I Release and Heal

I release my parents from the feeling that they have failed me and are responsible for all my problems today. I release myself to become a mature responsible adult, not a dependent petulant child.

I release my children from the need to bring pride to me, so they are free to follow their own path, according to the Divine Will within them.

I release my partner from the expectation that he or she must complete me so that I will feel whole. I take full responsibility for completing myself through my contact with my Higher Power.

I release my work, my job, from an obligation to do more than support my life so that I can take care of myself, my dependents, and complete my spiritual work on earth. I release my job from the idea that it is obligated to bring me great success, pride, or wealth.

I accept that my work, my job, has none of these obligations. Anything more than my daily bread is a gift—one I share freely when it is more than I need. I imbibe the true meaning of the prayer: Great Universal Energy: Give us this day our daily bread.

I release my past and the bars that bind me to memories. When I am not bound tight to the past, I have the energy to devote to this Present Moment, to be free, to know God. I use memory for rightness—for what is needed Now. I use memory to remember who I AM.

I release my clinging to objects, with faith that whatever I need will appear when it is needed, as it always has and always will. I release all objects from the responsibility to fulfill me, to make me more, to make me better than anyone else.

I release the future, knowing that when I let it go, it floats freely from me, into the great Sky of Being. I allow Creation to do what it does best—create the future for me now in this perfect Present Moment.

I release my mind from the pressure of believing it must create. It is free to be what it is meant to be: A tool for practical thinking, right use of memory, and practical actions.

I release my mind from the pressure of constantly thinking about what it has no power over, no power to do, so that it can a pure conduit through which Creativity can flow, unimpeded.

I thank and honor all those who came before me, all my ancestors and grandparents—all my relations. I understand that everyone on earth—everyone who was or will be—is my relation. We are all connected. We are all made from stardust. Everyone is my brother, my sister, my mother and father, my child, and we are One.

I release the false me, the ego—with gratitude—for what it has given me, for what it has taught me. I harbor no resentment towards it, no anger. I thank it for all it has shown me. I now let it go. I let it relax into pure being.

I release all those who have harmed me, if only in my beliefs. I thank you for what I have learned from you. I allow compassion to replace resentment and pain, for that is the pathway to healing.

I release myself from all those I have harmed, if only in my beliefs. I thank myself for letting go. I  allow compassion to grow within me, for that is the pathway to healing.

I allow myself to be transparent before God. I move and live and have my being within the Presence of the greatest Healing Force, and I am grateful. Thank you, God. Thank you Divine Mother. Thank you Father Sky. Thank you all my ancestors. Thank you world. I love you world, for you are a teacher, and I step away from you now—for I am in you, but not of you. I thank you Mother Earth—for my body comes from you, as you come from the stars, and my spirit returns to Consciousness, as masculine (Shiva) and feminine (Shakti) unite in ecstatic unity, and we are One.

It is from supreme gratitude that supreme awakening arises, moment after moment, as ocean waves arise, non-ending, from the great quiet that is the depth of the ocean, from the unity of ocean with moon which receives its light from sun; thus is formed a great circle from which all life flows over and over again. And I am grateful. Thank you.

Springtime Thoughts

Spring Daffodil I found on my walk here.

Since I am in a new time zone with changing weather patterns—including April showers and refreshing air (unlike the cities I have been living in) which I love and many people complain about—the rain and cold that is,—anxious as they are for summer sun…I often think of this angel writing, which you may have read—I first wrote it for a monthly lesson called,  'Angels Everywhere!'—which turned out to be one of my favorite lessons...

...but it was written at a very difficult time, following the death of my only sister, Sue, on a cold grey Christmas morning, from a long painful illness.

The first words of that lesson were, “Are angels with us always? Yes! Always!”

And the lesson went onto say…"Angels love all kinds of weather. Angels are not dependent on the sun for light the way we are. Angels shine with their own light. You shine with your own light too. When you are living from your heart even the most somber winter day can seem warm and peaceful—because real peace is independent of any experience. Even the most somber moment can be filled with peace—because peace is the backdrop upon which everything is written.”

Over the years, the more I write, read, and study the lessons, the more I work on practicing the teachings—the more I imbibe. Because as the lessons say, What good are spiritual teachings if you cannot apply them to everyday life? If they do not offer you personal transformation?

