Our assumptions about the world, life and living determine our experience and quality of life.
Assumptions have a grain of Truth, sometimes a bit more, but they are never the whole Truth. They are a partial picture of Reality.
Your assumptions are complete and true enough for you. But they act as a filter for the whole of Reality - allowing in what supports them, and screening out what doesn't.
Assumptions limit. They are the boundaries of our comfort zones.
To know our assumptions and choose to go beyond them, is to grow, have more options, achieve ever greater success, become more complete and real. It is to stop blaming, become responsible and start making things better.
We expand vast amounts of energy - emotional and physical, holding on to our assumptions, our tiny bits of Reality, while denying and fighting the rest of a vast Reality that mayor may not support them.
This is exhausting and stressful. It feels like we're running as fast as we can and getting nowhere. We feel like victims. We're angry, aggressive and afraid.
We are mistaking assumptions about Reality, for Reality; mistaking ourselves for our assumptions, identifying too closely with our beliefs. You are not your assumptions, beliefs and thoughts.
You are more, much more. Assumptions, beliefs and thoughts are not real. We make them real by our allegiance to them.
Like styles in clothing, art and music, assumptions, beliefs and thoughts come and go. But you, and I remain. "There is much more in heaven and earth than in your philosophy," Shakespeare said.
Realize more of your potential, grow, complete yourself, know your assumptions and choose to go beyond them.
Remember, habit speaks first, the pull of the comfort zone is intense. That's why mindfulness is so useful.
When you catch yourself struggling, denying, running fast and getting nowhere, victimized, angry and vindictive, perhaps your assumptions are using you, instead of you using them.
Pause, take a deep breath, reflect a moment.
Ask:
"What do I really, really want, here and now?
What's the highest and best for all concerned?
Do I want to be right or happy?
How can I, right now, with passion, joy and gladness, make a contribution that will bring the highest and best for everyone and everything concerned?
Is it possible I don't know everything?
Is it possible I'm holding to my assumptions inappropriately, being arrogant, stubborn, fearful and self centered?"
Then, without guilt or condemnation, start fresh, right where you are, right now; and with passion, joy and gladness, do what you can, from your heart and uniqueness, to make a contribution to a world that works for everyone and everything.
Assumptions/Attitudes and POVs Contributing to a World that Works for Everyone and Everything
The world is a neutral place
Everything matters
It's both my way and your way Cooperation and participation
Both spirit & science
Win/Win
Optimistic
Both short and long term
Joy, vision, passion
Open, visible, revealed
Free and spontaneous
Appreciative Model
Present & future
Effectiveness
Organic Metaphor
Assumptions/Attitudes and POVs That Do Not Contribute to a World that Works for Everyone and Everything
The world is a dangerous place
The bottom line is all that matters
It's either my way or the highway Command & control is best
The material world is primary
Win/Lose
Pessimistic
Short term results
Pain, lack, limitation, fear
Closed, hidden, secretive
Controlled, routine
Medical Model
Future oriented
Efficiency
Machine Metaphor
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
The Energy Continuum, 13, More Good & Evil
Here’s another way of thinking about good and evil. When yellowtail hawk chicks reach a certain age, the mom begins lining the nest with thorns and sharp sticks as a way of making the nest uncomfortable, so the chicks will spread their wings and fly. Could it be that what we call ‘evil’ serves a similar function as the thorns and sharp sticks in our lives? We get very comfortable in our habitual rut [the only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth and width] on the continuum, even learning to tolerate the anger, fear and pain we experience.
Evil’s thorns and sharp sticks jolt us awake, make us take stock, and, because only the spiritual realm is a true antidote for evil, can push us to become more aware of our spiritual option. If we always do what we always did, we’ll always get what we always got. By shifting to the spiritual realm on the continuum where there is no ‘good’ or ‘evil’, only life and love [God makes the rain fall on the just and the unjust alike] we are doing what we don’t always do, and can be inspired to envision something we hadn’t before, and thus do something we hadn’t done before.
Viewed this way, ‘evil’ can be seen as having a neutral, non-evil role to play, perhaps even a benign role to play. By allowing for this neutrality, this potentially benign place in the scheme of things, not reacting negatively, and allowing that life is a mystery beyond our tiny intelligence to fully comprehend, we are able to appreciate life’s grace, take advantage of it and live more fully and benignly, taking advantage of the entire continuum. When we become hung up on the absolute ‘evil’ of Nazi Germany and Cancer and child abuse, we need to recognize the thorns in our nest, and take them as our cue to shift along the continuum to our spiritual reality and from their be guided to how to feel and what to do, now.
Evil’s thorns and sharp sticks jolt us awake, make us take stock, and, because only the spiritual realm is a true antidote for evil, can push us to become more aware of our spiritual option. If we always do what we always did, we’ll always get what we always got. By shifting to the spiritual realm on the continuum where there is no ‘good’ or ‘evil’, only life and love [God makes the rain fall on the just and the unjust alike] we are doing what we don’t always do, and can be inspired to envision something we hadn’t before, and thus do something we hadn’t done before.
Viewed this way, ‘evil’ can be seen as having a neutral, non-evil role to play, perhaps even a benign role to play. By allowing for this neutrality, this potentially benign place in the scheme of things, not reacting negatively, and allowing that life is a mystery beyond our tiny intelligence to fully comprehend, we are able to appreciate life’s grace, take advantage of it and live more fully and benignly, taking advantage of the entire continuum. When we become hung up on the absolute ‘evil’ of Nazi Germany and Cancer and child abuse, we need to recognize the thorns in our nest, and take them as our cue to shift along the continuum to our spiritual reality and from their be guided to how to feel and what to do, now.
Monday, June 27, 2011
The Energy Continuum, 12, Hooked on 'Good' & 'Evil'
Even tho, I know I want to identify with the energy Itself, and even tho I know the whole continuum is available to me, and even tho I know the energy is neutral and free of judgments about ‘good’ and ‘bad’, I still get hung up at the right end of the continuum and can’t seem to stop making judgments about good and bad. What I want to be able to do is not judge my judgments; to as Byron Katie says, “love what is,” whatever it is and loose the world from all that I think it is. The idea is not to change the world, but to change how I think about the world.
Trying to change the world is like going up to the movie screen to fix the out of focus picture. Because I give the world all the meaning that it has for me, I can change what the world means to me by changing what I think about it. I am responsible for my interpretations and reactions, not the world. No one and no thing can make me think, feel or do anything.
Of course that’s great in theory, but in practice, it’s difficult to remember. I still get hooked on ‘good’ and ‘evil’. ‘Bad’ things like: murder, child prostitution, spouse abuse, environmental degradation, political bull shit, the increasing concentration of wealth and economic power, all hook me and ‘make’ me want to do something. I still want to do ‘good’ and be on the side of the angels and against the evil-doers.
Its difficult for me to remember that those names are my judgments, my meanings and one person’s ‘murder’ is another’s justice; and what I call ‘child prostitution’ may make the difference between starvation and survival for others. It’s OK for me to want to make a contribution to a world that works for everyone and everything, it’s fine; it’s even better to do the inner work first, to loose the world from all that I thought it was and is, and seek not to change the world, but to change my mind about the world.
Trying to change the world is like going up to the movie screen to fix the out of focus picture. Because I give the world all the meaning that it has for me, I can change what the world means to me by changing what I think about it. I am responsible for my interpretations and reactions, not the world. No one and no thing can make me think, feel or do anything.
Of course that’s great in theory, but in practice, it’s difficult to remember. I still get hooked on ‘good’ and ‘evil’. ‘Bad’ things like: murder, child prostitution, spouse abuse, environmental degradation, political bull shit, the increasing concentration of wealth and economic power, all hook me and ‘make’ me want to do something. I still want to do ‘good’ and be on the side of the angels and against the evil-doers.
Its difficult for me to remember that those names are my judgments, my meanings and one person’s ‘murder’ is another’s justice; and what I call ‘child prostitution’ may make the difference between starvation and survival for others. It’s OK for me to want to make a contribution to a world that works for everyone and everything, it’s fine; it’s even better to do the inner work first, to loose the world from all that I thought it was and is, and seek not to change the world, but to change my mind about the world.
Friday, June 24, 2011
The Energy Continuum, 11
“I loose the world from all I thought it was,” can also be said from the mental ‘realm’; meaning, “I get it, I’m stuck, I’ve gone as far as I can go on my own, I realize there has to be an alternative, some other, better, way of thinking about this.” Done this way, loosing the world is an invitation to spirit, a letting go of ego and an expression of a willingness to shift to spirit. Like Cagney, dying in “Public Enemy,” saying, “I ain’t so tough…” us saying I loose the world is admitting that ego is inadequate and not enough for a full and healthy life.
“I loose the world from all I thought it was,” can also be said from the emotional ‘realm’; meaning, “this hurts too, much; I’m too, sad; I feel awful, frustrated, angry, annoyed, mean, distrustful, out of sync, there has to be an alternative, some other, better, way to feel about this.” And it can also be said from the physical ‘realm’ meaning much the same thing.
