My take on “Occupy Wall St.” and variations thereof.

When the Government gave the banking system, and a few other “too big to fail” institutions the big bailouts a few years ago, I remembered a couple of parables that seemed to fit perfectly. As we see the current public outcry in the streets and peoples’ frustration with a system that is clearly out of control from greed.
Now don’t think I’m preaching here, I’m just trying to show how history,[even as a parable] warns us about human tendency to repeat itself and, if the lessons of the past are studied well, we may avoid this. Also, I pulled these two from The Bible. I’m sure there are similar stories in every Holy book, it was just more readily available.
With that being said, I present the first parable that came to mind;
Matthew 18:21-35

Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.

So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?

And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Now I may be mistaken but, in this story, I see the banks/companies as the ones who were forgiven their debts. To me, a bailout is the same as forgiveness. The problem happened when those same banks went to their customers and did not forgive their  debts!
My GOSH, how amazing that a story from around 2000 years ago still applies to the current day!

 

The second parable follows;
Luke 12:16-21
And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

 

In this parable, I see some of the CEO’s that are “storing up”  for themselves as the rich fool did.
From a ‘Natural Law’ perspective, this is a blockage in the flow of things like energy, money love, etc.. If someone or something is taking without giving, this is a block.

The Law of Circulation states that all things in the universe are always flowing in circulation at an ever expanding rate. What you give to one person, you will receive back from a different source, so you don’t have to give with the expectation of receiving back from the same person you give to.  Just know that what you give will always be returned to you multiplied from other sources. It works according to the law of cause and effect where the universe always mirrors back to you whatever you do.

Now I’m not saying that you can’t do that, by all means, give it a try. What WILL happen is that this hoarding will build up to a point of not being able to contain. This is what’s happening with all the “Occupy” protests around the country. The folks who were forgiven their debts are not extending it to their debtors!
Everything is meant to be shared. We come with nothing and leave with nothing. We are simply stewards of all we see, touch, taste, smell, and hear.
The people are seeking empathy, compassion, and forgiveness.

The people who are hoarding may want to take notice and try a little forgiveness…it goes a LONG way!
Don’t forget that forgiveness works well in your private life as well!
∞ forgiveness
Namaste
Brent

P.S. feel free to share!

Part 7 – My Experience

Well it’s been a while since my last post. Some of this is intentional and some of it laziness. I did intend to let some time lapse between this one and the last to allow time to practice presence and breathing techniques, just not quite this much time. lol

I wanted to show that while practicing presence, life becomes much simpler, grander and more meaningful and also to show how easy it is to get caught up in the ‘daily grind’ that overwhelms so many – myself included. If you tried any of the techniques I posted in my last blog, I’m sure you experienced some “changes” within your self. Some subtle and maybe some profound. (if so, please leave a comment!)

The point is/was to try to open our selves up to new experiences and reflect on that. We have been so caught up in societies silly little “living” that we have forgotten how to LIVE! We think that having more this or that will make us happy – nicer car, bigger house, more money, ect. In truth, none of these ‘things’ will ever make us happy. Why? Because all of those ‘things’ are external and while they may appear to be very real, everything external passes away. The path to happiness is an inroad, a journey that can only be made by you, for you. When we meditate/pray ect., we focus our attention inward, whether on the breath or just being silent, our focus is on The All.

I know you are thinking, ‘I feel very relaxed when I practice presence but, am I supposed to spend my life doing this?’ Well, yes and no. I guess the way to explain it is this; do not make it into something you feel like you have to do, rather practice as often as your time permits and with enough practice, eventually your every thought word and action will proceed from this place of presence without you having to “think” about it.

Which brings me to another topic – the many levels of “perception”. I think most of us are aware of at least 3 levels of awareness, our mind(thoughts), our body(autonomic systems), and a deeper level of spirit(intuition or knowing).  Too many of us focus only on the two “outer” levels of mind and body because these are the most observable. I have found that, for me, putting more focus on my spiritual level and bringing it into alignment with the flow of life in the Universe, the other two levels are much easier to manage. When I am aligned with this flow, knowledge and serenity come very easily. I can perceive that all things work together with great purpose and great precision and that all of us are part of this.

There are more levels than what I speak of here and perhaps the subject of another post. Just know that if you can give more attention to the spiritual self, most if not all of the “outer” problems will vanish.

I would like to share a piece I wrote a while ago concerning Divinity, logic, and reason that I have been hesitant to put out because of how it would be received. I now realize that I can only control how my message is sent and therefore after sending, it becomes your perception.

This piece has not been edited since writing it over a year ago so I welcome any and all comments as to how your perception interprets this. Again, I know some may be offended and some may be enlightened. I cannot control what you think. Just know that my intention is NOT to offend, only to help you see from a different perspective.

I ask that if you copy or redistribute this material, to give proper credit.

Please enjoy! Namaste

The Logic of God:
By Brent Sheppard

Before I begin, let me clarify my use of the word God.
This is a label that most people can identify with. You can just as easily use the label – Nature, Lord, The Universe, Yahweh, Jesus, Infinite Intelligence, The Almighty, Buddha, Energy, etc…
The list can go on and on and I don’t think God will be offended if you use any of them. (if God was offended, God would simply strike you down….right?)

