Contradicting Yourself
To contradict yourself is to grow.
In science, it is easy to change opinions
because once you have new data you can throw out the old assumptions
proven false. Where the opinion is tied to a judgement however, changing
opinion is deemed wrong because there appears an unspoken assumption that
your power of judgement may be poor if you have to go back on the choices
you’ve previously made. That is, of course, nonsense, for to change your
opinion based on new information or better understanding is to be honest with
yourself and others, and it is the only way to grow.
If you never contradict yourself it is because you are either very wise and
never make mistakes, or, more likely, that what you do say is not very
important or is not precise enough to be of much value, perhaps partly due to
the fear of having to retract your words at a later date should you dare to
commit yourself to a strong opinion1. But clinging to a judgement for no better
reason than the fear of appearing foolish or attracting the barks of critics is to
paralyze yourself and degrade your active mind to a statement of beliefs
carved in stone, never to be changed again.
________________________________________________________
1. It need not be said that the opposite of this, that is to always contradict
oneself, is a sign that one either doesn't value what they are saying or is a
hypocrite who uses words to achieve selfish ends. This is not the sort of
contradiction I’m talking about
here.
The Piano Technician
What each one believes must serve as First Cause for them. Predictably, the effect each
one perceives and experiences automatically follows what they deeply and truly
believe. That's how the law of cause and effect works. Insidiously. Unless one is
willing to consider the possibility of a different belief, they can never have, and there
can never be, a different experience.
However, if one is willing to consider a different possibility, all sorts of fabulous and
apparently magical experiences can occur.
A personal story to illustrate this point...
A power surge, associated with an electrical storm, shivered through my expensive
stand-alone stereo and my electronic piano one evening. Both were dead as doornails.
Since I had purchased insurance against lightning strikes, I called the insurance
company the next day to find out how to make a claim on my policy. I learned I simply
needed to provide quotes for repairs and they would cover the cost of those repairs less
my deductable.
The stereo was easy. I called the manufacturer and they said to ship it back to them for
repair. The repair was a flat $150, unless there was something most unusual about the
damage. I sent it off for repair and it was simply, quickly and easily repaired.
Getting the electronic piano repair sorted out took a little more sleuthing. Eventually,
I found a certified technician through the local piano store and called him. He had
never heard of these pianos being damaged in this way, so he said he'd have to call the
company and get a repair manual and schematic from them.
A few days later, he called me back, completely and totally convinced that these pianos
don't break this way. He said that the company has never needed to provide manuals
or schematics for repair. He was adamant, beyond any question of any doubt, that this
was true. He was so utterly convinced that my piano could not possibly be broken, that
I plugged it back in, and it worked. We both laughed at the apparent miracle that had
just happened.
I was willing to consider the possibility of the truth of his belief, which was so strong, so
solid and so clear, that I received three gifts that day. One, a functional piano, without
having to have it repaired and two, some laughs with a person I have yet to meet, and
three, a brilliant reinforcement of the truism that beliefs create experiences.
We each do this all the time, consciously or unconsciously. What are you believing, and
what experiences and consequences are your automatically reaping from those beliefs?
~ Janis
THAT OLD DEVIL “MIND”
In the beginning it is said that God created man in His own image and gave man free
will. In other words, He gave man a mind with which to think since free will can only be
expressed by what we call mind.
In "Love Without End" by Green, Jesus told Green that in the beginning, man saw a
Light, but without any experience to remember or from which to give it meaning, man
ignored it and thought of himself as being separate. Man began thinking and the first
thought began his problems. Man didn't know that all he needed to do was go into that
Light and be one with that Light and therefore be NOT alone and SERPARATE, but
remain one with the Father/Mother--the Creator whom we call God. No thought was
needed, just acceptance of being. Jesus implied that those of us here in the earth life
system are those who made the error of staying separate from this Light and thereafter
got lost in all the thoughts that subsequently came from this original idea. Notice that
giving meaning was the start of thinking.
Fundamental to FREE WILL is the choice to THINK or just BE. Characteristic of
thinking, our first thought was to give our situation MEANING and so we have continued
giving every event some kind of meaning.
