THE SEVEN SOUL COMMITMENTS

THE FIRST I commit to realizing my full potential for both closeness and autonomy. I open myself to learning about and honoring my essence - rhythms of closeness and separateness, and to learning about and honoring those rhythms in others.

THE SECOND I commit to full expression, to holding back nothing. This means telling the truth about everything, including my feelings, my fantasies, and my actions. I commit to telling the unarguable truth - truth that no one can argue with - instead of giving my opinions, beliefs, and prejudices. I also commit to listening, non-judgmentally, to what people say to me.

THE THIRD I commit to becoming the source of full responsibility for my life, including my happiness, my well-being, and my life-goals. I absolve everyone, living or dead, past or present, from any implication that they cause my feelings or actions in any way.

THE FOURTH When faced with the choice between being happy and being defensive, I commit to choosing happiness; I commit to doing this especially in those situations when my defensiveness seems most warranted and when it is totally obvious to me that I am right and the other person is wrong.

THE FIFTH I commit to learning to love and appreciate myself and others in my close relationships.

THE SIXTH I commit to the full expression of my creativity, and to inspiring the full creative expression of those around me.

THE SEVENTH I commit to celebration as the dominating emotional tone of my relationships. Particularly, I commit to celebrating the essence of myself and those close to me.

THE MASTER COMMITMENT The master commitment is a diamond with several facets. it begins in this way:

I accept relationship itself as my primary teacher about myself, other people, and the mysteries of the universe. I open myself to letting every relationship interaction, no matter how seemingly trivial, deepen my connection with my essence and the essence of others. I invite all healing powers in myself and the universe to remove any obstacles to my relationships being a source of joyful fulfillment to me in all my depths.

I commit to clearing up anything in me that keeps me from full loving unity with myself and my loved ones.

I make a commitment to intimacy that is greater than my commitment to being right and perpetuating my conditional patterns.


Copyright © 1996, The Light Party, Personal Transformation, Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks

Dance Me To The End Of Love

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on
Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long
We're both of us beneath our love, we're both of us above
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the children who are asking to be born
Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn
Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in
Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Leonard Cohen

A Thousand Kisses Deep

The ponies run, the girls are young,
The odds are there to beat.
You win a while, and then it’s done –
Your little winning streak.
And summoned now to deal
With your invincible defeat,
You live your life as if it’s real,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

I’m turning tricks, I’m getting fixed,
I’m back on Boogie Street.
You lose your grip, and then you slip
Into the Masterpiece.
And maybe I had miles to drive,
And promises to keep:
You ditch it all to stay alive,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

And sometimes when the night is slow,
The wretched and the meek,
We gather up our hearts and go,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

Confined to sex, we pressed against
The limits of the sea:
I saw there were no oceans left
For scavengers like me.
I made it to the forward deck.
I blessed our remnant fleet –
And then consented to be wrecked,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

I’m turning tricks, I’m getting fixed,
I’m back on Boogie Street.
I guess they won’t exchange the gifts
That you were meant to keep.
And quiet is the thought of you,
The file on you complete,
Except what we forgot to do,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

And sometimes when the night is slow,
The wretched and the meek,
We gather up our hearts and go,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

The ponies run, the girls are young,
The odds are there to beat . . .

Leonard Cohen

Anthem

The birds they sang
at the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don't dwell on what
has passed away
or what is yet to be.
Ah the wars they will
be fought again
The holy dove
She will be caught again
bought and sold
and bought again
the dove is never free.

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

We asked for signs
the signs were sent:
the birth betrayed
the marriage spent
Yeah the widowhood
of every government --
signs for all to see.

I can't run no more
with that lawless crowd
while the killers in high places
say their prayers out loud.
But they've summoned, they've summoned up
a thundercloud
and they're going to hear from me.

Ring the bells that still can ring ...

You can add up the parts
but you won't have the sum
You can strike up the march,
there is no drum
Every heart, every heart
to love will come
but like a refugee.

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
That's how the light gets in.
That's how the light gets in.

Leonard Cohen

Le Petit Prince

"What is that object?"
"That is not an object. It flies. It is an airplane. It is my airplane."
And I was proud to have him learn that I could fly.
He cried out, then:
"What! You dropped down from the sky?"
"Yes," I answered, modestly.
"Oh! That is funny!"
And the little prince broke into a lovely peal of laughter, which irritated me very much. I like my misfortunes to be taken seriously.
Then he added:
"So you, too, come from the sky! Which is your planet?"

Be In Touch

I sent out and email a few weeks ago requesting comments and have gotten nothing back. So I have decided to post the email here to see what that does. Here is the original email (sent out to friends originally) requesting comments:

I have been keeping this blog (one among many) for some time now, posting here and there -- sorting "things" out on the page (sharing what I've learned) or posting songs that reflect my personal experience, and while I get some visitors I would like more. Please feel free to subscribe to my feed or become a follower and keep in touch. Make comments. I want to have a conversation going on here.

In a way, I want this blog to become a practice in communication. So, if you're interested please join in the practice of communication with me.

If I do not know you and you are reading this make a comment by way of introduction.

