Marianne Williamson
Posted: January 16, 2011 12:06 AM
Arizona Shooting: Words Have Meaning
According to "A Course in Miracles," all minds are joined. While it appears to the physical eye that I am here and you are over there, on the level of mind there is no place where you stop and I start. We are all affected by everyone else's thoughts, just as a butterfly flapping its wings near the South Pole affects the wind currents at the North Pole. When any wave moves, the entire ocean shifts.
So it's basically irrelevant whether Jared Loughner specifically related to the hate speech around him in some linear, causal way. Thoughts can go viral, as we have seen throughout history when group pathologies overcame the better angels of a people (Hitler's Germany was an example). And as it is written in The Course, "all thought creates form on some level." If enough hate-thought and hate-speech is present, it's almost inevitable that some hate-filled manifestation will emerge somewhere within that field of consciousness. Jared Loughner was swimming in the thought-forms and images of hate, as almost all of us are these days. And to an obviously deranged mind, violent thought forms are like gasoline to an already smoldering fire.
I heard a not-yet-declared 2012 Presidential candidate on television, refusing to condemn the use of gun imagery in political dialogue. "After all," he said, "we have free speech." Darn right, Sir. And something else we should have is a dose of healthy shame. Maybe it shouldn't be illegal to talk about one's political opponents as though they're enemy combatants. But it should be unthinkable.
Hopefully after the events in Tucson, things will quiet down and our political dialogue will become more civilized and respectful. One can only hope. We had two days of a sober, silent and tender collective heartbeat, and even in its sadness it was inspiring. The Tucson memorial had some stunning moments. As it was after 9/11, Americans got quiet for a moment of group sanity....we felt the authenticity of our humanness...we actually remembered we were a nation. But it didn't last then, and we will see whether it lasts now.
In Alcoholics Anonymous, it is often said that "every problem comes bearing its own solution." Tragedy takes us to the very state of consciousness which, were we to hold to it, would go far toward preventing further tragedies. Whether pundits, politicians and media personalities choose to use this tragedy to grow spiritually, to increase their compassion, to commit more deeply to love, is under no one's control but their own. But each of us can decide for ourselves what we will personally do with this latest national tragedy. We can remember that just as hate thought and hate speech does indeed affect the entire world, so do loving thought and loving speech. The only thing greater than a forcefield of hate is a forcefield of love. And each and every one of us -- with the thoughts we think, the words we use and the things we do -- contribute, or fail to contribute, to the field of consciousness that will save us all.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Sayings of the Jewish Buddha
Sayings of the Jewish Buddha by Unknown
If there is no self, whose arthritis is this?
Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?
Drink tea and nourish life; with the first sip, joy; with the second sip, satisfaction; with the third sip, peace; with the fourth, a Danish.
Wherever you go, there you are. Your luggage is another story.
Accept misfortune as a blessing. Do not wish for perfect health, or a life without problems. What would you talk about?
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single Oy.
There is no escaping karma. In a previous life, you never called, you never wrote, you never visited. And whose fault was that?
Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.
The Tao does not speak. The Tao does not blame. The Tao does not take sides. The Tao has no expectations. The Tao demands nothing of others. The Tao is not Jewish.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Forget this and attaining Enlightenment will be the least of your problems.
Let your mind be as a floating cloud. Let your stillness be as a wooded glen. And sit up straight. You'll never meet the Buddha with such rounded shoulders.
Deep inside you are ten thousand flowers. Each flower blossoms ten thousand times. Each blossom has ten thousand petals. You might want to see a specialist.
Be aware of your body. Be aware of your perceptions. Keep in mind that not every physical sensation is a symptom of a terminal illness.
The Torah says, Love your neighbor as yourself. The Buddha says, There is no self. So ... maybe we're off the hook?
If there is no self, whose arthritis is this?
Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?
Drink tea and nourish life; with the first sip, joy; with the second sip, satisfaction; with the third sip, peace; with the fourth, a Danish.
Wherever you go, there you are. Your luggage is another story.
Accept misfortune as a blessing. Do not wish for perfect health, or a life without problems. What would you talk about?
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single Oy.
There is no escaping karma. In a previous life, you never called, you never wrote, you never visited. And whose fault was that?
Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.
The Tao does not speak. The Tao does not blame. The Tao does not take sides. The Tao has no expectations. The Tao demands nothing of others. The Tao is not Jewish.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Forget this and attaining Enlightenment will be the least of your problems.
