Welcome to the Lake Tahoe Spiritual Living Center!

Meditation.

Study.

Contemplation.

Journaling.

Visioning.

Those are all spiritual practices, listed in my own personal order of preference.  When I take the time (make the time) to do those on a consistent and persistent basis, I feel happy and content.

When I don’t, I don’t.  It’s that simple.

I must not be doing enough spiritual practices lately, because lately I’ve found myself wondering why on earth so many people absolutely refuse to do these simple things that work.   Lately I’ve seen death, despair, judgement, criticism, blame, anger and worry, and no small amount of fear,  in the lives of the people who have asked me to help them, and in the lives of others who aren’t clients, but are people for whom I care about.  I’ve seen absolute refusal to do any of the inner work that would allow a ray of sunshine to beam into the darkness, dissipating that darkness like a light illuminates a dark room.  I’ve seen absolute insistence on destructive behavior, fixation on outside fixes, immersion in the latest pseudo-scientific fad “guaranteed” to make one feel better.  I don’t think I will ever know why people insist on doing things that don’t work, and on not doing things that do work.  It makes me sad.  So I breathe, I meditate, I study and journal, and I feel better.  And I feel better able to help those around me, because for some reason I have been called to do so, and sometimes it still boggles my mind that I have received this calling.  And I continue to suggest the spiritual practices and inner work necessary to allow people to be happy and content.  Some listen and heed the advice, some don’t.  The ones that don’t experience serious disruptions to their lives, sometimes even death, and when that happens I grieve.  I grieve for all the loss, the waste, the void of a life when it didn’t have to be that way.

And I go to do my own grieving in private, and do my spiritual practices, and get in touch with that Isness that is All, that Essence of Peace and Power and Beauty, and I once again feel at peace, and then I return to the land of the living, refreshed and energized, to try and fulfill my calling once again.

So today I will be spending more time than usual in spiritual practice, and add gratitude to the list with which I began today’s blog, because I have a quiet place to go to commune with my higher self, and because I have the time in which to do it.  And while I am there I will also do some treatments for those whom I know are feeling pain right now.  As well as for myself.  In fact, I think I will close this blog post with a treatment:

I know.  I simply know without doubt that there is only One.  One Power, One Presence, One All, One most magnificent Energy, Light, Beingness.  One All that is the perfect embodiment of Love.  And I also know without doubt that this Love Essence is everywhere present.  In fact, I know that  myself and every other human and every other thing, the Earth itself as well as the galaxies, were created so that this All could experience the physical in all it’s wonder and glory.  I was created so that God could experience the physical, pure and simple.   God is in me, through me, as me.  I am the perfect embodiment of God.  And it is in this embodiment that I  know that Power and feel that Power and experience that Power and use that Power and say with complete conviction and knowingness that I am at peace.  I am happy and I am joyfully fulfilling my calling as a teacher and spiritual leader.  I feel compassion and empathy while at the same time knowing the Truth for those with whom I come into contact.  That Truth is that they are now at complete peace.  They are experiencing all the good that there is to experience.  They are open to the good that is but theirs to claim, and they have claimed it.  They are happy, contented, and joyous as they go about their day to day activities.  They now know beauty.  They now feel peace, joy, happiness, contentment, and are experiencing a lightness to their steps, a smile on their faces, and an enthusiasm in their lives.  It is with the Power that I am that I claim this for them, and for you reading this, and it is with that Power that I release this word, back into the ALL POWER THAT IS, where the work is already done.  And so it is with gratitude that I close this treatment with those wonderful words of completion:  AND SO IT IS!

In  our Monday night discussion group, we are talking about transformation and it occurred to me that some people might not want to transform.  If that’s the case, then don’t waste your time by showing up on Monday nights.  I guarantee that if you show up, participate and do the work,  you will have at least one transformation in your life!

It also occurred to me that some might be wondering:  why transform?  Or:  is transformation even possible?  Or: maybe others can transform, but I’m trapped.

