Tag Archives: “Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior”

The Road to 65, Mile 290: The Soup of Good Fortune

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Posted by on in Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Service Activities

September 13, 2015, Prescott-   I spent three hours today, in one of the most worthwhile of endeavours.  The Empty Bowls Project is an annual event in Prescott, on Courthouse Square, where so many of our great community events take place.  I was given the job of Gazpacho Ladeler.  Each of us ladelers gave a contributing patron 6 oz. of soup in either a ceramic bowl, which they had purchased, or in a free Styrofoam bowl.  Patrons could come back for second helpings, so one or two of the more popular soups (i.e. lobster bisque) ran out.

Various restaurants in Prescott and nearby Prescott Valley sent a plenitude of soups, most of them hot.  The gazpacho seemed to be the only one that wasn’t.  Even so, there was just about a bowl left over, when we stopped at 2:10, and the chef came to get her materials. My tangible reward for this effort was two 16 oz. cups of soup, one minestrone and one coconut cauliflower curry.  Far greater, of course, is knowing that a substantial amount of money was raised for the benefit of local food banks.

I went back to the house afterward, and finished reading “Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior”, which recounts Dan Millman’s experiences, whilst on Oahu and Molokai.  I sat, totally concentrating on the last fifty pages of the book, and journeyed with him through various dimensions and states of mind.  He did not use hallucinogens, and I can identify with that, since my own mind can make its way to worlds that hardly make sense, in a tangible context.  This afternoon, I only followed his lead.

After my reading was finished, I was given the message to prepare a certain soup of my own.  I first peeled the rind off a butternut squash, after cleaning out its seeds and slicing off the ends.  Then, I did the same with an eggplant and a red pepper, adding lean ground beef and a few figs, with various seasonings.  Turmeric was put in there, for some reason.  I don’t usually add it to a vegetable soup, but there it was.

The scraps and seeds were then buried in the backyard, in an impromptu garden plot.  I’ve never heard of planting so close to Fall, but that was the message I got- and well, trust the journey.  We’ll see what transpires.

I will regard the resulting concoction as a soup of good fortune- celebrating what appear to be doors opening for me, even as a door of friendship, of two years’ duration, seems to be closing.  Everything happens in its time.

The Road to 65, Mile 287: Shakra Shuffle

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Posted by on in Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Spiritual

September 10, 2015, Prescott-  The day found me back at work with a disabled boy, and my mother turned 87, a fabulous age, in my book. She went line dancing, which does my heart good.

Mom has always taught us to show compassion, to put others first.  So it has gone, and it has been to my benefit also- because of the Shakras.  Indian medicine tells us there are seven shakras, or regions of energy concentration, in and around the human body.  The first, in the genitalia, deal with personal survival.  The second, in the lower viscera, focus on sexuality and creativity.  The abdominal region focuses on personal power and discipline.

Most of us fond ourselves going back and forth from these “lower” areas of focus, even while priding ourselves on “higher” pursuits.  A couple of years ago, I set out on a spiritually-focused journey, only to fall apart at the seams, midway through, and had to regroup and move forward, once again.

In 2014, whilst in Europe, I found myself more and more focused in the area of the fourth shakra- that of transpersonal love. You guessed it: The fourth shakra is in the region of the heart and lungs.  This is said to feel like the most satisfying, because it is here that service is the main focus.

There are three higher shakras, however, and I was reminded of them, whilst reading a couple of other chapters of “Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior”, which recounts Dan Millman’s experiences in Hawaii and Japan.  A Native Hawaiian healer reviews the shakras with him, calling them floors in “The Tower of Life”, a term first used by Sallie Nichols, in the book “Jung and Tarot”.

The fifth shakra, centered in the neck, is focused on pure inspiration and spirituality.  I’ve been in that state a few times.  Perhaps you have, too.  The sixth, focused in the cerebrum, is called “Pure Light”, communion with the Spirit.  It is no surprise to me, that my messages from the Spirit Realm have come either in dreams, or in waking visions, when I am not concerned with the business at hand.

The seventh shakra is not even in the body. It is in one’s aura, directly above the head, and features Pure Spirit, with no ego left.  This, to me, is the meaning of the Zen teaching that nothingness is the highest state which one may attain.  Being one with the Universe is its manifestation.

As I said earlier, most of us go back and forth, between the first four or five shakras.  I’ve been blessed to have experienced #6, and I know many others who have, as well. To be in one of the higher states, most of the time, is fulfillment.  To handle the lower urges, and get back to spiritual progress, is the norm for me, more and more often.  That said, I think I can wait a while for Shakra #7.  There are too many people about whom I care deeply.