The Dance of Creation
By Administrator | February 26, 2009
Spring is in the air here in the mountains of Portugal, signalled by the bright yellow blossoms of the mimosas. The warm February sun is summoning the symphony of singing sap and burgeoning buds are breaking forth from the fecund earth. Oh how I love Spring, I can feel my blood quickening to the pulse of Creation’s new dawn as Life begins its ascension from the dark replenishing rest of winter…YYYEEESSS!!!
Almond blossom is here!
There is so much to do and so many new things that I want to do and explore and there is never enough time in the day. But I am a blessed and happy man because to open the floodgates of one’s soul to Life’s Creative Stream and be overwhelmed is to live in the current of ecstasy.
And I have had an added Spring in my step since I finally got dear Antonio the wooden spoon maker, from whom we bought half the farm, to finally show me the boundaries after badgering him for a year …and, lo and behold, we have much more land than I thought, including the land adjoining the huge gushing waterfall, the first of many that flow down the gorge of Fraga da Pena.
Portuguese Zen and the Art of Wooden Spoon Making
So is this where the border is Antonio mais o menos?
Is the border where that cork oak is or that large slate stone?
So my recent days have been filled with the sensations of Spring and Creation and Waterfalls…
On the subject of the wonder of Creation and Creativity, someone who visited the quinta asked me the other day what I meant by the “Awakened Life” Project, and I said it had a lot to do with creativity. But not just the creativity of art, or music, of doing something creative, but the art of being and living as an ongoing creative act.
When one pursues one´s deepest longing with singular intention at some point the context of Life undergoes a profound shift. This shift occurs at the root of one´s perception of reality. While before one experienced the flow of events as originating elsewhere, one now experiences oneself as being at cause. One finds oneself swimming in and moved by great universal forces of inspiration and passion that far transcend one´s personal sense of self. Then the experience of living takes on a mythic and magical hue as a wondrous dynamic of “participation mystique” begins to unfold between self and world, between the perceiver and the perceived.
When I gaze at the mountain stream that rushes through the valley or sit awestruck before the cascading raw exuberance of the waterfalls, it is the energy of ever moving, elemental unrestrained life force that they echo back to me in an instantaneous fusion of recognition. Life shouting “Wake up, I am here, I am ungraspable, I AM…a flux of ungraspable white incandescence!”
To make ourselves available to this awakened life stream all we have to do is free ourselves from assumptions, beliefs, and systems that keep our consciousness bound up. This is not always easy but, if we are committed to it, is a fascinating ongoing adventure of evolutionary learning.
We are here to expand and grow and reach and flow but most people, it seems to me, keep pushing the same heavy rock uphill for years and years, and maybe even lifetimes. They try to make the best of a mediocre situation and call it ´normal´ or say, “I’m just doing the best I can”. But if they are lucky eventually they realize they want to take another path. They realize they have to break out. They realize that Life is waiting and they have to meet it.
The Awakened Life is that path.
An Awakened Life is a truly creative life.
It is not a flight from life into the ´spiritual´ ethers. It is the ongoing discovery of oneself as a portal for the great cosmic dance of Creation. How to open up to, and allow oneself to be reconfigured by, the vast exploding cosmos of possibilities? Or, as my dear friend Nathan recently put it, how to translate the call of Consciousness into actuality through the cerebral patterning of a human brain? Definitely an endless stretch but what could be more compelling?
This doesn’t have anything to do with most notions of what “spiritual” means to people. There is no sublimation of self. No self-conscious cultivation of virtue. No regime of self-improvement. No self-sacrifice to a great Other. On the contrary, reaching for the Awakened Life is reclamation of our original power. But not the egoistic power of control or the self-aggrandizement of wanting to attain some final state of “enlightenment”. It is the power of Life, of Love, of Consciousness released in and through our own being. We have to get out of our own way. Something extraordinary wants to happen here. Because Life is Extraordinary, just look at the miracle of Spring for starters! Then our Lifeblood flows like a river cascading down a waterfall in sparks of white incandescence.
