Thursday, July 31, 2008
The Law of Return
The Good Book admonishes that we reap what we sow. How many times have we told children that little parable and tried to get them to understand that they will bear the consequences of their decisions and actions? Yet we ourselves often don’t understand the depth behind the parable.
The universe is built upon the law of returns. In the vernacular of physics, every action has an equal and commensurate reaction. In the terms of the spirit, when you cast your bread upon the waters it will eventually return to you. But the context of farming may be the best explanation of this inescapable, universal law … when you plant a pumpkin seed, you reap a pumpkin plant. When you plant a tomato seed, you get a tomato plant. You reap exactly what you sow. You don’t get a sweet potato plant when you plant a lemon seed! Nobody would expect to. But, somehow, we often think that the seeds we plant by our actions and words will bear no fruit at all or will bear a different kind of fruit than the seed we planted.
We all plant seeds every day. And we can rest assured that they will bear their fruit. If we are inpatient with our children, they will learn intolerance. If we are short and curt with others, we will experience poor social relationships. If we lie, we will eventually be caught and our reputations will suffer. If we are suspicious, we will be viewed as cynical and unapproachable.
On the other hand, if we are patient with our children, they will learn tolerance and calmness. If we are helpful toward others, we will be considered kind and assessable. If we are truthful and possess tact in telling that truth, we will be considered honorable and wise. If we are open-minded and tolerant, we will be thought of as receptive and impartial.
We have many opportunities to plant seeds every day. What types of seeds do we plant in our own minds through the materials that we read, the movie or television programs that we view, or the music that we listen to?
And what seeds do we plant in our relationships with others? Do we exercise patience, compassion and tolerance? Do we compliment others and give them credit for their accomplishments? Or are we biased, narrow, jealous and bigoted? Do we see what’s wrong rather than what’s right? Do we criticize or remain silent when we should stand up for someone or something?
I have come to believe that there is very little neutral ground in life. Very few, if any, of the actions that we take or words that we speak can be considered inert. They all have force behind them because they all have intent … and intent is a primal energy that inescapably translates into the physical realm.
Part of living a conscious life is understanding that our thoughts, words and actions are seeds that we continually plant in ourselves and others. A conscious individual realizes this and does not take it light. They are farmers, planting the right kinds of seeds at the right time, recognizing that the harvest will certainly come at some future time.
The universe is built upon the law of returns. In the vernacular of physics, every action has an equal and commensurate reaction. In the terms of the spirit, when you cast your bread upon the waters it will eventually return to you. But the context of farming may be the best explanation of this inescapable, universal law … when you plant a pumpkin seed, you reap a pumpkin plant. When you plant a tomato seed, you get a tomato plant. You reap exactly what you sow. You don’t get a sweet potato plant when you plant a lemon seed! Nobody would expect to. But, somehow, we often think that the seeds we plant by our actions and words will bear no fruit at all or will bear a different kind of fruit than the seed we planted.
We all plant seeds every day. And we can rest assured that they will bear their fruit. If we are inpatient with our children, they will learn intolerance. If we are short and curt with others, we will experience poor social relationships. If we lie, we will eventually be caught and our reputations will suffer. If we are suspicious, we will be viewed as cynical and unapproachable.
On the other hand, if we are patient with our children, they will learn tolerance and calmness. If we are helpful toward others, we will be considered kind and assessable. If we are truthful and possess tact in telling that truth, we will be considered honorable and wise. If we are open-minded and tolerant, we will be thought of as receptive and impartial.
We have many opportunities to plant seeds every day. What types of seeds do we plant in our own minds through the materials that we read, the movie or television programs that we view, or the music that we listen to?
And what seeds do we plant in our relationships with others? Do we exercise patience, compassion and tolerance? Do we compliment others and give them credit for their accomplishments? Or are we biased, narrow, jealous and bigoted? Do we see what’s wrong rather than what’s right? Do we criticize or remain silent when we should stand up for someone or something?
I have come to believe that there is very little neutral ground in life. Very few, if any, of the actions that we take or words that we speak can be considered inert. They all have force behind them because they all have intent … and intent is a primal energy that inescapably translates into the physical realm.
Part of living a conscious life is understanding that our thoughts, words and actions are seeds that we continually plant in ourselves and others. A conscious individual realizes this and does not take it light. They are farmers, planting the right kinds of seeds at the right time, recognizing that the harvest will certainly come at some future time.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Feeling Lost
There may be many times in our lives when we feel lost. Some people experience a mid-life crisis … a period where they lose personal direction and purpose and struggle with who they are.
We very often feel lost when a loved one dies. The absence of that person’s presence in our lives can be disorienting and forces us to develop new patterns of coping, healing, thinking and living.
The trend toward continuing education and lifelong learning makes some people feel lost. Returning to school or pursuing a degree in an area wherein you have no prior experience can be a daunting task. You have no base of reference and everything talked about is new and alien.
Starting a new job can make you feel lost. You are no longer surrounded by familiar people. You must meet new friends, establish relationships of trust, orient yourself to new physical surroundings, learn new routines, and become accustomed to a different culture. All these things take time and for a period you can feel like a stranger in a foreign land.
But that is not to say that, despite the discomfort that accompanies feeling lost, the experience should be thought of in a negative way. First, it is an experience common to mankind. Second, it is an invitation to learning. Third, it is the mark of an explorer.
Every person has experienced lostness. It can be the way that the universe tells you that you are being offered an opportunity for personal growth. If you never felt lost, it would mean that you were never being seriously challenged to expand your horizons, challenge the way that you think, or learn to incorporate new ideas into your mental mindset. Therefore, you should never feel alone in those feelings. They are common to our species.
A feeling of disorientation, although it can be uncomfortable, means that the doorway to a learning experience lies before you. If you open the door, you literally gain access to new “rooms” of understanding. You expand the ring of your consciousness. You become stronger, more adaptable and of greater potential service as a wayfinder to others. The world is an immense classroom and feelings of lostness are an invitation to greater learning.
Being lost from time to time is the mark of an explorer. People who stay in their own territory their entire lives never get lost. But they also never learn very many new things. It is comfortable. But it is also boring. Electricity, computers, space travel, genetics, microbiology, psychoneuroimmunology and countless other discoveries, inventions and fields of study are the direct result of people venturing into areas that had not been previously explored. Some of these explorers were laughed at, most probably had feelings of discouragement and isolation, but they had the courage to overcome those circumstances and make a contribution.
You do too.
We very often feel lost when a loved one dies. The absence of that person’s presence in our lives can be disorienting and forces us to develop new patterns of coping, healing, thinking and living.
The trend toward continuing education and lifelong learning makes some people feel lost. Returning to school or pursuing a degree in an area wherein you have no prior experience can be a daunting task. You have no base of reference and everything talked about is new and alien.
Starting a new job can make you feel lost. You are no longer surrounded by familiar people. You must meet new friends, establish relationships of trust, orient yourself to new physical surroundings, learn new routines, and become accustomed to a different culture. All these things take time and for a period you can feel like a stranger in a foreign land.
But that is not to say that, despite the discomfort that accompanies feeling lost, the experience should be thought of in a negative way. First, it is an experience common to mankind. Second, it is an invitation to learning. Third, it is the mark of an explorer.
Every person has experienced lostness. It can be the way that the universe tells you that you are being offered an opportunity for personal growth. If you never felt lost, it would mean that you were never being seriously challenged to expand your horizons, challenge the way that you think, or learn to incorporate new ideas into your mental mindset. Therefore, you should never feel alone in those feelings. They are common to our species.
