So, do we continue going down the route of surrendering to top-down authority? Or, do we go down the route of being participants? Is being a participant akin to Rob Kall's empowerment from the bottom-up? Or perhaps there is no bottom up or top down. There are only participants/particles. We are all involved! By all of us, I mean the planets, the stars, the ants and bees and".even".a slight gust of wind blowing in from the northeast. Oh, and that pizza that gave you heartburn or gas".yes, that too has an effect on everything. It's like the man who kicks the cat who bites the wife who then kicks the wall. What goes around comes around and we--like everything else--are a conscious pass-through in that ongoing, ever-changing process.
In a similar vein, Betsy Chasse, author of Tipping Sacred Cows says, "It's time to tip some sacred cows about what we think we know about spirituality, reality, and ourselves. It's time to get liberated from the fences we've put up and frolic once again through the pasture of life, realizing that stepping in cow sh*t is not always such a bad thing. That happiness is not a destination but a state of mind and you're already there if you're willing to just do a little work to uncover your true bliss, your happy mojo, that creamy cream that exists in the middle of you!"
Betsy has some wonderful insights on finding your own spiritual path in today's hectic world. It's certainly not that she is dissing the spiritual life. She's saying not to lock it up in orthodoxies, beliefs, assumptions, or creeds--even those of New Age spirituality. Forget the shoulds, the quest for purity, the need to look and sound "spiritual", and the need for answers. Dance and frolic with the questions. Remain open to what sensation, intuition, experience, and your gut emotions tell you. If you're on the right track, they won't give you "answers" but insights that lead to ever new and deeper questions.
Yes, Betsy, cow sh*t does indeed make the flowers grow. And, it makes us grow. As she further states:
"As I stand here knee deep in manure, finding my way to reclaiming myself, I'm going to share my version of finding your own capacity to live your life to your highest potential, even while cleaning up cat vomit, carpooling, and waiting in line at the post office." She identifies herself first and foremost as a mom, "with two wonderful kids, Elora and Max. They are the light of my life and my world revolves around them! We love to garden, paint, create and cause as much of a rumpus as we can together."
And what effect does her being a mom of two wonderful kids have on those kids? And, what of the activities she gets them into".creative acts such as gardening and art? How will what Betsy does today in her raising of her children mean to how they will relate to the cosmos when adults?
The potentials are without boundaries for we live in a universe in which the entire universe is involved in everything else. Plant a sustainable garden and the world is enriched. Thus, those children can be involved in universal change.
One of the most important pieces of participating creatively in the ever-changing dance of life that Betsy discusses is the need for us to expose the old patterns and unconscious belief systems. In my opinion, this must include a questioning and identification of how our religions, sciences, and politics reflect each other. Most of these are deeply top-down in their orientation with a founder, or leader at the helm. In most cases, these people are most interested in accumulating power over other people and, even, the world. Doesn't matter if its Priest, Preacher, Teacher, CEO, or Politician. The driving motif of top-down control is behind each one of them and links them as one.
Many readers will be familiar with the "take what you like and leave the rest" motto of twelve step programs. That's because these programs are democratic, member-to-member events without a leader. There is no top or bottom, just a group of people helping each other to get, remain, or regain sobriety.
Betsy is suggesting we don't give away our power, authority, comprehension, creativity, or credit to anybody else. These delightful, fulfilling qualities are ours to live out, rejoice in, and share with the rest of the world we co-create synergistically.
As Betsy speaks to change, I think of my oft-quoted line from the Tao Te Ching, "Be newborn; be free of yourself." Or if you would rather choose the words of Jesus Christ: "Be like that infant suckling his mother's breast."
In Buddhist terms, this is being unconditioned. In the mystical Christian terms, it is what the virgin birth meant. (Mary certainly had to let go of her preconceived notion about how one becomes pregnant and enter willingly into a childlike innocence.) Being virgin was being "as you were when you were not!" Being unconditioned means you let go of everything you think you and the world are. Thus, you become newborn.
This is DEEP change. Question everything. Liberal, conservative, republican, democrat, left-wing, right-wing".all these probably more familiar to most readers as the co-creator, co-director and co-producer of the film, What the Bleep Do We Know?! This was a well-received movie with lots of big names including the likes of Deepak Chapra and Fred Alan Wolff. The movie's site makes a really nice statement that is in line with Rob Kall's "Bottom Up" philosophy:
Originally released in February 2004 in one theater in Yelm, Washington, What the BLEEP Do We Know!? went on to become the fifth highest grossing documentary in the United States, with ticket sales of $12 Million.
Shunned by all movie distributors, the producers set about distributing and marketing the movie themselves in a "proof of concept" strategy to show theater owners there was indeed a market for spiritually oriented films that catered to audiences' intelligence, not their lowest common denominator.
Although rejected by every major film festival (Sundance, Berlin, Toronto, Cannes, etc"),What the BLEEP did get entered in five smaller festivals, and won in every one. This, along with the grass roots, word-of-mouth campaign, kept the film in theaters for weeks and months on end. After five months of surprising box office numbers, the film attracted the attention of Samuel Goldwyn Films, and the producers entered into a distribution deal. The word-of-mouth buzz continued and the film showed real staying power (it played in one theater in Phoenix for 40+ consecutive weeks).
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