All religions believe that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.
Let’s take a look at the definitions of each word before moving into the logic.

om·nip·o·tent
[om-nip-uh-tuhnt]
–adjective
1.
almighty or infinite in power, as God.
2.
having very great or unlimited authority or power.
____________________________________________________________________________

om·nis·cient
[om-nish-uhnt]
–adjective
1.
having complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding; perceiving all things.

____________________________________________________________________________

om·ni·pres·ent
[om-nuh-prez-uhnt]
–adjective
present everywhere at the same time: the omnipresent god.
____________________________________________________________________________

Simple enough?
God is EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE, and ALL-KNOWING….right?
There is nothing God is not. right?
So logically, God is He, She, It, You, Me, All That Is, Was, and Ever Shall Be…right?
Given this information, we can assume that God is well aware of what is going on…right?
Now, as a Perfect Creator, God CANNOT create “imperfection”….right?
So everything is created perfect through the Perfect Creator…still with me?

It is evident that ALL of nature is existing in PERFECTION.
Grass doesn’t strain to grow, birds don’t strain to fly etc…
It is also evident that the Universe is existing in this same perfection.
Planets move in precise orbits, gravity is an irrefutable law to keep things in alignment.

Now here is where we come in. We are part of nature, part of the Universe.
Does it not make sense that we are created perfect by a Perfect Creator?
This is where the the disagreements begin. Yes, we have free will.
Yes, we have the ability to do something other than what God would choose for us.
To go against the flow, so to speak.
That does not mean we are not created perfect.

Still following the logic? Good.
If everything around us is created perfectly, then why does it sometimes seem that there is problems?
Ahhhh, the greatest gift we could ever receive was also given to us by a Perfect Creator – the ABILITY to choose or perceive “imperfection”.
Some religions and spiritual practices call this ego. Some call it evil. Some call it sin. Some call it “the fall from grace”
For simplification purposes, I will refer to this as EGO. It is the part of us that allows us to see things “less than perfect”, even though everything is already perfect.
Einstein revealed this in his ‘Theory of Relativity’.
To paraphrase, relativity means that something can only know it exists as long as there is something else relative to it.
Let me give you an example.
If you were a drop of water in the ocean and looked around, all you would see is water!
You may ask yourself, ‘what am I?’
The answer would be – ‘water”.
“What is water?’
It is what you are.
‘How can I know this?’ How can I experience being water?
Well, you need something other than water to know what water is – something relative to water – dry land!
Then if you, as the drop of water, went on dry land, then you could look at the ocean to see and know what you are – part of the whole ocean.

This is what every great leader or master has tried to tell us since the beginning of recorded history.
You are divine! What animates you, gives you life, is the same ‘thing’ that animates and gives life to  everything.
You are the drop of water in the ocean.
The difference between the masters of yore and you, is their belief, or knowing that they were/are part of God.

When mankind, as a whole, comes to terms with this, we can begin to allow the world be a peaceful place.

The reason that some variation of The Golden Rule appears in every religion is because it is a TRUTH.
In case you have never heard of it, it goes like this: What you do to another, you do to yourself.
Feel free to phrase it any way you like. It is still the same concept.
Now back to the logic. We established that God is EVERYTHING…right?
God is in you, God is in me, God is in the blade of grass, the lady bug, God is in ___________.
This means there is only ONE thing – God – appearing as many things.
What we do to another, we do to our self because, there is only ONE OF US!

Science is coming to this same conclusion. Quantum physics shows us that at the smallest level we can measure, there is only ONE thing – energy. The rate of vibration determines what it appears as, or what we perceive it to be. Solid, liquid, or gas. Slower vibrations appear denser to our senses, like iron or wood, while faster or higher vibrations appear slight or not at all. Light for instance, while our eyes pick up a broad spectrum, there are many waves we do not see. X and gamma rays are at least 2 we cannot perceive with our eyes.

All of life is a vibration. All of your senses are just recepters of vibration. Your touch is the picking up of vibrations relative to your own when the proximity is close. Your sight is the perception of light vibrations. Your nose picks up waves through the tiny hairs and processes that vibration into a certain smell. And of course your ears translate sound waves into perceivable constructs.

Realize that WE are capable of raising or lowering our vibratory nature to experience MANY things.
Lower it to experience fear, raise to experience love.
What frequency are you vibrating at?
______________________________________________________
Rough Draft 8/4/2010
Property of Brent Sheppard ©

 

Part 6 – My Experience

I spoke of conscience breathing in my last post and I would like to give another example of how important it is to remember to do this. A dear friend of mine always seems to struggle with her kids and husband. She is in a high-stress job with long hours. I speak with her often and most of the conversation is about her resentment towards those folks I listed. She is what I would call a “blamer”. I used to be one of these people who thought that everything “wrong” in my life was some other person’s fault. She is also the type of person who gets offended easily, so I would choose my words carefully with her. One afternoon we went for a walk and she talked almost the entire time. When she asked why I hadn’t had much to say, I said that I was enjoying the silence. I noticed a light bulb go off in her head. She said “how’s come you never complain about this or that?” I told her that those “problems” didn’t exist in my life anymore and that 2 things helped me deal with that kind of stuff. One was owning everything in my life, which I’ll go into later, and the second was a breathing technique. She asked me to teach her the technique and I gladly said I would. It was the same one I spoke of in my last blog, 3-4 deep, diaphragm breaths, followed by a nice, slow rhythm. I helped her get it right for a few minutes then, she said she had to go home.

