"Zuvuya" is an old Mayan word for the connecting thread between all realities and dimensions, including time. Back in 1988, American New Age spiritual author José Argüelles wrote a delightful book called Surfers of the Zuvuya about time travel across dimensions and all the adventures that can be had along the way.
I was delighted by the image of surfing realities—shwooshing effortlessly between dimensions, engaging all sorts of beings and intelligences and novelties. The book firmly reestablished the idea of "life as an adventure" in my mind, lifting Earthly existence out of the "painful burdensome slog" category it'd been in for awhile.
Which might be the reason the book title popped into my head just now. Surfing the Zuvuya seems the perfect energetic match for today’s topic—which is part three of "The Power to Manifest."
Difficult conversation
In Part 1, I covered the exaggerated science behind intention and human mental powers, the grotesque commercialization of personal manifestation in the spirituality arena, the various problems involved in manifestation the way it's currently being taught—including how the practice skirts the edges of manipulative magic, as well as how emotionally damaging the Failure to Manifest Syndrome (FMS) is to a lot of people who judge their spiritual advancement by their ability to manifest successfully.
Part 2 examined the unitive, holographic nature of existence and the fact that humans are spirit beings of pure love that reflect the whole of existence. We are not separate from anything. We are nature—all of creation—bundled up into what seems like individual physical bodies that actually are not physical at all, but rather interpenetrating fields of energy/information containing the wisdom of All That Is.
As the Sufi poet Rumi put it: "You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the ocean in a drop."
With this in mind, I made the point that manifestation is not personal and can never be "personal," because we are, in truth, each part of the whole. Thus, it is the whole of existence that does the manifesting—it is the whole of existence that decides what manifests and what doesn't based upon whether an individual desire is beneficial for the whole ... not just beneficial for the teeny tiny "part" called you and me—the part that thinks it would be a great idea to win the Mega Millions lottery, buy a yacht, and live in a mansion on Majorca.
As Jacqueline Hobbs, aka Oracle Girl puts it: "Nature decides," not us. Which totally explains why "the power to manifest" is so hit and miss. Why little things arrive effortlessly and BIG things don't. Or why one major hit happens like magic and then POOF! Nada. Nothing else happens no matter how intensely you focus.
Nature decides.
Not us.
Implications
When I first hit on this understanding, I had mixed reactions. The first was discomfort and indignation stemming from the immediate sense of disempowerment. Whaddaya mean 'nature decides?' I thought. What a load of crap! How is that any different from believing everything that happens or doesn't happen is 'God's will’?
Good question—which I'll get to in the next installment.
My second reaction, which kicked in a few days afterwards, was, interestingly enough, relief. Whew! It's not all on me! I can relax now and let go. Let go what? Strain. Stress. Expectation. The need for things to turn out a particular way. Having to figure out how to manipulate life to get what I want.
That sort of thing.
All those pressures just sort of melted into this fluid sense of "It's all alright mate." (Said with an Aussie accent.) Like I could just relax, lie back, and float down the river, trusting that where the river was taking me was where I needed to go.
Maybe not necessarily where I wanted to go. But where I needed to go to experience what was best for me.
Which is where the trust part kicked in.
The only way I could relax into this sensation was by trusting that I was part of something bigger than just me—something that has a vastly greater perspective than me. Something that can see the Niagara-size waterfall downstream miles ahead of time. Something that knows where the take-out is before the current gets too strong to be able to make it to shore. Something that will nudge me in the direction of that safe landing point with room to spare.
All I have to do is stay awake and receptive to the nudge.
Personal power
So, where does individual autonomy and personal power belong in this picture? Well, I can pick which river I'm floating down. I can choose the canoe or brand of kayak I paddle. Or the tube I float. I can choose a jetliner to get to my destination instead of a river raft. I also choose my destination.
But whether I get there or not ... nature decides.
I may think Cincinnati is my ideal destination ... there's a guy I know there and like. Or there's a job waiting for me. Or rent is cheap. Whatever. These are all perfectly valid, but extremely limited, linear reasons for moving to Cincinnati.
Very human reasons.
But if I accept that 1) I am one with existence and that 2) maximum healthy growth/evolution is the overarching focus of life/nature/creation/existence (which would seem appropriate) and that 3) not having all the information of the universe at my fingertips, I just might be wrong about my very personal human reasons for going to Cincinnati ... I won't be surprised or upset when I get steered toward Akron, OH instead.
Or Miami.
Sure, I can fight the current and insist on Cincinnati. But if I'm aware of all the above, wouldn't it make more sense to relax and allow myself to be steered to where it's best for my healthy growth and evolution?
The following story is a case in point.
Reroute
Back in 2017, after 30 years, I was done with living in the Pacific Northwest. Overdone. I was starting a book tour promoting The E Word: Ego, Enlightenment & Other Essentials—a book my editor at Simon & Schuster was convinced was the next Power of Now.
I had let go my cool apartment overlooking Puget Sound and put all my furniture in storage, put a huge chunk of money on a credit card and hired a prestigious PR firm, and hit the road. First stop, Las Vegas and a TV interview for something called the Spiritual Light Broadcast, hosted by (the amazing) Sandie Sedgbeer.
