My wife and I just finished watching Dickens’s Great Expectations on PBS. If you haven’t seen it, don’t miss it! The production values are superior as is the screen play and acting. One of the things that stands out about the story are the metaphysical implications of the profound interconnections between the characters - some are blood relations - that they themselves are unaware of, that not only mold and shape the story, giving it greater depth and meaning, but once the characters become aware of these connections, give them the power to change and improve their lives.
So, too, for us; understanding the metaphysics of the relationships in our own life stories - with spirit, each other and the world, can not only give us the experience of greater depth and meaning, but also the power to change and improve our lives.
What kind of life stories are we living? Do we have great expectations of ourselves? Do we think and act as if we are always blessed with spirit’s love, grace and compassion? That everything’s unfolding for our greater good, even the ‘bad’ things? Or do we feel afraid and frequently overwhelmed trying to manage the world with our puny egos?
We have no choice but to project, but we do have a choice of what we project, and where we project from. Why not project great expectations from the fulcrum with spirit? Instead of looking for what’s going wrong and not working, as we do most of the time, why not look to see if we can catch spirit delivering on our great expectations and working for our good, even when things go ‘wrong’?
We can choose to be at the fulcrum with spirit and our great expectations, projecting peace calm and compassion and perceiving those qualities in the world, or we can choose to be with the swinging pendulum, projecting the dizzy experience of highs and lows into the world.
The choice is ours and, like the characters in Dickens’ story, it’s hidden from us, usually in the unconscious or by our habits. But it doesn’t have to be that way. If you’re reading this, you know it doesn’t have to be that way, that you can understand the metaphysics behind your life story and take conscious control, choosing to work with spirit and have great expectations. Try it! It is so cool to try and catch yourself letting go and letting God, spirit and the universe conspire, inspire and help you discover and realize your greatest expectations, even when things seem to go ‘wrong’!
Monday, April 16, 2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
Friday Funnies - Religious Humor
Q. What kind of man was Boaz before he married Ruth?
A. Ruthless.
Q. What do they call pastors in Germany ?
A. German Shepherds.
Q. Who was the greatest financier in the Bible?
A. Noah He was floating his stock while everyone else was in liquidation.
Q. Who was the greatest female financier in the Bible?
A. Pharaoh's daughter. She went down to the bank of the Nile and drew out a
little prophet.
Q. What kind of motor vehicles are in the Bible?
A. Jehovah drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden in a Fury. David's Triumph
was heard throughout the land. Also, probably a Honda, because the apostles
were all in one Accord.
Q.. Who was the greatest comedian in the Bible?
A. Samson. He brought the house down.
Q. What excuse did Adam give to his children as to why he no longer lived in Eden ?
A. Your mother ate us out of house and home.
Q. Which servant of God was the most flagrant lawbreaker in the Bible?
A. Moses. He broke all 10 commandments at once.
Q. Which area of Middle East was especially wealthy?
A. The area around Jordan . The banks were always overflowing.
Q. Who is the greatest babysitter mentioned in the Bible?
A. David. He rocked Goliath to a very deep sleep.
Q. Which Bible character had no parents?
A. Joshua, son of Nun.
Q. Why didn't they play cards on the Ark ?
A. Because Noah was standing on the deck.
PS... Did you know it's a sin for a woman to make coffee?
Yup, it's in the Bible. It says . 'He-brews'
A. Ruthless.
Q. What do they call pastors in Germany ?
A. German Shepherds.
Q. Who was the greatest financier in the Bible?
A. Noah He was floating his stock while everyone else was in liquidation.
Q. Who was the greatest female financier in the Bible?
A. Pharaoh's daughter. She went down to the bank of the Nile and drew out a
little prophet.
Q. What kind of motor vehicles are in the Bible?
A. Jehovah drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden in a Fury. David's Triumph
was heard throughout the land. Also, probably a Honda, because the apostles
were all in one Accord.
Q.. Who was the greatest comedian in the Bible?
A. Samson. He brought the house down.
Q. What excuse did Adam give to his children as to why he no longer lived in Eden ?
A. Your mother ate us out of house and home.
Q. Which servant of God was the most flagrant lawbreaker in the Bible?
A. Moses. He broke all 10 commandments at once.
Q. Which area of Middle East was especially wealthy?
A. The area around Jordan . The banks were always overflowing.
Q. Who is the greatest babysitter mentioned in the Bible?
A. David. He rocked Goliath to a very deep sleep.
Q. Which Bible character had no parents?
A. Joshua, son of Nun.
Q. Why didn't they play cards on the Ark ?
A. Because Noah was standing on the deck.
PS... Did you know it's a sin for a woman to make coffee?