A feeling of disorientation, although it can be uncomfortable, means that the doorway to a learning experience lies before you. If you open the door, you literally gain access to new “rooms” of understanding. You expand the ring of your consciousness. You become stronger, more adaptable and of greater potential service as a wayfinder to others. The world is an immense classroom and feelings of lostness are an invitation to greater learning.
Being lost from time to time is the mark of an explorer. People who stay in their own territory their entire lives never get lost. But they also never learn very many new things. It is comfortable. But it is also boring. Electricity, computers, space travel, genetics, microbiology, psychoneuroimmunology and countless other discoveries, inventions and fields of study are the direct result of people venturing into areas that had not been previously explored. Some of these explorers were laughed at, most probably had feelings of discouragement and isolation, but they had the courage to overcome those circumstances and make a contribution.
You do too.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
God and Satan
Anyone who is serious about the exploration of spirituality at some point in time will wrestle with the concept of God and Satan, Good and evil, Light and darkness. Traditional Christianity clearly puts them in enmity with one another while Eastern religions generally clothe them in descriptions of Light and darkness and in an almost incomprehensible partnership. In reading some Eastern manuscripts you may almost get the sense that they are in a grand dance, the earth being center stage.
The question generally boils down to this … are God and Satan at war or are they somehow working together to create an environment where learning can take place in a unique environment – planet Earth? In actuality, it may not be this or that … it may be this and that.
The earth is a unique place. It is a fallen planet where Light and darkness are in relief against each other. Humans would have no free will if there were no choice. Darkness provides an environment where choice … and therefore growth … is possible. Beings on unfallen worlds are not afforded those choices because darkness is not part of the mix. They look on the quarantined earth with curiosity, not able to understand what we face on a daily basis.
In that sense, darkness is a servant of the Light. From this perspective, Light and darkness work together to maintain a setting in which spiritual evolution is possible. In fact, learning can occur on earth much faster than in most other systems anywhere else in the Universe. It is an advanced graduate school with a tough curriculum.
On the other hand, there is clearly a conflict between Light and darkness. Just because they “work together” to create choice on the terrain of a fallen planet does not mean that their forces are reconciled by any stretch of the imagination.
I have often thought of the relationship in these terms … darkness is an absence or warping of the Light. It is a good thing turned sour ... a power used for corrupt purposes … a twisting of intent … an abuse of capability ... a manipulation of potential. There are many “physical” metaphors.
- Electricity can power your home and make you comfortable with air conditioning, heat, light and the ability to entertain, cook and even run a vehicle. But misunderstood and played with, it can kill you through electrocution.
- A nuclear power plant can safely and cleanly power an entire city. A single nuclear weapon can destroy one.
- Fire can provide warmth and the means to cook your food. But, unleashed, it can decimate a forest and take surrounding homes with it.
- Water sustains life. We could not live without it. But floods can devastate an entire city.
Without darkness, the earth would not be the school that it is. But that doesn’t mean that we should be grateful for its presence. I respect electricity, but I don’t play with it. God may be powerful enough to take the twisted intent of darkness and use it for a larger purpose … but I leave that up to Him/Her. I don’t wire the house, I just flip the switch and use the electricity.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
The Passing of the Torch
I remember sitting at my desk about ten years ago when the phone rang. It was bad news. My Uncle Jerry had passed away in his sleep.
This was a blow. Jerry was always one of my favorite relatives and he was my mothers last living brother. Since my father was an only child, I realized that I was suddenly without any uncles among an extended family that was once huge. Jerry was a real live wire ... loved by everyone, always busy, always teasing the kids, always helping somebody.
His death was completely unexpected. He was 71 years young, still helped coach a local high school's football and track teams, hunted rabbits and had no medical problems. There was no warning and no time to prepare. He suffered a coronary so massive that he never stirred in his bed. My aunt found him that morning. I hung up the phone and sat at my desk stunned.
During visitation, my sister and I stood in a corner and talked for a long time about days past. We agreed that our favorite memories were of Thanksgivings and Christmas' spent together as an extended family. All the grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, brothers and sisters, moms and dads ... all crowded into the basement at Aunt Ginny and Uncle Wally's house.
The snow around Christmas always seemed deeper when we were kids ... the glow of the Christmas lights brighter and warmer ... the smells of the food cooking were so rich and vibrant ... and we always felt completely secure, surrounded and cared for by our family. Those feelings of protection and security were incredibly warm and embracing. I can remember them still. I didn't have a care and it seemed that all was right with the world. So powerful were they that I can recall them at will. They were very special times.
But now, my family has been chipped away. My parents are both gone and I have one aunt left. As I continue to age, I see those who I once thought would surround me forever succumbing to the inevitable. And, though I know better, there were a few moments where I have found myself desperately wanting to be back in that warm cocoon of times past ... in Aunt Ginny and Uncle Wally's basement at Christmas time surrounded by the warmth, protection, security, laughter and love of my family.
Apparently, both my sister and I were wishing the same thing. Because, after a moment of silence, we both said softly, and at the same time, that it was now our turn to create those memories. We realized that the torch was being passed.
It is a bittersweet moment when the torch is handed from generation to generation. The moment of its passing can sneak up on you. One day you wake up and realize that many years have slipped away. You kick yourself for having been unconscious so much of the time. But the time has now come. The torch is before you and you must pick it up ... as generations before you have done.
"And the sons become the fathers
And the daughters will be wives
As the torch is passed from hand to hand
And we struggle through our lives
Though the generations wander
The lineage survives
And all of us from dust to dust
We all become forefathers by and by"
Forefathers by Dan Fogelberg. 1990.
This was a blow. Jerry was always one of my favorite relatives and he was my mothers last living brother. Since my father was an only child, I realized that I was suddenly without any uncles among an extended family that was once huge. Jerry was a real live wire ... loved by everyone, always busy, always teasing the kids, always helping somebody.
His death was completely unexpected. He was 71 years young, still helped coach a local high school's football and track teams, hunted rabbits and had no medical problems. There was no warning and no time to prepare. He suffered a coronary so massive that he never stirred in his bed. My aunt found him that morning. I hung up the phone and sat at my desk stunned.
During visitation, my sister and I stood in a corner and talked for a long time about days past. We agreed that our favorite memories were of Thanksgivings and Christmas' spent together as an extended family. All the grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, brothers and sisters, moms and dads ... all crowded into the basement at Aunt Ginny and Uncle Wally's house.
The snow around Christmas always seemed deeper when we were kids ... the glow of the Christmas lights brighter and warmer ... the smells of the food cooking were so rich and vibrant ... and we always felt completely secure, surrounded and cared for by our family. Those feelings of protection and security were incredibly warm and embracing. I can remember them still. I didn't have a care and it seemed that all was right with the world. So powerful were they that I can recall them at will. They were very special times.
But now, my family has been chipped away. My parents are both gone and I have one aunt left. As I continue to age, I see those who I once thought would surround me forever succumbing to the inevitable. And, though I know better, there were a few moments where I have found myself desperately wanting to be back in that warm cocoon of times past ... in Aunt Ginny and Uncle Wally's basement at Christmas time surrounded by the warmth, protection, security, laughter and love of my family.
Apparently, both my sister and I were wishing the same thing. Because, after a moment of silence, we both said softly, and at the same time, that it was now our turn to create those memories. We realized that the torch was being passed.
