Canela Michelle Meyers 2 Transcript

Canela Michelle Meyers 2nd Interview

Rick: Welcome to Buddha at the Gas Pump. My name is Rick Archer and today I’m with Canela Michelle Meyers, whom I’ve interviewed before a couple years ago. If you’re new to this, Buddha at the Gas Pump is an ongoing series of interviews with spiritually awakening people. There are over 300 of them now on batgap.com, so go there and check out the past interviews menu. I’ve been receiving emails and Facebook messages from people in the last week or two asking “what happened? Are you okay? Where have you been?” because we took a little vacation. And I’m now going to be doing a series of interviews up here in the Vancouver area. I’m at Canela’s house on Bowen Island, a very beautiful place looking out over the water, although you can’t see it in this video. It’s good for me to be here. I love doing interviews in person. I’d do them all in person rather than Skype if I could, because it’s just much nicer to just sit with the person.

Canela: It’s also really nice to support you with all the support that you do for people in interviewing people. I think it’s very valuable for me and my heart just to support what you do.

Rick: Well thanks. If anybody else feels that way there’s a donate button on batgap.com. We do appreciate that support and it enables me to be as involved in it as I am. So I think one of my fundamental assumptions and observations is that growth – spiritual evolution – is a continuum and there’s no end to it that I can see. And so I’m always curious if I’ve spoken to someone before, that’s been a couple years, how they feel they might have grown since we last spoke. What do you think?

Canela: Well that’s great. No warning on that. Always growing, always growing and I would say since we did the last interview, probably the main aspect that I feel that I’ve learned the most and sort of spilled into the unknowing aspect of life is in my relationship with my husband. In what apparently looked like very patriarchal fellow and that being harder for me in the learning mostly about innocence. That however he might be, he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know and it was never anything that was meant to hurt me or it was just because I’m sensitive – a little bit rough at times. And at first that was rougher on me and then it got softer and softer as I saw that he wasn’t meaning to treat me any particular way, it was how he was with himself and seemingly listening more to the logic of life than to the feminine aspect, which I feel is what the patriarch is just out of harmony. It’s just how most of the world is.

Rick: When you say most of the world, I mean the thought that I’ve been having as you’ve been saying that is that we could probably say these things about everybody in the world because none of us know what we don’t know.

Canela: Absolutely, absolutely. That’s the innocence. It’s been said by sages of course over time that ignorance is the main culprit.

Rick: Remember what Christ said, “Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.” There are degrees of that.

Canela: Well but there’s also the reality of being a human being and really living that rather than just saying the word. Actually, really, feeling the actual real innocence so that no matter what the person does – even if it feels like a slam of the door in your face or something like that – that it just isn’t that anymore because you can see that they’re not doing that in any intentional way. I’m also aware that that sounds I think worse than it actually is – just that I’m very sensitive. So I mean in a relationship it might look like not being heard, or not being seen, or not being included. And all these aspects were more about how he wasn’t hearing his own feminine and would go to more the logical route of what he was more used to listening to, which is what the patriarch is. It’s not listening to their own nature as much as how we’ve been trained to listen and respond or react to in the world.

Rick: And so you’re kind of alluding to his blind spots. How about your blind spots because I actually asked you about your growth.

Canela: Right, my growth has been the blind spot that I took it personally. Or that he was supposed to be any particular way other than he is. And so for me, my side in it was not really being so into his side about it – or whatever it was he was doing or trying to change that. Instead it was learning where I was not being fully receptive and understanding.

Rick: Boy I think there’s a key thing here which I think is really important which is that people are who they are. And there’s sort of an art to learning to just accept and appreciate people as they are and not want to change them into something that they’re not, which is a hopeless endeavor.

Canela: Exactly. And the funny part is that once I didn’t really want him to change, he changed.

Rick: Interesting.

Canela: It’s almost like he was willing to be those aspects until I could accept myself in this scenario, and see the innocence of it. And then whatever that was it seemed to melt away and certainly we have a completely different relating now.

Rick: So I don’t consider myself at all to be psychologically adept – in terms of understanding psychology and relationships and all that stuff. I mean I couldn’t write books like John Gray writes for instance, about relationships and human interaction and so on. But the one angle of this show that’s a little unique and perhaps distinguishes it from 10,000 books on how to be a better person and interpersonal relationships and all that, is that we’re trying to tie in the dimension of being awake to one’s true nature or being awake to pure consciousness or a ground state of the universe or whatever we want to call it – and the significance of that for all other aspects of life. So I mean there are probably so many different books and seminars and whatnot that deal with relationship issues that don’t even touch on that. And I would suggest that perhaps there’s an advantage to being able to touch on that. Being open to the dimension of the self or consciousness gives you an advantage in being able to work out issues that everybody has to deal with.

Canela: Well the difference is that there’s acceptance of what is. There’s acceptance of what is. And I can only be honest with myself if that wasn’t full and rich and satisfied and so wherever it feels that there’s some sort of – where it appears like it’s not okay – that would be my indicator something’s up. And so that’s you know even though that sounds really personal in my acceptance of – sort of my acceptance of the patriarch itself – where I had been more resistant to that or I had categorized it somewhat until it too is also equal. And in that learning, I mean it’s so wonderful, because I can see that all of its innocence and across the world. And the difficulty is that I think I mentioned that is that people – men and women – are listening more to the masculine side of themselves predominantly over the feminine aspects of themselves. So I don’t see it as a men-woman thing at all. I see it as a self invitation for harmony. And as each appearance of self like yourself or myself, we’re this blend of the masculine the yin and yang. And how do we bring harmony to that. And as we bring harmony to ourselves which is the gift of having been in a patriarchal relationship and seeing the innocence, really was an acceptance of my own masculine inside myself. And of course then wanting to support people to that, because so on the inside so on the outside.

Rick: So you’re saying that in the world in general there seems to be… I mean people talk about the awakening of the divine feminine in the world. And so the implication is that the masculine has been way out of proportion to the feminine. And that now somehow there’s an awakening in world consciousness taking place. People are having spiritual awakenings and all and this is bringing with it a greater awakening of the divine feminine. Are you kind of saying that?

Canela: Well that still sounds so much… what I would say it is, is it’s more of a balanced listening to both aspects of self. Because if it goes more to the feminine then that’s not it either. It’s more of a balance. It’s just been sort of almost a habitual way – a collective way – of the mind to pick the more the masculine aspect, and that’s what everybody’s supposed to do.

Rick: In society in general that’s happening.

Canela: In the collective mind. In what appears here.

Rick: Yeah. So if there’s a spiritual awakening happening in the world, as many people feel there is, how does that relate to a greater balance between the masculine and the feminine? How is it helping to facilitate or bring about a greater balance?

Canela: Well in the choice points. What appears here as a choice point… so we need to talk about choice then, whether there is choice or there isn’t choice. And ultimately there is no choice. But yet in the moment there can be an apparent choice just like there’s an apparent you or an apparent me – self shows up here as this man Rick. And earlier you asked about something to drink. Would you like juice or would you like water? And so in that moment it appears that consciousness is taking making a choice.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And you do, you pick juice.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Right so this kind of choice point. So in the moment when a person is about to make a choice – and it might be say in the corporation – of whether or not to… I mean the Volkswagen thing that’s going on right now.

Rick: Diesel.

Canela: Diesel.

Rick: If you follow the news.

Canela: And somebody at some point decided to go for the bottom line of the money rather than probably what might have also been present in that moment was where they felt that maybe that wasn’t quite the right.

Rick: Yeah. Right so they made an unethical choice… took a shortcut… for money.

Canela: And that’s what the outcome came to be but in that actual moment what they did is they over rode what might be there in the feeling of what feels right.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And so that’s what I feel Jesus meant about righteousness. It’s not about rules and regulations – like a religion would say – it’s about what’s the right way of the felt sense of being who you are in the moment and leaning left or leaning right. It’s very much just the moment and making decisions based on where you are right then inclusive of the masculine and the feminine aspect of what your heart feels and what’s practical.

Rick: That’s an interesting point. As I look back on my own life over the decades there’s… you know… I mean there’s that cartoon of the little angel and devil on person’s shoulders. You know there’s kind of a still a small voice within that you know to be right even though everybody around you might be saying no that’s crazy. You know that’s wrong and it takes discernment I think to recognize that voice. Because one can easily mistake something that actually is wrong for and interpret it as “this is my intuition this is what I’m supposed to do”. So I guess to extract a question from this, and perhaps it still relates to the feminine thing because femininity is associated with intuition.

Canela: The reception of what is.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: The feminine aspect it receives the information and the masculine aspect takes action on that information.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Or appears to. I mean that’s the dance.

Rick: And there’s that phrase woman’s intuition, you know.

Canela: Yes yes.

Rick: Popular phrase.

Canela: So yeah if anything and I think that the divine feminine awakening is basically giving more space to actually hear that voice that does know in the moment and actually respond to that voice rather than overriding it with like you say…

Rick: … possibly with the intellect.

Canela: Oh yeah. Everybody’s gonna disagree with me so I better just do what they want me to do.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Or what you think they want you to do.

Rick: So what you kind of have said then – so far in this interview – is that over the past couple years since we spoke there’s been a kind of a – maybe you’ve said this – is that there’s been a greater enlivenment or a greater attunement to that intuitive voice. A trusting of it, a surrender to it. And thereby or therefore an acceptance of people as they are.

Canela: Well.

Rick: Does that relate to what you’re saying about your husband?

Canela: Yes. In a way. It’s almost because the relating was pretty good prior to this particular relationship, I just hadn’t been with somebody who’s more patriarchally orientated. So this school of life – this relating – has basically exposed this aspect of consciousness directly in my own direct experience as well as over time what’s been here so it’s a conglomeration of the revealings and learning in each moment of how it all works.

Rick: Yeah so perhaps based on your own experience can we kind of extract a general prescription that could enable people to be more attuned to that intuitive voice and you know learn to align their behavior with it more clearly.

