Wednesday, December 17, 2008

#11 (9:04 - 9:47)

glass-half-full_medium.jpg "Lighten your material load, starting today. As you do so, less energy is spent hoarding, and insuring, and moving, and polishing and so on. The less attracted you are to your possessions, and the more you are able to share them with others unconditionally, the more peaceful your life will be. See how many things you can give away that you no longer use and don't ask anything for it in return; and don't tell anyone else that you did it. Just give not to get, but just for the beautiful soulful notion of unburdening your soul with all of that material stuff that you no longer need."

"It is the space within the glass that makes it useful."

This has been a very challenging practice for me since I am one to hang on to things. I always think that I will have use for it at a later date; books, old electronic parts, old computers, boxes, clothing, shoes and so on. In a matter of time, I have realized that I accumulated so many things, that it has crowded up a lot of the free space in my rooms.

Now, it has become a lot easier for me. I give away clothing that I do not use, I sell books that, if necessary, could be purchased at a later date if I really needed them. I throw away old boxes and other unnecessary items. I do still have some old computers that are taking up free space that I want to get rid of as well. I actually have them there set aside to be thrown away right now.

Why? I feel much better when there is space around me. The 11th verse of the Tao describes this beautifully:

Though thirty spokes may form the wheel,
it is the hole within the hub
which gives the wheel utility.

It is not the clay the potter throws,
which gives the pot its usefulness,
but the space within the shape,
from which the pot is made.

Without a door, the room cannot be entered,
and without windows it is dark.

Such is the utility of non-existence.

It is the emptiness of the room that gives the room its usefulness. This is exactly how I feel. When there is space, there is clarity of thought and with clarity of thought, there is usefulness. I do intend to reduce the amount of 'things' that I hang on to. We have a way of attaching meanings to all these material things, when in reality, they really have no meaning. It does take a bit of thought changing, but I know it gets easier once you make it a habit of not clinging to possessions.

An important message from this lesson as well is the notion of giving. Most of the time, we expect something in return, but once we start giving and release all expectations, then our lives will change significantly. Not only will we feel great because we give out of joy or love, but also receive the same joy and love from others because it is one of the many laws of the Universe. We will start receiving all that we want in our lives because our givingness is being reciprocated. An amazing place this world is.

God bless.

Frank

Monday, December 8, 2008

#10 (8:11 - 9:03)

people talking 2 "Keep in mind that grievances bring turmoil and communication brings peace. If you are angry at someone in your life, work at communicating those grieved feelings with that person, no matter how difficult it may be. One of the things that really destroys relationships is the unwillingness to talk or be open about the things that are difficult for us to talk about. So even if it is something that you feel inside you can't do, just push aside that impossibility and say to yourself "I'm gonna talk to my spouse, or my lover, or my daughter, or my mother about these things, and the talking is a way of releasing the energy that is built up that creates all the turmoil that we live with that destroys relationships"

This lesson, to me, reflects a message of honesty and being true to yourself. I think it becomes very difficult for us to reflect the highest truth on a day to day basis, especially if we are attached to the positionalities of our egos. I truly believe that once we learn to detach from these positionalities, the spirit of our true self will prevail. All these attachments to ideas, beliefs, accolades, striving, all this stuff, make it difficult for that condition to reveal itself. Therefore, when I think about my nature and day-to-day life, I do my very best to be who I am and not be attached to other people's opinions or expectations of me. Ultimately, you will feel happy with who you are and what you have evolved into because everything that occurred, you know you made the choice based on how you feel and what you believed to be true at that moment in time. Trust in God and trust in your very nature, and you will experience a life that is simply amazing.

God bless.

Love, Frank

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

#9 (7:42 - 8:10)

meditate_550x413shkl "Release anything you have been told is impossible or unrealistic, and allow yourself to make your own contract with God about what is possible for you. Examine all the doubts you have about miracles and miracle workers and replace the doubt with openness. Be open and release everything that you hate."

Surrender your positionalities and belief systems. Many things we hold to be true today were merely belief systems that were passed on through generations. Sometimes when I think about some of these thoughts or ideas, many do not make any sense. However, given how powerful the mind is, once you believe something to be true, it can actually become part of your experience and manifest. That's the way the Universe works, "whatever you hold in mind, tends to manifest"; even if the thoughts are false. We can believe ourselves to have certain illnesses and actually experience that physically, even though that is not the case.

Now, I understand how important it is to pay attention to the thoughts I hold to be true. This message of openness basically allows us to release ourselves from age old belief systems and hold true what we feel to be so. If we believe something, and when we go within, it does not bring us happiness or love, then we are free to release that idea and listen to what our inner voice tells us. It is this inner voice that is the true expression of the Self.

