The Joyful Experience Of Expanding Our Knowing

Yesterday I was listening to a podcast at On Being where two Jesuits astronomers Brother Guy Consolmagno and Father George Coyne made a statement that greatly expanded my view of the world.  They said that about 20 years ago the scientific belief was that the universe was slowly expanding but this expansion was like a careful balance.  In the last 10 years that idea of the universe expanding has greatly changed because their data shows in fact that the universe is actually constantly accelerating its expansion.  Here is the fact that put my mind on near overload: They said that 75% of the known universe has come into existence in the last 10 years.  I went back to the interview to double check this when I got up this morning because it still seems so amazing to me.  75% of the known universe today was not there 10 years ago, wow this is both exciting and a zing of fear tingles my insides as I contemplate this.

Can we really know anything for sure if everything is changing?  In this way the two Jesuits talk about ignorance as exciting because there is always so much to explore and learn.  They also made the point that this type of ignorance is informed by study and exploration and is about the search for a greater understanding.  They both talked about the joy of this type of not knowing. 

This has me thinking all kinds of things, will you join me in exploring: 

How can anybody be certain they know anything for sure?

Isn’t an open mind essential?

If the universe is expanding are we also?

How can we accelerate our consciousness at the rate the universe is expanding?

At what other levels is this acceleration happening?

Is there danger that we will go beyond what the universe is capable of creating and if so what will that mean to us tiny life forms on a dot of a planet?

How can we tap into this expansion in a way that is beneficial to all of humanity and life on the planet?

What does this all mean in relationship to The Creative Source of the Universe (God, Great Spirit etc.), or whatever guiding force exists out there?

If as the Lucid Living book (several posts ago) proposes, we are one awareness with our individual manifestation, then is this one awareness accelerating its awareness and how do we as individual awareness tap into this expansion?

I would greatly appreciate your perspectives on these ideas.  It is clear to me that there is much to learn and explore and that those that are sure they have all the answers are not present to what is going on in the universe.

Here is a delightful video of the stars:http://vimeo.com/10116116 

The Choices We Make Daily Shape Our Life

Are you aware of the choices you make?  Do you choose impulsively or mindfully?  It seems to me the choices you and I make clearly shape our life in numerous ways.   How do you make the important choices that will shape your life?

Each day there are choices to be made and oftentimes the simple choices have a major impact.  A basic question about our choices is do we make them from awareness or from habit.  If choices are habit driven you get results that can be stale and familiar.  If you choose from a place of awareness about yourself and the circumstance you find yourself in, then the choices will be informed and inspired by the moment. 

Here are a number of daily and important choices that will significantly shape your experience of life:

Will you eat healthy today?

Will you exercise during your day?

How will you deal with the stressors?

Will you be mindful of your thoughts or be run by mindlessness?

How will you be supportive of the relationships that matter?

What actions will empower your life today?

Will you follow the guidance of your intuition?

How will you manage your emotions?

What ways will you take care of yourself?

What tendencies do you need to lookout for in your behavior?

What new or difference ways of being do you need to explore?

When will you take time for contemplations?

How will you know what is right for you and what won’t work?

How will you wind down so you can get the rest and sleep you need?

When will you take time to visualize the results you want to make happen?

How will you express your creativity?

What makes you happy?

What opens your heart to compassion?

How will you learn to see past your blind spots?

Who in your life can you seek advice from when you need it?

 As you can see from answering these questions, simple choices can make a big difference.

It seems I have been having lots of list attacks or maybe my mind is more creative when brainstorming than when I try to fit my thoughts into structures?  Whatever the reason, the flow is going better and more spontaneously when the list maker is sitting here at my keyboard. 

The “nothing wrong” experiment is going well so far even though my mind seems to want to go after things that seem to need to change.  Maybe this critical mind is wired to see what can be change for the better of all?

Another inspirational video



Life Is An Amazing Mystery

This past weekend I was at a book sale and a book presented itself to me as one I needed to read. The book is called, Lucid Living and it is by Tim Freke.  The back cover says: “a book you can read in an hour that will turn your world inside out.”  That is a very catching line and an hour seemed like an amount of time I could give to a big change in perspective.  Except I decided I wanted to share this experience so I brought it to work and for group therapy we eight read the book together and it pushed the parameters of all of our thinking.

In the book he shared seven insights, which were definitely expansive.  The points that stood out for me in our class reading include:

Life is not what it seems to be. 

Life is a mystery.

You are not who you think you are. 

You are not a person.  (Then who are you?)

How come you never stop to wonder?

Is there anything you can be absolutely certain about?

Your experience of this moment is all you can absolutely be sure of.

You are the experiencer of the experience.

You are awareness witnessing the flow of experiences.

You are timeless awareness dreaming itself to be a person in time.

As awareness we are all one.

Being one is loving all. 

These ideas question much of what we believe as real and invites us to grow into a more expanded view of who we are and what is possible?

This is particularly interesting to me: I am not a person, I am awareness aware of itself.  I am awareness witnessing my life-dream.  These ideas fit from what I understand as unity consciousness.  We are all awareness in which this awareness in dreaming of our different expressions. 

I hope these ideas have caused you to wonder about who you are and what these ideas mean.  Have a good day.

Here is a Tim Freke video that you might find enlightening.



The Importance of Contemplation

So far my experiment with “there is nothing wrong/everything is right as it is” has been challenging and I think those in Japan would be hard pressed to see anything right and all things seem wrong for now.  In my life there are challenges also but I keep on coming back to the idea that my experience of living is totally shaped by how I think. 

