quarta-feira, 25 de setembro de 2024

O pouco que sei


Sarah Marino






Sei que o penar não vale a pena.

Sei que a felicidade é indizível.

Sei que o amor, essa missão selvagem,
delicada, impossível, é a única forma
de estar neste mundo sem errar.

Sei que a morte resolve tudo.
Sei que a morte, não, quero dizer, a vida
é um pintassilgo em uma árvore seca
ou em uma amendoeira em flor,
cantando para a luz,
dando graças aos céus por tudo
sem o saber.


Juan Vicente Piqueras



The Magic of Surrender: Finding the Courage to Let Go








It’s always going to be the harmony between what we do for ourselves, what we do to restore ourselves and keep ourselves resilient. Also, what we do to take care of other people and handle our responsibilities and commitments. 

That’s the relationship that’s constantly in flux and being managed. 
In case you’re wondering if I’m struggling to find the word balance, I’m intentionally not using that word. To me, balance always felt more like the stress of trying to keep things even and equal. I don’t know that harmony is about things being even or equal. I don’t know that it’s about a magic formula. 
In many ways, it is about how things harmonize one to the other.

Kute Blackson discusses the power of surrender and how it can help individuals manifest their true purpose in life. He explains how our childhood conditioning causes us to be disconnected from our intuition and trust in life, leading us to pursue goals and desires that may not align with our authentic selves. 

Kute Blackson lays the blueprint for learning how to surrender to life and in turn manifest your true purpose. He shares the power of surrender and how our childhood conditioning causes us to be divorced from our intuition and trust with life. He explains the different stages of surrender: from avoidance, to  questioning, to accepting, to grieving; and provides actionable steps for going through this process yourself.

The Essence of Surrender is not about giving up or being passive, but about allowing a greater intelligence to flow through us and manifest our highest destiny. He emphasizes that surrender opens us up to greater possibilities beyond what our limited ego can conceive.
True surrender is not passive resignation, but an active allowing of a greater intelligence to flow through us.
Surrender opens us up to possibilities beyond what our ego-mind can conceive or plan for.


Surrender is the invitation to take all limits off of life itself. So magic can happen. More than you can imagine. More than you could ever plan. More than you are able to fathom.
This is the magic. And, if you want magic… you must surrender.

We are conditioned from childhood to develop an egoic identity and strategies to avoid pain, which disconnects us from our true essence. He invites us to question whether we are living as our authentic self or merely playing out childhood conditioning.

Listening to the subtle nudges and whispers from within, often dismissed as mere overthinking or imagination. Kute emphasizes that these taps are more than just fleeting thoughts; they are purposeful signals meant to guide us toward our true path. By acknowledging and trusting these inner calls, we can open ourselves up to opportunities specifically crafted for us and align more closely with our life's purpose.

It starts with acknowledging and feeling those inner nudges, whether they manifest as subtle imbalances or more significant signs. By surrendering our preconceived notions and societal expectations, we begin to uncover our true essence. This process is not about making grand gestures but recognizing and untangling the lies we have told ourselves. As Kute beautifully puts it, surrender is the password to freedom, leading to a life beyond anything we could have planned for ourselves.

As he writes in his book, surrender determines the degree to which we can fully experience life. It's about realizing that we are the ones the world has been waiting for, and that our unique contributions, no matter how small, are significant. Surrendering means letting go of our need for control and trusting the process, even when it involves discomfort and uncertainty. This approach allows life to flow more naturally and enables us to live in alignment with our true selves.

The book is a guide to moving past inner struggle to discover the power of relinquishing control.

Too often we limit our lives by putting conditions on them. We think things should go a certain way, and when they don’t, we hold on to what isn’t working, reinforcing what is causing us pain and affirming our lack of trust in the universe. There is another way: We can harness the power of relinquishing control and discover more purpose and meaning in our lives.

After the passing of Kute Blackson’s mother in 2017, he discovered that the powerful lesson his mother had been modeling her whole life had always been at the heart of his own teachings–he just hadn’t realized it. What was that keen insight? Surrender isn’t passive. It isn’t giving up. It’s strong and courageous. It’s about tapping in. 

In this inspiring book, Blackson traces how surrender was a key factor in the lives of so many great people throughout history, and shows readers how they can move past self-imposed barriers in their lives to discover the freedom and possibility on the other side of surrender.



The 5 stages of surrender: 

  1. Avoidance, living conditioned by the childhood, stuck in limitation without realizing it,
  2. Questioning our conditioning when it causes suffering, 
  3. Acceptance of what is, 
  4. Grieving what needs to be released, 
  5. Surrender, let go of control and be open to new possibilities.

He emphasizes that grieving is a crucial yet often overlooked phase before genuine surrender can occur.



Trust in Life's Greater Intelligence 
Trust that there is an intelligence greater than our ego guiding life, even when things don't go as planned. He shares personal examples of how saying 'no' to seemingly great opportunities allowed something far greater to emerge, underscoring the importance of letting go of attachments.

Embodying Spirituality Through Service
The true essence of spirituality lies not in philosophy, but in the embodiment of love through selfless service. Authentically serving others, even in small acts, is how spirituality is truly lived.

Finding Perspective Amidst Life's Tragedies
Find perspective and acceptance when confronted with the immense tragedies and suffering in the world. Viewing life as a realm of limitation and duality, where challenges catalyze soul growth, allows us to have compassion while taking inspired action from a place of non-resistance.



He emphasizes the importance of trusting life's intelligence and facing the facts when things aren't working out, rather than forcing situations that don't align with one's true path. 
Blackson also addresses navigating the world's great tragedies through the lens of the soul's growth and evolution.

Blackson encourages people to let go of their egoic desires and attachment to specific outcomes, and instead surrender to the deeper impulses and intuitive guidance that emerge from within. 
He highlights the transformative power of living in alignment with one's authentic essence and serving others selflessly.