It is a bittersweet moment when the torch is handed from generation to generation. The moment of its passing can sneak up on you. One day you wake up and realize that many years have slipped away. You kick yourself for having been unconscious so much of the time. But the time has now come. The torch is before you and you must pick it up ... as generations before you have done.
"And the sons become the fathers
And the daughters will be wives
As the torch is passed from hand to hand
And we struggle through our lives
Though the generations wander
The lineage survives
And all of us from dust to dust
We all become forefathers by and by"
Forefathers by Dan Fogelberg. 1990.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Energy Signatures
I was in our town’s mall parking lot the other day when I noticed a young man walking between the cars. I could only see his head bobbing up and down as he walked, but as soon as I saw him I immediately intuited anger, resentment, bitterness and darkness. It struck me as odd that I would sense those attributes so quickly because I couldn’t see his face well and his physical gait and demeanor didn’t suggest any of those characteristics. But when he came out from behind the vehicles, I saw that he was dressed completely in black and the writing on the front of his T-shirt had blatant references to the devil. Although some distance away from me, he turned his head for no apparent reason and stared at me for a few moments while he walked away. Clearly, he sensed that I had scanned his energy signature though he may not have understood what was happening.
Everything has an energy signature that is associated with its level of consciousness. Even rocks have their own levels of consciousness and attached signatures. When Jesus was entering Jerusalem, for example, he commented that if the crowd had not celebrated his entry, the rocks themselves would have shouted for joy.
It’s helpful to remember in this regard that all things have an energetic foundation to them. The human body, for example, is 90% water through which electrical impulses run. That is the scientific basis for the EKG and EEG which simply measure electrical impulses of the heart and brain. An interesting read on this subject is Vibrational Medicine by Richard Gerber, M.D.
The energetic foundation for all life forms also accounts for the beautiful photographs that are obtained through Kirlian photography. In 1939, Semyon Kirlian discovered that if an object on a photographic plate is connected to a source of high voltage, corona discharges at the edge of the object can be photographed. You can “google” Kirlian photography under “images” on the Internet and see examples (some are obviously better than others).
An energy signature can tell you a great deal about a life form. If, for example, you cut a section off a maple leaf and photograph it using the Kirlian technique, you will see that the energy field of the leaf remains entirely whole. The corona discharge will not follow the edge of the cut. This tells us that the energy template of an entity may provide the template for physiological shape, growth and function. According to Eastern models of medicine, the energy template is also intimately connected to the nervous system. This may help explain the phenomenon of phantom limb pain in amputees. If you’re interested in this phenomenon you may want to read some of the writings of Harold Burr, a Yale neuroanatomist.
Energy signatures can be “read” in a variety of ways:
Perception … which is a sensing or “knowing.” This involves receiving, discerning and interpreting the nature and characteristics of emissions from energy signatures through intuitive channels.
Optically … which means that a person can actually see an energy signature. Healers, for instance, are often auravoyants and can see disruptions in and colors of a person’s energy field.
Kinestically … which usually involves an advanced sense of feeling an energy signature with the hands. Some healers use this ability to detect disturbances or disorders in energy fields. Sensations may include heat, cold, heaviness, tingling or feelings of electricity.
Guidance … which involves receiving messages from spiritual beings such as teachers or guides.
Reading energy signatures makes new sources of information about people available to you. That information can be used for healing, for life guidance, for determining core personality traits, to “read” habitual thoughts (encoded in thoughtforms that circulate through the energy field) and to determine moods (among other uses).
Although some people are gifted with an innate ability to read signatures (still, that gift must be recognized, “sparked” and developed), I believe everyone has some level of ability. It takes practice to mature and extend that ability but it can be done. A good place to start is with an Internet search for books on the subject.
Everything has an energy signature that is associated with its level of consciousness. Even rocks have their own levels of consciousness and attached signatures. When Jesus was entering Jerusalem, for example, he commented that if the crowd had not celebrated his entry, the rocks themselves would have shouted for joy.
It’s helpful to remember in this regard that all things have an energetic foundation to them. The human body, for example, is 90% water through which electrical impulses run. That is the scientific basis for the EKG and EEG which simply measure electrical impulses of the heart and brain. An interesting read on this subject is Vibrational Medicine by Richard Gerber, M.D.
The energetic foundation for all life forms also accounts for the beautiful photographs that are obtained through Kirlian photography. In 1939, Semyon Kirlian discovered that if an object on a photographic plate is connected to a source of high voltage, corona discharges at the edge of the object can be photographed. You can “google” Kirlian photography under “images” on the Internet and see examples (some are obviously better than others).
An energy signature can tell you a great deal about a life form. If, for example, you cut a section off a maple leaf and photograph it using the Kirlian technique, you will see that the energy field of the leaf remains entirely whole. The corona discharge will not follow the edge of the cut. This tells us that the energy template of an entity may provide the template for physiological shape, growth and function. According to Eastern models of medicine, the energy template is also intimately connected to the nervous system. This may help explain the phenomenon of phantom limb pain in amputees. If you’re interested in this phenomenon you may want to read some of the writings of Harold Burr, a Yale neuroanatomist.
Energy signatures can be “read” in a variety of ways:
Perception … which is a sensing or “knowing.” This involves receiving, discerning and interpreting the nature and characteristics of emissions from energy signatures through intuitive channels.
Optically … which means that a person can actually see an energy signature. Healers, for instance, are often auravoyants and can see disruptions in and colors of a person’s energy field.
Kinestically … which usually involves an advanced sense of feeling an energy signature with the hands. Some healers use this ability to detect disturbances or disorders in energy fields. Sensations may include heat, cold, heaviness, tingling or feelings of electricity.
Guidance … which involves receiving messages from spiritual beings such as teachers or guides.
Reading energy signatures makes new sources of information about people available to you. That information can be used for healing, for life guidance, for determining core personality traits, to “read” habitual thoughts (encoded in thoughtforms that circulate through the energy field) and to determine moods (among other uses).
Although some people are gifted with an innate ability to read signatures (still, that gift must be recognized, “sparked” and developed), I believe everyone has some level of ability. It takes practice to mature and extend that ability but it can be done. A good place to start is with an Internet search for books on the subject.
Friday, July 18, 2008
What is God like?
What God is really like is beyond our understanding. S/he is too large, we are too small to get our arms around It. So, when most people make this query, they are really asking a number of questions … “How can we best increase our understanding of God? What is God’s core nature? How can we best think of God? What is my relationship to God? How much about God can I reasonably expect to comprehend?”
Many religions have created confusion about the core nature of God by saying that S/he loves you, but if you do something that offends Him/Her, S/he will throw you into Hell forever … that you will experience the worst kind of punishment … forever writhing in tortured agony in a burning lake of fire.
Some say that God is so insulted by certain belief structures that S/he commands people to kill the offenders … or, at the very least, gives permission to do so. (This belief, by the way, has resulted in most of the wars this planet has suffered and has resulted in untold atrocities – torture, humiliation, rape, harassment, theft, mutilation and multiple millions of lost lives – all in the name of God). And lest you think this relates only to the radical Islamist movement and the recent wars and Jihads they have generated, I would remind you of the Inquisition and the Crusades.
Some say that if you don’t believe in a certain personage (even if you haven’t had the opportunity to know about him/her) that you are doomed to eternal punishment. (Following this logic, most of the human race throughout history was predestined to damnation from the instant of their birth).