I saw her a couple of days later and took another walk. She was very relaxed and said that the breathing had helped her tremendously when she remembered to do it. After a week had passed she came to the house for something and appeared to be very flustered. After listening to her rant about her family for a time, I asked her if she had been doing the breathing. She said it had slipped her mind and that the old ways had set back in. This is the trap most of us fall into. We know that certain things help us but, we tend to do the things we are comfortable with just because that’s how we have always done them. You can observe this with most people and their medication, they will take it until they feel better then not finish the prescription. If we wish to feel complete, we must follow through till the end with our “fixes”. If you find something in these writings that helps you, do not quit doing them once you start to feel better. They must become habit!

Many of my friends follow the Christian faith and aren’t sure how Eastern yogic practices align with their beliefs. I can tell you that the breath is mentioned many times in the Bible. One of the first and most powerful mentions is in Genesis 2:7, “the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” It goes on to mention breath 16 more times!

In my opinion, breath is life, life is God, God is Love. When we start to become aware of our breath, we can control our bodies much more productively. We can slow our heart rate, control blood pressure, relax or tense our muscles, increase or decrease metabolism and much more but, it has to start with being aware of how we are breathing in this moment.

I mentioned earlier about owning your life. As I said, I struggled quite a bit with this concept. I was quick to blame everyone and everything except myself. When I started accepting that my life was my responsibility, and that no one else could cause me to feel good or bad, happy or sad, things started to change.You must understand that everyone that comes into your life and everything that has happened to you, was for a reason!

One of the most powerful ways I’ve found to recognize the reasons was a “Forgiveness List”. I got a notebook and went back to the first time in my life that I felt hurt or offended and wrote down the situation as best as I could remember. Then onto the next page and next event. I did this all the way up to the present day. I was trying to be as thorough as possible. After that, I went back to page one and asked myself “in what capacity was I hurt? Physical, mental, emotional, etc…” I did this for every page after, came back to page one and asked “what was my role or part in manifesting this?”

Some times it was easy to see but, more often, it was a difficult to see how I played a part in it. (I still wanted to blame someone else) The more I looked over my pages, the more I could see my role. I would then write down my role and do this for the rest of my pages.  [It is amazing how so many life lessons were there waiting on me to own my life and reveal the lessons to me.] After that, I would write a brief summary on each page of how I felt about that event and what lesson was presented to me. When I had filled my book up, I found someone with whom I could speak with about it that wouldn’t judge me and might be able to share some insight and wisdom about my feelings. This can be a tough one because it means that you have to share some of your deepest, darkest moments with another. Trust me that this will liberate your spirit as well as make you fell physically lighter. I would also suggest that if at all possible, seek out the person that was associated with each event and ask their forgiveness for how you have thought and felt about them. Don’t just say sorry, because that offers nothing in return. Ask for forgiveness! This, as well as writing the list, is a release of that negative energy that you have stored inside of you since the event happened. Letting go of that energy allows us to feel lighter and less burdened. One of the reasons this works so well is because it takes the non-physical feelings inside us and manifests them into the physical – words on paper, that we can more easily observe. This is one of the first steps of getting negative energy out of you and into a form we can see.

After you have come to terms with all or most of your list, burn it! If you still have some pages that you haven’t reconciled, save them for review later. Sometimes we aren’t ready to learn and let go of certain things, and that is okay. When we are ready, we can come back to them. And don’t forget that this will be an ongoing process, the process of forgiveness.

I hope some of you will try this exercise in earnest and allow Grace to enter your life. It has worked miracles in my life!

P.S., if you have a hard time finding someone to read your list to, I am available. I will not condemn or judge you. Believe me, I have been through some crazy stuff and nothing you have done will surprise me.   LOL

Until next time, please forgive me.

Namaste

End Part 6, March 29, 2011

More to come…

Part 5 – My Experience

I’m going to try to get back on the topic of my journey with some bastardized version of a timeline, so here goes. I just had quite an experience with the web-cast over the ten weeks along with a few epiphany’s.

I soon realized that I needed to focus on the shape that my body was in. I was beginning to understand the need for balance of my being. (mind +body + soul) I felt I was developing my relationship with my soul like never before and my mind was getting exercise from reading 2-3 hrs a day, but, my body was in horrible shape! I hadn’t really thought much about how fat I had become. I weighed in at 255 lbs. I felt tired all the time, short of breath, and all the other ailments that come with obesity. I ran into a friend whom had lost some weight and asked them for advice. She steered me in the right direction.

I started out with an herbal cleanse for 10 days, followed by 14 days of supplements. I Quit eating red meat, fried foods, dairy, refined sugars, and breads. For 24 days, I ate fruits, vegetables, oatmeal, raw nuts and seeds, fish, and turkey. I lost 22 lbs. in 24 days! I felt better than ever and had energy galore. I thought, “why not just eat this way all the time?”, so I did! Over a seven month stretch, I lost a total of 75 lbs! Granted, I do still eat some cheese and yogurt and it IS tough to stick to this 100% of the time but, I managed to stay close to 90%. (side note: see my Advocare link on Facebook for more on this system)

Soon after loosing my extra luggage, I needed an outlet for all the energy I had. Yoga seemed very intriguing so, I gave it a go. I remember  years ago making fun of it. After my first try, I gained respect for this wonderful practice. It WILL kick your butt! The biggest benefit I received from yoga was the breathing patterns. There are several techniques in yoga and far outside the scope of this article to explain but, it would be in your best interest to research some different techniques to find some that work for you. I can’t stress enough how beneficial conscience breathing is!

