The sweetest of gifts that anyone can receive is the gift of Radharani's grace. Exchanging the mellows of Godhead is what enlivens the world's desire to join hands with a saintly devotee of the Lord of Vrindavana.
Better than liberation through knowledge is that soul who has faith in the process of serving the damsels of infinite ecstasies.
Elated through hearing the gopis whisper secrets into the ears of Radharani concerning what to do next with Her Beloved Govinda, the gopis transmit Their Essence by way of praising the importance of the Spiritual Master of all spiritual masters.
Glorifying Govinda while in the whirl wind like passions of Love and while bereft of all unified loving sentiments, Radharani supports Them through Their seeming loss by providing them first hand accounts of Their Divine Love Affairs Together.
Playing with His Flute of Transcendence and His Garments of Spiritualized Devotion, Radharani is the Queen of chasing after and capturing the Ever Beating Heart of Sri Krishna; for She is the topmost expert in the subtlest matters of devotional loving exchanges.
Fashioning your soul after the design of the emotional attire of Goloka, wear your heart on your sleeve and your devotion will blossom and expand as you engage in the eternal pastimes of Govinda, the Trickster of tricksters.
Expert in offering flowers and songs of nectarian value, put all of the talents that have come from Sri Krishna's Seed of Inspiration into good use and never let your devotion be neglected because of the miseries of miserly persons.
What use is a flower or a song if Sri Radha Krishna is not made the center of everyone's attraction?
By diminishing the importance of the messenger, the Supreme Object of the messenger's message is relished in as plentiful a manner as a swarm of bees in relation to the Honey of Supreme Bliss.
Like an incense stick that is offered on the altar of nature's blessings, the scent of a devotee's devotion is as unique as the manifestation of each infinitesimal part of creation.
By being pleased in the services that have been assigned to you, Sri Radha Krishna jumps about in your heart, making every devotional mellow express itself through the various scents of your various services.
Leaving no mark on this world except the mark of Krishna Prema, the best of devotees is he or she who laughs with Krishna and cries with Krishna.
Perceiving Sri Radha as your Guardian of guardians, pray to Her and She will provide you with the missing links in your devotional life.
When the flower petals of your heart are fully outstretched in all of the directions of the Supreme Bhagavan's pastimes, then the rasa dance shall commence and shall bring you closer to every angle or mellow of devotional service in samadhi.
There to serve and to be served, Sri Radha is the topmost yogi, for no one knows Sri Krishna like She does.
Thus, by becoming a loyal follower of Her team of transcendental associates, Sri Krishna will voluntarily dance with you until you make it back to the promised land of Supreme Devotional Perfection.
Copyright - The Blue Cross And Shining Sunset Academy
On Friday, 12/7/12, at 12pm ET/9am PT, I will be interviewed on the Speak 4 Yourself show. We will discuss the subject matter from my book, How to Attract Money Using Mind Power. To listen to the show live, go to the following web page at the specified time and click on "On The Air/Click To Listen" on the left side of the page. (FYI: This is going to be a short interview--perhaps even 15 minutes or less). Here's the link: http://www.thespaa.org/
Posted by Agnes Claire MacEachern on 7 December, 2012
Children Learn What They Live By Dorothy Law Nolte
If children live with criticism, They learn to condemn. If children live with hostility, They learn to fight. If children live with ridicule, They learn to be shy. If children live with shame, They learn to feel guilty. If children live with encouragement, They learn confidence. If children live with tolerance, They learn to be patient. If children live with praise, They learn to appreciate. If children live with acceptance, They learn to love. If children live with approval, They learn to like themselves. If children live with honesty, They learn truthfulness. If children live with security, They learn to have faith in themselves and others. If children live with friendliness, They learn the world is a nice place in which to live.