Saying, “I loose the world from all I thought it was,” from wherever we are on the continuum, means we’re ready for change, want to experience ourselves and the world differently, can’t achieve what we want or make a contribution to a world that works for everyone solo as a lone human being without a spiritual connection. It’s a realization that we’re spiritual first, that spirituality is an essential part of us and all that is and that we need the connection to all that is, that sense of peace, compassion and belonging to function effectively.
Each of the ‘realms’ is vast, much bigger than the diagram suggests and like a black hole can absorb all our energy. We can lose ourselves completely, become stuck, and fully engaged in any one of them, and become out of balance. Also, each realm has ‘positives’ and ‘negatives’ within it. The idea is to realize that we are not any single realm, but rather the whole continuum; to understand that tho each realm has positives and negatives, pushing us away or pulling us in, each realm, and indeed the entire continuum, is neutral, neither positive nor negative.
We want to identify with the energy Itself, the pure spiritual energy, and from this identity allow ourselves to be guided by our intuition, inspiration and insights, our connection with the spiritual energy to flow along the continuum and experience Its fullness, and make a contribution to a world that works for everyone and everything.
“I loose the world from all I thought it was,” can also be said from the emotional ‘realm’; meaning, “this hurts too, much; I’m too, sad; I feel awful, frustrated, angry, annoyed, mean, distrustful, out of sync, there has to be an alternative, some other, better, way to feel about this.” And it can also be said from the physical ‘realm’ meaning much the same thing.
Saying, “I loose the world from all I thought it was,” from wherever we are on the continuum, means we’re ready for change, want to experience ourselves and the world differently, can’t achieve what we want or make a contribution to a world that works for everyone solo as a lone human being without a spiritual connection. It’s a realization that we’re spiritual first, that spirituality is an essential part of us and all that is and that we need the connection to all that is, that sense of peace, compassion and belonging to function effectively.
Each of the ‘realms’ is vast, much bigger than the diagram suggests and like a black hole can absorb all our energy. We can lose ourselves completely, become stuck, and fully engaged in any one of them, and become out of balance. Also, each realm has ‘positives’ and ‘negatives’ within it. The idea is to realize that we are not any single realm, but rather the whole continuum; to understand that tho each realm has positives and negatives, pushing us away or pulling us in, each realm, and indeed the entire continuum, is neutral, neither positive nor negative.
We want to identify with the energy Itself, the pure spiritual energy, and from this identity allow ourselves to be guided by our intuition, inspiration and insights, our connection with the spiritual energy to flow along the continuum and experience Its fullness, and make a contribution to a world that works for everyone and everything.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
The Energy Continuum, 10, Mental Equivalents
I loose the world from all I thought it was. This is something we’d say about the mental ‘realm’ of the Energy Continuum, from within the spiritual ‘realm.’ I loose the world from all I thought it was. From the spiritual place, we can see that our thoughts are creative; that our thoughts mold our feelings and actions; that the pure, invisible, unformed energy of spirit flows first through our minds, then into our feelings and finally into manifestation, into ‘reality.’
Functioning like jello molds, to give shape to our feelings and actions, our thoughts, what Ernest Holmes called, ‘mental equivalents,’ shape our feelings and actions. Different thoughts, different mental equivalents, would produce different feelings and actions. Saying, ‘I loose the world from all I thought it was’, says I’m going to release my mental equivalents, my thought patterns and habits, so that something new, or changed, or different; something I can’t even imagine or conceive of, may flow forth from spirit.
This opportunity, this freedom from the past, this creative opening can only originate in and with spirit. From the place of pure, unformed energy, where there are no mental equivalents, where anything and everything is possible, we can see and understand how our mental equivalents give form to and shape to the other wise formless energy. Of itself the energy is neutral – not good or bad - without form or shape, and wanting none. It is pure beingness. It simply is. It has nothing to prove, nothing to do, no place to go and no people to see. The energy in the spiritual realm simply is. We, with our egos and sense of separation from pure beingness, are the ones who give it shape and meaning, have something to prove, something to do, places to go and people to see. As egos, we do, we need, we want; the energy knows nothing of all that. It simply is.
In the spiritual realm, one with the energy, un-separated from it, without egos, we are as spirit is, pure energy, pure beingness, without needs or desires. In the spiritual realm we can say, “I loose the world from all I thought it was,” and mean it, resting in the cosmic peace of our ego-less, need-less, beingness. Then, when we return to our egos, as it seems we must, we return rejuvenated and more creative, more in-tune with our reality as spiritual beings having an earthly experience; better able to make a contribution to a world that works for everyone and everything.
Functioning like jello molds, to give shape to our feelings and actions, our thoughts, what Ernest Holmes called, ‘mental equivalents,’ shape our feelings and actions. Different thoughts, different mental equivalents, would produce different feelings and actions. Saying, ‘I loose the world from all I thought it was’, says I’m going to release my mental equivalents, my thought patterns and habits, so that something new, or changed, or different; something I can’t even imagine or conceive of, may flow forth from spirit.
This opportunity, this freedom from the past, this creative opening can only originate in and with spirit. From the place of pure, unformed energy, where there are no mental equivalents, where anything and everything is possible, we can see and understand how our mental equivalents give form to and shape to the other wise formless energy. Of itself the energy is neutral – not good or bad - without form or shape, and wanting none. It is pure beingness. It simply is. It has nothing to prove, nothing to do, no place to go and no people to see. The energy in the spiritual realm simply is. We, with our egos and sense of separation from pure beingness, are the ones who give it shape and meaning, have something to prove, something to do, places to go and people to see. As egos, we do, we need, we want; the energy knows nothing of all that. It simply is.
In the spiritual realm, one with the energy, un-separated from it, without egos, we are as spirit is, pure energy, pure beingness, without needs or desires. In the spiritual realm we can say, “I loose the world from all I thought it was,” and mean it, resting in the cosmic peace of our ego-less, need-less, beingness. Then, when we return to our egos, as it seems we must, we return rejuvenated and more creative, more in-tune with our reality as spiritual beings having an earthly experience; better able to make a contribution to a world that works for everyone and everything.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
The Energy Continuum, 8
Treatment – Five Steps for Using the Energy Continuum
Science of Mind one of my main sources of spiritual connection, has a way of using the energy continuum and connecting with spirit, called Spiritual Mind Treatment or affirmative prayer. It is ‘affirmative’ prayer, because rather than beseeching and begging God, and perceiving God as a separate entity in some other place, SOM practitioners also called ‘metaphysicians’, understand that they are one with God, that It is right where they are and are able to freely access Its goodness and power now, not when they’re dead or have ‘earned’ the right. They do this by ‘treating’ – preparing and opening their minds to become aware of their oneness and the truth of their reality as spirit.
Spiritual Mind Treatment, designed to move us to the spiritual end of the continuum and make us congruent, has five steps: Recognition, Unification, Realization, Thanksgiving and Release.
In Recognition we speak about the infinite, absolute, all-providing, creative source that is everywhere and everything, thinking and saying things like: God/spirit is all there is; spirit is everything; spirit is the underlying Reality of everything I see; God is in, under, over, around and though all; God/spirit is indivisible, omnipotent and whole; God is love, intelligence and beauty; spirit is eternal and changeless; One Spirit, One Mind.
In Unification we speak about our own individualized and perfect expression of the infinite, thinking and saying things like: God/spirit in me, as me, is me. God and I are one; therefore, I AM good, deserving and complete. I am one with the rhythm of life. Wherever I am, God is. God's presence surrounds me. The life within me is God. I am a manifestation of God. There is one mind; that mind is God's, and that mind is my mind now. I am one with Infinite Spirit which flows through me now in love.
In Realization we speak of the specific good we are claiming, knowing that we are worthy of it, and now receptive to it thinking and saying things like: I choose [whatever is wanted]; I am; I am ready to receive; I experience; I co-create; I actualize; I hold as true; I claim; I am ready; I assert; I know; I accept; I AM; I embody; I declare; I realize; I believe; I receive; I manifest; I trust; I welcome; I deeply and fully accept; I acknowledge; I am living; I see clearly now; fully; right now; totally; completely; viscerally; with deep conviction; utterly; deeply; entirely; clearly; profoundly; strongly; right here
In Thanksgiving We express our gratitude for the manifestation now—even before we see evidence of it, acting as if, knowing deeply and truly how grateful we are to be the expression of divine good, thinking and saying things like: I am grateful; I appreciate; I give thanks; I feel overwhelming thankfulness; the joy of gratefulness is mine now; I am thankful for this gift; I feel joy and love in my heart; this manifestation of God/spirit's love has filled me with awe; I celebrate; I give thanks for God's presence in me; I feel truly blessed; with grace I thank and accept; joyful loving thanks; open; loving heart; gracious gratitude; happiness; express joy for my answered prayers; attitude of gratitude; I am grateful for all this and so very much more; I'm overjoyed; I give my loving thanks;
In Release we clearly and completely release our word to the action of the creative source, knowing that it is done to us as we believe and as we have spoken believing, it is now done in universal consciousness, thinking and saying things like: It is done It is perfect; It is complete; I release this treatment to the Creative Law, with the assurance that all the details are taken care of on the level of manifestation; I let go and let God; I release it and let go; I let go, knowing all is in Divine Order. I acknowledge that God/spirit's will is now being manifested. I surrender to God and trust in the perfection of the Universe. I accept this treatment as complete, and so it is. I let it be. I leave it alone with God. I release this Divine inner knowing with God. I know that this is so. I release this truth as God's truth. I surrender all attachment and release myself to God's will. I place into Creative Law. And so it is!
