Please join me. Here is lesson #1 (and the only one we ever really will need). All else is commentary:

Abraham teaches us over and over again that there is only one Universal Law- the Law of Attraction stated thus:

That which is like unto itself is drawn.

Abraham then goes on to teach us that our emotions will tell us whether we are attracting that which we DO want or that which we DO NOT want.

There are in fact only two emotions: good and bad.

So, if you are feeling bad, then you are attracting ( by thinking and focusing)on what you do not want.

And if you feel good, then you are attracting that which you do want.

And that is why Abraham teaches that nothing is as important than that you FEEL GOOD...because that indicates that you are in the process of attracting that which you want.

And if you truly understand Law of Attraction, you can then relax into your good feeling feelings and know, without a doubt, that what you want is on its way.......without a doubt!

I tried to figure out if there is a way to out fox myself.  If I could pose my question in such a way that I could trick myself, then maybe I might find a different answer.

The way we post questions creates our world.  It is difficult to get beyond our own perception.  We may try to trace the origin of our perception, i.e. childhood, to find out where it has gone from there, but we then still move forward from the same point of origin.

I think, maybe, I am understanding the idea of the empty vessel.

This is a difficult subject.

Let me start again.

I am trying to express something that to me goes beyond words.

It began with a thought I had, every time I do a search for answers, a Google search, a search in the book store, a search by queries, verbally to people I meet in alleged real-time, my subconscious has already framed the questions to find a channel of answers.

The question then becomes, how do I get beyond myself to reach the pure channel of information or am I already in it?  As long as I have this other, this human self, that speaks for me, thinks for me, writes for me...will I ever truly know what lies beyond my own sphere of perception?

Namaste!  Thanks for the fireside chat.

x

Expectedly, my life in the big city was radically different. The common denominator of all of the addresses that I stayed in at one time or another was that they were all small and cramped. Since I didn't don't cook and there was no one to cook for me, I thrived on junk food, pizza and fastfood deliveries, instant noodles, takeout, and dining in fancy shwunzy restaurants. Due to poor nutrition, pollution, bad habits, and probably the hormonal imbalance characteristic of a single woman, my face was covered with acne that was truly horrendous in size and number. I was no stranger to unpleasant episodes: rude cabdrivers, driving in standstill traffic and flooded streets, lining up for almost anything decent, having my necklace snatched...

Despite all these, I never thought that I would return to settle down in my hometown. I was happy in my own way, having finally found my high-heeled groove in the urban jungle that I was in. Life was incredibly hectic 24/7, but I felt very zen, that I had discovered peace and contentment amidst chaos, and that returning to a small town would be an act of mental and financial self-deprivation. Besides, what was I to do for fun in a place without a mall?

Today, I stumbled again upon the very book that convinced me to give Davao del Sur a shot. This book was thrust into my hands in 2001 by a-- (should I say clueless?) --Barnes & Noble assistant in Fort Lauderdale when I asked him where the biography section was. Perhaps he was a mystic who saw the hungry soul through my querying eyes? Or maybe I didn't know it then, but the book just fell into my lap at the right time.

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz is based on ancient Toltec wisdom. According to Ruiz, "thousands of years ago, the Toltec were known throughout southern Mexico as women and men of knowledge... [who] came together as masters (naguals) and students at Teotihuacan, the ancient city of pyramids outside Mexico City known as the place where Man Becomes God". The Four Agreements reminds us to be impeccable with our word, to not take anything personally, not to make assumptions and to always do our best from moment to moment. The narrative is straightforward, incisive, and easy to remember.

It took a certain degree of adjustment for me initially, but today, I have a better life. I am more thankful and appreciative of the blessings that have been given to me, and less caring of the opinions of others. I have grown in many ways, and I have grown to love living in my hometown.

"I turned my head to the sky, to the sun, to the stars, and put a little piece of my love in every star, in the moon, in the sun, and they loved me back. And I became one with the moon and the sun and the stars, and my love kept growing and growing. And I put a little piece of love in every human, and I became one with the whole of humanity. Wherever I go, whomever I meet, I see myself in their eyes, because I am a part of everything, because I love."

defenestrate \dee-FEN-uh-strayt\, transitive verb:

To throw out of a window.

Some of his apparent chums . . . would still happily defenestrate him if they caught him near a window.
-- Andrew Marr, "No option bar the radical one", Independent, July 5, 1994

I defenestrated a clock to see if time flies!
-- Lane Smith, quoted in "Who's News", Time for Kids, September 25, 1998

From my high school French, I know that "fenetre" means "window" so this word now makes sense. But honestly, did you know that this word even existed in English? Hmmm...I have to mull over whether I have ever defenestrated (or wanted to) something........perhaps an annoying alarm clock? A importunate infant (see April 8)???

