newsletterno1July2001

As many members of the "baby boomers" generation I often complain about lack of time. It feels to me like Christmas was just yesterday, while it is already late May! The time for a newsletter and the 2007 Roche Miette Pilgrimage/Hike. This year, because of my preoccupations with other social activities, the hike will not take place traditionally during the last weekend of June. I have just negotiated with Randy July 20-21 as the date. Roni, Randy's wife, gave us her blessings so this has to work! You will find all the details below.

Due to the same time factor, this newsletter will be... how to put it... condensed. It still brings two interesting texts. One of Dr. Carlos Warter's speaks about appreciation of our bodies. There is no better moment to practice it but when we soak our bodies in the Miette Hot Springs after the hike! It is so good to feel alive!

The next text, by the fellow psychologist Marianne Hartsong, shares a highly innovative therapeutic concept of Ho’oponopono. In short, Marianne proposes, we can heal people coming to us for help by looking at, changing and healing in ourselves, the very same things that trouble our clients. It is all based on the assumption that we are all connected, we are all one! It reminds me of the Buddhist concept of bodhisattva - a person who realized that it is impossible to achieve happiness irrespectively from other people. If we want to be happy, we have to work on making other people happy. In the context of Ho’oponopono, one could say that we can heal others only from what we have healed in ourselves.

This idea seems to be behind the many efforts of the Interfaith Encounter Association in Jerusalem. By giving Muslim and Jewish children an opportunity to play and have fun together, they seem to try to heal the conflict so many of their parents are involved in. Children have to heal this animosity in themselves first, if they ever will have a chance to overcome it as adults. What I find especially commendable is their attempt to create sense of unity in the context of concern for the environment!

Wonderful and courageous concepts! After all, behind all the ethnic and religious discord there is typically one cause - we don't know each other as human beings! That is why the members of the Roche Miette Association go to the mountains together. While on Roche Miette we achieve this human connection in the context of the great transcendental beauty - the Nature Itself.

8 -10 p.m. - meeting at Queen's Bakery &Cafe, Hinton-Valley: 124 Market St, Tel: 780-865-5050. Technical matters, registrations, etc. Some snacks available from the cafe. Peter Bundscherer, a genuine baker of European descent, makes the best napoleons and pretzels in Western Canada. He is also a great lover of the mountains and decorated his cafe with many unique photographs taken by him during numerous hikes.

Accommodation is available in the basement of the Catholic Church in Hinton, 124 Tamarack Ave, 780-865-3045 ($20 per person). You will need your own mattress, sleeping bag, etc. The kitchen is available to prepare tea/coffee or a simple meal. A short orientation to the hike will be provided.

You may arrange your own accommodation and join the hiking group of your choice at the points of start. One inexpensive option is the Pocahontas Campground, only a few km from both Roche Miette Mountain and Miette Hot Springs. The cost is $17 per unit per night. Reservations can be made at Pocahontas campground: www.pccamping.ca or 1-877-737-3783. There is an $11 fee for advanced reservation in any Jasper Park campgrounds.

A moderate to difficult scramble via north-east face.
Elevation gain: 1425 m.
Ascent time: +/- 5 hours.
Descent time: +/- 3 hours.

"Miette was a legendary French Canadian voyager with enviable qualities for tolerating the hardships of travel, who was also known for his ability with the fiddle and as a teller of tall tales. When taunted by comrades about climbing the mountain now bearing his name, he responded to the dare by doing just that, dangling his legs over the precipe while contentedly puffing his pipe - or so the story goes. Roche is a French word meaning 'rock.'" Alan Kane, Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies, p.203.

Easy hike.
Elevation gain: 700 m.
Distance: 4 km.
Ascent time: +/- 2 hours.
Descent time: +/- 1.5 hours.

"Beginning at the Miette Hot Springs pool complex, the trail climbs steadily to a low pass 2.2 km distant. Immediately upon cresting the pass, the Sulphur Skyline trail branches up and to the right, beginning an even stepper ascent into the alpine environs of this small mountain overlooking the hot springs area. The laboured breathing ends on the highest point of the ridge and expansive view spreads out below." Brian Patton, Bart Robinson, The Canadian Rockies Trail Guide, p.198.

While runners are usually enough for Sulphur Skyline, having solid hiking boots is a must on Roche Miette.

There is little water on Roche Miette, so every person needs to carry at least 3-4 liters of water or other liquid. This is not an exaggeration! In the past we had persons fainting because of dehydration. This is not pleasant. Don't do it to yourself and to others!

