UnityofCorvallisBlog

Prosperity & Perfect Health

2009-12-16T14:08:00.000-08:00

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.

Thanksgiving & turning setbacks into steps forward

2009-11-30T12:12:00.000-08:00

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.

Life in a World of Infinite Possibilities

2009-10-22T14:54:00.000-07:00

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.

Working within the grain

2009-10-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

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.

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

2009-08-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

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.

Prosperity in the Doldrums

2009-08-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

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.

Kayacking and the Three Levels of Awareness

2009-08-28T13:40:00.001-07:00

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.

Uncovering our authentic Self

2009-08-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

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.

Reflections on kayaking, life, and prosperity

2009-08-21T18:42:00.000-07:00

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.

Turn Turn Turn

2009-07-25T08:44:00.000-07:00

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.

Our Birthright is Joy because we live in an Abundant Universe

2009-06-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

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.

The Joy of Surrender

2009-05-20T21:06:00.001-07:00

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.

Lessons from the Dragonfly

2009-05-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

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.

Definition of "Prosperity"

2009-05-13T17:36:00.001-07:00

As we consider our thoughts about “prosperity”, it is a good idea to understand what we mean by the term “prosperity” Here are a few contemporary authors and their definitions. You will notice immediately there is some overlap and divergence between each of these definitions posted. I hope that will reassure you that there is no single correct definition of prosperity. Undoubtedly, there are many additional definitions of prosperity that are to greater or lesser degrees workable. All of the definitions I quote are from reputable and successful authors and teachers.

Even though I discuss my thoughts about each definition, my intention is to share my own thoughts and stimulate your own thinking. I do not mean to be dogmatic. In the end, you are free to make your own call about the definition of prosperity that suits you. Or better yet, search your own heart to determine your authentic definition and understanding of prosperity rather than adopt someone else’s thinking. The benefit in doing this is that you will become clearer of what is true for you. Under anyone’s definition of prosperity, the idea of prosperity that you hold in your mind will be the one most prone to manifest in your life.

Ordinary perceptions on the concept of prosperity start with common definitions. Webster’s Dictionary sees prosperity in purely economic terms defining it as a condition of economic success or wellbeing. Under this definition prosperity is relative. Success implies failure. Wellbeing implies being unwell. Hence, under common perceptions, only a few can be prosperous at any given point in time. Moreover, Webster’s definition of prosperity is conditional. It implies a temporary state where the same person can be prospering at one point and then not prospering at another.

As a spiritual student, this type of definition brings up some interesting issues surrounding prosperity and spirituality. Is prosperity a birthright for all or is it a blessing for only a few? If it is a birthright, then how is it that some are born to wealth and others are born to poverty? If it is a blessing for the few, then how can some of the few have prosperity for a while and then vanish when economic circumstances shift?

If God plays favorites (the true believer vs. the agnostic) and if God rewards some (the obedient worshiper) and punishes others (the sinner), then in some cosmic way the problems with Webster’s definition are resolved. Prosperity is the blessing that is bestowed by God on his chosen few and the rest of us had better get right with God if we want a similar blessing.

But if we choose to believe in a God that unconditionally loves all human souls, then Webster’s conditional and temporal definition of prosperity does not work well. If God’s love is unconditional that means that it is available to all equally and all the time. A God that does not play favorites means that success and wellbeing are available to every one of us. Moreover, they are available all the time and everyone can have them at the same time.

Those of us on a spiritual path of Love need a working definition of prosperity that fits within the framework of unconditional love. That means prosperity cannot be dependant on outside circumstances that can change.

Edwene Gaines is a well known Unity Minister and a woman of power. She has elected to be 100% responsible for the transformation of abundance consciousness on Planet Earth. Her definition of prosperity has four components; 1) a vitally alive body, 2) thriving relationships, 3) work that we love and 4) all the money we can spend.

As I read this, and meaning no disrespect to Rev. Gaines, this definition of prosperity is all about material and physical wellbeing. It is really only an expansion of Webster’s definition to include enjoying good health and relationships. Her thinking does not seem to me to engage a spiritual dimension.

While I believe it is true that almost all of us can have vitality and wonderful relationships and fulfilling work, I think that a certain number of people are born without the apparent ability to manifest these blessings. Moreover, as I write elsewhere, prosperity and money have no correlation and so I take exception to the fourth component that requires prospering people to have all the money they can spend.

David Ritz, creator of the Keys to the Kingdom program, suggests that prosperity must include spiritual good in all its forms including health, happiness, peace, love, fulfillment and unlimited possibility. He says it is the “power to satisfy our needs and make our dreams come true.” This definition does include a passing sop to spirituality but, when looked at carefully, is only a minor improvement and expansion of Rev. Gaines’ definition.

The problem I have with Ritz’ definition is that it includes too much unconsciousness around possessiveness. Most people do not understand the difference between “needs” and “wants”. They want their needs to be met, sure, but they way they understand needs may include a massive dose of greed, selfishness, material conditioning and so forth.

Moreover, most people do not have any idea about their dreams coming true and the clash with reality caused by their egoic grandiosity. Thus, a fundamental definition of prosperity that talks about prosperous people having the power to satisfy their needs and make their dreams come true does not meet my need for clarity or truth. As this simple example shows, Ritz’ definition cannot be true. Say two people have a crush on the same person. Their dream is to be their beloved’s “one and only”. This dream cannot come true for both of them, especially if their supposed beloved isn’t romantically interested in either one of them.

Any definition focused on getting things outside of ourselves has this same defect. Shakti Gawain is another best selling author on the topic of prosperity. She wrote Creating True Prosperity. In a sincere attempt to skirt this problem she describes prosperity as the “experience of having plenty of what we truly need and want in life, material and otherwise.”

Her qualifier of need and want with the word “truly” and her inclusion of our nonmaterial good in the definition of prosperity are a step beyond Gaines and Ritz. The problem here is that people will be driven in circles trying to determine what they “truly” need and want. It goes back to the conditioning problem. Someone pampered and spoiled in life may really believe that they truly need something that the rest of us think of as a luxury. The collective unconsciousness about how to define “truly” means that this prosperity definition will not satisfy my need for unconditional inclusiveness.

I think the better definitions of prosperity describe a consciousness or a process of living rather than the things that one obtains or has. Grace Terry, author of Prosperity Guaranteed offers her definition: “A continuous process of joyfully receiving an abundance of everything we need and joyfully giving back from the overflow.” Terry begins by describing prosperity as a process but when she talks about receiving everything we need she falls into the same trap that befell the prior definitions; the difficulty in determining a valid need. Even if she had said “truly need”, I think this definition is really focused on having things rather than describing a state of being or a state of consciousness.

Another thoughtful teacher on the subject is Ellen Peterson, author of Choosing Joy, Creating Abundance. She says, “Prosperity is not what you have or how much you make; it’s actually how you think.” In other words, prosperity is a state of consciousness. If the consciousness in her definition did not rely on creating physical wealth to engender the joy, I would be more inclined to favor this approach. Instead, again, it is a better approach than some of the other definitions, but it still evidences the same shortcoming of prosperity being attached to physical wellbeing and success.

Maria Nemeth, author of The Energy of Money, says, “Prosperity comes when you participate fully in every aspect of your life. It’s state of growth.” What I like about this definition is that it is not conditional; everyone can be prosperous no matter what their circumstances. It does meet my need for prosperity to be a birthright available to everyone. It does describe a consciousness rather than possessions. On the other hand, this very lack of materiality might diminish the working value of the term ‘prosperity’. Prosperity might as well mean learning to live in a state of deprivation while learning to enjoy your own suffering.

Here is my current understanding of prosperity. Prosperity is the consciousness needed to bring about your heart’s joy, your mind’s inner peace, and your soul’s highest evolution in every material circumstance and condition.

Health and Prosperity Sore Ankle- pt 3

2009-05-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

So here I am; in my dream job and enjoying my ideal romantic relationship. My Universe is all good. My life is better than it has ever been and gets better each month. And I have a sore ankle from gout. I understand there is a mind body connection. Intuitively, it just doesn’t make sense to me to be feeling so good in my life day to day and then hold the perspective that stress is causing my body pain. (See the prior posts on that topic)

There must be another way to understand these physical symptoms that appear even when things are flowing smoothly. There is. Some in Unity call this process “chemicalization”. It means the stored toxins and body memories located in our body begin to be released from our cells as our consciousness becomes more aligned with spiritual truth and less aligned with material goods and worldly matters. The natural and healthy result of transformation on the spiritual path is thus occasions of physical symptoms that we typically would deem undesirable and perhaps even bad.

This idea of chemicalization was so uncomfortable to folks at Unity Village that for decades they deleted this subject from one of their best selling books. There are those who want to present a dogma that prosperity consciousness leads to good health and thus, any experience of bad health is a symptom of unhealthy consciousness. But dogma itself is not the Truth, it is the attachment to a certain idealized concept in spite of the truth.

So let’s look at my gout and my life situation more fully. I sold my home in California at the height of the real estate boom. Its value went up over $100,000 between the time I decided to sell it and the time I could get it on the market. I put the vast majority of proceeds into short term treasury bonds, and so while everyone in the stock market got hammered with the current financial meltdown, my assets held their value. I have all the money I will ever need. I am so well off that I can offer to increase my own tithe to Unity just to make the lives of others I care about easier.

My relationship with Debbie is better than it has ever been and it is growing deeper and more intimate as we work together in co ministry. She is a gem and I love her dearly. After so many years of being single and failing at relationship after relationship I feel so utterly blessed to have her as my sweetheart. Our home life is good, our garden is flourishing, I am eating for optimum health more and more consistently. My relationship with my adult children is likewise better than it has ever been. My son is in college and I am supporting him in many ways to become the young man he always wanted to be. My daughter and her boyfriend plan to take an extended vacation with us soon.

Over the past year we have grown our ministry in a way that is very satisfying to me, in that we have focused on depth of relationship rather than numbers. We are solvent or nearly so each month and are more fully aware of our core values concerning prosperity as we make decisions. We have aligned our services with the intimate connection we crave rather than in a fashion that might appeal to others but is unauthentic to ourselves. Debbie and I are taking vacations together now, trusting that the church will thrive even when we are gone for a Sunday now and then. My job satisfaction is higher than it has ever been- and I have been working for almost 40 years now.

My men’s team had a recent retreat that I helped lead which was exceptional for the gentleness and kindness that we shared. My work in the Unity Association has been immensely fulfilling and has brought me into deep companionship with other ministers in way that I had not imagined a few years ago. The healing here is truly astounding.

So, all of this good keeps flowing into my life and yet I have gout. I think it is more than just chemicalization, I think it has to do with breaking the trajectory that my ego saw for me when it had a vice grip on my life. My ego’s first and foremost job is to keep me safe- safe according to its immature understanding of safety. It is amazingly scary to my ego for me to love my job, to be doing what I love in a way that I love doing it.

To my ego, it feels vulnerable to have a loving relationship and friendships based on authentic connection. As I live more fully each day by building supportive and authentic relationships it brings up the insecurity of rejection. Each supportive friendship takes a little power away from my ego’s grip on my thinking. Each moment of success on the spiritual path diminishes to some small extent the deeply embedded attachment I had to the unconscious thought that I did not deserve a good life. This idea that I am not worthy of success and enjoyment is utterly false and the more I release it, the more chemicalization occurs.

Even writing about my success here feels scary, like a jinx will take it all away if I am not careful. But each day that I claim my good, and live well, then I am breaking that trajectory that held me in the grip of scarcity and fearful living.

Thus, perhaps this gout is a form of retaliation from my old thinking. My unconscious fear-based conditioning is trying to hinder me as I move toward authentic thriving. It is trying to pull me back into victim thinking and away from co creative empowerment. It is trying to slow down my turbo-charged success and make me doubt the truth of who I am. My exponential growth is leading to more and more good flowing to me as I connect more fully with my spiritual center and that undercuts the power of the ego to run my life.

Today, I am more determined than ever to allow my good to flow into my life. I will find the blessing in every situation and circumstance. I will be my Christ Self. I am alive to possibility today and willing to feel all the feelings associated with being truly prosperous.

Health and Prosperity- Sore Ankle-2

2009-05-09T09:02:00.000-07:00

Sore Ankle- part 2

This evening I have a very sore ankle. I am thinking about my good fortune and prosperity and believe there is a golden nugget to share with you about this. Prosperity is often understood by many to mean having all the money you can spend. An expansive view of prosperity might include having all the money you can spend and the good health to enjoy all of your wealth. It might even include having money, health and all the good friends that money can buy.

I think prosperity is something different. I believe that prosperity is having the consciousness to manifest all of your good with ease and grace. “All of your good” includes constructive and supportive relationships, it includes having all of your physical needs met on time and abundantly, and it includes an evolution of soul that is often hard to see in the moment as good.

My ankle is sore because I have gout. I have gout because my body produces more uric acid than it eliminates. Even with modern medication to impact uric acid production, I still have symptoms of gout. Why might this happen? My brother has gout too, so it is likely an inherited trait. Still, my gout only flares up periodically. My activity and exercise do not change radically. My diet is good and is stable. Why would gout flare up now and not at other times?

Traditional mind body metaphysical thinking suggests that stress can impact our immune system and produce reactionary physical symptoms such as gout. Stress is caused by a consciousness that is attempting and failing to predict and control outcomes and dictate events. We get attached to a certain strategy for a period in our life. The emotional response to our perception that our strategy is not manifesting correctly (to our specifications) is grief. But rather than feel this grief, we choose to believe that if we worry and struggle harder we can change the outcome to be more in alignment with our preferences.

That worrying consciousness is fear based and leads to stress. It is a sign of resistance to our good. The energy expended in resistance depletes our immune system and throws our body out of optimum balance which then manifests physical symptoms such as gout. The solution here is to release our resistance and allow the fear to wash over us into grief. As we do this, we naturally surrender more and more fully until we reach a state of peace. In this condition of peaceful surrender, our body has the optimum conditions to replenish itself and thus heal itself. The basic premise of this approach is that the physical ailments are unhealthy. They are seen as symptoms of a problem and are a signal that we are off track.

This may be very true, but there is also a catch. Seeing physical symptoms as a warning is still a fear based approach to living. Reacting with fear to a health challenge is not a consciousness of surrender, instead it is still a symptom of trying to predict and control outcomes. It is a consciousness focused on managing our health care. This is not to say that a proactive response is not called for when we feel illness or pain in our body. Many times this is exactly what is being signaled and is exactly what is needed.

I once worked in a job where I had a very sore back. I was a new hire and had been given a very old and broken down chair. I complained and they got me a new ergonomic lumbar support chair. The symptoms went away for a week or so and then they returned. I thought that perhaps I was not getting enough exercise and began to swim every day during lunch. That did little to alleviate my back pain. I thought it might be stress related and so began to relax more and meditate more and work less hours and so forth. The back pain lessened but was not entirely alleviated.

I finally, against my will, left that job and went to work for myself. My back pain promptly disappeared. Obviously, I was under stress in my former job- it was not the right situation for me and my body’s pain was communicating this to me. The pain got my attention, but I did not have the willingness of my own accord to take the steps to alleviate my pain. It took me getting fired before I realized what was causing my back pain was my attachment to the security of working for others rather than co- creating my own life.

If prosperity is about security and a good paying job then I have nothing to teach. I think prosperity is about allowing our good to flow to us in every situation. Following my true nature and soul’s calling healed my back pain. No amount of lumbar support, stretching, exercise, meditation and relaxation would be any help in the face of me not living my own life.

Prosperity is not about money

2009-05-09T08:19:00.000-07:00

As we consider our thoughts about “prosperity” in these times of economic turmoil, it is a good idea to remember that money and prosperity are not correlated. I know this sounds radical to some readers who believe that prosperity and money are directly and 100% correlated, but let’s look at it more closely.

Jesus bluntly taught that prosperity as it is commonly understood is an absolute barrier to entering the kingdom of heaven. One day a seeker came to him who had been careful to follow all of the commandments and asked how to manifest the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said to make his move the seeker would need to sell all his possessions and donate the money to the poor. The seeker heard this guidance and walked away in dejection because he possessed a fortune. In one of his more famous quotes Jesus said “It was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it was for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” Mathew 19:1-24.

Jesus further taught that material wealth was worth nothing in comparison to the joy and peace that come from spiritual living. In another teaching couplet that is perhaps a little more subtle he described the kingdom of heaven as treasure buried in a field, and one who comes across this treasure sells every last possession in order to buy the field with the hidden treasure. Jesus then says the kingdom of heaven is like a rare pearl and a wealthy merchant sold all his goods in order to purchase this single priceless pearl. Mathew 13: 44-45.

The Buddha says that the fool laughs at generosity. The miser cannot enter heaven. But the Master finds joy in giving and happiness is his reward. He says that the True Master possesses nothing and wants nothing.

From this perspective of giving it all away and not holding on to any attachments, then all things good come to us. The kingdom of heaven is a consciousness that is purely at peace no matter what the outward circumstances. Thus, this teaching is a paradox because if we had this sense of inner peace and harmony with our true nature, then we would not seek or need anything that money could buy anyway.

You might wonder if this teaching holds up in today’s complex mercantile world. I will tell you about a friend of mine, he and his wife had always dreamed of spending springtime in Paris. They went to Paris a few years ago during the spring to enjoy the beautiful cherry blossoms blooming, and he had a heart attack. They both had been working hard long hours to climb the economic ladder. .He was rushed to a hospital and lived. His heart attack cut their trip to Paris short but it made a great story.

His heart attack might have been a wake up call for my friend to ease off and enjoy life and to take better care of himself. He did some of that, but his consciousness did not really change. He still wanted the good life and believed the way to get it was with money. He and his wife both worked in Real Estate. They owned a million dollar mansion with a pool and landscaped yard. Beautiful furniture and art work graced their home. They had a huge library of books and CD’s, traveled frequently and enjoyed fine dining and entertainment. They had two very upscale cars as they believed this was required by successful agents. All this looked very good from the outside and was very expensive to keep up from the inside.

As you know, the real estate business softened and then collapsed over the past couple of years. My friend decided to get a paying job while his wife kept up their real estate practice. He went from one job to another and then to yet another scrambling to make ends meet.

Finally, he could not continue. He now hated his work, hated his boss and all the wealth and success he had accumulated was not worth another moment of unhappiness. He resigned from this third job and began to surrender his attachment to high wages and all that money could buy. He began to appreciate and cultivate his relationship with Spirit. He vowed to continue on this path of surrendered living no matter what it might cost him in outward treasure.

He and his wife ended up bankrupt. They lost the two fancy cars. They lost their mansion in foreclosure. They gave away all their books and sold their artwork and furniture. They have nothing left of their grand life. Their wealth is gone. Their credit is toast. Today he has a simple sales job. He and his wife have next to nothing in terms of physical possessions; they rent a very small apartment. They have each other. Oh, one detail, the job and apartment are located in Paris, France. So, their dream of enjoying springtime in Paris came true. They are living the good life in the kingdom of heaven and it has nothing to do with money

Prosperity Thoughts – Sore Ankle-1

2009-05-08T19:34:00.001-07:00

I am writing this with a very sore ankle. Well, I am writing this by typing on my computer keyboard with my fingers while my ankle is sore. Having a sore ankle would not seem to impact my writing, but today I am grumpy. Since I am blaming my ankle for making me grumpy, then I guess my sore ankle is impacting my writing. Normally, writing while grumpy is not an optimum plan, but I think there is a blessing in this which leads to a point that I think may be helpful to you.

The first point is simply that I am choosing to let my sore ankle impact my mood. That is a choice that I make because I have been conditioned by our embedded human consciousness to blame my moods on things outside of myself. Carrying this one step further, I am choosing to blame embedded race consciousness for my own lack of accountability for how I feel in relation to my sore ankle.

