The Nature of More

"Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous."  Confucius

 
     One of my biggest struggles, and I believe most of us struggle against this, was the feeling of not being good enough. Don Miguel Ruiz, author of the Four Agreements, taught me about self-domestication. The toltec wisdom teaches that we begin to alter our Selves as children, to please parents, teachers, society, culture. In doing so we make 'agreements', in our minds, to do and be what other expect us to do and be. This process seperates us from who we really are and who we were born to be.     
      When I asked Spirit why I felt so inadequate It said "Who's bar are you leaping over?". My answer was ambiguous. The invisble out-there seemed to be holding me back and this I did not understand. I knew there was no "out-there". It was all me and not me all at the same time. It was then that I realized that I I held myself to a level of expectation that I reserved for no one else but me. I didn't think you were weak for asking for help but I  believed I was. I spoke to myself in a way I would speak to no other human being and I set expectations for myself that had no real boundaries. The result was that I was less-than because I could have done more.
     It was then that I realized the nature of more had created, in my mind, a self-imposed prison. The nature of more is MORE, and it is never satisfied. Mother Theresa could have done more. I'm sure she took a lunch break and could have done more but does that make her accomplishments less? At that moment I decided to lay my expectation bar on the ground. This is a much greater concept that I must leave for another day.
      The key to being happy, to feeling good enough, is to recognize that what you've done, your contributions, ARE good enough. They are good enough because you did the best you could. To be gracious enough to find gratitude for the opportunity to do so is icing on the cake.

Irene's Bringing Doughnuts

Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.”     Og Mandino

             So I'm driving to work one morning, dreading it as so many of us do. I was new to an office that didn't like change and I was there to change it up. I knew it was going to be a hard day. As I approached the parking lot, a funny resolve came into me as I thought of the women who worked at the front desk, Irene, the gatekeeper. As small voice within said "Irene's bringing doughnuts!" and something really remarkable happened. I was able to observe myself as I went through the process, in the time it took to park my car, of turning my mindset to one of acceptence while at the same time understanding she was my "in" to this company. If Irene accepted me, the others would too. It turned out to be a great day and a great success overall.  

     In the grieving process, acceptence in the final step. When we finally give into the flow of life is when we decide to go on living. When our son was diagnosed with autism, I didn't think I could go on. But I was forced into the realization that I didn't believe I could live through it because I didn't want to live through it. It's easy to say "I can't do it'. But when we are faced with life, whatever the circumstances are, we do! We do it every moment of every day . When we find this place of resolution, there is a part of our brain that kicks in and we begin to move from death to re-birth.

     I believe we struggle against death, in all forms, because we fail to understand that re-birth happens at exactly the same moment. Life is a series of deaths from the moment of our birth. We move from infancy to adulthood and there is not a single death that doens't give way to a new life. There is profound truth to be found here for those who have eyes to see it.

Death will never overtake me because my True Will to live is immortal.

The Uncarved Block

"Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself."     Richard Bach

     When I began my quest for wholeness, I first sought to understand what wholeness meant. According to Webster's Dictionary, wholeness is defined as "having all essential or original parts in the appropriate order". The only thing I knew that had all essential parts in an appropriate order was Nature. Did the birds see themselves as less-than? Did the trees fear they would fall off their path or question their ability to be the best tree they could be? Nature seemed so perfectly content to simply be. Knowing that I, too, was a part of Nature, I knew I MUST have that same wholeness within me. I just had to find it.
     The Taoist philosophy has a concept called the Uncarved Block. It teaches us that we are born perfect. Wood in its most perfect form is a tree. Wood is not its most perfect when it is cut, carved and painted so we can stand it in the corner of our living rooms. We may find beauty and comfort in it when it is in this state, thus creating a different kind of perfection, but we are the most perfect when are simply being what we were born to be.

     I think we are so focused on our weakness, improving ourselves and the need to grow and change that we forget that trees grow and change through no will of their own. There is a power, an intelligent and conscious force, that drives all life forward. We like to think we can control these forces but this is the very illusion that makes us feel unhappy, incomplete and separate. True power comes when we can relinquish the illusion of control and embrace our own perfection. Only in doing so are we truly free to see the perfection of others and the absolute awe of this amazing universe in which we live.

