Wow I just got my mind blown again and… I love it!

Please have a listen to this 8 minute audio clip called, “The Little Garden” from A Course in Miracles. I’ve taken the time to type out the first part of the audio segment because this is the part that really grabbed me and demanded my attention.

I don’t want to over analyze and give you my interpretation but what I will say is that EVERYTHING said here especially in this beginning speaks to me as the truth. Basically what’s being said here is that we “You and I” are God, Love, Light or whatever label or word you want to use. We are it, only we cannot know it and the reason being is we set it up that way!

We are the impossible riddle trying to unravel itself and the only answer is there is no answer. We want to KNOW what we KNOW we KNOW as a result of this wanting to know ourselves or rather us wanting to KNOW “LOVE” we’ve literally become our own worst enemy.

Not to fear however because at the end of the day, decade or century no matter how strong this illusory life presents itself to be in the end… all there truly is, is LOVE.

It is only the awareness of the body that makes love seem limited. For the body is a limit on love. The belief in limited love was it’s origin and it was made to limit the unlimited. Think not that this is merely allegorical for it was made to limit you. Can you who see yourself within a body know yourself as an idea?

Everything you recognize  you identify with externals, something outside itself… you cannot even think of God without a body or in some form you think you recognize.

Listen the body cannot know and while you limit your awareness to it’s tiny senses you will not see the grander that surrounds you. God cannot come into a body nor can you join him there, limits on love will always seem to shut him out and keep you a part from him. Why?

The body is a tiny fence around a little part of a glorious and complete idea… it draws a circle infinitely small around a very little segment of heaven splintered from the whole proclaiming that within it is your kingdom where God cannot enter. Within this kingdom “the human condition” the ego rules and cruelly. And to defend this little speck of dust it bids you fight against the universe, this fragment of your mind is such a tiny part of it that could you but appreciate the whole you would instantly see that it is like the smallest Sun-Beam to the Sun or like the faintest ripple on the surface of the ocean. In it’s amazing arrogance this tiny Sun-Beam has decided it is the Sun, this almost imperceptible ripple hails itself as the ocean.

Think how alone is this little thought that you have, this infinitesimal  illusion holding itself apart against the universe. The Sun becomes the Sun-Beams enemy that would devour it and the ocean terrifies the little ripple and wants to swallow it… listen yet neither Sun nor ocean is even aware of all this strange and meaningless activity they merely continue unaware that they are feared and hated by a tiny segment of themselves.

Please chime in after you’ve read and listened to the audio clip, I’m definitely interested to hear what others have to say regarding the subject matter discussed.

Peace and love to all.

What is the red donut? When I first heard of this concept I asked myself the same question. As it turns out this seemingly comical concept of a red donut is actually very intuitive and enlightening once explained.

In the previous video I posted “Intro to Non-Dualism” Philip illustrated for us our higher self or god-self by using words such as peaceful, loving, joyful, truth and omnipotent. Those words represent who we truly are outside of our ego.

Our ego a.k.a. the red donut is represented by words like desire, anxiety, loneliness and regret. Philip then goes on to explain that the words highlighted in red are illusions and they all have to do with the past or the future. These illusions like shame, addiction and suffering are created by our minds via the supporting structure of the ego.

The truth of the matter is there is no such thing as pity, hurt, control or envy. All of these emotions are of the past or future, they have nothing to do with the present moment. In-all-reality… our true self resides in the present moment. In order for us to feel regret for example we have to reference the past, we have to actually choose to remember what happened in the past in order to feel the emotion of regret or jealousy.

Imagine if we could keep our minds in the moment and not think about or reference the past. If we stayed in the moment none of these illusory emotions or feelings would arise.

Our true self is unmovable, eternal and complete, we are unconditional love. Sometime you touch this god-self when you’re in extreme states of joy, a baby being born or falling in love for example. Think about the last time you felt true joy, there wasn’t any worry about the past or future, when you’re in joy (enjoy) or “with spirit” you are completely in the moment.

The red donut is all of those false illusory emotions that surround us and block us from our true god-self (love, happiness, joy). Again if you were always in the moment you wouldn’t feel regret, panic or the need to control.

The good news however is that the LOVE doesn’t go anywhere, it’s who we are and will always be. We might not always feel like it but that’s only because we’re disconnected (or so it seems). Sometimes it seem terribly real whatever it is we’re going through in life but look at it closely and examine it thoroughly.

Who do you think you are at your core?

