A New Years book called Opportunity

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.
Love Ron

Happiness Bug Pandemic for the new year!

the happiness bug Posted by Shelly Bright - thank you, Shelly - you can see her blog on architectsofanewdawn.com

May you catch the Happiness Bug.......

HAPPINESS PANDEMIC (HP101) Hits Worldwide!

A Worldwide Epidemic is spreading with enormous speed.

The 'WWO' (World-Wellness-Organisation) foresees billions of people becoming infected within the coming decade!
Here are the most prominent symptoms of this wonderful enlivening 'disease':

1). The tendency to let yourself be guided by intuition instead of acting under pressure of fear, forced ideas and pre-conditioned behaviour.

2). A total loss of interest in:- judging others, convicting yourself and preoccupation with things that create conflict.

3). A complete loss of the capacity to worry: This is one of the most serious symptoms!

4). A continual pleasure in appreciating humans and things the way they are, which weakens one's tendency to want to 'change' others.

5). The desire to change oneself so that innate thoughts, feelings, emotions and bodily matters are managed in ways that facilitate only Health, Creativity and Love.

6). Repetitive attacks of smiling - a smile that says THANK YOU and stimulates being at-one with all those around.

7). A growing openness towards childlikeness, simplicity, laughter and happiness.

8). More frequent moments of communication with one's Soul in non-duality, that in turn creates the pleasant feeling of fulfillment and joy within.

9). Finding pleasure in acting as a Healer who spreads Joy and Light, instead of criticism and indifference.

10). The ability to effortlessly live alone, as a couple, with family, or in a community on the basis of equality, without any need to play the role of executioner (or wanting to be sacrificed!).

11). A feeling of responsibility and joy to share with the world one's dreams of an abundant, harmonic and peaceful future for all.


12). Total acceptance of one's own presence on Earth and the will to choose each moment only for what is gracious, good, truthful and alive!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Do you want to continue living in fear, dependency, conflict, dis-ease and conformism? If so, then at all cost avoid people who display these symptoms;
this disease is very contagious! Medical treatment can temporarily repress the symptoms, although the progress of the disease has very often been inevitable.

There just isn't an 'anti-happiness' Vaccine'!

Because this Happiness Pandemic causes a loss of fear of death, the central pillar upon which the beliefs of materialistic modern-day society rest, there is now a risk of societal turmoil with a complete loss of interest in warfare and the necessity to always be 'right'!

Gatherings of happy people who sing, dance and celebrate life, the emergence of people who celebrate their physical and spiritual healing, crises of extreme joy and even instances of collective emotional vent, are all now at hand!

(May you infect others with 'HP101' where ever you go...


"Be ready for love when it does come. Prepare the field and be ready to nourish love. Be loving, and you will be lovable. Be open and receptive to love." - Louise L. Hay


MAY THIS NEW YEAR 2010 BE AS MAGICAL & PROMISING AS ALL OUR HIGHEST DREAMS, THOUGHTS & DESIRES!

JUST HAD TO POST THIS may all your heart felt wishes come true this new year

You Are Powerful Beyond Measure...

Our Deepest Fear... by Marianne Williamson

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

Release the Deep Spirit of Altruism from Your Hearts

WORD FOR THE DAY9gratefulness.org)
Monday, Dec. 28

If there is anything I have learned about men and women,
it is that there is a deeper spirit of altruism than is
ever evident. Just as the rivers we see are minor compared
to the underground streams, so, too, the idealism that is
visible is minor compared to what people carry in their hearts
unreleased or scarcely released.

Dr. Albert Schweitzer

Amara Rose commented on Ron Alexander's blog post 'Release the Deep Spirit of Altruism that You Carry in Your Hearts

'Thank you, Ron! Yes, we need to extend ourselves in empathy to our spiritual siblings everywhere ... allow all the points of Light to shine effulgently. Many blessings on your good work, Amara

Christmas Self-realization Especially around Family

December 25, 2009
Saturn is the planet of limitations. Today is gets tense with the Sun, which rules the human ego. This Christmas will be one of great self-realization. You have a chance to consider where your family has been and where it is going. Are you adding on?

Self-realizations today -
!.
Forgiveness means peace. Any anger in my heart hurts me even more than the person I am not forgiving. Sometimes with some people, I need to forgive "77x7!"

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven me. -Ephesians 4:32

I draw on God's Love within to Forgive and reduce my judgements to reduce my need to forgive.
As I forgive, I release negative energy that may manifest as resentment or anger. If I feel wronged or annoyed, I release the impulse to judge. The lines of communication remain open, and understanding flows freely. Relationships with family, friends and colleagues flourish when I act with compassion and easily forgive.
I exercise the same attitude toward myself. If I have erred, I learn from it and move on. I draw from the reservoir of God's love within me to give and receive forgiveness.
(alot of this is paraphrased from Unity's Daily Word)

Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.

2. Love in Truth (as I wrote the other day)

I truly believe that the lack of love is responsible for most of the world's ills. And every loving act will ripple outward into dimensions beyond our knowing. Ultimately, we must love ourselves wholly... but until then. the love shown by others seems to help us along. Jeanne of CronetotheBone.ning.com

Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart,and a humble mind. -1 Peter 3:8

So that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them. -John 17:26

With every loving thought we hold, every kind word we express, we contribute to a world at peace.

"Let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth." -1John 3:18

God's love expresses through me to bless others.

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God: everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. -1 John 4:7

Again, Have Joyous Holy Days and a peaceful loving New Year! God is LOVE, ron

The Sun is my Blanket
Three Straight Christmases on a Deserted Island
Ron Alexander

With about 20 students on board for our Marine Science under Sail, we celebrated our third straight(in the late '70's) on a beautiful deserted Cay called Little San Salvador. It lies only about 25 miles South of Eleuthera in the Bahamas.
Little San Salvador has a large anchorage with turquoise clear water and a large pink sandy beach. At the Southern tip is a orange, green, red, blue coral reef loaded with a sparkling rainbow-colored marine life plus edible fish & lots of lobster and conch.
I enjoyed being away from stores and the heightened commercialization of the holiday. Our celebration was simple. The nearby reef was an abundant hunting ground, and we captains and crew caught and cooked a sumptuous feast – lobster, grouper, and the versatile conch – conch salad, conch fritters, & fried conch for the Christmas Day Dinner.
Early on Christmas day we drew names for gifts. Only one gift per person, and with nowhere to make a purchase, it would require some ingenuity and creativity. I will never forget the sweetness and humor provided by these simple gifts handed out after dinner on Christmas day. A nice little manger scene crafted from pieces of coral found on beach was my favorite gift. A funny little poem composed especially for the recipient was a welcomed frequent read during the after dinner exchange. I usually gave a nice shell I found while hunting under¬water or sometimes a specially prepared (sautéed with ginger sauce) lobster tail for an addition to the meal. Singing Carols after dinner, what could be better?

Healing Family Forgiveness

Dear friends,

Yes, there is SOMETHING in the air and thanks to Love, it is not "things"! The best and most beautiful things are not things.

My Aunt who is last Matriarch in our family is now asking me for support after a lot of bad feelings last year as my Mom was dying (Dec. 24), and afterwards when my troubled nephew received most of the inheritance. Aunt Jo chose to separate Barry and I by taking him in at his insistence. Also, there was a "counselor", formerly a friend of mine, who backed Aunt Jo on her decision to divide us.

I was his caregiver before Mom's hospitalization. He is a master splitter and managed to help scapegoat me away from my Aunt (and my Mother previously, although I was not cognizant of it.)

Anyway, Barry is now in treatment. And Aunt Jo finally realizes that she cannot caregive for him , and I am gratefully supporting both of them. I have a new part-time job at the Greenville Art Museum, so I can be more available. I will still be spending about 1/3 of my time at the beach.


This healing/forgiving/reconciling with her is wonderful, as she was like a "Auntie Mame" to me growing up, and she and I will work together to help Barry get his life back together! Please pray for us!

Have Joyous Holy Days and a peaceful loving New Year! God is LOVE, ron

Actually one download below that is antique merrygoround (still working) in Monterey!

Here is a special verse for Barry: (and an affirmation)
"This God-his way is perfect;
The promise of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
2 Samuel 22:31

I see you, Barry, as an expression of perfect life that provides healing energy for body, mind and soul.
You, Barry, are open and receptive to the wisdom of God within, which whispers the answer to every question and provides supply for every need.
This is true for Barry and me, and about every being on earth. BLESSINGS BE, ron

Love In Truth

I truly believe that the lack of love is responsible for most of the world's ills. And every loving act will ripple outward into dimensions beyond our knowing. Ultimately, we must love ourselves wholly... but until then. the love shown by others seems to help us along. Jeanne of CronetotheBone.ning.com


"Let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth." -1John 3:18

Time for Manifestation!

