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How To Be Spiritual In A Material World
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06 Apr 2022
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Invisible Legacy

I am the mother of twins, a lovely daughter and a sweet son. They will be 19 years old in August. They are starting to live independent lives, one is going to university and the other one is already working.

Of course, I am proud of them. However, as a mother my heart aches a bit when I think that the outside world can be hard at times. Like every mother, I would love for them to avoid suffering and struggles, but of course this is not possible. Struggles and problems are part of life, of this physical field, and we need to find ways to navigate them the best we can.

When growing up, I remember being very emotional every time I encountered a bump in the road. Problems always seem to be huge and with no solution at all, in my teenage mind, everything was terrible and sad. Naturally, this is part of that phase of life, but I wish someone would have let me know that there is always light at the end of the tunnel, especially when I was in the middle of the emotional storm.

Do not get me wrong, my parents were very supportive, however in those years it was not common to provide children with tools to deal with the process of growing up. Basically, you were expected to put up with whatever and that was that.

Nowadays, we have many resources to go to, life is more complex, I guess, and young people are more exposed to global conditions than when I was growing up, where the word “local” was prevalent.

My spiritual path has allowed me to share with my kids those internal powers we all have, and I have made sure to repeat myself many times over. Of course, on several occasions I get those teenage looks and eyes rolling, but I know that one day, they will remember my words and tools and apply them.

I want to share with you a few of these techniques and words:

  • I frequently say that everything is transitory and it will pass. Life moves on, even if it doesn’t look like it.
  • Elevate your vibration! Dwelling on emotions that are not beneficial for us does not help. Acknowledge those emotions and then change your attention to finding solutions. A good way to elevate your vibration is to go out in nature, close your eyes, feel and listen to the sounds of nature. Your mind will clear.
  • Connect with your heart and speak from there. Talking to others in an angry manner makes the problem deeper.
  • Practice gratitude. This not only means to be grateful for the good things in our lives; I am actually referring to being grateful for the good and the bad of our existence in this world, because everything allows us to grow and expand.
  • Just a short daily meditation produces a ripple effect of goodness in you and in the way you vibrate.

There are many paths we can show to our kids and loved ones. However, the most important aspect of this is for us to be able to stay open to communicate with them, to create a loving environment where they can go anytime, without judgment, willing to listen and hugging tightly.

In a profound and invisible way, this is the “legacy” I am leaving to them. One day I will not be in this world anymore, any material goods will have no importance at all, but my children will remember my words, the meditations I taught them, the pineal gland exercises I showed them, the times I share with them, listening to their tribulations and happy moments, the many occasions we hugged, laughed and told each other, “I love you”.

This is why I keep repeating myself, because repetition creates habits and good habits create easiness in life. But most importantly, they will understand that LOVE is always the answer…

 

About the Author:

 

Veronica Sanchez De Darivas is Chilean-Australian, now living in the UK and a proud mother of teenage twins. A spiritual awakening teacher, bestselling author, pineal gland (third eye) activator and Certified Instructor for the Cyclopea Method, Veronica is currently the only instructor in the world teaching the Cyclopea Method in English.

 

 

28 Mar 2022
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How To Forgive Someone Who Isn’t Sorry

Forgiveness is often viewed as the “happily ever after” ending in a story of wrongdoing or injustice. Someone enacts harm, the typical arc goes, but eventually sees the error of their ways and offers a heartfelt apology. “Can you ever forgive me?” Then you, the hurt person, are faced with a choice: Show them mercy — granting yourself peace in the process — or hold a grudge forever. The choice is yours, and it’s one many of us assume starts with remorse and a plea for grace.

It’s reasonable to expect an apology when you’re the one who has been hurt or betrayed. But that’s not how it works in practice. In fact, therapist Harriet Lerner writes in her book Why Won’t You Apologize?: Healing Big Betrayals and Everyday Hurts the worse the offense, the more difficult it can be to get an apology from the person who harmed you. In those instances, Lerner writes, “Their shame leads to denial and self-deception that overrides their ability to orient toward reality.” And beyond this, there are other reasons you might be unable to get the apology you deserve. Maybe the other person isn’t aware of the harm they did to you, or they’ve disappeared, making contact impossible, or they’ve died.

Unfortunately, that puts you in a tough spot. How do you forgive someone who isn’t all that sorry, or who you can’t actually engage with?

To answer this question, we spoke to two experts: Robert Enright, a professor of education psychology at the University of Wisconsin Madison and a leader in the scientific study of forgiveness, and Laura Davis, the author of several books about estrangement and reconciliation, including The Burning Light of Two Stars: A Mother-Daughter Story. Both have worked extensively with people who have experienced serious personal injustice, including survivors of child sexual abuse and gender-based violence. Enright and Davis say that forgiving someone who is unrepentant is absolutely possible; here’s how to approach it.

Expand your view of what forgiveness is

In some ways, it’s easier to define forgiveness by what it isn’t. “Forgiveness is not excusing what the other did; that behavior was wrong, is wrong, and will always be wrong,” Enright says.

Both Enright and Davis say that forgiveness exists separately from reconciliation, and also from accountability — which is why forgiving someone doesn’t require an apology or even their participation. “Reconciliation is a negotiation strategy between two or more people trying to make their way back together to mutual trust,” explains Enright, whereas forgiveness is a one-way endeavor. Put another way: Forgiveness might be a step on the path to reconciliation, but you don’t have to traverse the full route if you’d prefer not to.

Enright also points out that while forgiveness is separate from accountability, it’s not at odds with seeking justice. “Many people think it’s either/or, rather than both,” he says. Forgiving someone can help you take a more clear-eyed approach to justice because you’re no longer, as he put it, “seething with rage.”

Perhaps most importantly, forgiveness doesn’t require you to pretend the hurt didn’t happen, to forgive and forget, or to ever speak to the person again. “When you forgive someone, it doesn’t mean you have to have any kind of ongoing relationship with them,” Davis says. “It’s an internal shift, where you’re no longer carrying the wound in the same way.”

Enright defines forgiveness as a moral virtue. Moral virtues (like kindness, honesty, and patience) are typically focused on how they benefit others; these are things you do primarily for another person’s sake, regardless of whether or not they have “earned” it.

“Forgiveness is a special kind of moral virtue that always and without exception occurs when the other person has been unfair to you,” Enright says. “When that person is unfair to you and you willingly choose to forgive — it’s not forced upon you — you are basically good to the one who was not good to you. You’re deliberately trying to get rid of the resentment and offer goodness of some kind: respect, kindness, anything that is good for the other person.”

Think of forgiveness as something you’re doing primarily for yourself

Because forgiveness is defined as offering goodness to another person, it can be hard, mentally, to want to get there — after all, you were the one who was wronged, so why do you have to now give them something? But it can be helpful to consider that you don’t have to literally give them anything, or even tell them you forgive them. Forgiveness doesn’t have to exist anywhere outside of you.

“Forgiveness is what we call a paradox,” Enright says. “It appears to be a contradiction but is not. It looks like you as the forgiver are doing all of the giving, and the other is doing all of the getting.” That mindset, he says, overlooks all of the benefits that you as the forgiver will likely experience. According to Enright’s research (which includes several meta-analyses of other forgiveness studies), people who have gone through the process of forgiving someone experience “characteristically, a reduction in the clinical variables of anger, anxiety, and depression, and increase in self-esteem and hope for the future.”

