LIVING INSIDE OUT December 24, 2009
Posted by cosmicsandbox in Energy Awareness, Spiritual Transformation, Stress Relief.Tags: Financial Crisis, peace, love, Christmas, Scrooge, commercialism, peace on earth, angels
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There is a no more critical time to live inside out than at Christmas – especially this Christmas. We think of being turned inside out as a form of torture, but in truth it is the ultimate goal of life as a human being. Everything that happens in our lives is geared to helping us learn how to live from inside ourselves; to live in love from peace in the heart.
Our world has been going through a punishing period on a global scale since the beginning of this century. The cause of the violence, famine, plague, financial collapse, poverty, etc. is mankind living from the outside in. The whole message of Christmas is peace on earth good will toward mankind, but too few hear it. It is a message drowned out by the noise of commercialism. But now when there is such financial hardship, it is devastating to have neither peace and good will nor material stability.
Human nature is such that we only allow major change under dire circumstances. Only when things get bad enough are we willing to choose between what we perceive is the lesser of two evils. In the famous Christmas story, A Christmas Carol, we don’t see Ebenezer Scrooge having a change of heart until he is shown his death; and the extensive grief his greedy lifetime of “scrooging” caused. But are we any different?
His loyal worker, Bob Cratchit and his family, never said a harsh word about Scrooge; but rather, kept a grateful attitude for what little they had focusing on keeping their son, Tiny Tim alive. Since the Cratchit family was already living inside out they didn’t need extreme visits from reality angels. Scrooge, on the other hand, was so grossly unaware of others that his heart had become like lead. He probably didn’t even realize he had a heart or soul!
Will living with a grateful and loving attitude bring us peace and justice as it did Bob Cratchit’s family at the end of the story? It’s hard to say. There are many variables at play here. There is one thing we can know for sure though. The Cratchit family lived the Christmas message all year long from their hearts. A polar opposite of Scrooge, they had nothing on the outside (material) and everything on the inside (heart).
When shown the reality of his employee’s authentic loving life by the ‘reality angel’, it broke Scrooge’s heart open. No one lecturing Scrooge about how he should change his ways would have ever worked, but experiencing true love and compassion made all the difference. Transformation is an inside job; and only experience can reach the inside. Words lay on the surface. Few ever penetrate our protective armor of self-interest.
The experience of loss, confusion and even despair in some cases, that many are enduring this Christmas season and beyond will either break them wide open or close down and harden them. If too much has been invested in their outside material life, then the choice is almost made for them. They cannot see any other option. They can’t feel their heart. This is tragic. Thankfully, most can feel a spark inside that can reignite. They can recognize that as long as they can love and be loved they are wealthy.
All light is born in the dark. These difficult times that try men’s souls are meant to transform the lead in us to gold. That is the mystical meaning of Christmas. Into the darkest of nights the Light is born. We are turned inside out and then we see the Light, so to speak. We then know that we aren’t our possessions, our bank accounts, our degrees or fame. We are love incarnate. All the trials and tribulations serve to burn away the leaden dross.
I saw a “For Sale” sign on a house the other day. The sign rider said “I ’M GORGEOUS INSIDE!” I chuckled to myself wondering what it would be like if people wore signs like that. How would we behave if we felt gorgeous inside? I think it would be amazing. And what would be even more amazing would be if tons of us joined our gorgeous insides together. I believe the Earth would shift. There would be “peace on earth, good will toward men”. It could happen.
FROM GRATITUDE TO GRACE November 21, 2009
Posted by cosmicsandbox in Religious commentary, Spiritual Transformation.Tags: Devil, God, Grace, Gratitude, Scripture, Thanksgiving
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There is an immense and profound connection between having an attitude of gratitude and being a recipient of grace. November is the season during which we are encouraged to focus on being thankful for all our blessings. However, at this time in history, as well as the period of the first thanksgiving in America, there was very little for which to be thankful. In the first thanksgiving many had died and living conditions were extremely harsh. Today, many have also died from war, disease, destitution and despair, and living conditions for millions are extremely grim.
