Blessings in Disaster

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

The Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson
As citizens, we often look at the documents of the founding of our country as if they are not part of the world that we live in, they are separate from our day-to-day lives. Yet, it is the direct and simple truths of many of them that make them so special in the annuls of time and writing.

Recently I have been going through a life lesson that has been a direct assault on some of my personal biggest fears. I saw it coming, I knew I was going to need to deal with it, and yet, I put myself through two years of, probably, unnecessary pain and anguish.

Nearly three years ago, I panicked. I was in a place of no money, about to face the real possibility of eviction and a car that was not currently functioning.

In late October two things happened; first, a friend wanted to leave a living situation with two other friends and on paper, well, it looked like it would cut the expenses nearly in half (later I would find out the difference in the utilities would demolish that theory). I had also been looking for a job, and though I really did not want to reenter an industry that I had been in previously, I can always get a job in it. If the job had been acquired just two days earlier, the fiasco of the living arrangement could have been completely avoided.

I was aware that the new employer was a good man, but, as we all do, had a few issues and was known to be a bit volatile. With my past experiences, I thought I could handle it, right…

The new roommates were friends and while living with others always has its challenges, worst case, you go hide in your room for a bit and let whatever pass, sure…

If I had known what the Universe was planning for me, I would have run away screaming like a maniac and considered finding a pretty monastery to cloister myself in.

Instead, I was in a self imposed illusion of safety, at best. The fools paradise started to show its true colors; one roommate was a disaster, so much so that when they gave notice before Christmas, I was elated and thought about throwing a party at the very idea (you know those moments, polite behavior requires you to say "are you sure this is what you want?" But, inside you are doing the Happy-Happy-Joy-Joy-Dance).

A few days later, during a discussion of what we wanted in a replacement, the other roommate gave me notice that he was moving as well, well that sucks! Now there are any numbers of reasons I could list that would make it obvious that neither was going to be any help finding replacements and I was working my butt off on the new job.

So on February 1^st I was holding the bag on just short of $1900 a month in rent, work was showing what the reality of the situation was, but I was now stuck. I was working six days a week, plus taking in extra work whereever I could get it.

It was not a complete disaster, the electric bill dropped from over $300 to about $45 (LA DWP stock dropped substantially), a friend ended using one spare bedroom to finish recording an album, some other friends rented the other bedroom for a couple of months while visiting from Europe. It was hard work, but it had some great times.

It took seven months, but when I moved out, I paid the final rent, 1^st and last on the new place, and for the first time in my life, paid movers instead of doing it myself, I consider that to be a major success!

Now that Phase One was complete, it was time to learn the other part of the lesson, Oh, you did not get part one? Stop freaking out! The Universe knows what you need and will provide if you will just let it.

Phase Two was going to be more than just working through it, it would require entering the dark caves of my being and facing some of what have become surprisingly powerful issues with me, the Job (cue dark dramatic music)!

I was quickly aware that this was not a good situation to be in, there were major clashes between my personality and that of my employer. As it was to turn out, it was to be a question of how much a "paycheck" was worth and just what was I willing to participate in to acquire one. As it turned out, I have become quite surprised at just how much!

In the last few months I have been trying to work on other projects while dealing with the issues at work (I really do think "work" should be added to that list of four-lettered words not used in polite society). I saw things deteriorating around me and I began desperately looking for alternatives, should I just get another job in the same industry, pays the bills but not likely to be particularly fulfilling. Should I go into another industry, or maybe the Universe has something else in mind.

I must have been ready, not that I necessarily realized it, as the whole situation finally collapsed in on itself, or in laymen's terms, I got fired. When it happened, I was pissed! After I cooled down, I was predominantly relieved and now a couple of days later, I actually want to thank my former employer for it, I am off the fence, a direction toward tomorrow has been placed at my feet and I will see where it goes.

So back to where we started, The Declaration of Independence, or more directly, when the Universe or Spirit guides you toward things, be willing to pursue them for often one has to declare independence from the now to create tomorrow. The alternative can be a very uncomfortable drop kicking, just saying.

Judas Iscariot & Adolf Hitler

“You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe.”

“A Late Delivery from Avalon” Marcus Cole
Babylon 5 Season 3 Episode 13
22 Apr 1996, Television
It has been an ongoing discussion that probably the hardest part of following the pathway back to Source or allowing the Law of Attraction to work in our life is the lesson that WE are responsible for EVERYTHING that happens in our lives. We either caused it, or chose it. Since we live in a state of self-induced amnesia, we usually do not remember these choices, actually it is our avoidance of this fact as to WHY we live in that state.

Unless you are a Sociopath or a Psychopath (I can never remember which is which), it is part of human nature to do what one thinks or believes is right. Throughout history, there have been many people that have been tagged by the world as dark and evil and from the common perspective of things, they were; so let us look at two of them.

Judas Iscariot

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In several pieces of scripture, mainly from the east, there are examples of people that have been asked to be the "Bad Guy" at the behest of God or some advanced being so that other good could come out of it. We could look into them, but since they are unfamiliar to most of my audience, let's start from one of Christianity's most despised characters, Judas Iscariot.

The version that most people know is that Judas, one of the original 12 Apostles, was the money-keeper and later betrayed Jesus to the Jewish leadership for 30 pieces of silver and after the crucifixion, hung himself.

Among the Christian Gnostics, there has long been a tradition that Judas and Jesus were very close friends since childhood. The story goes that when Jesus was in Egypt, to escape the slaughter of the innocents by Herod, that a possessed child, Judas, was brought before him and after removing the demon, they became fast friends.

Many years later, back in Judea, they reclaimed their friendship and Judas became a close follower and later announced to be one of the chosen 12 Apostles.

The Canonical Gospels all agree that Judas had met with the Jewish Leadership before the Feast of Passover and made the arrangements to turn Jesus over to them, as Matthew says:

Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

Matthew 26:14-16 KJV
According to the Gnostic tradition, at some point Jesus had asked Judas to do what he did, hence the calm and supportive statement at the last supper, when Jesus announces that someone will betray him, but John gives us an insight when Jesus says to Judas:

That thou doest, do quickly.

John 13:27b KJV
A surprisingly supportive and encouraging statement for what Jesus knows is about to begin.

I have always wondered about the statement in each of the Gospels where the writers attribute Judas being possessed by Satan, I guess the writers needed to explain why he did it. It may have also just been a judgment and a need to demarcate "him" from "us". This brings us to what Jesus had to say about passing judgment in general:

Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Matthew 7:1-5 KJV
Keep these verses in mind, we will be coming back to their content in a few moments.

Adolf Hitler

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The vast majority of people in today's world do not think that there is much one can say about Adolf Hitler, as far as the "PC" crowd goes, anything in a remotely positive light will basically cause the doorway to Hell to open and swallow you whole. (Since I am about to say less than hateful things, I went to the store and bought dogs and marshmallows, just in case they are right.)

