Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Prosperity & Perfect Health

There are three main aspects to prosperous living; right livelihood, perfect health, and harmonious relationships. Right livelihood encompasses both meaningful work and work which supports a joyous lifestyle. I have written extensively about the interconnection between consciousness and fulfilling work and material prosperity. Now, I am writing about the other two components of prosperous living and how consciousness governs our success in these venues as well. First we will look at health.


I believe that perfect heath is our birthright in the sense that we are born with the perfect mind body combination to accomplish that which we arrived here to do. I discuss so called “birth defects” and disabilities in another chapter and so will not repeat that topic here. Birth is a gift from our creator. There is nothing that we had to do in order to receive the blessing of life. I will come back to this momentarily.


Some people believe that life is random and that we exist solely on the physical plane. They assert that our role in life is to survive. They think that all that exists can be measured with the five senses and understood by the human brain. (Assuming continued advances in scientific instrumentation).


On the other hand, if life is not random, then it has purpose and meaning.

In the end, we have one of a limited number ways we can view the idea of perfect health in our physical world. If our existence is meaningless and random then our physical well-being is likewise random and there is nothing we can learn about this and the inquiry is over. This motto is something like “Life is a bitch and then you die.” If you reject this approach, then we must adopt either the idea of 1) a rewarding/punishing God that bestows blessings on some and not on others, 2) a capricious God or 3) a loving creator.


It is beyond my purpose to fully debate this issue fully here.


I will say however, the creative act cannot be measured by the five senses. Creativity itself cannot be comprehended or explained by the human brain. Biology can at best explain what happens when conception occurs, but no scientist can create life or explain where life comes from. Moreover, we do not know where creativity itself comes from. We cannot determine where new ideas arise from. We do not understand (and I believe cannot understand) how fresh insights occur any better than we can determine how life arises. The absence of scientific proof about where new ideas come from coupled with my own experience in having new ideas leads me to believe that there is an organizing intelligence in the Universe.


Thus, let’s refocus back to the main point which is that our birth is the result of the gift of life and implies a creative force. If we are gifted with life for some purpose, then it stands to reason that at conception we would have the perfect set of tools to fulfill our purpose. However, know we are not the product of predestination because we have free will. Thus, we are not created with all the tools we need and no choice but to fill our destiny. Instead we are created with the impulse to manifest the purpose and acquire the sills over our lifetime.


At our birth, we have the perfect combination of mind and body to succeed in manifesting the good we were intended to experience. Some skills of course must be developed; most of us learn to walk, to speak, to read and so forth. Some attributes must be developed such as all of the aspects of our human personality. In addition, some traits must be learned through experience such as the value of spiritual surrender, forgiveness and perseverance. All of this occurs through a life curriculum which is perfectly crafted to develop us into spiritual maturity as we manifest our life purpose.


This curriculum occurs throughout our lifetime and molds and shapes us in ways that we do not readily perceive. Thus, to outside appearances, many of us do not have a perfect mind body. But what we are looking when we see physical discomfort and disease at is the out picturing of a consciousness that has been traumatized. We were born with a perfect mind body and through years of neglect and abuse we end up with a mind body that is hurting and failing.


Much of this happens when we are children and are unable to significantly impact or understand our experience. Imperfect parenting, dysfunctional socialization, misguided education all result in some level of trauma for each innocent child born into this world. None can escape it. The impact of this trauma on the perfect mind body that we were born with is highly individualized.


For example, some babies will sooth their normal infantile anxiety by eating or over eating. Other babies loose all their appetite when they are anxious. Years later, in a superficial view, one might look overweight and one might look drawn and emancipated, but these are just two extreme maladjustments to anxiety. In each case, in a kind of twisted way, both are in perfect balance between the anxiety that they did not wish to experience over a lifetime and the food they unconsciously used (or did not use) to sooth it.


If spiritual repair work is not undertaken to recover the perfect mind body, then the childhood trauma in our mind body continues to deteriorate. This determination shows up as imperfect health, but as mentioned above is really perfect adjustments to maladaptive choices made over a lifetime. Every so called illness or health challenge is either a wake up call to activate the path to a higher consciousness or a result of choices made to continue less than optimum behavior that our physical mind body must counteract.


We all have the impulse to do this repair work encoded in our DNA and in our life energy. (In the west we do not have a good word for describing this). In addition we all have free choice to participate in spiritually based healing- which is often very different that a medically based cure. Some choose to embrace the transformational experience that will restore them to a thriving balance, others will rely on a physical/medical cure and ignore the deeper dimensions of the mind body connection and yet still others will down-regulate in a way that leaves them feeling depleted, exhausted and drained.


There are cases that look like exceptions to the idea of a perfect mind body. For some, the ideal soul curriculum in this incarnation requires them to manifest physical or mental ailments in order to experience what is needed for the long term evolution of their soul. I do not pretend to think this appears fair, just or reasonable. Perhaps it is the result of an unfathomable mystery or bad karma. The point is that these situations appear unfortunate from our dualistic perspective that define perfect solely in the physical dimension. When the evolution of the soul is factored in, then even those that appear unfortunate have been gifted with their perfect mind body to successfully accomplish their soulful purpose.


Given that we have free choice, then the decisions we make lead us to have a mind body that reflects those choices. In fact, our mind body perfectly reflects those choices. Unfortunately, many would rather blame their Creator for the impact of their decisions on their life rather than accept that their accountability lies within their own mind body.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Thanksgiving & turning setbacks into steps forward

Throughout the year it is easy to be grateful when things are going well and it is difficult to be grateful when those momentary set backs occur. At Thanksgiving, I encourage people to look back over the last year and remember a couple of instances when things looked bad at the time but turned out well in the end. This constructive spiritual practice helps us internalize the concept that The Universe can bring all things together for good.

This practice can run into a hard stop during those terrible times when the very foundation of our life is in the dumpster. If this occurs around the Thanksgiving Season, it can be difficult to embrace this spiritual practice. St. John of the Cross called these periods the Dark Night of the Soul because our conscious connection with our Creator feels absent during these periods of despair.

During these times of desolation it is almost impossible to follow a spiritual path. I thought I would write about this during the Thanksgiving holiday even thought it applies at any time things appear to be unraveling right before our very eyes. The bible gives us an example of how to trust spiritual truth even when experiencing what feels at the time like a horrible reversal.

Let’s explore the metaphysical story of Jesus turning washing water into fine wine. It is sometimes referred to as his first miracle. Metaphysical stories contain seeds of profound truth in tales easy to recall and cite. In this story, Jesus is a guest at a week long wedding feast and celebration. On the first day of the feast, the host runs out of wine for the assembled guests.

Jesus’ mom informs Jesus of the situation and implores him to take action. Jesus retorts that it is “not his time”. His mother ignores him and orders the servants to do whatever Jesus asks. Jesus then capitulates and instructs the servants to fill the six nearby ceremonial stone jars with water from the well. These jars were used to supply water for ritual purifications and would be considered inappropriate for any routine household purposes. After the servants fill the six jars to the brim, Jesus, tells them to draw some out and take it to the head steward. The steward, who has no idea where the liquid came from, takes a sip and proclaims the wine good. He even admonishes the host (in a complementary way). In serving such excellent wine after the feast is well underway, he has broken the tradition of serving the best wine first to sober guests and wine of inferior quality later to inebriated guests.