I could just as easily not allow my sore ankle to affect my mood or my writing. Why would I decide to allow my sore ankle generate a grumpy mood and affect my writing? It stands to reason that I would do this only when I perceive that there is a positive payoff. Even if my pay off calculation is entirely unconscious, I must believe that somehow I will be rescued in some fashion. Thus, it follows that my rational short term choice is to play victim, blame my sore ankle on my mood and try and reap the supposed rewards.

If you have read this far, then you know this is not empowered living. This is victim thinking. As I mentioned earlier, I could just as easily choose to be in a good mood even with a sore ankle. I could consciously recognize that the consequences of being in a grumpy mood will create a vibration of grumpy energy that will come back into my life. Faced with this awareness, it only makes sense to choose to be grateful and joyful not matter what my circumstances.

To those of you that might think this is hard to do, I introduce to you Phil Packer. He is about to finish the London Marathon, a 26 mile run. He will come in dead last- about 13 days behind all of the other runners. He is very very sore and not the least bit grumpy. You see just over a year ago he was serving as a military policeman in Iraq. One day sirens went off warning of a mortar attack. He got out of his vehicle and took cover but the vehicle rolled over on him and crushed him terribly.

Phil was paralyzed from the waist down. The initial prognosis was that it was likely Phil would never be able to walk at all. The doctors said he just did not have the coordination to take steps. It takes a huge amount of his concentration to send a message from his brain to his legs because his spine is crushed. He was determined to focus his will and walk unaided. (Phil of course uses crutches). It took him months of hard work, and just a couple of months before the London Marathon he had progressed to being able to walk unaided. A few weeks before the Marathon start date he could walk just one mile per day.

Now, he is able to walk about two miles per day- the maximum that his doctors believe is safe for him. At this rate, it will take 13 straight days to walk the London Marathon. (He should finish Saturday, May 9^th, 2009).

Is he grumpy about this?

No. He feels very fortunate to have any mobility. He has turned this accident into a blessing by using it to raise money for those at the surgical center that helped him recover. He said that while in the surgical recovery program he needed something to motivate himself during some very dark and painful times.

We all, each of us, have the same capability of this sort of grit and determination. There is a choice that we face with every circumstance. We can find a way to turn it into a blessing or we can claim we are victims. If we want prosperity, then we find the blessing in what ever circumstance we face. If we choose prosperity then we trust Spiritual Law to manifest it for us.

In reading about Phil, my sore ankle doesn’t seem like such a big deal anymore. In writing this, I can tell that I am not so grumpy. Nothing changed but my attitude. Everything changed when my attitude shifted.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

2009-05-02T20:01:00.000-07:00

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Today, for our May prosperity thoughts, we will look into the metaphysical meaning in the simple ditty “April Showers Bring May Flowers”.

On the surface, this rhyme describes a simple truism, that there is a cause and effect under Natural Law. This is perhaps most telling in the Mohave Desert, a very dry and often barren place that gets a few sprinkles of rain most years. These sparse drops of rain are sufficient to create an abundant display of wildflowers that is world famous. The wildflowers seem to sprout from nowhere in the desert sand and rocks. They bloom and die within a very short season at the lower elevations. They bloom and fade a little slower at the higher elevations, but by mid May the blooms are mostly gone.

Every half dozen years or so, the desert gets a splash of real rain. In those years the entire desert floor and hillsides are somehow covered with beautiful wildflowers. It is truly amazing that such abundance lies dormant year after year until a real rain comes.

This is exactly how it is in our life as well. We are always blooming but sometimes outside circumstances do not look glorious. Metaphorically, “blooming” infers growing and blossoming. When we look at this metaphysically then it would indicate the expansion of our consciousness. This process goes on to the degree we are open and receptive no matter what the weather report says. Rainy season, we are expanding our consciousness to thrive in the rain. Dry Season, we are growing consciousness too, to evolve more highly in apparent dryness.. Cold nights, hot nights, still days, windy days, bright and sunny days, cloudy and overcast days, we are growing in consciousness.

Here is then a key point; outside conditions do not hinder our spiritual evolution unless we allow those external conditions to impede our growth.

What is really going on for us is like the wildflowers in the Mohave Desert. We are blooming in springtime- and in human consciousness it is always springtime—yep, all the time. Yet, because of our egocentric expectations (which are often fueled by unconscious self hatred), we often feel like we are in a deep drought. In truth, we are in fact thriving in the natural flow of life. Unfortunately for our serenity, we cannot often see these dry spells as part of a larger cycle because we are focused on the temporary rather than the eternal.

A deeper awareness of our own spiritual process would lead us to realize that it is in these times of apparent drought that we actually grow the most. It is, for example, easy to be grateful when things seem to be going our way. It is often much more difficult for us to be grateful when things do not seem to be coming our way. So, in order to really learn to appreciate the little drops of joy that come into our awareness we need some dry spells.

Rather than understanding that spiritual growth in an inside job we tend to look at outward conditions and judge our growth by external benchmarks. Thus when we get some May showers, we get a burst of prosperity and selfishly conclude that is how it should be all the time. It follows then that we act like our life is in a drought the rest of the time. When we are not getting the results we crave, compared to those rare desert blooms that occur after the May showers, we often become dispirited.

Here is the second main point. There is a secret of many of those desert flowers. Due to the long dry months the flowers develop deep roots. Their roots are adapted to thrive where they are located and are almost like a carrot in shape. These roots are capable of storing lots of moisture that is efficiently wicked from the dry desert sand during the rainy season and then used sparingly in the long dry spells that follow. If it were not for those long dry spells, the plants would not grow these deep roots- rather they would grow wide and shallow roots during the rainy season. If that were the case, the desert plants would then die off during the dry season.

The roots on these desert flowers are exactly like our own soulful consciousness. If we grow and deepen our consciousness year round, especially during the dry seasons, then it will help us thrive in those times when we do not seem to be in the flow. And, when the flow arrives, we will be ready to burst on the scene in our radiant glory. The desert flowers are growing year round. They bloom in May, not just because of the spring showers, but mostly because they have been growing during the dry spell as well.

Planting Seeds Spring 2009

2009-04-23T19:33:00.000-07:00

Planting Seeds

The springtime is the season for planting seeds. Let’s look at the metaphysics of this. Seeds are a metaphor for divine ideas, so when we talk of planting seeds metaphysically we are talking about investing in divine ideas.

Many New Thought teachers suggest that their students set an intention and then also establish a due date by when their divine idea is supposed to manifest into being. This is like planting a seed and then telling Mother Nature when it is supposed to sprout and blossom. I disagree with this approach because it looks to me like someone is suggesting that we can dictate to God when our good should arrive. If adopted, then this teaching leads to an expectation that is likely to result in disappointment and disillusionment.

Imagine someone wants to manifest a new job or a new relationship by a date certain. The only way this can occur is through the interplay of their consciousness and Divine Order or through self will. If it is through their consciousness, then they are committing to a path of self awareness that may or may not be in parallel with the timetable they set to manifest their good. If by self will, I am sure you can see that it is likely to be manifested only through force and not through ease and grace.

When we plant seeds in the garden, our job is to prepare the soil and provide water and choose a location with the right amount of sunlight and so forth. We thus create conditions for Mother Nature to do her work on her timetable. The seeds sprout and the buds bloom according to Divine Law and not on our timetable. So it is with Divine Ideas.

I have the lifetime dream to be a friend, mentor and confidant to both my children for their entire lives. This dream needs to be cultivated just like any garden. I call my kids, and return their calls with great intention. I spend quality time with them each year entering their world and doing things that enhance their lives and sense of well being.

What I want to point out, however, is that the seeds coming to fruition in this Divine Idea now were planted some decades ago, when my children were very young. There were many years in between where this dream of mine did not look like it would ever bear fruit. I could not dictate to my children and in fact to be a friend confidant and mentor, I needed to allow them to co create a relationship that worked for them.

Here is a recent example of a Divine Idea coming into bloom in its own time. When my children were very little, my ex wife and I divorced. Consequently, they spent a few days a week at my house and most of the time with their mom. When they would visit me, I would take them into the yard and have them look for new flowers that had bloomed or bulbs that had come up or whatever had changed in the garden. They loved finding new things in my garden and showing them to me. Then as they grew older they seemed to loose interest and finally when they were in their late teens they rarely came to my house to visit.

My daughter now lives a thousand miles away from me. She has her own condo and Debbie I recently went to help her plant a few flowers bordering on her patio. One would hardly call it a garden. We planted some bulbs as well and this spring they began to come up. My daughter was all excited and called to give me for daily up dates. (I would typically expect to hear from her perhaps once per month which was a substantial up grade from a long while of only hearing from her a few times a year). Then when they bloomed she would send me digital photos, of each color of flower blooming.

What is important here is that as far as I can tell, she does not remember at all when she was very little and would tramp around my garden when I had visitation. For her, this is all new and all her idea and all about her little patio garden. Only I know it is answered prayers for God’s guidance on a Divine Idea that took 20 years to bear fruit.

So my suggestion is to plant the seeds in soil well prepared and let Divine Mother manage the timing.

April Prosperity Thoughts - The Wisdom in the Tomb

2009-04-05T19:39:00.000-07:00

Affirmation: Be Still and Know that you are God.

As Easter approaches, Christians and non Christians alike can benefit from remembering that everything which happened to Jesus factually -as reported in the Bible -applies metaphysically in our own lives. Here is an application of a portion of the Easter story that few teachers focus on.

First, for those who are not so versed in the details of the Bible, here is a quick summary of the last week or so of Jesus life. At this juncture, Jesus is at the height of his powers and has just raised Lazarus from the dead. Word spreads quickly and he now knows that he must come in from the hick towns and minister in the capital of all Judea, Jerusalem. When he arrives, he is treated to a hero’s welcome while at the same time, he knows his fame and power makes him a threat to both the Roman Empire as well as the Jewish Religious Establishment.

He has many followers including a dozen or more committed disciples. He knows he is facing a show down with the Jewish leadership (when he arrived in Jerusalem he went to the high temple and confronted the entrenched practices of the priests and temple officials for their corruption and dishonesty), and on a high holy holiday (Passover) he has a lovely banquet with his key followers. He knew then that he would have to surrender all the glory and power that he had amassed and so afterwards went to a nearby garden, Gethsemane, and prayed deeply for reassurance and peace.

He then was arrested and tried by the Jewish High Priests for blaspheme against God. Rather than defend himself, Jesus remained calm and assertive of the truth of his being. As part of the Passover tradition one criminal was to be freed, however the very crowd that had adored Jesus a few days earlier demanded the freedom of another petty criminal. Jesus then was brutally beaten, publicly ridiculed and hung on the crucifix to die a terrible death.

During this ordeal, all his formerly loyal disciples abandoned him and perhaps his favorite disciple, Judas, actively betrayed him. He was utterly alone. He refused a quick death or mind numbing drugs and died in great agony with two common criminals along side of him. At his moment of death he is utterly forlorn, asking “Why God have you forsaken me”?

I think that all of us can relate to this experience of thinking that we are on top of the world. Our life looks like everything is coming up roses, that we are truly masters of our universe, and then suddenly, it all turns to black. We loose everything we held dear, we feel alone and abandoned, our heart feels numb. Our whole body and soul ache desperately for any comfort or peace. We may not actually be crucified, but emotionally and physically we feel like we have been crucified. If we can relate to this experience in our own lives, then we can metaphysically apply the teachings hidden deep within the story of Jesus.

This Easter tale of Jesus does not stop with his crucifixion. After his death, he is buried in a tomb and after 3 days in the darkness, he is said to be reborn again. It is this interlude in the tomb that I want to expound upon this Easter. In the tomb, Jesus has fallen to the absolute low point and yet from this he resurrects into an even higher level of mastery. Metaphysically, this explains that we must let go of our attachment to our present level of mastery and go into the depth of the unknown as we prepare for the next phase. Let’s look at this a little closer.

Prior to being crucified, Jesus is betrayed by his closest comrade, Judas. He is abandoned by his disciples, rejected by his more general followers and vilified by his religious leaders. One the cross he even feels abandoned by God. Thus, in the tomb, there is no outside force upon which Jesus can rely. Thus, there is no political or religious power available to him. He is alone.

In the tomb Jesus has lost all physical power as well. It is pitch black, he cannot see anything. His bones and body are broken by the beating he took. His life force is depleted due to the crucifixion. Thus, he has no physical strength to rely on. The tomb is a small cave, there is no room to move or maneuver, he must lie there completely still in the darkness. It is on a remote hillside and a massive stone closes the opening. Even if he could call for help, no one could hear him or soothingly touch him or offer him any other medical assistance. Thus, while in the tomb, Jesus has nothing left; nothing physical or emotional or political.

Jesus has nothing except one remaining item: his consciousness. This represents a place of absolute surrender. For three days (which is not necessarily a real measurement of time anyway since we are looking at this in a metaphysical framework) Jesus is alone with his consciousness and his faith in it. There are no distractions and no other happy endings except what he can manifest through his own consciousness.

I mention faith, because just before Jesus enters Jerusalem he raised Lazarus from the dead. What if this was a dry run and not just an ordinary miracle? What if it was the basis for Jesus’ faith in his ability to master death so that when he was in the cave alone, with nothing, he still had the knowing that he could resurrect Lazarus and so perhaps he too could rise again? I do not know the answer to this, but I do wonder if lying in the tomb, alone with nothing, if there wasn’t a glimmer of hope for Jesus because he had done it before. Maybe not exactly the same, but close enough that even though he did not know how, his faith would pull him through this death experience into a re birth experience.

The Tibetans, as I understand it, believe that each loss and the grief we experience throughout our life, is but practice for the moment of death when we are faced with the ultimate sense of loss. They believe that if one can stay conscious at the moment of death, and surrender completely, then one can transcend the cycle of life, death and rebirth in this plane of existence and move into the next higher realm.

To my mind, we each are going to face some difficult or impossible losses on our spiritual path. We are going to face things that feel insurmountable. We are going to think they are impossible to bear- I know this because I have been right there and I know that many of you have been in your own version of this as well.

In terms of our prosperity, a partner we rely on is going to betray us, loyal customers are going to abandon us, and promising endeavors are going to turn to disasters. Everything that is not God is going to fail us, and in the face of that we are going to thing that God too has forsaken us.

In this moment, we can turn to the story of Jesus in the tomb. He had nothing but his consciousness, and that consciousness transformed in the three days so that he was able to resurrect. In the same fashion, as you know, the problems we face cannot be solved at the level of consciousness that created them. There must be transformation. The stillness and the darkness in the tomb represent this time for focused transformation. When it is complete, when we have mastered our past and surrendered our attachments, then we are ready for the next phase of the Easter story, the resurrection.

Ease and Grace- A Place of Perfect Balance- pt 3

2009-03-10T18:55:00.000-07:00

Ease and Grace- A Place of Perfect Balance—pt 3

We have been looking at the concept of living with Ease and Grace. How this feels on the macro level (Like being in the Kingdom of Heaven) and how it feels in the context of being in the Divine Flow (Not like we would expect it to feel). Now we look more deeply at Ease and Grace itself.

Ease and Grace is about the balance of energy. When that which Flows In matches up with our needs, it feels like abundance. When that which flows out is greater than what we perceive as flowing in, we experience that as loss. When that which flows in is not perceived as meeting our needs, then we experience that as scarcity. So, to fully comprehend Ease and Grace, we need to understand Balance.

On an energetic level, money is worthwhile only because other people are willing to trade their time and talent for it. Money has no intrinsic value in and of itself. Confederate Banknotes towards the end of the Civil War were worthless. German Deutschmarks were inflating so fast after the First World a War that people carried them in wheelbarrows so they could buy a loaf of bread. Thus, in order for us to operate with Ease and Grace, we must optimize our personal balance between money, time, talent and energy.

Ease and Grace involves an understanding that that I have gifts to share, and that in sharing them, the Law of Circulation provides that I will have the resources to meet my needs. This works provided my consciousness is not tipping the process out of balance. Thus if I invest my time and talent (creativity and skill and wisdom) in a way that is aligned with my overall value structure, then the Universe will successfully provide me with the opportunity to generate all that I need. What I do with the opportunity will determine how much stress I invite into my life or how much time I gratefully spend living in the Land of Milk and Honey.

If we are under earning for example, then we are trading our time and talent for less than full value. Living and working from this posture leaves us tired (if not exhausted), unfulfilled (if not depleted) and creatively stifled (if not suffocated). The reason we would choose this experience is deeply embedded in our consciousness. For me, it was tied to my sense of self worth, or more accurately my sense that I did not have any self worth. In this circumstance, no amount of material goods would compensate for the deep seeded issue underlying my under earning until the issue itself had been healed. To find a path of Ease and Grace, I thus had to be willing to do the hard work of examining my actions in any area when I did not feel fairly (or handsomely) compensated.

If we are now consciously expending our resources in a manner that is congruent with both our values and our desires, we are out of balance. This often shows up as being in debt. Energetically we are not living in Ease and Grace and the stress of meeting our current needs as well as paying off the debt (being out of balance) will wear on us. The remedy is to be fully aware of our choices around how we spend our money.

Penny Pinching is another symptom of not living from Ease and Grace. It involves over valuing money and undervaluing time and energy. This leads to exhaustion. One personal example is that I was recently shopping for paper plates for our hospitality on Sunday. The first place I went seemed to be too expensive and so I went to another store. They did not have the type I wanted and so I went to yet another store. The paper plates were the same price as the first place, which still seemed too high for me. (We are talking about something like $2.50 for 50 plates). In the end, I went to 5 stores to buy 50 paper plates for $1.99. Thus, I was willing to trade hours of my time for a 51 cents savings for the church. Trust me, this thinking will never lead to Ease and Grace.

One of the most common inhibitors from us living more fully in the Kingdom of Heaven is when we take on the work of rescuing others from the consequences of their decisions. In these situations, we are then not only expending our energy in doing that which is ours to do, we are also doing that which is truly someone else’s to do. Far from being rescuing them, this inevitably leads to exploitation or resentment for the other person not carrying their share of their own load.

Having someone take care of us in this fashion may feel like the Kingdom of Heave for a short while. But over time it dis-empowers us and we develop a dependency that quickly weakens us. We cannot find that level of profound contribution which is so satisfying when we are continually trying to get someone to do what in our hearts and souls we know is our to do.

In a similar fashion, Ease and Grace are never available when we continually try to take more than we give. In the very short run it may feel like we have gotten over on the Universe when we do not offer our fair share. However, the Law of Karma operates perfectly and in the end we are diminished when we try and take advantage of the generosity of others. Speaking from my own experience, we soon begin to feel shame surfacing and the temporary sense of smugness disappear.

Living in Ease and Grace is finding the balance on what is ours to do and what is ours to have done. There are often things that we are not easily capable of doing or that we do not enjoy doing. There are things that are confusing to us or outside the area of our expertise. In these situations it is invaluable for us to see Ease and Grace operate to find a balance between what is ours to do and what is not ours to do. It is the mark of a sage that knows the tradeoff in expending our time, talent and energy in creating that which is truly ours to do, (and being rewarded with money), while also knowing that some other soul is eager to trade their time, talent and energy to help us with those things that are not really ours to do. (while they too are being rewarded with money). Getting our car repaired might be a good mundane example. For those of us reading this that don’t see ourselves as mechanically inclined we could spend many frustrating hours trying to do simple car repairs that would leave us feeling anything but like we are living in the Kingdom of Heaven. For others, perhaps it is housework or doing taxes. Whatever the onerous job that we seek to avoid, someone in the Universe feels is their life calling (or furthers their life’s calling) and Ease and Grace allows us to have energy flow from us to them and back again to get both of our needs met perfectly and smoothly.

