I had chosen this topic already although I hadn't made it here to start on it and then saw this video clip and it seemed to fit right in there! Certainly gets the point across clearly and concisely anyway, check it out :o)
So what happens when we have expectations? How often is the pictured outcome different to reality? How does that affect us? Generally speaking somehow it never quite lives up to our expectations does it, somehow it's always a bit of an anti climax and we then feel let down, or cheated in some respect. Easy to then let the ego step in further and we can feel like a victim, never getting what we want or deserve, always missing out, always failing and yet we've missed the somewhat incredible steps we've walked on the journey to that point. Eyes focused on the finish line we miss out on seeing the wonderful scenery around us as we race on. We are future focused to supply something we don't have right now and not honouring what we do have, wishing it away... Expectations involving other people is especially dangerous, after all, our desired outcome is one out of pretty much an infinite number of possible outcomes and none of them are in our control! So are we going to end up disappointed in some way? Generally yes!
Can we instead enjoy and participate fully in the journey itself? Sure we may have an idea of where we'd like to end up, but if we participate completely in each step of the journey the destination is no longer vital for our happiness or contentment, instead it becomes a secondary thing and thus we are more adaptable about where that finish line actually is and what the prize at the end may be. We roll with the punches better, we don't fall over as much and are hurt a lot less, and consequently we find our journey becomes a lot smoother anyway.
Enjoy every step of the journey, each one is precious and will have something to teach you if you want to be taught. The journey is so short anyway, before you know it it will be over, appreciate every second of it, Love as much as you can with all that you are, be compassionate to all around you, each of us is in the middle of our own journey and some of those steps are hard to take. Remove the expectations before they are allowed to remove your enjoyment, if you can't remove them, remember to learn from the disappointment that will inevitibly come from having them. Find your happiness in the journey :o)
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Musings on Contentment and Appreciation
Two in one tonight since I didn't do any last night and these two certainly blend in together I think...
I think these two things are vital in your attitudes to help to combat that ego too, to be thankful for what you DO have and to be content with what you already have, stops you longing for more in a way that would only focus you on what you lack. Sure you can be content and appreciative and still aim to do better in whatever area of your life, be it spiritual or physical, but to have those attitudes in your heart and mind will help keep the dissatisfaction that the ego tries to sabotage us with at bay.
A couple of things about these things is I guess it's easy to have these attitudes when things are going smoothly isn't it, harder to keep hold of when you're facing some challenges, however although it should be easy to do when things are going well, how many of us actually stop for more than 5 mins to appreciate what you have, or what you've just obtained? Often the thrill of obtaining whatever it may be brings in a very thankful attitude for all of an hour, a day, a week, but there is not a lasting contentment with that, all too soon we take the aquisition for granted, we get blase about our attitudes and the appreciation is soon lost under the chase for the next aquisition. I think you have to learn to be content with what you have, at ALL times... after all, what you have right "now" is all you have, if you are not content with what you have you are not honouring the Now as ET would say, you are at odds with what is at this present moment... That is of course, not to say that you can't have goals of things you would still like or things you are still aiming for, but you need to appreciate what you DO have.
Murat Yagan, Elder of Kebzeh, says much the same thing, and it follows that whole "abundance" thing I talked about earlier... Be content with what you have, know that you have what you need at the time, AND (not 'but' as but has a negative connotation) that you can do better. Appreciating what you have doesn't stop you aiming to have more but it will aid you to be happy with what you have right now and if you can't find a contentment and happiness with where you are or what you have right now, what is the point of life???
Appreciating anything, just helps keep that ego at bay. It's not all about being thankful for something to the point of "I'm so lucky I have this in my life" or thinking about how much harder than someone else you worked to get something, it's about honouring that thing, or that person, or that attitude... of realising that with that in your life, your life is 'more', your life is enriched because of it, and by being thankful for that enrichment, it is being thankful for what it has given you right now, not for what you think you can get from it in the future. I guess that's where the contentment comes in too. You are not looking for what you might get from it as a future thing where you are setting it up for a possible failure and yourself for disappointment if it then doesn't happen, you are content with the gift it has brought you at this present moment AND you look forward to having that contentment in the future too.
It is us and only us who controls our attitudes, sure others can influence us but only if we allow them too, whether that allowance is given unconsciously due to the fact we are just not aware how much control our 'mind' or ego has taken over our thoughts and we allow ourselves to be buffetted by others negativity etc, or whether we consciously put ourselves into situations to build ourselves up by putting ourselves into circumstances where we are around others with the 'energy' we want... Groups, individuals, whatever, the energy that helps lift our own, that feel good factor that we want to rub off on us, but unconsciously or consciously only WE control our own internal dialogues and consequently our feelings and emotions, so it is up to us to find contentment and appreciation for what we have in our lives right now.
Do you see the negatives first? Or the positives? Do you grab a negative of "...but! I have this health issue!" or do you bring in appreciation for the support group of family or friends that are around you? Do you grab a negative of "...but! money is short and I can't afford ...." or are you content with what you DO have right now, a roof over your head, food on your table and Love of those close to you? EVERYONE faces challenges in this life, if you can keep an appreciation in focus, if you can find even a tiny contentment in where you are at, those challenges will be perceived as less consuming for a start and often will smooth themselves out quite considerably in external ways too. Keep a positive mental attitude that is NOT just ego based and see how the Universe starts aligning with you and not against you!
"every moment is made glorious by the light of Love."
~ Rumi
I think these two things are vital in your attitudes to help to combat that ego too, to be thankful for what you DO have and to be content with what you already have, stops you longing for more in a way that would only focus you on what you lack. Sure you can be content and appreciative and still aim to do better in whatever area of your life, be it spiritual or physical, but to have those attitudes in your heart and mind will help keep the dissatisfaction that the ego tries to sabotage us with at bay.
A couple of things about these things is I guess it's easy to have these attitudes when things are going smoothly isn't it, harder to keep hold of when you're facing some challenges, however although it should be easy to do when things are going well, how many of us actually stop for more than 5 mins to appreciate what you have, or what you've just obtained? Often the thrill of obtaining whatever it may be brings in a very thankful attitude for all of an hour, a day, a week, but there is not a lasting contentment with that, all too soon we take the aquisition for granted, we get blase about our attitudes and the appreciation is soon lost under the chase for the next aquisition. I think you have to learn to be content with what you have, at ALL times... after all, what you have right "now" is all you have, if you are not content with what you have you are not honouring the Now as ET would say, you are at odds with what is at this present moment... That is of course, not to say that you can't have goals of things you would still like or things you are still aiming for, but you need to appreciate what you DO have.
Murat Yagan, Elder of Kebzeh, says much the same thing, and it follows that whole "abundance" thing I talked about earlier... Be content with what you have, know that you have what you need at the time, AND (not 'but' as but has a negative connotation) that you can do better. Appreciating what you have doesn't stop you aiming to have more but it will aid you to be happy with what you have right now and if you can't find a contentment and happiness with where you are or what you have right now, what is the point of life???
Appreciating anything, just helps keep that ego at bay. It's not all about being thankful for something to the point of "I'm so lucky I have this in my life" or thinking about how much harder than someone else you worked to get something, it's about honouring that thing, or that person, or that attitude... of realising that with that in your life, your life is 'more', your life is enriched because of it, and by being thankful for that enrichment, it is being thankful for what it has given you right now, not for what you think you can get from it in the future. I guess that's where the contentment comes in too. You are not looking for what you might get from it as a future thing where you are setting it up for a possible failure and yourself for disappointment if it then doesn't happen, you are content with the gift it has brought you at this present moment AND you look forward to having that contentment in the future too.
It is us and only us who controls our attitudes, sure others can influence us but only if we allow them too, whether that allowance is given unconsciously due to the fact we are just not aware how much control our 'mind' or ego has taken over our thoughts and we allow ourselves to be buffetted by others negativity etc, or whether we consciously put ourselves into situations to build ourselves up by putting ourselves into circumstances where we are around others with the 'energy' we want... Groups, individuals, whatever, the energy that helps lift our own, that feel good factor that we want to rub off on us, but unconsciously or consciously only WE control our own internal dialogues and consequently our feelings and emotions, so it is up to us to find contentment and appreciation for what we have in our lives right now.
Do you see the negatives first? Or the positives? Do you grab a negative of "...but! I have this health issue!" or do you bring in appreciation for the support group of family or friends that are around you? Do you grab a negative of "...but! money is short and I can't afford ...." or are you content with what you DO have right now, a roof over your head, food on your table and Love of those close to you? EVERYONE faces challenges in this life, if you can keep an appreciation in focus, if you can find even a tiny contentment in where you are at, those challenges will be perceived as less consuming for a start and often will smooth themselves out quite considerably in external ways too. Keep a positive mental attitude that is NOT just ego based and see how the Universe starts aligning with you and not against you!
"every moment is made glorious by the light of Love."
~ Rumi
Monday, May 16, 2011
Musings on an Ego that Sabotages Us
Lets think about this ego some more... everything you hear about it or read about it etc, it is talked about as if it is the enemy. It is at odds with the Universe, it is fear based not Love based, it appears to be an out of control, negative, entity that we think is us.
