You’ve probably never heard of ‘Conscious Companioning’ so I want to start with a couple of descriptors. The first one comes from Ram Dass as he seeks to describe what it is to be Conscious:  “Consciousness equals Energy = Love = Awareness = Light = Wisdom = Beauty = Truth = Purity.” It comes from the Latin com-scire, to know. It’s a state of Being where the unconscious becomes conscious; an expansion transcending the rational mind yet including it.

The second one comes from the 1975 edition of Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary which seeks to define Companion. Companion comes from the Latin, “com-panis meaning bread or food.” It refers to a comrade, associate, one of a pair of matching things, a fellowship, to be of service to another and a passageway from one to another. It’s a symbiotic relationship between two entities where energy, frequency and vibration have aligned.

Putting these two words together speaks to me of being in an intimate relationship with the transcendent and immanent Being that flows in, around and through the whole of creation. It’s a trans-rational awareness of the infinite interrelatedness that’s inherent in all apparent duality yet is a unity. Think of your relationship with Inner Being and ego. Ponder the many small selves of the ego mind that chatter all the time about this and that and the still silent Soul, Essence, Inner Witness. Think of Relationship as the foundation and ground of everything.

I was sitting in a deep meditation on fear, pain and suffering recently. I started with my own life and then moved to the lives of others, known and unknown. I began to see and feel the fear, sorrow and violent effects of prejudice and war on people throughout the world today and in the past. As the scenes shifted and changed I felt an overwhelming grief, loss and compassionate empathy not only for the victims but also for the perpetrators. They/we were all disconnected and alienated. We were all crying and dying on the inside. We swam in a river of tears.

This inner experience dropped me into a deep place where I became aware of the serious disconnection we all have from the very Essence of Life, Love and Belonging.I thought about all the “relationships” I’ve had with people that were participatory only on the surface and how I’d longed for deeper, more intimate ‘soul‘ connections. I wondered if others felt this alienation and disconnection from their depths and the depths of others. I began to see the lack of consciousness in our relations and the lack of real authentic companioning with one another.

Then, in my Inner Being I saw a mother nursing her child, a couple in a kayak and a father and son sitting on a swing. I saw a grandmother and her young grandson making cookies in her kitchen and a coach and an executive crying together in the privacy of an office. I saw a stranger helping an elder with a cane get into a bus and two soldiers in opposing armies drop their weapons and embrace one other. I saw a husband and wife arguing and in an instant transform, hold hands, smile, open their hearts and wipe away each others tears.

The scenes kept changing until I realized that wherever I looked I saw you, me, we, thee consciously companioning one another becoming free. Nelson Mandela wrote: “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.” To be in this place of conscious companioning with oneself, with our Inner Being is where we start. Everything we want out there begins in here.

Conscious Companioning brings love, humility, kindness, empathy and compassion to the table of life. It also brings courage, vulnerability, transparency and transcendence as bread, food for the journey. There’s an honoring of all the gifts differing and creations crafted; a heart opening for oneself and others, knowing strangers as friends. It melts down the walls of oppression and melts off the chains of fear. It takes down all the walls that stand between us all and fills the whole world with cheer. It operates in mysterious ways, its’ wonders to perform………….

I want to leave you with an ending and beginning that comes from the Hindu tradition. It’s the Hello and Good-bye of Namaste’ – nah – mas – tay —— The divine within me recognizes and honors the divine within you……..In this meeting is the recognition that we are united, sharing the same Source and Oneness of Life’s Blessing...Consciously Companioning.

• Allow yourself the gift of vulnerability and transparency with someone your trust this week. Speak a fear, sorrow or alienation you’ve been feeling. Open your heart, let it breathe a sigh of relief and receive some tender love and care . . .

• Be in a space of Conscious Companioning with another this week by looking deeply into their soul. Simply be with them in a gentle loving way. You don’t have to say anything. Consciously open your Heart, Inner Being, Soul, and let it radiate a loving companion presence with the other. Relax into it . . . Feel the opening and allow the flow of blessing . . .

• Practice using Namaste’ when you see someone. Again, you don’t have to say anything. Just use the word as a prompt to connect in Conscious Companioning with a stranger, friend, acquaintance or relative with an inner bow of honoring. Everyone needs this. You may be surprised at how it changes how you see yourself and others….It’s a humble and edifying relational practice for the greater good.

• See yourself, the we and the thee wherever you look. Remember to Remember to be Conscious in Companioning your many selves, your True Authentic Self and the One Self that’s always here, there and everywhere. Give thanks and be free . . . Wheeeee . . .