Personal Development | Ascension Lifestyle

18 Sep 2016
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Confronting Your Demons & Uncovering Your True Self

Someone I was advising recently said, “I feel my demons are stronger than I am.” I couldn’t lie to him. I said, “You know what? I think you’re right.” I’ve been in the same situation before. For many people, dealing with difficult negative emotions feels overpowering. This is very often a correct assessment; feeling helpless in the face of problems often comes from not cultivating the proper skills needed to confront them. People know deep down that they haven’t equipped themselves with the skills needed to deal with certain emotions and events, and they punish themselves for it. Instead of punishing ourselves, though, we can learn to build a stronger mind.

If you want to fight a dragon, you have to arm yourself. You can’t go out butt-naked with no armor or weapons and expect to win. To do so would be foolish. Even if you believe in your innate self, there are things you can do to optimize your daily functioning. You can’t just suddenly decide to triumph over your difficulties in the same way you can’t just suddenly decide to become a heavyweight boxer and compete. Cultivating strength requires work, and even when it feels impossible it’s always time well-spent.

When you feel your demons are stronger than you, you’re probably onto something. If you continue to feel helpless and sorry for yourself, you let the problems get stronger while you stagnate. But if you use this sense of helplessness to cultivate inner-strength and courage, you’ll overcome them. The key is to direct this energy inward. Meditate. Exercise. Work on yourself. Build the confidence and gusto required to rise above your mental baggage. Recognize the absurdity of allowing concepts to bring you down. This is one of the core lessons of Zen— what you think is not real. Thoughts are all abstractions. We shouldn’t take them so seriously. Latching onto external concepts and feeling disappointed often makes people feel like the world is crumbling in on them. This feeling of dread is truly difficult. But only through conscious work and practice can we overcome it.

There’s no magical solution to deeply-rooted problems and concerns, but if you do a little work each day to make yourself a more wholesome and rounded person, you eventually build the strength to confront your demons when they come about. This is a lifelong journey and there are always surprise rewards along the way. The key is to stick with it, to practice your best practice every day and not to give up out of disappointment or disillusionment.

It’s the nature of organisms on Earth to adapt. Doesn’t matter if you’re a moth or an advanced mammal; over time you’re either going to change or die out. This is basic scientific theory but can be also used metaphorically to understand daily life. The following interpretation isn’t to be confused with ‘social Darwinism’, but instead should be seen as a simple natural analogy.

The crux of this is “humans adapt”, not just on the large scale of base physical or psychological evolution but in the simplest ways in every moment. We adapt to everything. Single people adapt to relationships. Poor people adapt to sudden riches. Rich people adapt to sudden poverty. Nations and races adapt to their geographic locations and environmental conditions. Humans as they exist today vary vastly in appearance and background— the result of millions of years of collective evolution on various planes. On a day-to-day level we are constantly evolving in more nuanced ways. To peer into this process and reflect upon it is to recognize the power of both the individual and the community to foster positive behaviors and traits.

Returning to basics: in a very fundamental universal sense, change is the way of the world. There is no moment that is the same as the moment before it. You are a ‘different’ person at the end of this sentence than you were at the beginning. And yet beneath all of these environmental and sensory changes is your inborn sense of self— this is what I like to refer to as the spirit. This never changes. It only becomes more or less visible depending on how closely you’re paying attention.

The spirit is what exists in every person beneath endless layers of personal experience, cultural conditioning and conceptual chatter. It’s your fundamental being. It’s also what makes you aware of being. And in this sense it transcends being alive. I believe this is the root of religious theories of God and the afterlife. The spirit as felt during meditation and other deep religious experiences is perceived as being above and beyond the self because it is. It doesn’t exist in the physical realm and this is precisely what makes it feel so transcendent. The surface-level beliefs you have about who you are, even down to your family, values and background, are still not who you really are. Underneath all this is a place free of concepts or influence.

This is important to remember when we think about change. When I say that you change in every moment, you may interpret that as some sort of fundamental change. People often refer to their past and say, “I was a different person then.” This is only partially true. In reflecting daily on how shallow our interpretations of self often are, we remember not to let these false notions impact the decision-making process. If someone asks you who you are and your first instinct is to talk about your career, your family or your goals, it’s time to dig a bit deeper.

That isn’t to say that you should make the conversation all weird and spiritual— this is an internal process. You can say one thing and think another. There’s no real need to share information about your ‘true self’ with others. Merely reflecting within yourself and trying to peel away false layers of identity lets you find a certain peace. This peace will emanate and put others at ease. It will make you more charismatic, since you begin to identify with your deep spiritual self rather than surface-level adornments. There’s no need to communicate it directly; it communicates itself through a shift in motivations, actions and thought processes.

Most people treat themselves like a fancy car with a neglected engine— they take care of the surface and maintain appearances but are afraid to pop open the hood and work on what’s really important to their deepest functioning and purpose. Meditation is popping open the hood. It lets you see what might initially appear to be “the ugly truth” and then slowly and methodically rid yourself of the grime and gunk that hold you back. It’s a degreaser.