At Sixth and Howard in San Francisco "Defenestration":

Are you enjoying an expanded desire that has not yet manifested?-Abraham- Hicks

While listening to the most recent CD from an Abraham workshop last week, this statement caught my attention? At the time, I was NOT enjoying the wait for something to manifest- in fact, I was doing my darndest to not be cranky and impatient. I paused and considered this statement.

Firstly, what was meant by "expanded desire"? Why not just the word "desire"? The more I pondered, I got a glimpse of the word "expanded" in this context- I expand when I desire something- be it an improvement, better relationships, more money...Abraham does teach over and over again that our desires serve to "expand" the universe, but me? I started to get the feeling of my expanding outward, larger, fuller, greater, than where I had been BEFORE I had the desire, any desire.

So, I have a desire. For sake of this discussion, let's say it is for a larger income. I have expanded my thinking about what is possible. I have thrown out a "rocket of desire" so to speak. And now, what I started to understand, I need to move into that "expanded" space with enjoyment. Enjoying the wait for Source to bring me what I have now requested. I mulled over the idea of a pregnant woman:

There are two things going on - the growing of the baby in utero, and the expectation of the baby once born. Both co-exist.....and getting impatient for the baby to come while being pregnant takes away from the whole experience of the...well...waiting. And of course, there is an optimum time for the baby to be born- not too early and not too late. And so someone who is pregnant KNOWS that their cherished baby will emerge at the end, and also finds a way to enjoy the wait.

A wise friend wrote me that there is only the now...the past was the now, and the future will be the now. My point of power is the now-"...your own point of VIBRATIONAL energy vortex is in the NOW MOMENT..."

And so, while waiting for an expanded desire to manifest, I found that walking on the beach, listening to music, enjoying my kids, cuddling with my husband, and just twirling around in the living room was the best way to enjoy the journey.

Just to recap, Don Miguel Ruiz's four agreements are:

1. Be impeccable with your word.
2. Don't take things personally.
3. Don't make assumptions.
4. Always do your best.

Benjamin Franklin's thirteen virtues are:

1. “TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.”
2. “SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.”
3. “ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.”
4. “RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.”
5. “FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.”
6. “INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ’d in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.”
7. “SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.”
8. “JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.”
9. “MODERATION. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.”
10. “CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.”
11. “TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.”
12. “CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.”
13. “HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.”

I think the four agreements capture the essence of all thirteen of Benjamin Franklin's virtues. I will explore this in a bit more depth in a series of posts. Each of them dealing with a particular virtue.

]]> http://aspirationofthesoul.wordpress.com/?p=58 Wed, 28 May 2008 13:57:23 +0000 rainbow9 http://aspirationofthesoul.wordpress.com/?p=58 What do all these have in common? At first glance, not much.

Actually, they were all lovely thoughts in my mind a while ago- I had some friends leave for Tahiti last week, and I was mulling over while driving whether that was someplace I would ever go to- so romantic yet so far away. Ireland? Well, I had thought about Ireland last fall as someplace else I would like to go one day. The Cotswalds in England- a lovely place that also sounded so romantic and lovely. Las Vegas? My husband loves the heat in August there, and we love to leave the kids at home and spend some adult time seeing shows and eating at all the fantastic restaurants there. And Greece was the first vacation place my husband and I went to over 20 years ago.

So...what do they have now in common? Well, it looks like I am now going to all these places within the next year! Talk about Deliberate Creation- and truly, I only gave each of these places very light thoughts, and then between email invitations, co-incidences and some action on my part, all of these trips have manifested- some at no cost to me, some where we will even earn an income and some just because!

I cannot thank Esther and Jerry Hicks enough for bringing the Teachings of Abraham into the world- those teachings have transformed my life.

www.abraham-hicks.com

I woke up this morning feeling that goodness... I looked around me and said " It is good, and I am happy."

Why?

I planted my small flower plots on my deck yesterday- that deck was just a vision in my mind's eye last May, and this May it is now built and I can sit out an enjoy the surrounding trees.

I paid off my credit card bill yesterday, and there is still money left in my checking account. A month ago, my financial reality was looking grim, but again, in my mind I knew prosperity was to come. And an investment grew to the point where I could draw some money out yesterday to pay those pressing bills.

When I was a child, I played piano non-stop. When we moved at age 10, I stopped lessons. Yesterday, I took my first piano lesson in 45 years, and loved it. I am back to sitting in those quiet moments and playing music.

Our cold, rainy spring will change today- already I can see the sun starting to come up and the forecast is for sunny and hot. Not only that, we are starting a long-weekend here where I live. Can you imagine that??

My dear friend is coming to spend time with me this weekend and we are off to the spa this afternoon for some pampering, and then off to a dinner at another friend's home to watch the sunset and welcome the Sabbath.