Sometimes my thinking gets stuck in low energy thoughts like worry, fear or powerlessness.  Fortunately those brief bouts with negativity are easily changed by focusing my thoughts on what is working, what does feel good, and on the love and compassion in my heart.   It is natural for the ups and downs of emotions if we let our mind run freely about without any mindfulness.  We live in a world where entertainment is king and little time is spent tending to the workings of our own mind.

Contemplation is an important antidote for the over stimulated extra busy mind.  Spending time quietly contemplating our truths, our questions, our emotions, the callings of our heart, and the important messages of our intuitive nature is time well spent.  In contemplation we find: what is true for us, what matters most, and our unique purposeful expression.  If we know what is going on inside we can better deal with the complexities of the modern world. 

How often do you sit and contemplate your inner nature?

How often do you tune into the wisdom of your heart?

What gives you meaning in your life?

What do you know you need to do to feel fulfilled?

Who are you beyond your ego and personality?

What matters most to you today?

How can you better take care of those you love?

Are you taking car of your own needs?

In what ways do you hold yourself back?

How do you limit the expression of your heart?

There are so many questions to think about and explore which need quiet time and the stillness of your own company.  Contemplation is the peaceful way to change ourselves to the person we want to be; these personal changes have the power to be forces for global change. 

This film preview has me looking forward to the inspiration of this movie.  



The Guiding Light Of Compassion

Lately the power of compassion to be a guiding light has been on my mind.  Ram Dass writes in his latest book Be Love Now, that the first time he met his teacher in India, he felt totally loved.  His teacher’s compassion flowed through Ram Dass and this flow was so encompassing that his whole life changed from that moment on.  

Compassion is a form of love that involves understanding and empathy for the challenges of self and others.   Compassion and love are two of the guiding forces of most of the great spiritual traditions.  When we feel love and compassion we are at our best as human beings.

Compassion is a powerful force because it calls on us: to expand enough to let the world in; to feel enough to have empathy for others; to care enough to be supportive of our own struggles; to be kind enough to make a difference for those in need; and to love enough to fill the hearts of all beings. 

If we let compassion guide us then we always know what we need to do, who we need to reach out to, where we can make a difference, and what gives our life meaning.  Let’s imagine a world in which compassion guided us all:

This world would put the well-being of all of life as the top priority

This world would bring peace by putting an end to all wars because we would have no enemies

This world would take care of those in need by providing homes, healthcare, food and resources

This world would provide more treatment and less jail space

This world would be filled with kindness and caring for each other

This world would bring great love, joy and hope to all of us

This world would teach us all about the importance of having compassion for each other

This world would be filled with the light of compassionate action for the good of all

This world would be free of greed and the need for power and control because all hearts would be nurtured

This world would be filled with the wisdom of the heart

This world would understand being in the present moment where all great things are possible

This world would have compassionate governments and leaders

This world would have one religion of loving-kindness

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive." Dalai Lama

Video about compassion by the Dalai Lama 



Ten Ways To Find Our Own Truth

Being informed is so important because these are times where our choices are critical.  In my experiment about “nothing wrong” what I am beginning to understand is that there are many things going on we need to know about for the betterment of humanity and the planet.  This does not mean we have to go into judging mode or condemning anyone.  What it does mean is that we need to see all that is going on so we can be informed in how we think and how we act. 

Gandhi and Martin Luther King have been a great inspiration to me because both called for the moral high ground and did not spend time in bashing others.  These two and many others have organized people to move into passionate action for greater causes not against people. 

There are so many out there claiming to know what is wrong but very few have the answers and that is because these are challenging times and there may not be clear answers.  Each of us needs to access the wisdom inside so we can know our own truth.  Truth is not something we are told but something we discover within.  Here are the best ways I have found to know our own truths:

1. Trust your gut – the body wisdom is not fooled by the twists and turns of the rationalizing mind.  The gut is never governed by the ego.
2. Put yourself in a daily timeout – we all need quiet time to tune inward.  There is no true knowing that happens without the deep understanding of quiet contemplation 
3. Follow your intuition – this way of knowing is always there below the surface waiting to be heard.  Our intuitions will always lead us to what is right for us.
4. Respect the movement inside – we are either expanding or contracting in relationship to what is going on around us.  Following our truth expands us; going against our truth contracts us. 
5. Move from judging towards understanding – compassion is a key measure in truth seeking.  The truth always involves compassion or it is the ego-mind at work. 
6. Pay attention to how we feel – emotions give us almost constant feedback.  If we feel bad, angry, or hateful then we are not in our truth.  If we feel hope, happy or loving we are on the right track
7. Be informed and keep seeking ideas – the more our mind and heart takes in the more expansive our decision-making.  Seek authors, web sites, and programs that exhibit higher consciousness and awareness.
8. Raise our own consciousness through inner practices – being present is another key ingredient in understanding truth.  Knowing happens in the now and inner practices help us be fully present to ourselves and the collective wisdom of the universe.
9. Be guided by our heart – our heart is more truthful than our mind.  Our heart always senses what is right and not right.  Our loving heart is such a powerful force for a better world.
10. Be guided by the spirit within – When we tune into the deeper understanding of what we value morally/spiritually we are communicating with our highest knowing.  Our higher nature is aligned with the true wisdom of the universe.

What other ways have you found helpful in accessing your own truths?  Our truth seeking is one of the reasons we are here in this lifetime.  In touch with our truth we can live a powerful and purposeful life.  Another interesting video.



