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Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:
"But the Greatest of These is Love, Part II” Podcast"
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(length 10:22 minutes)
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This is Part IV of a four part blog. Please see my blog post of 08 20 07, 08 22 07 and 08 27 07 to read the passage from I Corinthians 13 that I am commenting on and to get a context for what I am speaking about in this blog post.
Given the imperfections of our ego minds, this is such a hard lesson to fathom. We keep being diverted into getting as many things “done” as possible in our lives and being better than another at doing one thing or another, rather than staying focused on learning how to “be” ourselves; and in “being” ourselves truly love, appreciate, accept and be present for ourselves and for one another.
You are not defined by what you “do,” but by who you “be.” And at the core or essence level of who you really are is simply and purely Love. You are Love and he/she, that is another, is Love. We are all Love. This, I believe, is the message Jesus wished for us to learn.
He didn’t care how good we got at doing anything, no matter how spiritual it was, [speaking in tongues, healing, prophesizing, etc.] all he cared about was whether we knew how to really Love. And Paul in his letter to the Corinthians was inspired to help the Corinthians get their priorities right, too.
How about you, are your priorities right? Are you looking within to find meaning and purpose in your life, or not?
And if you are looking within, great, but are you making a big deal of how good you are at some aspect of it? Or are you just quietly, but very powerfully allowing Love to lead the way in your life?
It doesn’t matter what you “do” or “have” in life. All that matters is who you “be” and how you “be.”
“Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven and all things will be added to it.”
This is Part IV of a four part blog.
This is Part III of a four part blog. Please see my blog posts of 08 20 07 and 08 22 07 to read the passage from I Corinthians 13 that I am commenting on and to get a context for what I am speaking about in this blog post.
We have incarnated, from my point of view, onto this planet in order to learn how to give and receive Love, period! We are put through the crucible of this life and many other earthly, challenging lifetimes in order to learn that, no matter what, “Love is the Answer.” If we can finally understand that our purpose in life is all about learning how to love ourselves and another as we would wish them to love us, we have gotten what unconditional Love is all about and why we incarnated on this planet.
Earth is a training ground for learning how to love unconditionally. We are all faced with numerous trials and tribulations in this regard and if we rely on our minds to find a solution or an answer, we are forever lost. But if we seek for answers within, there in the Silence, where the mind has stopped all its incessant ruminations, we get to hear the “still, small voice within.”
And it is there where we know who we really are and how to Love. There the bigger picture is revealed. There we see the Divine Timing, Order and Plan for all that transpires in our life and can be at peace no matter what!
There we are held in the “Embrace.” There we “no longer see through a glass darkly, but then face to face.” It is there where we get the strength and inspirations to Love ourselves and another fully and unconditionally. It is there that we realize that our value does not lie in any external things we do or have, but in the internal qualities of Love that we develop.
So, what treasures are you storing up for your transition to the spirit world or for your transition to “Heaven,” earthly ones that will vanish or internal ones that will bring you eternal joy and happiness?
This is Part III of a four part blog.
Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:
"But the Greatest of These is Love, Part I” Podcast"
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(length 11:25 minutes)
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This is Part II of a four part blog. Please see my blog post of 08 20 07 to read the passage from I Corinthians 13 that I am commenting on and to get a context for what I am speaking about in this blog post.
As well, for this “new” religion to spread the way it did, despite all the strong persecution from the establishment, it had to be such a transformative experience that it would inspire people to risk “life and limb” to spread the “Word.”
So, early Christianity certainly was a religion that touched many people very deeply. The gatherings of early Christians were very “spirit-filled,” that is, charismatic and Pentecostal. People spoke in tongues, channeled, did healings, did prophecy, performed miracles, etc. It was quite a rich, emotional atmosphere that was created.
In the passage above St. Paul was writing to the Corinthians in order to help them to understand that all the phenomena that they were experiencing were good, but that they must not lose sight that the whole point of all this was the underlying Love that made all these miraculous things possible. To lose sight of that would be to lose sight of the whole message and mission of Jesus and it would also be losing sight of the whole purpose of the early Church that was emerging after Jesus’ Resurrection.