No Hiding

    Don't wait. The time will never be more right."                          Napoleon Hill

     Living in Minnesota, the vernal equinox is something many of us focus on. It is the light at the end of a long, harsh tunnel we call winter and it heralds the re-birth of life, Nature herself. She nourishes, anticipates with longing and love, as all mothers do, the birth of her new creation. Even though I someday hope to live out my days in a tropical paradise, deep down I know there will be nothing that can compare to the absolute bliss of spring.
     I like to frequent a site called physorg.com. It has news on the latest breakthroughs in the studies of space, physics, biology, nanotechnology etc. Knowing that science is finally reaching the ancient truths and wisdom, I enjoy watching it emerge, in its new glory, for all the world to see. And last week, an exciting theory was proven true.
     There is, in quantum mechanics, what is known as the No Hiding Theorem. According to the article on physorg.com, the no-hiding theorem states that "if information is missing from a system it MUST reside somewhere else in the system". That sounds a lot like "The answer lies within". The article goes on to say "missing information cannot be hidden in the correlations between a system and its environment." NOTHING IS HIDDEN! Its against the law of the universe to hide the answers from us so LOOK, REALLY look, with eyes that can see. What you want WILL show itself.  And that, my friends,  is a story we will save for another time!

http://www.physorg.com/

   

Treading Water

     "He who knows others is learned; he who knows himself is wise."                            Lao Tze

     I asked someone today, "How's your week going?". His answer was "Treading water". He proceeded to tell me about his confidence in his ability to swim. "I could tread water for hours, even days if I had to, but eventually", he said, as his eyes his dropped from the grasp of mine, " eventually, you know it's going to take you over." I empathized so with his feeling of despair and, at the same time, was inspired by his gleeful understanding that he was NOT going to drown. This is the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY that moves me and leaves me in awe, wonder and hope, for all of which we are capable.
     The Tao is described as an unending flow, to and from the Source of The One. This flow, as they teach of it, is much like water. A sea of mysterious forces, time, space and consciousness. If we liken the navigation of life to swimming, like those who study the Tao, we understand that the most important part of swimming is knowing HOW TO FLOAT. There is a trust that happens between the swimmer and the water. There is a knowing  about the amount of energy that's required to float, to swim towards a goal, or to tread water. There is an understanding  about the finesse needed to "push" the water, an understanding of how it CANNOT BE PUSHED and an understanding of how to to use the water to make our way easier. But, above all, there is a TRUST that the water will ALWAYS SUPPORT US in this way.
      In physics,  90+% of the universe is made up of dark matter and energy and things of which we know virtually nothing about. Science teaches us that there is an intelligence that exists in all things and that this intelligence responds to us, connects us, and communications with us. How great is that?! If we doubt whether or not we will be supported by the universe, ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS ASK!

Eat it, Drink it, Breathe it

    The power of One is Infinite. The power of the All is Unstoppable.

    In the yogi philosophy, life-force is called Prana. If you practice Taoism or Chi Gong, you may call this force Chi and if you are Christian, you know this all-powerful, ever-present, all-knowing essence as God. The yogis taught that there is three ways to take in this life-force: Eat it, Drink it and Breathe it. And I believe this very simple, very profound Truth, is a VERY important message in our world today.
     If we think about the threat of nuclear exposure, it may be very easy to forget about the teachings of quantum physics and the wisdom of Dr Imoto. Our knowing that we have the power of mind over matter, the power to heal bodies, to cleanse water and change the world at our will, can be easily undermined.The perception of threat should not be under-estimated. I can be my all-loving, non-violent self until someone bursts into my home with a gun. Then, if the circumstance warrants it, I can become a killer. I try to make it a point NOT to let my perceptions escape my awareness but that is a tool that, I believe, takes a lifetime to master.
     OUR WILL is the real the key to this message. Let us be united in our INTENT to minimize the damage of this global event. Let us be united in our blessing of the water and air, earth and people. Let us pray together, love together and heal together, for this world and all who dwell here, to be safe and well and whole. Let us create peace.