Yup, it's in the Bible. It says . 'He-brews'
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
At The Fulcrum
We see things, not as they are, but as we are. Projection makes perception. When we bring a lamp into a darkened room, where does the darkness go? Just as the center of a hurricane is calm, so our true nature - our reality as spirit, is calm and blissful regardless of appearances. We’ve all experienced these truths and the more we choose them, instead of the ego turbulence swirling in and around us, the more we will experience them.
The seeming duality of the appearances swirling in and around us - of light and dark, good and evil, Democrat and Republican, operates like a pendulum, swinging from one extreme to the other. But like our true nature as spirit, the fulcrum at the top that holds the pendulum’s pivot point is not affected by the swings. As Newton’s Second Law of Thermodynamics says, for every action there is an equal an opposite reaction. The more we focus on the extremes and try to correct the swings, the greater the highs and lows. However at the fulcrum, from the transcendent position above, the pendulum’s swings between opposites are perceived as part of the whole.
When we are able to perceive ourselves at the fulcrum, as spiritual beings having an earthly experience, the highs and lows do not feel as extreme. We understand that we see things, not as they are, but as we are, that projection makes perception. At the fulcrum, as spiritual beings having an earthly experience, we are at cause, at the source of all movement, both highs and lows. From there we can perceive how our projections, our own thoughts and feelings, are the source of the opposites and the swings between them, creating our experience of the world. From there we can get off the merry-go-round of Newton’s Second Law, reacting, then getting an equal and opposite reaction, then reacting again, round and round in an endless, useless spiral.
At the fulcrum, as spiritual beings, we stop the projections, have no need of them. Instead of falling into the pit of fear and despair, we rise above the situation; no more projections, no more equal and opposite reactions. At the fulcrum, we are centered in peace, and even joy, and receive the guidance of our innate spiritual wisdom, knowing how to feel and what to do in order to make our own contributions to a world that works for everyone and every thing.
The seeming duality of the appearances swirling in and around us - of light and dark, good and evil, Democrat and Republican, operates like a pendulum, swinging from one extreme to the other. But like our true nature as spirit, the fulcrum at the top that holds the pendulum’s pivot point is not affected by the swings. As Newton’s Second Law of Thermodynamics says, for every action there is an equal an opposite reaction. The more we focus on the extremes and try to correct the swings, the greater the highs and lows. However at the fulcrum, from the transcendent position above, the pendulum’s swings between opposites are perceived as part of the whole.
When we are able to perceive ourselves at the fulcrum, as spiritual beings having an earthly experience, the highs and lows do not feel as extreme. We understand that we see things, not as they are, but as we are, that projection makes perception. At the fulcrum, as spiritual beings having an earthly experience, we are at cause, at the source of all movement, both highs and lows. From there we can perceive how our projections, our own thoughts and feelings, are the source of the opposites and the swings between them, creating our experience of the world. From there we can get off the merry-go-round of Newton’s Second Law, reacting, then getting an equal and opposite reaction, then reacting again, round and round in an endless, useless spiral.
At the fulcrum, as spiritual beings, we stop the projections, have no need of them. Instead of falling into the pit of fear and despair, we rise above the situation; no more projections, no more equal and opposite reactions. At the fulcrum, we are centered in peace, and even joy, and receive the guidance of our innate spiritual wisdom, knowing how to feel and what to do in order to make our own contributions to a world that works for everyone and every thing.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Oneness
“Oneness [both within and without] is not a belief,” Dr. Jack Kornfeld says, “it is a reality. We are physically interconnected. The air we breathe is circulated from the trees around us, the salt water in our bloodstream comes from the clouds and rivers that rise out of the ocean; we are physically part of the cycling of the elements. In the same way,” we couldn’t survive without other people to grow our food, take care of us when we’re sick, pick-up the garbage, generate the electricity. To think that “we are somehow separate and free of dependence on others is one of the illnesses of modern times, one of the greatest causes of suffering, [bringing] environmental desecration, loneliness, and isolation.”
And, similarly, we are connected within, especially to our darker emotions. Western culture prefers to cut-off, deny and project – as in ‘It wasn’t me. I’m innocent; those are the bad guys’- our darker emotions. They scare us. We’re uncomfortable with them. But they are nonetheless part of us. If we knew that when we run away from something like our fear and anger, projecting it onto other people and things, such as the Communists and now Muslims, that not only does it follow us, but grows darker and stronger. If we knew this, would we still run from them and project them? Or would we embrace them and take responsibility for them?