My children are all well, my husband is off in a foreign land with our oldest son exploring and enjoying life, and.... It is good and I am happy.

We just celebrated Mother's Day in North America, and a tradition for those of us that live far from our mothers is to send flowers. Every time I do so, my mother calls me to say that she received them, but that I was far too extravagant. In the beginning of this yearly exchange, I used to feel hurt; now I understand her "post Depression" mentality.

So this year, I chose not to send flowers but a basket of plants that I ordered over the internet. I spoke to my mom the day before Mother's Day and at the end of the conversation she admonished me: " Now remember, no extravagant flowers for Mother's Day! Save your money!" I wondered then how her and my desires could both be fulfilled. I could not have organized what transpired next.

When she did not call me to thank me on Mother's Day, and then tell me that I should not have done so, I called the florist who told me that they had lost a whole bunch of internet orders and that her basket was not delivered. I laughed and thought to myself- she won! I told them to just cancel my order.

Well...... I just got a call back from the florist- they want to deliver flowers now to my mother at no cost to me as an apology for losing my order. I couldn't stop laughing as it dawned on me that we were BOTH going to get our desires....my giving her flowers, and she knowing that I had not spent any money on them.

Through light, life sends a lot of information to my eyes and I make a story about what I perceive. The story is how I qualify, justify and explain what I perceive.

For example, if I see a tree, I don't just see the tree; I qualify the tree, I describe the tree, I have an opinion about the tree. I like the tree or I don't like the tree. I may feel the tree is beautiful or not, my point of view, my opinion about the tree and is a story of my creation.

Once I interpret, qualify or judge what I perceive, it is no longer real; it is a virtual world of my creation.

We co create our world with God. God creates the real world and we create the virtual world.

We all live in a virtual world of our creation. This is what the Toltecs mean when they say humans are always dreaming.

Source: The Voice of Knowledge

]]> http://newagreements.wordpress.com/2008/05/11/domestication-of-humans/ Sun, 11 May 2008 11:01:50 +0000 Faheem http://newagreements.wordpress.com/2008/05/11/domestication-of-humans/ When we are born we have no knowledge of who we are. Our mum tells us who we are, our dad tells us who we are, our brothers and sisters tell us who we are, in fact everyone around us tells who we are based on what they believe we are.

Because we have no knowledge of who we are we believe what we are told. We agree with the image others project onto us, we invest our faith in that image.

That's how we learn as children. We believe everything the adults tell us. Our faith in these beliefs is so strong that our life is controlled by these beliefs.

This process of surrendering to beliefs through agreement is called the domestication of humans.

Source: The Four Agreements

parsimonious \par-suh-MOH-nee-uhs\, adjective:

Sparing in expenditure; frugal to excess.

His mother became increasingly parsimonious over the years, and even if there were a good doctor around she did not like to pay one.
-- Willard Sterne Randall, George Washington: A Life

I also found out that in penal theory and the philosophy of punishment, parsimony (pahr'-suh-moh-nee]) refers specifically to taking care in the distribution of punishment in order to avoid excessive punishment- the theme of "sparing" is present in both definitions.

What an interesting word, and fun to say- try it. And I wonder if an opportunity will arise today to actually use it in conversation- let me know!

What has been upsetting to me is the vitriol and what I call "swarming" that happens on some of the anti-homeopathy blogs. It is ugly and angry. It is easy to get caught up in defending one's position, and the anger and frustration builds up even more. I am sure that people on both sides of the question spend many hours writing in these blogs to present their point of view.

I opened up a book yesterday, Lights of Holiness by Abraham Isaac Kook, that spoke to my heart and to this situation :

It is an art of great enlightenment to purge anger from the heart entirely, to look with a benevolent eye, with compassionate concern, without reservation. It is to emulate the eye of God that focuses only on the good.

Whoever reflects on divine ideas in their purity cannot hate or despise any creature or talent in the world, since everything manifests the grandeur and might of the action of God.

Hatred, sternness and irritability result from forgetting God, and the extinguishing of the light of holiness.

Here is a lovely posting I found today that is a wonderful testament to homeopathy:

My family have used homeopathy and herbs for generations which has kept us well and healthy. None of us has needed any conventional medicine including vaccinations in decades including my father who at 90 was still gardening eight hours a day.

Just like the Queen when we travel abroad I take my little box of remedies which deals with all those nasty bugs like Hep A and diseases like Malaria. If it is good enough for HRH it is good enough for me.

For all the skeptics out there have a look at the figures for the cholera epidemic in London in the mid 1800s when hundreds and hundreds of people died in the conventional hospitals compared to the homeopathic hospital where the death rate was next to none. What more proof do you need????