Let’s tackle the first question:  why transform?  If your life is perfect, if you have enough money, wonderful relationships, perfect physical health, and feel whole and complete and joyful, then there is no reason for transformation in your life.  And I want to talk with you and see how  you did it.  But if there is lack or limitation in any area of your life, the way to reverse that is through an inner transformation.

The second question:   Is transformation even possible?  The book we are currently studying proves scientifically that it is possible, and it goes through ways in which to effect transformation.  But I think it might be a good idea to define transformation.  As we are using it, it is an inner shift in perception that allows one to react to and perceive life differently.  One book I quite frequently refer to calls transformation, “huge emotional displacements and rearrangements.”  I love that phrase!  Transformation is usually of the educational variety that occurs over time.  And I bet if you think about it, you will be able to come up with some times in  your life when you were transformed, when  you realized that you were no longer thinking the same way, or perceiving the same way.  That’s transformation.

The third question:  Possible for others, but not for me.  If that is the case for you, then I submit that you are not reading this blog because you have nothing better to do.  Something in you is seeking, and that something will continue to nudge you until you take action, and the nudges will not always be gentle.  Sit with that feeling for a while.  What directed you to read this blog?  Why are you here?  In what other areas have you found  yourself reading, or investigating?  Or perhaps you’ve jumped from spiritual fad to spiritual fad, like an athlete, hoping that this one will fix you.  Transformation is possible for everyone, but it does not happen from the outside in.  It won’t happen with immersion in a spiritual fad, or with a move, or a new job, or a new relationship.  The kind of transformation I”m talking about is the kind that allows you to feel joyful and complete, no matter what is going on in your outside world.  This kind of transformation happens from within.

So, if you want to transform, there is good news and bad news:  the good news is that it is possible, the bad news is you have some work to do.  You might consider beginning by showing up on Monday nights.  And if you can’t show up on Monday nights, get the book, read it, do the exercises at the back of each chapter.  And if you need support through the transformation, call me!

______________________________________________________________________

Weekly meditation/discussion group, Mondays from 5-7. Call 530-906-9336 for more information.

Need a nudge, want some support? Coaching will help you move into the gloriousness that is you! Call 530-906-9336 for more information.

I just hung up the phone.  I got to listen in on a conference call set up to hear candidates for the Centers for Spiritual Living respond to a series of questions.  I am so jazzed about this movement that I am a part of!  We have a slate of completely well qualified candidates, any one of them is capable of doing a great job of ushering in our merger (United Centers for Spiritual Living with International Centers for Spiritual Living).  We are a world wide movement that is only going to get bigger and noisier as time goes along and I am proud to be a Practitioner, proud to be a ministerial student, and proud to be the founder and Spiritual Director of the Center for Spiritual Living Lake Tahoe.

Listening to  this call reminded me that I have a call to action right here at home.  We teach that in order to change the world, we must change ourselves first.  With the birth of CSLLT at the beginning of 2012, there is now a place where you can come to effect transformation in your own life.  My call to action is to provide the space for you, which I have done, and to let you know it is there, which I am doing, and to help facilitate your transformation, which I will do when you show up.

I think of all the people in South Lake Tahoe who would benefit from these teachings.

The religiously disenfranchised.  That’s my term for folks who don’t feel a connection with the religion of their childhood.  The truth is that what we teach does not conflict with any religion, and could provide a doorway to a reconciliation, or at least a peace, with the religion of one’s childhood.  Here in the West, our culture suggests that we need to go to church.  And there is a certain amount of shame that is dispensed, mostly from ourselves, when we don’t.  The churches would love it if their attendance was overflowing every Sunday.  But I think there’s a change in the world, and that church per se is not what works for a lot of folks.  I do think that spiritually we need that connection, we need that knowing that comes from the connection.  Church doesn’t necessarily do it.  But meditation does, and studying spiritual literature like “Living Deeply, the Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life” does.  We are currently studying that book on Monday nights, and each meeting begins with a different type of meditation.  I teach the meditation first, then we do it.  Then we discuss the book.  Not only can this be a doorway for transformation for you in your own life, but it will allow you to feel a part of something bigger than you are.

