My New Year's Vision for all Women

“Help her let go of all the times that betrayed her
Show her the sweetness of the girl
Help her to find all the beauty deep inside
To live as a Goddess in this world”

Within every woman is the temple where the Infinitude guards its secrets. In that chamber is the meeting ground of the Creator and the Created. Who can explain the mysteries of thought taking shape? Who can explain where Creation first seeks its entrance and there forms a Being out of itself? Who can understand the wonders of earth and sky in that place of union?

Her body is designed to nurture the evolution of man. She bears the growth and the pain of his struggle. She consoles herself and seeks comfort from the Absolute and thus receives patience to keep pace with the pain of continuous expansion. She draws from “things not seen” and brings them forth to the knowledge of five senses. She formulates an image for the continuum of life and thus shapes a dream for all humanity. She offers herself up to the unknown and thus becomes a light in a dark room. Within her is the substance of life, which like a flame can light the whole world.

Woman is the Soul of man. Within her live the songs of peace. Within her lives vision and communion. Within her is the beauty and grace that man thirsts for in the outer world. She alone was chosen to expand a garden out of herself and raise powerful nations. She is the epitome of love sent forth to guard and guide the riches and sweetness of life.

Honor her. Remember her. From the womb of woman came each of us. Our heartbeats were joined with Eternity. In that water we bathed and were fed. In that sacredness we spent almost a year of our lives before the outer world was ready for us. Revere that introduction, for in that chamber each of us made a great entrance and exit.

When every woman and every man can embrace the true meaning of this, then a more powerful relationship becomes possible. Women embrace self-love and dignity and men are filled with purpose and courage again. Children grow in peace and wholeness with everything and everyone. The world has no need to exclude and conquer. It celebrates and drinks from the Unseen, knowing that there is no lack in an abundant Universe.

This is my vision for 2008: the Spirit of Woman may rise to recognize its worth and shine on for generations to come.

“Lord it’s been hard for woman
Help her now to set the mark
That she may feel your grace
And with a smile on her face
Feel all the freedom in her heart.”

All my love,
Ganga

PhotoArt: “Beyond Arati”
Lyrics: “Spirit of Woman”

Let Me Rise In That Knowing

“Through the many faces of my life
I’ve been a daughter, a sister, a wife
Each full of love and great lessons taken in
Now it’s time for a new chapter to begin…”

What purpose does it serve to force today’s body into yesterday’s limited mold of existence? I know there is no security in what was. Even though the thread of my life reveals a little baby, a little girl and a woman, let me also feel the flower and the sunrise and ocean inside as well. I want to hear the melody of the universe in my being and dance in the glory of that experience. I want to dive deep into a clear blue sky, spread my arms and reach every point in space. I want to watch every possible color sparkle in and around me and then rest in complete stillness and nothingness.

There is a new dream awakening with the sunrise. Why measure it against anything that was true yesterday? Beyond time and space there is feeling that does not need to be sure of anything. This elation reveals itself in the stillness of the unknown. It becomes visible in the substance of things unseen. It is the comfort that comes when the question “who am I” demands a fixed answer.

Let today’s body be shaped in peace and forgiveness. Let understanding and kindness outline its features. Release the “Great Artist” within and let this moment bloom like a flower in the garden of life. In the formless world of dreams, let my heart know that nothing ever dies. The Infinite possibilities of the Creator, the Creating and the Created are ever One in a great continuous rhythm of new shapes dissolving and emerging. Let me rise in that knowing and truly live in its abundance.

“I wanna find my own dream again
I’m gonna break through these clouds of rain
Straight to that bright shining sun
In the name of the One
I have my claim
Where I live my own dream again”


PhotoArt: “Dance of Narayani”
Song Lyrics “My Own Dream”

Child in the Branches

“Full of peace and trust and love
You come to us from high above,
From far below and deep within
Where all the miracles of life begin…”

Amid the shrieks of laughter and the sound of presents opening, my attention turned to the green branches and colored lights of the Christmas tree. I thought to see a face hidden behind a few of the lower branches and my eyes stared there for a long time. It was indistinguishable whether the sweet face was male or female. I could not tell the nationality or origin of the smiling features. My mind traveled to a manger in a faraway cave and thought about a newborn life lying there in the stillness of the night. I thought: This must be the moment of holiday connection that I longed for in this busy whirl of consumer frenzy and commercial sentiment. Letting myself go further in the feeling I suddenly heard a distant flute being played.

I saw the image of another child being carried in a basket through a tumultuous midnight thunderstorm. This child’s father carried his wide-eyed newborn through the vigorous splashing waters of a sacred river in the hope that his child will live out his destiny and rule over the land. I felt the trusting heart of the father as another man with a gentle but firm face greeted him on the opposite shore. He received the basket and watched the first man disappear back into the waves to return to the prison where he was carefully watched. I observed this child’s life unfold. He grew up as a cowherd and filled his village with poetry, songs and stories to expand their imagination and celebrate life. He came to spread the awareness of a higher state of being. I saw this child’s fearlessness as he prepared himself to rule his kingdom. After a short while the image of him faded.

