Winding Down After His Holiness

Wow, it's my last day in Melbourne, and I feel like I just got my bearings. I have realized that, as busy as my life is at home, I live relatively quietly. We've been running from early morning to late evening, with almost no time to chill (I imagine I'll be chilling plenty as I re-enter Colorado's sub-zero temps!) or to really process. I'm actually looking forward to the extended home-bound air-time (well, almost looking forward to it) just to relax and review all that I have seen and learned and experienced.

Winding down feels good today, decompressing in preparation for the flight home tomorrow I've planned a few last shopping excursions, a short visit with the kangaroos and koalas, a last dinner with new friends, and packing. A perfect way to end the stay here. Mixed feelings as always, have grown quite fond of this city, and of course all the new people I've met...and I'm looking forward to returning to friends, family, felines, my own bed, AND a bathroom with shower curtains with a life-sized sink :) Been thinking too of my "beloved" Vita-Mix and starting the day with a delicious, fresh, organic home-made smoothie (it's the little things, ya know?)

Our Closing Plenary yesterday was almost beyond words. As His Holiness the Dalai Lama entered the room, crossed the stage, and giggled, I was moved to tears. His Presence filled the room with light and so much love...and as fortunate as we were to be in the 4th row, he radiated his special brand of peace and joy beyond the rafters.

The Dalai Lama had a powerful message for us, that we all will take home and act upon...in fact that WAS his message, ACT. He acknowledged the significance of our coming together to share ideas and connect on issues of global importance (climate change at the top of the list, as the Parliament overlapped the UN's Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen)...AND he urged us to take action at home, to follow up and follow through, to continue to work inter-faith and intra-faith in our communities, and make real sustainable changes in how we live. Inner peace leads to world peace, and I ask myself, and you, how can we not change?

And on the lighter side of this momentus closing ceremony, the Australian Elder, Auntie Joy (an Aborigine) greeted and hosted His Holiness while on stage, and when he first arrived, she presented him with a sacred animal skin. It was obvious to us he really did not know what to do with it, and while it was sacred to Auntie Joy and a totally appropriate greeting from her perspective, as you may know, Tibetan Buddhist monks are vegetarian and hold all life so sacred they would not kill another being, not even a mosquito (although I did hear the Dalai Lama admit years ago he would flick away a persistent one!).

At one point, he set the animal skin and gum-tree branch on the seat next to him, but it would not stay put, and he looked over to Auntie Joy, with a perplexed smile, and said "It's moving?!" They both had an extended fit of giggles, and we just roared. That alone was worth the price of admission.

Observations and Snapshots

Here are just a few comments on the miscellany of being in Melbourne (blog-ettes?)

Pensione...hotel camping at its finest...no chairs, only "tuffets" (you know, Little Miss Moffet, sat on a tuffet eating her curds and whey), no drawers and if you are lucky, a few shelves, and folks they have the smallest bathroom sinks in the world. Imagine a sheet of notebook paper (not legal size mind you) tucked under a narrow shelf, and imagine trying to spit out your toothpaste, you either bang your forehead on the shelf, or miss the sink entirely. Very funny, but not if you are tired and cranky in the morning (which of course I would never be!)

Food...most urbanites here eat on the run in the morning living on whatever the 7-11 offers (one on every corner) and finding fresh fruits and vegetables is not so easy. The main staple seems to be sugary baked goods, and specialty cake stores on every block. And expensive?? Food budget right out the window, but incredible selection of ethnic restaurants with delicious sit-down dining. Been living on yogurt, almonds, apples, and a daily gelato (yum!)...healthy eating plan right out the window too.

People...perhaps the friendliest most helpful and gracious people I've ever met. If you even think about needing help, someone will stop you on the street and offer assistance.

Smoking is NOT politically incorrect here, in fact, it seems quite popular.

Downtown architecture is a visually eclectic, colorful, creative juxtaposition of old gothic-style buildings with stark and sleek modern sky scrapers with curves and asymmetrical lines. Really incredible. The Southbank of the Yarra riverfront a favorite place to stroll, and eat, and people watch.

Christmas decorations seem really out of place, kinda like Florida. No pine trees, but a creative array of towering art-as-pine-tree in city squares. Am trying to capture them with my trusty little Blackberry camera ("real" camera decided not to work here)

Protestors outside the Parliament, against oneness if you can imagine, unless of course you follow their way and their way only (faith tradition shall remain nameless) Very interesting.

News coverage here is great, just attended an ABC Compass live recording of a truly inter-religious debate with real and quite provocative questions being addressed by a Jew, Muslim, Aborigine, Fundamental Christian, and others. Excellent! Wish it could be shown in U.S.

Technology...spotty wireless, and inconsistent internet...kinda nice not to be tied to my cell phone and computer...Internet cafes are fun, but it is a different experience to compose while the clock is ticking and the meter is running :)

Speaking of the meter, am out of time and ready to head over to the next presentation by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

Love and blessings to you all

Savoring

The discipline of blogging is grounding me and helping me stay present to what I'm experiencing, even if I am unable to publish the blog daily. The tempation to just float along in a foreign city is great, but I know I would regret not having a record of the details that are so rich here. So thank you to all my friends that encouraged me to create this blog, it was a loving nudge toward discipline and practice.


