Pre-Independence Day Reminder

As we celebrate our Independence in the United States, let us remember that though we have many governments, faiths, religions, practices, cultures and more throughout our world, we are still One. One Mind, One Heart, One Divine Intelligence. Whether rich or poor, healthy or dis-eased, as we understand and immerse in that Oneness, as we stand by each other at all times, a safer loving peaceful planet will emerge.

Unlimited?

Being that we are presently in a political climate of fact telling, I wanted to speak very plainly and clearly about an amazing, fantastically powerful, huge fact:

No matter what religion, philosophy, or mom and dad say, you are limited. Let me give you some examples. These are some of the factual limitations we all share, according to Popular Science:

     The Most We Can Remember: 1 Million Gigabytes

If you have reached that, you're done, there is nothing more you can remember. Sorry!

     The Smartest We Can Get: IQ of 198

If you have reached that rating, you are done, pal. You ain't gettin' any smarter. Give it up!

     The Most Colors Our Eyes Can See: 1 Million

An incredibly limiting amount of colors, I'm sure. Is chartreuse in that list?

     Highest We Can Climb Without Extra Oxygen: 29,029 Feet

So, tomorrow, on your walk, if you get higher than that, get ye an oxygen tank.

     Oldest We Can Live: 122 Years

A fact I love, because it means I have not reached middle age yet.

Most reading this know that New Thought philosophy talks a lot about humankind being unlimited; that there are infinite possibilities in the Universe and each and everyone of us has access to those infinite possibilities. But the facts prove, you are limited … 

...by your beliefs and perceptions. 

So, do you live thinking and believing that life is for you or against you? Do you immerse yourself in the “facts' and attitudes brought to you by the news, gossip, others touting lack or limitation, what you have been taught by the environments of your upbringing or at work? Does every experience – good, bad, or indifferent – remind you of the struggle … the pain … the stress … the shoulda/woulda/coulda's?

Is that what you declare … is that what the facts inform you? If you are 'buying' into these 'facts, allow me to remind you about a gentleman who turned away from some very frightening, deathly facts and discovered his meaning of life, a tool we all can use right now....

Victor Frankl was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist as well as a Holocaust survivor, where he spent 1.5 years in the Nazi concentration camps of Auschwitz, Kaugering, Turkheim, and Dachau. In his book, “Man's Search for Meaning”, he wrote:

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

The fact is, your greatest gift is that you are always at choice. You can, you always get to choose whether to base your thoughts and beliefs in what is called 'the facts' or in what is the Truth.

The Truth is you are an individualized expression of the Power of the Universe. And that Power resides in you, for you, and works through your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs to manifest the experiences that show up in your life. What you focus on, where your consciousness sits, where your intentions live, and what you consistantly say to yourself about yourself and your life - is what flavors the adventures you have. And only you get to choose what it is you want to focus on, be conscious about, intend on, and season with your mind, heart, and imagination. It is an amazing, fantastically powerful, huge bit of Truth news.

And don't worry, science and their facts, will catch up with the Truth found in metaphysics. For example, recently, the following have come to light in science:

       ‘Panpsychism’ — the belief that consciousness is everywhere. This consciousness is even being codified and measured. This is a Truth the Buddhists have talked about for thousands of years.

      Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine which nearly 200 years ago, Thomas Jefferson envisioned as an institution “based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind,” have determined that the brain is directly connected to the immune system by vessels previously thought not to exist. In the mid to late 1800's, Phineas Quimby was saying and writing about the same thing, using it in his healing practice.

So, you get to decide, to choose, which is the foundation of your feelings, thoughts, beliefs and actions – facts or Truth. Which are you going to live by? Consciousness is everywhere and your Mind can set you free from any negative and for any positive.

Stephen King wrote a novel that has become a mini-series. In the last episode, he wrote a poem, not found in the book, that epitomizes one of the characters', a high school principal, life lessons and beliefs. Not every line is part of what I believe, but the essence of this, is a fabulous reminder of our who, what, and why.

We did not ask for this room or this music; we were invited in.

Therefore, because the dark surrounds us,

Let us turn our faces toward the light.

Let us endure hardship to be grateful for plenty.

We have been given pain to be astounded by joy.

We have been given life to deny death.

We did not ask for this room or this music.

But because we are here, let us dance.

RSVP your intention to get up and dance. With face towards the light, gratitude for all things, astounded by the joy of your connection to the Divine - even during pain or hardship, I invite you to embrace your unlimited Self and live your life certain that everything is possible. Because it is. And that's the Truth.