Also for those of you who would like to be added to the email updates (basically you'd get an email whenever I post) let me know.

Be Brave

Share your sweetness.

"A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave". Mohandas Gandhi

Finals

I can't help but spend 4 days writing about dance improvisation even though I know she only expects us to spend an hour or 2 writing up some simple review.

The Symbolic Raccoon

The Raccoon is a powerful ally and holds the gift of transformation. When it appears in a persons life the many faces of self are about to be revealed.



To get home tonight I took the trail through the eucalyptus trees which is about a half mile thick. Halfway through, I came across a group of raccoons. They saw me before I saw them and hurried off into the shadows (out of the light from the lanterns which line the path) to the base of one of the trees, where they sat watching me as I waked by. Remembering I had my camera with me, I turned back to get some shots thinking back on what one of my teachers had told me about the raccoon's message. After I stood there for awhile taking photos, I guess they realized they were safe because one of them started towards me, followed by the others, sniffing and shuffling around in the ground as they walked, as if they were looking for something.

Feeling a little uncomfortable with their ease and advancement, I started backing up at one point. Not yet realizing they were only pretending to be curious about what might be on the ground, I kept up with my photo taking. Still, I felt something, or should I say, had an instinctual sense that something was off here and started walking quickly backwards. At which point, one of them, I'm not sure exactly how it happened actually, but this one started picking up the pace too. So I started casually running backwards, thinking somehow that it would not be smart to turn my back on them.

My heart started racing. I swear the one raccoon was looking me in the eye.

I picked up the pace even more and actually started running. The raccoon ran after me maintaining my same speed till I finally turned my back to it, still watching it over my shoulder, wondering how fast raccoons could run....

Once I had reached a "safe" distance, safe by both of our standards it seems, it stepped off the path into the shadows again.

This being not the most intense experience of the tonight, let's just say it's been an extraordinary night, it was the most profound teacher.

Experiences have become a source of immediate learning for me; I'd rather not call them lessons. Lessons are an unwelcome thing, in that, they imply difficulty, and my whole deal is about ease.

So be easy and have your experience.

Be Willing

Moving into transparency, I see that not everyone is there, and that this kind of honesty makes some people uncomfortable.

People are "transmitting" a reality and sometimes these realities function more like inconsistencies or, variable, self-contradictory patterns. Like foreign matter that got mixed-in with the paint, gradually, with each stir of the bucket, changing the tone and texture of their lives.

Becoming aware of these "foreign elements" is the challenge and then processing them with consciousness rather than experiencing, time and time again, the same old pattern of self-betrayal through automatic living (automatically playing into the pattern that inevitably takes us away form our destiny) we can choose to drop it, just like that.

Universal Speak

Moving away form the personal and into the universal -- let this blog be a practice from here on out in communication across-the-board, one of loving inclusive talk.

Point Arena, Setting SUN

I was up in the Marin Headlands, at Point Arena, this weekend with Dr. Khalsa and company -- we watched the sun set to close both day's practice. Saturday's sunset was marked by thick fog allowing shades of lavender to show through. Absolutely brilliant. Sunday night's sunset was a good example of one-pointed consciousness, suggesting that it is always possible. All that is required of us is to see what is most brilliant to our lives and then gaze into it as though we are becoming it. We can truly become what we are doing, seeing, holding, being.


Have your experience! Live your life.

Narcotango!

How I Feel

Krisnamacharya 1938

B.K.S. Iyengar 1938

I'm a rainbow too!

Forget neckties... How do you tie a turban? (I just really find this example to be beautiful.)

Javi!

...missing you!

Ah Ha!

I think I finally get it. There have been years passing and not enough work to account for it. I must have been thinking there would be some moment where my life would finally come into focus but that's not IT.

It doesn't work like that..
Or does it...? Ahhh... The paradoxes!
Is this that moment?

I am realizing there is a fine thread passing through this life and that this thread is me and everything else is an accident, a beautiful mistake. I see that I am a poet, that I practice yoga, that I love healing (period), and that there is a need in me (most moments) to be as truthful as possible; as IN TRUTH as I can be. Hum.. now I've lost the original thing I was going for here. Isn't life funny.
I am moving into purpose more than ever now and it's kind of nice, I only feel a few years behind.
I believe I will teach Kundalini Yoga, get licensed in Harmonyum Therapy, and teach dance at the deepest level. I'll write, dance, and heal people (help them to heal themselves). I'll breathe and move into transparency with everyone who's willing.

Ha Ha Ha Bless Your Soul (Gnarls Barkley)

I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that place.
Even your emotions had an echo
In so much space

And when you're out there
Without care,
Yeah, I was out of touch
But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much

Does that make me crazy
Does that make me crazy
Does that make me crazy
Possibly

And I hope that you are having the time of your life
But think twice, that's my only advice

Come on now, who do you, who do you, who do you, who do you think you are,
Ha ha ha bless your soul
You really think you're in control

Well, I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
Just like me

My heroes had the heart to loose their lives out on a limb
And all I remember is thinking, I want to be like them
Ever since I was little, ever since I was little it looked like fun
And it's no coincidence I've come
And I can die when I'm done

Maybe I'm crazy
Maybe you're crazy
Maybe we're crazy
Probably

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd2B6SjMh_w



Theremin Cover:

Equinox

The Sun crossed declination 0 (the celestial equator) today. I sang Long Time Sun for an hour, 3:30ish to 4:30. I hope your day was bright!