"Your hoped for aspirations are now available. This is the process by which all thoughts transform into tangible form"

This is the time to take real control of consciously creating in your life. If things have looked bleak, now its time to turn this energy around. First look at where your thoughts are. Thoughts are transformed into tangible things; they begin with an idea, then the idea meets with a feeling. If the feeling is loving and nurturing, the idea and the feeling create the embryo of the manifestation.

Things are going to change, the question is, which direction are they changing to. Rethink what you 're going to do at this time. <Meditate, keep calm, and take what action you can. Take good care of your health. Start reading, take time out for yourself, and turn your face to the sun. Take a walk in the woods, Enjoy your loved ones, your food, and care for your health. Life is complex, yet so simple.

Angel wisdom reminds you that your intention into this new stage is a most important step and the universe's abundance is open to you. There may be a new beginning of some kind, and new challenges and opportunities are defiantly on the horizon. You are about to start another phase in your karmic journey, a brilliant new phase of this grand adventure called YOUR LIFE is about to enfold, embrace it with passion.
Thanks, Sharon Taphorn & Her Angels

Treat Everyone As If they will be dead by Midnight

WORD FOR THE DAY(gratefulness.org)
Sunday, Dec. 20

Treat everyone you meet as if he or she were going to be dead by midnight.
Extend to them all the care, kindness, and understanding you can muster,
and do so with no thought of reward. Your life will never be the same.

Og Mandino
The Greatest Salesman in the World

Mandino's Daily Scrolls:


Scroll I

Today I begin a new life.




Scroll II

I will greet this day with love in my heart.




Scroll III

I will persist until I succeed.




Scroll IV

I am nature's greatest miracle.




Scroll V

I will live this day as if it is my last.




Scroll VI

Today I will be master of my emotions.




Scroll VII

I will laugh at the world (Keep perspective)




Scroll VIII

Today I will multiply my value a hundredfold.




Scroll IX

I will act now, I will act now, I will act now.




Scroll X

I will pray for guidance.



Og Mandino, "The Greatest Salesman in the World"

A Prayer I like to read regularly!

My prayer for each of us today is the Prayer of Saint Theresa:

“May there be peace within.
May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others.
May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content with yourself just the way you are.
Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.”

You are the Light of the World. Thank you for shining your Light brightly.
Rev. Margaret

Joy Pleasure Happiness

Joy - Infinite & Eternal -
"Joy is the realization of our oneness, our soul's oneness with the supreme love." Rabindrath Tagore


"Joy is what happens to us when we
allow ourselves to recognize how
good things really are."
Marianne Williamson

Pleasure - short-lasting - ephemeral
- addictive

Joy - from Being
"Joy does not come from what you do, it flows into what you do and thus into this from deep within you." Eckhart Tolle

Pleasure - to escape, numb


For happiness one needs security,
but joy can spring like a flower
even from the cliffs of despair.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh

"My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy." James 1:2

Be Content & Grateful

WORD FOR THE DAY
Friday, Dec. 11

Be contented with what you possess in life;
be thankful for what does not belong to you,
for it is so much care the less;
but try to obtain what you need in life,
and make the best of every moment of your life.

Hazrat Inayat Khan
Gayan

Great Love Creates Miracles

WORD FOR THE DAY(GRATEFULNESS.ORG)
Saturday, Dec. 5

Where there is great love
there are always miracles.

Willa Cather

Love is the Greatest Force in the World

Love is the greatest force on earth. It is yours to use
everyday, if you so choose.

Today's Positive Thought

You have two basic choices in life; love or fear.
Choose love.

Today's Positive Affirmation

I AM love and I express love in every thought,
word, and deed.

Today's Positive Visualization

As I take a slow and even breath, I allow myself to sense
a spring of love bubbling up from my center. I imagine this
love flowing throughout my body, mind, and emotions, healing
and transforming every part of my life. In my mind's eye
I see the love within me connecting to the love that is
flowing throughout the world. I affirm that in this
love there is nothing to fear. I trust that this Universal
Source of love will protect and care for me at all times.
I imagine myself going throughout my day sending and
receiving love everywhere I go. In this love, I become a
magnet for all the good things I deserve in life. I combine
these images with the feelings of joy and let them go,
knowing that they will create the good things I am visualizing
and thinking.

Have a wonderful week~end~Love Teri (Theresa F Koch)

Fear Nothing

WORD FOR THE DAY
Monday, Nov. 30

Nothing in life is to be feared,
it is only to be understood.
Now is the time to understand more,
so that we may fear less.

Madame Marie Curie

Carl Sagan .."The Cosmos is within us. We are all made of star stuff."

The World is Evolving...

WORD FOR THE DAY(gratefulness.org)
Sunday, Nov. 29

The world is evolving
from imperfection to perfection.
It needs all love and sympathy;
great tenderness and watchfulness
are required from each one of us.

Hazrat Inayat Khan
A Bowl of Saki

Happy Thanksgiving Day - Everyday!

WORD FOR THE DAY (gratefulness.org)
Thursday, Nov. 26

Everyday, think as you wake up:
Today I am fortunate to have woken up.
I am alive. I have a precious human life.
I am not going to waste it.
I am going to use all my energies to
develop myself to expand my heart out
to others for the benefit of all beings.

His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama

We Are Not Separate From Each Other

A human being is part of a whole, called by us the “universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few people near us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.


— Albert Einstein

Reply by Scott Taylor 6 hours ago
As a part of all that is,we exist as individual sources of light,each here to experience physical life as an extension of this all knowing force.We are so close to our source, that when we smell a rose,God smells it too.Somehow we exist as vibrational tone and color,each with a unique pitch and hue,waiting patiently for our chance to rejoin the collective orchestra back where we all started.We live in a giant holigram,created by vibrational tones that we try and recreate here on the physical plane by making music and art..To remind of of what is yet to come..And has been,forever since the very first "I am"

A human Being,~spirit in a human form~~starts longing(at a certain moment) for Oneness.
Because we are THAT.
So then the soul is on a journey traveling HOME.I believe when it is Home it is Free.

This too shall Pass!" What makes "It pass?"

Our inner universe is similar to the outer universe. Within us are celestial bodies, planets, stars, even shooting stars, suns and moons - called protons, electrons, quarks within atoms, but mostly there is space called emptiness. We are all made up of these celestial parts, and the same energy that moves the stars through outer space shoots the stars within inner space. Impermanence is a fact yet the energy is eternal. Darkness is a norm yet the lightness penetrates throughout. Is the eternal energy that moves the stars the same energy that creates light?

Ron replies:
"This too shall Pass!" What makes "It pass?"

Our inner universe is similar to the outer universe. Within us are celestial bodies, planets, stars, even shooting stars, suns and moons - called protons, electrons, quarks within atoms, but mostly there is space called emptiness. We are all made up of these celestial parts, and the same energy that moves the stars through outer space shoots the stars within inner space. Impermanence is a fact yet the energy is eternal. Darkness is a norm yet the lightness penetrates throughout. Is the eternal energy that moves the stars the same energy that creates light?

Giving thanks releases joy - Happy Thanksgiving!

The secret of the power of joy
is this
giving thanks releases joy.
This feeling, this realization of joy
is all that matters.

anon

Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's quote:

"The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes."

My adds:
The longer I live the more peaceful life becomes.
The longer I live the more softer I become.
The longer I live the more joyous I become.
The longer I live the more accepting I become.
The longer I live the more enthusiasitic (as compared to excited) I become.
The longer I live the more balanced (yin and yang, anima & animus) I become.
The longer I love the more happy I am!
The longer I live the more healthier food I consume.
The longer I live the more water I drink.

Jeanne replies: "The longer I live 'the less I search and the more I just observe the amazing whatness before me."

Hold Infinity in the palms of your hand.

“To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower Hold infinity in the palms of your hand and eternity in an hour.”