If you choose to meditate regularly, over time, when you think, “Who am I?” you won’t say, “I’m a Certified Public Accountant with a 3.8 GPA, $300,000 in the bank, a wife, two kids, 3 cars, a house and a dog,” but, simply, “I am.” Your essence is who you are stripped of all materials, all physical matter and all cultural conditioning. That doesn’t mean you’re supposed to throw your material life away and go wander the forest. Some people misinterpret Zen and think they have to become monkish or deny life. I advocate the exact opposite. Live your life fully, work hard, cultivate greatness, do whatever you want, but with this deeper awareness that you are not anything you do, have, or achieve. You simply are. And, most importantly, recognize that you can only identify with this inner-strength and benevolence to the extent that you’re willing to take some time each day to quietly reflect on it. In doing so, you really do transcend.

This is real adaptation. It’s a remedy to most modern problems. It’s recognizing your spirit as your center rather than things outside yourself. Doing that is like recognizing Pluto as the center of the solar system. How can external orbiting things possibly be your essence? You are your own essence! To misinterpret this fundamental truth is going to cause some problems. Meditation helps you get it straight.

Charlie Ambler is the creator of The Daily Zen and @dailyzen on Twitter. He began the site in 2008 as a way to chronicle his study of Zen and practice of meditation. He is currently working on raising enough funding to work on Daily Zen full-time and is also writing a book about Zen practice and contemporary life. Charlie live in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and enjoys playing drums, walking, and petting other peoples’ dogs. You can support his work by clicking here.

16 Sep 2016
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Cultural Conditioning: An Escape Guide

“The nuclear and space age that we live in encourages the vigorous progress of science. But man has increasingly become obsessed with science and machines and lost touch with his essential humanity. Zen works to check this estrangement and restore intensity of awareness. If we know ourselves at all times, truth is where we stand, Rinzai said. Each morning Zuigan called: The Self! The Self! Yes, yes, he answered. He also said: Don’t ever let others condition you.”
— Masunaga Reihō

“Conditioning” is a term with countless applications, from love to athletics to politics. Today I want to spend a bit of time exploring what this idea of conditioning is, where it comes from, and how it applies to Zen practice. The word ‘condition’ itself goes all the way back to the Latin condicio, which translates to ‘agreement’. What is an agreement? It’s a collective decision in which two or more parties come to some sort of concession. An agreement exists, by nature, to benefit multiple sides at the expense of the total control of one side. The opposite of this is coercion, in which one party uses force to achieve what they want. An agreement or condition is a sort of stipulation by which multiple sides concede to less so they can all have some.

Now, let’s zoom out a bit more and stop indulging in Political Science 101 — what is ‘cultural conditioning’? It’s a loaded term, first of all. We’re so lost as moderners that people sometimes even try use the term to try to convince others that vastly complicated concepts like race, gender or culture “aren’t real”. This is completely missing the point. To fight against cultural conditioning when it’s a fact of history doesn’t solve the problem. If we want to actually mindfully understand who we think we are, who we actually are, and why the dissonance between the two causes so many social problems and anxiety, we have to, again, ask what is this thing? What is cultural conditioning? And, in this case, how does this relate to Zen, meditation, and mindfulness? When we reflect consciously on this, we stop denying ourselves the peace that comes from true understanding.

Given the prior definitions of conditioning, agreement and stipulation, cultural conditioning is when a given society says to an individual: “If you have it your way, there’s chaos. If I have it my way, there’s absolutism. Let’s meet somewhere in the middle.” This is why people aren’t allowed to act like beasts. It’s why rules, manners and politeness exist. But it’s also why many people today are confused. Why can’t they have their cake and eat it too? Because in being born into a given community, you enter into an agreement in which you agree to behave in exchange for a certain degree of security and belonging. This happens in nations, states, houses, workplaces, even at cafeteria tables or in cars on road trips. Every social situation or group dynamic represents a concession that, at least in theory, causes the least amount of conflict for each side.

This is where we run into trouble with culture. Culture affects how you deal with others, sure. ‘Cultural conditioning’ is a layer of behavior that you adopt against your primal nature as a man or woman of X or Y background in order to get along better in a given society with given ideals. This is what we all do. But this conditioning is more complicated than a simple interpersonal agreement because it affects your perception of yourself. Most people are not prone to reflection; they believe their conditioning, whatever it is, to be their identity. They cannot divorce the self from the spirit, or either of these from the ego. As always, where the ego rules, truth becomes a distant fiction.

Enter from stage left— meditation practice. Over time, your practice allows you to peel away the countless layers of confusing self-effacing cultural conditioning you’ve been carrying around for decades and simply exist as a spirit, without a body, without a mind. You can sit and be. This practice of reflection and mindfulness pushes you beyond the mere confines of your humanity and all of your cultural conditioning. It allows you to communicate with a higher authority. Don’t think of this as a God but more as the underlying depth and universal truth of nature. It does emerge eventually. And it’s very, very convincing.