Spiritual Mind Treatment is a great way to use the Energy Continuum to connect with your reality as spirit and have that reality express in your life. You can do it anywhere, anytime. It’s a practice and a way to build spiritual muscle. The more you use it, the stronger you’ll get and the better able you’ll be to make your unique contribution to a world that works for everyone and everything.
Science of Mind one of my main sources of spiritual connection, has a way of using the energy continuum and connecting with spirit, called Spiritual Mind Treatment or affirmative prayer. It is ‘affirmative’ prayer, because rather than beseeching and begging God, and perceiving God as a separate entity in some other place, SOM practitioners also called ‘metaphysicians’, understand that they are one with God, that It is right where they are and are able to freely access Its goodness and power now, not when they’re dead or have ‘earned’ the right. They do this by ‘treating’ – preparing and opening their minds to become aware of their oneness and the truth of their reality as spirit.
Spiritual Mind Treatment, designed to move us to the spiritual end of the continuum and make us congruent, has five steps: Recognition, Unification, Realization, Thanksgiving and Release.
In Recognition we speak about the infinite, absolute, all-providing, creative source that is everywhere and everything, thinking and saying things like: God/spirit is all there is; spirit is everything; spirit is the underlying Reality of everything I see; God is in, under, over, around and though all; God/spirit is indivisible, omnipotent and whole; God is love, intelligence and beauty; spirit is eternal and changeless; One Spirit, One Mind.
In Unification we speak about our own individualized and perfect expression of the infinite, thinking and saying things like: God/spirit in me, as me, is me. God and I are one; therefore, I AM good, deserving and complete. I am one with the rhythm of life. Wherever I am, God is. God's presence surrounds me. The life within me is God. I am a manifestation of God. There is one mind; that mind is God's, and that mind is my mind now. I am one with Infinite Spirit which flows through me now in love.
In Realization we speak of the specific good we are claiming, knowing that we are worthy of it, and now receptive to it thinking and saying things like: I choose [whatever is wanted]; I am; I am ready to receive; I experience; I co-create; I actualize; I hold as true; I claim; I am ready; I assert; I know; I accept; I AM; I embody; I declare; I realize; I believe; I receive; I manifest; I trust; I welcome; I deeply and fully accept; I acknowledge; I am living; I see clearly now; fully; right now; totally; completely; viscerally; with deep conviction; utterly; deeply; entirely; clearly; profoundly; strongly; right here
In Thanksgiving We express our gratitude for the manifestation now—even before we see evidence of it, acting as if, knowing deeply and truly how grateful we are to be the expression of divine good, thinking and saying things like: I am grateful; I appreciate; I give thanks; I feel overwhelming thankfulness; the joy of gratefulness is mine now; I am thankful for this gift; I feel joy and love in my heart; this manifestation of God/spirit's love has filled me with awe; I celebrate; I give thanks for God's presence in me; I feel truly blessed; with grace I thank and accept; joyful loving thanks; open; loving heart; gracious gratitude; happiness; express joy for my answered prayers; attitude of gratitude; I am grateful for all this and so very much more; I'm overjoyed; I give my loving thanks;
In Release we clearly and completely release our word to the action of the creative source, knowing that it is done to us as we believe and as we have spoken believing, it is now done in universal consciousness, thinking and saying things like: It is done It is perfect; It is complete; I release this treatment to the Creative Law, with the assurance that all the details are taken care of on the level of manifestation; I let go and let God; I release it and let go; I let go, knowing all is in Divine Order. I acknowledge that God/spirit's will is now being manifested. I surrender to God and trust in the perfection of the Universe. I accept this treatment as complete, and so it is. I let it be. I leave it alone with God. I release this Divine inner knowing with God. I know that this is so. I release this truth as God's truth. I surrender all attachment and release myself to God's will. I place into Creative Law. And so it is!
Spiritual Mind Treatment is a great way to use the Energy Continuum to connect with your reality as spirit and have that reality express in your life. You can do it anywhere, anytime. It’s a practice and a way to build spiritual muscle. The more you use it, the stronger you’ll get and the better able you’ll be to make your unique contribution to a world that works for everyone and everything.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
The Energy Continuum, 7
Let the Continuum Work for You
Though the Continuum’s best, it’s not the most popular. Just as people thought the world was flat in 1492, so now most people think professional relationships and life in general, are best understood as a Pyramid or Dichotomy -- the conframes of the old professionalism -- the bloated nothingness that blocks the divine circuits.
You have to consciously choose the Continuum. It will not operate automatically as our bloated nothingness, the Dichotomy and Pyramid, do. Here are a few examples that show both how to use the Continuum, and it’s superiority.
Put water on a continuum of hot and cold. Ice at one end, steam at the other, liquid in the center. You can differentiate between them and simultaneously understand that they’re different forms of the same thing, water. The Blob couldn’t do that.
With the Blob, you’d perceive only water and wouldn’t be able to make the very useful distinctions between its solid form, ice, and its gaseous form, steam. The Dichotomy would reduce the three -- ice, liquid and steam -- to two. And the Pyramid would arrange them into a hierarchy with one at the top.
Here’s another. Put the skin color of human beings on a continuum with one end being white, the other, black. Each color is visible but we can clearly see the larger truth, all are part of the same thing -- humanity. The Blob wouldn’t detect differences at all. The Dichotomy would focus only on differences, missing the connections. While the Pyramid would include them all, but suggest some differences, those at the top, are better than others.
Do emotions. With the Blob we’d have nothing but emotions. The Dichotomy makes emotions either good or bad. While the Pyramid says some emotions are better than others, perhaps love at the top and hate at the bottom.
Except during a war, when it would be reversed. The Continuum shows all emotions have a place.
The Continuum connects you, your client, and learners instead of separating them. By adding warmth, creativity and enthusiasm to expertise and technique it creates a new professionalism, one that is more effective and life-affirming than the tired, over-worked old professionalism we’re used to.
Become a new professional. Use the three steps. First, realize you have a bloated nothingness and it operates through your conceptual frameworks. Second, be mindful of which of the four conframes you’re using. Third, shift to the Continuum. Put your thoughts, feelings and experiences on it and let the Continuum’s level flow become the pattern for your life.
SELF TEST
What conframe are you using, right now?
To know, be aware of the shape your thoughts, feelings and experiences seem to have; the patterns in your life, the things that keep happening month-to-month, week after week. Since each conframe has its own shape, the patterns in your experience tell you which conframes you usually use.
How do you know when you’re using the Continuum?
Life flows. Decision making is straight forward. Fear, doubt and worry are minimal. You feel lighter and more bouyant. Time is not pressing in on you. You laugh more often; are more attractive and enjoy yourself, what you’re doing and who you’re with.
Though the Continuum’s best, it’s not the most popular. Just as people thought the world was flat in 1492, so now most people think professional relationships and life in general, are best understood as a Pyramid or Dichotomy -- the conframes of the old professionalism -- the bloated nothingness that blocks the divine circuits.
You have to consciously choose the Continuum. It will not operate automatically as our bloated nothingness, the Dichotomy and Pyramid, do. Here are a few examples that show both how to use the Continuum, and it’s superiority.
Put water on a continuum of hot and cold. Ice at one end, steam at the other, liquid in the center. You can differentiate between them and simultaneously understand that they’re different forms of the same thing, water. The Blob couldn’t do that.
With the Blob, you’d perceive only water and wouldn’t be able to make the very useful distinctions between its solid form, ice, and its gaseous form, steam. The Dichotomy would reduce the three -- ice, liquid and steam -- to two. And the Pyramid would arrange them into a hierarchy with one at the top.
Here’s another. Put the skin color of human beings on a continuum with one end being white, the other, black. Each color is visible but we can clearly see the larger truth, all are part of the same thing -- humanity. The Blob wouldn’t detect differences at all. The Dichotomy would focus only on differences, missing the connections. While the Pyramid would include them all, but suggest some differences, those at the top, are better than others.
Do emotions. With the Blob we’d have nothing but emotions. The Dichotomy makes emotions either good or bad. While the Pyramid says some emotions are better than others, perhaps love at the top and hate at the bottom.
Except during a war, when it would be reversed. The Continuum shows all emotions have a place.