NAMASTE

      

Everything I Do is a Prayer

"Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it"    

 Albert Einstein

     I've been practicing lucid dreaming since my calling in 1992. Much of the information I receive, the healing I perform, and life I lead is experienced in an other world I like to call dreamtime. Several nights ago I was introduced, in dreamtime, to a warrior-priestess who taught me many things. I first saw her from the edge of a beautiful valley. She was practicing, far below, praying, worshipping, moving in a way I'd never seen before. No sooner did I pose the question in my mind did she appear, right in front of me, inches from my being. All she said was "Everything I do is a prayer".
     I watched her for several hours as she honored those who had passed before her and bowed before the forces of Nature that she had come to know as God. It was not only the wounds of the past that she healed, but those that are yet to come. I could feel her compassion and honesty as well as her determination to make right that which had gone wrong. Even in dreamtime, I thought of those in Japan, and all around the world, who are suffering and afraid. She showed me how all can be made "right" with prayer and blessings, focused thought and open heart.
     When I awoke, a memory of a man I knew long ago was clear in my mind. It was nearly 20 years ago, when we first returned from Los Angeles, that we met a fellow resident of our condominium association. He was obviously lost in this world, seeking guidance but ultimately would not choose to follow it. He said to me one day, as he complained about his life and all the circumstances of it, that he loved the fact that I could see a big-picture perspective of the most menial aspects of life. I realize now, in hindsight, that this was the beginning of my life as a prayer.
     Everything I experience is important. Everything I do affects the One therefore every action I take must be done with pure and conscious intent. I've made this a daily practice but I am now inspired to do more. Is EVERYTHING I do a prayer? Not yet, but I believe it is a worthy quest.


 

Beyond What I See

                                   "Wisdom is the supreme part of happiness."              Sophocles

   I like to visit the NASA website because I LOVE to see images from outer space. An exploding star, the birth of a galaxy, the Eye of Sauron, sometimes feels more like home than anywhere on this earth to me. I like to remind myself of the shear awesomeness, beauty, and destruction, of this timeless, mysterious place in which I live.
     I can't help but think of things beyond what I see, the purpose, the REALITY of reality. What are we doing here? What IS this place? For what purpose? Our ancestors looked to the stars and discovered things far beyond what they "should have" been able to comprehend. By observing the night sky, they knew there was a hole in the center of the universe and created a stone calendar, still in existence today, that encompasses 4+ billion years. The Mayan calendar is still a fraction more accurate than the Gregorian calendars we use today. Impressive for 2000 BC.
     I guess I'm doing the same thing now, looking for the mysteries that lie beyond what I see. But thanks to Hubble and its predecessors, I KNOW what lies beyond. It's up to me to, not only comprehend it, but assimilate it into my everyday existence. In doing so,  by emeshing myself into the One a little more firmly every day, my life becomes more peaceful because I have a greater perspective, I understand. As a result, I am in a better person, and I strengthen my ability to help those around me. I can be a dork, so maybe NASA is not for you but find YOUR NASA! Inspire yourself everyday and the potential of the universe will unfold before you! ENJOY!

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/

    