Weather in the mountains may change abruptly. You need to be prepared and carry a rain jacket or pelerine, and some warm clothes (sweater, polar fleece, etc.). Some people find it useful to have a pair of gloves for the upper part of the hike, where there is more contact with the rock and loose gravel.

To reach Roche Miette you need to be in good shape. It typically means that you participate in some sports or exercise activities through the year. If you are not quite sure you are this kind of person, Sulphur Skyline is a safer choice.

Rocky Mountains is the bear country. Although both Roche Miette and Sulphur Skyline have little known bear activity, you may want to carry a bear spray.

The organizational fee includes membership with the Roche Miette Association. This fee does not include accommodation in the church ($20 per person). You are responsible for your transportation. Jasper National Park collects $14 per vehicle ($7 per person if traveling alone) at the entry point. Miette Hot Springs charged $6.25 per person ($18.75 per family) for entry to the pools last year.

To register/ reserve place, please, pay the organizational fee to Piotr (Edmonton) or Randy (Hinton) as soon as possible. You may also register by e-mail and pay your registration just before the hike.

If you have any questions or comments about the 2007 Roche Miette Expedition, or you would like to contribute to the Roche Miette Newsletter, send Piotr an e-mail to rajski@shaw.ca. You may call Piotr at (780) 484-5775 (home) or Randy at (780) 865-7229. Feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone who may want to attend.

To see materials from the 2005 Roche Miette Expedition click here. To see materials from the 2006 Expedition click here.

Sponsored by: Roche Miette Psychological Services; Queen's Bakery and Cafe, Hinton.

by Carlos Warter, M.D., Ph.D.

Whatever kind of body we have, it is our vehicle for realizing inner light. Our bodies are the matter in which the light of our soul temporarily resides. It is common to imagine that the soul resides somewhere deep within this mass of matter, and will be liberated when our bodies die. Yet our bodies are vehicles for not only growth and development, but also the realization and expression of ourselves as soul.

The workings of our bodies reflect the qualities of soul- fluidity, light, and inter-connectedness. We can see this even on the cellular level. Each of us is composed of 75 trillion cells. Each cell is filled with fluid and surrounded by a permeable, pulsating membrane that intelligently decides what can enter the cell and what will be kept out. Each cell is also surrounded by fluid, with which it is constantly communicating. The cell breathes through electrochemical transfers, taking in nutrients and sending away by-products.

The light of our souls is very much like the light of our cells. Our inner light resides in our hearts, protected by the permeable membrane of our bodies. We constantly decide what we will allow into our hearts and what we will keep out. We are surrounded by a fluid field of light in which we can communicate and exchange with others.

It is common among us to ignore our bodies' inborn intelligence and usefulness. We might even see our bodies as dirty or gross, alien to the development of our souls. We might tacitly regard our bodies as an extension of our heads. We might regard them as a machine that will inevitably break down. Yet appreciating our bodies -- living in them fully and listening to their messages -- is our greatest opportunity for realizing the light within.

Appreciating the Body.

What is your attitude toward your body? Can you accept the way it looks at this very moment? Think about the messages your body gives you. How do you respond to them? When your body tells you it is hungry, do you take time to feed it properly, or do you simply toss fast food down? When your body tells you it is tired, what is your response? Do you take the time to rest, or do you drink coffee to temporarily erase the message?

When you feel pain, how do you respond? Are you curious about the pain? Do you explore it? Or do you try to avoid it by numbing it as soon as possible?

Do you regard your body as a machine? Or can you see it as a world of its own, a wealth of sensual experience there for you to explore? What parts of your body are you particularly proud of? What parts are you ashamed of? What bodily experiences do you want to share with others? Which ones embarrass you? Why?

Being willing to accept and listen to our bodies with all their sensations, impulses, and mysteries requires abandoning the materialistic and mechanistic approach. When we are fully present in our bodies, we become aware that our emotions, opinions, and experience take place in our whole being -- not just in our heads. We see that mind and body are intricately connected, and we may also begin to see the connection between the depth of bodily experience and our inner light.

Following is an exercise to do as you begin cultivating awareness and appreciation of your body. As you become aware of your body and begin to appreciate it, you may find yourself spending more and more time genuinely participating in what your body does. Genuinely participating in your bodily experience is a universally available way to dwell in the present moment, any time we like. And the present moment is where inner light is available.