These schizophrenic belief structures are partly the result of religious leaders tampering with scriptural structures for the purpose of controlling their followers; partly the result of posturing in order to convince populations that a certain religion is the “true” religion; partly the result of leaders posturing for power and authority; partly because of people cherry-picking a few scriptures and building entire belief systems around them; and partly because of our humanness – our best attempts at understanding something incomprehensible gone awry.
In the language of Information Technology, these concepts of God “do not compute.” The belief structures are very powerful and hold many in their sway, but they are so illogical and inadequate that any thinking person would have to question them.
They remind me of an abusive parent who repeatedly asserts that she loves her young children, but when they do something she doesn’t approve of, she beats them so severely that they suffer broken bones. Or of a parent who beats a child for not doing something that they never had an opportunity to do. In our society, those actions would generally be viewed as a form of mental illness … or at the very least mental and morale feebleness. Yet, many of us have no qualms about defining God in those very same terms.
It is true that much of how we view God and the very nature of life itself must be based on faith. There are many paradoxes and we all reach a certain point at which our ability to comprehend simply stops … that point is our “ring pass not.” At that juncture we simply say, “I can go no further at this point. This is all I can comprehend.”
There is no shame in that. The trick is to continually stretch out that point. To paraphrase Paul, we learn “line by line, precept upon precept.” It is a process of building our comprehension skills.
The problem is that many religions apply both tacit and direct pressure to accept “by faith” what, at face value, makes no sense. They hide behind the explanation that God is “unfathomable”, that we are not to question God, that it is impossible to understand His/Her reasoning. It is insubordinate to ask questions, to challenge positions, to have opinions that fall outside established dogma. They emphasize faith at the expense of critical thinking. They encourage people to have faith right out of the box rather than asking substantive questions, thinking issues through and developing a belief structure that holds together in a stronger sense.
The “God loves you, but if He doesn’t like what you’re doing he’s going to make your life miserable and punish you for an eternity. And, by the way, if there are other people who don’t believe as you do, you have permission to kill them” is a threatening, damaging belief structure that will continue to foment division and war on our planet.
God is bigger than that. There is a better way.
Many religions have created confusion about the core nature of God by saying that S/he loves you, but if you do something that offends Him/Her, S/he will throw you into Hell forever … that you will experience the worst kind of punishment … forever writhing in tortured agony in a burning lake of fire.
Some say that God is so insulted by certain belief structures that S/he commands people to kill the offenders … or, at the very least, gives permission to do so. (This belief, by the way, has resulted in most of the wars this planet has suffered and has resulted in untold atrocities – torture, humiliation, rape, harassment, theft, mutilation and multiple millions of lost lives – all in the name of God). And lest you think this relates only to the radical Islamist movement and the recent wars and Jihads they have generated, I would remind you of the Inquisition and the Crusades.
Some say that if you don’t believe in a certain personage (even if you haven’t had the opportunity to know about him/her) that you are doomed to eternal punishment. (Following this logic, most of the human race throughout history was predestined to damnation from the instant of their birth).
These schizophrenic belief structures are partly the result of religious leaders tampering with scriptural structures for the purpose of controlling their followers; partly the result of posturing in order to convince populations that a certain religion is the “true” religion; partly the result of leaders posturing for power and authority; partly because of people cherry-picking a few scriptures and building entire belief systems around them; and partly because of our humanness – our best attempts at understanding something incomprehensible gone awry.
In the language of Information Technology, these concepts of God “do not compute.” The belief structures are very powerful and hold many in their sway, but they are so illogical and inadequate that any thinking person would have to question them.
They remind me of an abusive parent who repeatedly asserts that she loves her young children, but when they do something she doesn’t approve of, she beats them so severely that they suffer broken bones. Or of a parent who beats a child for not doing something that they never had an opportunity to do. In our society, those actions would generally be viewed as a form of mental illness … or at the very least mental and morale feebleness. Yet, many of us have no qualms about defining God in those very same terms.
It is true that much of how we view God and the very nature of life itself must be based on faith. There are many paradoxes and we all reach a certain point at which our ability to comprehend simply stops … that point is our “ring pass not.” At that juncture we simply say, “I can go no further at this point. This is all I can comprehend.”
There is no shame in that. The trick is to continually stretch out that point. To paraphrase Paul, we learn “line by line, precept upon precept.” It is a process of building our comprehension skills.
The problem is that many religions apply both tacit and direct pressure to accept “by faith” what, at face value, makes no sense. They hide behind the explanation that God is “unfathomable”, that we are not to question God, that it is impossible to understand His/Her reasoning. It is insubordinate to ask questions, to challenge positions, to have opinions that fall outside established dogma. They emphasize faith at the expense of critical thinking. They encourage people to have faith right out of the box rather than asking substantive questions, thinking issues through and developing a belief structure that holds together in a stronger sense.
The “God loves you, but if He doesn’t like what you’re doing he’s going to make your life miserable and punish you for an eternity. And, by the way, if there are other people who don’t believe as you do, you have permission to kill them” is a threatening, damaging belief structure that will continue to foment division and war on our planet.
God is bigger than that. There is a better way.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Hezekiah and the Bronze Serpent
As the story goes, Moses had succeeded in having the Pharaoh release the Israelites from their oppression in Egypt. While they were wandering in the desert in search of their promised land, they entered an area which was inhabited by vipers that made their way into the camp and bit many of the people. They ran to Moses for help and he fashioned the image of a large bronze snake and mounted it on the top of a pole, the bottom end of which was to be stuck into the ground, raising the snake high into the air. The instructions to the people were that, those who were bitten by a viper but who looked up at the image of the bronze snake, would be saved. Those who were bitten and failed to look at the snake would perish.
The people kept that snake with them throughout their journeys into the wilderness and took it with them into their promised land. Centuries later it found its way into one of the major religious temples of the time when a man named Hezekiah became king.
Hezekiah was vaulted into leadership at a time of great turmoil. There was economic depression, morals and ethics had sunk to an all-time low, the nations army was nothing but a paper tiger. And he was concerned about setting things right. His strategy was to strengthen the nation by turning them away from their idols and helping them to return to their spiritual roots.
One of the amazing things that Hezekiah did was to order the destruction of the bronze snake in the temple. I can imagine that many of the traditional religious people of that day took quite an exception to the demolition of an artifact that Moses himself had fashioned. That snake had become a concrete piece of history by which the Israelites could connect with their past and remember their roots. In fact, it had grown into such an object of spiritual curiosity that the people had begun to burn incense before it and worship it. And I suspect that's why Hezekiah ordered it destroyed.
All of us have these kinds of snakes in our lives. They are those things, concepts, ideas, possessions or even people that have outlived their stay. They no longer serve the purpose that they once did. They are holding us back and we need to let them go.
But that can be difficult. Over the course of time they have grown from things that helped us to accomplish something in our lives and serving some purpose, to simply reminding us of that purpose, to actually becoming an object of our adoration to the degree that it becomes hard for us to function without it. Those things may include jobs, academic pursuits, a specific form of religion, a spouse, a mentor or a friend.
The mentor is a snake killer. They help proteges identify what it is that they must let go of. Life is a process of growth, but a person cannot grow if they cannot release. That is the process of all nature. Cells die by the millions in our bodies and are continually regenerated. Animals follow patterns of migration that include journeys of thousands of miles. The tides rise and fall. The sun rises and sets. There is an ebb and flow to life. If we cannot release, we cannot continue onward.