Let your mind be as a floating cloud. Let your stillness be as a wooded glen. And sit up straight. You'll never meet the Buddha with such rounded shoulders.
Deep inside you are ten thousand flowers. Each flower blossoms ten thousand times. Each blossom has ten thousand petals. You might want to see a specialist.
Be aware of your body. Be aware of your perceptions. Keep in mind that not every physical sensation is a symptom of a terminal illness.
The Torah says, Love your neighbor as yourself. The Buddha says, There is no self. So ... maybe we're off the hook?
Saturday, February 27, 2010
The Light
Of the million ways you could define enlightenment, identifying with the light is a good one. Miracle workers do more than access energy patterns. At any given moment, it is impossible to compute how many human beings have turned into miracle workers.
It should be pointed out that miracle-working is accessible before sainthood. When you see any image in your brain, you are shifting reality. A mental image is faint and quickly fades away, but no matter. The critical operation behind a miracle is one that you can perform. The difference between you and a miracle worker is that you do not create a strong enough force field to make your mental image project itself onto the outer world.
Even so, if you come into the force field of a greater soul, your reality can shift quickly. Some faith healers will often precede the laying on of hands by asking, “Do you believe that God can cure you?” From the larger perspective, no one has the power to keep God out totally. We can only open or close our acceptance of the light.
It helps to create a process that will gently create more willingness to be open. No matter what documentation is offered for miracles, many people will say, “But have you seen one yourself?”
You can take most people in our society and school them successfully in the art of “healing touch,” which requires a practitioner to run her hands over the body a few inches over the skin to feel where there are energy hot spots (detected as a patch of warm air over that region). The practitioner then moves this excess energy to dispel it, and in many cases some healing is achieved, usually in the form of more rapid recovery than from conventional treatments.
With care and patience, anyone can be taught to manipulate light; healing touch is only one mode. Any miracle may be within reach, if only we begin to alter our conception of who we are and how our minds work.
Adapted from How To Know God, by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2000).
It should be pointed out that miracle-working is accessible before sainthood. When you see any image in your brain, you are shifting reality. A mental image is faint and quickly fades away, but no matter. The critical operation behind a miracle is one that you can perform. The difference between you and a miracle worker is that you do not create a strong enough force field to make your mental image project itself onto the outer world.
Even so, if you come into the force field of a greater soul, your reality can shift quickly. Some faith healers will often precede the laying on of hands by asking, “Do you believe that God can cure you?” From the larger perspective, no one has the power to keep God out totally. We can only open or close our acceptance of the light.
It helps to create a process that will gently create more willingness to be open. No matter what documentation is offered for miracles, many people will say, “But have you seen one yourself?”
You can take most people in our society and school them successfully in the art of “healing touch,” which requires a practitioner to run her hands over the body a few inches over the skin to feel where there are energy hot spots (detected as a patch of warm air over that region). The practitioner then moves this excess energy to dispel it, and in many cases some healing is achieved, usually in the form of more rapid recovery than from conventional treatments.
With care and patience, anyone can be taught to manipulate light; healing touch is only one mode. Any miracle may be within reach, if only we begin to alter our conception of who we are and how our minds work.
Adapted from How To Know God, by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2000).
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
The Seven levels
Below are 7 levels of consciousness that clearly outline a path for our evolving consciousness:
- tribal and mass consciousness - one obeys the group and lives by trial and error
- individual consciousness - one develops a stronger sense of self and ego
- seeker’s consciousness - one asks questions and seeks independence
- intuitive consciousness - one develops the heart and is becoming spiritually aware
- group consciousness - one serves a higher good filling the needs of others
- soul consciousness - one experiences spiritual service.
On which level do you spend most of your time? What are you doing to shift to the next level of being?
“Consciousness is not just some by-product of the human brain mass. Consciousness is all pervasive. It is in everything and is everywhere. Your individual human consciousness exists within and is a part of a universal consciousness.” – Delfin Knowledge System
- tribal and mass consciousness - one obeys the group and lives by trial and error
- individual consciousness - one develops a stronger sense of self and ego
- seeker’s consciousness - one asks questions and seeks independence
- intuitive consciousness - one develops the heart and is becoming spiritually aware
- group consciousness - one serves a higher good filling the needs of others
- soul consciousness - one experiences spiritual service.
On which level do you spend most of your time? What are you doing to shift to the next level of being?
“Consciousness is not just some by-product of the human brain mass. Consciousness is all pervasive. It is in everything and is everywhere. Your individual human consciousness exists within and is a part of a universal consciousness.” – Delfin Knowledge System
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