Baptist | Religion4All

On A Day Such As This …

March 6, 2013 at 6:34 pm · Filed under Christianity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Meditative Writings, Philosophy, Religion, Spirituality, Zen and tagged: Addiction, Allah, Art, Astrology, Baptist, Belief, Buddhism, Catholic, Chakra, Chi, Christianity, Church, Eckhart Tolle, Energy, Fundamentalist, Gnostic, God, healing, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, Judaism, Love, Magic, Meditation, Miracle, Mithraism, Mithras, Mormon, Muslim, Mysticism, Nature, Overcoming, Pagan, Pain, Poetry, Prana, Presbyterian, Prose, Protestant, Religion, Samskara, Shaman, Shamanism, Shiite, Sikh, Soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Sunni, Tarot, Unitarian, Wicca, Wonder, Writing, Zen, Zodiac, Zoroastrianism

Meditation saves lives.

No, really … it does … it’s just that we don’t really know when it has saved our lives because, well, we’re still alive!

Case in point:

Two days ago I received one of the most vicious, nasty letters I have ever had the displeasure of reading. Over the past year I have had to make some very difficult decisions in order to bring my outer life into alignment with the inner blossoming that has taken place over the past two years.

I’ve spent years, decades, pursuing a closer relationship with God … but it has been in the last couple of years that a series of enlightenment experiences have rocked, changed, and transformed me into a completely new person. So … in the process of making changes in my life … there were people who were disappointed, and even hurt by the changes that needed to be made. I have to live through those reactions, keep my heart open through them, and allow those lessons to mold me into the person I’m supposed to become as a result. That is the responsibility that comes with having lived with a closed heart for so long … and you can’t escape those responsibilities.

So, this letter. I don’t need to go into the details, but it left me a sobbing, tearful mess … it came from someone I have a great deal of love for; hence the level of pain. I don’t know about you, but things that go to such depths take some time to heal from. So for the past couple of days my head has been whirling like a dervish and ringing like a gong all at the same time. Consequently … I’ve been a little scattered.

This is what I mean about meditation saving lives. We all get caught up in our personal crises and begin reacting to the events that keep piling on. Yesterday I was so scattered from the emotional trauma that I was going to be late for a contract signing. I started stressing out even more than I already was, which made me drive faster. Before I knew it I was speeding … fortunately I noticed and MADE myself slow down. I called the office I was driving toward to let them know I would be late, and then I switched on my audiobook of “The Untethered Soul“, by Michael Singer. This put me in a meditative state, and the rest of my drive went well. Had I allowed myself drive recklessly because of reacting to the craziness in my life? Who knows, I could have gotten a speeding ticket, OR I could have gotten in an accident … or caused somebody else to have one. I, or somebody else, could have died at worse … or at least had our lives altered in some most likely negative way.

Today, when I had time, I spent an hour or so meditating, grounding, connecting with my Creator, clearing my space of all the awfulness that was lingering … all the crap that I had been allowing to turn me into a pinball careening around the bouncing jolting world of Re-Action.

It is SO important that I just can’t stress it enough. Take the time to take care of yourself … to meditate and seek Guidance. God LOVES you … only good can come from being Loved. 🙂 That’s what meditation IS … allowing yourself to be Loved … and to give Love in return. It could very well save your life … and it most CERTAINLY will change it … for the better!

Peace and Love.

~~~~~~~

Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

Getting to the root – Forgiveness

March 5, 2013 at 6:31 pm · Filed under Christianity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Philosophy, Quotations, Quotes, Religion, Spirituality, Zen and tagged: Addiction, Allah, Art, Astrology, Baptist, Belief, Buddhism, Catholic, Chakra, Chi, Christianity, Church, Eckhart Tolle, Energy, Fundamentalist, Gnostic, God, healing, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, Judaism, Love, Magic, Meditation, Miracle, Mithraism, Mithras, Mormon, Muslim, Mysticism, Nature, Overcoming, Pagan, Pain, Poetry, Prana, Presbyterian, Prose, Protestant, Religion, Samskara, Shaman, Shamanism, Shiite, Sikh, Soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Sunni, Tarot, Unitarian, Wicca, Wonder, Writing, Zen, Zodiac, Zoroastrianism

You really don’t know how powerful forgiveness is. Well … if you do … then you have successfully forgiven everyone in your past, and continue to do so every day in your present … congratulations then on being the most fabulous person alive! 🙂

All kidding aside. We go through our lives and without even knowing … we allow things from the past to pile up. It could be as trivial as the way your boss treated you yesterday, all the way to a sibling who offended you and thus you refuse to speak to. These things hold you back … they don’t hold them back at all. They are free to go live their lives, and be happy. While you? You are left to be angry, bitter, resentful, judgmental. That is not who you are … you are better than that! You are a beautiful person.

The miraculous thing about forgiveness is really how it can transform your entire life. You think it is just about that one issue … but then, when you actually forgive and see how many areas of your life it affected? WOW! It’s like getting to know yourself all over again … like rediscovering the beautiful child you loved being … but got chased away from.

Do yourself a favor … every time you judge someone else, stop and think about how that ties into how YOU have been judged. I’d be willing to bet a lot of money that those past judgments about you, and your resentments of them, are playing a STRONG role in your outlook on life.

Forgive … whoever it is who is at the root of that tension in your chest … forgive them! When you do … well … life will begin to unfold in a completely new way … and you will be happy.

~~~~~~~

– painting by Cedar Lee

~~~~~~~

Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

Consequence of Sin

March 4, 2013 at 10:35 pm · Filed under Christianity, Creativity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Meditative Writings, Philosophy, Poetry, Quotations, Quotes, Religion, Songs, Spirituality, Zen and tagged: Addiction, Allah, Art, Astrology, Baptist, Belief, Buddhism, Catholic, Chakra, Chi, Christianity, Church, Eckhart Tolle, Energy, Fundamentalist, Gnostic, God, healing, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, Judaism, Love, Magic, Meditation, Miracle, Mithraism, Mithras, Mormon, Muslim, Mysticism, Nature, Overcoming, Pagan, Pain, Poetry, Prana, Presbyterian, Prose, Protestant, Religion, Samskara, Shaman, Shamanism, Shiite, Sikh, Soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Sunni, Tarot, Unitarian, Wicca, Wonder, Writing, Zen, Zodiac, Zoroastrianism

Consequence of Sin

By: Religion4All

So much to do

to undo

the deeds

already done.

So many words

to unsay

or wish

it could be that way.

I’m a zen-like

trancing monk

who lets you

pierce my shield.

Opening

that fragile bloom

you always wish

you knew.

Here’s my body

please partake

with an ounce of blood

your thirst slake.

Here’s my soul

ephemeral

a mixed elixir

and now your full.

My arms are open wide.

My heart just sits there throbbing.

My crown unfurls anew;

a sacral fountain bubbling …

… and no matter what you take

I’m filled again within.

Resting on this cloud-like stasis

assuming consequence of sin.

My cheeks are flushed and full

I’m turning back and forth for

your blows.

But no matter what you send

I will not let my heart

close.

Peace be with you.

I love you,

and that is all

I am willing to give.

