Moving Toward Wholeness

By Jim Self Published Yesterday Mastering Alchemy with Jim Self Rating: 

 

Together we are becoming a unified consciousness within a global community.  The duality of opposites, black and white, East and West, right and wrong, us and them, good and bad, and male and female is changing.  The dividing lines are becoming less distinct.  We are moving from the third-dimensional experience of separation and extremes to a way of life that allows for many greater possibilities, connected communities and expanding ease and well-being.  We are in a shift.  We are remembering how to live in our fifth-dimensional consciousness while we walk in this third-dimensional world.

Not long ago western medicine was the only option for most of us.  Now complementary therapies such as Acupuncture, Shiatsu, Massage, and Reiki are part of the Mainstream.  Our social networks now include people across the globe.  Micro-credit and fair trade practices have given us relationships with people in Columbia who grow our coffee and others who weave our jackets in Africa.  There are many more avenues to effectively heal and reach physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being.  The wisdom of the East is being blended with the knowledge of the West.  What was true yesterday is not necessarily true today.  Our wisdom and knowledge are transitioning into a new ‘Wholeness’.

There is a specific reason you are reading this right now.  You are contributing to this expanding ‘Shift of Consciousness’.  You have a purpose, or task, to accomplish that adds to All-That-Is.  You are a significant player in this unfolding game, and NOW is the time to step up and be the leader, mentor and healer that you came here to be.  

Another Tool for Change

One of the first steps toward fulfilling this purpose is to clear away the false beliefs that keep you from your task.  Many of these beliefs came from truths that were handed down to you by well-intentioned grownups along the way.  These truths never aligned with who you are and have kept you stuck in the third-dimensional game of limitation and mediocrity.

Freeing yourself from these limitations and returning passion to your life is simply a matter of building your awareness.  Ninety-six percent of making any change starts with self-observation, the simple act of becoming aware.  Start by noticing the situation you’re in.  Have a present-time curiosity and awareness of your habits, thoughts and actions.  Just notice them.  The next three percent of making that change is having the ability to laugh at what you discover about yourself.  No self-judgment, just amusement.  The final one percent toward succeeding on your path is to do something different, something very simple and easy.  That simple, one percent movement might be a smile, opening a door, complimenting a stranger, saying hello or otherwise contributing to the well-being of another.  Allow a new possibility, one that feels better, to become the next step on your path.  This starts a flow and invites the change you seek.  As you build a greater awareness, laugh at yourself and allow yourself to make very slight movements toward developing new habits.  The inner dualities and extremes will fall away.  From this new perspective you will begin to make new, clear, intentional choices and anchor the greater, wiser, higher part of your ‘Self' into your daily life.  Merging with the Soul; recognizing the answers to your questions.  You will be operating from a place of ease; and certainty, confidence, and grace will be yours.

A Shift is occurring.  It is grand movement toward a life of integrity, grace and well-being.  The transition between where we are and where we are going may be bumpy and challenging, but it is also very exciting.  Regardless of whether we embrace the changes or resist them, we are moving forward to a way of being that is closer to who we truly are.

      Jim Self is an international teacher, speaker and author. He has been a leader in the field of spiritual development for over 27 years. He offers us the Tools of Mastering Alchemy as a Way of Life.

This work is co-created with the Archangels, Ascended Masters and Teachers of Light. Free DVD and Free Tele-classes are available.

      Jim presents free local evening classes and a weekend seminar ‘Creating the Personal Power Field’ across North America. www.MasteringAlchemy.com (775) 851-8950.

Self-Acceptance and Compassion Using Diligence

From time to time on the spiritual path we find ourselves in a mud puddle of negative thoughts. This can be especially true when we are living in such challenging times. There is actually a gift in this mud puddle of ours if we choose to look more deeply into the murky waters.

Thich Nhat Hanh would call this diligence. In exercising diligence we are able to choose which seeds of thought we choose to water. For example, we might have a common human thought of impatience...perhaps at ourselves or others or both. We also have a seed of positivity and that would be tolerance and compassion for ourselves or others or both. We can choose to water either the impatience seed or the tolerance and compassion seed.

Of course, this decision making process means that we need to be aware of how we are feeling in the present moment. And that process requires that we have a practice of mindfulness. Being mindful and observing what thoughts are moving through us allows us to be the witness of our mind and to not to be pulled down into the mud puddle. 

We can instantly choose the peacefulness of compassion rather than spend time swimming in the mud. Or we can swim in the mud long enough that our aware is triggered and then we come back to the present moment again.......with a smile knowing that we received the gift of feeling impatient and we now choose another more positive thought to water.

