It is Your Fault But You are Not to Blame

Resting my Sunburned Feet

For the month of May we will be exploring the theme "Spiritual Guidance and Personal Responsibility." This theme contains two of the most important principles of the Science of Mind. First, that we believe every person can be a revealer of truth. To me that means that we can, and do, directly connect with Source and It can, and does, guide and direct us. Secondly, that our experiences do not come to us , but rather come through us.

Each one of us has an inner guidance system. This system is always guiding us. It always knows what is  our highest and best good. Sometimes it speaks quietly so that you have to be still to hear it and at other times it screams so loudly that we can not ignore it. 

Over time I have come to be thankful for and expectant of Its guidance. There were many years that I didn't believe in It and could not hear It.  On a recent trip to Costa Rica, I had a private two-hour ride to the resort from the airport. I was guided to ask my driver for Spanish lessons. He was delighted to teach me. It made my trip fly by and gave Roberto, my driver, an opportunity to be in service. Guidance can be a simple idea like that or a feeling of "not going in the right direction." By the way, I also ignored my personal guidance to get out of the sun in Coasta Rica. Hence, sore, swollen, sunburned feet!

The second part is personal responsibility. In the past, I felt that personal responsibility was heavy and unpleasant. The words felt heavy and burdensome. But after studying the Science of Mind, I had a new idea about it. I realized that if everything came through my consciousness and absolutely no other way, then in order to change my life, I simply needed to change my deep beliefs. What a sense of joy and freedom it has given me! I am not a victim any longer. I accept everything in my life exactly as it is and as it is not. "I once was blind, but now I see."

Shakespeare penned these words in the play Julius Caesar, spoken by Cassius, one of the men opposed to Julius Caesar becoming a monarch:

 "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in the stars, but in ourselves."

If one thinks he is doomed to a certain life, he will be. If he thinks that he is going to prosper happily, he will. Nothing outside ourselves ever creates our experience. Rather it is the choices we make from our deep beliefs that will make life be whatever it is. We learn to notice our results and circumstances with compassion and love. The idea of personal responsibility always inspires me. I know that if my consciousness created a result that is less than satisfying, then shifting my consciousness by changing my mind and heart, can change it into something I do want. Yes, it is my fault but I am not to blame.

Decent or Unprincipled

Viktor Frankl, often said that even within the narrow boundaries of the concentration camps he found only TWO RACES OF PEOPLE TO EXIST: decent and indecent ones. (principled or unprincipled.) These are found in all classes, ethnicities, and groups

What an interesting statement! There are only two races. From this perspective, the practice of being inclusive becomes radically difficult especially for the decent, principled race of people. How do we knowingly embrace those without principles? How do we see good in the person whose greatest passion is to incite hatred and division?

Is it possible for people to exist without any principles? I think everyone has principles. It is easy for me to relate to people who value the things that I value. It is easy for me to relate to people who are good neighbors, who are honest, trustworthy, and open-minded. But how do I include the people with different values -- for instance the people who believe in white supremacy? or winning at all costs? or cheating as a way of life?

In the oneness of life, I remember that each one of us is made in the image of the Divine. Each one of us has tendencies toward both the darkness and the light. And the Truth of us is that we are spiritual beings having a spiritual experience in a three-dimensional world.

So a question is

Which am I most of the time? Am I the dark or am I the light? Decent or indecent? principled or unprincipled?

There is a teaching story about the inner struggle that we have making right choices, or taking the easy way out. The story goes like this: "A boy confided in his grandfather that he felt he had two wolves within him. The dark wolf was vicious, reactive, snarling and dangerous. The other wolf was beautiful, friendly, helpful,and playful. the wolves seemed to be competing with each other for the boy's attention He tearfully asked his grandfather, which one will win?. The grandfather wisely and tenderly responded, "The winner will be the one you feed. It will be the one you appreciate.

What that story says to me is that we need to be able to notice where our attention goes. If our attention is being drawn to fearful, hateful thoughts, we are feeding the unprincipled wolf. If our attention goes to loving, compassionate thoughts, we are feeding the principled wolf. Then the unprincipled people are simply being less skillful in their communications than principled ones.

The universe reads our attention as intention. the universe is always bringing forth form from consciousness. Which forms do you want to see manifest in our world?