Yet, we are encouraged or even admonished in Scripture to be thankful in the midst of trials and tribulations. “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” I Thessalonians 5:18.The key word in this scripture is IN everything, not FOR everything. There is a big difference between feeling gratitude in painful situations and being thankful for the situation itself. It isn’t impossible, but it takes a little longer to be able to get a larger perspective.
Confusion about gratitude stems from of Judeo-Christian traditions that taught we should be grateful for everything in our lives because it all comes through a loving God. However, in reality, we don’t believe it. Most wrestle with the huge contradiction of a loving God allowing tragedy in our lives, and then expecting our gratitude for it. So then in addition to feeling confused, we feel guilty because we can’t or won’t comply with the commandment.
The conflict in understanding the true purpose of the commandment to be grateful in all things stems from the mistaken belief that light and dark, good and bad are mutually exclusive and separate realities; and therefore, only light and good things come from God who is also light and goodness. The dark and bad things come from the Devil, who is dark and bad. It follows naturally for our minds to conclude that if we are grateful in or for bad things, we are aligning with and empowering the Devil.
However, many scriptures in the Old and New Testament of the Bible refute this line of thinking. They refer to God as being One, including the light and the dark, the good and the bad. God told Moses, “…I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore, choose life; that both you and your seed may live.” Deuteronomy 30:19 Choosing life would be a no-brainer one would think. However, humanity has been stumbling over it for 4,000 years because most people can’t wrap their heads around God allowing the dark and sad aspects of life.
Here is where it becomes crucial that we understand the bigger picture of the underlying purpose of the principle. Because if we don’t; we stay locked in a destructive belief system that keeps us cut off from grace; and therefore, victimized by every difficult situation. God’s plan out of this dilemma is that we go through tribulation via gratitude IN all things, which activates divine grace to transform our understanding of the trial. Only through the experience of grace can we understand that “all things work together for good to them that love God and are the called according to his purposes.” Romans 8:28
Without grace bestowed through gratitude, the world does indeed become a living hell. We writhe in a state of chaos and confusion, continually asking “Why?” Our reasoning mind believes we can find a reason for everything. But reality is too complex for simplistic answers. We must trust there is an unseen purpose for each seemingly random act. Ultimately the reason for everything is our understanding that through gratitude, which activates the experience of grace, we can know whatever happens is for our instruction and edification to bring us into an intimate relationship with the All One/God.
We take the first step in faith by being grateful in our trial, and the Spirit of Grace infuses the situation transforming it from darkness and death into light and life. Immediately we have turned the corner and we aren’t fueling the curse anymore. Gratitude opens the spout where the grace comes out. It is the experience of the grace that fills and lifts us, transforming the dark matter in our hearts to light.
REVOLUTION OF/OR EVOLUTION November 11, 2009
Posted by cosmicsandbox in Cosmic Consciousness, Energy Awareness, Quantum Shifts, Spiritual Transformation.Tags: 2012, End Times, Epigenetics, Evolution, genetics, New Age, new Earth, prophesy, quantum shift, revolution, science, victim conscioiusness
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“We don’t need a revolution in the United States. We already had one, thank you. What we need now is an American Evolution, where We the People evolve into the citizens the country’s founders dreamed of.” Swami Beyondananda
Science, through the Human Genome Project, has recently discovered that our genes don’t control our physical and behavioral traits. This new discovery is akin to the discovery of fire! Up until now the old theory of genetic determinism imprisoned us into believing we were weak, frail victims of our heredity. “If mom died at 50, I probably will too.” Or, “My whole family is fat so I guess I just inherited those “fat genes”.
