How Are Decisions Made? (Part I)

WildeRose Guest House

Rogers, KY

October 28, 2011

5:16 p.m.

How Are Decisions Made?  (Part I)

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”      --Yogi Berra

One of the main themes of this Sole 2 Soul adventure -- which began last March as a celebration of the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day, and officially ended on September 21, 2011, the International Day of Peace -- has been the issue of decision-making.  As an individual, as a pair of partners, as a group, as a family, a tribe, a nation, the same question always begs for clarification:  How are decisions made?  When faced with a choice of paths forward, how do we eliminate all but the one we select?  How do we settle on the one that shows the most promise?

It’s complicated, as brain research is showing us.

I have often assumed the popular notion that our human brains, divided into left and right hemispheres somehow affect the decision-making process.  And I must confess I have often greatly oversimplified the matter by assuming the left brain to be associated with the more rational, linear, focused kind of thinking, hence “more masculine.” and the right brain to be associated with the more emotional, global, and intuitive kind of thinking, hence “more feminine.”  

For the purposes of our cause -- i.e. women as equally valued decision makers, whose full participation and contributions are essential now to resolve our local and global challenges -- it was convenient to say that if there was an imbalance in the world, it was because we had become too weighted in the direction of left-brain thinking.  Therefore, we were advocating a shift in the balance, loosely identifying this as a greater emphasis on “feminine values,” and in an even more mystical and dramatic way calling for “The Return of the Divine Feminine.”  

I have recently seen a presentation which casts a great deal of light onto this subject, and I invite you to consider it as part of this blog presentation, which I am calling Part I of a two-part series.  Instead of reading anything more I have to say, please take 12 minutes to view the TED presentation by psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist:  “The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World.”  McGilchrist, a psychiatrist makes the case in a very engaging and humorous way -- supported by brilliant graphics -- that left-brain thinking has tended to take precedence.  A very notable imbalance has resulted, which some might call a cultural bias. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/iain_mcgilchrist_the_divided_brain.html

His summary conclusion works to correct our previous oversimplifications.  He says, “For imagination you need both [hemispheres] and for reason you need both hemispheres as well,” implying that both imagination and reason require cooperative interaction of the whole brain.  

He does not make the case that one kind of thinking is “masculine” and the other is “feminine,” for the fact remains that both men and women have both attributes.  But he does state that the divided brain offers us two versions of the world, and that there has been a tendency to value one kind of thinking and hence (my inference) one kind of decision-making over the other.  

After having viewed the presentation several times, I am struck by the fact that all of the cartoons (with only a couple of exceptions) are of male figures -- doctors, patients, historical figures, etc.  I am also struck by the fact, supported by the research, that the right hemisphere tends to lack a voice with which to express and project its views, whereas the left hemisphere is more comfortable with the control of the media of conceptualization and expression. 

He concludes with a striking quotation from Albert Einstein:  “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant.  We have created a society that honors the servant but has forgotten the gift.”

This blog will be continued in Part II, and I heartily invite comment.

A Grandmother's Lesson for Advanced Beginners

WildeRose Guest House

Rogers, KY

October 20, 2011

11:09 a.m.

A Grandmother’s Lesson For Advanced Beginners

To move forward the understanding that women’s full participation and contributions, in partnership with men, are essential now to resolve our local and global challenges and to create the positive future we all know is possible!  

                                      --Mission Statement of Sole 2 Soul Walk -- 3/8/11 - 9/21/11

For several months on our cross-country journey I had been considering how to summarize and condense what I was learning about what might be involved in a movement which could be described as “The Return of the Divine Feminine.”  I see this as a mighty and powerful possibility dawning on the world horizon, but which, I learned, is by no means is a shared reality in our collective experience.  The journey of the past seven months has taught me that turning a possibility into a reality begins with intentionally creating a conceptual framework which can be used to organize thoughts, feelings and actions.