Ease and Grace- Being in Divine Flow- pt 2

2009-03-10T13:52:00.000-07:00

Ease and Grace- Being in the Divine Flow--pt 2

In this post, I want to clear up some common misperceptions about how it feels to be in the Divine Flow. As we noted in an earlier post, the quantity of Ease and Grace we experience in our lives is directly related to our ability to live in the Divine Flow.

The Divine Flow is a current of energy that is organized by an intelligence that correlates your intentions with those of everyone around you while at the same time perfectly executing the Law of Karma (the Law of Circulation). Simultaneously it co creates a world that meets all of your deepest needs on time and abundantly and as well as fulfills your life purpose on a Soul level. This level of multitasking and sophistication confounds the human ego while it is also trying to predict and control and manage our lives. When these two forces are aligned it is the Kingdom of Heaven, when they are in total conflict, it feels and looks like Hell. Most of us live somewhere between and this feels like life like a life of quiet desperation. A contemporary bumper sticker reflects this struggle with the phrase “Life’s a Bitch and then you Die.”

People that are not aware of the nature of the Divine Flow often take actions that pull them out of the Divine Flow and put them into a stretch of life that looks like raging rapids or tumultuous water. Some people end up exhausted because they are actually rowing as hard as they can against their Divine Flow without evening knowing it. Others feel abandoned by God because they cannot find the flow, while they are paddling to stay in a side channel eddy or anchored in permanently in their Soul’s backwater.

The most important thing to remember about the Divine Flow is that it almost never looks or feels like you believe it is supposed to look and feel. It rarely feels the same way twice. The best practice for you then is to think like a river rafting guide in the spring. No matter how well you think you know the Divine Flow, check out the river after the stormy winter before taking your first run of the season. Talk with others that have run that stretch of water before. (Build a relationship with a minister/spiritual director). Take an exploratory trip with some senior guides skilled in whitewater rescue. (Have a spiritual community and support group). When you are in the slow season, read some guide books and keep in shape so that when you hit the Big Water, you are not overwhelmed. (Keep up with your daily spiritual practices).

At any given time, Divine Flow can feel like one of the following. By the way, keep in mind, sometimes one area of our life will feel one way and other areas will feel another way.

Circle or Dead Loop. If you are covering the same ground over and over again, obsessing about the same problems, holding onto the same hurt feelings, reacting to the same pattern of fears then you are in a dead loop. Best practice would be to change your thinking and the best way to do that is to choose a tough instructor and pray for a quick breakthrough.

Pulse. This is commonly stated as “two steps forward, one step back”. The Divine Flow feels like Divine Fits and Starts. Your good seems to come in small bits with long lulls of stagnation between surges of blessing. This is sometimes a signal of your own powerful resistance to your good, but conversely can also be 2nd force arising up to test the quality of your intentions for transformation. If the lulls are long, then it is most likely resistance, if the steps back feel sharp and intense then it is likely that you are experiencing second force.

Wave. Divine Flow can be experienced as a wave. This is characterized with a fair amount of up and down movement coupled with an increment of forward movement. This is a very normal process of allowing time to integrate changes and to prepare for the next surge. If the waves are large ups followed by large downs then the key skill to acquire is to relax and stay calm at both ends of the wave cycle. If the waves are very small and repetitious then you might look to see if you are deadening your experience.

Turbo Flow. This feels like an exponential curve where you look back and cannot believe the progress you have made. Your good keeps appearing in greater and greater measure as you keep saying yes without knowing how you are going to manage all of the abundance. One helpful key here is to remain humble, this too shall pass. If you want Turbo Flow to continue I suggest being grateful, give back to all those that have helped you generously and remain courageous.

Crash and Burn. This feels exactly what it sounds like. It signifies that you were committed to a wrong track and were ignoring signals (intuitions) to make changes and so in order for your good to arrive, you needed to let go completely of whatever you were overly attached to ( addicted to) that was less than your highest good. There is no “wrong track” spiritually, but if you set an intention and hold to it using tactics that are not aligned with the intention then sooner or later you will crash and burn. The good comes when you set an intention and then adopt tactics that will allow the intention to manifest.

Chaos. Chaos is experienced when nothing makes sense, nothing feels congruent, and too much is happening at once for you to easily manage but at the same time you do not quit on your good. When the Divine Flow feels chaotic it often means that you are in the midst of major greatness flowing your way while major good is still present. On the other hand, it can indicate that you are ambivalent about your good and keep canceling out your opportunities.

Brick Wall. This is what crash in burn will feel like a few cycles before the actual crash and burn. It is when you are still determined that your good must come to you in a certain fashion or though a certain channel when Spirit has other plans. This also could be, or course, what it feels like when 2nd force is melting and you are tempted to quit just before the miracle. A skilled veteran coach is essential here to help you determine how to move forward from this point.

Glacier. It feels much bigger than anything you can control or withstand. This is a force that will not quit. When Divine Flow is pushing like a glacier it is often painful, it continues to grind and propel all that is in front of it forward. It will methodically scour everything out of its way, but slowly and painfully. When Divine Flow is pulling from Glacier mode it is like a magnetic draw that keeps you headed for your good (a giant tractor beam from Star Trek that will not let go).

Dark Night of the Soul. This is when you wish that you had just merely crashed and burnt. This is being in the crucible. It feels dark, and alone and eternally separate from the flow of good. Mystics say this is a great place because Spirit never gives us more than we can truly handle. Suicide Prevention counselors wonder about that. You need help here and the willingness to ask for and receive help if very far away for most of us in our Dark Night of the Soul.

There are of course an infinite number of variations on how Divine Flow shows up. Each one of us must at some level navigate this dynamic energy field in our lives. Just remember that Divine Flow is dynamic, it is always changing. It is always present and it is rarely going to show up in the fashion we think it should.

Ease and Grace in times of turmoil- pt 1

2009-03-09T15:55:00.000-07:00

Ease and Grace in Times of Turmoil

Wouldn’t you be pleased if there was more Ease and Grace in your life? If there were fewer struggles and less stress in your day to day experience wouldn’t then there be ample room for more bliss and tenderness? How would you like it if your life got easier? These are the questions many people seek answers to in times of turmoil.

Ease and Grace are usually the resultant experiences we have when we are in the Divine Flow. Jesus taught that the Kingdom of Heaven is available from within, and to my way of understanding the Kingdom of Heaven feels just like Ease and Grace. So, if we want Ease and Grace, if we seek the Kingdom of Heaven then we just need to find the Divine Flow.

The Divine Flow is an energetic field that is systematically and intelligently organized to bring us our good. In order to tap into the Divine Flow we first need to deeply understand the concept of “our good.” Our highest good always includes the highest good of all concerned. Whenever we operate from the fear that there is some sort of competition for our good or think that someone else’s gain is our loss, or that someone or something is against us, then we have utterly crimped our ability to experience life as Ease and Grace. Jealously, envy or trying to show up someone else are sure signs that we are in the struggle rather than in the Flow.

Another challenge is that some of us have been conditioned to think that the Universal Flow of our good always feels good. This is manifestly inaccurate and resisting this Truth often inhibits the flow of good into our lives. The Universe is always aiming at our highest and best long term good and when we want to settle for mediocre short term good we experience conflict, fear and discord. In the face of the Universe bringing to us our highest good we need to surrender deeply our judgment of how it should feel.

Flow means Flow, which means that we must let go to be in the flow of Divine Good. When we latch on to something that we think is our good, and want to hold on to it because we are sure it is our good, it is likely that we are inviting suffering into our lives. All things must pass, they come and go, and to the extent we get overly attached to things we create an environment that leads to suffering. This is the great teaching of the Buddha.

Thus, Ease and Grace requires a subtle surrender and detachment from all things that are not permanent. In our culture we tend to attach meaning to things that are not intrinsically valuable. Our jobs, our money and cars and homes and vacation time shares should be held very lightly if we want to live in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The other aspect about the Divine Flow feeling good is that our highest good is often about our Soul’s evolution. Our Ego self wants to be secure and safe, to be right and to look good. About the time that our Ego thinks we have it made, our Soul is looking out for a new experience and if we hold on to the present and resist our destiny (dharma is a better word for this) then we are signing up for pain and suffering. In order to remain in the Divine Flow then a good practice is to remain very humble and open to loving what is unfolding in our lives.

The Universe is organized to bring us our good. It is amazingly responsive to our yearnings. For example, just about everything that we have now did not exist 100 years ago. Think of all the women washing dishes by the sink who were yearning for a machine to automatically clean the dishes. That yearning led to the manifestation of the Divine Idea of a dishwasher, which is now commonplace in every new home and apartment built.

Unfortunately for those of us that want to live in Ease and Grace, Madison Avenue discovered this correlation between our yearnings and our sense of well-being and has been manipulating us ever since. For example, people wanted personal credit (which did not exist 50 years ago) so they could have things now and pay for them later. Consequently, credit cards were invented. The problem is however, that our personal consciousness does not always evolve at the same rate as our social technology and so we get into a jam when we want things and more things and then more things on top of that. This confusion about what is truly ours to have vs. the things that we stubbornly demand is born out of a materialist mind set promulgated by Madison Avenue marketers to sell their products. Expecting the Universe to meet our every demand on this basis is childish.

To enter the Kingdom of Heaven then we need enough spiritual maturity to discern the difference between a need and an obsession. What is something that serves life and allows us more freedom to do what we are called to this planet to accomplish then that which we are yearning for might show up as a need. (Needs in this context are not just bare survival needs). If the product or service that we are wanting is motivated by a desire to look good, to be right or to please another person, then it is more likely than not laced with materialistic values rather than life enhancing wonderment. When we are striving to acquire things that do not truly enhance our life we end up depleted or in debt.

Many spiritual traditions of both the East and the West renounce possessions to avoid this very trap. Unfortunately, possessions are not the barrier to a life of Ease and Grace. In New Thought we have no resistance to Truth Students seeking nice things, so long as they are aware of the risk of excessive attachment to them and the impact that attachment will have on our entering the Kingdom of Heaven.

Freedom from Economic Insecurity

2009-03-06T21:20:00.000-08:00

Prosperity Thoughts March 2009

The question “Where can you reliably turn for economic security in times of financial turmoil?” is on the minds of a lot of people these days. I have some thoughts that might be helpful.

First, the ultimate point is that the source of freedom from economic insecurity is God.

Some people think that their job or their wages is their source of security. I read today that 1/10^th of all workers in California are presently out of work. In the greater New York City area approximately 100,000 MBA types that used to earn over $100,000 per year have been laid off in the past few months. Construction workers, real estate agents, mortgage brokers as well as thousands of other professionals are being laid off or are functionally unemployed. Jobs are inherently insecure.

Some people rely on their home for security. They thought that the equity in their home would always be there as a nest egg. Ha! Home values have dropped over 20 % in the past year. In some places they have dropped much more. In many markets the backlog of homes for sales is two years or more, so the only people that can even sell their homes are doing so at a deep discount. Real estate does not offer security any longer.

Stock Indexes and many investment accounts are down 20% in just the past month. Many once blue chip stocks have lost nearly all their value. GM is on the verge of bankruptcy, Citicorp shares are selling for under a dollar each. The great investment genius of our lifetime, Warren Buffett has lost multiple billions of dollars this past year. Hedge Funds and private equity funds have been hammered in the past year. Even money market type accounts, supposedly the safest of the safe have been wiped out. There have been two reported frauds in money market type investments where the outright losses appear to be in excess of $50 billion. Investments are inherently risky.

Given the massive deficit in the US, there is no doubt that dollars are going to suffer significant inflation in the next few years. The value of commodities has gyrated all over the place. Oil is way down after reaching historic highs just last summer. Gold, Silver and Platinum are up and down and risky. Cotton was at an all time low and then is now gone way up in price.

Retirement programs are also insecure. Private Annuities and Pension programs have lost 33% and more in their value this past year as the stock markets have tanked. The entire Social Security program is terribly underfunded. The State and local PERS programs have lost billions in the stock crash and were underfunded to begin with so they now face a horrific shortfall. All those government workers that think they have a sure thing are likely to find out that the tax payers just cannot earn enough to cover the costs of those pensions. Voters are fickle.

In the face of all this upset, many people are turning to politics and government to bail them out. Governments however do not create wealth, they redistribute it. Those in favor today will be out of favor in a few years and anyone who relies on the promises of a politician for their security has never studied history. Politicians that can be replied on are few and far between. Honest people rarely run for political office- much less get elected in the climate of corruption that exists in political circles these days. Both parties have proven over and over again that they put their own interest over that of the citizens that vote for them.

On the macro scale Empires have risen and fallen. None offer any sort of permanence. In fact history shows over and over again that about the time the citizens begin to rely on their government to provide for their security, is about the time when an empire begins its steep decline.

Now, there is hope. I do mean to provide an uplifting message here, so let’s turn away from what does not work and look at where we can get results.

God is eternal. Spiritual Law is Universal and everlasting. If you are looking for economic predictability then we know there only one place where you can be assured of results. That is to invest in Spirit.

I can assure you that if you invest your security in Spirit, your security is promised. Anyone who has invested in the stock market has a strategy. Every one that got an education had a plan. Each person with a career followed some sort of path. The same is true for spiritual investment, you need an approach. Here is a proven and systematic approach that works and has always worked.

There are four straightforward steps to systematically transform your life approach away from the fantasy of material security.

First, become aware of all the lack thinking that you engage in. Notice when you think you do not have enough time to do that which is yours to do or enough money to enjoy the things that really matter to you. Become aware of when you feel harried and exhausted. Pay attention when you feel drained or depleted. It is essential to your connection to the inexhaustible source to eliminate the lack thinking that prevents you from finding the infinite flow of good in your life. If we focus on the world being a place of deprivation and impoverishment, for sure that is what we will experience. (I know I mentioned some of this above, this was to help folks see where they might be holding onto ideas that are not spiritually sound.)

In order to do this, it is very helpful to continually recall that we are children of the Divine. That which created us, created the entire universe. The universe is orderly and there are laws that govern its behavior. Likewise there are key Spiritual Truths that have been known to mystics and sages throughout recorded time. We know these Spiritual Principles as well. In times of transformation it is a good idea to be clear on what these laws are and which we believe and which we resist. So, take the time to organize what you actually think about prosperity and compare it to what you “know” about prosperity in terms of Truth Teachings. (We as a church are undergoing this process now as we get in touch with our core values surrounding prosperity.)

The third step is then to be open to new ideas. There are several components to this, and to change our thinking is to change our life. If we want transformation then we need to be willing to make some shifts in both our thinking and in our behavior. Sometimes we change a behavior to help our thinking get realigned with Truth. Other times we have to change our thinking and surrender our behavior, knowing that in the end our behavior will align with our most deeply held belief.

One of the essential keys here is to be open to Divine Ideas. These are the great Gifts that lead us to our good. There is an infinite supply of great ideas available to us. It is the purview of our ego to be right, look good and keep us safe. The ego likes to plan for our future and organize our life. On the other hand, our Higher Power is an infinitely better organizing intelligence which resides in us at all times. It can correlate things that our ego cannot even conceive of. Thus our path to prosperity is to be open to these Divine Ideas and not allow our egoic thinking- which is inherently short sighted – to run (or ruin) our life.

These Divine Ideas will run up against your thinking that says that you are not smart enough to successfully implement the Divine Idea. You will think that you do not have the experience, the resources, the intelligence, the time, and numerous other lack based excuses to manifest your Gift. Anytime that you make a decision to reject a Divine Idea based on the belief that you do not have enough money, then you are then investing in lack consciousness. Lack begets lack so please beware that you are investing in a fantasy when you operate from this perspective.

Here is another aspect of being open to new ideas. There is only one surefire and bankable way to know that you are opening yourself up to Divine Ideas and that is to tithe. When you tithe (which is to joyously give to those that spiritually nourish you with a sense of gratitude for the gifts you have been given) then you are demonstrating to your mind and to your ego that you do have enough. It is impossible to tithe from a place of sustained lack thinking. As you tithe, you will be reminding yourself each week to look for the Divine Ideas flowing your way. When they arrive you will be receptive because in your heart you know that tithing creates a flow. You give, but you cannot out give God. And thus, as you tithe, you must be willing to receive. The abundance that you receive tends to come in the form of Divine Ideas, authentic and supportive relationships and in opportunities to joyfully make difference in people’s lives. To the extent that you serve life, and joyously serve life, you will experience prosperity.

The fourth stage or step in this transformational dynamic is to courageously step out in those matters of finance which we feel called to undertake. It means we will spend our money consciously, in an organized fashion (rather than reactively or compulsively) to bring about a sense of good into our lives. It means that we will expand our horizons fearlessly as we find our right livelihood (that which brings us meaning while serving others). It means we will be supportive of the success of others knowing that their good does not take away from ours. A measure of discernment is helpful here, so this is where spiritual guidance or mentorship can leverage our good. Some so called Great Ideas are really a Brain Fart.

Thus, one new concept I had to learn early on my spiritual path was to tell the difference between a spiritual calling and ego driven behavior. Getting good guidance from those more fully attuned to the ways of Spirit was an extraordinary blessing to me in learning how to make this distinction.

So, here it is; the simple and straightforward path to freedom from economic insecurity. Simple is not always easy, and straightforward does not always mean that you can see the way, but I promise you that you will find a life of ease and grace as you master these principles.

The Tao of Divine Order

2009-02-09T22:44:00.000-08:00

The Tao of Divine Order

Change is one of the few constants in our physical world. As the Tao reminds us “the ten thousand things rise and fall without cease”. At the same time it says however that “Heaven and Earth last forever.”

How can this be?

Looking first at the natural world, moment by moment the waves ebb and flow, the breeze shifts, streams run, clouds float. Day becomes night, seasons come and seasons go and life goes on.

The circumstances are always unique, none lasting longer than a moment. Yet, the pattern is always perfectly predictable. While the waves ebb and flow, the ocean itself is permanent. While the sun is always moving across the sky (actually relative to the earth the sun is fairly constant- it is the earth that is rotating), we can predict exactly when the sun will rise. Spring will always follow winter and in the Northern Hemisphere spring days will generally warm and buds on trees will come out and the bulbs will become flowers and so forth and so on.

The same is true with technology and our personal world. First there were drums, bugles and banners, then smoke signals, then the break through of the telegraph and then upgrade to the universal home telephone and now personal cell phones. The only constant is that our technical world is always evolving.

In our private world as well, we are all the time, amidst change. Circumstances and conditions come and go surrounding jobs, health, friendships and a myriad of ten thousand other details. The only constant here is that we are eternal souls on an infinite journey of exploration.

In thinking about our prosperity consciousness from this perspective, we can see how we make the decisions that shape the details of our lives.

There are really only two ultimate world view choices. One can choose to live from a world view that rejects a higher power as an organizing and responsive force for our good. This world view is enmeshed in the details because there is nothing larger involved. Making choices based on circumstances is typically exhausting because we cannot adequately predict how the circumstances will alter and so we end up micromanaging our lives. We are living then in an unpredictable and/or chaotic world and from this mind set are typically thinking of self centered survival issues most of the time. The best we can do from this consciousness is to maximize our experience of our own preferences.

The other perspective available is a spiritual perspective that holds that while we are having an entirely human experience, we are actually spiritual beings and our lives are governed by spiritual laws. As we study and come to integrate our understanding of these universal principles then we can improve the quality of our life in generally predictable way. We may not be able to control all the short term circumstances, (other people do have free will after all) but we know that we are trudging a spiritual path that promises inner peace and a life of abundance.