Takeaways:

  1. Surrender is the key to true manifestation, freedom, and living in alignment with one's authentic purpose.
  2. Childhood conditioning disconnects us from our intuition and authentic desires, leading us to pursue goals that may not be aligned with our true selves.
  3. The process of surrender involves questioning, accepting, and grieving before reaching a state of true embodied surrender.
  4. Trusting life's intelligence and letting go of attachment to specific outcomes can lead to manifestations beyond our egoic expectations.
  5. Navigating tragedies and challenges through the lens of the soul's growth and evolution can provide a more expansive perspective.
  6. Living in service to others and expressing one's authentic essence is the embodiment of true spirituality.
  7. Facing the facts when situations aren't working out, rather than forcing them, is necessary for aligning with one's true path.
  8. The journey of pursuing goals is often more transformative than the actual manifestation of the goal itself.





Quotes by Kute Blackson:


“Surrender is the most powerful thing that we can do, that surrender is the real secret to manifestation, like unlimited manifestation, authentic manifestation, that surrender is the real password to freedom.“

“The real secret to manifestation between acceptance and surrender is a phase that most people miss. And that phase is, that's when this intelligence that is life starts to flow.“

“You don't have to know where you're going, but if you simply say yes to the most authentic impulse and then you go, all in, life will take you on a journey and force you to evolve beyond your current level of consciousness.“

“Sometimes life will give you what you want. Sometimes life will not give you what you want, but you can always give life who you are.“

 “I believe that surrender is the most powerful thing that we can do, that surrender is the real secret to manifestation, like unlimited manifestation, authentic manifestation, that surrender is the real password to freedom.“ 

“And if life is a university in a metaphorical sense, then perhaps this Mandez is in the PhD program and you're the one in kindergarten.“

" The next level of your life, requires the next level of you!" 

 “Stop trying to control life, it’s impossible. Stop trying to force and control life to be what you think it should be. When you are wrestling with life itself, you won't win. Life is the ultimate heavyweight champion. You won't win against it.”

"Surrender is the willingness to not know, to give up the need to know."

"Go in the direction that is authentic, even though you don't understand where it's going to lead."

"Your dreams don't just belong to you. If you think like that, that's when the ego gets involved and wants to own it."




 Kute Blackson about the book:


"Visualization and this whole creative manifestation process have to be held lightly because many times, we think we know what we want. We go for what we want only to realize, “That’s not what I wanted,” but it was a journey that we needed to go on. Sometimes, our capacity to visualize and perceive goals, dreams and desires is limited to the level of our current consciousness and our current evolution. From the current consciousness of our own ego structure in this particular moment, we aren’t necessarily able to see the total infinite possibilities and tapestries of what life itself is seeking to express through us.

Many times, what we visualize and what we project onto life is based on our personality, conditioning, past, programming and childhood. Some of the things we visualize, dream about, want, design and what have you are ways to get some unmet needs as a child. We think, “If I can be on stage, if I can do that thing, if I can win an Oscar, if I can drive a car, then I’m going to finally be enough.” 
We have to be careful. That’s why for me, part of the theme of the book and where I’ve come to at this moment is a shift.

What I wanted to invite people to is a shift in paradigm from an ego persona and a personal power way of living life, a drive of life that moves from, “What do I want?” The notion of “I” is limited in and of itself. It’s an identity-based thing. It doesn’t mean we can’t create an incredible life from the sense of I and ego and personal sense of self. We can create a good life. What I’m inviting people to consider is I don’t believe you can create a truly great life. 

I’m inviting people to consider rather than asking,
“What do I want?” 
It’s opening to feeling and tuning into beyond one’s self. 
What is it that life wants to express through me? 
What is it that I surrender my idea of what my life should look like, who I should be, what my relationship should be, and my idea of everything?

We stop trying to force life and control life to be what we think it should be. 
We open our hearts to our souls. 
We open ourselves to the deepest impulse that life is seeking to express and unfold through us. 
We tune into that, feel that and open to that. 

I have found that we tap into an infinite stream of energy, consciousness, power, and the possibility that the fullness, the magic, the greatness and the infinite intelligence of life are then able to manifest themselves through us. 

Surrender themselves beyond themselves to life and to nature. Life was able to do through them more than they could ever have written in their goal list or journal, more than they could ever put on the poster board. They opened to life and life used them. That’s when miracles happen. 

That’s the whole idea of surrender in The Magic of Surrender. When I say magic, it is more joy, more abundance, more bliss or whatever the magic means to you. When you surrender, surrender is the passport to freedom. 

People think that “If I surrender, I’m not going to get what I want.” 
I’m saying, “If you surrender, what if you got more?”

That’s part of the thing that is a bit of a paradox. 
It’s wanting something, that burning desire, the way people visualize, think about, obsess about what they want, that the pain or the suffering that often is associated with getting something, meaning seeing it through. You visualize you want this thing and then it happens but then you’re still not happy. You still don’t feel fulfilled and worthy. You still didn’t fill the gap that was left by your parents not loving you unconditionally or by life giving you some lemons to deal with or some bad hand.

We live in an infinitely valid but simultaneously contradictory reality inherent in the nature of life. 
The mind wants to hold on to this or that. 
The real freedom in surrender is not in the “this or that.” It’s in the “and.” 

  • Surrender is not just passive. 
  • Surrender is when you stop trying to force life to be a certain way. 
  • Surrender is where you stop negotiating with life and negotiating your destiny. 
  • Surrender is the willingness to not know, to give up the need to know, and follow the energy and the flow. It’s learning to follow the flow. Rather than going to the ocean and trying to make waves happen, you’re feeling for the waves.

Surrender doesn’t mean laziness at the same time. 
Surrender means you give 100% to the moment and you show up fully. 
You give everything going in, following your most authentic, deepest truth at the moment and yet not being attached to the outcome or to the result. There is openness and willingness. 

Sometimes surrender means you feel the deepest impulse of what life is moving through you. To me, this is the expression of love. Love is to follow the most authentic, deep impulse that is moving through you. Sometimes, love is sweet and cuddly. Sometimes love is fierce. If we allow the impulse of love to flow through us, this is surrender. It can look like however it needs to look like at the moment to serve with the highest evolution of everyone involved.

