heaven is here – Page 6 – Muriel Stockdale

In Between

There is a very peculiar sacred space that we might call in between. It is the space between all things as manifest and it is the open door to that which manifests. It is always available.

In ancient days Celtics, Druids and all nature spiritualities honored the in between spaces evidenced in the seasons and the day; soltices and equinoxes were recognized as profound moments replete with potential for the new season and dawn, dusk, midnight and midday present moments of turning in which to reset the next flow of life. I learned in meditation that the turning of the breath from in to out and out to in offers an ever present window into that eternal space of becoming, of potential or rather potency.

Today we seem to enjoy a desperate need to fill all our spaces with something; shopping, games, TV and mind altering substances protect us from that in between space, that sudden and disturbing feeling of emptiness. It is a feeling that comes after a really intense job is done, after a child is born, a project finish, a vacation over or the holiday season done and everyone has gone home. There we are left alone, quiet, rudderless; what to do? Most of us cram our lives full of activities, duties, obligations in order to avoid that feeling. Yet there is where our power lies. It is in the potency of in between that all possibilities lie. Too many people around the world today are coming face to face with that in between; loosing a job, a home or a life’s savings slams us right there in the emptiness and requires us to examine how it feels. Here is a moment to look to see and remember where did it all come from in the first place. How did we manifest this space, stuff, family, home, job to begin with? If we have forgotten our conscious universe welcomes us to look at it again and to remember this time where it all comes from.

There is a fabulous description of a new paradigm for physics by Nassim Haramein. Haramein has developed the formulas to reconcile the unified field theory and tells his path to discovery with great enthusiasm because it is a spiritual journey for him and all of us. His lecture is engaging, inspiring and mind-bending and well worth listening to you can find it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2qLIeN7gRI. To summarize though, and I am not a physicist so forgive me if I’m not quite getting it right, Haramein establishes that the strong force which is a power that Einstein discovered and necessarily inserted into all of his theories in order to make them work is actually black holes. Now what is a black hole? I suspect it is that same in between that we are examining here, it is that in between opening great and microscopic fissures within our reality like holes in swiss cheese. But Haramein shows us this force holds our reality together and he suggests that force is found in the center of every atom. It is the potent power of emptiness, the unthinkable power of creation which holds every possibility inside that emptiness. Haramein concludes that the purpose of this relationship that we as form have with this other part of us which is void is to be the divine consciousness expressing itself and then looking back at itself. Wow, that’s exactly what the profound esoteric religions say too. But watch Haramein explain this yourself.

My purpose here is to inspire a profound respect for that emptiness which is always present and sometimes intrudes upon our lives wreaking havoc on our sense of self. We are greater than form and in the void is where we will find greater understanding of our greatness.

I offer this poem that I just found in my notebook, I don’t know when I wrote it or why but it speaks to this issue:

The Sacred space of In Between.

In between the white sky and the grey sound is a thin blue line. A blue line that denotes infinity – a blue line that circumnavigates the earth – a blue line that we right now travel within and that we breathe.

In between the fleshy colors and the grey, green, brown, wood, soil, asphalt surface of this gorgeous earth is a microcosm of vibrating space, a thrumming rythmn of caresses, a stroke of blessings attracting and repelling me from my one and primary field of support.

In between the wind and my breath is a pause, a consideration of life inside and outside; swelling my lungs, swelling the sky, tasting my lips, tasting the clouds, one continuous stream of life force in and out.

In between this thought and the next is a potent eternity containing this poem both ephemeral and manifest with all fruits; real and unreal, eaten or rotted, all there ready to be known.

In between the night and day is in or out both the way to the day and to the night a sacred doorway promising delicious black – the void, replete with potential and entrancing white; the manifest chaos that distracts us all.

Cultivate the in between – there lies the true rest within both the black and the white space.

Community

I just, finally, managed to see Invictus which is one movie I really wanted to see. I think I have never been so moved by a film as much as I was by this film. I was on the way to Greece in a plane where the sound was terrible the screen a postage stamp and the distractions endless and in spite of all that Invictus drew me in like no other film.