A practical application of these ideas is to bring your fascination to ideas of beauty, love, truth and connection. Refuse to give bullies, bigots, fear-mongers one more second of your precious time. Learn to watch the news as a prayer request. that way you will be detached. If you are a practicing Religious Scientist, you will not give any power to the conditions. You will remember that conditions are effects. The cause is always an idea -- and an idea can be changed!

Decent or indecent-- you choose!

THE ART OF LIVING: The Wisdom of the Tao

There was something formless and perfect 
before the universe was born.
It is serene.  Empty.
Solitary. Unchanging.
Infinite.  Eternally present.
It is the mother of the universe.
For lack of a better name,
I call it the Tao.

It flows through all things,
inside and outside, and returns
to the origin of all things.

The Tao is great.
The universe is great.
Earth is great.
Man is great.
There are the four great powers.

Man follows the earth.
Earth follows the universe.
The universe follows the Tao.
The Tao follows only itself.
          
                    -The Tao Te Ching, Verse 25


Isn't it beautiful and eloquent the way Lao Tzu describes the Infinite Greatness that lies within each of us?  At 7:00 pm on Wednesday, June 25th, at the Center for Spiritual Living Capistrano Valley, come join the conversation about the incredible wisdom of The Tao Te Ching and its author Lao Tzu.  See how these wise words from over twenty-five centuries ago can change your perspective on life TODAY!  Rev. Pattie and I will be facilitating this exchange, and will possibly discuss continuing the discussion beyond just that Wednesday service.  We look forward to seeing you all there.

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."  -Lao Tzu 

Why Do Bad Things happen to Good People?

The Church of My Childhood Taught Good vs Evil

Why do bad things happen to good people? Our philosophy clearly gives answers that not many other spiritual paths give us. We do not believe in a punishing God. neither do we believe in a rewarding God. We believe that our consciousness is creative.

I just returned from Los Angeles, where the newest Centers for Spiritual Living ministerial students have gathered for the last piece of their ministerial training. One of the activities on which they were evaluated was their ability to give a five minute talk on one of five subjects. One of the subjects was my topic today.

Most students were clear that it is our judgment that determines whether something is good or bad. A couple of students quoted Shakespeare's Hamlet, "There is nothing either good nor bad, but thinking makes it so."

Of course the way we perceive anything makes a difference and if we are determined to continue using our own ruler to determine good and bad, we will continue to perceive things as either good nor bad.

However, that does not answer the question of why do bad things happen to good people or even conversely why do good things happen to bad people. The answer lies at a different level of consciousness. When we are looking at good things and bad things, we are looking at the level of effect, not the level of cause. There is a perfect cause for every effect. It is the creative process in the Universe and in the individual. Jesus reminded us that "It is done unto us as we believe."

Let us examine some bad things that could occur in a person's life. Loss of health could be seen as a "bad" thing. Loss of income or job security could be seen as a bad thing. Loss of friendship could be seen as a bad thing. Loss of love could be seen as a bad thing.

However, no matter what kind of loss or disaster has occurred in my life, no matter how I may rail against life and scream that it is unfair for a good person to be experiencing these things, the truth is at some level, obvious or subtle, I must have had a stronger belief in loss thanI had in good health, increasing prosperity, ever-lasting love, etc. This is the foundational principle hat we teach, espouse and live by. To do otherwise is to make us victims of circumstances. We were born to be victors not victims.We were born to prove the principle in every area of our lives and live fully.

So the answer is a simple one: Bad things happen to good people because at some level of consciousness, those good people had a belief in those bad things. First Cause to all creation lives within each one of us, as each one of us.

We are powerful beyond measure.

The spiritual path we are travelling, requires the greatest self-honesty we can find. We cannot and should not judge another person's path, for by doing so we are saying that we know what is another person's mind and heart. But we will benefit from examining the results in our own lives.We can find the deep spiritual gift in all our experiences.And we can begin to change our minds about our cherished beliefs in struggle, lack and unhappiness.

Be true to the magnificence that you are. Let your inner light shine.

Praise Fills Your Consciousness With God

"When God fills your consciousness, results naturally occur." Petra Weldes

Have you ever experienced a moment of grace? I believe it is the feeling that Wordsworth wrote about when he wrote Pippa's Song:

"THE year 's at the spring,
And day 's at the morn;
Morning 's at seven;
The hill-side 's dew-pearl'd;
The lark 's on the wing;
The snail 's on the thorn;
God 's in His heaven—
All 's right with the world!"