Have a beautiful Week`end~Love Teri

Ways of Healing this Year

Ron-
sounds like there has been some major healing...and you are doing what you need to do for it all. You have never abandoned him, regardless of how you were being affected..
Hope all is going well for you and you have found that conscious peace that is your spirit's essence.
love,
Anon

Dear Anon,
Yes, "major healing is best way to describe it"! I have several different ways to heal including a magnificent minister at Unity church here - Rev. Margaret - her sermons and weekly book group using Eckhart Tolle's book The New Earth. Going weekly to Jackie's Conscious Light Prayer group , and checking in with Baba fairly regularly has helped. The essence of the teaching of A Course In Miracles helps - I have distilled this essence down to "Everybody is innocent and doing the best that they can now and every attack is a call for loving forgiveness." The Oneness Movement with it's healing Deeksha blessing has been of assistance. The Ho'oponopono prayer from an elderly Kahuna in Hawaii has been terrific - "I am sorry. I forgive you, thank you. I love you." Since we are all "One Love", I picture my nephew, wife(we are going through a peaceful, forgiving divorce, which I attribute to this prayer), my Aunt, my Mother or anyone who I think has wronged me, but since we are all One, I make sure I feel the forgiveness myself primarily. That "Ho" prayer has been of much solace. I still use Byron Katy's "Ask three questions, write them down and turn them around" for a lot of help with judgements. The third question - "how does that thinking serve you?" has become very significant to me. However, the single most assistance has been learning to be a Vipassana Meditator. I have reframed my Mother's paucity of inheritance as a "Divine Inheritance", as if I had inherited the bulk, my plan was to go to India for the Oneness Institute, which is very expensive. Then, in my relative poverty, I heard of a free ten day retreat: Ten Days of Silent Meditating. I was really impressed by prisoner's transformation going through the same retreat in "The Dhamma Brothers" documentary. I wanted that same peaceful acceptance within me. Here is an article I wrote about it:


Ten Days of Silence for Peace of Mind

Ron Alexander

After I returned from a ten day silent Vipassana Retreat, I have been asked "Why would you even want to be in silence for ten days?" That was a good question. I would have thought it crazy, if I had not seen the "Dhamma Brothers" documentary, about the amazing transformation of lifer prisoners (some convicted murderers), after they spent ten days of silent Vipassana Meditation.

Vipassana means to see things as they really are, and was started by Gautama Buddha 2600 years ago. "...Buddha taught: an art of living. He never established or taught any religion, any 'ism'. He never instructed those who came to him to practice any rituals, any empty formalities. Instead, he taught them just to observe nature as it is, by observing the reality inside. Out of ignorance we keep reacting in ways which harm ourselves and others. But when the wisdom arises-the wisdom of observing reality as it is-this habit of reacting falls away. When we cease to react blindly, then we are capable of real action-action proceeding from a balanced mind, a mind which sees and understands the truth. Such action can only be positive, creative, helpful to ourselves and to others." S.N. Goenka "The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation".

Science also supports the premise behind the Buddha’s meditation, as can be read about in Tolle’s books including identifying with inner space instead of form.

Daily eleven hours of meditating was not easy, many times I felt like just bolting. However, I am glad I didn’t. I am meditating more and more effectively experiencing much more peace and joy.

Goenka advises “daily practice – persistence, and you will succeed. Also to “end each sitting with a ‘Metta’ (Loving Kindness) prayer:

May all beings be happy, be peaceful, be free!”

Dr. Paul Fleischman, a psychiatrist and Vipassana Meditator was the man I went to see at UNC Asheville, when I was up there a couple of weekends ago! He is brilliant and his lecture on science and Vipassana Meditation, somehow covered the whole history of the Universe. Unfortunately, Dr. Fleischman told me that his book about this will not be ready for three years, however The Dalia Lama wrote The Universe in a Single Atom which is very insightful on the same subject.

I share most of this on my blessyourhearts.blogspot.com and with a much bigger audience on Carlos Santana and Jerry Jampolsky's site. architectsofanewdawm.com

anon, thanks for your compassionate inquiring,

no mistake, ron

New Spiritual Mecca

"Asheville and surrounding area is the new mecca of spiritual energy. That people are being drawn from all over to Ashville and nearby areas without knowing why.

I know I had been drawn to this area since the 80's and finally was able to escape the darker energy of Miami to move in ''91. Have made multiple moves away yet am always drawn back here. As you know these mountains are the most ancient on the planet and my personal experience is that they embrace with a wisdom and nurturing that I have not experienced anywhere else." Violette Ruffley


Last weekend I was in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in N. C.
I had a wonderful healing reunion with family - especially with Aunt and nephew. She is his great aunt, and has been rescuing him from trouble for a few months now. She really appreciated me taking him to Asheville for a Science of Meditation Seminar by Dr. Paul Fleischman. I don't know how much he enjoyed the lecture and the Dhamma Brothers Video, but he really enjoyed the beautiful day on the Blue Ridge Parkway and in the N. C. Botanical gardens.
A few days later, I received some good news from Barry (recovering from addiction, alcoholic problems), as I sent him the Unity Prayer of Protection along with his photo I took of him in the mountains. This photo was interesting as the setting sun, already behind the trees, burst forth and washed Barry with its light, as I took the photo. I remind him often that I will always see the Light in him, no matter what.
Barry enjoyed his photo and this Unity Prayer of Protection caption, and asked me to send it to him on his facebook "wall" so he could share it. A close up looks a lot better as you can see a rainbow of sunrays enveloping Barry. Someone said it looked like diaphanous "angel wings."



The light of God surrounds me;
The love of God enfolds me;
The power of God protects me;
The presence of God watches over me.
Wherever I am, God is.

Ron, great photo! There are many orbs of light beings throughout the picture in addition to angels wings. Truly a blessing of the protection, peace and love of Spirit.
JoAnna Adams


In addition, after dropping Barry off, I drove up an old two hwy. (80) from near Marion to try to find 'Carolina Dreams" - a meditation "furniture" establishment. I never found it but that on that "Lake Tahoma" drive, I felt very serene and secure, even though it was mostly deserted. It was a peaceful sacred feeling from just being in that upward twisting drive with beatiful lake, then mountain rocky creek beside road.

first allow me to tell you of my experience on the blue ridge in asheville a few months back.
while visiting a friend their for a weekend she took me to one her favorite outlooks. just to the left of the outlook was a small patch of forest. she encouraged me to take a walk into the forest. i asked if she was coming along with me. she said, "no you go yourself," it's a very peacefule place and i want you to experience it on your own. my friend who is wise and very intuitive knew what she was doing.

being the true beach person that i am did not pack, nor do i own a pair of hiking boots, so on sandaled foot i ventured into the forest. i walked a narrow path and soon spotted a flat rock unearthed and waiting for me. i sat upon the rock and gazed out in front of me. the trees and vines, the beauty of the earth mother. my eyes fell to the ground and there i saw a plastic grocery bag and then a plastic cigar tip. i glanced up and said to earth mother, "how very sad this must make you that my brothers care so little and do not appreciate all that you provide us with. how you nurture not only our bodies but our spirits." within seconds of uttering these words, a drop of water dropped from a small branch. i knew that instant is was the earth mother confirming to me the great sadness from our human greed, glutney, and lack of consideration for all living things. i apologized to her on behalf of my brothers that care so little for her.

i left the little forest area feeling loved yet with remenants of sadness...

Commitment to Love

November 16, 2009
The New Moon is in Scorpio today. It is time to start a new project or move on from things that you are not able to resolve. Scorpio is a sign of commitment, so things you begin today will get finished to your satisfaction. Can you count on yourself? Yes!

"Look past the seeming errors, mistakes, and misunderstandings, and see only the love within each person, including yourself."


Angel wisdom suggests that we keep our focus upon the love that underlies every situation, this action will bring about healing in the most profound ways.

See yourself and others, and every situation through the eyes of the Angels. See only Love. When you focus on love, anything that's unloving falls away. It is like turning on a light to diminish the darkness. Look past the personalities and egos and see the angel within each other. Forgive, release any hurt, anger or judgments to the Angels.

Call upon the Angels whenever you need help to elevate your 'vision' to a more loving vantage point.

We are here for you, just ask us for assistance and remember to listen for our answers, for you are dearly loved, the Angels

Count It All Joy

"Joy springs from a sense of connection to the Divine and is a quality which illuminates you."

Your Angel guidance is to cultivate this quality by seeking the Divine in every situation. Look beyond the surface and seek the light in the heart of each person. Then you will become aware of the wonder of creation and joy will ignite your life.

Angel wisdom suggests that you delight in everything, for joy is the key to enlightenment. Enjoy Life!

WORD FOR THE DAY (gratefulness.org)
Sunday, Nov. 15

Do not look for rest in any pleasure,
because you were not created for pleasure:
you were created for Joy. And if you do not
know the difference between pleasure and joy
you have not yet begun to live.
Thomas Merton



Consider it all joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of all kinds,
because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance. James 1:2-3

Affirm often: "I find joy in everything"

If you look at every human
being as a Divine mirror,
you will know yourself
and
understand life.
Sherif Baba

Reply by Francois Ward
Couldn't agree more just see love
in everyone because it is just yourself
you are looking at, thanks Ron

Reply from Maria,
Thank you Ron...that was timely...I was just reading about what Jesus said about treating everyone...what you do to them, you do to him. etc.Have a terrific week!