What is your bronze serpent?
The people kept that snake with them throughout their journeys into the wilderness and took it with them into their promised land. Centuries later it found its way into one of the major religious temples of the time when a man named Hezekiah became king.
Hezekiah was vaulted into leadership at a time of great turmoil. There was economic depression, morals and ethics had sunk to an all-time low, the nations army was nothing but a paper tiger. And he was concerned about setting things right. His strategy was to strengthen the nation by turning them away from their idols and helping them to return to their spiritual roots.
One of the amazing things that Hezekiah did was to order the destruction of the bronze snake in the temple. I can imagine that many of the traditional religious people of that day took quite an exception to the demolition of an artifact that Moses himself had fashioned. That snake had become a concrete piece of history by which the Israelites could connect with their past and remember their roots. In fact, it had grown into such an object of spiritual curiosity that the people had begun to burn incense before it and worship it. And I suspect that's why Hezekiah ordered it destroyed.
All of us have these kinds of snakes in our lives. They are those things, concepts, ideas, possessions or even people that have outlived their stay. They no longer serve the purpose that they once did. They are holding us back and we need to let them go.
But that can be difficult. Over the course of time they have grown from things that helped us to accomplish something in our lives and serving some purpose, to simply reminding us of that purpose, to actually becoming an object of our adoration to the degree that it becomes hard for us to function without it. Those things may include jobs, academic pursuits, a specific form of religion, a spouse, a mentor or a friend.
The mentor is a snake killer. They help proteges identify what it is that they must let go of. Life is a process of growth, but a person cannot grow if they cannot release. That is the process of all nature. Cells die by the millions in our bodies and are continually regenerated. Animals follow patterns of migration that include journeys of thousands of miles. The tides rise and fall. The sun rises and sets. There is an ebb and flow to life. If we cannot release, we cannot continue onward.
What is your bronze serpent?
Monday, July 14, 2008
What's Important to God?
One of the most valuable lessons we can learn is that what’s important to us is often not important at all to God. Many of us are focused on things that aren’t of much value and so, from a “purpose” and soul covenant perspective, we squander our time and resources.
We work hard to accumulate positions of power and influence, large bank accounts and community prestige. We want people to recognize our accomplishments, praise us for our community involvement and celebrate what “good” people we are. It’s an eye-opening experience when it dawns on us that God really doesn’t care much about those things.
God is no respecter of persons. The position of President of the United States or Professor of Bioengineering at Harvard carries no more weight with Him/Her than the position of floor-sweeper or taxi-driver. S/he isn’t concerned about how much money you have in your bank account. S/he’s not interested in what the newspapers write about you or about what public accolades you amass.
What S/he cares about is what’s in your heart … how well you are serving who you came here to serve … about what you are learning. Everything else is superfluous. You could be a very wealthy and influential individual who is not learning your lessons and, in God’s eyes, you would be “behind” a poor street-sweeper who is.
Remember the parable of the widow’s mite. A wealthy, religious man gave a large sum of money to the church for the care of the needy while a widow gave but a single mite. But the widow gave more … because she gave all she had.
Remember also Christ’s admonition that “the first shall be last and the last shall be first.” This is another way of saying that people often confuse their priorities. While they frequently think that they are working for things that are worthy of their pursuit, their priorities are upside-down. They may spend their entire life striving for “first place” by accumulating money, getting a prestigious job and amassing power and status only to find when they die that they emphasized all the wrong things. Their first place turns into last place.
People who experience NDEs will tell you that their life reviews weren’t about what job they held … nobody asked them about how much money they made … there was no mention of how many articles they had published … nobody evaluated their resume … or how many times they were mentioned in their local newspapers. Life reviews focus on what lessons you learned while you were here, how you treated other people, what your record of service to humanity was, what kindness you shared.
In order to achieve “first place”, you may need to rethink your priorities and give some thought to what’s really important in the larger scheme of things.
Questions for discussion:
What lessons do you think you came here to learn?
What events in your life do you think will be the focus during your life review?
Imagine your life review … what course corrections do you think you’ll have wished you made?
What lifestyle changes do you think you need to make in order to align yourself with God’s priorities for your life?
What do you think you’re doing well right now?
We work hard to accumulate positions of power and influence, large bank accounts and community prestige. We want people to recognize our accomplishments, praise us for our community involvement and celebrate what “good” people we are. It’s an eye-opening experience when it dawns on us that God really doesn’t care much about those things.
God is no respecter of persons. The position of President of the United States or Professor of Bioengineering at Harvard carries no more weight with Him/Her than the position of floor-sweeper or taxi-driver. S/he isn’t concerned about how much money you have in your bank account. S/he’s not interested in what the newspapers write about you or about what public accolades you amass.
What S/he cares about is what’s in your heart … how well you are serving who you came here to serve … about what you are learning. Everything else is superfluous. You could be a very wealthy and influential individual who is not learning your lessons and, in God’s eyes, you would be “behind” a poor street-sweeper who is.
Remember the parable of the widow’s mite. A wealthy, religious man gave a large sum of money to the church for the care of the needy while a widow gave but a single mite. But the widow gave more … because she gave all she had.
Remember also Christ’s admonition that “the first shall be last and the last shall be first.” This is another way of saying that people often confuse their priorities. While they frequently think that they are working for things that are worthy of their pursuit, their priorities are upside-down. They may spend their entire life striving for “first place” by accumulating money, getting a prestigious job and amassing power and status only to find when they die that they emphasized all the wrong things. Their first place turns into last place.
People who experience NDEs will tell you that their life reviews weren’t about what job they held … nobody asked them about how much money they made … there was no mention of how many articles they had published … nobody evaluated their resume … or how many times they were mentioned in their local newspapers. Life reviews focus on what lessons you learned while you were here, how you treated other people, what your record of service to humanity was, what kindness you shared.
In order to achieve “first place”, you may need to rethink your priorities and give some thought to what’s really important in the larger scheme of things.
Questions for discussion:
What lessons do you think you came here to learn?
What events in your life do you think will be the focus during your life review?
Imagine your life review … what course corrections do you think you’ll have wished you made?
What lifestyle changes do you think you need to make in order to align yourself with God’s priorities for your life?
What do you think you’re doing well right now?
Friday, July 11, 2008
IQ
Almost everyone is familiar with the standard IQ tests that measure a person's actual and potential abilities in the field of academic intelligence. These are the measurements of understanding in the fields of math, science, language and so on. These are certainly important skills, needful for the individual to successfully function in many areas of life and business. It is this type of skill that is coveted by many parents who want their children to attend Ivy League universities, that is promoted through schools and which most businesses consider a high priority when screening applicants for positions. There is also a good deal of emphasis on these aspects of the person in graduate and doctoral programs when the student is assigned a mentor or group of mentors.
Unfortunately, we have all seen people who were brilliant from an academic perspective, but who were unsuccessful in life and business because they lacked the balance necessary between their academic IQ and their emotional IQ. By measuring only academic abilities and potentials, we are tacitly giving credence to the position that academic performance is the single determining factor of success in life. And that is hardly the case.
What are the components that could be measured in an emotional IQ? Cooperation skills, the art of persuasion, the ability to build consensus, the gift of being able to empathize with people. Psychologists Peter Salovey and John Mayer suggest that a person who has a high emotional IQ 1) would be able to know their own feelings and understand how to use them in decision making scenarios, 2) could stay self-motivated even in disappointing situations, 3) would have an optimistic personality, 4) could manage their feelings so as to keep worry from inhibiting their thinking abilities, 5) could postpone gratification and 6) could promote group harmony.
