'Tis the Season for Silence

‘Tis the season when we really need a moment of silence. It’s also the season when we really have to work to make sure we get one. At a time we traditionally devote to loving, giving, and gratitude, the quiet and peace we need to appreciate our gifts seems all too elusive. Try to give yourself the gift of silence now and then during the holiday hubbub so you have a chance to really enjoy the experience of celebration. It’s when you merge into the silence and become one with it that you reconnect to your Source and know the peacefulness that is God. “Be still and know that I am God,” says the Old Testament. The key words are still and know. Mother Teresa described silence and its relationship to God by saying, “God is the friend of silence. See how nature—trees, grass, grow in silence; see the stars, the moon, and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.”

Everything that’s created comes out of silence. Your thoughts emerge from the nothingness of silence. Your words come out of this void. Your very essence emerged from emptiness. All creativity requires some stillness. Your sense of inner peace depends on spending some of your life energy in silence to recharge your battery, remove tension and anxiety, reacquaint you with the joy of knowing God, and feel closer to all of humanity. Going into the quiet and listening will heal and inspire you. In silence, you make your personal and conscious contact with God. As Melville reminded us, “God’s one and only voice is silence.”

May the voice of silence bring you peace this holiday season.

- Wayne W. Dyer

Drugs

I normally only post positive messages on this website, but for the power of the message of this poem, which hopefully might inspire some to make a more positive choice, I felt the need to share it.

"I destroy homes, tear families... apart - take your children, and that's just the start.
I'm more costly than diamonds, more costly than gold - the sorrow I bring is a sight to behold.
And if you need me, remember I'm easily found.
I live all around you, in schools and in town.
I live with the rich, I live with the poor, I live down the street, and maybe next door.
My power is awesome - try me you'll see.
But if you do, you may never break free.
Just try me once and I might let you go, but try me twice, and I'll own your soul.
When I possess you, you'll steal and you'll lie.
You'll do what you have to just to get high.
The crimes you'll commit, for my narcotic charms, will be worth the pleasure you'll feel in your arms.
You'll lie to your mother; you'll steal from your dad.
When you see their tears, you should feel sad.
But you'll forget your morals and how you were raised.
I'll be your conscience, I'll teach you my ways.
I take kids from parents, and parents from kids, I turn people from God, and separate from friends.
I'll take everything from you, your looks and your pride, I'll be with you always, right by your side.
You'll give up everything - your family, your home, your friends, your money, then you'll be alone.
I'll take and I'll take, till you have nothing more to give.
When I'm finished with you you'll be lucky to live.
If you try me be warned this is no game.
If given the chance, I'll drive you insane.
I'll ravish your body, I'll control your mind.
I'll own you completely; your soul will be mine.
The nightmares I'll give you while lying in bed.
The voices you'll hear from inside your head.
The sweats, the shakes, the visions you'll see.
I want you to know, these are all gifts from me.
But then it's too late, and you'll know in your heart, that you are mine, and we shall not part.
You'll regret that you tried me, they always do.
But you came to me, not I to you.
You knew this would happen.
Many times you were told, but you challenged my power, and chose to be bold.
You could have said no, and just walked away.
If you could live that day over, now what would you say?
I'll be your master; you will be my slave.
I'll even go with you, when you go to your grave.
Now that you have met me, what will you do?
Will you try me or not?
Its all up to you.
I can bring you more misery than words can tell.
Come take my hand, let me lead you to hell."

Signed,
DRUGS

The Sinking Cruise Ship - A Story of Judgement

One day a teacher told this story about a cruise ship that capsized at sea. A couple managed to get to a lifeboat, only to realize that there was only room for one. The moment when the two came to the lifeboat the man nudged his wife, so she ended up behind him, and then he jumped into the lifeboat. The woman remained on the sinking ship and shouted to her husband.

The teacher asked his students: "What do you think she shouted?"

Most of the students eagerly replied: "I hate you! I have been cheated! "

The teacher noticed a boy sitting silently and she turned to him to hear what he thought the woman shouted: "Ma'am, I believe she shouted: 'Take care of our children!'

The teacher was surprised and asked: "Have you heard this story before?"

The boy shook his head: "No, but it was what my mother said to my father before she died of their disease."

The teacher sighed lightly: "You answered correctly".

The cruise ship sank. The man came home unharmed and raised the couple's daughter on his own.

Several years later, after the man passed away, the couple's daughter found a diary as she was going through her father's possessions.  It turned out that the mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness days before her parents left on the cruise ship. At the critical moment the father took his only chance for survival.

He wrote in his diary: "As much as I wanted to sink to the bottom of the sea together with you, I had to think about our daughter. I am so sad that I had to leave you alone on the ocean floor, forever. "

When the teacher finished the story, the whole class was dead silent.  The teacher realized that the student, who initially sat silently, understood the point of the story. Between all the good and evil in the world, there are many different underlying causes that may be difficult to see.

That is why we should never focus only on the surface and judge others without trying to understand them first.