Sure, we are all breathing but, are we breathing with purpose? When I breath with a conscience awareness, I feel more in tune with what is happening at this moment. One habit to get into is to bring awareness to your breath all throughout the day. Every time you can think of it, listen closely to your breath. Conscientiously focus on the depth and the length of each inhale and exhale. Allow your stomach to relax and expand on the inhale then, feel it collapse. As you reach the end of the exhale, use your stomach muscles to pull the diaphragm inward, expelling all of the air in the lungs. When the muscles are released, air is drawn back into the lungs automatically. Repeat this as many times as necessary, until you feel “cleansed”. After that, settle into a rhythmic pattern of breathing.  This will bring you deep into the present moment, which is were life truly is.

When I live within the moment, I feel a clarity that is beyond words. Things look, sound, taste, smell and feel different. I feel the life all around me in the air, the water I drink, the trees in the yard, everywhere! Mind you, I am not in that place all the time. If I can be there just a few moments a day, I feel like I have done great. I do believe that with practice, that time will expand. One of the quickest ways to get present is through my breath and sharing a smile with all I meet.

Till next time, smile!

Namaste

End of Part 5

March 28, 2011

Part 4 – My Experience

I want to share with all of you something that may change your life. It is PERCEPTION. Perception is how you see things. It is YOUR version of reality. Perception is everything. It is how you touch, taste, smell, hear, and see things. It is yours alone, no one else can perceive the way you do…NO ONE!

Perception is tied to your feelings/emotions. When you taste something, it triggers an emotion. This is true for all of your senses. A beautiful sunset may make you feel a sense of peace. A car wreck might illicit a feeling of unease or a sense of wanting to help. Everything you perceive will trigger an emotion, EVERYTHING!

It is YOU who control which emotion(s) you have tied to certain perceptions. ONLY YOU!  I want you to understand that, it is you who is in charge of how you feel. I cannot make you happy or sad. I cannot control which emotion YOU chose to experience. Just the same, NO ONE else can make you feel happy or sad. It is just your reaction to their words or actions that YOU chose to have a certain feeling. If it were possible for me to make you happy, I would gladly reach out to you right now and MAKE YOU HAPPY!!!!    I cannot. If you choose to read these words and feel happy, it is your choice. If you read these words and choose to be upset, it is your choice.

Don’t believe me?Here is an example of our individual perceptions.

Ask any policeman/policewoman who has ever filed a report about an incident. If 10 witnesses are asked “what happened”, they will receive 10 different “perceptions” of the SAME act! What this means is that we all see, touch, taste, smell, and hear things differently. DIFFERENT PERCEPTIONS! Within those 10 testimony’s will be some semblance of the truth, even though each person will swear that their version is the truth!

So my point in all of this is, that YOU will have experiences in your life that will trigger certain emotions that YOU can control. If you do not like the feeling you are having, CHANGE IT! Only you can…no one else! If you don’t like which emotion is linked to a certain perception, change it! Only you can!

Perception is the key to peace. It is how your life can and WILL change once you make this choice. Nothing in the world will change, only how YOU see it. I beg you to start looking at things in a different perspective. Quit attaching labels of “bad” or “not right” or “evil”. These are just labels that will trigger an emotion and if you use the above labels, your emotions will be aligned with those labels. Change your perception if you wish to change your life.

Quit blaming others for how you feel. It is your responsibility for how you feel. YOU are the creator of YOUR emotions. PERIOD!

The next time you feel like getting angry, ask yourself: “why am I choosing to be angry?” “Does anger help this situation?” “Will my anger find a solution to this perceived problem?”

Chances are that it wont. Only love will have the answer, because LOVE is always the answer. Regardless of the question, LOVE is the answer. This is what every master has tried to teach us! Let’s hope we can put this power of the Almighty into practice.

And just in case you haven’t heard it today, I LOVE YOU!

End of Part 4

March 24, 2011

Part 3 – My Experience

I’m going to back-track just a bit as my mind is not always following a linear time-line. (not that that is a bad thing…lol)

I just wanted to let you know that most of my upbringing was traditional Protestant Christianity, but loosely followed. From my earliest experiences at Sunday school, I would often ask questions of the teacher that would frustrate her. I’m sure you’ve heard them all either in your own mind or from your kids if this was how you were raised. A lot of what is taught in the Bible, about the nature of God, just never sat well in my heart.  When our kids had reached the age of schooling, we decided to send them to Catholic school to avoid some of the social pressures that we ourselves experienced in public school. Not to mention the smaller class sizes and we agreed that the value system of that setting was something we wanted our kids to experience. (Not that we agreed with everything but, the options were slim)

Soon after, we went to classes to convert to Catholicism so that we could better relate with the kids education and attend church there. I met quite a few really good people there and a couple that have become life-long friends. One of them has been instrumental to broadening my horizons with the talks we shared. I would go out to his place to drop my son off and end up talking for hours on end about life, love, religion, science and the nature of God. Mind you that this fellow is a “cradle Catholic”, meaning that he has been in that religion his entire life. During our talks it seemed that we would step outside of time. From our perspective, it would seem like 30 or 40 minutes had passed, while in reality 3-4 hours had passed! He turned me onto a book called: ‘There is a River’, the story of Edgar Cayce, the sleeping prophet, by Thomas Sugrue. It was a decent read but the part that really captured my attention was at the end of the book dealing with the philosophy section.