But WHY does it sabotage us in what we want? I mean to say, how did this thing that is apparently not us, take over, make us want more than we can have, make us want what we don't have, and when we get it it makes sure that any pleasure we get from it is short lived, going so far as to cause us to break a relationship that could well have been the right one...
How did the ego get this strong? And why does it fear what it gets when it wanted it in the first place? This has puzzled me since I've been hearing more and more about it...
Perhaps it is simply here so that we can learn how to tranform it... Kebzeh talks about the ego as "our greatest treasure" to be transformed by Love. You cannot rid yourself of it and to try will give you vinegar, but to transform it with Love you will get sweeter and sweeter wine. Makes sense. ET talks about it as the mind. You still need it, but it is a tool to be picked up and put back down when not needed so that it is not constantly "chattering" in your head and in control. So understood that we cannot get rid of it, and for me, knowing it is our sense of individuality for 'afterwards' I wouldn't want to get rid of it, so now onto the 'why?' part of the pondering.
Perhaps it is always looking for the transformation we need to apply to it through the Love aspect... ego seems to always want more, when it gets what it wants it is never satisfied for long. More money, more possesions, a better job for more security, a better relationship, someone who 'gets us', someone who can accept us as we are even though we can't accept them, there is always something missing from what we get that the ego keeps searching for more. Perhaps, just perhaps what it is seeking it will only find when we have actually learned to live beyond ego and yet it fears us doing that too! It tries to make all manner of excuses to keep us from finding that 'God' Love that would enable it to be fulfilled, if indeed that is a reason.
We are here in reality to experience "more." As Jesus said (the only times in the Bible he actually said what his purpose here was) "I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly." So he came that we may be lead to having more but in a complete and healthy way, rather than ego or fear based.
ET has also said, NOT wanting what 'is' is a contraction of yourself, which goes to follow the same type of reasoning as both Jesus and ET, that to want 'more' but in a non fear based way is actually an expansion of yourself. And here ego can be a valuable tool if used as a 'tool.' Ego is that 'drive' that we have, sure for some people ego can also be a fear of failure hinderance, but it is that burning desire to obtain more, so if directed correctly it could be used as that 'push' to expand ourselves right? If transformed through Love to be working for us rather than just rampaging out of control, it would be helping the expansion of the Energy of the Creator to expand as we ourselves expand.
So that makes sense to me I guess, (gotta love typing this stuff out because in the 2 days thinking about it, that really hadn't presented itself to me LOL) so now where did the fear factor come into it? All the spiritual teachers, the authors, the whoever, talk about ego being fear based, being a negativity based thing, so when or where did this negativity come into it? Obviously if it is transformed by Love it is lacking Love right? If it is fear based or negative based, then it is lacking the opposite which is the 'positive' of Love, so how did it lose "Love" like that? Or was that sense of self, that sense of separation that it is all about, the key to that part? In order to separate from the whole you almost have to be the opposite don't you... a bit like the yin yang symbol, together it makes the whole but within that whole there are the separate pieces and they are opposite to each other and yet containing a part of each other. Is it then, that when we were exploring that sense of self so completely that we expanded THAT lack of Love aspect? And in the exploration and fun we had with that sense of self that we pulled away from the Whole and the Ego continued to grow in its 'opposite' aspect until we identified with it so completely it became 'us.'
I don't know! Suppose it could be, it all makes sense to me at least LOL, others might think completely differently! Just been wondering how the ego got to be like it is, no one seems to have answered that :o)
So it can of course be healed with Love, it can of course be brought back under control, not by contracting it - by trying to shrink it, but instead by expanding OURSELVES through Love to once again be bigger than it, so it again works for us and not against us.
Feel free to give your thoughts, would be interested to hear what others think about this!
But WHY does it sabotage us in what we want? I mean to say, how did this thing that is apparently not us, take over, make us want more than we can have, make us want what we don't have, and when we get it it makes sure that any pleasure we get from it is short lived, going so far as to cause us to break a relationship that could well have been the right one...
How did the ego get this strong? And why does it fear what it gets when it wanted it in the first place? This has puzzled me since I've been hearing more and more about it...
Perhaps it is simply here so that we can learn how to tranform it... Kebzeh talks about the ego as "our greatest treasure" to be transformed by Love. You cannot rid yourself of it and to try will give you vinegar, but to transform it with Love you will get sweeter and sweeter wine. Makes sense. ET talks about it as the mind. You still need it, but it is a tool to be picked up and put back down when not needed so that it is not constantly "chattering" in your head and in control. So understood that we cannot get rid of it, and for me, knowing it is our sense of individuality for 'afterwards' I wouldn't want to get rid of it, so now onto the 'why?' part of the pondering.
Perhaps it is always looking for the transformation we need to apply to it through the Love aspect... ego seems to always want more, when it gets what it wants it is never satisfied for long. More money, more possesions, a better job for more security, a better relationship, someone who 'gets us', someone who can accept us as we are even though we can't accept them, there is always something missing from what we get that the ego keeps searching for more. Perhaps, just perhaps what it is seeking it will only find when we have actually learned to live beyond ego and yet it fears us doing that too! It tries to make all manner of excuses to keep us from finding that 'God' Love that would enable it to be fulfilled, if indeed that is a reason.
We are here in reality to experience "more." As Jesus said (the only times in the Bible he actually said what his purpose here was) "I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly." So he came that we may be lead to having more but in a complete and healthy way, rather than ego or fear based.
ET has also said, NOT wanting what 'is' is a contraction of yourself, which goes to follow the same type of reasoning as both Jesus and ET, that to want 'more' but in a non fear based way is actually an expansion of yourself. And here ego can be a valuable tool if used as a 'tool.' Ego is that 'drive' that we have, sure for some people ego can also be a fear of failure hinderance, but it is that burning desire to obtain more, so if directed correctly it could be used as that 'push' to expand ourselves right? If transformed through Love to be working for us rather than just rampaging out of control, it would be helping the expansion of the Energy of the Creator to expand as we ourselves expand.
So that makes sense to me I guess, (gotta love typing this stuff out because in the 2 days thinking about it, that really hadn't presented itself to me LOL) so now where did the fear factor come into it? All the spiritual teachers, the authors, the whoever, talk about ego being fear based, being a negativity based thing, so when or where did this negativity come into it? Obviously if it is transformed by Love it is lacking Love right? If it is fear based or negative based, then it is lacking the opposite which is the 'positive' of Love, so how did it lose "Love" like that? Or was that sense of self, that sense of separation that it is all about, the key to that part? In order to separate from the whole you almost have to be the opposite don't you... a bit like the yin yang symbol, together it makes the whole but within that whole there are the separate pieces and they are opposite to each other and yet containing a part of each other. Is it then, that when we were exploring that sense of self so completely that we expanded THAT lack of Love aspect? And in the exploration and fun we had with that sense of self that we pulled away from the Whole and the Ego continued to grow in its 'opposite' aspect until we identified with it so completely it became 'us.'
I don't know! Suppose it could be, it all makes sense to me at least LOL, others might think completely differently! Just been wondering how the ego got to be like it is, no one seems to have answered that :o)
So it can of course be healed with Love, it can of course be brought back under control, not by contracting it - by trying to shrink it, but instead by expanding OURSELVES through Love to once again be bigger than it, so it again works for us and not against us.
Feel free to give your thoughts, would be interested to hear what others think about this!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Ancient Wisdoms...
He who knows the ways of beasts and birds.
Who can distinguish them by song and cry,
Who knows the bright quicksilver life in streams,
The courses that the stars take through the sky,
May never have laid hands to books,
Yet he is sharing wisdom with infinity...
He who works with sensitive deft hands
At any woodcraft, will absorb the rain,
The sunlight and the starlight and the dew
That entered in the making of its grain;
He should grow tall and straight and clean and good
Who daily breathes the essences of wood.
He who finds companionship in rocks,
And comfort in the touch of vine and leaf,
Who climbs a hill for joy, and shouts a song,
Who loves the feel of wind, will know no grief;
No loneliness that ever grows too great;
For he will never be desolate...
He shares, who is companioned long with these,
All ancient wisdoms and philosophies.
Old Welsh Prose
Monday, May 9, 2011
and by special request
a story...
When is Love Wrong?
I won this round. This time I got my way! After all, last couple of times I gave in and you won, so it's only fair that it's my turn this time round! After all a loving relationship is all about compromise isn't it!
We give and we take and we maintain a harmonious balance, we agree, we disagree, but heck at least we communicate! Sometimes I'm right and you're wrong, sometimes (not often) it's the other way round.
We're doing everything right and better still we still love each other.
So why then do I see cracks appearing around me? Why do I feel like I'm in a condemned building? Fighting to save my home but all I have is a hammer and a nail and I just know it's not going to work.
After all, we're doing everything right!
The cracks widen, the structure is trembling and I feel as insecure as I possibly could in this shaky building, but still I'm fighting to fix things, with a hammer, and one nail at a time, I will not quit!
