Parvati Blog - The New Reality

The New Reality

The Courage to Be Your Beautiful Self:

The Legacy of Darcy Belanger

Part 3

Continued from part 2: Steering Our Ship Through the Storm
Image credit: Jeff Gerald, photographer; Jellyfunk, art direction
Many of us at Parvati.org were awake most of last Sunday night. We were all in varying degrees of shock and disbelief that Darcy, our dear friend and Director of Strategic Initiatives for Parvati.org, had been on the plane that had crashed in Ethiopia that day. We also had countless logistical tasks connected with Darcy’s passing that needed immediate attention. He had given so much to the successful realization of MAPS, the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary. There was no way we would let his voice and the optimism he carried be silenced in the rubble of the crash.
The family asked that Parvati.org keep the news amongst ourselves until we had their permission to share it publicly. They asked us to then be the point of contact with media on their behalf. I knew it was for me to step forward and protect their privacy and fulfil their request to make sure the world knew why Darcy was on that plane. I wanted to honour all he had given to MAPS and Parvati.org, and all he had given to me personally, through our friendship. He always had my back.
Behind our social media blackout on Monday was a blur of activity at immense speed. I worked on notifying and consoling our volunteers and fielding a wide range of questions. I also crafted a press statement with my friend and colleague Pranada. Writing it was painstaking and took hours. How could any words even come close to doing justice to Darcy and the work he did for Parvati.org – and us all through MAPS?
The United Nations Environmental Assembly had begun in Nairobi, Kenya. A man we had never met before, Meredith Beal of the African Media Initiative, was at the event. He had heard of Darcy’s death, was moved by MAPS, and kindly offered to act as a physical presence on the ground so that Vandana could conduct every meeting Darcy had set up. By video chat from Vancouver, she was the official, legal voice for MAPS.
Once we had the family’s permission later that day, Pranada began making calls under embargo to news outlets to let them know who Darcy was and of the tragic loss, while we finalized the official Parvati.org statement. I oversaw the updates made to our websites so that they would be current before we went public. I also had a good talk with Darcy’s wife and sister. I was in awe of their steadiness, open-heartedness and wisdom. They too had been feeling that Darcy was with them.
That evening, our core volunteer team joined Rishi and me at our home and remotely for a much-needed crisis bereavement and planning session. Our usual meetings are lively. Serving MAPS for the good of all is meaningful and energizing. In the wake of the tragic news, the room was quiet. People were clearly shaken, raw and red-eyed. However, a palpable unity filled the space. Our hearts had entrained to the same pulsating truth: our love for Darcy, our sense of loss, and our commitment to see MAPS realized for the good of all.
I had not stopped since the news and knew I needed a moment to prepare to lead the meeting. My spiritual practice has been the foundation of my life for as long as I can remember. Just as I had the day before when I first heard Darcy was missing, I knew I had to turn within for meditative guidance and prayer. I went to my room to be alone and shut the door. I set my timer to make sure I was present for the meeting in 20 minutes, and lay down on my back. My arms stretched out alongside my hips, my palms rolled open and my eyes slid closed. I allowed my yoga practice to lead me towards greater stillness, wholeness and healing. I sensed my body softening into the ground, as the boundaries between me and it dissolved into light.
As I went deeper, my awareness settled on the understanding that my body, my breath and everything that has form are energy. For the first time in 36 hours, I was allowing myself to truly process the news. Images of the crash flew through my mind. I still felt Darcy with me and well, as clearly as I had the day before. I could hear his voice, as though he was speaking right beside me. I opened to possibly sense what Darcy may have felt as he understood that his flight was about to hit the ground. So with sincerity and innocence, my heart moved to simply ask him.
I was immediately shifted into a new reality, one beyond the limitations of form. It was similar to the awakenings I had when healing from the spinal cord injury that had left me paralyzed from the waist down in 2011. That recovery had been deemed medically miraculous. As I lay on my bed now, alone in my room, the bed, ceiling and walls disappeared. I felt that I was within an infinite field of light. It was not vacuous, but profoundly intelligent, beyond the grasp of my thinking mind. I felt no wanting, loss or absence. Everything simply was in perfect, harmonious balance.
