Standing your Ground
When I was crofting I used to rear young Highland bullocks for quality beef. Highland cattle may look potentially fierce with those horns, though they are usually docile with a wicked sense of humour.
They were great teachers.
When I went to feed them, they would run top speed towards me shaking their heads and kicking their heels … and I learnt to stand my ground. They always came to a halt inches away, and never hurt me.
I was reflecting on this today with regard to encountering the unknown as it speeds towards us. Sure I came to know these animals, but I worked this out for myself. And the wisdom to hold your ground, to stand firmly rooted and fully anchored in your heart is a statement “I am here and I am not going anywhere” You could add … “and what are you going to do about it ?”. And then respond to the response.
Today I realised what a big part of my warrior training as a shamanka this was. Whatever being or energy I encounter, I stand my ground and allow them to show themself to me.
And though I try, maybe I don’t always manage to in my everyday life, for this is the raw material of evolution. There is always something to work on, something that unsettles us or throws us off balance. Having gathered many tools and resources it may be easier then in the past to regain our inner harmony … I’m sure those reading this already know that, at least in some way.
The reason I am sharing is because many of these resources may not have been learnt in spiritual arena’s - and all too often I hear people dismissing their ‘3D’ experiences. It is all transferable, all training for the path of Heart, this is the way your soul curated it.
Don’t dismiss it. Don’t assume that those who’ve been in spiritual circles for 10, 20, 30 years or more than you have more tools and resources, they may simply be more fluent in the language.
I spent over 20 years of my life thinking that my everyday life and spiritual practice were opposing streams, before I realised that there was no difference and started to weave them together. And it made all the difference to both. The searching stopped, as soon as I saw my physical ( or 3D ) life experiences as my spiritual path.
It was this quote from Gary Snyders book ‘ Practice of the Wild’ that really brought that home for me and anchored it in :
“All of us are apprenticed to the same teacher that the religious institutions originally worked with: reality.
Reality-insight says get a sense of immediate politics and history, get control of your own time; master the twenty-four hours. Do it well, without self pity. It is as hard to get the children herded into the car pool and down the road on the bus as it is to chant sutras in the Buddha-hall on a cold morning. One move is not better than the other, each can be quite boring, and they both have the virtuous quality of repetition. Repetition and ritual and their good results come in many forms. Changing the filter, wiping noses, going to meetings, picking up around the house, washing dishes, checking the dipstick – don’t let yourself think these are distracting you from more serious pursuits. Such a round of chores is not a set of difficulties we hope to escape from so that we may do our ‘practice’ which will put us on a ‘path’ - it is our path.”
With much Love
from my Heart to yours,
~ Tania Aurora White Crow ~