Wednesday, December 12, 2012

The Upward Spiral Part 2

Qamea, Fiji

I tried to figure out whether my awakening was something that happened to me or whether it was something I just decided.  A few days later, I had an insight that it did not make a difference.  If true, this was a momentous concept.  If we could awaken just by deciding we were awakened, then any of us could awaken at any given moment.

Once we decide that we are awakened, we create a belief which becomes reinforced and stronger with each  moment.  When a thought of fear or anger appears, it goes against the belief "I am awakened."  We cannot hold two contradictory beliefs at the same time.  One of the beliefs has to give way.  The weaker belief will always surrender to the stronger.  When the fear or anger dissolves, our belief in our awakening deepens and strengthens.  The stronger our belief is, the quicker the weak thought dissolves.  The quicker the weak thought dissolves, the stronger our awakening becomes.  Thus an upward spiral is created deepening our awakening from moment to moment.

It could happen this way:

One day (could be today) we are feeling pretty good and we decide we have awakened.  The next day, we are having lunch with a friend and we tell her "yesterday I had an awakening."  She thinks, "Huh.  I have no idea what he is talking about."  A few days later, something happens which triggers fear in us.  As the fear begins to take hold of our thoughts and body, we think, "if I am enlightened, how can I be afraid?"  We can't.  The fear begins to fade before it can engulf us.  This makes us feel pretty confident.  Peace, love and joy start to permeate our feelings.  We start to do things which enhance and increase these feelings.  We might start to meditate more.  Different people come into our lives.  Synchronicities increase.  Our ego tries to take hold of it and feel superior to others.  We do not pay any attention to that.  Our awakening deepens.  After awhile, something happens which triggers thoughts of fear.  This time, those thoughts hit a solid wall of belief and bounce off before they can even begin to take hold.  We are now enlightened masters.

It is so simple.  Let's decide and declare:  We are awake.  We are enlightened.

Let's awaken now because the world needs enlightened masters.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

An Upward Spiral

Kamakura, Japan

We cannot become enlightened in the future.  We can only become enlightened in the present.  If we are on the spiritual path, we will always be on the spiritual path.

When I had an awakening earlier this year and I occasionally told people about it, I became energized and animated.  Since then, every time I had a weak thought of doubt or fear, I remembered that I was awake and the thought immediately dissolved   Each time this occurred, it reinforced and deepened my awakening.  I would think to myself "Wow, I really am awake."  Knowing we are awakened causes us to overcome our fear and anger, which reinforces our awakening.  This creates an upward spiral.

According to Abraham Lincoln (at least in the movie!), the time is now, now, now!  The time to awaken is now, right this very moment, even as we are reading this post.  It is time to get off the spiritual path and be enlightened.

Let's embrace it and announce it, not out of ego, but from Truth.

Let's declare it: We are awakened.  We are enlightened.  We are Love.  We are Divine.  Let's create an upward spiral.

We are now awake.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Awakening

Waitete Bay, Coromandel, New Zealand

We all suffer from the same affliction.  It is the cause of our fears, depression, neuroses, bad habits, and psychoses.  The cause is our root belief that we are unloved and unlovable.  We try to avoid looking at our beliefs by dulling our consciousness with drugs and alcohol, sex, addiction to social media, video games, television, etc.  We avoid looking at our beliefs to protect ourselves from painful thoughts and memories.  Unfortunately, the unconscious beliefs wreak havoc on our lives as they bubble to the surface in different ways.

There is only one cure for our affliction:  spiritual awakening.

There are many roads to the cure.  For example, we can bring our awareness to our core beliefs without judgment.  We sit with it and allow it to be.  Once we fully acknowledge it, we surrender it to the Infinite Energy Source, or God.

Let's acknowledge and surrender our beliefs.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Awareness

Bay of Islands, New Zealand

What is awareness?  It is our attention without judgement, thought or belief.

If someone touches our arm, we put our attention there.  We also may think: "That hurts," "That feels good," "Why is this person touching me," "This person likes me," "Someone is trying to get my attention," and so on.

