Carpe Diem Namasté The Spiritual Way #7 New Life (Easter)

!! Open for your submissions Sunday April 16th 7.00 PM (CET) !!!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our "weekend-meditation". This week I have a nice new episode of Namasté, The Spiritual Way. I think it's a nice weekend to have a Namasté episode, because of the fact that it is Easter this Sunday. So that's why I have chosen for the "sub-title" New Life (Easter).

As you all know Easter is the holiday on which we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord, it's the end of the so called "Lenten", the period from Ash-Wednesday until Easter. Here in The Netherlands we have already started with the so called Easter period, because yesterday (Thursday April 13th) it was "White Thursday", today it is "Good Friday" and tomorrow it is "Silent Saturday" and than Sunday the day to celebrate that the Lord has risen from the death.

"The Lord Has Risen"

24 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ (Luke 24: 1 – 7 NIV)

What does this mean? It brought my thoughts back to our Theme Week about The Tibetan Book of The Living and Dying; and it also brought my thoughts back to our Tarot-month back in 2013. In that Tarot-month we discovered that the Tarot isn't occult, but divine ... and this is what we discovered about the resurrection of humanity:

In the so called "Great Arcana", we find the card titled "Death", it's the 13th card of the "Great Arcana". That card tells us a lot, to much to replay here again, but part of that episode I love to "re-print" here again:

Great Arcana card 13, Death

There is no death.  There is only resurrection.  Live your  life of fulfillment, taking advantage of every opportunity of every moment of every day.  When the miracle of resurrection has passed on, then you are at peace to recognize that things have simply returned to their natural state. 

That is why this card is in the Tarot deck.  It is meant to be embraced.  It is meant to be a gateway to a new birth.  If we can embrace death, then our lives are transformed.  That is the physical realm.  This is also a card of immense spiritual power.  The crucifixion of ego, that we saw in the Hanged Man, can and will become reality.  As that ego dies, we then live in a glorious resurrection.  As we continue to look at the card, we see several important elements.

Death is a secret, death is a darkness which we do not wish to look at nor embrace.  So if we are not going to supplicate death and we're not going to ignore death, what response do we have?  The response of the little child.  Unless we have faith like a little child, we will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven and recognize all truth.  The little child does not seek to turn death into a friend.  The little child does not seek to ask death to go away.  The little child does not turn her eyes and pretend that death is not there.  The little child opens her eyes, sees death in the face, recognizes death as what it is, and has a simple straight forward natural acceptance of this reality.

The disciples were engaged upon the start of the spiritual pathway when they began to understand the resurrection of Jesus.  You must start there to understand the death and resurrection of Jesus.  But as we have said before, Jesus’ death and resurrection are only the beginning, because they are an instruction booklet for you and your personal death and resurrection.  That is the power that enables you to embrace death, look it squarely in the face with the faith of a little child, and rise beyond the human limitations to a glorious and infinite resurrection. (Source: Carpe Diem #199, May 18^th 2013)

 

What does "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying say about this? Well ... let us "jump" back in time and re-read part of the Theme Week about the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, in this part it's about what Tibetans call "Bardo":

The original meaning of bardo is, the space between the moment of dying and reincarnation / rebirth. As we 'dive' deeper into this matter than we discover more than one bardo. Let's go ...

First there is the bardo of living and dying. This is a painful bardo, but also the moment that the nature of spirit / soul becomes real and in a way breaks through the armor of the body. This we can see in, for example, the story of Easter as Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane and asks His Father, God, to take away the cup of poison. Than He is arrested and endures the pain of 39 lashes and the crucifixion. As He dies He commands His Spirit to His Father. This is what we can call the bardo of living and dying.

What follows is the bardo which is called the shining bardo or dharmata, the state of consciousness / mind after death. To explain this shining bardo, wasn't easy, because I could not find something to explain it with. Then I got a revelation. This shining bardo you can see as a bright light, the radiation of the pure nature of spirit / mind. It's a state of pure happiness. In a way this you can see as what is happening as you (someone) has a Near Death Experience (NDE). I ran into a few stories about NDE when I was preparing these episodes. As you read the reports about NDE than everyone sees a bright light in which shadows are moving, ancestors mostly, but angels too.

This shining bardo doesn't stay forever. Sometimes it takes / endures seven days, but it can also take seven weeks.

