Welcome to the Lake Tahoe Spiritual Living Center!

Lately I’ve been finding myself hiding in an old familiar hiding place:  it’s a cave of isolation, made with walls of shame and low self esteem.

The reasons for my hiding out there are irrelevant:  we all have times in our lives when we might find ourselves back in that cave.  Or for you, maybe you’ve been there all your life and have yet to emerge.

I emerged a long time ago and discovered all the beauty and joy that life has to offer when I don’t hide behind shame and low self esteem, and since then I’ve made it my mission in life to discover all the tools I can to avoid that cave, and to know how to get out of it when I get there.

So like I said, I’ve been in the cave a while, sometimes without even knowing I was there.  I’m in the middle of experiencing a loss, and the grieving process gets a bit difficult at times.  It is, at times, difficult to know  the difference between grieving and self pity.

I’ve increased my spiritual practices, I’ve acknowledged that I need to be gentle with myself, I’ve gone out of my way to  help others, and yet, still, I am sometimes finding myself in that cave.  This particular loss is a biggie and it is taking everything I know and have to stay out of the cave.  And sometimes I find myself there anyway, with seemingly no path out.

Then the phone rang.

And with that phone call came a request to sing one of my favorite songs at the Celebration Service this Sunday morning at Center for Spiritual Living Carson City.

I don’t sing much, at least not in public, but I can do it when needed.  And this particular song is one of my favorites.  In fact, it is one of my signature songs, one of those I always go to when I need an uplift.  And when I’m in the cave, I sometimes forget that I have this song at my fingertips to lighten my load.

And when the phone rang this morning, I said yes, because I’ve been taught that those kinds of requests don’t really come from people, they come from Spirit, encouraging me to be and do more than I’ve been.  If I say no to those requests I am saying no to Spirit (later on I’ll talk about boundaries, but not here). I said yes even though a part of  me was saying, “NO NO NO!” and throwing out all kinds of excuses why I should say no.  I understand that is the  part of me that sometimes lives from fear, and while I can acknowledge that part is still there, I also know the reasons for its loud refusal and I can respond gently and quietly to its objections, and still say yes.

Then I realized I needed to rehearse.  Even though I know this song by heart, even though I can sing it A Cappella, I need to rehearse.  So I put on my ear piece so I could hear my own voice above the background music, so as to be able to fine tune any sour notes that came through, and Viola!  The magic happened.

I came out of my cave.  As I sang the words, I felt that tingle cover my whole body, I felt that little rush of adrenaline, that little lifting of the load that says, “YES, I can do this!”   The dog howled his accompaniment, and still I sang.  The cats looked at me weird and still I sang.  I danced and sang through the house, feeling every word at a soul level and once again feeling and knowing the truth of who and what I am.

I remembered that I had promised myself I would not hide any more.

I remembered who and what I was.

So I’m going to sing my heart out this Sunday morning, and along with that I’m going to release some more grief and move farther away from that stupid cave.  And I’m going to try and remember that music provides a wonderful path out of the cave.

Here’s some of the words to that song, which was written by Larry Steelman of the Joy Choir, from the Oakland Center for Spiritual Living.

“Today’s a new day for me, to make the best of all given to me.  I look around and I see nothing but all possibilities.  I’ve got a song in my heart, a dance in my feet, a praise ringing out my victories!  And I’ve got joy in the morning, and I’ve got joy in the night.  And there’s joy in the moment, walking in the light.  When I forget to remember all the blessings sent to me, I look back and I see how much good this god has given me.  I’ve got a song in my heart, a dance in my feet, a praise ringing out my victories!  And I’ve got joy in the morning, and I’ve got joy in the night.  And there’s joy in the moment, walking in the light.”

I’m walking in the light today.  I hope you are too.  And if for some reason you aren’t, come sing with  me on Sunday and we’ll walk in the light together!

Life was not meant to be lived small.  My motto is sort of a mixed metaphor that goes something like this:  “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!  Go for the gusto!”  Yes, movie stuff, commercial lines….it’s amazing where we get our inspiration isn’t it?  That is one of the beautiful things about living a spiritual life, I think.  We can get inspiration from anywhere!  But I digress.