It shouts Freedom, Independence, Choice, Energy and Adventure…
It shouts YES and it shouts NOW!
Love Pete
A Dança da Criação
A Primavera está no ar. Aqui, nas montanhas de Portugal, o quente sol de Fevereiro chama a sinfonia da seiva melodiosa e as flores despontam da terra fecunda.
Oh, como adoro a Primavera! Posso sentir o meu sangue a correr veloz no pulso da nova luz da Criação, ao mesmo tempo que a Vida inicia a sua ascensão do escuro descanso do Inverno… SIIIIM!!
Há tantas e novas coisas que pretendo fazer e explorar, mas nunca há tempo suficiente para tudo durante o dia.
Porém, sou um homem abençoado e feliz, pois abrir as portas da torrente da alma ao rio criativo da Vida e sentir um bem-estar constante é viver em contínuo êxtase.
E recebi uma «Primavera» acrescida, desde que o António – artesão de colheres de madeira a quem comprámos metade da nossa quinta – me mostrou, finalmente, as fronteiras da nossa terra, após um ano de espera… e, reparem bem, é bem maior do que pensávamos. Na fronteira da nossa terra temos uma grande cascata, a primeira de muitas que formam o desfiladeiro da Fraga da Pena.
Os meus dias são, assim, preenchidos pela contemplação da Primavera, da Criação e das Quedas de água.
Um visitante da nossa quinta perguntou-me o que significa Projecto de Vida Desperta, ao que respondi estar muito relacionado com a criatividade. Não apenas com a criatividade artística, musical, ou seja, com o facto de se realizar algo criativo, mas sim com a arte de Ser e Viver como um acto criativo contínuo. Quando alguém persegue o seu propósito pessoal até aos limites, o contexto da Vida atinge uma mudança profunda e esse alguém dá por si a nadar e a mover-se por grandes forças universais de inspiração e paixão. A experiência de Vida assume um tom mítico e mágico, já que uma incrível dinâmica de participação mística ocorre entre o Eu e o Mundo.
A pessoa não está mais separada do movimento da Vida. Este movimento torna-se, pelo contrário, uma extensão do próprio Ser.
Quando olho para a ribeira que se apressa pela montanha até ao vale, ou me sento fascinado ante a exuberante e rara cascata e o poder das quedas de água, ecoa dentro de mim a energia deste movimento eterno e da elementar força da vida selvagem numa fusão e reconhecimento instantâneos. É a vida a gritar: “Acorda. Estou aqui. Sou firme, Sou… um fluxo de branca incandescência!”
Para nos tornarmos aptos a receber esta torrente do despertar da vida, precisamos apenas de nos libertar de presunções, crenças e sistemas que prendem a nossa consciência, nem sempre fácil, mas sem dúvidas uma fascinante e contínua aventura de aprendizagem e evolução.
Existimos para nos expandirmos, crescer, atingir objectivos e fluir. No entanto, a maior parte das pessoas, parece-me, carrega a mesma pedra pesada pela montanha acima durante anos e anos ou mesmo durante toda a vida.
Acomodam-se ao melhor de uma situação medíocre, chamando-lhe de “normal” ou dizendo simplesmente: “Tento fazer o melhor que posso”. Porém – se tiverem sorte –, aperceber-se-ão, eventualmente, que querem seguir um caminho diferente. Entendem, então, que precisam de quebrar com o passado…
A Vida Desperta é esse caminho.
Uma Vida Desperta é uma verdadeira vida criativa.
Não é um voo da Vida para os céus espirituais. Para mim, trata-se da descoberta contínua do próprio Ser como um portal para a grande dança cósmica da Criação.
Não tem nada que ver com o que a maior parte das pessoas entende por Espiritual. Não se trata de uma sublimação do Ser. Não há promoção da virtude. Não há regras para a evolução do indivíduo. Não há sacrifícios individuais em prol de um Deus maior ou Outro ser superior. Pelo contrário, seguir uma vida Desperta significa reclamar o nosso poder original. No entanto, não entendamos isso como um poder egoísta de controlo ou de auto-exarcebação em busca de estado iluminado final.
