Spiritual resolutions

Two Spiritual resolutions you can make now will help improve your outlook for growth in the coming year. The first is to have an “Attitude of Gratitude” and be aware of how grateful you are in the present moment. The second is to approach your world and those around you with an open heart. Developing both areas will increase your awareness and happiness in the coming new decade and beyond.

Be grateful of what you have co-created with Spirit and the Universe. The “Law of Attraction” says you create with your mind what your beliefs are. Take a few minutes and see what you have created together with Spirit in your life around you. Look at the beauty of your surroundings and take a look at your loved ones with you and your temporary possessions. Aren’t they perfect for what your beliefs are? They reflect your past and current thoughts about the Universe and your relationship with your concept of God. If you feel that what you have today is really not what you want you have the opportunity to reflect on what your beliefs truly are. You are like the child who creates a work of art and says they don’t like what they have drawn. This today is your artwork, your creation and your domain, how can you not like what you have made? You have the chance today to examine the beliefs that made what you have today. You can also exercise the choice to alter your beliefs to bring about what you would like to see in your life the next time you reflect.

Developing an open heart is to look at the world from the Spirit perspective. Your refection of the Universe within you gets expressed from the heart and not the brain. That expression is transmitted by what you are showing to others and not what you say. In the heart your true beliefs are reflected from the Inner Knowing to the outside world. Through Prayer and Meditation we can exercise the heart and start expression the Joy and Love that is within. The heart can only feel Joy and Love as that is what its purpose is. By looking at our world with more Love and Joy can we develop what the heart wants to express, the true expression of God’s Love for all mankind.

In the coming year and beyond appreciate what you have in the moment, and truly Love others, be an expression of God’s Love. This time of year is about rebirth and rejoicing in the true abundance of our Universe. Let us carry this renewal out into our world and influence the world of others through our expression of the knowledge of the Spirit of God.

A question of forgiveness

Forgiveness is the key to freeing up the blocked energy of the heart. When the heart is blocked the Goodness of the Universe or Divinity cannot flow through and the goals we want in life somehow are delayed or even self denied. A free flowing heart is one that expands with life’s challenges and makes the changes within us to grow through our obstacles rather then be defeated and denied.

Our lower energies of anger, fear, resentment, disappointment and intolerance keep us away from our own Goodness and Divine nature. We can deny or allow these feeling for only so long, but in the present moment they will rule our lives and control our actions towards ourselves and others causing havoc as they run amok in our daily life’s. Operating on these lower levels is light running a 100w light bulb on 15w, not a bright thing to do.

One of the first keys to forgiveness is to recognize that this act is an inside state of mind. We have the blocked heart and the difficulty, often times the person or event in question will have no earthly idea they need forgiveness let along our forgiveness. We must go deep inside through meditation and prayer to discover the root of our lower energy feelings and seek through Divine Guidance how to resolve our inner conflict. We take a deep look at the people and/or circumstances that we believe have caused us harm or generated the most fear. We have discussed our fear earlier in our discussion of questions. By opening up our brain frequencies through mediation we can get to the higher heart energies and see where we have perceived our separateness form our Universal Mind and how we have put up lower energy roadblocks. This may require several attempts as some of the feelings of fear anger and resentment become rooted deeply into our sub-consciousness. We may uncover thing we did not know about ourselves and our beliefs. Go not in fear but with the spirit of an adventure exploring who we really are and who we say we are.
Next we relive the memory with the idea that we can replace our fear with present knowledge and the remembering that we are Divine Beings having a human experience. In order for our Divine selves to grow and prosper we must recognize that our outside experiences need to reflect our inner knowing. Forgiveness is getting the outside and the inside the ability to be matched or Whole.

True forgiveness is a lifetime project and pursuit. It is necessary for a prosperous, content life filled with joy and happiness and free to express itself. May the journey into yourself be one without fear and trepidation for a life of peaceful contentment is worth it. See that your Inner self reflects the outer self and the flow of energy increases from your heart and the flow of Divine Energy radiates throughout your entire being.

Questiong our fears

Volumes have been written about fear. Yet it is the question of our own fears that control our lives and our impact upon this planet. When we live our lives based upon our fears and our beliefs in those fears we have missed an important boat. We have let outside influences control our Insides and have given our choices away. When we do not question our fears and just let them run amok that we find ourselves in challenging times and circumstances. We draw our fears to us and feel helpless because they manifested themselves.

One of the acronyms about fear that I learned was Forget Everything And Run. This is the cleaned up version that I choose to discuss, as the older version would decrease my readership. When faced with something we do not wish to face we purposely forget about it and avoid the situation, person and challenge. This is a guarantee to bring it about at a later date and in a more intense fashion. When we run, we deny its existence and in doing so give it power over us. A small situation turns quickly (most of the time) into a massive situation that demands our attention or makes the denial so much harder to create. Fear starts to permeate everything we do and think about. We lose our sense of control and go into a downward spiral of increased fear and depression.

Another acronym that I have heard said is False Events Appearing Real. In the study of the Course in Miracles they go into great depth and detail about how we must look at our surroundings in a different way. As with the theories of Quantum Physics are now suggesting all we see and are aware of is an energy field of the smallest form that have grouped together to serve a common purpose, If we believe in an omnipresence was must agree that God is in everything and everywhere. If we believe that premise then we must ask ourselves is this a loving and a loving Universe? Our fear or faith will provide the answer to this question. Do I have fear because economists say we are in a depression/recession? An idea of lack or that there is not enough for “me” in this world would make the case for we are in desperate times and we got left out. Our ideas that “they” get but “I” don’t have reinforced the concept that lack in this world exists. Never mind that in the rest of nature our idea of lack does not exist.

We must look at our fears and replace them with more productive beliefs. We can look at the world from a new perspective, one of faith in the Universal mind and our belief in God. Our world can be a prosperous and loving one while the outside world appears to dispel the notion of prosperity and loving humans. We can chart a course to make our portion of the world a personal Utopia in the desire to spread our wealth and hope to the Universe as a Whole. Based on fear it will not happen based upon Universal Truths and loving thoughts it is not only possible but likely.

A Question of Remembering September 11,2001

As with many of us, the events of September 11, 2001 changed my life forever. I was out exercising and preparing for a trading day of the stock exchange when I arrived back home from my bike ride I saw the news and the second tower being hit. Devastated and in awe I watched as the events of that day unfolded. Was this the start of something larger, will further atrocities happen next? I live under a flight path of an International airport and next to what appeared to me as a likely target. The silence of the planes cast an eerie silence over my house. Having met a lot of people on Wall Street and the financial community I waited to hear whether or not my acquaintances made it through the ordeal.

As the days followed I took a look at my path and what I truly believed in on a spiritual level. A tragedy of this magnitude had to have some good come out of it. This was a way of awakening massive amounts of people quickly. I saw my country gather together in a manner that hadn’t occurred in my lifetime. Everyone was patriotic, everyone was a part of the Whole, we asked for help from other countries and they immediately supported our efforts. I thought this may be a great dawning, a new beginning, a time to realize we are a global community not just a nation ,but a nation among many. Our leadership ability as a growing and prosperous nation will lead the way in peace and understanding throughout the entire planet. This tragedy will serve as a building block for real understanding among nations, a true United Nations standing hand and hand against extremism and negative thought patterns so long held as core beliefs.

I was excited as our government worked together to move forward and resolve to make changes. I saw people on both sides of the political aisle put aside differences and strive to make the nation stronger, healthier and encourage the growth needed form surviving such a national tragedy. I saw for the first time in my lifetime our form of government really work, really tackle projects, to really do the right thing.

My own choices, in my own life needed changing. My livelihood as I knew it was destroyed with the towers. The markets would be in turmoil for some time and my heart was not into the long rebuilding process. I had spent a long time in front of a computer screen analyzing the markets and determining the best course of action to maximize profits and being in the right place at the right time. At this point, I felt as if there was no point for me at least. I needed to get back to working with people,. I had the idea that by being a friend, being available to other human beings a difference can be made for the betterment of the planet. I had been in isolation with the markets to too long and needed to change my outlook. I vowed to myself to give back to people, to make a difference and that road has changed my life. And I hope in some way can change even a small part of this world to look at things differently, to look at life from a Whole perspective to not just be isolated as an individual or as a country but to look further beyond our differences to the similarities and the Oneness that we are.

A Question of Health

It’s a question of health, can we obtain perfect health? At a time when we are all hearing about Health Care and the reform debate continues on as to who is responsible for your health, your employer or your country. Can we take this a step deeper and look at who is responsible for our health care.

We spend a lot of our time these days making sure our hands are clean, our environment is sanitized and free of dangerous germs that makes us sick. Yet haven’t these same germs been around since we started inhabiting this planet? Are they more dangerous today ,then before? We even have a center for Disease Control to monitor our progress on the latest epidemic that threatens to kill us all. We have government agencies, a massive commercial marketplace all thriving because we look outside ourselves for our health.

I am not for abolishing any of these resources, as they can be useful when an outbreak of something awful occurs and to keep the population as a whole healthier. But, do we need ,or want to rely on outside influences to gain or maintain our health? Being able to use this body while we are here is an important part of our more important purpose. Longevity and ease of mobility of this body can be useful in promoting enlightenment. While health of our body is useful, it is not a requirement to enlightenment, knowing how to heal yourself and others is an important lesson however in personal growth.

An internal source for our health and well being is important. We need to see we are all connected and the health of one means the health of us all. The health of one of our cells is the health of the whole being. Our discussion of health should really be one of Universal health care and not just a national health care. We must see the world as a healthy place to live.

In our own selves it means treating each cell with importance, acknowledging it existence and importance to the whole and transferring healing energy to all of our systems. This energy system can be manipulated through our thoughts, and observers energy levels We have discovered that when a system (any system) is overloaded with stress and to much information to assimilate that the system cannot function as it used to. It will adapt to a new situation or it will cease to exist. have we not seen this in our economic system as of late? Our bodies systems and organs react the same way. With too much stress they will go through an adaptive stage, may even demonstrate as dis-ease, and then move on to create a new and different system. This can at its extreme be a chronic disease such as cancer or a long term disorder.
When we acknowledge the stress, change our course of dealing with it and change the systems role through meditation and healthy living we can affect our own health in a positive way and influence those who we are close to make the choices needed for effective body system management. We have then made a change to the Whole and started our own World Heath Organization.

A Moutaintop Question

The true measure of a man is by the questions he/she asks. What other evaluation do we have that gets to the real heart of the matter, the true core of one’s existence? So, how important are the questions we ask ourselves daily? Do we ponder our life purpose, or more importantly, if we know our life’s purpose, what am I doing today to fulfill that purpose?
There was a song when I was young that started out with a story and an interesting question, It went something like this:
There was a man who climbed up to the top of a mountain to ask the Master a question:
What is the meaning of life, dear Master?
The master said first you must spend three years in constant meditation and return to me. The man spent three years in constant meditation and returned to the mountain.
The Master asked: Did you do as I have asked?
The man said: Yes Master I have.
The Master replied: Life is like a beanstalk, isn’t it?
We do not need to go outside ourselves for the answers we already have placed within ourselves. We do however need to ask the right questions. The meaning of life is an individual answer as it has to do with our purpose and that overall has one answer, but individually expressed. Our purpose is our beanstalk, isn’t it?
Asking a simple question can present challenges if we have a tendency to ask...Why me? Your human mind will come up with all sorts of answers to make sense of that question and it will be answered. We will find that the answers to envelope all the fears and self doubts we ever had and logically tell us in great detail why indeed it is you.
On the other hand, when you ask for a clear purpose in life, that answer will come to you also. The Universe will answer the question of what we are to do with this existence at this time. The answer can be an easy one or one we need to explore further but we will always be made aware of it.
The answer leads to many other questions. The most important being is:
What am I doing today to fulfill my life’s purpose?
That answer will come and more questions will be asked of you on the journey of your life’s purpose. It seems the more information you have, the more you want to know and the more you want to know the less you feel you know. As you experience the vastness of some of the answers to the questions that you pose you will no doubt do more exploring.
Ultimately the more you know the more you question. Have a good arsenal of questions to ask in mediation and prayer and hear the answers throughout your day as you navigate the pathway to your own mountaintop.

The question of right and wrong

Do you really know the difference between right from wrong? The courts of the United States say we know right from wrong at the age of seven. We, as a resident of this country, state that by the time we are in the second grade we can determine that we are separate from others, and can distinguish the difference between a right act and a wrong act. Do we not judge our own children by this criterion? The ability to distinguish him/herself from his peers and siblings and from his parents is one of the basic things we look for as we determine appropriate and inappropriate behavioral patterns. Before this time there may have been some confusion on “what is mine” from what may not be his/hers. Now at the age of seven we know the meaning of right from wrong.

If we lived in a truly black and white world, a concrete physical place where the laws of physics and life are well established and never fluctuated then the answer would be a definitive yes and no discussion would be warranted. But we live in a chaotic world that is in flux, new laws of Quantum Physics being discovered almost daily and the norm is ever changing. In the world we live in, the blurring of our established tenets are fogging up at the very least and challenged daily at the other end of the spectrum.

When we, as humans, move into a more abstract state of thought and recreation the dogma of the traditional mores of our society are in a flux. A transition to include the data overload of our communication age needs to happen as our concrete way of looking at the world becomes obsolete as a rusty tool that gets left alone the garage of our inner mind. Living, as we do in this state requires the examination of our tools, a oiling of the rust and a sharpening of our thought patterns to bring about a working, growing, unlimited look at the question of right or wrong.
As human beings do we know what we are capable of? Would there be a situation where knowing “right from wrong” were we would choose the wrong? If threatened enough could we be capable of harming or killing another human being even though we “know” that would be wrong? Is there a cause, such as our American way of life ,where we would put down our own lives for? Is there a time when we would steal, to provide for our families needs? Is there a time and a place for dishonesty?

As a Spiritual being, we need to look at what the inner most part of our being wants us to deliver to the world as a Whole. The answer to this question has been stated over and over in various forms, but at it’s essence it is LOVE. You can ask how I can demonstrate LOVE and this may indeed be a further discussion by this author. But your inner Self knows it’s expression and it is time for the outer body to demonstrate it

A right and wrong that is flexible? It is an interesting concept, and one I must say we have implied with our life. It is also something to explore in our inner-selves as we explore what makes us unique human beings while being a part of the Whole of life.

A look at the Truth

What is the “Truth” of a situation? A fairly common question, isn’t it? This is a question that we may ask, if not in those words, but with similar meaning, everyday about a wide variety of things. We want to “get to the bottom” of the problem, “see it for what it is”, or even just “know the truth” about whatever it is we are searching for. But, do we really want to know? How deep do we want to go to “get to the bottom”?

In exploring eastern philosophies we learn the idea of more then one truth. There is the outside level of truth or the common sense truth of the question. How does it affect this human body, mind and existence on this planet is the common form of the question. The next deeper level looks into how this question affects the “Whole” of nature, the Universe and the “Spirit” aspect of my existence.

The first level of truth deals with the outside cause and effect of the question asked. If I do this…then this will happen. Traditional science says that what you cause to happen will have a predictable effect on the situation. This truth is useful when the question is simple and the outcome is predictable. Most times we can stop here and this alone will be the truth of the situation. We deal in this truth on a daily basis and with simple questions may be the only truth we seek. Volumes have been written on simple “cause and effect”, we teach this theory in schools and most scientific studies are conducted with this premise to demonstrate to us the “laws of Nature” and our deeply held “truths”.

More has been learned lately about how effect the Universe around us. The book and movie “The Secret” has explored a deeper realization that we as an “observer” have influenced our truths and the “cause and effect” model of science. Studies are being conducted daily about how the mind, the inner knowing center of ourselves, can influence what we manifest in our own universe.
Thoughts held in mind produce after their kind.
We manipulate, either on purpose or without our conscience awareness, what we bring in to our lives. This muddles the “truth” if we have an influence over it. Can we change the truth of our existence? Can we “get to the bottom” if we control what we determine the bottom to be? The deeper truth requires us to know the inner-self, the actualized self and the spiritual nature of our being. When we are at “One” with the universe around us can we know the real “Truth” about the nature of those things around us. This is a daunting task to say the least. One that needs some exploring and awareness .to become actualized. But to answer the more difficult questions needs to be addressed with this determination and exploration. We can find the “Truth” with the right questions and “Know” the answer is the correct one for us and the Universe.

To explore more about these concepts please review the works of Genpo Rhosi and Ken Wilber. A good resource is Integral Naked http://in.integralinstitute.org/

A meditator's story

I have been mediating for many years now. I discovered it when I was in high school; I went to a seminar called Silva Mind Control. It had a lasting impact on my life and changed my course of history for the better. I may be showing my age now, because Jose Silva’s work has been called many things since this time and has been transformed by Jose Silva’s daughter into a premiere self help and human growth community. It taught me how to go deep into mediation and the benefits of sub-conscience thought and its importance. This seminar many years ago transformed my life into a healing journey and one of awakening. I still seek some of the answers today I learned to question way back then.
The importance of daily meditation has not been as crucial to me as it is today. We are in a stage of real transformation, both on a personal level and as the Earth as a Whole. The importance of being in touch with the Universal Mind and our role in the expanding global awareness of spiritual reality has never been greater. This transition stage from communication development to human/spiritual development is a challenging time and our generation may not know the outcome of but our work today in mind expansion will be remembered for eons to come.
The personal side of meditation is that I can keep up with the stress and daily demands of living in the world today. With communication and data being at the highest levels ever we are bombarded by information that even a few years ago was unheard of. Our decisions made today are more complex because we need to sort though a plethora of data communications and choices past generations did not have to deal with. My children have more decisions in a day then I had as a child in a month. The information is great and I am not advocating going backward, but we need to learn how to decipher the “garbage in/garbage out” of everyday life. Meditation is that answer.
I have found that for me twice daily times of relaxation and meditation are the most helpful. Pondering the task that I have for the day in the morning helps me stay focused and goal oriented for the rest of my day. A reflective time at the end of the day for reflection and introspection really helps wind down the day.

More about questions

As we look at the questions we should be asking, we look for a purpose, a quest, a reason for “it all”. So how do we define the question further and what answers do we expect. The question always determines the answer we are given. How deep do you want to go, how deep is your question?

When we establish our goals we seek Divine Intervention. We ask in private, a prayer if you will of what our direction would best serve the Whole. It starts out as a release, letting go of all past beliefs, false hopes and letting go of the fear of the outcome. This release is an important part of the process of proper questions, for we can shape our own answer before asking the question. If we are stuck in the past or worried about the future, our own beliefs will come back as an answer, maybe the incorrect one if we are not present in the moment. The moment is the only time we possess in Divine Time and the only way to really get the Devine Intervention we seek.

So we quiet ourselves, thinking only in the Present, and begin the journey. The question is asked and we wait for an answer. The answer comes through meditation, a clearing of the mind from the vast number of thoughts it holds. The answer comes to us in varied forms that we determine. Some see visions, others voices, still others a feeling of peace when we ponder on the correct answer.
Next is what we do with the answer. This stage can determine the outcome of the answer. Many will go on “as if” and ignore the Answer; others will wrestle with the Answer and deny the vision of the future. Still others will seek direction through the current belief system and get “stuck”. To make the difference we must hold the answer in Mind, letting the vision become a part of us. This is done by living the outcome until the answer becomes the only way we live. We feel how it feels, we act “as if” it has occurs and we visualize only the Answer as being “real”.

Our questions will always be answered if asked in this manner. We can hold the visions to the Light or we can continue on what we know as familiar and lose sight of our own Divinity. The only avenue for me is to keep seeking and living the Answers I receive.

What are the Questions you are asking

What are the questions we are asking ourselves? We are always going to find the answers we are seeking; it is what we were designed to do. Our thought process is the most important thing we own as individuals of the One. Our question must be what are we asking for?

On the surface it may seem to be quite clear, we may be asking for, a loving relationship, financial prosperity, physical healing and personal growth, all great things to have in this lifetime. At different stages of this life experience we have asked for these things and many of us have attained them in one form or another. As human beings we seek to have our needs filled.

What if you put forth the question: God can you heal me? And the answer was simply; YES. The answer would be the exact one you sought, but would have little actual meaning because you would still feel like you were not whole. We have sought an answer not an outcome, we have missed the point. As a resident of a tourist area I get asked for directions many times a week. When asked can you tell me how to get to the Magic Kingdom I say, yes, I can. I then stand there for a moment and they ask; will you tell us? I then tell them the right answer. The reactions I get are varied and I do not wait long before answering them. I want to make a small point, but not offend them.

I find the most important question I can ask is: How can I be of service today? When I ask this question first thing in the morning, my day opens up for me. The opportunities to help others and ask the right questions come to me and I am at a peaceful place to live and grow. More on this question later please add your comments and discussions as I would like to have more questions to ask.