When someone touches our arm and we put our attention there, without any assumptions or judgment, that is pure awareness.  When we are in a state of pure awareness, we are in a state of grace.  Another way of saying it is that we are one with the mind of God.

We look at the world through a prism of our belief structures.  It is time to take off the blinders.  We can expand our awareness by being present and surrendering all of our judgments, thoughts and beliefs.

Let's surrender to the present moment.


Sunday, October 28, 2012

Truth

Caterpillar, Sedona, Arizona

All religious and spiritual leaders throughout history teach basically the same truth:

When we bring our attention  (i.e., our awareness without judgment) to the present (i.e., in between or beyond our thought), we become one with our divine nature and fulfill our life's purpose.

Let's do that.  The more we do it, the better at it we become.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Surrender

Hole In The Rock, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

We are not alone.  We think we are alone because of our thoughts and beliefs that we are alone.  Literally, we think we are alone because we think we are alone.  Over generations, we have built a belief structure of separation and aloneness.  It is actually a flimsy house of cards without a foundation.  It can come tumbling down in the blink of an eye.

We are inextricably connected to everything.  We are also part of the Infinite Energy Source, that is often called God.  We are divine beings who have tricked ourselves into believing that we are separate.

We can transcend our aloneness and recognize our oneness, by bringing awareness to our beliefs.  We acknowledge our thoughts of loneliness and surrender them to the Great Unknown.

When we bring awareness to our thoughts, a separation is created between ourselves and our thoughts.  We realize that we are not our thoughts.  Once we realize that we are not our thoughts, we cease to identify with them.  We start to become something besides who we think we are.

Every time we have a thought of loneliness or separation is a new opportunity to acknowledge and surrender. This causes the thought to instantly dissolve. We are free and comforted in the safety of Spirit.

Let's surrender our beliefs and acknowledge our oneness with All That Is.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Discipline

Maggie and Penny, Buffalo Lodge, Coromandel, New Zealand

It is very easy to fall back into bad habits and get lost in the mostly ridiculous stories we tell ourselves and others.  How do we stay focused on the present moment and not lapse into thought, memories and daydreams?

Even when we have the desire to be spiritually oriented, fear and laziness often prevent us from being centered.  Merely having an intention is often not enough to counter the strong pull of the belief systems of the various groups we associate ourselves with.  The intention must be so strong, it is closer to devotion.  All it takes is a strong intention, discipline, and the skills we have learned to maintain our focus.  Presence is like a muscle that gets stronger when exercised.

Peace, love and joy is not even a millimeter away from our grasp.  All that we have to do is turn our attention   to the present moment, and be disciplined about keeping our focus there.  We may never go back.  Hallelujah.  We are awake!

Let's be disciplined about awakening to who we really are.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Love

Summer, Big Bear, California

The conventional wisdom is that we can't love others until we love ourselves.  I believe the opposite is true.  We cannot truly love ourselves until we love others, not just members of our family or our groups, but every stranger as well.

Love is the only thing that can fill the hole that we believe we have in our lives.  We try to fill it with material possessions, romantic relationships, drugs, alcohol, too much food, etc.  In truth, there is no hole.  We just feel that there is one because our separation has left us with a feeling of lack.  We are missing something and we have no idea how to find it.  We do not even know what we are looking for.  Yet we embark on every crazy idea our mind concocts about what is missing and how to find it.

How do we love those that hate us or that are trying to harm us?  We realize that there is no difference between them and us and that their anger comes from their thoughts about their own inadequacy.  They believe they are unlovable and unworthy.  That profound sadness leads to anger, which covers up the fear and loneliness that they feel.

There is no hole.  We do not need to look for love.  It is what we are.  All we have to do is surrender our thoughts, judgments and beliefs.  What is left is peace, love and joy.

Let's surrender to love.


