Practice

  This morning I read “From the heart arise unknowable impulses as well as conscious feeling, moods, and wishes The heart, too, has its reasons and is the center of perception and understanding” (Nouwen).  To me the heart is where love and God reside, not thoughts, logic and reasoning.  In most cases thoughts and logic tend to be fear based, focused on consequences and what ifs.  I prefer to focus on love so I go into meditation, shut off my brain, focus feelings and ask myself “What would love do”.  The answers I get have a lot of power, feel right — and are sometimes a bit scary!

Power of Love 2

  I will be going to see my doctor in a few days and I this morning I have been musing on my condition and the problem I present to the medical community.  When I was diagnosed (cerebellar degeneration) I was told that I would never get better — I have.  I was expected to die several years ago — I did not.  Because of my health practices I am 75 and significantly healthier than I was at 60, the opposite of what was expected.  I have not even had a cold since 2015 in spite of having been intimately exposed to various viruses numerous times.  For my own sack I need to express this and see what she has to say.

Power of Love

  During the Quaker meeting I attended yesterday someone spoke the phrase “love is stronger than death”, which came through to me strongly as the voice of truth.  In my helping people die, I generally project love to them in order to ease their transition. I just had the privilege of helping a little dog die by  using love to guide it through its confusion and then to the other side.  In these cases I use love and know that it is stronger than death — but I also know that I do not truly understand.  I know enough to know I do not know

Choices

  Each morning when I get up I have the choice of facing my world and interacting with fear or love — and very different consequences in response to which way I choose.  Those different consequences are both with the world around me and my own health and well being.  If I react with compassion and gratitude to those around me, it feels good and they are likely to do the same.  My health is much better when I focus on love and healing.  Much of the news programs are focused on negative events and possible negative consequences, so I limit my exposure and remind myself that most things are really none of my business anyway.

God's Love

  Today, here in Columbia, MD, I feel cared for and protected by the harmony of the Universe and the loving and peaceful force I know as God.  I find it notable that those forces support me whether or not I am aware of them, acknowledge them or even value them.  They seem to be above those very human, petty concerns.  For example, during my tumultuous “hippy” and even my teen years, if I look back, I can see clear evidence of those forces being part of my life.  I find that attitude to be a good model for me to live by during my own interactions.  I strive to not take the actions of others personally.  Generally I consider the actions of other to be expressions of them, and love them regardless.

A Loving View

  A while back I asked to see the world the way God does.  That simple (perhaps arrogant and/or silly) request changed my view dramatically to one of love.  I began to see the world and its people through a lense of love.  The closest analogy I can think of is the way a loving parent views his or her children.  If I notice someone or myself doing something silly or shortsighted and a bit stupid I tend to find the behavior endearing or even charming. If anything, my love increases.  I only mention some sort of intervention when I am concerned about imminent danger.  My view is pleasant and peaceful and changes nothing!

The Love Seed

  Several years ago during meditation as guided by Nisargadatta Maharaj I encountered a place he called the Absolute and the sense of I am where I could feel love, God, eternity and tremendous power.  Through my meditation I realized that was part of me and later in my work with recovering heroine addicts, I realized that it was part of all of us. I came to know that part of myself as my God or love seed, the origin of my “small quiet voice”.  Later in my life (2006) during my near-death-experience I realized it was the same feeling/presence I call God.  As I said in my last entry, that feeling changes my behavior dramatically.  We all have that capability and feeling inside us and we are not simply “sinful and broken”

Loving Action

  I use the words love, compassion, understanding and God a lot.  I am aware that many people do not like the word God, which used to be me as well.  As far as I can tell, the word or words you choose to use make no difference but how a person acts does.  In the morning I often take a moment to close my eyes and focus on the feeling of love or an image of something or someone I feel love for.  If I can carry that feeling with me during the day it changes all of my interactions during that day and also the way I feel about life in general.  The changes in how others respond to my presence is dramatic.  Acting out of love creates more love.

Working With Spirits

  Today I helped a dog make the transition of dying by guiding them after the moment of physical death to welcoming spirits in that realm.  I did not know I could do that so I asked for guidance and listened. Before being put down she was scared so I generated and then projected the feeling of love, God and eternity to her.  Her spirit was confused in the moments after death so I guided her to the spirit realm and, not being allowed in that realm, I passed her on.  The love and power I encountered there was overwhelming and hard for this physical body to manage.  It’s been several hours and I still feel shaken.

Reality 3

  Recently we experienced a large ($300,000, our life savings) financial loss due to the unethical and probably illegal behavior of our financial advisor.  Through meditation and given my current impression of reality, I realize that this loss is both meaningless and sacred.  If I was “of” this world I would consider this of huge importance and that it called for various actions in retaliation and attempts to get the money back.  I would feel fear and anger and probably cause a great deal of chaos. Alternatively, being “in the world but not of it’, as stated in my book, I could feel love, faith and compassion.  I have done what I can to get my money back ,while also feeling that “the universe is unfolding as it should” (Ehrmann).  The sacred part is that I acted out of love and feel nothing but love and compassion for the man that caused this.