Posted by Agnes Claire MacEachern on 7 December, 2012
A Parents Prayer ~ Althea A. Anker
Thank you God for The children of mine
Who teach me things That blow my mind. They entertain themselves In the funniest ways. I pray that the innocence They possess never goes away. I pray they will Grow up and be smart, And I pray that they will never grow apart. I pray that they will call home Whenever they are near a phone. I pray that they never feel alone. I hope they turn to You Through guidance and prayer And know that You and their parents Will always be there.
The following is a beautiful story I discovered once upon a sunbeam and I felt called to share it here today:
Once upon NO time there was a Little Soul who said to God, "I know who I am!"
And God said, "That's wonderful! Who are you?"
And the Little Soul shouted, "I'm the Light!"
God smiled a big smile, "That's right!" God exclaimed. "You are the Light."
The Little Soul was so happy, for it had figured out what all the souls in the Kingdom were there to figure out. "Wow," said the Little Soul, "this is really cool!"
But soon, knowing who it was was not enough. The Little Soul felt stirrings inside, and now wanted to be who it was. And so the Little Soul went back to God (which is not a bad idea for all souls who want to be Who They Really Are) and said, "Hi, God! Now that I know Who I Am, is it okay for me to be it?"
And God said, "You mean you want to be Who You Already Are?
"Well," replied the Little Soul, "it's one thing to know Who I Am, and another thing altogether to actually be it. I want to feel what it's like to be the Light!"
"But you already are the Light," God repeated, smiling again.
"Yes, but I want to see what that feels like!" cried the Little Soul.
"Well," said God with a chuckle, "I suppose I should have known. You always were the adventuresome one." Then God's expression changed. "There's only one thing..."
"What?" asked the Little Soul.
"Well, there is nothing else but the Light. You see, I created nothing but what you are; and so, there is no easy way for you to experience yourself as Who You Are, since there is nothing that you are not."
"Huh?" said the Little Soul, who was not a little confused.
"Think of it this way," said God. "You are like a candle in the Sun. Oh, you're there all right. Along with a million, ka-gillion other candles who make up the Sun. And the sun would not be the Sun without you. Nay, it would be a sun without one of its candles...and that would not be the Sun at all; for it would not shine as brightly. Yet, how to know yourself as the Light when you are amidst the Light--that is the question."
"Well," the Little Soul perked up, "you're God. Think of something!"
Once more God smiled. "I already have," God said. "Since you cannot see yourself as the Light when you are in the Light, we'll surround you with darkness."
"What's darkness?" the Little Soul asked.
God replied, "It is that which you are not."
"Will I be afraid of the dark?" cried the Little Soul.
"Only if you choose to be," God answered. "There is nothing, really, to be afraid of, unless you decide that there is. You see, we are making it all up. We are pretending."
"Oh," said the Little Soul, and felt better already.
Then God explained that, in order to experience anything at all, the exact opposite of it will appear.
"It is a great gift," God said, "because without it, you could not know what anything is like. You could not know Warm without Cold, Up without Down, Fast without Slow. You could not know Left without Right, Here without There, Now without Then."
"And so," God concluded, "when you are surrounded with darkness, do not shake your fist and raise your voice and curse the darkness. Rather be a Light unto the darkness, and don't be mad about it. Then you will know Who You Really Are, and all others will know, too. Let your Light shine so that everyone will know how special you are!"
"You mean it's okay to let others see how special I am?" asked the Little Soul.
"Of course!" God chuckled. "It's very okay! But remember, 'special' does not mean 'better.' Everybody is special, each in their own way! Yet many others have forgotten that. They will see that it is okay for them to be special only when you see that it is okay for you to be special."
"Wow," said the Little Soul, dancing and skipping and laughing and jumping with joy. "I can be as special as I want to be!"
"Yes, and you can start right now," said God, who was dancing and skipping and laughing right along with the Little Soul.
"What part of special do you want to be?"
"What part of special?" the Little Soul repeated. "I don't understand."
"Well," God explained, "being the Light is being special, and being special has a lot of parts to it. It is special to be kind. It is special to be gentle. It is special to be creative. It is special to be patient. Can you think of any other ways it is special to be?"