O Um dá por si a cavalgar com o poder da vida, da Consciência libertada no e através do próprio Ser. É o apelo para deixarmos o nosso próprio caminho. Algo de extraordinário pretende acontecer aqui, pois a Vida é Extraordinária e, para começar, basta observar o milagre da Primavera. O sangue da nossa vida flui como um rio, desenhando cascatas em flashes de branca incandescência.
E grita Liberdade, Independência, Escolha, Energia e Aventura.
Grita SIM e grita Agora!
Muito Amor,
Pete
Topics: Project News, Awakening | No Comments »
O choro da Terra e a chamada para a Consciência
By Administrator | February 19, 2009
Aqui estou, sentado no escuro, escrevendo à luz da vela, pois o sol escondeu-se por uns dias e ficámos sem energia. Estou sozinho e envolvido no silêncio ensurdecedor da montanha, com o som distante da ribeira, que corre apressada pelo vale (espero nela colocar uma turbina no próximo ano para que possamos ter energia hidráulica).
Faz aproximadamente um ano desde que eu e a Cynthia comprámos a Quinta da Mizarela. Sentado na nossa recuperada casa de xisto, reflectindo sobre tudo o que aconteceu dentro e fora de mim, tendo imaginar o que ganhará forma aqui no decorrer do próximo ano.
Desde que a Jacqueline se juntou a nós, passámos a ser três. Começámos a partilhar visões para este lugar e sinto-me a transbordar de inspiração para fazer deste Projecto de Vida Desperta um oásis de unidade plena, beleza e potencial de evolução humana. Então, qual a razão do nome Projecto Vida Desperta? A razão é que independentemente do que criarmos (retiros meditativos, yoga, permacultura, cursos espirituais, etc.) destina-se a facilitar o despertar para a nossa verdadeira identidade como não estando separada do vasto oceano que é a própria vida.
Li recentemente que alguém colocou ao reconhecido professor e monge Zen, Thich Nat Hanh, a questão: “O que precisamos para salvar o nosso mundo?” Os seus interlocutores esperavam que ele identificasse as melhores estratégias a seguir em termos sociais e ambientais, mas a resposta foi esta: “O que mais precisamos fazer é ouvir entre nós o som da Terra a chorar”.
Esta história provocou um grande impacto em mim, pois articulou de uma forma poderosa a minha própria experiência. Ouvir e sentir claramente a voz da Terra a chorar por dentro foi o que, em grande parte, me trouxe a este lugar. Mas este é também o som das nossas próprias almas a clamarem pela libertação para que sejamos nós e a Terra, definitivamente, Um.
Vivemos em tempos cruciais de uma crise sem precedentes e também de oportunidades, nos quais a nossa sobrevivência como espécie se encontra ameaçada. Porém, a crise que enfrentamos não é prioritariamente ecológica. A crise ecológica é apenas sintoma de outra mais profunda: crise de consciência. A raiz de todos os problemas sistémicos convergentes com que nos deparamos, juntos no horizonte como uma tempestade, é a furiosa ligação a nós mesmos como sendo egos enclausurados numa pele. Esconder a falsa identificação humana sob o ser separado é um medo existencial.
Para atenuar este medo, o Eu desconectado mostra uma insaciável necessidade de segurança, gratificação material sem fim e estimulação mental entorpecida que a crescente civilização industrial oferece em abundância, numa espiral crescente e cancerosa de loucura. De qualquer forma, o mundo industrial e comercial já teve os seus dias, assim como a nossa destrutiva paixão obsessiva por nós mesmos como entidades separadas. A nossa cultura canibal consumista e narcisista destrói a real fonte de Vida que nos fez nascer. Estamos forçados a uma crise de identidade de proporções épicas e, acredito, dirigindo-nos para uma noite escura da Alma da Raça Humana.
A vida está a lançar o desafio à sua própria progenitura selvagem: Desenvolve ou Morre!