I then saw a woman weeping near a great body of water. She hugged and kissed her baby and reluctantly placed the infant into a floating basket. She silently watched the flowing waters after settling the child and feeding him for the last time. Her heart embodied the faith that he might embrace a greater destiny than was in store for her and her people. She held the vision that there was more to life than mere survival and self-preservation. She believed in a freedom that many others had lost sight of.

In that instant, I heard my name being called and I came back to the Christmas celebration. I was handed a gift bag with a picture of Tigger and Winnie the Pooh on one side. It was filled with wonderful surprises. I smiled at the child who was handing it to me. I quickly gazed back at the tree and saw only the colored lights.

Later, back at my apartment before closing my eyes to sleep, I thought about the image of the child in the branches. I thought about all the endless stories and legends that were taught to me about Jesus, Krishna and Moses. I don’t really know if the stories are historically accurate. Yet I do know that the spirit of these stories inspired generations and civilizations through tremendous obstacles. These stories activate the imagination to live a heroic and creative life. I do know that what these babies grew up to teach nourishes my heart. I do know that life is more than earning a living, accumulating wealth and battling the onslaught of an anxious race eager for fulfillment. I do know that now, more than ever is the time to wholly embrace the ancient lessons of inner peace to manifest an abundant and happy life. The future of each one of us depends on our capacity to understand our relationship with the Universe. Perhaps the unknown face in the branches waits to be identified in a unique way by each of us.


Happy Holidays,
Ganga

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PhotoArt: "Child in the Branches" ("Heart of Child" series)

Adapted from my original "Womb of Imagination":

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Song Lyrics: "In Love this Much"

I thought I was looking for you.

“Yet I feel grateful for what I’ve learned
And the people to whom I turned
Now like a river that flows to the sea
I let them all go now to their own destiny
While I follow that one light blazing in me
I’m gonna’ find my own dream again…”

I thought I was looking for you. Tears and muffled sobs reached for you in all the hardest moments and every time came an answer. It was never really clear who you were so I created an image of you in my mind, an image that was shaped from my limited understanding of who you were. As I grew, you taught me to challenge all my ideals. You entered my thoughts through sheer kindness and began to expand my ideas of what is possible. Through songs and poetry you opened my heart. You shattered my understanding of love and revealed the eternal substance of nothingness. You appeared in other people’s eyes until I saw only extensions of my own beingness.

Still I felt the hunger of wanting to know you, touch you and reach into your essence. I sought mother, father, friend and lover. I needed to know you so that I would know from where I came. I needed to feel you so that I might have an inkling of who I am and where I belong. Still you showed me my limited ways of reaching for you. Ours is a private journey.

I stare into the mirror and let go. A sea of faces appears and disappears. We are not two. The layers of skin and bone shatter and the mask is broken. A light blazes forth in the silence and a still small voice “ I Am That I Am”.

I thought I was looking for you.
I was really looking for my Self.

This artwork and story is inspired by “The Story of the Lion Cub Who was Raised by Goats” in "Ancient Secrets of Success", by Tulshi Sen.

Photo-art: “Woman Within”

Song: “My Own Dream”

Opening the Curtain of Illusions

"We are begotten from the Love
Before the beginning, there was One
Look into the heart of a child
and see that wondrous shining Sun"

I dreamed I was a child of this world. Feeling the soft breeze on my face and the tickle of the grass beneath me, I stared up at the sparkling stars and marvelled at the wonder of creation and felt a cry from deep within to know my place in all of this.

Suddenly, out of the darkness came a figure. It stood before me smiling and cast a vision on my mind...feelings of utter freedom and knowing that all the struggles to seek and find answers had a place and purpose in my life. All of the darkness was a mere curtain now to be drawn and pulled away.

And there appeared in this dream a beautiful child of the Universe. The child laughed freely and looked deeply into my bewildered eyes. We seemed to stare for an eternity and then the re-membrance. We were one under that shining moon and sparkling stars.

When I awoke to the sound of singing birds at dawn, the child of the Universe was still within me. Laughter and joy resounded from within me. I lay there laughing. I felt a oneness with everything. I felt a feeling of complete and utter freedom.

I pass this feeling of my dream onto you.

Have a beautiful day.

Ganga

PS (Lyrics from the song: Love Conquers Yet Again)
PPS (Photo art from the "Consciousness Creates" Series completely inspired by a series of lectures given by Mr. Tulshi Sen earlier this year. See: http://www.ancientsecretsofsuccess.com/ to hear his fascinating insights on repowering your imagination. Check out his teleseminars.)