At the conclusion of Andrew Harvey’s Sacred Activism initiation retreat which took place October 1-7 in Oak Park, IL,*  each of the participants was given the floor for a few minutes to teach a wisdom lesson.  This would be our “graduation ceremony” and evidence of our readiness to bring our gifts into the world.   

What follows are excerpts from my platform talk -- a very simple teaching designed to reach any human from the preschool age forward.  It was given before  30 fellow “classmates.”  I dedicated my talk to my own mother, Joan, who gave me the priceless gift of unconditional love, and to my very earliest elementary teachers -- I still remember their names and faces -- who grounded me in the beauty of their radiant mother wisdom.

*   *   *

The lesson begins:

“Here we are all ‘Advanced Beginners.’  So I would like you to remember your kindergarten teacher.  In kindergarten teachers often teach lessons with their hands (she makes the movement of the “Eentsy Weentsy Spider climbing up the water spout).  

I’d like you to start by drawing the outline of your left hand with your right hand, starting at the base of the thumb.  Remember, we used to do this, and we drew a handprint which became a turkey for Thanksgiving, when we colored in the feathers, remember? Or we made an impression in clay, which our mothers cherished, remembering that your little hands made that with so much love for Mother’s Day.  

I want you to feel your left hand when your right hand draws around it, and know that when the right side of your body engages with the left side of your body, the two halves of your brain light up in a special way.  Wholeness is experienced in a neuro-psysiological and neuro-psychological way.  And now I am going to drop the adult language and speak to you the way I would to my 3-year-old grandson, Ashton.

*   *   *

“Ashton, there are five things your grandmother wants you to know -- and these may sound like big words, but I know you can understand them because there is one word for each finger of your hand.  As I speak, do as I do with your hand.  It will help you to understand.

(Pointing to left index finger with right index finger, with left index finger pointing upwards)

“The first one is CONSCIOUSNESS.  (tapping on the index finger) Consciousness is yours -- It is how you know that you are you.  And it points upward, reminding you that your little consciousness is connected with God -- the biggest consciousness of ALL.  Never forget who you are, and your connection with the creator, the All in All.

“The second one is next to it.  Because it is next door it is a neighbor, or a sister, or a brother, or a friend.  And you discover it after you go down into the gap between them.  (Drawing the “V” space between first and second finger)  This finger is called COMMUNICATION.  Once your consciousness realizes who it is, it wants to communicate with the one next to it, and it does this by words and movements.  And words and communication are the second thing I want you to remember, because with communication now, there is a bond between you and the other -- and any and all others.

“The next thing -- and by the way in order to get to the next thing, you have to go through the gap once again.  I’m going to name those gaps for you.  The first gap was called COMPASSION; and the second gap is called COMPASSION . . .  (laughter).  I think you see how this is going to go?  

And when you go through the second gap of compassion you come to the third finger:  CULTURE.  And this is what your grandmother wants you to know:  (Reviewing by continuing to count on the fingers) 

“Connected with God, communicating with one another, we create, always through the journey of compassion, a culture.  We agree that certain things are important, certain things are valuable, and this becomes our shared culture.  It’s the story of us -- of who we know ourselves to be, in relationship with the one (pointing up) and the many (counting on the first three fingers).  If we value peace, for example, we create a culture of peace.  (Makes “Peace” sign with fingers.)  And we Work together for it.  (Three fingers make a “W”.)  But that all comes later, much later, when you begin to learn the alphabet!)

“For now, I just want you to know about the next finger -- about this pinkie here -- the littlest finger.  This one is a little weaker and a little smaller.  It is called COMMUNITY.  It means all of us together in a family or a tribe or a nation or in the world.  But I want you to know that, even though community  can be weak, through compassion, once again (tracing through the gap) community can also be strong when these four stand together.

“And these are your fingers, Ashton.  And do you notice that even though your fingers are all different, they are still all the same!  They look like a family.  Like your family!  They can stand tall, and they can fan out, and they can curve and bend, and wave and wiggle.  Show me what your fingers can do!  Isn’t that fun?

“But I know you want to ask me about this guy here.  (She sticks out her thumb.)  Who is this guy?

