FINDING YOUR TRUTH

Relearning

The new literacy? Maybe in a ‘retraining for a new vocation’ sense, but to ‘learn, unlearn, and relearn’ are actually personal survival skills developed over the years as one faces every new dawn while striving to see the sun peacefully setting at that same day’s end.

We all know that life is tough for those not sheltered from its harshness. For everyone actively pursuing their own dreams and ambitions there will be both good days and bad ones, including the knowledge that what works well for you one day may not work so well a week from now because in reality that’s just how it is—the only true certainty in LIFE is change.

For some folks just when you think you’ve got the hang of living—finally got that ‘living thing’ all mapped out and you are feeling relaxed and comfortable with your labors, something or someone will throw a stone into your efficiently-turning “my life” cog and derail the entire gear while twisting the gear-bearing shaft in the process, so that your once smooth-flowing operation never quite works the same way again.

When that ‘cog glitch’ happens to you your entire LIFE mechanism is now broken and unfortunately nothing short of a complete machinery overhaul will get it functioning properly again.

So in effect what you had once learned as the KEY component or attribute to successfully living your life (your charm, your intelligence, your looks, your inventiveness, your intuitive guesses, even your unwavering work ethic), now lies broken on the cement step of your home’s threshold awaiting your entrance, and suddenly you can no longer unlock that same familiar door to reach the inner sanctity of your personal domain—it’s like being locked out of your own house with a “Foreclosure” sign staring you in the face and feeling clueless as to how it happened. What once worked so easily for you, now no longer does; and those who once supported you, now turn their backs when you arrive.

This means that your life has drastically and horrifically changed in some unexpected way that requires YOU in turn to change to meet the NEW challenges that you now must face. The emotional/psychological effect of such sudden change can be devastating to anyone. It can literally break you unless you toughen up quickly to the new standard now required for you to simply survive, let alone thrive, under its deconstructing pressure.

But in time you learn that if what you once did no longer works for you, then you must now unlearn what had become your second nature—those ‘slipped into’ auto-pilot behaviors once used to live your life. You must unlearn the habits of your previous day-to-day existence because they simply no longer apply to this new situation and this vastly different operating environment.

Suddenly you must UNLEARN all your previous habits and beliefs that have brought you to this momentous change point, and RELEARN how to start life again in some new way because there is no other choice among your current life options.

Your final recognition of the necessity of this restart moment affects you like a ‘shakeup to your internal makeup’—meaning you either rebirth yourself in some productive manner to start a new and different way of living, or you self-destruct into oblivion along with the remnants of your old life—remonstrating in self-pity to any audience along the way.

When you can finally get your head around the severity of your current condition, you are then forced to ask yourself this question: Do I want to remain as a stinking, smoldering ash pit in the memory of what my life once was, or do I want to rise like the fabled phoenix slowly lifting itself from the lapping, searing, all-consuming flames—rising slowly out of the smoky haze as you pull yourself from these old-life ashes until you can fly free once again?

That decisive moment when you define your true intent becomes an inflection point—a direction change: To either die ingloriously here in the ruins of where you once learned to be, or to rise freshly reborn into an entirely new way of being—which means developing new habits, new living patterns, and maintaining a new perspective on your reconstruction endeavor.

But while you are still hunkered down in the ash pit you must face the true decision to go one direction or the other, because you can no longer be the same person that you were the day before the situational change; when the earth suddenly shifted under your feet forcing you to no longer follow the same path as before or even to walk in the same manner that you once did. While you may prefer the old way of living and being, you simply can’t do that now because that life is no longer an option for you.

So your only other choice available is to unlearn what you once knew that had worked so well for you, and then relearn what now might work for you since the world took such a drastic turn away from what had once been your comfort level and certainty.

You must relearn how to live your life. And relearn how to shift your perspective on everything and everyone around you, including to relearn how you view yourself as a loving and compassionate human being; and most importantly, you must relearn the true value of your own self—you must relearn how to believe in yourself again.

Quite simply: You must RELEARN how to live your LIFE, and maybe even relearn what LIFE means to you now that your perspective has so drastically shifted by those life challenges.

It might not seem easy to think of in this manner, but relearning is actually a natural evolutionary process across all species.