Over time, this obviously changes you. I walk around New York and wonder how many people identify with their clothes, their affects, their appearance, the books they read, the music they listen to, the company they keep. This isall cultural conditioning. How many decisions do people make with petty external motivations that they misconstrue as their own? Overcoming this vanity requires contacting your deeper self. In Zen this is referred to as the ‘true self’. You want to move past the self you think you know and simply let the real self emerge. With this emergence comes strength. With this strength comes a desire to know reality as it is, to abandon ideologies, conditioning and concepts and to cultivate a sense of truth based on deep inborn intuition. Here is the essence of mindfulness.

Finally, doing this helps cultivate the compassion that so many petty cultural ideologies on every quadrant of the political, social and psychological spectrums try to instill in their blind-leading-the-blind adherents. Instead of loving people conditionally, based on how disenfranchised, ideological, open-minded or appealing they are, you love them based on the recognition that they too have access to the world of the spirit. Everyone has access to the true self should they choose to uncover it. We’re united by this inborn wisdom. We just feel so alienated from one another because large groups of people are never very smart. They rarely reflect and they certainly will take plenty of coaxing to look within themselves for even just 20 or 30 minutes a day. As a result, reconditioning yourself requires you to make an agreement with yourself— you will trade some of your self-indulgent whims and ideologies for a certain amount of silence and peace each day. This adds harmony to your life.

Cultivating the true self in such a way helps you see yourself for what you are and subsequently the world for what it is from the perspective of that self and beyond. Your actions harmonize with your thoughts. Your thoughts harmonize with your feelings. A greater balance is achieved. From this balance, a way of life that makes natural sense emerges. It’s a way of life with purposeless purposefulness rooted in simple action without fear. It is the essence of “just doing”. Just sit. Just reflect. Just let it happen.

16 Sep 2016
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Wounds to Wisdom

“People often think they can solve their problems, heal their wounds and solve the world’s problems by transcending their humanity and their physical body but I feel the solutions to our problems are located within this very body, on this earth, in our imperfect humanity. Sometimes we spend our life striving to be perfect and complete to escape from an inner sense of insufficiency. This often leads us further away from ourselves, further away from the core of our aliveness. Our vital life and freedom is not to be found in ascendance, perfection or completeness but in our very humanity and in our imperfection. Incompleteness is higher than completeness.

Seemingly paradoxically within our very imperfections we can find our wholeness, within our most difficult problems, we can find the solutions. The path to the healing and the path to the creation of a more abundant, benevolent human presence on earth may appear when we directly face our imperfections. It is not that we should glamorize our wounds, nor re-traumatize ourselves by constantly thinking about them but rather we may need to descend beneath our thoughts and go deeper into our body, our senses, our movement patterns, our inner dreams and myths and and our beingness. Then, rather than being something which drag our life down, our very problems may reveal themselves as a potential engines of transformation.

Our woundedness, our vulnerability and our difficult emotions can be treasures in disguise. If we are able to bring awareness to them as body feelings they may give us insights about our individuation process and clues as to what our real calling in life is. When we are able to fully hold our difficult feelings and access their deepest essence they lead us to wisdom, humility and confidence. We may need to learn to descend to the root and core of our power hidden in our bodies, where we find whatever disturbs us may alchemically transform into life energy and power. If we do this we need no longer feel an inner sense of insufficiency; the energy that once manifested as trauma and struggle now transforms itself into power and compassion

All along all our problems have really been our power, our love and our interbeing in a disguised form, they were manifestation of our great Self and the soul of the world trying to wake us up and trying to remind us of who we are. Rather than forever striving to become ‘complete’ we become happily aware of our own incompleteness. Our imperfection becomes the ‘crack in everything’ mentioned by Rumi through which the light shines through. Our incompleteness becomes our intimate connection the earth and with all life.”

About the Author: Jason Hine

You can find Jason on Facebook

16 Sep 2016
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When Did Spirituality Become So Self-Centered?

When did spirituality become so self-centered????

We have the capacity to do better, Light Leaders.
All of this talk about living your best life is dripping with privilege.
People die everyday…due to war, famine, drugs, police state, etc.
What do you truly struggle with?
Your happiness and gratitude and excitement about life is beautiful – but we must go deeper still.
There is a reason why the most effective leaders are not the “happiest” people. It is because they are faced with a more broadened view of the world and greater access to truths on our planet the would depress the most resilient soul.
Sometimes it is okay to put away the smile, roll up your sleeves, and dive into the shitpile.
I am not above the shitpile.
The shitpile is where I do my best work.
Out of the shitpile I was born, and in the shitpile is where I found my Self.
I know this is true for you too.
Today,
Remember.
Be grateful that your number was called at the time it was called, so your experience NOW is what it is.
Are you really speaking about what matters for ALL people…
or are you a holistic entrepreneur with a deeply personal spiritual journey that peaked at abundance and maxed out at Facebook notoriety.