You and I can’t possibly be any of those things like anxiety, envy, unease, guilt or apprehension… we are so much more than that. If at some point you’re feeling those emotions just remember it’s because your NOT IN THE MOMENT you’re thinking about the past or about the future.

If we want to realize our true nature (LOVE) then we must remember to not referece our past experiences because the past has NOTHING to do with our true self.

Our true self isn’t of the past or in the future we are eternally right now and always have been! I think Richard Alpert a.k.a. Ram Dass said it best with his book titled… “Be Here Now“.

Watch the video at the beginning of the post, enjoy and I’d love to hear your feedback.

I’d like to share with you a video I ran across by A Course in Miracles. This particular video is “Intro to Non-Dualism”.

I’ve heard about the Course in Miracles for a few years but have never took the time to read the book or seek more info on the course. Most of my family has read the book and they all have nothing but good things to say… so it’s about time I pick it up and see what all the fuss is about.

I watched this video last night for the first time and I have to admit the course has definitely got my attention now. This short video only 10 minutes in length covers a broad scope of topics quickly and everything makes perfect sense! It’s almost as if I’m being reminded of what I already know as opposed to learning something new.

The video admittedly is a little “vanilla” for lack of a better word but if you can get past the person talking and hear the message, I think it will peak your interest as it has mine.

Without giving away too much. One of my favorite parts of the video is when he points out that feeling defensive or shame for instance requires that you access the past… past memories. He then goes on to explain if you can remain present and not think about the past then it would be impossible to feel guilt or become defensive. In order to feel the guilt or get defensive you have to remember what happened in the past… so be in the present moment!

I’ll definitely be posting more from A Course in Miracles, I’m ecstatic to have found something else to broaden my spiritual horizons!

If anyone is currently studying A Course in Miracles please let me know what your experience has been. Also any other recommendations for books or videos are welcome.

For more information on A Course in Miracles please visit their website.

Peace and Love.

It seems as though we use the word karma in casual conversation like we would use the word luck or chance. I always hear the word used in casual conversation and it makes me wonder, what does karma mean for most people?

I’m guessing here but I think that most people use the word karma like they would use the words magic, lucky or fate. I’m not sure that people who use the word have actually ever thought about what it means.

I’m asking myself, what does karma mean?

When I think about the word karma all kinds of images come to mind. I’m picturing an old Indian guru wagging his finger at me warning I should take care of what I do in this life or it will come back to haunt me in the next. If I’m not good now I might be incarnated in my next life as a cow or monkey!

I also see the glamorous and trendy brand of the word “Karma”. I see it plastered on tattoo shops and new age stores that sell crystals and incense. I also see it marketed in Trader Joe’s on bags of pasta or cans of soup.

None of these things can be what karma is… right?

I don’t think any of the above has much to do with karma at all. So when I examine all that and ask myself again… what is karma? I realize I have to look past all those imprinted images, I have to go beyond my conditioning and see what’s really there.

After careful consideration it appears to me that the word karma is truly a beautiful and precious word that can imply an infinite amount of love.

Let’s take the generic definition of karma and break it down. Basically most of us think karma is tit for tat… what you do now will determine how the future will be for you later. I don’t know if any of you really believe that or not but lets forget all that and go further.

I wouldn’t say I believe in the generic definition of karma or most other definitions but I’ll tell you what I’ve come to understand it to be.

I don’t see karma as something to be feared or threatened with. I also don’t see it as some sort of cosmic game or anything fantastic like that. I do see however the opportunity to express love at every moment of our lives.

We’re not loving one another to keep score or save up points for the next life, we love one another because it’s who we truly are. We love one another because it’s natural and it feels great!

All the bad things that happen in our lives or in the world for that matter… aren’t due to bad karma, rather there’s not enough love present. If there were enough love present then there wouldn’t be any room for fear, crisis and confusion wouldn’t arise.

I have karma, karma doesn’t have me.

I say this because at every moment in my life I have the opportunity to express myself via the vehicle of love as opposed to fear. When I live my daily life I am fully aware of the dangers and opportunities that present themselves. When something bad happens unexpectedly or  I’m approached by someone with aggression or hate… how will I respond?

If I’m present at the moment life takes a turn for the worse then I can see that there is no need to fear the danger or aggression trying to rock my world. I see this as an opportunity, an opportunity to respond with love and nothing else. I don’t respond with love because I’m hoping to gain enlightenment or a higher incarnation my next life (if there is a next life). I respond with love because I want to be loved back, I want nothing but love around me and there isn’t any room for anything else in my life.