“Forgiveness is my safety valve against the kind of toxic anger that could kill me,” Enright says. “Waiting for the apology is to misunderstand your free will, and it’s to misunderstand the medicine that is forgiveness, that you should be able to take freely, whatever you want.”

Once you remove reconciliation as a goal, it’s easier to see how forgiveness will benefit you as much as — if not more than — the other person, giving you an opportunity to fully cut your mental connection to them. “Forgiveness begins to help you sever that connection so that you can be free,” Davis says. “I think it’s essential for people to eventually let go of their anger, their rage, their hurt, so that they can move on in their own lives.”

Don’t let fear of “losing” stand in the way of forgiving someone

Being willing to let go of the anger and hurt can be one of the hardest aspects of forgiving someone, especially someone who isn’t sorry or who hasn’t apologized. In these instances, it can sometimes feel like your wound is all you have: It serves as proof that an awful thing happened to you and really was as terrible as it felt. Forgiving someone, then, can feel like you’re capitulating — like you’re acquiescing to their view of events, when you know in your heart they did something wrong.

Enright says it’s reasonable to want to tend to your anger when someone has hurt you. “You can hang on to anger for a short time because it shows you’re a person of worth and dignity, and no one should treat you this way,” he says. “But then my question would be, if you hang on to that anger, what is it doing to you? Yes, it will empower you for a while. But characteristically over time, it brings us down with fatigue, rumination, becoming far more pessimistic in life.”

There’s real work involved in forgiving, and it takes time

Enright has studied forgiveness extensively. He says his research group at the University of Wisconsin Madison was the first to publish a scientific study on forgiveness, in 1989; in 1993, they became the first to publish a scientific study of forgiveness therapy. Their research has led to the development of a step-by-step process for forgiveness, which can happen in therapy (ideally with someone who is trained in forgiveness therapy), or through a self-guided process using his workbook.

He says that forgiving someone via this process happens in four major phases.

1) The uncovering phase. The person who has been treated unfairly focuses on the effects of the injustice in their life. These effects might be things like monetary costs, lost time, ongoing anxiety, depression, anger, sleep problems, or a more pessimistic worldview. In a lot of instances, Enright says, people don’t even realize how much the injustice is still impacting their life.

In this stage, you’re also asked to think about what solutions you’ve already tried for these problems and the extent to which they’ve led to meaningful improvements or change. “We say, ‘If nothing satisfying has worked, how about trying forgiveness?’” Enright says.

2) The decision phase. This is where you’ll determine whether you want to try to forgive the person who hurt you. And the answer might be no! Maybe it’s too soon and the pain is too fresh, or you just know you’re not ready to let go of the anger. That’s okay; this is a process you can always return to, and, eventually, you might find that you want to forgive.

It’s also important to be sure you’re attempting to forgive because you want to, not because you’re being pressured into it by, say, friends or family who are tired of having to navigate the fallout and just want everyone involved to move on. “We have to be drawn to the idea of forgiveness ourselves, and never be coerced into it,” Enright says.

If you decide you want to work toward forgiveness, Enright says the next step is a homework assignment: Try to do no harm to the person who wronged you. You don’t have to feel positively about them, but you should try your best not to disparage them, and don’t seek revenge. If even that feels impossible, you might not be ready to forgive them yet.

3) The work phase. At this point, you’ll aim to broaden your narrative about the other person and develop empathy for them. So you might think about how they were raised, what difficult things happened in their life that led them to this point, and the ways in which that person is vulnerable. “You widen the story,” Enright says. “As you start telling that story to yourself, over and over, we see a little bit of empathy, a little tiny bit of compassion, a little bit of softening of the heart. That takes time, and definitely can’t be engineered through therapy; it has to emerge.”

The next part of the work phase, Enright says, is “standing in the pain.” He says one way to do this is to think of your pain on a scale of 1–10, and to visualize that amount of pain in a heavy sack that you are holding on your back. “Acknowledge that it’s there, be aware of it, and stay with it,” Enright says. “Don’t try to run away from it. Don’t try to take anything out of it. Just let it be. What we find is, when people do that, that sack tends to shrink. As I deliberately say yes to the pain and stand in it, the pain begins to lessen.” He says that this part of the process can also help you rebuild self-esteem because it’s a reminder of what you’re capable of.

4) The discovery phase. This is when you’ll reflect on the meaning you’ve found in your life from this experience. “What we tend to find a lot of times is people become much more attuned to the wounds within other people,” Enright says. You may realize that you’ve become more patient with strangers, or less judgmental of coworkers or friends, because you have a newfound understanding of how they might also be struggling.

Going through this might also have made you feel more connected to other people, as you realize you’re not alone in the injustice you suffered. Or it may have given you a sense of purpose by inspiring you to help others who might have experienced something similar, or who are at risk of being wronged in the same way you were.

Don’t be too hard on yourself if you’re struggling to forgive someone

Being ready to forgive someone who hurt you takes time, as does the work of forgiving them. It’s impossible to know when — or if — you’ll ever be ready. If now doesn’t seem to be the time, that’s okay. “We’re in relationships with many people over the course of a whole lifetime,” Davis says. “Things can shift in surprising and sometimes dramatic ways just with the passage of time.” Many of the people she’s interviewed have spoken about their feelings changing when they entered a different life stage; for example, a person who isn’t ready to forgive a parent might start to see the situation differently after they have kids of their own. (It can also have the opposite effect, making them feel even more hurt by their parent’s behavior.)

“These things evolve over a lifetime,” she says. “If you had told me when I was in my late 20s and deeply estranged from my mother that I would end up taking care of her at the end of her life, I would have looked at you like you were completely crazy. Yet that’s what I chose and wanted to do.”

“I think that forgiveness is something that comes at the end of a long process of healing,” Davis says. “In my personal experience, it was a gift. I didn’t see it as the end goal of resolving an injury. I did my own work, and naturally, feelings of forgiveness arose.”

 

 

Original post here

 

 

13 Mar 2022
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How to Get Smarter Every Day, According to Neuroscience

A friend of mine spends 20 to 30 minutes a day solving Sudoku puzzles. He says it improves his speed of mental processing and makes him, well, smarter.

Hold that thought.

Ask people which factor contributes the most to success and most will choose intelligence, even though science says you also have to be lucky: Right place, right time. Right person, right time. Right idea, right market, right audience at the right time.

Yet even though there are ways to “create” your own luck, you can’t control luck.

But you can control, to some degree, how smart you are.

Let’s Define “Smart.”

While there are a number of different forms of intelligence, let’s focus on two. Crystallized intelligence is accumulated knowledge: facts, figures. Think “educated.”

Of course we all know people who are “book smart” but not necessarily smart smart. That’s where fluid intelligence comes into play: The ability to learn and retain new information and then use it to solve a problem, to learn a new skill, to recall existing memories and modify them with new knowledge. Think “applied intelligence.”

Becoming more educated is, while not easy, certainly simple.