Though not mentioned, we also have the gift of FEELING, and feeling comes as a
reaction to the meaning we give the thought. No type of thought is as powerful to
produce feeling as an "I AM" thought and from this first thought, I AM SEPARATE, has
come all the unpleasant feelins that have continued up to and including today.
Such thoughts are powerful because they include all the self--are global. Note that
inherent in this first thought "I am separate is the MEANING. Herein lies the key to all
suffering. We usually give each and every experience some meaning, as we did in that
first thought, I am separate: Now we have started DUALITY thinking; there is "I" and
there is the Light.
We easily add to I am separate, the thought I am alone and what feeling do most of us get
with this thought? Now we have another layer from which to suffer. Maybe this was the
start of suffering!
Certainly there is no end to the possible I am ideas, but two common ones I am bad and I
am harmed. Both are part of a duality created by thinking, i.e. good/bad, O.K./ harmed.
Just consider all the effects of such core beliefs!
It is important now to "think about" the difference between an I AM thought and an IT
IS thought. the I AM is global about the self and IT IS is out there, not part of me. When
it is no part of me, I am still whole and therefore can do something about out there. No
thought/belief is as distressing as an I am bad belief. Psychologically, we call this shame.
No thought can "set" or "fix" the idea of separation from God more firmly within us than
this one I am bad, shame! How does this feel?
\
Another thought/belief that causes suffering is I AM HARMED. Just imagine all the
ways we have created from which to make this decision! Of course, there comes the
emotional feeling from this thought. Certainly we have physical experiences that can be
harmful to the body, but, even here we can add the I AM thought, I am harmed, I AM
hurt. Now, I physically hurt and feel the emotional hurt from the I AM harmed idea.
Again the global idea about I am, causes or adds to the suffering.
Now, we know that all firmly fixed ideas become core beliefs and those about the self are
most disturbing and often self destructive. Nothing can have as much negative effect in
one's life as the I AM BAD core belief. With such core belief, there is no way one can
feel successful, happy, good, and usually one has trouble in relationships as well as in
physical expressions; daily activities.
I am harmed often leads to fixation of negative energy in the body that produces various
signs and symptoms, often actual physical disease. There is the automatic interpretation
of events from this core belief that makes even the simple event seem harmful.
To find peace, we each must look inside for any such negative I AM beliefs and if
necessary get some help to correct them since it is usually hard to self correct them.
Actually, there is an even better way to find peace. The truth is that I am more than my
mind. Note the "my" mind! I just "AM". Mind is created to be the servant of I AM, not
the boss. Most humans have the servant running the show and the real self, the I AM
becomes hushed, ignored: even unknown. Much as the mind will scream at this truth,
that higher truth is simply, "I AM"! Jesus said, "Know ye not that ye are Gods?" When
I accept who I AM, I become God. Even if we add to the I am phrase the word God,
we open to all the thoughts about God, and since God is beyond understanding, beyond
thought, the simple "I AM" does it all.
Fred Martin
Stolen Day
I didn’t set an alarm for this morning as I didn’t have to rise particularly early. To my amazement I slept nearly 10 hours unstirred. A sign I think that I was more tired than I imagined. My days have been filled with happy activity but more exhausting than I realized. I had one scheduled appointment and many chores lined up for the day.
As the morning clouded over I decided to cancel my early appointment, and considered doing my chores at a more leisurely pace.
After an enjoyable breakfast and a slow read of the newspaper, I considered where to start my day, as a small voice within said “no”. I threw in a load of laundry and contemplated once more. “Take the day off” my inner voice said. I debated as the wind started to blow and the rain came down in uneven smatterings. I love the desert rain, it cools, refreshes and nourishes. It provides stunning rainbows and then the sun shines again. A few of the many reasons I love living here.
Though I hadn’t been up long a nap sounded really good. I rarely nap. The wind whipped the rain and soft music soothed my mind and the washing machine continued to grind the clothes as the sofa beckoned. Just for a while I thought as I curled up in a cozy comforter and closed my eyes.
The cycles of life played softly in my head. Thebackground music instantly transported me decades into the past and linked me to an embrace or place or event archived in my emotional memory. The washing machine ground on in the mundane activity of daily living. The rain splatted down on the metal carport roof making the music of nature with a promise of renewal on the cusp of Spring.
