Hydrangea

I’m adjusting to change.

Meditative states carry over after getting off the cushion and moving on to other activities of daily living. The state remains if not interrupted and carries over and one is open and receptive. The mind becomes like one large flat plate, an empty plate. And it remains so, if not interrupted, for days, weeks, months.

And there are no longer barriers of protection from the ego since one has tamed that aspect of mind enough to create a calm, flat and receptive plate. Well, that’s how I relate to mind and life anyway and it is how I am able to be “psychic” and employed by clients in that capacity.

In the process of creating that plate so-to-speak and maintaining that state, I bump into my own thought processes, allowing whatever arises to do so yet also allowing it to dissolve. All story lines of ego structure melt away too as becoming one with that open plate feeling of openness and receptivity grows.

I could say that this open plate state which sort of feels like one huge horizon of infinity (it’s hard to find the words) enables a state of impersonality; non-personality.

I really like to be in that state and of course achieving this state is part of my job, my career, my service work here. I’m there when I do readings. And if nothing distracts me (if I don’t distract myself), I can stay there for days as long as I’m “Home Alone” if you pardon the movie reference.

I just had to laugh at a reference comparison (analogy) that came to mind here. To meditate and put one in that state of the empty plate and non-personality can be understood by associating it with hitting the “refresh” button on a web page. If the mind begins to wander and gets too complicated by getting too many other pages (thoughts) open, one can hit refresh and come back to the present moment, now; back to the state of the open plate—one huge horizon of infinity.

No, I’m not talking about any type of escapism here. It’s more like being fully present.

When someone is habitually open and receptive as I’ve been describing and then enters a room of 50 personalities with helter-skelter minds or even pulls out into busy traffic or heads into a busy shopping area—wow. I’ve been able to realize the benefit of ego-structure as a type of boundary and am working with a level of integration which enables me to function here in a busy community and in close proximity to family. It is almost laughable when all these entwined and complicated egos with complex entanglements come together in one room! Multiply that by 1,000 busy grocery shopping days! Where is my open receptive plate? What happened to my infinity horizon? Where did it all go?

I’m working with it; trying to function as myself (whatever self means because there really IS NO self in the true sense of it all) in these crowded settings.

I’ve found a particular type of meditation helpful lately. One thing is that I keep my eyes open which helps me to be present but not (at the same time) tuned into the present surroundings–well, just very lightly. I am mostly non-attached yet present and aware that I am fully in my body and fully in my space and fully in my room! This is a very good practice for me as it helps me to carry this over when swimming in (being around) very distracting energy (family dynamics, crazy traffic, even crazier grocery store).

Living in the mountains was… well, I made a Facebook Post this morning that I will reproduce here. I am so familiar with the vibration that comes from being physically in the places such as where this picture was. I resided (really lived!) the past 15+ years in the mountains. And this photo prompted me to post the image and text.

[image and text below]

October 7 2012 Parkway-2 — Pictures are wonderful! I could linger at this recent photo a good deal longer….
ET is phoning HOME!

Meditating on something simple and beautifully ordinary (like gazing out over a view like this!) enables a person to avoid self-identification and minimizes relationship awareness with others; nothing much here can be connected with ego-conflict. That is the healing gift of the mountains and mountain views. A person can become overwhelmed with a sense of non-duality, relating as”one” with the vastness.

Pictures are wonderful! I could linger at this recent photo a good deal longer….

ET is phoning HOME!

Anyway, lately while on my meditation cushion with eyes open but not really looking at anything and while putting my hands open and facing palms down over my knees (I sit crossed legged in a half-lotus position), what I do focus on at first is a straight back, head, shoulders and pretend that I am the ruler of my own kingdom (am I not?); and as I muster up that feeling, I also allow myself the sense of the feeling of royalty (being royal) as acutely as possible–such as in ruling my own universe, my own world.