I found myself saying to someone the other day, “If I were in your situation I would be going for it.  I’d be enjoying every moment, living it to the fullest!  Damn the torpedoes, full *&^%$ speed ahead!”  And I realized that I said that not only for her situation, but for mine as well.  Because I have an area in my life in which I’ve been living small.  I’ve been allowing  “what if” and “yeah but” to limit me, to keep firmly shut any doors that might be presenting themselves, because of nonsense like societal pressure and fear.

But I know better.  I just forget sometimes.  I forget that fear is the Great Limitor and faith is the Great Liberator.  I forget that when I go deep within and do my spiritual practices there is no place there for fear.  I forget that I am That Which Is Everywhere.  I forget the deep levels of spirit that I have accessed and used and implemented in my life.  But when I remember, such as when I was in conversation with my friend, all fear dissolves and I realize that what is happening in my life is happening because somewhere along the line I was remembering who I truly was and made a decision to not live small.  What is happening in my life is allowing me to “boldly go where no man has gone before.”  There I go, back into the movie metaphors again, but I couldn’t resist.  I AM going where no one has gone before, and if you have made a decision to live large instead of small, then you are on that journey too.

And what I can tell you about taking such a journey is this:  don’t go without your Light.  That Light brings the comfort, the strength, the knowing and the being that will allow you to successfully navigate.  That Light allows faith to replace fear, it allows confidence to replace low self esteem, it allows knowing to replace doubt.  If you don’t know how to turn on The Light, then that is the first step for you on your journey.

You turn on The Light by many different things, which we at Centers for Spiritual Living call spiritual practices.  Take a class, get a mentor or a coach and implement their suggestions.  Meditation is probably the most valuable spiritual practice you can do, but there are others, like journaling or study.  The point is that if you have committed to a journey in which you don’t know the route, you will need The Light to guide  your way.

But with that Light, there is nowhere you can’t go, nothing you can’t do.  There is no living small when you have turned on The Light.  So, take a class!  Hire a coach!  Find a good book that resonates with where you are spiritually and study it, preferably with a guide.  If you don’t know how to meditate, learn, then do the practice consistently and regularly.  And pretty soon you will find yourself in that sweet delightful place of Knowing and Remembering, and your Light will be shining brightly all the time, and there will be no living small for you, just  full on enjoyment of all of what life has to offer.

I can’t resist it:   “Just Do It.”

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!

“We believe that heaven is within us, and that we experience it to the degree that we become conscious of it.”

This is the fourth statement in the Philosophy of Centers for Spiritual Living.  If you are just tuning in, I’ve been doing a series of posts on this statement which is distributed as a sort of informational statement in Centers for Spiritual Living throughout the world.  This statement was originally written by founder Ernest Holmes and is called “What We Believe.”  Before I get any further with this post, please know that the statement is a guide, sort of an informatory handout for people who want to know what we are about.  The reality is that everyone I’ve ever met in any Center has their own beliefs, including me, and that sometimes we have the same beliefs and sometimes we don’t, and it’s OK.  This is what I like about CSL:  we are free to believe whatever we wish. The bottom line is that we are in alignment with our own truth, and all of our classes and teachings are designed to help you with finding and keeping that alignment.  In terms of this third statement, what we teach will allow you to find heaven, right here, right now.

So… heaven is within.  I’ve always felt this.  I’ve never identified with the “heaven as a separate place” philosophy, just as I’ve never identified with the “God as a separate entity” philosophy.

I like the more accurate description of  the kingdom of heaven which comes from Unity founder Charles Fillmore in his Metaphysical Bible Dictionary.  He says the kingdom of heaven is “a state of consciousness in which the soul and the body are in harmony with the Divine Mind.”

What does that look like?  What does it feel like when our souls and our bodies are in harmony with the Divine Mind?

For me, it looks like freedom and feels like peace.  It is when I am comfortable in my own skin, fully aware and accepting of who and what I am.  There are no doubts, no fears, no hesitations, and I am able to listen to that still small voice within and know….simply know.

Can I do this and be this all the time?  No.  And this is the beauty of what we teach in CSL, because I have tools to get back in alignment when I get out.   All the spiritual practices:  meditation, journaling, introspection and others are designed specifically to help us remain in alignment.  And when I can’t remain in alignment I go to a coach to help me.