<strong>Be as one, as my Father and I are one. Jesus

Joy is the realization of our oneness, the oneness of our souls with supreme love. Tagore

Unity of Self by Mary Pat Alexander

Unity is a theme that many are focusing on in this time of expansion. So often we do tend to think outwardly…unity of countries, unity of groups of people. We affirm “we
Are One”.

In our healing journey we learn that we must first focus on healing of Self. In doing so, we raise the vibration of all others around us. We raise the vibration of the collective consciousness of the planet. It is in this thought pattern I look at unity. Unity must first start with Self. Unity within then manifests outside of ourselves as our physical reality - a mirror of who we are.

To understand this with more clarity, imagine yourself as consciousness, as an energy pattern. Give yourself the color white. And then think of all the different aspects of who you are. Giving you a personal example: the Pat with perfect eyesight, the Pat with limited eyesight, the Pat who is calm, the Pat who is stressed, the Pat who is the perfect weight, the Pat who is overweight, the Pat that is a wife, the Pat that is a mother, the Pat that loves helping others, the Pat that loves doing things for herself…..the list should be a large one consisting of all the things that you are. Yes, this will take a bit of time :)

Take the time to feel each one as you think of that particular part of yourself, visualizing each one of those aspects of yourself as an energy pattern each with a different color. In your visual surround your conscious Self (the white light) with all of these energies…seeing each of them as a colorful sphere of light. In this we are visualizing each as an individual part of ourselves.

When you are ready, bring the spheres of light, the different aspects of You, into your core integrating them as One, in unity. You will see and feel all the different colors merge with the white light of your core. Your conscious self is now a beautiful opalescent color. Feel the Unity of the one Self.

In this feeling you are One.

Life happens while we make other plans. The important message here- is to make plans, be flexible, expect delays and detours. Remember life is a journey and not a destination. A long the way make time to live well - love much and laugh often.

Have a wonderful week full of love, light and make some time for chocolate Anne-Marie McCormack

Embracing Love by Amara Rose

How connected are we beyond social media? The imagined barriers between people and among countries have never been more diaphanous; a strong breeze could blend perceived boundaries like drifting sand. And as the old structures deliquesce, the vessel that will carry us through this monumental transition is Love.

Shaman and healer Brant Secunda says deer medicine opens our hearts. His words resonate: on my journey home in 1994, I began communing with deer everywhere, signaling "friendship" - and they didn't dash away. This lends a whole new meaning to the phrase, "deer heart".

Yet truly embracing love is a frightening experience for most people, however much we may want to. Fusion means to pour or melt; "con" means with, so "confusion" ought to translate into melting together - which it does, though not in a way that tends to serve the people involved. How do we love - fuse - with clarity?

In Home with God, Neale Donald Walsch's final book in his Conversations With God series, he faces the topic that inspires humanity's greatest fear and fascination: the experience we call Death.

The book is an extraordinary prescription for LIFE. I'm particularly moved by the following passage, where God speaks about "whole person centering," or living fully in the Now.

"It is especially difficult to look another human in the eye for any period of time at all without beginning to fall in love. That is why people look away from each other so quickly. They don't dare look each other right in the eye for very long. The love that will follow will overwhelm them. Yet it is because they do not know what to do with that love that they are overwhelmed.

"The moment you surrender to love and allow it to lead you to exactly where your soul wants to go, you will have no difficulty. All struggle then will cease, and you will know Oneness."

Lately, the Hopi prophecy about these times has been reverberating strongly in my mind. It's never been truer than right now, as we surge toward the conclusion of a World Age. As the old ways become cosmic compost, Love is shining its Light more powerfully than ever before, bleaching falsehood from our souls, enlightening and enlivening us, bringing more joy to the journey.

2012 is the end of the spin cycle - old preconceptions and prejudices come out in the wash, and we get to begin anew

To Help or "Leave to Higher Power"?

Good News: This news may answer Melanies question about Barry acknowledging that he has a "Higher Power"?

Barry enjoyed his photo and this Unity Prayer of Protection caption, and asked me to send it to him on his facebook "wall" so he could share it.

The light of God surrounds me;
The love of God enfolds me;
The power of God protects me;
The presence of God watches over me.
Whereever I am, God is.

Also, I added one of my favorite verses: God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, love and a sound mind. Proverbs 14:44

I am grateful to be in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in N. C. I have had a wonderful healing reunion with family - especially with Aunt and nephew. She is his great aunt, and has been rescuing him from trouble for a few months now. She really appreciated me taking him to Asheville for a Vipassana Seminar. I don't know how much he enjoyed the lecture and the Dhamma Brothers Video, but he really enjoyed the beautiful day on the Blue Ridge Parkway and in the N. C. Botanical gardens. I took him back to S.C. and came back for a one day sitting up here. I told Barry that if he finds he really wants to go for a ten day silent Vipassana retreat, I will support him.

Ron,
Not that you are asking...but your comment prompted me to reflect on how useless it is to keep trying to change people. You can always lead a horse to the water, but it's up to him to drink it. As one turns such matters over to a greater Power, you can see that your role is not as pivotal as your ego once told you it was...This is my experience with the the toxic ex, for whom I just do the right thing and let her be as wacked as she wants to be. I am maintaining my equanamity by keeping the focus on me.

Let me know if such commentary is unwanted. One day I will learn to mind my own business. HA!
Peace,
"Anon"


No, Anon, I appreciate your kind thoughtfulness, so please comment often in response to my ramblings. One thing, Barry is almost like a son, and is the last "blood" in family. And I did not put any pressure on him to do anything and he truly enjoyed his trip to the mountains - the Fall leaves are still out here in the South.
I am concerned about Barry and my Aunt. He dominates her and is out of jail only because of her. If it had been up to me, he would still be there as I consider him a danger to others and himself. And he got out without any conditions, which is doubly dangerous. I am going to call his lawyer and ask him how he could have done that. I feel like I am supporting my Aunt, by doing something to help Barry get out of his darkness.
I am committed to see the Divine in all beings, so how could I leave my nephew out. It is easier to leave my wife out (we are going through a divorce now, and she has reluctantly agreed to do it with peace and forgiveness. However, since she is sociopathic, I am wary of what will happen in court - there is no mutual easy divorce here - they all have to go to court - a shame, and court is backed up to next Spring.)

Here is one answer:

Everything we say, create, do, feel and think rubs off on those around us, and contributes to the Collective Human Consciousness, which we are in turn influenced by subtlely and grossly.

How we live, and what we consider acceptable or normal, reflects the precedents we have set for each other as humans - the consensus reality or status quo - from what we eat to what calendar we follow!

The values, behaviors and attitudes we received from our lineages, our families, as well as our friends and associates is ours to either follow or adapt, change, and evolve.

God asks us to share our wisdom with our fellow Humans to influence their free will. Obviously, the greatest way to influence is to walk our talk so that others receive the clarity of our authenticity.

It is our opportunity to inspire one another by modeling the values we have come to uphold. Our ability to influence one another is an essential factor in the realization of the unquantifiable potential for collective, ongoing, accelerated evolution of consciousness!

In sharing space with fellow human souls, we are ever-invited into deeper intimacy of recognition of the unity that ties us together with all of creation.

May we compassionately assist one another, that together we may do what must be done to help as much humanity as possible stabilize during these times of transition and Quickening. Let us love ourselves unconditionally and nurture one another's growth.


"I believe in the liberation of the human
through the exaltation of humanity-
that is, the realization of the innate
divinity of each person."

Theresa F Koch (Teri)


Ron,

For me as a physician, I am of the sort that I could not continue to be a position of telling people what to do. That was getting ME sick! How dare they not listen to my advice!

In this case, I was not telling Barry what to do - he really wanted to go with me to the mountains, and was in a joyous mood, while in nature. At the sitting, since he was not an old student, he had to wait in atrium. At lecture, I went in and sat in front, which he did not do, and afterwards, I found out he sat in back.

HA! It was a ego thing, like we are supposed to have being akin to some god-like figure. Like I really have power over people. If anything I can just be a conduit of God's will, by directing in a proper direction for the person to act on.

It was not an "ego thing" for me, I am very concerned about Barry, but he was in his free will, and so was I.

The empowerment I get today is about self realization. Me, too

That I can share with another what my experience, strength, and hope might be on the subject. That is what Jeanne has done for us here.

