There is no doubt that we will become what we think about the most. We always draw to us that which we first embody in consciousness. So one of the most important skills we could ever master is to be selective thinkers. Rather than buying into the latest popular belief, let us instead decide to contemplate the deeper truths of our being. Let us contemplate that all we could ever hope, want for, or desire is already within us. Let us consider that our nature is one of limitless potentiality. Let us realize that within us is tremendous power and luminosity, all of it making up that unique pattern of perfection that is us, and that is calling out to be expressed in its fullness. Let us respond to this call! Let us set it free! As we learn to keep our thoughts centered on that which is Real and True, we inevitably come to find that our life experience begins to reflect the joyous essence of our new contemplations back to us.
Tag Archives: thoughts
Casting a Vision for 2013, Spiritual Living Video, Weekly Recap, and Affirmations
Beloved readers,
Here we are for our final weekly recap of 2012!
I always like to remind people that this is a wonderful time to go within and reflect back at the year, contemplate the things you’ve experienced, realize how you’ve grown and evolved throughout the year, and especially contemplate all the things that happened that you can be grateful for!
We want to take our gratitude factor to a whole new level, essentially taking nothing for granted. Let us make it habit to wake up in the morning and have the first words that come out of our mouths be: “Thank you, beloved God Within, for another beautiful day! Thank you for all that I have, for all that I am, and for all that I’m in the process of becoming! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
And in this consciousness of appreciation, let us tune into our vision for the coming year. The truth is there are limitless opportunities that are always before us, yet it is up to us to create the conditions within our awareness that will allow us to be able to see these opportunities. So allow yourself to go within and get in touch with what is seeking to happen in you, through you, and as you.
Give yourself permission to break past some old boundaries in 2013! Say every day, “I am available to more good than I could even imagine!” As you project this into the Law, what happens is that you will begin to draw to you more of these limitless opportunities, and you will begin to receive guidance and insight that, when acted upon, will lead to some very real and measurable changes in your life.
I have spent these past few days doing exactly what I’ve just described—reflecting back on 2012, and casting my vision for 2013. And something that has come through for me is to continue committing fully to Awakened Life Now, continue growing this online presence, expanding it with the adding on of more videos, music, and audio files, and essentially turn it into a full blown “online ministry” that is here to inspire and empower us, and provide practical tools for us to cultivate our awareness of our True Nature as spiritual beings having a human incarnation.
As I always like to say, what this means is that we already have everything we need within us, and we are here so we may set it free and allow our lives to be the living demonstration of who we really are! Rather than living under the illusion that our good is separate from us, and looking to the world of effects to get from it what we think we need to be happy or to survive, we move through our days with an awareness that we are here to allow Life to fully express through us, according to our unique set of gifts, skills, talents, capacities, and sensibilities. This means that the lives of our dreams are the lives we are here to live! This means there’s no holding back involved here; we are here to let our lights shine fully and completely!
Practicality is obviously crucial. So the focus of the articles and messages on Awakened Life Now will always revolve around how we may go about putting these spiritual principles to use in our day to day lives. We are entering an age in which spiritual enlightenment and self actualization will no longer be reserved for the few and far in between, but much rather will we be seeing more and more individuals getting in touch with the deeper Reality of their being. So let’s decide to be a part of that, and let’s be a blessing to ourselves and to everyone whose lives we touch.
Now, as always at this time of the week, what you will find bellow are the links to all of the latest content of this past week, followed by our weekly affirmations. But before we get to that I wanted to share a beautiful little video with you that I came across yesterday. I find it describes perfectly the philosophy behind Awakened Life Now and the New Thought-Ageless Wisdom traditions that are shared here.
Enjoy, and let it speak to the part of you that already knows.
Happy New Year! Happy New Era! And Happy New You!
Much love and blessings!
WEEKLY RECAP
Your Authentic Self: Set It Free!