~~~~~~~

Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

A Many-Headed Monster

February 22, 2013 at 7:21 pm · Filed under Christianity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Meditative Writings, Philosophy, Religion, Spirituality, Zen and tagged: Addiction, Allah, Art, Astrology, Baptist, Belief, Buddhism, Catholic, Chakra, Chi, Christianity, Church, Eckhart Tolle, Energy, Fundamentalist, Gnostic, God, healing, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, Judaism, Love, Magic, Meditation, Miracle, Mithraism, Mithras, Mormon, Muslim, Mysticism, Nature, Overcoming, Pagan, Pain, Poetry, Prana, Presbyterian, Prose, Protestant, Religion, Samskara, Shaman, Shamanism, Shiite, Sikh, Soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Sunni, Tarot, Unitarian, Wicca, Wonder, Writing, Zen, Zodiac, Zoroastrianism

There is no such thing as sin; not really. The various, and multiple, never-ending aspects of sin are simply an invention of mankind in an effort to structure, and for some to actually gain power over, the rest of mankind.

Before you get upset and label me a blasphemer, let me explain myself. There really are only two states of being: being connected to God, or being shut off from God. When you are connected to God you are not sinning … it is impossible. When you are shut down on a spiritual level, you will eventually end up doing something, or many things, that the various religions label “sin”. Really all you are guilty of is being shut down to God.

When you are connected to God, your heart feels open … like a child gazing at their successfully flown kite on the perfect sunny/windy day. When you are shut down to God your heart is closed; the world starts to feel small, suffocating, threatening, and full of fear … predatory. Very frequently we shut our connection to God down in reaction to the actions of others. This happens over and over again until you eventually get to the point where your entire life is lived in a shut down place … your heart is permanently closed.

Some people actually like being in this place; it makes them feel as if they are in control … it makes them feel powerful. For these people there is no hope. For the majority, however, there is a longing for something more … a knowledge deep down that something within is missing and unfulfilled.

This is the reason behind why Jesus spent all of his time with everybody BUT the acknowledged religious experts of his day. He spent his time with the open-hearted … or those who longed for open-heartedness. The people Jesus spent time with might have been labeled “sinners” for not following all of the rules of religion; for not fitting into the structure. They were, however, people who were searching and longing for openhearted connection with God. No religion has exclusive rights to an openhearted connection with God. There are many people in religion, and out of religion as well, who have such a connection. There are also a great many people in religion who have no such connection; while professing to be pious. Look at the “fruit” of many of their actions and you will See: abusing children (or covering up the abuse), condemning others, hoarding money, starting wars, hatred, killing … the list of their “fruits” is long, and none of it is the product of an open heart; of Love. They point out everybody else’s sins, and tell you to fight with all your might against your evil heart.

Your heart is not evil … it just needs to be opened.

If you are striving to be free of sin, you will be perpetually fighting a many-headed monster … that battle will never end. If you are simply striving to maintain an open-hearted connection with God? Life becomes easy. You begin to allow yourself to be Led, instead of trying to impose your dominance over an unbeatable foe. That is true freedom.

Many are threatened by this occurrence because they no longer can control you. They therefore strive to shut your heart down again with their actions. Do not let them; don’t get distracted. Simply BE in an open-hearted place, and follow the Divine guidance that comes naturally from being in that place … and everything will be as it is supposed to be. You only lose when you close your heart … so never close it.

This is where the Journey begins … living every moment of life with an open heart; allowing Love to guide you and spill out of you.

~~~~~~~

Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

A Challenge: “In order to not be judged I have …”

February 20, 2013 at 1:21 pm · Filed under Christianity, Creativity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Meditative Writings, Philosophy, Quotations, Quotes, Religion, Spirituality, Zen and tagged: Addiction, Allah, Art, Astrology, Baptist, Belief, Buddhism, Catholic, Chakra, Chi, Christianity, Church, Eckhart Tolle, Energy, Fundamentalist, Gnostic, God, healing, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, Judaism, Love, Magic, Meditation, Miracle, Mithraism, Mithras, Mormon, Muslim, Mysticism, Nature, Overcoming, Pagan, Pain, Poetry, Prana, Presbyterian, Prose, Protestant, Religion, Samskara, Shaman, Shamanism, Shiite, Sikh, Soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Sunni, Tarot, Unitarian, Wicca, Wonder, Writing, Zen, Zodiac, Zoroastrianism

In meditating on my prior post today, “In Order To Not Be Judged“, I came up with a challenge for myself that I think could be ultimately helpful for anyone to undertake. I began thinking of all the things I have done, and decisions I have made in my life, based on the fear of being judged … or the desire to gain approval (the flip side of that same coin).

As I allowed the mental chatter in my brain to die down I started working it through; using the following line to begin each new sentence:

“In order to not be judged I have …”

The challenge, should you choose to accept and participate, is to go back through your life … even all the way back to when you were a child … and think of how many ways you have acted based on the desire to either not be judged, or to gain acceptance. Some of the instances are insignificant, I found for myself … and others were completely life altering in scope.

What is the reason for this? Well, you cannot let anything go in your life, without first acknowledging its existence. If you are not aware of it, how can it be released? Acknowledge, Accept, Let Go, and Move Forward as your True Self … that is the process that has been revolutionary for me in my own life.

Being a singer/songwriter … if I repeat ANYTHING for a long enough period of time I will find some sort of rhythm and tune to put it into ;-). So, after spending enough time in meditative thought (about a half hour or so), I began writing down my list in the form of a song. Pardon the poetic simplicity … I heard it as a rock song in my head and so I just allowed the melody in my head to bring out the fitting words rhythmically in line with what I was hearing.

Here is my own endeavor into this challenge … in the form of a new song:

In Order To Not Be Judged

By: Religion4All

In order to not be judged

I have cheated;

I wanted acceptance.

In order to not be judged

I’ve repeated

the lies that I knew

tore apart at the fabric

of souls that I loved;

mine included.

In order to not be judged

I’ve avoided

the person I’ve always been

meant to become.

In order to not be judged

I have given away

all my dreams

on the hope that one day

I will gain

your acceptance.

Have I really … have I really?

I explode my lies

and let go my secrets

bursting through the ties

that have bound my

obedience

to all of the things

that you think I should be.

In order to not be judged

I’ve been a bully

and I’ve been a coward.

In order to not be judged

I have altered

my daily existence

all based on

projections of

what you would think.

In order to not be judged

I’ve rejected

what has the most value.

In order to not be judged

I have shut down

my True Self

so that you’re only

judging

my illusion.

Have I really … have I really?

I explode my lies

and let go my secrets

bursting through the ties

that have bound my

obedience

to whatever you think

I should become.

I’m a Warrior of the Light

not some stranger’s delusion

I call forth my right

to be Loved and

a Lover.

There’s no need for me to fight

in my heart is the answer

I’ve sought all this time.

In order to not be judged

I acknowledge;

your actions run right through me.

In order to not be judged

I’ve accepted;

let go of the need

to control my own fate.

I move forward …

and I am free.