Day Two Of The Nothing Is Wrong Experiment

Day two of the Nothing Wrong/Everything Right 30-Day Experiment has been off to a less than perfect start.  The Earthquake in Japan, the Tsunami’s, the nuclear reactor explosion and fire in the hills just west of Boulder and the blasting wind that woke us up many times during the night.  I guess the universe said ok Mister, let see what you got? 

I love a challenge don’t you?  The earthquake, the tsunami, the wind are all natural phenomena so there is nothing wrong with these occurrences.  However it appears we could learn from this about building cities and reactors in safer placers.   A friend of mine said, “you don’t build a home on the side of a volcano, why would you build in reach of the ocean?”  Is there anything wrong with this question? 

The fire here is said to be human caused (as was the other recent one), so do we punish those who make these mistakes?   Is a mistake doing something wrong or simply a mistake?  We all make mistakes and some of them may have cost us relationships, jobs, new opportunities etc. but were we wrong?

Today it feels like early spring and my morning run took me up this grassing valley into the hills and a beautiful pine forest.  I thought of the Native American tradition of saying thank you to the four directions as I entered the pines and I stopped long enough to say thank the Earth for the beauty that surrounded me.   There really is much to be thankful for and nature seems to a good reminder to appreciate what is around us. 

How do we understand the incredible loss in Japan?  Is there a greater force out their smacking the people of the nation around?  I doubt it very much.  Japan has long been prone to earthquakes so to live there means the threat of this kind of destruction.  The loss of human lives is the hardest to understand but those who are gone are free of the drama of this life.  May they be at peace!

Part of what I want to add to this experiment is that I want to share with you at least one link/video/podcast that I have found expansive:  Here is a Youtube video you might appreciate and here is an interesting article.

What If There Is Nothing Wrong?

Part of the noted Zen teacher Cheri Huber recent interview over at Insights At The Edge (Sounds True) was a point of view that I sense is important but I seem reluctant to fully let it.  This truth is that there is not only nothing wrong with me, but even more, there is nothing wrong at all anywhere.  There is nothing wrong.  Think and feel this statement for a few minutes and watch the fireworks go off inside the mind. 

What do you mean there is nothing wrong is my first line of defense.  I can go on about talking heads that spout distasteful opinions or corporations that only care about profits and other hugely disappointing situations in the world.  These seem wrong and I want to say they are at some level.  Are they?  What if there is nothing wrong then what upsets me about things, what if I didn’t question, and what if we just put up with things we shouldn’t and more?  As I write this I feel uneasy with letting go of my questions and sadly what I see as blame.  Sadly because I don’t want to be a blamer but I also don’t want to be so passive that what seems wrong wins, how do I work this out inside?

If today I started from the point of view that nothing is wrong then what happens to my social activist, the peace advocate, and the social critic?  Well I can still be an advocate for more peace, for better social systems and for a more compassionate world.  Can I however stop pointing out who I think the bad guys are?

This is my plan and I write it here with great hesitation because I can feel that I am going to make a commitment that could be harder to do than seems possible.  I will commit to focus on only what is right, that there is nothing wrong for the next 30 days.  Can I do this?  I guess you and I will find that out.  So until April 9, 2011 I will appreciate what is and not find things wrong.  How about trying this experiment with me?  I think it will be transformative.  Drop me a note if you are going to join in and I will send you some emails about some of my challenges with this experiment and offer you insight about any of your struggles.   

What I appreciated about yesterday as I wrote this was the sunny weather, the great people I work with, my clients who are doing their best to find recovery, my dog who is a wonderful part of our family, my wife who is a very loving person and much more.  I will feel more relaxed if I am not reading my political sites and living in the bliss of the moment where awareness will always lead to new and expansive insights.



Is There Danger In The Land Of Preferences?

It seems we humans especially in the West have lots of preferences.  We prefer certain kinds of food, people, religions, political parties, entertainment, lifestyles, exercise programs, shoes etc.   Preferences are almost all created by our thoughts and are what we think we want.  Interestingly people can get quite uncomfortable if they don’t get what they want.   Some people actually prefer that others have the same preferences they do.

Where does these ideas come from that certain religions, political viewpoints, cultures and lifestyles are not right if they are different then what we prefer?  It is as if others are expected to think and believe as we do.  Why would someone expect that of another? 

What got me thinking about this was all the talking heads on the radio and the TV that are so sure they have the right ways of viewing the world.  These opinionaters badmouth those who see the world differently.  In truth each of us has the right to choose to see whatever we are seeing in whatever way we want.  Those who profess preferences in viewpoint bring judgment to those who think differently.  Is that judging of others ok or it is about thinking of themselves as better than others who don’t agree with them.  Is this ultimately about wanting to control others to think like they do?  Why is it so important to see yourself as right and others as wrong?

Preferences like Mexican food over Chinese are insignificant but when it come to bashing people who are Muslim, or who don’t believe in the kind of God they profess to believe in seems to be based in fear.   Is this fear about feeling like those who think different or on their own can’t be trusted or controlled?  Is this about the ego wanted to be right and judging others who are free to choose because they are not under the influence of dogma or doctrine?

I really don’t know about all of this but I am suspicious that those who claim to have all the answers should be questioned.  Those that are so sure maybe are trying to convince themselves.  Those that judge others maybe too often are judging self.   I find it uncomfortable to sit and watch those that are sure they are right because they have closed down their hearts and minds.  These experts on what is right too often seem run by rigid thinking and the ego’s need for control then by higher consciousness.

I have for the last almost 40 years been studying human nature and exploring the great truths and all I can be sure of is that there are few clear answers and always more to learn and explore.  If I close my mind down I will not be open to greater awareness and knowing.  If I close my heart down I will miss connecting at a deeper level to myself and those I care about. 