If you don’t feel like you are experiencing heaven in your life, consider taking a class at your nearest Center, or take advantage of one of the online classes, or hire a coach to help you.  In Centers, we have Practitioners which are licensed to do just that.  You are worth experiencing the heaven within.

Now that Christmas is over, I’m beginning to take action on my to do list.  There’s a lot going on in this ministerial student/Practitioner/Spiritual Director of a Teaching Chapter’s world!

You ever have a to do list that is a bit overwhelming?  You ever get stuck because your to do list is so big you don’t think  you’ll ever get it done, so you get stuck?  I don’t think I’m the only one.  But I do know that when I break the list down into smaller pieces and just do what is in front of me to do, things seem to get done quickly, efficiently and easily.  So what I’m going to do in this blog is present to you my to do list, and then tell you how I’m going to get it all done.  I’ve got ulterior motives of course.  Those of you who know me know that I love multitasking, and if I can help you with your to do list while also publicizing everything I’ve got going on over here, so much the better!  So just know, there’s gonna be some PR language in this post, but there will also be some practical things to help you accomplish what’s on your list.

Ok, here’s my list:

Finish preparing new web site now that Teaching Chapter is formally approved.  This is a big deal guys.  A Teaching Chapter!  What it means to you is a once weekly gathering for profound discussion and meditation.  The first gathering is scheduled for Monday, January 2 from 5 to 7 pm.  This will be an ongoing group facilitated on a love offering basis.  The topics for discussion for the next few months will be based on the book “Living Deeply, the Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday life.”  You will be able to purchase a book from me ($15), or from www.amazon.com.  Paperback is $11.53 plus shipping, e-reader is $10.38.  Our discussions will be held at Lake Tahoe Spiritual Living Center at 3665 Tamarack in South Lake Tahoe (it’s off of Ski Run Blvd.)   This is also one of those ongoing things.  The Teaching Chapter will always be here, I’ll always be doing something in connection with it, so Teaching Chapter stuff will always be on my to do list.

If you’ve  got something ongoing like this, break it down into separate tasks.  You’ll see another entry further on in this blog that has to do with the Teaching Chapter.  Usually ongoing stuff has many different tasks, don’t put them all in one item on the list, or if you do, itemize them in sections.  The key is to break things down into smaller manageable parts.

Write a talk.  Another big deal.  Since I’m giving this talk at the Sunday service at the Center for Spiritual  Living in Carson City on New Year’s Day, this item needs to be done first.  I’ve already got a few ideas, but now I need to put them on paper and do some research and get a few quotes.  I’m a good speaker guys!  If you are anywhere close to Carson City at 10 am on New Year’s Day, come on by!  This talk will be inspirational and uplifting, designed to not only allow you to begin your new year right, but to keep up the momentum.  If you’ve got a problem  keeping your New Year’s Resolutions, you might want to check this out.

Prepare for a life transition ceremony on Wednesday. Yep, that’s in two days.  Actually, I’ve already got most of the work done on this one.  What’s a life transition you ask?  Well, there are the biggies:  death, marriage and birth.  But there’s also moving, getting a new job, coming of age, divorce (or loss of any kind), any of the big changes in life qualify for status as life transition, and there are rituals and ceremonies that can be done to help with the transition.  Turns out I’m pretty good at this too…who knew? (don’t take my word for  this…I’m basing this on feedback I’ve received from folks for whom I have performed these services)  In addition to weddings, I’ve also done Celebrations of Life and house blessings.  This particular ceremony will be for a lady with dementia and her daughter.  It is to help the lady with dementia let go and move into her final transition (as she is showing signs of doing so anyway) and for the daughter, who is her primary care giver.  It will be a moving ceremony and I’m honored that I was asked to do it.  If you have any transitions coming up, please consider me for the job and please pass the word!

