PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE

Enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier. Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It’s seeing through the facade of pretense. It’s the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true.  ~Adyashanti

Those who have heard me before know that I am focused on construction, not destruction

• replacing, not displacing
• application vs annihilation
• eliminating by activating
• losing bad habits through the creation of new ones to inhabit
• constituting the positive to decommission the negative
• leaving the school of hard knocks and enrolling in the university of Universal opportunities 

We are not victims....we are victors!
We do not survive...we thrive!
We do not struggle...we ascend!

I've encouraged you to move from thinking about the Divine idea to feeling It and experiencing It using spiritual practices and mystical experiences to rise above and beyond any one path, religion, or tradition; like a mountain with many trails, a tree with branches aplenty, or a river with numerous tributaries, deltas & wells.

We are not bound by the precedent of our habitual thoughts - they can be changed. We are not bound by the precedent of our beliefs or our actions, statements, or positions, they can all be changed, replaced, reconfigured, adapted, alternated, dissipated, elevated, updated, refreshed, or traded-in. We are freed by Principle - to surrender to the Truth, step around & past the mere facts in our life or the temporary diversions, deviations, detours, and roundabouts, and put them in the rearview mirror

How? 

By falling in love with the process. From centering and grounding through prayer and meditation, embodying Spirit directly, communing with the Divine with intention and purpose, and by practicing the ancient wisdom, New Thought, neuroscience, mysticism, metaphysics, love, peace, powerful grounding, centering, and the affirmative prayer aspects of clean slate spirituality

You don't have to have engaged in anything nefarious to join the clean-slate movement. You don't have to have immersed yourself in a series of addictions to have a do-over. You don't have to have committed a crime to get a second chance. It matters not if we welcome that clean slate or it is thrust upon us. Take the time to love and practice the opportunity for greater clarity, creativity, and new possibilities to emerge. 

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sometimes, maybe most of the time, it isn't easy. Just start with the decision to practice some mindful spiritual activity, love the decision, and get passionate about the decision. Your willingness to embrace the moment, confront any pain is a powerful Practice of the Presence of the Divine. It is a practice of Oneness, Love, and Creation, a practice of engaging in quieting the mind & body and awakening the heart and soul, and a practice of living in alignment with our Science of Mind Principles and being congruent in thought, word, and behavior.

Loving a spiritual practice can be exhilarating or terrifying...usually both. I have faced a blank page, illness, an instant family, divorce, career changes, major moves, losses, successes - just like most of you. Many I have liked / many, not so much...clean slates both wanted and unwanted. Too often I find myself with a lot of 'doing' going on, however, the bigger answers always came from tapping the Source of Creation and Infinite Potentiality that is within me, using the heart instead of the brain, and the vibration of the Divine instead of the logic in the head. I know I have talked about it before...

        Cultivating self-awareness and self-reflection

...looking after and loving yourself

        Establishing a routine of examining your beliefs, behaviors, and fears

...and asking your heart whether or not they still serve you

Focusing on what you WANT

Not worrying about what other people think 

Following your passion and taking action

Surrounding yourself with allies, mentors, and like-minded people

But I get it. The birth of anything new may be full of pain and messiness, emotions may emerge...that's okay because they act as an inner GPS, letting you know if your thoughts are moving you further from or closer to Source. And any new or renewed spiritual practice can be sloppy or uninspiring:

Have you ever sat on your floor in the quiet, your hands placed on your knees, and you tell your brain to be still?

I have...it was anything and everything but...and that's okay.

Have you ever wondered if it is wrong to scratch during meditation or prayer?

  It's not...scratching an itch is self-care. Give it its moment and scratch.

I remember thinking it was smart to time myself in meditation. Have you?

Very quickly you think it's been forever, so you look at your phone and you can swear you hear it laughing at you. You see the timer reads 2:42 (two minutes and 42 seconds) and you set it for 10. It's okay - go ahead, have a stretch and try again. But first, stick your tongue out at your phone – I'm sure the timer was wrong (lol).

Here's an idea:  when you have to remind yourself to meditate, pray, do your vision board, etc.

...tell yourself you're practicing self-care
...just be sure to leave out the “f-ing” part
... self-care is more zen without the swear words....usually.

While in spiritual practice, have you ever wondered about the quiet? if it’s okay to NOT be quiet?

I have....so I put my phone timer on pause and asked Siri about it. She didn't know and cursed at me for pausing my meditation.

Or have you ever thought, “Did I pay the credit card this month?”

...and then chastise yourself with, “Shhhhh, relax.” And a few minutes later, “Wait, DID I?”  I have...this morning

Sometimes I decide that sitting on the floor trying to meditate isn’t what self-care looks like today so I put on some clothes (pandemic lock-down and all) and go sit outside or walk or watch a bird at the feeder or listen to Laura Berman on this evil contraption that times my meditations. Soon enough, sitting on the ground, my eyes closed, listening to the talent and wisdom and just being, not paying attention to the seconds or the weather or goals or duties or bills or the news...just remembering, I Am enough. By the time the song ends, I take a deep breath, stand, and know that I have just done some self-care.

Meditation and prayer?

Keep at it!

If that Treatment or prayer didn't feel good - start over. If you think your vision board is too rule-following - start over. 

• To live from the space of clarity and possibility, we are called to Practice the Presence regularly
• To release thoughts of past or future and ground ourselves in the present, we are called to Practice the Presence regularly 
• To experience whatever understanding or gift the moment has for us, we are called to Practice the Presence regularly

But seek first the kingdom of God and Its righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  ~Matthew 6:33

It doesn't mean you don't plan or set goals or ignore the future...you create the future by your practices today. 

Don’t allow your wounds to transform you into someone you are not.                                                                                              ~Paulo Coelho 

If crying in the shower is part of your spiritual practice, especially in the frustrations of lockdown, closed schools, work-at-home, unemployment, and everything else many of us are going through this last year - have at it.....love it....use it!

Spiritual practice is a personal, ever-evolving transformational tool. Just...Practice, Practice, Practice and

...make it to your own Carnegie Hall to get to!
...your own healthy body....your own happiness!
...your own lovefest....to create your own fabulous life!

Affirmative Incantation

I welcome the promise of a clean slate that every moment holds. And so, in this moment and the next and the next...

I have a renewed energy to get things done.

I do things that are fulfilling and gratifying.

I communicate clearly, specifically, and lovingly with myself and all around me.

I am focused on a habit of happiness and health.

I have the courage to step out of my comfort zone and be victorious.

I revel in the Truth that I am backed by the Universe in every solution that is required.

I protect and care for all that I love.

As I feel this love of all I Am, I Am being this Love of all I Am. With this feeling and beingness alive in the deepest part of me, I live this Love of all I Am in all I do right here, right now, and forevermore.