The next bardo is called the bardo of becoming. The consciousness / mind finds a new place, in a new body and a new life gets started. This we can also see in the story of Easter. After three days, and that’s very fast as we compare this with the Tibetan idea about living and dying, Jesus rises from the grave. He conquered dead and became an enlightened being who walks a short time on this earth and then rises to Heaven making the Holy Spirit, a kind of reborn energy, available to the world. With His resurrection and entering Heaven He broke the Circle of Bardo, as did Buddha.

In Tibetan tradition of bardo the songs from The Book of the Dead were recited by the monks to lead the spirit. Rinpoche goes further in this idea and describes his ideas in The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. In his book he sees life as it is as a bardo. The bardo between birth and the moment of dying, life in itself is a transition. It's a time in which we learn, contemplate, meditate and prepare on death. (Source: Carpe Diem Theme Week 1, episode 3; February 17th 2016)

Daffodils

New Life ... the resurrection of the Lord proves that a new life can be established, not by rising from the death, but by finding your path to spiritual growth ... that can bring you New Life too.

Easter is mostly associated with the color yellow and with tulips and daffodils ... and maybe that's correct ... in my opinion, yellow stands for the color of the sun, and the sun gives us new life, new energy ...

Well ... it has become a (to) long episode I think, but it was really a joy to create this episode for you and I hope it will inspire you to create haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form.

resurrection
part of my being is dying
finally found myself

the final frontier
to become newly born -
conquering death

© Chèvrefeuille

You can start responding next Sunday April 16th at 7.00 PM (CET). You can respond until April 21st at noon (CET). So you have a whole weekend to meditate and contemplate about this episode of Namasté, the Spiritual Way. I will (try to) publish our new episode, shawl, later next Sunday around 7.00 PM (CET).

!! Don't forget ... Saturday April 15th 10.00 PM (CET) our Summer Retreat 2017 (unconditional) love will start. 30 Days writing haiku and tanka themed "unconditional love" !!

 

 

Carpe Diem #1140 arriving at the right moment

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Well ... here it is finally we have reached Santiago De Compostela. We have succeeded the Road, an equivalent of the Road Jesus had to take on His final days, but here it is not going to stop. Here at Santiago De Compostela it starts ... the final piece of life as we know it ... here at Santiago de Compostela we have seen the Lamb and we have seen our future ... Here at the end of the Road we finally can see the connection with the divine Tarot, which I mentioned in one of my earlier posts this month ... We have conquered life and we may enter into the Love our Creator, Higher Spirit or what ever name you choose for that Power.

Finally Paulo recovers his sword what was taken from him at the start of his Road to Santiago ... he finally gets it back from his Master.

I love to share a short piece of text from "The Pilgrimage" to celebrate that we have, together with Paulo, done it.

[...] "As the lamb looked at me, I could read all of this in his eyes; now he had become my guide along the Road to Santiago. For a moment everything went dark, and I began to see scenes that were reminiscent of those I had read about in the Apocalypse: the Great Lamb on his throne and people washing his vestments, cleansing them with his blood. This was the moment when the God was awakened in each of them. I also saw the wars and hard times and catastrophes that were going to shake the earth over the next few years. But everything ended with the victory of the Lamb and with every human being on earth awakening the sleeping God and all of God’s power.
I was worthy of my sword because I knew what to do with it." [...] (Source: The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho)

The Lamb (part of a painting by Grunewald)

[...] "The Master held out the sword to me, and I grasped it. I looked about for the lamb, but he had disappeared. But that did not matter: the Water of Life fell from the sky and caused the blade of my sword to glisten.' [...] (Source: The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho)

the sound of rain
on young leaves of Ivy
I bow my head

© Chèvrefeuille

[...] "I have so much to do now that I have recovered my sword. The secret of my sword is mine, and I will never reveal it to anyone. I wrote it down and left it under a stone, but with the rain, the paper has probably been destroyed. It’s better that way. Petrus didn't need to know.
I asked my Master whether he had known what day I was going to arrive or whether he had been waiting there for some time. He laughed and said that he had arrived there the morning before and was going to leave the next day, whether I appeared or not.
I asked how that was possible, and he did not answer me. But when we were saying good-bye and he was getting into the rental car that would take him back to Madrid, he gave me a small medal of the Order of San Tiago of the Sword. And he told me that I had already had a great revelation when I had looked into the eyes of the lamb.
And when I think about it, I guess it is true that people always arrive at the right moment at the place where someone awaits them." [...] (Source: The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho)

How often we can say "I was on the right place at the right time"? I think we all will have such experiences. You walk somewhere and you see the most wonderful garden in full bloom. You were there at the right moment. You listen to the radio and than there it is that song that brought you and your loved one together. You were there at the right moment.

