CELEBRATION Time is Now !

I used to be grateful every chance I got.  But then I realized I was being grateful "to" or grateful "for" something outside myself.  I was reinforcing the perception of separation between me and all of life.

Then, I cultivated the habit of being in appreciation for everything I experienced.  I felt I was somehow participating in life if I simply appreciated how it was unfolding.

But now I'm practicing CELEBRATION.  When you score the winning goal in the last seconds of the game and we shout and hug and jump and down together (whether we're physically together or not), I'm creating joy by celebrating you, the score, the game, my experience of it and yours and everyone else's.  I am life creating life.  There is no separation.  The part of the whole that is you scored the goal, but the part of the whole that is me had to witness it to create the celebration.

Let's celebrate you, dear friend.  Let's joyously revel in who you are, where you are, and how you are.  If you're feeling down, let's celebrate that . . . in which case "celebrate" means "to experience together objectively."  It means to thoroughly experience/feel what you're feeling until you don't need to feel it anymore (the difference between pure feeling and emotion is that feelings pass through in time but emotions make up stories and stay around forever), note it and learn from it, then move on.  If you're feeling up, let's thoroughly experience/feel what you feeling until you don't need ot feel it anymore, note it and learn from it and move on.

Namaste - I join you in CELEBRATION.

The New Imperative

The time has come for all to take as much of the next step upward in ascension as you are able.   For your learning and understanding, we will call this shift “The New Imperative.”  There are 2 parts of this doctrine which are now ready for your absorption.

(1)    Include all 

(2)    Live vibrationally

Include all means to recognize, accept, and embrace a simple fact: everything that is, is meant to be.  All the things/people/circumstances you enjoy and all the things/people/circumstances you don’t enjoy are all here because they are meant to be here.

Delete the need to hold opinions about anything or anyone.  You will have ample opportunity to express your preferences to the universe by moving toward what you prefer and moving away from what you don’t prefer.  But the tangled duality-based energy of an opinion gets in the way of the universe giving you what you prefer.  The contrast of experiencing negative things/thoughts/feelings has been useful in helping you to clear yourself of energies that no longer serve you, but the time of contrast is passing.  And, you are in control of how much contrast shows up in your life.

Delete the need to be right or observe right or wrong in the world, and you clear the passage for all that you prefer to come to you

 IF

You follow the second half of the new imperative which is to live vibrationally.

To live vibrationally means to recognize that there is no Santa Claus or Old Man God to give to the “good” and take away from the “bad.”  It means to recognize that all levels of vibration exist in the universe (which manifest as events and people in your world) just as there are all notes on the musical scale.  The composer does not “like” major notes and “dislike” minor notes – the composer uses them all to create an interesting piece of music, always aware of harmony and disharmony.

When you can recognize and claim the essence of your being and be clear on your preferences, the universe can respond in kind.  It is the same principle of putting two tuning forks in the sand near each other and striking them to cause them to vibrate.  Leave them alone and they will come into harmony with each other.  This is how the universe works.  If you recognize this and work with it without personalizing everything or exaggerating the importance of things, the universe can work with you.

It doesn’t mean that everything becomes homogenized.  Far from it.  Two notes can be octaves apart and still be in harmony.  They are and remain utterly different, but they have no need to cancel each other out.  They INCLUDE each other’s right to exist and exhibit their preference by staying octaves apart.

Walk into a room and note the vibration within it.  Go into nature and feel the vibration.  Note your own vibration when you wake in the morning, when you walk into a place of business, when you speak to a beloved.  If your resonance is not as clear and pure as you would like, do the work to clear your energy field.  Do it daily, regularly, faithful, mindfullly . . . do the work of paying attention to your vibration and it will set the rest of your life to harmony.  Become a master of your own resonance and you will master your life.

The New Imperative

Include all and live vibrationally

 

Trust

 

 

It’s one little word at the center of so many of our personal issues.  Spirit teaches that we are eternal, divine beings creating our own physical lives for our higher learning and understanding but even the existence of the word “trust” implies that someone else can hurt us by betraying our trust.  That puzzles me.

And, the statement “I can’t trust you” implies that there’s something wrong with the other person, and that puzzles me because Spirit teaches that whatever we see outside ourselves is only a reflection of something within ourselves.  The other person is merely the mirror we are using to highlight something for us to learn.

But the other day, I was ‘listening’ and heard an explanation that ended my puzzlement.  See if it makes sense to you.

If I have a trust issue with another person, it’s because they have behaved in a way that I didn’t expect – they have broken our implicit or implied agreement about how our relationship will work.  There are two steps to rectifying the situation. 