So that's what she's been up to.

Come Home

The moon keeps expanding and I've had a blessed day. I am still surprised at people's surprise at what I say--it seems so common; it's just common knowledge! Hahah. All this I say--you and I in a world all our own. This is your world too--come home.

Miss Him

Why do I have to still miss him? He killed himself and did not let any of us know him like we needed to and I have to miss him more than most? Makes no sense. Pain is a strange thing. It's a friend, it's an enemy--it makes you remember things you had long forgot; it shows you what you're afraid to look at. It lets you know. It is also deceptive; people get stuck in comfortable habitual patterns all the time. It can be painful stepping out of that.

Colors

Sometimes when I think back to my friends after a night of hanging out I see them in colors. Like Willow for example, she's all green and sometimes red streaks come in like ribbons. Thinking back to my teens, I remember classifying people based on the color they reminded me of (or the color they would emit). I love that I get to come back to myself, full circle, after these 10+ years exploring other possibilities. I feel that I've come home in so many ways.

Freaky Freak

In our dream
You were the best lover
I'd ever had and I
Was your
Sweet freak.

In our dream
I was the best lover you'd ever had
And you were my
Sweet freaky freak.

The Symbolic Moth

Moths are nocturnal, by nature, illusive in spirit, and much of their symbolism deals with intuition, perception, awareness, and clarity.

Some theories support the idea that moths use the moon as a primary reference point [having] the ability to calibrate their flight paths as the Earth's rotation causes the moon to move across the sky. (There is even evidence to support the theory that migrating moths have an internal geomagnetic compass system to guide them in the right direction.)
(http://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/question675.htm)

Creatures guided by the moon hold a subtle vulnerability to us sun worshipers, yet, I believe, blind sight is often the best--it's better not to know; it's better being empty. Then all that was meant to be yours and ours in this moment on these days in this world will flood into you me I we us and them. Would you risk being that empty?

The moths ask us to be THAT EMPTY, be THAT GUIDED; they also show us the paradox of having a predisposition of migrating into and through faith. But honestly have you ever seen a moth drawn to a flame and die in the process? They are drawn to our artificial lights, not flames as the saying goes, because their nervous systems have not caught up yet. Evolution will change that.

Moths remind us to be open to our experience, allowing for periods of acclimation, and to acquire forms of protection--like patterns in your mind or behavior or expressions (whatever that means for you).

Indeed, we find this theme of protection in the moth’s chrysalis [the hard outer case of this, esp. after being discarded]. The moth’s coccoon is like an internalized womb with a hard casing, allowing more protection against the elements. (http://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/question675.htm)

This may be analogous of garnering protection for ourselves in our spiritual practices. The moth reminds us to realize the heart is a treasure to be taken care of. Part of this caretaking involves nurturing and protection during times of development.

As a dream symbol, the moth may be interpreted as a message to listen to our inner voice. Dreaming of the moth may also indicate we are on the path to attracting love into our lives (see more about the moth and love symbolism here).

Another dream animal aspect of the moth deals with influence. Here, our dreaming mind may ask our waking mind what is it that rules our attention, or what are we allowing to overly influence us in our daily lives?

These Rags

I can smell you in these rags. You were like quicksand; nothing to hold onto. No more sinking now. You and I lived in a world designed for one. Where's that?
I smell you in these rags but you're not there. You never were. It was just me, fighting with myself, off in some corner. And it makes no difference where you are now. It makes no difference where you were then.
It was just me, fighting with myself, off in some corner.

Oxymoron

Don’t let anyone insult you by telling you that you "eat like a bird", birds eat 10 times their weight in food everyday.

--------------------------------

I've known both ways of being.

In your eyes and
up above, we saw different things that night.

She always ran after you; you kept slipping through the cracks -- then there was that day you jumped from the window in plain sight. I saw you jump. I watched you from her mind. I tried to tell her, go see him -- we're not alright.
Now you're fragmented
And she's forgot nothing.

--------------------------------------------

I don't want to be without my family again. I'm here in San Antonio feeling safe and protected. It's been a long time since I've felt like this.

I don't love being alone like I used to be.

These past couple of months, being here in Texas, taking trips up to Austin; the sense of displacement that I have felt for many years lifted from me. I could feel it go the moment I got out of the car our first trip up (to Austin) back in June; the moment I stepped on the ground.

I know this place in my body.

It's a wonderful sensation knowing there are people near by who have known me my whole life. I can't actually say why I enjoy knowing this now while it meant nothing to me before. I must have changed. ;)

Besides, it is brilliant to be walking around in a place that also exists in my heart. I don't want to describe this feeling. Once you describe a thing it changes it somehow. It's like the ambiance of the place is holding me. Opps, I just described it! ;)

Gotta love it!

Kaysha - Good Life 2005