Sunday, September 16, 2012

Joy

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

We seek happiness.  When we find it, it is often short-lived.  We are stuck in a cycle of desire, fulfillment and frustration; happiness and unhappiness.  Happiness is by its very nature transitory.

There is a joy that transcends the cycles of happiness and unhappiness.  It is what we truly are.  We can't find it by looking for it.  We merely have to shed the thoughts, judgments and belief systems which keep it obscured from us.

When we experience the joy that is our very essence we will still feel sadness.  However, we will not be lost in it.  When we identify with our feelings, we hang on to them longer than we need to.  The sadness often triggers thoughts and memories which prolong or deepen the sadness and make us feel like there is no escape.  When we live in presence, the sadness quickly passes.  Even while we are experiencing it, we still experience the joy beneath it.  In fact, sometimes we are so overflowing with joy and gratitude, that we want to cry.

How do we find the joy?  Since it is what we are, our very being, all that we have to do is shed the layers of thought that we identify with.  We are not who we think we are.  We are much, much greater than we think we are.  In stillness, we will find our joy.  In being, we will find our joy.  When we are at peace, we will find our joy.  How do we quiet the noise in our heads so that we may know the peace and joy that we are?  By diligently bringing our attention to the present moment.  By realizing that we are not the stories that we tell about ourselves.  By surrendering our opinions, our judgments and our beliefs.

We will not lose ourselves when we step into the new world of being.  We will find ourselves.  Our lives will blossom in ways that we cannot imagine.  We give up nothing, and gain the entire Universe. The time is now. Why should we spend even one more moment not living in peace, joy and love?

Let's surrender to joy.




Saturday, September 1, 2012

The Ego

Waiheke Island, New Zealand

This week, I recommend reading the excellent essay about the ego by Eckhart Tolle:

http://www.oprah.com/oprahs-lifeclass/Eckhart-Tolle-on-How-to-Free-Yourself-from-Your-Ego-Armor 

Let's bring awareness to our thoughts.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Intuition

Rangitoto, New Zealand

The seat of our intuition is within our bodies.  Intuition is our communication with the Infinite Energy Source, which some call God.  When we bring our attention within our bodies, we notice whether we are closed and limited, or open and expansive.  When we make a decision, we can tune into our intuition in order to see whether we are moving from fear or in harmony with Spirit.  We simply turn our awareness within our bodies and notice whether we feel tense and constricted (which feeling comes from fear) or relaxed and open (which feeling comes from love).  We can quite literally make decisions by "following our gut."

The more we tune into this inner communication, the  better at following our intuition we will become.  Decisions will come naturally and effortlessly with better results for all concerned.  

Let's turn our awareness within.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Gratitude


Qamea, Fiji

When we begin to awaken, our lives open up in ways that we cannot expect.  Synchronicities become commonplace.  The blessings accelerate.  We do not need to embrace gratitude.  Gratitude comes naturally when we acknowledge how things have changed and how beautiful life is.  We realize that what we have been taught by the spiritual masters is true.  We chuckle to ourselves when we think about how hard we worked to achieve our goals (often ending up in disappointment and frustration) and how easily and effortlessly things come to us now.  We joyously ride the wave of  Life in harmony with All That Is, emanating and receiving Love.  Things that used to bother us seem of little importance now.  Our petty grudges are dissolved.

We feel the quickening of the energy that seems to be occurring, at least in California.  Given the Arab Spring and other developments, I suspect that others in this country and around the world are feeling it too.

We don't need to feel grateful, because it is inevitable.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Transparency


Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, New Zealand


We wear different masks in different situations.  We wear one mask for our parents, another mask for our children, another mask for our spouse or lover, another mask for our bosses, and so on.  We try to put forward the image that the person we are interacting with expects to see.  We are putting on a show instead of living an authentic life.  It is stressful to put on these different personas

Intimacy is when we show our loved one who we are, regardless of whether we look silly or scared.  Intimacy requires transparency.  When we live transparently, we flow with the rhythm of Life.  It is relaxing because we do not have to remember what story we told what person.  We relax into our Being.  We never have to think about or remember how we are supposed to act.  We are who we are and we do not care about the consequences.  We never alter who we are because we are afraid or even concerned about how the other person will react.  Their reaction is immaterial.  Who we are is of prime importance.  We act authentically and let the chips fall as they may.