Humans, as a species and as individuals, possess manifold intelligences. There are people who have strong spatial, linguistic, kinesthetic, intrapersonal, empathic and logic skills. We do ourselves a disservice when we measure only one of those areas of intelligence and, by inference, label it as "the" most important. People should be encouraged to identify and develop any and all skills that they have.
There is a great deal of evidence to suggest that emotional intelligence, in many ways, may be more important than academic intelligence. In pools of high academic IQ individuals, those who are the most valued are those who can build teams, accomplish goals through cooperation and who possess a good ability to use both intuition and data in decision making. Studies have shown that people who possess a strong emotional IQ experience reduced rates of delinquency and drug use and are less prone to violence. Children who are mentored in emotional skills also have the bonus of higher scores in achievement tests.
Mentors help proteges develop all aspects of their personality. They recognize that we all bring different skills and gifts with us into this world. They are concerned that their proteges maximize their potentials and this involves balance including the identification and development of multiple intelligences.
Unfortunately, we have all seen people who were brilliant from an academic perspective, but who were unsuccessful in life and business because they lacked the balance necessary between their academic IQ and their emotional IQ. By measuring only academic abilities and potentials, we are tacitly giving credence to the position that academic performance is the single determining factor of success in life. And that is hardly the case.
What are the components that could be measured in an emotional IQ? Cooperation skills, the art of persuasion, the ability to build consensus, the gift of being able to empathize with people. Psychologists Peter Salovey and John Mayer suggest that a person who has a high emotional IQ 1) would be able to know their own feelings and understand how to use them in decision making scenarios, 2) could stay self-motivated even in disappointing situations, 3) would have an optimistic personality, 4) could manage their feelings so as to keep worry from inhibiting their thinking abilities, 5) could postpone gratification and 6) could promote group harmony.
Humans, as a species and as individuals, possess manifold intelligences. There are people who have strong spatial, linguistic, kinesthetic, intrapersonal, empathic and logic skills. We do ourselves a disservice when we measure only one of those areas of intelligence and, by inference, label it as "the" most important. People should be encouraged to identify and develop any and all skills that they have.
There is a great deal of evidence to suggest that emotional intelligence, in many ways, may be more important than academic intelligence. In pools of high academic IQ individuals, those who are the most valued are those who can build teams, accomplish goals through cooperation and who possess a good ability to use both intuition and data in decision making. Studies have shown that people who possess a strong emotional IQ experience reduced rates of delinquency and drug use and are less prone to violence. Children who are mentored in emotional skills also have the bonus of higher scores in achievement tests.
Mentors help proteges develop all aspects of their personality. They recognize that we all bring different skills and gifts with us into this world. They are concerned that their proteges maximize their potentials and this involves balance including the identification and development of multiple intelligences.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Learn to Lighten Up
One of the things that I’ve found distressing about most organized religious structures is the generally unspoken expectation that people should maintain a somber demeanor … that there is little room for fun or laughter … that living is a serious business that requires a staid, sober, humorless approach.
Poppycock.
This slanted viewpoint is as wrong as thinking that life should be completely carefree … that you shouldn’t take anything seriously … that you shouldn’t consider any consequences of your behavior … that you should completely dedicate your life to nothing but having raucous fun.
You have to be able to laugh at things, including yourself. You should develop a healthy ability to have fun. You should be able to see the humor in life.
I remember listening to a fascinating preacher who said, “God has a sense of humor. If you don’t believe me, look in the mirror.” It struck me that not a single chuckle arose from the congregation … except from me. That was an ominous and sad sign. The worship experience in that place was structured so that appreciation for humor was discouraged and perhaps even actively suppressed. Worship was to be responsible, sensible, mature, respectful and reverent. Not that those are bad things. But, as the Good Book says, there's a time for everything. The same Spirit that inspires a quiet and reverent awe sometimes calls us to stand and dance and laugh and be playful.
The preacher was a guest speaker and was trying to break the established expectations … to bring a more balanced perspective … to lighten the environment a bit … to shake up the existing organizational thoughtform matrix. But, unfortunately, he wasn’t very successful.
Creation mirrors all aspects of God. S/he is a multi-faceted being that creates out of the essence of His/Her own nature. People who have a sense of humor and a lightness of spirit reflect those aspects of the Creator. Those attributes don’t issue from the dark side. They do not reflect irreverence, disrespect, mockery or impertinence. They are gifts from God that can be used to lighten burdens, refresh the spirit and provide cheer … all very important aspects of living effectively in a fallen world.
One of the reasons that so many churches and other religious and spiritual organizations are floundering today is because their environments and atmospheres are heavy and oppressive. There is an overemphasis on responsibility, conscientiousness, duty and performance … and humor and lightness of spirit are sacrificed on those altars. Who wants to become a part of something like that?
Life is difficult enough without leaving room for some healthy laughter, some good fun, some amusement and mirth. Can you imagine a heaven world where there isn’t any merriment, excitement or glee … where there was only a heavy sense of responsibility and accountability? That wouldn’t be where I’d want to spend an eternity.
Medical studies have demonstrated that laughter and humor is good medicine. It speeds healing, improves immunities and builds body defenses. Scripture supports this … “A merry heart does good like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22).
Hospitals and associated healthcare entities, churches, synagogues, mosques and other religious and spiritual organizations of all stripes would increase their membership numbers, strengthen their healing ministries, improve peoples lives and change the condition of our planet if they would only learn to relax a little. I wonder how the world would change if all these groups would develop “Ministries of Mirth” divisions. It would certainly beat killing each other in the name of God.
In the meantime, give yourself a break. Don’t wait for someone else to do it for you. Learn to lighten up a bit!
Poppycock.
This slanted viewpoint is as wrong as thinking that life should be completely carefree … that you shouldn’t take anything seriously … that you shouldn’t consider any consequences of your behavior … that you should completely dedicate your life to nothing but having raucous fun.
You have to be able to laugh at things, including yourself. You should develop a healthy ability to have fun. You should be able to see the humor in life.
I remember listening to a fascinating preacher who said, “God has a sense of humor. If you don’t believe me, look in the mirror.” It struck me that not a single chuckle arose from the congregation … except from me. That was an ominous and sad sign. The worship experience in that place was structured so that appreciation for humor was discouraged and perhaps even actively suppressed. Worship was to be responsible, sensible, mature, respectful and reverent. Not that those are bad things. But, as the Good Book says, there's a time for everything. The same Spirit that inspires a quiet and reverent awe sometimes calls us to stand and dance and laugh and be playful.
The preacher was a guest speaker and was trying to break the established expectations … to bring a more balanced perspective … to lighten the environment a bit … to shake up the existing organizational thoughtform matrix. But, unfortunately, he wasn’t very successful.
Creation mirrors all aspects of God. S/he is a multi-faceted being that creates out of the essence of His/Her own nature. People who have a sense of humor and a lightness of spirit reflect those aspects of the Creator. Those attributes don’t issue from the dark side. They do not reflect irreverence, disrespect, mockery or impertinence. They are gifts from God that can be used to lighten burdens, refresh the spirit and provide cheer … all very important aspects of living effectively in a fallen world.
One of the reasons that so many churches and other religious and spiritual organizations are floundering today is because their environments and atmospheres are heavy and oppressive. There is an overemphasis on responsibility, conscientiousness, duty and performance … and humor and lightness of spirit are sacrificed on those altars. Who wants to become a part of something like that?