When we look at European History, we find a long tradition of anti-Semitic thought, yet we are still inclined to think that Hitler created this hatred out of thin air as a political ploy. Sadly, it was actually the re-emergence of longstanding animosities between European Christians and their Jewish neighbors taken to drastic and dark new heights of action, though even the killing of masses of Jews was not a new idea in Europe, by both Christians and Muslims.

Adolf Hitler, along with much of Germany, despised the Treaty of Versailles after the First World War with its economic sanctions and crippling reparations. The declaration in Article 231 which placed the blame and responsibility on Germany as the cause of World War I was seen as a national humiliation.

One oft overlooked fact is that the National Socialist German Workers' Party, then called DAP, started as a response to the Treaty of Versailles by a cadre of people who already had;

"...antisemitic, anti-monarchist and anti-Marxist views, as well as believing in the superiority of Germans whom nationalists claimed to be part of the Aryan "master race" (Herrenvolk), but he [Anton Drexler, founder of the DAP] also accused international capitalism of being a Jewish-dominated movement and denounced capitalists for war profiteering in World War I."

"National Socialist German Workers' Party" Wikipedia.org
The point being that Adolf did not create these mentalities, but used them to his advantage later when he came into power in the party. Sadly, these thoughts were not that uncommon in much of Europe at the time and specifically in Germany. Add to this mix the whole "Master Race" silliness and you have a recipe for a disaster of immense proportions and that is exactly what it turned into, as some 11-12 million plus people would attest to.

A Larger Perspective

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(OK, for those of you with delicate constitutions, brace yourself...)
From the common perspective, Hitler and his associates turned into one of the deadliest examples of man's inhumanity to man and we tend to pass that completely sane judgment onto the events in Europe under the Nazi Party as well as on the actions of Judas Iscariot toward Jesus.

"A Course in Miracles" has an interesting statement when it comes down to the whole judgement thing:

1. When you lack confidence in what someone will do, you are attesting to your belief that he is not in his right mind.
2. This is hardly a miracle-based frame of reference.
3. It also has the disastrous effect of denying the power of the miracle.
4. The miracle perceives everything as it is.
5. If nothing but the truth exists, right-minded seeing cannot see anything but perfection.
6. I have said that only what God creates or what you create with the same Will has any real existence.
7. This, then, is all the innocent can see.
8. They do not suffer from distorted perception.

Schucman, Helen, A Course in Miracles
1996, 2^nd Edition, "Text" Chap 3 Sec II Par 3
New York: Viking: The Foundation for Inner Peace
If we expand our view to include the perfection of all things in their time and place, as difficult as that seems (especially from our limited perspective), the actions of both Judas and Hitler must be perfect as well.  This will drive many to very angry places, we thrive on our ability to judge ourselves superior and others as inferior. We could almost call this "Nazi Light" in that it is in the diminishment of others that we plant the seeds that history has shown us we are capable of.

Here in the United States we like to think ourselves to evolved for such insanity, but are we really?  At the same time Hitler was incarcerating anyone he saw as an impediment to his holding of power, what were we doing? We had started rounding up anyone of Japanese descent and putting them into internment camps under the guise of self-protection, albeit Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor, but we did not round up German descendants even when it became clear that war with Germany was likely, if not imminent.

Very shortly later, it was not biology but an ideology that we deemed as being less than "us" during the "Red Scare" of McCarthyism. As a nation we had decided that anyone of a differing opinion on the subject of Democracy was a threat and therefor less than, leading to Senator McCarthy's "Black Lists".

Of course we justified it, there were "very good" reasons, it made sense and as a nation we convinced ourselves that it was the right thing to do. We did not think of ourselves as anti-social, we believed that it was correct.

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All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,

William Shakespeare, As You Like It Act II Scene VII
Shakespeare wrote this as part of a piece describing the seven acts, or stages of life, ranging from infancy to old age. Many have also used it to describe the basic framework for explaining reincarnation of a single Spirit into multiple lives over the span of time.

There is a certain logic to the idea of reincarnation, that the eternal Spirit continues to learn beyond a single life. In traditional Christianity the idea is dismissed in favor of the idea that one has a relatively short period to make the right decision and if not, an eternity to pay for it. To me, that seems to make the Christian God excessively vindictive for a lack of understanding and acceptance. Of course there is the part of me that would find the traditional view to give credence to the verses where it speaks of the punishments for those who mislead others.

There is the old expression about not judging someone until you have walked a mile in their shoes, it gives you an insight into what is behind the reasoning for their actions.

An Example

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One example comes from the "broader view" of sexual permissiveness; in the U.S. we have a large collection of people who just cannot get over the fact that some people have sex outside marriage, as someone once wrote, "Promiscuous is anyone getting laid more than you are."

Now I am not saying that sleeping around is necessarily a good thing (albeit, more fun and better entertainment than most network programming), but what people are really searching for in this activity is happiness, and eventually they will realize that though enjoyable, the joy is fleeting and cannot be made permanent. Ironically, it is the attempt to hold onto these happy, pleasant and enjoyable experiences that make us even more miserable in that as the Buddha said as his 2^nd Noble Truth; attachment to impermanent things breed sorrow (OK, technically the 2^nd Noble Truth is that sorrow is caused by attachments, but in his later discourses he clarifies the previous statement's meaning. An example of this would be the old adage; even the best sex becomes commonplace after a while).

Some of us learn from our pain quickly, others take longer and some seem to be as addicted to their pains and sorrows worse than any addict to Crack or Heroin.

Respect, not Tolerance

In today's world, we are often told that tolerance is a good thing, I disagree. Tolerance should be a good thing, but as I see it, there is an inherent judgement in the term that the dictionary definition only hints at.

Tolerance

1. capacity to endure pain or hardship : endurance, fortitude, stamina
   
   
2. a: sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own
   b: the act of allowing something : toleration
   
   
3. the allowable deviation from a standard; especially : the range of variation permitted in maintaining a specified dimension in machining a piece

Merriam-Webster.com
When we talk about people being tolerant of others, we are usually referring to the second definition, to have sympathy or to indulge, do you not see a judgement in there? Both imply that you are allowing something lesser than yourself or position. When we say Group A should tolerate Group B the implication is that Group A is right and the other is lacking but must or should be allowed.

Strangely, this often requires the members of Group B to make use of the first definition, to endure the scorn of Group A.

Recently, in the fields of Politics and Religion, we often see the third definition employed in an attempt to negate the need for the second definition. Group A believes it has the truth or some perceived standard that should be enforced upon the rest (not that they often live up to it themselves).

So what is the alternative?

