Freedom

Photo by Harald Hofer on Unsplash

"Freedom is the call of the heart.

Freedom is the call of the brave.

Freedom from all shackles:

Ideas that enslave me;

Emotions that debilitate me;

A hardened heart that ensnares me.

Let freedom begin with me.

In the silence. In the unseen. In the unheard.

For as my shackles fall about me, they sound the clarion call for all shackles to fall.

As Love claims its rightful throne within me, it beckons all to the same task.

Because we are One.

Let freedom reign.

Let Love reign."

~Mony 🙏

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#monydojeiji #albertoagraso #walkingforpeace #consciousness#freedom #independence #iamfree #liberation #liberty #love

Tale of the Eagle and the Chicken

I’m not sure if you have heard of the tale of the eagle living so long among chickens that it believed itself to be a chicken. There are several variations, but this is one I like:

“A fable is told about an eagle who thought he was a chicken. When the eagle was very small, he fell from the safety of his nest. A chicken farmer found the eagle, brought him to the farm, and raised him in a chicken coop among his many chickens. The eagle grew up doing what chickens do, living like a chicken, and believing he was a chicken.

        A naturalist came to the chicken farm to see if what he had heard about an eagle acting like a chicken was really true. He knew that an eagle is king of the sky. He was surprised to see the eagle strutting around the chicken coop, pecking at the ground, and acting very much like a chicken. The farmer explained to the naturalist that this bird was no longer an eagle. He was now a chicken because he had been trained to be a chicken and he believed that he was a chicken.

        The naturalist knew there was more to this great bird than his actions showed as he "pretended" to be a chicken. He was born an eagle and had the heart of an eagle, and nothing could change that. The man lifted the eagle onto the fence surrounding the chicken coop and said, "Eagle, thou art an eagle. Stretch forth thy wings and fly."  The eagle moved slightly, only to look at the man; then he glanced down at his home among the chickens in the chicken coop where he was comfortable. He jumped off the fence and continued doing what chickens do. The farmer was satisfied. "I told you it was a chicken," he said.

        The naturalist returned the next day and tried again to convince the farmer and the eagle that the eagle was born for something greater. He took the eagle to the top of the farmhouse and spoke to him: "Eagle, thou art an eagle. Thou dost belong to the sky and not to the earth. Stretch forth thy wings and fly." The large bird looked at the man, then again down into the chicken coop. He jumped from the man's arm onto the roof of the farmhouse.

        Knowing what eagles are really about, the naturalist asked the farmer to let him try one more time. He would return the next day and prove that this bird was an eagle. The farmer, convinced otherwise, said, "It is a chicken."

        The naturalist returned the next morning to the chicken farm and took the eagle and the farmer some distance away to the foot of a high mountain. They could not see the farm nor the chicken coop from this new setting. The man held the eagle on his arm and pointed high into the sky where the bright sun was beckoning above. He spoke: "Eagle, thou art an eagle! Thou dost belong to the sky and not to the earth. Stretch forth thy wings and fly."

This time the eagle stared skyward into the bright sun, straightened his large body, and stretched his massive wings.  His wings moved, slowly at first, then surely and powerfully.  With the mighty screech of an eagle, he flew.” [1]

Its message is clear, but I only recently realized its significance for me. My last name, depending on how it’s pronounced in Arabic, can mean chicken. The first time I saw an eagle, it was just after I had quit Microsoft and was in the mountains of Washington State in a workshop to figure out the next steps of my life. I thought it a magnificent coincidence to see an eagle soar by, and refused to consider it as an invitation to accept Eagle as a totem. After all, I thought, who am I?

The second time, a few months later, I was in the same location when, this time, the eagle landed a few meters away from me, as if defying me to accept its call.

So here I was, the chicken, being invited to fly, to remember that it is an eagle, and refusing to do so.  How many of us have done that?

We are all eagles, called to so much more: called to soar, to lift our gazes beyond our current circumstances, to see with the eyes of the heart, to believe in our own grace and beauty.

Hold on to that, no matter what the voices around you, and within you, keep saying.

Follow your call, and blaze with the light of a thousand stars.

With love,

~Mony

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[1] (Walk Tall, You're A Daughter Of God, by Jamie Glenn [Deseret Book Company: Jamie Glenn, 1994], pp. 22-4.)

Courage is taking one step...

Courage: We often think of it in grand terms, as giant feats of heroism; but I’ve come to appreciate that true courage involves listening to our intuition and taking one purposeful step in the direction of our highest truth.

I have many experiences to draw from, but I will share with you the story of what happened when I left Microsoft, not knowing my next steps and not having a clear direction for my life.

The decision didn’t happen overnight. It took several years, as I flitted from job to job within the company, waiting for each new job to fill the tremendous void of dissatisfaction and fatigue I was feeling. The initial enthusiasm and challenge would inevitably wane, and I would once again begin to feel restless; but I wasn't ready to give up my career, my identity or my livelihood.

At the same time, a powerful shift was happening within me.