Isn't it wonderful? We can say this also for our haiku or tanka. We were on time at the right place to celebrate that beautiful moment, that spiritual moment as short as the sound of a pebble thrown into water. This is what the Road has taught us ...

Camino sign

** I couldn't retrieve the owner of this photo, so please let me know, if it's okay to use your photo. I have credited this photo to the website were I found it. **

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until February 4th at noon (CET). I hope to publish our first episode, the first stage of our new journey through the land of the Rising Sun, later on.

Carpe Diem #1126 depend on yourself

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy to present a new episode of CDHK to you, but first this: Yesterday our Spring Retreat 2017 "fragile beauty" has started, you can find the link towards the Spring Retreat highlighted at the left side of our Kai.

Yesterday I stated that the Road to Santiago has connections with the Tarot and I love to explain that. As you maybe know on all the Tarot cards of the so called "major arcana" you can see flowing water. This water is also known as "the path of life", as in Jesus is the Water of Life. This path, our Road to Santiago, has that goal too. As we walk the Road we will grow spiritual and become more in tune with our surroundings and the Cosmos. We will cleanse our souls with the water of life ... becoming a part of the bigger plan ...

Paulo has spoken with Father Jordi who has showed him a wonderful miracle with his scallops. They started to glow, yes Father Jordi is a sorcerer of the Tradition and he (Father Jordi) shows Paulo how he can reach the end of the Road. He has to depend on himself, not only on his guide Petrus, because he will not always have a guide to point him the way.

This is what the Road teaches us. Follow the directions given along the Road (see above image) than you will always return on the right track. In this I see the following: In our life we are learning constantly sometimes we do it our own way, sometimes we do it in a guided way. For example: As I was a youngster my parents taught me that you have to believe in God and in His Son. Of course I was delighted with that belief, but as I became older (and wiser?) I left the church were we were part of and became a member of an Evangelical church. I hoped to find the happiness of believing, but I didn't. In a way I couldn't find my path. I knew there was some goal which I had to reach, but I didn't know how. So I studied a lot of books and went to listen to several wise man and woman, but I didn't find what I sought for. Finally I decided to give words to my wishes, my believes and so I found my path ... without a teacher or guide. I had to depend on myself.

There is of course nothing wrong with following a teacher or a guru, but you always have to think "do I need him (or her), or is it a false prophet I follow? Depend on your own wisdom, your own knowledge. Let your heart speak for you and not your mind. Open up to the world around you ... listen to what nature tells you, or what say that Higher Power that is always around us ... and follow your own path ... we are all wise ...

Father Jordi says it in this way:

[...] ‘The Jacobean route is marked with yellow pointers, painted all the way across Spain. If you should lose your way at any time, look for the markers – on trees, on stones, and on traffic signs – and you will be able to find a safe place. Try to depend mainly on yourself ". [...] (Source: The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho)

Yesterday I said "if you would like to know more about the Tarot than you can read the posts of May 2013". I remember that May 2013 was one of the toughest months to create, because of the "bad, occult name" of the Tarot, but I succeeded to explain that month that the Tarot is Divine ... The Road to Santiago is Divine too. It will bring us the secret knowledge of ages and it will show us how to grow spiritual ... I am just your guide, your host, but you have to do it on yourself. I cannot say how you have to use the posts for inspiration ... you have to depend on yourself ...

flowing with the stream
the High Priestess on her throne -
divine mother
gave birth to the Son of God
through the Holy Spirit

through the Holy Spirit
mankind opened their eyes
secrets revealed
seeking the way to the Inner Self -
flowing with the stream

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until January 21st at noon (CET).

Carpe Diem Theme Week (5) (7) The Eighth Ray, or the ultimate path to ascension.

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at this final episode of our 5th Carpe Diem Theme Week in which we have explored the meaning and ideas of Ascension and the Ascended Masters. A controversial idea I think, but it was a joy to bring this Theme Week to you. I do understand that for several of you this Theme Week wasn't inspiring, but well ... you are all free to participate, no obligations ... It was really wonderful to step out of the box and I hope you did appreciate it.