Peace of Mind: A Meditation On Our True Nature
Meditative Thought: Love & Joy
Meditative Thought: Celebrating The Light Within
Meditative Thought: Effective Receivers
Meditative Thought: Answered Prayer
Meditative Thought: Blessing And Releasing The Past
AFFIRMATIONS
I begin the new year with the awareness that each and every moment of each and every day offers the grand opportunity for a joyous New Beginning in God!
The Light of Divinity is animating every fiber of my Being, and I am here to set free that which is already within me!
The Presence of God is perfect health! The Presence of God is love and joy! The Presence of God is prosperity and plenitude! This Presence lives in me and expresses through me!
I am a Dispenser of the Divine Blessings!
I begin each day with an awareness that there is a celebration going on throughout the Cosmos; and I choose to be a conscious participant in this celebration!
Thankfully I let it be! And so it is! Amen!
No Accident is Accidental
ACTIVATE YOUR POTENTIAL – YOUR DESTINY AWAITS!
Allow yourself to take a moment now to just feel a deep sense of gratitude and appreciation. Because the truth is, you and I are enormously blessed. We are blessed because we are consciously investing in our Soul’s ongoing evolution. We are blessed because we are allowing ourselves to deepen our awareness of Universal Laws and how we may go about using these laws in our day to day lives. We are blessed because we are taking the time to raise our level of consciousness through a regular spiritual practice. And we are blessed because we are walking in a conscious awareness that we are powerful, eternal, and luminous beings of light – spiritual beings made in the image and likeness of the Ineffable Love Intelligence that governs the Universe and that permeates every single atom in existence.
This means we are aware that our True Selves have never been born and thus can never die. And we realize that our Source, God All-Mighty, God All-Power, God All-Beauty, has endowed us with the same creative faculties and divine qualities that make up that which is Divine. In a nutshell, what this means is that we are pure creators. We have the ability to create something out of nothing. Now that is a big deal right there! Add to that the fact that we are consciously aware of this… now, that, that is something that merits some celebration! So allow yourself to have your own personal moment of celebration right here and right now.
And allow yourself to remember that life is really meant to unfold harmoniously, and our work is to simply be in alignment with that which is seeking to emerge. This means sometimes we may simply have to undo the “training” we’ve received from the world. The kind of training that says that “life is hard” or “opportunity only knocks once” or “no pain no gain,” statements of this nature. Allow yourself to be aware that these are statements that result from a lack of understanding of how Reality works. These are statements and beliefs that originate from a mistaken notion — a notion that does not recognize our true power, or the limitless nature that is encoded within our very Being.
So in a nutshell, the reason we have websites such as this one and others like it, the reason that there’s books, workshops, seminars, and spiritual communities, is so that we may retrain ourselves. It is so that we may begin to release the training of limitation, and instead retrain ourselves back into an awareness of the sweetness of our very own divine nature.
Now, today we’ll be doing things a little differently. Down bellow I have posted two videos that do exactly what I’ve just spoken about, which is to retrain us so we may come into a deeper awareness of who we really are. Both of these videos are from Abraham-Hicks. If you’re familiar with them, you know this will be good. And if you’re not familiar with them, just sit back, relax, and allow yourself to take it in.
Allow these videos to speak to your very Soul. Allow them to speak to that part of you that already knows this. And allow yourself to remember that life is magnificent.
Much Love and Blessings!
GLORIOUS EXPERIENCE OF ALLOWING
NO ACCIDENT IS ACCIDENTAL
From Reactionary to Revolutionary
ACTIVATE YOUR POTENTIAL – YOUR DESTINY AWAITS!
It’s Saturday, and so that means it’s time for a new entry in our ongoing Inspiration & Empowerment Series. And the theme for the month of December will be: Activate Your Potential – Your Destiny Awaits!
As this year is beginning to wind down and we prepare to head into 2013, the timing is ideal for us to begin to focus upon the larger vision for our lives in a more powerful way than ever before. As you are reading these very words, we are deeply immersed in new beginnings. There are new beginnings that are seeking to occur on a global scale, and there are new beginnings that are seeking to occur in your own life right now. Yet on a personal level these new beginnings, as always, await our approval. Seeing as how we are beings of free will, these new beginnings require not only our conscious recognition of them, they also require our willingness. We must become conscious participators in what is seeking to happen in our lives. We must look at our dreams with a willingness to feel and truly grasp that they are nothing less than indicators, pointing towards the grander purpose of our current incarnation. None of us are here by accident. Every single Soul that has ever incarnated in this realm of physicality has done so with intentionality. Each and every one of us has a part to play in the grand unfolding of the beautiful tapestry that is the ongoing story of humanity. Whether or not our purpose seems large or small by external standards is meaningless.
What you do matters. What you do, right in this very moment, matters. And that is because every thought, word, and deed, every intentionality that emanates from your being has a ripple effect that extends far beyond of what you are able to perceive with your physical senses.
So with that awareness, let us decide that we’re going to have a beneficial impact on the world around us. For we will be impacting the world in one way or another. And let us also have the courage to give those sweet dreams that are in the treasure chests of our own Souls our Sacred “Yes!”
- Recognize Your Limitless Potential
Every single one of us is far more powerful than we may give ourselves credit for. We have all been endowed with the creative abilities of our Ineffable Source, the radiant Love Intelligence that governs the universe and which permeates everything in existence. This is the meaning of the scriptural reference that says, “we are made in the image and likeness of God.” Though we may be tempted to look at ourselves in the mirror and say, “Gosh, God’s sure looking good today!”, it is safe to say that this is not the meaning of this particular scriptural reference.
Being made in the image and likeness of God simply means that we have within ourselves the same creative faculties and the same divine qualities that are found in the Mind of the Infinite.
You may recall that we’ve been talking about the Unified Field which connects everything in existence, and out of which everything originates. This Infinite Field has remade itself in its own image and likeness and it has named itself each and every one of us. So when we say that there’s greatness in you, when we say that your nature is one of limitless possibilities, when we say that endless joyous expansion is yours for the taking, we are not just throwing around some pretty slogans. In a very real and literal sense, we are describing nothing less than the truth about magnificent you.
You have within you the same creative faculties and the same divine qualities that are found in the Mind of the Infinite.
Now, the topic of this particular installment is moving From Reactionary to Revolutionary. And the truth is that every time we merely react rather than respond to something that is seemingly outside ourselves, we are actually giving away our power.
There is a big difference between reacting and responding. Reacting, in the manner in which we are examining it here, comes from a place of unconscious programming, whereas responding comes from a place of conscious awareness.
When we simply go about our days, always reacting to the world of phenomena and sense perception, we are no longer claiming our divine right as a unique emanation of Source. Much rather are we allowing the seemingly external to control our state of consciousness, our thoughts and actions, and how we choose to treat other beings we come into contact with.
When this occurs, it may take on the appearance of something like this…
- Profile of a Reactionary
Have you ever seen anyone who resembled the individual in this particular image? If so, chances are they may have been a reactionary. Though this is only one of many forms in which a reactionary might manifest, reactionaries are typically individuals who go around constantly preoccupied by what’s happening around them, always influenced by what other people are saying or what’s occurring on the surface level of their lives. Thus reactionaries will oftentimes feel overwhelmed or stressed, such as this gentlemen in our cartoon here. As one might deduce from this image, reactionaries generally do not have any sense of authority over their lives, and more often than not they will perceive themselves to be victims of circumstances.
But you know what?
That is not you!
How do I know this?
Because you’re still reading!
The fact that you’re still reading is proof that, regardless of what your past experience has been, you are ready to evolve, you are ready to grow, you are ready to step into your potentiality, you are ready to become a revolutionary.
- The Empowering Traits of Revolutionaries
A revolutionary is someone who has claimed their spiritual authority. A revolutionary has stepped into their spiritual dominion. When we say spiritual authority or dominion, we are referring to the power that lies within every single one of us. We are talking about the authority that comes from our Highest Self, from our sacred I Am Presence, from Divinity Within.
It is from this higher awareness that we begin to comprehend the deeper meaning of this Biblical reference: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and every other creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
As I stated above, being made in the image and likeness of God means that we have the same creative faculties that are found in Divine Mind. And not just some of these creative faculties, all of them. God poured the entirety of Itself into you!
So we may begin to realize that “dominion over the earth” does not merely mean dominion in the physical sense, but much rather dominion over the illusions of space and time, dominion over the world of effects.
A revolutionary is someone who has trained themselves in the ability of thinking new thoughts, not merely thoughts that revolve around what they are capable of perceiving with their physical senses. A revolutionary is someone who is capable of, quite literally, thinking outside the box, outside of the narrow set of limitations that a reactionary might be caught up in. A revolutionary is someone who has realized that, not only do we have the ability to think independent of circumstances, our thoughts actually create our experience of life. As such, a revolutionary has made it a habit to consciously think thoughts that will serve them, thoughts that are empowering, thoughts that are in alignment with not only their dreams, but with Reality with a capital “R.”
A revolutionary is someone who has realized that, not only do we have the ability to think independent of circumstances, our thoughts actually create our experience of life.
- Let Your Personal Revolution Begin!
A Course in Miracles states that “Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.” This powerful statement indicates that if that which is unreal doesn’t exist – which is to say it doesn’t exist in the Mind of God – then that which is Real and Eternal, such as the divine qualities of love, peace, well-being, beauty, harmonizing prosperity, creativity, and other qualities of this nature, are able to undo anything and everything that is coming from a lesser vibration. This is something that a revolutionary is keenly aware of.
The higher always dissolves the lesser. And this is because the lesser is an absence, whereas the higher is a presence.
Darkness is an absence. Light is a presence. There is no source of darkness, darkness is merely the absence of light. In the same way, fear is the absence of love. Yet when you turn on the light, darkness disappears. And the darkness of ignorance disappears in the Light of Awareness.
Love is able to undo fear; peace dissolves confusion; compassion renders mute anger and judgment. On a scientific level, the vibrations of love, peace and compassion are simply vibrating at a higher frequency than the vibrations of fear, confusion and anger.
So it may then become apparent that, in order to begin our personal revolution, we must be willing to consciously focus upon the higher. And we must have a vision. That is because a revolutionary is someone who is able to see things as they never were, a revolutionary is someone who is able to hold onto a dream regardless of what is happening around them. A revolutionary is someone who is able to think a new thought, meaning they will not try to imitate what anyone else has done. A revolutionary has understood that they are here to shine their own unique light, to sing their own unique song, to dance their own unique dance.
Having been endowed with the full creative faculties and divine qualities of the Infinite, a revolutionary realizes that we are all here so that we may fully awaken to these faculties and qualities within, and so that we may then reflect and reveal them according to our unique pattern of perfection. And our unique pattern of perfection is simply our unique set of gifts, skills, talents, capacities, and sensibilities.
There is no one else quite like you. You are one in a kind. God does not produce reboots or remakes; God only makes originals. God only makes works of art. And so the greatest fulfillment of your desires lies in you recognizing and embracing your own uniqueness. And it is in the uniqueness of your magnificent being that your inborn genius is located.
Everything begins as an idea in consciousness. So we must learn to see our vision with our Inner Eye. We must have the courage to dream it before it can happen. We must visualize it. We must feel it. That is how it becomes real to us. We begin to embody it. We begin to take action on it. We begin to talk about it as if it’s already done. We begin to live, move, and breathe the reality of it – before the reality of it has manifested in the physical.
As we do this, we are claiming our spiritual authority. We are claiming our dominion over the world of effects. And before we know it, a powerful shift begins to occur that will result in nothing less than the birthing of a new reality. My friend, this is nothing less than your divine birthright. So as you begin to contemplate your aspirations and intentions for 2013, why not decide that you’re going to go for what is truly meaningful to you? Decide that you’re going to live your dream and allow your vision to manifest. Decide that you’re going to be a revolutionary. You will be glad you did.
EMBODIMENT
It is in deep gratitude and appreciation that I turn within. As I become quiet in the stillness of my own awareness, I allow these new insights to take root within the core of my being. As I become aware, I clearly see the areas of my life where I have been holding back; the areas where I may have been harboring a reactionary perspective. All of these fear-based perceptions are being dissolved right now, and I am thinking a new thought instead. I understand that I have spiritual dominion. I have the ability and the divine right to call forth new realities. Realities of joy, realities of love, realities of beauty, realities of fulfillment, realities of health, realities of harmonizing prosperity. All of that is available to me as I am letting go of the lesser. I am willing to be a revolutionary. I have a grand vision for my life. It is my Soul’s Vision. It is my Soul’s Calling. And it is to this Soul Calling that I surrender. I believe it. I feel it. I see it. And I let it be. And so it is.
Dare to have a Vision, Part 3 – The Field is Guiding You: 5 Keys For Moving Towards Your Dreams
In Parts One and Two of this series respectively, we have looked deeply into where do our dreams come from, and we have also examined where do we come from, and how do we fit into the grander scheme of things. We had reminded ourselves that everything in the Universe is energy, and we had brought back to our attention that all of it originates within a vibrant Field of energy which science has called the Unified Field. And so we have allowed ourselves to recall that it is within this Field that we live, move, and have our being. And furthermore, that we are, in fact, intimately connected to this Field. That there is no place where this Field ends and we begin.
All of this is what we might consider a scientific way of describing God. Because as we mature spiritually, we begin to realize that God is not some external deity that we must beseech to give us what we think we need to be happy or to survive. But much rather do we begin to realize that God is the center of our very being.
And as such, it becomes apparent that all has already been given to us. We already have the keys of the kingdom. So rather than us trying to get something from the seemingly external, our task becomes to realize that all that we could ever want, hope for, or desire, we already have; and it is up to us to create the conditions within our own consciousness that will allow our physical experience to become the living demonstration of this truth.
Friends, this is what living the Awakened Life is!
Living the Awakened Life is moving beyond the superstition of materialism, and instead cultivating a very real and powerful sense of our true nature as Spiritual Beings on an eternal journey of joyous unfolding.
Oh yes, Life is very good, indeed!
All that we could ever want, hope for, or desire, we already have; and it is up to us to create the conditions within our own consciousness that will allow our physical experience to become the living demonstration of this truth.
Now, with this awareness, are you ready to examine a bit further the practicality of matters? I thought you might be. So then let’s take a look at…
5 Keys For Moving Towards Your Dreams
Key #1
Ask for Guidance
You may find this first key especially useful if you’re reading this and you’re not quite sure what your vision is. Perhaps it’s been a long time since you’ve allowed yourself to even consider having a dream. Well, something within you is saying, “It’s time to get back on with it. It’s time to get back to the dream.”
Simply find a quiet place where you will be able to sit uninterrupted. Then, become still. Allow yourself to get centered so you may get in touch with the core of your being, your I Am Presence. Enter into your Soul Space.
Once you have accessed that level of your awareness – which is simply a matter of turning your attention away from the seemingly external towards the interiority of your being – you may then ask any question you seek to know the answer to. Perhaps you may want to ask, “What’s the purpose of my current incarnation? What am I to do with this lifetime? What is seeking to emerge in me, through me, as my very life? What are the dreams that are in my heart?”
And then, be on the lookout for the answer. The answer may come in the form of a sudden insight, an intuitive sense. Or perhaps it will appear in the form of a billboard, or you’ll hear it in the chance utterance of a friend or a so-called stranger. Do not try to rush the answer. Be patient. Know that it’s coming. And begin to feel that, whatever the answer is going to be, it’s going to be good!
If you are already on track with your dreams, you may want to use this process to inquire about the next step of your unfolding, or anything else that’s going on in your life about which you’re seeking a higher perspective.
Key #2
Pay Attention To The Answer
After you have asked for guidance, you will want to raise your level of alertness so as to not miss the signs that the Universe will be bringing into your experience. More often than not, the answers may be subtle, and they may require our alert receptivity in order for us to notice them.
I love how Carl Jung described synchronicity as, ”…the coming together of inner and outer events in a way that cannot be explained by cause and effect and that is meaningful to the observer.”
So let us seek to pay attention whenever we have those experiences of inner and outer events coming together in a way that is meaningful to us. When this happens, let us be aware that someone’s trying to tell us something. And let’s be sure we listen.
Key #3
Act On Your Hunches
The answers may come in the form of hunches and impulses that are emanating from our intuition. Regardless of how they come, the answers will not always make sense to our rational mind. The ego, in its well-meaning yet misguided way, may advise us to not pay attention to mere hunches and to instead focus our time on what it has labeled as “more pressing matters.”
We cannot serve two masters. We cannot follow our Divine Destiny and expect to get there by the means and the clever scheming of our ego. Ego invariably comes from a limited perspective, whereas our Inner Voice is the part of us that is plugged into Spirit. And Spirit has got the whole picture! Spirit is saying, “Follow me! Trust me! I’ll get you there! Come on!”
Key #4
Commit To Excellence No Matter Where You Are
The “no matter where you are” part is really what we’re focused on here. Sometimes we may have big dreams and we may be committed to giving them all we’ve got, yet we may be working at a day job to temporarily supply our funding. We may be tempted to think that our day job is less important and therefore does not require that we demonstrate the excellence that is actually inherent within our very being.
Do not be fooled! Decide that you’re going to commit to excellence no matter where you are! It doesn’t matter what the job is, make a commitment to give it your all. Don’t hesitate to show up early and to stay late. Always be willing to do more than what’s expected, and do it gladly, joyfully, with a sincere heart. It is the energy that results from the demonstration of that level of excellence that will catapult us into the next stage of our unfolding.
Key #5
Cultivate An Unshakable Spiritual Trust
Let’s remember to simply trust our Source. We live, move, and have our being in God. So when, in the mere outer, it appears as if something’s not working out, if it feels like we’ve hit a dead end, or if we think we’re going in circles and everything is falling apart, that’s simply a sign that it’s time to release and let go.
Not let go of the dream. Not let go of the vision. But to let go of how we think it “should” be happening.
You may recall, I said in Part One that “how” is not our business. So let’s learn to let go and let God. Remember that, no matter what the vision, in the mind of God it’s already done. So if the path towards the dream is turning out a little different from what we expected, let us seek to realize that it’s all perfect.
All of us are exactly where we need to be, right now at this very moment, in order for us to learn, to grow, to evolve, and to become who we will need to be in order to fulfill our destiny.
- Embodiment
The following affirmative treatment, repeated with conviction on a regular basis, will anchor these new heart and mind sets in your awareness. You may want to change the wording in any way that feels natural to you. The exact words do not matter. What matters is feeling the powerful energy behind them!
I give thanks for the insights that are taking root in my awareness. I give thanks for the guidance I have received, and I am open and receptive to all the signs and all the clues that my beloved Source is seeking to bring into my experience. I give thanks that I am cultivating an unshakable spiritual trust. I KNOW that I live, move, and have my being in a field of Infinite Possibilities, and it is with this awareness that any old thoughts of fear, doubt, and worry; any thoughts of lack, limitation and scarcity, are being dissolved, for they can no longer live in the higher vibration of my being. I commit to excellence in all areas of my life. I commit to being the very best me I can be. I commit to activating my full potential. For this and so much more I give eternal thanks, and I allow it to be. Thankfully and joyously. And so it is. Amen
Much Love and Blessings to you!
Meditative Thought: Willingness
The Divine Life Principle is forever expressing and revealing Itself all throughout the Cosmos. Its nature is to always expand and demonstrate more of Its beauty.
We may see this Principle unfolding when we take the time to pause and look at a beautiful rose. We may see It when we watch a beautiful sunset.
We may see It when we look into the eyes of a beloved. Or into the eyes of any fellow traveler on this grand adventure called Life.
It is seeking to express and reveal Itself in new and wondrous ways through every single one of us. Yet we have been given the gift of free will, which means that our willingness is required.
We must be willing to go with the stream of Life, to allow Its rivers to gently guide us to our destiny. Or we may get caught in some resistance pattern made up of conditioned thought forms revolving around fear, scarcity, lack, and limitation.
