Tag: peace

The Field

© 2012 Anne S. Katzeff / Artist
© 2012 Anne S. Katzeff / Artist
“Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing
and right-doing, there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.”—Rumi

This is one of my favorite Rumi quotes, and lately I’ve been thinking it would be the perfect engraved quotation to appear at the entrance to all government buildings in Washington, D.C.—or in all government buildings everywhere, throughout the world. Better yet, abolish the buildings and just meet in the fields! Something needs to change, that’s for sure. Entrenched attitudes and political posturing are part of the old paradigm of separation and irreconcilable differences. The new paradigm, which we are living into day by day, calls for these to dissolve and make way for open hearts and open minds. And for listening instead of nonstop talking.

Politicians are not the only ones caught in this trap. When people identify heavily with their personalities, they frequently find themselves stubbornly clinging to being right and finding others wrong. Beneath the personality and egoic roles, however, lives the individual spirit or soul who sees commonality and connection instead of “otherness.” Here is found the oneness and peace we all seek. My soul doesn’t care if my personality is irritated by someone else’s beliefs or behavior. My soul doesn’t care if my ego feels wronged by another person’s opinion of me. My soul is just witnessing all of my life experiences, without comment, without attitude. In that place of pure spacious being within, there are no opposing sides—all is one.

If we could pause, breathe deeply, and drop into that space periodically throughout the day, our lives would flow with greater ease, and our relationships would become more flexible. To live from an open heart and a peaceful spirit is to find true happiness in each moment—and common ground for collective decision making in our communities and in the world at large. Give up right; give up wrong. Consider the possibility that there really is a field out there where we can meet and learn from our differences instead of fight over them.

In Lynne McTaggart’s book The Field, she writes of the space within and between everything on Earth and in outer space, which scientists have heretofore labeled “dead.” McTaggart makes a convincing case that this space is alive with energy and vibration, the very basis of the universe. This is ancient knowledge within the realm of spiritual masters, and today many quantum physicists also agree that a “unified field” of intelligence or infinite consciousness does indeed exist, and we are part of it. If I am not mistaken, Rumi’s field and McTaggart’s field are one and the same. The silent space of spirit within is connected to the space between all forms on Earth and in the cosmos. The energy within and between vibrates a web of light that is pure oneness. When we consciously “step into” that rainbow field of light, hardened conflicts soften, and you and I recognize each other as we.

Infinite Inner Space

© 2007 Anne S. Katzeff / Artist
© 2007 Anne S. Katzeff / Artist

“Your soul is the silent witness of your life.”
—Panache Desai

That one sentence changed everything for me. Yes, I had heard about the “witness” before, but it was an idea in my head that I could never access within my own experience. After years and years of meditation practice, I continued to be lost in my thoughts. Then, during a webcast, I listened to Panache talk about dropping into present-moment awareness by simply taking a deep breath and repeating, “Here I am.” And here I am. And here I am. Now. And now. And now. Something shifted within me, and I was there, or rather here, in presence. The next morning at sunrise, during meditation, I was able to step back from my mind’s mental chatter into a silent inner space of awareness, of peace. When thoughts arose, I could observe them without losing consciousness. If I drifted into my thoughts momentarily, I found I could bring my self back to witnessing from the soul’s point of view: “Here I AM…now.”

That I AM that lives within each breath is greater than the personality self connected to the mind. It is a pure state of being, of infinite consciousness, which links all beings on the planet, actually in the cosmos. When I access that inner silent space, I am in the same place that you are when you access it. Within that living awareness, we are in complete and utter oneness. Within that space is the deepest peace and calm I have ever known. Infinite, with no fear attached to the endless being-ness. Some call this place Heaven, or Home. It is the source from which we all arise into human form and into which we dissolve at the end of our lives. It is God or Goddess; it is Great Spirit. It is Om.

And immersion in this profound state of consciousness is not limited to human beings. Animals experience their own contemplative moments. My dear cat Lily in her elder years used to sit on the back of the couch by the window, facing west at sunset, eyes closed in deep meditation. In the tall oak tree in my neighbor’s back yard, leafless now in the winter months, birds gather each evening, all facing west, their breasts shining red-gold in the setting sun.

We creatures living on Planet Earth find connection and comfort in the profound sacred silence that occurs at moments like sunrise and sunset. It reminds us of something beyond our lifetimes, something eternal and infinite at the heart of the universe—and within our own hearts. It reminds us that even when we feel most alone, there is always the loving presence of a greater consciousness of which we are part.