Then I saw Darcy in his seat on the airplane barreling toward the ground. His head was bowed, but he was unafraid. He had shifted from momentary terror into a state of unimaginable surrender. He was in absolute non-resistance to the moment. He had become the immense, luminous, expansive peace he had been cultivating every day in his meditation practice. He was experiencing what he had longed for and spoken to me about many times–a unity with all that is. Before the moment of impact, Darcy merged with total equanimity with the light that I was now seeing and feeling.
Then I saw a dark, murky sheath spontaneously pull away to reveal a long, thin cocoon of billions of tightly-wrapped light filaments. I understood this was him. Free from containment, no longer hidden, the light strands unfolded and spread into immense wings that merged with an effervescence that was everywhere.
Before the end of his life, Darcy had come to see and understand who we really are–and he was showing me now: bundles of light, masked by the layer of our ego-personalities. We think we are the thin layer of wrapping. But we are the infinite, brilliant expanse within. I had experienced periods of myself as light within the filaments of the universe while recovering from my spinal injury. Darcy embodied that sublime truth fully in the moments before he passed, and was immersed in it now.
As I lay in the field of light, I reveled in the feeling of unity. Darcy was light. I was light. We are all light, not separate but joined through the luminous filaments that are in everything and are everywhere.
Then my alarm chimed and it was time for me to go hold the meeting.
I slowly rolled over, sat up, and took a few deep breaths to integrate the gift in the experience. I was about to step back into the storm, while in a totally new reality.
As I went downstairs contemplating what had just occurred and what it meant, Pranada walked through my front door. She was on the phone with an Edmonton Star reporter who had contacted her with questions about Darcy. She put her phone on mute to quickly fill me in on what was happening and ask if I could take the interview. I agreed and quickly poked my head into the living room, where friends and colleagues were already gathered, to delay the meeting so I could take the call. Then Pranada handed me her mobile and I walked into a quiet room to answer the reporter’s questions as best I could.
I recognized the power of speech, held within the filaments, and how each of my words would now become public record. I spoke with calm care, and deep attention. I aimed to do Darcy’s family proud and do his life justice. Yet I knew that there was no way to measure the value of a life. I even said so in the interview. The thought felt like trying to fit the infinite into a teaspoon, stuff the universe’s light filaments back into the cocoon from which Darcy was now free. I focused my answers on the love and support he had from his wife, family and friends, his implicit trust in my vision for MAPS, and how he gave so selflessly to MAPS, Parvati.org and the world.
When my interview was finished, I joined my colleagues for a vigil with meditation and prayer. I shared that I had just sensed Darcy in his final moments expanding into light and I knew he was both at peace and with us. For a moment, we took in what that meant. We could each tap into the light that we are, the light that he is, and serve MAPS and the world that much more fully.
We reminisced about many of Darcy’s amazing qualities: his compassionate commitment; his fierce determination; his dry humour; his tuck-in, head-down, get-to-the-goal-line attitude with a smile on his face; his gentle yet firm nature; his deep spirituality – the list kept going. But above all, we thought of his courage.
As I had told the reporter and would tell the ones that followed, Darcy was courageous because he knew he was interconnected. Out of compassion, he was ever willing to move beyond his personal comfort for the greater good of all. He rose to each challenge he was given and shone. He did not do it for personal accolade, but to ensure everyone around the world has the basic resources needed to survive. We resolved to carry forward that legacy of selfless courage.
Darcy’s presence continued to be strong, as though he was now helping MAPS from the other side. At one point, when a colleague and I started to cry, I distinctly and unmistakably heard Darcy’s voice say, “Come on, guys!” as though he was asking us to not be so soppy. I shared what I heard with my friend and we laughed through our tears. It was so Darcy, not wanting us to make a fuss over him! He wanted us to know he was fine.
At the end of another whirlwind day, beyond exhausted and emotionally drained, I fell into bed around 1:30am or 2am. I continued to sense and hear Darcy. He was still with us, just in a different form, beyond the body, inviting us all now into a new reality.