Before my eyes my home is collapsing, like slow motion, walls that kept me safe and secure, a ceiling that sheltered me, this house of love is falling away, leaving me vulnerable and shaken to the core. All my compromises lie broken at my feet, all the communication shattered around me, all the rights and wrongs scattering like dust on the wind.
What was so wrong with my love that is could not stand the test of time? What is left to me now?
I feel the warmth of the sun shining down on my head, I hear the breeze whispering in my ear, I see beyond the walls of my heart. I recognise Love and in that Love I find there is no right or wrong. It's not that there is no room for judgements, it's that there is no NEED for judgements.
There was no room in my home, inside those walls, for a lot of things, but here with no boundaries, with nothing but Love there is no limit.
I do not need to be right, I do not need you to be wrong, I do not need to compromise because there is no compromise. This Love just is.... it is perfection, it is understanding, it is respect and compassion, it is ego less and all encompassing and it has no walls and no end.
When is Love Wrong?
I won this round. This time I got my way! After all, last couple of times I gave in and you won, so it's only fair that it's my turn this time round! After all a loving relationship is all about compromise isn't it!
We give and we take and we maintain a harmonious balance, we agree, we disagree, but heck at least we communicate! Sometimes I'm right and you're wrong, sometimes (not often) it's the other way round.
We're doing everything right and better still we still love each other.
So why then do I see cracks appearing around me? Why do I feel like I'm in a condemned building? Fighting to save my home but all I have is a hammer and a nail and I just know it's not going to work.
After all, we're doing everything right!
The cracks widen, the structure is trembling and I feel as insecure as I possibly could in this shaky building, but still I'm fighting to fix things, with a hammer, and one nail at a time, I will not quit!
Before my eyes my home is collapsing, like slow motion, walls that kept me safe and secure, a ceiling that sheltered me, this house of love is falling away, leaving me vulnerable and shaken to the core. All my compromises lie broken at my feet, all the communication shattered around me, all the rights and wrongs scattering like dust on the wind.
What was so wrong with my love that is could not stand the test of time? What is left to me now?
I feel the warmth of the sun shining down on my head, I hear the breeze whispering in my ear, I see beyond the walls of my heart. I recognise Love and in that Love I find there is no right or wrong. It's not that there is no room for judgements, it's that there is no NEED for judgements.
There was no room in my home, inside those walls, for a lot of things, but here with no boundaries, with nothing but Love there is no limit.
I do not need to be right, I do not need you to be wrong, I do not need to compromise because there is no compromise. This Love just is.... it is perfection, it is understanding, it is respect and compassion, it is ego less and all encompassing and it has no walls and no end.
Musings on Wisdom
The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.
~ Kahlil Gibran
Wisdom as far as common sense is pretty universal right? But a wisdom gained from personal experiences is just that, personal. In that respect Kahlil Gibran has hit the nail on the head, each person must find it for their self, and although external circumstances may shape things, that wisdom is found within, because the answers are found within yourself. And wisdom is all about growth. As Tryon Edwards said "He that never changes his opinions, never corrects his mistakes, and will never be wiser on the morrow than he is today."
Wisdom is being open to all things, wisdom to me is humility too, not too often you see a wise proud man! Wisdom encapsulating the 'enlightment' part of it's definition is just that, enlightenment, freedom from mind, or perhaps rather, the freedom to use mind not be used by it. The Master not the slave.
To me, the wise man has simplified. He knows he is nothing, and lives like nothing is All there is. Out of all the knowledge he has he has extracted the valuable core.
Of course the other wisdom, the intellectual wisdom seems to pale in comparison, with no depth or substance. I like this quote, "Most of our pocket wisdom is conceived for the use of mediocre people, to discourage them from ambitious attempts, and generally console them in their mediocrity." Robert Louis Stevenson. That quote reminds me of the movie The Matrix, give them just enough to stop them seeking more, just enough to satisfy the drive for knowledge which will hush that underlying drive for freedom.
Those that have read much, and speak more are quite obvious aren't they? You probably all know one or know of more... the ones who are always trying to be more than someone else with the knowledge they can spout forth, all ego driven, no substance to it, knowledge without real wisdom, book learnt without experience to back it up.
The truly wise are secure in that wisdom, they have no need to throw it at people, but will always share that wisdom when actually asked, knowing that answering one well conceived question may lead that person to the threshhold of their own mind.
Alex Noble says it well, "If I have been of service, if I have glimpsed more of the nature and essence of ultimate good, if I am inspired to reach wider horizons of thought and action, if I am at peace with myself, it has been a successful day."
oh and this quote I just found... this dude and I are on the same wavelength but he expresses it so concisely and much more elegantly than I do!
The great teachings unanimously emphasize that all the peace, wisdom, and joy in the universe are already within us; we don't have to gain, develop, or attain them. We're like a child standing in a beautiful park with his eyes shut tight. We don't need to imagine trees, flowers, deer, birds, and sky; we merely need to open our eyes and realize what is already here, who we really are -- as soon as we quit pretending we're small or unholy.
~ Bo Lozoff
:o)
~ Kahlil Gibran
Wisdom as far as common sense is pretty universal right? But a wisdom gained from personal experiences is just that, personal. In that respect Kahlil Gibran has hit the nail on the head, each person must find it for their self, and although external circumstances may shape things, that wisdom is found within, because the answers are found within yourself. And wisdom is all about growth. As Tryon Edwards said "He that never changes his opinions, never corrects his mistakes, and will never be wiser on the morrow than he is today."
Wisdom is being open to all things, wisdom to me is humility too, not too often you see a wise proud man! Wisdom encapsulating the 'enlightment' part of it's definition is just that, enlightenment, freedom from mind, or perhaps rather, the freedom to use mind not be used by it. The Master not the slave.
To me, the wise man has simplified. He knows he is nothing, and lives like nothing is All there is. Out of all the knowledge he has he has extracted the valuable core.
Of course the other wisdom, the intellectual wisdom seems to pale in comparison, with no depth or substance. I like this quote, "Most of our pocket wisdom is conceived for the use of mediocre people, to discourage them from ambitious attempts, and generally console them in their mediocrity." Robert Louis Stevenson. That quote reminds me of the movie The Matrix, give them just enough to stop them seeking more, just enough to satisfy the drive for knowledge which will hush that underlying drive for freedom.
Those that have read much, and speak more are quite obvious aren't they? You probably all know one or know of more... the ones who are always trying to be more than someone else with the knowledge they can spout forth, all ego driven, no substance to it, knowledge without real wisdom, book learnt without experience to back it up.
The truly wise are secure in that wisdom, they have no need to throw it at people, but will always share that wisdom when actually asked, knowing that answering one well conceived question may lead that person to the threshhold of their own mind.
Alex Noble says it well, "If I have been of service, if I have glimpsed more of the nature and essence of ultimate good, if I am inspired to reach wider horizons of thought and action, if I am at peace with myself, it has been a successful day."
oh and this quote I just found... this dude and I are on the same wavelength but he expresses it so concisely and much more elegantly than I do!
The great teachings unanimously emphasize that all the peace, wisdom, and joy in the universe are already within us; we don't have to gain, develop, or attain them. We're like a child standing in a beautiful park with his eyes shut tight. We don't need to imagine trees, flowers, deer, birds, and sky; we merely need to open our eyes and realize what is already here, who we really are -- as soon as we quit pretending we're small or unholy.
~ Bo Lozoff
:o)
Sunday, May 8, 2011
The Path of the Spiritual Warrior
A very good book I got lent to me, A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson. It is Marianne's reflections on the principals of A Course in Miracles... Found a piece in here just now that I like and it is true! When you start on this road to self discovery, things CAN seem to get uglier for you before it gets better, been there done that :o)
(This is actually in the section about relationships)
"Real relationships demand honest communication, and no matter how painful, no matter how frightening. A Course in Miracles says that miracles arise from total communication given and received.
When you ask God to heal your life, He shines a very bright light on everything you need to look at. You end up seeing things about yourself that maybe you'd rather not see. We have a lot of armor that has accumulated in front of our hearts - a lot of fear self-righteously masquerading as something else. As anyone who has ever been in serious psychotherapy is well aware, the process of personal growth isn't always easy. We must face our own ugliness. We often must become painfully aware of the unworkability of a pattern before we're willing to give it up. It often seems, in fact, that our lives get worse rather than better when we begin to work deeply on ourselves. Life doesn't actually get worse; it's just that we feel our own transgressions more because we're no longer anesthetized by unconsciousness. We're no longer distanced, through denial, or dissociation, from our own experience. We're starting to see the truth about the games we play.
This process can be so painful that we are tempted to go backwards. It takes courage - this is often called the path of the spiritual warrior - to endure the sharp pains of self-discovery rather than choose to take the dull pain of unconsciousness that would last the rest of our lives... ...we have to look ego right in the eye before we have the power to relinquish it."
I guess I had forgotten in part, how painful and confusing that part of the process can be, just because I assume people have done it already makes ME the one that is wrong not the person in the arena, fighting for their life...
I will always appreciate a gladiator who goes into the fight with everything they have, those gladiators in my life should really know that... they have a cheerleader in the stands rooting for them to win and come out unscathed...