My new website is almost ready. I will be offering Mindfulness Classes to those walking a spiritual path. andrea@andreaavari.com or www.andreaavari.com

Abundance

I don't know about you but "The Secret" didn't do it for me.  I found it to be lacking in the connection with my heart.  All the pictures of houses and cars and piles of money just focused on the objectification of money and did not help me to increase my vibration in connection with the Source. 

If you are looking for a program that helps you to focus your perception on the Infinite Presence within and recognizing that you are That, then perhaps it would be worth exploring the book and CD by John Randolph Price.  It is simply called "The Abundance Book."   (The book includes the CD).   He has a 40 day program of meditating on 10 beautiful passages about who we truly are. You repeat the 10 four times.  I am only on day 4 and it has made a profound change already in keeping my perspective in connection with Source.  

Let me know if it helps you.  Perhaps that is part of the gift in these challenging times....the opportunity to really change our thinking patterns.  

Four Sentences to Remember

Show up.

Be present.

Tell the truth without judgment and blame.

Don't attach to the outcome.

From Angeles Arrien's "Four Fold Way." 

Powerful sentences to be with in our practices.  Just breathe each one in and hold in your awareness and release with the out breath.   Beautiful.

The Art of Making Divine Compost of Your Life

Andrea Avari Stevens, Ph.D. 

In the wake of welcoming ourselves into the New Year of 2009 we cannot help but notice that a decaying process is taking place.  Under normal circumstances this process would seem in ecological balance to the rest of our lives.  Death and rebirth are but sides of the same coin.  Each is contained within the other.  But to those of us willing to pay attention to both our inner process and the outer reflected world, the energy seems to be flowing towards the disintegration of those patterns and structures in a way that challenges us not to grip our minds and hearts in fear. 

Normally we try to keep the compost pile out of sight over in a corner.  A beautiful process that is sometimes stinky and not pretty in its slimy disintegration is not something we place at center stage.  We appreciate the good work of the bacteria and fungi in breaking down the organic materials we supply to our pile, but we give them wide stance to do their important work.  

And now the decay is in our faces.  If we turn one way, there it is.  Twisting our head another way, there it is in another form.  Some days it seems as though it is coming from every direction.  We can feel overwhelmed by the rate and depth of decay.  Or we can embrace it.  Just as a compost pile needs to be turned over for aeration in order to encourage the process, so we need to aerate our compost pile of fear with love and gratitude.  

Perhaps we have lost money in the stock market, our home mortgage and/or our job is at risk, or we lost money moving into other currencies.  Financial institutions are failing and we don’t know where to put our money.  Ways of managing money in the past no longer make sense now.  Then we turn on the news and see and hear about people from all corners of the world suffering in some way.  A subtle kind of anxiety begins to surround us as we realize that the labor pains of this decay are deepening in preparation for rebirth.  

What can we do?  Remember who we really are. Know that we are Source.  It is not that we deserve abundance and creativity; we are that.  In our compost pile is the key to a new way of Being for us.  If we calm down and appreciate that what is not needed anymore is falling away from us, our strengths for new ways of creating become obvious.   When you hold the flower you also hold the compost or there would be no flower.  

Be gentle with yourself and others.  We are all the same energy of love at the core.  Have gratitude.  Give what it is that you want to get.  Move your energy by giving whether it be a smile or a dollar.  Recycle your own energy rather than constrict around the decay.  Be that which you would want to see evolve from the decay.  Be it now….Do not wait for other signs of love and peace to begin….this moment is waiting for you to choose.  Check in with yourself often.  Release any self-judgment by drawing it into your heart. 

Move your energy by breathing your composted energy in for transformation and exhale compassion and rebirth for yourself and all beings.  Step inward in meditation and extend your light of love to yourself and all others.  Step out physically and connect with others of like mind for support.  Love your compost.  Your unique flower is seeded within.  

Andrea's new website will be ready in the next few weeks.  She will be offering Coaching for the Awakening Spirit for those who would like support on their unique path of waking up.  There will be a free newsletter and messages from the soul as well as teleclasses and ebooks.  Her new book on creating soulful relationships will be published in 2009.  She is the author of "A Hit of Heaven: a soul's journey through illusion" which is available on Amazon.com.  

  

Holding the Light in Times Like These

Andrea Lee Avari, Ph.D.

“The times they are a’changin”, words by Bob Dylan seem as apropos today as they did years ago. But back then we were under the impression that all that was happening was outside of ourselves. There was a sense of “us” and “them” whether it was the Vietnam War, drugs, feminism, or living the hippie lifestyle. We knew ourselves by the length of our hair. And we knew who to blame for our discontent.

In present time as we are growing our spiritual perspectives every day, we can see that all changes really occur within ourselves. The duality of “us” and “them” was and is an illusion. The global crisis is a reflection of our own inner natures. Self-responsibility asks us to observe how we know our power. How do we see money as a tool of power? How do we see ourselves as the locus of abundance? Do we still see ourselves as undeserving of abundance in some degree? Or do we see that as we are Divine in nature, so are we abundance itself?

Or do we react in fear using only our linear mind to try to figure out how to protect our money. Do we feel victimized by the “crisis situation”? Do we feel as though something has been done to us? Do we look to blame others for our fears? Do we think that our safety lies outside of ourselves? It is important to remember that our power lies in our remembrance of our connection to our soul and therefore, to spirit. Power lies not in the paper money, the gold, the stocks and bonds, the bank but within our own beings. External power is a reflection of that internal process. If we don’t like what we see, we must look within ourselves.

We can know that we are safe by simply remembering who we really are. Zoom our perception out of the small picture of our egoic self ,“I”, that part which is worried about what to do about our money. Breathing the relaxed breath and focusing on our higher selves we begin to feel the loving energy of our soul. As this energy moves through us, we calm into a more peaceful state. In this vibration, we are much more able to access our intuition. This connection assists us in feeling what might be appropriate action to take in any situation, if any, resonates with us, giving us guidance.

Now is a time of the crumbling of the old structures of organization. Many of these structures were built upon unbalanced power, a dominating, patriarchal force that did not seek equanimity for the highest good of all. Because of the continuing influx of light upon the planet, the shadow of lower vibrations is losing strength. Death comes before rebirth and so the new structures are not yet formed. This process can lead to anxiety.

We are learning to trust ourselves in a deeper manner. We come bare and naked to the place of non-attachment and surrender ourselves to that which is. We have become comfortable and habitual around our way of living. We are being asked now to release old ways of being which can confuse us into fear.

As banks close or merge, corporations decline, our accounts diminish for one reason or another, our jobs may be at risk, retirement dreams are imploding, the stress of all the challenges can wreak havoc on our relationships. If we are stripped of all our assets, do we believe, in our hearts, that we will be still be safe? Security is self-love. It is not a fully packed IRA. A new learning for us is to know that we are co-creators of our lives. We are in school to remember to release any degree of thinking that money is power and security.

So what can we do? We can learn to be more present in our Now moments and use all of our senses to see, feel, smell, taste, hear the joy that is within and without us. You might have thought it would be a more grand solution but everyday joy lifts our spirits, connects with our souls, and lights up our smiles. Everyday experiences of joy zooms us out into the big picture of who we truly are. We remember why we are here on this grand experiment called life. It is to love and to live in joy.

Our perspective is our own choice: the furry caterpillar that is crawling across the road and rides to safety on our finger to find his/her fate among the grasses on the other side of the chosen path; the rainbow on the far off island that seems miles wide in its brilliant colors, shining all the way into the water at the edge of the shore. Have you seen the starlight reflecting on the still ocean at night? A beautiful shelf of mushrooms is growing vertically out of the moss on a side of a tree in the driveway. I can feel their peacefulness in doing what they were born to do. We can all have that peace.

But the ego says, how can I find joy in these things when I am worried about my house, my bank accounts, my job, my health insurance and all the other things that are swimming through my head? I need to not waste my time on silly caterpillars and it is important that I figure out what to do. The empty space of soul asks us to surround these worries with welcome. If we do not repress them, we can allow them to be as they are.

With an attitude of lovingkindness practice, we will find that the intensity of their demand for our attention diminishes. In that quiet growing peacefulness, we experience what we can learn from this “terrible” worry. Instead of misery, we can find a calmness in our hearts. In that calmness we accept what is.

We are not in control of all that is. We can be responsible for our state of consciousness. From that acceptance we can feel our perceptions shift into that place of knowing that we will be taken care of, we are safe, and we can find our way out of anything. Focus on the Divine within us and let it expand.

The Universe inside us will show itself to us through our own intuition and decision-making. Perhaps guidance speaks to us through a passage in a book or another person interacting with us. Something new will happen because we have loosened the reins on rigidity of things having to be a certain way. The Universal Energy of divine vibration is now free to create something new for us. The Universe wraps our gifts in surprising packages and perfect timing. What might it be?