This is what I was doing with Barry, with the willing voices of two other much "older" (like Jeanne) Vispassana student/leaders there in N. C.

However, the individual must be a seeker.

Barry, despite his problems, is very much a seeker. Unfortunalely, many alcoholics continue seeking "spirit' through spirits.

I am learning that one may be doing a disservice to deny another his due misery. Believe me, Barry is doing his "due misery", yet I am not sure he has really hit bottom yet, and that may because his Great Aunt keeps rescuing him.

<em>He may need that to grow in the path that God has set forth. Thus, I believe that unsolicited advice
(Barry and I have re-created a bond, and it was not "unsolicited advice")can be harmful, <em>when looked at in this regard. I think that is why they have us just sit down, and ignore others in the Vipassana journey.

Here is where I disagree, as I grow with more equanamity with accompanying more lightness, old friends and family are coming to me, and are asking me what is going on in my life - more solicited feedback.

One's journey is an individual thing. And so much communication can occur without all these words being exchanged. I thoroughly agree with this, and because of this, I am happy that I am being asked how I could have changed so much in last few months.

I'm not a fan of people stating how to do so and so. I AM a fan of one telling what happened to you, and how you made it through.

That last sentence describes exactly what has been joyously going on with me.

I feel that you are suffering in many regards: nephew, wife tripping. But you also have to see your role in it all, and just get out of victim mentality.>

Thank you, my friend, you have helped me get out of the "victim mentality" pointing me to the ten day retreat, etc. And with the support of meditating 2 hours per day, going to two support groups (ACIM & Tolles New Earth)and other workshops - especially the Ho'oponopono prayer, I am mostly out of egoic action and definitely "victimness". Reframing my paucity of inheritance to Divine Inheritance has really helped - "the most beautiful and best things in life are not things". I feel like I have a tool box of very selfhelpful growth tools, with Vipassana meditation being the strongest.

It is being shown to you that STUFF, which includes the cloak of people is just another thing to just caught up in. I'm sure my ex has yours bet hands down for insanity,(that could be an interesting bet)so I just eventually will have to just accept who she is, because I can't change a damned thing about her. I can just be an example of living sanity, and pray for her to get better somehow. I agree with this last statement, and I think she may get it that I want a peaceful, forgiving cheap divorce.

I hope this helps. I am going to bed--doing evening shifts last two days.

Good rest, my friend, I wish you the best and see your heart is into helping, thank you! ron

Peace,Anon

I didn't mention 'unsolicited advice' Ron, I was talking about rescuing addicts. The important first step in any addicts recovery (as the 12 step system that Alcoholics Anonymous use) is to acknowledge that there is a Higher Power than yourself. Talk to Barry about exactly this because if he can acknowledge it then he's chosen the path to recovery. That was how I got into all this spiritual 'stuff', it was part of my own recovery. Love Melanie X (not "anon")

Dear Melanie, "Anon" is not a crone and his messages were personal to me, and I prefer to not share his name.
Why is alcoholic "anonymous" anonymous?

Here is "anon"'s last comment: "You got it Ron. It's supposedly is happening the way it is supposed to happen. Take it easy."
and I think I will end this dialogue with that! Thanks for your responses, love to you, ron

An Exchange of Dialogues about the Divine Energy of Unconditional Love

I contacted His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

His age & health conditions preclude his availability for an interview.
Ah, that is too bad and very sad!

My guest 11.11.09 is a brilliant physicist, Peter Russell who authored 'From Science to God' which I read. Peter was supervised for a while by Stephen Hawking at Cambridge U.K.
Yes, I met Peter when he was living on a sailboat in Sausalito about 15 years ago. I have read some of his articles, and will now have to get his book. Indeed, he his brilliant. You can tell him I met him with my sweetheart of the time, Terri Glass, the poet.

Unsure when I will find time to read the Dalai Lama's book, however I am keen to read it.
Amazing, how well schooled he is in Science, and of course, spirituality. One reason to be thankful for the Chinese - their taking over Tibet, let to The Dalia Lama becoming a "world citizen" (Which he calls himself).

Be well,
Doreen
Thank you, dear Doreen, I am still pondering co-writing a book - something about the energy of an unconditional love that would include a scientific study of that Divine Energy. It would be an exchange of dialogues. I will have a lot of free time after this weekend. I am going to UNC Asheville to study the science behind Vipassana Meditation with Dr. Paul Friedman, who is a Vipassana Teacher and a psychiatrist:
"In November, Dr. Paul R. Fleischman M.D., psychiatrist, author, and Vipassana Meditation Teacher under the guidance of S.N. Goenka, will be in ASHEVILLE, ATLANTA, CHAPEL HILL, and SAVANNAH to share talks on The Scientific World-View and Vipassana Meditation and will conduct a number of group sittings. The lectures are free and open to the public. The group sittings are open to Old Students. An Old Student is one who has completed at least one 10-day meditation course with S.N Goenka or his assistant teachers. Please bring your cushions."

A Harmonized Mind - Equanimity

WORD FOR THE DAY(gratefulness.org)
Monday, Nov. 2

A harmonized mind produces
harmony in this world of
seeming discord.

Paramahansa Yogananda .

Comment by Ron Alexander I added this to "equanimity dialogue" above: In addition, the way Goenka talks about equanimity, I think it means the same as "mindfulness" in other forms of Buddhism?

Reply by Jeanne 14 hours ago
Mindfulness is the westernized term adopted by the 'psychological' crowd. A few years back, following the loss of a close person... I was grieving and went to a counselor for awhile. She spoke of mindfulness and I told her I was a vipassana meditator. She sat back and said then there was nothing she could offer me that I didn't already have. I respected her so much for valuing vipassana that I continued to see her for a couple months.
Silja replies:

Ron,
Yes, it really is immensely important to find the balance and harmony inside, that keeps from running around for useless things. What we need to have the harmonized mind is to get truly back to our heart. The system does everything to keep ourselves locked inside the mind and that is why it starts to run around like a rabbit (not intended to be an offence to a rabbit:-). If the mind is filled with more information than it can take (contradictory indeed), it looses the capacity to make individual decision. Then it leads to confusion. So it is not just words to come back to heart and it makes the mind even clearer.
Thank you so much!
The nature is one of the best healers and these are some of the most beautiful words to describe it in a simple and yet so wonderful way. Thank you Jesus!

What we all need is love and the only way to feel it is to search for it is inside our own heart. Meditation is the listening the truth. What it needs is to get connected with the feelings and to get quiet.

Think Love, Be Love

Science and Spirituality

Comment by Ron Alexander on October 27, Spirituality & Quantum Physics:
"I once asked my physicist friend David Bohm this question: From the perspective of modern science, apart from the question of misrepresentation, what is wrong with the belief in the independent existence of things? His response was telling. He said that if we examine various ideologies that tend to divide humanity, such as racism, extreme nationalism, and the Marxist class struggle, one of the key factors of their origin is the tendency to perceive things as inherently divided and disconnected." His Holiness The Dalia Lama from p. 51 of his book The Universe in a Single Atom.

In Loving Oneness, ron

Comment by mary rose on October 27, 2009 at 7:10pm Ron, I very much appreciate your comment about David Bohm and his response to you with regard to perceiving things as inherently divided and disconnected as so many do today. While i was not fortunate enough to converse with Bohm, my mentor of many years, V. Vernon Woolf, founder of the International Academy of Holodynamics had many discussions with him. And, i consider myself to be extremely fortunate to have been introduced to quantum physics through the study of Holodynamics meaning that one must understand the multi-dimensional dynamics of any given situation in order to comprehend the many different inter-actions going on within the whole and thus find solutions to any challenges which might arise within any given situation. There is always so much overlap going on that it soon becomes obvious that there are no beginnings and no endings -- that everything we do affects everything else.

Thank you, Ron, for also providing the correct title to the Dalia Lama's book - It is one i do not own, although i have read it, and have been writing "The Universe In An Atom" when referring to it and leaving out the word "single".

Another theory of Bohm's that has been quite useful to me is that of there being an Implicate Order to the Universe which holds true even in chaos. In one of John Assaroff's videos the other day on Facebook, he was saying: "Don't worry about the Universe it is always OK -- it will always be there for you."

with much love and appreciation, m r .


