No Fear, No Ego

Do good works, do unto others, put others first......these are the words of many well-meaning people (and religious institutions that enjoy inflicting guilt on others), but there is a manipulative aspect to it, also. We've been taught not to question these instructions. After all, what could be more "saintly" than helping others? That's exactly what is wrong with this. The very act of trying to be good, striving to be saintly, trying to help others will set you up for feelings of either superiority or inferiority. In order to help someone, that person you're helping becomes less than you, in need of something that you have, and you get to elevate yourself to being above him. Most likely you will also enjoy feeling superior to many of your friends and acquaintances.

Many do-gooders feel a tremendous amount of guilt, also. They secretly put themselves down for not doing enough. They compare theirselves to other do-gooders who achieve much more, so they are always coming up short. Above all, they do not accept theirselves as being "good enough" just as they are, and they are lacking love, especially a love they need from theirselves. A fear is involved in this process, too. You're told that you will only be loved by God and people if you go out and do good works and deeds for others. Especially if you want others to believe that you love Jesus, you feel that you have to show the world that you are doing such good works. The physical world wants proof and you have been trained to believe that you have to prove yourself to yourself in order to accept yourself. How insane is that?!!

Before one can share real love, real compassion with others, you have to love hyourself first. A total, pure love for your own sacred self. A total acceptance of yourself without any judgment is absolutely necessary to love and be kind and compassionate to yourself. Most of us don't know how to love ourselves first, and yet we let ourselves believe we have to "love" others and perform so-called good works. When we strive to be a good person before knowing our true essence, all we do is bring our own poison and garbage onto the scene and we try to cure or help others without knowing we are excreting poison. It's like a drowning man trying to save another drowning man. They both die. Nobody benefits from it ultimately and nothing changes. Humanity doesn't change, wars continue, and suffering continues.

No one can be good or love others by striving and forcing himself to be good and loving. The more you try, the more it evades you. Why is that? A thorn bush that strives to release a beautiful fragrance like a rose will try and try in vain. Only a genuine rose can have the beautiful scent of a rose. The rose does have to work at releasing it. It flows from the rose with ease. The rose does not even try to do this, he just is simply being a rose. He's at ease with his Oneness and Beingness. The rose is not trying to be anything at all. The rose doesn't say to itself, "I'm better than the thorn bush", or "I'm not good enough being a rose. I should be like a gardenia, and then I would like myself much more." No! The rose is in a perfect harmony with all that exists in the universe.

When you stop trying to be something, when you just accept that it's perfectly perfect to just "be", only then can one become enlightened. By giving up, or surrendering, an alchemical process occurs. You become like a new person, allowing your true essence to come through. There is no ego to block it from happening anymore. The ego disappears. You begin to accept and love yourself as a connection in the web of all life and all things. A natural love springs forth from you for all living and non-living things. You see the sacredness of all that is and you're a co-creator of the All and you are the All. An enlightened person can then be the candle that lights many others, not by striving and trying, but by simply resting in the space the Now. You become love itself, nothing more or less than anything in existence in the universe. You are whole and you live in Truth. Love springs forth from you without any effort, because that is who you are now......You are Love. Your fragrance is Love. God is Love. You are God. God is You. Everyone and Everything is God, and God is Everything. Are you beginning to see it now?

Only then will you have something of value for others to receive. You don't have to go looking for these others, either. They come to you to be in your presence, to be lit by your flame of love that glows without any effort on your part. You are now able to love others as you love yourself. And then you don't have to try to have love, forgiveness, and compassion for others, because that's who you now are....you are overflowing with love, forgiveness, compassion...so much so that you cannot contain it. There is then no need to be good because you ARE good.

As Andrew Cohen says, "So when you begin to recognize that your own presence here in this world is part of something infinitely bigger than yourself, you feel a sense of obligation awakening within you—a spiritually inspired obligation to be the very best you can be for the sake of the process itself. And the way you respond to that obligation, to that sense of cosmic responsibility, is by demonstrating that the process is profoundly positive, indeed the process is sacred, through your own example, through your own victory, through your own tangible and unmistakable higher development."

Have Bliss NOW, Here's How........

I was out earlier today at the bookstore and leisurely browsing at the mall. It was an excuse to go out and drive around and look at the rare snowfall we're having today. I was peaceful and serene, yet so many people I encountered were unhappy and miserable. They were either complaining and yelling at unruly children, complaining about their health, complaining about the weather, etc. Much of their misery is an ingrained habit and they don't even realize they have a choice whether to be in misery or to be in a state of blissful joy.

Habits can change once we're aware of what it is we're doing to ourselves. It's your right as a human being to be blissful right now. This instant, you can choose to let go of whatever miserable thoughts are keeping you down. Simply slow down your thoughts. How do we do THAT, you ask? Easy - be like a cat watching a mouse hole, waiting for the little mouse, or your next thought, to appear. Notice as you watch for the next thought that there is a gap that appears. This gap is No-THING. Nothing. It's wonderful to be in that nothingness gap, where no problems, no troubles, no misery exists. That's what now feels like.

No one can stay like that for more than a second or two, though, I can hear you saying. And I'll bet many of you reading this are saying, "but, I have REAL problems that are important, REALLY big miseries". Besides, you would be boring to yourself if you existed in this so-called "gap". Right? But, who is this "you" that would find it so boring? It's the false "you", the you who is identified with ego. It is only the ego that invites and creates problems, misery, and something to complain about to others. Without it, the ego would disappear. Who would this "you" be if the ego disappeared? You would be blissfully happy. That's the answer. To be this blissfully happy person, you become no one special.

A lot of people don't want that, though. They would rather have their problems that give them a uniqueness to them, a story to tell, to embellish and tell to others. That's who they are and their identity is wrapped up in it. Without it they would feel like they are dying. You could say they enjoy their misery. Have you noticed that people like this love other miserable people, too? They surround theirselves with others like them to make theirselves feel as if this is a normal state to be in. They don't want to be around someone who is happy and joyful. It reminds them of who they could be if only they had the courage to let go of their false ego.

I'm sorry to say this, but churches, insitutions of all kinds, political parties, etc. are full of miserable people. The people all have their stories of woe and want to tell it to all who will listen. They all have "problems", need prayers, need attention from others who will "feed" their egos and allow them to build their stories up into bigger stories. It's good to be compassionate toward others, but when we pretend we're giving sympathy to someone, all we're doing for the poor soul is helping him to become more of a slave to the story of woe and misery.

The more we let go of ego, the more room we have for the state of bliss to take its place. There will be no room for this bliss, though, if you choose to hold on to greed, grievances, jealousy, revengeful thoughts, hurt feelings.........oh, my, the list can go on and on and on. What silly things the human mind wants to hold on to simply in order to have an egoic false self!

Let's get back to the topic of the ones who have "really, big problems". Are you sick right now, dying of a terminal disease, maybe? Or you've got a loved one who is about to pass or has recently passed on? Look for the little things to be grateful for RIGHT NOW! There you will find grace bestowed upon you. Animals, trees, and flowers don't go into a state of self-pity and regret. Humans are the only animals that like to create that and it's only the ego that is doing it. It's not the authentic YOU, the you that is divine love.

The past is gone. The future exists only in the imaginative mind. All there is and ever will be is the present moment. Be present NOW, watch the negative egoic mind patterns vanish from your thoughts. Be still and KNOW that this is who you really are. The "you" that is the authentic self is pure love, pure bliss and has no need to hold on to any mind created misery. You will not die from letting go of it. Only the false "you" will die.

Try it NOW and enjoy a blissful holiday!

Wait 24 Hours.......

Before you gather with family and friends this holiday season, be aware that not every get-together is as joyful as we'd like it to be sometimes. A little preparation will help a lot:

“Whenever the mind begins to flow downward, become aware as early as possible — as early as possible!