²Respect - verb

1. a: to consider worthy of high regard : esteem
   b: to refrain from interfering with <please respect their privacy>
   
   
2. to have reference to : concern

Merriam-Webster.com
When others disagree with your positions, beliefs or lifestyle, do not judge them to be inferior to yourself by tolerating them, but respect them for what they believe.

In the gospels of the Christian New Testament, Jesus said to love those who persecute you, fantastic idea though rarely practiced in today's world. You cannot love something or someone you do not respect, so tolerating others is to demean them.

You may not agree for whatever reason, but not only is that difference what is supposed to make the United States so great, but if you respect vs tolerate their opinions, you leave an open space to discuss those differences. What an idea, an opportunity to learn, to grow and to better one's self through expanding your frame of reference.

So Respect differences, not Tolerate them.

Semantics in Salvation

In my world, where I spend a lot of time studying and discussing different Religions, I am so often amazed with just how much semantics play into the discussions.

If I talk about "The Secret" or the Law of Attraction to my Christian friends, I am speaking the words of Satan and guiding people into Hell since I am discussing how to manifest in one's own life.  Now not every Christian believes in it, but many teach what has become known as the "Prosperity Gospel" which is actually nothing more than the Law of Attraction expressed in Christian terminology.

I find it so funny when I have a religious conversation with a Christian and the central theme against another religion is that the practitioners do something, that "works" play a role in their attainment of salvation in whatever form they believe in.

In Buddhism you meditate to find Nirvana within, in many religions one performs rituals to the idea of deity to show devotion and to focus on the ideal. These actions take one to a point where they are completely focused on the goal, preferable growing in their relationship with God, but as in all human activities, they tend to be more mundane like paying the mortgage or getting the kids into college.

Christianity believes that salvation is a gift from God, nothing you can possibly do has any affect since we are all such terrible sinners. The place where I cannot help but giggle is that the individual must make a choice, they must choose to follow Jesus, they must choose to follow through with that decision and grow within that relationship they have chosen to establish. Lastly, most would say it is in your best interest to study the Word and become stronger in one's walk with the Lord, yet another action that likely should be taken.

Sounds like an awful lot of action is involved and my "works" through all the day-by-day and often moment-by-moment choices to pursue and follow my chosen walk with God seem instrumental to my salvation.

The grace of Salvation is not some ring you grab off a hook on a carousel, but something waiting for you to accept willingly. In "A Course in Miracles" they say that there is actually only one sin, to believe that we are separated from God and all these other "sins" are nothing but the manifestation of that one incorrect thought.

Sin means to miss the point or target, forgetting our relationship to Source is what we have forgotten, all the teachers have told us this, it is OK to believe in it and yourself.  It is not possible to grow in your relationship with the Creator if you deny you are part of the creation.

An Ego A Day...

The teachers from the East, Buddha, Krishna, Rama, Siva, etc., all have one thing in common, they warn us of the enslavement of the Spirit, though not always called that, to Ego in one form or another. I have always thought that if the Creator gave it to us, then it must have some purpose in the grand scheme of things.

The best reasoning that I have heard, which made surprisingly good sense to me when I first heard it, was that the ego started off as a warning system for the body to notify the Spirit that it was in need of something.  Bodies do tend to be needy little creatures, always needing food or shelter or something.

Somewhere along the line, the Ego became aware that it could manipulate Spirit into giving into desires that did not actually serve a purpose, but were pleasant feeling.  We like pleasure, especially over pain, and the Ego was off and running.

I have often written and spoken of the fact that we are Spiritual, eternal, entities and that physical bodies are just the theater used to interact within this thing we call creation. We create, experience and destroy (Bramha, Vishnu and Shiva) the world of Maya (illusion) around us.

Learn to recognize the Ego when it is requesting an actual need, take care of it, the body is a gift bestowed upon us. Also learn when the Ego is attempting to run amok, it will ask for anything and everything. By watching and learning, you (the Spirit Entity) regain control over the alarm system and in time the Ego will go back to what it was supposed to be.

Problem Solving 101

I have heard it said on many occasions that the only constant in the Universe is change. Depending on the day, ones mood, what the latest change is and how you deal with it will determine you feelings toward this.

I have been going through a plethora of changes as of late. I thought the end of last year was going to be the majority, but so far this year has all been about changes. I sometimes forget that when I go through these moments that I can get so close to them that it is like walking up to a cliff-face, knowing there is something wonderful up there, but being so close, all I can see is the looming wall in my way.

These moments are actually good things, blessings. When you face them, know that it is NEVER insurmountable, and if at all possible, remember that you placed it there. Celebrate the moment of growth that is before you.

I know that sounds a bit silly to many of you, but if you can re-align your perception of the moment from viewing it as an obstacle to viewing it as an adventure, you will find whatever it is to be much easier to get through.

One of my favorite benefits of this view is that it allows you to reclaim your power over the situation. You are no longer its victim or having it done TO you, but now you have the power to DO TO IT what you wish.

The first few times it can seem impossible, but take a step back, a deep breath or two and just look at what is directly in front of you and deal with that. Then you can go on to what appears next, if you deal with it in this way, before you know it, that MAJOR difficulty suddenly becomes a collection of tiny little problems and before you know it, they are all out of the way and you can look back and ask yourself; "What was I thinking?"

Loving an Opposing Inspiration

Earlier today, I ran into someone on Facebook that I had not heard from in ages, Joni Eareckson Tada. Now it turns out that it is really more of a fan-page as she does not actively participate from the look of it.

When I was a kid, I ran across the book "Joni" which touched me in a way that few books ever have. It is the story of a young woman, Joni Eareckson, with everything ahead of her that has a diving accident one summer and ends up a quadriplegic and her coming to grips with that and the skills she found after-wards. I was so impressed with her artwork that I used to own a piece many years ago.

I had the pleasure of meeting her in 1981 during my great Southern California adventure that I have written about in the past.

One of the things that surprised me was the near immediate response that I received from several friends that were shocked that I would "Like" her since she is a signer on the Manhattan Declaration, a call for assorted Christian members to not comply with laws against their religious beliefs in areas like abortion and same-sex marriage. I believe that I had heard about it on the news, but I did not pay it any heed, why should I?

One of the areas that the Christian Right has never understood is that a law saying such things may happen do not require you to partake in them. I have always found it somewhat laughable to listen to people who act as if legalizing same-sex marriage means straight men are going to be required to do so or that Roe v. Wade is going to force women to have abortions.

We seem to have developed a culture in this country where if someone disagrees on any one subject, especially a hot button topic, that we are supposed to shun them and disavow any knowledge, friendship or support. I will not do it.

I have found Joni to be a shining star in my life who made me rethink many things in my life over the years and a pillar of strength when I have had tough times, no matter how bad, I still have functional arms and legs.

One of the pieces of the book I have always remembered was a place where Joni's power-wheelchair tipped over in a parking lot and she scraped her face quite badly. Her reply was something like; "why my face, the only place I can feel?" I have had days like that where it was like why this one thing when it was so important, at least in that moment.