Hi dear Mary Rose, thank you for your learned contribution. I am going to copy it and add to my collection of connections between science and spirituality. David Bohm was talking to The Dalia Lama, who wrote that in his book. I did not have the pleasure of meeting Dr. Bohm, but have been blessed to work with The Dalia Lama and Yolanda King (drama therapy type support) with "Children of War" in San Francisco 15 to 20 years ago. It was so sad to hear of Yolanda's passing as I think she was the best of MLK, Jr.'s children. much gratitude, ron

Spirituality & Quantum Physics Comment by mary rose on October 9, 2009 at 11:30am In my book, The Sacred Quest for the Who of I Am, which discusses the biology of human consciousness while at the same time exploring what i call the 'cultural baggage" that accompanies it in the form of religious beliefs, I will be defining "quantum entrainment" as the state of being in which both hemispheres of the brain are integrated and entrained with the heart brain This then making the mind/body connection.

In her book, "Molecules of Emotion" pharmacologist, Dr. Candace Pert, reveals the body as being the sub-conscious mind. Information from cellular biolgist, Dr. Bruce Lipton reveals that each cell in the body is configured exactly like a computer chip, so here we have the vision of the body/mind configured like a quantum computer with the heart being the energy cord that connects us to the electromagnetic energy field which underlies all of life and to the electromagnetic field surrounding the Earth.

While the entire picture is not complete, at least that i am able to find as a research journalist, what appears is that when the heart and the brain are entrained, we are configured as a hologram. But, i am only providing the simple version here it is really much more complex.

What the New Biology or New Science is revealing is that the "divine" is not "out there" someplace, we are the Divine in the form of a coded energy field with a coded energy field being defined as a "field of in-form-ation". In other words, since form follows function, we are, as a field of information coded as to what our mission in life is about.

As we understand more about who we really are, it becomes easier to understand how quantum or energy healing takes place and why so-called miracles are really natural normal occurrences that some have tried to replace with chemical drugs in order to make money.

I really love your video Sky and the healing music you provide along with the visuals. In the realm of energy healing we are learning more and more about the ability of music to create both chaos and coherence patterns in the human energy field and what the benefit to society as a whole would be if we would devote our listening time to healing music. However, if we do a "walk on the wild" side so to speak, we can bring the body/mind field back into a coherence pattern by listening to healing music afterwards so that no harm is done by listening to sounds that produce incoherent mind/body patterns.

Coherence patterns are denoted both by measuring the number of hertz per second at which the body is vibrating and viewing the aura with its corresponding colors.

To Experience Oneness, See Everyone as a Divine Mirror

WORD FOR THE DAY (gratefulness.org)
Monday, Oct. 26

If you look at every human
being as a Divine mirror,
you will know yourself
and
understand life.

Sherif Baba

Reply by Francois Ward
Couldn't agree more just see love
in everyone because it is just yourself
you are looking at, thanks Ron

Reply from Maria,
Thank you Ron...that was timely...I was just reading about what Jesus said about treating everyone...what you do to them, you do to him. etc.Have a terrific week!



We are all innocent, loving the best we can.
Thank you, Linda for bringing back this dialogue ("Narcissism or Self - love?). I have returned to my mantra: "Everyone (including ourselves) is innocent and loving the best they can" after re-reading all of the wisdom in your and the other replies plus some positive dialogue with my nephew (facing up to 30 years in jail); Also, when I use the Ho'Oponopono "I am sorry, please forgive me, thank you. I love you" - it starts with me and I send it outwards to those I have judged (like Mom, most recently).

Thought of the Day by Story Waters, 10/26/09


Love is freedom. It is the foundation upon which you create. Unconditional love can only birth through loving your Self for you cannot love anyone more than you unconditionally love yourself. All love you give to others that you do not give to yourself is conditional love as it represents a separation rather than unification between you. Loving without condition connects the fabric of reality.
hi ron,
thanks for your alert that you'll copy the "thought of the day by Story Waters" - i'm happy you did and also glad you kept the mention of the author of this great snippet - it's so true in my experience and yet so hard to come by -

one person had asked Story, why she could feel unconditional love for her son and not for herself and Story answered the following:

Story Waters:
Perhaps he is a mirror of what is possible, a mirror of what can birth from within you, so your love for him is a mirror of your potential to directly love your Self. Children are incredible mirrors of the love that has always been within you, waiting to be birthed. May you discover the love for your children in the mirror of your Self. xxx

i found that to explain beautifully why we sometimes can't give ourselves that unconditional love yet, but do feel it for our loved ones (mainly our children i think).

the never ending topic love - and when are we comprehending, integrating and living that we ARE love already ?.... claudia


Doreen A Agostino has sent you a message on Architects of a New Dawn

Thank you Ron.

May I add something about the mirror?

When I am triggered emotionally in a negative way by what the mirror reveals; this signals a hidden gift or higher purpose. In essence the mirror reflects my inner emotional wounded self crying out for love and oneness with me.

When I am without emotion by what the mirror reveals, it is an invitation to allow others to be that which they are without judgment. Curious to hear your views.Warm regards,
Doreen
Dear Doreen, thanks for your deep thoughtful response and question. I am taking my time to answer you, as it is such a profound subject. I am studying several writings right now that are helping me formulate an answer including THE UNIVERSE IN A SINGLE ATOM by His Holiness The Dalai Lama. I consider this subject so vital to our growth as human beings, I would like to dialogue with you publicly on-line or co-write a book about it or both! What mutual group here would be an appropriate venue or could we start a new one on "Experiencing Oneness Dialogue"?

P.S. In grad. school, one of my favorite friends/co-students last name was Rose D'agostino. She helped me with a workshop on Attitudinal Healing for the Krishnamurti group in the Sierras. I used to work for Jerry Jampolsky at his Center, when it was in Sausalito

Reply by William Kimmel:
Nice. We are all one anyway. I think really there is no mirror but see where the saying is coming from. I like your title better "Gratfulness for Divine Mirrors". Gatefulness for The Divine. Cool~


"I once asked my physicist friend David Bohm this question: From the perspective of modern science, apart from the question of misrepresentation, what is wrong with the belief in the independent existence of things? His response was telling. He said that if we examine various ideologies that tend to divide humanity, such as racism, extreme nationalism, and the Marxist class struggle, one of the key factors of their origin is the tendency to perceive things as inherently divided and disconnected." His Holiness The Dalia Lama from p. 51 of his book The Universe in a Single Atom.

reply by William Kimmel
Wonderful.....It really is all based in our perception of things. Good.....Nuteral......Bad. It is dependant on our experience somewhat and what we have been taught. Our embedded conceptual thinking, one might say. When we train our self to look beyond our own concepts and judgments with compassion, our mind expands and we begin to see how things really are. The divine eye that sees the mirror. The mirror is just a reflection of our true nature. To "love one another" (Golden Rule). We see that we face the same basic emotions and causes of suffering regardless of race, nationality or religion Then we can have a truly harmonious and peaceful world.~

Hi Ron,
i'd like to let you know that i know very little of Buddhism practices/theology. I have very early in my life decided that i would follow no religion and i still hold it this way. This decision does not mean that I am against religion, it just means, i have in this life no desire to follow one. I have however had a great journey away from the initial "christian" indoctrinations from my childhood where a "God" was placed at the top towards the understanding at age 15, that I hold this "God-ness" inside of me, in my heart and that i AM a spark of "God" or "All that is"... mind you that was 1976.
i have since had epiphanies and experiences that bring certain knowledge, or wisdom, if you will. the greatest transformation came to me when I realized, that not only are we all one, but we are here to learn about love and at the core of this love of self. Once, the many sparks (or say, the critical mass of sparks) have learned to love themselves, the ONE (God?) will have made the experience it has set out to do. I believe the "big bang" to be the splitting up of the ONE into a myriad of singular particles and before that, I can only imagine absolute stillness, and a great amount of boredom. Perhaps the one decided to split itself up into these sparks, because it was bored? or because there was a possible curiosity to find out how it would be to love oneself.

The "playground" earth is set up ingeniously in my opinion.
It creates a singular reality for each individual and that mirrors exactly what is inside that individual. There are no victims, we are just all actors in our own play, that we write, create, direct and act in. Sometimes this "stage/actor/director" idea comes to me so clearly, when i'm interacting with others and it creates a wave of laughter so strong, it is hard to hold back. I have often wondered if that is what creates the perma-smile on the Dalai Lama's face ?... who's to say.