Our culture prefers to look outside for the source of its problems; a behavior is based on a misunderstanding of how things work. When we become good learners and turn toward that which is difficult and frightening, taking responsibility for it, it brings dignity and courage, teaching us to live wise, compassionate lives. Our very difficulties can become the places where our hearts grow compassionate and wise; the place from which we are able to contribute to a world that works for everyone and everything.
And, similarly, we are connected within, especially to our darker emotions. Western culture prefers to cut-off, deny and project – as in ‘It wasn’t me. I’m innocent; those are the bad guys’- our darker emotions. They scare us. We’re uncomfortable with them. But they are nonetheless part of us. If we knew that when we run away from something like our fear and anger, projecting it onto other people and things, such as the Communists and now Muslims, that not only does it follow us, but grows darker and stronger. If we knew this, would we still run from them and project them? Or would we embrace them and take responsibility for them?
Our culture prefers to look outside for the source of its problems; a behavior is based on a misunderstanding of how things work. When we become good learners and turn toward that which is difficult and frightening, taking responsibility for it, it brings dignity and courage, teaching us to live wise, compassionate lives. Our very difficulties can become the places where our hearts grow compassionate and wise; the place from which we are able to contribute to a world that works for everyone and everything.
Friday, April 6, 2012
The Good Learner
They’re not making the future like they used to, Michael Caruso, Editor of the Smithsonian Museum, wrote. Boy! That’s the truth! At the turn of the 20th century, Caruso goes on to say, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, a feisty newspaper once edited by Walt Whitman, published a special section peering into the next 100 years. The future then was “a bright, hopeful world of possibility. Just think of it: mighty airships crisscrossing the skies, electric lights solving the problem of crime, the elimination of houseflies due to the disappearance of horse-drawn carriages, and the ‘union of the telephone and phonograph’ bringing theater and opera right ‘into the salon of one’s own home.’”
How different from today, when “worst-case scenarios await us at every turn.” Still, Ralph Waldo Emerson says, writing seventy years before that, “Bad things have a scientific value. These are the occasions a good learner would not want to miss.” Well, no matter whether we choose it or not, we won’t miss it, for what’s happening is happening. What we do have a choice about is whether to be a good learner and see the value in the ‘bad’ things.
A ‘good learner’ is a person who seeks to understand and manifest the reality of a benign and loving single power behind all appearances of difference. ‘Seeks’ is the operative word, because learning to be a good learner, is always a sought after goal, a constant, on-going process. It’s a balancing of the inner work of building our consciousness of connection and oneness and then allowing that consciousness and connection to flow thru us, un-impeded by ego, into the world, contributing to a world that works for everyone and everything. Being a good learner, is, also as Emerson said, learning to “get your bloated nothingness out of the way of the divine circuits.”
Emerson’s good learner is compassionate and nonjudgmental. She can often know that what appears as forces in opposition to one another – male/female, light/dark, god/devil, democrat/republican – are simply the natural polarities that exist in the ego illusion of the world; but when seen with spirit, are simply the two ends on a single continuum. A good learner uses his sense of compassion and connection to balance and connect the two polarities and accept the difficulties and challenges of doing so. A good learner has faith in the unfolding of a benign evolution and knows that wanting to be a good learner, draws to her situations in which she can express her faith and thus balance the polarities.
A good learner knows how difficult all of this is to do using her everyday, ego consciousness, and is careful of what she asks for, but is ready when it comes.
How different from today, when “worst-case scenarios await us at every turn.” Still, Ralph Waldo Emerson says, writing seventy years before that, “Bad things have a scientific value. These are the occasions a good learner would not want to miss.” Well, no matter whether we choose it or not, we won’t miss it, for what’s happening is happening. What we do have a choice about is whether to be a good learner and see the value in the ‘bad’ things.
A ‘good learner’ is a person who seeks to understand and manifest the reality of a benign and loving single power behind all appearances of difference. ‘Seeks’ is the operative word, because learning to be a good learner, is always a sought after goal, a constant, on-going process. It’s a balancing of the inner work of building our consciousness of connection and oneness and then allowing that consciousness and connection to flow thru us, un-impeded by ego, into the world, contributing to a world that works for everyone and everything. Being a good learner, is, also as Emerson said, learning to “get your bloated nothingness out of the way of the divine circuits.”
Emerson’s good learner is compassionate and nonjudgmental. She can often know that what appears as forces in opposition to one another – male/female, light/dark, god/devil, democrat/republican – are simply the natural polarities that exist in the ego illusion of the world; but when seen with spirit, are simply the two ends on a single continuum. A good learner uses his sense of compassion and connection to balance and connect the two polarities and accept the difficulties and challenges of doing so. A good learner has faith in the unfolding of a benign evolution and knows that wanting to be a good learner, draws to her situations in which she can express her faith and thus balance the polarities.