We can imply from this story that Jesus’ mother was involved in hosting the feast because she was the first to learn of the shortage of wine and by her ordering the servants to attend to Jesus’ commands. From the perspective of Jesus’ mother and her extended family, as hosts, running out of wine on the first day of a feast would be a serious breach of etiquette. According to the social norms at the time, the lack of adequate wine would appear to be an unsolvable disaster.
(We would infer from the story that they did not have resources to simply go and buy more wine for the celebration).

Jesus’ reply to his mother’s news about the wine shortfall was that it was not his time represents a common initial response we have when we are new to the spiritual path. His mother in this instance represents social expectations and she is pulling on him as if he was able to solve an insolvable problem when seen from the consciousness that created the problem. When we are presented with a difficult situation in our life and we are called to apply spiritual law rather than traditional problem solving techniques, we often think it is not our time to take spiritual actions. We are afraid that we do not have the spiritual mastery to resolve the situation at a higher vibration of consciousness.

Jesus’ mom transcends his insecurity by ordering the servants to do what ever he tells them to do. She does not argue with him or try and convince him to solve the problem. In this instance she is not acting merely as his mom, the host of the marriage feast, she is also representing that Divine Mother that is lovingly and unceasingly calling us to our highest good.

Like our good friends and mentors on the spiritual path who help remind us that spiritual law is always ready for our application, she simply points out that the servants will do whatever he asks. In the story the servants are seen as representative of spiritual law- which always respond to our application. Just like we should not allow our considerations deter us from applying truth principles, so to the servants who follow without question the commands of Jesus are, in this story, representative of spiritual law which have no ability to resist our application.

In the end, the water is transformed into wine. From the perspective of the head steward, (who represents our evolved self), the problem of the shortage of wine never existed and the outcome was even better than had existed before the alleged problem even occurred. (In the story, the blessing of the so called problem is represented by the converted wine being even sweeter than the initial wine served which would be commonly understood to be the host’s best wine.) Looking at it from an over arching vantage point, the water into wine tale illustrates that no problem can be solved at the level of consciousness that created it. Transformation must occur and when it does, the blessing is even better than the highest and best outcome that could have occurred by resolving the matter on the level at which the problem is initially presented.

For the part of us that is represented by the Jesus character, the story suggests that even when we think we are not ready to overcome any perceived difficulty, spiritual law is always available and when we exhibit the necessary faith, the blessing is available for us.

We will all face moments of spiritual crisis where doubt and confusion about principle feel overwhelming. No matter how bad things look in the midst of the problem, it is vital to keep a long range perspective and not forget that we can turn it into a blessing. We build our awareness of this principle by each Thanksgiving finding a moment in the past year that at the time looked like a set back and notice that as our year unfolded, it turns out that it was a blessing.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Life in a World of Infinite Possibilities

I am fascinated to live in a world of infinite possibilities and at the same time observe how so many people feel stuck with no options. I realize there is at any given moment the immediate possibility of choosing to feel trapped … but I get ahead of myself.


Ordinarily we humans do not see ourselves living in a field of pure potential. Instead, we automatically select our range of choices down to a manageable number of “viable options”. This seems to work reasonably well most of the time, but insulates us from the underlying principle: we live in a world of infinite possibilities. Just consider the infinite number of choices before you right now. You can continue reading, stop reading, decide to read later, hit reply and correspond with me, or forward this to 1) a good friend, 2) to your parents, 3) to someone with whom you are in a running feud. In addition you can call someone to share the ideas illuminated here, invite them to subscribe to our blog to receive our Prosperity Thoughts every month, and you can just as easily choose to unsubscribe from our list server. So many unlimited choices are before you at this moment but only if you are open to them!


We often experience limited choices because we see only one option in our mind, thus collapsing the field of infinite possibilities down to a fixed determinate. Although there is a time and place for narrowing our committed intention, too often it is not an empowered decision—rather it is a mis-perception that there are no other choices. This is a common result of rigid thinking.


Believing there is only a single choice usually stems from one of two impoverished mind sets. One is victim mentality characterized by an unwillingness to take responsibility for co creating a world that works for all. Some might say that people living in this consciousness will not even take responsibility for co creating anything. This person’s operational perspective is often that they are wrong and they are bad.


The other mind set that fixates on a single option is the result of arrogant and self centered immaturity which thinks “I alone know precisely what is best for all concerned.” They are rarely able to co create successfully. A person living in this consciousness tends to hold to the idea that they are right and good and that others are bad and mistaken

Even though, on the outside, the victim stance looks weak compared to the arrogant stance which looks powerful, in consciousness both are locked into scarcity thinking. Either aspect of this type of mental framework leads to power struggles and conflict. Neither approach, victim or arrogant, is easily able to co create in the field of infinite possibilities. Both are stuck in rigid thinking.


Sometimes rather than operate from pure rigid thinking, we can see only two choices. Our mental process looks like this… “Either “a” will happen or “b”: will happen.” This type of thinking tends to be catastrophic and extreme. In this mind set, we are polarized rather than integrated. This is often called “all or nothing thinking” or “black/ white thinking” due to the either/or framework inherent in this restricted world view.


Whenever we find ourselves locked into rigid thinking or only two options, we are cut off from the field of infinite possibilities. To move beyond these two restricting world views, we need to learn to live with an open heart. An exercise which immediately frees us from limiting beliefs is finding at least three or more possible options or outcomes in any difficulty we are facing. Once we see three possibilities, an infinite number of nuances and variations become available to us. Our consciousness will naturally expand and extend to lead us to the field of infinite possibilities when we are willing to be open minded and vulnerable. It is our natural state to live in a world of infinite possibilities.


You might wonder about the utility of thinking about impossible options. The only impossible options in a world with infinite possibilities are the ones you close your mind and heart to. Lewis Carroll wrote about believing in the impossible in his metaphysical classic, Alice in Wonderland.


"I can't believe that!" said Alice.

"Can't you?" the queen said in a pitying tone. "Try again, draw a long breath, and shut your eyes."

Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said. "One can't believe impossible things."

"I dare say you haven't had much practice," said the queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."


Let us affirm together: I am empowered to create my life from a field of infinite possibilities and I intentionally open to infinite choices leading me to all my good.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Working within the grain

Every year there are a few periods of time that tend to cut against my personal grain. My generic style is one of being purposeful and I thrive on results generated by authentic action. I like being productive, efficient and targeted. “Management by objective” and “mission-driven operations” are concepts that typically resonate with me and thus I am most comfortable when I am in action mode. In the face of this momentum, there are always a few weeks where it seems to me that I have to wait for the world to catch up with me. However much I may want to rationalize it in the moment as “lag time”, my deeper understanding is profoundly different.

The weeks in the middle of September present a prime example. For eons, Northern Europeans faced a time after the harvest of the grains and grasses was complete and before the winter crops (pumpkins and other gourds) had come in. This window of time of forced inactivity was very different from the time in the dead of winter because there was still ample daylight and good weather. The people’s energy was still up and they wanted to work, but there was little constructive work that could be accomplished.