Neither is right or wrong,
but YOU deserve to walk in your true path, and that is always a walk* (yes, walk) in process.
Because many are doing the work – and we desire more community, where we are not being judged for how spiritual and powerful we are within our marketing, our products, and our image.
We simply don’t give a shit about that.
We are ready to wail at the wall, and see it all fall.
There are children that need you. Go see about them.
There are sickly and elderly that need you. Go see about them.
There are the hellish and the hurting. Go see about them.
You can be depressed every day of your life, and still give to the depths of your soul’s ability – for the right reasons, for the right people.
That is the heart of service.
Don’t wait until your business is a success – to do what you think the notoriety will give you access to.
Post a sign, pitch a tent, put up your booth – and go be GREAT in your Light.
Some people want to be taught how to think and grow rich.
Some people want a guide to help them not commit suicide.
Some people want a mentor to help them reach their highest potential in their own chosen path.
What WE really need as ONE people,
Are those with a heart of true service.
Thank you to all those who have truly SERVED humanity, and SERVED individuals beyond the privilege of life coaching, counseling, and empowerment.
If your biggest fear is how you can quit your job and make more money…
You
Are
Lucky.
Don’t push your luck.
Rather, create your karma.
Go deeper, and you will come out higher.
I will do the same.

Buddha-Noah is the founder and lead healer of Buddha Life Church – an organization dedicated to helping humans embrace their divine humanness.
You can contact him by visiting: www.thespiritpsychic.com

15 Sep 2016
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Knowledge vs Wisdom

“Meditation is not passive sitting in silence. It is sitting in awareness, free from distraction, and realizing the clear understanding that arises from concentration.”
— Thich Nhat Hanh

As a lifelong reader who also meditates every day, I’ve had no choice but to swallow my pride and acknowledge that some things cannot be learned. What do I mean by this? Many people think of wisdom and knowledge as the same thing. Many educational institutions, scientists, artists and others simply believe that the more knowledge they acquire, the smarter they’ll be. People spend lifetimes trying to conquer knowledge at the expense of wisdom. In spending more and more time working with computers, it seems humans have started to believe that they themselves function similarly to computers. The more information they can fit into their heads, the better— or so they think.

A friend recently tried to argue the point that humans today are inherently more wise and more ‘valuable’ than humans of the past simply because they have more potential access to information. I found myself vehemently disagreeing with this sentiment. Time doesn’t objectively make anyone smarter and it certainly doesn’t make anyone wiser.

Those who choose to access wisdom find it, but throughout history they have always been a small and select population. Time may contribute to a larger collective pool of potential knowledge, but this is not wisdom. Access to this information may give people the appearance of being better informed, but it doesn’t make them wiser.

This fundamental error comes from people feeling historically distant from the idea of wisdom. Young people in America today are not all that religious. If they are religious, it’s rare that they are spiritual. Religion has been pitted against knowledge and, as always, the popular arguments against religion rarely take into account the valuable wisdom that can be produced by spiritual experience. Even meditators often just start because they think meditation is going to make them calmer and more productive. A mere century of industrialization and modernization has convinced people that man’s highest consciousness is productive consciousness. What an odd paradox that as man moves towards material satisfaction and comfort he finds himself further and further away from spiritual life.

Here’s the fundamental difference between knowledge and wisdom— knowledge comes from ‘out there’, while wisdom comes from within. You can spend your life holed up in the Ivory Tower at a respected university reciting the same old lecture on Wittgenstein ad infinitum til’ kingdom come, but that doesn’t make you wise.

To put it simply: knowledge is acquired, wisdom is uncovered. The things that you truly know, not facts or statistics or even things that can be expressed though language, are already in you waiting to be uncovered by your attention. Spiritual experience is the process of recognizing this innate wisdom. Compassion comes when we recognize that others have this wisdom and can access it if they wish. Sitting and reflecting often requires a certain humility and calmness. When we stand back and give ourselves some respect and some space, wisdom emerges. It comes in the quiet periods after thoughts begin to fade away.

Charlie Ambler is the founder of DailyZen, support his work by clicking here

15 Sep 2016
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Transcending Fear with Corey Sheikh

Overcoming FEAR!

But how do we do this without so much anger and resentment for the beautiful gifts of joy in which we call.. fears.

To complete our cycles we must come into NEUTRALITY.

For most of my life, I felt the need to FIGHT.

Fight against everyone, everything.

My ego was never satisfied, my mind always wanted more, I was in constant activity and strife.

The pain turned into suffering, as I felt a need to control all things, all situations, all people.

Never a dull moment, rather.. never a quiet moment. The perpetual addiction to “everything” resisted my realization of “nothing”.

Forever, there was a core just waiting to be tasted. A fruit of unmatched taste. The blessing and gift in which is bestowed upon us all, was a divine realization waiting for my arrival.

As I look, and as I see, in clarity, it is the avoidance of our withdrawal in which we shall ultimately face. The fire in which seems so large to small eyes, but ultimately insignificantly small to the eyes of the infinite creator.

