Tuesday Night Classes

So- What fun it was to be back in action on Tuesdays! Thanks so much to everyone who was in attendance to welcome me back. I had thought that there would be like 4 people there but lo and behold, both classes were full of people and laughter and well, let's tell the truth- hard work. (Even Anne sweated!)

My theme for the week is concealment and revelation- the 4th and 5th Acts of Shiva. (This really tells you something- it has taken me all summer to get though the 5 Acts and finally, now in August I am at the final two. This means I have been away a lot. Thanks for hanging in there everyone.) Anyway, it is an appropriate theme for me as many things were revealed to me during my week and Feathered Pipe- some great, some more difficult. And that is just how revelation works. We can be going along just fine and ignorant to certain truths (Concealment) and then BAM! in one moment everything can be different. (Revelation)

One of my favorite modern philosophers is a guy named Ken Wilbur. Most of his work is SUPER HEADY but he wrote this great, very accessible book called A Brief History of Everything. In this book he goes on this whole rant (Well, he actually goes on a lot of rants. In fact, the book is kind of one big rant which is one of the reasons I love it. But I digress...) So he goes on this rant about how he does not believe in the theory of evolution and the survival of the fittest as it is usually explained. He believes that change happens in quantum leaps, not in gradual stages. He says, that, for instance, a creature that was part amphibian and gradually growing legs would not be fit to survive, it would be roadkill. Makes sense to me.

Now I know that a case can be made for the "small changes over a long period of time model" as well- so feel free to disagree with me and Ken silently in your head. In fact, some day soon I will probably post some musing about how change happens gradually. But for the purposes of this consideration of concealment and revelation and my recent experience. It felt more like an all-at-once "wake up and smell the coffee" kind of revelation.

One of the things Patricia said at our retreat is that it is the teacher's job is to wake you up. And she said, that can sound really great but one's experience of it can really depend on what it is that we are waking up to. Like I said in class last night I am sure most of us have woken up to really great things about ourselves through our practice. (Wow, I actually am lovable, talented, capable, strong and connected to something bigger.) And if we are honest, each one of us has also woken up to things that are difficult to face in our life of practice. (Wow, I am selfish, conceited, critical, sad and angry.) The cool thing is that that whether or not we are enjoying the ramifications of the revelation, it is just that- Grace at work revealing to us who we truly are in the moment. And Grace has our Highest Interests in mind.

Mostly we back bended yesterday and wow- how great were the drop backs in the 6pm class? Pretty darn impressive. One of the things I loved was all you Immersion graduates helping me help everyone and keeping the energy alive in both classes. On my way into the studio, I ran into Jesse. He welcomed be back to Tuesday night and said something to the effect of "The flock is reconvening," to which I replied, "Isn't it great? I really need the flock right now."

What a blessing it is to have each other.