When you see the world through the eyes of Divine Love, you will see only the qualities of God -- Beauty, Truth, Love, Joy and Freedom. You have a feeling of well-being, a feeling of greater good unfolding. You can let go of needing to make something happen and simply make welcome the good that is already surrounding you.

When there seems to be something missing in your life, it is natural to wonder how to fix it. When we first learn that thoughts are things and that our beliefs become our experience, we attempt to change the negative thoughts to positive ones. This is not a bad practice but it does not get to the Power Source. It is like taking a candle into a darkened room which will be illuminated but if one flips the switch the room will be flooded with light.

It is the same with our consciousness. Positive, life-affirming thoughts are much better than fearful,hateful, depressive thoughts but to fill the whole being with light requires saying yes to the ideas that are God's thoughts. One way to multiply the God thoughts you have in a day is to purposefully keep a gratitude list. Rev. Bruce Fredenburg suggests that we make a list of 100 things each day for which we are grateful! all the while you are searching for things to be grateful for , you are not dwelling on the problems, issues or concerns that might have been part of your experience. What you put your attention on grows. then tomorrow you will have even more things to appreciate.

When you are filled with appreciation and praise, God fills your consciousness. Start right now. What 100 things are you grateful for today?

I Love You.

I love you.

A simple statement.  Most of us reserve these words for those nearest and dearest to our hearts - family, loved ones, very close friends.  We'll often say "I love this" or "I love that" about stuff or situations that we like... but think about how often you hear the words "I love YOU."  We know by now it is not only romantic love.  The power and energy of LOVE is something much greater.

This past weekend I picked up a book that was sitting on my shelf staring at me as I sat on the couch, for some reason it caught my eye.  I really felt the need to pick this book up and start reading it, even though I had purchased this book over a year ago, was already in the middle of two other books and had plenty on my to do list.  Following my intuition, I picked up the book and started reading it Saturday afternoon and by Tuesday I had finished it!

The book is called Zero Limits by Joe Vitale.  It tells the story of Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len who cleared a ward of the criminally insane using only the Ho'oponopono prayer and never actually seeing any patients in a therapeutic setting.  The ideas shared in the book are quite simple and amazing.  The suggestion is to take 100% responsibility for our life, and everything we encounter in it, and constantly "clean" our life experience and what we encounter by repeating the words of the prayer, addressing it to the Divine, or God. The words are simple but strong...

I love you.

I'm sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

So simple!  The power in these words is that they speak to the Divine in each of us, in everything really.  If each and every one of us were to take 100% responsibility for our life, bless everything and everyone with love and forgiveness, live life treating each other as the Divine expressions that we each are, imagine what a beautiful world we would live in - a world that truly works for everyone!

Now I find myself saying "I love you" to absolutely everything.  EVERYTHING!  People, places, things, situations, conditions, circumstances.  I choose LOVE.  I choose to be love, give love, recognize love, love love.  I am not even sure what that means sometimes but that doesn't matter.  When I simply repeat "I love you" quietly in my mind I am changing my consciousness, slowly but surely change is taking place.

Why bother doing this?  Maybe there are some things going on in your life that you don't like... doesn't matter what it is.  It could be your job, where you live, your body-perception, your relationships... we all have something that bothers us or we don't like.  My new practice is to simply repeat "I love you", quietly in my own mind, when I see or think of these things I don't like or don't want in my life.  I've heard it said that when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.  Miracles happen!

Peace begins with me...  With you...  With each and every one of us...

I love you.

(Repeat often for an improved life experience!)

(collage created by my cousin Nicole and her two lovely daughters, Tegan and Maslyn)

For more information on the prayer, the book, or the author... Google it!!

Affirmation: Consciousness Conditioning

I am pure consciousness and the creator of my life. 

Each day I acknowledge this truth and open my mind to the grand possibilities. 

This simple practice elevates my vibration, my life and the world, 

creating a world that works for everyone.

Chit Happens

End of the road or path to enlightenment? 

Everything is Consciousness.  This statement or State of Being is what we know as metaphysicians.  What exactly it means has absolutely no charge whatsoever.  It just Is.

When it comes to analysis of our lives, we tend to look for reasons why certain things happen to us.  We've also heard, "Everything happens for a reason."  With this statement or way of believing we may try to "figure it out."  For in our minds, there has to be a reason why this or that has occurred in our lives.  In this way of believing there is a charge to it.  It's a sense of right or wrongness.  Did I do something to make it happen?  Could I have done something to prevent it?  When will it ever end?  Questioning for Spiritual Awareness or evolvement is a revelation.  Questioning with the intent of making or forcing things to happen will not assist in Awareness.