Relearning is what we do every day. We daily input, assess, and react to the world around us, and when that input changes, then we adjust our internal assessments and gauge our reactions accordingly. It’s just that normally our input changes are fairly minor or of minimal consequence to our lives; but when those inputs are seismic and possibly life shattering (major losses like deaths, divorces, illnesses or injuries, job elimination, relationship endings, etc.) that’s when our minds can’t register how to assess them properly and that throws us into mental chaos—that’s when that randomly tossed pebble breaks a cognitive gear-cog and our lives seem to uncontrollably wobble or to even spin out of control because we can’t quickly determine how we actually arrived at this ‘ash-pit point’ where most of our efforts now involve fighting off the overwhelming smoke threatening to suffocate us.

As dire as it may now seem, keep in mind that this happens to everyone at some point in their life—just in different ways. It may be hard. It will truly suck—no doubt about it. But it still happens; and you have to move through it as carefully as you can, and then move beyond it in time. This is how we grow in consciousness. We move beyond the challenges we must face.

So as disconcerting as this might sound, don’t fear relearning. We all have to do it. You are not alone in your struggles.

To survive the worst of the worst in your life, you quickly learn to spray your wings with fire retardant before the flames engulf you, and eventually when the challenge lessens in intensity, you will learn to first strengthen your resolve to survive, and then rise again from the ashes of what you once were.

Remember: Smoldering ash pits are everywhere around us, and phoenixes are the only true survivors of this world with its perpetual challenges.

Now your main NEW goal is to become a phoenix.

“Whether summoned or not, God will be present” – CG Jung

I’ve been a long-time fan of Carl Gustav Jung after reading his autobiography, Memories, Dreams, Reflections.

So basically here I’m just passing along info sources and helping others to see that ‘beliefs’ in general are important to how we think of ourselves and consider our purpose in the world, or even more so in how we plan and conduct our lives; but that “beliefs” as a whole are not necessarily reliant upon religious organizations or to specific religious doctrines.

In fact, many religions can do more harm than good to a child’s primal inner development by demanding that all practitioners adhere to specific claims made by that particular religion. J Krishnamurti would frequently lambast organized religions for that very thing.

This was today’s post from the site Carl Jung:

“Jung had a religious upbringing, both sides of his family made up of pastors and theologians. This Christian background permeated his life’s work and psychotherapeutic approach, inspiring a lifelong phenomenological and hermeneutic interest in the influence of religion, mythology, and spirituality on the psyche of the individual.

While he considered himself a Christian, he felt at odds with Orthodox Christianity which he believed never adequately dealt with the question of evil. He believed that a truly spiritual or religious person was not blindly faithful but found their way independently to God and the experience of God. Thus, he lived not by the Christian myth but by his own personal myth, seeking inward to find his father’s external God.

Jung believed modern society was in a state of spiritual crisis, for the veneration of rationalism, objectivity, and science in place of nature, myth, and ritual (that which was coveted by our ancestors) had dire psychological and societal consequences.

‘We are very far from having finished completely with the Middle Ages, classical antiquity, and primitivity, as our modern psyches pretend… But it is precisely the loss of connection with the past, our uprootedness, which has given rise to the ‘discontents’ of civilization’ (Jung, MDR).

To him, the domination of critical reason made for an impoverished life, which should be counteracted through an exploration of the unconscious, from which the more mystical side of man could be drawn and his life enriched.

‘Small and hidden is the door that leads inward, and the entrance is barred by countless prejudices, mistaken assumptions, and fears. Always one wishes to hear of grand political and economic schemes, the very things that have landed every nation in a morass. Therefore, it sounds grotesque when anyone speaks of hidden doors, dreams, and a world within. What has this vapid idealism got to do with gigantic economic programs, with the so-called problems of reality?