Canela: Well often it’s the part that feels vulnerable. Like you say. You almost like consciousness will bring you up to the edge of the scenario you spoke of earlier where everybody else seems to be going in another direction and yet your inner voice says no, and a lot of people will choose “oh I’ll go with them”

Rick: Yeah

Canela: To follow along, instead of be more closely with this hearing. And so there’s a slowing down. Meditation, of course.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And getting to know the humanness that rises here as you.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Right because it’s so completely unique nobody else is here to learn you. They’re here experiencing. Consciousness is experiencing its life as this human being and in that consciousness is is looking to become more conscious and more aware of its own self. The play that’s here. So an interest in that of course is the root.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Because you know a lot of people are…

Rick: Makes you more inner directed and if you’re more inner directed then you’re more sensitive to that inner voice. Whereas if the attention is always sort of outward outward outward you can kind of ignore the inner thing because you’re always focused.

Canela: Well in fact when you’re inward – whatever inward outward you know there’s no inward or outward.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: But when you’re resting with where you are in each moment the outside is included.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: So the deeper you hear from where you actually are with all the information coming in, and you’re no longer going out to anything, everything’s coming in coming in but there’s no in or out. It’s just the appearances. But as that gets more and more seated and more and more time is spent with exactly where you are – so you’re in the bank instead of having your attention out how long is the lineup and what time is it and all that kind of stuff. It’s like feeling right where you are. Inclusive. You won’t cut out all the outside details by being present to the inner experience as well.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: So it’s that balance between the outer and the inner.

Rick: And there’s also something here which I think you kind of mentioned which is an acceptance of things as they are which is very Byron Katie-ish. But if you’re in the bank and there’s a long line you know you’re not going to speed up the line by fretting and fuming about it and so it’s kind of an opportunity to tune in and just sort of.

Canela: Right. To even get a kick out of consciousness fretting and fuming. You know because if you admit that then it becomes fairly.

Rick: You can do that but you can also say all right well this is the way it is there’s this line and here I am, so you know make use of the time. Read a you know a pamphlet or listen to my eye thing.

Canela: Or feel your breath.

Rick: Or just feel my breath. And finish my mantra. You know, whatever people do.

Canela: Well I recommend actually experiencing where you are rather than listening to your iPad. Or you know it might be in a moment but feeling your feet in your shoes.

Rick: Hmm.

Canela: Feeling that there’s clothes on your body, your heart. Letting your awareness rest with where your heart is and also the incredible amount of information that’s already there. The colors of the skin. You know how light reflects off of skin. The movements that are around you. The way the sounds echo. Whatever is really real in that moment. And the more that there’s this listening to what is real in the moment, the stronger that listening gets.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And the more you are with where you are, just in its incredible ordinariness. And that’s why people don’t listen to it because it seems so ordinary and plain it’s not nearly so dramatic as having a problem of fretting. You know, there’s a dilemma of some kind and then we get to share with somebody else “oh I had such a long lineup in the bank” and “oh you know I had troubles” and blah blah blah. Quite different than saying “I saw this person and man I could just see the light in their eyes and the way that the light reflected off their skin and oh isn’t it amazing to be alive.”

Rick: Yeah. That’s it. You said an interesting thing just now – several interesting things – but the thing about the more you tune into that the stronger it gets. And that’s such a good principle I mean there’s so many obvious examples of that and in the mundane sense. You know the more you do push-ups the better you get at push-ups or you know the more you play tennis the better you get at tennis. But the more you tune into that still quiet voice and intuitive impulse, the more clearly you’ll be perceiving it, you know. And the more easily and spontaneously your behavior will align with it.

Canela: Well.

Rick: Interesting point.

Canela: Well, awareness is here.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: It’s all – and we’ve heard this in many of the interviews – it’s already here. You don’t need to wake up and all that. Unless you do, right. Because if there’s a awareness – or consciousness wants to wake up – you’re helpless to that. I mean relax open to seeking if that’s what’s true. I mean I love the aspect of my life when I knew what I was looking for without knowing what I was looking for. Just that I was looking. To awaken. That I could feel that there was a truth in this, and I loved it. It was very short. And I missed it when it was gone, I really did. Because there was such a juicy alive direction in it that disappeared of course when it found itself. It did but it’s sort of like the seeking ended but the exploration never ceases you know. The discovery, the refinement, the unfold – it just takes on a different flavor, right.

Canela: Totally and the you know, like a twig in the hurricane happens differently than before when I was just sort of felt like I was being picked up and brought different places

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: I still feel that a lot but it’s much more peaceful and full and sort of…

Rick: Content.

Canela: Content. It’s thicker, if you will. And it feels like… it does… it feels like the whole world’s moving with me. So the movements are sort of thicker in that way.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And I guess it’s because awareness knows itself more.

Rick: Yeah. I know from my own experience there were so many years of – for me it took longer than you I’m sure – but so many years of this sort of desperate yearning miserable I you know I can’t even stand it and I got to get there kind of thing.

Canela: Do you miss it?

Rick: No and now it’s more like there’s this baseline of contentment and isn’t this fun you know it’s like whoa you know life is so enjoyable and it’s so interesting and and you know I could readily acknowledge that I’m still a beginner in terms of the whole vast span of possibilities. But that’s great you know. Because it means all that much more fun and exploration and discovery and adventure. And you know the whole thing is just a fascinating ride. It just has lost the sort of unpleasant flavor it had when there wasn’t that contentment there.

Canela: Well wouldn’t you say that it’s more that you’re not resisting the unpleasantness?

Rick: That too but there isn’t very much unpleasantness, you know. I mean it’s like there’s a lot of bliss and a lot of fulfillment. And again it’s like one man’s bliss is another man’s misery. That if either of us were to somehow snap back to where we were 20 or 30 years ago it’d be like “ah I’m gonna die this is horrible” even though then we might have felt pretty okay you know. And by the same token perhaps if we were to snap to where we’re gonna be 10 years from now it would be like we wouldn’t be able to continue this conversation because we’d be so blissful we’d have to just sort of sit here and marinate in it for a while.

Canela: I don’t know. It seems like, and I don’t know that it will end, it feels like it’s pretty much a sure thing that love will continue to embrace itself more deeply and more deeply and more deeply.

Rick: Add infinitum.

Canela: Yeah yeah and that that’s the play here.

Rick: Well that’s kind of what I mean. It’s like… creatures acclimate, you know, every creature acclimates.

Canela: Truly.

Rick: And I always thought it’s a kind of a God’s mercy that we acclimate you know. That because if we didn’t life would be so intolerable you know but we kind of we acclimate to whatever our situation. But there’s always this evolutionary impulse to progress and to evolve. And as we do so we acclimate to that we acclimate to that we acclimate to that we and we just keep going. So I’m speaking very hypothetically about snapping back 30 years or snapping forward.

Canela: Yeah yeah yeah. Well I guess… I guess the part that I responded to was the idea that it will look better in some future, that would be even more blissed. And I imagine that yeah we’ll know ourselves even more.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Or consciousness will know itself even more really.

Rick: Well I’m not such a in the now fanatic that I can’t speak that way you know it’s like sure it’ll always be the now and all that. But based upon my experience over the last almost 50 years of being focused on spiritual stuff… I can, you know, if life continues as it always has… I can honestly say that it’s probably gonna look better in 10 years. I mean I’ll be almost 76 so maybe I’ll be starting to feel old physically. But in terms of the the inner experience and you know the consciousness. The perception, the orientation from awareness, or however I want to describe it. My experience has been – that has maybe fluctuated – but always steadily improved over years and years. Does that jive with your experience?

Canela: Yes. Well yes. Basically it becomes more flowing and yet the… there’s a lot more that’s seen about what isn’t in harmony. And so as much as there’s also the direct expression of love there’s also a seeing of the less nice aspects of what’s happening.

Rick: In you and the world and anything.

Canela: In the world in the way that things are, you know.

Rick: Okay… like give me an example.

Canela: Well it’s it’s also in our media. It’s how everything’s evolving. That there’s so much more that we know. There’s way more rape happening than we used to because now we know about it.

Rick: We know about it.

Canela: There might have been a lot more but it appears like things are getting more rough.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: With ISIS and all that that. Things are quickening not only in the aspect of the people moving more towards love but also in people moving towards fear.

Rick: I think you got something there I mean we could say well at least we’re not in the middle of World War II or you know the purge under Stalin or you know or the Holocaust or some of these horrible things that have happened. But I have heard many people say that there’s sort of a magnification of both positive and negative forces in the world. The polarities are getting more defined.

Canela: Getting more and more strongly defined.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Yeah.

Rick: Maybe the sheep and the goats are being separated or the wheat from the chaff.

Canela: Well well to me… so I’m looking at that right. So then when you said is it getting better so I’m saying that yes in a way my personal experience maybe is better but also what I recognize as being some pretty rough stuff and what people are experiencing. Because people are getting more sensitive with the evolution they’re also experiencing the rough stuff a little more acutely.

Rick: Well you know it could be that to a certain extent the chickens are coming home to roost. I mean we’ve been doing so many things that are unsustainable.

Canela: Exactly.

Rick: And…

Canela: So what can we do about that right now. That’s what I’d like to talk about.

Rick: Yeah

Canela: If that’s…

Rick: Yeah… you have something you’d like to say or you want me to ask you a question about that.

Canela: Yeah yeah what would I suggest is that what you’re asking me.

Rick: Yeah okay. And we can tie it to specific examples I mean.

Canela: Beautiful yes yes and so can I ask you do you have an example of something that’s happening in the world these days that you’ve heard of lately that that honestly is disturbing to you.

Rick: Yeah I could think of many examples.

Canela: Like what?

Rick: But for instance I’m very keenly interested in the whole climate change phenomena. And you have you know half of the Congress denying that – in the US Congress – denying that it even exists, that there is a problem. And those who grudgingly acknowledge that there’s a problem are saying it’s well but it’s not man-made it’s sunspots or something. And yet I you know some even some very somewhat conservative by somewhat conservative estimates you know we could get a four or five six degree rise in temperature over the next century. And if it’s six it probably means no more human beings on the planet and going from here to that, if that were to come to pass, is not going to be a picnic. You know there’s going to be if this migration of Syrians right now is going to just seem like a picnic in a positive sense compared to the mass migrations of billions of people if the oceans rise several meters or several feet.