There are examples of this phenomenon in quantum physics that seem very pertinent but I am not really able to explain it clearly. Scientists have run multiple repetitions of certain experiments to determine to a very fine accuracy which outcome of several possibilities is going to happen. They are able to predict how likely it is that each variable will occur, but they cannot know ahead of any specific test run which outcome is actually going to happen until it actually does happen. What I am describing here is not a chaotic environment, but one which is not certain.

Here is a example of a non chaotic but uncertain system from the natural world that I think I can use to illustrate this principle. Debbie and I just got back from Hawaii and we surfed for the first time. Surfers, whether in competition or for personal recreation are trying to catch a perfect wave. They know in any given day that there will be nearly an infinite number of waves. Some of these waves will be duds, some will be passable and a few will be nearly perfect.

The surfers know from common experience that ocean waves tend to come in sets, perhaps 3-8 waves in a series followed by a lull in the wave action and then the commencement of the next set. The surfers never know ahead of time if the next wave will be a dud or last wave of a set. They never know for sure until the wave begins to break if it will be a perfect wave. They are looking to pass on the duds, while seeking to catch a good wave before the onset of the next lull so they can surf and then paddle back out during the lull.

In spite of the appearance of a chaotic environment where no one can predict the quality of the next wave, many surfers will pass on wave after wave and then simultaneously a pair will jump up in unison to ride the next wave even though multiple riders on the same peak tends to diminish their own ride. How does this happen, that independent of each other several surfers will determine the next wave is the one to ride and not the one after that? They must develop some feel, some sixth sense that activates them to ride as the swell begins to form but before the wave actually breaks into a curl. They cannot know ahead of time so their environment is uncertain, but they know a good wave is going to come along sooner or later because every day there are literally hundreds of good waves.

This process of discerned thinking by surfers hopefully leads us to an understanding of the difference between a chaotic universe and one that is uncertain but predictable. As Einstein said, he believed that God did not play dice with the Universe. In other words, Einstein was convinced in his heart that the Universe was not random or chaotic, and he spent the entire balance of his life trying to find scientific proof of this conviction.

This perspective deeply impacts our prosperity thinking in how we deal with the changes in our life. If we assume the Universe is chaotic and random then we will have a gut reaction to each perceived threat. The gut reaction is activated in the lower chakras where the survival and power instincts are located. Gut reactions are often urgent and very strong adrenalin driven currents and tend to be, as their namesake indicates, reactive. They are noted for self centered and protective behavior. Protective behavior can be defensive or aggressive, is often focused on shifting blame and it is typically competitive or even hostile.

On the other hand, if our deepest belief is that the world is unfolding in response to our intentions in a rational but uncertain manner, then we can take the time to rely on our intuition to guide our decisions. Intuition arises within the higher chakras. These intuitive senses are integrated for the well-being of all concern. They tend to be gentle signals or subtle hints that take time to fully take shape and are most often expansive or generative in character.

Reactive energy and decisions made from a world view of chaos are less likely to lead to a sense of our goodness. It is focused on self centered survival- which is unlikely to help us thrive unless we are truly in a dire situation. On the other hand, a world view which encompasses a Higher Power and Divine Order lead to intuitive decision making and a calmer life. These decisions will be expansive rather than protective and will thus more likely to lead us towards prosperity and abundance. In the end, it is our choice of which world view to adopt, chaos or Divine Order.

Chaos Uncertinity and Divine Order

2009-02-07T12:49:00.000-08:00

Chaos, Uncertainty and Divine Order

The science of economics indicates that people tend to be mostly rational about their choices around prosperity. In times of falling home prices, people wait to purchase a home to see if they can get a better deal, in times of raising gas prices, people tend to drive less. If Roma tomatoes are on sale this week, we might buy Roma tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes. Each month we make millions of economic decisions that are based on the data uppermost in our mind

Coupled with these basically rational choices are a number of unstated assumptions which may or may not be useful. I like a certain brand of Blue Cheese dressing and do not like other brands of Blue Cheese dressing. (In fact I do not like any other type of dressing on my salad either). When the brand I like is on sale, I will buy two or three jars even if I only need one jar now. When it is not on sale, I will just buy one jar. My basic assumption is that the dressing will not be on sale every week, but it will be on sale sometime soon. Moreover, my basic assumption is that the store will be open each week.

These basic assumptions are woven into our thinking at such a deep level that we are not often aware of them and rarely examine them. They exist surrounding every area of our lives and become ingrained into our thinking. For example, when I lived in California there were many sunny days and so oftentimes I would think of taking a walk but wait till later in the afternoon because I had a few others things to do. This basic assumption collided with reality when I moved to Oregon where there is an occasional glimmer of sun for a short while but rarely an entire day that is sunny. I had to re evaluate my basic assumption about walks to adapt to Oregon weather patterns and now take my walk the moment I see the sunshine.

Our unconscious basic assumptions impact our ability to relate to a Higher Power in a profound way and are often determinative of our ability to thrive and prosper. If we have unconsciously embedded ideas from our childhood world view then our otherwise rational decision making process is entirely skewed.

One area for potent inquiry is the relationship of Divine Order to our experience of chaos and uncertainty. If we had a chaotic childhood with lots of seemingly irrational events occurring all the time, then examining our thinking about the role of a Higher Power in our prosperity consciousness my lead to a sense of well-being that would otherwise be missing.

Each personal spiritual journey is unique and so reactions to similar conditions might lead to very different basic assumptions so it is unwise to generalize too much. Prolonged exposure to chaos as a youngster might lead one child to an overly developed desire to control their world as an adult. It may be just as likely though that a child growing up a chaotic environment might adopt a chaotic lifestyle. It is vital not to judge the prior assumptions as bad or unhealthy. This just brings about more shame. Instead, the initial transformational opportunity here to use our free will and discernment to determine in a compassionate way the embedded assumptions which define the core of our thinking and gently see if these concepts support us to thrive now.

As noted in a prior chapter, I believe that the world is ordered and responsive. That means that there is a rational and soothing process by which I can interact with this Higher Intelligence to co create a better life. This Higher Intelligence is a benefactor to me and all humanity. There are, of course, times in my life when I am faced with uncertainty. So long as I can be present to the uncertainty with this underlying theology of Divine Order, I am usually able to remain calmly open. I trust that my good is inherently operational in every situation. I know that no matter how it looks in the moment that my experience is not chaotic and unpredictable. Instead, my world is responding to my most profound prayers and unfolding for my ultimate good.

It seems to me that some people say they believe in a Higher Power as a nurturing organizing force for good but on a deeper unconscious level hold the idea that the world is chaotic and unpredictable. Since all our actions are typically influenced from our most deeply held belief, people with this mind set will react to a change in circumstances from a world view of chaos and unpredictability no matter what they may say they believe about God. This means they are less likely to remain in open surrender to the changes and instead will react from their habitual resistance to chaos or unpredictability. They may become protective, defensive or combative.

In terms of pure prosperity consciousness, folks with this way of thinking then unconsciously resist the unfolding of their own good by reacting irrationally when things begin to feel out of our control. Change is happening all the time, but when our consciousness remains fixed, then the details of our life shift but our basic state remains the same. We get evicted from one relationship and fall into an equally dysfunctional one. We loose one job and find another that is just as unsatisfying. We clear up one health challenge and find other symptoms right around the corner. Pretty soon we begin to feel there are no good romantic partners out there. We sense that we are jinxed in our career. Our friends call us hypochondriacs.

Transformation arises when we are able to remain calmly aware of our deepest mind set in the middle of massive change. When we hold as the core truth of our existence a world view that there is a benevolent presence within us guiding and supporting our good, then we experience the uncertainty as an opening to a new way of living rather than something to be feared or managed.

Divine Order

2009-02-05T12:19:00.000-08:00

Prosperity Thoughts: Divine Order

One of the very fundamental assumptions that each of us make is about the orderliness of the Universe. We may not consciously resolve this, but our assumption underlies every decision we make. I offer some observations that might stimulate you to become aware of your ideas on the nature of the Universe. Looking at the question dispassionately there are only a few possibilities. Here are some of the more obvious ones.

The Universe is rational and predictable and controlled by some sort of outside Higher Power. (Ordered).

The Universe is irrational and unpredictable. (Chaos).

The level of order in the Universe is changing randomly all the time- sometimes it is ordered and at other times it is not. (Undeterminable).

The level of order in the Universe is continually being reduced by power beyond our control. (Devolving).

The level of order in Universe is continually being increased by a power beyond our control. (Evolving).

The level of order in the Universe is rational and predictable and measurably impacted by our individual and collective consciousness. (Spiritual).

To my way of seeing this, each person can unconsciously cycle through these various world views many times per day depending on the circumstances of the moment. It is important to notice this because I think our mood shifts depending on which world view we have adopted at any moment.

For example, anyone in an airplane is operating under the idea that there is a high level of order and predictability in the world. Their flight may be delayed by unforeseen factors (such as bad weather) but these are predictable and so experienced winter travelers allow extra time to make connections. Their underlying assumption is that the pilot is well trained, the aircraft well maintained, the laws of aerodynamic flight are well understood and so forth. If they thought otherwise, they would not be flying. I think that an aware situational assessment of which world view to apply to any given situation is perhaps an example of a highly developed consciousness.

On the other hand, I have noticed after our recent election that many peoples answer to the question about if the Universe is evolving or devolving depends on if their preferred candidate won the election or not. It seems purely subjective, especially when the newly elected candidate adopts many of the policy choices of the former administrations. This is, to my way of seeing it, is letting circumstance dictate our world view rather than seeing the world through a particular paradigm. I think this is a relatively undeveloped way of being in the world.

I am convinced that many of our very early childhood experiences influence our world view in dramatic and unconscious ways. I think many unconsciously then project their childhood perspective of their caregivers onto God in some fashion. I think the idea behind this concept is fairly well understood but the actual mechanism in each individual is much more subtle.

On a generational level, I think that many that were born during the hardest times of “Great Depression” adopted a deep seeded sense of uncertainty about financial matters. Their world view was one of scarcity. I know from stories I have heard that many children wondered if they would have food in the house. Many children relied on adults who were very fearful about loosing their jobs due to mass layoffs that were made by executives far outside their control for reasons outside of their perception. Growing up in this environment might lead to a world view that suggests that the Universe is devolving due to forces beyond their control.

In the same economic climate another child in an immigrant family might have experienced both their parents working hard, struggling to learn English and stressing the need to get a good education. This parent is modeling a worldview that says the world is organized and predictable, what are needed for success are hard work and an education.

Someone who grew up in a family laced with addition and dysfunction might have experienced a childhood with times of great uproar and conflict as well as times of tenderness and stability. Sometimes daddy would come home on time, sober and happy and other times he would not come home and there was worry and angst. Perhaps mom would be upbeat and cheerfully responsive much of the time and other times morose and unwilling to make dinner. A youngster with this home life might then unconsciously adopt a view of the Universe that held it was unpredictable and irrationally chaotic.

I think it is very worthwhile to take the time to reflect on our basic assumptions about how the Universe operates and to notice where we might have adopted our cultural or family perspective on this question without being aware of the impact.

We teach as a foundational truth that the Universe is highly organized and that it is predictably responsive to our own thinking. This foundational principle explains how the laws of science allow us great predictability in our physical world, which when coupled with the impact of our consciousness leads to a certain appearance of uncertainty in our daily life. I will talk about this impact in the next segment.

Prosperity Thoughts Feb. 2009

2009-02-04T21:17:00.001-08:00

Prosperity Thoughts Feb 2009

Early each year I tend to review the basic principles surrounding prosperity to bring them more deeply into my awareness. One principle I find vital to keep in mind is that my willingness to receive my good is absolutely dispositive to my experience of life's abundance. “Dispositive” means there is a 100% correlation- the flow of goodness into my life is unlimited and the only reason I am not flush with abundance is because of my own personal resistance.

Looking into the details of this begins with the idea that Spirit gives us life unconditionally. There is nothing that any of us had to do to earn being born; our life is a gift from our Creator. It is given unconditionally because we enjoy free will which allows us to choose how to expend our life energy. We can work, play, study, rest and so forth to our heart's content.

However, it is our deepest nature to be generous, compassionate and have the desire to serve life. A meaningful and fulfilling life is derived from our willingness to be a conscious blessing to others. We often refer to this as our Christ Consciousness or our Buddha nature.

Unfortunately, not all of us act consistently in accordance with our deepest nature and, instead of serving others, seek to be self-serving. There are a variety of reasons for this. Two of the more prevalent are that some of us suffer the consequences of our childhood experience and others are ensnared by the current collective social consciousness of material values. Because all enjoy free will, any one of us can choose to override our giving nature and instead become takers rather than givers. This does not often lead to happiness, but it can lead to riches or material success.

Trying to receive without giving does harden your heart. The ultimate Law of Karma cannot be circumvented. Eventually any pursuit that is not serving the highest and best for all concerned leads to suffering. St. Francis said, in his famous prayer "….For it is in giving that we receive…."

Jesus is quoted in Luke as teaching "Whoever tries to hang on to life will forfeit it, but whoever forfeits life will preserve it." Luke 17:33. Both of these great teachers contradict the typical material consciousness embedded in cultural norms. Following their teachings activates success through the spiritual principle that when we want something, we should give it freely to others.

In the material realm we typically invest our time, energy and talent in exchange for treasure. From this framework, obviously we cannot give that which we want to receive successfully because to all appearances we do not have enough of it (which is why we want to receive it). Instead we have to give up something else of value to get what we seek. This trade off is commonly called the "Rat Race."

When Jesus told his followers with money “not to lend it with interest, but instead give it to someone from whom you won’t get it back” (Thomas 95), he was urging them to stop thinking of money in terms of what you can get for it. He wanted them to move towards a spiritual awareness and knew their attachment to money would hinder this shift in consciousness. He was telling them they can never win the Rat Race.

In the spiritual realm (which we do inhabit to the extent we are moment by moment aware that we are spiritual beings) the Law of Circulation says that what we put out in the Universe comes back to us. Thus, we can give to others that which we want to receive. We are assured success by knowing that we cannot out-give our Creator, that has unconditionally given us life.

I know this seems like a paradox, so let me share an example. When I practiced law, fairly frequently I would get a phone call from someone who would blurt out one question seeking an answer over the phone. It seemed obvious to me that they wanted free advice over the phone and were calling randomly trying to get piecemeal answers to their question. I gave a free 20 minute consultation to anyone who came to my office, (where at least the last few minutes were taken up with a sales pitch to hire me) but these folks asking for free advice on the phone did not want to make an appointment.

Eventually, I began to ask them rudely, "What you want now is free advice over the phone?" Some would hang up immediately. Others would admit this and the discussion would terminate very quickly. In either case it seemed to be working.

However, one day I had a problem with my laser printer. I did not know if it was a simple problem that just needed a minor repair or a big problem which would require me to buy a new printer. I called up a local printer repair shop that I had never dealt with before. I began asking the technician questions over the phone; I was trying to determine if it would be worth my while to bring the printer into the shop, pay the diagnostics fee or instead save myself the trouble (the time and treasure) and go buy a new printer. The technician asked me… very calmly, much more calmly than I ever asked the question to people that called my law practice…"Oh, you want free advice over the phone?" I said "yes" with some shame in my voice. The technician then continued to offer me help, for free, over the phone.

In this case I ended up taking the printer in for an inspection and it turned out that the cost to repair it was unreasonably high, so I bought a reconditioned printer from that same store. On a practical level, I could see that giving free advice over the phone might lead to some good will and good business.

I also looked at this metaphysically. In this experience, I realized that I wanted to live in a world where I believed I would receive unlimited free support over the phone. To implement this into my experience, immediately after that interaction I began giving all the free legal advice I could to whomever asked for it. Not surprisingly, this did once in a while bring me some customers or referrals, but that was secondary. What it really did was move me from the concept that I had to trade knowledge for treasure to a worldview that allowed me to receive all the help I was willing to ask for because I was giving all the help I could. (Formerly I believed that people had to pay me for advice and that I had to pay others for good advice).

Now, I inhabit a world where there is abundant good advice available for me. I accomplished this by choosing to give that which I wanted to receive, knowing that the Law of Circulation means that when I serve life, life serves me.

Affirmation: When I serve others, life serves me.

Prosperity Thoughts January 2009

2009-01-17T19:41:00.000-08:00

Prosperity Thoughts Jan 2009

Today: I visualize for my highest good with an open heart and an open mind.

It is January, the time of year for optimism. As we look forward to the upcoming year we are hopeful that our dreams will manifest and that our goals will be met. And while it is true that hope and optimism are somewhat constructive in helping us manifest our good, they are no where near enough.

Our good arises out of our nature and out of our consciousness. Our nature is that we are a child of The Divine. Our nature is that we are generative, by which I mean that we co create our experience. Our nature is that we are Light and Love and energized intelligence. Our nature is that we are The Buddha. Our nature is that we are The Christ. Our consciousness is how we remember these things and how we live them day to day.

Hopeful thinking that things will get better is a mentalized thought, and that can be helpful. But what will make things get better is embodied consciousness that things are better and this, for me, if often very hard to accomplish.

Most teachers stress that you should visualize yourself as a success if you want your life to be a success. There are shortcomings to this approach. First, our personalized thinking often wants to define our good in terms of results that skip intermediate steps.

Here is an example. I want to be thinner and leaner. I can visualize my self as thinner and leaner all I want, but to shift my body shape I need to either eat less or exercise more. There is no other healthy way in order to actually be thinner and leaner. If I knew how to do this, I would have already accomplished my objective- the visualization would have nothing to do with it. Visualizing myself as thinner and leaner when my body has not actually changed will lead to cognitive dissonance. What might work better for me would be to visualize myself eating less and enjoying more exercise- which is the process needed to achieve my goal. But my mind does not necessarily thing in these terms, and so I visualize the result and not the intermediate steps needed to be successful.

Another problem with this technique of visualization is that our visualizations are not always congruent with the rest of our lives. A visualization that does not take into account the actual causation of the condition we seek to transform will fail to get results. Continuing with the example above- about wanting to be leaner and thinner-I have assumed that the key to my weight loss is eating less and exercising more. I visualize on these steps, but that ignores the reason I over eat in the first place. It overlooks the reason I do not get more rigorous physical exercise.

Perhaps I overeat to down regulate my anxiety. Then the key to success is not to focus on the eating or exercising, but rather to focus on the anxiety. But if I am unwilling to change my consciousness concerning the reasons for my anxiety, (which is always simply a spiritual question) then no amount of visualization concerning my eating or exercising will manifest my good.

This brings me to a third shortcoming with visualization. Many people unconsciously visualize in the negative. When I suggest you not think about a hot fudge Sunday, my guess is that an image of a hot fudge Sunday is exactly what goes through your mind. So to, thinking about not eating often is no different than thinking about eating. Thus, visualizing not being anxious does not reduce my anxiety. Instead, I need to paint a positive picture and so need to visualize being calm. As I visualize myself being calm, then when I am not calm, I can recall in the moment to be calm. Visualizing being calm will help me to remain calm. Being calm then I will feel a less urgent need to eat to sooth my feelings, which may over time lead to me being thinner and more lean.

I have a few additional thoughts about optimism and other forms of hopeful thinking. First, if we have only a vague idea of what our good looks like, then we often fail to notice it. The converse of this is that we often become attached to a certain version of our good. Sometimes we get attached to a strategy about how to manifest our good. In either case, visualizing our good or our strategy often leads to our getting stuck in our attachment to our visualization and not being open to our highest and best path.