But I speak not to nations, only to the individual few, for whom it goes without saying that cultural values do not drop down like manna from heaven but are created by the hands of individuals. If things go wrong in the world, this is because something is wrong with the individual, because something is wrong with me. Therefore, if I am sensible, I shall put myself right first. For this I need—because outside authority no longer means anything to me—a knowledge of the innermost foundations of my being, in order that I may base myself firmly on the eternal facts of the human psyche.’ (Carl Jung, The Meaning of Psychology for Modern Man)

Jung believed that optimal psychological health was not possible if one had consciously rejected his or her intrapsychic connectedness with the regulating religious aspect. He was a phenomenologist of the psyche, examining the healing function of numinous experiences and their role in the development of human consciousness and in the process of individuation. He believed that our spiritual needs – at their core, the desire to find meaning and purpose within our lives – are ‘as real as hunger and the fear of death’ (Jung, 1928, CW para. 403).

He was not interested in God as a transcendent reality beyond the psyche, but as inbuilt and always present within it. To Jung, God exists as a psychic reality, his Zurich house inscribed with the following message ‘Whether summoned or not, God will be present’(‘Vocatus atque non vocatus, Deus aderit’).

Art: Peter Birkhauser”

***

What Is Normal?

“Normality is a paved road: It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it.” – quote Vincent Van Gogh –Image: Android Jones

Nassim Haramein

What is it like to be considered ‘normal’ or to live a ‘normal’ life?

Pretty boring, I’ll bet.

That doesn’t say much for us as a collective does it that we prefer boring to non-boring?

But NORMAL is how most societies function. When social behaviors waver and go awry, that’s when societal dysfunction occurs—that is when societies either fall or are torn apart.

However individually how much forced NORMALITY can we stand before we crumple into a corner heap defeated?

When Krishnamurti describes TRUTH as a “Pathless Land”, how do you then register Van Gogh’s comment of “normality is a paved road?”

Taken together I’d guess that continuing on with Van Gogh’s thought would be a pretty accurate assumption: “…It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it.”

So if you want flowers in your life, you may need to veer off the ‘normal’ pavement and start forging your own way through the underbrush. You’ll have to ‘find your own truth’ in a way that feels right for you.

You can be normal to want happiness in your life, but how one defines happiness may not be the same for everyone.

So do we crave “normality”—fitting in to the group at large—or do we crave feeling happy and purposeful about our own life direction? And is there a difference?

Only you can answer that question as best it describes your personal situation.

Example: In an argument do you ‘go along to get along’ with your partner or your social group, or do you ‘butt heads’ to stand your ground and get your way especially when you feel strongly about the issue at hand?

And is that the normal behavior for your situation? Is that behavior right or wrong either way?

Take the time to examine your NORMAL to determine if that particular mode of operation is in your best interest or if it’s time to change things up a bit.

Who knows, maybe you’d prefer a leisurely stroll on a hard level surface to cover the distance faster, or maybe you’d actually accept a rougher terrain if you can enjoy flowers sprouting all along the way.

Or maybe you now crave variety in your travels and ‘normal’ just doesn’t do it for you any longer so you’re looking for a completely different geography that GPS doesn’t even cover.

It is YOUR choice because it’s YOUR life. You decide what works best for you. You will FEEL it when you find your preferred mode of operation.

And you will know if it’s right for you by how peaceful it makes you feel inside.

The Pathless Land

It’s been decades since I last read Jiddu Krishnamurti’s books, but they are still around and well worth perusing.

J. Krishnamurti was an astute and interesting soul. Discovered at adolescence in south India by the occultist Charles Webster Leadbeater of The Theosophical Society who upon seeing him sitting on a bench near their compound, recognized “the purity of his aura,” and approached him to inquire of his origins and intentions.

Willingly Krishnamurti was then unofficially adopted by the society of Theosophists and culturally cultivated to become their own messianic spokesperson, which he later denounced and declined to be.

But by that time in his mid-30’s he had developed his extreme spiritual gifts and had indeed become a premier philosopher and intuitive in his own right, who then toured the world giving lectures on all aspects of the ‘LIFE’ experience. (My kind of stuff.)