Improving fluid intelligence is harder, which is one reason why brain games–crossword puzzles, Sudoku, brain training apps, etc.—are fairly popular.

But do they make you smarter? Do they improve fluid intelligence?

Basically, No.

A 2007 study published in Behavioral and Brain Sciences assessed the impact of brain training games on fluid intelligence. After participants played Tetris—yes, Tetris—for several weeks, cortical thickness and cortical activity increased.

Both are signs of an increase in neural connections and learned expertise. In simple terms, their brains bulked up and got smarter.

But after those first few weeks, cortical thickness and activity started to decrease, eventually returning to pre-Tetris mastery pursuit levels—even though their skill levels remained high. Participants didn’t lose brain power.

Instead, their brains became so efficient at playing Tetris those increased neural connections were no longer necessary. Using more mental energy was no longer necessary. As with most things, once they kinda figured it out, it got easy.

Unfortunately, no matter how much work it took to learn new information or gain new skills, “easy” doesn’t help improve fluid intelligence. Once knowledge or skill is in your pocket, you certainly benefit from the increase in crystallized intelligence.

But your fluid intelligence soon returns to a more baseline level.

That’s the problem with brain training games. Solving Sudoku puzzles, and only solving Sudoku puzzles, won’t improve my friend’s fluid intelligence in any other areas.

It only makes him better at solving Sudoku puzzles.

Learning how to use a new inventory management system will improve your fluid intelligence, until you’ve mastered it. Setting up Quickbooks for a new business will improve your fluid intelligence, until you’ve mastered the accounting process basics.

Once you achieve a level of comfort, your brain no longer has to work as hard, and all that new mental muscle gained starts to atrophy.

So what can you do?

Stay Uncomfortable.

Easy: Once you’ve mastered a new game, a new process, a new skill, a new anything—move on to something new.

At work. At home. Anywhere. Just keep challenging yourself.

Not only will you pocket a constant flow of new information and skill, your brain will stay “bulked up” and forging new neural connections, making it easier to keep learning and growing.

And then there’s this: The more you know, the more you can leverage the power of associative learning—the process of relating something new to something you already know.

Not in a Pavlov’s dog kind of way, but by learning the relationship between seemingly unrelated things. In simple terms, whenever you say, “Oh, that makes sense: This is basically like that,” you’re using associative learning.

The more you learn, the more likely you will be able to associate “old” knowledge to new things. Which means you only have to learn differences or nuances. And you’ll be able to apply greater context, which also helps with memory storage and retrieval, to the new information you learn.

All of which makes learning even easier, which research shows will result in your being able to learn even more quickly—and retain a lot more.

So if you like brain-training games, master one and then move on to another. And another.

Better yet, keep pushing yourself to learn new things about your business, your customers, your industry, etc.

Not only will that help you become more successful, you’ll also get to improve your crystallized intelligence and fluid intelligence—which will surely help you become even more successful.

Where win-wins are concerned, that’s a tough one to beat.

 

Original article here

 

 

 

 

 

10 Mar 2022
Comments: 0

State Of The Planet Update: Consent

 

CONSENT:

  1. If you give your consentto something, you give someone permission to do it. [formal]
    Synonyms: agreement, sanction, approval, go-ahead [informal]
  2. VERB: If you consentto something, you agree to do it or to allow it to be done. [formal]
    Synonyms: agree, approve, yield, permit

Just a scant 4 or 5 years ago, the word “consent” became synonymous with the #MeToo movement. Everyone’s consciousness was focused on the scandals around major Hollywood actors and producers who had allegedly preyed on aspiring or established female and male actors alike. Suddenly men were on their back foot once again, surprised and a bit daunted by the onslaught on the male gender in the popular media. New workshops, books and a whole new branch of self-help therapies and therapists sprang up to educate us on the various intricacies and nuances of when “no” means no, and “yes” means yes. All the civilized world had a mirror held up to it. The ongoing pedophilia scandals involving the Catholic Church or other religious organizations, including many gurus and yoga teachers, suddenly took on new significance, and in some quarters, shocked followers and devotees of the “woke” communities.

Just about two years ago, an alleged pandemic broke out, precipitating measures that few questioned or contested. My caveat here is not to make this article a lightning rod about the pandemic itself, or how it was conducted, but to illustrate what happened in such a short period of time after it was announced that it existed.

When the lockdowns and mandatory mask and social distancing measures were first imposed, dissent was virtually non-existent. We all happily and tacitly agreed and went along with these measures, basically because we were all scared out of our wits, and because our mammalian bonding instincts were being subtly manipulated. The clarion call was to do all we could to protect grandma and the kids.

All seemed to be working with ‘flattening the curve”, as the worst seemed to be over. By autumn of 2020, the possibility or returning to normal looked feasible. Then, it took a downward turn in the last quarter. By this time, most had heard of the new generation vaccines that were due to be rolled out at the end of the year and in early 2021. The governments, the medical experts and the media all seemed to be joined in lockstep to implement “Operation Warp Speed” and vaccinate the entire planet.

No one seemed to mind that this plan of mandatory inoculations was somehow out of bounds and seemed to violate anyone’s freedom of choice. The idea of medical passports was even dismissed by government officials as something that wasn’t even being considered. That was all about to change by mid-year of 2021. By early 2022 one western European nation had made it a law that all its citizens had to receive this medical intervention, and many other countries used it as a condition of travel (medical passports) or to access social services and healthcare. Oddly, the efficacy of those interventions is now under suspicion and in some cases, litigation. There are cracks appearing on many walls as more and more souls refuse to comply or give consent to any intervention into their bodies without, you guessed it, their consent.

Let’s go back in time a bit further…like a few decades. When the Internet appeared we all were fascinated with its potential to bring humanity together in harmony and cooperation, and how education and information processing would be transformed. The first mass- produced wireless technologies would follow soon.

On the health risk/benefit side, the vaunted FCC (Federal Communications Commission) in the United States cited studies made during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s that wireless devices were benign and posed zero threat to our health. Of course, they based their studies on those ancient Motorola handsets the size of bricks that some businessmen had in their cars. Little did we dream of things like the iPhone, Amazon, or online shopping. Little did we imagine what effect all of it would have on human consciousness or behaviours.
Now we see what it has wrought in many parts of our societies.

Like zombies in some dystopian science fiction film, people everywhere are walking, working, resting, and traveling around tethered to their smartphones and tablets. Hardly anyone looks up anymore. Hardly anyone notices how in their head they are. We are being steadily transformed into digitally defined mental plane that is increasing out of touch with our bodies, our feelings, and emotions, and mostly inured to Nature Herself. Was this planned or accidental? Maybe both? It most certainly has been taken advantage of a leveraged by the folks in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. We cannot ignore this any longer. The very idea of human beings even needing a soul, or a spiritual reference point is being called into question.

 

So, we come full circle to consent. Giving permission for anything that directly affects your life, or those whose lives are meaningful and close to you, seems now to be superfluous. Are all expected to just quietly acquiesce and cede their consent to whatever the “experts” deem is good for us, no questions asked? Have we, in such a short space of time and memory, become too docile and inept to look after ourselves?