Community – I am struck by how powerfully needful we are of this. What is it – Unity in Community? The word means – in unity. Millions of South Africans black and white coming together to celebrate a rugby team. A team playing as a cohesive group and coming together to perform in excellence. Is there any need as a human greater than this need to belong? Perhaps a greater need than food, water or even sex is our need to belong and to be a part of something greater than ourselves. There is where our truth lies, this is the essence of our truth, our core nature – we are one.

I delighted in “on the money” cheesy moments of the film where a young black boy sneaks into the hearts of the white taxi drivers just to listen to the world cup game. I revel and thrill to the powerful Maori war dance which is led by a white New Zealander and strikes terror into the opponent Spring Bok team. I loved the white Afrikaner presidential security guard teaching his disinterested black politico counterpart about rugby until together they rejoice in a remarkable Spring Bok – no – a remarkable South African win of the World Cup.

I hate to watch sports and I think it is a waste of time and yet here is a song to unity in community teamwork. Like another film of extraordinary compassion and grace, The Blind Side; Invictus touches our core humanity, it highlights how much we need each other regardless of race, creed, ideologies or location, we need to support, love and respect each other in order to shine and express our excellent individual self. These two films are harbingers of heaven, they are songs of unity that invite us to examine our supernature the essential self of us that is beyond individual but belongs to the greater whole of humanity.

I have always said if a child is playing with a knife don’t just snatch it away from them but substitute it with a very attractive toy – the knife will be forgotten in a flash. Nelson Mandela did that with rugby. By focussing the entire country, blacks and whites on the game he created a unity that could never come from any political maneuvers.

I think my favorite line in the film is “Soccer is a gentleman’s game played by houligans – Rugby is a houligan’s game played by gentlemen.” To me that says it all – there are no boundaries, no rules except those that we make for ourselves and then unthinkingly abide by. I yearn, ache for the unconditional family of man, for unity in community, for unyielding grace and fierce respect to each other. For the most part the family man functions with elegance and unity if it didn’t there could never be so many of us. But unfortunately many abberant conflicts suck all the oxygen out of our general harmony. Reframing the focus like Nelson Mandela did is a brilliant move, reminding us of this brilliance with Clint Eastwood’s film Invictus is another brilliant move. I watched four other films on my way to and from Greece, it’s a long flight, and the rest of them were insipid compared to the rich relevance of Invictus.

Invictus shows us that we can ‘play’ on opposite teams to test our prowess, push and jostle each other but then we go home as equals, as lovers of one game, residents in the same life that we share together as one in many forms. Today I am on top tomorrow you wear the crown, today I am white in another life black, what’s the difference? The energy of unity is extraordinary, we can do anything together. Together we transcend the stars. Not to drag anyone down, that is never my goal here, but look for a moment what happens with partisanship – division. Even the best organization, the most powerful group will fail when undermined by partisanship. We do ourselves disservice when we withhold full authorization to those we put in power by that we withhold our own power.

Unity is our essential nature. It is a societal norm that continues to inspire and draw people together. We form groups in national, cultural, spiritual, artistic, intellectual and generational tribes. We revel in those associations, identify ourselves by our tribe. But that is not all that we are, our transcendent energetic being includes all those and more. You are all and much more.

Abundance

Have you thought about how much you have, how much opportunity, how many food choices, how many lifestyle choices? Life today for most of us in the US is richer than that of any of the greatest lords of history. Exotic food from all over the world is presented to us in huge and beautiful stacks of abundance. Our necessary objects are ridiculously inexpensive in relation to our income. We are able to travel anywhere at anytime. We have the remarkable opportunity to chose our life’s work unlike those in the past who inevitably fell into the family business. We are even able to explore diverse spiritualities and cultural lifestyles. If this is not heaven then what would heaven be?

How much does an individual really need in life? I am continually inspired by a friend from way back who made a conscious practice of simplifying his life, it was an art for him. Whenever I go through those purging moments or when I reexamine to discover what’s important or not I think of him. These are the gifts we share with each other, often without even being aware of it. But whether the idea is to chose simplicity or to embrace our abundance what needs to really work is how we feel on the inside. How much is enough? For some people it seems they can never get enough so there is a constant scrambling to acquire resources whether it’s for individual enrichment, corporate power or national dominance. We are powerful creative beings and our ability to influence each other’s inner state is extraordinary. Even while in the midst of abundance it is possible to feel empty, desperate, insecure and grasping; look at our leaders, politicians and some celebrities. When one individual functions from this mindset it spills out and affects others. Then we have abundance of desperation.

