Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Tag: Osho Zen Tarot: The Transcendental Game Of Zen

  • Already a Butterfly

    In The Wisdom of No Escape: And the Path of Loving-kindness, Pema Chödrön qutoes Joseph Campbell, writing, “It has been said, quite accurately that the psychotic drowns in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight.” One might wonder what it is that the mystic sees/hears/knows/experiences which leads to the more pleasant conclusion.

    Last evening I was Zoom host for The Eden Project when Barbara Brodsky logged on saying Aaron was requesting the use of breakout rooms. I have hosted a lot of Zoom classes for/with Barbara and Aaron, but I have no experience setting up the breakout rooms. I reached out via text to my virtual buddy and I asked out loud of another friend whom Barbara said has a lot of experience with Zoom — neither of them had any experience with the breakout rooms.

    The intention to use the breakout rooms remained steady in our hearts and minds. I selected the “allow participants to choose” option. Not successful yet. One of the participants sent a link to a tutorial video, but knew I could not switch to that easily enough to learn while hosting the group. Another participant with some experience was willing to help, so I quickly made him co-host and together (with lots and lots of cooperation and co-creation) the breakout rooms were enjoyed!

    I was unable to join the small group because I was the Zoom host. I did not want to leave Barbara without support.  Awareness came instantly that spirit had given me the experience prior to the group meeting when I accidentally dropped my Osho Zen Tarot deck, and three cards spilled out.

    The first card is 20 Beyond Illusion:
    don’t look outside for what’s inside

    The second card is 5 of Clouds Comparison:
    all is needed and everything fits together

    The third card is Ace of Water Going with the Flow:
    everything is happening exactly as it should

    Just as the spilled card spread began with the butterfly, so did Aaron’s talk!

    When you are a caterpillar, you are already a butterfly and yet it has not manifested….

    You live in a world in which you have the power to change things!

    Where would you like to be in your awareness one month from now?

    How do we awaken the imaginal cells and begin to imagine a world/family/individual in which there is peace? What does it look like, feel like, taste like, smell like?

    You cannot think your way in, but you can sing your way, dance your way, or draw your way in.

    Begin with asking: “What conditions are necessary for a world of peace — a world without hatred?”

    I received a text message:

    M: Good afternoon, Miss Debra. If you are not too busy, could you pendle some thing for me? My question is ready.

    D: No….There is a bit of a jokester energy present. Does that make sense?

    M: A medication was prescribed for one of our guys. It’s pretty heavy duty. I am so not sure whether to start the script.

    D: Do you have it with you?

    M: I actually haven’t picked it up yet. Probably I’ll go in a little while. Muscle test?

    D: Yes! Muscle test. Do you have the script or can you imagine holding it up to your heart?

    M: Nothing tangible.

    D: Let’s do it with intention.

    M: When you asked me if I could imagine holding it up to my heart, I heard that it’s not for me. LOL.

    D: Direct your intention. And thank them for clarifying for us. LOL.

    M: Yes. LOL. I got “maybe.”

    D: Similar here. I actually asked if it would be beneficial, and I heard “maybe.” I asked if it could be harmful, and I heard “maybe.”

    M: Yes, that’s how it comes to me.

    D: What I am immediately aware of is that we are so oriented to the “right or wrong” instead of realizing that Spirit can work with anything and everything.

    M: Ahhhhh….

    D: You could not take it out of fear and you are adding fear to your little guy. You could take it out of fear and you are adding fear to your little guy. You could take it out of love and be adding love. You could not take it out of love and be adding love. Make sense?

    M: Yes, and then what is my next best step. Maybe sit with it some more.

    D: When you find your center of peace, you will act from that. Make that your best step. I am certainly navigating this as well — with all of the medication John is on.

    M: Yes, I can feel that. I certainly appreciate your sharing your journey.

    Opening the Daily Word this morning, essentially the same message comes through in Colossians 3:14: Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

    This is called equanimity in Buddhism: Mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation. As in,”She accepted both the pleasant and the unpleasant with equanimity.”

    Perhaps our true mystic nature is awakening from it’s caterpillar stage. After all, you are already a butterfly….
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    P.S. Permission to share this from one of the Zoom attendees:

    I had an extraordinary experience in our little group. I turned three times and this painting just unfolded in 15 minutes!

    Thought of your writings today. Once I’d finished the painting, I looked outside and the trees and the leaves everywhere looked even more vibrant. Wow! It felt like, as we as humans become more awake, all of the flora, fauna, trees etc will flourish!!!

  • Spiritual Victory


    The willingness to consider possibility
    requires a tolerance of uncertainty.

    ~ Rachel Naomi Remen

    Sitting in meditation recently I became the yin/yang symbol, flowing back and forth from a sense of form to knowing myself as nonform, experiencing a momentary flash of luminosity at the tipping point as the endless flow of black flowing into white, white flowing back into black. I had a brief thought this might be a another full-body dissolution (where ego dissolves into awareness). This is a practice in meditation. One does not cease to be, but one does cease to be identified as a body or a thought or an emotion or a sensation.