I may not agree with everything she thinks and may even be diametrically opposed in some, but that will never take away from the respect I have for her in so many other areas of her life.

Many of the friends that responded badly felt that I had betrayed them, I would say that I have proven my worthiness as a friend in that I will stand by them when they do something I disagree with, it will take more than one thing to get rid of me.

I would say that it is more Christian to show love and compassion for someone against you on some issue than many self-proclaimed Christians offer to those who differ from them. It is easy to love someone who is always with you, but it takes a bit of work to get beyond some disagreement and still be there for them. I believe Jesus commented on this when he talked about loving ones enemies.

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To Joni,

My heartfelt appreciation for your story, your beautiful artwork and for making a young man feel welcome when the opportunity presented itself nearly 30 years ago.

My prayers and hopes, along with Reiki healing energy, to help you get through this troubling time with your recent diagnosis.

Shanti,

Robert

To be willing...

There is an old Indian story that I have heard told many ways, but I tell it like this:

The sage Narada was walking through the forest when he came across a yogi who was sitting under a tree deep in meditation. From the look of things, he had been there for quite some time as his hair was matted and the birds had also made their nests in it and there was much growth around him.

As Narada approached, the sage recognized him and asked, "Oh great sage, what are doing this beautiful day in the forest?"

"I am on my way to visit Lord Sri Krishna in his abode of Krishna-loka" he replied.

The yogi became hopeful and asked, "Oh sage, when you see Lord Krishna, would you be kind enough to ask him how many lives I must complete until I reach enlightenment and am freed from this world of illusion?"

Narada replied, "It would be my pleasure" and then he continued on his way down the road.

Several miles further along, Narada came across a young neophyte who was having some difficulties getting accustomed to his meditations but he was trying and beginning to have some successes.

The neophyte monk also recognized Narada and also asked him for the favor of asking Lord Krishna the number of lives before reaching enlightenment and of course Narada agreed.

Several years passed and once again Narada was on the road when he came across the yogi. When the yogi saw Narada he was overjoyed and asked, "Oh great Sage, per chance did you make it to see Lord Krishna and did you get the moment to ask my question?"

Narada looked at the sage and informed the yogi, "Lord Sri Krishna sends his blessings and asked me to inform you that after the completion of only three more lives, you will join him forever in his home of Krishna-loka."

The yogi was taken aback and began to rage, "Three more? Does Lord Krishna have any idea how many lives I have dedicated to meditation upon his lotus feet and I still have three more lives?"

As the yogi went on, Narada slipped away and continued his way down the road.

When he made it to the neophyte monk, it was apparent that he had begun to have some success in his efforts to go beyond the discomforts of his body. Upon his arrival the young man asked, "Oh great sage, May the blessings of Lord Krishna be upon you! Did you have success in your earlier journey to visit the great Lord?"

Narada, knowing what was coming addressed the young monk, "His Greatness gave me the following instructions for you. Do you see this great tree that you are sitting under? Each leaf represents a life that you must complete before you will acquire perfection through your meditations."

The young monk glanced up into the tree above him assessing the leaves and what Narada had said and replied, "That is not so many, I thank you Narada for your message."

At this, there was a flash and Lord Krishna appeared next to Narada, holding his hand out to the young monk inviting him to join him in his chariot.

The young monk was amazed and asked, "Oh great Lord, I thought I had many lives to fulfill before I would find enlightenment."

Lord Krishna smiled at the young monk and said, "Yes, many lives were before you, but you were willing to perform them in love and faith."

As with many of the lessons in life, we often do not necessarily have to through all the experiences, it is often just enough to truly be willing to do so.

On many occasions in my life, I will see a path before me that is not where I want to go and would not choose it for whatever reasons. When I have have stopped fighting what appeared to be unavoidable and accepted that this may be a path I may have to walk and truly been willing, suddenly alternatives have availed themselves and the unwanted path has fallen away.

When you are presented with areas of your life you wish to avoid, remember that old saying that "what you resist, persists." On some occasions you may have to go through the experiences, but often it may be enough to just be willing and not fight it.

A tough answer to Why?

When I talk to many people that either do not believe in God, in any form, or are doubting their faith, I often get the questions of why the world is the $#@*-hole that it appears to be and why would a loving God allow it to happen?

The part of these questions that always strikes me as a touch funny is that they presume a responsibility of God and a complete lack of our own. God gives us freedom of choice and where we take it is our responsibility and our problem.

If you look through the history of the Spiritgeek blog, you will find an entry called "Judeo/Christian Paradigms: Karma vs Salvation" where I explain the idea that "original sin" is the forgetting of our spiritual nature and the illusion that we are our bodies. Reminiscent of the quote, "We are not physical beings having a spiritual experience, but spiritual beings having a physical experience."

Things in this world happen by OUR will and action.

If original sin is actually forgetting our true identity and relation to the Source, then that Source would not be concerned with the actions that occur within the delusion as it has no REAL reality from the ultimate perception.

So the name we call that which lives in this space is often God. From that perspective it is a given that all things will eventually return from where it originated and the in-between is just the show, a Saturday Matinee.

Now I know this sounds a bit harsh, but if we are going to blame a deity for a lack of action, maybe we need to switch our perspective and in the process start to regain the awareness that the world can become a #@*-hole only if we let it. It truly is up to us and God will just wait at the other end of the process.

Unless you wish to give up freedom of choice and self-determination, but I would not suggest holding your breath... But, it is your choice!

Thinking may be your big mistake - pt 2

Is "wealth" always wealth?

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We think wealth is a good thing, no worries (true or not I will leave for you to determine on your own). When we look closer at the word "wealth" often what people are thinking is "an end to my poverty" or "the ability to pay my high bills" or something like this, see the problem?

Exactly, the focus is not really wealth but what wealth will remove, hence the universe tends to create more bills, debt or poverty; it is what was focused on.

Now if you wish to reclaim the word and idea of wealth, first you have to adjust your meanings and hence your intentions. Once you have succeeded in this, then you can use the 4 Evolutionary Stages to Manifestation to work through the rest of the distance.

The universe for all its vastness and power is actually amazingly direct and simple, we over-complicate IT. I tend to think this has to do with the idea that we are taught that it has to be difficult, that our interactions must be tainted by the curse of Adam and Eve on their expulsion from the Garden:

...in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Genesis 3:17c-19 (KJV)
The difficulty here is that the universe does not actually understand the duality in which we believe that we exist, the universe functions upon the premise that if you are willing to put energy into it, you must want it to manifest, hence we tend to manifest a lot of what we do not want by accident and simple carelessness.

This is why people in knowledge a quoted saying things like:

I was once asked why I don't participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I'll be there.