Parvati Blog Let the Power of the Universe Move Through You

How to Let the Power of the Universe Move Through You

At the climax of the movie Star Wars: A New Hope, the Death Star was poised to destroy the planet where the Rebellion was based. A fleet of rebel fighter spaceships approached it on a one-chance-in-a-million mission to stop it. They were so small and so outgunned in comparison to the Death Star, it was like a tiny swarm of insects trying to halt a massive boulder. One by one, the rebels were shot down until only Luke Skywalker remained—pursued by his nemesis, Darth Vader himself. What Luke did next illustrates the true potential of co-creation.
We are blessed as human beings with the profound gift of co-creation, allowing us to tap into something much greater than our limited selves. As interconnected beings within a vast and intelligent whole, we naturally live, think, breathe and move in a state of co-creation with everything around us. The question is, what kind of co-creation are we choosing? Is it in positive possibilities, orienting us to joy and unconditional love? Is it in impossibilities, dragging us down in undertow?
The answer is not always black and white. Most of us are not living at either of the extremes of impossibilities and positive possibilities, but at some point on the continuum between them. You are likely reading this because you are interested in co-creation in the positive possibilities. But even when we show up with good intentions, there may be more to refine. The extent to which we co-create in the positive possibilities is an evolutionary process. So we must look at the range of co-creation experiences and consider where we are along the continuum.
Luke Skywalker and his fellow pilots were on the positive possibilities side of the co-creation continuum when they chose with tremendous courage to fly their ships to the Death Star in search of its one small vulnerable point. They were co-creating with the laws of the Rebellion and choosing to serve a greater good, above their own personal comforts. Though the odds of success seemed impossibly small, the pilots were willing to give it their very best with all of their hearts. They trusted their skills, courage and belief in the greater good.
But after Luke heard the voice of his teacher, Obi-Wan Kenobi, tell him to “use the Force”, he went much further into positive possibilities. He surrendered to a force more powerful than his personal will. Luke was not passively taking orders from his teacher and guide. His act of surrender embodied supreme courage and profound wisdom. The switch in his perception was not something that happened to him, but a conscious choice of his own. When he turned off his targeting computer to trust instead a oneness with the moment, he began to co-create with the greatest force we have available to us, that of the universe itself. He chose to calibrate his beliefs to match the loving presence and power of life-force energy. Then, through profound openness and inner stillness, the impulse to fire arose within him at the perfect moment. His single shot put an end to the Death Star. By emptying himself to receive the compassionate wisdom of the universe, Luke was a channel for light that enveloped evil. By becoming nothing, he became a hero.
We can also see the continuum of co-creation in the groundbreaking film, The Matrix. On the extreme impossibilities end are those who choose to violently keep people unconscious prisoners of the Matrix. In the middle are those who wake up to the Matrix and realize there is another way. Like the Star Wars rebel pilots persevering against all odds, the Matrix rebels show tremendous courage. Yet, they are still willfully driven, and their egos block them from their true potential. But at the other end of the spectrum is that epic moment when Neo, the film’s protagonist, returns from seeming death and stands up, realizing that the bullets fired at him were illusions. They were projections of his mind, part of the Matrix, designed to keep him afraid, running and oppressed. The enemy agents fire again. But In the face of Neo’s calm awareness, the bullets literally come to a halt in midair. As Neo picks one out of the air and examines it, they all fall harmlessly to the ground. In that moment, Neo has chosen to surrender to something more powerful than what his limited senses provide. Similar to Luke Skywalker, Neo empties himself to co-create with a greater reality. He transcends the limitations of duality and maximally serves the world.
Next week, we will explore the full range of co-creation’s possibilities, from the most intense impossibilities of suffering to the most exquisite positive possibilities of bliss.

What You See Is What You Get. What Are You Choosing to See?