What if we tripped and fell?  Can we blame gravity?  Can we will gravity to stop working?  No, gravity is a law of physics, it works whether we will it or not. 

Yes, we know of Law of Attraction, however, everything starts in Consciousness.  We can say a million affirmations and remind ourselves to think positively all we want.  It will not change circumstances if the Consciousness is not there to sustain it.  We see this time and time again.  Why can't I find a mate?  Is there something wrong with me?  The answer to that question is "No!"  There is nothing "wrong" with anyone.  The problem is that the question is being asked in the first place which has an energy of something not being "right." 

Again, Everything is Consciousness.  Acceptance of who and what you truly are,  a sense of Peace with Self,   a calming of a knowing that all is right with the world.  A deep knowingness that It is All God.  Everything.  All the time.  No matter what.  Even in the midst of this or that.  It Is All God.  It's Perfect, it's Peace.

By the way, you wonder why Chit Happens? Chit or Cit is Sanskrit for Consciousness. See, everything truly is Consciousness.  Namaste.

The Overview Effect

What kind of world do you want? History starts now!

Are we ready to take the leap into the realm of complete and total Unity with 7 billion people?  Can we envision Earth as a space ship where we are all astronauts who work together for a collective good?  In the documentary, The Overview Effect, the journey takes us to space through the lives of astronauts' profound experience of complete Oneness with our Planet Earth and all of Life.

The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution, was written in 1987 by Frank White.  He coined the term and concept to explain the experience of the astronauts who traveled through space and spent time reflecting back on our planet.  Thanks to the Planetary Collective, the concept was brought to film and released in December 2012.

Upon entering into Space, astronauts are task-driven.  They are not instructed in soul-searching, an understanding of the meaning of life, the complete and total immersion of Mind, Body & Spirit.  So when an experience what set upon them that had all the makings of a shift in Consciousness, something they were totally unprepared for, they became profoundly changed.

Apollo 14 astronaut, Edgar Mitchell, was led on a search for an explanation of how to describe his experience of seeing the Earth from space.  He was introduced to Savikalpa Samadhi, which, he was told, “means that you see things as you see them with your eyes, but you experience them emotionally and viscerally, as with ecstasy, and a sense of total Unity and Oneness.”  In Savikalpa Samadhi the mind is conscious only of the Spirit within; it is not conscious of the exterior world. The body is in a trancelike state, but the consciousness is fully perceptive of its blissful experience within.

Astronaut, Ron Garan, the Director of The Overview Effect, Guy Reid, and Frank White were present at a screening of the film at one of Harvard's Freethink presentations.

Moderator, Frank White explains, "It is not about me....it's about all of us."

Ron states that he, "has a responsibility to share and do something with the experience." His idea of the Oneness of all life led him to a path of conflict.  Upon seeing Earth he understood that we are all One, however, his knowledge of what is occurring on Earth led him to question why are we not working together for the common good of man and our planet.  He states it is, "Our inability to effectively collaborate on a global scale, our inability to set aside our differences for our common goals."  He sees our future as collaborative and explains, "Open transparent collaboration is going to be an economic engine, it's going to be something that fuels tremendous economic growth, helps save the planet and solve a lot of the problems we're facing.  People who are engaging in unhealthy competition, corruption and the like are going to see themselves being left behind and take on a collaborative mindset to keep up, and that age is just starting to dawn."

Director, Guy Reid says, "The Overview Effect is accessible to everyone, pointing to something far profound.  Human beings have the capacity to directly perceive this non-apparent reality of our radical interdependence.  Not just with each other but with our living earth, our mother, and the cosmos itself."



For the rest of us on the planet, who may never have the opportunity to venture into space, a visit to the California Science Center in Los Angeles will bring a view of the Space Shuttle Discovery up close.  After knowing of The Overview Effect it may appear in a different light. Afterward, visit the IMAX theater to view Hubble 3D.  To witness the images of space on a grand scale may leave you with a sense of wonderment, awe, and an almost incomprehensible sense of magnificence. www.imax.com/hubble/

As for metaphysicians, the understanding of Oneness is already here, that cognitive shift to the Awareness of Collective Consciousness has already been established.  Through prayer and meditation the attainment to Savikalpa Samadhi may have already been reached.  And for those still on the cusp of Awareness, History starts NOW!