Living transparently allows us to be happy and at peace.  We can breathe easily because we are not concerned about other people's reactions and we are now living authentically.  We have nothing to fear.  We are confident because we have the power of the entire Universe behind us.  That is indeed a formidable ally.

Let's be transparent.


Sunday, July 22, 2012

Death

Russell, New Zealand

When we are comfortable with the idea that we may die tomorrow, we will truly be free.  Our fear of death influences everything we think and do.  We are so afraid of death that we do not want to think about it.  We push thoughts of death below the surface of our consciousness where it stalks us like a shadow.  It makes us fearful, anxious, angry and frustrated.

Since we confuse our identity with the thoughts and beliefs that are contained within our bodies, it is not surprising that we view death as extinguishing our very selves.  When we realize that we are not within our bodies, but our bodies are within us, we know that awareness continues after the body falls away.

When we embrace the concept of death, we flow with the rhythm of life.

Let's accept death with gratitude.




Saturday, July 7, 2012

Love


Dylan

We have a hole in our lives which we try to fill with alcohol, drugs or material possessions,. We try to avoid the pain and emptiness that we feel by watching television, using the internet, and gossiping with friends.

The hole can never be filled because there is no hole. We just need to change our orientation away from our thoughts, judgments and beliefs, and towards the Divine. When we surrender to the great Unknown, we do not have to be afraid that we will be alone or that we will be susceptible to dark or evil forces. When we allow ourselves to be open to the void of non-attachment, we will be joined by Spirit, which is love.

It is a cliche that "God is love." It is also true. Every action that we take comes from either love or fear. When we act from love, we are in harmony with our true nature and are fulfilling God's purpose for us. When we act from fear, we continue the cycle of desire, frustration, fear and anger.

Let's act from love

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Gratitude

Qamea, Fiji

The key to happiness is gratitude.  Gratitude means that we allow reality to be just as it is.  When we are grateful, we do not have expectations as to how things should be.  We are happy and grateful for the way things are.  Since our experience in the world is a reflection of our inner state, when we are grateful, the Universe responds by providing abundance.

When we are in a constant state of desiring things, the Universe responds by not providing what we want.  This creates a constant cycle of dissatisfaction.  When we are grateful for whatever we have, even if what we have is comparatively meager, the Universe responds by providing what we need for our development and happiness.  Donald Trump is a very poor man indeed, because he never experiences satisfaction.  He is always longing for more in order to fill the hole inside himself, which can never be filled by things.

Let's be grateful for what is.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Surrender

Buffalo Road, Coromandel, New Zealand

1.  Our thoughts and beliefs are not true.
2.  We are not our thoughts and beliefs, even though we think we are.
3.  If we acknowledge and surrender our thoughts and beliefs to Universal Spirit, we will fulfill our life's purpose and experience peace, love and joy.

Let's surrender our will to God's will.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Awakening


Kamakura, Japan

In my view, there are four simple steps to awakening.  As Michael Beckwith says, it is simple, but it is not easy.

The first step is intention.  When we are so fed up with our misery that we cannot stand it any more, we look for a way out.  We are so incredibly frustrated with our lives that we think the Universe is out to get us. We are depressed, angry, neurotic and loathe ourselves and our lives.  To some, suicide is the solution.  Others discover a different way of being, one of love, peace and joy.

Sometimes, we see someone on television or meet someone who is enlightened and we desire to have the life force that they have.  Sometimes, we have a spontaneous transcendent experience.  We are briefly transported out of our miserable existence and feel euphoric and a feeling of oneness with others.  We think that if it can happen once, it could happen again, and we try to figure out how to bring back and prolong that divine experience.  To some, drugs introduce us to the euphoric feeling of oneness.  This can be a trap if we rely on drugs to experience that feeling.  Some wonder whether that same feeling can be obtained without drugs and are willing to try.