In contrast, the dead of winter was cold, dark and often blanketed in deep snow and therefore, the energy and focus of humans turned naturally inward. It seems to me that the contrast between the energetic archetypes of these two periods still holds true to this day.

In my human-centered worldview (we’ll get to a more spiritually-centered view in a moment), I have two very distinct choices in how to respond to these nearly universal “lull periods": One of my options is to keep busy with “make work” and the other is to impatiently wait out the inactivity. You may have your own set of tactics for dealing with this phenomenon, and while they may differ in details, I suspect that the underlying issues are the same.

I believe that being busy is not the same as being productive. My core value about being productive means for me that I want to be effective with the time and energy I invest. Hence, making work simply to keep busy does not align with my values and so in the past I have leaned to the second tactic-impatience.

During a brief downtime in the past I would stew, and squirm and, in an irritated way, wrestle with waiting. It was unbearable. For example, when I was a senior in college, I had an entry-level career job in sales lined up when I graduated. I found out the company that had hired me had two training groups over the summer-an early group and a later group. (Depending on when each employee’s graduation was scheduled new hires were assigned to one of the two groups.) I made arrangements to finish up my college classes early, take my exams early, turn in papers early -- all so that I could start work sooner and be in the first pod of trainees.

At the end of the summer, it turned out that the management was going to wait to assign any of us to territories until the second pod completed their training. I almost quit the job rather than wait through a couple of weeks of enforced downtime before being assigned my sales territory.

Fortunately, as I mentioned earlier, there is a more spiritually sound third available choice. In this time of “in between”, I can choose to more fully experience patience and surrender, not just as abstract intellectual concepts, but as practice. Unsurprisingly, this is more difficult for me than either of the first two options.

Here are a few things I have learned in adopting this practice: The Tao distinguishes between yin (receptive) and yang (proactive) energy, each necessary to the other. Thus, rather than take that restless energy swirling inside me and find some “busy work” or wait impatiently for some meaningful life errands to do, I embrace my restlessness and sense what it feels like to be patient. I would like to be calm, serene and still during these times that seem to call for a yin response, but I am often pulled toward feeling anxious and out of sorts. I know intellectually that it would be good for me to be more balanced, and in order to get to a more balanced energy, I need to be at peace with idle periods. The only way to constructively accomplish this, is to see the value in not being busy (which is not so hard for me to do) and see the value in not being productive, (which is very hard for me to do/be) and learn to embrace the stillness.

There is a part of me that overvalues “doing” and undervalues “being”. The way to integrate and harmonize these two is to “be” still, and to “be” at peace with the experience of stillness. In other words, I need to get comfortable with being “unproductive” in the way that I have understood productivity up until now. This requires self acceptance, and the willingness to trust the larger rhythms at work in my life. I can learn to be accomplished at waiting, learn to let go of the egoic sense of urgency that tells me that every moment must be productive. I can have first-hand experience with healing impatience which, at a minimum, will help me be compassionate with other driven persons with whom I interact.

Moreover, on a more subtle level, taking time to “be” is actually far more productive in the long run than constantly doing, doing, doing. For me, learning the art of patience is sometimes excruciating, however the anxiety I now feel, in this period between harvests (between projects), is only a small vestige of the irritability I used to feel during periods of enforced downtime. Sometimes intermediate steps are a sign of good progress on the spiritual path. In those times when I cannot fully embrace the stillness, I have found that there are some constructive things that I can do that are purposeful, centering and aligned with both my values and my desire to be peaceful in lull periods. Writing this is both productive and somewhat meditative. Going for a walk is a good way for me to disperse some of the pent-up energy I feel during these periods of restlessness without getting caught up in working. Investing in some reading can be useful when I face a lot of open hours. These are not “make work” projects and so there is some blessing in them.

To some extent, these steps may look like they only address the symptoms and not the root of the issue. And yet, progress is progress and if the issue is driven behavior, then moderation is a sign of healing. Now that I am aware of the benefit of aligning my inner rhythm with outer events, I can notice my reactions in these slow times. I can begin living life on life’s terms rather than on my terms. I can trust that it is good for me to have periods of low activity so that I can practice patience. My heart tells me that I can be calm and serene as life unfolds as part of a larger rhythm that includes all around me. This is a much more joyous way to live.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Light Reflecting off a Top Hat- Sept. 2009 Prosperity Thoughts

One of the core Spiritual Truths that we teach is that our dreams, deeply held and with lots of positive emotion attached will activate the Organizing Intelligence of the Universe to manifest our yearnings. We also teach that when we follow our life purpose, it inevitably leads to success. Here is a true story that provides a beautiful junction of these two principles.

A good friend of mine wrote the other day that he especially liked watching iconic black and white movies, especially those from the '30's and '40's. More importantly to this tale, for the past three or four decades, every time he saw a character wearing the classic top hat in those films, he wanted one. Apparently he loved the way light would reflect off of the top hats and appear to spin off the spiral at the top of the hat, much in the same way that many others love the way a diamond, prism, or a stained glass window can do magical things to light.

It turns out that only the very highest quality top hats make the light dance, and the reason was that they were made of beaver pelts rather than cheaper materials. His dream of owning a brand new top hat of the finest quality seemed absurd in the 21st century. So far as he knew, such top hats had not been made since the 40's or 50's. He figured that any that could be found would probably be antiques--old, worn, and if in decent condition, prohibitively expensive. Moreover, even if he could find one from that era, what would be the odds that it would be his exact hat size?

Nonetheless, over the years he often commented when watching the old movies that he'd love to own one someday--and why. The Universe listened, and so did his family.

A few months ago, his three children captured the Divine Idea of making his dream come true. (I will skip over this man's karma, but it will suffice to say that he has made many people's dreams come true over his lifetime, especially the dreams of his children. The recent economic downturn crushed his business and yet he remains one of the most generous and kind people I know.)

On his recent birthday, his 52nd, he opened a present from his three children. In his hands he held the most improbable and craziest gift he had ever received: a very handsome--, downright beautiful!--top hat that reflects the light in exactly the way he'd wanted for decades!

His son (someone who once whipped me badly on computer games when he was younger) found an old European immigrant in Cincinnati, Gus, who still makes top hats by hand. The three kids all chipped in to buy one from Gus. Gus is the proprietor of a small hat shop in Cincinnati, Ohio, that has been in business making hats for 100 years. Gus started working there as a teenager for his uncle when he immigrated from a small village in Greece. When Gus started he knew nothing about hats, but he worked hard and learned the business first hand. After working his way up as an employee from stockroom sweeper to hat maker, he eventually purchased the shop.

Now, he has worked in the same little shop for 56 years. Men's hats have fallen seriously out of style over the years, and there is almost no one in America making hats anymore. But Gus has thrived during these downturns because he is “old school”. He makes perhaps the finest hats in America. He is a craftsman in an authentic way; even in this internet age he has no marketing aside from word of mouth- no web site, no e-mail, not even a fax machine…and yet, his word of mouth is fantastic.

Most of his customers have to come into the shop in person for a fitting. The customer's firsthand experience of Gus' passion for his work and his personal commitment to excellence is so remarkable that customers can't wait to tell their friends and write letters of gratitude. While sitting in the shop being waited on in person, Gus' customers will read letters of appreciation and thanks that are framed and posted all over the wall of the shop.