“Someone has insulted you. For you to become angry, a little time is needed because it is a mechanism. You will get angry, but after a gap. Things will happen like a flash. First you will feel insulted. The moment you feel insulted, the second current will begin to flow: you will become angry. At first the anger will not be conscious; first it will be just like a fever. Then it will become conscious. Then you will begin to express or suppress it. So when I say ‘the earlier the better,’ I mean when someone insults you, become aware as soon as you begin to feel that you have been insulted. And whenever you become aware, just make an effort to stop. Don’t fall into the automatic track even for a single moment. Even a single moment’s stop will help much. Longer stops will help even more.

“When [the Russian mystic] Gurdjieff’s father was dying he called his boy. He was just nine, and Gurdjieff remembered the incident all his life. The father called him. He was the youngest child and the father said, ‘I am so poor, I cannot give you anything, my boy. But one thing which my father gave to me I can give you. You may not even be able to understand what it means now, because I myself was not able to understand what it meant when my father gave it to me. But it proved the most precious thing in my life, so I am just giving it to you. Preserve it! Sometime you may begin to understand it.’

“So Gurdjieff just listened. The father said, ‘Whenever you feel angry, never reply before twenty-four hours. Reply, but let there be a gap of twenty-four hours.’

“Gurdjieff followed his dying father’s advice. It became deeply impressed in his mind the very day his father died, and Gurdjieff said, ‘I have practised many, many, many spiritual exercises, but that was the best. I never could be angry in my life, and that changed the whole flow, the whole current, because I had to stick to the promise.

“‘Whenever someone would insult me, I would create something, some situation. I would just tell him that I would come back after twenty-four hours to reply, and I have never replied because it proved such nonsense to reply.’ Only a gap was needed. And the whole life of George Gurdjieff became something different.”



Osho The Ultimate Alchemy

NOW - is the kingdom of heaven, right here, right now!

Discover the "Kingdom of Heaven" right NOW!
from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret


"How do I stop my negative thoughts?" - is a question that I have been asked many times. If you have ever asked this question then you will feel such enormous relief in knowing the answer, because it is so simple. How do you stop negative thoughts? You plant good thoughts!

When you try to stop negative thoughts, you are focusing on what you don't want - negative thoughts - and you will attract an abundance of them. They can never disappear if you are focused on them. The "stop" part is irrelevant - the negative thoughts are your focus. It doesn't matter if you are trying to stop negative thoughts or control them or push them away, the result is the same. Your focus is on negative thoughts, and by the law of attraction you are inviting more of them to you.

The truth is always simple and it is always easy. To stop negative thoughts, just plant good thoughts! Deliberately plant good thoughts! You plant good thoughts by making it a daily practice to appreciate all the things in your day. Appreciate your health, your car, your home, your family, your job, your friends, your surroundings, your meals, your pets, and the magnificent beauty of the day. Compliment, praise, and give thanks to all things. Every time you say "Thank you" it is a good thought! As you plant more and more good thoughts, the negative thoughts will be wiped out. Why? Because your focus is on good thoughts, and what you focus on you attract.

So don't give any attention to negative thoughts. Don't worry about them. If any come, make light of them, shrug them off, and let them be your reminder to deliberately think more good thoughts now.

The more good thoughts you can plant in a day, the faster your life will be utterly transformed into all good. If you spend only one day speaking of good things and saying "Thank you" at every single opportunity, you will not believe your tomorrow. Deliberately thinking good thoughts is exactly like planting seeds. As you think good thoughts you are planting good seeds inside you, and the Universe will transform those seeds into a garden of paradise. How will the garden of paradise appear? As your life!



May the joy be with you,


Rhonda Byrne
The Secret... bringing joy to billions

Shifting Into a Healthy Inner State

If you are going to incorporate something you do every day as a part of your routine, it has to make absolute sense to you. That's the way it is for me. I have to understand why I should do it, it has to resonate with me as true, and it has to be simple and easy.

In that past few years, “The Law of Attraction” has become a popular field of study. Basically, the Law of Attraction says that “energetic vibrations tend to attract like vibrations”. We have learned from “The Secret” and many other sources that the key to success in all areas of life is to shift our vibration to match that which we desire. In other words, minding your inner state is the foundation for realizing your ideal possibilities.

If you want prosperity, shift into prosperity consciousness, and prosperous circumstances flow more easily to you.

If you want health, shift into a healthy inner state to promote healthy cells.

This is easy to do, so easy that you might want to dismiss it as insignificant. I can't say enough, though, about how transforming it can be for your life.

Take 5-10 minutes each morning to just close your eyes, feel the emotion of what it would actually be like to have exactly what you'd like to manifest in your life. Imagine it, believe it, and know that the universe will bring to you what you want and need. Now the key is to "feel" it as if you already have it. A radiant joy will envelope you as you know this is your gift that is on its way for you. You will attract more joy all day long, the right people will come into your life, and the universal flow of life will be guiding you in everything you do and wherever you go. Things that will seem like coincidences will occur. These are NOT coincidences! Accept and claim your gift. God, or the Universal Intelligence, is working for you when you are in this flow.

I like to spend another 5-10 minutes each night before I go to sleep and repeat the little exercise as described above. Try it for yourself and see how your life shifts into a more healthy inner state.

Resistance = Chaos and Fear

So many of us wonder how it is possible to experience wonderful, happy moments one day, and then we turn around and are plunged into chaos, fear, anxiety, and depression which seems to come out of nowhere. How did we get into such a state, we wonder?

There is an unstoppable power, a primal force, within each of us. This force is a Divine Intelligence which generates energy, power, and strength. You are a spark of this Divineness, a manifestation of Spirit in a physical body. The power and energy that allow us to break through old patterns that keep our energy from flowing is always accessible, always instantenous, and will NEVER let you down. Many scientists call this "accessing the Field". Consciousness is The Field, or God, if you would like to call it. This is where your energy flows, Life itself flows, manifesting into new visions which allow us to follow our heart's desires. We are then in sync with everything within and around us.

You may have to go through a breakdown before you get to the breakthrough. It depends upon how much pain and suffering you are willing to go through before you surrender your resistance. Have you reached your pain tolerance level yet? If not, you may be enjoying your chaos, fear, misery, etc. in a sick, perverted kind of way.

I can hear some of you denying this right now. "No! I do not enjoy my suffering! How can you say that?" All right then, what is holding you back from surrendering it? Ask yourself this: Do you really want to love yourself, love others, and do whatever it takes to live and share more of your love? Abandon your "self", the self-centeredness that is holding you back, making you a prisoner of suffering. When you abandon yourself to be a conduit, or an agent, an unlimited energy flows through you. You will be overflowing with it, as a matter of fact! Your vibrational frequency is higher, others feel it, others are attracted to it, and they want what you have, too. You will have the willingness and energy to share your enthusiasm, your love of life, with them.

This power of clarity is what forges open the pathway for evolution to occur. This deep passion brings people together, egos dissolve, and a creative free flow forms a cohesive unity where souls unite without egoic agendas, beliefs, or feelings of inadequacy.

This all happens when you surrender resistance, when you embrace the flow of the Universal Intelligent Mind.

Just for today, "Let Go and Let God". Now relax in the Now, in the ultimate space of peace and see what happens for you. What do you have to lose except your pain, misery, chaos, and fear. When you let go, it's like dropping a hot coal from your hand. It's instant relief, instant bliss.

Creation vs. Evolution

I thought this article was excellent:

Creation vs. Evolution
by Owen Waters

Life is hard. Species can die. In fact, the human race would
have died long ago if it weren't for the fact that our bodies
are designed to adapt to a constantly changing environment.

Evolution could be called adaptation, because the ability to
adapt is the one feature that keeps all life upon Earth alive
and functioning. In the laboratory, it has been noted that a
frog can be heated in a beaker of water to a degree that would
normally be fatal, but it remains alive because it has had the
time to adapt to the increasing temperature. Had the frog been
suddenly exposed to water of such high temperature, it would
have been unable to survive.