The second step is utilizing the many tools that are at our disposal which can lead us to awaken.  We can bring our attention to the present moment. We can choose to be loving instead of fearful.  We can give up our will to God's will.  We can meditate.  There are more incredible resources available to us than at any time in our history.  There are teachers, living and dead, books, websites, seminars, workshops, temples and churches (watch out for the dogma!), etc.  We should choose the path and resources which best resonate with us.

Once we begin utilizing the tools which we have chosen, it takes courage to face and acknowledge the long held beliefs and painful memories which rise to our consciousness when we are still.  The pull of compulsive thinking is very strong.  The groups we belong to will also exert strong pressure.  Our gender, religious, social and economic groups will begin to lose their power if people stop identifying with them.  Our parents, teachers, religious leaders, media figures, and friends will try to keep us in their belief systems because they believe that those systems keep them safe from the terrifying unknown.

We also need discipline to keep our attention on stillness and away from obsessive and compulsive thinking.  Our belief systems are like a magnet, constantly drawing us back to the thoughts which we believe keep us safe.  Also, it takes discipline to remain focused when there are so many distractions to keep us from the present moment.  Television, films, social media, games, shopping, gossiping with friends, etc. make it easy to distract ourselves.  The constant barrage of media can make it difficult to be alone, without distraction, in order to tune into the tiny voice of stillness.  It is well worth it.

Let's have the courage and the discipline to utilize the tools that are available to us to awaken now.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Acknowledge and Surrender


Church Bay, Waiheke Island, New Zealand

We cannot stop our thoughts.  However, we can stop identifying with them.  We can create a separation between ourselves and our thoughts by realizing that our thoughts are not us.  They arise from nothingness and disappear into nothingness.  As they arise, we acknowledge them without fear or judgment and surrender them to the Void.  We have the courage to look at our deeply buried thoughts as they arise dispassionately, without fear or judgment.  Meditation and stillness will slow our thoughts down so we can consciously see them.

Once we acknowledge our thoughts, they lose their power over us.  Unacknowledged thoughts and beliefs remain with us, tormenting us throughout our lives.  They are the cause of our frustration, our unhappiness,and our failure to live fulfilling lives.

We acknowledge our thoughts and beliefs and release them to the Universe.

Monday, May 28, 2012

The Instrument

Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland


We are not inside our bodies.  Our bodies are within us.  Our bodies are our instruments for interacting with the material world.

We all know what it takes to keep our instruments in good working order:  whole organic foods (our fuel), clean water, pure air, and consistent exercise.  The most important factor in keeping our instruments working is eliminating stress.

Heart disease is the number one killer.  Stress (in very direct relation) causes heart disease as well as many other diseases.  It is also the major cause of our frustration and unhappiness.

Stress is caused by compulsive, unexamined thought.  The thoughts that cause stress usually consist of expectations of future events.  We fear something that we think will happen to us, or we are afraid that we will not receive something that we think we deserve or desire.

By eliminating expectations, we eliminate stress.  We eliminate expectations by surrendering our desires and bringing our attention, without judgment of any kind, to the present moment.

Our expectations of what we think we want pale in comparison to what we receive when we release our thoughts and allow Universal Spirit to guide us.  We are relaxed and stress free because we know that everything will unfold just as it should for the highest outcome for all concerned.

Let's allow reality to be just as it is.  

Monday, May 21, 2012

Courage


Onetangi Beach, Waiheke Island, New Zealand

We know how to awaken.  We have all the tools.  We have the teachings of all the masters, living and dead, at our disposable at any time.  We know what to do.  So, why is it so difficult?

