Sunday, March 29, 2009

The Courage to Feel

The purification process is based on the activity of spiritual light in interaction with both the physical self and the mental-emotional self.

Because light reveals, to participate with awareness in this process, one must be willing to see and to know what is being revealed. This willingness can be easy when revelations are more gentle and the process more gradual. But when new situations create a more profound effect on the psyche, then the courage to feel can be both more important and more difficult to access.

Often, when life presents challenges, there is a desire to blame the external situation for our emotions and to feel justified in continuing to feel what we feel. This perspective is commonplace when we look at life through the lens of the physical rather than the spiritual. However, the understanding obtained by looking through the lens of the spiritual is that whatever is being brought into our life through an external situation is serving the purposes of our healing and growth. This is not to say that 'bad things cannot happen to good people,' but that even then, the product or result of such a circumstance can be used for the good.

The courage to feel is often challenged in instances where our usual ways of avoiding, denying, or rationalizing things prompt us to accept our 'cover story' for what we do and for how things are, rather than a deeper level of truth. For example, we may tell ourselves that the reason we are not sleeping at night is because of drinking coffee or not exercising enough during the day. These may be contributing factors, but the underlying reason may be found in the anxiety or agitation which is operating as a subtle energy in the body which wakes us up when we have become physically quieter.

Most people have 'cover stories' - things they are willing to tell themselves that create a sense of inevitability about feeling the way they do. This 'cover story,' while painful to admit, may be concealing an even more painful truth that the conscious self is not yet willing to recognize. And so the 'cover story' creates a self-presentation that offers a sense of greater comfort with ourselves than we would have if we looked at things more closely. It presents an understanding and conceptual framework without anything new coming into the picture that would disturb us.

The courage to feel applies to what is known and what is unknown. What is known are the feelings we have or have had that we recognize then try to push aside. What is unknown are the feelings that may arise once we open ourselves to the power of God's light and to seeing what what has formerly been concealed. The sequence of events initiated by such openness can bring to us an unknown set of circumstances which, while being an answer to our prayers, may not be the answer that we were hoping for.

In all of purification, the courage to feel is an essential ingredient. Blessed are those who possess such courage and who trust the process of awakening as it flows from moment to moment. This process carries the embodied soul from one level of truth to another, until all is laid bare and only love remains.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

The Doors of Perception

For those who have traveled long in the garments of limitation,
It is time to don the garments of the soul.
All of life waits for this choosing, standing ready
to support each one
who seeks the truth of their sacred origins.
Do not be afraid that you will fail if you step forward.
You cannot fail, because what is needed is already within you,
waiting to be remembered.

See: Opening the Doors of Perception
March, 2009


Al Gore on a Unified Earth Theory


Al Gore responding to the standing ovation at TED (March 1, 2008) for his new slide show.

“In order to solve the climate crisis, we need to solve the democracy crisis.”

More Gore quotes from the talk:

"I was reminded by Karen Armstrong's presentation that if religion is not really about belief but about behaviour, maybe we should say the same thing about optimism. Optimism is often represented as an intellectual posture -- Gandhi's "You must be the change you wish to see in the world". But when we change our behaviour in our daily lives, we sometimes leave out the democracy and citizen part. In order to solve the climate crisis, we have to solve the democracy crisis, and we have one. There is a bridge between the climate crisis and the crisis of extreme poverty in our world. We have to find a unified Earth theory. The struggles of climate change and extreme poverty and disease are connected to the problems of overconsumption, wastefulness, and economic transformation. We have to approach this as a unified challenge.

-----------------

Venus and the Earth are roughly the same size and have the same amount of carbon. On Earth, the carbon is trapped. On Venus, it's in the atmosphere -- and temperatures reach 855 degrees F.

Solution: put a price on carbon. We need a CO2 tax, revenue-neutral, to replace taxation on emplomyent, which was invented by Bismarck and some things have changed since then.

-------------

Sometimes I hear people respond to the disturbing facts of the climate crisis by saying "this is so terrible, what a burden". Let's reframe that: how many generations in all of human history have had the opportunity to rise to a challenge that is worthy of our best efforts, a challenge that can pull from us more that we knew we could do. We ought to approach this challenge with a sense of profound joy and gratitude that we are the generation that 1000 years from now, orchestras and poets and singers will celebrate by saying: they were the ones that found within themselves the ability to solve this crisis and lay the basis for a bright and optimistic human future."

