Encounters at the Edge

After life has tossed you to the edge and raw openness saturates your bones, there comes a moment when you look up and see others inhabiting that sketchy borderland. You realize the aloneness of staring into the abyss is a solitude that is shared by anyone exposed to the unprocessed energies of living. Meeting other eyes saturated with the earth-shattering no-thing-ness of the void is to encounter the mystery meeting the mystery through the masks of "you" and "me."

Such run-ins happen whenever we forget to raise the facades that protect our carefully crafted images. For an instant we lay down the armor of false separateness and acknowledge we are all out at sea paddling the same human canoe; we don't have a clue as to who we truly are, why the hell we are here and where on earth we are going. We admit that loving more, thinking deeper and trying harder doesn't really illuminate or mange the wild energies of the unknown. It actually takes us deeper into the unknowable; and this where the aliveness we truly seek dwells.

Far from being dangerous intrusions, encountering others at the brink opens the way to healing the primal wound that tears self from other, mind from body, body from earth and any one thing from all other things. This is the natural medicine of honest expressions in art, music, food, healing arts, architecture and other endeavors that aim to reveal rather than hide our shared humanity. When you hear such a raw voice in a song lyric, a line of movie dialogue, or a sentence on the page, you know you are not alone. You remember that there is something to be gained by engaging the confusion, frustration and struggle of this journey rather than straining to avoid it.

For the most part, these electric, healing moments of human connection are fleeting. As quickly as they appear, you conceal them with the fear that expressing vulnerability exposes you to ridicule, rejection and worse. Yet, having the courage to avoid averting your gaze and, instead, continue to meet the mystery of true life in another, you find that the so-called emptiness of existence is its fullness. You discover that the rawness of encounters at the brink is the raw material of Being forming into the richness of Becoming. What society promotes as the good life is actually the escape from life. You find that truly living is truly dying into the openness and vitality of the edge.

Every encounter you have today is an encounter at the brink, whether you acknowledge it or not. Behind the forced smile and the gleaming windshield, the holiday storefront and the bored,disdainful expression, a person facing the mystery is questioning the same things you question, dreading similar things you dread. That person is awed by many of the same things sparking wonder in you and moved by what inspires you. If you look through your mask to see the true human behind their mask, you may discover Life looking back at you. You may have a marvelous encounter at the brink.

Healing Space: New Architecture for an Emerging Culture

This is the first in a series of imagination design projects. It presents a new architecture for the new consciousness emerging in the 21st century. In this design approach, I draw upon ancient wisdom used to design sacred places for thousands of years. At the same time, it reflects innovative technologies that integrate mind, body, soul and nature. One of the core tasks of our time is mending the world broken by dualistic thinking in the scientific age. Splitting life into human and natural, science and art, money and soul has created an unworkable planet. Mending the rift involves reweaving the torn fabric of the earth. With this in mind, the first design of the new architecture is a place for personal renewal and revitalization.

HEALING SPACE

In life, most of us are wounded by illness, the death of a loved one, heartbreak or other incident. If this happens, we often long for a safe place to let go and allow the organic processes of nature and consciousness to mend the shattered circle of our lives. Yet, few places receive mind and body simply. Usually, we are pressured toward a quick cure. Yet, ignoring the soul’s true needs leaves us with an empty image of wholeness. Hidden wounds go untended and genuine balance is never regained. HEALING SPACE explores a design that invites the innate wisdom of the psyche to discover its unique path to remembering wholeness.

UNDERGROUND LEVEL FLOOR PLAN: WOMB SPACE OF RELEASE & VISION

(1) DEPARTURE THRESHOLD The threshold to HEALING SPACE is a jagged gap. It recalls the wounding incident that shatters lives. Pausing at this threshold gap, the power of the wounding force is fully met. Within the watery gash a circular steppingstone offers support for crossing. (2) DESCENT Stone steps lead into the earth, toward the womb of healing. Through downward movement, mind and body surrender to gravity’s pull toward a grounded core. (3) PASSAGE THROUGH CONFLICT At the bottom of the steps, two pillars frame a portal to the paradox of healing. The pillar on the right is carved with images of rebirth such as the sun, flowers and fruit. On the left, a waning crescent moon, withering plants and other images depict the decay, death and release, clearing the way for healing. (4) SURRENDER Passage between the Twin Pillars of Healing leads to an underground womb space. Floor paving depicts a giant serpent, an image of shedding what is worn and dead to reveal what is fresh and vital. Niches within the walls of the circular space provide pockets for surrendering what will clear the way for healing—broken beliefs, emotions, relationships to name a few. (5) PURIFICATION At the center of the space is a pool of warm water. Recessed below the surrounding floor, the pool creates a fluid place where rigid limitations can dissolve and flow into new patterns. (6) SLEEP & DREAMS To the east of the Purifying Pool is a place for resting and dreaming. A bed provides a safe, comfortable place to let go completely and settle in the depths of healing. (7) BURNING Fire is a primal force in cleansing what cannot be washed away or released through rest. A brazier provides a place for symbolically burning away obstacles healing and to transforming dense, dead matter into radiant energy. (8)VISION Release and deep rest clear the way for renewed visions of dwelling in wholeness. West of the central pool, a raised platform offers a place to meditate and cognize healing forms emerging from spacious silence. (9) EMERGENCE Rested and energized by visions of fresh possibilities, the Emergence Portal frames a return from the dark womb of healing. Similar to the Devouring Portal, twin pillars depict images of anticipation and trepidation. (10) ASCENDING From the Emergence Portal, a flight of steps ascends from the inward perspective of the underground space to the broader view at ground level.