“Your thumb!  That’s right.  He’s not a finger.  He is different.  Did you notice that Consciousness, Communication and Culture and Community all start with the sound “C?”  That is the letter “C?” and we will get to letters and their sounds later.  But for now, what about him?  Is he part of or apart from the rest?  Let’s see.  The compassion gap between him and consciousness is the greatest of all.  And he does stand apart.  He stands in opposition.  He’s short and thick and a bit squat.  Definitely odd.  So what do we do with this guy?  Do we ignore him?  Do we cut him off?  Pretend he is not there?  Make him disappear?  Make him ashamed?

“We will call him the CONTRARIAN.  The one who won’t fit in.  But again,  if we use the power of compassion to move in his direction, to really get to know him we can see that he has a very unusual ability to give power and energy to all of the others -- if we work with him and let him work with us.  He is not a finger.  He is different.  He is a thumb.  But he gives power to all of us -- if we work together.

“He is that which, by his opposition, gives wholeness and strength and articulation to our hand -- intelligence.  That’s right.  The thumb makes the hand much smarter.  He is the one who helps us to be different from the animals who only have paws.  He is the one who can make a fist, or a wonderful tool. He wants to be useful for carrying and caressing and giving and helping.  He helps us to grasp things!  What a wonderful power he gives us.  And someday, Ashton, you will understand that because of the extra power he gives us, our minds have grown to understand and grasp a great many things.  The way we use our hands makes us intelligent human beings!

“Ashton, this is your hand.  Give your hand to your hand.  Shake hands with yourself!  Make friends with the two halves of yourself, and use your whole self to do good things, like making friends, and seeing the wholeness in others.

(She uses her hands to make the gesture of namaste.)

“And remember that it is your grandmother who taught you these important things when you were just a wee beginner.” 

__________________________

See previous blog gatheringwomentum.blogspot.com posted October 13, 2011 -- “Sacred Activist:”  Is There A Badge For That?

"Sacred Activist:" Is There A Badge For That?

WildeRose Guest House

Rogers, KY

October 11, 2011

10:15 p.m.

“Sacred Activist:” Is There A Badge For That?

Andrew Harvey was so right.  This was not a “workshop.”  There was no “shop,” and there was no “work.”  It was neither a class nor a seminar.  Not a symposium, forum, or a salon.  It was not meant to be any of those.

For the week of October 1 - 7, 2011, at the Carlton Hotel in Oak, Park Illinois, a suburb of of Chicago, I was one of 33 who were privileged to share something very rare: an initiatory retreat.  In fact, it was so rare as to be almost mythical, for the impetus and intention was coming from another realm, deeply shrouded in history and mystery.  It had the air of an experiment; and the results were not guaranteed.  Success would depend upon an “X” factor, which would have to be supplied by each one of us individually.  “Worthiness” would be a key issue. 

The candidates wishing to become “Sacred Activists”  would be subject to an initiatory template.  They would be drawn into “a celebration of the integration of light and dark, chaos and order, rapture and agony, desolation and hope in a mysterious marriage of opposites that births the radiant and committed divine human being.”  No less!  (see   http://www.onespiritinterfaith.org/havrey_intensive.pdf  )

I knew I was supposed to be there because a few weeks before I had received a message from a trusted spirit guide -- (some of my readers will stop reading at this point -- and I cannot blame them) -- that it is time to re-enact the Eleusinian Mysteries, and that Viveka and I, as mother and daughter, representing Demeter and Persephone needed to take part.  http://www.pantheon.org/articles/e/eleusinian_mysteries.html 

The Eleusinian mysteries, from ancient times, have been an initiation experience.  They involve a guided journey, originally inspired and led by the mother-daughter presence of Demeter and Persephone.  Initiates are ushered into the realms of the subconscious and the unconscious where we do the work of liberating energies that have been bound up in the psyche.  This is the shadow work, brought to light in modern times by C.J. Jung and others, and it is best accessed, we found, through radical forgiveness techniques.  I had the distinct conviction that we were all there by divine appointment, working out the next steps in our spiritual evolution.  