We see people of incredibly limited resources doing extraordinary things; a school teacher creating a 12 block garden out of a garbage dump, a waiter beautifying the inner city with paint uplifting and inspiring his neighbors, a boy in Canada raising millions to build clean water pumps for African school children. What is true abundance? For these people it seems to swell up from a generous heart and spill into the world filling a need outside. Clearly there is a push pull between us all; a give and take of the energy of life. What do we really need in life anyway?

A great Indian saint, Nityananda, used to say, “The heart is the hub of all places, go there and roam.” This is not just a concept, the heart is where the true abundance lies. Our ability to create abundance from a heart of abundance is proven. Those who do it from a place of gentleness know this and practice the art of drawing abundance to themselves. This kind of abundance functions outside the realm of have or have not, of limited resources and the idea that if one person gets rich then another goes without. It is a kind of abundance that brings more abundance; a win win abundance. When I was a kid my father used to say you can’t get something from nothing. Well, I am sorry but that theory flies in the face of every bit of reality that we see. Where did the universe come from? There’s the ultimate something from nothing. Actually, it’s everything from nothing.

This brings me to the concept of nothing, which I suppose could be thought of as the opposite of abundance. I used to just bristle and angst whenever I met anything that smacked of nihilism. Nihilistic art, writing and philosophy made me plummet into a place of depression and emptiness; afterall nihilism is emptiness. But now after much study and contemplation I have a brand new view of emptiness. In that nothingness exists the potential for everything. All things come from nothing. The causal field of creation contains the fruit of everything that we see in this world we live, breathe, and move in. It is the vibrant, roiling breath of the divine, a conscious field of energy that births us, the food we eat, the joy we share, the hopes we fulfill. Our door into that field of consciousness is the heart. Yes, we can force abundance but from the heart comes the abundance that is right, needed, appropriate for all. It is enough no matter how little or great. It is manageable and delicious and never stale.

It is the hope of my heart that all people may experience the abundance of the heart, with that we will need no regulations, investigations or further financial crashes. It is interesting to watch a shifting consciousness and to see that irrationally exuberant wealth models are looking less fashionable today. I’ve noticed two major companies now promoting social consciousness; American Express with their Members Project to promote good ideas and Pepsi has just started Pepsi Refresh Project again to promote good ideas. Is this a sign of turning the tide and creating abundance that shares with all? I hope so.

New Paradigms

Here it comes, the new paradigms for ascended society. Have you seen TOMS Shoes? http://www.toms.com/ In 2006 Blake Mycoskie from Arlington, Texas started this shoe company for the purpose of giving shoes to kids in need. TOMS is short for Tomorrow’s shoes and refers to the shoes that your purchase today will make for one of the many children worldwide that go shoeless. Blake’s business model is win – win, the customer gets a great pair of shoes made in the alpargata style of Argentina and a shoeless child somewhere in the world gets a new pair of shoes. This not-for-profit business model is proving to be very successful. TOMS are providing manufacturing jobs in Argentina, Ethiopia, and China and according to their website TOMS requires the factories to pay fair wages and operate sound labor conditions following local labor laws. TOMS has given away over 600,000 pairs of shoes to kids in need in the US, Argentina, Ethiopia and South Africa. Currently TOMS is working to provide shoes to kids in Haiti. On the drawing boards is development for a new rubber boot to protect poor farmers from disease. Blake Mycoskie is planning to expand his one for one business model to other products.

Social entrepreneurship is a brilliant and ascended form of business necessary today to shift the inequities between the richest and poorest of us sharing this earth. Look for many more of these kinds of initiatives to appear. I say also to look for the shift in consciousness from ruthless business practices to more socially conscious and responsible practices. We can already see that big companies try to identify with good causes in the hope of winning customers. I am watching for the time when the entire bottom line becomes transparent and we can see that our corporations have shifted to a principle of co-operation between customer and producer that trims the fat of excessive profit making and executive gluttony. In the monetization of everything we loose sight of the purpose of business and money.