Today, I want to suggest that preferences don’t matter and that what does matter is that we remain open to learning and to growing into a deeper understanding of what we can know.  As long as we keep on growing we remain open to all that is possible.  We sure need greater possibilities because there are many things going on in the world that could be much better.  You and I are the ones that need to keep open and help make positive things happen.



10 Ways To Move Away From Self-Doubt

Where does all this seemingly endless self-doubt come from?  How do we break the cycle of doubting ourselves, wondering if we are good enough, if we are doing an ok enough job, if we are an adequate enough parent, family member or friend?  Let’s look where some of this self-doubt comes from not as a blaming exercise but in search of further awareness.  It would be helpful to see how we as humans got into this limited and limiting view of self.

Most of us grew up in families where our parents had self-doubt; our schools planted self-doubt in us if school wasn’t easy; our churches trained us to doubt who we are; the news and many other TV programs filled our minds with fear and self-doubt; and usually our peers are full of doubt.  Self-doubt has become so epidemic and ingrained that we may even doubt those who feel ok about themselves. 

Offsetting self-doubt is for many of us the work of a lifetime.  We have been so well trained in doubt about self that the idea of being free of it may seem unlikely.  The following 10 unique ideas can be helpful in moving from self-doubt to self-confidence:

1.  Become mindful of your thoughts knowing that your thoughts create your experience of life.  Change your self-talk from self- doubt to encouragement and support.  An inner cheerleader is a wonderful asset.
 
2.  Remember you are not the story you tell about yourself.  This is just a learned story and your any inner story of not being enough is not the truth.  Rewrite your story starting today.  Include in this story all of the successes, all the love, and how you made the world a better place up to now and in the future. 
 
3.  Reconnect to the wisdom of your heart.  Your heart is a powerful source of courage and confidence because of its capacity to see the truth and to have compassion for you and everyone in your life.  Concentrate of spreading love and doubt will dissolve away.
 
4.  Nourish what in you calls for attention.  Maybe your body needs to be cared for, your heart needs more tenderness, or your desire to commune with spirit is calling you.  Self-care goes a long way to feeling positive about you. 
 
5.  Seek to find what makes you feel free.  In freedom your sense of self is released from limits.  There is no doubt when you are flowing freely moment-to-moment.  If you set yourself free you enjoy your own company.
 
6.  Moving towards more simplicity shifts your feelings about yourself because the mind has an easier time settling into peacefulness of the now.   When things are simple you can drop the judgments of the complicated world.
 
7.  Living in integrity with your values and purpose means the inner conflicts subside.  Integrity feels clean and clear because the baggage of expectations drop away.  Values and purpose bring light into all you do.
 
8.  Explore ways to come into harmony with yourself and your life.  Appreciate the rhythm of how you move through things and become aware of what your needs are.  Harmonious living sweetens the air of the now by being tuned into self.
 
9.  Plan for a positive future in which you imagine yourself in the bliss of what you know is right for you.  If you can imagine it, you can start packing because you will move into that reality before long.  See it and let your mind energize it into reality.
 
10. Play with the part of you that is immortal because it is above the drama and knows how to have a good time.  There is a part of you that was here before this life and will continue after the body comes to rest.  Reside in that expand state where doubt doesn’t even exist.

Self-doubt has held us all back at times.  Now is the time to step into the power of self-confidence.



Is This Life A Dead End?

I never knew when I started this blog how much of exploring life I would be doing.  My work is part of this exploration.  My OBE’s and mindful practices are part of this exploration.  My writing most days is a total exploration of what is flowing through me.  My wife and the people around me are all part of this exploration.  As I am writing this I wonder what life is about?  Are we suppose to be exploring who we are?  Whose idea is it that we travel this path of exploration?  Do other cultures see life as an exploration?

Some people believe that we are here to grow as human beings and that is our purpose.  Who decided that growth is what we are to do?  This sounds more like a human interpretation of the feedback life gives us along the way.  What is growth for us humans, does it have to do with having more compassion and raising our consciousness or expressing our uniqueness, or having more fun, or being more successful?

Other people believe in a God that is watching our every move and judging us and will either punish us or take us into heaven.  This is more a traditional religious point of view.  The God of each religion seems to have different expectations of us humans.  Some Gods are vengeful and other compassionate.  Does each religion have their own reason we exist?

In the East there are beliefs in the transmigration of the soul, that we keep coming back until we get it right (Maybe that was the movie Groundhog Day?) or work through our karma or return to the light of our divine nature.  The belief in reincarnation has been around for thousands of years and many wise people have accepted that as the truth.  Who keeps score of our karma? Who decides when we get it right?  Some might say there are parallel realities where these lifetimes all happen at the same time?  It sounds complicated but then so is life.

Others think we got one run at this life, with no afterlife.  This point of view supports living life fully today because this is as good as it gets.   This viewpoint is usually not religious and it is about finding meaning in what you do and who you are.  If there is no afterlife, no return, no watching God then it kind of frees us up to enjoy the moment.

There are other viewpoints about the meaning of life is but no one seems to know for sure.  I am only certain that this life is worth living as fully as we can.  I use to believe in the importance of the lessons of this life (and other lives if there are others) but now that doesn’t quite seem so important.  This someone keeping track to see if we have been naughty or nice seems more like Santa than God. 

Over my lifetime I have explored a variety of beliefs and now I just seek the truth as much as I can know it.  I know that I mostly likely have this day to live and I might as well live it as I want to with purpose, playfulness, happiness, love and my unique personal expression. 

