The Pulse IAM Newsletter Institute for Applied Meditation, Inc. www.Applied-Meditation.org 1-888-310-7881

December 2005

"The secret of Christmas: your own heart is the manger in which the birth of Christ takes place."   Puran Bair

A series of unexpected events on our recent trip East has raised the theme of survival in difficult times. From the English Parliment to the Kalahari Bushmen, people are trying to find solutions to the enormous problems that face our world. It reminded us that we see IAM as an institute for social change where we apply meditation to the problems of our lives and the larger problems of humanity. In the course of this trip, we found many other groups working for social change in other ways with whom we felt a link and the potential for collaboration.

On a beautiful sunny day with 80 degree weather in Tucson in November, Puran and I packed winter coats and boots, a suitcase with books and CDs and a suitcase with electronic equipment for 3-week seminar trip to the East.

We arrived in Boston, the airport so familiar from so many trips when we called Ipswich our home. Now we came as visitors from the West. Zuleika Danielle Swanson picked us up at the airport and it couldn't have been a warmer and more heartfelt welcome as she had been the one to give us a farewell party the night before we left Ipswich. And there we were again, in the middle of the cold New England night hugging each other, happy that we all were still there.

She dropped us off at Linda and Sage Walcott's house in Gloucester, who were still waiting up for us. They have a big garden and New England has a special feel before Thanksgiving; the colors orange and brown are prevalent and the earth seems to smell more strongly after she had given all her fruits, and at night these experiences seem even more available than during the day.

The seminar we offered was on Self-Healing through Heart Rhythm Meditation.

Before we left Gloucester we had dinner with Mark McDonough, a long-time friend of ours. We met at one of his restaurants in Manchester for lunch as he was interested in connecting with people we knew who might be possible candidates for a "community weaver". Mark, a New England philanthropist, is concerned about "Peak Oil", the fact that half of the world's oil is used up, and the other half will be gone in 37 years at the current rate of use. Long before that, a lot of things we depend upon will become unavailable or prohibitively expensive. See: www.peakoil.net

Mark's response to this is to help communities develop gardens where residents can grow some of their own food. He has started a project to get schools around Boston to set aside land for this purpose. He is also on the board of Time Dollars, a form of organized bartering without money that could be very helpful if the economy suffers a collapse. See: www.timedollar.org.

I suggested to him that Heart Rhythm Meditation would be very helpful for building communities that are broadly supportive, avoiding the difficulties that can occur in narrow-focused, issue-oriented communities.

Arriving in Heathrow London is always special, as it embodies the experience of multicultural like no other place familiar to me. It is more like a well done costume party, from the silky variety of Indian saris, to Muslim kaftans and burkas, English mini skirts and tights, occasional kimonos, and last not least the vibrant colors of Africa mixed in with the grey and black of European suits. Our cab driver this time is a Sikh, Puran greets him with: "Sat Sri Akal", the standard greeting for Sikhs, meaning, "The name of God is Truth."

We are driving into the night of London, with the never-ending sounds and lights of business. We ring Paul and Zuleika's door, and there they are, now in Paul's studio. Zuleika had flown over the day before to be with Paul and for the relationship seminar and the teacher's training. Paul Benny is a portrait painter who has been commissioned to paint some extraordinary people, several of whom we've met as we stay in his studio on our trips to London. We were invited to the unveiling of his portrait of Baroness Valerie Amos, the leader of the House of Lords in the English Parliament. Valerie is an amazing woman; she was born into poverty in Guyana and became the first black woman in the English cabinet. She has just been nominated by England to head the United Nations Development Program. UNDP is the UN's global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. They are on the ground in 166 countries, working with local people on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. For more about her, see: Baroness Amos

The dinner party afterwards became an interesting discussion about English and American politics as we were seated on either side of Iain Duncan Smith, the past leader of the Conservative Party in England and now the founder of the Centre for Social Justice, a thinktank which aims to solve the problems facing Britain's inner cities. He knows our president, vice president and secretary of state personally. It is quite an experience to be respectful, understanding and staying in a conversation with someone whose idea about the Iraq war one does not share. But I liked his views on how the government can help the rehabilitation of families and society. I got really inspired and animated about life and the state of the world and things that need to be done, like teaching millions how to breathe through their heart.