Last week, we were looking at the amazing gift of co-creation. I recently had an experience that reminded me how essential it is that we understand this innate human power—as well as how our perceptions affect it.
I was conversing with a group of friends who are all committed to personal and spiritual growth and the protection of Nature. Yet, the discussion became tense around the topic of co-creation, particularly when someone brought up working with a realized master. Another person in the group did not see how following the direction of a spiritual master could be co-creative. To him, it seemed militant, as though the master was issuing orders for others to obey. Yet, from my experience, the spiritual master we were speaking about was anything but a dictator. The idea was so dissonant with my core that I said the metaphor felt like calling a flower an oppressive leader.
Struck by the disparity in perceptions, I was reminded how what we perceive is always coloured by our personalities and experiences. Because of this, our differing perceptions influence our ability to co-create.
From a spiritual perspective, our perceptions are limited by our attachments to our past and our projections into the future. The way each person responds to a situation is unique. No two siblings, for example, would have had the identical experience of the same two parents. Each one of us is born into this world with tendencies and preconceptions that we then overlay onto how we see each moment.
Upon these perceptions, our sense of self grows. We learn to individuate. We strengthen our divided sense of self, as we believe we must in order to survive. Society supports this understanding of who we are. Our classrooms encourage our opinions and convictions so that we can eventually bring them into our boardrooms to gain money, things and status. But when we act from an inner identification with separateness, the seeming rewards that come our way are temporary and only boost that sense of divisiveness, justifying who we think ourselves to be. Because we are acting from a place of disconnection, we cannot tap into the source of infinite joy to experience lasting bliss. At an unconscious level, we have come to believe the divided sense of self is all we are.
In this belief, we perceive the world through the lens of the impossibilities. Where the positive possibilities are rooted in love, compassion and presence, the impossibilities bring greater tension and struggle. Attached to a sense of “me” and “mine”, we think, act and feel in a way that is disconnected from the love that always is. Consciously or unconsciously, we are deeply lonely and afraid because at our core, we perceive the events of our lives—and perhaps the universe itself—as against us.
Because our ability to co-create is so strongly colored by our perceptions, the statement “what you see is what you get” takes on a whole new meaning. The perception of disconnect from love develops momentum. We consciously or unconsciously try to prove the disconnect real, which furthers it. In our fear, we may feel a reactive need to dominate and control, or to lie down and play the victim. The impossibilities give rise to and perpetuate painful emotions such as judgment, loneliness, guilt and shame. This discord can lead to inner anguish and disease, which in turn lead to external conflict, pollution and scarcity.
This is literally an impossible situation: a lose-lose. As we continue to perceive the moment and all it contains through the lens of the impossibilities, we feed pain in ourselves and in the world, until we understand that there is another way.
That other way is spiritual awakening. It has been with us all along. We have always been one with pure consciousness, unconditional love—we simply have fallen asleep and forgotten. We were one with pure consciousness as we entered form and came into a human body. But as our egos grew, so did a separate sense of “me”. We moved away from feeling one with love, the fabric of all life. We grew into a dual reality of “light and dark”, “me and you”. We came to believe we must cultivate a divided sense of self in order to feel that we have some control over our environment, which we perceived as antagonistic. As such, we amplified a reality of againstness, and deepened that tendency within ourselves. Yet a deeper reality of unity, love and interconnection had been present all along. The positive possibilities always exist, despite any painful reality we may have perceived and chosen.
Last week we looked at the example of a driver, one who chooses either to serve the highest good or to be a destructive force to all he encounters. But an unconscious or intoxicated driver who does not wake up to the reality of his choices will face increasingly serious consequences, from minor crashes to fatal accidents. Everyone understands this entropy. It is the same principle as that of a student who stops doing her homework. After one day, she would have to catch up a little. After a couple of weeks, she would be far behind and only a sincere effort would make catching up possible. Eventually, she would fail the class or get expelled from the school.
If we continue to adamantly insist on living in the impossibilities, the unconditionally loving universe will at first gently, but eventually sternly show us that our choices are causing suffering to all. A traumatic event like a heart attack, job loss or divorce can shake us awake to the reality that we have not been living in alignment with our highest purpose, and therefore not been co-creating in healthy, soulful ways. Our current humanitarian and ecological crises are like this for all of us. They are a fiercely compassionate wake-up call from Mother Nature herself, showing us the painful consequences of our disconnected choices.
When we are faced with frustration or disaster at any level as a result of our distorted perceptions, we eventually ask ourselves, “Is this really all there is?” Then a crack opens in what we thought was reality. We begin to see beyond the divided sense of self that has been limiting our ability to grow. We come to understand that disconnection is the cause of all suffering, not just in ourselves, but in all life.
Once we recognize that the idea of separateness is an illusion rooted in impossibilities, it starts to lose its appeal. Our attachments to divisive thinking diminish. We no longer need to see through this distorted lens, as we know it only brings discord and unhappiness. Now open to a new reality, we take wise and compassionate action, rooted in our true capacity for co-creation. In this, we discover a world of possibilities.
As I considered my situation, I came to understand that the conversation I had with friends became tense because we did not all see co-creation in the same depth and power. When we are no longer limited by the divisive perception of impossibilities, even at a subtle level, the magnificence of true co-creation expands before us.
But I will save exploring that for next week, as this series on co-creation concludes with the powerful ways we can choose to co-create in each moment for a life of extraordinary joy.