Marketing for the new Teaching Chapter.  I’m already doing quite a bit in this area, but the Teaching Chapter will be called Center for Spiritual Living Lake Tahoe (CSLLT) instead of Lake Tahoe Spiritual  Living Center, and once the new web site is completed I will need to start spreading the word about the…ahem….transition.  And yes, I’ve already done my own little transition ceremony for this one, it was very nice!  Included in this list is to explore Constant Contact and see if it will work for us.  I also need to send out a newsletter to people on the current mailing list, as I have a new package of private coaching sessions to tell them about, in addition to the news about the Teaching Chapter and the Monday night group.  By the way, if you are interested in private coaching, contact me for details about the package!

Prepare for new quarter of studies, which begins next week.  I’ve already accomplished a lot of this list:  I’ve registered and ordered and received my books, but I need to make hotel reservations for the classes I will be taking in Santa Rosa, and make arrangements for dog sitting, plus download and transfer my lectures to my Ipod.  Then it’s time to start studying!

Take time to rest and play. This one is always on my list.  I learned the hard way that if I do not take time to rest and play on a regular basis I lose stuff, mostly my mind, but I also lose efficiency and relationships get strained because I’m a grouch.  I’m pretty good at taking regular time off now.  I’ve loved what I do for a living since 1987, and I’ve been self employed since 1987, so I’ve had some time to perfect this taking time off thing.  But once in a while I still have to remind myself that it’s time to go outside and play.  By the way, these two topics (doing what you love for a living and balance) are what a high percentage of my private clients contact me for.  Both are possible, but usually our own limitations get in the way of this. I can and have helped quite a few people remove those limitations, so if you have something like this on you list of things to do in the New Year, contact me if  you need help!

Prepare flyer and distribute it for the new discussion group beginning next week. I’ve purposely waited till after Christmas to do this one.  Spreading the word about the group while people are scurrying about preparing for Christmas  would have just been like spinning my wheels in the mud.  Now is the time to do this.

You may have noticed that there is some prioritizing going on with my list.  Prioritizing is essential.  Some things can wait, some can’t.  Some have to be done regularly, some only once.  And while I’m pretty good at prioritizing now, it took some practice and some coaching to learn the skill.  This is another thing that private clients hire me for.  You can begin prioritizing your list by putting deadline dates on your items, and rearranging the list according to the dates they need to be done.

Last but not least, this item is always  on my list:  Do spiritual practices.  I don’t care what is on the list, or how long or short it is, it’s still a list of outside stuff, and when it comes right down to it, all that outside stuff will not get done unless you first do the inside stuff.  Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in the outside world until and unless the insides are properly nourished and cared for.  Working from the outside in does not work.  It’s more spinning of wheels.  In fact, if you are a long time reader of this blog you’ve heard me say this before, “if you don’t go within you’ll go without.”  The inside work HAS to be done.  Our outside world is a direct manifestation of what is going on inside, and if you have thoughts or beliefs which are negative or limiting, that’s what you will experience in the outside world.  All of my private client work, all of my workshops, all of my classes, all of my discussion groups, are based on this one simple thing, and all of them are designed to help you do the inside stuff that needs to be done in order to accomplish that which is on your list of things to do.  This is where spiritual practices comes in. I’m not talking about praying here folks, although some people do include this in their spiritual  practices.  I’m talking about connection, and the knowingness that comes from being connected.  I’m talking about inner personal experiences that come from a connection to something that is profound and undefinable.  And spiritual practices will establish and maintain that connection.  For me, my spiritual practices are meditation and quiet time.  Others read daily meditation books, some journal, some walk.  There are many different forms of spiritual practice.  The key is to realize that if  you are doing at the expense of being, you will eventually cease to be happy or effective at what you are doing.  You must BE first.

I could go on and on about spiritual  practices, but the fact is I’m approaching 2000 words here and that’s already too long for a blog post, but oh well, it’s gonna have to be ok this time.  Plus I’ve written about spiritual practices many times, do a search on spiritual practices on this blog and you’ll find a series of separate blog posts, one for each practice, that will detail each one.  This is also something that I teach privately.

My wish to you is that you are BEING, happily and peacefully, and that your  beingness shows up in to do lists that get done!

I sometimes hear a lot of talk about triggers.

“I’m triggered by this.”  “That is a trigger of mine.”  “That’s a trigger and will make me (insert your favorite destructive activity here).”

