Streaming News 01-01-02Pg 2

The 911 WAKE UP CALL

BY - Aluna Joy Yaxk'in

Truth is not learned in school, it is experienced in the trenches, the adventure we call life.

There is no doubt that escaping the energy shifts accelerated by the September 11th event was futile. No doubt I tried as so many did. I quickly discovered that there is no place to hide. Life is operating in "full on" mode. Life as we knew it has become life as it is now, and it is right in our face. We are being forced out of what shrinking comfort zones we have left, into the raw ugly face of the fear monster inside of us. All of a sudden we have been awakened to the fact that we are not externally safe anywhere or any time. If the bad guy wants to get us, he will. The FIB or CIA can stop them, even though we would like to think so. All the illusions we had that we were safe in the good ol USA were blown away with the crumbling Trade Towers. Our egotistical American dream mirage was gone for good. Now what is left is facing our fear and coming to the realization that the only safe place in within us. Paramahansa Yogananda said "God is the only harbor of safety from the storms of this world".

So, I thought to myself, what better way to discover safely in God but by escaping to Peru, right? Three days after 911, I was on the plane to Cuzco, Peru. I thought the heart energy of Peru would heal my frazzled nerves and I would escape the crushing, heavy, energy I was feeling. Boy oh Boy, was I wrong. When I arrived I could see that all my friends on the streets of Cuzco were quite concerned, many with tears in their eyes. The pressure, the fear, the uncertainty was not just contained in the USA, but was impacting us globally. The sacred sites of the Peruvian Andes like Machupicchu were nearly empty as most groups had canceled. This was great for our group experience. The down side was a great financial burden not only for the tour companies, hotels and restaurants in Peru, but would also touch even the simplest porters and their families that live high in the Andes in mud huts with grass roofs. It was clear that 911 was a global wake up call and no one was exempt from the lessons.

When I returned home I began to discover the deeper impact of 911. I began to understand some patterns in our collective reactions. Many were escaping to comfort foods. Chocolate and ice cream and just plain over eating were common reactions. Entertainment and other forms of escape that required no air travel were also on the rise. But these diversions were not working very well. Most I spoke with kept asking themselves deep probing questions, like what do I really know for sure; why have I settled for less in my life; What do I really want in my life? What is really important to me? Why do I not allow myself to manifest more abundance in my life? And... where can I feel safe now? Many folks are feeling like up rooted trees without a place to anchor... floating around not knowing where to go or what to do next. Many are feeling like life is dishing out just one thing after another, and feeling like being shot out of a cannon steering life purely by gut instinct.

As most on the spiritual path when faced with crisis and challenge, we ask themselves what we can learn from the experience. I was not exempt from this. I didn’t feel the fear most of the collective did. I had no worries about getting on a plane 3 days after 911. I still felt safe and protected and determined to go on with life as planned. And I did. My real lesson didn’t come for me until Oct 6th . I came in a most unexpected and a quite painful way, but the lesson drove deep inside of me, changing me forever.

I was driving back from a shopping trip when I hit a freak thunderstorm. I was thinking about the fact we were getting ready to bomb Afghanistan and I was not happy about this fact. I know that countries have karma like we do as individuals, and I resented being a part of any kind of killing innocent ones to get at the bad guys. I honor what Gandi said… "An eye for a eye makes the whole world blind", and I had vowed long ago to say out of drama and conflict. Without my permission my own country was going to begin to bomb.

The rain was coming down in sheets, the street was full of water, and the sky went black between blinding bolts of lightning. When the car pulled out in front of me I could not stop in time. I gripped hard on the steering wheel and I slid out of control toward the other car. The crash was like hitting a stone wall. The detonation that exploded the air bags happened so fast that I didn’t see it coming. My left arm was forced up into the wind shield and the bone in my forearm gave way. I was catapulted into a war zone at nearly the same moment we began bombing in Afghanistan. I was transported into a place where there was no separation between me and all the suffering of humanity. I was a citizen of the planet, not just loyal to the red, white and blue. Time stopped and every sensory input was highly magnified.

I looked down at my arm in my lap. When I tired to move it, the arm just dangled like a wet noodle. I didn’t seam to be a part of me anymore. The pain was incredible and wondered why I was not passing out, and believe me I want to. There was no way I could have helped myself. I could not move. I could not get out of the car. I could not fix this problem I was faced with. I have never felt so helpless and vulnerable in my life. I was at the mercy of who ever showed up and I was afraid.

While sitting in shock in my smoky little car, my mind drifted back to Afghanistan. I knew that many were going to be laying in caves and crumbled buildings injured way beyond my simple and very fixable broken arm. They were going to endure crushed chests, broken legs, head injuries, without help, without paramedics, without clean hospitals and sharp surgeons. I also realized that hundreds and even thousands felt the same way while lying under the Trade Tower rubble, waiting for help that would never come. I knew that if I was lying there along side them and I would most likely have died with them. I don’t think I could have tolerated the pain for days. I don’t think I could have tolerated the fact that there was going to be no one to help me for many hours, days or never! Eventually the exposed bone in my arm would have become infected and that would have been it. A slow and painful death, horrific beyond words. But I wasn’t in Afghanistan, nor was I under the rubble in New York City.

It was a matter of moments that an officer came to the car to see if I was OK. His compassion was overwhelming. It was only a few more moments that paramedics were there also, carefully getting me out of the car in the still pouring rain. My hero’s. Soon I was at the hospital and the best bone surgeon in the county happened to be on call that night. In the middle of the night the surgeon put back together my compound fractured arm. How lucky I am. How safe, how protected.

It is 9 weeks later. My arm is getting stronger and I am healthy yet I am saddened at the thought so many did not, and will not, have the same opportunity to simply live. I feel overwhelming compassion and often pray that no one has to endure that space of horrifying vulnerability and pain I had a brief taste of. If I was to say what 911 taught me it was to have compassion for all our brothers and sisters, no matter who they are, or where they live. No human being on Earth deserves to feel what I felt in that stormy place.

I pray for all my friends in third world countries who are supported by tourism. I know they are all suffering right now. I hope they can feed their children this year. I pray for all those innocent ones who are injured, lying in ditches and caves and rubble, because the ones in charge of our countries can not settle conflicts like conscious adults without striking back like little children. I pray for all those who do not have the opportunity to benefit from the support I have. I pray for the terrorists because I know they have not experienced a heart opening like most of us reading this have. I believe if they had not lived in such poverty and vulnerability their entire lives maybe they would not have struck out knowing they had nothing to lose.

If our country spent defense funds on ending poverty and pain in the world, maybe the attacks would not have happened and 911 would have been just a bad dream. Maybe realizing the value in helping to end fear and suffering and act from compassion and wisdom is what 911 is awakening us to. We are the most affluent country in the world. What we do and how we do it, is a huge example to the rest of the world. Maybe it is time for us to change our ways and help others instead of hurting them. I wonder how many wake up calls will we need before we act in a different fashion? Tenzin GYATSO, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama said "I truly believe that individuals can make a difference in society. Since periods of great change such as the present one come so rarely in human history, it is up to each of us to make the best use of our time to help create a happier world". The Dalai Lama said this in 1992 , I hope we will listen.

Aluna Joy Yaxk'in is an internationally known speaker, Mayan Astrologer, Clairvoyant, Sacred Site Essence Formulator and has been called a modern mystic and psycho-geographical healer. Aluna is author of Mayan Astrology and her articles have been published worldwide. Aluna Joy Yaxk'in, PO Box 1988, Sedona AZ 86339 Ph: 928-282-6292 Webpage: www.1spirit.com/alunajoy .