Life is difficult enough without leaving room for some healthy laughter, some good fun, some amusement and mirth. Can you imagine a heaven world where there isn’t any merriment, excitement or glee … where there was only a heavy sense of responsibility and accountability? That wouldn’t be where I’d want to spend an eternity.
Medical studies have demonstrated that laughter and humor is good medicine. It speeds healing, improves immunities and builds body defenses. Scripture supports this … “A merry heart does good like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22).
Hospitals and associated healthcare entities, churches, synagogues, mosques and other religious and spiritual organizations of all stripes would increase their membership numbers, strengthen their healing ministries, improve peoples lives and change the condition of our planet if they would only learn to relax a little. I wonder how the world would change if all these groups would develop “Ministries of Mirth” divisions. It would certainly beat killing each other in the name of God.
In the meantime, give yourself a break. Don’t wait for someone else to do it for you. Learn to lighten up a bit!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Small Acts of Kindness
Most of us don’t realize the ramifications of little acts of kindness. For many of us, this is because we are so focused on doing something bigger and more significant. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Tutoring in a school on a regular basis, giving money or time to charity, helping to build a home for Habitat for Humanity – these are all wonderful activities. But so is cooking a meal for a newly widowed woman, shoveling a neighbor’s driveway of snow or visiting an elderly friend.
Results of our acts of kindness are not dependent on how much time, money or creativity we put into them. Many times, the smallest acts are the most remembers. Remember Christ’s admonition that a cup of cold water given to a child will not be forgotten … that a small sparrow cannot fall to the ground without God knowing … that the very hairs of our heads are numbered.
Small acts of kindness pay big dividends. Performed on a regular basis, they help to reshape our consciousness. Expanded consciousness is not a gift bestowed from above. It is earned. It requires an intent that results in action.
Humans are, at their core, energetic beings. Universal energy pouts through us via our personal energy systems which consist of chakras, meridians and nadis … all designed to bring energy in from the outside to strengthen our personal energy fields and our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual bodies. Our thoughts, which are themselves composed of light and energy, connect with and inform the energy that flows through us.
We shape the light and energy that course through us with our feelings, our thoughts, our behaviors, our values and our lifestyles. By recognizing and challenging negative patterns and replacing them with ordered, constructive patterns, you reshape your consciousness. For example, you may catch yourself in a hurtful thought and choose to let it go and replace it with one of acceptance and love. Each time you do something like this, your auric field becomes stronger, larger and brighter. It’s much like physical exercise – your energy system becomes better toned, more resilient, more powerful and brighter the more exercise you give it. When your field is stronger, you feel better physically and are healthier. This is the connection between mind, body and spirit.
You will also find that you will begin to attract better circumstances into your life through the law of resonance. You attract what you put out. Things will change for the better. Doors will open. Opportunities will present themselves. New experiences will manifest. Your understanding will become more comprehensive. Mentors will appear as will protégés. You will begin to exercise positive influence in other people’s lives. And you will begin to change the world around you for the better.
This is the principle of the leaven spoken of in scriptures. It is a chain reaction beginning with intent, acts of kindness, the reshaping of consciousness, the law of resonance and the principle of the leaven. It only takes a little leaven to raise a whole loaf. It is a fire lit from one person’s torch and passed on to another’s unlit torch.
As the Chinese proverb says … the steady flow of water wears away the hardest rock. We don’t always have to swing for the fence. Small acts of kindness, consistently performed, are a powerful force for good in our world, strengthening those who perform them and improving the quality of life for those they touch.
Results of our acts of kindness are not dependent on how much time, money or creativity we put into them. Many times, the smallest acts are the most remembers. Remember Christ’s admonition that a cup of cold water given to a child will not be forgotten … that a small sparrow cannot fall to the ground without God knowing … that the very hairs of our heads are numbered.
Small acts of kindness pay big dividends. Performed on a regular basis, they help to reshape our consciousness. Expanded consciousness is not a gift bestowed from above. It is earned. It requires an intent that results in action.
Humans are, at their core, energetic beings. Universal energy pouts through us via our personal energy systems which consist of chakras, meridians and nadis … all designed to bring energy in from the outside to strengthen our personal energy fields and our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual bodies. Our thoughts, which are themselves composed of light and energy, connect with and inform the energy that flows through us.
We shape the light and energy that course through us with our feelings, our thoughts, our behaviors, our values and our lifestyles. By recognizing and challenging negative patterns and replacing them with ordered, constructive patterns, you reshape your consciousness. For example, you may catch yourself in a hurtful thought and choose to let it go and replace it with one of acceptance and love. Each time you do something like this, your auric field becomes stronger, larger and brighter. It’s much like physical exercise – your energy system becomes better toned, more resilient, more powerful and brighter the more exercise you give it. When your field is stronger, you feel better physically and are healthier. This is the connection between mind, body and spirit.
You will also find that you will begin to attract better circumstances into your life through the law of resonance. You attract what you put out. Things will change for the better. Doors will open. Opportunities will present themselves. New experiences will manifest. Your understanding will become more comprehensive. Mentors will appear as will protégés. You will begin to exercise positive influence in other people’s lives. And you will begin to change the world around you for the better.
This is the principle of the leaven spoken of in scriptures. It is a chain reaction beginning with intent, acts of kindness, the reshaping of consciousness, the law of resonance and the principle of the leaven. It only takes a little leaven to raise a whole loaf. It is a fire lit from one person’s torch and passed on to another’s unlit torch.
As the Chinese proverb says … the steady flow of water wears away the hardest rock. We don’t always have to swing for the fence. Small acts of kindness, consistently performed, are a powerful force for good in our world, strengthening those who perform them and improving the quality of life for those they touch.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
You are probably not who you think you are, or where you think you are
You are not who you likely think you are, nor are you likely where you think you are. Most of us think of ourselves as a human being – an organic, carbon-based lifeform restricted to living on a second-class planet hidden in the backwaters of the Milky Way. In reality, you are a powerful spiritual being who chose to incarnate into your current physical shell in order to learn certain lessons that would have taken millennia to learn in any other environment. And, in reality, you are not restricted to earth-bound experiences.
The universe is infinite. It is teeming with lifeforms on planets both similar and dissimilar to our own. The type of primary lifeforms on some of these planets are similar to ourselves and on other planets they are very different. But it doesn’t stop there. There are at least ten dimensions to the universe … perhaps more … and they all represent very different landscapes with a variety of different lifeforms.
And the amazing thing is that all of this is available to you.
Quantum physics teaches that we all occupy all points in space and time. We are restricted to our earth-bound experience only by our focus of consciousness. Focus your conscious to another place or to another point in time … and you are there.
No, it’s not easy. It takes practice and commitment. But all good things do. Do not let that deter you.
Refocusing your consciousness takes you to different landscapes in a different way than the out-of-body experience (OBE). It is not necessary to leave your body to visit other environments … as amazing as an OBE is.
When I work with someone on healing and they are in a different physical place than I am … in another town or even another state or country … I simply enter a state of meditation and connect with that person’s higher self in the higher dimensions – typically the astral. I am then able to work on their astral body and the effects carry down into the physical body in the third dimension. Occasionally I may actually visit the person in the third dimension and work with them there. Although they’ve given me consent to do so, they may not be aware of when or where I am working with them.