The Continuum connects you, your client, and learners instead of separating them. By adding warmth, creativity and enthusiasm to expertise and technique it creates a new professionalism, one that is more effective and life-affirming than the tired, over-worked old professionalism we’re used to.
Become a new professional. Use the three steps. First, realize you have a bloated nothingness and it operates through your conceptual frameworks. Second, be mindful of which of the four conframes you’re using. Third, shift to the Continuum. Put your thoughts, feelings and experiences on it and let the Continuum’s level flow become the pattern for your life.
SELF TEST
What conframe are you using, right now?
To know, be aware of the shape your thoughts, feelings and experiences seem to have; the patterns in your life, the things that keep happening month-to-month, week after week. Since each conframe has its own shape, the patterns in your experience tell you which conframes you usually use.
How do you know when you’re using the Continuum?
Life flows. Decision making is straight forward. Fear, doubt and worry are minimal. You feel lighter and more bouyant. Time is not pressing in on you. You laugh more often; are more attractive and enjoy yourself, what you’re doing and who you’re with.
Monday, June 20, 2011
The Energy Continuum, 6
The energy continuum is one of four conframes – conceptual frameworks, ways of organizing and making sense of our thoughts, feelings and experiences, that we use every day. To help understand how these conframes work to organize and control our experiences of life, I’ve given each a unique shape to represent the quality of the thoughts, feelings and experiences it produces.
The first one, the Blob, looks like an amoeba. The second, the Dichotomy, looks like two circles side by side, not touching with space between them. The third, the Pyramid, looks like a pyramid and the fourth, the Continuum, looks like a straight line.
When using the Blob, you’ll have blah experiences and be bored. Everything will seem the same, without meaning or significance. Nothing will matter very much and no thing will be all that different from any other thing. Key word: one dimensional.
With the Dichotomy, things are experienced as two dimensional. As in: “you’re either for me or against me,” and, “things are either good or bad.” Key word: either/or. With the Dichotomy there’s no middle ground.
Key words for the Pyramid are hierarchy and scarcity. Judgments and rankings are instantaneous and automatic. Best is at the top, worst at the bottom. The moment we experience something, we judge it.
The Continuum connects. Its keyword is both/and. By virtue of its shape alone, the Continuum communicates a sense of wholeness and completeness; without barriers, levels or other forms of separation. The striving and proving of the Dichotomy and Pyramid are replaced by flow and intuition. It is the shape of the new professionalism, a relationship with customers and others emphasizing trust and cooperation instead of the strife and struggle represented by the Dichotomy and Pyramid.
Shifts between the four conframes are usually unconscious. But, as you become more mindful (Step 1) and sensitive to the quality of your thoughts, feelings and actions, you’ll know which conframe you’re using (Step 2) and which you’d like to shift to (Step 3).
Only one conframe shape represents the new professionalism and connects scientific expertise with inner wisdom and spiritual power to provide the skill, enthusiasm, warmth and creativity we want in our lives. Before going on, consider the four shapes and see if you can identify which that is. The continuum. Which conframe are you using right now?
Next time you reach the limits of your expertise or feel you’re losing it with yourself or others, shift to the Continuum. And remember, shifting begins in the easiest and hardest places -- your own heart and mind.
The first one, the Blob, looks like an amoeba. The second, the Dichotomy, looks like two circles side by side, not touching with space between them. The third, the Pyramid, looks like a pyramid and the fourth, the Continuum, looks like a straight line.
When using the Blob, you’ll have blah experiences and be bored. Everything will seem the same, without meaning or significance. Nothing will matter very much and no thing will be all that different from any other thing. Key word: one dimensional.
With the Dichotomy, things are experienced as two dimensional. As in: “you’re either for me or against me,” and, “things are either good or bad.” Key word: either/or. With the Dichotomy there’s no middle ground.
Key words for the Pyramid are hierarchy and scarcity. Judgments and rankings are instantaneous and automatic. Best is at the top, worst at the bottom. The moment we experience something, we judge it.
The Continuum connects. Its keyword is both/and. By virtue of its shape alone, the Continuum communicates a sense of wholeness and completeness; without barriers, levels or other forms of separation. The striving and proving of the Dichotomy and Pyramid are replaced by flow and intuition. It is the shape of the new professionalism, a relationship with customers and others emphasizing trust and cooperation instead of the strife and struggle represented by the Dichotomy and Pyramid.
Shifts between the four conframes are usually unconscious. But, as you become more mindful (Step 1) and sensitive to the quality of your thoughts, feelings and actions, you’ll know which conframe you’re using (Step 2) and which you’d like to shift to (Step 3).
Only one conframe shape represents the new professionalism and connects scientific expertise with inner wisdom and spiritual power to provide the skill, enthusiasm, warmth and creativity we want in our lives. Before going on, consider the four shapes and see if you can identify which that is. The continuum. Which conframe are you using right now?
Next time you reach the limits of your expertise or feel you’re losing it with yourself or others, shift to the Continuum. And remember, shifting begins in the easiest and hardest places -- your own heart and mind.
Friday, June 17, 2011
The Energy Continuum, 5
Two other concepts I often blog about are: if then and act as if.
If then: if I get the raise, the friend, the new house, whatever, then I’ll be happy. This kind of thinking reflects a lack of awareness of the energy continuum and how it works. It’s outside-in thinking, instead of inside-out thinking. It says if ‘X’ happens in the physical ‘realm’, then I’ll be happy. The energy continuum and the inside-out thinking that goes with it, says I can be happy any time I want to be.
Happiness has its own place on the continuum in the emotional ‘realm’ and our experience of it is not dependent on any other realm on the continuum. If I want to be happy, I can be happy no matter what. Hard to believe, but true. This is the peace or happiness or calm that passeth understanding mentioned in the Bible and that I blogged about a few days ago. Decide to shift, and shift. The only effort required is to let everything else go - give it over to spirit, stay centered, choose happiness, keep on choosing it and allow yourself to become aligned, congruent, around happiness.
Act as if, and it will be so, Chapter Six in my book, The New Professionalism: Connecting Science and Spirit. This is a variation of ‘if then,’ but with a twist. It says that if you act happy, even when you’re not, you soon will be happy. It hints at a single, unified source of energy connecting the seemingly separate ‘realms’ of feeling and action, pointing to the existence of an energy continuum on which it is possible to shift from one place on it to another.
It further suggests that one can start wherever one is on the continuum and move to wherever one wants to be. One need not be perfect, or correct, or dogmatic, or a true believer. One has only to accept, be mindful of, where one is and choose to remain there or shift. It all happens in the now, the only time there is, not in the past, not in the future, now. No hoping, wishing and praying; no rules, dogma or procedures to follow. Just being here now, which you already are, and choosing. We are always at choice, always have a chance to choose again, no matter what.
Deep down, we know that, know all this about now, and choosing, and the energy continuum, we just have to choose to access and use what we know, now.
If then: if I get the raise, the friend, the new house, whatever, then I’ll be happy. This kind of thinking reflects a lack of awareness of the energy continuum and how it works. It’s outside-in thinking, instead of inside-out thinking. It says if ‘X’ happens in the physical ‘realm’, then I’ll be happy. The energy continuum and the inside-out thinking that goes with it, says I can be happy any time I want to be.
Happiness has its own place on the continuum in the emotional ‘realm’ and our experience of it is not dependent on any other realm on the continuum. If I want to be happy, I can be happy no matter what. Hard to believe, but true. This is the peace or happiness or calm that passeth understanding mentioned in the Bible and that I blogged about a few days ago. Decide to shift, and shift. The only effort required is to let everything else go - give it over to spirit, stay centered, choose happiness, keep on choosing it and allow yourself to become aligned, congruent, around happiness.
Act as if, and it will be so, Chapter Six in my book, The New Professionalism: Connecting Science and Spirit. This is a variation of ‘if then,’ but with a twist. It says that if you act happy, even when you’re not, you soon will be happy. It hints at a single, unified source of energy connecting the seemingly separate ‘realms’ of feeling and action, pointing to the existence of an energy continuum on which it is possible to shift from one place on it to another.
It further suggests that one can start wherever one is on the continuum and move to wherever one wants to be. One need not be perfect, or correct, or dogmatic, or a true believer. One has only to accept, be mindful of, where one is and choose to remain there or shift. It all happens in the now, the only time there is, not in the past, not in the future, now. No hoping, wishing and praying; no rules, dogma or procedures to follow. Just being here now, which you already are, and choosing. We are always at choice, always have a chance to choose again, no matter what.
Deep down, we know that, know all this about now, and choosing, and the energy continuum, we just have to choose to access and use what we know, now.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
The Energy Continuum, 4
The concept of shifting - of exchanging, interchanging, transferring, swapping, varying and altering - another concept I use frequently, captures the easy, effortless flow along the flat, almost boundary-less energy continuum. It is possible to shift from one energy realm to another along the continuum without effort or struggle.
