God Series: Episode 6-God as Water!

Meady's Musings Production 2008

We return to the elements once more on the God Series as we explore the concept of God as Water. We also join in with our parent blog Meady's Musings as they mark Blog Action Day 2010(by discussing water and the need to get it world over) and Global Handwashing Day!

First of all let's recall past blogs on UCP about the concept of water as deity...as we did this before when we marked the Hindu festival of Kartik Snaan where we spoke about how Hinduism worships water as the Goddess Ganga (also the name of the largest and most powerful river in India.)

-Kartik Snan, Kartik Snaan or Kartik Nahan? Either Way an Ode to the Great Element Water!

-A Pilgrimage in the Month of Kartik

Water is also seen as an important conduit between the divine and man in most major religions...for example in Christianity it is often used in Baptisms.

In Greek mythology water was also deified as in Hinduism but unlike in Hinduism it was seen as masculine taking on the name Poseidon when seen as a king...so Poseidon is the King of the sea! Poseidon has a similar counterpart in the Roman God- Neptune.

There is another subtle difference from in Hinduism as well...because in Hinduism Ganga is see as a Goddess but she is also the Water itself...where as in these mythologies i.e. Greek and Roman Poseidon and Neptune are Gods of the Sea. So they aren't exactly the water itself but have power over it and so can manifest some of its attributes but still not the water itself like how Ganga is!

And that difference although subtle makes all the difference to us on UCP. You see to deify the actual element itself as Hinduism does...it takes on a whole different meaning...it tells us how much this element means to man directly...it is man's very life blood...without it he could not live...yet it can also destroy man if it goes rampant in nature...and on the spiritual side it is man's conduit to the divine...Oh WATER! No wonder we here at UCP have written more than one ode to you and poets everywhere have saluted you...and will continue to do so for eternity!

Jai Ganga Maa!

The Festival of Shiv:The Grand Finale!

All photos copyright of Meady's Musings Production 2006-2010

I have to tell you UCP is very sad to be saying goodbye to this Festival of Shiv and although we didn't blog for the last few days of the calendar it was only because we were too tired or busy to do so and not because we didn't wish to! But as promised yesterday we are sending off the Festival with a grand finale blog! I didn't post it up last night on the last day of February but have kept it instead for today as it is the Somvaar in Hindi and Monday in English...a very much celebrated day for Shiv Bhakts or devotees who see him as related to the Soma...although I feel more affinity for the Guruvaar...Thursday as I see him as the Supreme Guru...Super Shiv! :)

Now here is the surprise and what for me and hopefully for you makes this a grand finale blog to close the Festival of Shiv! You know how I'm always saying how I often visualise Shiv sitting at its banks perhaps under a tree or doing yogic stretches along its rim? And I've even shared some pics of it on my Kartik pilgrimage blog last year here. But I've always wanted to go on a full pilgrimage to there and spend sometime in relaxation, meditation, reflection and most of all photography so that I could share the experience with you here! :)

So yesterday was my day to go! Thing is I came to the realization that the creek is on the west coast of the island...in fact the creek is this sheltered body of water that separates Trinidad and Venezuela. But the realization wasn't about Venezuela but about the fact that the creek's location in proximity to Venezuela and Trinidad makes it calm...and it being in the West means the the setting sun kisses it! So I decided not to go first thing in the morning as originally planned although my natural prayer instinct was to do so! I decided to go at sunset or close to it...and there my dilemma began...like Van Helsing trying to catch the last moments of sunlight to drive the stake through Dracula's heart before he gained power...there was I racing against Mr. Sun as my nephew calls him! :)

The whole race reminded me of my MahaShivratri blog early during the Festival of Shiv where I spoke of Mr Sun or that Surya guy not having any power over Baba Shiv! I mean after all Shiv dances throughout the cosmos so what was our sun i.e. planet Earth's sun...Mr. Surya Bhagwan's business telling Baba Shiv what to do! LOL!

So I had this date with Shiv at my favourite place to visualise and almost see and feel Shiv- Mosquito Creek! And of course I could meet Baba Shiv there any time and any space but I wanted to take the photos you see so I was hoping Mr Surya would have waited for me! In the end I did catch a glimpse of Mr Surya while I was on my date with Shiv but he played a trick on us and hid behind a cloud! Needless to say these are just some of the beautiful shots we got of Shiv and I on the date sneakily chaperoned by Mr Sun! :) I'd have to say it was a great date indeed and long overdue! :) And I will definitely go on a second date!