My intuition was awakening. Until then, if I couldn't see or touch a thing, it didn't exist. Logic won over instinct every time. But I was seeing how those little hunches, those tiny feelings that carried absolute knowing, were bringing me to places of healing and comprehension. I began listening to them.

I felt connected to a greatness that extended beyond my concepts of love; and I felt it close to me, encouraging me to act on all the coincidences that were presenting themselves. Even though my logic protested at the absurdity of following a coincidence, I did it anyways, and found myself in situations that brought clarity and insight.

I also felt as if all of Creation was awaiting my moment of decision, so that they too could move with me.

Let me tell you what happened when I finally made my decision to quit.

I had left Canada, and was now working at the Microsoft’s head office in Washington. I finally worked up the resolve, and walked into my manager's office to tell her the news. She knew I was unhappy and so, before I could speak, began to describe a new job opportunity that would have me be the liaison between Corporate office in the U.S. with the offices in Europe, Middle East and Africa. It would be a relationship-building job where I would travel the region, sharing best practices with them and taking back to Corporate the practices that were working well locally that we could incorporate into international programs.

Could there be a better job?! To travel, meet people, share stories, and get paid for it?!

I was paralyzed by indecision, shutting down what I knew to be my truth and beginning to convince myself that THIS new job would bring me the inner peace and fulfillment I was seeking...until a friend and mentor at Microsoft sat me down and said:

“You need great courage to take one small step in the direction of your heart and its yearning, even when you don't know where that step will lead you exactly. Do you have that courage?”

I decided that I did. When I finally quit, the floodgates that had been holding the precious clarity I sought opened up. They led me to a retreat in the mountains a few hours from my home where I would serendipitously meet my eagle, and begin my pilgrimages and travels.

One small step. One committed act towards self-love and inner peace. One act of faith in myself and all the forces of Love that I knew were rooting for me!

And knowing that behind that leap, Love has my back!

That's all it took.

May your courage reveal the next step in your journey.
~Mony

#courage #love #selflove #innerpeace #intuition #pilgrimage #pilgrims #spirituality #sacredjourney #transformation #CaminodeSantiago #speaker #inspirational #inspirationalspeaker

AUDIO and VIDEO Pilgrim Story Hour w/ Mony Dojeiji - Synchronicities

“Synchronicities”: often dismissed as random coincidences, these messengers of the Universe can help guide and support us in our journeys, if we but open our hearts and minds to them.

On this episode, I share the story of one of the many synchronicities that have guided me during my pilgrimages.


This VIDEO, and the entire series, is also on:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PilgrimStoryHour

This AUDIO podcast, and the entire series, is on:

- SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/mony-dojeiji and
- iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/pilgrim-story-hour/id1138028764

Thanks for tuning in. Please feel free to Like and Share.
~Mony~


#pilgrimage #pilgrims #CaminodeSantiago #storytelling #podcast #consciousness #walkingforpeace #innerjourney #RometoJerusalem #walking #storiesthatinspire #sacredjourney #coincidence #synchronicity

The spiritual lesson in rejection

Some rejections sting more than others.

The very day I posted my entry on the Eagle and the Chicken, Alberto and I received notification from a fairly well-known literary agency informing us that they would not be taking us on as clients. Their exact words were:

“You have some really terrific nuggets of powerful transformation throughout the book. I can see why you have been published and won awards as the writing is clear and engaging. The market here in the US is extremely competitive even in spiritual books. I receive hundreds of memoirs a year on personal healing journeys and of course we are always looking for the next big breakout book. I did not feel that I would be able to position your story as such.”

I want to emphasize that this agent was incredibly polite and professional, and I do believe sincere.

But I can’t describe how shocked and devastated we felt. We REALLY believed this was THE agent for us.

After the shock came the anger, then the indignation, and then the dreaded insecurity. Maybe the book is never going to break out, after all. Maybe it’s not as good as we think it is. Maybe we should change some of the content. Why are we still putting in all that time and energy into something that apparently doesn’t have commercial appeal?

We had received that email, coincidentally, just as I was sharing the story of the Eagle and the Chicken, and this agent was on the list. In the story, an eagle is raised among chickens, and so believes it is a chicken because its surroundings remind it that it is so.

That’s when it hit me. We were beginning to believe that our book was a chicken, when in our hearts, we know it is an eagle. The beautiful notes and comments we receive from readers tell us it is an eagle.

But the moment an “expert” tells us otherwise, everything is cast into doubt.

We forget who we are.

We forget all the moments of magic and grace that following our dream has brought us.

We forget that we are not alone in this journey, and that a greater hand is always present, writing through us the words that often only the heart can understand.

The moment we realized this, everything shifted.

We saw the great gift that this experience offered us. We saw the agency for what they truly were: the messengers in this beautiful drama.

And so, to celebrate this knowing, we decided to go out for lunch! As we opened our front door, this was what greeted us:

A peanut in its shell. We have no idea how it got there. Probably just a squirrel leaving it there for some reason. But its message was clear. It is a seed, and all seeds hold the knowledge to grow into their magnificence. How they know when to grow is a mystery in so many ways. But grow they must. As will every seed you plant, every dream you follow, every whisper you heed.

