Sacred Living Traditions
by Daria M. Brezinski, PhD
INTERCONNECTEDNESS
Having lived with Indigenous People’s, there is much to be learned from ancient wisdom. This planet emerged from billions of years of interconnecting systems that evolved through trial and error into the reality that exists today. For generations, the guiding belief underlying science, religion, Western culture and other institutions, is that the human experience is separated from the environment (man’s dominion over nature), the various parts of being (body, mind, spirit, emotions) and hence, from ourselves and each other.
This segmented, compartmentalized view is the underlying principle of war, strife, disharmony, depression, suffering and declining community living. Rather, there is interconnectedness to all things. When a tree is planted in the Rain Forest or a child is rescued from a burning building, it affects the world. What happens in one part of the globe, one state, one community, one person, it happens to ALL!
MEANING AND PURPOSE
The focus on materialism, external rewards, compensation, success, fame, fortune and finding happiness from everything outside the Self can cause confusion, dislocation and loss of direction. For thousands of years, Indigenous Cultures have rituals and Initiation practices to embrace the multiple stages of human transition enabling one to find meaning and purpose in life. The recognition and acceptance that failure, disappointment, pain and suffering are all part of this lifetime initiation process towards a deeper, sacred Self, ‘tests’ and stretches the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual prowess. Thus, the EGO (Earth Guide Only) is slowly dismantled while the floodgates of the SOUL open, all the while the whispering voice calls to the awake individual.
Spiritual wisdom is imparted to the mature initiate who utilizing the power with discernment. Traditional cultures understood that the soul encapsulates the body, mind, spirit and emotions. Once free of the inhibitions, the Soul signals to the individual a direction and clarity of purpose. However, the loss of these initiation practices in modern society with unlimited access to ancient spiritual knowledge but lacking in wisdom to act (reserved in the past for the privileged few who gained the maturity to possess them) has led to the distortion of spiritual wisdom by individuals who acquire great power while lacking the morals and values necessary to benefit humankind.
THE KEYS TO SACRED LIVING ARE PRACTICAL
There is a way out of being the victim or prey, turning lemons into lemonade, finding the experience of YOUR life through your personal passion, desires and dreams.
Here are certain fundamental keys that lead towards a fulfilled, sacred life.
1. The BODY is the vessel where the sacred habitates. If the vessel is dirty, unclear, clogged, where can the sacred seek shelter? Can the view be clear and crisp when the windows or glasses are dirty or foggy? Every aspect of the vessel must be brought into integration- body, mind, spirit, emotion, environment and relationships. When the vessel is no longer at war with itself, the sacred feels safety, security and slowly reinhabits. The irony is that many eastern religions teach people how to have out-of-body experiences. Yet, most of the public spends their day out-of-body. Realignment of these forces is the first step.
2. Finding your SPIRIT and ALIVENESS has nothing to do with religion! Science has estimated that at the moment of death, 21 grams are lost when the ‘spirit or animation’ leaves the body. Our spirit gives us our aliveness factor beyond religion, beyond convention, beyond dogma and beyond laws. The magic of ‘aliveness’ can be lost when we suffer from tiredness, abuse (verbal, emotional, mental, physical), belittling and demeaning relationships, being corralled into narrow thoughts and beliefs by authority figures or life circumstances (like war, illness, poverty). Finding your Spirit again, without the use of external stimulants like drugs, food, alcohol, things and the like, is paramount to a VIBRANT life.
3. There is general acceptance that getting away, going on vacation, travel or going or doing something elsewhere will bring satisfaction, adventure. Yet, the INNER ADVENTURE has more potential, more space. Just as the vast oceans and the heavens, the inner understanding of the microcosm are, for the most part, unexplored and unknown, so too are the many realms of the inner journey. There are many places to explore in the quietness because the territory is vast.
4. Incorporating INTUITION and INSIGHT as well as LOGIC and PRACTICALITY to approach any problem requires a delicate balancing act with the brain, mind, heart, spirit, environment and physiology as well as behaviors, beliefs and habitudes. In a society that values logic, rationality, competition and mental prowess, the intuitive mind becomes dormant, silent and hidden. Einstein, who was both intuitive and logical, mastered this balance.
5. ASKING THE APPROPRIATE QUESTIONS both of yourself and others for a deeper understanding of life elicits unforeseen knowledge and unexpected answers. This art form is NOT taught in schools, homes or communities that expect instead complacent, dutiful taxpaying citizens who do not question authority. Asking appropriate, clear, expressive questions to the burning issues in our minds and hearts can lead to great joy, eliminate frustration and anxiety, and impart deep insight.