Mas um grandioso acordar mexe os corações e mentes de muitos que, tal como nós, reconhecem o problema entre nós e não apenas como algo externo. Nunca ninguém conseguiu estar fora do processo da Vida. A Vida grita das profundezas, pedindo-nos que transcendamos a nossa ligação a uma adolescência prolongada, onde os nossos desejos envolvem apenas as necessidades individuais. A Vida que somos grita para realizarmos e abraçarmos a nossa conexão com toda a espécie humana e com o mundo não-humano da Natureza.
Quanto mais espaço criarmos em nós mesmos para ouvir esta chamada, tendo depois a coragem de nos fundirmos com ela, mais nos sentiremos impelidos para encontrarmos, de forma criativa, novos caminhos para nós mesmos e para os outros.
E, de repente, uma luz acende-se dentro de nós, preenchendo-nos com poder e inspiração, pois a vida encontra um portal pelo qual respirar, conhecer-se e exprimir-se, livre das algemas do passado, do medo, da negação, do peso mortal da “existência separada”.
A Vida que todos somos é imortal. A vasta e indescritível inteligência que torna a Vida possível em todas as suas formas espera descansada para nos animar e mover. Esse processo de Evolução é, simultaneamente, interno e externo. Todos sabemos que tem importância, todos sentimos profundamente que é importante e está a tornar-se cada vez mais difícil para nós, como seres humanos despertos, ver o nosso próprio despertar espiritual fora do contexto da transformação do Mundo como um todo.
Assim, idealizo a Quinta da Mizarela como sendo um farol na Cura e Liberação da Vida. Um santuário onde podemos encontrar descanso e mergulhar na Verdadeira Natureza, livres dos condicionamentos do passado e da personalidade; uma quinta orgânica de Permacultura, onde possamos reconectar-nos com a Alma da Natureza e aprender a arte da vida sustentável; um campo criativo de possibilidades infinitas, onde possamos descobrir o nosso verdadeiro propósito como agentes do vasto mistério da Vida, tornando-nos cada vez mais Conscientes de nós mesmos.
Topics: Project Visions, Awakening | 1 Comment »
10 Days at the Edge
By Administrator | February 1, 2009
When Pete & Cynthia invited us to stay in the Yurt, we welcomed the opportunity as it was a chance to find out, first hand, something we had only imagined doing, when we found our land. It was also time to get to know Pete & Cynthia some more.
So it was with a mixture of excitement and trepidation that we descended the path to Quinta da Mizarela, carrying what we could from our parked campervan. We guessed that life in a yurt in the middle of winter might be challenging.
First we found that there was some drying out to do as water had been creeping in under the edges of the canvas. There was a fire to make and we quickly learnt about the idiosyncrasies of the woodstove installed in the heart of the yurt. Wood sawing one of my favourite occupations took up the remainder of that first afternoon, while Emma sorted out the food and cooking utensils and made our beds.
Those first days or more correctly those nights turned out to be the coldest period we had yet experienced, with temperatures dropping to -10. Even with all our bedding and hot water bottles, we felt like Eskimos cocooned under the circular dome of the yurt. It was a major effort to get out of bed and get that stove lit and make a hot drink. Still during the morning the sun rose in a clear sky and we sunbathed out on the surrounding decking as the peaceful life around us at the Quinta unfolded.
There were the donkeys Mingo and Nuno who lived down on the flat plain below us, grazing on what they could find. Later on during our stay we helped in leading them up to one of the upper terraces where they feasted on fresh greenery, kept in by the electrified orange bands that defined their boundary.
It was quiet that first weekend, the builders away, Pete was suffering from an agonising toothache and while Cynthia attended, we didn’t see much of either of them, except for the porridge delivery. We became café Yurt each morning as the bleep beep of the mobile phone relayed text messages between the Quinta and us in the porridge department. With Pete’s toothache, porridge was all he could manage to have for breakfast, abstaining from his usual crunchy raw diet. Our sympathy went out to him those first few nights as the pain reached fever pitch while Emma administered what first-aid she could.