Here was this devout Christian who documented over 14,000 readings regarding illness and well-being with a near 100% accuracy when his treatments were followed, that when asked about the nature of God, had some answers that really went where the church wouldn’t. This book was another catalyst in pushing me to search deeper.

Anyway, I want to thank you for letting my mind wander into the abyss to add that section. So before this rant, I was talking about my breath and some of the techniques I was learning at the time.

It seemed that a whole other world was opening up to me. Synchronicity seemed to happen all over the place. I was starting to see the “whys” things would happen the way they happened. Certain people, places, events, signs and books were showing up at just the right time. I had stumbled upon a program on PBS with Dr. Wayne Dyer and was intrigued enough to watch the whole program. That sent me to the library the next day to start exploring his work. One of the breathing techniques he teaches is the “Om” and “Ahhh” breaths. The “Ahhh” sound is found in almost all the names used for the Divine. God, Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah, Krishnah, Ra, etc.. and is used in the morning to express creation. When I use this mantra on my exhale, I do it out-loud so as to vibrate my entire being.  In the evening I use the “om” mantra to express my gratitude for the day and all the experiences I had.

If you can do these for a few minutes a day, you will notice a huge difference in your well-being. I can tell you with absolute certainty, that expressing gratitude for what you already have is a fast-track to inner peace. Do it in the morning before your feet hit the floor. “Thank you” for another day, for the wonderful family I have, for the amazing friends in my life and especially for another chance to share my love with everyone I meet. This is something I have said either out-loud or silently for the past 4 years every morning when I awaken and I notice the difference when I say it to myself vs. saying it out-loud.

Again, these may not work for you the way they have for me but, what have you got to lose by trying them? NOTHING!!!   Till next time, Namaste.

End Part 3

March 23, 2011

 

Part 2 – My Experience

After having my eyes opened a little by those experiences, I decided to delve deeper into Universal Laws and try to incorporate them into my life. I had never yearned to know something as much as I did these concepts. I read book after book, article after article. I researched for months on end. As a matter of fact, I still do! Learning is truly a life long love affair.

As I studied, I began to put to use these principles. I started treating my wife the way I would like to be treated. I would do the dishes, clean the house, give her massages, tell her endlessly that I loved her, hug her, kiss her, ask what I could do for her, etc. My life was beginning to make perfect sense and a clarity was setting in. For a short time I even tried to get her to read the same books and share the same practices as me only to be met with much resistance. After a while I realized that I cannot force another to do what I do, I must let them walk their own path. This is “allowing”(something we have seemed to lost in the West). It has to do with not being attached to the outcome of events – a Buddhist teaching that deals with desire/disappointment. Another way to say it is “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink”, “I can show you the door but, you must be the one to go through it”, and “be the change you want to see in the world”. These all say the same thing – you can only change YOU!

Meanwhile I had been trying some simple breathing techniques to focus and quiet my mind. We have anywhere between 65,000 and 90,000 thoughts running through our heads everyday! Most of it is garbage. Worry about the future, regrets about the past ect.

I stumbled upon a book that is about the ego and it’s function. Mind you, I had studied Freud and several other philosophers concerning psychology and how our minds work over the years but, this book approached it in a different manner. While reading ‘A New Earth’ by Eckhart Tolle, many things became clear as to the different “voices” in my head and what the purpose and desires where. Shortly after reading that book for the first time, I found out that Oprah was going to do a web-cast with the author over a ten week period. I signed up and sat at the computer every Monday to participate. The structure was one chapter a week with insight and discussion from Oprah, the author, and folks online. The web-cast would begin with a moment of silence to listen to our breath. We were to read one chapter before class that night then discuss it. Into the third week I had an epiphany and wrote in my book the thoughts that were in my head at the time. That evening when we sat in silence, a wave of joy swept over me and I truly felt like I was connected to everyone that was participating. It’s hard to explain the feeling I had but, it just felt like ONE. Later, when asked about a certain paragraph, the author made a statement that mirrored my exact thoughts written in my book! It sent chills down my spine! (Carl Jung calls this synchronicity. Pay attention the these!)

The next few Mondays, I would go deeper into my breath with each moment of silence. I also became aware of my spirit and it’s nemesis, the ego. One of the exercises taught was to just listen to your breath, follow it into the body and then back out again. Do not focus on anything else. It takes quite a bit of practice to do this but, if you can just listen, it becomes easier. One thing that helped me was to say the words; “I am” on the inhale, “That I am” on the exhale, only focusing on the words and not the meaning.

