Welcome to Cleveland
One minute, I'd never considered living in Ohio, and the next, I am. Moved myself and the ashram 2,000 miles across country to the shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland. What adventures await!
Category: Featured
Calling Out Cishet Men
[edit: changed many instances of cis to cishet to be more accurate]
At the time of this writing, I am almost 2 months into a journey of fueling this body with testosterone. And let me tell you, it has opened my eyes. I have a somewhat unique viewpoint, having been fueled by estrogen 48 years since puberty, and now seeing firsthand the differences between estrogen and testosterone. My experience is by no means universal, but I can speak to this particular body, with all its mobility issues, and what changes came immediately. It was like flipping a switch.
From where I sit, it seems like cis men literally have every single aspect of life easier than cis women and others whose bodies are fueled by estrogen. Estrogen fueled people expend way more energy to accomplish the same tasks, they have an exponentially wider range of things they’re responsible for, and they are denigrated and disrespected every step of the way. This has got to
Social Media
“I have a presence on SM, therefore I am.”
This should be the existential quote of the times. If I don’t have followers, do I exist?
Leaving fb has been difficult. I miss being able to reach out to all my friends and share what I’m up to or ask for a little support. It’s lonely not knowing what my wide array of friends around the world are up to in their lives, or what causes they care about and are involved in.
I’m human and I need to feel a sense of belonging, so I do have Twitter. I’ve never used it much, so I have maybe 1 – 3 people reading my Tweets, if that many. I’m not going to jump through hoops to build a following. That feels inauthentic and inorganic, and that is so not my style. It’s lonely, though, and I feel invisible in this day of ubiquitous online presence.
My cravings to log in, just this once and
Bane or Blessing
Many people are pooh-pooing the Coronavirus, saying it’s an overblown scare. What if it could end up being humanity’s greatist gift? Let me explain. Has there ever been a time in your life when have you wished you had paid attention to a suggestion to change something about your life earlier, when the suggestion was gentle, only to be forced into changing something by a traumatic event? I fully believe this is what the COVID-19 event is all about.
To the Edge, and Beyond.
I was recently pushed past my percieved limits during an 11 day Ayurvedic (traditional Indian medicine) treatment immersion. I love Ayurveda because it is precise, it has been researched and proven effective for thousands of years, and it’s all herbal, so it is in total alignment with the natural order. It targets restoring the body’s innate balance, so that it then heals itself. My series of treatments were similar to Pancha Karma, if you want to Google that to get some idea, but tailored to my specific health issues. Think hours a day, every day, filled with massages with various medicinal herbal substances, steam treatments, purges, and drinking, swishing, and snorting various herbally medicated substances. Day One was heaven, but by Day Three it had devolved into a hellish passive endurance test of being poked, prodded, and pummeled, and there were nine days still to go.
On Day Six, I felt like they broke me. I was shattered. I couldn’t imagine continuing. The thought Read the rest
Tiruvannamalai, October 2019
Warning: This got long. I’ve been posting a lot of photos on fb, but now I feel the need to paint a picture with words.
I’ve been in Tiruvannamalai just under a week, so I’m about half way through my visit. I initially thought two weeks wasn’t going to be nearly long enough, but I’m having the odd yet pleasant sensation that every day is about a week long. I also considered not coming; like this short of a visit wasn’t important for me to be here, but oh my heavens, I was wrong about that! My experiences here have been exquisite.
Multiple times a day, when I come home, I open my gate and step into my yard, then open the metal grating to my foyer and seriously wonder how I ended up with a proper house in the perfect spot on the main street of my preferred part of town for a screaming deal of a price. I thought being here for Read the rest
A Word on Tantra* and Bhakti
I am a shameless Bhākta. I am head over heels in love with divinity in many of Its forms. So why Tantra? It is said that Bhakti is the fastest and most enjoyable path to enlightenment, so why not just stick to that? That’s where I started, so why the emphasis on Tantra these days?
It’s like this: Bhakti is indeed a very fast and enjoyable path. I don’t know about enlightenment because I am not enlightened, but I trust what knowledgeable people say about that being true. I do know from experience that it is a lightning-fast method to obtain Oneness. When I’m chanting, the bliss of that Oneness is unsurpassed. The effects of the vibrations change matter, as I found out when I healed my body with chanting. However, the Oneness fragments back into the many when I stop chanting and come back to the relative world. The echos of the vibrations definitely come with me, and ripple out into all areas Read the rest
Intersectionality of Spiritual Practice and Activism
I’ve been fortunate this year in having many spiritual practices show up that have expanded my sense of peace and security and enabled me to interact in a powerful way in the outer world. I’m finding it difficult to talk about them, because they’re not spiritual at all.
Except, they are.
It’s a fun conundrum. That’s why I think talking about the intersection is important.
How is burning up my physical body along with all socially constructed self images, creating a new energy body, and then thickening it into my physical body every day spiritual? I don’t know, but this particular practice, called deha-shuddhi -> amṛta-vyāpti -> prakāśa-kāya, is taken out of an ancient Tantrik text, so it must be, right? It’s taught as a means to experience that the body, as well as all the layers of self-hood, are an instantiation of pure Consciousness.
The results were instantaneous from the very first time I practiced it, but I can’t say this one will
Sacred Economy Service Offerings
In service to my dream of a symbiotic human community where everyone’s needs are met by everyone, I’m now offering all of my services within the Collaborative Pricing model. Clients are encouraged to make an offer based on what they can afford. Most services can be delivered long distance via technology. Please ask if you are not sure.
Services include:
- Sound Healing – Group and Private Sessions
- Spiritual Principles Based Coaching – Group and Private
- Pūjā or Homam- Your Location or Mine
- Yantra Painting – Framed or on a Surface in Your Home
- Space Clearing
- Visioning – Group and Private
- Reiki – Your Location or Mine
- Marriage Officiant
- Web Design/Graphic Design/Web Hosting
- Desktop/Laptop/Mobile Technology Support
If there is a service you desire, please make me an offer based on a combination of how much the service is worth to you and your ability to pay. No offer is too small, and no one will be denied due to financial inability to pay. This is Read the rest
What is Freedom?
I believe freedom has many facets, and we have been mislead on what it means. We have been convinced that the world we see outside of ourselves is of primary importance, and we have to conform to this world to get ahead in life. This only serves to deny us our freedom, and drive us deeper into bondage.
Inner freedom does not depend on the outer world. It is accessible any time, day or night, no matter what is happening in our lives. It is available in the midst of the most horrendous crisis and on the most beautiful peaceful day.
I believe it is time for us to reclaim our freedom. One way to do this is to examine the stories we have allowed to control our lives. One of these stories is the story of separation.
The story of separation is responsible for all hoarding, all competition, and all ideas of scarcity. The story of separation has no bearing on the sun, Read the rest