Charles Darwin, the pioneer of evolution theory, was a trained
minister of religion as well as a naturalist. He thought long
and hard about releasing his findings about the natural
evolution of the species because he was keenly aware of the
materialistic element in society which would use this
information against religion. He was right, of course.

Others used his work to claim that there was no need for
divine selection when natural selection occurs automatically.
They have since gone on to claim that all life could have
risen from prehistoric sludge completely by accident. What
they don't even begin to explain, however, is the existence
of consciousness in all of this.

Consciousness is necessary for natural selection and
adaptation to occur. If you move from a hot climate to a
cold climate, you will adapt to the new environment,
but first you had to have the consciousness to decide
upon the move.

What is consciousness? It is certainly more than a few
electrical signals bouncing around inside a brain.
Computers can mimic some limited aspects of the brain
such as human logic, but they are not self-aware.
There isn't a computer in the world that can think for
itself. Computers just follow sets of preset rules, and
they do so as quickly as possible.

Beneath all forms of consciousness is awareness. A sense of
being is fundamental to all life because all life is
constructed from consciousness. Even a solid object like
a rock is composed of original thought and original feeling
set into motion. All of life is contained within the
consciousness of the original Creator, including the
prehistoric sludge from which the first biological cells
were formed.

Materialistic science today is in a cul-de-sac.
There is no way forward for branches of science which
fail to include consciousness in their theories.
Consciousness is the most fundamental aspect of life.
You can't have a universe without it.

Human beings were originally designed and then evolved
within the framework of a conscious universe, one created
and developed by the original Creator. It took billions of
years for planets to form and biological life to emerge and
evolve, but remember this: Time is a creation of the Creator.

The Creator does not have to wait billions of years to see a
biological process emerge. Everything happens in the now,
just in different parts of the tapestry of time, which the
Creator sees as a whole.

The whole design, inception, development and evolution of the
universe is happening right now, within that overview, as
seen by the original Creator. A little tweak here and there
along the timeline can produce a perfect rendition of any form
of biological life. Life is too interesting to create in one
big bang and then just watch it unfold, as if on auto-pilot.
Life is a work in progress, a true work of art, and the
Creator has the ability to make adjustments at any point
along the timelines.

Science today searches for answers, but what it really needs
is a valid search path. Life did not begin by accident.
It began by design. Those branches of science which include
the presence of consciousness will find the answers that
they seek when they include the existence of original
consciousness and intelligent design in their search.

This article was written by Owen Waters, author of
"The Shift: The Revolution in Human Consciousness"

Explaining Reconnective Healing and The Reconnection

I've recently become certified as a Reconnective Healer, and to make things more confusing for you, I will be attending a seminar next month to be certified in The Reconnection. What are these new modalities of healing and how are each unique? I'll explain:

What is Reconnective Healing?

Reconnective Healing facilitates rapid, permanent change that continues to work for you as appropriate for the rest of your life.

It is a new and very powerful high frequency energy, that carries light and information from “The Field”. Reconnective Healing works very deeply at a quantum, inter-dimensional level to facilitate balance and healing of body, mind, emotion and spirit. It facilitates reconnection of your current Being with your energetic template as it was perfectly designed.

In comparison to other types of energy healing, Reconnective Healing works more directly with the core electromagnetic connections of the body and being at all levels. Besides being a very high frequency vibration, it is extremely expansive.

It seems to go more directly to the core origin of issues and imbalances rather than using the “onion peeling” method of clearing layers from surface to core. Therefore, in most cases, it seems to work more rapidly and usually requires fewer sessions.

When the core origin is effected, everything connected to the issue tends to shift into realignment more quickly. This facilitates rapid results and also unfolds long term as appropriate to your life path.

It is very grounding as well as very expansive. Reconnections are made with the Earth’s electromagnetic grids as well as at extended levels of The Field. This can help us more easily apply our highest gifts and potential in the physical world.
How many Reconnective Healing® sessions will I need?

Each session and each individual are unique. Most people begin to feel at least some result with the very first session. Many people further notice a deeper and more profound change around the time of the 3rd session.

However, the circumstances of your life and what you would like to accomplish are important in determining how you can best be served. It is best to release expectation, allow things to unfold in a natural way, and make your choices one step at a time.

You do not need regular ongoing sessions to maintain reconnective healing benefits. You will continue to experience these benefits in many ways as your life path unfolds.


While Reconnective Healing works to correct imbalances underlying a particular dis-ease, issue, or life challenge, The Reconnection is a full process that makes a complete reconnection of your foundational energetic structure.

This structure is comprised of over 100 energetic points and axiatonal lines, including those that connect you, as an individual, to the energetic grids of the Earth, the universal field, and the divine blueprint of your being in its perfect state.

The Reconnection allows you to access and use the full range of tools available to reach your highest potential and possibilities. This greatly accelerates your path toward higher consciousness and fulfillment of your life purpose.

This process includes all of what some other methods do in pieces (such as DNA activation; axiatonal alignment; grid realignment, etc).

This is a 1-time only, 2-session process, that propels you onward and works for you in many ways for the rest of your life.



Is the Reconnection a 1-time alternative to having individual
Reconnective Healing sessions?

No—because these are two different sets of techniques that benefit you in different ways. The Reconnection is like the foundation and framework of your home. It provides the basic structure to which everything else becomes connected.

A strong, well-built frame and structure does not preclude the need for design, connection and occasional repair of the electrical wiring or plumbing structure within.

Reconnective Healing repairs the inner structure related to specific areas of concern. The Reconnection assures that the full outer structure is in place for your whole being to operate at its fullest capacity.

Persistent challenges can occur when repair has been completed on the inner structures but the energetic lines in the larger, outer framework still have disconnects. The energy from your inner being attempts to appropriately move you forward, but becomes short-circuited on the way to its final destination.

Spectrum of Light and Information---The Reconnection

When I first began reading the book "The Reconnection: Heal Others Heal Yourself" a palpable change began within my body. I would feel the energy of this new frequency in my body whenever I became quiet and still. I knew something powerful was happening, but what I didn't know was that I would be needing to use my new attunement so quickly after receiving it.

I had just finished reading the book when one day I accidentally caught my foot in the door as I was closing it. I was barefooted, and the door went over the top of my foot catching the big toe in it. This was the same foot that I had been experiencing pain in for several weeks and it had a sensation of being bruised and sore all the time, although there was no visible bruising. Now, I had excruciating pain all over the entire foot, a pulsating, throbbing pain. The toenail was partly ripped off and it was bleeding. By the next day, it was still throbbing and I could not put any weight on that foot, much less put on a shoe. I was wondering how I would spend the day without being to use my foot - on the sofa? That's when I remembered how in Eric Pearl's book he teaches a simple technique to do a self-healing. I decided to try it. At that point, I was willing to do anything! After a short session with myself, and I do mean short, I stood up and noticed I could put my foot down and even take a step. I was afraid to believe it at first, but the pain seemed to be gone. I started walking back and forth in my room, slowly at first, as if the pain would return at any moment and I would have to start limping again. The pain did NOT return and within minutes I was prancing and dancing all around the house with my shoes on! And, I did not loose the toenail like I thought I was going to. The side of my foot that had been feeling sore and bruised for weeks was no longer painful, either. I don't know how this worked, but I know something miraculous happened.

My husband had been reading Dr. Eric Pearl's book, also, but was not at that time experiencing the feeling of subtle electricity going throughout his body. However, he KNEW this energy was real. Our little dog, Bindi, had a place on her leg that she would not leave alone. It was a spot that was swollen, red and just wouldn't get better. We were thinking of taking her to the vet, when both of us (without telling the other one what we were doing) began giving her Reconnective healing. I didn't tell Russ, my husband, about what I was doing, and he never told me that he was working on Bindi, also. A day later, I thought I must be crazy, because the sore spot on Bindi's leg looked much better. Was I just imagining it because I wanted it to be so? I wasn't sure, so I did not tell Russ what I was observing. The next day, Russ asked me outloud if I noticed anything different about Bindi. I think my heart skipped a beat from sheer joy, because his comment was verifying what I thought I was noticing! That's when he admitted to me that he had given little Bindi a "treatment". Her leg is all better, all healed, with the only remaining evidence that a problem ever existed being a scab that covers the spot of healing.