If there is a God, he or she must want me to be me or they would have snuffed me out long ago.  Maybe we are like a giant ant farm and God is using us for entertainment, the ultimate reality show, but then again I wouldn’t be interesting in living up to the expectations of that kind of God.

The best bet is to live the life you want to live and the rest will take care of itself.  I do think having an open mind and heart would be assets on this journey.  What do you think about the meaning of life?



50 Questions We In America All Need To Ask

Maybe self-hate (see previous post) is the reason we put up with so much nonsense in the world.  Isn’t it time we question all that needs to be questioned?  Lately as I read the news and think about all the things that do not seem right, I keep coming back to this question: Why do we put up with things we all know are wrong?

The following questions need to be asked until changes come about:

1. How come automobile gas mileage stays about the same when there is technology to greatly extend the miles-per-gallon? 
2. Isn’t this gas guzzling about profits with zero concern for the planet?
3. How come people let their beliefs override the reality of science?
4. How come in most corporations profits matter much more than people and we put up with that?
5. How come hugely profitable oil and energy companies, get financial subsidies from our government?
6. How come Monsanto is attempting to own all the seed supply and dictate policy to American farmers?
7. Is it ok with you that many corporate farms pollute the land and water supply with their chemicals?
8. Is it ok that corporate executives make record amounts of pay, bonuses and benefits, yet the worker are suppose to take cuts and loose benefits?
9. Are unions necessary or should we just trust corporate leaders to be fair with their workers, lets ask the people of Wisconsin what they think?
10. How come our elected officials in Washington DC have excellent healthcare and yet they don’t want the people to have the same?
11. Did you know that most of the attacks on unions are financed by the very rich who get richer from taking power away from unions?
12. Is it fair that companies like Bank Of America pay little or no taxes?
13. Is it ok that mortgage companies trap families in faulty financial arrangements and then take away their homes (over a million homes last year)?
14. Is it ok that we imprison a much higher percentage of our citizens than any other modern nation and most of those in prison are victims of child abuse?
15. Is it ok that many companies in the US have offshore offices and pay no taxes?
16. Is it ok that there are close to 25% of the children of this nation now living in poverty?
17. How come doctors who work for insurance companies get bonuses for denying claims?
18. Does it seem wrong to you that drug companies make money off the sick and often charge so much for their medications that people go broke paying for them?
19. How come religions talk about the evils of money and keep asking for more of it?
20. How come churches who claim to be followers of Jesus can be so intolerant of others yet flock back to ministers who live a lie to what they preach?
21. How come people hate paying taxes but insist on government services like fire, police, military etc. 
22. How come we are ok with spending billions of dollars on the War in Iraq when we never need to be in this war?
23. How come we are in a war in Afghanistan when the vast majority of American are against it?
24. How come we have become a nation that allows torture and secret prisons?
25. Could it be that our immigration policies are not changes because so many businesses benefit from the cheap labor?
26. If extremism in Islam is a problem then why aren’t all extreme beliefs just as dangerous?
27. If unchecked capitalism is such a good idea how come we were such a mess in 2008? 
28. How come people think the past is better?  Was it?
29. What person in their right mind would ever want to be President of the United States?  
30. How come the United States goes into oil rich and resource rich nations to help them find democracy yet ignore the slaughter of people in Africa and other places? 
31. How come it is ok to spend billions on bailing out Wall Street but helping Main Street doesn’t work in the budget? 
32. How come we let our politicians be totally bought out by influence money so they represent the money interests and not what is best for the people?
33. How come ignorance, lies and poor behavior is tolerated in our leaders?
34. How come people listen to those that spread hate and bias across our airways? 
35. How come people swallow the empty slogans of much of political ideology?
36. How come we allow religious leaders to try and dictate policy in this country?
37. How come those in power are so afraid of questions?
38. Has freedom of press lost out to corporate rule?
39. What happened to all the money that disappeared in Iraq under our watch?
40. How come women are still treated as second-class citizens by many and women put up with it?
41. How come no one has validly explained what happened to tower three on 9/11?
42. Why would people watch the very biased Fox Network other than to support their biases? 
43. Is it ok that the middle class is disappearing at an alarming rate?
44. Is it ok that 5% of the people control 95% of the wealth of this nation?
45. How come people have such rigid beliefs and don’t question these beliefs?
46. How come many people prefer to numb out and live unconsciously?
47. How come the Supreme Court is so political instead of unbiased?
48. How come many of the manufacturing jobs have moved overseas by American companies and is this another example of profits over people?
49. How come we give corporations the same (if not more) rights as we give the people of this nation?
50. How come people have stopped questioning what needs to be questioned?

There are so many questions to ask.  Let’s all work together to hold people accountable for their greed, for their heartlessness, for their hunger for power, for their lack of caring about what is right for all the people.  Questions bring about change, complaining does little but create more frustration.   Be part of the change and get involved. 

Thank you Michael Moore for your talk in Wisconsin

From Self-Hate to Self-Care

As a therapist I am not surprised by the amount of self-hate people share.  What is surprising is that so many argue for the right to be run be this self-hate as if they have earned it.  Self-hate is all about the past where the inner critic lives in our thoughts and the ego thrives because we are sure that we are not ok.  Just yesterday I was talking to a staff person who allows the opinions of others to shape her inner response to herself.  This is not the way of the compassionate heart within us but the limiting programming of our formative years. 

