Monday, April 22, 2019

Everything Old Is New Again

Last week was one heck of a week of holy events. So I honor your with a...

Happy Spring 

Happy Vernal Equinox (northern hemisphere) 

Joyous Autumnal Equinox (southern hemisphere) 

Happy Joyous Saturday (prep day for Easter) 

Happy Good Friday (not for one guy 2000 years ago) 

Happy Maundy Thursday (Last Supper) 

Happy No Rooz (new year celebration for Zoroastrians, B’Hai’s, and Iranians) 

Wishing a good journey to the Buddhists on Higan, which means “the other shore”(a journey from suffering to enlightenment) 

Happy Sham el Nissim (Egyptian holiday – also represented by the egg) 

Happy Disablot, which means “smelling the breeze” (a Norse pagan spring harvest fest) 

Pesach Semeach (Happy Passover) 

Happy Easter


A lot of themes going on that week:
  • Fertility, renewal, resurrection and releasing
  • Reconnecting by overcoming challenges and weaknesses
  • Blossoming evolution, new beginnings and rebirth
Traditionally, there is much discussion and celebration of the story of the Exodus of the Jews out of Egyptian bondage and the Easter Story of the Last Supper, the crucifixion, and resurrection of the master teacher, Yeshua (Jesus).

Today, as metaphysicians, let’s take the metaphor out of the story, not as a series of historical facts, but as myths and legends, metaphoric tales to glean the themes and teachings. They are important and here to remind, educate and inspire us all to be above (meta) the physical and lead our life from the highest energy of love and a conscious Divine connection.

Please read with your mind, as you allow yourself to absorb with your heart, this tale.
There was once an orphan, husband, father of two, shepherd, defector, murderer, and possible stutterer named Moses (which means "out of water").

Moses was taking his flock of sheep for a walk in the desert, when suddenly he came upon this bush on fire – a burning bush, you might say. In fact, it was a talking burning bush which was very insistent that you take your shoes off on Its property.

And It told our Moses, “look, I see what’s happening to the people, the Hebrews. I don’t like it and I need you to fix it.” Tell the Pharoah, ‘let my people go!’”

Well, Moses freaked – this was a task that was definitely out of his comfort zone. “Nobody is gonna believe me.” Moses told the bush afire. “Who would I say sent me to insist on such a thing.”

And the bush said, in a very commanding voice, “tell them ehyeh asher ehyeh, I AM that I AM, sent you.”

Basically Spirit was saying to our little Moshe, “I see what’s going on, I’m not here to magically fix your problems for you, but I am totally here to support you with the Power you need. I want you to know, I will back you up. Now go tell Pharoah to let my people go.”

Nonetheless, our hero, was still leery of this task, not believing the Universe had his back. Who hasn’t felt that at times? You see a burning bush, it talks to you... you don’t believe it.

Moses says, “Pharaoh is not gonna care that I AM that I AM sent me to tell him to ‘let my people go.’ Come on now!”

And the bush said, “Well, doh-doh head, you don’t actually say it like that, you know it and show it. Act as if, Moz.”

"Geez, I don't know, Almighty One," Moses retorted. "Alright, alright," flamed the burning bush, "try this." So the Infinite Being showed Moses a few talents that he didn’t know he had at his disposal - but did - to prove that the Divine was within him and that he could representative that at anytime, and especially in this task.

In this case, it was a stick to a serpent trick….very impressive. Great with the ladies. Some people are good singers, good with numbers or organizing, etc. – talents are unlimited and Moses' were pretty mighty!

Still not convinced though, our little 80 year old rascal brought up another one of his limiting beliefs, surely a detriment to this whole affair, he pondered – his speech impediment.

“Look, said the bush, “have a little faith, dude. I am giving you this job because of of your so-called speech impediment. If I sent some big handsome guy, say like…Charlton Heston, everyone would be wowed by his big booming voice. So what, big booming voice, a dime a dozen. What they need to be wowed by is my energy, my vibe, through you. Moses, you are unique! I created you pal in my image, remember the 'in the beginning' stuff? And to top it off, ‘just call my name and I’ll be there’.

Still Moses wasn’t convinced and it showed all over his face.
Have you ever had that? In retrospect,
can you see signs from the Universe showing 

you the next step and you didn’t listen? I know I have.

















So, the Universe, in its Cause and Effect splendor, says, “Geez, okay, if you want to do it the hard way, great...fine, whatever you want. I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, make it that much more difficult for you. How's that? You ask, you get. Happy? Not get going.”
If you think something is going to be difficult, the Universe is happy
to oblige 
your limiting belief.  That’s how the Law works. 