His books and memoirs are always interesting and thought provoking, so just to sample his documented comments, here is an excerpt on TRUTH from his parting lecture with the Theosophical Society in 1929:

“I maintain that truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. That is my point of view, and I adhere to that absolutely and unconditionally. Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be organized; nor should any organization be formed to lead or coerce people along a particular path. … This is no magnificent deed, because I do not want followers, and I mean this. The moment you follow someone you cease to follow Truth. I am not concerned whether you pay attention to what I say or not. I want to do a certain thing in the world and I am going to do it with unwavering concentration. I am concerning myself with only one essential thing: to set man free. I desire to free him from all cages, from all fears, and not to found religions, new sects, nor to establish new theories and new philosophies.” (Wikipedia) ^[64]

***

The Seeker

“I have no right to call myself one who knows. I was one who seeks, and I still am, but I no longer seek in the stars or in books; I’m beginning to hear the teachings of my blood pulsing within me. My story isn’t pleasant, it’s not sweet and harmonious like the invented stories; it tastes of folly and bewilderment, of madness and dream, like the life of all people who no longer want to lie to themselves.”

~ Hermann Hesse

Earthschool Harmony

How Do You Find TRUTH?

Would you know TRUTH when you see it? Hear it? Feel it?

Is TRUTH something that sneaks up on you unaware …then slaps the back of your head to get your attention?

At one time or another I’ve questioned nearly every aspect of my life as to why I was experiencing whatever was occurring then. And I still do.

Throughout my life I’ve questioned most people I’ve ever known about LIFE itself; questioned many self-proclaimed authorities for every subject I’ve studied or encountered, and probably questioned every religious doctrine ever perused for answers to my deepest, most perplexing questions—only to find those sources nearly as ‘clueless’ as I myself was at the time or may still be to that extent.

Sure they all had ANSWERS, but they weren’t MY answers or ones that felt right for me.

In essence, one of the few things I DO now know is that much of what we experience while in this plane of existence is meant purely for EFFECT; meaning that it is meant to be a catalyst to increasing your awareness of yourself and your abilities to create change around you; and it is meant to expand your overall consciousness of yourself as a thinking, feeling being who has control over her thoughts, emotions and actions.

Therefore when we simply buy into everything that we are told to think and feel about the world around us, we lose our ability to make those observations and accurate assessments for ourselves, which counters the primary reason for our being here.

So to me, one of the highest and most intelligent questions you can ever ask anyone or even to ask yourself is “WHY?” because it signifies the very reason for your existence here.

I will warn that people around you do get a little sick of hearing that 3-letter word so frequently—a little annoyed at being asked to question their own motivations and behaviors, but if it gives them just a moment’s pause to assess their options before acting automatically toward one direction or another, then it is well worth the aggravation incurred for them.

The problem is they just may not realize it yet, nor appreciate your bringing it to their attention.

But hey, that’s okay.

TRUTH isn’t always comfortable or easy to swallow.

But it IS always TRUTH—in whatever form it chooses to adopt.

And that’s what this LIFE is all about, isn’t it—about finding your own TRUTH.

When the Music Died

“American Pie,” Don McLean’s song of ‘innocence lost,’ covers an insane decade of ‘coming of age’ in the 1960’s and early 70’s. It was a catchy dirge about busted illusions and the harshness of life beyond its normal performance stage. Shocked with the deaths of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper in one plane crash in 1959; and the ensuing emotional distress over such prominent rock stars true mortality at such young ages, it became the ignition spark for McLean’s melodic rumination on growing up facing life’s harsher realities.

The chorus line of “Bye, bye Miss American pie…” signaled the end of childhood delusions for a nation itself, as naïve teens suddenly faced their more cruel adulthoods—which during that time period covered the assassination of two Kennedys (President John Kennedy and his brother Robert Kennedy—the US attorney general then running for President) and Martin Luther King Jr., prominent civil rights leader; plus the growing horrors of the Vietnam War in Asia where young men were drafted right out of high school and sent into the jungle ‘fires of hell’ thousands of miles from home.

It was a time period I actually lived through both as a child and then as a young adult who marched in protest of the war. Any of my male high school friends who did not go to college, were immediately scooped up by the war-machine and sent to horrific deaths for a cause that no one knew why.

Even those who safely made it through their combat deployments were forever scarred by the experiences, OR… as with the counter-culture Hippie-Revolution against the establishment of the time, they were spaced out on drugs—which McLean referred to as “a generation lost in space.”

But the same could be said for most wars since that time—Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.. There is little sense to be made of wars in general, but the ‘loss of innocence’ aspect and the initiation into the true horrors of combative living were very real and inescapable for many during that time of McLean’s laments, so the song was very popular.