It is difficult for two reasons.  First, we have built a protective wall around all of the memories of painful incidents we have experienced during our lives.  We have shielded ourselves from the pain.  When we bring our awareness to our thoughts, we are confronted with our subconscious thoughts and we are terrified to confront them.  Also, our thoughts and belief systems are the only existence that we know.  They are who we think we are.  If we surrender our thoughts and beliefs, we believe that we will cease to exist and we are afraid that there will be nothing (or worse) left.

Of course, we know that this is untrue.  However, it takes real courage to face our painful memories and take the leap of faith into the Unknown.  We will not do this alone.  When we take this leap of faith, there is something on the other side to catch us.  There is a Universal Intelligence which has been begging us to join it.  There is peace, love and joy on the other side.  There is nothing to fear.

Let's have the courage to surrender and leap into the Great Unknown.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Nature


Imperial Palace, Tokyo, Japan

Our true nature is peace, love and joy.  Our experience of our true nature is obscured by a veil that we have created.  The veil is our ego, our thoughts, our beliefs.  Our thoughts that we have had throughout our lives has created a system of beliefs that has hardened into a wall between ourselves and our true nature.

We do not have to search for love and happiness.  We only have to lift the veil and be who we really are.  We can lift the veil of hardened beliefs by surrendering our prejudices, thoughts, judgments and beliefs and turning our awareness to the present moment, the place between our thoughts.  Our thoughts will then recede into the background and we will be in harmony with our true selves, i.e., Universal Intelligence.

 Let's be one with our true nature by surrendering our thoughts and beliefs and being present.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Truth

Merino Sheep, Glenorchy, New Zealand


The main cause of our suffering is that we believe our thoughts are truth.  This is the fundamental lie of our existence.  It is not events in our lives that cause us unhappiness.  It is our thoughts about those events.  We believe that if things were different than they are, everything would be fine with us.  Nothing is wrong with reality.  Reality is perfect.  It is our perception of reality that causes our problems.

We experience freedom when we understand that we are not our thoughts and our thoughts are not true.  By creating a separation between our awareness and our thoughts, we can begin to question our thoughts.  By creating this separation, we can look at our thoughts, without judgment.  When we bring awareness to our thoughts, we understand that there is no connection between truth (i.e., reality or what is) and our thoughts.  We can then begin to stop taking our thoughts seriously, and look at our thoughts with amused detachment.  The grip that our thoughts and beliefs have over our lives and well being will start to loosen and eventually fall away altogether.

Once we understand that there is a difference between ourselves and our thoughts, everything will change.  The world will look different.  Our unhappiness will fade.  We will know peace, love and joy in our lives.

What we think and believe are lies.

Let's accept what is, just as it is.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

TIme

Santa Fe, New Mexico

The time to awaken is now. It is time to stop fucking around. It is time to stop "becoming," stop "being on the path," stop"getting better." It is time to stop waiting, to stop believing what we are thinking, and to stop wanting things to be different than they are.

It is time to surrender all of our frustrations, judgments, and beliefs now. It is time to accept with gratitude everything that happens to us. It is time to surrender our thoughts, and bring our attention to the present. If we do not do it right now, in this very moment, we will never do it. We cannot awaken in the future.  The past does not exist. The future does not exist. They are only projections from our thoughts.  We cannot awaken tomorrow. We can only awaken now. Right now. This moment and forever.

We are awake. We are present. We are who we really are. We are love. We are joy. We are peace. We are One. Now.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Remembering

East Cape, New Zealand

As we live a more mindful life, our anxiety lessens and our ego fades into the background, there is one tool which keeps us in the present moment.

When we are stressed and lost in compulsive thought, we remember that our thoughts are not the truth or how things really are. We remember to bring our attention back to the present, to surrender our thoughts, and to release everything that we are holding.

Every time we remember, it is a rebirth. We are reborn back to our true selves, reconnected with Universal Spirit. It is not anything that we have to learn. We only have to remember.

Let's remember who we really are.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

meditation

Stony Batter, Waiheke Island, New Zealand

If we could take a pill which had no side effects and would eliminate our anxiety, frustration, anger, sadness, loneliness, feelings of unease and worthlessness would we take it? Of course we would. If twenty minutes of meditation a day could accomplish the same thing, would we do it? For some reason, the answer is usually "no."