    Imagine the yin (the dark swirl with the white dot) as being associated with femininity and our shadow side; the yang (the white swirl with the dark dot) representing brightness, passion and growth.

    Each contains the “seed” of the other.

    You know you are this fluid AWARENESS.


    The thought for today from Aaron is also related our identity: “The self that aspires to be perfect while loving itself as imperfect moves from a place of love. The self that strives to be perfect because it hates itself as imperfect moves from a voice of fear.”

    I have been considering the possibility of registering for an upcoming weekend retreat November 13-15. Today is the registration deadline. Wanting to always be generous with dana (offering) for the teachers, knowing our seasonal rent is coming due in a few weeks, and John’s $2,500 dental appointment this past Tuesday, the financial aspect of attending the retreat has been dominating my mind.

    I decided to draw a card asking, “What is true about my attending this retreat?”

      Beyond mind, there is an awareness that is intrinsic,that is not given to you by the outside, and is not an idea… This state only happens if the master inside of you is awake… When your awareness becomes a fire, it will burn the whole slavery regime that your mind has created. No happiness is more precious than freedom or becoming a teacher of your own destiny. (excerpt from p. 47 Osho Zen Tarot: The Transcendental Game of Zen)

    I love that card, and the truth that The Master is not a teacher for others, but he a teacher for himself, without personal purpose nor desire for anything, but always letting thing happens as it should be – knowing truly there is nothing to strive for.

    One of things that has been pulling me to attend this retreat now is the generous offer for me to use a friend’s cottage.

    I can feel a sense of uncertainty about leaving my space here that has been my womb since April 6. I can also feel the possibility. This would be the first retreat since October 2019 where I could truly be in noble silence the entire time. Noble silence is a central part of knowing the mind, and letting go the identification with all the suffering caused by the mind.

    I picked up my phone to look at the date. Saturday, November 14, 2020 is Diwali.

    Diwali is the Indian festival of lights, one of the most popular festivals of Hinduism, but with slightly different emphasis also celebrated in Sikhism, Jainism, and Buddhism.

    Diwali symbolizes the spiritual “victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.”

    Now that is a true spiritual victory!

  • Draw a Card

    Today is my birthday. I LOVE birthday ritual. This morning I wrote in my journal: Today is my birthday. And Wayne’s. It seems significant Claudia is feeling sad. She said Wayne always said, “It is what it is.”

    What ritual is honest for me today?

    I hear: “Draw a card.”

    I draw a card. Angelic Messenger Card #12 Forgiveness.

    Accepting responsibility for your life; releasing blame and the judgment of others. Immense beauty and opportunity live beneath your old emotional scars.

    This time in your life represents the final pass-through for many of these persisting lessons.

    You can truly know and appreciate only your own life’s journey and perspective.

    Pay attention to the thoughts you have as you fall asleep ad those that are on your mind as you wake up. These thoughts embody the situations and the people needing your forgiveness.

    “I forgive you, and I forgive me for being caught in the process of change and for our being unable to see each other clearly.”

    Angelic Messenger Cards: Divine Guidance for Personal Healing and Spiritual Discovery by Meredith L. Young-Sowers.

    “It is what it is.”

    I draw a card. #54 Epona’s Wild Daughter, from The Fairies’ Oracle (by Brian Froud and Jessica Macbeth), in the reversed position.

    “The wise person prays for guidance and actively seeks it. The answers we truly need are to be found deeply within ourselves. What do our nightmares tell us?”

    The phone ringing woke me up this morning. I was dreaming I was at a training but had left the classroom and gotten distracted futzing in the kitchen. A little boy was now with me as I was hustling to get back to the classroom. Suddenly I realized the class had already ended. I had been thinking it did not end until 3:00, but it had ended at 2:00.

    I draw one more card. Page of Water: Understanding from the Osho Zen Tarot: The Transcendental Game Of Zen.

    “Move with the sweetness and gentleness of the present moment. Feel the fluttering within. Spread your wings and be free.”

    I wrote in my journal how much I love these messages from the cards. They all point to the truth that freedom is here now.

    The voice responded:

    Of course, freedom is here now. If something had blocked your freedom, that IS no longer. Each moment is new. Each breath is NOW.

    In your dream you thought the class went until 3 o’clock, but when you realized the class was over you were afraid you had been negligent, that you had missed something.

    You had missed the awareness of completion!

    The class had ended and you were still frantically trying to get there.

    Give yourself the greatest birthday present ever—the PRESENT.

    Allow yourself to bask in the luxury of this moment. No regrets. No planning mind.

    Tell all who know. They all know.

    Wow… that is the best PRESENT ever!