Mother Theresa
The problem is not what the hope is but the focus, anti or otherwise, is war. So the universe manifests more war because you placed your thoughts and focus on it; for all its massiveness the universe doesn't understand "NO". This is very closely related to the malformation I was referring earlier.

The other aspect of this is that words do not always mean to us what we think they do. Many of my clients and students are often asking for wealth early in their practices. Not a bad thing, but what is wealth? (Another topic for another day)

When we try some of the techniques for assessing the personal meaning of words, what we often find is what they really are thinking is removing poverty, their bills or whatever financial issues they may have. They are not really thinking about wealth and of many who are, they have negative feelings toward it from some aspect in their lives.

I think these can all be dealt with in time, but for those who are in more of a hurry, we can find a phraseology that works for them or an idea tailored to their thoughts and mindsets.

Using the 4 Evolutionary Stages to Manifestation

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Unto themselves the first two steps are not the most helpful in the actual act of manifesting, they have valid uses that can be helpful and here's a quick summary of how.

I mentioned that many of my clients and students start off wanting to manifest money or wealth. When their manifesting doesn't seem to be working or in many cases backfires here is something I run into a lot.

Many people find that their level of self-worth is often the issues, they do not deserve to be wealthy for whatever reason. While you can start a process of re-defining what wealth means for you, a good thing actually, you can also implement the 4 Evolutionary Stages to help you while you are doing this.

1. I want

   ---

   
   It is always a good idea to know what it is you want before you start trying to manifest, otherwise no telling what you will actually create. Analyze the terms you are using to see if they truly mean what you are planning to use them for.
   
   If wealth is a word that actually means "avoiding poverty" or something like it, find a different word or phrase to use. If you know you are using the "right" expressions then you cannot help but be headed in the right direction.
   
   
2. I can

   ---

   
   This is where you give yourself permission to manifest and have. I am sometimes amazed by the amount of self-loathing that can come up from within when people are trying to manifest a new future for themselves.
   
   As humans we seem to have an over-abundance of self-judgment toward the negative. I have watched so many destroy their attainment of their dreams because on some level they believe themselves to be unworthy. This can show up in many ways such as unintentionally sabotaging yourself at work or relationships to never attempting your heart's desires.
   
   
3. I will

   ---

   
   Once we know ourselves to be worthy of attaining our wants, sometimes we need some time to get used to the fact that we ARE headed towards our goal. This is where you get to enjoy the anticipation of your manifestation's arrival and possibly doing what they universe asks of you to bring it to you.
   
   If you are asking for happiness at work, the universe may require you to release some old hurt that you continually bring back. I find in many ways that many of the things we try to manifest are already actually before us, but we cannot see them because we have blinded ourselves due to some "thing" we are fixated on, often unconsciously.
   
   
4. I am/have

   ---

   
   This is where you own your creation, it is not a hope for the future but a done deal that you will find shortly. You have to be able truly to perceive this as reality; creation/manifestation is an act of will and anything less than that full force will introduce delays.
   
   Jesus talks about the faith of a mustard seed. If you can muster(d - sorry) that minute amount of true faith and belief the universe will respond in kind.
   

Do not worry about how the manifestation will occur, that is not your job, your job is to see the outcome and let the universe take it from there.

The vast majority of healers I have spoken to do not worry about how a broken bone is going to mend itself, they visualize the patient running or using the bone as it was intended to be, do likewise in your manifestations.

Thinking may be your big mistake - pt 1

Of the many questions that I run into a lot about the Law of Attraction (LoA), the most common has to do with why their thoughts and wishes are not manifesting what people are expecting and often not at all. When this comes up, I first ask what the "thought" they are putting out is. Often I find the answer almost immediately.

I would say that nearly 99% of the time the thought is malformed as well as the phrasing being out of alignment with what they want.

As a general rule, I find that there are four basic ways in which thoughts for manifesting run:

1. Inception/Desire (I want)

   ---

   
   This is where the vast majority of people spend their lives, they want, but they never go beyond the "wanting" and into the creating. The funniest part of it is that when you begin to understand how the universe of creation works and what activates manifestation, this becomes a "no duh" idea.
   
   Where "wanting" fails is that there is no action in wanting and no requirement for manifestation, it is a completely manifested state unto itself.
   
   You say: "I want a bicycle" so the universe responds with "OK, he wants, my job is done" hence there is no action to be taken! The action in a "want" is the wanting, it has nothing to do with the bicycle.
   
   
2. Possibility (I can)
   

   ---

   
   We say: "I can have a new bicycle", now what could be wrong with that? Of course nothing, but there is no activating principle to the thought. Nothing in the thought causes action, it is an opening of possibility.
   
   I will address in the next entry where this thought (as well as all of them) can be used to start manifestation, but unto itself you are not likely to manifest from it alone.
   
   
3. Probability/Potentiality (I will)
   

   ---

   
   "I will have a new bicycle!"
   
   Better, but now we have placed it into the future. Not a problem, but I tend to prefer my manifestations to be as close to immediate from my limited linear time perceptions (Robert makes a bad existential joke).
   
   Now this thought can manifest your wishes, the question is just when. The future is one of those things that really doesn't exist, it appears to have substance. It has the same reality as the past, we remember the past, we plan the future but the "NOW" truly is the only substantial thing.
   
   The vast majority of people spend their lives chasing this illusion of "when" or "then" and in the process miss all the now's that could have been used to create the things they are dreaming of.
   
   
4. Manifestation (I am/have)
   

   ---

   
   "I have a new bicycle!"
   
   This is where we truly manifest, as one of the TV Evangelists I heard to used to say, "You cannot have a miracle by wanting one, you have to claim it as your own". There is great truth in this.
   
   If you look at the opening of Genesis, God does not say I want light, can have light or will have light, but owns the concept of light and says "Let there be light" and how does creation respond? There was light so that "...God saw the light, that it was good..." (Genesis 1:4 KJV)
   

>>> Continue to part 2 <<<

Some cheese for that whine?

As much as I enjoy people sharing with me, I find that I get a bit short with them when all they are doing is whining about this, that and the other.

People in general seem to be predisposed to whining and complaining and not really being interested in actually doing something... I sometimes wonder where we learned this, I don't think it is our nature.

---

I was having a somewhat heated conversation with a friend about ways in which we can make the world around us a better place and become responsible members of society.

As often happens, the question was raised as to what difference a single individual can make against six-billion uninterested persons and corporate neglect in the search of short-term profits?

The question was recurrent, in many forms and from several direction, the general underlying perception seemed to be a collection of how terrible things truly are and a plethora of excuses as to why there was little to no reason to actually act and a general justification to be just as selfish as the "rest of them."

Somewhere we learn all about what we do not want, we will fight against this or that "wrongness" but we never seem to be similarly motivated to act for some right or good thing.