At one point in my life, I thought I had a good job. I had visualized, and treasure mapped and prayed about manifesting a job some four years prior. I had specified all the key traits and qualities I wanted in a job; pay range, work hours, location, working conditions and so forth. The job manifested and for the first year or two I was happy. But by my fourth year, I did not truly know what my good looked like. Instead of looking at my good afresh, I looked at it from a progression of what had already been manifested. I was not aware that I had outgrown the job. Visualizing a job as my good prevented me from seeing my true good. Midway through that year I got fired and a few years later I could see how confined I was in that job. My good was in getting fired, but I sure failed to notice it at the time.

Here is another place where I have seen people go astray relying on visualization as a tool to bring them their good. If we unconsciously adopt someone else's idea of success, and visualize that agenda as our own, then visualization has not been helpful at bringing us our good. Even if outward success arises, since it is not our own heart's desire we are often left feeling unsatisfied. My father wanted a carpet salesman for a son. I became a carpet salesman, and through hard work and driven behavior, I was successful. No matter how much I visualized being a great carpet salesman, it would not change the fact that in my soul this was my dad’s desire and not my own. I recall so clearly even now, when I attended my high school reunion and felt the shame when I told my classmates that I sold carpet for a living. As long as I sold carpets, and no matter how successful I was selling carpets, I was discontented.

Here is how I think that visualization can be helpful- not as a tool to achieve specified results, but as a tool to up-level your consciousness which will then mandate your success.

Visualize your needs being met with ease and grace. See yourself as having all the help and support you need, right at your finger tips. Know you will have creative ideas and inspirations to help you along your way. Recall that you are flexible, supple and have an open mind linked to the Infinite.

Today I am visualizing myself calm in the face of uncertainty.

New Year 2009

2009-01-07T13:03:00.000-08:00

Prosperity Thoughts New Year 2009

One way to look at the life you are going to live this next year is to look at the questions you are asking yourself. Thriving people ask questions about thriving, whereas people that are barely making ends meet focus their thinking on survival. The questions you ask always reflect the consciousness within which you are living. The questions you ask are a window into your deepest thinking. We teach that if you want to change your life, changing your thinking. One of the best ways to accomplish a change in your thinking is to take note of the types of questions you are asking.

If you are presently playing small in your life, then you are merely asking questions reflecting a consciousness of fear and scarcity. If you keep asking these same kinds of questions, you will continue to reflect the same consciousness. If you do not change the questions you are living, you will manifest the same results as you have in the past. This is painfully true. Imagine someone who is unhappy, who is always daydreaming about escaping from their present existence. The question they are really asking is “How can I escape from feeling the consequences of my life choices?” They can think this thought forever and it will not change their situation. Escape is not going to change their life; it is just like changing chairs on the deck of the Titanic. What is needed is a shift in consciousness- because our life always reflects our consciousness.

When you really boil it down, transformation actually means transforming the nature of your inquiry. Rather than daydreaming about how to escape a miserable existence, a person could examine what they did to create the situation they find themselves in. Taking a look at how they contributed to their misery is much more painful in the short run, but it leads to a shift in awareness that will inevitably lead them to make different choices over time and thus transform their life. An even more powerful set of inquiries might be to look at how their present circumstances are a blessing (or how they can become a blessing). Gratitude is a powerful transformational vibration and finding the blessing in a bad situation can give one the motivational energy in the short run to do the work of transformation.

In this framework then, there are several basic categories of questions from which most people live. The first concerns matters of Self Centered Survival. These are questions concerns about how to deal with your perceived lack of resources, for example about how you are going to pay off your bills, such as:

“Where you are going to come up with the money to get your car fixed?, “

“What will I do if I get laid off?

“How can I make due now that my retirement account has been eradicated by the financial meltdown?”

These questions tend to focus on how you will make it through the next year. If you are asking these questions, you are likely to experience life as a struggle and you will probably be struggling this next year about the same amount as you have always struggled.

The second set of questions is focused on Self Centered Satisfaction. These thoughts are geared towards getting the things that you strategize will bring you more joy. Some sample thoughts in this category are:

“Where should I go on vacation this year?”

“I wonder if I should get a new car?”

“I wonder if I can get a raise this year?”

“I wonder if we should remodel this year?”

If you thinking trend’s toward this type of question, you tend not to be in pure survival mode, but are still expressing a lack of conviction that your life has purpose and meaning. That restless dissatisfaction that has been lurking underneath your conscious awareness is likely to be lurking there next year just like it has this past year. That sense of emptiness is unlikely to go away from someone asking these types of questions.

The third set of questions is what I call Spirit Centered Service. These questions tend to open an inquiry into how you can make a difference in the world. They lead inevitably to an expansion of your consciousness, and thus a transformation in your experience. Here are a few examples of questions to ask if you want to play big this next year.

1. Who do I love, and what am I doing about it?

2. Am I clear on my deepest dreams?

3. Am I doing something with every day of my life that matters?

4. What am I doing to make a difference in the lives of others?

5. Am I the person I want to be, and if not, what am I willing to do about it?

6. What am I consistently doing to live my life with passion, health and vitality?

Do you want this next year is a more fulfilling and meaningful year? Then ask yourself big questions. Keep a simple journal of your ruminations and note if you are focused on self survival, self satisfaction or spirit centered living.

End of Year 2008

2008-12-25T17:00:00.001-08:00

Affirmation: I release in to the hands and heart of Spirit all my unfinished dreams from this past year.

I am writing in my current culture to folks of mostly Northern European stock born and raised in the Western Hemisphere, but these ideas are universal. Each conscious person begins their year with certain hopes and dreams for themselves and their families, and at the end of the year some of those hope have been dashed and some of those dreams have not come true.
As the next year approaches, each of us, wittingly or unwittingly recreates a new set of expectations for our upcoming year. This cycle; the life, death, rebirth cycle happens all around us. Without ceasing, it occurs all over the world in nature and in human enterprise and in our hearts and lives.

For those of us in the US, there is this short window between the end of the Christmas Season and the beginning of the New Year, and this post is targeted at this period. In the deepest recesses of our human consciousness, in our DNA perhaps, we know that this dark and cold time of year is for introspection and reflection. Yet, so many people have filled this window with holiday travel (and what a terrible time to travel with ugly road conditions and storm warnings, air port closures and flight delays and so forth), with returning certain Christmas presents or shopping at after Christmas sales with gift cards they received, watching non stop football, and other distractions. Then, on New Years Eve, they party and get drunk and begin the year hung over, exhausted and perhaps more deeply in debt.

Here is a possible alternative for those of us on the Spiritual Path.

Instead of consumption, focus on release.

As I suggested above, almost all of us have some hopes and dreams from the prior year that did not materialize the way we wanted them to. So, after Christmas take a little break from the creating and acquiring mode and embrace that which you lost. Release those physical things we wanted for ourselves that did not show up. Let go of interpersonal hurts and slights that we might have tried to bury in the flurry of holiday business. Surrender those ideas and strategies we had for self improvement.

This process of completing our years by letting go allows us to not carry forward into our next season, the New Year, our unfinished business from the prior year. Unfinished business can often be a subtle drain on our energy and enthusiasm when we have not completed with it by acknowledging its existence and releasing it. If we are yearning for something that did not manifest, then pretending that our hopes were not met dampens the very yearning that pulls it into creation. If we are hurting from a personal loss or set back, this is the time to acknowledge the loss fully, feel the angst of our suffering and release it to the Divine Mystery. If we have betrayed ourselves or others, this is the time to atone for our mistake by admitting its impact and by making amends when appropriate.

Taking the time for this window of release will open up deeper and more profound possibilities as the next year unfolds. One way to ritualize this process is called a Burning Bowl. We take time in mediation to write down each of our losses, disappointments and hurts on a sheet of paper or a 3x5 index card. We then offer them up in prayer and release by lighting each card on fire. As the card with our hurts is burning, we sacredly place them into an open clay bowl- signifying their release from our control as well as our willingness to let them die. As the smoke from the card rises, we see it carrying with it our pain to the heavens and we can relax knowing that we are opening up for “this or something better”.

Prosperity Thoughts More Christmas

2008-12-23T10:41:00.000-08:00

After my last post someone wrote to remind me that this story about my friend Curt would be a great example of the same theme...

This Christmas, we are looking at a basic premise of prosperity- the idea that

you, yes you, are here to make a difference. Consider the proposition that your Creator gifted you with all the talent, skills, insight and personality to contribute to the well-being of us all. When we look at examples like Dr. Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa or Bill Gates and Steve Jobs it is easy to say that they were uniquely incarnated to make a difference in the world. It is however, all to easy to also say, “Sure, they can make a difference but they are exceptional and I am just ordinary. I cannot make a difference”.

Today, I write to that question. Here is a story that was shared with me by a friend about a mutual friend, whom we will call Curt. This story shows how an average extraordinary man (not much different that you and I) trying to make a little difference can create ripples which can have huge effects and thus make a big difference.

Curt has a good marriage, a good job and is a very decent man, but he is as well “everyman" with everyday difficulties and their attendant problems. Curt is a bright and kind guy, maybe extraordinary in his kindness but not much more so than many other people.What I am trying to say here is that while Curt is a good person, he is also typical. I am suggesting that if he can make a difference it is because of his willingness to express his passion unconditionally and to give to life. Thus, anyone reading this can make the same kind of difference that Curt did. It takes willingness to serve life, to follow your heart and humbly do the right thing in the moment. These are things we can all accomplish because they only depend on our being uniquely who we are called to be. Here then is the story.

About thirty years ago Curt joined with a few others in helping families
in need to have Christmas gifts that they themselves could not afford.
Curt and his small band of friends would select a needy family and choose one of the children to go on a shopping spree with a member of the group to buy gifts for each member of the child’s family.

In the mean time, a mutual friend of Curt’s and mine, let’s call him Jeff, got involved with a woman with two children- so they became his step children. One of her holiday traditions with the kids was to pick a couple of "ornaments" off of a Family Giving Tree (FGT) at her place of work and then go shopping with the two step children for the gifts listed on the ornament card.

The FTG is a non profit that is organized around providing specific gifts to children in needy families. They start by contacting local aid agencies to ascertain the specific gift needs of disadvantaged children in the area. Then Christmas Trees are placed at strategic places around the county, for example in the foyer of churches, or the lobby of office buildings and so forth. The tree has a bunch of tags hung on it, like Christmas ornaments. The tags all have a child’s first name and a gift that specific child would like. People, (employees, customers, vendors, anyone) can then take the tag off the Tree, go buy the gift and return it- placing it under the tree, often with a simple Christmas Card for the child. All these gifts are then transported to a vacant building. (The building owner generously donates the use of the vacant building for a month or two before Christmas), where the gifts are wrapped and then distributed to the family just before Christmas.

My friend Jeff joined in this tradition and it was great for him to see the care and concern that his step kids’ put into selecting gifts for some kids about their ages. The next year he somehow became aware that folks could go and volunteer at the warehouse sorting gifts so he invited a gang of his male buddies to do this as a community service project. The following year his gang of buddies invited a bunch of their male friends, including me.

As a side note to the main story, volunteering in the warehouse is an utterly amazing undertaking, I have volunteered at the FGT warehouse personally many times. It was such a dramatic experience that I brought my children to help out the next year. Imagine this; there are literally tons of gifts stacked to the ceiling in this giant building. There are hundreds of volunteers helping sort, wrap, transport and distribute the gifts. The volunteers are all happy to be there, there is an undeniably excited and productive energy. It is multigenerational and multicultural with kids and elders scurrying around to locate the gifts for each family. Executives are working along side hourly employees to sort and wrap the gifts. It is barely organized chaos with all the beautiful ribbons and toys and general mayhem leading to an image in the hearts of everyone there of a small child getting a special gift for Christmas.

In the midst of this, Jeff and his gang of men volunteering year after year developed a reputation for organization and logistics and FGT staff began to rely on us as a resource. And one of the men that Jeff invited to help out at FGT was Curt and as we pick up the story, one winter, Curt was volunteering at the Family Giving Tree with us helping to joyfully organize chaos.

And “coincidently” this one year, Jennifer Cullenbine, the founder and Executive Director of Family Giving Tree recognized Curt. She thanked him for the difference he had made. Thinking she was just offering a general compliment to a volunteer, Curt shrugged off her compliment. Jennifer pressed on; telling Curt that he was responsible for the founding FGT. Curt politely listened, but had no idea where she was heading.

Jennifer continued, explaining to Curt that she herself was one of the disadvantaged children that Curt had taken on a shopping spree years before. Jennifer told him that she never forgot the impact it had on herself, and her family. She went on to share that in 1990, during her MBA program at San Jose State University, she was given an assignment where each student had to create a class project that added value to someone else’s life. Remembering her experience with Curt, she started a small program to collect gifts for needy children and distribute them for Christmas. She and a classmate, created the Family Giving Tree with the hope of providing holiday gifts to 300 children in East Palo Alto.

Encouraged by the success of the first year, Jennifer decided to continue and expand the operation. Now, some 18 years later, the number of gifts and backpacks donated has grown to over 650,000 per season, making the Family Giving Tree the largest gift and backpack donation program in California."

Curt’s humble story shows us that one man can make a difference. When we allow our light and love to touch another, we never know how the ripples created will travel and change the world.

There is an interesting prologue to this story. Some ten years after the interaction between Curt and Jennifer, Jeff had divorced, changed jobs and moved out of the Bay Area. He had pretty much lost touch with his step kids. He was living in Seattle but was down in the Bay Area on business, it just so happened to be during FGT sorting season. He decided to get together with a couple of friends and volunteer at the FGT warehouse. And who does he run into over there, but his two ex-step kids, busily helping out and training other volunteers. He had no idea they were going to be there...turned out one was home for college break and she and her brother decided that the most fun they could have together was to go over to FGT! And they sure were surprised to see Jeff and reminisce about how great their time at FGT was for them.

So, I could have written this story from the perspective of these two kids. It is an example of how two little kids made a huge difference by doing something kind of special as part of their Christmas tradition, and what a difference they made. Their joy inspired their dad who invited his friends and now over a hundred men (and their families and children) look forward to the highlight of their winter season by volunteering to sort gifts at FGT. Their family tradition, has become a big community wide tradition and immensely valuable to FGT. If it hadn't been for their joyous generosity then none of this would have come to light.

My friends, we are all interconnected. There is a profound and subtle organizing energy in the world and how we show up makes a difference.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-21T13:31:00.000-08:00

Affirmation: I am alive because I make the difference.

Today, my friend, we consider your role in the world this Christmas. The bringing of the Christ Light, the Celebration (Mass) of the Anointed One is celebrated every year across the western world. Some teach that the birth of Jesus was a singular event in human history. I am asking, though, about the possibility that your birth was filled with every bit of the possibility that was manifested in Jesus. What if you were an anointed child of the Most High?

We all agree that some people change the world with their vision and passion and commitment and values. Yet, do we wonder if it wasn't Mother Theresa it would have been someone else? Do we entertain the very question of our own existence as a saint, a sage, a player in the world stage that is destined for greatness and brilliant light and impact?

The story of Jesus and the results he manifested in his life is for most in our culture a tale about someone else and not about our own journey. I challenge you today to take the projection of Jesus and shine the light on yourself. Accepting our greatness is not easy, especially at this stage of our life and in the face of our failures and set backs. But I am not asking you to be delusional here; I am asking that the veil of delusion be lifted during this Christmas Season.
Each of us is born to greatness. I was reading the other day that in 1974 Popular Mechanics had on its cover a story today had an amazing impact on the world. MITS launched the Altair 8800 personal-computer kit in December 1974, and that changed the lives of four key people and they changed the trajectory of the world forever in a way that is no different from the way Jesus changed the world or the way you and I can change the world.
Upon reading the story, two young engineers, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, sold off Jobs’ VW van and Wozniak’s scientific calculator in order to get the funds to start building their own computers. They build an company that became Apple Computer. They went on to develop Pixar Studios, the I Pod, the I Phone and neither is past his prime.

In a similar fashion, Paul Allen showed the magazine to his friend Bill Gates, who promptly dropped out of Harvard College to start writing software for computers. Their company became Microsoft. The combination of personal computers and integrated software applications put unprecedented power into the hands of the public and changed the world forever. Inventions like the Internet, U Tube, Twitter and many others are shaping and reshaping the Universe in our lifetime.

Now, in the face of knowing this and measuring our own results which are often somewhat less spectacular, sometimes we psychologically transfer our greatness onto others. I fantasize all the time about how I could have been this or that...sometimes a great leader, other times a great General, and other times a great sports star. Maybe others do this as well; I would be surprised if I was the only one. So, I think this is normal and perhaps healthy in small doses since it frees our mind to think outside the box. However, I do also think that one consequence of this type of transference is that it detracts from the brilliant decisions and choices made by those who are stepping up to greatness over and over again. You see, there are ordinary people making brilliant and great decisions all the time, and they are achieving near miraculous results.

I think we are all born with this capacity. One thing we do to diminish our greatness is to blame our failures on luck or circumstances in the hand of others. I cannot tell you how many bankruptcy cases I filed of engineers that thought they were the truly brilliant but someone else got lucky and they missed out by millimeters on their big chance, or were a week late with whatever and the whole project failed. The only difference between greatness and failure is the willingness to blame our failures on others. Microsoft has made billion dollar mistakes. Steve Jobs got fired from Apple at one time. No one can achieve greatness without making mistakes and those making big mistakes are on the cusp of greatness if they are willing to be accountable for their failures rather than blame others.

Each and every person who exists has the possibility of making great contributions. Mother Theresa is a Saint; she started out as a young nun with a simple vision. She followed it with passion and relentlessly did not give up with she met with small set backs.

If we have a gift to give and are willing to give it, then that greatness will call forth the opportunity to manifest the impact we were created to deliver. Lincoln was a dismal failure for years before becoming one of those who made an impact so large it can hardly be comprehended. Even in the face of discouraging set backs he never gave up.

Lincoln proved in both his own life and in his conduct of the Civil War that the resources will show up on time and abundantly to guarantee success to those of us that are willing to let our light shine. In fighting the Civil War, Lincoln promoted dozens of Generals trying to find one called to fight and win. Each General he pinned his hopes on had major short comings and failed. The war continued, men died, resources were lost, and hope across the North was fading. Lincoln kept searching. Finally, he settled on US Grant. Grant won major battles at Shiloh, Vicksburg, Lookout Mtn. and finally defeated General Lee and the Confederate Army at Richmond.

Do not worry about how small your resources are at the start. Do not focus on the competition or the difficulties you can imagine. Instead focus on your calling, the Divine Idea that you are called to manifest with your passion and life energy. In the mid 1980’s there were dozens of Personal Computer manufacturers in Silicon Valley, including giants IBM, Hewitt Packard, Apple, Compaq and others. In the meantime, a student at the University of Texas in Austin came up with an idea and founded a company known as PC's Limited with capital of only $1000. In 1984, operating from his off-campus dorm-room, this kid built custom computers from stock components. This college student had the idea to sell personal computer-systems directly to customers and to configure them to the customer’s specifications. In contrast, the other established PC manufacturers delivered large numbers of standardized computers to retailers, who then sold the standardized machines to the ultimate customers. He then dropped out of school in order to focus full-time on his fledgling company. A few years later he changed the company name to Dell Computers. His name was Michael Dell, now one of the most successful and respected businessmen in the world.

Just like every one of us, like Michael Dell or Bill Gates or Mother Theresa or Jesus, you are born to personal greatness. Each of us are the anointed one... there are things that you and you alone can accomplish and to think otherwise is to make yourself and others small. Christmas is the time to recall that you are the Anointed One.

Winter Solstice 2008

2008-12-17T21:49:00.000-08:00

Winter Solstice 2008

Affirmation: I reflect deeply to find the progress I make each year.