Really?  Hmmm.  On the one hand, I empathize with folks whose lives are ruled by triggers.   I know what it’s like to live life reacting to what is handed out to me.  It’s not a pleasant place to be, and it’s even less unpleasant because when I was there, I didn’t know what I didn’t know.  I was ignorant, going through life being triggered and not knowing there was any other way to be, not knowing there was any other way to do things.

I also know that it is extremely difficult to rid ourselves of those things which just…well….they push  our buttons and before we know it, we are reacting willy nilly to something without any hesitation at all!

What’s up with that?!?!?!

I’ve rid myself of many of my triggers, and I’ve removed the language of “that’s a trigger for me” from my vocabulary.  Our words have power, and if I say something is a trigger, well, it remains a trigger and I’d really like to avoid being the victim of things like triggers.

So other than removing the language from your vocabulary, what else can you do to remove a trigger?

I’m assuming, of course, that you would really like to have the trigger removed.  So that’s really the first step.  What would your life be like if you were no longer triggered by….let’s say, crowds.  Would it then be possible to go to crowded places?  Perhaps there is a concert you would  like to attend.  What would life be like if you no longer had that limitation? Would it feel empty inside without that trigger to determine where you go and when you go there?  Would it feel a bit scary to be able to simply make a decision to go or not to go based on your desire?  Do some introspection on it, think about whether you really want to remove the trigger, and what life would be like without it.

In treatment centers they like to talk about triggers a lot to their clients, telling them to stay away from bars and other places where alcohol is consumed.  I can understand that when one is still not quite in one’s right mind.  When one does not know one’s own truth, one is subjected to the truth of others, and yes, that will allow triggers to continue to operate in your life.  But the foremost authority on recovery from alcoholism says that one can even attend “plain ordinary whoopee parties” if one is spiritually fit.  (the textbook of Alcoholics Anonymous, page 101)

And that right there is the key.  Being spiritually fit will allow you to be anything and accomplish everything that is on your  list of things to do, no matter what.  Triggers will no longer be in your vocabulary if you are spiritually fit.

So what does it mean to be spiritually fit?  First of all, I know that word spiritual can be word loaded with different meanings, so for this discussion I’m going to offer a definition of spiritual:  being spiritual means you are at peace. Period.  End of story.    What allows you to be at peace?   What allows you to live a life based on love, rather than fear?    That is spiritual.

Here’s a formula, if you will, for ridding yourself of a trigger.  Just as an aside, this is also the formula for living a loved based life, rather than a fear based one, because really, it all boils down to that:  a fear based life is ruled by things like triggers, and a love based life is ruled by love.

1. First is the aforementioned introspection to decide if you really wish to be rid of the trigger.  Because if you don’t, none of the steps  will be effective.

2.  Finding a god in your life is of utmost importance.  God is another one of those loaded words, but really, it doesn’t matter what it is, and it doesn’t matter what  you call it.   And if you look, you will find clues as to what and where your god is.  God is about experience, not rules, not dogma,  not the latest fad.  Don’t become a spiritual athlete by jumping from one fad to another in search of that magic formula that will make everything ok.  That’s an outside fix, and outside fixes are never effective for very long.  What needs to happen is inner change, an inner experience.   Being spiritual is about experience.  The experience of being spiritual will change  you, from the inside.  It will allow you to perceive things differently, to feel differently about yourself and the world around you.  Being spiritual will allow you to behave differently.  And it doesn’t really matter how you get spiritual, or find a god of your understanding, just that you find it.  If going to church does it for you, then good, do that.  But I think there is more to it.  At Centers for Spiritual Living all over the world, Sunday services are a very small part of what we do, because we consider ourselves a teaching order rather than a religious one.  We teach.  At any given Center, Teaching Chapter or Study Group, you will find classes, workshops and seminars galore.  And the common theme throughout much of what we teach is this:  do spiritual practices, consistently and persistently.  Spiritual practices consist of meditation, journaling, reading spiritual literature (there’s that word again!  I am not talking the bible here folks, although that could be on the list), introspection.  And we teach you how to do those  things.  We teach you how to do those things because it is in those practices that you will find a god of your understanding, it is in those practices that you will experience the spiritual and it is in those practices that you will be able to know  your own truth, not someone else’s.   You can find a Center here.