Continuing with the rest of the tale:











So, Moshe goes to Egypt, the Pharoah says "no." Not once, not twice, but over and over again…then the ten plagues thing happens. By then, Moses was getting his Power on.
The Hebrews were in bondage, not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually, accepting as if their strife was truth and not just fact, thus making it harder for themselves, and any of us in a similar limited belief whirlwind, to leave this constricted place, which in our story is symbolized by Egypt. They weren’t understanding that they were the Power, the boss, the Pharaoh of their experience and perspective on life. They gave their Power away. We all sometimes use this Pharaoh of the mind - our ego - to either edge God out (not believing the Universe has our back) or entertaining God only (knowing It’s waiting for the clarity and command of our desire for freedom and prosperity to be declared, so It can manifest it). Which brings us to the big part of the tale of the parting of the Red Sea.

So these millions of people who have been in bondage for 240 years…
Doesn’t some of your limiting beliefs 
seem like they have been around that long? 

…they come all this way, out of bondage, out of slavery, out of misery, on their way to the Promised Land and suddenly they hit a wall…
…a wall of water, that is; impassable by foot or swim and with no boats in site. Scouts say the Pharaoh and his army (ie. symbolizing their past b.s.) is on their tails, and what do the Hebrews do? They forget, they revert to the old b.s....they plead for help. They whine and bitch and moan and cry about the obstacle, the setback. They did not realize that they are in the mindset, have the belief system, have the perspective that there is always something in the way...the woe is me” syndrome...and -boom- it always shows up. The Israelites did not understand that they are not sitting in the Truth about themselves - even in this crises, even on this special occasion - they wallow in the facts. They are not understanding that in this whirling dervish of their story is an opportunity for growth and progress and leaping past their previous b.s. (believing in their bondage, not just living it) by connecting with the Divine within, walking the talk,  and transcending into the grateful declaration and realization of what they wanted to choose to have in their life...freedom.
Which is what Moses, the activist, did. He’s pretty confident now. He had evolved by involving – reaching with that which is within him:  the Power of the Divine Intelligence, the Creative Loving Energy of the Universe – the I Am that I AM. Not outside forces, but inside. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Light of the Universe swept the sea back with a strong east wind, lasting all night, and turned the sea into dry land, the waters divided.

And as the Red Sea parted, the Hebrews crossed unharmed on their journey to their greatness, leaving behind – drowned, dead, and buried – a huge chunk of their limiting beliefs, which in this story we call Pharoah and the Egyptian army. That is the Beginning… And that’s what Jesus tried to show the world throughout his adult life and especially on Easter. The Universe has your back, know It, believe It, live It.
Now did Yeshua actually come back from the dead and walk-around? I don’t know. This too, like the Exodus story is probably mostly myth and metaphor. Jesus himself taught with metaphors. But this holiday represents his transcendence to that purity of spirit. It is the final example of his mission:
  • Inspire the world to its greatest loving good;
  • To teach how to not take things personally
  • To forgive all and be kind to one another,
  • To live in gratitude,
  • And to live and work, eat and play as who you are.
You too can waken yourself to the Kingdom of Heaven within and leave behind the mistakes and missteps, and the sins (missing the mark) by knowing and living as the I AM that I AM. You don’t need to physically die or spend time on your version of a cross to accomplish this. There is no point system. There is no suffering required.

Remember, Jesus is not the great exception, but the one of the great examples to learn from. We must be our own Moses, our own Savior, our own Redeemer of the Truth. This is a time when we collectively, with these two tales, and others, remind ourselves to transcend the everyday; whether it is the chaos of the bills, the kids, the news, the traffic, the dis-eases of all sorts in our life, and step into our identification with and connection to the Divine. It is a time to renew our intentions and our conscious use of our God-given talents and Powers. It is time to free ourselves from the captivity of our past mistakes and missteps and our constant grasping of the future. And to sit in the present in who we are right here, right now.

To transcend to the I Am and live knowing we are backed by the love of the Universe is the energy of beauty, peace, life, light, joy, love, and wisdom.

...if I take the time….to sit down, close my eyes, say a prayer, open myself to Spirit, then my identity begins to expand, and I remember that I’m not just Estelle, the personality, that I’m a soul, that I’m an embodiment of the Divine, and I move from what Jewish mystics say is ‘small mind’ to ‘big mind.'                  
Also, the Buddha said that.

And in that state of 'big mind,' the bonds of the self, the small identity that limits us and dictates who we think we are, it frees up – it’s sort of like a zooming out that you would do with a camera, but it’s zooming out all the way to infinity, all the way to eternity, beyond time, beyond space. And in that moment of deep meditation, or prayer, anything becomes possible, because you are rising above the workings of time.           ~Estelle Frankel, Berkeley psychotherapist and teacher of Jewish mysticism

Join me and take the mental shift, using the stories of Passover and Easter as your guide. Don’t allow yourself to become bitter, because of the past, and harden your heart like Pharoah. Be an activist, like Moses; despite your upbringing, your checkbook, your education, your looks, your whatever you allow to get in your way. Free yourself, like the children of Israel, of the bondage of limited consciousness. Enter your land of milk and honey.

Like Jesus and many others have been saying for centuries - it’s there for you, in you:
in your gut and your heart and mind. But this is old news, right? You’ve heard this all before.

Then let’s start anew right now, because...
Blessings to you all!
Namaste

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