ATTUNEMENT GUILD

Listening...and letting go

Attunement Guild — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:12:00 GMT

This poem and the paragraph which follows are taken form the monthly Attunement Circle notes in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Rhodesia Remembered: Gratitude
-Joyce Pretorius

I have walked where no human feet have trod,
and sat beside the waters.
I have worshiped in a cathedral of tall trees,
and thanked God!
I have listened to great orchestras,
in the thundering waters of the Zambezi,
and gentle arias in its quieter places.
I have seen splendid sable silhouette against a sunset,
and watched a herd of elephants drinking in the vlei,
I have prayed 'neath a star-studded sky and thanked God!
I have heard nostalgia in the cry of the fish eagle
as it winged across waters,
and loneliness in the wind as it sighed through the acacias.
I have seen mists rising from the river in the glowing dawn,
encircling pink-tinted spurwing geese,
and gazed at a distant rising cloud of dust
which appeared from four hundred buffalo!
I have watched the rains pour down, and the floods rise, and drop;
the rain cease, far too long.
Then once again Heaven-sent rain!
Growth! Gladness!
All these privileges that I have known and loved through the years
have become a part of me.
And also through the years, standing sentinel,
our beloved Baobab.
Changes come, and I am sad.
But I thank God for what I've had...

Many are experiencing a letting go in various ways - moving home, city, country - a letting go of old habits and ways of being, a letting go of people, pets and possessions. And underlying it all... there is such a clear, strong expression of hope, optimism, ease and peace from everyone: the experience of being in the eye of the storm; thankful for the trials and tribulation as a springboard for the next cycle; noting how things work out unexpectedly; trust and respect for others as they handle what they need to; life goes on...

This experience of letting go involves surrendering to all of what the moment calls for: something more than is seen on the surface; something that reaches deep into our very core. This surrender sometimes asks of us to release the person we felt we were -- our history, our story or more -- and when we truly surrender and allow this release, may we find rest within the stillness of Being.

Excerpted from the monthly Attunement circle in Johannesburg, South Africa

-courtesy of Louise Broomberg

Soothing voices of Spirit and Nature

Attunement Guild — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:59:00 GMT

As the Winter Solstice draws near, I am reminded of my own longing for time and a space to sink into the mystery of winter's darkness and rest. In this more-than-busy season, this longing in me seeks the soothing voices of Spirit and Nature inviting stillness to prevail. What would keep me from entering in?

I remember something written in an Essene calendar years ago about this time of year: "The seed lays still within the Earth". I loved contemplating this seed in frozen ground resting, waiting for warming soil to provide a bed from which this seed will soften, openup...yielding...and begin to grow seeking its light. All that life tucked up inside that hard little seed!

Yes, the seed can grow, but what about this dark time in frozen ground?

I love this seed-resting imagery even though the time laying in wait can sometimes feel unfriendly or lonely. Does the seed know? Can the potential know its own fruit? Maybe. And, maybe it is only by listening and letting the Creative Impulse draw us into surrender and flow that we can come to face to face with the Mystery...

Paulette Lieska

Transparency and Translucency.

Attunement Guild — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:05:00 GMT

Transparency is a word that we are hearing in the news, on TV, radio and in everyday speech lately. What does it actually mean in our day to day living? When you hear the word what do you actually feel?

The dictionary definition of transparency is: light shinning from behind so that objects can be seen. As I meditated on the word what came to me was, “A Sea of Glass, Clear as Crystal.” When teaching Attunement I use a visual of a perfect reflection to demonstrate the concept. This relates to the thymus gland, the cross over point between heaven and earth. The invisible to the visible.

As the light shines through us it can illuminate our shadows. It can bring them into our awareness so that we can resolve them. Many times I feel that we are more translucent than transparent. The light shines through us but is somewhat diffused so that we do not see as clearly as is possible. This can be a saving grace in that we become more aware of our shadows at a pace that we can manage.

Glass is a perfect example of transparency and translucency. Walk through your living quarters and look out the windows. Clean windows are just a joy, especially when the view is beautiful. I have a sunscreen on my front window that I can see through, yet it diffuses the strong summer morning sun and keeps my home 10 degrees cooler. I have also seen the judicial use of glass block and frosted glass to let in light but provide a semblance of privacy.

Where and when am I transparent and when am I more translucent? Equally important, am I aware and able to distinguish between the two? Have fun with the word transparency.

Joyce Ellenbecker

What is attunement for me

Attunement Guild — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:57:00 GMT

Over the years, we’ve had a lot of complex definitions around what attunement is. My current definition is “assisting people to remember their covenant with God.”That’s what the attunement process is - assisting people to be set free in their circumstances, not from them. We get these so-called brand-new people in the room. That’s probably why they’re finding this place now - because of the level of vibration present that’s welcoming people home,home to this setting, home to attunement. To me, that high level of vibration represents the focused essence of a lot of years of consistency in people’s lives.

