When Does It End?
THE CYCLES OF DEATH, LIFE & TRANSFORMATION
Q:When Does It End?
A: There is no end! Haha, in my humble opinion of course. This is not true from certain vantage points (we do die) and yet there is maha or “grand” truth so fervently embedded in that statement. Where am I going with this? Eternal life is defined perhaps by the incessant continuation of the cycles of death, rebirth, and transformation inherent within the rhythms of life itself. For example, we die to one way of being in the womb, once surviving through our umbilical cord and swimming in amniotic fluid, to then an abrupt ending as we die to being a fetus and are born into this world.
Same, same but different, we die when we take our last breath. Our body no longer functions, and suddenly there is a void of energy and light in this realm from where before there was vitality incarnate. And then where do we go? If energy cannot be created or destroyed, where does all of the lifeforce go when the body and perhaps aspects of mind decompose?
FULL MOON IN SAGITTARIUS
Happy full moon in Sagittarius everyone! As many of you know, the sign of the centaurian archer pointing its arrow toward the heavens is one of insatiable curiosity. There is a potent quest for knowledge with a seeking heart for the truth that is emblazoned upon the character of this fiery sign. Ruled by Jupiter, there is little that can stop them on this adventure to “know”, to understand, to try out, to experience, and to expand into. And as the eternal optimist of the zodiac, they seem to find a silver lining in even the most dour of situations.
It is from the inquisitive nature of this full moon, ruled by Jupiter who is currently conjunct the North Node, that I find the beauty in the perpetual cycle of death. Where one thing ends, another begins. Whether it is a creative project birthed into the world making space for another point of focus, a hideous illness that takes you into unfathomable dimensions of suffering only to strip you of the crusted karmic density and residue that has remained in crevasses of the unconscious that could not be found in any other manner other than to be extracted by the hot, vile nature of putrid fire, or graduating from college to become again a freshman of “adulting”, these cycles express themselves as a weaving throughout our life, (and some sentences appear to never end lol).
DEATH & REBIRTH
Inhale, exhale, morning sun, evening moon, spring birds, winter silence, birth, growth, transformation, illness, death, wash, spin, repeat, rebirth. Maybe it is a bold statement to say I am certain that life does not end after death. Perhaps I could only stand inside of these words if I’ve had personal experience of something other than the container of the current life I am living…maybe it is all one eternal “life” after all with chapters of “existences” that capture particular themes and lessons to learn and to grow from. And in this moment I am experiencing my consciousness through the lens of Ciela.
What I do know to be true for me is that I have not always had these parents, this body, and the various identities that I have created and peeled off in just this particular existence. There was life before I was born, memories created, experiences, decisions, emotions, thoughts, karma accrued, etc that have all informed this chapter I am living now. And I also recognize that I will not always have this body, this perspective, these attachments, or this particular storyline. At some point, I will take my last breath in this body and then transition just as every soul does through a process of death and rebirth.
DEATH & REBIRTH IN RELIGION
Reincarnation may be attributed to Eastern religions but in truth, reincarnation is a process celebrated in every religion and spiritual society, from the Incas to the Egyptians, to the Mayans, and even Christianity. I am sure the fundamentalist Christians would disagree, however, sometimes a thing is too “in our face” to see it. The story of Christ is a story of death, rebirth, and transformation. As an example of what is possible as a human being in communion with God, Emmanuel was a man who became Jesus, who embodied the Christic level of consciousness in which he had to die to his previous states of mind, being, and will in order to be reborn as the son of God.
I do see the map of his life as an invitation and potent metaphor of possibility rather than just one religion saying he is the savior for all people. Not every religion or culture speaks the same language, and yet we all have beating hearts, eat, sleep, poop, procreate, and have the capacity to love. There is unity within the undeniable realms of existence and though we can’t prove that we die and are reborn, perhaps we share in that cyclic, karmic, samsaric process of evolution and devolution as well. And maybe when we experience both heaven and hell within our psyches right here on earth, there is less of a notion or desire to “get to a place” or RIP and more of an enthusiasm to really live, here and now. Cheers to the courageous ones who brave the emblematic flames of the inner hellscape in order to reconcile the grotesqueness of their darkest shadows while simultaneously working to become exalted kings and queens of heaven on earth.
Questions upon questions overfloweth in the glow of this curious and buoyant full moon of optimism. With Jupiter hugging the North Node in Taurus, there is an amplified radiance in the direction of your personal Taurian kingdom. To what end is Jupiter illuminating internal inquiry into this Venusian home of values, earth, poetry, and finance? Or does the quest of learning ever really end at all?
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We cannot change the world until we accept we are the world. This is the new conversation.