The spiritual journey is always one of moving away from fear towards a fuller embodiment of Love.
As such it serves us well to sit every day to consciously release any and all patterns of limitation, and to then surrender to that which is seeking to emerge in, through, and as us.
So right now, at this very moment, pause for a few seconds, and allow yourself to declare your sacred and joyous “Yes!”
You are saying to the Universe that you are willing to activate your fullest potential. You are willing to become more fully yourself. You are willing to let your life blossom into the wondrous work of art that it is meant to be.
Allow yourself to make this part of your daily practice.
You will be glad you did.
Meditative Thought: The Highest Form of Gratitude
Two of the most powerful words that we can ever think, say, or embody, are: “Thank you.”
Whenever we are thankful, whenever we feel appreciation for something or for someone, we are actually creating a powerful vibratory field that will allow more things for which we may be thankful to flow into our experience.
Gratitude is an affirmative mental approach to Life. We shall make it a habit to say, “Thank you,” and we shall make it a habit to say it often. We have been given the keys of the kingdom, and we shall enter its gates with praise and thanksgiving.
So let us become joyous appreciators, always on the lookout for good. Always anticipating more to appreciate. Always ready to sing a song of praise, for we know that Life is good, and all is God.
And the highest form of gratitude is simply being thankful, not for anything in particular, but much rather for the gift of Life Itself.
When we can be thankful simply for the fact that we exist, when we can appreciate nothing other than that we are here, that the Divine Life Principle is powerfully flowing through every fiber of our Being, that’s when we will have entered the highest form of ecstatic appreciation.
So, my friends, be of good cheer. For you have been given the grandest gift of them all. The gift of Life Forevermore. And Life Forevermore is always seeking to express and reveal Its grandeur through you.
And how sweet the taste of that is!
Peace of Mind: From Blind Sight to True Vision
One of the things we need to cultivate in order for us to live our lives at our highest potential is a regular spiritual practice. Spiritual practice simply means setting aside some time each day to consciously focus our awareness towards that which is Real and Eternal. Spiritual practice can include, but is not limited to, meditation, affirmative prayer, contemplation, spiritual study, as well as making ourselves available to and tuning into the highest vision for our lives.
Simply put, spiritual practice is what plugs us back into our Source and recharges our spiritual batteries! It’s what allows us to then bring this higher awareness – the awareness resulting from our fully charged and fully functional spiritual batteries – into our day to day lives. It’s what keeps us from walking around as sleepwalkers, merely coming from a place of reacting to the world of sensory phenomenon, to actually walking in an awareness of Reality with a capital “R.”
And as this higher state of awareness begins to be from where we live our lives – as we consciously begin to live, move, and have our being in it – we begin to realize that there is a perfect spiritual idea, held within the Mind of God, for everyone and everything in existence. And furthermore, we develop the ability to be able to see this perfect spiritual idea – which is the embodiment of highest potentiality – regardless of what our physical senses are showing us at any given moment.
This is what True Vision is all about. What I’m referring to as “blind sight” is simply looking at life merely through the five senses. It’s how many people still live their lives. Yet True Vision is a step up on the evolutionary ladder. It is where we begin to realize that there is much more to life than what we can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. True Vision is, in fact, what Jesus the Christ alluded to when he declared, “Let those who have eyes to see, see! Let those who have ears to hear, hear!”
- Demonstrating True Vision
So what does True Vision look like? Let’s say you’re perceiving an individual that may not be demonstrating their highest potential because, maybe they’re doing something you think is inappropriate, or maybe they’re acting in a way you’ve perceived to be rude or offensive – whatever your mind is telling you about the situation.
If you can learn to perceive this individual with True Vision, you will be able to look beyond what is seemingly happening on the surface level. You will no longer merely see what your mind may have labeled as a rude or obnoxious person, and instead you will have a very real and powerful sense that, though it might be clouded up, though it may be hard to make out, beneath the surface, beneath the debris field of past experience, there is nothing less than the Holy Presence of the Divine emanating from that being.