Russ and I both attended a Reconnection seminar/workshop recently in Philadelphia and became certified to be a practitioners of Reconnective Healing. While we were there, we saw firsthand many, many more miracles. We believe in it and KNOW this is real. I'm already planning on attending a Level III seminar in Sedona in December in order to offer the full spectrum of healing to people who are wanting it. It's an entirely different level of experiencing a healing. Read more about it on the Reconnection website.

The following is a description of this type of healing from the website of The Reconnection:

Reconnective Healing is a form of healing that is here on the planet for the very first time. It reconnects us to the fullness of the universe as it reconnects us to the fullness of our beings and of who we are. It is considered to be able to reconnect us to the universe and to our very essence not just through a new set of healing frequencies, but through possibly an entirely new bandwidth. The reality of its existence has demonstrated itself clearly in practice as well as in science laboratories.

The Reconnection is the umbrella process of reconnecting to the universe, which allows Reconnective Healing to take place. These healings and evolutionary frequencies are of a new bandwidth brought in via a spectrum of light and information. It is through The Reconnection that we are able to interact with these new levels of light and information, and it is through these new levels of light and information that we are able to reconnect. This is something new. This is different. This is real—and it can be entrained in each of us.

How Does One Become a Healer?

This blog began months ago as I was experiencing a spiritual awakening. When an awakening happens, one can either stay alert, be open, and see where it takes you, or choose to turn your back to it and pretend to be blinded by the light you've been shown. I've stayed the course, got lost at times through the mazes, twists and turns, and have enjoyed every second of it. I dropped all of my earlier beliefs I once had concerning the religion I was brought up in. A space opened up, a freedom to seek and discover my inward spirituality. I've spent hundreds, maybe thousands of hours reading and learning about the mystics, explored miraculous stories of the greatest saints, masters, and healers....and I've been in awe of it all. What stunning mysteries of life itself I've discovered. Never would I have dreamed that this was all leading me to my life's purpose.

I am now a practitioner - a Reconnective Practitioner, a healer. If you're wondering why and how, believe me I've wondered, also. So,why me? I've asked myself these questions so many times lately. My answer, the only one I have, is that I was given a gift, one that I could have refused to receive. I could have dismissed the weird, crazy things that began happening to me as just weird and crazy. New bandwidths of energy and information began entangling and connecting with my physical and emotional/spiritual body. Day after day, new frequencies arrived and made it known physically in my body. Electrical currents, subtle ones sometimes, and other times not so subtle, kept me awake at night as they pulsated and flowed through every cell of my body. Like little sparks of light, they would begin in my feet and race throughout my body, up and down like electricity in live wires. And then, SHWOOSH!! Up through my head, exploding outwards like a swarm of fireflies being released. My ears began buzzing, a sound like thousands of tiny, little bees humming. Why didn't I race off to a doctor and ask questions like "Am I crazy?" or "What do you think is happening to me, doctor?" BECAUSE.......I knew I had nothing wrong with me, and I was enjoying the sensations, visions, colors. Once I even experienced a "being" in the room with me; a kind, compassionate, loving being. I welcomed its presence. I was given the message, "Receive". That's all, just the word receive. I KNEW intuitively that these new sensations I was experiencing were coming from something or someone from an unknown dimension, or at least it had been unknown to me until then. Perhaps this something or someone was God, or a Universal Intelligence. How could I turn away from such a gift? How could I refuse to share it with others or turn my back on people who are seeking a higher connectedness with consciousness?

Dr. Eric Pearl, the author of "The Reconnection" book and an amazing teacher at conference workshops across the globe is who I turned to for guidance and instruction. I've experienced firsthand his amazing workshop seminar and have taken with me the knowingness of what I now am: a healer, a Reconnective Practitioner, to be exact. This gift was there for me all along. All I did was allow myself to be open to it, to be a vehicle, to NOT turn the other way and deny it, and to claim it.

I'll be writing more - much more - about my amazing healing experiences with this new bandwidth of healing light frequencies. Also, see Dr. Eric Pearl's website at: http://www.thereconnection.com

The Wounded Healer

This posting is from the beautiful video: The Wounded Healer

Mythology is a method to identify traits within the human psyche and use the archetypes to translate human experiences. In Greek myths, chiron was the wisest of Centaurs and the archetype of the Wounded Healer. He was accidently wounded by an arrow that had been dipped in the blood of Hydra. Because he was immortal the venom caused him eternal torment. In his search for his own cure, he discovered how to heal others. In teaching others the healing arts he found a measure of solace from his own pain.
"Our sorrows and wounds are healed only when we touch them with compassion."
---Buddha
Each of us goes through trials in life, rites of passage, physical illness and pain, mental confusion, emotional trauma, and spiritual distress. These trials help us to learn compassion. They teach us how to be a Wounded Healer.

"I'm touched by the idea that when we do things that are useful and helpful - collecting these shards of spirituality - that we may be helping to bring about a healing."
----Leonard Nimoy

There is a difference between curing someone and healing someone. Medicine is a science, but healing is an art. Science is from the mind; art is from the heart. Healing energy flows when hearts connect.

"The doctor is effective only when he himself is affected. Only the wounded physician heals."
-------Carl Jung

Jung believed that a malady of the soul could be the best possible form of training for a Healer. The pains and burdens one bears and eventually overcomes is the source of great wisdom and healing power for others. The Wounded Healer understands what the patient feels because he has gone through the same pain. The Healer's experience is what makes him a brother of the patient, rather than his master. This triggers a fundamental change in perspective. Because he has learned through experience, the Healer is able to feel empathy instead of just sympathy. The patient can sense this subconsciously. This opens a conduit between the two on the spiritual level and connects them. The suffering patient can be cared for by the Healer and be instrumental in the Healer's own healing. Each encounter between the Healer and patient can be transforming for both.

The lesson of Chiron teaches us that we can overcome pain and transcend into knowledge that each of us can become a Wounded Healer.

"When I stand before thee at the day's end, thou shalt see my scars and know that I had my wounds and also my healing."
-------Rabindranath Tagore

Have You Noticed The Shift?

I've been noticing a change, or a shift, in people I know. Have you been noticing it, too? Some of these people I've known a long time, and some of them are new friends that have been arriving into my life. I include myself in this shift, also, because five or ten years ago, I wouldn't have been interested in the interconnectedness of time, energy, or mass.......or the frequencies that underlie all the dimensions of our universe. I wasn't ready then for what is unfolding now.

What am I referring to? It's the fact that people are more open about speaking about various spiritual matters and such things as "shifts". They are hungry to meet others they can connect to who are vibrating at their frequency levels or even higher. Maybe they are not putting it into those exact words, but this is what I see they are talking about. Just a few years back, some of these very people (myself included) would have looked at you oddly for even bringing up such subjects.

The movie industry has been giving us movies with an emphasis on spiritual issues. This reflects what our culture's interests lie. We've had films about angels, healers, life after death, paradigm shifts, parallel dimensions, and psychic abilities. More of the same can be viewed on television.

Many of us have chosen to be here in this universe at this time to help in this transition to the new, higher vibrations. Gregg Braden uses two terms to describe this transition: the Shift" and "Shift of the Ages". Many programs on the History Channel have focused on the predictions of this transition of the ancient Mayans, the Incas, the Hopi, Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce, and the Kabbalah. You have have seen some of the programs yourself. The shift is a term which describes the process of Earth accelerating through a course of evolutionary change, with the human species linked, by choice, to the electro magnetic fields of Earth, following suit through a process of cellular change, says Gregg Braden.

These predictions from so many people in the past couldn't have just popped out of thin air. I believe they allowed themselves to be open to the Universal Intelligence to bring us this information.