Heaven On Earth by Wayne Dyer

Heaven should not be thought of as a place you’ll ultimately arrive at once you leave this earthly existence. Rather, it seems to me, that you’d want to experience Heaven right here on Earth. Earth itself is crammed with Heaven. But do you see Heaven in your daily life? Do you feel as if you’re in a Heavenly world? If the answer is no, then you’re out of balance. You’ve probably made your physical world the primary focus of your life, with little or no attention given to the Heavenly part of your earthly existence.

When you place the larger part of your life energy on the material world, you are generally in a continual state of worry about your “stuff,” and you feel like you never get ahead in the game of life. Virtually all of your mental energy is focused on what you have and don’t have. You assess your worth based on such material issues as what kind of automobile you drive or how fashionably you’re dressed. You may even feel inferior because other people have more stuff! This imbalance between spiritual and material world usually means that indebtedness is a way of life.

When you’re out of balance, with life heavily weighted down on the material side of the scale, you pay a hefty price. The most serious consequence is that you see yourself in a false manner. Your true essence is spiritual, rather than physical, but you’re unable to recognize this. Your infinite self is never born and never dies. When you tip the balance scales in favor of the material world, you’re identifying with an unstable ally that’s forever changing. Your body, your possessions, your achievements and your finances are all ephemeral.

Heaven is a state of mind, not a location, since Spirit is everywhere and in everything. You can begin equalizing your material and spiritual life by making a conscious decision to look for the unfolding of Spirit in everything and everyone you encounter. I personally do this by making an effort to look upon my world as if I were observing it through lenses that filter out the form and all of the material aspects of what I’m seeing, and I can only view the spiritual energy that allows what I’m noticing to exist. Try putting on these imaginary magical lenses and see how different everything appears.

Endurance Quotes

1. A leader, once convinced that a particular course of action is the right one, must be undaunted when the going gets tough. - Ronald Reagan

2. Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory. - William Barclay 

3. Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes. - Buddha 

4. Happy he who learns to bear what he cannot change. - Johann Friedrich Von Schiller 

5. I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent; curiosity, obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism have brought me to my ideas. - Albert Einstein 

6. Know how sublime a thing it is to suffer and be strong. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

7. Not in achievement, but in endurance, of the human soul, does it show its divine grandeur and its alliance with the infinite. - Edwin Hubbel Chapin

8. Nothing happens to any man that he is not formed by nature to bear. - Marcus Aurelius 

9. One man has enthusiasm for 30 minutes, another has it for 30 days, but is the man who has it for 30 years who makes a success of his life. - Edward B. Butler 

10. One man scorned and covered with scars still strove with his last ounce of courage to reach the unreachable stars; and the world was better for this. - Miguel de Cervantes, "Don Quixote"

11. Perseverance is not a long race; it is many races one after another. - Walter Elliot

12. Persistent people begin their success where others end in failure. - Edward Eggle

13. Those who can bear all can dare all. - Marquis De Vauvenargues 

14. To win without risk is to triumph without glory. - Pierre Corneille

15. Tough times never last, but tough people do. - Dr. Robert Schuller

16. What cannot be altered must be borne, not blamed. - Thomas Fuller 

17. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call “failure” is not falling down, but staying down. - Mary Pickford

See also: Perseverance Quotes

Thank Sarah for the Thanksgiving Holiday

We wouldn't even have a national Thanksgiving holiday if it weren't for a woman by the name of Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor who campaigned endlessly for the holiday by writing to many U.S. presidents over the course of decades. Hale was so dedicated to the cause that her campaign spanned five presidencies before one president (Abraham Lincoln)  finally said yes.

So this year, when you're stuffing yourself with that last piece of pumpkin pie, just remember: You have a lady named Sarah to thank for it.

See also: 

President Abraham Lincoln - Thanksgiving

President George Washington - Thanksgiving

Having Gratitude Even For The Tough Moments

Finding the good in the worst of experiences has the power to revolutionize your life.

Gratitude is a powerful process for shifting your energy. Choosing to focus on the good is the most effective way to attract more of it. Here are seven circumstances or experiences you might never have thought to be thankful for — but probably should be.

1. Without your struggles, you wouldn't have found the strength you have now.

2. Goals you haven't reached and dreams that haven't come true are opportunities to cultivate patience.

3. Making mistakes is evidence that you still have room to grow. What's the point of life if you've stopped learning?

4. Wrong turns and unmet expectations have been crucial in helping you discover what you actually want.

5. The people who are unsupportive of your dreams have given you room to believe in yourself even more.

6. The people who have wronged you are allowing you to practice forgiveness.

7. The wrinkles you see in the mirror are a physical reminder of the adventures you've had and the life you've lived.

by Shannon Kaiser

Denzel Washington - Fall Forward

Your Happiness Is Up To You

Secrets Of The World's Happiest People

When it comes to being happy, you have more control than you think.

When it comes to being happy, you have more control than you think. Dan Buettner spent five years studying happiness, and is the author of “Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way.” Blue Zones are regions of the world where people commonly live to 100 and beyond. And here’s what he found to be common characteristics among the happiest people: 

• They don’t watch TV. Most of us spend over four hours a day watching television. But in places where happiness levels are the highest, people spend more time with family and friends and less time with the tube. That’s why Buettner suggests owning no more than one TV, and keeping it in an out-of-the-way place, like the basement. Then watching it will become a deliberate activity, instead of an “automatic” one. 