Canela: Right right. And so what happens… could you say this is an issue that is disturbing to you.

Rick: Yeah I could go on for another ten minutes.

Canela: So where is the disturbance in your body – energetically – as you look at climate change and the political action around that?

Rick: I don’t know that well maybe I’m blind to it but I don’t know there is a disturbance in my body but maybe there is I mean if if my body is really cosmic and contains the universe as some people say they experience then if there’s a disturbance in nature there must be a disturbance in my body.

Canela: Exactly.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: So so this is so…

Rick: And I’m not tuned into it.

Canela: Well that’s why I asked you to choose something that’s disturbing to you.

Rick: OK, yeah.

Canela: What do you feel disturbed by that you’d want to move away from it?

Rick: I’m not sure that I want to move away from it but I sort of want to do what I can to avert it.

Canela: Perfect, yep.

Rick: There’s a verse in the Yoga Sutras which says “XXXXX” – which means avert the danger which has not yet come. I feel that a great danger is coming and I think we have to bring about a shift in world consciousness so that people are more awake to what’s going on and less delusional.

Canela: See the only thing with that.

Rick: I’m doing what I can to serve that.

Canela: Right right so what I was looking for was the aversion part. What part of your – if you watch the news, what do you shake your head at and feel disturbed by?

Rick: Well you know the funny thing is if anything I’m sometimes disturbed by my lack of disturbance.

Canela: Well when you say that.

Rick: When 9/11 happened for instance and I sat there and watched the towers fall it was more like fascination than it was disturbance. I thought I’ll be done you know this is major and this is going to have incredible ramifications and I was just sort of like astounded in a way but not disturbed.

Canela: So in other words you don’t have anything that disturbs you?

Rick: Well if my wife yells at me or something that disturbs me.

Canela: What did I mean by my relationship with my husband? That’s exactly it. If I can really say that I’m accepting that in your personal relationships that’s right the place that is going to still have some bits because it’s where you’re most at home.

Rick: Yeah, no, I mean when I watch stuff happening in the world and I like to watch the news and keep abreast of current events.

Canela: Can you remember anything that was disturbing that you saw in the news?

Rick: Yeah tons of stuff, I mean when you see that guy who shot the lion in Africa and you realize multiply that times thousands of times because 30,000 elephants have been slaughtered in the last year.

Canela: So where inside is disturbed by this guy shooting the lion? If you look right now. If you can sincerely say that that bothers you where is the energy that’s bothered?

Rick: I don’t mean to be uncooperative.

Canela: I know I’m wondering if this is…

Rick: if this is the right angle to go in?

Canela: Well it’s when you’re you know. Yeah it’s it’s kind of like everything that potentially could disturb me, for me is a call to action. Is an impetus to infuse more of what I consider to be the solution into the world rather than the situation.

Canela: Right, but where are you coming from?

Rick: Where am I coming from?

Canela: Because if you’re not feeling the disturbance then you’re you’re bouncing off of it to make a change try to change something.

Rick: Yeah I mean let’s say that you’re a lifeguard and somebody’s drowning.

Canela: Right.

Rick: It’s like you don’t feel disturbed that somebody’s drowning you spring into action, you run to the water.

Canela: That’s responding.

Rick: You get out there you do something.

Canela: So what I’m looking for is we need to have a disturbance so we can show how to be with the disturbance.

Rick: Yeah but we don’t need to be disturbed in order to help.

Canela: Well the thing is that most people… what happens is they get disturbed and they react with the same energy that caused the disturbance in the first place. I don’t like this I want to change it. So this is where I’m saying this is where we can actually be with the energy that gets disturbed rather than acting on top of that.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: As a reaction so you’re you’re talking about responding.

Rick: Uh-huh.

Canela: Which is I’m not sure right because I’m not you I can’t that’s why I was looking for a disturbance.

Rick: Yeah, I tried to find one.

Canela: Something that… it’s like an example would be okay there’s so many different things but the whole thing.

Rick: Well something to take something from your own experience then. We’re kind of talking about global affairs I mean it doesn’t have to be global.

Canela: I think we’re just gonna need to talk about it because the thing is I know from myself when I get disturbed.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: by something if I see it on on TV where something touches me then I know to open to what I’m feeling rather than you know in a bandwagon.

Rick: So can you remember something that you saw on TV that disturbed you?

Canela: Well.

Rick: Some incident… I know my wife gets disturbed when Donald Trump comes on she won’t even let me watch him. This is interesting I want to watch the Republican debate. No we’re not gonna we’re not gonna spend the next year and a half watching that.

Canela: I think what it is I think we’ll just talk about it I guess because I’m sort of in the same boat of having learned how to respond rather than react.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And so what often happens is people see the news and they they have some sort of feeling of complaint.

Rick: Yeah they throw shoes at the television.

Canela: Or they honestly feel disturbed.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And then they feel helpless because it seems like it’s a global issue and there they are just one little person.

Rick: Yeah see I don’t feel that.

Canela: Right well well they might.

Rick: Right. Some people do.

Canela: Some people might.

Rick: Right.

Canela: And so a way that a person who gets disturbed or feels that they don’t like what’s happening in the world is to stop when they’re in the midst of experiencing not liking it. That’s the disturbance right. I don’t like this. And instead of signing petitions or whatever – I mean those things can help, but if the energy hasn’t been met it just gets pushed around and put into the next thing and put into the fight against the bad guys. And here’s the good guys and here’s the bad guys and that just shuffles the energy around. But people feel better because they feel like they’re doing something.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And so what I’m saying is first whatever it is that you want to change instead of attempting to change it feel the wanting to change it first. Feel where it touches you inside. Feel where it touches something and feel the touch. Breathe relax open and feel that. And then after they’ve experienced whatever that is in the interior looking aspect of experiencing life – that actually helps dissipate the energy. Or at a minimum will give them some sort of learning about themselves that will be a gift that will be usually my finding is that love will show up even when people are being murdered and horrible things are happening, the personal experience – if it’s explored – will reveal love. And when that happens that’s the energy transformed.

Rick: Yeah that’s good advice. I mean when you think about there’s so many polarizing issues in society you know abortion, gun control, race issues. You know, gay issues. All kinds of things. Like that lady in Kentucky who refused to issue marriage licenses to gay people and had to go to jail for five days. And there’s all this sort of… and you see these people on the news shouting at each other from you know nose to nose practically over…

Canela: Completely disturbed.

Rick: Yeah, and completely you’re totally wrong I’m totally right and so what you’re saying yeah… so so kind of elaborate again on what you just said in light of those examples I just gave you know instead of spitting each other’s faces and yelling at each other.

Canela: Yeah so say we were fighting at each other right, then I would say hold on a moment can you just stop right now I just need to feel what’s going on right now inside. And breathing and relaxing the body open and feeling what’s going on inside because when a person is in the fight usually they’re contracted because they’re moving forward and they’re fighting something outside of themselves. And that’s what keeps that energy alive.

Rick: Hmm interesting point. There’s a line from a Dylan song he said you know “you’re right from your side and I’m right from mine” and that Buffalo Springfield song you know “people carrying signs mostly say hooray from my side.”

Canela: Yeah.

Rick: And there’s some truth in that you know because really both are right. You know if you look at some of these issues – abortion for instance – and try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes you know, they both have they have valid concerns and issues and whichever side…

Canela: You know what I don’t even it’s not even really a case of right or wrong. What it is is that everybody’s moving from a place of caring and love.

Rick: Right.

Canela: At some level somewhere and then in some people that’s been distorted by traumatic experiences. But they’re still attempting to figure out their way of doing the right thing of being the way that they think they should be, and you know they’re still coming from that place. If I could be with them personally I can show any person no matter what’s going on that it’s love.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And then when that person settles down into that I don’t know there’s all sorts of stuff that can happen. Because then they’re in this open receiving place because it’s love. You can open anybody just even the word creates an opening. So if a person can meet themselves in the fray of it, where they feel disturbed by the news globally or even like in the masculine feminine thing where there’s a lot of violence towards women.

Rick: Sure.

Canela: Right.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: There’s a lot of just…

Rick: Rape and spousal abuse.

Canela: Or even even slimy stuff. Just you know offhand remarks and you know. And women can feel that.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: You know you can go into a store and see some guy check you up and down and instantly what happens is the woman will then go “ooh” you know they’ll close. To protect themselves but the tricky part with consciousness is if they’re aware that they’re being slimy it’s in. It’s already the information is already in the body.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And what appears here as a body in the energetics of being a human being.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: So when that sliminess has happened to close to it is basically locking the energy in. And then when that energy is locked in more sliminess. Because it magnetized whatever it is inside outside.

Rick: So what you’re suggesting I think is that the more we can become sensitized to what’s going on inside of us.

Canela: Well if we recognize that it’s already occurred. Stopping and protecting the closing to something isn’t going to work.

Rick: Right.

Canela: Because if you have perceived it to have happened it’s in. So in that example of a guy being you know.

Rick: Right.

Canela: However that.

Rick: Checking you out.

Canela: Yeah. To know that you’ve already received that energy and to then let it fall through the system almost like you’re the particles that that you are. Right. That just to relax open and let their energy complete its route through you. And then it’s a funny thing in the moment often the sliminess stops completely.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Because part of that that creates that whole man woman thing like that is because the protection comes up and then that gives them something to bounce against as well.

Rick: Yeah. I want to make sure that people can understand what you’re saying to the point where they could actually do it.

Canela: Yes.

Rick: Because it’s a little abstract.

Canela: Oh, okay.

Rick: I have this friend who she said she’s all of her life – or most of her life – she’s been so sensitive that she said she can hear people’s thoughts and stuff. And when she was in college you know she you know be walking across campus and could really pick up on what all these guys were thinking as they’re watching her walk, and she kind of resorted to wearing very baggy kind of unfeminine clothing so as to just make herself more inconspicuous to them.