Check out TOMS shoes: http://www.toms.com/movement-one-for-one

Full Disclosure

You may be noticing a very odd manifestation evidencing that Heaven is Here and that is the amazing amount of unsavory secrets coming out. Why now? And why with such venom? How is it that venomous behaviour could resonate with Heaven?

It’s very simple, the light is turning on. We are in the in between space of dawn and we all know it somewhere within our being. None of us is immune to the powerful light of consciousness beaming our way and about to rise in full clarity and so we prepare in the ways that we know. The deceptive games of Captains and Kings of industry, banking, politics, military, or public institutions flourished in the dark where secret deals and alliances could create a powerful stranglehold on wealth and energy. I am talking not about energy like gas, oil or nuclear here but about that sacred sovereign energy of a human life; the right to good work, abundant nourishment, joy in community, satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. This is the most painful theft and it has happened throughout our known history in blatant forms and in not so obvious ways. I am not here to ponder the misery many have been subjected to in countless centuries and cultures. So know the point is made and let’s move on to see how Heaven manifests in the dark.

The light comes on and there is a mad flurry to save the old power structure; to maintain controls as they were but it’s too late. We are watching it all in action. It seems everyday a politician is outed for graft or personal indiscretions, another government policy hotly debated for its worthiness. The divisions of points of view radically shifted to opposite sides and opinions locked in step within one dimensional talking points. This is all part of disclosure. It is time to see very clearly where we have been, what sort of reality we have built for ourselves. The light is on and that light is the internet, the media, twitter and cell phones, you-tube and the blogosphere. This is where secrets slide into view and where the real incentives for behaviors begin to show. The transparent media is a manifest form of the light of consciousness that we are being gifted with right now.

I am not here to hash out conspiracy theories or report new stories but simply to point out this growing phenomenon of uncertainty and collapse within the structures we thought we knew. Perhaps the clearest and most apparent so far was the global banking failure. Here is a construct developed over centuries and fully dependent on trust, without trust the whole house of cards comes tumbling down. The banking system is probably still not done with its reorganization. We have seen how radically out of balance with sustainable business practice modern banking became, and though we’ve been through a collapse the practices that caused that are not checked yet. The good news is that more Light is coming and with that comes growth and flourishing. New systems of sharing energy will appear, they are probably already set up and ready to fall into service the minute the behemoths that suck our attention get out of the way.

Full disclosure means not only do we see what is ugly and not wanted; that which we need to clear out and throw out but it means we find deep in our closets that which is treasured and refound. The most important things that we can find are our own balance and equanimity. It is time to see that our relationships with our community are rich and fulfilling in ways that a price cannot be estimated. The monetizing of everything from our moments to our handiwork to our piece of land even the parts of our body and our health will loosen its stranglehold and we can find ourselves breathing free air again. Keep your eyes open for those new systems of support that will come forth. Do what ever you can to support them.

It’s all in the VIBES!

You may have noticed that I have been speaking of Heaven as a state of being and you may also have noticed that I am emphasizing that it’s all about the attitude. Well, at this point I want to revise that ‘attitude’ and bring the calling to a higher frequency. When thinking of attitude changes we are looking at choice and judgment. For example if you see the glass half empty rather than half full there seems to be a choice there. There also seems to be an attitude of comparing, judging and of worthiness. Let’s just skip all that and jump straight to the mark. It’s about the energy.

When your energy frequencies are up you naturally see things with a brighter view, you see the wonder in the world. Simple things become awe inspiring like the fact that an apple or a banana is a perfect food packet miraculously designed in size, wrapping and deliciousness to satisfy your nourishment. Focusing on management of your energy is much simpler than wrangling with attitudes and emotions. When we slip into those low energy, self-destructive places basically the not-heaven states where everything looks bleak there are ways out but it can be very very hard. It is especially hard by our selves that’s why we have help. But help only comes when you ask for it, when you are ready. Then the infrastructure of the ages appears in front of you or, “The teacher appears”. What I mean by infrastructure is all those paths created and maintained to lift your energy frequencies and lighten and brighten your outlook in this blessed life which is in Heaven.