But as you could guess, given the level of love that Gus puts into each hat sold, they are not just ordinary letters. Gus has created and sold hats to some of the most famous people in the world and has done so for generations. Singer Luciano Pavarotti, comedian Bill Cosby, the late comic Red Skelton and entertainer Tony Bennett. He has fitted at least three US Presidents in that shop. Why do they come to him in “flyover country” like Cincinnati? Deion Sanders, famous football and baseball player and NFL analyst said of Gus that "the service you get is undeniably the best in the business."

Since my friend's top hat was a surprise gift, his kids could not get it fitted properly before hand, so as could be expected the fit isn't quite right. It is a bit loose front-to-back, and a little too tight on the sides, so it sits a little high and rocks back and forth slightly on his head. Not to worry, because Gus is a craftsman who makes hats as his life's work. He has a calling and his passion for making outstanding hats is his dream. Impeccable customer service is just a part of his calling and so Gus had already promised my friend's children that he would re-fit the hat so that it would fit perfectly.

When my friend called to arrange to have his top hat refitted he got the true treasure within the birthday gift. He learned that Gus told his children that the top hat they wanted would be very expensive and strongly suggested something less costly. My friend then learned that his kids talked about the alternative, but in the end his kids told Gus that they wanted this exact top hat for their dad. They decided that it didn't matter how much they'd have to work to pay for it because it would take them a lifetime to repay their father for all the blessings he had given them. And so, my friend manifested the precise top hat of his dreams.

I would guess that the desire that my friend has for a top hat is easily surpassed by the deep passion that he and his wife have held for years to raise a loving family. In this case, the Organizing Intelligence in the Universe co-created a situation where both desires could be true on the same birthday. Happy birthday, my friend.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Prosperity in the Doldrums

Believe it or not, I first found out that "doldrums" was a real word a few years ago when I was at Unity Village taking classes. I grew up on the West Coast and we had the Santa Anna Winds that came up in the afternoons. We had the El Ninjo/La Ninja ocean currents that pulled cold water down from the Arctic or brought warm water up from Baja. We had Marine Inversion Layers. We also had micro climates galore, but we did not have a weather pattern called the doldrums.

At Unity Village I learned that in certain regions in the South and Midwest there were times in the summer when the air became stiflingly hot, humid and still so that it is almost deprived of sufficient oxygen to comfortably breathe. One day I was walking to class and it was hot and muggy and I was having trouble breathing as I walked and someone explained that it was the doldrums. Prior to that moment, I thought the doldrums was a nautical term that described the absence of trade winds such that sailing ships would be stranded for days or weeks on the high sea waiting for the wind to pick up. I also knew that in colloquial usage, "The summer doldrums" or "having in the doldrums" referred to that period toward the very end of summer vacation when all the fun had leached out of summer and we were waiting for school to resume in the fall.

As I write at the very end of August, it seems appropriate to see how the doldrums fit in with the theme of prosperity. I have generally understood the doldrums to involve a state of listlessness, inactivity and stagnation. Emotionally it feels despondent and energetically it feels like being in a slump. On the surface, this seems the exact opposite of prosperity consciousness which for most people feels vibrant, expansive and exciting. So, how does a concept like the doldrums, exist in an abundant and prosperous universe.

In nature, there are times of great expansion (typically spring) and times of dormancy ( typically winter). In understanding our experience of our prosperity it is important to incorporate these concepts as energetic fields in our own being. Prosperity consciousness is not some frantic, manic or hyper mind set. It does include time for direct action, it also includes times of waiting and times of indirect action. They key is to harmonize our actions with our energy flow so that we create synergy. I recall one sage teacher suggesting to me that the optimum way to live life was to reel in what was heading towards us and reel out that was heading away from us.

These ebbs and flows of energy and enthusiasm are all around us. Popular music goes through crazes where one type of song is all the rage and then a few years later the same type of music (or performer) is passe'. Certain books are hugely topical for a very short period and then practicably unsellable afterwards. Clothing styles are also subject to fads where a specific look is "in" one season and "out" the next year. Nothing can be done to change this, and so within the context of prosperity consciousness we are best served by going with the current that surrounds us anyway.

Here is a real life example of how I efficiently created synergy during a slack time. When I was in private practice as a bankruptcy attorney, there were typically two very slow periods, one in August when all the Judges, clients and other lawyers seemed to all be on vacation and the other around the Christmas holidays when Judges were on holiday and clients were shopping and spending. There was no realistic way to get any productive work done during this period. Instead, I would use these two slack periods to catch up on all my office filing and wrap up all the other non urgent paperwork that I tended to shunt aside during peak periods. Thus, I often looked forward to these two slack periods so that I could get my office caught up.

If we do not align ourselves with the energetic flow then we often create conflict or manifest exhaustion from going against our natural rhythm. Years ago, I used to get together with a group of River Guides and we would run cooperative trips. Most of the other guides lived near the river, while I lived a good 3 1/2 hours away from the river. On every trip, I used to push to get on the river, push to get lunch set up and then over with so we could get back on the river and then push to get off the river at the take out and so forth. I was focused on my long dive home and not on harmonizing with the energy and needs of the other guides who wanted a much more relaxed experience. We did not have overt conflict over it, but on the way home I would be frustrated and by the time I arrived home I would be exhausted rather than relaxed from a wonderful day on the river.

When we find ourselves listless and de-energized we need to determine if this is just a natural phase of the doldrums or is this the onset of depression. One way to evaluate this is to see if there is authentic action for us to do that we are postponing. If we are procrastinating on genuinely productive work, then perhaps this is a symptom of some underlying emotional current that needs to be addressed. On the other hand, we may be in an organic slack period where there is nothing directly helpful for us to do except wait and relax. In these natural slack times there will always be something useful for us to do, but it will not be so directly tied to whatever project we are focused on. Maybe we take a day off and go hike in the mountains or walk along the ocean. Maybe it is time to put everything aside and just get caught up on our gardening or art projects. Perhaps it is the right moment to organize other areas of our life, like getting the garage straightened up or the car cleaned and tuned up. These are indirect ways of keeping up momentum without trying to force situations.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Kayacking and the Three Levels of Awareness

The experience of abundance and prosperity in our lives occurs only in the present moment; however, the present moment is made up of many layers of awareness. If we want to enjoy prosperity then it helps to be conscious of how prosperity is manifested in our mind.

Spending several days kayaking on the river helped me see this more clearly and may provide a good backdrop for you as well. Running an actual stretch of rapid whitewater well is an exhilarating and satisfying experience of being one with nature and one with the moment. Each instant presents a moment of decision in which to adjust to the conditions on the river. There is a perfect balance between action and pausing, between flowing and powering through, between resting and exerting. There is an exquisite joy in manifesting the mind-body connection instantaneously, over and over again. It is near nirvana to make and remake my karma, millisecond by millisecond, as I adjust back into perfect balance and absolute center amidst the ebbs and flows of the river. At this level of awareness I am fully in the present moment and my heart fills with unlimited joy.

And yet, in all that present moment joy, I am always both fully in the present instant and aware of the line I am setting up my kayak for my run through the next set of rocks. In white water kayaking, particularly in a highly technical (complex and challenging) section of river, it is vital to choose a line that presents an opening to a great run. Choosing the wrong line, or misreading the water, or focusing too much on the present moment and ignoring the overall longer-range trends in the river impact the results, often in a dramatic way.