Over the last 9 years we have seen a collection of protests (probably a sign it's headed in the wrong direction right there) against the wars in the Middle East, against the passage and court ruling that allowed California Proposition 8 to stand (a curious question that is almost as bizzar as the US Supreme Court case of Bush vs Gore in 2000).

Mother Theresa understood the idea that I am alluding to, when she said, "I was once asked why I don't participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I'll be there."

When we talk about the Law of Attraction (LoA) one of the concepts that we MUST become familiar with is that the Universe is vast and grand, but in some ways, not so bright.

The Universe assumes that if we don't want something, we would not put any energy into it. Sadly the opposite is usually true, we spend the majority of our thought and energy on exactly that, what we don't want, hence we keep manifesting what it is we don't want.

For example, many years ago I took a class in Beginning Witchcraft, during which (Sorry, I couldn't pass it up) one of my fellow students asked me to help her with a "Money Draw" spell. The teacher of the class was a bit miffed, as it was the full moon and she asked how I was going to do this type of spell during a waning moon.

For those not familiar with what I'm talking about, traditionally, one does magic that causes growth at the New Moon so that as it waxes, gets larger, the object also enlarges. Conversely, banishings are done at the Full Moon so that things get smaller along with the Moon.

I told the teacher that what I was planning to do was actually a Banishment of Poverty. She was fairly impressed, she never thought of it that way. Today, I probably wouldn't do it this way, since we were focusing on what we didn't want, but it made sense at the time.

---

So the next time you find yourself sitting around and complaining about what is wrong in the world and your life, take a moment and figure out what cheese to serve with your whine, I like Gouda and Feta.

Perception & Happiness

I have been looking over my recent tweets and I noticed that I have been inspired to several about perception and happiness being a choice.

One of the basic tenets that I believe in is the idea that Man is indivisibly part and parcel of the Creator and that God is just as linked to us.

I remember a scene from a film I was watching recently, "Bless the Child", where a young child will grow up to bring many to God, according to the story.

The scene that I was thinking about is when Cody, our "special" child, is taken out to an alley by Eric Stark, the founder of a "Demonic" Youth Cult, to see what appears to be a schizophrenic homeless man who is sitting on the ground muttering to himself.

ERIC

Look at this man. He should be in an institution, but God abandoned him, didn't he, left him here to suffer. Death, would be a kinder fate, even a cruel death.

Through the power of the one I serve I can give him the strength to end his pain.

ERIC places a small gas can and a box of matches on the ground near the HOMELESS MAN. Eric then begins to perform a ritual. The man starts to show signs of understanding and begins to reach for the gas can and pour the contents over himself as CODY watches in horror.

ERIC (CONT'D.)

Watch. If God loves his children so much, maybe he'll stop this. Redeem him, somehow. Or maybe the release I've offered him is his only true salvation.

CODY starts to walk up to the HOMELESS MAN while he pulls out a match and strikes it, Cody blows out match and hands him something.

CODY
(hugs homeless man and whispers into his ear)

He hasn't forgotten you.

One of the simple truths in this is that we are all the manifestation of a thought of the Creator who cannot forget us and if he ever did, we would blink out of existence, it is the thought that gives us form/creation.

This is the basic premise upon which the Law of Attraction functions.

Creation is not something we do, but something we are. We ARE creators, just like our parent, the difficulty comes in remembering that and creating by deliberate intention and not by accidental default.

Our moods and thoughts are the gauge by which we can determine what it is we are creating and if it is something that will bring joy as a result. Most of us create in anger and jealousy and the fruits just magnify that initial seed that we planted.

Start by becoming aware of your "states of mind" and then watch for the results. When you get to where you are immediately aware, change the program intentionally and see what new fruits you create.

Happy creating!

How to create perfection...

I am often asked just how we can change the world, fix its problems and awaken the masses? The short and simple answer is that we cannot.

What we can do is change OUR perception of the world, fix our problems and wake ourselves. As we work on these things, we will begin to resonate with what we are doing and THAT will attract others of like mind and/or sympathetic goals.

More often than not this is followed by a "why not" or something in that general ballpark. The simple answer is that we can only change ourselves. To attempt to change others inevitably leads to using force in one form or another which is guaranteed to fail -- sometimes dramatically.

The most common flaws in trying to change others usually seem to run as follows:

• When we are "changing" those around us, we have stopped loving and accepting them for the perfection that they are in every moment. They loose a source of love and we tend to start withholding our approval, acceptance and caring till they start living up to our expectations.
  


• In time, we start practicing what I call "Green Stamp Theology." When I was a kid, my mother would shop at stores that gave out Green Stamps. We would collect them and put them into books which could be redeemed for merchandise at a later time.
  
  Sadly we see a lot of this in America today where the traditional religious members are more concerned with numbers of attendance and "saving" others while loosing the point in their own lives. It becomes more of a point system where we attempt to buy our way into the afterlife of our choosing.
  


• If you wish to see perfection, you have to be willing to see it. Passing judgment on anything is to deny that its perfection already exists. Simple as it may sound, if you need something to change, it must not be perfect.

It's funny to me that this very question caused a major philosophical schism in Buddhism in what we today call Theravada [ancient doctrine] and Mahayana [great vehicle] schools. Fortunately, they have handled it very well over the years.

The Theravada school has as its central focus the enlightenment of the individual where the Mahayana school is more focused on the enlightenment of the masses and the tradition of the Bodhisattva, the enlightened teachers. I guess I would fall into the Theravada school generally since I just cannot see how one can take another to the Truth until they have arrived there themselves, not that I am there, but I pass on what I have found to those who ask.

So if you want to change the world, change yourself and the world cannot help but follow. Will it change as fast as you might want or think it should, no... but how you relate to all those things you used to see as imperfections will become new joys to celebrate.

Miscellaneous Thoughts for Today...

I recently took a "normal" job, whatever that may actually be, I think of it as a place that pays me on a regular basis for some function that they have need of. I am still in training on the job and am feeling pretty good about it, but the one part of it that is going to take a while to get used to is getting up so early.

As an independent contractor, I could get up whenever I wanted, usually around 7 and take my time getting myself together. With the hours that I am doing during training and likely to continue doing on a regular basis, I could sleep as late as 6, but that leaves me little time for the more important aspects of my morning, meditation.

That's actually what this entry is going to be about I think.


I really enjoy the time I get to meditate and have really enjoyed sharing that time with my roomie, but that is a touch difficult since the roomie doesn't have to get up and I would never ask her to.

Lately, my meditations have been very interesting, not so much for what has been happening, but for what has not.

I tend to start my meditations with a creation of some sacred space and then do a breath channeling through my chakras. It helps me to relax and to place myself into an alternate state of mind.