This void space, where all is at peace, all is one, all is whole, because one is in need of nothing. One is desire-less, though one is connected to the highest desire. The desire of the manifestation of their highest self, their expanded self, their divine self. This is the truth, it is the truest truth, for nothing shall get simpler than just BEING as you are knowing the path in which is unfolding for you.

Trust, faith and surrender seem to not coincide with a mind, an existence, a life of FIGHTING. We are not here to fight, we do not need to battle, we need to make peace. First with ourselves, then with the other.

Know you truth, know your path, know your essence and it all shall be gifted back to you in clarity.

This whole “You are your own Guru” thing is quite interesting.

As I deep in my devotion to a true master. One who does not “teach” but gives direct experience, I recognize deeper and deeper the need for a physical master as the utmost importance in ones spiritual quest.

This has only come in the direct relationship to the release from my own ego.

As my ego arises at any point during my experience, my devotion and recognition of the obvious master-disciple relationship begins to falter.

Coincidentally ( lol) I sink into old habits, patterns and cycles of suffering.

As I walk the path, I am teaching what it is that I am coming into direct experience with. It is the reason why the teachings have come so far compared to the “book knowledge” much of it was in the past.

I am recognizing my limits to my students in humbleness to the vastness of this journey, and in that I step out of the trap of “you are your own guru”.

There is truth to this on absolute level.

We are all one, we are all coming from source, and we are all enlightened at the seed of our awareness.

However this is similar to “faking it till you make it” – its needed, but what is also needed is some humble pie to recognize there is deep level action required and necessary for you to walk the path.

Part of this is the devotion to true master or energy in which is guiding you through the depths of infinity.

The truth in all simply being a mirror for you is of highest importance.

When I sit with someone 1on1 I can ONLY be a mirror, as I can only give back what I have truly experienced, and on a deeper level, I can only give you back what YOU have experienced. This is the reality and limit to perception itself.

We are here not to be slaves of any master, however we are also here to recognize and be humble to the TRUE masters who are simply here to serve us. They are already in a space of liberation, they are here in recognition and oneness that you also connect to that liberation, and it is your divine birthright

Corey Sheikh is a visionary spiritual teacher, entrepreneur, activator, and co-founder of the Ottowa Lifestyle Centre. Work with him by clicking here.

08 Sep 2016
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I Am Free

“We are in control of only two things:

How we prepare for what may happen.
How we respond to what has happened.” – DeVon Franklin

“I MESSED UP! I don’t know what to do about it?” I hardly recognized Patty’s voice. I sensed the stifled words clawed and tightened her vocal chords finally gushed to the surface and erupted like Mount Vesuvius.

“Two board members’ bullying session from last week escalated at the meeting today. Only Joan showed up at the board meeting. Screamed, spewed her anger, ‘you didn’t put it on the board meeting agenda. Paul lied. I want an apology!’ I felt very embarrassed because an important guest from our National Board witnessed our dirty laundry. I had hoped to help Joan and Paul blow over their misunderstanding outside the board room.” Patty’s chin slumped against her chest.

“After the meeting, I asked, do you want another liaison? She did not answer, just kept ranting on!”

How big does your world need to get Patty, before you realize you are deserving enough just for being you?

Laughter filled the room, “HUGE, maybe three worlds. My core issue has turned into a volcanic eruption AGAIN!” Quiet frustration simmered across the ethers. Six little words slipped off her tongue, “thought I had dealt with that.”

The next time you feel that self-doubt pop its ugly head, TELL YOUR EGO, TAKE A HIKE! Better yet, retire in Fiji!

YOU, me, we – all have the freedom of choice. I choose to love all of me, including my bumps and bruises. Do you LOVE ALL of YOU? Do you know you are enough? Patty’s sigh burst from her body, I sensed her heart expanded bigger than Texas.

Is Patty’s experience about challenging board members the issue or did the Universe create another opportunity for her to see her core issue, self-doubt?

These past few months I’ve witnessed not only myself, but family, friends, and clients felt helpless and hopeless as buried issues raised their ugly heads for transformation.

When a story takes over our day, our creative, logical minds tend to be overwhelmed by the unresolved pain. Scientists have proven that our rational thinking brain shuts down in a sea of emotion. That means that when you are angry or feeling self-doubt, the logical brain you depend on to fix your problems is cut off! Look at the rage and frustration thrown across our internet and television screens. Do you see many creative solutions happening?

“When a person stops focusing on outer activity, closes his eyes, and relaxes, the brain activity automatically alters. The dominance of alpha wave rhythms signals a state of rest that is aware at the same time. The brain doesn’t go to sleep. It isn’t thinking either.

Instead, there is a new kind of alertness, one that needs no thoughts to fill up the silence. Corresponding changes occur in the body at the same time, your blood pressure and heart rate decrease, accompanied by less oxygen consumption.

These various changes do not sound overly impressive when put in technical terms, but the effect can be dramatic. Peace replaces the mind’s chaotic activity; inner turmoil ceases.” Deepak Chopra, M.D

When you feel yourself drowning in a cesspool of self-doubt, notice it is playing like a broken record, over and over. Do you see what triggers all that emotion? What memories surface in your mind? When was the last time you had similar feelings? Can you embrace these experiences?