After some days of the extreme cold the wet windy weather replaced it. We had one night when the wind swept through the valley tugging at every loose piece of the yurt. We were relieved to be still attached to the platform in the morning. Quite sleep deprived we snuggled into the yurt and toasted our feet around the stove only venturing out to make our deposit in the nearby compost loo, which had stood up well to the ferocious winds. Even the builders didn’t appear that morning.
I became a path builder during our stay with Pete & Cynthia, making first a pathway of stepping stones from the yurt to the compost loo using the flat shist slates that litter the area, carrying them down the steep slopes and bedding them in to the levelled area I had dug using that ever so useful tool the ‘enxada’. More path building followed as I made a schisto stairway that completed the connection from the houses above to the compost loo. I was especially proud of this as I cut and shaped all the stakes that secured the boards that were placed in front of each step.
While I was busy doing my job, Emma was busy picking up as much donkey dung as she could load into a large bucket, and piling it on to some palettes. It was hard work, but she enjoyed it. The donkeys would follow her around, thinking that she had food in the bucket and at times stand right in front of her while she tried to scoop up the dung with her spade.
On some of the very rainy days we simply enjoyed the warm ambience of the yurt, lying back, gazing up at the orange wheel in the centre, like a mandala with its colourful swirling Mongolian designs.
Danny, whom we had met once before at Pete & Cynthia’s showed up one day, fresh from a 2 month stay in Costa Rica, and very synchronistically it turned out that he was on route to stay at a Cortijo in the Alpujarras, Spain that is owned by a very good friend of ours. Small world indeed! Later the next day after he had caught up with sleep, he described some of the life and adventures, he and his partner Anna experienced in that tropical landscape.
One lovely morning I took a walk out along the schisto path towards Sardal to explore some of the quintas hugging the steep slopes high above the gushing streams. The sound of flowing water was an ever-present accompaniment to our stay. Pete & Cynthia are close to installing a ram pump to fill up their tank above the Quinta and soon hope to harness this raw energy to power up their home.
Emma wanted to mention the incredible sight of the stars at night as we ducked our heads, through the low yurt gateway and stood on the decking watching as Orion’s sword & belt rose up above the wooded valley, finding that little cluster of stars the Pleiades, tracing its position from the hilt of Orion’s sword.
On one of our last days I took off with Pete to clear brush and help light an enormous bonfire. Unfortunately even with the help of gasoline the branches were much too wet for the fire to take off. While I was thus occupied Emma was helping Cynthia clear the little triangular area, created by the new pathways, and planting a variety of bulbs there. We look forward to seeing the feast of colour to come in the spring.
On our last evening together, we all gathered for meditation sitting in candlelight, with cats and dogs in the timeless present. A lovely way to end our stay.
Our time in the Yurt and on the land was an experience of complete immersion in the elements. The Earth beneath us, the Sky above us, the Fire that kept us warm, the all pervading sound and presence of Water and the ever-changing voice of the Wind. This Vastness, of which we are a part, fully enriched and refreshed our souls.
As we all stood gathered at the doorway of the Quinta saying our goodbyes the last thing I heard Pete say was; “Every day here is like a rite of passage”.
River & Emma
Topics: Project News, Volunteers & Visitors | No Comments »
Snow at the Quinta!
By Administrator | January 20, 2009
Hello Everyone!
Its January 20th and as I was walking down to the compost loo this morning to make my morning contribution and I noticed the rain was a bit ´thicker than it usually is! I went to the yurt deck to squeegie off the water and I noticed what was on the deck was a bit thicker than water! By the time I got back into the house it started to snow and over the next hour it REALLY snowed like crazy!
Here are a few photos. I´m glad I took them as the snow only lasted for about an hour. It was gorgeous to see but after 8 years in snowy Massachusetts an hour was just fine with me!
Hey as I am writing this a loud thunder cracked and it’s starting to hail! Wow it sounds like its going to break the roof tiles up. Hang on I’m going to go grab the camera!
…
OK I’m back. Wow! That was intense! It only lasted about 2 or 3 minutes but it was a long 2 or 3 minutes. Here are some photos!