~~~~~~~

pic by Bronwen McInerney

~~~~~~~

Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

Equality: How We Get It All Wrong

February 13, 2013 at 12:19 pm · Filed under Christianity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Meditative Writings, Philosophy, Quotations, Quotes, Religion, Spirituality, Zen and tagged: Addiction, Allah, Art, Astrology, Baptist, Belief, Buddhism, Catholic, Chakra, Chi, Christianity, Church, Eckhart Tolle, Energy, Fundamentalist, Gnostic, God, healing, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, Judaism, Love, Magic, Meditation, Miracle, Mithraism, Mithras, Mormon, Muslim, Mysticism, Nature, Overcoming, Pagan, Pain, Poetry, Prana, Presbyterian, Prose, Protestant, Religion, Samskara, Shaman, Shamanism, Shiite, Sikh, Soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Sunni, Tarot, Unitarian, Wicca, Wonder, Writing, Zen, Zodiac, Zoroastrianism

I’ve been meditating on the issue of equality for the past couple of days; what exactly it means to us as human beings, and how we go about living that in our daily lives. The following are two definitions of equality according to Merriam Webster.

Equality:

1 a (1) : of the same measure, quantity, amount, or number as another (2) : identical in mathematical value or logical denotation : equivalent.

2 : regarding or affecting all objects in the same way : impartial.

In analyzing the differences between these two definitions, it is my personal opinion that the problem is rooted in how many of us perceive equality in today’s world.

Most of us measure ourselves, in comparison to others, in a manner of whether or not we are equivalent, or greater than equivalent, to them. Do you have the same fame or acclaim as a peer or counterpart in your chosen career? If not, you work toward evening the playing field, and hopefully surpassing them.

Since we so ruthlessly judge ourselves in this fashion … we also tend to judge others that way as well. Who is greater and who is less than? Who is popular and who is unpopular? Who is wealthy and who has no money? Who is dominant and who is passive? All too frequently we base our life decisions on these perceptions : who is the best friend to seek out for what we want personally, who is best suited to elevate us at work, or in a relationship – who is the one who gives the most to the relationship? In some facets this helps us succeed (career) and in others is our greatest downfall (relationships).

The primary problem, on a spiritual level, is that when we view each other through the filter of equivalency it leads us to judgement. Judging others, or harshly judging yourself, causes your heart to close. When your heart is closed you are no longer connected to God. This might not sound so bad on a case-by-case basis … the real issue lies in the fact that, for many of us, this is how we live every day of our lives. That means we are closed and disconnected from God virtually ALL the time. The times when you let go of this pervasive mindset of judgement (toward self and others) feel wonderful … like a spiritual high you experience once or twice a week. That is how you are supposed to be every day, all day … open-heartedly connected to God.

The true meaning of equality, in terms of how we as humans interact and live our lives, is revealed in the second Merriam Webster definition … synonymous with the word “impartial”. When there is no “greater than” or “less than”, we all have meaning and importance in the world. We each have something important to give to the world; something special that nobody else can duplicate. That is priceless.

Each one of us is unique and perfect as our True Selves … we just have to let go of the equivalency exams we feel that we either must personally pass, or unjustly impose on someone else.

~~~~~~~

Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

The Elusiveness Of Being Happy

February 11, 2013 at 12:59 pm · Filed under Christianity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Meditative Writings, Philosophy, Quotations, Quotes, Religion, Spirituality, Zen and tagged: Addiction, Allah, Art, Astrology, Baptist, Belief, Buddhism, Catholic, Chakra, Chi, Christianity, Church, Eckhart Tolle, Energy, Fundamentalist, Gnostic, God, healing, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, Judaism, Love, Magic, Meditation, Miracle, Mithraism, Mithras, Mormon, Muslim, Mysticism, Nature, Overcoming, Pagan, Pain, Poetry, Prana, Presbyterian, Prose, Protestant, Religion, Samskara, Shaman, Shamanism, Shiite, Sikh, Soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Sunni, Tarot, Unitarian, Wicca, Wonder, Writing, Zen, Zodiac, Zoroastrianism

There really is no one else out there … not one person … who will be the answer to your personal happiness.

Your personal happiness must come from you first … and then from there you can find someone to share that happiness and Love with. It doesn’t work the other way though, and yet for millions of people in this world THAT is how they go about trying to attain happiness. The structure gets set up in many different ways. You can make a family and then strive for success, you can strive for success and then make a family when that comes along, you can follow your own personal dreams and just take what’s given to you … or any other prescribed formula. If you don’t have happiness within you already … none of those ventures will succeed in bringing happiness to you.

Ultimately, all of these knee jerk reactions toward trying to engineer life into our own personal happiness machine … will simply fail, and you will be left empty, unhappy, and back down at the ground zero of trying to figure out what next venture will be the answer.

The answer is waiting for you … but you won’t find it out there. The only place you will find it; the “answer”, happiness, inner peace, the meaning of life, whatever anyone wants to call it … is by taking the time to go within yourself. Work through all of the chaotic crap storm that your inner self has become. You must discover and endure what may very well seem like a soul-rending, inner apocalypse … and come out the other side having learned to keep your heart open through all of it. To do that you have to consciously make yourself be still … meditate, pray, communicate with your Creator, and allow what comes up internally to be … just allow it, accept it, work through it with an open heart, and let it go.

When you have learned to never close your heart, to never shut that inner part of you down, no matter what? Then you will move forward into a new life, and you will discover that happiness simply comes as a result of being open … all the time. Allowing God to flow into and out of you … a constant conduit. When your heart is open, you really can’t give anything but Love … anything other than Love will close your heart down, even if it is just for a split second. If you judge someone else, your heart closes. If you lie, that door slams shut. Anger stacks up like bricks of an oven; encasing you inside of your closed-off, roasting inferno of a heart. All of these things, and many more, must be worked through, broken down, and released to get to that wide-open expanse of a field that is Love.

You learn with time and practice to just make it an every day, all the time, way of living. It takes time, and along that road there will be times that you revert to your old ways … you close your heart, but as long as you are aware of it … you can just open it again. It’s that easy … or at least, it becomes that easy. It’s harder than any imagined Hades to get to that point … but it is SO worth it … because then? You get to spend the rest of your life being centered in Happiness and Love. Your exterior life simply becomes a series of tests for you to overcome in terms of keeping your heart open … and as long as you do, you will be happy.

That is Heaven. That is Valhalla, Nirvana, and Enlightenment all rolled into one. When you leave this shell of a body? That is what you will be left with … either Heaven or Hell … they are simply the state of your soul sans body; the state of your relationship with God … and thus we really do have Heaven and Hell right here on Earth … it’s called your life, and how you have chosen to live it.

~~~~~~~

– pic by photon tamer.