Our next seminar was at the CCPE, the Center for Counseling & Psychotherapy Education, a graduate school for transpersonal psychotherapy based on Sufism. The founder of the school was a student of Pir Vilayat and Puran. Puran and I are contributing through Heart Rhythm Meditation to the further development of the Sufi message. Our students came from the CCPE, from the Sufi group in England, and from Alternatives, a London-based organization that sponsors speakers at St. James church in London. We had given a presentation to 200 people at St. James in Piccadilly last Spring.

Our seminar on The Energy Centers of Relationships was about how the 7 energy centers of two people can interact in ways that are inharmonious, and how to change the energy to become complementary. Sharifa Caroline Dale did a great job in organizing the event and teaching classes in London. We continued with a teacher's training on Emotional Heart Health, which of course opened our hearts to deeper levels and let us explore the patterns the heart tends to involve itself in when left alone. Some of the people in the training are already certified teachers who want to upgrade their classes to the topics of Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Heart Health, others take the course to become certified, and others take the course to use the HRM material in their own meditation classes in other organizations.

On our last night in London, we were with Sabiha Foster, who has founded an organization called "Diamonds for Humanity," and has asked Puran and I to be on her board. D4H aims to channel the profits from an elegant line of non-conflict diamond jewelry designed by Sabiha to programs that benefit children in Africa. See: www.diamondsforhumanity.com and D4H

Sabiha invited us to a meeting of Survival International with the Kalahari Bushmen. Survival International is an organization based in London which helps tribal people defend their lives, protect their lands and determine their own futures. The bushmen have been rounded up and confined to settlement camps away from their hunting/gathering lands because diamonds have been discovered there! It's killing the bushmen as their lives and way of life are beig destroyed. We met two of the bushmen, including Roy, shown at left, and we were very impressed by the dedication and work of SI on their behalf. Please go to their website and investigate their work for yourself: Survival International

To emphasize that greed of big corporations and ignorance of spiritual values are rampant in our country too, we were shown a documentary of the Enron scandal on Virgin Airlines as we crossed back over the Atlantic. We think everyone should see this, and now you can see it online, or wait for the DVD. See "Enron: The Smartest Guys on The Block" at this URL: Enron

We landed in Boston again, tired and jet-legged for a seminar the following day at the Rowe Conference Center in Western MA. When we arrived there we were kissed by gentle snow, and welcomed by Prue and Doug, the directors of the conference center, which is Unitarian based. www.rowecenter.org

At the same time we were teaching our seminar on HRM, there was another group present with whom we shared meals: Wisdom of Nature & Mythology of Progress, an interesting group led by Tom Wessel, Professor of Ecology at Antioch Graduate School. His message is that nature has laws of sustainability that we should be emulating in our communities and nations.

Our group at Rowe included several people who have atrial fibrillation, arrhythmia, and sleep apnea, all of which can be relieved by Heart Rhythm Meditation. The case studies just keep building as people find out these conditions can be treated without drugs. This course became a deep exploration of the connections of breath, heart, and how they effect our physical, emotional and spiritual levels of experiences. We departed as friends of the heart knowing that we shall meet again.

The last night of our trip we spent with our good friends Brian and Jo Ellen Cody in Ipswich. In the morning at 5 am I walked their dog Noodle while the Christmas lights were glowing in the dark and the morning was silenced through the snow. It smelled like Christmas as I know it. I was thinking of all of you and our world and that the uncertainty we are experiencing might be relieved through the hope we share.

Now back in Tucson, I think that the world is burning and so are our hearts. We cannot avoid anymore what is in front of us and around us. This trip was an experience of the state of the world; we hadn't planned it this way, but looking back on it, it feels like we received a strong message. We speak of the world's prophets as "The Warner of coming dangers, Wakener of the world from sleep," and that's what we had a taste of. We need to let our hearts speak and guide us when we encounter the atrocities of the world. Our hearts are stronger than our surroundings when we receive support in heart-centered communities. That's what we call "Heart Ecology", the relationship between one's heart and the world: how the world affects your heart and how your heart affects the world.

