Simple Brilliance - Preface 1 comment

19 Mar 2003 @ 20:16, by Raymond Powers Last night I had the honor to be a guest speaker at a monthly series called Look Who's Talking sponsored by the Healing Arts Council of Ojai. When asked what I wanted to speak about, I paused a few moments and then replied Simple Brilliance. Now I wasn't all that clear on what that meant or what form the presentaton would take. The concept of Simple Brilliance, though certainly not new, came to me entotal as a definition, preface and about 20 chapter titles. It was so rich in content and interpretation that I have been sitting with it for almost two years. I was curious to find out what would happen as I began to elaborate on it with a small group of twelve people. The evening, which I shared with Carol wade, a nutritional counselor and herbalist, was very expansive. The 20 minutes I was alotted turned into 45, with stories spilling out of me, and an in depth look at the concepts presented in the preface. I've performed, facilitated and spoken quite a few times over the years and I always approach these events extemporaneously with a great deal of improvisation using only the basic content outline. I began with an invocation on my cedar flute which tuned and stilled the room.What happened next was that I was moved to read the preface and then go back and repeat each sentence and then speak on that. I felt the energy in the room begin to conspire together and a unity being formed with the group mind. The often present critical voice in my head was still and I felt as if I was authentically embodying the words I was speaking. What a gift I was given to be invited to speak about life, love, relationship, cosmology, creativity and the compassionate heart. ------------------------------------------- Here's the preface of Simple Brilliance that I read: There's a state of remembering that brings us back to the full self-expression and conscious passion we were as a child. Those very activities and resources that magnetized our attention, and later our intention. With little effort, hours were spent as minutes, and days as hours, as we remained enraptured with this/these creations of life. Maybe it was something externally present already, like something in nature, or a technology or a person; or maybe it was something we enjoyed birthing from our internal wellspring into the world, such as art, or music or words. Creation IS, and always it has been coursing through our veins wanting expression. Simple Brilliance is a conscious re-memberance of who we are as integrated, inter-related, passionate and vital Beings. Through the freedom born from discipline, we can rediscover and embody the very essence of ourselves, revealing and sharing without ill confidence, our own unique genetic stamp. For some, this will be easy, for others, extremely difficult, even painful. We all have our own hinderances to joy and exuberance. Some may need to focus on releasing emotional material from their past, others will need to learn how to still their mind and others may need to create some type of spiritual cosmology that expands their viewpoint of themselves in relation to nature and the universe. Attending to a way that is inclusive rather than exclusive. There is no "one way" to freedom and there are many ways that we prevent ourselves from fully living our original vision of life. We must first learn to cultivate trust in Life itself and then in ourselves and finally with others. Cultivating Simple Brilliance renders us available to that which is joyous and unforeseen.

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