Wherever I am, I AM!

This one heck of a week of events. It is Holy Week for so many in so many ways ... so let me say:

 Happy Spring

Happy Vernal Equinox for those of us in the northern hemisphere, which was last Saturday at 9:30 pm, Pacific Time.

Joyous Autumnal Equinox for those in the southern hemisphere.

BTW, at the equinox, the Sun is directly above equator, so if you step to the north side of that line, it's Spring, if you step to the south side, it's Autumn, and if look up, you'll be blinded.

Happy Maundy Thursday (today, as I write this). That is the celebration of the Last Supper (early compared to Passover this year) and the end of Lent. So you can go back to eating candy, smoking, not exercising, etc., if you want.

Happy Good Friday. Though it wasn't such a happy day for one little Jewish boy from Nazareth 2000 years ago.

I want to wish a Happy Nowruz, which is the new year celebration of renewal for Zoroastrians, B’hai’s, and Persians around the world. And a Happy Sham el-Nissim to those in Egypt. This is a Spring holiday who has a symbol of the colored egg. Sound familiar?




I am also wishing a good journey to the Japanese Buddhists this week on Higan (which translates to “the other shore”). It is the celebration of our journey from suffering to the enlightenment. No that's something to celebrate!

And, of course...

Jokes aside, this week is truly a special one for many religions and philosophies on our planet. It is a week that celebrates and reminds us with a lot of themes and symbols:

Renewal / Rebirth

Healing / Reconnecting 

Blossoming / Burgeoning

Evolution / New Beginnings 

Fertility

Fertility is a major theme during this time. It is the time of the Celebration of Ostara, which honors the fertility goddess Eostre (Germanic for "east” or “dawn” and also the root of “estrogen”). Typically, Eostre is depicted as a young woman surrounded by light and budding trees and flowers. And if Eostre sounds familiar, it is because it is also where the word Easter comes from. The dawning of new life, new possibilities. Other symbols of Eostre are - yes, I'm sure you can guess - eggs & rabbits. Are you seeing a pattern going on here?

Speaking of fertile, this is the time the March Hare comes out. Not for the cotillion or its sexual identity, but because it is usually nocturnal. The female, especially at this time, as if a bunny needs assistance, is what is called super fecund … randy ... horny. She can even conceive a second litter while still pregnant with first. And the males tend to bounce around erratically at this time ... very randy and horny ... Mad as a March Hare, you could say. It reminds me of many of my Spring Breaks!

Now this is not just a second chakra event. It is not only a sexy time, it is also a very sensual time. There are other powerful creative forces at hand:  it is a reminder, a renewal, a blossoming of life, a rebirth of all that was asleep in Wintertime. Some of which is too often so, in each of us

Thus it is a time of healing ... a time of mindfully, intentionally, and consciously connecting to and living from the heart-mind connection. It is a time to reconnect to our Triune nature - that fertile ground for experiences that uses the mind, heart, and intuition/imagination matrix, the Divine Matrix.

Another theme this week is:

Resurrection

Resurrection comes from the Latin verbs resurgō ‎(again I rise) and subrigo (to make straight). Thus the meaning of resurrection is:

AGAIN I RISE TO MAKE STRAIGHT

Again I rise to make straight the descendence into experiencing life from the chaos of the bills, the kids, the news, the traffic, the dis-eases of all sorts in our life. We are reminded to transcend the everyday ...

The symbolic language of the crucifixion is the death of the old paradigm;

resurrection is a leap into a whole new way of thinking.

~Deepak Chopra

Is it really a whole new way of thinking or the way it was meant to be? The way the mystics tried to inspire us to BE.

I want to invite you to step into (or re-step into) that way of thinking - the way it was meant to be - and identify yourself with what I believe is our greatest purpose...

TO BE A JOY WARRIOR

I use the word, warrior, in its definition of one who lives with vigor and courage, with power, yes, but not will power - there is no combat or war or battle ... no push - there doesn't need push with confidence and faith in your Power.

There is a power for good in the universe and you get to use it.

~Ernest Holmes

You are using it … 

                               ...You are It!

If you still don't like the word, warrior, from what definition it usually aspires to, how about this for your greatest purpose ...

TO BE A JOY ACTIVIST

Now, this is nothing new, it is actually just a rediscovering of our birthright of power and beauty...

           ...a re-awakening to what Jesus called, the Kingdom of Heaven within.