Perhaps they have temporarily forgotten who they are and are displaying this in their actions, but with your higher awareness you will be able to remember for them. By doing this you are imparting a great gift to yourself and this other individual who, in Reality, is not separate from you at all.
The spiritual textbook, A Course in Miracles, states that, “Every attack is a call for help.” So by perceiving this other being as who they truly are, despite of what the surface mind is telling you about them, you are in fact answering this call for help, which is nothing less than the call for love.
So perhaps the best way of summing this up is to say that instead of feeling the need to judge, you will find that you are able to feel a sense of compassion.
Compassion is simply the understanding of the lack of understanding in another.
Compassion does not mean that we necessarily condone their actions, but it does mean that we are no longer drawn into some robot-like lower consciousness reactive pattern. Instead of unconscious reaction, we find we are able to hold the space from which we are able to consciously respond.
- Embodiment
Today I am willing to demonstrate True Vision in my life. I am able and willing to look beyond what my physical senses may be telling me, and I am open to receiving all the guidance, all the insight, and all the inspiration necessary to step up to the next level of my spiritual evolution. I release any and all thoughts of judgment, anger, or resentment, any thoughts of lack, limitation, and scarcity, and I allow my heart to be filled with peace, the very peace that passeth all understanding. I know that God, Ineffable Divine Source, Universal Beloved, only sees Beauty and Perfection, and it is with this understanding that I now heal any and all false perceptions within my own awareness. I may have been blind, but now I see. The Spirit in me is helping me to see. I can see. I can see clearly. And I’m liking what I’m seeing! For this and so much more I give thanks and I simply allow it to be. And so it is. Amen.
Meditative Thought: The Sacredness of All Life
Life exists so that the Ineffable Divine Presence may know Itself more fully.
All of Life is sacred. All of Life is precious. All of Life radiates that sweet Presence of Divinity.
Sometimes our perception of Life may become clouded. When our perception becomes clouded, we have gotten lost in the drama.
When we get lost in the drama, we no longer see what is before us. Instead we perceive but a mere mental image of what we think is there.
We may then judge this mental image as good or bad, we may label it as this or that. But the truth is undeniable. We have lost our Selves. The ego has tricked us into buying into its belief in separation.
So our practice becomes to see beyond the labels and judgments the ego has conjured up, and instead work within our own awareness so we may begin to catch glimpses of this animating Presence that is radiating from All That Is.
We will not find this Presence through the mind, and the ego may even question whether or not It’s there. So we must learn to go beyond the mind, and we must learn to not take the ego’s ramblings so seriously.
Find someone in your life today, and allow yourself to just look at them.
Just look them in the eye for a moment, and appreciate them. Appreciate who they are. Appreciate that they’re in your life.
As you do, give yourself permission to acknowledge that there is a Holy Presence emanating from that Being.
That Presence is nothing less than the Presence of God.
And that Presence is everywhere.
It is in you and around you.
It is… All There Is.
All of Life is precious. All of Life is sacred beyond measure.
Meditative Thought: Jubilant Souls
We live, move, and have our very Being in a Field of Plenitude.
Lack, scarcity, and limitation do not exist in God’s World. For how could there be any concept of limitation in the Mind of the Infinite?
Yet for us to live in this awareness of plenitude, it is crucial that we not rely on seemingly external circumstances and conditions to supply our needs.
Our good does not come to us from other people.
Our good does not come to us from the world.
Much rather is the level of good that we experience a direct result of our ability of being able to receive what Divine Mind is seeking to bring forth through us.
Knowing this brings great freedom, for we no longer feel that we must manipulate things in the seemingly external world. Instead, we work within our own interiority. Rather than focusing on externals, we focus on raising our level of awareness.
It is always done unto us as we believe. So let us cultivate the kind of awareness, a level of faith, that will move mountains. And let us give thanks that whatever we’ve asked for is already done in the Mind of God.
As we do this, rather than perceiving ourselves as separate from our good, we begin to inhabit a mental atmosphere of gratitude.
We become what we may call Jubilant Souls, always finding something to appreciate while joyously anticipating what is flowing into our lives.
