Hello teacher,
this is cool, you are also a classmate now ! Is that right ? Welcome ! This is a new experience. Let us have fun.
Love
Monika
Monday, March 30, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Breaking the silence of isolation
Dearest Students, there are times (as some of you have noticed) that I write privately to you. Some of you have expressed surprise and gratitude that I would take the time to do this. I cannot do it all the time, given the number of students in the School (outside of the Open Classroom).
The Open Classroom is where I answer most questions and keep in contact with you. It is also where you keep in contact with me (as well as each other). It is unlikely you will receive a private communication from me unless you post and comment here. Even if you have not received any private communication from me, I read everything you write here and this helps me to connect with you at deeply intuitive levels. Which means that when I feel called to do so, I can reach out to you both privately and here. I would prefer to have all of our communication be open to everyone, as there is truly nothing to hide, no story that is unique. However I understand and respect privacy.
One of the insidious forms the ego takes is ISOLATION. The ego thrives in isolation. In future lessons, I will reveal more of the many cunning tricks the ego uses to stay in control. One purpose of The Open Classroom is to help you come out of isolation - to recognize that your story is not so terrible that it must be hidden - that you must be hidden.
Here you have the possibility to speak your truth, even if your truth is false (the ego is always false). You have the possibility to come out of isolation. When you tell your simple human stories here, you give others the chance to relate to them, to understand that there is really only one story, told over and over again, in different ways.
In isolation, the ego thrives because it can hold onto its (false) story that it is special.
Remember that the primary function of the School is to bring into awareness that which was previously hidden from view. You are traveling a road from the darkness (of ego, ignorance, unawareness) to the light of Consciousness and Truth. This requires shining the bright light of awareness into every crack and crevice where the ego hides.
The Open Classroom is where I answer most questions and keep in contact with you. It is also where you keep in contact with me (as well as each other). It is unlikely you will receive a private communication from me unless you post and comment here. Even if you have not received any private communication from me, I read everything you write here and this helps me to connect with you at deeply intuitive levels. Which means that when I feel called to do so, I can reach out to you both privately and here. I would prefer to have all of our communication be open to everyone, as there is truly nothing to hide, no story that is unique. However I understand and respect privacy.
One of the insidious forms the ego takes is ISOLATION. The ego thrives in isolation. In future lessons, I will reveal more of the many cunning tricks the ego uses to stay in control. One purpose of The Open Classroom is to help you come out of isolation - to recognize that your story is not so terrible that it must be hidden - that you must be hidden.
Here you have the possibility to speak your truth, even if your truth is false (the ego is always false). You have the possibility to come out of isolation. When you tell your simple human stories here, you give others the chance to relate to them, to understand that there is really only one story, told over and over again, in different ways.
In isolation, the ego thrives because it can hold onto its (false) story that it is special.
Remember that the primary function of the School is to bring into awareness that which was previously hidden from view. You are traveling a road from the darkness (of ego, ignorance, unawareness) to the light of Consciousness and Truth. This requires shining the bright light of awareness into every crack and crevice where the ego hides.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
On Being Powerless
Dearest Students, You might like to consider (for those of you who like extra homework) the following: What in my life (that is causing me pain) am I powerless over?
Begin a list (in your special School notebook which I do hope you have by now!) of the things you are powerless over. Each time something that you are powerless over brings you pain or unhappiness add it to your list.
When you do this, you are telling yourself the Truth about what you are powerless over. This helps to over-ride the unconscious lies we constantly tell ourselves (that we have power where we have none). And it helps you direct your energy toward what you do have the power to change (more about this in future lessons).
For all Classes: Your next Lessons are coming soon, so please make sure you have completed your previous homework and read your lessons.
Begin a list (in your special School notebook which I do hope you have by now!) of the things you are powerless over. Each time something that you are powerless over brings you pain or unhappiness add it to your list.
When you do this, you are telling yourself the Truth about what you are powerless over. This helps to over-ride the unconscious lies we constantly tell ourselves (that we have power where we have none). And it helps you direct your energy toward what you do have the power to change (more about this in future lessons).
For all Classes: Your next Lessons are coming soon, so please make sure you have completed your previous homework and read your lessons.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
returning to peace
I was recently asked to contribute some of my writing to a website called, think peace, by Leza Labrador, and you can find it here: http://thinkpeace.wordpress.com/ I included a passage Returning to Peace from my forthcoming book, The Clear and Simple Way.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Everyday Life
Dear Students, Many of you write to me (privately) of your problems in every day life. Some of these seem so overwhelming that you do not know how to solve them. THIS IS THE POINT! YOU do NOT know how to solve them. And yet you continue to try, using the same techniques which have failed you in the past, or maybe seemed to work for awhile, but will not work with your new situation.
As I write in Lesson Five (which some of you have not yet received) Einstein said that no problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.