Now, somewhere between Olympia, Washington and Vegas, I got the "hit" that I was on the wrong road. Not the wrong highway, but the wrong personal path. All my fevered (expensive and anxiety-producing) publicity plans suddenly seemed "off." I had the strongest sense that public success of this book—which I'd labored over for three years—would be a disaster personally.
Disconcerted, I got to Las Vegas and did the show (which went great). Afterwards I ended up having lunch and talking with another guest on the show, mystic and spiritual teacher Robert Rabbin.
Now, Robert was a majorly intense dude who had spent 10 years living and working with meditation master Swami Muktananda. (We became good friends after this chance meeting and remained so until he died.) So, we're at this restaurant and had been talking for maybe 45 minutes, when suddenly he grabs my hand across the table, squeezes hard, stares into my eyes, and says," You're on the wrong path and you know it."
Out of the blue. No lead in. No prep. Just BAM!
Okay ... message received.
I'd already set up my speaking itinerary in areas I was especially interested in possibly moving: Boulder, CO (Gaia TV was there); Sedona, AZ, Santa Fe, NM, Santa Barbara, CA. I kept my commitments for the first six months of shows ... but, following inner instructions, pulled the plug on all further promotion.
The book died practically upon launch. I saved a ton of money, and my editor stopped returning my calls.
Now what?
Reroute
At that point a friend who lived on Maui invited me to come stay for a month. Now, I'd never visited Hawai'i. Never wanted to visit Hawai'i. I figured it was just one more overly-developed tourist trap exploiting the native population, disfiguring yet one more Earthly paradise. Who needed that?
But I was at a loss what to do with my life at that point. Stopping the book's promotion had been like stopping the launch of the space shuttle in mid-air. So, I booked a flight. Three days later I was minding my own business, sitting on the beautiful north shore beach at Paia Bay, not a thought in my head and ... well ...
Let's just say I got the message loud and clear to "come home."
Beyond surprised, I stayed the month, went back to Olympia, sold everything I owned, and shipped my car. I've been on Maui ever since.
For my maximum healthy growth and evolution, I'm assuming it's the best move I could ever have made. Certainly, it's been one of the happiest.
Absolutely, it's been the most unexpected.
Freedom
There's a Zen saying that goes: “The wave is free when it realizes it is part of the sea.” It's an odd saying, but it captures the feeling of what I'm trying to say.
Yes, I have total autonomy when it comes to my choices in life. And I do the best I can to make choices that feel the most aligned with my personal essence and life itself.
I show up. I work hard. I make sure I have plenty of downtime. I make sure I spend as much time in nature as I can. (Ocean swimming yay!) I do my best to follow-through on commitments and be there for others. I stay as open as possible to "life's whispers" (and shouts). And if the message is I'm wrong about something or off-base, I do my best to humble myself to correct course.
And I am perfect at none of this. I still bitch internally (and sometimes externally) when things don’t go the way I think they should. I am still addicted to watching too much NCIS. And I still sometimes insist on swimming upstream.
But overall, the flow seems to be going in the right general direction.
The more I relax and don't worry, the easier it gets. The more I relax into the ocean, the bigger the sense that I am being carried. Supported. Not by something other than myself. But certainly something infinitely more expansive. So expansive it seems other.
So expansive, there are no words.
I guess that's just part of the Great Mystery.
Much love and aloha ~
Check out the book:
Cracking the Matrix: 14 Keys to Individual & Global Freedom
For thousands of years, every culture on Earth has described a hostile, invisible Intelligence bedeviling humanity, dragging us down. The Archons, AshShaytān, wetiko, windingo, e'epa, antimimos, Satan ... the names are legion.
Cracking the Matrix explores the astounding history and nature of what humanity has erroneously labeled "evil" on this planet, helping people finally see the very real, negative, interdimensional influence that exists behind historic and current global events and our social decline.
The book outlines how to break free of this Force's ancient controlling agenda and how people can stand up in the power of their true spiritual nature, ready to create the New Heaven and the New Earth that have so long been prophesied.
About Cate Montana
I’m a professional journalist specializing in alternative medicine and health, and the author of several books, including Unearthing Venus: My Search for the Woman Within [Watkins 2013], and The E Word, Ego Enlightenment & Other Essentials [Atria 2017], and a spiritual novel titled Apollo & Me. I have a master’s degree in psychology. A lot of TV, radio and podcast show hosts as well as listeners around the world have told me I’m an interesting and informative—even compelling—speaker. To which I say “Thank you.” Talking is something I enjoy doing even more than writing! (It’s more immediate and connected.)
I am extremely blessed to have been called to Maui and grateful every day to awaken here.
For more information you can reach me at www.catemontana.com and info@catemontana.com
'Nature will decide.'
Argüelles was a trip, I remember him, but on Nature. That's the best for for translating 'dhamma' as used in the Pali texts of Buddha. There's not really a definition for it, cause obv we are talking about more than the trees and such. Its in the moment, now, not referencing to the past or future, and is causal, but how exactly our perception can't grasp. And trying to grasp it is not the direction. Just 'aha' as an insight-- when you get it in an embodied way, then you know, but you won't remember, not exactly, as its more of a feeling.