~~~~~~~

Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

The Growing and The Flowering

February 5, 2013 at 7:46 am · Filed under Christianity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Philosophy, Religion, Spirituality, Zen and tagged: Addiction, Allah, Art, Astrology, Baptist, Belief, Buddhism, Catholic, Chakra, Chi, Christianity, Church, Eckhart Tolle, Energy, Fundamentalist, Gnostic, God, Hafiz, healing, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, Judaism, Love, Magic, Meditation, Miracle, Mithraism, Mithras, Mormon, Muslim, Mysticism, Nature, non-reactionary state, Overcoming, Pagan, Pain, Poetry, Prana, Presbyterian, Prose, Protestant, Religion, Samskara, Shaman, Shamanism, Shiite, Sikh, Soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Sunni, Tarot, Unconditional Love, Unitarian, Wicca, Wonder, Writing, Zen, Zodiac, Zoroastrianism

A flower cannot bloom before its time. If it were even possible for humans to impose their will upon a plant to flower, the plant simply would not be able to … its constitution and make-up at that specific time could not fashion the flower petals inside of a bud that has yet to be born. One would have to accelerate the evolution of that plant a thousand times faster than its normal growth rate … what then would that do to the plant?

In the same way, we as people are designed to flower and flourish. However, each of us also needs our own period of gestation and hibernation and growth. Those who are growing should not look at those who are flowering with envy … your time will come. Those who are flowering should not look at those who are growing with disdain or judgment … your flowers will die and then you too will be growing again.

This is one of the greatest difficulties presented to religions in this day and age. The flowering are looked at, by the religious institution, as affirmation that their teaching is correct. The growing are looked at as people who have yet to flower … if only they would heed the religious teachings better – then they too could flower. This drives the growing ones away, and sets the flowering up for the failure of a future downfall when they too will be growing.

Every … single … person … needs the nourishment of Love. It does not come as a reward for heeding teachings … it should simply be … all the time and beyond conditions. It might take twenty years for one to flower … but God ‘s timing is beyond our comprehension. Perhaps their flower will be the most beautiful of all … and all they needed was time, and unconditional Love.

~~~~~~~

Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

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Unconditional Love! (Part Two)

January 31, 2013 at 11:40 am · Filed under Christianity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Philosophy, Poetry, Quotations, Quotes, Religion, Spirituality, Zen and tagged: Addiction, Allah, Art, Astrology, Baptist, Belief, Buddhism, Catholic, Chakra, Chi, Christianity, Church, Eckhart Tolle, Energy, Fundamentalist, Gnostic, God, Hafiz, healing, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, Judaism, Love, Magic, Meditation, Miracle, Mithraism, Mithras, Mormon, Muslim, Mysticism, Nature, non-reactionary state, Overcoming, Pagan, Pain, Poetry, Prana, Presbyterian, Prose, Protestant, Religion, Samskara, Shaman, Shamanism, Shiite, Sikh, Soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Sunni, Tarot, Unconditional Love, Unitarian, Wicca, Wonder, Writing, Zen, Zodiac, Zoroastrianism

Unconditional Love can only exist in a non-reactionary state.

Too often Love is construed or mistaken for how we react to another person. Someone we have positive feelings for gives us a gift, and so we have a warmth that glows within us. Someone we have passion for caresses and kisses us, and so a fire consumes us. This is not Love … not in the truest sense; that being Unconditional Love. This is merely a reaction to someone else’s action. When your heart’s foundation is based in reactionary love? Whatever relationship you have will eventually either cease to exist or be rewarding.

Here’s an example:

As an artist (that being someone in the world of art, not necessarily a painter) I find that I am more prone to grandiose statements or actions. I feel more (or at least I think I do) and since I also communicate my feelings for a living, I communicate all those feelings … sometimes without much of a filter (lol). In some ways this is what many find charming about artistic/sensitive people … and in other ways, it is what people find threatening. There is a flip side to every coin.

So today I made a statement that was, for me, simply a statement of fact … a reflection of the Love that is within me. The other person’s reaction was dismissive. Given the wide-open state of my heart in saying what I had said, my immediate reaction was to stiffen internally … somewhat akin to the reaction one would have after being slapped, except I don’t believe I had any outward reaction at the time. What I really wanted to do was just get away … go somewhere (preferably away from this person) where I could meditate and sort through what had just happened and my feelings about it. For the next half hour or so I was somewhat cool and withdrawn, and my heart CERTAINLY was not wide open any longer.

This is an example of reactionary love. I closed my heart, and in doing so I stopped the flow of Love to this other person … and I ALSO closed off the original flow of Love coming to me. That is what happens when you choose to close your heart … you are closing yourself to God’s Love.

During that half hour I deliberated. Had I taken things too far, or expressed too much. Perhaps I should measure out my Love, and be more reserved with it … because this other person obviously felt uncomfortable with certain aspects of it. Perhaps I was supposed to mirror their aloofness, so that they wouldn’t feel uncomfortable (and so I wouldn’t get that kind of treatment again). After I let that business of my mind fall away I was able to slip into a more meditative place … a place where I can hear and listen what God has to say to me. This is what God said:

“You are not supposed to shut yourself down, or close yourself off. You are supposed to love unconditionally; this means ALWAYS loving to your utmost. There are no exceptions to this … you don’t get to have a safety net that is comprised of the other person’s promises, or actions. You simply Love unconditionally, all the time, no matter what they do or say … and that’s it. Whatever they do … is up to them and has no bearing on the state of your Love. That IS what Unconditional Love IS … there is no other kind of Love.”

A sense of Divine peace washed through me and so I went through what has become a daily practice for me. First, I acknowledge whatever it was that happened. Second, I allow that event to be … I let go of trying to fight against it. Thirdly, I accept whatever happened as something that is now in the past … and therefore something that can no longer be changed. Lastly, after having acknowledge, allowed, and accepted this event … I let it go. Once I have done this I am left with my True Self, who I am outside of reacting to whatever the event may be.

Having taken this course of action, I was simply able to move forward as my True Self … and that person is someone with an open heart, who gives Love freely. So after that half an hour of withdrawal, I simply went back to expressing my Love freely. I didn’t even need to have a conversation with the other person … in a sense that is a condition … a condition that things must be worked through satisfactorally for me to move forward with an open heart again. No, I just let it go … I opened my heart wide open, and continued to allow the flow of Love to move through me freely.

That is an example of Unconditional Love. It took me a little bit of time to get there, but the end result is all that matters. Sometimes it can be difficult, and this is usually in direct reaction to the depth of your feelings to whatever the person, or scenario is. The important thing is to focus on keeping your heart open … if your heart gets closed, that is ALL on you. Your closed heart is not the other person’s responsibility, no matter what it is that they have done … only you can keep your heart open.

Had I not taken this series of actions, I would most likely have had a closed heart for the entire day. I may have grown resentful and held on to that hurt feeling until such a time where I could express it … in such a scenario, the likelihood would be that such an occasion would not conclude positively. A closed heart acting in a reactionary way is never going to result in the other person having an open heart … negative does not beget positive. Love is the only force that produces Love … if what you want is Love? Well, you’d better look at the conditions you are basing that on … and let go of them. If there are conditions what you have is not really Love (with a capital L).

Peace and Love.

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– This post is an addendum to a prior post, “Unconditional Love!”.