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The New Earth



This is the new Bible -
       built on love,
       created by the heart,
       manifested beyond the ego,
       extending beyond time -
The reaching out to others and to God, the Source of life.
In this way does the Earth become new.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Purification - The Beginning

The place to begin the process of purification is always right where you are. Indeed, in a certain sense there is no real beginning, since much may have taken place already without the conscious self playing an active part. In this historical sense, all spiritual growth, maturation, and evolution contain elements which free the personal self and bring it incrementally closer to deeper levels of truth and love.

Nevertheless, the real beginining of a conscious process of purification is a different matter. It begins simply with the awakened intention to become more aware, more responsible for ones thoughts and actions, more pure in mind, body, and heart. Often, this is all encapsulated in a unified desire to be closer to God.

The simple intention to purify initiates the process when it is wedded to the understanding that this is not a process undertaken through one's own will or effort, but through one's own will joined with Divine will. This joining is key, for it allows for the gradual acceptance of both inner and outer events that the ego-self may formerly have repressed, rejected, or denied.

Prayer and alignment with the higher vibrations of light are instrumental in accelerating the purification process and in helping the beginning. Prayers for healing and for the aid of Divine beings have always been instrumental in assisting forward motion into deeper layers of inner truth. But when the incorporation of spiritual light as an energy into body, heart, and mind is added to these, then purification can be accelerated and new awarenesses can come to the fore, allowing new choices to be made.

Humility and Patience

Humility and patience are also needed in beginning a conscious process of purification, for it is easy to think that a problem or issue that reveals itself 'should have' been finished or put to rest long ago. Our ego-self would rather that it be that way. However, in our own efforts at healing, it often happens that the deepest roots of a particular issue may have remained untouched, even while the more surface levels were accessible to our consciousness. This is nobody's fault, for there is a Divine timing to the unfoldment of issues in need of healing, and some levels of that unfoldment can only take place after others have been fully exposed. Furthermore, some can only emerge after the body has become able to hold a greater amount of spiritual light.

Patience and humility are needed even when great spiritual strides have been made, for there may still be deeply rooted matters that prevent full incorporation of God's light and love that need to be faced with honesty and courage.

In the end, it is the desire to experience Divine reality that allows us to pursue the path of purification, confronting challenges and moving past obstacles toward a goal that our heart deems to be singularly important. This goal is the union of the human and the Divine within us, and although the conscious self may have much more modest aims, at bottom, all efforts at healing are efforts to end the separation of the human and the Divine, for all that is in need of healing stems from this separation.


Note: A simple way to begin the conscious process of purification is with the Practice of Alignment on a regular basis. This practice brings more light into body and consciousness and sets the process in motion in a more complete way.

Other forms of prayer and meditation are also helpful, as is being with others in a sacred manner with united intention. The synergy of such a group helps promote healing and movement forward in a way that often would take much longer if left to each person's own resources.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Northern Lights



What great wonders the eye can see,
Even more than these shall mankind be.


Friday, March 20, 2009

Journey of Purification



The journey of purification is a partnership between the human and the Divine.

The human will desires to cleanse itself of all that is not sanctified and light-filled - all that cannot join with love at the highest.

Divine will seeks to fulfill the promise made in the beginning - "I shall make man in my image and likeness."

It is this image and likeness that is the goal of purification and it is the destiny of all that is human to attain that goal. This is the nature of the sacred Covenant made with souls at the beginning of time and the purification process is a vehicle for the fuller expression of that Covenant.

Note: Michaelangelo's image of God (above) from the Sistine Chapel reflects the Divine-Personal. The same Covenant finds expression in the Divine-Universal that is the movement of Consciousness.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

How Consciousness Changes



Recent revelations in the United States concerning Bernard Madoff and AIG have brought to the attention of a nation certain behaviors and practices that testify to the motive of greed and to the accompanying willilngness to participate in deception.

In the wake of these revelations, a nation's consciousness is becoming alert to something it now deems unacceptable. This sense of public outrage is due both to the movement into greater light of what was formerly hidden, and also to a value-shift that is creating a new perspective concerning what may be tolerated.

Due to the economic upheaval that this country and much of the world is presently experiencing, and initiated by the growing force of light on the Earth, a value-shift is taking place now both in our picture of our relationship with others, and in our definition of what constitutes right relationship to money. Some of this movement may feel necessitated by external circumstance. Some may feel guided from within. In either case, the shift in consciousness is being brought about by forces of light that are affecting both individual consciousness as well as the policy and practices of governments.