Today we will look at the so called "Eight Ray", or the final path to Ascension. It's not a circumstance that there is an eight ray (or path), because eight (like the music scale) means resonating on a higher level and it is the number for the eight chakra, just above your head. Eight is the number of Christ Consciousness, because Christ overcame death and entered into the next dimension. Jesus is also known as Krishna, but also as one of the Ascended Masters.

The Chohan of the "Eight Ray" the path to Ascension is called Lord Maha Chohan and is the embodiment of the Holy Spirit.

Lord Maha Chohan

As the Representative of the Holy Spirit, the Maha Chohan embodies the white light of all the rays and teaches the sevenfold balance of the rays of the Seven Mighty Elohim, which in turn manifest upon the brow of the initiate as a crown of crystal light when that God-mastery of the seven rays is reached.

The Maha Chohan is a very present help to all who call to him. Because of his pledge to all mankind “I am keeping the flame for you until you are able,” this truly Great Lord is called the Keeper of the Flame. He is the endower of Christ-mastery through the disciplines of right choice and right action—patterned after the eightfold path of Lord Gautama Buddha, which parallels the path taught and demonstrated by Jesus Christ.

The Maha Chohan is the representative of the Holy Spirit. The one who holds this office in hierarchy represents the Holy Spirit of the Father-Mother God, of Alpha and Omega, to the evolutions of this planet and to the elemental kingdom. The retreat of the Maha Chohan, the Temple of Comfort, is located on the etheric plane with a focus in the physical at the island of Sri Lanka, where the flame of the Holy Spirit and the flame of Comfort are anchored. His twin flame is Pallas Athena, Goddess of Truth.

keeper of the flame
protects the world and its inhabitants
until they rise up

© Chèvrefeuille

Maha Chohan means “Great Lord,” and the Maha Chohan is the Great Lord of the seven chohans, the director of the seven chohans of the rays. He is an adept on each of the seven rays, which merge into the pure white light of the Holy Spirit. With the seven chohans, he initiates our souls in preparation to receive the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit, spoken of in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11.

Since the Spirit of God infuses nature and man as the life-giving essence of the sacred fire, the representative of the Holy Spirit must be qualified to inter-penetrate all substance through the diffusion of his consciousness and also to draw forth the flame that sustains life in man and nature through the vocalization of his consciousness.

Christ Consciousness

Truly, the key to Christhood through loving obedience to Father and Son is fulfilled in the disciple’s acceptance of Jesus’ calling to be a mediator of the Word and Work of the Lord. Mirroring His consciousness that all might see His reflected image, the disciple is readying himself to receive the chakra initiations of the Holy Spirit given by the hand of the Maha Chohan through the Seven Chohans according to the degrees of the seven rays.

And for those who have the understanding of the Inner Light, we will say that the bestowal of the nine gifts is, by definition, the transfer of the initial matrix of the power of the three-times-three which the disciple must learn to wield, enhancing it through the balanced threefold flame and the science of the spoken Word.

The Seven Rays, the embodiment of Ascension and the Ascended Masters

As I created this episode I immediately thought back to our Tarot month, back in 2013, in that month we explored the divinity of the Tarot cards and we found that divinity. The same goes for this Theme Week "Ascension" ... the Ascended Masters are guiding us through our life, as the Holy Spirit does, and that ... brings the idea that the Ascended Masters are all creatures of our Creator to help us to bring our life goals to reality.

universal experience
walking on the path of wisdom
finding the truth

© Chèvrefeuille 

It was a tough week, not only through the heat here in The Netherlands, but to try to explain this Ascension idea to you without pushing ... it was a joy to create this Theme Week and I hope you all did like it.

This last episode of our Theme Week is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until July 28th at noon (CET). Have fun!

PS. Do you have an idea for our next Theme Week? Share it with us through the comment field.

Carpe Diem Theme Week #4 (4) Latifa Prayer "I hope"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our fourth Theme Week about the Latifa Prayer. In this episode we will explore the thrid line "I Hope", but first I have to make an announcement.
A few days ago I got an e-mail by Georgia (a.k.a. Bastet) she told me that her mother's health is worsening fast, so she will not be very often at Carpe Diem in the upcoming weeks. Please remember her and her mother and her family in your prayers. Thank you.

praying hands
seeking the wisdom of the Lord
the cry of an eagle 

© Chèvrefeuille, your host.