This gives us a great deal of power and control over our experience of living. The energy itself is neutral, it doesn’t care where you are. It does not hold you back. Only our ignorance of how the energy works on its continuum, holds us back. We have the power to choose what kind of energy we want to experience and for how long. We decide to be mindful or mindless. We decide to keep and use our power or give it away to illusory forces outside us. It is our choice to shift or to be stuck.
Shift happens…. We can do it consciously, mindfully, or unconsciously and mindlessly. We can be the deciders, like Bush the Second was, or we can be the victims, passively wishing and hoping for things to change. It is up to us.
Try it and see. Be still and get centered, visualize the energy continuum, stay still and centered and sense where you are on the continuum, the quality of the energy you’re experiencing. Good. Now, if where you are feels good and is working for you, remain there. But if it doesn’t feel good and it’s not working for you, shift.
Imagine the quality of the energy you want to experience, feel it, feel it more strongly, release your hold on/need to be where you are and allow yourself to be drawn to what you want to feel. No struggle, no resistance, just an effortless, congruent flow to what you seek. That’s how you shift. Try it now: pause, get centered, deep breathing, imagine the energy continuum, sense where you are and decide to stay or shift. It’s that easy.
This gives us a great deal of power and control over our experience of living. The energy itself is neutral, it doesn’t care where you are. It does not hold you back. Only our ignorance of how the energy works on its continuum, holds us back. We have the power to choose what kind of energy we want to experience and for how long. We decide to be mindful or mindless. We decide to keep and use our power or give it away to illusory forces outside us. It is our choice to shift or to be stuck.
Shift happens…. We can do it consciously, mindfully, or unconsciously and mindlessly. We can be the deciders, like Bush the Second was, or we can be the victims, passively wishing and hoping for things to change. It is up to us.
Try it and see. Be still and get centered, visualize the energy continuum, stay still and centered and sense where you are on the continuum, the quality of the energy you’re experiencing. Good. Now, if where you are feels good and is working for you, remain there. But if it doesn’t feel good and it’s not working for you, shift.
Imagine the quality of the energy you want to experience, feel it, feel it more strongly, release your hold on/need to be where you are and allow yourself to be drawn to what you want to feel. No struggle, no resistance, just an effortless, congruent flow to what you seek. That’s how you shift. Try it now: pause, get centered, deep breathing, imagine the energy continuum, sense where you are and decide to stay or shift. It’s that easy.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The Energy Continuum, 3
Working on the left side of the energy continuum first, in the spiritual and mental realms, gives rise to many of the ideas I share in this blog, such as: working from the inside out - dealing with the lighter more invisible forms of energy before dealing with the physical forms, the heavier, denser energy.
Going into the projection booth, rather than up to the movie screen if the picture is out of focus is another, similar concept. This suggests that the physical realm is a blank screen on to which we project our spiritual, mental and emotional energies. It also means that if our spiritual, mental and emotional energies are congruent, physical manifestations can be quick and effortless, almost like miracles. It also suggests that if we’re not getting the physical results we want, and who is, we may go back into our spiritual, mental and emotional realms and see what’s holding us back, what’s incongruent, out of alignment, and work there.
Being congruent, having your spiritual, mental, emotional and physical realms aligned is another key concept. When you’re incongruent and out of alignment, the energy can’t flow, and we have to work to make it move. Such work wastes time and energy and is uncomfortable. So uncomfortable, that we often avoid doing it, relying instead on brute force – physical efforting, and emotional reactions, such as fear (a biggy), guilt and anger, to get things done.
Unfortunately, our lack of education about the energy continuum, its very existence and functions, coupled with the lack of practical training in how to use it, make it almost inevitable that we end up relying so much on the physical realm.
Being congruent flows naturally and effortlessly from working on the left, in the spiritual realm, of the energy continuum. Before beginning any task or project in the physical realm, get centered, be mindful and allow your energy to become congruent. Being mindful of the energy continuum and setting an intention to use it to make one’s own contribution to a world that works for everyone and everything, is the first step. What Science of Mind calls ‘treatment,’ or affirmative prayer is an excellent way to set an intention, become congruent and allow the energy to flow along the continuum, unimpeded. More about that tomorrow….
Going into the projection booth, rather than up to the movie screen if the picture is out of focus is another, similar concept. This suggests that the physical realm is a blank screen on to which we project our spiritual, mental and emotional energies. It also means that if our spiritual, mental and emotional energies are congruent, physical manifestations can be quick and effortless, almost like miracles. It also suggests that if we’re not getting the physical results we want, and who is, we may go back into our spiritual, mental and emotional realms and see what’s holding us back, what’s incongruent, out of alignment, and work there.
Being congruent, having your spiritual, mental, emotional and physical realms aligned is another key concept. When you’re incongruent and out of alignment, the energy can’t flow, and we have to work to make it move. Such work wastes time and energy and is uncomfortable. So uncomfortable, that we often avoid doing it, relying instead on brute force – physical efforting, and emotional reactions, such as fear (a biggy), guilt and anger, to get things done.
Unfortunately, our lack of education about the energy continuum, its very existence and functions, coupled with the lack of practical training in how to use it, make it almost inevitable that we end up relying so much on the physical realm.
Being congruent flows naturally and effortlessly from working on the left, in the spiritual realm, of the energy continuum. Before beginning any task or project in the physical realm, get centered, be mindful and allow your energy to become congruent. Being mindful of the energy continuum and setting an intention to use it to make one’s own contribution to a world that works for everyone and everything, is the first step. What Science of Mind calls ‘treatment,’ or affirmative prayer is an excellent way to set an intention, become congruent and allow the energy to flow along the continuum, unimpeded. More about that tomorrow….
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
The Energy Continuum, 2
To work on the left side first presupposes that one is aware that there is an energy continuum and then understands one has a choice about where to be on it. So, there are four fluid categories/distinctions in the energy on the continuum, ‘fluid’ in that they are not four hard and fast categories, separated by rigid boundaries. Rather, the four categories/distinctions/’realms’ flow into each other, blending at the soft boundaries.
Knowing this, one may be aware, mindful, of where on the continuum s/he is. Then, being aware, you can get in touch with the quality of the energy you’re experiencing. Is the energy more quiet and peaceful – then it’s probably spiritual; more rationale and problem-solving – mental; more excited, happy or angry – emotional; or more about sensation: seeing, hearing, smelling – physical.
Being aware, you can then decide if you want to experience more of that type of energy or less of it. If more, you stay where you are on the continuum; if less, you can move. The great thing about the continuum model is that it is flat, with fluid boundaries. There is no climbing or struggling to get to a ‘higher level,’ or push through solid boundaries to move from one place to another along it.
So, let’s say you become aware, mindful, that you are experiencing energy that is more physical; you’re tired, stressed, worn out. You decide you’ve had enough of that, and knowing you’re on a continuum of energy that is flat and easy to move along, you choose to experience a lighter energy, perhaps a little humor to break up the dense physical energy you’ve been experiencing.
You move to the left into the emotional category. You could choose to go further left, to the mental, and contemplate making changes so you experience less stress in the future. Or, you could move all the way left to experience your reality as spirit, pure disembodied spirit – what Jesus and other great avatars have called the ‘peace that passeth understanding’ – the peace we experience when we ‘ought’ to be worried or upset but are not.
The peace that comes in the midst of a traffic jam, a tornado, or a crisis at work. The peace that feels like a miracle blessing. The peace that is always available and waiting for us to claim at the left side of the continuum. All we have to do is know It’s there, know we don’t have to struggle or prove anything to access it; know we can flow along the flat easy to move on energy continuum and claim it. Wouldn’t you like to do that, right now? I would!
Knowing this, one may be aware, mindful, of where on the continuum s/he is. Then, being aware, you can get in touch with the quality of the energy you’re experiencing. Is the energy more quiet and peaceful – then it’s probably spiritual; more rationale and problem-solving – mental; more excited, happy or angry – emotional; or more about sensation: seeing, hearing, smelling – physical.
Being aware, you can then decide if you want to experience more of that type of energy or less of it. If more, you stay where you are on the continuum; if less, you can move. The great thing about the continuum model is that it is flat, with fluid boundaries. There is no climbing or struggling to get to a ‘higher level,’ or push through solid boundaries to move from one place to another along it.
So, let’s say you become aware, mindful, that you are experiencing energy that is more physical; you’re tired, stressed, worn out. You decide you’ve had enough of that, and knowing you’re on a continuum of energy that is flat and easy to move along, you choose to experience a lighter energy, perhaps a little humor to break up the dense physical energy you’ve been experiencing.
You move to the left into the emotional category. You could choose to go further left, to the mental, and contemplate making changes so you experience less stress in the future. Or, you could move all the way left to experience your reality as spirit, pure disembodied spirit – what Jesus and other great avatars have called the ‘peace that passeth understanding’ – the peace we experience when we ‘ought’ to be worried or upset but are not.