Here's a positive idea for making a difference this Christmas -- give a gift from Alternative Gifts. See: www.alternativegifts.org. (Thanks to Linda Newmark for the suggestion.) And give someone you know a course in Heart Rhythm Meditation.

All love to you, Susanna

The winter solstice, December 21st, is the year's shortest day and longest night, something that caused people of long ago a lot of anxiety. In pre-historic times, winter was a very difficult time in the northern latitudes. The growing season had ended and the tribes had to live off of stored food and whatever animals they could catch. People would be troubled as the life-giving sun sank lower in the sky each noon, worrying each year that the sun might not be able to regain its warmth. They feared that the sun would eventually disappear and leave them in permanent darkness and extreme cold. To them, the winter solstice was a day when the sun gained its victory over darkness. Although many months of cold weather remained before spring, they took heart that the return of the warm season was inevitable. Many cultures all over the world continue to perform solstice ceremonies. At the root is an ancient fear that the failing light would never return unless humans intervened with anxious vigils or celebration.

Many ancient cultures built their greatest architectures including tombs, temples, and sacred observatories in alignment with the solstices and equinoxes. Stonehenge marks both perfectly. In Ireland, a huge circular stone structure called Newgrange can be found that is estimated to be 5,000 years old, centuries older than Stonehenge, and older than the Egyptian pyramids. It was built to receive a shaft of sunlight deep into its central chamber at dawn on the winter solstice. The light illuminates a stone basin inside that has intricate carvings of spirals, eye shapes and solar discs. Although not much is known about how Newgrange was used by its builders, marking the solstice was obviously of tremendous importance to them. Maeshowe on the Orkney Islands north of Scotland shares a similar trait, admitting the winter solstice setting sun. Hundreds of other structures throughout Europe are oriented to the solstices and the equinoxes. In North America, one of the most famous sites is the Sun Dagger of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, which was built a thousand years ago by the Chacoans, ancestors of the Pueblo people. Throughout Europe, many medieval Catholic churches were built as solar observatories. Often, a small hole in the roof admitted a beam of sunlight, which would trace a path along the floor. Inlays and zodiacal motifs often marked this path, called the meridian line. On it, the position of the sun at noon throughout the year, including the extremes of the solstices, was carefully marked.

Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, is tied to both the lunar and solar calendars. It begins three days before the new moon closest to the Winter Solstice. It commemorates an historic event: the Maccabees' victory over the Greeks and the rededication of the temple at Jerusalem. The Festival of Lights (with candles at the heart of the ritual) makes Hanukkah wonderfully compatible with other celebrations at this time of year. As a symbolic celebration of growing light and as a commemoration of spiritual rebirth, it also seems closely related to other solstice observances.

A few years ago, Susanna and Puran Bair wrote a letter to all of us regarding this season of the year. It is entitled, "The Season of Wishes." We respectfully reprint it here.

Let us consider what our Heart's Wish is at this moment. For us who use Heart Rhythm Practice to access and strengthen our hearts, the Heart's Wish becomes stronger and clearer until it rings in our ears, like the songs of the angels that appeared to the shepherds.

We honor this wish appearing within each individual heart, understanding it as the wish of the Universal Heart. To repress it would be a waste of the guidance it is. How else should the One Being direct each aspect of life except by appearing within one's own heart as one's own wish?

When the Heart's Wish is faint, it can be easily distorted by the mind so that, for example, some kill in pursuit of God's favor, punish innocents in pursuit of justice, or oppress others in pursuit of peace. The heart desires happiness; the mind interprets that as stimulation. The heart wishes for fulfillment and the mind understands busy-ness. The heart asks for connection; the mind delivers social experiences.

Many people feel more acutely alone amidst the Christmas festivities than at other times of the year. Let us reach out to them. The heart is generous and kind.

Here are some suggestions for celebrating the Seasons of Wishes:

1. While nurturing your heart with your attention, listening for its heartbeat, and with your conscious breath moving through it, feel the wish of your heart.

2. Take time when you're with a friend to feel the condition of their heart and what their heart longs for.

3. Thinking of the Heart of all hearts, meditate on the wish that emerges from the Whole Heart that gives hope and light to the world.

4. Consider how you could let the Heart's Wish direct you in specific, direct and personal acts you can take immediately.

