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September 29, 2008

Believe in Your Self! A Meditation

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
Do not believe in anything because it is spoken and rumored by many.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers or elders.
But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason,
and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all,
then accept it and live it.
The Buddha, in the Kalama Sutra

I find the above advice from the Buddha rather amazing given that it was written over 2,500 years ago. Nowadays with the advent of the internet and the incredible amount of information that is so readily available to us, his guidance is even more essential.

An old adage goes: "No shoe fits all sizes." So, too, no teaching or teacher is the proper fit for everyone. I have learned over the years to practice discernment and really go within to make sure that whatever teacher or teaching I am studying really rings true for me.

I have found over the years that the only way to know for sure is to initially, of course, take the time to study and research the teacher or teachings; but ultimately I have learned not to use my mind and not to do an intellectual analysis. What I have learned to do, instead, is to quiet my mind, go into the stillness and just "feel" what is right. And then if it "feels" right, I "accept it and live it."

As well, I periodically go within and check again and again to see if it still "feels" right given that I am constantly evolving and changing.

What I am not saying here is to keep shopping around and never settle on anything. No, not at all! What I am saying here is to always go within to make sure you are still on the right path, namely your path and not anyone else's!

A path is not a static experience. It is something you travel upon; it is a journey. Yes, at times you stop to rest, but then you get up and continue the journey moving through an ever changing landscape. Your life, your dreams are constantly evolving! So, too, are your belief systems!

Every teacher/teaching is a step up your mountain of mastery. But each step leads to another step. No step is an end in and of itself.

One of the things I love to repeat over and over in my classes is: "If you follow any one but your Self, you will surely get lost!" You must be "true to yourself." And the only way to do that and to know your path and to come to "know thy Self" is to go within regularly and listen. Then you will stay on your path.

Meditation is the key that helps you to go within. It helps you to find and follow your Self and to truly know and believe in Your Self.

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September 26, 2008

Believing the Impossible! A Meditation: Podcast


Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Believing the Impossible! A Meditation," Podcast

(length 4:27 minutes)



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September 22, 2008

Believing the Impossible! A Meditation

"One can't believe impossible things," Alice said.
"I daresay 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."
Alice in Wonderland

What is possible? Whatever you believe to be possible is what is possible! The impossible is impossible because you believe it to be so.

We create our reality by virtue of what we believe. Within each one of us is enormous potential, but often we do not manifest it or even realize it is there. In Latin the root for the word "potential" is the same as the root for the word "potency."

Within each of us is such great potency or power or potential to create, but because we think small, we create and experience small. The Universe/God is infinite potential waiting to be actualized. And, we, through our thoughts and feelings, can draw in this infinite potential and make it manifest. This drawing in of that infinite potential via our thoughts is precisely what qualifies us to be co-creators made in his/her Image.

But if your thoughts and beliefs about what is possible for you are small, you will never dream or create or experience "big." Why not get out of the old box and dream and think big, since you dream and think all the time anyhow? Think big, not small and all things are possible.

Take a few minutes each day in meditation to observe how big or small your thoughts and dreams are and then adjust in whatever way feels right.

You can have anything you want, if you will give up the belief that you can't have it.
Albert Einstein

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September 19, 2008

Living Today's Dream and Not Yesterday's, a Meditation: Podcast 09 19 08


Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Living Today's Dream and Not Yesterday's, a Meditation," Podcast

(length 5:51 minutes)



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September 15, 2008

Living Today's Dream and Not Yesterday's, a Meditation

If you do not go within, you go without.
Neale Donald Walsch

Remember to look within. For it is only there that one can really find who one truly is and what is most important.

Take some time on a regular basis to slow down and go within. Suspend for awhile what you "think" you "should" be doing and instead just listen to the Silence within and allow its "voice" to speak to you.

Slowing down and taking inventory of who you presently are and where you are headed is sooooooo important. The word inventory comes from a Latin word which means "to come or go within." So, by slowing down your overly active thinking mind, you can go within and in the Quiet hear your Self rather than your ego mind's never-ending prattle.

So, take a few deep breaths now, quiet your mind and go within and gently and without too much focus ask, "What dream am I living now? Am I living the dream I had five years ago? Can I be happy and fulfilled living yesterday's dream or someone else's dream? What is my dream today?"