So even though the weather is freaking me out a bit, here’s how the rest of the family is spending their snowing/hailey/rainy day!
…the cats looking very worried!
…Tux taking over my hot water bottle!
So as I sign off it continues to snow. It’s actually quite beautiful! And for those of you that are worried about the donkeys, they are tucked away snuggly in their house albeit without a hot water bottle!
Cynthia
PS I just found out that it hasn’t snowed like this for 40 years, so said one of the locals. So much for global warming.
Topics: Project News | 2 Comments »
Off Grid Blues
By Administrator | January 15, 2009
Another wild wet and windy day, well at least it is not sub zero temperatures like northern Europe. After waiting in vain this morning for about 20 mins for the water to get warm through our woodburner heating system so I could have a real shower—which I really need!—I spontaneously found myself channelling my frustration through my guitar, hope you enjoy! For the geetar players out there its a slow shuffle in E…
Off Grid Blues
E
Well we aint got no power
Cos we aint got no sun
Aint got no hot water
E7
Cos the pump needs sun to run…
And we getting cold
E
And the wind is a-howling through
B7
So we sittin here by the fire
C7 B7 E
With the off-grid blues
Its been 5 days
The sun aint shone yet
We livin by candlelight
And cant get on the internet…
Yeah it can be tough
But there is really nuthin we can do
So we just sit here by the fire
With the off-grid blues
Well we got plenty of water
But no hydro system yet
We cant get the car up the track
So we cant get to the market…
And a hydro system costs a lotta money
Have you hard the economic news?
So we just count our blessings by the fire
With the off-grid blues
Might not have any power
But we got cats and dogs around
They help us thru the hard times
Cos they don’t let it get them down…
Yeah they keep our spirits high
Our purpose straight, strong and true
Now they all snoozing around the fire
With the off-grid blues
Well its rainin and windy
And I don’t know what to do
The wind is blowin everything away
The roof is comin off the compost loo..
Well I can’t handle it now
So guess I´ll make us a good strong brew
And we´ll sit by the fire
With the off-grid blues
Topics: Project News | 1 Comment »
A Visit to the Awakened Life Project…
By Administrator | January 12, 2009
I wanted to share a few of the highlights of my recent visit to central Portugal to hang out with my old friends, Pete and Cynthia for ten days over Christmas at the end of December. I am frankly still flying on the high energy from being with good friends I’ve shared a lot with and witnessing how this inspiring “Portugal project” is coming together.
I was so impressed by the great vitality of my old friends—tanned, healthy, deeply tuned into the land, and extremely HAPPY! There’s a lotta LOVE flowing at Quinta de Mizarela! The only faint ripple was when the donkeys escaped and ate up the cabbages! We had plenty of time to relax and hang out and share everything that we have been learning since we last saw each other. It was pretty amazing and wonderful to see how much we are “on the same page” despite the fact that I hadn’t seen Pete and Cynthia for over seven years. It was mutually affirming to share our interest and passion for human evolution/species evolution and the present and upcoming significant changes our planet is currently undergoing—as well as continuously learning about how we can be present as active “co-creators” in birthing something radically new and unknown. I came home to Montana loaded with new ideas for books, videos, websites, and music, as well as a lot of inspiration for eating more raw food. I found that my own ongoing investigation into human evolution was continuously “tweaked” in the course of our many conversations, and numerous new avenues of inquiry were opened up. And one of the most unexpected outcomes of this visit was suddenly feeling a deep urgency to begin to manifest a sustainable living situation on some property I have here on Flathead Lake in Montana, start learning about permaculture, and plant an organic garden.
I look forward to visiting this wonderful “happening” in central Portugal again in sunny weather. It was a bit cold in December, but certainly nothing like our below zero weather and snow in Montana! I really encourage any of you who are curious about what Pete, Cynthia, and Jacqueline are brewing up to figure out how to fly to Portugal for a visit!
