A Pure Moment

By Angela Fischer, December 2011

A letter at New Year’s Eve

We are approaching the beginning of a new year while the past one has been slowly absorbed into the stillness of the previous days, passing by in the silent atmosphere of transition. Although it is only a cut by counting the years, a shift in numbers, a way to put order into the linear concept of time, there is always the feeling of a certain clarity and pureness at the moment, when the new year is just about to begin. For an instant we step out of our daily routine, out of our small worlds in which familiar patterns have been continuously repeated, many of them just unconsciously.

And now, for a brief moment, anything seems possible, any change …

The coming year is completely unknown, winged with horizons that our eyes may search but cannot find. Like a white sheet of paper that always holds so much promise for a writer – the joy emerging from emptiness, an emptiness that is receptive for a new seed.

This time of the year seems to offer a space in which there is a certain awareness that is not present at other times. For a very brief moment people seem to step out of their small confined worlds opening themselves to a wider perspective, maybe thinking about peace in the world or considering that the world could be different. For a moment there is an awareness of the possibility to leave something behind, to stop living in the past and at the same time to renounce those concepts of a future that just contain the endless continuum of what we already know. And so – as we might have heard it for many times – if we are able to live without past and future, at least for an instant, we are in the present moment.

Maybe there is something dawning at the edge of our consciousness that this moment is always present, not only when we turn the calendar, when we begin counting the days, weeks and months from zero again. It is the moment when we are completely awake. Awake to life as it is – a divine revelation. A moment that we can offer our love, our prayers which are rising from the depth of our hearts. A moment to which we can give our breath, the inbreath and the outbreath, remembering the source where all life comes from.

If you ever had the privilege of being in the presence of a new born child, you know the unexpressible depth of feelings – the limitless awe before its divinity, the marvel before the purity of the soul who just arrived from afar, from the world of pure light.

And if you once gave birth to a child or witnessed the birth of a child, you might have experienced this outstanding moment: Regardless of any pain or dramatic feelings during the process of giving birth, once a baby is born there is always a tremendous moment of stillness, an eternal stillness. Maybe it is not felt in time or outer activities but in the heart. The whole potential of a soul coming into this world and living a unique and full life here on earth is present at that moment, and yet this child is just pure being, naked in its radiating light. A space opens itself. The stillness holds a sense of fulfiillment within that moment, a stillness which at the same time is completely open and empty.

We easily forget about those deep experiences. We also easily forget the role of women in this miracle – if ever we had given ourselves permission to becoming conscious of this wonder. Women are able to give birth to a divine being. When the child is born it is pure. The soul has taken on form within the cocoon of pregnancy, and still is the pure soul when being born into this world. Her  divine nature is completely present.

The role of  women in this deep mystery that we so easily overlook is to offer our bodies, our hearts and our whole being so that the child’s birth can be given through us. Because in our bodies and our being we carry a sacred substance that enables this miracle to take place.

There is a capacity in the feminine to give the space and a certain energy so that something completely new can be born, a light that comes from emptiness into this world of existence, takes on form and earthly life but remains completely true to its divine nature.

Bestowed to women for the sake of creation, this sacred potential is waiting to be recognized, to be valued and to be lived for the benefit of the whole of creation. Like the Aleut elder, Larry Merculieff (Indigenous Elder Wisdom for Modern Times) says:

„There is a sacred vibrational field inside of the woman that we have forgotten to honour.  That is the place of all the things born, that nothing new can be birthed without woman.“

And Sufi teacher Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee (Awakening the World: A Global Dimension of Spiritual Practice) writes:

„The feminine has deep understanding of the power of matter. Women carry the instinctual knowing of the divine substance in matter and of how to bring this substance into life, because this knowledge is fundamental in the process of giving birth, in bringing a soul into human form. Now this wisdom is needed for the regeneration of the earth, for the earth’s awakening.“

This is something that needs to be honored by both women and men, from the place of their inner connection to the feminine, which is not only present in women but also in men.

Holding this awareness leads us into the deep moment of being present to the divine coming into existence – which is happening now and happens in every single moment. And the awareness connects us with a potential of  humanity — with the potential of the divine and human being who is here on earth to witness the revelation of God while taking part in the evolution of the world.

In the midst of the confusion and the darkness of the present world we can hold this light  –  the awareness of a purpose of creation, a purpose of humanity, a resposibility towards the planet we inhabit. Many people are wondering about this 2012 year – is it the end of time, the end of the world or the chance of a new era to begin? There are lots of fears and anxieties concerning the future, and also plenty of fantasies of a beautiful new world already arriving.

Yes, our world is waiting to be awakened, the previous era is dying, and the present darkness is very threatening. But the ways and directions of this deep transformative process and where it leads to is not something we can just project onto a date of time and then leave it as a matter of outer circumstances or a matter of prophecies.

Rather we are a part of this process. We are not separate. There is a need for our inner awareness. We take part, and this we do in the moment. Only in the moment, and in every moment.

Maybe now is a good moment…

A way to be with that moment is simply to hold a space, to go inside and to feel into the heart. Here we can feel the heartbeat of the world and the heartbeat of humanity. We take the world into the light of our deepest love, and we offer it to God.We breathe into this moment, into the new that is just about to be born.

This is a beautiful inner place to pray. Just to be wih God and to hold humanity in our hearts, a humanity that is so confused and still asleep and facing so much darkness, and to hold the whole world in our hearts and to allow it to be touched by our remembrance. And we remember that it is all about grace.

Happy New Year!