Canela: Yeah.

Rick: So it’s perhaps using that as an example.

Canela: The burka.

Rick: Yeah that kind of thing. Right. Exactly. She burka-ed herself.

Canela: Yeah.

Rick: So what’s a take… try to bring this a little bit more concretely so that people listening can actually apply it in their lives. Otherwise there might just be some words they hear that they’ll forget how to do.

Canela: Right. So you but you understand the part that part’s clear about.

Rick: Well you said about letting it pass through you.

Canela: Right.

Rick: As opposed to what let’s say you walk into a store and you pick up some guy checking you out and you could get all incensed and yeah you’re defensive.

Canela: Basically your system will say no.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And it’s recognizing your system saying no because that’s gonna happen and then seeing it’s quite a vulnerable thing to do.

Rick: Mm-hmm.

Canela: To see if you can relax your body open and then that lets the energy you’re no longer holding so the energy can fall in the openness.

Rick: Would part of it just being rather than reacting to the guy one way or the other just ignore him?

Canela: Ignoring too.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Because you’re not ignoring. The information’s already in the energetic system of a human being that you are. Right. If perception has happened it’s already in. Because perception is like a – it’s not an inside or because everything’s being experienced here.

Rick: Mm-hmm.

Canela: Consciousness is experiencing itself here. Right. It’s a different little bit different than that here even though there’s no separation.

Rick: Yeah. But you know that things come in all the time and we can either hang on to them or not. Maybe that’s what you mean about letting it pass through. Like there’s this Vedic sort of analogy about you know making a line in stone or making a line in sand or making a line in water or making a line in air. In every case a line is made but the different media that you’re making it in hold it to greater you know greater or lesser degrees of time. So the air of course line deep line is made but it’s gone as soon as it’s made. Whereas stone you etch it, it’s there for years. So you know somebody might be looked at in a store and still be thinking about it a month later. You know that stupid guy in the store.

Canela: Exactly.

Rick: And I’m gonna keep dressing this way because I don’t want people look at me like that. And somebody else it might be gone instant it happens.

Canela: Right. It might not even disturb the next person. They might not even notice.

Rick: Right. That’s what I mean about.

Canela: But it may not be about sensitivities. It just might be that they don’t have that energy that needs to be jostled. Right. So sort of all the people – it usually happens when somebody does have something that consciousness wants to be conscious of. So if consciousness is walking around as this woman or as this man. Right. Usually there’s something that if that energy goes in and they’ve marked it in rock like you say and it like totally two months later they’re still disturbed. That means the energy is inside. That dwelling is the energy.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And so we can have that happen again and again and again. Or we can say hey consciousness is it attempting to get our attention with this.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: What is this really about? Because this whole attention thing and this slimy attitude or whatever is is not what it’s really about. That’s just what’s there to disturb the energy so we can find it. And then once we find, it once we recognize that we’ve said no to something and we’ve contracted then if you can feel that you’ve said no or contracted or you’re trying to protect it or you’re trying to get away or ignore. To relax open to ignoring happening. They’re relaxing the body open, relaxing the energy field. However somebody can relax, if somebody can contract their body and just tighten like right now if you tighten your body then you know how to relax it.

Rick: Right.

Canela: So it’s that kind of action. To relax open or like I said earlier in if we were having a fight to stop and relax open. And feel what the root inside what’s going on in the interior because if it’s happening at all on the outside there there’s going to be some sort of energy inside. And it might be different it might not look like the sliminess or – and it might look like something that somewhere the woman picked up that somebody said they’re slimy and they have felt themselves to be slimy ever since at some level. And so sliminess keeps happening on the outside until they accept and feel into and open and see what that’s about. What it opens. And it’s always a gift – the present. And it always points to some sweet bit that that the person gets to know themselves.

Rick: Now we’re talking about a fairly minor situation where some guy looks at you in a store but obviously there are much more intense situations that people encounter you know spousal abuse or you know a boss at work who is really abusive and nasty and you know critical or all kinds of rough stuff that people encounter in life. So with those sort of things it might be more in the category of easier said than done then.

Canela: Well no no I’m speaking from from personal experience of having had violent action taken against myself or really it’s against the perpetrator himself.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: When you understand what’s really happening. But that was my question to myself over over time. If it’s all love how could this be love? How could being raped be love?

Rick: You were raped?

Canela: Yeah.

Rick: Wow. I don’t know if you told me that before.

Canela: No no I hadn’t I hadn’t really. I’m just starting to write about it now as the understanding of how come how do I know what I’m talking about?

Rick: Right so now you’re talking about something that happened years ago and and you’re looking at it from a much more broad and detached perspective than you were when it was happening. And so you know the way you were talking a minute ago about the guy in the store you were describing a way of reacting to it or dealing with it as it was happening but how would you how not you know pairs the thought how would you deal with actually being raped as it was happening or something of that intensity and heart and horror. Is there anything of…

Canela: Well we were carjacked by people with who had two semi-automatics and like you know guns pointing at us and threatening us with them to steal our car.

Rick: Yeah

Canela: And we were stopped at gunpoint and forced out of our car that’s fairly

Rick: That’s pretty intense.

Canela: Right and and people might consider that violent.

Rick: And this was not that long ago.

Canela: 2012.

Rick: So three years. And you were raped then?

Canela: No no no no no no, thankfully no I was not.

Rick: I’m glad I asked that because yeah people might have jumped to that conclusion just now.

Canela: Right, no no no when I was raped I was seven years old.

Rick: Oh.

Canela: And again when I was 18.

Rick: Uh-huh.

Canela: And again as I know and you probably know this people have experienced much worse happenings more ongoingly.

Rick: Sure. Shellee Rae whom I interviewed a few months ago was raped by her father from the age of nine to fourteen.

Canela: Right.

Rick: And I mean it’s weird that we’re dwelling on this stuff but you know this.

Canela: Well it’s not weird because this is the balance and the harmony that consciousness is attempting to come to.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: How are we going to be with this violence instead of trying to stop perpetrators from doing such things the energy needs to be dissipated.

Rick: And perpetrators need to be stopped but.

Canela: Well perpetrators will stop as the energy’s dissipated.

Rick: Whoa so I mean that might sound like you’re saying that the rape is the fault of the victim.

Canela: No once it’s happened.

Rick: Like you’ve changed if you change your energy you’re not gonna the perpetrator won’t be motivated to.

Canela: Well there’s that part too. That’s the natural happening when the energy comes into harmony within. What I’m saying is once such things have happened how do we become harmonious with ourselves. And the side effect of that is the dissipation of a perpetrator. So it’s not to say that it didn’t happen. But on a bigger picture scale how come we’re finding out more about this now is because we’re able to actually be with it more now. At a deeper level and find our way with this to bring harmony to it. But it isn’t about.

Rick: Are you using the we in the collective sense now or how we are finding out more about this. You mean as a society?

Canela: Yes. As a human species we have become much more able and aware of what’s going on.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: In a much more real sense and many more people are waking up. And in that awakeness the reality of what’s happening here is much more clear.

Rick: Yeah you know it’s interesting how hopefully this will rate directly what we’ve been saying but one thing I’ve been noticing over the last couple years as the news unfolds is that tragic events happen and they become they become catalysts for social change. You know like the guy getting shot in Ferguson Missouri and then that brought up the whole Black Lives Matter thing and some progress is made.

Canela: Yeah.

Rick: You know or I don’t know we could probably think of other examples but.

Rick: Well in the energetics you see I see it as energetics. So there’s there’s bigger energetics and there’s smaller ones. With the Ferguson stuff. It’s a pressure that’s been there for some time and it needed to erupt just like a volcano. So the same thing happens.

Rick: And the guy becomes almost like a sacrificial lamb. He gets shot but then this big social change happens and then things are never quite the same after they’ve improved.

Canela: Right or there’s an invitation that improvement can happen.

Rick: Right.

Canela: You know and if it’s if it’s taken if the invitation is taken. In all of this stuff it’s that’s that’s why it’s happening is because harmony is wanting to find itself.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And so can we go along with that. And in the recognition of love that helps us to. It helps me for sure in exploring the upheaval happenings in my own life and what looked like violence and was violent in the happening certainly both times violent. And the repercussions that came and changed me and yet you know how can I find the love of it and and part of that is in my embracing and learning how to bring harmony to myself as harmonies being invited because it’s not an all-at-once thing. It’s a long time thing to you know reveal it – have it revealed to myself.

Rick: Sure it’s none of this stuff is an overnight.

Canela: No.

Rick: It’s a process.

Canela: But with the sensitivities and the seeing of it as energy and seeing it as love now I can really support other people.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And so there’s the love of it I mean the invitation to me personally was can I find the love? Can I really unearth the love of this? Is it all love or not? And in my heart I knew it had to be so I was wanting to find my way with that.

Rick: Yeah that’s an interesting point that you bring up which is that there’s so many people I know who are serving in some sort of teaching capacity now who are kind of equipped with abilities that they wouldn’t have had had they not gone through certain difficult things. It’s almost like they had to go through those things to be to eventually end up as someone who could help others go through similar things.

Canela: Yeah I think that is harmony attempting to happen.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: That’s how it how it how it’s doing its thing. And so I don’t say you know that children or people men or women because you know it’s happening to boys and men too. All sorts of violent happenings.

Rick: Sure, yeah.

Canela: And so it’s not just women. It’s humans.

Rick: Yeah. And I mean look at. There’s so many examples.

Canela: There’s so many.

Rick: Look at these kids that are getting you know pressed into being soldiers at the age of 12 in Africa.

Canela: Exactly I was thinking of the military myself as well. That just even the whole mentality of being trained to kill people is something in and of itself.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: So but that’s not part of my experience. So you know all of these happenings have been a support to who I am today. So I can see that. I can’t take them out of my life. I can’t say I wish it hadn’t happened.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Because the incredible exposure of compassion is real. Because I – in the revealing of what happened the natural response is incredible compassion for the little girl.

Rick: The little girl that you were.