We all get so caught up in the phenomena of life and lose track of the essence of it all. In other words, we get caught up in the glitz and glitter of life and miss out on its real meaning. We get caught up in all kinds of surface external events and miss out on the internal aspect of things. We get caught up in “doing” all kinds of things, but miss out on just “being” true to our selves and “knowing” ourselves and what our real purpose in life is. We easily allow ourselves to be distracted.
This is Part II of a four part blog.
This is Part I of a four part blog.
Though I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not Love, I am a noisy gong or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. Though I give away all I have to feed the poor, and though I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient; Love is kind; Love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong; but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things; believes all things; hopes all things; endures all things.
Love never ends; as for prophecy, it will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect, but when the perfect comes the imperfect will pass away.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.
So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
The quote above from I Corinthians 13 is probably my favorite quote in all of Western literature.
What I would like to do here is to first give a context for why St. Paul wrote what he wrote in Corinthians and then offer commentary on the actual passage.
After the Resurrection of Jesus a man named Saul was walking on the road to Damascus whereupon he had had a vision of the resurrected Jesus. In this encounter Saul, who previously was fiercely persecuting Jesus, had a major conversion or a metanoia experience and became a convert of Jesus. It was here as well that his name was changed to Paul.
Paul then went on, along with Peter, to be one of the two major foundational personalities in the spread of the emerging “new” religion, Christianity. In its early days Christianity was a very charismatic and Pentecostal religion. In order for it to spread as quickly and widely as it did, it needed to be a religion that had a deep profound affect on its followers.
At the beginning of the Christian era most people were illiterate and there certainly were no radios or TVs to spread the message. The message had to be spread by its power and it had to strongly touch the populace very deeply. It had to be “an experience they wouldn’t forget” so to speak, so that it would indelibly be etched in their hearts and minds.
As well, it had to be a very potent experience for them to change their religious affiliation to a “new” religion. Remember, they were living in very parochial, closed-minded times and changing one’s religion was no small thing to do. There was a lot of social pressure not to “leave the fold.”
This is Part I of a four part blog.
Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:
"Your Attitude Creates Your Reality, Part II” Podcast"
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(length 9:38 minutes)
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This is Part IV of a four part blog.
What you look at is what you see. And whatever you are looking for, you will find!
So, now that you have a handle on your general attitude about Life, what is really neat about all this is that you can change your attitude. Yes, you can!
Once you are honestly aware of what your attitude generally is then you can gradually, consistently and intentionally change anything that is negative and not life-affirming about it into something that is.
Bit by bit as you notice the negative self-talk and the negative projections that you make on others or on situations, you can determine that you will look at them more positively. And by looking at them more positively, you will draw to you insights and inspirations into finding positive solutions to them. And, as well, you will learn what the larger life lessons were in these particular situations.
Remember that whatever you ask for, you will receive. And whatever you are looking for, you will find!
Life is constant stream of moving forward to higher and higher ground unless you choose to take the “low road.” By changing your attitude you get to take the “high road” in life and get to enjoy the broad vistas and the wide, clear horizons. Otherwise, if your attitude is negative, you get to wallow in the quicksand of your limiting beliefs on the “low road” of life, which some call hell.
Thus, as I wrote earlier, you get to choose your attitude and your attitude determines the kind of experiences you have. Thus, you, and only you, get to give meaning to your life!
So, is your underlying attitude about your life one that affirms your eternal, divine value? Or is it the opposite?
Your attitude is the key to your happiness and to the amount of Love and Life you experience. Change your attitude and you change your life! The “Kingdom of Heaven is with in you!”
This is Part IV of a four part blog.
This is Part III of a four part blog.
What you look at is what you see. And whatever you are looking for, you will find!
You can see an ending as a new beginning or as you can see it as something negative and terminal. You can decide that as one door closes another one opens. Or you can choose to remain fixated on the closed door and miss all the other doors and opportunities that are in fact opening before you.
The Universe is not a stagnant, unloving, unforgiving place. It is full of new possibilities and new probabilities all the time. It is constantly expanding and opening up new doors. Unless, of course, you are not looking!
You can choose to interpret a delay of any kind as Divine Timing or as a huge inconvenience that has negative providential significance in your life. You can choose to live your life “awfulizing” and “catastrophising” about every thing or see “the silver lining in every cloud.” You get to give meaning to your experiences by your attitude or how you choose to interpret them.
What kind of meaning do you give to your experiences?
