Bahala na: A conscious living tradition

These can be considered scary times. Or they can be embraced as exciting times. We have the opportunity to show up and be who we really are (not who or what others say we are), and do what we came here to do (not what others tell us to do). We are brought to the very edge that compels every activist, leader, scholar, consultant, student, creative, teacher, visionary, sage, warrior, healer and ritualist, to actualize personal and social change—to start or to continue on. 

This is an invitation to experiment with the saying of "bahala na" as a conscious affirmation, a prayer, a mantra, a chant, a worldview, an incantation, a blessing, and/or personal tool for cultivating compassion, content, courage, and clarity to fortify us in facing uncertainty and struggle. 

In this GINHAWA, Water offering, we come together with Omehra Sigahne and Letecia Layson, elders of CFBS, under the auspices of core members Jen Maramba and Vanessa Ramilho, to explore the Philippine saying and tradition of "bahala na" with a new consciousness for these times and all ages to come. 

Our ancestors believed that they had souls and that all things had spirit and meaning. They knew a deep sense of connection with each other and with the forces of nature. It is this inherent knowing, this living experience of sacred interconnection (pakikipagkapwa) that gave them implicit and unwavering Trust in Spirit, and in the harmony of the Universe. 

Today, many of us have lost that inherent knowledge. Whole societies and civilizations have lost it. This is the disruption, the disturbance—unsustainable consumerism, colonization, imperialism— the epoch-long darkness of delusion that has caused mass destruction and chain-reactions of trauma-begets-trauma inflicted by ego-based institutions upon generations and nations, across oceans and continents, for many ages. 

We'll come together as kapwa to uncover gifts of tacit knowledge within us. From this, we may expand Philippine ancestral wisdom within us, potentially living more fully as human beings and as humans taking soul-purpose action that builds anew. 

We'll take a look at art, language and baybayin as mystical messages and at sound as vibrational embodiment. 

We will weave together our insight and understandings about pain and joy, dark and light, trauma and healing, seen and unseen, deep connection and much more. Along the way, we can come closer to both a collective awareness and individual sense of wholeness, to our inherent inner beauty and that of our ancestors, and to our spiritual purpose of co-creativity on this Earth.  

We can come back "home" to who we truly are within ourselves (pagbabalikloob), a place inside where we each sense our Self as an eternal divine child of Feminine and Masculine Divine. We are as capable and responsible as any divine being, diwata or force of nature to be creative and effectual for balance and harmony within Creation.

Any act of illumination not only supports and honors our selves, it can end cycles of karma... heal destructive family patterns... strengthen our relationships... honor our ancestors... and create an empowering inheritance for the generations that follow us. 

Where there is separation and division, may there now be connection. Where there is uncertainty, may we always see possibilities. Where there is blind faith, may we now find radical acceptance. Where there is fatalism, may we now flow. Where's there's anxiety, may it shift to excitement. Where there is struggle, may we now experience effortless action.

About Omehra Sigahne:

Omehra Sigahne, or Perla Daly, is the mother of three young men, and is a cultural activist who has collaborated with artists, healers, scholars and feminist leaders around the world through digital art, poetry, painting, online discussion, web publications, retreats and conferences. For over 20 years, she has been weaving the universal wisdom and beauty found within Philippine living traditions into her works—through baybayin, blogging (BagongPinay.com), art and writing, cyber-representation of Filipinas, community gatherings, mentoring and creative coaching. She is one of the founding elders of CfBS. founded the first empowering, online community for and by Filipinas in 1998, was a contributor to the Pinay Power anthology (ed. M. de Jesus), chaired the Filipino American Women’s Network FAWN2005 conference (FAWN2005.com) inspired by the art and poetry for Teacher, Healer, Visionary/Sage, Warrior and Priestess (babaylan.com), and is the creatrix of the Babaylan Mandalas, BaybayinAlive.com, Pakikipagkapwa.net, and the social media campaign for the conscious practice of Bahala na for the 21st century. She also contributed content and art to the two books published by CFBS, Babaylan: Filipinos and the call of the Indigenous (ed. L.M. Strobel) and Back from the Crocodile's Belly (eds. S.L. Mendoza)

Start reading about “bahala na” as a conscious living tradition:

– Bahala na for the 21st century on Instagram 

– 20 Surprising Benefits of Saying Bahala Na, Ilustrado Magazine

My blog Bagongpinay.org