We try to predict what’s that going to look like. I’m saying, “Give up the need to know what that will look like. Even give up the need to know what surrender might look like.” Every time I go into a situation, I do 1, 2, 3. Surrender is following the deepest truth in the moment, which may not always be what you want to do. It may not always be what it was yesterday. It might look different from what it was yesterday. It’s the willingness to meet life innocently in the moment with a pure openness to, “Here I am in this moment. What is the most authentic impulse that can happen in this moment?” To me, the real power of now is to be in the moment, to live in the moment truly from that deepest, authentic place. That might mean protesting. That might mean taking someone to court. That might mean realizing I’m going to have to fight this person. That might mean turning the other cheek.

It’s not because we’re constantly conditioned. One of the ways I see that we’d like to control life is the constant need to know and understand what everything needs. 
What does this relationship mean? 
Where are we going? 
Where is this going? 
What’s going to happen? 
What’s going to happen in the future? Let me reach the astrologer. Let me get the psychic. Let me try and predict. 

Many times, we are projecting, imposing and trying to figure out what everything means. We then end up missing the true and authentic meaning of what it really is. We’re only able to discern the meaning of something based on what’s in our consciousness right now. There are many times where we might think we know what something means but we’re not understanding the true meaning of that situation or that relationship. It’s important to look at where we’re constantly projecting in the moment and into life, “This means this and that.” 
Step back and say, “I don’t need to know what this means.”

We’re meaning-making machines.

We’re constantly making meaning, the challenge is a lot of the meanings we’re making up about situations, people, relationship or what this is are based on the state of our nervous system and programming from our entire life. Every single experience that ever happens to us is stored in our nervous system. The nervous system is that antenna to the world. Information comes in and we are filtering reality through the current state of our nervous system. The nervous system is then making an interpretation about what something means to the best of its ability, which may not mean what it really is. It is just an interpretation that we’re making up that may not be accurate. 
If we’re willing to step back and say, “I don’t need to know. Let me just be.” 
I don’t need to know what this means if we were able to just be open. 
The moment we attach to, “This is what this is,” we’re now not truly open to life.

It’s for safety and security but we end up limiting. 
It’s important that we cultivate curiosity. 
That doesn’t mean we just sit there, watch TV and do nothing. No. 
You move in the direction that is most authentic. 

Many times we’re thinking, “Why?” We’re mentally taking action that is often fear-based. We’re going in directions that aren’t necessarily authentically aligned. I’m saying go in the direction and make a decision that is authentic. Even though you don’t understand where it’s going to lead you, go in that direction. There is intelligence because then you’re following the energy that is not coming from your mind or conditioning. You then cultivate a curiosity. You feel and you go in the direction. You look around. 

Life will start to meet you and reveal to you what’s needed next because then you are in the flow. When you’re in the flow, things start happening that you can’t explain. That’s when I’ve seen the magic happen. That’s when I’ve seen miracles happen. That’s the invitation.

You’re following the energy that’s not something you’re making up in your mind. Sometimes people say, “Why are you doing that?” I’ll say, “I don’t know why.” I’ve given up the need to know why I’m going there. I don’t know why I’m going there. For instance, my intuition guided me to spend a few days in Miami. I stopped questioning why. That’s the question of what I don’t need to know. All I do is follow and obey. Something’s pushing me. This is not my mind. I’m going to take the questioning mechanism out. There’s the intelligence that’s bringing this impulse to my conscious awareness. It’s the same intelligence that’s breathing me, you and a billion people. It’s the same intelligence that functions the sun, the star and the moon. It’s the same intelligence of all existence.

Who the hell am I to question this intelligence? I stopped questioning it. I said, “Let me just take a step. I’m going to go to Miami for four days.” That’s it. I went to Miami for four days. All this amazing strange synchronistic stuff happened that I could not have planned. That same something said to come back to Miami for a month. This is not Kute making it up like, “Yes, do this and plan.” There’s no logic, “Come back to Miami for a month.” After I’m in Miami for a month, after a week, I found this great laugh. Something says, “Move to Miami.” Everything starts falling into place and here I am. Had I heard something say, “Move to Miami,” months ago, I would have said, “Hell no.” 

Sometimes, the universe doesn’t show us everything upfront. Either we’re not ready for it yet. We wouldn’t be open to it yet. We just have to take a step. Life and our purpose reveal to us what’s needed as we take a step. The challenge is many of us don’t take the step. We’re trying to figure out our entire life purpose upfront, but we don’t go in that direction. We don’t take a step. Take a step.

We have lost touch with this innate intelligence that is life. 
People say, “How do I trust life?” 
I look at you and I say, “How can you not trust it?” 
Look around. Every breath that we take is living proof of life’s power, of life’s grace, of the trustworthiness of life. You and I, we’ve been breathing. We’re not sitting here doing some special breath technique. It’s just happening if we just pay attention to nature. We’ve lost touch with nature in our hyper technologized world. We become disconnected from the fact that you and I are a part of nature. If we look at nature, every day the sun shines, the moon rises. I don’t know about you but I can’t remember the last day in my entire life that the sun didn’t rise at 10:00 AM. It was pitch black and we say, “What happened to the sun?” “It just forgot to come up.” Every day, there is a rhythm and a flow. There are the seasons. Every day, it happens for billions of years. It’s this same intelligence. If we start paying attention to nature, the trees, the sun, the laws of life, our body, and the trillions of processes that are happening in our body, in spite of us, something is happening.

Change is the nature of life. Life is a process of continual evolution and that’s just how it is. We are here to evolve and life doesn’t care about comfort or convenience. Life just cares about evolution. If we can surrender to that and realize, “Let me let go of that.” As change is happening, then we’re more able to participate.

We have to be willing to surrender to the fact that life is a constant change. Therefore, when change happens or when you anticipate it, instead of feeling the fear of it and trying to control it or stop it, you could do something else with it. You could be curious about it. You could lean into curiosity.

It’s like being in the ocean. If you go into the ocean, there are waves. It’s the nature of the ocean. Imagine going to the ocean moaning and groaning like, “Why are there waves in the ocean?” It’s the nature of the ocean.