• Happy people are also less likely to shop. In North America, we often feel pressured by the media to always want more. But a study found that the high you get from buying something new lasts no more than 14 minutes. Instead, put your money toward something that gives you a life-changing experience, like a class or a weekend retreat.

• The final characteristic of happy people: They’re religious. When people in Mexico were asked, on a scale of one to 10, “How important is God in your life?” More than 80-percent of them responded with a “10.” Experts say this explains why Mexican people are among the world’s happiest, despite being among the world’s poorest.

from tesh.com, "Intelligence for Your Life"

I Can See Clearly Now by Wayne Dyer - Excerpts, Part 2

This is a continuation of excerpts from Wayne Dyer's book I Can See Clearly Now, beginning with Chapter 31.


See also I Can See Clearly Now by Wayne Dyer - Excerpts, Part 1


31
I repeatedly offer my clients tools that will facilitate their discovering that they are the sum total of all the choices they make.  They resist at first, wanting to blame, and I point out this is a choice.  I tell them that to do so is not just crazy, it is an error in thinking - that is their erroneous zone.

Change your thinking, take responsibility for everything in your life and conquer your erroneous thinking.

To become independent of the good opinion of others and be free from the need for approval is precisely what I was teaching - this was one of the most common kinds of neurotic disorders that I had been helping clients overcome for years.

"Never forget that you are one of a kind. Never forget that if there weren't any need for you in all your uniqueness to be on this earth, you wouldn't be here in the first place.  And never forget, no matter how overwhelming life's challenges and problems seem to be, that one person can make a difference in the world. In fact, it is always because of one person that all changes that matter in the world come about.  So be that one person." - Buckminster Fuller

I knew inside that I couldn't be that self-actualized person if I was afraid of what anyone else might think of me.

32
Opportunities to fulfill one's own dharma are omnipresent when there's an inner picture of one's intention firmly planted in the imagination.

The inner vision that says yes to life and is open to all possibilities impels you to look about with more intense vision, to anticipate things working out, and to jump on even the slightest omen that indicates you're being guided.

The key to my seeing more clearly is alignment. By maintaining a burning desire with an image that's like an inner flame that is impervious to any distractions, I began to look outward at every circumstance as an omen. It wasn't luck that pushed me then; it was my willingness to hold on to an inner vision until it became intention - and then to humbly follow my instincts and say yes to every break that came along. By being active and fearless, I was allowing doors to open that would have remained locked, or worse yet, unnoticed.

"The elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs...one step at a time." - Joe Girard

33
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
- from Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken"

Supernatural moments of insight that are often life-transforming:
First, they are always surprising. Second, they are vivid. Third, quantum moments are always benevolent. Fourth, they are enduring.

As individuals begin to align with their original intent and live a life on purpose, they invite in their highest guidance.

It does no good to pray for guidance and help if we're living an ego-centered life.

...[become] more like those who live to serve in Divine love.  They see themselves in that energy, and can and will guide us to a more God-realized path.

Only the insecure strive for security.

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the true source of all art and science." - Albert Einstein

34
My second choice was to refuse to allow anyone's opinion to get in the way of what I had placed in my imagination, and to take total responsibility for every single aspect of this journey I was undertaking.

When Alexander the Great visited the greatest spiritual teacher of his time, Diogenes, and asked if he could do anything for the famed teacher, Diogenes replied, "Only stand out of my light."

I had an inner conviction about what I intended to do.  I knew that I could not simply stand by and allow all of my dreams to be wiped away because of others, who were more experienced, felt that they knew better - knew the way. I asked them to please stand out of my light and let me be guided by my own vision.

...it was imperative for me to remain independent of the good and bad opinions of others.

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song." - Maya Angelou

I must ignore the opinions and advice of others when they interfere with my own inner knowing.

35
The importance of feeling the fear - acknowledging it rather than pretending it wasn't there - and then doing what my heart and soul were telling me I had to do.

"When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds, your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties, and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be." - Patanjali

When we stay on purpose and steadfastly refuse to be discouraged, accepting our fears and doing it anyway, those seemingly dormant forces do come alive and show us that we are greater people than we ever dreamed ourselves to be.  We discover that we are one with our Source of being, and as Jesus put it so perfectly, 'With God all things are possible."

Being with God means living out one's purpose and always coming from a place of love.  I see so clearly now that my resolve to follow my own innermost calling and to do it from an inner mantra of How may I serve? rather than What's in it for me? is what dissipated my worrying about financial catastrophe.

Self-actualizing people do what they do because they are following their heart, the call of their soul, not because of what might accrue to them.

This is what is clear to me today: follow your heart, stay aligned with your Source of being - love - and let the universe take care of the details.

36
I want to teach people how to stop feeling victimized in all of their interactions in life - to operate from strength rather than weakness when dealing with family members, authority figures, and the demons that live inside that continually pull them away from their own well-being.

