Lisa Tilson

I vaguely recall a Yogi Bhajan lecture that compared persuing a spiritual practise to digging a hole. He said that if you constantly start new holes, you never actually get there. So, if you want to get there, eventually you have to pick a hole and stick with it. This makes complete sense. Physically, the earth is round, and so any hole, if dug perpendicular to the earth will evenutally end up in the center, thus all holes leading to the same place. Theologically, most religions and spiritual practices come down to roughly the same principals, its just about the story that suits you best. This is not to say that occasionally you won’t hit bedrock and have to call for a larger shovel, it just means that if you stick with one, eventually you will get there, and some therefore, are slower than others.

The hole also brings to mind the tag line from the film “What The Bleep Do We Know?”, how far down the rabbit hole do you want to go?, which of course brings to mind Alice in Wonderland (another story all together, or should I say hole?) Anyway, back to the tag line. Today I considered the question deeply. I have some pretty strong, double blind study style evidence that proves to me that a lot of things are possible, for example, astral projection or the ability to see, feel and interact with energy. I say prove to me, because the evidence is such that I understand it, others may or may not feel the same way. Everytime I get a hit of this, it strengthens my belief that perhaps there is even more to be seen out there.

Where am I going with this? Well, I have been trying out different spiritual tools, and today I am curious about the moon and its effects, and in the same vein, the planets. From my research, I have come to understand fairly competently the moons effects the ocean, and how the phases of the moon work, simple science. Furthermore, I can understand that if the moon effects the ocean, planting according to the moon would effect the growth and yield of your crops (Its no secret, its all over the farmers almanac.) However, there are a lot of people who invest in the idea that the moon effects people, their energy and the outcome of decisions, plans, ideas etc. I have definately experienced full moons that are out of hand, nothing going according to plan, people not communicating and whatnot. In fact, I find more and more that at least the full moon makes quite a significant impact on my life - it definately effects my menstrual cycle. So what about the other phases?

Today I found some information that states the best time to start an endevore, is on the new moon. Immediately, the podcast came to mind. The podcast did not come together last week weekend, not at all. Full moon. The full moon is a little intense for most new ideas, the energy being a little bit overkill (that makes sense, I was I little bit… shall we say, busy?) And what about this weekend, the waning quarter: banishing energy… getting rid of negativity, bad habits. Technically the New moon is the best time for this new project. Shall we wait?
Reasons why waiting would be a good idea:

1. I’m not even done writing yet (I can see why other podcasters invite contributers) and I haven’t even been lazy about it.
2. I don’t completely understand the technical aspect (will I ever?)
3. I got an intuitive hit during the Reiki Share tonight that I should wait.
4. The moon.

Reasons to dive in and air this weekend:

1. I said I was going to.
2. …

I am not one to take something as the word of god until I have really tested it out in my life, so this moon idea still needs to marinade for a while. Hmmm. Three to one then. It looks like I need to follow my intuition instead of waiting until Saturday at midnight like last weekend. I am going to wait. I’m going to give this moon thing a try.

On the bright side, I can blog more this weekend!

PS this weekend I am changing the website to: www.lisatilson.com. We will, however, be redirecting traffic from this URL, so both will work.

Well, I got the job! Lorraine of Red Fish Kids Clothing has given me some samples to work on and present to her on monday, when I will be receiving some work! I am so happy to be working for this company. Lorraine is above all a very inspiring woman, a mother and an entrepaneur. She created a wonderful children’s clothing company that boasts preshrunk clothing made here in vancouver in a sweatshop free environment! Her designs are super cute, unique and practical.

The most fabulous part about the job, besides the karma free-ness of her vision is that I can work when I want, at home and do things that I enjoy. My creativity is encouraged! Not to mention that it pays well and leaves time for reading and writing.

As for the upcoming podcast, I have begun planning its formation and I will begin playing with the audio equipment early this week. I am planning to have it online sometime in the afternoon on Saturday the 24th of November, the full moon. I will write a post this week to give a bit of an outline.

I am also working on the reviews page. There should be at least one up by the end of the evening, possibly more!

I worked for a few hours this afternoon on the Justin Sweater. I’m rather excited about the progress and I hope to get it wrapped up by the end of November… or at least the first week in December!

The yarn: Silky Wool by Elsebeth Lavolde

The sleeves (which ended up being a couple millimetres different, something I could have avoided by knitting them at the same time on one long circular!)

The body - both pieces together on one long circular to avoid the problem described above.

As I flounder about in this period of self discovery, I keep coming back to at least one truth: consciousness. I first really understood the concept of consciousness when I began studying Kundalini Yoga and the teachings of its master, Yogi Bhajan. His teachings often brought up with in me a resounding “I knew it! I knew that there had to be more to this life than the typical “work to buy a car so that you can get to work” lifestyle philosphy” but I was unsure up until that point, exactly how to break the mold. In his lectures he encourages us to become aware of ourselves, our thoughts, our actions and our egos. I learned that this awareness alone would allow me to have a certain level of control over the path I walked. (Pause for grammar and continuity check of paragraph) I just realized that I knew about consciousness earlier, before I could actually percieve of it. Lets back the train up.

My first exposure to the concpet was in 2nd year English during an in-class reading of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. The professor interpreted the piece further than Plato does in the conclusion, for those of us who didn’t quite get it, after finally “seeing the light” persay, I remember being overwhelmed by this amazing philosopher’s intelligence. I knew at that moment that I could not spend my life chained to the wall knowing that there was more to be had. The problem was, what exactly was I looking for when I turned away from the wall? I didn’t even know who to ask, or what I was asking about.

I suppose that was what lead me to deepen my exploration of the only thing that I could equate to a giant light - God. Which lead me through an exploration of all major religions, leading me eventually to the teachings of Yogi Bhajan. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, this is where I “got it”. The most important lesson I learned from that period in my life was to become conscious of how my decisions, most of which I had always taken for granted, effect me; consciously, energetically and physically. This has the basis for anything I chose to integrate into my practice or lifestyle.

As amazing and exciting as this new revelation was, I soon realized, however, that this way of life, is percieved as kind of … wierd. The part of the allegory that exemplifies what I’m talking about here is this:

Last of all he will be able to see the sun, and not mere reflections of him in the water, but he will see him in his own proper place, and not in another; and he will contemplate him as he is.

Once one sees the truth, one can’t really look away, because the truth is always there in the back of ones head. So even if this man, goes back to the way he once lived, chained to the wall, there is always a dissonance between him and others. The allegory goes on to describe what that dissonance looks like - you look crazy, or stupid to regular people, because they don’t know what you are talking about.

This is where the Buddhist proverb comes in. You are in a pickle, you can’t look back, but going on is a little bit painful. Funny thing is now, just like me, you have seen the truth first, and understood the proverb second! (This is apparently how it always works according to a non scientific survey of people who have broken out of their chains) We’re in this together now, floundering around looking for other people who think about the same, crazy reality that exists beyond the apparent reality. Even that sounds a bit crazy… oh well, at least we have eachother! Happy Halloween!