The author's true, exciting and serendipitous journey through the wilds of Papua New Guinea, the Himalayas, around the planet and into the heart of life guaranteed to change the way you see the world.
In this Voices From the North interview Roselyn DeGaris describes the history of Tarot cards including the place of mystery schools and esoteric initiation. Rose sees the cards as an oracular tool when people are in moments of uncertainty.
She speaks of her personal training in the use of Tarot. The cards have helped her work through her own fears and deepen her understanding of life. While training with Imre Vallyon during a three week retreat at Lake Taupo in New Zealand in the mid 80s, Rose had a number of mystical experiences and, as she says, “I looked into the face of God and it was Love.” Part of the training was to spend a day with most of the Major Arcana cards, to meditate on them and their colour and energy. She returned home a changed person.
Her intention with Tarot has always been healing-to bring people to a place of peace and understanding and my observations (I’ve known this special woman for twenty years. We met in Dharmsala in Northern India only months after I met Lucia in the same place) would indicate that she has been successful in this regard.
The most profound teachings she has been exposed to in the course of her 55 years have been the two years of channelling of Ramas she attended in Adelaide. Over and over it was stressed to Rose that everything comes down to love, peace, harmony and, particularly, forgiveness. Her journey in deepening her understanding of Tarot has been to learn to trust her intuition. She came to find that she always could trust her intuition provided her heart was filled with peace and understanding; in other words, provided her intention was pure.
The link for my interview with Roselyn DeGaris is:
Imre Vallyon was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1940. At the age of 16, he emigrated to New Zealand, where he still lives with his wife and teenage children. Of a keenly religious nature, he immersed himself in Yoga, Zen, Sufism, Catholicism, Eastern Mysticism, Tarot, Astrology, Numerology, and Psychology. He has written numerous books such as The Magical Mind; The Art Of Meditation; Heart To Heart Talks; The Sedona Talks; The Divine Plan; Chants Of Illumination
“In Search of Simplicity is a unique and awe-inspiring way to re-visit and even answer some of the gnawing questions we all intrinsically have about the meaning of life and our true, individual purpose on the planet. I love this book.”
“In Search of Simplicity is one of those rare literary jewels with the ability to completely and simultaneously ingratiate itself into the mind, heart and soul of the reader.”
I’m sure you’ll agree that the soulful music of this talented New Zealand band deserves to be heard everywhere. The music played during the interview comes from Jah Rydem, the debut album from 1814. We play some of the eleven tracks of reggae that are infused with influences from a range of genres including R’n'B, soul and hip hop.
Enjoy. These folks are really good! And in the last few months 1814 has received a lot of airtime around New Zealand. The hard work we spoke of together in this 2008 interview is paying off for these talented people.
John
For information on ordering your own copy of Jah Rydem click here.
“In Search of Simplicity is a unique and awe-inspiring way to re-visit and even answer some of the gnawing questions we all intrinsically have about the meaning of life and our true, individual purpose on the planet. I love this book.”
“In Search of Simplicity is one of those rare literary jewels with the ability to completely and simultaneously ingratiate itself into the mind, heart and soul of the reader.”
We spend our lives trying to be special when all we need to do is to be ourselves.
When do I feel the best, the most relaxed? When I’m doing the ordinary things that come easily to me—weeding, cleaning the shower, washing the windows, cutting the grass.
We’ve all heard the expression—before enlightenment chopping wood, fetching water; after enlightenment chopping wood, fetching water.
Perhaps the modern version should be—before enlightenment washing windows, cutting grass; after enlightenment washing windows, cutting grass.
Simple, isn’t it. Confucius once said, “Life is simple. Man makes it complicated.”
The following video is of Bernard Lietaer speaking on the roots of the current financial crisis. In the Far North of New Zealand, where we live, people have created local currencies. You may wish to consider that in your area. We’re not out of the woods yet in terms of the banking crisis.
I have been overwhelmed by best wishes for my birthday last Sunday. I thought I’d make a short post as a way of thanking all those who wished me well. Your thoughts and intentions are appreciated.