Although I did experience “an initiation,” I was also very aware that this is not a one-time pass or fail exam.  Rather it is a lifelong process and practice, to be undertaken with great care, patience and humility.  We were a roomful of “advanced beginners” approaching a distinct energy field, passing through it, and departing with every cell and atom and molecule of our being having been affected -- recharged and reoriented -- like iron filings passing through a magnetic field.

Don't get me wrong.  It was not as though we were encountering any of this material for the first time.  All of the participants were mature individuals who had clearly done extensive personal work prior to this experience.  What was unique about the opportunity was Andrew's ability to help us to understand the urgency of this work on the planet at this particular time.  He helped us to confront our levels of disbelief, denial, dread disillusionment and even our own death wishes.  It was not the nature of the work itself, but the way that he encouraged us to engage with it in a deeply feeling way that made the difference.  

The sacred marriage is the meeting and fusion of the divine masculine with the divine feminine within the individual:  head and heart, rationality and intuition, left and right hemispheres of the brain learning a new dance.  And all of this activity is offered and dedicated to the birth of a new humanity: divinely human, and humanly divine.

As a mentor, Andrew is absolutely unique and absolutely inspired.  There is no teacher on the planet like him today.  He is not a manipulator.  He is careful not to be idolized.  He is not someone who “jacks them up and glazes them over,” as are so many teachers in this age of feelgood new-age spirituality.  Andrew sees the need for individuals to be willing to confront their own shadows, which in all of us are legion.  This is messy work, which can involve coming face to face with extremes -- despair and grief, even madness.  And the reason Andrew is so effective in this work, in my opinion, is that he is constantly working on his own material; fiercely, and without compromise.  

Andrew’s work is about the celebration of the return of the Divine Feminine -- in consciousness, communication, culture, and community -- with compassion for the rejected aspects of the self.  It also integrates body mind and spirit by using a gentle, fulfilling yoga practice, which I have now incorporated into my daily routine.  Most importantly, however, I am enjoying an entirely new level of freedom having confronted new levels of darkness in myself, and having accessed the grace of self-forgiveness. 

Blessed by a mind immersed in the very highest levels of scholarship, and with the rarest gifts of poetic expression and the power of the spoken word, Andrew’s teachings are laced with humor and an endearing gift for self-mockery.  He and his expert female co-teachers, Karuna Erickson and Diane Burke, guided us from joyful mountaintop experiences, through the confusing straits of duality, plunging us into the realms of starkest horror and anguish as we viewed the current world situation, coming face to face with the specters of our own responsibility, abdication and powerlessness.

Miraculously, we all surfaced to breathe in new strength and hope for the individual and collective tasks in the challenging times that lie ahead.

The Abnormal Is Not Courage

Chicago, IL

October 3, 2011

7:54 a.m.

The Abnormal is Not Courage

. . .

Not the marvelous act, but the evident conclusion of being. 

. . .

The real form. The culmination. And the exceeding. 

. . .

Not the month's rapture. Not the exception. The beauty 

That is of many days. Steady and clear. 

It is the normal excellence, of long accomplishment. 

                          from “The Abnormal is Not Courage” by Jack Gilbert

It’s been a couple of weeks since my daughter Viveka and I completed our cross-country pilgrimage from Oceanside, California to Washington D.C.  We’ve had a chance to enjoy a few “victory laps” -- absorbing congratulations and bathing in the glow of accomplishment: a sizable task completed.  

I almost said “monumental task” but it wasn’t.  After all, I did not walk every step of the way as some have.  I only walked about 750 miles.  For instance, I recall the example of “Granny D” (whose name was also Doris) who, at 89, actually did walk every step of the way for her cause celebre:  campaign finance reform.  After her walk, she made an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the House of Representatives.  And of course, there is always the legendary journey of Mildred Norman Ryder, a.k.a. Peace Pilgrim, who walked well over 25,000 miles -- the distance of the circumference of the earth -- in fulfillment of her vow “to be a wayfarer on the earth until mankind shall have learned the ways of peace.”  Compared with her hard core, 28-year commitment, our journey of 6 1/2 months, supported by the nightly comfort of an RV seemed like school-girl play acting.