In just a few days we will experience the Winter Solstice. For many on the spiritual path this event marks the end of our spiritual year. If this is true for you, it is an ideal time to reflect deeply on our accomplishments over the past four seasons.

This incidence of reflection is different than the gratitude list we often write up around the holiday of Thanksgiving. Typically at Thanksgiving we focus on those things for which we are grateful, the blessings we have received and so forth. At the Winter Solstice, I suggest we look more deeply, into how we are co creating our life and living out our lifetime dreams. Here is one way I have found useful.

Each January I set some intentions or objectives for my year. These types of intentions are not like goals that are necessarily measurable; they tend to be more intangible personal transformational objectives. Since they are not goals, I find that they do not register at Thanksgiving.

One January for example, I sought to be more conscious about my eating. I had some personal limits about what this meant to me, such as not being about dieting or restrictive eating and so forth. I did not know how this would manifest, but I want to make it clear there was no goal of weight loss or set amount of exercise I was supposed to do.

As it turned out, only a few weeks later a friend of mine invited me out of the clear blue to attend a workshop on healthy lifestyles with an Olympic class trainer. By “out of the clear blue” I mean he had a couple of extra tickets to the workshop but he did not know about my objective for the year. Ordinarily I would have passed this up, but given my intention to transform my awareness about food I decided to join him. I did this even though it entailed a long drive to hear a presenter I had never heard of and who might be off topic compared to my limited agenda to be more conscious about eating.

As it turned out, looking back at the end of that year at the Winter Solstice, I was very pleased at how that objective had been manifested. I could see progress towards my intention. In fact as I write this, it is now at least 10 years later and I still follow many of the suggestions that were made at the workshop about food, nutrition, eating and so forth.

This Solstice, I’d say that this objective was met on time and abundantly. I can look back today and see that I am making progress on my intention to be more conscious about my eating patterns even though this year has not had any major milestones on this front. But on Thanksgiving itself, I was focused on other things (eating pumpkin pie perhaps) and did not even notice my progress in this arena.

In addition establishing to annual objectives each January, over the years I have set out my lifetime dreams. I like to use the Winter Solstice to notice my progress on manifesting lifetime dreams because the time frame is so much longer that oftentimes I overlook the small tidbits of success. Much of the work for me on manifesting my lifetime dreams is already either built in as a foundation for my day to day life or already in play at some level in my life, so I wonder if perhaps I might take them for granted. Thus, for me, it is a sweet reminder when I am able to be mindful that I am living an intentional life that brings meaning to my heart because I am co creating with my higher power those things that matter to me.

Thus, for example, one of my lifetime dreams is to be a friend, confidant and mentor to each of my children for their entire life. This past year I helped my daughter purchase her first home (a condo really), went to visit her at her condo and while there helped her put in a small patio garden. None of these would necessarily qualify as a blessing to me in the reflections I choose to do around Thanksgiving but I would notice them explicitly at my Winter Solstice year end because they are related to my lifetime dreams coming true.

Just to balance out the picture, I also have a son. This past year, I went skiing with my son, something we have not done since he was a young teenager. In addition, he is going to help me by illustrating a children’s book that I wrote to my kids some 20 years ago. Moreover, he and I have recently made an agreement that I would help him attend college.

I believe I am on track with this vision with both of my children. Going to visit my daughter at her condo and helping plant her garden were not even remotely on my mind at the beginning of the year, nor was illustrating my children’s book, but as they fit my lifetime dream it was easy to say yes in the moment and to find appreciation for the Divine Presence in my life that responded to my dreams.

There are oftentimes that we do not actually meet the goals we set out for ourselves, but none the less, we have made substantial progress on our path. It is important to keep a positive perspective even when our judgment of success has not been met. I have found that sometimes I am too ambitious and if I reflect on the good progress I have made and not my failure to meet my goal, it leaves me in a more empowered state of mind.

So, as we enter into the deepest of nights, lets take a moment and shine our light on how well we have manifest our vision for ourselves this past twelve months.

Giving your most precious gifts

2008-12-06T21:20:00.000-08:00

Affirmation: This is the perfect time for me to give my most precious gifts.

Your Most Precious Gift

There are some valuable gifts that can be purchased by anyone in a store or on line. There are other gifts that only you can give. This Christmas Season, I invite you to give the most precious gift, one that only you can give.

Here are several suggestions:

Giving anonymously to those less fortune is a measure of true generosity. There is no payoff except in knowing that your gift will make a difference in a way that nothing else can. This year we are giving stuffed animal toys to young children in orphanages and foster homes. We will never see the joy in the eyes of these kids when they open the present. They will never say thank you to us. Yet truly, this is an invaluable chance for us to share our gratitude for all we have by giving an anonymous gift to these youngsters.

One of the many gifts that only you can give is to take the time to write a wounded soldier a Christmas Card or a Thank You card. No matter how you feel about “the war” or “warriors”, there is meaning in looking beyond your initial feelings and reflecting on offering a measure of gratitude and compassion to someone who has given so much of themselves. There is no one else who can give the compassion in your heart except for you- please share it unconditionally.

Giving your time and your presence is a gift that no one else can give. On Christmas Day for several years running, I would go to a Veteran’s Hospital and sing Christmas Carols and give out small gifts to the patients- most of whom were utterly alone in the world. One year I took my kids with me on Christmas Day, which seemed especially meaningful to the patients. On another year, I volunteered to serve a hot meal at a center for homeless men on Christmas Eve so that the shelter’s normal volunteer teams could stay home with their families. In a similar fashion on several other holidays, such as Easter or Thanksgiving, I served meals to those in need. Each time it was my presence that made all the difference.

There may be people that have harmed you, betrayed you or in some other way hurt your feelings. If you are able, perhaps you might unconditionally pardon them. Giving them the gift of forgiveness will open your heart as much as any material gift that you receive.

I think that each time we give these types of precious gifts there is something in our own heart that grows more humble and more magnificent. Prosperity encompasses much more than material wealth, and by using the Law of Circulation we create prosperity beyond wealth by giving others gifts that only we can offer.

Winter 2008

2008-12-03T19:43:00.000-08:00

Affirmation: In these times of turmoil, I invest in Spiritual Practice for my freedom of economic insecurity.

As we move ever more deeply into Winter, a reflection on Creative Destruction seemed timely. Creative Destruction is inherent in capitalism, democracy and Mother Nature. Some might say even that Creative Destruction is the driving force of capitalism, democracy and Mother Nature. It is the reason that capitalism and democracy are inherently unstable and the reason that the only constant in nature is evolutionary change.

As you know, the financial news is full of turmoil and uncertainty. Whenever you read this the financial news will be full of turmoil and uncertainty because capitalism is unstable. One hundred years ago, General Motors did not exist. Fifty years ago, the Chairman of GM told congress that what was good for GM is good for the country and it was one of the largest capitalistic enterprises in the world. These days GM is looking for a government bail out to prevent it from going bankrupt after loosing billions of dollars over the past few years.

As you know, these days the political news is full of turmoil and uncertainty. It is predictably unstable. Political Parties in a democratic system rarely remain in power more than a decade. The population, given a free vote, will inevitably vote for change and the parties out of power will relentlessly compete for leadership by creating new ideas and criticizing old ideas until change is mandated.

As you know, the news is full of fear these days about climate change, the extinction of species, (or the discovery of new species), and devastation of the environment. Mother Nature is terribly unstable; here is a small example, the Great Blue Heron will establish its rookery in a healthy tall tree near water. The birds feed alone, but nest at night and raise their children in huge colonies of hundreds of birds. Thus, they need a very large tree for their support. However, their droppings are toxic to the tree. So, once a rookery is established, the magnificent tree hundreds of years old, will die a few years later. The Blue Heron rookery will be forced to move to a new location. But with the principle of Creative Destruction at work, the dead tree they must abandon then becomes a perfect place for the Osprey to build its solitary nest from which it will fish and raise its young.

What all this says that if you depend on your security from your job, your investments or your retirement accounts, then you are always at risk because these are all inherently unstable. If you are relying on the government for your support, either as an employee or for your pension, your economic security is an illusion. (For instance, keep in mind the insolvency of state and local government employee pensions or social security). Creative Destruction is always operating and never fails. As Jesus said “Remember those will be first are last and those who will be last are first” Luke 13:30.

Freedom from economic insecurity cannot be found in business success or political action, it can only be found in God. Jesus was very intentional about this when he said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within. Scripture quotes him saying “Do not acquire possessions here on earth… Instead gather your treasure in heaven.” Mathew 6:19.

Now, I am not saying that God is not in politics or that Spirit is not in business. As there is only One Presence – then God is in everything. What I am suggesting is that your peace of mind comes from spiritual awareness and not from business acumen or political skill. I am urging you to realize that financial turmoil and political upheaval are the ways of this world and that your only “salvation” is in Spiritual Truth. Investing in business or expecting the government to take care of you is short sighted if you want true security.

Here at Unity of Corvallis, we do our best to teach Truth each week on Sunday. In our dealings we intend to practice the Spiritual Principles that we teach. These principles- when applied- guarantee peace of mind. So, in times like these, in fact, at any time, if you sincerely want freedom of economic insecurity, then look to the Guide Within.

Dec 2008 Prosperity Thoughts

2008-11-22T18:41:00.000-08:00

Dec 2008 Prosperity Thoughts

The time of year just before the winter solstice is often full of deep reflection for spiritual seekers. We simultaneously look back over the past year and prepare for the upcoming year as well. It is within this context that I want to share with you some ideas about right timing.

We know that there is an infinitely brilliant organizing intelligence responding to our needs. Some teachers suggest that we can set forth a date certain by which these needs will manifest. So, following this guidance, at the beginning of the year someone might declare: I will accomplish xyz by November 1, 2008, with the full and complete confidence that God will respond to their deadline.

Now, I have never taught this because it has never been my experience. To me, it seems as if people are being taught to dictate to God. I do believe in setting a firm intention for myself at the beginning of the year and then watching how it unfolds. More often than not, my need is met within a realistic time frame and sometimes in a delightfully unexpected way. Occasionally, my need does not appear to be met, and when I look more carefully, I notice that I got caught up in a strategy to meet the need and lost focus on the need itself. When I look beyond the surface of my strategy I can often see that the Universe has exceedingly manifested that which best meets my actual needs. Now, there are occasions when it looks like my need is not being met on time and abundantly, and that brings me to the point of this Prosperity Thought. Right Timing is everything.

Here is a very current example. When our church office closed, Debbie and I moved everything left into our house. So my downstairs closet is full of archive boxes, our garage shelves are full of church hospitality supplies and our utility room is loaded with paper and office materials. On top of that we had the church copier, a magnificent beast, moved here as well. It took at least 4 men to move it downstairs.

Oh, by the way, did I mention that I donated my old copier from my law practice to the church as well, so we had two large high volume copiers here, one in the garage and one downstairs. Oh well, we tried to sell them at the big garage sale. Not one offer. Then, after a while, they needed repairs again and we decided to release them with love rather than throw good money into fixing them. We first tried to sell them on Craig’s List. Not one call. We tried to give them away on Freecycle. Nope. How about giving them away for free on Craig’s list? Nada. We tried to give them away to our copy repair shop for parts or to refurbish, they said “no, thanks!”

I did not want to just haul them away to the dump- it did not meet my need to be ecologically conscious. So, I had two needs, one to get rid of the copiers and second to do it in an environmentally kind way. We called copy repair shops in Salem and Eugene. No go. We tried to give them away to recyclers- they would not come pick them up. My need to get rid of these copiers did not appear to be getting met. Moreover, I wanted to get rid of the copiers so that we had room for a second refrigerator. Now, I have three needs to correlate. I was starting to feel stuck, but I kept applying the principle of Right Timing.

I began to shop for refrigerators even though the copiers had not yet been released. I thought maybe that if the refrigerator showed up, the copiers would then leave, but I couldn’t find what I wanted. Some refrigerators were too old and beat up. Others that seemed like possibilities’ were sold by the time I called. The new ones I shopped for were too expensive, and the new ones I could afford were too small, it seemed as if it was always something.

When things appear stuck, sometimes it is my unwillingness to ask for help that is the bottleneck. I posted a short email on the list server asking for help. One person offered to help, he asked me to just allow him to handle it and to trust him. OK, that sounds good, but then he was delayed a couple of times. I was grateful for the help, I knew there was a good lesson in there about trust, and I still wanted my refrigerator!

Finally, he showed up with someone to help him load it. They were taking it to a place where it would be recycled and all systems looked good. After all this time, my needs were getting met. As we loaded the 2^nd copier on the trailer to haul it away, I mentioned wanting a refrigerator. The guy who came to help mentioned that sometimes he came across refrigerators that were in good condition and he said he would keep an eye out for me.

Then, the very next morning, he called and let me know that a nearly brand new refrigerator had showed up on his dock. It had one little problem with a display light in the door and otherwise it seemed to work fine. I told him I would take it, sight unseen because I trusted him and I knew that Right Timing was at work.

My needs were met, on time and abundantly; both of the copiers are gone, recycled, and we now have a 2^nd refrigerator. All I had to do was my own footwork. I needed to get clear on my values. I needed to take the steps which were mine to take (for example, get clear on what type of refrigerator I wanted, post on Craig’s List, call the copy repair people, be open to other suggestions such as the Freecycle idea). Most importantly, I need to trust and allow Sprit to work things out. To do that, I needed to be willing to ask for help.

I write this out for those of you who are wondering why the intentions you set in January did not manifest. It might be that Right Timing has not yet occurred. Things are set in motion to bring you your good, just not as fast as you expected. Or, perhaps it is that you have some foot work to do (either spiritual or otherwise) and that the bottle neck is in your own lack of authentic action.

I end with the amusing teaching story of the guy who set an intention at the beginning of the year to win a Lottery. Month after month he prays to God to have him win the Lottery. He uses affirmations. He makes a treasure map. He Masterminds all towards winning the lottery. He promises to tithe a full 10%. Then late in the year, he still had not won and was in church praying. He said, “God, how can you forsake me? I set an intention. I have prayed without ceasing. I have visualized and affirmed and masterminded all towards winning the lottery. Why won’t you manifest my good and let me win the Lottery…”.

Suddenly there is a blinding flash of light and the heavens open and the Voice of God booms out….. “Dude, give me a little help on this one, go buy yourself a lottery ticket!”

Affirmation: I trust God’s Right and Perfect Timing.

Extra Credit Affirmation: God does not do for me what is mine to do; I will do my footwork to manifest my own good.

Prosperity Thoughts Thanksgiving 2008

2008-11-22T16:58:00.000-08:00

Prosperity Thoughts

As our holiday Thanksgiving is nearly upon us, it is natural for us to take a moment and look at all that we have for which to be grateful. The tradition of Thanksgiving is to look at all the good things we have received and remember how blessed we are with loving friends and family, good health and our prosperity. I am not saying that we are all naturally grateful because that has not been my experience - I personally had to work through a lot of negativity before I found a grateful heart. My point is that it is a lot easier to be grateful for those things we enjoy and savor than it is to be grateful for those things we did not/do not enjoy.

I would like to suggest that this Thanksgiving season we take a moment and see if we can be grateful for those rough patches on our path. One helpful tool I have used is to remember that is our choice how to give each event in our life meaning. We can choose to live from regret and disappointment for those things we did not enjoy or we can choose to find a blessing in each. You see, it is Spiritual Law that there is always a blessing in every situation and circumstance. Many people are unwilling to look for this blessing and thus never find it. Those that do, find a profound sense of gratitude and compassion in their hearts.

AA captures this sentiment in one of its “promises”. The AA Big Book promises every alcoholic that no matter how far down the scale they personally have gone; as they move forward on their spiritual path and in their sobriety they will come to see how their experience can benefit another alcoholic. Compassion and empathy for another is a vital trait for all healers and lovers, and one way it is acquired is through finding the blessing in difficult situations.

However, for some of us, the process of acquiring compassion for others as a result of our own difficulties is too abstract. It seems like spiritual slight of hand- we want some direct benefit for ourselves. The adage that whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger tends to speak to this. A few months ago, I talked with someone who shared a whole litany of bad things that were going on in their life, recent divorce, no active romantic interest in spite of diligent efforts, poor physical health, no money to live on, unable to find any job, terrible economy and this only touches the surface of their perspective on their life situation. The only good thing that they could find in all of this was that it finally brought them to a willingness to look at their relationship with God. Now, those of you that are advanced students on the spiritual path know that this is quite a blessing in itself, but for my friend, it seemed small solace. Still, this one single blessing was enough to give hope to continue looking for blessings for one additional day. And sure enough, one day at a time, little miracles and blessings occurred and now my friend can see a future.

Let’s agree though, we do not really want to face utter desolation to find our spiritual path. Let’s say that our lives are reasonably satisfying and that we are doing reasonably well, but we have had some serious bumps along the way. Can we always find a tangible blessing even from difficulties long past? My answer is that spiritual law applies in every instance and so yes, there is always a blessing.

Here is an example that might help. My daughter was born into a dysfunctional home with a lot of strife and upset. I divorced her mom before she was in preschool and unfortunately there was a lot of uncertainty and chaos in her day to day life from a very early age. My ex and I shared custody so there was a lot of logistical detail and inherent unpredictability in her childhood. We did not agree on many things and nobody could predict how the balance of power would pan out on any given decision. Things that should be happy celebrations were fraught with trouble. She played soccer like many little girls. Her mom and dad would come to the games and she never knew if there would be a humiliating spat between them. Her soccer team had a pizza party at the end of the season- where should she sit, with her mom or with her dad? She was the first of her group of friends to have divorced parents, so no one knew how to navigate getting permission to go places or to have sleepovers. When she started dating life became even more complex. The holidays were inordinately complicated- and not just on the emotional front. As she got older; juggling multiple holiday events became annual fare for my daughter as she was torn between separate family schedules.

I could go on and on about the problems my daughter faced growing up- I do not want to minimize here, but I think you get the point. As you may be aware, many people do spend a lot of energy complaining about their childhood. (I should know, I spent years in therapy complaining about my own childhood). Here is the blessing. A few years ago, my daughter got her picture in the LA Times. My daughter works in live theater and you might think she is an up and coming actress or singer, but no, she is a stage manager. She deals with chaos and prima donnas in a calm and centered fashion. She is incredibly organized and able to navigate a myriad of dysfunctions in every show. In the LA Times photo; she is sitting at a table in a production meeting taking notes. She is in the background; some famous director is in the center of the shot. For each show, my daughter is the one that compiles a binder of all that is to happen in the production. She organizes the details of the whole production company, interfacing with the costume designers, the prop shop, the musicians and performers and the house managers and all the rest of the creative staff. She operates on split second timing for each scene change and each lighting cue and sound effect and so forth. The complexity is amazing, and utterly does not faze her in the least- because compared to what she grew up with, this is calm and manageable.

My daughter is really good at her job because of the skills she learned as a little girl in making order out of chaos. She has turned a traumatic and difficult situation into a tangible blessing. This Thanksgiving, be grateful for those things you enjoy receiving. In addition, take some time to find the blessing in those things this past year that you did not like. It is profoundly transformative.

Affirmation: I am sincerely willing to find the blessing in everything.

November 2008-Prosperity Thoughts

2008-10-25T20:17:00.000-07:00

Affirmation: With God: everything is possible!

Today was a splendid fall day, with bright sun and splashes of autumn color everywhere. I walked along the river for an hour or so this afternoon. The many flavors of green and the multitude of shapes of the leaves bring to mind the infinite creativity of Mother Nature. The leaves along the trail remind me that we in the time of change of seasons and that winter is close upon us.