The Gift of Co-Creation

There is a famous and often-repeated quote: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” These words, sometimes mistakenly attributed to Nelson Mandela, are in fact those of Marianne Williamson, in her book A Return to Love. She touches on an important truth of our human existence: we are far more capable than we realize.
One of the ways we are most capable, often without realizing it, is in co-creation. This is a gift, allowing us to act in interconnection with all that is. We are born into co-creation. We live through it. Yet rarely do we become conscious of it and the extraordinary opportunity it provides our growth at all levels. Along the path of personal development, we come into understanding of this essential gift and how we are using it in every moment. In so doing, we gain sight of a powerful guiding star on our way to limitless joy and unconditional love, which are our true nature. We become of greater benefit to each other and to the world around us. We can be instruments of grace.
Co-creation means different things, depending on our perspective. At the most practical level, co-creation is the bringing together of two energy systems in order to create a greater whole. When we take pause and look closer, we see that in every moment of our lives, co-creation is already taking place. We are not isolated islands, but within a vast and intelligent whole. We naturally engage that which is around us, at multiple levels. It could be as apparent as a conversation in a business meeting, where our words and ideas come together with those of others. It could be as subtle as the emotional energy we emit, how people, plants and animals around us respond, and how we in turn react to them.
On one hand, co-creation may seem to be about collaboration, whether it be for the highest good of all or not. But co-creation expresses the complete range of human choices, from violent and hateful disconnect to a complete merging into unconditional love. Through co-creation, we access profound power. What we do with this power separates the wise from the ignorant, for it strongly informs how we choose and amplifies the ways we choose—consciously or not—to perceive and identify.
The various types of co-creation could perhaps be better understood if we think of them as existing along a continuum ranging from extreme unconsciousness to pure consciousness. At one end, we would be fully identified with the idea of life as suffering, with the perception of our separateness and with the voice of our ego. At the other, all aspects of our lives would arise from absolute unity with the light that we are, the very fabric of life itself.
The potency of co-creation is like a vehicle we have been given. At one extreme, we would see a driver who jumps the curb, floors the gas and is hell-bent on harming everyone and everything he can reach. At the middle of the co-creation continuum, a driver would choose to follow the laws of the road, focused on getting to his destination safely.
But at the other end of the continuum, a driver would be in a state of compassion and joy because he knows that in fact, he is not and will never be the driver. He is at the wheel, fully awake and clear. He drives well, knowing the laws of the road. But he does not navigate from his individual self. He is in total service to the whole. He knows that he arrives most safely, efficiently and joyfully at his destination when he chooses to unify his will with the greater will of the universe.
If co-creation is like a vehicle we need to use wisely, how do we learn? We can think of a novice driver, who first must know the rules of the road to get a learner’s permit and get behind the wheel. In this case, the rules of the road are to understand the nature of reality and the power of perception.
My grandmother helped me to understand the power of choice. She taught me that we each have two channels within us to which we can attune: one that leads to suffering for all, and one that leads to love, service and interconnection. It was up to us to choose where we place our attention. Today, I like to say that we have two primary energies with which to co-create: the positive possibilities and the impossibilities.
When you are in the positive possibilities, you know that you are a loved, welcomed and an integral part of everything that is. You know that your essence is love—not sentimental romance, but the expansive and ever-present reality of wisdom-compassion, the force of life itself. As such, you love yourself and others unconditionally.
This is not about wilfully thinking positively, as though life is adverse and you need to fake cheerfulness or unconditional love when you are not truly feeling those things. The positive possibilities are not something you have to superimpose over your reality. They are the nature of reality. In the positive possibilities, there is only love, underlying all time and space. You may not yet be a Buddha, merged in that unconditional presence. But when you are in the positive possibilities, you are humbly present and grounded in this reality moment to moment. You know that loving yourself and loving others are both vital, interconnected expressions of the love that always is. You choices arise from this awareness. In this, there is limitless potential for co-creation with everyone and everything around you, for the benefit of all.
Though humans are uniquely gifted with the power of choice in co-creation, Nature shows us many beautiful examples of positive possibilities co-creation, because nature exists as a balanced expression within the whole. One in particular that has deeply impressed me for years is that of whales.
In what is known as the “whale pump effect”, these huge sonic creatures stir the ocean waters in a way that benefits all life. They do this not through any particular effort, but simply because they dive deep to feed, then return to the surface to breathe and excrete. In this way, they bring nutrients from the depths, where the sun does not reach, to fertilize the phytoplankton in the sunny waters at the surface. Then the phytoplankton grow and capture carbon from the atmosphere. They feed the fish that whales and other marine life feed upon, so that the entire food chain is enriched.
The very existence of whales nourishes and sustains the species on which they depend. They selflessly give far more than they take. They co-create with the waters, the phytoplankton, the other fish, the air, the sun, with gravity, with all life. In so doing, they benefit everyone and everything, including themselves.
The magnificent example of the whales inspired the vision for MAPS, the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary. MAPS is a co-creation in the positive possibilities with Nature and all life. By stopping all activity in the Arctic Ocean that harms the vulnerable polar ice, we begin to work in harmony with Nature rather than against it. We catalyze a global shift to renewable energies. We safeguard our planetary life support system that keeps weather cool and balanced. We protect the many threatened species, including whales, that live in this critically vulnerable ecosystem. We make space for life, including our own.
Given the beautiful results of co-creation in positive possibilities, we may ask ourselves: why is this not happening in our lives? What is misdirecting our course? Why are our choices today resulting in suffering? The answer lies in the nature of impossibilities co-creation. In some way, whether obvious or subtle, you have lost your orientation to the nature of reality. Next week, we will look at how and why co-creation in the impossibilities happens—and how to remedy it and return to joyful presence.