I will stick with my homeopathy thank you and stay drug free unlike the rest of my pensioner friends who take a cocktail of drugs for their aches and pains, diabetes, high blood pressure etc., etc.,

For those of you who want drugs and all their side effects good luck to you, you have the freedom to chose that path if you really want to, that is your choice. I am sure you will agree that the important thing is that we all have freedom of choice on how we wish to look after our health.

Ruiz writes about the Toltec teaching that life is a dream. This is not new to me as a concept. But today as I was reading about it, I had an experience of it that is new.

I assumed that my waking experience of life was a lucid dream (a conscious dreaming). And my first thought was, "Wow, what an interesting world my mind is creating right now." On an experiential level, I felt the dreaminess of life. I felt life as a creation of my mind. But only in a reactive sense.

Upon reflection, it seems that there are two distinct parts to this experience of life as a dream, a reactive one and a proactive one. The reactive experience is the wonder and appreciation of what is happening in the dream: "Cool, a bird just flew by." Or even painful experiences: "Ouch, that person's insult hurt." But the awareness of the dream keeps the pain from becoming suffering because I am conscious that it is not real. This reactive part of experiencing life as a dream seems very accessible to me.

The proactive part is a bit more elusive. It's the perspective of "Okay, if this is a dream, then I can do whatever I want. There is nothing for me to be afraid of." That seems a step or two further away. Clearly, I can't step off the roof and fly (though who knows until you try, right?). But what about stepping off that metaphorical roof in social and professional circumstances that I've been afraid of up until now? When I imagine that, life seems scary and real, and not a dream at all.

So, although I've had an experience of life being a dream, I haven't fully embraced that perspective. This seems like a fertile area for me to explore.

-

A few years ago now, I picked up Eckhard Tolle's new book " A New Earth". I had read "The Power of Now" and even seen him talk at one of his last public events. I experienced a deep sense of stillness and peace emanate from him. And I wanted to find out more about how to achieve that place.

Last year, I offered a course where I live on his teachings blended with the teachings of don Miguel Ruiz, author of "The Four Agreements." Over two months, ten people studied with me- we went week by week over the four agreements, listened to music, and tried to carve out two hours where we could start the journey towards finding joy and freedom.

For me, it is also about finding those magic moments in life where you feel really alive and excited. Or where you make a heart connection with someone, even a stranger. I was walking on the trail near my home the other day, and I saw a young women in front of me stop and give this big tree a hug. It was a lovely moment, and when I found myself catching up to her, I asked her if she was from where I live. She said "no", that she lived 3000 miles away, but that she had lived here in the early 90's. I confessed that I had witnessed her embrace, and she looked embarrassed. I said " I just wanted to tell you about Opa- the 1000 year old tree nearby- friends have built a bench around him whereby you can lean back and look way up through his sky high branches." We laughed as I gave her directions, and then chatted a bit more... and then gave each other a lovely hug and went our separate ways.

After living like I do, surrounded by nature and trees like Opa, the stillness that I witnessed in Eckhard has started to be experienced- I love now waking up early, seeing the sky beginning to lighten, and enjoy a few hours of extreme quietness before the busyness of my day begins.

I turned on the radio during this period, and heard someone talking who caught my attention- talking about meeting Ram Dass in the late 1960's and then going to India. I kept listening, loved the sound of his voice and his manner of talking and then heard some music that he played- kirtan music...it was wonderful. I felt my spirit lifting a bit... and I went to i-tunes and bought one of his, Krishna Das, CD's.

And then I took myself to the library, and wandered about somewhat indifferently looking for something to read that would interest me. My eyes fell upon "Palace Walk" by Naguib Mahfouz. That seemed familiar to me- then I remembered that my eldest daughter had written her honors English thesis on it, and so I decided to bring it home. I curled up in my favourite chair, opened it up, and could not put it down...every moment that I could, I immersed myself into 1910 Cairo and the al-Sayyid family. I felt my energy being raised even more.

Gradually, over this third week, I am now enjoying my hot chocolate in the morning again. I am playing Krishna Das on my i-pod, and am on the second of the three books that make up the Cairo Trilogy. I even found a wonderful colouring book of mandalas, and on Tuesday, my husband, daughter and I each spent the evening colouring them in. My bright colours are one finally of enjoyment again, and with spring in the air, I am once again feeling a contentment that seemed so far away last week.

ubiquitous \yoo-BIK-wih-tuhs\, adjective:

Existing or being everywhere, or in all places, at the same time.

In spite of the ubiquitous beggars, gypsies and 'naked urchins', Skopje was an attractive town in the early part of the century.
-- Anne Sebb

Some of you may have noticed the absence of posts these last two weeks- I was under the weather with a nasty virus that has been ubiquitous where I live. It was lovely to see that people still came to visit my blog even when I was curled up on the couch.