I do not think for one moment that free will, consent isn’t important to you, or you wouldn’t be reading this, or asking questions about what is going on in our world, or actively participating in helping to heal yourself and others, or doing community building, or whatever it is your spirit directs you to be and do. We will only have a say in the future we want to face if we use our power of yes and no consciously and effectively. Otherwise, we tacitly agree to what others wish us to be or do, and our lives become theirs by default.

This decade is a crucial period of letting go of what no longer does or can serve us spiritually. As such, the transit of Pluto in late Capricorn, and his ingress into the sign of Aquarius next year, is an emphatic and difficult call to die to an old way of being, and to an old world dying, and choosing a path that ensures not just mutual survivability, but mutual peace, prosperity, and happiness. We must not rely on tech, or others, to do this for us, or save us. Nor should we give them consent to do so. If anything is a “tell” about the past two years, then bear witness to how many times opposing viewpoints to the dominant narrative have been forcibly silenced, de-platformed, derided, or even attacked. Just for asking questions, or having an opinion? In a supposed democracy that is a big “tell”.

What you give consent to matters. What you give permission to be in your life is important. It’s not about having total control over everything in your life; no one can achieve that. We need to be remembering ways in which to live and work harmoniously with the Tao, with the flow of Life. You cannot do that while dancing to another’s tune. Anything imposed on you without consent is a form of violence, and this world has a long history of enforcing rules and laws through intimidation, various types of coercion, and if all else fails, by force.

You are here on this world by your own choice, your own consent, your own cooperation with your soul. No matter what is happening in the wider world, and there is much that demands our focus and attention, always come back to what you have in your power to do in this moment, right now, to enjoy your life, your blessings, and your opportunities for joy and peace.

Your humanity depends on this. Your soul dreams about it.

 

About the Author:

Isaac George is an internationally recognized intuitive mentor/coach, evolutionary astrologer, conscious channel, self-published author and musician. After a life-altering spontaneous kundalini awakening in 1994 he explored various healing modalities, including hypnotherapy and Reiki. In 1998 he began spontaneously channeling Archangel Ariel and other dimensional intelligences.

Originally from the United States, Isaac currently resides in the UK and offers Spiritual Mentoring sessions and programs and Evolutionary Astrology consultations.

 

 

03 Mar 2022
Comments: 0

Let’s Be Peace

Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will be as one.“

~ John Lennon

 

 

 

 

Our planet is experiencing hard times. Before, it was and still is the pandemic; now it is war. Peace seems to be only a nice word, and sometimes a futile desire. How do we bring peace to the world?

There is no doubt in my heart and mind that the first step to manifest peace is to become a being of peace. Being peace means to be able to act in our daily life from an elevated vibration or frequency, it means to approach any hard situation with calmness and love.

We have all experienced traumatic events in our lives, and somehow most of us are able to overcome those hard situations one way or another. Why?

Because in the middle of the emotional storm we might have been experiencing, we have managed to slip into a peaceful mode, where we allowed ourselves to think and see a path of action. This might last only a few seconds, however the repercussions can be felt longer. To be at peace is to be still, stopping all activities and the busyness of our minds.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, peace is “freedom from war and violence, especially when people live and work together happily without disagreements,” and this is more or less the definition we find in most dictionaries. We can see that for many people, peace is the opposite of violence, but for me peace is a state of being and acting in the world.

Peace is feeling the silence between the noise, the pause between words, the “nada” between the beating of our heart. Peace is awareness, is consciousness.

When we realise that peace is always possible and a choice, it is very hard to ignore it. Imagine what the world would be if everyone was able to feel peaceful, because, in reality, peace is a feeling, a thought-form capable of expanding from one person to another, then it is wise to start practising low motion, stopping and acknowledging the inner calmness that comes with us.

Here is one exercise you can start doing now:

  • Sit down and relax your body
  • Start breathing in and out a bit slower than normal
  • Place a hand on your heart and feel its palpitation
  • Pay special attention to the moment your heart stops for a millisecond before the next beat.
  • If it is difficult for you to feel your heart, focus on your breathing, paying attention to the moment you stop before inhaling and exhaling
  • Do this for a few minutes and feel a sweet sensation invading you. That sensation is peace.

And I am also adding a decree for you to repeat as many times as you want: Peace in me, peace around me, peace in the world.

Being peace, in my understanding, makes peace on our precious planet possible.

 

About the Author:

Veronica Sanchez De Darivas is Chilean-Australian, now living in the UK and a proud mother of teenage twins. A spiritual awakening teacher, bestselling author, pineal gland (third eye) activator and Certified Instructor for the Cyclopea Method, Veronica is currently the only instructor in the world teaching the Cyclopea Method in English.

 

 

 

 

18 Feb 2022
Comments: 0

State Of The Planet Update: “Rock Solid”

No matter what is or isn’t happening in the world right now, you and I and all of Creation is loved beyond belief. No matter what is or isn’t happening in your life right now, you are loved beyond belief. No matter what will happen or won’t happen, it does not matter…we are loved beyond belief. No matter what, we are that Love, and we emerged from that Love by choice-desire-curiosity.

None of us is an “accident” of the Universe, nor are you and I here because of some whim of The Fates. We have purpose in our Be-ing…even when we don’t feel like we’re fulfilling our believed or adopted purpose. Sometimes our egos hijack our purpose, or distort it, or diminish it. The rock-solid truth you can always rely on is that, in the end, the truth if this: you are Love/Loved beyond belief.

And no matter who you are, and even though you may feel alone at times, no one is alone…ever.

Now some of what I relate here will already be familiar to most of you, and you’ve heard it all before. If so, that’s great! However, I must honestly say that almost everyone I speak with these days is dealing with something challenging. The continuing agenda of separating humanity into two classes of people still ripples throughout the collective experience. We all know this is instinctively “wrong” but most figure there’s nothing one can do about it. Perhaps we are so wrapped up on keeping up with our own life and it’s complexities, focusing only on our own personal triumphs or tragedies. Nonetheless, this divisiveness is useful, in one sense. It awakens us to our own inner duplicities or divisions and can help us realize that this artifice we call our “civilization” or “culture” is unsustainable and running in place to fit into its imposed agenda is a zero-sum game.

Existentially speaking, it is all unsustainable. Fearing the unknown, we cling to the past masquerading as the present and hope that we’ll get to the “new normal” somehow. What I didn’t see or understand until late last week is how much of what we call “our experience” is imposed on our lives without our consent, so much so that the plans we make, the dreams we hold about what we want in our own soul’s experience takes a back seat within this “matrix” of sorts.

Is God/Goddess doing that? Well, trick question. Since we are inextricably part of God/Goddess, I reckon we all bear some responsibility, as we allow whatever this is to continue.  Some of us are acquiescing to the illusion and some are going “what a minute…that doesn’t feel right or good to me!” Remember, no matter what’s happening, somehow and at some point in the future it will all work out for the best.  You are always at choice in what you will or will not participate with. With what has happened and is happening, you have a choice in how you relate to it, and what you will or will not allow to continue in your experience.