It is a leaving behind the mistakes and missteps we might have had, without shame, blame or guilt. we do this by knowing and living as the I am that I AM. You don’t need to physically die or spend time on your version of a cross to accomplish this. There is no point system. There is no suffering required. It is merely a choice to remember...  It is merely a choice to connect to the Divine … to nature ... A choice to live in joy … no matter the experience! 

Good, bad, or indifferent ... no matter the experience! You may ask ...

Is there a need for transformation? - maybe

Is there a need for a metamorphosis from the norm? - probably

Is there a need for a scary ordeal? – not necessary!

Like a caterpillar rearranging itself into a butterfly all the parts are there and we are only to choose and allow to become that butterfly. In 1972, Trina Paulus wrote a magical tale called, HOPE FOR THE FLOWERS. As she puts it, on the cover:

a tale - 

partly about life

partly about revolution

and lots about hope

for adults and others

(including caterpillars who

can read)

Hear is some beautiful dialogue from Trina's book:

Tell me, sir, what is a butterfly?

It's what you are meant to become. It flies with beautiful wings and joins the earth to heaven. It drinks only nectar from the flowers and carries the seeds of love from one flower to another. Without butterflies, the world would soon have few flowers.

How does one become a butterfly?

They have to want to learn to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.

I say it is time to free ourselves ... heal from the captivity of our past mistakes, our beliefs in lack, our various “not good enough's,” and sit in the present as and presence of who we were born to be. It is time to stop crawling like a worm and fly like a butterfly. It is time to renew our intentions and our conscious use of our God-given talents and Powers.

You may cry out ...

How?

Novelist Anne Lamott's gives us a great example:

I am going to try to pay attention to the spring. I am going to look around at all the flowers, and look up at the hectic trees. I am going to close my eyes and listen.

Another great tool is expressed in the following, by Estelle Frankel, a Berkeley psychotherapist & teacher of Jewish mysticism:

...if I take the time….to sit down, close my eyes, say a prayer, open myself to Spirit, then my identity begins to expand, and I remember that I’m not just Estelle, the personality, that I’m a soul, that I’m an embodiment of the Divine, and I move from what Jewish mystics say is ‘small mind’ to ‘big mind’ (also, the Buddha said that). And in that other state, the bonds of the self, the small identity that limits us and dictates who we think we are, it frees up - - it’s sort of like a zooming out that you would do with a camera, but it’s zooming out all the way to infinity, all the way to eternity, beyond time, beyond space. And in that moment of deep meditation, or prayer, anything becomes possible, because you are rising above the workings of time. You transcend and resurrect.

You transcend the Winter thoughts and resurrect a life knowing you are backed by the Universe. You are backed by the full energy of beauty, peace, life, light, joy, love, and wisdom that conspires to manifest your beliefs.

The title of this blog is Wherever I am I AM

Paying attention to the capitalization, realize I am meaning the "I am" to mean the microcosm, the individual, in the "I AM", the macrocosm - the Absolute. And like the drop in the wave is also the wave in the drop, the individual and Absolute are One.

Of late, I have been watching a show called THE ARROW. It is a show about a twenty-something trust-fund billionaire named Oliver Queen - snarky, priveleged, and randy - who gets stuck on a remote Pacific island for five years, which transforms him, on his return, into this vigilante, protecting the citizens of Starling City.

From the episode, SACRIFICE, story by Greg Belanti and teleplay by Marc Guggenheim & Andrew Kreisberg:

Oliver:  I never told you what happened to me on the island.
Laurel: You didn’t have to. I can see that it changed you.
Oliver: That’s the thing, Laurel. It didn’t. Those five years didn’t change me, they just scraped away all the things that I wasn’t and revealed the person I always was, which is the person, who you always saw. And I don’t know how you saw it, but you did.

Well I see it, to!  I see it in you. Yes, I don't actually see you, individually. But, if I did, I would see that Power … I would see the Light, Love, Power, Joy, and Beauty … I would see the Divine, the Spirit, the Big Bang, the Divine Intelligence … the God, that is YOU!

Join me in accepting yourself as your personal savior! 

The healing is in you...

The rebirth is in you...

The resurrection is in you...

It IS you!

Resurrect mindfully, consciously, and intentionally who you really are!

Know the I AM within!

Live from the I AM within!

Think as the I AM within!

Experience all there is through the I AM within!

BE the I AM within.... 

BE A JOY ACTIVIST!