The more I work with the angelic teachings, the more they became part of my life. It’s one thing to adapt to the outside weather—but what about adapting to inside weather? What about dealing with the changes, not only in weather patterns, but the weather patterns of our lives?

If you are still buffeted about by people, situations, and events—remember, you have your lessons. You have the teachings of the angels to guide you and remind you to go within — that you are more than your body, more than emotions, more than passing thoughts.

Just yesterday I was given some misinformation by a government official, which meant a huge (for me) financial loss. I was shocked, but not defeated. It did not throw me into anxiety the way it once would have. I just felt  the shock and stayed with it—instead of letting thoughts add unnecessary emotional and mental suffering. I stayed with what was.

I researched and took some actions to rectify the situation, because I felt that what she had told me was not accurate. In the end, I found out she was wrong. The whole drama had been just…a drama.

The positive outcome of this is that I was given a chance to see that there was a transformation within me. Real transformation often happens so deeply and slowly that we do not realize it has taken place. It’s not like those sudden “changes” we all have had—you know—where you think you have “changed” forever. You get high about it and maybe tell everyone. You believe it is permanent. Then it all collapses and you feel like you are just the same old person in pain, which brings even greater pain.

This is because there is still a “you” there to get high. There is a “you” who believes you have “changed.” In truth, there is no “you” and never was. “You” is always thinking…thinking…thinking. But a thought of change is not change. “You” cannot change because you just don’t exist.

When true change comes, it is not “you” changing—it is a bit of you being chipped away, the way a sculpture chips away bits of rock to reveal the sculpture that was always there, hidden within the rock.

So I was enabled to see—that some of the old me was gone in that moment. I say in that moment, because if I talk about the future, then it is “me” doing the talking—putting “me” into it. There is no me and never could be. There is only what IS.

We only have this moment. When this is remembered, we can sink deep into the present moment and rise higher than whatever problem we face. This is what happened for me the other day. I could have been controlled by what the official told me. I could have let it sink me into suffering. If I had done that, I wouldn’t have felt compelled to research the information and find out for myself what was true.

Some part of me, the practical mind—the mind that works for us and is our friend—questioned what she said. So even in the midst of shock, I was able to take constructive action. I was willing to be wrong— those of you who work with me personally in seminars—may have heard me say this, as I often do when working with someone: I am willing to be wrong.

And I mean that. But…I am also willing to be right. Both have different outcomes, and both are okay because…I  am willing to accept either possibility—being wrong or being right.
 
When we can come to this place: I am willing to be  wrong. I am willing to be right. I am willing to accept either possibility—then there is inner quiet. Inner peace. The struggle to be “right” and “win” is gone. You realize that the spiritual journey is not about competition—that’s the way of the world. The way of Spirit is just to be and let life unfold—discover what is and what will be.

So the other day when I heard this shocking news, I just stayed with the shock. I noticed my mind wanting to interfere—remember that darkness attacks when we are in a weakened position—and tell me how wrong I was, how I had made a mistake, how my future was doomed, as well as my present.

But at that moment, there was sentry at the doorway of my mind, watching carefully—and I did not let those harmful hurtful thoughts in the door where they could take over and destroy my serenity.

In the end, I called back this same woman with the information I had and she confirmed that she had given me wrong information. Now, that was a relief at the financial level, since it will make life easier for me—but I felt no high, no elation—because I had experienced no low, no depression. Shock, yes, but that was an immediate reaction. What’s important,is that I did not let it devolve into a low, into depression or anxiety.

I know myself well enough to know that my “normal" reaction would have been terrible anxiety—because I would have let anxious thoughts take over. But this time…it was different. And I can attribute that to  the spiritual work I do constantly on myself. I consciously work on myself everyday. I write everyday. I hang out with angelic energy. I read other spiritual books. I read and work with the lessons.

I say this not to say how dedicated I am — but to emphasize what can happen when we are devoted to our spiritual life. I an SO grateful for the angels in my life, for all my spiritual teachers, the ancient seers who left behind great books and scriptures — that have helped release me from being “me.”

And I continue to work on myself, to read and write the lessons, to practice what I write. This is the only way I know for deep inner transformation to happen — we must put into practice what we learn, in order to let the learning deepen into the heart. I am just grateful that at least for that moment I was spared the suffering my own thoughts could have led me to. And that I was given the energy to find out for myself that what she had said was wrong, so that I could fix the problem. It is certainly a relief at a financial level, but even more so—a victory of light over darkness, which is what matters most.