Choose a part of your body to focus on. How does it feel? How does it look? What is your attitude toward it? Do you regard it as part of you, or do you feel some distance from it? Do you feel that you are an observer, looking at an object from a distance? Now move your consciousness into that part of your body. What do you feel now? Take a deep breath and visualize this part of your body as the seat of all your senses -- sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Imagine that it is the very center of your being. With a deep breath, breathe translucent golden light into that part of your body.

Try this exercise every day for a week, choosing a different part of your body to appreciate each day. For example, start out by focusing on your head, and work your way down.

About the Author: Carlos Warter M.D., Ph.D. is a medical doctor, transpersonal spiritual psychiatrist, lecturer, and pioneer in the field of consciousness raising and alternative healing. He is the author of Soul Remembers and Who Do You Think You Are? The Healing Power of Your Sacred Self. Born in Chile, Dr. Warter has been awarded the United Nations Peace Messenger and the Pax Mundi awards for his humanitarian efforts. He presents keynote speeches, workshops, and seminars both in the U.S. and throughout the world. His website is at www.doctorcarlos.com and his email Heartnet@aol.com.

Quoted after: TOOLS FOR CONSCIOUS AWARENESS. Newsletter for A NEXT STEP…Light Center For Emotional Healing. Volume 81 / JUNE 2007

A NEXT STEP…light center for emotional healing
P.O. Box 429
Dona Ana, New Mexico 88032
toni@anextstep.org
www.anextstep.org
505-382-8771

Ho’opnopono, my 66th BD Gift to You

by Marianne Hartsong, Ph.D.

Greetings dear ones;

For a long time it has been my practice to give gifts on my birthday – in gratitude for the beauty and love and grace that is my life. Today is my birthday. Here is my birthing gift to you of Ho’oponopono.

For some months now, I have been actively practicing Ho’oponopono. It has proved to be both an extremely demanding and at the same time an incredibly inspiring and rewarding practice. A true gift! May it be so for you too.

In the world of Ho’oponopono, (pono is to make right; to rectify an error) I am 100% responsible for all that happens in my world. If something shows up in my world (or yours), since I created it, in order for it to cease or transform, I need to love and forgive the part of me that created it.

I have been astounded at the innumerable opportunities that provide themselves for me to practice – daily: in the supermarket, in the line at the bank, in traffic, when I enter a room of people I do not know, etc. Daily, I am face-to-face with my internal judge, unbidden, in very subtle (and not so subtle!) ways -- way more often that I care to admit even to myself. I am amazed at how quickly, in the face of some external challenge that my mind judges, my body will adopt old no longer functional stances of self-generated discomfort. Humbling. How might this be effecting the world around me? Hum.

What has been equally exciting is to see how quickly the judgments melt away, how quickly all somatic symptoms of irritation disappear, with the practice of Ho’oponopono. This transformation at a cellular level within myself, is virtually instantaneous, once I initiate the practice of Ho’oponopono. In the wake of the practice, I am left with a comfortable body and an open heart, a sense of ease, joy and let go. Can this be the same for those around me? Can this be the way to create Peace on Earth?

Valentines was for me girlfriends night out. We were sitting together in a circle putting the names of whom/whatever in the center of the circle for our practice of Ho’oponopono. I practically gulped when I found myself putting our president and the Iraq war in the center of the circle (I mean, so my mind says, am I not justified in judging these? – gulp, did I really create those too?).

The other day I was in the post office. For the first time since my house sale fell through in April of 2005, I see the man who defaulted on buying my house the morning the sale was to have happened. Despite the fact that his default turned out to be a great blessing for me, my whole body went into red alert, a combination of fear and rage becoming alive and present in my cellular memory. My whole sympathetic nervous system was catapulted into an unanticipated fight/flight reaction. Clearly there is still an energetic residue of this less than comfortable interchange – presumably in him as well as in me. While standing in line I simply directed the Ho’oponopono “I love you” and “I’m sorry” (I’m sorry for the part of me that created what transpired between us) towards the him within myself – and boom my feelings of discomfort were gone. I can only assume that the same happened for him.

We all have a gazillion pieces of unfinished things like the above in our lives. What would happen if everyone in the world would do the practice of ho’oponopono for whatever was in less than total balance in and around them?

Be aware, that if you choose the practice of Ho’oponopono for yourself, things will be in your face asking for the healing and balance that brings peace for all. Have fun.