And live life as it was intended:  vibrant, prosperous and with love and happiness!

Blessings!

UNBOUND

Open your mind ... Unfold your heart...

We are bound by nothing.  There is nothing in the universe that can bind us to our past or habits that no longer serve us or beliefs that are not for our greatest good or thoughts of dis-ease, lack, not being loved, boredom, or stagnation.

Nothing! Nothing! Nothing! Nothing can bind us to the yuck in our lives...
Except our minds ...  Our beliefs!

Dr. Ernest Holmes began his radio show every week with:

There is a power for good in the universe and you get to use it.

Let that ring in your ears and mind...

 There is a power for good in the universe and you get to use it.

Oh yeah? You may ask. Why? How? When?

When ... is now: You are using it now. You used it yesterday and you will use it tomorrow.

Why?  Well, that is the way the Universe works. That is how the Source of all, experiences It's creations. That is one of your gifts ... to yourself! To YourSelf!

And how did that happen? How does that work

That is what I am writing about today.

Gary Flynn Floyd's song, UNBOUND, says:

Relax your senses, feel every part ...

I had some challenges a couple of years ago and that song inspired me to go beyond my hurt feelings, my sadness, my disappointment. At first, I thought it would be a good song to send to one of the reasons last Fall wasn't very delightful, but then I realized the message, though it would be good for that person to hear it, showed up for me to listen and learn from. Showed up to empower me. Hear are the lyrics:

Open your mind, unfold your heart
Relax your senses, feel every part
You ain't got a thing to fear
Looks like love that's growing here
So take your guard and let it down
Go deeper still until you come unwound
Unbound

Breathe every breath, Release your cringe
Love without waiting, Slowly unhinge
You ain't got a thing to fear
Looks like love that's growing here
So take your guard and let it down
Go deeper still until you come unwound
Unbound

You can stop waiting for love to find you, Look inside your heart
Love's already who you are

So lift up your voice, Let it be heard
Tell me your story, tell it to me
Don't leave out a word, not a word
I think I have been there too, I'm a seeker just like you
So take your guard and let it down
Go deeper still until you come unwound
Unbound

Lay it down, lay it down, lay it down
Unbound

Open your mind, Unfold your heart

Lyrics by Gary Lynn Floyd
all rights reserved

The reason I am using it in my blog today is to empower you. I want you to leave this page remembering who You are.

Now, this may be uncomfortable to hear ... hard to absorb ... make you anxious ... make you think I am out of my mind or worse. But, I want to talk about who you really are!

Are you ready? Its a biggie!
Here goes:

The 'how does that work' in there is a Power for Good in the Universe and you get to use it is that you ... each and every one of you ... and me, too ... 

... are God ...
You are God!

I'm going to let that soak in a bit.

You are the I AM that is written about in Scriptures

I don't say this lightly or with any disrespect. I don’t say it to scare you, worry you, shame you, or anything like that! I say it to empower you! I don't even need to express in big letters, with a fancy font, and in color. It is simple, but, of course, powerful proclamation ... You are God!

Open your mind, unfold your heart!

Are you breathing? Take a deep breath!

Release your cringe!

Thank you for not throwing anything at me, it's hard on the monitor. You are the Power, through your mind and heart ... you know they work together the mind and the heart – it's a matrix of Power, the heart-mind matrix.There's a great book by Joseph Chilton Pierce on the subject. And I would add to that - your gut (inspiration)

Remember the math of manifesting:   thoughts + feelings = beliefs 

Beliefs color your experiences. Understand the you are the power over what your thoughts, desires, wants, needs, wishes, mock-ups, and, most importantly, your beliefs manifest into your experiences. How you react to those experiences, your perspective on them, also influences, flavors, or colors your next experiences. It is all the result of the Law of Cause and Effect.

Back to the song: Take your guard and let it down, go deeper still until you come unwound! Unbound!

This YOU ARE GOD is not a new idea or philosophy ... it's been said before; maybe more eloquently or succinctly, but probably not so blatantly. All religions and philosophies that teach love present God as being everywhere and in everything, right? So then, logically, God must be within each and every one of us! Here is some corroborating proof from several sources, both familiar and not.

Genesis 26

 Then God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness ... 
So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

The words image and likeness do not refer to looks, otherwise we would all look like that guy on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel:

check out the one on the left with all the cherubs
I mean, come on, who do you know looks like that guy in the nightgown?