The new science called Epigenetics means “above” (epi) genetics. And “above” they went. They learned we don’t have very many more genes than lowly animals. What then accounts for the increased complexity of humans if not the genes? What influences whether or not you die at 50 like your mom or are fat like uncle George? The answer will shock you because it shocked the scientists.
First of all they discovered the nucleus wasn’t the brain of the cell that determined the health and nature of that cell. Rather, the cell’s brain was in its membrane. This is akin to the discovery of the wheel! Healthy cells in a Petri dish placed next to a dish of sick, toxic cells became toxic. They weren’t physically intermingled. It was strictly environmental influence. In cloning research, they discovered by placing neutral cells next to a dish of liver cells, the neutral cells became liver cells! The stimulus from the surrounding environment determined cell identity and not the genes.
In humans the emotions are the stimuli for our cells. Our thoughts via the brain create the emotions in our bodies. Emotions of love joy and peace build healthy cells and strengthen our immune system. Conversely the opposite emotions over time tear down the cells and weaken the immune system.
At this major crossroads as a civilization we are being gifted with this wisdom to enable us to abort a destructive mission of humanity and our planet. Our ancient ancestors knew all this viscerally of course. In our pride and arrogance we dismissed their knowledge as either too primitive, pagan or New Age woo-woo. But now we can accept it because science has proven it in the laboratory. Whee! However, on the flip side, we also have learned how some ancient civilizations destroyed themselves because they chose selfish power over selfless cooperation. They became like cancer cells that greedily take over the whole organism until they kill it. (Sounds like large corporation cells).
All of Nature including humans grow and increase on this principle of creation through cooperation. It is not survival of the fittest as Darwin proposed. It appeared that way on the surface, but upon closer examination, and with advanced technology, we now know that isn’t how life works. We must abandon all beliefs based on this violent non-cooperative model.
We must avoid horrific apocalyptic movies and books that scare the life out of us because they transform our healthy cells to toxic cells. Besides, apocalypse simply means “change”, not annihilation. The Mayan prophesy about 12/21/2012 does not say the world as a planet will cease to be. It says “business as usual” will cease because a change is happening to consciousness in all of creation. We are even seeing U-Tube videos of animals who are normally enemies playing together. Could this be a fulfillment of Isaiah 11:6 which says “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child shall lead them.” This passage is thought to be a prophesy of the coming of a millenium of peace aka the New Heaven and the New Earth?
The implications of these new discoveries as to how life works are staggering, and put us in the driver’s seat instead of the trunk. Each of us is a mini-world. We are each a self-contained universe with 50 trillion cells in one body! Can you imagine? If each cell was a whole body they would fill 7,000 Earths. In addition to that, most every cell has its own nervous, digestive, respiratory, musculoskeletal, reproductive, and immune system!
Imagine each of us creating an environment of peace and cooperation; joining with other like-minded souls to create a tsunami to cleanse all toxic cells from the Earth. Can we do it in time? I believe we can. If it was impossible we wouldn’t be flooded with all this wild, wonderful and enlightening information. I say, let’s believe we can. We can start by acting “as if” it is possible to make a quantum shift in consciousness on a universal scale. Let’s start today!
NOTE: Information for this article is from a new book Spontaneous Evolution, Our Positive Future (and a way to get there from here) by Bruce H. Lipton and Steve Bhaerman, aka Swami Beyondananda
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Spirals of Response vs. Circles of Reaction October 15, 2009
Posted by cosmicsandbox in Cosmic Consciousness, Stress Relief, Unity and Oneness Consciousness.add a comment
The spiral shape tends to inspire feelings of openness, freedom and adventure. It appears full of possibility. The circle on the other hand, is a closed system. Whatever you start with you finish with, so there isn’t opportunity for new adventure or imagination.
Circles are very useful, however, which is why they are pervasive in our culture. We have countless variations of the wheel serving all manner of utilitarian purposes. Our Newtonian science is based on the circle of cause and effect, action and reaction in a continuous circle. We don’t seem to have much use for spirals on the material plane of life because it is open ended.
