Heart Driven-Oil Spill Clean Up

This weeks One Love Nuggets come to you in response to a fellow One Love Alliance reader question and from a letter written by Paul Kelway, a member of the Shambhala Buddhist community, in regards to the oil spill in the Gulf.

Dear One Love Alliance,
I sure could use a nugget of wisdom to support my practice of staying present with what is real, rather than tripping out on my mentally generated yaya. What have ya got?
Monkey Mind

Dear Monkey Mind,
Thanks for your very universal question, as usual, one to which we can all relate. I feel ya, and your yaya. You are already aware enough to know that the mentally generated noise is NOT real, so, when you hear it, give thanks and take it as a cue to drop from the head to the heart. The heart allows access to the goodies of wisdom, intuition, truth force and love. No amount of thinking can get us there. Lovingly invite the monkey mind into the magic moment (the present). Take a deep breath, wiggle your toes, shift your attention to your heart presence and direct the mind to become a servant to the heart. Rest there. Breathe, sense and be guided into whatever empowered action, doing or non doing is inspired. No more mind calling the shots. Heart drives. Mind copilots. Period. I promise you this simple practice will shift your experience and reality. You already have all the tools you need. Drink of the love.
____________________________________________________
On another note, the last many days I have felt so psychically aware of the oil spill in the Gulf. My heart has been engaged in prayer and living my way into the question...how do I hold space for this? What can I do to contribute to the resolution, to the transformation of this specific environmental mess, and the broader mess as a humanity, that we are creating on Earth?

Today, I read the passage below, written by Paul Kelway, a regional manager of the International Bird Rescue Research Center, which has teams in the Gulf of Mexico. His words seemed a direct response to my inner prayer. Perhaps they will speak to your heart as well.

"...As a Shambhalian I have been trying to reconcile all of this with my relationship and allegiance to basic goodness. More than ever before I realize that this journey is not for the faint hearted. I also realize that it is what the world needs more than anything else. It needs people who can hold this incredible amount of pain but who know that the energy of this suffering and sadness must be held with fearlessness and gentleness so that it does not become the fuel for further wars on whomever we decide is 'the other' to be blamed for this event. In this particular situation, as I think about my fellow Shambhala warriors, I would suggest that of all the help we as a community could provide, the most valuable gift right now truly is our practice, for all those directly affected and for the world at large. I am reminded of the words of the Sakyong, Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche, in his Earth Day message in 2009, when he said: "In the Shambhala tradition it is said that it is precisely in dark times like these that the inherent wisdom of the universe makes itself felt. Now is the time to draw on the inspiration of humanity's wisdom traditions. All remind us of the sacred oneness of life, the interdependence of all beings, and the inexorable laws of cause and effect. These teachings could not be more relevant to our collective imperative: the creation of enlightened and sustainable societies." Our aspiration to walk this path of basic goodness and to work tirelessly for enlightened society, no matter how great the obstacles may appear, is what the world needs. Only by holding true to these principles, beyond hope and hopelessness, can we have any chance of navigating these turbulent times. "

I will continue to practice and navigate as best as I can. I trust in the basic goodness of humanity. I trust in Mother Nature's relentless ability to regenerate. I trust in the Sacred Law of transmuting poison into medicine. And I trust in the Universal Law of Love. I will work tirelessly for an enlightened society, with all my heart. Join me. So be it.