The beginning days of March often remind me of an oldwives tale common in the Midwest of my childhood; if March begins like a lion, it will go out like a lamb. The reverse of that simile is also said to be true. In the unpredictable early spring of Ohio, I remember wishing for a lion-like March 1, so that the beauty of the “lamb” would usher in the friendliness of a passing winter.Sacred texts also use the illustration of the lion and the lamb, although in a very different context. It is said that in the “end-days” of the human age, the lion shall lay down with the lamb in perfect tranquility. While I do not embrace the usual prophesies surrounding this image, I have and continue to love the metaphysical meaning behind this peace-filled picture.
The lion is symbolically representative of COURAGE, while the lamb represents INNOCENCE. Spiritually, COURAGE and INNOCENCE, shall “lie down,” or co-exist perfectly when the dualistic, warring mind has been stilled. The INNOCENCE that is referred to here is not what is usually thought of as innocence. In fact, it is an INNOCENCE that is beyond the thinking mind altogether. At the level of perception, innocence is known only in contrast to guilt. This is because perception is born of the dualistic mind, and therefore is expressed in terms of comparison. Spiritually, INNOCENCE is not known in contrast or comparison. The Supreme One is the author of all INNOCENCE, and what is One can know no contrast. INNOCENCE doesn’t refer to the realm of mind or its perceptions. It isn’t in opposition of guilt or the subsequent unskillful attitudes or behavior. INNOCENCE refers to ESSENCE, and ESSENCE is Divine by Its very nature. The mind cannot know True INNOCENCE. Only the sacred heart can recognize the Essence of Divine INNOCENCE. It can only be perceived via Inspiration and Divine Illumination. As we look at the world and its myriad appearances of separation and dislocation, there is much evidence of what appears to be guilt, darkness, and even evil. Again- this is due to the fact that the world is of the dualistic mind, and is usually perceived through the mind. A different and expanded Vision is called for if we choose to see the INNOCENCE of the lamb. We are called to evoke the Presence that is in Truth all Knowing and everywhere present, and is beyond notions of right/wrong, dark/Light, and good/bad. It takes great COURAGE while in this world to see through the perceptual chaos of appearances, and to hold to a Vision of Divine INNOCENCE that is indeed transcendent of the world. In Eastern thought, this Vision is referred to as the single eye focus. When with our sacred-hearts we decide to only look for INNOCENCE, a new and expanded lens of Illumination becomes available to us, and we no longer confuse appearances of unskillfulness for the Essence of Truth. Our internal COURAGEOUS lion co-exists perfectly with the lamb-like Essence of INNOCENCE, and that Vision begins to create the reality of heaven-consciousness right here on earth.
While it is tempting to embrace and to think of extending this spiritual COURAGEOUS INNOCENCE into the world we see around us, it is our very own withinness that is first in need of transformation. We are called to weed out every bit of perceptual guilt that has taken root in our dualistic perceptual minds. This guilt is mostly in the depths of the unconscious, so spiritual devotion and expanded Stillness are requirements for this type of clearing. We must tease out the stories we have made of ourselves, and the primordial guilt of separation we feel as a result of our forgetfulness of Source. Again, this type of deep forgiveness demands the COURAGE of a lion, and the INNOCENT Surrender of a baby lamb. The result is a blossoming springtime in consciousness in which buds of higher perception begin to naturally come forth from our renewed inner realities.
I invite each of you reading this to adopt the COURAGE to Know your own innate spiritual INNOCENCE, and then to expand that inner Vision to include everyone and everything you look upon this day, this month, this NOW. A great age of INNOCENCE is coming forth from a mass Awakening in consciousness, and this Awakening will give birth to a new earth and a now INNOCENCE of the human race. It begins in each and every one of us. It is a choice for Vision. It is in fact a choice for G-awed. Choose the COURAGE of Faithfulness in what is Truth, and release the illusory appearances of what can never be Real. In Truth there is only INNOCENCE, and in INNOCENCE, there is only Love. As contradictory as this is to the perceptions and even theology of this world, it is the COURAGEOUS evoking of INNOCENCE that will usher in the new age of Truth sometimes referred to as heaven on earth. See only with the single eye of Truth, and INNOCENCE is all you will see.
-tes
DO YOU EVER FEEL AS THOUGH THERE IS A BIGGER, BROADER, GRANDER, GREATER EXPERIENCE OF LIVING THAT YOU AREN’T QUITE TAPPED INTO?
DO EVER PONDER WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE IN ALIGNMENT AND HARMONY WITH THE PURPOSE AND THE MISSION THAT BROUGHT YOU HERE TO INCARNATION IN THIS EARTHLY REALM?
DO YOU EVER SUSPECT, IN THE QUIET OF YOUR CONTEMPLATIVE SELF, THAT NO MATTER HOW LONG YOU HAVE BEEN ON THE SPIRITUAL PATH, THERE IS MORE SERENITY AND JOY JUST WAITING TO BE EXPRESSED?
DO YOU REALLY KNOW IN A GROUNDED WAY WHO AND WHAT YOU ARE IN TRUTH, AND YET YOU FEEL WITHIN YOUR HEART A CALL TO MORE?
MAYBE IT’ TIME TO RE-DISCOVER AND TO RENEW THE INNATE GREATNESS THAT IS THE VERY ESSENCE OF SPIRIT-BEING!
I invite you to join me for a day of exploration and celebration of these very inquiries. In the tranquil setting of the Cenacle Spiritual Life Retreat Center, on the Intracoastal in Lantana, we will share in a time of discovery and reflection of what it means to Live and to Love each day in the GREATNESS of the expansive, Soulful Self. We will allow five powerful energetic frequencies to guide us into a wider clearer, more focused vision of what is calling to us at this demarcation of our Souls journey.
The workshop will consist of a mixture of lecture, discussion, personal reflection, individual coaching, and group visioning.
BEING GREAT IN 2008!
SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2008 10:00AM-3:00PM
THE CENACLE 1400 S. DIXIE LANTANA
$75.00 TUITION INCLUDES LUNCH
CALL: 561.585-7491 or E-MAIL tes@taylorestevens.com to register before 3.11.08
TALKS WITH TAYLOR: LECTURES ON UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES
"HUMBLE MAGNIFICENCE"
THURSDAY, MARCH 27TH, 2007 7:30 PM
UNITY OF THE PINES
6073 SUMMIT BLVD BETWEEN HAVERHILL AND JOG
MUSIC: SUZANNE WALZER
10.00 MINIMUM SUGGESTED LOVE OFFERING