That is not how it is. 
There are moments in our life where we evolve and we outgrow the current level or structures of our life. There comes a moment in life where the life that we’ve created and set up for ourselves is too small for what our soul is seeking to become. 

I always say 
the next level of our life 
always requires the next level of us.

That requires letting go of what is not aligned, letting go of the situations, the identities, and the people that aren’t aligned. That can be a bit of a scary process because we often get identified as the person we’ve become. We often get identified with what we have created. We get identified to the success we have. We get identified with some people in our life. It’s scary to let go but this is the process. What we tend to do in those moments is we hold on, but holding on keeps us stuck.

We were born to fly. 
Let me see if I can lay out a few phases. 
In those moments where change is happening or even before a change is happening, although change is always happening, the first stage might be we’re living in denial. We’re living unconsciously. We’re not even aware that things need to change, at least consciously. That’s one way to stay stuck. 
We then start becoming aware that some things aren’t quite working, “I think I need to change,” but we’re still a little bit afraid to change because we’re afraid of the consequences.
We start moving into a zone of resistance and the ego starts resisting as self-preservation tactics. We start resisting in some way. 
We then begin negotiating with life, “Maybe I can keep this but not do that. I can do that. Maybe that relationship has potential.” We start negotiating with life as a way to keep ourselves stuck. One of the things we do in those moments is lying to ourselves. I’d ask everyone to sit with what lies are they telling themselves and feel the cost of that. 
We then move into a realization that no matter how much we negotiate, it doesn’t change. Things are the same. We’re the same. Our partner is the same and the situation is the same.
We then move to a level of acceptance. We start accepting what is. We often hear the term, “Accept what is.” It’s beautiful. We bring ourselves into a relationship with what’s happening. The thing though is that acceptance is not necessarily surrendering. Most people stop at the level of acceptance. You can be accepting a situation or a person, but still not be at peace internally. You can be accepting a situation or something, but still have the judgment internally that the experience I’m having is not the experience I should be having. I should be having some other experience. If it’s raining outside, you can be like “Shit, it’s raining outside.” You take the umbrella and be moaning and groaning that it’s raining outside, and still not be fully surrendering to the fact that it’s raining.

Surrender is the wholehearted participation. It is the open-hearted participation with the process of life that is unfolding because you realize two things. 
The first thing you realize is everything that happens is for your highest good. The universe is always working for your evolutionary highest good. That’s one. That’s foundational. When you realize if it’s not this, then I believe the universe is clearing things out to bring you something better. That is key. Surrender is possible when you realize or when you remember that the deepest spiritual purpose of life is we incarnate as souls to grow and evolve. Every single experience in our life is a vehicle and a classroom for our souls’ growth and evolution.

When we get that, then surrender is the willingness, even if it’s difficult, challenging, and not easy to open your heart to fully participate with the evolutionary lesson and gifts inherent in every single situation. When we realize that it doesn’t matter what happened, it’s about our evolution, then even though it’s difficult, it makes it a bit easier to surrender to, 
“Let me go for the lesson in this relationship. Let me go for this lesson in this betrayal. What can I learn? Why did I check this situation? What did my soul check this situation? What am I here to learn from this person?”

The difference in questions that people will ask is, 
“Why does this always happen to me? Why am I a victim yet again?”

They are staying stuck in the right or wrong victim game instead of going underneath that to focus on the evolutionary gift. You surrender the victimhood to the evolutionary lesson. 

I have found in any situation that if you go for the soul’s evolutionary lesson, no matter what happened on the surface, you always win. You might say, “that person did this and that person did that.” It’s not your job to repay someone’s karma. You learn your lesson and you will then transcend that lesson. As a result, you graduate to the next level and attract a whole another level of situation and experience.

Surrender is the wholehearted participation where you’re like, “It’s raining outside. Let’s go run naked in the rain. Let’s play with the kids in the rain. Let’s have an intimate dinner.” You’re fully participating. 

The challenge though is between acceptance and surrender, there is a stage that most people miss. 
It is the stage of grieving

Surrender is a death of an old identity, an old belief system or an old way of being. It’s the death of who you thought you were in a certain stage of your life. To truly surrender requires a level of willingness on a human level to surrender to your humanity to grief. By not fully surrendering to grieving sometimes in an effort to stay positive, to not feel, to be in control, we don’t fully allow ourselves to feel and release the grief so that we can let go and open to the authentic, open-hearted surrender. Grieving is an important phase that opens us to surrender. We move into surrender. We then move into the last stage or phase which is the flow or the magic. That’s when the magic happens.



Resilience is the realization, the belief and the understanding that who you are and what you are at your core is more powerful than any fleeting experience that happens in your life. That experiences, situations and moods come and go. If you want any of those things that what you are is an unchanging beingness that is unshakable and unbreakable, that is the core of resilience to me.

My invitation to this book is to open that bigger dimension of life that is inside of us. For every single human being or every single person who feels a calling to make a difference and to impact humanity in some way. It doesn’t have to be on the Mandela level. If you feel an inkling or desire that you’re here for something more or that there is something you want to give, share, create, or express on the planet, then that’s who I want to reach.

Surrendering to life and to being lived by life. That’s the magic. The great ones, all got to the point and this is what made them great. They all got to the point where they realize that my life is not just my life. My dream is not just my dream. Every single person, big or small, your dreams don’t just belong to you. If you think that your dreams are yours, that’s when the ego gets involved. Your ego wants to own it. It then gets freaked out and it starts questioning, “Is it possible? What if it doesn’t work? What if I’m going to fail? What would people think?” You realize that the dream doesn’t belong to you, it belongs to life. 

The dream chose you because every single thing in your life makes you the perfect person. If you realize that the dream chose you, then encoded in that dream is also the seed for self-fulfillment. 

The dream is an impulse of life seeking to express itself through you. If it’s not yours, then it is life’s. We need to understand that we are just a part of life through which it can express itself through, then we realize that we are not the doer.