~~~~~~~

Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

Walk In the Waves

January 7, 2013 at 8:32 pm · Filed under Christianity, Creativity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Philosophy, Quotations, Quotes, Religion, Spirituality, Zen and tagged: Addiction, Allah, Art, Astrology, Baptist, Belief, Buddhism, Catholic, Chakra, Chi, Christianity, Church, Eckhart Tolle, Energy, Fundamentalist, Gnostic, God, healing, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, Judaism, Love, Magic, Meditation, Miracle, Mithraism, Mithras, Mormon, Muslim, Mysticism, Nature, Overcoming, Pagan, Pain, Poetry, Prana, Presbyterian, Prose, Protestant, Religion, Samskara, Shaman, Shamanism, Shiite, Sikh, Soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Sunni, Tarot, Unitarian, Wicca, Wonder, Writing, Zen, Zodiac, Zoroastrianism

I felt the urge to meditate at the beach today. The sun was setting, the waves were choppy and sprawling, and I reflected it all off my coffee, gold, and emerald eyes. I was troubled … I didn’t exactly know why. A mixture of the Change happening within me, and the ever-changing unknown that is Life all around.

I closed my eyes to feel the sun on my face more fully, and to hear the gulls cry. I opened them to take in the liquid gold rolling toward me as the sun continued its descent.

I heard a subtle Voice … no fanfare, or bold proclamations … almost like an unheard whisper tasted in my mind. It said,

“Go walk in the waves.”

I don’t know how familiar you are with the Pacific in January, but … well, it’s cold! I ignored the whisper … but of course it persisted. Call it your gut feeling, instinct, intuition, whatever … for me, that’s what I have pledged to listen to, and consider. With Love as my measure, I test these intuitive waters … and then act.

Love had no problem with me walking in the Pacific in January.

So I took my shoes and socks off, hiked my jeans up to my calves, and made my way through the boulders to get to the beach beyond. It was beautiful. My toes sank into the wet earth and I drank the decadent sunset with thirsty eyes. I felt God kiss me, I felt Love, I felt one with the Universe … it was lovely; but I didn’t understand why the Voice had told me to come walk in the waves. Was it all just to feel Loved? I say that as if it means nothing … but I guess I just expect something monumental when God speaks to me.

After a while I made my way back through the boulders to the bench where I had left my shoes. I sat and began to swat the wet sand off my feet. I looked out at the ocean again and I saw my footprints in the sand. The thought went through my head, “That is the mark you have left on the world today,” and I watched as a wave rolled over them and filled each footprint up with salt-water and sand. They had almost disappeared with just one wave.

Then the Voice spoke to me again,

“You see? What is your life, amidst all the lives that ever were or ever will be? You are just footprints that get washed away … and that is as it should be. You seek to make a mark on this world, to leave it drastically different than it was before you came … but that is against nature. A drastic change would be the equivalent of an earthquake, or a volcano, or an atom bomb … all of those things cost lives, and are feared. Why would you want to be like them … they hurt the earth. They disturb the natural order … they bend the natural order to their own end. Don’t aspire to have such an impact. Aspire to make footprints in the sand that will soon wash away. Aspire to heal everything around you with Love … not to impose your own will on the world around you. Don’t fight … just BE … and when you are BEING? Be Love. Then, and only then, will you be happy.”

Yeah … THAT was worth taking off my shoes to walk in the waves for :-).

Peace and Love.

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Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

Southern California, Northern California,Mission Viejo, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Marin, San Jose, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Palm Springs, Long Beach

Comments (4)

Make It Work

January 2, 2013 at 4:10 pm · Filed under Christianity, Creativity, Entertainment, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Philosophy, Religion, Spirituality, Theology, Zen and tagged: Addiction, Allah, Art, Astrology, Baptist, Belief, Buddhism, Catholic, Chakra, Chi, Christianity, Church, Eckhart Tolle, Energy, Fundamentalist, Gnostic, God, healing, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, Judaism, Love, Magic, Meditation, Miracle, Mithraism, Mithras, Mormon, Muslim, Mysticism, Nature, Overcoming, Pagan, Pain, Poetry, Prana, Presbyterian, Prose, Protestant, Religion, Samskara, Shaman, Shamanism, Shiite, Sikh, Soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Sunni, Tarot, Unitarian, Wicca, Wonder, Writing, Zen, Zodiac, Zoroastrianism

Life for each of us, as we know it, consists basically of what we choose to make happen. In a sense you could say that we are taught from a very young age to go out into the world and make things happen. This occurs on many different levels: from the food we eat, to the friends we choose, the careers we pursue, the family we either embrace or disown … even down to the simple things; like the temperature of our shower, or how we drive through traffic. Across-the-board, no matter what the situation, we are told to make everything be exactly what we want it to be.

So what is wrong with this exactly?? After all, our greatest role models and heroes are the ones who are most successful at imposing their wills upon the world around them. Those are the people we look up to!

Here’s the thing: when there is no sense of contentment, of reverence for what IS, there is no lasting happiness … none.

When everything in the world exists solely for the purpose of us bending, twisting, shaping, forcing it into what we each uniquely want it to be? There is no gratitude for what it already is … there is no peace that passes all understanding because we have deemed that we know better.

This isn’t just about nature. It’s about how we live our very lives … the attitudes that we have which determine whether or not we will ever be happy.

It would be one thing if all it was was that each of us wanted our own individual things. That actually is sort of the way nature works. Instead, however, we end up wanting what everybody else tells us we should want … what society tells us we should want. Generally what society says we should want is more, more, and MORE … more than we could ever possibly need on our own. More than we could ever possibly need even for a family.

The result is unhappiness; a depressed malaise that will never be cured unless we can somehow satisfy the societal opinions that have come to govern our lives.

Or … you can simply refuse to allow others to dictate your happiness. If this truly happened however it would affect every single aspect of your life … stirring up dormant anxieties, and hidden fears that would seemingly threaten your very existence … far easier to just get the latest iPhone for an ever so brief fix of fleeting happiness.

If you’re serious though … if you are tired of trying to please everyone else … you will go within meditatively, consistently, and face down every demon. Let go of the ties that bind; in the form of other people’s insignificant opinions. Stop trying to make everything be exactly as you want. Quiet the overactive anxiety that is becoming your mind more and more each day. Spend some time appreciating things just as they are, without trying to change them at all. Connect with the Source that is the only source of happiness.

Once you have done that you can move forward as your true self … the soul that is experiencing the feelings and thoughts that you have been allowing to rule your life. That doesn’t mean you don’t do anything, or accomplish anything. It just means that your happiness is not dependent on anybody else, and what you spend your life doing will stem from that happiness you already have within.

