The Truth Is Not a Spear, Part One

How many times have we felt the need to jab our spear of truth at someone when we’ve felt threatened, or passionate about a situation? When faced with heated situations, or even those not heated, have you ever found yourself needing to pierce someone with that spear to hurt them as you’ve been hurt?

If you are like me and resonate with a Warrior spirit, you may find yourself feeling like you have to defend your perspective, whatever it may be, by being forceful with your words. If you feel threatened, you may feel like you need to yell, raise your voice or be cruel to establish your Warrior position. I know I have been guilty (and admittedly still catch myself doing it sometimes) of “rising up” on someone and stabbing them with my “truth”, my “truth” that says “you will NOT get the better of me.”

My God, aren’t you tired after something like this transpires? I know more often than not, I’m left feeling off balance, out of my heart zone and utterly exhausted, with nothing being accomplished. What a waste of energy! But how can we be more effective with defending our boundaries? Isn’t there a better way to deliver our truth without having to stab someone to death with our truth spears?

The answer is yes, but it’s not a simple process, especially for those of us who are Warriors at heart. Interestingly enough, a Warrior is most powerful when they are soft. The true power of a Warrior comes when a balance of honor, respect, integrity, presence and fair communication are present.

According to Angeles Arrien, author of “The Four Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Visionary, Teacher and Healer”, honor and respect are the most crucial. Arrien states, “Honor is the capacity to confer respect to another individual. We become honorable when our capacities for respect are expressed and strengthened. The term respect comes from the Latin word respicere, which means ‘the willingness to look again.’ The Warrior is willing to take a second look rather than remain stuck in a particular view of a situation or individual.” (Pp. 15-16)

Very simply put, this means that we have the courage to face ourselves and be accountable for what is out of balance, then fix it. Only then will we be truly comfortable in our own skin. Only then will we not feel the need to pick up a spear to have to defend ourselves with, because we will be able to appreciate the differences in ourselves, thus allowing us to appreciate the differences within others.

In order to extend respect to someone, we must be willing to “look again.” This creates a softening, a flexibility that will allow us to flow with the circumstance, rather than plant our feet in the ground, tensed up, spear in hand, primed for battle. Think of it this way: what is rigid will at some point break when enough pressure is applied. What is soft and yielding will sustain the flow and become one with it.

Which would you rather?

Zen and the Art of Allowing

Recently, I’ve begun devoting more time to my prayer/healing work. I’ve diligently been practicing and focusing on doing some pretty far-reaching deep inner healing work daily. While I’ve been focusing on several areas for healing, such as letting go of any tendencies that no longer serve me, I realized all this time I’ve been missing a key component: giving myself permission to do this work. This has created a huge shift in my self-healing work, and honestly, I think there is great value to this component.

One of the areas I’ve focused a lot of time and energy into healing is letting go of any past emotional, physical and psychic trauma I’ve sustained. I know I carry around the dense vibrations of these traumas still, and it manifests in the form of extra body weight. Not that I am greatly overweight, but frankly, this body is just too heavy to carry me around in the higher vibrations that I want to exist in. For me, the time has come to lighten up a bit. And as determined of a soul as I am, determination without permission to be determined is fruitless.

I stumbled upon this crucial piece of the puzzle in a body work session one day while receiving a massage from one of my mentors. Before my massage, I sat in a coaching session with my mentor and we were discussing the benefits of allowing ourselves to soften on all levels and drop the spears we often carry around and aim in the name of “truth.” (That’s another post for another day) It occurred to me at that moment that allowing has a lot of power. In fact, it can hold all the power, depending on your intention.

It occurred to me that if I added the words, “I now give myself permission on all levels, with full cooperation from every aspect of myself, both physical and non-physical, to release that which no longer serves me,” I may experience a deeper realm of healing. I was right. My healing has accelerated faster than a driver on the Autoban. And thank Goddess for it!

The definition of permission is: “authorization granted to do something; formal consent; the act of permitting.”

Let’s think about the power of this for a second, shall we? If, in meditation, we asked for alignment with our Higher Self or Soul, and then granted ourselves formal consent to do whatever healing we needed to do, can you imagine the delight from Heaven? Talk about a giant green light! Since the Universe only gives us what we allow ourselves to receive, perhaps telling the Universe, “Hey, I’m now giving you permission to help me with this healing work” would be just the ticket to allowing that healing to actually happen?

Since incorporating this into my daily practice, I have had all kinds of things come up to be released. When I do discover something has cropped up, I give myself permission to address it and process it. Then I bless it and thank it for its service and give it to Source. I ask for all of the negative effects be transmuted into positive energy that I can use to better serve my Higher Purpose and the highest and greatest good of all. The results for me, are astounding.