In our society, families and schools we are taught to not be ok with ourselves from a very early age and that is true even in the best of situations.  In dysfunctional families we may start the self-hate programming before birth.  Most of this programming was not done maliciously but was past down in the form of negative parenting patterns through generations.  Schools, churches and other institutions are reflection of our judging nature.

How all this self-condemnation came about is covered very well in Cheri Huber’s book, There Is Nothing Wrong With You.  This book should be a basic text in health classes in all schools.  How we can undo this mess of the mind.

Here are eight basics strategies for beginning the transition from self-hate to self-care:

1. Spend time each day tuning in and becoming aware of what is going on inside.  This means paying attention to your thoughts, your feelings, your body messages and your senses.  With awareness you then have choices.  Awareness and choices are essential to change.

2. Tuning inward is key but it needs to be done impartially, free of the inner critic/judging mind.  This self-judgment is highly trained within all of us and really damaging.  You are an expert at what you think is wrong with you.  How much do you know about what is right about you?  Impartiality, compassionate observing of self is very liberating.

3. Focus instead on what is right about you.  Study your strengths, explore your potential, see where your interests take you, and find out what brings you genuine happiness.  A positive view of self is simply a healthier and more pleasant way to live in the world.  In the rightness of who you are is a deep peace.

4. Start redoing the programming of your mind.  Your self-talk shapes your experience of the world.  If you talk to yourself in kind, encouraging and compassionate ways you will start to care about yourself.  Mindfulness and meditation are wonderful tools for reprogramming.

5. Come to the understanding that all your feelings are ok.  Each day make it your practice to acknowledge what you are feeling and do your best to accept every emotion that flows through you. This is self-caring and a kind thing to do.  Denied emotions turn into tension toward self.  Acknowledged feelings pass on through effortlessly.

6. Make a commitment to being in the present moment as much as possible.  Thoughts about the past and future take you away from the now where the real action of life is.  Today you can make things happen and feel good about yourself.  In the now the judgments of the past fall away and the worries about the future don’t exist. 

7. Start each day with this statement: “I fully love and accept myself.”  You are an intelligent human being, full of potential, with a big heart, a unique purpose, and endless possibilities.  Remember your sense of self is not dependent on the approval of others.  What others think doesn’t really matter; what does matter is what you think of yourself.

8. Find where you spirit resides within you.  You are a spiritual being having a human experience.  The golden path to your spirit is silence.  In silence you make contact with your higher nature, your intuition, and your consciousness, which are all aspects of your spirit.  Listen to the call of your spirit throughout your day and you will be guided to the most amazing life. 

Self-acceptance is a really good place to restart our lives.  That restart can happen today and everyday.  Here is a great self-care article for inspiration.



Another Visit From Another Time: Michelangelo

This OBE trip coincided with the previous one to Italy where I walked with St Francis.  After we visited I found myself in the Sistine Chapel where St Francis had visited with the Pope sharing his perspectives on the church’s battled with opulence, greed and power.  His thoughts had not been well received. 

This time I found myself up on the scaffolding as Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the now very famous work of art: the Sistine Chapel.  Michelangelo was one of the most amazing artists to ever walk the planet.  Those paintings left me in awe of his greatness when I visited there a few years ago.  He seemed now as we talked to be a very modest man who loved his church and worked with endless passion to create this huge masterpiece. 

Like St Francis, Michelangelo and I entered into this space of shared consciousness and he passed to me his wisdom about the human potential.  He said his work was the reflection of the creative genius that flowed through him whose source he said was the grace of the Divine.  Most of the time, he said, he just tried to stay out of the way of the creative flow working through him.  He spoke from a place of awe about his work wondering how he had been so blessed to have this work come through him.   He had a deep love for the spiritual realm and stated that often when he painted and sculpted he felt as if he was in an altered state.  

The body of work of his was not a walk in the park.  The Chapel itself took four years to complete much of which was done on his back sometimes for 17-18 hours a day.  Michelangelo spoke of the expanded states of creative flow and inspiration as he lay on his back in much pain painting.  The inspiration numbed the pain of all those hours of precision and focus.  (When the magic of the Chapel is seen, people stand in wonder and amazement at the beauty.)  His work as a sculpture was full of many hours of hard focused labor and again the flow of grace he said made it all possible.

His determination to be at his best in all that he did and his patience made him stand above most others in his time and in history.  He set upon a course of action and never gave up.  He remained open to inspiration even when he struggled to survive the rigors of his journey. 

It is as if once I connect to these amazing people in human history, their consciousness remains with me.  These OBE’s visits are very invigorating and expansive in ways I would never have dreamed.  There seems to be a growing sense of excitement for vastness of what is yet to be explored and expressed.  It now seems clear to me that we all have this same potential for greatness as Michelangelo just waiting inside of us for expression?  Image that!



Compassion And Taxes

Last evening I gave a brief presentation at University of Colorado to a group of students who are EMT’s on the Boulder campus.  They help their fellow students in case of emergencies and also at events like football games where they end up dealing with lots of intoxicated students.  I was there to talk about our Detox facility and our treatment program.  They asked lots of interesting questions about our services, the people we serve, and funding sources.  I was more then happy to answer these questions because it provided me an opportunity to educate people about addictions and the need for treatment.

Earlier in the day I was interviewed by another student from a local college about the programs we offer and about addictions. He too also asked about funding.  Funding of services has become a big issue.  One of the CU students seems surprised we offered no cost to low cost help for many of our clients.  He seemed to question whether the people of the community were responsible for helping people who can’t afford help.  What do you think?