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust, and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly." ~ Theodore Roosevelt.
(This is actually in the section about relationships)
"Real relationships demand honest communication, and no matter how painful, no matter how frightening. A Course in Miracles says that miracles arise from total communication given and received.
When you ask God to heal your life, He shines a very bright light on everything you need to look at. You end up seeing things about yourself that maybe you'd rather not see. We have a lot of armor that has accumulated in front of our hearts - a lot of fear self-righteously masquerading as something else. As anyone who has ever been in serious psychotherapy is well aware, the process of personal growth isn't always easy. We must face our own ugliness. We often must become painfully aware of the unworkability of a pattern before we're willing to give it up. It often seems, in fact, that our lives get worse rather than better when we begin to work deeply on ourselves. Life doesn't actually get worse; it's just that we feel our own transgressions more because we're no longer anesthetized by unconsciousness. We're no longer distanced, through denial, or dissociation, from our own experience. We're starting to see the truth about the games we play.
This process can be so painful that we are tempted to go backwards. It takes courage - this is often called the path of the spiritual warrior - to endure the sharp pains of self-discovery rather than choose to take the dull pain of unconsciousness that would last the rest of our lives... ...we have to look ego right in the eye before we have the power to relinquish it."
I guess I had forgotten in part, how painful and confusing that part of the process can be, just because I assume people have done it already makes ME the one that is wrong not the person in the arena, fighting for their life...
I will always appreciate a gladiator who goes into the fight with everything they have, those gladiators in my life should really know that... they have a cheerleader in the stands rooting for them to win and come out unscathed...
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust, and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly." ~ Theodore Roosevelt.
Musings on Reflections
Having some 'fun' on Trade Me tonight with a rather zealous young man of the Catholic faith. Unfortunately he is judgemental, accusatory and therefore he tends to rub people up the wrong way.... yeah OK, that is an understatement and a half, he's a right royal, loud mouthed, pain in the butt! But still he very firmly believes what he believes! What was amusing was that everything he accused someone of being was EXACTLY what he was doing to them in that very post! It was such a case of him looking at a mirror (or rather, seeing a reflection of himself in someone else) I confess I was rather amused by it. This of course got me thinking about the whole mirroring thing, the relections of ourselves we see in others, the saying "you teach best what you most need to learn" etc and the whole reflection of God part.
Using others, or even animals, as a mirror to ourselves can be a bit of a wake up call! It can show not a very pretty picture at times, but a relatively honest way of doing things... What bugs you most about someone? That is likely to be your issue too! Altho of course, don't be fooled, the polar opposite can actually be the same "issue", don't think you've gotten off that lightly! It's a bit like the bible quote, "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" Matthew 7:3. (yeah OK, I chucked that up to the young buck on Trade Me too, didn't help, I'm just satan quoting things I don't know about!) but it's true in this respect, we see the tiniest flaw in another but we don't see the glaringly obvious in ourselves.
So people or animals... both very honest reflections of ourselves if we have to courage to look into those mirrors with eyes open!
Of course outside of that aspect we are also a reflection of God, and better we are a reflector of God. I touched on this in an earlier post, the fact that without us to reflect God, it would be a nameless, voiceless energy force. It's a bit like that zen saying, if a tree falls in a forest with no one there to hear it, does it make a sound? Common sense says "of course it does!" but if no ear witnesses that sound, does that sound exist? (We are talking in more of a philosophical thing hear than a purely physical thing!) Like ET says, if everything in the world was blue, blue wouldn't exist... it needs something that is NOT blue for "blue" to be blue. So it is with God, without us to witness that God Force in creation, it would be but an energy, with us witnessing it, it is more than that. And we can only truly witness it because we are self aware (God bless the ego!) Animals are more in tune with the Source right? To them "we are One" is the obvious truth, so for THEM, the whole world is blue, they have nothing to compare the One too because that is all they see, therefore, God as the Whole, experiences what they experience but is not self aware through them. Because we see ourselves as separate, as an individual part of that Whole we can make the comparison, we can "see" God and when WE see God, God sees Itself through our eyes and is self aware just as we are. When that happens of course we both expand.
Two good and short quotes by Rumi on mirrors...
"If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?"
"Criticism polishes my mirror"
Don't be afraid to be a mirror, but allow yourself to reflect the softer, Loving side of people too, do not be a judgemental, egoic mirror seeking to teach people a lesson by only reflecting their negatives, and don't be afraid to use others as your mirror. Look honestly and make your choice to do something about what you see there if necessary. Growth and change are not bad thnigs! And always strive to be the most complete reflection and reflector of God, anything less would be the 'sin' of separation.
Using others, or even animals, as a mirror to ourselves can be a bit of a wake up call! It can show not a very pretty picture at times, but a relatively honest way of doing things... What bugs you most about someone? That is likely to be your issue too! Altho of course, don't be fooled, the polar opposite can actually be the same "issue", don't think you've gotten off that lightly! It's a bit like the bible quote, "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" Matthew 7:3. (yeah OK, I chucked that up to the young buck on Trade Me too, didn't help, I'm just satan quoting things I don't know about!) but it's true in this respect, we see the tiniest flaw in another but we don't see the glaringly obvious in ourselves.
So people or animals... both very honest reflections of ourselves if we have to courage to look into those mirrors with eyes open!
Of course outside of that aspect we are also a reflection of God, and better we are a reflector of God. I touched on this in an earlier post, the fact that without us to reflect God, it would be a nameless, voiceless energy force. It's a bit like that zen saying, if a tree falls in a forest with no one there to hear it, does it make a sound? Common sense says "of course it does!" but if no ear witnesses that sound, does that sound exist? (We are talking in more of a philosophical thing hear than a purely physical thing!) Like ET says, if everything in the world was blue, blue wouldn't exist... it needs something that is NOT blue for "blue" to be blue. So it is with God, without us to witness that God Force in creation, it would be but an energy, with us witnessing it, it is more than that. And we can only truly witness it because we are self aware (God bless the ego!) Animals are more in tune with the Source right? To them "we are One" is the obvious truth, so for THEM, the whole world is blue, they have nothing to compare the One too because that is all they see, therefore, God as the Whole, experiences what they experience but is not self aware through them. Because we see ourselves as separate, as an individual part of that Whole we can make the comparison, we can "see" God and when WE see God, God sees Itself through our eyes and is self aware just as we are. When that happens of course we both expand.
Two good and short quotes by Rumi on mirrors...
"If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?"
"Criticism polishes my mirror"
Don't be afraid to be a mirror, but allow yourself to reflect the softer, Loving side of people too, do not be a judgemental, egoic mirror seeking to teach people a lesson by only reflecting their negatives, and don't be afraid to use others as your mirror. Look honestly and make your choice to do something about what you see there if necessary. Growth and change are not bad thnigs! And always strive to be the most complete reflection and reflector of God, anything less would be the 'sin' of separation.
Musings on Freedom
When I think of freedom I automatically think of "getting free" which makes me picture a prisoner of some sort, and yet more often than not freedom comes from a shift in perception, than a physical release doesn't it?
Most of what traps us is in our own heads, and if it 'traps' us then it is perceived as a negative thing and if you've been following along my musings, we should all know by now, a negative thing is ego based right? So without going back over what ego is (a post back in April if you missed it and care to read my nocturnal musings on it) lets look more at the freedom from it aspect.
When you think of freedom in your life what do you think of? Financial freedom, stemming from a lack? Freedom from a relationship? Ego sabotaged that too? Freedom from a health issue? Freedom from responsibilties? For me, personally, right now, today, I'd have to say the freedom I want is to be loved as wholly as I can be loved, and even that just took me 5 mins to think of LOL. You see, to all extents and purposes I feel free! Sure day to day life can say "where is the money to pay the bills?" it can say "you can't go anywhere else you have a trillion animals you are responsible for." But whatever that day to day life says to me, I chose, I had the freedom of making that decision and I decided. If I discover it's a wrong decision later I have the freedom of making a new choice later, but the freedom is making your choices, the dizzying thought that no one else can make those choices for you unless you hand them that power, and even that is a choice you made and one that can be re chosen later if necessary. What makes this type of thing a freedom rather than a normal day to day life? The fact that we live ruled by ego and it's fears. The fears of making a bad choice, of being stuck with a bad choice, of that choice causing pain, whether it be to yourself or another. Fear of then being trapped, fear of losing ourselves and our wants and desires through a choice or lack of one. All fears of future events that may or may not happen. This freedom from these fears SHOULD be normal for us, but sadly we are generally stuck right in the middle of them and see being free of them as something outside of the norm, something considered by some as almost miraculous!
So the common sense question would be how do we find our freedom from those fears right? By recognising it as ego! So simple! You are not your ego, you are not your fears, your doubts or your pain. You are the being that sees these things, you are the one who listens to the voice, but you are NOT the voice!
