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| Feminine symbols... what do these images suggest to you? What do you know of these images? Imagine entering this scene ... spend some time there... how do you feel? |
I had a question this month about feminine energies, feminine power and symbols. This picture is for you. Reflect on it and then we will discuss it further...send me your ideas and feelings and then we will speak directly.
This month's topic will be two stories which came from some questions and an interesting conversation I had recently.
I also heard a statement a young yoga teacher made and I cringed silently. The comment she made was that there is no 'advanced' level ... movement ... or practitioner. There is a strange 'movement' out there. I am not sure who started these misconceptions, but there seems to be a lot of these sorts of ideas in mainstream schools.
Many teachers with beginner or intermediate levels of understanding and experience say things which they either have no experience of themselves or that are simply not true at all. I know they are repeating ideas or things others have either taught them or they have heard, but some of these things are rather ignorant. We must see these things as they really are if we will have the opportunity to truly evolve in these Arts. This is why, in the past, individuals at these levels never taught... we are soooo diluted today in the Spiritual Arts. I'm known to be one who tries to spread the word that 'physical arts' and 'Spiritual Arts' are very different from one another. This is the same whether it is in Karate, Kung fu, Chi Kung, Tai Chi and Yoga today.
Let's not take away the physical benefits they do teach well. Some of these teachers teach great 'physical therapy' accurate movements and it's great for recovery from injury, general relaxation etc... 'Spiritual Movement Arts' are something else entirely... and they use movement too.
But here, today, I am speaking about a 'Spiritual Art'.
Yes, there is such a thing as a beginner, an intermediate and an advanced, and mastery level practitioner, teacher etc. Anyone who teaches you otherwise is misinforming you and supporting your ego that you are in the 'same place' as an advanced practitioner or seasoned artist (if they are in fact still engaged with the work themselves...always) of whatever path, occupation, or movement art you may be involved with.
To imagine you are at the same place as someone who has walked a path two or three times longer than you have only feeds your ego! To imagine you are a Master of energy work because a certificate given to you after two, three or several years of study says so is only another ego feeder. These Spiritual Arts take work, time, effort, reflection, experience, study and then one day one works with 'Mastery'...which even then means a whole new realm of things to learn has now opened up and one is a beginner all over again!
Let's use the Art of Carpentry as a way to look at this deeper...
If we begin to learn about Carpentry, we are truly a beginner. After several years of study... even if we are pretty quick to pick things up, we still do not have the experience of a seasoned Carpenter... a true 'Master of the Art of Carpentry'. We may be an amazing quick study, but we are still a beginner. After some time, with continued work, we may become an intermediate Carpenter...with some experience and perhaps deeper sets of skills; however, we are not reaching 'Mastery' yet...
Is there such a thing as 'Mastery'? Absolutely. After much time and experience, and an open mind to continue to learn and evolve and expand... even learning from beginners and others in various similar trades.... learning from our customers and our work created to date, we may reach a certain level of 'Mastery' in the Art of Carpentry... if we are able to self-reflect, see clearly and refine ourselves. We can now look back and feel humble yet proud of our journey and accomplishments... without self-importance or egoic pride.
At a 'Mastery' level, we realize that we have skill; yet our humbleness enables us to realize that we have not 'arrived...' and we continue to work, cultivate ourselves and evolve even further. At this point along our path (if we are one who continues to work at it... always learning...), it would be absolutely ridiculous to compare our self to a beginner or an intermediate student or teacher of carpentry... but WAIT... we all have things to learn from ANYONE... and this is the place where this idea comes from. We are NOT all at the same level... however, we do all have things we can learn from ANYONE. A Master can learn something from a beginner; however, this does not mean that the beginner or the Master are at the same 'level of being' or 'place' in their evolution of their art...career...whatever.
One things is sure...some carpenters do not grow or expand or evolve... they learn their initial work and then get to a point where they do not grow or learn from there. This 'Master' is not the same as one who is open, fluid, shifting, changing, evolving and continues to learn from others (even beginners!). So even teachers and 'Masters' are at different 'levels'. This is a very in-depth topic and I will leave these thoughts here for you.
One last idea and question for you... does every student interested in carpentry have a 'master within' that they only need to connect with in order to attain 'mastery'? What do you think this is all about???? To imagine that this does not require 'hard work over time' for most every single one of us is one of the greatest lies out there. And no... it is not the same time for all of us to attain this 'level'.
Comparing a spiritual path to a physical one.... walking and evolving on a path of this sort...wondering about Mastery... is easier to understand if you use the metaphor of a skill such as Carpentry. In essence the 'walk' to 'Mastery' is similar no matter what you work to 'master' in your lifetime. Some people are a quick study... or can create or move well pretty quickly... this does not equate 'Mastery'... as it was referred to in the older Spiritual Arts. Sadly, much is lost and has been obscured in this arena.