At the end of the date I was even able to catch up with people at the end of their Phagwa celebs that day...



And driving home after the date I couldn't believe my eyes but Chanda Mama had been watching upon us all the time in his fullest glory! Yes folks it was a glorious full moon! :) And some say Shiv is also the moon or the moon part of Shiv...but one thing for sure indeed he wears the crescent moon in his head! :)






And of course all you UCPers must by now well know that I'm just kidding or metaphorically speaking when I said I went on a date with Baba Shiv. However yep in the folk stories he does indeed wear a crescent moon in his head and weds Parvati and as we say goodbye to the Festival of Shiv I leave you with this memory of the Festival where Shiv and Parvati are on their Honeymoon in the TV serial Om Namah Shivay!

Advent Calendar: 17 and 18 Dec 2009-The gift of EFT-Emotional Freedom Techiques and The Infinite Divine!

Excuses...excuses...no gift on Thurs now...because...because...but...blah...blah...blah...!

But as much as I know you won't believe this...guess what happened yesterday???

I was in the kitchen having my breakfast...happy to be on a break from my vegan diet until the new year and so I had made quite the bowl of porridge...lots of milk and sweetened condensed one too...a bit too sweet and a bit too milky but at least I hadn't burnt the oats and so it was just right for me! Then as I was about to put another spoonful into my mouth...there was a knock at the door...not just once but three sharp knocks quickly in a row!...

Tap! Tap! Tap!

When I opened it...I didn't believe it either but three shepherds! All with flocks of sheep! Now my house is already filled with mice, some elephants graze nearby to my house as well as they can't fit in it...as I only have one specially sized room for my Purple Elephant of course! So where would all of them fit?...And there were already three bears to each of my spare rooms! Shepherds would not stay with bears would they? Could they?

So I asked them...but in the end...the bears agreed that they would be all part of the Christmas cheer! So they helped construct a manger! All in the course of one day!

So I was there supervising the sheep...it was where I was busy all of Thurs you see! :) In the end the three shepherds agreed it was the most comfy tricked out manager they have ever seen! (they even had computers to follow this blog!) And some of the baby sheep...lambs really...are sleeping in it with them as we speak! (time differences so they are catching up on some sleep)The rest of the flock are making friends with the elephants...dunno??? Well at least I hope so!

So was busy as any bee in my bee colony yesterday and so again did not post! But today I will be doing some big making up as the host! As I am pleased to present a blog written by my beautiful Irish friend-Noreen Barron! :) as she outlines the gift of EFT-Emotional Freedom Techniques.

But before I post Noreen's blog...here is a little bit about my additional gift for today to make up for yesterday...my explanation about what I call 'The Infinite Divine'

THE INFINITE DIVINE

Every time I look at large bodies of water all stretched out before me as far as my eyes can see...I feel the awesomeness of 'The Infinite Divine'! Some must feel it when they look at the sky...but for me it's the sea! Perhaps it is because I live on an island or I pass by a creek every day to and from work ...I don't know...but it just occurred to me that...well to my eyes this water appears infinite...and at the same time the fact that it can over power me but at the same time I can't live without it...it is a basic human need...and I'm 80% made up or it...yet I can also drown in it...well just a few days ago the words 'The Infinite Divine' came to me as an explanation for it! And I thought I'd shared that with you today...dunno...I've blogged about water before...twice already to close off the Hindu calendar year with the festival of Kartik Snan, Snaan or Nahan...either way an ode to water. So here it is again the links to those two blogs so that perhaps you might again reflect on this in terms of 'The Infinite Divine'!

-A pilgrimage in the month of Kartik

-Kartik Snan, Kartik Snaan or Karik Nahan? Either Way an Ode to the Great Element Water!

And now onto Noreen Barron's blog about EFT-Emotional Freedom Techniques for which she no doubt taps into the 'The Infinite Divine' to perfect!

EFT-EMOTIONAL FREEDOM TECHNIQUES BY NOREEN BARRON

Natural forces within us are the true healers of disease ~ Hippocrates

Throughout the ages, the energy or force that animates all life has been referred to as Prana, Qi (Chi), Ki, Ka, Pneuma, Ashe, Ha, Life Force and Spirit. Ancient healing systems such as Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine have studied and documented the effects of how this energy influences and directs the body and mind. Today we are building on this solid foundation with the developing fields of mindbody medicine, energy medicine, energy psychology and energy healing. Holistic psychiatrist Dr John Diamond refers to this animating life force as Life Energy. Life Energy is “the innate healing power of the body, and it is intimately connected with health in that whatever the symptoms of any particular illness, underneath we will always find a diminution of Life Energy. It is the Healing Power within us, the restorative powers of our own body, and the only true healing comes by raising the Life Energy.”