The Verge

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." - Soren Kierkegaard

    There seems to be a universal feeling of change on the horizon. Many, MANY people say to me "I feel like something really big is coming but I don't know what IT is". They are right. Bruce Lipton's new book, Spontaneous Evolution, talks about a basal paradigm shift, a shift in the belief of all of humanity. He explains that, prior to 4000bc, humanity shared the belief the the world had a spiritual as well as a physical component. At that time we began to shift towards our current belief system which is "Scientific Materialism", the belief that the physical world, the world of matter, is all that exists. New, physics, new math, new biology, new science everywhere is discovering the flaw in this system and  and rediscovering the ancient Truths we have known in our hearts and souls all along. We are the verge of assimilating that into our mass consciousness. Its a very exciting and challenging time.
    Many people tell me they feel THEY are on the verge of something great but they don't know what it is. They are waiting for it to come to them.The verge is a natural phenomenon of the universe but we must be careful not to stay on the verge too long, it is unnatural. I have to acknowledge the fact that I may be interfering with the natural flow, the natural timing of the verge, if I find myself there too long.
     IT comes to me, because that is the natural way, but it only comes when I step towards it. This is the law of reciprocating energy. The energy I put out will be the energy that returns to me. Some may know this as the law of karma. I may not know what IT is yet or how to get to it but I KNOW I HAVE TO STEP. I may have to step again but I don't care. Failure to get IT is not an option! IT is my passion, my purpose, my joy and my offering to the world.  And hopefully I won't spend too much wasted time on why IT won't come to me when I want it to, the fact that IT was harder to obtain than I thought or that IT should be easy!
     It is time for us, as individuals and as a humanity to step forward. All we have to do is share the Light of who we really are with the world, and want nothing in return but to live in peace and harmony. All we have to do is bless our brothers and sisters and love this universe as IT LOVE US! I've lived by many motto's is my life but this is still my favorite one:

 "I know exactly what I'm doing, i just don't know what it is!"

Freewill & Destiny

"What we fail to bring to the conscious mind will later emerge as fate"

Carl Jung

     Here we have the question of how to assimilate the concepts of freewill and destiny. Truly a question for the ages. And I certainly do not presume to have the answer but, as all good philosophers do, I hope to pose  questions that burn in you until you must find the answer for yourself.

     When we speak of destiny I think its important to make the distinction between fate and destiny. I believe what Carl Jung was saying is that our 90% subconscious mind is manifesting all the time, 24/7. What we feel, at times, is an outside force working in our lives, is really our subconscious minds at work, affecting the quantum grid, creating our lives without our awareness. This is an awesomely powerful force and one that, if harnessed, has the potential to create anything we desire at will.Our fate is determined by our ability to influence and direct this massive part of our minds.

     I'm certainly not saying there aren't forces greater than ourselves at work. It appears this is where destiny fits in. There is still the puzzle of quantum physics' ultimate observer and the many mysteries of the Oneness of which we are all a part. But the super conscious mind is also a part of the 90%. And it is here that, I believe, destiny and fate dance, seeming to know alot more than we. Perhaps this is simply because we are  unaware that we have a relationship with IT. Grow THAT relationship, and everything in your life will expand!

     If we look to physics, Einstein would be our destiny man. Everything in Albert's world is fixed, one moment, pre-destined. Whereas freewill would be the ruler in world of quantum mechanics where everything is determined and created by the observer. As with everything, the integration of concepts creates new concepts. Just as we discovered energy is not just a particles or waves but a particle-wave, I believe freewill and destiny are in the same way bound together. How they are bound together is up to you. It's your universe!

Wisdom is a woman, and loves only a warrior. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche



Power

"You have built a road to nowhere, and paved it so you can get there quicker"

Hopi Elder    

There is one word that started me "dictionary diving". I always loved words but I started looking everything up in the dictionary when I found it gave me clues to the internal beliefs that subconsciously created my life. Beliefs are written in us in the form of word. I wasn't happy with where I was in my life and this word changed that.The word is power. The definition, ones ability to act, blew my mind. I thought is was control, I thought it was some thing, unidentified, but it was not that simple. When I posed the question to Spirit, the response was "The more you try to control things, the more out of control you get."
      It's when I relinquish control and allow the flow of the universe, the force that makes trees grow, live and die, to move me that I step into my power. Nature is power, the universe is energy and we are part of that eternal, never-ending flow. We may be able to direct it at times, but control it? Never. To find peace, we must align ourselves with the universal life-force and that CHOICE  IS POWERFUL.
   
Do you have a great ability to act? Then YOU ARE POWERFUL!
    
Choose to build a road that takes you where YOU want to go.
  

The Power of Prayer

     "It requires wisdom to understand wisdom: the music is nothing if the audience is deaf."