Thus, I suggest that running a stretch of white water rapids requires a combination of being present in the instant, being present in the near moment and planning for the future. All three are essential and simultaneous. Overlooking or ignoring any one of these aspects of kayaking will lead to a rocky experience. We need to be on the right river, going the right direction and in the right place and only by being fully aware of all of these dynamics in the same instant can we be fully present. The same is true in looking at our general prosperity consciousness. To be sure, there is no one “right” anything, just as there is no “wrong” anything. I use this phrase here to connote the optimum in the context of your goals, or the ideal in terms of your values or the optimum in relationship to your needs.

Here are three examples that illustrate this point: The first day that Debbie and I kayaked this summer, we did not get onto the river itself until after 4 pm. We did not know how long the trip on the river would take and were a little concerned about being on the river after dark. As our trip progressed, there was, in the back of our awareness, a little unease and a sense of urgency. We both felt a need to push a little on the flat stretches and be extra cautious not to get hung up in the shallow water and not to get flipped in the white water. We could be present in the instant as long as we kept in mind the physical fact that evening was approaching. Moving along at a good clip and preferring to stay as dry as possible due to the choice we’d made to set off when we did, was a part of our present moment experience.

On another trip many years ago, we left a car at the takeout some ten miles from the put-in. This would seem to make for an easy day of kayaking, but we did not take into account the distinction between river miles and road miles and the moderate pace of the river we were on. After an hour or two of winding along the river it was obvious we would never make it to the takeout site in time, (We pulled out near a house along the highway, used the cell phone that Debbie brought ( as part of her preparations) and called for help to come get us and drive us to our car). In this example, we were headed for an experience we did not want and thus headed in the wrong direction, (we needed to head to shore rather than keep paddling downstream).

On my very first whitewater kayaking trip, a friend took me on a river that was way too advanced for my skill level and I did not have sufficient cold weather gear. It was easily one of the most miserable days of my life because I tipped over within the first few feet of whitewater and swam in the icy cold water time and time again throughout the day. I was nearly numb from the cold. I was clearly on the wrong river, in terms of my skill level at the time, and the attire I was wearing given the temperature of the water. This is an example of being on the wrong river due to my lack of preparation and awareness.

The point of these three specific kayaking examples is that our present moment is always colored by the ongoing direction we are headed and the pre-planning (or lack thereof) we have made for our success. In each moment we want to be in the right (optimum) place, heading the right (ideal) direction and on the right (best) river.

Life is a journey that unfolds moment by moment in a sequence, just like a river is a flow of continuous particles of water traveling downstream. It is always true that our experience of prosperity is a choice, but at the same time we experience our own karma from the choices and actions we have already made. The decisions we make now, or the choices we avoid making now, all impact the flow in our life downstream.

If we put in on a river that is too difficult for us to navigate we are going to have a tough time when we reach the rapids. If we do not bring the proper safety gear we may have a very regrettable experience. In actual application, that means that sometimes I may choose a wide and relatively flat river to float so that I can enjoy the calm water and relax for a while as I drift down stream. If this is what I want to experience, then I must set this in motion by choosing a stretch of river that meets my need to float. If I choose a highly technical stretch of white water when I want to float, there is a mismatch between my intentions and my actions and I will be aware of them in the present moment.

It is, in both my experience and my opinion, a fallacy offered by some New Thought and Prosperity teachers that we can experience bliss moment by moment without being aware of the larger context of our life. We need to prepare for our optimum outcome be getting clear on our values, purpose, and the experience we want. If not, then we are in denial if we think ambiguous foresight will produce optimum results.

In any fully-present-moment experience, I am open to the awareness of what is momentarily in front of me so that I can navigate joyously that next section of my life smoothly. Ease and grace on the river are greatly amplified when I take a moment and set myself up for success for the next undertaking. Chaos and discomfort are sometimes the immediate result when I fail to make desirable adjustments, apparent in the moment, that increase the likelihood of success in the long run.

In terms of prosperity consciousness, the choices we make now set up the situations we will face in the near-term future and will impact our long-term future. If we study prosperity principles now, we set ourselves up for more prosperity in the near term and increase the chances of experiencing abundance in the long run. If we study something else, or decide to stay home and watch TV, then we need to be aware in that moment of the impact that choice makes on the next set of choices we will face.

When I was in college, as a Business Major, I once took a class in Italian Film because the time slot was perfect for my schedule, I needed a liberal arts elective and I thought the class would be interesting and easy. It seemed to be an ideal choice. However, I did not realize that it was a class only for Italian majors. Every word spoken in class, and in the films shown, was in Italian. My Italian goes no further than spaghetti and pizza. I stopped attending a few weeks after I realized the mistake and considered myself fortunate to receive a D+ grade.

I did not feel prosperous having taken the class as it dragged my grade point average down and it was a total waste of my tuition money. I did not experience joyous prosperity in that classroom experience because of the poor decisions I made leading up to that moment and no amount of mind treatment was going to change the fact that I did not prepare for an optimum outcome. Even though Italian Film was offered at the right time, it was the wrong class for me. I could have tried to be present to the joy in the moment and continued in the class, but it was not helping me in my long-term direction and pretending otherwise would not have resulted in acceptance of the moment. Instead my awareness of the moment would have been dulled by my denial of how remaining in the class impacted the rest of my choices.

One of our iconic and idealic images of someone being in the moment is the fly fisherman, casting his line into a beautiful pool of water on a remote scenic river. Trust me, he chose that river, and chose that spot, and chose the time of day and the fly that he was using and the waders he is wearing. A lot of practice went into that perfect cast of the fly. Not one aspect of his experience is random or accidental. The fly fisherman experiences bliss only to the extent that he is casting into the right spot with the right fly at the right time on the right river. So, in living a prosperous life, we are aware in each moment of the present moment, the near term moment and the long term moment. Our awareness includes being on the right river, heading the right direction and being in the right spot. This then is the full awareness that leads to true bliss.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Uncovering our authentic Self

We offer a system of proven spiritual tools that if applied systematically will inevitably result in your freedom from economic insecurity as well as your living a joyous, meaningful and prosperous life.


However, there is one thing that will undermine all of these teachings and which is guaranteed to result in your life being miserable and impoverished. That one thing is trying to be someone you are not. Let me explain by way of an example.


Many years ago when I had just begun my spiritual path, (after perhaps 5-6 years of dedicated work), I thought of myself as a monk. I did not then actually know what a monk really was, but I liked the idea of this and began calling myself a monk. However, a man who did know me confronted me when he heard me refer to myself as a monk and said words to the effect that I would never be a monk. He was emphatic almost to the point of outrage.


I have since met Tibetan Monks, Buddhist Monks, Hindu Monks, Zen Monks and a number of other monks, and my friend was right. I will just never be a monk. You see at the time that I was calling myself a monk, I really was a fierce and ruthless trial attorney- I was a seasoned and battle hardened litigator. Yes, I was on a spiritual path and eventually I would become a skilled and successful mediator and then a minister, but I was never going to become a monk. I was a seeker, a mystic, a maverick and perhaps a heretic, but not a monk.