I am one with my inner self, guided only by the rhythm of my heartbeat and cradled in my soul. I am profoundly peaceful as the past, present and future merge in the magic of life. I float into dreamstate where my husband still loves me and I am young and filled with energy, expectation and promise once more.
Sue Mason
3-8-13
The Evolution of YOU
When the student is ready…. For many years you have probably heard the saying
that the right information shows up for you at the right time. Also, only when you
are really ready for new information can it make its way into your awareness. This
is interesting for several reasons. One, it offers that there is a timing to everything,
and two, it offers that life offers a constant support system for your journey. When
one awakens to this truth, life takes on a magical and serendipitous flow. There is a
feeling of great relief and a new patience that occurs as you realize that life is always
working with you.
What is interesting is what happens when this balance is disturbed. By demanding
answers for your life earlier than you are ready for them you’re likely to find a way
to dilute them, judge them, rationalize them or just plain ignore them when they
enter your space. By consistently ignoring the answers that do show up, life has a
way of bringing you a circumstance or experience where avoiding it is no longer an
option as you are forced to deal with the issue head on. However, when you are in
the flow and accepting life with open arms, divine timing becomes a part of your
everyday experience coincidences and transformational moments become plentiful.
We live in a self-supportive, self-loving universe. What you really desire out of life
is what calibrates how your next experience will come together. The reason for
this is that in order to create what you desire for your life you need to put all the
conditions together to make it happen. To put the conditions in place you need to
learn what you need to be aware of and what understanding or knowledge may be
missing in order to actually create the experience. What is magical is that life uses
your daily walk to deliver you this information.
Each circumstance in your life including this one at this very moment is working for
you in this effort. Some of the signals and nudges are more obvious than others but
nonetheless; reality is in a constant partnership with you. The implications of this
are astounding and it holds the opportunity to open up a whole new magical and
graceful way of dealing with life each day.
On February 24th at 1:30pm I have been honored by the Center for Spiritual Living
Tucson with the opportunity to share more of this information with you. I will be
speaking about the principals in my book, “I AM: The Power of Discovering Who
You Really Are”(Contact the CSLT for details). Specifically, I will be discussing the
power of “I AM” and how the realization of this power, that you hold inside you, can
translate into a more empowered way of going through each experience of your life.
If the “divine timing” of this event and this message from life is right for you, I look
forward to meeting you and seeing you there. If not, just know in your heart that the
universe will always be ready with this information exactly when you are.
Howard Falco
People Tell Us Who They Are
The other day, I was busy around the house while one of my favorite television programs was sounding in the background. The main character in the story has an epiphany while writing in his journal. He wrote, “People tell us who they are, but we ignore it because we want them to be who we want them to be”. When it hit me, my mind quieted the way it does whenever I hear a profoundly deep truth. For days I couldn’t get that statement out of my mind. I looked at it from many different angles and pondered it incessantly. I reflected on all my past relationships with family members, colleagues, lovers, and friends. With 20/20 Hindsight it wasn’t hard to see the times that I had ignored who a person really was because I needed them to be someone else. What I came to realize is that it’s not that they changed their character for me, but rather that I chose to see only the traits that I needed them to have at the time even if they didn’t have those traits at all. Inevitably, at some point, I became disappointed in them. What did I do? Blame them of course! “They are not living to their full potential and it is ruining it for me.” How selfish of me to impose my needs on someone else in such a way that denies their own uniqueness.
So, why did I do it? Because I unexpectedly needed a certain type of person to fill a role in my life or in my business and I didn’t have that person within my life’s scope at that particular time. In my impatience I took the closest person I could find and made them play a game to which they did not know the rules. Then, I insisted that they play it well or else.
Now that I am aware of this phenomenon of “voluntary blindness”, how can I avoid doing it again in the future?
My first mistake was becoming impatient. My desperate sense of need separated me from having, so I will have to remain calm and have faith in the perfection of life.
Next, I will STOP and think of exactly what it is that I’m looking for, gently place that idea in the back of my mind, continue working on myself, and living my life. I will give LIFE the space it needs to continue its dance, knowing that it can only bring me my own.
~ Kevin Clardy
Telling Your Story
Nine years ago next week I was hospitalized with a shredding colon, dying of malnutrition and dehydration. After a total of three months in bed and major surgery (a permanent ileostomy), I was feeling overwhelmed with the emotional and physical demands of someone in my life, decided I needed some time just for myself, and booked a week alone at a resort in Jamaica.