Clearly there's an invisible force in the universe that handles everything. No exceptions. This force is in me and it is in everything and everyone else alive - it connects us all. When I stay in harmony with this force, which is really pure unconditional love, it leaves nothing undone by doing nothing.

Clearly this force that is within all of us works to assist each of us if we stay true to our calling.

One can summon the courage to stand up to those who attempt to replace one's knowing what's right, with their will, or their policies, or their regulations.

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty - that is all
  ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."
- John Keats

37
When I decided to run a marathon, I already saw myself triumphantly crossing the finish line. As a result, I acted on the idea as if it were a completed fact. This prompted me to go out every day and challenge myself to live up to the idea I had in my imagination, since it was already a fait accompli.

I'm convinced that some of our greatest and most influential teachers show up in our lives disguised as people we resent or even despise.

"If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place." - Lao-tzu

38
"Everything can be taken from man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

The truth - that love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire.

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.

You must teach people to find meaning in their suffering, and in so doing they will be able to turn their personal tragedies into personal triumphs." - Viktor Frankl

The essence of greatness is the ability to choose personal fulfillment in circumstances where others choose madness.

"He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how." - Nietzche

39
We can...change ourselves and make new choices in the face of circumstances that cannot be altered - this includes our past and our entire personal history.

Be wary - very wary - of those who would step into my life and decide for me what my life's work ought to look like.

40
I am much more than a body that is weary. I am a spirit, and this spirit can do anything because it isn't restricted by time and space and physical form.

I can clearly see now that there's much more to this whole idea of being human than what is measurable by our physical accomplishments. I know there's a reservoir of inner strength that can be called upon in crucial moments - and even more amazing, there's Divine guidance available to us if we are willing to believe in it and allow it to work with us.

41
I want my children to enjoy life, to value themselves, to be risk takers, to become self-reliant, to be free from stress and anxiety, to have peaceful lives, to celebrate their present moments, to experience a lifetime of wellness, to be creative, and above all to fulfill their highest needs and to feel a sense of purpose.

The best way to truly learn and understand something is to teach it.

Learn to rely upon yourself. Take total responsibility for everything that comes into your life, and as Dr. Viktor Frankl has taught, you always have a choice in how you react to anything that life offers you.

42
You'll see it when you believe it. And the it is anything that people place their attention on in their imagination, which will become observable in the physical realm because of the power of the mind to create anything it believes in.

I saw it all come to fruition because I first believed it.

43
"With God, all things are possible." - New Testament, Matthew 19:26

It's been said that when Jesus entered a village, just his presence and nothing more would elevate the consciousness of everyone in the village.

With Mother Teresa, there was the element of spiritual impact as well. This saintly woman's presence seemed to make everyone around her want to be more Christlike - to be less judgmental, to overlook and forgive any shortcoming, to literally feel closer to God because of the pheromones of love she emitted by her very presence.

44
...my highest self, the individualized expression of God, which is pure love. I came from perfect health and well-being, and I intend to stay aligned with this and keep alcohol out of my body, because alcohol destroys brain cells and therefore is destructive to my well-being. I have a senior partner in this undertaking and I feel confident, blessed, and truly inspired to change this habit - one day at a time - and  love every minute of it.

Every day I become increasingly aware that deep within all of us is a unified field of limitless possibilities.

"I have been all things unholy; if God can work through me, he can work through anyone." - St. Francis of Assisi

Breaking self-sabotaging habits is not difficult when I invest myself in my highest God-realized self.

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. - Buddhist homily

45
... it's about recognizing God within us. Living beyond the ego, which is really the false self. We all come from God, therefore we must be sacred - a piece of what we come from.

"My stand is clear; produce to distribute, feed before you eat, give before you take, think of others before you think of yourself. Only a selfless society based on sharing can be stable and happy. This is the only practical solution. If you do not want it, then - fight." - Nisargadatta Maharaj

We are all spiritual beings having a human experience.

That which is real is that which never changes.

"While we may not be able to control all that happens to us, we can control what happens inside us." - Benjamin Franklin

"The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern.  Beautiful people do not just happen." - Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

46
...the opportunity to live as God lives - to align myself with the pure energy of giving without asking anything in return. This is how God works. This is how the great ascended masters lived and worked. Asking only, How may I serve? rather than What's in it for me?

I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was service.
I acted and behold, service was joy.
- Rabindranath Tagore

47
When we fully align ourselves with our original nature, we are one with the creative Source of the universe, and we therefore gain all of the same powers as the creator.

48
There's a flame of intense desire when it comes to fulfilling the wishes that are burning within me. No one else can do it for me, and I can find no acceptable excuses for participating in a project that flounders.

I had nothing at all on my unwilling-to-do list in order to make my future dream a present fact.

Something within me...excitedly murmured, I could do this. I know I could. Those inner promptings are the work of angelic forces that have always been there, inviting me to pursue wider and more far-reaching vistas.

...two mental lists that I carried with me. On one list is everything I am willing to do to make my future dream a present fact. On the second list is everything I am unwilling to do - that list is always blank.

