Blog #7 - Part 1

"Surviving 'One Of Those' Weeks"

"Free your-self from desire, hear the call to mystery. If you're gonna be the Hero, temptations come in Threes. You must head into the dessert, filled with hunger pains and when the task is finally finished wash your hands and walk away.” – Damion Suomi from his song “The Call” off his new lp “Go And Sell All Of Your Things”, inspired by the work of Joseph Campbell in his writings on the Hero’s Journey (note from Shiva, go to iTunes or Amazon mp3 and get Damion’s new album immediately).


It was one of those weeks… a week where the thought can come up “I’m not sure how I’m going to make it out of this one”.

The best news about weeks like this....they end.

Exhale.

Thank you God. Thank you for taking the now nearly 30 lbs away since I started this partnership with Rawvolution and 50lbs in all since September of 2010.

Before I continue along… I feel inspired once again to thank YOU. From the best that my heart has to offer, I thank you for reading this blog. I’m still actually considerably astonished at the incredible expression that has been shared with me since I began writing this. Readers are literally stopping me in the street and letting me know that they are reading this dialog and that it the exchange is meaningful.

I’ve gotten to learn of remarkable stories of fellow travelers stepping up to re-connect with their greatness and as they take on considerable challenges currently on their path… “mountains”, whether it be “losing weight”, recovery, moving on after losing love, and re-aligning with their life’s purpose amongst other events. It’s all significant and we are all absolutely inspiring each other, right now, to go FURTHER. So much more than we ever could have on our “own”.

In all of this, I am reminded that I’m not alone on this journey… a journey which so often seduces me into the ILLUSION that I AM “alone”.

One of the great and exquisite paradoxes of this trip is that we are absolutely alone and at the same time we are NEVER alone. It is a dance that I am learning to make peace with.

We all have “stuff” that we are doing work with in this life. “Stuff” that appears to be so magnetizing to us as individuals, that we are so caught up in. When we see others, trapped in “their” stuff, we so easily have advice and so much solution.

Yet when it's “ours”, it can sometimes appear that all of our learnings and “spiritual practice” etc., are of no match to pull of our “stuff” to drown us in the descending quicksand.

How can we and do we move beyond and through this?

Well, I would like to shine light on all of the amazing skills and “techniques” that are available to all of us to escape the “sink”.

Really though, the answer and in fact the solution, is contained in one word…


Grace.

That’s it. Another exquisite paradox is that while it is good for us to sincerely work on improving ourselves, utilizing the wisdom of the masters that speak and resonate directly with our soul’s code… the transformation that actually occurs is the result of Grace or a “gift from the Divine”. Specifically, the paradox is that we don’t know when or from what exactly the Grace will reveal itself to us, so we must keep at it… endeavoring, listening to our sacred self, and moving forward in alignment til the Grace makes itself known.

Believe me, we won’t be able to avoid it when it comes.

A huge moment of this Grace was absolutely revealed to me when through Janabai Amsden, co-creator of Euphoria Loves Rawvolution, as she spoke the magic word “AHIMSA” (which translates to “NON-VIOLENCE") and was given to me through her radiance. It was in that exact moment (although I’ve heard the word for years), when I was actually given the GRACE of receiving the message of AHIMSA…. I was in an instant able to actually “experience” what it meant. Once it touched my heart, I never went back to doing what I used to do with food, which was a nearly daily intake of meat and fish for 25+ years.

And a few weeks after this moment, I even let go of something that I have never done in all my 36 years alive… give up all dairy (including Whey Protein, eggs and my beloved Milk in my morning Coffee.)....  ( I want to thank my brother on the path, now dear friend, fellow Jedi and Living Food Body Builder/Life Style Mastery engineer Otto Ruebsamen for helping me to the next level on this one).