Gently allow these questions or similar ones to float out there and then just sit back and "listen." No, do not seek to hear your mind's ruminations, but actually just be still and sense, see and feel whatever impressions, feelings or images arise. Just "be" with them and with your Self.

You will be surprised at what comes up for you, if you leave your mind behind. Don't strain or "try," just allow the process to come to you. Be open and receptive. In time, as you practice this, a clearer and clearer vision will come to you of you.

Actually, as you practice this, you learn that being conscious of who you are is a moment to moment process. It is a process whereby you learn to "feel" first rather than "think" first. It is a process whereby you lose your mind and come to your senses.

It can be a bit of a stretch to ignore your mind and, instead, listen first to your heart/Soul or your intuition/feelings, but it's a good stretch. I suggest you try it for awhile because by doing so, you will find your Dreams and Your Self!

Who looks outside, sleeps.
Who looks inside, awakens.
Carl Jung

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September 12, 2008

It's All New: A Morning Meditation: Podcast 09 12 08


Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"It's All New: A Morning Meditation," Podcast

(length 5:30 minutes)



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September 8, 2008

It's All New: A Morning Meditation

A new day, a new beginning! It's all so new, if we but stop and look. Nothing is the same as we left it. And even though our daily routines make us think it is all the same, it never is or can be.

So, we can exult in the "newness" of every moment of every "routine" and know that it is all fresh, new and joy filled. And as we see the "newness" and freshness of every moment, we come to appreciate and adore it all.

Thus, you may want to say to yourself: "I really want to bring this sense of newness and freshness into all I do from now on. To just stop, breathe and appreciate; to savor. To just 'be' present for each moment's gift, for each moment's 'newness'."

There can be no greater joy or fulfillment than to be filled with the richness of each moment. If one reaches and strives for the hoped for fulfillment in the future, one will always come up empty handed. There is only the present. Let us seize each and every moment and be filled to overflowing with all it has to offer. LET IT ALL COME TO YOU! Be present and it will!

In order to allow yourself to experience the "newness" of a moment, experiment with the following. Whenever you can, just stop; take a couple of deep breaths; then become aware of your body by doing a brief body scan from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. This will bring you into the present.

Then focus on your inhalation and just imagine that you are breathing in "newness," "freshness," and "joy." And on the exhalation, imagine that you are releasing the old, stagnant, and mutated energies. Then continue focusing on your breath and your breathing. Breathing in all that is new and fresh and joy-filled and releasing on the exhalation all that is old, worn and stagnant. After a few moments of doing this, all will be made fresh and anew!

Remember, you only see what you are looking for; you only get what you are asking for!

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September 5, 2008

Emotional/Mental Fitness: A Daily Routine; Podcast 09 05 08


Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Emotional/Mental Fitness: A Daily Routine; A Meditation," Podcast

(length 6:12 minutes)



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September 1, 2008

Emotional/Mental Fitness: A Daily Routine

Besides working out in order to stay physically fit and healthy, I would like to suggest that you may want to also practice an emotional/mental fitness regimen.

Below is a workout that you might want to incorporate into your daily routine.

1) Regularly, during the day, be aware of what you are feeling and if you are caught up in fear, anger, worry, etc, let them go and choose something else to focus on. Negative thoughts wreck havoc on you physiologically and emotionally.
2) Seek to experience happiness no matter what is going on. Rather than making the best of it, make it the best!
3) Appreciate all the good in your life from the littlest to the largest. When you appreciate something, you allow yourself to fully receive it! And in doing so, you feel "rich." And in feeling "rich," you attract more "richness" or abundance.
4) See the good, even in a difficult situation. Everything is leading you to your highest good!
5) Trust the flow of life and know that all is in Divine Order!
6) Create thoughts, words and actions that only produce joy. The world is filled with unhappiness. Be different! "Follow the road less traveled."
7) Let go of narrow, inflexible belief systems. Create space so that you can learn and grow and be open to new possibilities, people and ideas. Every thing is possible!
8) Genuinely listen to others instead of forcing your own agenda. Knowing how to listen is one of the most valuable "arts" to master.
9) Let go of trying to "control" everyone and everything!

The more you practice, the better you get; and the better it gets!

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