Day 3 was rich and satisfying, and I savored all three full portions (rather than the nibbling I thought was necessary). We started the morning in a guided Metta (lovingkindness) meditation led by Bhante Sujato, an Australian Buddhist monk and abbot of the Santi Forest Monastery near Sydney. He was a walking (well, sitting) example of true kindness. He gave us great food for self-reflective thought as more and more participants arrived late and (to me) disruptively, he would simply smile and welcome them, open the circle for them, and continue with his soft-spoken message as he prepared us for the meditation. I was humbled by his unconditonal acceptance.

The second serving a lecture by Andrew Cohen, a spiritual teacher and publisher of Enlightenment Magazine (EnlightenNext). He was a New York Jew with a funny, irreverent, and almost inappropriate laugh, and kept our attention for 90 minutes sitting on hard chairs. His message was of the universal nature of the ecstatic urge to create, the evolutionary impulse in all of us. He reminded us that we must come together and collaborate, as the old structures are dissolving and the new has yet to appear. Reminded me a great deal of our Visioning practice, and of course the teaching of Abraham-Hicks, that we must live focused on what we want, live the vision, rather than trying to fix what is not working. It takes courage to live our vision, but is incredibly liberating, yes?


A Catholic-Buddhist dialogue was the next serving, with a panel of priests, monks, scholars, and theologians (sp?). One scholar spoke of the dying Christ and the dying Buddha, one with blood and pain and suffering (Jesus) and the other with a smile of sweet repose (Buddha). They were able to draw similarities, but I was struck by how the dying process symbolized the significant differences in spiritual "tone."

For dessert, we enjoyed the Sacred Music Concert, with amazing performances from around the world. One favorite was Dr. Kim Cunio & Heather Lee of the Sephardic tradition...her voice rang through the plenary hall, contrasted with Dr. Kim's deep deep baritone. Phenomenal. And we all were so proud of our very own Agape International Choir performing on the world stage. You just gotta love Rickie BB, she had our extremely diverse audience on their feet clapping and singing, and you have to know that for one, Australians, like the British, do not dance and clap easily, and imagine how lyrical it was to see the monks with their robes swaying.

Feeling spiritually fed and well-nourished, it was an incredibly day, and we get to do it all over again tomorrow. Stay tuned...

Spiritual Smorgasborg

When I was a little girl, we lived out in the suburbs of Detroit, and for a treat my favorite Aunt, Dorothy, would take us downtown for the day. For lunch we would often go to Greenfields, a huge cafeteria that displayed a bountiful banquet of steaming hot food and delicious desserts. The hard part of course was choosing what you wanted, and you know about not grocery shopping when you are hungry, right? My aunt would remind us that our eyes were often bigger than our stomachs, to take only what we knew we would eat....much harder than you would think, especially if you are hungry...

So here I am at the Parliament, hungry for spiritual food, and the selection of 90-minute sessions is in a directory the size of the Boulder phone book (not exaggerating). Each session time has 10-20 choices, and they ALL sound great. So far I've been able to narrow it down to 2-3 selections per session, then head over to the convention center and trust I'll be guided to the perfect one. Day 2, and I find myself almost in overwhelm...deciding what to attend without missing something else fabulous...it's torture :)

Yesterday I took full portions, today I'm nibbling. First thing this morning I dropped into the Hindu meditations for the Earth, then part of a session with the Mother of Compassion, and finally settled into the Buddhist chanting which was exquisitely peaceful and just what I needed to start the day.

The morning spiritual practices have been a highlight for me, and yesterday's "Breath of Life" meditation with both a Catholic and Buddhist monk, each describing the breath in their own langage, gave us a univeral experience.

From the Benedictine monk, we practiced God as breath, spirit, wind, and learned that Yahweh (the Hebrew name for God) without vowels is the sound of breathing (try it), God as the breath of life, God breathing us, as us.

And from the Buddhist Vipassana (the sutra of mindful breathing) practice, we began by noticing and counting our breath, gently giving our mind a task as our bodies relaxed and our hearts opened. Delicious.

Opening up this way, in a group that includes New Thought, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Pagans, and more, the sacredness of oneness is experienced by all of us using a universal, non-political truth, the Breath of Life.

May you breathe deeply of this day and of the oneness of Life.

Holy Tourists

A delightful thing happened as we were leaving our preconference event yesterday, tired but feeling full from a powerful all day gathering of New Thought leaders from around the world, including Religious Science, Unity, Divine Science and Church of Truth. Before I go into it, I should share that we had the privelege here of listening to an Aboriginal didgeridoo opening prayer and song that sent collective chills up and down our spines, and was the warmest welcome to this country we could have received. And did you know that Australia is the oldest living land on this planet? Never experienced the "ice age." The idea of New Thought-Ancient Wisdom just vibrates from the very ground we are walking on.