1.     Release my stubborn attachment to my expectations of the other person and realize that they felt they had a good reason for whatever they did.

2.    Re-negotiate our agreement so that no one has to break it.  Sometimes that’s not possible and then it’s time to go apart, but often it’s a matter of one or the other of us not being awake and aware or there’s an underlying issue that needs discussion.

The ego loves the statement, “I can’t trust you.”  It has a noble, long-suffering ring to it that is ever-so-satisfying to the ego who believes that no one can be trusted except itself.  Because of the ego’s tight grip on the situation, sometimes the “I can’t trust you” energy dominates a relationship (or lack of a relationship) for many, many years.

So, to begin to release attachment to the status quo, it’s helpful to realize how, over time, feeling bad has turned into feeling good.  “I wanted to love you.  Truly I did, but I just couldn’t trust you.”  That leaves you feeling like such a “good person done wrong.”  In reality, you were just a good person looking for something that someone else didn’t have to give.  You made an error in judgment.  Let it go.  Let go of shaming the other person and let go of blaming yourself for “looking for love in all the wrong places” as the song says.  Once you realize that it’s really not about what the other person did but rather what you expected them to do (rightly or wrongly), then the equation begins to come back into balance so that healing can begin.  You can then forgive yourself, forgive the other person, and start to move forward – with the other person or without them but definitely WITHOUT the ‘stuck’ energy of “I can’t trust you.”

How Do I Love ME?

Attain the Overview in Order to Love

 

For ever so long on the spiritual path, we have been told to “love ourselves” for we are only able to love others to the degree that we love ourselves.  But, in the quest to know what love is and how to accomplish it, what does it mean to love oneself?

The facile answer is to take care of our bodies – have a massage, treat yourselves to a day at the spa, eat healthy, do yoga, exercise, etc.  Others recommend meditation to calm the mind and constructive hobbies to engage the mind in positive activity.  If there are emotional challenges, some recommend support groups or counseling.

But all of these are external solutions to an internal issue.  You are not your body or your mind or your emotions.  You are a soul who generates a body, mind, and emotions in order to experience/learn what you came into the physical realms to accomplish.

Soul's Beauty Expressed

Locating and living from your own point of origin (the soul) is critical to forward progress on the spiritual path and to fully living an enjoyable life on Planet Earth.  From the pure perspective of soul, there is no such thing as “loving oneself” for there is nothing but love and no one to love for everything is the communal soul.  But the minute you made the decision to have a physical incarnation, you bifurcated into a higher and lower self and this allowed you to perceive separate individuals, separate emotions (love/hate and everything in between), separate times and lives.  So, when considering what it means to “love yourself,” place yourself as close as you can to your point of origin (soul).  See your life from the overview available to soul – this is not your only life, this is not your only place, and everything that occurs here is perfectly orchestrated for your higher learning and understanding.

When you choose (and we emphasize “choose”) to look at your life from that perspective, you have given yourself access to higher levels of love for yourself.  You no longer source your value or worth from those around you.  You no longer perceive love as being based on your own or others’ approval of you.  You accept yourself (and everyone else) unconditionally and realize that everything you have done and everything that has happened to you has been for the purpose of your forward progress.  Now, you are starting to love yourself.

Rather than dreading the lessons of your life, you are eager to progress and so you seek out the tangles within your energy field.  They may manifest themselves as unresolved anger/grief/fear from your early years or from outdated but persistent thought patterns.  With industry, passion, and dedication you eradicate these energetic tangles by allowing your emotions to run through you freely until you have felt them enough.  You will know when this has happened.  It’s a bit like rinsing tangles out of your hair.  It’s not untangled until it is, no matter how much your ego wants it.

A word of caution in this regard . . . the energy of the spiritual warrior who wants to eradicate all energetic tangles and eliminate all lower vibrational energies within oneself can easily slide into prideful, ego-driven fantasies within oneself.  “I don’t need to do my spiritual clearing work every day because I’m so evolved it’s unnecessary.  I’ve done everything my teachers have told me so I must be very advanced on the path.”  A wise man said, “Make no judgments, make no comparisons, delete the persistent need to understand.”  This type of spirituality is based on comparisons with others and is merely a detour on the path.  Pride comes from a need to emotionally protect oneself.  If you find you have wandered down this detour path, simply look to discover the emotions you wish not to feel, the thing you dread being exposed to others, the memory you are trying to forget.  Clear it, feel it, expose it.  It’s a bit like taking the bandage off a healing wound.  The new skin is tender and fragile, but it is pure and real.  Self-declared spiritual evolution is not to be trusted.  Those in bodies simply do not possess the necessary vantage point from which to make such assessments.