I posted a great video on Great Talks about the power of the mind. It relates to this post in a sense. Check it out.

Napoleon Hill | The power of the mind

God bless.

Love Frank.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

#8 (6:51 - 7:40)

crucifixion "Attempt to remove all enemies from your thoughts. The same intelligence that flows through you, flows through all human beings. When you know you are connected to all, you cannot fathom striking out at others; let alone feeling hatred for them. Or another way of saying this is... 'on a round planet, there's no choosing up sides'. We all are here for a reason, we all have the same Divine energy flowing through us and when we stop thinking of ourselves as separate from everyone else, we begin to see and experience the love that we are here for in the first place. In my opinion, God doesn't want us to love God, God wants us to learn to love each other. That's what it means to be a holy being; to not have enemies, and to love each other. That's truly what loving God is all about."

When I listened to this message, I thought of a couple ideas that I heard previously. The first being Jesus Christ on the cross being crucified, as depicted in the image above. His message was one of forgiveness. Why? Well, he understood that as humans, our common flaw is our ignorance - our inability to determine truth from what is not not the truth (falsehood). Therefore if we are not able to tell what is truth, then how can we be blamed for our actions. Therefore, he had compassion for them and asked his Father to forgive them, even as his 'life' was being taken.

The second idea that came to mind was from a lecture from Dr. David Hawkins. He relayed the same message of Christ. He also said that once there is love, there is no need for forgiveness, because there would be nothing to forgive the person for. From the time one feels the need to forgive, one have already judged the person. There is a tendency for the ego to judge others because there is a belief that in separateness. We are all at different stages of our respective journeys. Our judgements are mere perceptions of others' journeys that we do not and cannot comprehend.

This is an amazing concept. I totally understood that because we almost always instantly judge others at first glance. This is because we associate ourselves with our minds and bodies. Therefore, when we see someone or someone's actions, we immediately look at it from a superficial level, from a material level, and choose not to look at them from their Divine natures.

The first sentence of the lesson is "Remove all enemies from your thoughts". Am I able to do that? I believe I can. All it requires is that I become an expression of love and surrender everything to God. I have to let Go and let God as Dr. Dyer says. I have to become detached from all 'positionalities' and all ego-centered thoughts and ideas. Only then, will the conditions of lovingness, forgiveness and the perception of oneness prevail in my conscious experience.

Thank you.

God bless.

Frank

Sunday, November 23, 2008

#7 (6:33 - 6:50)

"Write down this ancient truth and re-read it on a daily basis. When you seek happiness for yourself, it will always elude you; when you seek happiness for others, you would find it yourself."

bill_gates_malaria,0-743195 Bill Gates: 'Malaria is robbing Africa of people and potential.'

The first idea that came to mind was the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. I believe this is because I have spent some time reading and understanding all that they do. They have really thought out how they can best serve the world; doing the most good for the most people without any sort of bias for race, region, ethnicity, but just helping those that drew the short straws in life.

This message told me that one usually finds ones own purpose in the service of others. I truly believe that one can ultimately realize one's true self through the service of others. It does not have to be anything in specific, but just in our day to day lives. Be considerate of others today, hold the door open for someone today, help someone with something that they may need today, go out of your way one time today to assist a friend, or better yet, a stranger.

This allows us to connect to our Self because it shows us that we are not separate from anyone else. We are all one. This is what service is ultimately; the realization of the oneness of us all. We will learn to be compassionate, loving and be conscious of what others are experiencing around us. In this way, we will grow into a true expression of God; love.

God bless.

Frank

Saturday, November 8, 2008

#6 (5:40 - 6:30)

Forgive yourself for your transgressions. See that mistakes are lessons for you to transcend. Release yourself from the tyranny of self-incrimination; make the decision to be free. Everything that ever happened to you in your life, has happened for a reason and when you are filled with an absence of self-forgiveness and you are full of recriminations about what you did and what you shouldn't have done or what you should have done; all of these kind of things are really a message that you are sending to the Universe saying that God's plan does not work and mine does. That is really an insidious thing to say. Everything that you've done or experienced is over and you had something to learn from it, so forgive yourself and move on with your life."   

The most important message I got from this lesson is to forgive myself. We have a tendency to be our own strongest critics at times, however, we must also be our strongest supporters as well. We must really learn to forgive ourselves because everything that happens are not because of coincidence, but all for a reason. The important idea to comprehend is that we must learn from these experiences and allow them to change the way we see things. I assure you that once you learn to do this with all of your life's occurrences, your entire experience of the world, will change as well. It is a beautiful thing. One of Dr. Wayne Dyer's new books portrays this message using the ancient teachings of Lao Tzu in Tao te Ching called "Change your thoughts, Change your life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao". This is a great book; I recommend reading it and trying the lessons each day; amazing changes will start to occur in your life once you change the way you think.