Canela: Yeah. Yeah. Am? I don’t know you know. She’s here when she’s here you know. And everybody knows that. It’s it’s it’s beautiful. It’s falling in with self. Falling in love. That’s the real action of it. And then as that happens – as a balance in the human system and more harmony happens – this is the harmlessness that Buddha spoke of. Without having energy caught and held inside. When that goes on it’s harmless. Because there’s no energy to it.

Rick: Hmm.

Canela: Whereas if there’s anger and pent-up rage and us and them and all that.

Rick: Then it gets held.

Canela: It it’s it’s got some power.

Rick: Yeah. That’s an important thing. There’s a principle in physics called the Meissner effect. And when something becomes sort of super cool to the point of near absolute zero. I think this is the way it works. I may be getting my principles mixed up. But anyway this this sort of macroscopic quantum coherence takes place. And the thing becomes impervious to incoherent influences. They just sort of pass right through it. Whereas something that’s in a more chaotic state you know holds those in those those incoherence. So pardon me if I’ve slaughtered that principle from physics. It was like 40 years ago.

Canela: Sounded good to me.

Rick: That I was studying that. But but what the principle is that we can establish an internal state of coherence or sort of a super fluidity of consciousness which.

Canela: Untangled.

Rick: Yeah untangled. Which makes us sort of like impervious to incoherent influence.

Canela: Well there’s oneness that’s here. Self is moving as one bit. There’s nothing that you know we know that. Right. You can see it when you drop a pebble in water and the ripple effect. Well just going like that is the same thing. There’s a ripple effect to that.

Rick: Sure.

Canela: We just don’t see it quite as obviously as we do with water.

Rick: Mm-hmm.

Canela: But it’s the same.

Rick: Oh yeah.

Canela: And and so.

Rick: Everything influences everything.

Canela: Everything influences everything. And so.

Rick: I just slowed the rotation of the earth down by doing that.

Canela: I could add some jokes. But yeah I don’t know. Right. Certainly you know what. Are we gonna tilt more this way or more that way. We could have fun with it. But but mostly that interior exterior. What happens on the outside is a reflection of the inside. If it’s disturbing. If it’s not disturbing. Like you saw 9/11 happen.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: It wasn’t a disturbance. It’s none of your business. Right. So it’s where you’re called is where you’re disturbed.

Rick: Yeah. Well it is my business in the sense that I feel that I can have an influence on the world through what I do and thereby contribute positively to avert situations like that.

Canela: Right.

Rick: You know and so on. I feel like we all exert an influence continuously and that anything that happens in the world is just sort of a outcropping of the collective influence that we’ve all generated. Just like if you have a boil on your skin or something it’s just there’s something in the blood that’s impure that’s cropping up here as a boil or there as a wart or you know whatever.

Canela: Yeah.

Rick: And so all these.

Canela: But it also might be that somebody’s got an aversion to warts and they need to be.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: But all these are all these world events are just sort of symptomatic of elements in collective consciousness that we all contribute to constantly. And they just sort of crop up here and there.

Canela: Right. As an invitation for harmony.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: I mean consciousness is all of it right? Even the people who aren’t conscious of being consciousness. It’s not that they’re less part of consciousness.

Rick: Right.

Canela: Right. There isn’t a less or more at all. But as consciousness gets to know itself then there’s a strength in that.

Rick: Yeah. So when I say that I you know wasn’t disturbed by 9/11 and I feel like I can make it.

Canela: Yeah. No no I didn’t mean that. Just from the way that you saw it and you felt but you didn’t feel they didn’t create havoc is what I mean.

Rick: Right. I feel like okay well there’s a very significant symptom of some underlying disharmony in collective consciousness you know. And if anything it would inspire me to redouble my efforts to be a positive contributor to collective consciousness.

Canela: And that’s what happened with me with Columbine. Because I.

Rick: Right. Same idea.

Canela: I up until that point I had been kind of avoiding the news.

Rick: Right.

Canela: And then I ended up in San Francisco and a friend let me stay at her mother’s apartment and there on the table sort of bold face right out front was the Times magazine with Columbine. And I knew when I saw it that I it was meant it kind of shouted at me pretty much.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And I didn’t want to but I but I picked it up. And that’s and that’s – I let myself be exposed to the actual information of what happened and and felt connected to that and to the families of the all the kids the kids that were the kids that that that shot the kids and the kids that were shot. And their families you know. All of that in the school and the shock of it feeling into the energetics of the whole thing. And then I was looking at well why? What what does consciousness want to know have me know about this?

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: What what good is that. And then I saw it made me more sure more courageous and more determined to be of service to bringing harmony.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: To supporting harmony. I mean bringing harmony within myself but it it made me that much more clear that much more defined.

Rick: So we’re kind of saying the same thing here.

Canela: Exactly.

Rick: You know that these external events rather than disturbing us inspire us to be more.

Canela: Yeah. When they do.

Rick: Yeah. Be more effective.

Canela: Yeah.

Rick: Be a greater contributor.

Canela: Right. The only part that I like to to add to that because it sounds like a rule then right. That okay well I’m not.

Rick: Natural inclination.

Canela: Right. It’s it’s got to be a truthful non-disturbance. And it’s not to say that you’re not supposed to be disturbed.

Rick: Right. If you disturb you’re disturbed.

Canela: If you’re disturbed it’s just consciousness being disturbed.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And we get to open to it or you can close it. I mean the habit or even the I don’t even know if it’s an addiction or a habit or because most people are saying no.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: To what’s going on. It’s saying no to what is in a way but that even the no is beautiful because it marks that something has happened.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Because then we if we’ve said no that’s where we can feel no happening so that we can open to it and in our own time as we’re comfortable with ourselves to have a space to feel into okay what just really happened there.

Rick: Yeah. I wouldn’t judge anybody who is disturbed by things like that. I’m not saying that you know the way I react.

Canela: Just so people don’t take it as a rule.

Rick: Yeah. I remember well I remember hearing about Rosie O’Donnell’s reaction to Columbine. She sat in the bathtub and cried all night you know and I thought that was very touching. You know. It’s not the way I would react and sometimes I wish I could react more like that to things you know. Sometimes it would feel good to just cry but it’s you know the way I’m wired it just doesn’t work that way.

Canela: As far as you know.

Rick: As far as I know so far right. I could end up becoming a total blubbering fool. I have friends actually who have done that. They’ve undergone some big shift in consciousness and they can’t go to movies anymore because they make a scene in the theater crying.

Canela: Right. Well because the tears want to be right – that’s sadness or grief finding its own way to harmony.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: It can only be held for so long and you know how many people have been told you know don’t cry.

Rick: Sure.

Canela: Right. As soon as a little kids crying I get everybody will run to the kids saying oh don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry.

Rick: I’ll give you a candy.

Canela: It’s like yeah have some of this and they try to stop.

Rick: Or stop crying I’ll give you something to cry about.

Canela: Both. Right. Exactly and so that’s commonplace and it’s an undoing of that and going okay sadness is here yes to this sadness. Yes. Oh let it take me.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Let it take me all the way as far as it can take me.

Rick: Yeah. So what we got here? We’ve got a few little notes of things we’re going to talk about. What haven’t we talked about?

Canela: Well we talked about global issues.

Rick: Yeah. Responsibility. People want to help they feel helpless.

Canela: Yeah responsibility is also – we sort of touched on it in the examples, but instead of like it’s a big thing that people take on responsibilities of their kids and their job and they feel overloaded with responsibilities. All these.

Rick: So much pressure.

Canela: Pressure that they think they’re responsible for when really they are just a movement of energy. And they’re responsible for the system that they are to feed and clothe that. And it’s only in the moment. There’s no longevity to the moment. Right. It’s in this moment okay I need to have shelter. So I need to pay for that shelter. So the responsibility would be to look around to see okay well how can that need be met. You know look for possibilities and what wants to happen in the moment. And to provide for yourself right. The tricky part is is that people then hold on to responsibilities. Responsible for their partner. Responsible for their children. And you know in a way you you are but not as a controlling of their happiness. That people feel like you know. And it’s genuine. People want their kids to be happy. But it’s not up to them to make their kids happy. They can support their kids to find happiness.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: So it’s like just looking at the word responsibility and looking at okay what is there in this moment to respond to. And that’s an easier way to be with responsibility. In each moment how will I respond right now. And how will I respond right now. It’s an in the moment happening rather than anything that goes beyond the moment.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Is that…

Rick: Yeah I think I know what you mean. And it kind of reminds me of the alcoholics oath or whatever it is where they say you know the ability to change things I can change you know. Accept the things I can’t change in the wisdom to know the difference.

Canela: Right.

Rick: You know there’s there’s certain things for for which we have over which we have jurisdiction or appear to have. And you know there are many other things over which we don’t. And many people muddle up the lines between those and get themselves all stressed out trying to control and things that should really be allowed to run their own course. Is that what you’re saying.

Canela: Well to be able to respond.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Is being responsible. To respond to the moment rather than taking something on as a job like and making it something that I’m responsible for.

Rick: Yeah. I think another nice thing about that word responsibility is that it implies that our ability to respond can be augmented and enhanced and improve.

Canela: Absolutely.

Rick: You know so it’s.

Canela: Well it’s that the global issues right.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: To be responsible would be to see how you respond in the moment. To whatever it is that’s happening. Able to respond. Response able.

Rick: Yeah. And regarding global issues there’s you know there’s a sort of a certain pace of life and of change that seems to be accelerating more and more. And you know so we have to be sort of fit to deal with the increasing intensity and pace that the world seems to be undergoing. I mean if you have a donkey and it can barely carry a load you have two options strengthen the donkey or lighten the load. And we may not have the option of slowing down the world. And you know there’s just so much going on but if we.

Canela: Right but if the responsibility.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: What often people do is they think about where the donkey is going where they have to get to instead of taking care of the donkey.

Rick: Right.

Canela: And so that’s that’s it just taking care of where you are is the responsibility. And you only have this moment. There is no other moment than this one. So it’s it’s quite vital in the mix of what appears as life.