The same technique is practiced by most remote-viewers. In general, these people do not leave their bodies in the sense that their etheric double separates and travels the physical dimension to another location. They simply redirect their focus of consciousness and are able to see whatever their target is in any place on earth … or elsewhere in the cosmos.
It is an amazing universe – infinite, complex and teaming with life. And the incredible thing is that it is all yours to explore … now and not in some future tense.
The universe is infinite. It is teeming with lifeforms on planets both similar and dissimilar to our own. The type of primary lifeforms on some of these planets are similar to ourselves and on other planets they are very different. But it doesn’t stop there. There are at least ten dimensions to the universe … perhaps more … and they all represent very different landscapes with a variety of different lifeforms.
And the amazing thing is that all of this is available to you.
Quantum physics teaches that we all occupy all points in space and time. We are restricted to our earth-bound experience only by our focus of consciousness. Focus your conscious to another place or to another point in time … and you are there.
No, it’s not easy. It takes practice and commitment. But all good things do. Do not let that deter you.
Refocusing your consciousness takes you to different landscapes in a different way than the out-of-body experience (OBE). It is not necessary to leave your body to visit other environments … as amazing as an OBE is.
When I work with someone on healing and they are in a different physical place than I am … in another town or even another state or country … I simply enter a state of meditation and connect with that person’s higher self in the higher dimensions – typically the astral. I am then able to work on their astral body and the effects carry down into the physical body in the third dimension. Occasionally I may actually visit the person in the third dimension and work with them there. Although they’ve given me consent to do so, they may not be aware of when or where I am working with them.
The same technique is practiced by most remote-viewers. In general, these people do not leave their bodies in the sense that their etheric double separates and travels the physical dimension to another location. They simply redirect their focus of consciousness and are able to see whatever their target is in any place on earth … or elsewhere in the cosmos.
It is an amazing universe – infinite, complex and teaming with life. And the incredible thing is that it is all yours to explore … now and not in some future tense.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
As infants and toddlers we gradually grow to learn the meaning of words. One of the words that causes occasional parental dismay is "why." When a young child learns the meaning of that word, the questions never end. Why is the grass green? Why is the sky blue? Why do I have to go to bed right now? Why can birds fly and I can't? Do birds sneeze? The frustrating part of the equation is that one answer simply leads to another question.
Question: Why do I have to go to bed right now? Answer: Because you need to get your rest. Question: Why: Answer: Because your body needs rest in order to grow. Question: Why: Answer: Because you can't continue to stay awake non-stop without giving your body a chance to rest. It simply isn't built that way. It needs to recharge itself. Question: Why"
Finally, you utter the one magical word invoked by parents worldwide that usually brings the conversation to an end ... BECAUSE!!
When a child continues to ask "why", s/he is seeking. During the teen years you can find them engaging in what seems to adults to be some pretty bizarre behaviors. And when you ask them why they did something they sometimes reply, "I dunno." Funny how we can go from always inquiring "why" things work as they do to sometimes not really giving our actions any serious thought.
There are many things that drive our actions. Some people are driven by money. Their decisions and energy always center around how they can get their hands on more of it. There is a constant insecurity. What they have is never enough. Most of the time they don't even consider what "enough" might be.
Some people are driven by activity. They are uncomfortable with quiet moments and periods of reflection and always have to be doing something in order to feel right with themselves and the world. They view inactivity as worthless and don't feel worthy unless they are engaged in "something."
Some people are driven by jealousy or greed. They always view themselves as being on the wrong side of the fence. To them, the grass is always greener on the other side and their actions are driven by trying to keep with with the Jones'.
Mentors are simply driven to do what is right. Their overall purpose is to heal and make whole. To heal encompasses a wide field but it is always affiliated with rightness. When the mentor is about the business of healing, he can always be assured that he is doing what is right.
He may be engaged in healing himself This might involve physical exercise, meditation, introspection or emotional housecleaning. He might be involved in healing a relationship. This may entail admitting he is sorry about something he did, acting as a peacemaker between feuding parties of helping another to find their way out of a difficult situation. He might be a healing agent in a community project such as heading a recycling effort, volunteering to tutor at a local school or participating in a neighborhood watch. He may be engaged in the healing arts as a physician, nurse, therapeutic touch practitioner or other such roles.
But whatever he is involved in, he does so consciously.
There are many things people do on a daily basis that they do unconsciously. Some things we do consciously but we are not proud of them. This isn't the case with mentors. Mentors are purpose driven and act on a conscious basis to a larger extent than the general population. Healing supersedes and embraces all other activities, roles or purposes in which they could be engaged. They teach their students to always act consciously, to be engaged in only those activities that are healing in nature and to always remember the impact of their actions on themselves and on others.
By teaching these principles, they help their students avoid the p light described by Isaiah, "I have labored to no purpose. I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing." Instead, they participate in quite another experience related by Isaiah, "... those who keep their purpose firm have perfect peace."
Question: Why do I have to go to bed right now? Answer: Because you need to get your rest. Question: Why: Answer: Because your body needs rest in order to grow. Question: Why: Answer: Because you can't continue to stay awake non-stop without giving your body a chance to rest. It simply isn't built that way. It needs to recharge itself. Question: Why"
Finally, you utter the one magical word invoked by parents worldwide that usually brings the conversation to an end ... BECAUSE!!
When a child continues to ask "why", s/he is seeking. During the teen years you can find them engaging in what seems to adults to be some pretty bizarre behaviors. And when you ask them why they did something they sometimes reply, "I dunno." Funny how we can go from always inquiring "why" things work as they do to sometimes not really giving our actions any serious thought.
There are many things that drive our actions. Some people are driven by money. Their decisions and energy always center around how they can get their hands on more of it. There is a constant insecurity. What they have is never enough. Most of the time they don't even consider what "enough" might be.
Some people are driven by activity. They are uncomfortable with quiet moments and periods of reflection and always have to be doing something in order to feel right with themselves and the world. They view inactivity as worthless and don't feel worthy unless they are engaged in "something."
Some people are driven by jealousy or greed. They always view themselves as being on the wrong side of the fence. To them, the grass is always greener on the other side and their actions are driven by trying to keep with with the Jones'.
Mentors are simply driven to do what is right. Their overall purpose is to heal and make whole. To heal encompasses a wide field but it is always affiliated with rightness. When the mentor is about the business of healing, he can always be assured that he is doing what is right.
He may be engaged in healing himself This might involve physical exercise, meditation, introspection or emotional housecleaning. He might be involved in healing a relationship. This may entail admitting he is sorry about something he did, acting as a peacemaker between feuding parties of helping another to find their way out of a difficult situation. He might be a healing agent in a community project such as heading a recycling effort, volunteering to tutor at a local school or participating in a neighborhood watch. He may be engaged in the healing arts as a physician, nurse, therapeutic touch practitioner or other such roles.
But whatever he is involved in, he does so consciously.
There are many things people do on a daily basis that they do unconsciously. Some things we do consciously but we are not proud of them. This isn't the case with mentors. Mentors are purpose driven and act on a conscious basis to a larger extent than the general population. Healing supersedes and embraces all other activities, roles or purposes in which they could be engaged. They teach their students to always act consciously, to be engaged in only those activities that are healing in nature and to always remember the impact of their actions on themselves and on others.
By teaching these principles, they help their students avoid the p light described by Isaiah, "I have labored to no purpose. I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing." Instead, they participate in quite another experience related by Isaiah, "... those who keep their purpose firm have perfect peace."
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