I have to be honest.  I began this journey with much soul searching, and I finally discovered the “reason” I was walking:  I wanted attention.  And the thing that terrified me most was the very attention I would certainly get.  (Be careful what you wish for!)  I was genuinely afraid that when the camera was on and the interviewer asked the pregnant question “What is this walk about?” what would issue from my mouth would be insignificant dribble.  No memorable sound bites.  No quotable quotes.  I was afraid that my true motivation would somehow leak through and would appear mean and selfish; an exercise in ego gratification.  So we gave ourselves a statement of intention -- a banner to walk under:  We are walking to further the understanding that women’s full participation is essential NOW to solve the global challenges facing humanity today.  It sounded good.  But the nagging question still remained:  Could the mere fact of walking really make a difference?  How much of a difference?  To whom? 

Many people we talked to were skeptical.  When I shared the truly monumental mission of Peace Pilgrim with one gentleman he said, “Well, you can see how much good that did!”  Often we could tell, even though folks listened politely, they were threatened on some level.  Some were even bold enough to say our mission was flawed; that women were simply not, nor would ever be “equally-valued” decision makers.  Decision-making (on “important” issues, i.e. issues other than domestic ones) was not the purview of women.  Still others thought our cause was passe; that the “women’s lib” train had already left the station.  They could not hear that we were not feminists, or “womanists” but were advocating a greater balance between masculine and feminine -- left and right brain -- values both in the culture, and within the individual.

Since it was not our purpose to raise money we didn’t appeal to people to vote with their checkbooks. With all due respect to people who do raise money and contribute it to good causes, like finding a cure for cancer, Viveka and I were stubbornly insisting that one doesn’t have to have cancer or be at death’s door to have a dream.  One could make a difference by simply having an intention, and taking steps -- literally -- to walk one’s talk and to be the change we wanted to see in the world.

We soon realized that people thought what we were doing was courageous.  I was called “a saint,” “a prophetess.”  I had to laugh, and yet I had to pay attention to what other people were seeing and projecting on to me.  They saw an old woman walking with intention.  Some were touched, moved and inspired, and the exchanges that took place between us, time and time again as we walked and talked, left us all enriched and energized in a good way. 

*   *   * 

Was Don Quixote courageous?  If you say “yes,” then you believe that a desperate and demented senior citizen can dream an impossible dream -- an antiquated but noble dream of chivalry undertaken to prove himself worthy of the love of a worthy woman (Dulcinea) -- even if she is not the pure and spotless creature he imagines her to be.  One questionable quester, by taking himself seriously and refusing to listen to the fears and taunts of others, can climb on to a broken down nag (Rocinante) and sally forth to become a legend in his own mind.  If you say “yes,” then you are a romantic.

If you say “no,” then you belong to another group who sees the world more “realistically.”  That is not “courage,” you would say, with a cynic’s air.  “That’s just weird, strange or foolish.  That’s abnormal.”  As, for example, when the Poles rode out on horses to battle Hitler’s invading tanks.  Where was the nobility in their fruitless sacrifice?  Better they should have simply surrendered, and saved themselves the heartbreak.  They should -- at least -- have spared their noble horses.

In the end, I found that the only thing that could rescue this enterprise from hopeless narcissism was to pray each day as we set out, that our efforts would be received as an offering, an oblation; that a higher purpose and power would receive and use this effort and energy for the greater good and for the liberation of all sentient beings.  

How is that possible?  How will that happen?  I do not know.  That is not my department.  But I am confident that my daily offerings were heard and received, and like the fluttering of butterfly wings in the Amazon, they can affect the weather patterns in the Arctic, and somehow, in concert with many many others who are making similar offerings each day, we can, together, create a shift that will benefit the whole of creation.

*   *   *

What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world makes us immortal.”     --Albert Pike