Let’s look at the paths, I am not referring to religions but maybe to the practices offered through religions and spiritualities. Personally if I feel down I can count on Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s qawwali singing to lift my heart. It is instant and palpable. This is what chanting does. It circumvents the mind from its groove of downerness and elegantly slides in a new program that lifts the heart to wrap the mind within its natural joyfulness. Whirling does this, meditation does this, perhaps your art or your atheletics do this too. It doesn’t matter, all that matters is that you hold your state as sacred and that you diligently restore it whenever it begins to slide into the mundane and even below that. This is an extraordinary magical place of miracles and joy, it is Heaven and it is our birthright to know that. Not just know it with our head but to Know it with our being.

This is my personal mandate, to Know my most pure and highest self and I am so blessed to be gifted with understanding that shows the way. Last night I again met Robert Young at the META Center here in New York City. While Robert talked it was interesting and very important and yet what was really going on was a simple, profound transmission of energy. Robert explained how we can all change the energy and lift it up. He demonstrated lifting the energy in the room and depressing it. He worked with each of us as individuals in the room and also with us as a group. There was none of the usual visualization exercises, chanting, meditation, invocations or other remarkable tools for shifting states but just simply a focus on awareness and intent which produces result. What it felt like to me was periods of intense heat, so hot that my chair felt heated. It also felt like a buzzing in my heart, not palpitations or fluttering but a warm humming that felt good. There was a profound stillness that became apparent, a stillness that I have met before only in very deep meditation but here it was enveloping everything, supporting everything, nourishing everything. To me this is the stillness of the causal realm, the place from which all things come. It is the divine womb of creation which pours out anything and all things and yet remains un-depleted. In fact this place is so full that not only does it hold anything that is, was or ever will be but it holds all that will never be. In modern sports parlance it is the, ‘zone’.

Robert explained that we are consciosness and that our consciousness is not trapped inside our physical form; it flows around us and is in fact eternal. He demonstrated the energetic frequencies of our consciousness and how we can very simply lift them up. He emphasized the importance of lifting not only our frequencies but also the frequencies of others that we encounter. We can do this quite simply with a smile. If permission is granted we can welcome someone else’s frequencies to match ours and take them on a delicious ride of appreciation.

Robert reminded us that this energy of consciousness which flows within and without us is that which forms our world, I called it the causal realm earlier and that is it. My father always used to say, “You can’t get something from nothing”. Well, I have to say I disagree in a big way, everything comes from nothing. The universe comes from nothing, our bodies come from nothing. Our consciousness is what attracts the somethings of our lives and we are moving into a reality where that process will seem more and more miraculous. But think wouldn’t your cell phone look miraculous to your great-great grandmother.

Fireflies

I want you to notice that we live in an extraordinary mystical time; knowing comes forward in ever more magical ways intended to gently point us in the direction of truth. Take the unusual song, “Fireflies” by Adam Young of Owl City for example. The first time I heard that song I knew with my heart that it is replete with mystical lessons. It seems to be encoded in such a way that the mystical truth is imparted directly into the primordial knowing core of our essential spiritual memory. I hope that makes sense.

“Fireflies” is a delightfully compelling journey into the world of energy and light, often referred to as the spirit world. Somehow the song pricks your ears and hints at magical realms and experiences that we know in our hearts but have forgotten and long to feel again. I applaud song writer Adam Young for offering this shining marker on the road.

Who knows what Adam had in mind with his lyrics but I would like to take a stab at the esoteric bounty poured into and through this song:

The first line: “You would not believe your eyes if ten million fireflies Lit up the world as I fell asleep.” launches us into the world of angels and fairies. Let’s clarify the nature of these beings – light, consciousness and energy. They are beings, conscious frequencies that vibrate faster than we do in our dense state of matter and yet we and the whole earth are quickly moving toward the frequencies of the fairies and the angels. Throughout time many people have been aware of these mysterious ones. Children, saints, those near to death or in crisis may know them intimately. Today, though, more and more of us interact with greater conscious awareness with these elemental beings that direct conscious energies from Source into this physical realm.

