Letter from Mark David

"Despise Fvorag and you despise a part of yourself. For we are all One in Prithti."

— The MoonQuest: A True Fantasy

Dear Friends,

"Ego," I read the other day, "is the biggest — and perhaps the only — obstacle to true enlightenment. If we want to be free, if we want to be enlightened, we have to pay the price: death of the ego."

Not only is that view wrong-headed, it is damaging.

Certainly, the ego or "small self" can stand in the way of our evolution. Yet whatever else it is or does, it is still a part of our greater self, of our oneness. Of God.

God, however you define it, is made up of all the pieces of us — dark and light, evolved and not. God is not just the pieces we like or would prefer.

When we use phrases like "death of the ego," we're advocating an act of self-hatred and self-destruction that is not at all godlike.

How can we call for oneness in one breath and the destruction of a part of ourselves in the next? How can we preach love as the energy that creates and heals all when, in the same sentence, we preach hatred toward parts of ourselves?

If your arm is broken, do you cut it off because it's now a useless appendage? Or do you allow it to heal, lavishing extra love and energy upon it because of its weakened condition?

Quantum Oneness

Quantum is one of those words with paradox built in to it.

In traditional, scientific terms it can mean the tiniest increment or unit.

More popularly, we see it as a huge and sudden increase or advance, as in quantum leap. The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that quantum derives from the Latin quantus, meaning how great.

All these definitions apply when we speak of oneness, for the steps that bring us into oneness are tiny, even as the consequences are beyond measure. These steps are the moment-to-moment choices for God that reaffirm our divinity and free it to play itself out in our lives.

Oneness, as this image suggests to me, does not begin outside ourselves. It’s an act of loving integration that compassionately embraces every part of us into wholeness. Each choice we make for that loving integration is quantum oneness: a breath of a decision that propels us into the infinite.

Breathe in Discernment

This piece, adapted from The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write, applies nearly as directly to our relationship with our ego — or any other part of ourself — as it does to our relationship with our creative output. The exercise that follows the article is also adapted from the book.

Suspend judgment. Expel it altogether. Breathe it out with one forced-air breath and let it evaporate, dissipate and disappear.

Now, breathe in discernment. Discern what is powerful about your writing and what is weak. Discern what is strong and what needs work.

Discernment is a delicate tool. Judgment is a blunt hammer, a judge's gavel. It knocks you out with a "Guilty" or spares you with an "Innocent."

You need subtler skills, more refined tools.

Discernment is a marriage of intuition and intellect, a blend of right and left brain, a meld of heart and mind, a whole-body approach to creativity and to life.

There is no good or bad, right or wrong, righteous or evil, in discernment.

There is inner knowingness, a weighing of merits, a gentle, loving approach.

There is no hanging discerner as there is a hanging judge. No one will be put to death. No one will be arrested. No one will be harmed in any way.

There is no need for harm when discernment is at play. There is no black and white. There is no comparison. There is no absolute morality.

Judgment is about absolutes, and there are none in a place of the heart.

There are no absolutes where love rules.

Yes, you are called to love your work. You are called to love it in the same way you love your child. Both are creations of the heart. You do not judge your child. You weigh his or her behavior with discernment.

You do not weigh it with judgment.

Your child needs to be nurtured, cared for and loved. So does your work.

Your child needs correction, lovingly applied. So does your work. Your child is a creation of the heart. So is your work. Next time you would slash your work, ask yourself: Would I treat a child this way, no matter how badly she or he had behaved?

Your work is your child, a living, breathing entity — sentient, even. 

Love it, nurture it. Feed it. Judge nothing about it. Allow your innermost wisdom and light — your discernment — to tell you when what you are writing is true and faithful to your vision and heart and when it is not.

When it is not, correct and change it without punishment, without shame and without false pride. Correct it with mercy, with forgiveness, with love.

Find the right vision for yourself and your work. Stay on the path of your vision as best as you can. And when you stray, have the mercy to forgive and the forgiveness to be merciful.

You are not your work. Your work is an extension and expression of you. Let it be that. Do not judge it. Do not judge the voice. Do not judge the words. Do not judge any small or large part of it. Discern the truth and that truth will always keep you free.

Here's a suggestion:
Take a recent experience, something you don't feel all that good about...an experience, perhaps where your ego got in the way. Take that experience and revisit it — from a place of discernment, love and respect. No judgment. No criticism. Revisit it, rather, from a place of openheartedness, self-nurturing, mercy and forgiveness.

How does it feel to approach your ego and your life this way? How is it different from other times you've analyzed your past? How is it the same? How will it be different next time? 

On the Road Again?

