Collective Energy

We've just stepped into a new decade and, wowza, what an intense time it's been! At the beginning of the week, I was uncertain as to what my theme would be, so I gave myself some quiet space in which to reflect. When I lack clarity as to what I'm being asked to share and teach, I have found that if I simply get quiet, it begins to reveal itself. This has required a certain amount of trust that whatever is present will awaken in my personal field of consciousness. And so it did.

I am being called into action not simply as an individual, but as an individual who can spark and connect into the community of people with whom I am linked. I had to recognize the repeated signs, many of which came through the channels of social media, asking if I would be willing to join in at such-and-such a time and day to meditate on a particular issue or concern. It felt as though in a short space of time different invitations kept coming across my radar.

But what really brought it forward was the convergence of two events-our Winter Kirtan celebration, where my band, "Jayne & The Om Boys" played music to support our local animal shelter and the raging wildfires in Australia. It was at the end of the Kirtan and into the following day when people were approaching me and asking, "How can we support Australia? Is there something we can do?". As I sat in my morning meditation, I was flooded by images of rain clouds gathering over the southeastern part of the Australian continent, as the rain seems to be the only thing that will halt the expansion of this devastating inferno. And I began to hear the call which has become louder and louder each day of this past week.

My original thought was to talk about "collective consciousness". When I began researching the term, I came across one descriptor by Mary Kelsey, a sociology lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley. She used the term in the early 2000s to describe people within a social group becoming aware of their shared traits and circumstances and, as a result, acting as a community and achieving solidarity. Rather than existing as separate individuals, people come together as dynamic groups to share resources and knowledge. 

As I contemplated this, I recognized that the collective could not only do positive work in the world but throughout history collectives have also been harmful. I was reminded of this on a recent trip to Mexico when we visited the first of the many missions that began in Baja California and spread north throughout the state of California. The museum at the mission described the collective intent was to convert the indigenous Indian tribes/people/nomads who'd been inhabiting the Baja peninsula for hundreds and hundreds of years into Christianity. I asked a local guide if any indigenous people were still on the peninsula and he replied: "No. They all died from the diseases that the Missionaries and Spanish brought to them". It felt like a gut punch when he said that. The intent of conversion by a social group, sharing traits and circumstances, achieved solidarity in their mission, but in the long run it caused great harm.

My thought of the week is to look at gathering and utilizing the powerful impact of our collective energy with the focus being completely on the positive impact it serves in the world. At times of such natural disasters, such as the current wildfires in Australia, we can experience despair and helplessness, asking ourselves, "What can I do?". It has been strongly revealed and reinforced to me that we do our individual work of self-love and compassion and then join together within our community to amplify and expand it to others.

To paraphrase Eckhart Tolle on his explanation of the collective consciousness, 'The consciousness you embody, spreads out to others. Wisdom needs to be present which is being aligned with the unconscious essence of who you are, which lays beyond the thought process. Wisdom requires presence, without presence, you have no access to wisdom. Wisdom is an intuitive knowing that is much deeper than the intellect. Having access to the space within is where wisdom arises.'

I love the statement, "the consciousness you embody, spreads out to others" as that reminds us that our practice begins from within. In order for us to powerfully come together, we must dive into our individual wisdom, tap into a state of presence, and move beyond ego. Our practice begins within and as we nourish that, the simple intention of bettering ourselves, impacts everything beyond us. When we become consciously embodied and gather with like-minds who hold a similar intention of raising the positive vibration of all beings-human, animal, and plant- then we become holders of the entire web of life. 

I am beyond grateful for the circles of community that is woven into my life-my yoga community near and far; my heart family of friends Down Under; and my new family of the Gaia Wisdom School. Let's collectively take a moment, gather our energies, and humbly bow to our earth-family. We need each other...you are not alone.