Author: Jivani Lisa

I'm a Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT) and National Certified Counselor (NCC) who loves all things spiritual. Find me on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/JivaniLisaDYoga
Spirituality

A Good Caretaker

Jivani Lisa

Today, I’m thinking about what it means to be a good caretaker – a person who takes care of….

What?

Usually we think of material objects. Yes, indeed.

My husband and I were discussing the way we care for our humble house. As a child, I spent seven years living in a mobile home with my parents and older brother. My mother always kept the house immaculate, and taught me to do the same. I learned the important lesson of being a good caretaker of whatever I “own” no matter how small or simple it may seem to be. I put the word “own” in quotation marks because I don’t believe we actually own anything. Whatever we have in our lives is pure gift.

Our culture, of course, believes in private ownership of everything, but the reality is that we have been given things for a short amount of time (days, months, maybe years) – and given the opportunity to care for them to the very best of our ability. The monetary value of these items doesn’t matter in the least.

So, my practice is to be a good caretaker of my house, my car, my clothing. I’m sure this caretaking duty also applies to my place of employment, my family members, my pets, my own body/mind.

My body is my vehicle for moving through life in this world, so I aim to give it healthy food, rest, and exercise.

My mind is a gift which I always want to nurture with wholesome entertainment, study, and meditation.

The term “caretaker” even suggests a kind of emotional detachment. Basically, I “take care” of everything because it’s the proper thing to do. Not because I expect a reward or because I’m entitled to something or because I fear losing it.

From a spiritual perspective, I explain that I do everything as a service to God. Since God has given me everything I have in my life, I’m happy to be a good caretaker out of gratitude.

What does this caretaker topic bring up for you?

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Spirituality

Vipers!

Jivani Lisa

This exclamation from John the Baptist, “You brood of vipers!” has always made me want to burst out laughing. I always at least smile when I read or hear the words.

The words are directed to the formal religious leaders of the time who, like many religious leaders in all time periods, think they have all the answers and feel secure in their own righteousness as “children of Abraham.” John the Baptist insults them (“vipers!”) and compares them to trees that bear bad fruit and to the chaff left over from the winnowing of wheat.

While I chuckle and instinctively think of folks I believe should hear this message in our day, I know the real message is meant for me. What in me needs to wake up and repent of unwholesome thoughts, words, and deeds? How can I become a tree that bears good fruit in this world? It’s never too late to begin again.

Spirituality

Listen for the Requests

Jivani Lisa

Today is the first Sunday of Advent, the time of year when Christians prepare for the coming of Jesus at Christmas and prepare for his return.

I love the idea that, just like with Mary, the mother of Jesus, God somehow makes “requests” of us to enable God to manifest in the world. These requests are happening all the time, but we often miss them. Every day we are given opportunities to let the Light of God in, but we might also choose to obstruct the Light or even bring darkness instead.

From Rev. Richard Rohr: “Mary is the model of the faith to which God calls all of us: a total and unreserved YES to God’s request to be present in and to the world through us.”

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Spirituality

Religious Harmony

Jivani Lisa

Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886), a great proponent of religious harmony, taught humanity what religion is, and how to use it to foster love rather than bickering and wars. He said:

  1. Ultimate Reality is infinite and beyond language. Therefore, refer to Ultimate Reality with whatever name (e.g., Krishna, God, Allah, Kali, etc.) you wish, and let other people use whatever name they wish.
  2. This infinite Ultimate Reality is the true goal of human life, and indeed, all life. We are not here to achieve money, fame, power, etc. We are here to realize the Ultimate which is Love.
  3. Different religions exist as different paths to the Ultimate Reality. No single path is better than the others. Each path is different, but leads to the Ultimate Reality when practiced with sincerity.
  4. Focus and go deeply into one path. Rather than sampling “a little here” and “a little there,” choose the faith you were born into or select one that appeals to you, then REALLY learn what the faith teaches and practices. DO the practices with faith for an extended period of time. This doesn’t mean you can never change religions, but cautions about dabbling in religions.
  5. Respect other people and their chosen path. Genuinely enjoy one another. Enrich and encourage one other in spiritual life since we are all headed toward the same goal on our various paths.

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Poetry

Birth

Jivani Lisa

The tomb and the womb are one
and the same vessel — dark
and watery in their promises:
Holding for a time, cradling
that which journeys onward.
Sometimes cool and
sometimes boiling, new life
waits and listens, absorbs
sounds outside, in the unknown
territory — so vast and multi-
hued in imagination, endless
in possibilities.

Birth.  Where,
doesn’t matter. When, is
never soon enough it seems.

Freedom beckons to the tune
of distant chiming bells and joyous
voices heard amid tall pines,
their feet strewn with cones — each
one full to overflowing with seeds,
with love, on the path of life.
Even dry bones hold a record
and point toward a fresh womb
of mother earth.