Only when we learn to forgive ourselves, can we learn to forgive others. How we treat others is merely a projection of our own thoughts and ideals. It is what's inside of us that is expressed externally. Therefore, if we can't forgive ourselves, this is what we will project unto others. It all starts from within; it all begins with going inside ourselves as we learned in a previous lesson.

One of the affirmations in The Course in Miracles states that "I can choose peace over this". This is a very important lesson in forgiveness. We all have a choice to react in a particular way; we can choose to hang on to guilt, shame, apathy or fear, or we can choose to forgive and surrender to God. We all have the choice to "Let go and let God" as Dr. Dyer always says. This is truly a great lesson in forgiveness; it is ultimately a huge lesson we have to learn in life; just forgive. This, I believe, is one of the secrets to life.

[image credit - www.christinepeloquin.com]

Sunday, November 2, 2008

#5 (5:00 - 5:38)

meditate "Be peaceful, experience silence, meditate and really listen to God. The result will be that you would find the solution to each and every one of your problems, whether it be related to relationships, finances or health or self-image, all within your self. The peace, the silence, the solitude, all come from an understanding that God's one and only voice is silence, as Herman Melville reminded us. If you could be peaceful even for one moment today, just peaceful and go within, you're going to find the bliss you were looking for."

Herman Melville said that God's one and only voice is silence. This is amazingly true. Beyond the noise of everyday life and the noise of the mind, there exists a field of silence that is truly of God. As I type this, I am reminded of the first verse of the Tao Te Ching where Lao Tzu describes the Tao as the nameless and unchanging; that which is the silence. It becomes a challenge at times to contemplate on these sort of ideas in a society that is moving so quickly and values speed so much. This is why I believe it is important to sit in silence and be at peace any time I have the opportunity. Only then is it possible to reconnect and truly hear that voice in your head; the voice of God. It is amazing how it is in that silence that we derive the answers to what we have been looking for.

I have a practice of sitting in silence, closing my eyes and going within when I am uncertain about a particular situation. Usually I come out feeling a lot better; things are a lot clearer and I have not been bewildered more by other people's opinions. More so, the act of going within usually brings clarity. It is rare that we get the chance to do this in our busy and hectic lives, that is why we all should make it a priority to meditate or be in silence a few times during day. It does wonders for me, maybe it will for you also. A great teacher said that the answer to all questions lies within. Go within oneself and listen to that voice and the answer will be revealed. That's all that is needed at times; meditation.

I have always enjoyed the silence. It somehow makes me feel connected to everything because I am focused on nothing. It is hard to explain at times. For some, it is really difficult to be in a room alone. It is not my experience; I really enjoy that; the peace, tranquility and connectedness it brings to me. I remember when I lived in North Carolina, I went out to the woods adjacent to my apartment and just sat there in mindfulness. By that I mean I just did nothing but be there in that moment; in contemplation. It became something I really enjoyed. Now I am back in New York; different lifestyle, different environment, so it takes more effort to do that. However, I am consciously aware of it and do it when I can. The peace, I believe, already resides in me. It's just a matter of connecting to it.

God bless.

Frank.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

#4 (4:30 - 5:00)

horse-island121nature "Draw your inner energy from the beauty that surrounds you. When you do so, this energy reception will become a source of strength and sustenance in your life. As you begin practicing beauty appreciation, seeing it in all things that you encounter, including all people; as you begin to see the fullness of God in everyone, rather than something to judge, you will find a new kind of bliss in your everyday life."

I love this message because it once again reminds me of the Divinity that exists in all things. This energy that Dr. Dyer refers to, the energy of life itself, is the Divine energy that goes through all of us. I always do what I can do go beyond physical appearances and view everything situation or circumstance and every person or animal, from a spiritual perspective. This allows me to respect the Divine nature of everything.

I recall, at Dr. Hawkin's lecture in California, he mentioned that a tree respects us as humans because of our Divinity. He calibrated this using Kinesiology and it tested true. I thought that to be amazing. We normally see a tree as a physical, almost inanimate object at times, but there is a life energy that flows through it as well. This is as Divine as the energy that flows through me. Now, I do understand that and respect a tree because it is a tree and for no other reason. Respect all things by virtue of what they are, because they can be nothing else...a dog can only be a dog and nothing else, a cat can only be a cat, a snake can only be a snake, I can only be who I am.

Another thought comes to mind as I type. Dr. Hawkin's once spoke of Chief Detroit, a Native American chief, that will ask the deer for forgiveness for taking its life in order to sustain his own. He truly understand the Divinity, the White Spirit he called it, that exists in all things.