Rick: You’re saying a lot of good things. I see very often people fretting and fuming about stuff that isn’t – they’re not accomplishing anything by doing that because it’s not now. You know what if this happens what if that happens oh she said that and he said that and yada yada yada yada. And it’s like they’re not having any influence on any of that stuff. It’s completely outside the realm of their control or or influence.

Canela: Well the only thing that’s happening energetically is that they’re staying at a surface level because possibly it’s just uncomfortable to be where they are.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: So it’s to go oh especially complaint – I’m complaining in some way. Well if they only did this if they only did that and did it like that. Okay wait a moment wait a moment wait a moment. What’s happening right here?

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Right because it’s the horizontal living you know they did this they’re going to do that.

Rick: So if someone who’s close to you – we don’t want to pick on Steve anymore – but if someone who’s close to you is doing that sort of thing have you found that you’re able to bring them into this and you know get them out of that or do you have to just let them do their thing?

Canela: They are not my responsibility. Yeah but if it’s someone close to you yeah how would you invite them to sort of hey chill you know let’s be what’s going on.

Canela: Feel where you’re sitting.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Right feel the pressure of your body being held by the chair.

Rick: Yeah if they want to hear that otherwise that might just get mad at you for trying to do that.

Canela: If they’re not available and they need to be in the swing of the drama.

Rick: Let them blow off steam.

Canela: Then that’s the way it is. I give it a go and invite but sometimes it’s not heard as supportive.

Rick: Set the example you know if you’re not doing it yourself.

Canela: The thing is I don’t even need to say anything a lot of times because I can see what’s going on and it doesn’t bother me.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And it’s getting so light in people around me that it’s not really bothering them either.

Rick: What do you mean by that? That’s getting so light in people around you?

Canela: Well I’m speaking of Steve too. That when he gets into a kerfuffle.

Rick: He doesn’t do it much.

Canela: It’s just not as heavy or dense as it used to be. He used to believe in it more.

Rick: Right.

Canela: And I would say that that’s happening less.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: As he’s settled more deeply into himself over time. And that’s his own doing not to do with me.

Rick: Sure.

Canela: So I can only support people to if they’re available to that. I don’t get them to do anything.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Just to clarify the language a little.

Rick: Yeah it’s funny in this particular conversation we keep going back to societal events but you know that again there are so many examples where people are so riled up and starting to riot in the streets and so on over something. And various community leaders and so on try to get people to just settle down and be more communicative and be more tuned in to themselves rather than you know focused on the apparent enemy or problem.

Canela: Yeah.

Rick: It’s like that macrocosmic level of it is mirrored in the microcosm of our personal lives.

Canela: And that’s what that first thing was. People want to help. They feel helpless.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And so when they feel that someone has power over them – the government or when something’s unfair they feel helpless. And nobody likes to feel helpless. And so they fight. And they’re fighting their own helplessness. Instead of and it’s not – to be helpless is quite different than to feel. What does helplessness feel like? And most people are avoiding that so more helpless happens more you know. So consciousness keeps riling this up until people are getting that oh wait a moment what if I felt helpless? What if I really saw and felt how helpless I am here? Because we’re not even you know really who’s having the thoughts? They just come in something’s perceiving it and we imagine it’s us but they came out of nowhere. We came out you know like we didn’t plan our nose or eyeballs or.

Rick: I certainly didn’t plan it.

Canela: I mean some people say that maybe we did you know that it’s something.

Rick: Yes.

Canela: But I don’t know.

Rick: It’s all karma.

Canela: I’m all surprised when I see you know like even earlier before when we were getting to this interview you know there’s definitely been a noticing as I’ve been a woman in this lifetime. No what is that about I don’t know but there’s nothing sure about anything. But there’s a marked difference I’ve seen in what it appears that a man and his appearance and a woman and how she’s supposed to be with her.

Rick: Oh I see as we were sitting down here on the couch and you’re worrying about which side you want to show to the camera.

Canela: Not worrying about it. I was including that it’s okay for me to flirt around with this. It’s okay you know like to wear a glittery thing.

Rick: Why not?

Canela: And well why not right because it’s just what’s been given to me.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And so I’ve learned to kind of have fun with that.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And be with myself as a woman. And in a way partly because I don’t know how many – it seems like sometimes that I’ve been more often a man than a woman.

Rick: In past lives.

Canela: In past lives.

Rick: Could be.

Canela: But you know I don’t hold on to anything it’s just information comes if it’s supportive and it looks like a past life information. Sure.

Rick: Well according to Buddhist traditions you know we’ve been I think it was the Buddha who said that we’ve had so many lives that if you took all the bones from all those bodies they would be higher than the Himalayas you know. Piled them up. So we’ve done everything. We’ve been murdered. We’ve been murderers. We’ve been you know raped. We’ve been rapists. We’ve been this that and on opposite sides of just about every experience you can imagine.

Canela: And so that’s where like I don’t really look at that that much. I just look at okay if the whole thing is love playing itself out. If consciousness is getting to know itself in this action getting to love itself. Whatever doesn’t look like that. Doesn’t look like love directly or feel like love. It’s an invitation. And then that exploration in curiosity not in okay prove it to me how this is love. Although people have come to Satsang and said oh what do you mean you can’t say you know tell me how this is love. And

Rick: Pointing out some horrible thing or something and saying how every time I’ve been able to the person. Tell me how Auschwitz was love that kind of objection you mean.

Canela: Well I can I can support them yeah whatever feels wrong to that particular person I’ve been able to support them to see the love of it.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Not as as if the action of somebody being strangled is a loving action. It’s more once something has happened because people tend to generalize and say this is bad and this is good. And what I like to say is is it disturbing is it not disturbing. If it’s not disturbing it’s nothing to do with you. If it is here’s consciousness looking for harmony.

Rick: So I okay let’s emphasize that point just a little bit. So you’re saying that anything which disturbs us. I think we’ve touched a few times. Anything which disturbs us is an invitation to finish the sentence.

Canela: To find the love of it.

Rick: To find the love of it.

Canela: Yes. Inwardly right. Because it because what it’ll be it’s I mean we’ve heard that the ocean the depth of the ocean and the waves on the ocean that analogy. But whatever is the disturbing it’s actually like a storm on the surface of the water. But the deep sow is there.

Rick: Right.

Canela: But usually people are more entertained by the waves going on and and the fray of it and because they feel like they exist when that happens.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Right there’s something having a hard time and so that really accentuates existence itself.

Rick: Interesting point. Yeah I’ve often felt that that there’s the ego wants to sort of maintain its integrity its identity.

Canela: It’s as if it was here.

Rick: Yeah and and controversy helps it do that. I mean I’ve started a number of internet chat groups over the years and one in particular which has you know hundreds of thousands of messages on it posted to it. And and so many of those messages are just people sniping at each other. You know just battling and I look at that and I think you know they’re just aggrandizing their egos. They’re just trying to sort of fortify you know their egos and that’s why that’s why people do like that. And and if they could just relax and appreciate the other person you know the ego kind of loses its fortification. It’s its rigidity. It’s its shell like nature and and dissolves into sort of a greater oneness. Is this are we going off on a tangent here is that kind of the point you were just making?

Canela: Well partly I’ve been responding to the word ego is as you talk because I don’t actually like to use that word because there really isn’t one. Right there’s a play of energy in the moment and in that I mean yes there’s.

Rick: But that appears to be one when you when you fortify it through creating strife.

Canela: An existence of I.

Rick: Yeah yeah so I would agree with you.

Canela: I would call it.

Rick: I’m not saying it has any ultimate reality to it but but the sort of the.

Canela: It’s just that the ego I don’t like to fortify the existence of something called an ego by saying it’s real.

Rick: Right.

Canela: So I like to dissipate that and say in some moments there’s a fortification as if there’s an I by creating a disturbance of the experience so it can feel like like it’s alive.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Compared to feeling nothing. Which is the scary part of waking up.

Rick: Uh-huh. I think that concurs with what I just said about the chat group.

Canela: It does. It does in its own way. It’s just the only part of it.

Rick: Yeah they’re just sort of hyping up a false thing you know trying to whip it into existence and keep it in existence.

Canela: Using words and thoughts to fortify it.

Rick: Yeah to fortify it. And whereas in and it and there’s a kind of a scariness to allowing it to just sort of dissipate or dissolve and back to its source in which it is found never to.

Canela: They’re more comfortable with the hardness.

Rick: Yeah. With the freight or you know the fight of that that there’s there’s something that that they’re comfortable with. It’s like it’s like people who eat meat. They’re more comfortable with how long it takes for meat to digest through the system. And when they let go of that they miss that because that’s what they’ve learned to be in their comfort zone.

Rick: Hmm. That’s a whole other topic.

Canela: It is a whole other topic. There it was a great example.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: From my own experience of having eaten meat and then not eating meat.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: That there’s a definite difference in digestion.

Rick: Sure.

Canela: I felt quite different and it was new and unknown and different than how I used to feel.

Rick: Yeah and there are whole books written about how human beings aren’t designed to eat meat and so on and so forth. I have friends who say they you know feel much better when they started eating meat again that they need it and that you know as northern Europeans we’re genetically you know instructed over many generations to have a certain diet and we can’t change abruptly and so on and so forth. That’s a whole another ball of wax.

Canela: Yeah.

Rick: That you know we could argue about forever but I don’t actually have a position on it because I don’t know.

Canela: No I only know for my own self.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: There was a difference and often people have said that when they eat vegetarian meals that that’s what they miss.

Rick: Right.

Canela: They don’t feel full for as long.

Rick: Sure.

Canela: And it’s just that’s a good thing.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Really it that’s a good thing and there’s been quite a bit of information on that but anyway I felt I felt so much better and so much more light and flowing and able – and more energy. Stronger. Everything. That there was no question.

Rick: There’s a saying in the yogic literature that you should always feel a little bit hungry after every meal. You know you should never eat to satiation.

Canela: In Christianity too. In the Catholic it was to sin to eat when if you’re not hungry.