More reasons to meditate

• Neuroscientist Sara Lazar found that people who practiced meditation had more gray matter in the part of the brain linked to decision-making and working memory: the frontal cortex. 
•  
• While most people see their cortexes shrink as they age, 50-year-old meditators in the study had the same amount of gray matter as those half their age. 
•  
• Participants in the study averaged about 27 minutes of the habit a day, but other studies suggest that you can see significant positive changes in just 15 minutes a day. 
•  

From this link: https://www.businessinsider.com/neuroscience

 

*******

You might want to have the physical brain of a 25 year old, but not the thinking. When you continue to do your spiritual work, you can have not only a physically young brain, but the wisdom and enlightenment that comes from putting Truth first. So consider adding meditation to your daily routine. Meditation is nothing elaborate. Just sit and see what happens. Nothing to do, just be.

Vincent van Gogh

Enter the world of Imagination:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvCJvi6A1sl/?fbclid=IwAR2UnRywjNPQGtE560umJBjh9xBIsjYg-BHNMLDYYifUvc8mlORXQXQ32mQ

Gurdjieff

The Iron Law: If you help others you will be helped, perhaps tomorrow, perhaps in 100 years, but you will be helped, Nature must pay off the debt ... It is a mathematical law and all life is mathematics.

--G. Gurdjieff - Views From the Real World,

humour

 “I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind” – John Lennon.

and here is a fairy I happened to capture in a photograph. Or maybe I drew her. :)

Seeing without rose-colored glasses

You are on a joyful path—joyful because you are moving from unconsciousness to consciousness. It takes courage and wisdom to look at yourself—really look—without the rose-colored glasses—without blaming anyone else for what you see—without projecting your flaws and weaknesses onto other people—without denying your light—without negating your beauty—without playing the role of victim—without playing the role of aggressor—without pretenses—without disguises. Just looking. Seeing what is and what is not. This is the way to compassion. This is the path to the heart. The path to the heart is blocked by the dark clouds of unawareness—by what you are afraid to see—the tiny slivers that hide in your unconscious.    

Remember this?

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.

A day is made sacred when you use it to do your spiritual work, to practice right relationship in all your ways.

Be Who You Are

A Dream

Sitting at my laptop thinking about what to write this early morning...I've been awake since 4am...I fell asleep for a moment and had this brief dream. In the dream, I am the "me" and also witnessing everything from a larger perspective. I see myself walking on a path in a dark green forest. I turn to see a huge cat following me, a mountain lion maybe. The cat leaps forward to chase me, and I remain still and give myself this advice: "It's better not to run." And then I wake up.

It's better not to run. Sometimes this is true. We need to know when to run from danger and when to stand still in the face of danger. In order to know what to do we must listen to that still small voice within...this means taking time to listen...it means knowing our self...as Shakespeare counseled, to thine own self be true...

We cannot be true to our own self unless we know ourself. Otherwise, we may end up being true to someone's else's idea of who we should be. We may be easily led away from our true self, easily influenced by opinions that are not in keeping with our real nature.

As Proverbs 4:5-9 advises, Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

Understanding ourself, our  true nature, brings the greatest wisdom. Overall, it is better that we not run from anything that arises within us--that we face and seek to understand our inner world. 

Photo by Gary Cook

Happy New Year 2019

The New Year is a Time of Mending and Melding:
The Elders Need the Young, and The Young Need Their Elders
*********************

Long ago, the child of ‘the new year’ was born, when the dark is lifting and the light of day is growing and remaining with us longer. Named Dionysus, the infant was carried about by the old men Silenus and Hermes.

The child, the God in all things, represented bright new life, fresh imagination, sunny impetuosity, joyous spirit without end.

The old man who carried the child in his arms as his protector, represented the senex, that is, the old wise man; the one who had lived long, who knew the preciousness of new life, the locations of the ‘trip and fall-down’ places, the detours and long-cuts, the underground pathways through.

Back in the day, the child and the old man were not separate ideas, but one. The older one did not die in order to be replaced by the younger. Instead, they represented a hieros gamos of sorts, a sacred union. They are the two critical aspects of inner nature, that when melded together by inquiry, plans laid, and actions taken, created a third: a more conscious and awakened psyche.