We all have a destiny, a dharma to fulfill, and there are endless opportunities, people, and circumstances that surface throughout our lives to illuminate our path. The incidents and the people create tiny sparks that cause us to recognize, This is for me - this is important; this is why I'm here. Those sparks are signals to pay attention and be astonished and know that those little sparks are being ignited by the same Divine Source that is responsible for all of creation.

49
The Prayer of St. Francis:
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.
Amen

This is not a prayer: it is a technology.  It is about being an alchemist and converting hatred to love, doubt to faith, despair to hope, and sadness to joy.

Miracles happen when we think and act as God does. I now see clearly that this means serving without hesitation, ignoring the demands of the ego, and asking for nothing in return.

Man's inhumanity to man will only be solved when we take up the mantle of the life and teaching of St. Francis of Assisi.

50
"In the universe there is an unmeasurable, indescribable force which sorcerers call intent, and absolutely everything that exists in the entire cosmos is attached to intent by a connecting link." - Carlos Castaneda, The Power of Silence

I am enthralled by this idea of intention not being something that we do, but rather an energy that we are connected to.

I have a small frame on my desk that I look at each day as I begin to write. It says:
Good morning,
This is God.
I will be handling
All of your
Problems today.
I will not need
Your help, so have
A miraculous day.

I consider that I truly need to go to the lowest point in my life in order to advance to the next stage of my own Divine mission.

I know as I hold this book in my hands that God writes all the books, and builds all the bridges, and delivers all the speeches.

I can see clearly that this traumatic episode shifted me upward into becoming a more compassionate and spiritually aware person. Virtually all spiritual advances that we make in our lives are preceded by some kind of a fall. That fall of living in the middle of melancholy forced me to figure out a way to climb out and reach higher.

I have come to understand that I should always strive to be in a state of gratitude, not simply for the niceties that show up, but also for the things that appear to be so devastating. A hard lesson, but one that I apply regularly now, ever since I saw the enormous spiritual advances I was able to make over what I thought at the time was the end of my happiness.

"The sun is shining behind the clouds." - Shri Guruji

The clouds represent any and all of the so-called problems that are omnipresent in all of our lives. The sun behind the clouds is God - the field of intention, the Divine mind.

"Should you shield the canyons from the windstorms, you would never see the beauty of the carvings." - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

51
The word yoga means "union." That is, union with God, our creative Source of being. The word inspiration means "in-Spirit." A way of experiencing union with our spiritual Source and to stay in-Spirit.

Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza (recommended reading)

Immaculee brought a whole new sense of the possibilities of miracles occurring when a person is 100 percent aligned with his or her Source of being.

52
I am being called to do something...I'm not sure what, but I know I am being told to let go, and let God.

We come no-where to now-here with nothing. We leave now-here for no-where with nothing. No-where, now-here; it's all the same. It's just a question of spacing.

The Tao Te Ching...is a book filled with paradox. Do less. Achieve more. Think small and accomplish big things. The Tao does nothing and leaves nothing undone. We are all doing nothing; rather, we are being done. God is everywhere. God is nowhere.

The word Tao is the Chinese version of the word God - the invisible, nameless energy that's responsible for all of life.

I was being directed to overcome all of my resistance and do what is associated with the recovery movement: Let go and let God. It was so clear that what I had to do was let go of the strong pull of the ego and allow Spirit, or the invisible Tao, to do what it knows how to do perfectly.

Lao-tsu teaches that we gain awareness of love or Tao-nature through the loss of emphasis on the physical conditions of our lives.

I began to see that all of my attachments to objects, status, my culture, and even those close to me were keeping me from being free in the great way of the Tao.

Verse 57: "If you want to be a great leader, you must learn to follow the Tao. Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts, and the world will govern itself."

53
I let go, and like I've been doing for so many years, I let God. I turn it over to a higher aspect of myself - to the God within that knows exactly how to be..."

I can see the truth in the idea that when I follow my excitement, I align myself with who I am as an infinite being. The excitement or feeling of inner bliss that arises when I contemplate what I truly know I must do is God-realization.

When I'm following my excitement with integrity, I know I truly am on the path I'm meant to be on in this lifetime.

We must all work toward being steadfast in our abstention of thoughts of harm directed toward ourselves and all others, and simply refuse to have any judgment, criticism, or condemnation toward anyone or any part of God's creation.

54
"I came to the conclusion that we are not victims of our genes, but masters of our fates... the primacy of DNA in controlling life is not a scientific truth." - Dr. Bruce Lipton, The Biology of Belief

What if we were raised to truly believe in my oft-quoted maxim offered by Jesus, "With God, all things possible"?

...these excuses that are so frequently employed are really a way to avoid responsibility and shift to a blame mentality.

I feel deep within me that lifelong self-defeating habits can be eliminated.

"My life is my message." - Gandhi

...substitute a conscious response that is fully aligned with my commitment to live a healthy life. Practice more meditation and reduce the noise level of my life. Spend more time in the ocean and in nature. Make my connection to my Source of being my number one relationship in life.

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Suddenly I'm overcome by a very strong sensation that I need to be an instrument of an outpouring of unconditional love.