Rick: Yeah and also to totally satiate yourself a hundred percent or 150 percent or something like that that there are very good physiological reasons for not doing that. And spiritual reasons in terms of if you’re really keen on spiritual evolution.

Canela: Yeah. No definitely people have asked sometimes about whether to serve cookies and tea and stuff at Satsang. They’re hosting Satsang with Canela and tea I you know and I do have a little thing for chocolate.

Rick: Oh yeah.

Canela: So I mean people have come to know that but it’s not the best thing for meditation. It’s different. But it is nice to especially if people are more used to eating a lot and chatting with the eating and you know there’s a whole sort of mechanism to that that we can – just tea it doesn’t happen quite so strong.

Rick: I’ve seen people though spiritual people pamper themselves to the point of neurosis you know where they they just become so fussy about what they put in their bodies that they can’t put anything in them anymore. You know so you can you have to find a happy medium with all these issues.

Canela: Yeah and that that’s two for myself too. I mean I am in – we are in a pretty rural area here. Fairly kind of secluded in some ways but then I travel out and you know I’m on flights and all sorts of stuff that isn’t the easiest but if I’m here to be human.

Rick: Right.

Canela: And you know that’s – I’m not here to be just a light body.

Rick: Right. Breatharian or something.

Canela: Yeah although I did do the no eating process.

Rick: Fasting?

Canela: The no eating process.

Rick: What is that?

Canela: That’s no eating.

Rick: Or drinking?

Canela: That’s the breatharian. Drinking I still drank some fluids yeah. But and…

Rick: How long did you do that for?

Canela: Long enough to know that I didn’t need to eat. And long enough to wonder.

Rick: How long? A month?

Canela: It was quite a long time ago.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: I’d say maybe seven weeks. It was all tied up with all sorts of other stuff.

Rick: Uh-huh. So you’re kind of.

Canela: But enough that I knew that I didn’t need to eat I was checking it out for myself.

Rick: How much weight did you lose?

Canela: A lot. Yeah.

Rick: And how much would you have lost if you’d done it for a year instead of seven weeks?

Canela: I lost some weight but yet I didn’t look. I think my body quite liked it.

Rick: Hmm.

Canela: My whole body got a little softer.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And yeah but I was wondering whether or not well is this what I’m here for then to be a breatharian or to be a. I didn’t call it a breatharian because that that term came after I didn’t know that there was such a group. But I thankfully I returned and was with my children and with them you know I would just eat by feel you know. But I wasn’t eating very much but then I started eating with them because they still wanted to eat and weren’t going through whatever I support them to source what’s right for them from themselves right not what I’m doing.

Rick: Yeah I’ve done I went through a whole phase of experimentation along those lines too you know fruit diets and fasting and all that stuff.

Canela: Great learning.

Rick: Yeah it was an interesting phase. I wouldn’t want to live my life that way in general.

Canela: Thankfully.

Rick: Too much fixation.

Canela: I was thankful that I wasn’t like you know one of those. That wasn’t gonna be whatever it was my play here on earth is about.

Rick: Ultimately I don’t think it’s a path to liberation.

Canela: Well for some it might be.

Rick: Might be. But it can also become an obsession and a distraction.

Canela: Another role. Another position. Yes yes. Ah okay so I wanted to speak a little bit about the science and non-duality conference right in relation to my own… it’s not my own so erase that but when this whole consciousness realized its own self here with with myself the first thing that occurred to me was why doesn’t everybody get together.

Rick: Have a conference.

Canela: Well I didn’t see a conference I just thought so why doesn’t everybody who’s in the waking state get together because the vibration to me it was so clear that the vibration would just change everything.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: So I’m really really happy about SAND and being involved in that this year because it’s important.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: It’s important to humanity to be in such a high vibration happening.

Rick: It is and what she’s referring to in case you’re not aware is this conference in San Jose every year around late October called the science and non-duality conference which if you search on Google you’ll find it and I’ve been going for years and it’s it’s getting better and better. This year I think that there’s over a thousand people that have signed up for it so far and all dozens and dozens of very interesting speakers and that’s just for me anyway it’s just great fun.

Canela: Yeah and Rick is speaking there and I’m speaking.

Rick: Yeah we’re both speaking and I’m gonna do if you look on BatGap on the upcoming interviews page you’ll see a whole bunch of interviews and forum moderations and stuff that I’ll be doing at the conference so you know putting that up on BatGap. But you know if anybody can make it to the conference I always like to encourage them and the conference organizers like me to encourage them.

Canela: Well yes yes and that but it’s also an invitation to be in such a high vibration.

Rick: Yeah it’s lovely to be in such a gathering.

Canela: Yeah the vicinity to actually be there in person it’s quite strong and then there’s also the option to it’s going to be online.

Rick: Some of the main things will be streamed.

Canela: Yeah some of the main things will be streamed. I thought quite a bit of it I mean because I’m not a big speaker.

Rick: Are you going to be streamed?

Canela: The information that got sent out seemed to say that I could let people know that on 2: 30pm and oh when I’m speaking.

Rick: I’m not totally sure.

Canela: That it could be streamed and to invite people.

Rick: I know in the past you see like our presentations are going to be happening simultaneously with two or three or four other things in other rooms. I wasn’t entirely clear that they’re going to be streaming all these things but we’ll see.

Canela: Yeah I don’t know.

Rick: Yeah in any case you can tape it. You can bring your own video camera if you want. I think they’ll and then we’ll see we’ll talk about that.

Canela: Right but I think that there is a option for people who can’t make it as a point.

Rick: To watch some of the stuff online. True.

Canela: For a small donation I think.

Rick: Yes it’s very reasonable.

Canela: Yeah.

Rick: Anyway so there’s that.

Canela: Ways to include yourself in that vibration and even to tune in where you are because you know if neither of those are available the you’re not separate from what’s happening.

Rick: Right.

Canela: And can choose to open to that from wherever you are.

Rick: You know today’s the 24th isn’t it? So yesterday was supposed to be this big kind of shift in world consciousness or something. Did you hear about that? Some x-ray – I forget what it is. I listened to this whole thing on the internet and a lot of these new age spiritual type people are talking about this big shift. It was getting almost as much hoopla as you know December 21st satsang and a weekend.

Rick: Yeah. Last weekend I’ve heard more about.

Rick: So as far as we know like 25% of the people on the planet haven’t ascended or anything and you and I haven’t we’re still here.

Canela: Yeah.

Rick: So I’m being a little facetious here but you know do you have any kind as a sensitive intuitive perceptive person do you have any sort of insights or feelings about stuff that’s happening you know in the world of a of that nature that you know big shifts taking place how we might expect to see these things unfold or not.

Canela: Sometimes I see things and I sense things but they’re not firm enough to write down and say oh that’s what’s going to happen.

Rick: Yeah. That’s good because then you won’t be made a fool of when it they don’t happen like a lot of these people predict things on certain dates and then nothing happens.

Canela: My interest is in the human being.

Rick: Right.

Canela: And in the human being him or herself as much as they can and an opening to that and so I guess I just don’t really look in those directions. I mean yes the psychic abilities have been open for a long time and I saw that that could be a way to escape living life in some regular way.

Rick: What could be?

Canela: It can be something that a lot of people get caught up in that.

Rick: Oh predicting future things that will just save them.

Canela: The cosmos are pretty darn entertaining.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: I mean it’s understandable that people would get totally caught up in that perhaps but that isn’t what.

Rick: Right. Well even like you know Jesus is coming back and we’re all going to be saved and therefore we don’t have to worry about the environment because we’re all going to be out of here anyway so let’s just pump all the oil we can. I mean that’s actually what some people.

Canela: Right. Well I think Deepak in the SAND.

Rick: For sure.

Canela: In one of the videos he’s saying you know perhaps this is it that he says a different way but he’s talking about the end. That maybe this whole human experience is just going to end.

Rick: It could.

Canela: And because we’re so out of balance. He’s suggesting that it’s you know unless we do bring in some more harmony and it seems to want to from my perspective it seems to want to be everywhere. Everywhere I look I see harmony attempting to find itself. And all of it appears to me to be that. And so I like to point to it. But so that doesn’t go anywhere else though from here. So that as far as future predictions.

Rick: It’s speculative.

Canela: Well and of course if it’s occurring to me this whole balancing of the masculine and feminine as a potentiality that both aspects of self might be more heard in some sort of balance. It’s occurring everywhere.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: So I imagine that and we see that quite a bit. Not a lot yet but quite a bit more than it’s ever been before.

Rick: Yep things are definitely happening. I mean there’s a quickening going on. And I think it’s a little bit of a gamble to predict specific flashy things on specific dates and all that. That they never seem to pan out. But the fact that such things don’t pan out shouldn’t discourage people from thinking that actually things are changing. You know in an inspiring way.

Canela: Right well if that instills some sort of willingness to participate in their lives.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: For sure. Right. Because really the participation of being with themselves more and more deeply is.

Rick: Well if you don’t have that perspective that then it can you know and you just look at the world in terms of what the news reports you could be rather depressing.

Canela: Totally. Yeah.

Rick: It’s like you know we’re going to hell in a handbasket.

Canela: Well there’s a lot more people committing suicide because it doesn’t look like there’s a very rosy.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: You know…

Rick: or refusing to have children or you know just sort of having a bleak view of the future. But if you kind of can see that there’s something subtler going on that’s not getting reported on the news and it’s just as real if not more so. And you know that’s the real news and it can be very inspiring give you a whole different perspective on the world.

Canela: Well certainly. I mean for myself looking at it energetically from the felt sense and everybody feels energy. Everybody feels heat from the Sun that’s just energy. They feel cold from ice. They can feel and hear the sensation of train going by. They can feel the rumbling. I’m not talking about anything more than that.

Rick: Right.

Canela: And that’s energy. The energetics of what is here that’s what’s calling for harmony right where they are. So that’s probably why I don’t look so much in to what’s going to happen next because I’m much more interested in supporting people to

Rick: Take care of this and that’ll be right here.

Canela: Exactly. Exactly.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And yeah be with this and tend to it yes. This is what’s here.