Revelations of greed operating as motivating forces within the halls of power are not new. They are manifesting currently within our collective awareness at a time and in a way where the full meaning of corruption, dissembling, and self-aggrandizement is being held up against a growing standard of greater concern for others.

Today, the dual scandals concerning Bernard Madoff and AIG demonstrate, in microcosm, the effect of light separating from darkness. As it does this, it brings into awareness concealed motives so that these may be healed. The very same dynamic that is operating on a national level, exposing what is hidden, is also operating within individual awareness. This is a positive thing, though it may be accompanied by painful feelings that one thought were dead and buried.

The specifics of what will happen as a result of the separation of energies remains to be seen, for the present situation involving shock and scandal is but the tip of the iceberg. There is a whole system of power in place that feeds on self-interest and the willingness to deceive in service to one's own personal aims. These are the values of the past - of separated consciousness. They still exist in many places and in many people, even while they are being replaced by a greater longing for something different.

America as a nation is moving into a new sense of valuing. However, in order for this to happen, the economic system which is built on motives of competition and greed must be brought into the light and transformed. There is no doubt that this will happen as light strengthens on the Earth. We are seeing that it has already begun.

For those aware of what purification means who are witnessing these events, it is important to understand the unfolding scenario with both compassion and wisdom, knowing that something new is coming into the picture that may bring with it concurrent difficulty, but that is, at the same time, creating the foundation for a new ethic and a new structure that will uplift our society.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

The Power of Choice


 King David singing to God

Each human being is given the magnificent opportunity to choose what they create in life.

For better or worse, we are responsible for saying "yes" or "no" both to situations, people, and to the motives that we hold within ourselves that form the basis for our behavior.

This power of choice is our ultimate freedom. It involves us in becoming both more aware of, and more responsible for who we are. As this happens, the choices we make increasingly reflect an understanding of light and darkness and the way each brings us closer to, or separates us from our deeper selves and from God.

To know how to say "yes" and "no" - this is part of the great glory of being human. May all learn to manifest this glory which lives within. Amen.

Containment

There is a popular notion that giving voice to ones feelings because this is 'how it is' is essentially helpful, and that self-assertion in this way relates to self-respect. Catharsis, in this view, is of value in itself, irrespective of what feelings are being expressed and with what energy of emotion.

Contrast this to the principle of Containment which holds that we are each responsible for the energies we release into the world, and when we release negative energies whether in a conversation or when we are by ourselves, we contribute to the negative sum energies in the world and recycle these same energies back into ourselves.

The choice for healing and for creating more light within our bodies and within ourselves is promoted by the principle of Containment. Containment does not mean not feeling or knowing about our inner state. It is a principle which links the expression of emotion to a higher purpose and places above all else the transmutation of negative emotional states into the light of God.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Why Things Must Change

The life expectancy in Zambia is anywhere between 37 and 40.5 years. In Zimbabwe it is 40.9. In Malawi it is 46.3.

When we ask ourselves why we in the developed world are going through this major economic crisis, it is good to remember - because we live in a world where some live to be 80 and 85 years easily, and where others typically die around 40.

We are going through this crisis so that the values that uphold a world that can create this disparity can change in an ultimate, profound, and permanent way.

May God bless this transition into becoming our brothers' keeper. Amen.


NPR - "All Things Considered," Personal Profile on Zambia - March 16, 2009

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Light and Darkness as Cosmic Forces

On the highest planes of existence there is only One indivisible Unity. All things are contained within it.

This Unity, called by whatever name one chooses, is the same Unity. It contains light and darkness as well as all other pairs of opposites within itself, not yet separated, all merged in the oneness.

As one leaves this highest plane, duality comes into existence, pairs of opposites begin to differentiate, and light and darkness are increasingly separate.

Light is the creative power of God which brings all things into being. It contains within itself both love, intentionality, and intelligence. It is the God-force of Creation.

'Darkness' does not relate to the color of one's skin or to the sinfulness of one's most basic nature. It is both an energy and a motivating force that involves willing separation from the Divine. Darkness and light define each other in the cosmos as a pair of opposites. Each is a force, able to act upon human experience.

Unlike light which creates ever-expanding spirals of unity and love, darkness moves energy in the opposite direction, perpetuating isolation, conflict, and the absence of love.

The world as we know it has existed as an interplay between these forces and will continue to do so until such time as it can join with the energy of the higher planes. At that time the original Unity will prevail, and all shall return to the Oneness.

Now is the beginning of that time.

Notes on Creation



Light and darkness,
hope and despair,
fullness and emptiness -
pairs of opposites created to further the
purposes of Creation.