So I do not judge anything for being what it is, but I love and experience life's perfection and surrender my positionalities to God. So much to learn.

Thank you.

God bless.

Frank.

Friday, October 24, 2008

#3 (3:42 - 4:25)

 appreciation"Become aware that there are no accidents in our intelligent Universe. Realize that everything that shows up in our life has something to teach you. Appreciate everyone and everything in your life. You need to begin looking inward at you who are and why you are here instead of outward at the physical world or anything in it. Make this a day of appreciation, a day of being in awe and bewilderment of everything that you come in contact with. Appreciate your liver, appreciate your eyes, appreciate your legs, appreciate your mind and everything you come in contact with. Instead of judging it, just appreciate it."

I am reminded of the perfection of the Universe in today's lesson. I really believe in this message because I have experienced it firsthand. I remember times, especially in hindsight, when people came into my life right when I needed assistance to guide me through seemingly challenging moments. I realized how blessed I was to have had these people there at those very moments. Thinking about it, I understood how much more difficult it would be if they were not present. I thank God many times for giving me this conscious awareness and understanding; otherwise I would take many things for granted.

Everyone that shows up in our lives are here to teach us a lesson. I think Dr. Dyer said that we must look inwards rather than outwards because the way we deal with these people are up to us. It is a reflection of us and not them. So whatever is in us is projected outwards in how we experience and perceive the world. It is a test each day for me because at times some things come outwards that I may not necessarily want. I am aware of it and I am working on it constantly.

As Shakespeare said "This world is a stage and we are all actors". He was right in the sense that it offers us the opportunity to become who we want through our experiences in the world. Is there a better place to realize the true self? I believe unconsciously we attract these situations so that we can ultimately overcome them in order to progress spiritually. I look forward to today's challenges and will not judge them, but appreciate them all and everything and everyone that are around me.

Thank you God.

Blessings.

Frank

Thursday, October 16, 2008

#2 (3:05 - 3:40)

bigstockphoto_Man_Meditation_1203669

“This is your sacred quest. The doorway to higher levels of awareness in your life opens inward and most of us spends our lives facing the wrong way, looking outside of ourselves for the solutions to our problems. Where inward, in that silent, quiet, empty space within…is where the Universal intelligence lies; it is where your essence as a human being is. Begin to look inward rather than outward each day.”

This second message really makes a strong point on the subjectivity of life. I recall Dr. Wayne Dyer lecturing a message about someone losing his keys inside the house, but because it was dark, went outside where there was light to look for them. I mention this because it is always easier to look outside, to blame someone else or some random experience for the way things are in our life today.

This message however, is clear and has been expressed by many spiritual teachers. To fully understand oneself, one must look within. Go beyond the mind and thinkingness, beyond all self-identification with the body and other associations, beyond all desires…to that silence within. This is where the true Self resides.

Another thought that comes to mind is that how we interact with others in the world is a reflection of what is inside us and nothing else. If we treat people with disrespect or go around disliking others, it means that those behaviors come from inside us and not from anywhere else. When you squeeze an orange, does orange juice not come from inside it? Well when we are tested, when things don't work out the way we want or someone says something to us we don't want to hear, if hate or anger comes out of us... it means that it was already inside of us.

Therefore, it is clear that we must overcome the struggle within ourselves if we are to change our interactions in the world. How we see the world is merely a projection of our current way of thinking. The great part of all this is that it can be changed in a second….by merely changing our thoughts.

God bless.

Frank

Sunday, October 12, 2008

#1 (2:16 - 3:02)

acorn_sprout “Know in your heart there is an invisible intelligence in everything; and you have the power to make contact with this Divine intelligence and create a life of bliss. There is something Divine that rolls through all things. You can’t get a hold of it?

A little seedling has treeness in it when it is put into the ground. You can’t see treeness or you can’t see the tree, yet know it is in there. And same is with you. You have greatness, you have an energy that is so powerful that it flows through you and everything that you come in contact with. Know it, begin to trust it and you will find yourself experiencing transformation in your life.”

I love this first message for several reasons; the main reason being that it speaks to me clearly of my Divine nature. The same energy that flows through everything in nature, flows through me. Therefore, not only am I Divine (that I come from God and I represent a physical manifestation of God), but so is everyone and everything around me. Therefore, all deserves the same love and respect that I would give myself.

Also, I see that because of this Divine nature that nothing is impossible. Is anything impossible for God? Well then I have the power to create anything that I want in my life. I have access to the infinite power that created the Universe. The power from this field of infinite potentiality allows me to experience life the way I want because I know that through my thoughts and trusting in this Divine energy, I can definitely create this life of bliss.

Frank.