Meditation has been proven to have extremely beneficial health effects and to increase our sense of well being and peace. It is simple to do, does not take much time, and is free! If we don't know how, there are a multitude of books, courses and information on how to do it. For example, we can do a simple mindfulness meditation by bringing our attention, without judgment, to our breathing. As our mind wanders and we realize it, we gently, without judgment, bring our attention back to our breathing.

All it takes is a bit of discipline and courage. Discipline is required because our ego will come up with an almost infinite number of excuses why we shouldn't do it. We need to be disciplined to override the strong impulses of our ego. Courage is required because we will face the thoughts and feelings which we pushed deep into our subconsciousness to keep ourselves from feeling the pain of things that occurred in our past.

Let's have the courage and discipline to meditate.

The Watcher

Waihihi Bay, New Zealand

We cannot stop thought. However, we can detach ourselves from the idea that we are our thoughts. Our belief that our thoughts are true keeps us from being who we really are. It is unconscious, compulsive thinking that is keeping us from living the lives that we want to live. It is keeping us from being happy and fulfilled.

We can crack the wall of unconscious thought which is separating us from who we really are by bringing awareness to our thoughts. Awareness is attention without judgment. By bringing awareness to our thoughts, without labeling or judgments of any kind, the thoughts begin to lose their stranglehold over us. Their power to control us begins to lessen. We feel more connected and energized. Our lives move in a more positive direction. We become peaceful. We look at everything in a new way.

Let's be aware.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

The Inner Body

Bay of Islands, New Zealand

When we are not in touch with our bodies, we are not aware of the stress and tension that we are holding in our muscles and organs. Our unconsciousness about what is happening within us can lead to illness, pain and discomfort. We hold tension in our bodies because we are protecting ourselves from experiencing negative emotions such as fear. We block ourselves from feeling them by pushing thoughts that we do not want to face deep into our subconscious, where they fester and affect our lives in unanticipated ways.

By bringing our attention within our bodies, we become aware of what we are holding. We can then release our tension. We realize that our consciousness is not within our bodies, but that our bodies are within our consciousness.

Let's bring our awareness within.


Sunday, March 11, 2012

Grace

Bay of Islands, New Zealand

Science has long ago proven that there is an Infinite Energy Source that all of us and everything is a part of. It is what we are. We cannot be anything but that. It is not something that can be described with words. It is not something that can be explained. It is not something that we can think through. It has to be experienced. Some call it Spirit. Some call it God. Some call it Source. We can recognize it by three characteristics: Peace, Love and Joy.

We experience so much frustration, anger and suffering because we are cut off from Source. We have built a wall of thought which prevents us from experiencing the peace, love and joy, which is what we are. All of our problems and suffering will disappear if we can break through the wall and recapture our heritage.

The wall of thought arises from our belief systems, which have been programmed into us since birth. The space between thought is where our freedom lies. God is the space between our thoughts. Of course, God is our thoughts too, but that is a paradox that we do not need to resolve.

When we surrender our thoughts, beliefs and judgments and see them for the lies that they are, we become one with Source.

Let's surrender to freedom.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Peace

Waiheke Island, New Zealand

All of the turmoil and frustration that we experience is caused by our incessant thought. Our thoughts arise from our belief systems which have been programmed into us from birth and are reinforced by our friends, family, our teachers, the media and other societal institutions.

Our thoughts create a wall of separation. We are cut off from the natural flow of Universal Energy. Every moment of every day, we make a choice to believe our thoughts about reality rather than embrace our natural state of peace, love and joy. The choice we make is usually unconscious. We are choosing even though we do not realize that we are doing so.

Peace might seem like a remote concept, but it always right beside us. All that we have to do is embrace it. Every event that we experience seems random, and we are programmed to automatically react in a negative way. Actually, everything happens for a reason, and we choose how we are going to react to it. We do not have enough information to determine whether the things that are happening to us are good or bad. We often assume that they are bad.