The peace that comes in the midst of a traffic jam, a tornado, or a crisis at work. The peace that feels like a miracle blessing. The peace that is always available and waiting for us to claim at the left side of the continuum. All we have to do is know It’s there, know we don’t have to struggle or prove anything to access it; know we can flow along the flat easy to move on energy continuum and claim it. Wouldn’t you like to do that, right now? I would!
Monday, June 13, 2011
The Energy Continuum
The energy continuum shows that though we give its differing forms, different names, as the diagram below shows, it’s all one, one single form of invisible energy, spirit, arising in invisibility and flowing back to it.
Spirit------------Mental------------Emotional-----------Physical-----------Spirit
It is this that gives rise our sense of oneness. We know instinctively that this invisible energy, spirit, is our essence.
The diagram shows the invisible energy getting denser and more visible as it flows from left to right. Mental energy is denser than spiritual; Emotional energy is denser and more tangible than Mental, and of course, physical energy is more visible and tangible than Emotional energy. But clearly, the diagram shows that though we give its differing forms, different names, it’s all one, one single form of energy originating in spirit.
Spirit, as used here, is not a religious concept; it is a metaphysical concept; a concept that transcends yet embodies the thinking of traditional religion and physics. Spirit is the thing Itself, religions, its various brands. Spirit is generic to human experience, even agnostics and atheists have it.
The qualities of the generic, invisible spirit on the energy continuum are: unconditional love, compassion, inclusivity, win/win behavior, joy, creativity, intuition and un-limited blessings. If it is for the good of all concerned and makes a contribution to a world that works for everyone and everything, excluding no one and no thing, it is of spirit.
As the diagram shows, spirit in is various densities is who we are, right now. One does not have to ‘earn’ spirit’s goodness and blessings, they are given freely, and, when we give freely, we in turn reflect our understanding of our reality and essence as spirit. Fear, hate, loathing, blame, judgment and punishment, are not of spirit, not of the thing Itself, but of our own making, our own ignorance and misuse of the energy continuum. Remember, the continuum diagram shows it is all one, one single form of invisible energy arising in spirit, becoming denser and denser and ending in spirit.
All the fear and terror we experience and inflict arises from separating ourselves from our spiritual reality and essence and identifying with the cut-off portion, the ego, instead of the whole, the thing Itself. Doing this is like a drop of sea water cast up into the air as the waves crash ashore, feeling and thinking of itself as separate from the ocean. All the qualities of the ocean are in it, and in a second it will fall back into the ocean and be one with it again, but for a moment, it hangs suspended, believing it is alone, mis-identifying with the ego, not spirit.
The implications of the energy continuum are many. Perhaps the most important is, work on the left side of the continuum, in the spiritual ‘realm,’ first. As the diagram shows, what is done there impacts everything else: thoughts, feelings and physical ‘reality’. Peace, love, joy, health and success all flow from working on the left side first and committing to and embodying our reality as spirit.
Spirit------------Mental------------Emotional-----------Physical-----------Spirit
It is this that gives rise our sense of oneness. We know instinctively that this invisible energy, spirit, is our essence.
The diagram shows the invisible energy getting denser and more visible as it flows from left to right. Mental energy is denser than spiritual; Emotional energy is denser and more tangible than Mental, and of course, physical energy is more visible and tangible than Emotional energy. But clearly, the diagram shows that though we give its differing forms, different names, it’s all one, one single form of energy originating in spirit.
Spirit, as used here, is not a religious concept; it is a metaphysical concept; a concept that transcends yet embodies the thinking of traditional religion and physics. Spirit is the thing Itself, religions, its various brands. Spirit is generic to human experience, even agnostics and atheists have it.
The qualities of the generic, invisible spirit on the energy continuum are: unconditional love, compassion, inclusivity, win/win behavior, joy, creativity, intuition and un-limited blessings. If it is for the good of all concerned and makes a contribution to a world that works for everyone and everything, excluding no one and no thing, it is of spirit.
As the diagram shows, spirit in is various densities is who we are, right now. One does not have to ‘earn’ spirit’s goodness and blessings, they are given freely, and, when we give freely, we in turn reflect our understanding of our reality and essence as spirit. Fear, hate, loathing, blame, judgment and punishment, are not of spirit, not of the thing Itself, but of our own making, our own ignorance and misuse of the energy continuum. Remember, the continuum diagram shows it is all one, one single form of invisible energy arising in spirit, becoming denser and denser and ending in spirit.
All the fear and terror we experience and inflict arises from separating ourselves from our spiritual reality and essence and identifying with the cut-off portion, the ego, instead of the whole, the thing Itself. Doing this is like a drop of sea water cast up into the air as the waves crash ashore, feeling and thinking of itself as separate from the ocean. All the qualities of the ocean are in it, and in a second it will fall back into the ocean and be one with it again, but for a moment, it hangs suspended, believing it is alone, mis-identifying with the ego, not spirit.
The implications of the energy continuum are many. Perhaps the most important is, work on the left side of the continuum, in the spiritual ‘realm,’ first. As the diagram shows, what is done there impacts everything else: thoughts, feelings and physical ‘reality’. Peace, love, joy, health and success all flow from working on the left side first and committing to and embodying our reality as spirit.
Friday, June 10, 2011
One Energy Manifesting in Different Forms
Spirit first, but then, within the centered space of awareness of our spiritual reality and connection with it, we are both spirit and body. Both/and – one of the key concepts of the new professionalism as described in my book The New Professionalism: Connecting Science and Spirit. Spirit doesn’t overcome or struggle with the body, but co-opts it. After all, everything is energy and spirit is the purest form of energy, invisible and without mass, and becomes the body - the body is made of the same energy spirit is, but denser, congealed into visibility and mass.
Think of the relationship between body and spirit as a straight line, the line itself being energy, with spirit at one end and body at the other, with mental and emotional in between. Like this:
Spirit------------Mental------------Emotional-----------Physical
The energy gets denser and more visible as it flows from left to right. Mental energy is denser than spiritual; Emotional energy is denser and more tangible than Mental, and of course, physical energy is more visible and tangible than Emotional energy. Though we give its differing forms, different names, as the diagram shows, it’s all one, one single form of energy.
The implications of this are many. Perhaps the most important is, work in the spiritual ‘realm’ first. As the diagram shows, what is done there impacts everything else: thoughts, feelings and everything in the physical realm. Peace, love, joy, health and success all flow from a commitment to one’s reality as spirit.
As used here, spirit is not a religious concept; it is a metaphysical concept; a concept that transcends yet embodies the thinking of traditional religion and physics. Spirit is the thing Itself, religions are its various brands. Spirit is generic to human existence, even agnostics and atheists have it. Understanding and using these concepts can enable each of us to make a personally meaningful and useful contribution to a world that works for everyone and everything.
Think of the relationship between body and spirit as a straight line, the line itself being energy, with spirit at one end and body at the other, with mental and emotional in between. Like this:
Spirit------------Mental------------Emotional-----------Physical
The energy gets denser and more visible as it flows from left to right. Mental energy is denser than spiritual; Emotional energy is denser and more tangible than Mental, and of course, physical energy is more visible and tangible than Emotional energy. Though we give its differing forms, different names, as the diagram shows, it’s all one, one single form of energy.
The implications of this are many. Perhaps the most important is, work in the spiritual ‘realm’ first. As the diagram shows, what is done there impacts everything else: thoughts, feelings and everything in the physical realm. Peace, love, joy, health and success all flow from a commitment to one’s reality as spirit.
As used here, spirit is not a religious concept; it is a metaphysical concept; a concept that transcends yet embodies the thinking of traditional religion and physics. Spirit is the thing Itself, religions are its various brands. Spirit is generic to human existence, even agnostics and atheists have it. Understanding and using these concepts can enable each of us to make a personally meaningful and useful contribution to a world that works for everyone and everything.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Hitory and the No Nothings
In the late 1840’s, and right up through the middle of the Civil War, American politics was dominated by a group called, the No Nothing Party. They were a spoiler party in American politics, inconsistent and ignorant, making it very difficult for President Lincoln to govern. The No Nothings were virulently anti-immigrant – the Irish at that time and anti-abolitionist. They wanted to keep their racial and economic purity and their country for themselves and like themselves and didn’t want any Papist immigrant or inferior negro competition for their jobs and values. And they were oafishly proud of their ignorance. Facts, contradictions and hypocrisy were irrelevant to them.
Sound familiar? It should. Now the no nothings are called the Tea Party and have found shelter in the Republican Party.
To the no nothings of old and of today, history and the constitution were not verifiable facts, open to some interpretation, but rootless ideas without fixed meaning and meaning only what they, the no nothings and tea partiers, said they were. So we have Sara Palin saying Paul Revere was riding to warn the British – and she sticks to it, but gets a chuckle and a pass from the media, even tho this is far from the first time she’s done this. Glenn Beck says conservatives started the civil rights movement. Michele Bachmann, says the Founding Fathers abolished slavery. Is it really healthy for a nation if its leaders do not know its history?