A good learner knows how difficult all of this is to do using her everyday, ego consciousness, and is careful of what she asks for, but is ready when it comes.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
John Steinback's Thou Mayest, last
I think Steinback is saying that the fundamentalist interpretation of the bible popular when he was writing, just after the turn of the previous century (and still popular today), had the metaphysics inside out, upside down and backwards. There is no devil to tempt us and God is love. Thou mayest. We do have a choice, to awaken to our reality as spirit or remain asleep in the fear and horror of the ego illusion. The Tem Commandments were not about Thou shalt not, but about Thou mayest. What Thou mayest means to me is that God is saying, it’s only a dream, your reality is with me, you are still with me, you are eternally my child, live from that space with that knowledge.
Thou mayest - we need not fight our natural emotions – love, sex, passion and hope, but experience them as blessings and opportunities to choose to awaken to our reality and everyone’s reality, as spirit. If I honor myself and you and everyone as spirit, “I need fear no evil [nor do no evil] for Thou art with me.”
Thou mayest is not an ego message, it’s a God message! It’s not a license to kill or indulge or commit mayhem. It’s an invitation, a plea really, to get our bloated nothingness out of the way; to hide nothing from God, not one spec of pain or fear; to let go of what we think we know (what we’ve learned with the ego), of our belief in sin, guilt and mistakes and give it all over. Its permission to live fully as spiritual beings (surrounded by other spiritual beings) having earthly experiences.
Thou mayest - we need not fight our natural emotions – love, sex, passion and hope, but experience them as blessings and opportunities to choose to awaken to our reality and everyone’s reality, as spirit. If I honor myself and you and everyone as spirit, “I need fear no evil [nor do no evil] for Thou art with me.”
Thou mayest is not an ego message, it’s a God message! It’s not a license to kill or indulge or commit mayhem. It’s an invitation, a plea really, to get our bloated nothingness out of the way; to hide nothing from God, not one spec of pain or fear; to let go of what we think we know (what we’ve learned with the ego), of our belief in sin, guilt and mistakes and give it all over. Its permission to live fully as spiritual beings (surrounded by other spiritual beings) having earthly experiences.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
John Steinback's Thou Mayest
In John Steinback’s East of Eden, a powerful story of choice, lust, love and redemption, he has one of the characters, I think it was a Japanese man, long-time friend of the family, say, by way of explanation for, and resolution of all the conflict, “Thou mayest.”
Thou mayest. In a family dominated by a strict, fundamentalist father who believes in the literal interpretation of the bible, natural desires and needs take on the extra weight of heavenly censure. Everything – love, sex, passion, hope, is temptation and must be resisted. Guilt accompanies almost every thought and action. Loving and innocent motives become twisted and conflicting. Not, Thou mayest, but Thou shalt not.
The characters struggle with one another, find some peace after great suffering and pain, and achieve a vague awareness that their conflicts, especially their inner conflicts, what they’ve been struggling against, aren’t necessarily temptation. They can be, but fundamentally their needs and emotions are neutral, not either good or evil, but with the power to be either good or evil depending on the heart and intentions of the individual.
In fact, perhaps not neutral at all, but actually good. All the natural human emotions - love, sex, passion, hope, aren’t temptations at all, but actually good because they’re ‘natural’ and therefore God given. Good because if God is love and original sin is a mythic metaphor created by the ego to explain its birth, then all of God’s creation is meant to be good, when seen without the ego, when we choose to see it with spirit instead of the ego. Thou mayest, not Thou shalt not.
Thou mayest. In a family dominated by a strict, fundamentalist father who believes in the literal interpretation of the bible, natural desires and needs take on the extra weight of heavenly censure. Everything – love, sex, passion, hope, is temptation and must be resisted. Guilt accompanies almost every thought and action. Loving and innocent motives become twisted and conflicting. Not, Thou mayest, but Thou shalt not.
The characters struggle with one another, find some peace after great suffering and pain, and achieve a vague awareness that their conflicts, especially their inner conflicts, what they’ve been struggling against, aren’t necessarily temptation. They can be, but fundamentally their needs and emotions are neutral, not either good or evil, but with the power to be either good or evil depending on the heart and intentions of the individual.
In fact, perhaps not neutral at all, but actually good. All the natural human emotions - love, sex, passion, hope, aren’t temptations at all, but actually good because they’re ‘natural’ and therefore God given. Good because if God is love and original sin is a mythic metaphor created by the ego to explain its birth, then all of God’s creation is meant to be good, when seen without the ego, when we choose to see it with spirit instead of the ego. Thou mayest, not Thou shalt not.
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