By Sue Woodward, Wendy Garrido, & Kim Bray
One of the most publicized books this month is A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. It asks each of us to awaken to our own consciousness and it speaks of the power of consciousness to transform the world. As each generation leaps ahead of the ideas, beliefs, and limitations of the past, we evolve as a species creating a new level of awareness. It’s our children who will lead us to a world of peace and compassion and it starts with helping them discover the truth of who they are. A New Earth asks us to stop living in our heads, with blame, fault, guilt, anger, sadness, prejudice and disharmony, and instead, asks us to tap into our consciousness, the truth that connects us all. Along the way, we discover our inner purpose and our inner gifts, and by doing so, we give others permission to do the same.
This month we start a multi-part series that engages children in discovering what powerful, wonderful BEINGs they are, by letting them figure out consciousness and awareness. The best gift we can give children is the ability to look within, as they learn to draw upon their own truths and tap into their own spirit. This is how true self-esteem develops, from the inside-out, based on who we are as a BEING, not what we are doing as a HUMAN. True self-esteem is a resource that empowers us to transform life events into opportunities to grow in spirit.
This is our first Engage-Aloud™ article, designed to read and do with your children, so they can figure out consciousness and awareness by seeking answers within. We want kids to contemplate the possibilities until they “get it.” Most of the philosophy and ideas in this article are our interpretation of Tolle’s ideas based on his books, The Power of Now and A New Earth.
Ask your child the questions in this Engage-Aloud™ article and have fun doing the exercises. Every time you encounter a ∞ sign, be sure to give your child all the time s/he needs to think about the question and discover his/her own, unique path to the answers. When they “get it,” you will see their face light up. Video tape your children as they answer these questions, have older kids write their answers down, or for younger kids, write them down for them. No editing or coaching, please! We may post them on our website, and you might just be picked to be on our future TV pilot show. Remember, let your child’s answers unfold fresh and unaffected by you. Let them figure it out one step at a time. Example: Accept all their answers as valid for their process of discovery, and keep leading them in the direction you want them to go, by asking, “Okay, what else?” “Tell me more.”
Hold a rock in your hand. It feels really solid and hard, but a rock changes. In fact, it was once something else. Do you know how rocks are made?∞
A rock might have been sand, an animal or a plant a long time ago. When it becomes a rock it is made up of at least two minerals. The whole earth is made up of rocks and all rocks are made up of minerals. What’s so special about a silly old rock?
Do you know what a diamond or a beautiful gem looks like? It is a shiny, brilliant stone that started out as a rock! Many diamonds are over 3,200,000,000 years old! That is 3.2 billion years! They form deep in the earth, where it is very hot and they also need lots of pressure to crystallize the rock, and then it transforms or turns into a gem.
Do you think the rock you’re holding has a gem in it?∞ Probably not, but who knows what will happen to that rock in the next 3 billion years! The potential to become a gem is there because we believe it and know it somehow. Maybe your parents told you or you might have studied it in science class.
So what happens with this rock that has all this potential? Some rocks might be used as a paper weight on your mom’s desk. Other rocks might be used as a border on a garden’s edge. Some rocks are used to create a foundation for buildings. Some rocks, with the right conditions, eventually become diamonds. So, what the rock does, its OUTER PURPOSE, changes based on where it lands and what happens to it.
But do you think a rock knows it has that potential? Nope. But YOU know that a rock has potential, and that’s the difference between a HUMAN BEING and a rock. You know things and knowing brings an awareness with it. From now on when you look at a rock you might think about, “I wonder what this rock has in it that I can’t see?”
When you look at yourself in the mirror, what do you see?
Who are you?
Fill in the blanks...
I Am ______________________________________
I Am ______________________________________
I Am ______________________________________
One thing you could have said is that you are a girl or a boy! So what are girls and boys? ∞You could have said that girls and boys are animals, and that is true. But, a cat is an animal, too, and you aren’t a cat, so what else are you?∞ Boys, girls, men and women are all HUMAN BEINGs. What does that mean? The first word, HUMAN, always comes first because it’s what we connect with first – our body and mind. Things we can see, feel, hear, touch and smell. We all have hair, eyes, bodies, we have a brain, and we think, talk, act and react. Although we have the same things, they are all different. Some eyes are blue, some are green. Some people small, some people are tall.