When we understand that I am not the doer, then something can open and drop away. 
I’m not the doer. This identity, Adam, Kute, Paul, Peter, Jim, John, Susie, Oprah, is not I that does the work. It is the Universe, life, consciousness, “It is the Universe that does the work through me.” When we surrender our sense of being the doer and when we show up and we’re willing to say, 

“Universe, I feel this vision. I feel this dream. I don’t even know how I’m going to do it. I don’t even know if I’m worthy of doing it. I feel it in my heart. I say yes to it. Here’s the secret, use me to fulfill this vision. I’m open. I’m available and I’m willing.” That’s when life will use us in ways that we cannot imagine. I’ve seen it in my own life over and over again. I’ve seen miracles happen that I can’t claim credit for. I’ve seen it in other people’s life. It’s available to us all.

People are afraid to surrender because they think surrender means living in the Himalayas and giving up everything with robes. Does that mean I have nothing, no cell phone, no possessions, no car? That is not necessarily surrendering. Ultimately, we own nothing, we come with nothing and we take nothing. We go through existence. Surrender is not simply about form and structure. True surrender is an inner state of being. True surrender is in your relationship with life. 

In a sense, it’s not about what you have and what you don’t have. It is about your relationship with what you have and what you don’t have, and how free you are inside of yourself about it. You can have nothing, no house, no car, be on the street and inside of yourself be so attached to wanting things.

You could have everything. You could be a billionaire. I know some billionaires and one of them is the most surrendered people I know because truly, he doesn’t care about anything he has. He could have it. He could not have it. I’ve hung out with him and he doesn’t care. Even though he has possessions and owns things because of his internal relationship, it doesn’t own him. There’s a freedom in it that is beautiful to see. Surrender is an inner state of being. 

Instead, it’s realizing that those things don’t define who you are. None of that is who you are. 
It doesn’t add to you. It doesn’t take away from you. 
What you are is an infinite stream of consciousness. 
What you are is eternally free. 
What you are is freedom itself. 

We surrender to that and realize we’re not just this body, name, form, projection, personality, reputation, gender, color or religion. When we surrender those layers, we then realize, “I’m eternal. I’m free. I am infinite.” There is then the freedom to have it or not have it.

There’s an interview with Bruce Lee that’s called The Last Interview. He’s like, “Be like water.” 
You put water into a teacup, it becomes a teacup. You put water into a glass, it becomes a glass. 
You’ve got to flow but beware. 
Don’t think that water is weak. Water can kill you. Water can erode a mountain. Water is powerful. 

We’ve got to flow. There is a quote from the Tao Te Ching. I’m going to butcher the quote but it’s what Bruce Lee was alluding to. It talks about something like, 
“Even though you do nothing, everything is done.”

Life is doing through you. 

Life will do through you.


Kute Blackson







In Podcasts:
Know Thyself, by André Duqum
Change Proof, by Adam Markal
The Courage Coalition, by Corree Roofener


Carta



Yazar Mehmet Deveci






(digo dos que se ditam:
a minha defesa
são os vossos punhais)

Quando me disseram «não se vem à vida para sonhar» passei a odiar-vos. 
Para vos matar escolhi materiais inacessíveis ao meu ódio. 
Em mim fizestes despertar a irreparável urgência de ferir.

Descobri a vossa intenção: decepar as minhas raízes mais profundas, obrigar-me à cerimónia das palavras mortas. 
Preferi reiniciar-me: na solidão me apaguei. 
Estava só para me encher de gente, para me povoar de ternura. Eu queria simplesmente olhar de frente a verdade das pequenas coisas: esta água vem de onde, quem teceu este linho, que mãos fizeram este pão?

Desloquei-me para tudo ver de um outro lado: levei o meu olhar, o desejo de um princípio infinitamente retomado. Ganhei sonoridade nas vozes que me habitavam silenciosamente. Entre mar e terra eu preferia ser espuma, ter raiz e poente entre oceano e continente.

O tempo, por vezes, morria de o não semear. Terras que golpeava com ternura eram feridas que em mim se abriam para me curar. Eram terras suspeitas, acusadas de futuro. Outras vezes eram mãos de um corpo que ainda me não nascera. Surgiam da obscuridade para afastar a água e nela me deixar tombar. Tecido que escapava da mais bela das lavadeiras eu ia pelo rio, a corrente insuflando-me e eu deixando-me arrastar com fingida contrariedade.


Mia Couto





terça-feira, 24 de setembro de 2024

Sete luas






Há noites que são feitas dos meus braços 
E um silêncio comum às violetas. 
E há sete luas que são sete traços 
De sete noites que nunca foram feitas. 

Há noites que levamos à cintura 
Como um cinto de grandes borboletas. 
E um risco a sangue na nossa carne escura 
Duma espada à bainha dum cometa. 

Há noites que nos deixam para trás 
Enrolados no nosso desencanto 
E cisnes brancos que só são iguais 
À mais longínqua onda do seu canto. 

Há noites que nos levam para onde 
O fantasma de nós fica mais perto; 
E é sempre a nossa voz que nos responde 
E só o nosso nome estava certo. 

Há noites que são lírios e são feras 
E a nossa exatidão de rosa vil 
Reconcilia no frio das esferas 
Os astros que se olham de perfil.


Natália Correia




Reconnect To Your Erotic Self







WE CAN GO A LONG TIME WITHOUT HAVING SEX
Plenty of people live without sex entirely, whether they are asexual, celibate by choice, grappling with trauma or physical pain, or for many other reasons. Some people prefer to have sex alone or to engage with their erotic self in other ways—through imagination, art, erotic novels, or films. There are so many ways to connect with your erotic self. Sex is just one avenue.

That said, when people come to me to talk about sexlessness, it’s typically because they really want to be having sex. They don’t understand how they fell out of practice or how the chasm between their partner’s desire and theirs grew so large, so seemingly uncrossable. They often tell me they want more sex. They always tell me they want better sex. 


WHEN YOU WANT TO WANT 
Sex goes on the back burner when we’re not in the mood, have kids around, are exhausted by work, caregiving, or both. You may want to have sex, but it simply isn’t a priority. And the more time that passes, the harder it can be to initiate, let alone address in conversation.