End Part 2

March 21, 2011

Part 1 – My experience

A dear friend of mine asked me if I would share my experiences with her. She reads some of my posts/blogs and agrees with the messages but has a hard time incorporating it into her daily life. So I am going to try to relate the path that brought me to where I am.

Disclaimer: This is MY path, it may not be your path. The methods and techniques I have used may or may not work for you. In the same way religions work for some and not others. If any of this works for you, GREAT! If not, keep exploring. In my belief, there is no wrong path. All of them lead to the same place.

I’m going to give you a brief summary of my life up to the point of “awakening” so that you can see where I’ve been. Born in ’67, parents split when I was 7, raised by my dad, moved around often, got into trouble even more often, did a short stint in prison, got out, found a gal that was willing to go through hell with me and married her, had two kids, bought the house, worked my ass off, and fell into the trap that is called the “American Dream”.

Easy enough eh?

After our second child was born, my relationship with my wife began to degrade. I spent more time working to support my family than I spent with them. Our sex-life suffered and I became bitter and resentful towards her. Keep in mind that my only frame of reference on how to handle a relationship came from the broken marriage of my parents and a one-sided upbringing from my father. I had no idea how a couple should love each other.

As our relationship slid into oblivion, I felt more and more isolated. I began to search for a deeper meaning to life and the purpose of it in general. In early ’07 I stumbled upon the book ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne. This was a huge leap for me because it brought to light the fact that I was the creator of my experience. I tried some of the examples presented in the book and cemented some principles for me. Prior to reading this book, I had always felt like a victim  of life. After absorbing the material, I tried to test the theory by printing out a blank check from their website and filled in an amount of one-thousand dollars. This was on a late Sunday night. With absolute faith that this money was coming my way, I stuck it on the fridge. The next day at work, my wife called around 10am and said that the school had called and had applied $1000.00 to our tuition account. She asked if I knew anything about it. I told her I didn’t know the how, but I knew the why. It completely blew my mind!

I knew in my heart, (intuition) that this process, (the law of attraction), was truth. I began to apply the concept to many other aspects of my life. One of the things I dreaded everyday was the drive to and from work. I used to think everyone else was a complete idiot and didn’t deserve to be on the same road with me. Looking back, I was rude, obnoxious and always in a hurry. (sound familiar?) I took the lessons from that book and took my commute in a different direction. I would tell myself that this drive would be peaceful and rewarding. I treated other drivers with respect. I was courteous and attentive to their needs. I was patient, relaxed, and in no hurry whatsoever. Essentially, I applied The Golden Rule.

The drive that day opened my eyes further than ever before. I had a smile on my face a mile wide and carried that with me all day long! I realized that what we do to another, we do to ourselves. By me being an asshole towards others, they were being assholes to me. When I started being nice to them, they were nice to me. I started to look at the rest of my life with that same philosophy- The Golden Rule. I had been attracting to me my predominate thoughts, and those were pretty shitty. I realized that the law of attraction and the golden rule are the same thing…we get what we give. Now I’m sure we’ve all heard this throughout our lives but, never put any stock in what it really meant. It was those couple of days that opened my eyes and mind to the reality of how powerful this truth really is.

End Part 1, March 20, 2011

More to come…

Part of my awakening.

This may sound a bit kooky and I want to remind you that I am not some religious freak and don’t subscribe to ANY one religious view.

How I came to this understanding is a story that we probably all share. We have all thought that the way things are, aren’t the way they should be. (on a deep level of feeling) This lead me to look into alternative theories and human psychology and quantum theory. I started to become a student of many different religions, spiritual practices, scientific practices and meditations. For a few years I devoured book after book. All of that lead me to mere knowledge. It wasn’t until an opportunity to turn knowledge into wisdom that I experienced a quantum shift of my reality.
I haven’t told many of that experience because of the personal nature of it but, let’s just say that something happened that presented a choice to me. One choice would lead to the destruction of my family, friends and quite possibly land me in prison for some time. The other choice didn’t even seem possible because of the conditioning we all had as children raised in the current age.
It was the choice of FORGIVENESS.

As much as my ego,(that part of us that sees the cup half-empty), told me to make the first choice, to destroy, inflict pain and seek retribution, I was able to take a second before acting.

My practice of meditation had allowed me to stop for a moment, breath deeply and listen to my intuition, then make the latter choice of forgiveness. When that choice was made I experienced something that words cannot describe. Bliss doesn’t even come close. I felt a pure white light envelop me and everything physical fell away allowing me to feel the ‘oneness’ of the entire universe.(no drinking or drugs were involved…lol)
It was then that everything I had studied made complete sense! Ever since that day, just over a year ago, I have tried to allow myself to be aligned with that power and let it use me to achieve It’s end. That ‘power’ is the same that causes grass to grow, a person to love, and a planet to orbit. Some call it God, some Allah, some Energy etc…, The label is unimportant, only the recognition of it. I try to help folks become aware of this and help our world shift from the glass being half empty to being half-full. So many of our problems come from the perception that the glass is half-empty. If you can shift your focus from the negative to the positive, your life will change immensely! It is OUR choice!

I’ll post some more about this next time.

Till then, Namaste

Tyrany in Egypt – Sandmonkey’s blog reposted.

