Perspective

  As a species it is sometimes hard to see but we are evolving towards a more compassionate, loving life attitude.  The recent violent and destructive events in our capital were certainly distressing but they also brought several prominent figures closer to the goal of compassion.  Those events helped them realize that the self-centered, appositional path was not working for them.  I am reminded of the destructive, self-centered, even somewhat antisocial, path I was following before I began recovery and a more loving, spiritual life.  I had to go through that destructive period and be convinced it was not working before I could change.

Responsibility

  This morning I find myself reflecting on my own personal responsibility, especially with the recent upheaval in events close by in DC.  I am certainly responsible for things like personal hygiene, sleep and diet, but many worldly happenings are none of my business, beyond having some awareness of what is happening.  In a democratic culture I consider it a good idea to be aware, but self-care mandates that I stay detached beyond my own involvement.  I like to listen to NPR or read the “Washington Post” for a short time each day but beyond that I get distracted from my rest and meditation.  I start to feel part of the chaos.

Meditation

  Yesterday I was listening on NPR about concerns and worries surrounding the potential administration of various vaccines for covid-19.  They then switched topics to racism and the violence of some of the protests and switched again to the economy and the antics of our president.  I felt alarmed.  I then meditated, getting in touch with my higher self and the peace and love of eternity.  It’s easy to forget but I prefer peace and love.  “From everywhere, it seems, we are bombarded with the idea that our nature is innately violent, that our chief preoccupation is with our sexuality, and that our main purpose in life is the acquirement of ever more nifty possessions.......Indeed, it is only through the practice of inner silence that we can begin to disentangle ourselves from our culture and its illusions. (Seeger)

Meditation and Gratitude

  On the 3rd I attended a two hour  Zoom meeting of people talking about NDEs and general spiritually transforming experiences.  Most of the participants had experienced some sort of transformation and it was certainly nice for me to be part of a group discussing these events since similar occurrences in my life have been so important to me.  I left the group feeling extreme gratitude for gifts and guidance I have been given.  Largely through meditation I have come to be aware of many of the points talked about during the meeting.  I feel a strong sense of peace and love during these troubled times.

Rules

  During my work with spirits I was asked to provide them with some rules of conduct which I found surprising since in my past if anyone tried to apply rules to me, I would rebel and not do them.  If I am in an atmosphere of love I spontaneously do what is required of me.  I am not authoritarian but I did come up with a set of rules which seemed to satisfy.  1.  Love your brother/sister as yourself; 2. Love everybody and everything; 3. Do not judge; 4. Do not criticize; 5. Never condemn.  These rules reflect what I understand of God’s guidance and being.

Spiritual Path

  “Let’s be clear that “being at the spiritual game” means dedicating your whole mind, your whole body, your whole soul to the process of creating Self in the image and likeness of God.

This is the process of Self realization about which Eastern mystics have written.  It is the process of salvation to which much Western theology has devoted itself.

This is a day-to-day, hour-to-hour, moment-to-moment act of supreme consciousness.  It is a choosing and a re-choosing every instant.  It is ongoing creation.  Conscious creation.  Creation with a purpose.  It is using the tools of creation we have discussed, and using them with awareness and sublime intention. (Walsch) That is quite a statement, yet it is also what I do and I know the truth of it.  In my case I follow that path partly because my life depends on it — at least that’s how it began for me.  I now follow it because of the overwhelming love I find there.  There is no other choice for me.

Service

  During my NDE I was offered the chance to return to the world of the living and be “of service” which was the choice I took.  In order for me to be of maximum service it is important for me to realize that I made that choice easily and purely because of the love I felt there.  There was no coercion, feeling of attachment or wanting to be worthy leading to that choice.  It made no difference to me that I would be returning to a life of discomfort.  I came back because part of the inherent nature of love is it produces more love — it spreads.  I am helping that spread.  I need not do anything remarkable in order to be of maximum service, just spread the love.

Internal Conflict

  This morning, as I wake up and begin moving around, my muscles feel like there has been a battle or conflict raging within them during the night.  I often feel stiffness, small pains and tightness in the mornings when I wake up reflecting an inner conflict.  During my early years, I grew while believing I was flawed and unworthy, though I never knew compared to what.  Since that time I have endeavored to give up those thought and move on with my life.  Those feelings reappear at times and remind me of the past.  "As we stop the war, each of us will find something from which we have been running -- our loneliness, our unworthiness, our boredom, our shame, our unfulfilled desires." (Jack Kornfield)

Beyond Understanding

  I suspect I am not alone but I have had several occurrences in my life that are beyond the understanding of my linear, logical mind.  These are occurrences that could not have happened, but, never the less, did.  The first that I recall happened when I was a child growing up in Michigan and the last happened a couple of years ago in Maryland at the age of seventy.  Some happenings were spectacular and memorable like being “jerked out of space/time” or having a third degree burn healed in minutes, while others were less notable like seeing and feeling a cigarette butt flung at me when by back was turned and I was wearing clothing that would have prevented my feeling it.  I end up knowing, feeling and experiencing things that could not have happened.  It would be foolish of me to not admit that there must be some sort of power “out there” looking out for me, a Loving and protective presence.  “A mystical touch is a deep, intimate contact-union-experience of God in one of His attributes such as power, light, goodness, beauty, or joy.” (Thomas Dubay, S. M.)

Growth

  In my own quiet way I continue to explore and expand my notions of healing, my position in the universe and reality in general.  I do this largely through meditation and my own practices.  Recently, my main explorations have been in the spirit realm, healing and what I call the “unseen realm”.  I continue to explore, in part, because I get positive results.  What I do and believe works so I suspect there is something there.  I have always liked the phrase from Martin Bell that "Revelation means getting a peek at the reality that is always there."  I also keep in mind that "There are many territories of imagination and many strange regions of emotion that we may not enter without throwing our sanity into question: Until we cross some borders, we are likely to remain rational, banal, boring, bored. A major concern of any therapeutic psychology should be to help an individual lose identity." (Sam Keen and Anne Valley-Fox).