Introduction:

Today the third line of the Latifa Prayer "I hope". Hope is the one thing we never have to forget. There is always hope and as we will loose hope than what's than ...?
There are several ways to use the Latifa Prayer, one of course to pray it, but another use is in meditation and that meditation I love to share in the last episode of this Theme Week. The Latifa Prayer Meditation is built around the seven lines of the Latifa Prayer and in that meditation you have to use several gestures. For the third line "I hope" that's the following gesture:

[...] Bring your right hand to your left lung. Always use your left hand to help your right hand. Say to yourself: I hope. Think about all the things you wish and want in life. Because of this you are going to be able to make space in your mind. [...]

My response:

As I was preparing this new episode I ran through several posts here at Carpe Diem and one in particular came in mind. Maybe you can remember our series about the "Divine Tarot" in which we explored the divine in the Tarot. One of the cards of the Great Arcana is The Star and that card came in mind as I was doing my research for this episode. Let me give you a quote from that episode:

[...] "The Star (Jesus) represents a moment, a time, of renewed hope, inspiration and discovery. (The time of Aquarius in which we are living now?) We have escaped The Devil, as we saw in The Devil (XV) and The Tower (XVI) and we are now in calm waters. It's a major breakthrough, a new opportunity to rise to a higher state of consciousness. (In The Tower (XVI) there is a third window. That window means 'super consciousness' which is just granted to a few. It stands for the secret, ancient, deeper knowledge as hidden in the Crown of the Tree of Life, the Kabbalistic glyph, Kether or God Consciousness. And that knowledge is now in reach through the spiritual growth, through this Aquarius era.

gaining insight
re-balancing the Inner Self
the Crown is in reach

The Star (XVII) is the first of three cards of increasing light. A higher pathway will become visible, the way to Calvary. A way we have to go to enter the City of God. The Star is indicating that we are approaching the goal of Enlightenment". [...]

What has this to do with "I Hope"? I think this shows that all religions are connected with each other. All religions are seeking their goals walking upon their own paths, but in the essence of every religion lays Hope ... Hope to create a better world full of peace honoring each other's ideas, honoring our environment. Hope we can only reach by following the light (and I don't mean that Light of Christianity alone, but all light that comes to use by all our different religious and spiritual backgrounds) we need light to see our path ... not only that real path in front of you, but also that Inner Path we all follow with our heart and soul.

Without Hope all will be lost.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until May 22nd at noon (CET). Have fun!

Carpe Diem Tokubetsudesu #62 Troiku

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy to present you an all new episode of our special feature Tokubetsudesu. This time I love to challenge you to write a troiku.

Troiku is a haiku form which I have invented and I will give a brief description of this way of writing haiku. Troiku is a compound word which I distilled from the Russian sleigh "troika" and the Japanese poetry form "haiku".
The goal is to write a haiku (the sleigh) and to write three new haiku (the horses) by using the three lines of the haiku (the sleigh). I will give an example:

 

In the above troiku "Old Pond" is the famous "frog pond" haiku by Basho "the sleigh". The "horses" in the right of the image are based on the separate lines of that haiku by Basho. "Horse 1" starts with the first line; "horse 2" starts with the second line and "horse 3" starts with the third line.
The complete four stanza are called troiku. More about this Troiku you can read in the article mentioned in the above menu or by clicking HERE.

Credits: Troika

The challenge of this Tokubetsudesu episode is clear I think ... you have to create/compose a Troiku.

Here is a new Troiku written by myself. This troiku is inspired on one of the Tarot cards, part of the Great Arcana, The Hermit (IX). More about The Hermit (IX) you can read HERE.

Here is my Troiku "seeking knowledge":

seeking knowledge
getting deeper insight
hermit’s choice

seeking knowledge

contemplating under the Bodhi Tree

like Buddha

getting deeper insight

while listening to the silence

the sound of rain

hermit’s choice
seeking refuge high up in the mountains
closer to the gods

 

© Chèvrefeuille

Well .... I hope you did like this Tokubetsudesu episode and I hope you will try to create/compose a Troiku. I am looking forward to your responses and I hope those responses are many ...

This CD Tokubetsudesu episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until September 25th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our next episode, a new CD Special themed Autumn, later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #711, Harmony

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Today our prompt is harmony and it is based on the following verse from the 6^th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita:

18. When the perfectly controlled mind rests in the Self only, free from longing for the objects of desire, then it is said: “He is united”.

Without union with the Self neither harmony nor balance nor Samadhi is possible. This is quit the same as the Emptiness idea in Buddhism, but also in the idea of living as a hermit in a lot of other religions or life philosophies. Let us step outside the Bhagavad Gita for a moment and look at the Hermit (IX), one of the cards of the Major Arcana of Tarot. What do we see?