That silence is the perfect habitat for anxiety to grow. The confusing and/or harmful cultural, familial, and societal messaging you may have received about sex while growing up thrives in this space. Many of us are told to hide our sexual selves and our desires. A dry spell can feel like confirmation that we should. When you want it but aren’t having it—or when you want to want it and just don’t—shame will convince you: It’s an individual problem. It’s your fault. 

I'm here to tell you: It’s not.


YOU ARE NOT ALONE
There is an exercise I do in my lectures that demonstrates how not alone you are. 
I ask the audience to raise their phone flashlights if, growing up, sexuality was central at home. Very few people turn their lights on. Those who do, I’m told, turn their light on because they received adequate sex education from their parents or observed their public displays of affection.

I then ask the same question in a different way: 
“Turn your flashlight on if sexuality in your family was hidden or hinted at.” 
Many more lights come on and I tell them to keep them on.

Then I say, “Turn your light on if sexuality was violated, misused, or abused.”

And finally, “Turn your light on if there was infidelity.”

Slowly at first and then all at once, we find ourselves in a sea of lights, each one representing what we all usually carry alone in our internal darkness. Sexuality is always more central than we acknowledge, and the messaging we learned about sex growing up tends to show up in our sex lives later on. No wonder sex—and a lack of it—can be so hard to talk about.


RECONNECT TO DESIRE
Inside of your sexual preferences lie your deepest emotional needs. That’s a lot to process by yourself and can be even harder to do with a partner. But I believe if you want to have fulfilling, pleasurable, and satisfying sex, the work of understanding yourself, your desires, and what you bring to the experience is essential.





Let’s Turn the Lens on You

A sexual rut can show up in many ways. Which one resonates for you?

  • You haven’t had sex in a long time.
  • Sex has become the elephant in the room that you avoid.
  • You’ve talked about sex many times, but nothing changes.
  • You don’t feel desirable.
  • Whenever you think about sex, it conjures painful memories and negative associations.
  • You have little-to-no sexual interest in your partner, or you feel rejected by them.
  • You’re caught in the dance of distancer and pursuer, where one of you is always seeking sex and the other is always shutting it down.
  • You wonder, “Why even try?” because your attempts to reconnect erotically have failed.

Take a few moments now to reflect on these scenarios. 
Know that they are both common and impermanent. 



Esther Perel



quarta-feira, 18 de setembro de 2024

Trust the Signs: Full Moon Eclipse in Pisces 2024






 On September 18th, 2024, we have a Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse at 25° Pisces.

This is a very powerful lunation, and the first Eclipse on the Pisces/Virgo axis.

The Full Moon is conjunct Neptune (at 28° Pisces), and it is sextile Uranus in Taurus and Pluto in Capricorn. In fact, the Full Moon Eclipse forms a beautiful configuration called “Kite”.

The propeller of the Kite, the Sun, is in Virgo, reminding us how important it is to ground our dreams and ideals in the real world.

The planets at the apex of the Kite - Moon and Neptune - will heighten our connection to higher consciousness, deepening our intuition and insight.

This Sun in Virgo/Moon-Neptune in Pisces Kite configuration is a unique opportunity to align the spiritual with the practical, the abstract with the tangible.


Full Moon Eclipse in Pisces - Two Quotes
Here are two quotes that beautifully capture the energy of this Full Moon Eclipse in Pisces:

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.” 
Napoleon Hill.

This means that anything we can envision with our mind’s eye has the divine potential to eventually manifest.

Sooner or later, whatever idea is generated in the vast cosmic computer that is the Universe has the potential to find its way into 3D, material reality. There’s always a pathway from spirit to matter - and back to spirit. That’s how the universe works.

And the 2nd quote is: 
 
“The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe”.
Albert Einstein

This means that once we send our intention to the Universe, it will guide us toward its fulfillment, showing us signs and paths to follow.

However, if we fundamentally believe that the Universe is hostile - thinking, 'the world is against me,' or 'I can’t do this because of that' - we will likely dismiss those signs, as we won’t trust them. After all, the universe is hostile, right?

If, instead, we trust that the Universe is divinely designed to work in our favor, we will recognize the signs and adjust our path accordingly.

We will eventually manifest our desires, knowing that the Universe is on our side.


Full Moon Eclipse In Pisces - The Aspects
The Full Moon Eclipse in Pisces is conjunct its modern ruler, Neptune, the planet of limitless dreams and possibilities. This powerful alignment holds the promise that our visions have the potential to become tangible realities.

However, this same Full Moon in Pisces squares its traditional ruler, Jupiter (now in Gemini). This suggests that in order to reach our highest potential and manifest our dreams (Neptune), we must be willing to adjust some of our beliefs (Jupiter).

Our mindset can be our best friend - OR our greatest enemy.

Our mindset is the sum of our beliefs. We are wired to default on our beliefs. 
“I’ve always been like that” or “If only I achieve this goal, then I will be happy”. 
But the problem with a fixed mindset is that it keeps us stuck in a rigid plan,unable to adapt to life's inevitable twists and turns.

We miss the subtle signs and opportunities along the way, because we're too focused on one outcome and fail to see the bigger picture.

There are 2 fundamental issues with this approach:

1st: Growth is not a linear process, and neither is life. The world is way too complex, and there are simply too many variables at play. It’s much wiser to let go of what we think things should be and surrender to the flow of life.

2nd: Timing. That’s another important dimension that ties into the first. There is divine timing for everything. The defining characteristic of divine timing is its divine nature - we cannot schedule it in our calendar.


Full Moon Eclipse In Pisces - Trust the Divine Timing
The (friendly) universe always offers clues when that divine timing has arrived. You start seeing signs or omens here and there. Things start to fall into place. There are synchronicities, serendipities, and everything flows. One thing leads to another.

The opposite of divine alignment is when things steadily deteriorate. When that happens, it means we’ve misread the divine directions and veered off course.

If you want to go South, but you’re heading North, guess what - you’re not going to get to your destination; in fact, you’ll get farther and farther away from it.