Recently I heard a story about my dear friend’s spouse that several years ago my mind would have run a sleepless angry marathon all night long. Instead, the usual light in my eyes were shrouded in silent sadness – hmmm, I did not like that image at all.

What’s a girl do when she doesn’t want to wallow in a sad story? I sat comfortably in my sacred corner. Took three deep breaths. I saw myself holding my friend’s spouse in my heart. I allowed the golden honey unconditional love to pour over us both. Poof went the story! My next perception, profound inner peace washed over me. I am FREE! Free from my story and free from my friend’s story too.

Now I offer the gentle healing and loving friendship that frees us both from the illusions that separate us from the Oneness that is always present.

Do you have stories that no longer serve you? Are they wiping out the sparkling light from your eyes? These are opportunities to discover what still lurks in your dusty attic. No need to be lost lingering in the land of illusion, you can choose to transform that story now.

After I had reflected on the pervasive freedom a couple of days later, I realized this new intimate feeling was even more profound than non-judgment and compassion. It must have been the fairies and GRACE had swept my attic sparkling clean!

By Ascension Lifestyle Contributor Suzy Greene

Suzy Greene has been seeing and talking to Spirit, Jesus, angels and the ascended masters since she was a young girl. You can follow Suzy on social media @TheLovingBridge. Learn more about her books, sign up for the weekly blog or request a private session: http://TheLovingBridge.com
Link to her author page on Amazon Facebook Instagram Twitter

29 Aug 2016
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The Gold Standard: Morphing Out of Materialism

“You sit here for days saying, ‘This is strange business.’

You’re the strange business. You have the energy of the sun

in you, but you keep knotting it up at the base of your spine.

You’re some weird kind of gold that wants to stay melted in

the furnace, so you won’t have to become coins.”

~ Rumi

While many of us realize this pivotal moment we’re living heralds a return to unity among all peoples and all life on Earth, visionary author Moira Timms takes the shift a step further, painting a lucid picture of how wealth and wholeness are one. As we remember and reclaim our wholeness/holiness, we elevate the concept of abundance to a “whole” new level.

In Beyond Prophecies and Predictions: Everyone’s Guide to the Coming Changes, Timms describes our emerging “true wealth” consciousness this way: “The mind analyzes — the heart synthesizes. The turning point is where the heart is awakening. The United States motto (inscribed on the banner in the beak of the eagle found on the Great Seal, on the back of a one dollar bill), reminds us that America was founded on the principle of ‘E Pluribus Unum’ — ‘Out of the Many, One.'”

Further, the inscription beneath the Great Pyramid (also part of the Great Seal) says, “Novus Ordo Seclorum” — which translates, appropriately, as “A New Order of the Ages”. Isn’t this amusing? The answer is in money, but it’s not about who can become the richest at others’ expense.

Morphing Out of Materialism

We’re morphing out of materialism. If we insist on consuming planetary resources and each other at the speed of greed, the money will not follow. By the same token, as we reclaim our heritage as Earth stewards, we’ll get funded — naturally. True wealth/prosperity/abundance flows from alignment with purpose. “Get with the program” is not a reference to the latest shopping app! It’s about tuning in to a higher frequency.

The energy of both money and sexuality resides on the second chakra (the Sanskrit word for the seven “wheels of energy” that spin from our root to our crown along the spinal column.) Located in the pelvic region, the second chakra is our “survival center,” says renowned medical intuitive Caroline Myss, Ph.D.

A disconnect in terms of our sexuality might manifest as aggression, hostility, sexual abuse or sexual dysfunction, says Myss. Disconnection in terms of money can manifest as financial loss, or fear of loss of control — which in our culture often expresses as out-of-control spending.

Consumption Flu

A fascinating description of this affliction, “affluenza,” originated with a PBS television special. The report defined the epidemic as “an unhappy condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste, resulting from the dogged pursuit of more.” (Intriguingly, “Consumption” is also the old term for tuberculosis, a disease that infects the lungs. Hard to breathe when you’re stuffed to the gills with stuff!)

Misguided by the notion that buying more equates to being more, we often end up bankrupt, literally and spiritually. “Retail therapy” is a throat lozenge, when we need the spiritual equivalent of rest, warmth and nurturing — healing salves for the soul.

Living in true prosperity requires us to replenish our emotional bank account. It lends new meaning to the term “trust fund.” Since we’ve been schooled to put our trust in a specific income stream as the source of our abundance, rather than in something beyond money, even amassing a fortune can feel hollow.

“Affluenza” substitutes for connection with others, confirms prosperity coach Joan Sotkin. Sotkin says we can’t run out of money, only people. Because money flows from our connection to others, if you’re running out of money, “you’re afraid of being left alone or of abandoning yourself. Money is the energy of relationship. How you deal with money is how you deal with your relationship with yourself and others. You have to make that connection in order for the energy to flow back to you,” she says.