When we use the circle of reaction method in relationships with others and nature itself, it shows itself to be inadequate in dealing with the complexities of life. This is evident in all the conflicts in the world today, which are fueled by individuals and nations in continuous circles of reaction to each other. The old Hatfield’s and McCoy’s feud lives on in different costumes.
It seems to be time to use an expanded paradigm of thinking and relating to each other and the world at large. By opening the circle into a spiral, we give ourselves the opportunity to respond instead of react. What is the difference? REACT means ‘to act in return or opposition or towards a former state’ (like a circle). RESPOND means ‘to answer’ (more open).
Reactions are mostly automatic, like a knee-jerk reaction to stimulus. It is just “a happening”; and therefore, we don’t feel we have any control over it. However, in truth, we do have control and we do have a choice; but we don’t apply it to situations in which our buttons are pushed. Someone attacks us physically or verbally and a primal reaction is triggered. Our society has always condoned reacting by striking back in like kind– no questions asked.
Responding, or answering, on the other hand implies taking time between the initial action and the answer or response. This newly created time space offers opportunity for processing information by listening to the other. It lends a feeling of open-mindedness to consider various alternatives to raw reaction. We have time and space to possibly “walk in the other’s shoes” for a few moments, which would enable one to see a different point of view. This in turn could lead to an understanding of why the other did or said what they did. With understanding comes a space for cooperation, and even compassion in some cases.
A good example of responding is found in the practice of non-violent communication. which uses the “Jack in the Box” method of communication. This is how it works. You place your order at the drive-thru speaker box. Jack responds by repeating what you ordered. Then you respond by affirming whether or not they heard you right. If not, you continue the interaction until you know that Jack in the Box fully understands your order.
If Jack simply ‘reacted’ to your order by giving it to the cook without verifying it with you, your order could possibly be wrong about half of the time. Jack’s owners learned this early on and chose to respond instead of react. They didn’t want employees assuming they understood what the customer said. Assuming is a huge problem with reaction as it is based solely on one’s individual limited perception of the situation regardless of what others are saying or doing.
Do you agree that we need to learn how to change from circles of reaction to be able to flow into spirals of response? To be able to respond we must learn to listen to others with our heart instead of reacting to words with our biased minds. Try this simple exercise. Listen with your heart to your spouse, children, co-workers, fellow students for just one day. Don’t interrupt anyone by talking over them. Just listen. Take a breath. Wait and feel if you need to respond verbally. Many times you will find there’s no need to say anything. Simply by listening with your heart, they felt heard and seen. Your spiral of response has opened up an infinite world of possibilities.
ARE YOU RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL? September 27, 2009
Posted by cosmicsandbox in Religious commentary, Spiritual Transformation, The Real Jesus.Tags: intolerance, Jesus, Letter of Law, Love Enemies, Religion, Spiritual
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RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL
We hear many people today say, “I am not religious. I am spiritual.” What is the difference? Aren’t religious people spiritual? The spiritual group perceives religion as being a rigid belief system of rules that discourages, if not forbids, acceptance or investigation of other religious faiths. That perception is based on prejudiced statements by the religious establishment down through the ages such as, “The equal tolerance of religions is the same thing as atheism.” Pope Leo XIII, 1885.
Our weary world has been suffering under the crushing weight of religious intolerance for millennia; long before Pope Leo issued his limiting edict. Whenever any ideology is taken literally, it can foster hate and division. Literally following the Law to the letter doesn’t prevent one from verbally assaulting another soul. In fact, that is what Jesus accused the priests of his day of doing. He put the Spirit of the Law above the letter of the Law.
Following the Law religiously is different than experiencing the Spirit of the Law. Spiritually we can feel a heart connection to our fellow man, even if we don’t know him or what his religious or political beliefs are. This is because we are born with inherent empathy, which is our Soul/Spirit. But when we go unconscious or get buried under stress, then it is all too easy to stay in our heads, setting ourselves apart and judging others with different beliefs as being wrong, defective or just plain evil.