Rick: So you wrote a book.

Canela: I did.

Rick: Congratulations.

Canela: Yeah thank you. Thank you.

Rick: Yeah. Right here right now. Meditations. Thoughts and Invitations for Expanding Awareness Volume 1.

Canela: How many volumes are there going to be? I don’t know at least two.

Rick: Good.

Canela: You know I don’t I don’t know. But it’s a book about supporting people to be more of the human aspect that they are and to use whatever is happening as a way to come into the moment. I mean as you’ve read it because you’ve written a blurb for it. What would you say about it just offhand?

Rick: Well here’s what I said in my blurb. I said Canela’s invitations encapsulate deep spiritual insight and wisdom gleaned from her own life experience in a way that enables the reader to actually shift their perspective and begin living a more fulfilled life right here right now. Which is the title of the book. So that was my reaction to it.

Canela: Yeah. And so it’s available on Amazon just this week. Like it’s like totally freshly here.

Rick: I’ll link to it from your page on BatGap also.

Canela: Oh okay.

Rick: The Amazon page where you can get it.

Canela: Okay thank you all. Maybe that it’s not it’s and it’s expanding in its availability. It’s in the UK but it’s not in Canada yet. But it ought to be there within the next couple weeks. Also I’ve recorded a toning CD just this past week and it will likely be available on my website.

Rick: Somebody was just telling me about toning. Apparently there’s a lot of people doing it in Fairfield where I live and I hadn’t really known about it. And since you mentioned it you might as well tell us a little bit for a moment what it is.

Canela: Well it started occurring naturally in Reiki sessions.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: When I was giving Reiki sessions to people.

Rick: You would emit a tone?

Canela: I’d be there and following whatever was wanting to happen. And then in my body I would feel like some sort of sound wanted to come out. And so then I would let the person know this is strange. It seems like there’s a sound that wants to come out.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: And so then these sounds started coming out. Different ones. And sometimes I would go on a place on the person’s body and then tone into their body. And so when I started offering Satsang it occurred to me would this be supportive to a group? Because Paul O had done it at the end of his groups. And then I always had found that for myself when he did that toning that I wished I could just sit still in the group rather than that it was the end and everybody was getting up and shifting around and whatnot. So that’s why I started offering it in Satsang. And people have given the feedback that it’s very supportive to bring them into experiencing themselves rather than listening. I mean listening to the mind isn’t a bad thing. It’s just when it’s predominant.

Rick: Yeah. So you created a CD of this toning?

Canela: Yes.

Rick: Yeah. Yeah.

Canela: You might want to like put a sample of it on your website that people could download to hear what it’s like. You know.

Canela: Yeah.

Rick: As a kind of a taste of what the CD would be like.

Canela: Well there is in the Satsang recordings that are on YouTube.

Rick: I see. There’s some.

Canela: Yeah. Like in the particularly good one is the London Satsang recording that part one.

Rick: Okay.

Canela: The first part is more speaking and then there’s some toning in that.

Rick: And you have a link to that on your website?

Canela: Yes.

Rick: Good. Okay. So I know that you spend part of your year in Mexico in the winter, right?

Canela: Yes.

Rick: Despite the automatic weapons and those carjackings and whatnot you still go back there.

Canela: Yeah. That was in a different area.

Rick: Different place.

Canela: It’s known as a bit rougher and maybe.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: You know. Who knows it. And it was actually a very good experience to go through to witness how.

Rick: How you would react to that?

Canela: Well not only myself but also how other people live. You know. That these police officers are dealing with stuff like that. You know. It’s one thing to know it from the television. I mean it’s fairly obvious. But it’s another thing to be brought into their world.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Where you know they’re in total police gear with carrying these semi-automatic rifles with bulletproof vests on. And I’m sitting there.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Right. To live as with that kind of threat.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: In those areas. Especially being a police officer.

Rick: Well that’s not gonna inspire me to go to Mexico. But you go to a different place in Mexico.

Canela: Yes. Yes. No. Where we are. It’s not like that. And and that was also a number of years ago when there was more.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Well there’s a lot of different stuff still happening. That is looking for harmony in Mexico.

Rick: Right. But you’re thinking of offering a retreat down there?

Canela: Yes. Yes. I’d love to offer like a week retreat. In supporting people. I did come around to calling myself a teacher after all. And what I teach people is how to listen to themselves. More deeply. And more precisely.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Using their own words in what they are saying about what they’re experiencing. To access themselves inside.

Rick: Yeah. And and I believe you also go over to Czechoslovakia. Or the Czech Republic.

Canela: The Czech Republic. I go to Prague and London. And.

Rick: Like every year or something.

Canela: Yeah. I’m gonna be in Milton, Washington. Week and a half from now.

Rick: Okay.

Canela: That’s close to Tacoma, Seattle.

Rick: Yeah. And people may be watching this two years from now.

Canela: True.

Rick: And so all these events will have transpired. But but basically you give retreats in various places. And would probably be open to giving them in other places. So people could contact you if they wanted to attend one. Or organize one. Or whatever. By going to your website. And clicking on the contact button. Right?

Canela: That’d be wonderful.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: I do go where I’m invited.

Rick: Yeah. So. And and I would also recommend with Canela or any anybody I interview. If you feel a resonance with her or with anybody I interview. And you know you want to sort of stay in touch with them. Sign up for their email newsletter.

Canela: On the.

Rick: Most people have that. Where you can sign up to be notified of this and that.

Rick: Otherwise you know months will go by and you’ll forget. And you know you might miss out on something that would actually be good for you.

Canela: I send out actually what what’s in this book. These are Satsang invitations. It’s a collection of them.

Rick: You send them out as.

Canela: I send out new ones.

Rick: Installments.

Canela: I send out new ones.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Supportive. One or two page invitations on like all probably the next one’s going to be on responsibility.

Rick: Mm-hmm.

Canela: So I’ll just write some you know ways that people can look at that.

Rick: Right.

Canela: In support of themselves. And then the newsletter follows that Satsang invitation.

Rick: Good.

Canela: So people can find out what I’m up to or what’s been happening.

Rick: Anything else on here?

Canela: Ah. Just that there’s going to be a interview of Rick Archer.

Rick: Oh yeah.

Canela: By Non-Duality Vancouver to watch for that in the coming next while. You’re going to be.

Rick: Yeah it’s funny yeah. I don’t have a lot of time to grant interviews because I’m doing interviews and doing my day job and a lot of other things. But having traveled up here and both up and back I have three different flights and a bunch of airport layovers. So I have my iPad with me and this fellow who runs Kevin Diakiw is his name.

Canela: Diakiw.

Rick: Diakiw. Who runs Non-Duality Vancouver wanted to interview me. So I said all right well I’m gonna be in the Seattle Airport for a couple of hours let’s do it then. So we’re gonna record that on Tuesday I believe and he’ll put it up on if you search Facebook for Non-Duality Vancouver you’ll see it for what it’s worth.

Canela: Yeah yeah it’ll be good to hear your journey.

Rick: Yeah I’ve done that a few times. I mean if anyone’s interested in that if you go to BatGap there’s a page that lists all everybody who’s been interviewed alphabetically and I’m on there too because several people have interviewed me.

Canela: Yeah.

Rick: Alrighty so any final thoughts? Have we covered it all? Solved all the problems of the world?

Canela: Invited a harmony, a possibility to be more harmoniously with yourself and therefore the world. So yeah no I feel like that might be a nice note. What do you do you have anything more?

Rick: Not really just to emphasize what you just said which is that – who was it somebody or other I forget Dalai Lama or somebody rather said you know it’s easier to wear shoes than to cover the earth with leather and you know we all want to see the world change and all but it begins here you know.

Canela: And here and here.

Rick: Right.

Canela: And here.

Rick: And so the emphasis should always be to

Canela: How is this affecting yourself?

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Because you’re the representation of consciousness.

Rick: Right.

Canela: Living its life like this.

Rick: And what can someone who is full of stuff you know do for the world however sincerely intentioned they may be they’re going to have a muddled influence.

Canela: Right.

Rick: Which is not to say that you know great people who still had issues didn’t do great things Martin Luther King all kinds of other people have made huge contributions but you know we can’t all be a Gandhi or Martin Luther King but what we can do is you know really bring about profound transformation within ourselves.

Canela: Right. Well you’re your own Martin Luther King but you’re not called that because they already did that.

Rick: Right.

Canela: So there’s this this one and I mean that’s the one other thing I guess is just because it’s kind of come up like this is that that movie The Matrix right and there’s the one.

Rick: Right.

Canela: And everybody has that because you are consciousness. And it’s daring to be with the one that you are as if if you are a savior of the world.

Rick: Right.

Canela: It’s the Holy Grail.

Rick: No man is an island entire of himself.

Canela: Well clean up this planet. Clean up this planet. It’s it’s it’s it cleans up our planet.

Rick: Right.

Canela: Together we each clean up our planet of who we are in in the magnetic planet that we show up to be. Same as the moon here’s a this aspect of consciousness.

Rick: Another analogy if you want a forest to be green every tree has to be green so you know make sure that you’re a green tree before worrying about too much about the forest.

Canela: Right.

Rick: Yeah. Or what did Christ say you know remove the log from your own eye before worrying about the speck in your in the other guy’s eye.

Canela: Right. Well that speck is going to point to the log.

Rick: Yeah.

Canela: Yeah. That’s and that’s that’s that’s what’s happening literally. That is life.

Rick: Yeah. Great. Alrighty. So I’ve been speaking with Canela Michelle Meyers and as most of you listening will know this is an ongoing series of interviews. I’ll be doing several more this weekend and there are already several hundred which have been done and they’re all archived and categorized on batgap.com. Go there and the menus are pretty self-explanatory – past interviews, future interviews, donate button, email sign up, podcast, all that stuff. So you all know how to do it. So thanks for listening and watching. There’ll be a page for Canela about this interview, links to everything about that you want to know about Canela, her website, her book and we’ll see you for the next one. Thanks.

Canela: Thank you.