The Little Soul sat quietly for a moment. "I can think of lots of ways to be special!" the Little Soul then exclaimed. "It is special to be helpful. It is special to be sharing. It is special to be friendly. It is special to be considerate of others!"
"Yes!" God agreed, "and you can be all of those things, or any part of special you wish to be, at any moment. That's what it means to be the Light."
"I know what I want to be, I know what I want to be!" the Little Soul announced with great excitement. "I want to be the part of special called 'forgiving'. Isn't it special to be forgiving?"
"Oh, yes," God assured the Little Soul. "That is very special."
"Okay," said the Little Soul. "That's what I want to be. I want to be forgiving. I want to experience myself as that."
"Good," said God, "but there's one thing you should know."
The Little Soul was becoming a bit impatient now. It always seemed as though there were some complication.
"What is it?" the Little Soul sighed.
"There is no one to forgive."
"No one?" The Little Soul could hardly believe what had been said.
"No one!" God repeated. "Everything I have made is perfect. There is not a single soul in all creation less perfect than you. Look around you."
It was then that the Little Soul realized a large crowd had gathered. Souls had come from far and wide ~ from all over the Kingdom ~ for the word had gone forth that the Little Soul was having this extraordinary conversation with God, and everyone wanted to hear what they were saying. Looking at the countless other souls gathered there, the Little Soul had to agree. None appeared less wonderful, less magnificent, or less perfect than the Little Soul itself. Such was the wonder of the souls gathered around, and so bright was their Light, that the Little Soul could scarcely gaze upon them.
"Who, then, to forgive?" asked God.
"Boy, this is going to be no fun at all!" grumbled the Little Soul. "I wanted to experience myself as One Who Forgives. I wanted to know what that part of special felt like."
And the Little Soul learned what it must feel like to be sad. But just then a Friendly Soul stepped forward from the crowd.
"Not to worry, Little Soul," the Friendly Soul said, "I will help you."
"You will?" the Little Soul brightened. "But what can you do?"
"Why, I can give you someone to forgive!"
"You can?"
"Certainly!" chirped the Friendly Soul. "I can come into your next lifetime and do something for you to forgive."
"But why? Why would you do that?" the Little Soul asked. "You, who are a Being of such utter perfection! You, who vibrate with such a speed that it creates a Light so bright that I can hardly gaze upon you! What could cause you to want to slow down your vibration to such a speed that your bright Light would become dark and dense? What could cause you ~ who are so light that you dance upon the stars and move through the Kingdom with the speed of your thought--to come into my life and make yourself so heavy that you could do this bad thing?"
"Simple," the Friendly Soul said. "I would do it because I love you."
The Little Soul seemed surprised at the answer.
"Don't be so amazed," said the Friendly Soul, "you have done the same thing for me. Don't you remember? Oh, we have danced together, you and I, many times. Through the eons and across all the ages have we danced. Across all time and in many places have we played together. You just don't remember."
"We have both been All Of It. We have been the Up and the Down of it, the Left and the Right of it. We have been the Here and the There of it, the Now and the Then of it. We have been the male and the female, the good and the bad; we have both been the victim and the villain of it."
"Thus have we come together, you and I, many times before; each bringing to the other the exact and perfect opportunity to Express and to Experience Who We Really Are. And so," the Friendly Soul explained further, "I will come into your next lifetime and be the 'bad one' this time. I will do something really terrible, and then you can experience yourself as the One Who Forgives."
"But what will you do?" the Little Soul asked, just a little nervously, "that will be so terrible?"
"Oh," replied the Friendly Soul with a twinkle, "we'll think of something."
Then the Friendly Soul seemed to turn serious, and said in a quiet voice, "You are right about one thing, you know."
"What is that?" the Little Soul wanted to know.
"I will have to slow down my vibration and become very heavy to do this not-so-nice thing. I will have to pretend to be something very unlike myself. And so, I have but one favor to ask of you in return."
