Deeper in the Cave: Part 2 of Coming Out of the Cave

Beloveds,

Since my blog on “Coming Out of the Cave,” many of you have thoughtfully shared your hopes and concerns about re-emerging from our collective pandemic hibernation. And, for many of us, the contemplation deepens.

Coming upon this time of Easter, I am aware of the symbolism of Jesus and the cave, the place of His resurrection. From the darkness of a cave he transformed into the Light.

There is a word for “cave” in Sanskrit, “yoni,” which also translates as “womb.” The womb, of course, is the place where a delicate spark of new life is nurtured and prepared to enter the world. It is a dark, quiet and protected place. Sometimes, we feel as if we are pushed out of the womb before we are ready. Sometimes, we may stay too long, at the risk of running out of resources.

And yet, isn’t all timing—whether or not it complies with our personal calendar—divine? I think of my first son, who to my impatience and concern was three weeks overdue. But somehow, he waited in the womb just long enough to share his birthday with his grandmother and uncle, giving us three generations born on October 20!

If we can trust all timing to be divine, then we must trust this pandemic time of hibernation has purpose for all of us. Perhaps the meaning has been different for each, and perhaps there has also been a collective purpose. It seems up to us to unravel both our individual lessons and our contribution to the collective.

 THE COSMIC WOMB:

“Yoni” in yoga doesn’t just apply to individual wombs. The yoni is also the cosmic womb of the Divine Mother. Out of pure universal consciousness, or the Brahman—what in Kali-Ki Reiki we call Limitless Love—the Divine Mother weaves a matrix of time and space, so that matter and being might take form and have their play. That matrix is Her womb and what is birthed from it is all of creation. It is through Her that our individual consciousness arises from universal consciousness.

Because our individual consciousness is originally fashioned out of Limitless Love, it is possible—and I believe, the goal of each being—to return to the consciousness of Limitless Love. I think that perhaps we were placed in our caves, our yonis, over the past year, to re-connect to that universal consciousness of Limitless Love. We were given time to look inward, to pause, and to re-start. Whatever your cave looked like—whether it had walls or was open space—you were given the opportunity to contemplate, to re-evaluate.

So the question is, has your consciousness transformed, and if so, how? Do you feel you have had enough time in the womb-cave to emerge fully formed, or will you purposefully retreat again and again to your cave of awareness, to be nurtured in the heart of Divine Mother’s love before emerging again? Do you have the sadhana and the support you need to continue your transformational process as you emerge from your cave? And, what will that world you are emerging into look like?

TRANSFORMATION FROM THE DEPTHS:

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the same master who told us to “meditate in the cave of heart,” also said that with every change of consciousness there is a corresponding change of reality. This means that to whatever extent our consciousness has been transformed in the cave, the reality we emerge into is new. We see it differently and interact with it differently by virtue of our awareness. By interacting with it differently, we are changing it, making it new.

A new world is not formed through our actions and words, but rather through our consciousness. After all, consciousness precedes and underlies everything we do and say, even what we think.

All actions arise out of awareness. We interact with others in accordance with how we perceive reality. If I perceive reality as the manifestation of Limitless Love, I will respond to you very differently than if I see reality as a collection of objects and beings that I desire or disdain and want to control. How we respond to one another changes the reality we experience, individually and collectively.

The deeper into the cave I have gone, the more likely I am to experience the other as myself. Getting to the heart at the core of the cave, there is only One. All the rest is a reflection of that Oneness. Knowing this in the depths changes everything about how we interact with one another on the surface.

COME OUT SHINING:

We can’t expect everyone on the planet to re-emerge having connected with the Limitless Love in the cave of the heart. We have already seen evidence of people around the world and in this country emerging with hatred and violence. But for who have been nurtured, tempered and prepared by time in the womb-caves—and if our consciousness has been enough transformed by fearless exploration of the passageways deep within the cave—and if we can continue to support ourselves and one another, then I am certain there will be a change not just in our personal consciousness, but in that of the collective.

To whatever depths you wander in your cave, your consciousness transforms. Your awareness changes your reality, and as you interact with others, the collective reality is also reshaped. To the extent that you have connected with Divine Mother at the heart of reality, the more beautiful the tapestry She weaves together with us in our world.  Weaving with Her (by whatever name you know Her) and with one another, we co-create our reality. We give birth to something new that can emerge in the shining light of Limitless Love.

A POEM OF THE CAVE:

I CLOSE BY SHARING THIS CONTEMPLATIVE POEM BY NOELLE JOY, CERTIFIED KALI-KI REIKI MASTER and WISDOM SCHOOL TEACHER:

Deep in the darkness of night, 

Not knowing if I’d be all right 

Feeling unsure and alone

What would come of the world I had known? 

Time in the darkness to see

What had been hidden there within me

Cleansed by the tears that were cried

Finding peace and acceptance inside 

Deep in the darkness of night 

Everything feeling so perfectly right

I could stay here and be perfectly fine

Within this dark cave that is mine 

But all that begins must come to a close

And the sun shines and something new grows 

Deep in the darkness of night 

I feel the embrace of the light

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti