The Practice:
Give over to good.
Why?
In every moment, you and I and everyone and everything else – from quantum foam to fleeting thoughts, intimate relationships, rainforest ecosystems, and the stars themselves – are each a kind of standing wave, like the ever-changing though persistent pattern of water rising above a boulder in a river.
We are the result of multiple causes flowing through us. As Buckminster Fuller famously said, “I seem to be a verb.”
This fact is amazing, but it’s corroborated by both modern physics and deep ecology. We can get silly-cosmic about it (done this myself – not only as a college sophomore!), but the implications are very down to earth.
As unique standing waves, you and I are constructed each moment by the currents – the forces and factors, both internal and external – flowing through us. We have no choice about being lived by these currents, continually given over to them.
But we can choose to give ourselves over to the good ones.
By “good,” I mean that which leads to happiness and benefit for you and others; “bad” means the opposite. (Of course, honesty about what is actually turning out to be truly good is important; history holds many cautionary tales about people giving themselves over to things they thought were good – e.g., Nazism – but weren’t.)
Giving over to good means relaxing into, opening to, being buoyed and guided by things like your own naturally good heart, the impulse to take the high road, love, compassion, vitality, courage, the longing for justice, and the wisdom and support of good friends.
Then your life’s wave becomes simpler, happier, and more beneficial.
How?
There are two steps: knowing what the “good” is for you, and then giving yourself over to it.
Diseases point the way to the future if we pay attention. This holds especially true of the global outbreak of coronavirus COVID-19. It is clear that some important lessons have emerged already. Some of these are obvious because they are so visible: Uncertainty is a major cause of panic. No one could miss that lesson. Economies reflect mass psychology. This lesson follows from the first, because the plunge in worldwide markets has been driven by uncertainty.
But if you look a bit deeper, COVID-19 exposes a need to take human well-being more seriously. The great push to create a welfare state is around a century old, and certain countries like Sweden and Denmark went much further than the United States. But even in places where democratic socialism won the day, true human welfare wasn’t addressed. The basic right to have guaranteed housing medicine, and education—the cornerstones of the modern welfare state—treat people as economic units.
Actual well-being looks very different. Its hallmarks are community and mutual support, valuing happiness as essential to human life, affording lifelong good health, living in an environment with pure air and water, a lack of violence with a necessary emphasis on peace, equal acceptance for all, and the abolition of us-versus-them thinking of the kind that builds barriers of every kind.
I've Been Thinking...
“We would like the country to realize that as a nation we can’t be doing the kinds of things we were doing a few months ago…” —Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
That is the truth of this moment and what a moment this is. It’s a moment to listen up, pay attention, and follow the guidelines so that those on the frontlines are better able to do their jobs.
Like all of you, I’ve been trying to make sense of the seriousness of this moment and yet also get some perspective as I’ve lived through many big “moments” in my life. The Cuban missile crisis, the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, the AIDS epidemic, and of course, 9/11.
All of our lives are made up of moments. Some big. Some small. Some inconsequential. Some life defining. Some joy-filled. Some traumatic.
Usually, the moments we experience in our lifetime are deeply personal. The moment you fall in love. The moment your child is born. The moment you get your dream job. The moment someone you love passes away.
It’s rare, however, that we face a collective moment like the one we are experiencing right now. Rarely do we all experience a moment like this simultaneously.
Stress is self created, therefore mastering ourselves is truly in our own hands. Stress looms large on a conscious or sub conscious level in our lives. As much as it is the manifestation of our own minds, it is also controlled by it, and we need to understand this.
SOURCE OF POWER
The power of the sub conscious is a power that never sleeps or rests. We can discover it's miraculous effects by plainly stating to the subconscious, before sleeping, a specific required accomplishment. Amazingly, much to your initial surprise, you will see your desire accomplished. Here is a power putting you in touch with the universal forces. Live in the faith and belief, as to the wisdom of the Universe. This is the power that moves the world
SYNCHRONICITY
This is a magical phenomenon and it is the key to the door of Infinitesimal possibilities. It provides us with coincidences which lead to real results. This goes to tell us that when we are in the right energy space, information comes to us from whichever energy source is required.
The stresses are created in this very state, so they can only be de activated in this state of mind.
TRANSITORY HAPPINESS
You can remember many instances in your life which made you elated. It could have been a matter of getting a first class in High School, a post graduate degree with flying colors, the excitement on the day you got married or when you bought your first car. These were all moments of elation in your life, but did that happiness continue is the question. It was only transitory, it lasted in moments, and then after a little while brought you back to your same old questioning self.
CHOOSE HAPPINESS
You have to learn to make a choice. Life changes everyday from moment to moment. You need to decide what is it that you desire. Allow the divine order to flow through you.
REAL SUCCESS
This pinnacle can only be reached through dramatic change. Stress is actually unhealthy energy. We need to clear the old and unhealthy energy, so that we make space for a newer vibration.
Two major types of release of energy are essential:
- PHYSICAL: This means mainly exercising the body so that you can release chronic tension. Breathing deeply is one way, massage also moves the energy and so does any kinds of muscle movement.
- MENTAL: Letting go of negative thoughts. Emotional energy is dependent on thoughts. Mind sends signals to convey our beliefs. Negative self talk creates depression and fear and this in turn damages the personal energy field.
CHANGE OF PERCEPTION
As you change your perception to a happier zone, you actually shift your personal energy. The bottom line of successful manifestation is the intention to create Joy in your life. Life is then a blissful adventure. The process of continuously flowing energies, creates a domino effect in terms of manifestation. Being happier shifts your energy. This also moves what you attract in life. This goes to prove that ongoing manifestation is a result of our desire to create ongoing happiness.
BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF
Question yourself, are you peaceful, joyous and happy by your own personal standards. Take a while to contemplate on your answer. Be honest about it, as your success hinges on your own answers.
BELIEVE AND IT WILL HAPPEN
Lots of people feel frustrated when their desires are not met. If you are dwelling on obstacles, delays and difficulties, then that is what you will be attracting. Your subconscious mind responds to your desires. You will be blocking your own good by attracting negative thoughts. Desire to do things in a positive way.
CONNECTION
The balance you create with your Higher Self and your Physical Self is what helps you to access all the information, power and resources you need, to create a joyous and happy space within. Working towards creating this balance, is what is inherently essential.
It is your own endeavor that will attract you, and connect you to your personal energy field, with the infinite realm of possibilities available to you. Your own self mastery will create a major shift in your consciousness, open newer pathways for you, and open your life to newer and higher truths leading to success.
These days, life moves at a rapid pace and racing along with it is our tired, over-worked mind. With everything we have to do each day, we are constantly thinking and over-thinking. If we’re not thinking about what we need to accomplish for our day, we’re thinking about what we’re going to be doing tomorrow or what we wish we would have done differently yesterday.
This type of thinking is often referred to as the “monkey mind” and can be a huge contributor to the stress we experience in our lives.
Did you know that stress is the basic cause of 60% of all human illness and disease? 44% of stressed people lose sleep every night and a loss of sleep and sleep deprivation contributes to being deficient in performing simple daily tasks, among other ailments.
When the world doesn’t feel like it’s slowing down anytime soon, how do we address the spinning thoughts and stress created from our monkey minds each day?
But we need to realize that our whole life is in our own hands. We can turn the wheel in any which way we want. Since our goal in life is happiness and true joy, we need to keep our focus on this very goal and move forward in life accordingly.
TRANSFORMATION
Transformation is not really a future event. It is actually the present activity that stimulates what is coming on.
Happy Holidays!
Do those words cause you a bit of stress?
For some, the holidays bring on the extra pressure of gift giving and far too many activities. For others, the holidays bring feelings of loneliness and depression.
For you it could be the uncomfortable conversations with people you rarely see or maybe you’re just tired of the same old jokes, jabs and drama.
Whatever it is that causes you stress during the holidays, rest assured that lots of others feel the same way.
Take a breath. It’s ok!
Let’s start this holiday season off on the right foot. Instead of dreading what’s to come, enjoy the beauty of the season feeling relaxed and happy.
Here are 3 things you can do to get started:
Get to know your Ego Puppy
Imagine being the proud owner of a new puppy. It comes to you with all the needs of a new baby. It needs constant love, affection, attention and nourishment to reach its full potential.
And just like a new baby puppy, sometimes little Ego Puppy just doesn’t behave. He runs amok, destroying your possessions and piddles all over the floor!
Now imagine this little Ego Puppy is your own ego mind, running amok and causing problems for everyone.
And here’s something else to consider, everyone else in your family got a member of Ego Puppy’s litter at the same time.
Although unique in so many ways, all ego puppies have the same original configuration. They have all been born broadcasting their own brand of ego mind concepts, and need to be trained out of disruptive, disease causing confusion.
You can’t control the Ego Puppies each family member brings to the holiday gathering, but you can work on training your own.
Let’s get started.
I want to talk about how as conscious individuals we have the capacity to change our own thoughts, and consequentially our own reality. Positive expectations means that we create a dynamic awareness, which turns our positive thoughts into a reality by producing a vibrant energy attracting Universal blessings.
“Subscription” once referred mainly to printed magazines and newspapers (“Your subscription is about to expire—please renew”). Now it’s the backbone of online communication. If you ask a question or sign a petition online, you automatically get subscribed to a barrage of ongoing emails. Subscription has become a cyber activity, distanced from anything real or living. We don’t subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, life. It’s just there, always supporting us. We can, however, lose touch with the essential simplicity of life. We can get entrapped in excess minutia—like too many emails.
A few weeks ago, I reached critical overload with the number of non-personal emails flooding my inbox. Political and environmental groups, spiritual programs and teachers, doctors and alternative healthcare practitioners, bookstores and theaters, online businesses. What a waste of time just to delete them multiple times a day! I went through and unsubscribed from virtually everything except a few key ones. At the same time, I decided to cut back on social media, visiting only occasionally. It was a relief. I felt as if I had lifted the heavy weight of contemporary social busyness and distractions off my shoulders. At least one day a week now I don’t even turn on my computer or phone. Wow, what freedom!
“It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.” -Henry Ward Beecher
I've Been Thinking...
I can’t believe it’s December already. I mean, oh my gosh. How did that happen? I’m anxious already!
Most years, I find myself waking up a bit bummed on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I wake up feeling a bit down. Why? Because it sinks in that my favorite holiday is over again. It’s also a day when my youngest son goes back to college, and when my other kids go back to their respective lives. Ugh.
When the anticipation and excitement of Thanksgiving are behind me, I know that it means the stress of Christmas is ahead of me. It stares me down in a way that makes me feel like I’m out of breath.
I know that I need to take a deep breath as I look ahead to December. I need to ask myself, “How can I do better at managing this time of year? How can I be less anxious? How can I be more centered in joy? How can I focus less on stuff and less on checking my list?” (I don’t just check it twice, by the way. I normally check it at least 500 times…)
I’ve come to realize that the stress and anxiety of the holidays are really of my own making (although all the ads don’t help). But, I can make a conscious choice to change how I handle it all.