We are infinite and eternal. Nothing is imposed without some level of tacit permission given…by you or me. Even if we don’t want this or that challenge in our lives to be occurring, it is there for a reason. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be there! Karmic or not, it is what it is. What is unfolding, including the so-called darkness and chaos, is part of the awakening/remembering/maturing process, and we are sharing in all of it.

We set up the tenpins so we can knock them down. The Universe suggests that we just don’t make a habit out of it. Then it turns into what we call “our karma”. Unconscious repetition isn’t evolution! Through it all we are still Love/Loved beyond belief.

The atmosphere is filling up with more uncertainties, chugging along in our peripheral vision, and/or intruding into our daily activities. As the old scripture says, “Fear not. Even if the mountains should slide into the sea, I Am with you, always.” That message is Love reminding us again that we…are…never…alone. There is nothing that is inherently within us, that doesn’t want to help.

True mastery doesn’t mean standing as a lone entity in the entirely of Creation, impervious and totally transpersonal. It also includes embracing all that is, and still not falling into forgetfulness of Who We Are beyond all form or circumstance. That is what being “rock solid” is, and that is what Spirit is…rock solid, always there…and everywhere. No judging, no punishments, no force or coercion, no dogma, or rules. Just Love, being Love.

Rock solid baby!

 

About the Author:

Isaac George is an internationally recognized intuitive mentor/coach, evolutionary astrologer, conscious channel, self-published author and musician. After a life-altering spontaneous kundalini awakening in 1994 he explored various healing modalities, including hypnotherapy and Reiki. In 1998 he began spontaneously channeling Archangel Ariel and other dimensional intelligences.

Originally from the United States, Isaac currently resides in the UK and offers Spiritual Mentoring sessions and programs and Evolutionary Astrology consultations.

 

12 Feb 2022
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Return to Sender

 

Another year, another momentous month, and many different energies pushing and pulling in many different directions. If there is one recommendation for the now, is trying to maintain some equilibrium and keep your cool.  Things could fray at any moment, so it’s beneficial to take three deep breaths whenever you feel on the verge of overwhelm or your fuse is lit by your own sense of frustration, or other’s demands, or information and energy overloads. Reminds me of an old Broadway musical called, “Stop the World, I Want to Get Off!”

The multidimensionality of events and stimuli is quite evident in the outer material reality, but it is mostly happening in the mind/astral realm. Our emotional bodies are jostled, and our physical bodies are telegraphing frantic messages like “danger ahead”, or “Hey, pay attention! We’re in pain, discomfort and insecurity!” This is unsurprising when the entire planet is immersed in a chaotic fishbowl of artificial digital atmospheres, media-fostered fear headlines, and one crisis after another all clamouring for attention and action.

Take a BIG step back from it all! All this is not who you are, nor is it indicative of the true nature of Nature and every other soul in this world.  Meditation is important for calming the mind stuff and connecting and caring for our physicality even more so.  When I get rattled, I listen to music…calming, meditative and ethereal music.  Do whatever works for you, not as a mindless form of escapism, but as a conscious form of self-care and rebalancing.

The astrological/energetic markers for the weeks ahead are also multidimensional and multipurpose.  Remember, what we call astrology is nothing more than a symbolic language for understanding life on Earth, nothing more and nothing less. It won’t make you more spiritual, but it can point you towards things in your psyche that may get in the way (karmic habits) of your full self-realization.  When applied to national or world events, astrology has an uncanny ability to predict potential manifestations of our collective consciousness or help us understand in hindsight what the hell just did happen, and why.

We are embodied forms of Consciousness, and that is why everything ‘feels’ so freaking real. At the level of the Absolute, it is all just a form of play manifesting in a dualistic way. So, what is the Absolute wanting us to pay attention to, right now? Remember that the transiting Nodal Axis is astrology’s way of highlighting the most important thing, right now.  (For those of you who are students of astrology or grizzled veterans, please reference the charts I’ve provided below.)

​If you have your own chart, check for any aspects to the degrees mentioned in the next paragraph, and remember that there can be five major aspects: Conjunctions (within 6 degrees of one another), Squares (at a 90-degree angle between points), Sextiles (60 degree angles), Oppositions (180 degrees opposite one another), and Trines (90 degrees in relationship to each other).

First up the Full Moon on the 16th arrives at 4:55pm GMT (London) at the 27th degree and 59th minute of Leo. Mars and Venus are conjunct at 16 degrees of Capricorn, and Pluto is now at the 27th degree of Capricorn and quincunx to the Full Moon. Quincunxes are awkward and irritating energies.  Like being stuck on a plane with someone next to you snoring and you must put up with it. A Quincunx is a 150-degree angle between two points.

This Full Moon is being squared (challenged) by the Nodal Axis at 27 degrees of Scorpio and Taurus. Recall what I said above, about the transiting Nodes saying, “pay attention to this!”? Here it is. Taurus is our values versus the culture or society’s value system. Scorpio is about secrets and security, and depth…lots of deep dark stuff.  Leo is about the heart chakra, yes, but also loves being the king or queen and feeling superior. The Sun at almost the last degree of Aquarius signals a call to look beyond the obvious and discover the higher ground perspective about what’s happening — and no, you cannot ignore or avoid what is unfolding.

The Native Americans feel that whatever is happening in the moment is exactly what needs to be happening, and to push it away or rationalize about it is never going to work. Better to open one’s eyes to the opportunity for remembering and growth instead of resisting.  This will be a really great time for seeing things with new eyes, and then planting new thoughts and ideas around what sort of actions would you like to create that will build a new and better tomorrow for you and everyone else. Think “both/and” and take it beyond the personal.

It is also a call to participate, even if you have strong feelings that are the opposite. For example, I have been wrestling with yearnings to simply chuck it all, head off into the woods, ditch my tech and live like a hermit. That may have a romantic spin to it, but it is a sure-fire way to fall off the edge of the world. Instead, this New Moon carries with it an energy to double one’s efforts to find and connect with your tribe and start building something in the way of a cooperative or community that looks and feels better than what the old world is offering. That world is dying, though it is putting up one hell of a fight along the way.

The next huge event is the USA Pluto Return on February 20th, 2022. To be frank, we’ve been in the energy of this already for months, and this is the first exact contact of Transiting Pluto to the USA Natal Pluto since July 4th, 1776. That’s never happened before, and it is truly a once-in-a-lifetime event. How many times have you heard that in the past two years? Plenty, I suspect. Make no mistake, this one is bigger than the Saturn-Pluto conjunction on January 12th, 2020, that heralded in (or helped trigger) the COVID era.

The main event is Pluto conjunct Pluto, in Capricorn. It is the end of America as we have known it, and we will have to see how and what the people of the USA choose to do with that.  All the fruits of the seeds sown for 248 years are going to fall out of the sky all at once for good or bad. In America they refer to this as “chickens coming home to roost.” Hence the title for this article as it refers to how karma always returns to its sender.
​
Remember that there is only “good-bad” in duality. It may be more useful to phrase this as “helpful, or not helpful.” Since Capricorn governs governments, all manner of institutions (political, military, financial, medical, and social), a further dis-integration of the same may accelerate under Pluto’s tutelage.