"Oh, anything, anything!" cried the Little Soul, and began to dance and sing, "I get to be forgiving, I get to be forgiving!"
Then the Little Soul saw that the Friendly Soul was remaining very quiet.
"What is it?" the Little Soul asked. "What can I do for you? You are such an angel to be willing to do this for me!"
"Of course this Friendly Soul is an angel!" God interrupted. "Everyone is! Always remember: I have sent you nothing but angels."
And so the Little Soul wanted more than ever to grant the Friendly Soul's request. "What can I do for you?" the Little Soul asked again.
"In the moment that I strike you and smite you," the Friendly Soul replied, "in the moment that I do the worst to you that you could possible imagine ~ in that very moment..."
"Yes?" the Little Soul interrupted, "yes...?"
"Remember Who I Really Am."
"Oh, I will!" cried the Little Soul, "I promise! I will always remember you as I see you right here, right now!"
"Good," said the Friendly Soul, "because, you see, I will have been pretending so hard, I will have forgotten myself. And if you do not remember me as I really am, I may not be able to remember for a very long time. And if I forget Who I Am, you may even forget Who You Are, and we will both be lost. Then we will need another soul to come along and remind us both of Who We Are."
"No, we won't!" the Little Soul promised again. "I will remember you! And I will thank you for bringing me this gift ~ the chance to experience myself as Who I Am."
And so, the agreement was made. And the Little Soul went forth into a new lifetime, excited to be the Light, which was very special, and excited to be that part of special called Forgiveness.
And the Little Soul waited anxiously to be able to experience itself as Forgiveness, and to thank whatever other soul made it possible. And at all the moments in that new lifetime, whenever a new soul appeared on the scene, whether that new soul brought joy or sadness--and especially if it brought sadness--the Little Soul thought of what God had said.
"Always remember," God had smiled, "I have sent you nothing but angels."
Posted by Agnes Claire MacEachern on 7 December, 2012
Twin girls, Brielle and Kyrie, were born 12 weeks ahead of their due date. Needing intensive care, they were placed in separat e incubators.
Kyrie began to gain weight and her health stabilized. But Brielle, born only 2 lbs, had trouble breathing, heart problems and other complications. She was not expected to live.
Their nurse did everything she could to make Brielle’s health better, but nothing she did was helping her. With nothing else to do, their nurse went against hospital policy and decided to place both babies in the same incubator.
She left the twin girls to sleep and when when she returned she found a sight she could not believe. She called all the nurses and doctors and this is what they saw.
As Brielle got closer to her sister, Kyrie put her small little arm around her, as if to hug and support her sister. From that moment on, Brielle’s breathing and heart rate stabilized and her health became normal.
Share the pic to show the world how a little bit of tender love and affection can save someone's Life.
If I only asked questions that only involved Buddhism, my answers could only be Buddhist answers. This applies to all belief systems regardless if we are talking about organized like Christianity or more disorganized like traditional eclectic beliefs. Even atheists and agnostics live within a tapestry of personal beliefs and generally work hard to hold on to their world view just like everyone else.
If you only ask questions within the bounds of what you currently believe then how can you possibly ever say you have an open mind let alone say you seek the truth? While not to say there is not some level of truth within all belief systems what is truth and what is not truth is discerned while looking from the inside out, if at all.
It is not until a person backs away from all beliefs and the emotions that are tied up in them and looks at why we believe at all that the limits can be broken, or at least expanded. This applies to any and all belief systems as it is all to easy to end up in a situation where all you're doing it finding ways to hold on to your present world view. However, what really are the odds that the way you happened up land upon the earth and your present world view and beliefs just happens to be in perfect harmony with the universe?