How to Reconnect With Joy When You Feel Stressed

Thank you for letting me know that you liked last week’s post about finding joy in your to-do list. In answer to a question I received, “How do I find joy when my work is stressing me out?”, here are some tips about facing stress with a meditative mindset. It was published on Thrive Global. Getting into this frame of mind is something I practice every day as I face the intensive timelines to realize MAPS, the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary. Every second, I feel like I can hear the sound of ice melting. It is certainly not waiting for the world to wake up to this ecological and humanitarian crisis. So I am giving MAPS my all with a “pedal to the metal” attitude and a meditative heart. I hope this serves you!
We can access the beauty and power of meditation when we are busily moving through our lives by developing what I call a meditative mindset. This means that no matter how busy our body may be, our mind rests in the essence of meditation. We cultivate a deeper and broader vantage point about who we are and what we are doing.
When we step into a meditative mindset when faced with a busy life, we gain a different point of view about ourselves, our lives and the world around us. We move beyond feeling identified and attached to life happening to us. In so doing, we loosen the grip of our ego, which clings to unhappiness and illusions of power that will never make us fulfilled. We see more space around each situation, emotion and thought, because we know that everything is contained within and a part of a much greater whole. We don’t take things so personally. We are less reactive. We respond to situations with greater clarity and calm…. [Read the rest at Thrive Global]
For more support to find inner peace and calm no matter what is going on, watch for Parvati Magazine’s “Serenity” issue going live this week. It features a guided meditation by yours truly on how to find your centre when you feel triggered. There will also be inspiring updates on the amazing work by the African volunteers for MAPS in the lead up to the United Nations Environmental Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya.

Parvati_Blog_Welcome-the-Birth-of-Light

Find Joy Even in The Busiest To-Do List

Hello! Last week I mentioned I was working on a blog on co-creation. I have a lot to say about the topic, so the piece is evolving into a mini-series. Fittingly in this busy time of my life, my article about finding joy in your to-do list was just published on Arianna Huffington’s platform, Thrive Global. I share it with you here:
I am now putting the finishing touches on five albums and fourteen books. And that is only the beginning. Live shows, animes, VR, and more… all in service to the swift realization of the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS), to protect all life.
Since much of my life has been balancing tight deadlines and a passionate vision, I would like to share my experience on how to find joy even in a packed to-do list.
We may perceive tasks to do as objects outside ourselves to be conquered and cleared so that we may eventually find freedom and ease. We can lose sight of gratitude for the grace this moment brings, and succumb to feeling that life is happening to us.
Ancient yogis and enlightened masters speak of the shimmering veil of illusions, called Maya in Sanskrit, that makes up our phenomenal world. We think that objects, including our thoughts and perceptions, are solid and fixed, when in fact they are merely temporal and will not last.
Beneath all things that pass – our likes and dislikes, the dramas of life, the daily dance through which we live – there is an eternal light that remains.
Read more at Thrive Global…