One of the things that I have noticed about myself is that I get to a certain point and because of previous experiences, I try to "force" myself into a certain state. I'm not real sure how to describe it, but I get to a point where I feel as if I am leaving the body through the crown chakra and from there I can go anywhere.

I guess the part that has been interesting to me has been the recent experiences where I get to the threshold of "stepping out" and basically get stuck. I have found that meditation is a lot like my life in that it works best when I just let it happen and don't attempt to force things.

When I just relax and let my meditation happen, I get deeper than when I do otherwise. I know this is a pretty "duh" statement for many people and to be honest, it is for me as well. But we all sometimes get so far from where we started that it is sometimes helpful to remember those early lessons and see what other interesting and new insights we can glean from them.

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The image above is one that I use to remind me of the images and colors of the chakras. The base or root chakra is associated with the color red and so forth through the colors and chakras till you reach the third eye which is purple. The crown merges all the colors together for a brilliant white.

Beyond those basics of chakra work, the image also incorporates the traditional lotus designs as well as the Sanskrit characters for more advanced students. I am trying to find an old graphic editing program I had that will allow me to slow the rate of the animation changes.

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I recently had a discussion with someone and the ideas of meditation vs prayer came up. Those who know me know that I don't use the term "prayer" very often. The reason is that when I was young, prayer always seemed like a negotiation with God for what we felt was some blessing that we deserved.

Now days I usually phrase it more along the lines of "prayer is when I talk to God or my Higher Power, meditation is when I shut up and listen for the response."

After years of study of teachers and saints from religions spanning time and this planet, I can tell you that the teachers all tell us that the answers are not outside of ourselves, but within. This is because we are all small sparks of the Creator and can not be separated from that Source.

As the "Course in Miracles" puts so eloquently, God does not judge the minutia of our day-to-day lives but only that which is deserving of judgment, the mistake that we fell into of believing that we were separate from Him and could fall. Everything else is just that delusion playing itself out.

The law of Karma and Newton's Second Law of Motion state, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. All these "sins" we worry so much about are nothing because they only exist in a state of illusion, they are not real. Only that which is real matters and you would be amazed at how much is not real. Like that book titled, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff: it's all small stuff," when we put things into perspective we can let go of that load we carry around in the name of guilt.

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OK, I will quit rattling about and go get some sleep. I have a busy day at work and I have more than enough here for you to think about.

Goodnight.

A slow learner, but learning...

I find that if we listen to the world around us, we will always find what we need. A case in point has been for me, my ongoing issues with stressing out about where the things that I perceive that I need are going to come from.

The Law of Attraction will always work on our behalf if we will just let it and not sabotage ourselves, one of my particular specialties...

For example, business has been really slow and the last two months, I have been freaking out about paying my rent. This month, I did it so well that I even manifested a stress related cold-sore for my efforts.

The universe has always provided for me, but when it comes to those major issues, I tend to forget that and get lost in the moment and its concerns. Fortunately, I have made it a point to program my days with the required outcomes so that even when I blow it and get lost, I come out the other side only slightly worse for the wear.

This month, the universe decided to let me stress myself out, it IS only MY choice to do it, until the last moment and came up with everything I needed and a little extra in less than a week.

When will I learn???

Are you controllable?

When I was in high school, I had a teacher for Freshman English names Ms. Butts who became something of a friend and confidant. Freshman English was a full year required class, but starting sophomore year, the students were allowed to choose specific classes that they found of interest.

During the year, it had become quite apparent that Ms. Butts' favorite class to teach was one called "Persuasion and Propaganda." Personally this was not something that I would have chosen but she was so excited in the subject and thought that I would get a lot out of it so I signed up for it.

The reading for the class was George Orwell's "1984" and I think we either read or discussed Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." Along with the reading was a excellent introductory into the worlds of advertising and subliminal manipulation. It really opened my eyes to how we are tricked by what we see to buy products we may not even need.

Some say that advertising is the art of convincing people that they need something they likely didn't know even existed before hand. My personal favorite quote on the subject is as follows:

"Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket."

George Orwell

I just finished reading Al Gore's book "The Assault on Reason" in which he touches on the subject while discussing the change that has occurred with the distribution of information from print to audio and later video mediums. Scientists have viewed the differing wave patterns in people's brains and what areas are or not activated in the brain's logic centers with differing medias.

In America, at least, we have become largely a nation of peoples who get more information from carefully crafted sound-bites than from actual study about "whatever."

When I was a child, we used to watch the local news to see what was happening in St. Louis and the immediate area then the network news to find out about the nation and the rest of the world. I remember watching films that have since become cultural icons from the Vietnam era when they were first shown on television.

You won't see such things today, in the name of "family decency" or gratuitous violence, but in times like now, when our nation state is at war with another nation state, this should be a nightly segment of more than a quick statement of a couple of IED's and shelling incidents but an in depth statement of what is happening, top story every night until it is over. Making it into an "also ran" is just another form of manipulation, it's happening but you don't want to know to much about it.

Sadly, some executive realized that news was a salable product and that by making it "pop" you could raise ratings and hence charge more for advertising space. There was a time when television news was not about making a buck, but paying the people for the privilege of using the publicly owned airwaves by supplying a service, information.

Now I am sure that Britney Spears' latest meltdown is fun for some to watch, it is not (and never will be) news, so why is something like this the lead story on the network news and why do we let it go on without a comment from the public?

I feel sorry for Britney and her sister as it seems their family has some serious issues to deal with, but it seems REALLY sad that this would be used as ratings gathering fodder when people are dying so that we can have our minds reduced to mush so that this seems of importance.

We could go into the next realm of this discussion, politics, but why, if you want to know about the manipulation of the public by Washington, there are a plethora of blogs and outside news sources that can do it in much more expansive detail than I would ever want to. I'll stick with religion as my subject, spending my life in the pursuit of political understanding would likely have me opening a wrist or two.

I may have my issues with the political arena, but I have to agree with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee when he said "Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office."

The point of this is to start becoming aware of how you can be manipulated to do things you would not otherwise. This is important, if you cannot discern how you are controllable, how can you regain that control?

A basic piece of the philosophy taught here is that we are all responsible for that which happens to us, none of it happens without our express permission, either consciously or not and on a level many of us are not aware of. There are no victims unless one chooses to be.

Part of learning about who and what you truly are is to become aware of how your truth has manifested in the world of your experiences. The past is what brought you to where you are, in learning how and what it was, you become prepared for the next moment.

The Church of Scientology may take a lot of grief for some of their stances on things, but I have to agree with the idea they put forth of the "reactionary" person. We are not really taught as children to question and analyze the world that is put before us. Instead, we have a nearly instant reaction to what is happening around us with no clue as to why we are responding in this way.

Start to look at the thoughts you have, the ways in which you think and continue to ask that deadliest of all questions, "WHY." That one little word can open the most massive doors in the experiences of past present and future. Try it and see what answers come to you, you are likely to be quite surprised in many cases, I know that I was...