You are an eagle, no matter what the voices around you, and especially within you, keep saying.

~Mony  

 

Mystical Christianity and Consciousness

At the end of our pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 2002, one of the remarkable new roads that opened before me was the one to explore the teachings of a Master called White Eagle.

White Eagle describes himself as a spokesperson for a wiser Brotherhood in spirit, who help humanity to understand their true spiritual nature, and to grow in wise love for all life. He communicated through a medium by the name of Grace Cooke.

White Eagle uses as the foundation of his teachings the Gospel of St. John, revealing how to unfold the spiritual light, or inner Christ, that exists within each of us, so that we may uplift and heal our world with it. He speaks of Jesus as a brother and great master who had come to the world to awaken the mastery within each one of us, and to be the living example of all that he taught. He uses the word "Christ" not as a term referring exclusively to Christians, but in its ancient and mystical sense, as the divine essence of the Light - as God.

Although I had read many spiritual texts, the books of White Eagle went straight to my heart. I often found myself weeping at the inexplicable beauty of the words and the love that permeated them. The teachings focus primarily on the heart, choosing its unfoldment as the means to self-mastery and illumination. That is not to say the mind is excluded, but the mind becomes the servant of the wisdom that is revealed in the heart, not its master.

What I love about the teaching is that it doesn't encourage followers. It encourages you to seek the Master within, to awaken the Christ within. It encourages you to heal your fears and walk in courage. It is a path of Love, acknowledging that Love is the power and wisdom behind all that exists. Jesus is not seen as the only son of God, but rather the ultimate teacher of how to walk this path and unfold the Christ light within our own hearts. If you would like to learn more about White Eagle, then visit the Lodge's site here.

This has not been an easy path to walk, much less talk about. Walking with an open heart exposes it to being trampled. Not rushing to judgment of things I dislike, whether within me or in the world around me, means having to withstand criticism and ridicule. Being in a place of surrender and trust means having to keep my fears at bay...because it only takes one seed of fear to undo all the beauty and grace that surrendering and trust has brought on.

I have felt an expansion in my heart that is difficult to describe. It's as if Love is taking firmer root; or that the inner Master is reclaiming its throne from fear. And this Love desires to express itself - I don't know how yet, but there is a sensation of wanting to pour forth from the heart. I have found a calm and a peace that is becoming less transitory, and more established. That is not to say that I have mastered it in any way: having a strong-willed eight-year-old in the house is my daily practice!

And the people who are entering my life now seem to resonate with this energy of Love. They speak in words that carry energies that immediately establish our kinship. It goes beyond religion. They make me believe that this awakening of the inner Christ is well underway, and that we are indeed changing the world - by changing ourselves.

Still on the inner journey,
Mony

Flying with the Eagles

The other day, I was watching a spectacular video of a paraglider and his unexpected, mid-flight encounter with a pair of eagles. One of those eagles actually got tangled in his cables. You can click here to see it.

As some of you may know, the eagle is my totem (or power animal).  And so, as I sat there absorbed in this video, Sylvana began to call out to me–insistently–wanting to show me how well she was typing on the computer. Eventually, I made my way over and watched her play with this program.  At the end of her session, a cartoon chicken popped up and said: “You’re a high flyer!”

            Those are the moments in which I usually pause, because these two events (watching the eagle video and then hearing that comment) coming in such a synchronistic manner, to me, signal a message from the Universe, or my own higher self; something that I need to pay attention to.

            And so, later that evening, I meditated on what that message could be. With my mind finally still, I began to write these words as they came to me:

            Eagle represents freedom, soaring above all to glimpse a different reality, to see events from an elevated perspective. The glider was trying to get as humanly possible to a higher perspective, to do what an eagle naturally does. Without warning, their paths crossed and they became caught in each other’s lines.  

            Don’t allow yourself to be trapped in the flights of others. You will only get entangled in each other’s paths. Stay on your flight path, and leave others to theirs...Listen, respect, but keep your flight pattern, your thoughts, elevated above the fray, above the mental, and into the spiritual. It is here where your knowing resides, where all is answered. Turn always there.

            I think this message specifically came to me because I have been reading the blogs and articles of individuals for whom I have a great deal of respect, and by whose words and ideas it is easy to be swayed. I’m coming to appreciate that ideas are just that: ideas—and there is an endless supply of them. And that’s good, because they reflect the sum experiences of the one having them. I can learn from their experiences, but that doesn’t necessarily make them my truth.  That could only come from my playing with the idea, living it, testing it and seeing what truth emerges FOR ME from that experience.

            The mind is a wonderful instrument, but it is not at the helm of one’s life.  It is at the service of the greatest Master:  the heart, the place where one’s highest knowing resides, and from which the mind is directed to bring forth the experiences that will form one’s truth. 

And it is to this place of knowing that I choose to fly to over and again.