That, I believe, is the only way … the Way.

Peace and Love.

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Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

Stoned Purification

December 26, 2012 at 6:27 pm · Filed under Christianity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Philosophy, Quotations, Quotes, Religion, Spirituality, Zen and tagged: Addiction, Allah, Art, Astrology, Baptist, Belief, Buddhism, Catholic, Chakra, Chi, Christianity, Church, Eckhart Tolle, Energy, Fundamentalist, Gnostic, God, healing, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, Judaism, Love, Magic, Meditation, Miracle, Mithraism, Mithras, Mormon, Muslim, Mysticism, Nature, Overcoming, Pagan, Pain, Poetry, Prana, Presbyterian, Prose, Protestant, Religion, Samskara, Shaman, Shamanism, Shiite, Sikh, Soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Sunni, Tarot, Unitarian, Wicca, Wonder, Writing, Zen, Zodiac, Zoroastrianism

I had a lovely epiphany while meditating today … quite frequently I receive wonderful insight, but ‘epiphanies’ are not every day encounters ;-). Contrary to the implicated suggestion in the title, I was not “stoned” for this meditation (lol).

Those who’ve followed my blog for a while will know that I have a special affinity for rocks. Stones, for me, are like a storehouse of energy … sometimes sharing centuries of experience, and at other times stirring memories of things I personally have yet to live out. Because there are both positive and negative energies in the world (from myself, or from others) I like to devote the beginning of each meditating purifying each stone that I am using. I do this with a simple breathing mantra that I’ve developed over the years:

“I breathe in your Love, O God, and let it fill every fibre of my being

I breathe out your Love into this rock, and allow the pure Love that is You to cleanse it of anything other than Love.

I breathe in and receive whatever it is You would have me learn, or however You want to change me, from this stone.

I breathe out our combined Love for You into the world.”

Today my epiphany came on the second line of this mantra … totally unexpected. The question was formed in my mind,

“Do you believe that I completely purify this stone of any and all negative energy when you allow My Love to flow into it?”

“Of course I do.”, was my immediate reply.

“Then you should also believe, with equal conviction, that I completely purify YOU of all negative energy when you first fill yourself with My Love. Do you believe that this is true?”

That made me stumble a bit … I realized that I didn’t believe this with the same conviction. For myself, I have all SORTS of negative things that can run about within me … even after I have filled myself with God’s Love.

What God revealed to me in presenting me with this series of questions (others were posed as well, but these two were the primary ones) is that any and every negative energy that I experience after filling myself with Love … is negative energy of MY OWN DEVICE. In other words, it is negative energy that I am creating for myself … based upon a lifetime of experiences (both positive and negative), as well as my own foolish self-sabatoging mind.

The wonderful epiphany that emerged from amidst this thornbed of conflicted thought was that ALL of those remaining negative energies are of my own creation. Since they are my own creation, they can also be consciously let go of as such. Once I have taken the time to connect with and bond with God … all outside negativity has been expunged. EVERY single negative thing that remains is from me … and therefore can be let go of by me.

I found this to be a new level of release for me. In some ways I had been drawn to meditating with rocks as some form of protection from outside energies … but after all this time I see that what negativity that was left was my own … and therefore very easy to let go of.

It just took a long time to realize how easy it is :-).

Peace and Love.