Simultaneously, the regular folk may also realize that their leadership has been leading them down the garden path for a very long time. It will be time for everyone, not just Americans, to realize that the only power that these institutions and leaders have is the power we have ceded to them. It will be time to emancipate and wean ourselves out of the outworn habit of placing our trust and power into the hands of others, and start growing into mature, adult souls capable of looking after ourselves and each other in an egalitarian sort of way. Pluto is the Lord of Death, the Lord who Taketh Away, and anything that no longer is serving the collective soul of humanity is going to be removed…one way or another. Best not to resist it on any level as that is what causes suffering.

Once again, with the transiting Nodes involved the message is that THIS is the most important thing to focus on. Mars and Venus conjoined in Capricorn will stimulate loving ourselves no matter what happens and will stimulate our instincts to create structures and modalities designed to foster mutual survival and compassion…no matter what. Mercury conjunct the USA Nodal Axis in Aquarius-Leo will ask us, can you “think” in a new way about how to go about solving problems? In a nutshell, innovate from intuition, and provide leadership with heart. The transiting Moon in Libra conjunct the USA Natal Juno might be saying “all are welcome to the new Dispensation”, or something like that.

There will be two further conjunctions of Pluto to the USA Pluto this year, on July 12th when retrograde Pluto touches the natal Pluto, and the last pass, the “Resolution” will occur on December 28th, 2022.

So, what might happen at the initiation phase of this major archetypal event? Before I hazard a guess, I need to make the following statement:

One of the reasons that the world is the way it is and has been for thousands of years is because those entities and people whose orientation is rooted in domination of others in order to ensure the survival of the fittest, or hold the belief that the strong deserve to survive and the weak don’t matter, or they that were born to rule and see themselves as superior to us Muggles, is about to be heavily challenged. The globalists have woven the world together into a tight, authoritarian digital construct that they imagine they rule, and don’t kid yourselves, they know about astrology, and the hidden metaphysical arts and methods, and have employed their knowledge of these things to mold the world and human beings as they see fit. Talk about lack of consent on our part! They have been well organized, insanely well-funded, and working towards total hegemonic control of this planet and all it’s people and resources for a very long time. They won’t go away quietly either.

This year is pivotal in challenging that mindset and agenda, and replace it with a spiritually based, human-oriented philosophy and culture that works for everyone. Otherwise, once Pluto moves into Aquarius in the early part of 2023, the psychotic push towards an all too real one world digital tyranny may well culminate between 2023 and 2025 and be in place until well after Pluto leaves Aquarius in 2043.

The rabbit hole goes ever so deep, and into some real sci-fi places that many would prefer not to venture.  There are malevolent forces that have never held anything but envy for this planet, and animosity towards the humans and the divine experiment we are in and co-creating. Some call them the Archons, or the Jinn, or the Watchers. In the Americas they are referred to as “Wetiko”. Modern mystics and psychologists alike tend to think that this is an innate part of our original human design. I seriously contest that notion, as I feel that our original design never was intended to be predatory and deliberately cruel. These beings can infiltrate our minds, and we may unknowingly and ignorantly attribute some of our less desirable behaviours or propensities to our minds and personalities to our parents, our upbringing or some other purely psychological reason. If we remain unaware of what can influence and does influence us, then we cannot take responsible action to correct ourselves and trust solely in our own internal guidance system. A good technology example is television…or the Internet, and especially, smartphones.

I strongly feel that there are other lifeforms in the multiverse, many who benign and benevolent, and some that are hostile.  These hostile ones are given the some of the same abilities and some form of intelligence and volition from the Creator of All That Is. They are allowed to follow their predatory instincts, because the true nature of Love is always non-judgmental of Itself and is always allowing.  It will be up to us to grow in wisdom and reactivate the perceptual and practical skills needed to neutralize all such negative influences and do so without condemnation or judgment.

I remember listening to a very wise being from Arcturus who was speaking though a human channel in 1994 who addressed the thorny issues of entity possession, dark forces, and all that sort of stuff. With an abundant sense of humor and laser-like perception, he dropped the ultimate non-dualism statement: “After this world has ascended, that ‘darkness’ will be revealed to be of the Light.” They are a type of lifeform but their nature is synthetic, i.e., artificial sentient intelligence. One serious little caveat — this same Arcturian being also said that he and his colleagues were told before they came to Earth that they should not participate with evil in any form. Doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room these days.

Okay, one of my guesses about the upcoming exact meeting of Pluto to the USA Pluto is a big disruption in the world financial markets, starting on Wall Street or perhaps something in the currency trading markets. This could be precipitated by any number of factors, so I can’t reliably name a catalyst. Personally, any number of current events could be the trigger. Russia invading the Ukraine is one I can name. Another is the Canadian PM Trudeau deciding to break up the Freedom Convoy, while still another could be the removal of Britain’s scandal-ridden Prime Minister from power. This might precipitate a crisis of confidence in the UK currency — the Pound Sterling, and trigger panic in the markets and causing a devaluation.

​Well, the bubbles have been building for some time in the real estate, speculative stock trading, and currency trading markets (cryptocurrencies as well). The growing gap between the very rich and the rest of us has only gotten worse the last two years, when another huge and secret transfer of wealth upwards to the 1% of the 1% was enacted. Pluto presided over the crash of the cheap credit and real estate markets in 2007-2008, and he may just end his tenure in Capricorn the same way he entered it – in a dramatic fashion. This is just one guess. What you do feel, what do think?

One thing is for sure…the only constant is change, so be prepared for anything.  A full-on collapse may be just the galvanizing event to bring us together at a whole new level and build a new tomorrow. After all, isn’t all we have ever wanted is to be free? Isn’t that the rallying cry in many parts of the planet right now? Here’s our opportunity, our gift. Let’s make it real, for all.

 

About the Author:

Isaac George is an internationally recognized intuitive mentor/coach, evolutionary astrologer, conscious channel, self-published author and musician. After a life-altering spontaneous kundalini awakening in 1994 he explored various healing modalities, including hypnotherapy and Reiki. In 1998 he began spontaneously channeling Archangel Ariel and other dimensional intelligences.

Originally from the United States, Isaac currently resides in the UK and offers Spiritual Mentoring sessions and programs and Evolutionary Astrology consultations.

 

 

 

 

25 Jan 2022
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6 ideas from around the world to help boost happiness

Saudade, from Brazil

In [Brazilian] Portuguese, there’s something called saudade, which is a feeling of longing, melancholy, and nostalgia for a happiness that once was—or even a happiness you merely hoped for. The concept is so entrenched in Brazilian ideology that it’s celebrated every year on Saudade Day (January 30th).

Most of us will have experienced a bittersweet pleasure in moments of melancholy—flipping through old photos or caring about anyone enough to miss them when they’re gone. These sentimental moments can make us appreciate these memories even more and encourage us to pay attention to the details of the here and now. The concept of saudade reminds us to spend time remembering those we’ve loved and lost, then practice being a little more grateful for the ones still around.

 

Meraki, from Greece

Meraki refers to “an introspective, precise expression of care, usually applied to a cherished pastime.” The idea behind meraki is to challenge yourself to break up the monotony of your regular routine (say, your nine-to-five job) by intentionally carving out time to invest in activities that inspire and relax you.