Discover the Joy of the Divine Waiting for You Right Now

Last Sunday, my blog was silent as I have been working on a new juicy post for you on the topic of co-creation, but it was not yet done. Trusting the creative muse and with the grace of the angels, it will be ready to share with you next week.
While completing my music arrangements in my upcoming albums, I have also been putting the finishing touches this week on a new website for Parvati Magazine. In support of MAPS, the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary, Parvati Magazine is lovingly brought to you every month by a super beautifully broad-hearted all-volunteer team, dedicated to a healthy world. The new website looks great, designed by a dear friend at Jellyfunk.
To give you a taste of this issue, here is my Positive Possibilities Living article. And there is lots more to enjoy in this month’s Parvati Magazine, including Grammy nominees, leaders like Amnesty International and the newest Yogis Unite ambassador Koya Webb.
The divine is always with us, no matter where we are or what we may be doing. The divine continually showers us with grace-filled flower petals. The question is, are we open? Are we listening for the phone call from the divine?
I was in my music studio working on one of five upcoming albums dedicated to MAPS (the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary), when the phone rang. I had been composing and arranging a song for Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu deity who brings good fortune and removes obstacles along our path.
I usually don’t have my ringer on in my studio, let alone answer the phone when the creative juices are flowing. But this time, the sound alerted me to a friend calling. I knew she was with Amma, a saint from South India who is also my spiritual teacher, in San Ramon, California. It was the end of Devi Bhava, a very special time when Amma embraces everyone while in the mood of the Divine Mother.
When I picked up the phone, I was immediately transported into Amma’s blissful presence. Within the churning sounds of cheer and adoration that I heard from the thousands of devotees, I could feel the rise of devotion for the divine well up in me. I closed my eyes and was at her feet. Amma was standing before me in her glorious, shimmering Devi Bhava sari, showering people with sweet and tender flower petals as she lovingly smiled at us all. Everything that was before the call—the chord changes, the instrumentation, the arrangement of sounds—all vanished into the infinity of this one perfect moment. I was harmoniously held within the symphony of life.
As I surrendered to the richness of the experience, it felt as though flower petals were gently falling on my head. A pure white light flooded my being. Tears poured from my eyes as my heart expanded into the grace-filled moment. There was no such thing as time or space. They collapsed as my heart flowered in the full perfection of the now.
Eventually, Devi Bhava ended, and Amma got into a van to be driven to her next tour stop. She was off to LA, after having given darshan for the past 13 hours without a single pause, after a full day of doing the same.
I thanked my friend and hung up the phone, somewhat stunned. I had been shaken from my work-centered focus and stepped into a fuller reality that is always present. My personality was softer, my soul recharged.
Even though there is a lot of interference on the planet at this time, a heavy feeling that one could almost say is like an undertow, there is also a never-ending stream of grace available to us all in each and every moment. We can choose the energies with which we engage.
The darkness that has permeated our world calls each of us to make a firm resolve to direct our awareness towards our deepest joy. Instead of feeling pulled by the weight, waiting for grace to come knocking at your door or give you a personal call, answer the call that is ringing in your heart right now. The call from the divine is already here. It speaks to you through your joy. Let it guide you in sharing your unique light with the world. There has never been a better time to shine and love – not only because the world needs it, but because you do too.
Having opened to and received the grace that called me, I returned to my Ganesha composition with fresh insights and energy. “It is our love for the goal that gives us the strength to face all obstacles,” says Amma.
I love music and feel so inspired to give it all I can to catalyze the global shift in the way we see ourselves, each other and the planet that is MAPS.
 

How to Learn from Nature's Biggest Yoga Teachers

I love this amazing and profound quote by my spiritual teacher Amma, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi: “Pure music is as big as space. It is God. It is pure knowledge. It is the secret of allowing the pure sound of the universe to flow through you.”
As you read this, I am in my music studio, where I am listening to the muse to put the complete new music in service to MAPS, the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary. While I create with love for nature, humanity and the magnificent sonic whales, please enjoy these past sharings about the beautiful yogic teachings of whales.
 
Spiritual Lessons from the Whales 1: Let Your Darkness Feed Your Light
The more I learn of whales, the more I am awed by their massive, compassionate and wise presence. They seem to me to be master yogis, in constant co-creation with and in service to the whole. This week, I would like to share how whales can serve as an example in your yoga practice.
 
Spiritual Lessons from the Whales 2: Supreme Karma Yoga
When I look at the lives of whales, I see an effortless, natural mastery of karma yoga. Their existence serves the greater good from the moment they emerge into the world to the moment of death and beyond…
 
Spiritual Lessons from the Whales 3: Harmony and Dharma
My jaw dropped recently when I found out that the rippling song of the humpback whale is a collective expression. All humpback whales, in a given region, sing the same song! The song evolves over time, but it evolves for all of the whales at the same time. Though each may sing a different part in the moment, all give voice to one collection of sounds like an oceanic choir…
 
Spiritual Lessons from Whales 4: The Awakened Flow
In this post, I conclude my series on spiritual lessons from the whales (for now…!) with some more amazing information about the lives of whales and the masterful, spiritual teachings they embody and can offer us.