-Walter Lippman

There have been studies that show the power of prayer is real. Quantum physics teaches us that our thoughts not only affect, but create the world in which we live. The energy of prayer can heal bodies, penetrate walls and cover great distances without being diminished. We have always understood the power of prayer but we have allowed ourselves to fall under the illusion that science needs to prove to us what we innately know to be true. The power of love is real and it can move mountains if we could all learn to love together.
     There are many who need our blessings and our prayers today, like our brothers and sisters in Japan and all those being affected by the aftershocks. Not only today, but every day, there is a need for your attention and it takes so little to send a silent prayer or a loving thought. I encourage you all to take a moment to share yourself, your thoughts, your love and your blessings, with those that are in need. The laws of the universe will reciprocate and you will feel loved and blessed in return. How can it be wrong?

Body Barometer: God's Idiot Light

     Love is more than an emotion. It is a force of Nature and therefore must contain Truth.

Deepak Chopra

When I first started to really know my emotions, I was forced to evaluate what my feelings were and what purpose they served. Ancient teachings said that we have many bodies: an emotional, or the astral body, as well as mental and physical bodies. It taught me that all things like energy, light, ideas and experiences flow through these bodies, touch them, and that we interpret the flow of universal information through filters of perception, belief and past experiences. Deepak Chopra likened this to coats on a coat rack, the coats being the filters that cover the True Self and keep us from seeing the real Truth of our amazing selves and the glorious universe in which we live.
     I client once asked me "What ARE emotions?" I admitted that I didn't really know but, based on what I had learned so far, emotions were a signal, a communication about balance or imbalance, a message and a clue about our Selves and to how to heal the unseen wounds that we allow to make us sick and unhappy.  I had coined the term Body Barometer, I called it God's Idiot Light, to describe the signals from higher self and how we can come to know them through what we call emotion.
     If I say "Grass is purple." you don't care, you have no emotional reaction to my statement. But if I say "You'll never be successful." or "You're not good enough", you may notice a physical reaction in your body, the result of an emotional trigger being tripped. You wouldn't have that reaction if you didn't, on some level, believe me.
     We now know, since the discovery of the emotion molecule, that emotion is a chemical and electro-magnetic reaction to an experience or a memory. Every experience we have is recorded as a memory that contains a chemical recipe and those chemicals create the feeling we experience. Much of what we experience in the day is merely a memory of how we felt yesterday and those recipes CAN be re-written! Neuro-scientists now believe 87-95% of all disease is caused by our "thought-life' and the body barometer shows the symptoms of imbalance that have the potential to create illness as well as the opportunity for us to grow and heal.
     We don't ignore physical wounds. We nurture them and believe they will, with time, heal. But we ignore emotional wounds or, at the very least, we don't understand how to allow them to heal. I know people who will risk life and limb, just for the thrill of it, but they go out of their way to make sure they are never emotionally vulnerable. Why? If you had a chance at love would you not be willing to skin your knee?

The body is wise; Listen to it!

     

Everyday Miracles

         What descends to the earth as the breath of passion returns to heaven in the spirit of contemplation.                                                                               Edgar Wind

    
     Did you ever stop and wonder why a peach seed never grows into an apple tree? How do children know when it's time to cut their teeth and why does my eyesight start to fail at 40? When I came to understand that all of this information is written within us, I had to ask the question "What does that mean to me ? How does this wisdom help me to help others?" Does the peach seed fear, as we do sometimes, that it won't fulfill it's destiny? Does it wonder if it should grow left or grow right? Does it worry that Life-Force will fail it? The way I was living my life seemed so silly when I compared it to the life of the peach tree.
     The capacity of the human Spirit is amazing. We see it in our firefighters. We see it in our soldiers. We see it in the single parents who make it though every day, dinner, hockey practice and prayer simply because they love their children. We don't have to wait for the times hardship to recognize this. We don't have to wait for tragedy to strike before we are grateful for every day, awe-inspired by every moment. Recognize it in your life, in your Self everyday. Just as the acorn holds the wisdom of the forest, you hold the soul of the world in your hand! YOU are an EVERYDAY MIRACLE! Thank you, for being in this world with me.

"Blessed is he who has found his work. Let him ask no other blessing."      Thomas Carlyle