Of course not; but since these people are ‘leaders’ or what seems to pass for leaders, they must reflect their constituencies, right? Unfortunately that’s correct, they do reflect a nation that is fast becoming ignorant and amnesiac. Recent research found that a majority of seniors at our best colleges could not identify any words from the Gettysburg Address nor explain the significance of Valley Forge. They did not know because they had not been taught. Nearly 40% of 12th graders did not know the purpose of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and only 14% could explain a factor leading to US involvement in the Korean War.
“History,” Leonard Pitts said, “is the master narrative of who we are.” It’s our shared story, our communal culture, what binds us together. Given the current level of ignorance, is it any wonder, we are unable to build consensus and make progress with the important opportunities ahead of us? “History is not dust,” Pitts says. “Nor is it myths to comfort us. Nor is it a lever we twist to gain political advantage.
“How can our children write the next chapter of a story they don’t even know?” How indeed…?
Sound familiar? It should. Now the no nothings are called the Tea Party and have found shelter in the Republican Party.
To the no nothings of old and of today, history and the constitution were not verifiable facts, open to some interpretation, but rootless ideas without fixed meaning and meaning only what they, the no nothings and tea partiers, said they were. So we have Sara Palin saying Paul Revere was riding to warn the British – and she sticks to it, but gets a chuckle and a pass from the media, even tho this is far from the first time she’s done this. Glenn Beck says conservatives started the civil rights movement. Michele Bachmann, says the Founding Fathers abolished slavery. Is it really healthy for a nation if its leaders do not know its history?
Of course not; but since these people are ‘leaders’ or what seems to pass for leaders, they must reflect their constituencies, right? Unfortunately that’s correct, they do reflect a nation that is fast becoming ignorant and amnesiac. Recent research found that a majority of seniors at our best colleges could not identify any words from the Gettysburg Address nor explain the significance of Valley Forge. They did not know because they had not been taught. Nearly 40% of 12th graders did not know the purpose of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and only 14% could explain a factor leading to US involvement in the Korean War.
“History,” Leonard Pitts said, “is the master narrative of who we are.” It’s our shared story, our communal culture, what binds us together. Given the current level of ignorance, is it any wonder, we are unable to build consensus and make progress with the important opportunities ahead of us? “History is not dust,” Pitts says. “Nor is it myths to comfort us. Nor is it a lever we twist to gain political advantage.
“How can our children write the next chapter of a story they don’t even know?” How indeed…?
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Should Weiner Resign? 2
One thing ‘Weinergate’ demonstrates is the need to be more accepting of a person’s sexual preferences, so long as they hurt no one and are realized between mutually consenting adults. Kink such as Weiner’s is not a crime and is more wide-spread than conventional wisdom cares to admit. But it is, if not formally criminalized, treated like one of the most vile morally reprehensible crimes on earth. Worse than destroying the planet with our profligate life styles, rape, or war.
Yet very often the kinkster is doing his or her best to manage their feelings and needs in such a way that they do not overshadow their talents, skills and attributes. In fact, the expression of kink actually helps them better manifest their talents, skills and attributes, enabling them to make worthwhile contributions to a world that works for everyone and everything in it.
Carl Jung called kink, the shadow side of human life, the cut-off demonized part of every person that needs to be owned and reintegrated if one is to be whole and healthy. Those that keep their shadows cut-off and suppressed, waste time and energy in denial and suppression that might more profitably be used elsewhere. They tend to be prudish, uptight, fanatical, intolerant and unforgiving of others, control freaks, believing they know what’s best for everyone.
Better to face and embrace the shadow through kink if need be, the way Weiner did. His talents were being well used. He is a brilliant compassionate person and an excellent spokesperson for his POV, who has been forced to lie – which was a bad choice – by a hypocritical, sexually uptight society. Weiner is a casualty in the on-going ‘war’ to decriminalize kink and enable people to reintegrate their shadows.
His situation if treated fairly, honestly and compassionately may be seen as another call for help, another example of how our society needs to be less hypocritical and more tolerant. Continuing to ‘criminalize’ kink as we do, is throwing the baby out with the bath water, and costs us dearly, because people with big talents and lots to contribute have bigger shadows. By not allowing people to express their shadows through kink, we deprive ourselves of their talents, skills and attributes. By forcing people to deny and suppress their shadows by ‘criminalizing’ kink, we create toxic shame and guilt, encouraging crime, abuse, sickness and tragedy, along with all the sadness and costs that dealing with these things entails.
Should Weiner resign? He did lie – and no one in Congress lies – and seems still to be lying about some things. He may have used Federal property in the commission of his so-called ‘crimes,’ and that is illegal, but he’s not the only one who’s done this. But most of his constituents – they’re tolerant, liberal New Yorkers – want him to stay. They don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. I hope and pray Weiner’s wife feels the same. Should he resign? Only if he and his wife think it’s the best thing to do and don’t want to put up with the BS yet to come. Otherwise, I think he should stay, admit to his kink, though really, its nobody’s business, and fight on.
Yet very often the kinkster is doing his or her best to manage their feelings and needs in such a way that they do not overshadow their talents, skills and attributes. In fact, the expression of kink actually helps them better manifest their talents, skills and attributes, enabling them to make worthwhile contributions to a world that works for everyone and everything in it.
Carl Jung called kink, the shadow side of human life, the cut-off demonized part of every person that needs to be owned and reintegrated if one is to be whole and healthy. Those that keep their shadows cut-off and suppressed, waste time and energy in denial and suppression that might more profitably be used elsewhere. They tend to be prudish, uptight, fanatical, intolerant and unforgiving of others, control freaks, believing they know what’s best for everyone.
Better to face and embrace the shadow through kink if need be, the way Weiner did. His talents were being well used. He is a brilliant compassionate person and an excellent spokesperson for his POV, who has been forced to lie – which was a bad choice – by a hypocritical, sexually uptight society. Weiner is a casualty in the on-going ‘war’ to decriminalize kink and enable people to reintegrate their shadows.
His situation if treated fairly, honestly and compassionately may be seen as another call for help, another example of how our society needs to be less hypocritical and more tolerant. Continuing to ‘criminalize’ kink as we do, is throwing the baby out with the bath water, and costs us dearly, because people with big talents and lots to contribute have bigger shadows. By not allowing people to express their shadows through kink, we deprive ourselves of their talents, skills and attributes. By forcing people to deny and suppress their shadows by ‘criminalizing’ kink, we create toxic shame and guilt, encouraging crime, abuse, sickness and tragedy, along with all the sadness and costs that dealing with these things entails.
Should Weiner resign? He did lie – and no one in Congress lies – and seems still to be lying about some things. He may have used Federal property in the commission of his so-called ‘crimes,’ and that is illegal, but he’s not the only one who’s done this. But most of his constituents – they’re tolerant, liberal New Yorkers – want him to stay. They don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. I hope and pray Weiner’s wife feels the same. Should he resign? Only if he and his wife think it’s the best thing to do and don’t want to put up with the BS yet to come. Otherwise, I think he should stay, admit to his kink, though really, its nobody’s business, and fight on.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Should Weiner Resign?
Should Weiner resign? Here we go with another round of bread and circuses, another phony either/or choice posed by the very people who claim to be ‘news’ people, allegedly working to keep the public informed and educated, but who are really gossip mongers; who might be using their time, energy and space to help us understand global climate change, mountain top removal ‘mining’, sustainable non-polluting alternative sources of energy that would aid national security by getting us off our dependence on foreign oil, or erasing the deficit by eliminating the 2 billion a week spent for all the great benefits we’re getting from saving Afghanistan from itself. No, we don’t want to deal with those trivial things.
Instead, our media masters are focusing us on the vital question of should Weiner resign. Thank goodness! We wouldn’t want to get bogged down in the complexities of our opportunities to create and contribute to a world that works for everyone and everything.
Instead, our media masters are focusing us on the vital question of should Weiner resign. Thank goodness! We wouldn’t want to get bogged down in the complexities of our opportunities to create and contribute to a world that works for everyone and everything.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Peace Between Arabs and Israelis: Another Opportunity Lost
I wish I really believed it would happen someday. I used to. Now I cling to the idea of peace and mutual respect and cooperation, like a drowning person clings to a life preserver, but I really don’t believe it’s possible.
I do believe that if I can stay centered in spirit, I will understand how I can contribute to the peace I seek. But the guidance from spirit is faint and not very encouraging to my ego [It never is, of course]. The guidance is: blog about it; talk about realizing that, ‘if we always do what we always did, we’ll always get what we always got.’
Choosing sides and the either/or thinking, blaming and guilt we are so enchanted by, and the half truths, lies and factual inaccuracies that go with them, will not work. Time to try something different; to look at the situation more honestly; and accurately, and understand that by looking that way, a better way to go forward toward peace might become clear. Bottom line, the present situation is unsustainable in the long term, probably the short term as well.
