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December 29, 2008

The Mind is a Lot Less Important than We Think It is: a Meditation

Look! This little finger covers the eye and prevents the whole world from being seen.
In this same way this small mind covers the whole universe
and prevents Reality from being seen.
Ramana Maharshi

The mind is a lot less important than we think it is. In our Western rationalistic society, we have given pre-eminence to the cognitive processes. Of course, the mind has its place and value in the scheme of things. But the mind is not meant to be the primary way we experience reality. As Carl Jung said, "All of reality is not thinking."

Feeling or sensing is. The mind judges, analyzes, compartmentalizes and this causes a sense of separation and duality. The heart or the intuitive faculty embraces or becomes one with its object of attention. It feels it from the inside out.

The heart knows an object from the inside out and not from just the surface, outside appearance. So, to really get to know someone or something, learn to quiet your mind and feel and then identify with and become one with that which you are focused on.

In other words, "lose your mind and come to your senses."

Meditation is the doorway to this way of perceiving.

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December 26, 2008

The "Embrace," Part II


Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"The 'Embrace,' Part II" Podcast

(length 6:10 minutes)




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December 22, 2008

The "Embrace," Part II

This week I am sharing with those of you who read my blog, why I do the work that I do. Please go back to my post on December 15 for Part I.

Within each one of us lies a limitless well of living waters brimming with wisdom, love, inspiration, creativity and strength. We just need to find the key that opens us to these treasures.

This key lies in learning how to quiet the mind and open the heart (i.e. meditate) in order that we might learn how to experience and process life through the heart-mind and no longer through the myopic vision of the ego mind.

Herein one will find a profound place of freedom and joy from which one can truly "live life." Herein one becomes the author/authority of his/her life and learns what it means to truly be a Master of her/his thoughts, emotions and life experiences.

Herein one truly learns to be "true to thy Self." As well, one comes to understand that if you have not yet learned to "know thy Self" that life will feel and be incomplete.

So, I wish that my work can be a road map to that divine, blessed place of peace and the "Embrace" that lies within each and every person, a place that all those who truly aspire to Mastery have found, a place where there is a peace and a love that "passeth all understanding."

It is here that the initiates of the Ancient Mysteries Schools endeavored to arrive. In my work, I intend for the "mysteries" of this process to be removed and so, too, the "ancient" trappings! We are living in a time when the ancient keys to the Kingdom are, in fact, fully accessible to every modern man and woman who desires to access them. The Divine Feminine has returned!

The subject tonight is Love
and for tomorrow night as well.
As a matter of fact,
I know no better topic
for us to discuss
until we all die!
Hafiz

All a sane man
can ever think about
is giving love.
Hafiz,
Sufi Mystic and Poet

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December 19, 2008

The "Embrace," Part I


Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"The 'Embrace,' Part I" Podcast

(length 6:16 minutes)



MP3 File


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December 15, 2008

The "Embrace," Part I

The subject tonight is Love
and for tomorrow night as well.
As a matter of fact,
I know no better topic
for us to discuss
until we all die!
Hafiz

All a sane man
can ever think about
is giving love.
Hafiz,
Sufi Mystic and Poet

I would like to take the opportunity now to share with those of you who read my blog, why I do the work that I do.

I would like to introduce you to what I refer to as the "Embrace" and how it is at the core of all that I do and be.

It is through the "Embrace" that "all things are made anew." As well, it is through the "Embrace" that we all are made whole and healed. And it is through the "Embrace" that we can listen and learn from each other.

What follows is a brief story that may put this is a broader context for you:

Some twenty years ago I was participating in a series Intuitive Development classes. During the classes we would meditate and quiet our minds and go into a very profound place of peace where we would access a deep, deep connection with extraordinarily loving energies.

I had been participating in these classes for about a year and had really enjoyed the warmth and camaraderie that had formed among all the class members. As well, I had very much enjoyed the peace that the experience of the classes brought. So, too, the class facilitator, Philip Burley, was a truly excellent channel and the messages that came through him were very profound and healing.

Then one night as I was "tuning in," an overpowering sense of peace and pure Love just cascaded all over and through me. I had never felt this before and it just kept growing and growing and getting deeper and deeper, wider and wider, fuller and fuller. Truly for the first time in my life I knew what it meant to have "my cup runneth over."

It was there and then that I "knew" that I had found "it." I had found both my connection with Source/God and had also found my vocation or calling in life. I "knew" that my life had been leading me to this moment so that that I could really "get" what was important and then help others experience that same "Embrace."

So, on that day it became clear to me that my raison d'etre (reason for being) was/is to continue to deepen that connection with the "Embrace" for myself, and, in whatever way possible to help others to find "It" for themselves, as well.

So, all my work up to now is dedicated to this purpose.

See my blog post on 12/22 for part II.

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December 12, 2008

STRENGTH


Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"STRENGTH, Part II" Podcast

(length 4:59 minutes)



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December 8, 2008

STRENGTH

A boy and his father were walking along a road when they came across a large stone. The boy said to his father, "Do you think if I use all my strength, I can move this rock?"

His father answered, "If you use all your strength, I am sure you can do it."

The boy began to push the rock. Exerting himself as much as he could, he pushed and pushed. The rock did not move.

Discouraged, he said to his father, "You were wrong. I can't do it."

His father placed his arm around the boy's shoulder and said, "No son. You didn't use all your strength - you didn't ask me to help."
From Teaching Your Children About God


Do you believe that the Universe is a friendly, nurturing place or not?

Or is it a neutral or perhaps threatening place?

Do you believe that there are energies and beings that are just waiting to help you, if you just ask for their help? Or do you believe that you are all alone and basically just a spiritual orphan?

Do you believe that if you ask for support and believe and expect that it will come to you, that it will come to you?

These are the questions and beliefs that this parable is asking you to explore.

So, just take some time to explore and meditate on these questions. By doing so, you will come to better know yourself and then you will be better able to draw upon the sources of strength that are available to you.

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December 5, 2008

All Change is an "Inside Job"


Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"All Change is an 'Inside Job,' Part II" Podcast

(length 5:21 minutes)



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December 1, 2008

All Change is an "Inside Job"

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
Tolstoy

In order to change anything in your life, you must first make a change within your self. Every change is an "inside job." Change is not about controlling or changing another person or situation in your outer life so that it suits you better. It is about changing you, internally.

So, for example, if you want to experience peace in your life, you must first seek to create peace within yourself no matter what. The level of peace you experience in your external life is solely dependent on the level of peace you feel within. Then as you attain this internal peace, you achieve a peace that the world can not take away from you.

You, thus, have achieved a peace that is rock solid and deep. Then you know what it means to stand on solid ground.

So, whatever you wish to change or achieve, you must first go within, honestly evaluate your thoughts, beliefs, fears, etc. about the issue, release the ones that do not serve you and then embrace the ones that do. Then things will really change for you.

It can and likely will be a challenge to be so honest with yourself, but it is the only way to really effect significant change in your life.

Try it with anything you would like to change in your life. It really works.

Meditation is the primary tool I use to access this level of myself. It is the best way I know of to get in touch with my underlying beliefs and thoughts. And it is the most effective method with which to create the changes I want in my life.

If you are distressed by anything external,
the pain is not due to the thing itself,
but to your estimate of it; and this you
have the power to revoke at any moment.
Marcus Aurelius

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