Wellness is Well(th)

Myss expands on Sotkin’s observation in the first of her groundbreaking books, Anatomy of the Spirit. She writes, “Money, like energy, is a neutral substance that takes its direction from the intention of the individual. Expressions such as ‘Put your money where your mouth is’ and ‘Talk is cheap’ refer to the cultural view that what people do with their money says more about their motives than any spoken intention. Money is the means through which we make our private beliefs and goals public. Energy precedes action, and the quality of our intentions contributes financially to the results.”

Since the second chakra sacrament is Communion, according to Myss, it represents union with the Divine. In Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can she says, “If breaking bread with (someone) is the physical act of communion, Symbolic Communion is the sharing of energetic ‘bread’ with them. When the second chakra is united with the sacrament of Communion in a positive way, it becomes focused on building healthy, clean, and nonthreatening relationships to money, power, and sex. A sense of safety is always present, giving one the feeling that no matter what problems arise in one’s physical life, a way out can be found.”

We become truly wealthy by stepping fully into the lifestream. Intriguingly, all of our typical money metaphors contain water imagery: cash flow, liquid assets, currency (currents), reserves (reservoir). “Affluence” literally means, “to flow abundance”. The more we flow with life rather than fight it, the greater our own rising tide of prosperity.

Consider this: from the materialistic perspective, “sliding scale” refers to adjustable fees; as we resonate to a higher octave, sliding scale becomes synonymous with harmony, “The Music of the Spheres.” To reframe one of the most popular songs of an era: we don’t buy the Stairway to Heaven, we climb it — right up the ladder of our chakras to the stars.

The energy of the sun (fire) lives in you. Fire and water are complements, the masculine and feminine principles of life. Once you’ve been forged in the alchemical fire, how will you offer yourself to the world as coins? Newly minted, you are the currency of transformation. Spend yourself wisely, and draw the healing water you need from Life’s well.

About the author:

Amara Rose is a “midwife” for our global rebirth. Her services include transformational guidance, talks, e-courses, a digital download CD, and an inspirational monthly newsletter. She is widely published in health, business and new thought magazines, both digital and print. Learn more: http://www.liveyourlight.com

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01 Aug 2016
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Becoming Whys

“If we have our own ‘why’ of life, we shall get along with almost any ‘how.'”

~ Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher

Becoming “whys” — owning our raison d’être, or reason for being — is the core question of our lives. Why am I here? What is my purpose?

We were taught to put our attention on form rather than function. The popular childhood question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” was reinforced by aptitude tests and guidance counselors who helped us select possible careers. We’ve identified with these labels ever since. So I’m hearing clients, colleagues and friends asking, Should I do my art? Teach? Get a real estate license? Go into sales?

Are You Looking In the Right Place?

My suggestion is, allow form to emerge from focus. Begin by becoming your whys: why are you here now? What are you passionate about? What is your heart calling you to communicate? Once you know your essence Self, how you express it can take many forms.

One client reported, “The most significant moment was when you asked me, ‘What is your work?’ The irony was tremendous… I had been looking for a job for over two years, interviewing with companies all over the country, and your question totally stumped me. What was my work? The question came as a breath of fresh air in my already congested life.”

Molly told me her purpose is “to stand for peace.” But she’s not an activist, organizing marches or chaining herself to fences in protest. While these are certainly viable avenues for expressing one’s truth, her path to peace takes the form of bringing new color and clarity to the magazine where she’s a graphic designer, to the people whose lives she touches. By embodying peace, she stands for it every day in a quiet fullness.

Your Awareness Inspires Others

And irony has transmuted to inspiration. Coworkers at her previous and current jobs have said the identical words to her: “You’re a breath of fresh air.” This is what Gandhi meant by, “My life is my message.”

Suppose your whys are about the next generation: you feel inspired to assist children’s spiritual development. Once you know this purpose in your soul, it might take the form of lobbying for changes in public education, writing a book, or becoming a teacher in an alternative educational system such as Waldorf or Montessori. You might decide to home-school your kids, start a neighborhood discussion group, give workshops for parents, or speak at new-thought churches such as Science of Mind and Unity.

The possibilities are limitless. And it all begins with becoming —embracing and embodying — your why.

9 Ways to Clarify Your Why:

Relax. We don’t find what we seek through endless searching.
Stop. Give yourself permission to stop doing, stop running, stop hurrying. Stop thinking you already know. Relax.
Ask. Ask anything you want, but make sure it’s about your own development. Then wait. The answer will come.
Listen. Listen with your whole being. You can listen while you work. You can listen while you sleep.
Be neutral. Nothing is inherently good or bad in and of itself.
Allow. “Trying” builds a wall between wanting and having. In the relaxed space of allowing you begin to receive.
Learn. We learn by opening. Begin to balance the energy of opposites within yourself.
Stand in it. You’ve learned who you are. Now stand in it. Be it.
Give it. You learned it. You’re standing in it. Now give it. Take a chance. Be honest. Be humble. Give as you were given. It returns a thousand-fold.