We see an old man, cloaked and hooded, who holds a lantern in his right hand in which a light shines in the shape of The Star of David, two superimposed triangles. In his left hand he has a staff. He stands in the snow somewhere in the mountains as we can see in the background.

He looks like The Fool (0), but is older than The Fool. He is similar with The Fool, but there is a big difference. The Fool gathered his knowledge and wisdom by walking / travelling through the world and to look around him. He saw the beauty of nature, the beauty of God's Creation. The Fool's knowledge is of a low, but lived, level, which I call external knowledge.. The Hermit (IX) gathered his knowledge and wisdom through meditation and contemplation on his own, maybe he used secret scriptures when he sat down to meditate and contemplate or he had spiritual revelations, because he was just alone with God's Spirit. His knowledge and wisdom I use to call internal knowledge on a high level.

Anchorite
contemplates on love
seeking knowledge

seeking knowledge
insight the Inner Self
the hermit's choice

© Chèvrefeuille

The Hermit (IX) closes the third trinity of the Major Arcanum and stands for the Holy Spirit. As The Hierophant represents God the Son, the Redeemer who walked among us, The Hermit represents God the Holy Spirit. It's through the Power of the Holy Spirit that we are in touch with our emotions to grow spiritually and physically.

The Light of the World, depicted in this card by the lantern in the right hand, is one of the names of Jesus Christ (Krishna?). His Light shines upon us and He said of that Light: [...] "No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so taht those who come in may see the light"[...] (Luke 11: 33)

There is a similar verse in the Bhagavad Gita 6^th chapter verse 19:

“As a lamp placed in a windless spot does not flicker—to such is compared the Yogi of controlled mind, practicing Yoga in the Self (or absorbed in the Yoga of the Self)"

let shine the light
don't hide it under a bowl -
share the Light of the World

© Chèvrefeuille

So The Hermit fulfills this task. He lets the light shine and through that light we can see the ancient knowledge and wisdom in the Tarot, the divine Tarot.

A Hermit lives alone in his cave, home, hut or something else. He lives in absolute isolation of mankind. All his days and nights are for becoming wiser through meditation and contemplation. Through his perseverance he comes in contact with his Inner Self, with the Holy Trinity of Father, Son and Spirit.

As we place The Hermit on the Tree of Life we will find him in Chochmah, the second sephira, right after Kether and before Binah. So he is placed in the same spot as Adam. Chochmah is the sephira of wisdom and it's also similar with the 'Third-Eye'. The Hermit is internal knowledge and wisdom and he knows all the ancient mystical secrets and as we all know so did Jesus.

I told earlier that The Hermit lives in complete isolation of the worldly things and manners. As I was preparing this episode through research, the first thought which came in mind was the Temptation of Christ (Matthew 4: 1-11). In which the devil tempted Him, but He succeeded and withstood the temptation.

Also The Hermit (IX) is tempted to leave his cave, but he didn't because he would learn all and everything about knowledge and wisdom.

Credits: Harmony (one with nature)

Another thing which came in mind as I was reading these verses in the Bhagavad Gita is the Prayer of Christ on the Mount of Olives (Luke 22: 39-46). He beseeches His Father to take the cup away. On that moment He was more human than ever, but He knew that He had to drink the cup.
This can point to open the Inner Self as is meant in the above verses of the Gita. Only when the heart, mind and soul are united than you become in harmony. Is this again part of our hypothetical idea that all religions are deriving from Hinduism?
Harmony in my opinion can reach through all boundaries and maybe we will once say “finally the World is united and in Peace”.

finding peace of mind
the soothing sound of rippling water
the rustling of leaves

the rustling of leaves
strengthens my tired mind
that's fortitude

that's fortitude

deep inner peace, the beating of my heart,
the music of life

the music of life
caught in the rippling stream -
finding peace of mind

© Chèvrefeuille

It wasn't really easy to create this episode on harmony, because it has so much different meanings and ideas ...

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until April 25th at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our new episode, Lotus, later on. For now .... have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all.

Carpe Diem #702, Immortality

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you did like our CD-Special in which I shared a haiku by Kala Ramesh that fits our theme for this month "Peace of Mind". Today we will go on further with our journey, our exploration of the Bhagavad Gita. Today's prompt is not exclusively for Hinduism, today's theme we see in almost every religion or life-philosophy around the globe. Today is about immortality.