This means that we must rise above our old level of thinking. When we rise as high as we can in our thinking and the problem persists...the next logical and healthy step is to admit our own powerlessness over the situation. Admitting that you are powerless does not mean that you must feel helpless. You are not helpless (without help) just powerless to affect the change you want. Being powerless does not mean you should stop, stagnate, give up, take no action. It just means that perhaps you should be willing to stop reacting from unhealthy patterns of thinking.
Perhaps Gandhi could have decided he was helpless and given up when he failed to affect immediate change in his world. Perhaps Mother Teresa could have looked at the starving faces in India and decided she was helpless and given up too! I am sure that these people also went through tremendous soul-searching, even their own doubt and fear...and they continued along the path of their dharma (duty) to fulfill their highest destiny.
When you "show up" and take the small steps in front of you; when you let go of trying to control the outcome; when you acknowledge the limitations of your thinking, then you are ready to turn to a higher source. If you do not have much practice turning to this Source - you may at first feel only a trickle of love, compassion, and wisdom emanating from this Source - you may feel only the doubt and fear of your own limited thinking - and decide that the doubt and fear is proof that nothing higher exists.
This is why the School offers small steps. Small homework. Let yourself be in kindergarten. Remember how much fun it was to just play, how excited you were to learn new things? Tell yourself that you do not have to be a big stuffy grown-up today. You can play and be light in your School. You will probably have a hard time believing this, but say it to yourself anyway. Even if people around you are being uptight and stuffy, you do not have to follow suit!
I know that when many of you look around life, it does not look so pleasant. I know that you see the mirror of your own fearful thinking. I know that some of you are experiencing some pleasant times right now. And I know that for many of you, if those pleasant times should leave you, you would fall into despair - unless you are firmly rooted in a higher consciousness. If our inner contentment is based upon anything that is impermanent, it is a false idea of happiness - because true happiness is free and independent of anything at all.
Exactly as you walk down a path, one step at a time, so must we walk through life. This may seem like a simplistic statement; I assure you it is not.
Most of you have been walking your spiritual path for a long time - you have been in therapy, workshops, read books, been educated in many ways. Many of you are teachers, business owners, parents, healers, and therapists in your own right. There are no "slouches" in the School. You could not be here if you were.
And now, even with all your accomplishments, I ask you to make yourself a beginner. I ask you to examine your belief systems. I ask you to be WILLING to throw away everything that is not YOU. And I tell you that simply reading your lessons, even a little, month by month, and applying yourself to your homework, even a little, will make a difference in your life.
The same consciousness that created the problem cannot solve it. When you gently and CONSISTENTLY apply yourself to the School over a period of time, your consciousness is gently and consistently transformed. The School is called a School because it is on-going; it is here to guide and assist you on your path. You, yourself, must show up and do the work.
Can you feel the love in these words? Can you feel compassion reaching out to you? You are not alone, even when it seems like it.
As I write in Lesson Five (which some of you have not yet received) Einstein said that no problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.
This means that we must rise above our old level of thinking. When we rise as high as we can in our thinking and the problem persists...the next logical and healthy step is to admit our own powerlessness over the situation. Admitting that you are powerless does not mean that you must feel helpless. You are not helpless (without help) just powerless to affect the change you want. Being powerless does not mean you should stop, stagnate, give up, take no action. It just means that perhaps you should be willing to stop reacting from unhealthy patterns of thinking.
Perhaps Gandhi could have decided he was helpless and given up when he failed to affect immediate change in his world. Perhaps Mother Teresa could have looked at the starving faces in India and decided she was helpless and given up too! I am sure that these people also went through tremendous soul-searching, even their own doubt and fear...and they continued along the path of their dharma (duty) to fulfill their highest destiny.
When you "show up" and take the small steps in front of you; when you let go of trying to control the outcome; when you acknowledge the limitations of your thinking, then you are ready to turn to a higher source. If you do not have much practice turning to this Source - you may at first feel only a trickle of love, compassion, and wisdom emanating from this Source - you may feel only the doubt and fear of your own limited thinking - and decide that the doubt and fear is proof that nothing higher exists.
This is why the School offers small steps. Small homework. Let yourself be in kindergarten. Remember how much fun it was to just play, how excited you were to learn new things? Tell yourself that you do not have to be a big stuffy grown-up today. You can play and be light in your School. You will probably have a hard time believing this, but say it to yourself anyway. Even if people around you are being uptight and stuffy, you do not have to follow suit!
I know that when many of you look around life, it does not look so pleasant. I know that you see the mirror of your own fearful thinking. I know that some of you are experiencing some pleasant times right now. And I know that for many of you, if those pleasant times should leave you, you would fall into despair - unless you are firmly rooted in a higher consciousness. If our inner contentment is based upon anything that is impermanent, it is a false idea of happiness - because true happiness is free and independent of anything at all.
Exactly as you walk down a path, one step at a time, so must we walk through life. This may seem like a simplistic statement; I assure you it is not.
Most of you have been walking your spiritual path for a long time - you have been in therapy, workshops, read books, been educated in many ways. Many of you are teachers, business owners, parents, healers, and therapists in your own right. There are no "slouches" in the School. You could not be here if you were.