5. Make the Wish of the Whole Heart your own wish for this Season of Wishes.

(These suggestions parallel the five stages of Heart Rhythm Practice.)

We wish for you that your heart is deeply moved by the tenderness, the wonder and the joy of this season.

With love,
Puran and Susanna Bair, for the Institute for Applied Meditation

On September 30, 1207, Jelaluddin Rumi was born in the region known as Afghanistan. His family fled the Mogul invasion to Konya, Turkey, where he spent most of his life. When Rumi's father, Bahaduddin Valad, died in 1231, Rumi succeeded him as professor in religious sciences. At age 24, he was already an accomplished scholar in religious and positive sciences. Rumi was introduced into the mystical path by a wandering dervish, Shams of Tabriz. Of this meeting Rumi said, "What I had thought of before as God, I met today in a person." In addition to Shams, Rumi was also strongly influenced by Saladin Zarkub, the goldsmith, and later his scribe, Husam. Underlying his poetry is the absolute love of God. His influence on thought, literature and all forms of aesthetic expression in the world of Islam cannot be overrated.

Rumi expressed his love and his grief over the death of Shams in a surge of music, dance and lyric poems entitled, `Divani Shamsi Tabrizi'. In addition, he is the author of a six volume didactic epic work, the`Mathnawi', and discourses, `Fihi ma Fihi', written to introduce his disciples into metaphysics.

Rumi founded the Mevlevi Order of Dervishes, better known as the Whirling Dervishes of Sufism. Through a turning movement, body posturing, mental focus, and sound, the dervishes achieve ecstasy through union with God. Once a secret society, today the Mevlevi tour the world allowing audiences to witness the ceremony of their sacred dances and music.

Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi died on December 17, 1273. That night was named Sebul Arus (Night of Union). Since then, the Mawlawi dervishes have kept that date as a festival.

The day I've died, my pall is moving on -
But do not think my heart is still on earth!
Don't weep and pity me: "Oh woe, how awful!"
You fall in devil's snare - woe, that is awful!
Don't cry "Woe, parted!" at my burial -
For me this is the time of joyful meeting!
Don't say "Farewell!" when I'm put in the grave -
A curtain is it for eternal bliss.
You saw "descending" - now look at the rising!
Is setting dangerous for sun and moon?
To you it looks like setting, but it's rising;
The coffin seems a jail, yet it means freedom.
Which seed fell in the earth that did not grow there?
Why do you doubt the fate of human seed?
What bucket came not filled from out the cistern?
Why should the Yusaf "Soul" then fear this well?
Close here your mouth and open it on that side.
So that your hymns may sound in Where- no-place!

Schimmel, Annemarie. Look! This Is Love: Poems of Rumi.
Boston, Mass.: Shambhala Publications, 1991.

Peace is independently felt within oneself. It is not dependent upon the outer sensation. It is something that belongs to one, something that is one's own self. ...There is no pleasure in the world, however great, no experience, however interesting, that can give one that satisfaction which peace alone can give.

I have once seen the Nizam, a great ruler, in all his grandeur, enjoying the royal splendor all around him, and then again I saw the same sovereign sitting alone on a little carpet. It was at that time that he was himself. It is the same thing with everyone. Delicious dishes, sweet fragrance, music, all other pleasures of line and color, beauty in all its aspects, which seem to answer one's life's demands, fail in the end when compared with that satisfaction which a soul experiences in itself, which it feels its own property, its own belonging. Something that one need not seek outside oneself, that one can find within oneself, and something which is incomparably greater and more valuable than anything else in the world. Something which cannot be bought or sold, something which cannot be robbed by anyone, and something which is more sacred and holy than religion or prayer. For all prayer and devotion is to attain to this peace.