During his conversation with Krishna, Arjuna learns that those who follow the one Lord will become immortal. In the Bhagavad Gita, in the yoga of Wisdom (Chapter 4) these is one of the leading themes and we will start with a quote from an explanation of the Bhagavad Gita:

[...] One who has true union with the Lord is not subject to rebirth. He attains immortality. Such a union can only be achieved when one is free from attachment, fear and anger, being thoroughly purified by right knowledge. The Lord accepts the devotion of all, whatever path they may use to approach  Him. [...]

In this quote the first thing which occurred is "rebirth". As you maybe know in Christianity the idea of rebirth isn't an issue. You can be reborn (as a Christian) during your life, because in Christianity the idea of "rebirth" has to do with choice .... you will be a reborn Christian if you surrender your life to God. That's very different with the idea of the Bhagavad Gita. In Hinduism reincarnation is a strong belief, but (as we can read in the above quote) if the believer has real union with the Lord there is no "rebirth" or "reincarnation" than the believer attains immortality.
"Immortality" is an important issue in the Bhagavad Gita and in several chapters this is be said by Krishna. We those words on immortality he tries to tell Arjuna that he will be immortal as he goes into this all deciding battle to bring peace to the world.

universal experience
walking on the path of wisdom
finding the truth

© Chèvrefeuille

Credits: Bhagavad Gita

The battle in the Bhagavad Gita is a kind of parable of the inner battle to come to enlightenment and that's the goal to reach for Arjuna.

Immortality ... in Christianity that's a theme too, because after dying we enter God's Heavenly Place, the New Jerusalem (as told in the book of Revelations) it's similar to Atman or the Buddhist Nirvana or entering Allah's realm.
As we die ... our soul will be free and immortal, but immortality can only be reached as we have become enlightened (and I think this "enlightenment"-idea can be used for every religious or spiritual path that humankind follows).

Immortality ... is that our goal? Is that what we are striving for?

In the Tarot there is a Great Arcana card titled Death and it's the turning point in the Great Arcana, because the cards before death are all connected to learning the right way to live, the Great Arcana cards after Death are all connected to the right path to grow spiritual ... Death is the gate to immortality.

RWS XIII Death

As we step aside of the Bhagavad Gita and look for a moment to the Tree of Life (Kabbalistic glyph) than we see that Death is in the middle of the glyph, there were Christ Consciousness, the sephiroth Tifareth, has been placed. Also a turning point. Is this what Krishna and Arjuna are having their conversation about? That turning point in life? I think that's what they are discussing ... in the middle of the both armies ... there they have that conversation ... from out of the middle Arjuna has to decide which path he will take ...

I think everyone of us has such points in life in which they had to make a decision which path to take. As I look at myself ... I had such a turning point right at the moment (more than ten (10) years ago) that I became ill because I had made the bad choice to go the path of the occult ... that illness brought me insight ... I had to turn my life in another direction, I let go of the occult and turned to the light to me that was a philosophy based on three things:

+ unconditional love
+ the idea of NaraNaraYana or "in everything and everyone there is God", that's also the reason why I use Namaste often as a greeting.
+ don't do to another one what you don't want to do to yourself

This is what made me who I am now ...

the final frontier
to become newly born -
conquering death

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode wasn't easy to create, but I think I have succeeded ...

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until April 12th at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our new episode, karma, later on. For now ... be inspired and share your haiku with us all.

Carpe Diem #699, depression

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

A few days ago we started our discovery of the Bhagavad Gita and then there were a few other episodes, but today we will continue our discovery of the Bhagavad Gita. As we can recall .... Arjuna stood in the middle of the both armies and had a conversation with Krishna about life and death.
Arjuna becomes sad and depressed as he sees the enemy armies in which his friends, family-members and teachers are gathered. And he becomes anxious ... how can he fight against his best friends and family?

Having thus spoken in the midst of the battlefield, Arjuna, casting away his bow and arrow, sat down on the seat of the chariot with his mind overwhelmed with sorrow.