The best time to access these beings is in the windows of the world through those portals in time and space like between day and night at dusk and dawn. Or we can meet them in doorways and intersections that enter or exit spaces or states; such as where the path enters the forest or where the mind enters or exits a dream. Most remarkable for us right now is that we are in a vast portal which is known as ‘the shift of the ages’ or ‘the end times’. This is a doorway into a new reality where we can create a “reality” that we establish for eons to come. I put reality in quotes because there really is no such thing as reality. However, this predicted time is our opportunity to choose a light path or not for our future; free will rules. The angels and fairies willingly show us the way if we choose to see them.

Adam’s song goes on to say about the fireflies: ” ‘Cause they’d fill the open air And leave teardrops everywhere”. He speaks to palpable blessings that come with some interactions with the blessed light beings. It is a phenomenon I have recently heard referred to as the dry rain and is one of the first gifts acquired on a spiritual opening. I remember within the first month when I began meditating I was sitting one day and suddenly if felt as though a light, delicious spring rain was showering through the top of my head. This rain is known in Vedic teachings as rasa, the nectar of meditation. Adam goes on to say that he just stands and stares which is natural when awe overwhelms us. What comes with this moment of seeing the light of consciousness is the instant awareness that consciousness is throughout all things; it is oneness, blessings and joy. Which takes us into his next verse.

Here is a particularly mystical moment wrapped around concepts relating to time and space, “I’d like to make myself believe That planet Earth turns slowly”. This to me is one line containing a universe of wisdom unfathomable to the mind but easy access to the heart. It feels like a gentle invitation to believe and fall in step with the natural cycles. Continuing the verse the question of whether to stay awake or asleep comes up “cause everything is never as it seems”. Without truly understanding this verse we are nevertheless introduced to the mystical nature of our universe and the peculiar confusion of our true state. Are we awake or asleep? What is the nature of time and space? But somehow this simple invitation awakens the heart to align with the mystery.

Then once we are aligned amazing gifts come toward us; “a thousand hugs from ten thousand lightning bugs” and the opportunity to learn how to dance with the universe. The possibilities are boundless and brilliant. The final concept that comes up is to “Leave my door open just a crack” a wise thought to hold on to when mystery begins to disappear in the calculating light of the reasonable mind.

Ocean Eyes, Owl City What’s even better about this Owl City hit is that the music of this very special song beautifully lifts the concepts therein and launches them into the air of popular hits making these esoteric ideas available to all. A few weeks ago I went to a fundraiser with a Karaoke competition. The first song was this one sung by two lovely 10 year old girls who sang it flawlessly without any words on the screen. They were deeply connected to the song and rendered it with full hearts; all of us were inspired.

If you have not heard the song I really recommend it, the tune is delightful. Click: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/fireflies/id322447609?i=322447713&ign-mpt=uo%3D2

Choose worlds

Yesterday I watched a remarkable interview of Robert Young by Alan Steinfeld. Robert Young is an Australian engineer, I think, who had a serious car accident and came out of the experience quite changed. His manner is so honest and real and his message unbelievably simple: we can play in the play world or we can live in the truth of the heart, it is our choice. Robert explains with great clarity the difference between living in a conventional way and being in the moment of truth at all times. Listening to Robert tweeks a mysterious memory in me of vast openness, freedom, absolute perfection and delight in the simpleness of just being. He says we can have this in an instant that it is ours to live and right there in our center available right now.

I keep thinking that an attitude change is what we need to come to that place of pure being and certainly holding a “cup half full” rather than a “cup half empty” attitude points us in the right direction but there is so much more to it than that. The pointers to that state of pure being which is a state where all is perfection are all around us and that’s only because we have a habit of looking outside for answers. Robert Young says that when we begin to quiet ourselves we begin to see. At first we are moving too fast and we are too absorbed to hear the birds, then once we have noticed their song we begin to see them. They are right there around us as they always were. What more is right around us all the time that we never notice? Subtle energies of support, love, caring, sharing wash over us everyday. The ground itself supports us, trees cool us and provide fresh, clean air. Gratitude for simple delights is another pointer toward the ocean of pure being.