So, how can you “love yourself”?  Go to the highest point within yourself and see yourself and your life from that perspective – as close to the unified soul as you can get.  See your life as you would a stage play and get curious about what the writer has created for the next act.

Then go to the spa, eat some chocolate, get a massage, and have a nice meditation.  All those things are lovely to do for the part of you that is your physical body/mind.  They just don’t accomplish loving yourself if you do nothing else.

How will you know when you’ve really started to love yourself?  It’s easy to tell.  Watch for these two symptoms . . .

1.      You feel completely loved by the universe, the angels, the energies, God/Goddess/All That Is, the Great Cosmic Giggle (or whatever name you choose for that unnamable thing that is larger than us all).  This love melts every defense you ever had and leaves you whole, sweet, and soft.  You experience frequent episodes of awe at what’s happening to you interspersed with waves of gratitude for everything and everyone.

2.     You find yourself falling in love with everyone around you – even those you have found difficult in the past.  You see their lives as stage plays they wrote in order to learn lessons, resolve issues, and evolve.  You accept that they are on their path, just as you are on yours so negative judgments or opinions about others are now simply unnecessary.

When you experience these things, you experience the higher realms of Spirit and it just gets better and better.  It all “awaits you in the garden.”

Namaste.

 

How Do I Love Thee?

Those Three Little Words - but what do they mean?

What does  "I love you" mean to you, Dude?

Well, it means “I love you,” you know.

Hmmmmm.  Can you be more specific?

It’s like “You’re hot babe” and she goes “Let’s get it on” and we do.

OK, that’s clear.

(hormone-driven lust)

 What does “I love you” mean to you, Miss Gold Digger?

It’s pretty simple.  First, you make sure you’re looking at a guy not short of money, ya know what I mean?  You say the magic words first and then he’ll feel obligated to say it.  And, you make sure you’re giving him really good sex.  That will get him to marry you, and then you’re set.  You can lead him around by the nose cuz you “love” him and he “loves” you.  And, if he has a little fun on the side, you just ignore it – all your girlfriends will feel sorry for you anyway and no one will blame you when you play around too.  Just make sure he does it first and you tell everyone about it.

(manipulation & control)

 What does “I love you” mean to you, Mr. & Mrs. Properly Done?

It means respect and dignity and not intruding too much on the other’s inner world.  It means that we are a couple in the public’s eyes, so we go places together and do things together.  We are members of the society, and we endeavor to uphold the standards of that community, and that includes not getting too emotionally intimate with ourselves, each other, or anyone else.  Otherwise, we might question the status quo and that simply wouldn’t do.  Physical intimacy is required, of course, but is kept to a minimum and within proper boundaries (no lights on and definitely no introduction of anything new).  When I say “I love you” to my partner, it means I approve of the fact that we share these values.

(conditional love, limited by emotional armoring)

What does “I love you” mean to you, Mr. & Miss Liberal Lover?

Loving my partner means that I feel a heart connection which allows us to accept each other, warts and all.  “I love you” means you can be yourself around me and I will not take personally anything you say or do that might hurt my feelings.  And, if something does hurt my feelings, I promise not to let you know.  I expect you to do the same, so I feel free to share myself with you (physically and emotionally) because I know you won’t judge me or criticize me.  However, we don’t feel as free to share our inner selves with others as they aren’t like us and wouldn’t understand.

(limited acceptance, laden with expectation)

What does “I love you” mean to you, Spiritual Seeker?

It means that I see you.  I know you in your soul.  I make it a point to get in your shoes and see the world from your perspective.  Because of this, I don’t just approve of you; I don’t just want you; I don’t just accept you – I CELEBRATE YOU.  Even though I don’t always hold the same opinion as you or take the same approach in my own life, your joys are my joys.  Your conundrums and bewilderments are mine as well and together, we explore life’s curiosities without negative judgments about ourselves, each other, or anyone else.  I guess what I’m saying is that “I love you” means I’m fully alive within myself.  I include you in myself, and I’m on your side.

(celebration of the other & oneself)

What does “I love you” mean to you, Enlightened One.