In that smile, i see many things, i see understanding, compassion, love, not just for others, that would be sort of arrogant, but mainly for oneself. Carlos Santana writes: "The world would be transformed if all of us would practice forgiveness.My heart tells me that." and i hope he means that we need to forgive ourselves first for ALL the goof-ups, ALL the silly mistakes, ALL the moments we weren't balanced and in loving kindness. Only then do we have the courage to tap into our hearts, to know what is truly our essence. We are made of love, have been scattered around the globe with the veil of forgetfulness in order to experience ALL and return to who we truly are. WE ARE LOVE - your grandmother, for whatever reason was able to give you unconditional love, she showed you who you are and if you feel it saved your life, then i have a suspicion, it DID!... it only takes ONE adult in a child's life and it does not have to be a parent, to "save" it from whatever atrocity is going on. You can only honor your grandmother by trying to see in yourself what she obviously was able to see in you - a being whose essence is love, a being who is basically kind, compassionate and forgiving. a being who potentially can recognize that who he is - LOVE...

ok - that was a long sort of message ron, i don't mean to indoctrinate anyone, these are my core beliefs of life and so far i haven't found any better ones :)... take what resonates with you, leave the rest and thanks for being open to read it all :)
lovely to get to know you - every encounter is an opportunity to look into the mirror of life anew :)
claudia

Vipassana means to see things as they really are, and was started by Gautama Buddha 2600 years ago. "...Buddha taught: an art of living. He never established or taught any religion, any 'ism'. He never instructed those who came to him to practice any rituals, any empty formalities. Instead, he taught them just to observe nature as it is, by observing the reality inside. Out of ignorance we keep reacting in ways which harm ourselves and others. But when the wisdom arises-the wisdom of observing reality as it is-this habit of reacting falls away. When we cease to react blindly, then we are capable of real action-action proceeding from a balanced mind, a mind which sees and understands the truth. Such action can only be positive, creative, helpful to ourselves and to others." S.N. Goenka "The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation".

Hi Claudia, as you can see above, Buddha was not about starting a religion. l really enjoyed your letter. It fits well with my beliefs. My experience is that form disappears but the essence remains.
The form could be the body, while the essence is the energy of unconditional love like my Grandmother sent me. Buddhism does not even have a word for God, unless it it the Universe, which they think is infinite and eternal. So I believe that God, Higher Power, Inner Power, Great Spirit, Great Mystery (my favorite) or the Universe is energized by Love. "God did not give us the spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind." no mistake, ron

Soothing to the soul, Healing to the bone

You don't have to respond to me - "God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power,love and a sound mind".


We are all innocent and loving the best we can, "Be as one..." , thanks ron

I really love this prayer though, and like me you have probably seen it several times:
& St. Theresa is not Mother Teresa, I am pretty sure.

Saint Theresa's Prayer

May today there be peace within.

May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be confident knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance,
praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us.

***********************************************************************************
This goes along with one of my favorite verses from Proverbs:
May your words be sweet as honeycomb, soothing to the soul, and healing to the bone.

We are all innocent, loving the best we can.

Thank you, Linda for bringing back this dialogue ("Narcissism or Self - love?). I have returned to my mantra: "Everyone (including ourselves) is innocent and loving the best they can" after re-reading all of the wisdom in your and the other replies plus some positive dialogue with my nephew (facing up to 30 years in jail); Also, when I use the Ho'Oponopono "I am sorry, please forgive me, thank you. I love you" - it starts with me and I send it outwards to those I have judged (like Mom, most recently).

Thought of the Day by Story Waters, 10/26/09


Love is freedom. It is the foundation upon which you create. Unconditional love can only birth through loving your Self for you cannot love anyone more than you unconditionally love yourself. All love you give to others that you do not give to yourself is conditional love as it represents a separation rather than unification between you. Loving without condition connects the fabric of reality.
hi ron,
thanks for your alert that you'll copy the "thought of the day by Story Waters" - i'm happy you did and also glad you kept the mention of the author of this great snippet - it's so true in my experience and yet so hard to come by -

one person had asked Story, why she could feel unconditional love for her son and not for herself and Story answered the following:

Story Waters:
Perhaps he is a mirror of what is possible, a mirror of what can birth from within you, so your love for him is a mirror of your potential to directly love your Self. Children are incredible mirrors of the love that has always been within you, waiting to be birthed. May you discover the love for your children in the mirror of your Self. xxx

i found that to explain beautifully why we sometimes can't give ourselves that unconditional love yet, but do feel it for our loved ones (mainly our children i think).

the never ending topic love - and when are we comprehending, integrating and living that we ARE love already ?.... claudia


Here is a reply to a friend who has recently become enamored with The Koran -
"Tear out those pages", the advice that Bill Thetford used to tell us when studying A Course in Miracles
in the mid- 80's. This scribe (Helen was the channel) of this tome was describing the dualistic (ego-bashing part of ACIM)
What I look for in all religions and spiritual pursuits is their essence. If their essence is Love and the belief that God is love and that there is no seperation, no duality in their teaching, then I will study further. The Bible, the Koran, A Course in Miracles all have this essence yet they also have parts with much duality - God and Satan or God and Ego, etc. So if in the end they do not teach that we are all innocent and loving the best we can, I lose interest. For that matter, I am not interested in the Old Testament with it's condemning "God". or the first half of A Course in Miracles which tells us how bad our ego is....then both have their wonderful love chapters like Jesus taught and the ACIM finally tells us our "essence is Love, that we are wholly loveable and wholly loving!" I don't know enough about the Koran, but would discard any seperation/duality thoughts that are written there and go for its Love Essence - the Truth!
One Love, ron

Hard Lessons: Combining Ho'oponopono with Meditation

I have had a very interesting past few days. Getting involved in things again, which made me realize again how the best things in life are not things. I was invited to a wooden boat show to sell some of my nautical collections (including some of my original illustrations such as "Divina,the golden dolphin"). It was a lot of work for not much money, and helped me realize that I have the same "dis-ease" as my collector Mother. This was dismaying, however it helped me express more forgiveness toward her. I used ho'oponopon very sincerely - "I am so sorry, please forgive me, thank you. I love you." as I realized my attachment to things is toxic also.

I am waiting now for someone to come help me un
load rental truck, and my body is sore and my spirit is lifted as I learn to have equanimity despite doing something I don't like doing - moving "things". It helps me realize why I appreciate a monastery/ashram so much - being away from attachment to things. Now I will simplify my life by selling and giving away alot of my objects. So I see this time as a new realization and beginning to a more simple life. Hard lessons but karma, I suppose!
in the spirit of loving Oneness,ron

My love for you will always be, forevermore, throughout eternity. Divina the golden dolphin

Reply by William Kimmel, Jr.
Congratulations on your growth. Equanimity is one of the great keys to life! Not an easy one to get either.

Reply by Ron Alexander
Thank you, William. The equanimity I am improving on is a direct result of Vipassana meditation usually one hour in AM & one hour in PM. I sleep better also.
I credit my more balanced calmer mind in helping me to drive the remaining truckload and selling the whole thing (minus my originals) to an antique dealer and allowing them to empty it - saving me from expending more energy and lightening my spirit as well.
May all beings be free, ron

Two Ways to live your live...

There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Embracing The Divine Masculine

Embracing the Divine Masculine

.Life is a beautiful interplay of imagination and manifestation. Known in other ways as feeling and thought, feminine and masculine, yin yang, each requires and adds to the other. In an amazing dance that allows us to create and recreate our world, these energies continuously merge into each other to form a union that brings wholeness to our expression. Inspiration held with determination is what creates our physical experience and when this process is conscious and balanced, great manifestations result that benefit all.

Identified simply as our feminine and masculine aspects, these forces combine to make up our innate creative potential. Although often exemplified by our gender, we must take care not to confuse this strictly with being male or female. Both of these potent energies are a natural part of each of us and provide the very mechanism for our ability to exist. They are our right and left brain functioning as one, with love and logic in perfect harmony.

For millennia, cultures have held a fundamental focus and tendency towards the masculine aspect having dominion, where physical manifestation is at the cost of suppressing our intuitive, holistic, and imaginative, feminine energy. This ongoing and increasing imbalance has formed a great rift from our once splendid ability to create with wisdom, universal vision and magnificence.

Thus we find many men using their will to make things materialize regardless of cost to the whole, while subordinating their feminine equal into roles that ignore and trivialize the nurturing and imaginative aspects so vital to life. Likewise, many women deny their ability to fully realize their creations in manifest form and perpetuate the dilemma of subservience to male domination.

In recent times, we have born witness to a re-awakening of the feminine energy. For many females, this has been a necessary reclaiming of their “goddess” energy or divine feminine, which in reality is their embracing the fullness of both aspects essential to manifest, including the masculine will. In men, however, we often find confusion and frustration as this loving energy begins to percolate throughout their existence. They are beginning to feel once again, and yet with so few examples as to what this means, there is a tendency to remain in the only perspective they have known for so long.