In the meantime, on Wall Street stock prices have dropped some 20% over the past few weeks, (which is not good news for most of us), the price of crude oil has dropped by 50% in the past few months and the price of gas at the pump has already dropped over 25% (which is good news for most of us) and the value of the dollar has risen sharply (more good news for most of us). This is a time of high volatility.

This is a perfect time to practice spiritual principles.

In changing times like these, there are at least two things to keep in mind.

First, we humans are supremely adaptable. We have, as a species, solved every single problem that has ever faced us for tens of thousands of years. Even so, our creative genius has barely even been tapped. We have inhabited every region of his world and thrived in each. We have found resources over and over again to up level the quality of our life. The combination of our intelligence, adaptability and perseverance means we will continue to thrive because it is our nature to thrive.

I know that some unscrupulous authors preach that we are nearly doomed and this is the most perilous time ever. That is utterly false; there has never been a better time to thrive in the whole history of humankind. We live longer, (in better health), enjoy life more and have more time to invest in the things we love than any generation before us. We have more freedom, more choice and a greater ability to connect and make a difference than every before. Moreover, we are not alone; more of our brethren have these same opportunities as well.

We are one with the infinite correlating intelligence in the Universe and we can use this creativity to solve any problem and overcome any temporary condition that may face us, either as individuals or collectively.

The second thing to remember in times of great upheaval is that God is our only source. If we are relying on retirement accounts or our job to provide our substance we are misled. If we are looking for our home or apartment for shelter, we are diminishing our Selves. If we are relying on our car for transportation, then we are lost. God, and only God, can provide the resources to carry us through the time of great turmoil. Divine Mother is the great Nurturer and no job, condo, or other material good can support our well-being like Divine Mother.

We all know that our Ego thinks that it is what keeps us safe and provides for our well-being. We all know this is false evidence appearing real. If we are willing to be still and know, then we can access the great peace, the peace that passes understanding as it is called in the Bible. Use your affirmations and your meditation and your breathing to open yourself to your inner guide. This inner knowing will never steer you wrong. This calm and stable presence is only a heartbeat away no matter where you are and no matter what is going on in the financial markets or in nature.

The insight for you today is to remember that with God everything is possible.

Oct 2008- Prosperity Thoughts part III

2008-10-14T18:24:00.000-07:00

Prosperity Thoughts October 2008- part 3

Affirmation: Thank you Spirit, I am grateful for all that I have, all that I circulate and all that I am.

One of the beauties of New Thought is that there is little institutional dogma to contend with. In the area of prosperity, for example, each of us is free to make our own definition of “prosperity”. One person’s vision of prosperity might be to live in the country while another’s would be to live in a bustling college town. In healthy New Thought circles neither person would be judged for their choice or their preference.

However, one of the difficulties some people have in creating a prosperous life is finding a definition of prosperity that is sufficiently inclusive to fulfill all their needs. If they are defining prosperity in terms of money, then they often find themselves short of time or in poor health due to the long hours or hard work needed by most people to make lots of money. Some more artistic types define prosperity as the ability and freedom to create their own lives, but then find they are living at the subsistence level when it comes to material goods.

The point here then is not to try and intellectually develop the perfect definition of prosperity. Instead, I suggest that we use our present circumstances along with the innate definition we each have of prosperity as part of a spiritual feedback loop to help us evolve to ever more prosperous thinking and thus more prosperous living- as each of us alone understand our prosperity.

This process of fine tuning our understanding of prosperity requires rigorous self honesty because the world is reflecting back to us whatever it is that we are holding as prosperity. Your thinking alone will dictate your experience, just like my thinking alone will dictate my experience.

One very effective spiritual tool is to develop a practice of intentional and conscious gratitude for those small things that bring us joy and fulfillment each day. It is more powerful if we write these down in a gratitude log and extraordinarily powerful if we speak them aloud to those that help bring us our prosperity. Thus, when we write a check, we write, or think or say aloud “thank you” to the person or institution that gave us the goods or services we sought. When we receive our paycheck, we actually thank our boss for giving us a job. When we pay our taxes, we thank the government for all the services that are provided “freely”. When someone does us a small kindness we treat it as a blessing rather than take it for granted and think or write or say “Thank You”.

In doing this over time, we create a flow of gratitude for the good in our lives. Those things for which we are unwilling to be grateful then stand out more starkly. This helps us it at least two ways. It helps us into alignment so we become more consciously grateful or it motivates us to make shifts to change our circumstances so that we can feel more gratitude. Our innate definition of prosperity will become a more transparent gatekeeper as we endeavor to put this spiritual practice to good use.

Affirm with me now: Thank you Spirit, I am grateful for all that I have, all that I circulate and all that I am.

Generosity...October 2008

2008-09-30T20:58:00.000-07:00

Affirmation: My Commitment to my prosperity is measured only by my generosity.

Generosity arises in two ways, spontaneous and intentional. Spontaneous generosity arises when we feel enthusiastic about something in the moment and decide to be generous. Since it is the result of how we feel in the moment, it is conditional. The generous impulse arises out of our current set of emotions coupled with our innate nature to be generous. This is why, in most churches, the offering is taken during the weekly service just after the music and the sermon. Time honored practice has established that optimum donations occur when the congregation’s impulse towards spontaneous giving is heightened after an uplifting message and inspiring music.

Spontaneous giving is a worthwhile spiritual practice. It activates the law of circulation and the law of cause and effect. It is however, conditional giving which is far different than unconditional giving.

Intentional giving arises not from momentary passion but from a sense of commitment in support of a project or endeavor. Thus, it is unconditional. It is an investment in the mission that drives the generosity and not a temporal condition of momentary enthusiasm. In the example above, if a guest speaker gave a poor talk, those spontaneous givers might lessen their donation, whereas a dynamic guest speaker might increase donations.

Unconditional giving is also a strong spiritual practice. Like spontaneous giving it activates both the law of circulation and cause and effect; however it is also a tool that can help the intentional giver with surrender, release, trust, unconditional love, commitment, and many other powerful spiritual disciplines.

One way that some congregations work on this practice together is through an intentional giving campaign.

Here is our story on intentional giving. We have been raising the prosperity consciousness of those attending Unity of Corvallis each year for the past six years. At that time, only a few donated any money to the church and the two main donors were highly conditional in their giving. If things went the way they liked then they donated, if not, they withheld their financial support. You can see thus, that this was a power and control dynamic that was designed to condition the system to align with the values of the two large donors.

Over time, the large donors left and the community as whole had to begin taking ownership of their ministry. For several years we drew down on our reserves because people were just not ready to invest in co creating a sustainable enterprise. Gradually trust began to build and people began to realize the value of commitment to an authentic community that by definition had to be larger than their selves. This is a very profound change, and one that is very difficult to take alone. Most people instinctively resist being the most committed; it means they have the risk of disappointment if people do not join them and they have risk of being responsible to carry more than their share of the load. You can see this is still a conditional giving experience.

The intuitive solution to this is to consciously share the risk, and that is what spontaneously happened two years ago at a town hall meeting. Members actually requested that we offer a “pledge drive” to facilitate a co commitment process. This allowed each interested member to pledge financial support knowing that they were joining directly and simultaneously with other like minded souls in support of their own spiritual growth and the success of Unity of Corvallis. This was far better for people than committing individually and the result is that many people pledged and honored their pledges for the 15 month pledge period.

For the first time many experienced unconditional giving by honoring their intentional commitment no matter how they felt each week or each month. It was to the larger enterprise that they were investing in. By not relying on their emotions to drive their donations, and instead relying on their intention, it activated a powerful growth spurt for many.

We have offered a renewed opportunity for intentional giving ever since. This is a tricky process because for those that are not ready to try unconditional giving, it “triggers” many of their fears concerning "lack", trust, commitment and so forth. Many people resist intentional giving for many reasons and this process helps each get in touch with their own set of fears.

The idea behind an intentional giving campaign is to allow you to experience the joy of unconditional love and to tangibly experience your resistance to being in the flow of unconditional love. You see, money is only a form of energy just like love is a form of energy. It is often hard to measure love, especially unconditional love, but it is very easy to measure money. Thus, in a holographic universe such as ours, the consciousness that circulates love unconditionally is identical to the consciousness that freely circulates generosity and prosperity. If someone is fearful and withholding about giving money, they will be fearful and withholding about receiving love as well. These same principals apply to giving your time and talent. It is all the same law.

Make no mistake about it, Unity of Corvallis needs your financial support to keep on track with our mission of being a thriving authentic New Thought Center. And, under the laws of circulation, if you are part of this mission, if you resonate with its values and if you appreciate how it improves the quality of your life and the life of those surrounding you, then it is imperative that you give generously.

“Generously”, in this context, means your fair and reasonable share. Some have more financial resources than others and so can offer more cash. Yet when you give from your heart, that which is yours to give, then there is no order of magnitude for generosity. As Jesus taught in the “Widow’s Pittance”, (Mark 12:42), it is the intention of the giver relative to their overall circumstances that does all the work, the amount given is immaterial. Rich people giving large amounts with a stingy attitude will result in a life experience of a stingy consciousness, whereas a less wealthy person giving a much smaller amount with a generous consciousness will activate the law of circulation and create a generous world experience.

October 2008 Prosperity Thoughts

2008-09-25T13:26:00.000-07:00

Prosperity Thoughts October 2008

Affirmation: My consciousness, and only my consciousness, defines my sense of well-being.

Isn’t the key to experiencing prosperity rooted in consciousness? Let’s look at this idea. I think we all we know of people with wealth and material possessions who feel empty and impoverished. Since we also all know of people who are fulfilled and content even though they do not have much in the way of material goods I think it stands to reason that the actual fact of money or things does not predicate an experience of prosperity.

Moreover, I have known people that believe that acquiring some thing that they have been lacking will bring them a sense of prosperity. Then they get that new thing- a new job, a new relationship, a new house, or whatever, but within a short while they are still feeling that same sense of emptiness and impoverishment.

Thus, I think we can conclude that the experience of prosperity or poverty does not arise from a thing. Therefore our experience of prosperity and/or poverty must transcend the thing itself and come from our thinking about the thing. This is another way of saying it comes from our consciousness.

This leads to an interesting conundrum. Say someone is experiencing an impoverished existence. The question is, is it more productive to focus on changing their circumstances or to leave their circumstances alone and focus on transforming their consciousness? You see, I have found that many people are not even open to changing their consciousness about money and prosperity until they are feeling desperately impoverished. Yet, even in this state of desperation, they want to focus on how to make more money or to get a new relationship or some other strategy to get them out of the feeling of lack that is so painful. The thinking that got them into the experience of poverty retains its hold on their choices. Due, I think to the very desperation that leads them to be open on the one level, also leads them on another level to a life of struggle and stress. It seems to me, that for many, the only options they can see to get out of their financial predicament lead to more hard work and struggle. They are so attached to the idea that if they work harder and smarter then they can get out of poverty using external things to alleviate their sense of lack that they are almost totally resistant to a different approach. Our attachment to money and other things as security and as a manner in providing us with our good is just about as all encompassing a belief as we have.

It is, in my experience, a rare person that is feeling desperate for money and work who is willing to step back and examine all their thinking that led them to that desperation in the first place. In my own journey, I was once out of work, having been fired from a series of jobs and desperate. Instead of searching for work, I searched for truth and I spent about six months not looking for a job at all. I was committed to transforming my consciousness first because I did not want to repeat the same pattern of thinking that got me into a desperate jam in the first place.

It was during this period of intense pain and deep reflection that I first learned of the idea of “right livelihood”. I first began to look at how I could serve and support others on their journey rather than how I could make money. I began to notice that my well-being and happiness did not depend on my paycheck or how well I did in my job because I did not have a paycheck or a job.

Once we understand and integrate the idea that our consciousness determines our sense of prosperity, then we can intentionally use our consciousness to expand our sense of prosperity. We can focus on spiritual growth as a tool to fulfillment and abundance rather than continue to try and achieve prosperity by acquiring ever more things.

Generosity and Gratitude are the two classic tools we can use to shift our consciousness away from impoverished thinking and into abundant thinking. I will write more about them over then next few weeks.

Bless you

September Prosperity Thoughts Part III

2008-08-28T09:58:00.001-07:00

Affirmation: I am empowered when I trust my heart and intuition to guide me to bring about transformation in my life as I manifest my highest good.

One often neglected aspect of prosperity is the process of manifestation. We usually need to use our manifestation skills in order to find our highest good. Some of these manifestation tools are consciousness, creativity, cooperation, talent, as well as other resources such as time and money. Even so, doesn't it often seems as if some people struggle and work hard to manifest subsistence living while others seem to be blessed with the Midas touch- their highest good seems to flow to them nearly effortlessly?

Here are some thoughts on ease and grace in manifestation. As explained in the Tao long ago, there is a masculine and feminine energy involved with any creative process. Each person, being an individualized spark of the Divine has both this masculine and feminine nature imbued within their soul in a unique and brilliant balance. There are an infinite number of balanced pairings and thus each of us radiates a unique vibration of masculine and feminine energy. In terms of the manifestation process, in short form, the feminine energy is receptive while the masculine tends toward the proactive.

The perfectly easy and graceful manifestation of our good comes from balancing our innate masculine and feminine energies with the vibration that is needed to manifest our highest good. This inevitably requires transformation. This is why there is no one path that always works for everyone in terms of manifestation. Some teachers can share what has worked for themselves, and it will work for others with a similar constellation of masculine and feminine energy but will backfire terribly for those with a different personal make up. If order to transform your consciousness, you need to be attuned to what your soul is seeking in this lifetime, and balance out that process with the specific and unique transformation that will lead to your spiritual maturity and success. Others can teach you and coach you, but they cannot do it for you.

For example, if we tend to be the more aggressive type, then we may need to learn humility or patience in order to manifest our good. Until then we will continue to try and force solutions. As a person with these traits I tend to naturally make a list of my goals, stay focused on what I want to achieve, take direct and oftentimes forceful action every waking moment to make things happen. I tend to pro actively look at the results and take corrective action when things have gone awry and so forth. For people like me, it is only when we surrender that aggressive set of traits and learn to live with the flow will that our highest good manifest with ease and grace.

Others may be too passive and find themselves yearning and yearning for their good with minimal results. Until they align themselves with their repressed masculine aspects, they will not energize the results they seek. These people need to make lists, focus on one key goal, take daily action, look objectively at their results and so forth. For them, wishing without action just leads to frustration, in the same but exact opposite way that excessive drive leads to frustration to those overly wedded to their masculine side.

I do not mean to suggest that masculine or feminine traits are inherently better than the other. This key is balance between them and how you consciously exercise loving awareness for your own integration and success. Aligning our heart and intuitive wisdom within Spirit's flow requires us to bring our unique masculine and feminine into the proper balance to achieve maximum manifestation in each circumstance. This requires a measure of compassion and intuition, of action and waiting for right timing, asking for help and doing it ourselves and so forth. Sometimes we will be required to step up other times we will need to step back. Now and then we will be required to speak up, other times we will be required to listen. There will be a place for us to lead and another place where we are called to empower others to lead.

Each aspect of manifestation rounds out our soul's experience and brings us towards greater and greater inner harmony and peace. Each step transforms us into a more fully functioning and conscious being. Once we understand this transformational aspect of manifestation, then our whole process of being one with our highest good becomes more enjoyable and easier.

Sept 2008- Part II

2008-08-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

Prosperity Thoughts September 2008- Part Two

Affirmation: I live with an Open Heart. I trust that Spirit alone knows what my ever shifting needs are in this moment. I recall that Spirit resides within me as I relax into the firm conviction that my deepest needs are being co-creatively manifested in Divine Order.

In Part One of our September prosperity thoughts, we drew our focus to the paradox of time as it relates to getting our needs met. We noted that we often tend to evaluate whether our needs are being met in the present moment, and react from that short term perspective. If our perception is that our current needs are met, then we are at peace. On the other hand, if our perception is that we lack something, then we tend to feel frustrated and impatient. The relevant spiritual practice calls us to remember that we are, after all, eternal souls. Hence, the time horizon of our higher order of needs getting met might extend through this moment into eternity. Thus we can relax and let go of our strident impatience and frustration with God for not being responsive to our needs according to how we define them.

The second paradox in teaching applied spirituality as it relates to prosperity is that our definition of abundance is always shifting. I recently got a call from someone who urgently needed counsel on a job situation that felt to them as if it was almost intolerable. Never mind that they were earning a six figure income in the field that they had chosen. Forget about the fact that their family life was blessed by a precious baby and a happy marriage. Ignore that they enjoyed great health, had recently lost excess weight and were clean and sober in all areas of their life. They called because they thought they needed relief now. They believed that Spirit was not attending to their needs carefully enough.

Why? Because they were living at a Chakra level that required them to lead, to express their power and to make a difference to people and they were feeling stuck. As it happened, they left a message while I was away for a few days, and by the time I called them back, the entire situation had changed. They had just been offered a great promotion which would more than meet all their needs for creative input and team leadership. I suspect it also met their needs for recognition and acknowledgment as well.

The point is, that nothing changed in terms of their abundance from last week to this week. The issue was that their consciousness asserted that they needed to make a difference now, and in the face of any time lag, they were frustrated, afraid, upset and so forth.

Even in the face of their frustration, The Universe was moving towards actualizing this set of needs in a perfect and healthy manner. Six months prior, this friend could not even have imagined the opening in their career that occurred within the past few days. Yet, this opening had already occurred in the Mind of God. Consequently, people, places and situations were already moving into alignment to meet the my friend's leadership needs even before my friend articulated the need aloud for the first time.The problem was not in God's lack of response, it is never about God's lack of response. The difficulty was in my friend's lack of spiritual perspective. (My friend-- being aware of this-- I would hope, is why I was called for counsel).

My friend thought that their needs had changed over the past few months, and of course, their needs had changed. Needs are always changing. As we discussed a few weeks ago, as situations alter, we move up and down the Chakras, our actual moment by moment needs change and our perception of our needs change as well. Their need for health, safety, relationship, security and so forth were all presently well met, and so their higher level needs were activated- they needed to make a difference through their leadership and creativity.

The Universe is always responding to our needs. But when we shift back and forth from living in the Truth That "God is Good and All the Time" and living in our ego that demands that our needs be met according to our will --we get pathetic results. My friend had temporarily lost sight of the "God is good" motif and had fallen into the mindset that he/she was in charge.

When we 1) surrender our understanding of what our needs are, and 2) when we let go of our expectations of when the needs ought to be met, and 3) when we release our attachment to the strategy that we think will get our needs met, then we are living with an Open Heart.

Open Hearted living is the optimum spiritual practice to feel the nurturing power of The Universe working in our lives.

Living with an Open Heart cuts through the pain from the paradox of manifesting our good. This paradox suggests that we can co create a life of abundance so long as we surrender all of our attachments to what abundance looks like.

Our Affirmation for this week: I live with an Open Heart. I trust that Spirit alone knows what my ever shifting needs are in this moment. I recall that Spirit resides within me as I relax into the firm conviction that my deepest needs are being co-creatively manifested in Divine Order.

2008-08-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

September 2008 Prosperity Thoughts.

Affirmation: I trust that my mere presence is enough. I am a blessing to all.

As proponents of "applied spirituality" we are teaching our students how to enrich their lives now. Some other denominations tend to focus on teaching people how to get into "heaven" after they die, whereas we understand the "Kingdom of Heaven" to be within you, right now, and for every moment of your life.

There is admittedly a hierarchy to our perceived human needs. First and Second Chakra needs such as food, water, shelter and are often considered paramount. Continuing with the Chakra motif, when the first two Chakras are manifested, we tend to expand towards our Third Chakra; related to our need for safety and procreation. The Fourth Chakra needs tend to become activated when the Third is satisfied, we yearn for relationship, connection and society. After actualizing our heart connections, we focus on the Fifth Chakra, the need to speak truth and integrate our power. Finally, living from the higher Chakras we seek to make a difference in the world and to live a life of meaning and purpose.