Recently, I've seen many people who not only feel that they have all the answers to every major question. They feel there is no room for debate or rational thought because the questions have been answered. Even if the answers spawn many more questions that is foolish because the 'answers' have already been given. Obviously, this is a very narrow minded view but a view that more people share then I could have ever imagined. All answers are contained within the bounds of their current belief system and they cannot imagine anything else. I just cannot help but find it interesting someone who feels that there are only Christians and non-Christians, as an example. There is a third choice of neither. This is prevalent since if you are within a belief system but you don't seek to understand the nature of your beliefs and the sources of them you are limiting yourself and putting limits upon truth.
I look at all beliefs as equal. Without one being more meaningful or correct then another. In fact I'm fairly convinced that all of them are wrong with none of them being correct. I seek to back away from all beliefs and ask why I believe anything at all and why I feel that I need to. The deeper that I look the more I realize that nearly everything that we do it is a reflection of beliefs.
Most knowledge is beliefs as well. As an example consider that when we are little and we drop food on the floor we learn two beliefs. One we learn to believe in gravity in that things fall. Two, that it makes mom mad. While these can be seen as knowledge and learning in the end much of our knowledge is packaged in beliefs of what that knowledge represents. It is a physiological fact that we can only process so much information at a time. This is best represented in how we recall phone numbers. Since we use the small breaks we can remember it but if it was ten straight numbers it would be very hard for nearly everyone to remember them. So I think it may be that we are breaking down reality into bite sized beliefs.
Deva means divine, abhinanda means joy – divine joy. Ordinarily what we think is joy is not joy; at the most it is entertainment. It is just a way to avoid oneself. It is a way to intoxicate yourself, it is a way to be drowned in something so you can forget your misery, your worry, your anguish, your anxiety.
So all kinds of entertainments are thought to be joy – they are not! Anything that comes from the outside is not, and cannot be, a joy. Anything that depends on something is not, and cannot be, a joy. Joy arises out of your very core. It is absolutely independent – independent of any outer circumstance. And it is not an escape from oneself; it is really encountering oneself. Joy arises only when you come home. So whatsoever is known as joy is just the contrary, just the diametrically opposite: it is not joy.
In fact because you are joyless you seek entertainment. It happened that one of the great Russian novelists, Maxim Gorky, visited America, and he was shown all kinds of things that Americans have devised to entertain, to get lost in. The man who was directing his tour and was showing him everything, was hoping that he would be very happy, but the more Maxim Gorky was shown these things, the more unhappy and sad he looked.
So the guide asked ’What is the matter? Can’t you. understand?’
Maxim Gorky said, ’I can understand – that’s why I am feeling sad. This country must be joyless; otherwise there is no need for so many entertainments.’
Only a joyless person needs entertainment. The more joyless the world becomes, the more we need the TV, films, the tinsel land and a thousand and one things.
We need alcohol more and more, we need new kinds of drugs more and more – just to avoid the misery that we are, just not to face the anguish that we are, just somehow to forget it all. But by forgetting it nothing is achieved.
So joy is to enter into your own self. In the beginning it is difficult, arduous. In the beginning you will have to face misery; the path is very mountainous. But the more you enter into it, the more is the pay-off, the greater is the reward.
Once you have learned how to face your misery, you start becoming joyful, because in that very facing the misery starts disappearing and you start becoming more and more integrated.
One day the misery is there and you are there facing it – suddenly, the break: you can see the misery as separate from you and you are separate from it. You have always been separate; it was just an illusion, an identification that you got into. Now you know you are not this, and then there is an outburst of joy, an explosion of joy.
There has been much talk about the Mayan calender ending at the end of 2012. Books, movies, experts and have flooded the market and there will be more with regards to this 2012 Mayan end of world prophecy. I am not convinced at all that this is true and will briefly explain why.
I've been to hundreds of psychic fairs and like events and this, as well as other popular topics, are marketed hard by everyone who desire to make a dollar off of this story. Just because something is spiritually based does not mean it is free from marketing manipulation and in many ways even more prone. How can there be so many experts on a subject like this and what happens to those experts when the world simply keeps moving forward past this infamous date?