We spoke of how easy it is for people to come into attunement. In fact, we’re always in attunement. It’s what we’re in attunement with that matters. There’s the attunement-with-love aspect, and we come into that pretty quickly; but then something comes up and we get angry as can be, and the attunement is gone. We are in this room today (and in other places) because there are folks who allowed themselves to align with what they came on earth to do, and then they managed to sustain it. It’s that ability to sustain the attunement current, extending a loving blessing into the earth no matter what’s been happening in a person’s life, that allows settings like this to manifest.

My attunement work is largely dependent on my state of consciousness, a state in which I hold the practice of Attunement as a sacred ceremony. With that consciousness, the attunement that I have to share with others is a sacred ritual. As a practitioner, when that is your thinking, you know that your attunement is not about trying to fix something. Rather, you’re inviting others into a sacred place to see what you have to do together.

Paul Price

INVITATION TO A GARDEN PARTY

Attunement Guild — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 02:25:00 GMT

May 2009

What inspiration awaits discovery in the other-than-human world in which we all exist! The world of nature is there to teach us and to share with us, as we let go amidst the challenges and the sense of struggle we sometimes feel that allow us to be thrown out of alignment with Spirit.

Ahhh…. Rain comes to the Sonoran Desert. One particularly delicious morning this past winter, we had a wonderful sense of renewal as the gentle, slowly-moving storm from the previous day cleared, leaving the scent of desert rain from the creosote bushes and inviting more cactus blossoms to open. In the summer that renewal is fierce, with its sound and light show of zigzagging lightning streaking down to earth, followed by window-shaking, thunderous booms. The monsoon rains flood the desert floor in sheets and fill the washes with life-threatening torrents that rip out vegetation and tumble rocks. This is part of the cycle of renewal. In the March blog, “Managing Tougher Times,” Jonathan reminded us how the destructive forces of fire hold within them the seeding of new growth.

Living in the desert is a wonderful opportunity for me to attune to the living beings - animals, birds, plants, rocks - with whom I share my day-to-day world. Their lessons are rich and deep. In particular, I appreciate how they seem to know who they are and why they're here, and how they simply go about their activities with that knowing. When it was time for me to prune a tree recently, it had already begun blooming and the tree was humming with hundreds of bees. They knew why they were there, and I "explained" why I was there, and that my work would help keep the tree healthy. And we all did fine working together. In these moments, I feel the oneness with all sentient beings, as we exist together in the same current of attunement.

Gardening involves maintenance, including the shed that holds all those spades, rakes and weeding tools. The wooden baseboards of the shed’s outside foundation need caulking and painting, and access to them involves clearing away soil and stones. I suddenly realize that I am focused more on the difficulty of moving the stones that are in the way rather than on the boards, which are functioning just fine. It’s not about the stones; it’s about the foundation boards. As soon as my focus changes, the work becomes light and easy. In sharing the current of attunement, it’s not about what’s wrong -- it’s about what’s right and true. It’s about that wisdom of the physical body that knows how to heal itself. It’s about that soul connection to all that is. It’s about the Spirits of Love and Truth and Life that are part of each of us -- no matter what.

For me, attuning to and learning from all the energetic beings that inhabit this planet is helping me to move with this time of transformation. And to be moving with the attunement community is absolutely powerful!

Whether we plant literal or figurative “seeds,” as we tend the unique gardens that call to each of us, there are inspiring lessons that are revealed. Consider this an invitation to share your learnings and inspirations from the day-to-day tending of your “gardens.” Let’s have a garden party using the co-creative communication of our blog site!!

Elsa Swyers

Managing tougher times

Attunement Guild — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:54:00 GMT

Paul: We’re all aware of being in the midst of a global financial crisis. Here’s a question for our consideration: Is there something wrong? At the time of the Great depression, a number of modern day visionaries came forth: Lloyd meeker, Edgar Cayce, and Rudolf Steiner, among others. At the very time the world was in dire straits, at the energetic level an opening was created for significant spiritual evolution.

We’re in a similar position today. We have the opportunity to provide a stable setting for ourselves and others. We’re not separate from the problems, but work within them – we keep our primary connection with our spiritual rather than our earthly heritage. We provide a safe space – by what we do daily, we follow the formula of radiation, and there is abundance – spiritual abundance.

Jonathan: We’re “in it but not of it” – this is what we bring when we’re in alignment with spirit. The recent bushfires in new South Wales – they’ve caused chaos, upheaval, and disbelief. None of the physical preparation for such an event actually worked!

How do we make sense of this? On one side there’s loss, huge loss. On the other hand there’s the fact that trees and shrubs will only regenerate in bushfires, which result in the popping open of the new seeds…the old burns off and the new life commences.

Both Paul and Jonathan referred to the need for caregivers to receive care, for example, the firefighters in Australia. Who will provide that? What can the group at Riverdell do, seven hours from the fires? While we don’t know the specifics, we can hold center while we perceive what is needed.