Albert Einstein once wrote that the most important question that you can ask yourself is: “Is this a friendly Universe or not?” In other words is the Universe on your side or not on your side. How you answer this question determines your attitude about Life in general and your attitude about your life in particular. And, most importantly, it determines the kind of life you have!
So, take a moment to reflect consciously on this question. It actually is very, very important and is well worth a few minutes of your time……
So, what is your answer?
Your answer to this question, that is, what is your predominant attitude about life, is the sole determinant of what kind of life and what quality of life you have.
This is Part III of a four part blog.
Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:
"Your Attitude Creates Your Reality, Part I” Podcast"
Click Here to Download MP3/Audio
(length 8:43 minutes)
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This is Part II of a four part blog.
What you look at is what you see. And whatever you are looking for, you will find!
Attitude has a huge impact on your life. Actually, it is the most important determining factor in how you experience your life and in what and who you attract into your life.
Attitude is more important than any of the facts or details of a situation, than what has happened or not happened to you in the past, than who you know or don’t know, than what you have done or not done so far in your life. It is more important than the degrees and experiences you have had; than the amount of money you have presently, had in the past or wish you had; than present circumstances; than past failures or successes; than what other people think, say or do about you. It is more important than appearances, skills and talents. It will determine the success or failure a business or a relationship or, for that matter anything you are involved in.
What is so important to understand here is that you have a choice as to the attitude you have at any given moment regarding anything you are experiencing. And it is precisely this attitude that determines how you experience what you are experiencing. And, as well, it is your attitude that determines whether you will get more of the same or not.
You can not change your past. You can not change how a person will act or react to you; and you can not change a given situation. You can not change events as they unfold. But the only thing you can change is your attitude. You can choose to see the cup half-full or you can choose to see it half-empty.
This is Part II of a four part blog.
This is Part I of a four part blog.
What you look at is what you see. And whatever you are looking for, you will find!
What you place your attention on is what you notice. And what you notice defines your “reality.” Your “reality” is solely of your making. And you make it by the way you choose to look at things, as well, as by what things you choose to look at.
What do you choose, consciously or unconsciously, to focus on during your day? Take the time to notice.
Take the time, as well, to listen to your mind’s chatter on a regular, consistent basis during the day. If you find that what you are mostly focused on is negative, then that is what you are experiencing and then that is what you are attracting more of. If it is mostly positive then that is what you are experiencing and attracting more of.
What do you want more of: the positive or the negative experiences?
So, honestly ask yourself, what do you mostly focus on?
But you then might say to me in response to this, “But I can’t control my mind. It has ‘mind of its own’.”
Well, you know deep down inside that the statement above is simply not true and that it is just a lame excuse for being lazy. That is, you are too lazy to take the time to learn how to tame and master your “monkey mind.” Or, perhaps, it simply is that you are just unaware that it is really possible to “change your mind,” so to speak.
So, if you want to experience more Love and Happiness in your life, you must focus your thoughts on Love and Happiness. It’s really rather simple. But how you might ask do I do that.
Well, there is only one way to do that and that is to change your attitude.
This is Part I of a four part blog.
Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:
"Wouldn’t You Rather be “Good at Who You Are” Rather Than Just “Good at What You Do?”
Podcast"
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(length 8:43 minutes)
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This is Part II of a two part blog.
So the way to come to know truly who you are is to take the time to sit and simply “be” with your self on a regular consistent basis. Then you can truly come to know your self from the inside out. Then you can take actions in the world that are consistent and harmonious with who you really are rather than with what you think you should be or do. Then as you come to know your self in this way, you will know how others are, too.
Too often most of us choose what we do in our lives based on what we think others think is best for us, but somehow we never get in touch with what we feel and know on a very deep level is who we really are and is really best for us. So, we do things in our lives in an unconscious way and we end up living a very unaware, unfulfilled life.
We mistake “doing” for “being” and never find fulfillment, happiness or purpose. Instead all we find is more to “do.” We do get good at what we do, but we don’t get good at who we “be.”
We run around doing what we think we “should” be doing rather than what we know deep inside we want to do. We keep running around doing what we “should.” In other words we keep “shoulding” all over ourselves, but we never get around “being” ourselves or “being” true to ourselves.
So, what would you prefer: to “do” what you “should” with your life or “be” who you truly are? You get to choose.
This is Part II of a two part blog.