The critical element though is choice, we must choose to shift our consciousness from looking out in the world to looking inside to our Source. “Let the Force be with you”. Be in the world but not of the world. It is a way of being that we must choose again and again. To add to a metaphore that Robert referred to a couple of times, to keep the bicycle going we must peddle the wheels. Robert was speaking of how children learn to ride a bike with an adult holding them on the bike, then releasing when the child has the confidence and skill to keep going alone. He was using this as an example of how great teachers coach us into a pure way of being in ourselves and with our world. In my experience I have had that push from the Guru, I have been released to ride by myself but if I forget to peddle I fall off the bike. Peddling is merely holding onto the state of grace, making space for eternity to wash into my sphere and inform my daily moments. It is far less work than peddling a bike but somehow far more difficult. At first it’s easy to forget that we have a choice to live in grace, gratitude and joy and we get embroiled in the drama of life, there’s plenty there to distract us. With peddling practice we begin to relish the feeling of freedom and stillness within movement, wind in our hair, delightful views rushing by it gets easier.

On any spiritual path practice is key, like any sport or art or skill, practice leads to perfection.

You can see Alan’s interview with Robert here: http://www.newrealities.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=423&Itemid=1109.

Self Inquiry

The first step on the spiritual path is self inquiry. It is the dark night of the soul that is ironically embarked upon when the brilliant light of the Self shines inward. Suddenly all the places ignored where dust has gathered over millenia and lifetimes loom large and terrifying. Dragons of ancient judgements, expectations, fears, regrets and terrors lunge into our awareness and seem to drag us into the muck of despair and hopelessness. Where the heck did heaven go? But I assure you, heaven is here now.

In all things the divine resides, the divine resides in all things. Perfection.

“Om purna madah purna midam
Purnaat purnam udachyate
Purnasya purnam adaaya
Purnam eva vasishyate
Om shanti shanti shantih”

This is Perfect, That is Perfect.
Perfect becomes manifest;
Taking away Perfect from Perfect and Perfect remains.
Om peace peace peace

That from which we came to which we will return is beyond the appearance of good and evil. But if that is true then what mire of consciousness are we swimming in now where so much terror, fear, manipulation, deceit and control swamps our awareness? We are in the dark night of the soul of our community of man right now. Light of truth is washing through our frequency and zone of space and ruffling up the dross of our collective consciousness. Stuff that we have constructed together and tolerated for aeons is no longer appropriate. Darkness will no longer survive as the light of Truth/Love scrubs through every corner of our constructs; government, communication, financial, educational, communal and more. We will all see things come up that we would rather not see.

Right now I am reading the book, “The Shock Doctrine” by Naomi Klein where she diligently describes the rise of disaster capitalism and outlines atrocious war mongering and disaster mismanagements designed to sweep away social governments and make room for unfettered laissez faire capitalism. Why? I wonder, am I reading this? It makes me feel terrible and yet I feel it is essential to know. I feel like Naomi, blessings to her for suffering through uncovering this material, that I am witnessing the inner dysfunction of this awakening collective being – Humanity. Part of the self-inquiry process is to watch to see our anger flare up unprovoked and taste it without judgement or action. Until we can see deep into our dysfunctional interaction and unveil the misguided self-interest of the ego we will not be able to still the mind and enter the heart where heaven is.

Right now we need powerful collective, self-inquiry. I am not here to say what’s right or wrong, who is good or bad but merely to say look within and discern the flavor of your heart. What’s the resonance there with your heaven? Does this outer noise promote heaven or scare it away? Ironically inspite of the dismay and shock I experience reading that book I keep gravitating to it, I feel compelled to finish it. It is like a joyful duty of clearing out a claustrophobic closet filled with the scariest, dangerous stuff that I just have to get out of my house.

The blessing here is that the light is becoming so bright and veils of illusion are thinning so much that truth cannot be squelched or spun. Truth will come out. When truth comes out constructs that used to support illusions will collapse. We have seen this already within the financial system. We are seeing it with the startling failure of government’s solvency from Iceland to Greece, to New Jersey and California. The unsustainable profiteer capitalism responsible for this is explained in, “The Shock Doctrine”.

