Thoughts on the Wind

Everyone has the experience of thoughts just popping into our heads.  We don’t know from whence they came; we might have never had that thought before, yet there it is.  Where did it come from?  Does the origin matter? 

Probably the origin does not matter, sometimes if we believe a “god,” “guide,” or “angel,” is whispering in our heads, we are more likely to follow the message.  We are more likely to take it seriously.  But the source is really not the issue.

What is the issue is that we realize that we are not alone in this world.  We do not have to go it alone. There are entities with us that will help guide us if we ask for assistance.  Whether you are comfortable calling your request prayer, mediation, talking or communing with nature, it is all the same.  It is about stepping outside of your physical self and tapping into the resources of the universe that are available to you.

This does not need to be some new age activity sitting among crystals.  It takes only to be still, emptying your mind of your usual rambling thoughts and being calm.  Simply focus on your breathing and allow the stressors to fade away.  

Trust the ideas that come to you in these periods of calm.  They will be in your higher interest.  You can tell the difference between your own thoughts and those of the guide by the compassionate tone.  They will NEVER be judgmental or chiding.  They will NEVER shout or be profane.  It will seem as though the message just easily slips into your consciousness.  There is a sense of peace about the experience even though what you are being told to do may be difficult for you, such as letting go of long held anger.

Write these ideas down for future reference.  We have millions of thoughts that fleet though our brains each day and it will be lost within seconds if not captured in writing for future recall.  If you use a notebook for just this purpose, to track these thoughts, it will help more than random slips of paper left here and there.

Think about how you can use the information to improve your life.  It will never steer you wrong, if you get your own ego out of the interpretation.

Trusting Your Instincts

You have often heard the phrase “Trust your instincts.”  Teachers tell their students this before exams and they also add “Don’t second guess yourself.”

What does this mean and why is it good advice?  Isn’t it better to ponder a question instead of immediately answering it?  No, it isn’t – in most cases.  When we respond to situations from “instinct” we respond from our natural spiritual essence that already has access to universal knowledge and compassionate wisdom.  The response will be well grounded and appropriate for the situation.  It will be for the higher good of all who are involved.

Conversely, when we respond from habit, or based in previous behavioral patterns, we are coming from a place fraught with emotional overlay that blinds us to the reality of the situation and the reality of those involved.

Human behavioral patterns are incorrectly labeled “instinct” because they are often based in the ancient “flight or fight” response.  But this response is a physical response that originated from our early evolutionary period.  When we look at the extreme violence and cruelty in every part of the world today, we see the effect of this reptilian response.

The change in the vibrational rate of the planet, as a result of constant planetary movement in the galaxy, has caused an unsettled feeling in our physical bodies.  The vast majority of people do not understand why they feel unsettled but it triggers a sense of fear, a guardedness to protect who they think they are.  They have joined other equally fearful minds in groups, bands, gangs, political parties, societies, etc. to “defend” their view of life and behavioral patterns.  They have “circled the wagons” around themselves to fight off some yet undefined threat call “change.”  As a human species, we seem to be moving back into the dark ages instead of moving toward a stronger period of enlightenment.

The reality is however, that our physical body is not our essence.  If we are going to go back to our most foundational and original self, then we must connect with the universal energy – that which defines us, that which caused us to be able to breathe, that which lives long after the body has decayed and been replaced.  Every one of us is not just connected to this universal energy that always has been and ever will be, but we are a part of it.

Visualize if you will, the moment of the big bang that started the physical development of the universe.  There was one bundle of energy that exploded and threw its particles into the 10 directions.  The particles were not cleanly separated, they remained connected through a thin line not unlike a complex web we call the internet.  But every “spirit” (for lack of a better word) is connected, (not just those that can financially afford it.)

This vibrational energetic connection is who we are.  We are the essence of the universe.  Every one of us is connected and we are all the same, exploded out of the same source.  Not as siblings but as part of the whole and equal in every way because there is no distinction.

It is only the protective shell that we have adopted in order to function in this vibration plane that sees distinctions – and these are false distinctions – colored by fear, greed, desire, ego, and most critically, lack of true self identity.

If we understand and live our physical lives from our “true self” there would be no wars, no terrorism, no bickering over what is mine and what is yours, no question of how the physical resources of the world should be divided and utilized.  Like water, these resources would flow to the low spots from places of abundance and equalize out.  The difference is a raging sea with high waves and deep valleys that can and does trigger devastation versus a calm flat peaceful sea that invites all to fish and play together in the warmth of the sun.

So the next time you need to make a decision or respond to something – trust your true instinct.  Don’t just repeat dysfunctional human behavioral patterns.  Use the network of compassionate intelligence that is heart based not fear based and ego driven.  Don’t second guess yourself into a lower level solution.

In Memory of those who died on 9/11/01

Many spirits transitioned on this day 11 years ago.  It was a day that the nation and the world stood still in utter shock and pain.  Today, I honor the memory of the 2,973 victims, of men, women and little children of all ages, color, religions, and nationals from over 90 countries, who died that fateful day.