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This post was a result of meditating on my prior post, “Polishing A Mirror“.

~~~~~~~

Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

Change Effects Change

December 13, 2012 at 4:47 pm · Filed under Christianity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Philosophy, Quotations, Quotes, Religion, Spirituality, Zen and tagged: Addiction, Allah, Art, Astrology, Baptist, Belief, Buddhism, Catholic, Chakra, Chi, Christianity, Church, Eckhart Tolle, Energy, Fundamentalist, Gnostic, God, healing, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, Judaism, Love, Magic, Meditation, Miracle, Mithraism, Mithras, Mormon, Muslim, Mysticism, Nature, Overcoming, Pagan, Pain, Poetry, Prana, Presbyterian, Prose, Protestant, Religion, Samskara, Shaman, Shamanism, Shiite, Sikh, Soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Sunni, Tarot, Unitarian, Wicca, Wonder, Writing, Zen, Zodiac, Zoroastrianism

Change effects Change … as in exterior events (change) cause you to make decisions in your life, thus change that is effected. We CONTROL our own change … we cannot control the exterior events, but we CAN control our own actions … how we react to that change.

I can look back over my life in the past few years and really witness this in great detail. There was a long period of my life where I basically reacted to exterior events bringing change into my life in a smattering of peripheral ways … topical treatments to either soothe momentarily, or make me forget until the next bout of change came along. Alcohol, sometimes drugs, relationships, sometimes not relationships but just simply sex, work, poetry, art, singing, writing, composing, the list goes on a bit longer. Some of these things were positive in ways, and others were VERY negative. The point is that I was using them in reaction to the exterior change happening in my life; things that were out of my control … as a way to make me feel as if I was IN control. When, in fact, I was not in control at all … it’s all a grand charade of fooling ourselves.

This all changed for me a few years ago. I still was using these tactics to make me feel as if I was in control … but they just weren’t working like they had before. I could either engage in them to a larger extreme (which is a rather frightening thought), or I could find new coping mechanisms … OR I could do what I did: meditate … connect with God.

I had been meditating all along, but only very sporadically … when I really NEEDED it … so, like, once or twice a month.

Something happened though … I began to see that the change I created in myself through meditation … through connecting with God to resolve the internal problems brought about by exterior change in my life … began to be the only way that I could get truly meaningful change to occur in my life at large. Change within me that made me happy. Change underneath all the masks I had acquired that made me start throwing the masks away.

The more I meditated, the more free I became of all these devices I had been using to “protect” myself … that were really harming me more. I allowed the exterior changes in my life to start knocking down the walls and inner blocks I had created … I accepted the change, and instead of running from it I went within and just meditated … to work through what was brought up by those external changes that were out of my control. I opened myself up … I exhumed all of the crap that had accumulated by dumping topical treatments on top of unresolved inner issues.

Now here I am a few years later … after I enacted those changes in my life toward how I dealt or coped with change … and my life looks completely different. I am happy. I feel free … and the things that seemed like distant dreams or aspirations are beginning to take form and blossom. If I had stayed on the path I was on … well, I would be in a VERY different place. I am fairly certain that it would not be a happy place … my coping mechanisms had never brought this kind of happiness before. It was only momentary; fleeting … this is solid and permanent; a way of life.

So, in essence, I changed my tactics … I changed my reactions to the external changes I could not control. We all have this ability … we can let go, or we can cling for dear life. We can open our hearts, which feels vulnerable, or we can keep that portal slammed shut. We can connect to our Maker at ANY time, to deal with ANY problem … we CAN do that … or we can throw topical treatments at things until your simply drowning in your own swamp of unresolved issues.

It’s up to you though … YOU HAVE THAT POWER.

Peace and Love.

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pic from the movie xXx

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Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status,lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

The False Self

December 7, 2012 at 11:28 am · Filed under Christianity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Philosophy, Quotations, Quotes, Religion, Spirituality, Zen and tagged: Addiction, Allah, Art, Astrology, Baptist, Belief, Buddhism, Catholic, Chakra, Chi, Christianity, Church, Eckhart Tolle, Energy, Fundamentalist, Gnostic, God, healing, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, Judaism, Love, Magic, Meditation, Miracle, Mithraism, Mithras, Mormon, Muslim, Mysticism, Nature, Overcoming, Pagan, Pain, Poetry, Prana, Presbyterian, Prose, Protestant, Religion, Samskara, Shaman, Shamanism, Shiite, Sikh, Soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Sunni, Tarot, The Power of NOW, True Self, Unitarian, Wicca, Wonder, Writing, Zen, Zodiac, Zoroastrianism

This morning I had a vision while pondering my prior post, “A Mental Idol – words to meditate on from Eckhart Tolle“. Along with the quotes in that post, I have been giving thought to the spiritual awakening that was described by the author, Eckhart Tolle. He had been suicidally depressed and one night he thought, “I can’t live with myself anymore.” Something about that touched something off within him, he then started thinking that perhaps the self he couldn’t live with was separate from what felt true to him, his “True Self” (as I have referred to it many times on this blog). That was it … once that hit home for him, he simply was spiritually awakened and has since gone on to become one of the most influential spiritual teachers of our time.

The vision that I had occurred while I was driving (don’t worry, no lives were harmed as the result of this vision, lol). I have been spending a great deal of time over the past year focusing on refining my understanding and knowledge of this concept of the “True Self” … however, what was on my mind this morning is what I have since come to refer to as the “False Self”. While I was driving my mind was doing its usual thing; whirring around like the well-oiled machine it has been trained to be … and then the vision hit me. I saw a sort of amoeba-like being of energy; constantly expanding out … constantly furthering it’s dominion and influences … THAT is the “False Self”.

That part of yourself that is ever analyzing the way around problems, ever deciphering the secret codes of the world to open doorways to new realms of power? It doesn’t even have to be so grandiose sounding … it could just be you one-upping the person who is your nemesis at work. It could be you getting some sort of subtle revenge on the ex who broke your heart. Yup, that’s the “False Self” … it not only takes over your life, it slowly but surely replaces any vestige of your “True Self” as well. Some people perhaps have never even known their “True Self” … they were trained early with only the “False Self” as their notion to right and wrong, or the way the world should be. I know for myself there was a period of my life where almost every moment was an extension of that “False Self”. There would literally only be a few minutes out of each day where I would let my “True Self” out … I’d stop and meditate, or do some breathing exercises … and then BACK into the fray that was life as my “False Self”. It’s EXHAUSTING!

It doesn’t have to be that way though. You can be your True Self all the time … every minute of every day. If you don’t know that part of yourself, take some time to meditate … connect to whatever your own personal concept of God is, and allow yourself to be filled with Love. It may take some work … we have been SO conditioned that not only do we NEED the “False Self” in order to be successful, we have come to actually look at it as a good thing … a defense mechanism that protects us … when really it just consumes the soul and leaves you hollow, empty, and ultimately unhappy.

You can have all the riches in the world and it wouldn’t matter if it is brought about by the False Self. In virtually every religion in the world there is some sort of paralell concept … in the Bible, for instance, it talks about being able to identify “the fruit” of your actions. The “fruit” of the True Self brings life and happiness, the “fruit” of the False Self shrivels into decaying unhappiness. These ideas end up getting hijacked and changed into morality laws for everyone to abide by … but it’s not about the letter of the law, it is about the Spirit … about whether it is the True Self, or the False Self.

Quiet your mind … let that constantly contorting “False Self” just fall away … ignore its pleas for attention. Allow a fire to light in your heart, and a blossom to unfurl its petals in your mind … connect to the Source of Love … and open to the beauty and happiness that is life as your True Self.

Peace and Love.

~~~~~~~

Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

Best In Show

December 3, 2012 at 4:14 pm · Filed under Christianity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Philosophy, Quotations, Quotes, Religion, Spirituality, Zen and tagged: Addiction, Allah, Art, Astrology, Baptist, Belief, Buddhism, Catholic, Chakra, Chi, Christianity, Church, Energy, Fundamentalist, Gnostic, God, healing, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, Judaism, Love, Magic, Meditation, Miracle, Mithraism, Mithras, Mormon, Muslim, Mysticism, Nature, Overcoming, Pagan, Pain, Poetry, Prana, Presbyterian, Prose, Protestant, Religion, Samskara, Shaman, Shamanism, Shiite, Sikh, Soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Sunni, Tarot, Unitarian, Wicca, Wonder, Writing, Zen, Zodiac, Zoroastrianism

When you train a dog, or any animal really, you give them a healthy dose of positive affirmation when they follow direction and an equal amount of negative correction when they do not follow your guidance. Over time the dog learns that when he does well he will get a treat … when he does not do well he gets nothing, and some scolding to go along. It doesn’t take a lot of intellect to guess which of the two motivating forces will win out.

The same is true with humans actually … the difference is that we actually ALLOW others to train us. A dog doesn’t really have a choice … they follow through or they don’t get to eat, or go outside, or whatever. For men and women? We have plenty of choices, we can pretty much do whatever we want … but still we cede our decision-making to virtually everyone around us … even complete strangers!

For a long time I have focused on getting myself to a point where other people’s negative reinforcements didn’t affect me. The problem I have found in meditating upon this issue is that the negative and the positive go hand in hand. We want SO badly to avoid people’s negative impressions … but we also desperately want their positive feedback as well. You can try all you want to avoid the negative … but if you are panting after the positive?? You will eventually be stuck in the rut of their choosing. To be truly free … we have to let go of our attachments to either element.

The ultimate goal in life, for me, is to live as a constant conduit for God’s Love. When I am allowing other people to push or pull me this way and that way … that is impossible. No matter what treat they are offering when I please them … and no matter what their negative goad is to force me into alignment with their way of thinking … I have to let go.

We are not here to be trained by anyone … we are here simply to BE; to exist as the beautiful creation God has designed us to be and to go wherever that takes us. Right now … here … we are exactly that. We have no clue what God has in store for our future, so any prognostication is simply each of us either trying to gain positive affirmation, or avoid negativity.

Be Love … and Let Go … those two simple things are what we should be dedicating our attention to … and however we emerge will be a more refined of our True Self.

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pic from NBC News

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Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

Stasis Clarity

December 1, 2012 at 3:43 pm · Filed under Christianity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Philosophy, Quotations, Quotes, Religion, Spirituality, Zen and tagged: Addiction, Allah, Art, Astrology, Baptist, Belief, Buddhism, Catholic, Chakra, Chi, Christianity, Church, Energy, Fundamentalist, Gnostic, God, healing, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, Judaism, Love, Magic, Meditation, Miracle, Mithraism, Mithras, Mormon, Muslim, Mysticism, Nature, Overcoming, Pagan, Pain, Poetry, Prana, Presbyterian, Prose, Protestant, Religion, Samskara, Shaman, Shamanism, Shiite, Sikh, Soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Sunni, Tarot, Unitarian, Wicca, Wonder, Writing, Zen, Zodiac, Zoroastrianism

If you could strip away every single thing about you … just exist; one and at peace with God. What would you be? Who would you be?