A man good and kind, a person most learned and qualified, strong and powerful, with all these attributes, cannot be spiritual if his soul has not attained that rhythm, which is a natural rhythm of its being, a rhythm in which alone exists life's satisfaction. Peace is not a knowledge, peace is not a power, peace is not a happiness, but peace is all these. And besides, peace is productive of happiness. Peace inspires one with knowledge of the seen and unseen, and in peace is to be found the divine Presence. It is not the excited one who conquers in this continual battle of life. It is the peaceful one who tolerates all, who forgives all, who understands all, who assimilates all things. The one who lacks peace, with all his possessions, the property of this earth or quality of mind, is poor even with both. He has not got that wealth which may be called divine and without which man's life is useless. For true life is in peace, a life which will not be robbed by death. The secret of mysticism, the mystery of philosophy, all is to be attained after the attainment of peace. You cannot refuse to recognize the divine in a person who is a person of peace. It is not the talkative; it is not the argumentative one, who proves to be wise. He may have intellect, worldly wisdom, and yet may not have pure intelligence, which is real wisdom. True wisdom is to be found in the peaceful, for peacefulness is the sign of wisdom. It is the peaceful one who is observant. It is peace that gives him the power to observe keenly. It is the peaceful one, therefore, who can conceive, for peace helps him to conceive. It is the peaceful who can contemplate; one who has no peace cannot contemplate properly. Therefore, all things pertaining to spiritual progress in life depend upon peace.

And now the question is what makes one lack peace? The answer is, love of sensation. A person who is always seeking to experience life in movement, in activity, in whatever form, wants more and more of that experience. In the end he becomes dependent upon the life which is outside, and so he loses in the end his peace, the peace which is his real self. When a person says about someone, 'That person has lost his soul,' the soul is not lost; the soul has lost its peace. Absorption in the outer life, every moment of the day and night, thinking and worrying and working and fighting, struggling along, in the end robs one of one's soul. Even if one gains as the price of that fighting something which is outside oneself, someone who is a greater fighter still will snatch it from our grasp one day.

One might ask if it is not our necessity in life that keeps us absorbed in the outer life and does not give us a moment to experience peace. In answer to this I must say: suppose the outer life has taken ten hours of the day, you still have two hours. If sleep has taken ten hours of the day, you still have two hours to spare. To attain peace, what one has to do is to seek that rhythm which is in the depth of our being. It is just like the sea: the surface of the sea is ever moving; the depth of the sea is still. And so it is with our life. If our life is thrown into the sea of activity, it is on the surface. We still live in the profound depths, in that peace. But the thing is to become conscious of that peace which can be found within ourselves. It is this which can bring us the answer to all our problems. If not, when we want to solve one problem, there is another difficult problem coming. There is no end to our problems. There is no end to the difficulties of the outer life. And if we get excited over them, we shall never be able to solve them. Some think, 'We might wait. Perhaps the conditions will become better. We shall see then what to do.' But when will the conditions become better? They will become still worse! Whether the conditions become better or worse, the first thing is to seek the kingdom of God within ourselves, in which there is our peace. As soon as we have found that, we have found our support, we have found our self. And in spite of all the activity and movement on the surface, we shall be able to keep that peace undisturbed if only we hold it fast by becoming conscious of it.

The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan, Volume I: The Way of Illumination, Section IV - The Purpose of Life, Chapter VI

This section of the newsletter is for you, our readers, to share your poetry or stories about your experiences with Heart Rhythm Meditation, or the ways Heart Rhythm Meditation has affected your life.

Shafiya Curley, 2005

The Longing It came early Sometimes even before December And every year my mother said "not yet" So I hid It Curling tight under my quilt Its insistence pressing with the wind against my window I watched the bare elm branches shivering in the dark Waiting with It   It came quiet Lengthening the twilight into night Silence blanketing the hills Cold air sinking in black lake waters It pierced my heart with points of stars Releasing tears that thawed me I dropped hot offerings into the icy depths Transforming with It   It came hard When my father took me out to get the tree Toes numb, ears stinging with his fury It helped me not to freeze in fear And when I held the ladder for him So he could hang the big bulbs up around the front porch canopy Somehow I knew that even as he raged at me below, he was Reaching for It   It came complete Holding me close that night The peace of parents snoring in other rooms The tree breathing a forest's fragrance into mine My window warmed by Christmas light I slept As colors drifted soft across my dreaming face Shining with It

When I look back to childhood now from my middle-aged perspective, I see how essential my spiritual life was to me as well as how hard it was to feel supported in experiencing and expressing it. My parents did not help by sending me to a Sunday School where I was expected to sit still, be good and memorize creeds of belief that had no meaning for me. I do not remember ever feeling spiritually inspired or enthused in church, except when singing or listening to the music. Well, I do remember liking the big-lighted Moravian star that we would hang for Advent. That was definitely impressive, as was the Christmas Eve candlelight service. But that was about it - other than a few exceptions for holidays, there was nothing in church that I felt connected to. I think this is the experience of many children who are not assisted to celebrate and cultivate their own natural spiritual lives. They become adults who feel like alienated outsiders, who hunger for something they cannot name, who struggle with cynicism and negativity, and who wish they knew where they belonged, even if they cannot articulate the wish.