The Lord takes pity on him and proceeds to enlighten him by various means. He explains to Arjuna the imperishable nature of the Atman, for which there is no past, present and future. The Atman never dies, therefore Arjuna should not grieve. As It transcends the five elements, namely, earth, water, fire, air and ether, It cannot be cut, burnt or dried. It is unchanging and eternal. Everyone experiences conditions like pleasure and pain, heat and cold, due to contact of objects with the senses. The senses carry the sensations through the nerves to the mind. One should be able to withdraw the senses from objects, like the tortoise which withdraws all its limbs within.

eternal circle
lotuses blooming and decaying -
ancient wisdom grows

© Chèvrefeuille

Krishna asserts that only one who has the capacity to be balanced in pleasure and pain alike is fit for immortality. Krishna goes on to tell Arjuna that if he refuses to fight and flees from the battle, people will be justified in condemning such action as unworthy of a warrior.

Having taught Arjuna the immortal nature of the Atman, Lord Krishna turns to the performance of action without expectation of fruit. A man should not concern himself about the fruit of the action, like gain and loss, victory and defeat. These are in the hands of the Lord. He should perform all action with a balanced mind, calmly enduring the pairs of opposites like heat and cold, pleasure and pain, that inevitably manifest during action. Krishna advises Arjuna to fight, free from desire for acquisition of kingdom or preservation of it.

Arjuna is eager to know the characteristics of a man who has a stable mind. Such a person, Krishna tells him, will have no desires at all. Since he is content within, having realized the Self, he is entirely free from desires. The consciousness of the Atman and abandonment of desires are simultaneous experiences. The various qualities of a Sthitaprajna (a stable-minded person) are described by the Lord. He will not be affected by adversity and will have no fear or anger. He will take things as they come, and will not have any likes and dislikes. He will neither hug the world nor hate it. The man of stable mind will have perfect control of the senses. The senses are powerful and draw the mind outwards. One should therefore turn one’s gaze within and realize God who resides in the heart. The Yogi, having achieved a stable mind, remains steadfast even though all sense-objects come to him. He is unmoved and lives a life of eternal peace.

Krishna concludes that the eternal Brahmic state frees one from delusion forever. Even at the end of life, when one departs from this body, one does not lose consciousness of one’s identity with Brahman.

no more delusion
as the Painter finishes His painting -
it is ready

© Chèvrefeuille

As I re-read the above words a kind of joy overwhelms me ... what a joy to know that there will be a time in which we will be free from delusion even at the end of our life as we are leaving our conscious body and become eternal subconsciousness.

Isn't that what we explored during our Tarot month? This scene above could be easily placed in the Great Arcana's Tower card ... in which we have seen that we cannot become as God, but we are already God. Maybe you remember the Tower card ... in which the sky was filled with "yods" the only Hebrew sign that is placed in all words of the Holy Scripture .... therefore we can say God is everywhere around us, in us accompanying us through our whole life.

At the end of our life we may enter the Holy City, becoming Brahman ... and so there is a link between the great religions ... there is a common meaning in all the holy scriptures on Earth and beyond.

Arjuna overcomes his depression as he hears the words of Krishna and his transformation has started.

old pond
lotuses start blooming, growing to the light
water circles

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until April 7th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, Gandiva (the bow), later on. For now ... I hope this episode will inspire you to compose an all new haiku.

!! I have published our new Carpe Diem Haiku Kai prompt list already. You can find it in the menu !!

Carpe Diem #580, The Wheel of Fortune (May 2013) reprise

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

We have arrived at our next "stop" along memory lane Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. We are now in May 2013. In that month we had all prompts related to Tarot and the "Great Arcana". That month we explored the Great Arcana of the Tarot and tried to link it to Christianity, because of the history of the Tarot. The Tarot once was created as a kind of Bible for the people who couldn't buy a Bible.
Through the years the Tarot became involved in the occult world and that did me decide to try to bring back the Tarot to it's Christian meaning and that's what we did in May 2013. The "reprise prompt" for today is The Wheel of Fortune. The Wheel of Fortune is card X of the Great Arcana. You can find that episode HERE.

The logo of May 2013

This Carpe Diem Month was a great success and I compiled all the articles about the various cards of the Great Arcana to one article and re-formed it into a little book. One of the haiku which I wrote in this "The Wheel of Fortune" episode was the following:

caught in Fortune's Wheel
the Sacred Name of God the Father -
Yahweh

© Chèvrefeuille

Well it was really a joy to have "The Wheel of Fortune" in our "reprise" month for our second anniversary. To close this episode I will share "The Wheel of Fortune"card.

The Wheel of Fortune (X) - card from the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, the original Tarot deck.

This episode will be open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 14th at noon (CET). I will try to post our next episode, Hanabi or Fireworks (June 2013), later on. For now have fun ... let the history of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai be your inspiration.