When things keep going wrong, it’s a sign that we’ve become disconnected from the flow of life, unable to perceive the guidance around us.

This is not about losing sight of our highest aspirations (Neptune). It’s about reading the signs, and not going North when the sign says “go South”. It’s about interpreting the clues - taking the feedback - and adjusting our path accordingly.

Most importantly, it’s about trusting in the divine guidance of the universe.


Lunar Eclipse in Pisces - North Node Eclipse
In Astrology, eclipses are traditionally associated with karmic, fated events. However, not all eclipses signify karmic endings.

There are 2 types of eclipses: South Node eclipses (when the luminary is close to the South Node), and North Node Eclipses (when the luminary is close to the North Node).

South Node Eclipses are about releasing outdated patterns, 
while North Node eclipses often bring twists of fate. North Node eclipses introduce new energy and the potential to alter our karmic paths.

This particular Eclipse in Pisces is a North Node Eclipse - meaning it's about welcoming new energy rather than releasing old karma.

The message of this Full Moon North Node Eclipse in Pisces?
Everything is possible when you trust the divine timing and read the signs - even if they go against what you believed to be true.

When the next unexpected thing hits you - will you frame it as a challenge, or as an opportunity? Will you read the sign, or will you fall back into your default pattern of seeing the world? Will you swim with the current, or against it?

The Full Moon Eclipse will hand us a magic opportunity, but only if we trust the mysterious workings of the universe.

At the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Pisces, many planets are connected through supportive aspects like sextiles and trines. We have the full endorsement of the Universe + a cosmic stamp of divine approval with the Full Moon conjunct Neptune.


Full Moon Eclipse In Pisces - How to Approach It
What will be revealed to us will be profound and extraordinary.

But to be able to ‘see’ what the Full Moon and Neptune are here to illuminate, we have to let go of old ways of being.

This is a North Node Eclipse. We have to be OK with not having all the answers.

It’s not that we were wrong. But as we move through life, new and richer layers are gradually revealed. When we trust the divine timing, when we read the signs, we align ourselves with the DNA of the universe and open ourselves to magic and limitless possibilities.


At the Full Moon in Pisces, take a moment to ask yourself:
  1. What beliefs or habits might be keeping me from seeing the signs the universe is offering? 
  2. How can I open myself up to the possibility that what lies ahead could be greater than I ever imagined?

The Full Moon Eclipse offers a chance for profound transformation, but it requires us to be present, open, and willing to trust the journey.

The universe is always communicating with you. 
All you have to do is listen.


Astro Butterfly



How to Attract Anything You Desire | Nassim Haramein & Lewis Howes

segunda-feira, 16 de setembro de 2024

How to Be Happy in Life

 




Is happiness an elusive goal 
that happens in your life 
only once in a while? 
Sadhguru meticulously takes apart 
man’s quest for happiness and 
explains how to be happy in life.


Sadhguru: 
Being happy or unhappy is actually your choice. 
People have chosen to be unhappy because they think that by being unhappy they will get something. It is being taught that if you suffer, you will go to heaven. If you are a suffering human being, what will you do in heaven anyway? Hell will be more of a home for you. Once you are unhappy, whatever you get, what does it matter? If you are happy, even if you do not get anything, what does it matter? This is not a philosophy, this is your true nature. By nature, you want to be happy. This is not a teaching that I am trying to give you – “Be happy; be happy.” Every creature wants to be happy. Everything that you are doing, every single act you are performing is to seek happiness in some way. 

Whatever every human being is doing on this planet, it does not matter what, even if he is giving away his life to someone, he is doing it because it gives him happiness.

For example, 
why would you want to serve people? Serving people gives you happiness; that is why. Someone wants to wear good clothes; someone wants to make a lot of money, because that gives them happiness. Whatever every human being is doing on this planet, it does not matter what, even if he is giving away his life to someone, he is doing it because it gives him happiness. Happiness is the fundamental goal of life. Why do you want to go to heaven? Only because someone has told you that if you go to heaven, you will be happy. 

The Source of Unhappiness 
After doing all that you are doing, if happiness is not happening, somewhere the fundamentals of life have been missed. When you were a child, you were simply happy. Without doing anything, you were happy. Then somewhere along the way, you lost this. Why did you lose it? You got deeply identified with many things around you, your body, your mind. What you call as your mind is actually just the stuff that you have picked up from social situations around you. Depending upon what kind of society you have been exposed to, that is the kind of mind you have acquired. 

The basis of all this misery is that you have established yourself in untruth. You are deeply identified with that which you are not.

Everything in your mind right now is something you picked up from outside. This nonsense did not come with you; you picked it up and got identified with it. You got so identified with it that now it is causing you misery. You can collect any kind of garbage you want, it is okay. As long as you are not identified with it, there is no problem. This body is not yours; you have picked it up from the earth. You were born with a tiny body which your parents gave you. After that, you ate plants and animals and grew. You borrowed it from the earth; it is not yours. You have to use it for a while, so enjoy it and go. But you have become so deeply identified with it that you think that this is you. No wonder you are suffering. The basis of all this misery is that you have established yourself in untruth. You are deeply identified with that which you are not.

Discount What You Are Not
The whole process of spirituality is only to dis-identify with that which you are not. When you do not know what you really are, can you search for it? If you search, only your imagination will run wild. If you start thinking, “Who am I?”, someone will tell you that you are God’s child. Someone else will tell you that you are the devil’s child. Someone might tell you something else. It is just endless beliefs, and imagination runs wild. The only thing that you can do is that whatever you are not, start discounting that. When everything is discounted, there is something which cannot be discounted. When you arrive at that, you will see that there is no reason for misery in this world. 


in, Isha Sadhguru




Visto y no visto


Molly Belle
 



(A los amigos que siguen vivos
          pero han desaparecido, allá donde estén,
          con un abrazo póstumo.)


La gente tiende a desaparecer.

Un día te hacen reír y al siguiente no están.

Un día te llamaban cada día
para saber cómo estabas,
y ahora ya no puedes ni recordar sus voces.