6. LISTENING then HEARING when the universe speaks eliminates the intermediaries, chaos and confusion. More correctly, the answers lie within ourselves awaiting discovery. The answers have been thwarted by the multitude of authority figures in our lives and take the form of a very small quiet voice within.
7. UNPLUGGING from the emotional, mental circuitry that is wired to the veils, walls and masks of society, custom and tradition or DISCONNECTING from rambling inner thoughts, feelings and behaviors, requires QUIET, SILENCE, STILLNESS. This environment provides the groundwork for answers to surface. In the world full of noise, violence, running, fear and anger on television, commercials, advertising, work or home life, can anyone possibly ‘hear themselves think’ much less the universe talking back? Unfortunately, the silence at bedtime offers the only time throughout the day for uninterrupted connection to the ethers. Is it any wonder chronic sleep problems exist?
8. FINDING ANSWERS EVERYWHERE, even in the smallest things or most obscure places, without intermediaries, one can become entrained to the knowledge and wisdom of inner ‘knowing’ for personal problem solving and power. Institutions entrance humanity into believing that the ‘expert’, ‘teacher’, ‘master’, ‘professional’, ‘religious’ has all the answers. Hence, generations of trusting individuals surrendered to these authority figures and figureheads. Once you are capable of asking the right questions and become quiet and still, you must now learn to search for the answers in the most mundane places- license plates, billboards, lyrics in a song, sandy beaches or a child’s comments until the internal voice overrides all the rest. The universe speaks to us everywhere, all the time but we have lost the ability to personally ‘see and hear’ it singing.
9. Making INFORMED CHOICES from a diverse, insightful, comprehensive perspective utilizing a multitude of resources (rather than the uncensored, chaotic panacea on the internet) that resonates with YOU. Clear, concise resolutions are impossible if you don’t know all the choices that are available. The consequences of conditioned acceptance of the status quo rather than inner knowledge can be devastating to the soul and spirit that wants to grow, emerge and fly.
10. UNIFY every event, element of knowledge, feeling, behavior or system requires refined skills so that the spiritual, the soul’s longings and dreams (rather than those imposed by others) leads to a fulfilled, sacred life. These skills have been hidden over time in a world that aspires to tunnel vision, career tracks, capitalism and narrow mindedness.
11. Exemplifying FORGIVENESS, GRATITUDE and APPRECIATION for every aspect of life, are the hallmarks of knowing that BOTH the positive and negative are what mold character, strengthen our soul and enliven our spirit. Human strength, grace and wisdom are acquired with experiences in humility.
12. Some SACRED INDIGENOUS RITUALS:
a) GIVING BACK- When indigenous people take from nature, they do so with consciousness and give back. Removing an apple from a tree before it is ripe, would be a sacrilege. Rather one not only waits for the tree to give of its apple, one must return the favor by planting the seeds of that apple.
b) BIRTHING- Indigenous tribes embrace comprehensive, healthy ideologies and ancient wisdom, these women are knowledgeable about the natural herbs taken to abort their children or prevent themselves from getting pregnant (herbs which grow heartily in forests); do not have religious beliefs that force them to feel guilty for these acts and have female support groups that openly discuss such things (read the Red Tent).
c) ELDER TEACHINGS- Elders teaching children ages 4,5,6 in a nature lesson, intertwine sacred geometry without ever using technical terms.
d) KILLING anything that is living requires reverence and respect from insects to animals
e) RITES OF PASSAGE- Acts performed to demonstrate courage, WILL, perseverance, depth of character.
RETURN TO THE SACRED
It’s time to find the keys again and create MAGIC in your life. Changing perspectives and utilizing daily life as an initiation into the spiritual realms, individuals can learn to view the SACRED in all aspects, all challenges, all joys and sorrows. When a car accident, a divorce, a death, a suffering, a pain is viewed as a ‘test’ to walk through the lessons of perseverance, patience, kindness, compassion, gentleness, fearlessness, courage or love then the life lived is one of the SACRED!
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About the Author
Daria M. Brezinski, PhD is an international speaker, psychologist, professor, TV/radio host, entrepreneur, mother, former college president, Executive Director of What Wize Women Want at www.DariaBrezinnski.com.