If anyone stands up and says, “Wait a minute. This action we’re taking doesn’t make sense from a compassionate, loving perspective.” they are labeled a rebel, a heretic or a subversive. Our self-righteous judgmental minds definitely don’t want to hear things like “Love your enemies. Do good to those who despitefully use you. Turn the other cheek. If one takes your coat, give him your cloak also.” as Jesus taught.
Since we all have a mind, we are all guilty of falling into its divisive clutches and existing in the limited thinking box that separates us from God and each other. But we have also been gifted by our Creator with the Spirit; and It is omnipresent Love residing within our hearts. In fact, all world religions have the same Golden Rule. Where religions have failed is in hiding this magnificent Truth from the masses by teaching exclusivity and separation. They shun unity and cooperation with those of different beliefs.
Our views of religion and the spiritual could expand if we viewed all sacred scripture as poetic love letters written to each individual human soul. Scripture, like poetry, was created using symbols and metaphors to fully express the essence of its meaning. It wasn’t intended to be taken literally. Emotions and deep spiritual truths cannot be dissected and understood by the reasoning mind. They are only experienced in the Soul.
To really appreciate and benefit from religious texts one must embody them as one would take in a work of art. If just read as a linear history or a doctrine of social behavior, the transformational purpose is lost, its power made impotent. To fully experience the Spirit of scripture, one must be willing and able to understand the symbolic and metaphoric meanings of the words and pictures they paint in our mind’s eye.
Read the Song of Solomon in the Old Testament. It is written to be read on many levels of meaning. On one level, it is a poem of the wedding of King Solomon to his bride. On another level, it is about the symbolical marriage of the Creator with us, His creation. It is a lavish description of the intimate and extravagant devotion God has for the beloved, which is you and me.
This indescribable Love is the unconditional love we all long for. We continually seek it from one another, but rarely if ever find it in human form. This is because we were created to receive this deeper love from Spirit first, which enables us to love and accept ourselves. The more we are able to receive the unconditional love of Spirit and “fill our cup”, the more we are able to love and accept others because our “cup is overflowing”. It is a spiritual experience. It is not a religious doctrine.
SPIRIT OF THE GODDESS September 10, 2009
Posted by cosmicsandbox in Quantum Shifts, Spiritual Sensuality, Spiritual Transformation.Tags: America's God Talent, Compassion, Goddess, peace, Sacred Feminine, Spiritual healing
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The other night I was watching America’s Got Talent. Barbara Padilla was the last contestant to perform. I think that most people were in awe as she sang “Ave Maria” from a pedestal aglow with white light in a gown that flowed around her to the floor.
(cut and paste this into your browser to see her performance 9/8/09)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6sUaRagfDA#watch-main-area
Please watch the video of her performance through to the end as well as the judges’ comments. Notice Sharon Osborne’s comment at the end as she bows to her as a cancer survivor herself and as a woman. Piers said people would remember where they were and what they were doing on the night they heard her sing, (almost as we knew where we were on 9/11/01). It really was quite extraordinary. I felt so strongly that the essence of the Sacred Feminine, or the true personification of the Goddess was and is personified in Barara’s spirit and her voice.
She is not a virgin Mary, a holier than thou religioius saint, an evangelist for an ultruistic cause or any of that. She is a living breathing, sensuous, beautiful example of a complete woman. Her manifestation of the sacred side of femininity is actually able to bring spiritual and physical healing to others, because she is coming from the fullness of her heart.
I am always “beating the drum” about the need in the world for the return of the Sacred Feminine to offset the destructive, warrior nature of the patriarchial world we’ve endured for millenia. People generally misunderstand what I mean by that, and have flashbacks to the women’s liberation movement. That movement helped women come out of servitude, but it turned many men and women against women’s rights because it too had a warrior nature.