Much love,
Roberta
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The Cry of the Earth & The Call of Consciousness
By Administrator | December 15, 2008
“Something inside me has reached to the place
Where the world is breathing”
Kabir
Here I sit in the dark typing by candlelight as we have had no sun for a while and hence no power. I am alone and enveloped in the deafening mountain silence save for the distant sound of the stream rushing through the valley (in which I hope to have a turbine by next year so we will have water power!). It is roughly one year now since Cynthia and I actually bought Quinta da Mizarela. As I sit in our renovated slate stone house, reflecting on how much has occurred both inwardly and outwardly, I wonder what will take shape here over the course of another year.
So why it is called the Awakened Life Project? Because whatever we create here is dedicated to facilitating our awakening to our true identity as non-separate from the vast ocean of Life itself.
I recently read that the well known Zen monk and teacher Thich Nat Hanh was asked, “What do we need to do to save our world?” His questioners expected him to identity the best strategies to pursue in social and environmental action, but his answer was this, “What we most need to do is to hear within us the sounds of the Earth crying.”
That had a big impact on me when I read it because it powerfully articulated my own experience. Clearly hearing and feeling the voice of the Earth welling up from within is in large part what has led me to this place. But the sound of the crying Earth is also the sound of our own souls crying for release, for we are one with the Earth.
We live in a tipping point time of unprecedented crisis and opportunity in which our very survival as a species hangs in the balance. But the crisis we face is not primarily an ecological one. The ecological crisis is a symptom of a deeper crisis: a crisis of consciousness. The root of all the converging systemic problems that face us now, gathering like a perfect storm on the horizon, is our ferocious attachment to ourselves as separate “skin encapsulated egos”. Underlying humankind’s false identification with the separate self is existential fear. To appease that fear the separate self streams out its insatiable demand for security, for endless material gratification and for mind numbing stimulation which our industrial growth civilization supplies in abundance in a cancerous and ever increasing spiral of madness. But the industrial commercial world has had its day, as has our destructive self-interested infatuation with ourselves as isolated separate entities. Our cannibalistic culture of consumerism and narcissism is eating away the very source of Life that birthed us. We are forcing upon ourselves an identity crisis of epic proportions and, I believe, heading into a dark night of the soul of the human race. Life is throwing down the gauntlet to its own wild progeny: Evolve or Perish!
But a Great Awakening is stirring in the hearts and minds of many as we recognize that the problem is not “out there”, but lies right here within us. None of us has ever been or ever could be outside the Life process. The Life that we are is screaming from the depths for us to transcend our attachment to a prolonged adolescence of only wanting for ourselves. The Life that we are is crying out for us to realize and embrace our kinship with all mankind and the non-human world of Nature. The more we make room in ourselves to hear that call, and then have the courage to merge with it, the more we are compelled to take creative action to forge new pathways for ourselves and others. A light turns on inside and we are suddenly empowered and inspired as Life finds a portal through which to breathe and know and express itself, freed from the shackles of the past, of fear, of denial, of the deadening weight of “separate existence”.
The Life that we all are is immortal. The vast, indescribable intelligence that makes Life in all its forms possible lies waiting to animate and move us. That process of Evolution is an internal and external one simultaneously. We all know it matters, we all feel deeply that it matters, and it is getting harder and harder for us as awakening human beings, to see our own “spiritual awakening” outside of the context of the transformation of the world as a whole.
So my vision is for Quinta da Mizarela to be a beacon of healing and liberation of Life.
A sanctuary where we can find rest and merge into our True Nature freed from the limitations of the past and personality; an organic permaculture farm where we can reconnect with the Soul of Nature and learn the art of sustainable living; and a creative field of infinite possibility in which we can discover our true purpose as agents of the vast mystery of Life becoming ever more Conscious as ourselves.
Love Pete
Topics: Project Visions, Awakening | 1 Comment »
Tree Planting Minga - Planted over 700 Trees!
By Administrator | November 23, 2008
Wow 780 trees planted by 18 people in about 5 hours! Amazing! Well that’s what happened on Saturday when we had our first ´minga´ which is a Latin American term for a communal work party.
There were 1000 oaks and cork oaks delivered from Mata da Magaraça on Friday…
It was a beautiful day with lots of sun and gorgeous blue sky. We couldn’t have asked for better weather. It was so much fun in the morning as people arrived, some we expected and others were a delightful surprise.