There is no “I” and there is no “you.”  There is only love.  Love is not something you do, rather it is what you are at the core being from which your soul emanates.  The separate entities of “I” and “you” were created so that those in physical bodies could experience the heightened energy of bringing the “I” and the “you” back together with love.  Human love naturally evolves through stages of lust, manipulation, approval, lack of criticism, acceptance, to celebration before merging into oneness.  When a being has passed through those stages and has regained the unified field of love, because they bring with them the emotional experience of the full rainbow of feelings available on Earth, they heighten the vibration of the All That Is.  Thus love creates and refines more love.  Love is nothing more than a highly refined vibration, so we do not say “I love you.”  We simply vibrate and love is known to all.

(awareness, oneness, peace)

What do YOU mean when you say, “I love you”?

 

 

 

Shame and Me

An ugly creature stands in front of me, looming over my quivering mass of submissive thoughts and actions.   It's domineering, nasty, and amoral.  This one is called “Shame.”

Shame got created when I was a child and took some candy that belonged to my sister.  She was always mean to me and wouldn’t share any of the special treats she seemed to receive so often.  I just wanted my fair share, so I took it.  But she told our parents, and I was shamed and punished.  Ever since Shame showed up, I go into any new situation knowing that I probably won’t be treated fairly and desperately hiding a feeling that I’m a fraud (not competent or attractive) and about to be found out.

Shame has a sword in its hand and plunges it, once again, into my gut.  I stand there helplessly while feeling the familiar pain of the thrust and the twist.  A resigned, tired voice in my head says, “Oh, THIS again.”

Once I am well and truly gutted, Shame pulls out the sword and then in a stealthy way so that I won’t notice (again), steps beside me and holds my hand.  This is not for my comfort (of course not!).  It’s so that Shame and I are never far apart and so that Shame will never miss an opportunity to re-open the wound as that seems to sustain it and bring it a perverse pleasure.

But, I am strong.  I do not bleed to death, although I’m tempted to do just that to get out of this never-ending pattern.  Instead, I do the only thing that has worked in the past . . . I make myself as small as possible while the wound scabs over.  Once the pain eases and I’m overtaken by the boredom of being small and alone, I shake myself off and go out in the world.  Shame is still with me, still holding my hand but has made itself small and invisible.  I almost believe it is gone, but not quite.

Soon, I find others who “care” enough about me to want to hear my sad tale.  They listen and sympathize.  I feel better.  They tell me it isn’t fair, and I feel even better.  They tell me I’m a good person and don’t deserve this kind of treatment.  Now I feel good enough to be angry at my sister – very angry indeed.  After all, it was her fault for telling our parents.  If she hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have been shamed and punished.  She’s the guilty one.  I’m a good person and a strong one.  I’m going to go tell her what I think, bolstered by my “loving” friends.

When I confront my sister, she throws a lightning bolt of righteous anger at me, demolishing my confidence and cauterizing the original wound.  Now I feel the squeeze of Shame’s hand on mine, and I know that I am not a good person and that speaking up for myself is very dangerous as it will result in more punishment – I will be cast out of my family, or at least that’s what I secretly fear.  Then I will be alone.

 

Oh dear.  This wasn’t a good idea.  I’d better go back to being small and insignificant.

Small and insignificant.  Small and insignificant.  Small and insignificant. 

Small and insignificant . . . but getting bored again.  It’s no fun being unhappy all alone.

I know!  I’ll go on the spiritual path.  That’s it.  Those people get to talk to God, so I’ll learn how to do that and then ask God to fix my sister so I can live a happy life . . . and her too, of course.

OK, I’m here now.  I’m happy to chant “ohmmmmm” with the rest of you if it will help me learn how to talk to God.   Don’t worry about the creature holding my hand.  It hardly ever causes any problems, and if it does, I’ll deal with it.  I’ve done that many times.  I’m sure you’ve all got creatures of one sort or another too, and mine is probably not as powerful as yours.

Oh, I like this meditation thing.  I get really relaxed and I’ve started to have “spiritual experiences.”  This is great.  I have friends to talk to about what happens with me, and they are very impressed with my “abilities.”  I think I’m getting close to talking to God.  I sure hope he/she talks back as I really want to know how to fix my sister.

But, I’m stuck!  I keep meditating but I’m not getting anywhere.  This is frustrating, for heaven’s sake!  Look, God, just tell me what to do.  I’m devoted.  I’m a seeker on the path.  I’ll do anything you tell me to do – just tell me NOW!  Oh, don’t worry about the creature holding my hand.  It hardly ever causes a problem, and if it does I can deal with it, so please just tell me how to fix my sister.  Silence.

Finally, finally, when I least expected it, I heard a quick quiet voice.  Its words were simple and direct, but I didn’t understand them (ok, maybe I didn’t want to understand).

“Love yourself as you are loved.  Let go of Shame’s hand.”