Having a passion that you can take pride in can be of extra benefit to those who can’t say the same for their primary occupation,” says Russel. It can also give you something to look forward to throughout the day, which will surely boost your happiness.

 

Dolce far niente, from Italy

This Italian phrase translates to “the sweetness of doing nothing,” a concept that is all about savoring the moment and really enjoying the present.

While many western cultures tend to save up their ‘fun quota’ for an annual escape or a boozy weekend, Italians spread it over the minutes, hours, and days throughout the year. Adopting this attitude can remind you that you deserve to enjoy life all year round, not just while on vacation.

 

Friluftsliv, from Norway

The Norwegians have a concept of friluftsliv, or “free air life,” which is about enjoying outdoor socials, even in cold winter conditions. In Norway, time spent outdoors is central to their way of life—but the concept of friluftsliv isn’t just about being outside, it’s about engaging with nature in an intentional way.

Most Norwegians believe you have to work for things—to earn them with physical endeavors, or by battling the elements. Only once you’ve [literally] climbed a mountain in the rain and cold can you truly enjoy your dinner.

Now, not all of us will be climbing mountains regularly, or even live in a landscape where that’s an option but embrace the spirit of friluftsliv by going for a walk or sitting in your garden, watching the birds visit your birdfeeder.

 

Smultronstӓlle, from Sweden

The essence behind smultronstӓlle, which literally translated means “field of wild strawberries” or “wild strawberry patch,” is to establish a place to go when you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed where you know you won’t be disturbed.

Even though the phrase is linked to the outdoors, you can also practice this indoors, as long as it’s your happy place that just makes you feel better. Having a smultronstӓllecan be a great way to stay calm, restore balance, and feel rejuvenated.

 

Wabi sabi and kintsugi, from Japan

Our society often values perfection, which may lead us to put a lot of pressure on ourselves and our performance in life and work, however, the Japanese philosophy of wabi sabi, which translates to “the beauty of imperfection,” can help relieve us of this weight. Accepting the beauty in imperfection can make us feel better when things don’t turn out exactly as planned.

Kintsugi is a physical manifestation of wabi sabi—it refers to the ancient Japanese art of repairing broken ceramics with gold or metallic lacquer. While many of us may discard a broken teacup, believing it has been rendered useless, kintsugi celebrates this imperfection by piecing the shattered pieces together extravagantly, highlighting the scar in a manner that makes it even more beautiful than when it was whole or “perfect.”

 

About the Author:

Helen Russell is a journalist and global happiness expert who wrote The Year of Living Danishly and The Atlas of Happiness.

 

 

Original article here

17 Jan 2022
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Listen to Your Own Advice

In 1896, a man in Dummerston, Vermont, was driven from his beloved home over what should have been a minor family dispute. He generally got along well with his brother-in-law, who lived next door. One day in an argument, however, the brother-in-law—who was a bit of a hothead—threatened to punch him. In reaction, the man had his brother-in-law arrested, which the neighbors saw as a massive overreaction. At the trial, the man acted haughty and “arrogant” toward others, according to newspaper accounts. He became so unpopular for his attitude and actions that, shunned by the local residents, he felt compelled to leave the town he loved, never to return.

This man could certainly have used some advice on keeping things in perspective. One great example, by the poet Rudyard Kipling, was written some months earlier: “If you can keep your head when all about you / Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, / If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, / But make allowance for their doubting too.” Verse by verse, the poem, titled “If,” dispenses the soundest of counsel on how to keep petty conflict from blowing up into a major life disruption.

Had he heeded that wise poem, the unfortunate man in Vermont would have let the altercation run off him, not overreacted, not talked down to others, repaired his relationship, and gotten on with his life. In fact, he was familiar with “If”: Though the poem was not published until years after the spat, the overreacting man was none other than Kipling himself.

Kipling wasn’t a hypocrite; rather, he simply was unable to take the excellent advice that he had offered others. It’s a version of Solomon’s paradox, named after the wise king from the Bible who failed to live by his own wisdom, leading to the demise of his kingdom. Researchers find that this sort of behavior is strikingly common. Maybe you can relate: For example, although you would counsel a close friend to swallow her pride and reconcile with a family member for the sake of her own happiness, you might struggle to do the same. Or though you would strongly advise a friend against infidelity, knowing that the result will be catastrophic, you might commit it yourself.

But we are not sentenced to live out Solomon’s paradox forever. We can learn to give ourselves good advice and take it as well, and become much happier as a result.

People ask others for advice in order to seek information, validate their beliefs, and process inputs from multiple points of view. Researchers have found that we choose whom to seek out for advice depending on how accessible they are to us, and how trustworthy. When you need help with personal issues, you can find these qualities in a close friend; for medical or professional issues, “trustworthiness” might come instead from a diploma on an office wall.

Following this logic, the reason we don’t take advice might be because we don’t trust the people who give it enough to do so. You are unlikely to take counsel about a work conflict from a friend who has gotten fired eight times, for example. So when we don’t take our own advice, it might be that we don’t trust ourselves.

Our self-mistrust could originate in problems of self-esteem or high anxiety. Scholars in 2005 showed that when people experience these problems, they can give advice they personally don’t take. You might sagely tell a friend who has suffered a nasty breakup to “get back on the horse”; meanwhile, you un-sagely stay single and lonely for years out of a fear of being hurt again.

Even if we trust ourselves, guilt can keep us from really listening to ourselves. In experiments, people tend to choose hedonic options (featuring sensations and experiences) for others, but utilitarian products (which are practical and functional) for themselves. The reason, scholars find, is often guilt: We feel we should make the practical choice. The result is that if you come into an extra $500, which you could use to spend a weekend at the beach or to buy a couch, you might choose the couch because it is more sensible—even if the beach would make you happier.

Many people also tolerate different levels of risk for others than they are willing to endure personally. The pattern can differ depending on what, exactly, the advice is about. In relationships, for example, we play it safe even as we advise others to go for broke. (“Go right back there and give her a piece of your mind!”) But on medical issues, we take risks we wouldn’t allow our friends to. (“I think I’ll just ignore this little lump for the time being.”)

And even as we refuse to take the risks we push our friends toward, we can be less willing to assign ourselves hard work than we are to advise others to do it. Research shows that we tend to advise others based on what we believe is the right or optimal thing to do, not what they want to do. But when making decisions in our own lives, we are more likely to follow the easiest path, regardless of the repercussions. I taught my children to never lie, and I try hard to live up to that standard, but at times I have chosen to cut myself some slack, usually for reasons of convenience. If my kids did the same thing, I would say they are making a mistake—that small lies lead to bigger ones.

Solomon’s paradox is pretty easy to understand. Solving it is a little harder, but it’s possible if we adopt two practices.

1.   Give more advice to others.

If you find yourself failing to live by the advice you give others, you might infer that your counsel is poor and decide to give less of it. But research shows that this is the wrong approach. One 2018 paper in the journal Psychological Science, for example, showed that people who struggle with goal achievement are more motivated when they dispense advice to others than when they receive it.