My childhood spiritual life happened when I was out in the natural world: sitting by the lakeshore listening to the waves and the sea gulls and gazing at the sunlight sparkling on the water, or gazing at the winter sky at twilight as the fiery orange afterglow gradually cooled to the deepest cobalt blue, studded with stars. My spiritual life happened in the moments when I did feel loved or nurtured by my parents or grandparents. Or when I snuggled with our ever-forgiving dog. Or when I created what I hoped were beautiful holiday parties in our basement "rec room" for my younger sister and brother. (And I remember that chocolate was the key ritual food for these events! Bless my mother for providing it.)

Although I was raised in a Christian church, I never felt I had a real relationship with Jesus. I remember the picture of him on the wall of my Sunday School classroom: a man with very fair skin and smooth, golden brown hair and beard, in white and blue robes, sitting with children gathered around him. I knew he was supposed to love us - we sang about that. Yes, Jesus loves me. And I knew that, because he loved us, we were supposed to love him. He looked nice enough in the picture, although I didn't know anyone in real life with a beard like that, or with clothes like that. But that was the thing: not only did I not know anyone with his hair or beard or clothes, I didn't know Him. I had no real sense of him - or, to put it more correctly, I could not FEEL him. How could I love someone I had no feeling of or for?

My spiritual path has been eclectic throughout my adult life. While interested in most, I had been unwilling to say either "yes" or "no" to any organized religious practice. My initiation into the Institute for Applied Meditation and my commitment to the path I now follow in my clumsy, lazy way has changed that. And I have been stunned by some unexpected changes within my spiritual life. Even though I often feel I am not a very good student, I still feel graced by the deepening of true relationship with my teachers, my mentor, my Murshid. And, the closer I feel to Murshid, the closer I feel to Jesus Christ. I did not expect this, and I am quite amazed. A consequence of this closeness with Jesus Christ I now feel is that I am involved again in a Christian church, singing in a choir, helping to celebrate holidays in community, joining others in prayer. But this time I feel like I belong, because, as I sit in my choir as the service begins and set the invocation spinning in my heart - "Toward the One" - I feel accompanied there by Murshid and Jesus Christ and my IAM teachers and community and all the known and unknown masters, saints and prophets who once separated from The One. And then returned.

I took up Flamenco dancing about 3 years ago. I am not a natural and have trouble keeping up with the class, many of whom are professional dancers of one sort or another.

Anyhow, this year I decided I would dance in the end of term show at the local theatre! I knew I wasn't going to be even near perfect, but part of me was just dying to dance on the stage under the lights with all those people watching me!!

I was a bit nervous so I said the invocation just before I went on the stage. The lights were brilliant - shining right on us - standing motionless on the stage. Everyone was looking at us. There was silence. The Spanish singer began his soulful song, the guitars played, the rhythm escalated - and I DANCED!

It was wonderful. I wasn't at all perfect, but I felt so proud that I had had the courage to do it - to show myself off. Everyone was clapping and smiling as we took a bow at the end under the brilliant lights. We had given them something to enjoy and we had enjoyed ourselves too.

When I got home I was all abuzz and couldn't go to bed, so decided to read my emails.

There was one from Karima who had no idea that I was dancing that night. She had forwarded to me a story called "With Hafez in the Islamic Republic of Iran".

Imagine how surprised I was to read this:

"You have not danced so badly, my dear,
trying to hold hands with the Beautiful One,
You have waltzed with great style, my sweet, crushed angel,
to have ever neared God's heart at all."

I have also been reminded this weekend of a song that kept appearing to me during the 103 course with Puran. The song was "I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack. It had great significance for me as a message from my father. I hope he was watching me!