Once we realize that our thoughts are not necessarily true, but merely conditioned responses which may or may not be true, we can surrender our thoughts and see reality as it really is, without the judgments and beliefs which cloud our seeing. When we inhabit our bodies and our senses and bring our attention to the present moment, we will experience peace, regardless of what is happening externally. Every moment is a new opportunity to choose peace. When we embrace our true nature, which is peace, the world will start to tilt more in our favor. As things that happen to us bother us less, less bad things happen to us.

Let's surrender to peace.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Abundance

Russell, New Zealand

The Universe will provide precisely what we need to awaken in every moment. Of course, what we receive may be different from what we want. The problem is not what we receive, but with what we want. Our wants or desires are the result of our thoughts, judgments and beliefs created by the conditioning and programming we have been receiving since birth. If we can release our expectations and feel gratitude for what we receive, we will understand that what we receive is a blessing. The blessings will increase, the more we appreciate what we receive. The secret to abundance is gratitude. The opposite of abundance is desire, envy and expectation.

Let's be grateful.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

A New Frontier

Waitete Bay, Coromandel, New Zealand

The new frontier is Love. Love is the same as God, which is What We Are. It is our very essence. Love will not intrude on our lives if we do not want it to. It will not penetrate our wall of compulsive thought. However, once it is invited in, it will envelope us like a tidal wave. Once we open the door a tiny bit with our intention, that is all the encouragement that Love needs to enter our lives and transform us.

I propose an experiment. If we transmit Love every time our eyes light on a person, our ears hear words from someone on the telephone, we receive an email or a text, or we think of someone, everything in our lives will be different. Our business and personal relationships will be better. The Universe will cooperate with us instead of fighting against us.

Every time we have a negative or judgmental thought, we will replace it with loving thoughts. We will connect with every person we encounter with genuine warmth. We will even broadcast loving intentions and thoughts to those that are angry with us or are trying to harm us.

Let's not forget to transform our thoughts about ourselves into Love, as well. We are deserving of that.

We will create a Love Energy Field. Fear will not be able to penetrate it as Love is stronger than Fear.

Let's surrender to Love.


Sunday, January 8, 2012

Surrender

Bee Boxes, Te Kouma, New Zealand

We try to figure out the solutions to our problems by thinking them through. Sometimes we do not have enough information to formulate a solution. We do not have a clear view of the bigger picture. Also, we are trapped by our conditioning to only have a narrow set of beliefs within which to figure things out.

There is a better way. There is an Infinite Energy Source, which we are a part of. Some call it God. I usually prefer not to because that word is so loaded with religious dogma. We are cut off from the Source because we are trapped in a world of compulsive thinking that is a result of our programming from birth. We cannot see outside of our tiny world view.

Instead of trying to figure out a solution to our problems through thought, we can surrender to the Infinite Energy Source. It will guide us to the best solution for everyone concerned. We need to have faith that the Source exists and that we are a part of it. It is hard to have faith when we have been so disillusioned by life and the reality that we experience. The only reason that we are disappointed by life is because we do not see the full picture. For example, we are afraid of death, but how do we know that death is not a beautiful thing? We cannot know within our limited experience. If we have faith and surrender to the Infinite Source, we will be supported. We will be loved. We will begin to see the beauty of life. Our faith will then be reinforced. We just need to take a leap.

Let's surrender to God.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Acceptance

Bozeman, Montana

We wish that things were different than they are. We are not happy with things that are occurring in our lives, so we deny that they are what they are. Before we can make changes in our lives, we need to accept our life and our world just as it is. Our resistance to what is reinforces the situation that we refuse to accept. When we resist accepting it, we push it into our subconscious, where we continually give it energy, even though we are not aware that we are doing so. Once we accept things just as they are, we can begin making changes.


Let's accept what is without judgment or labels, and choose to create the world just as want it to be.