I’m mentioning this background now because I‘m also reflecting on a dear friend who is struggling to simply live through the month. When she goes it will be a “When the Music Died” sort of loss for me.

True, we all have a shelf-life. We all have pending expiration dates. But watching someone you love slowly disappear is a harsh reality to swallow no matter whoever experiences it.

Not my first time through it of course, and hardly my last I’m sure, but sometimes the shock of witnessing such pending mortality to someone as vibrantly alive, joyful, and funny as this friend once was, is a tough sell for the mind to comprehend. But yet, it is what it is.

It’s just another of those McLean verses on how life actually works. No more delusions. No more childhood trust and faith in the life-affirming ‘way of the world.’

It is just LIFE; and with LIFE comes DEATH—no matter who you are or what you do.

But know this: those of us left behind when you go will feel great personal loss at your passing.

Listen to the Clouds and the Wind

For those of us living in this aggravated, hustling-bustling world, just BEING is hard to do. We almost feel guilty when we are not DOING something constructive. I know at times I do.

But I remind myself that my presence here is not dependent on how productive I can be. Rather it is dependent on how present I can become in witnessing the world surrounding me; and the WORLD is far more than human beings scampering about for sustenance, security, or comradery.

The WORLD I love so deeply is nature-based—both infinitely vast and variable.

I’ve often sat out in natural settings and just closed my eyes listening: to trees whose leaves are rustling in the breeze above my head, to the song birds singing loudly and continuously, especially at dawn, and to the squirrels angrily chattering warnings to me about my disruptive presence in their daily endeavors.

But if you sit out on an open plain atop a barren hill, with the wind and the clouds as your only companions, their language is far more subtle; far more to the point made by the Lakota elder in the image above. “Everything is alive and has its own consciousness.”

There is a FEEL to that type of natural unspoken communication—a FEEL that is almost indescribable because when you connect in to nature at that level, you are no longer separate from it—no longer isolated from it and observing it—you now ride the winds wherever they go and you float with the clouds as they build or disperse—amassing or dissipating. You become the landscape you were previously observing—except now you FEEL within you the massive over-riding consciousness that you were once separate from; and you then feel great peace with that knowing.

When you can actually DO that—when you can BE the winds and the clouds, you realize that the Lakota elder was exactly right: “Everything is alive and has its own consciousness.”

And you had just personally tasted the immensity of that conscious awareness.

It’s a very humbling experience. One not easily forgotten.

Refresher on DOING and BEING

Ran across Tolle’s reposting of an earlier entry and felt compelled to repeat it here again mainly because of the elaboration on the “vertical” and “horizontal dimensions” that he describes below. It stirred a memory of a shamanic class where the teacher described the ‘cross of our beingness’ where our vertical axis that connects us from upper world (spirit world) to lower world (the earth itself) is crossed by the horizontal dimension of middle world (our life in this dimension).

We are the mediators between super-consciousness and sub-consciousness expressing their different levels of awareness through a perceived physical medium known as LIFE in human form. And it is through that ‘middle world’ crossing of vertical and horizontal dimensions that we connect the upper and lower worlds together.

Our “doings” in this middle world can reflect the depth of our “beingness” mainly by how high we hold our personal frequencies or by how strongly we can stay connected into upper world. Eckhart calls it the “…the dance between BEING and DOING—not as separate things, but acting together—BEING and DOING as one.”

So to him “The mastery of life is to have a balance of both”—DOING and BEING.

The purpose of recognizing the ‘crossing dimensions’ is this—awakening humanity to our ability to intentionally hold higher levels of consciousness during this LIFE experience because, “As humanity awakens, so too will our powers to create true change on our planet.”

And he means change for the better.

***

From my earlier post: “Eckhart Tolle on DOING and BEING” July 22, 2021

“Eckhart Tolle

Dear friends,

Over the years, many people have asked me about finding their purpose in this world and how this connects to spiritual awakening. It’s a very important question.

Recently we have had events in the collective that have pushed many into states of fear and anxiety. There has been a kind of enforced stillness for the population. Whenever there is an extreme form of adversity, an opportunity also arises.