In Genesis, it is referring to the essence, the character, the energy, the qualities, the function of God, which is creation

The Unity Church of Practical Christianity states

We are spiritual beings, created in God’s image.

The spirit of God lives within each person ... 

We create our life experiences through our way of thinking.

In Ephesians 4:5-6, we read

One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all.

Luke 17, 20-21 tells the story...

When some of the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come, he answered to them, the kingdom of God does not come by observation. Neither will they say, Behold, it is here! Or, behold, it is there! For behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

We are the medium for God to express Itself. That's what Jesus was trying to tell everyone. Not that he's the great exception, but the great example. 

Jesus speaks about those who believe in his philosophies in ...

John 14:12

 ...even greater than these things he shall do.

Meister Eckhart, a Catholic mystic from the Middle Ages, wrote:  

The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.

Jumping up to early 20th century, James Allen (“As A Man Thinketh”) wrote, in "Man: King of Mind, Body, and Circumstance":

The kingdom over which man is destined to rule with undisputed sway is that of his own mind and life; but this kingdom, as already shown, is not separate from the universe, is not confined to itself alone; it is intimately related to entire humanity, to nature, to the current of events in which it is, for the time being, involved, and to the vast universe.... Man can reign over his own mind; can be lord over himself. Until he does so reign, his life is unsatisfactory and imperfect.

Returning to the New Testament, in 1John 4:8, it says:

He that does not love does not know God; for God is love.

...for God is love!

Dr. Ernest Holmes' definition of Love from 

THE SCIENCE OF MIND, states that love is...

The self-givingness of the Spirit through the desire of Life to express Itself in terms of creation

Ralph Waldo Emerson also tells us that Love is a synonym for God. And:

If a man is at heart just, then in so far is he God;

the safety of God, the immortality of God,
the majesty of God do enter into that man with justice.

Over and over again, we read what those who have spent their life pondering, writing, experiencing, and proving, through their experiences, say about the concept that the Kingdom of Heaven is within:

Through Charles and Myrtle Fillmore and their great-grand-daughter, Connie: 

God is Spirit, the loving source of all that is. God is the one power, all good, everywhere present, all wisdom. God is divine energy, continually creating, expressing and sustaining all creation. In God, we live and move and have our being.

And:

We are each individual, eternal expressions of God. Our essential nature is divine and therefore inherently good. Our purpose is to express our divine potential as realized and demonstrated by Jesus and other master teachers. The more we awaken to our divine nature, the more fully God expresses in and through our lives.

Emma Curtis Hopkins, called the teacher of teachers, from THE RADIANT I AM:

I know that I AM at my own Center, authority over and through my universe, and I shall ordain my twelve disciples, or my twelve powers, to spread my Original Nature abroad till from me to the utmost stretches all is my Divine Ego.

The First Principle of Unity Church of Practical Christianity states:
God is the source and creator of all. There is no other enduring power. God is good and present everywhere.

To be clear, we are God unto our lives, our experiences. You are not the boss of me! But you are the boss of you.

I don't have time to bring in the Greeks, the Tao, other Eastern philosophies, metaphysicians, philosophers, scientists, Neville, Dr. Dyer, etc:

From Image and likeness of God ... One God in you all ... the kingdom of God/Heaven is within you ... God is the one power, all good, everywhere present ... Divine nature within ... in God, we live and move and have our being ... individual, eternal expressions of God, you have been told for thousands of years:

You are God!

You are the actor, the director and the playwright in your life. You are also the casting director: what roles are you casting yourself in?

You are the sculptor and glass blower: how will you mold your life?

You are the painter and sketch artist: what colors and shapes will you present to the world?

You are the gardener and farmer: what seeds will you plant and how will you nourish those seeds to burgeon into beauty?

I invite you to start thinking in this new/empowering way. It might not be an easy thing to say out loud; in fact, I would avoid that one. I wouldn't go around telling everyone, “I am God.” I tried it, it doesn't go over well … especially with the ladies. Mostly because they already know they are … and they know who's really the boss of me … them. But seriously, Dear Reader:

Remember who you are …

“I am” is a complete sentence and anything you follow those two words with, is at your volition. The volition gifted to you by the Universe. And it shows up in your experiences. So "I AM" big and True.

Even in Southern California, Seasons change ... but not you. But the knowledge of these spiritual principles is not enough. We must live them.

Open your mind, unfold your heart

And live the greatest you. The True you. The God in you!

For the God in me sees the God in you.

NAMASTE, ALOHA and BLESSINGS!