The point is that if I had continued to try to be a monk I would not have been true to myself. I would have either been a spiritual fraud or a miserable failure. There is nothing wrong with being a monk, but it was not me and it was not my path. It was not authentic to my true nature. My friend who saw me so clearly as never being a monk was acting with ruthless compassion when he spoke up and confronted me. I have always been grateful for his courage to speak up. His words saved me from learning the hard way that I must be true to myself if I want joyous prosperity. Me wanting to be a monk was never going to result in my inner peace and fulfillment but me being a mystic and seeker has lead me to a life filled with joy, mystery, growth and blessings.


It has been my observation that one of the common ways that people fall into the trap of trying to be someone they are not is when they are trying to live out their understanding of the dreams/expectations of someone else. In my case, I had a girlfriend during the time I posed as a monk, who saw herself as a yogi. In order for her to be a yogi, she apparently projected that she needed a partner that was a monk. To my recollection she never said this out loud, but I certainly picked it up and ran with it because of my desire to please her and to be her partner on the spiritual path.


When someone we love wants us to fill the role that they need filled, our desire to please them can superficially supersede our own soul yearning. We see this so often when a parent wants their offspring to be a doctor or lawyer. They send them off to law school or medical school but right before the bar exam (or right before their medical boards) the child realizes that they are completely in the wrong field and are only doing it to please their parents. This type of thing happens all too often, as in youth sports or in Hollywood with child actors. In both cases the parent wants to have their child live out the parent's unfulfilled dreams of being an athlete or of being rich and famous and pushes the child out of their natural life trajectory into one that fulfills the needs of the parents.


It is very hard for the child to see this because their very self image is often dependent on pleasing their parents. When I was a teenager, my father projected that he would soon need a manager for the carpet/flooring sales division in his business. When I graduated from college I became a carpet salesman. The first seven or eight years of my career were to get approval and recognition from my father. It has been hard work for me to discover my own authentic self. I have had to be very intentional about it and make many mis steps along the way. If you find that you have given up a part of yourself to fulfill someone else’s dream or needs, be fierce in breaking the bond and be gentle with yourself in allowing yourself to grieve the losses inherent in this part of your journey.


A variant of powerful parent child dynamic is the overly rebellious or defiant child. They too temporarily loose their own way by defining themselves in conflict with their parents and the society in which they were raised. They are not able to read their own soul’s yearnings because it is overshadowed with their need to individuate against their parents. In this case, their authentic self gets lost because they are so attached to not being like their parents. It is somewhat ironic to see so many of the Hippie era youth now living very conventional middle class lives. They have become the very thing that they were rebelling against.


Another common pitfall is to continually wish for a life that is not really our own. I know someone who is very self reliant and competent and a very hard worker. She is organized and productive and forceful and a mature woman. She keeps wanting to be seen as a princess. Moreover, she wants to be seen as an elegant princess. (In her belief structure princesses are meant to be rescued and cared for, meant to enjoy beauty and elegance, and most importantly be adored and sought after for their grace, beauty and innocence). But unfortunately, in my judgment (and by her own admission) she is not really princess material: she does not have the sense of entitlement that the princess archetype requires. There is nothing wrong with being a princess if that is your true nature, but trying to be treated like a princess when it is not your true nature is never going to result in the experience of lasting joy or success.


Instead of holding on to an image of our selves that is not authentic, the path to a sense of welling being, inner peace and contentment will have to come from discovering an authentic self and then growing accordingly. To manifest an authentic self in real time will be work, but it is work that will energize and empower each step along the way.


There are rare times when someone else can see the gold within in us the way that Michelangelo could see the statue within a block of granite. All he needed to do was chip away the granite that was not the statue and he would have a masterpiece. They key here, of course, is that Michelangelo had the gift of vision. His eye could see in stark relief that which appeared to be hidden to the ordinary eye.


Most people have not manifested this level of insight, nor do they have the disinterested objectivity to be flawless in their seeing. The path to uncovering an authentic self requires rigorous honesty and self awareness. So far as I know, there are no short cuts. As best I can tell, it is the most interesting and compelling spiritual work that we can do. It is also the most rewarding and the most painfully humbling.


We teach that when you are being your authentic self, you cannot fail- your success if guaranteed. You will make mistakes along the way of course and learn from them with ease and grace- at least that is what I keep telling myself each time I make another mistake.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Reflections on kayaking, life, and prosperity

Six recent splendid days of whitewater kayaking have brought to mind some analogous thoughts about life and prosperity.

Rarely have I seen anyone kayak alone. There are a number of possible reasons; it is probably too dangerous to kayak without any back up on the river, logistically two cars are needed to run the shuttle from the put-in and take-out points and people tend to be social and enjoy shared experiences.

Likewise, I have rarely seen anyone prosper alone. Teamwork and companionship are powerful levers that provide back up, logistical assistance and emotional/social support. They may not be needed in economic flat water but they are essential in turbulent times.

A good kayak run requires harmonizing both the whitewater experience and the accompanying flat water. Both are inevitably present, at least they are at the skill level on the rivers that I kayak. For many years I thrived in the whitewater and was bored and restless in the flat water. In truth, I was insufferable in the flat water. My attitude ruined the trip for both myself and anyone accompanying me. I have learned that both sections of river require my attentive presence in order for the trip to be successful. While in the rapids I focus on the current and running the river and when in the flat water I focus on the natural beauty and majesty of the river.

In the same way, a good run in life requires us to harmonize between periods of high turbulence and times of calm. Both are inevitably going to be present in our lifetime. Being fully aware and present in each moment is crucial to an abiding sense of joy and prosperity. True prosperity transcends mere results and derives from enjoying life's journey itself. Finding the blessing in each moment is key.

Living life on life's terms means not trying to avoid any turbulence that may come our way. Avoidance is a symptom of a fear-based existence. Turbulence is a time of change that can be a blessing when embraced. Nothing is better at helping us get clear on our values and their priority. A shift in our status quo can motivate us to develop skills far outside our comfort zone and become open to new ideas we may have never explored. It is in times of turbulence that many of us find or become closer to a higher power because we are called to, and experience a new level of faith.

Stirring up trouble during periods of calm does not often lead to growth- it leads to conflict and drama. Organic chaos is integral to the evolutionary process, self-generated chaos is often self-sabotage.
Times of calm stability are times to savor the good already in your life. This is when you have the energy to deepen your friendships and expand your life in a more manageable and organized fashion. It is a place from which to give back and build a reservoir of good karma and support for times when you are in spiritual receivership.


Finally, it is usually desirable that the rivers that we kayak and those we whom we choose to run them share a common skill level. If we run rivers which are too difficult, we tend to experience disaster. If we take trips on rivers that do not challenge us, then we get bored and find something more engaging to occupy us. A river with just the right degree of difficulty for us brings out the best overall experience: exhilaration and confidence coupled with safety and success.