Our alertness has gone up to the present moment and to what is happening around us. Many are going deeper to become aware of something that cannot be seen but is rather felt. This is an undeniable field of energy, consciousness that makes all sense perceptions possible. That Presence is inseparable from who you are in your essence.

On the one hand, your life purpose unfolds through the activities that you engage in on what I call ‘the horizontal dimension’—or the dimension of DOING. But everybody eventually finds if they only operate on the horizontal dimension, it doesn’t ultimately satisfy them.

There is another dimension that I call ‘the vertical dimension,’ or the dimension of BEING. The mastery of life is to have a balance of both. I sometimes call it the dance between BEING and DOING—not as separate things, but acting together—BEING and DOING as one.

‘Eckhart Tolle Now’(his membership community) is a place for you to learn, practice, and awaken in community. We will look deeply into the skills, the practices, and, perhaps most importantly, the BEING dimension. Remember: the ultimate source of satisfaction in life is to recognize yourself as consciousness.

If you miss that, then no matter what you achieve in life, it is not going to make you happy for very long. We can start now, right where we are. By going within we can discover the place where life is born continuously—the source of creation—consciousness itself.

As humanity awakens, so too will our powers to create true change on our planet.

With you on the path,

Eckhart Tolle ”

The NOW

“If your mind carries a heavy burden of past, you will experience more of the same. The past perpetuates itself through lack of presence. The quality of your consciousness at this moment is what shapes the future.” – Eckhart Tolle

***

You know it’s hard to be a grownup.

So many responsibilities—so many choices—so much “stuff” going through your head all the time. As Eckhart says above, “…your mind carries a heavy burden of past,…” and sometimes it’s hard to let that ‘past’ go even when we know we should.

TIME itself is a strange phenomenon: illusory, yet tangible; measurable in a sense, but yet fathomless in its entirety. If every moment in the NOW is soon passed, then every second ticked off our inner clocks is long gone before we even realized it once existed. It’s pretty hard to stay in the NOW when the NOW is gone as soon as you consider it. But the NOW is what we actually have to deal with, not the past.

I’ve read Eckhart’s book The Power of NOW long ago and feel it is a good source of inspiration and personal reflection toward living life moment to moment within the confines of safety and security.

If your life is far from safe and secure, then your every NOW moment is more likely focused on surviving to the next moment and that makes it more future focused based on your past experience.

But I understand what he is saying about staying in the NOW as “…The quality of your consciousness at this moment is what shapes the future.” True enough for those of us with the privilege of having reflection time.

However back to the ‘being a grownup’ part and how hard it can be. In many ways our past defines us in our present, but only as long as we allow it to do so. Over the course of many decades we can actually reinvent ourselves many times over—I certainly have.

But during that ‘growing older and hopefully wiser’ natural life process, we face choices of whether we allow our previous experiences to adversely affect us or to simply better educate us. Meaning that if you cannot separate your past experiences/memories from the ‘NOW awareness’ of your current possibilities, you are limiting your opportunities for a better understanding of why you are here and what you are to do with the few precious moments that you are given.

If you want your life to make some type of sense (and most of us do), that’s why you have the PAST to compare the PRESENT to for recognizing behavior patterns and cause/effect repercussions of any current actions taken based on what has happened previously in your life.

In an ideal world we learn from past mistakes. In our current world, we often keep making the same ones over and over until we finally recognize the futility of it. So the past informs the present and can guide the future, but only if we stay conscious of the NOW opportunities to choose a different path than the previous ill-informed one.

When you have a past that is fraught with turmoil and trauma, it is that much harder to ‘let the past be the past’ and keep it straight like that in your mind, but it’s not impossible to reach that mind state of staying in the NOW for your intentional consideration of options.

And if you want to better your life with a more enjoyable future then you really must step beyond the limitations you may have unintentionally set for yourself by your previous endeavors or experiences. Be ready NOW to seize the current opportunities for a life you have always wanted but felt too burdened by your past to allow. Don’t limit yourself by what you might have done prior; consider all the possible things you could do or paths ahead that you could travel—all waiting for your first step in that direction.

But most importantly tell yourself this throughout your day—BE HERE NOW! Don’t live in your past because if you do you may miss your current options and therefore limit your ‘better-future’ possibilities.