“But, but . . . I can’t do that.  I’m not holding on to Shame’s hand.  It’s holding on to my hand.  I’m the victim here.  I can’t get rid of Shame, but don’t worry God, I know how to deal with it.  It’s just part of life, so let’s get on with fixing my sister.”  And God spoke again.

“Love your sister as you are loved.  Let go of Shame’s hand.”

“But I’m not loved.  That’s the point.  It’s her fault that Shame is with me at all.”

“But, you are loved.  We love you beyond measure and await you in the garden where Shame cannot go.”

“How can you love me?  You wouldn’t love me if you really knew me . . . would you?”

“Yes.  We do know you and we love you.”

Quietly, spoken over the shoulder as I tried to retreat into small and insignificant . . . “even though I stole the candy.”

“No matter what you’ve done and no matter what you do, you are loved.”

And then, God helped me see that I am the master of my fate, the captain of my ship.

“Dear One, release the hand of Shame and know that you are whole and worthy of being loved.  You took the candy because it seemed the right and reasonable thing to do at the time in your child’s mind and heart.  Your sister complained because it seemed the right and reasonable thing to do from the perspective of her child’s mind and heart.  Your parents did not want to invite in Shame.  Shame and Integrity stood in the doorway at the same time, and your parents were trying to invite in Integrity, but you needed Shame to be with you for a time to teach you the lesson of Mastery.  Shame was an effective agent of this learning for it is a sharp and deep emotion, very difficult to eradicate.  One must come to a knowing of his/her own mastery as the creator of this life in order to escort Shame from the premises, and that is what you are in the process of doing.  Here is how the process works . . .

Initially, you release the hand of Shame by recognizing that you’ve been using your victimhood as a way to garner the approval of others, all the while not approving of yourself.  Make a different choice - recognize that you truly are a good person and have integrity now that you have an adult perspective.  This is the first step, but Shame will not leave immediately.  It will remain until you are absolutely sure that there is nothing in Shame that reflects you.  It will stand in front of you until then, just in case you want it back (and many do pull old energies back at this point thus prolonging their ‘stuckness’ – sometimes for lifetimes).

Once you have recognized that Shame is not present because of your sister or anyone or anything else, accept that you asked Shame to participate in your life to help you learn Integrity and Mastery.  Then you must forgive yourself and everyone else involved.   This involves cutting energetic chords with them. Once you have done that, Shame will remove itself, but the memory will stay with you.

There is more to do.  You must train yourself to stop behaviors that no longer serve you such as:

·       Seeking approval from others

·       Entertaining the notion that you are a victim of anyone at any time – take personal responsibility (the most important step toward personal mastery)

In the place of these old behaviors, install the habit of seeing circumstances from an impersonal overview (which is a higher form of love). 

The last step in releasing an inner personal issue is the dissolving of the energy of it, so that it simply no longer exists in your universe.  This is a subtle process and difficult to describe so please, Dear One, listen carefully and absorb.

Once you were wounded by Shame and bound to it.  That became the ‘background of your being.’  You had no idea what life was like without Shame and you assumed that everyone had Shame with them as well.  Then you learned that you were not obligated to be bound by Shame and you let it go.  You felt free from Shame.

But, you can only feel ‘free FROM’ something if you think it’s still around, just no longer holding your hand.  If you think Shame is still a possibility in the world, you will always try to avoid it.  You will re-live the experience, share your experience with others to help them, and be vigilant to avoid being re-hooked by Shame.

When you assume complete mastery of your mind, heart, and soul there is no need for Shame to be present any longer and it will dissolve and disappear forever and completely.  You will not be someone who was wounded by Shame and bound to it.  You will be someone who was never wounded.

Let us repeat this as it is a crucial point . . . there will be no scar and the healing will be forgotten for you will be the unwounded one.  You will be immaculate.

To summarize, an inner personal issue is installed at your request to help you learn something you wished to learn.  The steps for fully utilizing this opportunity to learn and ascend are:

(1) recognize that you’ve been hooked in a pattern and that you’ve been gaining some low level of gratification from it

(2) forgive yourself and everyone else involved and cut the energetic chords

(3) into the vacuum left by releasing the destructive energies, you must install new healthy habits of action and thought patterns. 

When you can achieve an impersonal overview of your past and present in regard to this issue and assert your mastery and autonomy, the memories and scars of this issue will disappear.

You will be immaculate.

Now do you understand, dear child, why we would not tell you how to ‘fix’ your sister?

Love as you are loved and realize that all is well and as you ordered it to be.  We await you in the garden.”