Some day the medical profession will wake up and realize that unresolved emotional issues are the main cause of 85% of all illnesses. When they do, EFT will be one of their primary healing tools ... as it is for me ~ Eric Robins, MD

Emotional Freedom Techniques or EFT, simply stated, is emotional or psychological acupressure. Acupressure is the act of applying manual pressure, or tapping, usually with the fingertips, on various meridians located on the surface of the body, the same meridians used in acupuncture. Meridians are the channels through which energy flows, much the same as veins and capillaries are the channels through which blood flows. Energy needs to flow freely and unimpeded through these channels, otherwise it stagnates and becomes blocked, this congested and clogged energy can eventually become so dense that it results in emotional and physical dis-ease. EFT helps to dissolve and release the energetic blocks and restores the natural flow to our Life Energy. As Dr John Diamond states “Holistic Healing always starts with the actuation of the Life Energy, the Spirit—the Healing Power Within. Only then can there be the full appreciation and joyful acceptance of the beauty and wonder of life. This and nothing less than this is True Health.”

The visible world is the invisible organisation of energy ~ Heinz Pagels, Physicist

EFT is a very elegant technique, it can be used on issues such as headaches, pain, fear of public speaking, dyslexia and it may also be employed to treat more complex, serious and chronic issues such as Multiple Sclerosis and Cancer. Very often, in treating an emotional issue successfully with EFT, a related physical ailment will disappear or diminish and the same is true when working on a physical issue, related emotional issues melt away. We all know the effect emotions can have on our physiology, when we're afraid or nervous for example, our stomachs may tense up and become knotted, our hearts may beat faster, we start to sweat and our breathing becomes shallow and fast as we take shorter breaths. As the founder of EFT, Gary Craig, states in the discovery statement of EFT “All negative emotions are caused by a disruption in the body's energy system.” EFT works on this simple, but profound, truth.

The latest discoveries in physics and cell research are forging new links between the worlds of Science and Spirit. The latest science leads us to a worldview not unlike that held by the earliest civilizations, in which every material object in Nature was thought to possess a spirit. This is the world of quantum physics, in which matter and energy are completely entangled ~ Bruce Lipton, Ph.D author of Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles

Much research has shown us that the mind and body are inextricably linked, if not one and the same. Dr Candace Pert, author of Molecules of Emotion, Why you Feel the Way you Feel, states that the body is the “outward manifestation of the mind”, and what influences and directs the mind more than the beliefs we hold about our self, others and life? These beliefs create the filter through which we view, perceive and live life. As Bruce Lipton states in Biology of Belief, "When cells band together in creating multicellular communities, they follow the 'collective voice' of the organism, even if that voice dictates self-destructive behaviour. Our physiology and behaviour patterns conform to the 'truths' of the central voice, be they constructive or destructive beliefs." Skilled use of Emotional Freedom Techniques unveils core beliefs, which can then be tapped on to help dissolve and release them. Just like poet William Blake wrote “When the doors of perception are cleansed, everything will appear to man as it is, infinite”. When we dissolve beliefs that do not serve our highest good, we too will see that we are infinite and therefore have infinite potential, possibility and power.

From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that we are here for the sake of each other - above all for those upon whose smile and well-being our own happiness depends, and also for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the labours of my fellow men, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received ~ Albert Einstein

The phenomenon in which EFT often works best when we tap with others rather than alone, is evidence to many of us that we are all energetically connected. We shift more blocked energy, we perceive things differently, we don't feel so alone, we feel connected, what’s really happening in my opinion is that we are HEALING our spirits. I believe this energetic or spiritual connection is also why distance healing and surrogate EFT works. I think this quote sums it up beautifully "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Matthew 18:20

Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

The founder of EFT, Gary Craig, has always held the vision of Emotional Freedom Techniques bringing us closer to who we truly are: spiritual beings having a human experience, not the other way around. He is also a minister for A Course in Miracles and its philosophy is embedded in the very spirit of EFT: to love and accept ourselves unconditionally EVEN THOUGH we have issues. As mentioned previously, energy is also known as spirit, so, it is in raising our Life Energy, our Spirit, with the help of EFT that we will realise what Gary Craig wrote in his recent blog announcing his retirement “the exquisite beauty that is our birthright”. Thank you Gary for your beautiful gift of spirit and peace to the world.

www.cmbm.org