Yes, you can still find me at my beloved Intelligentsia most mornings holding court with hall of fame hipsters that I haven’t experienced the likes of since I attended Bard College in the 90’s… drinking heaven in a cup, BLACK. I know, unthinkable  -  ; )   (yes, I'm a total Coffee freak, like Paul Giamati loves Wine in the movie Sideways - and previously with my coffee I LOVED to put Milk in it and never thought I would give that up.... I've learned that sometimes "thinking" is WAY over-rated) 

Yet, after a moment of “Grace”, there is nothing to “think” about… nothing to be “motivated” about… I don't have to "psych" myself into eating plant based food or "living food" or "raw food"... it’s just what I’m doing now.

I’m often asked, “what are you eating?” and “will you be doing this forever”?

I don’t know really. In this moment, it absolutely appears and “feels” that yes, this is what I would most enjoy doing with food for the rest of my time here.

I love what I eat, I love how it tastes and I absolutely LOVE how it makes me feel.

When I eat the food from Rawvolution, I feel completely aligned with LIFE. I feel beautifully awakened in that moment. After I’m finished, I don’t feel “down” or “tired” or "upset" (experiences that would often occur after what I used to eat before I experienced the shift to a plant based living food plan of eating and lifestyle.)

It’s quite interesting… another exquisite paradox is that it’s about the food and at the VERY same time, it’s not about the food.

In other words, it’s not just about eating “raw food” or even cooked “vegan” food etc. Although it is extraordinarily significant to eat a plant based diet if you have embraced a path of non violence, what I’m experiencing now and what I am most interested in is TOTAL TRANSFORMATION.

Total Transformation as I am experiencing it now, comes from a “synergy” of healing living food (courtesy of RAWVOLUTION), physical exercise (yes, going to the gym and including a soon renewed Yoga practice), and so so significantly “emotional healing work” on a weekly basis that I have been so blessed to work in depth recently, being assisted by a mastermind of wisdom as lead by breath work HEALER Michael Baker, Zen mindfulness maestro Dr. Ron Alexander, and the living Obi Wan Kenobi himself – Dr. Wyatt Woodsmall and his wife Marilyne and so much more.

Also, I have the regular support system, insight and coaching from so many FRIENDS. Great beings that I am privileged to not only know in this life, but also whom I get to call FRIEND, who absolutely have my back and are truly there on a daily basis. It’s been the only way I’ve gotten through it.  

Without the synergy of all of this, the transformation would not be occurring in this way.

I even last night got to experience a moment of celebration when Krishna Das came back to Los Angeles and gave a concert of Sacred Chant. Not only did KD wind up giving an incredible and heart opening concert, but right as the event was starting I re-connected with my old mentor who is also one of my greatest life teachers Rick Rubin. Rick not only taught me how to Produce records (he happens to be the best record producer alive on the planet today), he also taught me how total transformation can look like as he shed well over 100 lbs and became an athlete in the process without having any previous experience.

We embraced and beamed at each other as I shared with him how I have been evolving around shedding the excess weight and just how much his leadership of example has meant to me right now. It felt so so good to thank him face to face, heart to heart. (please read my previous blogs about Rick’s story, as it is deeply inspiring for anyone who is working on releasing weight and learning how to healthfully exercise, ESPECIALLY if you have never viewed yourself before as someone who is capable of this lifestyle).

It was a beautiful moment that I will cherish through and through. (and I have to thank one of my favorite people on planet earth, Mr. Brian Gallo for his part in my karmic re-connection with Rick that evening).

However, I almost didn’t make it.

Last week was like, WOW… am I really gonna get through this one?

Really, I didn’t know.

(part 2 of the story to be posted on Thursday.... I know, kind of a cliff hanger.  I assure you, it will be worth the wait...)

In the meantime, a bonus.  Here is a link to a nearly 18 min talk that Ram Dass gave exclusively for the TEDx event in Las Vegas last month.  There is an exceptionally poignant message that RD shares here.  Please turn up your volume and receive GRACE in the wisdom of LOVING AWARENESS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vPI_K40mv4

Yours in Heart,

Shiva