ALCHEMY OF EARTH – PART 1 – BECOMING EARTH

Last night I had a powerful alchemical dream.

In front of me was the element of water, moving in mid air in a sequence of whorls, arcs and spirals.

I made the intention to transform these to the element of earth and was showing my wife.

After making the intention with deep intensity I surrendered my “self” which was extinguished in a flash, like lightning, and the elements began to inter-be and inter-play.

Water became Earth and manifested a torus, circling our Earth which was the sphere in the centre.

That dream inspired what I will share with you next.

Remembering this is all shared wisdom in Our Shared Heart so you know this already. This is merely a reminder.

One of my most powerful experiences of water and earth was the manifestation of a rare deep sea ocean pearl out of the heart of a bronze Guan Yin statue which I had prayed in front of with a group of friends. The pearl, which I used for healing for many years, reminded me of the fact that ‘terma’ which is when a physical object such as a Pearl, or Cup like the Grail, or text like the Book of Love, or ritual implement like the Rod of Aaron, is buried in the ground or earth or encoded in a crystal or statue or tree or lake or in the sky appears, that these Signs are in fact reminding us of the many hidden teachings of wisdom which are buried in our bodies, hearts and minds. 

One of these hidden teachings is the work of the bodhisattva Protector of the Earth also called Earth Holder (Dharanimdhara) who when Buddha wanted to visit his mother Mahamaya in Tushita Heaven built the road for Buddha to travel on.

The consciousness of being an Earth Holder means to preserve this planet’s air water and soil for all living beings. Protecting and preserving our earth and its environment through mindfulness and awareness of what is present is truly crucial in these current times.

Equally we need to awaken the teachings of the Earth Angel within us, to be an Earth Store Bodhisattva (Kshitigarbha) which means a womb or storehouse of the Earth.

The Earth is solid and contains many kinds of jewels (terma) or treasures but so does our heart. Everywhere we go there are beings who need our help, in the darkest places of the universe we can go to rescue those who are in the greatest suffering. There are those who have no freedom or dignity, to whom we can lend a hand, we can reach out to a child in our school system who is bullied or having problems in their own family, for whom a kind word is a jewel or treasure in their day. This is being an Earth Angel.

People who don’t fit in their family or society or community need lots of courage and compassion from us, to help them feel the anchor of the Earth Angel so that they in their turn can bring love and compassion to others.

“Breathing in, I am an Earth Angel

Breathing out, I bring the compassion of an Earth Angel to all beings”

Looking into these Jewels, we see all three Jewels, the Christ, Community and Teachings or the Buddha, Sangha and Dharma all live within us. This is inter-being. If we look after our community we are looking after the Buddha, the Christ and the Divine Mother within. When we look after our community and we are all happy and advancing in our practice of the teachings we share, then the holiness of our community increases and our Divine Presence, the true Buddha and Christ within and our true Teachings, the Shared Heart, become clearer. A Christ is a Christ when the Teaching is embodied within each one of us. Every Jewel or Terma or Pearl or Chalice contains the other Jewels. Every one of us is a Christ or a Buddha or a Divine Mother and we each ‘contain’ each other. Inter-Being. I am you and you are me. “In Lak’ech Ala K’in”. This is realised in every moment, through every breath.

And this means every moment, both in waking and in sleep we are realising this together. The body itself, like a mini-planet, provides a doorway to awareness and consciousness.

“Breathing in, my body is calm

Breathing out, my body is calm.”

During the day, through calmness, stillness and silence, we meditate on energy entering, stabilising and absorbing in the central channel. We experience the absorptions of the four elements which naturally give rise to the visions of deities and worlds and dimensions and inter-being, which in turn manifest the clear light of being or the Christ Light experience, aspiring to enlightenment for the purpose of freeing all beings in all worlds.

It is amazing to see and perceive the miracle we are, growing together, that through surrender and silence and stillness, we see the Earth Angels we are, where the sky and the earth and the lake and the tree are all Our One Self, for the God-Self is in All.

The process of becoming Earth in alchemy could be simply described as follows

1. Our journey to awakening and transformation goes beyond words, ideas and concepts. It is grounded in Liberation, which is a practice of the teachings of love, wisdom and bliss that we contain within us all. That liberation is found in silence and stillness, the portal to the eternal light of being.
2. This world and all worlds, all dimensions and all time and form are all Our One Self and so any separation or division of that reality is ultimately illusion.
3. The self creates its own suffering and illusion.
4. When we make the desire for our own liberation and the liberation of others the strongest desire so that our entire life is dedicated to awakening, we walk the path of the Bodhisattvas, Archangels and Elders.
5. Simply, make the intention to bring the self and all suffering of all beings to an end.
6. Turn our attention inward towards self-awareness and self-realisation.
7. Spend as much time as we can, together, every day, practicing the most rapid, effective and direct method of Self-inquiry to bring the self to an end. When we turn the outward-going mind back to the Self, the Source, and the Heart and be with it in silence and stillness, we will see through the empty ‘I’ which will be extinguished. This is the real ‘Piercing of the Veil’. Self-awareness, moment to moment, is the true, Light Path of devotion or love. Knowledge of our true inner nature as indivisible Bliss Supreme wells up as love inside us. When we are ‘grounded’ together in this knowing and being we will be at one with the element of Earth and all the elements, which is the healing power of Alchemy.

Love and Light always

Altair and Mother