The first evening I was walking to a wonderful outdoor dinner buffet at the hotel and passed some local vendors selling art they'd made. As I was returning to my room after dinner, one of the vendors stepped out onto the path and said, "You're supposed to tell me your story." ...What? Well, Ok... I sat down and started talking. A while later he suddenly began to fill with light, become translucent and grow really tall - taking on the appearance of an angel.
After we talked, he said that he was supposed to take me to a special place of his, because there was something there for me. I agreed, and the next week he took me to an out of the way beach where there were only large, smooth rocks - no sandy spots, no tourists, all empty. I walked a ways down the beach and only saw big, monochromatic rocks - grey, reddish, brown, white, etc., then suddenly this one shone out among the rest: white swirls, concentric circles and flowy lines, and I heard in my head, "even though things may look chaotic, there is always a flow." I felt the most peaceful that I had in many months.
I have kept this stone in a special display box for years, and last night "heard" that I was supposed to wire wrap it, make a necklace out of it and wear it. And I have.
How does the Divine show up for you?
~Anita Summers
Hungry …. for What?
If one were experiencing dissatisfaction with an organization or group of people or place or whatever, it seems that the phrase "this fill-in-the-blank does not resonate with me" is a more accurate and truthful statement than "I am no longer being spiritually fed by …." To my way of thinking, being in resonance, or out of resonance, honors and recognizes that Spirit in and as me lives my life, and takes considerably more ownership of my own personal experience.
The experience of not feeling spiritually fed implies that I feel I need to be completed from outside of myself. In other words, being spiritually hungry implies that I believe that am either malnourished or under nourished and do not already recognize that I am already perfect, whole and complete. Should I feel malnourished, I would require something from the outside myself must feed me; come into me to make my life complete and take away my spiritual hunger. I could be wrong about this, I'm simply exploring the implications associated with the saying “The … no longer feeds me.”
Like everyone else, when I am hungry I want to be fed. However, in this philosophy, the Food is already in us. Whether we know to access it could be a training issue or an awareness issue. To believe I would find what I am hungry for elsewhere, implies I do not know the truth about the nature of Spirit in, as and through me. If I need to do anything, then I could release the love and goodness already residing within me and let it go out into the world. If I were to find myself feeling hungry, perhaps the first thing I need to do is to describe for myself in what ways I feel impoverished or lacking. Then I have something very clear and tangible to work with.
If you ever hear me say that any group or organization of which I am a part no longer feeds me, please ask me to be specific. Then I have the opportunity to become internally clear, recognize and speak my truth and, if appropriate, the organizational leadership would receive valuable feedback.
--Keith A. Gorley
Teamwork and Ego – A Fable
A frog asked two geese to take him south with them. At first, they resisted, because they didn't see how it could be done. The frog finally suggested that the two geese hold a stick between their beaks, and he would hold onto it with his mouth.
So off the unlikely threesome went, flying southward over the countryside. It was really quite a site. People looked up and expressed great admiration at this demonstration of creative teamwork.
Someone said, "It's wonderful! Who was so clever to discover such a fine way to travel?"
Whereupon, the frog opened his mouth and said, "It was I," as it plummeted to the earth.
My Take-Aways
Connections & Oneness
I had several take a ways from the August 19, 2012’s Sunday Message. The four '"take aways" were: familiarity, capability, belonging and alibis.
I have preferred the familiar to the unfamiliar because I did not want to expend the time and energy to learn new behaviors. “I” was comfortable with familiar patterns and behaviors.
I did not share my true thoughts and feelings because I wanted to be accepted at all times and in all places. Pleasing others was more important than following my own bliss.
I created alibis and excuses because I had found comfort in my self created insecurities. These insecurities put distant between others, Life and me. This approach no longer serves me.
Finally, I created alibis to be less than I could be and actually AM. I told myself, “My” alibis are valid! They were the boxes I put myself in.
Because I am capable, from this day forward, I will move towards connection and oneness by moving away from the familiar, my self-created insecurities and alibis. I will manifest God’s will for me by obtaining the dreams I had set for myself as a young man.
~ Keith Gorley