This gathering was the first time all of the New Thought ministers and group leaders in Australia were meeting, and of course the first time we were ALL under the same roof. And to raise that same roof, our beloved Agape Choir lifted us up out of our seats and had us all dancing and singing together as one. I get how the tent revivals healed and converted, it's a group love fest that gets down into your bones.

After all of our presenters filled us with prayer and inspiration in preparation for the Parliament itself, we headed back to the hotel to regroup for another adventure in downtown dining. We were walking from the auditorium, down the LONG wide hallway, in the vast glass and steel exhibition center, and ahead of us was a large group of Tibetan Buddhist monks in their traditonal red and gold robes, seated cross-legged on the floor at the foot of a monk that appeared to be their leader. He was murmuring softly to them.

It reminded me of how kindergarten children gather on the floor to listen to a story-teller. And like children, the monks were paying rapt attention to what the group leader was saying. Next to the head monk, who was sitting on a long concrete bench, another monk was holding a tall ornate umbrella, red with gold fringe, and beneath the umbrella on a small stand was a gilded shrine with a glass-covered front holding a smallish golden Buddha inside.

We wanted to sit in their energy field without being disruptive so we settled on another bench a short distance away. Thinking I was on the edge of a holy gathering, and feeling just a little bit of awe, I sat quietly, appreciating the day, the meditative presence of the monks and the beginning of this world event. Suddenly I noticed something just too funny...I saw the leader was reading something to the group and as I looked more closely, realized it was the same colorful fold-out map of Melbourne that we all had! Apparently we dropped in on their "holy tour planning" and not a prayer session at all. Like I said, too funny.

We're all tourist on this planet, and I guess we all have to use a map when far from home :)

From the future...

As we traveled forward in time, through the dateline, on United flight 735, the Time Traveler's Wife was the selected movie. I found the irony delightful, since I couldn't get too far into the book as it took place in the past-present-future simultaneously and I get mind-boggled just thinking of timezones, let alone time traveling between back-then and yet-to-be. I do get being in the Now, which really is past-present-future inclusive, but sitting here on Tuesday, knowing it is Monday where you are, is almost too weird. And a little fun to think I'm where you are going to be, time-wise that is.

Wish you all WERE here sharing this grand adventure with us, it's already incredible as we have been finding each other in the streets, trams, and coffee shops, and the Conference hasn't even started yet...it's still in my future too.

I thought about saving this story for my first talk upon re-entry into Boulder land, however it really is too good to save...
My journey started with a real bang when lightening struck our airplane as we all drowsed in that semi-conscious airplane mode, traveling from Denver to SFO. It signaled for me the beginning of an electrifying experience, and certainly woke all of us up...I have learned since that it was a non-event (common I hear) for the pilots, but for me it was a brilliantly choreographed "sign" that Spirit is present and that Light rules!

Think about the symbolism here -- the purpose of this conference is about transcending differences, shedding light on world issues by a collective of inter-faith, inter-cultural leaders representing all traditions on this planet, the biggest gathering of this sort in the world. And think about how, like individual bolts of light, we each can illuminate a path of harmony and grace for all the world to walk together.

This auspicious start to my journey continues to inspire and uplift me the more I think about it...well, okay, I was initially totally freaked out of course...but as I uttered my prayer of "oh god oh god, angels don't let us down" I realized that this was a bolt of powerful divine light, and I took it personally. Right when I was jetting through the air at however many miles per hour, at however high up we were, I felt singled out and granted a message, a gift, and knew I said yes to the right conference, the right adventure and the perfectly right time and place. And I think all the passengers of Flight 735 came away with special powers (I hear that lightening strikes can either kill you, heal you, or grant you special powers!). The special power of gratitude is high on the list.

Soooo, appreciation, wonder, and gratitude acknowledged here for the aerospace engineers that build our planes to absorb and distribute this powerful electrifying light while soaring through the air, keeping the precious human cargo safe and well. The planes absorb the hit, and we absorb and radiate the Light.

The Abbreviated Version

Years ago, when I needed a quick study of something, I looked for the "Cliff Notes" version. And when I created class materials or wrote articles, I wanted to say what needed saying with fewer words. Surprising for someone that gets paid to speak at length, and who earns part of her living "power phoning" (conducting teleconferences actually). That said, it amazes me how few words can convey big messages.

I woke up this morning thinking about the power of words...it's like the right words can blossom inside us like a drop of water on a dry sponge. It only takes one drop, sometimes one word, to bloom into a whole-being experience of imagery, sensation, and light inside one's heartmind.

That must be why I named this blog Iris Notes, like my old friend Cliff, my intention is to use few words to share a big message, especially as I will probably be using a Blackberry to write :)

The Parliament in Melbourne is already life-changing for me (and I haven't even started packing yet!) and is world-changing in scope. I hope you enjoy the ride with me.

Let the words be few and the blossom magnificent!