day School. So I keep my inner conflicts hidden for the most part (except here in my blog where I can let it fly!) 

This ceremony is special and important for my daughter, certainly. She's done a very dedicated job preparing and I know she'll lead her parts with grace and competence. But to me, really, this ceremony is more about a coming of age than a spiritually uplifting event. 

Family and friends are coming in from out of town and locally to attend. They'll all be so proud of Rayna, congratulate her on her accomplishment. Look at what she did: she learned a lot of prayers in Hebrew. And she can lead them confidently in front of friends and family. She learned her Torah part and wrote a nicely educational speech with a dash of humor. Well done. 

I acknowledge with some relief that other people will find this more spiritually meaningful than I do. 

Rayna and her siblings are being brought up a little differently from other Jewish kids at their school. In addition to learning and practicing Judiasm, my kids do Reiki. At home, they also talk about angels, crystals, and know how to use pendulums and Tarot cards. I think they already are far more spiritually advanced at their age than I was with a Master's Degree in Jewish Studies at age 37. So what can I say in front of this congregation, that will be sincere, and also inspiring in some way to my daughter?

I guess I could focus on what I want for her. I hope that she will always be proud of who she is. I hope that she will continue to grow and listen to her heart. I hope that she will always know that she has permission to question and wrestle with everything she is taught...even by me. 

I hope that will be enough. 

Spiritual Ties

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I've been thinking lately about energy and the spiritual connection. I have some ideas I'd like to share and I hope they can come out in a coherent way. These things are hard to explain, and they are very subjective in nature. Plus, terms like "vibration," "frequency" and "energy" also have scientific definitions that don't exactly apply in the way I'm going to use them. There is a similarity in meaning, but they are not scientifically measurable so a scientist would say I'm using them wrong. So be it. This isn't a science related post. This is my attempt to explain my thoughts on spirituality, energy, and the way I am seeing life lately. Good luck to me. Ha.

Life force energy. This is the basis of Reiki. It is also the energy that animates all living things, plants, animals, and people. There is also energy in the earth, and around us. This energy connects us all, like a web or a grid. Someone who is dead does not have this life force energy running through his body anymore. That's the energy I mean.

Science doesn't have an explanation for how life begins. Sure, sperm meets egg. That part we know. Been there, done that. Four times. But what about the soul (life force energy) entering the union of those microscopic parts? That's beyond science. Life is a combination of the physical and the spiritual. We, as living beings, are both matter and energy, physical and spiritual in one package. Our energetic selves extend beyond our physical boundaries. Science gets much about the matter part, but still has trouble explaining the spiritual aspects. And yet we are combinations of the physical and spiritual, with systems that affect each other, intertwined. An example of this is how emotions have a physical affect on our health. Think of ulcers that develop from stress. That's just one example. I'm not saying anything new here, I know.

Now Reiki. Practicing Reiki is a way of putting one's awareness on the energy aspect in order to intend for that life force energy inside us to connect to the grid of the energy around us, and flow more of it to another living being, ourselves, a goal, or the earth itself. We are always connected to this energy, but the act of intending to connect, "turning on" the Reiki energy, raises our awareness of this connection so we can ask for this energy to flow in a certain way. When I do this, I have a physical response in the form of tingles in my hands, and a light pressure around my head and face. Every time. This physical-spiritual connection is consistently validated when I'm working with Reiki energy. I know I am connected by the sensations I experience. I am also able to sense imbalances in another person's energy field by intending to receive information as I'm giving a Reiki healing to that person. This also validates the idea that we are all connected. The recipient feels the energy and experiences receiving it. Stress, pain, emotional blockages are released, and balance is gently encouraged. The recipient is an active participant in his or her healing, as I'm not a "healer," but a facilitator of another person's ability to heal via this energetic connection.

So what does this have to do with spirituality? I'm getting to that. Thanks for bearing with me here.

Okay.

I think that this energy that's inside us, our soul, our life force energy, is all part of Spirit. You know, God, Source, whatever term works for you. We feel separate, and yet we are not. When we do things that raise our vibration to a frequency that allows us to consciously connect with the greater source of this energy (scientific language borrowed here), meaning things like meditation, yoga, energy healing practices, and even gratitude and heartfelt prayer, we become consciously more aware of this connection to the greater Source, and receive its benefits. We can also intend through this connection to share the energy with others. Doing so is really only helping the other person to connect in the same way, so he or she can benefit from receiving an extra measure of life force energy where it's needed. In addition, we can learn to become intuitively aware of the energetic state of other people. It's a process which develops through practice. The more we place our awareness on our intuitive senses, the more that awareness develops.

Many of us feel separate, our energy gets depleted, we get sick or emotionally blocked, because we consciously stay at our "lower vibration," disconnected to the source of the energy that can help us balance, cope and heal. We get caught up in our daily lives and forget to care for ourselves energetically, which is also physically since we are intertwined physical/spiritual beings. Reiki self-healing, and other practices I mentioned, help correct this imbalance, and help us be more whole.

So what I'm suggesting here is that we are always One with the Source, via our energy beings, and when we consciously connect with this Source (via Reiki or other practices I mentioned), we feel connected with the life force energy that's synonymous with God. God is not separate, God is the spiritual aspect of ourselves, and all life, and the earth too. We are all part of God.

I sound so religious right now. Or maybe anti-religious since this is rather different from the way many religious teach about God. Talking about God in a religious sense isn't in my comfort level. But I think a new understanding of spirituality is developing for me, and I want to try it out. My friend Jonathan calls this gnosis - a spiritual knowing that comes from experience rather than intellectual cognition.

There are people who have psychic gifts of clairvoyance, or they see angels, see or hear guidance, etc. They all know how to access this higher "vibration" of energy that allows them to be intuitively aware of these spiritual-based energies. It's all energy, but different from the life force energy shared by living beings. Angels can do healing work on our energy if we ask for their assistance. They live in this "energy realm" and vibrate at a slightly higher frequency than we as physical beings can consciously learn to access.

So there it is. My idea of spirituality, Reiki, life, and all that.

I know what I'm saying is not new, and countless great thinkers have put this idea out there in more eloquent terms in long chapter books already. You'll find shelves of them in the local bookstore and pages upon pages on Amazon. But it's new for me, and it's been pulling at me hard enough to feel I need to share it with you, for your consideration.

Any comments? (I ask nervously....)