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Creating and Sustaining Deep Inner Peace
C. Allie Knowlton, MSW, LCSW, DCSW
At our recent Shamanic Drumming Journey Circle, the focus provided by our Spirit Teachers for our evening's work was learning how to strengthen our deep inner peace. As Evelyn and I drum for the journeys, I usually do not journey myself so I can pay close attention to the group. This time, however, I was surprised by a glowing figure which appeared in our altar's single candle. Amazed, I continued drumming. The figure before me announced that she was a part of my soul that has never been in any of my incarnations. I asked her why she chose to come that evening. She replied that those who know about the resources of Spirit, who know about life beyond our five senses and beyond this physical earth, are being called to exemplify the deep inner peace that is necessary at this time on our planet.
In our healing work we are sometimes led to bring in a part of our client’s soul that has never incarnated. We are often told to introduce him/her to the client during their soul retrieval healing experience. We explain during our preparatory session that each of our individual souls are far more expansive than can be contained in our physical body. For some people, this idea is a new concept. They didn't realize that a part of their soul exists beyond their current existence. When clients return for their follow-up session, they often report a sense of deep inner peace, and/or a stronger sense of self.
There are other ways we can strengthen our experience of deep inner peace during this new beginning time of a New Year. Carl Hammerschlag, M.D. spent nearly twenty years as a physician among Native Americans in the Southwest. We heard him speak a number of years ago at a conference sponsored by Hospice of Maine and were moved by many of his stories. In his book, The Theft of the Spirit, a Journey to Spiritual Healing, he writes, “We must find joy in the small triumphs , in those good days, in the moment-to-moment changes. We must find more ways to experience joy in those day-to-day, repetitive, ordinary tasks and trials that make up life.”
Hammerschlag shared a story of trying to share this point of view with a friend who was dealing with an illness. He could tell that she was not able to “get” this perspective. He invited her to go with him on a visit to Walpi Pueblo, one of the oldest continuously inhabited village on this continent. They visited with a village great-grandmother who was over a hundred years old. He asked her how she manages to throw pots on her potters wheel and paint them as well with fingers swollen with arthritis. She was also nearly blind with cataracts. Her response was, “it’s not my hands that make the pot, it’s my spirit. My hands are broken but my potteries hold my soul, and that’s whole.”(p.132). He then bought the only piece she had left. It was a double-necked wedding vase, but cracked where it was joined and he mentioned that to her. She replied, “What about you? Aren’t you a little cracked?” She went on to explain that in her life experience she had observed that on their wedding day, lovers see only perfection in each other, but they will soon look again and see the cracks. If they can stay and see beyond the cracks, then they see light. (p. 132)
What a concept to consider entertaining the notion that our “cracks” become part of our wise self! An interesting practice for this new year might be to take some time reviewing our “cracks” whether they be old wounds, annoying habits, old patterns, physical challenges, acknowledged limitations and even destructive behaviors, through the perspective of our own spirit. By listening to the wisdom of our own soul, we can let go of our self judgement and instead observe ourselves with discernment and compassion. This process may raise another question; How do we arrive at the certainty that our soul is whole as did this wise great-great grandmother?
Thich Nhat Hanh writes in his book, Living Buddha, Living Christ that, “The day of our 'death' is a day of our continuation in many other forms. If you know how to touch your ancestors in the ultimate dimension, they will always be there for you. If you touch your own hand, face, or hair and look very deeply, you can see that they are there in you, smiling... The ultimate dimension is a state of coolness, peace, and joy. It is not a state to be attained after you ‘die’. You can touch the ultimate dimension right now by breathing, walking, and drinking tea in mindfulness. Everything and everyone is dwelling in Nirvana, in the Kingdom of God... We are entirely capable of touching the ultimate dimension. When we touch one thing with deep awareness, we touch everything. Touching the present moment, we realize that the present is made of the past and is creating the future. When we drink a cup of tea very deeply, we touch the whole of time. To meditate, to live a life of prayer, is to live each moment of life deeply... Touching Nirvana, touching the Kingdom of God, liberates us from many worries. We enter a spiritual practice seeking relief from the historical dimension. We calm our body and mind and establish our stillness, our freshness, and our solidarity. We practice loving-kindness, concentration, and transforming our anger, and we feel some relief. But when we touch the ultimate dimension of reality, we get the deepest kind of relief. Each of us has the capacity to touch Nirvana...” (pp. 152-154).
There couldn't be a more perfect time in our planet's history to explore the dimensions of our soul, to open ourselves to what it means to live from a place of deep inner peace, to greet each day with the knowing that we are always in touch with the ultimate dimension, what I call All That Is.
Photographer Thomas Mark Szelog found his own way to do this by spending a year alone on seventy acres of land in Central Maine. His goal was to take at least one interesting, surprising, beautiful, or memorable image every week for the entire year. His compilation of pictures are found in his very moving book, By A Maine River, A Year of Looking Closely. Szelog's other goal was to communicate through his images how close we live to wildlife. All that is needed to see wondrous things is to look in our own backyards. He writes, “I was alone for a year in the forest, but I was not lonely....In the forest I found peace.” Tom’s wife and co-author, Lee Ann, echoes Thick Nhat Hanhs message as she writes, “Tom broadened my vision to encompass the simple, delicate details that surround us, but sadly, most of us never take the time to see. Details such as ice crystals adorning grass, milkweed seeds as they blow in the wind, the colors of a blue jay, the sparkle of dewdrops struck by the first rays of sun. Now, thanks to Tom, I embrace the beauty, the tranquility, the simplicity of each day.” And again, she writes, “Tom also has taught me the importance of being true to myself, to live from my heart.” For more on this memorable book see this months book review. His images of ordinary life will invite you to consider a practice of noticing the ordinary as part of strengthening your daily experience of peace.
All three of these diverse writers share from their own personal experiences the belief that we are more than our physical body, that we are connected at a soul level beyond this physical plane, and that we are in continuous relationship with those who have gone before us, and the natural world. Each in their own way also share that peace can be found in the ordinariness of daily living. So whether we are drawn to spiritual practices, to immersing ourself in the natural world or to an experience of both, the ultimate "practice" is to listen to our own soul's guidance in accepting our “cracks” as a part of being beautifully human. Transformation of what interferes with deep inner peace is not only possible but necessary. Gregg Braden in his book, The God Code, writes, “As citizens of our world, we are more than any religion, heritage, belief, lifestyle, border, or technology that divides us. In the moments when we doubt this one, immutable truth, we need look no further than the message in our bodies to be reminded. This is the power of the message within our cells.” (p. 241).
- Allie Knowlton
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C. Allie Knowlton, MSW, LCSW, DCSW is a psychotherapist, shamanic teacher and healer in practice with her partner Evelyn C. Rysdyk. Included in the book Traveling Between the Worlds, Allie and Evelyn are among the world’s most influential writers and teachers of shamanism.
Allie brings a lifetime of connection to Spirit to her work with individuals and groups. Originally trained as a minister, she presents eco-spiritually focused training programs--which include advanced shamanism and shamanic healing -- across the USA and Canada. In addition, as a founding member of True North, a unique, integrated medical center in Falmouth, Maine --she collaborates with physicians, nurses, a psychiatrist, a naturopath and several other complementary healthcare practitioners to provide a new model of health care that includes Spirit.
www.spiritpassages.org
www.spiritliving.org
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