3.  Once you have a beginning sense of the spiritual  in your  life, it’s time for some more introspection.  Your sense of who and what  you are will change as you incorporate a sense of the spiritual into your life.  It’s a process that can happen very quickly or more slowly, but it will happen if you continue to do spiritual practices, consistently and persistently.  At this level introspection,  take a good hard look at the things you fear in life.  Fear is key, because, as the Course in Miracles says, there are only two states of being:   fear and love, and you can’t have love if you are in fear, and you can’t have fear if you are in love.  I’d like to see  you be in love, all the time.  So when you look at your fears, and how you react to them, and what makes  you feel fear, you will have gone a long way towards being rid of them.  Hold your fears up to the light of day and they have a tendency to scurry away, like cockroaches when you turn on the light.  You are only as sick as  your secrets.  Look at what  you fear, and how you react to it.  If you don’t understand what fear looks like, look at what makes you angry.  Anger is a result of fear.  So is judgment.  So is blame, shame, guilt, hatred.  Anytime you are feeling any of those things, you are in fear.

4.  Once you’ve taken some time to do the  inner  work, talk with someone about it.  Just as an aside, it  might be very difficult to do the inner work on your own as we are not as a rule taught to do that.  If that is the case, seek help from the beginning of the process, not at this stage.   There are Practitioners all over the world  who are  specifically trained for this kind of work, and it doesn’t have to be someone local.   I work with people on the phone all the time, and I quite frequently will call on the assistance of a Practitioner from another area.  You can find a Practitioner here.

5.  Once you’ve  done that, it’s time to set things right in your life.  You might find that after all that inner work, there are some outside things in  your life that  no longer fit.  You may find that after all that inner work there are some people with whom you need to have a heart to heart talk.  You may experience a period of deconstruction in your life as a result of a changed you.  While this is uncomfortable, it isn’t life threatening, and is necessary in order to live life differently.

6.  Continue your spiritual practices, consistently and persistently.  No matter what.  Just do them.  With spiritual practices as your foundation in life, you will only become more and more powerful, and less and less susceptible to triggers.

We all experience some sort of limitation in our lives, something that we think prevents us from doing what we want to do.

Here’s some examples of limitation:

I have a chronic illness.  I don’t drive in the dark.  I don’t make enough money.  I don’t drive in the snow.   I can’t do relationships.   I seem to spend more than I earn.  Bad things always happen to me.  I can’t do that.   They aren’t doing it right.  I can’t.  They won’t let me.

What is behind any limitation in our lives is a way of thinking that is manifesting  the limitation.  There is a direct relationship between our thoughts and what happens in our lives.  What has a tendency to complicate things at times is that there is also a direct relationship between our beliefs and what happens in our lives, and sometimes it is difficult to even know what our beliefs are.   But here’s a formula that might help you to figure it out:  thought plus feeling equals belief.  Put some feeling behind that thought and you have a powerhouse of….well…power, working to create what you just thought.  See, the Universe always says yes, and when it  hears a thought with emotion behind it, it gives you what you’ve asked for.  So put some feeling behind any of those limiting thoughts and BINGO!  You’ve got it.

Why not turn it around?  What have you got to lose by trying?  Here’s some steps to ridding yourself of limitation in your life.

1.  Change your thinking. Every time you have a limiting thought, change it.  Replace the limiting thought with one of no limits.  Affirmations are very good for this.  Put some feeling behind the affirmation and you get that bingo effect I was writing about earlier.

2.  Do spiritual practices…every day, consistently and persistently.  This should probably be first.  A bunch of really good stuff  happens when you do a regular spiritual practice.   Meditation is the most powerful of the spiritual  practices, but there is also quiet time, introspection, journaling, reading of spiritual  literature.

3.  Consider that changing a life long pattern of thinking might be difficult, and be willing to ask for help.  Spiritual coaching is great for this.

4.  Don’t sit around waiting for the new thoughts to manifest.  Do your spiritual practices and your affirmations, then release it and go do what is in front of you to do.