The seekers.  We are all seeking at some point in our lives.  We seek peace and  happiness and joy, and many times we seek it from places like relationships or jobs or possessions.  But the reality is that outside things like jobs, relationships and possessions will only provide a temporary sense of peace and happiness and joy.  Long lasting peace comes from a connection with that Force that is within each and every one of us.  All of the techniques, classes, workshops and sessions that I do are designed to facilitate that connection.  Wouldn’t it be nice to be content?  Wouldn’t it be nice to be at peace, no matter what happens on the outside?

Those who have a spiritual foundation but want to enlarge it.  Spiritual growth doesn’t just happen.  It takes consistent and persistent practice, plus regular reminders.  I don’t know that we are hard wired to forget what is really important in life, but I do think that sometimes the outside stuff makes it seem that way.  What is really important is the inside job, and what is really important is practice, and coming to a CSL regularly, attending classes and book studies and workshops, is part of what will provide you with a good foundation that will allow for spiritual growth.

Fellowship:  I’ve been facilitating a book study down in Carson City for about three years.  This group has bonded, big time.  The people in the group get together for celebrations and holidays, and help out when needed.  This group  has taken field trips and gone to dinners and talks in Reno and panels in Carson City and to hear me talk at the Center in Tahoe City.  Lately there has been some talk of going to a yoga retreat together.  This kind of fellowship is invaluable, and I have no doubt that this kind of fellowship will grow at CSLLT as well. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to share and mingle and learn and grow with folks who are like minded?  You are not alone in this world.  There are others who think just like you do.  Think about it:  you attend CSLLT regularly, along with a bunch of other people.  We get a great snowfall, and you want to go snowshoeing. Who better to do it with than your CSLLT group?  Or you want to be involved with helping others.  Did you know that the opportunities for service in any CSL abound?  How about hospice work?  Visiting sick people?  Helping with a fund raiser for the community?  Helping to set up an interfaith question and answer panel?  Service is huge, and the friendships and connections we develop while doing service is huge.  Won’t you join us on this incredible journey?

It takes a commitment to practice regularly and persistently.  Right now I’m doing a weekly group, on Monday nights, from 5 to 7 pm.  Last night I took a lady through a guided meditation and as I was doing that, I was mourning all the people who weren’t there benefiting from the service.   When the meditation was over, she said the same thing.  She was so grateful for the meditation, and so grateful for the time there.  And then we proceeded to discuss some of the material in the book called, “Living Deeply, the Art and Science of Transformation.”  This book is about transforming your life, and it draws from all the religions in the world, as well as from science.  It is filled with stories of personal transformations, and it is filled with good practical advice about how to achieve transformation in your own life.  But in order to show up and reap the benefit of this stuff, you need to make a commitment.  The commitment is to yourself.  Are you worthy of transformation?  Do you deserve to be happier, more peaceful?  Only you can answer that question, but if the answer is yes, then I suggest you do whatever you need to do to show at the Center for Spiritual Living Lake Tahoe on Monday night at 5 pm.

“A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.”  Herm Albright

“It is wonderful to contemplate the mental attitude of people who are not afraid to believe their prayers will be answered.”  The Science of Mind, page 161, from the chapter called Faith

The previous two quotes are from the daily meditation for August 31, 2011, written in the Science of Mind magazine by Leta Miller.  You can get an online version or subscribe to a printed version by going to http://www.scienceofmind.com/home.  Each month the magazine, which has been published continuously since 1927, features a set of daily  meditations written by a different author.  Although I read other daily meditation books, I have found I return to the magazine over and over again for my daily “dose” of spirit!