Rantings The Last Post of a Sandmonkey
February 3, 2011 By Pelikan

The screen grab above is what happens when you exercise political speech and a dictatorial regime doesn’t like it.

Rantings of a Sandmonkey is/was a blog created by an Egyptian freedom and democracy activist who used the digital medium too well for the likes of the internal security forces of the Hosni Mubarak regime. Rantings of a Sandmonkey went dark on sometime on February 3. Sandmonkey began his last post with these words:

I don’t know how to start writing this. I have been battling fatigue for not sleeping properly for the past 10 days, moving from one’s friend house to another friend’s house, almost never spending a night in my home, facing a very well funded and well organized ruthless regime that views me as nothing but an annoying bug that its time to squash will come. The situation here is bleak to say the least.

From what I know about Sandmonkey, I wouldn’t agree with much of his politics. A blogger at the Weekly Standard describes him as, “Anti-anti-Bush and anti-anti-Zionist.” In a post, though, WS’ Lee Smith points out that Sandmonkey was:

A supporter of the freedom agenda in the Middle East before there was a Freedom Agenda, it is hardly surprising that Sandmonkey went to the streets last week in Cairo with thousands of other Egyptians to demand his freedom. His blog is now down and we have word from Egypt that he was arrested and beaten and now, according to his account here in the Guardian, released.

From the Guardian’s News Blog:

I have been moved by the coverage of the crisis in Egypt. I’ve been especially moved because the anti-Mubarak protesters began as practitioners of civil disobedience. Things only got violent when peaceful protesters were dislodged for a time from Tahrir Square and later on when Mubarak government organized thugs attacked the pro-democracy crowds. The classic rabble-rousings of internal security forces and other agents provocateur have been well-documented in both the Arab and Western media. There is a righteousness and purity in this pro-democracy movement in Egypt and the participants, like Sandmonkey, deserve the support of anyone in the world who sits in their living room, goes to work every day or hits the town at night under the color of the basic human rights of freedom of speech, assembly, worship and the right to determine their leaders.

I got to thinking. One thing that bloggers could do to show solidarity for the freedom movement in Egypt is republish Sandmonkey’s last post in all of our blogs. I’m going to do so below. If you have a blog, please join me and do the same. While you’re at it, no matter the normal content of your blog, say something about this situation in Egypt and let the world know through your social media outlets. If anything, those in Egypt who have internet access and see our work may gain an extra reserve of will to continue their fight.
Sandmonkey’s Last Post – Feb. 3, 2011

(Source)

I don’t know how to start writing this. I have been battling fatigue for not sleeping properly for the past 10 days, moving from one’s friend house to another friend’s house, almost never spending a night in my home, facing a very well funded and well organized ruthless regime that views me as nothing but an annoying bug that its time to squash will come. The situation here is bleak to say the least.

It didn’t start out that way. On Tuesday Jan 25 it all started peacefully, and against all odds, we succeeded to gather hundreds of thousands and get them into Tahrir Square, despite being attacked by Anti-Riot Police who are using sticks, tear gas and rubber bullets against us. We managed to break all of their barricades and situated ourselves in Tahrir. The government responded by shutting down all cell communication in Tahrir square, a move which purpose was understood later when after midnight they went in with all of their might and attacked the protesters and evacuated the Square. The next day we were back at it again, and the day after. Then came Friday and we braved their communication blackout, their thugs, their tear gas and their bullets and we retook the square. We have been fighting to keep it ever since.

That night the government announced a military curfew, which kept getting shorter by the day, until it became from 8 am to 3 pm. People couldn’t go to work, gas was running out quickly and so were essential goods and money, since the banks were not allowed to operate and people were not able to collect their salary. The internet continued to be blocked, which affected all businesses in Egypt and will cause an economic meltdown the moment they allow the banks to operate again. We were being collectively punished for daring to say that we deserve democracy and rights, and to keep it up, they withdrew the police, and then sent them out dressed as civilians to terrorize our neighborhoods. I was shot at twice that day, one of which with a semi-automatic by a dude in a car that we the people took joy in pummeling. The government announced that all prisons were breached, and that the prisoners somehow managed to get weapons and do nothing but randomly attack people. One day we had organized thugs in uniforms firing at us and the next day they disappeared and were replaced by organized thugs without uniforms firing at us. Somehow the people never made the connection.

Despite it all, we braved it. We believed we are doing what’s right and were encouraged by all those around us who couldn’t believe what was happening to their country. What he did galvanized the people, and on Tuesday, despite shutting down all major roads leading into Cairo, we managed to get over 2 million protesters in Cairo alone and 3 million all over Egypt to come out and demand Mubarak’s departure. Those are people who stood up to the regime’s ruthlessness and anger and declared that they were free, and were refusing to live in the Mubarak dictatorship for one more day. That night, he showed up on TV, and gave a very emotional speech about how he intends to step down at the end of his term and how he wants to die in Egypt, the country he loved and served. To me, and to everyone else at the protests this wasn’t nearly enough, for we wanted him gone now. Others started asking that we give him a chance, and that change takes time and other such poppycock. Hell, some people and family members cried when they saw his speech. People felt sorry for him for failing to be our dictator for the rest of his life and inheriting us to his Son. It was an amalgam of Stockholm syndrome coupled with slave mentality in a malevolent combination that we never saw before. And the Regime capitalized on it today.