About the author:

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15 Jul 2016
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Sleeping With the Enemy: A Conversation With Self-doubt

Greetings. Let me introduce myself to you, so we can get better acquainted. Although in all honesty I know you already. I know you intimately. We are old friends, you and I – Yes! I know all there is to know about you. I know your shadows and your darkness. I have sucked on the marrowbone belonging to the skeletons in your closet and I have danced from dusk until dawn with every one of your demons. I skulked into your life many moons ago and have stayed for the duration. So, perhaps it is time you got to know me? I feel I have an unfair advantage in this relationship.

When you are dressed to impress, walking with a confident stride across a room, daubed in your most effective war paint – I see you. I see all. I can strip away the paint, the make-up and the mask. I can remove the clothing layer by layer and perceive you in all your soft vulnerability. I see you just as you are.

I see you when your back is pressed against a wall, in the darkest corner of the room as you watch the movement and the chatter of others, believing you are safely inconspicuous. You are not shielded in all your quiet comfort from my scrutiny. I am at your side.

When you have escaped the hustle and bustle of the world, withdrawing yourself from all the overwhelming stimuli of life, there I will be. You may believe yourself to be alone and safeguarded from all that is overwhelming but even here, I sit with you.

Can you not hear me whispering into your ear?

As I exhale my breathy words are a sweet and familiar poison. A nectar of contempt. I don’t need to shout or roar! I speak tenderly to you in palatable phrases and in pleasing lyrics that are seemingly harmless. They echo in your mind over and over. And you listen. You hear my soft, insidious song and over time it becomes your own song. You write the harmony, you create the symphony and you dance to it day and night.

Can you not feel my breath upon your flesh?

As I inhale I imperceptibly feed upon you. Bit by bit. I drain you slowly and steadily. I take all I need from you and leave you pale and exhausted. I leave you aching in your very bones. I suck out the sweetness from you core; I draw the wonder from your eyes and drink the laughter from your lungs. You see, I need you in order to exist and you give to me oh, so willingly! So, I am unhurried as I devour you, I have plenty of time. A whole lifetime! And you barely notice as I seek to destroy you. (If you let me.)

Can you not feel the weight of me upon your shoulders?

As you nourish me, I grow substantial. I bear down upon you, becoming heavier as I feed. I tread lightly at first; you can barely tell I am there. My footfall feels slight, my substance is flimsy. But I am persistent. As I endlessly whisper, I feed. As I feed I crave more. As I crave, I become gluttonous. I am insatiable! And my presence – which was initially so insignificant – you have to carry upon your bent shoulders as a cumbersome burden. You take me wherever you go.

I have many names and many guises. And this is how you will recognise me; I promise that you already do:

I am deceit. I am a spurious truth. I am a part-truth brewed in a cauldron of shame and poured into the goblet of disgust – A concoction you drink like medicine. A substance you become addicted to.

I am fear. I am the voice that finds you in the depths of the night and repeats its noxious lullaby of derision that spins around and around your weary head like a carousel, twisting and turning as it seeps into your dreams.

I am regret. I am the insurmountable guilt and remorse that rises like a mountain from the curling mists of your memory. My summit is powdered with humiliation and disgrace.

I am insecurity. I am the ocean of apprehension that emerged in your childhood and surged in your adolescence. You drift endlessly upon my tides and are moved by the strength of my currents. I swell like a tsunami and can unleash the deluge of my awesome power at any time, swallowing you in the depths of anxiety and drowning you.

Pick up a shell from my shore, place it to your ear and hear me whisper to you once again. Listen to my sonorous song, heed my gorgeous words. Know them, my friend. Take them from me and sing them as your own:

You are not worthy.

You have no value.

It is all your fault.

You get what you deserve.

You are worthless.

You should be more.

You must be less.

You are too much.

You are not enough…

Now, in order to put some balance into our relationship, let me tell you something; it is a secret I usually keep to myself but I am feeling generous. Listen carefully because this is the first and last time I will give you this delightful little nugget…

My power is not my own. You are complicit in my very existence.

You see, I am a parasite. I exist within you and yet without you I cannot exist. I travel to you through many channels, yet your mind is the vessel I need to survive. I am an instrument of those who wish to limit you, yet I need your vindication to keep me living. You are my accomplice and yet my nemesis. You are my alpha and my omega.

But I think I shall stop now, perhaps I have said too much? I grow weary of myself. So, my friend now you know my voice. You recognise my song and understand all the work I have put into shaping of you.

My name is self-doubt. I am glad to have made your acquaintance.

Verity is a weaver of words, a spinner of stories and a forger of fantasy. She is a fabricator of fables, a maker of magic and a lover to legend. She is a creator of mess and of laughter, a crafter of tears and tantrums. She is a mystic mama. She is a woman-child who loves fiercely and drinks deeply from the cup that bears the sweet nectar of the profound.

She lives in a beautiful British Celtic County and embraces life here with open arms because its ancient rhythms pulsate and resonate through her.

You can connect with her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheSoulFireWoman Twitter (@soulflamewoman) or on her website https://soulfirewomanblog.wordpress.com