Ego doesn't want you to have freedom! If you have freedom, you have no need to listen to its rants, it's ideas, it's insecurities. If you have freedom you have peace and confidence and dare I say it, the all elusive happiness! How long does ego let you be happy for before it does something, anything to sabotage that? I'm gonna do some musings on WHY ego sabotages us like that I think, why when it craves happiness and love and security but it ruins that when we finally find it? We know it does it, look back on your life and I'm sure any one of us could pick at least 10 BIG things in your life where you can say it was ruined because of a fear of some sort, but why? Silly little ego, the things it says it wants most it is most scared of getting!
So freedom is what that good old Love vibration called God gives us... the freedom to make a choice, right or wrong, good or bad, doesn't matter, that's all mind made perceptions anyway, but we are free to choose. If we choose a way that takes us away from harmony with the Whole, they will offer us the choice again, perhaps not in exactly the same form, but it's offered nonetheless. Part of what I used to calling 'passing the tests'. The tests are put in front of you, if you make the wrong choice and fail the test, you will have to sit it again. Does that mean you ultimately have no freedom? That you must choose 'correctly' or be doomed to repeat situations? If you want to look at it like that then I guess you could be right, you have trapped yourself again! If you want to see the ultimate freedom is being in synch with the universe then those tests are just stepping stones to getting to the best possible place to be eh! You can still make your choices! You know what the results will be.... move on and grow, or repeat... the choice is still yours, you are still free to repeat if you like doing that LOL.
Freedom is a state of mind.
Freedom is being free from comparisons, judgements and fears.
Freedom is being liberated from the control of the ego.
That freedom is worth fighting for!
Most of what traps us is in our own heads, and if it 'traps' us then it is perceived as a negative thing and if you've been following along my musings, we should all know by now, a negative thing is ego based right? So without going back over what ego is (a post back in April if you missed it and care to read my nocturnal musings on it) lets look more at the freedom from it aspect.
When you think of freedom in your life what do you think of? Financial freedom, stemming from a lack? Freedom from a relationship? Ego sabotaged that too? Freedom from a health issue? Freedom from responsibilties? For me, personally, right now, today, I'd have to say the freedom I want is to be loved as wholly as I can be loved, and even that just took me 5 mins to think of LOL. You see, to all extents and purposes I feel free! Sure day to day life can say "where is the money to pay the bills?" it can say "you can't go anywhere else you have a trillion animals you are responsible for." But whatever that day to day life says to me, I chose, I had the freedom of making that decision and I decided. If I discover it's a wrong decision later I have the freedom of making a new choice later, but the freedom is making your choices, the dizzying thought that no one else can make those choices for you unless you hand them that power, and even that is a choice you made and one that can be re chosen later if necessary. What makes this type of thing a freedom rather than a normal day to day life? The fact that we live ruled by ego and it's fears. The fears of making a bad choice, of being stuck with a bad choice, of that choice causing pain, whether it be to yourself or another. Fear of then being trapped, fear of losing ourselves and our wants and desires through a choice or lack of one. All fears of future events that may or may not happen. This freedom from these fears SHOULD be normal for us, but sadly we are generally stuck right in the middle of them and see being free of them as something outside of the norm, something considered by some as almost miraculous!
So the common sense question would be how do we find our freedom from those fears right? By recognising it as ego! So simple! You are not your ego, you are not your fears, your doubts or your pain. You are the being that sees these things, you are the one who listens to the voice, but you are NOT the voice!
Ego doesn't want you to have freedom! If you have freedom, you have no need to listen to its rants, it's ideas, it's insecurities. If you have freedom you have peace and confidence and dare I say it, the all elusive happiness! How long does ego let you be happy for before it does something, anything to sabotage that? I'm gonna do some musings on WHY ego sabotages us like that I think, why when it craves happiness and love and security but it ruins that when we finally find it? We know it does it, look back on your life and I'm sure any one of us could pick at least 10 BIG things in your life where you can say it was ruined because of a fear of some sort, but why? Silly little ego, the things it says it wants most it is most scared of getting!
So freedom is what that good old Love vibration called God gives us... the freedom to make a choice, right or wrong, good or bad, doesn't matter, that's all mind made perceptions anyway, but we are free to choose. If we choose a way that takes us away from harmony with the Whole, they will offer us the choice again, perhaps not in exactly the same form, but it's offered nonetheless. Part of what I used to calling 'passing the tests'. The tests are put in front of you, if you make the wrong choice and fail the test, you will have to sit it again. Does that mean you ultimately have no freedom? That you must choose 'correctly' or be doomed to repeat situations? If you want to look at it like that then I guess you could be right, you have trapped yourself again! If you want to see the ultimate freedom is being in synch with the universe then those tests are just stepping stones to getting to the best possible place to be eh! You can still make your choices! You know what the results will be.... move on and grow, or repeat... the choice is still yours, you are still free to repeat if you like doing that LOL.
Freedom is a state of mind.
Freedom is being free from comparisons, judgements and fears.
Freedom is being liberated from the control of the ego.
That freedom is worth fighting for!
Happy Mothers Day
on behalf of all your fur babies who will wanting to say it to you!!!
May your special day leave you feeling blessed and appreciated and very very loved.
I will be remembering tomorrow that the drool leaving snail trails on my clothes is being put there because they want to be close to me, that the lack of personal space I'm given is because they are continuously trying to say "I love being with you!" that the hair and dust bunnies and the work it causes me is a small price to pay for the unconditional, undying love they give me... God bless the babies, each and every one :o)
May your special day leave you feeling blessed and appreciated and very very loved.
I will be remembering tomorrow that the drool leaving snail trails on my clothes is being put there because they want to be close to me, that the lack of personal space I'm given is because they are continuously trying to say "I love being with you!" that the hair and dust bunnies and the work it causes me is a small price to pay for the unconditional, undying love they give me... God bless the babies, each and every one :o)
Saturday, May 7, 2011
An Early Musing on Reality
Early because my house is empty and quiet and I need a distraction...
What is real? What is illusion? Can an illusion be real?
I was just talking about this with a very dear friend and it's interesting to see how understandings on something can differ so much according to an individuals perspective.
To me it's very simple, everything is real, even a supposed illusion. If it exists it is "real" even if it exists for a finite time. Just because in a hundred years I no longer exist in form doesn't mean I'm not "real." I look at it very simplistically (being complicated is far too hard, I do like simple it appeals to my lazy nature ;o) if everything is "God" and God is infinite then EVERYTHING MUST be real. The base energy of everything be it a fridge, a person, a planet, space, or the unmanifested energy beyond all of that is Ultimately all the same energy. All vibrating at different frequencies, but not different energy, therefore it stands to reason that if you consider this creative force - God - to be real then everything must be real. Just because energy frequencies change, giving rise to some aspects of the manifestation of that energy being limited in 'time' (the illusion here!) doesn't make that form un-real.
I know some teachers, point to this world of form being almost an illusion, and that only the infinite Awareness is real, but I do think they are talking in very simplistic terms to get a very valid point across. To stop us identifying ONLY with the forms around us, to get us out of mind (ego) identification, and that is a valid concept as a pointer to the bigger picture. The same way some teachers point to the fact that ego is not real either, just an 'off' energy vibration, the thing is, it IS an energy vibration, and being anything at all, it is therefore a part of "God" and as real as anything else. Sure the energy frequency can be altered! No arguments there, sure it can be transformed by subjecting it to the higher frequency of Love, but no matter how it appears right now, it exists! Therefore it is real!
Is this hand I look at real? Does it touch and feel? If I cut it will it bleed? This hand is very real, right Now, in this form it is in and being observed in.
Is it illusion? What is an illusion? One definition is "a false appearance or deceptive impression of reality: the mirror gives an illusion of depth."
In that case, for the majority of people on this planet I guess those teachers talking about the world of form being illusion, are correct! For those locked in identification with mind, in identification with form, then yes, it is a false appearance of reality. Reality is this AND MORE!!! If you cannot see the more and think this is all there is, then yes, it's deceptive and a false impression of Reality, however if you KNOW the truth, if you understand with more than just your mind that we ARE the infinite Source then no, it's not an illusion at all, it's just a part of the Whole truth!
Ah bugger, that's only taken 1/2 an hour of musing and I have too much spare time ahead of me... lets see what else I can come up with to add on here...
Are You Real?
Are you a dream? Will you have slipped away in a fog of memory when I wake? Are you illusion, pretending to be here with me now but in reality you are elsewhere? Can I be close to you when we are apart? Are you Real?
Is what I feel for you love? Is the wanting I feel real? Is it an illusion when I think of you as a gift of God?
What is real? This Love? These feelings? This touch?
Is it illusion? These doubts? These thoughts? The loneliness when you are still beside me?
I ask Myself and out of the Stillness I am answered... Nothing but Love is Real, and All is Love. Why do you doubt what is Real? Why do you doubt Love? Why do you withhold the ecstasy, the expansion and the truth of Love from yourself? I created you as perfect, I created you from Love, you are nothing less and can be nothing more, I Am you and I Am Love and you are blessed by Me as Me. LOVE and Love more, without fear, with abandon, without hesitation, with Me. Love will never leave you, your Love is infinite. Our Love does not depend on anything else to Be, it is complete and it is Real. Your fears are illusion, your fears cannot be realised, you can never lose Love, you can never lose the Loved, you will never be alone, we are One, you and he and I, we are the same, never hold back, never try to be less, never fear loss, loss is illusion, I Am infinite and Love is infinite and eternal, never to be lost, but often to be found. Put down your fears, put down your doubts and Love as I Am Love, completely and fully.