And now, even with all your accomplishments, I ask you to make yourself a beginner. I ask you to examine your belief systems. I ask you to be WILLING to throw away everything that is not YOU. And I tell you that simply reading your lessons, even a little, month by month, and applying yourself to your homework, even a little, will make a difference in your life.
The same consciousness that created the problem cannot solve it. When you gently and CONSISTENTLY apply yourself to the School over a period of time, your consciousness is gently and consistently transformed. The School is called a School because it is on-going; it is here to guide and assist you on your path. You, yourself, must show up and do the work.
Can you feel the love in these words? Can you feel compassion reaching out to you? You are not alone, even when it seems like it.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Being True to Self
Hi Everyone,
Hope this goes thru to you, guys. I sent a post on 3/19....went somewhere in cyberspace!
It's 12 noon in California....gorgeous sunny day. Watching my animals sitting peacefully in the yard. It's so simple for them....they're are content with just being. Loving, trusting....living in the moment. I do envy them.
I can chose to have a good day or not. It is a conscious decision. When I take "everything" personally, don't know how to separate my truth from others, I always get the same results. Self-loathing....it's old....doubt, resentment, then I blame everyone...think everyone has wronged me. .....can I just let people be who they are? Being aware helps...the behavior is familiar and habitual...know the answers are within. So glad to be part of this class and would like to hear if others identify.
Hope this goes thru to you, guys. I sent a post on 3/19....went somewhere in cyberspace!
It's 12 noon in California....gorgeous sunny day. Watching my animals sitting peacefully in the yard. It's so simple for them....they're are content with just being. Loving, trusting....living in the moment. I do envy them.
I can chose to have a good day or not. It is a conscious decision. When I take "everything" personally, don't know how to separate my truth from others, I always get the same results. Self-loathing....it's old....doubt, resentment, then I blame everyone...think everyone has wronged me. .....can I just let people be who they are? Being aware helps...the behavior is familiar and habitual...know the answers are within. So glad to be part of this class and would like to hear if others identify.
Monday, March 16, 2009
New adventure!
I just wanted to introduce myself and say hello to all of you.
Seems that the questions I ask myself usually have the same answers even before I ask...self doubt...negative feelings. It's never productive....and exhausting. I'm addicted to that way of thinking..... Looking forward to a shift. Yesterday I was at a meeting where someone wise said....you have to have a breakdown to breakthrough. Will stay in touch. Indira is a joy and am happy to be one of her students in this journey.
Seems that the questions I ask myself usually have the same answers even before I ask...self doubt...negative feelings. It's never productive....and exhausting. I'm addicted to that way of thinking..... Looking forward to a shift. Yesterday I was at a meeting where someone wise said....you have to have a breakdown to breakthrough. Will stay in touch. Indira is a joy and am happy to be one of her students in this journey.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Hello dear Annie,
I wanted to answer you under comments. Somehow this did not work, so I put a new post.
The first time I saw your picture in the open classroom I thought: 'I want to get to know this woman. She looks very interesting to me. Very soft. I want to know more about her.' And I did not know how to find a way to contact. So I am glad you did this step. I would like to know (and I do not mean you have to answer): What is your daily life. Do you have family. Are you living in town. Do you have a garden....... My imagination says you must have had until now very rich, profound, deep life experiences I can also learn from. What do you have in mind when you speak of a study group ? When I know more about, may be I want to join.
Something in my heart is full of joy to start a communication with you.
Love
Monika
wanting to connect
this is my second try at sending this. i accidently errased the first one. I go through life feeling like I cannot conect with people and I am having this same experience here. I have not been in the open classroom recently and I think it is because I feel left out when I see other people connecting and i am scared of not being accepted. It is very difficult for me to admit this because generally I do a really good job at hiding this trait of mine, but I am tired of keeping up this pretence. Would someone or someones like to join a study group with me? love and light Annie
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Dear classmates, teacher and Angels,
great, that you are all here. I like, that some of you have posted a picture of yourself. This gives me some idea of you. And I like, that some of you have written comments. As we are in some way on the same path I am interested about your thoughts, emotions, experiences.... according to the lessons, the school. Also I am interested about other parts of your lifes. And I confess, I do not know exactly how to comunicate all this. This way, with the open classroom and communicating through a computer with people that I do not know is pretty new for me.
Ina, I like your question about truth and thank the angels for the answer. The sentence "Do you realize that you have been giving mere questions power over you ?" did something with me. It brought me to an emotional confusion and I do not have a name for it. But then the emotions calmed down and as a result I felt very quiet and strong inside.
A similar reaction I had with the homework of lesson 3, writing down and reading the sentence brought up strange and uncomfortable emotions that I just observed. But then came a stream of power that drove me to do a lot of work very easy and efficient. mmmh ?
So, I am glad and at the same time a little fragile to share this with you.
Love
Monika
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