Every hope, every desire, every reactionary display of either aggression or insecurity?

Gone.

Every possession, every learned conception, every belief you’ve learned to “know” is truth?

Gone.

Every aspiration, inspiration, or daily exacerbation?

Gone.

Every relationship, every fiber and follicle of your corporeal being … every instant of time?

Now what? What do you do, where do you go, who will you be, what will you know? If all your knickknacks, paddywhacks, dogs to give a bone to … were just gone.

Maybe that’s a good place to start from. Maybe in that stasis you would actually find clarity. Maybe that’s what being enlightened is all about. Being able to literally “Let Go” … of everything … and just be with God, in God, of God … pure Love.

Impossible? No, we’ll all get there eventually … so perhaps the ultimate task is to make such a thing the conscious decision and expression of your life … instead of the unconscious and ultimate conclusion of mortality.

Peace and Love.
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This post came as a result of meditating on my prior post, “If we could strip our nature“.
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Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

;

Dirty Deeds

November 29, 2012 at 4:26 pm · Filed under Christianity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Philosophy, Quotations, Quotes, Religion, Spirituality, Zen and tagged: Addiction, Allah, Art, Astrology, Baptist, Belief, Buddhism, Catholic, Chakra, Chi, Christianity, Church, Energy, Fundamentalist, Gnostic, God, healing, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, Judaism, Love, Magic, Meditation, Miracle, Mithraism, Mithras, Mormon, Muslim, Mysticism, Nature, Overcoming, Pagan, Pain, Poetry, Prana, Presbyterian, Prose, Protestant, Religion, Samskara, Shaman, Shamanism, Shiite, Sikh, Soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Sunni, Tarot, Unitarian, Wicca, Wonder, Writing, Zen, Zodiac, Zoroastrianism

I’ve done some bad things.

I’ve done some things that might persuade some people to consider make me a bad person.

I’ve knowingly walked through the door of darkness; where I knew what I was doing was bad … and done it anyways.

There are people who will forever see me as who I was when I did those bad things. In their eyes the idea of my being transformed by God into a being of Love, a warrior of Light, or any other generally good type of person … is inconceivable.

You know what though? I’m beyond grateful that those bad things don’t define me. I am so full of gratitude that there is grace in the Universe … and that I’m still loved in spite of the bad things that I’ve done.

For a very long time I allowed those bad things, or how other people thought of me because of those bad things, to define me. I took upon myself the mantle of guilt, remorse, and shame to try and humble myself … in an effort to atone for my misdeeds. The problem is that you aren’t being your True Self when you are flagellating yourself for the things you’ve done. You are being the person others think you should be … the person you deserve to be in their eyes … but that is NOT who God wants you to be.

The Grace that is found in Love is absolute … you don’t have to earn that forgiveness. There may be some people who will never forgive you for what you’ve done … but that is their battle, and their journey in life … not yours. All that any of us can do is learn from our mistakes, fix our eyes on the Divine Love that is always there for us, keep our hearts blazingly open … and follow where we are led to be … take the risk to be who we are meant to be … beautiful creations filled with Love who are pouring it out into the world around us.

I’m very sorry for the bad things I’ve done … but I accept the consequences of my actions … I don’t run from those consequences any longer. I wish I could take back the suffering that I’ve caused others to have in their lives. I can’t though. What I can do is give Love to them, and to the rest of the world … I breathe in their pain and suffering during my meditations and I allow it to be transformed by the Love that is within me … and then I breathe out that Love into world around me. Whether it is received is not up to me … it is only up to me to give it.

I can never atone for my regrettable actions … but fortunately, with God, I never have to. God LOVES all of us … no matter what … and that is absolute. So don’t allow yourselves to be defined by the bad things you’ve done … and don’t allow others’ judgments and condemnations to define who you are as a person.

Just be Love … that’s all.

Peace and Love.

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This posting was inspired by my prior post to meditate on; “Risking all to be oneself“.

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Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

Conscious Evolution

November 25, 2012 at 6:18 pm · Filed under Christianity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Philosophy, Quotations, Quotes, Religion, Spirituality, Zen and tagged: "The Seat of the Soul", Addiction, Allah, Art, Astrology, Baptist, Belief, Buddhism, Catholic, Chakra, Chi, Christianity, Church, Energy, Fundamentalist, Gary Zukav, Gnostic, God, healing, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, Judaism, Lao Tzu, Love, Magic, Meditation, Miracle, Mithraism, Mithras, Mormon, Muslim, Mysticism, Nature, Oprah Winfrey, Overcoming, Pagan, Pain, Poetry, Prana, Presbyterian, Prose, Protestant, Religion, Samskara, Shaman, Shamanism, Shiite, Sikh, Soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Sunni, Tarot, Unitarian, Wicca, Wonder, Writing, Zen, Zodiac, Zoroastrianism

My words that I have been meditating on for today:

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“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough”

– Oprah Winfrey

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“Be content with what you have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.”

– Lao Tzu

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“At each moment you choose the intentions that will shape your experiences and those things upon which you will focus your attention. These choices affect your evolutionary process. This is so for every person. If you choose unconsciously, you will evolve unconsciously. If you choose consciously, you will evolve consciously.”

– Gary Zukav; from “The Seat of the Soul”

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Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

The Ten Thousand Things

November 24, 2012 at 9:27 am · Filed under Christianity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Philosophy, Quotations, Quotes, Religion, Spirituality, Zen and tagged: Addiction, Allah, Art, Astrology, Baptist, Belief, Buddhism, Catholic, Chakra, Chi, Christianity, Church, Dogen, Energy, Fundamentalist, Gnostic, God, healing, Holy Spirit, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, John Lennon, Judaism, Love, Magic, Maya Angelou, Meditation, Miracle, Mithraism, Mithras, Mormon, Muslim, Mysticism, Nature, Overcoming, Pagan, Pain, Poetry, Prana, Presbyterian, Prose, Protestant, Religion, Rumi, Samskara, Shaman, Shamanism, Shiite, Sikh, Soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Sunni, Tarot, Unitarian, Wicca, Wonder, Writing, Zen, Zodiac, Zoroastrianism

My words for meditation today:

“I had a lot of ambition for love, but I decided it was time to stop being needy.”

– Benson Bruno

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“When the self withdraws the ten thousand things advance; when the self advances, the ten thousand things withdraw”

– Dogen

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“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”

– Anaïs Nin

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Pic from Environmental Graffiti
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Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

Southern California, Northern California,Mission Viejo, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Marin, San Jose,San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Palm Springs, Long Beach