Many of us have searched and searched and yet our heart craves nothing more than to be Whole. A Oneness, or Wholeness, in Spirit, or God. I'm smiling right now as I write this, and I almost want to laugh out loud. If that sounds strange, it's because of the simplicity of it all, and as a matter of fact, it's so simple that we all almost miss "it". I, too, had searched and exhausted myself from the effort. That's what is so funny. And when you "get it" you will feel like laughing, too. You'll be amazed at how silly we humans all are, trying and trying to find "it" when we are the "it" and have been "it" all along.

Do you know what is separating you from being Oneness? You want to be One while retaining your separate self. You're hesitant to be lost in Oneness, one as God. Your wish must be that you, or your - self, should not exist and only God exists. The two cannot exist simultaneously. You have to be merged in God. The Spirit, or Oneness (or God, if you want to use the word God) won't tell you that the "you" that exists is in fact getting in the way. Only by merging in Him and letting your existence be gone can you truly be who you are. Think of it this way: Imagine traffic merging when it comes into a freeway. It loses its existence.

May you be born into Oneness, pure Love, pure Consciousness - the only thing there is.

Blessings.

Healing with Nature - Shamanism & Reiki

This is a picture of myself with my cat, Muffy, after her near death experience. Muffy had a stroke in February of this year, and she nearly lost her life. She was unable to eat or stand up on her own, and she really couldn't do anything but curl up and lie there in her little basket. One eye was terribly dilated and she couldn't see or hear. After intensive medical treatment involving IV's, medication, tube feeding and then hand-feeding liquids through a syringe, she began to respond and show some encouraging signs. Her vital signs were stable.

Major progress didn't occur, however until I began a therapy with her which is based on the healing elements of nature. I've not had any professional Reiki training, nor any in the Shamanic healing, but I had read enough about the two to know they work. Instinctively, I "knew" in my heart that the energies of nature could heal little Muffy. I began carrying her outdoors every single day, even on cold winter days. When it was cold, I wrapped her in a blanket just allowing her head to be uncovered. We ventured into the back yard and visited with tree spirits, father sun, and mother earth. The wind blew its magical breath on us, and I often felt Muffy inhale deeply taking it all into her tiny body. She enjoyed touching the flowers and plants with her nose, feeling the intense vibrations from the energies in the plants. On rainy days, we enjoyed the sprinkles of the raindrops, sending their healing waters down to us. The scent of the wet earth was stimulating beyond a doubt to my little cat. Her whole body, mind, and soul responded by healing itself dramatically each day.

Muffy is now doing very well. She has recovered and is enjoying her life again. We still go out and journey around the yard every day, and even at night. The stars, moon and night creatures we encounter all contribute to her well-being (mine, too, I might add!). As a matter of fact, she demands going out now,several times a day, and is VERY vocal about it, too!

I just thought I'd share this personal story with you to give hope to anyone who is suffering, or who has a four-legged or winged friend who may be in need of healing. Our connection to nature has its own way of healing us.

As a result of my experience with my cat's recovery, I have decided to take a class on Reiki Shamanic healing beginning in July with a wonderful woman named Shawna. She's a healer and a Golden Eagle minister and is the owner of Cassy's in Abilene, Texas. I don't know where this will take me, but for now I'm taking it one step at a time.

Willingness to Evolve Spiritually

Why can't I evolve into a more spiritual person? What's holding me back? Most of us have asked ourselves these questions at one time or another. We've all secretly wondered if it's an impossible feat that only the spiritually gifted people can accomplish.

The key to evolving spiritually is willingness. A simple, heart-felt conviction of willingness is all that's required. Anyone and everyone can have that willingness at any moment - which is all we ever have - one moment, or the present Now. Saying that you should have done it last year, last week, etc. or that you will try to do it in the future, but not now, is an indication that you aren't understanding the illusion of time. We don't live in the past or the future. We are Now. The time is always Now, and your willingness to be connected to all there is, all that is God or Spirit, is the critical portal into being Oneness, a divine spark of Spirit, if you will, and that's all you ever are. That's all, you ask? YES, that's all. You are Spirit, pretending to be a separate self, until, that is, you find your real self, which is the ultimate core essence of who you are.

So, do you have the capacity to consciously evolve? YES, absolutely! When you have that compulsion to find something bigger, deeper, higher, and infinitely more real than anything you have ever known, nothing will hinder your search. We are pulled by an invisible web - a web connecting the universe, and we are grasping to become that something which is at the deepest level of our being. We feel choicelessly compelled to reach for it, not knowing what that "it" is.

Keep grasping, don't give up, and as the Persian poet, Rumi has said, "don't go back to sleep". Who knows when you will pass this way again.

Don't go back to sleep

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep.

You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.

People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.

The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep.
- Rumi

A Poem

Sleeping in the Forest by Mary Oliver

I thought the earth remembered me, she
took me back so tenderly, arranging
her dark skirts, her pockets
full of lichens and seeds. I slept
as never before, a stone
on the riverbed, nothing
between me and the white fire of the stars
but my thoughts, and they floated
light as moths among the branches
of the perfect trees. All night
I heard the small kingdoms breathing
around me, the insects, and the birds
who do their work in the darkness. All night
I rose and fell, as if in water, grappling
with a luminous doom. By morning
I had vanished at least a dozen times
into something better.

Eternal Aura, Eternal Soul, Eternal Mind

What a paradox it is that the higher frequency of vibration of the mind brings with it a slowing down of activity in the brain. Experts who study this say that during meditation, brain activity is reduced by 80%. No wonder we feel so calm, peaceful, and relaxed during meditation. Yet, one is acutely and intensely alert while meditating. How can this be?

The brain and the mind are not the same. The brain acts as a receiver of mental energy and then translates the energies of the nonphysical mind into physical functions. It also translates your perception of the outside world so that you can experience life in a physical body.

The mind is like an aura surrounding your physical body and is larger than the body. It is what is called the conscious awareness, or the soul, or the higher self. This is who you really are. Spirit. Awareness. One. It is the eternal part of you that never dies. You simply evolve back to that from which you originally came - to the ultimate state of Being, to that consciousness which is behind all things.

When we go into a meditative state, or stillness, we are in an alert awareness, or super consciousness. The more we quiet and still the chattering brain noise, the more we can simply be the presence, the awareness - where no problems exist. The illusion of the outside world ceases, and we are simply aware of the drama playing out around us. The problems of the physical world simply dissolve.