Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Tag: Osho

  • 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!!!

  • Essence

    We are enjoying wonderful weather here on Pine Island. Whether the weather is pleasant or unpleasant, John and I continue to navigate some challenging physical stuff.

    John started with planting a mum early November in Michigan’s hard autumn ground. Stepping on the shovel with his right leg, he felt a pop in his low back. Three chiropractic sessions, a TENS unit, and exercises could not prevent our long drive times from Michigan to Tennessee and from Tennessee to Florida from pushing him over the edge. Fast forward to this week:


    I am having some sort of chronic sinus stuff. Interestingly, my friend (who did not know about this) sent an article titled “Marvels of Mucus and Phlegm.”

    It is challenging to not feel discouraged.

    A couple of days ago problems with some Amazon Web Services cloud servers were causing slow loading or failures for significant chunks of the internet. Our Alexa device stopped working. Everything looked right at the configuration level, but nothing I did brought her back online. Later, when Alexa came back online, we could still not access Amazon Music Unlimited.

    Add to this a new app for TV here in Florida. Hmmmm, you know about teaching old dogs new tricks, right? We are struggling big time with that.

    I said to John, “This house is too quiet!!!”

    True confession. Those words have never come out of my mouth before.

    I miss his music.

    I miss putting together thousands of puzzle pieces as he is playing his guitar and I am (badly) singing along with him.

    I miss him being out-and-about gabbing.

    I miss the way we have historically lived life here.

    We have both realized the profound fact that a lot has changed.

    John’s brother, Jerry, passed in September. John will not be hanging out with Jerry for his normal two-days-per-week-off-island this January, February, and March. Also, John’s long-time musician friend, Walt, sold his place here on Pie Island after Walt’s wife passed in September.

    Big changes.

    I am currently the one to go to the store, the pharmacy, the store, the pharmacy; the pharmacy, the store, the pharmacy. The other day, the pharmacy tech at CVS was having a really bad day. She used the “F” word, and she cried.

    We are not alone living through these stressful times.

    Yesterday I had the privilege of transcribing my (marvels of mucus) friend’s private session with Barbara Brodsky. Here is a brief excerpt:

    You said you’ve been – I don’t remember who – you said you’ve been listening to some of these teachers. I am looking at the questions.

    Adyashanti – alright, he is very rooted in the true self, and I don’t know the 30 specific pointers and “practices” but I would imagine they must be pointers toward remembering and resting in the true self.

    I am glad you are doing that. That’s perfect.

    My true self is way beyond the mucus. John’s true self is much more than sciatica pain.

    For sure, everything is a reminder of how we are giving meaning to our experiences. I drew an Osho card this morning. 7 of Water. Projections. The last lines: And there are as many worlds as there are minds, because every mind lives in its own world.

    Grandson Brad checked in with us last evening. He suggested John tally his highest level of well-being each day. Rather than using a pain scale to see his lows, what was he able to do/enjoy/achieve today?

    A couple of evenings ago, after some lateral leg pulls and a few minutes on the makeshift inversion table John was able to walk upright. He looked like someone with a book on their head, as proud as punch!

    A suggestion from my friend’s reading: I want you to find that infinite source of love, that essence of love which you are…

    And from Adyashanti: Essence isn’t a small thing, essence is an immense thing. The essence of you is everything you ever see, taste, touch, and experience. Everywhere you go, every step you take, every breath you take is actually happening by the essence, of the essence, in the essence, and to the essence.

    The marvel of mucus and the severity of sciatica are both happening in the essence….

  • Staycation

    I have now been in self-isolation for one month and one day. Earlier today the term “stayca” popped into mind. It is a period in which an individual or family stays home and participates in leisure activities within driving distance of their home and does not require overnight accommodations. The term is short for “staycation.”

    I did go to the pharmacy drive through for John today, stopping at the quick lube to have the air pressure in my tires set (the low pressure light came on as we were driving home). I had a sign on my windshield announcing that I had a customer care card. It would not have been good to have them open the oil drain. The sign on my driver’s side window read: Low Tire Pressure Light is On. I was wearing my mask.

    I also filled the gas tank up on the way home. Gas is down to $1.42 per gallon. Too bad we can’t go anywhere right now.

    Things are different inside my mind today because John is having some pretty severe back discomfort, which seems to be sciatica. I am feeling some sadness.That is likely related to my friend, Bonnie, who is still in ICU on a vent with COVID-19.

    Life feels so unstable. Of course, life is really no more unstable than it was before this pandemic. Unstable is the norm for life on this planet, but the emotions of the collective are amplifying personal feelings of wishing it wasn’t the way that it is.

    Perhaps now that I have air in the tires and gas in the tank, I can take a modified penny vacation soon. It is sort-of-like a staycation. It is simple: Take a penny, and as you pull out of the drive, you flip the coin. Heads you go right, tails you go left. Every time you come to a stop, give the coin a flip. The same rules apply: heads you go right, tails you go left. You may stop any where you wish (this step is definitely more complicated by COVID-19), and you may go home any time you decide you want to.

    Osho wrote: “And to reach home you need not enter any airplane, any train, any car. You need enter only yourself. And ticketless—no ticket is needed. Nobody is going to debar you; it is your territory.”

    What is your territory? Where is your home?

    Here at home, my “territory” is either my recliner in the great room or my mom’s glider in the front guest room / office. I like hearing the solar chimes and the sunshine feels very welcome. Here, I can appreciate being close to the action while not getting caught up in any of it. In many ways, my territory suits my style.

    Most of the post mold-remediation cleaning is done. Occasionally I prance precariously close to terror about moving the office space at the end of May. What if we can’t? What if we can?

    In many ways, the nature of what pushes me out of peace is always somewhat irrelevant: it is always just something.

    Truth be told, the only stress in this stayca is simply the stress that results from realizing we are always living with things we cannot control. COVID-19 has not caused that fact so much as having clearly revealed it.

    Imagine with me that we are watching the progression of ultrasound images of a baby developing in a womb. We know it is a baby, and we can make that out in the imaging, but the details are quite obscure.

    What will May bring? June? July?

    We have stopped planning.

    And the habit energies do not like being disrupted so abruptly.

    It reminds me of the meaning of the Rune “Isa” which speaks of stillness: A time of rest before action. A period of meditation and recharging before action is continued. It may be necessary to stop, take measure and look around in order to further assess a situation, rather to charge forward without direction. When the ice thaws it will retreat from the land and one’s direction will become clear. A time of fertile creation lies ahead. While the pace of forward movement may seem slow and inhibited at this time, the seeds of rebirth are active beneath the surface. The outward appearance of purity and stillness mask an explosion of fertility which lies ready in wait. All things will come in good time, and for now Isa reminds us that we must wait. The long winter is upon us now, but the cycle of seasons moves ever forward. Also a path of reflection and meditation. Inner calmness must be maintained at this time in order for deeper reflection to occur.

    Ah, the challenge and the gift of an extended staycation….