The act of terror was probably designed to strike terror into our hearts and cause chaos instead it brought the best out in us as we came together to console and heal as a nation.  For a brief period, we put aside our superficial differences and behaved with love and compassion towards, our neighbors, friends and family.  We became more tolerant of others differences (unless they were Islamic.)

How we have forgotten the lessons learned of 11 years ago.  Today our nation is a battlefield of our own making.  Far too many people with extreme views on both sides are driving the middle views into silence.  The compassion has been replaced by hateful lunacy.  Closed ears and even more closed hearts exist today, what happened?  We managed to do to ourselves what terrorists could not do – divide us and cause chaos.

We are no longer a democratic society where every voice and every vote counts.  Now only the most selfish and hard hearted rich who desire only to protect and grow their own stockpile of money have a voice.    They control the airwaves but they need not control our vote.  

We need to find a way to return centrists to the halls of governance.  We need to bring people into government who are willing to honestly work together to help each other and every one of us be successful and healthy.  The people who lost their lives on 9/11 were just ordinary people – like our own families.  Can we use their memory and the memory of what it was like to be a nation and family to close the schism between us?  Use the memory to pull us back from the extreme fringes into a common middle ground where we can once again value each other and honestly work together to solve the nation’s problems.

History tells us that all great nations eventually peter out and become obsolete.  We have not been conquered from outside but are imploding from within.  The incendiary devices used are selfishness, intolerance, greed, materialism, elevated sense of superiority, ego, hopelessness, disillusionment and fear.  We must reach out to help others up, not step on them to keep ourselves falsely elevated.

The values must change from the greed of purchasing the second, third and fourth homes when others have none; from spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on cars- when others have no legs and no chance of obtaining substitutes; from hiding millions in offshore accounts to avoid sharing a mere fraction of one percent of the wealth with those that need it most. 

Let us all vow, right now, today, on the most sacred of days – to change our behavior, change our hearts, change our minds away from glorifying ME and MINE to raising up and helping the nation as US; for we truly are all in this together.

Namaste to those that passed out of this world on 9/11.  Namaste to those left behind.

(Namaste means “I honor the light within you.”)

Life is Easy

There is the phrase “Life is not supposed to be easy,” and another phrases “We’re living on Easy Street,” and “Living the Life.”  All of these are commonly used but misleading.  The common phrase about life which is most accurate is “It is what it is.”  Although the phrase is overused today by our youth, it is absolutely the most accurate.  Life” is what it is” and no more.

It means that one should not become attached to the events in our life because they are transitory.  There should be no judgment as to the positive or negative aspect of events because everything is really neutral.  Once we label them, we distort their very existence and worth, “worth” as a learning tool on our path.  If we call something negative then typically in our minds, the event becomes of less value, something to shy away from, something to be ashamed of, or even something to hide or deny.

If the event is “positive” we might not see it in its true form by giving it a more glowing aspect, it might play to our enlarged ego, our sense of who we are and distort that too.  It may give us a sense of security, acceptance, or love that makes us feel better about ourselves or others.  

The interesting thing is that the exact same event can trigger all of these interpretations depending on how we color the event through our own biased eyes.

There is another common phrase “I only believe what I can see.”  This one is really misleading because it is very common for a dozen witnesses that see the same event, to describe it differently.  There will also be a dozen different interpretations to the meaning of the event.  So what is true and what is false?  The short answer is that all of the various interpretations of the event are true and false.  Each person’s interpretation is true for him or herself but false for others.  If this is the case, then clearly there are many “truths” that result from one event, so don’t become attached to any one of them.

When we accept an event as neutral, “it is what it is,” and without judgment as to its positive or negative nature, we are better able to provide an authentic response.  We are better able to learn what we are meant to learn from the incident and move on.  It is the judgment that we place on something that keeps us attached to the events and to the results – results that we alter depending on our biased judgment.

Our subsequent action can be very different depending on how we judge an event.  Any action that we take based on that judgment will have a higher probability of being inappropriate when we are responding to our judgment rather than to the neutral event. 

Instantly judging all that we see, do, and think is a very human response.  But it is what keeps us from living a stress free life.  It is impossible to shed stress if one minute we are being bullied one direction by feeling negative and the next minute being pushed another way feeling positive.  Pretty soon we have whiplash!

There is another common phrase “Stay on the straight and narrow.”  The only way to do this is to not respond to our biased judgment of events.  “It is what it is” and we respond in an appropriate and authentic response.

One might criticize this suggestion with another common phrase “You are taking the joy out of life” when the emotional roller coaster is berthed.  This is a myth.  You will find that your life will be much more joyful when you are on an even keel and can better trust that the world you see around you is there for you to learn from, there for you to interact with in stress free intimacy.  