Ok, now that all my attribution is done, I can get to the point of today’s post.  The other day I was chatting with an acquaintance about a function we both participated in.  Sales were down this year for both of us, and while she was complaining that she would never do this function again (she said the same thing last year), I was happy because of the networking opportunities I had by participating.  And she said, “well of course you would make lemonade out of it.”

She was annoyed, and my thought was, “why would I think any other way?”  Why wouldn’t I choose to look on the bright side?  Why wouldn’t I want to grab hold of all the good I can?  And why would I place attention on negativity?”  It is a scientifically proven fact that what we place our attention on grows.  Quantum physics has proven it, over and over again.  (I just love it when science proves something that spiritually minded folks have been asserting for thousands of years!)  I don’t set out to annoy people with my optimism, but it seems to happen.  I don’t understand why someone would get annoyed at someone else’s optimism either, but have learned that is their choice, and has nothing to do with me.

So here’s some tips on how to uplift your life, and if you like to be annoying, that’s a side benefit that will just come naturally.

1.  Think positive!  Any time you have a negative thought, move to the other side of the thought.  Do not park on the negativity.  Your thoughts have power, and that negativity will manifest.  The cool thing is that positive loving thoughts have more power than negative ones do.

2.  If you must judge, judge in a positive way.  This applies to people, institutions, the weather, everything.  Did you know that judgement is simply your opinion of yourself  turned inside out?  Yep, whatever you are judging anything else for, look within, because that is the source of the judgment.  If  you spot it, you got it!’

3.  If you find yourself unable to move from negativity to positive thinking, and unable to stop judging, and you really want to live life differently,  get some help.   Something within you is calling, something within you wants to manifest good in your life, something within is saying that it is time to think and be and do in new ways.  However, most of us need assistance when we want to learn a new way of being.  A coach is good for holding the light and showing you where to dig, and they can nudge you when you falter.  It is not always easy to live in a way that is different from the way you’ve done it your entire life, which is why I put that little caveat in there about really wanting to change, because there will be parts of you that balk.   It’s good to have the supportive wisdom of someone who is trained to guide through the path of change.

4.  Listen to uplifting music.  I particularly like disco for this!  It prompts movement, and movement in our bodies create yummy things called endorphins, which are a natural attitude booster.  Any kind of movement will do actually.  If dancing to disco doesn’t float your boat, go outside and take a walk, or ride a bike, or go to a gym, or dig in your garden, or even clean house!

5.  Help someone else.   Every religion and spiritual tradition teaches this.  It is the wisdom of the ages, helping others.  If you do nothing else, do this.  I know a lady who bakes cookies at Christmas  for all the fire stations in town.  Another fosters dogs until they are ready for adoption.  I know others who volunteer their time at various charitable organizations.  I provide free coaching on a regular basis and donate my time and services to my local Center for Spiritual Living.  Attorneys do some pro bono work.  Doctors provide free medical services.  Find your niche, and fill it.

6.  And last but not least, remember that happiness is a choice.  Abraham Lincoln was right when he said that we are as happy as we make up our minds to be.   Ultimately, it is your choice.  No one is going to stop you if you want to sit in misery, but choose happiness and you will find an entire village of people supporting you and doing what they can to help you achieve your goal.

It’s the end of the month already.  The summer seems to have passed in a blur.  On Monday, in my area, the kids go back to school.  This weekend an early season storm is rolling in to remind us that the season will change soon.  If the squirrels in my yard are a good indicator, this promises to be a big winter in terms of snowfall.  They are frenetically cutting down pine cones, then tearing them apart to retrieve the pine nuts inside.  They are not waiting for the pine cones to become ripe, but are taking then while they are green.  I come out to my driveway each morning to find it littered with “pine cone leaves,” the harvest of green pine nuts hidden away somewhere to sustain the squirrel through the winter.

This is a lesson for us.  I watch the squirrels do this every year.  Well, most years they wait until the pine cones are ripe to harvest the pine nuts.  But the point is that these squirrels are in touch with nature.  They know what is coming, because they have maintained their connection with Mother Nature.  And they are preparing for it.