I take a wad of $50 bills and head out of the St. Francis Hotel, and spend the better part of my birthday passing out love and money to homeless people. I give passionate hugs and listen attentively to men with no teeth who are as grubby as you can imagine. I reach out to little ladies who are inspecting trash containers in Union Square for the possibility of a prize in the form of an empty soda can or a discarded plastic water bottle.I don't notice the filth; I see only the unfolding of God in these vacant eyes. And I am so in love with everyone I touch.

I pass out all of the money and return to my hotel room and sit on my bed sobbing in gratitude for what I have been able to experience today. This is the most memorable birthday in my 71 years.

When we shift our energies to live from our original nature, and practice the four cardinal virtues outlined by Lao-tzu, which include: (1) reverence for all life, (2) natural sincerity, (3) gentleness, and (4) supportiveness, we align with our one Source of being and receive universal cooperation.

I have long held the belief taught in A Course in Miracles that there are really only two emotions - fear and love. When we are in fear, there is no room for love; when we're in love, there is no room for fear.

I can see clearly now that it is my own I am presence that is truly who I am and determines my state of health. My job is to live each day in a state of gratitude for this I am presence. I am here to also teach all who will listen that they too have this invisible Divine I am presence - it is their very essence - and they must trust in it and stay in an exalted state of appreciation for it every day.


See also 
Quotes by Wayne W. Dyer
You'll See it When You Believe it

How To Forgive Someone Who Has Hurt You: In 15 Steps by Wayne W. Dyer

Even When Forgiveness Feels Impossible

Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Forgiving others is essential for spiritual growth.  Your experience of someone who has hurt you, while painful, is now nothing more that a thought or feeling that you carry around. These thoughts of resentment, anger, and hatred represent slow, debilitating energies that will dis-empower you if you continue to let these thoughts occupy space in your head. If you could release them, you would know more peace.

Below I share how to forgive someone who has hurt you in 15 steps:

Step 1: Move On to the Next Act

Your past history and all of your hurts are no longer here in your physical reality. Don’t allow them to be here in your mind, muddying your present moments. Your life is like a play with several acts. Some of the characters who enter have short roles to play, others, much larger. Some are villains and others are good guys. But all of them are necessary, otherwise they wouldn’t be in the play.Embrace them all, and move on to the next act.

Step 2: Reconnect to Spirit

Make a new agreement with yourself to always stay connected to Spirit even when it seems to be the most difficult thing to do. If you do this, you will allow whatever degree of perfect harmony that your body was designed for to proliferate. Turn your hurts over to God, and allow Spirit to flow through you.

Your new agreement with reality in which you’ve blended your physical self and your personality with your spiritual God-connected self will begin to radiate a higher energy of love and light. Wherever you go, others will experience the glow of your God consciousness, and disharmony and disorder and all manner of problems simply will not flourish in your presence. Become “an instrument of thy peace,” as St. Francis desires in the first line of his famous prayer.

Step 3: Don’t Go to Sleep Angry

Each night as I drift off to sleep, I adamantly refuse to use this precious time to review anything that I do not want to be reinforced in the hours of being immersed in my subconscious mind. I choose to impress upon my subconscious mind my conception of myself as a Divine creator in alignment with the one mind. I reiterate my I ams, which I have placed in my  imagination, and I remember that my slumber will be dominated by my last waking concept of myself. I am peaceful, I am content, I am love, and I attract only to myself those who are in alignment with my highest ideals of myself.

This is my nightly ritual, always eschewing any temptation to go over any fear of unpleasantness that my ego might be asking me to review. I assume the feeling in my body of those I am statements already fulfilled, and I know that I’m allowing myself to be programmed while asleep, for the next day I rise knowing that I am a free agent.

In sleep man impresses the subconscious mind with his conception of himself. — Neville Goddard

Step 4: Switch the Focus from Blaming Others to Understanding Yourself

Whenever you’re upset over the conduct of others, take the focus off those you’re holding responsible for your inner distress. Shift your mental energy to allowing yourself to be with whatever you’re feeling — let the experience be as it may, without blaming others for your feelings. Don’t blame yourself either! Just allow the experience to unfold and tell yourself that no one has the power to make you uneasy without your consent, and that you’re unwilling to grant that authority to this person right now.

Tell yourself that you are willing to freely experience your emotions without calling them “wrong” or needing to chase them away. In this way, you’ve made a shift to self-mastery. It’s important to bypass blame, and even to bypass your desire to understand the other person; instead, focus on understanding yourself.
By taking responsibility for how you choose to respond to anything or anyone, you’re aligning yourself with the beautiful dance of life. By changing the way you choose to perceive the power that others have over you and you will see a bright new world of unlimited potential for yourself and you will know instantly how to forgive and let go of anything.

Step 5: Avoid Telling People What to Do

Avoid thoughts and activities that involve telling people who are perfectly capable of making their own choices what to do. In your family, remember that you do not own anyone. The poet Kahlil Gibran reminds you:

Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you . . .