Hearing yourself say wise, affirming things to others can reinforce your own convictions and behavior. This is far from fail-safe—as Kipling might attest—but it helps. It is also of a piece with literature showing that the best way to help yourself is to help others. So when someone close to you is in a conundrum, think about what is truly the best course of action no matter whether you fear that you would do something else. Assuming she is open to receiving advice, offer it to her without hesitation.

2.   Treat your advice like it’s someone else’s.

If you’re struggling with a particular issue, seek out others who are having similar troubles and see if you can try to help them. Then, write down what you advised, and exactly why. Finally, consider how the advice you dispensed could apply to your own life.

Say you have a friend who drinks too much—and, well, so do you. You find every excuse in your own life for why you don’t have such a big problem, and anyway, today isn’t the right day to deal with the issue. But you tell your friend the truth: This problem will only get worse and requires urgent action immediately. Write down your advice to your friend, as well as your reasoning. Now substitute yourself into the narrative, and take your advice.

Recent research shows that this kind of reflection leads to intellectual humility, open-mindedness about how situations could unfold, and attempts to integrate diverse viewpoints about personal challenges—all of which puts you in a better mindset to take advice. In other words, looking at yourself in the third person can improve the quality of your judgment and give you better solutions.

Both of these suggestions require making the advice you give yourself a formal task: Your ideas need to be well thought-out and fully formed. If your closest friend asked you for advice that might change his life, you probably wouldn’t shoot from the hip; you’d give it some thought and structure your arguments. The same goes for your advice to yourself. When you have a major decision or problem to solve, treat it like a project, with the seriousness it deserves.

Giving yourself thoughtful advice can create a sense of control in a world where we often feel we have little. Researchers have found that when people give others advice, it enhances their personal sense of power and influence. I have found that this is true for self-advising as well: When I feel powerless due to circumstances I can’t control, giving myself structured, formal counsel changes my mindset. I become more aware of the parts of the situation I can control, and more disposed to take control of my attitude toward my circumstances, which enhances happiness.

Start being Solomon, but short-circuit the paradox. Trust in the wise counsel you give others on how to manage the kingdom of their life. Then use it in your own realm.

 

 

Original article here

 

 

 

 

09 Jan 2022
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Universal Peace Sanctuary, A Beacon Of Hope

Last year, I had the pleasure and honour to meet His Eminence Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche, first via the platform Clubhouse, then via WhatsApp and phone calls. Finally, last September, H. E. Rinpoche stopped in the UK after touring the US.

He was very kind to let me know of his presence in London. He visited us in our house and we chatted about life and the Universal Peace Sanctuary Project over empanadas and mote con huesillos (typical Chilean food, as it was the anniversary of Chile’s Independence). I was delighted to know that he had visited my birth country many years ago and had fond memories of his visit.

Our honest conversation led me to really understand the transcendental vision behind the construction of a peace sanctuary in Lumbini, Nepal, and this comprehension reignited my desire to help towards the accomplishment of such a luminous project.

However, before diving into Rinpoche’s words of wisdom, let me shed some light on the project.

In 2013, the Nepalese government entrusted Rinpoche and his charity organisations in the US and Asia with the mission of building a Peace Sanctuary in Lumbini, Nepal, the birthplace of Buddha. During all these years, His Eminence Rinpoche has raised awareness and collected donations from all over the world to build the Sanctuary. Construction on the site has already started, but much more help from people of the world is still needed.

I will let Rinpoche tell you a bit more now.

 

Veronica: What is peace for you and how do you live it?

Rinpoche: Peace is the natural state of unconditional mind. This basic goodness is universal in all beings. We need to realize that peace is not only possible; it is our birthright. When we recognize that our nature is fundamentally pure, we find that peace is always possible and we can actualize it.

To live peacefully you have to begin to understand and recognize what is obscuring your natural goodness. The sun is always shining, even when hidden by clouds. The clouds are temporary; your true nature shines eternally, like the sun. Defilements are momentary, like the clouds. When your true nature shines, you don’t need a method for living peacefully; peace just happens naturally.

 

Veronica: You are constantly talking about “unconditional love,” could you please enlighten us with a deeper meaning of this concept?

Rinpoche: Unconditional love is love that is not conditioned. In other words, to love without any agenda and without expecting anything in return. As my Western friends like to say, there are no strings attached. When you recognize that your life is truly worthwhile you feel sincere love for all living beings. To love others without expecting anything in return is unconditional love. This all-embracing love will never let you down; it only brings true harmony and peace.

 

Veronica: Why is it important to build a Universal Peace Sanctuary and what is the inspiration behind this wonderful project?

Rinpoche: When there is much conflict, violence, and intolerance in the world, people begin to doubt that peace is actually possible. We begin to feel hopeless; there is more stress, fear and mistrust. Now, perhaps more than ever, the world needs a beacon of peace.

The Universal Peace Sanctuary will serve as a lighthouse that signals a safe path for ships lost at sea.

The Universal Peace Sanctuary can inspire confidence and trust that peace is always possible, because we always have the potential to know the peace that is fundamental to our nature. I envision the Universal Peace Sanctuary as a sacred oasis where world leaders can be invited to find conflict resolution through peaceful dialogue.

 

Veronica: How can people contribute to the Peace Sanctuary Project?

Rinpoche: Generosity is the virtue that brings peace to oneself and peace to others. The more one is attached to what one perceives as “me” and “mine,” the more one feels the need to acquire things for oneself. This is the cause of all the conflict in the world. When there is freedom from attachment, the more one has to give to others for the common good.

The way to contribute to the peace project is to practice generosity as much as you can. There are many ways to be generous. You can offer your resources, you can offer your time, you can offer your inspirational support, or you can offer your prayers for peace. The purpose of this project is not just to build a sanctuary in Lumbini; the greater purpose is to foster the virtue of generosity and build a sanctuary of peace within each and every one’s heart.

 

Veronica: What is your message to people for this year 2022?

Rinpoche: Spirituality is not blind faith or following religious dogma. It is practicing a way of life that brings greater clarity, deeper understanding, compassionate intelligence, and genuine well-being. This is not something we have to acquire or accomplish; it is what we need to activate and reveal, as it is the fundamental essence of our being. This includes the spiritual practice of meditation. Otherwise, it is so easy to be taken in by our habits, our mental afflictions of attachment, aversion, jealousy, arrogance and delusion.

We need to practice less self-orientation and more other-orientation. When we care more for others we are naturally taking care of ourselves. This is a win-win proposition. The peace we know inside begins to manifest outside, within our family, among our friends, our community, and even with those we perceive as enemies.

Make this New Year a time to value your precious life. The passing years remind us of how short our life is, and the pandemic has made us realize how vulnerable we are. As I always like to say, seize the moment as if there were no next moment; make the most of this precious human life, here and now!

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My deepest gratitude to His Eminence Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche for taking the time to answer my questions.

To learn more about the Universal Peace Sanctuary, please visit: https://peacesanctuary.org/

 

 

About the Author:

 

Veronica Sanchez De Darivas is Chilean-Australian, now living in the UK and a proud mother of teenage twins. A spiritual awakening teacher, bestselling author, pineal gland (third eye) activator and Certified Instructor for the Cyclopea Method, Veronica is currently the only instructor in the world teaching the Cyclopea Method in English.