GROUND LEVEL FLOOR PLAN: CREATIVE SPACE OF CONNECTION & EXPRESSION

The spectrum of healing includes assimilation and restorative play. This space provides varied opportunities for discovering patterns wanting to be expressed as well as integrating the knowledge of healing. (11) BODY/MIND An area for strengthening the body in connection to the mind through yoga and exercise. (12) CREATIVITY A work surface supports writing, drawing and other artistic exploration. (13) INTEGRATING STORIES A library books relating stories from world cultures about the human journey through healing transformation. A video monitor is provided for watching inspiring and funny stories that encourage healing. (14) NOURISHING A place to site and absorb beautiful melodies, forms, colors, tastes and fragrances of nature. 15) BETWEEN EARTH & SKY Openings in the floor and ceiling connect to the water and darkness below and the sunlight and rain from above.

SKY LEVEL FLOOR PLAN: ALIGNMENT & ORIENTATION

Complete healing includes connecting to the totality of earth and the heavens. The roof of Healing Space offers a place to connect the healing of the body, mind and soul with the wholeness of cosmic spirit. (16) ASCENDING Steps lead from the earth’s boundaries and shadows to the sky’s expansion and light. (17) POLE STARAt the apex of the ascent, a stainless steel instrument, tilted at an angle parallel to the earth’s axis, points toward the pole star. Orientation to this point about which the entire universe appears to rotate enlivens stability within change. (18) SKY VIEWING TERRACE A flat roof offers a platform for unobstructed views of the revitalizing patterns of the sun, moon and stars. Floor paving patterns indicate the direction of sunrises and sunsets on the summer and winter solstices and the equinoxes, marking seasonal transitions. (19) RETURN Steps descend to ground level. (20) REBIRTH Crossing the threshold of wholeness marks the return to world where healing can integrated into daily life.

Architecture by Anthony Lawlor

www.anthonylawlor.com

Charter for Compassion

Today, Karen Armstrong unveiled the Charter for Compassion, http://charterforcompassion.org/ Go to the link and listen. Hearing the words was like hearing the voice of my soul speaking its longing for what is so simple yet so ignored. At the essence of all our endeavors is a point of view. Do we see ourselves as isolated and alone or interconnected wave in the ocean of being?The isolated viewpoint generates desperate acts intended to protect and defend islands of fear and numbness. The interconnected viewpoint invites engagement in the mystery currents of becoming. Ignoring entry into those mystery currents induces fear and violence. The tides of living are too strong for an isolated individual to resist. Compassion is the act of that mysterious essence within us touching that mysterious essence that appears to be around us. It is finding that our illusions of disconnection are hallucinations. It is finding that the one true thing we are not alone, that the countless diverse waves of personality, action, belief, institutions, and every other form are shimmering glints of light within one ocean of being. We overcome suffering and recall unity in the simplest of acts: opening a door for a stranger; smiling at a passerby; listening to a friend. We enter it also by courageously acting with compassion in the harsh arenas of business, politics, art, spirituality and every other system that tends to suppress love and wisdom. Appreciate the compassion you encounter today and respond in kind. This IS changing the world.

The Architecture of Healing

We've forgotten the power of architecture. The thought thunders through my brain as I descend into the Great Kiva at Aztec New Mexico. Three-foot thick adobe walls wrap the circular room. Overhead, massive tree-trunk beams weave a latticework roof. Stillness charges the space. My lungs sigh. Mind hums. At the midpoint of the ceiling, a shaft of sunlight blasts through a square opening. Wheeling Sun churns stable Earth. Opposing forces unite and swirl. This structure is not designed by a clever ego. It did not arise from the same worldview that built the sterile new hospital a mile down the road. This is not a place of fear and wounding side effects. Instead, the kiva frames the mystery of being and becoming. It is an architecture of healing.

In the kiva that day, I saw that most attempts to create healing places are based on the belief that we can separate ourselves from the processes of living. It's a world that says we can divide life into parts and keep the "good" while tossing out the "bad." In the process we fail to see that attempting break life up is what causes breakdowns, mentally, physically and spiritually.

On the other hand, the kiva embodies what I have encountered in sacred, healing places around the world. It concretizes the truly holistic worldview that provides a space where all the forces of life are invited to play out their roles in the cosmic earth dance. Birth, growth, decay, death and renewal are embraced as sustainers of the bodies of individuals and the world. To me, these sacred places say, "Fighting with life and trying to control it is wounding. Embracing its uncertainty and its change is healing."