This is always true. In fact, disregard any inclination to dominate in all of your relationships. Listen rather than expound. Pay attention to yourself when you’re having judgmental opinions and see where self-attention takes you. When you replace an ownership mentality with one of allowing, you’ll begin to see the true unfolding of the Tao in yourself and other people. From that moment on, you’ll be free of frustration with those who don’t behave according to your ego-dominated expectations.

Step 6: Learn to Let Go and Be Like Water

Rather than attempting to dominate with your forcefulness, be like water: flow everywhere there’s an opening. Soften your hard edges by being more tolerant of contrary opinions. Interfere less, and substitute listening for directing and telling. When someone offers you their viewpoint, try responding with: “I’ve never considered that before—thank you. I’ll give it some thought.”

When you give up interfering, and opt instead to stream like water—gently, softly, and unobtrusively— you become forgiveness itself.

Picture yourself as having the same qualities as water. Allow your soft, weak, yielding, fluid self to enter places where you previously were excluded because of your inclination to be solid and hard. Flow softly into the lives of those with whom you feel conflicted: Picture yourself entering their private inner selves, seeing perhaps for the first time what they’re experiencing. Keep this image of yourself as gently coursing water, and watch how your relationships change.

Step 7: Take Responsibility for Your Part

Removing blame means never assigning responsibility to anyone else for what you’re experiencing. It means that you’re willing to say, “I may not understand why I feel this way, why I have this illness, why I’ve been victimized, or why I had this accident, but I’m willing to say without any guilt or resentment that I own it. I live with, and I am responsible for, having it in my life.”

If you take responsibility for having the experience, then at least you have a chance to also take responsibility for removing it or learning from it. If you’re in some small (perhaps unknown) way responsible for that migraine headache or that depressed feeling, then you can go to work to remove it or discover what its message is for you. If, on the other hand, someone or something else is responsible in your mind, then of course you’ll have to wait until they change for you to get better. And that is unlikely to occur. So you go home with nothing and are left with nothing when peace is really on the other side of the coin.

Step 8: Let Go of Resentments

What causes annoyance and anger after a dispute? The generic response would be a laundry list detailing why the other person was wrong and how illogically and unreasonably they behaved, concluding with something like, “I have a right to be upset when my [daughter, mother-in-law, ex-husband, boss, or whomever you’re thinking of] speaks to  me that way!”

But if you’re interested in living a Tao-filled life, it’s imperative that you reverse this kind of thinking. Resentments don’t come from the conduct of the other party in an altercation—no, they survive and thrive because you’re unwilling to end that altercation with an offering of kindness, love, and authentic forgiveness. As Lao-Tzu says:

Someone must risk returning injury with kindness, or hostility will never turn to goodwill. — Lao-Tzu

So when all of the yelling, screaming, and threatening words have been expressed, the time for calm has arrived. Remember that no storm lasts forever, and that hidden within are always seeds of tranquility. There is a time for hostility and a time for peace.

Step 9: Be Kind Instead of Right

There is a Chinese proverb, If you’re going to pursue revenge, you’d better dig two graves, which is saying to me: your resentments will destroy you.

The world is just the way it is. The people who are behaving “badly” in the world are doing what they’re supposed to be doing. You can process it in any way that you choose. If you’re filled with anger about all of those “problems,” you are one more person who contributes to the pollution of anger.  Instead, remember that you have no need to make others wrong or to retaliate when you’ve been wronged.

Imagine if someone says something to you that you find offensive, and rather than opting for resentment, you learn to depersonalize what you’ve just heard and respond with kindness. You are willing to freely send the higher, faster energies of love, peace, joy, forgiveness, and kindness as your response to whatever comes your way. You do this for yourself. You would rather be kind than right.

Step 10: Practice Giving

In the midst of arguments or disagreements, practice giving rather than taking before you exit. Giving involves leaving the ego behind. While it wants to win and show its superiority by being contrary and disrespectful, your Tao nature wants to be at peace and live in harmony. You can reduce your quarreling time to almost zero if you practice this procedure:

Wherever you are, whenever you feel strong emotions stirring in you and you notice yourself  feeling the need to “be right,” silently recite the following words from the Prayer of Saint Francis:

Where there is injury, [let me bring] pardon.

Be a giver of forgiveness as he teaches: Bring love to hate, light to darkness, and pardon to injury. Read these words daily, for they’ll help you overcome your ego’s demands and know the fullness of life.

Step 11: Stop Looking for Occasions to Be Offended

When you live at or below ordinary levels of awareness, you spend a great deal of time and energy finding opportunities to be offended. A news report,  a rude stranger,  someone cursing, a sneeze, a black cloud —just about anything will do if you’re looking for an occasion to be offended. Become a person who refuses to be offended by any one, any thing, or any set of circumstances.

If you have enough faith in your own beliefs, you’ll find that it’s impossible to be offended by the beliefs and conduct of others.

Not being offended is a way of saying, “I have control over how I’m going to feel, and I choose to feel peaceful regardless of what I observe going on. When you feel offended, you’re practicing judgment. You judge someone else to be stupid, insensitive, rude, arrogant, inconsiderate, or foolish, and then you find yourself upset and offended by their conduct. What you may not realize is that when you judge another person, you do not define them. You define yourself as someone who needs to judge others.