Today, they brought back the internet, and started having people calling on TV and writing on facebook on how they support Mubarak and his call for stability and peacefull change in 8 months. They hung on to the words of the newly appointed government would never harm the protesters, whom they believe to be good patriotic youth who have a few bad apples amongst them. We started getting calls asking people to stop protesting because “we got what we wanted” and “we need the country to start working again”. People were complaining that they miss their lives. That they miss going out at night, and ordering Home Delivery. That they need us to stop so they can resume whatever existence they had before all of this. All was forgiven, the past week never happened and it’s time for Unity under Mubarak’s rule right now.

To all of those people I say: NEVER! I am sorry that your lives and businesses are disrupted, but this wasn’t caused by the Protesters. The Protesters aren’t the ones who shut down the internet that has paralyzed your businesses and banks: The government did. The Protesters weren’t the ones who initiated the military curfew that limited your movement and allowed goods to disappear off market shelves and gas to disappear: The government did. The Protesters weren’t the ones who ordered the police to withdraw and claimed the prisons were breached and unleashed thugs that terrorized your neighborhoods: The government did. The same government that you wish to give a second chance to, as if 30 years of dictatorship and utter failure in every sector of government wasn’t enough for you. The Slaves were ready to forgive their master, and blame his cruelty on those who dared to defy him in order to ensure a better Egypt for all of its citizens and their children. After all, he gave us his word, and it’s not like he ever broke his promises for reform before or anything.

Then Mubarak made his move and showed them what useful idiots they all were.

You watched on TV as “Pro-Mubarak Protesters” – thugs who were paid money by NDP members by admission of High NDP officials- started attacking the peaceful unarmed protesters in Tahrir square. They attacked them with sticks, threw stones at them, brought in men riding horses and camels- in what must be the most surreal scene ever shown on TV- and carrying whips to beat up the protesters. And then the Bullets started getting fired and Molotov cocktails started getting thrown at the Anti-Mubarak Protesters as the Army standing idly by, allowing it all to happen and not doing anything about it. Dozens were killed, hundreds injured, and there was no help sent by ambulances. The Police never showed up to stop those attacking because the ones who were captured by the Anti-mubarak people had police ID’s on them. They were the police and they were there to shoot and kill people and even tried to set the Egyptian Museum on Fire. The Aim was clear: Use the clashes as pretext to ban such demonstrations under pretexts of concern for public safety and order, and to prevent disunity amongst the people of Egypt. But their plans ultimately failed, by those resilient brave souls who wouldn’t give up the ground they freed of Egypt, no matter how many live bullets or firebombs were hurled at them. They know, like we all do, that this regime no longer cares to put on a moderate mask. That they have shown their true nature. That Mubarak will never step down, and that he would rather burn Egypt to the ground than even contemplate that possibility.

In the meantime, State-owned and affiliated TV channels were showing coverage of Peaceful Mubarak Protests all over Egypt and showing recorded footage of Tahrir Square protest from the night before and claiming it’s the situation there at the moment. Hundreds of calls by public figures and actors started calling the channels saying that they are with Mubarak, and that he is our Father and we should support him on the road to democracy. A veiled girl with a blurred face went on Mehwer TV claiming to have received funding by Americans to go to the US and took courses on how to bring down the Egyptian government through protests which were taught by Jews. She claimed that AlJazeera is lying, and that the only people in Tahrir square now were Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. State TV started issuing statements on how the people arrested Israelis all over Cairo engaged in creating mayhem and causing chaos. For those of you who are counting this is an American-Israeli-Qatari-Muslim Brotherhood-Iranian-Hamas conspiracy. Imagine that. And MANY PEOPLE BOUGHT IT. I recall telling a friend of mine that the only good thing about what happened today was that it made clear to us who were the idiots amongst our friends. Now we know.

Now, just in case this isn’t clear: This protest is not one made or sustained by the Muslim Brotherhood, it’s one that had people from all social classes and religious background in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood only showed up on Tuesday, and even then they were not the majority of people there by a long shot. We tolerated them there since we won’t say no to fellow Egyptians who wanted to stand with us, but neither the Muslims Brotherhood not any of the Opposition leaders have the ability to turn out one tenth of the numbers of Protesters that were in Tahrir on Tuesday. This is a revolution without leaders. Three Million individuals choosing hope instead of fear and braving death on hourly basis to keep their dream of freedom alive. Imagine that.

The End is near. I have no illusions about this regime or its leader, and how he will pluck us and hunt us down one by one till we are over and done with and 8 months from now will pay people to stage fake protests urging him not to leave power, and he will stay “because he has to acquiesce to the voice of the people”. This is a losing battle and they have all the weapons, but we will continue fighting until we can’t. I am heading to Tahrir right now with supplies for the hundreds injured, knowing that today the attacks will intensify, because they can’t allow us to stay there come Friday, which is supposed to be the game changer. We are bringing everybody out, and we will refuse to be anything else than peaceful. If you are in Egypt, I am calling on all of you to head down to Tahrir today and Friday. It is imperative to show them that the battle for the soul of Egypt isn’t over and done with. I am calling you to bring your friends, to bring medical supplies, to go and see what Mubarak’s guarantees look like in real life. Egypt needs you. Be Heroes.