I want to clarify one key issue. The Mayan's have never had an end of the world prophecy, nor do they now have an end of the world prophecy. They DO NOT have one. Even the present day Mayan's, which do exist, do not believe in this and yet the myth continues to flourish. Yes, the Mayan calendar ends December 21st, 2012 but there is no known reason as to why. It simply ends. It could be they just found that to be a good time to stop, the person making the calendar died, or perhaps they just got bored. No matter what it had to end at some point. We do not know why the Mayans ended this then but the rest that has been said is pure conjecture.
It is said that some planet alignment will cause this destruction but it has happened countless times before and nothing happened what would be different about this now? To cover if/when it does not happen they suggest it will be a spiritual transformation but that could be any day and there is no rational explanation as to why that day would differ than any other. There is simply nothing but people here attempting to make a quick buck off of the easily convinced.
There is nothing to debate, nothing to discuss on the issue at all... this is a myth and on 2012 12-21-12 the truth will be shown. We simply have many other things that can cause our destruction far before this becoming the cause. Lastly, while the Mayans were a ancient advanced civilization why is it assumed they knew anything we do not know now with all of our advanced science and technology.
Don't be duped by this story. Question! How anyone could possible be an expert on a prophecy. If you are faithful to this story I'm sorry to be so direct but there is just no vast mystery here and people are manipulating this story for the sake or prophecy. (Think Y2K)
I've continued to do a lot of research on consciousness and am actually reading a overly detailed book on the subject right now. While none of this makes me an expert I suspect there really isn't an expert in this field save for perhaps a Buddha. What I find interesting is that consciousness really is not just a lights on and lights off type of thing but rather more like a sliding scale. An example of what I mean is when we zone out while driving and suddenly 'wake up' and realize we are somewhere but do not completely recall driving. This effect is far more dramatic when driving because we see the difference but this happens to us all the time. In many ways when this happens the lights are on but no one is home. It also happens when we are watching TV and most of our day then we think. It is hard to suggest you are completely conscious during times like this.
So... that is only a small example but I suspect that if that can happen while awake it stands to reason that the same thing can happen while we are asleep. I've had many experiences with lucid dreaming and I thought I would share what I've experienced. I have no idea if this is unique but it has happened enough to seem almost normal for me.
Semi Common:
This type of lucid dream happens, which is I believe the most common type, right before I wake up. As I start to wake up I am still dreaming and I can sort of hold on to the dream and let it go while being aware that I am dreaming but have no control. If I try and control it generally will fall apart. However, that doesn't stop me from trying. Just this morning I was actually doing this, I think because of the discussion, and was trying hard to read something but it just didn't work. I'm often amazed in how creative the subconscious mind can be and the depth of detail can be weird but not in this case. (Oddly, I was getting some tests back that I got 'F''s on and my teacher was John McCain... weird)
Anywho... An odd semi-common thing that has happened many times is really strange to me. I will be dreaming and will be able to look around my room with physical movements and 'see' everything with detail. However, at some point I realize that my eyes are closed and that obviously I can't 'see'. I try to play with it and look for the time on a clock or anything to see if I am 'seeing' more then seems reasonable. It is honestly really cool when this happens but sometimes it is weird. I will be looking around it is totally lit and perfectly clear. However, when I do open my eyes it turns out I am in a dark room and that is weird. One time I stared at the clock with my eyes closed and when I opened up I would say 6 hours just vanished on me. I just find it amazing the power of our dreams and since I am dreaming and totally aware of it this would have to be considered a lucid dream.
Not very common:
Once in a while I will have a dream where I am a far deeper sleep and something seems off and I realize that I am dreaming. From what I've read you can learn to control things far better but usually I am more of a observer but aware of watching it all go by and typically when I try and take control I can hold on to it for a few moments but then it falls apart. However, in those moments I have total control over what happens.