Have you maintained your connection with Spirit?  This is a connection that allows us to know.  It allows us to know our truth, and it allows our own innate wisdom to shine through.  And if we are paying attention, it allows us to better prepare for our future.

You can maintain  your connection with Spirit by daily spiritual practices of course.  But that connection is nourished by carrying the consciousness, by paying attention, all day long, in everything you do.  Notice.  Seek signs of Spirit in all your encounters.  Acknowledge that Spirit is a part of you.  Know that you are a part of Spirit.  You were created so that Spirit could experience the physical, so act as if you are Spirit, and you will be.  You will feel and know that consciousness, and you will be happier and more at peace because of it.

Sometimes we get to a place of darkness.  We go there without realizing it, and usually aren’t sure how we got there.  But one day we wake up and realize that we’ve been full of all sorts of nasty stuff:  shame, self pity, low self esteem.  It’s a dark place.

It is possible to go into the light however.  Noticing that we are in the dark is the first step, and it’s a biggie.  Taking a good honest look at ourselves and how we have blocked ourselves from the Light is difficult, but needs to be done.  It is good to have a guide when we do this, to keep us from blaming and shaming ourselves.  This process is not about shame, it’s about ridding ourselves of that behavior which has been limiting us.  Guides can be Practitioners, counselors, therapists or mentors.  Someone who can hold the lantern for us while we dig, and keep us from jumping into the hole.

Once all that stuff is exposed to the light of day, we can gently be rid of it, and replace it with something more positive and productive.

This is a process that takes patience, the gentle support of our guide, and a connection with Spirit.  But once we are on the other end of it, that light is there to illuminate our way to freedom, flight, happiness, joy and peace!

You are always at choice.  No matter what the appearances are, you are at choice as to whether to be at peace or not, happy or not.  I believe it was Abraham Lincoln who told us that we would be as happy as we made up our minds to be.  He was right.

So, when your thoughts try to park on something less than positive, remember you have a choice.  When the worry demons start in with their chorus of fear and doubt, remember, you have a choice.  You can thank them for sharing, then turn your thoughts to joy, happiness, peace.  Your thoughts are not the boss of you, you don’t have to live in negative thinking, you don’t have to react to worry, and you don’t have to allow fear to take over your life.

Go to that special place within you, that place where you are connected with Spirit, that One, and Know.  Know the glorious happiness of All That Is!  Feel the Power of Love!  Be Spirit, and the choice to be happy and free will be an easy one.

I used to have a  mentor that would always ask me if I would rather be happy than right.  For the longest time I never understood it.  I thought giving up my right to be right meant that I was going to be a doormat.  I also thought that it was possible to be both, but only someone of my high caliber and strong character could pull it off.  HAH!  Today I know that being happy and right is sort of like love and fear:  the two states cannot co-exist in us at the same time.  We are either in love, or we are in fear, and when it comes to relationships, most of the time we won’t be happy if we are steadfastly and stubbornly clinging to our right to be right.

What would it hurt to just be happy?  What would it hurt to think that perhaps you might not be right?   Or you might be right for you, but not someone else.  Not being right does not mean you are a doormat, or somehow lose face, or anything else negative.   Not being right could open the doors to a wonderful new way of seeing things differently.  Not being right could make life a lot easier for you.   Wouldn’t it be easier to claim your happiness, to stand in your intention of being happy, and to just let being right go to a place of inconsequence?

Today, my intention is to be happy!  How about yours?

Remember that little tune that was making the rounds, probably in the eighties that was titled, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!”?  It was a very cute song and became my motto for a while.   At the time I was not totally aware of what  it takes to be consistently happy for a long term basis. I still had a bit of working from the outside in going on.

