Rose Quartz Uses

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Lovely rose quartz, such a healing stone during times of stress and upheaval. It’s gentle, steady energy can soothe any sorrow, grief or fear. It does this because it is pure crystalized love.

Here are some uses for rose quartz:

• Stress Reducer
• Cleansing – Energy
• Compassion
• Heart Chakra
• Emotions ~ Release
• Fear
• Forgiveness
• Heartache
• Love
• Nurturing a Child
• Meditation
• Receiving – Learning to
• Relationships
• Self-Esteem
• Trust
• Calm
• Heart

 

Mirror Loop: The Inner reflects the Outer

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The old alchemy texts say “As above, so below”, Meaning that any phenomena in the outer world mirrors an inner aspect of ourselves. Anything that we rail against, that gets us fired up and steaming mad, has its roots in our own pain. Criticism from others only sticks to us when it echos something our inner critic also says. If it didn’t, we would laugh it off as ridiculous.

It also works when we have wonderful experiences too. The great time we are having has its roots, not in the events or people surrounding us, but in our own joyful nature. When we are primed for a good time, that is all we have.

This way of looking at life can provide some great insights when seemingly random things happen to us. When life seems to be heaping turds on your table, it might be wise to see if you have been having shitty thoughts lately. Maybe you have or maybe you haven’t, the important thing is to look.

It is in looking at our lives as an extension of the self that the true magic happens. If the outer mirrors the inner, who can you be angry at? It propels you toward peace with spurs of compassion. Wanting world peace is a noble wish, but always ask yourself, “Who am I at war with?’ Every punch thrown curves back and hits you in the face.

Of course we can equally look at the beautiful things in life too, as part of our inner landscape. A great friend can only be in your life if you are also that great. A beautiful piece of music can only be appreciated by a willing ear. Somewhere within you, your inner composer delights in hearing the creative vibrations.

This kind of gentle questioning can lead you to all kinds of interesting answers. Whether the answers are right are not is completely unimportant. What is important is the act of questioning. Turning inward to find the answers, we allow our own wisdom to unfold. The longer we look into the eyes of another, the sooner we find we are looking at ourselves.

Winning and Losing

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I went to see the movie “Moneyball” starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill with my lovely husband tonight. The movie stirred up a topic that I have been thinking about for a while – the emotional dichotomy of winning and losing. Anybody who has played any kind of moderately competitive game will know the thrill of a win and the sagging defeat of a loss. But what if as a spectator you practice compassion for both sides? What then?

We have many examples of us-vs.-them activities in our western world. Even Scrabble is competitive these days. But us-vs.-them thinking runs counter to problem solving or to generating a peaceful, more compassionate world.

True compassion is something that is present for your best friend and worst enemy. Compassion is the act of seeing beyond the outward exterior acts of a person to understand the common humanity we all share. We were all little babies, we all die, and ultimately we all want to be happy. Compassion is the ability to separate the person from the things they do, to look for the causes of another’s bad behaviour, and to understand that only people who are deeply wounded do terrible things.

Compassion, however, is not turning a blind eye to the problems of the world, or excusing the terrible atrocities that are far too prevalent in life. Compassion is about seeing all sides of an issue and seeking to find a way that roots out the cause of a problem. Compassion is asking yourself “Why on earth did they do that?” and not stopping at the simplistic answer “Because they are evil”.

Think back to watching a sports game. You are cheering for your team. When they are winning, it is hard to see a problem with the us-vs.-them dichotomy. After all it feels exhilarating to win; What could possibly be the problem with that? Except when your team is losing. That sucks, plain and simple. But what if, in that instant, you shift your focus from identifying with the losing team to the winning team? If you stop seeing them as the ‘other guys’, then you begin to cheer for them too. Now shift back to the losers, you see the tears in their eyes and relate to that feeling. We have all been there. Things seem bleak, your hopes have been crushed, but yet, we know that these things are temporary, that life goes on and that as long as you are breathing you are living.

Does the concept of most competitive games crumble when you view them through the eyes of compassion? What is the point of winning anyway? Is it gloating? Is it the ego trip of dominating another or demonstrating that you are the best? If a person’s sense of self is confined to ratings and points and external approval, then wining becomes crucial, in fact it becomes the only thing. But if you have a balanced and healthy self-esteem, where you have a deep knowing that you are good, then do you stop needing competitive wins to fill you up? If you appreciated the thrill of the game and the skill of the players, would it matter who won? Would we stop keeping score? Would we look through the eyes of another and finally see ourselves for the first time?