Not sure what to think:
This has happened to me a couple times and I am not sure what it is but the first time this happened to me was when I was in basic training. To make a long story short I was at one point so amazingly tired but we were not allowed to sleep. However, that didn't stop me from having long blinks and try not to get caught. Oddly, when I did close my eyes I was instantly dreaming. What is more odd is that if a few minutes went by and I did another long long blink I would be dreaming again but I basically felt like I skipped ahead in the dream. It was as though I was awake but yet still dreaming and when I closed my eyes I was just peaking at the dream as it went on by. So... if lucid dreaming is when you are asleep but aware that you are dreaming I wonder what it is when you are awake but aware that you are dreaming.
I've always had what feels like a very good ability to visualize in my mind's eye and think this might explain a lot about this and other experiences I won't go into right now. I can easily visualize rearranging anything in a room or otherwise and most of the time it comes out as I expect. I can also take a physical object and rotate, manipulate and do many other things in my minds eye and it seems that is uncommon. However, for me it seems just natural and I'm curious of your thoughts.
So... I'm not sure why I'm sharing all of this nor if it has any real purpose or meaning. I just find it interesting and believe it supports the concept that consciousness exists upon a sliding scale and is not just awake and sleep.
Posted by James Bean SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com on 7 December, 2012
Links to Recent Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts -- Shows-On-Demand -- Click to Listen -- Exploring the World of Spirituality, Comparative Religion, and Books -- Education For A More Peaceful Planet
Robert Stockman -- The Bahai Faith in America, Part 5: http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSLAO.aspx?indexSessionSKU=Envz0SpVA5ORxVd99TUX1w%3d%3d
Mystic Poetry of Tahirih -- The Bahai Faith in America, Part 4: http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSLAO.aspx?indexSessionSKU=dQhSCEAwWx5h8Y%2bZ2M6T6Q%3d%3d
The Life and Poetry of Tahirih -- The Bahai Faith in America, Part 3: http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSLAO.aspx?indexSessionSKU=FTbQtgQapNN5sUc4zrpUXw%3d%3d
Bahai Basics, with Frances Worthington -- The Bahai Faith in America, Part 2: http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSLAO.aspx?indexSessionSKU=cjOzrFu27P%2fQnqnQWsA3hg%3d%3d
Abraham: One God, Three Wives, Five Religions -- The Bahai Faith in America, Part 1: http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSLAO.aspx?indexSessionSKU=X8F%2bTFiI54Ibi%2b2RtULeIQ%3d%3d
Greetings! As a spiritual teacher, I am constantly asked how I define spirituality so, I figured I would dedicated today’s blog to answer it! Hope you find it helpful.
For me, spirituality is an unexplainable knowing that I am connected with something larger than myself that is omnipresent, omnipotent and all loving- whom I call my Beloved Creator, God. It is a delicious understanding that I am a child of God- created in His/Her/Its likeness and image, meaning I am equally as Divine and Perfect. With the monumental gift of life, I was given free will to do and experience whatever I so desire. The choices are mine!
With this understanding, comes the awareness that every being on this earth also has this same Divine relationship with their Creator. If I am part of my Creator, and everyone else is part of theirs, then we are all connected. What we do to others, therefore, we do to ourselves and vice versa. How we live our lives directly affects everyone else on this planet! Spirituality is my conscious decision to choose loving-kindness towards myself and others whenever humanly possible, which benefits me and everyone I touch. Plain and simple, my definition of spirituality is living a life of loving-kindness!
Spirituality then becomes a way of being on a moment-by-moment basis. It is the conscious attempt to respond to situations with compassion, kindness and love. It means doing unto others as you would want done unto yourself- known as the “Golden Rule”, from the words of the great master teacher – Jesus the Christ. Spirituality also means having the intention to do the right thing, and then living with integrity and authenticity.