The Shift is here. It's here now. As Braden says, "The Shift represents a rare opportunity of collectively repatterning the expression of human consciousness."

The Tao - Everything and Nothing

Students of modern metaphysics are familiar with the concept
of a beingness which is behind all things. It has been referred
to as the Absolute, the Isness, the 'I Am' Presence, and 'the
All That Is which is behind all things.' My own choice of words
is Infinite Being. All of these terms refer to the same
perfect, unchanging beingness which is behind everything.

The universe exists within the field of silent consciousness
of Infinite Being, so its essence is within everything in the
world. That silent Isness is the ground state of consciousness
behind all life. Because of its silent, unmoving nature it
could be referred to as being 'nothing and nowhere,' at least
to our physical sense of awareness.


The Creator and its creation exist within Infinite Being.
Therefore, Infinite Being is within all things. The unchanging
is within everything in the changing world. Yet, our physical
senses will never detect this underlying, unchanging oneness.
It is only through developing an inner connection that we will
discover that which is behind all things.

The Tao is manifest as everything and yet the Tao, in the
world of material senses, appears to be nothing and nowhere.
So, the message of the Tao Te Ching is to develop an inner
connection with that which is real and then the manifest world
- this world which is unreal in comparison - begins to make
sense.
---------by Owen Waters (Infinite Being website)

Moving Forward, Disconnecting, and Letting Go

As we move into higher dimensions there is much to consider. Anything that is not at our new, higher vibration can either move into a higher energy or not. If it does not, there is nothing we can do but disconnect from it or try to resist as it disconnects from us. While everything has a different energetic potential, all things have their vibrational limit, which is the upper level of their potential. When this is reached there are no more shifts that can occur for them.

Each element of the Universe has its own purpose and carries a corresponding vibration that is designed to fulfill a purpose. When we connect to a person or thing at that level we need the experience it has to teach us. But when we raise our own vibration it no longer has anything to teach us and we must decide what we will do next. Can we let go? Chances are, it has already let go of us and is trying to push us out of its energetic field.

This is the challenge of ascension, moving forward, disconnecting and letting go of our needs for validation in the outside world. And trusting that we will step into a bright future when we disconnect from our past and release what has reached its vibrational limit.

"To understand the whole it is necessary to understand the parts. To understand the parts, it is necessary to understand the whole. Such is the circle of understanding."
Ken Wilber, Eye of Spirit

Mind-stuff

by Paramahansa Yogananda

From science, man learns the philosophic truth that there is no material universe, its warp and woof is maya, illusion.
How did Christ resurrect his crucified body? How did Lahiri Mahashaya and Sri Yukteshwar perform their miracles? Modern science has as yet, no answer, though with the advent of Atomic Age the scope of the world-mind has been abruptly enlarged. The word 'impossible' is becoming less prominent in man's vocabulary.

The Vedic scriptures declare that the physical world operates under one fundamental law of maya, the principle of relativity and duality. God, the Sole Life, is Absolute Unity; to appear as separate and diverse manifestations of a creation He wears a false or unreal veil. That illusory dualistic veil is maya. Many great scientific discoveries of modern times have confirmed this simple pronouncement of the ancient rishis.

Newton's Law of Motion is a law of maya. "To every action there is always an equal and contrary reaction; the mutual action of any two bodies is always equal and oppositely directed." Action and reaction are thus exactly equal. "To have a single force is impossible. There must be, and always is, a pair of forces equal and opposite."…

Physical science, then, cannot formulate laws outside of maya: the very fabric and structure of creation. Nature herself is maya; natural science must perforce deal with her ineluctable quiddity. In her domain, she is eternal and inexhaustible; future scientists can do no more than probe one aspect after another of her varied infinitude. Science thus remains in a perpetual flux, unable to reach finality; fit indeed to discover the laws of an already existing and functioning cosmos but powerless to detect the Law Framer and Sole Operator. The majestic manifestations of gravitation and electricity have become known, but what gravitation and electricity are, no mortal knoweth….

Among the trillion mysteries of the cosmos, the most phenomenal is light. Unlike sound waves, whose transmission requires air or other material media, the light waves pass freely through the vacuum of interstellar space…light remains the most subtle, the freest from material dependence, of any natural manifestation.

In the gigantic conceptions of Albert Einstein, the velocity of light - 1,86,300 miles per second - dominates the whole Theory of Relativity. He proves mathematically that the velocity of light is, so far as man's finite mind is concerned, the only constant of a universe in flux. On the sole 'absolute' of light velocity depends all human standards of time and space. Not abstractly eternal as hitherto considered, time and space are relative and finite factors. They derive their conditional measurement-validities only in reference to the yardstick of light velocity. With a few equational strokes of his pen, Einstein banished from the universe every fixed reality except that of light.

In a later development, his Unified Field Theory, the great physicist sought to embody in one mathematical formula the laws of gravitation and of electromagnetism. Reducing the cosmic structure to variations on a single law, Einstein has reached across the ages to the rishis who proclaimed a sole fabric of creation: a protean maya. Great scientists are now boldly asserting not only that the atom is energy rather than matter, but that atomic energy is essentially mind-stuff.

"The frank realisation that physical science is concerned with a world of shadows is one the most significant advances," Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington writes in The Nature of the Physical World. "In the world of physics we watch a shadow graph performance of the drama of familiar life... To put the conclusion crudely, the stuff of the world is mind-stuff."

The New York Times gave the following report of a 1937 demonstration of the electron microscope... : "The principle of the electron microscope was first discovered in 1927 by Drs Clinton J. Davisson and Lesser H. Germer of the Bell Telephone Laboratories, New York City, who found that the electron has a dual personality, partaking the characteristics of a particle and a wave. (That is both matter and energy.)..."

From science, then, it must be so, let man learn the philosophic truth that there is no material universe, its warp and woof is maya, illusion. Under analysis all its mirages of reality dissolve. As, one by one, the reassuring props of a physical cosmos crash beneath him, man dimly perceives his idolatrous reliance, his transgression of the Divine Command: "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."

In his famous equation outlining the equivalence of mass and energy, Einstein proved that the energy in any particle of matter is equal to its mass or weight multiplied by the square of the velocity of light… The 'death' of matter has given birth to an Atomic Age.

Light velocity is a mathematical standard or constant not because there is an absolute value in 1,86,300 miles a second, but because no material body, whose mass increases with its velocity, can ever attain the velocity of light. Stated another way: only a material body whose mass is infinite could equal the velocity of light…

"Let there be light! And there was light". In the creation of the universe, God's first command brought into being the structural essential: light. On the beams of this immaterial medium occur all divine manifestations…

Free from matter consciousness, free from the three dimensions of space and the fourth dimension of time, a master transfers his body of light with equal ease over or through the light rays of earth, water, fire, and air…

The law of miracles is operable by any man who has realized that the essence of creation is light. A master is able to employ his divine knowledge of light phenomena to project instantly into perceptible manifestation the ubiquitous light atoms. The actual form of projection, whatever it be: a tree, a medicine, a human body, is determined by the yogi's wish and by his power of will and of visualization…

Source: Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

Spirit Calling to Itself

A Mysterious Summons
Why is it that some of us are driven blindly, madly, and passionately to struggle to transcend our own limitations? And to do so not merely for our own sake but for the sake of a higher purpose that we feel yet can barely see? Why is it that in those precious moments when we are most conscious and most awake, we intuit a deeper sense of conscience and care that is not personal? What is that soft vibration that tugs on our hearts and beckons us to courageously leap beyond the small confines of our ego so that we will participate in the life process in a much deeper and more authentic way? In the way I understand it, this is the deepest and most profound manifestation of the evolutionary impulse itself—the very same energy and intelligence that initiated the creative process fourteen billion years ago. That energy and intelligence is now awakening to itself as the spiritual impulse, the mysterious compulsion towards consciousness that serious seekers feel stirring deep within their very own souls. Why is it that some of us who come from a completely secular background find ourselves compelled towards our own spiritual depths, seemingly out of the blue? For many it feels like Consciousness or Spirit is calling the Self to Itself, unprompted by external circumstances. And where does this mystical summons originate? It comes from the same fathomless source that the big bang came from!