What you imagine 'Mastery' means and your internal definition you use for this word affects your perception. What does it mean to you? Can you expand your ideas on it?
It is the same for many things. Our ideas and definitions...beliefs...attitudes...egos... affect our perceptions and control them.
So I promised two stories...
Master Beginner 1
A practitioner of Kung fu felt he had attained Mastery (a lot of these old stories are of men...isn't that interesting...but that's another topic)... There are older stories of women but these come from our patriarchal recent history...even though they are centuries old......
This man could do anything his teacher could show him and then eventually he began to teach others. After many years, winning trophies in tournaments and teaching others to high level of skill, he began to fall into apathy and felt despondent about his Art.
He had heard many stories of attaining spiritual heights and the supposed 'gifts' this path would illuminate and 'enlighten' the student with at 'Mastery'. These things seemed to elude him. He felt his teacher was holding him back and that he was not progressing there any more. When he left his teacher, he remembered that the old man shook his head and complained that he had not yet reached the point of travelling alone... but he did not agree ... nor did he understand why.... he was insulted and left... thinking his old teacher to be a fool looking to grasp onto him for a lifetime.
He began to fall back on his old ways... ways he imagined he had been done with since his early life as a very young adult. One day, in deep despair, he decided to search out another teacher. He travelled far and came across an old man who was known to be a 'Master' and asked him to teach him how to progress more in his Art because he felt despondent and had fallen away from his path.
One day he finally found the old teacher. The old man took him in and asked him his story and what led him to search out deeper teachings. After the old man heard the story, he took him in and made him promise to stay for a year.
Every day the teacher beat him with a bamboo stick across his limbs as the man practiced and showed him what he could do. All the teacher kept saying was 'no...no...no'. He cursed to himself every day...wondering why he bothered to stay and put up with such abuse. In his mind he cursed the teacher and imagined he was crazy himself to be doing this and putting up with these things.
One day, after the usual routine of being insulted and beaten... and being told he had learned nothing and was doing everything wrong, he felt as though he was on the verge of either beating this old man or slipping into insanity and walking away from his path completely. Suddenly his mind went blank and all thoughts disappeared completely. For the first time he saw this old man with joy in his heart and an open mind. The old man smiled, put him in horse stance and walked away. He did not return for four hours.
This went on every day for over six months. Sometimes when the old teacher returned, he would get the usual beating with the bamboo stick. He struck him the same way and in the same exact places each time. The old man never spoke to him...only placed him in his stance and walked away. One day he came and sat to watch for the entire time. At the end of the four hours the man was shaking, crying, coming in and out of his stance and drenched in sweat. He smiled and said to him 'Now, you may begin. Return to your teacher you told me about and tell him you are finally ready to learn.'
My note... There are several subtle gems in this story. Most people discount these types of stories' deeper meanings.
Master Beginner 2
There was once a school of Kung fu led by two Masters. These masters travelled around the local village to collect potential students. After picking out their group, training began for many years. There was a young man in this group who fell in love with the Art very deeply. This man was taken aside and trained separately from most of the others... there were only a few of them who were worked with in this way.
Over time, they began to discuss amongst themselves why this was happening. One of the students spoke up and said "Haven't you noticed? We are the smaller ones. We are not as muscular nor as accomplished as the others. Look at how they are practicing and the things they are being taught. They kick better, smash trees and leap higher than us. They are being taught special things that we are not. We are the failed ones. We will never be as good as them." The young man, passionate about the Art, fell into depression. Though he kept coming, he secretly struggled to do so.
Due to his love for the Art, the young man persisted in his training and never quit, but his heart was heavy and his dreams crushed. One day, many years later, the two teachers called upon him and his group to join the other students. They were asked to do certain things all in the group together. While the athletic group excelled at many of the things asked of them, the young man finally got his answer to why they had been separated from the start... the other group was athletic, strong, physically inclined and external practitioners... his group had been learning about the deeper aspects of the Internal Art along with the External ...and were able to do certain things the others could not. Seeing these things for himself for the first time made his heart leap with joy. He never questioned his training again.
Many years went by. As he progressed, he realized where the real training was and began to quietly apply the gems he realized he had been given... things he did not even realize he had been taught all along. Although many were already considering him a 'Master', he secretly felt like a beginner all over again, but was grateful for being given the chance to see what that had the potential to mean for him.
My note: There are several gems in this story.... one to keep in mind is that many things may look the same on the outside and be something else entirely. Both groups trained in the same Art... depending on how one is taught, and how one is on the inside, one will walk away with something else entirely...