And if you haven’t already, please read Eckhart’s book on understanding that inner process of better choosing from your current options, The Power of NOW.

***

“If your mind carries a heavy burden of past, you will experience more of the same. The past perpetuates itself through lack of presence. The quality of your consciousness at this moment is what shapes the future.” – Eckhart Tolle

***

SOUL and SPIRIT

“This is my CREDO – my mission. To BREAK the false narrative that we are limited humans, locked in a physical realm. Let’s CRACK that out-of-date egg, step out of the box and experience ourselves as magnanimous fearless cosmic Beings. Watching, guiding, informing all others around us. That this world is not solid, not ‘real’… a temporary experience. As you remember beyond this life, you gain power and freedom.” Alicia Power @ www.soulmentoring.com

I’ve been an Alicia Power fan for many years, following her posts, blog and videos, also her courses. Sitting in her projected energy is an enjoyment to be experienced. I can easily feel the higher-frequency energies surrounding and radiating from her space—even online.

And since I share a similar philosophy about our Earth-based life experience and what lies beyond that, whatever she discusses with online talk-show hosts usually resonates well with me. Most of the time I wish the host would just be quiet and let her talk uninterrupted as the energy flows better when that occurs.

So if you are presently unfamiliar with Alicia Power, check her out and listen to the numerous videos currently available on Youtube @ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO6QtUarRPB-r78YKVgQBsQ or go to “Deeper Insight”@ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEB4E151BFDF9A043 for samples.

Mastering Oneself

“If I accept the fact that my relationships are here to make me conscious instead of happy, then my relationships become a wonderful self-mastery tool that keeps realigning me with my higher purpose for living.” ~ Eckhart Tolle (@ Earthschool Harmony)

Eckhart has evidently been reading my personal journal since I keep writing about self-mastery and how close relationships seem to be designed not for harmony and happiness, but for mastering one’s responses/reactions to those most close to you when those same people are less than loving and harmonious toward you.

If you are ever feeling disrespected or inappropriately criticized, sit down, take a deep breath and simply write: “Let the wind blow through you.” That was a phrase I picked up from a Native American anthology on oral story-telling tradition. That story was about a native man who faced many trials and tribulations in life, but learned that the only situation he ever really controlled was in how he allowed those challenges and hardships to affect his character.

Meaning that if he absorbed the harshness of life or wallowed in how victimized he felt over someone else’s mistreatment of him, he then allowed the other person or situation to control his attitudes and reactions; but if instead he faced the situation as ‘becoming like the morning mist lifting at sunrise,’ he allowed the adversity to simply ‘blow through him’—not stop him, and not let those ‘winds of adversity’ affect his original intentions or his life direction—he could momentarily feel the wind’s force in his face but he allowed it to move on past him and into the distance, while he continued to rise with the sun.

“Let the wind blow through you,” while not easily done, is actually good advice. The only person you can ever really control is yourself—IF you can do that, because other people will be as they will be—maybe they are full of ‘good-enough’ intentions but they may also have little self-control to achieve those intentions which sometimes makes for ‘flawed-character actions’ toward those closest to them.

For the most part we are all similar in that respect. Who we think we are may not match how we actually behave with others or with the world in general. But the only real choice we have is to master ourselves to not allow others to control or manipulate us into doing or being the person that we do not wish to be.

This is TRUTH: If you want to bring more harmony and happiness into your life, that task is entirely up to you alone. It is not anyone else’s responsibility to make you happy; and who you hang with or who you share your life with, are also choices that you make. You can do victimization and blame others for your unhappiness if you wish to, but your happiness is NOT their responsibility—it is YOURS.

Take responsibility for yourself—take responsibility for your own personal integrity and for your own well-being, and especially take responsibility for your own actions and reactions.

Remember: Don’t expect someone else to love you and care for you if you aren’t willing to love and care for yourself prior to their appearance in your life. That’s NOT their job—it is YOUR job.

So if you want to learn the intricacies of true self-mastery, form a close, long-term relationship with someone because the interactions between you will reveal far more about yourself and your emotional triggers and issues than it will about your companion’s idiosyncrasies. That I guarantee.