The key to success is doing the best you can-to the best of your ability, at any given moment. This concept is echoed in Don Miguel Ruiz’s book The Four Agreements in his fourth agreement “Always Do Your Best.” It is my belief we are all spiritual being having a human experience, so let’s try to have compassion for ourselves and others when our humanness gets in the way, and we don’t meet these elevated expectations 100% of the time. I ask everyone who considers themselves spiritual to look at their actions to see if they are in alignment with their words- as actions speak much louder than words. I personally do not label myself as spiritual when speaking with others, as I believe if someone cannot tell I am a practicing spiritualist via my actions and peaceful presence, then I am doing something wrong! I also ask those who do not label themselves as spiritual, but live spiritual lives, to acknowledge themselves for making a beautiful contribution to the world.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all focus on living lives of loving-kindness- to the best of our abilities at every given moment? The world would become a more loving, compassionate, kinder place to live. Who wouldn’t want that?
Until next time, I bid you peace, love and joy! Also, feel free to sign up for my blog at http://www.trentblanchard.com/blog/
It is the holiday season: the time for giving and receiving.
In the title of this piece, I have purposely reversed these words because so much more is written about giving — and how important giving is. Perhaps it will be a good idea to spend a few moments thinking together about receiving. Receiving gifts.
We are told, for example, that giving is better (more “blessed” according to Acts 20:35) than receiving. I have no doubt that all of this is important and true. I think that giving may, indeed, exhibit a higher virtue.
But to say that giving is more blessed than receiving is not to say that receiving has no value at all. And that is just the point. It may be that receiving involves a real, though lesser, blessedness. But it is blessedness nonetheless.
Do you ever consider that giving is much easier for us, psychologically, than receiving? To give a gift is to stand in a position of power; to receive one is to stand without power. Giving makes us feel strong; receiving can make us feel weak.
Over the years I have met so many otherwise wonderful and intelligent people who, when presented with a gift, become embarrassed and say truly stupid things, such as, “Oh, you shouldn’t have done this!”
Really?
I believe that one of the most important life-lessons all of us might learn is how to receive gifts in our lives, how to receive them truly, to receive them with sincerity and grace and an honest acknowledgement of how grateful we feel that the gift has been given.
And, let us not forget, if we ourselves are to experience the higher blessedness of giving, we need to have receivers to receive! Without the receivers of our gifts, we couldn’t be givers and experience the higher blessedness that giving brings.
So, perhaps this holiday season, we will summon the courage to be the best receivers of gifts that we can be. Happy holidays!
THE FREEDOM ROAD: In "Road to Freedom" David Icke gives a keynote lecture reveals many secrets where hidden by those who govern us and manipulate. Among other things, talks about the Freemasons and the Illuminati and its relationship with many of the U.S. Presidents.
En "Camino a la Libertad" David Icke nos ofrece una magistral conferencia donde desvela numerosos secretos ocultos por aquellos que nos gobiernan y manipulan. Entre otras cosas, nos habla sobre la masonería y los iluminatis y su relación con muchos de los presidentes de EE.UU.
Special music for relaxation, meditation and healing.
Special music for relaxation, meditation and healing. Are frequencies that affect the balance and harmony of the body, restoring energy patterns. Among other tunes are Ahu Saglam, Arnica Montana and music with dolphins and whales.
Música especial para relajarse, meditar y sanar. Son frecuencias que inciden en el equilibrio y la armonía del cuerpo, restableciendo los patrones energéticos. Entre otras, se encuentran melodías de Ahu Saglam, Arnica Montana y música con delfines y ballenas.
RELAJACIÓN MÚSICA, MÚSICA RELAX, MÚSICA MEDITACIÓN, MEDITATION MUSIC, FRECUENCIAS SANADORAS, MUSICA ALTERNATIVA, MUSICA SANADORA, MUSICA PARA SANAR EL ALMA, HEALING MUSIC, MUSIC FOR HEALING,healing frequency, FREQUENCY TO HEAL, MUSICA ESPIRITUAL, SPIRITUAL MUSIC, MUSICA DELFINES, DOLPHIN MUSIC, MUSICA NEW AGE, MUSICA REIKI, MUSICA YOGA, MUSICA DE BALLENAS, RELAX MUSIC FRECUENCIAS SAGRADAS SOLFEGGIO