One without the other, creative life without the long view, wisdom without action of invention, could cause each to falter, eventually go awry, then sicken and die… for lack of their life’s work in balance with one another… enthusiasm and a reliable over-and-inner sight.

In modern time, many older persons remain in high spirit by creating deep friendships with the very young, and/or with ideas and attitudes that carry fresh vitality. Many of the young feel they are living in the shelter of a mountain, because they are near the heart of an elder who is reasonably aged and wise in love, loyalty, praise and prescience.

As a pair, the wise old one and the newly born potential are the essence of creative power that can make ideas manifest through deliberate actions… much needed in our world, so that decent wishes can become manifest in progressions through ‘inspirited’ and focused actions.

Inspired by: Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Mark Twain

"Nothing exists. All is a dream.
God—man—the world—the sun, the moon, the wilderness
of stars—a dream, all a dream; they have no existence.
Nothing exists save empty space—And you.…
And you are not you—you have no body, no blood, no
bones, you are but a thought."

—Mark Twain, 'The Mysterious Stranger'

🌟 🎶🌟 A New Year, A New You 2019 🌟🎶🌟

As we venture into a new year 🎉 resolve to be open to all possibilities. Welcome the greatness that is here for you. A vast treasure exists for you. Open your heart and let it  in.

Here is an exercise that came to me on 🌟angelic wings🌟 It can help you get clear about what you want and need. Often we confuse wants with needs and desires. You might want something so much that you believe it is a need. You might need something, but not be aware of what it is, because you are so filled with desires.

Resolve to be willing to give up confusion. Confusion is not your friend. Ask the angels to open the windows of your mind and let clarity in. Clarity opens doors and invites the light in.

Write down the following headings. You might find that you put the same sentences under more than one heading. That's fine. Just write what you feel. Feel what your body is telling. What your heart is saying. What your gut is telling. I made a list of three below each heading, just to get you started, but you can list as many as you need — or want 😋

Notice that I have left out the negatives — what you don't want or need. We're keeping it positive here. Positive encourages. Negative discourages.

🌟WHAT DO I WANT
I want …
I want …  
I want … 

🌟WHAT DO I NEED
I need …
I need …
I need …

🌟I WOULD LIKE
I would like …
I would like …
I would like …

🌟I MIGHT LIKE
I might like …
I might like …
I might like …

🌟I WOULD BE OPEN TO
I would be open to …
I would be open to …
I would be open to …

🌟I AM WILLING TO LET GO OF
I am willing to let go of …
I am willing to let go of …
I am willing to let go of …

🌟GOD, PLEASE HELP ME WILLING TO LET GO OF
Help me let go of …
Help me let go of …
Help me let go of …

🌟I SURRENDER 
I surrender …
I surrender …
I surrender …

Love

Love doesn't just sit there like a stone., it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new. -Ursula K. Le Guin 1929-2018

MARCUS AURELIUS

MARCUS AURELIUS --  20 quotes from MEDITATIONS.
(All are signed, so feel free to share one or more.)

Death and life, success and failure, pain and pleasure, wealth and poverty, all these happen to good and bad alike, and they are neither noble nor shameful—and hence neither good nor bad. -Marcus Aurelius

What is divine deserves our respect because it is good; what is human deserves our affection because it is like us. - Marcus Aurelius

Even if you’re going to live three thousand more years, or ten times that, remember: you cannot lose another life than the one you’re living now, or live another one than the one you’re losing. -Marcus Aurelius

The only thing that isn’t worthless: to live this life out truthfully and rightly. And be patient with those who don't. -Marcus Aurelius

If it doesn’t hurt the individual elements to change continually into one another, why are people afraid of all of them changing and separating? It’s a natural thing. And nothing natural is evil. -Marcus Aurelius

Concentrate on this, your whole life long: for your mind to be in the right state—the state a rational, civic mind should be in. - Marcus Aurelius

Forget everything else. Keep hold of this alone and remember it: Each of us lives only now, this brief instant. The rest has been lived already, or is impossible to see. -Marcus Aurelius

Doctors keep their scalpels and other instruments handy, for emergencies. Keep your philosophy ready too—ready to understand heaven and earth. In everything you do, even the smallest thing, remember the chain that links them. - Marcus Aurelius

Is it your reputation that’s bothering you? But look at how soon we’re all forgotten. The abyss of endless time that swallows it all. The emptiness of all those applauding hands. -Marcus Aurelius

Things have no hold on the soul. They stand there unmoving, outside it. Disturbance comes only from within—from our own perceptions. - Marcus Aurelius

Not to live as if you had endless years ahead of you. Death overshadows you. While you’re alive and able—be good. - Marcus Aurelius

And then you might see what the life of the good man is like—someone content with what nature assigns him, and satisfied with being just and kind himself. -Marcus Aurelius

Note: If you're enjoying these quotes so far, then you should definitely check out The Meditations, which is where these quotes are pulled from.