So when I think of the word karma I think of love. I see the opportunity for all of us to love one another and be loved back.

I would like to leave you with this question…

what does karma mean to you?

I just finished up a nice meeting with a friend that I hadn’t seen in a very long time. This friend of mine I don’t think she’d mind if I’d mentioned her name… Amber. Amber and I have been friends for several years now 17 if I’m not mistaken. In any case as good friends do Amber and I talked about all the usual stuff that friends talk about having not seen one another in many months, who are you seeing now, how is your family doing, etc.

After about an hour of catching up the conversation took a delightful detour from the predestined script of mundane and typical and we dove into a spontaneous dialog about “freedom” and that is what I would like to reflect on now.

The conversation started of with me telling her about all the hurt I see in the world now and wanting to make some changes. She then inquired what I was doing and if I had looked into any organizations or if I was thinking about starting an organization to get people together and “make change”. I replied to her that no I wasn’t looking to join any organization nor was I compelled to start any organization myself. I then went on to tell her how I actually didn’t think me starting or joining any organization would do any good, especially at this moment in my life.

Amber didn’t know what I had meant by that so I went on and explained.

I explained that I didn’t see how I could possible join or start an organization when I in fact am unorganized. I think a better word to use opposed to unorganized would be “conditioned”. I explained that I have awaken to the fact that I am in fact conditioned and along with that I’m starting to see that everyone around me is conditioned as well.

I can see that the conditioning for me is like looking through a lens, a dirty lense and I’m trying to see the world, reality for what it really is.

I now know that YES I am conditioned and everything that I’ve thought or been told up to this point has been through the filter of conditioning and other peoples knowledge. Everything I know, who I am, what I’m about, the way I walk and talk, etc., is all based on knowledge, knowledge from the past. Seeing this now I’m making an effort to find out who I truly am, break away from this past knowledge.

Amber then went on to say that well if I want to make some change in the world that I would need to actually do something. I can’t just think about doing something and not do anything. I said well that’s what I’m doing… I’m going into myself and investigating my conditioning… getting myself in order. I then concluded that once I get myself in order then perhaps I’ll be able to go into starting an organization or joining one but until that point all my energy is going into the awareness of my conditioning and observing that.

So that was settled and I think Amber now has a better idea of where I’m coming from and where my head is at. The conversation continued on and we started to talk about the state of affairs in the world. I then commented on all the separation in the world our nations, states, religions, sects within religions, etc. I then went on to say that it is a shame for most people in the world don’t even know they are conditioned and are completely unaware that they are sleeping and not free.

Amber playing devil’s advocate then said she disagreed. She said my idea of freedom might not be the idea of what someone else believes freedom to be. She then asked me what is freedom to me? I couldn’t answer the question right away and started to look off into the distance to try and gather the words to communicate exactly what freedom is to me.

At the moment I couldn’t pull the words together, about 30 seconds of silence went by before Amber jokingly suggested that we look up “freedom” on the internet. Luckily we where sitting in Starbucks and I had my laptop with me. This is what we found:

free⋅dom

1. the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint: He won his freedom after a retrial.
2. exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
3. the power to determine action without restraint.

After reading aloud the definition from dictionary.com once I got to number 3 on the list “the power to determine action without restraint.” that jolted my brain and the words I was looking for fell into place.

Before I share with you what the definition of freedom is I would like to mention that Amber and I did go back and forth with wit and words playing a verbal game of chess but in the end I think we both agreed that no matter what words came out of our mouths… FREEDOM is a fact.

One can have all the ideas in the world about what freedom is, one can talk about it all day and one can have a sense of what freedom is but when you get right down to it, having a sense of what freedom is, or and idea of what freedom is… is not FREEDOM.

With that said here is what I told Amber: Freedom is having the ability to be aware and observe what is going on around you 100% of the time and from that awareness and observation if you act and behave completely from love… that is true freedom. If you can act 100% of the time from love and not live or act with any measure of fear then you are truly a FREE human being.

I think I’ll leave you all with that. I’m glad that I talked with my dear friend today it was an elightening experience… the above words don’t really do it any justice however out of this reflection perhaps you will want to share what freedom is for you.

I would also like to mention that the graphic I chose for this particular blog post was one of the first ones that randomly came up searching flickr.com . How fitting a graphic to randomly find, “Freedom From Fear”.

Peace and Love.