Un día dijeron siempre
y siempre acabó siendo nunca más.

La gente se parece a los fantasmas.
Aparecen, seducen, crees en ellos,
dan miedo, brillan y desaparecen.

Se van y, de repente, ya no existen,
como si nunca hubieran existido.
Llegas a convencerte de que los has soñado.

Yo soy uno de ellos.

Morir, en nuestro caso,
es una redundancia.


Juan Vicente Piqueras





De que é que Depende a Felicidade?


Darwis Alwan




Ser feliz.
De vez em quando, discretamente, pudicamente, ergue-se em ti ainda esta velha aspiração. 
Mas já não são horas de o seres, seriam só de o teres sido.

De que é que depende a felicidade?
O que falhou avulta quando enfrentamos a pergunta. 
Mas só se não tivéssemos falhado saberíamos se foi isso que falhou. 
Sei o que falhou mas não sei se o que falhou foi isso.

A felicidade ou infelicidade têm a sua escala de grandeza.
Tenho os meus motivos grandes mas os pequenos absorvem-nos.
Problemas do destino, da verdade, do absoluto que desse a pacificação interior. Mas eles apagam-se ou esquecem com uma simples dor de dentes. 
Assim eles me avultam apenas quando essa dor se apazigua.

Que dores menores me pontuaram a vida toda?
Do balanço geral há o que somos para os outros e o que somos para nós.

Ser feliz. 
Possivelmente o problema está num dente cariado. Sei o que falhou.
Não sei o que falharia ainda, se o mais não tivesse falhado.

Que falsificação de nós inventamos para os outros que no-la inventaram?
Ter grandeza no que se sofre para ao menos nos admirarem o sofrimento.

O que sofri entremeado ao público sofrimento não tem grandeza nenhuma. 
Precisava bem de saber se a minha verdade definitiva não está aí. 
Ou ao menos a condição de tudo o mais.

Para me negar radicalmente na obscuridade de mim.
Para saber definitivamente o que vou entregar à morte.
Porque pode ser só aquilo de que a morte tomará posse, sem restar nada de que tomem posse os outros.


Vergílio Ferreira
in, Conta-Corrente 4


sábado, 14 de setembro de 2024

Pushing The Envelope of Physics: Nassim Haramein

Do sentimento trágico da vida


Rehulian Yevhen 




Não há revolta no homem
que se revolta calçado.
O que nele se revolta
é apenas um bocado
que dentro fica agarrado
à tábua da teoria.

Aquilo que nele mente
e parte em filosofia
é porventura a semente
do fruto que nele nasce
e a sede não lhe alivia.

Revolta é ter-se nascido
sem descobrir o sentido
do que nos há-de matar.

Rebeldia é o que põe
na nossa mão um punhal
para vibrar naquela morte
que nos mata devagar.

E só depois de informado
só depois de esclarecido
rebelde nu e deitado
ironia de saber
o que só então se sabe
e não se pode contar.


Natália Correia




Somos consciência dentro de um corpo


Beach Cathedral, Ribadeo, Lugo, Galicia, Spain





Evoluir implica trabalhar e desenvolver a nossa consciência e a maneira como interagimos com o mundo material através do corpo. A consciência é o denominador comum entre os nossos corpos mental, emocional, físico e espiritual.
É através da nossa consciência que percebemos a realidade, que chegamos a conclusões, que geramos crenças, decidimos prioridades e aprendemos as nossas lições.

Um bom estado de consciência permite-nos viver uma vida de qualidade fazendo boas e conscientes escolhas activando assim o nosso estado de cooperação. O estado de inconsciência, baixa a nossa frequência e leva-nos a activar a nossa violência e estado de competição.

Embora todos os campos interajam o tempo todo, a frequência que eles emanam condiciona a nossa consciência.
Por exemplo, se as emoções do campo emocional são baixas de ressentimento, culpa e revolta, vai afectar o campo mental com pensamentos negativos, pessimistas e julgadores que por sua vez baixa a frequência do espírito que por sua vez causa mazelas e efeitos secundários no corpo. O estado de consciência desta pessoa será muito reduzido, incapaz ainda de aplicar as leis universais à sua realidade, ver-se-á preso a essa mesma realidade até que algo a ponha em causa.

Se por contrário temos alguém responsável pelo seu campo emocional, que o limpa regularmente através da expressão dos seus sentimentos ou mesmo com a ajuda de terapia, que procura manter o seu campo mental positivo e direcionado para informação de qualidade, que cuida do seu corpo com amor e que por isso o seu espírito mantém uma frequência alta de amor, tolerância e humildade, verá portas abrirem-se, oportunidades aparecerem, sincronias revelarem a sua magia.

Ao contrário das condições do mundo que nem sempre são fáceis ou até possíveis de mudar como gostaríamos, podemos sempre trabalhar a nossa consciência. E tal como subir um escadote, não acontecerá por acaso ou por sorte mas sim e apenas por escolha ou vontade própria. Começa no momento em que nós mesmos admitimos que chegámos ao limite, que esgotámos todas as hipóteses de sobrevivência na realidade presente, quando aceitamos que as velhas crenças já não dão resposta positiva às propostas da realidade presente.

Embora a expansão da consciência seja assunto comum em todas as antigas correntes filosóficas e seja uma proposta que nos acompanhe a vida toda, há alturas ou momentos em que o convite a ver o mundo por uma nova lente, é mais forte do que nunca e é importante estarmos atentos. Por exemplo, frustrações, perdas, rejeições, resistências externas de várias naturezas, ou seja, como diz uma célebre frase; "Quando não podes mudar o que está fora, chegou a altura de mudar o que está dentro".

Todo o esforço que nos leve a por em causa a nossa visão do mundo e nos leve a ver a mesma realidade por um prisma mais sábio e mais amoroso, será recompensado.
Seja um livro novo, um filme, uma consulta, um desabafo com alguém ou simplesmente a curiosidade que nos leva a querer saber mais ou encontrar formas de viver mais feliz, tudo vale.



Vera Luz