The amount of compassion within a community is a measure of the quality of the community.  Compassion and caring communities are places where most of us would want to live.  Places that don’t care about its citizen seem less appealing.  Funding to provide for compassionate care for those in need saves the community much more resources then get spent on helping them.  Those helped become less of a drain on our police, our hospitals and our justice system.

These days there is much discussion about spending tax dollars.  Many seem absolutely crazy mad about taxes and governments that spend money.  Where do they think the money comes from that pays for our fire services, for our libraries, for our police force, for our parks departments, our public health etc?  Taxes seem essential for running our communities, states and country.  More tax cuts means financial problems for governments, less services and many who suffer because they cannot get help.

I work in the human services field and without tax dollars many of the people we treat go without services.  Then we have people with severe addictions and mental illness not getting help.  Where does that leave the community?  More prisons are not the answer.

Taxes are necessary.  There are very few of us that have not been impacted by addictions or mental health issues in our families and friends.  Our communities would be unsafe without our public health, our police and our fire departments.

Those who oppose taxes live in a blind world unable to see those who suffer around them.  We cannot turn away from those in need because if we do we loose touch with our own hearts.  It is interesting to me that most anti-tax campaigns are paid for by those with extensive financial resources who are run by greed and the feeling that they can never have enough.  That fear mode of can’t get enough is a product of an unhealthy thinking process.  The sign that they need help also. 

Compassion is the right and healthy thing to do.  Greed and hate against government is the product of closed minds and hearts.   What would happen if we got out of Iraq and Afghanistan, wouldn’t there be plenty of resources to help those in need?

Thought you might appreciate the information pointed out in this articles at Truth-out.org    



What Is Personal Freedom?

Lately I have been thinking and feeling a need for more freedom in my life.  My life feels stuck in patterns, habits and a 40-hour week and not moving towards more flow.  I sense that I need to realign what I am doing in a way that will shake things up.  Do you every feel that way?  What is it I want?  What is it that you want?  What is a free human being?   

I am a free human being:

Free to choose my own beliefs

Free to think my own thoughts

Free to feel what I feel

Free to find my own truth

Free to love everyone

Free to do what I want

Free to have my own view of reality

Free to look at the world differently

Free to have compassion for all who suffer

Free of all labels others may place on me

Free to not judge

Free to create each day

Free to be my own boss

Free to travel and have new adventures

Free to imagine a better world

Free of the need for approval of others

Free of the constraints of religion

Free of explore all my potential

Free to follow the flow of life

Free to express my uniqueness

Free of corporate dominance

Free to be happy as much as I want to be

Free to dream and pursue that dream

Free of the doubts of others

Free of debt

Free of the childhood conditioning that limits me

Free to have whatever values matter to me

Free of self-doubt

Free to be powerful

Free to be comfortable being social

Free to ask others for help

Free to appreciate

Free to be fully present in my life

Free to be totally healthy

Free to live each moment as fully as possible

Free to explore whatever I want to explore

Free to grow in whatever way I want to grow

Free to seek higher consciousness in my own way

Free to find my own path and do my own thing

Free to enjoy the silence of the moment

Free to question everything

Free to take it easy and to relax

Free to play and enjoy life

Free to be who I am

Free to enjoy financial freedom

Free to have success in what matters to me

Free to help others in many ways

Free to not live up to the expectations of others

Free to soar to my highest expression

Freedom is a wonderful way to live in the world.  Why don’t you all be free together? 



This Blog Is About Peace And Purpose Realized

The last few days I have been thinking about how I can more fully express my purpose of promoting peace through expanding compassion in the world, by raising my own consciousness and spreading that consciousness wherever I go, by finding ways for us all to deepen our connection to each other and how to do this creatively.  That is my expanded 4 C’s approach to a better and more peaceful world, through compassion, consciousness, connections and creativity. 

My wife Bobbi and I are totally dedicated to the purpose of spreading peace through these 4 C’s.  We are putting together a plan that will impact as many people as we can with the urge, interest and intention of expanding their hearts, raising their consciousness, exploring their connections to each other, and expressing all of this is creative and inspirational ways. 

The Peace Tweets book on this blog is the joint effort of my wife and I and several others who share our passion for peace.  Please sign-up today by sharing your email with us and we promise to only use your email to send you ideas and products that we ourselves create or co-create with others that share similar motivations, passions and purposes.  We want to take what we do up a notch and offer you more ways to participate in what we are doing.  These times are calling us loudly to do and be more of what we have to offer. 

We want to be of service to you: by helping you more fully express the compassion of your heart, by offering you ideas and inspiration that invites deeper awareness and higher consciousness, by inviting you to engage more fully with the world around you and go in search of common ground and connection, and by assisting you to more fully expressing yourself through creativity.   Peace is a natural outcome of open hearts, of higher consciousness, of deeper connections to each other, and of creativity in the form of exploring our potential.

Today and every day forward we travel with a renewed effort to leave the world a better place.  Please join us as our new paths of expression unfold so that together we can all more fully realize our potential and power to be positive forces for change in a world that can seem to be out of control.  What’s out of control is our minds and the planet and all it family of life will be ok if we are ok in our thinking and open in our hearts.

Peace, Freedom and Joy to You

Visits With The Enlightened: Saint Francis of Assisi

This will be an interesting post because I am going to take you out across an invisible bridge to a different way of looking at what is possible.  What we think of reality may need to be more expansive.   Reality is so much more than we can yet perceive.   Over the years I have had the good fortune to have a number of experiences, which expanded what I think of as possible.  If my reality can be stretched then so can yours. 

