by Trish Dingman
We (well, \ I for sure) throw around these terms, that we (again I) expect others to know how to use... but just to get clear- so that we can Heal Evolve Thrive together. Here's some of the biggies that have helped me create a tool box of Self Inquiry and healing.
Tool Box
A container to hold the instruments that help you build and create... not just for construction workers and not just a physical container. Can be a metaphysical space in your mind/spirit to hold all of the lessons and practices you learn to move through your life more effectively. I like to imagine that this Tool Box, is like Hermione Granger's bottomless bag- so that I can collect infinite amounts of tools, for this human journey.
Self Inquiry
Getting curious about who/why we are. Asking ourselves a million questions to learn more. Turning every thought, action, situation into an activity which excavates deeper parts of ourselves. I'll turn this one over to one of my favourite teacher's- Adyashanti, who says,
"What is inquiry, really? This is a good question. And like most really good questions, it is very basic. Authentic inquiry is allowing yourself to care, to take on the weightless burden of caring. Everyone knows what it’s like to inquire out of intellectual interest—asking for the sake of asking or because you think you should. This is not caring. When you care about something, it gets inside of you. It gets inside the shell that keeps you from being affected or bothered, the shell that keeps anything really new from happening."
Process
So the Merriam-Webster dictionary says, "a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end." I'll agree but strike the word "end", as the spiritual process can go on forever! It's a journey into infinity!
Prayer
How we communicate with God/Divine/Universe/Spirit
Grace
This is one of our favourite words. In movement and speech it is elegance and refinement. In prayer it is surrender. From God it is blessing. My very favourite teacher, Caroline Myss, says that there are 7 Graces: Wisdom, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, understanding, piety and reverence.
God
This name... this name comes in many forms... for me this name means ONE. The place before we separated. The place we will return after we journey in human form/ separate form. Divine, Higher Self, Spirit, Mother, Gaia are all appropriate names.
Gratitude
Thank you thank you thank you. Thank you for the lessons- the easy, the challenging, the bliss filled, the terror filled, the sorrow filled... thank you thank you thank you. Namaste. Amen. Aho. Thank you. The most powerful prayer we have.
Silence
This is how we listen. This is how we receive divine guidance. This is how we hold what is sacred. We get quiet. We get still and we observe. We do not need to tell. We do not need to share. We get still and we listen and then we get still again and listen harder. We could get silent forever and still have more to hear, in the quiet.
Divine Guidance
Guidance is always finding you. Awake, asleep, when you are listening and when you are ignoring. Guidance is always flowing in. It is your intuition. It is your inner knowing. It is the sudden thought of "I should do this". "I shouldn't do this." Ignore it or not... guidance never stops flowing.
Let's read what Caroline Myss has to say,
"Your current spiritual practice might occur within the framework of an organized religion, or as private individual meditation. Whatever the structure, taking charge can enhance that practice.
One way you invoke a spiritual presence into your life is by asking yourself: “Why am I here?” Another is to ask the Divine for a new car. No level of prayer is right or wrong, but examining the quality of your prayer life can bring you to look beyond your own own personal self–toward something more intelligent and powerful. Whether you refer to the Divine as God, Great Spirit, Allah or Christ, seeking divine guidance means to stop asking for “things” and start asking for what really matters: trust, patience, faith, endurance, gratitude, acceptance and love.
When you step up the the plate with the Divine, be prepared to have your life reordered and false voices taken away. Distractions can be eliminated and you might be left only with the clear voice of divinity. More realistically, when this voice speaks–often in unexpected ways–it can leave you confused and unsure of what you really want. Additionally, it might be months, even years, before you’re aware that the Divine has spoken to you.
There are four stages you’ll move through as you bring a spiritual presence into your life:
- Separation
- Dark Night of the Soul
- Light
- Appreciation
While the stages often occur sequentially, they don’t necessarily have to, in fact you might not even recognize them until all is said and done. It happens with the big things in life, and with the seemingly insignificant."
Mystic
A seeker of God/Divine/Oneness.
Ritual
Ceremony or actions created for celebration, rite of passage, seasonal/celestial occurrences and changes.
Goddess
A Woman honoured and adorned. Female power, intelligence, grace, mystic. Sweet sister and teacher Sianna Sherman says,
"As you begin to do this work, the Goddess energy can make a dramatic entry into your life that demands your full attention. She may rush forth into your field of consciousness. Or she may rise within you like a peaceful sunrise that opens you to a new way of embracing life. Regardless, as you begin to reassemble yourself through her stories, images, songs, rituals, and mantras, the wounded places in your own psyche begin to heal and you realize that indeed you are a sacred form of the Goddess. Her powers are endless and her forms infinite. She wields every weapon necessary to defeat the demons of shame, guilt, betrayal, unworthiness, blame, victimhood, greed, arrogance, anger, separation—anything which limits your from being the full expression of your own juicy, creative nature."
heal
To move towards wholeness.
evolve
To transform. To move through. To make space. To get curious. To explore. To adventure.
Thrive
To celebrate wholeness, fullness, spaciousness and vibrancy. To overflow.