The same principle also applies to those with whom we journey on the river. Compatibility in skill level leads to a positive shared experience while incompatibility leads to chaos, conflict or disaster. Imagine going down a river that is too difficult for your confidence level with someone who is an adrenaline junky and impatient every time you want to pause and catch your breath. Conversely, think about how it would be to go kayaking with someone who is so timid and out of their depth that each little ripple is met with anguish and a desire to turn back. (It is really hard to turn back on a river trip once you are on the water.) The enjoyment of a good river trip arises from within, however for me what makes a great trip is the blending of my skill and interest level with those on the river with me, as well as from the overall stretch of water that we choose to run.

This is true in terms of your life and prosperity as well. In the end, as the Beatles said, "...the love you take/ Is equal to the love you make". We are going to attract into our life people who are at about the same overall level of consciousness that we have at the time. We all are going to outgrow some friends, relationships or jobs and some friends, relationships and jobs are going to outgrow us. Rather than blaming others for this, or in some other way finding fault, it is a wiser course to bless the time shared with them and trust that the love you received is equal to the love you gave.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Turn Turn Turn

There is a time for every purpose under Heaven.

This lyric from the song “Turn Turn Turn”, made famous by the Byrds and adapted from the Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes, keeps resonating in my mind as I prepare to do something that I have never tried in my entire working career. I am going to take a three week sabbatical.

Up until now, I have always thought forward momentum came through working harder, longer, with more focus. The idea of Ease and Grace was just another way of saying to work smarter. The possibility of making forward progress in any endeavor while taking time away from work was simply beyond my comprehension. However, I have long ago passed the time when my level of physical and emotional exhaustion could be remedied by simple spiritual treatments. I am facing a level of burnout that simply leaves me no choice but to adopt a spiritual practice that is utterly foreign to my typical way of being in the world.

I love my work. I love the people I work with. I love the possibilities that are unfolding right now in so many areas. And yet, I need a break. My fear is that if I take a break I will interrupt the flow and stem the momentum. I have held this fear and made decisions based on this fear over and over again.

When I first graduated from college I sold carpeting. The #1 salesman for the company that I worked for had a heart attack and survived. His doctor told him to do nothing more stressful than paint. I remember the frustration of the sales manager who was annoyed about losing his top producer. He tried to convince the salesman to come back to work by offering to let him work part-time. The salesman said no and the sales manager was annoyed.

This story reminds me of the conflict in values that comes up for those of us who are focused on production and results rather than quality of life or balance in our life. We keep saying that we will take on just this one more project. We think that things will ease up next week, or next month or after we complete this next task. We are measuring the value of our life by our production. There is another way to look at life. I have never seen it, but I am going to experience it over these next few weeks.

If you are like me, then we both are so used to experiencing life from a driven perspective that we think we always have one more push. And this leads to exhaustion, hypertension and burnout. It leads to an unbalanced life of striving rather than allowing. That #1 salesman taught me a lesson. If I keep pushing and become the #1 at anything I focus on, there is also a cost, that I lose everything else that is dear to me.

A sabbatical is very different from a vacation. I see a vacation as an opportunity to recreate and relax. It typically includes lots of activity and enjoyment that is not work, but it is still an action-oriented endeavor. It is not an experience of going inward and reflecting. It does not encompass much stillness A sabbatical, on the other hand, is probably hard work. It is just not external results-oriented work, it is interior work. It is the work of the soul seeker taking time to listen deeply to the recesses of the heart.

A sabbatical is not taking time away from my spiritual work- it is approaching my spiritual work from a different direction. It is removing the busy distractions of the day-to-day logistics and details of my work so that I am free to go deeper into my heart and soul. At least that is what I am postulating.

So I am taking time to see what renewal feels like. I am taking time to see what it feels like to not work and not feel driven to do more. I am going to experience faith that there is a Higher Power that can do what I cannot do: allow momentum to build with me doing nothing overt to make things happen. There is a season. A time for rest. A time for work. And a time for every purpose under heaven.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Our Birthright is Joy because we live in an Abundant Universe

We live in a wildly rich, diverse and abundant universe. Yet it seems that so many of us do not experience this opulence in our lives and instead lead lives of dreary desperation. If joy and abundance are our birthright and yet many of us are not experiencing either in their life, then simply acquiring more material goods would seem to be the solution. But in case after case we find that no matter what the material condition of the person, the sense of abundance and joy is fleeting and the sense of lack is pervasive. This experience of lack has several contributing causes and we will examine some of the key issues and then suggest a remedy.

First, the foundational field that we are born into and grow up in creates a “race consciousness” or embedded theology that is the deep underpinning of all that we come to believe. Since it is our thoughts that determine our experience, the combination of our embedded theology and our conscious affirmative thoughts are the prime factors for our present day quality of life.

For most of us, our subtle memory of our childhood culture is laced with the vibration of not enough. The prevalent childhood memory for most of us is not usually joy and abundance. Rather, it is the trauma of not enough that registers most deeply for many. Current research studies have shown that it takes about 10 good impressions to overcome one negative impression. This explains why even the best parents end up with kids that often feel that they were not special enough, not loved enough and so forth. Couple this with the impact of the Great Depression on the scarcity thinking of the whole country in the 1930’s and you can comprehend the deep resonance of not enough that weaves its way into our subconscious.

The overlay of Madison Avenue helps cement the race conscious idea that we are not enough. Advertising stimulates and reinforces the belief that something is missing and that we need it to be ok. Madison Avenue advertisers make money doing one thing brilliantly and that is stimulating demand for products. They accomplish this through print, radio, TV, internet and every other manner imaginable (Billboards, product placement in films, display ads on public transportation, sports stadium naming rights… the list goes on and on).

The News Media also play a part in reinforcing our underlying consciousness of anxiety and fear that accompany a feeling of not enough. The 24 hour news cycle is predominantly focused on crisis, drama, problems and conflict. TV, radio, Newspaper and Internet News sites rely on our reaction to trouble to draw audience and customers. They exploit the underlying unconscious belief that there is not enough to generate “news” that hooks people into thinking that they need more details and more information and so forth.

Finally, many politicians play a role in sustaining the cultural idea that we are not able to thrive abundantly. They get elected by enticing people with “lack thinking” to vote for them by exploiting the underlying idea that they need something and cannot get it through their own efforts. These politicians then promise solutions that do not require much effort or contribution by the voters, which creates a cycle of not enoughness. They campaign relentlessly in this manner on issue after issue as they cobble together a coalition to reach an electable majority. This idea that we are better off with government help tends to lead to an ever greater and greater dependence on government solutions.

Yet, in the end, it is only through shifting our own consciousness that we find a way out of this culturally embedded perspective that spirals away from our joy and abundance and instead leaves us with a life of anxiety and insecurity. This brings us to the practical side of spiritual teachings and the complex intersection of spiritual law, our core beliefs and strategies to get our needs met.

More material goods will not bring a sense of abundance and joy. A mere 50 years ago, most families did not have an automatic dishwasher, self defrosting freezer, micro wave, color television (much less a wireless remote on their big flat screen color TV) and so forth. Now many families have multiple cell phones, I pods, personal computers, refrigerators with built in ice makers and all the other fixings. Yet, overall the levels of satisfaction and happiness have not changed.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The Joy of Surrender

I keep thinking about the idea that for each person and each situation there is a perfect balance between committed action and flowing with ease and grace.