Moving upon the face of the deep,
the sacred Word brings into being
the future of all.

Holy Covenant, anchored in time,
kept as a promise -
that the One shall be many,
and the many One.


Photo: NGC2080 - Star Forming Region

From Star Poems - Light Omega

Friday, March 13, 2009

Worlds Apart

Worlds apart, two youths went on a killing rampage this week, one in Germany, one in Tennessee. They did not know each other, had never met. And yet the darker energies overcame their moral center, capitalizing on their lack of control, their self-hatred.

Both had given up hope. The hope of each lay in making a final stand to reclaim the power of selfhood. Reclaim it in a false way, reclaim it in a deadly way, but reclaim it.

Such is the way of darkness - that it feeds on the misguided emotions of those who are vulnerable, causing decisions to be made and actions to be taken that the innate moral center would never allow.

Prayers for those who are overcome, that they may find the self that is lost and the love that makes possible forgiveness.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Fundamentals of Purification


There is a triad of Creation that underlays all that has been, is, and shall be. Its premise is the existence of a single Consciousness or Being that contains Will, Wisdom, and Love. This triad brings all things into being.

The unified Consciousness that is the One contains all within Itself, loves all, and has established Creation in order to bring all that is into the self-aware oneness of Consciousness itself. As part of this evolution, spirit and matter on Earth are to be joined in the unity and love that exists throughout the spiritual universe.

In order for this to happen, the state of separation from knowing the Divine reality behind and within all things must shift. This understanding has been largely missing during Earth's history, and therefore the energy which fuels awareness must change in order to bring to humanity a new experience of truth. It must become higher and more like that of the spiritual realms so that greater light, love, and unity can become possible on this planet.

Such an energy shift is what is happening now. Light from the higher realms that has never before penetrated the physical plane is now merging with matter itself and affecting the consciousness of all. At the same time, it is exposing and rooting out all that is unlike itself. It is for this reason that many things that have been unseen are being seen, both individually and systemically, and many things that have been suppressed are now being felt. It is in this way that the new energy is creating a separation of light and darknesss - the prelude to further unification of all in greater love.

This upheaval is taking place on all levels. It will bring about greater love of each toward the other and the sacred awareness of the Divine origin and essence of all things.


Return



The proecess of purification is fueled by the energy of light
and fostered by the human heart's desire to return home.


Photo by Claude Renault

Welcome

Beloved Ones,

The world is changing and many supports that have been relied on to stabilize life are no longer stable or predictably there. There is great economic uncertainty and great uncertainty about how life will be lived if the economic picture becomes further destabilized. In addition, turbulence is being experienced within the relationship life of many and also within the inner landscape of thought and emotion.

In the midst of this uncertainty, there is a need to understand the spiritual forces at work that are the underpinnings of global and individual change, for these forces, while producing fear and confusion for many, are also producing awakening and new hope for the world, and will ultimately create an altered situation which will operate to the good of all.

The forces at work are described by the concept of spiritual purification. 'Spiritual purification' is a process initiated by the higher energies of light that are impacting the physical plane at this time, integrating with both physical matter and the consciousness of all to change the world as we know it. These changes are in keeping with the Divine plan for the Earth and the raising of consciousness to a new level of unity and love. Such an evolutionary acceleration is affecting the entire planet now, and has been written about in many sacred texts of the world. Intuitively, it is also known to the souls of many who are here.

The challenge of this time is to remain free of the negative influences that are present and to understand the good that will come out of the overturning of old systems and structures. Also, to align with the positive forces for healing and accelerated growth that are now more present than ever before. Remaining out of fear in the midst of uncertainty and even in the midst of loss is key, for trust and the stabilization of one's thoughts and emotions in light will open the inner and outer pathways for each one through all measures of difficulty.

Recognition of how to deal with emotions and how to anchor oneself in the incoming energy of light are critical in being able to navigate through this time. These capacities will play a major part in determining how life will be met as conditions change even further, and with what degree of comfort and peace one can absorb such change.

The present journal/blog is intended to be a spiritual companion to changing times. Its purpose is to bring forth the essential concepts of the purification process so that those who are experiencing new situations in life and new currents of energy emerging within themselves may have the comfort of a foundation upon which to stand.

Please use the interactive 'Comments' feature of this blog to share your responses to the postings and also to ask questions that can be addressed in a future segment.

Blessings and great love to each one who has chosen to be here at this time of great awakening and great opportunity. May all beings experience the fruits of this sacred time and be blessed. Julie Redstone