My practice of exploring out-of-body experiences (OBE’s) has started to really shift my sense of self and the world.  I feel more confidence, more awake and in an uneasy way more stirred up from the demolition of the barriers of my comfort zone.  I now sense there are much greater possibilities and that is exciting.  The familiar is being overrun by the unfamiliar and I find myself more often crossing into new forms of what is possible.  

Recently I traveled to Italy out-of-body and had this most amazing experience.  I found myself in a village up on a hill, which I recognized as Assisi.  Assisi is pilgrimage site for many because Saint Francis once walked these hills.  He is buried in the Cathedral there and his energy still fills the town. 

In my OBE’s up to now there has been little in the way of interaction with people from the past.  However in this journey I met St Francis and we walked together through his village and he filled me with insights and awareness.  It wasn’t like a conversation but more of a transmission in which he shared his wisdom just by being with me as if in a joint consciousness.  I know they may sound different then most experiences of life but this was my experience. 

This is the wisdom he shared with me: 

He told me the most powerful of his teachers was nature.  He learned from his interactions with the land and the creatures around him.  He said his capacity to interact with animals came from his joining with them in a nature consciousness.  This expanded consciousness happened by tuning into all the aliveness that existed in nature.  Higher consciousness is about flow, about life force and about a deep feeling of the interconnection of all things.  St Francis said that when we take the time to tune inward we can find this place of interconnectedness.  He says this tuning inward always takes us to higher level of consciousness. 

He said beyond nature there was deeper level of knowing, which he called Divine Consciousness.  This higher consciousness is unlimited in is power.  He said all beings are connected to this greater wisdom and have access to it by inner practices and prayer. 

He had a fresh perspective about the importance of patience in what we do.  Impatience is the ego trying to push us out of the now, he explained.  His work with his monks and his community always involved a great need for patience and acceptance, which he says comes naturally when we are in harmony with self.

Stayed tuned for the next OBE adventure in which Michelangelo shares about his sources of inspiration.



Ego Dominated Governments Are Not Sustainable

The world of false governments is starting to unravel.  These ego-dominated structures are coming apart because they are not sustainable.  All empires collapse because they are run by the ego minds of mentally unhealthy human beings.  If you look at history you see all wars are caused by the minds of hate, revenge and lust for power which is the ego-mind at work.  In Egypt, Libya, and the unrest in the Middle East this is all about the ego of people crushing those who oppose their power.  The governor in Wisconsin is run by his ego-mind thinking the people who want fair wages are the problem for his bad management of the budget.  

All of this energy of uprising is about the consciousness of the people.  We who think and question can see that those in power and influence want more power and influence.  They are just doing what they know how to do: they know how to use money to seek power.   Money is not the root of evil even though churches tell people that so people give them their money.  The true danger is the human mind stuck in ego mode lusting for more wealth and power.

What can a person do to make a positive difference when it seems that greed and power are running the show.  

Realize greed and power will be toppled as easily as Mr. Mubarak in Egypt if you and I and the people decide to do so.  This transformation will be challenging but a house of cards (run by the ego mind) is a house of cards.  Find and join an organization or start one that is about empowering the people for positive changes.

It is time for us all to become the major influence of government not the corporations that are run by greed and power.  Now we have a government by whoever has the most financial influence. This is not a democracy but a plutocracy.  A true democracy is one person, one vote.  Get involved in election and government reform.  Hold your elected officials accountable for the decisions they make and the influence funds they take.

Make a commitment to become a fully conscious human being. Be mindful: when you are letting your ego run you; notice when fear, anger or impatience is in charge (that is ego using emotions); watch when you need to be right and in control (ego at work); if you find yourself in a peaceful or compassionate place this means you are living in the present where higher consciousness resides.

When taking action do so from a peaceful compassion, from a non- judging acceptance of self and others.  We are all brothers and sisters of the Earth so let love be the source of empowerment.  Together with passionate purpose our hearts can enlighten all of our actions.

Our education system and mental health and addictions programs all need to be better supported and funded.  This assures a better future for all of us.  Become an advocate for any programs that promote improving education and the well-being of those who are troubled. 

Today, in these times, we must have our higher natures be the guiding force.  Spending time in quiet contemplation will bring each of us energy and inspiration.     



Be Inspired By The Best Ideas For A Good Life

Yeah it’s Friday!  Today’s post topic came to me yesterday and it seems to fit with this week of lists that are meant to encourage and inspire you and I to be even more fully realized in our life.  So what are the best ideas and what makes them so?  Where do we find these inspirational gems and how do we integrate them into our lives? 

As I write this I have don’t have the answers to these questions and no idea what will be on this list but I have come to really trust the wisdom that flows when I am open.  This same wisdom flows through all of us when we are open to the collective wisdom of humankind and the universe.

Let’s see what ideas come flowing out.  Some may be similar to lists below.  So here it goes:

1. Remember each day to totally love and accept yourself, this is a top priority
2. Live today as if is the most important day of your life, it is, so be fully present to it
3. Be thankful for each day and for the life force that flows through you
4. Reprogram your self-talk and thoughts so they are completely encouraging, positive and expansive
5. Start each day with a positive intention and a clear vision of the results you want to create
6. Make compassion and kindness your goal in your relationships and in all your interactions with others
7. Express your purpose with passion and make a difference in some way daily
8. Find and explore inner practices that help you tune in and be at peace
9. Acknowledge and accept all of your emotions as ok
10. Do what you love and you will love what you do
11. Seek clarity, self-awareness and higher levels of consciousness and express the divine within you
12. Make it your top goal to spread love and joy everywhere you go throughout your day

What would you add to this list?