But now we have been blessed to experience a world performance of what the restoration of the Sacred Feminine looks like in 2009. Men and women alike acknowledge the rise of a transcendent awe and love that fills them in the presence of this beautiful energy.
Barbara inpires all of us to know that the Spirit she manifests is in each and every one of us. If each of us could go through our day with this open hearted feeling of love and compassion that we feel when hearing and seeing Barbara then world peace would not be far behind.
CHRISTMAS – BIRTHDAY OF LIGHT December 14, 2009
Posted by cosmicsandbox in Religious commentary, Spiritual Transformation, The Real Jesus.Tags: Christians, divine child, Jesus, Light, Saturnalia, Virgin Birth, Winter Solstice, Wise Men
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Many of our holiday traditions are borrowed from earlier traditions. For example, the Winter Solstice marks the beginning of the long dark winter nights and the symbolic death of the sunlight on December 21st. The sun is then “reborn” on December 25th, which is the first day it appears to remain in the sky longer.
Most likely Jesus, the Light of the world, wasn’t born in December. However, early Christians in the Roman Empire, to avoid persecution, celebrated his birth during Saturnalia, the holiday honoring the birth of the Sun god, on December 25th. Christmas, or Christ-mass, celebrates the birth of the Christ Light into the dark world bringing hope of “peace on earth and good will toward men” as proclaimed by the angelic choir on Christmas Eve.
We can miss a lot of the deeper meaning of traditions, rituals and their symbolism if we only focus on the literal details of the story. For example: in a symbolic sense, each of us is a type of a virgin mother, pregnant with a child of light in our souls that is yearning to be born into our dark world. This child is innocent, perceives no separation between itself, the Divine or others, lives in the present moment and is full of joy and wonder. This is the real, true essence of each of us. It has remained perfect and whole, unaffected by all the storms or traumas of our lives.
Why aren’t we aware of this part of ourselves? It has been hidden deep within our hearts, buried under a lifetime of conditioning and worldly cares. Our divine child can be coaxed out at Christmas because it is a time of joy, bright light, festive music, vibrant colors, succulent sweetness and infectious play. Can we allow the birth as Mary did? Will we stop our disbelieving lives and set aside time to let our sacred Child Self of light be born?
Just as in the Christmas story, our world isn’t ready for this birth of light. There is no room being made for its arrival. No one seems to know or care about it at all. The world is too busy stumbling around cursing the darkness. Like Mary, each of us must be willing to give birth to our precious child of light alone, witnessed only by a few shepherds and cattle in a manger. The Sacred only shows up in humble mangers, not castles of convenience.
It doesn’t matter whether or not anyone else understands the miraculous transformation happening within us. A select few humble, unassuming type people like the shepherds will notice the light in our eyes and the spring in our step. They will rejoice with us. However, the ones we thought would notice our transformation and be happy about it either ignore us or would rather dispose of us. These unfortunate souls are trapped in fear, negativity and cynicism. They would rather put our light out because it reveals their fears and anxiety. They become furious that we can be joyful and peaceful in spite of the darkness in the world.
Mary and Joseph had to flee to Egypt to keep the Christ child safe from King Herod’s murderous rage. Society, like Herod, is fearful that it can’t control the free spirit inherent in the children of light. The powers that be know they can never enslave one who knows in their heart they are free. This is why it is vital that we stop at this time of deep reflection and make space for Spirit to birth the Light within us and out into the world.
When we do accept our sacred Self, the three wise men will come bearing gifts of grace. They are divinely guided to find us wherever we may be. They offer us gold for divinity or Christ consciousness, frankincense to transform the mundane into the miraculous, and myrrh for humility and continual dying to our small selves. These wonderful wise men are symbolic of the sages, teachers, mentors and guides that grace our lives at every stage. They remind us that we are never alone; and that there is no limit to how far our Father/Mother God will go to make sure the divine child not only survives but thrives.