In a way my birthday started early with a joyful night of dancing and music at our monthly Ceili. It was, in fact, the fourth birthday of the Ceili (pronounced Kay-Lee) and because my birthday was the next day, I was asked to blow out the candles on the huge chocolate cake commemorating four years of Ceilis in Mangonui. The cake was covered with green icing in keeping with the St Patrick’s Day Theme.
Sunday (my actual birthday) I called dances for a mini-Ceili held outside in nearby Kerikeri for a group of Baha’i friends celebrating the Baha’i New Year after the end of their annual fasting time. It was just as well the fast was over because Lucia and I had brought along the half of the green-iced cake that hadn’t been eaten the night before.
Rainbow Falls Kerikeri
Next we had a lovely walk through a eucalyptus forest down to the Basin in Kerikeri before joining some other dear friends for an autumn equinox celebration. This involved simple song, dance, ritual and the sharing of home-grown and prepared food. Lucia and I were joined on the day by a New Zealand man who’s recently returned to his homeland after many years overseas running yoga retreat centres in Wales, Greece and beyond. It was lovely to share my birthday with a like-minded soul and new friend.
So, it was a great birthday spent doing the things I love—singing, dancing, walking, sharing… It doesn’t get better than this.
I, of course, received some birthday cards. The one from our eldest daughter touched me. It was a handmade card with a beautiful hibiscus flower on it. She wrote, ‘I hope you like the card; the hibiscus reminded me of you, as you always used to pick them and put them on my pillow.’ Our actions and intentions return to us. Lovely!
I love stories. I live for them and I love to share them.
It’s one of the main reasons I absolutely love interviewing guests on the radio. Everyone has at least one story that has the ability to inspire others.
In the last few days I’ve had a couple of encounters on the beach, meaningful encounters with the sharing of words and intention that have gone beyond the superficiality of many of the meetings we have in life. This too I live for—the meaningful encounter, the crossing of paths that seems somehow preordained in which the messages exchanged have importance and congruence with the issues and ideas we are busy with at the time.
As the sun was setting on another beautiful late summer day I found myself at the water’s edge, stopping from time to time to notice and absorb the rich and changing tapestry of colours painting the western horizon. It was warm and comfortable: shorts and barefoot weather. As is normal at this time of the day at this time of the year, there were precious few people walking the sand, perhaps six or eight on the entire 2.5 kilometre extent of the beach.
As I approached the centre of the beach where a small creek enters the sea, I met a couple I knew. The man, Rob, chants with me from time to time but we hadn’t seen each other in a couple of months. He mentioned he hadn’t been able to attend Lucia’s recent three day yoga retreat because of trouble with his back. I asked if this was a recent or ongoing problem.
His partner of twenty years, Lou, whom he has known since they were in school together, said, “It’s his disk, so it won’t get better.”
I put my hand gently on her shoulder and replied, “I beg to differ, but with the biology of beliefs, anything’s possible. We can change our DNA.”
Rob jumped in, “That makes me think of a story I heard recently; a true story. There was a prince (I don’t know where he was living) who had a deformed body. He called a servant to him and requested, ‘Find a master sculptor who can sculpt a perfect example of me and my body.’ The servant found such a sculptor and he immediately set to work making a life-sized full-colour statue of the prince without the deformities he’d been born with. The prince looked at and meditated on that sculpture every day and in time his deformities disappeared and he became the perfect form he envisaged.”
“Great story! One disk shouldn’t be a problem then, should it Rob?”
A couple of mornings later I was enjoying the first rays of the sun while taking photos of the shapes of trees that are formed in the sand when the tide retreats. Along came another couple I hadn’t seen for a few months. Somehow the conversation took a similar turn and the woman, Sue, began to tell the story of their youngest daughter, who is around twelve years of age.
“She had an injury on her lower leg which was interfering with her ability to dance and she loves dancing. The injury just didn’t seem to get better. She had a book about magic and one day she said to me, ‘There must be a way I can heal this thing, Mom. I’m going to find a way.’ She seemed certain she would find a way. So she went into her room, lit a candle and began to systematically go through her book looking for guidance. About half an hour later she came into the kitchen, quite excited. “Look Mom, it’s healed.” I looked at her leg and there was absolutely no sign of her injury. It was as if it hadn’t ever been there.”