Life always seeks balance. With an increasing awareness of cause and effect, we are quickly seeing that what happens in one part of the world instantly affects the whole just as our thoughts and feelings work together in our personal experience. We are coming to realize that it is up to each of us to embrace our true creative potential and ensure that we balance the feminine with the masculine. Nowhere is this more evident than with the men who have been constantly using their unbridled will without regard to consequences.

It is time for the divine masculine to emerge through love. What does this mean? It is a wakeup call for each to embody their highest potential of masculine energy. Rather than perpetuating an imbalanced approach to creation that ultimately leads to destruction and chaos, it is our distinct opportunity to embrace and express our integrity, honesty, dignity and compassion. It is allowing the rising feminine energy to blend with our masculine to make enlightened and loving choices. By consciously acknowledging and incorporating our imagination, intuition and feelings, with courage, strength, and an open heart, we birth a new world where love, wisdom and power are always in balance.
Love, light and peace,
Harold W. Becker
President and Founder
The Love Foundation, Inc.

Morning Meditation - a Daily AM Read

Morning Meditation "Just for Today"Posted by Lubov Ovtchinikov
This is a message I read every morning before I start my day,
It is simple but very helpful.

Just for today
I will try to live through this day only, and not tackle my whole life problems at once.
I can do something for twelve hours that would appall me if I felt that I had to keep it up for a lifetime.
Just for today
I will be happy. This assumes to be true what Abraham Lincoln said, that,
"Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."
Just for today
I will adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires.
I will take my “luck” as it comes, and fit myself to it.
Just for today
I will try to strengthen my mind. I will study. I will learn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer.
I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration.
Just for today
I will exercise my soul in three ways: I will do somebody a good turn and not get found out;
if anybody knows of it, it will not count. I will do at least two things I don’t want to do – just for exercise.
I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt: they may be hurt, but today I will not show it.
Just for today
I will be agreeable, I will look as well as I can: dress becomingly, talk low, act courteously, criticize not one bit, not find fault with anything, and not try to improve or regulate anybody except myself.
Just for today
I will have a program. I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it. I will save myself from two pests: hurry and indecision.
Just for today
I will have quiet half hour all by myself, and relax. During this half hour, sometime, I will try to get a better perspective of my life.
Just for today
I will be unafraid to enjoy what is beautiful, and to believe that as I give to the world, so the world will give to me.

Reply by Ron Alexander
Wise thoughts - thanks for adding this - I will cut and copy to my daily reminders! loving kindness, ron

I wrote this for the Vipassana group site today:
Not transcendance, not trance, not out-of-body, not egolessness, although these states happen in meditation, in Vipassana, our goal is equanimity according to Goenka.
To me equanimity is real peace, real joy, real balance, and is the middle road that Buddha teaches. metta, ron

Web Inquiry

The Web Inquiry

The web
in a dreamcatcher
The worldwide web

The interconnectedness
of all beings
dream or reality?

Deep Healing

It is better if we can feel what we say, otherwise it is just words without much meaning behind of it.
Just can't get over of talking about Ho'oponopono.
So, if we say: " I love you," we should really take the time to feel it inside. (Me personally I'd prefer "us all" to word "you", even if it is being done for someone personally. It is just that I prefer seeing everything as the whole.)
When saying "thank you," we should really feel gratitude and think of what we're
being grateful for.
When saying "I'm sorry and please forgive me," it would be useful to get so deep that we could also let go and forgive all the pain. It is just that we can't get without giving it first. So we need to forgive ourselves and all the others for carrying or causing the pain. So we also need to forgive before asking to be forgiven, but also understand the reasons that has caused it all.

The whole creation was not intended to cause any of the suffering and that's how it was before, but this information is erased from our history books. But as the human civilization we have gone pretty far from it... Kind a difficult to make a good face and not to see what we have done. I'm really deeply sorry for all of it, that I'd rather not want to see. I'm sorry for all the pain that I'm still causing and what I have caused before because not being aware enough or brave enough to make the better choices. I'm sorry whenever being unhappy and sad... I am grateful for being happy and for making someone feel happier. I'm happy for all of the life we still have here, for the love and joy.

You can say just one word with all the meaning by feeling it all that you say.
With love, -Silja

Comment by Ron Alexander
Thanks for adding your wisdom to Ho'oponopono! dear Silja, The words "I am sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you" taken into my loving kindness meditation is really helping me heal alot of old wounds.

"There is no more of a sacred place than where ancient wounds are turned into a present love." (ACIM)

Experiencing Oneness

I dreamt of my husband last night. He died almost two years ago exactly. I dreamt that he was here with us in Ladakh. You, he and I were walking in the late afternoon in the hills near Lamayuru. He was carrying a dark leather book under one arm. It looked very old. From time to time he would stop to show you a passage from the book, and from the expressions on both of your faces, it must have been a work of great beauty. I asked him, "what book are you reading together, but he did not answer. Perhaps he had not heard me. A little later, he left us and went down to a stream on the right. he bent down and laid the book tenderly in the stream. "Why are you doing that?" you asked. He did not answer for a long time, and I thought, "He is dead; he cannot answer," but then he said, "None of us needs those words any more." He walked on ahead alone. We all walked alone. The valley where we were walking narrowed and filled with an even light. We were walking separatly, but I felt that we were part of the same mind, a mind that contained also the rocks around us, and the stream that now began to shine with the same light. I found myself talking to myself with your voice; once I looked down at my hands, and saw that, in that moment, they were my husband's hands. And it was not frightening at all, this mingling with each other and with the rocks around us, and with the light; it was very calm and natural.

p. 110 in A Journey in Ladakh by Andrew Harvey

WORD FOR THE DAY (gratefulness.org)
Thursday, Oct. 8

So far as past errors are concerned,
forget them and start afresh, as if it were your
first day in this body; but so far as your
present contacts are concerned, be kind to them,
as if it were your last day in this body.

Paul Brunton

Altering the course of history

"A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history."

~Mohandas Gandhi

Memory of the Heart

WORD FOR THE DAY(gratefulness.org)
Wednesday, Oct. 7

Gratitude is
the memory of
the heart.

St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier
Motto for the Sisters of the Good Shepherd of Our Lady of Charity

To Love So Much: Meditate on this -

May all beings be free:

The Rinpoche (Thuksey) speaking:
Many people say they want to receive teachings and all they are saying is : I want a little more knowledge so that I can impress people. What is the use of that? Many people say they want to learn about Buddhism, but their way of learning is an escape from the truth and not an approach to it. So it is important that you understand that what is necessary is the true motivation, the true approach. If you do not have that, everything you learn will be of no use to you.

He paused , with his eyes still closed. To come to the Teachings in the right spirit you must know and feel many things. You must understand, not merely in your mind but in your heart and spirit the impermanence and transience of all phenomena. You must understand that all things are suffering - that love without awareness is suffering, that desire without awareness is suffering. You must understand the nature of suffering so deeply that you see all the world is in pain, that all Being is suffering. The Buddha said the whole world is on fire. Even those words will burn you if you do not hear them with the right purity. You must understand the nature of suffering, to transcend it to leave the world of fire and enter Nirvana, to overcome the torment of desire and live in calm and love.

He put his hands to his forehead, In the Hinayana they say the end of discipline is to escape suffering. This is not what we say in Tibet,in the Mayahana. We cannot bear to escape ourselves while we see the rest of creation is in pain; we could not endure to be free while the rest of the world is in prison. And so you must not only want to attain Nirvana for yourself , you must also want with all your heart that the whole of Being should attain Nirvana, should enter into bliss. And if you truly love all things, you will renounce your own salvation for the joy of continually working for the liberation of others. This is the ideal of the Bodhisatva. The heart of the Bodhisatva is so great that it cannot be content until the whole of creation, even the small insects and the blades of grass, have entered into Nirvana.

To be a Bodhisatva is to be free of all delusions of selfhood, to have finally realized that all things arise contingently and have no separate absolute existence, to be free of the falsity of the notion of personality, The Bodhisatva does not act for his own benefit; he acts in full awareness of emptiness, the emptiness of all things, in full awareness of the emptiness of all his actions, in full awareness, even, of the emptiness of his compassion. And yet his whole being is compassion. Everything he does is dedicated to others, every action, every thought, every ectasy, every meditation - given effortlessly, dedicated without for the "Self"
that gives.

This is the true motivation, this is the true feeling - to love all things so much that you wish to bring them into Nirvana, to love all created things so much that you want to become perfect, so that you can be of help to them. You should meditate on this. It is the beginning.

A Journey In Ladakh (p. 152-153) Andrew Harvey