You know, thinking that outside stuff will make me happy.  If I just get that relationship I’ll be happy. Or the car.  Or the toys.  Or the new clothes.  Or whatever.  What I’ve learned is that stuff (including relationships) is nice to have, it is not where happiness comes from.  In fact, expecting that stuff (especially relationships) to make you happy only serves to make you feel worse!  Because they only make you happy for a short period of time, then you experience the disappointment and disillusion:  why didn’t that keep me happy?  And this is the stuff of unhealthy relationships too, because it is not another person’s job to make you happy!  Expecting that of them is putting a big burden on them, one they can’t carry for long.  It just spells disaster for relationships.

So, if all that cool outside stuff won’t make you happy, what will?

HAH!  Sorry to have to tell you this again, but you gotta go within.  You have to go inside of yourself to find happiness.  Someone asked me recently what my formula for happiness was.  I never really looked at it as a formula, but when I thought about it, I realized I could put it into a formula.  I’ve realized recently that people like to see numbers and lists. Look at the book titles:  101 ways to do whatever it is you want to do, 12 steps to wherever, 7 things to do to get whomever….you get the idea.

So, here’s my formula, Four Steps to Happiness!

1.  Self exploration.  There comes a time when we must look at ourselves and take responsibility for our lives.  We stop blaming others for the circumstances in our lives and look at our part.  This is done without blame and judgement by the way.  Anytime we are saying, “she did that” or “he said this” we are looking in the wrong place.  Anytime we are saying, “I felt this” or “I did that” we are on the right track.  There’s a saying:  responsible acts build self esteem.  When we take care of ourselves and our lives, we are going to feel better, which leads to happiness.

2.  Meditation.  I don’t really care how you do it, what style you employ, just do it.  It can be guided, it can be contemplative, it can be counting, TM, yoga.  Spending regular time with your breath is invaluable to peace of mind.

3.  Quiet time.  We all need time to recharge our batteries.  A little bit every day goes a long way.  Quiet time can be used to read, or garden, or walk in nature.  You can even sit in a hot tub or get a massage and it would be quiet time, as long as you weren’t talking to others.

4.  Exercise is also key.  Our bodies were not made to sit around.  They were made to move.  If you aren’t moving a bit every day, your body is going to complain.  These complaints look like illness, they look like lack of energy, they look like yuk in your head.  A happy body makes for a happy person, and vice versa:  a happy person makes for a happy body. 

It’s all a cycle, do these things and you will be happy.  And if you are happy, you will want to do these things.

I’ve got a conversation going on on another blog, www.calmandcool.com.  I met this person on Twitter, and have been thoroughly enjoying his tweets every day.  You can follow both me and him on Twitter by the way.  Here’s my twitter url:  http://twitter.com/metawoman.  His is http://twitter.com/luckyb52.

I was coming up dry this morning for a topic here and decided to search twitter for posts (oh, excuse me…they are called twits) that might help me come up with something to write about and sure enough, I found it in one of Lucky’s twits.

He says that permanent happiness has to come from a permanent source, and he is so right! 

We can only find permanent happiness from God.  Or whatever you want to call it.  There are lots of names for it:  the Great Reality, Spirit, the Universe, Mind.  And I believe, and I have the wisdom of the ancients to back me up, that Spirit lives within each and every one of us.  So, we find permanent happiness by going within, to that place where Spirit lives, and connecting with that.  I know some folks think God is separate from them, that’s ok,  my point here is that if you want happiness, don’t try and find it in stuff.  Stuff is a short term fix.  That includes relationships.  If you try to find happiness in a relationship, you will…for a short time…then the trouble will start, because you’ll be expecting that other person to make you happy and that is a very unfair expectation to put on another person.

Better to connect with God and get your happiness there.  God is the only permanent source of happiness!

So do whatever it is you do to connect with whatever it is you call God, and you will be happy!  Permanently!  Unless of course you sever the connection. 

Later we can talk about how to connect with God and stay connected, but I’ll leave this post for now and wish you a Happy Day!