By Heather Mulhern
I believe it was Benjamin Franklin who said that religion is like an elephant. Everyone is holding on to a piece of an elephant with their eyes shut and describing that one part. What sounds like a very different entity is actually just one isolated part and experience of the exact same animal. The animal is Spirit, God, Energy, the Quantum Field.
Last Saturday, Joan used an analogy of the Ocean of Love :
There is an Ocean of Love. You can swim in it or sail on one of many different boats representing different religions. The whole point is connecting to the water of love and mercy. Religions provide frameworks to connect to Spirit. Movement Feedback gives direct access to that connection through body. That metaphor really opened a new awareness for me.
This came to me today regarding the elephant metaphor.
I look to books and I look to videos and spiritual teachings for guidance. All of which are outside of me.
I hold onto the tail of the elephant and share what I experience. Sometimes I hold onto the trunk, and feeling a new insight, with glee share this experience with others. Sometimes I am experiencing the foot, yet all of this experience is limited, not only because I am just describing and experiencing a part of the elephant, I am not actually being the elephant or connecting fully to the elephant. I am connecting to a singular part of the elephant. It is an outside- in experience.
Yesterday morning I sat down and picked up a daily reading. Instead of opening the book and reading a passage, the minute I picked up the book I felt as though a light inside me was turned on–ignited so-to-speak.
From this place of ignition in my body, it felt like an inner glow of light inside, slightly emanating out. The glow encircled my being and included the book in my hand. My experience with the text from this ignited spirit -turned on or tuned in place, was one of connection. A connection from the inside out. It illumined the text in my hand in a way I had yet to experience it.
Rather than connecting to information outside of me to inspire and ignite the spirit within me, I experienced it in reverse. The spirit within was ignited to connect to the information outside of me which simultaneously brought the information inside of me in a more whole-istic way than merely reading it with my eyes.
So today I recalled this experience and attempted to bring it back. It was faint, and not as strong as the initial reference point, though the reference point is there. Feels like a muscle that needs to be toned.
May these words remind you of your own inner lamp right there within you, all ready to go as soon as you acknowledge it and turn it on from the inside.
Or, think of it as turning on an inner spiritual lamp so you can really ‘ see’ to ‘read’ by the light;)…get it, internal light… shining the way to read….(insert knee slap here and chuckle)
Keep movin’ and swimmin’ in that Ocean of Love.
About author: Heather Mulhern was a student of the late Karl Wolfe. She has been pivotal in keeping the Karl Wolfe community together since his passing in 2018. Heather is currently taking Joan’s classes and has great insight to share.