What is real? What is illusion? Can an illusion be real?
I was just talking about this with a very dear friend and it's interesting to see how understandings on something can differ so much according to an individuals perspective.
To me it's very simple, everything is real, even a supposed illusion. If it exists it is "real" even if it exists for a finite time. Just because in a hundred years I no longer exist in form doesn't mean I'm not "real." I look at it very simplistically (being complicated is far too hard, I do like simple it appeals to my lazy nature ;o) if everything is "God" and God is infinite then EVERYTHING MUST be real. The base energy of everything be it a fridge, a person, a planet, space, or the unmanifested energy beyond all of that is Ultimately all the same energy. All vibrating at different frequencies, but not different energy, therefore it stands to reason that if you consider this creative force - God - to be real then everything must be real. Just because energy frequencies change, giving rise to some aspects of the manifestation of that energy being limited in 'time' (the illusion here!) doesn't make that form un-real.
I know some teachers, point to this world of form being almost an illusion, and that only the infinite Awareness is real, but I do think they are talking in very simplistic terms to get a very valid point across. To stop us identifying ONLY with the forms around us, to get us out of mind (ego) identification, and that is a valid concept as a pointer to the bigger picture. The same way some teachers point to the fact that ego is not real either, just an 'off' energy vibration, the thing is, it IS an energy vibration, and being anything at all, it is therefore a part of "God" and as real as anything else. Sure the energy frequency can be altered! No arguments there, sure it can be transformed by subjecting it to the higher frequency of Love, but no matter how it appears right now, it exists! Therefore it is real!
Is this hand I look at real? Does it touch and feel? If I cut it will it bleed? This hand is very real, right Now, in this form it is in and being observed in.
Is it illusion? What is an illusion? One definition is "a false appearance or deceptive impression of reality: the mirror gives an illusion of depth."
In that case, for the majority of people on this planet I guess those teachers talking about the world of form being illusion, are correct! For those locked in identification with mind, in identification with form, then yes, it is a false appearance of reality. Reality is this AND MORE!!! If you cannot see the more and think this is all there is, then yes, it's deceptive and a false impression of Reality, however if you KNOW the truth, if you understand with more than just your mind that we ARE the infinite Source then no, it's not an illusion at all, it's just a part of the Whole truth!
Ah bugger, that's only taken 1/2 an hour of musing and I have too much spare time ahead of me... lets see what else I can come up with to add on here...
Are You Real?
Are you a dream? Will you have slipped away in a fog of memory when I wake? Are you illusion, pretending to be here with me now but in reality you are elsewhere? Can I be close to you when we are apart? Are you Real?
Is what I feel for you love? Is the wanting I feel real? Is it an illusion when I think of you as a gift of God?
What is real? This Love? These feelings? This touch?
Is it illusion? These doubts? These thoughts? The loneliness when you are still beside me?
I ask Myself and out of the Stillness I am answered... Nothing but Love is Real, and All is Love. Why do you doubt what is Real? Why do you doubt Love? Why do you withhold the ecstasy, the expansion and the truth of Love from yourself? I created you as perfect, I created you from Love, you are nothing less and can be nothing more, I Am you and I Am Love and you are blessed by Me as Me. LOVE and Love more, without fear, with abandon, without hesitation, with Me. Love will never leave you, your Love is infinite. Our Love does not depend on anything else to Be, it is complete and it is Real. Your fears are illusion, your fears cannot be realised, you can never lose Love, you can never lose the Loved, you will never be alone, we are One, you and he and I, we are the same, never hold back, never try to be less, never fear loss, loss is illusion, I Am infinite and Love is infinite and eternal, never to be lost, but often to be found. Put down your fears, put down your doubts and Love as I Am Love, completely and fully.
Friday, May 6, 2011
God and I
well, we had a good wee chat last night. The shower is my contemplation space and while I was soaking away my cares I started exploring how I saw the Awareness. (God is much shorter to type, so for the sake of describing the Creative energy, I'm just going to use God in a very non typically religious way ;o) I was for example able to see it in the water, I was able to see it in the glass shower doors and then I stopped to think that it was also in the air that filled the gap between the two things, and that of course, it was in me too. That sense of self put up a bit of a token resistance here, it tried to insert a gap between everything else and 'me' but of course what was the gap? God! My skin wasn't a barrier, it was God too, took a minute or so to work through each resistance the mind brought up, acknowledging each thing it wanted to use as a separation as God anyway. Once that was done it was all different, realising even my ego, my protesting, sense of self was part of that all pervading Energy, no gap between it and God, I gave it back to God, I surrendered it (again!) to the Whole and then finally I saw things as God sees them through my eyes, when God is allowed to observe it's creations through a self aware being, I know I'll never be able to explain it well enough that you can even glimpse what it was like, but I (God) fell in Love with the shower, the water, the heat, the shower wall and me within that, it felt like a little kid had been let into a candy shop and this time instead of God watching 'me' play in this realm of form, I watched God play and it was liberating and blissful and something incredible.
I'm sure considering I surrendered ego to Myself, I'll have to do it a few times till I figure out how this all works better LOL, but that sense of freedom, that depth of Love, so so incredible, once experienced there really is no going back.
'Die before you die' they say and realise there is no fear, no separation... I think I've died and gone to heaven :o)
I'm sure considering I surrendered ego to Myself, I'll have to do it a few times till I figure out how this all works better LOL, but that sense of freedom, that depth of Love, so so incredible, once experienced there really is no going back.
'Die before you die' they say and realise there is no fear, no separation... I think I've died and gone to heaven :o)
Thursday, May 5, 2011
A Light in the Darkness
All in front is darkness.
Fears are alive,
The incessant voice in my head
Feeding pictures of horrors
and dangers ahead.
Fears that have me rooted to the spot.
Thoughts tumbling over each other
My mind is urging me to run
"Run! Turn and run!"
That is the voice of survival!
That is a voice to heed!
But before I can act on it
I feel a presence behind me
So horrified that I freeze.
Mind and body completely still
and in that stillness I realise
my eyes are firmly shut!
I open them, slowly, carefully
and in front of me I see the darkness
of my own shadow.
Turning slowly around
I see the Source
of Light that created that shadow,
a shadow that only exists because
I had turned my back on the Light.
And in that moment, out of the Stillness
I realise darkness is never as deep,
Never as horrifying as that which we see
when our eyes are closed.
Fears are alive,
The incessant voice in my head
Feeding pictures of horrors
and dangers ahead.
Fears that have me rooted to the spot.
Thoughts tumbling over each other
My mind is urging me to run
"Run! Turn and run!"
That is the voice of survival!
That is a voice to heed!
But before I can act on it
I feel a presence behind me
So horrified that I freeze.
Mind and body completely still
and in that stillness I realise
my eyes are firmly shut!
I open them, slowly, carefully
and in front of me I see the darkness
of my own shadow.
Turning slowly around
I see the Source
of Light that created that shadow,
a shadow that only exists because
I had turned my back on the Light.
And in that moment, out of the Stillness
I realise darkness is never as deep,
Never as horrifying as that which we see
when our eyes are closed.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
The Cosmos
The Cosmos
(a complete, orderly, harmonious system)
How does a cosmos appear to you?
Do you see it's order in a well kept house or the aesthetically pleasing clean lines of a skyscraper?
Do you see it's harmony in a structured society or a set or laws to keep order?
Do you see it's perfection in the uniform blades of a freshly mown lawn, or a landscaped garden?
Do you cling to a man made Cosmos that enhances your feelings of control and security?
Can you see it's order in a field of wild flowers, colours splattered like a child's finger painting?
Can you see it's harmony in both a drought and a flood? In the destruction and cleansing they bring?
Can you see it's perfection in the new life growing from the rotting tree in a forest growing wherever their seed fell seemingly random and chaotic?
Can you open the box you've put the universe into and see a cosmos in whatever your eye falls on?
Creation is perfect, Creation is harmonious, Creation is complete, Creation is all there is.
The earth moves around the sun, people are born and people die, the tides sweep in and they flow back out.
Where our limited eye sees chaos, Creation sees perfection, expansion and contraction, as is the natural order.
Whether your mind is expanding or contracting, it doesn't matter, it is still of the cosmos, a perfect, whole, harmonious cosmos.
Rejoice!
(a complete, orderly, harmonious system)
How does a cosmos appear to you?
Do you see it's order in a well kept house or the aesthetically pleasing clean lines of a skyscraper?
Do you see it's harmony in a structured society or a set or laws to keep order?
Do you see it's perfection in the uniform blades of a freshly mown lawn, or a landscaped garden?
Do you cling to a man made Cosmos that enhances your feelings of control and security?
Can you see it's order in a field of wild flowers, colours splattered like a child's finger painting?