We live in auspicious times. Jesus once said, “These things and more ye shall do also.” It looks like his prophetic words have come to pass. Will you embrace them? Will you accept your unlimited potential and your infinite capacity to heal? If this prince and this young girl can do it, surely you can too.
Here’s another one that recently arrived in my inbox.
Enjoy, John
What you thought was wrong with you may be what’s right with you.
― Alarius
In junior high school Dave Barry was a class clown and often found himself in trouble for cracking jokes during class. One day his teacher scolded him, “You’d better get to work, Dave Barry — you can’t joke your way through life!”
Fortunately, Dave paid no attention to his teacher and went on to become the most successful humor writer in America. With many popular books to his credit, he writes the most widely syndicated humor column in American newspapers. He also garnered a Pulitzer Prize along the way.
Dave Barry is joking his way through life, and doing quite well at it. If he had buckled under pressure from his teacher and done something that was safe but boring, millions of us would have missed out on some precious insights and belly laughs. And he would have been just one more confused person wondering what he is doing here, dying with his music still in him.
You have gifts and talents unique to you, which no one can replicate. You are here to deliver your inimitable talents to the world. People will come along who judge or criticize you for not following the herd. If you listen to them, you will feel depressed and despondent. If you listen to your inner spirit instead, you will feel exhilarated and find meaning, purpose, and value in your life.
No one knows what you should be doing more than you do. Trust that knowing, and success will flow to you naturally and easily. And your heart will be full.
Are you living true to your inner talents and gifts?
How might you express them more, with trust and confidence?
I rejoice in the gifts and talents I am blessed with. I share them with assurance.
We can each work with the principle of ‘going with the flow.’ The following words arrived in my inbox today and I choose to work with them and post them here. Enjoy and may you meet little resistance as you ‘work with the willing’ and fulfill your purpose today and always.
John
The Force is with you. Are you with the Force?
The story is told of a village butcher who never needed to sharpen his knife. When a customer asked him why his knife was always sharp, he explained, “I never try to force the knife past resistance. When I come to gristle or bone, I just cut around it. That way I get what I want and leave everything else alone.”
“Work with the willing” is one of the most valuable principles I use in my work. I apply it almost daily in my work, relationships, prosperity, and health. Here are some ways to work with the willing:
Work with people who are willing to do what they say they will do.
Work with the willing part of your mind and heart. Where does your willingness live? Are your letting your willingness guide you, or are you forcing yourself to do things you are not truly willing to do?
Work with the part of others that is willing. Everyone really wants to do something. If you can find what that is and invite it to come forth, you will have the power and joy of a highly motivated person on your team.
Work with what the universe is willing to do. There is a flow to life, or, as Lao Tse called it, “The Tao.” There is a stream of well being that is forcefully yet gracefully moving life to greater good. That stream is your best friend. If you deny it or buck it, you will get nowhere. If you can sense what wants to happen, and let it happen or help it happen, you will have the power of God behind you.
Today notice if you are trying to force your knife through gristle, or finding the soft area. You may not need to sharpen your knife as much as you think you do.
“In Search of Simplicity is a unique and awe-inspiring way to re-visit and even answer some of the gnawing questions we all intrinsically have about the meaning of life and our true, individual purpose on the planet. I love this book.”
“In Search of Simplicity is one of those rare literary jewels with the ability to completely and simultaneously ingratiate itself into the mind, heart and soul of the reader.”
We become what we believe. The state of the world reflects our collective beliefs.
The power of love will ultimately overcome the love of power in this world and peace will prevail. Physical violence will stop. Psychological violence will take a little longer, but it too shall melt away. Peace will prevail. Inner peace is our natural state. Unfortunately in many of us it is obscured by a perceptual blanket of false and negative beliefs.
We share the same planet but we all live in different worlds. What you see is different from what I see. What we each see is not delivered from some outer source, independent of our choice. No, what we see is a direct result of the lens of perception we each choose.
Our individual experiences reflect our deeper beliefs. If we choose to see violence, hatred and war, we invite these scenarios into our lives. If we choose to see gentleness, love and peace we shall in time experience a world reflecting these chosen perceptions.