There are several implications contained in this simple sentence. It seems to me that the most important is that committed action and flowing with ease and grace are presented as polar opposites which need to be balanced carefully by the wise seeker in order to manifest success. It seems that this is suggesting that if there is a perfect balance between committed action and ease and grace, then the more committed your actions are the less ease and grace you experience. The converse also seems implicit, that more ease and grace means that there less committed action.


The more I think about it, the less sure I am that this is true. In fact, the more I think about it, the opposite of this statement might be a more accurate statement of principle; that ease and grace appear only as a result of committed action. I am sure that I believe that half hearted actions taken with a lackadaisical intention lead only to mediocre results. Slackers may say they live with ease and grace but I doubt it. I think they live in a state of ambivalence and they inhabit a world devoid of success.


I can think of a few times where I felt ease and grace in my life that were coupled with success. I had spent many years learning and practicing the art of mediation. I had reached a level of skillful mastery. From this consciousness, I was able to facilitate high conflict situations to peaceful resolution with what appeared to be ease and grace. The ease and grace only showed up after many years of dedicated and consistent work on my part. I needed to learn the basics of mediation. I needed to develop the listening and speaking skills needed for success as well as the discernment of how to apply them.


These were the outer manifestations of deep inner work that was required to fully inhabit the spiritual principles of conflict resolution. In order to achieve this, I needed the willingness to heal many of my own inner conflicts. I needed to look deeply into my relationships and my failures in those relationships and develop empathy for those I had been close to and empathy for myself as well.


This brings me to the second implication in the idea that for each situation there is a perfect balance between committed action and ease and grace. That the only committed action that will inevitably lead to ease and grace is joyful surrender. This seems like a terrible a paradox. Until very recently I do not think I even considered that surrender was ever joyous. My only experience of surrender for many years was it occurred only when I was utterly worn down by repeated failure as a result of my committed actions. When I had nothing left, no energy or will, no reserves and no more ideas, then when I was faced with no other choice, I would surrender. At this juncture, I would be steeped in frustration and angry exhaustion. My moment of surrender would typically lead to a massive dose of humility and shame. I would feel grief and deep despair, even hopelessness over my failure to succeed through my determined plan of action.


But as I write this, I am aware that it was not my plan of action to become a gifted mediator. Instead, this idea literally came to me at a time when I was desperate and at the end of my rope. I was in counseling because my life was a mess. I was waiting in my car outside my therapist’s office trying to relax from another frazzled and frustrating day. My current romantic relationship was failing, my career was sinking and I had nowhere left to turn. Out of this nowhere a still small idea popped into my head that said I was a mediator. I did not even know what a mediator was, at that time I was a full bore, hard nosed litigator.


Yet this idea was so clear that I followed up on it immediately. I surrendered everything that I thought I knew about myself and my relationships and embarked on a path of learning to resolve conflicts with love rather than arguments or power. I began letting go of the image of the man I had become (hard nosed litigator) and began opening to the unknown man I was to become (peacemaker).


This moment of surrender was calm and peaceful but I am not sure if I saw it as joyous. The friction in my life at the time had exhausted me and the problems I had created did not dissolve immediately. But ease and grace entered my life in that moment. I found out that a once a year week long training for mediators began the very next Monday. I attended it. One thing opened up after another, not always the way I planned it. Not at all the way that I had hoped things would fall together, but in the end, looking back, I can see there has been a lot more ease and grace from that moment forward than there ever had been prior to my moment of surrender.


Here is a poem I came across by the Persian Mystic Hafez.

What is the difference between your experience of Existence and that of a Saint?
The Saint knows that the spiritual path is a sublime chess game with God.
And that the Beloved has just made such a fantastic move that the Saint is now continually tripping over with joy, and bursting out with laughter and saying "I surrender!"
Whereas, my dear, I am afraid you still think you have a thousand serious moves left.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Lessons from the Dragonfly

One Core Value about prosperity is that for each person and each situation there is a perfect balance between committed action and flowing with ease and grace. Of course it takes spiritual maturity and the wisdom that comes along with this maturity to discern that perfect balance point.

Today, it is a beautiful spring day and I spent some time working in our yard. I was weeding and heard this odd buzzing sound. I was drawn to it and saw that a large and beautiful dragonfly was caught up in the deer netting we put out over our blueberry bushes. The sound I heard was the terrified and furious beating of its wings as it tried to escape from the tangled netting. I could see immediately that there was no way the dragonfly could escape alone and so began to untangle the netting so that the dragonfly could fly free. However, each time I moved the netting, the dragonfly accelerated its own attempts to get free and instead got itself more entrapped.

Standing there, I wished that the dragonfly could remain calm just for a second. Then I would be able to free it easily. Unfortunately, it simply could not resist flying deeper into the netting each time I began to unwrap it. The dragon fly had no capacity that I could see for spiritual discernment about when to flow with ease and grace. Instead it seemed to me that it was driven by fear and frustration. Perhaps the dragon fly was not really frustrated but that the sound of its wings beating a million times a second sounded like frustration to me. (I was unable to find reliable research about how many beats per second a dragonfly flaps its wings, but I know it is a lot)

The one great gift that all dragonflies have is two pairs of wings that beat independently of one another. They are by far Mother Nature’s best aerodynamic animal or insect. They can fly in any direction, even backwards. They can accelerate their speed in an instant and then decelerate just as suddenly. They can change direction in as little as three beats of their wings. Thus, their maneuverability in the air is extraordinary.

Another magnificent attribute of the dragonfly is its acute vision. Their eyes have 30,000 lenses and they can see in 360 degrees very clearly. They are especially great at detecting motion. Unfortunately, for this dragonfly that was caught in the netting, the combination of its two greatest gifts were ensnaring it and keeping it ensnared. Each time I moved the netting, the dragonfly would in a millisecond spot the change and then instantly aerodynamically adjust its position and press up against the netting even harder. All that did was continue its getting caught in the webbing.

It was amazing to watch this beautiful creature force itself further and further into captivity. Fortunately, compared to this dragonfly, one of humankind’s greatest gifts is problem identification and solving. Using my human skills I could see the problem, diagnose it and solve it in an instant. Using my adaptive reasoning I was able to move the netting in such a way that eventually the dragonfly got free.

The prosperity value holds that for each person and each situation there is a perfect balance between committed action and flowing with ease and grace, (In this case insects count as people). In the situation with the dragonfly and the netting, the logical thing for me to want the dragonfly to do was to just be calm for a second so I could easily and gracefully move the netting and release the insect. But looking at this situation more deeply, if the dragonfly had not been committed to action in buzzing its wings, and instead rested quietly on a twig, I would never have heard it. It would still be sitting there calmly until it perished. Only by its committed action was it able to get free.

Even though it looked to me in the moment like the dragonfly’s committed action was a hindrance to its objective of disentangling itself from the netting, in this case it was the committed action that resulted in success. This brings me back around to the main topic, that there is a lot of discernment needed to determine when committed action is warranted and when surrender to ease and grace is called for.

Just like I initially did with the dragonfly, people judging from the outside are often projecting their own issues into their interpretation of what is going on. Thus their perspective about the balance point between ease and grace and committed action may not lead to the perfect balance point for you. That is not to say that seeking wise counsel about your actions is not often warranted- it is imperative. But go to someone who is not activated by your situation, who is able to be discerning and give you real disparity and insight.