Andrew Cohen

Mother Earth Spirituality

I've just ordered this book,"Mother Earth Spirituality", and I want to share this finding with everyone.

After reading "Black Elk Speaks" I picked up this book because I believe that Native American ways of living have much to offer us. We neglect their wisdom at our peril. It is a great privilege that we have access to their knowledge on how we can live in harmony with Mother Earth. The author starts with the question why he should teach non-Indians about Native American spirituality and answers that it is time to share that spirituality because it does not belong to the Indians alone but to others with the right attitude; we all live in one world. If kept within the Indian community their old wisdom will not be allowed to work its environmental medicine on the world where it is desperately needed. A spiritual fire that promotes a communal commitment to a worldwide environmental undertaking is needed. Native or primal ways will fuel that fire and give it great power. Mother Earth can be revered, respected and protected.
He then quotes the letter from Chief Seathl (Seattle) to the President of the United States of America in 1854 - one of the most unusual and eloquent letters that a President can have received. "How can we buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?" The truth is that we could really stop here, go into a quiet room and reflect on those three sentences and we will surely discover the root cause of many of our ills. We put a price on everything the Indians think has no value and we place no value on everything the Indians think is valuable. Sparkling water in a stream flowing through a wood has no value to us but it is the essence of life to the Indian. Having polluted our rivers and killed the fish we are at long last starting to ask ourselves those very questions that Chief Seattle asked of the President 150 years ago.

Another point made by Chief Seattle haunts me. "...to harm the earth is to heap contempt on the Creator. The Whites too shall pass; perhaps sooner than all other tribes. Continue to contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste." How many of us today are saying somewhat similar things to our deaf leaders? But the heart and soul of the Indian way of life lies at the end of Seattle's letter, "So, if we sell our land, love it as we've loved it. Care for it as we've cared for it. Hold in your mind the memory of the land as it is when you take it. And with all your strength, with all your mind, with all your heart, preserve it for your children, and love it ... as God loves us all. One thing w know. Our God is the same God. This earth is precious to Him. Even the white man cannot be exempt from the common destiny. We may be brothers after all. We shall see....." How many of us would claim that we have loved the land as the Indians loved the land, or cared for the land as the Indians cared for the land? If we answer 'no', then surely that means that we have something to learn from the Native Indians. I am sure that if Chief Seattle were here today he would cry to see what we have done to those lands the Indians held sacred. He would cry for the pain inflicted on the earth. He would cry for us who in our greed and selfishness have wrought such damage on ourselves and our children.

I agree with and applaud Ed McGaa. A spiritual fire that promotes a communal commitment to a worldwide environmental undertaking is needed. Native or primal ways will fuel that fire and give it great power. We should all learn something from this book. But not just read and think and speak. But act. This book is nothing if we do not act on it. This is what Stephen Covey was telling us in "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change" that first we have to change ourselves, and only then we can change others and the world.

Einstein told us that we need a higher level of thinking to get ourselves out of the mess than the thinking that got us into the mess. Stephen Covey tells us that in such situations as we are in today we need a quantum change that can only be brought about by a completely new paradigm. Our current way of living is the paradigm that got us into the mess. The Indian approach is probably the paradigm that will get us out of the mess. If we read this book with an open mind and without prejudice, I believe that the Native American paradigm should be at the top of the shortlist of new paradigms from which we should make our selection for building the world we want for our children.

By DAVID-LEONARD WILLIS

Connecting with Father Sky

(Prairie Dog Rapture by Anthony Falbo)

Father Sky: From the earliest of times people honored and were in awe of all that they saw in the sky. The sun, moon, earth and stars, the thunder, lightening, rains, and winds were always power- full, mysterious, and represented deity and the unknown. Today, we can apply traditional ancient wisdom with current knowledge in these modern times. Understanding that all things are dependent on each other helps maintain the balance that exists in all nature. The ability to survive today still depends on establishing right relations with the animal, plant, mineral and human kingdoms. Respecting all things helps us live peacefully with all of our relations. Our ancestors knew that they were connected to the earth, fire, water and air. Father Sky was above them as elements: weather, air, thunder, storms, wind, clouds, rain, light, cold, warmth of the sun, and the shinning stars. Below them was Mother Earth and all that lived upon her. The partnership of both was needed to reproduce. Earth is the realm of Our Mother and Heaven is the realm of Our Father. All creation depends on this balanced relationship. We refer to the sky and earth as Father Sky and Mother Earth in respect of this cooperative, connected partnership.

There is a sacred flow that exists in all things. It is part of us and we are all part of it. When we still our minds, and touch the sky and earth and express gratitude for all that exists, we can then flow with the energy that is the Sacred Universe.

Be Still.....Be Now.....Be Present

Now is all there is. There is no other time. The past and future are concepts that can be thought about now but they can never be experienced now.

We believe in the illusion of a separate self. Self is only a concept. Eckhart Tolle, (Stillness Speaks, 2003) explains, "The mind is incessantly looking not only for food for thought; it is looking for food for its identity, its sense of self. This is how the ego comes into existence and continuously re-creates itself."


Trees, water, sky, hills--why do we divide life up and name the parts we have created?

The ego, manufactured by the mind, tells you who you are. The ego tells you that you are a body and its thoughts. Since you are a body, you can die. Since you can die, you are always in danger. Now must be broken up into pleasurable things, that are to be moved toward, and painful things that are to be avoided. Life is divided in two-- living and dying. The ego tells you that pleasure and life are the same and that pain and death are the same. This perpetuates the ego's practice of constantly resisting now--telling you that your life has problems that must be avoided and solutions that must be found. Suffering is born out of the stories we tell ourselves about pain. "Inner alignment with now is the end of suffering." (Stillness Speaks, 2003)

There is a tension that constantly moves us away from now. It says, "Go do something." It says, "Accomplish this." When a goal is accomplished, it is quickly replaced by another goal, and the moving away from now continues. It constantly seeks some time other than now. Instead of experiencing now as it is without labels, judgments, and descriptions, this mind-made self causes your true self to become lost in thought. To keep denying the reality of now, just as it is, it perceives and then describes life to you. You begin to have a relationship with life.The fact that you are life becomes obscured.

The ego chatters incessantly. It tells you that there are things outside you and things inside you. Things that are inside you are admitted into consciousness. Things outside you are denied and become subconscious or are projected "out there" so that they can be judged and related to as if they are separate objects. The ego divides up the whole of reality into parts that it names and counts. "The landscape is made up of separate things. This is a tree, that is the ground, there is the sky." This abstracting denies the fact that there is no real dividing line between the tree, the ground, and the sky--or between anything and anything else. Everything is connected.

By moving away from now and into an imaginary future, or into a remembered past, the ego seeks to establish its existence and keep the mind from discovering the truth by accepting what is now. In the future, it tells you, you can add this or that or something else to yourself and become bigger. Tomorrow you will have accomplished more. Next year you will make more money. Further denying now, the ego ruminates about the past and all its horror. Still continuing its denial of now, the ego sometimes tells you about the "good ole days" of the past.

By breaking up life and moving away from now, the ego is addicted to dualistic knowledge. This is good. That is bad. It never allows reality to be experienced and known directly as a whole just as it is. The ego can only continue its existence by thinking about life. The ego cannot exist in the only time there ever is: Now.

How do you stay in the now? You feel life as it is. You experience instead of describing experience. You observe thought instead of believing it and becoming lost in it. You accept what is instead of resisting it. Even if something is happening that you would rather not be happening, you can feel and accept that you don't like what is happening now. Consistent with the Serenity Prayer, learn to change what should be changed and accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed. Just be and accept that there is nothing you need to do and nowhere you need to go. Things are the only way they can be. Stop resisting now.