Can you see it's harmony in both a drought and a flood? In the destruction and cleansing they bring?
Can you see it's perfection in the new life growing from the rotting tree in a forest growing wherever their seed fell seemingly random and chaotic?
Can you open the box you've put the universe into and see a cosmos in whatever your eye falls on?
Creation is perfect, Creation is harmonious, Creation is complete, Creation is all there is.
The earth moves around the sun, people are born and people die, the tides sweep in and they flow back out.
Where our limited eye sees chaos, Creation sees perfection, expansion and contraction, as is the natural order.
Whether your mind is expanding or contracting, it doesn't matter, it is still of the cosmos, a perfect, whole, harmonious cosmos.
Rejoice!
How to Live ... According to Me :o)
Question anything, seek your own understanding and your own answers, you are not reinventing the wheel you are seeking your own propulsion system!
Don't accept what others tell you blindly, things must make sense to you personally with depth or they will not stand up in times of crisis.
Remember a crisis is just a time of learning! Accept what is happening right now, if you fight against it you will simply get a sore head from bashing it against that brick wall. The Universe is bigger than you, it knows more than you, it WILL unfold as it should, go with the flow!
Pain will happen! Misery however is optional.
You may be broke, this is a temporary situation... Being poor is a state of mind, choose your thoughts and words carefully!
Positive or negative, flip sides of the same coin, but when you can see one side in fullness, the other side is not seen, if you are sick of being negative, turn the coin over and be positive, it is that simple.
If you're into balance, set that coin spinning on its edge and watch the two sides merge!
Find your balance! Know your capabilities and then stretch them. Like a muscle that will atrophy with disuse, your comfort zone if not stretched will atrophy and become smaller and smaller until it becomes your jail cell.
Recognise that the door is always open, if it doesn't look open to you, try the handle, it is always unlocked, don't believe only what your eyes see in front of you, reach out and touch things, push and prod them, see how things work, then you can make them work for you.
Give yourself 100% to your work, whether it be something you love or a means to an end, you are there so make the most of it! Take pride in yourself and what you do.
Don't be scared to pat yourself on the back! Most other people are so wrapped up in their own circumstances they pay no attention to what is going on around them, so you may not get a "well done" from anyone else. If you deserve it, take it! If you don't deserve it, earn it first.
Remember to share the feel good factor, remember everyone around you is the centre of their own universe, introduce them to a larger universe by inserting some feel good factor into theirs. It will help them look up and out.
If you can't Love everyone around you, remember instead that they too are struggling with that. If you can't Love them, empathise with them. You are in the same world, facing the same challenges, swimming in the same tide.
If you can't Love yourself, Love someone else until you can.
If you can't Love yourself or anyone else, get a dog.
If you have any questions no one can answer for you, ask yourself, you'd be surprised at just how wise you can be.
Remember to LIVE!!! No matter what your beliefs, this life is pretty much all we remember, so live it up! Don't sweat the small stuff, don't sweat the big stuff, just live as if this is your last day on earth.
Have no regrets, make peace with your past, act in the present, and always look forward to possibilities of the future.
But remember, the future will not save you from present unhappiness, only you can do that RIGHT NOW!
Now is all you have. Now you can either bask in Joy, Peace and Love and be happy, or you can truly FEEL any other emotion. Don't dwell on why you feel it, it's either from the past, or a fear of the future, but examine the feeling of the sorrow, the anger, the jealousy, LOOK at that feeling and realise it is not truly you, but a reaction to an experience.
WHO You are is a particle of Light, a Spark of the Eternal, you are NOT pain, or sorrow, you are not anger or hate, you simply experience these feelings as part of your learning here.
Let yourself be more than your emotions.
Let yourself Live.
I actually wrote this back in February and basically straight afterwards had a full on battle with ego over some things, even I was challenged to follow my own advice!!!! But we got back there and into balance again LOL.
Don't accept what others tell you blindly, things must make sense to you personally with depth or they will not stand up in times of crisis.
Remember a crisis is just a time of learning! Accept what is happening right now, if you fight against it you will simply get a sore head from bashing it against that brick wall. The Universe is bigger than you, it knows more than you, it WILL unfold as it should, go with the flow!
Pain will happen! Misery however is optional.
You may be broke, this is a temporary situation... Being poor is a state of mind, choose your thoughts and words carefully!
Positive or negative, flip sides of the same coin, but when you can see one side in fullness, the other side is not seen, if you are sick of being negative, turn the coin over and be positive, it is that simple.
If you're into balance, set that coin spinning on its edge and watch the two sides merge!
Find your balance! Know your capabilities and then stretch them. Like a muscle that will atrophy with disuse, your comfort zone if not stretched will atrophy and become smaller and smaller until it becomes your jail cell.
Recognise that the door is always open, if it doesn't look open to you, try the handle, it is always unlocked, don't believe only what your eyes see in front of you, reach out and touch things, push and prod them, see how things work, then you can make them work for you.
Give yourself 100% to your work, whether it be something you love or a means to an end, you are there so make the most of it! Take pride in yourself and what you do.
Don't be scared to pat yourself on the back! Most other people are so wrapped up in their own circumstances they pay no attention to what is going on around them, so you may not get a "well done" from anyone else. If you deserve it, take it! If you don't deserve it, earn it first.
Remember to share the feel good factor, remember everyone around you is the centre of their own universe, introduce them to a larger universe by inserting some feel good factor into theirs. It will help them look up and out.
If you can't Love everyone around you, remember instead that they too are struggling with that. If you can't Love them, empathise with them. You are in the same world, facing the same challenges, swimming in the same tide.
If you can't Love yourself, Love someone else until you can.
If you can't Love yourself or anyone else, get a dog.
If you have any questions no one can answer for you, ask yourself, you'd be surprised at just how wise you can be.
Remember to LIVE!!! No matter what your beliefs, this life is pretty much all we remember, so live it up! Don't sweat the small stuff, don't sweat the big stuff, just live as if this is your last day on earth.
Have no regrets, make peace with your past, act in the present, and always look forward to possibilities of the future.
But remember, the future will not save you from present unhappiness, only you can do that RIGHT NOW!
Now is all you have. Now you can either bask in Joy, Peace and Love and be happy, or you can truly FEEL any other emotion. Don't dwell on why you feel it, it's either from the past, or a fear of the future, but examine the feeling of the sorrow, the anger, the jealousy, LOOK at that feeling and realise it is not truly you, but a reaction to an experience.
WHO You are is a particle of Light, a Spark of the Eternal, you are NOT pain, or sorrow, you are not anger or hate, you simply experience these feelings as part of your learning here.
Let yourself be more than your emotions.
Let yourself Live.
I actually wrote this back in February and basically straight afterwards had a full on battle with ego over some things, even I was challenged to follow my own advice!!!! But we got back there and into balance again LOL.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Music not Musings!
I must confess since I've been trying to live beyond ego and in Love I really hate listening to a lot of love songs on the radio (well, not hate, but you get the picture) it's all about shallow love lost and blah blah blah, and hard to find something worthwhile listening too... but October Project are great, have loved them for years and been listening to them a lot at the moment :o) Have just heard they are in the throws of recording a new album too (without Mary Fahl the lead vocalist) but the same song writers and other singers etc. Should be good stuff, can't wait!
Read through these lyrics and tell me they're not talking about spiritual stuff here :o)
Now I Lay Me Down...
out of the silence
Into the blue
You finally remember where you've been
You finally remember who you are
And you remember the light
Out of the spirit
Into the flesh
The animal heartbeat in the chest
The naked desire
The appetite
But you remember the light
Now I lay me down
To dream
Out of the fire
Into the night
Communion of body into smoke
Human and sacred
The sacrifice
You will remember the light
Now I lay me down
To dream
Now I lay me down
To dream of light
One Dream...
In this dream of life and death
I know so much I will forget
I know your body and your breath
I know your rhythm and your touch
I want you here
I want so much
I fear too much
Far too human to let go
I fight the river and the flow
I fight the love and the fear
I do not want to leave you here
In one body you appear
In this dream
I dream
And I still want so much
To touch the inside
I dream
And I still want to stay
Inside this dream with you
Now I know
That every dream begins with you
And ends in time
Now I know
That maybe I am too alive
If I could speak in tongues of flame
I'd burn forever with your name
And take it with me through all time
I would remember who you are
In every life I'd touch your heart
In every dream
I dream
And I want so much
To touch the inside
I dream
And I still want to stay
Inside this dream with you...
and here they are :o)
If I Could...
If I could
I would always tell the truth
I would always love you
From the heart
If I could
I would take you in my arms
Take you inside
Into my heart
If I could
I would be the place you turn
When you're feeling lonely
Or afraid
I would shine
Like a lantern in the dark
Take you inside
Into my heart
When you feel as if
You don't know who you are
I'll remind you with my love
If I could
I would always keep you safe
Take you inside
Into my heart
When you feel as if
You simply can't go on
I'll remind you that you're strong
If I could
I would love you as you are
Take you inside
Into my heart
Into my arms
Into my life.