Time Travel; fun but not very profitable...

Last weekend, I was working on some questions and supplying answers when the following came up:

How can I let go of others’ problems instead of trying to solve them?

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This is an issue that I have been working of for a while. So far, the best I have been able to accomplish is to become aware of it as it is happening and then I can try to let go of it and begin to regain my peace.The hard part for me is the letting it stay gone, I tend to rehash it after the fact and I can get just as frustrated, if not more so, as I would at the time, time travel can be fun and completely unprofitable.

I find that we all suffer from this to some degree. Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking may not be a big proponents of it, but to a degree, we all do it. When we think about things that have happened to us in the past, imagine or plan things in the future we are practicing time travel in at least one of it's methods.

There is an old expression that says "if you you have one foot in the past and one in the future, you completely miss the present" and the present or now is actually all that we really have. Another expression that I heard on this was "yesterday is a cancelled check, tomorrow is a promissory note, today is the only cash we have."

Learning the lessons of the past is important so that we are not condemned to repeat them as Benjamin Franklin said. Becoming fixated on our past is not healthy for us. Rehashing our past failures or disappointments for the purpose of punishing ourselves is not healthy.

The same goes for the future. We can enjoy an amusement of playing out the future in our heads but thinking that we can plan every detail of the future and expecting it to follow our detailed schema is a fantasy that tends to become painful when it is not realized. As the saying goes, "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans."

Imagining and fantasy can actually become detrimental to our growth. In the process of fantasizing, we usually tend to tell ourselves how we would like something but define why we are not going to get it or are unworthy of it. For those who are aware of the Law of Attraction, this is a big warning sign to not allow to pass unheeded.

Within reason, all of these time travel experiments can be helpful and fun, but the fact is that if you spend all your time in any of them, you are going to miss the present and it is the present that you change into the future and the past is just a record of how you got to where you are.

Enjoy the now, be the now and live in it. I can guarantee that once you spend the majority of the time thinking about what is, this moment, the past stops being something of sorrow and the future becomes a new landscape that unfolds moment by moment before you.

What are we and Why?

There is an old question that I got asked in philosophy class that is reasonably close to a koan from the world of Zen, "Can God make a stone so large that He cannot move it?"

What if this is the wrong question? What if the right question is, "Can God create a puzzle and/or riddle that is so complex that, as of yet, He has not solved?" And if that is not enough heresy for one day, I would add, "What if we, people as well as creation, are the attempt to solve that puzzle/riddle?"

Generally, I tend to think of the relationship between God and His creation in less than philosophical Gordian knots, along the lines of, as explained so eloquently by Neale Donald Walsch, God knew Himself to be the totality of all that was, is and ever would be, but the knowing of something and experiencing it are completely different. Creation is the attempt of God to turn datum into experience.

Now, to some, this is absolute heresy, I tend to feel sorry for these people since they usually have a view of the relationship of man and God as being nearly diametrically opposed. The view of separation between creator and created seems to manifest in forms of societies that end up bullish and uncaring in their assumed relationship to the creator as "the chosen."

Why is it that we cannot look beyond our little egos (OK, not so little in many cases)? If we take this view of God as a diamond and all the differing ideas about God are just different facets of the same stone, we are left with all our descriptions of God being like the story of the blind men who start fighting over what an elephant is since they all have experienced different pieces and not the whole.

Imagine the joy that would come from the acknowledgement that not only is our view and belief right, but also the plethora of views from the Haitian Vodoun Mambos and Houngans, to the Islamic Imams, through the Hindu Brahmans, to the Buddhist Lamas and Arhats to the Christian Popes and assorted ministers and preachers, wouldn't that just be amazing to experience?

Note:
Thanks to J. Michael Straczynski for reminding me of this with Dr. Franklin in Babylon 5.

a Giving Thanks list

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving and as much as I appreciate the traditional overindulgence in foodstuffs, like Christmas, there is more going on than inducing a L-triptophan overdose of napping.

Where I grew up, the big thing was the annual football game between between my high-school, Kirkwood, and our rivals from across town, Webster Groves, (life was a blast the year I transferred into that school just before the game). From what I hear, Kirkwood won this year which was the 100^th Turkey-day game between them. Congrats to the Kirkwood Pioneers.

But as much as football and food are plentiful on this day, what I try to do every year is make a list of things that I have to give thanks for. It's one thing to set aside a day, but I find it helpful to actually list them out and look at them, cherishing each for a moment so as to actually give some thanks.

• My friends -- more like family...
  
  • * -- my best source of reality slaps when I need one in short order. Gifted by the Gods to be able to see though my self-indulgent BS whenever I need it.
    
  • *-- probably the person in Los Angeles that knows me better and longer than anyone else. Why she puts up with me, I don't know but I love her for it.
  • * -- likely my best friend, we fight on occasion and yet we always are there for each other.
• The learned lessons of the previous year
  • "The difference between a rut and a grave is only a matter of depth."
    My great-grandfather told me this when I was a kid, it has taken until lately to realize the truth of it and be willing to climb out of my rut before it falls in and becomes that grave.
  • Follow your heart and the universe will be there for you.
    I have lived this unintentionally on many occasions, but now I live it on a daily basis with intention.
  • I have finally become truly aware of the fact that what I have is of some value to the world and that it is not wrong to want to share it with those who want it. Follow that small voice inside and it will tell me when and with whom.
• My health
  • My Doctor is always freaking out about my cholesterol levels. This year we have finally gotten it under control and all is well. I am not going to have a heart-attack anytime soon, at least not from cholesterol levels...
  • My other condition is absolutely fantastic and seems to be completely under control.
• My new employment arrangements
  • No longer at the limo company
    As much as I liked my job and loved the people I was meeting at the company, I never realized how much of my life was dedicated to the job to the expense of everything else. I think on some levels, I was hiding from both life and what I really wanted to become. I still love the people I worked for and with, but after several years of 3,000 miles per month in LA traffic, enough is enough.
  • Computer services
    While this is not my final goal in the universe, I have spent years learning skills that have a nice value to them and without having to work for someone else or full time, I can make enough money to work on my true goals and desires. What a blessing this has turned out to be.
  • Life Coaching and Spiritual Teaching
    Not only has the last few months allowed me to create the basic site for this, but I have been inspired in so many ways as to how to proceed with it. Things are starting slowly, but in a way that is a good thing since I have the opportunity to plan the directions in which I and it will go.

This list is nowhere near complete, but it is a beginning.

Everyday, be thankful for the gifts and blessings that show up in your life. By acknowledging them, you not only give blessings, but they tend to grow into greater and greater things to be blessed by. This is one simple way in which the Law of Attraction or "the Secret" can be used to improve our lives in directions we want to go in.