5.  Don’t judge.  Judgment only hurts the one doing the judging.  Consider that when you judge, it’s really more of that old way of thinking coming in to prevent you from freeing up your life.  Look underneath the judgment.  Chances are pretty good there is a fear there that needs addressing.

I would love to hear about a pattern of thought that you are changing in your life, or one that you have changed.  How did you do it?  What made  you willing to make the change?

Are you Enchanted with Life?

I learned something cool in one of my classes the other day.  The professor was explaining that when French people are introduced, instead of saying, “pleased to meet you,” they say, “enchanté,” which is short for “I am enchanted.”

What I got out of the professor’s explanation of enchantment was that being enchanted with life is what spirituality is all about.

Spirituality is not about going to church.  Nor is it about believing in a certain way because you were told to believe that way.   Instead, consider that spirituality could be about being enchanted, no matter what.

In the dictionary, one of the definitions of enchanted is, “to delight to a high degree.  As in her gaiety and wit have enchanted us all.”

So how do you do that?  How does one remain enchanted, or delighted with life, no matter what?

Let’s face it: life happens.  Leading a spiritually based life does not mean that stuff we judge as bad or less than desirable is not going to  happen.  Doing spiritual practices everyday like meditation, contemplation or journaling does not guarantee that we are going to be immune from the ups and downs of life.  It just means we will be better able to handle them, and to respond instead of react.

But what if we took it a step further?  What if we made a decision to be enchanted, no matter what?  What if, instead of taking a walk and noticing how beautiful the fall colors were, we moved in a bit closer, to notice the minute changes in color of just a couple of leaves.

What if we used those minute changes in color as a metaphor for our lives?  What if we made a minute change in a behavior, or in a way of thinking?  Do you not think that such a minute change might result in the entire forest changing?

I think this is the way we can become enchanted with life, by making minute changes in our behavior and perception.  Just a little bit at a time, we can change our entire being, our entire lives.  And if you believe that you can be the change you wish to see in the world, think of how making a minute change in your life can contribute to changing the world.

So be enchanted today.  Change one tiny little thing, and decide to be enchanted about it.  And let me know what happens with that!

My last post was about the difference between New Age and New Thought.  If you are interested, you can read it here: http://www.laketahoespirituallivingcenter.com/blog2/?p=2007.  In the course of some conversation about the topic, someone mentioned that all the New Age stuff:  crystals, candles, angels, channeling, etc, were simply another intermediary to God and they preferred the more direct route that is espoused by New Thought.

One of the main reasons why I like New Thought is because we teach that we do not need an intermediary to God.  God is everywhere present, all the time.  It is within you and within me.  Indeed, we are the physical manifestations of God, here so that God can experience the physical.  So you have a direct line to God, no intermediary is needed.   Simply the awareness that I AM is all that is needed.

Yet, God is so much more than that, and so sometimes it might feel like intermediaries should be necessary.  They aren’t, but it seems we like to complicate things….enter intermediaries.

I’ve done rituals to allow me to feel the presence of the One.  I’ve lit candles and I regularly use a set of chimes to open and close client sessions, workshops and classes.  There is nothing wrong with intermediaries if they remind us of who and what we are.  Intermediaries can be valuable tools.

There are some faiths that say you can never have a direct line to God.  They say you can only access God if you are physically present in their church building.  They say you can only access God by talking with one of God’s representatives:  i.e. a priest or pastor.

As a licensed Practitioner and a ministerial student, I do not find such dogma helpful, yet…..there is a bit of a paradox here.   If we need no intermediary to God, then I wouldn’t have clients, I wouldn’t have opportunities to speak from the podium in various Centers.  There would be no people flocking to our Centers on Sunday mornings, book sales would drop dramatically, and there would be no need for workshops or classes.  Because everyone would be able to access God simply by remembering who and what they were.  Everything else is so much fluff.  Yet I regularly use the services of another Practitioner.  I love going to my Center on Sunday mornings to hear the message.  I love my little rituals with candles and ringing of chimes.  I love my angels.  And I LOVE my books!  All of them are intermediaries.  But I can and do regularly experience the awareness of I AM.  Not just when I am meditating, but at all times of the day.  Sometimes that awareness comes to me without effort:  I will be going about my day and all of a sudden I will experience a feeling of pure bliss and peace.  Sometimes I ask for that reminder, and in the asking the awareness is there.

