Bahala na: A Conscious Living Tradition For Challenging Times

We are brought to the very edge that compels every leader, creative, teacher, visionary, sage, warrior, healer, activist, ritualist, speaker, consultant, organizer, peace-maker, protestor, environmentalist, conservationist, and/or student, to actualize personal and social change—to start or to continue on.   

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).   For Filipin@s, there's bahala na, both a tradition and worldview that we can turn to in a conscious way to balance and center us, face challenges, be present with what is and with possibilities, and with this awareness flow into effortless action.   

Let's 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, and help us feel even more certain about we ourselves can do as individuals.  Join Omehra Sigahne and Letecia Layson, elders of Center for Babaylan Studies (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. 

Start reading about bahala na as a conscious living tradition:

• Bahala na for the 21st century on Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/bahala_na_21st_century/
• 20 Surprising Benefits of Saying Bahala Na, Ilustrado Magazine, http://illustradolife.com/bahala-na/
• My blog Bagongpinay.org

****

Special guests will share their Bahala Na meditation music and song.  CFBS is our co-sponsor and helps bring this offering to the public.  

Los Angeles, CA, USA* Fri, Jun 26, 2020 6:00 pm PDT  

Austin, TX, USA* Fri, Jun 26, 2020 8:00 pm CDT  

New York, NY, USA* Fri, Jun 26, 2020 9:00 pm EDT 

Manila, Philippines Sat, Jun 27, 2020 9:00 am PHT   

This is a repeat from the May 24 event. https://www.facebook.com/events/2648832505396994/