Thursday, June 20, 2013

Every 17 Years

We had a visitor from town last weekend.
"What's that sound?" She asked, "Is it somebody's car alarm?"
"No.It's the Cicadas. Don't you have them in Winston Salem?"
"Yeah, but not like this."
"There's a lot of trees here, and not much other noise, so I guess they're louder than you're used to in town."
This brood of Cicadas comes out of the ground every 17 years.
About a week ago they emerged. They were all over the road, climbing out of their old skins, drying in the sun, then flying into the trees where they begin singing.
Without the aid of internet or cell phones, every last one of them made their emergence within two days.
Soil temperature and biological change signal it's time to come up, time for metamorphosis.

As humans, many of us feel an urge to meta-morph into something better. We feel an urge to improve, that there is a higher level to pursue.
Insects are programmed to respond to urges and external stimuli.This insures the specie will survive.
Humans are similarly programed to mate and hoard food and possessions as much as possible.
Progress begins when we transform those urges into sharing and loving.
This is just the beginning.
There are multiple skins to grow out of, unhealthy habits and thought patterns to leave behind.
This happens automatically as we grow. If you pull the skin off a cicada before its time, the cicada will die. As it grows, the skin naturally sheds. As we develop spiritually, we naturally leave behind unwanted habits.
 
 A step by step progression has been described;
1) Faith and understanding that you are a spiritual being - Adau Shraddha
2) Find inspiring friends- Sadhu Sanga
3) Engage in a Spiritual Practice - Bhajana Kriya
4) Clearing stage, bad habits drop away- Anartha Nivrtti
As difficult as it sounds, there comes a time when all bad habits are left behind. The practitioner is rid of them forever. The rare people who achieve this stage are naturally attractive, as the good qualities inherent in all of us, are able to shine through, unimpeded. This appears to be an International phenomena manifest in all cultures and traditions, which gives us faith that it is attainable, that the goal does exist.

The next brood of 17 year Cicada will appear in 2030.
How will you evolve by that time?

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