Step 12: Don’t Live In the Past – Be Present

When we find it difficult to forgive, often it is because we are not living in the present, and instead, we assign more importance to the past. We assign a good portion of our energy and attention lamenting the good old days that are gone forever as the reason why we can’t be happy and fulfilled today. “Everything has changed,” “No one respects anyone else like they used to…” This is assigning responsibility to the past for why you can’t be happy today.

It’s doubtful that other creatures waste the present moment in thoughts of past and future. A beaver only does beaver, and he does it right in the moment. He doesn’t spend his days  ruminating over the fact that his beaver siblings received more attention, or his father beaver ran off with a younger beaver when he was growing up. He’s always in the now. We can learn much from God’s creatures about enjoying the present moment rather than using it up consumed with anger over the past or worry about the future. Practice living in the moment by appreciating the beauty around you now.

Step 13:  Embrace Your Dark Times

In a universe that’s an intelligent system with a divine creative force supporting it, there simply can be no accidents. As tough as it is to acknowledge, you had to go through what you went through in order to get to where you are today, and the evidence is that you did. Every spiritual advance that you will make in your life will very likely be preceded by some kind of fall or seeming disaster. Those dark times, accidents, tough episodes, break ups, periods of impoverishment, illnesses, abuses, and broken dreams were all in order. They happened, so you can assume they had to and you can’t unhappen them.

Embrace them from that perspective, and then understand them, accept them, honor them, and finally transform them.

Step 14: Refrain from Judgement

When you stop judging and simply become an observer, you will know  inner peace. With that sense of inner peace, you’ll find yourself happier and free of the negative energy of resentment. A bonus is that you’ll find that others are much more attracted to you. A peaceful person attracts peaceful energy.

If I’m to be a being of love living from my highest self, that means that love is all I have inside of me and all that I have to give away. If someone I love chooses to be something other than what my ego would prefer, I must send them the ingredients of my highest self, which is God, and God is love.

My criticism and condemnation of the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of others—regardless of how right and moral my human self convinces me it is—is a step away from God-realization. And it is God-consciousness that allows for my wishes to be fulfilled, as long as they are aligned with my Source of being. I can come up with a long list of reasons why I should be judgmental and condemnatory toward another of God’s children and why, damn it, I am right. Yet if I want to perfect my own world—and I so want to do so—then I must substitute love for these judgments.

Step 15: Send Love

I spent years studying the teachings of Patanjali, and he reminded us several thousand years ago that when we are steadfast—which means that we never slip in our abstention of thoughts of harm directed toward others—then all living creatures cease to feel enmity in our presence.

Now I know that we are all human: you, me, all of us. We do occasionally slip and retreat from our highest self into judgment, criticism, and condemnation, but this is not a rationale for choosing to practice that kind of interaction. I can only tell you that when I finally got it, and I sent only love to another of God’s children whom I had been judging and criticizing, I got the immediate result of inner contentment.

I urge you to send love in place of those judgments and criticisms to others when you feel they impede your joy and happiness, and hold them in that place of love. Notice that if you stay steadfast, when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

A Meditation to End on Love

Picture yourself at the termination of a quarrel or major dispute. Rather than reacting with old patterns of residual anger, revenge, and hurt, visualize offering kindness, love, and forgiveness.

Do this right now by sending out these “true virtue” thoughts to any resentments you’re currently carrying. Make this your standard response to any future altercations: I end on love, no matter what!

See also www.drwaynedyer.com

Give help to others

Reflecting light: You can brighten the world

From the broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word on August 9, 2015, titled “Brighten the World”

Moonlight, with its soft, silver tones and the enchanting mood it casts, has captured our fancy for centuries. It has been the subject of countless poems, songs, serenades, and evening walks. We marvel at how bright a full moon can seem sometimes, even though we know it is merely reflecting the light it receives from the sun. In fact, our full moon, at its very brightest, only reflects about 12 percent of the light that reaches it.

All around us, objects reflect or absorb light. Snow reflects almost all the light that reaches it, while black asphalt absorbs it, which explains why roads get so hot on sunny days.
And what about us? How much light do we reflect? Do we brighten the world for others and share the hope and cheer of a sunny outlook? Or do we only take, pulling in energy but never giving any back?

There are countless ways to share light with others. When we extend a helping hand, when we take time to listen, when we give a sincere compliment, when we teach a child, we are reflecting light. Mother Theresa said, “Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”1 Yes, even something as simple as a smile bounces light and love back into the world.

We are drawn to people who reflect joy and optimism. They seem to have a luster, a light, a glow about them. We find ourselves not only wanting to share their company but also striving to emulate their example, to shine with similar brilliance.

Unlike the moon, snow, or asphalt, we can choose how much light we give. We can decide to reflect the good around us and help others see “the bright side.” Very often, when our goal is to provide as much light as we can, we inspire others to do the same. If everyone made this simple choice, perhaps our collective radiance would be enough to light up the entire world.

1. In Gwen Costello, comp., Spiritual Gems from Mother Theresa (2008), 4.