Pavlov trained his dogs to respond in a certain way to repeated stimuli to obtain a reward of food or avoid a shock of electricity.  When the rewards and punishments were removed, they still responded in the same way to the stimuli.  Unfortunately human behavior is entrenched in the say way.  When we feel the rush of a high of a strong emotional response due to positive or negative judgment of an event, we automatically know how to respond –because that is how we have trained ourselves to respond.  To change our patterns in life, we have to change our response to events.

Life is not positive or negative, it is just so, deal with it and move on.

Example

A man, let’s call Joe is sitting in a waiting area just reading a magazine.  Another man, let’s call Mike, comes, he is clearly agitated.  Mike, who does not know Joe, growls something to him that is unintelligible.  Joe could have several different responses

1. Ignore it.
2. Interpret the remark as a personal affront and get upset.  He then challenge Mike with “What did you say to me?!” 
3.  Become frightened and leave.
4. Feel sympathy for Mike because he is obviously distressed and say something to try to diffuse the situation.

All of these options, except the first could lead to a more dangerous provoked response from Mike.  No one knows why the man is agitated so any judgment or interpretation on the part of Joe will most assuredly be wrong.  Simply noting the events and staying alert for a possible potential second action that might put him in danger, is the best course of action.

The agitation is not about anyone or anything in the waiting room.  The event is related to Mike so why should Joe take it as his own stress?  Merely noting it and letting it go is best.  This is how to live a more stress free life – note events and let them go.  Don’t judge events; as soon as you do, you personalize them when 99.9% of the time the event has nothing to do with you.  Don’t you have enough stressors in your own life, why take on the stressors of others?

“Life happens” and “it is what it is” and no more.

Gift of Life

Gift of Life

The phrase “Life is precious” is commonly heard.  Unfortunately few people know the true meaning of the phrase.  The assumption is that it means that we must be careful with our lives and the lives of others because they can be so easily snuffed out.  Another interpretation is that each person is unique and therefore we must be careful to not harm any life.

The above are both true but there is also another meaning to the phrase “life is precious’.  The focus is on the meaning of “life” not “precious”.  Life is more than the energy running through the body without which we would be dead.  “Life” is how we interact with the world.  It is how we see ourselves as an integral part (or not) of the world and all of humanity.   Life is the membrane that exists between our living selves and our “other” living selves.  “Life” is the karma that keeps us rooted in our rebirth.

It is not fragile as glass that will shatter with the thrust of a knife.  In fact, it can only be ended through extreme deliberate action on the part of the “life” itself – upon which it becomes even more “precious” because it finally exhibits natural perfection.

What are we really saying here?  “Life” is the energy that we put forth on a second-to-second basis that is either contributing or not, to the level of compassion and acceptance in the world.  Each breath, each and every person on the planet takes either moves the whole of humanity forward on the compassion/acceptance scale, backwards, or holds it in its current place.

It is only through acts of kindness done for NO reason without the expectation of reward or gratitude that the spiritual psyche of the world heals.

Deliberate acts of kindness are typically done with the expectation of gaining some recognition or quid pro quo.  Example: a wealthy individual or corporation donates large sums of money to build a community ball field or convention center.  In exchange, their name is plastered on the marquee so everyone knows how “generous” they are.  This is NOT generosity; it is marketing that is visible for all to see that is designed to improve their business.  If the corporation was truly generous, the donation would be anonymous AND they would not use it as a tax write off.

The “gift of life” is truly rare and precious precisely because the human species rarely does anything without an agenda.  Dogs on the other hand are actually much better at this than humans.  They have no agenda when they wag their tail in happiness to greet their friend and provider.  It is with pure natural joy that the tail wags and they pant in happiness.

We need to take cues from our loving pets.  Be a source of unqualified happiness in the world.  Develop an automatic smile that is triggered upon seeing another person.  You need not speak in words, speak in smiles.

If someone needs assistance or someone to just listen to them without judgment, be there for them with no agenda, just an open ear and heart.  Do not attempt to influence them, just provide a mirror so they see and have a sounding board to they hear themselves.  No one can “fix” the suffering of another, we can only reflect back to another what is being projected into the space around them.  Allow that space to be pure and untainted with your own prejudices.  Provide the soft warmth of compassionate safety to just “be” who they are with all their failings, flaws, successes and insights.  Offer a safe zone, with no expectations of any payback or required gratitude.

Life is about being a flexible blade of grass that moves in response to external forces, to allow them to pass but stays firmly rooted in who they are a simple force of nature, supportive of all it comes in contact with and is ever growing and changing.

So yes “life is precious” but not because it can be so easily snuffed out, but because it cannot be killed.  It can only be transformed into a slightly different material version of itself.  Because we live in a material world, we tend to place more value on material things for their physical “value” when in fact that entirely misses the point of what the essential essence of “life” is really all about.

Don’t give in order to receive, give to give, because it is the natural thing to do.  Begin your “precious life” this moment.