Looking honestly and accurately at Jerusalem is a good place to start, especially since I read an article by Uri Dromi in the Herald’s Opinion section, last Friday, that supports my own experience of the city four years ago. Dromi points out that Jerusalem is actually three cities: the Jewish nonreligious one; the Jewish religious one; and the Arab one. These three cities could have lived next to each other in harmony, under a joint metropolitan framework, but that’s not the case in reality.
Arab Jerusalem, on the east side, suffers from four decades of neglect of its infrastructure and services, and its population is poor. The inhabitants of the Jewish-religious (ultra-orthodox) city are poor as well. The number of people who actually go to work in these two cities is relatively low, because of a lack of jobs available for the Arabs, or unwillingness of ultra-orthodox to work because of religious reasons. The third city, the Jewish nonreligious typically Western middle class one, is paying taxes and carrying the other two cities on its back.
The populations of the Arab and ultra-orthodox cities are growing, growth in the middle class city is stagnating and declining. The middle class city will have to take care of ever bigger, ever poorer populations in the other two cities. The average age in the middle class city is 40, in the Arab city 20, and in Mea Shearim, the ultra-orthodox city, 15. The culture wars now raging are accelerating and they are the last thing the middle class city needs or can tolerate much longer.
In summing up, Dromi says, “Arab Jerusalem should be handed over to the Palestinians, and the sooner the better; the ultra-orthodox must be encouraged to join the workforce and pay for improvements to their neighborhoods, and the middle class should be regarded as no less than a national strategic asset. If it falls, Jerusalem will fall as well.”
Clear, sobering perspective, free of the win/lose debating society sophistry that currently passes for dialogue, clearly pointing out the unsustainable nature, not just of the situation in Jerusalem, but in the entire region. Thank you, Uri Dromi for telling the truth. If we can face this truth centered in spirit, perhaps the win/win solution of peace will emerge. If we deny this truth and lie about it, if we always do what we always did, we’ll always get what we always got….
I do believe that if I can stay centered in spirit, I will understand how I can contribute to the peace I seek. But the guidance from spirit is faint and not very encouraging to my ego [It never is, of course]. The guidance is: blog about it; talk about realizing that, ‘if we always do what we always did, we’ll always get what we always got.’
Choosing sides and the either/or thinking, blaming and guilt we are so enchanted by, and the half truths, lies and factual inaccuracies that go with them, will not work. Time to try something different; to look at the situation more honestly; and accurately, and understand that by looking that way, a better way to go forward toward peace might become clear. Bottom line, the present situation is unsustainable in the long term, probably the short term as well.
Looking honestly and accurately at Jerusalem is a good place to start, especially since I read an article by Uri Dromi in the Herald’s Opinion section, last Friday, that supports my own experience of the city four years ago. Dromi points out that Jerusalem is actually three cities: the Jewish nonreligious one; the Jewish religious one; and the Arab one. These three cities could have lived next to each other in harmony, under a joint metropolitan framework, but that’s not the case in reality.
Arab Jerusalem, on the east side, suffers from four decades of neglect of its infrastructure and services, and its population is poor. The inhabitants of the Jewish-religious (ultra-orthodox) city are poor as well. The number of people who actually go to work in these two cities is relatively low, because of a lack of jobs available for the Arabs, or unwillingness of ultra-orthodox to work because of religious reasons. The third city, the Jewish nonreligious typically Western middle class one, is paying taxes and carrying the other two cities on its back.
The populations of the Arab and ultra-orthodox cities are growing, growth in the middle class city is stagnating and declining. The middle class city will have to take care of ever bigger, ever poorer populations in the other two cities. The average age in the middle class city is 40, in the Arab city 20, and in Mea Shearim, the ultra-orthodox city, 15. The culture wars now raging are accelerating and they are the last thing the middle class city needs or can tolerate much longer.
In summing up, Dromi says, “Arab Jerusalem should be handed over to the Palestinians, and the sooner the better; the ultra-orthodox must be encouraged to join the workforce and pay for improvements to their neighborhoods, and the middle class should be regarded as no less than a national strategic asset. If it falls, Jerusalem will fall as well.”
Clear, sobering perspective, free of the win/lose debating society sophistry that currently passes for dialogue, clearly pointing out the unsustainable nature, not just of the situation in Jerusalem, but in the entire region. Thank you, Uri Dromi for telling the truth. If we can face this truth centered in spirit, perhaps the win/win solution of peace will emerge. If we deny this truth and lie about it, if we always do what we always did, we’ll always get what we always got….
Friday, June 3, 2011
The Big Lie, Obama and Leadership
Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Propaganda Minister, said, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will come to believe it.” Isn’t that true? Just look at the lies the so-called ‘conservatives’ including their name – they don’t want to conserve much except their own power and that of their pay masters, have been telling.
Now, Walter Rodgers, CNN correspondent and editorial writer for The Christian Science Monitor, sees the big lie that Obama can’t lead as crumbling. Some of the power behind this big lie is the same savage partisanship leveled against every President since Watergate. Some of it reflects prejudice and bigotry against Obama himself. But perhaps more significantly, it also reflects Americans outdated and wrongheaded notions of leadership.
“American culture,” Mr. Rodgers writes, “mistakenly prizes bravado and arrogance as sure signs of leadership. Public showmanship – like donning a flight suit in front of a “Mission Accomplished” banner – is easy. Quiet, cool competence that gets results – like pulling together an international coalition to protect Libyan civilians in record time – is hard.” Obama’s so called, ‘sitting on the sidelines,’ during the current Middle East unrest isn’t abdication of leadership; its wisdom.
Rodgers said a center-right voter told him recently that, “The reason I voted for Obama is because he has no hatred in him.” In an era of similar divisive bitterness, Lincoln said, “With malice toward none, with charity toward all….” Lincoln was also reviled in his time. Isn’t it interesting how closely Obama’s philosophy of leadership approaches Lincoln’s?
Now, Walter Rodgers, CNN correspondent and editorial writer for The Christian Science Monitor, sees the big lie that Obama can’t lead as crumbling. Some of the power behind this big lie is the same savage partisanship leveled against every President since Watergate. Some of it reflects prejudice and bigotry against Obama himself. But perhaps more significantly, it also reflects Americans outdated and wrongheaded notions of leadership.
“American culture,” Mr. Rodgers writes, “mistakenly prizes bravado and arrogance as sure signs of leadership. Public showmanship – like donning a flight suit in front of a “Mission Accomplished” banner – is easy. Quiet, cool competence that gets results – like pulling together an international coalition to protect Libyan civilians in record time – is hard.” Obama’s so called, ‘sitting on the sidelines,’ during the current Middle East unrest isn’t abdication of leadership; its wisdom.
Rodgers said a center-right voter told him recently that, “The reason I voted for Obama is because he has no hatred in him.” In an era of similar divisive bitterness, Lincoln said, “With malice toward none, with charity toward all….” Lincoln was also reviled in his time. Isn’t it interesting how closely Obama’s philosophy of leadership approaches Lincoln’s?
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Truth Cannot Be Legislated
“Truth cannot be legislated,” Terry Cole-Whittaker said, “voted on, created, or destroyed – it just is. No person or organization can grant anyone anything, as they have nothing to grant. God has already given us everything,” and it is up to each of us to accept and act from an awareness of what we’ve been given, to make our contributions to a world that works for everyone and everything.
“People who live in fear use fear to control, whereas people who live from love [and the place of spirit-centered oneness] do not seek to control or abuse anyone. No one needs another’s approval or appreciation for we already have God’s approval and appreciation. So go forth and do the work you love as an offering to God. We give away our inner power only when we believe a lie.
“Be courageous and trust your inner guidance, and you will know what to do.” To worry, is to misidentify with the physical body. We are spiritual beings first, and last. “By identifying with inert matter that goes through the cycles of change we call birth and death, we live in fear and close off the channels of divine qualities and powers. The symptoms of this closing off are fear, anger, worry, exploitation, greed, envy, criticism, hatred and self abuse.”
Use these symptoms, not as judgments or signs of failure, but as cues to change. Aligned with spirit we see whatever comes as an opportunity to act from our true Identity instead of reacting from our mistaken identity.
“People who live in fear use fear to control, whereas people who live from love [and the place of spirit-centered oneness] do not seek to control or abuse anyone. No one needs another’s approval or appreciation for we already have God’s approval and appreciation. So go forth and do the work you love as an offering to God. We give away our inner power only when we believe a lie.
“Be courageous and trust your inner guidance, and you will know what to do.” To worry, is to misidentify with the physical body. We are spiritual beings first, and last. “By identifying with inert matter that goes through the cycles of change we call birth and death, we live in fear and close off the channels of divine qualities and powers. The symptoms of this closing off are fear, anger, worry, exploitation, greed, envy, criticism, hatred and self abuse.”
Use these symptoms, not as judgments or signs of failure, but as cues to change. Aligned with spirit we see whatever comes as an opportunity to act from our true Identity instead of reacting from our mistaken identity.
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