And I know that not everyone is able or willing to simply rest in the awareness of the I AM.    Having an intermediary seems to lighten the load.  If I have an intermediary, then I am not responsible.  The intermediary, and thus God,  is responsible.   It was “God’s will.”  Or, “the angels sent me the message.”  Or, “that channeled being is a direct intermediary and I am going to base my life on what he says.”  I have a problem with this though.   I want to go directly to source, even though sometimes I appreciate my rituals, enjoy reading or listening to channeled messages, and would be a bit lonely without my angels.  But that’s all New Age stuff and it can get complicated.  I like New Thought’s simple message:  “Change your thinking and change your life.”   I like New Thought’s teaching:  “do spiritual practices regularly and consistently to live happy.”   I like New Thought’s simple creed:  Each of us is a part of the One, and thus each of us has the power to create.”    I love that empowerment.  I think this, more than anything else, is what attracted me to this philosophy and way of life:  I have the power to create.  It can be a heavy load, but it’s worth it to me.

I will never forget the feeling I had many years ago when I was reading Neale Donald Walsch’s “Conversations with God, Book One.”  The concept he presented was that God wanted for me what I wanted for me, because I was a part of God!  Admittedly, this may have simply been my perception of the material, but I can tell you that my feeling was one of freedom and a bit of fear, all at the same time, because all of a sudden I realized that I was responsible for my life.  I couldn’t blame God, I couldn’t go into spiritual bypass saying it was God’s will, and I certainly couldn’t blame anyone else.  That stuff no longer worked for me.  In the absence of blame came personal responsibility, and with that came freedom.  It’s a powerful realization, and today I can’t blame anyone for anything, and that empowers me.  I am no longer a victim.  I do not need an intermediary to God, nor do you.  But if you want to be rid of your intermediaries, you will need to know that you are a part of the One and you will need to accept that you have responsibility in your life, for your life.  And it is essential that you accept this responsibility without shame.  Just because you can no longer blame God doesn’t mean you can blame yourself.  Blame is no longer on your list of things to do.

No, intermediaries are not necessary.  I AM….and so are you.

I think I’ll go light some candles now…..

“Courage means telling the truth of ourselves from our whole being.”  Patrick Cameron

Yep, it’s another quote from the Integration Conference, spoken in the seminar on leadership held for ministerial students.   About the same time as I heard this quote, I heard another concept from one of my teachers, also in a leadership class.  She said that we should not use “expressing our truth” as a means to bully others.

So…I’ve been thinking some about this truth and courage stuff.  I know that in the past I have been guilty of expressing my truth to try and control and manipulate others.  Setting boundaries is another concept where there is a very fine line between attempts at control, manipulation and bullying, and taking care of ourselves.  The line is drawn in that area between speaking in the first person (“I” statements) and speaking in the second person (“you” statements).  Yet it has been my experience that even first person statements can sometimes be  a thinly veiled attempt at bullying, or attempts to control and manipulate.  I’ve seen relationships destroyed because one person disguised attempts at control as setting boundaries.

So what is the answer?  How do we know our own truth, and express it in such a way that we honor ourselves without venturing into the land of attempts at control, manipulation and bullying?

If you have been reading this column for a while you know the answer:  do your spiritual practices!  In this case, going within through the practices of meditation and journaling seem to be the most effective.  When we go within on such a deep level, we know what our truth is.  And we will feel the difference between courageously expressing that truth or venturing into that fearful place where we try to control, manipulate or bully others.  On some level, it does not feel good when we go beyond simply expressing our truth.

Another part of the answer comes from that ancient wisdom expressed in the Course In Miracles:  there are really only two states of being, love and fear.  We are either in a state of love, or a state of fear, and we will always react from that place.  Learn to recognize what fear looks like for you, so that you can move back into a state of love when it happens.  Learn the spiritual practices that work best for you to move from fear to love.  Love means we do not need to try and control or manipulate any situation or bully anyone.  Love means we can rest easily in our beingness and KNOW that all is well, no matter what.  Love means we can simply honor ourselves, and take care of ourselves.  Love does indeed conquer all.