Your Favourite Parts of Life in the Positive Possibilities

I was curious over the Christmas holidays to find out which were my most loved blog posts in 2018.
In the process, I was happy to discover that several of my posts from years ago are still being enjoyed. You’ll be happy to know that I dive deeply into their topics in my upcoming books The Grace Mindset, The Oneness Reality and The Three Supreme Secrets for Lasting Happiness.
I am now putting the finishing touches on these books—plus five more. (Yes! I have been very busy!) They are dedicated to MAPS, the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary. They help create the necessary shift in the way we see ourselves, others and our planet for a peaceful world.
Here is the Top Ten list – in order of popularity – to whet your appetite for these books, which I can’t wait to share with you!
 
Healing Pain Through Love and Acceptance:
Loving Myself And The World Beyond Condition
The choices you make right now, based on how you choose to perceive this moment, are literally creating your future…
 
What to Do During An Eclipse
An eclipse provides an optimal time for spiritual progress and selfless service. During the dimming light, your attachment to your ego is dulled, allowing you to access the light of pure consciousness that animates the universe…
 
How to Fill Your Life with Gratitude and Grace
When you meet this moment as it is, with all its colours, dark and light, you realize the true possibilities in your life. There you find happiness, abundance and gratitude. Feeling grateful for what is, you tap into a wealth of power and vitality that had been waiting for you all along…
 
How Do You Recognize the Satguru
How can you get the spiritual guidance that will lead you to the ultimate goal in life, which is realization of your divine self? For this, you need what is known as the satguru, the true enlightened master…
 
What You Can Learn From Butterflies About Surrender
The notion of surrender can be bewildering. We may associate it with “throwing in the towel”, giving in or even becoming roadkill as someone else’s will rides roughshod all over us. From your ego’s point of view, surrender may seem like giving up and somehow taking a loss. But when you look deeper, you see that nothing could be further from the truth…
 
How to Take Off the Mask and Be Kind to Yourself
Though we tend to hide our shadows in the dark or try to outshine them by focusing exclusively on the light, we need to pause for a moment and humbly become aware of them because they are opportunities for awakening. They are aspects of ourselves, severed from our awareness, tied up in holding onto perceptions of separation, helplessness and pain…
 
May All Beings Be Happy
The growth in global darkness is ours to collectively transcend as one Earth family. We must take heart, remembering that whatever we choose to focus on will grow. We cannot fight hate with hate. Only more hate will come from such a choice….
 
How to Feel Meditative in a Busy Life
Meditation may conjure images of sitting still and quieting the mind. Though my morning sit is the foundation and heart of my practice, meditation can be practiced at any time, anywhere, because meditation is about being in non-resistance to what is….
 
How to End the Cycle of Judgment for Good
When we feel judged, our knee-jerk reaction is to judge in return. Yet, this only perpetuates the pain in ourselves and others. So how to end the cycle of judgment and find greater authenticity and freedom from fear?
 
How to Connect with the Wisdom of a Child
In honour of the United Nations Universal Children’s Day, I asked my beautiful friend Dr. Emma Farr Rawlings if she would be willing to share some of the amazing findings she has been unveiling in her inspired work with children.

Parvati_Blog_Welcome-the-Birth-of-Light

Welcome the Birth of Light in Your Life

For those who celebrate, Merry Christmas! May the holidays this week bring you joy and richness.

For Christians, today is the lighting of the last of the four Advent candles—hope, peace, joy and love—as the season moves to its culmination with Christmas. I love the idea that even as days grow dim, light has been increasing, just waiting for us to celebrate it.

We are here, on this planet, amidst the beauty and imperfections of it all. We each carry inner light that both shines and casts shadows on the ground. As the one who was born in a manger shows us, when we are willing to live with the innocence of a child and open in purity to the moment, we enter the realm of the Divine.

This Christmas, no matter what tradition you do or do not embrace, welcome the birth of light in your life. Revere this moment with freshness, rather than with anticipation or expectation. Soften to the now, rather than hardening to it. Become as receptive as a child to the newness and wonder of what is. Sense the interconnections between yourself and all things. Consider that heavenly light is the very same light that exists within you and shines through all.

With innocence, purity and humility, we meet the child of God that we each are. Then we discover the fullness of light in every moment.

May you enjoy this day and every day. Happy illuminating!