Mantra Maven Blog

Like many of you, I watched Barack Obama's acceptance speech last night for the Democratic's Party's nomination for President. Whatever you political leanings, you can't ignore the significance of the event. The first African-American nominee for a major party accepting the nomination on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech in a stadium of more than 85,000 cheering supporters. In response to this opponent's tactics, he called for the country to not make this "big election" about "small things." He asked for the country to say "enough" to the previous eight year's deference to big business and minimizing of the needs of its people. "I am my brother's keeper," he said. "I am my sister's keeper." I couldn't help but think, his message about aspiration and togetherness is both a political and spiritual one. Marianne Williamson, in her efforts to create a Department of Peace in Washington D.C., has spoken often about the intersection of spirituality and politics. Contrary to many, the two are not mutually exclusive. Our country has wisely kept religion out of politics but spirituality.....it encompasses everything we do and everything we are. Are we ready for a new approach to politics?

Many blessings,
Tiffany

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I'm a big fan of Oprah's Soul Series. During her Soul Series, she interviews an individual who has left a mark on her in regards to spirituality. In a recent episode, she interviewed Wayne Dyer about his latest book about reflections of the Tao in his most recent book, Change for Thoughts, Change your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao. The book is made up of his personal reflections on the Tao Te Ching, a book of Chinese philosopy written by Lao-tzu more than 2,500 years ago. During the discussion, Oprah and Wayne briefly discussed the upcoming election season. Oprah mentioned how great it would be to have "Tao centered leadership" in our country. Wayne felt it was on it's way. I really had to sit down to think about that. During this election season, we've heard so much about candidates and their perceived accomplishments, spouses, past votes, affiliations, educational backgrounds, family lineage, etc. Wouldn't it be interesting to factor in their consciousness to lead as well? What type of impact might that have on the direction of our country? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Many blessings,
Tiffany

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Seventh Generation is a new term being floated around to discuss the sustainability of today's natural resources. It is also the name of the company, Seventh Generation, (of which I am a fan) which makes environmentally friendly household and cleaning products. Both uses of the term are derived from Native American folklore, which says that "in our every deliberation we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations." I was struck by how profound of a message this is. How would our lives be different if we recognized the impact that our individual choices will have on descendants of our country and planet for the next 150 to 200 years. It's easy to grasp intellectually but difficult on a day-by-day basis. Your decisions about what you eat, what you buy, and how you drive now have huge consequences, potentially good, bad or neutral, for future generations. And try expanding this concept to what you think, what you say, what you believe, how you live......It makes you realize how significant you really are to the world. Think about it! Welcome to the new level of accountability.

Many blessings,

Tiffany

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Like many you, I've read Ekart Tolle's A New Earth. In fact, I've read it twice, eagerly highlighting with yellow marker as I went along. Although I am not an avid Oprah book club reader, when she first suggested the book, I decided to give it a try. I had read Tolle's previous book, The Power of Now, and I was open to hearing what else he had to say. Again, like many of you, A New Earth was an epiphany for me. I always realized there was something a little off with the way many individuals (not necessarily excluding myself) were so driven by the future, past and all things external. This book gave me a name to use to describe it--the ego. It also gave me a solution--focus on the "now." It's been about four months since in finished my second reading of the book. The epiphany has faded. Putting Tolle's words into action has been challenging. Living in the "now" is really hard! There's always something from the future or past that seems to creep into my thoughts. But I'm not giving up. And I do have my moments--when I'm walking home, and I see the wind in the trees and the birds flying in the blue sky speckled with white clouds. I am so there and peaceful in those moments. I can even let them go when I reach my front door.

Many blessings,
Tiffany

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