That doesn't mean to stop living your life and having accomplishments. It means to be present while you are living life and having accomplishments. Feel your life. Accept and be with the feeling without labeling it or describing it or resisting it. Every success in recognizing the ego and its motivations can be built upon. Along the way, learn to observe the ego's criticizing of your progress in staying present. Eventually, it will lose its motivation to continue its chatter. When it collapses, along with its mindless emotional thinking, you will know yourself and find "the peace that surpasseth all understanding." All that is left is the timeless now.

SOURCES:

Eckhart Tolle, Stillness Speaks (Novato: New World Library, 2003 and Vancouver: Namaste Publishing, 2003), p. 27, p. 118.
Gary Zukav, The Dancing Wu Li Masters (Bantam Books, 1980).
Ken Wilber, The Spectrum of Consciousness, 20th Anniversary Edition (The Theosophical Publishing House, 1993).
A Course in Miracles (Foundation for Inner Peace, 1985).
Tony Parsons, As It Is (Inner Directions Publishing, 2002).

Why Shamanism Now?

Would I go to a shaman for healing? YES! In a heartbeat! Especially if I were having physical pain or a dis-ease that is not responding to Western medicine. I have a friend whose daughter and spiritual guide often travel to Peru to a certain shaman, Don Diego, for healing. Remarkable changes have occurred in their lives. As one participant put it, "My personal experience was intensly profound and life changing. The degree of healing experienced is beyond the scope of explanation possible here. Mother Vine is truly a healer - physical, emotional and spiritual - for me." So, I am holding on to this information for a "just in case" moment. Just in case I find the money to travel there, I (and my husband, also, would love to participate) would go right now for the emotional and spiritual healing. Just in case I should become ill or a family member or close friend needs physical healing, I keep this website close at hand. There are trained Western shamans in our country, also, that are true healers. Michael Harner's shamanism workshops have trained many that are now practicing all over the country, if you so desire to check on some of them. I just happen to know someone personally who goes to Peru for healing, and that is why this particular shaman attracts me.

So, why shamanism? Read on........

From ancient times, shamans have worked with the spirits of nature for healing, survival, and knowledge. By learning from the plants and animals, from the rocks and mountains, from the winds and waters, and from the sun, moon, and stars, shamans helped their peoples live in harmony with the universe. In a world now out of balance, the way of the shaman can teach how again to respect nature, our Earth, and its inhabitants at a deep spiritual level. As our ancestors everywhere once knew, our survival depends on the survival of the other species.

Michael Harner, in the preface to the Third Edition (tenth anniversary edition of The Way of the Shaman), considers some reasons why this renaissance is underway. Harner finds that:

1. The Age of Faith has been replaced by the Age of Science wherein individuals no longer are as willing to accept spiritual dogma and insist instead on firsthand experience as a teacher of important truths. This is an impact of the experimental method.

2. Scientific experimentation involving observations made under the influence of LSD could be understood from a shamanic perspective.

3. Near-death experiences, made more common by medical science, turned out to be personal experiments that challenged existing understandings of reality and the existence of spirits, which were clarified from a shamanic point-of-view.

4. Shamanic methods involving journeying with the drum are safe and effective.

5. Shamanic methods work quickly and fit well into the fast-paced lifestyle of modern life.

6. Holistic health approaches have rediscovered ancient shamanic methods and their effectiveness and now incorporate them into practice.

7. We are rediscovering spiritual ecology, which requires that we again connect with our planet and its other inhabitants in order to maintain our survival.

To this list I would add several observations. Our concern for our damaged environment has largely come from our new “priests”, the physical scientists, who have been warning about global warming, pollution of air and water, declining resources such as petroleum, loss of ozone, and such for decades. However, these priests carry no sacred authority to underwrite their warnings. In fact, they have purposely distanced themselves from the sacred and have taken refuge in the secular and objective aspects of reality. Scientists’ conclusions are only as good as their latest observations, a point easily and frequently exploited by politicians. Scientists command no moral authority. In the United States they have little political power at present. Shamanism, designed as it is around an animistic philosophy, can provide a sacred charter for the ecological imperatives we recognize. Underwriting ecology from this deep, heartfelt perspective provides the moral basis for supporting sound ecological practice and feeds back to validate shamanism.

From: The Reawakening of Shamanism in the West
By Bill Brunton

Spirit House

Spirit houses provide appealing shelter for deities who protect and bless the family who reside in the "real" house on one's property. In Thailand, these tiny temples are perched high up on poles in every yard or garden. The Guardian of the House is the spirit that watches over and protects the home. It is uncertain whether there is one spirit that watches over all homes, or if individual spirits do this for each home. However, all you have to do in Thailand is look around and you'll see that every home has a spirit house. Thai families who believe wholeheartedly in the spirit house and it's importance light incense every morning and ask the spirit to watch over and protect the home.

I have decided I would like to have a spirit house, maybe perched by the front entrance to my house, or in the serenity of the garden in the back. Who wouldn't want protection and blessings from the spirits as one goes through the stresses of life? We would all like less suffering, and let's face it, we humans think we would like to alleviate it completely. Yet it appears as though the only way to grow spiritually, to be more enlightened, is through that door of suffering. We can choose to either be broken down or to be broke open.

In her book "Broken Open" by Elizabeth Lesser, she was given a gift by her sister and it was a beautiful spirit house. As she was unwrapping the treasure, she discovered to her amazement that the house had gotten broken from being sent through the mail. Disappointed from her discovery, she still had a good laugh from this. She said to herself, "A broken spirit house!" She had just spent the year finishing her book, which is about finding protection and blessings in the broken moments of our lives. She tells stories in her book of blessings that come disguised as disaster, not as cute little houses in lovely gardens. Elizabeth Lesser keeps the broken shards of her spirit house gift in a basket to remind herself that while she is never safe from breaking, she is always protected by spirit.

From her book she writes, "Over and over, we are broken on the shore of life. Our stubborn egos are knocked around, and our frightened hearts are broken open - not once, and not in predictable patterns, but in surprising ways and for as long as we live. The promise of being broken and the possibility of being opened are written into the contract of human life. When the sea is rough, and when we are suffering, we may want to give up hope and give in to despair. but brave pilgrims have gone before us. They tell us to venture forth with faith and vision. "

The poet Rumi tell us this:

Drum sounds rise on the air,
and with them, my heart.
A voice inside the beat says,
I know you are tired,
but come.
This is the way.

"The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle

I've learned to be a pretty joyful person, and the magnificent ideas, or pointers, from Eckhart Tolle's books have led me to experience for myself his concepts of how to live in the present moment. When I began living in the present, I've experienced heaven, and it's here for me (or you!) every moment we let go of thoughts of the past and of the future.

The Center for Contemplation (we meet in Abilene, TX - see the link to the right)is doing a review of "The Power of Now". Many of us have read it and are eager to discuss our personal experiences of how we've implemented the ideas from the book into our own personal lives. For many of us, it has been life changing and liberating, freeing us to be whole and at one with the great "I AM".

Here are some excerpts from this spirit inspired book:

"Since ancient times, spiritual masters of all traditions have pointed to the Now as the key to the spiritual dimension. Despite this, it seems to have remained a secret. It is certainly not taught in churches and temples. If you go to a church, you may hear readings from the Gospels, such as, "Take no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for things of itself" or "Nobody who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of heaven". Or you may hear the passage about the beautiful flowers who are not anxious about tomorrow, but live with ease in the timeless now and are provided for abundantly by God. The true nature of these teachings is not recognized. No one seems to realize that they were meant to be lived and thereby bring about profound inner transformation."


"Having access to that formless realm is truly liberating. It frees you from bondage to form and identification with form. It is life in its undifferentiated state prior to its fragmentation into multiplicity. We may call it the Unmanifested, the invisible Source of all things, the Being within all beings. It is a realm of deep stillness and peace, but also of joy and intense aliveness. Whenever you are present, you become "transparent" to some extent to the light, the pure consciousness that emanates from this Source. You also realize that the light is not separate from who you are but constitutes your very essence."