With love
Sharifa

Melinda Sue Korth, December 12, 2005

The End of the Year The month is moving along as we plan for the coming year Parties are in full swing, bringing forth holiday cheer My life has changed and I wonder how So much is different from then to now This is a time when I reflect about the year gone by And can hardly believe the sun has moved through the entire sky I learned that life in general is the greatest privilege Given to us by our creator, to peer over the edge To be a human and experience those things only humans can feel To see and smell and taste and believe it is all real I think of the experiences this year has brought forth And realize that the treasury and what it is worth Is not in material or coins or accounts But in the way my step makes a bounce And the way my heart encourages me to try Whether it will be easy or make me want to cry I learned that I work to learn to live And I live to serve and give I have my own special way of being And it can be different than any other I don't apologize that I am different Rather I giggle about how my time is spent Because I am accomplishing my granted goals And will be okay when my final bell tolls I learned that relationships are part of our journey They are messy, complicated and might even get squirrely They are also satisfying And most of the time gratifying If not just to have learned yet another valuable thing That it isn't only the goal, but the way we grab at the ring Whether in joy or in sorrow These feelings I don't borrow I feel the emotion so bitter and sweet While my human heart keeps its beat So much has changed in me this past twelve months It was a watershed year of work and travel And I now know that more change is in store Like learning to discipline myself even more To be ready to articulate the lessons I learn To helps others as it becomes their turn Not to carry their load but point out that it works If they are willing to try and value the perks I welcome the end of a fabulous year And look forward to the next to get into gear

Explorations #266 In Our Heart We are held in Love By a Greater Being That we are a Part of I think of my poems as living entities, which continue to evolve, like dreams. This particular poem came to me after a meditation; it wanted to be shaped as a Christmas Tree! The central axis, or trunk, would be formed by the words "in", "by", and "of"- all prepositions, which denote relationships. As I wrote it out, however, it looked more like a diamond. If you play with it, altering punctuation, substituting prepositions (try "with"!) etc, the meaning can change quite a bit. So, within the poem are more poems! I hope you enjoy it as much as it enjoys you. Love, Ralph Bauer

In this section, we plan to feature an interview with one or more members of our IAM community each month. As the new editors, we would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves.

Hello to each of you.

What an honor it is to be on this project of a monthly newsletter for IAM. Already, my heart has been filled with such richness and blessing as Fazl and I have heard from several of you. I didn't expect to be as touched as I have been by hearing from all different parts of the world, but there you and we are. "May the Message of God spread far and wide!"

The other morning, a dear friend left a bouquet of camellias from her garden on our front door step. As I stood and admired them, I looked up and noticed a swarm of bees in the palm tree to my right. It made me remember 2 years ago when, as I sat in the recliner recovering from unexpected and major knee surgery, a swarm of bees came through the fireplace into our den. I wrote about this experience a lot during the web class that I was in at the time, and one of the responses from a fellow participant was that bees don't make honey alone. That is why it is so poignant to me now to have bees show up in my awareness again as we begin this endeavor: with this newsletter, I hope that we're creating a support system in IAM for each other, because together is the way that we can truly experience the honey of life. I'm very grateful to my friend who knew how to offer her help and support in anyway that I needed as Fazl and I recover from the flu, punctuated by her gift of flowers on our front porch. They feel like honey. It is my prayer that this newsletter may provide a dose of honey for us all.

With love,
Blanchefleur

Hello Travelers,

I have been active with IAM for 8-9 years participating in workshops, retreats and web classes. I am a certified mentor and teacher, and recently joined the IAM Board with Blanchefleur. To say the least, my life has been going in a completely different direction than what I thought it would have been before finding this path! I am retiring from my work in the oil patch next year and looking forward to even greater changes to take place in my life. Helping to edit this newsletter is a clue already!

Love,
Fazl

Our next newsletter will be February, 2006. If you have any ideas of things that you would like to see in the newsletter, please let us know at: jeanieundr@aol.com or fracjack@aol.com. We also would love to hear from you as a letter to the editor, or for our "Messages from the Heart" section of our newsletter. The deadline for submitting items is January 15, 2006.

May you have a wonderful holiday season and a blessed new year!