So, the first part of a HUMAN BEING is HUMAN, and is different for all of us. Each day things happen around us, and we react to those daily events, which are all parts of the adventure of BEING HUMAN. These adventures make up your OUTER PURPOSE.
Now, let’s look at the second word in HUMAN BEING. BEING. Even though it’s comes last, it’s really the most important part of being a HUMAN BEING! When you are BEING, you know that no matter what happens around you, even if I get angry with you, no matter how you do at school, none of that affects your BEING. Your BEING is constant, always there for you, and connects you to who you truly are – your spirit!
Your spirit is kind of like a lamp. There might be lots of different kinds of lamps in your house. Some lamps have cloth lamp shades, some have different light bulbs, some are different sizes, etc. Lamps have different OUTER PURPOSES. You might have a night light in your room so it’s not so dark. There might be a bright light outside to light up your house.
What do you think a lamp or a light’s INNER PURPOSE is?∞
We’d say it’s to give light and to shine! What do most lights require to be able to accomplish their INNER PURPOSE?∞
They need to be plugged in to an energy source. What is that source for the lamp?∞ Electricity!
What do you think a BEING’s energy source is?∞
Your spirit. Your INNER PURPOSE is to let your light shine, to become aware of your inner connection to everything that exists. In spite of all the HUMAN events and things that happen to you at school, at home, during the day, your spirit is lying there, waiting for your awareness, just like that beautiful diamond. So, what do you plug into each day for an energy source that is constant?∞
Your spirit. Plug into knowing and believing that you are connected to truth, beauty, life, peace and love, anytime, anywhere. Can you think of a time something happened on the HUMAN side that got you upset?∞ How did that make you feel?∞ What could you plug into next time that is constant, and always there for you?∞
INNER PURPOSE YOUR SPIRIT
When you get really upset, are you connected to the HUMAN part of you or the BEING part?∞
Of course, every one else in the whole world has a BEING, too. And their BEING is full of love, potential and peace. So, when your friend is angry at you, who’s talking?∞ Is it the part of your friend that’s HUMAN or their BEING?∞
So your job is to see the BEING in everyone when they are acting from the HUMAN part of them. Each person has a diamond inside and needs to connect to his own INNER PURPOSE, spirit, just like you. And every time you connect with your BEING, you help others see their own. You can help every person you come into contact with, by seeing the BEING in them. Can you tell when you’re around someone whether they are acting from their HUMAN part or their BEING part?∞
You have a gift to bring to this world. As your parent, I am one of the lucky people who get to be in your life. When I act HUMAN, your BEING helps me remember to plug into the love and spirit , which is who I truly am.
Try standing in a dark closet, holding your flashlight, and turn it on, pointing it at the mirror. That single light reflects and spreads light all over. When you let your spirit shine, when you connect with your inner purpose, your light reflects and shines from one place to another, from one person to another. Your light shines throughout the world.
If your teacher gets angry because she doesn’t think you are trying hard enough in school, she is talking from the HUMAN part of her instead of the BEING part. Plug in to your BEING, your INNER PURPOSE, it doesn’t change because of what someone else thinks. Let your light shine, even if it seems no one around you is plugged in to their BEING. That is just when we need your light more than ever. Each person that your light shines on helps us make the world brighter.
You are a gift to this world, whether anyone else tells you that or not, and no matter what anyone says or does. Your potential lies within you, in BEING, just like the diamond in the rock, even if no one knows it is there. No one can take it away. You matter. You are important for the future of the world!
1. What do you think are the three most important things in your mom/female role model’s life?
2. How proud do you think your mom/female role model is of you?
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
Not Very Sort of Very
3. What do you think are the three most important things in your dad/male role model’s life?
4. How proud do you think your dad/male role model is of you?
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
Not Very Sort of Very
5. How proud do you think your family is of who you are in school?
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
Not Very Sort of Very
6. How important do you think you are in the world?
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
Not Very Sort of Very
7. Is there something really special about you, something that no one can change or take away from you? If so, what do you think it is? If not, what would you guess something like that might be?
Tolle, E. (2005). A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose. New York: Plume
Tolle, E. (1999). The Power of Now. Vancouver: Namaste Publishing.
March 2008