Psychological Test

You are walking along a beach when you notice something in the sand. You quickly unbury it and discover what appears to be an ancient vase. The vase could easily be worth millions and set you for life. Suddenly, someone comes up to you and snatches the vase from your hand and smashes it in front of you . . . How do you feel? What are you thinking? and What do you say?

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If you write your answer to this, you will discover something important about yourself. I will come back in a few days or so and post the significance of this for you. This is an actual psychological test that has meaning to you and your life.

Happiness

"To be happy, to possess eternal life, to be in God, to be saved -- all these are the same. All alike mean the solution to the problem, the aim of existence. And happiness is cumulative, as misery may be. An eternal growth is an unchangeable peace, an ever more profound depth of understanding, a possession constantly more intense and more spiritual with the joy of heaven -- this is happiness. Happiness has no limits." - Amiel
  
This morning I feel like writing about the above quote from the Swiss philosopher, poet, and critic, Henri Frédéric Amiel, who lived from 1821 to 1881. I am writing for my own benefit, using our open classroom to increase my understanding, which is making right use of the classroom. What is more important than spiritual understanding? As far as I know, nothing. By writing about a quote of spiritual Truth, I am exercising my spiritual mind. I am reaching higher and asking God and angels to help me understand. I am putting Truth first. When we put Truth first, Truth puts us first.

Below the line below :) are the rest of my early morning musings, although I am just now posting it. I awake very early, doing my meditations, meditative writings, which help take me within and prepare me for the day.

Watership Down Quote

"Animals don't behave like men...If they have to fight, they fight; and if they have to kill they kill. But  they don't sit down and set their wits to work to devise ways of spoiling other creatures' lives and hurting them. They have dignity and animality."

― Richard Adams, Watership Down -- I read Watership Down a number of years ago and maybe one day will have to read it again, since I remember being very moved by it.

Wise Words

"The great are only great because we are on our knees. Let us rise up."-Proudhon (Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, 1809-1865)

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Leaves of Grass

I exist as I am -- that is enough; if no other in the world be aware, I sit content. -Walt Whitman

The Peace of Wild Things

The poet Wendell Berry wrote this. It's a good reminder. Nature is a great healing force. As I wrote the words here for you (writing is a teacher) I got to have another experience of them. I love the line about the day-blind stars waiting for their light. May you also rest in the grace of Mother Earth and know that you are free.

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

William Blake

William Blake was an amazing man and one of my favorite writers and artists. He said, "It is not because angels are holier than men or devils that makes them angels, but because they do not expect holiness from one another, but from God alone." Isn't that a fantastic quote! He painted many angels. Here is one: 

Seeing Angels

"We lose our ability to see angels as we grow older, and that is a tragic loss." The quote is by Madeleine L'engle. The photo is by Thomas Leininger, brother of your classmates, Christel and Jutta L. who host the Angel Seminars and Readings in Europe each year. This year I will be there in October. See my website for details. P.S. Christel's husband, Rudy, saw an angel in the cellar during an angel seminar a few years ago. But the one Thomas photographed is another one. Guess seeing angels runs in the family.

SUMMER SOLSTICE ANGEL CLEANSE AND RETREAT in Altadena, CA

SUMMER SOLSTICE ANGEL CLEANSE AND RETREAT: BODY, MIND, SPIRIT IN ALTADENA, CA, SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm

We'll start the morning with cleansing teas and juices, gentle meditative Yoga/Qigong in the garden, and move onto angel readings for all participants. Lunch will be healing, restorative, and cleansing. Then an afternoon of more angel work, deepening your understanding of yourself, your relationships, and your life. We'll close with music and refreshments. A day without sugar, but lots of sweet energy to fill your heart and make your body happy. Spend the longest day of the year healing and rejuvenating body, mind, and spirit. Register now for the Summer Solstice Angel Retreat and Cleanse: http://www.theclearandsimpleway.com/retreat

Nonstudents Register by June 3 for $119

Students ONLY Register by June 3 for $105

Late Registration EVERYONE after June 3 for $129

Red Moon at night sailors Delight. Red moon in the morn, sailors take warn

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/03/150330-stargazing-moon-planets-stars-constellations-lunar-eclipse/#
The moon and the entire galaxy can make us aware of so much. All we must do is look. With wonder. And allow something amazing and brilliant to fill us. I missed this red moon, but the pictures are still beautiful. Have a good Sunday, wherever you are, looking up into the sky. Look up always, towards something higher. Something Higher is always looking at you. That Something Higher is within you. Always. Loving you. It is you. It is your true and eternal nature. The Good within you. Bright. Light. Right. It is not that it is not there. It is that you are not in contact with it. Your Angel Lessons help guide you there. There!!! It is there now. As close as your breath. As close as your life. It is your life. It is Life Itself.

Profound. Clear. Simple. The Way.

Happy April 1 Everyone!!

Hmm--maybe I should change our Classroom decor from clouds to flowers. We have a saying here, March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. That was not true in New York State, my home state, where they just got another snowstorm and 3 inches of snow. That's spring in NYS! As for Los Angeles, sigh, not much change in the weather since I returned here in early March, but I hear there was no real winter here this year--just hot, like summer.

Another saying is April showers bring May flowers. Alas, I shan't experience much rain here in So. Cal. That's short for Southern California. There's still a drought here. I will be traveling August-October, so will experience different sorts of weather.

The newsletter will go out soon, as well as your lessons. Here's a heads-up--The Altadena Summer Solstice Retreat will be on June 20, the longest day of the year from 10 am to 6 pm. It's called the Summer Solstice Cleanse. We will have foods and juices designed to heal and rejuvenate...and the teachings of the angels that always heal, cleanse, and rejuvenate our spirit.