"Humanity is under great pressure to evolve because it is our only chance of survival as a race. This will affect every aspect of your life and close relationships in particular. Never before have relationships been as problematic and conflict ridden as they are now. As you may continue to pursue the goal of salvation through a relationship, you will be disillusioned again and again. But if you accept that the relationship is here to make you conscious instead of happy, then the relationship will offer you salvation, and you will be aligning yourself with the higher consciousness that wants to be born into this world. For those who hold to the old patterns, there will be increasing pain, violence, confusion, and madness."

"To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness. This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a certain way, good or bad. It seems almost paradoxical, yet when your inner dependency on form is gone, the general conditions of your life, the outer forms, tend to improve greatly. Things, people, or conditions that you thought you needed for your happiness now come to you with no struggle or effort on your part, and you are free to enjoy and appreciate them - while they last. All those things, of course, will still pass away, cycles will come and go, but with dependency gone there is no fear of loss anymore. Life flows with ease."

Namaste'

"Greet the Day" prayer

This is an inspiring way to begin your morning and to stay grounded throughout the whole day. Try it and see what a difference it will make for you.

“Greet the Day”

I SALUTE THE SKY AND ALL THAT IS

OFFERING MYSELF TO THE DAY

GATHERING MY ENERGY

I PLANT MY VISION

AND ACCEPT THE CORE ENERGY OF THE EARTH INTO MYSELF

I GATHER AND ACCEPT THE ENERGY FROM THE UNIVERSE
INTO MY ENTIRE BEING.

I RELEASE WHAT I NO LONGER NEED

I GIVE MY GIFTS FROM THE HEART

AND I RECEIVE GIFTS FROM THE UNIVERSE

Enlightened or Awakened Beings

Many people today believe we are in a global time of great transformation, in which we shall arrive as an awakened, enlightened, or ascended species. But, what does that mean? How do we get there? And, do those who embrace this understanding truly understand what that means?

So, how do we get there? How do we get into a Buddhistic Mind, be an enlightened or awakened being? Many in our contemporary times are into ‘healing', into their own healing path,or into the ‘healing arts'. But what is that? Do we truly understand the ‘healed’ state?
The path is one of recognizing, honoring, embracing,and embodying who we truly are as Divine Beings. Do we get that? Truly? Do we feel it? Do we live it, in a fundamental and daily way, in all our relations, on the highway to work, with the kids when they are doing something we feel is a poor choice in their lives? Are we living in our Divinity in our daily lives?

The Heart of all Creation emanates, pulses out into creation, indeed, is the cause of all creation. All Creation pulses in Harmony with that original pulse. The laws of Sacred Geometries and other studies of the sacred sciences disseminate this truth - "That all life unfolds in Divine proportions". When we enter the harmonic state within our own being, we activate that harmonic principal of our self which is in union with All Life, with All Creation, with All Harmony. And, through this visceral state, we can very easily feel what is in harmony and what is not. It is a VERY simple mechanical reality. Any great conductor can tell you when the bassoon or 3rd violin is not in pitch. It only requires practice, discernment, and trust in our own ability to discern. Given that this is a lesson from birth, allowing us to discern our own truth, with proper guidance to not do harm to ourselves or others during the learning stages, we SHALL come into seeing, believing, understanding and living from the principals of this divine truth - "That all life is in harmony, and we can enter into that harmony at any time, and discern all that is in or not in that harmony".


By Zacciah Blackburn

Zacciah is a gifted teacher, and sound healer. He is trained in classical healing, shamanic traditions, and sacred sound practices. He teaches internationally, and practices in Vermont, USA, at the Center of Light. Zacciah shares teachings on the nature of human consciousness, explorations into the Shamanic worlds of earth energies & awareness, and teachings on the nature of sound and sacred sound practices. His in-depth understanding provides life transforming experiences into the authentic nature, being, and wellness of who we are as spiritual beings. He is Director of Education at the International Sound Healing Network. See www.thecenteroflight.net for further information.

The Energy Healing Experiments

This impressive book is one I really want to share with everyone. I've been delving into the world of energy healing, such as Reiki and Shamanic Touch. I know that energy healing works, but I just couldn't understand HOW it works. This amazing book explains it thoroughly. Anyone who is skeptical will be reassured by the scientific experiments that are presented here. I am the type of person who always wants to know why and how things work and I like to be shown proof. This book does that.

Here are some reviews I found from Amazon.com:

"Over the past three decades, an impressive body of scientific evidence has quietly emerged that points to stunning new insights into consciousness and itscapacity to mediate healing. Dr. Gary Schwartz's The Energy HealingExperiments is a stellar introduction to this dazzling evidence, which will transform the very meaning of 'healing.' " ­Larry Dossey, MD, author of The Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things

"For more than 30 years, I have known and learned from the truly creative genius of Dr. Gary Schwartz. In The Energy Healing Experiments his courageous odyssey continues with scientific rigor, penetrating insights, his characteristic twinkling humor, and true wisdom. "­Kenneth R. Pelletier, PhD, MD(hc), author of New Medicine and internationalbestseller Mind As Healer, Mind As Slayer

"In The Energy Healing Experiments, scientist Gary Schwartz reveals his thrilling journey to the threshold of 21st-century medicine. There we encounter the promise of new classes of therapies based on the modulation of energy and intention. While we don't know yet exactly how these new therapies work, the fact that they work is being firmly established by Schwartz and others, as reported in this riveting first-person account. "­Dean Radin, PhD, author of Entangled Minds and The Conscious Universe

"This is a lovely book. I congratulate Gary Schwartz, with William Simon, on a very readable and lucid book on the important and complex topic of energy/information healing as distinguished from chemical/nutritional healing. It is highly recommended for all readers because it will significantly transform the public mind-set in very beneficial ways."
­William A. Tiller, PhD, author of Science and Human Transformation

"Through the able hand of a master scientist, this book is a reliable guide to the complex and sometimes perplexing engagement of mind, body, and spirit."

­Marilyn Mandala Schlitz, PhD, Vice President for Research and Education, Institute of Noetic Sciences


Customer Reviews

By Nicole Wilde
While some other reviewers found this information dry, I found it fascinating. I'm not a scientist by a long shot, but when I read about scientific experiments I want to know the details, particularly because there are so many factors involved. Especially when it comes to this type of subject matter -- and I say this as an energy healer -- I want to know that the placebo effect or other factors are not contributing to the results. I began reading this book as research for one of my own books, and ended up finishing it before I knew it. Okay, it's not for those looking for scintillating prose that reads like a novel, but the information speaks for itself and Gary Schwartz has done an excellent job of presenting it a way that the non-scientists among us can understand.
- Nicole Wilde, author Energy Healing for Dogs: Using Hands-On Healing to Improve Canine Health and Behavior


By Jed Shlackman (Miami, FL United States)

This review is from: The Energy Healing Experiments: Science Reveals Our Natural Power to Heal (Hardcover)
I first came across Schwartz' work almost a decade ago in the Living Energy Universe. His subsequent books have been more focused, and the Energy Healing Experiments looks at the research and evidence validating the power of consciousness and intention to guide healing energies. This book provides solid evidence and explores important questions raised by both believers and skeptics. As an energy healer I know what I observe and experience with myself and clients, so I don't need convincing... but for those who lack the expanded sensory awareness to feel and perceive energy healing it's useful to have empirical findings and methodically designed experiments that confirm something is happening that can't be explained in a materialistic manner. Gary Schwartz has done well in collecting this evidence and presenting it within a thoughtful analysis and discussion of its implications. This book is practical and more scientifically-oriented than spiritually oriented even though it does bring up the spiritual and philosophical implications of energy healing. I recommend this for healers who want to have a collection of research that supports their work, as well as the general public and skeptics who wish to carefully consider the evidence regarding this phenomenon.