Bless your heart. May every day be a good birthing day for you. Much love, Marianna
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Below is an edited version of Joe Vitale’s article on Ho’oponopono. If you ask, I’ll be happy to send you the complete article.

Joe Vitale: Two years ago, I heard about a therapist in Hawaii who cured a complete ward of criminally insane patients -- without ever seeing any of them. The psychologist would study an inmate's chart and then look within himself to see how he created that person's illness. As he improved himself, the patient improved.

The Hawaiian therapist who healed those mentally ill people is Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len. Dr. Len never saw patients. He agreed to have an office and to review patient files. While he looked at those files, he would work on himself. As he worked on himself, patients began to heal. After a few months, patients that had to be shackled were being allowed to walk freely. Others who had to be heavily medicated were getting off their medications. And those who had no chance of ever being released were being freed.

'I was simply healing the part of me that created them’. Dr. Len explained that total responsibility for your life means that everything in your life -- simply because it is in your life -- is your responsibility. In a literal sense the entire world is your creation.

Healing for Dr. Len in ho 'oponopono means loving yourself. To do this I just kept saying, 'I'm sorry' and 'I love you' over and over again.

http://www.drcat.org/articles_interviews/html/hotfudge.html
http://hooponopono.org/Articles/self_i-dentity.html
http://hooponopono.org/Articles/theres_got_to_be.html

Pono: to make right; to rectify an error
Ponopono to make very right
Malama Pono: May the right way be opened to you

Heart Songs, Note #15, March 6, 2007

Marianna Hartsong, Ph.D., CMT
Sedona, AZ, www.hartsong.net; well@hartsong.net
(928) 204-2608

Some 350 students, from both schools: A-Sallam and Kalanit, (I assume one is Muslim and the other Jewish - P.R.) met on May 3^rd for one day of joint fun. The day included many performances and activities, such as: pantomime, aerobics, songs, dance competition, circus and presents.

The encounter goals were to bring the hearts closer together and to shape citizens who respect each other – through the way of games and songs and paintings. The facial expression of the students said so many wonderful things… One student's smile is worth millions!

The students of the 5^th grade in A-Sallam and Kalanit Schools met on April 18^th for a summarizing encounter for a series of activities related to environment and environmental education, such as: drawings that deal with the environment or symbols for protecting it. The other 3 encounters in the series took place on February 2^nd, March 6^th and March 20^th – two in Kalanit and two in A-Sallam.

Finally we had the joint encounter in A-Sallam School, with the participation of parents, teachers and students. Each student received a certificate of appreciation for their participation and contribution.

"One God Notes" consist of quotations from spiritual writings of many religious traditions. The purpose is to inspire, to open hearts, so people perceive God's Presence in and around them. In this way I hope to create a sense of human and religious unity.

Roche Miette Association is an informal group of people who try to achieve the ideals of human unity as expressed in the Roche Miette Rule. One of the characteristics of this group of enthusiasts is love of Nature and willingness to love God through His Creation. In particular, we are drawn by the beauty of Roche Miette Mountain, near Hinton, Alberta, and organize once a year a non-denominational hike/pilgrimage to this mountain. People of all religious and cultural backgrounds are invited to participate with us in this auspicious event.

If these ideals appeal to you, you may want to support them through a financial donation. Please, send checks for "Roche Miette Association" to:

Piotr Rajski
Roche Miette Association
576, Lessard Drive
Edmonton, AB, T6M 1B2
Canada

Would you like to contribute to the Roche Miette Newsletter? Please, send your text in Microsoft Word or HTML format to rajski@shaw.ca. Of special interests are stories, reflections on the following subjects:

Human and religious unity.
Harmony between different religions, cooperation between religious groups.
Examples of interfaith dialogue, tolerance, forgiveness.
Love of Nature (especially mountains).
Spirituality.
Meditation, Contemplative Prayer.
Religious life, especially Practice of the Presence of God, pilgrimage.
Mysticism, especially in the context of the mountains.
Poetry, art, music, photographs related to the mountains.

Manuscripts to be considered should be original articles (not published elsewhere). Some previously published materials may also be considered if submitted with the info and consent of the publisher. Some promotional materials, such excerpts from books, can also be considered if related to the above topics. Announcements of interest for wider audiences are also occasionally accepted.

The Roche Miette Newsletter has a circulation of approximately 400 recipients. Copies of the newsletter are sent to National Library of Canada for research purposes. To see the previous issues you can visit http://rochemiette.ca/newsletter.html