Peeling an Artichoke: Getting to the Heart of Things

           

            In case you have never enjoyed the simple pleasure of eating an artichoke, let me explain how it is done. Rinse the artichoke and cut off the stem. Steam the artichoke for 45 minutes. In the meanwhile decide if you want to dip the artichoke leaves in melted butter, lemon juice, olive oil, or a combination of these. Have your dipping ingredients in a small container and provide yourself with an extra plate to hold the discarded leaves.

            Eating an artichoke is a leisure activity. This is not a fast food! Each leaf is peeled off and dipped into the butter or oil. Scrape the meat from the leaf with your teeth and place the skin of the leaf on the plate. Repeat until every leaf has been scraped clean. Now you have found the heart – the artichoke’s hidden treasure – from which you must scrape out the hairy fibers that cover the heart. An artichoke heart is a delicacy that is well worth the time it takes to find it. Cut into pieces and savor.

            Now for the analogy: I am an artichoke. 

(A mystic or poet says “I am” instead of “we are” because each of us is I to ourselves.)

            My leaves are removed, one by one. The first leaves bear the names of my ancestors’ countries. Then the leaf bearing the name of my own country is peeled off.

            Next comes the leaf that identifies my race and cultural background. Gone. 

Also gone are all the leaves reminding me of cities and states where I have lived.

            Off comes the leaf that labels me as a Democrat or Republican, Liberal or Conservative, or a member of any other political persuasion.

Then peeled away are the leaves that name all the religious or spiritual beliefs I’ve ever held: not a single “ism” remains. 

            As more and more leaves are peeled away from the artichoke, I lose my identity with any course of education I have studied, all of my abilities: artistic, musical, athletic – whatever they may be; and all of the activities I enjoy.

            The leaf that identifies my professional path is removed, as well as any leaves that name my volunteer work and community involvement.

If I identify as a wife or husband, mother or father, daughter or son, the leaves that bear these identities are peeled away, as well as the leaves bearing the title of sister or brother, aunt or uncle, cousin, friend.

Any leaf that reminds me of an ailments or health issue is now removed.

All of my pet peeves and the causes I stand for are symbolized by artichoke leaves that are also peeled away from my center.

One of the last leaves to be removed is the one that identifies me as male or female. Next, the leaf labeled heterosexual or homosexual. And then the leaf that bears my name.

Every single remaining leaf that makes up my ego and separates one part of who I am from another is peeled away from the artichoke.

Nothing remains but the heart.

I am the heart of God.

I am love.

And love is all there is.

The Cosmic I Am ~ by Emily VanLaeys

             

            Just who are we really – as cosmic beings? None of us can know for sure, but I’d like to share a few of my ideas about the Cosmic I Am – some of which I have gleaned from the thoughts of others, but none of which I am declaring to be the absolute truth.

            Most theologies begin with a creation story, so here is mine:

            Before the beginning of everything there was nothing but What I Am. I Am all-knowing. I Am still . . . and I know that I Am:- All-That-Is.  I Am Love. . .  I Am Peace. . . I Am Joy. . . I Am Light. . . I Am eternal. I Am for eons and eons. I Am That I Am. . . never-changing.

            I Am bored.

            I love that I Am One, but I cannot grow and evolve when I Am all the same, and I Am just TOO perfect.

So, I am creating an infinite variety of beings from what I Am . . . now life will always be new and exciting and beautiful . . . and never the same.

            The All-That-I Am explodes into song – creating an infinite number of particles, expanding forever outward into Space.  Now . . .  I Am stars and comets, planets and moons. I am water, air, earth, and fire. I am plant and animal, fish and bird, insect and reptile. I am god and goddess, man and woman, mother and father, daughter and son. (I am other creatures on other planets, but those are other stories and not part of this one.)

            I love infinite variety in my creation, so every part is different. I am many in one. I love every aspect of myself equally. I love every grain of sand, every blade of grass, every person. I frequently forget that I Am many parts of one being, so I leave clues to help myself remember. I create every snowflake with a different design, and yet each one is formed from frozen water. Every tree spreads its branches and leaves in a unique pattern, yet the roots of each grow into the same earth, receiving nourishment from the same water and nutrients. Every human being has a unique DNA, face, and thumbprint. And yet, I Am the spirit of each and every one.