I received an email a couple of days ago from a Zen monk living alone in a redwood forest near Santa Cruz, California. He found me on the internet by doing a google search for ‘World Peace is Inevitable’. Here’s part of what he wrote:
I’ve greatly enjoyed reading your endorsement of the fact that world peace is inevitable. A few of the organizations I’m involved with here in the States as well as in Europe are beginning a global movement to spread the phrase “World Peace Is Inevitable,” and I figured I’d email you to tell you about it.
Here’s some interesting information that you may not have been aware of: If you google the phrase in quotes “World Peace Is Inevitable,” there will be about 435,000 results that come up initially. However, this is extraordinarily misleading. If you click on page 10 of the results, you will see that in fact there are only 85 to 90 worldwide uses of the phrase on the internet.
Now, if you google in quotes the phrase “the world is going to end,” there are 226,000,000 world wide uses of the phrase on the internet. I think we can both agree that this royally sucks!
So what we are doing is beginning to write the phrase on money bills, creating t-shirts, stickers, and encouraging people on the internet to use the phrase as much as possible. We are connecting with university students in Europe and here in the States and getting a lot of students on board for this world wide movement.
Over the years when I’ve spoken about the inevitability of world peace I’ve more often than not received responses such as, ‘We’ve always had war and always will have.’ When we think and speak in such a way we are not acknowledging the immense power we have to affect change. If we all think that way, war is what we’ll get. There’s an expression that says, “If you always do what you’ve always done you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” Likewise, if you always think how you’ve always thought, you’ll always get what you’ve always got. We are the creators. Our collective expectations do, in fact, shape this world in which we live. Change our thoughts, beliefs and expectations and the world around us changes. It’s as simple as that.
I invite you to join this monk, Billy Guilfoyle, and me and a growing group of people worldwide who embrace a brighter future for humanity and this planet. The future is our choice. Let’s jump on the Peace Train together and recognize that peace in ourselves, in our families, in our communities, in our countries and in the world is not only possible, it is inevitable. The timing is up to us. Let’s share the dream!
“In Search of Simplicity is a unique and awe-inspiring way to re-visit and even answer some of the gnawing questions we all intrinsically have about the meaning of life and our true, individual purpose on the planet. I love this book.”
“In Search of Simplicity is one of those rare literary jewels with the ability to completely and simultaneously ingratiate itself into the mind, heart and soul of the reader.”
Here’s another inspiring story sent to me recently by a friend. I wish I knew who the author of it was so I could give them the credit they deserve.
Enjoy,
John
One can be very happy without demanding
that others agree with them.
― Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
You may be surprised to know that there are still people who believe that the earth is flat. The Flat Earth Society was founded in 1956 by Samuel Shenton and continues to have adherents to this day. The group believes that, despite all scientific evidence to the contrary, the earth is not round. They explain the NASA moon landings as a hoax engineered in a television studio, and have elaborate theories of the earth as a large flat disk.
Since everything science has demonstrated about the earth proves conclusively that the earth is a sphere, the notion of a flat earth seems ridiculous to just about all of us. Yet there are people who still choose to believe the idea.
If you wait for everyone in the world to agree on something, even as simple as a round earth, you will wait forever. All human beings are free to believe whatever they wish, and there will always be some who disagree with you, no matter how sound your reasoning is. So if you hoping for universal agreement or approval . . . don’t hold your breath.
Even more subtly, talent, beauty, and value are entirely subjective. You may have the greatest book, movie, song, or artwork in history, but there will always be someone who doesn’t appreciate it. So don’t be put off if your mother doesn’t understand your novel. She does understand how to make a fabulous lasagna, and the world is a better place for it.
The more approval you need, the less power you have to mastermind your unique creations. Sure, it feels great when others applaud your efforts, and when that happens, celebrate. But if they do not, be not daunted. If you applaud your creations, they are excellent indeed.
You need not flatten your earth just because others do theirs. Love doesn’t just make the world go round; it gives the world far more dimension than some believe.
What have you been waiting for other people to approve of?
Can you find satisfaction in your own approval of it?
I know what I know, and that’s all I need to know.
The author's true, exciting and serendipitous journey through the wilds of Papua New Guinea, the Himalayas, around the planet and into the heart of life guaranteed to change the way you see the world.