The key take away item here is that our needs are not constant, as soon as we perceive that one of our basic needs is met, we self actualize and begin to yearn for fulfillment of those needs higher up on the scale. If on the other hand, one of our perceived needs is no longer met, we tend to go into survival mode until that needs is satisfied. This creates an interesting ebb and flow in our human perspective and in our prayer life. There is a healthy yearning and desire to expand the center of our life in higher and higher vibrations. We do not stay at any one Chakra, but we can for the most part inhabit higher and higher Chakras more and more of the time.

In terms of prosperity, and abundantly getting our needs met, our teachings of applied spirituality are thus laced with paradox. I will write about several over the next few months, but first, we run into problems of time frame. We want our needs met right this instant and if the need is not met Right Now!!, then we often ache with an urgency that creates a tempest. Even many New Thought teachers argue that we can demand of God results within a specified time frame. To my way of thinking, this reeks of spiritual temper tantrums.

Spiritual Maturity suggests that, by way of example, one way to enrich your life now is to recall that you are an eternal soul. From this perspective, any short term flatness in your joy barometer is so brief in the bigger picture that it is hardly worth fretting about. It is our unhealed trait of self centerdness that pushes so hard to get our way immediately. Focusing our attention on the inward cause will heal the outward manifestation. (the kingdom of heaven is within).

Today, a friend on the spiritual path mentioned an interesting case in point: Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick. Melville got his book published in 1851 to mixed reviews and paltry sales. He died in 1891. At the time of his death Melville was nearly forgotten in publishing circles and was financially impoverished. He was considered an insignificant author and Moby Dick was considered a literary failure.

Some 30 years after Melville's death, (70 years after it was written) there was a small literary revival of interest in Mody Dick. The stature of the work has continued to grow. Its influence, now, over a 150 years after it was published is far greater than the author could have imagined at the time. Moby Dick is now considered by many as an American Masterpiece.

Well, what is up with this? In the time frame of an eternal soul, writing a book of the stature of Moby Dick seems like a success in actualizing the desire to make a difference. It alone would imply a mission accomplished in terms of fulfilment of one life purpose. But in the time frame of a single lifetime, Melville could not know of this success, he would see his authorship as a failure. As an author he would probably have been living from a First or Second Chakra perspective.

I think we need the humility to remember that all unfolds in Divine Order, which is within a time frame of such complexity and depth that it is infinite. We do not dictate to our Creator, we listen to our hearts yearnings and surrender our self will over to the care of a loving Presence.... a Presence that has intelligence to see the bigger picture.

If we are looking outside of our selves for immediate acknowledgment and recognition, then perhaps there is a part of us that needs healing in terms of looking at our life contribution from a spiritually mature perspective. How about the idea we are here for our soul's own joy and not to meet just our lower Chakra needs.

Lets affirm that we always know how the last chapter turns out because we are eternal souls. In knowing this, we may not be able to get our peers to see the gift we have given, may not get the recognition and accolades that we would like. The practice then; humility and patience.

Today, we affirm: I trust that my mere presence is enough. I am a blessing to all.

Prosperity Aug. 2008 Visioning and Prayer

2008-07-24T08:33:00.000-07:00

Affirmation: My greatest good comes into my awareness through the grace and flow of the Universal Organizing Intelligence.

I am continually fascinated by how people look at organizing intelligence.

Some people act as if it does not exist outside their own brainpower. They insist on figuring out each detail before they commit. Others leverage organizing intelligence to the maximum by committing without any idea how the details are going to fall into place. I used to think I was somewhere in the middle… a practical and realistic visionary.

Now, it looks to me as if this straddle position is really situational spirituality. On projects that I perceive as fun, interesting, and that have low impact in terms of my core security needs, then I tend towards boldness. Over and over again, I have seen organizing intelligence bring to me ideas, people and resources that exceed my own capability to manage the project. We commit and then the Universe pulls into a design matrix all sorts of near magical occurrences to enrich the process.

The recent class on the Oprah/Tolle interviews represents a good case in point. We commenced the project because it sounded like a cool idea- to show the DVD and have local people share about the teachings. Then there were dozens of unforeseen issues that cropped up, that I had not foreseen and could not have foreseen. For example, we needed to burn DVD’s of the interviews. I do not own any blank DVD’s. Debbie and I were at the Costco store to purchase some and learned that there were several different types of blank DVD’s. I got the idea to call Rick on the cell phone to ask him what kind of blank DVD’s to purchase. He suggested it would be easier for him to burn the DVD’s and he did so. When he first tried to download the files, he could not do get them to download correct. Rather than quit, he found some free software that fixed the problem. I am pretty sure that Debbie and I would not have been able to solve this problem, for Rick it was an interesting challange.

I then discovered the interviews were 90 minutes long, I had assumed they were much shorter. That meant ten weeks of classes. Debbie and I were going to be gone for a couple of those weeks, and so I called some folks to see if they would lead one or two of the class sessions so long as we led most of them. Then there was the issue of how long each class should last, with a 90 minute interview, it would make the class too long if we made time for any local conversation—which to me was one of the more interesting aspects of the whole project. Then Yvonne, who was consulting with me behind the scenes on the whole project, suggested that we use segments of the interviews instead of the whole 90 minute program. Great solution- thank you God.

Then I realized I was faced with the prospect of watching ten DVD’s that were 90 minutes long to find the highlights….that is 900 minutes! I had the brainstorm to invite different people to watch individual shows and highlight the interview segments that they liked. That worked out great. Yet, I still felt overwhelmed in leading discussions on that much material, week after week-then I had the idea of asking different folks to lead the various segments for the whole class and not while we were out of town.

The next issue was that we needed a room, in which we could watch a projected image, and our normal classroom is not set up for this. What to do? …. Pray about it. Debbie and I brainstormed again, and we came up with the idea of using the senior center conference rooms which have projection capabilities. On and on it went, beautiful manifestation trusting the organizing intelligence of the Universe to support the project each step of the way. People stepped up like Van to help with the projections. Resources showed up- we offered the New Earth book on our web site, someone looking for the book found us and joined our study group. People that moved to town we surfing the web, liked the book and came to the class. We had many many unexpected blessings. The senior center is air conditioned, and for a couple of the classes, when we had the heat wave, it was very nice to meet in a cooler setting.

On and on it went, we had challenges galore and yet each one was resolved through conscious surrender into the knowing that all was in divine order. In my heart I knew the resolution was already present in the mind of God. I just had to show up and take the next natural step, and in doing prayerful and conscious authentic action each step of the way the project turned out swell.

But for me, when I am faced with big projects that impact my core security I have a much more difficult time trusting the organizing power I just relied on to co-create the Tolle class. My fear level is much higher and that constricts my ability to surrender into the unknown with a faith that there is a loving organizing power in my life. I tend to get overwhelmed and anxious- and hence I want to bail out early and often. I tend to freeze up, and so decisions do not flow and resources do not seem to appear. I get panicky and then want to force solutions which creates hard feelings in others and karma that I need to clear up. Then I get depleted and drained and burnt out and I want to take a break and the pressure seems to build and build.

I want to relax and to trust and to have faith and sometimes it is all I can do to just put one foot in front of the other and stay engaged at all. In these times, a prayer partner is very helpful. Masterminding or coaching come in as a close second. In each case others often can see my good unfolding when I am unable to do so. They can hold the high watch on my project when I am bogged down in the uncertainty and discomfort.

We are offering two classes that can help you in this creative part of the journey. One is Visioning and the other is Praying Dangerously. In the meantime, affirm that the resources you need are already surfacing into your awareness in this moment through the power of the Infinite Organizing Intelligence.

July 08 Prosperity Nightmare of Visioning

2008-06-30T20:25:00.000-07:00

The Nightmare of Visioning.

It is the job of our ego to keep us safe. To accomplish this, the ego tends to want to look good and to be right (as in avoid mistakes). On the other hand, the soul is here for its own joy.

When we experience a deep visioning process, we access the soul’s joy expressing as us and through us- which is the very place that the ego avoids at all costs. That is not to say that once in a while when you vision, nothing of interest arises, but it does suggest that those who are very careful to maintain control so that they are safe and do not make mistakes often do not thrive in a visioning process.

The mind of the ego wants to know exactly how something is going to turn out before it will commit. It wants to know how much it will cost before signing on, it wants to know the risks before investing, it wants to know the downside before joining. On the other hand, your soul is here for its own joy.

When our soul is expressing God’s joy as us, then I assure you that the ‘how” is beyond our current imagination. Divine Intelligence has infinite organizing power. In comparison, our thinking is always limited thinking. Thus, it seems as if we cannot thrive and at the same time let our brain dictate that we must know “how” before we take the first step. Instead, we must be willing to go where the ego never wants to go, to the place of surrendered awareness, the place of vulnerability that requires us to trust moment by moment that our vision will unfold without us knowing how the next step looks. We know how it feels-- it feels scary. It feels just like we are teetering on a growing edge, skating along a slippery slope, lost in a dark and murky swamp with monsters and crocodiles and surrounded by creepy crawly things that go bump in the night. In short, to the ego, following a path of visioning looks like a nightmare.

In order to avoid this, the ego may impede the visioning process at the onset. It may do so by disparaging the whole idea of visioning. It may clamp down on the emerging vision so that it is controllable and understandable. It may sprout so many visions that it is confusing and crazy making to try and make sense of the visions. All this is to be expected and the only way through is to continue to calmly and lovingly vision.

The one sure way to allow the egoic mind to remain in control is to allow the problem solving process to invade or supersede the visioning process. Avoiding action by getting bogged down in details and plans and analyzing are key signs the ego has taken control. Thus, best practice is not to get into the problem solving arena while you are visioning and instead continue to vision. Eventually, the One Presence will make its Self known in a harmonized and unified process of vision and authentic action. Over multiple visioning sessions the focus of the initial vision organically becomes clear.

In the meantime, Spirit is organizing the details of “how” in predictable but unforeseen ways: things will open up, new ideas are realized, allies appear that you did not initially consider with resources and gifts that are helpful. None of this is as projected by the egoic mind, all of this is the soul’s joy unfolding. Ease and grace are the operative watchwords. There are no “mistakes” because there is no ‘right” way to do any of it. When we freely admit we do not know how to do it, we are then freed up to enjoy the journey.

Today we affirm: When I make mistakes, people are usually gentle and kind.

Propserity June 2008- Visioning

2008-05-21T21:18:00.000-07:00

I embody the Living Presence as I surrender into my highest vision for my life.

This month we are going to do some visioning about Unity of Corvallis. Hence, it makes sense to share some of the framework behind visioning and contrast it with the more commonly understood practice of visualization. Both are powerful spiritual tools often employed when we are seeking a sense of guidance or direction or when we want to manifest something in our lives. In a nutshell, the main distinction is that visualization tends to arise from personality whereas visioning is more about soul expression.

Here are a few of the details explaining this distinction between personality-based visualization and soulful envisioning.

In the visualization process we are taught to imagine something we want and picture God gifting it to us. We are often urged to pick a certain date by which we want the object of our visualization to appear. The transformational "work" we are expected to do is to hold a positive mental image of what we want and infuse it with appreciative energy. The concept is that it is God's good pleasure to give us the kingdom of heaven, which naturally includes giving us some external thing that is exactly what we visualize as adding to our good.

On the other hand, in a visioning process, we are seeking to understand what Spirit is wanting to create or co-create with us.... we are searching for the avenue through which God manifests something for our good and we are expected to be an integral part of this embodiment. The focus is on creating a state of being within ourselves through which something is manifested. Instead of the starting place that "something is missing", which is how visualization typically begins, in visioning we are taught to hold that something is already present as a full and complete idea seeking our cooperation to bring it into full expression on the physical plane.

In visualization, some people get trapped in an attachment to their own personal strategy of how to get a need met. For example, let's say a woman (we'll call her Zoe) feels isolated and her life is not as fulfilling as she would like. Zoe then gets the bright idea that a romantic partner is just the ticket to make her life less lonely and more fulfilling. Thus she decides it is a good idea to visualize her new perfect relationship and while she is at it, she decides to visualize her new perfect partner.

Now, there may be times when the chosen strategy aligns well with the need, and things unfold smoothly. The partner and relationship bring about a sense of connection that leads to development of new interests and an exploration of a deeper self in relationship.

There are other times though, when the deeper need is not connected with the strategy and this often leads to heartache and mistrust of the Higher Power. In the example above, if the partner Zoe visualized turns out to be looking for a partner to give their life meaning and to take away their sense of separation as evidenced in her own visualization, then it is likely that each will want more from their partner than the other is willing to offer. Each is approaching the relationship with the idea of what they can “get” and not how they can express their Divinity. In other words, in this made up example, Zoe and her partner have a need to make a connection with and serve Life but instead adopt a strategy to take away their isolation. As a result of this visualizing process they are directed toward a goal that their ego is invested in and not a goal that comes from their soul expressing. It is likely then, that they will both still feel lonely and still feel unfilled, even though they are now in a relationship. That is because the underlying belief is that some object outside themselves can remove their sense of isolation and the unfulfilled nature of their life. The loneliness that Zoe puts out into the world through her visualization about her lack of a romantic partner comes back to her as lack of meaning and lack of fulfillment under the laws of karma.

This same question taken to visioning might lead Zoe to a very different course of action. The Spirit-led vision would tend to help her to find the meaning directly by becoming willing to serve Life. Her soul would yearn to resolve the loneliness by reducing isolation through connecting with something within her that is yearning to be learned or discovered. Then the authentic action might be to join an activity that has a social overlay or that has some intrinsic meaning. Perhaps she would be led to volunteer at a non-profit that is aligned with her ideals. There are many possibilities. (Visioning tends to open to more possibilities than Visualization).

From this space of being open to God's unfolding through her, Zoe's lack of purpose is met with increased purpose which leads to transformation under the laws of karma. Likewise, the lack of connection is transformed into the energy needed to overcome her inertia as she joins a group or volunteers, which then creates a whole different paradigm in her energy field.

Now, as happenstance or Spirit would have it, Zoe enacting the vision co-created with Spirit might end up meeting a romantic partner at the study group or at the non-profit, and who knows how that will play out. The difference is that she is not looking for something to receive from outside of herself to make her feel better, she is looking for something to contribute, and in making that contribution she will feel better and then perhaps attract a partner.

Here is a personal example. I was wondering at one point many years ago, about what my next step towards ministry would look like. In my visualizations I considered myself doing guest speaking or teaching classes, but that was my ego’s plan. I decided to do a vision process and what came back was to volunteer at the Centre for Living with Dying. This idea never entered my mind prior to that moment and terrified me. I was afraid of death, I was uncomfortable with grief, and when I called them I learned that the minimum commitment was one night per week for an entire year, plus many other hours of training and volunteering. Do I need to mention, I was afraid of commitment too?

Yikes! This was way more than I thought I was ready for, but my authentic action was to make just one call about volunteering. I made the call and as it turned out, the application period for volunteers was open for only three more days and then it closed for the rest of the year. I decided this must be Divine Order and asked them to fax me the application. Then I found out to even be considered as a volunteer I need two personal references from prior volunteers. At the time I caught the vision, I had only the vaguest idea of what the Centre did and didn’t know anyone who had volunteered there. I took this into prayer and two names of dear friends came up. My authentic action was to call each and it turned out that both had been volunteers there and were very happy to give me a glowing reference. To make a long story short, this whole thing unfolded perfectly, I was accepted as a volunteer, given invaluable training and experience and some confidence that I do have some skills in working with bereavement. Looking back on it, my soul knew that I needed more compassion in order to take my next step in ministry, while my ego thought I needed more speaking. Now, many of you know my past profession was as a trial lawyer. Which do you think was Spirit guiding… my visualization or my visioning process?

So too, in terms of Unity of Corvallis, Debbie, your Board and I are wanting to vision what Spirit is co-creating here. For too long I think some of us (including, and maybe especially, me) have been holding onto some idea that our ego might have had about how this church should look. We might have been unconsciously trying to impose our will on Spirit's plans and attempting to set up Unity of Corvallis according to our personal preferences. In the past, I heard stories about the conflict that occurred whenever this church body tried to come together to determine this church’s mission and so until now we have shied away from this type of process. Well, it seems to me that we are now ripe and ready to uncover and take steps to manifest God’s vision for Unity of Corvallis with Spirit acting through us and with Spirit guiding our collective process.

Talking Points-

2008-05-05T11:37:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Several of you, at the end of the service, asked me to summarize this series in an email. We did not have handouts and some of you missed a service or two and so wanted to get the bottom line. For the past 5 weeks we have been focused on The Embedded Consciousness of our Culture (which is victim consciousness) and dysfunctional relationships based on this mentality. We will be glad to create a set of CD's of all 5 talks for you if you are interested- please let us know.

In the meantime, here are the key talking points.

1) Being raised in a Judaic-Christian culture we unconsciously adopt certain ways of thinking and perceiving the world. One of these paradigms is a victim consciousness. The Hebrews, for much of their history as recorded in the Bible we know as the Old Testament, (and afterward) were an oppressed people - enslaved by the Egyptians and the Babylonians, occupied by the Romans and so forth. They saw their savior in a coming messiah or in "Yahweh". Mainstream Christian teachings also have a victim consciousness since they hold we were born in original sin - that Satan is after our soul and our salvation lies in Jesus. You can see in this that there are three roles: victim, persecutor and rescuer. Our popular political environment reinforces this mind set- politicians of all stripes claim that government programs or regulations will save us from some problem.

2) Once one adopts a victim role, then others in the system are either rescuers or persecutors - there is no other role in the system. If you are "rescuing someone" expect them to blame you at some point for their problems - which shifts you to a perpetrator in the system. If you are in this type of system, you may often be vying for victim status, and you will often have dysfunctional relationships or jobs that cycle around the victim, perpetrator and rescuer roles.

3) Here is how to see if you might be rescuing someone. Keep in mind it is our nature to be supportive and compassionate with others. We are here to serve life and so love to give of ourselves, however rescuing does not ultimately serve life; it diminishes life. Here are 5 key points to consider:
a) You see someone as broken and needing fixing.
b) You see them as not able to find the resources within themselves to solve their problems.
c) You perceive that you have good answers for their problems.
d) You wonder if they are motivated and/or committed to solutions. (By the way, as soon as you hold this thought, you are moving from rescuer to persecutor in the system)
e) You feel drained, used, exploited, exhausted, frustrated or some combination of these emotions.

4) If you find you tend toward rescuing, then here is how to de rescue:
a) See the person as whole and complete, a perfect child of God. Focus on their Divine Essence and not their outward circumstances.
b) Know that they have the inner awareness and guidance to solve all their problems.
c) Know that Spirit is active in their lives now. Know that each person you see has hopes and dreams and that they want to make a difference.
d) Know that in this exact moment, they are a blessing to you. (This can be a hard one, I know)
e) Treat them with the dignity and respect that you would like to be treated with as well. (Law of circulation: what you put out will return to you.)

De Rescuing will leave you feeling empowered and connected with your highest self. Yes, it may be a tough-love situation for a short while if you have been enabling someone you care about- and in the long run they will be better off if you hold them as a child of a powerful and loving God and not as a broken and incomplete human being.

There is much more detail in the talks so if you are interested then suggest you purchase them.

Looking for May's Prosperity Thoughts

2008-04-25T20:03:00.002-07:00

Dear Friends, the process of trying to archive our old prosperity thoughts messed up the chronological posting of our May 2008 Prosperity Thoughts- if you scroll down you will find it below