It's Monday. I've just hung up from talking to a friend back east. A little voice whispers in my ear: "Wouldn't it be great to hit the road again in the fall and visit your friend?"

Hit the road? Again!?

Some background: If you're new to these newsletters, you may not know that I spent the 30 months from December 2004 until August 2007 on the road full-time, traveling back and forth across America. When I landed in Albuquerque in August, I didn't believe my traveling days to be done. I did expect, though, to be through with the full-time variety.

Apparently not. 

It's Tuesday. I wake up and the energy around an eastbound road trip feels exceptionally strong. "Well," I say to myself, "it could be a good opportunity to take my books, talks and workshops east." I say that even as I realize that I might be rationalizing a trip back east I wouldn't likely surrender to without having work as an excuse.

Some more background: I've been feeling for a few months now as though my time in New Mexico could be drawing to a close, as though I could be relocating to California by year's end. Of course, I assumed that I would stay in Albuquerque until that time. But even before Monday's revelation, the space between Labor Day and Christmas was starting to feel uncomfortably blank.

It's Wednesday, and that blank seems to have filled itself in. Unless things shift again (always a possibility), I will put everything storage in August, go to Sedona for my daughter's September birthday and, in a curious echo of recent years, drive off on faith into the unknown.

If my 2004 departure was a moment-to-moment, largely unplanned odyssey, I expect my 2008 departure to be somewhat more focused.

My intention is to spend some of my time between now and then — hopefully, with your help — mapping out an itinerary of talks, workshops, booksignings and, if there's the demand, sound activations.

In this moment, I'm open to going anywhere east, north and/or south of here — in the U.S. and into Canada. If you have any ideas or suggestions, or if you'd be interested in helping me organize and/or promote something in your area, I'd love to hear from you.

Like my 2004 road odyssey — like every day of my life — this is a journey launched on faith.

I wrote these words to conclude The Voice of the Muse at time when my days on the road had ended and I was launching a new adventure here in New Mexico. They apply equally well today, as I contemplate what's next...

As I move into the next chapter of my life..., I am reminded that this, like all journeys, is one of infinite surrender — word by word, moment by moment, breath by breath. I am particularly reminded of this as I reflect on where I wrote the first draft of this piece: in Santa Fe, a city whose name translates as "holy faith."

In this moment I cannot tell you how this chapter will end nor where the next will take me, just as I cannot yet know where The MoonQuest's sequel, The StarQuest, will go as I return to its pages.

All I can do — all we can ever do, in writing as in life — is trust in the story.

It has never let me down before.

Truly, the story knows best. 

Last Chance to Vote for The MoonQuest

If you haven't already cast your vote, please vote for The MoonQuest's cover as best of 2007. Tomorrow (April 15) is the deadline.

You can vote — once per e-mail address but from as many e-mail addresses as you want — either using the link below or by e-mailing webmail@erinaislinn.com with "VOTE FOR Moonquest" in the subject line.

As with the cover-of-the-month competition, a winner will be drawn from all the e-mail entries. The prize? A free copy of the winning book.

Again, voting ends April 15, so please vote today. 

Thanks for your support!

On the Air ~ April 16 with Mark David

On Wed., April 16 at 3pm ET, I'll be Cherise Thorne's guest on Knowing Spirit Radio for a wide-ranging conversation about creativity and spirituality. We'll also be taking your calls.

Listen live online at Knowing Spirit Radio and call in with your questions (347/945-5301). Or visit my page at Booktour.com later this week to listen to the audio archive.

You'll also find these radio interviews archived at Booktour.com:

• Journeys with Rebecca (March 1): An hour-long exploration of creativity, spirituality and life that will entertain, uplift and inspire you. Hosted by Rebecca Jernigan.

• World Transformation Radio (February 12): An enlightening and empowering dialogue about what I call the "myth of the free-will universe" and why life and creativity are one. Hosted by Writers in the Sky (January 4): Whether you want to write, are just starting out or have been writing forever, you'll enjoy this conversation about writers block and the meeting point of spirituality and creativity. "It's not that the words won't come. It's that we're not listening for them in quite the right way." Hosted by Yvonne Perry.

• Authors Access (October 19): An interview about writing and creativity with Irene Watson and Victor Volkman

New Earth Chronicles

Haven't been following my New Earth Chronicles blog? Catch up on these recent posts:

Mar. 13  - Infinite Possibility, Infinite Flow

Mar. 31 - Don't Fence Me In

Mar. 23 - Red Rock Resurrection

Apr. 1 - Spring Thaw

You'll find them all, as well as all blog posts dating back to February 2006, at www.markdavidgerson.blogspot.com.

You can now access my blog through my MySpace page. Please stop by and join my friends' list there.