Read through these lyrics and tell me they're not talking about spiritual stuff here :o)
Now I Lay Me Down...
out of the silence
Into the blue
You finally remember where you've been
You finally remember who you are
And you remember the light
Out of the spirit
Into the flesh
The animal heartbeat in the chest
The naked desire
The appetite
But you remember the light
Now I lay me down
To dream
Out of the fire
Into the night
Communion of body into smoke
Human and sacred
The sacrifice
You will remember the light
Now I lay me down
To dream
Now I lay me down
To dream of light
One Dream...
In this dream of life and death
I know so much I will forget
I know your body and your breath
I know your rhythm and your touch
I want you here
I want so much
I fear too much
Far too human to let go
I fight the river and the flow
I fight the love and the fear
I do not want to leave you here
In one body you appear
In this dream
I dream
And I still want so much
To touch the inside
I dream
And I still want to stay
Inside this dream with you
Now I know
That every dream begins with you
And ends in time
Now I know
That maybe I am too alive
If I could speak in tongues of flame
I'd burn forever with your name
And take it with me through all time
I would remember who you are
In every life I'd touch your heart
In every dream
I dream
And I want so much
To touch the inside
I dream
And I still want to stay
Inside this dream with you...
and here they are :o)
If I Could...
If I could
I would always tell the truth
I would always love you
From the heart
If I could
I would take you in my arms
Take you inside
Into my heart
If I could
I would be the place you turn
When you're feeling lonely
Or afraid
I would shine
Like a lantern in the dark
Take you inside
Into my heart
When you feel as if
You don't know who you are
I'll remind you with my love
If I could
I would always keep you safe
Take you inside
Into my heart
When you feel as if
You simply can't go on
I'll remind you that you're strong
If I could
I would love you as you are
Take you inside
Into my heart
Into my arms
Into my life.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Who Am I?
Asked some friends for a few more topics to blurb on about and have got some interesting ones! Well, interesting to me LOL. This one is one that could be so many answers on so many levels and I know I tend to be long winded anyway, so I'll TRY to keep this as concise as possible!
Wow, how this answer has changed over the years! How it's changed just in the last couple of months!
Who am I? I'm Kelley-Anne. Born and bred in New Zealand. Raised Catholic, married at 19, was a mechanic, a cop, married again at 33, a mum and now all sorts of things including an Animal Communicator.
That's just a teeny part of my background that makes up who or what I am, all those past experiences shaping me, moulding my outlooks, my beliefs, strengthening parts of me, weakening others, leading me down certain paths and keeping me away from others. Although there were some problem areas in my past, I have always looked for positives from them, I learned how to look for lessons, find the gifts and say thank you for whatever was chucked at me. I started recognising things with hindsight which I was aware of enough that when the shit hits the fan in situations I'm IN I can start looking for reasons and if they remain unseen, I can at least look for the gifts so I don't get dragged into the negativity the same anymore.
All that was happening along side of the questioning "why are we here?" "What is real?" "What IS God?" and so that personal growth came along side tearing apart my beliefs, re evaluating them and making them fit me personally. I needed answers that the Catholic Church couldn't give me to my satisfaction, so I decided what it was I believed and what I didn't and it brought me comfort and peace, and like I said to a mate... "who cares if it's wrong? I won't know till after I'm dead anyway and even if it's wrong then it did it's job NOW, and that's what I needed."
Then I found some people who backed up what I believed anyway! That was nice to know people who could get books published and were "well known" thought the same sort of thing that I did!
The years tick on by, times of stagnation, times of preparation, and then times of big change and each bit I look back on from the vantage point of now and can see how it all fits together like a ladder to bring to me this point right here, right now, and dang, but this is an incredible point to be at! What I believed I'm now 'experiencing' this is what I've been aching for for years!
So in the deepest sense of "who" I am, I've never changed, I'm energy vibrating at a particular frequency giving the illusion of solid matter, I have a sense of self and an awareness of that which is "more" than just what we can see. I am a child of "God" (is as good a word as any!) and as a part of that Creation, I am made up of that infinite energy source, so although it seems an incredibly simplistic thing to say, I have come to know I Am God.
Who I am is God, who I am is also Kelley-Anne, the witness to God. Without us witnessing God, God would very simply be 'energy', with us witnessing God, with us reflecting God, we and God are both more than that, we are consciousness, awareness and Love.
God sees through our eyes... when we look around us and see 'things' God sees 'things'. When we look around us with the knowledge that whatever our eye sets upon we are looking at a part of ourselves, a part of God, God becomes self aware, God sees itself and God is then God, not just an electromagnetic energy that fluked creation by the nature of the energy it is.
Who am I? I am you, I am the word you read, the breath you take, I Am :o)
Wow, how this answer has changed over the years! How it's changed just in the last couple of months!
Who am I? I'm Kelley-Anne. Born and bred in New Zealand. Raised Catholic, married at 19, was a mechanic, a cop, married again at 33, a mum and now all sorts of things including an Animal Communicator.
That's just a teeny part of my background that makes up who or what I am, all those past experiences shaping me, moulding my outlooks, my beliefs, strengthening parts of me, weakening others, leading me down certain paths and keeping me away from others. Although there were some problem areas in my past, I have always looked for positives from them, I learned how to look for lessons, find the gifts and say thank you for whatever was chucked at me. I started recognising things with hindsight which I was aware of enough that when the shit hits the fan in situations I'm IN I can start looking for reasons and if they remain unseen, I can at least look for the gifts so I don't get dragged into the negativity the same anymore.
All that was happening along side of the questioning "why are we here?" "What is real?" "What IS God?" and so that personal growth came along side tearing apart my beliefs, re evaluating them and making them fit me personally. I needed answers that the Catholic Church couldn't give me to my satisfaction, so I decided what it was I believed and what I didn't and it brought me comfort and peace, and like I said to a mate... "who cares if it's wrong? I won't know till after I'm dead anyway and even if it's wrong then it did it's job NOW, and that's what I needed."
Then I found some people who backed up what I believed anyway! That was nice to know people who could get books published and were "well known" thought the same sort of thing that I did!
The years tick on by, times of stagnation, times of preparation, and then times of big change and each bit I look back on from the vantage point of now and can see how it all fits together like a ladder to bring to me this point right here, right now, and dang, but this is an incredible point to be at! What I believed I'm now 'experiencing' this is what I've been aching for for years!
So in the deepest sense of "who" I am, I've never changed, I'm energy vibrating at a particular frequency giving the illusion of solid matter, I have a sense of self and an awareness of that which is "more" than just what we can see. I am a child of "God" (is as good a word as any!) and as a part of that Creation, I am made up of that infinite energy source, so although it seems an incredibly simplistic thing to say, I have come to know I Am God.
Who I am is God, who I am is also Kelley-Anne, the witness to God. Without us witnessing God, God would very simply be 'energy', with us witnessing God, with us reflecting God, we and God are both more than that, we are consciousness, awareness and Love.
God sees through our eyes... when we look around us and see 'things' God sees 'things'. When we look around us with the knowledge that whatever our eye sets upon we are looking at a part of ourselves, a part of God, God becomes self aware, God sees itself and God is then God, not just an electromagnetic energy that fluked creation by the nature of the energy it is.
Who am I? I am you, I am the word you read, the breath you take, I Am :o)
Not really a musing at all ...
saw a lovely clip on you-tube last night put up by someone who has done a lot of video's to Rumi's poetry... this one was a clip about kisses... snippets of lots of different poetry etc, was very cool, thought I'd do something about that sort of thing myself and as it was a busy night at work tonight and not much spare time it's lucky it's short to boot LOL
When you are in the embrace, become the embrace, Become the kiss ~ Osho
The world is born when 2 people kiss ~ Octavio Paz
Lovers meet under a starry sky,
coming together to create one soul
Passions igniting, blood burning,
as their lips meet, their bodies share secrets
The self melts away and is replaced with Self
Neither knowing where they stop and the other begins.
As the Love vibrations merge and magnify
It ripples out into the Universe
and in their Loving God quivers in rapture.
And just because this song popped into my head while thinking about it yesterday :o)
The Power of Love - Frankie Goes to Hollywood
This time we go sublime
Lovers entwine devine devine
Love is danger, Love is pleasure
Love is pure, the only treasure
I'm so in love with you
purge the soul
make love your goal.
the power of love
a force from above
cleaning my soul.
When you are in the embrace, become the embrace, Become the kiss ~ Osho
The world is born when 2 people kiss ~ Octavio Paz
Lovers meet under a starry sky,
coming together to create one soul
Passions igniting, blood burning,
as their lips meet, their bodies share secrets
The self melts away and is replaced with Self
Neither knowing where they stop and the other begins.
As the Love vibrations merge and magnify
It ripples out into the Universe
and in their Loving God quivers in rapture.
And just because this song popped into my head while thinking about it yesterday :o)
The Power of Love - Frankie Goes to Hollywood
This time we go sublime
Lovers entwine devine devine
Love is danger, Love is pleasure
Love is pure, the only treasure
I'm so in love with you
purge the soul
make love your goal.
the power of love
a force from above
cleaning my soul.
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