When we describe things as “taking place,” we’re talking like builders, who say that blocks in a wall or a pyramid “take their place” in the structure, and fit together in a harmonious pattern. - Marcus Aurelius

If we limited “good” and “bad” to our own actions, we’d have no call to challenge God, or to treat other people as enemies. - Marcus Aurelius

To pass through this brief life as nature demands. To give it up without complaint. Like an olive that ripens and falls. Praising its mother, thanking the tree it grew on. -Marcus Aurelius

The whole is damaged if you cut away anything—anything at all—from its continuity and its coherence. Not only its parts, but its purposes. And that’s what you’re doing when you complain: hacking and destroying. -Marcus Aurelius

“To live with the gods.” And to do that is to show them that your soul accepts what it is given and does what the spirit requires—the spirit God gave each of us to lead and guide us, a fragment of himself. -Marcus Aurelius

Awaken; return to yourself. Now, no longer asleep, knowing they were only dreams, clear-headed again, treat everything around you as a dream. -Marcus Aurelius

It’s fortunate that this has happened and I’ve remained unharmed by it—not shattered by the present or frightened of the future. It could have happened to anyone. But not everyone could have remained unharmed by it. -Marcus Aurelius

To be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it. -Marcus Aurelius

Take the shortest route, the one that nature planned—to speak and act in the healthiest way. Do that, and be free of pain and stress, free of all calculation and pretension. -Marcus Aurelius

How does it injure you anyway? You’ll find that none of the people you’re upset about has done anything that could do damage to your mind. But that’s all that “harm” or “injury” could mean. -Marcus Aurelius

It’s time you realized that you have something in you more powerful and miraculous than the things that affect you and make you dance like a puppet. -Marcus Aurelius

If it isn’t ceasing to live that you’re afraid of but never beginning to live properly . . . then you’ll be worthy of the world that made you. No longer an alien in your own land. No longer shocked by everyday events—as if they were unheard-of aberrations. -Marcus Aurelius

Because to be drawn toward what is wrong and self-indulgent, toward anger and fear and pain, is to revolt against nature. And for the mind to complain about anything that happens is to desert its post. -Marcus Aurelius

Finding Peace

It is only after you have faced up to this fundamental rule and learned to distinguish between what you can and can’t control that inner tranquility and outer effectiveness become possible. -Epictetus

Keep the Season Holy

This Christmas and holiday season, you are offered a gentle reminder to spend your energy wisely. Respect yourself and your money. This means living within—or even better—below—your means, so that you do not place unnecessary burdens upon yourself or create debt.

If you find yourself feeling lonely or stressed, wanting to give gifts you can't afford, or receive gifts that are not coming your way, remind yourself, "Now is enough." When you experience any sense of lack, loss, fear, or limitation, tell yourself that now is enough.

There is no fear or limitation when you know that you are enough, that there is nothing that can be added to you that would make you more.
The only thing you have to share with anyone is your own state of being. Many people want to uplift the world, but live in such anxiety that this is what they end up sharing. We can uplift the world only to the extent that we live expansive uplifted lives.
   

Happiness as defined by the mind can lead only to unhappiness, because the mind can never be satisfied. As soon as one desire is achieved, the mind creates another.

    
This Christmas and holiday season remember that you are enough. So is every other human being, whether they know it or not.
    

Whatever You Celebrate

Keep the season Holy

A Gift Worth Giving:

 The Clear and Simple Way School.

Happiness is Contagious!

". . . researchers found that when an individual becomes happy, the network effect can be measured up to three degrees. One person's happiness triggers a chain reaction that benefits not only their friends, but their friends' friends, and their friends' friends' friends. The effect lasts for up to one year."

Death

Have you wondered what happens when you die to this earth? Some people think they go to heaven. Some people think they go to hell. Then angels say: All you take with you when you leave this body is you—yourself—your own state of being. This is your inner state. This goes with you.