That feels right to me and then I claim my space on the cushion and affirm that I belong right there, right here, right now in this moment and I am grounded right in that—it’s mine. Then, of course, who is me and mine? Yet, for the moment I allow these thoughts and feelings as the entry into (entry point of) my meditation period. After that, it is only to focus on breath and letting what comes up in mind to dissolve like the sun that contacts the fog; the thoughts disappear as quickly as they come up.

That helps me with living this new life down off the mountain.

On another note… completely off topic… but do you remember those Hydrangeas that I purchased from QVC at the end of spring? I potted them and brought them with me and all summer long I’ve been watering and waiting and in metaphysical ways nurturing and just this week, finally! One of them is giving to the world a pink flower! It is quite exciting and brings happiness to the heart.

One of the plants (at least one of the 4 of them) has successfully begun to make the adjustment to its life here… slowly and gradually, like me.

I turn to the tarot this morning to ask a practical question about planting three (3) Hydrangea bushes. They are very small now and should go into the ground soon. I’ve been debating about putting them in large pots versus planting them in the ground around the circle driveway. My daughter and grandson are coming in three days and can help me dig the hole in the sometimes rocky ground. It is on my mind today about how to proceed about these Hydrangea’s. Can the Tarot help us with such practical, mundane life issues? Let’s see!

Ha! Well, it’s interesting because I drew the THREE OF WANDS (sometimes called RODS). This sort of let me know right from the get-go of looking at the card that I’m tuned into the right issue based on numerology if nothing else. The 3 WANDS clearly relate to the 3 plants (Hydrangea bushes) in question! Its meaning also includes planning ahead and using foresight.

In the picture on the Connolly Tarot Card there are green leafs growing on the 3 wands (no flowers) but on the Hanson Deck we see flowers budding on the end of the wands.

Anyway, this card is one that typically announces that help is available – “Someone is willing to give you assistance”. This is clearly represented by the person in the boat with his hand on his heart who seems to be conveying advice.

I will be going to a garden nursery today and will seek the advice of an experienced gardener there about the soil and while I know to get peat moss for the bottom of the hole that I must dig, I’m not sure about the soil. That (soil information) is practical guidance and information I will seek from someone willing to help.

In the Hanson Tarot Card as it is with many other decks, we see the person waiting for the ships in the distance coming in while the man on the shore waits. I think that I should wait for the help of my grandson and daughter—after all what’s a few more days? I need to gather some local advice about the soil and get some supplies—peat moss, wood chips, some sort of border/boundary material to keep the grass out and then the right bag of potting soil if there is such a thing. All that comes first.

There’s also the Moon sign to think about—when to plant things based on where the Moon is@! I know it’s not good to plant during the FULL or the NEW Moon—currently, it’s neither. The Moon is waxing and 38% toward FULL so this seems to be OK as far as the cycle goes… energy is building, not dying or waning.

Yet, I found this on google, “When you plant in an AIR sign, the Moon’s influence is channelled into the blossom growth. Plant all flowers and flowering plants.” Yeah, maybe I should go ahead and put them in the ground today. Hydrangea are flowering plants! They should get into the ground before dark today because around 7 pm (EDT) the Moon moves into Cancer. If you plant stuff like melons, grapes or high water fruit plants or lettuce and watercress, cabbage or spinach and stuff like that, when the Moon is in the water sign Cancer, it’s recommended. I do have a concern about that area getting too much water as it is!

I totally better get going! Using foresight and planning, I’ve considered the Moon sign and getting some advice by someone who is willing to give me assistance (a local gardener at the nursery in town). While it wouldn’t be the end of the world to wait until my daughter and grandson arrive and plant while the Moon is in Cancer, just drawing this card and stopping to remember the Moon cycle planting methods had been helpful. I’m planting today! I want those plants to FLOWER and if planting when the Moon is in Gemini will help that—I won’t wait! Like I said, better get going! Opps, I just realized one other connection—3 hydrangeas, 3 of wands and Gemini (where the Moon is today) rules the 3rd house in astrology!