Welcome to our 3rd edition of Pangaea - Shelter along the Spritual Paths
With this issue of Pangaea Revisited, we will address the concept of shelter - a place of refuge, of safety, of security - a constant in a sea of change.
It is said that the only constant is change. If that were the case, one would think we would be used to it by now. The truth, as I see it, is that there is another "constant" in the equation and that is the self - the experiencer of the change. Because our nature is eternal, unchanging - change is something that just does not fit - however, because we live in a temporarily manifested world, it is all around us and within our experience. We cannot escape it, not even for a moment. Change, for most people, is something to dread. Even little changes. Even changes that would place them in a more desirable condition. So what then when change occurs that is sudden, unplanned for, or by the dictations of others, including Mother Nature. Change can be so stressful that when it happens on a large scale it is known as a "devastating catastrophe".
I personally see that change - big change - is coming, in one way or another, through conscious choice or through force. One can hardly miss seeing changes upon the horizon, like the full masts of ships approaching through the mist from a far off distant land and heading, without delay, to our shores. Political. Environmental. Economic. Social. Our world cannot continue as it is now structured on greed, careless consumption, and mindless exploitation. This is a linear structure which leads to a dead end. We can consciously choose to restructure our world on enlightened principles before it implodes or we can just keep going until we can't go anymore and things are restructured for us. One way or another, change is coming. (quick look at the word "stress" - there is "stress" as in anxiety, but "stress" also means to urge, to press - so perhaps the experience of "stress" and "distress" - which means two stresses - is an urging from those with higher knowledge that we need to look at something and make some changes).
Imagine time as being a river, for it is within the currents of time that change strips us of the familiar. In this river, what do you hang on to. Where is your shelter? Are you hanging on to things that will go down the river with you? Are you hanging on to things that will PULL you down the river? As things defined by relative time and space start to disappear, where is your shelter? In times of mortal danger (change of body - BIG change) - where is your shelter? In times of emotional pain (change of feelings - ouch) - where is your shelter? In times of mental anguish (change of conceptual framework - big job) - where is your shelter? As the things and people and activities we use to define ourselves start to slip away - where is your shelter? From what we do in the world, to our socio-economic status, to the people we love, to the body we possess - if it were all to change tomorrow - where is your shelter?
This publication is an offering to you from travelers, like yourself, who have found shelter along many different paths. In this issue, they share where they have found shelter.
It is said that the only constant is change. If that were the case, one would think we would be used to it by now. The truth, as I see it, is that there is another "constant" in the equation and that is the self - the experiencer of the change. Because our nature is eternal, unchanging - change is something that just does not fit - however, because we live in a temporarily manifested world, it is all around us and within our experience. We cannot escape it, not even for a moment. Change, for most people, is something to dread. Even little changes. Even changes that would place them in a more desirable condition. So what then when change occurs that is sudden, unplanned for, or by the dictations of others, including Mother Nature. Change can be so stressful that when it happens on a large scale it is known as a "devastating catastrophe".
I personally see that change - big change - is coming, in one way or another, through conscious choice or through force. One can hardly miss seeing changes upon the horizon, like the full masts of ships approaching through the mist from a far off distant land and heading, without delay, to our shores. Political. Environmental. Economic. Social. Our world cannot continue as it is now structured on greed, careless consumption, and mindless exploitation. This is a linear structure which leads to a dead end. We can consciously choose to restructure our world on enlightened principles before it implodes or we can just keep going until we can't go anymore and things are restructured for us. One way or another, change is coming. (quick look at the word "stress" - there is "stress" as in anxiety, but "stress" also means to urge, to press - so perhaps the experience of "stress" and "distress" - which means two stresses - is an urging from those with higher knowledge that we need to look at something and make some changes).
Imagine time as being a river, for it is within the currents of time that change strips us of the familiar. In this river, what do you hang on to. Where is your shelter? Are you hanging on to things that will go down the river with you? Are you hanging on to things that will PULL you down the river? As things defined by relative time and space start to disappear, where is your shelter? In times of mortal danger (change of body - BIG change) - where is your shelter? In times of emotional pain (change of feelings - ouch) - where is your shelter? In times of mental anguish (change of conceptual framework - big job) - where is your shelter? As the things and people and activities we use to define ourselves start to slip away - where is your shelter? From what we do in the world, to our socio-economic status, to the people we love, to the body we possess - if it were all to change tomorrow - where is your shelter?
This publication is an offering to you from travelers, like yourself, who have found shelter along many different paths. In this issue, they share where they have found shelter.
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