(Oh-and I changed the background to lemons. I took this picture in the backyard in Altadena where the June 20 retreat will be. See you there! By the way, there is a special rate for Students of the School when you register early.

Anyway, Happy April 1st!

Speaking of healing, if you like avocado, here is good news about this green fruit that grows abundantly where I live, and where I once lived, on Hawaii. Continued on next page...

URSULA'S FLOWERS

I don't think you have ever been properly introduced to Ursula's flowers. Ursula K. has been part of the school since it began, and part of my life long before. She has fairies dancing in her huge brown eyes. She is a Swiss elf living in Los Angeles with her artist husband and lovely cat. Hopefully one day you will meet her! Until then, for a bit of happiness for your eyes, do visit her website, and tell everyone where they can get the best flower arrangements ever!  http://swissbloom.com/ 

A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY

This was the November 2010 Monthly Message on my Website. I've just renovated all the monthly messages. I haven't created new ones in a long time, but there are lots of old ones to read, which are always new

http://www.theclearandsimpleway.com/november2010message.htm

A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY

When we are open and receptive, we can find words of truth and inspiration everywhere, for example, in the song Already Gone by the Eagles: "Just remember when you look up in the sky, you can see the stars, but still not see the light."  And . . . "Well, I know it wasn't you who held me down. Heaven knows it wasn't you who set me free. So oftentimes it happens that we live our lives in chains, and we never even know we have the key."

The point of this message is to encourage you to stay open and receptive to messages of Truth. Life can be an exciting journey of discovery when you let it be. Resolve to live your life alert and aware. See the stars with something more than your physical eyes. Resolve to see with your heart. Resolve to see without fear.

When we look at life through eyes of fear, we have no choice but to shut down to protect ourselves. When we shut down in an attempt to stay safe, we are less safe .  . . because it means we are living life with less intuition, less open to the Truth that expresses itself in every moment. We are focused on the fear in the mind, instead of the Truth in the heart.

Truth is always speaking to us. Always. When you know this, when you stay open to discovery, then your life has meaning because you see the meaning of life, which is self-discovery . .  . discovering your true nature, the nature of everything. You allow yourself to be guided by light . . . and there is no need to fear the darkness when you are guided by light. "So oftentimes it happens that we live our lives in chains and we never even know we have the key."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYCPccFQHWA 
*Already Gone, written by Jack Tempchin and Robert Arnold Strandlund for the Eagles 1974 album On the Border.

THE JOURNEY OF THE HEART

Usually we go to school to acquire something we don't already have. Your School isn't like that. You attend this School to find what you already have within you.

This is a school of the heart. The journey of the heart is a journey of acquiring not more, but less. Acquiring less has nothing to do with material possessions, name, or fame. We do not take the inner journey to please the ego that always wants more of everything, but for the heart that IS everything.

As the Italian poet Antonio Porchia reminds us, "In a full heart there is room for everything, and in an empty heart there is room for nothing."

The outer journey is traveled with the mind. Traveling with the mind means learning a lot of useless things that are not true anyway and then living as though they are. Things of the mind pass away with time. Wisdom is older than time.

The wisdom of the heart cannot be learned; it can only be revealed.

The wisdom of the heart arises as a deep inner knowing; a feeling; a conviction that cannot be disputed.

Your School awakens the Wisdom already within you. 

LESSON 38 LIFE JUST IS LET IT BE

What purpose does anger serve?

Anger has only one purpose—to protect the false self. Anger is a cover-up for fear. Beneath anger is fear. Most people would rather feel angry than afraid. Fear feels powerless and anger feels powerful.

Anger has no power, except to defend and build-up the false self. Anger is darkness, and all darkness keeps us from making contact with God. Anger is just another false image we worship in place of God. Isn't this sad when you really think about it? Isn't it sad to be worshiping the darkness of anger rather than the light of God?

A PURE BRIGHT CRYSTAL

 

In your heart is a pure bright crystal. The heart is surrounded by the ruins of your false thinking. You have forgotten your true nature. You have forgotten the pure bright crystal of your shining heart. You are here to remember. Now. In this lifetime. Not in some other. You are here to wake up. This is your divine destiny. This is the reason you incarnated on earth. Now! To wake up now.

Madeleine L'engle

Here is my friend, Madeliene L'engle, the author -- no longer living -- well, she wasn't my friend in the sense that we ever met, though I saw her speak once upon a time, but certainly a friend of my soul. I would say it isn't maybe -- but definitely -- we must walk through the dark forest of ego to reach the Light of Understanding. So, keep walking, friends of my soul . . .

Happy Vernal Equinox

Happy Springtime Everyone!

A new birth is yours when you continue 
to apply yourself to all the lessons
of your life so that you are born
into the present moment. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/03/20/vernal-equinox-2015-solar-eclipse-supermoon-kick-off-spring-in-the-northern-hemisphere/

Chocolate Chia Pudding

 Chia Chocolate Pudding - serves 4
Chia seeds are good for us, high in antioxidants. Chia pudding sells for a lot of money, but you can make your own for much less. Enjoy!
Ingredients 

* ½ cups water
*¼ cup chia seeds
*2 tablespoon cacao powder cacao powder
*⅛ teaspoon stevia, (or maple syrup, or honey to taste).
*⅛ teaspoon sea salt--I prefer himalayan salt.
Directions:

1. Combine blended coconut milk, water, and chia seeds in a quart mason jar and shake well
2. Add cacao powder, sweetner, and salt and shake well
3. Refrigerate overnight to let chia seeds soften and absorb liquid.