everything from magnificent images to
disturbing stories and pictures of
a dark, airless, frightening world where
frustration over changed travel plans
and having to wait without being told anything
could be the least of our worries.
As with events like those of September 2001,
Doomsday TV-talk and futuristic Armageddon-type movies
suddenly start coming to life in the midst of
our ordinary "safe" reality, showing us
not just our human vulnerability and smallness,
but the transient nature of the Earth-system
upon which all our lives seem to be dependent.
And for those of us who have been exploring
Self-realization or esoteric paths to other realities,
and are accustomed to practices which can attract
powerful personal change for ourselves and others,
such events cut to the core of our supposed Knowing.
They also prompt deep questions about our attempts
to change the course of the events of our lives -
What is the wider picture?
What will the things I do have for effect on others?
What is the extent I can play God?
What will the things I do have for effect on others?
What is the extent I can play God?
Television newscasting is something I avoid as much as possible,
but I've been finding myself following volcanic ash updates
and the personal testimonies of reporters and travellers,
etching extraordinary stories and pictures on my mind.
And once again the same realization has become apparent -
in some way it seems NECESSARY for humans to experience
extraordinary events which turn ordinary life upside down,
in order for our deeper humanity and humility to break through.
Another realization, which comes over time as events unfold,
is that the GIFTS of these events in so many ways outweigh
the discomfort, distress and possible long-term desolation
which they bring; we are "forced" back into human connection
and into connection with the world we live in day-by-day.
And we cannot avoid the questions of our own empowerment
in the wider context of the ways the Universe has
its very own Agenda, and Reason and Ways of Being,
in a drama in which WE are NOT the leading character!
Which brings me back to the title of this blog:
The Tantric Wisdom of Volcanic Life
The ancient art of Tantra is about the weave of EVERYTHING -
nothing left out!
Our modern life is mainly about the complete opposite -
the SEPARATION of everything, and especially of people
into "life-boxes" disconnected from one another.
But when erupting volcanoes or crashing aircraft or Death
break into our self-protected world, turning it upside down,
our boxes crumple and our fellow-human-ness comes back.
Tantra is also about the deepest of Presence, one with another.
Suppose we each were to start practising that deepest Presence
with one another NOW, in widening areas of our lives, so that
we began to re-connect more and more to the Weave of Life;
maybe we would need physically to travel less, and more
would engage in mutual journeys into one another's human-ness;
and maybe we would be less appalled at our own vulnerability
when the ever-changing Nature of Life surprised us.
And maybe, just as in deep Tantric practice, we would learn
to Ride the Wave of Existence, unshielded and expectant,
like those extraordinary "extreme sport" surfboarders
revelling in rough seas. How passionate and alive!
Picture from Wikipedia
In this "being-with-what-unfolds"-learning to ride, there is
deep, divine empowerment, and amazing excitement and fun.
Time to learn the Art of Receiving!
Blessings
John O
More eruption images here
