The Instrument

Dylan

It is much easier to live mindfully when our bodies are refreshed, nourished, relaxed and in shape.  When we eat junk food and do not exercise, our bodies feel sluggish, and so does our mind.  A sluggish mind leads to negative thoughts, which contribute to a cycle of malaise, cynicism and lack of fulfillment.  Low energy leads to boredom and frustration.

Our bodies are our instruments for interacting with the material world.  The more we take care of our instrument, the better it will serve us and contribute to our ability to fulfill our life's purpose.

It is no secret as to what is necessary to keep our instruments in fine tune: Restorative sleep; good nutrition; clean water; exercise and tools for reducing stress (e.g., yoga, meditation, walks in nature, satisfying social interactions).

Let's respect and care for our bodies, so that they can serve us.

Miracles

Kamakura, Japan

A miracle is not necessarily receiving something that we desired.  A miracle is receiving the perfect thing for our development and unfolding when we allow Divine Grace to come into our lives.

When we surrender our desires, we create the space which allows blessings and miracles to occur.  It is our judgments about what is happening in our lives which prevent miracles from occurring.  When we treat everything that happens to us as a Divine gift, we are allowing the Universe to guide us to fulfill our life's purpose.  In a previous post, I said that the Universe is as benevolent as we allow it to be.  Similarly, we will have as many miracles in our lives as we allow there to be.

A miracle is not something that happens to us from outside of ourselves.  When we align our awareness with our Higher Self, miracles happen.  We can do this by surrendering our thoughts and beliefs and allowing life to be just as it is.

To bring miracles into our lives all that we have to do is ask for them and allow them to occur.

Let's ask for a miracle and allow it to occur.

Intuition

Dylan

Since we do not have enough information to determine through thought what is our best course of action, we can rely on our intuition.  Intuition is information from Universal Spirit.  It is sometimes difficult to tell what is intuition and what is arising from our programmed ego.  Since intuition is from our divine nature, it will always come from a  place of peace, love and joy.  Thoughts from ego will often make us feel agitated, tight and self righteous.

When we are still, we can tune into Divine Energy.  It could be a voice or it could be an urge to take a certain action.  Our bodies help us indicate what is true inspiration.  One course of action will make our bodies feel relaxed and expansive.  Thoughts and cravings from the ego make our bodies feel tight and restrictive.

The chatter of our unconscious stream of thoughts can make it very difficult to tune into our intuition.  That is why meditating or being in nature is so useful to recharge our batteries and allow us to hear the subtle messages that our constantly being transmitted to us.  All we have to do is listen.

Let's be open to Universal guidance.

Surrender

Stony Batter, Waiheke Island, New Zealand

We act as if the universe is out to get us.  We are anxious and depressed and blame it on circumstances outside of ourselves.  We believe that the world is driven by negative impulses and random events.  Our desires are rarely fulfilled, and, when they are, the satisfaction is hollow and short-lived.

There is only one solution to this dilemma:  spiritual awakening.

It is our desire and expectations which cause our unhappiness and despair.  We suffer because we believe things should be different than they are.  It is only through acceptance and allowing everything to be as it is that we can experience the peace, love and joy which is our very nature.  That does not mean that we do not take steps to change our circumstances if they are not fulfilling.  Indeed, true change can only come with acceptance.  Once we accept that things are just as they are, we can begin to effectuate changes.

We think we know what will make us happy.  We think we know what will make us fulfilled.  We want material things, relationships and status because we believe that when we have those things, we will be happy.  It is the thinking and the wanting that create our suffering.

The Universe is as benevolent as we allow it to be.  We do not have enough information to know what will truly make us fulfilled.  Our dream job could turn into our worst nightmare.  Often, getting fired or becoming ill allows us to experience growth and fulfillment.

If we give up our desires and expectations, and allow the Universe (otherwise known as God) to lead us, we will find our life's purpose and our lives will unfold in ways beyond what we can imagine.  As we turn towards the Universe, the Universe turns in our direction.  The Universal Spirit will never intrude in our lives unless we ask it to by opening ourselves up to it.

Let's surrender to life just as it is..  

Choice

Russell, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

Every moment of every day we are making a choice.  We are making choices regardless of whether we are aware of them or not.  We can make these choices consciously or we can continue to make them unconsciously.  In this very moment we can choose:

Love or fear
Peace or anger
Joy or disappointment
Fulfillment or frustration
Harmony or uncertainty
Ecstasy or boredom
Grace or gossip
Truth or confusion
Passion or cynicism
God or self

Since we are making choices anyway, let's make them consciously.

Life

Bay of Islands, New Zealand

Everything that happens to us is specifically designed to bring about our awakening.

We do not have enough information to determine whether things that happen to us are "good" or "bad."  What we think of as good may not be good for us, and what we think of as bad might be the best thing that ever happens to us. This is regardless of whether we lose our jobs, lose a loved one, or get cancer.  If we knew that we are going to die tomorrow, can we really know for certain that would be bad?

When we are grateful for everything that happens to us and treat all events as gifts from our Universal Connection, life unfolds harmoniously, and the gifts continue to pour down on us like a spring rain, When we surrender the life that we think we want for ourselves, Every moment of our lives becomes an adventure. We are passionate about even mundane tasks.  Peace, love and joy begin to permeate our lives as we begin to fulfill our life's purpose.

All we have to do is surrender our will to the Universal will.  Nothing else is required.

Let's be grateful.

Prayer

East Cape, New Zealand

Many people are turned off by the idea of prayer because traditionally, it meant that we were asking favors from a supernatural being outside of ourselves.  Since many believe that the idea of a supernatural being outside of ourselves is a concept created by religious institutions as a means of power and control, we dismiss the notion of prayer as a product of those institutions.

Since we are divine beings wearing the clothes of human beings, when we pray we are actually setting our intentions for ourselves from our Divine nature .  We are not looking outward asking for help.  We are going inside ourselves, bringing our intentions into alignment with the Infinite Energy Source.

Of course, our prayers will work best when we are praying for the best outcome for the highest good of all concerned.

Let's surrender our will to our higher selves.