Interesting times are here. Shocking changes are happening right now and more will come. Equanity, poise and self-inquiry are called for in times of distress. We must remember that we are not these constructs that we identify with; nation, job, spouse, parent, child, teacher, leader. We are responsible light beings here to play together and if the constructs of our imaginings seem to fall apart like a sand castle in the tide then let’s come together and build another better, sustainable (for a time) sand castle that we all can share the joys of.

I want to invite you to check out a superb inner resource that I personally love; http://www.emergingearthangels.com/ Karen Bishop regularly writes about the energetic shifts that we go through as a planet. Karen provides grounding, insightful and useful information on the energetic frequencies of the moment allowing us to connect to what is going on and understand the deeper reasons for various physical and emotional states of the ascension process. I was inspired by her postings to look out into the world to see what evidences of these shifts are becoming physically apparent.

More on, “The Shock Doctrine” at: http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine

You can get there from here

The point of this blog is to explore the consciousness that heaven is Here but I do understand that that is a very strange concept. What we need to know is that getting to heaven in some future is not about accumulation of good deeds but is about being in a good state. Which means that the instant the state is in alignment with heaven, heaven is here, in this moment. We must vibrate with the frequency of heaven in order to be in Heaven and that takes commitment. There are some things we can do that will help us to create that state of heaven.

All esoteric teachings recommend practices that align us with heaven. Let’s have a look at some of the specific ways we can manifest heaven. There are simple and direct paths to heaven including chanting, meditating, service, devotion, yogic breath and slightly less direct is knowledge. Knowledge is only slightly less direct because it involves the mind and the mind can very quickly complicate any project. So we will look at the mind another time. The activities, with focus, that quickly shift our state function by circumventing the mind and by engaging the heart and the Supermind, the gateway to which is the Sahasrar in the top of the head. The personal mind becomes surrounded and drowned in the joy of connection, or union. But any way, here I am talking about the deliciousness of an apple, it’s juicy tang, crisp bite, satisfying flavor and written that is meaningless. I recommend that you bite the apple. Find a way to do it.

What are the ways we are prevented from immersion in the heavenly states? These are frighteningly simple; fear, ego or karma. Instead of our natural state of Sat, Chit, Ananda – Being, Consciousness and Bliss we willingly even eagerly immerse ourselves in the ongoing dramas of duality. We see black and white, good and bad, I want this, I hate that, my friend, my enemy. We bite the drama of life and gnaw away without fulfillment. This is not ours to digest. Many great sages have said what goes on in the world is none of our business. Our business is how we respond to what is going on. This is where the mind gets involved, so again I defer that discussion to another time. Right now I want to focus on a delicious opportunity to bite the apple through chanting.

Many years ago I had a magical experience. I was chanting with a few thousand people in a huge and gorgeous outdoor temple. With my eyes closed I became acutely aware that I was in a certain different place. It was even more gorgeous than the physical site of the temple I was in. It was white marble, with a spectacular sky view from a very high place, whereas the physical place I was in was tucked near a stream amid trees. The inner place had a distinct feeling of being more real than real so much so that I was a bit confused when I opened my eyes. This inner place was intimately familiar. As we all chanted together I felt as though the sound was liquid gold, it welled up inside me and in everyone else. It spilled out over the marble floor pooled and poured over the sides of the temple to form a Niagara Falls of liquid gold blessings pouring from an impossible height onto the world. We were seated in a ball of compassionate light. This was a vivid experience that stays with me and confirms the reality of heaven.

This weekend on February 14th, Valentine’s Day we all have a beautiful opportunity to experience the mystery of chanting by participating in World Sound Healing Day. At noon EST take as much time as you want to sound “AHHHH” whereever you are. Do it by yourself or do it with friends and family but know that you are among thousands if not hundreds of thousands of others sounding with you. Set your mind on the image of peace and harmony, see a world healed of conflict and strife. We are in critical between times right now where we choose the world we will create. I choose heaven – will you choose with me?

To find out more about World Sound Healing Day check out
http://www.healingsounds.com/sounds/worlddayinfo.asp