            In most people the spirit that I Am is buried and forgotten under all the ideas, traits, and memories that make them feel separate from each other and from the great I Am.  However, some have learned how to re-connect with the Source of all creation – by spending time in stillness, going deep within, where the Light and Love of I Am dwells. One of these people has spoken for all with the words: “Be still, and know that I am God!”

            Many religions have sprung up around the world, each one trying to explain who I Am in a way that the people of that area can understand. Since I have manifested in a myriad of ways, I need thousands of religions to meet the needs of the different aspects of who I Am. The funny thing is that so many of them think they have found a truth that should work for the whole world, and they even get mad at those who disagree, or threaten them with Hell.

            What is Hell? I never created such a place, but I did create Heaven, the state of knowing the Love and Light that I Am. One person that I Am, who is known as Jesus, taught that the kingdom of heaven is within us.  

Jesus taught many things about who I Am. He said: “I am the light of the world.” He also said: “You are the light of the world,” so we would understand that when he says “I am” he means the part of himself that is connected to the I Am self of each person. When he says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life” he wants us to understand that each of us is the way, the truth, and the life. We will know this when we peel away the layers of our outer selves that separate us from one another. We will know this when we love our neighbors as ourselves. We will know this when we realize that our enemies are our brothers and sisters, and we love them, too. Jesus says: When we know this truth, the truth will set us free.

When we are free we are at peace. Black Elk, a Native American medicine man, said: “Peace comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the Universe dwells Wakan-Tanka (the Great Spirit), and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.”

            When we know the truth, that we are all One, barriers come down, not only between peoples, but between people and Nature. I can be still and know that I Am God, and I can be still and know that all of Creation is God. Zen Master, Thich Nhat Hanh, reminds us to spend still moments appreciating each part of Creation. He says: “When we look into the heart of a flower, we see clouds, sunshine, minerals, time, the earth, and everything else in the cosmos. Without clouds, there could be no rain, and there would be no flower. Without time, the flower could not bloom. In fact, the flower is made entirely of non-flower elements; it has no independent, individual existence.”

           

            There is a great awakening that occurs in the experience of those who discover the deep-most part of themselves that is what I Am. Jesus awoke and said: “I and the Father are one.”

            Saint Catherine of Genoa awoke and proclaimed: “My Me is God, nor do I recognize any other Me except my God.”

            Abraham AbulAfia, founder of the School of Prophetic Kabbala awoke in the 13^th century, and wrote: “For now the awakened one is no longer separated from God, and behold you are God, and God is you’ for you are so intimately adhering to God that you cannot by any means be separate from God, for you are God. So now that I, even I, am God. God is I and I am God.”

            Also in the 13^th century, the Persian poet, Rumi, awoke and wrote:

	I am dust particles in sunlight. I am the round sun.
	To the bits of dust I say, Stay.
	To the sun, Keep moving.
	I am morning mist,
	and the breathing of evening.
	I am wind in the top of a grove,
	and surf on the cliff.
	Mast, rudder, helmsman, and keel,
	I am also the coral reef they founder on.
	I am a tree with a trained parrot in its branches.
	Silence, thought, and voice.
	The musical air coming through a flute,
	a spark of a stone, a flickering
	in metal. Both candle,
	and the moth crazy around it.
	Rose, and the nightingale
	lost in the fragrance.
	I am all orders of being, the circling galaxy,
	the evolutionary intelligence, the lift,
	and the falling away. What is,
	and what isn’t. You who know
	Jelaluddin, You the one
	in all, say who
	I am. Say I
	am You.

            So yes, I Am everything: All-That-Is. To live in harmony as an infinite number of unique individuals, all growing and changing and being ourselves – and remembering that we are all connected as ONE Cosmic Consciousness – is really hard! But I keep working at it - because it’s the only way to keep growing wiser and more peaceful and more in love with who I Am.