We were like a well oiled machine, some taking the trees out of the pots, soaking them in water, some bringing the water, others going up and down the hill, digging holes and planting, and some in the kitchen preparing chai and food. Everyone was working hard, the atmosphere was one of complete relaxation and lots of activity. What a joy to have so many people here working together, bringing laughter and light to the quinta while planting a heck of a lot of trees!
the hillside was pretty steep!
Armando and Isabella hard at work
a well deserved chai break
Isabella and Leen
Carolien and Pete
River and Leen using her head!
Philipa got the dirtiest face award!
finally time for lunch!
check out the dirty faces! (Joanna, Chris and River)
Josh and Veronica
Clare, Joanna, Caroline, Emma and Philipa
So THANK YOU everyone who came and helped us. At the end of the day, the three of us sat blissfully around the woodburner reflecting on the day. It was wonderful to have the trees in the ground in what will grow to be a beautiful hillside of deciduous trees AND it was equally as wonderful to have had so many friends here helping us. If you haven’t hosted a minga we highly recommend it. We would never have been able to do this job alone and when many come together in this way it not only turns a huge task into something manageable but it gives all who are present a beautiful experience of being together. If you haven’t been to a minga we highly recommend that also! You will have another chance on November 30th in Chão Sobral. João is hosting a tree planting minga. We´re going and we hope to see everyone there! For more info contact João at joaovox@gmail.com.
Love,
Cynthia, Pete and Jacqueline (the newest member of the Awakened Life Project and an awesome cook and chai maker!)
PS: And a big thank you to everyone from Nina, Anita and Sammy who were completely exhaused by the end of the day!
Topics: Project News | 3 Comments »
What a Beautiful Place to Call Home!
By Administrator | November 23, 2008
Wow, I just love our house! Today is the first day that I can actually say this wholeheartedly! It’s taken me a little while to actually land here and I hate to say this but it just hadn’t felt like home until I had actually cleaned it a few times and organized a bit. YES I know that sounds awfully housewifey but that’s just the way it is and I proudly admit it!
But now that I’ve gone through this process I can say I LOVE THIS HOUSE with my whole being and I’m so happy and grateful to be here with Pete and all our furry family (who by the way are confined to the living room!). There’s nothing better than having the wood burner going with Pete next to me and all the animals curled up snoozing away.
The other night we had an informal christening of the house and I think also of the project. We decided to have the weekly meditation/conscious conversation group at our house. We expected to be 5 people but we ended up being 10. As we meditated so much love and joy welled up in me to have this happening in our house! Simultaneously I also saw that we needed a lot more space! If you read my post in the About Us section then you will know that one of the reasons I want to create this project is to give people a safe and loving environment to just be. 4 of the 10 people in the group the other night had never been before and they expressed how safe and comfortable they felt just to be themselves. I have to say that I felt magic in the air, as if the Universe was saying, `See its happening just as I planned`.
So as I sit here looking out the front door to the front and the veranda door to the side, I have no desire to ever be anywhere else. The autumn colours are still bright and beautiful to one side of me and out the front door I see Jacqueline’s house. Eusebio´s men are here working and they are like maniacs as they tear off the roof and throw old timber and stones out the window. It’s a wonderful contrast of still beauty and lots of activity. It won’t be long before I will be looking out my front door and see Jacqueline having a cup of tea on her veranda.
If you haven’t read Pete’s post yet, go there now as he says a lot of things I would have said! I think he uses the word Love about a gazillion times and I don’t blame him a bit!
So with no further adieu, here are a few photos!
Love,
Cynthia
…Our living room, we have a new couch but no photo yet, stay tuned til next update!
…Living room looking the other direction.
Kitchen -we still are looking for natural varnish for the stones.
Kitchen stairs going up to lounge. Bathroom door in the back.
The bedroom. Door in back goes to lounge.
I will take more photos as we get the house more sussed out and post them.
Topics: Project News | No Comments »
